#duskflame

next character in the The Wolf of Riverclan lineup! this time it's Lambstar's mate, Duskflame! his name gave me so much trouble. i went through a million iterations. i wanted cats close to Lambstar to have names referencing things that beat werewolves, but there's not a lot. Duskflame is fire of course, Wilddawn is for turning back at sunrise, and SIlverripple is obvious

he's Riverclan's medcat. he's quieter and more reserved than Lambstar. he also had more anxieties about their relationship. him and Lambstar became mates as adults, but have been close since childhood. starclan hasn't said anything about their relationship, and Duskflame didn't take that as approval per se, but also not a reason he can't be with Lambstar.

Duskflame started as a warrior apprentice, but switched roles when his parents died. he's the sole medcat now, as his mentor was already old when he began training. Duskflame is good at his job, and respects starclan, but somtimes gets frustrated with the way things are. he has no idea how to properly convey it though.

i gave him Wolfsbane as a plant to be a bit on the nose, but i'm debating it's use in the story. should it be ineffective against werewolves? should it be painful to them? should it be a cure? or just stop transformations if a cat is wearing it? i'm not sure atm. either way, i'm keeping it as a decoration for Duskflame.

his Lambsear is of course a small nod to his mate. if a cat were to ask, he'd probably say he just likes the texture lol

3 worlds au! My 3 protagonist ocs in each others worlds (warrior cats, my original story: the blue kingdom story and taz: bureau of balance board game)

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Nightblaze of Skyclan | Mapletail of Riverclan | Duskflame of Shadowclan

Nyx Moonfall of The Isle of Autumn and Spring | Margot Bridget of The Blue Kingdom | Adara Pace of The Pinewood pack

Nyx Everdawn, wizard of the sun | Maple Brightmoon, artist of the plains | Adara Fallenpine, assassin of the moon

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Speedpaint

(Commission info here | Pride icon commission info here)

Astoreth Duskflame for @easierbythree!

(replies from Astoreth's father, the late Lord Magister Kieran Duskflame!)

Astoreth was always a brilliant child, a magical prodigy from the time she was very small.  After Rioghan and the twins I had started to think that all our children would be Farstriders -- notthatthere'sanythingwrongwiththat -- but Astoreth, gods.  She was everything I could have wanted in the heir to the Duskflame legacy.  Of course the actual inheritances would have had to be negotiated with her brothers, but honestly not having to mind a house, for example, would free her up to do so much more...!

...she was always brilliant.  And driven, and dedicated, and... ruthless.  And impatient.  So often these things served her well -- if she didn't like how a thing was done, she simply found a better way to do it.  Faster, harder, stronger.  A frightening little thing sometimes.  Nothing could stand in her way, and she would listen to the advice of few.  Fortunately I was one of those -- she generally chose her role models well.  But once I was gone....

She thinks I would not be proud of her, and of the choices she has made.  I could never not be proud of her.  I still look at her and I see my little springpaw, and I would love her no matter what she chose.  

But I also see her as the woman she has grown to be: beautiful, powerful, cunning, resourceful.  Do I wish she had chosen differently?  Of course I do.  Of course I wish that circumstances had not forced her into a position where she felt that was her best -- or only -- choice.  I wish she could face her people without shame.  I wish she could hold her children without fear.  I wish she could know some kind of peace in her actions, and in her future.  There is so much I wish for her, that her choices have denied her -- so much that I would have chosen differently for her, were it mine to choose.

But had I been in her shoes, I cannot say I would have chosen differently for myself.  And though she may never wear the title I once imagined for her, she has already accomplished so much more than I ever could have dreamed she would -- and as young as she is, there is only more (and I should hope greater) things in store for her.

I am tremendously proud of my daughter.  And if there is anything left that I may wish for her, it is that she learns someday to be proud of herself.

Kieran purses his lips and steeples his fingers.

Westel Araseid Firewing, also known as Westel Sorrelon.  Ranger-Captain with the Farstriders, recent inductee into the 501st.  Previously married twice, has a daughter from a woman he did not marry.  His ‘birth’ parents, Caloneth and Cersei Sorrelon, are… not as well-respected as they would like to be.  His mentor and ‘adoptive father’ (and let’s not even delve into that scandal), the late Ranger-Captain Tyren Firewing, was known for being a drunk and a notorious womanizer.  And this is the man young Westel emulates! 

When he met my daughter, he was living in a tree with his own daughter and a “friend”.  He moved to a house in war-torn Gilneas – again with his small child – and from there to a camp in Mulgore with trolls and quillboar roaming about.  He aided in the break-up of Astoreth’s previous marriage.  He stalked her through Orgrimmar on more than one occasion.  He has a terrible habit of picking fights he can’t win, against opponents who are stronger than he.

He’s stubborn, and perpetually grouchy.  The two of them have nothing in common professionally and terribly little in common in terms of personal interests – he keeps trying to drag her out camping, of all the ridiculous things.  The man rarely shaves and he leaves his filthy, muddy boots where my brilliant daughter stubs her precious toes on them in the dark.  Oh, you think I don’t see, young man?!  Just because I am ten years deceased doesn’t mean I am not keeping an eye on you, Ranger- Captain!

However….

Kieran sighs.

…however.  He seems by all appearances a good man.  He loves my Astoreth with all his heart.  He protects her, defends her, is loyal to her, loves her children – even the one that does not share his blood.  Though I don’t know how anyone could not love Laurelia… but I digress.  Yes, he encouraged Astoreth to leave her then-husband – but for all his titles and gold crowns that man was an asshole.  He cooks for her!  He planted her a garden.  He has infinite patience for her… and given that she’s inherited her father’s stubbornness, that says something indeed.

My little springpaw had so much hate and anger in her, for so long.  He… he tempers that, somehow.  And she loves him.  And he makes her happy.  Together they are financially, emotionally and physically secure, and he makes her happy.

I suppose, in the face of that, little else matters.

…though it wouldn’t hurt him to go for a promotion.  Ranger-Captain isn’t bad, but Ranger-Lord would be better… and I think he would agree that my Astoreth deserves the best, mmm?

We have to talk about this now?

Kieran sighs.

…yes.  Yes, I knew, my friend.  I always knew.  Well, not always – I didn’t suspect until midway through the pregnancy, and I think I held a bit in reserve until she was born.  But then she had that hair and those dimples and… Orlaith was in her, Orlaith was all over her, of course.  But what wasn’t her was you.  She has your laugh, your smile. 

I don’t know where she got that gentle optimism.  That isn’t any of us, is it!

And as she grew… gods.  Thank gods she looks so much like her mother or there would have been a scandal.  It wouldn’t have mattered to me – it didn’t matter to me.  She was Orlaith’s child, my children’s sister – and she was beautiful and precious and I loved her from the moment she was born.  But it would have mattered to others, others who would have been cruel to our little Cear.  I couldn’t have allowed that, Balor.

He hesitates.

I have to admit… if our situations had been reversed, I don’t know if I could have been as generous.  We both know there is not a court in Quel’thalas that would have denied you your rights, had you sought them; all you would have had to do was prove it, and the evidence was written in her eyes. But you… you knew what that would ultimately do to her, didn’t you?  To us.  And you took the giving route, instead. 

Thank you, my friend.  Thank you for Cearalaith; for all the years you gave me with her.  She’s a beautiful girl, a joy and a delight. Thank you for watching her while she was small… thank you for shaping her once I was gone.  Thank you.