Howlingstar's HISTORY, PT 1.
You probably know by now that Howlingstar was a former kittypet. His mother's name was Clarice, and he, his two brothers and one sister were named Brownie, Stripey, Watermelon, and Cookie by the family's 5 year old daughter. He never knew his father, who was known by the name of Wolf for his great size and lupine features which Howlingstar himself inherited. His mother was very kind and gentle and loving to her kits, even though this litter was more or less an accident, and the four kits' fates would be decided by the newspaper ads in the pets section.
He was adopted at a very young age as a kit to his twoleg owners, however his owners had evil twoleg kits that loved to torture him and beat him, bringing him to have a serious hatred for his twolegs. While at first he was allowed to go outside occasionally, where he would immediately head into the forest to go hunting, it was one day that he decided to play outside after dark that got him in trouble with his twolegs, and he was not allowed to go outside anymore. When he was about five moons old, he received his three metal bands upon his already-larger-than-normal right foreleg. He was kind of used to the twolegs torturing him by tying him up in their pelts(dress up), so at first he just ignored them. If he tried to take them off right away, his twolegs would beat him, and of course jam the rings on tighter next time. Maybe they would try tugging on the rings until they were higher up on his leg where his limb was thicker, something he would not find pleasant, as his twolegs were not gentle in the least.
However, the days went by, and the twolegs didn't take the rings off. Howlingstar, known by the kittypet name of "Brownie" then, for his brown fur, just so happened to be going through a growth spurt, and before he knew it, the rings wouldn't come off anymore. His twolegs thought it was the most amazing thing they had ever done to the poor tom. He was lucky his twolegs were so cheap. Why pay money just to have your cat fixed? Howlingstar used the litterbox and couldn't care less about spraying, and he usually didn't have much to yowl enthusiastically about, since half the time he would be found crouching upon his cat tree, glaring and hissing at his twolegs when they got too close. He began to remember the days when he would run about freely through the forest. Those were the best days of his life at that time, so why was he here, hissing and growling at his twolegs which hurt him? The only thing he wanted was to be free. He was having a harder time moving around; the metal rings frequently caused his paw terrible pain, and it hurt to even walk. But that would not keep Howlingstar from giving up. The twolegs underestimated him, thought it amusing how the rings made him limp with every step. They stood in the doorway, pointing at him, laughing at him, and were prepared, baseball bat in hand when he launched himself at them. But he wasn't going to attack them. To the twolegs' surprise, he ran right by them, outside, and was gone from that place called Hell forever.
Of course the first place Howlingstar went to was the forest visible from the fence post of his old twoleg nest. From there, he kept running, deeper into the forest. The joy at simply being free, finally, was too great to comprehend, and he could probably have been heard yowling ecstatically for a mile in all directions. So when he [almost] stumbled into the Thunderclan camp, howling his head off, he got his apprentice name: Howlingpaw. He was very lucky he was running slow enough to stop before he tumbled into the Stone Hollow. The entire clan was more shocked by the strange scene of the sight of the big young tom who could be heard from a mile away. Of course a six month old tom was no threat to the clans, and Howlingstar was met with several odd stares, which he returned with just as much surprise. Howlingstar ironically was a very curious young tom back then, and wanted nothing more than to know everything about the Clans. Naturally, Thunderclan was very hesitant at even the thought of letting a kittypet on their territory, but more than any other clan, the argument always came up: Firestar had been a kittypet. There were several counter-arguments, like that there were no prophecies about Howlingstar, and that Howlingstar was obviously crippled, and could be more of a hindrance to the clan than an asset. Somehow, though, it was decided that Howlingstar could be given a chance to prove his worth.
He was able to overcome his disability with his strength in spirit as well as in body. But even as Firestar had it, Howlingstar got his fair share of hardships from his own clanmates for his past, and it wasn't any help that, unlike Firestar, he still had the marks of a kittypet in the form of the shackles on his foot. His paw still gave him pain, and in time, his right dewclaw became completely useless, the nerves destroyed, all blood supply cut off, and the tissue suffocated. But that was the worst of his physical troubles with the metal rings, for that claw served as a cushioning, sparing the rest of his digits from the same fate, and eventually he was given back nearly full usage of his right paw, of course except forhis dew claw. This did set him back in his hunting abilities; hunting with only one dew claw was harder than you could imagine. It was like trying to catch something with only one thumb; have you ever tried that? He made up for this, however, with his remarkable natural talent in battle.
Although it never really went anywhere, Howlingstar did at some point try to make his rings seem more like a blessing than shackles that bound him to his fate as a kittypet forever by showing, and proving, how he could use them to knock cats clean out with a single blow to the head. The odd style of fighting was only seen as another weird way of the kittypet. "Then why don't we all go around putting animal fangs in kittypet collars to give us neck protection!?" Was a counter argument by one of his clan mates, and the whole clan joined in a good, long laugh. Howlingstar hadn't found it as funny. There was, however, one cute young she-cat in the clan who always managed to catch his eye. It was none other than Whitesplash, who at the time was still a kit, but was expected to become an apprentice by the next moon. Howlingstar had only just joined Thunderclan when Whitesplash, Whitekit at the time, was born. Many of the elders, senior warriors, deputy and leader were concerned about really going through with this all and allowing Howlingstar to graduate as a warrior, for they had originally decided to train him out of curiosity, not only for the Firestar legend, but because of what an odd cat he was.
But his skills as a fighter couldn't be denied, and Howlingstar eventually became a warrior. His faith in Starclan could not possibly be broken, especially after speaking to Starclan at the Moonpool with his mentor, a rough old brown tabby and white tom with blue eyes named Talloak. Talloak was a tough mentor, only accepting Howlingstar's every best effort in everything, but a good warrior at heart, never taking pity on Howlingstar when the others picked on him, but supporting him all the way. After Howlingstar's warrior ceremony, Talloak retired to the elder's den with pride for his last apprentice. Only a few weeks after Howlingstar became a warrior, earning his name, "Howlingwind", another she-cat, Pumpkinflower, Pumpkinkit at the time, was born.
Howlingstar participated and aided Thunderclan in many battles, proving his loyalty and worth several times over again. He still continued to be attacked for his kittypet origins, as well as for the rings that still clasped tight as ever to his foot. If you were to look a little closer, you would notice that his right dew claw is noticeably smaller than the left one, having died early in his life. The extra tissue cushioned the rings against his leg, and allowed for restricted growth of the rest of his paw. His mentor was a very honorable cat, and had taught him many great virtues. Howlingstar was devastated when the following leaf-bare, his mentor lost his life to greencough. He vowed he would never forget his mentors last words, directed at him, to never, ever lose sight of what he knew in his heart was justice, and to always trust in Starclan, even when all seemed lost. Those words have gotten him through the worst of times imaginable.
Howlingstar found that one of the things that most fascinated him was kits. Every birth in Thunderclan brought his gentle warrior's heart to tears of joy, especially when he saw the kits for the first time, and understood the significance of miracles like these. Howlingstar had discovered his love for kits even back when Whitekit, now Whitepaw, soon to become a warrior, was born. Because of that, he has always had a very soft, tender spot for kits and apprentices, and has has the joy of mentoring many apprentices. Howlingstar's first apprentice ever as a warrior was the beautiful young tortoiseshell tabby she-cat, Pumpkinflower, then known as Pumpkinpaw. Even by then, Howlingstar met with disapproval wherever he turned about his kittypet origins. Some could argue that it was even worse now that he was a warrior. Several warriors, senior warriors, elders, apprentices, and cats from other clans felt that he should not have been allowed to become a warrior of Thunderclan. The only friend he really had at the time was Pumpkinflower and Whitesplash. The two young she-cats never ever discriminated or considered his past life as a kittypet. They were of the very few cats who treated him for who he was.
Although Pumpkinflower was his apprentice, he knew in his heart that it was Pumpkinflower to saved him from darkness, for at some point, the stress was so great, Howlingstar had even considered leaving for everyone's sake. Pumpkinflower became his best friend. but when he began to have feelings for the young apprentice, the drama only got worse, for it was terribly looked down upon to take an apprentice as a mate. Howlingstar was an emotional mess. When he managed to show the leader what an honorable warrior he was, and received the privilege to go to the Gathering, he broke down to a Windclan warrior's cruel taunts and dishonored himself and his clan. Howlingstar had never felt so alone. It was only worse that he and Pumpkinflower had just gotten into a fight the day before. As much as it really, really hurt, he knew that the best thing to do was to man it out and encourage Pupmkinflower to find happiness with a handsome white tom her age named Yangheart, also a non-clan-born cat: a former rogue.
It seemed like that was how everyone's happily ever after would turn out. Pumpkinflower and Yangheart eventually became warriors, and Howlingstar couldn't possibly be more proud of his first apprentice. Everyone was happy, except for Howlingstar. He was broken and defeated. Pumpkinflower didn't need him anymore; she had Yangheart. The deputy hated his guts and thought he was not even worthy to be friends with Pupmkinflower anymore. The leader was indifferent. Almost every other warrior and apprentice in the clan was disappointed in him. Honorable warrior? It certainly didn't describe him now. Right now, the best thing for him and everyone else would be to leave the clans alone for good. Those were the words coursing through his mind those days. He expected never to get another apprentice again. Whitesplash was busy all the time with her own apprentice. It really had gotten this bad.
Howlingstar was seriously getting ready to say his goodbyes, expecting to hear only "Good riddance!" as his farewells. But if this was how the story ended, you'd all know I was lying, for here he is now. In fact, the very morning Howlingstar was walking outside the camp entrance, Whitesplash came up to him and invited him to go with her and her apprentice on the dawn patrol. Speechless with surprise, he took up her offer. And that was the beginning of his best days with Whitesplash. She had saved him from himself. And before he knew it, he realized he had again allowed himself to fall in love. The two got along as well as the closest frolicking kits. He found no one could cheer him up like Whitesplash. Even when he let himself feel down and begin to think about all his sorrows, it just so happened to be that the pretty white and brown splotched female would appear and cheer him right back up again. Even when the rest of the clan would continue to taunt him and make fun of him, Whitesplash always seemed to surprise her clan with her kindness toward the pitiful former kittypet. He really didn't understand why she was so kind to him, of all toms in the clan.There were plenty of other handsome, honorable toms in the clan, but whenever the choice seemed to come up, the beautiful she-cat would always trot cheerfully up to Howlingstar's side.
Things really never stayed wonderful for long. Never in all the elders' greatest memories has a time been known without tragedy. Pumpkinflower's mate, Yangheart was killed in an accident. It broke Howlingstar's heart to see Pumpkinflower so crushed by the blow of the tragedy, and it was only Whitesplash's support that kept him from being consumed by his own guilt for being unable to cheer his old apprentice no matter how hard he tried. The only thing he was more afraid of was earning Pumpkinflower's anger towards him in her anguish, but he felt even more frustrated when his words had no effect, and he had to tell himself that the best thing he could do for her was to leave her be, and trust her to be strong like he mentored her up to be. Even if that's what he, and the other members of the clan told him to do, he still worried for her. This would be another tragedy to add up to her already-long list of tragedies. He felt guilty for ever thinking that his was a pitiful case at all. To have been born into a loving, promising family, and having it taken away from you before you can comprehend it, and then losing your last chance for happiness...he could hardly imagine it, but he honestly didn't want to, and his worry for Pumpkinflower only increased.
