#charredpaw

this is frying me, they're so small

Redux Iterum!Firepaw and Tigerclaw belongs to @redux-iterum

Cats left to right: Charredpaw (she/her), Rustedpaw (he/him), Whorlscar (he/him) and Daypaw (she/her)

Not super thrilled with Charredpaw's lines and markings, but I ADORE how Rainstar turned out.

Practicing some drawings for what I'm hoping will be a slow updating Clangen challenge with some additional art, so here's a preview of the charismatic leader Rainstar and her apprentice, Charredpaw. The clan is tentatively named Fadeclan.

Charredpaw crawled out of the den and stretched out his sore legs, his paws still ached from the run around the whole territory the day before.

There wasn't enough space to do his stretching and the cool morning breeze was a breath of fresh air. With all the apprentices inside still sleeping, the warmth had gotten a bit stuffy for him.

"Charredpaw, nice to see you up early." His ear flicked towards where the kind mew came from, turning to see the tall older white tom. Well, everyone in Thunderclan seemed to be taller than him, really.

Charredpaw straightened up, the sleepy fog in his mind still in the midst of fading, "Good morning, sir- Whitestorm! Morning Whitestorm, sir."

He's met with a slow blink in amusement before the warrior kindly ignored his stumble to try and peer into the entrance of the apprentice den.

The one he was unintentionally blocking, sheepishly stepping to the side to let Whitestorm have a look inside.

"Lovely morning to you too, it'd be a shame for Greypaw and Ravenpaw to miss out on the sun, wouldn't it?" Taking the cue as it is, Charredpaw nodded and ducked into the tree stump, reaching out to lightly bat at the lump of snoring fur that was his friend.

Greypaw snorted awake, blinking blearily with an ear inside out. The sleepy tom pawed it back into place, yawning out a quiet greeting to Charredpaw who was already nudging Ravenpaw.

The poor black tom jolted into the waking world, jumping out of his nest and stumbling into the wall, which had Greypaw blinking rapidly in surprise from the sudden thunk and Charredpaw wincing at the noise.

So much for trying to keep silent for Dustpaw and Sandpaw who were now sitting up in their own moss beds, startled by the solid thud.

"Oh dear, are you alright in there, Ravenpaw?" Whitestorm called out in concern, his voice snapping the three apprentices out of their stupor.

Charredpaw scrambled back out, followed quickly by the other two to line up in front of the warrior.

Thankfully, Whitestorm merely looked amused with his eyes creased, walking over to the waiting Tigerclaw and Lionface, motioning for them to follow.

"Are we going on a patrol again?" The young tom questioned as he padded forward, touching noses with Tigerclaw in greeting who huffed.

"By the Sevens, eager to see more of the territory, Charredpaw?" Lionface purred good naturedly but Charredpaw could only blink, tilting his head.

"What do you mean by the Sevens? What's the Sevens?" Silence, all five cats looked at him in surprise and Charredpaw tried not to let his hackles rise, did he say something wrong?

Thunderclan was home to some big cats but Charredpaw's mentor towered over him, the size of his paw was twice as big as his own.

He still had some growing to do and he could only hope he'd manage to reach up to Tigerclaw's chin.

"We're taking the dawn patrol." Said mentor rumbled out, already waiting by the entrance.

Luckily, the warmth of the sun's light on his fur kept the chilly morning air at bay and Charredpaw stretched out the den, basking underneath the light.

"You'll have all the time to stretch your paws on the walk through the territory. Keep up, kit." Right! The dawn patrol! The new apprentice scampered after his lumbering mentor, shaking off the last dredges of sleep.

"I have a new name now, Tigerclaw." Charredpaw called out as he trailed after the larger tom. He had to quicken his pace, each long stride was equivalent to a few more steps for him.

Tigerclaw turned just lightly to look at him, his face stern and serious.

"A name given to you but not earned. I'll call you by it once I see you live up to it." The confusion must be sprawled across his face when the warrior looked back to their trail and lead the way.

"Charred may fit with what you look, but to be a paw, an apprentice? That is something we'll see if you've truly earned the right to be called Charredpaw."

"I'm at least six moons now."

"And for those six moons, we have not seen how you've lived, how you acted, if you're truly fit to learn under me. We don't know you, kit."

"Well." Charredpaw didn't back down, the more he learned these little bits of how the clan lived their life– It sounded interesting, he liked his new name but now?

He wanted to earn it.

The young tom ran forward, facing his mentor who paused to look down at him, amber eyes burning intensely.

"You'll get to know me now."

The sun flared behind his back, it burned against his fur and he welcomed it, riled up and ready to face the unspoken challenge.

Tigerclaw's ear flicked, his gaze flashing with something he wasn't sure of just yet.

Then, the warrior blinked slowly, a chuff of amusement swallowed by the cool breeze brushing through the forest.

"Very well, who are you, kit?" What an odd question.

"My name is Charredpaw." There's no waver in his voice, Rusty may have been his old name but there was no attachment, nothing like this.

His heart felt light when he introduced himself with his new name.

"Good. Come, we have a territory to keep."

When Rusty was settling in, waiting for his apprentice ceremony, Bluestar had called Tigerclaw over.

"You will be his mentor."

"You can't be serious."

"When I first came to you in mentoring Ravenpaw, you said he'd fold under your tutelage and I trusted your judgement. While I would have preferred for him to have more battle sense to keep him sharp, his mind is far more dangerous."

Tigerclaw snorted and flicked his tail, waiting for Bluestar to get to the point.

"He does not have that problem."

"He's a kittypet, Bluestar."

"And that is precisely why you will be teaching him our ways. If even you cannot make a warrior out of him..."

The warrior bristled, letting out a sharp laugh. A challenge! One likely better than the first one.

"Very well, he'll earn his name."

Tigerclaw will make sure of it.

Longtail: To unite all cats and avoid damnation!

Tigerclaw: We are truly... WARRIOR CATS

Charredheart: