Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
News & Updates
11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
Here on Classic we understand that sometimes life can get difficult and we struggle. We may need to receive advice, vent, know that we are not alone in our difficult times, or even just have someone listen to what's going on in our lives. In light of these times, we have created the support threads below that are open to all of our members at any time.
They made a pitiful group, huddled on the shoreline.
Several Summerclan cats hadn't made it- Juniperdust wept alongside her mother and brother for the loss of Mallowmusk, and Fallenredemption had stepped in to save her son. It wasn't something she would ever forget. Because of these losses, and more, the soaked and sand-crusted cats were awash in sorrow.
Still, alongside the sorrow was a deep spark of pride. They had done it- they had come together, organized and planned and trained, and overthrown the stranglehold that Nightclan had on them. That was something worth commemorating.
Rosethorn was huddled close to her niece and Foxpaw. Her sister was worrying over Daylightkit, who had grown less and less responsive by the hour. Vulturemalice had looked at Rosethorn quickly and sympathetically, decreed that she'd live, and ordered her to not try to talk too much. He’d then returned his focus to the sick kit.
Rose’s throat still burned and her body was racked with weak shivers from her near death experience. Still, she had something she needed to tell someone- and neither her family nor the tom that had saved her life seemed appropriate at the moment. So she excused herself in a hoarse whisper and moved off, searching until she found the she-cat she wanted to speak to.
"Sunpetal," she rasped, before coughing fiercely. "You did it. I-" cough- "I'm so proud."
It was the first time in a moon the SummerClan cats could enjoy the sunlight without hushing their voices. They still often spoke in murmurs, but it wasn't due to fear of being discovered- the NightClan cats knew damn well where they were, but had their own wounds to lick. For now they could huddle together and watch sunbeams glint off the frothing sea foam.
Even with one victory under their belt, rather than rejoice and chant her glee, Sunpetal was more demure than she'd been the day she'd led her clan into a fight that left them several cats short of when the night had started. She'd taken her first life- and then another- and no matter who she turned to, her brothers or her father or the ever supportive Cinderflower, she couldn't shake the stones in her belly, a ruinous disgust curdling inside her. Was this what it meant to be a warrior? Was this what it was to be a leader? Suddenly, her lifelong ambitions felt tainted.
She was off at a distance from the rest of the SummerClan cats, situated on a small rise in the earth that overlooked the sea. Tattered cobwebs decorated her pelt where they covered the new wounds she sported, but Vulturemalice had already cleared her of a risk of infection- and that the rest of her family was okay, bunched into their own little group. Life went on, though Sunpetal noticed the occasional worried glance she was cast from them.
She looked up as her mentor approached, the pinks of her ears brightening to a vibrant red. "I didn't do it on my own," she muttered modestly. "Are you sure you should even be moving right now? Your lungs... Birdie said you took in a lot of water. Y-you could have died." Undue tears sprang into the corners of her eyes, the harsh reality of everything sinking in and doubt flaring up.
It was true that she wasn't being the ideal medical patient at the moment, but she waved a paw, settling down beside Sunpetal and pressing her still cold frame against her. "After today, I promise I won't move or speak for a week and I'll do everything Vulturemalice says." The cough subsided as she spoke, but her voice remained raspy and her throat still burned.
"I could've, but I didn't, And you could've too, but you didn't. How are you handling... well, everything?" She asked, noting the isolation Sunpetal had put herself in and the tears in her eyes. Rosethorn knew this was a lot of Summerclan cats' first experience with loss and tragedy. Even if it was something she was accustomed to at this point, she could respect that it was difficult for the others.
The chilling touch shocked her, but Sunpetal spared no more than a momentary grimace at it, shuffling closer. It'd been days since she allowed herself to lean into someone else; she reveled in the moment before Rosethorn continued speaking. "I- I'm... I don't know how I am yet," she admitted hoarsely. The emotions were welling up faster now, all the memories flooding back in: Being held to the ground, held under the water, the she-cat's body going lifeless under the waves, Stormstar's blood sticking into her pelt. "I don't know how to be okay with what happened. How would you... if you had to take a life?"
Rosethorn took a long moment to think that over. She hadn't killed yet- she'd seen death in her family seven times over, she'd feared twice that she would die at Phantomfox's paws, but she had not had to resort to that level of desperation yet. "I don't know..." she rasped after a moment. "I can imagine how heavily that is weighing on you. But think back, Sunpetal. What options did you have? What were the alternatives? These weren't innocent cats- they would've killed you without a second thought. You did what you did out of self-defense, out of a desire to protect your clan from harm. That's noble in my eyes... Still, I wouldn't judge you for feeling a lot of doubt and guilt at the moment. Just know that it will lessen over time. And I'm here to talk, if you need. I've always found talking to be the best medicine for me."
Sunpetal drew back into heavy, tumultuous silence. Even now, she could see the truth in Rosethorn's words and desperately wanted to follow them into absolving her grief, but it felt like a far-off reality that she could only clamber blindly toward. She could justify the she-cat's death, as much as it still brought bile to her throat, she knew the only other option would have been to let herself die instead. But with Stormstar... hadn't she gone back just to end his life?
She wrenched free of the darkness she was drowning in to regard Rosethorn. "Is that why you're here? To talk? I haven't seen you leave your sister and her kits since that night," she observed, curiosity breaching her voice. "If that's what you're here for, I can listen. I've been trying to get better at being a good listener."
Rosethorn was silent for a few heartbeats, before the words burst out of her in a hoarse whisper. "I'm pregnant." After a glance over her shoulder to make sure no one else was listening, she went on. "At least I think I still am. I haven't told anyone yet, so Vulturemalice didn't check for heartbeats after... well, after everything that just went on."
The garden keeper lapsed into an uneasy quiet, letting Sunpetal process the words and maybe come to her own conclusions about the kits paternity.
Sunpetal didn't react immediately. She wasn't sure what she expected Rosethorn to say, but she could confidently say pregnancy was not among her expectations. "Oh," she breathed, only to fill the silence while she grappled with this information and the implications of Rosethorn's following remark. She reached a paw across to set it on top of her mentor's, offering her a strained but sympathetic smile. "I'm sure this time will be different. I can... I can be there with you when you decide to check... if that's something you'd want? Have you told the father... I'm guessing, Howlingheart? You've been spending a lot of time together."
After her encounter with Stormstar, when Sunpetal had at last returned to her exhausted clan, she'd caught the pair together even then, a half-dead Howlingheart being tended to by Rosethorn fraught with concern.
Rosethorn touched Sunpetal’s paw with her own briefly before gently pushing it off. She didn’t deserve the comfort. “Howlingheart isn’t the father- though I wish he was. I haven’t told the father, and it’s even more difficult now, since I assume he’s left with the other Nightclan cats.”
Seeing Sunpetal’s surprise, Rosethorn looked down, throat burning with shame. “It’s not Phantomfox,” she added quickly. “Though he’s not much better. It was right after Phantomfox gave me the scars, and they were keeping me isolated… It’s not an excuse, but I was exhausted and frightened and lonely. I wish I could take it all back, but it's too late now. The father..." The garden keeper sighed heavily before continuing. "The father is Pinesimmer.”
Her eyes widening in surprise, Sunpetal was able to mask the first wave of anger prickling under her pelt, but the second wave made her hackles visibly bristle. "P-pinesimmer?" She repeated slowly, unable and unwilling to hide the disgust as it coalesced in her voice. "You're sure it's Pinesimmer?"
“Yes. He’s the only possibility,,” Rosethorn admitted sheepishly, glancing down at the shoreline. The water lapped in and out several times before she spoke again. “I know he’s hardly popular among Summerclan, and I can barely tolerate him myself. I’m hoping he wants nothing to do with them- or better yet, never finds out. I hate cross-clan co parenting.”
"SummerClan kits belong to SummerClan." It was her father's law, and while Sunpetal didn't care about the logistics of cross-clan parenting situations, reciting it was all she could do to prevent herself from erupting. She shifted so her body faced the ocean, seemingly transfixed by the currents, while a war waged within her. The Sunpetal she was wanted to scream and declare Rosethorn the traitor she always knew she was. The Sunpetal she was becoming reined in that impulse, understanding there was no way she could have known; few knew the true extents of Pinesimmer's treachery.
Regaining control, she huffed a disgruntled sigh and scowled at her paws. "You shouldn't tell anyone else it's him."
“I never entirely agreed with that sentiment, but my kits belong with me, and they certainly don’t belong in Nightclan,” Rosethorn said quietly, resting her chin on her paws. She could sense Sunpetal’s anger, one that bordered on fury, but she couldn’t figure out why she was so upset. Rose already felt bad enough over the whole thing, and the mistakes she made seemed to pile up until she couldn’t handle them. Now dealing with the pregnancy, with her near murder, and with the realization that she was in love with Phantomfox’s brother… what she wanted most was understanding. Still, she couldn’t blame Sunpetal for her reaction.
“I was thinking of asking Howlingheart to step into the dad role. If that isn’t a terrible thing to do. And if it is… well, I just tell people it was a one night stand and leave it at that. I’m already a single mother by choice with Foxpaw.”
"You should do that," she agreed in that same forlorn tone, practically stripped of emotion. Did she dare tell Rosethorn the truth? She would find out eventually, when it became public how deep the wounds Pinesimmer had left on SummerClan really were. It would be gentler coming from a close friend, explained privately, but Sunpetal hadn't yet decided if she deserved that kindness. Not when she wasn't the only one to fall victim to the medicine cat's insidious charm.
But this was Rosethorn. One look at her, at the repentant shine behind her eyes, reminded her of that- reminded Sunpetal that Rosethorn was no more a traitor than she could ever be. She was innocent in all this. "Your kits deserve a father- a good father, not one that ripped a life out of mine," she whispered, the memory flooding her afresh with glistening tears.
Rosethorn's features went slack, her mouth popping open at the realization. "O-oh," she stammered, her thoughts incoherent for a few long moments before the horror kicked it. "Oh. Oh my god... what... when did he-?" Gods, this was worse than she imagined, and her stomach was churning dangerously, threatening to vomit up more seawater. "Starclan, Sunpetal I- I didn't know. I can't- I- god."
Tentatively she reached out her feathery tail- dried stiff with salt at the moment- to brush against her shoulder hesitantly. Sunpetal would've been within her rights to shy away from the touch, knowing that Rosethorn had slept with her father's killer, but Rose didn't know what else to do.
When Sunpetal pulled away, it wasn't due to the association of Rose with Pinesimmer. She pulled back to keep her strength, knowing that she would burst into painful, ugly sobs if she exposed herself to the extended compassion. "It's okay." It wasn't. "I'm okay." She wasn't. "It's not your fault." She still grappled with believing that for herself, but it helped to hear the words resonate between them, actualizing the notion.
"He waited until we were alone. Doefreckle-" StarClan, his name alone repulsed her, but Sunpetal once again wrestled her features into restrained, fragile calm. "-left to... I don't even know where he went, but Pinesimmer and I were alone. He promised that Aspenstar wouldn't hurt him. But when it was just us- he threatened that it would be worse if I didn't cooperate." By now, despite how she willed herself to be strong, her words were splintered through by furious sniffles and tears smoothed ravines down her fluffy cheeks, her pain on full display.
Rosethorn waited only a second before moving in again, pressing her side against Sunpetal’s in a show of comfort and solidarity. “I’m so sorry, Sunpetal.” There was a new hatred curling in her stomach- why did she always let herself get suckered by psychopaths? What was it about Aspenstar’s family that created them? She sighed, searching for the right words to comfort her former apprentice.
“I was younger than you when my father was killed,” she said quietly. “And I couldn’t even watch. So I want you to know how brave you are, Sunpetal, for going through that. Your father is lucky to have you. And he’ll be okay- we won’t let Pinesimmer near him ever again. Or near these kits, for that matter.”
Sunpetal turned to bury her face into her mentor's chest, reduced to a kitten seeking comfort in its mother. Rosethorn's fur was soft and silky to the touch, a cloud the sun might rest on when it passed below, and it was a starkly different feel than Ratstar's coarser pelt, which strengthened the intensity of her weeping.
When she pulled herself together again, wiping her snotty nose with a paw, she recognized Rosethorn was speaking again- recalling her own past and commending her bravery. "I don't feel brave," she sniffled pitifully. She felt like she'd only just seen the true horrors of life and she wanted nothing more than to be back in the nursery, hidden from it. "How did you get past it? Is that... Is that why you were so averse to fighting?" She'd been too young and fueled by a petty grudge back then to care about the reason behind it, but now the pieces were falling into place and Sunpetal finally understood. The sight of Stormstar's throat yawning open, blood coursing from it, had sickened her and flashed her back to that moment in the medicine cat den.
"That's exactly why," Rosethorn said, letting her chin rest on Sunpetal's head for a brief moment. That freshly promoted garden keeper, insecure and snippy and won over by that scarred Moonclan tom, seemed like a stranger to her now. "I was scared of everything warrior-related back then- death, injuries, fighting, blood... All of it brought me back to that night. I avoided it at all costs."
"The world is harsh, Sunpetal, and it's scary. There are hard truths that every cat has to learn, there are moments that change you. There comes a point when you can't avoid it anymore, no matter how much you try. I tried as hard as I could, and I still had to watch them bury five of my kits. After that... well, I realized that running from something only means you're less prepared for when it finds you. Starclan, this is turning morbid- my point is that you won't escape the bad things in life, but you've seen some of the worst already and you're still fighting. Bravery isn't what you feel, it's what you do despite what you feel- and you've done so much since that night, Sunpetal. You are brave. You're brave and you're aware of your fears and worries, and that's a good thing. You're exactly what Summerclan needs right now, and I can't say I've ever been prouder of someone."
Sunpetal let Rosethorn's commendation guide her to a steadier, less tearful calm, punctuated by the occasional sniffle. She still didn't feel those things for herself, but she trusted the other with her life and allowed herself to be comforted, pressing closer to Rosethorn and mewing a quiet, earnest gratitude.
Still, a multitude of questions plagued her, questions she feared the answers to. "What do you think will happen now? Aspenstar will.. She's going to come back, and I have to fight her, and even if I can win, what happens after? Do you think Papi will be strong enough to lead again?"
