Monarchwing

## Appearance & Personality

Monarchwing is an exact copy of his mother, Lily, other than the bright scarlet triangular patch on his forehead and tail-tip. He is a soft Somali cat with a dusty ginger-brown pelt, a pale underbelly, and lime green eyes. He has the iconic fluffy Somali tail, and has darker brown fur on his back. He has tall, tufted ears.

Monarchwing is a pretty smart cat. He's respectful of others, but openly ambitious, and won't hesitate to question someone. He's calm and quiet at the same time, and isn't an 'in-your-face' character at all. He also has incredibly good hearing and balance. He's desperate to prove himself.

## Brief History

Monarch was born to Lily - one of Rosestar's littermates - in a Twoleg home. His mother got lost in the forest with her kit, and hid him in a bush while she escaped from a fox, resulting in her death. He was found by Rosestar after falling down a rabbit burrow, and she took him home to ThunderClan, where he was raised like one of her own kits. He was apprenticed to Sunnygrove, and grew close with his mentor and Clan, striving to prove himself to them in everything he did. He passed his assessment with flying colors, and was awarded the name Monarchwing in honor of a robin who had attacked him during the test.

## Detailed History

Monarch was born to a kittypet she-cat named Lily, in the Twolegplace. He was a purebred Somali cat, like his mother, though he was the only cat of the entire litter, much to their twolegs' dismay. He was only a moon old when Lily left the Twoleg home, heading for the forest. She thought it was best that she make her only son as strong as possible, and planned to keep him in the forest for a few days, though oblivious to the forest's dangers herself. She carried him across mesa and moor, arriving in the territory of ThunderClan. Before she could find a safe spot to nurture him, however, a fox gave chase. Instead of leaving her son to perish, Lily dropped him down a rabbit's burrow as she raced away from the fox, knowing Monarch would be safe down there. She led the fox away, ultimately resulting in her death, but her plan had worked - Monarch was safe from the fox. He cried and cried from the rabbit burrow, until another she-cat found him.

Monarch was rather confused at first. The she-cat looked similar to Lily, but it definitely wasn't her. As he was plucked from the earth, the cat told him her name was Rosestar, and asked where his mother had gone to. Monarch admitted that he didn't know, that she'd dropped him as she started running from something. Rosestar began carrying him, and Monarch assumed that she was following Lily's scent, but said nothing, trying to listen for his mother. When Rosestar discovered Lily's body, she turned away abruptly, not allowing Monarch the chance to see or know of his dead mother. Carrying him back to camp, Rosestar told Monarch that Lily was her sister, and that he was her nephew. Monarch was excited by this - he had more family! He'd been afraid of growing up alone once his twolegs sold him, but Rosestar promised to raise him, and he even learned that she had kits of her own. He was given the name Monarchkit, and adopted into ThunderClan. He was fussed over often by his adoptive mother, as well as by Sunnygrove.

Monarchkit was proud of his kittypet heritage, and boasted about it whenever cats would speak to him, which wasn't very often. He never spoke unless spoken to, not because he was afraid, but because he didn't feel the need to. Despite his quieter personality, much of the Clan liked him, and he was never lonely. His kithood flew by, until the heat became a large problem in ThunderClan. Shimmerpaw, his cousin, died to the heat, and Rosestar was extremely depressed. Monarchkit became ill, too, but Spinheart and Pigeonpaw saved him. Shortly afterwards, he became an apprentice. Sunnygrove was his mentor, which was Monarchpaw's dream! Sunnygrove even told him that Rosestar had asked her to mentor him. Monarchpaw was eager to begin training, and on their first outing, he caught a robin.

This led to him befriending one of his denmates, Shrewpaw. Monarchpaw quite liked the weird tom, and he decided to help Shrewpaw catch some prey. He and Shrewpaw snuck out of camp together, and Monarchpaw taught him a very flawed hunting crouch. In his mind, however, it was perfect; but in reality, it was terrible, and Shrewpaw scared off an entire flock of birds.

Monarchpaw didn't get along too well with the rest of his kin. He ignored Cardinalkit and Primrosekit for the time being, and strongly disliked Gleamingpaw, as she wouldn't tell him what her sister, Shimmerpaw, was like before death. His rage was only increased when that night, at the Gathering, Sulfurstar took credit for the drought. He was ready to kill the tom himself, when a Council of Nine cat descended and struck him down. Monarchpaw was unable to celebrate, as the cat who took his place turned and killed each leader, including Rosestar. It shook him to the core.

Monarchpaw didn't let this get him down, however. He took his shock and rage and channeled it into his training, spending every spare moment he could sharpening his claws or running laps; anything to become stronger. Luckily for him, the Dark Forest took no notice of this, for if they had he'd have been their strongest apprentice yet. Sunnygrove was the only cat who had to worry about training such a fierce tom, and the pair got along incredibly well.

The day of Monarchpaw's assessement came, and he gave everything he could to show his mentor that he was fully ready for his warrior name. He caught a robin within moments in The Glade during the hunting portion of the exam, but was attacked by a second bird, who was aiming to peck out his eyes. He swiped the robin out of the air, but didn't feel as though it was true hunting. When Sunnygrove rushed over to make sure he was unharmed, Monarchpaw dove to the side, having heard a creature rustling in the grass near her. He was frustrated to see it was an adder who was moments away from striking one of them, but after Sunnygrove assured him that he'd shown bravery and that no ceremonies were perfect, he loosened up and chatted with his mentor before the battle section of the exam.

Monarchpaw was tasked with hunting down Sunnygrove, who was hidden in the old hunting cabin, a small broken house in ThunderClan's Valley territory. He discovered her on the roof beams and the two battled for ages, Monarchpaw appearing to have won when he knocked her down from the ceiling. Sunnygrove wasn't finished with him, however, and sped down to the bottom floor, where Jaggedstep and Wingsoar were watching the battle. Monarchpaw pretended to trip on the stairs, pinning Sunnygrove when she rushed to his aid. And despite having fought dirty, all warriors agreed that the tom was ready for his warrior name. Later that day, Sunnygrove gave him the name of Monarchwing.