Profile
Name: Deerstride
Gender: Tom
Current: Leafclan
Past: N/A
Sexual Orientation: Questioning
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Mother: Lyre
Father: Beetleshell
Brother(s): Skyspeck
Mate: Calicowing
Daughter(s): Figfeather, Sunnyblaze
Apprentice(s): Beedust
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The Missing Road - Radical Face
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Deerstride was born as a loner with his brother Skyspeck. Their mother died from blood loss during the labor, and the two brothers would have shortly followed had not they been found by a Leafclan patrol. The two kits were rushed back to camp, and were able to both grow into adult warriors. Deerstride and Skyspeck were both very close growing up.
When they were warriors, Deerstride fell in love with a she-cat named Dawnbird. But he soon noticed that Skyspeck was also in love with her. Deerstride decided not to interfere, and Skyspeck and Dawnbird became mates. After a while, Dawnbird found she was expecting kits. Skyspeck and Deerstride were overjoyed, but then when the time came for the kits to be born, something went wrong, and Dawnbird died. There were four kits: Fawnkit, a she-cat named after Deerstride, Morningkit, a she-cat named after Dawnbird, Mistkit, a she-cat named after Dawnbird's mother, Lilymist, and Lichenkit, the only tom. Skyspeck was devastated by Dawnbird's death, and devoted himself to caring for their kits. Deerstride was heartbroken as well, and helped his brother in any way he could.
When Hazelthorn came to the clan for two representatives from Leafclan to join in a quest to bring back Sunclan, Skyspeck encouraged Deerstride to go. He saw how hard his brother was working to help him after Dawnbird's death, and knew he was overdue for a break. Deerstride was hesitant at first but agreed, hoping the journey would clear his head. Deerstride and Snowyfreckle went for Leafclan, Hazelthorn and Dovebreeze went for Emberclan, Ivywing and Honeycreek went for Tansyclan, and Pinelight from Leafclan and Alderpetal from Tansyclan went as representatives of Dustclan, who at that point had fallen.
When the journeying cats found Sunclan, Deerstride met Calicowing, a Sunclan warrior. The second he saw her he was in love. The two of them started talking, finding things in common, and their relationship quickly developed into a romance, and the two became mates, deeply in love. They stayed in touch with one another when they returned to the territories, Sunclan settling into what had been Dustclan's territory. Deerstride reunited happily with his brother and his kits, where he learned with great sadness that Fawnkit had died while he was gone (Fawnkit was showing interest in medicine. Pricklecloud, the clan's medicine cat and one of the Dustclan survivors, wanted to make sure her position in the clan was secure. Pricklecloud fed Fawnkit deathberries, acting like she had eaten them by accident when poking around the herb store. Lichenkit was the only one who saw what really happened.).
Deerstride and Calicowing would meet in secret at night at the border between their two clans, and soon Calicowing told him she was expecting kits. When it was time for her to give birth, she snuck out of the camp with her close friend Gnatspeckle. After the kits were born, Gnatspeckle fetched Deerstride, who had been anxiously waiting at the border. Deerstride was enamored with the kits; two daughters named Figkit and Sunnykit. Only a slightly irritated urging by Gnatspeckle got the two to finally continue with their plan. Deerstride took Figkit to raise in Leafclan, and Calicowing kept Sunnykit to raise in Sunclan. Before they went their separate ways, Calicowing gave Figkit purple Martin feathers to remember her by. Deerstride and Calicowing continued to meet after that, updating one another on new developments with their kits.
Sunleaf and Batflank were two Dustclan survivors living in Leafclan, and recently Sunleaf had a second litter of kits, Patchkit, Redkit, and Beekit, with Batflank as the father (her first litter was Splashheart/star, Pricklecloud, and Mothkit, who died in the fire that consumed Dustclan's camp; Batflank is not their father). Figkit was placed with Sunleaf's litter, and Deerstride spent as much time as he could with her. Figkit always knew that he was her father.
During the Dark Forest battle, Deerstride defended the kits vehemently in the elder's den, moving them there quietly after Brindlehaze started giving birth in the Nursery. Sunleaf was killed while defending the Nursery. Lichenpaw killed Pricklecloud, finally getting revenge for Fawnkit. Lichenpaw had been training in the Dark Forest prior to this as well. Skyspeck, Morningpaw, and Mistpaw were sent by Splashstar to check on the statuses of the other three clans. The three were ambushed by two Dark Forest warriors, Dawnflight and Spottedfern. Spottedfern killed Skyspeck, and Dawnflight killed Morningpaw. Mistpaw escaped, the two letting her go.
When the battle was over, Mistshine and Lichenflame received their warrior names. Deerstride felt a mix of pride for the two new warriors and grief for his brother and niece. He coped with the grief by focusing on supporting the cats he had around him. Figpaw, Patchpaw, Beepaw, and Redpaw became apprentices, with Deerstride mentoring Beepaw. Figpaw was a very nervous apprentice, but with the support of her father, Batflank's litter (who she saw as siblings), and her new friend Sunnypaw she met at a Gathering, was able to become much more relaxed and open by the time she was a warrior. But whilst they were still apprentices, the Nursery was very full, ten kits across three queens (Kestrelspirit with her and Pinelight's kits [Splashstar being the biological father after they'd asked] Coniferkit(strike), Beetlekit(shade), and Ripplekit(leaf); Brindlehaze with her, Copperblaze, and Duskfern's kits (Duskfern died in the Dark Forest battle) Wisteriakit(fire), Asterkit(pond), Nightkit (Orchidnight), Ryekit(song), and Fernkit(bush); and Lakelight with her and Ferretblaze's second litter of Larchkit(creek) and Blossomkit(flare).) Worringly, the clans were headed into leaf-bare, so Leafclan worked tirelessly to make sure that the queens and kits were fed. On a late hunting patrol, a sudden snowstorm blew in. Redpaw was separated from the patrol and became lost. He was found the next day having died of hypothermia.
Some time later, Patchleaf (after Sunleaf), Beedust (after Dustclan), and Figfeather gained their warrior names, and Mistshine and Lichenflame were given Larchpaw and Blossompaw as apprentices, respectively. Deerstride was so proud of all of them. Then one day, Figfeather found an old loner in the forest. She gave him some prey, and when Deerstride came across the two of them, they discovered that the old loner was actually a long-lost Sunclan warrior named Beetleshell. Beetleshell had lived with Sunclan in their old territory, but left to find the descendants of Smokeheart's group (they turned into Leafclan, Emberclan, Tansyclan, and Dustclan). But not only was Beetleshell a long-lost warrior of Sunclan, he was actually Deerstride and Skyspeck's father. During his travels Beetleshell met a loner named Lyre, who was the spitting image of Deerstride. He told all of this to Deerstride and Figfeather before they decided (after conferring with Splashstar) to show Beetleshell to Sunclan's new camp.
Beetleshell was ecstatic to see his clan. Peonystar, his former apprentice, had become the clan's leader! The cats of Sunclan informed Beetleshell that he had a son, Gnatspeckle! Deerstride however didn't hear any of this, he was focused on Calicowing. He pulled her aside, and after a brief discussion, rounded up Figfeather and Sunnyblaze. They took them somewhere more private before revealing that they were their parents, Figfeather and Sunnyblaze were actually sisters. Figfeather was excited to hear that her friend was actually her sister, but Sunnyblaze was furious. Not at Figfeather, she felt betrayed by Calicowing, having put her up on a pedestal and thought her to be perfect. But now she finds out that she's half-clan?? Sunnyblaze stormed back to camp, then Deerstride and Figfeather had to return to Leafclan.
Some time later, Patchleaf is chosen for deputy by his half-brother Splashstar. This is a controversial choice, as now all three of Leafclan's positions of power are held by Dustclan cats (Rippleleaf, Kestrelspirit and Pinelight's son, two other survivors from Dustclan, became the clan's medicine cat). Soon after, Patchleaf is found dead, murdered by Brindlehaze's son Ryesong. He claimed that Leafclan should be led by Leafclan cats, then he and his mate Blossomflare take over the clan. They kill Splashstar multiple times, giving the other Dustclan-blood cats enough time to escape to Tansyclan.
Ryesong and Blossomflare also kick out cats that were not born in Leafclan. Figfeather wants to go to Tansyclan to be with Beedust, but won't leave Deerstride behind. And Deerstride wouldn't leave Lichenflame behind. Mistshine had fled to Tansyclan already, as she was pregnant with Patchleaf's kits. She and Patchleaf were not in a relationship, it was meant to be an instance of a queen has kits but doesn't talk about the father. But Mistshine was afraid that they would be able to tell that Patchleaf was the father, and so fled to Tansyclan. Lichenflame stayed because Ryesong had made him his 'Enforcer', as Lichenflame had trained in the Dark Forest as an apprentice. Lichenflame worked as a sort of double agent in Leafclan, helping cats escape and giving information to the growing resistance in Tansyclan.
But Blossomflare caught on. She told Ryesong, and they confronted Lichenflame in camp. Lichenflame attacked Ryesong, but before he could kill him, Blossomflare was holding her claws against Deerstride's throat. Lichenflame let Ryesong go, and Blossomflare let Deerstride go, and Lichenflame, Deerstride, and Figfeather fled to Tansyclan. There, they discovered that Mistshine had just passed away from complications during labor, leaving behind an only daughter, Sleepykit(flower). Lichenflame stayed behind with her as Figfeather, Deerstride, and Beedust all joined the patrol to take back Leafclan. Ryesong was killed by a lightning strike, and Blossomflare fled the clan. Lotusbreeze, Lichenflame's mentor, was chosen to be the new leader.
When Blossomflare fled the clan, she was pregnant with her and Ryesong's kit. She found her older brother, Mottle, living with his mate Aspenfang outside of the clans. Mottle and Aspenfang had both fled their clans, Leafclan and Tansyclan, after the Dark Forest battle, Mottle even giving up his warrior name Mottlesplash. The two found each other in the wilderness and only became mates then. Blossomflare gave birth to her kit, leaving them with Aspenfang and Mottle's two other kits, before venturing to Emberclan, where one of her other older siblings, Sunwhisker, was now living. Sunwhisker vouched for Blossomflare, and Froststar, Emberclan's leader, allowed her to stay. One night, Blossomflare crept into Froststar's den, intending to kill her. Froststar was half-clan, her mother an Emberclan warrior and her father a Tansyclan. Blossomflare wished to continue Ryesong's pursuit of ridding the clans of half-clan and non-clan cats. Before she could kill Froststar, Fenneljaw, Froststar's deputy and practically her sister, attacked Blossomflare. Blossomflare killed Fenneljaw, then Froststar killed Blossomflare. Before she died, she told Froststar that her legacy would continue in her kit.
Froststar somehow heard word that Blossomflare's kit was living in Sunclan. She demanded that Peonystar give up the kit, but she refused, and so Froststar declared war on the clan. During Sunclan and Emberclan's war, Sunnyblaze was wounded in battle by an Emberclan apprentice, Riverpaw(storm). Sunnyblaze didn't attend to the wound, and so it became infected. She died, and during her last feverish moments, revealed that she was half-clan to Peonystar, who was there in support of her younger sister Calicowing, and their mother Silkcall. Silkcall had helped Calicowing give birth to Figfeather and Sunnyblaze all those moons ago, and Calicowing had told them that Figfeather had died. Calicowing was absolutely devastated by Sunnyblaze's death. She and Crowflurry, Sunnyblaze's apprentice, went to deliver the news to Deerstride, who had to relay it to Figfeather. Crowflurry and Calicowing left to track down Aspenfang and Mottle, and by the time Crowflurry returned, the war was over. Calicowing did not come back with Crowflurry. She had instead joined Aspenfang and Mottle's small group to grieve Sunnyblaze.
In the Gathering fire, Deerstride's old travel companion Snowyfreckle died. Not very long after, the clans had to move, heading to Sunclan's old territories. Crowflurry informed Calicowing of the move, but Calicowing wasn't ready to come back yet. Figfeather had entered into a QPR with Larchcreek, and was expecting kits. Soon into the move, Leafclan noticed that Sleepyflower, Mistshine and Patchleaf's daughter, and Scorchsong and Bugstep, Asterpond and Beetleshade's kits, were missing. Greythicket, the clan's deputy, sheepishly told Lotusstar in front of the whole clan, that he granted them permission to stay behind to look for Shadowstar, Tansyclan's deputy, who a short time prior to the move, had been attacked by a dog with Acornflurry, the clan's deputy (now dead from the dog attack), and taken away by a Twoleg. It was too late to turn back for them when this was revealed, and so the clan was forced to continue onward with the other three clans.
When they reached their new camp, Deerstride helped Figfeather settle into the Nursery. He also reassured Lichenflame and Beedust that Sleepyflower would return soon. If the three of them had not turned up in the clans' new territories after two moons, then Lotusstar was going to send a patrol to find them. But that wasn't necessary. Figfeather gave birth to two kits, Sunsetkit and Brookkit, and also took in Violetkit, whom Larchcreek had found alone in the territory. Soon after, Sleepyflower, Scorchsong, and Bugstep returned to Leafclan, having been victorious in finding Shadowstar. They had also brought Aspenfang and Mottle's group, including Calicowing. Aspenfang and Mottle settled their group nearby the clans, but on the outside of their borders. Calicowing had gone with the young Leafclan warriors, deciding that she wanted to join Leafclan and be with Deerstride and Figfeather. She was overjoyed to find that Figfeather had kits.
