♛ stormthroat of riverclan

STORMTHROAT ✻ RIVERCLAN

name

stormthroat

reasoning

as a kit, stormthroat was the largest of his litter, nearly twice the mass of his brother, raintail.  both kits were born during a fierce storm that was shouting thunder outside of the riverclan camp.  their mother, following both tradition and sentimentality, decided to name the smaller for herself and the larger for her mate.  thus, thunderstep and misteyes had stormkit and rainkit to succeed them, respectively.  storm was chosen for the burlier kit because of his thick, grey fur, while rain was given to the smaller for the blue tinge he held within his fur.  the suffix of his name, -throat, was given because of his skill of speech.  even as a youngster, he impressed most cats with the thoughtful, persuasive nature of his words, and this was a defining skill that he retained into adulthood.

age

36 moons

gender

tom

alliance

riverclan

rank

warrior

physique

short description

a large, well-muscled tom with striking orange eyes and thick slate-grey fur.

physical description

stormthroat dwarfs his brother raintail (and most other riverclan cats).  he must crawl on his belly fur in order to squeeze into the warrior's den each night.  a prime riverclan specimen; well-muscled, thick and shiny fur, and large paws built for pummelling water aside.  in the river, he is a force of nature himself; his gunmetal coat splitting the current as his gargantuan paws smash through the waves, tail strong and straight, steering him through the murk.   his claws are long and dark, and especially curved, perfect for hooking fish out of the shadowy waters.  his reflexes are lightning fast, his forelegs leanly build yet thick with strength, and his haunches round and powerful, able to leap entire catlengths.  however, he is not a completely extraordinary hunter or fighter; his build is too big and his bones to heavy to allow for much grace or agility in battle, and his stocky form is far from silent in the forest.  but in the river, there is none more suited.  add a dark grey nose, smallish ears (almost always pointed forward in assertiveness), and eyes as orange as sundown itself, and we have ourselves a warrior.

personality

positives

• assertive
• considerate of others
• natural leader
• fast-thinking
• rational

negatives

• stubborn
• judgemental
• egotistical
• rash
• unemotional 

the past

the history

in the golden days of greenleaf, of course, is kitting season.  cats of all clans take a rest from the bickering over prey and the threatening talk of war to retreat into their clan's inner machinations; all are respectful of the natural cycle as cats are prepared to welcome new future warriors into the clan.  kitted in a time of prosperity for riverclan, stormkit and his brother rainkit were both healthy, squirming kittens; rainkit named after his mother, misteyes, for the correlation of water and the colour of his blue-tinged pelt, and stormkit named for his father thunderstep, who shared the symbolism of the storm as well as the powerful physique, even though stormkit looked more like his silver-grey mother and rainkit took after the blue tinge of his father.  both kittens grew up healthy and strong, developing a strong bond with each other and play-fighting frequently, forging a sibling rivalry that would last into their adult years.  thunderstep hunted for and spoke to his kits frequently, instilling into both of them the importance of being a warrior who defends his clan, and the true meaning of being loyal to their own clan.  this instilled in stormkit the meaning of loyalty and a bias towards his own clan at a very young age.  rainkit, however, was closer to his mother, who encouraged kindness to all cats, not just riverclan.  stormkit always had a secret detest for his brother's "disloyalty", even prior to apprenticeship.  though their parents both loved them and encouraged their growth, and soon, both were ready to become apprentices.

stormpaw and rainpaw had different ceremonies.  their father insisted that stormpaw be apprenticed right at the eve of his sixth moon, while rainpaw had to wait an entire moon before his father realized the his smaller son wasnt getting any bigger.  rainpaw didn't exactly mind, given how attached to his mother he was, but he secretly envied his brother.  misteyes and rainpaw grew closer and closer as stormpaw and his mother grew farther apart, and while rainpaw was to be apprenticed by the young and inexperienced minnowtail, thunderstep insisted that he mentor stormpaw himself.  given that thunderstep was one of the most influential warriors in riverclan at the time, he got his way.  stormpaw and rainpaw were in constant competition with each other for prey, praise, size, tail length.  everything.  the rift that these competitive encouragements created between them did not split them apart, but rather drove them closer, obsessed with their climb to power and the brotherly bond they both shared.  one half-moon, when neither could sleep, both -paws had a tussle in the moonlit camp.  the desire to over power the other grew and grew; rainpaw was nimble with sharp claws and keen eyes, but stormpaw could swat him out of the air with one blow.  when the small blue tom made a dive for stormpaw's exposed belly, swat is exactly what stormpaw did.  the whole camp was awoken by rainpaw's cries of pain when stormpaw's blow descended onto the side of rainpaw's head, and the agile blue tomcat was left deaf in one ear from that day forward.  rainpaw took this as a sign of failure and permanent subordination towards his brother, and never challenged him again.  the two brothers seemed to get along surprisingly well after the incident; meanwhile, misteyes could never forgive stormpaw for injuring her favourite son, and thunderstep was appalled that his kit could not control his strength, his obsession with loyalty viewing the act of hurting another clanmate–even unintentionally–as blasphemy.  stormpaw and rainpaw's ceremony was uneventful and regular, and both received their warrior names with no more than a half-hearted lick from each parent before they were tossed into full-time clan duties.  and that's really where everything started to go bad.

as he grew, stormthroat payed more and more attention to the higher-ranking cats of the clan.  his father, being an incredibly influential warrior himself, taught stormpaw the importance of a cat's voice.  the yowl of tyranny, the mewl of helplessness, the battle cry of a true leader.  if there is nothing stormpaw remembered from his father except one thing, it was that a cat's voice is always their greatest weapon.  stormpaw was already and incredibly bossy apprentice, but once his father began teaching stormpaw of fair direction rather than dictatorship, stormpaw began to make many friends.  friends that respected him so much that they would do as he said if he asked them a favour, however rarely that may have been.  stormpaw, however, did not say or ask much of anyone.  this was due to his egotistical obsession with being wrong.  every word that came out of stormpaw's mouth had been thought over a hundred times and then a hundred more before the gunmetal tom decided it was fit for others to hear.  as he grew older, however, so did his parents.  his mother, being an older cat, decided to retire to the elder's den before her sons were warriors, and his father began developing a peculiar cough the winter before his ceremony.  all the while, his leader and deputy–and in fact, every cat–were absolutely astonished by the brazenness and thoughtful nature of this young steely cat.  sometimes he forgot his place, but many adults were impressed with stormpaw's natural alpha qualities.  rainpaw, meanwhile, was being regarded as more fish than cat.  his slippery nature in battle training rendered him one of the more capable fighters among the apprentices, but for some reason, rainpaw did not seem too happy about it.  in the summer of their ceremony, both their frail mother and greying father purred with pride as the two brothers were assigned their names:

"I, Flintstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn.

"Stormpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Stormpaw, from this moment you will be known as Stormthroat. StarClan honors your honesty and your forethought, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan.

"Rainpaw!  Do you also promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I d-do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Rainpaw, from this moment you shall be known as Raintail. StarClan honors your determination and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan alongside your brother."

and so the two brothers, throat to tail, were commendable.  they could stand side by side and say that they both made it.  and the very next night, that's what they had to do.  stand side by side, leaning on one another beside the pale body of their mother.  misteyes was a naturally frail cat, and the humidity of that greenleaf had proven to much for her inflaming joints.  her throat swelled and she could barely breathe.  thunderstep would pass away the following leaf-bare from a bought of greencough that had been with him, coming and going, for three winters past. suddenly the brothers were not as thrilled with each other anymore.  

both of them soured, raintail especially.  stormthroat stayed quite the same, and raintail to this day despises him for it.  but seasons passed, and riverclan is falling one by one to sickness and hunger.  stormthroat's nature will not allow him to grieve for so long.  he did not lie during his ceremony when he pledged his life to his clan, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to put his clan's weight on his broad shoulders, and carry them to safety, no matter what the personal or emotional cost.

about you

alias the warrior
timezone, state, and country EST, Ontario, Canada
other characters none