A long, tall tom with a cream-colored pelt, dark-brown points, blue eyes, and a large scar along the length of his body on his left side.

Mudbranch takes after his clanless parent in stature. He has long, athletic legs that carry him higher than other cats in the clan, atop of normal-sized paws. It is quite a sight to see him walking around the territory. On his left side, from the point of his shoulder to the end of his haunches, he has a scar that runs his entire length that he was granted during the battle. Other than that, he has minor scars that come and go during any point in time. Especially around his legs from weaving.

He resembles nothing of his clanless parent, but looks identical to his birth father. Mudbranch closely resembles a siamese cat, with a cream-colored pelt and dark-brown points on his face, legs, and tail. His eyes are a deep blue-teal color.

tw: mental abuse and gaslighting from a significant other

kithood [0 moons to 6 moons]

Before he knew who he was, he was Cedar.
But that name didn't stick around long, and he always knew himself as Mudkit. And his siblings were Cicadakit and Hawthornkit.

When they were old enough to be aware of their surroundings, they were raised in a violent, argumentative household. Their parents would be careful enough to not bring arguments into or near the nursery, but the kits were smart. They would find them and listen. Cloudtongue said that the kits were supposed to mend their broken relationship, but Spotfang said it was not enough.

At 2 moons old, the truth came out. Cloudtongue had cheated on Spotfang, and they were not her kits. The two had officially splintered off with regret and despair around them.

Cloudtongue became resentful of his own kits at that point, a product of his sins. He no longer saw them as his, and abandoned them to dive into his duties as a warrior. 

Lucky for the three orphans, Cloudtongue's sister, Burntstep, had lost her mate and kits before that. Having sympathy for the three, and not wanting them to be alone, she took them in while they continued to live in the nursery. 

It became increasingly obvious that Mudkit had problems falling asleep and staying asleep. With Hawthornkit being sickly all the time, Burntstep made Mudkit go with them one day to ask about his sleep problems. The medicine cat asked the tom to sleep in the medicine cat den for a couple of nights, just so they could observe them. After the observations, the medicine cat determined that Mudkit would always have problems sleeping, and they would need to come take juniper berries and poppy seeds. 

Mudkit tried to make friends, but the reputation of his father's affair loomed over him. The kits would tease him and his siblings, so he often resorted to just playing with Hawthornkit and Cicadakit.

"Hey, you want to play with this moss ball?" asked a kit that was around 2 moons younger than him. 
"... Is this some kind of trick? Does it have mouse bile all over it or something?" Mudkit investigated, with the clouds dancing over the camp clearing.
"N-No! No tricks! I just want to play with someone! I don't have any siblings to play with, since I was an only kit," said the gray tabby kit.
"O-Oh! I'm sorry... uh, what's your name?"
"Lakekit! I was named after the lake in the north of the territory! What's yours?" He said, looking toward Mudkit for approval?
"I'm Mudkit!" he replied, before kicking the moss ball forward.

apprenticeship [6 moons to 16 moons]

Mudpaw touched noses with their new mentor, Bramblefrost, just as Cicadapaw and Hawthornpaw did the same.

Only nights after they became apprentices, Burntstep disappeared and was never heard or seen again. It was just another cat that had abandoned the three siblings.

However, Mudpaw felt that it was within him to keep the sibling's spirit positive and to uplift them. After all, they had each other. As much as he could, he was there to help his siblings through this rough time in their lives and reminded them how much they were there for each other.

At 9 moons, Bramblefrost asked Mudpaw wanted to be a weaver like them, and Mudpaw accepted.

"But I thought you were going to be a warrior like me! We were going to have so many adventures together," Lakepaw said.
"I know, but I really like weaving. Honestly, it helps me relax and be able to sleep better, I think."
"That's a load of mousedung, and you know it. Whatever, Mudpaw," Lakepaw spat, before walking away.
Was it something he said?

A couple of days later, Mudpaw woke up to find a gathering of tulips next to his nest, with Lakepaw's scent all over them.

Bramblefrost could see that there was something bothering Mudpaw. The cycle of Lakepaw getting mad at them, ignoring them for a couple of days, coming back to apologize, and then being head-over-paws for Mudpaw continued for moons.

"You need to stand up for yourself," Cicadapaw said to him.
"I know, but I love Lakepaw. I want to be his mate one day," Mudpaw sniffled, having just gotten out of an argument with the other.
"This is not love," Cicadapaw said. Mudpaw knew that his sibling was right.

At twelve moons, Cicadapaw and Hawthornpaw became Cicadaspot and Hawthornfall. He congratulated his siblings and promised that he would follow behind them soon.

At 14 moons, the whispers of war began to become more prominent in his mind. He looked at Lakedapple, how had received his warrior name now.
"What would happen if I died in battle?" Mudpaw said.
"You probably won't go into battle. You don't even have a warrior name yet, since you were so mousebrained to take extra training to be a weaver," the gray tabby stated, lashing his tail.
"It wasn't mousebrained! You have no idea how much I have been through the past few moons making sure my siblings are okay!" Mudpaw began to snap, with tear welling up in his eyes.
"No, I don't, and I don't care. You are always with them, and never with me. I am the one suffering," Lakedapple hissed, before walking away.

Mudpaw didn't understand what he keeps doing wrong.

A moon before his assessment, he was in camp when RidgeClan suddenly attacked. It was like life flashed before his eyes, as he saw the carnage before him. Mudpaw used all his training with Bramblefrost in order to keep the other attacking cats at bay. As he ran to find his siblings, he saw the bodies of Cloudtongue and Spotfang.

While searching for his siblings, Mudpaw stopped to support any cat that needed help. A claw there, a bite there, he would do anything to help his clan during this time.

Suddenly, a sharp pain raked across his side as a flash of a cat ran past him. Mudpaw crumbled down to his paws. It felt like he was dying! He saw Lakedapple land from an attack in front of him, as he looked toward the crumbling tom. "Lakedapple, please help me!"

Before he passed out, he saw Lakedapple look coldly before jumping away.

---

He woke up to his fur sticky with sweat, and his side piercing in pain. Lotusfire smeared some poultice to the wound as he heard a cat enter. Lakedapple.

The tom settled across from him for several days in Mudpaw's recovery, trying to make small talk and bringing small presents. 

"Why did you not help me? You could have helped me," Mudpaw stammered one day.
"What? What do you mean, Mudpaw?" Lakedapple tilted his head.
"You ran away when I asked you for help."
"Don't be silly, Mudpaw. I was the one to drag you to safety, as soon as you said it. You even continued to talk to me, until you passed out." Lakedapple replied. "You must not remember correctly."
Was he right? Did Mudpaw imagine the whole thing?

Once he was able to stand and stumble, Hailstar called a clan meeting. In honor of Mudpaw's heroic efforts during the battle to help and support his clanmates in their time of need, Mudpaw was given the honorable name of Mudbranch. Even though he was still to train under his new name, he couldn't believe that he had such an honor.

weaver [15 moons to present]

Once he was fit to train, Mudbranch completed the training needed and was officially on his own.

However, not officially on his own, as Lakedapple took almost all his time. Anytime that he wanted to see his siblings, Lakedapple would beg and plead to stay with him. 

The cycle of getting into arguments and making up continued until Mudbranch was 22 moons.

"I'm going to go hunting with Cicadaspot," Mudbranch said one day.
"But, I need you to stay here with me. I want to be with you, Mudbranch. Plus, your sibling doesn't even like you. Neither of them do," Lakedapple fake-cried.
"Wait, what? Lakedapple, you have fluff in your brain. They would never hate me, I can't believe you would say that!"
"I'm just speaking the truth, Mudbranch," Lakedapple spoke.
"Well, I am too. I'm done with you, Lakedapple."

Over the next couple moons, Lakedapple made Mudbranch's life uncomfortable. He would try to bring the weaver back in with his charismatic ways, but this time, he had his siblings to help him out. 

Life was blissful until one day, a patrol came back with Lakedapple's body, saying that a rogue had attacked them all and killed the warrior. Mudbranch thought that he was over his love for the tom, but his heart ached at his death. He hated him, but never wanted him to end up dying.

Now at 26 moons, he continues to fight through his emotions with Lakedapple, his thoughts of his clanless parent, and the turmoil of the valley after the war.

But, at the end of the day, he has his siblings. And that's all he needs, right?

Pre-Plotting: Mudbranch is an adoptable from Yennifer's wanted ad, and fills the role of Mudfleck. He currently aligns with the Roots plot view for MistClan.

Mudbranch acts like he doesn't care about the fact he has a clanless parent and that he doesn't care about the reputation of his father, but he actually does care deep down.

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