tw: fratricide, homicide, implied suicidal ideation, panic attacks


kithood [0 moons to 6 moons]

His family was not born out of love, but rather necessity. Both of his parent's wanted young of their own, but did not see the point in committing to each other for the rest of their lives. Both were busy warriors and weavers that the clan needed at all times.

Nightfeather gave birth to three kits, all healthy and strong. The other queens were certainly jealous of the size of the kits, but it was no surprise since their father, Olivebird, was part of a lineage of larger cats.

The first born was Houndkit, named for the brindling of his tabby markings, which reminded Nightfeather of hounds that sometimes would stray far from the Twolegplace. He was the largest and the loudest of them all. The second born was Aspenkit. She was named after her tuxedo markings, similar to an aspen tree. Finally, the last born was Tornkit. When he was born, he was missing half of his tail, with the tufts of fur on the end looking like it had been torn off somehow.

As the kits grew, they saw their parents less and less. As soon as Nightfeather could, she would return to her duties, only to see and sleep with her kits of a night. This left the trio to their own devices a lot of time, with Houndkit usually being the responsible one out of the group.

Houndkit quickly became attached to a she-cat named Ravendapple, who was a young warrior of the clan. While she wasn't a mother figure to him, or anything of the sort, it was key to Houndkit's development that they had a relationship of guidance and respect.

apprenticeship [6 moons - 12 moons]

Houndpaw was given the mentor of Ravendapple when it was time for his apprentice ceremony. The leader of the clan at the time, Russetstar, saw how well the two had gotten along together beforehand.

Aspenkit was also named an apprentice as Aspenpaw, but Tornkit was made to wait another moon before he could be an apprentice, as punishment for bad behavior.

Houndpaw, quickly, became a powerhouse in fighting, alongside his sister. It was very common for both of them to spar together. Even so, as much as Houndpaw was a good fighter, Aspenpaw was often the victor.

Tornpaw was made an apprentice when the trio were 7 moons old, in hopes that apprenticeship training would help with the behavior of Tornpaw.

One day while hunting with Ravendapple, Tornpaw, and Falcongaze (Tornpaw's mentor), Houndpaw witnesses Tornpaw killing for sport.

"I just worry about him," Houndpaw says to Aspenpaw, his ears pinning not in anger but in worry.
"He'll be find. There's nothing wrong with a little rebellion, I think that warrior code can be challenged," Aspenpaw tilted her head. "Plus, you can always help him look up to you more, since you never really played with him as much as me."
She was right. Houndpaw could change Tornpaw.

Houndpaw would often ask to patrol or training with Tornpaw when speaking with Ravendapple.
"You are his keeper, correct?" Ravendapple asked. Houndpaw nodded.
"I understand how much you want to help him," Ravendapple continued. "But, I have a feeling that Tornpaw cannot be helped."

An accident happened where an apprentice named Gorsepaw was killed by a falling branch of a decaying tree in the territory. When the first patrol arrived, with Houndpaw in it, Tornpaw was already there.

mistclan warrior [12 moons to 18 moons]

Houndpaw and Aspenpaw were named warriors, taking the names of Houndjaw and Aspenthorn. 

Tornpaw failed his assessment repeatedly and would act out in bad behavior towards the other cats when he did. It was not until they were 14 moons that Tornpaw became Torntail.

There were rumors that Torntail wanted to be deputy soon, even without having an apprentice yet. Many, including Aspenthorn, took it as ambition of a small flame. However, Houndjaw knew it wasn't. 

One night, Houndjaw confronted Torntail about his desire to become deputy as quickly as possible. Torntail blamed his family and his clan for abandoning him since his youth, and he was going to make sure that everyone paid for it when he became leader. He planned to kill the deputy, with deathberries being revealed under his paw.

The two engaged in battle, as Houndjaw knew he had to do whatever he could to stop him. During the fight, Torntail slashed Houndjaw's left eye and forehead, causing blood to cloud his vision. With Torntail then beginning to leap on him again, the dark-brown tom knew he had no choice but to bite whatever he could.

He didn't realize where he bit.

As Torntail fell to the ground under Houndjaw, the warrior could feel his brother gasping for air.

No... he... he was killing him.

As Houndjaw let go and walked back, Torntail began drowning in his own blood. 

Everything went blurry for the tom, as he ran through the forest.

loner [18 moons to 20 moons]

He awoke outside of any clan terrtiory, but he still had flashes of memories from the night before in his head.

For two moons, he lived on his own. Hunting and finding shelter was hard. But he hoped that he could return home. 

On the outskirts of the border, with a pinch of luck, he found Aspenthorn. The she-cat then ran up to the other tom, with tears welling in her eyes. Aspenthorn and some other warriors had found Torntail dead, and she knew that Houndjaw had left camp too. She said that she thought the rogue they smelled at Torntail's body had  killed Houndjaw too, but they couldn't find his body.

A rogue... a rogue's scent covered Houndjaw's at the scene.

Houndjaw kept his mouth shut about the real reason. MistClan would not take too kindly to him killing his own brother without more than what could be a suspicion.

Houndjaw explained he had ran, because the "rogue" vowed to hunt him down. It was only safe for him to leave the territory to not be tracked. He said he planned to join PrairieClan. He would be safer. Aspenthorn was confused, but did not put up an argument. She understood.

As Houndjaw ran away from MistClan into PrairieClan, he wished he was dead. He wished there had been a rogue to take his life. There is nothing more that he wanted to not have to hold this secret.

prairieclan warrior [20 moons - 45 moons]

Somehow, Turtlestar allowed him to join.

He struggled to learn the ways of the prairie, but he found support in other clanmates, such as Littlethorn. While they did not talk all to much, learning about ehr story from RidgeClan helped him along.

He had not seen Aspenthorn in so long.

It had been even more of a shocker when in the same moon of joining, he became a mentor. A young mentor to Swiftpaw. 

"So, what's our training plan?" he asked.
Houndjaw gritted through his teeth. How would he know, he just got here... 
"Er... I'm not sure, kit. How about we figure it out as we go along? We can work together to make you the best warrior. Life's not always run on plans." 

As the moons continued, he poured his soul into training Swiftpaw. To prove that he belonged here. While making sure that the apprentice hit their marks on where they needed to be academically, he also taught the youngster how to relax. How to have fun. Something that he thought he would never experience after the death of Torntail.

As much as Swiftpaw looked toward Houndjaw as an older brother, Swiftpaw became the brother that he felt he had lost. Nothing would ever harm the younger tom as long as Houndjaw could help it.

Before long, Swiftpaw became Swiftwind. He made sure that he was the first to congratulate his apprentice. His brother. His long-lost brother.

"I know," Aspenthorn said, with everyone leaving the Gathering place. "I know what you did. Nothing made sense until I kept looking into Torntail's death. And I will prove to everyone, somehow, that you are responsible."

Houndjaw became more of a recluse, sometimes he would even ignore Siwftwind's requests to patrol or hunt together. However, his sulking ended soon. He had to act like nothing was wrong. He was not going to let Swiftwind learn of his sins. No one would learn.

Houndjaw was part of the first wave of PrairieClan cats to invade the MistClan camp during the war. It had been sometime before he had to resort to fighting, as RidgeClan cats whirled past him. Suddenly, a tom named Rockbelly jumped on his back, causing them to start wrestling on the ground. He knew that the RidgeClan cat had him dead, so he had to act first. Houndjaw swiped at Rockbelly's throat.

After the war, before the PrairieClan returned home, Aspenthorn walked up to her brother to whisper in his ear.
"How was it to take another life?"

He requests to Cindersong to stop doing patrols near the MistClan border, sighting that it brings him to a panic attack every time he comes close. Other cats think it is due to the war, but Houndjaw knows the true reason.

Nowadays, he stays in Swiftwind's company when he can. "Keeps him young," he tells his younger brother.

One day, he is passing a lesson by Lionflower, when something perks his interest. Maybe he can start to help others, rather than killing them...

Pre-Plotting: Houndjaw fills the Sage view for PrairieClan adoptables. Houndjaw also serves as Thornfur in the 'most trusted friend' wanted ad.

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