tigerclaw is bluestar's apprentice post
was thinking about it earlier, and wouldn't it be better if Tigerstar had been Bluestar's apprentice instead?
just think about it. Bluefur, who is still struggling with her own prophecy, gets apprenticed this troubled young cat who also got singled out by Goosefeather as a troubled cat. she sees so much of herself in Tigerpaw, who is also grieving and completely isolated from everyone else. no one understood her pain. but she can help him through his.
she takes initiative and tries to teach him her very best. she sees a spark in young Tigerpaw, and wants to hone him into the very best warrior he can be, projecting herself quite a bit on him.
she tells him that he's doing perfectly, even when he's standoffish. even when he's a little too aggressive while training with the other apprentices or with her. she tells him what Bluepaw wanted to hear, but not what Tigerpaw needed to hear.
she's still horrified when Tigerpaw, unprovoked, beats up a tiny kittypet. she doesn't know where he's getting it from, and tries to tell him that he shouldn't be taking it out on a tiny kittypet when it did nothing wrong. Tigerpaw is confused by these sudden mixed signals she's giving him now. Bluefur said he was doing perfectly? he was just protecting the border, and this kittypet needed to be taught a lesson. what did Bluefur know anyway? she just wants to go and pout about it like everything else in her life.
he starts to listen to the dark forest cats who start to appear in his dreams, and isolates himself from his clanmates further. Bluefur can't seem to snap him out of it anymore, and unlike she did, Tigerpaw never gets an effective reality check from his mentor. he continues to train recklessly in and out of sleep, not listening to any cat but himself, because he's the only constant he's got. he doesn't need a father, mother, sisters, mentor, or any friends, they'll be unreliable anyway.
Tigerpaw becomes a warrior, and starts to see the benefits of fear instead. fear locks a cat into one state. one easy to fool, easy to manipulate. he gains a posse of Darkstripe, Longtail, and even the deputy's apprentice, Dustpaw. that'll show Redtail, the soft-hearted idiot.
imagine Bluestar giving Tigerclaw another shot by making him a trusted deputy, because she's finally come around to acknowledging how his view of protecting the borders and running the clan is different. she knows she's going a little soft, and putting in soft deputies have only isolated her clanmates (Darkstripe, Longtail, Dustpelt) further. maybe a tougher one like Tigerclaw will last longer too.
Tigerclaw's betrayal absolutely shatters her. this was Bluestar's concession, her time to come out of her shell and admit that she was wrong to not appoint Tigerstar earlier (to take care of all the threats ThunderClan faced), only to be violently forced back into her shell with another loud affirmation that she was wrong, again. she made another misstep in her leadership again, and it was all her fault.
Bluestar spirals, and decides, why not? make her kittypet protege Fireheart the deputy? he'll probably die or turn on her too. it's what StarClan would've wanted. another misstep of catharsis to add to her resume! the clan was already going downhill, what's another doomed deputy to the pile?
and to her suprise, Bluestar actually made the right choice. Fireheart gives her hope again. he builds up ThunderClan on his own, with only his authority as deputy. Bluestar, motivated by her clan (and her life) actually going well for once, decides to make this newfound hope count, and sacrifices herself to the dogs. with Fireheart as leader, ThunderClan could be restored and he could face down Tigerstar. Firestar was bigger than even her biggest mistakes, and always shone brighter than she could ever hope.
