Aspenstar

Aspenstar is the leader of HorizonClan, the oldest and longest-reigning of all the current leaders. He is a renowned fighter and harbors a quiet resentment towards rogues. While he is a fine leader, albeit a tad less involved in Clan affairs than normal, he is generally perceived as being a bit of an oddball by cats outside of his own Clan. He is unusually passive and stoic for someone of his role. Some think he's intimidating due to it being near impossible to guess his thoughts while others think he lacks the necessary backbone for leadership. Nonetheless, he does his job adequately enough and earns the respect and loyalty of his warriors. Oh yeah, and he also killed 3 people that one time. But we don’t talk about that. It wasn’t his proudest moment.

## Relationships

### Kits

Featherpaw and Petalpaw (daughters, dead)

### Parents

Willowrain (mother, dead) and Grayfur (father, dead)

### Siblings

Peakpaw and Stonesnap (brothers, dead), Crowflight (sister, dead)

### Other Relatives

Alpinefeather, Lupinepetal, and Ambershine (They're not actually related, but he sees them as family. Kind of like his semi-daughter-grandaughters or something. I dunno), also Rumblerock and Jumproot (grandpas, dead), & Cottonhaze (aunt, dead)

### Friends

Frostroot and Snowbreeze (formerly his besties, but they died). He is very fond of Lavendersight too.

### Enemies

Currently no one, really, although he has a general dislike of rogues. He didn't like Darksplash when he was younger, either. And he was on awkward terms with Frostroot when he died.

## Appearance & Personality

### Appearance

Aspenstar is a very tall tom with a height of about 11.2 inches. He has a lean build that does not look particularly strong, but he can move shockingly fast even in his old age and packs maximal power behind every strike he dishes out. This paired with his aptitude for analysis and strategy make him one of the Clans’ most formidable fighters. His fur is long and silky and tends to hang down off his frame in places. It was soft and sleek when he was younger, but it has since dulled considerably and is tangled into knots and gnarls more often than not. He has long legs, a long and arcing tail, and long ears with tufts on the ends. He also has very long and curved claws. They’re thin, but extremely sharp. His mentor called them “stingers” once, which is the story behind his warrior name. He holds himself well and formally, although he stays reserved in his body language and his tail is never raised, only ever hovering a few centimeters off the ground. He rarely lets his feelings show on his face, preferring to wear a mask of neutrality at all times. He only lets this down around cats he fully trusts.

His pelt is mostly black classic tabby, broken up by patches of striped silver and markings of snowy white, most notably on his chest, tail, and the bridge of his nose. He has bright golden eyes that stand out against his dark fur and there is a V-shaped notch running down the center of his right ear from the tip to where it meets his head. There is also a small pink bite scar on the front of his throat, and directly across from it on the back of his neck is a larger and deeper set of bite marks. There is a very short and thin pink line running beneath his left eye just above the cheekbone and tracing down the side of his muzzle. The ear notch, neck scar, and cheek scar are from a fight with a group of rogues as a new leader and the throat scar is from an accident with a raccoon as a kit. It also pains him greatly to turn his head over either shoulder due to his neck injury, and when addressing someone or something to the side of him he will either not look at all or resort to side-eyeing. He is a master of the side-eye.

Also, I have given him long eyelashes. I just think that he deserves them. His wife was jealous.

### Personality

Pros: Honorable, faithful, steadfast

Neutral: Phlegmatic, reserved, self-controlled

Cons: Overbearing, overthinks things, holds grudges

I feel like it’s worth noting that he’s secretly kind of a saucebox. Maybe not anymore, but when he was younger at least, he was very quietly cheeky and puckish and his favorite thing ever was to just subtly mess with cats he didn’t like pfft. He had a serene little smirk that he would always be wearing while making some wisecrack remark, but no one ever rlly called him out on it, bc *surely* softspoken polite aspensting wasnt actually trying to insult them. he was. he just used his slight social ineptitude to his advantage and got away with shading everyone by letting them assume it was unintentional shsjdbfb. for the few cats who knew him well, it was one of their favorite things about him. he was funny, but in a way that not many recognized.

## Biography

### Kithood

-born in HC in july. youngest in a litter of 4. a bit runty in comparison to his siblings and tended to get kicked around a lot. only other cats in the nursery were darkkit (4 moons older) and his mom. unrelated to anything, but darkkit unfortunately had no dad bc he died in battle only a day before his mom realized she was pregnant. for the record he was also named after his dad (darkclaw). Rip.

-aspen’s parents were very young at time of his birth; his mom was only 18 and his dad was 19. They feared that one or both of them would be killed in the ongoing war and so they wished to have kits as soon as possible so that they had something left of themselves and each other.

-unfortunately, this caused problems. His mom had pretty severe preeclampsia. It was feared that it would affect her kits and believed that it would be a very difficult and dangerous birthing process. She was kept safely away from any battles and taken care of as well as she could be, though.

-incidentally, she went into labor at precisely the wrong time: during the major final battle at the end of war. She was still back in camp, of course, but the medicine cats had to be present on the battlefield and her mate was away as well, so she basically just had a really long and painful and scary labor with only the one other queen and probably a few young apprentices to help her. she almost died.

-she didn’t, though! miraculously, she and all four kits survived! and a couple of hours later, gingerstar led the rest of the Clan back and everyone found out that Duskstar was dead and the war was over and the Clans had won! and her mate was okay and got to meet his kits and everything was great! it was seen as a sign of good fortune! yay! high hopes for the whole litter!

-they were very undersized and weak, though. they had trouble feeding for the first few days and needed special help with that. they didn’t say anything to the Clan since everyone was so optimistic, but their parents and the medicine cats were kind of worried that they wouldn’t survive longer than a week- it seemed to be only through the mercy of StarClan that they’d even survived birth at all, because by all logic they shouldn’t have. because of this, the parents decided to postpone naming their kits until they were quite sure that they would make it.

-and they did! how about that! the kits got stronger over the next couple of weeks until they were able to feed normally and pretty much caught up to the progress of other kits their age! they were still quite small, but otherwise they were alright! at around one moon old, their eye colors began to come through, and their parents took this as a sign of promise. they finally named their litter: peakkit for the firstborn, crowkit for the secondborn, stonekit for the thirdborn, and aspenkit for the fourthborn.

To be refined and added to later lol. Just getting this all down for now.

1 moon- mc races; parents went so the kits are watched by their grandpas

4 moons- oac competition, dad goes n tells them all about it afterwards, the cool wolf elder dies :(

5 moons- raccoon incident, oac’s leader dies n is replaced by stemstar

### Apprenticeship

6 moons- hike, goes w family, orc’s leader also dies n is replaced by missingstar

9 moons- Peak & Gray die. also gingerstar, pebblestar is leader now w/ deputy cloudytuft, orc daylight, doesn’t go

10 moons- Lily, Frost, & Snow show up, yay friends

11 moons- Rumble dies, fc fishing, snow & frost & his siblings go but lily stays home w him <3, the orc medic gets exiled for poisonings

12 moons- fails assessment good job idiot

### Warrior Life

13 moons- passes assessment, stonesnap moves to FC, mc races, goes with friends n lily makes him participate, he sprains his paw bc it’s been a rainy slippery season L bozo

16 moons- oac battle competition, he goes w friends and does super well

18 moons- hike, fun time w friends

21 moons- orc daylight, goes n goofs off w friends

23 moons- fc fishing competition, messes around w friends, lets crow n stone be their own team

25 moons- mc races, doesn’t go this time bc he didn’t like the last one much lmbo, snow stays back w him this time bc lily did enjoy it

28 moons- oac battle competition, he goes n actually wins the thing omg good job dude

29 moons- mentor to hawkpaw, has an awkward time bc hawk’s buddy owl is mentored by crow

30 moons- frost notices that asp likes his sister. he’s mad about it, hike again, its awkward bc frost is miffed, he also kills a fox bc it was mean to his apprentice, a bit dramatic but good job i guess

31 moons- starts getting into a few actual fights w frost oof

32 moons- has a moment w crow, they actually get along now omg good job, things get worse w frost tho

33 moons- frost ragequits and leaves hc L, orc daylight gathering, goes n has cute moments w gf

34 moons- becomes mates w lily, snow follows frost to oac (but on good terms this time)

35 moons- hawkbright warrior, becomes deputy, decides not to go to fc fishing

37 moons- mc races, he goes w lily but doesn’t participate

### Leadership

40 moons- becomes leader, not too thrilled abt it, makes crow deputy, oac competition, doesnt go

41 moons- snow is pregnant in oac good for her

42 moons- hike, lily bullies him into going w her, crow, & snow, mc’s leader dies, replaced by skystar

43 moons- lily convinces him to mentor irispaw

44 moons- stone’s mate gets pregnant in fc, snow’s kits born in oac

45 moons- irispaw dies rip, lilyspring is pregnant, orc daylight gathering that lily makes him go to

46 moons- orc’s leader dies again, replaced by lavenderstar

47 moons- ocean born in fc, goes to fishing competition (doesnt participate tho), finds out from snow that frost apparently also has newborn kits wooo

48 moons- kits born, lily dies, stone comes back, frost’s kits also born in oac, oac’s leader dies again, replaced by songstar

49 moons- mc races, doesn’t go

50 moons- snow dies (bad stomach virus)

51 moons- hawkbright bounces for oac, learns at gathering that snow’s mate also died

52 moons- oac competition, doesnt go

54 moons- stone dies (rogues- asp finds that odd, why are there rogues at the border?), hike (does not participate)

55 moons- frost + one of his kits dies (illness)

56 moons- the Incident, kills some rogues, 1st life lost, crow & feather dead, gets super protective of petal n kinda restricts what she can/can’t do, makes her mentor whisperfrost the new deputy in part just to keep her close, fc’s leader dies, replaced by ducksun

57 moons- orc daylight, doesnt go n is super anxious when petal does, makes whisper go with her lmbo, fc’s leader dies again, replaced by milkweedstar, a fc warrior gets exiled for murder

58 moons- petal dies after trying to rebel by sneaking through a lil tunnel she dug (it collapses on her), gets injured p bad trying to get to her

59 moons- fc fishing, doesnt go, another fc warrior gets exiled for hurting his kit

59 moons- loses 2nd life to aforementioned injuries

61 moons- mc races, doesn’t go

62 moons- willow dies (heart condition)

64 moons- larch + jump die, 3rd life lost (all greencough), oac competition, doesnt go

65 moons- the pines show up!!! asp is struck by their resemblance to his kids, so when they & ab try to hang out w him he lets them

66 moons- hike (does not participate)

68 moons- ab & pines appie’d, increased rogue activity on borders, asp is v unhappy n gets overprotective of the kids for like a day before backing down on it

69 moons- discusses rogue issue w lav, bond over dead children, orc daylight gathering, doesnt go

70 moons- mc’s leader dies again, then the deputy is murdered, replaced by clearstar

71 moons- plague starts, fc’s leader dies again, replaced by weepingstar

72 moons- loses 4th life to plague, keeps it quiet

73 moons- receives word that oceandusk died of plague, not happy about it. also loses 5th life to plague again & doesn’t say anything

74 moons- ab & pines warriors, names the pines after his daughters & amber for being a ray of sunshine omg <33

75 moons- loses 6th life to plague, reluctantly decides that if he gets it again he’ll say smth bc 3 lives remaining is in fact not a lot

76 moons- plague ends pog

78 moons- things open back up, first gathering, a little ticked abt lav being overthrown, a little disconcerted to learn that 2 orc cats were also exiled for murdering different rogues (in part bc he did the same thing x3 LMBO), hike (does not participate, but is v proud of ab & the pines <3), awkwardly interacts w shadowstep, thundersight freaks out at him after he offhandedly mentions losing 3 lives

79 moons- rogue war announcement, that sucks, but on the bright side lav joins hc !!

## Leadership Information

### Deputy Position

Preceded by: Cloudytuft

Succeeded by: Crowflight

### Nine Lives

1: Joy- granted by Peakpaw. Lost to some random rogues at 56 moons old.

2: Altruism- granted by Grayfur. Lost to various wound complications at 59 moons old.

3: Hope- granted by Cloudytuft. Lost to greencough at 64 moons old.

4: Forgiveness- granted by Darksplash. Lost to the plague at 72 moons old.

5: Love- granted by Cottonhaze. Lost to the plague at 73 moons old.

6: Confidence- granted by Gingerstar (?). Lost to the plague at 76 moons old.

7: Integrity- granted by Pebblestar. Still intact.

8: Honesty- granted by Rumblerock. Still intact.

9: Passion- granted by Horizon. Still intact.

## Other

### Trivia

-As random as it sounds, Aspenstar’s headcanon voice is Russel Stannard, an old British physicist who died last year. He just had that really deep but chill and fairly softspoken old voice, but he packed a lot of meaning into everything he said. Asp doesn’t have a British accent, though. He has an incredibly thick HorizonClan accent. To the point where plague-sheltered cats probably don’t understand a lot of what he’s saying lol.

- to be added to his biography bit later, but Lily, Snow, & Frost were 1 moon younger than him. He had his warrior ceremony alongside them after failing his first assessment the moon prior. He was alright with that- he liked them better than his siblings anyways.

- This is *also* just so I don’t forget to include it, but he was named Aspenkit for the way his yellow eyes contrasted with the black and white on his fur, like the leaves against the bark of an aspen tree. Peakkit got his name because the orange of eyes against his gray and white fur looked like the sun setting behind snowy mountaintops. They were both named by Willowrain, for the record. She was the poetic one. Grayfur just named Stonekit and Crowkit because they were gray and black. He also had names for Aspenkit and Peakkit in his head before their eyes changed, though, and they were Nightkit and Snowkit respectively. If they’d been named that, their warrior names would’ve been Nightstrike and Snowcloud. On a related note, Willowrain would’ve chosen the names Waspkit and Pigeonkit for Crowkit and Stonekit, in which case they would’ve been called Waspwing and Pigeonclaw. Alternative names my beloveds.

-Aspenkit was the smallest of his litter when they were born, but by the time they were adults he was the tallest. That’s only because Peakpaw died, though. If he’d lived to be fully grown, he would’ve been about 11.5 inches tall. Also, Peakpaw’s warrior name would’ve been Peakpounce if he’d lived.

-In the original RP, Aspenstar also had two sons named Smokekit and Weaselkit who died at birth, but I got rid of them because they were just… unnecessary pff. Peakpaw’s name was also originally Coldpaw, but I changed it because Coldpaw is cute but it sounds weird and I dunno why his parents would’ve named him that.

-While he always looked out for her at gatherings, he never actually interacted with Oceandusk before she died and he still feels a little bad about it. He never really made any effort to connect with Snowbreeze or Frostroot’s kits, either, although he formally spoke to Shadowstep for the first time during the recent hike. It was awkward, but not terrible. He might reach out to Brightnight and Fennelfoot in the future.

-Aspenstar has a habit of swiveling his ears to the sides of his head whenever he is in deep thought. Lilyspring used to tease him for this frequently, and now whenever he does it he thinks of her.

-He is one of the five active cats in the roleplay known to have killed someone, with the other four being Oatfoot, Goldthicket, Myrtlepelt, and Broken.

-His favorite prey is wood thrush and his favorite color is brown. He’s never had much of an interest in flowers, but lilies have been his favorite ever since he first met Lilyspring. More recently, he has also taken a liking to lupines.

-He also just really likes pine cones. He keeps them in his nest for no real reason along with a HorizonClan hike medal from Beestar’s reign (an heirloom from his father’s side) and a couple of old, withered lily flowers that Lilyspring had brought him once on a bad day. He’s had them for over three years now and there’s barely anything left, but he still holds on to them. There’s also a small wooden structure that’s intended to look like a squirrel, put together with bark and tree sap as an old present from his daughters. It’s fallen apart a little bit over time and has somehow become even more ambiguous, but it’s the thought that counts.

-Aspenstar can sleep with his eyes open. He normally doesn’t. He’s able to when he wants to, though. He used to do it on purpose to freak out his denmates as an apprentice. He found it amusing. They did not.

-Oddly enough, he’s really good at replicating birdsong. Specifically owls, but a few others as well. He and Lilyspring used to mimic birds at each other as a little inside joke a lot, and sometimes at night they would sit up beneath the stars and make quiet little euphonies only for themselves. Occasionally, while it’s dark, he’ll still go out to their old favorite spot on a mountain ledge near the outer border and he’ll chirp out a tune for her. He always comes back before dawn. As a young apprentice he & Peakpaw also used to sit outside the den at night and copy owls sometimes just to scare their denmates bc they hated them all and thought it was funny, but that’s beside the point lmbo.

-He has HCM from his mom’s side of the family. It’s what ended up killing her, and it’ll eventually kill him, too. Crowflight would’ve also developed it if she had lived long enough.

- When Aspenstar dies, he will revert back to his warrior name. He’ll just be known as Aspensting in StarClan. It’s always felt better to him. He will also opt to keep the scar on the back of his neck, and the flowers growing out of it will be rainflowers (atonement) and stinging nettles (protection through death).

-His love language is acts of service.

-He’s kind of scared of going to cat hell. He’s worried that he might. Because, y’know, he has the second highest body count in the entire RP right now. So………

-I’m reading through his old quotes. Why did I make him talk like that. Oh my goodness it sounds so obnoxious. I love it though. I’m keeping it.

-“Aspirinstar”

### Quotes

*“I fret an* appropriate *amount. I will have you know.”*

*“Love, to be perfectly frank, I would lose sleep wherever I was.”*

*“That is what happens to featherbrained cats who think that they are always right.”*

*“I fear for you. I am afraid. It is nearly Greenleaf; you ought to be well by now. Thawsun’s herbs keep you from coughing through the night, but I have heard you from across the camp during daylight hours. Pebblestar cannot keep me on patrols forever. The sounds that you emit, the manners in which you heave… it places me in mind of…”*

*“I fear for you, love. And I do not like the feeling.”*

*“You ought to have told me that you wished to stretch your legs. I would have gladly accompanied you during the day.”*

**Lilyspring:** *“You can doubt me as much as you’d like once* you’re *the one carrying a litter!”*

**Aspenstar:** *“Ah, so* that *is what you are doing. I must admit, I was growing suspicious; the fresh-kill pile has been quite low as of late.”*

*“I cannot bear to lose you.”*

**Aspenstar:** *“I want to bring [our kits] with me on patrols, and show them how to hunt. Well, perhaps I shall leave that last one to you.”*

**Lilyspring:** *“Oh, I dunno. I might still be busy teaching* you *how to do it.”*

**Aspenstar:** *“Be that as it may, they will be begging you for lessons soon enough, love. We can be sure of that.”*

*“I… I want to know who they are. Who they wish to be. The friends that they meet. The cats they fall in love with. Their hobbies. Their goals. I want them to know that I will be there, no matter what. I just want to watch it all happen.”*

*“What are you doing, love?”*

*"Let us hope that your first gathering as a leader goes smoothly, Songstar."*

*"Perhaps the loss will allow him to gain some maturity. But I wish it was not in this way. Someone like him should not have had to endure the pain of outliving his kits.”* - (referring to Milkweedstar)

*"I think I will stay here for a bit. You can go ahead and lead the rest of the Clan home. Those who would like to stay can.”* - (to his deputy at the end of a gathering)

*"The mountainous terrain along my border serves us well in that regard. It is difficult for untrained paws to traverse, and so I trust that it wards off many unwanted visitors. But OrchidClan has no such luxury. Therefore, I am guessing that the issue is much more pronounced in your territory, and as such must be dealt with more quickly.”* - (to Lavenderstar)

**Lavenderstar:** *"There must be a better solution."*

**Aspenstar:** *"Have you any ideas of your own?"*

**Lavenderstar:** *"Do you want the honest answer?"*

**Aspenstar:** *"That depends on what it is."*

*"It would be quite unfortunate if we were forced to end the peace that our founders strove for so long to ingrain in our culture. I have faith that such a deeply entrenched principle will not be uprooted by a mere gaggle of unruly outsiders. If this faith turns out to be misplaced, however, I am sure we will have far greater issues on our paws."*

**Aspenstar:** *"Again, Lavenderstar, I am deeply sorry for your loss. I have found that it is helpful to remember that they are okay, and they are with your other loved ones. You will not be separated from them forever. Therefore you must continue to do as best you can while you wait to see them again."*

**Lavenderstar:** *"That doesn't help the pain of losing your kits."*

**Aspenstar:** *"I know. Nothing does. The pain will never truly go away, but it will grow easier to bear with time. It is agonizing to even think about moving on, especially during the first several moons, but when it comes down to it, it is really the only thing you can do. But we each walk at our own pace."*

**Lavenderstar:** *"I... I just miss them so much..."*

**Aspenstar:** *"I take it you have grieved before. Each time you suffer a loss, the pain of it will gnaw at you, and nothing you do feels right. It is a terrible, heavy feeling, and it will cling to you like snow to the peak of a mountain. Yet as the seasons grow warmer, it will melt. I am sure that you are familiar with the experience as well. You know as well as I do that it is crucial to concentrate on the joy they brought during life, not the sorrow entailed by their departure."*

**Lavenderstar:** *"You know, don't you? You know what it's like to lose a kit."*

**Aspenstar:** *"Yes. But this is about you. It may be a long time before you feel the brush of their pelts again, see the glimmer of their eyes, hear the ring of their voices, or breathe in the familiarity of their scents. The only thing this knowledge ought to do, however, is make the moons you spent with them all the more cherishable."*

**Aspenstar:** *"Greetings. You are up quite early."*

**Lupinekit:** *"We are? Really?"*

**Aspenstar:** *"Unless I have finally gone senile, I do believe that is the sunrise."*

*"I do not intend to sound like an elder, but I think you should enjoy being able to sleep while you still can, little one.”*

**Amberkit:** *"The world outside is so big!"*

**Aspenstar:** *"You are only seeing a fraction of it, little one. This is but a drop in the lake."*

**Amberkit:** *"There's* more?!"

**Aspenstar:** *"Of course. Beyond the mountains and pines of HorizonClan, there are the rolling fields of OrchidClan and the lush forests of OasisClan. Past even that, MarshClan's moors and FallClan's waters are vast enough to be wondrous on their own."*

*“All is well. The sky shines brightly tonight.”*

*“Quite astute. I would like to stalk this bird along the neighboring branch. Each of the Clans is home to at least one elder who has experienced and dealt blows within the first war, yes? I urge that we consult them. Appeal to our elders for counsel. They have borne witness before to this storm; it stands to reason that they may recall the preceding winds.”*

*“Prior to each annual mountainclimb, we reconnoiter the surrounding region. We clear it of all threats, and ensure that it is secure. Spring’s skies are upon us now. A great many creatures will be staking their claims upon the mountaintops— grizzlies and cougars, amongst many more. We cannot guarantee the safety of any cat who sets paw there under such conditions, let alone for a prolonged period of time.”*

*“Offer Hawkbright my regards.”*