Kithood Fernkit was born last in a litter of three to mother Doveflight. Fernkit was the smallest of the bunch, though brother and sister Silverkit and Featherkit weren't very much larger. Their father had been Finn, a kittypet who had temporarily joined Prairieclan to see if clan life was for him. It turned out it wasn't, but he and Doveflight had fallen in love despite that. Still, it was not enough for him to stay, and he left before he knew his lover was pregnant with his kits.

Doveflight was overjoyed to have a little piece of him to treasure in their kits. Both Silverkit and Fernkit inherited their father's stark rosetted coat, Silverkit especially looking quite like his father. The clan was slightly less happy about the kit's blood... though they were happy to welcome new life, many of the cats had doubts about their kittypet heritage.

And it showed in the teasing they endured in the nursery. Fernkit was meeker than her brother, and the bullying was hard on her. She stuck by either her brother, mother, or Featherkit nearly all the time. She hated being called names, but nothing she ever said seemed to hurt the bullies as much as it hurt her. At least she found herself always able to keep the tears in until the other kits turned away.

She did have a few friends, though. She and Featherkit, of course, were often stuck to one another's sides. Swankit, the sister of one of their worst bullies, did not share the same ill temper as her brother. She would often try to defend Fernkit, which she always appreciated. And later in her kithood, she often found herself hanging out with Stonekit, a tom from a tunneler bloodline who was growing quite big for his age.

Thankfully, after Silverkit somehow made a truce with Icekit and the other kits that tended to pick on them, their lives were much easier. She still doesn't know how he did it. Sometimes, he and Icekit even seemed to be friends. Fernkit never forgave him for his ill treatment of her, though she never bothered her brother about who he hung out with. She was perfectly pleased to be best friends with the nice sibling anyway!

Apprenticehood Too soon for their mother, but not nearly soon enough for her kits, the litter were named apprentices. Fernpaw's mentor was a king young tom named Larkbelly, and he was almost more excited than she was to have an apprentice. Touring the territory was a little scary for her... she'd never felt so small. The wide expanse of grassland and sky made her a little itchy. She was happy to be back in camp after a long day exploring, especially since it meant she could make her nest right next to Featherpaw and Swanpaw's.

Fernpaw settled into her duties but didn't seem to excel anywhere. The older apprentices always watched and whispered whenever she couldn't execute a new maneuver right. She worried for days that maybe they were right, and she wasn't cut out for warriorhood. After confiding in her sister and friend about it, they comforted her, and Swanpaw suggested that maybe if a warrior wasn't the right fit for her... and she should try being a tunneler instead?

She had never thought of that. Of course, it made sense. She loved running but in the open fields she always felt like something was chasing her, looming. Her paws were nimble but struggled to land an accurate blow. She was small, too small to take down rabbits but the perfect size to use Prairieclan's underground network to her advantage. The next day, she brought it up to Larkbelly. He agreed to let her try it out... though she'd have to find a tunneler to take as a mentor, since he wouldn't be able to train all the intricacies.

Thankfully, her mother's close friend Shortstream is up to the task. The molly is small just like Fernpaw and stern, but fair. Shortstream shows her the ropes and the 'paw takes to the tunnels like a rabbit to its warren. Her confidence improved just from that one day of training, and she soon announces to her family that she'll be in tunneler training full time. They are all so happy for her, especially Swanpaw.

She loves her new routine so much, and is so tired at the end of the day that she doesn't notice Silverpaw sneaking off. The most of her free time she spends with Featherpaw and Swanpaw, anyway. They often run to the river to play in the water now that the weather is nice, and try to catch all the minnows in the shallows. Fernpaw even manages to catch a frog one time—though they're all a little too grossed out to try it, one of the elders thoroughly enjoys the treat.

It's then that Fernpaw realizes her growing feelings for Swanpaw. Though she's so busy, she always looks forward to spending time with her friend. It's the highlight of her day, even if they can only share a meal together and chat for a short while before Silverpaw or Icepaw or one of Swanpaw's other friends whisks her away. And whenever she's talking to someone else, she stares, wishing deeply that Swanpaw was talking to her.

But it's oh so confusing, and she doesn't want to hurt their friendship. One night she does tell Featherpaw about it, unable to keep her feelings to herself any longer. Featherpaw says that she should tell her, though Fernpaw isn't sure she's ready yet. She says she'll wait until they're both warriors, to make sure it's real—but really she's just afraid. She's never felt anything realer. Featherpaw nods, but seems to know something Fernpaw doesn't. She never finds out what that was until later.

They're almost all ready to become warriors—all except for Fernpaw. She has to remain in tunneler training for a few moons longer. She practically begs Shortstream to let her graduate early, just give her extra chores to do, but the warrior says there's no can do on her end. She doesn't want Fernpaw running herself into the ground either, as she knows she'd be wont to do. She'll just have to wait.

At twelve moons, Fernpaw watches her siblings and friends be named. Featherflight, Silversong, Swanfeather, and Icefang all join the warrior's den. She cries a little bit in her nest while they're all on vigil, only to wake up to Featherflight's gentle mew... asking her to join them all on their first hunting trip. She's overjoyed, and this time cries happy tears. Silversong promises that she'll join them soon enough, and they'll catch the biggest hare to share with her when she's finally named.

She hated to see her siblings move on without her, but she was happy for them too. She'd just have to work harder in order to catch up with them! And it's alright, because Swanfeather and Featherflight still hang out with her. They still go swimming and fishing, they still hide in the entrances of tunnels and leap out to catch prey. She also reconnects with Stonepaw, her old friend from the nursery, who is still a little too big to be a tunneler but wants to try nonetheless. She's happy to show him around, even if he can only fit in the widest tunnels.

Though one day she emerges from the tunnels to find... something feels different about her friend group. The dynamic has shifted. Silversong rushes over to her to tell her that he'd asked Swanfeather to be his mate, and she'd accepted! Too shocked to do anything else, Fernpaw feigns excitement and joy for her brother and best friend. Featherflight gives her a sad look when they see each other—she's the only one who knows her secret. Who knows how she must really be feeling.

She supposes she can just be happy for the couple. She wants Swanfeather to be happy, and she wants her brother to be too... but whenever she sees them together, a sickening feeling twists in her belly. She finds herself drifting away from her brother, unable to stomach his displays of affection for his mate. But she can't bring herself to abandon Swanfeather. She wishes she'd told her, and then maybe it'd be her at her side, instead of Silversong.

At the very least... she's going to become a full tunneler soon? Shortstream tells her the day before her ceremony that it's her last day as an apprentice... and she should be thrilled, but the excitement falls flat. She's named alongside Stonepaw, who she almost considers a brother at this point, and his brother Midgepaw. Stonefur, Midgecloud, and Fernsplash. The clan chants her new name. In the crowd, she can see her friends yowling the loudest.

Warriorhood Fernsplash can't help but adore her new moniker. It's fun, and pretty, and she feels that it suits her. Plus, it's a bit of an homage to Shortstream... and all the days she spent hanging out in the river with her sister and friend, before everything changed so much. She finally joins her siblings and friends in the warrior's den, and they share a meal, but the next day she is back to the tunnels again and they are back to the surface.

And it feels like she's made a warrior just in time. She's awake when the messenger from Mistclan arrives, breathless and bloodied, and begs for Prairieclan's aid. Ridgeclan has attacked them in the middle of the night. The other clan seeks to wipe them out. She's one of the ones to lead her clanmates through the tunnels, to get there the fastest. She fights, though she's never been very good at it, and helps to drive Ridgeclan away.

She is not heavily wounded, but looking at what some of Mistclan's cats have sustained, she almost wishes she could take it from them. All of her friends and mother make it out alright, too. But seeing the bodies... she realizes she's one of the lucky ones. It's a sobering event, but Prairieclan did all they could. They help tend to the wounded. They help bury the dead.

Not long after the battle, Swanfeather has something exciting to announce. Silversong is practically glowing with pride when she tells the group that they're expecting. Fernsplash is happy, but can't help but be surprised, too. It was so soon! They were barely warriors! But then, she saw how excited Swanfeather was to be a mother... how she'd never seen her brother smile like he smiled when they talked about kits...

Maybe she could get used to the idea of little nieces and nephews running around. Even if they weren't her and Swanfeather's kits... they would be her kin. And she was determined to help her best friend out with them as much as possible. Even Icefang seems to have turned a new leaf and is helping out with the kit prep... and though she didn't expect to be, she slowly gets more and more excited to meet the little ones.

Featherflight comes to find her in the tunnels a moon later, telling her that Swanfeather has had her kits. Two healthy toms. But her expression is sad, not happy. Not the reaction you'd expect for such a joyous occasion. Fernsplash doesn't have to ask. She did think it was quite soon for the kits to be born. Her sister says that Swanfeather had bled out after delivery. That she was already gone.

It doesn't sink in until Fernsplash sees her body motionless in the center of camp, covered in herbs and flowers. She sits vigil with Swanfeather all night and follows the elders when they take her body away to help to dig her grave. She works until her nails are broken and her legs are the most caked in dirt she'd ever seen them. And then she says goodbye. She'll never again see the twinkle in her eyes as she laughed, she'll never again run with her through the flowers. She'll never again pretend that she was hers.

Fernsplash can't bring herself to go visit her newborn nephews in the nursery afterwards. She hears that Icefang had attacked Silversong after hearing of the news, and truly, she doesn't blame him. After the numbness wears off... she can't help but blame her brother. She can't help but blame the kits, his kits, that had taken her away.

But... they were her kits too. Swanfeather wouldn't have wanted her to blame them. She'd been so excited to have children, so in love. So she does her best to set time aside to visit with her nephews, and check in on her brother, too. She had nearly forgotten in her grief that Silversong had lost his love too. And he was... not handling it especially well, to say the least. It made her feel a little better about the way she was handling things.

As she watches her brother's emptiness towards his sons continue, she only becomes more determined to look after little Snowkit and Heronkit. When they're old enough she takes them out to play, teaches them mossball, lets them pretend she's a big badger and take her down. Tells them stories about their mother, how much she loves them from Starclan. But she still has her duties, and she can't spend all her time with them... not the amount of time they spend with their father.

And for some reason, Silversong is picking favorites? She's seen the way Snowkit looks longingly at his father. She's seen the way her brother looks at his son, like he's spoiled freshkill. She has half the mind to confront him about his preference for Heronkit, what it's doing to Snowkit, but Featherflight talks her out of it. She says he's grieving—he'll come around. So she doesn't, but it still makes her blood boil.

If he went and knocked her up, he might as well fucking love and look after both her kits when she was gone!

She finds herself ignoring her brother whenever she comes to visit her nephews—not that he really seems to want to talk to her, anyway. And she's glad for it, because she doesn't know if she can keep her mouth shut. Part of her wants to make him hurt, but the other part doesn't want to cause him any more pain. So she bites her tongue whenever their eyes meet, and looks away.

One day, when the kits are nearly apprentices, she finds them both sulking in their den with their father nowhere to be seen. Indigoblossom, who'd been looking after Silversong for the past few moons, tells her that he'd blown up on Snowkit and blamed him for his mother's death. Fernsplash feels awful for the two boys. She wishes she'd just gone and confronted their father, no matter how much it would have hurt, it would have hurt less than seeing them like this.

Maybe if she'd said something, Silversong could have come to his senses instead of making his kits lose their father as well. She does her best to comfort the pair, telling them she'll take them out to play if they want—but they decline. Heronkit especially is more subdued than he usually is. No matter what she tries, she cannot fill the void for them left by their father. Her regret is not realizing how bad it had gotten, not being there for them sooner.

And it's her last straw in terms of speaking to her brother. He doesn't come to their apprentice ceremony, he all but acts like they don't exist. She understands that he's grieving, that everything they do reminds him of Swanfeather, but Holy Shit get over yourself, they are still your sons and they need you.

They seem to be doing alright under their mentors' guidance, but they don't tell her everything—she's their aunt after all, not their mother. She often asks Stonefur what he's been hearing about the two of them, and he seems to have mostly good things to report. She's glad her friend is a listener, because she's much better at talking. She checks in with their mentors, too. Asks if either of them are thinking about tunneler training... and neither are, sadly. That's alright.

She has plenty else to contend with... mainly about her job. There had been a surge of deaths due to cave-ins in the past few moons, and some cats have begun to push that the tunnels should be shut down. She brings it up to Shortstream one day, to which the molly coughs out a laugh. "Th' only reason they're all collapsin' is because we don't have enough cats to tend to 'em. Look at the newest crop of 'paws... only two, maybe three are trainin' to fill our spots. It's not enough. Th' tunnels 'r a dyin' art they don't understand.

"But if they're fixin' to take them away.. 'm not sure we got enough cats to convince 'em otherwise." Fernsplash can't help but agree. She talks to Stonefur about it too, and he agrees to help her fortify the tunnels as much as possible. Who else to do it but them? Shortstream was right. They didn't have enough cats for all the work that needed doing.

After an early snowfall she convinces Stonefur to join her to repair some of the more temperamental tunnels before they started causing problems. Unfortunately... it was determined to cause problems regardless. Fernsplash was further down the tunnel, her friend back at the entrance where he fit. She didn't notice the ceiling starting to bow before it was too late to get out. The light narrows, disappears... and that's the last thing she remembers.

She wakes up in the medicine den. Her eyes are bleary, and her body is stiff. When she moves... pain shoots up her spine and down her hind legs and tail, excruciating. She cries out, which alerts Maplefrost to her being awake. He immediately gets her to eat some poppy seeds and tells her she's lucky to be alive. He says he thinks something broke in her spine—they'd have to take it slow. Stonefur had dug her out and carried her back to camp about a day ago. She reminds herself to thank him the next time she sees him.

When she asks the healer when he thinks she'll be on her feet again, he gives her a sad look. He breaks it to her slowly... that she may never recover.

The first week or so was brutal. She was bruised all over, and could barely move without consequence. Featherflight came to visit her often to gently groom her and coax her to eat. She was never hungry, and it hurt to be touched. But she appreciated her sister's company all the same. Stonefur visited too, and they mostly sat in silence. She was too tired to talk, and he seemed to have too much on his mind to say anything. He always was the listener, anyway.

Slowly but surely, Fernsplash starts feeling better. Her small cuts and bruises heal, leaving just her big break to contend with. She still doesn't have much of an appetite and can't really leave her nest, but she feels more lucid. She feels like she could have a chance at recovery. Stonefur comes to sit with her more often and tell her about the comings and goings—and she has the energy to finally chat. "You taking breaks?" Stonefur shrugged, which she took as a no.

"Don't look so glum. I'll be back on my paws in no time, I swear it," she says, almost to convince herself as much as him. She can't let it break her. Not when she was given this chance. She makes Maplefrost tell her as much as he knows about her injury, cats that have had something like it before, what he thinks will help. He says it's a good sign that she can still feel her legs, even if what she can feel is pain. A lot of cats became paralyzed after an injury like hers.

He says, once the pain becomes manageable and he thinks the break has healed, they can begin physical therapy. But he can't promise her that she'll ever walk again, much less walk like she used to. He can't promise that she'll be able to return to her duties. She nods. That's good enough for her. Or at least... it has to be. Because it's what she's got. It'll be hard going, but she was always one to like a challenge.

It takes a long time for her to feel well enough to leave her nest. Especially since it's so cold outside—it's not like she wants to leave the warm den and drag herself over freezing snow and hard ground. But she works on gaining muscle in her front legs a little, and she's able to get across the den to fetch her own poppy seeds. She still can't put any weight on her hind legs, so she has to drag them. And if she twists the wrong way, or if they catch on anything, it's still horrible, horrible pain. But she deals with it, knowing that one day it will get better.

And as the ground starts to thaw and spring beckons, it does get better. She can pull herself outside to go sit in the sun, and even to the freshkill pile on good days. And not a moment too soon—she's able to watch from the mouth of the den as newly-named Cinderstar and Nettlefang announce a temporary ban on the tunnels for young cats. She thinks it's a reasonable idea... but she can tell, from what she knows of Nettlefang, that the molly won't stop there.

It's time to get back out there. Her nephews have become nearly fully-fledged warriors in the time it took her to recover, and Starclan knows what Silversong is up to these days. And she's going to find out... even if she's still confined to camp.

Pre-Plotting: Fernsplash is the sister of Silversong and a friend of Stonefur's. She is pretty firmly in the camp of peony from Prairieclan's plot adoptables, believing Prairieclan should help the other clans so long as they are able in order to maintain peace and order. And she believes it is a good look that they are able to be kind and offer support. Kindness is not weakness—if anything, it shows their strength.

As for the tunneler and warrior divide, Fernsplash can see both sides. Before her injury, she was firmly in the camp of reform—yes, the tunnels could be dangerous, but they could be useful, too. They'd be giving up such a large part of their history if they simply shut them down. And what about all she'd worked and trained for? But after nearly losing her life to them... she's grappling with the fact that there may actually be a good point to closing them indefinitely.

Family: Fernsplash is close with her mother and sister, but never knew her father and has distanced herself from her brother. But love 'em or hate 'em, she still believes in blood ties. She'd be there for Silversong if he really needed her, and she always has Featherflight's back. Her nephews are new additions to her list of kin, and she constantly wishes their family was less broken for them. She's gotta do the best with what she's got—and that's being as fun an aunt for them as she can.

Friends: With her best friends, Fernsplash is pretty ride-or-die. Currently, the cats who gain that title are her sister Featherflight and pseudo-brother Stonefur. She has plenty of cats she considers friends but isn't especially close with, but she's happy to hang out and joke around with them. And she's always happy to make more allies than enemies. What with being stuck in her nest for moons on end she's really found out who's a real friend and who isn't.

Romance: After losing her first crush, Fernsplash finds it hard to take romance seriously. Yeah, she's open to having fun, and she likes a good flirty banter, but she hasn't ever felt the way about another cat the way she felt about Swanfeather. To be honest, she's afraid to. But by Starclan if she ever does develop feelings for someone like that again, she'd be an absolute fool not to tell them right away. Though... she'd have to admit them to herself first. And therein lies the problem.

Rivals: Fernsplash thinks herself quite easy to get along with, and usually, she is. So if she doesn't get along with someone, she always assumes it's their fault and not hers. That being said, she has a self-assurance and cheekiness that can rub some cats the wrong way. Especially if they expect her to be quiet and polite like she can come across as when doing her job—in the right company or with the wrong prodding, she's downright raucous.