Batwing

"You should follow your heart. Nobody defines you but yourself. You may lose some good friends, sure, but if you are not happy with where you are, why should you stay and make yourself more miserable?"
== Description ==
a grey-based tom-cat with a dark grey dorsal stripe running from his forehead to his tail tip. he has dark grey ears, white toes and amber eyes. scars: a gash on his right side and bite marks on his right shoulder.
== Personality ==
​bat is your run-of-the-mill everyday loud young feline who loves spreading cheer everywhere he goes. he can be pretty gullible at times but is mostly seen as over-apologetic. once you get to know him, he becomes a really loyal friend and is actually pretty quirky. he can be jumpy one moment and totally chill the next.
== History ==
born to featherstrike and shadowfrost with his three sisters; riversong, pebblefrost and honeystep. he was the result of a forbidden relationship between a thunderclan she-cat and a shadowclan tom. the two hadn’t meant to have kits, but when it happened, shadow turned his back on feather and never spoke to her again. this drove the once proud she-cat to become rather secluded. but she did not give up on her kits, always trying to be strong for them. honey was a little more perceptive about this and became reserved like her mother. bat grew up fairly well without a father figure and was closest to river and pebble. later it would be discovered by a close friend of feather’s that shadow had died in battle, oblivious to his ties to thunderclan. despite his strange past, bat didn’t let any of it hinder him and his growth. he was a very rambunctious kitten and always was the center of attention, by default. he never let anyone be a stranger to him, sticking his nose into everyone’s business, if only to make them feel wanted by someone. it was as if he were making up for his lack of a father figure by being as friendly to others as he possibly could. from his kithood he was known for being a little too loud and half the time he had to bend over to apologize for scaring away the newborns.
when he became an apprentice, he was assigned to clawfang. the tom was a good warrior and taught him to be wise. he grew attached to the tom and considered him like his adopted father, for he gave him the best advice that he needed whenever he was in doubt. bat stuck by claw as much as he could, and perhaps maybe a little too much at times, but the older male never complained. bat continued to be adventurous in his apprenticeship and was the first to volunteer for patrols, no matter what the time was. he was even that solitary kid that didn’t mind being tasked to tick duty, for he got to spend time with the wise old beasts of thunderclan. despite being loud and rambunctious, he never once got in trouble during his training days. 
he was named batwing for his pelt and swift paws. he earned his first apprentice, falconflight, around the age of fifteen moons. he did his best to teach his first apprentice, and he believed that things went well. he became a little distant near the end of falcon’s training, as his mother’s life was claimed by old age. he spent more time then with his siblings as much as he could, as he felt that they needed some kind of solitary support that they had lost with their silently grieving mother. even though they all knew that she was in pain, she never once let in on it. honeystep later followed her mother’s footsteps.
what came as more of a shock to bat was around december 19, 2018, fuzzystar appointed him as thunderclan’s deputy. he accepted despite being content as a warrior, figuring that his mother would be proud of him that he was highly regarded by his leader. the open path called out to him and he figured that he might be able to make something of himself if he tried it out. he earned his second apprentice during this time, flurrybounce. 
around the same time, bat happened to meet a young shadowclan warrior by the name of dovespot. she appeared lost and confused with her life and he was drawn to her. he wanted to help her out, much like he would do for his own clanmates. with his guidance, she soon figured herself out and left her birth clan to become a loner. 
it was around march 10, 2019 that fuzzystar would step down from his position as leader, claiming that his life was too busy and unkempt from the task of leading a clan. and thus batwing became batstar. he tried his best to lead thunderclan after the spontaneous decision made by fuzzyoak. he appointed his deputy, lostsong, on april 16, 2019. the cat eventually died during the yellowcough sickness and he was left without a deputy for another stretch of time. river and pebble’s lives were also claimed during the yellowcough sickness, driving bat into depression. he then appointed orangeblossom as his second deputy around the middle of june, needing some help in keeping both his clan and himself together. 
the former shadowclan warrior, dovespot, came looking for batstar soon after, making things a little hectic for the leader after he had recovered from his strife. he didn’t know what to do; accept her or turn away from her again. he didn’t want to make any more mistakes, as he felt that his entire path was one big mistake. he was fumbling all over the place and even after having orange by his side, he still couldn’t seem to pull himself together. perhaps he had been too young to be thrust upon a position such as this. he had figured out that after spending time with her he had fallen in love with her. but because he was the leader of thunderclan, he couldn’t just put himself out there like that. he didn’t want what had happened to his mother happen to him as well. even though he doubted that dovespot would do that to him, he didn’t want to risk it. he also didn’t want to be a contradiction to himself; for he didn’t advocate towards forbidden loves, even if dove was just a loner.
soon the weight of being leader and having to deal with dove became too much for him. he was no longer himself, his old rambunctious and free-spirited self has been washed away by the duties of being a leader. he felt that it was not his place to lead a clan and that it had made him into something that he didn’t want to be. had it happened at a time that he was more stable and older, then things might not have turned out so bad. but that had not been the case this time around. therefore, he decided to step down from leader on august 2, 2019, and go back to being a warrior again. once he no longer had all that weight and pressure on his shoulders he felt like he could breathe again. that he could finally be himself and not have to worry about all the rules and regulations that a leader had to uphold. he almost cursed himself for accepting fuzzystar’s offer all those moons ago, but he allowed himself to forgive. it was a learning moment and one that he would never forget. 
after he had finally been relieved of his duty to the entirety of the clan, the tom-cat set out to find dovespot who had decided to join thunderclan to be with him. he had requested that she join a clan so that she would not get injured by the sadistic rouges wandering around fourtrees where she had been staying. upon finding her, she seemed a little wary around him, as if his demotion was some sort of sign that she should not trust him. he was unaware of this tension at first and immediately asked her to be his mate, something that he felt he would not have been able to do had he still been leader. however, she rejected him and he became suddenly aware that he had once again made a huge mistake. he seemingly couldn’t get away from these life-changing mistakes.
in an attempt to start over fresh, he and dove went out on a hunting patrol with two other clanmates. it would have been an otherwise normal day save for the fox that attacked them. bat protected dove, taking the hits that the fox threw at them because she had been unaware that the fox was running towards her. they managed to escape, but bat suffered heavy injuries. he did not regret taking the blows for dove however many times that she apologized to him. he vowed that he would take them again and again, even if it cost him his life the next time. during that time, his third apprentice, applebounce, was killed by a monster while on another hunting patrol. he wasn’t necessarily close with the feline, but he still felt a pang of sadness that the cat had not been spared. 
his fourth apprentice, fallenleaves, also fell victim to a monster several moons later. he wished he had somehow prevented the accident from happening, just like it had been done with apple. he was granted his fifth apprentice, moorpaw, soon after. he hopes to be a better mentor now that he doesn’t have to balance so many tasks to keep things stable. 
even though he is no longer seeking a future with dove, he has forgiven the she-cat and started over as friends. it is unknown to either of them if they will be able to cross the drift that was created between them. he was able to forgive himself and her all thanks to emberstrife who helped him understand his own worth. he is grateful for his newfound friend and hopes that he does not somehow mess things up between them as he seems to do a lot on accident. he’s still learning. 
== Relationships ==
((just relations that have been rped; excluding family))
=== 🌹 love ===
* n/a
=== 🌸 crush ===
* open
=== 🌻 family ===
* featherstrike [mother] : n/a
* splashdaple [adopted-mother] : neutral
* shadowfrost [father] : n/a
* riversong [sister] : n/a
* pebblefrost [sister] : neutral
* honeystep [sister] : n/a
=== 💐 friends ===
* dovespot : questioning
* emberstrife : likes; curious
=== 💮 acquaintances ===
* cherryheart : neutral
* shadowhunter : suspicious; neutral
* moonpaw : neutral
* rosefern : neutral; curious
* stormlily : confused
=== 🥀 enemies ===
* n/a
== Ceremonies ==
"Ah, alright. Thanks for letting me know." Batstar mewed, nodding. "Pardon me, I have to go do a ceremony thing." The tom-cat moved out from the den and into the clearing, bounding towards the highbranch. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join me beneath the highbranch for a clan meeting!"
Flurrypaw looked up, having sat byt he nursery before she moved over to sit under the highbranch.
Batstar looked down at the gathered cats (and then some), looking specifically for Flurrypaw. When he'd found her, he flicked his tail. "Flurrypaw, would you please step forward."
The molly Glanced over to Lostsong with a smile before she heard her name, ears pricking up gently before she stood and stepped forward, looking up at her mentor.
"I, Batstar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Flurrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
The mollys eyes widened and her face lit up, nodding at him "I do I do!!!!! I-i mean-" she cleared her throat and raised her muzzle up "I do."
"Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Flurrypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Flurrybounce. StarClan honors your [virtues here], and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan." Batstar bounded down from the highbranch and placed his muzzle on the top of his former apprentice's head. "Eat something, rest up, and your first vigil is tonight. Meeting dismissed!" He flicked his tail.
The molly smile and she flattened her ears gently as he rested his muzzle on her head, the molly shaking with excitement "THANK YOU BATSTAR" she exclaimed to him.
== Facts ==
* his mother, featherstrike, was born in thunderclan
* his father, shadowfrost, was born in shadowclan
* he's known for being loud and bouncy as a kit
== Other ==
​ persona ➝ enfj-t
likes ➝ running; jokes
dislikes ➝ tension
fears ➝ abandonment/separation
strengths ➝ cheerfulness
== Quotes ==
"You don't have to tell me about your thoughts, but just know that your secrets are safe with me. I won't jeopardize your situation just to get myself ahead. I'm not like that."
"It's better to create memories to keep than to miss out on something great."
"I'm implying that you should do what you think is best for you. This isn't about what others might think. It's about what you think. Nobody can run your life for you."
​"I don't really care for being a leader of a clan. I was surprised to even be called up for deputy. But if it's something that Starclan deems is on my path, then I'll continue on as far as I can."
"I know it seems hard right now. We're all lost and confused. But if you just keep faith in Starclan that they will come back and speak with you, then it will happen. Worrying over something that you cannot control will only stress you out more. Go outside, take a walk, breathe. Clear your head if you need to. The clan is doing well for once. It's okay to take a break for yourself. You have to have yourself situated before you can successfully take care of others."
"Why give up your freedom? It's not worth that. You made your decision. Why must you torture me? What do you gain from this? You might leave again. And where would that leave me... I can't play your games. It either you mean it or you leave. I can't have a paw in both worlds, as neither can you. If you so choose to stay, you cannot leave. But I don't want to burden you, or hurt you. I can't..."
"I don't want to force you to be here, if it's not what you want. I'm okay. Pain makes us stronger. If you're not destined to be here, then I'll just have to accept that. But if you don't feel right by being here, I can't ask you to stay."
"It'll be hard on you if the other clans find out that Thunderclan's leader is with a former Shadowclan warrior. Do you think you'll be able to stand under the heat like I have to every day? That's why I want you to think over this carefully. I only want to protect you, I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"If you don't want to hunt with me then you can go back to camp. I was just worried about you because of your outcast status in our clan. Sorry if it's not my place to worry about my clanmate, I just wanted to help you smile. Seems like I failed before I even began."
"Only Starclan knows our true paths. Maybe we weren't meant to be together as anything more than friends. But we don't know that until we figure it out the hard way, because life never comes easy. Starclan isn't the type to just tell us what they want, they go about it in riddles."
"It's not in my control, but why worry over something like that? Honeystar isn't bad. You just have to get used to it. Times change, as do people. I regret being leader, to be perfectly honest. I miss my spirit as a kit. I don't know who I am anymore. ... I'm not who I used to be, I messed up after I became deputy. I dampened my true self just to fit in when I shouldn't have done that. What caused all this was me. Too bad you probably won't like me now."
"I don't know. I fear I made a mistake that I can't fix, and now you are bound here against your will waiting for something that might not happen. ... If you so choose to, you may leave. I no longer bind you here as I once did. Our paths may have crossed once, but perhaps it is not in our fate to be bound as one."
"It's alright. I would have done it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving you from danger. Stop faulting yourself. It's not something you had control over."
Category:Thunderclan
Category:Tom
Category:Warrior