Myrtledove

Kithood [ 0 - 6 moons ] :Myrtlekit was born to Cricketstorm and Hootsong alongside her brother, Trufflekit. The two cats were getting older, but were happy to welcome the two kits into the world regardless. Myrtlekit spent the very beginning of her life curled up to her brother, enjoying the warmth of the nursery.

Almost immediately after Myrtlekit and Trufflekit were born, the clan’s herbalist decided, along with those of the other clans, to try and commune with StarClan again now that the falls had been repaired. Several warriors went along with, just in case something happened.

And something did, in fact, happen. Too young to be sure of the details, all Myrtlekit knew was that there was an attack. Tawnysong, one of the warriors who had gone along to the falls, was killed in the struggle. But, despite that loss, StarClan had been restored, and things were beginning to look up. Myrtlekit, of course, was too young to really understand any of this, still curled up by her mother’s side. But she heard the tones in her clanmates’ voices, and knew something big had happened.

Not long after she was old enough to speak, Myrtlekit found herself....uncomfortable with being referred to as female. He quietly came out as trans to his family, and was accepted almost immediately, told he could start eating the special herbs when he was a bit bigger. Myrtlekit felt warm and loved, and curled up with his family that night, content in his own identity for what felt like the first time.

Three strange cats, former loners, took shelter in EmberClan’s camp. Myrtlekit wasn’t sure entirely where they came from, but from what he heard, they had lost their father to the incident at the Crystal Falls. He was curious about them, and asked one of them, Iris, about what life was like outside of the clans. She was kind to him, and told him stories of the sights she had seen traveling with her father and siblings, while Myrtlekit listened with wide, sparkling eyes, filled with wonder at the things she described.

One night, Myrtlekit was awoken by sheer chaos. A badger had broken into camp, and was attacking the nursery. The poor kit was shaking, terrified of this predator that was attacking a place where he was supposed to be safe. He pressed close to Trufflekit, desperately trying to block out the noise and violence.

He wasn’t sure exactly what was going on during the attack, but one of his older siblings, Fennelspots, showed up within the nursery, herding the kits towards the back. Myrtlekit made a point of staying close, seeking the safety of his family during what he saw as an absolute disaster. Horrified, he would learn later that Dewpaw had lost one of his lives to the attack, named a warrior early after the chaos had died down and the badger was gone. Myrtlekit hadn’t even known Dewpaw had a second life, but was glad everything was okay now, even if some cats were hurt. He spent the next moon being jumpy, afraid of something bad happening.

Not long after, the loners that had sheltered with the clan were invited to join officially, being named apprentices; Irispaw, Reedpaw, and Cinderpaw. Myrtlekit was excited to have more clanmates, especially since he had already decided they were nice.

In the wake of the incident with the badger, Thrushbriar had decided to step down from his position as deputy, instead choosing to become a permanent queen. Gullwatcher was named deputy in his place, and Thrushbriar moved into the nursery, becoming a common sight within the den. Myrtlekit didn’t mind this; he was soft, and kind, and the young kit enjoyed his company, growing used to having him around during the remainder of his kithood.

Time passed without much incident, but then, Singekit vanished, having snuck out of camp. Myrtlekit was worried and confused, unsure as to why his denmate had snuck out, when the outside world was clearly so dangerous. A patrol had been put together to go find the missing kit, and, though Myrtlekit didn’t know exactly what happened, he would learn some details later.

Apparently, they had found Singekit; but they had also found a fox, which then attacked the patrol. Thrasherbelly was badly hurt, and was brought to the herbalist den upon the group’s return to camp, having lost one of his legs to the fox attack. He spent a long time recovering, while Myrtlekit became more worried about the dangers the outside world held in store.

He wasn’t sure what to think. Time passed, and as other kits in the den reached 6 moons and were named apprentices, Myrtlekit had a lot of things to think about. The animals outside of camp were dangerous, and, he decided, he didn’t want to just cower behind other cats his whole life. Myrtlekit made up his mind. When the day of his ceremony came, he would become braver, he would become strong enough to protect himself, as well as his clanmates.

Apprenticeship [ 6 - 12 moons ] :The day came, and Myrtlepaw was named an apprentice, given Peachblaze as a mentor. His chest fluttered with nerves as he touched noses with his new mentor, finally in a position to work towards that promise he had made himself. He would become stronger. He would stand up for himself, against the dangers of the world around him.

As Myrtlepaw’s training began, he spent a lot of time with Flarepaw, a cat he had become good friends with in the nursery. He offered to help her with training, practice together, and had a lot of fun hanging out with her during downtime between his own training sessions.

Just as he was beginning to get into the swing of training, the weather around the clans began to get harsher. Snowstorms were popping up, and ice gave out under a group of cats while out in the territory. Several cats drowned, and Apricotshell was confined to the herbalist’s den.

After that, due to the snowstorms, patrols were restricted, due to the weather posing a big risk to the clan cats. Myrtlepaw found himself worrying; leaf-bare wasn’t usually this harsh, was it? Would they have enough fresh-kill, if cats couldn’t hunt? He spent some time praying to StarClan, hoping things would get better soon.

His prayers seemed to be answered, when a break between snowstorms allowed a hunting party to be sent out. Myrtlepaw jumped at the chance to join them, alongside Trufflepaw, his littermate. He wanted, so badly, to help his clan live through this harsh leaf-bare, and hunting was the perfect way to do it. He liked hunting training, he liked to think he was good at it.

Things didn’t go the way he expected them to. Myrtlepaw hoped, that morning, that he’d manage to help them bring a huge load of prey back home, enough to feed the clan until the snowstorms stopped happening. In his desperation to be a great hunter, he and Trufflepaw tracked a rabbit away from the main group, and, though they caught it, they found themselves separated from their clanmates.

Snow started to swirl around them, and Myrtlepaw panicked. He couldn’t see past his own paws, and the wind seemed to tear his cries away from him, too loud for him to focus on his own senses. As his paws started to grow numb from the cold, Myrtlepaw yowled out, screaming for the help of his clanmates. They were with a patrol. Surely the warriors would find them; they had to be looking.

His prayers were answered when he heard voices, barely able to make out the voice of Skipperbug, Trufflepaw’s mentor. He kept yowling, and soon enough, the tortie had found them. And she wasn’t alone, either; Cricketstorm, his father, was with her. Myrtlepaw buried his face into his father’s fur, crying. He just wanted to go home.

It was when he was regaining his senses in the herbalist den that he learned of the casualties. Parselyseed, one of his older siblings, was among them. Myrtlepaw was devastated - was it his fault? He’d wandered off after that rabbit, and if he and Trufflepaw hadn’t gotten lost, those cats wouldn’t have frozen to death looking for them. Cricketstorm came out of retirement in the wake of the incident, and Myrtlepaw just looked at his own cobweb-wrapped paws, wondering if this was his fault. It didn’t help that, not long after, another cat vanished in a snowstorm as well, never to be seen again.

While he was recovering from the frostbite on his paws, Briarshade chose to take on an apprentice, and named Singepaw as the new herbalist-in-training. Myrtlepaw was happy for him, and spent some time hanging out with him while he was still recovering.

Hazekit, Ivykit, and Lilackit were named apprentices, and while he was happy for them, remembering the days he spent with Hazekit in the nursery during his own kithood, he wished he could just go out and spend time with them. The more time passed, the more he wished he could just finish healing already, continue his training, help his clan to make up for the blunder that landed him in here to begin with.

In the midst of his melancholy, another tragedy struck the clan, this one even closer to his heart. Rocks gave out under a group of cats, and Sludgepaw was killed. Flarepaw, alive but injured, joined Myrtlepaw and Trufflepaw in the herbalist den, and he was devastated, worrying over her whenever she let him. She was his friend. Why was this happening to them?

Not too long after, Myrtlepaw was told he could resume his training, allowed out of the den again, and while he was happy, he did his best to visit Flarepaw when he could while she was there. He focused as much attention as he could on training, despite the distractions that seemed to be plaguing his mind as of late.

Soon after Flarepaw was released, more deaths impacted EmberClan, including Thrasherbelly, one of the clan’s caretakers. Myrtlepaw mourned with his clanmates, praying to StarClan for better times ahead. He just didn’t understand why things were going so dramatically wrong. Worse, as more time passed, Lilacpaw vanished without a trace. Hazepaw spent a lot of time looking, while Myrtlepaw dove further into his training.

He had to learn all he could. He had to at least try. He did everything he could during training, practiced hard between sessions. He knew better times were ahead, even if he had to make the world better himself. And what better way to do that than to work hard and become a good warrior? He could help his clan, he could improve the lives of those around him. It was something to focus on, something to ensure his hopes of a bright future would come to pass.

As the day of his warrior ceremony approached, Myrtlepaw went with some of his clanmates to a gathering, the sky lit by a full moon. Though it felt odd, so close to becoming a warrior, he found himself gravitating towards the other apprentices, listening to a big HailClan cat talk about the stars and what they might mean. She sounded so compelling.

And then other cats started to weigh in, and before he could really comprehend it, an argument was breaking out. Myrtlepaw shrank back, not wanting to get into it despite his size, especially as a young CloudClan cat, Eveningpaw, fought to defend Burnetpaw’s honor. The arguing couldn’t last terribly long, though, as the gathering erupted into chaos.

A deer had appeared, and ran right through the gathering area, big and heavy and dangerous. Myrtlepaw scrambled away from it, at first, but watched in horror as Flarepaw was impacted hard by one of its legs, sent flying by the force. Myrtlepaw, worried and terrified, ran after her, refusing to leave her side even as she told him to seek safety.

It was thanks to a MarshClan warrior, Widowbriar, that the two wound up getting to safety, escorted by the older cat away from the chaos. Myrtlepaw silently cursed himself for not doing more to help; for thinking he would make the change he wanted to see, and then being paralyzed like that when cats were actually in danger. As Flarepaw was taken back to camp, he tagged along, wanting to stay by her side if he could.

When they got back to camp, it was a sobering sight; it had been attacked. Myrtlepaw felt cold horror rush through him, seeing the devastation. Cats were hurt, cats were dead. Their herbalist, Briarshade, had been killed in the struggle, and the clan’s herb stores had been destroyed. Cats were talking about how the attackers carried the scent of the other clans on their fur, though no one could recognize them. Myrtlepaw was devastated by all the loss he had come back to.

Why was this happening? Was the deer a sign? Was StarClan upset about something? He didn’t understand. He prayed for guidance, as he did everything in his power to help the clan recover in the wake of this disaster. Several cats in the herbalist den appeared to be suffering complications from improper treatment, and Myrtlepaw’s worry was directed to a different source; Singepaw.

He knew he was stressed, since losing his mentor. Myrtlepaw tried to offer help where he could, worried for his friend’s wellbeing. His warrior ceremony loomed over his head, and it was all he could do to hope his warriorhood would see things looking up.

Warriorhood [ 12 - present moons ] :The day had come. Myrtlepaw was named a warrior, given the name Myrtledove in honor of his gentleness and kind nature towards others. He should be happy. He knew he should, but it just felt... empty. He looked out at the others in his clan, at Truffleskip, his littermate. It felt so hollow, something that should have held so much happiness.

He just wanted to help his clan, and so he focused his efforts on that, offering to go out with his clanmates when he could. He did everything in his power to help the clan begin to recover from this tragedy, and used his newfound freedom to go out hunting when he had free time. One less thing for his clanmates to worry about.

Myrtledove was devastated to learn that Hazepaw had gone missing, quietly praying for xir safety. They were so close as kits, and he was beginning to wonder if he had done something to invoke StarClan’s anger, or if his life was just... filled with terrible luck.