Ivystar

Ivystar is the current leader of Lakeclan. She is a thick-furred black-and-white she-cat with green eyes. Her parents are Ravenheart and Fogclaw and her sister is Darkkit. Her mate was Cedartail, and their kits are Patchpine, Ferndawn, and Poolspots. Ivystar is brave and loyal, and fiercely protective of her kin, but also sympathetic to a fault and hesitant to trust her instincts.

Life: Ivystar is a born and raised Lakeclan cat. She was born to Ravenheart and Fogclaw at the end of a “kitten boom”, alongside her sister Darkkit, who died shortly after birth. Her parents relationship was already beginning to falter, due to their inability to communicate and conflicting plans for their future, and the death of Darkkit ultimately spelled the end for them. This didn’t have a particularly large effect on Ivykit, though. She had a mostly happy and carefree kithood. Her generation was made up of Mudkit, Sprucekit, Oakkit, Cedarkit, and Stormkit, in addition to the slightly older Snowkit and Icekit. Ivykit  often led the others into trouble, and became the unchallenged leader of the group. That is, until the deputy brought Goldenkit into camp when Ivykit was almost 6 moons old. The spunky, sassy kit challenged her position, and, more threateningly, caught the attention of Cedarkit, who'd become Ivykits closest friend. She and Goldenkit would bicker constantly, something that continued after they became apprentices. Ivypaw was apprenticed to Thornheart, a respected senior  warrior, and he became a sort of father figure, seeing as her actual father had grown more and more distant. But to her frustration, Goldenpaw was apprenticed to Thornhearts mate, Berrystone, which led to them training together constantly. They’d fight and push each other, making everything a competition, which ended up shaping both she-cats into skilled hunters and fighters. And, once Goldenpaw fell for Oakpaw and turned her attention away from Cedarpaw, their arguments became friendlier, though they never lost that rivalry. And, to Ivypaw’s surprise, Cedarpaw had fallen for her. She realized that she felt the same way about him, and the two became inseparable. As the group became warriors, becoming Ivywing, Goldenstep, and Cedartail, the pair decided to make it official and became mates. Everything was going well for Ivywing. She had Cedartail by her side, she was quickly becoming a well-respected warrior, and she recieved her first apprentice, Petalpaw. But during Petalpaw's warrior assessment, she chased a rabbit off the territory and fell into a deep chasm, and by the time Ivywing found her, it was too late. Ivywing was consumed with guilt for not arriving soon enough, and fell into a bit of a depression, compounded by the death of her father not long after. But this experience made her and Cedartail reevaluate their own future, and they decided to have kits. Soon enough, Ivywing was expecting, and moved into the nursery at the beginning of Leaf-fall. As much as she wanted a family, Ivywing hated being confined to the nursery, and wanted to resume her warrior duties as soon as she could. But it wasn't all bad. Goldenstep was expecting as well, and she felt the same way about getting back to providing for the clan. Ivywing delivered her kits, giving birth to Patchkit, a tom, and Fernkit and Poolkit, both she-cats. Ivywing loved her kits fiercely, and planned on returning to duties as soon as they were weaned. But everything went wrong. A massive outbreak of Greencough rapidly spread through the clan, and the queens and kits were confined to the nursery for their own safety. But it wasn't enough, and Berrystone, Stormheart and Snowcloud fell extremely ill, which was extremely concerning as they were all unknowingly expecting kits when the outbreak began. Snowcloud recovered, but the stress of the ordeal led to her giving birth very early, resulting in the death of her kits. Stormheart and Berrystone hovered on the brink of death for a half-moon while the medicine cat tried to keep them alive long enough to give birth. The clan began to crumble, with the deputy dying just a day after he fell ill, and the leader losing lives one after the other. Ravenheart and Cedartail were two of the few healthy cats, but eventually Ravenheart succumbed to illness and Cedartail to exhaustion. The first time Ivywing left the nursery in two moons was to bury her mate. She never went back to the nursery, instead taking his place on patrols and trying to push the memories out of her head. With his dying breath, the leader named her his successor, having watched her risk her life and her future with her kits every day trying to keep the clan alive. Ivystar made Goldenstep her deputy and began trying to rebuild her decimated clan. That same day, Berrystone gave birth, but her heart gave out, and she died, alongside two of her kits. Just as the outbreak seemed to be over, Stormheart went into labor as well, but she, like Berrystone, died afterward. Snowcloud nursed Foxkit and Stormkit, in addition to acting as a surrogate mother to Ivystar's and Goldenstep's kits. Berrystone's only surviving kit had a twisted paw and spent most of her kithood in the medicine den, which led to the young medicine cat Creekfeather taking on a sisterly/parental role. Only a few cats were left, almost all of them from Ivystar's generation. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, Ivystar did her best to rebuild the clan and raise her kits, although it was from a bit of an uncomfortable distance. By her third year as leader, the clan is stable and happy, with the generation of kits born during the outbreak starting families of their own. But her past still haunts her...

Detailed description: Ivystar is a large, muscular, thick furred she-cat with a plumy tail. She is mostly black, apart from her white paws, chest, and tail-tip, in addition to a few patches on her face, including to one surrounding her eye. Her pelt is glossy, soft, and waterproof. Her eyes are a bright, leaf-green. She has large, round paws and a torn ear. There is a thin scar crossing one flank. Her ears are large and tufted, and she has broad shoulders.

Trivia:

Ivystar has the exact same eye color as her father, but otherwise looks almost exactly like her mother.

She was born before Darkkit.

She is named after the color of her eyes.

She has Riverclan and Skyclan blood.

Her warrior name comes from the fact that she caught a huge bird on her assessment.

Ivystar briefly considered becoming a medicine cat, but changed her mind once she fell for Cedartail

She has sworn to never take another mate, despite Cedartail encouraging her from Starclan that he wouldn't love her any less.