Her parents Mellowlake and Falconthroat were warriors of ThunderClan, still young and unexperienced and not at all planning to have a litter. Even greater was the shock when the medicine cat told them the news but despite their nervousness about wether or not they'd make good parents they decided to keep it. And more than two moons later while Mellowlake was on a walk out in the territory with Falconthroat the kits came. It was unexpected and they didn't have time to go back to camp, Falconthroat not wanting to leave his mate alone to get the medicine cat.

Settled under a group of alder trees Mellowlake gave birth to one kit, surviving the process without any life-endangering problems. The two new parents were overjoyed, naming their child after the alder trees surrounding them.

Alderkit had a very fair childhood. She was beloved by her parents and admired by all the kits younger than her. Even though she regularly got into tussles with the older ones who would sometimes pick on her and her friends, especially the younger children, she never got in really bad trouble with anyone - and her unexperienced parents were quite lenient on her, making her even more confident in her choices, regardless of wether they were wrong and right.

Her parents watched over her proudly as she touched noses with her assigned mentor, Ferretfoot. Ferretfoot was already a senior warrior but she greeted the excitement of her new apprentice with a smile. Alderpaw was filled with marvel as she and her mentor left camp to tour the territory and looked around with wide eyes, trying to take everything in. It wasn't until late in the evening that the two came back, Alderpaw tired but even more eager to go out again the next day. She would never forget the first day of her apprenticeship, even telling of it many times in her elderhood.

Ferretfoot's training was strict and harsh, often ending with Alderpaw landing snout first in the mud. But the young apprentice didn't mind - she appreciated the hard training because it made her stronger and more skillful. And she knew she was a weak fighter and lacking in skills so she had to work for it. As she grew more skilled she learned to use her agility to outmaneuver her opponents, focusing her attacks on toppling her opponents by attacking their legs.

On the other side she still played with the kits in the nursery and protected young apprentices from being picked on by older ones, developing a sense of righteousness as she grew older. No unjust deeds were tolerated in her presence and she would always be there to help others, regardless of their belonging. She often got in trouble on Gatherings and on patrols as she always jumped in-between whenever other cats started arguments and sometimes even got into fights - the latter often ending with her injured as she really was not good at defending herself.

Near the middle of her apprenticeship she got closer with another apprentice, a tomcat called Rumblepaw who was one or two moons older than her and who had picked on younger kits when still in the nursery, often getting into fights with Alderkit back then. They quickly became very close friends and spent a lot of time together, squabbling and competing with each other in a friendly way. Rumblepaw received his name Rumbleshadow but that didn't stop them from being friends. Especially later she liked to look back to those times, were everything was still fine and peaceful.

After passing her tests with flying colours Alderfur was finally a warrior! And she was proud of being one, being a warrior capable of providing for and protecting her clan was one of her life goals. Everyone close to her congratulated her, her parents, her friends, Rumbleshadow. The most she got from Ferretfoot was a smile with a nod but she knew that her mentor was praising her for how far she got. Only a few moons after, Ferretfoot retired to the elder den. Alderfur often visited her, sharing stories and tales with her former mentor and taking care of whatever she needed.

During her warriorhood Alderfur got in a fair bunch of tussles and fights with other cats, especially on border patrols, more often than not returning home with scratches and bites. She never got seriously injured but she kept her fair share of small scars. And she was proud of wearing them, even though most were hidden by her long fur.

Her life was kind of average and not very exciting. She still liked to play with kits, teaching them about what was right and wrong - at least in her opinion - and even if she herself had no own apprentices she often accompanied others to train, teaching them and giving them advice.

In the meantime Rumbleshadow had gotten himself a mate. Alderfur congratulated him but she herself had no desire for one. Instead she focused on training her first apprentice, Leafpaw.

As she grew to be 30 moons old her parents Mellowlake and Falconthroat announced that they were expecting another litter. Alderfur was unsure of how it would be to have siblings, especially some that were so much younger, but she was happy for them. A few weeks later a litter of three was born: Deerkit, Vinekit and Splashkit, two she-cats and one tom-cat. Amazed by the three creatures, so small, so tiny, Alderfur started to spend a lot of time in the nursery, simply watching them sleep and then, as they started to walk and talk, often watched over them so her mother could get some rest. She loved playing with her siblings, telling them stories that made their eyes go big and, of course, showing off her own accomplishments which she embellished - a lot.

A sad event that happened a few moons later was the death of her apprentice Leafpaw: They had been crushed by a badger during their warrior examination. Alderfur wallowed in sadness, doubting her own abilities as mentor. But thankfully Rumbleshadow was there to support her and cheer her up. As she got better and thanked him for being there for her he confessed to her, having broken up with his mate a few weeks prior. He had always had kind of a crush on her but never really realized it until getting together with his former mate, or so he said. Alderfur was conflicted, mulling over her decision for some days before finally agreeing to be his mate. She had always kind of liked him, as a friend she had thought so far, but was that love?

Her siblings were made apprentices and moons later warriors, receiving the names Deertail (as her tail was bitten off by a fox), Vineheather and Splashpuddle and she was one of those who shouted their names the loudest. She had great hopes for them. Seven moons later her former mentor Ferretfoot died due to old age and she took part in her burial, helping the elders to carry the body and planting flowers on her grave.

Alderfur was already 52 moons old when she got pregnant. Rumbleshadow was overjoyed - and she as well, despite being nervous about finally having her own kits. Didn't help that Rumbleshadow started to be overly concerned about everything she did, where she went, what food she ate, everything that could affect her. They often got into fights that ended with Rumbleshadow backing down in the end to calm her down. The next day he started again, much to her irritation.

But as soon as her kits were born she forgot all about it. How tiny! How cute! And they were her own! She gave them the names Grousekit and Rowankit as they shared their colors with the birds and also after her fathers name.

A few moons later, Alderfur had just turned 59 moons old, SkyClan joined the clans at the lake. She wasn't quite sure about how things would turn out with a new clan in their middle but she was curious about their way of life, how they fought, how they hunted, and often went to talk to other SkyClan cats on Gatherings, even finding a friend among them: Feathersong. Feathersong was only few moons younger than her and they soon found to understand each other quite well. They often talked to each other and liked to gossip especially about their mates and children.

Her children Grousekit and Rowankit became apprentices and soon after her siblings Deertail and Splashpuddle both got mates and eventually kits. Only Vineheather despised the idea of getting a mate as her goal was to rise to be deputy and for that a mate and kits would only hinder her. Alderfur supported all of her siblings as she just wanted them to be happy but whenever Vineheather would start to ramble about her ambitions she'd start to stop listening.

Grousefeather and Rowanscratch received their warrior names causing Alderfur to walk around full of pride the next days, talking to anyone about just what her children had accomplished. Despite having talked about never wanting a mate, Vineheather was one day diagnosed pregnant by the medicine cat. She refused to talk about who the father was but gossip soon started to spread. Was the father a rogue? Or even worse: a cat from another clan? The truth never got out and it never seemed important to Alderfur anyway, she simply wanted to be there for her sister and even helped her raise her kits, being more of a mother for them than their own was as Vineheather returned to her warrior duties as soon as her kits were weaned.

It helped Alderfur distract herself after her parents Mellowlake and Falconthroat died - the former having long developed some sort of untreatable lump in their stomach and dying after months of suffering after which Falconthroat refused to eat and to drink and starved himself to death soon after.

Deertail was killed in battle, saddening the whole family but the worst for Alderfur was when her daughter Rowanscratch, having survived the fight, died days later due to her injuries being infected. She believed the days she spent sitting on her daughters nest side to be the worst she ever excperienced and it took her a lot of time and support from her family and her mate Rumbleshadow to get back on her paws.

As Alderfur grew older, turning 86 moons old, she surprisingly was pregnant again - nobody had expected it and the shock and concern was great, after all she was not the youngest cat anymore. Despite that the birth proceeded quite unproblematic if one ignored that one of the four kits was stillborn. Alderfur grieved many days but still managed to take care of her kits, calling them Berrykit, Poppykit, Thistlekit and Ghostkit - after all even a dead kit deserved a name in StarClan.

Three moons after Berrypaw, Poppypaw and Thistlepaw were appointed as apprentices, Alderfur grew pregnant again. But it was a tragedy for both her and Rumbleshadow as after half a moon she suffered a miscarriage and lost her child, followed with Poppypaw being killed by some rogues passing by as he sneaked out of camp alone, getting far and passing even the border before running into his murderers. Regardless of how her mate and her family tried to help her, nothing could cheer her up so they simply lent her a shoulder to cry on. She decided to never try and get kits ever again.

But everything was getting even worse in the following moon. Rumbleshadow fell sick and soon could not leave his nest anymore due to its severity. Grousefeather infected himself visiting his father and a moon later both died. Alderfur was devastated, her faith in everything around her and even herself slowly crumbling to pieces. She stopped eating, she stopped drinking, simply dreaming in her nest of nightmares without ever leaving her den. Fortunately her grandkids, nephews and nieces went to visit her a lot, getting her to eat somewhat after some time. They probably saved her life.

Despite her old age of 97 moons Alderfur insisted on staying a warrior, refusing to retire. She felt like a failure, unable to save her mate and her eldest son, and wanted to hinder the same from ever happening again by working especially hard, taking care of everyone and everything. Two moons later her remaining children receive their warrior names, now called Berryfur, who wished to be named after her mother, and Thistleheart.

But as she reached 102 moons and her eye sight and smell got worse and worse, Thicketstar convinced her to move into the elder den.

Four Moons after her retirement her sister Vineheather, refusing to see her own abilities dwindle and still filled with lofty dreams and goals, was killed by a fox while on solo-patrol. Alderfur had somehow see it coming, after all she knew her sister's personality, but she was still saddened by her death nevertheless.

After retiring Alderfur didn't change much. She started to tell old stories of when she was younger to kits and apprentices and took care of every other young cat, cheering them up or giving advice as was needed. But she got much more stubborn with her age and much more willful, often disregarding what others told her, and doing what she wanted anyway. Her behaviour also became a lot more casual as there were barely any cats older than herself anymore to which she could look up to. No, now it was the other way around, she was the one who was respected and admired.

Close to 114 moons old things around the clan started to change. First Thicketstar died, crushed by a tree, grieving Alderfur who had spent almost her entire life under the leadership of the tom. Cedarback became the new leader, receiving the name Cedarstar. Then the twolegs started to build dams and starting with the river the water sources dried out, leading to less prey and weakened cats. Illness started spreading in SkyClan, infecting the other clans as time went on.

The first cat Alderfur lost was her friend in SkyClan, Feathersong, who succumbed to the disease after not much of a fight, weakened by the loss of water and her own old age. Soon both her brother Splashpuddle and her daughter Berryfur fell sick as well, dying after a short, but weary fight against the illness. Alderfur thought she had gotten used to losing cats close to her by now but it still hurt as much. She spent the whole day near their bodies and helped the other elders carry them to their graves as evening neared while silent tears dripped down her face. Days later she was hurried into the medicine den, probably having herself infected by being so close to her ill family. It took her a while to recover but she survived.

Conflicts and skirmish arose between the clans as cats died and the territories decayed. Everyone was scared and desperate and in their desperation decided to hurt others instead. Alderfur barely had time to pay attention to the politics of the leaders and their decisions, spending most of her time worrying about her grandkids, niblings, her last remaining daughter - anyone related to her that was still alive at that time. She did not want to lose even more to pointless fights and battles.

Soon the moonpool as well had disappeared into the ground and with it the main path for medicine cats to contact StarClan. But StarClan cats appeared in selected warriors' dreams, warning and instructing them that the clans had to leave on a journey led by them. These warriors called a Gathering to inform the clans - that was also the last time the clans held a Gathering. Alderfur was sceptical about what they were told, her faith in StarClan having been shaken by all her losses many times, but she did realize that staying in their territories would not work out in the long way as everything got worse and worse. And she just wanted to know the rest of her family safe.

The clans crossed the mountains, losing tons of lifes on their way, both young and old and some lost multiple lifes like Sparrowstar from SkyClan who went tumbling down a rift and vanished, forcing the clans to assume her to be dead. And Alderfur lost family as well. But she had to keep going, keep up with her clan mates. There was not much time for grief.

The clans found life of cats once living in the mountains and though Alderfur was slightly intrigued - How could cats live up here where it was always cold and snowy? - but even more so she was tired, her legs exhausted of walking and climbing in her old age and her mind stressed out from being alert all the time. She even considered staying with the cats who chose to stay in the deserted camps but then she was nudged to continue walking by her daughter Thistleheart and she abandoned that thought immediately. She could never leave her clan, let alone her family.

Then sharptooth attacked. A creature unseen by and unknown to the clan cats before, it killed many, including Thistleheart. Alderfur felt like the freezing cold of the mountains had made their way into her body. She had never thought of outliving even her own children but now- now only her grandchildren and niblings were left. The death of the leader of RiverClan, Pikestar, was noticed only in the far back of her mind as she cowered next to her dying daughter, watching the light fade out of her eyes as tears touched the ground, freezing after only a few seconds. Her eyes were dull and her movements stiff as she stood up to follow her clan mates some time later. Cardinalrose was named the new leader of RiverClan, taking up the name Cardinalstar.

Finally crossing the mountains the clans arrived in their new territories. The cats were overjoyed, crying and hugging each other and though Alderfur held a weak smile on her lips, she was exhausted and relief only overcame her once ThunderClan had claimed their territory and started to set up a camp. She spent many days simply sleeping in her nest, dealing with her tiredness and mental strain and her clan mates knew to let her be in peace.

As such she heard only late of the news of both Reedstar and Sleekstar dying and their deputies Moorfog and Littletooth receiving their leader names, Moorstar and Littlestar. Like all the other ThunderClan cats she was never told about StarClan being left behind.

But it wouldn't have mattered much to Alderfur anyway. As she got used to the new camp and territory, her curiosity drove her to explore the surroundings of the new settlement. Her relatives were relieved to see her up and going again, at least until they noticed she couldn't find back on her own.