Stormheart

[Fia]

Name: Stormheart

Prefix Meaning: Given the name ‘Stormkit’ for his gray tabby markings, which rather resemble swirling storm clouds.

Suffix Meaning: Given the suffix ‘-heart’ for his strength and his kindness.

Age: 18 moons

Rank: Warriors

Clan: SunClan

Description: As his name would suggest, Stormheart a gray cat. Dark, cinder-gray tabby markings swirl across an ashy-gray background, distinct in some places and less so in others. They stand out the most on his shoulders and the front halves of his flanks, then grow lighter, more diluted. His forehead bears equally faded-looking markings, and down his legs, they disappear altogether just below his knees/'elbows'. On his tail, his fur has just the slightest hint of brown in it, as if coated with dust and in need of a wash. This brown tint dusts his face, as well, but even less noticeably. The very front of his muzzle and the sides of his face are smudged with white, which also lines his eyes, strikingly bright against the stormy gray.

Neither very large nor especially small, Stormheart is a medium-sized tom. His is a very sturdy build, solid and strong without being outrageously muscular. He may put on some weight as he gets older, but at the moment, he's not the heaviest tom around. His limbs are not particularly long, but they are very powerful; he's build for wrestling and for heavy labor, not for running or dodging enemy attacks. He's not... slow, exactly, but he's hardly the fastest cat in his Clan, and nowhere near the most agile. But while he can't be called light on his paws, he does possess the enviable SunClan deftness of movement. His round, solid paws rarely miss their targets, whether he's hunting, striking an enemy, or jumping from rock to slippery rock across a raging river.

Snowy-white whiskers sprout from Stormheart's muzzle, on either side of a black-rimmed, dark pink nose. His ears, rounded at the tip and set high on his head, are lined with wispy, pale fur on the inside and smooth, dark gray on the outside. Almost in contrast with his smoky fur and sturdy frame, a pair of soft amber eyes gaze warmly out at the world from Stormheart's face. Gentle humor and deep kindness twinkle in their honey-golden depths, only enhanced by the friendly smile he almost always wears. His honest, open features and subtly heart-shaped face make him look just slightly older than he is, but not as if he were a tired, prematurely aged warrior. He simply looks like the mature young adult he is.

Personality: Stormheart is just… a nice guy. He’s not dizzyingly charming, he’s not super cool, and he’s not overwhelmingly friendly, he’s just a really nice guy. You can come to him with a problem anytime, and if he can, he’ll drop what he’s what he’s working on and do what he can for you. He’s the guy you see around and know by name and just never get around to talking to. And once you do, you find a fun, easygoing individual with a great sense of humor and the patience of a saint. He’ll tease back if you mess with him in good fun, and if you step out of line, he’ll give you a “hey, not cool” warning before it goes too far and truly angers him. Stormheart’s one of the odd SunClanners without much of a temper, and he’s pretty good at stamping out his fuse once it’s lit, but if you fuel his rage enough, he will eventually explode. He tries not to hold grudges, preferring to settle any differences and let that be the end of the issue, and will gladly forgive those with whom he has quarreled the moment they approach him with a sincere apology.

Stormheart is an intelligent youth, quick to catch on to new concepts and always eager to learn something new. He’s young, and he has plenty left to learn about life, but he’s not an idiot the way a lot of toms his age are. This is partly just who he is, but he grew up a bit faster than many of his peers because… Well. He’s a dad. His son, Graypaw, is six moons old, meaning Stormheart –made a warrior at the age of thirteen moons– was still an apprentice himself when the kit was born. His equally young mate’s untimely death –completely unrelated to having a son so early– left Stormheart with a broken heart and a motherless son, and as a result, he’s a little aged beyond his moons, an incredibly reliable, instinctively protective, and deeply understanding individual. He is absolutely ‘a father first’, and though he is, hesitantly, open to the possibility of another mate sometime in the future (Rosepaw's death still pains him deeply, the only shadow over his otherwise perfect life), he’s quite happy with just Graypaw in his life. If he ever has more kits, great! If not, also great. The two are a unit, a team; little Graypaw is the light of his father’s life, Stormheart’s whole world. The tabby warrior is genuinely fond of kits in general, though, and very much the daddy- or big-brother-figure to the younger crowd. Patient, responsible, but still young enough at heart to sympathize with the woes of kithood and apprenticeship, Stormheart is sort of like a general mentor to the youth of his Clan, Graypaw’s friends Blazepaw and Thornpaw included.

Now, as a warrior, Stormheart is brave soul, not especially heroic but fearless in battle and a good, hardworking member of SunClan. He never takes unnecessary risks –what would happen to Graypaw if anything happened to him?– but he’s aware that the life of a warrior is a dangerous one, and he’s not afraid of getting hurt or risking his life to protect his Clan and his son. He isn’t… entirely sure what the age-old hatred of DayClan is all about, but it is still deeply ingrained in him as a born-and-raised SunClanner, he’s just not very aggressive about it. He’s pleasant at Gatherings and sharp but not hostile on the border, and hopes to raise his son the same way – to be watchful and ever-ready to defend, but not to go looking for trouble. And on that note, Stormheart is very much a defender – raise a paw against anyone who matters to him and expect to lose that particular limb. The only times he’s irrational are when someone messes with his friends – or, StarClan forbid, with Graypaw.

History: Stormheart had a fairly unremarkable kithood. He and his brother, Blackkit, were the sons of two regular warriors, Batfur and Cedarpelt. They spent their days getting up to all the usual kit mischief. Stormkit was generally the one led into trouble by the more adventurous Blackkit, but was never one to object too violently to his brother's elaborate schemes. He was the big brother figure to his younger denmates, but very much Blackkit's 'little brother' in the sense that he would go along with his littermate's ideas and  decisions (although, in retrospect, many wonder if he was simply being the mature one and humoring his sibling). Regardless, the two were best buddies and mutually ready to share the blame for any trouble they caused, most always with big, goofy, unrepentant grins. A warrior-cat equivalent of "boys will be boys" was Batfur's general, good-humored attitude towards her sons, even as she scolded them and shooed them home after their twenty-somethingth escape attempt.

Now, besides Blackkit, Stormkit's friends included... well, he got along with most of his denmates, being a friendly, likable youngster. And as they grew older and made their own friends, the two brothers sort of... grew up in their own directions. They were still close, but by the age of four moons, they had their own separate groups of friends, and could each be seen 'doing his own thing' rather than everything his sibling did. And  Stormkit's best friend besides his brother was the lively, aptly-named Rosekit; the pretty, rosy-ginger she-cat with, as it happened to turn out, eyes as green as leaves and claws as sharp as thorns. By the age of five moons, the two were inseparable to the point where they would have 'sleepovers' in each other's family nests (much to the amusement of their respective mothers).

The two remained close as they became apprentices, along with Blackpaw and Mousepaw, Rosepaw's brother. Stormpaw found himself off to a good start with his mentor, the young, energetic, but genuinely dedicated Redblaze. While not extraordinarily talented in any particular area, Stormpaw made steady progress through his training. Hunting and fighting came as naturally to him as to any Clan cat, and he enjoyed meeting the apprentices of the other Clans at Gatherings. [Among his casual friends to this day are the infamous MoonClan Trio (a.k.a the Trio of Doom, then and now).] But Rosepaw remained his dearest friend as time went by; by the age of ten moons, the pair readily admitted to all who cared to ask that their relationship had long gone beyond simple friendship, through some mutual understanding that had never needed to be put into words.

The extent of what they meant by 'beyond simple friendship' became quite apparent to all about a moon later, when there was just no way to overlook the telltale signs of impending motherhood in Rosepaw. The young pair, though slightly intimidated by the prospect of parenthood, stood together against their critics, proud and happy and blatantly unapologetic. Their kin stood by them, as did their mentors and friends, and a moon later, their son was born, safe and healthy and strong. The delighted young parents named him Graykit, for he almost perfectly resembled his father. Rosepaw had calmly accepted that her warrior ceremony would simply be put on hold for a while, and happily devoted herself to the new adventure of caring for her kit. Stormpaw continued his training despite his offer to wait for Rosepaw (because, as his mate and mentor pointed out, there was no point in him sitting in the nursery until Graykit was old enough for Rosepaw to resume her apprenticeship). He spent every spare moment with his mate and kit, and took every opportunity to brag about his son to... anyone who would sit still long enough to listen. (To the point where his brother had to tell bluntly him that nobody actually cared how many more steps Graykit had been able to take on any given day...)

Another moon passed, and Stormpaw became Stormheart at the age of thirteen moons. He vividly remembers the day, remembers Rosepaw,  Graykit, Redblaze, and his parents cheering for him - and for Blackthorn and Mousepelt, who stood beside him as new warriors that warm, late greenleaf evening. Life only got busier after that, but Stormheart remained every bit the devoted mate and father - which was fortunate, for Graykit at least, for when the little tom was three moons old, his mother came down with a rather severe case of greencough. The young she-cat was immediately quarantined, much to Graykit's bewilderment and Stormheart's alarm, and though she initially showed signs of improvement, the first frosts of leafbare caused a sudden shortage of medication, and her fragile health rapidly began to deteriorate. Graykit and Stormheart, who had been assured that she was recovering well, were both stunned and understandably outraged at her abrupt turn for the worse. Rosepaw lingered on for another half moon before finally leaving SunClan for StarClan. Stormheart was left with a broken heart and a confused, thoroughly upset little son. For a whole afterwards, each refused to let the other out of his sight for long. Stormheart slept in the nursery for a couple of weeks, rushed Graykit to the medicine cat's den if he so much as sneezed, and spent every waking minute worrying about his kit and missing Rosepaw. (Once again his brother had to give him a talking-to, this time to point out that he couldn't try to play mommy for Graykit forever.)

Much to his gratitude, Graykit's friends stepped up to provide the support and distractions the little tom needed, lightening the load on Stormheart enough for him to back off somewhat. He remained -and in fact, remains- rather more involved in his son's day-to-day life than he might have if Rosepaw had lived, but he no longer hovered over Graykit all day and night, and has grown steadily more comfortable leaving him in the paws of others over his last moon of kithood. Recently, he watched with unspeakable pride and joy as his little son was made an apprentice of SunClan. The two have remained close, and all evidence suggests they always will.

Picture: {Stormheart & Graypaw}
{Eye Color}