A large, long-furred she-cat with orange fur and classic tabby stripes.

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Gingerfang, like many in her clan, is broad and tall, with strong shoulders and large paws that haven't gone frail, even in her old age. Standing a head taller than most cats, it's clear she was built to be a guardian. Her pelt still ripples with strength, her eyes are bright with wit, and her claws are as sharp as ever. In the battle against time, Gingerfang is easily coming out as victorious.

She does have some signs of age. Her fur, once all orange except for a patch of white on her belly, now sports tufts of white and gray all over. Most notably is her tail, a huge plume of fur, now evenly mixed with grays. Her chest is whiter than before, as is her chin and face, and her whiskers droop low, betraying her ever-present exhaustion. With each moon, her once bold, classic tabby stripes grow muddled, adding to the increasing dullness of her coat. 

Many would say Gingerfang is impressive to look at, but beauty isn't something she claims to be blessed with. She keeps herself well-groomed and presentable and that's all that matters, even in her youth. Her most striking features are her tail, cloud-like in its softness, and her eyes, a brilliant shade of green.

Gingerkit is born to Redcloud and Mountainclaw, lifelong mates who struggled to conceive until they were both senior warriors. She's the first born of three and the largest of all her parents children, including the second litter they manage to have almost immediately after the first. Gingerkit's immediate siblings are her brother, Lionkit, and her sister, Meadowkit. Her second set of siblings, born when Gingerkit is 5 moons old, are her sibling, Dawnkit, and her brother, Slatekit.

Being large for her age, Gingerkit is allowed to play with the older kits in the nursery before the rest of her siblings. Because of this she learns she doesn't like her siblings that much, especially Meadowkit, who can't seem to take anything seriously. Gingerkit is far more serious than any other cat in the nursery, except maybe Badgerkit, Gingerkit's best friend from a young age. Their friendship is never affectionate, but Gingerkit and Badgerkit go on to be lifelong friends who always keep each other in check.

As an older kit, Gingerkit's seriousness makes her a popular choice for future apprentice. Plenty of warriors approach the leader and deputy, asking for a chance to mould Gingerkit into something great. She tries not to let this go to her head, but the expectations put on her separate Gingerkit from the rest of her litter. Days before they get their apprentice names, Gingerkit and Meadowkit have a loud fight, resulting in a schism between the sisters that takes many moons to repair.


Gingerpaw is apprenticed to a surprising choice - Pigeondapple, a sweet, sometimes nervous warrior who intended to live her life as a perma-queen until her mate died abruptly of illness. At first, it feels like a kick in the teeth. Gingerpaw thinks her choice of mentor wasn't for her, but rather, for Pigeondapple. Like the leader saw Gingerpaw as a way to help Pigeondapple out of her depressive rut, rather than Pigeondapple as someone who could help Gingerpaw train into something great. For the first two moons they train together, Gingerpaw doesn't think she learns a thing.

And then, she realizes she's not learning because she's not willing to work with Pigeondapple. It's not an overnight realization. Rather, weeks go by of Gingerpaw being obstinate and Pigeondapple being kind, until finally Gingerpaw realizes she'd rather be kind, too. True kindness, the sort that Pigeondapple and Meadowpaw and Slatekit have, is something Gingerpaw doubts she'll ever really learn. But she can at least act kind, and at her age, that makes all the difference.

Gingerpaw excels under Pigeondapple's supervision once she accepts her mentor's help. She never loses her sharp tongue or fierce attitude, but she mellows out, learning to channel that ferocity and snark into something that benefits RidgeClan. Her knack for hunting is clear at a young age and that, as well as her clear eye for hawks in the sky, propel her into the ranks of other guardians-to-be. When Pigeondapple, not a guardian herself, can't train her, Gingerpaw is trained by Badgerpaw - still her best friend - and his mentor, Sootfrost, one of the clan's senior guardians.

As an older apprentice, Gingerpaw connects better with her brother, Lionpaw, but still struggles to get along with her sister. Her younger siblings, Dawnpaw and Slatepaw, named as apprentices when she turns 11 moons, are easy enough to get along with, if only because they look up to her. Gingerpaw isn't the most popular apprentice, but between her siblings and the friends she makes through Badgerpaw, she's social enough to never feel alone. 


Pigeondapple passes Gingerpaw over to a guardian called Galehawk for her formal guardian training, having imparted all she can on her. Gingerpaw and Pigeondapple part amiably, though Gingerpaw is more than ready to train under Galehawk. She's much stricter than Pigeondapple, but Gingerpaw is plenty determined, and the two end up making a strong pair. She catches her first hawk shortly after turning 12 moons, and from there her skills only grow.

Badgerpaw becomes Badgerclaw half a moon after Gingerpaw begins her guardian training. The two are still close, but separated by different dens, Gingerpaw is unable to keep a close eye on her friend. Her mother warns her Badgerclaw's eyes might wander while they're apart, but this only makes Gingerpaw sneer. She's not interested in Badgerclaw like that.


At 14 moons, Gingerpaw is named Gingerfang, for her excellence at hunting and her affectionately gruff personality. She serves her vigil proudly, alone under the moonlight, and then tucks herself in the nest next to Badgerclaw when dawn creeps its way into the sky. Badgerclaw purrs in greeting. Next to him is Cranestripe, a handsome warrior she hasn't yet gotten the chance to know, and Sagestep, who trained alongside her and Badgerclaw as apprentices. By the end of the moon, the four are as close as can be.

Gingerfang makes a name for herself early in her time as a warrior. Her popularity grows with each patrol she's on and each hawk she pulls from the sky. By 20 moons, her nest is decorated with a dozen feathers, from her own catches and admirers' alike. Around this time, she introduces Sagestep to her brother, Lionheart, and the next thing she knows the two are expecting a litter. She jokes he owes her. He earnestly agrees.

Inspired by Lionheart's new relationship, Redcloud starts pushing Gingerfang to find a mate of her own. "20 moons is so old," she says. "Your father and I were younger than that." Gingerfang isn't unkind, though she is annoyed, and so she resists the urge to tell her mother that she and Mountainclaw didn't actually have kits till they were much older. Instead, she tells her mother something easier: that she doesn't want a mate. Aside from a pretty she-cat from PrairieClan, Gingerfang has never looked at another cat with anything close to romantic interest.

Redcloud's anger is expected. Gingerfang just shrugs it off; she doesn't want a mate, and that's okay. She does want kits, though, viewing it as another way she can serve RidgeClan. Picking a father for her litter isn't hard. Badgerclaw agrees with a nervous look at Cranestripe - the two aren't mates, not yet, but Gingerfang thinks they will be soon - and by 23 moons, Gingerfang is with kits.


Gingerfang swells to twice her size rapidly, forcing her to an early rest in the nursery. She gives birth to five health children: four she-kits and one tom, most of whom look just like her. She names them Mottlekit, Cherrykit, Sandkit, Firekit, and Emberkit, and can't help but have a particular fondness for Emberkit's tortoiseshell coat. She looks like a perfect mix of Gingerfang and Badgerclaw, with her orange and black fur. Something in Gingerfang softens when she sees Emberkit - and all her kits, really - and she thinks, in another life, she might've come to love Badgerclaw.

Not this one, though. Badgerclaw and Cranestripe announce as mates a few moons later, and together the three of them raise the litter of five alongside Sagestep and Lionheart's litter, the perfect little family in the nursery. Meadowstorm is there, too, giving birth just a moon after Gingerfang. It's here, watching Morningkit wriggle alongside her own kits, that Gingerfang realizes she's tired of not getting along with her sister. By the end of their time together in the nursery, the two are slowly on their way to loving each other once more.

With help from Badgerclaw and Cranestripe, who are happy to stay in the nursery a little longer, Gingerfang returns to her work as a warrior a moon early. She says she's restless and ready to return to the warriors' den. Really, she's just anxious to hone her skills as a warrior once more, so that she can set a good example for her kits when they become apprentices.


Back in the warriors' den, Gingerfang gets close to her younger two siblings, Dawnfeather and Slatestripe. Dawnfeather is chipper and unserious, the sort of personality Gingerfang once struggled with, but now embraces as a refreshing difference to her own. Slatestripe is a lot more like her, and in some ways, that makes him harder to get along with. At some point, Dawnfeather takes a mate, Petalbelly, who dies in labor. Gingerfang steps in to help Dawnfeather raise the kits who survived.

Around this time, RidgeClan is plagued by a lynx that came from higher up the mountain in search of prey. Patrol after patrol manages to keep the lynx at bay, reducing its victims to just the injured. But after the first cat dies to the lynx, a poor apprentice called Firpaw, RidgeClan knows it needs to change its tactics. With help from smarter cats who manage to trap the lynx, Gingerfang is able to deal the killing blow.

Shortly after the lynx is killed, Gingerfang's litter become warriors. They take the names Mottledfur, Cherrystripe, Sandflower, Firepelt, and Embershade. Gingerfang feels like she's bursting with pride, showering each of her children with praise until they're shuffled off to manage their vigil. In the moons that follow, dozens of her niblings are named as well, and soon RidgeClan is brimming with members of Gingerfang's family.

Outside of RidgeClan, the forest at large is enjoying a time of peace. Gingerfang, unexpectedly, finds herself becoming close friends with cats from outside her clan. From MistClan, she befriends Curlycloud and Briarpelt. From PrairieClan, she befriends Mossleaf, and grows closer to Koipatch, still the only cat she's ever looked at with interest. Her friendship with these cats isn't quite the same as the friends she has in RidgeClan, but it satisfies some other part of her, and gives her something to look forward to every full moon.

As her children grow, Gingerfang is soon made a grandmother many times over. Unlike their mother, her children all seem interested in romance, each one of them pairing off with a mate as young warriors. She welcomes each new addition to her family, especially as they start producing kits, and again Gingerfang watches her family grow.

When Gingerfang is 51 moons, Wolfsong become Wolfstar. She doesn't know what to think of the charismatic leader at first. When he was deputy, it was easy enough to think little of him - especially when so many of her friends seemed convince Badgerclaw should've been made deputy instead. But now as leader, there's no ignoring his charm, nor the clear agenda tucked in between his pretty words.

She thinks she likes him at first. The zealotry in his words isn't quite for her - Gingerfang has never given StarClan much thought - but the belief in RidgeClan's role as a leader in the forest is right up her alley. She supports her new leader until the luster starts to fade, just when Wolfstar starts talking less about uplifting RidgeClan, and more about subjugating MistClan. It never sits right with her. She speaks out on it sometimes, but over time Wolfstar makes her uncomfortable, and eventually her voice fall quiet.


Compared to many of her friends, Gingerfang ages stubbornly, her body just as youthful as it always was as other warriors her age start complaining of aches and sores. She jokes that she'd never let time beat her in a fight. But as she reaches 60 moons without slowing down once, she starts to wonder if she'll ever retire. Could she get away with just... not retiring? She's not so reckless to dream of dying in glory: she wants the quiet, peaceful death, surrounded by her loved once. But, just as energetic as always, Gingerfang can't imagine what retirement might look like.

At 65 moons, she takes on a new apprentice, a fidgety young tom called Squirrelpaw. She likes him immediately, even if sometimes he gets so startled he jumps straight into the trees. The more he trains, the more confident he gets, and toward the end of his time, both he and Gingerfang are convinced he should train as a guardian. She approaches Wolfstar and Spiderstorm with her suggestion and they agree, letting her keep Squirrelpaw as an apprentice for a few more moons as he focuses on his guardian training.

And then, Wolfstar takes them to war.

Gingerfang snarls her displeasure at the violence. It's her first time speaking against Wolfstar in moons, though, and her words fall flat against his myriad of supporters. Reluctantly, she goes with her clan, knowing that she's the best chance RidgeClan has for keeping as many survivors as possible. The fight goes by in a blur. Gingerfang leaves it with hardly a scratch on her pelt, but when she returns to camp, she learns just how scarred her family now is.

Her brother, Lionheart, doesn't make it back. Gingerfang presses herself close to Sagestep as he grieves for his mate, his body shaking with the force of his sobs. It's all made worse when Lionheart and Sagestep's firstborn, Berryfur, is reported dead, plunging Sagestep into an unresponsive state. One of their nephews - Deerclaw, Dawnfeather's son - also dies in the battle, as well as his mate, Frostblossom. And just when Gingerfang thinks she's cried herself dry, a warrior drags in Cranestripe's lifeless body. Badgerclaw's horrified screams still chill her to this day. 

There's more death, more suffering - too much for Gingerfang to count. Squirrelpaw dies of infection after the war. Her nephew, Morninglight, loses his mate, and she thinks her grandson, Foxflight, loses his mate, too, until someone corrects her that they weren't actually mates - not yet. The bigger relief is when Silverheart is reported alive days later, though Gingerfang never understands why Foxflight doesn't immediately run to him.

Her own daughter, Sandflower, loses her mate, too - a stoic, loyal tom called Oakfrost. Perhaps the worse death of them all is when Sandflower goes into labor half a moon later and dies from blood loss, weakened by the grief of her mate's death. Gingerfang can't nurse Sandflower's kits, that honor is given to another queen, but she sweeps into the nursery regardless to raise her grandchildren in Sandflower's name.

And then, just when she thinks all the death has stopped, Badgerclaw dies in his sleep. "A broken heart," the medicine cat says. "What a tragedy."

Gingerfang never thought her later moons would be marked by such death.

She's just grateful Wolfstar died, too.

RidgeClan's new leadership earns a skeptical look from Gingerfang. First, she doesn't know Mushroomstar well enough to know how she feels about him. He's a fellow guardian, which earns him some points, but if memories serves he's... flakey. He struggles to make decisions, or to take sides. She wonders what StarClan was thinking, picking him.

She certainly wonders what Sootwhisker was thinking, stepping down. Spiderstorm she understands - he supported Wolfstar, and now Wolfstar was gone. (Privately, Gingerfang thinks Toadfeather supported Wolfstar, too, so what was Mushroomstar thinking?) But Sootwhisker still had work to do, and Rainpaw just wasn't old enough to be ready. Gingerfang snarls whenever she thinks of it: her own granddaughter, put in a position of such stress. It's too much for a young cat - but what is she to do? Sootwhisker's only other replacement, Bearclaw, was lost, too.

The only think she can think to do is distract herself with raising Sandflower's children. She names them Harekit and Poppykit, and swears she won't retire until they're apprentices.


Gingerfang isn't an elder, not really. She sleeps in the elders' den only because that's where Sagestep and Meadowstorm sleep, and she wants to be close to her siblings. She still hunts, still patrols, still works as a senior warrior alongside RidgeClan's new leadership. She's come to trust Mushroomstar over time - he does good work making peace in the forest, something she feared she wouldn't see again - but Toadfeather still makes her nervous, especially when she thinks of all the times she saw him with Wolfstar. Rainstorm, blessedly, manages the stress of her new position well. She's perhaps the one Gingerfang is the least worried about, after everything.

Harekit and Poppykit become apprentices, given to two capable mentors. Gingerfang decides to not actually retire until both of them are warriors or until her first litter of great-grandchildren are born, whichever come first.

When Laurelfern announces her Kingdom, Gingerfang's face scrunches up in confusion.

She doesn't get it. What's the point in leaving? It baffles her more than angers her. If you fill a group of cats with clan cats, you're just going to make another clan, she thinks. And that clan won't be free of the problems that Laurelfern seems to hate. In fact, she thinks Laurelfern just made everything worse. Isn't the Kingdom going to cause tension? Grief? What an idiot, Gingerfang thinks, watching Laurelfern leave. She just ruined everything.

Maybe she should retire.

Pre-Plotting: Gingerfang's beliefs put her somewhere between Mars and Saturn. She's determine to protect what remains of her clan (and her family) with everything she has - even if she has to unsheathe her claws to do it. However, she isn't as opposed to the other clans as others of the Mars belief might be. RidgeClan needs to handle its business before getting anyone else involved, but it's naive to think isolating themselves from MistClan and PrairieClan is going to do any good. The forest is only peaceful when all three clans work together harmoniously - not ignore each other.

Additionally, Gingerfang is one of the gossiping elders from Time Makes You Bolder. She plays the role of Morninglight's aunt, and Foxflight and Rainstorm's grandmother.

Family: Gingerfang comes from a huge family. She's the sort of cat to put family first, even if she doesn't always get along with them. Though a mate and kits wasn't her picture of her future, Gingerfang somehow ended up the matriarch of a sprawling family of (mostly) ginger cats. She wouldn't change it for the world, even if sometimes she thinks her abundance of family is to blame for her gray furs.

Friends: Like family, Gingerfang will put her friends first, viewing them as hardly different from her own flesh and blood. She's not looking to make new friends in her old age, but rather tend to the friends she still has living, making sure she can spend as many moons as possible with the cats she loves. Surprisingly, Gingerfang has a collection of friends in all the clans, cats she seeks out at gatherings or along the border. Even after Wolfstar's war, she still sought out these friends, valuing them more than the tension Wolfstar left behind.

Romance: Never once has Gingerfang experienced a desire for this. The closest she's come was her intimate friendship with Badgerclaw and her attraction to Koipatch, one of her PrairieClan friends. It wasn't something she needed in her youth and now, as a senior warrior, Gingerfang thinks she has far more important things to worry about.

[This plotting will change if Owl and I pursue a romance between Koipatch and Gingerfang.]

Rivals: Who has the time? Gingerfang can be harsh and fiery, but she rarely holds on to any antagonistic feelings, except for when she's feeling petty. Any cat she has a real problem with is dead, anyway - Wolfstar being the first to come to mind.