This episode will deal with a fair bit more personal interpretation and headcanon than

some others.

Moreso than Thornclaw or even Hazeltail, Toadstep doesn't have much time in the canon series

to establish himself, and he isn't put in close proximity to the main characters or

conflict in that time.

But he has become one of my favorite and most dear characters over the past couple of years.

I will of course still base my explanation in all the canon material that exists, and

then explain the reasoning for expansion upon it.

Toadstep doesn't actually live for very long in the books.

While he and his sister Rosepetal were born in Outcast, the third book of Power of Three,

they weren't old enough to show any character until Eclipse, and they remained kits until

the end of the arc.

Then by the beginning of Omen of the Stars, they timeskipped all the way to becoming new

warriors, and after that single arc of being a minor character, he caught an illness in

Dovewing's Silence and passed away between that book and Bramblestar's Storm.

In such a short time, how could he have enough content to captivate me?

Well, much like Hazeltail or Thornclaw, my fascination with him began with his relationships.

First is his mother: Daisy.

She is a former horseplace cat and, after joining Thunderclan, stays as a permaqueen

and keeps her original name, making her rather distinct from most other possible mothers

in the clan.

I always believed that the relationships between Daisy and her kits would be quite diverse

and interesting, an idea that I followed through on when designing Berrynose, Hazeltail, and

Mousewhisker's individual journeys through the clan and how being Daisy's kits would

impact them.

I wanted to apply similar logic to Toadstep and Rosepetal.

However, there are a couple of large differences between the two litters.

First is the timing of their births.

Berrynose, Mousewhisker, and Hazeltail were originally born as Berry, Mouse, and Hazel

in the Horseplace, and in fact returned to the barn for a short time when Berrykit's

tail got torn off by a fox trap.

They were enamored enough with clan life to convince Daisy to go back, with Brambleclaw

and Cloudtail's help, but it doesn't change the fact that their much closer to their outsider

heritage than Toadstep and Rosepetal were, and they faced a great deal more of the complaints

from clanmates as well as the other clans.

Second…is their fathers.

Now let me be clear that neither Smoky nor Spiderleg were good mates or parents.

Daisy has had awful luck with toms, especially if you add in Cloudtail and his behavior in

the latter half of the New Prophecy.

But Smoky and Spiderleg were bad fathers in different ways.

Smoky never cared about Daisy, in fact he actively chose Floss over her time and time

again and barely noticed when Daisy and her kits left.

Berrynose, Mousewhisker, and Hazeltail grew up almost entirely without a father.

Toadstep and Rosepetal, by contrast, did know their father, and in Toadstep's case lived

his whole life with his father in the same camp.

Spiderleg actively rebuked and ignored them, and even after Jayfeather and Leafpool tell

him to spend more time with his kits, we never see them getting any closer once Omen of the

Stars starts, after the timeskip that made Toadstep and Rosepetal warriors.

They, even more so than Daisy's first litter, would have Spiderleg's attitude and active

refusal to be in their lives held over their heads.

Toadstep shows himself as a kit to be adventurous and self-assured, but with an overprotective

mother on one side and a distant, disdainful father on the other, many of his attempts

at adventure were shot down.

I imagine this having a couple of different effects, with the first being distance from

his siblings.

Berrynose, Hazeltail, and Mousewhisker had already carved out their own paths in the

clan as new warriors by the time Toadstep was born, so he already had distance from

them.

But his relationship with Rosepetal is more interesting.

As early as Eclipse, when they are both still very young kits, they show their differing

personalities.

Where Toadkit is energetic and impulsive, Rosekit is thoughtful and sharp-tongued, scolding

her brother multiple times for his actions and comments.

Rosekit's behavior reminds me, and may well remind Toadkit, of Spiderleg himself, and

whether intentionally or not, I think it's telling that Rosekit seems to imitate her

distant father, even when that imitation doesn't result in any more affection.

Still, despite their differences, Toadkit and Rosekit are practically inseparable for

the whole of their kithood, enough that when Rosekit becomes sick and is taken to the Twoleg

den, Toadkit desperately calls out for her and wants her to come back.

However, once they become warriors in Omen of the Stars, things change.

We don't know what their apprenticeship was like under Squirrelflight and Cloudtail,

but perhaps the lack of friendship between their mentors and the variety of other apprentices

to play with made them grow more distant from each other.

Whatever the case, Toadstep only does one patrol with Rosepetal in each of the first

three books of the arc, and after that their lives never cross again.

There are even signs in Fading Echoes with Toadstep paying more attention to Ivypaw than

Rosepetal and in Night Whispers with Toadstep having to specifically reach out to Rosepetal

to even go on a single patrol with her that the gap between them is growing.

Toadstep is a consistently energetic and affectionate tom, but his sister's attitude, along with

the different paths in their lives, seem to have drawn them apart over time.

Maybe having someone around who reminds you of your awful father isn't the best experience.

But Spiderleg's place in Toadstep's life had another, very different, and much better

effect as far as I'm concerned: Lionblaze.

As a kit, Toadstep witnessed the battle of Eclipse, with all four clans fighting on Thunderclan

territory and inside camp, right in front of him in some cases, but it didn't phase

him.

In fact, it excited him, seeing how strong and talented cats were.

Soon after, Toadkit asks Lionpaw to teach him some cool battle moves in case Windclan

invades again, and watches the golden tom's warrior ceremony.

For my personal needs, I combine the purposes of these two events by having Toadkit witness

*Lionpaw specifically* saving the nursery during the Eclipse battle, which is an early

jumpstart to his idolization of Lionblaze.

With Spiderleg missing from his life, a strong and protective tom who does care about Toadkit

is the best possible dream, especially given how cold Rosekit can sometimes be and how

little Daisy understands the danger or excitement of being a warrior.

It makes perfect sense that, by the time of Sign of the Moon, Toadstep is able to enthusiastically

admit that Lionblaze is his role-model for being such an incredible fighter, and that

he is so happy when he is able to team up with Lionblaze to save Bumblestripe from a

dog.

As far as canon is concerned, this is the only example of their relationship, but I

wanted to go much further, especially given that I was including the period where Toadpaw

and Rosepaw were apprenticed.

In Paws of Stars, around the time of the eclipse battle, Lionblaze is at perhaps his lowest

level of self-esteem, having been duped by Tigerstar, no longer having Heathertail or

anyone else to trust and be his friend, and having so little control over his power that

he fights a whole patrol nearly kills Crowfeather.

The fact that Toadkit, then Toadpaw takes this moment and event to begin idolizing him

and wishing to have the power and skill that he does would only make him feel worse, and

he would push the young tom away.

The power he holds isn't something to be proud of, and he doesn't want to be anyone's

role-model.

But Lionblaze would also be able to empathize with Toadpaw in a lot of ways.

He too has a sister who often surpasses him, in techniques during training as well as in

adherence to the warrior code.

He too, at one point, lacks parental figures that he feels close to, soon after the fire

scene where he has lost his trust in Squirrelflight.

And he too doesn't really know how he is meant to be a warrior, or make his way in

the clan.

He never had the given destiny of Jayfeather or the precise ambition of Hollyleaf.

For a lot of his life, he was pretty aimless.

So if Toadpaw were to come to him, tell him about his situation, and ask for advice, I

think Lionblaze would feel for him, and agree that they could work together to do better

than either of them could alone.

Now, the nature of this relationship once it has begun is entirely up to the preferences

of the writer.

One could easily make it a romantic relationship, or even give Toadstep a crush on Lionblaze

without it being reciprocated.

Or you could leave them as nothing but friends.

Personally, I prefer to go with a different relationship: that of brothers.

They came together when the lacking element in both of their lives was family, so it makes

sense that they would fill familial relationships in each others' lives.

Not to mention, the mix of admiration and responsibility while both of them still truly

need to learn together reminded me more of older and younger siblings than it did a romantic

relationship or a father and son.

There is someone else who I would like Toadstep to bond with on a more romantic level.

However, considering that falls under spoilers for my story, I will leave that for future-me

to disclose.

Putting aside the romance, I think Toadstep would have a lot of interesting friendship

possibilities with his whole generation.

With Rosepetal, he would certainly always care for her, but their different priorities

and her traits that remind him of their father could draw them apart.

Blossompaw was always more Rosepetal's friend than Toadstep's for that same reason, but

Bumblestripe could make a fine routy buddy if you take Toadkit's comments and his later

saving the tom from a dog as evidence, and Briarlight could mirror Toadstep's kindness

with her own.

And then, of course, there's Dovewing and Ivypool.

As far as canon is concerned, Dovewing is mentored by Lionblaze, but whoever Lionblaze

mentors would almost certainly have some great conversation options with Toadstep, who probably

would have chosen to be Lionblaze's apprentice if he could.

There are lots of interesting options to explore, based on how you set up the world in your

own mind or story.

Much like the generation at the beginning of the Power of Three, this one at the beginning

of Omen of the Stars could also be quite interesting.

Between Daisy, Millie, and Whitewing's litters, he and Rosepetal are the oldest, but he never

takes up an air of superiority or even responsibility for the others like Berrynose or Hazeltail

did.

He seems to remain ever-the younger brother, an eager, energetic, and spontaneous tom who

has enough compassion and optimism to carry him through even as battle after battle occurs,

clan tensions rise, and dozens of cats are taken in to train and fight beside the Dark

Forest in a full-on war against the clans.

From a writer's perspective, this makes him both a useful and a relieving character.

When the others are becoming depressed or angry or brooding, Toadstep is there to remind

them of what good there is to be had now, or to look forward to when this is all done.

Because of how little confidence he has in himself, he has an almost infinite supply

of faith in others to do what they must and win the day.

Maybe that assurance behind them is just what some cats need to overcome their struggles.

I love you Toadstep.

My favorite little boy.

You're an adorable beacon of light and I am so glad to have found you.

I do hope some of you now understand my love for him as well.

Thank you for watching, and always remember to laugh, to love, and to always keep your

sights on the brighter futures awaiting you.