Tall, dark, and handsome. Raventhorn moves with a sureness that supposes that he belongs wherever he is. Growing up, this meant few questioned him leaving camp if he wished, even when he and Crowleap were kits, because his expression suggested he was supposed to be waltzing into the territory without supervision. This natural confidence is something others tend to either love or hate about him.

A solid black cat, he blends in best at night or in the shadows of the woods, not on the hills or meadows of the prairie. His eyes are somewhere between light green and yellow, very much resembling the eye color prominent on Owlgaze's side of the family, while otherwise appearing much like Nightstorm. He's sturdy in a way that makes him hard to knock down but not necessarily good at fighting otherwise, though the claw-shaped scar on his shoulder might suggest otherwise.

It's snowing when Owlgaze and Nightstorm welcome five healthy kits into the world, with Shrikeberry's care and assistance. Though a difficult season for bearing kits, Nightstorm handles the birth well, and Owlgaze lets out a sigh of relief when none are looking. For such a serious tom, the surprise of a litter was not exactly something he planned, but the pair are determined to be good parents now that the time has come.

This starts with the naming: each of the kits are named for birds common in the Valley. The flock, Owlgaze calls them affectionately - a name which spreads as the kids grow old enough to become curious about the world around them. Each of them tackles the challenge of discovering life differently: Dovekit asks the elders for advice, listening with rapt attention no matter how slow the older cats speak or how long the stories take. Jaykit shadows the apprentices and tries to get them to show her some moves. Sparrowkit starts testing the boundaries of the rules they grew up with. And Crowkit and Ravenkit pair up together, finding it easiest to process the world when they have someone to rely on.

It's no surprise, then, when Crowkit and Ravenkit are the first to slip away from the nursery, not quite leaving camp but not truly within the confines of camp, to stay up late looking up at the stars or listen to the wind roll over the hills, until finally they're caught and scolded by experienced warriors.

Sharing a secret smile with each other, they know it's not going to stop them from doing the exact same thing in only a few sun cycle's time.

-

"Can't get a view like this in the tunnels, though," Crowkit says, staring wide eyed out at the field of early newleaf blooms. The frosts are finally receding, giving the kits even less incentive to follow the rules and stay in camp, or even better, in the nursery. They're less than inconspicuous with their dark pelts against this light landscape, but that doesn't stop them from managing to sneak out successfully every time. "Bet it's musty down there."

Weighing the pros and cons in his head, Ravenkit replies, "It's tradition." He hasn't seen a tunnel yet; neither of them have. They're too young. But he knows that's one of the things that sets PrairieClan apart from the rest: the tunnels. No cat can so effectively move around their territory than a PrairieClan tunneler can.

Crowkit rolls his eyes, a gesture that looks a little bit too intelligent on his face. "Don't tell me you're gonna spend all day digging holes."

He knows what Crowkit really wants: for them to be apprentices together, learning the same things at the same time. He doesn't mind that. In fact, he wants it too. "Hm, maybe I will," he says, teasing, and laughs when Crowkit tackles into him.

-

Though Crowkit and Ravenkit are closest with each other, all kits of the flock love each other deeply. That's obvious even when they're little. They stick up for each other when other kits are rowdy or rude, they sass each other the way siblings do, and they try to impress their parents, even when they're breaking rules. In many ways they're a golden family, exactly what PrairieClan's future warriors should be.

It's a lot of pressure to live up to. Ravenkit and Crowkit are competitive enough with their siblings, and each other, to bare it, but that isn't true for all of them.

-

"I'm worried," Dovekit confesses as their apprentice naming ceremony draws nearer. "I'm not like you and Crowkit, or even Jaykit or Sparrowkit. I don't think I'm gonna be very good at it."

Ravenkit doesn't think he's the right cat to comfort him, because he doesn't think Dovekit is necessarily wrong. There is little that Ravenkit forgets. He's seen every stumble, every cough, every time play was a little bit too much for Dovekit. He knows being an apprentice isn't going to be easy for him, the way someone like Jaykit might immediately take to it.

Still, he says, "Your mentor will work with your pace, won't they?" When Dovekit doesn't seem reassured, he adds, "Maybe you can train to be an herbalist."

Dovekit considers this with a slow nod, and Ravenkit hopes when their naming ceremony comes Dovekit isn't too nervous.

-

Apprentice [6-12 moons]

Ravenpaw touches noses with Sheepstrike as the black and white tom is made his mentor. He knows little of this warrior; only that he's young, to be taking an apprentice, and that there's a subdued intelligence to him when their eyes meet. Crowpaw, meanwhile, connects with Bisonleap (Sheepstrike's elder sister, coincidentally) immediately.

Dovepaw, he notices, was in fact nervous at the naming ceremony, but lines up with the rest of them as they're named an appointed mentors. In the crowd, he can see his father's stoic pride, and he can hear his mother being happily congratulated by other queens who hope to see their kits named and paired up soon.

It doesn't take long for him to learn Sheepstrike is actually a perfect fit for him, too. He's serious, at times, and at other times he rumbles with a warm laugh that draws the eye of all who are near. He's less social than his sister, but still, more often than not, Ravenpaw finds himself and Crowpaw on the same hunting practices and patrols as the siblings guide them and (fondly) bicker. And he nurtures Ravenpaw's strengths: his inclination to protect, his self-reliance, his strength, and most importantly, his mind.

He also, gently, encourages him to make friends who aren't his siblings.

"Why?" Ravenpaw asks with a frown.

"I'm not saying don't be friends with your siblings," Sheepstrike says, knocking his shoulder with his paw in a quiet reprimand for being defensive. "I'm saying branch out. Crowpaw is."

That much is true. But Ravenpaw wasn't sure friends would flock to him the same as they did to his brother. If anything, his brother's friends could maybe become his friends. On his own?

Still, he promises to think about it.

-

Stonepaw is not his friend. His stance on that is very firm. From their first introduction, the pair can only manage to squabble, sometimes ending in conflict and wrestling and other times simply ending in one walking away from the other.

Against all logic, this doesn't stop their mentors from pairing them together on hunts often. 

"You're more alike than you think," Sheepstrike says casually, as if that wasn't incredibly rude. Stonepaw is stoic and arrogant and thinks he knows better solely because he's been in training one moon longer than Ravenpaw has been. They're nothing alike.

And still, they're paired up whenever he and Crowpaw aren't.

-

"Maybe if you stopped grumbling," Stonepaw says coldly, "then we wouldn't scare off half the prey from these woods before either of us gets a chance to catch anything."

Ravenpaw thinks about smacking him in the face. How satisfying it would be. How offended he would look after.

He doesn't. Instead, he scouts ahead and pushes himself to make twice as many catches as the apprentice trailing after him with a sour expression.

-

Poppypaw is his friend. The smaller tom is chatty and bright; great company, when his siblings aren't around. He's a little bit of a gossip, but Ravenpaw is lying if he doesn't admit that he can be a little bit of a gossip, too. And Poppypaw seems to know and have something to say about everyone. It's from Poppypaw that he learns his brother, Dovepaw, is finally coming into his own, and his sister, Jaypaw, is beginning to struggle. She's apparently difficult for his mentor to manage, but that's all the detail Poppypaw knows.

Ravenpaw isn't sure when he and his siblings stopped confiding everything in each other. Even Crowpaw seems distracted at times, and they do nearly everything together.

Sympathetically, Poppypaw says, "Sometimes families... drift."

"Not my family," Ravenpaw says. He doesn't notice Poppypaw flinch.

-

One mystery about his family is solved when he runs into Sparrowpaw, returning from his secret meetings with Clover. He smells of things unfamiliar to Ravenpaw: linens and laundry detergent, kibble, the sweet scent of fresh baked goods. Things that make him wrinkle his nose at first, only that Sparrowpaw seems so smitten by his new friend that Ravenpaw struggles to bring himself to point out how phenomenally bad of an idea it is to woo a kitty-pet.

He does say, "You're going to get in trouble if anyone else finds out."

Sparrowpaw pouts. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" he asks. Ravenpaw shakes his head. Of course he's not going to tell anyone. "I don't even want it to be a secret, honestly. I love her."

"We're only ten moons old."

"I love her. You'll see."

And that's where they drop it. Ravenpaw keeps his word: he tells no one about Sparrowpaws visits to the border, and even misdirects anyone seeking his brother out when he's gone. Every time he watches him go, he can't help but be worried about what comes next.

-

A problem he can fix is the conflict between Poppypaw and his dad. Fix is maybe a strong word - Poppypaw's father is strict and, frankly, unpleasant underneath all the honeyed words and charm he presents to the clan at large. But Ravenpaw knows the truth even before Poppypaw confesses that he's afraid of his parents.

He can't change who his father is. But he can keep them separated as much as possible. To his surprise, Stonepaw catches on, and the pair of them start tag-teaming keeping Poppypaw comfortable and away from his family.

Maybe Stonepaw is his friend. Just maybe.

-

He knows he'll be named a warrior soon when he finds himself in the tunnels with some younger apprentices. They're accompanied by a recent warrior, Eveningblossom, who seems an odd choice for this training considering his interest in the herbs above ground seems very contrary to the darkness below. He has Ravenpaw leading the apprentices while he directs from behind and the two end up having a friendly banter back and forth that reminds Ravenpaw of his siblings before they drifted a little.

It's just supposed to be an exploratory training, to give the younger among them a chance to see if they want to explore tunneling for real. This tunnel is well maintained, a good introduction to those interested in learning.

No one is expecting the tunnel to collapse.

Eveningblossom is the one who notices it first, before the ground shifts: the way dust gently begins to fall from the roof of the tunnel. He shouts for the others to get back, but it's too late. The ceiling is already caving.

Ravenpaw keeps the tunnel open with his shoulders straining against the weight of it until every apprentice they brought with them is out. He keeps holding the weight of the tunnel up even when his legs start to grow numb.

He sees Stonefur just before everything goes black. He wakes up in the medicine cat den a day later, having been given medicine to sleep until his body recovered from nearly being crushed.


Warrior [12-24 moons]

Ravenpaw is named Raventhorn for his protective nature, while Crowpaw is named Crowleap for his athleticism. The rest of their siblings are named, too: Doveflower, Jaytalon, Sparrowbelly. They each line up in a row, christened with new names and new responsibilities.

Almost immediately after they are named, tensions rise between their neighbors. Raventhorn doesn't know the details, at first, only that it's a territory conflict. Admittedly, it's something that doesn't really take much of his attention, except on border patrols. He has his own concerns for his clan that have little to do with the squabbles to the north.

Another tunnel collapses. This time, there's a death. It begs the question: should they not have more safety measures in place? The tunnels are an honorable tradition, but are they worth the death of their young?

It's not something his clan mates like to hear. 

As he's distracted by these thoughts, Wolfstar attacks MistClan. The warrior who comes to beg their aid describes the urgency of the situation, but his clan mates are slow to lift their paws to help. To some extent, he understands: this isn't their fight. But Wolfstar can't get away with attacking his neighbors like this. They must show that the clans of the Valley can be a united front.

So he's among those who join the fight.

-

In the time following Wolfstar's death, PrairieClan's problems only grow. There are restless clanless cats on their border, much more difficult to manage than the barn cats that they are accustomed to. And in the backdrop of this mistrust of outsiders rising, Sparrowbelly brings Cloverpelt into the clan to have his kits.

He couldn't have worse timing, Raventhorn thinks.

Cloverpelt doesn't even want to be there. It's only that she has nowhere else to go. Sparrowbelly isn't rushing her to adjust, either. The tension of having a kitty-pet in their midsts who has no strong desire to convert to their way of life is palpable.

-

Sparrowbelly's kits are born during the same moon that some loners begin taking residence in the abandoned cabin within their territory. After so much violence, Littlestar determined that they'll leave them alone for the time being.

As long as they don't stir up violence, Raventhorn thinks that's probably for the best, but that the other clans might think them weak for doing so.

-

When Littlestar disappears, Raventhorn can't help the first thought that processes his mind: that it must have been RidgeClan's doing. Mushroomstar claims to be better than his predecessor, but who's to say that his words are honest? And even if they are, who's to say there aren't those still in RidgeClan seeking violence? After all, many of their own members disliked life among them so greatly that they moved to the mountains, recently.

As a silver lining, Cinderstar did tell him he'd be on the next rotation to meet the barn cats. 

Pre-Plotting: Raventhorn comes from Coyotepaw's wanted ad and has a pre-planned encounter with Whiskey, of the barn cats. In the future, he may or may not leave his clan to join the barn cats officially. He's also friendly with Eveningblossom, from Heronpaw's wanted ad, and could play a role in helping Eveningblossom and Silversong mourn. 

Raventhorn has a skeptical view of RidgeClan and its new leadership, unconvinced that the problems that led to the conflict between RidgeClan and MistClan can be solved without deep internal healing and self-reflection that he doubts the clan has done. His view toward MistClan remains neutral.

His opinion on the tunnels is that they are a proud tradition, but there should be more measures in place to keep the younger apprentices safe. Possibly that would include an age limit, having older tunnels assessed for danger, and restricting when tunnels are used.

Raventhorn at this point most closely aligns with the Heather perspective of the PrairieClan plot, but his views differ depending on the subject. For example, he thinks it was the right call to aid MistClan against RidgeClan, but doesn't believe that the Kingdom, which shares no border with them, really concerns PrairieClan that much. Overall, he thinks they should be dealing with their own problems rather than worrying too much about everyone else. But that doesn't mean abandoning their friends or current agreements with the barn cats.

Family: Loves his family deeply through the ups and the downs, even if he sometimes feels they are closer with each other than he is with them. 
Friends: A protective and caring friend, but a hard friend to make just because he's responsible and makes himself busy often.
Romance: Falls hard and fast. When he knows, he knows.
Rivals: He tries not to prioritize rivalry, but he's a little bit competitive, admittedly.