#dampfang

What does Salt think of his kits and his niece?

Interesting question! I think Salt is closer to Frostmask than he ends up being to his own kits. I think he feels a lot more awkward with Larchtail and her siblings, because he was never really equipped to be a father, and also because he left them/their Clan. It’s a lot easier with Frostmask, who he doesn't have that emotionally baggage with. I think he also sees a lot of his dear friend May in her (and even the best parts of his brother, who he did love, despite everything.) 

I do think Salt will eventually build more of a bond with Larchtail, since he’d definitely relate to the struggles she’s had in SkyClan with being accepted with her mate, Mottledflame. But Salt would still remain more close with Frostmask.

What is the relationship between Dewleaf, Elmclaw, and Dampfang? What is their relationship with their parents?

Larkfoot loves all her kits, but her biggest flaw is that she hates conflict and confrontation within her family, and because she just wants them all to get along, she turns a blind eye to any friction between her kits and/or Darkpelt. This then can creates some resentment from the kits (namely Elmclaw) to their mother for not taking a side or interfering. 

But Elmclaw still loves his mom, although she sometimes exasperates him. Dewleaf is the closest to Larkfoot. They became much more close after Larkfoot became a full-time queen, and Dewleaf had her kits. Having her mom help her raise them was a big bonding experience for Dewleaf with Larkfoot. Dampfang loves Larkfoot, although he always looked up to his fierce father more than his more nurturing mother. Larkfoot of course loves Dampfang too, but after Dampfang kidnapped Frostmask’s kits, I think the way she saw him was forever changed, even if the love she feels for her son is still there.

Dewleaf and Elmclaw are close, although they weren’t when she was younger, mostly because Darkpelt ostracized Elmclaw for a while when he switched to being a medicine cat, and that was still fresh when Damp and Dew were born. But as Dewleaf became older and more independent, she began bonding more with her older bro, and now they are really good friends! I think Dewleaf is immensely proud of the fact that her brother will be the one to train her daughter Lichenkit to be a medicine cat.

Dampfang and Dewleaf took the opposite path where they were quite close when they were younger, but as they got older, Dampfang became more uptight and bigoted, and Dewleaf no longer found him fun to be around. On Dampfang’s side, he didn’t like the cats Dewleaf associated with (mostly Frostmask and Autumnleap, but tbh Dampfang also wasn’t Poolcloud’s biggest fan either,) and he thought she didn’t take Darkpelt’s expectations for them to be great warriors seriously enough. Their relationship frayed and became more distant until the breaking point of Dampfang’s exile. Dewleaf will never forgive Dampfang for what he did.

Dampfang and Elmclaw were never close. Dampfang absorbed all their father’s negative opinions about Elmclaw “running away from warrior life to be a medicine cat” and because Darkpelt’s attention and opinion meant so much to Dampfang, he never bothered trying to get to know Elmclaw. I think Dampfang avoided him rather than seeking him out to bully him, though (like he did to Frostmask.) Elmclaw thinks Dampfang is a bit of a spoiled brat. I think he was shocked by his betrayal, but he doesn’t really miss him at all.

Before Dampfang’s exile, he was obviously Darkpelt’s favorite. That said though, I do think Darkpelt does love Dewleaf and even Elmclaw too. It’s just that Elmclaw especially did not turn out the way Darkpelt envisioned for his kits. I don’t think Darkpelt was ever really angry with Dewleaf like he’d been with Elmclaw, though— Darkpelt had Dampfang around meeting his expectations at that time, so I think he cut Dewleaf a lot more slack. After Dampfang’s exile, Darkpelt would have been quite depressed. I could see him maybe trying to make amends with his remaining kits, especially with Elmclaw. I think their relationship becomes a bit less strained, but I don’t see it ever completely recovering. As for Dewleaf’s feelings on her dad: I think they have an okay but unremarkable relationship. She’s definitely closer to her mom.

You said Dawnstar was going to succeed Pineshade/star, but who will her parents be in this fanfic?

Mosspounce is her mother, and she uses the "queen's rights" to never name a father. Dawnlight/star grows up not knowing who he was, although she's not too bothered by it. (He was probably someone outside of ShadowClan. I could see him being someone in another Clan since Mosspounce seems the type of have a whirlwind cross-Clan romance!)

Where is May?

I assume you mean after her death? I think her spirit mostly hangs out in wherever the loner afterlife is, but she sneaks in and out of Clan territory in StarClan just like she did while she was alive lol. She and Swoopstrike definitely meet up to chat and hang out on occasion!

Who do you think might end up being Newtkit and Mistkit's mentors?

Ooo I like the idea of Redclaw and Snakeeyes!

Who is the absolutely irrelevant background character you love?

This is a tough one for me to answer because basically no one in Cold Bloodlines ShadowClan feels like an irrelevant background character to me lol. But if I had to pick one character from ShadowClan who I wish I got the chance to give more attention to, I think it’d be Murmurstep. I love her and think she’s really neat. And I would have loved to dedicate more time to how her feelings about Pineshade evolved over time, and what their relationship is like once they end up together! <3 (Complete tangent, but "ivy" by Taylor Swift is like THE perfect Pine/Murmur song in my mind.)

If I were to pick a background character outside of ShadowClan, there are quite a few who intrigue me, and I can imagine stories for. To name a few: Bingo the kittypet has a special place in my heart because he’s a tribute to my real-life childhood cat! Then there’s Foxbite from ThunderClan— I just think she’s cool and think the fact that her little fangs are always poking out is very cute. Oh, and I imagine there’s a dramatic love triangle/affair scandal in WindClan between Rabbitstar, Thrushleap (his mate,) and Wheatfur (his deputy.) I don’t fully know how that turns out, but it’s messy!!! (I do think it’d be funny, though, if somehow Wheatfur and Thurshleap end up together at the end.)

And if I had to pick an irrelevant background character in canon, it'd be Sedgestar of course! He's basically a non-existent character in canon, but he's very clearly important to me ;)

Will Suneyes become a leader?  How much longer will Sedgestar live?

The timeline here will answer these questions! Sorry the text is small, I mostly just made it for my own amusement so it's not very pretty. (And additional note: I don’t know why, but I imagine Suneyes dies in a hunting accident, falling out of a tree.)

Haha yes, it is a bit ironic that Frostmask and her friends ended up inadvertently saving Dampfang by defeating Paledusk! Dampfang just really didn't know who he was dealing with when he agreed to work with Paledusk.

I do actually have some pretty clear ideas about what ends up happening to Dampfang in his exile! I think his time with the Clans is at an end though, so I think if I wrote something more about Dampfang, it would be a stand-alone story about him, and he wouldn't appear very much in a hypothetical sequel.

If you want to know what I envision for Dampfang though: I do see him getting a relatively good ending.

After his exile, Dampfang has lost everything he’s ever cared about: his family, his friends, his Clan, and he’s been forced to become one of the things he hates most (a loner/rogue.) There’s also no hope of him joining the other Clans since Sedgestar warned them that he’s a traitor. (Although tbh, I’m not sure if Dampfang would really want to join any other Clan anyway!)

So basically, Dampfang has hit the lowest of all rock bottoms that he could have ever imagined happening to him (the only way it could be worse for him is if he somehow ended up a kittypet lol.) And so Dampfang is left with basically only two options: swear revenge and work towards that, or try to get on with his life. I think revenge is very tempting for Dampfang initially, but he has no remaining allies, no way to get to Frostmask or Sedgestar, or anyone else in ShadowClan, and in the time immediately following his exile, he’s quite weak and injured from the fight. He just can’t physically manage it.

Dampfang is so weak in fact, he almost dies from his infected wounds, but a small group of loners comes across his collapsed, half-dead pathetic self, and they help Dampfang for no other reason except that he looked like he needed it. I don’t think Dampfang is very grateful to them, but this is the thing that sets him up for an internal reckoning as his prejudices against non-Clan cats are challenged as he interacts with other loners and eventually learns to be a loner himself. Then by the time he’s recovered enough that he’s physically able to seek revenge, I think his anger has begun to die enough that he just decides to... put it off. Then he keeps putting it off until he realizes that he's never going to go through with it.

I think he eventually reaches a point that he’s come to some sort of peace with his lot in life. I could see him even eventually shedding his warrior name. (Like, Sedgestar formally stripped it from him already, but all this time Dampfang has been clinging to it as a way to make him feel like Sedgestar was in the wrong, and he's the true warrior. Until finally, Dampfang just can't justify that to himself anymore.)

I don’t think he’s ever allowed to rejoin ShadowClan, but I could see him running into some cats (like Pineshade, although she might be Pinestar at that point) and reaching some sort of closure with them, then parting this time on peaceful terms.

In an au, I'm guessing if Sedgestar had died in the attack (maybe because ThunderClan arrived late/didn't arrive at all), would Frostmask have become leader? who would have given her nine lives? 

Yes, I think she would have felt obligated to become leader (even though she definitely didn’t want to.) 

Ooo that’s a fun question about her nine lives! Sedgestar and Swoopstrike are obvious choices. I feel like StarClan would make an exception to allow May to give one, even if she wasn’t a “proper” Clan cat. Then definitely Grovepelt and Dappledpelt. I’m less sure on the final four, but I could see it being maybe Fogfur and Hollowshade, and we could throw in a wildcard like Roseflight (that’s Redclaw’s mother.) I’d like to include a SkyClan cat as well, but Icerunner (Frostmask’s grandfather) would definitely not want to give her a life lol. So how about we give it to Raincloud! She was Darkstar’s deputy who opposed his addition “the leader’s word is law” to the code and was eventually replaced by Fenneltuft (Fennelstar.) 

Since I think this is a fun thought experiment, I’ll also try to think of the virtues they’d give her and in what order:

Grovepelt: Wisdom, for knowing when to fight and when to make peace.

Dappledpelt: Understanding your own heart.

Fogfur: Integrity and truth.

Hollowshade: Fierceness in battle.

Roseflight: A mother’s love and protection.

Raincloud: Independence, to not follow others blindly.

Swoopstrike: Forgiveness for yourself and others.

May: Honor and justice.

Sedgestar: Loyalty to ShadowClan above all else.

would ShadowClan have accepted her? 

Yes, but I think it would have been quite tumultuous. The warrior code is clear that she’s the rightful leader. However, she would have still brought Dampfang back to camp as a prisoner and needed to explain what happened with him and Paledusk. With her witnesses, I think Frostmask would still be able to convince the majority of the Clan that Dampfang was a traitor, but I see Dampfang’s allies being much less certain without Sedgestar around to take Frostmask’s side, especially if Frostmask still confessed to being half-SkyClan.

In this AU, I could see Dampfang and his allies popping back up to be a big problem for Frostmask later on, rather than Dampfang eventually moving on as I imagine he does after Cold Bloodlines' canon ending.

who will be her deputy? 

Her first instinct would be Pineshade, but she’d know that it is a bad idea for her to appoint another young, inexperienced cat to be her deputy, when she’s so young herself, (especially with the Clan’s faith in her so tenuous.) Instead, she’d appoint a steady, reliable older warrior, who would reassure the Clan: most likely Emberflower (if she’s not too crippled by grief for Sedgestar) or Weaseltail.

how will the other Clans react? 

Again, it’d be messy lol. With the help of Salt, I think Frostmask would still be able to convince Fennelstar about the truth about Paledusk, but I am unsure if she’d be politically savvy enough to get a peace deal between ShadowClan and SkyClan out of it like Sedgestar does. 

However, immediately afterwards, I think Fennelstar will still be too busy licking his wounds to bother with her, regardless of having a peace deal or not. Frostmask would probably still be able to smooth relations over with ThunderClan since she would tell them the truth too, and I think Morningstar would take pity on Frostmask a bit given everything, and maybe take her under his wing a little. However, Willowstar would smell weakness, and Rabbitstar would not be happy about it, so I could see them possibly teaming up to hit ShadowClan while they’re down.

how will she feel and will be as a leader?

Oomph Frostmask would not be having a good time lol. She’d feel an immense amount of stress and pressure from her Clan to live up to Sedgestar, and guilt that her connection to Paledusk inadvertently caused Sedgestar’s death. 

1. Is there anything we can learn about Frostmask's littermates? It was mentioned that their names were Rain and Snow, if I'm not mistaken. What would they look like, or what would their personalities be like if they were alive?

You're right that they were named Rain and Snow. They were both male. Snow was a solid white cat with blue eyes, and Rain was solid grey with green eyes and had some small white markings like Frostmask. (He probably had little white socks.) They both would have been long-furred, or at least fluffy.

Both passed away at less than 3 weeks old due to a combination of starvation and the cold. Rain died first at around 2 weeks old, and Snow followed about a week later. Frostmask lived because she was the largest and strongest of her litter. (And so, as rough as it sounds, she probably out-competed her brothers when it came to feeding on what little milk May did have.) But Frostmask still ends up small as an adult because her growth was stunted by her lack of nutrients as a young kit.

I don't have too much to share about their personalities, unfortunately. Since they both died so tragically young, I never put much thought into it. It's a bit hard to conceptualize even, since an AU where they survived to develop their personalities would look pretty different than the story we see play out in the fic. The most likely scenario where I can see them surviving is one where May sought shelter in a Clan (most likely ShadowClan) while she was still pregnant. (I don't see a scenario where newborn kittens would have survived the trip in winter to ShadowClan, so it would have had to happen before they were born.) That would mean Frostmask would have been born in the Clan, and grown up with a mother and brothers, and so a lot about Frostmask's personality and story would have been quite different too!

2. Dampfang and Pineshade! I have so many questions about them! If you don't want to answer them, that's perfectly fine. Did they ever genuinely love each other? I mean– Pineshade probably did, but Dampfang? We already know how she felt about him, but how did he feel about her? And something Pine herself already asked: if he'd known she had kittypet blood, what would have changed in their relationship? I can't imagine what would have happened if they had kits... Did Dampfang even think about kits? Because we know Pineshade doesn't like the idea.

4. Dampfang again! Uhhhhh... how did he end so badly? I mean– I know his actions are HIS responsibility, but was there some outside influence or motivation from his allies or family? Or something that truly incited him to do what he did? Or to actually hate outsiders or impure-blooded cats? Or is he just like that?

I'm going to answer these two questions together since I think they are interconnected in the tangle that is Dampfang's psyche lol.

But starting out with his relationship with Pineshade: yes, they loved each other. They both admired each other's skills, and thought of each other as strong warriors, (which is something very important for Dampfang.) But I think the fault with their relationship lies with that Dampfang loved the idea he had of Pineshade, more than who she actually is.

The cat Dampfang always looked up to most was his father, Darkpelt. And in return, Dampfang was Darkpelt's pride and joy, but I think the way Darkpelt loved Dampfang gave him the wrong idea of how to love. Darkpelt always had big expectations for his future kits, and those all ended up falling on Dampfang (since Elmclaw became a medicine cat, and I think Dewleaf just frankly did not care that much about living her life to their father's standards. She and Dampfang probably got into a lot of arguments about it lol.)

Anyway though, I think this resulted in Dampfang having very high expectations for Pineshade. This meant Dampfang was often pushing Pineshade, which got especially bad after Pineshade lost her eye. He wanted her to get better, to hunt/fight as well as she did before the injury, so he thought he's helping by pushing her hard. But Pineshade rankled under his pressure and found it more condescending and frustrating than helpful.

I think if Dampfang found out that her grandfather was kittypet, it would have changed their relationship. Assuming he found out while they were together, I don't think he would have broken up with her over it, but I think it would have changed the way he saw her. Now any fault Dampfang perceived with her, I think there would always be a voice whispering in the back of his head that it's because she's part kittypet.

I think Dampfang did want kits. He would have known Pineshade didn't. (I don't think she's very quiet about that fact lol.) But I think Dampfang assumed she'd change her mind, or he'd be able to talk her into it one day. But that's what I mean about Dampfang loving his idea of Pineshade more than he loved her. He idealized her in his mind to be his perfect mate, and when Pineshade expressed opinions or did things contrary to Dampfang's idea of her, he either just ignored that part of her/pretended like it didn't exist, or assumed she'd come around to his way of thinking one day.

(Although I do think this was a mutual problem in their relationship, with Pineshade also loving her idea of Dampfang more than who he actually was.)

As for Dampfang's downfall, he is definitely the most extreme of the traditionalist/xenophobic group in ShadowClan, but there were of course influences that made him that way. His mentor Marshnose had an important role, but again, it was probably Darkpelt who played the biggest part. (And even Marshnose learned a lot of this stuff from Darkpelt, his former mentor.) Darkpelt is very traditionalist himself, but where he and Dampfang differ is in their loyalty to Sedgestar.

Darkpelt is 1 to 2 years older than Sedgestar: he saw him become a warrior, then deputy, then leader, and I think over the course of that time, Sedgestar earned Darkpelt's respect and loyalty a hundred times over. (Sedgestar became leader quite young and during a difficult time for ShadowClan. But despite his youth and inexperience, Sedgestar managed to shepherd ShadowClan through it, cementing him as the best cat for the job.) So even when Sedgestar does something Darkpelt doesn't agree with (like making Frostmask deputy) Darkpelt's respect for Sedgestar is enough that he doesn't fight with him about it: he just gets on with his life (although I think Frostmask would never be one of his favorite cats.)

As a much younger cat, Dampfang's view of Sedgestar is naturally quite different. Sedgestar never did anything to "earn" Dampfang's loyalty per se, instead his loyalty was just expected since Sedgestar was his leader. Dampfang thinks Darkpelt is blinded by his old loyalty so that he doesn't see the way Sedgestar is dragging down ShadowClan. So since Dampfang doesn't have any respect for Sedgestar's decisions to keep him "in-check," he's willing to go much further than any of his other Clanmates. (Although I will say: I don't think Dampfang was willing to murder non-ShadowClan born kittens. He did put Frostmask's kits in danger in order to lure her out of camp, but I don't think he believed that Paledusk would be willing to actually kill the kits. Dampfang thought they were just bait.)

Dampfang also never shared the fact that he was working with Paledusk with anyone in ShadowClan, out of fear that they'd not understand his methods. But Dampfang thought he was doing what he had to do to save his Clan.

3. What does SkyClan think of Frostmask now that they know the truth about her origins? What do Larchtail and her family think? After all, Frost is their relative.

When they brought Paledusk's body back to camp, I think Fennelstar did tell SkyClan that Paledusk was a traitor (although he may have skimmed over some details) and that Paledusk had kits outside of SkyClan, and also that Frostmask killed him. So I think that Frostmask would have a reputation in SkyClan as someone to be feared and not trusted (but tbh that's not really too different than SkyClan's opinion on ShadowClan in general lol) but especially because this small, physically non-imposing cat managed to kill the notoriously fierce fighter Paledusk, who was also her father.

I don't think Larchtail's opinion on Frostmask is all that changed. They were pretty friendly before, and they stay that way, probably growing a bit closer. I'm unsure of what Larchtail's littermates or mother would think. I don't think they would want to get to know Frostmask, but they probably wouldn't have as negative an opinion on her as the rest of SkyClan, thanks to Larchtail's influence.

5. What were the warrior names of the leaders (Sedge, Fennel, Morning, Willow, and Rabbit)? And while we already know that Fennelstar is the oldest and Rabbitstar the youngest, what about the other three?

Sedgestripe, Fenneltuft, Morningsong, Willowcreek, and Rabbitfoot! Their ages from youngest to oldest are: Rabbitstar, Sedgestar, Morningstar, Willowstar, and Fennelstar.

Fun fact, despite being the 2nd youngest, Sedgestar became leader so young that he has been leader for about the same amount of time as Fennelstar and Willowstar.

6. Do you have anything to say about Willowstar? I LOVE HER! She's so mean and feminine at the same time that it was fun to read!

I'm so glad you liked her! She's very fun :) I think she's a lot kinder with her Clanmates than she comes off to the other Clans. I also think she's the other Clan leader who Sedgestar respects the most: for her cunning and the way she focuses so exclusively on what's best for her Clan. Sedgestar certainly does not trust her though and would probably be hesitant to make any sort of deal or alliance with her out of worry she'd double-cross him.

7. Will there be a sequel?

Never say never, but right now I don't have a clear story in mind for a sequel! So there isn't anything in the works. If I was to write one though, I think it would feature a new POV instead of sticking with Frostmask.

The clearest conception of a story I do have right now is actually about Sedgestar's youth and his rise to leadership, although of course that'd be a prequel.

8. I have no more questions. I just want to say that the fanfic is amazing! I fell in love with the characters!