Mentor: Sweetberry
Former Apprentice(s): Cinderberry, Whitewing, Ivystrike
So, what a guy! He's lived a very interesting life, and actually dies at the end of the Eclipse Period. He will die at the claws of Moon Tigerchaser, like his old, and first, foe passed.
He is idolized heavily in the Sky Breezemoor sect and the Fall Thundebringer sect, along with the Band of Blood, post-reconstruction.
Firesong took Sandstorm as a mate a bit after they both graduated. They are basically highschool sweethearts, and sickeningly affectionate immediately outside of apprentice-hood. Eventually, Dustdapple and Firesong do become platonic partners, but not for a while.
Firesong develops a crush on Grouseflight once Tigerchaser is exiled. Sandstorm was the one to court Grouseflight first, and then followed Firesong. They, all three of them, officially became a polycule once the Final Battle of the Forests is over, and upon the realization that Sandstorm is pregnant.
Dustdapple is only in a QPR with Grouseflight and Sun Firesong, as he is Sandstorm's cousin.
Personal Comments:
I'm very proud of how his design turned out. I was mulling it over for the past hour before I got this ask, and it pushed me to finalize it. Thank you, I needed this lol
Because he is partially Abyssinian through Jake, he is genetically a black cat. This means all his bio-kits should be torties! Very interesting, and I'm excited to play with his genetic traits that'll show through his kittens.
I basically speedran this, the art took way less than I thought it would!
Yeah, he also will have autism and social anxiety. It will affect a lot of his adjusting period into the sects and his entire growth as a character.
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[ Image ID - An image of Sun Firesong from the Wildfire Rewrite, who in canon Warriors is known as Fireheart. He is a round and plump cat with a ruddy orange pelt and a cream underbelly. He has green eyes and thick fur. He looks at the camera, giving the viewer a clear shot of his pelt. It's pattern is distinctly similar to the cat breed Abyssinian and it's pelt. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The same image as above, but with accessories. Earrings made of painted wood are pierced into his upper ear. A thick leather and woolen coat is covering his lower back, kept on by a loop of leather that holds two brown bags. Two necklaces are wound around his neck. One has two stones, one stone gray and one stone painted green, and the other necklace has a part of his old collar. On his front left paw there are two bracelets. One is a piece of scrap vine, and the other is a bead bracelet painted in a pattern of colors. End ID ]
Thank you @twosides--samecoin ! I'll tag in @x-sapphicpirate-x and anyone else who wants to participate, feel free to tag me in a WIP you post. I've totally lost track of who's been tagged this week and who I tagged most recently :')
Below the cut, a scene that may or may not make it into the final re-write. Setting: Ron Staples' traveling bar, just northwest of Westing Estate.
“Another day in the Commonwealth.”
“I’ll drink to that.” The third sip of bourbon burned a bit less; he was going to drink it too quickly if they didn’t find another way to pass the time.
“We should play a game or something,” he ventured.
“Got any ideas?” Preston adjusted his hat, tilting it back to expose more of his face. He’d loosened his scarf when they first found the traveling bar, lest any alcohol stain it. It caught the occasional breeze and tugged against his left shoulder.
“There’s always the pre-war classic, ‘truth or drink,’” Noah smirked.
A tilt of the head and wrinkled brows. “Isn’t it ‘truth or dare?’”
“I figure we’ve had enough excitement for one day.” Preston conceded to this with a tired nod, and Noah continued, “So the rules are, we take turns asking each other whatever we want. And to opt out of a question, you have to drink.”
“This is a real game that people played before the war?”
“No,” he admitted.
“That kind of just sounds like… talking.”
“Fine, fine.” Noah waved dismissively and ignored the urge to take several swigs of bourbon right then. “We can just talk. But after everything in Goodneighbor, Somerville…”
He trailed off. How could he put this? Lately, whenever he spent time with Preston, there was a strange uncertainty etched in his features. Concern for all the unknown factors constructing the person he’d just asked to lead the Minutemen, with a dash of ordinary human curiosity. He almost never asked things when it appeared that he wanted to; Noah worried that it was all eating away at him. That if he didn’t extend a branch, they might never talk about certain things.
Now, Preston’s chin drifted upward as he studied him, fingers tapping the side of his glass as he listened. Case in point.
“You’ve said that you’re still trying to figure me out, or figure out what makes me tick. I’m an open book, Preston. I don’t want to drag you to the memory loungers every time there’s something you want to know about me.”
His teeth caught his lower lip as he let out a low chuckle. He might have been re-thinking his words from earlier, or maybe Noah’s suggestion took him by surprise.
“Alright. Do I get to go first?”
Noah opened a palm in a vague ask away gesture, an even facade of confidence in his ability to answer.
They fell quiet for a time, the gentle sound of the riverside blending with notes from the ukulele and conversation on the other side of the campfire. The sky was more teal than blue in the sun’s descent, and Preston scanned woolly clouds above them as he thought.
“What’s something you miss from before the war that surprised you?”
Grandparents: Crystal, Unknown Sire
Parents: Jake, Nutmeg
Siblings: Sun Firesong, Henry, Tommy
Mate(s): Oli
Kit(s): Snowbelly, Lune
When she hears about her twin brother's involvement with the wild cats, she is filled with fear. The same ones that killed their mother? Their other siblings? She is terrified. She didn't even get a real chance to say goodbye.
Doesn't matter. A week later, she and him meet again. She gives him hope during that first meeting, and when they meet again, he gives her promises. Promises to always visit.
The last time they chat one-on-one, she gives him her only son from the litter of two. They talk more sporadically after that. They are never close like before. They can't ever be, really. She's lost so much to the wild cats. Her family, except her daughter and mate. She'd heard of the Band of Blood, and decided to join. She'd also heard that there was more family there, and that her half-siblings held high power in the group.
So, she joined. It was the best decision of her life.
Personal Comments:
I like WF!Princess and canon Princess, and for that reason they are both sickeningly tragic in their own ways. Firestar never said goodbye to his sister in canon, did he? She never says goodbye to him in the rewrite.
I could have another go-round on her design, but I like what I have.
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[ Image ID - Princess, but in the Wildfire Rewrite. She is a large, fluffy, brown and ginger tortoiseshell tabby with white along her face, chest, belly, legs, and tail. She has very bright orange eyes. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The previous image, but with her collar. It is a striped green and white collar. End ID ]
Mentor: Tawnyspots
Former Apprentice(s): Mousefang, Sun Firesong (unofficial)
Sun Bluefeather was always a quiet kitten. As Bluepaw, she was quiet and kind, eager to help and eager to be useful. That changed when she was made an apprentice under Tawnyspots. The catte was ruthless, but taught humility and preached peace whenever he got the chance to. Blueclaw found this useful when she was first given the chance to prove herself.
Lilybloom, Rookfeather, Heronwing, and Rabbitleap all died in the failed ambush on the Sky Breezemoor Sect. Worse, their clan got charged with attempted kitten murder and was trialed. Stormtail was found guilty and sent to atonement. Exile for a season. No contact at all.
Blueclaw was alone in her grief, she thought. She wasn't actually alone in her grief, but she isolated herself from everyone. Others tried to help, but how could they? How dare they tell her how to feel? Eventually, Stormtail came back. Of course he would, but it was different. He wasn't actually grieving at all. That made Blueclaw realize several things. One, Stormtail didn't actually care about Lilybloom. Two, he didn't care about his kittens, he hadn't spoken or comforted to either her or Swanclaw at all. Three, she had very little kin still alive, and needed to hold them close.
She rebuilt her relationship with Swanclaw near the end of her apprenticeship and began to build a more stable relationship with Goosefeather. Naturally, she began to also talk to his apprentice, Featherclaw. She realized a lot when she spoke to him. She and Swanclaw became Bluefeather and Swanflight upon completing their assessments. Bluefeather also told the clan that she felt more like a catte and would be undergoing the proper herbal treatments for transitioning.
After a long while of being a full soldier, she met someone. A kind red-brown kater with eyes of solid amber, so deep you could swim in them. Smile perfect, claws sharp, fur silky and thick, but he was of the Cold Creekbay Sect, but he understood her. He was a new-kater, but the experience was similar. Oakheart. Oakheart was the deputy of his sect, no less. They still mated, and when Oakheart told her that he was expecting kittens, she disowned them and declared that they were not to be mates and that she could, legally, take a single kitten once they were born.
Once the kittens were born, the Creekbay Messenger summoned Bluefeather to their camp for the kitten. The Thunderbringer Sect was outraged, but allowed her to claim her kitten. The winter winds and snow made it hard to see, and Bluefeather asked that she rest a moment.
Once they'd rested and the winds had died down, Bluefeather arrived in the camp. She and Oakheart barely spoke, and she took the blue and cream tortoiseshell catte, naming her Mossypaw. Bluefeather then left for the Thunderbringer Sect. Mossypaw grew up for a while without knowledge of her siblings and father. During the harsh winters that'd lead to the Starved Period, Mossypaw succumbed to starvation and hypothermia. Sun Bluefeather was destroyed.
Then, she met Yellowfang and Russetfur.
[ Find out more when I post the "Bluefeather's Horror" redux. ]
Personal Comments:
Sun Bluefeather is such a complicated character and I love her for it. Her mentor definitely influenced her personality heavily, and you'll definitely see that clearly when I actually begin to write her as a character in a more narrative setting.
The family area, I actually ended up redoing a lot of the family tree for Thunderbringer. This'll be updated once I finalize a lot of the plot and such.
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[ Image ID - An image of Bluefur in the Wildfire Rewrite, known as Sun Bluefeather. She is a large, dark gray ticked tabby cat with white accents along her chest, belly, and tail. Her paws are white. She has yellow-green eyes with strange pupils. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The same image as the previous one, but accessorized. Bluefeather wears a large, thick brown leather belt with an attached bag. It's lid's latch seems to be a cat's tooth. Under the belt is a large section of a fox's pelt. Two brown pouches hang off the belt. Bluefeather also adorns small pieces of jewelry, being a large necklace with a simplified sun pendant, and two bracelets. The lowest hanging one has a toadstool pendant attached, while the tightest one has two small beads. The left one is painted a pale yellow, while the left is panted a pale green. End ID ]
Mentor: (to be decided)
Former Apprentice(s): (to be decided)
Note: The following description will not contain much information, due to the fact that I am still planning out "Flowers and Leaves"
Spottedflower and Redowl were a single litter, with an older sister in Dappletail. They often took comfort in her, and it actually helped Redowl realize that he didn't feel right as a kater. Spottedflower loves her brother dearly. When they were in training, they often swapped their knowledge. This leads to Spottedflower being knowledgeable in battle, and Redowl being a keen hunter, despite him being a soldier. They were close, until Thistletangle took over Spottedflower's training.
Spottedflower withdrew, terrified, and they barely spoke until they both finished training.
Spottedflower requested her job transfer, to get away from Thistletangle, and it went through. She feels horrible, still. It's a real shame that he's dead, really. Same with Sun Marigoldfall, too. Such a shame.
Personal Comments:
Can't really say much on her so far. Haven't fully planned a lot of things with her yet. I really wanna focus on her and her Sect's relationships of the time.
Yeah, she and someone else end up murdering a few cats. Whoops! (they both are not remorseful)
I actually adore her accessories. I like what I did with them.
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[ Image ID - Spottedflower of the Wildfire Rewrite, who is known as Spottedleaf in canon. She is a solid black cat with ginger tabby tortoiseshell patches on her throat, upper jaw, right paw, and tail. Her underbelly, jaw, tail tip, and lower chest, are a stark white. She has amber eyes. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The same image as above but accessorized. She wears a huge ivy leaf across her head, which trails in vines down her chest and shoulder blade. On her right leg, a plant wrap is curled around her forearm. A thick leather bag hangs off her side. It has three pouches, and a small pouch hangs off the bottom of it. End ID ]
Mentor: Lynxstorm
Former Apprentice(s): Poppyfrost, Bristlefrost
Sandstorm was close with her cousin, Dustdapple, as a kit. They played often, teasing Ravenpaw, Chestnutpaw, and Cherrypaw. They were a very tight-knit family. Dappletail and Redowl made sure they were close, and that everyone knew they had a support system to talk to.
If only it worked.
Once Ravencatcher disappeared and was pronounced dead, Dustdapple grew hostile. He began to talk with Darkstripe and Tigerchaser more, agreeing with everything they said.
She watched her cousin grow further apart after the death of Chestnutclaw. Then, stop talking to her altogether as she chatted with Fireclaw as friends. Eventually, they start talking again. It takes time, of course it does, but it happens.
Personal Comments:
No real plans for her other than for her to live long and be the foster mother for the Original Three.
I really want her to die old. Her death is the tipping point in TBC.
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[ Image ID - An image of Sandstorm in the Wildfire Rewrite. She is a cinnamon and red spotted tortoiseshell with white on her tail tip, paws, and underbelly. Her tortoiseshell dapples are in two spots; one on her face, and one that covers her entire tail and a small patch on her spine. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The same image above, but decorated with accessories. A huge pouch is fastened around her. It is brown and has two additional smaller pouches on the front. Two brown pouches hang off the bag. She wears a large necklace with a chunk of rabbit's fluff tied around it. She wears another necklace, smaller, which has three stones on it, each dyed a different color. The first one is a sage green, the next is a sickly yellow, and the last one is a dull ruddy. End ID ]
Mentor: Talonscratch
Former Apprentice(s): Sun Firesong
Sweetberry's training was defined by her want to get away from her sect. She wanted to trade and explore the territories. She wanted to spy for her sect and use her knowledge. She hated being cramped up within camp. Sadly, while that was part of her reasoning for training under her father, she also wanted to get away from the increasingly tense and violent state of the Thunderbringer Sect. Sun Pineheart was losing control, and many cats, including her brother, were calling for violence against the other sects.
After her father finished her training, Sweetberry stayed away from camp very often. She hated being within the camp, and felt no peace when Sun Pineheart passed the leadership to Sun Marigoldfall. His rule was short, but bloody. Sweetberry never felt safe, so she stayed mostly with her close friend, Morningflower, in the Sky Breezemoor Sect.
After Sun Bluefeather came into power after Sun Marigoldfall's slaughter during a battle over Sunningrocks, Sweetberry felt safe enough to stay in camp more and look for an apprentice.
Personal Comments:
This took a while for me to finish because I was so dead-set on having Sweetberry and the next cat be done at the same time.
Sweetberry will be the cat that dies within the fire instead of Yellowfang.
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[ Image ID - An image of Sweetpaw, named Sweetberry in this rewrite, from the series Warriors. She is a mostly white calico. Her non white patches are ginger with jagged black streaks through them. Her fur is long and fluffy, and her build is bulky. Her eyes are green and she has a facial patch over one eye that is similar to a juniper berry's shape. End ID ]
[ Image ID - The same image as above, but with accessories. She wears a small leather and woolen coat, which has a large leather pouch and a small dark leather bag attached to it. The bag has lavender poking out from it. She has a necklace around her neck with three pendants on it. The one furthest to the left is gray, the center one is dull magenta, and the last one is a dull mustard yellow. On her right paw, a leather cuff wraps around her arm. Attached is a small sheathed knife. decorated with small smears of color. End ID ]
Yep, and I've lost interest. HOWEVER I am merging this project and another project into @felis-artis! I'm putting them in Nebraska and giving them interesting politics and a stronger culture.
"Why are you abandoning this project?"
I've lost all real interest in it. Plus, when I went go factcheck bios and stuff for notes, I saw my old art and cringed down to my core, even when it had only been a month.
"What about my ask?"
I've been in a creative slump in terms of this project for a long time. I have an ask from June 2023 still in my inbox. I tended to not answer asks quickly, and for that I am sorry. It won't happen with this new project, because I feel actually invested in this story now.
What's next with this blog?"
I'm leaving it up for archival purposes, or if anyone wants to just browse it again. It has a lot of inconsistencies and is generally a little messed up in terms of the timeline, but I don't really care.
