Quadruplets

Pip was born into a litter of four alongside Delphinium, Hellebore, and Snapdragon. Like him, his three littermates were all black with gold eyes. He also had three older sisters from a previous litter, Pepper, Willow, and Laurel. 

Originally, the kids were given bracelet bands with different color stones to help tell them apart. The bands did help at first, but then the kits figured out how to swap bands, or just simply get them off. It quickly deteriorated into a way for the kids to switch identities left and right without anybody looking closer. It forced the adults to actually try and tell the kits apart by looking at the minute differences in their facial features. 

Pip enjoyed spending time with his grandfather, Skipper, who was a big fluffy ginger tom. He loved laying across his fluffy back and listening to stories. Skipper was Pip's only living grandparent when he was born. He loved that old tom with all his heart, and learned lots of jokes and the fine art of puns and dad jokes from him.

Pip was a real mama's boy. He would constantly follow Morning around and insist that he was going to be just like her one day. He always paid close attention to her stories (and would constantly ask her to tell him more) and was in total awe of her bird-in-flight necklace. Morning encouraged this with pride in her heart, she adored all of her children equally but had a soft spot for Pippin especially. 

To be honest, his mother and father, along with pretty much the entire clan, were glad when he and his sisters finally moved out of the nursery and began focusing their attentions on becoming the best bender they could be, and not on all the mischief they could cause! 

Terror of Tarragon

Pip was actually a very dedicated student to the surprise of many. Pip had always seemed to flighty, too absent-minded and mischievous to ever set himself so wholeheartedly on a single task. His mentor was Tarragon, an older, more experienced warrior. Tarragon taught Pip well, and rigorously put him through exercises taking none of the young tom's attitude at being made to practice the same basic forms for hours.

Pip would often come back to camp at night and drop down half-dead in the apprentices den, unconscious to the world until dawn when he began the whole process over again. Despite this, he loved to bend and relished in practicing at any chance he got. It didn’t help that his sisters were also fairly naturally gifted, which quickly turned into a competition between the siblings over who could out-bend who and whatnot. Without that competition, Pip probably wouldn’t be as proficient at bending as he is today. They were always busy, but the siblings did try to make time for a bit of mischief now and again.

About a quarter of the way into his apprenticeship, Pip's last remaining living grandparent, Skipper, died. It was a rough patch for the family, and Pip spent a lot of time with Morning. His mother told him that he made her feel better because he'd inherited his grandfather's penchant for bad jokes. Pip learned as many as he could, and made up a few, just to see his mother crack a smile. Pip worked even harder, but didn't stop being cheerful. He figured his grandfather would have wanted it that way.

Whenever the four siblings had a day off they'd revert back to being almost kit-like, wrestling in mud, bending at each other, getting generally filthy and causing havoc. Pip likes to remember those days as his best memories of the entire apprentice experience: med-wrestling with his sisters. The quartet continued to get into just as much trouble as they did as kits and continue to occasionally try and swap places. Snapdragon is the one most like Pip in build, although her face is a little rounder. Delphinium is more slender and tall, and Hellebore has sharper features. It was during Pip's apprenticeship that some of his clanmates, got to the point where they could tell each siblings apart with greater ease and mostly put an end to their swapping gig.

Pip's bending flourished. He turned out to be a pretty good farmer, too. He adored going out into the field with his Uncle Monty, and often his Uncle Chex. Pip has a great love for all things growing. Still even with that love, his favourite thing was and always would be the combat bending.

Embrace the Dad

Pip was overjoyed when he finally become a warrior. He grew into a very friendly cat, with a sense of humor that was frankly awful if truth be told. He makes it a habit to pop by and see his sisters, even the older ones, as often as possible to cuddle and chat. Pip loves cuddling so while talking that's usually what he and his family end up doing.

Pip frequently laughs at his own jokes and considers himself absolutely hilarious. He's still a regular trouble magnet, constantly fighting for his parents’ attention with his six sisters. He can’t stand being ignored in the slightest and can come off as irritating or too talkative.

Pip discovered late one night after a nightmare that he could sense trace amounts of Earth in a metal coin he'd pilfered earlier that year. He practiced in private to try and refine his newfound metalbending abilities before he planned on revealing it to the clan. He's gotten better, slowly but surely, and really hopes he won't have to call on it in the near future. It's a skill that he shares with his father.

Pip gained an apprentice in Canyon, which also prompted him to take a closer look at all the apprentices in the clan. This path led him to meet Rat, the grouchy apprentice of Zeolite. And so this led to Pip basically adopting poor Rat, stepping in as a role model. Especially when he found out that Rat's mother wouldn't be winning any mother of the year awards. Pip, who had been surrounded by loving family his entire life, was horrified at the thought of Rat's mother putting him down. And so began the first of Pip's strays, him taking in troublesome brats and basically claiming them as his own.

When the Avatar was revealed, Pip didn't know what to think. A Fireclan Avatar? In the midst of all the tension when war loomed on the horizon? Of course he assumed Lazuli would side with her clan. Clan was family and family always came first. When Lazuli came to Earthclan to learn, hegave her a wide berth. He didn't want Lazuli to be able to use earthbending against them in the potential upcoming war.

Though in the end itturned out that Lazuli didn't want the war and she ran off. Pip was torn between feeling relief and angry. How could she abandon them? If she disagreed with Fireclan, why not come out and say it? Still, battles happened. Zeolite's face was burned, and Pip's elder sister Willow was hurt as well. Pip was furious with Fireclan, but he couldn't bring himself to blindly hate them, or at least not all of them. 

He witnessed Rat become a warrior and was so proud of the kid he'd unofficially adopted that he felt he could burst with joy. Even with the horror of fighting there was still good in his life.

The war ended with Lazuli demanding each clan give territory to Fireclan, which just made Pip's insides clench and seethe but he allowed it without too much protest. The one good thing was now Fireclan was no longer allowed to burn their land unthinkingly. That soothed the anger in Pip's heart. Now the earth could finally heal and grow strong again.

One of Pip's best friends, Zeolite, confessed to him that she was pregnant. Not a planned litter - a fling that she'd had with Mantle. At least Pip was thrilled, he adores kits. The opportunity to help Zeolite out was nothing to sneeze at thanks to his massive crush. He was shocked, and thrilled to bits, when Zeolite asked him if he'd become a father figure, a dad, to her kits. Pip agreed instantly. He'd already basically adopted Rat, what was two more adopted kids to him? Rosolite and Yucca were beautiful and perfect in every way, and Pip adored them as soon as he laid eyes on them. They were so tiny and cute and innocent, and how could he not love them with every fiber of his being? They were little miracles.

The next gathering after this wonderful event in Pip's life was interesting, in a bad way. Marrow and her purists arrived, and Pip was not happy. He looked upon the pregnant she-cat who took Dipper down with a flick of her tail and he saw danger in neon flashing lights, no matter her proclamation of peace. He gathered the apprentices that would leave and got the heck out of dodge with them, leaving that gathering early. Even if these outsiders said they meant no harm they were still outsiders and Pip didn't want them anywhere near him or his clan, thank you very much. As far as he was concerned Marrow and company could go right back from whence they came.

The next gathering was where it all went to Koh in a handbasket, as Pip had predicted. Pip had actually thought Marrow wasn't too bad, he had been actually speaking with her and discussing kits and whatnot and it was a genuinely decent conversation. Then Rathel, Marrow's sister, died and the whole "Blood will have blood" topic came up and threw the clans into a war with Marrow's Purists. Pip hoped they could get out of this without too much loss, but he doubted it.

He was right. A simple patrol with Mantle, Willow, Xenon, along with the two apprentices Cayenne and Potato, became a bloodbath. The patrol was ambushed, and spirits, couldn't the purists see that Potato and Cayenne were just young? They didn't deserve this kind of battle. But to be frank they hurt his sister and nobody was going to chi-block Willow without getting a boulder to the face from Pip. He didn't think much of it at the time when he used the earth to swallow the purists with Xenon's help, but he'd killed cats. Later he would feel horrified at how easy it was to take a life, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. They had been trying to hurt his family, his clan. For spirits sakes it was Waterclan who was suspected of the murder. Wage war upon them, his clan had nothing to do with it.

He took a hit, fortunately not one that messed up his bending. He needed that. His shoulder bled freely and it was painful, the purist who dealt the blow certainly regretted it though. If Pip's leg was out of commission for the moment, well, he could use his tail just as well. Still, he couldn't help the relief that coloured him when Valerian came with an Airclan patrol to aid them. Airclan had experience with the Purists after all. He saw from the corner of his eye the Airclan apprentice who shoved Potato, his cousin, out of the way only to get chi-blocked. He vowed internally to thank the little cat soon enough, but his attention was quickly forced back to his own fight, with Valerian now lending a welcome paw.

Pip put down the Purist that Valerian incapacitated by allowing the earth to swallow them as well after they passed out. Let the earth have them, he thought grimly. It was still a 'burial' in some ways, really. Though not one he would wish upon any but those that dared attack his family.

After the rest of the Purists fled, Pip loudly offered the assistance of Earthclan for their wounded. He dared anyone to say otherwise, it was the least they could do after all, for the patrol that came to their aid. He limped heavily, blood still trickling down his shoulder, as the patrol trailed back to Earthclan camp with their news. He and the other wounded were instantly whisked away to have them seen to. They managed to get the bleeding stopped, though Pip was feeling pretty woozy and just generally bad as the adrenaline from the fight wore off. He was assured that the wound wasn't too terrible and would heal soon enough if he kept it clean and didn't do anything too strenuous with it.

With that in mind, Pip dizzily made his way to his den, where he was accosted by much of his family to fuss over him. He simply checked to make sure that everyone else was alright and would recover easily (because who really knew with chi-blocking) before laying down on his nest and falling asleep to the sounds of his family fussing.

It wasn't to last very long though. It seemed like not long after that fight the Purists attacked again. This time, it wasn't just the odd patrol that was attacked, it was Earthclan's own camp that the Purists descended down upon. All four clans came together to fight at Earth's camp. Even now at the thought of allowing other clans into Earth's sanctuary, it sent shivers down his spine. But they were desperate.

Pip had been told to rest that day, to help with his wounded shoulder, but adamantly Pip insisted on leading the morning hunting party. He wasn't useless, it wasn't like he would be fighting on a stupid hunting patrol after all. He wasn't delicate. Yet when the Purists attacked he didn't hesitate to throw himself into the fray. He and Mantle fought back to back, covering each other. After all they both had much to lose if the Purists breached the camp in the form of two very innocent and young little kits. Pip thought back to the conversation he'd had with Marrow at the fateful gathering, and wondered idly if she remembered Pip and his two girls, and if she would forgive him for the lives he'd taken.

She was a mother after all, and if any Purist touched one hair on Rosolite or Yucca's head Pip would raze down the Purist camp himself, chi-blockers be damned. He hated this. He hated wars, and he hated killing. He loved puns and laughter, but he would take a thousand lives to protect his clan. If Marrow wanted this senseless killing to stop, all she had to do was leave. Leave the clans, and go far far away.

The battle didn't go as well as hoped for. Pip gazed upon the ruined front of the clan, the sentinels and walls that collapsed inwards, for a brief second before throwing himself into digging out the Alpha's den. Some cats had taken shelter in there, young ones and some warriors to protect them should the worst happen. Pip's own uncle, Montezuma, had been in there. Uncle Monty was never the strongest Earthbender, but he could still fight as a last resort after all.

Pip noticed when Mantle figured out where the kits were, but he couldn't concentrate. Not when he spotted a glint of orange fur beneath the earth. He frantically bent rock and stone out of the way, but it was useless. He dragged his Uncle's corpse out of the rubble, tears choking him and making his vision blurry. This was his family. The Purists had attacked his camp and killed his family and nothing in the entire world could fix this.

Zeolite came to stand by his shoulder and give him comfort, but he stood up straight, his face like stone. So unlike the usual goofy smile that oft played across his maw. No, he stood almost regally over his Uncle's dead body.

Marrow was right, he thought grimly. Blood would have blood.

Blood having blood would happen sooner than Pip first though, and it began with an attack on Airclan's camp where all the kits and older cats had been relocated. How could the Purists claim to have the moral upper hand when they attacked the clans young and infirm? That was cowardice of the purest form.

And so the clans retaliated, as was their way. They attacked Marrow's camp to send the Purists finally packing. Blood would have blood, and the blood of Pip's uncle Monty had been spilled so he didn't exactly hold back. Who cared that his shoulder ached from the wounds it had received earlier, still not fully healed? He hurled the very ground itself at the cats that dared threaten his clanmates, his family. How dare they come to the clans and cause this upheaval? They should have left, they should have gone at the first chance. They shouldn't have dragged Earthclan into their personal vengeance game with Waterclan.

It wasn't too long into the battle that Pip heard crashing, and in going to investigate bumped straight into Waterclan's Healer, Shiver. Shiver said something that - excuse him - sent shivers down his spine. "We need your help. The den right there collapsed and- n’ there are still kits in there!”

As soon as he heard kits, Pip was on board. It wasn't the young one's faults that their parents had been purists. He was angered because Purists had gone after their kits, he would be a hypocrite of the highest order if he didn't try and save his enemies young. Not that he wouldn't anyway, of course.

Pip slammed his paws into the ground, bending the Earth to his will even as he felt blood dampen his shoulder where his wound once more broke open. He grit his teeth against the pain and ignored it to the best of his ability, he had to out-stubborn the very Earth itself after all, and that took concentration when he was already as tired as he was.

Only one survivor of the collapsed den was found, though the other evacuated kittens were thankfully safe, and Pip almost couldn't draw his eyes away from the other corpses to look at the tiny scrap of a kitten that would most certainly have been dead if not for Pip moving the wreckage. Cecily and Shiver grabbed a kit each to slink away, and Pip too grabbed one - a little orange child just a slight bit bigger than the tiny one who had survived - and went along with them. Getting the children to safety was more important that his own personal vendetta - always.

His solemn thoughts obviously showed on his face, especially when even Shiver - who was well known to dislike those from Earthclan - tried to comfort him. They had saved as many as they could, Pip agreed, even if he had only come in at the tail end of it all. He had done his duty and he knew that his uncovering of the once-den had not hurt or injured anyone else. He had saved that tiny kit's life. Evidently Shiver agreed, for she used her precious healing waters to soothe his shoulder and heal what she could patch up on the battlefield.

And so he threw himself back into the fray with a grin, though the battle was quickly drawing to a close and he found himself more backing his fellows than outnumbered and fighting solo. He didn't get close enough to any Purist or overreach himself enough to reopen his shoulder wound. It might actually heal without leaving a visible scar after all, he thought to himself.

Pip was on the very edges of the battle when the victory cheer went up. He wasn't really there when Marrow children looked upon their mother's corpse. He was busy, searching out his friends. Zeolite's brothers had fallen, and he was trying to figure out how to attend to their bodies. What was he to tell her of their deaths? They had died bravely, but that was no real comfort. Pip knew.

It was later, when the leaders were gathered and discussing the fate of the purist children who had no family left to take them, who could not survive on their own. Among them the tiny scrap that Pip had lifted rock and stone from, and its almost equally tiny sibling.

He couldn't help it, he just couldn't. He went up to the circle of cats with much higher rank than he, and told them that Earthclan would take them. The youngest at least. Zeolite had just had a litter, and she could take the two tiny mouths to feed. He was fortunate in the extreme that Alpha Cobalt nodded in agreement with his wayward warrior. Each clan was quick at accept two or three of the kits into their fold, and Waterclan took warriors. Pip wasn't certain about the wisdom of that decision, but it wasn't exactly his to make now, was it?

He just looked at the two tiny souls, the children he already knew in his heart were his just as true as the Purist blood that flowed through their veins. Their parents were gone now, they didn't have anyone, and Pip had spoken for them. That was as good as declaring them his own children in his mind.

Pip was an older warrior who had Rat, and Rosolite, and Yucca who he loved as much as he would have loved a child of his own flesh and blood. He knew he would love these kits with the same ferocity.

He and Zeolite had named the Purist children Kestrel and Camellia and welcomed them with open arms. It was only shortly after taking the kids in that winter settled over them and the blizzard began. In all of Pip's years he'd never witnessed a blizzard so strong and terrible as the one that plagued them. He curled himself around Zeolite and the children deep in the depths of Earthclan's cave system, keeping them all warm with body heat. His whole family took turns in cuddle piles to conserve warmth.

Pip discovered his own mentor, Tarragon, dead and cold in the Elders den. Tarragon was old, and he'd had trouble breathing with the cold. Perhaps it was expected, but Pip was still heartbroken and wrecked by the discovery. 

It made more sense to Pip when groups were sent out to look for the blizzard's cause - if there was one. He knew deep in his heart the the Spirits wouldn't forsake them like this and kill so many with the horrendous weather. He must admit to being quite concerned though, especially since not one, not two, but three of his sisters had volunteered for the dangerous venture. 

They brought most unwelcome news - a Water Tribe was behind the blizzard and they wished to wage war with the clans. Pip couldn't help but be irritated, honestly they'd just finished with the whole Fireclan war and the Purist war and now here again, another war.

So they fought back, and when Pip found himself going to Airclan's aid with Willow and Basil at his side, he didn't hesitate. He teamed up with the Airclan Head Monk, Amethyst, and they worked together to take a trio of siblings down. He was razor focused and oh so angry that there was another threat to his family and clan. The sisters were furious and pursued them all the way back to Airclan's camp. Where the camp was destroyed in the battle, but ultimately a win for the clans. The camp had collapsed on top of most of the Tribe's main fighting force, crushing them and leaving their numbers decimated. Wisely, the clan's enemy called a retreat and left. They wouldn't be bothering the clans anymore, Pip thought darkly as he assisted in the removal of chunks of rock to get rid of the enemy dead that littered the camp. Pip couldn't help but compare Airclan's damage to Earthclan's own when the Purists had attacked them, wrecking the historic Sentinels and killing his uncle.

Airclan didn't have Earthclan's architectural skills though, and they would have to actually leave the ruined camp to seek another. Pip actually thought that relatively wise, especially with how the camp had been attacked not once but twice over the last several years.

Pip went home exhausted, and the blizzard relaxed its stranglehold grip on the territory, making way for spring. Pip could honestly say he'd never been happier to see snow melt in his entire life. He couldn't wait to get out there and bury himself in green growing things again. But for now, he was content to snuggle with his children and dream of a future that wasn't filled with so much death and bloodshed. A better future. For the next generation.

Slowly, the clans rebuilt. 

He trained Kyanite, his newest apprentice. And despite everything, the world continued to turn. Rosolite and Yucca grew up in size and also down, putting their roots into the ground and making Pip so, so proud to be called their dad. His heart swelled with love. Kestrel and Camellia - Pip could have sworn that just a day previously he had brought them home from that Purist came, too tiny and weak to do much of anything. But there they were - strong and just so beautiful that Pip could hardly believe it.

Seasons changed and things changed, as things were apt to do. Kyanite became a strong warrior that Pip was just as proud of as his own children. He and the young ginger tom had formed a close bond across their training, born of a mutual love and respect of the dark tom they both had in common, and it had grown from there. When Kyanite was promoted, Pip couldn't help but cheer as loud as possible. He cornered the kid, hey Pip wasn't growing any younger he could call whomever he pleased a kid, later and gifted him his official Warrior Ceremony Gift that Pip had created with his own two paws. At least the time and effort put into said gift had helped him to hone his metalbending skills well enough!

Shortly after the important marker in Kyanite's life - Kestrel and Camellia officially became apprentices of Earthclan. Pip was proud, of course he was, but he was also a little sad. Soon would come the day when his children wouldn't need him anymore. He wondered idly if this is how his own parents had felt as he and his own siblings had grown up. However - with the children out of the den Pip had one very important thing to do. A long while ago, he and Zeolite had mutually agreed to put off any official courtship until Rosolite and Yucca were apprentices as Zeolite wanted to focus all her attention on being a mother rather than romance. Then of course, Kestrel and Camellia came along and extended said deadline rather a bit. Regardless, Pip had been working for a long time on his courtship gift - made of precious metals set with gemstones along the collar that represented each of their children together, and a teardrop shaped gem of zeolite in the center. He'd scrapped the design for his courtship gift half a dozen times before settling on this one and even now he felt as if nothing he could make could enhance Zeolite's beauty any more than was already naturally there.

Despite his misgiving, the usually goofy and impulsive tom drew Zeolite to the side about a week after the kids' ceremony and almost shyly presented the necklace to her. For one heart-wrenching moment he almost thought she would throw it back in his face, but instead she laughed breathlessly and told him of course she accepted. After all, they'd already raised four kittens together, which usually didn't happen towards the beginning of a relationship but hey, they had never claimed to be one of the most usual couple anyhow.

Pip was absolutely delighted and couldn't be stopped from telling just about everyone he saw for the next several days. Though to be perfectly honest the vast majority of the clan had simply assumed that the couple had already been mates and simply kept their courtship more on the down low and were surprised the duo had taken this long to actually become official. Predictably, the kids rolled their eyes as Pip and Zeolite had always been their parents, but congratulated them nonetheless.

The wedding was beautiful as Pip stood proudly by Zeolite’s side in from of Cobalt, each of them vowing their lives to the other. Even without all this formality, Pip knew that he had been weak for Zeolite from the first moment he really spoke to her. They drank from the clay bowl together, and Pip laughed delightedly as it was smashed to the ground and shattered. Quickly, both of their mother’s lay claim to the shattered pieces to mold, and Pip trusted them with it. All he could manage was staring at Zeolite in wonder and delight.

Rabbit and Morning presented them with a small clay tree - “To symbolize your family,” Morning murmured with a fond smile for her son, “You’ve put roots down now - but remember that it must be fed and watered to stay strong.” She nuzzled her son fondly - Pip might not be a young cat my anyone’s measure, and Morning was certainly not, but they were mother and son and that was all that mattered. Pip and Zeolite carved out a hollow in the wall of their den to place the tree in, it would get the spot of honor. They had all of three minutes alone together until their children piled in the den with congratulations and laughter on their lips.

Pip wouldn’t have had it any other way.

It seemed scarcely a hop and a skip later before he was cheering at Rosolite and Yucca's warrior ceremonies. Wasn't it just yesterday that they'd chewed his ears and demanded storytime? Maybe he was getting old. Time seemed to go so quickly these days. He didn't mind so much though, what with his beautiful family by his side. Zeolite was every inch as perfect as ever and she'd chosen Pip out of everyone else in the clan to love. His eldest daughters were warriors, proud and true and ready to defend their clan.

He seemed to scarcely have any time at all before Camellia and Kestrel were being announced as warriors of Earthclan as well. To be perfectly honest, Pip came very, very close to bawling his eyes out, he was so happy. His children, all grown up! He presented the their coming of age presents with tears in his eyes and no thoughts other than those of happiness.

It was around that time and he and Zeolite started to seriously discuss having kits. Despite his love of a big family, Pip was almost hesitant about it. He wasn't exactly a young cat anymore, though, and he didn't want any of the other kids getting any ideas about Pip picking his biological kids over them. Pip loved his children something fierce, and them not sharing his DNA didn't make him love them any less and he needed them to know that.

Acidic, who had been in Earthclan for a long time serving as their interim Healer after Onyx's passing, eventually decided to leave. But Pip’s son - his brave, brave Kestrel - stepped up and volunteered to learn. Pip could almost feel his heart burst with pride, as his son sacrificed a warrior future to aid his clan. Kestrel was quickly sent to meet with the other Healers to learn - the Fireclan healer wasn’t that much older than Pip’s boy if he remembered correctly.

Zeolite and Pip revisited the kit conversation. The duo ended up agreeing that since Zeolite had already borne some kits it was only fair that Pip take a turn. One of Zeolite's living brothers offered his assistance. Kestrel was absolutely thrilled and also extremely horrified that one of the first pregnancies of his Healer-hood was his parents'.

Pip and Zeolite had three beautiful little kits - Blackberry, Chipmunk, and Buttercup. Blackberry looked just like Pip with her dark fur and squirmy personality, Chipmunk was tiny and brown from head to toe and absolutely adorable to boot, and little Buttercup must have taken his more yellow pelt from Zeolite's side of the family.

They grew up quickly - and gave him more than a few grey hairs in the meantime. Raising this litter was a handful in a way the previous two just hadn’t been. But they were soon apprenticed and Pip couldn’t help but think that time went by so fast. He released his children into the capable custody of their new mentors, and sat back to watch them grow even more.

Pip’s family was beautiful, and he loved them all so much it ached.