~Lightning's Life~
The first leader of LightningClan was Lightningstar, a yellow tabby with very pale stripes, black-tipped tail and one hind paw, and green eyes. Many seasons before he was born, the Great Clans broke up due to constant fighting and shortage of prey: ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and RiverClan. Cats everywhere had their heritage, including Lightning. His mother, Berry, a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes, had him in Smoothskinplace. After several hours of agony, two bundles lay in the nest beside her and she named them Lightning and Storm, a dark gray fluffy cat.
Lightning and Storm loved playing around in the stinking puddles formed by the rain that fell. Their father left before they were born, leaving Berry to look after them. They met two kits that had been abandoned by a rouge she-cat named Frosty, a white she-cat with icy blue eyes. The two kits were silver and creamy brown with green eyes. They became friends but as cats began stealing prey from them, the kits left to live on their own. Lightning never forgot them. He soon learned Shimmer died chasing a rabbit on the Blackrock.
As they grew, more cats took prey from Berry and her kits, seeing she couldn't defend herself. She decided to take them to the forest, where prey was plentiful and cats were few. Their den became a fallen down log that covered a ditch in the earth, forming a well sheltered space. The mice practically came up to the mouth of the den! Mrrow! Berry raised Lightning and Storm and passed away after a Smoothskin dog got her one leaf-bare.
Lightning and Storm were fully grown by then and buried her, grief and sorrow choking them into silence. They lived together for a few moons, but Lightning's littermate decided it was her time to move on, settle down with a tom she had met while hunting one day. Lightning heard from her from time to time and heard she had named her kits Bounce, Juniper, and Sal. They looked like their father mostly. Lightning was one day hunting when he overheard 2 cats talking about the Great Clans that had broke up; his mother had told him about them when he was a kit. He knew that he was distantly related to them, but haad forgotten all about it.
"...........it's that time again that the Great Clans need to rise," meowed a muscular, black tom. Lightning brought his food back to his den (the same one Berry had raised him and Storm in) and thought about the Clans and how they broke up due to prey and fighting after the Three saved them: Dovewing, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze. He knew all about it. He fell asleep thinking about it and dreamed......
~~~
The forest sparkled with the night's rain, shimmering droplets after the moon's ray hit the droplets. It's beautiful, thought Lightning as he padded on a well-worn path. He looked around in awe and he almost ran into a gray tabby tom with bright blue eyes. His fur shone with the stars of the night sky. Lightning opened his mouth to apologize, but the cat flicked his tail across his mouth."Lightning," he purred, looking at his pale tabby fur. "You have come, finally realized it is you who is to restore the Clans, or one." Lightning looked around as two other cats padded into silently into the clearing, their paws not touching the ground, yet stars spilling out behind them told Lightning they were. He tipped his head, puzzled.
"Who are you and what is this talk that I'm to restore the Clans? The ancient Clans are long gone," he meowed, watching the newcomers. He remembered them; a tom and a she-cat. The tom had the same build as the gray tom, but the light gray cat with golden eyes was lightly built. The tom had golden fur and amber eyes that shone with white frosty stars as he sat beside the gray tabby tom.
"You are the one, Lightning. You are meant to rebulid the Clans. And we," the gray tom meowed, indicating himself and the two other cats, "are Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing. We saved the Clans, but their feelings from the past were too much." HE shook his head sadly. Lightning felt stunned. Him? Restore the ancient Clans? He was just slightly related to him, it couldn't be him.
"It is, Lightning. You are the one that has proven to care about not yourself, but everyone else. Now come," murmured Lionblaze, padding out of the clearing. The forest changed from leafy treetops to beautifully scattered flowers and trees with blossoms. It was if they had just walked through a time hole. It just faded into the next scene. Lightning swiveled his furry ears and heard the sound of mice nibbling on seeds, causing his belly to rumble.
"Careful. If you steal prey from StarClan's hunting grounds, I'll have to ask you to leave," teased Dovewing, purring. Quickly, she killed a mouse with a swift blow of her paw and gave it to him.
"Eat!" she ordered, flicking her thin tail at the morel. Lightning scarfed it down and followed again. The three respected cats stopped and stepped aside. Lightning saw a pool that shone like crystals and was filled by a stream that reflected the moon and stars.
"The Moonstream and Crystal Pool," meowed the cats together, as one. Lightning shivered; he was scared of his destiny. "This is where you will recieve your nine lives and where your medicine cat will come every half-moon." Jayfeather and the other cats began to fade and they whispered one last thing.
".......the deputy shall be Mossy.......you shall decide her warrior name.........and Birch will become the first medicine cat of your Clan........LightningClan........Goodbye and thank you, Lightning...........we will always remember what you have done for the Clans............"
~~~
Lightning woke up, his fur matted with moss and went to hunt. He was stalking a mouse when a flash of tortoiseshell jumped out and killed the mouse. Lightning let out a hiss of frustation and turned to stalk away. The cat hurried in front of him and her eyes widened in surprise, her jaws opening in awe as she dropped the mouse.
"I-I k-know you. You're Lightning! I dreamed a-a-about---" she stopped as Lightning purred.
"And you are....?" he asked intently. He knew this must be Mossy.
"Mossy," she chattered on. "I had a dream about three cats last night............" aand she described his dream except they said her leader would be him.
"Yeah," he answered when she was finished. "I had the same dream last night." He explained about about Birch, the future medicine cat. Her green eyes widened again as he told her about Birch.
"He's my littermate!" she exclaimed. "He's always had strange dreams ever since we were kitted and interested in plants that smell mediciney!" Lightning nodded and told her to bring him to her littermate. She led him to a tree with a knotted bunch of gnarled roots that formed a den. He heard gentle snoring and the den smelled strong with plants.
"Pssssst! Birch! Wake up!" hissed Mossy, prodding him with a black paw. A brown shape shifted and looked up. A tom with big amber-yellowish eyes looked up, bewildered.
"Do you mine?" he complained. "I was just having a dream about three cats that told me that you were going to come visit with Lightning!" The two cats exchanged a look and Lightning stepped out. Birch's eyes widened in acknowledgement.
"Y-you're Lightning," he spluttered, scrambling to his paws. Lightning and Mossy explained to him about the dreams and him becoming the medicine cat. Birch listened intently and when they finished, he bouced in excitement.
"It explains my strange dreams of starry cats and my plant knowledge!" he meowed. Together they got cats that would join LightningClan and that is how LightningClan formed. They explained the dream, the tale of the four Great Clans. And that is how LightningClan was formed..............................
~Lightning's Nine Lives~
Birch led Lightning to the Moonstream and Crystal Pool. The half moon hung in the starless night, casting its eerie glow amongst the trees.
"We are here," Birch started, laying on a flat stone right beside the Crystal Pool. Lightning layed down and looked at the brown tom.
"Are you going to get your medicine cat name today?" Lightning meowed, looking at the tom. The tom nodded and gestured with his tail to lay down and sip from the pool. Lightning did this and he was sent sleep instantly. He was whisked from beside his sleeping figure by the Moonstream to a starry forest with frost glimmering everywhere. Mist shrouded the clearing as invisible paw prints gave way to sparkling cats, diamonds shimmering behind their pawprints.
"Lightning, you have done as we ask. You have rebuilt a Clan in honor of your fallen ancestors and now the moment that will make your Clan real............it is time for you to become leader of your Clan, Lightning." meowed a silver tabby with green eyes. Lightning recognized her as Shimmer, his best friend as a kit besides Leaf. She had died when a monster had run her over on the Blackrock while chasing a rabbit for them to share. He had loved her.......but she was dead now and he loved somebody else who didn't know yet.
"You will now be striped of your life before and it shall be no more," she meowed softly and touched her nose to his. His life flashed before his green eyes: His mother snarling at a russet fox as kits mewled in the background; Storm catching her first piece of prey and sharing it with him; a tom watching them as they played with fur like his and blue eyes like his sister's; his mother struggling to tell them she loved them as the last breath left her body. It all left him in less than a heartbeat, but it felt like a moon. Shimmer walked toward him and touched his nose again.
"With this life I give you love. Use it well to make your clan thrive," she meowed steadily, looking at him with all the love in her fleeting green gaze. A warm, gooey feeling flowed though him as the sun seemed to warm his pelt. She approved of his love for Leaf! As the soft feeling faded, the mist gave way to a golden tom with long fur and light blue-green eyes as he padded into the clearing and out of the mist. He walked up to Lightning and looked at him approvingly.
"The son I never knew," he meowed sadly. Lightning knew who he was: his father.
"I loved your mother, but I died on my way back to the nest, getting killed by a badger. I never saw you. She gave birth that night. My name is Sphinx," he explained, looking at his kit with love in his unusual colored eyes.
"With this life I give you caution. Use it well to protect your Clan from danger hidden in the shadows," he murmured. He felt a rushing power and protective feeling hit him hard as he gasped for breath and scored his claws into the stone beneath him. The mist gave way to his mother, Berry, her blue eyes reflecting the foggy clearing as she dashed over to him and nuzzled him.
"Oh, my kit! I've missed you so much. I'm so proud of you! With this life I give you courage. Use it well to fight for what is right for your Clan," she purred, touching her brown muzzle to his yellow one. A bolt of energy seized him, unexpectantly. He felt claws rip through his flank and knew he was experiencing his mother's last few hours before joining StarClan. Red haze pulsed through his vision and he shook his head to clear his sight. A small cat came to him and stood up on his hind paws to touch his nose even though he was crouched down. She was a mixture of dark brown, light brown, and white with a brilliant golden gaze.
"With this life I give you strength to protect your Clan in battle and in times of peace to remain strong," she mewed softly. He felt the power of the Four Great Clans pulsing through him, as if he had the power of StarClan. The feeling ebbed away and he was left weak and tired, not ready for the next life. He knew it was Sal, Storm's kit. He had seen her once, but he didn't know she had died. He wondered how. Saving Bounce from drowning, came the answer inside his head. He jumped and looked at Sal, who nodded it had been her. A icy white she-cat came next, her fur sparkling the most because she was white.
"With this life I give you endurance. Use it well to for your Clan in leafbare," meowed the she-cat, eyes like chips of melting ice. "I'm Shimmer's mother, Frosty, and Leaf's mother." She whisked around and stalked off proudly. The feeling melted into his bloodstream as if ice melting in the morning sun. A small fluffy white cat with a gray muzzle and blue eyes padded up to him and purred.
"Cloudy!" breathed Lightning, looking at the kittypet. She had been killed after an attack from another kittypet protecting its territory. Cloudy acknowledged him with a nod and started his life.
"With this life I give you understanding. Use it well to know and respect the choices of all cats' in your Clan, as they respect yours, " meowed Cloudy, touching her muzzle to Lightning's. A dark feeling washed over him but he saw light in his mind at the end of a dark tunnel: hope and the darkness was the uncertainty and the light was the certainty and hope. A lump of grief formed in his throat as he watched Cloudy pad back to the group of StarClan cats, the mist swallowing her up. A sleek black muscular tom stalked up to Lightning and hissed in his face.
"You lousy excuse for a cat!" he growled, lashing his tail. A warning look from Berry shut Shade up, but Shade said everything in a single glare from his blue eyes that were smoldering blue fire.
"With this life I give you certainty. Use it well to decide what is best for your clan," he rasped and walked stiffly back, but not before he and Lightning shared the awful memory: Shade's mother yowling for help as his littermate was torn apart by the huge dog. Blood spattered the ground as the Shade and him fought the dog off together, but it was too late.......Nancy was dead, a sweet cream colored cat with big amber eyes. A bolt of pain entered at Lightning's muzzle and slowly ebbed away at his tail-tip. Shade hissed before sitting beside Berry and a creamy she-cat padded into the frosty clearing. It was Nancy. She stopped beside Shade and mewed something in his ear and the came over to Lightning.
"You attempted to save my life, and for that my brother is bitter but time heals all wounds," she meowed wisely. "With this life I give you patience. Use it well to help your clanmates who are falling behind, and for the stressful times you will overcome" she said, and this life was very peaceful. He felt like endless time streched out beforehim, but he didn't care. His heart stopped at the sight of the last cat: a gray and white spotted bengal she-cat with blue eyes. She was Berry's littermate, Hazel. She was beautiful with a plumy tail and Lightning had loved playing with her when he was a kit.
"I give you the gift of faith, for our warrior ancestors are always here for you and your Clan," she meowed, bowing her head respectfully to the yellow tabby and stepped backed.. Shimmer stepped forward and looked at him with her glowing green gaze.
"Lightning, I call you as your new name as a leader, Lightningstar." She spoke with passion and happiness as she said the ancient ritual of new leaders. "Your old life is no more. You have recieved the nine lives of a Clan leader. Use all of them well for LightningClan.............the next Great Clan." Lightningstar woke up beside Birch, who was stirring also.
"Welcome back, Lightningstar," he chirped happily. Just like Mossy, Lightningstar thought, purring. "I'm Birchshade now. I met with---" he stopped himself from saying what he had experienced and they went back to camp. There Lightningstar went to name Mossy Mossyfeather for her soft fur and happy attitude.
Other cats visited him in his dreams during his leadership. He was a wise and honorable leader of LightningClan and the by far best.
"We are here," Birch started, laying on a flat stone right beside the Crystal Pool. Lightning layed down and looked at the brown tom.
"Are you going to get your medicine cat name today?" Lightning meowed, looking at the tom. The tom nodded and gestured with his tail to lay down and sip from the pool. Lightning did this and he was sent sleep instantly. He was whisked from beside his sleeping figure by the Moonstream to a starry forest with frost glimmering everywhere. Mist shrouded the clearing as invisible paw prints gave way to sparkling cats, diamonds shimmering behind their pawprints.
"Lightning, you have done as we ask. You have rebuilt a Clan in honor of your fallen ancestors and now the moment that will make your Clan real............it is time for you to become leader of your Clan, Lightning." meowed a silver tabby with green eyes. Lightning recognized her as Shimmer, his best friend as a kit besides Leaf. She had died when a monster had run her over on the Blackrock while chasing a rabbit for them to share. He had loved her.......but she was dead now and he loved somebody else who didn't know yet.
"You will now be striped of your life before and it shall be no more," she meowed softly and touched her nose to his. His life flashed before his green eyes: His mother snarling at a russet fox as kits mewled in the background; Storm catching her first piece of prey and sharing it with him; a tom watching them as they played with fur like his and blue eyes like his sister's; his mother struggling to tell them she loved them as the last breath left her body. It all left him in less than a heartbeat, but it felt like a moon. Shimmer walked toward him and touched his nose again.
"With this life I give you love. Use it well to make your clan thrive," she meowed steadily, looking at him with all the love in her fleeting green gaze. A warm, gooey feeling flowed though him as the sun seemed to warm his pelt. She approved of his love for Leaf! As the soft feeling faded, the mist gave way to a golden tom with long fur and light blue-green eyes as he padded into the clearing and out of the mist. He walked up to Lightning and looked at him approvingly.
"The son I never knew," he meowed sadly. Lightning knew who he was: his father.
"I loved your mother, but I died on my way back to the nest, getting killed by a badger. I never saw you. She gave birth that night. My name is Sphinx," he explained, looking at his kit with love in his unusual colored eyes.
"With this life I give you caution. Use it well to protect your Clan from danger hidden in the shadows," he murmured. He felt a rushing power and protective feeling hit him hard as he gasped for breath and scored his claws into the stone beneath him. The mist gave way to his mother, Berry, her blue eyes reflecting the foggy clearing as she dashed over to him and nuzzled him.
"Oh, my kit! I've missed you so much. I'm so proud of you! With this life I give you courage. Use it well to fight for what is right for your Clan," she purred, touching her brown muzzle to his yellow one. A bolt of energy seized him, unexpectantly. He felt claws rip through his flank and knew he was experiencing his mother's last few hours before joining StarClan. Red haze pulsed through his vision and he shook his head to clear his sight. A small cat came to him and stood up on his hind paws to touch his nose even though he was crouched down. She was a mixture of dark brown, light brown, and white with a brilliant golden gaze.
"With this life I give you strength to protect your Clan in battle and in times of peace to remain strong," she mewed softly. He felt the power of the Four Great Clans pulsing through him, as if he had the power of StarClan. The feeling ebbed away and he was left weak and tired, not ready for the next life. He knew it was Sal, Storm's kit. He had seen her once, but he didn't know she had died. He wondered how. Saving Bounce from drowning, came the answer inside his head. He jumped and looked at Sal, who nodded it had been her. A icy white she-cat came next, her fur sparkling the most because she was white.
"With this life I give you endurance. Use it well to for your Clan in leafbare," meowed the she-cat, eyes like chips of melting ice. "I'm Shimmer's mother, Frosty, and Leaf's mother." She whisked around and stalked off proudly. The feeling melted into his bloodstream as if ice melting in the morning sun. A small fluffy white cat with a gray muzzle and blue eyes padded up to him and purred.
"Cloudy!" breathed Lightning, looking at the kittypet. She had been killed after an attack from another kittypet protecting its territory. Cloudy acknowledged him with a nod and started his life.
"With this life I give you understanding. Use it well to know and respect the choices of all cats' in your Clan, as they respect yours, " meowed Cloudy, touching her muzzle to Lightning's. A dark feeling washed over him but he saw light in his mind at the end of a dark tunnel: hope and the darkness was the uncertainty and the light was the certainty and hope. A lump of grief formed in his throat as he watched Cloudy pad back to the group of StarClan cats, the mist swallowing her up. A sleek black muscular tom stalked up to Lightning and hissed in his face.
"You lousy excuse for a cat!" he growled, lashing his tail. A warning look from Berry shut Shade up, but Shade said everything in a single glare from his blue eyes that were smoldering blue fire.
"With this life I give you certainty. Use it well to decide what is best for your clan," he rasped and walked stiffly back, but not before he and Lightning shared the awful memory: Shade's mother yowling for help as his littermate was torn apart by the huge dog. Blood spattered the ground as the Shade and him fought the dog off together, but it was too late.......Nancy was dead, a sweet cream colored cat with big amber eyes. A bolt of pain entered at Lightning's muzzle and slowly ebbed away at his tail-tip. Shade hissed before sitting beside Berry and a creamy she-cat padded into the frosty clearing. It was Nancy. She stopped beside Shade and mewed something in his ear and the came over to Lightning.
"You attempted to save my life, and for that my brother is bitter but time heals all wounds," she meowed wisely. "With this life I give you patience. Use it well to help your clanmates who are falling behind, and for the stressful times you will overcome" she said, and this life was very peaceful. He felt like endless time streched out beforehim, but he didn't care. His heart stopped at the sight of the last cat: a gray and white spotted bengal she-cat with blue eyes. She was Berry's littermate, Hazel. She was beautiful with a plumy tail and Lightning had loved playing with her when he was a kit.
"I give you the gift of faith, for our warrior ancestors are always here for you and your Clan," she meowed, bowing her head respectfully to the yellow tabby and stepped backed.. Shimmer stepped forward and looked at him with her glowing green gaze.
"Lightning, I call you as your new name as a leader, Lightningstar." She spoke with passion and happiness as she said the ancient ritual of new leaders. "Your old life is no more. You have recieved the nine lives of a Clan leader. Use all of them well for LightningClan.............the next Great Clan." Lightningstar woke up beside Birch, who was stirring also.
"Welcome back, Lightningstar," he chirped happily. Just like Mossy, Lightningstar thought, purring. "I'm Birchshade now. I met with---" he stopped himself from saying what he had experienced and they went back to camp. There Lightningstar went to name Mossy Mossyfeather for her soft fur and happy attitude.
Other cats visited him in his dreams during his leadership. He was a wise and honorable leader of LightningClan and the by far best.
