![[C]laystar-- Avatar](http://img32.picoodle.com/img/img32/4/2/18/f_clayhipavvim_886a0c2.jpg)
Post by [C]laystar-- on Jan 1, 2008 20:41:58 GMT -5
Name: Claystar (Formerly: Clayhip, Claypaw, Claykit)
Age (in moons): 31 Moons.
Clan: ThunderClan.
Rank: Deputy.
Gender: Male/Tom.
Appearance: At first glance, Clayhip appears scrawny and small, too much so to be a warrior of any skill. This is not the case. His small, lithe build lends him agility like that of a WindClan warrior, though not exactly up to their par. He uses these endowments to his advantage when fighting other warriors, as well as on the hunt.
Rather than having large blade-like claws, Clayhip's are quite small for a feral cat, more like needles than blades. Obviously, they aren't as small as needles, but they are thin and long and if sunk in the right position can pierce through muscles and tendons, causing spasms. The size of his claws mean nothing in battle, for he is like a warrior from LionClan reincarnated defending his clan.
The deputy was born with a bad teeth. They are splintered and needle like, in a way similar to his claws. They are yellowed and peircing, and often cause him pain. It isn't very pretty, and it causes his mouth to appear diseased, though it is not. It serves as a blessing and a curse -- it causes him to appear far more fearsome for his small size, and can inflict a great deal of damage, even death if aimed at the wrong place. Despite it's advantage in the warrior aspect, it makes it difficult to eat and carry prey, and he has many broken teeth from such activities. Despite the fact that it hurts him, he does not complain and lives with this abnormality.
Clayhip is a forest cat, but his build is closer to that of a moor cat. He is smaller than most of his clan mates, especially the other toms. In his physical build, the only thing that points to his ThunderClan heritage are his powerful shoulders, which allow him to be one of the finest jumpers in the clan. However, rather than being bulky with muscle, his muscles are lean and stringy, working like cords to keep his body together and allow movement.
These thin, corded muscles are easily seen beneath his short, bristle-like pelt. Clayhip is a pale cream (Almost like a Siamese) in appearance, with light grey rings and stripes along his tail and legs. Clayhip's legs are of average length, though in comparison to the rest of his body, are rather stocky. His paws are proportionate to his legs with rounded phalanges. The pale tom's tail is of average length, though it is thin and he occasionally uses it like a whip, though not with malevolent intention. He also has a grey stripe along his spine, that melts into a silver grey face, giving him the appearance of a cat much older than he is.
His face is angular with deep set eyes. Speaking of eyes, Clayhip's are a bright amber colour, which looks rather strange to complete his appearance. However, since he is a feral cat, his blood is mixed. He also has a pale brown splash, the colour of clay on his right hip, allowing for his unconventional name.
Personality: Like his appearance, his personality appears to be that of an older cat. He is very cautious and serious during the serious times, especially with his duties.
However, when it's time for sharing tongues or even holding a conversations, it becomes apparent that he is a rather lively character. He makes a variety of comical remarks, even in times when he should not, and on subject matters he should not. He likes to joke as much, if not more than the next person. However, he brushes this aside when it is time for him to do his duties. He is a clan cat through an through.
Clayhip often finds himself nervous around the elders, because they remember all too well his "accident" as an apprentice, and he feels they will forever judge him for it. He does his best to avoid them, and leave their care to an apprentice, though he would never wish for their harm. He realizes that without the clan elders, the clan history would be lost forever, and with that, old mistakes would become the new ones. Clayhip takes their insights to heart, though he isn't about to go and put mouse bile on their ticks.
The pale tom is fond of younger cats, both kits and apprentices. However, he feels strongly that hard work (especially for apprentices) keeps them out of trouble, and builds a better understanding of the warrior code, probably because of his own past. However, he has no problem participating in their jokes. Clayhip believes that a life without laughter, is no life at all.
With other warriors, Clayhip keeps a slight air of command while maintaining a relationship of mutual respect. He listens to all that the warriors have to say: all of their comments, concerns, and ideas, with and open mind. He strongly adheres to the belief that the higher ranking clan officials must listen to the body of the clan, otherwise there is no clan at all. It is with the warriors that the goofiness of his personality comes out, and he is more or less the 'Clan Clown.' Despite this, he functions with authority and diplomacy in his duties, with a seriousness that some attribute to schizophrenia. ((Clayhip is obviously not schizophrenic, but he exhibits the difference between work and play to the extremes.))
Clayhip has strong admiration for all Clan Leaders, Medicine Cats and Deputies, despite his distaste for their personality or politics. He reveres both Thymerunner and Trickstar, especially since they have come to function in such roles when they themselves were so young. Though he is not entirely their equal, he takes pride in being taken in to their confidence with certain matters, and that his opinion is valued. He views them both as friends to him, and he himself as friends to them, despite whatever the truth of the matter may be.
History: Claykit was born to the cats Pearlstorm (His mother) and Slatepelt (his father) in the bramble mass that was the ThunderClan nursery. In his litter there were three other kits, a sister called Ripplekit and two brothers, one called Blizzardkit and another that was stillborn.
In the time before Claykit's memory cataloged actual events, his father, Slatepelt, met his untimely demise on the the Thunderpath, chasing yet another ShadowClan warrior from ThunderClan's borders. All that Clayhip can remember of his father's death is the wailing that his mother, as well as other members of the Clan took up as a younger warrior drug the steel coloured mass of fur that was his father into camp. In all honesty, the three kits did not know their father intimately, just that he was one of the senior warriors, and thus, they felt little emotion at the news of his death.
As time passed and the kits grew, they entered that exhausting time between being a young kit and being an apprentice, when the kit's personalities began to show.
Claykit was obviously the most adventurous and bold of the group, despite the fact that he was also the smallest.He often sneaking out of the nursery to visit other cats - and creating quite and uproar in the process. Many of the elders and other cats often said that it was a miracle he was even apprenticed after all the trouble he caused and false searches that were sent out on his behalf as a kit, but the clan leader of the time saw something in him,a nd chose not to hold him back.
Blizzardkit was shy and inquisitive, and very aware of his surroundings. The other kits labeled him as boring, and he merely shrugged before instigating a minor tussle with the others.
Ripplekit was full of drive, and determined to beat her brothers in everything they did. This was mostly due to that taunts that Ripplekit was a she-cat, and thus, not as strong as her two brothers, which was definitely not the case. She was larger than both of them, and stronger from early on. However, she was easily fooled and confused, which was not a good thing.
The three siblings were close, and together, they received their apprentice names and mentors - Ripplepaw was apprenticed to Orangetail, Claypaw was apprenticed to Shadepelt, and Blizzardpaw was apprenticed to the medicine cat of the time, Coldface. Pearlstorm,their mother, went back to warrior duty.
The three rapidly growing apprentices poured themselves into their training, each attempting to outdo the other in a friendly way. Claypaw would often trick Ripplepaw into having to take care of the elders by putting her in situations that made her look lazy. This wasn't the truth, but in cases of sibling rivalry, Ripplepaw took it all in good fun.
About a month into their apprenticeships after a good time of rising tensions with WindClan, the moor cats made raid on the border between WindClan and ThunderClan. Their aim was to mark a new border and gain hunting grounds, but in the process the WindClan patrol met up with a ThunderClan patrol - and in the ensuing battle, Pearlstorm, the newly made apprentices mother, was the only casualty. Being behind on her warrior skills after her kitting, she moved at an awkward angle during the attack, and as a result, lost her life.
The wails for her death did not seem as loud to Claypaw as those his father received, but the yowls sent up by Pearlstorm's three kits were horrific. The three apprentices sat vigil all through the night.
Sad though they were, Claypaw and Ripplepaw poured themselves into their warrior training. Ripplepaw was strong, and if she was able to get in the right position, could pin Claypaw easily. Claypaw however proved to be much faster than his sister, and his fighting styles were much more eccentric than hers - which he got in trouble for on multiple occasions. Particularly the move where he would push himself from a nearby object and fly through the air at his sparring partner - he leaped from trees, rocks, and on a few fateful occasions used mentors as his kick start, which resulted in two very grumpy mentors, a smug Ripplepaw, and elder duty for Claypaw.
For Blizzardpaw however, the death of Pearlstorm was the beginning of the end. He was entirely shattered by the demise of his mother, and soon became merely a ghost of his former self, a shadow. On the usual semimonthly journey to the moonstone with the other medicine cats, approximately a month and a half after Pearlstorm's death, Blizzardpaw met his fate as his father did - on the Thunderpath. It was too far for his mentor Coldface to bring him home, and so the medicine cats gave a burial for him along the Thunderpath.
The news of Blizzardpaw's death was yet another stain on Claypaw's brief history. His whole life seemed to be surrounded by death, but the elders reminded both he and Ripplepaw that death was the way of the pack. Perhaps StarClan had decided that they did not want Blizzardpaw to be the next medicine cat of ThunderClan after all.
Time progressed, and the two siblings remained apprentices together, all that remained of their family. After having eating while out hunting, he received the punishment of not being able to go to a gathering while his sister did. Claypaw was insanely jealous, and Ripplepaw teased him about it into the night until it was time for departure.
Completely bored out of his mind, he offered to play with a litter of kits that occupied the nursery. Their mother, who wanted to go get a drink of water, gladly accepted his offer. The kits were excited about playing with the pale furred apprentice, and they decided that while they were playing clan leader, Claypaw would be ThunderClan leader.
One of the kits suggested that Claypaw take them up the highrock the back way, where it sloped easily to the ground and was of easy access to the kits. Claypaw agreed, not thinking all that much of his actions. Some cats would argue that he never did, but that is beside the point.
Claypaw led the way up the great rock. The two kits that he was playing with followed him eagerly. The tortoiseshell kit, who had appointed itself Claypaw's medicine cat sat very close next to him. With a look of command in his eyes, Claypaw stated that the medicine cat shouldn't sit so close to the leader, or else the leader will die. The tortoiseshell kit opened it's eyes wide, and quickly took a few steps toward the edge of the rock. Claypaw's eyes opened wide as he leaped toward the kit as it plummeted off the edge of the rock, but to no avail. As Clayhip looked over the edge of the greatrock, he could see the twisted spine of the kit below. It was clearly dead.
Claypaw began to herd the remaining kit off the rock the way the had came, and as they reached the place where rock met soil, a yowl pierced the moonlight. The queen had found her kit.
Claypaw was not punished for the death of the kit, despite uprisings from other clan cats. The clan leader, as well as Shadepelt, Claypaw's mentor, felt that the guilt that resulted from causing the death of the kit was enough punishment. They were surely right, for not only did other cats now look down on Claypaw, he continued to hate himself for it. Worst of all, his sister Ripplepaw refused to talk to him.
Claypaw was utterly miserable in these days. He didn't play or joke, but was just as solemn as Blizzardpaw had been when he was alive. As he did in the past, he put everything he had into his studies to be a warrior. However, he no longer had fun, or laughed or joked, he was more solemn then a medicine cat faced with greencough.
Though Shadepelt didn't like the way the kits death had changed Claypaw, there was no denying that Claypaw was in top form and would soon be ready to be made a warrior.
Then it happened - the leader of the time agreed, and both Claypaw and Ripplepaw were made warriors. Claypaw as bestowed the name Clayhip, and praised for his vigor and bold attitude. Ripplepaw was christened Ripplefur, and praised for her strength and drive. Together, the siblings that were now warriors participated in the silent vigil that so many of their ancestors had participated in.
Clayhip, more excited than he had been in moons, was ecstatic to finally be a warrior. He did all he could to help the clan, doing as many patrols as he could, and hunting as well. He spent all of summer and fall in this manner, being sure to rest himself, for leafbare was fast approaching and by the tastes on the air it was sure to be a bad one.
As leafbare had begun to set in, hunting became of vital importance. Hunting had been poor, and so, on a hunting patrol led by the deputy to Snake Rocks, it was expected that not an ounce of prey would escape. The deputy, in pursuit of a vole that had fled into a crack in the rock, soon recoiled with a yowl. He had been bitten by an adder, and died shortly after in the company of his patrol right there at Snake Rocks.
The entire camp mourned for the deputy, but as the code stated, a new deputy had to be appointed before moonhigh. So, leaping upon the great rock, the clan leader decreed that Trickfur, a newly appointed warrior, even more newly appointed than himself, would be deputy. It was a fairly controversial choice, but Clayhip made no objection. Trickfur was strong and cunning, an excellent choice in deputy, and so he cheered loud to hide the murmurs from other cats.
As leafbare progressed, whitecough, followed by greencough cast its black hand on ThunderClan. Not a single cat escaped unaffected. All cats were touched by whitecough, even the medicine cat himself, but more than one cat died of greencough. multiple kits, as well as a variety of elders and warriors. Clayhip's heart nearly broke when the two cats other than the medicine cat and clan leader he cared about most died of the dreaded greencough only days appart: His own sister Ripplefur and his mentor, Shadepelt.
The worst was yet to come, however. The Clan Leader too, succumbed to Greencough, loosing her last life and joining StarClan forever. The young and inexperienced Trickfur was now leader of ThunderClan. Like it or not, the clan would accept it. There was no choice.
As yowls of fear, anger, and complete desolation shook ThunderClan camp, their new leader Trickfur, leaped upon the highrock. Moonhigh was near, and she had to announce the new deputy. As cats gathered around the rock, Clayhip remained toward the back of the crowd that had made it to the highrock, which was pitifully small. He had been uncomfortable around the highrock since his apprentice days, and he tried his best not to remind himself of that terrible episode. As the soon to be Trickstar announced the new deputy, jaws dropped. The cat she had appointed was also young and inexperienced, and not entirely among favour with the rest of the clan.
The new deputy was Clayhip.
After the initial shock of having two young, inexperienced cats running the clan, things settled. Clayhip, naturally easy going, through himself into his new role within the clan. He developed a new air, the kind that came with comand. This development, coupled with the silver of his face that made him seem older, helped the clan to accept him whole heartedly as the deputy, despite his past.
A year progressed in this manner-- one long, dreadful year that proved to be one of the worst in ThunderClan history. Tragedy after tragedy befell the clan, the number of cats in the clan decreasing almost along side the number of Trickstar's lives. Clayhip himself was amazed that such events were happening, and that he himself hadn't joined StarClan.
Leafbare came again, the number of cats less than it had been for as long as Clayhip could remember--- all the elders had passed and he had none to ask for a reference. Trickstar grew paranoid about the threat of greencough, but Clayhip remained at her side.
However, one afternoon she was savaged by a rogue cat, and, with severe wounds, she joined StarClan. And just like that, Clayhip was the leader of ThunderClan.
Picture:
He has orange/amber eyes, with a tad bit more silver on his face, but I couldn't find a clear picture of what I was thinking of.
Age (in moons): 31 Moons.
Clan: ThunderClan.
Rank: Deputy.
Gender: Male/Tom.
Appearance: At first glance, Clayhip appears scrawny and small, too much so to be a warrior of any skill. This is not the case. His small, lithe build lends him agility like that of a WindClan warrior, though not exactly up to their par. He uses these endowments to his advantage when fighting other warriors, as well as on the hunt.
Rather than having large blade-like claws, Clayhip's are quite small for a feral cat, more like needles than blades. Obviously, they aren't as small as needles, but they are thin and long and if sunk in the right position can pierce through muscles and tendons, causing spasms. The size of his claws mean nothing in battle, for he is like a warrior from LionClan reincarnated defending his clan.
The deputy was born with a bad teeth. They are splintered and needle like, in a way similar to his claws. They are yellowed and peircing, and often cause him pain. It isn't very pretty, and it causes his mouth to appear diseased, though it is not. It serves as a blessing and a curse -- it causes him to appear far more fearsome for his small size, and can inflict a great deal of damage, even death if aimed at the wrong place. Despite it's advantage in the warrior aspect, it makes it difficult to eat and carry prey, and he has many broken teeth from such activities. Despite the fact that it hurts him, he does not complain and lives with this abnormality.
Clayhip is a forest cat, but his build is closer to that of a moor cat. He is smaller than most of his clan mates, especially the other toms. In his physical build, the only thing that points to his ThunderClan heritage are his powerful shoulders, which allow him to be one of the finest jumpers in the clan. However, rather than being bulky with muscle, his muscles are lean and stringy, working like cords to keep his body together and allow movement.
These thin, corded muscles are easily seen beneath his short, bristle-like pelt. Clayhip is a pale cream (Almost like a Siamese) in appearance, with light grey rings and stripes along his tail and legs. Clayhip's legs are of average length, though in comparison to the rest of his body, are rather stocky. His paws are proportionate to his legs with rounded phalanges. The pale tom's tail is of average length, though it is thin and he occasionally uses it like a whip, though not with malevolent intention. He also has a grey stripe along his spine, that melts into a silver grey face, giving him the appearance of a cat much older than he is.
His face is angular with deep set eyes. Speaking of eyes, Clayhip's are a bright amber colour, which looks rather strange to complete his appearance. However, since he is a feral cat, his blood is mixed. He also has a pale brown splash, the colour of clay on his right hip, allowing for his unconventional name.
Personality: Like his appearance, his personality appears to be that of an older cat. He is very cautious and serious during the serious times, especially with his duties.
However, when it's time for sharing tongues or even holding a conversations, it becomes apparent that he is a rather lively character. He makes a variety of comical remarks, even in times when he should not, and on subject matters he should not. He likes to joke as much, if not more than the next person. However, he brushes this aside when it is time for him to do his duties. He is a clan cat through an through.
Clayhip often finds himself nervous around the elders, because they remember all too well his "accident" as an apprentice, and he feels they will forever judge him for it. He does his best to avoid them, and leave their care to an apprentice, though he would never wish for their harm. He realizes that without the clan elders, the clan history would be lost forever, and with that, old mistakes would become the new ones. Clayhip takes their insights to heart, though he isn't about to go and put mouse bile on their ticks.
The pale tom is fond of younger cats, both kits and apprentices. However, he feels strongly that hard work (especially for apprentices) keeps them out of trouble, and builds a better understanding of the warrior code, probably because of his own past. However, he has no problem participating in their jokes. Clayhip believes that a life without laughter, is no life at all.
With other warriors, Clayhip keeps a slight air of command while maintaining a relationship of mutual respect. He listens to all that the warriors have to say: all of their comments, concerns, and ideas, with and open mind. He strongly adheres to the belief that the higher ranking clan officials must listen to the body of the clan, otherwise there is no clan at all. It is with the warriors that the goofiness of his personality comes out, and he is more or less the 'Clan Clown.' Despite this, he functions with authority and diplomacy in his duties, with a seriousness that some attribute to schizophrenia. ((Clayhip is obviously not schizophrenic, but he exhibits the difference between work and play to the extremes.))
Clayhip has strong admiration for all Clan Leaders, Medicine Cats and Deputies, despite his distaste for their personality or politics. He reveres both Thymerunner and Trickstar, especially since they have come to function in such roles when they themselves were so young. Though he is not entirely their equal, he takes pride in being taken in to their confidence with certain matters, and that his opinion is valued. He views them both as friends to him, and he himself as friends to them, despite whatever the truth of the matter may be.
History: Claykit was born to the cats Pearlstorm (His mother) and Slatepelt (his father) in the bramble mass that was the ThunderClan nursery. In his litter there were three other kits, a sister called Ripplekit and two brothers, one called Blizzardkit and another that was stillborn.
In the time before Claykit's memory cataloged actual events, his father, Slatepelt, met his untimely demise on the the Thunderpath, chasing yet another ShadowClan warrior from ThunderClan's borders. All that Clayhip can remember of his father's death is the wailing that his mother, as well as other members of the Clan took up as a younger warrior drug the steel coloured mass of fur that was his father into camp. In all honesty, the three kits did not know their father intimately, just that he was one of the senior warriors, and thus, they felt little emotion at the news of his death.
As time passed and the kits grew, they entered that exhausting time between being a young kit and being an apprentice, when the kit's personalities began to show.
Claykit was obviously the most adventurous and bold of the group, despite the fact that he was also the smallest.He often sneaking out of the nursery to visit other cats - and creating quite and uproar in the process. Many of the elders and other cats often said that it was a miracle he was even apprenticed after all the trouble he caused and false searches that were sent out on his behalf as a kit, but the clan leader of the time saw something in him,a nd chose not to hold him back.
Blizzardkit was shy and inquisitive, and very aware of his surroundings. The other kits labeled him as boring, and he merely shrugged before instigating a minor tussle with the others.
Ripplekit was full of drive, and determined to beat her brothers in everything they did. This was mostly due to that taunts that Ripplekit was a she-cat, and thus, not as strong as her two brothers, which was definitely not the case. She was larger than both of them, and stronger from early on. However, she was easily fooled and confused, which was not a good thing.
The three siblings were close, and together, they received their apprentice names and mentors - Ripplepaw was apprenticed to Orangetail, Claypaw was apprenticed to Shadepelt, and Blizzardpaw was apprenticed to the medicine cat of the time, Coldface. Pearlstorm,their mother, went back to warrior duty.
The three rapidly growing apprentices poured themselves into their training, each attempting to outdo the other in a friendly way. Claypaw would often trick Ripplepaw into having to take care of the elders by putting her in situations that made her look lazy. This wasn't the truth, but in cases of sibling rivalry, Ripplepaw took it all in good fun.
About a month into their apprenticeships after a good time of rising tensions with WindClan, the moor cats made raid on the border between WindClan and ThunderClan. Their aim was to mark a new border and gain hunting grounds, but in the process the WindClan patrol met up with a ThunderClan patrol - and in the ensuing battle, Pearlstorm, the newly made apprentices mother, was the only casualty. Being behind on her warrior skills after her kitting, she moved at an awkward angle during the attack, and as a result, lost her life.
The wails for her death did not seem as loud to Claypaw as those his father received, but the yowls sent up by Pearlstorm's three kits were horrific. The three apprentices sat vigil all through the night.
Sad though they were, Claypaw and Ripplepaw poured themselves into their warrior training. Ripplepaw was strong, and if she was able to get in the right position, could pin Claypaw easily. Claypaw however proved to be much faster than his sister, and his fighting styles were much more eccentric than hers - which he got in trouble for on multiple occasions. Particularly the move where he would push himself from a nearby object and fly through the air at his sparring partner - he leaped from trees, rocks, and on a few fateful occasions used mentors as his kick start, which resulted in two very grumpy mentors, a smug Ripplepaw, and elder duty for Claypaw.
For Blizzardpaw however, the death of Pearlstorm was the beginning of the end. He was entirely shattered by the demise of his mother, and soon became merely a ghost of his former self, a shadow. On the usual semimonthly journey to the moonstone with the other medicine cats, approximately a month and a half after Pearlstorm's death, Blizzardpaw met his fate as his father did - on the Thunderpath. It was too far for his mentor Coldface to bring him home, and so the medicine cats gave a burial for him along the Thunderpath.
The news of Blizzardpaw's death was yet another stain on Claypaw's brief history. His whole life seemed to be surrounded by death, but the elders reminded both he and Ripplepaw that death was the way of the pack. Perhaps StarClan had decided that they did not want Blizzardpaw to be the next medicine cat of ThunderClan after all.
Time progressed, and the two siblings remained apprentices together, all that remained of their family. After having eating while out hunting, he received the punishment of not being able to go to a gathering while his sister did. Claypaw was insanely jealous, and Ripplepaw teased him about it into the night until it was time for departure.
Completely bored out of his mind, he offered to play with a litter of kits that occupied the nursery. Their mother, who wanted to go get a drink of water, gladly accepted his offer. The kits were excited about playing with the pale furred apprentice, and they decided that while they were playing clan leader, Claypaw would be ThunderClan leader.
One of the kits suggested that Claypaw take them up the highrock the back way, where it sloped easily to the ground and was of easy access to the kits. Claypaw agreed, not thinking all that much of his actions. Some cats would argue that he never did, but that is beside the point.
Claypaw led the way up the great rock. The two kits that he was playing with followed him eagerly. The tortoiseshell kit, who had appointed itself Claypaw's medicine cat sat very close next to him. With a look of command in his eyes, Claypaw stated that the medicine cat shouldn't sit so close to the leader, or else the leader will die. The tortoiseshell kit opened it's eyes wide, and quickly took a few steps toward the edge of the rock. Claypaw's eyes opened wide as he leaped toward the kit as it plummeted off the edge of the rock, but to no avail. As Clayhip looked over the edge of the greatrock, he could see the twisted spine of the kit below. It was clearly dead.
Claypaw began to herd the remaining kit off the rock the way the had came, and as they reached the place where rock met soil, a yowl pierced the moonlight. The queen had found her kit.
Claypaw was not punished for the death of the kit, despite uprisings from other clan cats. The clan leader, as well as Shadepelt, Claypaw's mentor, felt that the guilt that resulted from causing the death of the kit was enough punishment. They were surely right, for not only did other cats now look down on Claypaw, he continued to hate himself for it. Worst of all, his sister Ripplepaw refused to talk to him.
Claypaw was utterly miserable in these days. He didn't play or joke, but was just as solemn as Blizzardpaw had been when he was alive. As he did in the past, he put everything he had into his studies to be a warrior. However, he no longer had fun, or laughed or joked, he was more solemn then a medicine cat faced with greencough.
Though Shadepelt didn't like the way the kits death had changed Claypaw, there was no denying that Claypaw was in top form and would soon be ready to be made a warrior.
Then it happened - the leader of the time agreed, and both Claypaw and Ripplepaw were made warriors. Claypaw as bestowed the name Clayhip, and praised for his vigor and bold attitude. Ripplepaw was christened Ripplefur, and praised for her strength and drive. Together, the siblings that were now warriors participated in the silent vigil that so many of their ancestors had participated in.
Clayhip, more excited than he had been in moons, was ecstatic to finally be a warrior. He did all he could to help the clan, doing as many patrols as he could, and hunting as well. He spent all of summer and fall in this manner, being sure to rest himself, for leafbare was fast approaching and by the tastes on the air it was sure to be a bad one.
As leafbare had begun to set in, hunting became of vital importance. Hunting had been poor, and so, on a hunting patrol led by the deputy to Snake Rocks, it was expected that not an ounce of prey would escape. The deputy, in pursuit of a vole that had fled into a crack in the rock, soon recoiled with a yowl. He had been bitten by an adder, and died shortly after in the company of his patrol right there at Snake Rocks.
The entire camp mourned for the deputy, but as the code stated, a new deputy had to be appointed before moonhigh. So, leaping upon the great rock, the clan leader decreed that Trickfur, a newly appointed warrior, even more newly appointed than himself, would be deputy. It was a fairly controversial choice, but Clayhip made no objection. Trickfur was strong and cunning, an excellent choice in deputy, and so he cheered loud to hide the murmurs from other cats.
As leafbare progressed, whitecough, followed by greencough cast its black hand on ThunderClan. Not a single cat escaped unaffected. All cats were touched by whitecough, even the medicine cat himself, but more than one cat died of greencough. multiple kits, as well as a variety of elders and warriors. Clayhip's heart nearly broke when the two cats other than the medicine cat and clan leader he cared about most died of the dreaded greencough only days appart: His own sister Ripplefur and his mentor, Shadepelt.
The worst was yet to come, however. The Clan Leader too, succumbed to Greencough, loosing her last life and joining StarClan forever. The young and inexperienced Trickfur was now leader of ThunderClan. Like it or not, the clan would accept it. There was no choice.
As yowls of fear, anger, and complete desolation shook ThunderClan camp, their new leader Trickfur, leaped upon the highrock. Moonhigh was near, and she had to announce the new deputy. As cats gathered around the rock, Clayhip remained toward the back of the crowd that had made it to the highrock, which was pitifully small. He had been uncomfortable around the highrock since his apprentice days, and he tried his best not to remind himself of that terrible episode. As the soon to be Trickstar announced the new deputy, jaws dropped. The cat she had appointed was also young and inexperienced, and not entirely among favour with the rest of the clan.
The new deputy was Clayhip.
After the initial shock of having two young, inexperienced cats running the clan, things settled. Clayhip, naturally easy going, through himself into his new role within the clan. He developed a new air, the kind that came with comand. This development, coupled with the silver of his face that made him seem older, helped the clan to accept him whole heartedly as the deputy, despite his past.
A year progressed in this manner-- one long, dreadful year that proved to be one of the worst in ThunderClan history. Tragedy after tragedy befell the clan, the number of cats in the clan decreasing almost along side the number of Trickstar's lives. Clayhip himself was amazed that such events were happening, and that he himself hadn't joined StarClan.
Leafbare came again, the number of cats less than it had been for as long as Clayhip could remember--- all the elders had passed and he had none to ask for a reference. Trickstar grew paranoid about the threat of greencough, but Clayhip remained at her side.
However, one afternoon she was savaged by a rogue cat, and, with severe wounds, she joined StarClan. And just like that, Clayhip was the leader of ThunderClan.
Picture:
He has orange/amber eyes, with a tad bit more silver on his face, but I couldn't find a clear picture of what I was thinking of.
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