Smudgespots

LichenClan

long-furred tortoiseshell point she-cat with blue eyes and a black nose

Despite her humble origins, Smudgespots catches the eye of most of her clanmates of both high and low class. She gives off a delicate look with a slender frame and small body. With her fluff, it's hard to tell she birthed four kits but there is extra skin around her stomach. While trained to be a warrior and not a queen, Smudgespots developed little to no muscle.

Smudgespots has primarily white fur with black and orange spots. Her fur is long and adds needed width to her small frame. The most prominent spot is the one on her nose which she was named for. Her ears are mostly black with the occasional patch of orange or white. Along Smudgespots’ back she has one big orange spot that can be mistaken for dirt depending on the lightning. Other than that her tail is a wild mix of white, black and orange.

The streak of black in the middle of Smudgespots face makes her head seem smaller than it is and her eyes bigger. Extra fur on her neck and cheeks also gives a rounded look and hides her angular muzzle. Her eyes are a pale blue.

Smudgespots has a way of looking at the world that is odd and strange, but it gives her unparalleled creativity. Smudgespots can approach problems with an out-of-the box solution. She’ll stand still and wait for prey to run into her paws and trip her opponents in battle. Very rarely will Smudgespots approach problems with common sense. Her creativity also causes problems for Smudgespots as she’ll often get distracted and stare out into space. She is airheaded and often speaks about the most bizarre things. Smudgespots is irresponsible and can easily lose track of things (including her kits).

Smudgespots is a kind soul. She’ll do whatever she can to support her peers and lift them up. She encourages others to live in the moment and indulge. She gives countless compliments to the extent that it may come across as insincere. When someone asks something of Smudgespots, she will always comply which also means she gets into trouble quite often. Smudgespots is naive and believes everyone is as kind as her. She is very trusting and is easy to take advantage of.

Smudgekit's parents didn't have much but were content with their life. They were low-middle class and found their position there to be quite comfortable. Safe from the politics of higher-middle class and the harsh treatment of the lowest of low, they went about their lives with little trouble. Even as war broke out between LichenClan and RedwoodClan and Minnowstar grew mad, they continued to be loyal warriors. They followed orders and kept out of the way. It wasn't perfect, but it was all they knew.

Whispers of rebellion spread amongst the clan, but Smudgekit's parents were blissfully unaware. Instead they were consumed by their desire for a family. Late in the year, Smudgekit's mother fell pregnant and moved into the nursery not long after. She had a single kit and named her Smudgekit after her black nose.

The pair could only stay out of the inner conflict of LichenClan for so long and eventually it came for them as well. During the battle for LichenClan, Smudgekit and her mother hid in the nursery but her father went out to fight. He'd picked the wrong side and died defending a clan he didn't love.

Smudgekit had very few memories of her father. She didn't even recall what he looked like. As for her mother, she remembered a white pelt with similar markings to her own. Her mother was a kind soul and despite little aid from the other queens, she raised Smudgekit the best she could. Smudgekit didn't play with the other kits and instead she made up her own games. Her mother always encouraged her creativity and went along with Smudgekit's imagination.

A moon before Smudgekit became an apprentice, Smudgekit's mother went out on a walk and a blizzard hit. The camp was snowed in and Smudgekit's mother was stuck outside in the birch forest with nowhere to hide. She was found once the snow melted.

Smudgepaw was apprenticed to an aging tom who had lived for many, many moons and knew a LichenClan ruled by Sagestar. Rumblethroat was a low class tom. His family once was in high regard for being devoted to StarClan, but Rumblethroat's grandfather refused to join the war effort against RedwoodClan claiming it was not StarClan's will. Public favor turned on Rumblethroat's family and they plummeted in rank. Rumblethroat was in favor of the rebellion and a strong supporter of Yarrowstar and Quickstrike's leadership. He tried to pass these feelings down to his apprentice, but Smudgepaw rarely listened to his lectures on politics.

Not long into Smudgepaw's apprenticeship the snow from the blizzard melted revealing the corpse of her mother. As the lake water rose it carried her mother away and pushed LichenClan out of their camp and onto RedwoodClan land. Rumblethroat did not allow Smudgepaw time to grieve. He told her to swallow her sobs and instead pray each morning and night for StarClan to accept her mother’s soul.

Rumblethroat was not a strict mentor in hunting or fighting. He allowed Smudgepaw to learn those skills at her own pace. But he was strict about prayer and ways to show devotion to StarClan. If she ever did something to disrespect StarClan, Rumblethroat would berate Smudgepaw all day. He never physically hit his apprentice, but Rumblethroat lashed her day after day with cruel words. When Smudgepaw reached 12 moons she graduated and became a warrior, but it took her until the end of the year to get out from under Rumblethroat's paw.

That leafbare, Rumblethroat fell ill with Greencough. He had no living relatives or friends so only Smudgespots would visit him. She'd sit at his side and listen to stories of an older LichenClan. While there, Smudgespots watched Lilacmist work and grew to admire the young medicine cat. Despite losing her mentor not long ago, Lilacmist helped each and every cat who visited her without rest. Whenever Lilacmist would speak to her patients, Smudgespots would listen in to hear what she could of the she-cat's wisdom. She was enraptured by the way Lilacmist spoke as if possessed by StarClan. When Rumblethroat passed, Smudgespots lost her reason to visit the medicine den but continued to watch from afar.



As a young warrior, Smudgespots started to draw attention. Toms of the clan made note of her appearance and often Smudgespots would be the recipient of their stares and jeers. But the tom who drew Smudgespots’ eye was Riverheart. It was love at first sight. Riverheart noticed her attention and drew Smudgespots in with gentle compliments and sweet words whispered in nests.

Once Riverheart had Smudgespots in his paws, he changed. He was better than her, Riverheart would say. She should be grateful for the attention of a tom with better blood and standing within the clan. Smudgespots believed him and did all she could to please the tom. She'd fetch him freshkill each day and clean out his bedding when it got old. Smudgespots followed him around enough that Riverheart’s peers started to notice and mock him for it. He pulled Smudgespots aside and told her not to hang around him anymore, though they still met up in secret most nights along the coast.

Not far into the new year, Smudgespots wakes up feeling unwell and visits Lilacmist and she learns she is carrying Riverheart's kits. She sought Riverheart right away, but upon hearing the news he looked at her with cold detachment. That day Smudgespots was discarded by the tom she thought was her mate. To deal with the grief, Smudgespots prayed. She prayed and prayed, begging StarClan to explain why he'd left her. They gave no response. Instead Smudgespots found herself with four kits and suffering from a difficult birth that almost cost her life.

Each kit was bright in their own way with markings of red or cream.
Sandkit for the cream colored sand on LichenClan's shores.
Russetkit for her streaks of red fur mixed in with the black.
Lightningkit for the loud noises he made.
Cardinalkit for her bright red fur like that of the bird.

When her kits sought out Smudgespots for warmth, they found only cold sickly skin that stretched over bones. Instead the kits learned to snuggle with each other for warmth. Cardinalkit was just as frail as her mother, and often Smudgespots was in the medicine cat looking after her sickly kit while her others played alone. In Lilacmist, Smudgespots placed all of her trust. After two moons of constant visits to the medicine den, Cardinalkit seemed to take a turn for the better. But then Lilacmist was found dead, drowned in that StarClan forsaken lagoon. The treatment Lilacmist was using was lost with her and Cardinalkit's condition deteriorated. Smudgespots’ health wasn't improving either. The stress kept her from recovering. Without a medicine cat, Smudgespots turned to the only treatment she knew of: prayer. She spent entire nights looking up at the stars and begging them for grace.

A moon later, Cardinalkit died.

The rest of Smudgespots’ time in the nursery was spent in mourning and recovering from her illness. She did nothing but pray in hopes Cardinalkit might visit her in a dream. Meanwhile, her kits were left to do whatever they wanted. Russetkit took to playing pranks on warriors. Sandkit took up prayer. And Lightningkit decided to start trying to sneak out. It took a few attempts, but one day Lightningkit just disappeared and Smudgespots didn't realize he was gone until a patrol dragged him back to camp. Her mind had been elsewhere, wandering.

With her kits reaching 6 moons, Smudgespots returns to her lonely nest in the warriors den. As punishment for not realizing Lightningkit had disappeared, she'll spend the next few moons doing apprentice chores and aiding Foxglovefire.


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