Reefstar - Leader
Charismatic, trusted advisor, good climber
Bio below:
Was saved from an osprey by Duskfuzz as a kit.
Both her parents died when she was still an apprentice, which left her without any strong support considering how strained all of her siblings' relationships already were. She found it easy to connect with Birchjay when they were both apprentices, and when Birchjay confessed his feelings she agreed to become mates despite them both only having just become warriors.
Reefpelt had only been a full warrior for a little over a year when Midnightstar joined Starclan and Duskstar named her as a candidate for deputy. She was even more shocked when it became clear that the leader had stalled out the decision for two moons just to find her an apprentice and make her deputy. She knew she was one of few cats who was friendly with Duskstar, but being chosen over Finquiver and Bluebird seemed unbelievable. She could only resolve to learn as much as she could as quickly as possible.
As she started to adjust to her new role, Reefpelt had time to reflect on the moons leading up her selection as deputy. She remembered Bluebird treating her with respect, but she had largely brushed off the fact that Finquiver had been quite condescending. Of course, Finquiver had been a strong candidate, but as her own brother Reefpelt expected better from him. She couldn't help but resent the older cat's confidence in a situation that had thoroughly shaken her. She gained a lot of appreciation for her mate, who always gave her space to talk things through and process her feelings about the situation.
Birchjay's death was an excrutiating experience for Reefpelt. Watching her mate grow weaker every day from illness despite still being so young and having a bright future ahead of him broke Reefpelt's heart. She immediately took over Lichenpaw's training, needing a distraction from the pain she felt in order to keep from spiraling into her own grief and maintain her role as deputy.
She clashes a lot with Sandyseed because of her disrespectful attitude toward Duskstar, which is painful for Reefpelt because of the grief she still feels for Sandyseed’s son. Luckily, she is quite close with Lupo and is able to talk about Birchjay with him.
Over time, Reefpelt resolved herself to remain open to other cats. She watched Duskstar struggle to maintain close relationships even with his family, and knew she did not want the same future for herself. She struggled with her interest in Birchjay's younger brother, Galecrest, but was surprised to find things go a lot more smoothly with their sister, Vinefeather. After having a blast together while fishing, she became very interested in the shecat. When Vinefeather confessed her feelings to her, Reefpelt felt sure that Birchjay would be happy for them both and agreed to become her mate.
One day, after a solo patrol to check a few places of interest by the border, Reefpelt encountered Sandyseed. The sight of her irritated Reefpelt, but she suggested that they return to camp together nonetheless. As they walked along the rocky shore of the beach, past comments Sandyseed's kits had made began to ring in her ears. A whole collection of unkind remarks about Duskstar that she'd heard Sandyseed spout over the years. They'd even come from Vinefeather, whose dislike of Duskstar had proven to be an obstacle in their relationship.
As deputy, Reefpelt felt compelled to take this opportunity to confront Sandyseed directly. However, the proud shecat refused to back down. She rattled off events from Duskstar's past, her childhood, and Reefpelt bristled in offense on behalf of her leader. Discovering that such petty adolescent squabbles were the root of so much division enraged Reefpelt. Her long-simmering frustration with Sandyseed bubbled to the surface, and as her mother-in-law spat insults Reefpelt burst forward and shoved her from the rocks and into the sea.
For a moment she glared angrily down at the water, but when Sandyseed remained beneath the lapping waves her anger turned to panic. Her mind began to catch up with her body, and fear burst from every nerve. Racing down to her as fast as the slippery surface would allow, she checked Sandyseed for any sign of life. She dragged her farther up the beach, and listened closely for breath, or a heartbeat, or movement. None came.
As she began to go into shock, her senses blurred in a mad dash back toward camp. She looked terrified when she arrived, startling her clanmates and inciting more panic than she ever would have intended. Medicine cats and warriors alike followed her back to Sandyseed's body, where everyone could see the marks in the sand where she had clearly tried to revive her.
As Sandyseed's death was confirmed, questions began to fly at Reefpelt. They all demanded to know what had happened, especially her children, she realized. They stood around her, her own mate's tearful eyes staring into her own. She couldn't possibly tell them the truth. She was the deputy, and Duskstar's time was growing short. With so many cats already divided, the clanwide schism she had long feared loomed in the near future.
Her choice was self-serving, at the end of all of her justifications, but she felt she had no other option but to lie. She told them part of the truth, that Sandyseed fell and she had tried to rescue her. Their fateful argument stayed locked in her own memories, and she know that Starclan would know the full story regardless. Still, her answers satisfied her clanmates and they swiftly turned their attention to mourning Sandyseed. Reefpelt could only wrap her tail around her mate's in her best attempt at comforting her.
In the moons following her crime, Reefpelt threw herself into helping the clan. She even took on Cicadapaw as an apprentice, her guilt over the kit's lost grandmother still affecting her. She was immensely grateful that to the rest of the clan, her behavior could be explained by nervousness from Duskstar's dwindling lives.
When Duskstar was finally summoned by Starclan, Reefstar was heavily pregnant with her and Vinefeather's kits. Despite the urging of the medicine cats, she made the trip to the moonpool and successfully received her nine lives. She was terrified of seeing Sandyseed during the ceremony, but her mother-in-law's absence did little to settle her nerves. The stress proved to be too much for her, and she gave birth shortly after returning to the clan.
Her clanmates treated her well, giving her all of the help she could need with her new family, and Reefstar felt relief for the first time in a long time. Wolverinesand had given her a life for forgiveness, and she wondered if she may actually be able to ease herself from the fear that lingered at the edges of her consciousness.
Not wanting to repeat the circumstances of her own promotion, Reefstar quickly selected Skybeak as her deputy. He was a cat that Reefstar could see herself in, as he had also committed himself to a mate soon after becoming a warrior. He hoped that their combined influence could lead Marineclan into a future where all cats would nurture each other and develop closer bonds than her predecessors.
Reefstar was then horrified by Butterflymoon's death, as Skybeak's deputy experience now mirrored her own far too closely. She began to fear for Vinefeather's safety, worried that a curse had been placed on her clan now that she, a cat who had killed a clanmate, was leader. Unable to ask the medicine cats without raising suspicion, she began to accompany them on their herb gathering patrols. When they asked why, she simply explained that Stonefin, their usual escort, was no longer fit for the task.
Reefsar's paranoia continued to worsen after being abducted by twolegs for a few days. The band around her neck is a constant reminder of the time she spent unable to get back to her clan. Heavyfoot began prescribing her thyme stems to help calm her nerves.
Reefstar has named three cats after her mate, Vinefeather: Stonefin's kits Egretfeather and Swiftfeather, and Weedfeather.
Although Reefstar's close relationship with the clan's medicine cats and consistent treatment with herbs had done wonders for her anxieties, the death of Skybeak's new mate, Lilactuft, brought up old fears. It didn't help that Skybeak himself had begun to believe that Marineclan's leaders were cursed.
Reefstar's anxieties only worsened when Finquiver passed away on the same day that Vinefeather was bitten by a snake. Vinefeather survived, but Reefstar felt certain that Starclan was punishing her for her old crime. She was getting older, and less able to protect her loved ones, and each fear fed on the last until she was once again weighed down by paranoia.
Despite her constant worrying, Reefstar's last years in the clan were peaceful. In the end she was able to join Starclan peacefully and entrust Marineclan to Skystar. From that point on, she would forever watch over her clanmates from the stars.
