Sunnystar

Appearance & Personality
Sunnystar is an athletic ginger she-cat with dark molly markings and a light underbelly. She has smaller features than average; including her ears and tail, and has strong amber eyes.

Over time, Sunnystar has scored several nasty scars; including those that take up all of half her face, the indent on her shoulder, the myriad of claw marks on her back right leg, the single line that Sweetbriar drew up her stomach in an attempt to kill her, and a clipped ear.

Sunnystar is a tough, intense she-cat notoriously known for her temper and reserved disposition. Though she is cold and a bit of a brute, she is capable of understanding and respecting others who meet her eye. She is extremely head strong and persistent not only with herself, but with others, and though she can come off strong doing so, is always pushing her Clanmates to be the best. She values hard work and ethics over everything else, and has strong core values to match her incredible drive. This she-cat is known to be extremely dedicated and resilient, refusing to let any obstacle stop her for long. She does not dwell on the past, but rather is always looking forward.

Sunnystar is worthy of her title, and has overall flourished from the bully she once was into the leader she is today.

She is also known to be particularly fond of training apprentices, and shows immense pride and joy in doing so.

Brief History
Sunnystar was born in ThunderClan to Littlemouth and an unknown kittypet tom. She was mentored by Ivytail and Sweetbriar in her youth, and was known to have been close friends with Icestar, Rosebeam, Jaggedstep, Wingsoar, and Spinheart. She mentored Shimmerpaw, and eventually became deputy under Rosestar. Later in life, she also mentored Monarchwing, and eventually both Primrosepaw and Cardinalpaw.

Kithood
Sunnykit was clan-born to Littlemouth and an unknown kittypet. Her mother told her her father had died before she was born, and fed her many charming stories about what a brave and dedicated of a warrior he was throughout her kithood. Through a lively imagination, she began to strive to be like him, quickly picking up a sense of purpose and direction in her life in her young.

Early Apprenticeship
Sunnypaw was apprenticed to Ivytail at the age of 6 moons. She spent a lot of her first moons in the forest; constantly training and putting in the extra effort; adopting a love for warriorship and passion for the Clan.

She quickly built a reputation for herself outside of being hard-working, too, however, and became known to often put others down for not meeting her standards of a warrior. She made enemies with Poolpaw very quickly. She constantly picked on the tom for being fat and lazy, and the two never got along; bickering for moons. Guided through the situation by Icestar, she had eventually planned to apologize to the tom for her immaturity, but Poolpaw was killed before she was able to make amends. In the days following Poolpaw's death, Sunnypaw found friendship and confidence in Rosebeam, who helped her navigate her roused feelings. Her new founded relationship with the deputy would eventually lead to them becoming good friends, and eventually Rosebeam picking Sunnygrove to serve ThunderClan along her side.

Shortly after Poolpaw's passing, Sunnypaw befriended a close friend of his, Wingpaw; sticking close to the she-cat throughout her apprenticeship. Together they faced a deadly fox attack that left Sunnypaw disfigured and much more petty drama within the Clan.

As Sunnypaw grew older and more and more ambitious, Sulfurstar took much interest in her. Sweetbriar, another member of the Aspguard, quickly introduced herself to the she-cat, taking advantage of her dreams and aspirations and twisting Sunnypaw into believing the Aspguard was something more of a group of brave warriors dedicated to training the most promising apprentices into becoming great heroes. Easily moved by Sweetbriar's lies, Sunnypaw agreed to train with the she-cat, even leading Leopardpaw to aid her in taking a life from Rainbowstar to prove their worth.

Using Sunnypaw's new self-loathing, due to having betrayed her own values, Sweetbriar was successfully able to drive Sunnypaw deeper into the Dark Forest, even bringing the she-cat to several training sessions and, at one point, revealing great valley secrets to her. She spent the latter half of her mid-apprenticeship training with the Aspguard rather than her mentor.

Late Apprenticeship
The Aspguard had set specific standards out for Sunnypaw to follow, and after breaking one of the rules by confiding in Wingpaw about her training, Sweetbriar suddenly wasn't so sweet anymore.

At first her punishments came in harsher training sessions, then, one fateful evening, a confrontation. Sunnypaw lied to Sweetbriar about the situation, sparing Wingpaw's life by instead telling Sweetbriar that Cinderpaw had been the one she shared her training with. The she-cats fought, arguing over what was right and wrong, ultimately tipping Sweetbriar over the edge. Sweetbriar took advantage of Sunnypaw's battered state and gut her stomach, leaving Sunnypaw to bleed out alone with one final warning; "You haven't seen the last of me."

After that day, Sunnypaw was never the same: Her values instilled ever deeper and her new found determination ablaze. She received her warrior name and was given the virtues resilience and determination after sharing her experiences with the Dark Forest with Icestar; who found a common thread between their experiences with Sulfurstar and the Aspguard.

Sunnygrove chose to stand with ThunderClan in the face of The Median, choosing imprisonment over freedom, redemption, and safety.

Warriorhood
Sunnygrove spent the first few moons as a warrior as a prisoner in ThunderClan. Despite the circumstances, she still sat her vigil. She helped aid the freedom efforts alongside Rosebeam and Icestar. She recieved her first apprentice, Shimmerpaw, during this time as well.

After The Median was overthrown from power, Sunnygrove remained openly against the cats that left ThunderClan, consequently creating a rift in her relationship with Spinpaw and many of her other Clanmates. She would often go out of her way to pick fights with others and question their loyalty, even going as far as to bully Spinpaw for fleeing to WindClan for safety.

As time went on, life began to return to normal. Until Sweetbriar learned of Wingsoar's true identity. The Aspguardian returned to Sunnygrove's life to terrorize her; often taunting her in her dreams and making Sunnygrove act headlessly to assure Wingsoar's safety. As stress from Sweetbriar, Icestar's ill health, and the looming threat of conflict with RiverClan grew in her life, Sunnygrove grew more irritable and often worrisome, taking out her stress on others.

As newleaf brought plentiful resources to ThunderClan, a band of foxes moved into the territory. Filled with greed, the foxes pillaged ThunderClan camp, where both her former mentor, Ivytail, and Icestar, were killed in battle. During ThunderClan's recovery, Sunnygrove found comfort Jaggedstep; the tom she'd fought alongside during the fox raid.

Despite support from her friends, the death of her mentor and her leader plunged Sunnygrove deeper into crisis. Feeling she had no options left, she turned to an old friend for support.. And though their relationship was broken, Spinpaw and Sunnygrove began to find comfort in each other again.

Deputyship
After Icestar's death, Rosestar did not hesitate to choose Sunnygrove as her deputy. And in turn, Sunnygrove did not hesitate to accept. The two quickly became an undeniably powerful duo, raising ThunderClan back from hell. She quickly adapted to her life as deputy; working tirelessly with alongside Rosestar and her Clanmates; soaring to full potential in her new position.

After she and Rosestar negotiated an alliance with WindClan in return for a small piece of land known as the Glade, RiverClan began taking over small plots of land belonging to WindClan; including the barn and many waterfronts. This resulted in skirmishes that evolved into a war, where Sunnygrove was gravely injured in a fight with another deputy, Tigertide, having had her skull bashed against a hay hook. She was lucky to make a full recovery in time to finish the war and ward off a returning pack of foxes.

As the first greenleaf of her deputyship came around, the weather became unbearably hot; particularly for young cats and elders. She lost her first apprentice, Shimmerpaw, to the heat, and battled with her self worth for several moons following. She and Spinheart would visit often turning this time, finding amenity and peace within each other's presence.

Despite Sunnygrove's first failure, Rosestar entrusted her nephew, Monarchpaw, to be apprenticed to Sunnygrove, and she went on to dedicate much of her time and energy to training the tom into becoming a strong warrior whilst also balancing her duties as a deputy.

During this small era of peace, Sulfurstar was killed at a Gathering; leaving Sunnygrove heavily shaken as she was reminded of her past. Despite the odds, she found consonance in the strangest of places- A run-in with The Median, who had retired from a life of control and terror to one of a warrior and had traded her power for a more humble title lead to Sunnygrove reaching a state inner peace and understanding for another she had never felt before. The two she-cats hit it off roughly at first: Their interaction beginning with Sunnygrove childishly taunting Bravetail for her past, but eventually blossomed into a mutual understanding of themselves. They were able to bond over Sulfurstar's impact on their lives, and grew to respect each other within a few short moments.

As greenleaf began to look up for Sunnygrove, Spinheart fell ill and passed away in her arms after confessing her love to the deputy. She was left rather distraught, but chose to remember the good in their relationship, tucking away their rocky past for good. Following Spinheart's death, Sunnygrove discovered a newfound maternal instinct over Pigeonpaw. She sought to protect and nurture the tom, forging a friendship with the young medicine cat, and even learning a bit of medicine herself.

The last moons of Sunnygrove's deputyship were rather smooth-sailing. She spent much time reflecting on herself and her values as Rosestar neared her final lives.

At her side, surrounded by family, Rosestar passed. From this moment she vowed to protect Rosestar's two youngest daughters and all of ThunderClan with every bit of her fighting strength.

Shortly after the death of Rosestar, Sunnygrove, accompanied by no body but herself, sought off to receive her nine lives.

Leadership
Feeling she could trust what remained of Rosestar's legacy with nobody but herself, Sunnystar apprenticed both Primrosekit and Cardinalkit under her; unable to dedicate either apprentice to even Jaggedstep or Wingsoar.

After only a few short days of thought, Sunnystar was prepared to name her successor. Under the moonlight, she announced X would serve as ThunderClan's deputy.

Lives, Their Meanings, and Loss
''Sunnygrove's lives were collected overtime from the moment she was born up to the moment Rosestar died. This is what she's learned. Each life will be given by an influential figure from her past.''

1 Pride; Given by Littlemouth

Littlemouth, Sunnygrove's mother, was the first to give the young cat a sense of pride and belonging. She told Sunnygrove of her roots and cultivated her into being the very she-cat she is today.

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2 Honor; Given by the spirit of Ivytail

Ivytail was Sunnygrove's mentor. She taught her what it meant to be a warrior and drove the she-cat's ambition from the time she was young.

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3 Loyalty; Given by Kestrelfall

In times of uncertainty, Sunnygrove stayed loyal to ThunderClan. Though Kestrelfall left ThunderClan in fear, he carries this wisdom, and gives it as a virtue in Sunnygrove's third life.

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4 Forgiveness and Wisdom; Given by Rainbowstar

One of the most pivotal moments of Sunnygrove's life was when she took a life from Rainbowstar. And even though she killed the leader, Rainbowstar saved her twice. Rainbowstar taught Sunnygrove a valuable lesson in giving second chances and seeing beyond what you know.

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5 Appreciating the companionship of a medicine cat; Given by Spinheart

Sunnygrove and Spinheart had a very strained relationship for a long time, but eventually Sunnygrove learned to forgive past mistakes and move forward. (She was also generally known to be very stuck-up about her treatments..)

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6 War and peace; Given by Softweb

The war between RiverClan and ThunderClan/WindClan was unnecessarily bloody and could have been avoided with diplomacy and level-headedness. Giving Sunnygrove this virtue should be.. obviously needed.

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7 Persistence; Given by Shimmerpaw

A reminder to Sunnygrove to move forward despite the hard times. Developed in rememberance of Shimmerpaw and Spinheart's passing.

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8 Valiance; Given by Icestar

Because sometimes you need a reminder to be brave, from the bravest.

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9 Aspiration and Resolution; Given by Rosestar

Rosestar was an important figure from early on in Sunnygrove's life to the very end of her own. She taught Sunnygrove to chase everything she could ever dream of chasing, but to make those decisions wisely.

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