Early Life
Shimmerkit and Tawnykit were born to Mallowpatch and Barkpelt of ShadowClan- the latter of whom was the son of the late Shimmerstar, making the kits her grandchildren. Shimmerkit, having been born first of the two kits, was named after her late grandmother. However, even from quite a young age, Shimmerkit appeared to be very distant from the other cats in her clan; kits and warriors alike. Only very rarely would she ever actually play with her sister, and often, Tawnykit would end up complaining to both Mallowpatch and Barkpelt about how boring Shimmerkit was, as well as how easily startled she was upon being play-tackled and how much she cried. She seemed to cry quite loudly as well, and no amount of comforting words would get her to calm down. Only Mallowpatch’s gentle washing and the comforting vibrations of her purrs seemed to comfort the young Shimmerkit.
As it turned out, Shimmerkit couldn’t hear any of these complaints from her sister– or anything else, for that matter. She had been born deaf. At first, such a thing was just a rumor, albeit one that Shimmerkit herself couldn’t tell was going on within the clan. But soon enough, the medicine cats had taken her into their den to examine her, testing her hearing and eventually confirming the matter for certain.. Barkpelt, who had been hoping to have Shimmerkit carry on her grandmother’s legacy and was convinced this would get in the way of things, was angry at the news. Rather than trying to help Shimmerkit learn ShadowClan’s sign language, he grew distant from both of his daughters; this caused several things, the least of which being Tawnykit growing fairly resentful of her sister for driving a wedge between her and her father- and for seeming to get special attention from their mother, leaving Tawnykit without anyone to play with or talk to.
The other thing it caused was, eventually, for Mallowpatch and Barkpelt to stop being mates. It came to a climax in a shouting match between the two one day about how Barkpelt never actually cared for his kits, and although Shimmerkit couldn’t hear the actual argument, she could still tell something was very wrong from the way her sister was cowering in the corner, as well as the aggressive body language her parents were displaying. Shimmerkit tried to comfort Tawnykit, but the other kit quite literally physically pushed her away, storming further into the nursery to hide all by herself.
Mallowpatch, frustrated at her ex-mate’s aloofness towards his own kin but determined to give Shimmerkit the best life possible, took up learning sign language herself and passed it onto both of her kittens as she did. Slowly, as she did so and as Shimmerkit grew more comfortable expressing herself and with cats communicating with her, she began to come out of her shell. She grew more playful, attempting to play with Tawnykit more often. Unfortunately, a lot of the damage to their relationship had already been done at this point, and Tawnykit didn’t want to try and play anymore, much to Shimmerkit’s disappointment. Still, she didn’t let this deter her too much. Her mother was teaching her so many interesting things about their way of life, after all, and she wanted to be the best warrior ever when she grew up!
Young Life
At 6 moons of age, Shimmerkit was named Shimmerpaw and apprenticed to Swancry. The new apprentice could sense a bit of apprehension coming from her new mentor in her body language as the pair touched noses for the first time, though she couldn’t tell why. It confused her, and initially, the relationship between the two was a tad strained, Shimmerpaw struggling to understand what could possibly have been wrong with her that had made Swancry hesitate during her ceremony. Eventually, however, the two ended up forming quite a close bond. Swancry seemed to know all the best ways to communicate with her young apprentice, and encouraged the young cat often, letting her know she had the power within herself to always seek and get what she wanted. She had the power within herself to never allow anything to hold her down, and could always chase her dreams, whatever they were.
AThis message was one that Shimmerpaw appreciated quite a lot, as now that she was older, she could see how the other cats would occasionally give her quite pitiful glances. Anger would burn hot under her fur whenever she took notice of such a thing- which was often, as her eyesight and perception was quite sharp. She was hardly a weakling, being one of the smarter and more agile apprentices, and she hated being pitied. Still, although both Mallowpatch and her mentor had been teaching her to speak properly verbally in addition to her sign language that she already knew (it was difficult for her, but she was doing it), Shimmerpaw would hold her tongue whenever she noticed such looks aimed her way.
She was, unfortunately, still rather distant from Tawnypaw during this time. It almost seemed as if grudges and bitter attitudes were something that ran in the family, as Shimmerpaw’s sister hardly even liked to be seen around her, simply because of the “special treatment” that Shimmerpaw had received as a young kit. Shimmerpaw would soon enough find resentment for Tawnypaw growing within her own heart- but she at least had Swancry to vent her frustrations to, as it felt awkward going to her mother about such a thing, considering they were both Mallowpatch’s daughters. Swancry would often take Shimmerpaw for a hunting patrol when she could tell the apprentice was feeling frustrated, as having something to catch was both a good distraction and a good use of her skill.
Of course, family drama wasn’t the only stressor in Shimmerpaw’s life. A mysterious sickness rampaging through the clan which claimed the life of Rosetail, mystery corpses popping up on RiverClan’s border, Flywhisker’s death so suddenly after being appointed deputy, and Petalmask’s disappearance… all of these things were taking quite the toll on Shimmerpaw’s mental health, especially given how young she was. In two moons she would become a warrior, but was she really ready..?
Adult Life
When Shimmerpaw took her warrior assessment, she passed with flying colors, easily catching the most prey out of all the apprentices that were also taking their assessment. She was named Shimmernose, both as a nod to the white patch right above her nose and as a title of how well she could sniff out both prey and trespassing cats from other clans. Her sister was named Tawnywhisker alongside her, though the two hardly even looked at each other during the ceremony; it was safe to say that the two didn’t really get along, and Shimmernose couldn’t quite say she mourned such a fact, given how distant they had been even in their kithood. At least she had Swancry and her mother to believe in her, if her sister and father wouldn’t.
Shimmernose hasn’t been a warrior for all that long, and although the various misfortunes ShadowClan has been suffering as of late has her feeling quite fearful for her clan’s future, she is also quite determined to be the best she can be for the clan at the same time. As soon as she’s aware that a patrol is going out, she’s often one of the first cats to volunteer to be on it if no one else will, and she refuses to let anyone look down on her just because she can’t hear.
