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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"I'm sure SunClan still has some secrets that you will discover. If not today, then tomorrow. One day you will." She purred and took a few steps away from her kitten. "I wish I could stay, but I have to leave and prepare for the desert. I'll see you again soon. I promise." It had been weeks since she had last been in SunClan's vicinity, and a lot had changed both for her and SunClan. Her chest bore a new scar: a square with a circle inscribed inside. Her step was as powerful as ever, and her eyes shone with pride, which evaporated when SunClan's burning glow came into view. She came from the direction of the city and traveled up from there until she arrived back on the desert border. Everything was destroyed. The smell of smoke still hung in the air, and embers still lit up the ground as she walked through the desolate landscape. The mother in her wondered what happened to her children. Did they escape the blaze? Where are they hiding?
He still haunted the area. Not quite there but not quite gone either, Crow feeling himself hesitant to begin the new chapter unveiling itself to him. SunClan-- burned. Ghostcrown-- gone, again. Desertpaw and Spiritpaw-- off in SwiftClan. Raypaw-- his heart constricted, unsure of what had become of his sister, and he cursed himself for this. She hadn't been present in the throes of the war so he'd thought she was moved to a safer location, but she was not among the survivors who'd taken refuge in MoonClan.
He'd already said his goodbye to his last remaining connection in the clan. Nightmarepaw, his best and only friend, who he loved in some way but he knew he could no sooner turn away from the future than she could her plans of taking vengeance upon her mother. The memory of her pleading him to stay still stung him, but his resolve kept him firm. No more living for others. It was his turn to live as he truly wanted.
Crow sat upon a giant, porcelain white skull situated in the outskirts of SunClan's remains. It looked even more terrifying in the smog, a silhouette in the smog. Somewhere ahead, his eyes lifted to see embers erupt into the air like smoldering fireflies, the tom preparing to defend himself if it came down to it-- and then, he relaxed. "Mom! What are you doing here?" He descended from his perch to meet her halfway, his stride staggered by a limp, but joy was clear on his features at the sight of her.
Each one of her pawsteps was carefully calculated with all the small fires still burning. This territory did not have lushness it was once known far. It was as desolate as the wasteland where she made her home, if not more so. At least the wasteland made no promise of being inviting and welcoming. The remains of a once plentiful territory would taunt its inhabitants for months to come. Maybe they were better off staying in MoonClan's lush forests. They'd survive, even if they couldn't feel their deity like they did in the past.
The smog made her lungs itch, but she had to figure out what happened to her kits. Such a blaze would definitely have casualties. She dreaded the moment she stepped in one of their ash piles, but was a fear she had to push through. The smog made her wander aimlessly, until she heard her son's voice. Her eyes lit up as she rushed forward and touch her nose to his. "I saw the fire. I had to make sure you and your siblings were alive..."
Breathing in her familiar scent was the first time he felt he'd breathed since their last meeting. He was larger than he was then, his shoulders wider and his paws calloused, speaking to how the world was still brutal on a young cat, but some of his flaming rage that had been present in his eyes then was now diminished. "We all made it out-- I think." Another twist of the knife in his heart. "Dad came back to rescue a queen named Jetfire, Bloodystar's mate, and Spiritpaw and Desertpaw went with him to SwiftClan. I don't know what happened to Raypaw... She was sick, I thought she was moved somewhere, but I haven't seen her. I failed her." Of the four siblings, he'd always felt closest to his silver sister, but what kind of brother was he to not be there when she needed him most?
Grief hung like a fog more thick and potent than the smoke enveloping them, but he cast it aside (not without great effott) to ask, noticing her new scar, "What does that mean?"
We all made it out-- I think. Her heart stopped at those words. What could he mean? Her expressions of joy and love melted away into a cold, determined mask as she looked down on her son. He had grown, and she noticed his filled out form, but those words and the ones that followed took something out of her. It would take something out of every mother. A phrase like 'at least three of them are safe' would have made her lash out. There was nothing without all four being alive. She trusted Ghostcrown with them. She always knew he was a mistake. Not her kittens, but him. She wanted kittens then, but he was not the right cat. What father would leave one of his kits behind in a fire?
She saw that he grieved, but his lack of anger disturbed her. Igziq lashed her tail back and forth as her gaze grew more intense with each passing second. "It means your mom was finally initiated and promoted. That's all." She gestured towards the center of the territory. "Show me to the camp. We're going to see if she's dead."
He could feel his mother's wrath before he heard it in her voice. It felt familiar. It felt like his own.
Slowly, almost timidly, Crow nodded and turned to guide her through the ravaged lands. Nothing looked the same: The trees were corpses stood upright, the ground pale and ashen, and the sky had no stars as smoke blotted out all sources of light. He approached what was once SunClan's camp but was now empty, disconcertingly so. "This is it. The medicine cat den was over here." The river that split the camp still trickled as if nothing had occurred here, a quaint babble in the background as Crow led his mother down the tunnel that their healers once occupied.
Igziq stayed silent as they traveled deeper into the desolate territory and let her anger fester. Crow had only seen the best of who his mother was. He could only remember the best of times, and saw her as a light in a world that forgot about him. The truth is that he inherited her wrath and unconquerable anger. On top of that she had the anger of a mother blooming. There was no stopping her on whatever she decided to do next.
Her icy eyes surveyed the camp for any signs of life as they entered, but all the ash was uniform. She expected it. Any gust of wind would disturb the ash and eliminate evidence of survival. But maybe in the den there was something. Igziq brushed by her son and up the ravine to the den. "Let's go then. See if you can find some disturbed ash."
(unconquerable anger and a light in a world that forgot about him are really good phrases!!)
He obeyed mindlessly, an order from her not to be questioned, and led the way through what once was home. "I don't see anything," he murmured, mew hollow, as he gazed at the ashes that might have been clanmates. Now it was simply a part of the earth, stirred in the winds of their movement.
She held no sentimental attachment to the place, but she could still see the beauty that the camp once had. Its now blackened cliffs probably used to be full of different colors in amazing layers. The burnt cinders on top of the gorge used to be brambles that protected them and provided beauty in the spring. But all of that was gone.
As she entered the den, Igziq noticed a huge pile of ash deep inside. A cat sized pile of ash. She took a quivering breath and walked towards it. She ran her paw through the pile, and shook her head. "The heat was trapped in her. It cremated her body... there's not even anything left..."
That one word repeated in an endless stream. It was all he could hear, all he could know; his mother's voice was disembodied and far away. From the moment he saw that grim shake of her head, his senses became white noise, and Crow took a shaking step away from her, away from the remains of his sister. No no no no no.
Not Raypaw. Anyone but Ray.
"I...It can't be her. It can't. No, no, no, not Ray. It can't-- I- I failed her."
He'd once felt grief and sorrow, but he'd felt them as vehicles for his anger. For righteous wrath to take hold and entangle his heart, spin flames around it, and to inject it into his bloodstream. He'd held onto that wrath for longer now than he could remember ever living without it, but now it was different. It was not that same heat that warmed him in cold nights. It was not that same sword that vanquished his foes. This rage was personal; it took his heart, slung that sword right into it, and his comforting warmth escaped for bitter, freezing self-hatred to seep in. He'd left her. He'd stopped protecting them. Let them live for themselves. And now his sister was dead.
Slowly, he sank to the ground where he stood, despondent eyes staring at the pile of soot Igziq scuffed her paw through. Raypaw. I'm sorry.
She had not felt grief like this in a log time. It was numbing. But she couldn't break down, not with her kitten here. He had grown lots since she left him in SunClan, but to her he was still her little Crow running around in the hot desert sun. To her, none of her kits had grown since the day she dropped them off with their father. She sifted through the ashes one more time, and then took a deep breath in hope that she might just catch a trace of her scent. Obviously, she didn't. All she smelled was smoke.
Igziq turned to face her grieving son with tears running down her face, but she didn't collapse to the ground. "Look at me, tmashil pataf yilra yish." Her tongue. She rarely spoke it in front of his litter. My beautiful Crow. "Do not blame yourself. This isn't your fault, nor is it your sister's, may she rest in peace. It is your father's fault. It was his job to look after you and your siblings. This is his failure, and his failure alone. I will make sure he understands that."
His gaze, empty, trailed up to look into the grief-stricken eyes of his mother obediently, but her words brought him no relief for once. Nothing she could say would assuage the weight that pressed onto his shoulders, a burden he would carry for as long as he lived. "I was there, too. I should have gone to her, but I was so, so mad. I could only think of myself, not her. My sister is dead and it's my fault, too."
Her gaze soften as she pulled him in closer. "It's not. It's your father's job to protect you and your siblings, not yours. I entrusted you all to him, not you. He failed your sister. He failed you." Her lip curled as she thought what she would make him do. "I'll track down SwiftClan myself, and I'll make sure he knows what he did. I'll have him break the news to Desert and Spirit. Before I go, I will stay here for you as long as you like. But as the dead move on to the next life, we must continue with ours."
