Juncomask and Riverdrizzle was a young, kithood couple whose choice to have children was no surprise. They had been saying as much since they were apprentices, after all.

KITHOOD

Childhood begun easy for Whistlekit. A loving couple, Riverdrizzle and Juncomask and siblings Kindlekit and Chestnutkit. They were quite a trio in childhood. Rambunctious, always playing roughly with each other, and that was the way they liked it. Whistlenose could tell you one story plain as day; playing with Kindlekit, when his brother had jumped onto Whistlekit boldly. His paw had crashed into Whistlekit's nose, and when the kit had started bleeding, he ran to Riverdrizzle with tears in his eyes - his mother took him in, comforting him, caring for him. Until a series of coughs racked her body, and Riverdrizzle collasped. Something was very wrong.

The Medics retrieved Riverdrizzle, and Father Juncomask took the kits in as they anxiously awaited news. Redcough. Riverdrizzle will need to be quaratined to limit such an illness being spread to her kits. Blown like a leaf in the wind, the trio clung desperately to their Father for support. They didn't know what was going on at all. But when the children fell asleep, Juncomask went to join Riverdrizzle in quaratine, although healthly, he did not wish to leave his love alone. The litter awoke alone, with only the Monarch Hazeltwirl to hear their cries.

They hear word that Juncomask had grown ill as well. Where Riverdrizzle fared better, Juncomask grew far more ill than their Mother ever had. Hazeltwirl's kit, Saffronkit, does his best to distract the litter from the anxiety, the fear. It only works sometimes.

APPRENTICESHIP

An apprenticeship is marked by grief. Juncomask is dead, taken by the Seelie, or the Unseelie. Or whoever. Whistlepaw didn't know if he believed in them anymore. Or anybody. Certainly not Mallowberry, Whistlepaw's new mentor, who was just as cranky as Whistlepaw had became. A pairing that was not made without wisdom. An child who had lost a father, and a father who had lost their child. It is not without strife, but it is Whistlepaw who learns to reach a paw out. They find their middle ground, and in time, a tumultuous relationship becomes one of a genuine bond.

Everything wasn't all horrible. Kindlepaw was by Whistlepaw's side, as his brother had always been. It was nice, and their needed reprieve from the stresses of camp was found by goofin' off together. Sneaking around, jumping from branch to branch, pushing themselves further, experiencing a greater joy in being a daredevil together. It is something. It is nice, despite how Chestnutpaw and Saffronpaw complained about it. Until Kindlepaw grows distance. Whistlenose notices perhaps before even Kindlepaw does. The glimmer in his gaze when he speaks to former outsiders about their past lives, where Whistlepaw's need for adventure was born as a way to hide the turmoil that grew within, Kindlepaw's seemed to be ... natural for him, as natural as breathing. He didn't want to think of what this all meant. Even as Riverdrizzle encouraged Whistlepaw to suppport her brother, he shuts it out. He shuts it all out.

Riverdrizzle and Hazeltwirl confess their budding romance to their litters, and ask for their children approval of them pursuing a relationship. It had not be long since Juncomask passed but ... Hazeltwirl helps Riverdrizzle. Riverdrizzle is happy around her. Whistlepaw could not deny her that. Plus, Saffronpaw was so excited to be a "real" sibling to the litter, as if she had ever been anything less.

ADULTHOOD

Whistepaw becomes Whistlenose. His siblings, Saffronslash, Chestnutflight, and Kindlesky. It is happy.

It is not long until Kindlesky confesses that clan life is not for him, nor had it ever been. A traveling loner had offered to take the young tom under his wing, and who is Kindlesky to deny this opportunity? The loner visits with every couple of years and Kindle promises to visit them first thing when he is back. Whistlenose does not to say goodbye. Not to another family member. He hides until Kindlesky is long gone. Riverdrizzle's dissapointment burns on his pelt.

Comfort is found in Tawnyclaw. They have a whirlwind mateship, passionate, and Whistlenose thinks this is it - they're like Riverdrizzle and Juncomask now. Perfectly in love.

Kindlesky is back. Years have already passed. How is that? Whistlenose visits Kindlesky is the outlands. They catch up, they lose track of time; Whistlenose apologises, and Kindlesky, wisened by a year living alone, accepts it. Family is everything. Whistlenose returns to camp with a smile on his maw. It's a mess. Tawnyclaw was wounded on a patrol, and Whistlenose had became the scapegoat in failing to be there. It's not fair, even as he begs for his loves forgiveness. There is none given, beyond a last ditch effort - a litter. Whistlenose finds Softbrush as a companion during these moons, watching over Dragonkit when the molly asked of him. He enjoyed being with Dragonkit, always a purr in his throat whenever he saw the young kit. They split before their litter is due, but Whistlenose loves his two bundles of joy all the same.

Grousekit and Magpiekit, named after their Grandfather. Magpiekit is a photo of him in youth, the same rambunctious nature that always followed Kindlesky follows Magpiekit. It scares Whistlenose, but Grousekit's timid nature is no less scary. It's scary, being a father. Tawnyclaw and Whistlenose will never be what they once were, but they are polite; for the kits, if not for anything else.

Dustpaw is Whistlenose's first apprentice. A little later than some, but Whistlenose feels ready when Dustpaw is given to him. He does his best, and always offer a loving paw to Dustpaw as they grow into Dusthop.

...

Whistlenose doesn't like what is next. A young mentor, bringing him the fragile body of Magpiepaw. It's so small. So cold, so ... Magpiepaw is cold. Whistlenose needs to warm him up - He needs - Oleanderhush places a paw on Whistlenose's shoulder. And confirms the worst.Magpiepaw is gone. Drowned. Raced ahead of her mentor, who was blind to the danger of the river, rushing with fresh snowmelt. They try to apologize. Whistlenose asks them to leave. Grousepaw doesn't understand. He understands. How could a child ever understand this? He barely holds himself together. For Grousepaw.

The Courts are laughing at him. Whistlenose feels this now. There is no denial this time, only the dull acknowledgement. Grousepaw is gone. Whistlenose holds her when it happens. When Grousepaw tells Whistlenose that she had sought a flower for him, to cheer her up ... but it must had been the wrong one. When a spasm takes her, Whistlenose knows she did not mean to claw the scar into his chest. He does not accept treatment for it until she is cold. He blames himself. He feels like an apprentice again. Distant to his Mothers, his siblings, always outside of camp. To not look upon his failed relationship, the ghosts of his children. There's no Kindlesky to reign Whistlenose back now. He's spiraling.

How could it be that Mallowberry is who meets Whistlenose in this dark place? A grief that mirrors Whistlenose's own. A heartbreak that cannot be spoken. Recovery is slow. It hurts. Its awful. Every moment is lined with the desire to give up. Until one day, it isn't.

Cicadasun is a cruel mirror of what Whistlenose could had became. He knows her grief intimately. Where Whistlenose had his family, Mallowberry ... there was no comfort for Cicadasun. Only Oleanderhush's refusal to see light. It burrows a resentment in him. But he had been absent in camp, distant from his clanmates... What authority does he have? Whistlenose waits too long. Cicadasun's dead. It hurts. It hurts a lot, and a feeling remains in his mind - that he could had done something, if he had tried. He will not stand idly again.

MEDIATOR

The amber is the first time Whistlenose believes that belief has any merit. A discovery, laid waiting for him ... watching Lioneye take control in that patrol builds Whistlenose's faith in her. He keeps close to Midgeleaf and Butterflypaw then, wanting to keep Fireflydance's children safe on her behalf. A moment of turmoil in Dragonsun leads with Whistlenose's paws pattering after the leader. His kits would not be much younger than Dragonsun, and Whistlenose sees them in the leader. Dragonsun's fear catches Whistlenose off-guard, and he does all he could to offer the leader sympathy. With Lioneye's patrol fresh on Whistlenose's mind, he offers this information to her - if only for Dragonsun's benefit. No one elses.

No child needed to go through was Flickerwings did. No parent should be as Whisper was. Whistlenose does not regret what happened to her, but regrets that Flickerwings was the one that had to do so. She needs care. More than physical, and Oleanderhush's treatment of Cicadasun is still a bad taste in his mouth. He offers the impossible. To help Flickerwings, and other clanmates, with what Oleanderhush cannot.

The stampede is terrible. Fireflydance injuries, it scared Whistlenose. He fears that many are dead, and when the patrols brings Riverdrizzle and Chestnutflight in .... Whistlenose grieves once more. Slowly, quietly, working through his grief like an experiment to be had - perhaps any information garnered can be used to help his clanmates. At least, Whistlenose hope it does.