Thistlespot of ShadowClan (Medicine Cat)

Appearance:
If you ever saw Thistlespot against the light you might swear you’ve just faced a LeopardClan warrior, everything about her appearance screams ‘great warrior’. Her physique is well muscled, you can see the strength of her strides and jumps rippling through her fur with every step she takes, she’s strong and lithe at the same time. Not exactly bulky but not thin either, her torso is long and substantial providing a good body for climbing and jumping. Her paws are large with prominent knuckles, and she walks with a raised rear and dropped tail because her hind legs are longer than her forelegs, her steps are lithe and usually long.

Now if her physical structure wasn’t enough to make you believe in LeopardClan warriors living amongst us then the patterns in her fur will do the trick. Her fur is of a medium length and is soft, thick and luxurious, she takes time in the morning to groom it but isn’t too interested in that, it’s more of a routine to her. Her pelt is decorated with the spotted pattern described by the elders in their stories, her fur is a rich gold and the spots are dark brown, ordered in a horizontal manner.

Thistlespot’s eyes are a pale green, it usually depends in her mood or in the light whether they’re bright or dull. When she’s concentrated on unpleasant memories they usually darken, because like most eyes they tend to reveal the emotions of the cat that wields them.

Personality:
Thistlespot is quite the complex individual, ever since she was a kit she always got ‘feelings’ about what was going to happen, such as suddenly getting worried about her mother who later turned out to be sick or being bitterly certain that someone was going with StarClan to later find out that one of the elders had passed away. She’s deeply intuitive and can sometimes know things without really pinpointing out why; because of this she turned quiet and reserved afraid to speak about the strong feelings she sometimes got or the fact that she was usually right. She has an uncanny insight into both cats and situations; she’s able to instinctively understand others and their feelings.

Thistlespot places great faith in her instinct and when the ‘feelings’ she get are particularly strong she may turn stubborn and forceful, believing that she is, in one way or the other, right. Many scoff at the strange insight she randomly gets, while others believe it to be a gift from StarClan, she likes to think its her intuition which was indeed granted to her by her warrior ancestors.

She may come off as secretive, quiet and quite complex, as someone who is hard to understand. The reason is because Thistlespot is a very private individual, choosing very carefully what to share and who to share it with.

This medicine cat has an innate distaste for conflict and likes to avoid it above all else sometimes being a little too irrational; situations charged with conflict may drive the usually peaceful Thistlespot into a state of turmoil and agitation, and in extreme cases anger. She’s kind and is always concerned about other cat’s feelings usually being gentle in order to avoid hurting anyone, but if she knows what’s best for you she may turn, as her mentor liked to say, ‘forcefully kind’.

Thistlespot is naturally patient, devoted and protective; she sees her clan as her family and if approached with a problem she will be a great listener and a good adviser if asked to be so. Many approach her because even if she’s usually quiet she’s known for being lovable and resourceful, coming up with intelligent solutions while still taking into consideration the feelings of those involved. She truly believes there is good in everyone and will work hard to find the little piece of light everyone has inside of them, many perceive this thought as naïve

She’s creative and a little independent; she likes to come up with ways of making medicine more effective and different types of healing techniques, whether it be by improving old ones or creating new ones.

Oddly enough Thistlespot is never at complete peace with herself, she believes there is always room for improvement and rarely lavishes in her accomplishments preferring to find new ways of making progress. She has high expectations for herself and will always find a fault in her actions, constantly worrying about what she could have done better or differently.

This tendency may come from the premature death of her brother; she promised she’d never let anyone go with StarClan like her sibling did so she’s always trying to find ways of improving. It’s kind of a secret but she suffers from night terrors and nightmares constantly all of them about her brother’s death, she usually wakes up trembling and can’t go back to sleep. When the ‘terrors’ first started she’d wake up screeching but with time her response to the nightmares diminished, the fear is always the same though, difference is that she doesn’t wake up half of the clan when they happen nowadays (of course there’s always bad nights).

History:
It was a very simple love story, a pair of apprentices discreetly flirting with each other, getting sad when they were separated and rejoicing when they had duties together, everyone thought that the tom and the she-cat were a bundle of sweetness and joy, especially after they were granted their warrior names. They weren’t wrong. When Greengaze, a pretty silver she-cat with bright green eyes, and Brackenspot, a warrior who’s pelt resembled that of LeopardClan, announced that they were having kits no one was really surprised. So out of this union of love came forth three kits:
First was Leopardkit, a strong and bubbly tom, always smiling at other kits, apprentices and warriors, he was always well liked and popular, even when he was a soft bundle of fur jumping between the warrior’s legs. His pelt, much like his father, resembled that of LeoparClan and his name was given in honor of those legends.
Next was Spottedkit, a friendly she-kit who liked to roughhouse with her brother and protect her sister from harm and annoying feathers. She always had the cleverest ideas and was usually the mastermind behind the trio’s troublesome plans. She had her mother’s silver fur and her father’s signature spots.
And last was Thistlekit, the sweet and reserved she-kit who always stayed near her siblings, chiding them for playing too rough and getting worried about their jokes and mischievous ways. She was always an odd one, but her family loved her all the more for that. She always resembled her father the most out of the three and it was her father who gave her that name, the rest were chosen by Greengaze.

Thistlespot’s name has a funny story behind it, her mother says that when her father visited them for the first time the spotted she-kit bit his tail and out of surprise he exclaimed “She has teeth like thistles!” hence the name Thistlekit.

Both Greengaze and Brackenspot were exemplary parents, providing their kits with love and just the right amount of discipline. Thistlespot recalls the simple nursery rhymes her father invented for them, it is actually the only clear memory she has of him.

She prefers not to ask because it deeply hurts her mother to remember, Greengaze said he had died like a warrior, honoring his clan and protecting his kits and mate to the last breath. That was the first time Thistlekit got a ‘feeling’ and it was also the first time she heard the term ‘fox’. It seems like this creatures had been sighted around the territory and Brackenspot was assigned with a scouting mission, something felt amiss to the young she-cat as though she knew something bad was going to happen but she kept her fears to herself. Her father while surveying he noticed one of the foxes about to break into camp and he recklessly attacked it in order not to let it near the nursery, the battle was violent and whereas Brackenspot was triumphant he was mortally wounded. The current medicine cat, Bluetail, tried his best to save him but the loving warrior ultimately joined his ancestors up in the stars.

Thistlekit blamed herself for not saying anything and she hated the ‘feelings’ she got from time to time too.

The three kits tried their best to comfort their mother but something was broken inside of her, she still tried to be a good mother even if the sadness stuck to her fur like a stubborn tick.

At six moons they were all made apprentices and boy did Thistlepaw hated it.

Her gentle nature made it really hard for her to actually learn to fight, she was a good hunter but she never put her heart in the battlefield often too worried about the other cat to actually hurt them or pretend to hurt them.

Shrewbite, her current mentor, often got frustrated with her attitude and punished her by sending her to help the elders or Bluetail, the medicine cat. Surprisingly her mentor’s lack of patience contributed to her becoming a medicine cat apprentice. She absolutely loved helping out the elderly medic, it felt right, she loved it so much she got into trouble on purpose just to get punished and work with him. Bluetail, ever perceiving, suggested to the leader, to Thistlepaw and to Shrewbite that the young spotted apprentice trained in the ways of healing rather than the ways of fighting. It was a quick agreement and so at eight moons Thistlepaw began her training under Bluetail.

She took to it like fish in water. She memorized herbs, their uses and even came up with new ways of using them, surprising her mentor and her siblings. She was happy and she even found a good use to her ‘feelings’. Like Bluetail, Thistlepaw was extremely perceptive, both about sicknesses and feelings; the clan felt comfortable around her and she always had an open attitude even if she was quiet most of the time, she was the ideal medicine cat and everyone loved her because of it.

When her siblings turned fourteen moons they were granted their warrior names, Leopardheart, in honor of his kindness and strong sense of honor, and Spottedwing, for her excellent hunting skills and swift steps. Thistlepaw had to wait a moon to get her full name, she requested her name to be that of her father, Bluetail kindly agreed, and so at fifteen moons Thistlepaw turned into Thistlespot. A happy story I must say, a truly happy story.

But then, when did Thistlespot’s night terrors begin?

When she was seventeen moons she had a ‘feeling’ again, she knew something bad was going to happen and this time she didn’t ignore it, she prepared herself in the only way she knew how to: she made sure her herbs were in order and she kept a close eyes on the warriors, especially her siblings, for any signs of wounds or upcoming battles. Alas her night terror came in the form of a badger.

One of the monstrous stripped creatures attacked her brother in a routine hunting patrol, Leopardheart fought bravely but much like his father, in a reckless way. He fought to protect his sister, Spottedwing, who was with him enjoying the hunt when the creature attacked. It was a one sided battle, the badger knocked Spottedwing out leaving Leopardheart to fend for himself, he managed to scare it away with the help of the rest of the patrol who had heard the hissing but his wounds were deep, mortally deep. With help he got carried back to camp where both Bluetail and Thistlespot worked tirelessly to keep him alive. It was in vain for at moon-high the tom had joined his father in StarClan.

It devastated Thistlespot.

For days she couldn’t get the image of her brother bleeding out right in front of her out of her mind or the thousand of things she could have done better, she hated herself and it was killing her slowly. Nightmares plagued her sleep and a deep-rooted sadness and resentment clung to her like ticks in her waking hours, she refused to eat and often wandered away deep in thought. What was the point of being a medicine cat if she couldn’t even save her own brother?

This behavior lasted for an entire moon, nobody could make her feel better, not even Bluetail, Greengaze or Spottedwing.

Then something strange happened, she had a ‘feeling’ again. She was walking around the territory and an urge to pick the materials for her healing experiments and go to the border suddenly struck her like lightning, it was odd but she followed it anyway. She stared blankly at the Thunderpath when she noticed a cat slowly limping towards her, she tilted her head and noticed he was bleeding heavily. With the same somber expression she walked up to him and politely asked him to lay down, she didn’t even care if the ThunderClan warrior was trespassing, he was probably in too much pain to actually notice but her paws were moving on their own. She quickly pressed the wound to stop the bleeding with the cobweb she had, with the bitter thought of her brother in her mind she tried to save the enemy cat.

Thistlespot had thought so much about different ways to save her brother that she had come up with an interesting idea. Honey. It was usually used to make bitter medicines taste better but the young she-cat had observed a different effect. Honey was sticky so it could stop the bleeding and help close the wound. She cleaned the injury with cobweb and grabbed all the honey she had, with care she rubbed it all over the ThunderClan’s tom chest, then she applied a cobweb as dressing. She stared at her work for a couple of heartbeats; she had successfully stopped the bleeding, now she needed to wait a couple of sunrises for the primary healing to begin, when the wound was healed enough to remove the honey without danger she would proceed with a traditional healing technique applying cobwebs and marigold in order to prevent infection. Her whiskers twitched, she didn’t quite know the risks of what she had just done but all she cared about was the fact that this tom was alive and breathing.

He survived.

Thistlespot took care of the tom while he healed, she hid him at the border a little far from the Thunderpath, at first he wasn’t happy but he eventually warmed up to the she-cat. His name was Rainwhisker and he was attacked by a fox while on patrol, he had somehow ended up in the ShadowClan border and had thought that his only salvation was to cross it. He was right, if it hadn’t been for the immediate medical attention he wouldn’t have survived. They talked and talked; eventually they labeled each other as ‘friend’ and slowly Thistlespot’s sadness melted away. When the warrior was fit to travel the medicine cat was a little sad to see him go but bid him a warm good-bye.

Somehow a ThunderClan warrior and ShadowClan medicine cat had saved each other from a mortal wound.

Thistlespot was cured of her sadness but not of the occasional night terror, she comforts herself with the thought of the lively ThunderClan warrior sleeping in his den on the other side of the border.

At her twentieth moon Bluetail, satisfied with his apprentice’s newfound spirit decided to retire to the elder’s den. And so, at his hundredth moon of service the old medicine cat went to live his days in peace and comfort.

Thistlespot was left as the sole medicine cat of ShadowClan, and she somehow found the will to smile once again.