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!
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And soon enough, the two came, catching sight of the furious Lilykit, only held back by Doestar. Applekit ran up to her sister, trying to calm her down by pressing herself into Lilykit’s pale pelt. “Sissy, it’s okay.” She whispered, voice cracked with tears. She heard rather than saw Shadedsun pad up cautiously. He was so thankful for Doestar—no matter what he said, he didn’t mean it. He meant none of it, he knew, yet that didn’t stop him from regretting it. He was such an idiot.
“F-Freckles—“ he started, trembling, voice quiet. He wasn’t the type to usually withhold apologies, he was pretty good at them after all, but everything about this situation was making it difficult. “I’m . . . Im so sorry, I—I didn’t mean it.” He wondered if this time, his apology would be useless.
"It's not okay!" Lilykit shouted, twisting out of her sister's grip on principle and letting out another furious sob before turning back around a second later and burying her face in Applekit's chest. “They’re not supposed to be dead! They can’t be dead! This isn’t meant to be happening, they’re supposed to be okay!” Everything felt wrong and messy and unreal; her emotions were all over the place, flip-flopping between fury and grief - she wanted to tear something apart, wanted to disappear into the earth, wanted to do everything at once. "Don't leave me, too, not ever," she wailed into her sister's fur, voice high and pitiful.
Doestar didn't look at Shadedsun, instead gazing unseeingly at a patch of yellow-specked gorse a little way away. A flick of his ear was the only indication that he'd even heard his apology. For a long moment, he was silent. His head felt foggy and, for a while, he didn't even know if he was going to bother responding at all, or if Shadedsun had even said it in the first place; what could he say? It's fine? It wasn't fine. He wasn't fine. "Let's go home," he replied at last, quiet and exhausted. He turned, still not looking at the other tom, and nudged the kits ahead of him.
Slowly patting her sister’s back with her paws, Applekit stared at her fathers in pure desperation and despair. She didn’t know what was happening. All of a sudden her dads were fighting and her brothers were dead and it was all going too quick. Much too quick. Resting her head on Lilykit’s, Applekit let small, silent tears drip into her sister’s fur, crying until her throat aches and her eyes hurt. Only moving at the announcement of going “home.” To SummerClan. She’d be safe there, wouldn’t she?
Nodding slowly, Shadedsun trailed behind Doestar and the kits. Oh, why must he be such an idiot? Why did he have to be so stupid? Doestar was right, he was pathetic. He was annoying and unlovable and desperate. And he hated it. So, so much. All he wanted was for it—him—to just go away, become nothing but a distant memory.
For a little while, as they walked in silence through the gloom of the pine trees with his fur cold and his paws aching, the warmth of the sun scarcely managing to wash away the shadows, Doestar wondered why he was even honouring his offer to let Shadedsun stay with him. He had no responsibility to him, no obligation – he could turn him away back to SpringClan and it would completely be his right to do so. The other tom wasn’t a leader anymore – he didn’t have to worry about offending him, didn’t have to worry about what that would mean for any truce with the other Clan; he was just a warrior, and he was leader, and he owed him nothing, no affection, no shelter, no sympathy.
By the time they were halfway to camp, he’d made up his mind to tell him to go. A few steps further and he’d changed his mind again. Finally, at the edge of the forest, with sunlight washing over them and tiny wildflowers covering the earth beneath their paws, he stopped and asked, eyes dull and half-lidded and voice flat, “do you still want to stay here?” Maybe it would be better if you didn’t, he wanted to add. But he stayed silent. All he wanted to do was curl up and sleep, whether or not Shadedsun was beside him.
At the mention of SummerClan, Lilykit grumbled sulkily, “s’not my home,” but trudged along all the same, face set in a petulant, stormy glare. She didn’t want to be separated from her family, felt anxious at the mere thought of ever being apart from them again, and so she’d go, but she wouldn’t be happy about it. She didn’t think she’d ever be happy again. “Can we stay with you?” she asked her SpringClan dad in a glum, angry voice, like he was asking her for a favour, still not looking up from where she was glaring at the ground. She kicked a stone with her forepaw. “We don’t wanna go back to the nursery. We won’t even know anyone.” She didn’t stop to ask her sister if that was what she actually wanted; it was what she wanted, so of course Applekit would feel the same.
To be frank, Applekit couldn’t wait to get to SummerClan, to crawl into a soft moss nest and sleep away her worries. Sleep so she couldn’t think or feel or cry. Why didn’t Lilykit want to go as well? It was better than FallClan, wasn’t it? She at least knew some cats there. Frowning, Applekit stepped in pace just beside her sister, her tail just grazing her back. “We have to go, Sissy. It is our home. It’s warm and sweet and stuffs. Please.” She begged, not exactly sure what she was begging for.
Shadedsun hesitated for a moment, now completely unsure of what he wanted to do. Should he? Doestar hated him now, didn’t he? SummerClan wouldn’t accept him, they’d hate him too. But he couldn’t go back to SpringClan, not yet. Not with his failure. Not with his son’s graves. “Yeah...” he murmured, still paces behind the others. He stared down at the mixed blobs that were his kits, a wave of nausea washing over him, partly from his eyesight, partly from everything else.
“No, I’m going to SpringClan, sweets.” He said softly, not bothering to even try to smile.
“That’s okay, we’ll meet new friends, right?” Applekit spoke up, trying her best to keep some sort of optimistic attitude.
No, I’m going to SpringClan, sweets. As much as he’d revelled in the sort of bitter contempt of having something to hold over Shadedsun’s head, as much as he had wanted to send him away, the thought that he would actually leave, that he’d leave him of his own volition, after everything he’d said, made Doestar unexpectedly angry. “Oh, so… so now you’re just gonna run away instead?” he asked, taking a few steps forward to close the distance between them and staring Shadedsun down like it was a challenge. “Leave me here alone? With…” With these two? He bit his tongue to stop himself from saying it; they didn’t need to feel any more unwanted than they surely already did.
Steading himself with a breath, he glanced down and took a moment before looking back up and adding quietly, softly, desperately, his voice breaking slightly, “I still need you.” He gazed at the other tom like he was begging.
Lilykit scrabbled around, staring up at her SpringClan dad with huge, betrayed eyes. “You said you wouldn’t leave!” she cried. “You promised! You're just a liar!” She let out another distraught, furious sob, lashing out and lightly hitting Shadedsun's leg with her tiny paw. Everything was so confusing and nothing made sense and she hated it.
Why. Was. He. So. Stupid? Couldn’t even string a sentence together anymore. Fumbling with his words, flip-flopping between anger and nothingness and that same dream-like feeling he had yesterday, he didn’t respond right away. “I’m sorry, I—I didn’t mean to say that. I’m just—just out of it right now...” he stopped as Lilykit’s tiny paws hit him, he turned his head downward, wishing he could just properly see her eyes, look directly in them and take all her worries and grief away.
“No, no, sweets, Dad’s just having a bit of trouble right now, I’m not going to leave you, I’ll never leave you. Never ever.” He crouched down, pulling his daughter into his fluff, hugging her with his paws until he was sure she couldn’t breath. Then he let go, giving her some air space. Oh, how he didn’t want to let go.
“Oh,” Doestar replied quietly, embarrassment making his cheeks prickle with warmth. He’d overreacted. He always overreacted. “Sorry,” he murmured, dropping his eyes; the exhaustion seeped back into him, slow and heavy. “Let’s... Come on.” Glancing at Shadedsun briefly with a small, faint smile, he turned and limped through the gorse tunnel, too numb and confused to even notice the wilting yellow flowers, dying at the end of the warm weather.
He ushered the kits ahead of him rather sternly, giving them no time to get distracted by the new sights and smells, and led the way over to his den in the beech tree, pointedly ignoring the rest of the Clan despite the fact they were no doubt worried over the fact he hadn’t come home at all last night; he wasn’t in the mood to deal with them, and so he wouldn’t. The blossoms on the mandarin tree had started to turn brown and droop as well, but it still smelled sweet and it filled his heart with a tiny, comforting bead of warmth; he was home and things felt a tiny bit more normal, like nothing was as scary and hopeless as it had been out there, like, with the soft, warm colours and the familiar scents, he could cope.
He herded the kits into the den and then stopped at the entrance, turning to Shadedsun. “If you’d rather not share my den,” he told him, voice soft and eyes dull, “I’ll tell the apprentices to make you up a nest somewhere else.”
Forgetting some of her grief in the excitement of new things and new adventures and all the things she could explore, all the off-limits places she could go and the havoc she could wreak as the daughter of the leader, Lilykit scampered ahead, almost tripping over her own paws and letting out a little growl when her dad pushed her along. “Race you!” she squealed to her sister, already half way to the leader’s den; she felt so important, so contemptuous of all the SunmerClan cats — she was their princess. “Last one there’s a a stinkbug!”
He shook his head, tail dragging as he followed behind Doestar. He’d never seen SummerClan camp before, surprisingly. But he guessed he never would. All he could smell were the scent of flowers, so strong it made his head spin in delight. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine with that.” He padded into the den, not sure if he should share Doestar’s nest or not, so he took a comfortable spot on the ground and curled up, knowing he probably would sleep all too well tonight either. It seemed he was dying with the flowers.
The new sights and smells and cats! And everything was pretty and she felt the first lift of joy since probably this morning. “I ain’t no stinkbug!” Quickly catching up with her sister, Applekit let out a loud laugh of joy, tripping and fumbling her way into the Leader’s den and promptly claiming her dad’s bed as her own.
Doestar watched him, sad and quiet and empty, as he brushed past him and settled on the ground. He wanted to say something, offer some sort of dull, meaningless comfort, but he didn’t know any words that could possibly make any of this easier. Padding over to his nest, still sweet-smelling and woven with flowers, he didn’t take his eyes off Shadedsun.
He prodded absently at the moss and feathers and rabbit fluff, hardly noticing Applekit pressed against his fur and still watching the other tom with a miserable, helpess expression; he wanted to make it better, wanted to say the perfect thing, was so determined to somehow fix him and put him back together. But he couldn’t.
After a long silence, he murmured, “you don’t have to sleep on the ground, you know. You’ll be sore in the morning.” He smiled down at Applekit, running his forepaw over the top of her head and letting out a quiet, comforting purr — “this nest is gonna be crowded with you hogging it all, sweetpea” — before returning his gaze to Shadedsun, the smile fading a little and looking more worried than anything. “It’s a little smaller now, but we can still be a family.”
Horribly competitive, Lilykit pulled a grouchy face when Applekit beat her to the den, slowing to a trot and then to a sulky stomp. “You cheated!” she whined. “Shove over.” She clambered into the nest beside her sister and then, for the first time, looked around. It was pretty. Not as pretty as her, but still pretty. Too many flowers, though. She liked the plants that she’s heard could eat flies and maybe even cats. She wanted to stick her paw in one of them one day, see if it chomped it off; if it did, she’d kill it.
Quickly growing bored with staying still despite her weariness, she raised her eyes to the roof of the den and spotted a hollow little section that led up the inside of the trunk. Oooh. Glancing at her sister with a mischievous little grin, she whispered “shh,” with a glance at their SummerClan dad and slipped out of the nest. It’s what her brothers would have wanted: adventure and mayhem.
Shadedsun let out a little hum of a response but didn’t budge. He didn’t really care. He didn’t know anymore. Didn’t know what he was doing. What he was feeling. What he was thinking. It was all thick fog in his mind. The only thing he knew was his sons were dead, he hurt Doestar, he hurt his kits, he hurt everyone. And he deserved his suffering. He didn’t get to have happiness and joy, no, no. That was reserved.
Applekit looked up at her Dad with a big lopsided grin, scooching over a bit to give Doestar some room. “I’m not that big.” She laughed, followed by a pout as Lilykit piped up. “Did not!” The small she-kit argues. “You have plenty of room.” She sent a concerned glance at Shadedsun, about to ask why he was sleeping on the ground, when Lilykit caught her attention. Tilting her head slightly, Applekit crawled cautiously out of the nest, following close behind her sister.
Feeling his heart twist and sink — he’d already lost his sons; he couldn’t lose Shadedsun, too — he slunk out of his nest and over to the former leader. He hesitated by his shoulder for a moment, not wanting to do anything that could give him the wrong idea again and hurt him afresh, before deciding comfort was more important and rubbing his cheek against Shadedsun’s. “If not for you,” he murmured gently, “then for our daughters. And for me. You can’t give up on them, not when they need you.”
Lilykit waited for her sister before tilting her head up to look at the hollow gap and looking back down at her with a grin. “Dare you to go up first,” she whispered, nudging Applekit’s shoulder with hers. She could still feel her heart breaking inside her chest, horrible and messy and painful, and she could either sit still and drown in it or keep moving, keep denying, keep trying to forget. She much preferred the latter. “And if we get caught, it was your idea.”
“I know...” He murmured, wrapping his tail tighter around himself. Guilt wormed in his stomach, his head spun, he felt as though he would be sick. Was he really so pathetic to just give up on his family? Didn’t they need him? “I just . . . Need to rest right now.” Sounding almost uncertain, Shadedsun dug his head into his paws, covering his eyes as if it would erase all his pain. “Just a rest. And then I’ll be chipper in the morning...” he highly doubted that.
Staring up at the hollow hole, Applekit glances back at her sister uncertainly. “What? No way, it was all your idea!” Tilting her head, she tried to jump up, but alas, she was too short. “How do I even get up there? You go first.” She ended in a whine, taking s few steps back.
Doestar gazed down at him with a helpless little frown. Swallowing thickly around a tight pain in his throat, he nodded once and settled down beside Shadedsun, curling around him as best he could - which, really, given the size difference, meant he was just pressed against the other tom's back with his chin resting on Shadedsun's shoulder and his tail curled protectively over the lower part of his body. "Then I'll stay with you," he murmured, voice scarcely above a whisper. And he would. He always would. He forced a quiet, comforting purr, like a gentle lullaby.
Briefly, he raised his head and glanced over his shoulder at his daughters, letting out a quiet warning hiss and jerking his head - stop messing around; come here. He'd never have thought that he would be the strict parent but here he was. Watching the kits to make sure they did as they were told, he settled his head back on Shadedsun's shoulder and resuming his quiet purr, his stern gaze softening into a small smile as his daughters curled up between them.
"Snitches get stitches," Lilykit told her sister grandly, sweeping her tail up, before clicking her tongue and rolling her eyes at Applekit's cowardice. "You're such a scaredy-mouse," she teased, nudging her sister's cheek with her paw a little too roughly to be affectionate, before sizing the gap up, dropping down into a crouch to wriggle her haunches in the air - and leaping. Her paws touched the gnarled bark but her legs were too short as well and she landed sprawled back on the ground.
Letting out a frustrated little growl, she pushed her sister back more with one of her hindpaws - "you're crowding me!" - and dropped back into another crouch. Before she could leap again, she heard her dad's hiss and looked over her shoulder guiltily, shooting an accusing look at Applekit. But she couldn't deny the little glow of pride she felt at having been caught being bad. Maybe she'd have to start doing it some more. Being the perfect daughter only got ya so far, after all.
Trudging back over to her dads, she clambered over Doestar, who swatted at her ears gently with his paw and let out a soft growl between his purrs, and curled up on top of Shadedsun, burying herself in the fluff of his side and curling her tail over her nose. She wanted to ask why they weren't sleeping in the perfectly nice nest, but she didn't want to get in anymore trouble just yet. Maybe in the morning. For all the trouble she gave Applekit, she loved her with all her heart, loved her more than she loved anyone, was closer to her than she'd ever been to her brothers - and, now with them gone, she needed her more than she'd ever needed anything. "Never leave me," she whispered, when her sister joined them. "Promise we're gonna be sisters forever, no matter what. I love you, scaredy-mouse." She smiled from behind her fluffy tail, eyes crinkling up.
Just as he was going to tell Doestar to leave him alone, Shadedsun clamped his mouth shut, actually comforted by the leader’s gesture. His throat felt tight and his eyes stung as if he was going to cry once more, but he relented. “Alright.” He murmured, letting the smallest of smiles crawl onto his face. “Lilykit, you should be nice to your sister.” Shadedsun said quietly, flicking his tail for the to come closer. She’s all you have left now.
“What?” Letting out a frustrated huff, Applekit watched her sister with a mild curiosity, her tail twitching in slight annoyance. “I’m not a scardey-mouse, I ain’t scared of nothing.” Twisting out of her sister’s reach moments too late, tried following Lilykit’s movements. Wiggling her own haunches and all. Scrambling straight once Lilykit fell, Applekit was by her side in seconds, fussing over her to try and see if she was okay. “Careful!” She cried, head jerking up at Doestar’s warning hiss. Glancing wearily at Shadedsun, she followed just behind her sister, sending the other she-kit a confused, saddened look. It wasn’t her fault!
“Sorry...” she murmured, hating the feeling of guilt worming in her stomach. Curling up beside Doestar, Applekit let out a large, loud yawn and placed her head on her paws. The day beat down heavy on her, weighing upon her shoulda and causing her eyelids to drop. Boy, was she tired!
”Don’t worry, Lilykit, we’ll be sisters forever and ever. I won’t leave you. Never.” She purred, giving her sister a goofy smile. “I love you too, ya stupid furball.”
Doestar was awake first for the second morning in a row. At first, lying there curled up against Shadedsun with Lilykit snuffling softly against his chest and Applekit nestled between his forepaws from where he'd unconsciously pulled her closer in the middle of the night, there was that same empty, meaningless quiet as the previous morning. But, as he lay there, the cold, grey dawn gave way to soft, golden light, and the birdsong rang out through the air, and the breeze stirred the scent of flowers, and he was alright. He'd be alright. He could survive.
He sat up, carefully disentangling himself from the kits, and gently nudged Shadedsun with his forepaw. "Rise and shine," he murmured softly, a small smile spreading across his face; for the first time in two days, it didn't feel forced. "We don't sleep away our problems in this house, sorry, we favour the go till you drop or just pretend to be happy for long enough that you trick yourself into thinking you actually are approach to things. Y'wanna mouse? A rabbit? Mayhaps a squirrel? We can try and find some berries later, maybe, if you want some. Have you tried berries?" This last part was directed at his daughters. Lilykit shook her head.
He let out a purr and turned back to Shadedsun, still prodding him gently. "Your daughter says she hasn't even tried raspberries, can you believe it? Neither have I," he whispered to her, hiding his mouth behind his paw. Lilykit let out a giggle. "So, whaddaya thinking? Lazy day? Not even leave the den? Go seeeee--expl--uh, partake of the territory?" He grinned sheepishly at Shadedsun, still getting used to his failing eyesight.
Feeling her father shift as he sat up, Lilykit let out a grizzle and tucked her paws over her eyes. During the night, she'd instinctively wriggled closer to her sister, and now she was lying half on top of her, her tail draped over Applekit's face. When her SummerClan dad started to prod at Shadedsun, Lilykit scrabbled to her paws and joined in, giggling softly. Honestly, either option sounded good to her - if they went out, she could cause mischief; if they stayed in, she could cause mischief. Win-win!
The night had been filled with vague, fuzzy terrors, his dreams wrapped in a fog that reeked of death and blood and his sons. He could only faintly hear there whispers, for moments at a time, before he woke up suddenly, still safe and sound beside his family. They continued until morning slowly crept across the horizon, dragging Shadedsun with it on a day that seemed to offend him with its brightness. How dare the dawn be so peaceful and happy? When he wasn’t? Still, there was no use in going back to sleep. Everyone else was already awake, what was the point? Well, there wasn’t a point to anything anymore, was there? Barely reacting to Doestar’s touch, Shadedsun let out a short, tired breath.
“No, I’m good.” He said quietly. Truth was, he really wasn’t hungry. He didn’t feel like he deserved to eat. Not after being such a terrible individual. He slowly, lethargically, sat up, his frame hunched and his head lowered in defeat. “Well, that’s not good. They’re very yummy.” He couldn’t even force himself to fake smile.
Meanwhile, Applekit had woken with a sneeze after basically inhaling her sister’s tail. She jumped up, still somewhat unaware of her surroundings. SummerClan. She was in SummerClan, with her sister. And not her brothers. Blinking her eyes rapidly to get used to the light, the small kit fluffed out her mostly white fur, eyes wide with curiosity swimming in their depths. “I wanna explore! I wanna try berries too. They sound so good!”
Doestar let out a quiet breath, hanging his head and closing his eyes for a moment before forcing himself to push aside the anguish and the worry of seeing Shadedsun still catatonic with grief and perk back up. It had beeb a lot easier to try and look after him when he hadn’t had to worry about their two daughters as well. “Well,” he replied, trying to sound far more cheerful and confident than he felt, “too bad. You haven’t eaten in two days—”
“Two days?” Lilykit echoed in slow, high-pitched horror. She could never go two days without eating — she couldn’t even go two hours. Her lil’ belly was proof of that.
Doestar gave his daughter a conspiratorial smile and nodded, brows raised solemnly. “Two days. So, we’re havin’ squirrel.” Stepping over his kits, he slipped out of the den and trot-limped quickly over to the freshkill pile, keeping his head down and only offering one or two brief, sunny smiles at his Clanmates before returning to the beech tree. “Voila,” he announced, voice muffled by the squirrel’s fluff. He dropped it in front of Shadedsun and pushed it closer with his nose, giving the other tom a pleading look. His heart ached at the sight of him. “Eat,” he instructed, putting on his best leader voice and keeping Lilykit at bay with a paw on her chest so she couldn’t devour the whole thing.
“Yeeeeah!” Lilykit agreed, bouncing beside her sister and jumping up on her hindlegs to lean her forepaw on the top of Applekit’s head. “We wanna explore! And eat berries!” Doestar hushed her with a sharp look and she fell into a sulky silence. “Bet they don’t even taste that good,” she grumbled.
Shadedsun let out a little huff, one very similar to a sardonic laugh. “Fine.” He murmured. He hadn’t felt the pang of hunger in that time frame, or maybe he was just ignoring it, but at the smell of a squirrel, he heard his stomach rumble and twist into itself. But there was another smell, something newly familiar. The smell of death, and as he took a slow, tentative bite, the blood filled his mouth, filled his nose. He shot up straight, chest heaving as he went back to the night he found Foxkit. Sure, they smelled a bit different, but it was the same properties, the same familiarity.
“I—I . . . I’m not that hungry, right now. I’ll eat later, though. Promise.” He was near begging, hardly caring if he sounded pathetic. Applekit looked up at her SpringClan dad with worry, ducking out from under Lilykit’s paw, the familiar twist of guilt in her stomach from Doestar’s look. She couldn’t help but feel she was the one causing trouble, being annoying. “Sorry.” She said quickly, following it up by a gasp at Lilykit’s previous words.
“They sound so good!” She purred, bumping her sister in the shoulder with her paw. “Stop being such a sulk.”
Doestar let out a frustrated breath and cursed quietly, watching Shadedsun with a miserable stare. What else could he possibly do to help him? Everything he tried — words, and touches, and food, and promises — was just met with that same numb quiet, with that same suffering. He knew he needed time, knew they both did, but he couldn’t wait that long, always had to be doing something, always had to fix it.
He rested his paw on Shadedsun’s back, leaning his head against his shoulder for a moment. “Alright,” he murmured, barely above a whisper. Stepping away again, he picked the squirrel back up, bringing Lilykit with it when she clamped her jaws around its tail and dangled in the air, and turned towards the sunlight washing into the den through the entrance. “We’ll be in the meadow if you decide to join us,” he mumbled, voice muffled by the squirrel’s fluff. “C’mon, sweetpeas, we’re lookin’ for berries.”
Casting a last sorrowful glance at Shadedsun over his shoulder, he slipped out of the den, dropped the squirrel beside a group of apprentices, and left the camp.
Lilykit let go of the squirrel’s tail and fell with a squeal, landing on her sister. “You’re a sulk!” she purred, racing after her dad with a happy giggle. “Why’re you always sorry? You’re such a loser.” She cuffed Applekit around the ears affectionately, bauling her over and rolling with her for a moment with a cheerful laugh before breaking away and scampering through the gorse tunnel.
A black tom-kit watched her from the nursery with an envious glower; she smiled and raised her tail high in the air smugly. None of the other kits got to go out like this. She and her sister were special.
