Thornstar [Heatherclan]

[thornwhisker]

thornstar
tom, 39 moons, leader, heatherclan

appearance
Dark tabby tom with emerald green eyes.
Thornstar is a dark mottled tabby tom with a well-built body. Though Thornstar's pelt is plainly painted, on closer inspection you can see an array of colors beneath the run-of-the-mill tabby markings. Some orange seeps into the area around his muzzle, while a light cream color runs along the length of his belly. Thornstar is a small and lanky, but muscular, tom with long, spindly legs and an elongated tail that is covered in thick rings. This Heatherclan warrior has a small, round face covered in thin stripes with the classic "M" marking on his forehead that most tabbies have, leading to a pair of round, dark emerald eyes. Thornstar has long white whiskers and a pair of dark, triangular ears with small dark tufts at the tip. Thornstar is equipped with a set of four powerful tabby paws and is polydactyl, meaning he has six toes combined rather than the regular four on each forepaw. A long scar runs across his right flank, a trophy of the battle that was fought when he was a newly-made warrior with Galeclan. Another scar runs along his belly from the fight with a fox he had come across on a border patrol. To sum things up, Thornstar is a small tabby tom with dark green eyes.

personality
Thornstar is bound tightly to the warrior code and his loyalty to Heatherclan, which leaves him less time for fun as he would like. Thornstar is witty in the sense that he always has a comeback for whatever negative comment or question that anyone could come up with. Thornstar is hard-working and sacrifices whatever he has to for the sake of his clan. Though he gets frustrated easily, Thornstar makes sure everything he does has an adequate reason behind it. Thornstar is far from perfect, there are times when Thornstar makes a wrong decision where the clan must suffer for it, but the small tabby tom takes full responsibility for his actions. Another fault of the young leader is that he sometimes doesn't know when to hold his tongue. Other than that, Thornstar is easy-going and compassionate towards others and is always looking to help those in need, especially if he can benefit from it.

history
Born in the heart of Heatherclan, Thornstar grew up to be a strong and loyal warrior. From the day he was born, he was already competing with his littermates, Honeykit and Brackenkit. On his first moon, greencough had spread wildly through the camp. His mother, Fawnfur was the first to catch the deadly cough and it quickly spread to both of his littermates. A decision was made to separate the sick cats from the healthy ones, and Fawnfur and her two sick kits were removed from the camp. Thornkit was sent to Heatherfur, who was nursing her own kit and had milk to spare for the extra tom. Under her care, Thornkit quickly grew strong. One day, Heatherclan's medicine cat had come deliver the news that both Fawnfur and Brackenkit had died. Honeykit was still fighting the deadly sickness, and she was quickly recovering thanks to the catmint that the clan had borrowed from Timberclan. Honeykit grew healthy again by her second moon, able to join Thornkit and grieve together the loss of their littermate and mother. By the time the pair were apprenticed, Thornpaw had grown into a strong tabby tom, though he looked weak in appearance. Thornpaw started worrying when he began to see less and less of his sister, and followed her out of camp one day to see what she was up to. Thornpaw followed her to a lonely twoleg nest, where he caught his sister taking food from twolegs. When she returned, the small tabby had confronted her. She was angry with him at first for following her, but she grew calm quickly and explained that clan life was not for her and returned to live with the twolegs. Thornpaw had always been loyal to the warrior code, and relying on twolegs was one of the worst crimes against it. When the clan noticed his sister's disappearance, Thornpaw went in search of his sister and quickly thought of a scheme to make it appear as if she had died bravely at the fangs and claws of a fox. Taking a tuft of her fur, he placed it near an old fox den where the fox's scent was strongest and spilled some of his own blood on the forest floor. After returning to camp, the small tabby tom wailed and pretended to grieve, saying that he had found the fox tearing his sister apart and that the fox had run away shortly after. The clan grieved for Honeypaw, and Thornpaw grieved for the great loss that Heatherclan had experienced. On the day of his warrior ceremony, Thornwhisker sat vigil with his adopted littermate and Heatherfur's son, Ferntail. Not many moons later, Thornwhisker entered his first battle as a warrior against Galeclan, which ended in victory for Heatherclan. A few moons afterwards, the old Heatherclan deputy, Duskfern, died in an attempt to ward off a stray badger which had decided to make it's home near the Heatherclan camp. It was at this time that Thunderstar made Thornwhisker deputy for his courage and evident loyalty to Heatherclan. A few seasons had passed before Thunderstar had lost his final life, leaving Thornwhisker to lead his clan. Now in his third season as leader, Thornstar is looking after his clan as a mother would look after her kits.

sample
The loss of Duskfern was as tragic as losing a littermate to Thornwhisker. Duskfern had been his mentor and his idol, as well as serving his clan as best as he could. Sweeping his tail around his paws, Thornwhisker rested his nuzzle on top of Duskfern's flank, whiskers twitching as Thunderstar hauled himself up to the highstone, grief in his pale yellow eyes. "Let all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highstone for a clan meeting." The cats slowly gathered, sadness showing in their reflective gazes as they stared up at their clan leader. Thornwhisker stood and turned, padding away from Duskfern's still body. "I say these words before the body of Duskfern, so that his spirit may hear and approve my choice. Thornwhisker will be the new deputy of Heatherclan." Meows of approval rang throughout the clearing, no cat could doubt Thornwhisker's loyalty or determination to serve his clan. Some cats obviously saw Thistlefang as the obvious choice for deputy, but no cat said anything against Thunderstar's decision. "I accept your choice." The small tom meowed, whiskers twitching nervously under the pressure from his clanmate's stares.

It was only a few more seasons until Thunderstar had lost his final life, defending his clan against a pair of rogue foxes that had begun to pick off cats one by one around the prairie. "Are you ready?" Thornwhisker meowed to the medicine cat, tail tip twitching nervously. "I am." The dappled she-cat replied, dropping a bundle of traveling herbs at his paws. "Thanks." Thornwhisker meowed, chewing the herbs thoughtfully as his nose wrinkled. "Do you think Starclan will accept me?" He meowed after finished, licking his lips. Dappledfern rolled her eyes. "Of course they will accept you, do you think Thunderstar would let them disapprove his choice? He knew what he was doing." She purred, whisking past him towards the camp's entrance. "Come on, we haven't got time to lose." she added, slipping through the bracken tunnel.

It seemed like ages of silence before they reached the Crystal Cavern. Thornwhisker glanced back at Dappledfern, who smiled and nodded towards the cave. "Go." she meowed, tail curling behind her. "And good luck." she added as he slipped into the cave. Padding through complete darkness, Thornwhisker grasped for a feel of where he was going. Suddenly a beam of light appeared at the end of the long tunnel, and Thornwhisker raced to reach it. Moonlight reflected all around the glittering cavern, lighting up the pools of water on the earthy floor. Crouching, the tom lapped from the crystal clear water and felt himself drift away.

Thornwhisker found himself in a bright, starlit clearing. Stars danced all around him, and Thornwhisker felt like nothing could touch him. "Glad you could make it." A warm purr sounded from behind him, and Thornwhisker spun around to face the previous Heatherclan leader. "Thunderstar." Thornwhisker purred, tail curling. Soon, many cats surrounded them in the clearing, their pelts a swath of stars. Thunderstar spoke again, a look of seriousness crossing his face. "Welcome, are you ready to receive your nine lives?"
"Yes, I'm ready."
Thunderstar stepped forward, yellow eyes glowing. "With this life I give you courage. Use it well in the defense of your clan."
Thornwhisker felt a new energy flowing within him, it was more painful than anything he had ever experienced. The feeling left him gasping for breath long after Thunderstar had padded away to join the line of cats.
Duskfern padded up to Thornwhisker, affection glowing in his amber gaze. "With this life I give you justice, use it well in the judgement of others."
Thornwhisker braced himself for the pain that was coming, but the pain was less than the burning sensation of Thunderstar's life. Fallowpaw padded up to him next. She had died at the fangs of a fox who chased her from Galeclan's territory, where she was meeting a young tom. Pain brimmed her soft green gaze as she spoke. "With this life I give you loyalty to what you know to be right. Use it well to guide your clan in times of trouble." The pain that surged through Thornwhisker reminded him of grief and sadness, he assumed this had been what Fallowpaw was feeling the moment she died.
The leader before Thunderstar padded up to him next, Thornstar had never met Lionstar, but stories of his valiance had spread throughout all of the clans. "With this life I give you tireless energy. Use it well to carry out the duties of a leader." As the tom touched his nose to Lionstar's, Thornwhisker felt like he could outrun any fox, and badger. He could even outrun a great warrior of Leopardclan! As the sensation ebbed away, Thornwhisker lifted his head to see Fawnfur padding towards him, determined affection glowing in her soft yellow gaze. "With this life I give you protection. Use it well to care for your clan as a mother cares for her kits." A jolt of energy flowed through Thornwhisker's body, ferocity pumping through his veins. "Thank you." Thornwhisker meowed, nuzzling her affectionately. Another apprentice padded forward, Thornwhisker recognized him as Swallowpaw. "With this life I give you mentoring. Use it well to train the young cats of your clan." Thornwhisker cringed as pain seared through him, making the fur along his spine stand up. Thornwhisker waited for the pain to ebb away before he glanced up to see his old friend, Starlingwing. Sadness pierced him, she had been his best friend since they were apprentices and she had died very shortly after she received her warrior name. "With this life I give you compassion. Use it well for the elders in your clan, the sick, and for all those weaker than yourself." This life was especially painful, as if he was feeling wounded and sick all at once. The eighth cat to approach him was a beautiful, slender silver tabby with bright blue eyes. Thornwhisker recognized her as Puddlesplash, a she-cat who had died protecting her mate when Thornwhisker was just an apprentice. "With this life I give you love, use it well for the cats in your care." This life was very pleasant, Thornwhisker felt like he could sit here forever feeling the love that Puddlesplash gave to him. Another cat padded up to him, and Thornwhisker recognized him to be Sunfall, the deputy before Duskfern. "With this life I give you nobility and certainty and faith. Use it well as you lead your Clan in the ways of StarClan and the warrior code." Thornwhisker barely heard Thunderstar speak as the last life jolted through him. "Rise, Thornwhisker." Thornwhisker stood up, tail held high but eyes revealing how tired he was from receiving his nine lives. "I hail you by your new name, Thornstar. Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants you the guardianship of HeatherClan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity."

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