Sprucefur (Now Ember's)

[Ember]

Name | Akkin, Sprucepaw, Sprucefur

Gender | tom

Age | 22 moons

Rank | warrior

Clan | Meadow

Beliefs| Sprucefur is completely and fully in love - with StarClan. He doubted them at first, but now regrets it and wonders how he ever did. Just the whole system is so...fantastic to him. He'd always felt the presence of something more in his life, and he found it. However, he will admit that some parts of it don't make sense. He will defend these by saying "But we can never explain everything! We'll never know why there's day and night, or why we can't walk on our hind legs! Why can't there be StarClan? Sure they're dead, but if the body stays after death, why the can't the spirit stay somewhere else?"

Faith is what helps him stay sane.

Parents | Dessa-mother-NP Father: Ahmed-NP

Siblings | Inigo-brother-deceased Three older sisters, also deceased

Other Kin | Plover-eye-aunt-DC

Mate | not yet

Crush | not yet

Kits | not yet

Apprentice/Mentor | None

Appearance | Sprucefur is a limber but also fairly muscular tom; he secretly considers himself handsome, but doesn't boast about it - at least, not all the time.

His fur is medium, not quite short or long. He sheds a lot, on and off with no real pattern despite the season. His base pelt color is white, with many large gray splotches over it. His eyes are green with a tint of yellow, making them look almost iridescent.

Sprucefur's whiskers are white, poofy, and all over the place; the spring out from his face like...springs. They're also rather long.

Personality | Sprucefur can be summed up in one word: believer.

Short of being a FogClanner, he is one of the most devoted cats you will find. StarClan has essentially shaped him to be who he is today. He claims this with great pride, and it's actually somewhat true.

He's a bit of a boaster, if you haven't noticed. Not a huge one, but it is a flaw of his to exaggerate his successes and minimize his failures. He's trying to stop doing it so much, but it's hard. But, he does always apologize when someone complains about it.

He's also rather impatient with anything except StarClan; not so much that he'll snap at you if you're a second late to a patrol, but he will speak less and his replies will be short and curt.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about him is his sad little superiority complex: he does often believe he knows what is Right and Good better than anyone else, and will set out to prove it.

But he's a relatively good sport when you deflate him; if truly upset he'll go off to sulk after whining, but most of the time he'll just grumble and mutter a bit.

However, he does have some good qualities, namely his obedience, trust, and love for younger cats, especially apprentices; they remind him of himself.

If you are his senior, he will not question you no matter what you say. No matter what. If you tell him to make quacking noises and roll around in the dirt, he will do it if you are above him in rank.

Anything to please StarClan's chosen.

He's very trusting; it's easy to gain his sympathy and get him to accept your story. But beware: take advantage of him and you WILL pay.

And he loves younger cats. Apprentices, kits, young warriors - they can all make him smile, even if they're full-blown mouse-brains. Sprucefur places great value on the innocence of youth, so he does his best to put up with them.

Skills | He loves fighting; it's about the one thing he's really good at. He could always beat Inigo when they were younger. He's not the most skilled fighter in the world, but he's one of the most determined.

Hunting...eh. He doesn't mind doing it, but he finds it somewhat boring. He's all right at it, not noticeably good or bad.

Climbing...he is frankly bad at. Swimming, likewise. But for tracking and jumping, he is your man. Er, cat.

History | "Oh look, two little balls of fuzz. One less than last time, thank the earth." "Shut up, Ahmed."

Unfortunately, Ahmed would never know the "two little balls of fuzz" who were his sons as he had his three daughters, because about two and a quarter moons into their lives, he died of illness.

Dessa was beside herself in misery.

But, against all odds, they lived. Both of Dessa's sons survived, the gray-and-white one who so resembled his father, and the black one who was more like his tortoisehell mother.

Akkin - the gray and white one - and Inigo, the black one.

Though somewhat disturbed by their mother's now mournful personality, they played and behaved as any kits would. Perhaps they would have been more rival-like as many brothers are, if it weren't for their agreement to help their mother however they could. This agreement lead to a firm friendship between the two -although it got a little shaky whenever Akkin beat his big brother in wrestling!

"You cheater!"
"I'z not cheatin', is just skill!"
"You have no skill."
"Come and say that to mah face, coward!"

And thus another spat would erupt with Dessa halfheartedly breaking it up.

Akkin developed a slightly unusual way of speaking; when asked to, he could speak properly and perfectly, but preferred his own odd dialect most of the time. Inigo sometimes teased him about it, but did not mean harm and Akkin knew that.

Their kithood was fairly normal, even though their mother was prone to long periods of silence and staring at Akkin because of his resemblance to his father. This made the tom uncomfortable, but he didn't want to ask his mother about the father she so rarely he mentioned because he knew it might hurt her.

The one thing that truly puzzled Akkin about the world was the stars. He felt everything else explained itself except those mysterious dots of light.

"Mama, what are the stars?"
"I don't know, dear. Your father used to tell me that each one was a symbol of love between one cat and another and that ours was the brightest." The older she-cat had a wistful look in her eyes at the mate she had lost.

The small tom was amazed, by this perception of the stars and also that she'd mentioned his father. If it was what Ahmed had thought, then it must be true. Inigo was more doubtful than his brother of this interpretation, purely because he wondered how his father could know. But Akkin merely ignored him whenever his brother started to explain why their dad couldn't have known. It wasn't like the black tom knew either.

They grew older, and when they reached around seven moons their mother taught them to fight and hunt. Both were quick learners and equal in most things, Akkin perhaps a shade more skillful than his brother in fighting.

As the gray and white tom got bigger, he wondered what the world was like beyond their small life in and around the ranch. His mother had come from somewhere else, but she did not care to speak of it, or the family she had left behind much. She rarely gave a thought to her remaining brother and sister, and what had become of them.

When he reached eight moons, Akkin was more restless than ever. He wanted to leave, to explore. Dessa was unwilling to let her son go - he still reminded her hauntingly of his father. Inigo was angry at his brother for wanting to leave - even though inside he felt sad. But finally, Akkin did leave - he persuaded his mother that he would only truly be like his father if he left and lived his own life. Finally, she agreed. Inigo, too, said goodbye to the gray and white tom with hint of defiance. He too was leaving his mother, but was staying around the ranch. Still, they vowed not to forget each other.

So Akkin moved westward - and stumbled upon the just-forming Clans. Found by a patrol of two ForestClanners who were soon to be PineClanners.

The long-limbed cat stared at the bigger felines who had surrounded him. They consisted of a large, scarred gray she-cat, and hefty black-and-white tom with a rocking step. "Who are you and what are you doing here? Nothing good, I bet." Grumped the she-cat, who did not seem pleasant at all. The black and white tom rolled his eyes. "I apologize for my Clanmate. Were you looking for the Clans, boy?" The tom looked curiously at Akkin, who stared back, fur bushing up slightly. "Yes. I want to join." The young cat improvised. He knew absolutely nothing about these "Clans" but hey, they seemed like something, at least.

"Then we'll take you to Cedarclaw." Said the tom. The gray she-cat rolled her green eyes. "Another stray, Loonstep? The scouts won't be able to find a big enough territory for PineClan at this rate." She complained. The yellow eyed cat sighed. "Well, he wants to join, doesn't he?" At this point Akkin piped up, "What's PineClan?"

Both looked at him in surprise.

Swallowpelt. "Look, mousebrain, there are four Clans. Gingerclaw will be the leader of PineClan. Cloudfang is going to be StreamClan's leader. Owlstorm will be the leader of FogClan. And Cedarclaw will the leader of MeadowClan, and he's also the one who brought us here. I don't suppose you'll remember or care, but there it is." Akkin was beginning to feel irritated. Didn't she care about these Clans to be? He wasn't joining PineClan, that was for sure, but he hardly knew anything because she'd only explained who was leading the Clans!

Luckily her companion - Loonstep? Intervened. "PineClan is unique because we don't believe in StarClan -" He stopped at the look of confusion on Akkin's face. "StarClan is - supposedly - the spirits of dead cats who turn into stars in the sky when they die and can send prophetic dreams and give nine lives." He snorted. "But they don't exist." "First intelligent thing you've said all day." Mumbled Swallowpelt. The black and white tom rolled his eyes yet again.

But Akkin had stopped in his tracks. "Do the other Clans believe in this - StarClan?" He asked. His mind raced. StarClan - cats in the sky! This...this explained everything, no matter what these cats said. He needed to know more.

They proceeded to describe the rest of the Clans to him, and he decided to join MeadowClan. FogClan was an attractive choice, but he decided that Cedarstar seemed like a stronger leader than Owlstar - especially since she was a she-cat. She-cats, he noticed, tended to be emotional and weak - it was not true of all she-cats, he knew, but many. And he didn't want to take that chance.

So he joined MeadowClan, and was renamed Sprucepaw. He trained under Russetpelt for a while, and then at twelve moons Cedarstar gave him his name: Sprucefur.

He enjoys being a warrior of MeadowClan, and likes to serve it however he can, when he's not boasting or trying to charm a she-cat.