┈ i. context scampersun -- the very embodiment of the sun. those fly too close are scorched by the heat of his vainglorious light, left with the waxen ruin of wings that once lifted in reverence to his glory. there was once a boy captivated by the golden hues of the sun's radiance. oh, icarus, your hubris rivals the gods. heed your father's whispers; do not let the reckless joy of freedom corrupt you. /come back, come back, come back. do you not see how close you are, how dangerously close you are to the sun? do you not see your wings melting, the wax running like fire down your spine?/ /my son, come back./ he does not come back. instead, he throws his head back, screaming into the wind with the crazed delirium swirling in his eyes. the gales tear through each feather, trailing his sunkissed skin with silken sorrow. there is a bitter triumph in falling. but know this, dear icarus, you will rise again. /escape was never an option./ perhaps in this story, the sun was meant to love boys who fall into seas. but to love a sunrise, you must also know the sunset. souls intertwined, not only by love, but a shared understanding. if there's one thing you should know, it's this: everything burns to ashes in the end and our tragic tale is no exception. ┈ ii. history during one of his usual evening strolls, scampersun meets a feline named 'laurel'. this results in a short-term romance, and with it, three young kits ready to greet the world with open arms. such love was never meant to last. he is a stranger to parenthood, even stranger to the eyes of the kits that await him. a veil of silence hangs over the clearing. he is unsure what to do. he can't abandon them. they are his own kin, after all. so he does the one thing he has to do. he takes them into thunderclan to raise them as heirs to his own legacy. what their future holds, is in the hands of the stars. ┈ iii. parenting style scampersun is not a strict cat, but he will hold his children to a high-standard. as their guardian, he will not spoil them with gifts. he will not treat them like they are royalty. he will simply act as a father -- one who has both the weight of the world on his shoulders and the ever-spinning thread of life between his paws. scamp will play an active role in his children's lives, making sure they all receive the necessary education for their future. all of them will be taught basic herb usage (such as cobwebs, chamomile, poppy seeds). each of his kits will also learn various styles of combat early on, though it is more 'play-fighting' than actual training. the real parts are left for their mentors to decide. another major part of their childhood is music. scampersun will sing his children to sleep on nights where they may find themselves wide awake. he will teach them a few melodies, one in particular will be used to locate other family members and friends. it is a four-note melody similar to that of birdsong. it gradually ascends in pitch before ending in a low note (not sure how else to explain it in words). by using this melody, the other feline should respond in equal measure. this is used to determine whether someone trusted is nearby. there are variations to convey different meanings, but i'll delve into that in a separate project <3 ┈ iv. future moon one - like any parent would be, scampersun will be incredibly protective over his newborn kits. he is hesitant to show them to the world just yet. only a select few are allowed to see his kits during the first moon of their lives, including kingfisherflight & amethystruse. moon three - now that they are older, he'll begin to show them around camp. they are not allowed to stray far due to his paranoid nature as a first-time parent. moon six - apprenticeship! for any other kit, this is a moment of transition. however, scampersun's ideals for his children are slightly different. he wishes to carry on the family tradition as a fourth-generation medicine cat (through babblingbrook / brookleaf -> swampeace -> boogarden -> scampersun), and thus, he has been watching carefully to see which one of them holds the greatest aptitude for the role. they can choose to be trained alongside a mca, or simply continue their warrior training with additional medical knowledge. this can be decided in-rp, or through a discussion! + everything else can be decided by /you/. yes, you! i want this litter to be a plot-driven one, hence all of the lore I have developed ahead of time c: i am open to discussing various interpretations of this plot, and elaborating, if needed. everything has been approved beforehand, so please do not attempt to replicate this in any way. this is intended to add a layer of intricacy to scampersun's ongoing plot, which can be further developed later on <3 song: who lives, who dies, who tells your story - lin manuel miranda
