Lilydawn

WIP

History:

Kithood - Lilykit was born to two proud, respectable warriors - Cedartalon and Daisystream - and had a single brother - Alderkit. On the outside, the family seemed as perfect as can possibly be in a Clan, but when others weren't watching, there were many problems going on. Her father was far from faithful to her mother. Her mother was obsessed with maintaining image and would to anything to keep her kits in line (and try to keep her father in line, although that led to many arguments when others weren't watching). Meanwhile, her brother was proving to be quite the bully, especially to Lilykit, although he knew better than to act harshly towards her in front of others. Lilykit began "seeing" things about cats that most others can't see, such as the bright glow of a happy, proud warrior, or the warm aura of a loving mother. She wasn't aware at the time, but the emotions of others had a strong influence on her own mood. This, plus an innocent curiosity in medicine, caught the attention of the Clan's medicine cat. She began to spend more and more time with the medicine cat than in the nursery with her brother, and it came as no surprise when she was selected to be the medicine cat's apprentice.

Apprenticeship - Being a medicine cat apprentice created some distance from her parents, but her brother was keen to take advantage of her new role in the Clan. Still, Lilypaw was creating her own circle, between her mentor as well as friends with another apprentice in the Clan and the neighboring Clan's own medicine cat apprentice, who was the same age as her. It was sometime into her training that she had begun to develop romantic feelings - although being a young cat, she didn't quite understand them. Nor would she necessarily try to understand them better as she knew very well that medicine cats were forbidden from having mates. Lilypaw was dutiful in her training though and proved to be a natural, even receiving her full name a little earlier than most: Lilydawn.

New Medicine Cat - Lilydawn may have tried to ignore them, but she did have romantic feelings. Surely one could have those feelings, but as long as she didn't take a mate, she was fine, right? That seemed to be the case with her and her apprentice friend, who was now a warrior, and she still continued to help and work alongside her mentor as a team. However, a lightning bolt struck their territory causing a fire to engulf the forest, and unfortunately many lives were lost, including her mentor and her friend. This left Lilydawn as the sole medicine cat of the Clan, taking care of the Clan while they took refuge by the lake. The neighboring Clan had also been impacted by the fire and had also taken shelter by the lake, so naturally Lilydawn and the other Clan's medicine cat, her friend, began working closely together to take care of their Clans. Following the fire, the Clan's leader had opted to step down, leaving Lilydawn with the duty of going with the deputy for him to receive his nine lives, but when they tried to speak with StarClan, they were met with nothing but empty hunting grounds, no name, and no lives. The deputy and Lilydawn agreed to keep this secret from the Clan and to pretend that the deputy had received his lives in order to maintain a strong image for the Clan it what seemed to be its lowest moment.

After the Meeting - The silence from StarClan did not seem to be a concern for the other Clan, as their medicine cat - and a new medicine cat apprentice - discussed sharing dreams with their ancestors. The logical conclusion, to Lilydawn, seemed to be that the silence was specific to her Clan, although she wasn't sure what that reason could be. A few moons passed after the fire and the concern of StarClan's silence, and the Clan had moved back closer to their own territory, although they couldn't return quite yet from the fire's damage. It was during this time that a group of strange cats visited the Clan at their makeshift camp, and with them came the return of her friend, thought to be lost and never recovered from the fire. While happy for her friend's return, their relationship proved to be awkward and tense now and led to moons of uncomfortableness until it finally boiled over into a single argument where Lilydawn revealed the Clan's dilemma, and this argument led to the two going their separate ways except where necessary to interact.

Friendships - While Lilydawn was struggling with the concerns for the weakened Clan, the supposed leader's concerns, and her own personal worries, she did still have to maintain image for the Clan, including remaining involved in the wellbeing of her Clanmates and checking on them dutifully. This involvement naturally led to growth in her friendships, where she became friends with many cats in the Clan (as well as was good friends with the medicine cats of the neighboring Clan and had secretly become mates with her medicine cat friend). Unfortunately, more hardships seemed on the way as the neighboring Clan traveled to visit them, finally moved back into their own territory, to announce the death of their young medicine cat as well as their leader. Given that the neighboring Clan was left with a medicine cat apprentice and an abruptly made deputy, they wanted the help of the only remaining, fully trained medicine cat in the Clans. Although hesitant to agree, Lilydawn and her "leader" went with them for the leader ceremony, where this time the other Clan wasn't greeted by StarClan at all. It was at this point that they revealed their own silence from StarClan, leading to an argument. As if perfectly timed, a patrol of the strange group, who had settled not too far from the Clans, arrived and offered their help for the Clans' supposed troubles. As much as Lilydawn was not keen for these strangers to be in charge of training a medicine cat, with her own duties in her own Clan, she was spread too thin to be able to say no - especially when a warrior of her own Clan arrived to announce a coyote attack currently taking place in their territory. Lilydawn hastily encouraged the other Clan to take the help before being thrown into treating her own Clanmates for their wounds.

Tension - The arguments with the neighboring Clan sparked further arguments with Lilydawn and her "leader", beginning to crumble under the weight of hiding so many secrets yet trying to keep the Clan strong. They both wanted what was best for their Clan, but it was impossible to tell what would happen to the Clan if they did not have the faith of their ancestors to guide them during their hardships, where death seemed to constantly loom over the Clan. Being the cat to work upfront with the injured and sick, Lilydawn was very aware of how many times cats who talk about StarClan and the hopes they put in their ancestors during their hard times or when loved ones expressed their worries. It seemed a blessing at the time for one of the Clan's kits to begin showing a fascination with Lilydawn's duties, and the kit proved to be a fast learner as well.

An Apprentice - Lilydawn was not keen of the idea of selecting her own apprentice, but with death happening in and around the Clan, she feared what would happen if she died without someone to take her place, so she picked this curious kit to become her apprentice, and it turned out to be very healing for Lilydawn. Not only did having an extra set of paws help to complete her duties, but she found enjoyment in teaching someone everything she knew about medicine. The two fostered a tight knit relationship, up until one fateful day of gathering herbs by the river when a sudden flood caught both cats and swept them away.