#bloomheart

Bloomheart is a gray tabby tom.

in PkS, Bloomheart is the VERY ELDERLY father of Deerdapple. He's about 14 and a half years old when he dies in battle, trying to get into RiverClan's elders den during ThunderClan's ambush on their camp.

If I had to describe him in one word, it'd be "workaholic". He refused to retire, as noted in the Frecklewish's Lesson allegiances (and in the extended allegiances I wrote for Petalkit's Shadow)

He was, well... very staunchly traditional. I think he was definitely tough and strict on Maplepaw, but showed her some degree of respect since she was the granddaughter of Redstar, who was leader when Bloomheart was born. He also would have grown up alongside Mapleshade's mother, Dawnfeather, and probably respected her refusal to "grow old", a feeling he similarly shared. Dawnfeather had Maplekit at almost 10 years old, and Bloomheart would've been about the same when he mentored Maplepaw. I think he was proud of her, and though praise was hard-won from him, he shaped Mapleshade into a very determined cat who was willing to work hard for what she wanted.

However, I think he was far too set in his old ways to support her half-clan relationship. He was around for SkyClan's exile, and always distrusted Birdflight's kits, watching them with a close skeptical eye. He personally offered to mentor Thrushtalon, the son of Gorseclaw, out of a desire to prevent the former SkyClan cat from imparting any "split loyalties" onto his son. He ended up being given Maplepaw instead, though he was always harsh on Thrushpaw in group training sessions for reasons the apprentice couldn't understand. Not that Bloomheart had anything to worry about, as Gorseclaw didn't even know he was originally born in SkyClan, but Bloomheart always believed that clan loyalty was in your blood - something that made him unable to reconcile with Mapleshade's affair.

When Mapleshade is exiled, Bloomheart is really the only cat she can look to for support. Her mother, Dawnfeather, recently died in childbirth due to her old age. Her younger brother Nettlepaw is still an apprentice, and she basically raised him. Her father was never in the picture. Bloomheart is a cat who she would remember being close to as an apprentice, somebody she thought she could rely on, not somebody she had to be responsible for. But he rejects her - and I find his rejection very particularly stinging because as her mentor, he was the closest thing Mapleshade had left to family, or a parent.

Similarly, he's the only living kin Deerdapple has left when he dies. Deerdapple herself is no spring chicken, she's an older apprentice when Maplekit is born, making her almost middle-aged at the current chapter of PkS. She's protective of her elderly father, always pestering him to retire. His death is what pushes her over the edge from being skeptical of Oakstar to being outright against him. She believes that Oakstar never should have allowed an elder (because let's be real, 14 years is elder age) to participate in such a dangerous battle.

In fact, it makes her question the leader's judgement entirely. She has to reckon with the fact that her father died trying to harm kits. and her leader is the one who ordered it. It's why she's so catatonic in recent chapters... her whole worldview has been shattered, and she's still working on putting the pieces back together.

Drawing characters i like the names of