PREDJUDICE FROM WITHIN
FCOTF's Summer Plot
By Spotted, Jasher and Outcast
"So Deerpaw, how was the gathering?"
A young group of cats sat in a circle at the edge of the WindClan camp. It was like they were a dangerous clique, for no other cat, young or old, dared approach them. But they weren't dangerous. At least, not yet. But what was going on in their little huddle? Why, a discussion about the previous night's gathering. Four of the five cats assembled had attended: Deerpaw, the chocolate torbie and obvious ringleader, Troutpaw, a lilac colored tom who looked jittery, Frostedpaw, a pristine she-cat with close-cropped white fur, and Treepaw, a golden-and brown marbled tabby. Only Oakpaw, a ginger tom, had been left out. And it would have been the quintet's first gathering. He was now hanging on Deerpaw's every word for any news.

"No gossip or anything, if that's what you're hoping for." Deerpaw dismissed that comment with a flick of his bony tail. "Just kittypets."
Before Oakpaw could ask what his friend meant, Troutpaw cut in.
"There were a lot of kittypets and half-Clanners, and - get this - even former loners and rogues - in the other Clans. Lacestar, the leader of ShadowClan, is a full-blooded kittypet!"
Oakpaw blinked in surprise, and Frostedpaw let out a purr of laughter. She had been washing herself, looking bored, like she had heard it all before - which she had - but now straightened up to put in a word.
"In my opinion," Frostedpaw said, and she put on a haughty tone, letting all the toms around her know that her opinion mattered at the very least, if not more than their own. She shot a wicked glance at Treepaw, who wasn't paying attention, and begun again. "In my opinion, whoever made Lacestar deputy in the first place was a mousebrain!" "That was Jadestar," Treepaw put in. Frostedpaw nodded at him: Treepaw was always good to have around, he always knew the buzz.
"Well, Jadestar was a mousebrain," Frostedpaw said, and that was meant to be the final word on the subject. But Oakpaw didn't think so.
"What's happening to the warrior code nowadays?" He asked. There was a moment of silence as the cats considered this point, and Oakpaw spoke again. "Aren't we supposed to challenge all tresspassers?"
"I agree," mewed Deerpaw quietly. The whole circle quieted down as he rose to his paws, indicating he had something momentous to say. "What will happen to our offspring we have in the future?" He looked across at Frostedpaw from out of the corner of his eye. "What if they befriend...," he paused and spat the word, "outsiders?"
A mew of agreement came from Treepaw. "We have to stop that from happening!" Frostedpaw and Oakpaw nodded vigourously to the tom's comment.
"But how can we stop it?" Asked Troutpaw, directing his comment at Deerpaw, who seemed to be formulating a plan already.
"Fair point," meowed Deerpaw. "I was going to say we offer to go on more patrols and chase off any non-WindClanner, but that won't stop the madness if these outsiders, especially kittypets, convince other cats that it's okay to be in a cross-Clan relationship." A devious look entered Frostedpaw's eyes. "We all know that WindClan has been known to hardly ever accept outsiders."
"Except for with Freedom and her stinking kits. I hate those 'clanmates'." Treepaw put in. Frostedpaw glared at him.
"Anyways, I bet Windstar doesn't want that reputation tarnished. We have to convince her that kittypets, rogues, loners, and halfClan cats are a danger to our Clan." Troutpaw let out a mrrow of laughter. "But there's no way Windstar is going to believe us! We're just five apprentices!"
But Frostedpaw had a remedy to this. "But she'll believe her senior warriors."

Together, the quintet of WindClan apprentices hatch a plan to convince their mentors, who, conveniently happen to be Windstar's senior warriors, that the outsiders who have joined ThunderClan, RiverClan and ShadowClan are dangerous to the Clan at the moment and the future. Gradually, the apprentices' handiwork pays off. The leader of WindClan believes every word Deerpaw, Frostedpaw, Troutpaw, Treepaw and Oakpaw have sp oon-fed into their mentor's mouth, and as it is passed on, they realize something. They can now control the whole of WindClan, and if they play their cards just right, the whole forest.

"So," meowed Troutpaw, "We've got Windstar believing that outsiders are dangerous. What's the next step?"
Deerpaw looked up and started to speak, cueing off Frostedpaw. "Well, we want to get rid of the kittypets once and for all, right? Then we've got to think of a plan on how to get rid of them."
Oakpaw's eyes gleamed. He finally had an idea that could work in this plan. "It's almost the gathering," he pointed out. "So that's going to be our perfect chance to start weeding out those who don't belong. If we can make Windstar believe that they're dangerous, why can't we make her threaten them?"
Treepaw looked approving. "We could say that WindClan doesn't like outsiders slinking around the border, and if there's any dangerous activity, there will be consequences." "Excellent." meowed Deerpaw.
"And outsiders do just about everything wrong, so for certain we'll catch one of them in the act sooner or later!" Frostedpaw put in. The apprentices were ready for action.

Convincing Windstar to threaten the other Clans was as easy as it was to convince her of the apprentices' previous ploy. The leader thought that what she was being told were intelligent suggestions from her senior warriors. Boy, was she wrong. But just before the gathering, a strange cat appeared, tresspassing in WindClan territory. His name was Badger, and he was a hairless cat. The Clan immediately took him prisioner, and he confessed to having spied on WindClan, hearing about the leader's plans to 'exterminate', as he put it, any kittypets, loners, rogues, or halfClan cats who were now members of one of the three other Clans. He asked Windstar if she wanted him to keep an eye on those cats, but Windstar denied. Unfortunately, that night Badger would not take no for an answer. WindClan released him and proceeded to the gathering, but Badger was on a mission. He snuck into ThunderClan territory, capturing that scent and changing his appearance, then moved to RiverClan territory, killing a once-kittypet member of the Clan. Now pausing to make sure he smelled like RiverClan, he killed a halfClanner of ShadowClan. Then last, but not least, acting like a true ShadowClanner, he killed a loner-turned-ThunderClanner. Meanwhile, at the gathering, Troutpaw was a tad too excited at the prospect of purifying the Clans that he let it slip. To warriors from other clans at that. One warrior each from ThunderClan, RiverClan and ShadowClan are startled at the news that one false move from an outsider-turned-Clanner and WindClan will attack. These fears are confirmed when Windstar makes her announcement. Naturally, the cats who have overheard the news report it to their leaders. But Eveningstar, Lightstar and Lacestar have other problems. The following morning, the dawn patrol finds the dead bodies of the cats Badger has killed. They each send out a patrol of five cats, small, but a fighting force, to accuse the apparent offending clan. Small tussles erupt, but eventually fade into confusion. None of the other clans' cats had been near the borders at the time of the murder, which left only one possibility. WindClan.

"Windstar! Windstar! We've found ThunderClan kittypet scent on our side of the border!" Treepaw burst into camp yowling, flanked closely by Frostedpaw. They each carried leaves in their mouthes that reeked of ThunderClan scent. What the two apprentices didn't know was that it was Badger's scent,
the one he had picked up when he was disguised as a ThunderClanner. But Windstar knew the time was right to attack. It was now or never.

WindClan's fighting force was assembled, and they streaked across the gorge that made the border with RiverClan. Tresspassing themselves, they shot through the narrow strip of territory between RiverClan and ThunderClan, and launched themselves onto the offending Clan's land. They soon met a sunhigh patrol for ThunderClan, and their running paws turned into slashing claws. One ThunderClan warrior ran back to get reinforcements. But perhaps there was one reinforcement that shouldn't have tagged along.

"I want to fight for ThunderClan," insisted Spottednight, who was in the middle of a heated quarrel with her leader, Eveningstar.
"But it's too dangerous!" Protested Eveningstar. "Especially since you're so close to kitting."
But Spottedheart ignored that remark, and darted forward towards the gorse tunnel, calling over her shoulder, "Listen to your mother!"

Soon, most of ThunderClan was pitted against WindClan. But the Clan of the moors was more powerful, and soon Eveningstar decided that they needed backup. She asked one of her warriors to go fetch a patrol from ShadowClan and RiverClan, at the very least. They would just have to try to survive for now.

All of a sudden, Spottednight collapsed. Some of her clanmates rushed to her side as she called "Bearstrike! The kits are coming! Bearstrike!" Many of the ThunderClan warriors stopped their fighting to protect Spottednight while she begun to kit from overexertion. Many of WindClan's warriors still lashed out, although Windstar stood still. Some of her warriors looked at her quizzically.

The WindClan leader had realized something. This battle, and all the other nonsense about outsiders, had not come of her own accord. But where had it come from? Her senior warriors, of course. And they had gotten the load of foxdung from their apprentices. This was just a bunch of young cats...Trying to manipulate her? And as she watched one of her warriors breaking through the crowd of ThunderClan cats protecting Spottednight, and lashing out at the queen, she realized she had some punishments to dish out. As the RiverClan and ShadowClan patrols arrived, she quietly called back her warriors and snuck away.

Current Bans: Kittypets joining RiverClan and ShadowClan; Apprentices without mentors in ThunderClan [if creating an apprentice, please pre arrange a mentor for them]; Kittypets, Rogues, Loners joining ThunderClan; WindClan she-cats.