Pinestep

A small, long-haired dilute calico with dark green eyes.

Pinestep is a long-haired dilute calico with dark green eyes. Her small face is framed with a fluffy mane of light grey fur, broken up only by subtle tan patches and a pure white maw. Tall ears decorate the top of her head, setting off the steady, green orbs of her eyes. The majority of her fur is comprised of solid off-white, interrupted only by blue-grey and light orange patches across her back. Her tail is long and thin, only looking full thanks to the feathery light fur that lines it.

Pinestep has a tendency to be as prickly as her name. Although this can be a trait that takes over her demeanor from time to time, Pinestep is painfully aware of it and struggles to reign in the worst of her temper. Sarcastic comments decorate her vocabulary and the young WindClan warrior isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. She likes to believe that she gets along easily with others and that her friendships are both deep and meaningful; whether this belief is true or not can be hard to tell and it has come back to hurt her in the past when betrayal reared its ugly head. Pinestep always strives to learn from her mistakes and channels her fiery personality into training. Becoming the best and most skilled warrior of WindClan is an obsessive passion for Pinestep and the warrior code is constantly first and foremost in her mind. She would do anything to protect her clan, even if it meant loosing herself.

• Born in the Moon of Turning Leaves (2018) 113
• Made an Apprentice as Pinekit in WindClan during the Moon of First Green (2018) 107
• Named a Warrior as Pinepaw in WindClan during the Moon of Tiger's Wraith (2019) 130

Born during the warm days of the Moon of Running Prey to a WindClan queen, Pinekit was the smallest of her litter; but certainly not the most docile. Her mother had her paws full from day one, and decided to name her feisty daughter after the great Pine trees found within the forest; drawing inspiration from her previous litter of tree themed kits, where Pinekit’s half sister, Rowanglade, received her name. Due to wandering habits that developed very early on, the young kit was separated from the rest of her family at a very young age when she found herself outside the WindClan camp. On this day, Pinekit was feeling particularly bored and followed her little nose to the outskirts of camp. A low growl caused her ears to pin tightly against her head and despite her best attempts to scamper back into the safety of camp, a rough and patchy tom cat with an unfamiliar scent clamped her tight in his jaws; carrying her, squealing, across the moor and into the trees. Right before the rouge could exit fully across the moor, Pinekit swiped at his eyes ferociously, her little claws scratching for anything she could reach in her panic. With a snarl, the rogue tossed her against a rock, backing up quickly as blood filled his left eye. Pinekit whimpered before the world went black; the last thing she saw being the tail of her attacker disappearing over a hill. It wasn’t long before soft voices entered the young cat’s ears- but too tired and injured- Pinekit slipped into unconsciousness. Eventually, she awoke in the Medicine Cat’s den, with the voice of her sister lingering over her. The scent of the wind was all around her and Pinekit feared for her life, as the pain within her skull grew. With much care and watching eyes, Pinekit recovered slowly. Her memory was foggy for a time and she became distrustful to anycat outside the medicine den; including her siblings. However, this did not last long, as the WindClan cats were gentle with the small kit and did their best to earn her trust back with whispered stories and purrs, lulling her into the sleep she needed to heal. Eventually, Pinekit was ready to get back out into the world and work towards becoming an apprentice. Eager to learn as much as she could, Pinekit could consistently be found watching the apprentices and warriors move about the camp, and despite her best attempts at behaving, she could often be found guilty of attempting to sneak out of camp in order to take part in training sessions or patrols. Pinepaw earned her apprentice name and mentor along with her sibling in the Moon of First Green (2018). Entering into the apprentice stage was everything that Pinepaw dreamed it could be from her moons of watching the warriors and she gave her full attention to every lesson or training session with the intention of learning as much as she could, as quickly as possible; so that she may never be seen as weak again. Even with her best efforts, no cat is perfect, and many setbacks were encountered during her training; primarily caused by her lack of patience and focus. However, these situations merely fueled her fire; driving her further into a training fervor. After months of hard work, Pinepaw finally accomplished the understanding of how to focus on her training and passed her evaluation with flying colors, earning the name Pinestep in the Moon of Tiger’s Wraith (2019). The course of Pinestep’s warrior life remained steady for quite a while, being disturbed only by the occasional border scuffle and rowdy apprentice. However, all of that changed when the harsh leaf-bare swept across the land. Countless cats were weakened and began to pass away due to the lack of prey and harsh climate. Pinestep herself fell ill, spending much of her time in the Medicine Cat’s den once more, fighting for her life alongside many others. She lost two close friends during this time, and Pinestep burned not only from fever, but also the despair she felt at not being able to provide for the clan in her weekend state. In the Moon of Long Nights, Pinestep staggered out of the Medicine Cat’s den, dazed, with her breathe a whisp of frozen air on the night sky. She spent an entire evening trekking through the snow in search of prey, finding only a small vole for all her efforts. Although that morsel fed the apprentices, Pinestep fell into a fevered sleep for days after her adventure. If it wasn’t for the hard work of her sister once again, the young warrior may have been lost to the clan. But with much effort and patience, Pinestep slowly worked her way to a full recovery. She now spends her days doing all she can to rebuild her clan and continue to strengthen her skills, so that she may never let them down again.

• A Different Kind of Sentinel (14FG'20)
• All I See is Blue Skies (15FG'20)
• Up on Wind Hill (15FG'20)