Marshneedle

“Its a shame.. that I ever thought of you as my father. You never were like one to me. To any of us. My siblings. We never deserved your treatment, did we? Of course, you had to take away the only cat who truly did care for us. That was the day my life ended. You ruined me. These past 60 moons have been hell, because of YOU! You caused me to drive my kin away.. you made me become like you. You don’t care though, do you? You never did. And of course, you won’t now. Who am I, to think you’d still care, after five years. You’re sick. A cat like you doesn’t even deserve to live. You deserve to die.”

*-Marshneedle to Martenshiver, before pushing him into toxic waste.*

## Personality

Marsh is quite a overconfident, cold and aggressive type of cat, due to him living in Fireclan for so long. He’s rude to cats he doesn’t know, especially to those from other clans, due to him feeling insecure that he has no power over them 🙄. He likes feeling like he’s in control, and he’s honored to be in the role of deputy. He likes that cats look up to him and even fear him, and that they have to follow his orders. He enjoys bossing them around, almost like he’s constantly showing off his role like a medal. They all seem like little ants to him.

He refuses to show any emotion, such as sadness. He believes it makes cats weak that they show and communicate their emotions, claiming it also “grosses him out.” Marshneedle bottles up all of his grief from the past, in denial that he still hasn’t healed from it because of it being approximately 60 moons ago (5 years in human terms). He hardly opens up to others, the few he does open up to he is frequently kind to them and enjoys their company, but he’d never admit that.

## Appearance

A muscular, taller than average brown tabby tom, with extremely dark brown stripes and white ear tufts. His faint tortoiseshell markings are often mistaken as dried blood from others, but it’s just a gene from his grandmother. His fur is usually unkept, making it messy and usually littered with leaves or dirt. Marsh’s pelt is covered with scars, but the most noticeable ones are a scar on his right hind leg from Avalancheslither after a fight they had that had gone too far when they were apprentices, a shoulder and belly scar from Briarsight after she had lashed out on him, a face scar from Lavenderspark from during the rebellion, and a scar winding down his chest by Beestar after their small fight on Fireclan territory where she and Currant decided to kill 3 Fireclan members.

He has heterochromia, his right eye being amber and his left one being ice-blue. His eyes are naturally narrow.

## History

### Kithood

He was originally born in Lichenclan, to his parents Flutteringsun and Martenshiver, alongside his siblings Snipkit, Linnetkit and Avalanchekit. His father wasn’t very present in his life, and his mother mostly cared for him and his siblings. He never really hated his father, in fact he didn’t have much of an opinion on him. He just felt jealously towards those who had a caring father. Like Parsleykit. He had become friends with Parsleykit, due to her being born just a moon after he and his siblings had. Marshkit and his siblings had all become friends with the she-kit, and they were always spending time together. Whether it was hatching plans to escape camp, or just simply playing with a small stone, they seemed to never be apart. Wherever Parsleykit was, there was almost a guarantee one of the siblings would be near her, either talking with her or playing.

### Apprenticeship

It remained the same once they had become apprentices. Marshkit, Snipkit, Linnetkit, and Avalanchekit we’re all appointed apprentices on the day of a full moon. Quite unique, wasn’t it? They became Marshpaw, Snippaw, Linnetpaw and Avalanchepaw. Marshpaw was one of the more observant and curious ones of the litter, and he started noticing the clear hostility between his mother and his father. It made him feel extremely offset. He especially didn’t like how they had started arguing, the past few days before him and his siblings had been made apprentices. He hoped it would’ve stopped when that happened, but it just seemed to worsen. He feared what would happen to the two of them, if they would split up, or if one or the other would leave. Marshpaw decided to push those worries away that day, looking up to how it was his first day being an apprentice, but also his first gathering.

He had never seen so many cats that day, flooding the clearing. Marsh secretly wished Parsleykit had been made an apprentice alongside his siblings, but her being a moon younger than them destroyed that possibility. He enjoyed the gathering nonetheless, chattering and gossiping with apprentices from other clans, boasting about how he had been made an apprentice earlier that day. Normal apprentice things. He also liked observing all of the cats and guessing what clan they were in. Once the crowd had died down, and every cat that was meant to be there was in the clearing, Marshpaw was sat beside his siblings, who were among a group of Emberclan apprentices. He was a bit relieved that they weren’t near their parents, the uncomfortable vibes he got near them started to be unbearable.

Marshpaw watched the moonlight flood the clearing, illuminating the leaders and deputies up on the tree branches. He had watched in amazement as the Finclan leader started sharing news of how the clan had been the past moons. Everything was going amazingly, and as everything was expected to go. But.. not for long. Marshpaw pinned his ears as a yowl split the air, along with the apprentices around him. They had all turned to look in horror, some cats stepping back, others jumping after being startled. He and his siblings got a clear view of what was happening; their father standing over their mothers mangled, bloody body, his claws digging into her shoulders. Marsh stared in utter horror and fear, watching as the blood had pooled out of his mothers once warm, lively body. Now she stared into his soul, her body lifeless, her head rolled to the side. It was almost like she *was* staring at him, although her pupils were stuck as slits, and her eyelids were drooping. Marshpaw began to cry, his siblings were too much in a state of shock to do the same. It made him feel lonely in a way. He longed for the warmth of his mother he once felt as a kit, his siblings sleeping beside him soundly.

He couldn’t bear to see what happened next, neither could his young mind. The yowls and cats all around him, dashing at his father after a leader up on the tree had yowled unintelligible orders to them. It was all too much of a blur. He watched in more of a horror as the ground had seemed to just open up beneath his father, and swallow him whole, the ground calmly returning to the same it always had once been afterwards. Marshpaw felt dizzy, like the world around him had started spinning, and he eventually passed out. The last thing he heard and felt was the warmth of his siblings around him, pressing close to him. And their shocked shudders of breath, but none of them had dared to speak.

He woke in the medicine den, clueless for a few moments as he blinked away the last bits of his exhaustion, then remembering last night all too well. Marshpaw stared miserably down at his paws, the scene replaying over and over in his mind. He stuffed his face into the soft moss below him, beginning to cry again. Why couldn’t the terrible memory leave his brain?! Autumnspirit had dismissed him from the den after he had calmed down slightly, but he just went to sit solemnly in his new nest in the apprentices den as the scene still played over and over in his head. It was officially the worst day he had every experienced, he had decided.

The days went by like a blur. Marshpaw’s mentor, Cobwebglare, desperately was always trying to help him. He tried to make each training session fun, in order to distract Marshpaw from the horrific things he had witnessed. And it had started to work, and Cobwebglare had began to cheer him up. But that was destroyed, when Linnetpaw and Snippaw admitted that they couldn’t take living in Lichenclan anymore, and that it reminded them too much of their parents. Linnetpaw went to go live in Birdclan, while Snippaw decided to join Finclan. Marshpaw was sad for a short while again, his other siblings gone.

Marshpaw never really liked Avalanchepaw, and the more they grew up the more he turned into more of a bully. He pushed around and made fun of Marshpaw every chance he got, claiming it was just “brotherly love” or that he was just “toughening him up”. And it worked. Marshpaw had begun to form an unhealthy mindset, and he started bottling up his emotions, not showing the grief he still felt daily. He hung around Avalanchepaw more, until he had become too unbearable for Marshpaw. Avalanchepaw couldn’t take that Marshpaw had started bullying him back, and they got into a childish fight that went too far. They couldn’t even look at each other anymore after that, feeling disgust and pure hatred every time either one of them did.

You can imagine what happened when Parsleykit had become Parsleypaw, reaching the age of 6 moons and being appointed as an apprentice. Marshpaw and Avalanchepaw foolishly fought over her. She claimed she didn’t like them anymore, and that they had changed horrifically. Marshpaw realized his harsh actions, and started to sort himself out a little. Avalanchepaw on the other hand, didn’t find anything he was doing was wrong. In the end, Parsleypaw chose Marshpaw. Avalanchepaw was devastated, obviously, knowing Parsleypaw since they were kits. He avoided Marshpaw and Parsleypaw altogether, and other cats around them passed it off as “young cat drama.”

Parsleypaw and Marshpaw were best friends again, they were always training or talking together. It was kind of easy for them to train together all the time, since Marshpaw’s mentor was Parsleypaw’s father. Marshpaw slowly overcame his grief, or at least that’s what he convinced himself to think. His life got slightly better from the help of Parsleypaw and Cobwebglare. Cobwebglare acted as if he were Marshpaw’s father that he never had, and Marshpaw looked up to Cobwebglare greatly. He thought of Cobwebglare and Parsleypaw as his best friends, they were so close they almost felt like his family. Marshpaw neglected Avalanchepaw overtime, at times completely forgetting he was his actual biological brother due to him not seeing Avalanche as his brother at all anymore.

His life changed again that one terrible Leafbare day. Just like every day that horrific events had happened, he had been enjoying his time beforehand, spending time with Parsleypaw and catching a rabbit with their great teamwork coordination. When they arrived at camp, they were immediately told the news that Cobwebglare had caught a case of greencough. Both Parsleypaw and Marshpaw were devastated, they visited Cobwebglare in the medicine den every day. He never got better because Autumnspirit could not cure him, due to lack of herbs in the medicine den that fateful Leafbare.

As expected, Cobwebglare passed a week after getting sick. Marshpaw and Parsleypaw were the only cats there for eachother afterwards, because Parsleypaw’s mother, Mantispounce, chose to deal with the grief on her own, slowly making her aggressive overtime. Parsleypaw feared going near her mother, so she stuck more to Marshpaw’s side. Now they were both alone, they were alike even. They both had family, but it seemed as if they just hated them for little to no reason. They were there to comfort eachother over the seasons.

Marshpaw refused to let grief take over his life like it had in the past after everything he had experienced. He started looking forward to becoming a warrior soon, comforting Parsleypaw and encouraging her with the same words. The two grew even more inseparable, and Marshpaw slowly started to develop a crush on Parsleypaw.

## Family

Mother: Flutteringsun

Father: Martenshiver

Brother: Avalancheslither

Sister: Snipprance

Sibling: Linnetstream

Ex-mates: Parsleybreeze, Thrush

Sons: Lavenderspark, Thicketmoss, Rabbit, Orion

Daughters: Sunflowerpurr, Briarsight, Spring

Niece: Ashface

Grandsons: Dewyshade, Leafpond, Arrowclaw, Birdpaw, Blazingcloud

Granddaughters: Bloomsong, Mushroomstrike, Sapember, Driftsong, Sparkpounce

Great-grandsons: Huskpaw, Lynxpaw

Great-granddaughters: Apricotpaw, Taintedpaw, Seal

## Relationships

### Family

Flutteringsun- Marshneedle’s mother, he adored her

Martenshiver- Marshneedle’s father, he grew a burning hatred towards him after what happened at the gathering

Avalancheslither- Marshneedle’s brother, also the firstborn of the litter, he never liked Avalancheslither much and resents him from how he treated him when he was still living in Lichenclan

Linnetstream- Marshneedle’s sibling, the secondborn of the litter, he doesn’t have much opinion on her since he hasn’t seen her since he was about 7 moons old

Snipprance- Marshneedle’s sister, she was the last kit born in the litter, like Linnetstream he has no opinion on her

Parsleybreeze- Marshneedle’s ex-mate, he killed her after the hatred for her became too unbearable so that tells you all you need to know how he feels about parsley lmao

Thrush- A random loner Marshneedle had a fling with, he basically manipulated her into having babies with him then he took off with one of them L

Sunflowerpurr- Marshneedle’s daughter, fucking hates her after she betrayed him and Fireclan numerous of times lol

Lavenderspark- Marshneedle’s son, same with Sunflowerpurr he also fucking hates Lavender after betraying him and the clan on multiple occasions

Briarsight- Marshneedle’s daughter, resents her as well because she took one of Firestar’s lives, and is slowly going insane seeing hallucinations of her and thinking she’s haunting him from the dead

### Friends

Firestar- One of the only cats this man trusts 💀💀💀tell me you have trust issues without telling me you have trust issues cmon

### Enemies

Whitestar- Hates the bitch, it’s mutual though so it’s okay 🥰

Autumnspirit- Most likely not a mutual hatred, Marshneedle still somewhat resents him for not being able to save Cobwebglare although it’s not even his fault

Avalancheslither- A mutual hatred. They still don’t forgive each other for the fight they had, and Avalancheslither is particularly outraged that Marshneedle left him all alone in Lichenclan.

## Killed Victims

Parsleybreeze - Murdered her in the middle of Fireclan camp after an argument they had regarding the safety of their kits.

Martenshiver - Pushed him into toxic waste after lashing out when he remembered the horrific memory of Martenshiver murdering Marshneedle’s mother, Marten’s own mate at the time, during a gathering.

## Trivia

### Fun Facts

* His suffix 'needle' comes from how much of a prick he is.
* For some reason he always gets chosen as an apprentices mentor and he’s mentored atleast 5 apprentices so far 😭
* The ONLY ASH character that has become real (i made a clay sculpture of him lol)
* He was originally made based off a song but I genuinely don’t remember which one, it was nearly 2 years ago (pretty sure it was choke by IDKHBTFM though)
* He normally has hallucinations

### Jokes

his life /j

Marshfire - an ongoing silly little ship that’ll probably never become canon, it’s basically just Marshneedle x Firestar. It all started when Jelly decided to make random cursed ships in general for fun on August 22nd 2021 at 8:42 PM EST, Marshneedle x Firestar being one of the ships.

Months later, Hex shipped them on the littlecloud bot on December 28th, 2021 at 7:03pm EST out of curiosity, and they got a 60% chance… and then jelly (jokingly) said as Dovefall, “ **runs off to make cursed Marshfire shipart**” thus creating the ship name, Marshfire.