Eye of Stars AU: Guardian Lifespan
AH, before I forget, I'm doing away with the whole "Eyes live an unspecified, but very long, amount of time until they slowly fade out of existence." Instead, like a leader gets nine lives, a guardian gets nine lifetimes. That is they live 9x as long as they would've were they not chosen. For reference, that's about 72 years (36 generations) depending on the cat.
They also physically change as the generations continue, becoming less cat-like and more like how their stories are told. They grow in size, but they also fade somewhat to where they don't really cause damage. They sort of become one with the territory, with the land slowly changing to sort of reflect the guardian watching it. The Eye becomes less interested in clan politics and more interested in the health of the territory as a whole. Real physical changes are usually noticeable by the end of their first lifetime.
For example, if Bluestar were a guardian, at the end of her term she'd be as tall as the Sky Oak. Her paws would be like mist, never leaving a mark on the ground. She'd smell of rain and something bitter. Her fur would shift like rippling waves, and when she agitated the wind would pick up and thunder would rumble in the distance. You're welcome to sit with her and watch the grass grow, but she may not answer your inquiries. When her time comes, she'd fade away like morning dew.
