Strikekit > Strikepaw > Strikeheart
Kit > Apprentice > Warrior > Elder
Tom - WindClan
Mate: Lilyleap
Sons: Driftleap, Rustspring
Strikeheart grew up a very judgmental, harsh and tempered cat more loyal to the Warrior Code and his clan than his own kin. It’s a mystery to the clans how he ended up with a cat as sweet and gentle as Lilyleap. Even though he was a strict and sometimes abusive father, he loved his sons equally and was going to raise them to be the best warriors. When Lilyleap died fighting in battle, he mourned her deeply, but life goes on and he knew that.
When his son, Driftpaw, started acting bizarre- refusing to kill prey, and when he did, he’d just stare at it like he’d expect it to jump back alive, freaking out whenever someone mentioned Lilyleap, running away during battle training, hyperventilating when he got near the ThunderClan border, starving himself… Well, Strikeheart was not open-minded or sympathetic towards his son, and would demand he stop acting so weird. He began to favor Rustpaw, and compared Driftpaw to him constantly, even when Rustpaw would tell him to stop. He would give Driftpaw extra training sessions to try and make Driftpaw stronger, but it only seemed to make his anxiety and ‘weirdness’ worse, so Strikeheart gave up and just started to distance himself from his “disgrace of a son.”
Strikeheart was an elder when Rustspring had kittens with his mate, and Strikeheart loved telling them stories. He had hoped Driftleap- who he hated further for the fact he was named after Lilyleap rather than Rustspring- would ‘tom up’ and ask Fleetwhisker to be his mate, but the tom never did in Strikeheart’s lifetime, too terrified of young Gravelkit for whatever outlandish reason.
When Strikeheart passed peacefully in his sleep, he watched WindClan in StarClan, and was disappointed in his clanmates as they started half-clan relationships and warrior-medicine cat relationships. But, in StarClan, Lilyleap was disappointed in him too, and said they couldn’t be mates anymore. Strikeheart was shocked, but eventually understood- Lilyleap was sweet, and would never harm her own son the way Strikeheart had physically, emotionally and verbally. While he remained firm in his belief that Driftleap needed to be stronger, he admitted to Lilyleap he might have gone too harsh, and she forgave him, the understanding soul she was.
“Long-legged, lean dark brown tabby tom with a nicked ear.”
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