Borageroot

## Physical Description

Borageroot is a solid cat, as unmovable as one of the cliffs. In his younger days, this was all muscle, but that has definitely faded through the moons. His fur is a rich chocolatey brown and, though short, it is incredibly thick. His front right paw is a lighter shade of sandy brown. He has soft orangey amber eyes that still look young and he has a thin scar across his nose.

## Personality

Borageroot loves kits. He is a true storyteller at heart and always seems to know just what story you need to hear. Ever since his mate's death, there has been a sad, haunted look in his eyes that doesn't ever truly vanish. He often acts grumpy on kits' first trip to the elders den, as that's what they're expecting and he's always been a bit dramatic.

Mostly, Borageroot just chills. He doesn't let his sadness hurt other cats and is very relaxed. He has a very calming presence and even the grouchiest of cats can find something to like about him. If you're having a bad day, go talk to him. He's happy to help.

## Life

### Kithood

Boragekit was born in TorrentClan at the start of one of the worst leaf-bares the Clans have ever seen. It was the first time he saw snow. Boragekit didn't like snow. His parents, Cardinalmoon and Stemspeck, were very sweet cats, though Stemspeck had a weak immue system and was sick pretty much the entire winter. Cardinalmoon took little Boragekit to see his father in the medicine den as often as she could.

When he wasn't hiding from the snow in the nursery or visiting his sick father in the medicine den, Boragekit practically lived in the elder's den. He listened to story after story and even made up some of his own. He adored the elders of the Clan and often brought them fish in exchange for another day of stories. When he was three moons old, Cardinalmoon even let him stay the night in the elders den one time.

When Boragekit was roughly four moons old, leaf-bare finally ended. He found that the outside world was far more pleasant when it wasn't covered in snow. While he still spent a lot of time in the elder's den, Boragekit started spending time pestering warriors and apprentices for hunting and battle practice. He was out of the nursery as much as he could be. The one time he stayed in the nursery for an extended period of time was shortly after the death of Skyflight, a younger queen, left two kits, less than a moon old, motherless. Cardinalmoon and the other nursery queens of the time, Brookseed and Alpineflake, took turns taking care of the orphaned Buttercupkit and Chamomilekit. Boragekit was convinced that his mother might die if her left, so he stayed pretty close to the nursery for about a moon after Skyflight's death.

Stemspeck more or less recovered once spring came. Boragekit found that his father was actually a cool dude and ended up hanging out with him when he got bored. Stemspeck had some good advice and took Boragekit out of camp a couple times. Boragekit really liked his dad.

### Apprenticeship

Boragepaw became an apprentice at six moons old. Though he was reluctant to leave the nursery, he was eager to learn about being a warrior. His mentor, Roachflame, was a good friend of Stemspeck's. He was often grouchy and jaded, but Boragepaw did his best to be a good, diligent apprentice. He eventually learned that Roachflame was mostly angry because the dead queen, Skyflight, had been his younger sister. He tried to offer Roachflame comfort and never pressed him for training if he wanted to visit his nieces. In fact, Boragepaw often visited the nursery with Roachflame. Buttercupkit and Chamomilekit often begged Roachflame to teach them fighting moves, so Boragepaw got most of his early education from that.

Unfortunately, Stemspeck caught another disease when Boragepaw was seven moons old and this time, he died from his illness. This upset Boragepaw, as he loved his dad dearly. Cardinalmoon didn't talk to anyone for several days and Roachflame got even more angry and upset. During the first few days without Stemspeck, Boragepaw spent more and more time with the elders, seeking comfort in the familiarity.

Even after they mostly recovered from the loss, Cardinalmoon and Roachflame talked to him less and less. Boragepaw was very upset that the last two cats he cared about barely spoke to him. He started hanging out in the nursery, telling stories to Buttercupkit and Chamomilekit, along with Brookseed and Alpineflake's kits who I don't care about naming.

Slowly, things returned to normal for Boragepaw. He trained with Roachflame, listened to and told stories, and hung out with kits and elders. One of these stories was very startling to Boragepaw, because it wasn't some ancient tale; it was a story about his parents! Though no names were mentioned, it wasn't very hard for him piece it together. Apparently, Stemspeck and Roachflame had once been competing for Cardinalmoon's affections, who got swept away in a storm. Stemspeck, by some magic, managed to swim out and save her. Roachflame remained friends with both of them, but his bitter, jaded state grew from the moment that Stemspeck and Cardinalmoon reached the shore. After hearing this story, he became very suspicious of Roachflame.

Needless to say, he was upset but not surprised when Roachflame and Cardinalmoon became mates when he was nine moons old. He was actually very angry about it and had a huge fight with Cardinalmoon about it, asking her how she could act like Stemspeck had never existed. Cardinalmoon was very hurt by this and it took them moons to tear down the walls between them.

Some good news: Chamomilekit and Buttercupkit became apprentices when Boragepaw was ten moons old. The newly named Buttercuppaw and Chamomilepaw still hung out with Boragepaw and let him train with them while he was still mad at Roachflame. Things were very tense between Boragepaw and his mentor, and neither was quick to extend a forgiving paw. Boragepaw was mad about Roachflame "making" Cardinalmoon be his mate, while Roachflame was mad about the way Boragepaw had treated both himself and Cardinalmoon for the last several moons. They rarely trained anymore, Roachflame basically abandoning Boragepaw to the other apprentices and mentors. Over the course of this training, Buttercuppaw developed a major crush on him. It had begun back when she was a kit and he was telling them stories, but now he finally seemed within reach. The other apprentices of their generation, with the exception of Boragepaw, teased her about it a lot, but were generally supportive. Boragepaw was completely oblivious, too wrapped up in his own family drama to notice Buttercuppaw's affections.

The last two moons of his apprenticeship were full of anger and bitterness for Boragepaw. Roachflame and Cardinalmoon were more openly affectionate in their relationship and got along really well, but just seeing them together made Boragepaw mad. His denmates weren't sure what to do and just let him vibe. He hung out the elders a bit, but mostly he went out into the territory for no real reason. This is the closest to an edgy/emo phase Boragepaw ever had. At one point, he tried to go to the Mooncave, but he got caught and taken back to camp. Eventually, Roachflame gave him his warrior assessment, which he somehow passed.

### Warrior Life

Boragepaw was given the name Borageroot. He still hung out with Buttercuppaw and Chamomilepaw a lot and started mellowing out a bit. This went out the window one moon later when Cardinalmoon announced that she was going to have kits. Borageroot was up in flames, but he kept his cool (mostly) and barely reacted. He just, you know, regarded his mother with an icy silence for the next two moons. He was short-tempered and snappy with Roachflame and Cardinalmoon anytime he had to talk to them.

He was, however, still relatively chill with everyone else. Buttercuppaw was still painfully obvious about liking him and he was beginning to have have the faintest idea that maybe something was up with her. Borageroot was not very observative. Buttercuppaw and Chamomilepaw did their best to get him to notice Buttercuppaw but once again, the family drama was the only thing on his mind most of the time.

Then, two moons later, Buttercuppaw and Chamomilepaw dragged him into the nursery to meet his new half-siblings. The kits, Stemkit, Rootkit, and Seedkit, were absolutely adorable. Borageroot was still angry about how quickly Cardinalmoon had moved on, but with the kits he could kind of forgive her. He doted on his younger siblings, though he was still rather upset with his mother and Roachflame. But yes. Kits. Stemkit and Rootkit loved playing with him and Seedkit would ask him for stories more often than she asked the elders. Borageroot was rather fond of his younger half-siblings.

Two moons after the kits were born, Buttercuppaw and Chamomilepaw became warriors under the names Buttercupsky and Chamomilefrost. With most of the family drama cleared up, Buttercupsky set about trying to get Borageroot's attention again. Borageroot remained unconservative until Chamomilefrost cornered him and yelled at him about how he was totally breaking her sister's heart and that he needed to get his act together or else \*ominous\*. This was, of course, news to Borageroot, but now that he knew what to look for, the signs were everywhere. He had a long, introspective conversation with the ghost of Stemspeck one night in which he realized that, yes, he did like Buttercupsky. He ran back to camp and proposed to Buttercupsky that night because Borageroot goes to extremes on everything. She accepted, of course, and it was very cute.