Poppyblaze

> "Thank you for being my son." ~ Poppyblaze to Puddlepaw, right before dying
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Template:Template for TFCRP Infobox. Use this one

## Physical Description

Poppyblaze is a large, tall, golden mackerel cat. She is a mix between a Maine Coon and a Norwegian Forest cat, so she is quite fluffy. Her eyes are a bright forest-green, much like her parents, and her front paws have some white dapples on them that are rather pretty but impossible to see in winter. Poppyblaze gets her tall and large appearance from her mother and father, who are two of the largest cats in the clans, and she will probably grow up to be somewhere around 15 inches (which is in between her parents, Lakeblossom and Lionstar). She also has two scars over her right eye- one long, one short.

## Personality

Poppyblaze is a kind, caring cat, but she is also very clever. She loves adventures and is a bit mischievous at times, but more than anything she loves her mother and siblings. She enjoys playing with almost anyone and always finds a way to make things fun. Poppyblaze is also a bit ambitious, and she wants to eventually lead the clan, but not in the evil way like cats that will kill their clanmates to be leader.

## Skills and Weaknesses

Poppyblaze is very a large cat, but she can be a bit clumsy at times. However, she's a bit of a natural hunter, and her large build gives her an advantage in fights.

## Kithood

Poppykit was born in Shadowclan, and only a few weeks after she was born she met Raindash and quickly became friends with her, despite Raindash being blind, depressed, and a murderer. Another thing that happened quickly was that Poppykit almost immediately formed a rivalry with her brother, Buzzardkit. Poppykit often got horribly annoyed with Buzzardkit's boasting, and one time Buzzardkit bit Raindash's tail, and Poppykit started actually fighting with him.

It was around this time that Poppykit started to realize that she didn't know who her father was, while every other cat did. She confronted her brother, Stagpaw, about this, and he told her that he couldn't tell her because Lakeblossom was scared that Poppykit would leave in search of her father. But, this didn't deter Poppykit, and she proceeded to badger Lakeblossom about who her father was. Her begging Lakeblossom didn't get her much of anywhere, though, because Lakeblossom promptly refused. Lakeblossom also told her not to go asking anyone else about her father.

Poppykit quickly got bored of arguing, though, and the little rebel went and asked Raindash who her father was. Raindash told her that Lakeblossom was, or used to, be mates with Lionstar, and that Lionstar had exiled Lakeblossom from Windclan. That told Poppykit that Lionstar was definitely her father, because Lakeblossom had told her that Poppykits father exiled her from his clan. Later, she met her sister, Wasptoes, and her brother, Stagpaw, took the name Stagheart before dying of greencough. Around this time, she found the Hollow log, and joined as Poppyspark.

After Stagheart died, Lakeblossom left camp talking about Lionstar, so Poppykit followed her. Lakeblossom met Lionstar and they chatted for a bit, but they quickly started fighting when Buzzardkit came out of the bushes and said he'd stay with Lionstar. This broke out into a huge fight between the two, Lionstar pinning Lakeblossom. They stopped soon after Buzzardkit ran to Windclan. But, when Lakeblossom told Furstar the news, Furstar sent a patrol to confront Lionstar, where they managed to retrieve Buzzardkit. Shortly after he returned, Poppykit got into a big fight with Buzzardkit which ended in her saying 'I wish you'd died instead of Stagheart' and then running off. Luckily Mom came to the rescue.

Sadly, shortly after this happened, Raindash was killed by a twoleg. Poppykit was devastated, and then Buzzardkit walked over, sarcastically saying, 'Oh no, she's /dead/'. Poppykit was immediately furious with him and she tackled him and drew blood on purpose, screaming for him to stay away from her and her friends. Mom came to the rescue, again.

Later, Buzzardkit put thorns in her nest and woke her up, and she attacked him. She made friends with an apprentice named Sandpaw, and they snuck onto Windclan territory. She met her older siblings and returned home with nobody else knowing.

## Apprenticeship

Poppypaw was apprenticed to Hollyfeather. When she was 8 moons old, she found Buzzardpaw at the Shadowclan border. A tree cracked and fell above her, but Buzzardpaw shoved her out of the way and saved her life. However, Buzzardpaws hind leg and tail were shattered by the branch. Poppypaw brought him to the Shadowclan medicine cat and they made up. However, Buzzardpaw ran back to Windclan via the gathering. Poppypaw looked for him everywhere before finding him on Windclan territory, where she declared that she would leave Shadowclan and join Windclan.

It wasn't all that simple, though. At the next gathering, when Poppypaw was going to leave and go to join Windclan, a fight broke out and lightning struck a nearby tree, setting fire to all four territories and forcing the clans to leave and seek refuge in No Clans' Land. When the fire stopped, everything was destroyed, and the Clans knew they had to leave.

While they were there, Beeskip, Beetlewatcher's mate, gave birth to her kits. Poppypaw also saw the fire as a chance to really meet her relatives in Windclan, and found Sedgeflower, her aunt, who was the Windclan deputy at the time. Sedgeflower gave her her warrior name, Poppyblaze.

## Adulthood

After receiving her warrior name, Poppyblaze spoke with Dreamshine, her older sister, and discovered that Dreamshine was expecting kits. Poppyblaze ended up making the hard decision to leave Windclan, and her mother did not approve. Poppyblaze was going through a rough time at the time, and her brother, Buzzardpaw, had fallen in love with a Windclan exile- Skynose, who had been exiled for blinding Galewind and who had torn her family apart. At first, Poppyblaze was furious, but she realized how similar Skynose was to Raindash, and chose to forgive her. One day, Buzzardrose was attacked by a hawk. The hawk blinded Poppyblaze in her right eye when she tried to save Buzzardrose, and he was thrown into the river. She raced down the river and found him with Skynose, and he told her that he was leaving Windclan to be with Skynose- who was now his mate.

Poppyblaze was crushed and screamed at her brother, but he gave her some words of wisdom and motivation that made her fully decide that she was going to join Windclan for sure. Buzzardrose also told her to tell the clan that he died instead of telling the truth, and she agreed. Shortly afterward, the clans found their new territories and moved in, where she immediately formed a bond with her niece, Nutkit. Poppyblaze was also visited by Raindash in her dreams, which really boosted her happiness and confidence, to see her old friend again.

A little while later, Poppyblaze got an apprentice- Dawnpaw. Poppyblaze proved to be a good mentor, and taught Dawnpaw the borders, and Dawnpaw caught a rabbit on her first hunt. Poppyblaze also met a tom named Fennelspring, and they fell in love quickly. After a few moons, Fennelspring confessed his love for her, and the two of them became mate. Later, a war sparked between Riverclan and Windclan, after Badgerstrike of Riverclan killed Kestrelsong, the Windclan medicine cat. Dreamshine was also killed in the turmoil. After Dreamshine died, Wasptoes abandoned her adopted kits, Petalpaw and Gorsekit, and left to join Shadowclan. In Poppyblaze's dreams, Dreamshine told Poppyblaze to adopt Petalpaw and Gorsekit. So, she did, but Gorsekit refused, not wanting to be heartbroken again.

One day, Poppyblaze found Skynose in Windclan territory with a broken neck, and brought her back to Windclan to be healed. When she went to tell Buzzardrose that Skynose was alright, Buzzardrose told her that he was going to join Shadowclan. Poppyblaze was outraged, and she tackled Buzzardrose (though she had her claws sheathed). She screamed at him that every cat was leaving her, referring to Wasptoes, and that she had left Shadowclan for him, and he was just running right back to them. Buzzardrose pushed her off and hissed at her, running away to Shadowclan, leaving Poppyblaze heartbroken.

Not too long after, Dawnpaw became a warrior, Dawnblossom. In addition, a few days after that happened, Poppyblaze gave birth to four kits; Rosekit, named after Buzzardrose, Rainkit, named after Raindash, Redkit, and Lionkit. Just a few days after she was born, Rainkit poisoned Quailberry, for 'threatening to eat her'. Luckily, Quailberry was alright, though Poppyblaze punished Rainkit severely for her actions. A few days later, Rainkit and Redkit went missing. This caused Poppyblaze lots of worry and stress, but a little while later, Rainkit and Redkit were found again.

A little while later, Poppyblaze found a Shadowclan exile, Fuyu, on Windclan territory. She had been exiled for killing a cat, but Fuyu was barely more than a kit, and she explained that killing the cat had been an accident. Poppyblaze brought her to Windclan and suggested a two-moon trial period for Fuyu. In the end, Emberheart agreed, and Poppyblaze watched over Fuyu.

Everything was peaceful for about a moon, until a mystery green-eyed attacker badly injured Strikeshade, Fuyu, Redkit, and Lightningfang. The killer turned out to be Quailberry, which was revealed by Petalpaw after Quailberry died rescuing Petalpaw from the poison lake in No Clans' Land. But, that wasn't the end of Poppyblaze's troubles. Petalpaw stopped eating, feeling like it was her fault Quailberry had died. After a long talk, Petalpaw finally agreed to eat, because Rainkit had also stopped eating until Petalpaw would eat.

But not even that was the end. A few days later, Rosekit went missing, and Poppyblaze followed her scent to Thunderclan, where she encountered Cranewing. Poppyblaze told Cranewing she was looking for her daughter, Rosekit, and Cranewing immediately started crying that Poppyblaze couldn't take her, and that she was ruining her life by trying to get her daughter back. Poppyblaze got him to bring Rosekit to her to decide, and Cranewing started trying to subtly play the victim card to make Rosekit choose to go to Thunderclan, which, in the end, she did. But Poppyblaze wouldn't let her child leave without a fight. So she ran back to Windclan and told Emberheart, who was now a good friend of hers, what had happened. Emberheart was infuriated, and after consulting Sedgestar, quickly decided to take a patrol to Thunderclan and threaten to start a war if they didn't give back Rosekit.

Unfortunately, Rosekit was never brought back to Windclan. She drowned in a stream in Thunderclan territory. Poppyblaze was devastated, and from then on, she had a personal vendetta against Thunderclan. A few moons passed, and Lionkit fell sick before her apprentice ceremony, resulting in her completely skipping her apprenticeship. Fennelspring was also ill, along with Sedgestar. Rainpaw and Redpaw became apprentices, and things were normal for a while. Poppyblaze received Brindlepaw as an apprentice, and after Brindlepaw's sister, Finchpaw, lost her adopted mother, Poppyblaze took her in. For a while, things were normal - apart from Nutflight dying. That is, until Rainpaw was killed by a snake. Poppyblaze was horrified, but, she managed to give Rainpaw her warrior name - Rainfrost - before she joined Starclan. With only one healthy kit left, she protected Redpaw.

Eventually, her grief from losing Rainpaw faded. Poppyblaze's sister, Wasptoes, returned to Windclan, and soon afterward, Fennelspring and Lionkit finally recovered from their sickness just in time for Lionkit and Redpaw's warrior ceremonies. Lionkit received the name Lionsong, Redpaw was named Redflower, and Brindlepaw also got her name- Brindlecloud. However, not even a moon later, Sedgestar fell into the lake and got trapped beneath the ice. She died, leaving Emberheart as the new leader of Windclan. By some miracle, Poppyblaze was chosen to be the deputy.

## Deputyship

Poppyblaze was very very excited upon being named the deputy. However, something bad happened. Fennelspring was attacked and ultimately killed by an owl, leaving Poppyblaze alone with her only two surviving kits, Redflower and Lionsong. A while passed, and Poppyblaze was given a new apprentice, Echopaw, who left the clan shortly afterward. Because of her leaving the clan, Poppyblaze was given yet another apprentice, Snowpaw, who was also her granddaughter- Petalfrost and Bonewhisper's daughter. Prior to this, Petalfrost, Finchpaw, Brindlecloud, and Bonewhisper had all died, and Poppyblaze fell into a depression, though she tried (and failed) to hide it.

Having Snowpaw as her apprentice helped her a bit with her depression. She also met Eaglespark, a rogue who had joined Windclan, and they quickly became good friends. With things going well in her life, Poppyblaze began to feel better.

Eventually, Poppyblaze and Eaglespark confessed their love for each other, on a hill in Windclan territory while surrounded by fireflies. With this final little nudge, Poppyblaze was no longer feeling depressed, and instead started to take great joy in having a mate and her position.

A few moons later, Poppyblaze discovered that she was expecting Eaglespark's kits. She was thrilled, and soon gave birth to four little furballs- Bloomkit, named for Buzzardstorm's late daughter, Blossom; Puddlekit, named for Lakestar, her mother; Sheepkit, named for Eaglespark's sister in law; and Fireflykit, named for the night Poppyblaze became mates with Eaglespark.

Things were great for a couple moons. Poppyblaze finally had a family in Windclan, all of whom she loved dearly. But, then Emberstar dropped a bomb on her; that she was being demoted from deputy, and instead her son, Redflower, would take her place. Poppyblaze was crushed by this news and asked why, to which Emberstar told her that it was because she wanted Poppyblaze to have more time to spend with her family. She tried very hard to convince Emberstar not to demote her, but in the end, it was pointless.

## Her Last Moons

Shortly after being demoted, Emberstar lost her last life, and Redflower became Redstar

Poppyblaze grew sort of distant from her Clan after being demoted. Fireflykit quickly became borderline-depressed due to other kits not liking her, because of her "better than you" attitude, and despite Poppyblaze's attempts to console her, it seemed that Fireflykit didn't care very much about anything she said.

Puddlekit was also growing traumatized by Fireflykit's bullying. Again, Poppyblaze tried her best to stop the bullying, but nothing seemed to work. Sheepkit fell sick and stopped doing much of anything, and Bloomkit went missing at 5 moons old.

Eaglespark wasn't around as much anymore. He tried his best, but wasn't feeling great due to the incredibly harsh leaf-bare and lack of food. This left Poppyblaze caring for their kits alone, for the most part, but she wasn't very upset with him; she understood that times were tough for all of them. Her kits were apprenticed, and Bloomkit returned.

Poppyblaze was given an apprentice, Padpaw, which helped her feel better. She liked having someone to take care of, a purpose. She learned that her son, Puddlepaw, was friends with a Riverclan cat, Frondpaw, and actually encouraged their friendship. She quickly grew close to Puddlepaw, but unfortunately, couldn't say the same for her other kits. She loved them, of course, but grew distant naturally.

## Death Roleplay

https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/3861802/comments/#comments-116924679

Poppyblaze and her family - Redstar, Puddlepaw, Bloompaw, and Eaglespark (Fireflyburn wasn't there for some reason) - were on a walk to the top of the waterfall at Cloud Lake, when a badger showed up, and Eaglespark attacked it. It threw him into the lake, and Poppyblaze attacked it, pushing the badger off the waterfall but also falling off herself. Here are her last moments;

Poppyblaze let out a shriek as she watched her mate fall. "EAGLESPARK!" She yowled. The badger turned toward her, alerted by her call, looking almost smug- at least, to her it looked smug. Tears dripped down her cheeks and she let out a loud hiss of fury. She hurled herself at the badger, slamming into it. The badger let out a cry as it tumbled down, off the cliff, and Poppyblaze tried her best to spin around in the air, to grab onto the cliff. It was to no avail. As she watched her kits grow farther and farther away from her, as she plummeted down toward the cold water below, time seemed to freeze. She was pulled back into the Shadowclan nursery, play-fighting with Buzzardkit as her mother watched. Then she was older, watching Raindash's body being dragged into camp, fainting. When she opened her eyes from fainting, she was watching Lionstar and Lakeblossom fight, watching Buzzardkit flee to Windclan, and then she was making the promise that had haunted her ever since she left Shadowclan; 'I'll never leave you.' Then she was an apprentice, she saw Buzzardpaw at the border, and hissed at him. A branch cracked above her and she stared in horror as Buzzardpaw threw himself toward her, blocking her from the impact of the branch, breaking his leg and tail- she was then in the medicine den, telling him she'd leave Shadowclan. She watched flames creep at the edges of her vision, and watched Four-Trees burst into a blazing inferno, watched as cats fled for their lives. Then she was on the Great Journey, and Sedgestar was gifting her a warrior name; Poppyblaze. She watched her life again, saw every mistake she'd made and every regret she'd had, saw Rosekit drown and saw Emberstar demote her, and she thought to herself; \*Was it all worth it? ... Yes.\* And then she was jolted back to reality, feeling the sickening pain as she hit the water with full force, having all of her breath driven out of her as she drifted underwater. She tried to yell, but only succeeded in filling her lungs with more water, coughing and sputtering, and watching the water in front of her jaws turn red with the bl00d that she must've been coughing.

Poppyblaze was in shock for a moment. The water turned red around her, and her whole body burned with pain. She tried moving a leg, but realized quickly that that leg hurt far too much to move. \*No. I refuse to d!3. Not without speaking to my kits for one last time.\* This thought fueled her actions. She knew she wouldn't survive this, but if Starclan was going to take her, they'd have to wait until she'd said her last words. Pain seared through every inch of her, but she didn't care, forcing her legs to churn at the water despite the fact that even the slightest movement caused the water to turn more and more red. Finally she broke the surface. She was in the middle of the lake, but off to the side where Puddlepaw and Bloompaw were. Clenching her jaw against the pain, she forced herself to try to swim, despite the water tugging at her and the pain making her eyes water. She flailed desperately toward her kits, gasping for air and choking on bl00d.

Poppyblaze grunted as Bloompaw dragged her to the shore. Water lapped at her tail, and her pelt was drenched. Many of her bones were obviously broken, but she hardly seemed to notice, her body numb with shock. Poppyblaze lifted her head weakly, a small smile growing on her maw. Bl00d dribbled down her chin, and her whole mouth was red- she clearly suffered some sort of internal injury. "W-Well... I guess that's it then, h-huh?" She managed, letting out a raspy chuckle. "Going out with a bang... just as I hoped to. I'm k-kind of a hero." Poppyblaze meowed. She tried to hold back tears, but had already accepted the fact that she wouldn't make it through this.

"Mom, Dad," Puddlepaw shook his head, looking back and forth at his parents, shaking his head again "/No/" he protested "I'll bring you back. Into the medicine den. Mallardripple and I will heal you," he mewed. No. They wouldn't die. No. No. No

With a rasping breath, Poppyblaze turned to look at Puddlepaw. "You know we won't make it. We're old. S-So stop worrying a-about how to save us, and start focusing on what I have to say to you." She swallowed back a cough, knowing that it'd only panic her kits more.

"P-poppyblaze," Bloompaw stammered weakly, her fur streaked with lake water and tears. No. This wouldn't happen, they'd get better, the medicine cats could heal them. /Puddlepaw/ could heal them. "We have to get you back to camp. And get Mallardripple, and herbs, and Redstar can help carry you, and-"

"Shh, sh." She murmured softly. "We can't be fixed- at least, I can't." After a paused, Poppyblaze chuckled softly to herself, and cleared her throat. "Three... two... one... Be happy!" She did her best effort at looking happy and upbeat, but it was hard, since she felt as if a rock had crushed her.

Bloompaw gave a choked laugh as Poppyblaze used her old trick. A small smile played on her muzzle but quickly faded. "Poppyblaze, I-" Tears began to well in her amber eyes, tears of sadness, but also of anger. Anger at the badger for doing this. And anger at herself. Anger at herself for not being happy like she had always told others to be. "I-I love you." She whispered. Bloompaw had never really told her parents that, and she wanted to make sure she did before they were gone. "Both of you."

"Mom," Puddlepaw mewed again "When you're in S-StarClan," he stuttered the word "Look for Frondpaw," he mewed, finally accepting she'd be dead. But reluctantly.

Poppyblaze cleared her throat, a little bl00d dripping onto her paws as she did, and meowed, "Y-You go find your friend, and you do whatever you have to in order to be happy. Don't let anyone or anything keep you from being happy, you hear me?" She carefully lifted a paw and placed it on his. "I will be proud of you no matter what. B-Break the code if you want, I don't care. Whatever will make you happy, I will support." She told him, making eye contact to make sure he was focused on her. "I love you, too, Bloompaw. I love you no matter what. What I told Puddlepaw goes for you, too, alright?" She meowed, tears pricking at her eyes and threatening to show themselves.

Puddlepaw wasn't even thinking about the leader standing right behind him as he talked about breaking the code. "Mom," he whispered, his voice hoarse from crying as he gripped onto her bl00d-soaked fur. He didn't even hear Bloompaw's words, he didn't know anyone else was around except his dying parents. "Thank you for supporting me even though you thought it was wrong. Thank you for helping me when Wolfstep was gone. Thank you for sleeping with me while I was in the medicine den, and for never getting angry at me for leaving camp like that, or for meeting Frondpaw," he mewed, feeling a need to thank his mother for all she had done "Thank you for being my Mom,"

"Thank you for being my son." The tears forced themselves out now, dripping down her cheek as she gave her son a gentle cat-hug. Poppyblaze lifted her gaze to Redstar; her eldest son. "And you. I will always, always be proud of you. You- you are a great leader, and you always will be." She choked out. She turned her attention to Puddlepaw. "I wish I could hang on for you... but... I can't." She coughed bl00d, and winced. "Please... don't grieve for too long. And- and I can't find your friend, if she isn't gone. I-I'm sure she's not. You go find her, and you b-bring her back, okay? But- but only if you want to. Be careful. Take care of your siblings. I love..." She let out a choked sob. "...you." Her body fell limp, and her spirit rose, invisible to the cats around her. As soon as she knew she couldn't be seen or heard anymore, she broke down into sobs. "I'm so sorry..." She whimpered as a ghost. "I tried to hang on for you, I really did... I tried to stay strong for all of you... but I couldn't..." She looked at Eaglespark. "Stay with me. At least we'll go through this together, right? I need you. I don't know who else I'll have to lean on... well, that's a lie. Most of the cats I love are here, in Starclan... Oh, I can't wait to see them again. I can't wait to see mom, and Raindash, and Brindlecloud and Finchpaw and everyone who I've lost..." She was mostly talking to herself at this point. "I'll finally get to apologize to Lakestar."

## Notable Quotes

"I know a piece of my heart will always be in Shadowclan, but the rest of it is here" ~Poppypaw to Buzzardpaw (when she says she will join Windclan)

"That's not true, Petalpaw. She's watching over you. You can't change the past. But you can change the future" ~ Poppyblaze to Petalpaw (talking about Quailberry)

"Memories haunt us sometimes, but, the best way to stop that is just to make new, better ones, ones that won't be a curse, but a blessing" ~ Poppyblaze to Starlingkit (when he says he's upset because he 'keeps remembering')

"Memories... a blessing and a curse, aren't they? Hiding from them won't keep them away. It will only give them the chance to haunt you." ~ Poppyblaze to Twigivy

"Because as long as you're alive, there's something you can do to turn your life around. It's hard, I know, but you need to try not to dwell on the past. Focus on the future instead." ~ Poppyblaze to Snowkit (when Snowkit asks how she isn't sad all the time).

"Thank you for being my son." ~ Poppyblaze to Puddlepaw, right before dying.

## Friends and Family

Lakestar - she-cat, mother, Shadowclan

Phoenix - tom, father, Starclan

Stagheart - tom, brother, Starclan

Sunblaze- she-cat, sister, Starclan

Beetlewatcher - tom, brother, Windclan

Dreamshine - she-cat, sister, Starclan

Wasptoes - she-cat, sister, Starclan

Ferretbounce - she-cat, sister, Starclan

Buzzardstorm - tom, brother, Shadowclan

Rainfrost - she-cat, daughter, Starclan

Redstar - tom, son, Windclan

Rosekit - she-cat, daughter, Starclan

Lionsong - she-cat, daughter, Starclan

Petalfrost - she-cat, adopted daughter, Starclan

Raindash- she-cat, friend, Starclan

Fennelspring - tom, mate, Starclan

Emberstar - she-cat, friend, Starclan

Eaglespark- tom, mate, Starclan

Bloompaw - she-cat, daughter, Windclan

Fireflypaw - she-cat, daughter, Windclan

Puddlepaw - tom, son, Windclan

Sheeppaw - tom, son, Windclan