A character I (yes me) made up for the sole purpose of being the father to Ash and Fern, cuz it’s not Whitestorm, Runningwind or Darkstripe (in my opinion, at least). He’s a pathetic loser, but he’s not evil ig. He doesn’t have any effect on the actual story (not too much anyway), so reading this is optional. This post is just the story of how him and brindle met and had kittens. If you feel inspired, it’s free to use with credits ^^
- He’s tall and skinny. He may look big, but it’s his fur doing all the work. Can’t see cuz he’s sitting down so just trust me bro
- He was named Ghost by his owners cause he kinda looks like one. He’s white, tall, and when his owners met him, he was perched on their fence just looking at them in the dead of night.
- He’s a white tom with blue eyes, nothing else to really say abt him
•Note: I’m not a doctor, so please know that I’m know nothing abt Illnesses and how they work. I don’t know if chronic shivers is something someone can have (I don’t doubt it), but if it is, then I apologize if I didn’t present it accurately. Content warning: Manipulation, guilt-tripping, death, bullying, angst?, and just very long. you know the drill
• Ghost was always a weak cat. This was because him mom left him in the rain with no shelter as a kitten for a long while, which caused his body to be constantly cold & victim to these really intense shivers/shudders. They come up at any time of the day with no warning, and it cause him to be a bit weak bc he’s always shaken up by them.
• This disability causes him to be bullied/ forced into situations he’s uncomfortable with by the neighborhood house cats, and he can’t do anything because it’s always so exhausting. One of these dares was to trespass into clan territory, and when he protests cuz ‘They pick their teeth with kittypet bones!’, they grabbed him by the scruff and pushed him deeper into clan territory, calling him a coward and making fun of him.
• Eventually, a patrol including Brindleface comes up to the scene, and tells all of them to leave. Ghost goes ‘Yeah we heard you we’ll go’, but these idiot Kittypets go ‘What are you talking abt? We’re not going anywhere!’. The biggest one (a tabby and white tom), tries to show off thinking he can beat up a clan cat, and takes a swipe at the nearest one. Spoiler alert: he and his goons get their buts kicked. All the while, Brindleface was crouching near Ghost and asking if everything was okay, and all he could think about is how a pretty she-cat was checking up on him. (And if she could hear his heartbeat, and why he had to look so stupid in front of such a pretty cat.
• Ghost is somehow able to mutter something along the lines of ‘I’m fine’, and feeling pity, Brindle volunteers to escort him out of the territory. The patrol leader agrees, and she and Ghost get to know each other more while she walks him back. The pair talk about mundane things, and they enjoy eachothers company so much, that they didn’t even notice that they’ve arrived to Ghost’s place until it’s suddenly in front of them. Ghost asked if they could meet again, and Brindle tries to disagree when Ghost blurts out some flirty comment (maybe something like ‘I’d like to talk with a cute cat like you a lil more’), flustering the both of them. Brindle promises to come back to the same place, both because she feels bad but also cuz she’s kinda wooed.
• This happens for 4-5 moons, when Brindle has to hang out less because ThunderClan is decreasing in numbers. Not even stop hanging out as a whole, just not as much. Ghost doesn’t like this, and makes Brindle feel guilty by using his sickness (But Brindle, who’s gonna warm me up when I’m freezing? You know I can die soon right?). He feels bad, because he doesn’t like seeing her face all scrunched up in worry and guilt. But he doesn’t want her to leave, and he justifies it by saying it’s worth Brindle sticking around more.
• One day, Brindle confronts him (with Frostfur’s encouragement), telling him that although she was sorry for him, that it wasn’t her responsibility to ‘cure’ him, and that her responsibility belonged to her clan. He crashes out, and he goes back to his home saying stuff like ‘You don’t care about me!’ And ‘I’m gonna die alone because of you!’ He stomped back home, and Frost & Brindle went home thinking it was just one of his tantrums. But when Brindle went to visit him at the normal stop, he wasn’t there; and she started getting the worst thoughts as she ran to his home; praying to StarClan that it wasn’t what she thought. It was
• Ghost was laying in his cat bed by the window, happy to see Brindle despite their fights. He apologizes for not telling her he was actually dying, and promises that he will always haunt her and be with her. The former was supposed to be a silly reference to his name, but Brindle felt nothing but dread as he closed his eyes for the final time. She tried brushing it apart as she came home, but as time passed and she showed signs of pregnancy, she knew that somehow, this is what he meant.
Soon after she gave birth to her litter; she named her first 3 kits after plants, to remind her of what she called home. But as she looked at her 4th kit, with his features and long wispy fur, and as he looked up at her with his eyes. She felt it. As if the storm or fire that ruined her life ended, but the fallen branches and ash it left behind stayed. Ash…. When questioned why her fourth kit was named differently, she would say it’s because his flecks and pelt colour looked like ash. A lame excuse, but with Whitestorm’s support cats moved on from it quickly.
And despite the resemblance, she loved him just as fiercely as all his other littermates; as if her love can wash away all the bad things he could do in the future. She tried showing him what true and genuine love was, so that he would never hurt anyone the way his father did. But as she was torn apart limb by limb by beings much bigger than her, and as she layed in a pool of her own blood, and as she started seeing the starry figures of her dead relatives…. All she hoped, was that she gave enough love for her son to carry on with him, and that he would never hurt a cat like he did.