Rumblepaw

Rumblekit was born on a snowy evening to Berryshadow and Dustpool, alongside his sister Breezekit. Rumblekit for the markings of his pelt, but also for his rumbling tummy. Breezekit for her mother's love of the world above, but also in honor of the storm the kits were born during. So what if Berryshadow fancied herself a naming pattern?

Rumblekit and Breezekit were the young couples first litter, a light in the literal dark that their parents' lives had become. Both suffered loses of family members in the war with ViperClan, so they were happy to not only help their Clan's bloodline but theirs as well. They proved to be doting parents, though they were also quick to reaffirm the seriousness of MoleClan's situation. They had once been proud runners of the fields, but they'd been wrongly forced into the earth and driven to the brink of extinction. They wished the best for their kits, though they truthfully only believed this possible if MoleClan could once more live in the warmth of the sun and sleep below the stars. Rumblekit and his sister loved hearing stories of the war, nurturing vengeance towards ViperClan deep within their tiny hearts.

Berryshadow's and Dustpool's beliefs were only solidified when, one day, Primrose and a patrol returned from the tunnels with the mutilated body of Thornstar. Rumblekit only caught a glimpse before his father was quickly shooing him back into the nursery, but it would be a sight that stuck with the young kit for the rest of his life.

Berryshadow, desperate for things to change and unsupportive of Primstar's more conservative battle strategies, started throwing herself into border skirmishes with ViperClan with reckless abandon. Dustpool pleaded with his mate to step back and take a minute to think, but she would have none of it. It would only make sense when she didn't return to camp one evening, and a patrol sent in search of her brought back her body. Not long after, having already been slowly pulling back MoleClan's battle efforts, Primstar conceded the war to ViperClan.

Dustpool soon drifted from the nursery to return to his warrior duties, entrusting the rest of the raising of his kits to the rest of the Clan- or rather any warriors who would be interested in a kit-apprentice. Rumblekit was saddened, fresh off the loss of his mother and now basically left by his father, but he had Breezekit still. The two were inseperable during their third moon, pestering any unsuspecting warrior into relenquishing knowledge to their young minds. They gained themselves a reputation for being annoying, though luckily they were still young enough it could be endearing to the right Clanmates.

Slowly but surely they learned the basics of hunting, even a bit of fighting off the younger warriors. Rumblekit wanted to learn more though. He spoke to his sister about pestering the healer, but she would have none of it. She wasn't interested in silly plants. And so, for the first time, the siblings' paths diverged. The brother went off in search of tutelage from the healer, and the sister in search of more fundamentals from warriors.

Rumblekit had a hard time remembering what was used for what at first, even if he wasn't learning but the basics of healing. It was frustrating, but he refused to give up, and soon became one of the better kit-apprentices interested in learning what the healer would offer up. The healer's den also smelled so nice, an area he'd hang around by when he couldn't find anyone to teach him anything. Dustpool offered his son a weird look when he saw Rumblekit lounging outside it once, but the young tom didn't pay it much mind. He had lots to learn, and herbs could be used for so many different things!

Rumblekit was admittedly off-put by Batflurry at first, preferring to only interact with the healer when it was time for lessons, but the hesitance was quick to change into curiosity about the other. Batflurry was hard to read and understand, unlike most of his Clanmates that he'd met up until that point. It became the young lad's personal mission to get the healer figured out before he became an apprentice and got busy with warrior training.

At a point or two Rumblekit likely got annoying in his pursuit for knowledge on herbs and the healer, as he was ought to do someimes- or at least according to other Clanmates. Batflurry never called him annoying or told him to buzz off, however. Rumblekit quickly decided he liked the healer for that alone, even if they could still be a bit intimidating at times to the young kit.

Rumblekit's sixth moon was soon upon him. The young tom fully expected to be assigned a warrior mentor, even if his last moon of kit-apprenticeship, at least, was spent solely pestering the healer. MoleClan needed plenty of strong warriors to one day reclaim their territory above ground, and Rumblekit was fully ready to committ himself to this cause- until the day of his apprentice ceremony.

He became Rumblepaw, certainly, but not to a warrior- no, to the healer! Of course he was surprised, Batflurry had shown no outright interest in him before, but he wasn't about to turn the position down. It was still a way to help his Clan, after all. And if StarClan saw it fit that he'd be a better help as a healer than warrior, well he'd be one of the best healers the Clans had ever seen! It would also be nice to have a reason to pester Batflurry more. Rumblepaw still wanted to get past that reserved exterior.