[ID: A grown version of Brushpaw from Warrior Cats. He is a ginger-and-white tabby cat with splotchy patches, a white butt, tail, paws, and 'bib'. He has yellow eyes with a distinct blob marking on his right side. He has a round notch in one ear.]
Because he's been coming up a lot lately, here he is! BB!Brushpaw is an ex-BloodClan cat who joins WindClan along with Snapper.
After the BloodClan Battle, Firestar opened up diplomatic negotiations in an attempt to see how much of Tigerstar's Impossible Deal the Clans could still honor. The answer was so simple as to be ridiculous; flowers, wood, novelty food. Things BloodClan can't get in the concrete alleys of Chelford. Leo and Snapper were only two of the traders who would regularly visit WindClan and ThunderClan.
Leo was head-over-paws for Onewhisker almost right away. He rarely went to ThunderClan, always trying to get chosen to go to the moor. He was so smitten, he never realized any of the red flags. Onewhisker wouldn't do public displays of affection, or tell his friends they were seeing each other, and when Leo floated the idea of joining the Clan... Onewhisker gave an affirmative, but not enthusiastic answer.
Tallstar decided to allow Leo and Snapper to join, but only if they went through apprenticeship as a formality. Onewhisker told Brushpaw that it's forbidden for warriors to be with apprentices, even if they are adults, and Brushpaw understood and respected that.
But it didn't get better.
Next, his ceremony was delayed over the destruction. His mentor, Mudclaw, even accused him of being a jinx and that he was bringing the humans to the moor. He went on the Great Journey forced to remain Brushpaw, Tallstar only having the strength to give Crowfeather his Honor Title and leaving him and Snappaw in the dust.
His scar is from fighting in the WindClan rebellion-- one of the rebels jumped on his back and tried to snap his neck. After the fight, Onestar gave the two their well-earned names; Brushblaze for the muirburn that Mudclaw sabotaged, and Snapstorm for the rain that put it out after.
When Onestar became leader, he changed, or... maybe it just revealed something that was always there, that Brushblaze didn't see. Either way, whatever they had was over.
Eventually, he became an ironic friend of Heathertail, helping her bring back tunneling. He died helping her and Breezepelt escape The Kin through a secret passage he constructed with Harespring, collapsing the tunnel so that they couldn't be followed.
Lots of info under the cut
Design & Meta Stuff
It bugs me how in Onestar's Concussion they copped out on the idea that Onewhisker was cheating on his lover with Smoke, by making it SUPER clear there was no overlap in the relationships. Soo instead yeah poor Brush was cheated on.
I feel like the fact that Canon!Brushpaw was a ginger tabby was supposed to invoke the image of Firestar, because the whole point is that "Firestar succeeded where Brushpaw failed" so like... I DESPERATELY tried to make sure Brushblaze is a ginger tabby who looks nothing like my Firestar lmao.
Total opposites, my Firestar is bright and skinny, Brush is dull and sturdy. Fire has no stripes and no white and Brush has stripes and white patches.
I gave him a spotty white tail for the irony of it looking like Darktail's but inverted.
I don't know if this makes sense but I tried to channel the energy of a gay dude who owns snakes.
Personality
Waaaaay smarter than you think, but can be a bit passionate and oblivious.
Prone to biting off more than he can chew and getting in situations above his head.
A yes-man, doesn't like saying no to people, especially when he feels like he can help.
Most ex-BloodClan cats look scary but are friendlier than they seem.
Surprises people with the way he casually remembers everything. Names, recipes, offhanded comments... say it once and it's in his head forever.
You really think that he's going to be a grump with that face, but it's far from the truth. He's tired, but super friendly.
History
Leo was a BloodClan Solver, a position that has to do with intellectual work.
Snapper was his assigned Problem, kind of like a BloodClan warrior.
His mother Bailey is actually one of the most respected Solvers in BloodClan. He didn't really like being in her shadow, though.
Looking back on it, Brushblaze is embarrassed about how quickly he was ready to commit to someone who, in hindsight, wasn't into it as much as he was.
They were dating but Onewhisker was... flaky. He didn't want to tell others about their relationship, never wanted public affection.
It was really obvious looking back on it that One was never brave enough to commit.
Snappaw and Brushpaw had to fight a lot of xenophobia to earn their place. Mudclaw's distrust of a cat he was supposed to train like an apprentice was a major factor in why Tallstar changed deputies so suddenly.
Unknown to Brush, Onewhisker had already rejected an old lover, Smoke, when he found out she was pregnant and wanted to join the Clan. He couldn't handle the shame of telling Brush he had been cheating AND the idea of waltzing into camp with a brazen kittypet lover.
Brush did eventually move on, but it took a long time. Onestar had Heathertail via honor-siring, never getting back into a romantic relationship again.
After this, he's very grudging of Onestar. Obeys him as a leader, but clearly dislikes him as an authority figure and as a person.
One of Onestar's many regrets.
One day in the Po3 Era, he overheard Heatherpaw and Breezepaw scream for help and came running
They were digging a tunnel, and Harepaw got buried
He pulled him out, and the three of them begged him to not tell their parents
Heatherpaw: "If my dad finds out he'll want to use this to do something stupid"
Brushblaze: "well... can't argue with that."
But he made them promise that the next time they dig that far down, where they could get hurt by a cave-in, they would come get him.
He became something like a safety friend, helping them work out how to reinforce a tunnel, doing good estimates of how to dig from Point A to Point B.
Onestar, of course, did eventually find out about tunnels... from Sedgepaw, boasting about the naturally-occurring ones under the Lake. It sure did give the four of them a scare that he'd learned about their little resurrection of tunneling as a practice.
Brushblaze eventually found love again; ironically, it was with Whitetail!
They had two kittens; Galekit and Smokekit.
He found it REALLY weird though that Onestar was so... aggressive? About Smokekit
"you didn't have to do this," said Onestar, glaring at the baby.
Brushblaze blinked several times. "....have a child???"
He would learn the truth less than a month later, when Darktail brought The Kin to the lake
Breezepelt joined quickly, and Heathertail went with curiosity when it was revealed that Darktail was her half-brother.
Harespring, deputy at the time, knew that his childhood friends were in danger. Him, Brushblaze, Crowfeather, and a few others immediately started digging to help save their Clanmates
Brushblaze's final act was shoving The Kin escapees in the tunnel, lagging behind, and collapsing the tunnel on himself and their pursuers.
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If Brushblaze does live long enough for all the Darktail stuff, does he ever put the dots together that it would mean Onewhisker cheated on him? How would he feel about that?
[ID: Brushblaze, a grown Brushpaw from Warrior Cats, sits at a table with a party hat. There is a tunnelbun on the plate in front of him. He says, "I expect nothing and I'm still let down."]
Have Onestar be s single dad, and is Bushpaw the same one from Onestar's SE? Because they had a good friendship, ngl. Also if you are keeping the 3 kittypets join Windclan from Onestar's SE, how does Bonefall Mudclaw feel about his first apprentice?
Brushpaw is the same one from Onestar's SE, yep! I hated that book and Brushpaw deserves better.
Brushpaw is going to end up being one of my "save/shuffles." He's not a kittypet anymore; he's actually a BloodClan trader from during the space between TPB and TNP.
Bonefall BloodClan is very different, and engages in trade with Thunder and Wind after their defeat at the end of TPB. This is accomplished because of how Firestar displays a level of honor that Scourge didn't think Clan cats were possible of displaying, by sparing him AND opening up diplomacy after the battle.
ThunderClan is getting Scourge as an unlocked boss, his new name is Iceheart. WindClan is getting Brushpaw and possibly one more.
I haven't decided on Brushpaw's full warrior name though; but if he only earns it after the sabotaged burn then he could be the first cat that Onestar names. If Brushpaw becomes Onestar's mate then that means he gave his mate a name which is pretty neat.
(Note: Brushpaw is the same age as Onestar, Tallstar just insisted he go through the apprenticeship system, unlike Iceheart who Firestar made a warrior immediately because... Scourge.)
Maybe Brushblaze, Brushrain, or even just Brushheart.
