first posted Jan 17, 2016 5:25:24 GMT
Post by lionstar on Jan 17, 2016 5:25:24 GMT
Character Name: Lionstar
formerly: Lionstone, Lionpaw, Lionkit
"Lion" was given as a prefix for her coat colour and size compared to her littermates.
"Stone" is a more unusual suffix, but was given due to her battle style as well as due to her build and frank, honest--albeit occasionally blunt--mannerisms.
Character Age: 21 moons
Character Gender: She-cat
Character Sexuality: Asexual
Character's Clan: WindClan
Character's Rank: Leader
Short description: A massive she-cat with yellow eyes and a ginger tabby pelt.
Physical Description
Massive, tom-like, built like a badger and as hard-hitting as one--Lionstar is very powerfully built. Weighing just over 22 pounds, Lionstar's build is thick and muscular. Her long tail and long ginger fur accentuate this, and Lionstar grooms herself to intentionally look like a walking fortress. Her thick fur also has the benefit of shielding the she-cat from the cutting winds of the moor. She's far from the WindClanner stereotype, and does not care: she knows her strengths and plays to them. Her voice is deep, and sounds neither fully that of a she-cat nor tom. It is rumbling, low, and loud. Her paws, following the rest of her build, are large, and her shoulders broad. No feature of Lionstar's can be described as "refined," "petite,""feminine," "lean" or even "WindClanner-like" but she carries herself with great pride and a disregard for the barbs thrown towards her masculine appearance and unconventional "type."
Personality
Lionstar will do what needs to be done. She leads by example, and will never ask a cat to do something she would not do herself: she generally prefers to do things herself, and has gained a reputation for going days without sleeping when there is a lot to do. She presents a stoic, intimidating front, though she is not uncaring nor unyielding, she would not seem to be likely to bend and that is the demeanor she likes to present. She is a young leader, and appearing proud and strong against the other leaders (most of which are old enough to be her parents!) is important--even among her own Clan, Lionstar knows she was a wildcard choice of Aconstar's, and she's had to grow up fast, going from quiet to unafraid to speak her mind, stand her ground, and make hard calls. She's been forced to learn on her paws as she goes, but is good at hiding when she's uncertain of things.
StarClan and justice are often her guides, moreso than what others do. Lionstar believes in being just, and justice, not the Warrior Code, reins supreme to her. Of course, to Lionstar, they are generally one and the same, but this is not to say she won't deviate from the Warrior Code for a cause she deems just. She will speak up and be unafraid to do so. Like any (good) leader, she is intensely loyal to her Clan, and their interests come first, but she will step in to assist other Clans should a good reason arise and it doesn't put her Clan in a compromised position.
Beyond her demeanor, Lionstar is a cat who will contemplate both sides of an argument, who will shift her views and take things as they come. Each situation needs to be addressed as it is, and situations change: she stands behind her decisions, yes, but, like any good WindClanner, knows that black and white are not the only colors in the world. She trusts her intuition, and while surly on the outside, she has an natural skill in leading and inspiring others--especially young cats or "outcasted" ones, by virtue of her age--a strength Aconstar saw in her.
Lionstar has always been reserved on a personal level. Having been a quiet warrior, and having been thrown after a single moon as deputy into a leadership role, Lionstar has never been a social butterfly. Sure, she knows cats. She's a leader, of course she knows cats, but she rarely makes close friends and has a very small inner circle at the moment--she's not sure who to socialize with quite often. On the one hand, those she grew up with are still considered young warriors, but by rank, she ought to socialize with senior warriors. This discrepancy is likely not as big as she thinks it is, but it's odd for her. Instead, she spends a lot of time in contemplation if she's not working. There is always more to learn.
Lionstar's battle style is also unusual for a WindClan cat. She is not particularly fast for a WindClanner, and so instead utilizes crushing, heavy, blows. She can take punishment and dish it, and uses herself as a way to anchor the battlefield and hold ground for the more fleet footed. Small cats and apprentices are best to be warned, however, that they should be careful: Lionstar will use her size however she can, and attempting to crush very small or young cats through body weight alone is one of those ways. In short, yes, she will try to sit on you in the middle of a battle if you give her the chance. It's all fun and games until you have to explain how your ribs were cracked to the medicine cat.
At the end of the day, Lionstar wants what is best for her Clan--that is the only thing she feels she can want--and despite her unusual circumstance and, frankly, her rather unusual self, she will not shirk from doing what needs to be done. She cannot be afforded the luxury of fear. She would stare into an abyss, charge into a fire, or fight a dog if that is what WindClan, duty, justice and StarClan demand of her.
History
Lionkit.
Lionkit was the firstborn of the first and only litter of her mother's. Firstborn, ginger, large and mewling with gusto, Lionkit came into the world a lion, and so got her prefix. The litter was of four, though one died only a few hours later, deformed beyond recognition and unnamed. The other two kits, also female, were named Flamekit and Poppykit. Flamekit was a deeper ginger than her sisters, and Poppykit the smallest. To this day, the now-WindClan leader only has the barest of memories of her sisters. She got along with them, this she knows. And, from evidence, was the strongest.
When Lionkit was three moons old, a fire swept the moors. WindClan was forced to evacuate. The smoke was thick, and blowing fire and debris into the WindClan camp. Poppykit was carried in the jaws of her mother, Flamekit by her father, and Lionkit in the jaws of a warrior she cannot recall. Her two sisters died as a result of the smoke inhaled, as did many of the kits. Lionkit (or else this story would be very short) survived. She was not the only kit to survive, just the only one from her litter.
In her kithood, her grandfather, Stormstep, was one of her biggest influences. Lionkit already showed to be taking after the hulking blue-grey cat and he did his best to entertain her from the elders den, and warned her, in a subtle way, to be prepared that many would try to force her into a mold. Stormstep died only a week after she was apprenticed, saving some kits from the gorge--the elder took the fatal fall and drowned instead of them.
Lionpaw.
Lionpaw was apprenticed to a young warrior named Falconflight. She was his first apprentice, and to an outsider--and this is mostly true--the match was a poor one. Falconflight was small, lithe, fast and fought by constantly moving: he was, in all ways, a WindClanner. He taught Lionpaw plenty, but the lessons she learned were not by his intention, aside from a constant drilling on the points of the warrior code, on StarClan, and fairness. These lessons were his and they stuck with her, but the most valuable ones were ones he did not teach her at all.
Lionpaw, after all, was nothing Falconflight was. She was not fast enough for him, too "ThunderClan" too heavy, too mannish, too brute-like, too quiet. She had begun to grow at an alarming pace, and behaved tom-like. She considers herself female, but very masculine. Unlike the others, she developed no desire for a mate, and has remained this way since. Apprentices teased her (but quickly learned she'd sit on them until they stopped,) and one elder, Thistletooth, was heard loudly saying "Lionpaw is a badger in a ginger pelt." She longed for the companionship of her grandfather, and finding her mentor to be unhelpful, often snuck out of camp at night. She self-imposed strength training, pushing rocks and forcing herself through nettles. If, like Falconflight said, she would be no good at "hitting and running" she'd have to hit and be able to hold her ground. Acornstar found her one such night, but didn't tell anyone. Though his silence and watchful, but not admonishing eye, she found encouragement. If she was built like a badger, she became determined to hit like one.
Midway through her apprenticeship, she was already larger than her mentor, and near the end of it, the size difference was so great it looked comically so as she neared her full adult size--this did not make Falconflight happy. He felt as though he had failed and he felt like this was some cruel joke of StarClan, so he took it out on her, taking off on the moors and telling her that until she caught up, they could not go home. Lionpaw had enough, and cut through a thick bramble patch, ignoring the tearing on her long fur, to catch up to him. She leapt, and...yes. You guessed it. She sat on her mentor and held him down until he was gasping for air. She had no plans on killing him, but she just sat there, quietly holding him down. "I know the warrior code," she had said, "I know to be honorable and I know how to hunt and fight and it's not like yours but here we are."
The next morning, Falconflight told Acornstar she was ready to be a warrior, either out of surrender or a simple desire to be rid of her. She was younger than usual, but not impossibly so, and Acornstar evaluated her and agreed. She was given the suffix "stone" and it fit her in more ways than any other warrior's suffix could.
Lionstone the warrior.
Lionstone the warrior was quiet, reserved, and despite her build, tended to stay out of the thick of things. She maintained a friendship with Acornstar, and received her first apprentice unusually early, at only 13 moons. This was partially out of good faith that she'd be able to do well with an apprentice and partially out of necessity--there were lots of kits at six moons old and not a lot of warriors, meaning some warriors were given early apprentices. Lionstone swore to StarClan she'd do better than Falconflight. Her apprentice, an intellegent, but small and swift young cat, had the warrior code drilled into their head--but not Lionstone's fighting style. Lionstone let the apprentice figure out their own style, and how best to fight for themselves. They were a "standard" WindClan type of fighter, and Lionstone doesn't regret or resent that whatsoever. They played to their strengths, and being the best one can be was all she could hope for. Lionstone's apprentice learned fast and was also made a warrior young, and Lionstone was easily (at the time) the youngest cat to have already mentored and trained to warrior status an apprentice in the Clan, at now 19 moons.
On a personal front, Lionstone was quiet. She was friends with Acornstar, but wasn't really known by the senior warriors overall. Coalheart, then a WindClan cat, was her closest friend by far. They both felt somewhat outcast by their Clan, though they would come to mirror eachother, and once a leader, Lionstone would regard his tale as a cautionary one.
Coalheart defected at the very end of Lionstone's time as a simple, comparatively "unknown" warrior. Sheepnose, the former deputy, fell in the gorge, and to everyone's surprise, Lionstone was his successor: at only 20 moons, just before a Gathering, Lionstone became a deputy. Extremely young, and virtually unknown to other Clans, Lionstone forced down her nerves and stood tall. If this was the path StarClan had set, this was the path she was to walk.
Lionstone the deputy.
Lionstone, much to even her surprise, quickly adapted to deptuyship. Acornstar's intuition had been right, and Lionstone began to take charge. With a twoleg incursion, there was no time to reel in the sudden honor. Action had to be taken, and she was to take it. There was no time for ceremony, only action. Acornstar suddenly withdrew, leaving more and more in a very short span of time, days only, to his deputy. She sat under the rock in the Gathering with cats old enough to be her parents and learned the leaders well.
That Gathering was the only one she attended as deputy. It was the Gathering that showed the arrival of her best-friend-turned-traitor: Coalheart, leading ShadowClan. To this day, she wondered who was more surprised: she, that he led ShadowClan, or he, that she had suddenly risen to power as well. Acornstar said little in the Gathering, and Lionstone did what she did: for the moment, she watched. An unknown, she said little, glad to be near the leaders and deputies. She found Ivystar brash, and Russetclaw to be a tempering force, she was shocked with the others about Coalheart, and respected Bramblestar.
The next almost-moon was spent dealing with more and more twolegs, and Acornstar falling into a bitter depression. He withdrew further and further, leaving Lionstone with the bulk of the work to do. She organized patrols, trained another apprentice, and kept constant vigilance. Finally, things had to change.
The night before the Gathering, Acornstar, the medicine cat, and his apprentice, gathered alone on the moor to discuss what was to be done.
Then, to their terror, the twolegs descended, ready to scoop them up and take them to StarClan knew where. They moved first for the apprentice, and the medicine cat ran in their path, but the former warrior had breathing problems. "Help them!" Acornstar had mewed. Lionstar charged forwards out of the grass, and something remarkable happened. The twolegs, for a moment, backed up. Lionstar was bigger than some twoleg dogs--and this gave them pause. They left her alone for the moment, and turned to Acornstar. She charged the twoleg, but more decended. They seemed unwilling to confront Lionstone head on, but the smaller cats they were bent on taking. The four cats became overwhelmed, and Acornstar urged her to run, as did the medicine cat, lest all of WindClan's leadership be lost. She was the only one who might have a chance.
And she was the only one to return to WindClan's camp in the dawn.
That night, unable to go the Moonstone and go to the Gathering, she went as an un-named leader. It was hardly the most unusual thing of the night, between RiverClan not showing up, Salem claiming RiverClan had fallen, and Thicketstar replacing Coalheart. By comparison, Lionstone's leadership was a non-issue. After the Gathering, Lionstone ran alone to the Moonstone, and received all nine lives. She returned in the morning, named a deputy, medicine cat (but no med. cat apprentice yet) and did not sleep for three days until her Clan was more or less settled.
Lionstar.
The beginning of her time as leader was marked with the arrival of the Coven. She named Litchenstrike her deputy, Mothstep her medicine cat, and then snuck off to RiverClan to determine what was going on with the Coven. It was in the camp, hidden from RiverClan and the Coven alike, that Lionstar discovered Ivystar was dead, and Russetclaw had capitulated. A tom she admired for his level head was now nothing more than a coward! While to this day she hides her feelings, they are there and those closet to her know it. She escaped the camp unnoticed, save for an RiverClan apprentice named Splashpaw, who followed her to WindClan territory. Splashpaw was allowed to stay as a refugee, on the condition that she would serve as a forward scout for WindClan warriors when the Coven was to be attacked.
As Lionstar had no deputy when she met Salem, she was able to have Litchenstrike, her new deputy, be "captured" by the Coven so she could relay a message to Russetclaw: WindClan would attack the Coven in three days--ready whoever he could. Lionstar, for her part, ordered that Coven cats be slaughtered with no mercy nor hesitation. Mercy was afforded to those within the Warrior Code and those outside of or ignorant of it--but those set against it were to be killed.
The combined force of WindClan and RiverClan ousted the Coven, and Lionstar personally killed several members of the Coven. In this fateful battle, she had an unusual ally: the exile Coalheart. He died in the battle, and she found his death the best ending the tom could have hoped for.
It was an eventful first moon as leader. Who knows where StarClan will take her next. After all, with nine lives and being less than half the age of the other leaders, Lionstar will be around for a long time, and might well be able to change the fate of the forest.
OOC name: Dante
Timezone: Mountain (MST)
Tag: THE COAL THAT BURNS YOU
