Holiday Newsletter!

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

HOLIDAY NEWSLETTER

Greetings. Hey, hi everyone, and happy holidays! My goodness, is it really just two days until Christmas already? How the time does fly. Hopefully everyone is enjoying their holiday break, and as admin of the site, I also hope that you little ducklings are going to spend at least some of it posting with your cats. ;3 We definitely have some fun things planned very soon in the future, however we're only going to get there if people take some initiative so that we can move time along without feeling like nothing happened.

Winter wonderland. So, assuming you have eyes, it couldn't have escaped your notice that there have been some changes made to the site over the past few days. On a whim, I decided to completely redo the side-tables and re-organize the boards, hopefully increasing both aesthetic appeal and ease of use. Furthermore, I have created a new skin in celebration of the winter season; titled 'Winter Rain;;,' it can be found with all the other skins. Please enjoy all the tidy new features that your friendly neighbourhood admin has worked hard to create for you!

Clan positions. Congratulations to Grim and Yoko, and their new characters, Whitethroat and Birchnose! Grim will have the exciting opportunity to play ThunderClan's new deputy, and secret father of two of its apprentices, and Yoko's Birchnose is not only WindClan's new medicine cat, but also the daring lover of plot queen Thrushtail. For those of you who didn't luck out in the auditions, or perhaps never got around to applying, I know you're all waiting to hear this; SkyClan is now looking for a new leader. All who wish to apply may post their potential leaders right here in this thread; they will be judged collectively by the admin, and a new leader will be chosen after January 2nd.

Clan NEWS

Summer's-end Gathering. The season is currently late greenleaf, and as fall draws near, all four Clans should begin to accept the coming of the cold season. But the season of heat and sun isn't going out without a bang, and the last Gathering of greenleaf is now underway! The last Gathering sealed the separation of WindClan's biggest and most controversial family; what will this meeting hold for the Clans?

Naming ceremonies galore! Congratulations to RiverClan's Rabbitpaw and Otterpaw, who finally earned their apprentice names and have begun training under mentors, and congratulations as well to Pigeonheart, RiverClan's newest warrior. It looks like there are also two apprentices in WindClan who are about to receive their warrior names... keep a sharp eye out for the two newest residents of the warriors' den. And what of ShadowClan's three most infamous sister-apprentices? Will their extensive warrior assessment ever end, or will they remain trapped in apprentice limbo forever?

A quintet of secret romances. Those silly plot queens... what are they thinking, turning their sights outside of warriors in their own Clan when looking for mates? Such foolish pursuits couldn't possibly end well for them, but so far their budding romances are going quite smoothly. Will they actually manage to go all the way, and become pregnant together, or will their romantic aspirations fall flat?

[Sydney]

Name Thornstar
Age 47 Moons
Gender Tom
Cln SkyClan
Rank Leader
Life 8
Apprentice ---
Crush ---

Father Brackenstar
Mother Willowfeather
Older Brother Snakefoot

Description

Personality

[/i]

Thornstar has been training himself his whole life to be the best, to be the strongest, to accept nothing less then perfection. It can easily be said, because of this, that Thornstar is a workaholic, a perfectionist, a stick in the mud, and many other things of this nature. He'll adamantly deny it, (he is fun, a perfect leader is FUN so by StarClan, he is fun) but, everyone knows it's true. His life revolves around SkyClan, making sure the apprentices are all properly trained, the Queens are fed, everything is perfect. There can't be any discomfort amongst the Clan, any problems, he won't have it. Everything has to be wonderful, perfect, otherwise it just will not do. Thornstar will not have anything less then perfect, his Clan will be the best, his apprentice will be perfect. It just has to be! So yes, Thornstar is a perfectionist, an anal perfectionist who craves organization and order above everything else and will sometimes fly into mini (private) panic attacks if his den isn't organized. (Moss is the right corner, the moss HAS TO BE IN THE RIGHT CORNER.) But, yes, he is a perfectionist.

Some might also describe him as “OCD”, this may or may not be correct. While Thornstar does enjoy organization, and having things perfect, OCD may be a stretch. He just does not enjoy chaos, he likes order, structure, and, again, perfection.

He's a bit of a workaholic- okay, he's a huge workaholic and, if he doesn't have something to do, he will go stir crazy. If he's not hunting, he's cleaning out the elders den or talking to Spottedsky, if he's not doing that he's out badgering the apprentices. He has to be doing something, no matter how trivial it may be, at all times. (This is why he usually gives himself an apprentice.) Thornstar needs to have a schedule for the day, a purpose, otherwise he'll just pace around his den or make up battle plans for hypothetical attacks. (Warriors would attack, apprentices would help the Queens, kits, and elders escape.) He hates sitting still, he hates sitting still and not even being able to talk to himself even more. It's not healthy, that's for sure but, it does have its bonuses. Being a workaholic obsessed with perfection has made Thornstar a dedicated tom, after all. It's also left the leader a strategic geniusv too, mainly from all his long nights making battle and defense plans to himself, though. He's intelligent, certainly (though his perfectionism may not be the cause of this), he knows how to ration foods during prey shortage, how to train apprentices, and tends to be able to keep his warriors in line with some suave comments. Of course, he's usually lying through his teeth when he tries to be suave but, it works, so, he's not complaining.

Being stern tends to come paw in paw with being a perfectionist so, yeah, Thornstar is pretty stern. He doesn't tolerate silliness or liars, he has standards. Not that many cats can reach his standards, of course but, he tends to lower them when it comes to new apprentices and kits. Though, if you have the bad luck to be chosen as his apprentice, his standards are raised twice as high for you. It's no wonder a;; kits dread being picked as his apprentice, right? That's not to say he's cruel, though! Oh no, Thornstar tries his best to be friendly but- .... Well, truth be told the tom sucks at socializing. He has no social skills at all, nada, zip, none. When he's making big, grand speeches he can lie his way through and make himself sound oh so charming but, when around others, when he's just chatting he's... Well, he's like a young apprentice talking to a pretty she-cat for the first time. He tends to forget names, pauses a lot, stumbles over his words and...

Yeah, you can see why he tries to stay in “Perfect Leader Mode” 24/7.

Though, even while in “Perfect” mode you can see a few traces of his true, bumbling self. He has no tact, for one thing, and he also tends to be blunt. Also, like stated before, he's a huge stick in the mud. Sometimes though, he'll remember that “perfect leaders” should be friendly and fun and will try to engage some apprentices or kits in games of mossball and tag. It's actually... kind of sad to see, because eventually he'll go overboard and get way into the game. (HE HAS TO WIN!) Then the kits will get upset and leave and he'll be confused and- Yes, it's kind of pathetic.

So, all in all, Thornstar is a giant stick in the mud.

At least he tries, though, at least he tries.[/ul]

History

[/i] for perfection. Ask any cat that was around when he was born, any warrior that grew up with him, and they'll be able to tell you why Thornstar turned out the way he did. Ask Thornstar himself and he will never give you a straight answer. There are some things, he will say, that do not need explanations. He is wrong, of course but, he will never admit to it. Ask the elders, though, they'll tell you.

”So, work hard, Thornkit, work hard or you'll never reach me.”

Thornstar, from the start, had high expectations placed upon him. He was born many seasons ago, right as the leaves began to fall. He was the second son of Brackenstar, SkyClan's own leader, and Willowfeather. He was the younger brother of Snakefoot, the younger brother of a Tom that would go onto be adored by SkyClan. Snakefoot was, and always will be, the reason to Thornstar's rhyme. Snakefoot was perfect from day one, he had everything he could ever need from day one, and Thornstar- Thornstar will never be as good as his brother. He will never live up to the expectations his family has placed on him, he will never be like Snakefoot. He can try, oh he can try but, in his own eyes, Thornstar will always be five steps away from perfection.

Born in early leaf-fall, Thornstar and his brother did not struggle the first few moons of their lives. They were healthy, very healthy kits and, even from such an early stage in their lives, Snakefoot was able to show how much better he would grow up to be. Snakefoot opened his eyes first, Snakefoot talked first, Snakefoot did everything first. Thornstar followed behind at his own pace, a pace which, looking back, was perfectly normal. But, Thornstar has never wanted to be normal, he's always wanted to be perfect, like his brother. His brother, the one that always one-upped him, his brother, the better kit. He's always wanted- no, needed to be perfect, like Snakefoot, if not better. This need manifested early on in Thornstar's life, far before he even became an apprentice. He was a young kit when he noticed it, barely three moons old and still trailing behind his brother in every way.

Snakekit, the charming little one, had managed to convince his littermate to sneak out with him, out into the forest with some other kits. They were huddled beneath a little tree, talking in whispers amongst themselves (because they are worried and excited, because they know they will be caught and punished) while Snakekit clawed at the tree. “You'll never get up there,” they all chimed. Snakekit, though, proved them wrong, like always. He made it to the top branch and laughed like a fool while the others gaped. Thornkit tried, oh he tried to reach his brother, far away on his little branch but, he couldn't. The others laughed and laughed at his attempts and, after a while, Snakekit did too. “You have to work hard to climb trees!”

(So work hard, Thornkit, work hard or you'll never reach me.)

They were caught eventually, of course, carried back to camp like the naughty kits they were. The others forgot about Thornkit's failed attempts to reach his brother over time but, Thornkit never did. It was then that he realized how far ahead his brother was in everything and, it was then, that he became determined to catch up with Snakekit.

They became apprentices at the normal age and were both apprenticed to well respected warriors. The two warriors were brothers, even. Littermates, much like Snakepaw and Thornpaw themselves. They both trained their new apprentices in the same way but, Snakepaw, clever, perfect, Snakepaw excelled in his training. Thornpaw struggled, he trudged behind his brother in every way. He wasn't as strong, or as fast, no no, he was never like Snakepaw. But, he had to be, he had to be.

(Become strong, Thornpaw, train with all your might, or else you'll never reach me.)

Snakepaw became a warrior first, Snakefoot he was named, and even though Thornpaw joined his brother only a moon later, he still felt the sting of being the younger brother. Everyone loved Snakefoot, wonderful, charming Snakefoot. He was great, wasn't he? All the she-cats loved Snakefoot, everyone loved him. And Thorntooth? The younger, normal brother? Oh, he was alright but, it was always Snakefoot that caught their eye. Thorntooth had to work twice as hard, if he ever wanted to be as good as his brother.

So he did. He trained, and trained, constantly, always, that was all he did, He pushed away his friends, his mother, his father, and focused on one thing and one thing only: becoming better then Snakefoot. Becoming perfect. In the process he destroyed his social life but, his training did show, over time. He could defeat anyone in spars, he could even out hunt someone too, if he really pushed himself. He was becoming well known for his vigor, his dedication- but, it wasn't good enough. Snakefoot was next in line for deputy, once Rabbit-tail retired, everyone knew this. Snakefoot already had an apprentice, a pretty little she-cat with wide eyes. Once she became a warrior, he'd be announced deputy. It was inevitable, right?

So Thorntooth trained harder, he begged his father for an apprentice, and, eventually, was granted one. Cloudpaw was a scraggly tom, a dreamer but, Thorntooth managed to turn him into a decent cat, in the end. Decent in his eyes, anyway. But, he was still behind. Snakefoot's apprentice was a warrior, Rabbit-tail would retire soon. He couldn't let him get ahead of him.

It was the moon before Rabbit-tail had decided to retire though, that something finally changed, putting Thorntooth ahead of his brother. Snakefoot, in all his wide eyed glory, got sick, and died of greencough. Imagine that, greencough, doing in the Snakefoot. Everyone was devastated, even Thorntooth in his own way but, life must go on. Rabbit-tail did retire, as originally planned, and, instead of the now late Snakefoot, Thorntooth was chosen as deputy. He did it, he finally did it.

But there was still that aching feeling, even during all his joy, that no, he wasn't as good as Snakefoot. He'd still have to try harder.

Twelve moons ago, his father died. He became leader, a dream of not his but, Snakefoot's. He's finally better then Snakefoot, he's finally ahead of him! He's happy now, or at least, he should be but, there's still that feeling that, perhaps, he's not good enough. He's already lost one life, one life because of slipping on some stones. Would that of happened to Snakefoot? No. He'll just have to try harder, try so much harder.

...Maybe, in the end, in his own mind, Thornstar will always be the mewling kit at the bottom of the tree and Snakefoot, he'll always be the little kit on the branch, far, far away.

So work hard, little Thornstar, work hard or you'll never reach him.[/ul]

RolePlay Example

[/i] it wasn't a good idea. Sneaking out? What would possess Snakekit to even think it was a good idea! “Oh, it'll be fun, Thornkit!” Fun, right, sure. It was too cold to be fun, far too windy to be enjoyable! Sneaking out towards the end of leaf-fall, it was just mousebrained! But- ...He didn't want to be left behind again, while Snakekit and the other kits played, did he? No! No, he really didn't want that! That was no fun, it really wasn't. They always had so much fun... he was just too slow to play with them.... But, not today! No no, today he was going to have fun with his brother and the other kits! Well, he was going to try, anyway! The others looked like they were having fun, he wasn't.... But, hopefully that would change soon! Snakekit had promised they would have fun and, Snakekit always kept his promises. He was nice like that, he was.

But, still, this wasn't very fun.

The forest, it was- it was scary and big, really big to tiny, three moon old Thornkit. It was windy, too, really windy! He was sure he would blow away eventually, it was just so windy. He didn't understand how Snakekit could walk like that, so strong, so sturdy. He didn't even bend when the wind hit his sides! Snakekit was so much bigger, and stronger, then Thornkit himself. But- but, his mother said he'd catch up soon! Snakekit was just a faster growing kit, was all. Thornkit believed her, too, because mothers are smart and wouldn't lie to their kits, right? Right! So Thornkit was sure, once he grew, he'd be just like Snakekit. They were already so much alike, pelt wise, they'd probably be identical once they were both warriors! That would be fun, yup!

“Thornkit, keep up!”

The little kit squeaked, lowering himself to the ground at his brother's call. Right, he had to keep up! Skirting along the floor of the forest, the little brown tabby shot towards the other kits, gaping at the tree they had stopped under. “What are we doing?” “Waiting for you!” “Oh- sorry...” Keeping his belly against the ground, the little kit watched as the other three kits all talked excitedly amongst themselves. “This is so fun!” “We're going to get in so much trouble...” “Who cares!” They were all having fun... why wasn't he? W-well, they weren't going home yet, so there was still time! Yes, there was still a lot of time.

“You'll never make it, Snakekit!” The little tabby swiveled his head around to his brother's form, the larger kit was currently clinging onto the side of the tree for his dear life. He was trying to climb a tree, wow! “Oh, watch me, Goldenkit!” The little she-cat scowled, turning away from the scene. “Well, when you fall!” Thornkit laughed, watching his brother as he made his way up the tree. “Snakekit won't fall, see?” The other kits gathered round, gaping as the little kit finally made it to one of the top branches.

“Look at me, everyone!” “Wooow!” “That's so cool!” “Can you touch the clouds?”

Snakekit beamed from his branch, tail dangling off the edge. Down below, Thornkit gaped with his companions, before beaming. “I'm coming up there, too, Snakekit!” Grinning, the little tom threw himself at the bottom of the tree, claws digging into the bark. He would get about two mouselengths up the tree before falling back down.

N-no! He could make it, too! That looked so fun! If Snakekit could do it, so could he!

So, he tried again.

And he fell, again.

The other little kittens, all gathered around, bellowed out with laughter, tail twitching at the sight of the tiny kit. “Give it up, Thornkit!” “N-no! I can do it!”

But, he couldn't.

He couldn't.

It wasn't fair- It wasn't fair! Snakekit could always do the fun things! He could- why couldn't he ever be as good as Snakekit! It wasn't-

“You have to work hard to climb trees!” Thornkit's ears pulled back and the little tom glanced up, glaring at his littermate. “So, you gotta work hard, Thornkit, or you'll never reach me!”

Never reach him.

No- no- no.

He would work hard, he would work hard. He'd reach him, no, he'd pass him! If not today then, one day. One day he'd pass Snakekit.

He'd be better, one day. [/ul]

[wizard]

[/img]

Name: Blazingstar
Age: 32 moons
Gender:male
Clan: Skyclan
Apprentice: Open
Rank: Leader
Life: 7
Mate/Crush: open
Kin: Rockpelt--brother--NPC
Rosepelt--mother--NPC

Description: He looks young, but that's because--to a point--he is young. Blazingstar is a firy orange tom with darker stripes of orange running through his fur. He has a white patch at his throat and chest, in the rough shape of a diamond or a four-point star. His eyes are a golden yellow in color and are steady when they look at one, as though he already has already seen the truth laid out on your heart--he is just waiting for you to speak it.

He is moderate in build, being neither particularly husky nor particularly slim, thus contributing to his being somewhat easy to overlook--usually if there is another cat there with a more imposing stature. His ears are on the large side, allowing him to hear most conversations within the camp without being nearby or seeming to pay attention. His fur is short but thick, keeping him warm in winter and a little bit cooler than long-haired cats in the summer. It covers the few scars he has, including the one on his neck recieved when driving a fox out of the territory. Just a claw-width over and he would have died. As it is though, it doesn't appear to bother him any.

Personality: He is warm, patient, usually very understanding, calm and laid back. He rarely goes off gung-ho or half-cocked, instead waiting to hear all there is before making a decision. He's curious and will investigate anything of interest to him or the Clan, but with enough caution to use common sense.

There are times, when pushed well to his limits or in the extreme, when he becomes angry and then its time to watch out! His eyes will convey all the threat and warning that one needs to know that they are in danger of Blazingstar's wrath. And if that is not enough to get one to repent, then he can still back it up with a fearsome fighting skill that few can match.

The only thing that can irritate Blazingstar quickly is complaining, constant complaining. If he sees no reason to complain, and if no one else is complaining about the same thing, than the complainer shouldn't be complaining.

History: Blazingkit was born, along with his brother, Rockkit, in the beginning of leafbare, to a queen named Rosepelt. Rosepelt never mentioned who the father of her two kits was, saying that she if she could forget about him, she would, so neither knew who their father was. All they knew was that she had met him twice and twice too many times.

Blazingkit was named so for obvious reasons, because of his flaming orange pelt. Some of the other queens in the nursery at the time asked her if it wouldn't be better to call him flamekit or firekit, but she quickly and steadfastly refused to name him such, using the excuse that Blazingkit sounded so much better anyway. A few of the queens suspected that her real reason for refusing was because it sounded to close to the fathers' name, although they had no way of confirming their suspisions.

Blazingkit grew and when six moons had passed, he was made an apprentice. He was excited at the prospect of finally becoming a warrior, although he may not have shown it, and threw himself into learning all he could, as well as he could. He learned quickly and well, and was made a warrior in his twelth moon, earning his name Blazingheart for his firceness in battle and his loyalty to the Code.

Blazingheart was a warrior for eight moons before recieving his first apprentice, a young tom named Fleetpaw. The two of them got along famously, earning a reutation as being the first to volunteer for just about anything, from collecting herbs for the medicine cat and moss for the elder's den to a second patrol after just finishing a first patrol already. Fleetpaw was made a warrior seven moons later, but bore his new mantle for only a week before joining Starclan.

Blazingheart and Fleetwing were out hunting with a fellow warrior when they scared up a rabbit. Blazingheart tripped as they took off after the animal, and was trailing the other two when the acident happened. Caught up in the thrill of the chase, they paid no attention to where they were heading, and before they had realized it, they had sprinted into the path of an oncoming monster. Blazingheart reached the edge of the road and saw the monster too late to warn them, but Fleetwing managed to shove his friend out of the way before the monster struck. Fleetwing was killed instantly.

Blazingheart and the friend carried Fleetwing's body back to camp where he was morned. Blazingheart dealt with this lose by going out of camp for walks alone. When he misses his good friend, he will sometimes still go out alone for a quiet walk.

About a moon after Fleetwing had been killed, Blazingheart was made the new deputy, the previous deputy having decided to relinquish her position so that she could be a mother instead. he managed to get along well, but still felt that the time had come too soon when the leader died, leaving the mantle to Blazingheart. Nothing could be done about the timeframe however, as the medicine cat pointed out to him the night he recieved his nine lives, and so Blazingheart became Blazingstar.

He lost his first life two moons later, driving out a fox from their territory, but recovered from the injuries suffered. His second life was lost when rescuing a litter of kits who had gotten swept up in the swollen stream during a storm. Again, he recovered, but he watches upstream just a bit more carefully any time he has to wet more than his tongue.

Roleplay example: not needed
Other:

[Yoko]

Great NewsLetter Spore!

Good luck winning Leader Syd and Wizard!

[Mousy]

N A M E ; ; Branchstar
A G E ; ; 57 moons
G E N D E R ; ; Tom
C L A N ; ; SkyClan
A P P R E N T I C E ; ; Goldenfur -- Tom -- Still alive.
R A N K ; ; Leader
L I F E ; ; Greencough -- Rats -- Rats
M A T E / C R U S H ; ; Brackenwing -- Left him -- Drowned
K I N ; ; Greystar -- Rats -- Father -- StarClan -- NPC
Flameflower -- Disease (possibly a form of cancer) -- Mother -- StarClan -- NPC
Redkit -- Probably murdered; no body found -- Sister -- StarClan -- NPC
Duckfeather -- Uncle -- SkyClan -- Elder -- NPC
Brownpelt -- Cousin -- SkyClan -- Warrior -- NPC
Firepelt -- Son -- SkyClan -- Warrior -- NPC
Mudflower -- Daughter -- SkyClan -- Warrior -- NPC

D E S C R I P T I O N ; ;

Branchstar is a big old boy, certainly, and, unlike some cats he isn't all fluffy, and actually tiny underneath all of his hair, mostly because his hair isn't so thick (and doesn't keep him so warm, really...). Still, he's there, I suppose, and that's mildly more important than being permanently warm (which, out of the entire group of the four of them, only Blackwing actually is). Taking… very little after either of his parents, and being pretty much the spitting image of his uncle, which is possibly a little odd (not that he’s complaining).

Branchstar is one of those cats who are never observed to be working, but are still pretty muscled. This is for two reasons: he does most of his work at night, when he isn’t required to be leading his Clan, and also, he has pretty good lineage: Greystar was always quite well-muscled and strong, and Flameflower was, until she became ill, one of SkyClan’s best female warriors (not that she was checking). Pretty much, Duckfeather and Brownpelt were always the exceptions to this rule: Brownpelt is thin, anxious and wiry, and Duckfeather, while quite muscular, is not so muscular, and built for running more than fighting (not that I am suggesting that he’s a coward or anything). So, pretty much, Branchstar is muscular, and not fat. That’s pretty much it build-wise.

Branchstar’s pelt is a pretty average sort of tabby golden-brown (like Duckfeather) and brown tabby, and, well, there isn’t that much to be said: his base coat is a nice sort of golden-brown colour; it’s relatively clear , apart from the fact that his chin is a little bit paler, and that there is white around his eyes. His stripes are largely a nice, caramel-brown, and the ones on his face are barely distinguishable from the golden honey-colour on his face, but the stripes, on his back, at least, are a sort of mottling, and actually… not really very stripy at all. How irritating; I’ve been trying to pass him off as ‘stripy’ to you. Sorry about that.

Branchstar’s eyes are probably his best feature: they’re a lovely, clear golden-amber colour, and… I don’t suppose I can say that much about his eyes, other than the fact they’re completely different from his father’s which were piercing, bright blue, and almost frightening.

So, there you have it. Branchstar of SkyClan.

P E R S O N A L I T Y ; ;

Flirtatious | Intelligent | Warm Hearted | Cares About His Friends | Can Be Irritating | Smooth Talker | Seems Stupid | Actually A Good Cat.

Branchstar is one of those cats who is different in private to how he is in public: while he is a good cat and a capable leader, he acts like an immature, irritating little rat, but… well… he isn’t always like that: while his immaturity may have caused him to break up with his first love interest, he took it upon himself to look after the two kits, and taught them the warrior code himself. I guess… I guess that’s just who he is.

First off, though, Branchstar is a terrible flirt: he’s the sort of cat who is in love with a different she-cat every day of the moon, if not two (which often landed him in trouble). Seriously, he flirted with any she-cat that existed (apart from Oakflower. And Firebird, but he doesn’t like to think about her). When he settled down with Brackenwing, he was pretty good, though. Until that last day. That was kinda painful. Still, it’s so deeply ingrained in to his bones (which is funny, because Greystar and Flameflower were never like that: they stuck to each other all their lives) that… well, he flirted non-stop. Seriously, when all of his friends had settled down (with each-other, in the case of Bramblefoot and Blackwing), he was still flirting with any she-cat who would look twice at him.

Don’t let it be said he’s stupid, though: while he is sometimes a little dimwitted, he occasionally has attacks of amazing intelligence. They’re kind-of rare these days, but he has them occasionally. Even though it has always been Bramblefoot’s job to be the clever one of the group (by order, or, no doubt, they would all go and jump in to a ravine. I don’t know, it just seems like something that they would do), Branchstar isn’t always an idiot. Although he does a damn good job of disguising it, by which I mean that he seems stupid: he says things and does things (cheating on the mother of his kits, for example) that seem really idiotic, which is partly why he tends to hang around Bramblefoot and Blackwing. He also hangs around them because they’re his friends, but sometimes it seems like they just hang around together because he’s so stupid he’d probably get the entire Clan destroyed, even though he actually isn’t.

Branchstar is, though, extremely warm-hearted: he loves the kits - Blackwing’s kits (who are all apprentices) -, and he knows that they’re going to be great. He will always try to comfort a cat who is upset (although this sometimes backfires), and, even though he usually fails miserably, he tries, and I suppose that matters, right…? Right?

He genuinely cares about his friends - he showed this when he sacrified a life to protect Bramblefoot from the rats, even if he always was a bit of a bully to the brown tabby tom, but he sacrified a life for him, and, when you get right down to it, that's something. Also, he wants Oakflower to get over her problems (the ones she has about her heritage, that is: being a kittypet by birth, I suppose she would have problems); he wants Brownpelt to get over Robinpelt's death; he wants Blackwing and Bramblefoot to stay together. Above all, though, he just wants all of his friends to be happy, whatever they choose to do.

He can be irritating, though: all of the time they were younger (and quite a lot these days), Branchstar would incessantly-and-irritatingly-bully-Bramblefoot - sometimes, he would let Bramblefoot start speaking, and then run off while the other cat was half the way through a sentence, sometimes he would just ignore him, sometimes something else. But he did it insistantly, trying to annoy Bramblefoot as much as he could. Bramblefoot rarely took the bait, and would stalk off in a huff. Likewise, Branchstar is a bit teasing; he pokes at Oakflower (not too much, obviously: that would be possibly the stupidest thing doable) whenever he can, he irritates the other cats in the group.

Branchstar is such a smooth talker: he could get the moon to give him cheese, if he could be bothered and if it was possible: while he can't charm Bramblefoot, Brownpelt, Blackwing and Oakflower in to doing this-and-that, it's the charm and sweet-talking that gets him where he wants to with she-cats: while it wasn't deceit and sweet-talking that got him to be leader, it was sweet-talking that got him Brackenwing, and it also got him out of the tight spot relating to her death. Basically, he cleared his own name. Clever guy.

He’s also pretty immature: whether it’s the irritating way he tends to bully poor Bramblefoot (despite actually quite respecting him) or the ways he annoys Oakflower (despite the fact he’s obviously going to get clawed a bit for it), he acts immature. In fact, he could be immature for SkyClan, if not the entire forest. He, as I said, lets other cats start talking (only his closest friends and his cousin, at least), and then runs, or he doesn't let them get a word in edgeways or something. Basically, he's a pretty annoying little she-cat. And you know what I meant by that.

Now, I will not let it be said that he isn’t a good cat, because that just isn’t true. Greystar didn’t choose him for deputy because he’s his kit: had he done that, we may well have ended up with Redpaw being leader, had she survived past the possibly-murder that ended her apprenticeship so suddenly. Greystar chose him for deputy because he thought he would be a good leader when he inevitably died. And, I suppose, all things considered, he is doing well, despite the inevitable slip-ups

H I S T O R Y ; ;

Greystar was already old when his kits were born, and, perhaps, that is why he was so tough on his son-oblique-apprentice. But he was, certainly.

Two kits were born to Flameflower and Greystar, and neither bore any resemblance whatsoever to their mother: the she-kit, a tiny little thing, but still extremely strong and brave, was bright ginger, and therefore, named Redkit. She was exactly like her mother, but replicated in miniature, and the tom didn’t look like either of his parents, but was practically a clone of his uncle, Duckfeather, whose own son (who had exactly the same features as his cousin), Brownkit, was born at a similar time, and very often mistaken for Branchkit, which was somewhere in between funny and irritating for the honey-and-caramel-coloured tom.

All through his kithood, Branchkit was very close to Redkit, but he also found himself befriending three other cats: Oak-kit, who was a small-but-still-very-fierce Oriental cat, who would claw up anyone who mentioned her not being a Clan cat by birth (she was brought to SkyClan as a tiny kit by a kittypet who wanted one of her kits to become something); Black-kit, an intelligent, happy young black she-cat who was just larger than Branchkit and Bramblekit, who was probably the most intelligent of the group, but still not very good socially, and constantly the target of Branchkit’s bullying, although the three she-kits would still defend him. After a while, it became clear that they had a friendship that could never be ended, not by anything. Obviously, Brownkit was also a major part of the action, if unwillingly.

Of course, they weren’t willing to test that.

If anything sums up the group’s kithood (I will count it as one, because they were completely inseperable), it’s sneaking out of camp behind their families’ backs, and, most of the time, this went well enough: they would sneak out, and, hopefully, they wouldn’t be noticed doing so. Hopefully. And, actually, they were never really missed. This… probably says something about how they were raised, heh… Well, maybe Greystar knew that they were out, and was just testing them. If he was, though, he was a bad father.

“Bramblekit, hurry UP!” Branchkit was doing a lot of things at once: he was keeping half an eye on the slower members of the group (read: Bramblekit), avoiding Oak-kit’s constant attempts to stab him with her claws and trying to keep ahead. After all, the leader’s son should lead.

“I… ah… Branchkit, I think we’re missing someone!” Bramblekit mewed anxiously to the larger kit. Branchkit skidded to a halt, and Oak-kit stopped in a slightly more organized manner beside him. Bramblekit just avoided colliding with a rock, and Brownkit and Black-kit, who had been walking in any case, galloped the last few fox-lengths and reached their friends.

No Redkit.

“Redkit!” Branchkit called. “Redkit, come on! This isn’t funny!”

Brownkit’s eyes suddenly grew wide, and the others looked at the kitten who was pretty much the twin/clone of Branchkit. Branchkit narrowed his eyes, and then he heard what Brownkit must have been hearing.

“Come on!” he yelled, and ran off without checking that the others were even following him.

If the sound was what he thought it was, his sister could be dead already…

Redkit had supposedly died that day, and, because he had been ‘leading the patrol’, Branchkit took all of the blame for the supposed murder of his sister. However much he missed her, though, he vowed to find out what had happened and to avenge her death, however tacky that sounds to you. Because it isn’t. At all.

The kits became apprentices upon their sixth moon, and Greystar took his son as his own apprentice, hoping that he could actually make something of the tom, rather than him still being somewhat-useless, and it was around then, his sixth moon, that he started flirting with she-cats. And believe me, none of his friends (and also his cousin) were very pleased about it. It irritated them more than anything else in the entire world.

After a while, it became obvious (or so Greystar thought) that, out of the group of apprentices, Branchpaw was the least likely to ever settle down with a mate, and anyway it was beginning to become obvious that Blackpaw and Bramblepaw were inadvertently falling for each-other, and, even though they were definitely going to remain a close group, maybe the relations between them would cause problems. Still, though, they carried on with their training.

It was around then that it became obvious that something was very much wrong with Flameflower. The she-cat spent much of her time lying around and sleeping, and, even though she hardly ate, and when she did she would immediately sick it up again, she carried on getting rounder. Greystar and Flameflower knew that it wasn’t kits; they didn’t want any more kits, so they hadn’t been trying for kits. Logic!

No-one had any idea what on earth was going on with Flameflower, and, even though she was ill, she had her steely determination still, and, even though the medicine cat warned her not to, she still went out on patrols or hunting.

It was hunting that she died.

She didn’t return from a hunting trip, and Greystar immediately became worried. A patrol of cats went out, and returned with Flameflower’s dead body. It wasn’t obvious what had caused it; up until then, she had always been a really healthy cat, but she was buried that night, and Branchpaw got back in to training - partly because his father ordered it, but also partly because he wanted to do something - anything that would help him stop remembering his dear mother.

And so it passed that the group all became warriors on the same night, and they guarded the camp all night long. Because that was their duty.

By the next morning, they were full warriors. It was simple enough; they went on patrol, they hunted and all of that, and life was simple enough for them. Branchfur still missed his sister, and that all missed his mother. She had really been like a mother to the whole group of them, but at least she wasn’t in pain any more. That was how Branchfur thought of it: her last moon with them, she had been in pain, and now she was happy and watching them from up in the stars. It made enough sense.

On his thirteenth moon, Branchfur fell head-over-paws in love with Brackenwing, a beautiful young she-cat, made warrior just after them. None of the others minded (Oakflower was quite glad, actually: it gave her a break from chasing him around while he was courting his new girlfriend, and she could be with her friends more), and the two were madly in love really soon after that, and it stayed like that.

Maybe… maybe seventeen moons is a bit young to be a father; maybe it’s a bit young to want kits. But Brackenwing and Branchfur wanted kits when he was seventeen moons old (and she was sixteen moons old), and even though they did try, they didn’t get kits, but Brackenwing was still a part of the little group. The others all accepted her (and Oakflower was rather fond of her: she was pretty much the only cat in the Clan who could shut Branchfur up, which was good) and the group became a little larger.

A tree was dropped in front of their attempts to have kits, though, when Branchfur was given Goldenpaw, a young tom, to mentor, partly because Greystar was getting a bit annoyed about only hearing about Brackenwing, but partly because he wanted his son to become deputy, and to give him a bit of responsibility when the present deputy retired (because she was planning on doing that), which was probably a good idea.

Goldenpaw’s training went very smoothly: the little tom was pretty clever, and could already quote every rule of the warrior code by his age, so Branchfur pretty much taught him to fight and hunt, and he learned quickly.

It was during that time, though, that Branchfur noticed Shadowclaw. She was beautiful, certainly, and Branchfur, despite himself, found himself falling in love with her. Unfortunately, he didn’t reckon on his cousin constantly watching him, and noticing, and telling Brackenwing that her love was cheating on her. And that was where it ended between them.

It was on a walk to the river that Brackenwing ended it. She told Branchfur straight out that she was pregnant, and that she was leaving him. It hurt. A lot.

But he didn’t push her.

That’s what he told them, and it’s what he’s still telling them: she fell off a slippery rock and he tried to catch her, but he couldn’t, and so she was swept downstream. Branchfur ran alongside her, and, when the river was lighter, he dragged her out. Her kits - their kits -, a moon premature, were born there and then. Branchfur took them back to camp, and they were looked after by the medicine cat, until Firekit and Mudkit were pronounced to be out of the danger zone.

They were safe.

That same moon, however, the deputy retired and became an elder: she had been getting old, and, well, when you’re over seventy moons old, it’s probably time to retire if you’re deputy. And so, Branchfur was picked to be the new deputy, and he served well under his father.

For the first moon that he was deputy, Branchfur wouldn’t talk to his cousin, because he blamed Brownpelt or the death of his mate, and he wouldn’t let him anywhere near Redkit and Mudkit, spitting at him if he stepped near the nursery.

He still felt sorry for him when his love interest died, though.

“You really ought to forgive him, Branchfur,” Oakflower said, nodding slightly. Blackwing nodded, and Bramblefoot ignored the talking, leaning down to bite on a claw. Blackwing lost interest in the discussion pretty quickly, and went over to him.

“Oakflower, I appreciate your concern, but he essentially killed my mate; caused my kits to be born early and nearly die themselves. I… just can’t forgive him that,” Branchfur sighed, leaning down to lick Oakflower’s shoulder.

“With all due respect, Branchfur, you did your yourself. He was merely the bearer of bad news,” Bramblefoot said indistinctly (still biting his claw), nodding slightly.

There was a sudden flurry of fur, and then Bramblefoot was lying on the ground, staring up at a cat who was presently a complete stranger, while also somehow managing to be one of his closest friends.

“Say that again and your throat comes out,” Branchfur snarled, and then let Bramblefoot up. The brown tom stared upwards, dazed, for a second, and then Blackwing poked him with a paw. He flipped upright, and sat, glaring fiercely at Branchfur, before getting up and stalking wordlessly out.

As the cats digested what had just happened, Brownpelt ran in, bleeding and gasping. He very nearly collapsed, but Oakflower just caught him before he fell on top of Blackwing.

“It’s Robinpelt!” he gasped. “An eagle took her!”

Her body was never found.

Before long, though, it was suspected that there were rats on the territory, and Greystar and a few other cats went off to investigate, wanting to keep their Clan safe. It was a while, though, before the group and Duckfeather noticed that the entire Clan (apart from the queens and kits, obviously) had gone. And that it was dark.

Branchfur’s father’s body was buried that night, and he received his nine lives. At this time, he was 42 moons old, and there’s a lot of time between then and now.

The first thing that Branchstar did as leader was appoint a deputy: he picked Spottedsky, a young she-cat of the Clan, who seemed as though she would be a good deputy.

The second thing he did was make up with his cousin, fortunately. And, with all of this said-and-done, the group was - fortunately - back to normal again: Branchstar still bullied Bramblefoot, who was still in love with Blackwing who still occasionally giggled she-cattishly in a corner over something. And Brownpelt still jumped out of his skin at any movement, however slight.

Ironically, the first cats to become apprentices while he lead the Clan were his own kits, Redkit and Mudkit. He gave them good mentors, and hoped that they would become warriors in their time, and become good warriors, at that. In fact, he knew they would.

Before long, however, there was an attack of Greencough on the Clan, and many cats were killed. Amongst them, unfortunately, was Branchstar, who lost his first life to Greencough, which wasn’t really good. Still, he survived, and, as soon as the outbreak was over, he was fine again and went back to how he had previously been. Now fighting-fit, the tom went back to leading his Clan.

Maybe he should have been more cautious, or maybe he was stupid or maybe he was too protective, but, out on a walk (patrol, walk, whatever. He calls them patrols, I call them walks, because they make enough noise to scare all of the prey between here and fourtrees), he hand his friends accidentally wandered in to the Warehouse, and there are, obviously, rats in the warehouse. None of them noticed them, but, the second Branchstar spotted the creatures, he whirled around and started biting at them, trying to protect his friends.

He went a bit too far, and he lost his first life to the rats.

But he wouldn’t give up.

Not when he saw what had happened, at least.

At first, he thought Bramblefoot was dead, but when he saw the tom try to move, he sprung over with the rest of them, and started killing the rats. They all killed many of them, but, once again, Branchstar was foolish, and he didn’t notice the second rat, and that one, too, took a life. Thus, he had lost two lives in one day, a deplorable situation.

But Bramblefoot, Oakflower, Blackwing and Brownpelt survived, and that was all that mattered. So long as they all lived, nothing could separate them. Nothing.

Branchstar was laid low for a while, while he recovered from his wounds, and Spottedsky had to lead the Clan for a while, on her own. But, by the time Branchstar was back in action, he discovered that Blackflower was expecting Bramblefoot’s kits. The shock only lasted for a while, though, and the kits were born: Mousekit, Squirrelkit, Finchkit, Ratkit, Icekit, Sablekit and Gingerkit - “In honour of Redkit.”

These days, the kits are seven moons old, and causing trouble everywhere they go. Branchstar doesn’t think he’s the only one who has noticed something: Ratpaw is the leader, Squirrelpaw is the clever one, Finchpaw is the cheerful one, Sablepaw is the fighter and Icepaw is the anxious one. And Gingerpaw? Well, she’s the sensible one, and won’t sneak out of camp. It's almost like she knew - like she is Redkit. But that isn't possible - is it…?

What I’m getting at here is that the kits just like they were. They’re just like Branchstar, Bramblefoot, Blackwing, Oakflower, Brownpelt and Redkit always were; still are; always will be.

While there’s no such thing as eternal life, these cats are as close at I think you could ever get.

R O L E P L A Y E X A M P L E ; ;

“Oakflower, if you think this is true, I want everything checked out about it. If there are rats in the area and my father is out, who knows what could happen,” Branchfur hissed.

Even though Brownpelt, Blackwing, Oakflower and Bramblefoot had absolutely nothing to do with SkyClan’s leadership, and Branchfur didn’t even know why, the tabby tom liked them around when he was anxious. Maybe it was the fact that he could bully Bramblefoot, or that Oakflower seemed to be such a sturdy presence and a shoulder to lean on in times of anxiousness or that his cousin seemed to only reflect his anxiousness, or that Blackwing was spurring and always happy, but having his friends and cousin around seemed to help him, somehow.

Ugh, he was the deputy! And the deputy to Greystar, no less! He wasn’t supposed to need counsel from these cats, but… somehow… somehow the cats he had grown up chasing around, bullying, being bullied by or just chatting to… the familiar faces reassured him, somehow.

Duckfeather was the next in to the warriors’ den: with everyone out looking for Greystar, camp was pretty much empty, so there was no need for the old tabby to be skulking around the Rockpile, where he usually was. Duckfeather seated himself next to his son, and nodded at Branchfur.

“Any sign of him yet, Duckfeather?” Branchfur asked anxiously. Duckfeather gave him that dark look that instantly told the younger tom to be quiet, and he did so.

“Branchfur, if your father had been found, then an entire Clan of screaming, yowling cats would have run in here to tell us. So no. No sign yet, but believe me, you will be the first to know,” the tabby tom said, with a gentle nod.

This had always seemed to be every tom’s dream, looking for the leader if he had been lost. Great StarClan, didn’t they understand the problems that it caused?! No, of course they didn’t. None of them were the leader’s son.

“Branchfur…” Oakflower was looking anxiously out of the den. Duckfeather glanced out too, murmured an anxious,

“Oh my…” and slunk out of the den. He then turned around and looked at the other cats, specifically Brownpelt. “Brownpelt, are you coming or not?” he asked, and then signaled for the others to follow.

Blackwing must have known something that the others didn’t, because… well, she was standing, shivering, in a corner of the den, green eyes wide with anxiousness. She then turned, and pressed her head against Bramblefoot’s shoulder. The brown tabby had been sitting down, watching the scene unfold in the intelligent way in which he did, and… well… if this looked one thing - to Oakflower, to Brownpelt, to Blackwing, to Bramblefoot, to Branchfur - it looked very bad.

“Branchfur.” Duckfeather’s face was grave, and Brownpelt just looked terrified. “It’s your father. He’s… he’s been attacked by the rats.”

Branchfur already suspected the worst, and prepared for the news.

“He’s dead.”

T H E M E T U N E ; ;

Bitter and Blue, by Michael Weatherly.

So give me an answer,
A place and a time:
A way to advance
A cosmic sign,
And I’ll show you
My point of view…
Oh, yeah
Yeah, I’ll show you.

O T H E R ; ;

If you can work out who he is based on, I shall provide you with cake. I made it pretty obvious; just look up the Themetune, and that will tell you.

Someone has to read all of this.

Color: 693800

As a human. And if that does not tell you who Branchstar is based on, I do not know what will.

[cloudy]

Fudge, Mousy, that's a really long bio! But I read it all! *is proud*. I like it. I like ALL the leaders, actually. Whoever wins it, SkyClan's gonna have an awesome leader.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

A final decision has been reached by the staff of the site. The new leader of SkyClan will be Thornstar! Sydney may post her official profile in SkyClan's accepted section at any time.

Thank you to everyone else who submitted an entry. Great entries all around. ^-^