SPIDERSTEP
AGE Fifty six
GENDER Tom
CLAN Shadowclan
RANK Warrior
SHORT DESCRIPTION A black tomcat with a gaunt face and limp.
APPEARANCE There’s not a lot of substance to Spiderstep. His shoulders are narrow, and while he’s a tall cat, his lithe muscle gives him little bulk. His legs are long and, though they once let him run and jump through the branches of the sunken woods with ease, his back left leg is severely scarred and has a limp. When just walking, it doesn’t hamper him too much, though after long patrols or a day slogging through the marshes, it can start to ache and make moving difficult.
PERSONALITY Spiderstep has a sharp mind that’s usually put to work coming up with plans for the future or just observing whatever’s there. He knows how cats work in social scenarios and is a quick learner- something that’s paired with curiosity that still persists as he ages. There’s a burning ened inside of Spiderstep to learn, to know about the world around him. And not just what is, but why things are that way. His incessant questions as a kit and apprentice have grown to probing jabs that rip wounds in any assumptions he finds. Unless there's a good explanation, Spiderstep will always be asking questions.
No cat can deny that Spiderstep has a way with words. He’s been taught how to get what he wants out of people and puts his mother’s teaching to good use to try and put in a good word here, a bad word there, all in an effort to shape the world how he sees fit. It’s not unusual to see Spiderstep weaving his way in to any conversation he can, and if he’s not speaking, then he’s lurking in the shadows, ears perked and eyes sharp.
Despite his shady tendencies, Spiderstep believes in doing the right thing, and above all, justice. He;’s got a keen interest in politics, and while he’s no deputy or leader, he’s sure to hang on to every word at a gathering, and considers his duty to mull them around in his head, looking for underlying meanings, accidental or on purpose. Perhaps unfortunately in the eyes of many cats, Spiderstep naturally questions the accepted order of things. He’s a revolutionary at heart, and is constantly pushing for reform. He believes that complacency in the way things are leads to neglect and makes people ignore issues and, as a result, embraces change if only to shake things up a little bit. Stagnation is one of his biggest fears.
While he may work for what he considers the greater good, the tom isn’t above things like blackmail to try and get his way. Spiderstep is a cat that, while he has strong morals, believes the ends justify the means in any and all cases: and he is willing to sacrifice anything for those ends- or, at least, most things. Now that he has a mate and kits, there’s more hesitance to Spiderstep’s need to justice. The well-being of the world at large still matters at him, but now he has something more important in his life.
Spiderstep works hard at what he considers his duties, though in other areas of life he’s…a bit lacking in urgency. To be honest, when it comes to taking care of himself, Spiderstep is kind of lazy. Cherrystorm is mostly responsible for making sure his pelt isn’t a terrible mess, and the cat is usually content to let his mate clean him whenever. It just seems odd to the tom to put so much effort in to looking nice and clean.
Getting close to other cats is hard for Spiderstep, in part because he tends to follow a set list of rules for interacting with others. Just…talking without any ulterior motive is something he’s still adjusting to, and his inexperience can show with how zealous he can be with affections. It’s not uncommon for him to just occasionally pin Cherrystorm down to lick and nuzzle the other cat. Loving someone is just such a novel thing- Spiderstep can’t help but want to express his excitement over something so...new and wonderful.
Also, he has a terrible sense of humor. Spiderstep loves what humans would consider ‘dad jokes’, and loves bad puns.
HISTORY - No one in the clan could say that they expected Ambershade and Swiftstrike to become mates. The pair certainly didn't seem in love, from the polite indifference with which Ambershade treated Swiftstrike and the condescension the black and white tom seemed to have for the tortoiseshell she-cat. Swiftstrike regarded Ambershade as a trickster who lacked the honor of a true shadowclan cat, who preferred to leap on her enemies from the trees above or lunge at them from underbrush. Ambershade mostly kept her thoughts to herself - she was too politically savvy to ever let anyone catch her call the tom a 'frigid brute.'
- Their partnership arose from the increasing frequency with which they were put on borders patrols together. Ambershade was excellent at talking down cats on the borders and defusing potentially dangerous situations. Her real talent, however, was stealing from other clans and then sending any warrior who caught her heading home so turned around that they thought
they'd been the one trespassing. Swiftstrike, on the other hand, was powerful enough to back up the shifty she-cat.
- Their relationship built slowly. They went from young warriors who had little respect for each other to senior warriors who had a business-like partnership - and so Swiftstrike decided, when he saw other toms leading around their kits and passing on their legacies, that the intelligent Ambershade who had been his partner since youth would be his best partner in parenthood as well. Ambershade agreed to one litter - and so Badgerkit and Spiderkit were born.
- Ambershade was initially distant to the kits. She didn't regard them as hers - she had simply donated some of her time and energy to Swiftstrike. She left them in the care of another nursing queen and left the nursery as soon as she was able. The clan didn't approve, but Ambershade didn't care. Swiftstrike took a great deal of interest in his kits - especially where their growth into strong warriors was concerned.
- Initially, Spiderkit's clever mind delighted his father - until he grew old enough to begin questioning things. At first it was just little things. Why was the sky blue? What made the grass grow? Where did kits come from? But then he set his mind to bigger things. Why did the warrior code say this? Why couldn't medicine cats have mates? And, the question that horrified his father the most - why were the clans separate?
- When he became an apprentice, his father became to withdraw from him further. Spiderpaw didn't make friends like the other apprentices did. He focused too much on politics and not enough on simple cat interaction. He had strange interests, like an obsession with the other clans - he wanted to learn to swim like riverclan, though he sank like a rock. He was always asking about the leaders of other clans as if they were heroes to him, and could recite little facts picked up at gatherings as if by heart - did you know Storkstar won a battle with Riverclan in the meadows in greenleaf fifteen moons ago?
- But as Swiftstrike withdrew, Ambershade became more interested in her son. She noticed how the clan began to withdraw and slowly took Spiderpaw under her wing, taking him out of the camp without his mentor or father knowing. It pained her to see her son rejected, even though she had once rejected him herself - and so she taught him. She taught him how to watch what he said and how to talk circles around other cats. She took more interest in him than his own mentor, Acorntongue, who would have rather been chasing she-cats.
- He graduated alongside Badgerfang to Spiderstep, honored for the stealth that his mother had taught him in their private training sessions. She cheered loudly for him. His father chanted only Badgerfang's name.
A spark of resentment grew between the brothers over their parents. Badgerfang envied Spiderstep's relationship with their mother, while Spiderstep longed for the attention of his father. Perhaps seeking to repair it, their leader assigned them apprentices that were siblings themselves - Cherrypaw for Badgerfang and Mothpaw for Spiderstep. Cherrypaw was a sour little cat while Mothpaw was ever cheerful and curious, full of questions as Spiderstep had once been. He cared for her a great deal.
The brothers slowly began to repair their relationship through their apprentices, sharing training. It was through one of these training sessions that tragedy struck. A climbing exercise with a third sibling of Mothpaw and Cherrypaw - Tinypaw - took a turn for the worse when a bit of rough-housing led to Mothpaw tumbling to the ground, dragging Tinypaw after her. Spiderstep arrived to find Tinypaw already dead and Mothpaw with her neck broken. Knowing she was paralyzed and that an agonizing death awaited her, he had Badgerfang lead Cherrypaw away and granted mercy to his apprentice.
- Once he arrived at the camp, Cherrypaw confronted him. He initially feared that the apprentice knew what he had done - but it seemed that Cherrypaw instead blamed him for not training Mothpaw well enough. He quietly accepted the blame, feeling he deserved it and still reeling from having to kill her. Badgerfang intercepts and tells Cherrypaw to go cool down - leading to Cherrypaw and his surviving sibling, Firepaw, leaving the camp. A patrol is later sent to retrieve the apprentices from thunderclan territory. Spiderstep is devastated and guilty to learn that both are injured and Firepaw had been blinded.
- Cherrypaw, released from the medicine cat den, is too depressed to continue training. Frustrated and unable to connect with his apprentice, Badgerfang goes to the leader - and happens to hold the discussion where Spiderstep is eating a toad nearby. Badgerfang admits he cannot train the depressed apprentice, and Spiderstep offers to take him.
- The action is not a selfless one. He longs to prove that he is better than Badgerfang to his father and, though he cannot admit it to himself, to take something from the golden boy he percieves his brother to be. Badgerfang reacts badly and lashes out at Spiderstep, calling him selfish and manipulative - even going so far as saying that he will only make Cherrypaw worse. The leader breaks up the fighting brothers and gives Cherrypaw to Spiderstep, as Badgerfang has officially given him up.
- Cherrypaw is resentful of Spiderstep. He doesn't eat or groom himself. Spiderstep brings him food and lectures him on the ways of being a warrior. After a great deal of time, Cherrypaw slowly begins to leave his nest and they begin normal training. Cherrypaw is still resentful, but Spiderstep is unwilling to give up and admit defeat to his brother and father. He's also slowly becoming fond of the angry apprentice.
- Cherrypaw is finally ready to graduate and becomes Cherrystorm. The two remain close and Cherrystorm often aids Spiderstep in his machinations. Badgerfang takes notice and privately confronts Spiderstep, accusing him of having taken advantage of the younger cat and having turned him into his own minion. Spiderstep admits there is some truth in this, but tells Badgerfang to stay away from him and Cherrystorm.
- Spiderstep is confronted on a patrol by the Riverclan deputy, Heronstrike. The two are separated from the rest of the cats and battle, but Spiderstep is overpowered by the larger tom and has his leg broken. He is nearly drowned, before Heronstrike and Riverclan is driven out. Cherrystorm and another cat pull Spiderstep from the water and Spiderstep spends some time in the medicine cat den. Cherrystorm confesses his feelings for Spiderstep, and Spiderstep returns the confession.
- Skyclan arrives. Spiderstep decides to side with the clan, despite this making him somewhat unpopular in shadowclan. He begins to quietly encourage the younger cats of the clan to be more friendly towards Skyclan.
Cherrystorm's pregnancy is announced. Spiderstep is very excited but concerned for the health of his mate. The kits are born healthy and happy and Cherrystorm bounces back easily enough - but Badgerfang approaches Spiderstep again in an attempt to warn the tom off of his skyclan supporting and his manipulative behavior in the clan
OTHER HI HUNGRY I’M DAD
