Duskwish

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Art by Speed

## Description

Duskwish is a thin dark gray tom with long, wavy fur, a silver undercoat, a white throat, muzzle, and forepaws, and dark blue eyes. Due to stress, some of his darker fur has been graying.

## Personality

Duskwish is a caring and sentimental cat who may outwardly appear rather shy and skittish. He strives to do what's right and protect his clanmates, but he's often inhibited by fear as he doubts his own courage. He tries hard to appear put together and in control, though his inner turmoil can sometimes well up in emotion. Despite his insecurity and lack of experience, he is deeply committed, loyal and hardworking-- often to a fault, as he tends to overextend himself. When he's able to push past his worries, he can be easygoing and playful.

## History

Duskwish is the current deputy of CavernClan who has lived under Curlingstar's and Lynxstar's leaderships.

He was born in CavernClan to unknown parents along with his brother and sister, Cavepaw and Lambpaw, whom he was very close with. They loved to explore together, with Cavekit usually taking the lead. He and Duskkit would take turns guiding Lambkit, who was born blind.

As an apprentice, Duskpaw was mentored by Reefshine. He feared leaving childhood behind, but he took comfort in the hope that he and his siblings would always be together. Sadly, this wouldn't be the case, as Lambpaw and Cavepaw died suddenly of unknown causes. Duskpaw was devastated, and for a long time he struggled to overcome the fear and loneliness he felt in their absence.

During his youth, Duskpaw often found himself helpless in the face of danger. During the war with ReedClan, his first battle came suddenly when he and some of his clanmates were ambushed on a patrol. After running home to warn CavernClan, Duskpaw barely mustered up the courage to fight. He froze out of fear and was nearly killed by a ReedClan apprentice before Reefshine intervened. During a tense Gathering soon afterwards, he was attacked by another ReedClan apprentice who saw him as a vulnerable target, and Reefshine had to intercede once again. Despite his mentor's promise to protect him always, Duskpaw was determined to learn all he could from her so that he could one day defend himself and his clanmates.

Meanwhile, Duskpaw became close friends with Rockypaw, who helped him to feel more like his old self by taking him on adventures. Grateful for all that Rockypaw had done to support him, Duskpaw strove to do the same for his friend. After a badger killed Rockypaw's father Heatherskies, Duskpaw's pushed past his fear just enough to help Rockypaw avenge his death and drive the badger away. Duskpaw became a warrior shortly afterwards, earning the name Duskwish.

As a young warrior, Duskwish's courage was put to the test on numerous occasions. However, he was encouraged by his clanmates, especially Lynxstorm-- who, after becoming leader, appointed Duskwish as CavernClan's deputy. In disbelief, Duskwish was terrified at the thought of having so much responsibility in his paws, thinking he was the wrong choice; but Lynxstar assured him the opposite. Afraid of letting Lynxstar and his clanmates down, Duskwish worked hard to become the best deputy he could be.

Just as he was beginning to adjust, events quickly escalated for the worse. As if fighting one badger hadn't been enough, a whole stampede of badgers soon attacked the camp, devastating CavernClan. Duskwish survived with minor injuries, but was badly shaken. A short time later while wandering the territory alone, he was attacked and ruthlessly berated by a Glinting Claws cat named Titania, who accused him of cowardice when he tried to run away from her. As much as Duskwish tried to fight it, her scathing words still lingered in his mind, reflecting his own self-perception.

During this time, Duskwish got to know Foxswipe, who took great pleasure in spooking him. It wasn't long before Hazeygaze also joined in the fun. Initially very intimidated by them, Duskwish gradually opened up to the two she-cats, and they shared many laughs. They became very good friends, supporting one another through hard times. It was then that Hazeygaze shared with Duskwish that she was mates with GladeClan warrior, Birchhaze, before recently separating. Duskwish comforted her, vowing to keep her secret. Meanwhile, he and Foxswipe also consoled each other as they struggled with self-doubt. As the three grew closer, Duskwish had no idea that both she-cats had romantic feelings for him. They confessed their feelings at the same time, leaving Duskwish overcome with dismay. However, he realized that he also developed feelings for both of them. He loved them deeply, not wanting to hurt either one of them by having to choose. Unable to make a decision, he stated that he would need more time to think.

Following moons of hardship, Lynxstar began to act less like himself, deeply worrying Duskwish. The leader had secretly sought help from the Dark Forest, thinking StarClan had abandoned him and his clan; only Fallenstar of DustClan knew of this, and would try to stop the CavernClan leader. Duskwish was oblivious to this, though he began to take on more and more responsibilities as Lynxstar became more reclusive under the Dark Forest's influence. Despite reassurance from Lynxstar and his clanmates, Duskwish still grappled with feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, and unworthy of his position as deputy. Simply running away from it seemed tempting, but he was bound by his loyalty. And so he worked very hard, becoming restless.

All of this led up to the night that Lynxstar went missing. Duskwish immediately sent out several search parties, but their leader was nowhere to be found. Duskwish decided to lead a patrol to the Mooncavern and happened to run into a DustClan patrol on the way, led by Tangleburr. Coincidentally, the DustClanners were looking for Fallenstar, who had also gone missing. Upon their arrival to the Mooncavern, they stumbled upon a horrific sight: the bodies of Lynxstar and Fallenstar laying beside the pool, bearing evidence of bloodshed. The two deputies rushed over to find that Fallenstar's body was cold, lifeless and battle-scarred-- but Lynxstar's body appeared unscathed and was still warm, showing the faintest sign of life.

> Unbeknownst to everyone, the two leaders had killed each other after Fallenstar tried to stop Lynxstar from harnessing the Dark Forest's power. Armed with sharp claws, Lynxstar inflicted wounds severe enough to take away all of Fallenstar's remaining lives. Because Fallenstar had no claws, their only defense was to kill Lynxstar with a bite to the neck, but they only took one of Lynxstar's lives. However, as they entered the afterlife, Fallenstar used their power as a StarClan cat to banish Lynxstar's spirit to the Dark Forest, preventing him from ever waking up.
>
>

In a panic, Duskwish tried in vain to wake Lynxstar, but his desperate efforts failed. Distraught and dumbfounded as to what had happened, Duskwish and Tangleburr carried their leaders home. After returning, Duskwish sought help from Hawthornpaw and Goldenheart, but the medicine cats had few answers-- only that Lynxstar was still alive, but in a coma-like state. They knew that his time was ticking, as he likely wouldn't last long without food or water.

After several sleepless nights of watching over their leader, Duskwish noticed that under all of this stress, Hawthornpaw was acting strangely. When he tried to ask what was wrong, Hawthornstar's spirit took over Hawthornpaw and turned on Duskwish, nearly attacking him. However, Hawthornpaw quickly regained control and insisted to the terrified deputy that everything was fine, and seemed confused like nothing had happened. Duskwish dismissed the sight as a hallucination caused by lack of sleep, though he couldn't shake the feeling that something was really going on.

Soon Duskwish and Hawthornpaw were visited by Tangleburr, Joltstrike, and Sunpaw to get to the bottom of what happened and to take other measures to help Lynxstar. Tension rose during their discussion, and after closely inspecting Lynxstar's body and finding only a bite wound to the neck, Joltstrike said that the evidence pointed to Lynxstar killing Fallenstar out of cold blood. He suggested that Fallenstar took away one of Lynxstar's lives in defense, leading the CavernClan leader to get stuck in the Dark Forest (as according to legend, it had happened to others in the past). Duskwish and Hawthornpaw refused to believe their beloved leader was a murderer, and Hawthornpaw stated he would travel to StarClan to find out the answer once and for all-- and hopefully find Lynxstar's spirit, if he really was in the Dark Forest.

They all knew it could be dangerous to visit the afterlife if the two leaders had in fact been attacked by someone in StarClan or the Dark Forest. For this reason, Duskwish expressed worry for Hawthornpaw's safety and pleaded to go with him. Privately, the medicine cat apprentice revealed he had more strength and experience than Duskwish knew-- for he was Hawthornstar's reincarnation. Duskwish was shocked beyond belief and had trouble believing his story, but it made sense to him now why Hawthornpaw had been acting so strangely. Duskwish ultimately gave in and affirmed Hawthornpaw's courage while expressing his self-doubt of his own, and how he felt unready to deal with the possibility of having to go on and lead without Lynxstar. Hawthornpaw reassured Duskwish that he was underestimating himself and that everything would be fine.

The DustClan group all decided to come with Hawthornpaw and Duskwish to the Mooncavern and assist with the investigation, hopeful that it would reveal the truth to the CavernClanners-- and especially because Tangleburr needed to receive his nine lives. While Hawthornpaw, Joltstrike and Tangleburr visited the afterlife in their dreams, Duskwish and Sunpaw stayed awake in case they saw any signs of violence; that way, they would be able to wake them up before they could get killed in their sleep.

## Other Details

- He is Speed's 44th character on the server.

- Duskwish has always had a fascination for bugs and other tiny creatures-- especially snails, since they make him think of his siblings (when they were kits, they kept a snail as a secret "pet"). He also likes bees because he and Rockypaw "adopted" one when they were apprentices.

From left to right: Cavepaw, Lambpaw, and Duskpaw - Art by PaintReefshine and Duskpaw - Art by SpeedDuskwish with snail - [Meme-inspired] art by SpeedFox Wilde and Dusky Hopps - [Joke] art collab by Lily and SpeedDuskwish - Art by SpeedDuskwish - Art by SpeedFoxswipe and Hazeygaze spooking Duskwish - Art by SpeedDuskwish - 3D model by Speed