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[ Credit to Jaecarys for the wonderful art ! ]

[ 0 MOONS - 5 MOONS ] Every kit wants to be someone influential, like a leader, and sometimes, this desire lasts a lifetime. Larkspurtail and Lilyfoot bonded over their fantasies of rising to royalty and decided that if neither of them could be leader, then their kits would have to be. They had three kits, Lavenderkit, Lotuskit, and Locustkit, and encouraged leader-like qualities in all of them. Lavenderkit was, perhaps, the favored child. He was a natural leader, charismatic and nurturing, and both parents believed that he would be MistClan’s next ruler. Locustkit was shy but kind, and Larkspurtail and Lilyfoot doted on him as if had no flaws. Lotuskit knew they were their parents’ least favorite of the litter, too quiet and odd to be of much importance, and they resented their brothers for being adored as much as they were.

Lotuskit had always been curious about herbs, particularly the hazardous ones his parents and the medicine cat told them to avoid, and so, before dawn came, they crept out of camp in search of the dreaded deathberry. Lavenderkit, refusing to let his littermate journey alone, and Locustkit, concerned for his siblings’ safety, followed them. The three of them traveled what felt like endless tree-lengths before they stumbled upon a bright red berry. Locustkit’s anxiety spiked and he begged them to return to camp, but Lotuskit dared Lavenderkit to eat one and wounded his ego until he finally swallowed the berry. When he collapsed, convulsing, Locustkit ran off, screeching for help, while Lotuskit only watched the effect the herb had on their brother. When help arrived, it was already too late; Lavenderkit was dead.

Lilyfoot was inconsolable and Larkspurtail was furious when the patrol carried Lavenderkit and Lotuskit into camp. They were guided away, deep into the territory, to calm down, and Russetstar interrogated Lotuskit. They acted innocent, as if they hadn’t just bullied their brother into eating a lethal herb to see what it would do to him, and the leader fell for their ruse, convinced the kit hadn’t understood the consequences of their actions. However, their parents were not so easily fooled, and Lotuskit was ejected from the nest they’d shared with their mother and littermates. Larkspurtail and Lilyfoot forbade Locustkit from interacting with Lotuskit, and while they called him their little hero, they began to refer to them as a murderer. Whenever their gazes met theirs, they’d glare and scowl. It quickly became clear to Lotuskit that they’d been disowned.

[ 6 MOONS - 11 MOONS ] Locustpaw was apprenticed to the deputy, Birchclaw, and all Lotuspaw got was a cranky warrior named Rootfrost who should’ve retired already. They watched from a distance as Locustpaw and Birchclaw developed a father-son relationship, and they watched as Lilyfoot and Larkspurtail supported their bond, urging their child to make a memorable impression on the deputy of MistClan. Meanwhile, Lotuspaw and Rootfrost had rapidly become mortal enemies. Where Lotuspaw was quiet, Rootfrost was loud, and where Lotuspaw was deliberate, Rootfrost was spontaneous. He liked to surprise his apprentice with training sessions in the dark and he especially liked to shout at Lotuspaw when they performed a battle technique incorrectly. They despised their mentor, but putting up with him was the only way they could earn their warrior name.

And then it hit them. There was nobody more important and influential than a medicine cat. If they could just become one, then maybe Larkspurtail and Lilyfoot and Locustpaw would come crawling back to them, and Lotuspaw could have the pleasure of rejecting them. So they subtly began to show that they were intrigued by the life of a medicine cat, asking Berrystep how they’d treat this injury or that illness, or which herb did what. Toward the end of their apprenticeship, Lotuspaw approached Berrystep and hesitantly inquired if they could train under them. Ultimately, the medicine cat turned them down for their lack of interest in StarClan and, angrier and more alone than they’d ever felt, Lotuspaw decided that others deserved to feel their pain, starting with those they’d once considered family.

[ 12 MOONS ] Not long after being named Lotusfire for their passionate nature, they were assigned to a patrol with their brother, Locustflower, and a couple of their clanmates. Lotusfire and Locustflower parted ways with the rest of the patrol to cover a larger area and as they walked along the river’s edge, Lotusfire tackled their sibling into the water. Locustflower thrashed, but Lotusfire was stronger and held him beneath the surface until he went still. They dragged his lifeless body from the river and were immediately confronted by the rest of the patrol, who claimed they’d witnessed Lotusfire drowning Locustflower. They were exiled that very day and told that the other clans would know of their treachery, so if they dared to trespass on any clans’ territory, they would know to kill them on sight.

[ 13 MOONS - 24 MOONS ] Lotusfire traveled far away from the clans, driven by rage. If they ever saw another clan cat again, it would be too soon. Their anger was almost forgotten by the time they met River. They learned that River came from a small colony made up of his kin, but he wasn’t allowed to bring strangers to their home unless they’d become a significant other first. Lotusfire persuaded River to meet them every day at the same spot, determined to be a part of this group, even if it meant becoming his mate. The tomcat told him all about his family, mostly about his grandmother and leader, Shrike, as well as his cousin and the heir, Bristle. Lotusfire was pleased to hear there was a leader, which meant they could replace her and take over the colony if they were careful enough. In return for River’s information, they told him all about how the clans had wrongfully exiled them, how they’d tried to rescue their drowning brother, but their actions had been misunderstood. Just a few moons after meeting, River asked them to be his mate.

[ 25 MOONS ] Bristle was not very friendly. Everyone else was incredibly welcoming, including Shrike, and Lotusfire thought that becoming their ruler was going to be quite easy, but first, they had to get rid of Bristle. River had told them that Bristle was the oldest cousin, followed by himself, which meant if she was gone, he would inherit the role of heir. Bristle was already suspicious of them, watching their every move, and they could use that to their advantage. So, one night, as everyone slept, Lotusfire slipped out of camp, but not before glancing over their shoulder as if to make sure nobody was looking. As expected, someone followed them, and they led them deep into the forest surrounding their home. Once they were satisfied with the distance between themselves and camp, Lotusfire spun around and confronted their stalker. They were not surprised when Bristle emerged from the undergrowth. She accused them of having vile intentions and Lotusfire only laughed before launching themself at her. They were a trained warrior, one who didn’t play by the rules, and they easily overwhelmed the she-cat. They returned to camp with her body and told everyone they’d been ambushed by a couple of rogues.

[ 28 MOONS ] Now only Shrike stood between River and leadership, but she was naive enough that she already completely trusted Lotusfire. Shrike was elderly and her time was coming to an end, but they were too impatient to wait until then. They had accepted the unofficial role of the group’s healer after sharing the fact that warriors knew the basics of healing and so they spent a lot of time with Shrike, soothing her aches and pains. Their closeness to the colony’s monarch made getting rid of her effortless. Shrike was outside camp, sunbathing on the warm rocks beside a river, and Lotusfire had left her there briefly to hunt. They brought back a plump mouse, stuffed with deathberries, and offered it to her. She took small bites, but that was enough, and the berries quickly attacked her. Like when they’d bullied their brother into devouring deathberries as a kit, they only watched, and there was no one else present to run for help. When the others asked what had happened, Lotusfire said old age had taken Shrike from them and that River was now their leader.

[ 29 MOONS - 41 MOONS ] River was not the most confident cat and was actually rather passive, like a majority of the colony’s members, and so it was not at all challenging to take charge of the family through him. There were other groups in the forest, but none quite as large as theirs, and Lotusfire decided their next course of action would be to force them to disband, to do away with the threats, and that’s what they did. None of these groups were made up of fighters, but Lotusfire’s band of rogues outnumbered them and with some training, they were decent fighters, so they successfully chased off the other groups. Moons later, when peace had settled over the family after they’d dissolved the other colonies, they were ambushed. The groups they’d broken up had allied and attacked, and Lotusfire and their followers didn’t stand a chance. Everyone scattered, some died, and they found themselves alone again. Angry and with nothing better to do, they set off in the direction of the clans, determined to destroy them for setting them on this path of failure and loss.

[ 42 MOONS - 55 MOONS ] Upon arriving at the clans’ territory, Lotusfire came up with an idea - what if they infiltrated the clans? They tracked down a lotus flower, disguised their scent, and at moonhigh, they crept into MistClan’s camp and placed the flower in the entrance to the medicine cat’s den. And then they waited. A MistClan patrol found them in their makeshift camp less than a day’s journey from the clans and Berrystep was among them. They told Lotusfire about the flower, how it could only mean they were destined to train beneath them, and begged them to become their apprentice. Lotusfire argued that MistClan hadn’t bothered to hear their side of the story when they’d been exiled, so why should they return? Berrystep apologized on behalf of the clan and Lotusfire looked to be deep in thought before agreeing to return to MistClan as their trainee.

Larkspurtail caught an illness soon after they rejoined MistClan and Berrystep let Lotusfire treat him themself as a test. Under their mentor’s supervision, they gave him herbs to treat his sickness, and when Berrystep was satisfied that they knew what they were doing and allowed them to work with Larkspurtail alone, Lotusfire stopped feeding him anything at all, but lied to their trainer about which herbs they were giving him. Berrystep made suggestions and Lotusfire would report back that that treatment hadn’t worked, either, despite not having tried it. Eventually, Larkspurtail died. Lilyfoot was distraught and Lotusfire guided her away from camp after telling Berrystep they could calm her down. She was too distressed to notice that they’d led her outside clan boundaries where they killed her with a single blow. They then told the clan that Lilyfoot had chosen to leave the clans behind, to leave behind nightmarish memories.

StarClan never came to Lotusfire at the Mooncave, which they were furious about, but no one had to know their ancestors didn’t accept them enough to appear to them. Berrystep told them they didn’t have to tell anyone what they’d seen and so if anyone asked, they simply said that it was medicine cat business. Learning to become a medicine cat took forever and they watched as kits turned into apprentices and then warriors before they’d even completed their training. Berrystep claimed that a medicine cat’s training never ended, which they thought was ridiculous. As soon as they’d decided they’d learned all there was to learn, they killed their mentor using the same trick they’d used on Shrike. They brought them a mouse full of deathberries and watched the life leave their eyes, and then promptly told the clan old age had taken Berrystep.

[ 61 MOONS - 71 MOONS ] Just before his retirement, Russetstar spoke with Lotusfire about taking on Finchkit as an apprentice. He wanted MistClan to have two medicine cats, in case something happened to them. Plus, the young tom was clearly interested in the role, and so Lotusfire reluctantly became a mentor. Finchpaw was jovial and starry-eyed and they immediately despised him, but they had to pretend to dote on the younger tom, which they did well. They had to admit that he would make a terrific medicine cat, but he slowed them down. Finchpaw never left their side and never stopped asking questions, and Lotusfire couldn’t find the time to slowly destroy MistClan from the inside by killing their warriors one at a time. Finchpaw had to go.

One of RidgeClan’s senior warriors approached Lotusfire at a Gathering and told them that Wolfstar was planning to attack MistClan, that he didn’t agree with his leader and wanted to let someone know. Lotusfire simply thanked them and walked away. Before the Gathering ended, they pulled Wolfstar to the side and confronted him. They said they knew about the attack, but they wouldn’t warn the rest of their clan if Wolfstar promised to make them leader of MistClan. To sweeten the deal, Lotusfire offered to let RidgeClan claim the Mooncave, but this was a lie. They fully intended on killing Wolfstar as soon as possible, taking charge of RidgeClan, and then PrairieClan. He didn’t have to know that, though, and Lotusfire left the Gathering island looking forward to their future as leader of all three clans.

During the attack, Lotusfire guided Finchpaw out of camp after telling him they'd need more herbs. As soon as they were alone, they killed the apprentice with one strike and then dragged his body back to camp where they discovered that the ambush had gone terribly wrong. Reinforcements came from PrairieClan and together, they and MistClan chased RidgeClan off. Lotusfire busied themself with treating injured warriors in an attempt to ignore their anger. When asked what had happened to their apprentice, they explained that they'd sent Finchpaw away to gather herbs and when he had taken too long to return, they'd gone in search of him, and had found him dead. A RidgeClan warrior must've gotten to him. It wasn't too challenging to hide their frustration under a mask of grief.

[ 72 MOONS - 76 MOONS ] Lotusfire grew even angrier when they heard that their ally, Wolfstar, had died from his wounds. Looked like they were on their own now. They encourage a bond between MistClan and PrairieClan, certain that if they could build trust, the other clan wouldn't expect an attack from MistClan when Lotusfire eventually took over, making them easier to conquer. But a majority of MistClan feels uncomfortable befriending PrairieClan after RidgeClan accuses the two of them of trespassing, so they step back from that friendship, and Lotusfire's irritation only increases. When multiple kits go missing, Lotusfire blames the outsiders that had been scented on their territory only moons before, not particularly eager to further sour their relationship with PrairieClan.

[ 77 MOONS - PRESENT ] And if things couldn't get any worse, Lotusfire is assigned an apprentice, Spottedpaw, who dreams of cats with stars in their pelts. She's too weak to be their trainee and there's no way she'd adopt their opinions. She reminds them of Finchpaw and he hadn't lasted long in his role. They'll have to find a way to get rid of her. But first, a brawl breaks out at the border separating MistClan and PrairieClan. So much for strengthening that connection. Lotusfire wonders if chaos would help them achieve their goal better than order would and starts to watch things fall apart with glee in their eyes. If they can't rule the clans, then let them die.

Pre-Plotting: A fickle cat, Lotusfire doesn't exactly align with any particular role in [MistClan’s Plot Ad], but they are most closely affiliated with Leaves. They believe in change, not for just MistClan, but for all three clans. However, they will allow themself to be associated with any other role if it benefits them.

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