Reposting Because Something In The Original Post Was Messed Up

Reposting because something in the original post was messed up

Updated StarClan/Dark Forest references! My headcanons and designs are inspired by @fungipeg and @official-darkforest, and can be read below!

StarClan

StarClan is pretty similar to the StarClan in the books. Considered real by most Clan cats, they are believed to reside on the mist-shrouded mountaintop. They appear in several different ways.

Normal StarClan cats in the StarClan hunting grounds appear as they did in life, but paler and with white stars frosting their fur. They glow a soft white. Their cause of death can be shown in various ways, from glowing wounds from a lost battle to twigs and leaves from being crunched by a tree, dripping or ice-frosted fur from drowning or freezing, or an orange glow and a smell of smoke from a fire. As a spirit becomes older, they slowly fade away until they are reincarnated and leave behind their memories in the form of stars.

StarClan cats (and spirits of the cats who have not yet “climbed the mountain,” as the Clan cats say) who are walking among the clans appear like normal cats, but with solid colored eyes and faded fur (not shown)

In the living world, Starclan cats glow solid white and have little to no distinguishing features other than their silhouette, as they represent the whole of StarClan. They look this way when appearing to the living in any way outside of StarClan. A living cat who is near a StarClan cat that they knew will usually feel some sort of recognition, be it by a faint scent of just a small sense of familiarity.

This anonymity to living cats can only be bypassed by cats with the gift of seeing the dead.

Not all StarClan cats can give prophecies. Only medicine cats, great leaders, and exceptional warriors who had strong connections to StarClan and made a lasting impact on the Clans can give prophecies. Anyone, however, can give a life to a leader or visit dreams, though it takes a lot of energy and makes a cat fade faster.

StarClan cats are also responsible for naming warriors. Unlike in canon Warriors, leaders do not usually name a new warrior themselves. Instead, the leader, the medicine cat, an apprentice, and their mentor make the trek to the Starcave on the mountain. The tunnel leading to the Starpool is long and twisted, and is often used to test the resilience and intuition of medicine cat apprentices and new leaders. When the cats approach the Starpool, all of the cats share tongues with StarClan. StarClan tells the leader and medicine cat the new warrior’s name, and the cat becoming a warrior is given any advice they need from StarClan cats. The mentor is there as an honor. When the cats awaken, the leader bestows the name StarClan chose to the new warrior. At sunrise, as they leave, the leader stands on the cliff and shouts the new name three times over the territories.

The Dark Forest

The Dark Forest is horrible. The ground is slimy, and covered in a layer of cold, wet snow. The tall, spindly trees stretch up as far as you can see, and the sky is an endless black. The only light comes from a weird, silvery mist that shrouds the ground and muffles sound. There is no prey, no warmth, and no comfort, and many walk their paths alone. It is harder to get into the Dark Forest than it is in the books, and only truly evil cats with no regret for the things they’ve done stay there.

Cats in the Dark Forest are a sickly, shadowy version of their former selves. Their fur is darker than in life, and dingy with filth. Their eye whites and mouths are black, with irises a bright, burning version of their eye color in life and slitted red-violet pupils. They are starved and miserable.

There is no prey to eat, and they are tormented with constant hunger and thirst. They can sleep, but they get no rest. There is no warmth to be found anywhere. It is an afterlife of infinite wandering and despair.

Whatever caused their death (a fatal wound, or their innards if they died from natural causes) turns a smoky black and oozes blood.

Dark Forest cats cannot usually contact cats from the outside. There are only two ways this can happen. One, they come across the StarClan border, where there is usually someone waiting to talk to them. Two, they find a cat who is alive wandering in the forest in their dreams. This happens when a living cat is experiencing a time in their life when their mind is turning against the Clans and StarClan. Once a cat is found in the Dark Forest, the cat who found them has a link into their thoughts and dreams.

They normally appear to be dark and almost featureless, with burning bright eyes. They only appear as a semblance of their living self when they are around others, in a cat’s dreams or in the Dark Forest.

Some of the Dark Forest cats, mostly the ones who believe they were wronged by StarClan, have great respect for one another and have built a sort of hierarchy. Other Dark Forest cats want nothing to do with them.

The Inbetween

When a cat dies, they appear in a clearing in a misty autumn field, surrounded by tall golden-brown grass under a cold grey sky. They see someone in their life who meant a lot to them, like a sibling, parent, mate, or kit. If they are going straight to StarClan, this cat will escort them there. If they will likely go to the Dark Forest, the escort will sit and talk with them about what they did wrong in their life. If the cat regrets what they’ve done, they will revert back to a young cat, either a kit or apprentice or (rarely) a young warrior and go to StarClan. If they don’t regret their actions, they find themselves in the Dark Forest. This makes it much harder to get in, and very deserving to the ones who are there. A few cats who don’t care for StarClan’s judgement will just wander the Inbetween forever.