#Stoatpaw

[snailstep-and-her-clan]

Since Ermineclaw's death, Snailstep has thrown herself into studying to be a medicine cat, determined not to give Starclan an excuse to take any more of her loved ones away in punishment for her previous denial and rebellion.

Or perhaps its all an excuse to run from the pain of her grief. Days are spent barely eating or sleeping, ignoring the concern of her family and friends.

then her youngest son approaches her:

Taking a break for the first time in a long time, Snailstep takes a stroll away from camp with Stoatpaw to talk in private.

Stoatpaw confides in his mother about his ghost-sight.

Snailstep and Stoatpaw understand each other a little better and find they have more in common than they realized.

I think Stoat's personality is very "be extremely combative with everyone unless given reason otherwise". he's still in his angsty teen phase.

The dialogue feels a little janky on this one :D Oh well! :D

I tried drawing each panel on a separate image file and not all on the same one like I usually do, and though I'm sure that improved the image quality, it didn't give me as much room to artistically place panels so I'm not sure how'll I'll do this in the future.

[cricketclan]

YAYYY WOOO first actual relationship in the clan!!! Followed by pain and suffering and death. sorry to all of the Sweet Creature fans, she was barely there for ONE moon. ALSO im crying shaking over Thunderpaw's death. CRYING. Also Bigdawn is the starclan guide, i wanted to draw her

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[staariblestars]

Boys who cry wolf get Eaten alive by wolves I think that's how that story ends

@forgotten-elegy

[smallfire]

I don't really know where my head's at, I just know that my heart's not there yet.

an attack for @forgotten-elegy 's 2025 artfight <3

[key-clangen]

Part 1 of Moon 0

The beginning

I'm very excited to start this! Keyclan will update every other week

So next up date will be the 28th of May

[lichen-the-goblin]

Decided that i'm starting a clangen thing but like. i'm not gonna make a second blog for this. anywho look it's Laurelclan. they're silly goofy and half the people are old and the other half is teenagers! Moon one n probably moon two will be posted soon. maybe. possibly.

[bluedablue]

The apprentices and the kit! Now the clan is complete! Stoatpaw and Pipitpaw are both daughters of Barleyjay (Accidentally made Stoatpaw look too old, pls ignore it)

[shamart]

A chance encounter

[quinntheratt]

woooooo its ace week i totally didnt forget about it i promise.

anyway heres (some of) my ace characters !!

[manyminded]

some of my personal fav cats from cricketclan, the thing I have 4 clangen :3

[snailstep-and-her-clan]

Ok so we know Ermineclaw meets and untimely end on the thunderpath, but my question is we're all of his kits already warriors by then or did the youngest have to grow up with out the greatest dad ever?

Instead of directly answering your question, here's some writing~!

Softpetal could hardly bear to look up. She was numb, her pawsteps heavy, and the responsibility of telling her clan, mainly her mother and siblings, what had happened felt as though it might crush her. She just gripped the scruff of her father's lifeless body and continued to drag him across the leaf-strewn forest floor, her gaze fixed on the next step, as if she were simply bringing home another piece of prey for the pile.

She had already wailed out most of her grief beside the thunderpath, deaf to the sound of the monsters roaring past, unable to smell or taste the noxious smoke they spat out around her as she had buried her face into her father's thick fur coat, waiting for him to stir back to life, unable to bear to look at his face because she knew it no longer resembled him.

maybe a part of her has secretly hoped that she'd be put out of her misery.

She wanted it to be a nightmare, to just wake up in her nest in the warriors den beside her mate Lizardstone, like it had never happened.

When she arrived in Shadowclan's camp, she didn't have to say a word. the yowls of dismay and horror had barbed her heart like thorns, and she'd dropped Ermineclaw beside her, curled herself into a ball, face against the dirt, and shook, stricken with pain far more devastating than any physical wound.

it had been a relief for her clanmates to take over, to gather up Ermineclaw and place him in the center of camp for a vigil. to not have to carry him any further, and to be surrounded by comforting voices, and soft, rasping tongues and muzzles encouraging her to get back up, their words a meaningless buzzing like insect wings in her ears. she was able to get to her paws, and stand.

"Don't crowd her!" Rosethorn's voice snapped. "give her room. come on Softpetal, lets get you to the medicine cats den. come on." her aunt half guided, half dragged her.

"Where's... Snailstep?" Softpetal's voice didn't feel like her own.

"She's out on patrol... so is Owlface and your siblings... all except for Lilypaw and Stoatpaw."

"They shouldn't see him!" Softpetal blurted, frantically looking for her youngest siblings, tail bristling. "I- I need to warn them first- they shouldn't just see him like that-”

but it was too late.

"What's going on?" Stoatpaw was slinking out of the elder's den, smelling of mousebile and looking irritated. "What's happened?"

His gaze wandered to the spot where Ermineclaw's broken body lay, thick auburn and white fur spiked up at odd angles. Stoatpaw's eyes went wide with horror, and he started to sprint forward.

Rosethorn intercepted. "There's been an accident-”

"get out of my way!" Stoatpaw spat, ears flattening against his head. he pushed past her, tail up and bushed out, as though he could chase away the threatening grip of death from Ermineclaw's body.

but when he got close, he collapsed, defeated, and buried his muzzle into the dead cats pelt, an anguished groan escaping his throat.

Softpetal turned to see Lilypaw, peering out the elders den. their eyes met, and softpetal's grief was mirrored in her sisters wide, stricken gaze.

"Petal?"

it was a relief to see Lizardstone, to hear his voice. she leaned into his cream colored pelt gratefully and he responded by giving her ear a few comforting licks.

Lilypaw approached, legs shaking. "I... I should find the others... tell them before they get back... so they're not shocked." she said, bravely, despite her tiny body trembling. "What... what do I... say?"

"I don't think leaving is a good idea." Lizardstone said to his apprentice. "I know you want something to do... and you're right they shouldn't be greeted coming home to this... but..."

"please." Softpetal extended a paw to her little sister. "I need you here."

Lilypaw gratefully leaned into Softpetal. "what happened?" she asked, her mew small and choked. "how did he..."

"Let's wait for everyone... I don't want to have to say it again."

"I'll go find-

Rosethorn started to speak, but it was then that the sunhigh patrol returned through the briar entrance, led by Owlface. Cloudthorn was with them.

Rosethorn rushed to his side, and pressed against him, muzzle to his ear. Owlface shook her off, and raced to Ermineclaw's body. Rosethorn shook out her pelt, and made a determined dash through the camp entrance, no doubt off to see if she could catch Snailstep's hunting patrol before they returned.

Cloudthorn sat, staring at a distance at the lifeless form of her father, where her uncle and youngest brother sat beside the body. her stiff shoulders, and thousand yard stare was enough to tell Softpetal that she could no longer believe what was happened than Softpetal could. and she was afraid of going close to confirm the truth.

their eyes met.

Cloudthorn slowly, as if in a trance, approached her.

"You saw what happened... didn't you?" Cloudthorn just knew... as well as Softpetal would have known if their roles were reversed.

"Oh... Petal." Cloudthorn breathed, voice breaking with grief.

Softpetal found it all easier to bear, with three cats packed close to her for comfort, the warmth, scent, and heartbeats making them all one with their pain. Lizardstone might have had his disagreements with Ermineclaw, but he knew how much she had loved her father.

****

Softpetal had watched as her mother had raced into camp to stand beside her dead mate. Snailstep had not crumpled, had not buried herself into Ermineclaw, but had instead, gently started to comfort Stoatpaw, who had not moved. Almondstep had entered at a slower, stumbling pace, his paws seemed far too heavy for him to bear. he had pressed himself against his mother, so that she could lean her weight against him if she needed to.

Only then could Softpetal pull herself away from the others, and approach her family, and the rest of the clan.

"Can you tell us what happened, Softpetal?"

"here." Leafbreeze approached with a leaf bundle. "you should take some poppy seeds, for pain... all of you."

Snailstep approached her daughter, and rested her muzzle against Softpetal's cheek. it was a comfort, and Softpetal could imagine she was a tiny kit again, without all the weight of this around her, but she knew it was only wishful thinking.

"Rosethorn told me you had to carry his body home, and you saw him die... oh dear heart... I'm so sorry." Snailstep murmured, voice cracked with a sob. "no one should have to bear that."

"Ermineclaw..." Softpetal found her voice was hardly above a whisper, no matter how hard she tried. "he... he was killed by a monster... on the thunderpath."

[cricketclan]

HOOO many babies. 5 more moons to go before i get caught up where i am in game. sooo close

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[staariblestars]

Well, it all keeps spinning, spinning 'round and 'round And upside down! Who's to say what's impossible and can't be found? I don't want this feeling to go away Please don't go away

Happiest guy got his apprentice name :D Lookout,,, The Stoatening is upon everyone in @forgotten-elegy <33

reference done by @kyonchi !!!

[animatewarriorcats]

Stoatfur! This description got long so here's the character part. Stoatfur has no living relatives, he was not originally listed in the Allegiances of the Last Hope, so we don't know who his mentor specifically is, but it was likely one of the four cats he was on a patrol with during a scene when Lionblaze picks a fight with Ratscar to prove he can change his destiny to Cinderheart by losing a fight, so either Ratscar, Smokefoot, Dawnpelt, or Olivenose. It does seem it was meant to be Ratscar though, as Stoatpaw is seen on a messenger patrol with Ratscar again later. He is also seen in the final battle, as a messenger seeking help for Shadowclan. She appears again in bramblestar's storm during the fight against the badgers, and on a patrol later on in the book.

I have to admit I didn't notice Stoatfur on my first reading of The Last Hope and Bramblestar's Storm, but they are a pretty interesting cat. As Stoatpaw he is described as a ginger and white tom in The Last Hope, but as Stoatfur she is described as a tortie and white she-cat in Bramblestar's Storm. plus to make the change more interesting, in their other two allegiances descriptions, the descriptions are tied-one each-and out of order chronologically and according to publish date, so while it would be totally valid and very cool to see Stoatfur as a canon trans femme cat, I think the story could also be more complicated as they are described as ginger tom, tortie she-cat, tortie she-cat, ginger tom in order. Maybe Stoatfur is bi-gender, maybe Stoatfur is fluid, maybe stoatfur does whatever the hell Stoatfur likes. I'm here for every headcanon. As result of this I debated how to depict Stoatfur, as I've been leaning into the weird british shorthair genetics for Shadowclan I spent a considerable amount of time researching what a golden tortoiseshell might look like, as I felt like the ticked golden tabbies are closest to the warm summer coat of a stoat, with the red coat and darker tipped tail feet and face markings. I don't think I totally know whether I want them to be a ticked tortie for animation reasons, but I know I wanted to present it as an option (shoutout to the design I saw where she transistioned and dyes her fur with mud to be a tortie). Either way as I was doing the research I found its actually Really Hard to find and identify golden tabby tortoiseshells, partly because most people interested in the golden genes are because of the effect it has on non-red cats thus excluding red genes and torties for the most part, but also because when you push the black tip of the tabby pattern all the way out of the hair with the golden wide band genes it all starts to look really ginger. Here is a smattering of golden torties (and one silver shaded/ticked tortie for comparison) for your viewing pleasure:

[key-clangen]

The first moon and an apprentice is already graduating!

There wasn't a consensus for whether I should do every other week or in batches

So I'll keep doing every other week and see what happens

[kiwianacats]

Some gifs for my recent map part featuring Stoatpaw, his recently murdered mother Wetawhisker and his biological aunt/adoptive mother Doespring.

Had a lot of fun with this part, I think I’m getting the hang of editing slowly too.