Emberstar [DONE]

Emberstar isn't the largest of cats, but you'd have to be a fool to think that means he isn't strong. His average frame hides hard muscles from a life of going up and down the mountain range he calls home. Like his name would suggest, Emberstar is a bright ginger color. He has tabby genes in him, from the m-shaped marking on his forehead to the thick rings on the end of his tail.

However, when you first meet him, it isn't the strength in his limbs or the brightness of his pelt that might first draw your eye. It's the fact that Emberstar only has one eye. The spot where the other one is supposed to be is run through with horrible scars.

Emberstar is an observer in his own story. He's content to sit back and watch his Clanmates mingle among themselves. That isn't to say he's anti-social at all! Were anybody to approach him for a friendly conversation, he would greet them with a smile. He isn't much for romance with either gender. He feels attraction, yes, but anything beyond the physical is beyond him.

Outsiders have a very different view of him. To cats not born in NightClan, Emberstar is cold and standoffish. He doesn't suffer fools gladly, and will see off anybody on his territory with a swipe of his paw. It doesn't matter if it's loners, kittypets, or any of the other Clans. If you don't belong, you're gone.

And perhaps a little unfortunately, that goes for young cats, too. Life in NightClan can be harsh, and the last thing Emberstar wants is to watch anybody wither away far too early. He'll turn away and queens with young cats at the border, but escort them to one of the other Clans himself. Is he providing warriors for his enemies? Yes. But the trade off is sentencing kits or young cats to death, and he just doesn't have that in him.

Emberkit was born a single kit to his parents, Eaglecry and Cragwhisker. His parents weren't in love with each other, but they were good friends. Emberkit saw his father often growing up, playing games and listening to stories. If Emberkit hadn't been told any different, then he wouldn't have seen any difference between their friendship and other true mates. They bickered playfully and wrestled together like they themselves were kits.

He told them he didn't understand, but all they did was shrug. Eaglecry said he didn't have to understand it, he just had to accept it. It was a good lesson for him to learn. There was a difference between not getting something and being willfully ignorant.

Such a thought process came in handy when he became an apprentice. His mentor was a she-cat named Aspensky. She was kind, and nice, and friendly, and Emberpaw knew how lucky he was to have her as his mentor. It wasn't until he went on an actual patrol with her and some Clanmates that he realized that Aspensky was mates with another she-cat called Rainfall.

Much like the relationship between his parents, Emberpaw didn't quite understand at first. What would they do if they wanted kits? Did their families approve? Did he approve? Rather than ask Aspensky these questions, he chose to observe them. And also much like the relationship between his parents, there wasn't any difference between the way Aspensky and Rainfall acted and the way different sex mates acted. They were happy, and their love was healthy and pure. Wasn't that all that mattered?

Satisfied with his conclusion, he asked Aspensky if Rainfall could train with them more often. The request caught her offguard, but it pleased her as well. Rainfall joined them more often than not after that, and it was like Emberpaw had two mentors instead of one.

Life went on for a few moons. Emberpaw got up, trained, hunted, ate, and slept. Soon he was bigger even than Aspensky, though that wasn't quite hard. His mentor-turned-friend wasn't exactly the biggest cat around.

On a day like any other, the two of them were out in the mountain. They were attempting to flush a rabbit out of a bush when a shadow on the rocks made Emberpaw look up. An eagle was already flying at them. No, not at them. At Aspensky. He didn't have time to call out a warning, it was already too close. He didn't even think. He just yelled and pushed her out of the way.

Then all he knew was pain, and everything went dark.

He woke days later with half of his face covered in cobwebs. His parents both cried when the Clan realized he would live. Aspensky thanked him for saving her life, and Rainfall said she was indebted to him. All of the attention embarrassed him, and Emberpaw simply told everybody he did what anybody would have done.

The leader said it wasn't what anybody would have done. It was what a warrior would have done. He said that as soon as he was well enough, they'd have his warrior ceremony right away. Emberpaw was walked to the Jagged Rock with both Aspensky and Rainfall on either side of him. He was named Embereye, in honor of his sacrifice and so every cat would know his heroism.

It took a bit of time before he was used to having only one eye. He had to relearn everything. How to hunt, how to fight, even how to get around. Luckily he had friends to help him along. Aspensky and Rainfall helped him just as much as they used to, and even his parents worked with him to get his skills back to where they were before.

He must have proved himself, because he was given an apprentice at age 20 moons. Vinepaw was her name. She was the shyest, quietest cat Embereye had ever met. It was obvious within the first couple of days that his scars and lack of an eye scared her. He was careful to always stand on her right so she'd only see his uninjured side.

He was proud of her when she finally worked up the courage to look at his whole face and not shy away. She asked how it happened, and Embereye told her the story. He finished it up by saying that if Aspensky asked, he told Vinepaw that Aspensky had hid behind him the entire time and begged for him to save her.

He dared a wink, hoping the attempted gesture was clear through his body language and he hasn't destroyed the itty bitty progress they had made. Instead, Vinepaw giggled. The rest, as they say, was history.

They became good friends, though perhaps not quite as close as Embereye and Aspensky. When the time came for her to become a warrior, she took the name Vinecloud, for her soft nature. Embereye made sure she knew that this wasn't the end of their friendship. The bond between mentor and apprentice wasn't something so easily erased.

A rumor started soon after, that the current deputy was going to retire. Embereye and Aspensky were bantering on who they thought the new deputy could be. Embereye said it should be Eaglecry. He wasn't as close to his parents as he'd been in his youth, but knew they were both good warriors who could expect to be made deputy.

Aspensky insisted he was just being biased. There was no doubt that they were good warriors, but a deputy had to be more than a good warrior. They had to be a potential leader too, someone the Clan could look to in times of trouble and trust them to guide them through. Who knew the value of weakness beside strength and knew when to push as well as pull back.

Vinecloud broke in with a surprisingly confident voice. "Embereye. Embereye should be the new deputy." The statement shocked him into speechlessness which turned into embarrassment when the few cats listening on nodded in agreement.

Apparently the leader agreed. Just a few days later, the deputy retired and Embereye was named in his place.

To his surprise, Embereye took to being deputy like a duck to water. He'd spent so much time watching everybody he knew who to put together to get the best results. Warrior A got along with Warrior B, but their apprentices barely tolerated each other, let alone being friends. Putting them together was just asking for trouble. Meanwhile, Tom A was in love with She-cat B. Also not conducive to to being productive, but in this case he wouldn't mind.

Leaderstar's death came as a blow to everybody. Nobody was expecting it. They weren't young, but they weren't old either. Ot had been either a freak accident or an act of StarClan. There had been a landslide that had taken whatever lives they'd had left.

Embereye mourned alongside them all, but left with the medicine cat come morning. He left as Embereye and returned as Emberstar.