"I wonder if the wind has regrets. Can it pierce my heart even now, and find the echoes of who I once was?"
Golden Dawn: Lost Sunrise
(also found here) is a Warrior Cats fanfiction by Lightflame The Warrior. It combines many ideas he had for fanfics he never got around to writing, bringing them together into one narrative.
The plot takes place many years after The Last Hope, the last book of the Omen Of The Stars arc. The heroes of the series have joined the ranks of StarClan, and their adventures have gone on to become legends passed down through the Clans. Because of the hard-fought battles these characters faced, it seems like a time of prosperity has finally come for the Clans. However, the relationships between the Clans have become strained, and they find themselves on the verge of war. To complicate matters, a vengeful tom named Bonetail has built an army of rogues to use in some unknown scheme of his. As well, a mysterious tom known only as "The Watcher" seems to be pulling the strings behind the scenes, plotting the utter destruction of the Clans...
The story follows three characters: Leafkit of WindClan, a silver she-cat who seeks to become the greatest warrior ever, Tidepaw of RiverClan, a she-cat hiding dark secrets behind a mask of cheerfulness, and Darkclaw of ShadowClan, a bloodthirsty tom struggling to be acknowledged by his Clan. As they seek their paths in life, fate will reveal the secrets they keep and the secrets kept from them, leading them towards their destinies.
This fanfic provides examples of:
- Accidental Misnaming: Ravenstar and Sunstorm both accidentally refer to Otterstar as "Nightclaw" (her warrior name back from when she was a ShadowClan cat), which is a bit of a sore spot for her.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: In the backstory, Flint and the Sky Avengers managed to take over the Gathering Island.
- Arc Words: "Ragnarok approaches" recurs throughout the story, but is so far unexplained.
- Attack of the Town Festival: Bonetail raids a Gathering by having his rogues hide in the trees before it begins.
- Batman Gambit: Bonetail hides his rogues in the trees on the Gathering Island, then has them jump out after he gives his speech at the Gathering.
- Battle Couple: Mates Slash (Reedfur) and Whitefeather frequently fight as a team.
- Berserk Button:
- Rainpaw gets mad when the RiverClan cats claim that Lightningblaze murdered the previous ThunderClan deputy, Whisperwing.
- Darkclaw can not stand it when someone mentions that Bonetail was his mentor at first.
- Big Bad: Bonetail is played up as this at the beginning of the story. However, The Watcher seems to be pulling the strings from the background.
- Big Bad Ensemble: The story has multiple fairly independent villains who seem to be competing for the role of main villain.
- The Watcher is the first of them, introduced at the beginning of the story. He's a Clan cat (identity unknown) who despises the other cats around the lake and seeks revenge against them. Little is known about him at this point, because his plans are as shadowy as he is.
- Bonetail is a tom leading an army of rogues. He is a constant threat to the Clans, and he promises to eradicate them unless they deliver the medicine cats to him. He was also Darkclaw's mentor before going rogue, giving him a personal connection to one of the main characters. However, he is now dead and out of the running.
- Arise is a manipulative tom who sometimes works with the Watcher, but has his own plans for the Clans in store. He's only a bit less of a mystery than the Watcher is.
- Although she hasn't appeared, Reaper is mentioned by Glace to be a cat with her own army and vendetta against the Clans. Glace says that she will probably be a threat to the cats around the lake some day.
- Although not as powerful as Bonetail, Slash is now leading the rogues and he seeks to continue the fight against the Clans.
- As of Chapter 10, Tidepaw suspects that Amberfang is planning a war, making him another major threat to the Clans.
- Chekhov's Gun: One introduced in Chapter 5 gets fired later in the same chapter. Foxwhisker explains to Darkclaw that Moonleaves are an excellent herb for kitting queens. Later, when Blossomspots is kitting, Darkclaw gets the Moonleaves so that he can help her.
- Cliffhanger: Chapter 11 ends with Darkclaw falling unconscious as a flaming house collapses on top of him.
- Code of Honor: The Clan cats still have the Warrior Code from the canon series. They've also added a 16th code to it.
- Death by Childbirth: As revealed in
an author's note, Woodfur's mate died when giving birth to Snowcloud and Tigertail. - Disc-One Final Boss: Bonetail is played up as a major villain, but he dies in Chapter 8, allowing the plot elements set up in the first few chapters to begin taking central stage.
- Ensemble Cast: The three main characters, Leafkit, Tidepaw, and Darkclaw all get roughly equal amounts of the story devoted to them, and none of them stand out as more of a main character than the other two.
- Evil Plan: Both Bonetail and The Watcher have them. Bonetail's plan involves the medicine cats somehow, while The Watcher's plans involve kidnapping newborn twin kits.
- Expy: Galeflight is meant to emulate Shonen protagonists, especially Naruto.
- Fake Action Prologue: The first chapter begins with Leafkit in a fierce battle against an enemy, only for it to be revealed that she's just play fighting with her brother Gustkit.
- Famed In-Story: The characters from the Warriors series have now become legendary figures, with their stories told to kits by the elders. This includes Hollowflight, who went on to become RiverClan's leader.
- Flash Forward Fic: Takes place many years after the events of The Last Hope, the Grand Finale of Warrior Cats. Thus, all the canon characters have died out and been replaced by OCs.
- Healing Factor:
- It's heavily implied that Tidepaw has one in Chapter 2. In Chapter 4, it's essentially confirmed.
- Spectre can heal from all wounds, including mortal ones.
- Hearing Voices:
- Hazelfrost has many voices talking to her, some real (such as Arise), some products of her mind (like Whisperwing).
- Tidepaw hears voices sometimes. Occasionally, they are snippets of her past, while at other times a mysterious voice warns her that Ragnarok approaches.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Three years before the story began, during the invasion of the Sky Avengers, Cloudwing, the medicine apprentice of WindClan at the time, gave up her life to protect a young Sunstorm and a litter of WindClan kits (of which Dovesong was the Sole Survivor).
- In Chapter 9, to keep the promise he made to Fieldstone back in Chapter 3, Galeflight throws himself between her and Amberfang in a battle, protecting Fieldstone but dying in the process.
- Hidden Villain: The Watcher, the second point of view character in the prologue, is an unknown cat within the Clans, and he seeks to destroy them.
- Hypocrite: Bonetail claims that the Clans are this. However, his decision to attack a Gathering with a bunch of rogues just to show off doesn't really buy him any sympathy cards.
- I Gave My Word: Galeflight never breaks a promise. Ever. Even if it means dying.
- "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight: When Sootstain fights Bonetail, he aims to beat any traces of his honourable brother to the forefront of the rogue he now faces. However, he ultimately fails to do so.
- Insult Backfire: In Chapter 11, Darkclaw says that if Slash thinks that he isn't a threat, he's a bigger fool than Lionfur. Lionfur takes this as a compliment, but it isn't one at all.
- Intro-Only Point of View: So far, the Watcher (a mysterious figure that will serve as the main antagonist of the fic) and Karis (the queen of the Vestrians, a group of gods worshiped by the Sky Avengers) have only had point of views in the prologue.
- The Medic:
- The medicine cats, obviously. There's also Leafkit (who's going to become a medicine apprentice), Amberfang (a former medicine cat who is now a warrior), and Whitefeather (a she-cat with a bit of knowledge of herbs that she uses to help Bonetail's rogues).
- Karis, the Vestrian Queen, can heal other Vestrians just by touching them.
- Mysterious Past:
- Tidepaw has some sort of dark secret which she keeps hidden. In Chapter 8, part of it is revealed to be that she, and not the rogues, killed her father.
- Lightningblaze did something that made him notorious among the Clans. It's revealed in Chapter 4 that he is suspected of killing ThunderClan's deputy.
- Sunstorm claims to have an interesting backstory, but it hasn't been delved into yet.
- Out of Focus: Thornstar. At the Gathering, all the other leaders get several lines and some characterization. However, Tidepaw zones out during his announcements, and he only ends up speaking a single line.
- The Power of the Sun: The Vestrians, gods worshiped by the Sky Avengers, are said to control the sun and the sky.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!:
- In Chapter 10, Bumblebuzz's reaction after Sunstorm suggests that the Nightmare Walker is prowling around somewhere.
Bumblebuzz: "I'll. Stick. With. RiverClan. If. That's. Fine."- Also from Chapter 10.
"Stupid me," grunted Finflutter. He smacked himself. In the head. It was a sight to behold. - Scars Are Forever: Tidepaw received a scar one week before her first point of view chapter. Strangely, it's still as fresh as when she first got it.
- Ship Tease: Brambletail and Thistlepelt have a tease moment in Chapter 3.
- Shout-Out: Tidepaw worries that someone will name a kit "Starkit", which would give them the stupid name "Starstar" should they ever become Clan Leader.
- Shrouded in Myth: Two examples so far:
- Ace, the Rogue Hunter, a mysterious cat who apparently fought Bonetail and his rogues.
- Arise, a strange tom who grants power to those who seek him.
- Significant Birth Date: Leafkit and her littermates were born on the same day that Bonetail started his rebellion. Whether this is important has yet to be revealed.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Sunstorm and Galeflight both have green eyes and red fur. Both them are also fairly important characters to the story.
- The Stoner: Finflutter, who keeps getting into RiverClan's catmint.
- Starter Villain: Bonetail is one. He's the main antagonist of the first eight chapters, and along with his underlings, he provides the first major threat that Leafkit, Tidepaw, and Darkclaw have to deal with.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: Darkclaw decides not to interfere in Willowfern's fight with Slash and Whitefeather because he understands the personal nature of the battle and realizes that she has to finish it herself.
- Villain Opening Scene: The second half of the prologue features a mysterious villain known as "The Watcher" setting things up for some sort of nefarious scheme.
- Watching Troy Burn: The Vestrians do this in the prologue, helplessly watching their homeland get consumed by the Cursemist.
- Weather Manipulation: The Vestrians can control the weather through their power over the sky.
- Wham Episode: After the Bonetail arc ends in Chapter 8, we are immediately hit by one with Chapter 9. Just because Bonetail's dead, doesn't mean his rogues are out of the game. Then we learn about the Sky Avengers, which has several revelations concerning some of the characters. Also, the battle between WindClan and RiverClan goes ahead, and Galeflight dies protecting Fieldstone from Amberfang. Leafkit watches this all, and when Rainpaw comes over to try and comfort her, she gets taken by WindClan as a hostage, forcing RiverClan to surrender. All of this causes Leafkit to decide to become a medicine cat instead of a warrior. And finally, Jester shows up, and he is pissed.
- Wham Line: There's one in Chapter 8, courtesy of Darkclaw."What we did? I don't recall having any part in it. Tidepaw, you killed your father all by yourself."
- Young and in Charge: Snowcloud became the spiritual leader and medic for her Clan at eight moons old, due to her mentor's unexpected death.
