Thornclan

Thornclan is one of the four clans of the mountainside. It is led by Cherrystar.

Description
Thornclan is made up of sleek and lithe cats, known for their speed and particularly sharp claws. They excel at hunting fast prey like rabbits, small birds, and the occasional fish. Their territory is mostly moorland with sparse trees and they prefer the open air and long grass when hunting. Although the open ground sometimes floods with heavy rain, these cats do not shy away from getting their paws wet and some ThornClan cats know how to fish at the shallow streams that line their border. Thornclan camp is backed by moorland rock formations and lined with thorn and bramble thickets.

Thornclan has more recently become known for being the most accepting of "unusual" cats, with a high population of former kittypets and several cats with afflictions (hairless, manx syndrome, stunted growth) in their midsts.

Territory
Camp: Thornclan is in a small clearing surrounded by tall rocks and thick thorn brambles. There is several levels of rocks, with the highest and largest being where the leader of Thornclan sunbathes, makes announcements, and scouts the surrounding areas. Beneath the rock there is a crevice where the leader's den resides.

Sharpening Rocks: A ways away from camp is a larger moorland clearing with a small, rocky cliff-face. The face is about one story tall and is the most well-known spot for sparring in the clearing and more notably sharpening claws on the rock-face. This is where Thornclan gets their name—the special area where the clan spends most of their time outside of camp and sharpens their claws like thorns.

Clan History
Thornclan was practically demolished many moons ago due to denying Lucifer to their Clan. His hunger for power and bloodthirst ultimately sealed his fate and Spiderstar deemed him unfit to stay. Lucifer returned with a vengeance and killed Thornclan's medicine cat and apprentice, skinning them and hanging them above Spiderstar's den for all of the clan to see. Shortly after Lucifer launched an attack on the weakened Thornclan and almost every cat was either killed or succumbed to their injuries. Cherrystar was only an apprentice at this time.

Spiderstar began accepting kittypets and their kin into the clan, desperate to save Thornclan from a fizzled out fate. Many other clans did not approve of his actions, but without his leadership Thornclan would have been extinct. Cherrystar was appointed deputy after the former deputy Rootwhisker was killed in a territory dispute. Spiderstar was young for a leader when he died and passed on leadership of Thornclan to Cherrystar. Cherrystar still believes that Spiderstar was killed far too soon and Thornclan owes much of their thriving clan success to him.