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EARLY LIFE
APR '20 - DEC '20 x
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Youkai had never had an easy life. The tom was used as a bait animal for a dog fighting ring, getting all sorts of scrapes, wounds, and even part of his face torn. When he was finally given a sort of "leadership" position within the ring, he took it. Not out of desire, but out of necessity for the other cats in a position like his.
It was through this leadership he met Sakura, a beautiful molly. Their first meeting was between the cold metal bars that encased their yard, but eventually they grew closer and became mates. Sakura blessed him with his first litter when he was (blank moons old), a three kit litter consisting of two toms and a molly.
Ume, Shiori, and Kazumi were their names. Ume and Shiori had more of the grey that their father had, while Belladonna was a black smoke, a low amount of white on her chest. After their birth, their father officially left the dog fighting ring. But fate has a strange way of reminding you where you started.
When his first litter was three moons old, Sakura birthed another: three beautiful mollies, all taking after their mother. However, while nursing a dog came tearing down the alley — Youkai was able to grab his older kits and use his body as a shield, but Sakura and his younger daughters were torn to ribbons. Kazumi does not remember much of her mother before this, and trying to summon memories of her or her younger sisters always resulted in her seeing her mother being torn to shreds again.
Youkai managed to protect Kazumi and her brothers, suffering some new wounds in the process. He buried what was left of his mate and daughters, trying to find a better place for himself and his children that he would now have to raise without a mate.
At six moons old, the yellow teeth and snapping maws came again. All Youkai could do was lead the beast away, telling his children to run. Ume, Shiori and Kazumi all scattered. She never saw Ume or Shiori again. She hopes they were picked up by twolegs, or that they had some other chance at a nice life. Maybe they're still alive out there, wondering if she made it out.
Kazumi ran as fast as she could. She was larger than the typical feline of her age, not by much, but enough she could carry herself as far as she needed. When exhaustion finally took over, she had entered the loner lands, beyond the shipyard. She collapsed under an overhang, waking up to a calico molly standing over her the next morning.
She was grizzled, an older woman with a squinting eye and deep scarring that reminded her of her father. Whiskers twisted and grey, the black on her pelt beginning to grow a shade of silver. She eyed Kazumi, her face twisting in a snarl. Kazumi couldn't help herself, she started sobbing thinking about her mother, her sisters, and her father and brothers that may have been killed that day. The older molly stiffened, before softening and laying beside the young she-cat — licking away her tears.
She introduced herself as Shimmer, and from that day forth, Shimmer took in Kazumi as her ward. Shimmer taught Kazumi everything she knew about survival, training her to hunt, to stalk, to avoid and survive. Howls or barks in the night would cause Kazumi to cry, and Shimmer would push herself into her until it stopped.
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LIFE WITH SHIMMER
JAN '21 - JUN '24 x
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At thirteen moons, Kazumi was able to hold her own. She was quiet, hardened. She acted more like a programmed soldier than a cat, only speaking to Shimmer and only speaking to other loners when they addressed her specifically. She joined Shimmer in meeting other loners to share secrets, hunting locations, good places to rest — all for the sake of mutual prosperity.
At twenty-five moons, the duo had a run in with another dog. Shimmer was quick, rushing into a small space under a building in twolegplace and urging Kazumi to do the same. Kazumi was wider than the slim older molly, and while trying to squeeze under, the dog clamped down on her hind leg hard. Shimmer dug her claws into Kazumi to pull her in, and Kazumi survived — with all the fur missing from her hind leg. The scarring was deep, a red mass of exposed flesh. She limped for a few moons, but eventually recovered. Her hind leg, however, never grew its fur back. Shimmer always joked it made her look scarier, a scar to remember a battle she survived.
The arrangements went well… until they started talking to a band of rogues. Kazumi had joined her on this excursion, especially as Shimmer was growing older. She was over 120 moons, though she would never tell Kazumi exactly how old. Kazumi was approaching 50, having lived with Shimmer for almost 34 moons — almost her entire life. She had survived winters, summers, prey shortages. This deal with the rogues was supposed to secure her future.
Kazumi didn't like the means, but she was just over four years old. Shimmer had promised Kazumi would mate with a rogue, produce kits and the duo could live in their clowder and be fed and taken care of. However, Kazumi had a secret she had never discussed with Shimmer: the thought of laying with a tom repulsed her. She was much more interested in the beautiful molly that sat beside the leader as they spoke. Still, she tried to be strong, knowing it would be beneficial for her and the molly that raised her.
The deal was accepted, and once in private with the tom, Kazumi broke. She couldn't go through with it, running away. Outraged, the tom explained what had happened to their leader who turned on Shimmer. Shimmer gave Kazumi one last pleading look, before telling the molly to run. Kazumi didn't hesitate, but Shimmer's screams have haunted her nightmares since that night. She tried to run, but a rogue caught up to her. She managed to send him running, but not before he left her with some deep gashes on her face to remember him by.
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SHADOWCLAN LIFE
DEC '24 - PRESENT x
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Bloodied, without the only feline she could call family, and terrified. She cried for the first time since she lost her father and brothers. It took her moons of wandering to finally stumble into Shadowclan camp. She was 56 moons, and practically fainted on their doorstep. The clan had recently splintered away from Thunderclan — a clan they once shared a colony with. A divide in loyalty had split them apart, and the newly formed clan was closeknit. The leader, Sablestar, took pity on the molly. She was thin, her facial gashes deep and marred from a lack of proper care, her pelt stained with blood and foliage. She was helped by their medicine cat, and once she was well enough to stand, she softly thanked Sablestar for his kindness and went to leave. However, she was offered a home there, a place to stay — a loose idea of a family and a colony where all they asked was you to pull your weight.
Due to the state she was found in, she was given the name Belladonna. It felt fresh, like a new start after the life Kazumi had lived. She trained with Helleboremask, an older molly who had a good sense of humour — often joking about small mishaps the molly had. After a few moons to test her skill, she was given the name "Belladonnadance" — due to her odd fighting style, the same she had learned from Shimmer. It felt right, like a remnant of her in a way.
At 67 moons, during a scavenging mission to steal prey from Skyclan — she found Youkai. Her father. He was of their clan, his new name being Duskpool. She was stunned, and the two reconnected as much as they could before the Skyclan leader or deputy caught her. Her father told her they would talk more at the next gathering, but upon arriving… she discovered her father had fallen into the gorge, leading dogs away from his clanmates.
She was heartbroken, but was able to learn from the Skyclan deputy that she was actually Duskpool's half-sister. Meaning that she had some family after all. The pair conversed, and they decided to meet when they could to reconnect.
Through Flowercloud, her aunt: she has learned of Starclan. She prays often, talking to Shimmer, to her mother, sometimes even to Duskpool. She's mumbled things to Shiori and Ume too, just in case they're up there.
Her loyalty belongs to Shadowclan, and she has been gifted her first apprentice recently: Crowpaw.
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