Dandeliongloom

History

Kithood [0-6 moons] >

    Dandelionkit was one of three kits born to Frostheart, his sister’s being Ladybugkit and Fernkit. He also has a much older brother named Hackberrytoe from his mother’s first litter, along with his long deceased sister Cloverpaw.
    Dandelionkit primarily stuck by his mother and siblings, but would occasionally wander around the den. He peeked out of the entrance to see that there was a weird cat that came in. He overheard it was a rogue. He decided he wanted to stay away at that, having heard all the bad stories about rogues nowadays. It wasn’t too long later that he started to feel sluggish and tired. He found himself laying in their nest more often than not. Maybe he was just really tired, that’s all…
     It got worse. He couldn’t get up much, had no energy, and could barely eat. This was when he’d be sent to the herbalist den to see what was wrong with him. He threw a stink about it, though it was weak and he had no power behind it. He didn’t want to leave his mom and siblings! Why did he have to go?
    There were a bunch of cats that came into camp- they smelled weird to him. He overheard that it was CloudClan and they lost their home. That would’ve been fine, if they all didn’t come into the herb den. A bunch of strangers being in the same den? It made him afraid, frequently crying for his mom. Thankfully, she was allowed to come in whenever and he frequently saw her and was comforted during this scary time.
     It wasn’t long after until Dandelionkit felt better, being granted to leave the herb den. The herbalist that helped with him got their full herbalist name, Butterflydawn. He was just glad to be out of there, back by his mother’s side and with his sisters.
     Unfortunately, his happiness was brief and he was back in the herbalist den, worse than before. He didn’t even want to move, he felt that terrible. He learned a little after this happened that his sisters became apprentices. Sure, he was happy for them but the envy and sadness overtook that. It wasn’t fair! He didn’t want to be an apprentice- as it meant leaving his mother’s side -but he also didn’t want to become one by himself! Would he ever become one? Or would this sickness turn fatal for him…?
     He was stuck in the den for longer and one day he noticed something off. He… couldn’t move his back legs? Or his tail? Dandelionkit didn’t know what was happening, he was terrified when any function and feeling was lost. He was in a panic, crying out for anyone to help. The herbalists did what they could but only time would tell if it was just a temporary side effect.
     Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Because when he got better, he still couldn’t move his back half. He was deemed permanently disabled, unable to gain function back. It made him distraught, not even being able to leave the herb den making him feel better. It’s not like he’d be out for long, he would just end up going back in there in the next moon, just like last time. His entire kithood was ripped from him because of the mysterious illness, he never got to be a proper kit. He felt so out of place.

Apprenticehood [8-12 moons] >

    Dandelionkit became an apprentice after being released from the herbalist den, gaining the name Dandelionpaw. His mentor was Wrencatcher. Admittedly, he didn’t want to be an apprentice. He lost any and all interest in it while in the herbalist den. But he can’t just tell Waspstar he isn’t going to be one, he would just be forced to anyways. So he kept silent.
    He joined a few warriors and Butterflydawn, the herbalist, to scout the tunnels to find the missing CloudClan cats. He wasn’t entirely sure on the warriors, but he was most comfortable with Butterflydawn since he practically grew up around them. The other warriors argued about the tunnels for a bit, which Dandelionpaw shied away from entirely, before they split up. A spark of panic went through him before he heard he was tagging along with Butterflydawn, alongside Murkytrail and Swansong of CloudClan. He stuck to Butterflydawn as much as he could. The trip through was a little difficult for him as he hadn’t had much time to move around with his lame hind-legs. But they eventually came across cats, one of which was a screeching kit. It hurt his ears. Dandelionpaw didn’t spend much time in the nursery, was this how kits normally acted? It was rather annoying. But they eventually got them all out and brought them back to camp. He felt a little indifferent on the situation. He.. didn’t help much, did he? Dandelionpaw didn’t feel very proud of himself after the rescue mission, the others did more and deserved the praise.
     The clans all came together to help CloudClan get their territory back, but Dandelionpaw stayed out of it. He wasn’t ready. He couldn’t fight. He’d just get in the way. Was it cowardice? Was he a total coward? Would it disappoint his mother? All the worries flooded his mind as he sat in the camp, waiting. Eventually, they all came back victorious. Unfortunately, a death was on his mind. Hackberrytoe, his older brother. He was killed in battle. Dandelionpaw felt numb as he stared at his brother’s corpse. Could he have helped? Could he have stopped it if he just sucked it up and went to the battle? Maybe then his mother wouldn’t have to grieve so terribly. His heart felt hollow. Dandelionpaw could’ve stopped it.
     When new-leaf started, Waspstar ended up stepping down as leader, Egretstar taking his place. Opossumshriek was made deputy then. He didn’t really know the cats that well so he had no opinion on it. Nor did he really care. Politics weren’t his thing. Briefly afterwards, cats started to get sick. It looked really familiar, the symptoms. Was it the same thing he had all throughout his kithood? Would it try to get him again?
      On a normal day, a cat came into camp. Others had recognized him as an empire cat, though he had no idea. But it made him scared nonetheless. Wrencatcher was there to make sure he was okay, that he was thankful for. The cat eventually left and after a while of thinking on it, Egretstar had agreed to work with the defecting Empire cats to find a cure to this sudden disease.
      Ladybugpaw and Fernpaw became warriors, now being called Ladybugheart and Fernspark. He was happy for them, he really was! He just… wanted to be getting his warrior name with them. Knowing he’d be getting his alone made him not excited for his own. He wished he was never set back.
      There were a series of sudden deaths all at once. Some being by a bobcat, others by a muskie, even some dogs. Thankfully, his family made it out okay and weren’t affected by any of it at all.

Warriorhood [13 - present moons] >

Dandelionpaw, after moons of hard work, finally became a warrior. The warrior name given to him was Dandeliongloom, for his fur that seemed to droop or appear ‘gloomy’. Though he wondered if his warrior name could also be or the fact he always seems to look gloomy or in a not-so-positive mood most of the time. He wouldn’t blame them if that was really the case, because he could admit it was true.