hollyhock

~~~

PADDING OVER TO BLAZEKIT was the walk of shame in Ivorykit's eyes, her deep rumble of hatred for the reddish brown she-kit stirring almost violently. She'd never gotten along with Blazekit; to her, Blazekit was literally born with an attitude, and the two have been bickering for as long as Ivorykit can remember.

Last night's recent argument had ended with Ivorykit calling Blazekit a frogface, which was unfortunately overheard by her mother, Featherflight, who insisted that the white she-kit apologize the next day.

Ivorykit had put it off for as long as possible, but as the sun was coming down and everyone in ShadowClan started buzzing in anticipation for that night's Gathering, she knew her time had just about run out.

"Blazekit. Can I talk to you, please?" Ivorykit felt as though the words had to be gritted out of her teeth as she approached the reddish brown she-kit. Blazekit's following eye roll certainly didn't help.

"Mom?" Blazekit mewed, calling to where mother, Tawnyfoot, was sharing a rabbit with her father, Firepelt. "Ivorykit wants to talk. Can I?"

Tawnyfoot nodded, though it was clear both her and her mate were uptight about the whole thing. They were very protective of their kits, and Ivorykit could see the two watching her from the corner of their eyes as she and Blazekit padded a bit away.

"Well?" Blazekit's polite attitude dropped the second they'd left her parents. "What?"

Take deep breaths, Ivorykit reminded herself, remembering the lesson her sister, Clearkit, had given her this morning about staying calm and in control. Don't lash out at Blazekit, then you'll have to apologize twice.

She sucked in some air, and as she puffed it out, Blazekit spoke again. "Are you deaf or just mousebrained?"

That called for another deep breath.

When Ivorykit had finally reached 'calm and in control', she managed to get out, "I'm sorry."

A cocky look appeared on Blazekit's face almost instantly. "Oh? What for?"

"You know what," the white she-cat snapped.

Blazekit shrugged with fake confusion. "No, I don't. And just a tip, you really shouldn't use such a nasty tone when you're trying to apologize. Featherflight won't be happy to hear that, would she?"

Ivorykit leveled her tone. "I'm sorry for calling you a frogface." Even though you deserved it.

Blazekit opened her mouth to reply, but before she had the chance, ShadowClan's deputy, Snaketail, jumped onto the Clan rock, letting out a yowl to grab his Clanmates' attention. "I have the Gathering patrol for tonight! Frostlight, Tigerstrike, Eaglestorm, Cloudstorm, Firepelt, Pinepaw, and Toadpaw! If I called your name, grab something to eat, we're leaving in a couple minutes."

As the deputy ended his speech, a sly smile spread on Blazekit's face. "It's okay, Ivorykit, I accept your apology."

Ivorykit frowned, suspicious. "You do?"

Blazekit nodded. "Of course. I mean, I get why you lashed out and called me a mean name. You were jealous, that's all."

"Jealous?" Ivorykit echoed in disbelief. "I am not jealous of you."

"Sure you are."

A look of mock concern flickered in Blazekit's green eyes. They were such a startling color of green, Ivorykit thought. A bit creepy, in her opinion. Blazekit's brother, Redkit, had this trait too, along with their older sister, Berryfern, who'd recently become a full medicine cat. These eyes, inherited from their father Firepelt, seemed to be a defining characteristic for the family, along with their rash and hotheadedness.

In fact, this family seemed so set off from the rest of ShadowClan that they'd earned themselves the title Viridian, after their particular green eyes. Featherflight often liked to joke that Ivorykit might have a bit of Viridian in her, considering her rather fierce attitude.

Ivorykit never appreciated the joke.

Blazekit continued. "I mean, after all, I've got a dad."

A low growl formed in Ivorykit's throat. "What's that meant to mean?"

"I think you know," the reddish brown she-kit challenged. "I mean, my dad's here, a tom who loves his kits and is a respected warrior of ShadowClan, whereas your dad's a loner who left as soon as he heard news of your birth."

Ivorykit's eyes narrowed. Featherflight had gotten pregnant with her and Clearkit almost immediately after she became a warrior, and it was a piece of history ShadowClan didn't like to bring up. She couldn't even find anything to retort; everything Blazekit had said was correct, as much as the white she-kit hated it. "I'm not jealous," she meowed at last.

Blazekit smirked, seemingly knowing that she'd trapped Ivorykit. "Sure."

Ivorykit was about seconds away from pouncing on Blazekit when Snaketail's voice rang through the clearing once more. The deputy called for the Gathering patrol, and it wasn't long before ShadowClan's leader, Dawnstar, appeared along with the medicine cats, Molepelt and Berryfern, and everyone set off.

Then something happened at the Gathering. Something so surprising it made Ivorykit completely forget about her rivalry with Blazekit.

SkyClan.

SkyClan had come to the Gathering that night, driven from their land by Twolegs, asking for the other four Clans to give up territory so they could remain here. One by one, each Clan had declined, and so Cloudstar, with whatever remaining dignity he had, led SkyClan into the unknown.

ShadowClan had gone into a riot that night upon return.

Some cats believed that the four Clans should've helped SkyClan, whereas others stood with Dawnstar, declaring that they couldn't give up land. But the majority of the voices were stemmed with fear, asking what would happen if the Twolegs turned onto ShadowClan's territory.

"Well, we'd fight back, of course!" came the loud voice of Ivorykit's grandfather, Cloudstorm. "We're not going to let any Twolegs drive us away! We're not as cowardly as those SkyClan cats!"

And as Ivorykit listened to all this in the nursery, her Clanmates' arguments, voices overran onto one another, shouts full of anxiety, she knew she wanted to do something. But what? She was only a kit.

It was well past moonhigh, but the Clan meeting was still commencing. Ivorykit was the only kit awake now; all the others were asleep in their nests.

Ivorykit's ears twitched as another round of overlapping shouts rose, and pushed herself to her paws. There was a point where even she felt too tired to keep listening to this hopeless meeting. Everyone was just going to keep arguing; she couldn't see a point where they'd all come to a peaceful agreement.

Maybe they'd just keep bickering until dawn.

Ivorykit padded over to Featherflight's nest, containing the small shape of Clearkit. She made a move to lay next to her sister and snuggle against her long fur, when a thought suddenly struck her.

Was ShadowClan always going to be like this now? Were there going to be meetings every night, discussing what to do about the Twoleg situation well into the night? Was every cat going to live in fear, worried that the Twolegs would eventually turn on them?

Well, Ivorykit couldn't have that. If the Twolegs ever looked towards ShadowClan's land, she wanted her Clan to have a backup plan of where to go, or to be strong enough to fight back.

And suddenly, she felt powerless. Because ShadowClan had no backup plan, nor the strength to retaliate against Twolegs. And what could she do about that?

Before she knew it, the white she-kit found herself shaking Clearkit. "Clearkit? Clearkit? Wake up."

Clearkit was a heavy sleeper, so it took a few tries before the ragdoll finally showed signs of her consciousness, sleepily batting Ivorykit's paws away. "Ivorykit, stop it. I want to sleep."

She flipped over, her back pointedly faced at her sister, but Ivorykit was determined. The white she-kit hopped over Clearkit's body and leaned down until their muzzles were almost touching. "Clearkit."

Clearkit's eyes opened this time, blue gaze glittered with sleep and annoyance. But that all vanished into surprise when she saw how close Ivorykit was. "Great StarClan!" the ragdoll mewed, scrambling away. "Back up a little."

"I can't, this is important," Ivorykit insisted. "I want to talk."

Seeing no point in trying to convince her littermate to go to bed, Clearkit nodded. "Talk then."

"I think we need to become the most powerful cats in all four Clans," Ivorykit declared.

Clearkit stared at her in disbelief for a few beats before letting out a scoff. "Yeah, right. I'm going back to sleep."

"I'm serious!" the white she-kit protested. "Say the Twolegs turn on ShadowClan. Well, if we're powerful enough, we can make the other Clans share their land. We won't be chased away."

"That's a great plan," Clearkit mewed, obviously not believing a word her sister was saying, starting to lay down again. "Let me know how it works out."

Ivorykit ignored the ragdoll's negativity. "But if something happens to me, I need to know that you'll be here to protect ShadowClan from ever having to leave this place. Promise me."

"What?" Clearkit asked, already half asleep.

"We need to make an oath," Ivorykit meowed. "An oath that we'll both try and become the most powerful cats in all four Clans. For ShadowClan." Seeing no response from Clearkit (who'd probably already drifted off), the white she-kit poked her sister. "Swear it to me."

"Alright, alright, I swear it." Clearkit batted Ivorykit away again. "Now go to sleep. I think the later you stay up, the more delusional you become."

~~~

i wanted to give a little background to ivorystar! what do you all think? i'm planning a novella/super edition about ivorystar once the eternal series wraps up, as she's genuinely one of my favorite characters to write about. i already have a few chapters written, so this prologue was (almost) a direct copy & paste of that!!

also, chapter 1's going to have a pretty big timeskip and some things may be confusing - please bear with me <3 i promise everything will clear itself up, and if not, i'm happy to answer questions!

okay, happy reading!

~ lily