Lifecycle & Death

There are only two things that all cats have in common: birth, and death. What happens in between varies widely from cat to cat, but the basic steps remain quite the same.

## Reproduction

* Mating
* Gestation & Birth

In order for kits to be born, they require a male and a female parent to reproduce together. These two cats do not have to be mates, nor do they even need to be romantically involved. A cat may choose any partner they wish to have kits with, especially if they are Aromantic and simply wants kits of their own, or if their mate is the same sex as them and the couple requires a surrogate. Regardless of how the parents come together, the tom and she-cat will each contribute genes to the litter that they conceive.

TBA

## Life Stages

* Kithood
* Adolescence
* Adulthood
* Advanced Age

This life stage lasts from a kit's birth, to the age of 5 moons. Kits will spend their days playing and listening to stories told by the elders. Their games will give them a head start on the **Hunting** and **Fighting** Skills, and observing them play can offer clues as to their stats and personality traits. A kit's stats are not revealed until the age of 5 moons, when they become an adolescent.

This life stage lasts from 5 moons until the age of 10 moons.

This life stage begins at 10 moons old, and cats are considered adults for their rest of their lives.

At 120 moons (10 years) of age, a cat is considered elderly. Cats that reach this lifestage will automatically move themselves to the elder rank, if they have not already.

## Death

The end of a cat's life always comes eventually. There are numerous ways for a cat to pass on from one life to the next. Fortunate cats will take their final breaths at the end of a long life well-lived, taken by old age. Others will meet their ends at the claws of predators, other cats, starvation, dehydration, injury or illness, or otherwise failing to survive.

### Afterlife

* StarClan
* Place of No Stars
* Limbo

**StarClan** is where most Clan cats go after their death. Clan cats rely on their warrior ancestors to guide them, and StarClan cats often achieve this by visiting the living in dreams. These cats provide wisdom, prophecies, medicine cat names, and leaders' nine lives. Cats remain in StarClan for as long as they are remembered by the living. A cat may effectively live forever if their stories are told for moons upon moons after their death. Once there are no longer any living cats that remember a member of StarClan, they will fade.

The **Place of No Stars**, also known as the Dark Forest, is where Clan cats who have lived an immoral life go after their death. Cats here have been rejected by the Clans' ancestors thanks to their misdeeds. Cats who have lived a normal life will not have much to fear; it takes a truly dark heart and bloodstained paws to end up here.

Cats that are not part of Clans or that have never experienced StarClan have no warrior ancestors to guide them after death. These cats disappear to an inaccessible place at the end of their lives. They are capable of visiting the dreams of the living, but rarely do they offer wisdom or prophecies. Due to this, it is unknown if they appear in dreams of their own power, or if the living dream of them by coincidence.