#bb!leopardstar

I have a BIG rule for the BOTTE, an unmoveable object, which I will abide by like a solemn vow;

NO spirit will be killed by the same cat twice.

I already changed it so Yellowfang doesn't get Brokenstar (he's not even present) and Brambleclaw doesn't get Hawkfrost, so I certainly wouldn't have Mistystar do it to Leopardstar!

I have some ideas but first; context.

The Killing of Leopardstar

Mistyfoot was sloppy.

Leopardstar recognized the way that Mistyfoot had poisoned her food, because she'd done the same thing to Crookedstar before her. Not enough to make it quick, just enough to weaken.

The emotion that licks at her is frustration.

Is this what her life has come to? Dramatic irony? Is this some kind of cosmic joke? To die just like her predecessor, wasting away for a few seasons in the darkness of this musty den, before solemn mourning and empty platitudes from her underhanded murderer.

What should she even do about this? Reveal Mistyfoot in front of everyone, exile her, she plots against her from the safety of another Clan, some kind of rebellion, rah rah rah we just dealt with this.

It's boring. It's so boring it's offensive. This will be the state of RiverClan forever, deputies poisoning leaders and taking power quietly until the end of days. No honor, no nobility, just treachery until the sky dries up and its rich blue becomes a crackled pale-brown.

If she is to die, she will not go out in the slow and painful way she killed crookedstar without a fight.

So she smacks the limp fish aside and brushes past Mistyfoot with a snarl, not even caring enough to drink in the way her traitorous deputy's ears flushed pale, knowing she'd been caught.

Leopardstar calls for a rushed meeting, telling them all that there's actually 40 - 50 feral rogues on the border right now and she saw them all last night or something, so she's taking Mistyfoot to go confront them right now. Don't follow us.

(Something that the more astute members of the Clan immediately recognize as Leopardstar setting up cover for a death match, including Misty's brother Swansong. She snaps at him when he runs to stop her, Don't Follow.)

Once they're a fair distance away, at the southern delta that divides WindClan and RiverClan, where the cliffs will hide them and the wet stones will not catch the scent (and where Reedwhisker will die, someday), Leopardstar lays it out.

No more tricks. No more schemes. If one of them is to die, it will be with honor.

"You want my lives?"

(Boss music fades in. Misty sees the health bar appear lmao)

"Come and take them."

After she came and took them

Leopardstar is kind of obsessed with the final battle of her life. That fight was everything she hoped for, except that she didn't win.

She wants it again, and she will triumph this time.

Hawkfrost is easily able to twist it into, "You lost only because StarClan shone upon her with that stone. It wasn't real skill. Join our cause and we can get you that rematch, we will defeat Mistystar, win back RiverClan, and dethrone the Stars!" But at the end of the day, it's an excuse.

Same sort of excuse Leopardstar came up with when she believed she wanted an honorable battle, rejecting the guilt and fear that clawed at her to think about dying the way Crookedstar did.

She does this a lot. Dodging feelings of remorse or regret by substituting power fantasies, avoiding any hard lessons. She says she wants revenge, but what she's actually doing is avoiding taking an L. Shame is a vagrant in Leopardstar's heart; she will never let it stay for long.

But...

That's really hard to do when Tigerstar is actively using her and speaking over her in every interaction. Being here, in the Dark Forest, taking the SAME advice she once groomed into Hawkfrost to only look at the positives of Tigerstar's legacy and ignore atrocities, is embarassing.

It's HUMILIATING.

She had her starshine BASHED out of her with a rock and went to the hell she'd been downplaying since she "regrettably" tore down the Bonehill. Being Tigerstar's stooge. Reducing the proud, ferocious leader of RiverClan into a goon.

Towards the end, she will have a scene with Hawkfrost, proud warriors that they are as mentor and apprentice, and vaguely address this. As far as Leopardstar's ego will allow, of course... the shame of it.

It's an important moment, because it's as much about Leopardstar and Hawkfrost as it is about Hawkfrost and Ivypool.

Leopard is too set in her ways to change, even if she is capable of brief glimpses of self-reflection, of which this is one. Hawkfrost, however, is seeing his mentor and himself in a different light. How she'll let herself be humiliated over and over as long as she can cling to her ego... and how by doing Tigerstar's diplomacy work, Hawkfrost is doing the same.

And he's dragged his OWN apprentice into it, too. She accidentally double-killed her friend, Antpelt, but he killed him more by bringing all of these trainees here to begin with. How Ivypool gets pitted against Tigerheart because TigerSTAR is playing mind games, how it's destroying her bond with her sister, how much fun and joy in the Dark Forest he's missing out on by not giving the afterLIFE a chance...

How much he's thrown away for this, before and after his death.

I'm not sure yet if it's the LAST stop before the BOTTE, but it's close to the end of Hawkfrost's redemption arc. Recognition of self through the other. He is part of a cycle he has a choice to break.

But anyway... back to Leopardstar.

She wants to fight Mistystar, but I don't think I'll let her have that satisfaction. She has already gotten nearly everything she ever asked for and can't even acknowledge that she did.

I think it's most fitting for SWANSONG to finally get what he craves; a chance to take a burden off his sister.

Leopardstar allowed TigerClan to STRIP his brotherhood from her because they don't share blood. Forced him to pretend like Rippleclaw meant anything to him, as if Oakheart hadn't been his proud baba as long as he could remember. Stonefur, Mistyfoot, and Swansong are the kits of Graypool; and he's not gonna let this golden FART ignore that ever again.

So my idea is that when Leopardstar meets Mistyfoot in the Second Wave of the BOTTE, she pounces onto her for her rematch, but Swansong BURSTS out of the crowd in response and rips her off, allowing Mistystar to go back to defending their Clanmates

"I don't want YOU," Leopardstar spits, "My battle is with Mistystar!"

"Tough titfeathers! It's MY turn to get a hit in for Stonefur!" He bristles with equal parts fury and excitement, lunging towards a fight he's dreamed of for years.

Still subject to change, though! And I'm not sure if Swansong dies here, or in the 3rd Wave, or if maybe he succumbs to injuries after the BOTTE is over.

It would also be fitting if he got a whack on Mapleshade though... since Maple doesn't even consider him Applekin and won't curse him. It would be neat for him to get angry about that lmao. "What do you MEAN my siblings are haunted by a demon? But NOT ME?? What ELSE am I getting left out of???"

i have seen posts with how Mudfur felt about her later, but i dont think i seen anything about how Leopardstar felt about her dad.. and maybe even her mom (if she even has memory of her or anything)

Ohh nonnie you're right. Let's talk about BB!Leopardstar.

She is absolutely ashamed of what Mudfur is. She was born after all these glorious stories of her father took place, but to say she was "raised in his shadow" would be a misstatement. She was raised with his legacy as a SETTING SUN.

It was something in the distance, just below the horizon, painting the sky in royal pink, gold, and purple. Though she had never seen the sun itself, the impacts it had on the world were breathtaking, awe-inspiringly beautiful.

And yet, the sun had hidden itself away. Its magnificence is fleeting. He had locked himself away in the Cleric's den, and acted as a Mi to herself and her sister, setting nightfall upon RiverClan

How DARE he? When you are radiant, worth SO much to your Clan as an undefeatable warrior, LEGENDARY in your strength, you should feel RESPONSIBILITY to share that warmth. But he, with only the paltry connection to StarClan of a regular warrior, had chosen "his own happiness" and forsaken RiverClan in the process.

And to be breaking your Vow as a Cleric, to be RAISING CHILDREN when you should be serving your Clan?? Had he not taken to heart the story of Larkstripe? Or respected the pain and sacrifice of Moth Flight as her children were (given/stolen/claimed/bestowed)* to the Clans?

How selfish! And Hailstar enabled him!

Leopardfur is the great-granddaughter of Volestar, who was appointed by Darkstar herself to continue her legacy in spite of any opposition from Oakstar. Volestar kept RiverClan out of the Crusades and was the ONLY outspoken opponent of the madness, adamantly defending the Queen’s Rights and asserting that her Clan was different from the other three.

Leopardstar wants to set this legacy "straight."

Darkstar, Volestar, Hailstar, and eventually Crookedstar are a line of cats who have allowed RiverClan to become weak. Clerics raising kits! Accepting help from Fireheart! Obvious violations of the Law of Loyalty! StarClan took Silverstream to TEACH CROOKEDSTAR A LESSON and yet he just allowed Graystripe to waltz right in bearing the HalfClan kits like a gift, asking him for details of his treachery.

When she took power, she was glad to finally be able to explore options for ousting Mudfur. If he wouldn't take an apprentice, then she would simply exile him and have Tigerstar's cleric train a new one.

So. She did.

You know how in Fire Emblem Awakening how there's that side character whose entire existence is dedicated to a running joke that he's the biggest person in the room... but no one sees him, ever? To the point where they even end up thinking an extra goblet at dinner must belong to a ghost?

Face obscured by Chrom's knee on the box art, Mike Wazowski magazine style?

Carpwhisker.

I'm GUTTING Leopardstar's Haggis. It is in the bottom 5 WC entries for me. Leopardstar's childhood bullying was cheap and brainless. How fucking dare they, actually?

How dare they take their ONE confident, intimidating female character, DEFINED by how she was beloved in RiverClan and by her apprentice generation, had no romance, and wasn't a mother figure, and fuck up ALL THREE THINGS???

So. Anyway.

If anyone gets bullied it's Carpwhisker, still by Skyheart.

Brightsky didn't die; she became a kittypet. There were four kits.

Carp, Oat, Leopard, Water.

Mudfur took Carp and Leopard home, due to their resemblance to their famous ancestor, Volestar.

If Mudfur knew what Leopardstar would become... he would have left her there, with her mother. He regrets bringing her back to RiverClan

He feels he should have known better. He became a Cleric shortly after returning because he came to believe that the constant fighting was wrong, and yet...

What did he expect?

Carpwhisker is a nervous wreck who can't stand up for herself despite being as big as a badger, and Leopardstar eventually booked herself a rock appointment

I feel like at some point, Carpwhisker learned the secret about Brightsky... but keeps it to herself.

She can't imagine Leopardstar taking it well, "and um, she's..." (Carpwhisker grasps for words not wanting to outright say she's terrified of her) "...she's a wee bit intense about bad news."

You know that one post about the kid who got severely bullied in school, the teacher put on Dumbo, and they watched every single one of their bullies cheer for the underdog? All the bullies think they're Dumbo.

That's poor Carp. I feel like she used to really like Aftergatherings until Leopardstar told her about the reputation of those events, and that attending them was making Carp look disloyal.

People often take credit for her achievements. She was the one who made the Bonehill practical-- it's not solid bone, it's a mud facade with a layer of bone around it. Tigerstar said it was TigerClan's achievement, and his by proxy.

When Carpwhisker was struggling for breath to correct him, Leopardstar gave her a sideways glance and killed the thought.

So, Carp's relationship with Leopardstar is not great. But Carp defends her, and loves her, and insist she knows best.

Leopardstar is a better friend of Skyheart than she is a sister of Carp. Leopard's beloved by that whole group, and a natural leader from a young age.

I think when Leopardstar dies, Carp is distraught by it. Inconsolable, and it's really hard to tell her in that moment that it sounds like she's a lot better off without her.

She'd probably end up hanging out with Mothwing a lot, seeking spiritual advice. Moth just gives her normal, mortal, nonspiritual advice, but Carpwhisker thinks it's divine.

After all... they both did just lose very toxic siblings that they still loved very much, and are kinda working through that.

In terms of politics, Carpwhisker is a weak-traditionalist. Really, she just goes along with what's popular at the moment, and doesn't make waves. She's conflict-avoidant, and just tries to make others happy with her hard work.

Most of all she just wants peace, really. What if there were no problems forever and everyone was just nice and well-fed and we all took a big nap in this warm den I made. What then.

I thiiiink the fallen star thing was a joke, but it is a very funny image to think that any damned spirit becomes one tbh

But actually! Leopardstar and Mudclaw are both kind of ashamed of what they did. Leopardstar is more resigned to her fate, while Mudclaw eventually decides he wants to atone and gets involved with the StarClan bridge.

Being around Tigerstar and a bunch of the worst offenders of TigerClan has brought a lot of it back. Distance had made her begin to feel that there was no need to "throw the kitten out with the tonguewash." Tigerstar himself was bad, yes... but is it *really* so wrong to want a pure, strong Clan? What's wrong with putting RiverClan first?

But now she's back under his claw. Being spoken over, used as a pawn, just like old times. She hasn't confronted the CORE of how her ideology is bad, but she does remember know how humiliating this situation was, and how terrible Tigerstar really is.

But at the same time, she is proud. She cannot let Mistystar go unpunished. She wants "revenge," though, to her "revenge" is a rematch.

On the day she died, Mistystar attempted to poison Leopardstar's food, in a way unintentionally similar to how Leopardstar poisoned Crookedstar before them. So she recognized it right away. It struck her in that moment that she was sick of these dirty, dishonorable tactics.

So she pushed it aside, leapt to the top of the stump, and announced that she had learned of a pack of vicious rogues on the border. "Mistyfoot and myself will confront them. Alone. Don't follow."

Mistystar only won the fight through luck. There was a stone in the river where they fought, and she smashed Leopardstar's head on it until she stopped moving.

So, Leopardstar uses this in her death to hold a grudge. I think on some level she knows it's an excuse, or perhaps a quirk of her pride, that she feels her death was unfair. She believes she gave leadership to Mistystar by covering for her own murder-- and she WANTS that perfect fight.

But before the BOTTE, I plan for her to have a conversation with her apprentice. Hawkfrost's arc is to break free of his father and his legacy... and he needs to speak to his proud, strong leader, who he comes to realize is being used like a tool.