Emberpaw

Emberpaw is a mostly-red broken mackerel torbie with a single black leg. She has a distinctive dark red mask and ruff going down her back, and large hazel eyes.

Emberpaw was an impulsive, unruly kitten who loved shoving her nose into everyone's business. Her boundless curiosity and stream of questions bothered some cats, but others found it endearing. As of moon 3, all of the Clan, regardless of whether they found it annoying, are desperately wishing for that energy to return to her. Dull and listless, she hasn't been the same since finding Vervaincloud's body. Even as an apprentice, she hardly shows any energy for... well, anything.

Emberpaw was born as Red in a Twoleg den, surrounded by many other kits. She didn't and still doesn't know which of those many scents and sounds belonged to her mother or littermates, if she ever had any. The queens were starving, barely making enough milk to feel the multitude of hungry kits, but the Twolegs kept making them have litters with toms who seemed little better off than they.

Emberpaw doesn't know she was stolen. All she knows is that her fathers saw the chance for a better life and took as many kits as they could carry with them, giving them a chance at having a better life-- at having a life at all.

Emberpaw and her "littermates" have never known any life other than that of KestrelClan. As Vine tells it, he and Flower wandered the woods until they found overwhelmingly strong scentmarks against the trees and ferns, marked by many cats instead of just one. Colony life was preferable to going it alone, especially if they could find a nursing queen who would be willing to feed the kits while they hunted for her. They waited by the border for hours, unsure if they would be attacked for crossing it, until finally four cats slid out of the ferns and approached them. Brownstar, Daisydrift, Wetrush, and Sapstripe were wary but not unkind, and after the two kittypets pled their case they were willing to bring them back to their camp to hear them out.

Well, Emberpaw is growing up in KestrelClan, isn't she? Clearly that discussion went well.

Emberpaw and her siblings were suckled by Palestripe along with Brokenkit. She is very close to her siblings, but usually less willing to stay still in the nursery than they are. As a blind kitten she frequently tried to get out and explore-- and quickly learned her lesson when Batpatch stepped on her during her first blind excursion from the nursery.

Emberpaw's unruly nature didn't stay in line for long; once her eyes were open and she and the other kits were allowed to leave the nursery, she and Ruepaw frequently got into trouble exploring the older cats' dens. It was during one of these troublesome days that she chose to enter the healer's den, having been told by Pipitglide and Ridgespots that Vervaincloud was a nasty old badger of a tomcat and nobody ever wanted to be stuck in the healer's den with him. Wanting to find out for herself, she walked right into the den all alone and asked Vervaincloud what he was doing.

Whether Vervaincloud had a secret soft spot for kittens or simply for those curious about his work, she will never know, but her very first friendship in the Clan formed that day. Vervaincloud's tone was soft rather than firm as he walked her through each herb he was sorting, explaining their uses and the best times to harvest them.

That friendship, and its abrupt end, shook Emberkit to her core. For the rest of her childhood she barely moved from the nursery, only occasionally coaxed out by the cats who rallied to try to cheer her up: her siblings, Brokenpaw, Pipitglide, Batpatch, Sapstripe, and Palestripe.

As an apprentice, she was still incredibly subdued and nothing like her kithood self. It didn't help that Brownstar was a very... "hands off" mentor, and thus Nuggets' plan to keep Emberpaw busy and active to help her heart heal backfired significantly. The other apprentices did their best to distract her, but it wasn't until Ambercrackle's death that she managed to change - and only because she felt that Batpatch needed her. After all, he'd spent so much time trying to help her talk through and process her feelings, and he did that for everyone. With no other mediators in the clan, who was helping him? She poured her energy into trying to cheer him up, going on self-assigned "patrols" with him to find flowers for his nest or learn what his favorite prey was so she could bring it to him (after she finally learned to hunt, thanks to Sapstripe intervening in her training).