#BB!Brushpaw

[bonefall]

BB!Brushblaze

[ID: A grown version of Brushpaw from Warrior Cats. He is a ginger-and-white tabby cat with splotchy patches, a white butt, tail, paws, and 'bib'. He has yellow eyes with a distinct blob marking on his right side. He has a round notch in one ear.]

Because he's been coming up a lot lately, here he is! BB!Brushpaw is an ex-BloodClan cat who joins WindClan along with Snapper.

After the BloodClan Battle, Firestar opened up diplomatic negotiations in an attempt to see how much of Tigerstar's Impossible Deal the Clans could still honor. The answer was so simple as to be ridiculous; flowers, wood, novelty food. Things BloodClan can't get in the concrete alleys of Chelford. Leo and Snapper were only two of the traders who would regularly visit WindClan and ThunderClan.

Leo was head-over-paws for Onewhisker almost right away. He rarely went to ThunderClan, always trying to get chosen to go to the moor. He was so smitten, he never realized any of the red flags. Onewhisker wouldn't do public displays of affection, or tell his friends they were seeing each other, and when Leo floated the idea of joining the Clan... Onewhisker gave an affirmative, but not enthusiastic answer.

Tallstar decided to allow Leo and Snapper to join, but only if they went through apprenticeship as a formality. Onewhisker told Brushpaw that it's forbidden for warriors to be with apprentices, even if they are adults, and Brushpaw understood and respected that.

But it didn't get better.

Next, his ceremony was delayed over the destruction. His mentor, Mudclaw, even accused him of being a jinx and that he was bringing the humans to the moor. He went on the Great Journey forced to remain Brushpaw, Tallstar only having the strength to give Crowfeather his Honor Title and leaving him and Snappaw in the dust.

His scar is from fighting in the WindClan rebellion-- one of the rebels jumped on his back and tried to snap his neck. After the fight, Onestar gave the two their well-earned names; Brushblaze for the muirburn that Mudclaw sabotaged, and Snapstorm for the rain that put it out after.

When Onestar became leader, he changed, or... maybe it just revealed something that was always there, that Brushblaze didn't see. Either way, whatever they had was over.

Eventually, he became an ironic friend of Heathertail, helping her bring back tunneling. He died helping her and Breezepelt escape The Kin through a secret passage he constructed with Harespring, collapsing the tunnel so that they couldn't be followed.

Lots of info under the cut

Design & Meta Stuff

It bugs me how in Onestar's Concussion they copped out on the idea that Onewhisker was cheating on his lover with Smoke, by making it SUPER clear there was no overlap in the relationships. Soo instead yeah poor Brush was cheated on.

I feel like the fact that Canon!Brushpaw was a ginger tabby was supposed to invoke the image of Firestar, because the whole point is that "Firestar succeeded where Brushpaw failed" so like... I DESPERATELY tried to make sure Brushblaze is a ginger tabby who looks nothing like my Firestar lmao.

Total opposites, my Firestar is bright and skinny, Brush is dull and sturdy. Fire has no stripes and no white and Brush has stripes and white patches.

I gave him a spotty white tail for the irony of it looking like Darktail's but inverted.

I don't know if this makes sense but I tried to channel the energy of a gay dude who owns snakes.

Personality

Waaaaay smarter than you think, but can be a bit passionate and oblivious.

Prone to biting off more than he can chew and getting in situations above his head.

A yes-man, doesn't like saying no to people, especially when he feels like he can help.

Most ex-BloodClan cats look scary but are friendlier than they seem.

Surprises people with the way he casually remembers everything. Names, recipes, offhanded comments... say it once and it's in his head forever.

You really think that he's going to be a grump with that face, but it's far from the truth. He's tired, but super friendly.

History

Leo was a BloodClan Solver, a position that has to do with intellectual work.

Snapper was his assigned Problem, kind of like a BloodClan warrior.

His mother Bailey is actually one of the most respected Solvers in BloodClan. He didn't really like being in her shadow, though.

Looking back on it, Brushblaze is embarrassed about how quickly he was ready to commit to someone who, in hindsight, wasn't into it as much as he was.

They were dating but Onewhisker was... flaky. He didn't want to tell others about their relationship, never wanted public affection.

It was really obvious looking back on it that One was never brave enough to commit.

Snappaw and Brushpaw had to fight a lot of xenophobia to earn their place. Mudclaw's distrust of a cat he was supposed to train like an apprentice was a major factor in why Tallstar changed deputies so suddenly.

Unknown to Brush, Onewhisker had already rejected an old lover, Smoke, when he found out she was pregnant and wanted to join the Clan. He couldn't handle the shame of telling Brush he had been cheating AND the idea of waltzing into camp with a brazen kittypet lover.

Brush did eventually move on, but it took a long time. Onestar had Heathertail via honor-siring, never getting back into a romantic relationship again.

After this, he's very grudging of Onestar. Obeys him as a leader, but clearly dislikes him as an authority figure and as a person.

One of Onestar's many regrets.

One day in the Po3 Era, he overheard Heatherpaw and Breezepaw scream for help and came running

They were digging a tunnel, and Harepaw got buried

He pulled him out, and the three of them begged him to not tell their parents

Heatherpaw: "If my dad finds out he'll want to use this to do something stupid"

Brushblaze: "well... can't argue with that."

But he made them promise that the next time they dig that far down, where they could get hurt by a cave-in, they would come get him.

He became something like a safety friend, helping them work out how to reinforce a tunnel, doing good estimates of how to dig from Point A to Point B.

Onestar, of course, did eventually find out about tunnels... from Sedgepaw, boasting about the naturally-occurring ones under the Lake. It sure did give the four of them a scare that he'd learned about their little resurrection of tunneling as a practice.

Brushblaze eventually found love again; ironically, it was with Whitetail!

They had two kittens; Galekit and Smokekit.

He found it REALLY weird though that Onestar was so... aggressive? About Smokekit

"you didn't have to do this," said Onestar, glaring at the baby.

Brushblaze blinked several times. "....have a child???"

He would learn the truth less than a month later, when Darktail brought The Kin to the lake

Breezepelt joined quickly, and Heathertail went with curiosity when it was revealed that Darktail was her half-brother.

Harespring, deputy at the time, knew that his childhood friends were in danger. Him, Brushblaze, Crowfeather, and a few others immediately started digging to help save their Clanmates

Brushblaze's final act was shoving The Kin escapees in the tunnel, lagging behind, and collapsing the tunnel on himself and their pursuers.

[bonefall]

Better Bones WindClan Family Tree: Draft 1

[ID: The WindClan family tree for Better Bones. It's a color-coded chart of over 122 cats, with all of the cats alive as of the newest arc marked in green, and the 'progenitors' of each line marked in yellow.]

You may also want to see:

The Three Strict Rules

The Canon WindClan Diagnosis (for comparison)

ThunderClan

RiverClan

SkyClan

For the past few days, I've been trying to make ends meet with this tree. WindClan's biggest problem is how very few cats it has in-canon, with the Erins practically forgetting an entire generation between Tallstar's Revenge and TPB. As a result, I had to make this thing nearly from scratch.

The result is before you; there are 122 cats on this chart at the moment! I've used Missing Kits to try and patch the "bald spot" in the timeline, but I admittedly did have to scrounge up a couple cats here. There are still no OCs on this tree, but some unnamed background characters have been given names.

(I am also watching authorial statements like a HAWK in the hopes they will drop more names I can use to pad out some of the single-kit litters, like Appledawn's single kid Adderstone there)

I also have tried to balance the size of this Clan with BB!ThunderClan's count by ASC. There's now a little over 30 cats in this Clan.

Most of these trees have renamings, removals, and a changelog-- this one's going to be a bit different. Below the cut, you will see Renamings, Reserves, and a Changelog.

RENAMINGS: Format: Old Name (Origin) -> New Name (Reason)

Stagleap (WC) -> Stagfur (conflict)

Robinwing (WC) -> Robinflight (conflict)

Gorsetail (Po3) -> Whintail (Serious conflict with a Gorsetail in the very next arc)

Hickorynose -> Chicorynose (ecological accuracy)

Tornear -> Torear (Minor change to prevent him from being born Tornkit)

"Brown Tabby Tom" (Fire and Ice) -> Sparrowspeck (unnamed)

Whitetail's first sibling (OSC) -> Blackfur (unnamed; will update to canon name when revealed)

Whitetail's second sibling (OSC) -> Grayfoot (unnamed; will update to canon name when revealed)

Eaglekit (SSMK) -> Eagleswoop (save)

Storkkit (SSMK) -> Storkfeather (save)

Quailkit (SSMK) -> Quailheart (save)

Downkit (SSMK) -> Downwind (save)

Hillkit (SSMK) -> Hillrunner (save)

Adderkit (Cats of the Clans) -> Adderstone (save)

Galekit (OSC) -> Galerunner (save)

Buzzardkit (Po3) -> Buzzardclaw (save)

Drizzlepaw (SSMK) -> Drizzlefall (save)

Rustlepaw (SSMK) -> Rustlebush* (save) = Suffix might change, I'm not satisfied with it

Cranberrypaw (SSMK) -> Cranberrysplash (save)

Milkfur (FQ) -> Milktooth (conflict)

Snapper (Ravenpaw's Path) -> Snapstorm (MASSIVELY repurposed.)

Brushpaw (OSC) -> Brushblaze (save/repurpose)

Quickpaw (CotC) -> Quickclaw (shuffle)

Thistlepaw (CotC) -> Thistleseed (shuffle)

Pricklekit (CotC) -> Pricklepelt (shuffle)

(SSMK = Su Susann's Missing Kits)

RESERVES: There weren't enough cats for me to even consider cutting any; instead, here are some extra characters from field guides and unnamed in the background who could possibly show up again.

"Tortoiseshell Queen" from Fire and Ice; may just be Quailheart or Storkfeather, if not, her name will be Ruffclaw

"Gray Tom" from Fire and Ice; if named, he will be called Chipstone.

Swiftstar, Dalestar, Thrushbreeze, and Larkstripe's unnamed honor sire are all characters in Ripplestar's Rot, but they're just a bit too far back to be relevant at the moment.

Hareflight (FQ) is from the same time period. If they show up again, their name will be Harefrost.

Whitetail from Tigerclaw's leader ceremony was a WindClan cat in BB; she doesn't show up to his ceremony in this story, but she could appear on the tree at some point. If she does, her name will be Whitetuft.

From Code of the Clans, I am holding onto; Pebblefur, Acorntail, Morningcloud, Cloversplash, and Gorseclaw who would be renamed to Whinclaw.

Several leaders and Clerics could appear if BB ever went further back than Ripplestar's Rot. Swiftfoot, Stonestar, Duststar, Dovestar, Featherstar, Fallowstar, Rabbitstar... plus Mudpuddle, an ancient deputy.

Wanderkit and Muddyclaw from the Adventure Game are from WindClan; but currently not needed

Brightheart's surrogate kittens, Ambermoon, Snowbush, and Dewnose. Some could show up here if needed.

NOTE: If any of these characters show up again in canon, or are confirmed by authorial statement to have a different name, I will abide by that and update accordingly (unless the name is, of course, a conflict).

CHANGELOG: I tell you why I did the things and also point out what's different

Because this Clan was so empty and full of orphan warriors, I was able to completely make it however I wanted.

I also tried to make sure that MODERN WindClan is still VERY clean. Most of canon's "orphan warriors" are totally capable of being mixed with just about anyone else who's around in WindClan.

This is so I can accommodate just about whatever the Erins throw at us... within reason of course. Never doubt the Erin's ability to ruin a family tree.

In BB, Sunstrike and Furzepelt have expanded roles and survive to at least TBC, so I decided they would get Slightfoot. They're the kind of girls who would raise a rebel like him.

Ryestalk has been moved out of the Mist/Hare family. I have more need for her as a clean cat; and a better story to tell of her being afraid of tunneling. Her mother, Leafshine, died in a collapse.

I wanted to find some sort of in-between cat for Pigeonflight and Cranberrysplash, but unfortunately, I ran out of cats. She is probably adopted; found abandoned.

Fernstripe might move around in the future; for now she is a later birth to CranberryxDrizzle. If she moves, it'll probably be to SunxFurze.

Whiskernose is older now because I reworked his purpose in the Dark Forest

Drizzlefall was initially Runningbrook's child. When she dies in TNP, Webfoot raised her alongside his own kid, Rustlebush. They are marked as siblings for that purpose.

Mudclaw and Whitewater of ShadowClan had an unimportant fling during the journey. They both agreed it was an honor siring and would be kept quiet-- but Whitewater became a supporter of his during the rebellion.

When Mudclaw was smote by StarClan, she felt that the kittens were cursed.

She contacted Torear and arranged for him to take his nespring, but the night of the meeting, a snowstorm tore through the Clans. She couldn't take the runt, else he would freeze.

So, she kept Owlclaw of ShadowClan, and Harestar and Kestrelflight went to WindClan.

Brushblaze and Snapstorm are both ex-BloodClan, they did trading with WindClan just after the BloodClan battle, when Tallstar and Firestar opened up peace talks with the defeated Scourge.

Hareheatherbreeze and the Onestar Drama

So of course, one of the bigger changes in BB is that Harestar, Heathertail, and Breezepelt are in a polycule. I did a LOT with this fix in mind.

Onestar is now a single kitten. In Clanmew, his prefix is "Ul-arra," a whole fraction.

This was an expression of grief, as his mother Larksplash died in childbirth, along with his siblings. Cloudrunner was distant, unfortunately never recovering from the ordeal.

Him and Larksplash were quite old to be having a litter, and they knew the risks, but Onestar always felt like Cloudrunner blamed him, in a way.

Eventually, he wanted to raise a child. Whitetail honor dammed for him, and offered open coparentage, but Onestar politely declined. It was known Whitetail was Heathertail's parent, but they weren't very close.

Probably through a shared grievance with Onestar and feelings of responsibility over Heather, Whitetail and Brushblaze became very close. They eventually had two kittens-- Smokekit and Galekit.

Onestar interpreted this as them both trying to tell him they knew about Smoke, slipping further into paranoia towards the end.

Heathertail LOVED the two of them right away.

Unfortunately, Brushblaze laid down his life saving Kin refugees, including Heathertail and Breezepelt, by collapsing an escape tunnel on top of himself.

Galerunner and Smokehaze were only a few months old at the time.

Hareheatherbreeze will be keeping Brindlewing, Appleshine, and Woodsong! Brindlewing was first, with Apple and Wood coming in a second litter.

Tallstar's Family

In Tallstar's Collapse, Talltail leaves WindClan for a long period of time. He wandered with Jake and his family of nomads, eventually finding foundling kittens and deciding to adopt them with him.

But, eventually, he couldn't resist the pull of homesickness, and the desire to try and fix things in WindClan. He tried to leave the family he'd made behind-- but Fly followed him.

Talltail, naively, believed that Fly would remain innocent. That the kid would be above the battle culture of the Clans. He was wrong.

Fly became a ferocious warrior, even competing with him for the deputy position. If Talltail hadn't been quick or keen enough to kill an adder that was going for Heatherstar's grand-nephew, Flytail may have become leader of WindClan.

The kit was named Adderkit for this event, later becoming Adderstone.

Flytail, his mate Eagleswoop, and one of his daughters died in the WindClan Massacre. Talltail had already lost two half-siblings in the war.

What was once a large family was reduced to Tallstar, Stoneclaw, Wrenflight and her children.

Stoneclaw put off having kits for a time, eventually having two one-kit litters with her mate, Snapstorm; Buzzardclaw and Crouchfoot.

[bonefall]

ALRIGHTY, final verdict on Onestar's Confession

-hated it. It's not even the worst Warriors book, I just hate it

-Absolutely zero sense of pacing. I got confused frequently because of all the quicktime events that just........ happened...... and then we're never addressing this again goodbye!!!

-the Tribe. WE DON'T NEED MORE POINTLESS TRIBE VACATIONS. I am sick and tired of it

-The Whitetail Thing

-The Cat-Racism Thing

-Brushpaw was the only good character in this and he didn't deserve to die so Firestar could be the Clans' Special Little Boy

COSIGNED.

Onestar's Concussion isn't the worst book but GOD, at LEAST I'm feeling SOMETHING when I visit DOTC. That something is Rage but it's SOMETHING

Brushpaw deserves better, he deserves so much better that I saved him and beefed him up for the rewrite and he gets to have one of the coolest deaths ever in AVoS

His name is Brushblaze, he's an older friend of Hare/Heather/Breeze who helped Heather work out some problems about tunneling. He's an ex-BloodClan trader, his old rank was 'Solver.' He's also Onestar's ex who broke it off with him after he started changing.

Onestar has sooo many romantic failures in BB it's unreal

I'm also giving him kittens, but I haven't figured out who yet. Maybe a surrokit from Brightheart, or maybe I'll split the canon kits of Heather/Breeze in half and he can have the older two (Smoke + Brindle)