The Beginnings (Book II)

Trivia

Author's Note: As you guys know, this trilogy is a rewrite of Stormshade's story, which I originally wrote in middle school! A lot (but not all) of this trivia has to do with what originally happened, as the story is now much, much different than how it used to be. 

Jay was originally a character from a roleplay I did with my friend, Forestfire. 

Jay's first appearance as a character in my fanfictions was in roughly 2016, as the main antagonist of 'Broken Code.' In the story, he was just one cat with no followers, and he had a, uh... a cuckolding fetish? I'm not so sure what I was thinking. Lightningfall of ThunderClan was his first victim, and he also killed Brambleblaze at the end of the book. 

'The Beginnings' was also supposed to be called 'Broken Code,' but I had to change the name when the actual Warriors team released a new arc of the same name. I believe I named 'The Beginnings' after a poem of Rudyard Kipling, who is my favourite poet!

Nightshade, a friend's OC, was originally an antagonist to Stormshade in Stormshade's original arc. He was ShadowClan's leader for the duration of my worst-named fanfiction: Nightshade V. Stormshade: Shade War, which I wrote at the beginning of 2016. I have decided to not rewrite this story, and now Nightshade is an ally.

In 2016's Broken Code, rather than simply declining, StarClan originally revealed itself to be evil, having merged with the Dark Forest to create the 'Dark Empire.' Another thing I will thankfully not bring back.

Red's death was originally supposed to be blamed on ShadowClan, but I had no idea how to get Stormstar and Red on their territory at the same time. I then decided that Red should be killed offscreen, but realised that that was really stupid, and instead had her death blamed on ThunderClan.

Thornstar was originally supposed to have been killed in the time between Dark Clouds and The Beginnings, with Stormstar meeting Nightshade on patrol to the moonstone during chapter one. However, Stormstar was near the horseplace during this meeting, and a friend of mine pointed out that Nightshade would have no reason to cross through that area on the way to the Moonpool. So, Thornstar's death was postponed. 

Ambersky was originally a tom. He was originally introduced at the end of chapter five, but instead was introduced -- as a she-cat -- at the beginning of chapter six. 

Jay actually appeared in Chapter Nine of Dark Clouds, during the flashback scene that showed Rushstripe attending Stormstar's birth. Jay was the skinny tabby kit -- the second cat in the litter that was described. 

Kelly, the kittypet medicine cat, was originally named May. I changed this because it seemed awkward to be reading about Jay and May. She was renamed for Ruth Kelly, a nurse from the stage play Harvey. 

Swiftleap was originally going to be killed by Blake during the final battle, but I realised that he and Stormstar had not yet mended their relationship. I decided killing Hailstorm would be more impactful -- especially because Hailstorm was Stormstar's last real connection with Beestream.

Sparrowstar is a tribute to another character of the same name, who was the SkyClan leader in my first ever fanfiction that was published in 2015. The Sparrowstar of old, however, was a different cat -- at the time, I had a warped perception of cat lifespans, and I imagined that this Sparrowstar was Sparrowpelt. I assumed that Sharpclaw had become leader, and Sparrowpelt seemed like the most likely candidate to serve as his deputy.