Runningkit's mother was never well liked in Shadowclan, having her first kit young with an older senior warrior who died before Runningkit was born. Nineteen moons later, she returned with a kit she claimed was a found kit but Runningpaw knew better. After all, taking in outsider kits were common in Shadowclan in that day, but having kits with an outsider was considered a grave offense. Runningpaw had always been interested in wounds and illness and herbs and the power it gave him over his clanmates, so no one was surprised when he chose to train under Yellowfang. Yellowfang was originally a little bothered by her apprentice's concerning interests but was too busy with the intense drama of her own life to do much about it. About a moon after Rockkit was brought into the clan, his mother was bit by a snake, and went to her son Runningnose as Yellowfang was away. She did not survive, as Runningnose simply did not give her the right medical attention. That's not murder, right? Runningnose originally disregarded his brother Rockpaw but grew to see him as a useful piece in his plans. When Brokenkit was born without a mother, it was easy to believe Raggedpelt when he claimed the kit as his own, as they looked like twins minus the crooked tail. The clan didn't care as the kit of a deputy is important enough to not care where it came from, but no cat spent as much time with Yellowfang than her apprentice, and Runningnose knew instantly the identity of the missing mother. And Runningnose had a vision of his own, and immediately inserted himself in Brokenkit's life when Yellowfang could not. Brokenpaw was incredibly popular with his peers, and excused for many of his actions by his father. Brokentail saw Runningnose as someone to use and control in his ambitious plan, and Runningnose was aware of this, but was smart enough to play along. Thanks to his father, Brokentail grew in power, becoming deputy when he killed Raggedpelt. He let Runningnose watch. Brokentail was deputy only a few moons before Minkstar's... unexplainable death. Brokenstar and Runningnose were an extremely powerful duo, with Brokenstar's very powerful conservative vision and Runningnose's ability to solve certain... problems, they quickly had Shadowclan under their complete control. There was only one cat left who could possibly ruin things. Yellowfang. Luckily for them, Yellowfang's younger sibling Rowanberry just had kits, Mintkit and Marigoldkit. The two were apprenticed at five moons (Mintpaw wanted to be a healer but Brokenstar did not allow it). The two kits soon died, killed in a way only a healer could kill. Of course, no one would suspect Runningnose, so Yellowfang was forced out of her clan. When Brokenstar was thrown out, Runningnose was extremely smart, smart enough to stay in Shadowclan undetected. When Brokenstar died, Runnongnose was not sad to see his pawn go as he had run out his usefulness. Runningnose got his fill for a while through the Carrionplace Disease, but something much more interesting fell right into his lap. Tigerclaw. Tigerclaw was everything Brokentail had but much better. And Runningnose used him in the same way, he basically sold the idea of Tigerclaw to the clan himself, convincing them that The Stars had brought Tigerclaw to a struggling Shadowclan. Their savior. But while Tigerstar believed his plan foolproof and infallible, Runningnose knew better. Knew to stay as under the radar as he possibly could so that no one would know if things went bad. And of course, they did, when Scourge killed Tigerstar. Blackstar doesn't fully trust Runningnose, having been groomed by Brokenstar he knows how close they really were, but there isn't much he can do about it as Runningnose's position as a wise old healer protects him from anything Blackstar could do. Runningnose is now just ready to let his crimes stay buried and retire undetected. It's too far in the past to do anything about it now, right? Nobody needs to know.
