#new-claws

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Falcon - River Colony New-Claw

Family - Skyfeather and Eagledive (parents), Talon (brother)

Falcon is the master of the smolder, his smile melting even the cold heart of Frozen, to his amusement and her annoyance. He loves competition and uses his charming personality to strike up various races and sparring matches with other New-claws. He spends most of his time thinking about training and besting the other New-Claws. He doesn’t realize how his words can sting others’ egos and hurt feelings all around, causing conflict for everyone, even his own brother. He loves his brother and tries to help Talon catch up when he is behind in training, but Falcon can’t stop the others from bullying Talon all the time. Talon needs to learn to stand up for himself!

While Falcon has seen a lot of violence and death in his time, he is mostly still unaware of current Colony politics; he feels that if it was important, the Mentors would let them all know, right? He feels that everything must be as it should be because River Colony is the biggest and strongest. Falcon doesn’t see himself as a bully, but he can certainly throw his weight around. Many cats in the colony say he will be the first choice for Rainfall’s guard when he graduates field training, so he must have a bright future ahead of him!

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Osprey - Marsh Colony New-Claw

Parents: Indigoeyes and Kestrelsnap

Siblings: Snowstorm, Falconswoop, and Pool

Mentor: Birdflight

“We gather under the light of the Spirits Beyond to give this cat a new name,” Captain Hawkshell said, recalling the words from her own renaming ceremony so long ago, and from Falconswoop’s transition to a molly more recently. “In light of the recent tragedy–and the name of the cat who caused it–Ice has asked that she be reborn, under a new name and identity. Henceforth, she shall be known as Osprey.”

Osprey lifted her chin, even though it made pain lance through her face and the wrappings tug at her neck fur. 

She had chosen her new name carefully. Her great-aunt was named after a hawk; her mother, a kestrel; her older sister, a falcon. As Osprey, she would join them and be as fearsome as her namesake. 

Others might criticize Hawkshell’s inaction, but Osprey was grateful. She would rise on new wings, she would soar over those who hurt her, and one day she would sink her talons into Iceclaw’s heart. 

Vengeance, justice, was hers to deliver.

-Art by Tennelle

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Field Colony Line-up- Shifting Roots

Art by Tennelle

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Marsh Colony Line-up- Shifting Roots

Art by Tennelle

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Mentors and New-Claws

River Colony is near to bursting with New-Claws in need of training! Good thing there is a large and robust group of Mentors to see to the task! It is typically the job of the Mentors to have a wide wealth of knowledge concerning all subjects an adult cat needs to know to be a good Ranger: Hunting techniques, best places to scout for materials, watching the weather, battle techniques, and so on. And these Mentors pass that information among each other so that knowledge isn’t lost. Cooperation between Mentors is key.

The Mentors of the River-lands have had their share of disagreements, however. Rapidsnap being the eldest Mentor has the most knowledge and authority, but she has been swayed by Rainfall’s opinion that training should be happening quicker and with more emphasis on obedience, personal responsibility, and results. Ferneyes, Cherryrill, Mistyclaw, and Swiftmask have little choice but to follow her lead, but with the amount of New-Claws to train, the result of this has been a young generation of cats that are rowdy and all fighting each other to be the best.

Most of the New-Claws aspire to be cool and in control like their dear Captain, and the Mentors have to find a way to work around that, for their own sake as well as theirs.

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Talon

River Colony New-Claw

Parents: Skyfeather and Eagledive

Sibling: Falcon

Talon loves stories. He likes to keep track of lore and spin tales of great heroes... though this skill of his is hardly appreciated by most of his peers. He is less boisterous and proud than his brother, Falcon, but he loves to see what kind of shenanigans his brother gets up to. Talon has never made friends very easily, most see him as stuck up or awkward, when really he is just quiet and unsure of himself; he especially doesn’t get along with cats his own age, Lily being the main one. The competition of the other New-claws doesn’t appeal to him at all. He much prefers strange things, collecting odd items and doing chores to serve the elders of the Council. His grandparents, Finfur and Sharkscale, told the most engaging stories and Talon wants to keep their memory alive by holding onto their histories and legends they told him. 

Talon’s mentor is Minnowgill and the two of them are 100% business oriented during training, no nonsense, but ever since Minnowgill became a Keeper, his training has been mostly taken on by Cherryrill. While Talon does take his field training seriously, he doesn’t take naturally to anything the way his brother does; he struggles a lot and does a lot of remedial training with Falcon so that he can impress Rapidsnap and Rainfall… Though, is their Captain ever really impressed by anything the New-Claws do? 

Talon enjoys being alone, going to the lake to listen to the crickets while he thinks of new stories and new spins on old stories that he can share with the kittens. Talon doesn’t know where he fits into the Colony and he doesn’t think it is important to know at the moment anyway, he is just glad that scary cats like Iceclaw and Pineclaw don’t seem to notice him or care what he does.

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Mentors

Breezeheart, Birdflight, Wildfur, Boulder, Red, Ice, Pool

Marsh Colony Mentors have it rough. Not many in the Colony are interested in Mentoring full time. Even if they just had a few more cats in their ranks, Breezeheart and Birdflight wouldn’t have felt so strained. Luckily, there’s always Rangers available to help with the bulk of a New-Claw’s training, but Mentors are supposed to be able to supervise all aspects of their training. And it’s become clear that some cats have slipped through the cracks…

Breezeheart spoke with Captain Hawkshell to try to remedy one such case. His nephew, Wildfur, who was always struggling to find his place and be part of the Colony, should be tested to become a Mentor. Breezeheart’s own motives were plain to see: as someone who was born a Renegade, an outsider, Breezeheart always took great pride in being the best he could be for the Colony, and seeing one of his own blood take his colony for granted stung his own ego. 

But Breezeheart reasoned that maybe making Wildfur a mentor could go a long way into correcting this issue. Giving Wildfur responsibility, accountability, and hopefully community with Birdflight and himself would not only fulfill a need of the Colony, but also give Wildfur another chance. 

“The original plan was to have Breezeheart monitor your training of Pool and decide afterward if you would be a good Mentor. Now, there is no choice; Birdflight cannot do all of a Mentor’s duties by themself. They will need help, and despite your…hesitance, I think additional responsibilities will serve you well,” (Hawkshell to Wildfur)

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Mentors and New-Claws

There are only a few Mentors in Field Colony, but they take their work seriously. Unlike other colonies, Field Colony cats mostly go everywhere in groups. Be it ranging, foraging, or hunting, it’s uncommon to see a singular Field Colony cat out on their own. That’s why many Rangers don’t like putting up with the inconveniences of New-Claws, who haven’t learned all the hunting positions and tail signals to execute a successful hunt. So while everyone is encouraged to help train a New-Claw in Field Colony, most prefer to just leave the training to the Mentors and merely let New-Claws shadow train. (That is, not offer much rather than protection should things get sticky.)

Mudnose, Spottedshadow, and Timberleg make an excellent team of teachers. Patient, firm, and compassionate. They take pride in not only tutoring their New-Claws in strategy, discipline, and form, but also being a good role model and a dependable ally. It’s this trust they form with their New-Claws that inspired each of them to become Mentors to begin with.