Fernstar -- WindClan leader

[Yellowstar]

(I can't tell whether or not this picture is photoshopped e.e But it's such a nice picture anyway so I'm still using it.)

.: Name .:. Fernstar
.: Gender .:. She-cat
.: Age .:. 109 110 moons
.: Clan .:. WindClan
.: Rank .:. Leader
.: Life .:. Seventh (has two left)
.: Apprentice .:. Formerly Breezefur; Open
.: Love Interest .:. Formerly Mudstripe; Open
.: Kin .:.

Lilyheart ; Mother
Ripplepelt ; Father
Stormclaw ; Uncle
Nameless siblings

.: Description .:.

Named after the numerous plants dotted around WindClan's territory, Fernstar is similarly rather ordinary in appearance. Though that's not to say she is unnoticeable in a crowd- there's no mistaking that dark chocolately brown fur and definite air of authority that accompanies a leader- there is just nothing incredibly unusual about her appearance. She has the true build of a WindClan cat, that's for sure- small, agile build, lengthy body, long legs and tail- an all around streamlined body built for speed. In her warrior days she was just as speedy as the rest of her Clan, able to outrun most cats of other Clans and even giving dogs some difficulty. Now that she has been around for several years and is starting to age, she's not as fit as she once was. While she can still put up a fight if need be, she doesn't have as much strength or endurance as a younger warrior. Her fur is thick for a WindClan cat, probably due to her RiverClan heritage, and as stated before a deep, rich brown in color. Her eyes are an unusual clear blue and overall her face is full and rounded, appearing youthful even in her age.

[/justify]
.: Personality .:.

Peaceful, reserved and thoughtful, on the outside she appears to be the ideal leader. She takes the opinions and needs of her Clanmates to heart and does her best to make sure they are happy. She makes decisions and takes precautions to assure the best and the survival of her Clan no matter what the circumstances. But that's the thing. In reality she normally discourages breaking the warrior code, but there are some cases when she realizes that it is necessary for the safety and benefit of her Clan, and that cats would go ahead and break the code anyway despite her orders. She tends to be too 'go with the flow' and lets things play out while she watches and hopes she won't have to take action. She doesn't have the initiative a true leader possesses and doesn't often truly stand up for what she believes. Because that can be difficult and it's hard to change a Clan that for so long has been living by disregarding the code.

However she wants her Clan to survive and she fears that if her cats go on ignoring the warrior code for much longer, WindClan won't be what it is any more. Cats die in battles where it is normal not to think twice about slaying another, elders go hungry because warriors would rather feed themselves first, and true pure-blooded WindClan cats are scarce. If the code isn't enforced soon, she's positive that not only WindClan, but all of the lake Clans will deteriorate to nothing more than collections of rogues and not honorable warriors as they're supposed to be.

[/justify]
.: History .:.

(Long history is loooong. And yes, you have to read it all, Spore. >3)

For as long as any cat in the four lake Clans can remember, the warrior code has been disregarded left and right. Cats freely left and joined Clans, were merciless on the battlefield, and put themselves before their Clans. It was also not unusual to have cats born of parents who were not of the same Clan. Fernkit was no exception to this, born in a time when the warrior code was only upheld by the few who clung to tradition. Her mother a WindClan cat named Lilyheart, her father a RiverClan tom called Ripplepelt, the two had been seeing each other for quite some time and thought nothing of it. Lilyheart loved her kits but was too lenient and not strict enough to properly discipline them. Whenever the kits needed scolding it was up to the other queens or, more often, their uncle. Stormclaw despised his sister's choice for her mate, being a strict follower of the warrior code, and every time the kits were scolded he would lecture them about it, drilling it into their heads. Fernkit started to wonder why it was that if her uncle was so obsessed with the code, why her mother was mates with a RiverClan cat. But she didn't dare ask Stormclaw; he intimidated her and she could tell he didn't feel kindly toward her mother.

Six moons passed by and Fernkit and her siblings became apprentices. The next week or so was filled with patrols, learning how to hunt, and getting to know the other apprentices. She wasn't particularly talented but training went well; she got along with her mentor and the other apprentices, but put a lot of focus on those first days of learning. All was going well, but everything changed when she went to her first Gathering. That was where she met Mudpaw. A RiverClan tom, like her father, and at eleven moons quite older than her for the young apprentice. Mudpaw was cocky, confident, but had a lively energy about him that Fernpaw felt drawn to almost immediately. It seemed he took an interest in her as well because for most of the Gathering he sat by her and they talked. By the end she was wishing that they didn't have to go back to their separate Clans. Over the next moon they stumbled across each other at borders and by her second Gathering Fernpaw had developed a rather large crush on him.

Stormclaw found out. Whether it had been on accident or he had been spying on her Fernpaw wasn't sure, but her uncle was far from pleased at the discovery. He didn't want her to turn out like his sister, pushing aside the code he had preached for something as foolish as love. He demanded she break off the budding relationship between her and the newly-named Mudstripe but Fernpaw refused. The two young cats continued seeing each other, not thinking anything of rules or the code since they both knew hardly any cats followed them anyway. But Stormclaw seemed determined not to make it easy for his niece. He made sure she worked at her training until she was exhausted, sent her on patrols toward the ThunderClan border instead of RiverClan, and followed her when she left camp by herself. One day Fernpaw finally snapped at him, catching him as he tagged after her and yelled, "Leave me alone, stop trying to tell me what to do!" Stormclaw just looked at her coldly and said, "You're making a foolish choice. Stop now before you regret it." The two didn't speak to each other for a few more moons.

A few moons later, on the first day of her eleventh moon, Fernpaw was faced with the hardships of Clan life for the first time. A rather violent border skirmish broke out between WindClan and RiverClan, apparently triggered by an overly aggressive warrior and a shortage of prey on RiverClan's side at the time. Reinforcements were called, as the fight had quickly turned nasty, and Fernpaw was thrown into her first real battle. She suffered several blows but was able to put her training to good use and hold her own. Cats died on both sides, but in the midst of the battle Fernpaw hadn't noticed. Until she witnessed Mudstripe as he was slain by one of her own Clanmates. All at once she realized that the relationship had been hopeless. Sooner or later they would have had to face each other in battle and unfortunately it had been sooner. Even though Mudstripe's death hadn't been by her own paws, she still felt herself responsible, because her heart shouldn't have been with another of an enemy Clan... it would have saved her the hurt if she and Mudstripe had never met. She realized the importance of that rule that Stormclaw had been trying to make her acknowledge. "Never fall in love with a cat of another Clan" suddenly made sense.

She dealt with her grief surprisingly well. Although she was devastated by Mudstripe's sudden death, she couldn't grieve too deeply because she still had her training to focus on. She didn't want to fall behind her siblings, who were all turning into fine warriors themselves. At twelve moons of age she earned the name Fernfoot and took up her duty as a full warrior. By now her anger at Stormclaw had faded, replaced by understanding of what he had meant for her to realize. Over the next several moons they became close, sharing a sort of friendship although they still treated each other as family. They started to talk about the warrior code and observe how little it was followed. Fernfoot started to think about how the Clan could change if cats started to take the warrior code to heart, but Stormclaw didn't seem to think it was possible to change the whole Clan. Getting a few to put more thought into the code and actually follow it was work; an entire Clan was a different matter.

It was a while before another change came to her rather uneventful warriorhood. Lilyheart became ill, caught by a nasty bout of greencough and after a quarter moon, was unable to fight if off any longer. She died, and the siblings who hadn't been all that close in the first place were driven further apart in grief. Fernfoot herself took the second significant death in her life better than some of her littermates. However that could probably be attributed to Stormclaw, the only family she was now close with who helped her through it.

Soon after she was given her first apprentice by the leader at the time, Gorsestar. Breezepaw was a fun apprentice, not lazy or inconsiderate like her littermates. She was kind, bright and intelligent, and seemed blessed with wisdom for her young age. Although she wasn't perfect in training and needed more practice than usual, she was determined and worked hard until she understood. The most interesting thing about the young she-cat, however, was her strong belief in the warrior code. Breezepaw reminded Fernfoot very strongly of Stormclaw in their same determination and will that other cats would do the right thing. As the apprentice learned from her mentor, Fernfoot was also learning from Breezepaw, and became a bit more thoughtful about the future of the Clan. Training went by quickly and before she knew it her apprentice was a warrior.

It was only a few moons later that the deputy of WindClan, Thorntooth, succumbed to greencough. It was a shock to the Clan to see him go, a strong, respected warrior who had much going for him. It was more of a shock to Fernfoot herself when she was named deputy. She was young, knew nothing of running a Clan, and yet Gorsestar didn't seem to have any qualms about giving her the position. Shortly after she became deputy, she realized how tough managing a Clan really was. It was the middle of leafbare, the hardest time for WindClan, and as always there was a prey shortage. A few of the warriors decided to try hunting near the forest that bordered ThunderClan territory, and after seeing that the woods offered much more prey than the barren hills, quickly spread the word around camp and had other cats hunting closer to the ThunderClan border as well. Before she knew it there were entire patrols being organized under her nose, even going as far as to hunt in the more prey-rich parts of the forest past the border. Gorsestar found out about this and to her shock, encouraged it. Fernfoot had known he didn't feel very strongly about the warrior code but she hadn't expected him to outright okay breaking it. And even worse, Fernfoot found herself leading many of these raiding patrols. It distressed her to see her Clan mates breaking the code so willingly. It seemed as if the entire Clan was for these raids, save a select few such as Stormclaw and Breezefur, and Fernfoot felt there was little she could do other than go along with it. The raids on ThunderClan resulted in several bitter battles that weakened the already starving Clan. One of these battles resulted in the death of Stormclaw, and to this day Fernstar regrets not doing anything to stop the raids.

When newleaf brought relief and prey to WindClan, Fernfoot finally was able to get the hang of her high position in the Clan. She attempted to encourage the warrior code among her Clan mates, although little came of it. Without Stormclaw as her solid companion she felt lonely, but she remained close to her former apprentice. Her siblings became close again as well, brought together by their admiration and respect for their sister as deputy. Fernfoot found herself uncomfortable with their suddenly respecting her when she became deputy, but nonetheless she was glad to have some cats on her side.

It seemed way too soon when Gorsestar lost his last life. He had been leader since she was a kit and she had never put thought into how many lives he might have left. It was a complete shock to her, and she was utterly unprepared for the enormous responsibility and expectations that were now weighted on her. But she knew she couldn't back down, so she psyched herself up and journeyed to the Moonpool to receive her nine lives. Among them were lives given to her by Lilyheart, Mustripe and Stormclaw. When she returned to her Clan with the new name of Fernstar, she vowed to do her best to ensure the safety and lasting of her Clan while breaking the warrior code as little as possible. Six long years have gone by since she became leader and she's lost all but two of her lives to battles, injuries and sickness. Her time is coming and with leafbare on the way she fears it may be soon. What kind of legacy will she leave, and what will come of WindClan after she passes? These thoughts make her anxious to this day.

[/justify]
.: Other .:.

*72 moons ago: Gorsestar dies, Fernfoot becomes leader
*80 moons ago: WindClan hunts on ThunderClan territory in leafbare, several border fights result
*82 moons ago: Greencough strikes WindClan, Thorntooth dies, Fernfoot becomes deputy
*84 moons ago: Breezepaw becomes a warrior
*90 moons ago: Fernfoot gets Breezepaw
*91 moons ago: Lilyheart dies
*97 moons ago: Fernpaw becomes a warrior
*98 moons ago: A border skirmish between WindClan and RiverClan; cats die on both sides.
*103 moons ago: Fernkit becomes an apprentice
*109 moons ago: Fernkit is born

[x]

.: Roleplay example .:.

How is this possible? was the only thought running through her mind. It was the only thing she could think as she watched the cats of her Clan- the cats she knew and had grown up with- disgracing themselves in this way. She wanted so much to stop them, to tell them that this was a horrible idea and that they were earning WindClan a bad reputation. But she couldn't override her leader's decision- it still shocked her that Gorsestar supported this scam as well- and she couldn't disobey him when he had ordered her to lead this patrol.

All around her cats flooded toward the forest, running with the grace and speed of WindClan and the sneakiness of foxes. Fernfoot only held back and watched them disappear into the trees. She knew that this was a good thing for her Clan. Without this food, they would starve. It wasn't ThunderClan's fault nor was this revenge for anything they had done. It was out of necessity. But it was still wrong. The warrior code specifically stated it was wrong to hunt in another Clan's territory. They would anger StarClan, turn ThunderClan into their enemies... but there was nothing she could do to stop it. Stormclaw stood grimly beside her, and neither said a word but they were thinking the same thing. This shouldn't be happening.

Soon cats started to reappear from the woods. Many held mice, squirrels and birds; prey that was scarce in WindClan land. There was no doubt that if any cat in camp didn't know what was happening this day, they would know as soon as they glanced at the fresh-kill pile. WindClan cats streamed back into their territory and beelined in the direction of camp, and a sudden yowl broke through the chilled air that jolted the deputy out of her thoughts. ThunderClan. With Stormclaw pelting beside her, she raced toward the border, dodging between and around cats who were trying to escape. She saw a ThunderClan patrol in the distance, the forest cats' pelts bristling and aggravated. One held the limp body of an apprentice beneath its huge paws and another snarled at a tiny cat whose mouth was full of prey.

"Get out of here! Run!" Fernfoot yowled. The little cat seemed frozen in place, but at last it dropped its prey, left its fallen Clan mate behind and darted toward her. The ThunderClan cats stood where they were just beyond the border, still growling furiously. Once the last of the WindClan cats had retreated back to their own territory, Fernfoot turned back to the ThunderClan cats. For a brief moment she stared down the rival patrol, and she was positive that her stern gaze was also filled with regret. Then she at last turned her back on ThunderClan and ran toward her home. This wouldn't be over. The resulting battles would take the life of her closest friend and leave her wondering how many lives she could have saved if she'd stood up against her leader.

(That was a pwnful RP sample. I hope I didn't make ThunderClan seem like the bad guys, I just wanted to make it interesting. Poor apprentice. D:)[/size]