#clan life

In the past, WindClan actively practiced Gray Wing’s idea of kindness and friendship. They fought only when necessary, and would offer aid to other Clans when possible.

Tallstar was especially fond of the tradition, but it was mostly forgotten during Onestar’s reign, since he believed the ideology sounded too much like Firestar’s way of doing things.

Unsurprisingly, this aided in WindClan’s turn in reputation, as they are now known for being harsh and antagonizing ThunderClan. 

Crowfeather and Nightcloud are the only cats who can remember the old tradition, and they’ve been trying to reintroduce it since the change in leadership. Fortunately, Harestar is very open to the idea. 

According to myths, a falling star is a StarClan warrior coming to retrieve a dying cat. 

The Clans view the sign as comforting, rather than something to fear. While one of their clanmates may be dying, it’s known that they will be safe and happy in the afterlife. 

For the Clans, the brightest star in the sky is thought to be Gray Wing. He may not have been a leader, but he was an important figure to all of the Clans in their beginning. From what the stories about him detail, it only makes sense that he became such a beautiful star. 

Although tunneling ended years ago, there is still a visible difference between descendants of moor-runners and those of tunnelers.

Cats descended from moor-runners have longer legs and tails, slender builds, and narrow paws.

Meanwhile, cats descended from tunnelers have wider paws, more muscular builds, and arguably better hearing (since sight was not as useful to their ancestors).

It’s fairly common for fathers to sleep in the nursery during leaf-bare, helping to keep the kits warm. This is less necessary when there are multiple queens, but some toms do it simply because they want to, rather than out of obligation. 

One of the first things RiverClan apprentices learn is holding their breaths. It’s not a game to see who can go longer, but rather a series of sessions to practice proper breathing and building lung capacity.

Although the Carrionplace disease struck years ago, ShadowClan still suffers from fertility issues to this day. Though not as bad as in the initial aftermath, there are still some ShadowClan cats who have trouble having kits. 

The Clans have certain beliefs connected to eye color.

Blue-eyed cats are considered intelligent but aloof.

Green-eyed cats are bold and stubborn.

Amber eyes indicate a resilient and passionate personality.

Gold eyes signify diligence, but also unpredictability. 

Cats who have heterochromia are considered “two-faced”, almost as if they have two different personalities that they switch between.

One common stereotype of ShadowClan is that they don’t talk much. This is true for the most part, due to ShadowClan valuing silence as part of their specialization in stealth and ambushing. 

Apprentices spend weeks learning to sneak, patrol, and even hunt in complete silence, relying only on body-language and subtle signals for communication. In fact, one of the last tests before a cat becomes a warrior is for an apprentice to say absolutely nothing for three days. 

The result is that many ShadowClan warriors are so used to not talking that they often forget that other Clans can’t catch the small, nearly unnoticeable signs and signals that they send each other. And so they come off as more aloof than they really are.

When they lived in the Old Forest, ShadowClan had warriors who slept during the day and hunted and patrolled at night.

This practice was started by Shadowstar herself during the last, paranoia-filled days of her life. She worried that her Clan would be unprepared should anything surprise them as they slept. And so, she picked out a few cats to work at night and ensure that ShadowClan was never caught off-guard. 

Among young cats with little knowledge of this, tales of shadowy figures and whispers from nowhere spread like wildfire. Kits were often told that ghosts haunted the grounds of ShadowClan. But among more experienced warriors, ShadowClan was nicknamed “the Sleepless Clan”.

After the move to the Lake, the practice slowly died out. Though some elders speak of it with nostalgia, most cats only know it as one of many traditions that faded with the changing times.

It is actually taboo to kill non-water birds in RiverClan. Ducks and geese are the only acceptable feathered prey, since they prefer water over the sky.

RiverClan has small pools around the nursery. An outsider would confuse them for puddles, but they were dug out purposefully so that kits can play in them. In a Clan whose specialty is swimming, it is important for young cats to accept water as soon as possible.

ShadowClan has a dark and morbid sense of humor. They often joke about cats going missing on their territory and their version of “goodbye” to friends is basically “try not to die, okay?”

Many of their myths and beliefs revolve around death, leading other Clans to believe that they are obsessedwith it. In reality, they see death in a more positive light. Though loss is a hard feeling to deal with, death itself is not bad. It means a cat has gone to live happily in StarClan.

Many cats think of other Clans’ scents as foul. After all, they’re too used to the smell of their own homes.

ThunderClan smells like rich soil and something nuttty, with an odd muskiness that other Clans attribute to them simply not grooming themselves enough. They do groom regularly, of course, but it makes no difference.

WindClan smells of earth that’s been dried and baked by the sun. Some think of it as plain old dust. Back in the days of tunneling, cats who worked underground always smelled damp.

ShadowClan smells like pine, plain and simple. But the scent is strong and sharp, almost shocking to the nose of any other Clan cat. Though it’s considered overwhelming now, there are elders who remember when the Old Forest left ShadowClan reeking of stagnant water and rotting vegetation.

RiverClan smells of petrichor, something that would be pleasant if it weren’t for the fish on their breaths. But RiverClan thinks the scent of blood and meat on the other Clan’s tongues is equally revolting. 

For all the complaints, the Clan cats are more or less used to the scents of the other Clans. But SkyClan’s new arrival has left them unable to ignore the strange smell they carry.

SkyClan smells like far away. Like the inner bark of unfamiliar trees, flower petals on the wind, and something comparable only to a green-leaf night. No one can decide whether it’s foul or pleasant.

Given RiverClan’s open affection towards one another, their tendency for close touch extends to their interaction with other Clans. 

RiverClan cats greet other cats with a cheek rub. This tends to surprise cats from other Clans, but it’s completely normal for them.