Pantherstar (DawnClan)



Pantherstar is the current leader of DawnClan. She was born male but feels female, in other words, trans. Note: you should probably read the DawnClan blog post (linked above) to understand anything on this page. Another note: Hamilton fans, find the references!

Appearance
Pantherstar is a pure black short-furred cat; she looks like a tom. She has small points on her cheeks as well as straight ears. She has light green eyes like her mother, Rosedawn, and a long, graceful tail like her father, Moonfall. Her nose is a pink color that has a slight reddish tinge to it, and the insides of her ears are white. She also has a long dark pink scar down the right side of her face, jutting through the upper-right corner of her right eye.

Personality
Pantherstar is a determined and ambitious she-cat with unwavering loyalty to those who support her. She did not use to feel loyal to all of DawnClan because they treated her as if she is a loner impersonating a warrior, but now that she's become leader, they have realized that she is capable of doing anything white cats can, if not more. She is extremely persuasive and stubborn, and also proud, so she does not ask for help unless she is in dire need of it. This is one of her flaws. Also, Pantherstar does not trust easily. She knows that with respect comes trustworthiness, and without respect comes disloyalty and mocking. This is especially true because she is a black cat as well as the leader of DawnClan, plus her brother, Snowhawk, is an all-white cat, so many cats in the Clan believed that he would become deputy and then leader.

History
Pantherkit was born to Rosedawn and Moonfall of DawnClan alongside her brother, Snowkit. When the two toms (for Pantherstar has a tom's body) were born in Rosedawn's nest, the medicine cat, Goldenbubble, watching over, every cat was surprised to realize that one of Rosedawn's kits was pitch black and the other was snow white.

''"A magpie litter," Rabbitpelt, DawnClan's permanent queen, said. Rosedawn and Moonfall looked at their two kits, then back at each other. They both nodded. "We will never love either of our kits more or less because of their coloring," Rosedawn meowed. Moonfall nodded. "It's their personality that counts." To the mates' surprise, Rabbitpelt nodded. "I am sorry that the Clan has felt this way for so long. Hopefully your litter can change DawnClan's culture, for I believe it has been this way since Lightstar's time." "We will each name a kit," Rosedawn said to Moonfall, and her mate nodded. "The white kit shall be Snowkit," Rosedawn told Rabbitpelt, Goldenbubble, and Moonfall. Moonfall agreed. "And the black kit shall be Pantherkit." "A good strong name," Rosedawn approved. "He'll need it, for what the Clan will say," Moonfall meowed. Rosedawn nodded sadly. "I wish he didn't."''

It didn't take long for Pantherkit to realize that even though everyone was calling them a tom, she felt like a she-cat. It was odd, but she felt a connection with Rabbitpelt, nursing so many kits and watching so many kittings throughout her days. She didn't want to be a tom. She wanted to be a she-cat.

''Rosedawn wouldn't understand, and neither would Moonfall. Snowkit? StarClan knew if her brother would ever understand anything about Pantherkit. He was too busy playing with Shiningkit and Gleamkit, the two kits of Windlight and Darknose, who were three moons older and both had white markings.''

When Pantherkit and Snowkit reached six moons old, they were apprenticed and given the names Pantherray and Snowray. Snowray's mentor was Limeeyes, who was extremely ambitious and thought white cats were the best. Pantherray's mentor was Brownpetal, an all-colored cat.

''Pantherray knew and liked Brownpetal, but she couldn't help thinking that Jaystar had done this on purpose. Give Rosedawn's "magpie litter" mentors that were exactly like them.'' Well, I won't let him, she thought. I'll show everyone that black cats aren't as weak as they think we are.

One day, about a quarter moon after Pantherray's and Snowray's apprentice ceremonies, Pantherray was out hunting with Brownpetal and a few other DawnClan warriors. They chose the spot west of the camp, where the foothills of the valley began and the meadow started to rise up into mountains. Brownpetal accompanied Pantherray to a gap between two hills, where the Clan had always known hosted an abundance of prey. Despite the fact that every warrior knew this was the best hunting spot in the hills, all the other warriors decided to leave.

They don't want to hunt with me, or Brownpetal, Pantherray thought. It's because I'm a black cat. ''She sighed. There was nothing really she could do about that, not now. Just you wait, DawnClan, she thought.'' I'll be the best warrior you've ever seen, but first I have to find some prey. ''She sniffed the air and was stalking a mouse when a foul scent rose up on the air behind her. Her blood ran cold as she turned and saw the snarling face of a red fox. Pantherray shrieked in fear, a long, wailing note that she felt sure could be heard from the tops of the mountains. But the only cat who appeared was Brownpetal, who gasped when she saw the fox. "Pantherray," she screeched, "run!" But the fox was over her, trapping her, weaving all around her and swiping, scratching, nearly missing every time. Pantherray knew she couldn't keep this up. In a desperate display of courage, Brownpetal leaped at the fox and pulled it off her apprentice, but she couldn't hold on because of the fox bucking and spitting. The brown she-cat slid off of the fox onto the ground, where she crouched, winded. The fox turned its attention back to Pantherray, who couldn't turn her face away in time. The fox's claw slid out and sliced neatly across Pantherray's face, nicking the corner of her right eye. Pantherray collapsed in pain, and Brownpetal limped over to her as quickly as possible and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck. Her eyes had fallen closed, and everything was going black...''

Pantherray woke up in the medicine den. Goldenbubble was treating her face, but there would be a scar. Brownpetal and Pantherray both knew that if the other warriors on the hunting patrol had come to help her when she screamed, she would probably be unharmed.

Later that day, Jaystar called a Clan meeting, and warned every cat that if some cat called for help, you should go help them, no matter what. And if a cat was revealed to be standing by when their Clanmate was in trouble, there would be consequences.

At first, Pantherray didn't believe that Jaystar hadn't done it just because Brownpetal asked him to, but slowly she came to know that Jaystar was more compassionate than he looked under his fierce and strong exterior.

Maybe, just maybe, she had a chance.

As Pantherray earned her senior apprentice name, Panthersky, and went on to become better and better at hunting and fighting, the other cats of DawnClan began to resent her more and more, especially her brother Snowray, now Snowsky. One day she asked him about it.

''"Why do you always do this?" she asked. "Why can't you actually like me?" Snowsky looked at her. "'Cause you're a black cat, and I'm a white cat," he said. "It has to be this way." "No it doesn't," she insisted. "It's just an old custom. There's nothing wrong with black cats. There's nothing wrong with me!" Snowsky glanced away. "It's not my fault if I'm more important than you."''

Panthersky felt as if she were falling. This can't be happening. Snowsky can't mean that. ''Is he even my brother anymore? He probably didn't consider her to be her sister, or brother, or whatever he thought she was. It didn't matter now anyway.''

''Panthersky burst into the warriors den, looking for her parents. "Rosedawn! Moonfall!" she called. A warrior, Pineshade, looked up from his nest. "Your parents went out hunting with Jaystar," he said. "Thank you," Panthersky said absentmindedly, rushing from the den. She had to find her parents. She followed their scent out of the camp and east, towards the ocean. She ran farther and farther until she could actually glimpse the ocean in the distance.'' Where have they gone? she thought. I've never heard of any cat hunting this far from the camp... ''Finally, she saw them. They were— they were—''flying! ''When she ran up to them and called out, her parents and Jaystar immediately rose back down to the ground. "Oh, Panthersky, I'm sorry," Moonfall meowed. "We were going to tell you once you became a warrior-in-training, but I see that you've learned of it now, so we might as well explain. It's something DawnClan learned to do, way back in Lightstar's time, but have forgotten because of— oh, this is too much to explain. I'd better start from the beginning. And so they did, with Rosedawn and Jaystar jumping in occasionally with finer points. (Note: if you don't know the story, read it here.) After they were done, Panthersky gasped. "You— you mean you're the first cats to do it since Lightstar's time?" she meowed excitedly. "Are you aware that you're making history? It's the first time in ages a cat has learned to do this!" "It's called skysight," Moonfall told her, "because you can see the whole sky from up there." "Can I try?" Panthersky asked. And so she did.''

''Moonfall told her that they'd been practicing as often as they could, and about a half moon after Rosedawn's kitting they'd been discovered by Jaystar. Instead of punishing them, he'd asked if he could join them in their practices, and they'd accepted. No other cat in DawnClan knew except maaaaaybe Goldenbubble, and possibly Sparrowglide. And now Panthersky, of course. "Don't tell your brother," her father warned. "He'll just be jealous." Panthersky knew that all right. Snowsky would never pass up a chance to grow more popular with the Clan, and this thing that their parents had discovered, and now his sister brother could do too— he'd go wild. Panthersky was tempted to tell him just to see his reaction, but there was always the chance the Clan would find out (actually, who was she kidding, of course the Clan would find out) and bad things would happen.''

Rosedawn and Moonfall
Pantherstar's parents care deeply about her, and never rate her brother, Snowhawk, above her. However, Pantherstar can sometimes feel uncomfortable with their protectiveness, and tries to refuse their help. She wants them to know that she can do things for herself, and that she's strong enough to defend herself from the Clan.

Brownpetal
Brownpetal is one of the only cats that Pantherstar can relate to with feelings about the Clan treating her this way. Brownpetal is an all-colored cat, known by the Clan as a "coloredfur" and referred to by some of the meaner cats as a "Noglow." Brownpetal is also Pantherstar's former mentor, and the two share a strong relationship that has continued throughout many moons.

Jaystar
While Jaystar lived, he was one of Pantherstar's most trusted companions. Despite what Pantherflight thought about his stereotyped beliefs, he really sympathized with her and tried to do everything he could to make the Clan trust her the same as Snowhawk. He also supported Pantherflight's efforts to reawaken DawnClan's power, and Pantherflight was one of the cats who mourned Jaystar the most after he died.

Snowhawk
Pantherstar's brother never really got along with her. Maybe it was because so many of the DawnClan warriors told him, "You're better than your brother. He's a Darkglow. You're an Allglow!" (Remember that everyone thinks Pantherstar is a tom.) He even tried to lead her into a trap with some foxes once, but Pantherflight outsmarted him. However, once Pantherstar became leader and revealed to all DawnClan the ancient power of the glide, he somewhat made amends with her, and said he hoped his kits (with Shiningstream) would be better at gliding than he was, and would bridge the gap between them.

Lemonflower (Future Relationship, Written in the Future)
The cat Pantherstar picked as deputy, the sister of her mate, is one of the cats Pantherstar best gets along with. Pantherstar made sure she was mentored by one of her most trusted senior warriors during her senior warrior training—her mother, Rosedawn—and also kept an eye over her deputy training, which was overseen by the old deputy, Featherwind. Once Featherwind retired, Pantherstar knew that Lemonflower was the perfect choice for the deputy position. She was smart, kind, and sensible and always knew what to say when Pantherstar didn't.

Sparkflash (Future Relationship, Written in the Future)
Pantherstar's mate is the only cat in the whole of DawnClan who knows her real gender. Everyone thinks that Pantherstar and Sparkflash are hetereosexual, but they're really not, because they're both she-cats. However, because Pantherstar has the body of a tom, they are considering having kits. Sometime. In the future.

Family Tree
Pantherstar's family tree, made by me on familyecho.com

Quotes
"I am the youngest warrior in deputy training. I am a cat with no white fur and all black fur. I am the smaller of my mother and father's kits. I am the sister of a snow-white tom. I am a cat no one believes in. 'I will become deputy."

"Brownpetal: 'White cats are overrated.' Pantherflight: 'If you stacked the distance from the Moonwater and back one hundred times into the air, white cats would be rated one million fox-lengths beyond that while they're in reality close to that distance underground.'"