#sparrowshine

Introducing the first of RavenClan’s adoptables, Sparrowshine!

As the child of the leader and the sibling of the much more successful Head of Fighting, Sparrowshine has had a lot to live up to their entire life. Lost on how to meet expectations or to get an equal amount of respect from their clanmates, Sparrowshine eventually chose to claim that they had received a prophecy from Starclan stating that they were destined for greatness.

Despite their boastful claims, Sparrowshine’s misfortunes seem to be never ending. Their first apprentice, Squirrelfang was dragged off by a coyote twelve moons ago, never to be seen again. After that, Pinepaw, their second apprentice, was lost in the recent fire. Trouble seems never far from Sparrowshine’s side, but just how far will they fall to it?

Sparrowshine - An energetic and kind tom. Sparrowshine is always eager to help, but sometimes to a fault as he can get a little pushy, but he will quickly realised and apologise profusely for overstepping any boundaries. Sparrowshine likes to keep busy, and he finds helping cats out one of the most fulfilling ways to do this, he will help out no matter what the task, and every now and then he and a few of his friends will help the elders have a short walk around the territory (with his leader’s permission of course), 15/10

Raventhorn - A skilful and intelligent she-cat. Raventhorn is a highly respected fighter, she is fantastic and improvising moves within a heartbeat to help her win a battle, often catching her opponents off guard long enough for her to strike them with winning blow. She trains hard consistently despite being a warrior as she wants her skills to stay as sharp as possible, and she will try and account for as many scenarios as she can to make sure she has at least some backup moves preprepared. She is dedicated to her clan but isn’t really one for socialising so she might appear cold, but once you get to know her, you can find a soft side she doesn’t show to many, 14/10

Bluejaykit/shimmer! (he/him)

Canarykit/call! (they/he/she)

Shrikekit/moth! (baby. i based her off my irl cat a bit :D ) (he/she)

Sparrowkit/shine! (they/it/flow)

Starlingkit/snarl!!! (she/her)

there are now five bird themed children who love shiny things and still have no fighting skill besides what Spotgrowl can teach them

Their names:

Sparrowkit/Sparrowshine (named after Magpieleap's nickname and Raceglint's love of shiny things)

Bluejaykit/Bluejayshimmer (named after the territorial bird and again, Raceglint liking shiny things)

Shrikekit/Shrikemoth (named after both Magpie's nickname and the actual bird, and he has a adoration of moths)

Canarykit/Canarycall (named after Canarysky, one of Magpie's friends, and the fact that canaries tend to stop singing in tight areas if the air is getting bad)

Starlingkit/Starlingsnarl (named after Magpie's sibling and Spotgrowl)

theory i have about their backstory or future

i dont know sparrowshine well enough to have theories yet SO instead i will give u smth i am so excited to see: i am Very Very excited about sparrowshine learning about starclan’s disappearance. will he be relieved? more guilty? i am very excited to see if hes a little Too relieved, and what he might do to keep them gone

interesting potential platonic relationships

i want him and featherfang to eventually have a heart to heart. i want her to see how much he regrets pinepaw’s death. i want there to be reconciliation. and then i want to see sparrows lie brought to light

ALSO: daisyleap. self explanatory. i also would like to see sparrowshine interact with the losers of the clan more, and also the the ones who are Talented but dont try to help the clan as much as they possibly should (…. condor, crow..). BEETLEJAW, ALSO. for very personal reasons. i want sparrowshine to talk to anyone ever

ideal development or growth

i want his lie to come to light . i want him to see his fathers heart break, for all the opposite reasons than the ones he has in his head. i want him to realize his value never came from being Successful. maybe some time away from warriorhood would be good for him

worst possible development or growth

Raventhorn, Sparrowshine, and Robinflight were originally members of Shimmerclan. Sparrow and Robin had what was thought to be a bitter rivalry over Raven’s love. As their rivalry slows Shimmerclan gets fresh gossip - Raven is pregnant. After plenty of badgering to find the father, Raven calls a gathering. Raven, Sparrow, and Robin announce that they are all mates. With heads held high, they say the kits will belong to all three of them.

While this is not outlawed in any way, it is highly unusual and makes the clan uneasy. The whispers and sneers become to much to handle and the three decide to leave their clan.

A short story on Raventhorn’s kits and their time away from Shimmerclan can be found here(link later) but in summary: 

The Three meet a kittypet named Gem who shows them a good place to rest. Gem pops in and out periodically to check on the trio and eventually helps Raventhorn through kitting. Although the trio tried to get help from Shimmerclan’s medicine cat, they were turned away at the boarder. Lotuskit and Juniperkit are named after the plants around their new home that make it beautiful. Swiftrain, who was stillborn, was named after the storm the litter was born in. 

Knowing her son might have survived if Shimmerclan had been willing to help, Raventhorn becomes determined to make a clan of their own. 

Once the kits are old enough to be away from their mother, Raventhorn takes Gem on a trip to Starmeadows. Once again they are caught at the boarder but this time a patrol is allowed to escort them to starmeadows. This patrol consists of Featherdrop (Raventhorn’s old mentor), Hawkfang (sparrowshine’s half-brother) and Minkpaw (Hawkfang’s apprentice). 

A reference sheet for Sparrowshine from my latest story! A lanky orange tabby with a big heart and bigger anxiety. Mate to Raventhorn and Robinflight. He/Him and pan.

The mossy log was damp and smelled of rot, but at least it was cover. The storm raging outside was a sight no expecting mother welcomed.

Sparrowshine may not have noticed the rain at all, despite how the wet weighed down his fur. The ginger tom paced around the fallen tree with an intense nervousness. Every now and again, he’d poke his head inside the log to check on Raventhorn and badger Gem with questions.

“Is she close to kitting yet?” “Should I go look for more herbs? More moss?” “Is she comfortable enough?”

Judging by Raventhorn’s glare, she’d clawed her mate’s ears off were it not for the waves of pain forcing her to lay down. But Gem was patient with the anxious tom and answered him with a simple yes or no before shooing him from the makeshift den.

“You’ll wear a hole in the ground too deep to climb out of if you keep pacing like that.”

Sparrowshine looked up to see his other mate, Robinflight, returned from hunting with a freshly caught frog at his dark paws. The cream tom dropped his prey in the shelter of the log before turning back to Sparrowshine.

“I had to burry the rest of my catch.” Robinflight nuzzled his head affectionately into his younger mate’s side, “Want to help me gather the rest?”

The ginger tom rushed a glance between both his mates before letting his tail drop with defeat. Sparrowshine wanted nothing more than to help Raventhorn, but he knew he was only being a nuisance. He gave Robinflight a small nod and together they walked out towards the pond.

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The storm must have flushed out a great deal of frogs. The pair had to make several trips between the pond and the log to bring back Robinflights catches.

“Do we really need this much prey?” Sparrowflight asked as he dug up yet another frog, “There’s only the four of us. It’s-“ He paused, “it’s not like we have a whole clan to feed anymore.”

Robinflight dropped his gaze to the ground and was silent for a few heartbeats. Sparrowshine thought his mate was just worried at first but no. The older tom was actually scared. Of all their time together, even back in their apprentice days, he’d never seen Robinflight afraid of anything.

A few heartbeats more and the cream tom walked over to Sparrowshine, burrowing his head into his younger mate’s fur. Robinflight was nearly trembling now and horsely whispered, “I don’t want to lose her.”

Sparrowshine turned to rest his chin on top of his mate’s head, and wrapped his tail around the cream tom’s back, “We won’t lose Raventhorn. She’d claw through all of StarClan to stay with us. I’m always worried but our mate’s stubbornness is the one thing I know I can count on.”

Robinflight pulled back, looking his mate in the eyes, “Sparrowshine. We left our Clan. Our family. We don’t have a home or a territory to defend. For StarClan’s sake! You couldn’t even go back to talk to a medicine cat! Hawkfang chased you back across the border like you were some mangy rouge instead of his brother!” He snapped, “We’ve never been more alone.”

Sparrowshine’s tail twitched angrily as all of his early nervous energy left him, “We left the clan because they didn’t want us! They wouldn’t accept us for who we are, how we love! Even if we stayed, we wouldn’t have been one of them anymore.” The ginger tom dug his claws into the mud beneath them, “You, me, Raventhorn and the kits. Our family. That’s our clan now. And maybe we don’t have land to call our own yet but. Us? Together? That’s home.”

Eyes wide with shock, Robinflight stared at his mate. The younger tom had always been forthcoming with his feelings for both his mates, but seeing Sparrowflight with a fire of devotion burning in his eyes showed just how committed he was to them. To their second chance. Sparrowflight has been battling anxiety since he was a kit, and knowing how certain he was of their decision to leave made Robinflight’s heart melt.

Just as he was about to reply however, a pained yowl rang through the air.

The two toms exchanged a moment’s glance before racing back to the fallen tree. They both knew what it meant. The kits were coming.

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“You can lick them clean but don’t get too close.” Gem said quickly, as she also hurried to lick the kit in front of her, “You’re both too wet, they’ll be warmer with Raventhorn.”

Two toms and a mollie. Of the two kits curled up against Raventhorn, one of the toms had solid black fur like his mother. The other was a brown tabby similar in color to Robinflight’s dark points, but with white patches like Sparrowflight. They both whined and wiggled to get closer to their mother.

The last kit wasn’t moving. Gem was still licking it over and over but. It was no use.

“We’ll wait for the storm to pass.” Robinflight’s meow was surprisingly calm despite how much he was trembling, “Hold a vigil tonight and burry him.”

Raventhorn’s eye’s were glazed over with a distant sadness, “He’ll be warm and dry with StarClan. I just. Wish I could’ve known him before he was taken.”

Sparrowshine curled himself behind Raventhorn, licking her ears to console her. “We can give him a name at least? Send him to StarClan as a warrior?”

The black she-cat shook her head, confused, “I’m not a leader, Sparrowshine. I can’t give a warrior ceremony.”

Her younger mate touched his nose to her cheek, “Just because we left one clan doesn’t mean we can’t start another. We still follow the Warrior Code.”

Robinflight draped his tail over Sparrowshine, “Maybe we should worry about that some other time.”

“But-“

“Swiftrain”

Both Robinflight and Sparrowshine turned to their mate.

Raventhorn stared out at the raging storm, and then touched her nose to the still kit, “From now on, you will be known as Swiftrain. I pray you know nothing but fully bellies and warm sunlight in StarClan.”

“What about the other two?” Gem asked quietly