Finchstar

> *“I trust you, Quillheart, to give Dandelionkit a good mentor. You give the ceremony.”*
>
>

## Education & Succession

### Succeeded by

Unknown

**Finchstar** is a ginger marbled tabby tom with blue eyes and long fur. He is the leader of HoneyClan, and a founding member of the Clan. He has the **calm** and **good speaker** traits.

## PRE-CANON

Prior to the fire which destroyed HoneyClan's old camp, he was a warrior named Finchpelt under an unknown leader, and the son of the deputy. As a warrior, Finchpelt was regarded as a humble warrior who rarely got into fights, preferring to solve problems with words and reason over tooth and claw.

When the fire destroyed HoneyClan's old territory and culled many of the Clan's warriors, the Clan's eyes fell on him for guidance, despite his young age. He felt uncomfortable under the pressure of caring not only for himself, but for his displaced Clan. However, he decided that their camp was no longer salvageable and that the Clan would be moving to a brand new territory for the rest of the foreseeable future.

Very soon into the journey, Finchpelt received a dream of bees buzzing through a flower-laden forest. The following morning, cats reported sightings of bees, which led Finchpelt to believe that the bees were a sign from StarClan, and that they should follow them. Some cats were skeptical, but Finchpelt was certain that his dream was far more than a simple coincidence.

Along the way, the Clan found an abandoned kit, Dandelionkit, who joined their ranks.

He led the Clan day and night, following the bees until they arrived at the place of his dreams: the Glade Territory. The same night they arrived, Finchpelt received his nine lives in a dream and became Finchstar.

## YEAR 1

### MOON 1

Finchstar names Frostkit an apprentice, giving him the name Frostpaw and assigning him Pricklefur as his mentor.

### MOON 2

While out on a patrol alone, Finchstar senses a dog close to camp. He is apprehensive at first, but reasons that if things were to go awry, that he had eight lives left to spare. He rushes past the dog valiantly in order to drive it away, but his paw clips a root and sends him tumbling down. This gives the dog ample time to strike.

Finchstar does survive, much to his disbelief, but his leg is shattered. The pain is too great for him to attempt to return home, so he waits for a rescue patrol the following day.

### MOON 4

Quillheart comes to Finchstar, concerned about whether he will be able to conduct Dandelionkit's apprentice ceremony. Finchstar tells his deputy that he trusts him to make the right choice of a mentor for her.

### MOON 5

Finchstar grows tired of living in the medicine den with Motheyes, and the two cats begin to bicker and fight. Troutspeck intervenes, and learns that Finchstar felt bad about putting so much pressure on Quillheart so soon, whereas Motheyes wished that Finchstar would stop trying to leave his nest before his leg could heal. With Troutspeck's intervention, the leader and medicine cat find common ground.

### MOON 7

While Troutspeck's intervention from before did help, there was still some slight vitriol between leader and medicine cat. Six moons spent together in the medicine den is bound to wear any cat out, especially one with as much responsibility as Finchstar, and Troutspeck decides to intervene. She suggests that they give each other some space, which does help them foster a much more positive relationship.

### MOON 8

Finchstar finally recovers from his broken leg, and much to his surprise, he finds himself feeling lost. He'd gotten so used to the comfortable routine of the healing process that once his healing was done, he couldn't figure out how to assume his position again. This mindset wouldn't last long, however, as he is interrupted by the sound of Frostjay's voice, and the presence of a stranger.

The stranger introduces herself as Sagestrike, telling Finchstar that she came from DaisyClan as an exile. Finchstar is hesitant to accept her, but it would be a disservice to HoneyClan's charitable nature, as well as to Sagestrike herself as the other Clans were bound to be far more hostile towards her. With this logic in mind, he accepts Sagestrike into HoneyClan.

### MOON 11

Hostilities with PoolClan have increased, and Finchstar speaks to Mistteeth about it in order to gather his Clanmates' opinions. Mistteeth suggests they raid PoolClan's camp, but before Finchstar can comment on that, Sagestrike rushes into camp claiming they had visitors. The visitor in question is Jaggedpelt, who is injured on arrival. Finchstar is almost sympathetic, until he realizes that Jaggedpelt is a PoolClan cat, and he immediately breaks into a series of questions.

Jaggedpelt explains that PoolClan's leader is going to attempt to drive HoneyClan out of their territory. Finchstar is skeptical, but Jaggedpelt insists that he will help defend HoneyClan should the worst happen. Finchstar very tentatively accepts Jaggedpelt into HoneyClan, promising to keep a close eye on them.

Later, Finchstar is on a border patrol with Pigeonstalk and Sagestrike. They are startled by a kittypet, who announces himself to be Ruffnut. Finchstar accepts Ruffnut into the Clan much more willingly than he did Jaggedpelt, as the Clan needed as much help as it could get with the war.