nettleheart

[attr="class","arrgenMAINTEXT"]nettleheart often lives up to his namesake, for his tongue is sharp and personality prickly. as far as medicine cats go, some might hardly consider him a medicine cat at all. the brute is gruff even at the best of times, with blunt words and an outstanding impatience that might make some wonder why he became a medicine cat in the first place. on the surface, nettleheart comes across as short tempered and dispassionate of others. he isn’t one to soothe and coo his patients into a contented lull, but rather adopts a tough love approach in his practices. while the medicine cat is certainly aware of the struggles his clan mates may go through, their pains, ailments and symptoms, nettleheart has a tendency to downplay the severity of their symptoms. that is, the brute is more likely silence their complaints than take sympathy. in part, this is because he simply doesn’t have the patience to listen to their moaning and groaning, but the other part of him also believes that if he comes across as nonchalant, then they too will believe their situation isn’t so bad.

nettleheart is difficult to get along with even on the good days. he presents himself with a no-nonsense attitude and sarcastic tongue that could easily pierce the armor of more sensitive felines. the medicine cat likes to think he says it like it is, though he often borderlines on the cruel side. nettleheart can be tactless with his words, sparing grace to get the point across, even if it’ll hurt those that have to hear it. but it isn’t his job to be everyone’s friend. his duty is to his clan and to starclan. nettleheart walks with a confidence that some might perceived as arrogance, but it is this very confidence that makes him a skilled medicine cat and an intimidating force to deal with.

the former warrior apprentice is no stranger to conflict and one should not assume that he will take on a passive stance simply because of his position as medicine cat. in this way, nettleheart is hardly a medicine cat at all. in his younger moons (though he isn’t so old now), his favourite pass time was combat training and antagonizing his enemies at every corner. he loved the thrill of the fight and the ability to flex his brute power. truth be told, a small part of the tom misses those days. he spends many mornings wondering how his life would have turned out had he stayed on the path he began. more often than not, his old ways seep through that medicine cat demeanor and rears its ugly head.

despite nettleheart’s unconventional disposition, the medicine cat is committed to his place within riverclan. though he may be too proud and too rude in a lot of ways, there is no denying that this brute is a dutiful medicine cat. whether it be courage in fight or courage in his belief in starclan, nettleheart is steadfast in his beliefs and his ability to provide riverclan with the medicine cat they need.

[attr="class","arrgenMAINTEXT"]nettleheart's life began as most do: as the result of two young lovers who lived and breathed for riverclan. it was the midst of leaf-fall when they were borne into the world; the leaves were a vibrant scarlet and frost had already begun to freeze the forest floor. despite the precarious time of their births, nettlekit, blossomkit, and oak-kit were welcomed dotingly by their parents and riverclan. the warm days of summer dwindled with the dying light and as leaf-bare began to set into the forest, so too did the sickness.

at three moons old, blossomkit, nettlekit, oak-kit, and their mother were admitted into the medicine cat den with green cough. it was here that the tom resided with his family for the next three moons. yellowstrike tended to them well, diligent that they remain by his side until they'd fully recovered so as not to spread to sickness into the rest of the nursery. by six moons old, the kits were ready to be apprenticed. all three siblings earned their 'paw names, and although nettlepaw and blossompaw seemed healthy and strong, it was oakpaw who continued to struggle. he had yet to lose his runt-like appearance, and his early training quickly became delayed when he was not yet able enough to leave the medicine cat den.

it was less than a moon after their apprenticeship began when starclan reach down to take oakpaw away from them. his passing rattled nettlepaw, and he found himself quickly realizing how much he couldn't stand to lose blossompaw too. the remaining two siblings continued their apprenticeships in what ways they could after that. they were largely independent and sometimes coarse around the edges, but there was no denying the unbreakable dedication and loyalty nettlepaw felt for his sister, even if he didn't always show it. blososmpaw and nettlepaw were similar in a lot of ways, and often the lacked the intricate delicacies they may have benefited learning from oakpaw.

nettlepaw's early days in the medicine cat den stayed with him for a long time. even as a warrior apprentice, the young tom often felt most at home when the herbal scents rolling off yellowstrike's pelt took his mind back to those days (as unpleasant as they may have been). yet nettlepaw thrived as a warrior apprentice. he had the brute strength and the skill to hold his own most of the time, and though his mentor tried vainly to temper his well... temper, nettlepaw always remained a blunt and opinionated creature. nettlepaw seemed born and bred to be a successful warrior, but starclan had other plans for him.

at eleven moons old, yellowstrike approached nettlepaw with a proposition. the older tabby tom informed nettlepaw that he believed starclan had chosen him to one day succeed yellowstrike as riverclan's medicine cat. nettlepaw's entire world turned upside down right then and there. he wasn't cut out to be a medicine cat! his muscles were strong and reflexes sharp, everything about nettlepaw screamed that he would one day be a formidable warrior. had yellowstrike lost his mind? had starclan lost their minds? nettlepaw didn't quite know what to make of it, but in that moment, the only words he could find on his tongue were "okay, i'll do it." nettlepaw wasn't sure how much he believed in fate, but starclan had to have their reasons for choosing him. so, one moon shy of earning his warrior name, nettlepaw was stripped of his duties as a warrior apprentice and quickly fell under yellowstrike's wing. how bittersweet it was to watch from the sidelines as blossompaw earned her full name without him at her side.

nettlepaw's moons as a medicine cat apprentice were different than he imagined them to be. yellowstrike was rough around the edges in more ways than one and although their abrasive personalities seemed like the perfect concoction for war, such was not the case. they both admired the practice behind healing, but where they really connected was in their affinity towards a different kind of a life. a life in which they led that paths as warriors like both had imagined themselves to do early on in their lives. nettlepaw and yellowstrike were an as unlikely a pair as they were unlike what most thought medicine cats to be. they held up their own and often toed the boundaries of two worlds.

at nineteen moons of age, yellowstrike finally felt it time to award nettlepaw his full medicine cat name. from then onward, he would be known only as nettleheart. the large tom wore his new name like a badge of honour, allowing it to become a symbol of the skills he'd learned to be confident in. it was not long after that yellowstrike informed nettleheart that he refused to push his true self aside any longer. the older medicine cat had believed all his life that his place within riverclan was as a loyal and dedicated warrior. nettleheart couldn't fault yellowstrike for that as he understood that calling deeply within himself. in that moment, yellowstrike chose his own destiny when he decided to pass the torch off to nettleheart and become a fully fledged warrior of his own right.

in the moons since yellowstrike's role switch, their bond has remained strong and continues to evolve. while nettleheart has never been a stranger to disagreements, he frequently makes his feelings known to his former mentor - good and bad. even now that yellowstrike (now called yellowstar) has ascended to the leader of riverclan, their dialogue remains open. a small part of nettleheart envies yellowstar for his freedoms. yellowstar was strong enough to follow his own destiny, and now he walks freely with the sole purpose of bettering his clan - without the shackles of the bipartisan nature of being a medicine cat (although yellowstar never ceases to hide his intimate familiarity with being a medicine cat then he feels that nettleheart has not acted suitably for the role).



a new generation.
at the heart of change comes more change. as far as medicine cats go, nettleheart has not been one for terribly long. still, this has not stopped starclan from progressing the march of time. aloekit first came under nettleheart's radar when aloekit was quite young. at nearly four moons old, the little kit had yet to make a peep. at the time, skywind and stormwing had approached the medicine cat with concern. why didn't aloekit speak, interact with the other kits in the nursery, or try to bond with those around him? simply put, aloekit was just different, but not broken. even as skywind disowned her only son for his differences, he still did not break. in fact, it was probably the best thing for aloekit, had you asked nettleheart. that change alone exposed aloekit to the other kits in the nursery, namely copperkit, and thus proving aloekit was capable of forming some kind of relationship after all. the two youngsters were an odd friendship, but one that thrived.

for the most part, nettleheart has never understood how starclan operates or why the will things to unfold the way they do. after all, they chose him to be a medicine cat, and yellowstar before that. it shouldn't have been surprising, then, when thoughts of aloekit becoming nettleheart's successor invaded his mind, but it still was. the signs began subtle at first, with a waft of aloe scent here or there. it mostly occurred in nettleheart's den, but nowhere was truly safe. the signs became more apparent and intolerable when everything nettleheart ate tasted like it had been tainted with aloe pulp, making it impossible to enjoy the juiciest of catches.

in observing aloekit, nettleheart tried to understand why starclan had summoned him. the little ivory tom didn't naturally pick up on social cues and his demeanour was often unsettling to those that were unfamiliar with aloekit's disposition. as fate would have it, aloekit was remarkably composed, even for a tom as young as he was. he was extremely observational and it was obvious to pick up on how intelligent he was if one just took the time to see it. nettleheart decided then, as aloekit neared the age of six moons, that he wasn't going to fight starclan's commands. riverclan's medicine cats had been unconventional for as long as nettleheart could remember, and the soon-to-be aloepaw would be no different. riverclan had just found their next medicine cat apprentice.



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