"At the Gathering tomorrow night, I'll suggest we add a new part to the warrior code: that all new warriors must spend one night in silent vigil so they understand how much their Clan needs them now." - Troutstar, Code of the Clans
Can't send asks to the OC blog, but I'm so curious about Pikesnap's and Saugerleap's deals and would love to hear more. Love me some political drama between siblings <3
Thank you so much for this ask because it made me realize I HAD NEVER TURNED ON ASKS ON THAT BLOG IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!! Not sure why they were off on default but blegh, they should be fixed now! (shameless plug go to @clansofthepantheon for more on these clans and characters.) Anyways, a mix of recap and new info-
Pikesnap and Saugerleap are the deputies of SerpentClan and the sons of Troutstar, the Clan's very elderly leader. They are the second litter of Troutstar and his mate, Lakeripple, with the first not surviving the fire that devastated the territories (one died in the actual fire, while the other two passed soon after due to smoke inhalation and lack of available of treatments). Pikesnap and Saugerleap were sired by Froghop, who later on retired during their apprenticeship (at most they know they were sired by her, there's no kinship here fyi). Lakeripple passed when during their mid-kithood, so the two don't have too many memories of their other father. Troutstar doesn't really talk about him until later on in their life, those early years were very painful for him.
SerpentClan is a hereditary monarchy, both Pikesnap and and Saugerleap were taught from birth that one of them would one day be overseeing the Clan as leader. For note: leaders/rulers in SerpentClan also oversee the religious duties instead of the Medicine Cats, in SerpentClan that term has been changed to "Physician". For rulers with larger litters, it's encouraged to have some litters take over as Physician, Hunting Head, Kitchen Head, or Champion (Overview on the ranks here). Since it was just the two of them, neither of them showing much aptitude as a Physician, Troutstar decided to focus their curriculum in preparing them both to take over as the Ruler of SerpentClan; similar to BoarClan with a focus on Deputyship as a trial period to find the best leader.
Troutstar was a lot stricter when they were apprentices, grilling them on politics, mediation, the art of diplomacy - something that affected the brothers in very different ways. While he's mellowed out and has tried to take a kinder more understanding approach, the damage is already done. Sooo, onto more character specifics:
Pikesnap (He/Him)
Being Troutstar's kid got to his head early on, especially with the special treatment he received. He had a mixed relationship with his father, especially with how distant Troutstar could be at first. He got along a lot more with his caretakers, a trio of cats that were specially chosen to help look after Pikekit and Saugerkit.
Him and Sauger would started to form a rift between them during their apprenticehood, when Pikepaw began excelling and Saugerpaw, well...he didn't really have an immediate talent for anything.
Pikepaw was apprenticed to Tanglelily, the Hunting Head of SerpentClan, with Troutstar believing that Tanglelily's more disciplined methods that they would be able to wrangle Pikepaw's ego. It was...to mixed results. Pikepaw got better at hiding his ego, but being apprenticed to a high ranking cat definitely inflated it lol
Pikesnap took the history of war and destruction to heart in that a Clan that would survive would be one that wouldn't be pushed around. He's a staunch believer in traditional SerpentClan isolationism but, unlike his father, has more of a taste for battle than his Clanmates.
He heard tales of MustangClan destroying three Clans and now was witnessing the destruction they'd left, and how CardinalClan barely managed to end the war with BoarClan in a truce. SerpentClan is not a Clan of fighters, he knows they'd be wiped out if their neighbors ever turned their claws on them.
His solution? The Clan needs to learn to defend itself, stake its claim and make it clear SerpentClan will not be pushed around.
As an apprentice, he excelled in combat training. Pikesnap's name was given due to his sheer physical ability, he was barely beaten out for the role of Champion by Stingtongue due to her stunt in luring a coyote away from the camp. The loss of the title burns at him to this day, he wanted that Champion clout sooooo badly lol
If he had been picked, he would've been a Champion of the God of the Hunt. Almost the War God but his focus on preservation lands himself in good favor with the God of the Hunt and Harvest.
Despite his loss of the Champion title, he's very popular with his Clanmates as a candidate for Ruler. It only fuels his aggressive tendencies later on, driving him further to double down on his "plans" for leadership
Does not get along with the other leader babies, he's got no respect for BoarClan and MustangClan. At most, he has a polite if shallow acquaintanceship with Cranegaze from CardinalClan. Outright looks down on CoyoteClan and doesn't give a shiiit about TempestClan lol
He and Duskclaw butt heads a lot, it almost getting physical the first time they met. So when a betrothal was proposed to maintain peace between them, he was overlooked by his father in favor of Saugerleap. He had mixed feelings on the matter, the respect that came with the choice gave Saugerleap a huge reputation boost in SerpentClan (he'd already been mending it when he finally hit his stride in his late apprenticeship).
Sooooo when later on Pikesnap discovered Saugerleap cuddling up to Jaycall, the BoarClan Healer, out on the territory edge, well...it was only right to do the right thing and tell everyone. Preferably at a Gathering, so everyone knew how honest he was.
The decision to make the announcement was mortifying for everyone involved, both Bearstar and Troutstar were furious, Duskclaw and Saugerleap were humiliated, and even SerpentClan was....mixed on the decision.
Airing out dirty laundry like that in front of everyone was a bad move, though Pikesnap wouldn't admit it...not at first anyways. Regardless, the damage was done, him and Saugerleap's relationship was done, and, inadvertently, he had levelled the playing field even more in terms of who Troutstar would pick as his successor.
Saugerleap (He/Him)
Saugerkit was not immune from the ego boost that came with being Troutstar's son. Getting three caretakers, an early curriculum, and commanding respect as a child tends to get to one's head after all. Unfortunately, unlike his brother, Saugerkit would quickly be humbled by an early self-discovery: he was a slow learner.
Sauger isn't dumb, he'd later go on to excel in diplomacy and the gift of gab, dude's got a fantastic grasp on how to talk to people. But getting down history, hunting techniques, and fighting? It just took him a little longer, it didn't help that his mentor, Sablepelt, wasn't the most patient cat.
Note: Sablepelt was the former Head of Hunting but retired early due to a temporary injury, he still commands quite a bit of respect in the Clan.
He got compared to his brother a lot, something that really tanked his self-confidence in those early apprentice days.
What gave him the boost was meeting other cats during Gatherings, Saugerpaw hit it off with the BoarClan "royal family" and became easy friends with Jaypaw, a Healer's Apprentice about a moon younger than him. Jaypaw, similarly, was a slow learner but definitively did not share Saugerpaw's hang ups about it.
Any progress for Jaypaw was celebrated, perks of having Too Much Mom Dawnstar as a parent lol she was also happy to celebrate his wins.
Having actual friends and connections did a lot of healing when it came to Saugerpaw's self-confidence issues and, eventually, lead him to firmly request a mentor change from Troutstar, who agreed. Saugerpaw was reassigned to the much mellower, much nicer, Grasstuft, a more laidback Warrior who Saugerpaw vibed with way more.
With a more laidback approach, Saugerpaw's confidence began to repair and he realized he was an excellent negotiator, quick to figure out weaknesses and tells from the other cat. He went from a nervous and meek apprentice to a sleek and confident cat, with a mellow air to him that made him approachable.
And...he also kept visiting Jaypaw, soon given his name Jaycall, at the border. Days turned to moons and friendship turned to more...then the betrothal came.
Saugerleap knew he was gay early on, always had, and just wasn't open about it. He's a private guy, info like that isn't something he's interested in sharing with the Clan. So when his father, a cat he wants to impress, approaches him for a very important role, Saugerleap has a lot of trouble saying no.
Besides, it's just Duskclaw and Duskclaw knows him, clearly she knows that they can make this work. So, quietly, he talks to her and an agreement is made: a public betrothal and the two of them would have their own quiet affairs in private. Duskclaw, not exactly thrilled at being used, agreed, she wasn't exactly interested in respecting the sanctity of her betrothal anyways.
The hard part was telling Jaycall. Unbeknownst to Saugerleap, Pikesnap catches them as they meet and greet and leaves before he can see the ensuing falling out when Saugerleap tells Jaycall.
I like the idea it's this big awakening where they reveal how differently they were raised, where Jaycall demands for Saugerleap to just say no, to tell his father it won't work and Saugerleap snaps that it doesn't work that way for him, that he doesn't have parents like Smokestar and Dawnstar. Teasing out the details but Saugerleap definitely ends it by calling Jaycall an immature child or something, storms off. Just some sort of dig.
Then Pikesnap exposes him at the gathering and for a brief moment, Saugerleap thinks his life is over. His reputation has been sank, he's barely on speaking terms with Jaycall, Duskclaw must hate him, his own brother has to hate him if he'd go this far to hurt him.
But...life isn't over. Jaycall's reputation is fine, Dawnstar was fierce to defend her son's choices. Duskclaw's relieved the betrothal was cancelled, and even Pikesnap seemed sheepish after everything that happened. His own father isn't even mad at him, just that the other Clans got dragged into it.
I think him and Troutstar have a chat moons later by the water, where Troutstar apologizes for using his son like that and Saugerleap lies and says he forgives him. He doesn't, but he's not going to tell that to a dying man.
He and Jaycall eventually do begin mending their relationship again and slowly, Saugerleap realizes he doesn't want his reckless brother in charge.
Later on Pikesnap becomes more aggressive, especially when TempestClan (which is renamed to something else and lead by Wolf) officially makes contact with the other Clans. The town cats are getting aggressive, Tinystar, the successor of Oxeyestar, is making firm demands on reparations for her Clan, and Pikesnap thinks that SerpentClan needs to bloody its claws going forward.
Saugerleap sees a future of death for his home and loved ones, so, with a bit of help from Jaycall, he sombrely gives his brother his last meal.
