Bayflower

A black pelted cat with dark eyes and a short tail

A short-furred black feline with an average frame though they lean a little on the skinnier side. They doesn’t have any markings and their alomond-shaped eyes are dark brown. Bayflower’s tail is short but not a stub and their ears are also that of an average cat’s. Their fur is sleek and their face appears pointed.

A cat who considers themselves to be very average when it comes to anything really. Bayflower values basic respect above all else and will get upset when a cat is disrespectful. Along with this, Bayflower does their best to keep their clan happy and healthy, trying to spread a bit of joy to all their clanmates while sticking to their duties such as keeping up with marking borders and hunting as much prey as they can in one day to feed their clan, especially in leafbare. They dream of being someone great like a leader and sometimes wishes they were a medicine cat rather than a warrior since they feel that they can help their clan better if they were one.

Bayflower is usually found in a content mood, the black feline having a pretty optimistic view in life. They enjoy sunbathing, either cat-watching or watching other animals go on with their day-to-day lives. After all, what’s better than seeing the world being in a happy and healthy balance? Although Bayflower does their best to live in the moment and only think about the present and future, sometimes they’ll find themselves missing their littermates. Sure they weren’t super close or anything but after their deaths, sometimes they felt as if they were missing something… Of course, they’d never think about it for too long. What kind of warrior would they be if they lived in the past? It was their job to only live in the present and future to make sure the clan was well taken care of.

Bayflower sees themselves as a very fearless cat, not afraid to throw themselves into a fight or attempt to climb the highest of trees due their trust in StarClan. They also don’t mind loud noises and environments. In fact, they quite like them! But one thought that upsets them is the thought of letting down all their clanmates. This stems from their belief that everything in life needs a balance and so they strongly believe that they must give back to the clan that raised and continues to shelter them. This is way Bayflower is often seen working hard, hunting and marking borders.

Bayflower is already known to be a softer clan cat but something they really enjoy is being groomed by another cat. Essentially, being taken care of and/or given compliments and praised. It just makes them happy and keeps them away from their fears, the tom feeling like he is worth something and that all his day-to-day work pays off. 

“Oh my StarClan.” Bayflower CANNOT stand high-pitched noises; it just makes their ears so unhappy. Loud environments and sounds are fine but when it becomes high-pitched they just get so irritated. So things like kits throwing a tantrum via screaming pisses them off. It makes them flex their claws and make them hope that they never have kits of their own as much as they adore the little bundles of joy. Other than that, there’s nothing else that really annoys Bayflower, the tom being a generally open-minded and understanding cat who does what he can to not act like a petty rouge who got the smallest piece of fresh-kill in leaffall.

They are a cat who has a habit of saying whatever is on their mind since it helps them process their thoughts better so you may often hear them mumbling to themselves. They swear there’s nothing wrong with them though! They’re just thinking aloud. Another habit of theirs is their habit to stretch all the time. Waking up? They’ll do a stretch. Caught the first piece of prey of the day? They’ll do a stretch. Where does this habit come from? Even they’re not sure but they sure do love stretching.

• Born in the Moon of Leopard's Rest (2017) 102

Kithood (Kitten)

《0-6 moons old》

The time in Bayflower’s life where they were most boisterous and also when they learned basic social skills. Their poor mother had to constantly make sure that they didn’t swallow since well they just had a habit of nibbling on things. Bayflower had a pretty average kithood, little Baykit being a cheerful, energetic, and noisy as they tackled their sister from one end of the nursery to the other. Baykit was lucky enough to have a father who spent his free time with the kits and their mother and they had a decent relationship.

Apprenticeship

《7-12 moons old》

In the first third of their apprenticeship, Baypaw was felt very motivated and eager to learn, the young cat finding joy in anything and everything they came across from the patch of herbs they walked by sometimes to defeating their sister in a spar, Baypaw just had this spark in them that was hard for their sister to compete with, which well… Eventually it led to some conflict. Baypaw’s spark came from their desire to be the perfect child for their parents who had taught them everything they had known until now but their sister just didn’t share that sentiment, instead finding Baypaw’s perfectionistic tendencies annoying and irritable.

In the second third of Baypaw’s apprenticeship they matured faster than their sister in terms of things like emotional intelligence, leading to jealousy and anger from their sister and clashes within their family dynamic. The struggle of being on bad terms with their sister transferred into their training, the feline oftentimes either distracted or not wanting to get out of their nest.

In the last third of Baypaw’s training they slowly went from being loud and bubbly to becoming a more quiet and reserved cat, the black feline still not having made amends with their sister. But at this point, they didn’t let it bother them anymore, deciding that if their littermate didn’t want to talk to them then that was her own problem. They almost failed their assessment but ended up passing.

Warriorhood

《13-30 moons old》

They couldn’t believe it. Time really flew by. Just a few moons ago they were playing in the nursery with their sister but now, here they were, a full warrior who was allowed to leave camp whenever they wanted and basically do whatever they wanted as long as it followed the warrior code. Unfortunately for them, they still hadn’t made up with their sister but at least things could be worse, right? Not everything was all dark storms and clouds. Somedays were sunshines and rainbows too! Bayflower… That rolled off their tongue nicely. 

When Bayflower was about 24 moons old they lost their father, mother, and sister to greencough which broke their heart since this was just when they were sure that they were starting to repair their relationship with their sister again. It wasn’t fair. But like every other warrior who lost their loved ones they couldn’t wallow in grief for too long, no longer taking lighter duties quatre a moon after their deaths. They were fine. They told themselves. They would see them again in StarClan even if that was in over 30 moons it wasn’t forever. They were watching over them…

(The past six moons)

The past six moons had not been easy to say the least despite the fact it had almost been an entire 12 moons since their family’s passing; Bayflower occasionally feeling a little depressed and lonely from the absence of their kin but they’d never let it get to them, snapping themselves out of it whenever it happened to focus on their duties as a warrior. They had to accept this. Life without its struggles would be way too easy. This was life’s way of keeping things balanced. With death. Maybe that was something only warriors who struggled with losses told themselves but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they continued to look up to StarClan while keeping their clan happy and healthy. 

And with that mindset, Bayflower has been doing better compared to the day after the death of their family, the black feline keeping up their optimistic mindset and continuing to work hard to feed and support their clan. Recently, Bayflower had realised that in the past, most of their time was spent with their family. So despite their friendly demeanour they didn’t really know any of their clanmates and with that, Bayflower told themselves that they’d start to put themselves out there again and make a friend or two.

• Relaxing Day with Beewhisker (18CF'20)