Sootwhisper

Art by @raininabox on insta

## Appearance:

Pretty dark grey she-cat with a black stripe extending down her back to her tail. She has snake-like copper and gold flecked eyes and has black rosette markings across her body. She has black ears and a striped tail.

## Memorable moments:

Sootwhisper was known for collecting bones and hoarding them in her pitch black burrow. Many kits began circulating stories about Sootwhisper which made many fearful.

Sootwhisper once heard an apprentice named Honeypaw disrespect a fellow warrior named Wildmask. Honeypaw made fun of Wildmask's lisp, and so Sootwhisper padded up to Honeypaw, tore the spine from a rabbit, and clocked him over the head with the bone, blood and meat still on it. Sootwhisper pushed him to the ground and warned him that if he chose to continue direspecting warriors, that she'd tell Whitelily herself about his behavior.

She made a kit cry. Tawnykit wandered into Sootwhisper's burrow and Sootwhisper wasn't happy about it. She stood over him, and he began crying because of how intimidating she was. This kit would later become her apprentice.

Sootwhisper had only cried once, and Petalpaw had walked in during this time. Sootwhisper has only ever cried once in front of a clanmate.

## Past:

For some odd reason, Sootkit never really played in the nursery. She would remain in a comatose state at all times. Her mother would check to ensure she was breathing. And she always was... but how strange it was that she played dead? Not many details are known about her in kit-hood, as she never really spoke but rather observed. She'd tend to scare off the few remaining kits in the nursery so she just stopped trying to make friends all together. She eventually would become acquainted with the loneliness.

Her reputation would soon stem from the fear of others. She was intimidating, pretty and a formidable hunter. She'd continue growing up just as any other cat, although.. there was another presence which shaped her into who she is. Ashenspirit, Sootkit's mother, had been blind. She was supposedly given sight from "Starclan" themselves. And how did she repay this supposed "Starclan"? She gave birth to Mudkit, Smudgekit and Sootkit. All named after *dirt.* She had given birth to them in order to repay Beestripe, a cat who had granted her the gift of sight. And who was from the *Dark Forest.*

 Beestripe wanted to train Ashenspirit's kits, hoping to shape them into the instruments of destruction that they desired so much. And so, starting in her early apprenticeship, Beestripe would visit Sootpaw in her dreams. They would use Sootpaw's loneliness to their own benefit. They would claim to be Sootpaw's friend, a word she had never been referred to as. So Sootpaw would confide in Beestripe, and this would only make her grow even more distant from others.

As time went on, Sootpaw would come to realize that cats had feared her, and others respected her because of her silent and intimidating nature. One cat who would find interest in Sootpaw in particular was the feisty she-cat by the name of Petalpaw. Petalpaw had began to look up to Sootpaw even when she had ranked up. Petalpaw was still *very much* in love with Sootwhisper. They would begin to grow a steady relationship steadily.

Sootwhisper would receive her name and would grow into a fine warrior despite the set-backs of having a less than decent kit-hood. Her father and her barely spoke. Her brother was being held back for the second time due to his behavior. And she still believed herself to be the shadow of her kin: alone and left in the darkness. The bengal warrior would soon realize just how much power she held over her clanmates. Petalpaw would kill for her. Cats would admit just how beautiful she was. She held power. She just needed to grasp how to utilize it.

She continued during this time to visit Beestripe, who compared her to them in terms of being overlooked and underappreciated. Sootwhisper had discovered her mother crying and overheard her parents both claim to want kits. Eagleflight gave Sootwhisper the impression she was being replaced, only furthering her insecurities of not being enough. And making her feel like a shadow once more. She would then race into her burrow and had cried for the first time, but not before Petalpaw would find her and comfort her. It was the most emotion Sootwhisper would express.

Petalslash would become a warrior and then their relationship would be acceptable. Sootwhisper would only show her affection to Petalslash within her burrow, due to not wanting her reputation tarnished because of the vulnerability which came along with a relationship. Sootwhisper would also never be seen crying. She would only be caught once, and it was by Petalslash. She buries much of her emotions away. Vulnerability is weak to her.

## Present:

Sootwhisper had noticed her mother crying, to which she'd ask what was wrong. Her mother would tell her she believed that Eagleflight couldn't give her kits because he was seeing Lilyleap. Sootwhisper keeps this in mind. The molly would realize that her mother and her were one of the same. She and her mother had bonded over visiting with Beestripe and she is continues to try and prove herself to be more than a shadow.

Sootwhisper and Petalslash were in a heated argument where they were both opposed to one another's thoughts about Flowerpaw's exile. Sootwhisper, being one of the many cats Flowerpaw disrespected, believed she had it coming, while Petalslash, who mentored Flowerpaw, believed otherwise. Sootwhisper is left in the shadows of her burrow after the argument... She can't grasp exactly what had happened. All she knows is that what Flowerpaw did was wrong and that her ex-mate was wrong for siding with her.

After the incident with Petalslash, Sootwhisper became oddly fond of something else entirely. Alone in her burrow all the long days just must've made her *mad.* Sootwhisper, on one hunt, had tackled a lapwing to the ground, and then she heard a crack from it's neck. It was oddly satisfying to the warrior. And so when she ate that prey later on, and realized it was just the bone detaching from the skull, it sparked her curiosity for bones... Instead of being hung up on Petalslash, she would take her mind off of it. By collecting bones.

She became known to hoard bones in her burrow. And the scent of lavender covered the stench of death. Sootwhisper during this time, was approached by a nearly outcast Flowerpaw (Flower). Flower wasn't given a full name and begged Sootwhisper for forgiveness for her past mistakes. Sootwhisper said she'd see what she could do, and then talked with Mintstar before the ceremony that Flowerpaw was meant to be exiled. During that ceremony, Mintstar announced that Flower would be given one more chance. And that chance was with Sootwhisper, who would supervise Flower and train her. No longer would Petalslash. It was unknown why Sootwhisper chose to take Flower under her wing, as she appeared to not care much for the apprentice.

Mintstar and Sootwhisper were going to make it clear that Flower was not on their same level until she earned it. So Sootwhisper made punishments like sleeping on a pile of bones alongside her in the dark burrow, having kits have a higher rank than Flower, make her do extra chores... but it beat being exiled if the punishment would only last for a while.

## Quotes:

After Flowerpaw insulted Sootwhisper, she responds. She typically remains silent but the warrior managed to speak the most she would in a full day: "You have no right to dictate what you learn or who you learn from. And if you'd like, I'll bring it up to Whitelily and she could tell you the same thing." She'd continue. "It doesn't hurt me one bit that you're too big-headed to see past your own ego, Flowerpaw. So much for the apology."

"Eagleflight doesn't deserve you. Don't cry over a rat of a tom who reaks of self-deprecation." Sootwhisper telling her mother that she deserves better than Eagleflight.

"I love you." Sootwhisper to Petalslash.