So, its been a bit since my buddy ended his game Mistyfeather the tabaxi bardbarian was in. It was successful. We saved the world from the first dragon, who was also the first lich. Our party was saved from this suicide mission by Mistyfeather's sapphire dragon girlfriend Kila Syli. Everyone went on to do their own pursuits in the world.
Mistyfeather asked the king of the human kingdom, who was a powerful wizard, to turn her into a sapphire dragon. She knew being in her 40s her days would end quite sooner than she would like. Atleast, taking into account how long dragons can live. Mistyfeather didn't want to leave Kila alone in this world that didn't quite trust gemstone dragons. So, she became one herself. With the help of Kila, a brass dragon nicknamed Sandwhich Man, and a green dragon nicknamed Log Throat Lady, Mistyfeather managed to push out the ancient red dragon from her tribes ancestral lands. With Guzzul fleeing into the horizon, her brass and green dragon friends flew off to make their own way in the world. Mistyfeather settled into trying to balance being just another warrior in her tribe...and her new dragon self causing many shenanigans. Kila having to smooth over alot of neighboring powerful npcs, because her mate is a dumbass that means well but....Mistyfeather is still a dumbass.
We started a second campaign that takes place 20 years in the future. Curious with one of the tabaxi tribes now having dragons as tribe members how many of the other tribes have accepted members of non-tabaxi heritage in their ranks. Let alone the drama of a 5 groups of tabaxis I loosely based on the 5 clans in the Warrior Cats novels are developing with all this shit to deal with. Why do the Tribe of the River Ripe have dragons? One of them is a hero of the realm. How is that fair for the other tribes?
Yes, Mistyfeather is a silver silky furred tabby from Riverclan.
Musing on the mistyfeather timeline vs canon books.
Finally took my down time to read more Vision of Shadows arc. Finally got to the point where Birchkit and Splashkit are made apprentices. This was around a moon after Sparkpelt became well...Sparkpelt. This got me thinking more about Mistyfeather’s character. She is a sweet, naive, and young warrior. The most interesting things she has done so far in this point in the timeline though is not die (in the background character AU that is a blessing that once I get to the bigger battles in the arc my characters face me rolling D10s to see if they survived), adopted her brother’s kits and raised them in Riverclan, and just being an annoying pain in Reedwhisker’s flank.
Plans I have for her future:
1) She will fall in love. I decided there is another Riverclan background character that acts as Birchpaw’s mentor. Mistyfeather thinks he is super handsome. Reedwhisker, the sly old tom, notices and tricks her into asking him to a private hunt. He pretty much pisses her off into thinking she will show Reedwhisker who isn’t scared to talk to their crush...which means Reedwhisker succeeds in making her talk to her crush.
2) She plays a major role in Birchpaw’s future mate joining the clan. The Wild family and their interest in loners or any kind of “forbidden” romance. They can’t stay away from them for one generation.
3) She will have kits of her own. I will have to do some counting for her lifespan versus the books timeline as to when this happens. I want Mistyfeather to be about 5 years old before she has kits. By first series logic, this would make her a senior warrior. Although, I am not sure how often 5 years = senior warrior is a thing in modern Riverclan. Point being, this would give her time to come to understand who she is as a warrior and go through personal growth. It also means her mate and her will have built up a good relationship over a number of seasons before having kits. There will none of this “We discovered we love each other and like less than a month later (if that) we are having kits” nonsense.
4) Oh, one of the kits will grow up to be a villain character. I just haven’t decided what villainous acts they do.
5) I forgot about what the flying Flipkit her Shadowclan family members have been doing all book with the rogue stuff going on. How ironic the creator of their background character AU forgot about them like they were...background characters. ...Let’s just say they are all good noodles and following Rowanstar for the time being.
Trying to think of good warrior names for Birchkit and Splashkit. I am about to move their timeline forward to when they are paws. Which means I gotta start considering what Mistystar would name them.
Splashpaw is a brown she-cat with white and black markings on her body. So, a brown calico. She is a bouncy spirit that takes after Aunt Mistyfeather. She gets irritated with her brother Birchpaw’s flirtatious antics. She is a sweet girl with a naive nature. When it is discovered Birchpaw can not sire kits of his own, she quickly volunteers to have kits for him. Birchpaw doesn’t quite understand what she means by that; but is grateful for Splashpaw’s offer to be the one to make the big happy family he dreamed of being a part of.
Birchpaw is eerily similar to his sister in looks. He is a male calico. Birchpaw kind of develops a reputation of a player among the clans. He is super envious of his cousins that have this big happy family in Shadowclan. Meanwhile he is part of a very broken up family in Riverclan. He tries dealing with this by having many lovers among Riverclan and other clans throughout his late apprenticeship. None of them ever turn out to become queens. This leads to him being very dismayed in his ability to ever have a family. After confiding in Willowshine about this two things happen. He is rightly told off for playing with so many she-cats emotions. Then she explains something that happens in cats at times. How toms that have calico markings don’t always have the ability to sire kits. Despite Willowshine’s best efforts, this destroys Birchpaw. He gives up his flirting ways in pursuit of a mate because he sees no point in trying anymore.
Don’t worry things will get better for these two. I just gotta finish reading Vision of Shadows, with my abysmal amount of free time, to flesh them out more.
The tale of how Mistyfeather lost someone close to her.
Mistyfeather was in a panic. Her silvery fur flitted in the wind as she raced across the territory. Splashkit, Birchkit, and Lionkit had gone missing! Riverclan was tearing the territory apart looking for them. She had told them so many times they had to wait until they had mentors to leave camp. The kits were almost six moons old; but that didn’t excuse leaving camp early. Her thoughts were interrupted by a wail.
“No, not the twolegplace!” Mistyfeather screeched in her head.
The young warrior bounded on her powerful legs. She thanked her ancestors for her Thunderclan bloodlines’ powerful legs. She would tear anything to shreds that touched her kin.
“Mistyfeather!” she heard Splashkit wail from a bush, “ Mistyfeather, Lionkit is trapped! Twolegs!”
Mistyfeather licked the young kit’s head and yowled for other Riverclan warriors. She turned to see Birchkit curled next to his sister and said, “Wait here. Reedwhisker and the other senior warriors will come get you. I will get Lionkit.”
With that, Mistyfeather bounded towards the Greenleaf Twolegplace. The loud yowls and mewls of younger twolegs pierced her ears. Her blood boiled when it was followed by a screech from Lionkit. Caterwauling as she barreled at the tall, possible apprentice age, twolegs, she lept on the nearest one. Screeching, clawing, and biting furiously she took it by surprise. The twoleg fell and quickly scrambled away from her. Hissing and spitting at them, she raising her hackles and struck out at them. There was two of them. She didn’t know how to defeat them, but she had to save Lionkit.
Before the twolegs could turn on her a battle cry exploded from the ferns. Reedwhisker led the patrol in a fierce display at the twolegs. The young twolegs scattered crying. A clatter hit the hard wooden ground of the twolegplace as they fled. Mistyfeather felt a shiver run down her spine. She hadn’t noticed one of them had been holding a large branch. Blood still roaring in her ears, she turned to check on Lionkit. Her heart stopped.
Lionkit was laying still at an odd angle. Her paws felt like stones as she looked over his ginger body. Mintfur took a careful sniff before Mistyfeather could move. His head drooped as he turned to face Mistyfeather. “I’m sorry, Mistyfeather. He...he’s gone,” the gray tabby tom meowed.
Mistyfeather lunged forward with a wail. She threw herself over Lionkit’s body and cried into his soft kit fur. She was deaf to Reedwhisker growling for the warriors to form a battle line, the howls of more twolegs, and barely felt the warriors pull her up and away from the scene.
“No, we can’t leave him!” she wailed as she was pulled away from Lionkit.
Reedwhisker was backing up from a grown twoleg hissing. He deftly spun around to grab Lionkit and race off with the rest of his patrol. Mistyfeather was numb the whole way back to camp. Even the mewls of Birchkit and Splashkit asking why Lionkit wasn’t talking to them didn’t register with her until she was sitting in the center of camp. Reedwhisker laid Lionkit next to her before going to speak with Mistystar. Mistyfeather stared at Lionkit’s lifeless body. She had promised to raise him to be a strong Riverclan warrior. She had failed him. Failed her brother, Cavern. A new wave of sorrow crashed over her as she flung herself over him wailing.
The rest of Riverclan passed her in turns mewing their condolences for her loss. Lakeheart and Icewing, the queens of Riverclan, spent longer at her side mourning the loss of the kit. They even took on the difficult task Mistyfeather should have done explaining to Birchkit and Splashkit what had happened to their brother. That night Mistyfeather, Birchkit, and Splashkit stood vigil for Lionkit. None of them wanted to leave his side. All of them whispered silent prayers Lionkit would find his way to the safety of Starclan and be swaddled in the protection of their warrior ancestors.
Awhile back I gave the run down of how Mistyfeather (current warriorsona) and Wildstump (retired warriorsona) are related. In that post I mentioned Mistyfeather's uncle, Boulderfoot. Boulderfoot left Riverclan when she was still Mistypaw because he fell in love with a cat in another clan. That cat was Honeydream. She was supposed to be from Skyclan, but they weren't at the lake in that point in the timeline. So, Honeydream is now a Shadowclan cat. Now, let's talk about the whole mess of cousins Mistyfeather meets at gatherings from these lovebirds.
Honeydream: a small she-cat with beige fur and dark charcoal markings, much like a Ragdoll or Siamese cat in marking placement. She has blue eyes and super fluffy fur. She is a sweetheart to her very core. A bit of a dreamer.
Boulderfoot: a massive tom with brown fur and darker brown tiger stripes along his body. His Maine Coon heritage that shows up in Wildstump’s descendants is very obvious in his physical shape and long fur. He has yellow eyes. A tom strong in his value of family, but wears his heart of his sleeve...err well paws.
Their kits:
Tigertail: A stocky young tom with beige fur and slight charcoal markings. Has tiger stripes descending his back and tail. He has yellow eyes with very plush short fur. In Shadowclan the prefix Tiger has gone from taboo to a name of honor due to Tawnypelt’s efforts with naming her son Tigerheart. Honeydream was quick to adopt this new naming tradition in naming her son Tigertail. Tigertail himself is very cocky and a flirt. He actually hit on Mistyfeather once. He was quite flustered by Boulderfoot pointing out he hit on his cousin.
Blossomcloud: A white, brown, and charcoal calico she-cat with yellow eyes. She has her father’s size, but her plush fur is well groomed and not as wild as her Wildstump family members that share the long fur trait. She is a calm and quiet she-cat. She is very loyal to following the code to the letter. She also struggles with anxiety from her being half-clan.
Oakblaze: An average sized tom with brown fur and faint tiger stripes along his body. He has yellow eyes and a stern demeanor. His personality is similar to his sister, Blossomcloud. The biggest difference is where she suffers in silence from her anxiety of their heritage he lashes out. Oakblaze is the first to volunteer for anything, and even quicker to bear his fangs at anyone that questions his loyalty to Shadowclan because of his Riverclan blood.
Saffronpaw: a short ball of reddish brown fluff of a she-cat with blue eyes. Saffronpaw is oblivious to the struggles and strife being half clan causes her family. She can sneak through pines and swim like a fish. That sounds amazing to her. She just wants to be this little ball of optimism that spreads acceptance for every cats strengths.
So, before I decided to make Mistyfeather the active warriorsona for me, Wildstump had been living a different path than reuniting with the clans and joining Riverclan. She originally never found the clans again and started her own clan, Larkclan. It was located in a distant forest just off the fringes of a twolegs’ city. (AKA: I ran a simulated version in Sims 3 in Roaring Heights) When she established her clan, the ancestors of the cats she established it with gave her nine lives. She is currently on her last lives and has seen her clan grow for ages. Mistyfeather was never born in the alternate path. i can’t remember every cats’ appearance right now. But, I can give you the clan roster.
Current Larkclan:
Leader: Wildstar (Wildstump) (she-cat)
Deputy: Pouncespots (she-cat)
Medicine cat: Stormspirit (tom) & Goldenheart (she-cat)
Goldenheart (she had a forbidden romance with her mentor. Her kit will have to become a medicine cat and was named after his father as punishment for her breaking the code) Kits: Spiritkit (tom)
Elders:
Runningwind (Runningstream in the Mistyfeather AU) (tom)
I want Boulderfoot, Mistyfeather's uncle, to have left Riverclan for a Skyclan background character. But, Skyclan wasn't at the lake territories when he left Riverclan in my timeline. That is gonna be fun to fix. Ugh, Honeydream is gonna go through some rewrites now.
Tales from the Background Character AU: Hawkstrike’s Folly
This instance takes place sometime around or just before AVOS: The Apprentice’s Quest. Riverclan queens are gathered in the nursury as Mistyfeather tells the young kits about the her grandmother, Hawkstrike. A tale meant to teach the kits the price of being brash and overconfident.
The rain tumbled down the ferns outside the nursery. Icewing was settling in with her kits, Nightkit and Breezekit. Lakeheart yawned lazily as the afternoon rain pitter pattered down. Mistyfeather, a silver she-cat was visiting her kin Birchkit, Splashkit, and Lionkit. The three were the oldest kits in the nursery, and quick to barrel around into the queens.
Mistyfeather purred to the three, “Come on now. Settle down next to me,” guiding them close to her flank with her feathery tail,” How about I tell you kits a story.”
“What kind of story? Is it about brave warriors?!” Splashkit squeaked, dancing on her tiny tortoiseshell paws.
“The bravest warrior. Many say she was too brave,” Mistyfeather replied with a shake of her head.
“There is no such thing as a warrior that is too brave,” Lionkit mewed. The ginger tom puffed up to strike a dynamic pose.
“Oh, have you kits ever heard of Hawkstrike? She used to be a very brave Riverclan warrior,” Mistyfeather purred to the kits.
“No, tell us the story. Tell us all about her,” Birchkit mewled at her. The young tom curled close to listen. Mistyfeather purred as she began her tale.
Hawkstrike was a large she-cat. She was proud and brave as any cat could be. Some rumored she might have the makings of a deputy with some seasons of experience. Then a famine hit Riverclan. Hawkstrike was a queen at the time. She and the mates of her three brothers had all birthed litters of hungry kits. Hawkstrike grew restless as the days passed. The thought that Riverclan didn’t have enough food was one she couldn’t accept. If she wasn’t in the nursery there would be prey for everyone. She was the greatest warrior Riverclan had ever seen in her mind.
One night, Hawkstrike hatched a plan. She would sneak out of Riverclan to Horseplace. She would look for easy prey that had grown fat off the twolegs there. Hawkstrike knew Leopardstar wouldn’t approve of such a plan. She decided to call upon her brothers and her mate. They would gather their mates and she would get her mate together in the dead of night. The patrol of eight cats could do anything together.
So, they all sneaked into Horseplace in search of more prey. They found the strangest thing there. Rabbits sealed behind wood and hard tendrils. The rabbits were so plump they would feed the clan for moons! Hawkstrike led her patrol to scratch and pull at all parts of the strange den the rabbits were kept in. But, they weren’t the only creatures lurking in Horseplace.
“What else was there?” Splashkit asked quietly, holding her gaze with her aunt.
“That is what Riverclan was going to discover in the next part of the story, “ Mistyfeather growled ominously.
Riverclan was woken late in the night to Hawkstrike’s mate, Captain, screeching through camp for help! He explained what they were doing. He begged Leopardstar to send warriors to help. Dogs had attacked their hunting patrol! Leopardstar was quick to send her warriors to aid them. They chased the dogs off with their tails between their legs. But, they were too late. Hawkstrike’s patrol had all been mortally wounded. Only Captain, who had gone back for help, and Spotteedheart, by the grace of Starclan any cat knows why, survived.
The three kits shivered as the stared up at Mistyfeather with wide eyes. Lionkit was the first to speak, “Hawkstrike died because she was too brave? What about here kits?”
Mistyfeather licked between the young tom’s ears and explained, “ With so many of the queens dead, not many of the kits survived. Only Hawkstrike’s two sons lived to be warriors. It’s okay to be brave and proud of yourself; but you must never let it cloud your judgement. Hawkstrike let her pride blind her, and so many cats paid the price for it. That is why you should always think things through carefully.”
“A little too morbid for a kit tale, isn’t it?” Lakeheart mewed.
“Yes, but I rather the kits learn sooner in life to think things through. I don’t want any of them to put themselves at risk over something as foolish as overblown pride, “ Mistyfeather sniffed.
“We won’t Mistyfeather. We promise to think things through,” Birchkit mewed as he nuzzled his aunt.
“We will be the smartest cats!” Splashkit cried.
“We will be the bravest and smartest cats!” Lionkit exclaimed as he bounced from the nest to coax Nightkit into a play fight.
Mistyfeather purred as she watched the kits. Her kin was so special to her. She just wanted them to know and learn from their family history. Maybe they were too young for the tale of Hawkstrike; but she just didn’t want them to grow up and repeat her mistakes. Mistyfeather didn’t know if she could bear to lose anymore of her kin.
