Deep Dives #1- Wren
One of the characters I’m asked the most about is Wren. So I figured it was only fitting to start off the deep dives with everyone’s favorite problematic wife. This is a detailed look into Wren’s backstory and more information about clan events involving her. :)
Trigger Warnings: This Deep Dive will contain discussions of child abuse/neglect, postpartum depression, young pregnancy, murder, and dementia.
Kithood (0-5 Moons):
Wren was born into a colony of cats known as the Feather Colony, to her mother Sparrow and her father Hawk, who were Leader and Head Healer of the Colony respectively. She had three littermates, two brothers named Hummingbird and Toucan, and a sister Parrot, who passed away shortly after birth.
The stress of losing a kit and raising three other kits, as well as the hormonal shifts that came with kitting, took a toll on Sparrow. She began to drown herself in her leader duties entirely, often forgetting to feed the kits and refusing to even acknowledge their existence. Wren tried to form a relationship with her father, but Hawk proved to be a cruel father. He punished Wren and her littermates with physical discipline, yelled at them for the smallest mistakes, and grew increasingly violent as the kits became older and less fragile. One of Wren’s first memories of her father is Hawk grabbing a three-moon-old Toucan by the scruff and throwing him into the den wall, for the mistake of mispronouncing the name of an herb. Toucan ended up with chronic spinal pain and a limp for the rest of his life. Sparrow knew about the abuse, but couldn’t bring herself to care.
Despite the cruelty, Wren tried to remain happy. She made friends easily, quickly gaining a best friend in Lark, a fellow Colony cat who was around her age. It was clear from the start Lark had feelings for Wren, feelings that Wren didn’t reciprocate. She had a bit of a rebellious streak, and loved to sneak out of Colony Grounds whenever possible…Which led to her meeting a kittypet who went by Jasper.
Adolescence (6-12 Moons):
This is Jasper. Say hi. Wren loved Jasper. Jasper loved Wren. They were only a moon apart, with him being younger.
Wren constantly stuck out to see Jasper, especially when she reached the age of six moons and was allowed to travel on her own. The two would sit together for hours, talking about everything and nothing at once.
But the two weren’t smart, and as two cats in love did, they fooled around a bit when they were too young to know what they were doing. Wren, at the age of seven moons, found herself pregnant.
She told Jasper first. She was scared. She knew how her parents were, and knew she would be shunned by her community. Jasper assured her everything would be fine- If he needed to, he would join the Feather Colony and raise the kits by her side.
Wren told Lark next, and Lark promised not to tell anyone what happened until Wren was ready. They lied, because next thing Wren knew, Hawk brought her into the den, confrontational and angry. He yelled at Wren for hours, calling her unsavory things, telling her she was a disgrace, and even threatening to kill Wren to avoid the secret reaching the ears of the other Colony cats. Terrified, Wren ran away, and her and Jasper disappeared for a few days. They only came back when Toucan and Hummingbird found them, promising to support them against Sparrow and Hawk. They also told Wren that Lark wouldn’t be a problem anymore- Hummingbird had a very long, thorough talk with them.
Wren and Jasper returned to the Colony, and Jasper joined as an official member. However, he refused to change his name, saying it was a part of him. Wren’s pregnancy, despite her age, went smoothly. Cats whispered, but as long as she had the support of her mate and her brothers, Wren was happy.
At nine moons old, Wren gave birth to a single son. She lost a lot of blood in the kitting, so much that she went into a coma for a few days. When she awoke, she realized that Sparrow had named her son for her, calling him Vulture after the “decay” his birth brought to their family’s reputation. Wren was devastated. But she was too scared to fight against Sparrow’s word.
She tried her hardest to give Vulture the best kithood he could have, but he was shunned by everyone except for Wren, Jasper, Hummingbird, and Toucan. Not even Lark treated him like a cat. They all treated him like a monster.
Wren couldn’t take it. When she reached twelve moons, she and Jasper made a choice. Jasper would take Vulture, who was now three moons old, back to his housefolk to live with him as a kittypet. Wren would continue to live her life, and they would pretend that they never knew each other. It broke her heart to do it, but she knew that it was for the best, and hoped it would change her life and her relationship with her Colony.
But it didn’t.
Adulthood/Elder Years (13 Moons-Present):
Wren stayed in the Feather Colony for a while longer, but it was hard for her. Cats only saw her as the cat who brought shame to her family and to their leader. She was able to get updates about Vulture from neighboring loners- He was welcomed into Jasper’s housefolk’s home, and their young twoleg named him Frozen, after a movie she liked.
One day, Wren couldn’t take the abuse anymore. At forty moons old, Wren left the Feather Colony to live as a loner. She first tried to live with Jasper, only to find the twoleg den empty. They had moved away, and Wren had no clue where they had gone. She felt truly alone…Until she met Owlshade, who claimed to be a clan cat. He invited Wren to live with him, his daughter, and his healer, and a very desperate Wren agreed. Over the next moon the two got close, and when Owlshade asked Wren to be his mate, she accepted.
However, she quickly realized that Owlshade was nothing like Jasper, and that made her bitter. That bitterness grew into resentment, and that resentment became cruelty. Wren began to become cold and mean to others, especially since Owlshade let her do whatever she pleased with barely a slap on the wrist. She let Owlshade go find a tom to have kits with, and barely felt anything when she found out Owlshade was pregnant. It didn’t matter who these kits were, they weren’t Frozen and never would be.
Aspenkit and Maplekit’s births almost changed Wren’s mind. She’d never had a daughter before, and was determined to have the relationship with Maplekit that her and Sparrow never had, which led to her being obsessively doting to her daughter. But her resentment lingered. She saw how well Owlshade got along with Violetsong, Maplekit, and Aspenkit, and it just reminded her that she didn’t have that. But she needed somebody to take it out on. Violetsong didn’t tolerate it, Owlshade was too passive, Fawnspring didn’t matter to Wren, and Maplekit was supposed to be her pride and joy.
All there was was Aspenkit, and Aspenkit became the victim of her cruelty. Wren decided to use the only discipline she knew how to use whenever Aspenkit did something wrong…Shouted words, cruel insults, and hits.
She was given Spiderpaw as an apprentice some time later, and that’s when she met Thistle. She didn’t know why she slept with him, and she wouldn’t be able to tell you a reason now. When she found out she was pregnant with Thistle’s kits she begged him to join the clan, and he (naively) did.
Wren soon gave birth to Adderkit, who was named by Owlshade. Wren felt slightly guilty, but felt she was too far gone. If only something good would happen…
…Frozenbeam joined the clan. Wren pretended not to care, but she was ecstatic. She recognized him from the start, and knew who he was- Her sweet baby boy. But…He didn’t act sweet. He was oddly strict, he was arrogant, and he was selfish. That wasn’t the kit Wren knew at all! And even worse, Frozenbeam didn’t remember her for some reason.
Wren’s heart was broken. She felt like her life was ruined, and it couldn’t get any worse…
until Owlshade broke up with her. Wren knew it was coming someday. Owlshade was distant, he was cold, and Wren heard whispers of cats finding out Adderkit, now Adderpaw and soon to be Addersnap, was not his daughter. That didn’t make it hurt any less, and all it did was make Wren more bitter. She tried to get with Bluefern in hopes of filling the void, but he was far from interested, unwilling to get caught up in Wren’s reputation.
Wren made a friend a moon later- Oleander, a newcomer to BranchClan. Oleander listened to Wren’s troubles, offered advice, and even motivated Wren to be a better cat. She almost chose to be better for Oleander’s sake, and was thrilled when Oleander brought Brightkit into camp. Oleander asked Wren to be Brightkit’s godmother, in case anything happened to her, and Wren was honored to agree.
She didn’t expect Oleander to die two moons later. Wren’s heart was broken all over again, and now when she looked at Brightpaw, she was just reminded of her friend, who she had loved more than she ever loved Owlshade. She didn’t follow Oleander’s wishes and became snappy and distant from Brightkit, unaware that she was only making Brightkit feel like she’d lost two mothers instead of one.
Then came Brightpaw’s apprenticeship. Wren agreed to mentor Brightpaw, but did the minimum work even though Brightpaw wanted more. Which led to that fateful night.
Wren had been irritated and tired that night. She had been thinking about her life, feeling sorry for herself, and Brightpaw just had to approach her, just had to confront her at that moment about her “terrible” mentoring skills.
What made snap was Brightpaw asking if Wren was as bad of a mother as she was a mentor.
Wren blacked out, and when she came to her senses she had a claw-wound in her side, blood on her paws, and went back to the clan after cleaning herself to find out Brightpaw had been found dead. Wren had failed Oleander in the most heartbreaking way…And there was nobody to blame but herself.
Wren became more withdrawn after that. She was still mean, but quieter. She knew that everything was over for her, and as she got older became resigned to her fate. She watched the cats around her find love and form their own families. She found out what Frozenbeam had done to Pearfur, and felt sickened to have brought such a terrible cat into the world. All she wanted to do for a long time was go to sleep and never wake up again.
But one day, her memory began to fade. It started with minor things- Forgetting about tasks she’d been assigned or what she’d had for dinner that evening, but it soon worsened, getting so bad that she’d leave camp for a walk and wander for hours, calling out for someone and forgetting where she came from or where she was going. She wanted her mother, unaware that her mother had abandoned her long ago. Wren finally retired at the age of 130 moons.
Her condition didn’t get any better, but she became kinder when she forgot what had made her so angry in the first place. She made more friends, reunited with Owlshade, and expressed remorse for how she’d treated her son Aspenfall. Addersnap became her main caregiver, and she adopted a litter of four. However, she forgot that she didn’t give birth to the four, and treated them like her biological kits. She loved them, and they adored her… But her mind deteriorated more, and she soon forgot them too.
Now Wren is fading. Names and faces are blurred, distant images in her head. She has brief, short moments of clarity, moments that last a mere second before going away again. She sleeps more, dreaming of cats she no longer knows.
Her time is coming soon, and where she’ll go after her passing is unknown.