I wrote this a while back, but i’m still really keen on doing something with my lil Rowanclaw headcanon drabble!
It’s sort of a bit out from the timeline, but I’ve always been fond of the idea that Rowanclaw was one of the kits that were forced to train early under Brokenstar, and that his mentorship was picked up later by Jaggedtooth. He never really had a childhood, and for a good chunk of his adult life, he was rather harsh, closed off and berating to those around him, inputting unsolicited advice and just taking charge where he wasn’t required to (all traits Blackstar saw as key in a deputy so that’s how he finessed that position later.) He was never necessarily a cruel or mean cat, in fact, he was rather just and involved, but just very worn and closed off. However as Rowanclaw went from disgusted and dismissive of Tawnypelt and her origins, to truly seeing her as a respectable and amazing cat, he began to become more open minded and work to change his mindset. He didn’t want his own past strife to define him, and swore he would do better than Brokenstar did to him and his peers. Long explanation but it’s kinda what I see as the reason he fumbled THE HELL out of the whole “Darktail & the apprentices” situation, because he didn’t want to be harsh on them or oppressive to them as his old leader had, and in a way that was somewhat of his downfall.
