Username: Goatmom
Clan: Grove ClanQuest Number: 1
Response:( tw! Mentions of death and kit loss)
There are several interesting families in Grove Clan. The one with the most eyes on it is
Owlstar's family.
Owlstar is a great leader, dedicated, respected, wise, but she is only an okay mother. Don't get me wrong she loves her daughter,
Antvine, more than life itself but when her kits were born the clan had only been in their new home four moons and leafbare was looming over the clan.
Owlstar didn't know she was expecting kits until a moon after the Great Storm while she and her clanmates were searching for a new home. Her mate had died during the journey and she had only just received her nine lives. She was overwhelmed and pushed the thought of her kits to the back of her mind, focusing instead on protecting her clanmates and finding a place to rebuild the camp.
Then when they found a place to settle down she jumped straight into building the camp, exploring and marking the territory, and hunting to provide for the weak clan.
Moons of tireless work culminated on the first truly cold night of leaffall. Owlstar had finally sank into her nest in the makeshift leaders den when the first pain hit.
A few hours later Owlstar lay exhausted in a nest in the nursery. A single tiny chocolate tabby suckled at her belly while two kits lay still between her paws. Two stillborn kits. One a very dark brown- almost black tom kit and the other a grey tabby she kit.
Owlstar named the surviving kit Antkit because they were so very small. The other two kits she named Thistlekit and Shrewkit after the founders of her old clan in hopes the legendary cat would care for her kits in star clan.
She spent three days in the nursery with Antkit before returning to her duties as leader, leaving Antkit with Ashsoot who was expecting kits. She would return to feed Antkit every so often but mostly focus on her work.
As Antkit grew she became close to Ashsoot and her kit maplekit but always looked forward to her mother coming back to the nursery. By the time she became and apprentice she had noticed the lack of attention from her mother. She spent her apprenticeship desperately trying impress Owlstar, hunting more, asking for more training and patrols, even volunteering for dawn patrols.
Owlstar did notice. She watched her daughter with pride but was desperate to not show favoritism. This lead to her coming harder on Antpaw than the other apprentices. Which in turn began to grow resentment in Antpaw.
By the time Antpaw had passed her assessment and was ready for her warrior ceremony she barely spoke to her mother and often outright avoided her .
This led to Owlstar calling for Antpaw to join her in the leaders den the night before her warrior ceremony. Antpaw worried something was wrong, went.
Owlstar told her to sit down and she reluctantly did. Owlstar asked her what was wrong, why she was avoiding her.
Antpaw unloaded. She all but hissed at her mother about how unfair she was to her, how hard she tried to impress her, everything. And to her credit Owlstar sat and listened.
By the end both she cats were crying. Antpaw had her face buried in her mothers chest fur and Owlstar had her tail rapped around her daughter.
Once Antpaw had calmed down a bit Owlstar apologized to her. She explained how when she had Antpaw and her siblings she had felt so guilty about Thistlekit and Shrewkit's death that she had been afraid to get close to Antpaw and loose her too. She told her how proud she was of her and how she had been worried about showing favoritism when the clan was only just starting to get stronger. But most importantly she told Antpaw that she didn't expect her to forgive her for being so neglectful but she hopes she would give her the chance to be better.
Antpaw tearfully agreed, and the two sat up most of the night talking.
The next day Owlstar calling the clan together for the warrior ceremony. She proceeded with the ceremony as leaders had done gor generations. Then she got to her daughter.
As she looked down and her daughters bright yellow eyes looked back up at her she knew the perfect name for her daughter.
" Antpaw , do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" She spoke clearly.
" I do." Antpaw replied confidently
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Antpaw , from this moment on you will be known as Antvine. StarClan honors your Determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Grove Clan." Owlstar smiled down at her daughter.
From then on the two began making time to sit and talk or patrol together to strengthen their bond. It will take many moons yet but slowly they are growing closer as mother and daughter.
Word Count: 843
