The Early Settlers

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Maybe some of us should travel toward the place where the sun rises, to make a new home in the brightest light of all. Somewhere they will be safe, and well fed, with room to nurture generations of kits.

— Stoneteller's thoughts in The Sun Trail, page 6

The Early Settlers
Habitat
In the forest At the lake Borders and camps
Clan information
Founder: Shaded Moss Current leader: Gray Wing, Tall Shadow, Clear Sky Rank succession Births and deaths
Unique skills
Hunting Fighting

The Early Settlers were the first cats to settle in the Forest Territories after splitting off from the Tribe of Rushing Water, that led to the formation of the modern Clans. They split into two camps, led by Clear Sky and Tall Shadow, although the latter temporarily stepped down, leaving Gray Wing as leader. Tall Shadow and Gray Wing co-led the moor cats, but later Tall Shadow left the moor after Wind Runner split from her group and moved to the pine forest. Thunder later rejoined Clear Sky's camp, but left and made his own group in the forest.

Description

The Early Settlers originally travel from the mountains to the forest territories, then called "The Land of the Rising Sun".^[source?] Shaded Moss is the original leader of the group, with Tall Shadow replacing him after his death. However, a half moon after their arrival, they split into two camps. They did this because half of the group preferred to live in the forest rather than on the moor.

Clear Sky's Camp

The forest cats' camp, led by Clear Sky, is known for being extremely defensive against any visitors, chasing off any cats who cross their territory. It ranks members of the camp according to their worth, place, and reputation with Clear Sky, instead of family ties and personal relationships. After the First Battle, Clear Sky learns from this mistake and gains a much softer and caring leadership style, though it is not smooth enough to keep Thunder in his group.

More Coming Soon

Tall Shadow's Camp

The moor cats' camp, led by Tall Shadow, Gray Wing, and Wind Runner, is in the same place as the future WindClan's camp. The moor cats' camp has less cats than the forest cats', but has more kits than the forest cats', and eventually has more (known) cats than the forest cats'. Later, some of the moor cats leave to the pine forest where future ShadowClan resided. ^[source?]

Wind Runner's Camp

Wind Runner leaves Tall Shadow's camp after her kits' death and sets up camp near the Fourtrees. ^[source?]

River Cats' Camp

A group of cats led by River Ripple live where future RiverClan resided.

Thunder's Camp

Thunder joins Clear Sky's camp but rebels from his father, bringing a few cats with him to where future ThunderClan resided.

Territory

Forest Cats' Territory

Coming Soon

Clear Sky's Camp

Clear Sky's camp is located in the forest, where the future SkyClan camp lies.^[source?] It is a sheltered hollow in the middle of the forest^[source?] surrounded by deep banks of fern and bramble. To exit and enter the camp, cats must go through a bramble opening. There is a steep bank edging one side of the clearing with the tangled roots of an oak on the opposite side. A smooth rock juts out of one side of the clearing. An elder bush, a holly bush, ferns and a low-spreading yew serve as dens in the camp. Clear Sky's nest is in a hollow on the slope, but he tends to sit in the branches of the oak. The cats make their nests out of twigs lined with moss. A shallow pool in the center is where the cats drink from. There are two prey heaps; one at the roots of the oak, and the other on an edge of the clearing. Half-eaten carcasses sit below a hawthorne bush.

More Coming Soon

Thunder's Camp

Thunder's Camp is located at the bottom of a sandy gully, where future ThunderClan Camp lies. It is surrounded by gorse,with a gorse entrance. A large smooth boulder lies on a wide grass circled clearing. Brambles and bracken crowd the edges of the clearing. The cats make their nest in the tall grass, and weave bramble stems into the nest to keep out the cold. The boulder is where the leader makes announcements, and cats also store prey on a pile next to a the boulder. Cloud Spots keeps medicine in small holes in the ground.

Moor Cats' Territory

The moor territory covers most of the moor and just a little part of the forest. There are logs and rabbit burrows in the territory. 

Tall Shadow's Old Camp

Tall Shadow's old camp is located on the moor, where the future WindClan camp lies. It is dug out of old rabbit burrows and tunnels, with a sandy clearing in the middle. A gap of heather leads into the hollow. Herbs are kept in one of the tunnels, while the rest are dens. The nests are made of moss and bracken. Gorse bushes surround the rim of the camp, and are sometimes used as dens. Long grass and heather also surround the edge of the clearing. Brambles arch over one end of the hollow. A tall rock at the far end of the camp is where the leaders make announcements. The cats store their prey underneath it.

More Coming Soon

Wind Runner's Camp

Wind Runner's camp is located on the moor, and situated near the Four Trees. It lies in the middle of a wide expanse of tightly packed heather. A long heather tunnel leads to a small grassy clearing in the center of the heather. They store prey in a shallow dip under a heather bush. The cats build their nest in the opening in the heather bushes. Reed keeps his herbs in a shallow dip in the ground.

More Coming Soon

River Territory

The river is full of fish and surrounded by reeds.

More Coming Soon

River Ripple's Camp

Coming Soon

History

In the Dawn of the Clans Arc

The Sun Trail

Stoneteller receives a vision that prophesies that a group of cats, the Early Settlers, would travel to the place where the sun rises and live without hunger in their new home. She speaks to the Tribe, describing her vision and appointing Shaded Moss as the leader of the group. Shaded Moss accepts the position and several cats agree to go with him. He tells them no cat had to decide until the full moon. Later, a vote is held on whether the cats who wanted to leave should be able to leave. The vote is tallied and it is decided that if a cat would like to journey to the new land, they can. The next morning, the Early Settlers say their goodbyes and leave the cave.

Soon after, Jagged Peak disappears, going after the Early Settlers to join them. Gray Wing is forced to go after him and join the group as well. After finding his little brother, it only takes them a few days to find the rest of the group. The Early Settlers, now consisting of Shaded Moss, Clear Sky, Tall Shadow, Gray Wing, Jagged Peak, Turtle Tail, Bright Stream, Hawk Swoop, Jackdaw's Cry, Falling Feather, Quick Water, Moon Shadow, Shattered Ice, Dappled Pelt, Rainswept Flower, and Cloud Spots, continue along the trail, stopping at a stream, until they come to a scree with a sheer drop below it. They carefully walk in pairs across the scree. Just as Gray Wing and Jackdaw's Cry are about to leap to safety, Jagged Peak spots eagles and the cats panic. Dappled Pelt loses her footing, so Gray Wing and Moon Shadow have to drag her up the scree to safety.

They all hide under a rock until Clear Sky comes up with a plan to drive off the eagles. While they execute the plan, Bright Stream is carried off when she tries to save Gray Wing. The group, especially Clear Sky, is distraught at her loss, and even more so when her mate announces she was going to have kits. The cats continue on the trail, stopping to hunt as they cross the foothills of the mountains. They reach a river and have to cross over to keep going on the journey. Hawk Swoop finds stepping stones that cross the river, but he others doubt that the rocks are safe to cross. Shaded Moss crosses first, with the rest of the group following. When Quick Water crosses, she slips and falls into the river, screeching. Falling Feather leaps in after her and drags Quick Water the the shore.

They make camp while Moon Shadow and Jagged Peak go hunting. They come back carrying prey, and the cats eat, amazed that prey was so abundant. The next morning, they wake to the sunrise illuminating the trail ahead. They follow the trail, the the mountains fading into the distance. They run into some sheep, but they don't bother the Early Settlers. Gray Wing races after a rabbit on the far side of the field, killing it and bringing back to the rest of the group. They eat a few bites, but realize they weren't hungry, an unfamiliar feeling.

Continuing along the sun trail, Shaded Moss leads with Tall Shadow and Clear Sky beside him and the rest of the group behind him. Shaded Moss tells them they would keep going until they reached a point on the horizon, which seems an awful long way away to the group. They follow the river until they hear unfamiliar sounds and smells from the other side of a line of bushes. Clear Sky and Gray Wing investigate, discovering a Thunderpath. They investigate it, and encounter a few monsters. They go back to the rest of the group and formulate a plan to cross safely.

They all make it across, though Hawk Swoop narrowly misses being caught by a monster. They continue traveling under the trees, and Clear Sky climbs to the top of an oak to see the path ahead. The others are quite impressed with his ability to scale trees. Tall Shadow joins him and they report that the trees ended soon, but balk at revealing what was beyond them. After a short while, a dog's bark pierces the forest. The group scatters, but the dog corners Gray Wing and Jagged Peak in a bush. A shrill noise calls the dog back, and they discover a Twoleg, and it tethers the dog. Plunging back into the forest, they keep walking towards the end of the trees.

Suddenly, the trees give way to a Twolegplace, and many of the group shy away from going anywhere near the unfamiliar sight. Shaded Moss leads them into it anyway, reasoning that it was dry and sheltered. Winding through the Twolegplace, they eventually find an old monster den and decide to shelter there for the night. Rainswept Flower and Gray Wing take first watch and observe life in the Twolegplace, hearing kittypets and monsters in the background. During the night, they switch guards and Moon Shadow goes out hunting.

The group's sleep is shattered by yowling, and they run, recognizing Moon Shadow's screeching. A few of them run after the sound, to discover he is being attacked by kittypets and chase them off. They join the rest of the group and head out of the Twolegplace towards some jagged peaks. They stop for a short while to hunt before continuing on their journey. The group then heads down a soggy slope and are soon up to their bellies in mud. When they finally escape the marsh, they spot a wooden cave. The closer they get, the stronger the smell of mice becomes, and they all dive into the wooden cave to hunt.

After a filling meal of mice, Rainswept Flower poses the question of whether the wooden cave could be their new home. Most of the group agrees that the place was very comfortable and a nice place to live. They then settle down for the night, burrowing into the warm hay. The group is suddenly woken to the sound of pounding hooves. Sheep come pouring into the wooden cave, and the cats dart through a gap in the wall. They all make it through, with Hawk Swoop being the only cat injured in the stampede. Cloud Spots pops her leg back into place, and the group decides to rest for the day. The next few days, it rains while they journey.

They eventually come to a stretch of woodland, where they meet a strange cat who questions them. He tells them that cats lived on the other side of Highstones, and the group becomes excited at the possibility of rich hunting grounds. They continue through the woods, hunting as they go along. A dog suddenly appears out of the forest, and the cats scatter. Shaded Moss runs through a line of bushes, and right into the path of a monster. It strikes and kills him.

More Coming Soon

Thunder Rising

Coming Soon

The First Battle

Coming Soon

The Blazing Star

Coming Soon

History of Ranks

The Early Settlers

Name	Gained Rank In...	Left Rank In...
Shaded Moss	The Sun Trail	The Sun Trail
Tall Shadow	The Sun Trail	Before Mapleshade's Vengeance
Clear Sky	The Sun Trail	Before Mapleshade's Vengeance
Gray Wing	Thunder Rising	The Blazing Star
Thunder	The Blazing Star	Before Mapleshade's Vengeance
River Ripple	The Blazing Star	Before Mapleshade's Vengeance
Wind Runner	The Blazing Star	Before Mapleshade's Vengeance

See Also

• List of Early Settlers
  • List of The Moor Cats
  • List of the Forest Cats
• The Clans
• The Forest Territories