Rowankit was born in the Windclan camp nursery to a small, soft-hearted she-cat called Snowfur and her mate Crowwing. He and his siblings Rabbitkit and Hawkkit where the first of the many Newleaf litters that would be born that year, born only in the early dawn of the first real day of Newleaf. Leaf-bare that year had been hard for all the clan; green cough had taken out many of the elders and senior warriors, and even in Newleaf the threat was still there…unknown to them, until Rabbitkit caught it and died in her sleep before she was even a week old. Snowfur was devastated, and the burial for her youngest daughter tore up the poor queen before she really could get to know her own kits, consumed by grief and overtaken by her own self pity, she became very quiet and then when her grief settled, obsessive with her kits. Rowankit and Hawkkit were always being smothered with their mothers love and affection – a very kitty pet idea – from the time they could first open their eyes. They would live a very sheltered life.

When Rowankit and Hawkkit reached six moons, they where greeted with apprenticeship, and a reality check. The night began like any night, with the leaders call; “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather in the clearing!”, followed by, “Rowankit shall now be called Rowanpaw, and Hawkkit shall now be called Hawkpaw!” Their chosen mentors were named as Pebblefoot and Firefly – two kind and quite young she-cat warriors. On the night of their apprentice ceremony, their mother had reluctantly agreed to go off onto a simple border patrol, because they were so short on warriors for the moment, but their patrol was ambushed by a rouge, and she was severely injured in the fight. Eventually she would heal, but she was left to be blind in one eye and would become an elder at her young age.

Stricken with his mother’s condition, both Rowanpaw and his brother Hawkpaw were determined to make their mother proud. They practiced day and night with their thoughtful mentors, mastering their newfound skills with ease. Hawkpaw was a wonderful fighter, and Rowanpaw himself was an impressive hunter, holding the fastest record for catching a rabbit. When the reached eleven moons, they knew that their warrior ceremony would be held soon, they could feel the excitement buzz in the camp among their mentors and their fellow warriors and apprentices. Eager, the brothers wanted to prove themselves worthy and volunteered to join the dawn hunting patrol that would follow suit shortly.

Their mission began without incident, the patrol set out at dawn to check all of a rabbit holes for signs of early rising prey. Hawkpaw and Smallpaw, another apprentice at the time that Hawkpaw was quite fond of, were at the front as they slipped into their “hunting mode” the two of them had created. One would scare a rabbit out of the hole and then the other would grab it, their first try was quite successful snagging two fat rabbits with ease, but their second led to nothing. As they approached a third hole, Rowanpaw caught up to them, he and Hawkpaw lured the rabbit out of the hole and it set off. The chase was on! Taking off in the direction of the Riverclan border, they thought they would loose it, Smallpaw and Hawkpaw sped up and into the tall reeds that marked the border line, a squeak came from the rustling weeds, a dying rabbit! They had caught it!

Just when things were looking up, there was a yowl from the right, then a hiss and the flurry of fur and claws erupted in the weeds. A Riverclan patrol had caught Smallpaw and Hawkpaw! Rowanpaw rushed into the mix, which straddled the border evenly, a very large, aggressive looking tom had his brother pinned. While trying to break free Hawkpaw had scraped the tom across the face with his claws an left three very deep scratches across his eye. The tom screeched in fury and aimed for Hawkpaw throat…killing him instantly. Ravenear, Daisypelt, Pebblefoot, and Firefly raced across the border to help…but it was to late for Hawkpaw, and Smallpaw was badly injured. In her own furry at her apprentice’s death, Firefly charged the offending tom, tearing his ear and then turned, her tail caught in his mouth, she tripped landing on her back, he attacked again, her flailing paws caught his neck, he died the same way Hawkpaw had. Numb, the five virtually unharmed cats half dragged and half carried the dead apprentice and gingerly carried the dying one back to camp.

When they returned the camp fell silent. All horror broke loose as the clan leader fetched their medicine cat to try and save Smallpaw, but they knew it was useless. The dying apprentice was given her warrior name, Smallear, and later passed away that day. There was a silent vigil for the two apprentices, led by their friend Rowanpaw, as their clan leader and deputy raced off to report what had happened at the border at dawn. Rowanpaw was torn, now he had lost both his siblings and his friend. Less than a month later, Rowanpaw was given his Warrior name, Rowanwing. The young brown tabby had grown into an impressive young tom, and with his warrior name came the names of two other fellow apprentices’ warrior names, Adderpaw became Addereye and and Fernpaw became Fernclaw.

Life slowly returned to normal, Rowanwing and an older apprentice at the time, Honeypaw met and she became a close friend of his. She help him put his past behind him, and slowly the cat that Rowanwing wanted to be emerged from the haunted shell he had been. When Rowanwing reached 14 moons, Honeypaw was given her warrior name, Honeyheart, for her sweet nature. There was hope that the two of them would grow to love each other…but as this young cats luck would have it, Honeyheart was killed by a badger only two months later when she was bathing in the sun…apparently near a badgers den.

Rowanwing was devastated again, for soon after his mother Snowfur passed away, and his father – whom he had never really been close to, followed shortly after. Seeing that the young tom needed something to put his talent and time, heart and soul into he was given an apprentice at 16 moons. Her name was Brightpaw, and the young she-cat reminded him a lot of his mother and his beloved Honeyheart in one small package. The white bundle of fluff was by his side nearly all the time, learning and training, her progress surpassed even her mentors as she soared far beyond anyone’s expectations. As leaf-bare came around, so did green cough…and sadly Brightpaw caught the deadly disease and was killed shortly afterwards.

Once again left alone, the young tom turned to his old mentor for support. Pebblefoot had long since found a mate, the young and reckless Ravenear, and had a litter of four kits; Eaglekit, Ratkit, Grasskit, and Cloudkit, small bundles of joy that cheered the young cats heart. Ravenear and Rowanwing became friends, brightening the young tom’s spirit as he was entrusted the responsibility of mentoring again, this time one of his mentors, and his friend’s kits, Eaglekit. At 18 months he was mentored to Eaglepaw, this time without incident and with time, he successfully raised the younger tom through his apprenticeship and Eaglepaw was later named Eagleheart. While saving Rowanwing’s sanity and soul, Rowanwing thinks highly of the young new warrior, and now at 30 moons, Rowanwing is a changed cat…with a lot of heart and even bigger potential.