Gladelight

Lineart: pkrockin\_ | Colored by SLTWaffles

## Overview

Gladelight is a former Medicine Cat of WindClan. His mentor was Buzzardgaze, and his apprentice was Snowstone. He was closely influential to the appointment and early leadership of Dreamstar. Gladelight is also a former advisor of ShadowClan, under Stagstar.

### Appearance

Gladelight was a snowy bengal tom. He had a white coat with grey spots, a black nose, and blue-green eyes. He was medium build, naturally larger but with less training than a warrior.

## Detailed History

### Origins

Glade the kittypet was adopted by Risingstar into WindClan at 5 moons old. He had a very active imagination, and was seen talking to cats who weren't there, from the time he was Gladekit.

Glade became Gladepaw, medicine cat apprentice to Buzzardgaze. He became friends with Amberpaw of ShadowClan and Sappaw of SkyClan, who became his followers in his StarClan devotion. Obsessed with StarClan and the traditional code rules, Gladepaw became delusional that the auditory hallucinations he had always had were actually StarClan speaking to him in the form of an ancient StarClan cat, named Todo.

Buzzardgaze, who had a mate himself, quickly was antagonized by his apprentice and constantly fought with by the young but bold Gladepaw. Buzzardgaze was already a sour cat, and took out his anger towards Gladepaw and the world quite apparently. Gladepaw grew up to hate his mentor, and not to trust his guidence.

### Medicine Cat Life

#### Rising

Gladepaw was given the name Glademoon by Buzzardgaze, an insult because according to the original code the name moon is sacred. With a combination of his hatred toward him and also hallucinations of "StarClan" voices commanding him to do so, Glademoon attacked Buzzardgaze by the flooded river and drowned him. He then went to the moonstone himself and changed his name to Gladelight, with Ambergleam as his witness. Buzzardgaze, however, was not gone from Gladelight's life, because he then began to hallucinate Buzzardgaze's voice taking the form of his self-hatred.

Risingstar during this time dissapeared, which Gladelight quickly took advantage of. Through his influence on his father's successor, Coaleyes, who intended on retiring instead of taking the leader mantle himself, he got the very young and impressionable Dreamrunner to be chosen as the new leader. Gladelight then proceeded to teach Dreamstar the traditional code as fact, and preach that he was StarClan's chosen mouthpiece.

Gladelight appointed Snowpaw to be his apprentice during this time because she was the spitting image of him, and he took that as a sign. With the support of his leader, and the absence of Buzzardgaze to get in his way, his influence grew. Through his passion and persuasive speaking, he got the word of the traditional strict code to most medicine cats including Hollowtuft of ThunderClan and Coralmare of RiverClan. Sightserpent (Coralmare's mentor), however, remained a stubborn opponent, as well as Ambergleam's appointed medicine cat apprentice, Mantispaw.

#### Focusing In

Gladelight grew close with the SkyClan tom Scorchberry while out preaching his word of StarClan. He originally wanted to use the tom to get to Scorchberry's mother, Quietstar, but when discovering Scorchberry had feelings for him (that he may or may not have reciprocated secretly) he attacked the tom and pushed him away. With that, he vowed to never resist Todo's guidence again.

Dreamstar was possessed by a dark forest cat for a moon along with all the main clan leaders. Gladelight, along with the other medicine cats, ventured into the dark forest in order to rescue his leader, strengthening Dreamstar's trust of the tom.

Gladelight met at this time an important ally, the ShadowClan deputy Stagtracker. After plotting with her for some time, he used his influence on his leader along with some lies Stagtracker spread about WindClan, started the ShadowClan-WindClan war. Their goal was to fully be rid of Timberstar, so Stagtracker could become Stagstar and run ShadowClan as a code-traditional clan in Gladelight's design. During these battles, Gladelight ended up being targeted by the ShadowClan leader, and to cover up their alliance Stagtracker beat Gladelight but publicly spared his life.

Toadpool, an old medicine cat of ShadowClan, opposed Gladelight's preaching and growing influence, and warned him that they’d speak against him publicly. Gladelight, "commanded" once again, then lured the blind cat to the snake rocks, where they were killed. Stagtracker, discovering him mid-act, helped to cover up the murder. Toadpool's voice would then become Gladelight's hallucinated voice of self-doubt.

Stagtracker took the head of the snake Gladelight had used to kill Toadpool, and used it to save ShadowClan from a juvenile alligator. In the high of being hailed as a hero, Stagstracker secretly went to Timberstar's den and took their final life, becoming Stagstar of ShadowClan.

#### Slipping

Gaining delusions over time (as well as a head injury in a battle), Gladelight steadily became more fervent in his preaching and detached from reality. He began to turn on followers who were not "loyal enough", and after it was discovered that WindClan's power cat, Lazysight, had a dark forest origin to his powers, began to believe WindClan had lost its way from his teachings.

Dreamstar, after failing to take all of Timberstar's lives like Gladelight had instructed and then going and having kits rather than starting another war as Gladelight had wanted, had lost Gladelight's favor. When the leader became sick with greancough, Gladelight took this as a sign from StarClan that Dreamstar was the source of "all of WindClan's problems", and proceeded to methodically poison the tom under the guise of treating his illness. Over the course of 3 days, he took 6 of Dreamstar's lives.

Snowstone, who had been realizing how far gone her mentor had become, discovered Gladelight in the act and saved Dreamstar from losing any more. She then attempted to get Gladelight chased out, but in the confusion Gladelight convinced WindClan to imprison her instead.

That night, Gladelight represented WindClan at the gathering. At the push of Todo as well as Buzzardgaze to prove himself, he announced to all the clans that he was StarClan's chosen, who murdered Buzzardgaze, Toadpool, and Dreamstar to follow their will. He declared that his claws were the same as the lightning which had struck Simmerstar and Auburnstar for the crimes against StarClan they had committed. Expecting cats to believe him as much as he did, especially his followers, instead he was then attacked and mobbed out of the gathering place, forced to hide.

Dreamstar, recovered from his lost lives, freed Snowstone and declared her full medicine cat, banishing Gladelight from WindClan.

### ShadowClan

Gladelight was forced to turned to his last, and most brainwashed, follower, Stagstar. He joined ShadowClan, where Stagstar declared it would be a secret that Gladelight was there, but appointed him as her personal advisor in ShadowClan. This was met with much opposition from a majority of ShadowClan, including Stagstar's deputy Briarshade and also Ambergleam's medicine cat apprentice, Mantisflight.

Having lost almost all his following as well as most of his sanity, he began to push his final followers to their limit. He tested Stagstar's loyalty by demanding she almost drown herself, which she did willingly but then had to recover from. As Mantisflight treated her, he pushed her to break free from his control.

Knowing Mantisflight's hatred of him, Gladelight decided to test Ambergleam's ultimate loyalty by demanding she kill Mantisflight. This was going to be her ultimate test, the same as Gladelight's "test" to kill Buzzardgaze. But when Ambergleam refused, he drowned her in the frozen pond at the edge of ShadowClan territory. He returned to ShadowClan camp and declared all of them non-believers, proudly revealing he had killed Ambergleam for her crimes against him and "StarClan".

Gladelight commanded Stagstar to kill Mantisflight instead. But Stagstar, having been snapped out of Glade's hold on her, instead allowing Mantisflight and Briarshade to beat, but not kill him. She wounded him so he couldn't move, and blinded him in revenge of Toadpool. Doing this, she also announced to her camp all of Gladelight's actions. However, right before dying, Gladelight revealed he had poisoned her just as he had poisoned Dreamstar. Gladelight had expected it to take her lives over time, but in reality Stagstar had not been granted lives by StarClan due to her then-loyalty to Gladelight the false prophet. Stagstar was rushed to the moonstone by Mantisflight, where she received her lives just as she was dying from the poison's effects. She gave up her power in exchange for a 9th.

### After Death

Gladelight, meanwhile, died alone of his injuries in the middle of the ShadowClan camp, and there is where he remained until his body was brought to a gathering. He was publically declared dead and presented by Stagstar to all the clans, and then given to WindClan to bury in their territory. Gladelight's spirit in his afterlife became Glade, his 5-moon-old self. Because his delusions and hallucinations had begone so early, the only time he was fully himself was then. So now, a kit version of the tom roams the Void, with no memories of his life at all.

## Gallery

### Artist

Neikoish VIA DOLLDIVINE, edited by Kokochips