Iceshade

Story
Born on a day with the sun shining and streaming through the nursery, Icekit was alone in his litter, and suckled his mother desperately for strength. Five sunrises after, he caught a whiff of white-cough, and was edging on death. Instead, StarClan sent him the strength to recover, and his mother never left his side for the rest of his six moons, terrified that the small kit would contract it again. Dawnfire was far less concerned, and led the little kit on explorations around the camp, poking into the apprentices' den by four moons, warriors' by four and a half moons, and at four and three quarter moons old, Dawnfire guided him to take his first kitten-steps out of the camp. From the age of five moons until he was apprenticed, Dawnfire spent every morning taking Icekit out of the camp for a few heartbeats at a time, letting him sniff around the camp and get a feel for RiverClan's home.

Once apprenticed, he found his mentor intriguing, and began to learn what he could from them, following each pawstep taken, spending each sundown perfecting his crouches and pounces, to impress his mentor further. Dawnfire nudged him in the right direction, and managed to join his kit and mentor for for Icepaw's very first dawn patrol. It went well, until they found a rogue on the RiverClan-ShadowClan border. The warriors fought, and Dawnfire pushed Icepaw into a bush to hide away, as he was not yet prepared to fight. From the bush, Icepaw peered out and watched the rogue pin down the other apprentice, Otterpaw, and tore his throat out. Shocked, the little tabby closed his eyes and prayed to StarClan that Otterpaw would be fine, but after the rogue was chased away, Dawnfire confirmed his fears. Otterpaw had passed on to StarClan, and there was nothing more that they could do. Glum, the three cats returned to camp with the news, and sat there as Otterpaw's mother, Petalwish, howled with despair. Icepaw joined her that night at Otterpaw's vigil, wishing he had been able to help.

From then on, Icepaw struggled to learn combat, but persevered until his mentor dipped their head and told him that he was ready. He had excelled at hunting techniques, but his fighting was only average, the memory of Otterpaw being pinned down flashing in his mind every time he was told to pin his mentor or another apprentice.

Given the name Iceshade for how he fished, hiding where his shadow could not reflect over the water, he sat guarding the camp on his first night and wished Otterpaw had been given his warrior ceremony several moons before him. His second night, Otterpaw met him in a dream, and confessed that he too wished he had been a warrior, but he felt that it was too late, and that Iceshade should not dwell on his death as much as he did. The warrior was distraught when told this, and begged him to allow him to talk to RiverClan's leader, but Otterpaw refused. " I want to be remembered as an apprentice struck down by a rogue, not a warrior, ," he had told Iceshade, and then vanished.

Iceshade was not able to get over Otterpaw's death, but he tried harder to not let it get in front of his duties as a warrior. In one patrol, he assisted in a battle against ThunderClan for more territory, and while there were no deaths, he was hesitant to hurt another cat.

At the age of 18 moons, he gained his first apprentice, after a shortage of cats, and taught them all he could about hunting, putting off teaching his apprentice to fight better past the basics until he was spoken to by his father. Dawnfire persuaded him to put it past him, that teaching his apprentice was important now. Reluctantly, Iceshade taught his apprentice all the fighting manoeuvres that he as an apprentice had practiced well into the night to perfect. When it came to pinning his apprentice down, he saw Otterpaw instead, and quickly realised the younger cat. For the next two sunrises, he avoided teaching his apprentice any more, putting them on patrol after patrol, until he could gather his strength and face it again. This time, he forced himself to focus on his apprentices' eyes, and successfully began to conquer his fear, until one day he accidentally unsheathed his claws, pricking the smaller cat and causing her to yell. It broke his focus, and he imagined, for he had never seen, Otterpaw's eyes fading as he died.

Iceshade decided then to agree that his apprentice needed Dawnfire to help in training, and Dawnfire finished the rest of the training mentorship, allowing them to complete their apprenticeship and have their warrior ceremony.

At 32 moons, Iceshade took on his second apprentice, but the young apprentice was lost to greencough three moons later. Remembering his mother's fear for him, he sat vigil with the apprentices' parents and friends that night out of his own grief, and acknowledging that his parents almost had to do the same for him.

The next moon, he was appointed the RiverClan deputy, for his focused, clear-mindedness, his hunting skills, and at the recommendation of his mentor, parents, Otterpaw's mother, and the parents of his second apprentice.

Now, Iceshade seeks to continue to do his best as deputy for his Clan, but understands that he cannot be leader if he does not work on communicating with his Clanmates, and facing up to his fear of pinning a cat down.

Personality
Iceshade grew up a curious little kit, whose father would let him explore a mouse-length outside and around of the camp when he reached four moons old, which helped him to familiarise with the structure of the camp. This curiosity manifested more as an apprentice, as he eagerly tried to learn about everything possible. Rarely stern, he does not enjoy reprimanding cats, but his first apprentice, a mischievous young one, often brought it out in him. His quiet tone was usually enough for other cats, as he disliked raising his voice.

Focused, Iceshade dislikes interruptions, or loud noises, when unnecessary. For instance, when hunting, he likes to separate himself from the patrol so that he can immerse himself in the territory and think like his prey. He is also very respectful, and always looks out for those who are not.