Dappleshade

*Dappleshade is a handsome, lithe, pale brown tabby tom with amber eyes.*

## **Server History**

Dappleshade was born in RP to Duckbranch and Whitefang and grew up to be a warrior.

## **RP history**

Dappleshade was born the eldest kit to Duckbranch and Whitefang in their first litter. He was born a little bit before the rogue invasion and was a kit during the Silver Arc.

## **Character Development**

### **Kithood**

Dappleshade started off as a very careless kit with an aloof nature, preferring to play rather than make friends. Any friends he did happen to make were out of a pure miracle considering how rough he'd get during play-fights. During the rogue invasion, however, his apprenticeship was delayed due to the death of the ShadowClan leader Storm. While he was old enough to be an apprentice he was forced to nurse from his mother even though he was past weaning due to the extreme shortage of prey. Not only that, but his uncle Slatefang was murdered by a rogue. He was given a sense of powerlessness and developed a sense of ambition over the desire to keep things under his control. In his mind, with power comes control, and with control, he would never feel powerless again. It was from then on he wanted to become a powerful warrior.

### **Apprenticeship**

Dappleshade was an ambitious apprentice with decent hunting skills, he certainly didn't stand out, but he aspired to be like his father Whitefang, the ShadowClan deputy. Dappleshade's mentor used to be Wolfdusk, the deputy before Whitefang, but when she became pregnant and went to the nursery, his mentor became Badgerstar. Due to Wolfdusk's death during childbirth, Badgerstar became more of a passive mentor because of grief, leading to training being less often than it should've been.
Dappleshade developed a flirtatious streak during his apprenticeship, flirting with cats like Spottedpaw and Rainpaw. Neither ended well, however, as Rainpaw was paralyzed and became a medicine cat, while Spottedpaw died from poisoned prey. The death of Spottedpaw devastated Dappleshade.

### **Warrior**

Dappleshade continued to be a bit aloof as a warrior, flirting with abusive cats like Flowerivy as he cared more about her appearance than her personality. He tried to ignore how abusive she was to her kits, but when he met Copperfang, an honorable and responsible cat, he also fell for her and began to have his conscience catch up to him. When he came to his mother Duckbranch for advice, she warned him on how far a relationship might go if he liked the cat's personality or not. This made him realize he didn't like Flowerivy's abusive behavior at all, so he chose to spend more time with Copperfang. Eventually, his ambitious nature attracted Copperfang, as did her honorable, loyal nature attracted him. Dappleshade was afraid of commitment, however, so when Copperfang got Duckbranch's blessing and asked Dappleshade to be mates, he panicked and asked her to wait. Copperfang didn't take the rejection well, as she wasn't used to making herself vulnerable to other cats, so she avoided talking to Dappleshade for a while. Dappleshade eventually realized he was in love with Copperfang, and felt guilty for breaking her heart, so he pushed past his fears of commitment and asked her to be mates. Fortunately, she forgave him and accepted his offer.
Duckbranch's death during kitting left Dappleshade devastated, disappointed that he could not provide his mother grandkits while she was still alive.
Dappleshade's desire to become stronger for ShadowClan flourished as his father was deputy, and eventually due to his closeness to his parents he desired to be a father. Copperfang didn't like the idea of being a queen, but Copperfang wanted to make Dappleshade happy, so the two agreed to start a family.
Copperfang got pregnant in the middle of leaf-bare, some time after Duckbranch's death. Dappleshade was elated, while Copperfang was especially protective of her unborn kits. However, due to Copperfang's desire to be useful, she hated the idea of of going into the nursery, and did not do so until her third trimester, when Dappleshade and the medicine cats begged her to do so.
Copperfang eventually gave birth to Willowkit, Doekit, and Tigerkit. Unfortunately, Willowkit was a stillborn due to Copperfang not eating enough from the lack of prey during leaf-bare. This left both Copperfang and Dappleshade grief-stricken, both feeling like they could not do enough for Willowkit that they were responsible. Dappleshade, in particular, hated the feeling of being powerless over the life of his firstborn, he felt as though StarClan stripped him of his dignity. In response, he became much more protective of his kits, making sure they didn't get hurt and that the borders were protected so that they wouldn't worry about another rogue invasion.