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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11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
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He could hardly believe his own success. Omega's little gang of outcasts was growing rapidly. It started with him and Siren, a former clanmate, and recently grew to include Discordantmelody and Harvestpaw. Not that he cared about Harvestpaw, but he had to be good for something. Maybe. He chuckled. Perhaps in a year. The tom could barely find his own tail, let alone fight it for territory. Melody showed promise. He had no doubt about that. She was his project in a sense. The SunClan she-cat had all the tools without any idea how to use them.
That was where he stepped in. The trade simplicity was typical: training for loyalty, but he sensed it went beyond that for Melody. In any case, he wanted to ambush her today. He knew she would fail, but she had to learn how to get beaten down so she could get back up. The training programs lacked the simple routine, and it made them weak. A pair of voices not far in front himself knocked the tabby back into reality. He sniffed the air: there were only two, but they had subtly different scents, beyond what differed between cats. They slept in different parts of the territory... he found himself a Janus and a student. He crept forward to get a better view of the pair.
"We're out today on a great a-d-ventuuuuure! ♪" Gingersnap sang out before smiling back expectantly at Arcticpaw.
Arcticpaw returned a shy smile, "Adventuuuure ♪" She sang lightly in return.
Gingersnap let out a giddy girlish laugh that her friend had joined in singing with her, "I'm sorry that Discordantmelody was mean to you at the Eve of Peace, Arcticpaw. It burns me up inside to know she acted that way, I wish SunClan had some more rules about being treating their clan mates with respect," She spoke earnestly. Gingersnap looked back to see how Arcticpaw was going to respond, but Arcticpaw was already distracted staring into the direction of where Omega was. The wind rolled through her light peach colored fur as she stared out into the distance, "There's someone there." She said, her voice airy like the echo of a rung bell.
The tom chuckled under his breath at the song. Gingersnap sounded so enthusaistic, and then there was Arcticpaw who seemed to just play along. Gingersnap had some pull, but Arcticpaw was certainly older. Who the Janus? He'd figure it out in due time. His ears perked up at Discordantmelody's name. Such an agent of chaos. All she needed was a little guidance and training, just as Arcticpaw clearly had. Omega was not surprised that Arcticpaw had detected him, he would have been disappointed if she didn't. He had not been particularly stealthy in his approach, partly because he did not see the pair as a threat. He rose to his paws and revealed himself from the foliage. Scars riddled his body, and his icy eyes lacked the lively shine they once carried. He had seen better days. His eyes danced between the two of them as if they were searching for something. "So there is."
"State your business," Gingersnap said, immediately challenging the tom. Unlike in typical clan culture where warriors were quick to drive intruders out of their territories SunClan's code demanded every cat to challenge why someone was there before taking action. As such neither cat moved to Omega, not that they really should either. Gingersnap was clearly young, she looked like a fresh faced apprentice and while Arcticpaw was older and close to a warriors age she was as short as Gingersnap was.
He let out an exaggerated sigh and ran the sand beneath his paws through his claws. "I don't know, reminding myself of a certain time in my life. You know, the time when everything falls apart. They were dark times for me, but I found something like hope. But you both know how fleeting that is. Or will." A smile worked its way onto his lips. "Things can only go so well you let cowards run your life." His gaze drifted between the two of them. The one who detected him had more training, but the other one led Arcticpaw to where they stood and seemed to have a larger since of duty. It took guts to challenge a cat twice your size, and the other one was merely perturbed by his presence. She (Gingersnap) was probably the Janus, and the other follower. His empty, piercing gaze settled on Gingersnap. "Looks like Littlestar's made you of all cats a Janus. I doubt you could take down an Initiate."
Gingersnap was surprised by what the tom said, "No one here is a coward," She said not too confidently. Her mom tried to raise her and her siblings to be well behaved, but free imaginative thinkers. However her mom couldn't help herself, the things she let slip and the skepticism and hate she held to the Sun God radiated from her. Gingersnap couldn't help but have some doubts deep down about SunClan, how could she not? Her mom was soothsayer, of all people she would know. She had tried not to pay too much attention to it and devote herself to the Sun God, but it came at a price...
"Littlestar didn't choose me, the Sun God chose me," Gingersnap said confidently, which couldn't be more true. She hadn't even been in the janus ceremony, but the Sun God led her there himself.
"She was chosen," Arcticpaw said. She was an honest person who would normally say more, but she was also a rule follower. She wouldn't talk about SunClan affairs to outsiders. "You're strong, if I fought you it would be a close battle at my current stage of training. I'm going to have to ask you to leave or request backup."
Omega was right, Gingersnap was too young to fight anyone. She was supposed to attack an initiate twice and failed because she still had kitten teeth and claws. Now Gingersnap was at least seven moons old, but didn't have enough training. Arcticpaw was almost done with training, but she could tell Omega was stronger than her. She wouldn't participate in fights she couldn't win.
He raised a brow at Gingersnap's first sentence. He knew that sound when he heard it. Gingersnap knew what she should say, but the Janus hardly believed it herself. Especially or a Janus, her lack of faith was a crack in SunClan's system. He had to wonder if SunClan's faith the Sun God had wavered since Foxstar stepped down all those moons ago. It must have if a Janus like this could slip through the cracks.
He reminded himself to take it slow and stop speculating. She certainly still had faith. Maybe not the flawless faith the Janus once had, but systems age and evolve. It didn't mean the Clan was unstable. Even if the Janus lost faith, they only needed to keep the Clan convinced. Easy enough when they isolated themselves.
"So maybe you were chosen, but you couldn't convince me that Littlestar doesn't have a say. She is his conduit to the earth, after all. She has some sway, just as Foxstar did when she changed SunClan." He chuckled. "I'm only dating myself, hmm?"
His gaze shifted to Arcticpaw and slowly shook his head. "You seem to conflate training and experience. Training prepares you to gain experience, but you do not experience anything when you train. I'm sure you've done all these little practice moves and mock battles, but have you ever fought for your life? Have you ever felt your claws tear through your enemy, felt their teeth on your throat? Have you ever watched the light leave someone's eyes at your claw?" The tabby took a few more steps forward until he was withing striking distance of the duo. "Little one, you're as much of threat to me as this Janus here."
The two she-cats watched the tom carefully. Gingersnap stared him down with confusion, but not hostility, while Arcticpaw watched with diligence, yet preparedness.
Arcticpaw's dull olive green eyes flickered briefly as Omega approached, but there was no tenseness, "Yes, some moons ago a tiny kittypet intruded on SunClan territory. She then tore my stomach open, eating me alive, I lost, but my mother tormented and killed her," She said, her soft voice sounded fragile as glass, it carried a soft lullaby rhythm. Her tone never wavering, staying same matter fact.
"Gingersnap, you should go get backup," Arcticpaw said, she was much more of a rule follower, no surprise with Littlestar being her mother.
Gingersnap stared at Arcticpaw with uncertainty about leaving her alone with Omega, but began to retreat away from the two to head back to camp.
So the Janus was Gingersnap. He needed names. Discordantmelody could tell him all about these two later if he had them. Hopefully, he could onboard at least one of them now, but they seemed to be fiercely loyal. At least Arcticpaw was. The uncertainty in Gingersnap's eyes made her bendable. He just needed more time and information to make her doubt Littlestar, but the fear would be useful now. His eyes settled on the back of Gingersnap's neck. "Gingersnap, I wouldn't leave. If you do, I will finish that kittypet's job on your friend here. Speaking of that..."
His eyes returned to Arcticpaw. "So, you've met death in its doorstep, by letting a kittypet of all things bring you down." A laugh rumbled from deep within his throat. "Your clan couldn't defend you against a lost house pet, and you still choose to follow them? Choose to follow your god, when he could have chosen to save you? That's insanity if I've ever seen it."
"Hey, you're just being a bully! No one's completely safe, no leader can protect everyone and no StarClan or anything like it can protect everyone. So don't act like SunClan's failing us cause they're not!" Gingersnap pouted. Her orange ringed tail began to lash side to side.
"You did not come here to criticize random cats you found. What is your end game," Arcticpaw asked, her expression only faltering once at the mention of being beaten by a kittypet. For a moment it looked like she could have taken the bait, questioned her values, but instead she focused on the tom. Questioning him, his intent, why he would come out to talk to two apprentices, this wasn't normal.
"I don't like what you're implying here, apprentice. If I wanted to kill you two, I would have. My endgame can just be talking to you two. What's wrong with some heated philosophical debate, hmm? It benefits us all. I learn more about you, and you learn about the outside world which you shun." It was something his old self enjoyed more, but he could still get in the groove. He turned his attention to Gingersnap. "I would have thought that last part could have gone unspoken... unless you're just reaffirming it to comfort yourself. " He sighed and tapped his paw against the ground. "Don't worry, its natural. When I was a leader, I questioned my morality all the time. It's part of being in a position of power." He paused. "Let me ask you something Gingersnap. Did you want to be a Janus, or was the burden just thrust upon you?"
"What's wrong with some heated philosophical debate, hmm?"
"It's boring," Arcticpaw replied shortly as the tom continued on.
"I... I didn't want to or maybe I just didn't know I wanted to until it happened," Gingersnap replied back with a perky tone.
Arcticpaw looked tired by all the talking and lied down before getting back up restlessly, "I should tell mom," She said with certainty, her movements and even her voice were very matter of fact, yet gentle like the chime of a bell.
"If it's boring then you clearly aren't thinking." He snapped back at Arcticpaw before redirecting his attention to the Janus. "Your first thought was that you didn't want to, and your second that you didn't want to until it happened. Again, it seems like you are justifying what happened." He decided to ignore whatever Arcticpaw was saying. She knew he could kidnap or kill the young Janus if left alone with her. Leaving would pose to big of a risk. "I bet you didn't want to become a Janus, but you also didn't want to disappoint someone. So, as much as you doubt your ways, you became a Janus."
Gingersnap's shoulders sagged looking even smaller now in front of the tom. Her ears flattened submissively, she didn't reply to him, but he could tell that he hit the nail on the head. She didn't want to be Janus, in fact her mother told her to never get involved. The Sun God had forced her out of the den and into the spotlight for everyone to make her Janus. Ever since then she was just told what to do. Growing up in SunClan she was taught to never question anything so it wasn't until now that she realized just how much she never considered what she wanted.
Arcticpaw watched Omega with a neutral expression like a bored apprentice would to their mentor, an almost, are we done yet? look. "How interesting," She said politely, as though trying to just appease him so they could move on. She lacked the same break through moment that Gingersnap was having beside her.,
The tom couldn't help but smile when he saw the Janus's expression shift from one of perkiness to something resembling shame. He also felt some sort of pride swelling in himself. It took him minutes to figure out what she was thinking and how she felt about the world, and maybe change her course. He took another few steps forward and put a paw on her shoulder. "I know how tough this must be for you. I once lived in a Clan like yours. You'll get through it... eventually. I can help, if you want." He glanced over to Arcticpaw. "I can even help you, if you give me the chance."
