Brightfang

[Lem]

Name: Brightfang
Age: 64 moons
Gender: Molly
Allegiance: SandClan
Rank: Temporary Warrior (former Elder)

Picture: [x][x][x](I have permission to use these photos! They're pictures I took of my girlfriend's cat.)
Appearance: Brightfang is fairly obviously elderly. Her short, thick fur is more ragged than that of a young cat, and her gait is stiffer. But Brightfang is not frail. Her muscles are still wiry beneath her pelt, and her claws are sharp, and while she may not move as fluidly as she used to, her movements are still determined and purposeful.
She has an relatively average build, not remarkably thin, nor remarkably stocky, but she has a somewhat wide face, and slightly-smaller-than-average ears. Her fur is mainly white, but with sparse patches of a dark, mottled grey-brown tabby. The patches mainly concentrate on her back, but there is a large patch on her head, and one covering her entire tail, as well as a few smaller ones tossed here and there. If you look closely at Brightfang's face, you will see it is faintly crisscrossed with thin old scars, mainly above her rose-pink nose, as well as a few almost-invisible ones on her ears. (She has more scars on the rest of her body, but her thick fur hides them well, unless you really go searching for them through it.) Most notably about the old molly's appearance, she has bright cornflower-blue eyes.

Personality: Like many older cats, Brightfang is a pretty grouchy old girl. However, it's not really something that developed with age. She has always been a prickly one, easily annoyed and with a tongue that could cut through rocks. (Though it has settled throughout the moons- in her youth she was known for being aggressive and fiery, but that anger has simmered down to a more mellow kind of grouchiness.) Her strong spirit doesn't just go towards being grumpy, though. She is also very hardworking, and takes a great sense of pride in being able to help her Clan, and is proud of her hunting and fighting skills, though they aren't as sharp as they were when she was young. Brightfang is also extremely opinionated, and not without reason, as she is also fairly intelligent. She is incredibly vocal about her opinions, and also just incredibly vocal in general. She is always willing to share her view on something out loud, and isn't afraid to tell anyone she thinks their opinion is stupid, or to challenge others ideas. (Though she is still respectful of the Leader and Deputy and Medicine Cat.) Because of this, some cats find her abrasive. However, she is not needlessly harsh to those that don't know better, such as kits, or young apprentices. And she has always been much softer for fellow she-cats than she is for toms. Brightfang was never attracted to toms, never wanted a mate, nor did she really see the point when the other mollies were giggling about how "hot" a tom was. For the most part, she is distrustful of and disregards toms, and spends most of her time around mollies. However, she wasn't ever attracted to mollies, either. Brightfang never felt the desire to have a mate of any kind. But that doesn't mean she isn't motherly. She enjoys spending time with kits, as she remembers having kits of her own when she was younger, and she is still extremely protective of kits, and to a lesser extent, protective of all she-cats.
(Note: She's aro-ace, is what I was getting at there if it's not clear.)

History: Brightfang's life began with her parents. Her parents were two average SandClan warriors, with nothing remarkable about them. She was in their third litter, with her two sisters. Her sisters were a brown tabby tuxedo who they named Lizardkit, and a grey-brown tabby with white, they called Mothkit. Their much older siblings were already warriors, so Lizardkit, Mothkit and Brightkit didn't see much of them. And as for the first several moons of their lives, they were the only litter in the nursery, they were mostly on their own. Playing together pretty much exclusively ensured that the three sisters formed a strong bond. This continued even into their apprenticeship, as they trained together.
Their apprenticeship was largely uneventful, with nothing incredibly noteworthy happening, and after seasons of training, they became Warriors. Lizardpaw, who had shown great skill in tracking, became Lizardnose, and Mothpaw, who while she was a good Warrior, had no exceptional skills, was named Mothfur. And of course, Brightpaw, who was above average at both hunting and fighting, was given the name Brightfang. Once they were Warriors, the sisters began to drift apart somewhat; they still remained best friends, but they no longer spent every waking moment together, and they made other friends. And now that they were adults, Brightfang's sisters became interested in toms. Brightfang, however, didn't see the appeal, and she threw herself into friendships with other mollies, and into her Warrior duties. Almost right out of their apprenticeship, her sisters both got mates, and both were suddenly expecting kits. Brightfang began to wonder if there was something wrong with her. Because though she had heard that some mollies didn't like toms, and instead liked other mollies, she was certain that wasn't her. She saw the way cats acted around their mates... And it was completely foreign to her, nor did she have any desire for that kind of relationship. But that didn't mean she didn't want to be a mother. Though she had a reputation for being tough and abrasive and a take-no-crap from anyone kind of cat, she did like kits. But for now she just watched her sisters raise their first litters, helping them out whenever she could. And once they were apprentice aged, she even got to mentor one of them. Brightfang's worries that there might have been something wrong with her were forgotten in time, as she decided to disregard what everyone else was doing, and realize that she is the way she is and that there was nothing she could change about it.
Mentoring a young cat though, just served to further convince Brightfang that she wanted kits. Watching her sisters find mates, she had gotten the idea that to have a family, she needed a mate. But as she observed the queens of the clan, and talked to some of the older cats, and she realized that there were plenty of cats who didn't take a permanent mate before having kits, or even at all care about the father of their kits. So, once her apprentice became a warrior, she decided that she was ready to have kits of her own. So she stopped avoiding toms like she had been and, well... Soon enough she was expecting kits.
As she was still young enough, and fit and healthy, Brightfang's first pregnancy was an easy one, as far as pregnancies go. The kits were born in Newleaf. There were six of them, a large litter. Ivykit, Cloudkit, Lichenkit, Newtkit, Owlkit, and Palekit. Two toms and four she-cats. But though Brightfang, and the rest of the litter was very healthy, Ivykit was weak. She was tiny, the runt of the litter, probably the result of having such a large litter. She fought hard, and the medicine cat fought hard to save her, but after only a few days, she died. Brightfang mourned her, but Ivykit's death only made her even more determined to be the best mother possible for her other five kits. For the next six moons, her children were practically her entire life. And once they became apprentices, she wished she could mentor them all. But of course, she had to let them go. And though she was still very protective of them, and worried about her kits being out in the world, she was also proud of them, and knew that they would be great warriors. She quickly settled back into her own warrior life, and everything was normal Clan life. But realizing she had started having kits late in life than most, Brightfang wanted to have another litter as soon as possible. So about a moon after her first litter became apprentices, Brightfang was expecting again. Her second litter was much smaller- just two this time. A she-cat and a tom, who she named Frostkit and Rosekit. On the day Rosepaw and Frostpaw became apprentices, on their first outing as 'paws, their older brother and sister Newtpaw and Owlpaw were on the same patrol as them. Briefly, Rosepaw and Owlpaw became separated from the rest of the patrol. Unfortunately, a large raptor took this opportunity to target the small Rosepaw. Owlpaw leaped in to protect him, and succeeded in wounding the bird to the point where it couldn't fly away. But during the fight, Owlpaw himself was fatally wounded. The rest of the patrol heard the screeching, and came running, but arrived just in time to find Owlpaw dying. They finished off the bird that had killed him as it tried to crawl away, unable to fly with its wounded wing, and killed it. Owlpaw and his siblings had been planned to be made warriors the following day, but that night, in honor of Owlpaw, his remaining siblings were given their warrior names- Cloudwhisker, Lichenpelt, Newtflower, and Palefur.
A few months after the death of Owlpaw, one of Brightfang's sisters, Lizardnose, fell ill. The medicine cat was mystified as to what was wrong with her, and within a few moons, she died. Brightfang and her remaining sister were heartbroken, as they had remained best friends through all this time. But, they had each other still, and they now had families of their own. Mothfur's kits even had kits of their own now. By the time Rosepaw and Frostpaw became warriors, gaining the names Roseheart and Froststorm, several of the kits from Brightfang's first litter had also already had kits of their own, making her a grandparent. But Brightfang herself was done having kits. Now, she was focused on using her skills as a warrior to protect her Clan as much as she could. (And hopefully, prevent any more of her family from dying.)
After moons, Brightfang and her sister finally retired to the elders den.
But all too soon, there was the worst winter the Clans had ever experienced. As cats began dying, Brightfang moved back out of the elders den, feeling she owed it to her Clan to help out, as she wasn't that old yet. But despite her help, Brightfang began to watch her family slowly drop off. First, starvation took Froststorm, who had recently been ill even before winter got bad, and was already weak. Then, Newtflower's kits, with a mixture of their young age, the cold, and hunger. After that, Newtflower refused to eat anything in despair, and she joined her kits. Then, Palefur got trapped away from camp in a blizzard, and in the morning a patrol found her body. Then, sickness. Mothfur, many of her kits, and her kit's kits fell ill. Most of Brightfang's other few grandchildren, Lichenpelt's kits, also became ill. And Lichenpelt herself, and Roseheart. They all died. And finally, when it seemed the illness had finally run its course through the Clan, Cloudwhisker, who had been giving her food to the younger and older cats, and overexerting herself, dropped dead as well.
And so Brightfang was left with no family. Somehow, she had managed to not get sick, and to not starve to death. But the rest of her family was gone. Since then, she hasn't gone back to the elders den, as she feels she is still needed for hunting and patrolling, as there are still so few cats. And since the winter, she has not spoken a word about any of her family, in the exception of another cat asking her what happened to a specific member. Anyone who knows her would recognize that she has become quieter (though not that much quieter, she's still as loud and opinionated as ever,) and more bitter. (But who can blame her? Probably many cats are more bitter after that winter) But seeing the way the Clan has begun to rebuild itself, she is hopeful.

(WHY IS HER FAMILY SO BIG THAT WAS REALLY HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF so I'm sorry if any of her kids change gender or something during the course of her history. Also sorry if that's a ridiculous number of cats to have die? I didn't expect to have that many cats add up in her family when I decided to kill them all off.)

Check 1: [x] Leah
Check 2: [x] Cobalt