Sproutshade

A pale tabby she-cat with asymmetrical dark blotches. Her pelt is short, with a small tuft of fur on top of her head. Her inner ears, nose, and pawpads are a pinkish-brown. Her right ear is partially folded. Her tail is almost completely missing; all that remains is a small, deer-like stump. Her almond-shaped eyes are sea blue, with a hint of green in them in the right light. Once a spunky cat, she now looks cold, almost haunted.

+Collected+
Some cats say she looks jaded, but others will claim nothing seems to surprise the apprentice anymore

+Serious+
She doesn’t have time for kit games, and will quickly make that apparent to anyone who tries to remind her that she’s not an adult yet

+Observant+
There’s very little that Sproutpaw’s eyes don’t catch

-Flippant-
She often downplays the emotions of other cats; not because of callousness, but because she assumes it’s not really that bad. Most guilty of doing this to cats she feels are being over-dramatic

-Envious-
Sproutkit gets jealous very easily, especially of cats who still have parental figures in their lives

-Selfish-
It’s not intentional, per se; she just assumes other cats are doing well, and therefore don’t need to be looked after. Right? ……..right?

-Temper, temper-
It takes a bit for it to come to the surface, but when she cracks? Hoo boy, she can do some not-great things in the heat of the moment that she’ll probably regret later

{Kithood}
Sproutkit was born as one of four kits to her mother, Molenettle, and an unknown father. For the first four moons of her life, everything was grand: she would play with her siblings. She learned the ways of the warrior code. She had dreams of becoming one of Hawthorn’s great warriors!

But everything changed when she turned four moons old. Her mother, Molenettle, had confessed to the Clan that she had broken the Warrior Code. The kits' father was not from Hawthorne, but TideClan. In the wake of a war with MossClan, Tuftstar decided disloyalty could not be tolerated. Molenettle was to be exiled from the Clan in 2 short moons, once the kits were old enough to be apprenticed.

Sproutkit was understandably distraught. She and the rest of her family didn’t want her to leave: she specifically also did not want to leave her home. A generous perm-queen, Grizzlyfang, offered to speak to Tuftstar for her, but the next morning, Molenettle was found dead, with no leads as to who killed her.

The very night that the kits sat near their mother’s body, Sproutkit was visited by a strange voice in her dreams- something about being a voice to the Dark Forest in exchange for a price that is now paid.

Sproutkit is too young to know what it means, but she’s heard scary stories about the Dark Forest. For now, this information is kept to herself, too terrified of what it might mean.

{Apprenticeship}
Despite wanting to be a Scout, Sproutpaw was appointed the role of guard apprentice, led by none other than Tuftstar himself. She hasn’t forgotten what he’s done to her mother, and seems cold to him currently.

Meanwhile, she's also training under a cat by the name of Dovetail; a seemingly sweet Dark Forest cat who wants nothing more than for Sprout to reach her true potential.