#stemchomp

Stemchomp had a fine relationship with his siblings and parents, but he never considered himself to be a cat who connected easily with others. He found his relationships to be more confusing than comforting, and having the leader as his mother could complicate that at times. There was nothing more awkward than watching the expectant looks of his clanmates turn to discomfort when he couldn't answer their questions and responded with a joke instead.

Still, if there was one cat he could understand it was Scorchtooth. The shecat was the same age as him, and they had grown up side by side. He had always felt particularly protective over their relationship, but he felt like he had enough trouble understanding others' intentions to start questioning whether there was anything more between them.

When Scorchtooth suddenly confessed that she did feel romantically attached to him, the direct confirmation of her feelings gave him the confidence to admit that his own feelings were romantic as well. His mutual confession made them both purr.

Tragically, the pair only had a few moons together before Scorchtooth was killed by a monster during a patrol. Stemchomp had narrowly avoided being killed himself, and seeing his mate so broken on the thunderpath shattered him. Grief quickly rushed in to replace shock as he and his clanmates carried her back to camp.

Stemchomp never attempted to get so close to another cat again, even after working through his grief. He enjoyed casual chats with his clanmates and he applied himself in his warrior tasks, but no one would ever replace Scorchtooth in his life. He busied himself with looking after other cats instead. After a long life of emotional struggle, he finally got to join Scorchtooth in Starclan after collapsing during a walk in the territory.