- maggotbite is a gray and white tabby tom with sharp yellow eyes. born to rogues and raised as a clan cat, he has lived through more than enough warfare in his lifetime. despite and because of this calamity, he has a level head and strategic thought process, as well as a fierce determination to protect everyone he can.
the kit who would one day be known as maggotbite was never named after birth. his parents belonged to a group of rogues, but his father was killed shortly after his birth in the ongoing war with thunderclan. afterwards, his mother only viewed him and his brother as burdens, calling them “maggot” and “worm” respectively. that was how his name came to be.
maggot was weaker than his brother, and since their mother all but neglected them, he followed him like a second shadow. his brother occasionally sneered or lashed out at him, picking up these behaviors from his fellow rogues, but otherwise left his brother alone. one day, when they were around seven moons old, the two were lurking nearby thunderclan territory. a patrol suddenly ambushed them. when a warrior pinned maggot down, he begged his brother to help him. the next thing he knew, his only kin turned his back and abandoned him. maggot was brought back to thunderclan, where they intended to hold him for ransom against the rogues. when they asked his name, the only thing he could respond was “maggot”, to which they were horrified.
maggot was kept in a den separate from the others, guarded by two warriors at all times. one of the warriors who often guarded him, rainstripe, had an apprentice, thrushpaw. thrushpaw was a lively and boisterous young tom; every other phrase out of his mouth was a question, and maggot was no exception to this. “what’s it like as a rogue?” “why’s your name maggot?” “what’s your favorite prey?” sometimes maggot answered, sometimes he didn’t, but he secretly looked forward to whenever thrushpaw visited.
a moon later, the war with the rogues ended. thunderclan had prevailed and what little rogues remained fled. but maggot was still with the clan. in the end, the leader, poolstar, asked him if he would like to stay with them. since he had nowhere else to go, maggot accepted. to everyone’s surprise, he requested to keep his original name. while it was detestable as a clan name, he wanted it to remind him to overcome his past weakness. at eight moons old, maggotpaw became an official apprentice of thunderclan, mentored by a senior warrior, brackencreek.
brackencreek was wary of having the rogue as his apprentice, but maggotpaw was eager to learn. in the past, he’d always eaten the scraps of whatever his brother hunted, and he always depended on his brother to protect him too. slowly but surely, with brackencreek’s teachings and thrushpaw’s encouragement, maggotpaw learned the skills of a proper thunderclan warrior. thrushpaw soon received his warrior name, thrushcall, and a few moons later, maggotpaw received his, maggotbite.
moons passed, and maggotbite felt at home in thunderclan. everyone had accepted his place in the clan, and he had pushed his rogue past to the back of his mind. he and thrushcall were close as ever, and maybe even more. yet, one fateful evening, as he was returning from patrol, he heard someone whisper his name. when he peered through the underbrush, he couldn’t believe who it was—his brother.
his brother, who went by “claw” now, quickly explained everything. he had rebuilt the group of rogues and was planning to attack thunderclan again, wiping them out. he wanted maggotbite to join them and give information as a spy. maggotbite immediately refused, saying that thunderclan was his home. angry, claw told him he was making a mistake. maggotbite fled back to camp and told poolstar what had happened. she gathered the clan and told everyone to prepare everyone for an attack. maggotbite stayed at thrushcall’s side, determined to keep his friend safe.
the attack came at dawn, but thunderclan was ready. claw had gathered many, many rogues, and while thunderclan fought hard, they were running out of steam. thrushcall was sent to fetch help from a neighboring clan. thankfully, riverclan arrived and the rogues were pushed back. maggotbite was looking for thrushcall when he found him locked in a battle against claw, who was winning. in a fit of rage, maggotbite attacked his brother and the two fought for a long time, neither coming out on top. it all came to an end when claw rose up to attack. maggotbite barreled into him and accidentally slammed claw’s head against a boulder. his brother fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.
once again, thunderclan prevailed against the rogues. this time, hopefully they were gone for good. they buried the dead, including the rogues, and maggotbite couldn’t help but sit by his brother’s grave, wondering if things could have turned out differently. thrushcall came to sit next to him, and the two twined their tails together. maggotbite didn't know what the future would hold, but he knew he could face it with his clan and thrushcall by his side.
who is peonyfrost?