Lichenstorm

SHORT DESCRIPTION WILL BE ASSIGNED BY STAFF FOLLOWING APPROVAL

Lichenstorm is a seal point cream coloured tom.

He has a black mask, ears, lower legs and tail, while the rest of his body is a creamy eggshell white. His eyes are a pale blue while his nose and ears are a grayish colour, with his nose being somewhat darker. He has a sturdy, thick-set build, displaying powerful muscles under his midfurred pelt.

Due to the effect of having medium length fur, Lichenstorm can have a somewhat scruffy appearance.

Lichenstorm was a quiet tom with a gentle nature. Content to listen, his heart always seemed open to all. While he was content to befriend anycat, he remained firmly loyal to his clan and would willingly fight to defend his clanmates. His friendly disposition and willingness to befriend anycat he met, cause teasing and torment from others, resulting in some minor insecurity.

To hide his insecurity, Lichenstorm would often put on a brave front, taking up challenges and dares without a second thought. He would also be one of the first to volunteer for patrols of any kind, out of a desire to prove himself. Somewhat distractable, the tom would often forget the task at paw if his attention was taken away from it. This caused him to be only a barely acceptable hunter, not through lack of skill, but by not bringing enough prey back to satisfy.

• Born in the Moon of Long Sun (2015) 070
• Died in the Moon of Running Prey (2021) 147

Kithood [0-6 moons]

Lichenkit was born to two Windclan warriors in a large litter. His upbringing was rather standard with the young tom playing with his littermates and other present youths. He was never a troublemaker, but that did not stop him from getting into trouble as his siblings grew more adventurous and he tried to keep the peace between them all. Lichenkit would often act as a mediator for his littermates, but he would also be content to let them work things out on their own. It really depended on whether they were getting too riled up or not.

As he got older, Lichenkit’s attention would be drawn toward watching warriors and apprentices, a desire to be the clan’s greatest warrior growing within him. Even so, he began to find himself easily distracted as everything seemed to pull at his attention and focusing on one thing became difficult.

Apprenticeship [7-13 moons]

Lichenkit could hardly sit still the day he was given his apprentice name and he spent hours muttering his new name and giggling joyfully. The young tom was enthusiastic and gleeful during his explorations of the territory and he enjoyed learning. With his distractability, however, it did take him somewhat longer to learn than other apprentices as his focus was regularly pulled away from the training sessions.

When Lichenpaw was taken to his first Gathering, concerns that he might be too friendly begun to arise and his mentor spent moons trying to enforce a distrust in cats outside of Windclan. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on one’s perspective, distrust of others seemed completely outside of Lichenpaw’s capabilities and he continued to make friends with ease. Teased and tormented for being too kind and sympathetic, Lichenpaw began to grow somewhat insecure. To try to prove to the clan and himself that he wasn’t too soft-hearted, he started taking on any challenge presented to him, no matter how foolish.

When a minor border skirmish occurred, Lichenpaw fought with all the courage and diligence that was expected of a clan warrior. Even when faced with cats he considered friends, he did not hesitate and it proved that despite his enjoyment of making friends with others, Lichenpaw held a loyalty to his clan that surpassed those bonds.

Warriorhood [13-72 moons]

When Lichenpaw achieved his warrior name, he couldn’t be prouder and he dutifully sat his vigil. Although his attention was drawn by every little sound, Lichenstorm managed to hold his tongue and complete the night’s silence. He soon took into his warrior duties, although without a mentor to keep him on track, it was soon realised that Lichenstorm’s distractable nature did cost him more than a few catches and he was quickly labelled as an unreliable hunter.

Despite the label, Lichenstorm did manage to maintain some respect within Windclan. He still took on challenges, although as time passed he began to think more about consequences. He also proved himself by helping maintain peace within the clan when others accepted his help to mediate during disagreements and he continued to fight bravely when clashes between the clans did occur.

As time went on, Lichenstorm managed to catch the eye of Lilacwing and as they grew closer, he was chosen to father her final litter. She was afflicted with a condition known as sleepswoon and although she was relatively young, discussion of her retirement had been cropping up. Not wanting to leave her warrior life, but understanding that she would have to, she had chosen Lichenstorm to help her have a litter which she could call her final gift to the clan. With Lilacwing’s condition, however, he had felt the need to watch over his son, the only kit that she had bore in that litter, to ensure he wasn’t too unguided.

As Lichenstorm’s kit grew up, he tried to guide the young tom to be more courageous and bold than he, himself had proven to be, hoping that the kit would never have cause to doubt himself. When Boldkit was named an apprentice, Lichenstorm tried to still guide him and was saddened as he began to notice that the young tom was growing to be arrogant in his boldness.

Lichenstorm continued to try to guide his son, while also giving him the space to be his own cat. Over time, the Lichenstorm grew wiser and more careful in his own actions. A part of him felt that he ought to do his best as a warrior to allow Lilacwing to live somewhat vicariously through his actions. Even after she had been retired when Boldclaw had been made an apprentice, Lichenstorm had continued to visit her and talk with her. He had taken her for walks in the territory, but never far. It seemed that as she aged, her sleepswoon worsened and she began to fear being a burden to him and the clan, preferring to stay in the safety of camp where her condition caused minimal disruption.

Moons passed and Lichenstorm continued his life in this way until he got sick. Getting older, he had feared the illness would claim his life, especially as the fever dreams began to hit him. How long it took for the fever to break, he never knew, but even after he began to recover, the cough never left. Worse than that, his once sturdy body had grown frail and thin, as though the illness had stolen all his strength. For this reason, Lichenstorm was retired with the reasoning of him being unable to hunt or fight in his condition.

Elderhood [73-76 moons]

Lichenstorm’s time in the elders’ den was brief. He tried his best to keep his son, who had also been forcefully retired due to his own sleepswoon condition, peaceful and happy, but he knew that nothing he did would help him. As the moons passed, Lichenstorm grew ever weaker until he finally passed peacefully in his sleep, pleased to rejoin Lilacwing who had gone to Starclan sometime before him.

• No threads have been recorded.

Pending Sire Name: Darkstep

Pending Dam Name: Freespirit

Pending Mentor Name: Lightwing

Suggested genetic code for passing recessives 🙂

Pelt: Mid-furred. (Ll, RR, ReRe, lplp, whwh, LyLy)

Markings: A seal point tom. (XoY, Bb, DD, dmdm, aa, Mcmc, Spsp, tata, bmbm, ii, wbwb, EE, ShSh, cscs, ww, kk)

Body Morphs: None. (acac, sfsf, JbJb, mm, RtRt, mkmk, pdpd)