What was Leopardstar and Carpwhisker’s relationship like?
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.
SO all that to say... She loved Leopardstar. Leopardstar was awful to her. "We're sisters! It's just like that!" (It Is Not Like That.) She was hidden in her shadow. She thought the shadow was normal. She's destroyed when her sister dies. She can only begin to recover once she's gone.
