#bb!deerfoot

[bonefall]

Bones… don’t do this to us… there is too much angst potential in Lizzie being a part of the Forget-Me-Nots, the precursor of Fire Alone, and watching Tangle and Runny grow up to be Thistle Law supporters…

When her kids got older, they all drifted. Mudfoot finally had the apprentice-aged kids he could hang out with, and Lizi had never enjoyed being a mother. She was closest with Deerfoot, having reached an understanding with him when he was a bit older.

While he was Deerpaw, he met the Forget-Me-Nots once. I like to think there was a look of understanding between him and Bluestar, a silence that said a lot, just before she decided to lend her Clan to help his.

Tangleburr and Runningnose though, they went far and stayed far. There IS love there, but deeply strained. Tangle resents how Lizi thinks she can "boss her around," Runningnose doesn't mind her when she "stays out of his way."

From her spot in the stars, she can't say she's disappointed in them. She doesn't feel like she has the right to; they picked their own paths when she wasn't there to guide their paws. Her own mom, Puffballpad (the child Snowtuft failed to kill), was a similar way with her, after all.

But she WILL say that Deerfoot is her joy. She has no idea how he ended up as the person he is, it certainly wasn't because of her help. His sense of honor, his wit, and his indominable will are traits of herself she admires in him, but UNLIKE her, he's dedicated and reliable.

She made a lot of mistakes in her personal life. She'll admit it. Lizi was young when she had them, had a mate who was very unsupportive, was a lot more interested in hanging out with her secret friends. Any actual attempts at parenting were thwarted by Raggedstar and his golden boy, and she certainly didn't push back very hard.

They deserved better, but unfortunately, they got her. And what's done is done.

[bonefall]

any thoughts about Deerfoot, Patron of Rebellion? (Totally not bc I have a drawing of him in the works, and don't want to get any details wrong haha)

WELL,

Him and Pearstar tend to "compete" a bit, some patrons overlap until one beats the other out, or they settle into different, adjacent roles.

Pearstar tends to be associated more with people who HAVE power stepping up to do what's right, where Deerfoot is more of a Guerilla's Patron.

Deerfoot has been a lot more popular in the modern era because of this, with how opposition to The Kin and The Impostor are both almost entirely unapproved by the other leaders.

But on that note, both of these gods are worshiped VERY quietly. In hushed tones.

A Leader is a holy figure. To openly discuss their overthrowing could be a kind of blasphemy in and of itself.

I like to think that people carve very tiny trinkets out of deer "ivory" in Deerfoot's image.

He is a very rare exception to the "StarClan spirits are invoked; Dark Forest demons are channeled" rule. There are times where you don't want StarClan to know what you are planning...

And he is there to advise you on if he agrees with your cause or nay.

He was involved in opposing Brokenstar, Nightstar, and Tigerstar. When Nightstar tried to drive out WindClan for ShadowClan's benefit, Deerfoot turned HARD on him. He was never afraid to oppose someone doing the wrong thing.

Deerfoot famously died refusing to rat out any of his supporters, and ended up being the ONLY cat to be killed in retaliation for letting the prisoners escape.

He was beaten before that, though. When he died, he was already a bloody mess. Tigerstar learned his lesson about just starving prisoners before setting an executioner on them.

It was probably Blackfoot who did the deed. I imagine he handled every execution; THOUGH they might have forced Jaggedtooth to do it.

If it was Jaggedtooth, Deerfoot didn't fight. Jag was one of his accomplices. They both knew very well that he couldn't make a stand here-- he needed to do this, and keep himself safe.

He was eventually buried in a "Rogue's Graveyard" of sorts, a big pit where they tossed most of the TigerClan victims in RiverClan territory. For the brief period of time before the destruction of the White Hard, anyone could go there to pay their respects.

RiverClan had been pretty testy about visitation towards the end, though.

If you need a picture, here's his refresher and here's his sheet, which was one of the first reduxes I did. He's got these long, sweeping whiskers and a lanky kind of build, with his mother's lip.