Thistlefrost

Story

{Kitted} Thistlekit was born to Dapplednose and Tigerstripe, two very respected warriors in ShadowClan. Alongside her were Mousekit and Falconkit, her sister and brother, respectively. She doesn't quite remember her mother, as Dapplednose grew very sick with greencough and went to hunt with StarClan when the kits were only three moons. From thereon out, Tigerstripe took as best care of his kits as he could. All three of the kits developed a close relationship with each other and their father.

Kithood was Thistlekit's favorite time of her life. She played with everyone; her littermates, the other kits, her father. Though she made best friends with a tom kit named Kestrelkit. When Thistlekit wasn't with her littermates, she was with Kestrelkit. It was obvious the two would be great friends.

{Apprenticed} Thistlepaw was named an apprentice with her littermates just two moons after Kestrelpaw and his sister Bluepaw. She excelled quickly in her training, surpassing Mousepaw and Falconpaw within a moon. Her mentor, Coldbreeze, moved her to train with Kestrelpaw and Bluepaw instead of her littermates. Falconpaw didn't mind, working hard with his own mentor to be the best he could be, which was all he could ask for. Mousepaw, on the other paw, quickly became jealous of her sister. It seemed that Thistlepaw was getting everything; the deputy as her mentor, training with older apprentices, a tom-cat best friend. Thistlepaw was too busy to notice, but Mousepaw just kept getting worse and worse.

One day, Mousepaw lashed out at Thistlepaw. Confused, she asked her sister to take a walk with her, and the two disappeared into the woods. It was hard to resist Thistlepaw's kind words and motherly attitude, and Mousepaw spilled everything. Thistlepaw apologized for everything, offering to help Mousepaw in her training and teach her the new things she learned. The sisters reconciled, just as Thistlepaw realized how close the two were to twolegplace. Thistlepaw suggested the two should return to camp, when a twoleg stopped its monster beside the two. They ran, but Mousepaw was much slower than Thistlepaw. Her sister was grabbed by the twoleg, and Thistlepaw, being the heroic she-cat she was, leapt for the twoleg. Crying out in surprise, the twoleg dropped Mousepaw. The she-cat ran wildly away--the wrong way. Thistlepaw can still remember her own screams as Mousepaw dashed onto the thunderpath and was plowed over by an oncoming monster, instantly dead. Thistlepaw wanted to bring her sister's body back to camp, but twolegs were overwhelming the area, and all she could do was run.

Back in camp, Thistlepaw told her brother, Kestrelpaw, and Bluepaw what had happened. A moon later the apprentices were made warriors, and Thistlepaw asked the leader to name Mousepaw as well, even though the young she was in StarClan. Thistlefrost was given her name for the harsh leaf-bare she was born into, Falconfire for the energy and strength he possed, and Mouseflight for the courage and will-power the dead she-cat had.

{Young Life} About three moons after her warrior ceremony, Thistlefrost found out she was pregnant with Kestrelfang's kits. The tom couldn't be more happy to be a father, and Falconfire, any happier to be an uncle. Kits were always the one thing Thistlefrost had ever wanted. And now she would have them.

It was a beautiful day when Thistlefrost's brother died. And only another moon after Thistlefrost found out she was expecting. She, Falconfire, and Bluestep were on patrol around the lake, when Bluestep stepped on a muddy area, losing her footing and falling into the deep water. Falconfire leaped after her immediately. Thistlefrost tried to go after her brother, but her paws were caught in mud. By the time they were free, Falconfire and Bluestep's bodies were washing up on the shore, dead. She pulled them both away from the water and lay there, beside her brother, wailing. She stayed there all night, grieving for her brother, and wasn't found by her Clanmates until sun-high the next day. Kestrelfang had searched furiously for his mate, and, when he found her next to Falconfire and his own sister, sat to grieve with her. He waved the others away, bringing them all back to camp that night.

Thistlefrost fell into depression at that time, hardly able to eat, forget patrolling or hunting. She was moved to the nursery so as to be exempt from these duties much earlier than she should have, but she didn't care. Kestrelfang visited her every day, helping her to swallow some fresh-kill and promising her that once the kits were born, she'd feel better.

She can still remember the words her father spoke to her when she was seven moons pregnant. "Thistlefrost. Listen to me. I am your father, and I cannot bear to see you like this. I too grieve for Mouseflight and Falconfire, but you cannot let yourself act like this anymore. You have kits on the way, and I'll be a crazy fox if I let you ignore them and they grow up without a mother like you and your littermates did." She took those words to heart and began to straighten herself out. She was mostly back to normal when her kits were born two moons later.

There were five kits born to the young queen. Kestrelfang had hovered outside the nursery all night as they were born--three healthy toms and two gorgeous she-kits. The two named them together: Squirrelkit and Hazelkit for the she's, Copperkit, Stormkit, and Falconkit for the toms. Only a moon after their birth, she lost her first kit to white-cough, Squirrelkit. Thistlefrost caught it herself, having to abandon her kits for about a week until she got better. She vowed to never leave them again when she was better, keeping her kits close to her all the time. She hardly let them play with other kits. They didn't mind much, as Thistlefrost played with them all day and sometimes night.

A few moons later, Tigerstripe moved to the elders den, and Thistlefrost took her kits to visit him almost every day. She wanted them to see her father as great as she saw him. It was a cold morning when she awoke to take them again, only to find that Hazelkit wouldn't wake. She shrieked and cried for the medicine cat, finding that her only daughter left had frozen to death overnight. She mourned her daughter, but it only made her more protective over her sons.

She can remember the day they were made apprentices clearly. She was so proud as Stormpaw, Copperpaw, and Falconpaw were given their mentors. Later that day, she took her elder father for a walk in the territory, only to find that a fire had broken out in the woods near green-leaf twolegplace--And Copperpaw and his new mentor were caught inside. Thistlefrost and Tigerstripe leapt to rescue the cats, only to find the mentor already dead. Tigerstripe found Copperpaw first, meeting Thistlefrost away from the fire. She took her son from him, only to see her father collapse. His old lungs couldn't take the smoke they'd inhaled, and the tom was dead within moments. She set Copperpaw down to run, taking her father's body with her. She told herself she'd grieve only for the night, as her kits and Clan needed her. That was what her father wanted.

Copperpaw, however, caught green-cough due to his damaged lungs. He passed onto StarClan quickly, and Thistlefrost was left only with her mate and two kits left. Four moons into the kits' trainings, a border skirmish broke out between ShadowClan and RiverClan. Stormpaw fell and hit his head on a rock, killed instantly during the battle. And Thistlefrost became even more protective of Falconpaw, her only surviving kin.

She and him were in the woods together, when mud slipped out from under the apprentice, pulling into the dark water of the lake. Visions of Falconfire's death flashed before Thistlefrost's eyes as she found herself yet again stuck in mud. She screamed and screamed, only to have Falconpaw wash up at her paws, drowned and dead. Yet, as she looked down, she realized her paws were never caught. She'd been able to save her son the entire time, but was too busy with her past that she let him die. She blamed herself, carrying her son back to camp and staying close to Kestrelfang, afraid to lose him too.

And she did eventually. He was killed in a skirmish with rogues just after Thistlefrost found out she was expecting another litter of kits. She took the death of her mate hard, but promised him she would keep her second litter alive to keep the memory of him with the Clan. Only one kit was born in the litter, a healthy tom she called Hawkkit. He looked just like her, but had the amber eyes of her mate. She can look into those eyes and still see Kestrelfang, but she doesn't let herself dwell on him. She misses him, of course, but knows she must keep pushing forward, if not for her Clan, then for her son.

{The Golden Years} Thistlefrost was considered to be a senior warrior much earlier than most. She is still young, and could easily have more litters of kits before retiring to the elders den if she found a cat she loved as much as she did Kestrelfang. However, because of all she's been through, which is more than many elders in the Clan, she has received status as a Senior Warrior and is respected and high regarded throughout the Clan. She spends her days now caring for her last family member, her son. She doesn't mentor anymore, for the young cats of the Clan tend to bring her too much sadness, but she will spend some time with the kits in the nursery. She loves to play with them, and they love to play with her.

She left Hawkkit in the nursery at five moons, eager to return to her duties. She still slept with him at night and cared for him, but she wanted to get back in the game. She got an apprentice, Snowpaw, and began to work with the young she every day. However, when there was yet another skirmish with loners in the territory, Snowpaw was too tired to fight well enough. She was struck down as Thistlefrost fought the rest off. Thistlefrost blames herself for Snowpaw's death, saying how she shouldn't have trained her so hard. But there was nothing she could have done for the young apprentice.

Personality
Despite the hardships Thistlefrost has had to endure, the she-cat has always been able to keep a bright and positive attitude. She is energetic and sweet, always able to brighten some cat's day. She loves large crowds, yet hates being the center of attention. For her, everything is about everyone else, not her. She is loving and kind, and the best friend any cat could ever want. She's able to just sit in listen or make you laugh when you need it. She has always said that even the worst parts of your life shouldn't hold you back from being the best you can be, and she has proven this over and over herself.

Thistlefrost has a very motherly attitude, and loves to play with the kits of the Clan. Many will call her "mum" even when they have their own mother. Half of them run to her first when something goes wrong, then to their birth parents, simply because she always seems to know what to say. She can sit in camp all day, just telling stories to the kits, which has always made cats say that she is more of a queen or an elder than a warrior, but she doesn't care. Being around the younger and newer generations of the Clan has always made her happy. She is gentle and caring, and will never turn away a kit in need, despite its Clan, or even if it has a Clan.

Every so often, Thistlefrost will need some alone time to think over what has happened in her life. She will often slip into depths of depression, and that is when she needs her friends the most. She declares that she just wants to be alone, and will usually slip away into the woods to think. But the best way to pull her out of these dark times is to simply take her for a walk and let her talk to you. Visions of her kits, her littermates, her old friends, will wash over her and she simply can't take it. But with her new friends and family, she can at least push it away for a while.