Flinttooth

SHORT DESCRIPTION WILL BE ASSIGNED BY STAFF FOLLOWING APPROVAL

Tall and slim, with a long tail. Short, gray fur with no noticeable markings. Has many scars showing on his pelt, noticeably around his shoulders and flanks. A stern-looking face and piercing amber eyes.

A quiet and observational type, Flinttooth is a cat of few words. When he speaks, he often comes across as grumpy or disapproving. Intuitive and thoughtful, he sees connections and solutions where others might not. Flinttooth displays a level of tactfulness and consideration that seems jarring with his otherwise reserved nature. He confidently expresses his opinions, and his charisma and intelligence ensure that people understand him well.

Flinttooth is not without his flaws. Never having won a she-cat’s affection left him bitter and moody. This resulted in a level of anti-socialness that left his charismatic way with words often quite a jarring surprise. On top of that, he has a clear dislike of boisterous behaviour and will not hesitate to scold others. Flinttooth is occasionally confrontational; he pushes his opinion until others accept it, and he resorts to harsher words if pleasant ones fail.

• Born in the Moon of Lion's Glory (2015) 071
• Died in the Moon of First Green (2021) 145

Kithood [0-6 moons]

Flintkit was born to a queen of Thunderclan and an unknown tom. His mother passed away from complications during the birthing of him and his siblings. The litter of four struggled from the start. While another queen did nurse them, there were no attachment bonds formed between her and the orphaned kits. Once Flintkit and his littermates were old enough to be weaned, their wet-nurse began encouraging them to sleep separately from herself and her own kits. This caused the four kits to form a tight bond. Illness spread through the clan during their fourth moon, causing all four kits to get sick to varying degrees. Unfortunately, Pebblekit did not survive her illness, which devastated the three remaining kits. They recovered with time and grew closer together, playing amongst themselves more than with the other kits.

Apprenticeship [6-12 moons]

On the day they received their apprentice names and mentors, the three kits were as excited as any other kit. Because their mentors quickly recognized the tight bond, Flintpaw, Stonepaw, and Gravelpaw often trained together. They learned swiftly, and their mentors gradually encouraged them to become more independent. Flintpaw had a very strict mentor. His mentor was not pleased about starting Flintpaw’s training as cooperative as the others. He disapproved of apprentices being encouraged to rely on each other, and it took several tantrums thrown by the three apprentices for the mentors to decide to work together.

Flintpaw proved to lack skill in fighting, but excelled in hunting. His slim physique made him a swift runner, and his intelligence allowed him to learn to stalk stealthily. That same build made him less capable of withstanding blows from other warriors, especially if they were larger than him. His mentor focused their training sessions on combat skills because he was concerned that Flintpaw would be killed in a border skirmish. In time, Flintpaw developed capable warrior skills, although it was clear that the tom preferred to avoid confrontations where possible.

One day, fairly late into their training, Flintpaw and his littermates were set a group hunting task. Their hunt was going well and the three apprentices had caught plenty of prey. They were on their way back to camp with their haul when disaster struck. Where the fox had came from, no one knew, but it was likely drawn by the smell of the fresh-kill the apprentices where carrying. Regardless, the fox attacked the trio swiftly and without warning. Stonepaw took the brunt of the attack, Flintpaw and Gravelpaw fighting furiously to save their brother before they were turned on too. The sound of the fight, along with the proximity to camp, drew warriors to help the three apprentices. The arrival of older cats changed the fox’s desire to fight and it snatched a pigeon one of the apprentices’ had been carrying and fled. A few warriors pursued, while others attending to the injured apprentices.

The fox was never found again, although patrols were stiffened to watch for it for quite some time. Meanwhile, Flintpaw and his littermates fought for their lives in the medicine cat’s den. Flintpaw was less injured than his siblings, having been swift enough to avoid the snapping teeth for the most part, although his shoulders and hips now bore significant scars from the attack. Gravelpaw had deep injuries on one of her forelegs and the tip of her tail had been bitten off. Yet worse of all was Stonepaw. The tom had severe injuries to his whole body and after half a moon of fighting to survive, the tom finally passed away.

Warriorhood [12moons – Death]

A few nights after Stonepaw’s passing, Flintpaw and Gravelpaw were deemed healed enough to resume duties and it was decided that they would be named warriors for their valour in the fox’s attack. Flinttooth and Gravelclaw were both proud and saddened during their vigil. They missed their brother Stonepaw and thought affectionately of their sister Pebblekit, wishing the two had lived to be a part of this day. Regardless of their reminiscences, the two warriors took to their new duties like ducks to water and worked diligently.

For a time, nothing much exciting happened in Flinttooth’s life. The clan was at peace and well fed. There was no sign of the fox that had attacked him as an apprentice, nor any other sign of real threats. The odd skirmish happened at the borders, although Flinttooth himself was rarely involved. He maintained his preference of talking things out before unsheathing his claws.

A few seasons of warrior life passed, and then things changed once more for Flinttooth. A particularly harsh leafbare hit the clans and illness spread through. Flinttooth worked hard to find enough prey for his clanmates, but there just wasn’t enough around. When Gravelclaw fell ill, fear struck Flinttooth. He couldn’t lose his last remaining family member. The desperation caused him to hunt for longer hours and search harder for more prey. At first, the results were positive and Flinttooth was bringing slightly more prey back to camp than others seemed to find, but the strain became too much and he soon fell ill himself.

When Flinttooth recovered from his illness, the news the clan had for him was the worst he could imagine. Being one of the last cats to fall sick, he was not surprised to find that the clan was beginning to recover. Prey was running more freely than it had been before he fell ill, but there were cats who had not survived the sickness. Gravelclaw was one such cat. Flinttooth was distraught to hear that his remaining sister had died while he was too sick to remain overly conscious. It was a further frustration that he was unable to sit vigil or even to go back to hunting. The illness and malnutrition from the lack of prey had ravaged Flinttooth’s body and he was almost too weak to lift his head.

As the weather turned warmer, Flinttooth and the other cats who had fallen ill recovered. As soon as he was allowed to resume his duties, the tom delved into the various tasks of a warrior, too moody to do much else. Time passed, and Flinttooth grew more and more antisocial, but his overall moodiness lifted. Eventually he was made a mentor for the tabby she-cat, Smallpaw. After talking with the she-cat a little, he swiftly determined that she was distractible and of a nervous disposition. As a result, the tom decided to train her separately from her littermates. He also hoped to develop a sense of independence in the young apprentice. It wasn’t easy, but Flinttooth managed to train his apprentice into a satisfactory warrior. He was never completely satisfied with his inability to build her self-esteem, but he figured that she would have to find that for herself. Not everything could be taught, after all.

Not long after Smallbird was named a warrior, Flinttooth decided to go on a solo patrol near Treecut Place. He was approaching the twoleg trees, a place that always unsettled him from its openness, when a barrage of barking shocked him into freezing. Before Flinttooth could regain control of himself, a dog burst through the underbrush that separated him from the twoleg tree place. The dog saw Flinttooth, froze, and then barked excitedly as it rushed at the tom cat. In a split moment, the gray tom turned to flee then decided he wouldn’t be fast enough and there was nowhere he could safely go. As a result, he turned back to the dog and began to bush himself up to try to intimidate it and defend his clan against the threat. It was too late, however, and the dog was on him. Flinttooth had no chance against the large, excited creature, and although he fought savagely, he was unable to dissuade the dog. It was only the sharp whistle of a frustrated twoleg that caused the dog pause. The irritated yell had the dog dropping Flinttooth’s damaged body and turning to run back to the twoleg. What happened after, Flinttooth had no clue as he allowed himself to sink into the darkness that ended the pain.

• No threads have been recorded.

Littermates: Stonepaw (brother, deceased), Pebblekit (sister, deceased), Gravelclaw (sister, deceased)