[Fawn]

Name: Lionkit -> Lionpaw -> Lionstep -> Lionstar
Age: 27 Moons (81 Moons as of Leaf-fall #5)
Gender: Tom
Clan: TreeClan
Rank: Leader (formerly Deputy)


Foxy. by Solitary Lady, on Flickr

Picture: Additional Photos -> Click!


Description:

With long, dense, ruddy golden and gray-and-black-ticked fur, this large tom cat is more than a little reminiscent of the wild cousin he was named for. The fur around his neck billows out in a pale, golden-yellow mane, a distinctive brownish-black “M” mark often found on tabbies set on the center of his forehead. Alongside the white coloring around the eyes, his chin/lower muzzle, Lionstep was also blessed with lengthy white whiskers. His tail is a long, sweeping, gold-and-black-ticked plume, and so happens to be the thing he likes the most about himself, though there's arguably a lot to boast about. His eyes are a deep shade of gold with a dusting of black nearest the pupil, as if the color gradually fades more and more into the black with every few moons that pass him by. Lionstep had this particular name bestowed upon him because of two simple (and obvious) physical characteristics; he has the closest resemblance to a lion the Clans have seen in moons, and abnormally large paws. Because of these massive paws, he very rarely loses his balance, which is quite handy for a TreeClan cat (fighting from the trees, getting a good grip on the branches, etc). Lionstep is a fairly large creature, but large not in bulk but in overall size, appearing even larger due to the abundance of fur. Lionstep's muscles and weight are evenly distributed to each and every one of his sinewy limbs, and with those hefty paws at the end of each sturdy leg, this tom is a force to be reckoned with.

What comes with these abnormally large paws, however, are unsurprisingly long claws, giving this young warrior the power of intimidation to add to his already formidable skills. Equipped with a piercing amber stare and a deep growl, apprentices aren't always the first to leave the battlefield when faced against him for an opponent. Lionstep's pelt is darkest along his back and the tip of his tail, painted with black-and-gray ticking in a broken salt-and-pepper-appearance. The color that shines out on him the most is undoubtedly the golden-yellow hues along his chest and forepaws, making him glow brighter then even the aspens caught full bloom when he stretches out in the sun. His fur is a brilliant silver under the moonlight.

Though his physical appearance leaves him much to boast about, Lionstep is not just the showy warrior he may appear to be. All things considered, his true purpose, written all over those golden eyes of his, is to fight and protect. Though his morals may seem simple or even foolishly so, it's always been what his body was made for, what he trained so many moons for, and the depth of his commitment to his Clan is simply a compliment of that purpose.

Description Summary: A large long-furred golden tom with amber eyes and unusually large paws.

Personality:

The lion-like visage he displays gives him a certain amount of positive and negative feedback, right from the getgo, and in several ways, any preconceived notions about him because of his appearance are on the correct side of things. For example, based off of that luxurious mane of his and his fierce, regal appearance, one might assume he's a proud, stately figure of authority with the courage and inner strength of a lion. If that was your assumption, you'd be relatively correct - minus the 'stately figure of authority' part. Lionstep has been known for his remarkable courage, loyalty, dignity and mental strength to deal with mostly whatever is thrown his way; however, because of his maturity and devotion, cats often overlook his age sometimes.

Lionstep is still a young tom, though he's been a warrior for a while now, he is susceptible of letting his emotions get the best of him, with a frequently suppressed sense of recklessness and desire to prove himself in both combat and to his clanmates, that recklessness of his goes hand in hand with his selflessness to the point of self-endangerment. Being a TreeClan cat born and raised, Lionstep does well to carry on the same feelings and traditions of his noble ancestors, being the tom most likely to talk things out rather than start unsheathing his claws and spouting off rude words. This was actually a skill he had to learn the hard way rather than one that comes naturally to him; he is very action oriented, which in part is what makes him such a strong fighter and reliable comrade. As a kitten, he would attack his problems with the same ferocity and confidence that he attacked his enemies, and would defend his Clan and his position until his last breath. It took many moons to pry this 'upfront' approach to conflict out of his head, but his mentor eventually succeeded, and thus TreeClan was rewarded with a (mostly) level-headed young tom who has a very promising future ahead of him.

The main reason for that being his exceptional motivation, and behind those golden eyes is a fierce, reckless soul driven to protecting and keeping after his Clan even better then a queen after her own kits; Lionstep's devotion to the Clan not something to be questioned. One of Lionstep's biggest strengths and biggest flaw, is his completely biased support of TreeClan and TreeClan's decisions, destined or doomed to follow after and protect his Clan, even if it's a Clan in the wrong. One would think that with such a strong moral compass, he'd be able to realize the error of TreeClan's (or even his own) ways and side with those who are right, but Lionstep's trust, love and faith in TreeClan even overshadows his sense of right and wrong.

Lionstep's support seems to know no bounds, and whether or not he's digging his own grave by pledging such devotion to his Clan is still unclear. His greatest display of physical prowess is done solely on the battlefield, the tom never ceasing to shine in the red-tinged light of war—Lionstep making excellent use of his strength and claws combined. There's something ominously familiar about this Somali tom, as though he bears the strong aura of the cat who was once loved by few and hated by many, Tigerstar, leader of ShadowClan—but there is no cat alive who could possibly make such a connection. However, before anyone jumps the gun and accuses him of being as dastardly and ambitious as Tigerstar had been, his personality is by no means a carbon copy or a twist on a dead cat's wickedness.

It's true, Lionstep has several parallel traits with the long-dead Tigerstar, but his are arguably less ominous or secretive. Lionstep is very open about his love for TreeClan, and makes no attempts to hide his aspirations to become deputy of TreeClan. Lionstep also bears the traight of unusually long paws as well as a broad-shouldered build, much like Tigerstar, and has proven himself masterful in battle with various moves in his arsenal that might as well have been taught by Tigerstar himself. Lionstep can come off as aggressive towards cats of other Clans, though unless for a good reason, it's usually fueled by his passion to protect, not any sort of hostility for TreeClan's neighbors. What instantly sets him apart from Tigerstar, however, is a general sense of kindness and a goodnatured heart Tigerstar had never possessed or understood. Lionstep being the kind of cat to keep from stepping on anyone's toes, and often performs tiny, subtle acts of kindness to show his appreciation towards his Clanmates—something that Tigerstar never did.

While he has worked very hard, from the second he became an apprentice to become a warrior TreeClan would feel proud to call their own, Lionstep has also shown he is not TreeClan's perfect little golden boy all the time. He makes mistakes, he overreacts, he's reckless to a fault, but he lives and breathes for his Clan, and with time, perhaps a cat as well-meaning and motivated as Lionstep can one day place his name up amongst the greats.

Now that he has achieved the rank of Deputy, Lionstep's character is truly coming out of the woodwork. All the time spent training, all the hours spent working hard to be known to his Clanmates as a cat who doesn't slack off or shy away from his duties, a cat they can rely on, is finally paying off.

Lionstep is both nervous and incredibly excited at the same time; if being deputy means bringing TreeClan to greatness, then he intends to carry on full steam ahead, even if he has to push his Clan to greatness all by himself.

~*~

After the death of Distantstar, Lionstep has made the journey to the Moon Tree to become Lionstar, and has since then appointed Smallshine as his deputy, and is currently training two apprentices at once: Maggotpaw and Dawnpaw. In between the business that comes with running a Clan, Lionstar still finds the time to host his "Challenges" whenever there is a larger-than-normal amount of apprentices.

History:

Lionkit was born the son of Badgerstripe and Sandfur, two respectable older warriors of TreeClan of noble intentions, though no outstanding feats. Sandfur though, hailed from a long lineage of strong warriors with courageous hearts, and Lionkit seemed to have inherited the full brunt of his ancestors' most distinguishable features. Lionkit was actually the oldest of three kits born to the mated pair, and unfortunately he was the only one to survive Leafbare, and thus his parents poured all their efforts into raising Lionkit to become an outstanding, noble member of the Clan. Because Badgerstripe and Sandfur had had him late in their lives, it was right around the time that Lionkit became Lionpaw that they both retired to the elder's den, content with watching their son succeed from the sidelines.

Lionpaw's first mentor was a young cat by the name of Whitewing, and it was a relationship full of firsts for the both for them (Lionpaw was Whitewing's first apprentice), and the first week or so was a little rough. Fortunately, Lionpaw's time with Whitewing didn't last more than a moon, though unfortunately this was due to Whitewing's death at the paws of invading loners. It was then Whitewing's older brother, Aspenfur, who was to take over in place of the fallen Whitewing, but he had recieved a nasty wound to his back leg, and thus Lionpaw's apprenticeship was passed on to another cat. This cat was a senior warrior by the name of Sagefur, and was, in Lionpaw's opinion, the greatest cat whoever lived. Sure, he was older then the ground he walked upon, but that didn't mean he wasn't as sharp and tactful as he'd always been—educating Lionpaw about things other mentors wouldn't even bother with. He taught him information about each of the Clans, the things he'd learned throughout his moons as a warrior, and Sagefur even taught him about the old legends of TigerClan, LionClan and LeopardClan. Lionpaw was fascinated by the tales Sagefur told, even to the point of pledging to his temporary mentor that he would be just as great as the leaders of TigerClan, LionClan and LeopardClan—promising to surpass these legendary cats in everything from battle skills to hunting crouches. Sagefur was pleasantly amused by this, but did not seem to encourage Lionpaw's enthusiasm for the old Clans—as if he found Lionpaw's efforts wasted in trying to live up to the legends of yore. In fact, he frequently told the young cat to 'stop trying to be someone else, focus your efforts on being the best YOU that you can be.'

Lionpaw politely ignored Sagefur's words of wisdom, and still dreamed of the old Clans, envisioning himself as the greatest warrior amongst them, walking not in the pawsteps of the greats, but alongside them as an equal. In the seemingly short 5 moons Lionpaw spent with Sagefur, he'd learned more then he ever had while under the tutelage of both Whitewing and Aspenfur—and the young tom was very sorry to give the senior warrior up. Lionpaw became Lionstep at 12 moons of age, and spent the next 8 moons making a name for himself amongst the ranks of TreeClan, eager to prove that he was the best warrior he could be.

Since becoming a fully fledged warrior at exactly one year of age, Lionstep has been in a handful of battles, many of which proved triumphant for the golden-furred tom. Though he is a social cat with a soft spot for kits and apprentices, Lionstep has lately been lacking when it comes to more personal relationships with other cats. It's not to say that he's in some way defective when it comes to making friends or partaking in a little bit of harmless flirting, it's more or less that he's got a one-track mind, and is so wrapped up in his desires to do right by his Clan, he just hasn't had the time to form relationships. Though he'd call everyone in TreeClan a friend, he doesn't have any close friends, and Lionstep has a desire to change that.

Much to the immense surprise and pleasure of Lionstep, at 15 moons, this golden-furred tom was given his very first apprentice, a sorrel-furred she-cat by the name of Redpaw. Slightly nervous though as proud as any cat could be, Lionstep accepted the challenge of mentoring a young, eager cat not unlike himself in strides. Redpaw's apprenticeship was a fairly smooth process, though the she-cat did like to break her mentor's almost military style about himself by trying his patience or almost breaking a rule or two. Lionstep learned through Redpaw, who eventually became Redbird, to not take life quite so seriously, as well as to appreciate the peaceful moments in Clan life for exactly what they were, peaceful.

At the age of 27 moons, Lionstep was promoted to the rank of Deputy by Distantstar, Lionstep at last achieving a dream he had been striving for since his kitten days - acknowledgement from the Clan! It was with immense pride that he accepted this duty before his old mentor, Sagefur, and his former apprentice, Redbird, swearing to serve his Clan to the best of his abilities, to go, as Sagefur put it, 'Above and beyond the call of duty' if necessary, even if such a thing meant forfeiting his life. Sagefur did present the golden tom with a few more bits of advice, before the elderly tom retired amongst his fellow friends and comrades;

1) The Clan does not need a rigid deputy, but one who prides himself on compassion and courage, he mustn't forget that.

2) He's going to make mistakes, and that the idea of an entirely perfect deputyship and eventually leadership is a folly if ever there was one, and that he shouldn't take it so hard on himself when things get out of control or the fates start stepping in.

3) Just because he's deputy doesn't mean he still shouldn't have fun. He only has one life to live, and in Sagefur's wise opinion, it shouldn't be spent running himself into an early grave because he tries to do too much.

Lionstep is doing his absolute best to follow his mentor's sage advice.

Sometime around his 28th moon, Lionstar's mother took a second mate in the form of her oldest and closest friend, Bluestorm. When Lionstar was 30 moons, his mother Sandfur gave birth to a litter of two beautiful little she-kits, called Silverkit and Rowankit for their obvious color differences. Since then, at 36 moons, Lionstar has become humbled and sobered through leading TreeClan in times of great distress - the harshest winter he'd ever seen, for starters - and in times of great peace, though threat of NightClan hunting on TreeClan soil has sullied that peace a bit.

His younger sisters have since gone on to become apprentices, with Silverpaw going to Nobleheart and Luckeyes tutoring Rowanpaw in the ways of the warrior code. He is looking forward to their development, though he is careful to keep his own apprentice, the hot-tempered but well-meaning Featherpaw, within his sights.

RP Example:

"I haven't been near the Great Maple in a while," said an elderly tom. "Let's walk that way for a while."

It had been a long time since Lionstep had had some one-on-one time with his old mentor, and he was enjoying every minute of it, though Sagefur's pace had slowed and his fur had become so severely grayed, it was as if one of his ancestors might've been part wolf. Careful not to outpace the aged cat and make him work harder than necessary, Lionstep cleared his mind and slowed his steps to a meander, long plume of a tail sweeping against a few stray leaves of leaf-fall. "Tell me Lionstep," asked Sagefur in that gruff tone full of it's usual bouts of wisdom, "what have you been occupying your time with since our last walk?"
The eagle eye with which Sagefur had fixed on him almost made Lionstep laugh, and he covered up the gesture by smoothing down a patch of fur along his chest. "Oh the usual," he replied with an obvious note of warmth. "Hunt, eat, sleep. Hunt, eat, sleep. Hunt, ea--"

"Is that all?" spat Sagefur in amazement, the old tom coming to a complete halt to fix Lionstep with a disbelieving stare. Though one of his eyes has gone milky with old age, the tom's gaze was still as potent as ever. Lionstep frowned, puzzled by the older cat's reaction. "Well yes. What else am I supposed to do? There's always work to be done! If I'm not hunting for the Clan, I'm usually on patrol, if I'm not on patrol, I'm practicing battle techniques or sharing a few strategies with the apprentices. What else is there?"

Sagefur rolled his good eye. "More of a social life wouldn't kill you, Lionstep. Don't spent so much time working without at least taking an hour off for something fun." Lionstep was about to snort and spout off something about how Firestar probably never took any days off from his Clan duties, but Sagefur stopped him. "Haven't you ever heard the expression, 'you can't grow grass without rain'? You can't become the warrior you want to be without relaxing every now and again and enjoying life."

Lionstep studied the old cat thoughtfully, allowing Sagefur's words to sink in like a stone into a deep lake. "Is that how you've lived so long?" teased the golden tom, attempting to lighten the mood as well as show the old cat he wasn't at all above taking his former mentor's advice.

Sagefur chuckled. "Perhaps. Though I'm not telling you any more of my secrets until you learn to loosen those big shoulders of yours and stop walking around like you're out to save the entire forest!" Before Lionstep had had much of a chance to reply, Sagefur was already bounding towards the Great Maple with an energy and freedom of movement that belied his old age. Lionstep lurched forward into a sprint after his mentor, the wind rippling through his long mane-like fur as he leaped over a fallen log. Sagefur held on to a healthy lead, the elderly tom letting out a loud mrrrow of laughter as they arrived at their destination. Lionstep put on a last burst of speed to not make it seem as though Sagefur's exceptional running skill was such a big deal, but Sagefur's eyes were nevertheless twinkling with mirth.

"Keep moving forward, bigpaws, and maybe someday you'll outrun even me."

Other: If Lionstep were to ever have a theme song, this would be it:

Angel With A Shot Gun by The Cab.
This pretty much sums up his devotion to his Clan and his Clanmates. He'd even forsake StarClan and his ancestors for the sake of his Clan.

Notable Relatives:
Disclaimer: Sunstar or any cat mentioned below has no relation to canon characters, and is purely of my own making. The Sunstar mentioned here is not Sunfall/Sunstar, the leader of ThunderClan before Bluestar.

Sunstar (Formerly Sunblaze) – A long dead legend amongst the cats of TreeClan, Sunstar reigned long before Bluestar was even a twinkle in her father's eye. Lionstep is a direct descendent of this ancient cat, Sunstar was more a king than a leader, who ruled his Clan with gentility and a rock solid courageousness that has been passed down through all his descendents.

Russethawk, Roselight, Silverpaw, Rowanpaw.