[!] Backstory

Sep 29, 20137 min read

Deviation Actions

TheSilverRiver

Elesette

Published: Sep 29, 2013

686 Views

Though it seems like so long ago, just only a few seasons in the past, the three clans were in peace. SunClan, DuskClan and DawnClan lived together happily, border skirmishes were few and far between, and all the cats were grateful for the everlasting peace that was brought upon them. Though, like the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

One tranquil day, a lone tabby tom stumbled into the clans' territories. Had circumstances been different, there was no doubt he would have been chased out with a warning never to set paw in the clan's territories again. But circumstances weren't different. The tom was badly injured and sick. If he didn't get any medical attention he would surely die. Worried, DuskClan took the tom under their wing, working hard to make the tom heal swiftly.
The tom stayed in DuskClan for a few moons even after he was healed completely. He benefited from the clan's kindness, eating as much prey as he wanted and coming and going as he pleased. He wandered into the other clans' territories, which annoyed them, but they didn't chase him out for fear of being on the bad side of DuskClan, which may have destroyed their long lasted peace. Soon enough the tom decided to leave the clans. No cat knows why, most figure he just got bored of clan life and left for the eventful twolegplace once more. With the mysterious tom out of the way, the clans settled down again, back into their relaxed lives.

Soon after the tom left, leaf-fall rolled around. As was expected, some cats gained Whitecough, some even greencough. The medicine cats rationed out their catmint as best they could, knowing full well that the greencough could spread. The clans managed to survive that leaf-bare fine, though there was much more whitecough, greencough than was expected. A few cats had died, and though the clans were mournful, they looked towards new-leaf as a new beginning.

As new-leaf progressed, the medicine cats realized with horror that the blackcough that some cats had contracted wasn't going away. Instead, it seemed to be getting worse by the day. Cats began showing symptoms that the medicine cats hadn't even seen before, which confused and scared the clans to the sky and back. What used to be just a fever and a cough became much worse. Vomiting, coughing up blood, lack in appetite and even delusions and seizures were seen in some cats. The cats of the clans dubbed this sickness 'Blackcough' as it seemed like whoever caught it, was never going to heal again. The awful sickness had spread like wildfire throughout the clans by border meetings and gatherings, and soon cats were dying left and right.

It was only when the middle of greenleaf came around did the leaders decide to do something about it, giving up all hopes that the sickness would leave on its own. They held a gathering, and the clans shared as much information about the sickness as the could to each other in an attempt to understand it. It was decided soon after that each clan would send a small patrol of healthy warriors to head into the twolegplace to find the cat who had originally brought the disease, the tabby tom who had wandered into DuskClan all those moons ago. The patrols were decided soon after, and the cats headed on their way.

The patrol wandered for three moons in the twolegplace, looking for the tom. They barely survived in the unfamiliar territory. Leaf-fall was setting in again, and hostile cats roamed the streets. A few of the patrol died, and with sorrow were burried in the unfamiliar ground. Finally, after weeks of searching, they found the cat, sitting atop a fence post. At first they asked nicely for him to help them, at least tell them the cure, but the tom refused. The clan cats spent hours pleading, begging for the tom to help them, but the best response they got was a shrug and a few short sentences. "It's not my problem. I left the clans long ago. You're not kits, you can defend yourselves."
With heavy hearts, the patrol returned home a few days later.

Upon their arrival home, they were welcomed with a sight even worse than what they had seen when they had left three moons before.The medicine cat, deputy and leader positions almost seemed like they were dying faster than they could be replaced. Oddly enough, some cats noticed, cats who had a bad case of greencough earlier in their lives had a less harmful strain of the virus, if any at all. But even with this, the clans' numbers were dwindling, and the news the patrol brought back didn't help the cause, sending the clans into a state of panic.

A half moon later, the leaders, deputies and medicine cats gathered together to talk about their next plan of action. Some cats argued that they surely couldn't stay, or all the cats would die! Others, however, remained stubborn, claiming that these were their ancestors hunting, battle and burial grounds. To abandon them would be a disgrace to all the clans. After a day of arguing, they finally came to an agreement. They had to leave their territories.
But then arose the next question. How would they get rid of the virus itself? It wouldn't so to just leave, and have the virus follow. After a few more days of debate and argument, they came to the grim conclusion. They would have to leave all the infected cats behind.

The leaders announced this to the clans, and were met with protests of sadness, grief, anger and frustration. The three leaders gave the cats two days to say goodbye to their loved ones, then the clans would be off on their trek to their new, and hopefully better, home.

The journey was long and tiring, the clans lost even more cats then they would want to admit on their travels. They ran into many dangers, including dogs, stray cats, raging rivers and freezing blizzards. Along the way, they picked up a few stray cats as well. They needed to increase their small numbers in order for the clans to grow stronger, and any help from any cat would be appreciated.
To reach their new home, the cats decided to follow the river that flowed through their old territories. Surely the river that had provided them so much in the past, could continue to do so somewhere else, they thought. They also agreed that it was like a small piece of home that they were bringing with them, and somehow held memories of all the cats who they had lost.

Finally, five moons later, the clans arrived at their new home, which seemed like a haven compared to what they had been though. There was a roomy, clearing filled forest perfect for LightClan. A dark, thick forest awaited DuskClan, while flower-filled meadows suited SunClan perfectly. The cats began to settle into their new territories, filled with hope that this could be their home for many moons to come. But will this really be the end of their terror? Or is this only just the beginning?

_{banner and writing by the amazing Ribbon-Wren}