Deerflame

Deerflame was a ShadowClan warrior under Dapplestar's, Frecklestar's, and Hopestar's leaderships from Reverse 2 through Twelfth Generations. He was born a kittypet, and trained unofficially under Quailpaw before joining the clan. His mentor was Beetlespots and then Brownpetal after her death. He mentored Flowerspots, Miraclemoon, and Robinsong. He was mates with Quailfoot and had two litters with her consisting of Sparrowkit, Whiskerkit, Covekit, and Redkit. He eventually retired to the elder's den and died eating from poisoned prey.

# Appearance

Short dark tortoiseshell tom with a red collar and a nick in his ear.

# History

Zachary was always an adventurous and mischievous kitten, often venturing far into Twolegplace and searching for the forest, although he always returned back home to his housefolk. It wasn't until he was older and stronger, over six moons, when he finally reached the forest. He heard rumors of forest cats, but he never thought he'd actually run into them until one day an apprentice named Quailpaw caught him trying to hunt a mouse on ShadowClan territory. She chased him away, but Zachary was too intrigued by the forest cats being real- and too pampered as a well-loved kittypet- to be scared of her. His curiosity and open-heartedness baffled Quailpaw, and despite her initial sharpness, the two found themselves meeting up often, where they would talk and play all night and Quailpaw would teach him how to hunt and fight as his 'mentor.'

It was when Quailpaw's brother, Hawkpaw, discovered them, that problems arose. The medicine cat apprentice was adamant that sharing 'ShadowClan secrets' with a kittypet was wrong and demanded his sister chase off that 'unwanted stray.' Quailpaw, although hesitant and regretfully, did, telling Zachary to never come back. At first, Zachary stayed away, moping in his housefolk's den, but then one day Quailpaw appeared at his window and begged for him to come join ShadowClan- that she missed him a lot and really liked him. Zachary said he couldn't just abandon his housefolk like that, but Quailpaw told him about SkyClan's old daylight-warriors and said if he proved himself to the clan perhaps he could become a daylight-warrior. Zachary agreed and they set off for ShadowClan.

Convincing Dapplestar to let Zachary join was near impossible, but her daughter and deputy, Frecklespeckle, was intrigued by Zachary's determination, and convinced her mother to let Zachary join under a 'trail period.' Zachary wanted to keep his kittypet name, and was apprenticed to Beetlespots, Quailpaw's mother. Beetlespots was stern and harsh on Zachary, but soon developed a soft spot for the cheerful kittypet, accepting him as a clanmate.

Life wasn't easy as a daylight-apprentice, though. Most of his new clanmates refused to let him eat any fresh-kill, stating he had plenty of kittypet slop to eat. Hawkpaw treated him horribly most of all, actively trying to convince and pressure him into leaving the clan and staying for away from Quailpaw. Another apprentice, Twigpaw, was mean to Zachary as well, although she never attempted to undermine him like Hawkpaw. Some nights, Zachary would sleep in camp, and return home the next day to greet his housefolk, who were only growing more and more concerned and trying to stop Zachary from leaving the den at all. But Zachary persisted despite it all.

Slowly, he stopped sleeping inside his housefolk's den, knowing they'd only lock him inside. Instead, he greeted them at a distance, although it broke his heart. He even brought Quailpaw and their best friend, Dewpaw, along with him to meet his twolegs. One day, though, when with Quailpaw and Dewpaw, he noticed traps. He realized exactly what their purpose was too late when he entered one and was trapped- his housefolk planned to keep him inside forever! He told Quailpaw and Dewpaw to get help, and Dewpaw ran back. It wouldn't be long before his housefolk realized they'd caught Zachary.

A patrol came to help right as his housefolk had snatched him and started to take him to their car, which he realized was because they intended to take him to the cutter's to take away his tomhood. Quailpaw had been trapped inside another cage, and the two were shoved into the car while the patrol attacked the twolegs but failed to stop them. The car drove off and the patrol set after them. They lost track of the car and asked a she-cat known as Unknown for help. She guided them (as well as creeped them out with ominous words and unblinking eyes) to the cutters, where the warriors made it just in time to attack the twolegs. They forced them to drop Quailpaw's cage, breaking it and allowing her to escape. But she didn't want to abandon Zachary like Silverspring and Frecklespeckle were willing to, and neither did Dewpaw, Beetlespots, nor Cloudtuft, so she rushed back into the car and dragged his cage out with the help of Beetlespots while the others distracted the twoelgs. They shoved the cage to the ground but had to work to open it. When they did, the warriors ran as fast they could, only for disaster to strike as Beetlespots was hit by a car when they crossed a thunderpath.

The traffic was too fast for them to retrieve her body, so the warriors left without her body. At camp, they mourned her, and some cats like Hawkpaw, Cloudtuft, and Dapplestar blamed Zachary for her death. But he swore that he would never enter twolegplace again, and that while he knew his twolegs were well-intentioned, in the end, they were nothing but destructive, and that the kittypet was no life for him. He requested a new name, and Dapplestar decided to give him one- Deerpaw. His new mentor was Brownpetal, a warrior with a sharp temper but surprisingly didn't care about Deerpaw's history. He hated him as equally as every other cat.

Deerpaw in the coming moons proved himself loyal to his clan, and soon he and his denmates had earned their names- Deerflame, Quailfoot, Hawkhollow, Dewfeather, and Twigclaw. While nervous, Deerflame decided to officially ask Quailfoot to be his mate, and was ecstatic when she said yes. In the next moon, Quailfoot was already expecting their first litter, and soon birthed one single kit after a difficult kitting. They named her Sparrowkit and loved her stronger than any other parents could. They were never prouder of her when she became an apprentice, often doting over her. They teased her about her obvious crush on Ashpaw, and spoiled her rotten when they could.

Moons went on and Deerflame became a respected warrior among on the clans, despite the red collar he kept around his neck. He mentored his granddaughter, Miraclemoon, and he and Quailfoot had another litter consisting of Redkit, Covekit, and Whiskerkit. His love for his family was never stronger, and he fought against the threat of BoneClan rogues as fiercely as any other ShadowClan warrior. When he and Quailfoot decided to move to the elders' den, the entire clan supported them and was happy to take care of the respected warriors. Quailfoot passed before him, dying in her sleep peacefully. He wasn't lonely or sad, though, knowing he'd soon meet her in StarClan. He met his end when he ate prey that had been poisoned by BoneClan rogues. He denied any herbs or treatments Wolfheart or Tigershine, the current medicine cats, tried to give him, saying his time had come and to use it on the younger cats who had a long life ahead of them.

He reunited with Quailfoot in StarClan, and they watched their kin happily from above.