Cootstrike

> "*I came to give you a bit of advice Palepaw,” Cootstrike growls. “Don’t ever fall in love. It’s nothing but weakness. All of your blessings become curses the moment you test how thick the ice is.*"
> ― Cootstrike to Palepaw
>
>

## Education

### Mentor(s):

Leopardwing

**Cootstrike** is a short-furred golden brown tabby she-cat with green eyes.

## History

**Cootstrike** is a ThunderClan warrior born to an unknown ThunderClan she-cat and a rogue tom. She is Leopardwing's half-sister. She was born in The BloodClan Arc. Upon becoming an apprentice she was assigned to Leopardwing with the assumption that he'd be able to sympathise with her due to them both sharing rogue blood.

### The Tempest Arc

**Cootpaw** first shows up with Daisykit and Frostkit become apprentices, being the first to congratulate Daisypaw. She's scolded by Leopardwing after she ends up running over Frostpaw to get to Daisypaw.

Several days later, Cootpaw goes to talk to Frostpaw, noticing the tom sulking by himself. She asks him if he wants to do something fun, something that could get them in trouble, and Frostpaw hesitantly agrees after a bit of persuasion, and the two head out of camp together.

After walking through the territory, Cootpaw and Frostpaw arrive at the WindClan border, Cootpaw crossing it with no hesitation, stating that they were going to catch a rabbit on the moor. Frostpaw immediately grows hesitant at this, stating that they could get in a lot of trouble for stealing prey, though with a little more persuasion and taunting from Cootpaw, he grows indignant and follows her across. Not too long into their trek into WindClan territory, a rabbit runs past them, and Frostpaw and Cootpaw both give chase. When Frostpaw trips over a rabbit hole, Cootpaw either doesn't notice it or doesn't care, chasing the rabbit into the brush. She kills the rabbit and comes back to Frostpaw proudly. Cootpaw takes a bite from it, and though Frostpaw looks guilty about it, Cootpaw pushes him into also eating some of it as well. When they finish, they pause to groom themselves when a voice rings out nearby, and Cootpaw turns to see a black-and-white rogue she-cat teasing them for trespassing. Cootpaw argues that she shouldn't be on WindClan territory either. When Frostpaw tells her to shut up and stop picking fights, bringing up that her attitude had to be the reason Leopardwing disliked her, Cootpaw is clearly hurt, but she can't think about it for long due to Mapleleaf arriving, having been looking for herbs. She snaps at them to go back to camp, and Cootpaw and Frostpaw both head back quickly.

When they arrive back at camp, Cootpaw tries heading to the apprentice's den, but Wolfstar calls her and Frostpaw over before she can. While Frostpaw manages to keep a straight face, Cootpaw actually looks guilty when heading over to Wolfstar. Cootpaw is honest when she explains what she and Frostpaw mostly, but she lies about crossing the border, claiming that the rabbit had crossed into their territory. Wolfstar doesn't believe it due to them both smelling of WindClan scent, and Cootpaw tries to get Frostpaw to say something due to Wolfstar liking him, but he says nothing. When Wolfstar punishes them both by putting them on watch and only letting them leave camp with their mentors, Cootpaw seems horrified due to her relationship with her half-brother. When told to go back to the apprentice's den, Cootpaw runs into it.

### The Afflicted Arc

In the moon that passes after this, Cootpaw's mischievous nature grows worse, and her more jaded personality begins to appear, clearly seen when, while talking to Frostpaw in the apprentice's den, she brings up how, instead of disappointed, Wolfstar had been proud when finding out they'd stolen WindClan prey. She claims that the other clans are weaker than ThunderClan and that they'd been leeching off of ThunderClan, making it okay to steal their prey. Frostpaw grows confused but Cootpaw insists that she's telling the truth, and then decides that they should go out hunting again, thinking they'd get their warrior names early if they did. Frostpaw doesn't think it's a good idea, and Cootpaw guilts him into coming with her anyways, using Daisypaw's hostility toward Frostpaw as a weapon. When Daisypaw interrupts them and asks Cootpaw what they were talking about, Cootpaw simply says that she was telling Frostpaw how Daisypaw would become a warrior before him if he didn't work harder in battle training. The guilting seems to work, however, as when Cootpaw leaves the apprentice's den, Frostpaw races after her, telling her he'd go with her as long as they didn't cross the border again, and they leave camp a day later.

Once out of camp, Cootpaw races Frostpaw to the Ancient Oak, though she pauses halfway when catching WindClan scent. She freezes, noticing Palepaw searching for herbs ahead of them. She grows incredibly angered, claiming to Frostpaw that she was right in that the other clans were stealing from them, and before Frostpaw can stop her she runs forward and attacks Palepaw, biting her shoulder. Palepaw stuns her by clawing her nose before running off, and Cootpaw ignores Frostpaw's pleas for her to stop, chasing after the apprentice.

Cootpaw chases Palepaw to the lake and onto it's frozen surface, making the ice crack a little under her from how heavy she was making her pawsteps. She knows Palepaw won't go any further on the ice and growls at her, raising a forepaw to claw the apprentice's face, though before she can strike her, Twistedtail, who had spotted them on the ice from WindClan's side of the lake, barrels into Cootpaw, sending her skidding across the ice. Before Twistedtail could do anything else, though, as Cootpaw got to her paws, the ice cracks again and breaks this time, sending Twistedtail plummeting into the icy water. Before Frostpaw can attempt to jump in to save him, Cootpaw rushes over and pulls him back, insisting that he'd drown. She tells Palepaw to leave before heading back to shore stiffly, ignoring Frostpaw's comment on how Wolfstar would likely kill her.

Once back in camp, when Wolfstar begins to head over to ask them what happened, Frostpaw suddenly turns on Cootpaw, clawing her muzzle and snapping at her before he stalks off into the apprentice's den. Cootpaw, shaken, goes to the medicine den and refuses to speak when Mapleleaf asks her what happened, simply letting the medicine cat heal her wounds. When she finishes, Cootpaw goes to Wolfstar and explains what happened, being completely honest this time.

A moon or so later, it's not only been implied that Cootpaw had been improving steadily as an apprentice, but Leopardwing also mentions her possibly having matured since the incident on the lake. Cootpaw is seen laying beside Frostpaw, the two having made up after the incident with Twistedtail. Frostpaw pushes his face against her pelt and the two both purr and share tongues.

After passing her assessment, Cootpaw becomes **Cootstrike** along with Smokepaw and Firepaw. She's named for her forthrightness and her skill in battle.

Two days later, on the night of the gathering, Cootstrike expresses disdain toward Wolfstar even when Frostpaw mentions that she allowed him to go, which angers Frostpaw, though he doesn't comment much on it. At the gathering, Cootstrike expresses pride when her name is called in congratulations. Once the announcements end, Cootstrike sneaks Frostpaw off the island to go to Horseplace. They giggle about how much trouble they could get in if Wolfstar caught them, though Cootstrike states that they weren't doing anything wrong, just talking. Frostpaw expresses how happy he feels when around Cootstrike. She verbally fantasises about starting their own clan, with Cootstrike leading and Frostpaw being her deputy. Cootstrike also asks Frostpaw if he'd be the father to her kits someday, a question that makes Frostpaw visibly nervous, stating that they had plenty of time to consider that. Cootstrike then states that it was what she wanted to talk about, having kits, and Frostpaw states that when he became a warrior he'd consider it then, but makes it clear that he didn't want to have them as an apprentice. That makes Cootstrike begin to pressure him subtly, which makes Frostpaw grow angered, making it clear that he wouldn't have kits at his age despite Cootstrike's claims that he was old enough. As Frostpaw continues to refuse, Cootstrike suddenly brings up that she had been talking to a kittypet, making it clear that if Frostpaw didn't give her kits, the kittypet would. This shocks Frostpaw, who asks her if she was leaving him, and Cootstrike makes it clear that she knew he'd have kits with her because he needed her. She states that she knew he'd come back to her regardless of what she did, enraging Frostpaw, who makes it clear that if she went to the kittypet, that they were through. Cootstrike responds by threatening to expose Frostpaw's nightmares and tell the entire clan how dangerous he was. Throwing her head back in triumph, Cootstrike doesn't realise that Frostpaw had lunged for her before it was too late, sinking his teeth into her throat, tearing it open. Cootstrike collapses and bleeds out, dying before Frostpaw's eyes.

The next time Cootstrike appears, she's in StarClan, having visited Palepaw during the half-moon medicine cat meeting. She tells her to never fall in love, revealing that she knew about Palepaw's feelings for Minkspots. When Palepaw changes the subject to ask what happened to Cootstrike, Cootstrike answers honestly, telling her that Frostpaw had killed her and that ThunderClan was harbouring a murderer in its ranks.

## Personality

Cootstrike is, at first, during her kithood and early apprenticeship, described as a chaotic she-cat with a mischevious air to her, having a love for pranks, and is known to unintentionally be a bully toward others. As she got older, however, Cootstrike began to bully others intentionally and her mischievous nature turned into a manipulative one, shown purely at first when she tricks Frostflame into believing that ThunderClan was the most superior clan and that other clans relied on them for survival. She shows very little remorse for most of her actions, having only shown remorse likely after causing Twistedtail's death only because she thought she might get in trouble if she didn't. She manages to get Frostflame wrapped around her own tail due to her silver tongue, and when they get together it's unknown if she truly loved him or not.

After getting into a relationship with Frostflame, her manipulation didn't end, shown purely at the Gathering that occurred just after she became a warrior, when she led Frostflame away into Horseplace just to try and manipulate him into having kits with her, which ultimately caused her own demise when her pushy nature got the best of her and got her killed by his own claws. She's also been shown to be snide and rude to others, especially Daisybreeze.

## Relationships

### Leopardwing

Cootstrike and Leopardwing didn't get along very well, the two often getting into arguments when she was younger. Cootstrike viewed Leopardwing as arrogant as well, and unlike Leopardwing, who still cared for his sister despite their disagreements, it's unknown whether Cootstrike truly cared for him or not.

### Frostflame

Though Frostflame truly loved Cootstrike, it's heavily unknown if Cootstrike harboured the same feelings back, simply being with the tom because how easy it had been to manipulate him into doing what she wanted. Cootstrike was more interested in using Frostflame for her own gain than anything else, which, in turn, caused her own demise when she attempted to manipulate him into having kits with her.

### Daisybreeze

Despite originally having some liking for Daisybreeze when she was much younger (Though it's wondered if Cootstrike was simply acting like she liked her at the time), Cootstrike slowly, as Daisybreeze progressed as an apprentice, began to bully and act rude to Daisybreeze, whether done to make Frostflame dislike her as well or just out of fun being unknown.

## Kin

### Members

**Mate:**

* Frostflame (formerly): Deceased, verified StarClan member

**Half-Brother:**

* Leopardwing: Living

## Quotes

**Frostpaw:** *“Why are you asking me?”*

**Cootpaw:** *“Because you look bored. And being an apprentice is no fun if you don’t get in trouble.” -*Cootpaw to Frostpaw about sneaking out of camp.

*"She was! She just couldn’t say so in front of the clan. The truth is all the other Clans are weak, and have been leeching off ThunderClan since the clans came to the lake! Haven’t you been listening to Volefang’s stories? That’s why it’s ok to take their prey."* -Cootpaw to Frostpaw about the other clans.