#Girlbossstar building her empire

[bonefall]

BB!Tigerheart -> Heartstar

For @noisycitrine and @halogenwarrior who wanted more info on the most woman ever.

[Image ID: An AU version of Tigerheart from Warrior Cats, now named Heartstar. She is a small, lithe russet-brown tabby with a long tail and bright golden stripes. She has a two-colored mane, raptor claws, and oval 'glasses'. There is a bright golden 'heart' on her chest.]

FUN FACT did you know that Canon ShadowClan had 7 male leaders in a row, from Houndstar to the modern arc? I said no. Girl Tigerheart be upon ye.

Names are sacred and carry immense weight in Clan Culture. When a cat is about to become a leader and would have a name conflict with an unfaded ancestor, StarClan renames them. Heartstar was particularly special.

She returned to the Lake after bringing back the love of her life, Dovewing, and died in a raid to take back ShadowClan kits from the Kin's remnants. Tigerheart's father, Rowanstar, couldn't bear to lose his last child. He declared her his deputy, and plunged into the Moonpool with her body.

He drowned the last of his lives away, so that she could live. StarClan itself was awed by this sacrifice, and performed a miracle. Heartstar burst from the water sputtering, ready to rebuild ShadowClan anew.

As a leader, Heartstar is back and ready for the controversy. She watched her Clan fall apart twice, once from Dark Forest meddling and a god's games, and again from Onestar refusing to lend aid during a yellowcough epidemic, and has vowed to never let that happen again.

She's ferociously protective of her family, supporters, and clanmates, in that order, and is not afraid to gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss if she thinks she's doing the right thing.

Clanmew Name: Gaorbabun, Babishai (Tiger + Heartbeating, Heart will Beat + Star)

Alignment: ShadowClan, brief periods as ThunderClan and SkyClan

Relationships: Mate - Dovewing Children (adopted) - Lightleap, Shadowsight, Birchkit, Rowankit Parents - Tawnypelt, Rowanstar Siblings - Dawnpelt, Flametail Nespring - Strikestone, Sleekwhisker, Juniperclaw Mentor - Marshwing

Below the cut is trivia first, then all the changes to the character arc-by-arc, up to OotS, AVoS, and Heartstar's Rise.

Trivia!

Rowanclaw is now the son of Brokenstar along with Littlecloud! They were honor-sired for Newtspeck.

They have a distinct bi-colored mane from their mother, and 'glasses' from their father.

Tigerclaw's family trait is being brown tabbies with raptor claws.

Heartstar got all of the traits because she deserves it

I also miss how she was once described as having 'gold' in an older description so compromise; golden stripes.

I feel like you can't just miraculously resurrect without some kind of cool physical change, so, Heartstar gets to have a raised heart-shaped keloid scar on her chest.

She didn't sire any of her kittens; Light and Shadow were Bumblestripe's, and Strikestone's death left two more behind. It's free baby.

Heartstar fights in perfect tandem with Dovewing. Heartstar is so small that she can leap freely around and under her, skilled enough to never trip her up.

Their favorite tactic is for Dovewing to grapple with a huge opponent, allowing Heartstar to pop like a weasel from up between her legs to viciously attack the opponent's belly.

Tigerheart was the smallest member of the Tigerkin family, by far. In a lineup of record-setting Clan giants, Heartstar is barely larger than an apprentice.

She is much smaller than her entire family. Pocket pikachu.

Heartstar's favorite food is crayfish. She likes how most Clans are unsettled by this, Reedclaw was unbothered.

BB!OotS

Change NUMBER ONE is that Tigerpaw is the only survivor of Tawnypelt's second litter, born during the Cruel Season that saw the rise of Bramblestar.

A tom-kit initially named Goldenkit, the other kits in the litter died to illness. Before her last child died, Tawnypelt angrily challenged StarClan by renaming the survivor Tigerkit.

"Go on, take a tiger into the stars so it can bite your faces off. No? Thought so."

Dawnpelt and Flametail were their cool older siblings, Tigerkit especially idolized Dawnpelt and her quick sass.

The rowdy and troublesome kit was assigned to Marshwing, the cat that Brackenfur saved from an eagle during the Great Journey, now one of ShadowClan's finest warriors.

Marshwing's mentor was Oakfur, who liked to joke that whenever Marsh wanted to admit defeat he'd take the little twerp instead.

Tigerpaw met Dovepaw on the journey to unblock the southern river.

During this time, Dovepaw made her realize that she was definitely not a boy and probably also a lesbian.

This was to Rowanclaw's soft amusement when she returned home, as he is also transgender and figured it out after going on a long journey

"Maybe if we send you out again you'll come back with another one"

Dove and Tiger were fast friends after this eye-opening trip. Dove's perspective expanded to include the other Clans and the death of Rippletail made her realize how much they matter.

Tiger's perspective expanded to, "I do whatever i want because I want to see Dovewing"

Unfortunately for them, tensions between ThunderClan and ShadowClan were beginning to sour. Blackstar and Russetfur were not fond of the new management style of Bramblestar and his aggressive deputy, Thornclaw, both of which had recently taken power shortly before Tigerheart was born.

Unknown to Bramblestar, Thornclaw was training in the Dark Forest, and trying to encourage him to act more aggressively than Firestar.

Tigerpaw started training in the Dark Forest through her good friend Redpaw, who was brought in through his mentor Applefur. Applefur was the sister of Marshwing.

Her paternal grandfather was Brokenstar, and her maternal grandfather was the infamous Tigerstar. If Tawnypelt had given her this name to ward away StarClan and protect her death... then surely there was a power to gain from him?

Tigerstar took a shine to his granddaughter immediately, introducing her to his dead son, Hawkfrost.

It was very surprising to not find Brokenstar in the Place of No Stars, but Runningnose was there to... "explain" is not the right word, more like, "cryptically leave breadcrumbs of answers"

Tigerpaw was often pitted against Ivypaw in particular, as if their mentors considered them rivals. It fostered a resentment between them, especially as Dovewing began to speak highly of Tigerheart.

Tigerheart remained a supporting character, someone that Dovewing was able to talk to for a different perspective from her father Lionblaze and sister Ivypool, until near the end of the arc during a fateful battle

Attacking ShadowClan for control of a contested berry patch, Russetfur was killed, and Blackstar was devastated.

A troublemaking calico creature slid into his good graces. Sol, God of Chaos and Games, convinced him to abandon his leadership.

In the scramble, Redwillow, Ratscar, and Applefur took control of ShadowClan, and started enforcing their own rules. Tigerheart was more cunning than them, and realized they were not going to be able to keep power.

She was threading a thin needle, not openly supporting her fellow Dark Forest trainees, and she knew it.

When they were thrown out of power by Rowanclaw rallying Blackstar to return to power, Tigerstar punished them harshly in the Dark Forest and praised Tigerheart for her foresight.

Shortly after, Flametail had figured out the plot. Redwillow, Ratscar, and Applefur were freakishly strong and Thornclaw was encouraging Bramblestar not to help. They were all in cahoots!

The Dark Forest used their powers to kill him so he'd be silent, ice cracked by demonic meddling.

Tigerheart didn't know if she was going to be able to save his soul, but she had to try. Once again, Tigerstar had ignored the warning sign to preserve his family, calling off the execution.

In that moment, it proved to Hawkfrost that he was undeniably playing favorites. It wasn't about the plan. It wasn't about breaking out of the Dark Forest. It was all another project for Tigerstar's ego... and he was not valued like his bloodline through Tawnypelt.

(Go check out my meta intentions with Hawk's redemption arc over here!)

During the Great Battle, Tigerheart stayed to watch the embarrassment of the first attack, but defected as soon as the fighting got serious in the second one. She wasn't going to hurt her Clanmates, haughtily announcing that this was the best opportunity to, "join the winning side."

After the fight, Dovewing's powers started to ebb away... taking her hearing with it. Meeting with Tigerheart was always refreshing, sometimes it felt like she was the only one who really 'understood' what she wanted.

Things began to get serious when Tigerheart's apprentice, Sleekpaw, developed a rebellious streak, and a group of strange cats arrived at the lake. Onestar reacted badly, and ShadowClan fell to the kin.

BB!AVoS

If Tigerheart has any regrets, it's how she was careless with her niece. She didn't think it was a problem to just let her work it out.

It seemed... harmless. Kids who wanted to feel cool and powerful, she could empathize with that.

The apprentices weren't wrong, at first. The way Onestar immediately became upset about the outsiders, the way two kits were separated because of a vague prophecy, how Clans refused to cooperate even after everything. Tigerheart was frustrated by much of it too.

But there was something wrong about Darktail. Especially when he announced that he was accepting any cat who felt wronged and excluded from Clan society.

Maybe the impulse was harmless. Maybe Darktail was the problem in the end. In any case, the yellowcough outbreak ravaged ShadowClan and the Kin, and WindClan refused to let either of them collect mullein to treat their sick.

Dying to yellowcough is a horrible fate. Catmint can cure, but mullein must be used to prevent lung damage. Tigerheart watched clanmates survive the illness, only to choke to death in the end.

Crowfrost, the deputy and Tigerheart's brother-in-law, was one of them.

Crowfeather, Harespring, and Heathertail went behind Onestar's back to deliver what they could, but too late to save many cats that Tigerheart loved.

After this, ShadowClan quickly fell apart. The Kin was stronger, having immediately kicked the sick out of their group and quarantined.

Cats like Scorchfur said that if Rowanstar wasn't a weak leader, he would have made "hard choices" and done the same

Tigerheart realized that every group had a different reason for following the Kin. Some wanted Clans to be harsher. Some wanted more diplomacy. Others were just looking for connection.

She's smarter than most, and realized that this was much like the Dark Forest. The Kin was everything and nothing, and that meant there was probably an ulterior motive behind it.

They couldn't be trusted.

But no one listened to her. ShadowClan crumbled, she had to flee, and her last memory of her sister Dawnpelt is the image of her worried expression over her shoulder, leaving her behind in the Kin's new camp.

Dawnpelt wouldn't separate herself from her kits, including Sleekwhisker.

An ancient curse was filled yet again, tabby tiger watching their golden sibling fade away.

While staying with ThunderClan, Tigerheart found herself wrapped up in the messy sort-of-relationship between Dovewing and Bumblestripe

Dovewing was clearly unhappy, caught between two uncertain options, growing increasingly frustrated with ThunderClan

When Violetshine brought SkyClan back to the Lake for the final fight with the Kin, Tigerheart decided she needed to go be with her freed Clanmates, wherever they were to go.

Tigerheart asked her to come, but Dovewing wasn't ready. She couldn't leave her Clan, especially not when it wasn't even clear if the ex-ShadowClan cats would be fully accepted into SkyClan

Shortly after making that choice, Dovewing became pregnant. Dread twisted into panic as she realized she didn't want to raise kits with Bumblestripe, the thought of ThunderClan constantly speaking over her as a parent sunk in, and the knowledge that she had already turned Tigerheart down overwhelmed her.

With ShadowClan disbanded, Rowanclaw refusing to choose a new deputy and rejecting his remaining lives, Tigerheart and the survivors had to try and get used to being part of SkyClan.

Heartstar's Rise

This is a summary; go ahead and see the 1st draft outline of Heartstar's Rise over here!

After Dovewing choose Bumblestripe over her, Tigerheart returned to the ShadowClan survivors

They had been annexed into SkyClan, as Rowanstar was refusing to lead after his Clan fell apart under his watch

He never replaced Crowfrost after his horrible death, and was calling himself "Rowanclaw."

Ironic, that he was now in the same position as Blackstar, just before he was made deputy... but this time, there was a safer, more stable Clan for his cats to serve. He was convinced he was doing the correct thing.

This was causing problems related to the ex-ShadowClan cats having a lack of autonomy over themselves; they were no longer a Clan, but still felt like one.

They didn't want to be SkyClan cats. They were ShadowClan.

Tigerheart was more of a leader than Rowanclaw, but he was insisting ShadowClan would never have another star to its name.

"Let it rest in peace."

But before she could hatch a plan, Dovewing vanished, and Tigerheart was told by Poppyfrost (open to change) that she fled because she was pregnant.

So, of course, Tigerheart charged off to go find her.

After traveling far, far east for many days, she hit the church of the Guardians.

While there, her resolve to rebuild ShadowClan only grew stronger, though she promised Dovewing that this time... it was her choice.

She would stay and raise the kits with her, become a Guardian. Anything.

Dovewing, however, felt that this wasn't right either. Tigerheart needed to get home, her love of ShadowClan was completely different from Dovewing's dread for ThunderClan.

And... though she loved it here, she would love being wherever Tigerheart was.

Several guardians decided to join them for their own reasons; Blaze, Ant, and Cinnamon.

Spiresight is probably not going to be one of these (open to change); because he is now the leader of the Guardians. His name refers to the Guardian's new leader ability to sense anything that happens in their territory through the flora that grows there. It was not a name given by Tigerheart.

They came back to SkyClan and ex-ShadowClan cats having an argument over kittens that the Kin's remnants were still in possession of.

Yarrowleaf had been exiled from the Kin remnants and was begging for them to go back and 'save' the newborns Hopkit and Flaxkit.

The ex-Shadow cats wanted to launch an attack to steal back their own kittens and those of dead relatives; Leafstar was vetoing this out of a mix of wanting peace and seeing that the Kin remnants also had a right to the kits through being parents, relatives, etc.

Yarrowleaf especially; how could she know if she was telling the truth that Nettle was a danger to the kits? Yarrowleaf could have been exiled because she was the danger.

Tigerheart decided that enough was enough. ShadowClan was clearly still a separate Clan in their hearts, and they should be making their own choices, not begging someone else's leader for permission.

She will make controversial, ShadowClan-centric choices as a leader-- this time around, I want it to be less "black-and-white," so that the Kin remnants aren't completely evil and there's nuance to this situation... which Tigerheart tramples, displaying how she makes choices.

But, this time, the raid has a consequence; Tigerheart died in the attack.

However, Dovewing couldn't accept this, and brought her to the Moonpool in desperation.

Once there, Rowanstar refused to watch another child die. Declaring her his deputy, he grabbed her body and dove into the water, drowning away all of his lives so that she could live.

StarClan was touched by this heroic display of self-sacrifice, and was emotional enough to perform a miracle; Rowanstar's last life became Heartstar's first.

And with that life, Rowanstar gave her strength. Strength he used for one last kick, to send her back up to the surface of the pool as he sunk into the abyss below.

After this, Heartstar rebuilds ShadowClan. She can be a very biased leader, often ending up in situations where she lets her family off the hook easier than other warriors, or doling out 'theatrical' punishments just to say she did it. On that note, there are aspects of the code she barely cares about.

For this reason, even with the Clan she has the achievement of rebuilding, she can be quite polarizing. Her supporters adore her; her detractors despise her. This hasn't inhibited her ability to rule though...... yet.

(Better Bones does not cover arcs that are not done yet!)

Her political profile is largely 'soft' Traditionalism. She believes that ShadowClan must come first and that fighting keeps the Clans strong, but is committed to preserving the strength of the other four and does a lot of diplomacy. On Clan collaboration, she leans towards Fire Alone. On most other things, she leans Traditionalist.