#oatclaw

Onestar was keeping it together as well as he could, but the tensions were high after the whole Breezepelt debacle. Oatpaw joined and was given to Leaftail, one of the most xenophobic cats in the clan because that'd make the clan know if Oat had what it takes to be part of their group or not. It Was Not Good. but oh well

Oatpaw did have one friend, Featherpaw, who was herself also trying to escape the bullshit of her family. two of her aunts died, she had barely known them before they died, Thistleheart even died protecting her and Hootkit. Her mother and grandmother were two of the most bitter cats about the whole affair and also blamed Larkpaw/wing for it, despite her immediately switching sides and helping WindClan against the dark forest warriors. She trained with them, she isn't to be trusted anymore. This means that Sedge and Gorse were putting all of their attention to Featherpaw, but there is one other slight issue.

Sedgewhisker has first been "mates" with Emberfoot. he had groomed her since she was an apprentice and he mentored Sunpaw alongside her. Sedge might have just barely become a warrior by the time she was pregnant with Larkpaw, she and Ember had been a thing for much longer. It took some sort of miracle thanks to Sunstrike letting Gorsetail know about this, the full thing, for Ember to be dealt with. He and Sedge split, but Sedge was still raising Lark by then. Sunstrike stepped up to help her best friend (on whom she had SUCH a crush)

unbeknownst to them Sun had been training in the dark forest since she was a paw. she wanted to be better, stronger, more reliable for the clan that had taken her in. When Larkpaw got assigned a mentor, Onestar was kind enough to let Sun have her. she trained Lark diligently, but poor Lark struggled to keep up, so Sun took her to the dark forest to train there too and become stronger. Sedgewhisker never knew any of that.

at least that was until the battle. Sun and Sedge had just had one kitten together: Featherkit, but suddenly all hell broke loose. Sunstrike also died that night.

Sedgewhisker took it very badly and took it out on Larkwing because she lost Sunstrike too.

Featherkit was left with a bitter and overprotective mother and grandmother and an estranged sister she wasn't allowed to talk to. not that she wanted because she believed Sedge and Gorse when they said she was a traitor.

But even as her family's golden child she needed some escape. Hootpaw was also there with her all the time, but he was still close to his traitor of an older sister (also Crowfeather sucks as a mentor, so that didn't help her either). Oatpaw on the other hand had no attachment to this clan. he was kind and stupid and didn't ant to talk about her feelings. he didn't speak of his either, but she didn't care. the two had fun and became slightly codependent.

Oatpaw on his side cared about Featherpaw obviously, but he was also clingling to her for dear life because few cats were kind to him in the clan and Leaftail especially wasn't making his life easy on him at all. Leaf wasn't physically abusing him, but he was very very demanding and demeaning when he failed and messed up his ego a lot. it's a small miracle Leaf eventually let him pass his final assessment. Featherpaw was safe, Featherpaw was funny. She had a sharp sense of humor and could be mean, but never because he was an outsider. she only got mean for reasons that were valid (according to him).

They grew closer, both thought they were in love with one another, because that's what their feelings meant, right? and still think they do. When Feather found out she was expecting she was a little apprehensive, but Oat was so happy, so she just shut up. When the kits were born she didn't now what to do. She had always gunned for the deputy position and being stuck in the nursery wouldn't show Harestar how good and competent a warrior she was, so once she could she left a lot of the kitten care over to Oatclaw

Which was fine, but Oatclaw doesn't really know how to take care of kits. He does his best, the Sisters aren't slouches when it comes to kittencare, but he didn't pick up a lot of it. One other issue of his is his lack of both self-reflection and an ability to empathize with others. It's not a bad thing (I've got the 'tism too, I know this), but these two things didn't mesh well with having to take care of the emotional needs of their kittens.

All three grew up fine and are happy in the clan, but not without some issues. Flutterfoot inherited their dad's lack of emotional awareness, Songleap began acting out as a way to get attention, no matter what type and Whistlebreeze learnt to just Shut Up because the adults aren't going to help anyway. Fae did have an arc with Woodsong where both are still working through their own issues and trying to make their relationship comfortable for both of them.

Getting into the healer's den also helped a lot with that. Kestrelflight is many things, but he knew how to handle emotions somewhat well (just ignore his jayfeather thing. You'd also get messy if you had to see your ex you broke off with on horrible terms every few weeks in a small group and thus COULD NOT avoid him ever again)

anywaaaaays. Feather and Oat currently still are mates. They care about one another because They Are The Only One There For The Other That Doesn't Irritate Them, but they do irritate one another. Feather can get very snippy and impatient, oat just doesn't fight back and Feather then feels bad for him, so they forgive and forget... until the next time Feather is in a bad mood.