Kithood

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Ricestar, born Ricekit, was born in a litter with two others. His birth took place a day after the birth of Slateclaw (then Slatekit), his half uncle. He was spotted alongside Slatekit when his grandmother, Gorey, gave Slatekit's siblings away to a rogue tom she was having an affair with. Ricekit stayed in the clan with his mother and siblings after the leader at the time, and Gorey's current mate, exiled her. Gorey proceeded to constantly visit Smudgeheart in secret, begging to have her son returned to her alongside her grandson so that she may send them away for better lives away from a clan that clearly disliked them. After being unable to deal with her mother's pressure for much longer, Smudgeheart transferred Ricekit into Gorey's care.

Deciding she wanted nothing more than to be rid of them, Gorey used the two kits as bait for hunting. She didn't care whether or not they were killed as long as she was able to feast on prey now that she was without a clan. Due to her abuse, Ricekit and Slatekit were captured by a hawk that Gorey had tried to catch and were dropped in an area far away with different clans. The pair were lucky to only receive minor injuries from their fall and were adopted into RushClan. Ricekit and Slatekit were raised by a RushClan queen by the name of Riverstone and her mate, the current leader at the time, Cottonstar.

Due to the shy nature Ricekit had developed due to the various horrible things that had happened to him, he didn't entirely allow himself to bond with Riverstone. Instead, he was more fearful that she would turn out to be like Gorey and was incredibly skittish towards her. When she was struck by a monster on the thunderpath, Ricekit felt quite bad that he didn't get to open up to her and watched as Slatekit broke down over the incident. However, Rivestone left behind three kits that he was too afraid to touch since they were rather young. He didn't want to risk hurting them.

Due to the tragic loss of his foster mother, Slatekit began to take out his aggression on Ricekit due to the smaller tom's more docile nature. Since he wasn't as bulky or large as Slatekit, Ricekit didn't dare fight back against the cruelty he faced. Instead, Ricekit remained meek and began hiding from the world around him from within the confines of the nursery.

Adolescence

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He remained shy throughout a majority of his apprenticeship until he met Otterpaw, a slightly older she-cat that was more than willing to interact with him. She was kind to him and had patience when it came to his anxiety, a quality that many other cats his age didn't. The pair grew close over their time as apprentices and near the end of his, Ricepaw developed a crush on her.

Ricepaw began to evolve from a skittish kit into a brave young tom due to Otterpaw's influence. He was originally known to be quiet and hide from his clanmates and began to express his braver side. When Otterpaw's father, Burr, appeared to reclaim her, Ricepaw did his best to protect her before the tom could lay a single paw on her. This impressed Cottonstar and his other clanmates quite a bit, causing them to grow to respect the young tom.

Otterpaw was awarded her warrior before him due to their small age gap, becoming Otterstream. Due to their close bond, Ricepaw did his best to complete his training so that he could become a warrior by her side. Otterstream, though a warrior, remained as an important figure in Ricepaw's life, assisting him with his training when she had spare time. Eventually, Ricepaw earned his warrior name, becoming Ricetail alongside Slatepaw, who earned the name Slateclaw.

Early Adulthood

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Ricetail decided to go on a walk when he came across Slateclaw slaughtering Gorey, who had managed to come across the clan's territory while hunting for food. Recognizing her, Ricetail had asked his half-uncle what he was doing and the larger tom let him in on his secrets. A moon or so prior, a patrol had come across the corpse of Rabbitears, a tom who had left the clans to live a kittypet lifestyle, by the river. Slateclaw informed Ricetail that the previous murder had also been conducted by him due to the tom trespassing on clan territory. His reason for killing Gorey, however, was due to the abuse she had put the pair through as well as his siblings. Fearing for his life, Ricetail agreed to say nothing and returned to camp.

As the clan scrambled to figure out who could possibly be slaughtering these cats by their river, Ricetail had his first litter of kits with Otterstream. The litter consisted of Fawnkit, a she-cat, and Owlkit, a tom. He and Otterstream also fostered Leoparddawn's three kits, Sleetkit (a she-cat), Stormkit, and Sandkit (two toms) after she had passed away.

A majority of his kits became warrior apprentices, of which he had mentored newly named Sandpaw. However, Owlkit instead became the medicine cat's apprentice due to his interest in herbs. Around this same time, Slateclaw and his mate, Finchflame, had kits of their own. As those kits grew, Slateclaw lost his temper with Cottonstar and attacked him, slicing the tom's stomach open and admitting to his crimes. The gray tom had been exiled, not mentioning Ricetail's involvement, and left his kits and mate alone.

As Finchflame and her kits were belittled by her clanmates due to their involvement with Slateclaw, Ricetail stood alongside Otterstream in protecting them and treating them with kindness. They were family and Ricetail didn't want the queen or her kits to end up in a hostile environment after having been through so much pain himself. When two of her kits, Creamkit and Haykit, went missing, Ricetail joined as many search parties as he could to help find them, which they eventually did.

A little into his and Slateclaw's kit's apprenticeships, a group of rogues began to threaten the clans. This led to a battle between RushClan, BriarClan, and the rogues. Slateclaw was among the rogues and as he tried to get his mate and kits to be free of harm by doing what looked to be chasing them up a tree, Cottonstar ambushed him. The pair fought and Slateclaw was killed. After the battle was won and they were left to bury the bodies of their fallen clanmates, Ricetail had lost both Stormpaw, one of the kits he adopted, and Slateclaw. Although he had openly despised Slateclaw for some time, he couldn't help but feel sorrow over losing a cat he had grown up with. However, he didn't express such emotions outwards, instead focusing on the loss of his son.

Adulthood

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When the old deputy retired to the elder's den, Cottonstar chose Ricetail as deputy due to his loyalty and bravery. He wa surprised by such an offer, but he accepted it and vowed to take care of his clanmates and help lead his clan to great fortune. A few weeks after the event, his kits earned their warrior and medicine cat names;Fawndapple, Owlberry, Sleetshade, and Sandspot.

He and Otterstream had their second litter of kits that consisted only of toms, Snowkit, Pebblekit, and Stonekit. When two abandon kits had been found in the forest half starved and nearly deceased, he and Otterstream adopted the pair as their own. They named the tom Moonkit and a she-kit named Mousekit. Their adoption led to Otterstream deciding to become a permanent queen and remaining in the nursery to assist with kitting and kits. Ricetail agreed with her decision, proud of her for choosing to do what she loved and reminding her that even though she was going to stay a queen, she would always be of great assistance to their clan.

Fawndapple became mates with Thornstripe, one of Cottonstar's kits from his litter with Riverstone and the pair had Ricetail's grandkits, Dripkit (a tom), Minnowkit, and Echokit (she-kits). His biological litter later became apprentices and renamed Snowpaw, Pebblepaw, and Stonepaw. It took an extra moon due to their age being unknown, but Moonkit and Mousekit eventually became apprentices, being renamed Moonpaw and Mousepaw.

Later on, Cottonstar was killed by Helios, a rogue that took over the old group of rogues that Slateclaw was previously involved with. Not wanting his clan to be leaderless for much longer, Ricetail went to the Coal Cavern and received his nine lives, becoming Ricestar. To honor Cottonstar's legacy and to show respect towards his family, Ricestar chose to make Thornstripe his deputy.

Continuing to honor Cottonstar by respecting his wishes wishes, he kept Creampaw, one of Slateclaw's kits, an apprentice. Fed up with the mistreatment she was experiencing, she exploded. Yelling both at him and her other clanmates, she left them for FlameClan, a clan that had been formed by Redstar, a rogue. Ricestar didn't stop her, watching her leave in a stunned silence and losing some respect from his clanmates. He allowed Mapletail, one of Cottonstar's half-clan kits, and his mate, Poppybranch to leave RushClan for FlameClan as well, realizing that they just weren't happy with their current situation.

As FlameClan began to claim more of his clanmates with their lies and parts of his clan's territory, he grew cold and hostile towards those who joined it. Meeting with Harestar of BriarClan, who had also been losing many clanmates to FlameClan's Redstar, they decided that they would try and speak with Redstar before doing anything irrational. However, the next gathering had taken quite a turn when Redstar exclaimed that both of the clans would pay for the death of his brother on an area where all three shared territory. Ricestar didn't know that Thornstripe had killed the deputy, Jensdash, who appeared to have been Redstar's brother.

As he slept the night prior to the two-clan meeting he had orchestrated for him and Harestar, Slateclaw visited him from the Place of No Stars. The bulky tom had come with a warning that he had heard while wandering on the border near StarClan, yet Ricestar refused to listen to him. Slateclaw was nothing more than an evil shadow of RushClan's past and now that he was leading it, his memory would fade into nothing but scary stories elders would tell to kits. Slateclaw did his best to get Ricestar to listen to him, but he wouldn't.

The second two-clan meeting happened despite Slateclaw's attempt at warning him with the prospect of plotting to be rid of FlameClan. The meeting went as planned, but Ricestar was in for quite the surprise when he began to make his way back home with his remaining clanmates. A storm had rushed in, causing the meeting to end, and Ricestar was struck by a branch that had fallen due to being hit by lightning. This caused him to lose his first life and to gain a small scar on his back by his neck. However, said scar is incredibly small.

Nine Lives

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1. Physical Strength - Given by Cottonstar (Lost - Crushed By Tree Branch)

2. Friendship - Given by Gullclaw

3. Good Judgement - Given by Riverstone

4. Duty - Given by Blizzardcrest

5. A Mother's Love - Given by Leoparddawn

6. Forgiveness - Given by Smudgeheart

7. Empathy - Given by Hawktalon

8. Justice - Given by Stormpaw

9. Trust in One's Clanmates - Given by Streaksplash

Parents

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Relatives

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Mate

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Kits

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Mentor(s)

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Apprentice(s)

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Other

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