Robinbelly

Though (or perhaps because) his brother Pricklekit was always favored by their uncle Froststar, Robinkit was always his father's favorite. Chestnutfur often took the time to play with his much quieter, gentler son despite his own rough tendencies. Much of BeeClan assumed that Chestnutfur's "true" nature would come out when Robinkit became an apprentice and that he would stop being so kind and soft with him, but this never happened. Chestnutfur could go from yelling at Graypaw to do his slightly flawed battle move again for the five hundredth time, to tenderly asking Robinpaw how his day was in the same breath. The two didn't have as much time to spend together, Robinpaw busy with his training and Chestnutfur busy with his own apprentice. Still, most evenings they continued to enjoy sharing tongues and fresh-kill together and talking about their days. Chestnutfur was the first to know about Robinpaw's crush on Leafpaw and always hoped, on Robinpaw's behalf, that the two would become mates. Of course, Robinpaw never openly confessed to such a crush; he admired the older apprentice from a careful distance, and just couldn't help how many compliments for her he slipped into his conversation with his father. Robinpaw was never one to chase down what he wanted, and Leafpaw was no exception. Chestnutfur secretly wished Robinpaw was more ambitious, the result of his constant projections onto his son. Like Robinpaw, Chestnutfur was the over-looked brother of a favored warrior who became leader, something that infuriated him to no end. There was nothing he could do about it now, his life set, but Robinpaw had his whole future ahead of him. Maybe he could rise above the pitfalls that Chestnutfur never manages to escape. Unlike himself though, Robinpaw seemed content with his lot in life, relieved that Pricklepaw bore the weight of important destinies and whatnot. Nonetheless, Chestnutfur loved Robinpaw deeply, and was the proudest cat in the Clan when Robinpaw became a warrior. Again, he was the cat Robinbelly turned to half-excitedly half-panicked rant about how Leafstrike was actually hanging out with him now and seemed to even enjoy his company. Chestnutfur enthusiastically supported his son, though he was privately saddened by how Robinbelly started spending more and more of his freetime with Leafstrike. Robinbelly's feelings had greatly intensified since they were apprentices, but unfortunately, his communication skills had not, and he continued to not tell Leafstrike how he truly felt. When she abruptly cut him off, Robinbelly was completely devastated. Leafstrike was a smart cat, and she was never cruel, so there was no way that she was trying to mess with his feelings or be mean to him. Surely Robinbelly had done something to make her angry. He became extremely preoccupied with figuring out what he had done to upset her, going over every time they'd hung out to remember what he'd said and done and what could possibly have offended her. Though he considered talking with Chestnutfur about it, his father and his mother had had a tumultous relationship since their children were very young, and though they had grown closer again, Robinbelly didn't feel comfortable asking his father for relationship advice. Instead, Robinbelly turned to his brother Pricklepelt who had recently become the talk of the Clan with his new mate Quickclaw. Pricklepelt was a sympathetic ear-- perhaps more sympathetic than Robinbelly was looking for, as he became quite indignant about how Leafstrike was treating his brother and told Robinbelly he'd confront her if that's what he wanted. Robinbelly hastily turned him down, and Pricklepelt compromised by saying he'd talk to Quickclaw about it, since she was good friends with Leafstrike. Quickclaw must have worked some magic, because next thing Robinbelly knew, Leafstrike was standing in the middle of camp yelling at him that she was in love with him. There were some other things she said too, something about how he was great and perfect or something, but all Robinbelly heard was her saying she was in love with him, over and over and over in his head. As soon as he could speak, Robinbelly begged her to repeat it, and as soon as he could move, he rushed to her, purring too hard for words. The time that followed was the happiest in Robinbelly's life. He and Leafstrike spent every day together, telling each other everything they'd held back from in the past, getting to know each other even more and falling in love even harder. Robinbelly also spent as much time in the nursery with his young siblings Spottedkit and Peonykit as he possibly could without neglecting his warrior duties and his mate. Robinbelly was equal parts scared and thrilled to become Spottedkit's mentor when he reached six moons, promising to take care of him no matter what. The two were already best friends from all the time they'd spent together while Spottedpaw was in the nursery, and they only grew closer as mentor and apprentice. Spottedpaw was many things that Robinbelly wasn't: bold, fiesty, and ready to fight the second someone looked at him wrong. Robinbelly worried he wouldn't be able to tame his temper, or worse, that Spottedpaw would become sick of Robinbelly dousing his flames that sprang up all too easily. But Spottedpaw loved Robinbelly with all his heart, and Robinbelly was one of the only cats Spottedpaw ever truly listened to. Shortly before Spottedpaw took his warrior assessment, he, Robinbelly, and a patrol of BeeClan warriors were involved in a nasty border skirmish with MothClan. Scents from both clans had been straying over each side of the border for over a moon, and the resulting tensions had finally reached a snapping point. Robinbelly lost sight of Spottedpaw in the fray, and when the scene settled, he was confronted with his worst fear: the motionless, bloody body of his little brother on the ground. Robinbelly became lost in his grief for moons afterward, taking a break from warrior duties while he tried to recover. Though he had no love of fighting, Robinbelly was a trained and skilled warrior, and he should have done something--anything--to protect Spottedpaw. He hadn't even known who Spottedpaw was fighting or where he was during the battle. He wasn't attentive enough or brave enough or fast enough. He wasn't good enough, and he never had been once in his life. Robinbelly often stayed in Pricklestar's den, craving isolationg from the rest of BeeClan and becoming claustrophobic in the warriors den. During the day, he loitered about the elders den or the nursery, bonding with the elders and becoming closer to his mother. Eventually, though it took many moons and long conversations with his brother, his mate, and his parents, Robinbelly began to recover and returned to his warrior duties. When Peonywish, his younger sister, announced she was moving to MothClan, Robinbelly was hit with a rare anger, furious with her for willingly leaving her kin for the Clan that had killed her brother. Though Pricklestar keeps up with Peonywish at Gatherings and allows her to visit the Clan, Robinbelly always turns a cold shoulder towards her, refusing to speak to the cat that he had once loved and played with in the nursery. Besides this, Robinbelly continued to be the kind and gentle soul that his friends and family knew and loved. After Quickclaw became pregnant with Pricklestar's kits, Leafstrike told Robinbelly she was ready for children as well, much to his delight. He mourned deeply when they lost their second kit but persisted in joyous celebration over the life of his remaining kit. Like his mate, this loss gave him a burning resolve to never let anything happen to Hawthornkit, swearing to do whatever it took to protect him. As soon as Hawthornkit was weaned, Robinbelly assumed nursery duties while Leafstrike returned to being a warrior. Robinbelly loved playing and bonding with his son, often becoming emotional when thinking about his own father and how he was finally getting the oppurtunity to be to his child what Chestnutfur was to him. When Pricklestar's kits reached six moons, Pricklestar took Robinbelly aside and gently asked him if he was ready for another apprentice. At first Robinbelly was hesitant, knowing that he couldn't bear to lose another apprentice, especially his own brother's child. How could he ever face Pricklestar if something happened? However, Pricklestar reassured Robinbelly that he trusted him not only with his life, but with his children's lives, and if he didn't, he wouldn't be asking Robinbelly. He loved and trusted him more than almost any cat in the Clan, and he knew whatever cat that got to train under him would become one of BeeClan's finest warriors. Touched and stunned, Robinbelly accepted, and Prickelstar assigned him Rockpaw as an apprentice. Through Robinbelly still has his worries, he's enjoying mentoring again. Rockpaw reminds him so much of Spottedpaw-- sometimes brash, always looking for the next adventure-- but he's learning to appreciate it rather than be hurt by it, marveling at the nature of life, love, and second chances.