ASHSTAR - RIVERCLAN

Before Northstar there was a small seal pointed she-cat named Leafheart who, with the rest of her clan, were slowly dwindling due to starvation and sickness. The young she-cat was born early on during the Journey, and wandering is all she had known. She was a young adult by the time the group came across Alexander, a pure white long haired tom with mismatching yellow and blue eyes. Leafheart was instantly smitten by him, as were many other she-cats that were desperate for attention. Leafheart stuck close by the rogue tom as he lead the clans towards paradise, lulled by his stories of heroism and survival in the harsh landscape that was slowly being taken over by man. The she-cat was overjoyed when they reached their final destination, finding an abundance of prey and land relatively untouched. Alexander took over as supreme ruler with the leaders of their clans coming together as his advising council. The tom took on a harem of she-cats, with Leafheart being included. She was one of Alexanders’ favorites, and soon enough she was carrying his kits. During a harsh yet sustainable winter she gave birth to four kittens. The largest and only tom in the litter was named Alexsi, the next another white She-cat she named snow, the third a seal-point she-cat name Roma, and last but not least another seal pointed she-cat that was named North. The four kittens were well taken care of throughout their early life, being heavily guarded by Alexander’s soldiers and having constant care from their mother. They were relatively better fed than the rest of the clan, being Alexander’s offspring, and were shielded from the outside world. They lived blissfully unaware what was going on outside of their den.

Once allowed to venture out they were kept within the inner most ring of the territory, seeing only the most well off clanmates and playing with some of the other kits Alexander and the council produced. Roma, along with her siblings, were taught how to hunt, fight, and how to keep up appearances. While she performed greatly in these aspects, the one taking most of her father’s aggression was her poor sister Snow. The fluffy white she-cat was slower than the other three, and often wandered around the territory in a dreamy state of mind. She fumbled and bumbled about, and while North tried to help her sister in her studies she found her father slowly pushing Snow out of the family image. One night one of the soldiers came and silently took Snow away, carrying her off into the night to who knows where. Alexander claimed she wandered off and drowned in the river, not knowing where she was going in the darkness. The family and clan believed him. The three remaining kits continued with their studies, but found their father becoming more and more agitated and aggressive. The kits graduated from their studies and Alexander automatically put them in high positions within the clan. Alexsi was to be his heir, North became one of the council members (after another mysteriously ‘disappeared’), and Roma became head of the guard.

During their early adulthood Roma started to notice her sister North sneaking out every night from their den. One night Roma followed her to see that she was secretly meeting with one of her own soldiers, a red tabby tom named Leon. Roma confronted her sister and Leon, and North begged her not to tell their father. Pairings not chosen by Alexander were doomed to perish by his claws, and not wanting that to happen to her sister she obliged. Roma kept the romance a secret, growing more worrisome as time passed. Her worst fear was realized as North fell pregnant to the tom, and it would only be a matter of time before their father found out. At fist nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and for a moment Roma thought maybe her father would take pity on her sister. But on the night North snuck out to give birth in the forest, her father entered the den and told Roma to follow him. She, her father, and a group of soldiers followed the tracks North made, and came upon her and Leon with a tiny kit nestled in her sisters' fur. Enraged her father ordered her and the soldiers to kill them all as he began to walk back towards the rings. Leon tried to fight them off but fell easily, and Roma turned towards her sister. Roma commanded the guards to leave her and her sister be, wanting to take care of her herself. North pleaded with her sister to at least spare her kits' life, not caring if she died in the little kits place. Roma knew the kit was innocent in all this, and although its birth caused this entire mess she headed her sisters' words. She agreed the kit would be safe, away from the eyes of her father in the care of another she-cat. She killed North quickly, hoping that she didn't feel any pain, and fled the scene with the kit now mewling and dangling from her mouth. She journeyed to the outer rings where she came across a she-cat that had previously given birth a few days before. Roma asked her if she could take in this kit as a favor to her, and not one to upset the leader of their guards the she-cat agreed, and Roma left it at that. She was then appointed as the new member of the council in place of her sister. A moon afterwards she was paired with an old tabby tom named Chernobyl and she soon fell pregnant. Unlike her sister who hid her pregnancy Roma was encouraged to flaunt it, her father being proud of this pairing and what it could bring to the kingdom. Her time went smoothly and she birthed three kits, the first a pure white she-kit, the next a golden tabby tom, and last was a small and weak tabby tom. While her father was excited about the first two he looked at her third son with a disapproving gaze, they couldn't tolerate weakness in the royal family. For the first few moons she was able to watch her kits grow, but on their third moon they were taken away for education.

Two moons passed and Roma was becoming increasingly worried about her father's downwards spiral into madness. Cats that were unhappy with his rule approached her one night, asking for their help in an uprising. They would be instrumental in the death of Alexander. The other three in the council agreed to help, but Roma could not bring herself to do what they were asking of her. She thought that she could warn her father, that this'd be the wakeup call for him to bring him from the dark place he was in. That is until she entered their den. Her mother lay in a pool of blood, her throat ripped open and eyes clouded. Her brother, though as strong as he was, cowered in the corner before their father. Roma did not know why he killed their mother, but it was the defining factor that drove her to help in the rebellion. On a fall night the group of rebels stormed the inner ring, subduing any that stood in their way. While the battle waged the council sat in the large den with Alexander and her brother, her fathers' demeanor becoming more and more erratic the closer the noises came. It was then the council turned on their tyrant, circling him and clawing at their leader. Alexander didn't stand a chance against the onslaught, and fell easily to those he once trusted. The council turned to her brother, who in shock did nothing to aid them. Having no place in their new society, and fearing he'd turn out like his father the council opted to end his life to. Roma spoke up, vouching for her brother and suggesting that he flee the forest in exile. The council agreed with mixed feelings, and Roma escorted her brother to the edge of the territory. She bade him a tearful goodbye and watched him cross the border towards the city. When she came back Raveneye escorted her and the rest of the council to the Grove, where she received her nine lives and became a leader. It was there that the clan split into its original four, and the newly appointed leaders chose which they'd govern over. Ashstar took Riverclan where many of her old friends and fellow comrades were. She had found only one of her kittens, her first born Vlad with the rest of her kits missing. When questioned Vlad stated that soldiers took his siblings away at Ashstar's heart sank, fearing the worse had happened. She took her one remaining kit to Riverclan. She hoped to see the she-cat and her nephew in her clan, but she chose to live in a different one. Ashstar took her new clan to their territory where they set up camp and began to live anew.