Lizardstar

Lizardkit was the only child and result of a failed litter; born to Marblestar and his mate Petalsight. Her parents were dissapointed in having only one child, but because of this they chose to pamper Lizardkit to their best ability and viewed her as their pride and joy. She grew up without friends, her entitlement blossoming through her father's leadership and the guarenteed promise that she was to inherit his rank. After becoming an apprentice, she became quick to exceed most of her other den-mates, sparring them and winning and growing her ego. This made her unpopular with the other cats her age. She didn't necessarily think she was better than others, but it was in her personality to be rebellious, loud, and overbearing. Her uncontrollable behavior soon marked Lizardpaw as a problem child by her father. He tried to conceal her temperment, but she didn't understand and didn't cease. Marblestar began to get paranoid about his daughter's rambunctious personality that had started to show. And as Lizardpaw only improved in her skill, his fear's became heightened. Soon Marblestar began to worry that she would grow up to kill him and let her ambition over come her. He cut contact with his daughter, not completely, but enough to make her wonder what she'd done wrong. She admired and loved her parent's, but all of a sudden they had turned themselves away from her. Lizardpaw's isolation turned to betrayal after her parent's produced another child. It was almost as if they had given up on her, chosen to start over. To reset. Their new son was called Toadkit, and he was weak and sick, and Lizardpaw hated him for being everything she wasn't. He was the perfect choice to become leader in his parent's eyes; kind and selfless, unable to cause harm. They coddled him and loved him more than Lizardpaw felt love. Having nobody to turn to, she vented her anger out in her training, working herself hour after hour until her exhaustion wore her down. Marblestar began to notice that his neglected daughter was turning to hatred, and again he began to fear that now she'd have a reason to murder him. Panicking, Marblestar decided to try and talk to Lizardfur. He coaxed her into joining him on a walk, and Lizardfur accepted eagerly. It was cold out that day, leafbare churning over the territory and turning the riverbeds to ice. Marblestar had just convinced his daughter that he was going to rebuild their relationship, when he brought her out across the lake. She tried to catch up with him to the other side, but the ice split and suddenly she fell through. Marblestar had hoped with dim uncertainty that his daughter would manage her temper after their talk, but it was even better to see that the chance of her death was in play. He did care for her, but he cared for himself and his new family above all. She was just the problem child. As Lizardfur began to drown in the cold waters, she saw her father watch her without help, and leave her to die.

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammelled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.