Black fur, mottled with an infusion of reds... 

Dull. Drab. Nothing special. 

Turtlewhisker's pelt is not as vibrant as her littermates. She doesn't stand out amongst the crowd, with fur as dark as the night. Flashes of orange sprinkled across her body, giving her a unique appearance, though it does nothing in comparison to the striking appearances of Cindersong and Dappledfern. 

A petite framed tortoiseshell molly, with long legs that were built to carry her across the meadows, and to keep pace with any fleeing rabbit. She has short, sleek fur that does little to shield her from the harshness of leaf-bare, causing her to have an aversion for cold weather.

It's late leaf-bare when Embercloud welcomes her litter. Three tiny mottled bundles, that wriggle at her belly and nestle into the warmth of her fur. She wraps her daughters close, shielding them from the bitter weather outside. They remain blind to the wonders of the world that they had just been born into.

Turtlekit is the middle of three. She is bold and spunky from almost the moment that she can walk. Outspoken almost to the point of rudeness, but all is forgiven when she flashes a winning smile to those that take offense, and works some of her charm.

In those early days of kittenhood, Turtlekit was as close as close can be with her sisters. The trio were practically inseparable, and the clan adored seeing their smiling faces as they traipsed around camp.

At three moons old, this all changed. Cinderkit began acting as though she was something special. She said that the younger kits were loud and rowdy, that she was better than them because of some dreamed up maturity- as if she was not three moons away from her apprenticeship. It made Turtlekit bristle with contempt, because... She could be loud, at least compared to her littermates, and at times she'd heard her father call her rowdy.

Cinderkit believed that she was better than her. 

It's hard to come back from that, once you realize that your sister looks down at you, as if you do not belong on the same level as her.

She's hardly surprised, at five moons old, when she hears that Cinderkit had gotten into a fight. Obviously, someone had grown tired of her pompous attitude and attempted to put her in her place. Serves her right..

At six moons, she's apprenticed and receives the name Turtlepaw. Her mentor, Vixenleap is a fair and kind. She guides her with a steady paw and shows Turtlepaw their territory on that very first day.

Those first couple of moons as an apprentice were nice, peaceful. Turtlepaw even saw a glimpse of the old Cinderpaw returning, the one that didn't act as though she was better than everyone else. Turtlepaw enjoyed spending time with both of her sisters again, she almost forgot what it felt like to harbour that resentment...

When Dusk-kit is apprenticed, Turtlepaw assumes that she will never know peace again. How could she, when Cinderpaw and Duskpaw can hardly stand to be in the same den together without risk of proclaiming war. The tentative bond that had formed between sisters, begins to crumble away and soon Turtlepaw cannot stand to be around Cinderpaw - especially when Duskpaw is nearby.

Turtlepaw had always been short-tempered, lacking the patience to deal with the trivial complaints of others, especially when they were the complaints of Cinderpaw. The way her sister could get under her skin, so effortlessly... It was impressive.

It's around this time that Turtlepaw begins to throw herself into her training, and she really excels when she doesn't allow those around her to serve as distractions. She's sure-footed and fast, and her ability to track even the most allusive hare across the prairie, causes her mentors whiskers to twitch in deliberation.

"You'd make a fine tunneler" 

The words startled her. Staring at Vixenleap with a disbelief that borders on offense. Because, she'd never once considered the path of a tunneler and had assumed she'd been doing great with her training.

The few times she'd been taken into the tunnels, she'd hated it. The way she could hardly see a tail length ahead of her, and how trapped she felt beneath the earth. Turtlepaw did not care if the tunnelers wanted her, she did not want them, and she was quick to tell them so.

It was surprising, when Cinderpaw chose the path that she'd rejected. Though, she did not hold many similarities to her sister, so it was no wonder that she'd retreat below ground- though Turtlepaw wondered how her pride allowed her to hide away.

At thirteen moons, Turtlepaw receives her new name. Turtlewhisker, as she's made a warrior alongside Dappledfern. It feels strange to not have Cinderpaw by their side, but she rarely sees her sister these days, and so shrugs off that feeling before it has a chance to linger.

Turtlewhisker thrived under her new title. A fully fledged warrior of her clan, she was no longer burdened with the responsibilities that apprentices are saddled with. She was free to leave camp whenever she wished, and those early days of warriorship were spent running across the prairie, only returning to camp when her jaws were ladened with prey.

Distractions were non-existent in Turtlewhisker's world. There was ambition behind her golden eyes. She wasn't as proud and boastful as she viewed Cindersong to be, but she had her own private goals. Goals which were not to be derailed...

Tanglebreeze entered her life on her nineteenth moon. He'd always been there, in the background and she'd never paid much notice. He was younger, charismatic but often took a joke too far. She'd roll her eyes whenever he attempted to catch her eyes, the way he'd chase butterflies and flop dramatically to the ground when they fluttered teasingly out of reach.

Even she had to admit that it was endearing, the antics that he'd get up to. The way he'd flash a toothy grin, just a little crooked as if it was forced from embarrassment. For the longest time, she denied that he meant anything to her, just an irritant that always appeared at her side throughout the day.

It happened slowly, and then all at once. The way she fell for him, it snuck up on her, in a way these things often did.

Turtlewhisker began spending more time with the tom, they would disappear for half the day at times, and their clanmates noticed. Whispers speculating when they'd see a new litter born into the clans, the couple were young but there had been younger parents.

At twenty-one moons, Turtlewhisker was jolted back to reality when Cindersong was granted her first apprentice. It stirred up those long buried feelings of resentment. Her sister had not been a warrior as long as she had, and yet had been given the honour of training an apprentice. It forced her to evaluate the decisions she'd been making in recent days, and evaluate what was important to her.

She was enamoured with Tanglebreeze, but he was a distraction. 

It was decided that the couple would spend less time together, and stop acting like lovesick apprentices. They were warriors, and their priority was to serve their clan.

That was what Turtlewhisker told Tanglebreeze, anyway. They were young, they would have all the time in the world to settle down and start a family, there wasn't any rush.

When the floods came, Turtlewhisker was reminded why she'd been so scared of those tunnels, when she was an apprentice. Glad to have rejected any offer of joining the cats who spent much of their time beneath the ground. The ground was soft beneath her paws, mud sinking between her toes and causing walking to become a discomfort.

Below ground would only be worse.

"The tunnels collapsed!"

The words send a thrill of panic down her spine as a group of tunnelers burst into camp. She's half-way through eating a juicy mouse, but her appetite dissipates with such horrendous news.

"Are there any injured?"

The camp erupts into activity, frenzied and disorganized as cats clamour to know what happened and if there were casualties.

Turtlewhisker can only focus on the ginger she-cat whose locked eyes with her and hurries over. There is a strained look on her face, as if she may be in pain, though there were no visible injuries to note. 

She tells Turtlewhisker, that Tanglebreeze was buried as the tunnels collapsed. Her blood runs cold, and she rejects the statement, claiming that she-cat must be mistaken. Tanglebreeze was not a tunneler, he'd not spent more than a couple days below ground in his lifetime.

Apparently, he'd heard his clanmates yowls at the tunnel entrance as the collapse began and dived inside before anyone could think to warn him. It was ridiculous, but it sounded exactly like something he'd do. He was brave, foolish, but he'd never hesitate to help someone in need.

Turtlewhisker let out a low moan as the realization sank in, the grief clawing at her heart like the most ferocious warrior. The clan mourned with her, for the three lives that had been lost that day, but none could understand what she was feeling.

She wondered if things might've been different. If she'd entertained the idea of starting a family with Tanglebreeze sooner, would he have hesitated before throwing his life away if they'd had kits in the nursery. 

In the moons that followed, Turtlewhisker leaned more on her sisters. Mending the rift that had formed throughout the moons with Cindersong, and tentatively, she recovered from the loss of her mate. She could not spend her life living in the past, wishing for ghosts to visit her dreams. Her priority had to be those that were still here, the clan needed its warriors to show strength in times of hardship.

Turtlewhisker threw herself back into her duties as a warrior, putting herself forward for every patrol that she could, and complaining when she was told to rest instead. Serving her clan was important, it made her feel better to know that she was doing something that mattered, keeping her clan protected.

But she can't protect everyone, and she's reminded of this when Cindersong returns to the tunnels. It stirs a wariness within her, like an itch that she can't scratch beneath the surface of her skin. They've had their differences, but in spite of it, she wants her sister to be safe, something she knows isn't true when she goes into those tunnels.

It's a sentiment she knows is viewed by others. Those who have lost loved ones to cascading earth. She says nothing. Unwilling to shatter the peace that had evolved between them, unsure if Cindersong would echo her concerns or spit that she is being dramatic.

Tunnelers were always so defensive about what they did. But was it worth the lives lost?

Whispers of war spread through the clan so gradually, Turtlewhisker can't even remember what sparked it all. Littlestar seems to think it's an eventuality, something that will soon come to fruition. Turtlewhisker is sceptical, there has always been talk of war, for as long as the clans have existed. Every minor dispute has someone spreading rumours of conflict, nothing ever comes of it.

Oh, how she wished she was wrong...

Her heart hammered in her chest as she raced through the tunnels, vaguely aware of her sisters running silently somewhere in the darkness. Her eyes aren't used to such utter darkness, and she's reminded of the fear she'd always had of this place, that it was capable of taking life in a heartbeat.

Then she's bursting out into fresh air - but the only thing she can smell is the scent of fear and blood. The battle is brutal, and there are points when Turtlewhisker doesn't know where she's needed most.

A tabby tom bowls her over and rakes his claws along her sides before she can throw him off. She gets a few good blows in of her own, but leaves the scuffle with a torn ear and a bruised ego. Luckily her wounds were superficial, considering how badly others were injured... Some never made it home at all.

When the battle was over, Turtlewhisker was quick to check on her friends, and locate her sisters. They were all relatively unharmed, thank starclan. Ridgeclan's actions had cost countless lives, but - was it selfish to be glad that they were not the lives of the cats she held closest to her heart.

The feeling of victory is short-lived when Wheatnose succumbs to his wounds. Starclan escorts their loyal deputy to their hunting grounds shortly after sunrise, and the entire clan feels this loss like a claw slicing straight to their core. 

However, the grief they feel is mingled with intrigue and curiosity as they awaited the announcement of who the next deputy would be. Turtlewhisker knew that it would not be her, as she had yet to train an apprentice- a milestone she'd likely skipped due to the moons of grief that had hindered the progress that she'd once strived for.

However, she'd not anticipated Littlestar to call out the name of her sister. Cindersong.

The familiar envy begins to burn beneath her pelt, and all of her energy goes into keeping her fur from bristling. Cindersong had fought bravely, and led them into battle without fear, she deserved this.

So, Turtlewhisker plastered on a smile and stepped forward to congratulate her sister on the honour that had been bestowed onto her.

Her suspicions are piqued when a group of rogues move into their territory and bristling she voices her worries. They cannot trust these outsiders, not with the recent conflict with Ridgeclan. Cats were still recovering from their wounds, they could not risk another battle nor could they afford to share their resources.

So focused on the recent rogue activity within their borders, Turtlewhisker doesn't see the danger in the recent rainfall. Not before it is too late.

Another cave in. More casualties.

This time Cindersong's new apprentice is among the dead. It shakes her sister, she can see the grief in her eyes, and the way she carries herself following the tragedy. Turtlewhisker regrets not speaking up all those moons ago, when it was she who was grieving.

As far as she was concerned, they'd all failed to safeguard the cats of their clan, and now more had paid the price of such negligence, with their lives.

Shortly after the collapse, Turtlewhisker is appointed her first apprentice. Snailpaw is soft, gentle and naïve... And she has a keen interest in the tunnels. She has aspirations to join the ranks of the tunnelers, like her father. 

Turtlewhisker recoils at such an idea, and is determined to stop at nothing to prevent this plan from evolving. She will not allow another life to be lost, especially of this sweet kit who knows nothing of the suffering that those tunnels had caused.

Pre-Plotting: Turtlewhisker is from Cindersong's adoptables. She is the sister of Cindersong and Dappledfern, and in the Prairieclan plot adoptables, fits most under Heather and overlaps somewhat with Amaryllis. She believes that Prairieclan should think first and foremost of itself, before extending help to others where it may not be appreciated, or returned. 

Family: Turtlewhisker has a lot of love for her family. She clashes sometimes with her sisters (particularly Cindersong), but with such strong personalities this was always going to be an inevitability. Despite their differences, she would not hesitate to defend them until her dying breath.

Friends: Turtlewhisker can be hot-headed at times, but she balances this out with her charisma and charm. This makes her popular among her clanmates, and she's never been short of friends.

Romance: There was once love in Turtlewhisker's life, when she was a young warrior. Unfortunately this ended in tragedy and the she-cat has not since taken a mate - that's not to say she isn't open to the idea, but she has high standards for herself. Her previous love set the bar high, and she's unwilling to settle for less than she deserves. 

Rivals: Turtlewhisker may have the charm and the charisma to wriggle out of sticky situations when her tongue has run rampant, but this is not always the case. She's hot-headed and outspoken, and as such will speak out if she disagrees with someone's words or actions. This leaves lots of possibilities for potential rivals in her life.

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