PERSONALITY

- | agonizing, anxious, unsure, clumsy, easily-frightened, insecure

Born a ball of pure anxiety and fur, Mushroompaw has always been flighty. The runt of the litter, he often went hungry while his siblings napped with full bellies. The tom is often afraid to speak his mind, much less cause issues in Saberclan. Loved by his parents, and protected by his siblings, Mushroompaw was never illtreated. But something of a dark cloud always seemed to float over his head.

The first death, of his dotting father, came early. Mushroomkit didn't really comprehend his mother's tears at his age, but began to understand when Mosskit had choked and passed in her sleep in the nest next to him and Fernkit. The two deaths made Mushroomkit feel....scared....worried....anxious. Pretty soon, thoughts of the unknown and unwanted filled his head, tainting what should've been a joyous kithood.

Once he and his sibling entered their apprenticeship, death seemed to follow Mushroompaw. Insecurities stunted his progress, especially after the sudden death of his mentor and brother, Fernpaw. Mushroompaw began to blame himself for all the bad things that happened in Saberclan. It seemed that his half-sibling's, Drizzlejaw, gaze would never leave his presence, leaving him paranoid. The last straw to Mushroompaw's willpower came when his mother passed from greencough. Adopted by the medicine cat, Mushroompaw stuck to the shadows and worked with his nose towards the forest floor. Even after his mentor's passing, Mushroompaw doesn't believe he's good enough, nor knows how to break the curse that surrounds him.

CONNECTIONS

Deerleap - father, killed in a border skirmish

Starlingfeather - mother, passed from greencough

Fernpaw - brother, killed by a fox

Mosskit - sister, suffocated in her sleep

Drizzlejaw - half-sibling, adoptable

Hawklily - ex-mentor, killed by a fox

Spiderleaf - ex-mentor, killed by an eagle

HISTORY

The pairing of Deerleap and Starlingfeather was....quite controversial, especially for the elders and senior warriors. Almost 2 years his senior, Starlingfeather had taken her previous apprentice as a mate, then quickly got pregnant with his kits. She had lost her mate during the war with Eagleclan, and found comfort in her apprentice. Deerleap was more than ecstatic to fill the void Starlingfeather's former partner had left, though earned lashings from Starlingfeather's child that was only a few moons younger than her new mate.

3 squirming balls of fur laid at Starlingfeather's belly, named Mosskit, Fernkit, and Mushroomkit. Being the youngest, and smallest, Mushroomkit began to sheepishly hide behind his siblings. While the borders remained hostile, even after the war had ended, Mushroomkit's father, Deerleap, was amongst the casualties in a border skirmish. When news had reached camp, Starlingfeather had wept, but according to the other queens, not as much as they would have expected a widowed mate to. Whispers began, stating that Starlingfeather never truly loved Deerleap, but the she-cat never really spoke of the tom after his burial.

Much too young to understand, Mushroomkit could only lick the tears away from his mother's cheek and ignore the glares from the other queens. When Drizzlejaw, their unspoken half-sibling, visited, Mushroomkit could only make out half of their hushed conversations. From their body language and tail-flicking, Mushroomkit assumed Drizzlejaw was angry at Starlingfeather, but nothing could be comprehended by the kit.

A few days later, Mosskit did not wake next to him during their nap. The medicine cat, Spiderleaf, assumed the kit had choked on something in their sleep, but was unable to determine what. When Starlingfeather went to bury Mosskit, Mushroomkit began to understand; when his mother wept, another cat would not return to the nursery.

Anxious to leave his mother and brother's side, Mushroomkit became closed off to those in the nursery. He was the first to take notice that his mother was giving up her meals to the other queens and kits. And when she fell ill, she didn't have the strength to fight off her illness. Only a moon away from their apprentice ceremony, Mushroomkit and Fernkit were raised with the other litters until they could earn their names.

Assigned Hawklily as his mentor, Mushroompaw was a nervous wreck. Instead of attending patrols, he'd become so anxious that he would lose his stomach prior to departure. Spiderleaf would often be asked to keep an eye on the apprentice, and Mushroompaw was put to work on organizing herbs.

A moon after their naming ceremony, Hawklily, Fernpaw, and a patrol encountered a fox. His brother, Fernpaw, was pronounced dead on arrival when Spiderleaf and Mushroompaw came to the patrol's aid, while his mentor passed later from blood loss.

The morning after their vigil, Ivystar named Mushroompaw Spiderleaf's apprentice. Still in mourning, Spiderleaf was particularly kind to Mushroompaw, being as patient as possible with the young tom. During the early moons of his training, even Drizzlejaw came to the medicine cat's den in need of a torn claw treatment. It had been one of the first interactions with his half-sibling since their mother's vigil. Met with hostility, Mushroompaw became flustered, and asked to be excused from the den, hoping he wouldn't have to interact with them again.

Recently, while gathering herbs, his mentor was carried off by an eagle. Being the last clanmate to care for Mushroompaw, he took his mentor's death hard. Closed off, he was all but useless in the medicine cat's den. Upon noticing his shortened training, Rainstar asked the other clan leaders if their medicine cats would be willing to train Mushroompaw until he was able to earn his medicine cat name.