Flamepaw

Story
Flamekit was born in the middle of a hot green-leaf day, when the sun was burning the brightest. Three kits came before her; Silverkit, Lionkit, and Graykit. Flamekit was born last, and she was born a runt, due to her siblings receiving more nutrients than her in the womb. It was predicted that Flamekit would only live to barely a moon, seeing as her legs were gruesomely twisted and she was unable to walk. It also took her twice as long as most kits to open her eyes. She was small and weak, hardly able to suckle from her mother. And when she reached a moon and a day, stretching open her clouded blue eyes, the medicine cat declared it the will of StarClan that she lived, nothing else.

She had been named Flamekit, for the bright sun that shone through the nursery on that day, reflecting off the orange fur she'd received from her father Redclaw. Her brother Lionkit received the same color pelt, while her sister Silverkit and brother Graykit took on the silvery gray pelt from their mother Cloudbreeze. It would be Cloudbreeze that Flamegaze would hate the most in her lifetime, due to the cruelty her mother showed her.

It took four moons for Flamekit's legs to untwist. It was a painful process for the young kit, with the medicine cat only able to help her every now and then. The medicine cat said that she would need to work for herself if she ever wanted to be strong, and that she could only receive a few poppyseeds to help the pain subside. Cloudbreeze hadn't really paid attention to her helpless daughter, being near her only to let her suckle. Flamekit figured that if she could get her legs able to walk, her mother would grow to love her. But it was when Flamekit was declared blind that Cloudbreeze truly lost it.

"What do you mean, she's blind?!" Cloudbreeze shrieked, her own blue eyes wide with both anger and shame. Flamekit could hear her mother standing with the medicine cat as she, herself, sat under her father's chest.

"She will never be able to see. This often happens with runts. It is a defect, along with her twisted legs. Though I'm afraid there is no possibility of growing this one out like she is working to do with her legs." the medicine at meowed calmly.

A defect...I am nothing but a defect... Flamekit thought to herself. She could hear her mother wailing and could feel the anger radiating off of her. Her father was saying comforting words to soothe his mate's pain, but Flamekit didn't want to listen to any of it. Everyone in the Clan would think she was nothing but a problem. It would be better if she'd simply died a moon earlier, like it was predicted.

It was later that day that Cloudbreeze crept from camp with Flamekit in her jaws. Of course, Flamekit had no idea where her mother was taking her, until she could hear the lapping of lake water at the shore. It dawned on her then that her mother was planning to drown her, to murder her and be rid of the pain she had caused her mother. And Flamekit would have drowned if Redclaw hadn't followed his mate out of suspicion. He wrestled Flamekit out of her jaws, roaring angrily and demanding how she could ever try to drown her own kit. Cloudbreeze responded with a harsh hiss, saying that such a deformed and defected offspring could never have come from her. Redclaw never spoke to his mate after that, taking Flamekit himself to care for. What had happened was never spoken of, and it is a secret that Flamegaze carries with her to this day.

Flamekit was given her apprentice name the same time as her littermates, and declared to train as a warrior just as they did. No cat believed she could of course, but who were they to stop her before she tried? She was given a gentle mentor, but never seemed to make any progress anyways. She was often bullied by the other apprentices by their gloating and snickering that she would never be a great as they were. And Flamepaw seemed to have no one to turn to other than her father, which made the others laugh more. She'd never had much of a relationship with her littermates, seeing as she wasn't able to play with them when they were kits. But it was a day when the worse insults and bullying occurred that Silverpaw and Graypaw actually joined in the taunting, not wanting to be seen as weak for defending their sister. Lionpaw, on the other paw, stood up for his sister, declaring that she deserved as much of a chance to be a warrior as any other cat did, if not more for the hardships she'd had to work trough. And after that, Lionpaw took his sister hunting. He had already turned out much larger and stronger than her sister, though he seemed to have a soft spot only for her. He would help her train for the next few moons, patient and cheery, never letting any mistake of her's get either of them down.

The other apprentices continued to torment Flamepaw, though Silverpaw and Graypaw seemed to realize the horror they'd done by teasing their own sister. They never really spoke to her after that, but they also didn't make fun of her, which was all Flamepaw could ask.

A few moons later, there was a fox attack on the edge of WindClan territory, in which her father Redclaw was horribly injured. Flamepaw hovered around the medicine cat den for three days and nights, hoping and wishing to StarClan for her father's recovery. Though it was all in vain. Redclaw passed onto StarClan, though Flamepaw and her littermates were told it wasn't painful for the strong warrior. It was harder for Flamepaw than her littermates, as the three of them had Cloudbreeze to run to, but Flamepaw did not. She despised her mother, and would never go to her in weakness.

A few days after her father died, Flamepaw shared her decision to become a medicine cat apprentice with her brother Lionpaw first. He nodded, sad that she'd be leaving their den, but knowing it was likely the only way Flamepaw could truly help the Clan. She then requested the position to Featherstar and the medicine cat and a ceremony was held the day after. Flamepaw worked her hardest to be the best medicine cat she could, never wanting to lose anyone like she'd lost her father. She hardly felt anything at successes, but felt the losses harder than any cat else in the Clan, blaming herself for losing a cat's life. She has made much more progress as a medicine cat than she ever would have being a warrior, though she still carries a few battle moves and sharp claws to defend herself, should she ever need to.

Personality
Flamepaw is a bit of an odd cat. She is usually very quiet, so her personality can be a bit of a mystery to other cats. She has never been very talkative, a result from the shy side of her personality, most believed. But the root of her silence is actually due to the hardship she has endured, finding that most of what cats say is unnecessary and shouldn't be spoken about at all. After all, who would care about what her favorite fresh-kill is, or what's she did the day before. Flamepaw is also exceptionally clusmy. She has a hard time walking in a straight line, jumping up onto or down from things, and running places. This is mostly due to her blindness, seeing as she can't see anything, but she is also just a clumsy cat. Even with the help of her nose and ears, she has a hard time not falling or stumbling.

As a dual side to her personality, Flamepaw can also be quite grumpy and stubborn. She has developed a hard shell for her exterior, determined to never let anyone see her weaknesses. This would be a result of the bullying she endured her older kit moons and younger apprentice moons. She was born a runt, deformed, ugly--who would ever want to be kind to her? This part of Flamepaw can make her mean or rude should someone speak to or approach her when she does not want to be spoken to or approached. She tends to make these times clear, sitting by herself, hunching over to create closed body language, or simply memorizing the scent of each herb in the storage again. The only cat who has been able to push past her harsh side is her mentor. She shares a special bond with her mentor, and always seems to have a smile on her face when working with him/her.

The part of her personality that most cats do not know about Flamepaw, except maybe her littermates or mentor, would be her enhanced senses. Now, it's nothing special, not like superpowers or some other ability like that. Since Flamepaw is blind, and has been since birth, her other senses have become more developed and better than most in the Clans. She can hear things before most cats can, and has an easier time smelling injuries, blood, or pain from another cat. This helps a lot in her ability to be a medicine cat, able to find the small injuries that her mentor may not be able to find. She can even sense certain emotions from other cats, including sadness, anger, or sheer happiness. The reason for these specific emotions is that they send out such strong waves, along with a slight scent, just as dogs can smell fear.