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Mousefur is Asexual, Aromantic, and butch. She considers herself a she-cat, but she doesn't like being assosciated with the clans' traditional idea of what that means. From a very young age, she always found the idea of being a nursery queen and baring kits highly discomforting. As a young warrior, when Sandkit and Dustkit were brought to the clan, she refused to help care for them out of this fear.
At first Bluestar didn't understand this reluctance, but Mousefur offered to do extra patrols instead, and Bluestar allowed it without prodding further. Mousefur's old mentor and the deputy of ThunderClan, Redtail, noticed her distress, and eventually got Mousefur to confide in him. She confessed her anxieties, and how nothing she did seemed to soothe her stress over the idea that she could, one day, be forced to become a nursery queen.
Redtail informed Mousefur that the Cutter is capable of performing a ritual that prevents a cat from having kits, and he himself snuck away as a young warrior to undergo this ritual. He then shared with her that he had been labeled as a she-kit at birth, but as an apprentice found that he wanted to be called a tom instead. He also felt the same fears as Mousefur, worrying that despite his status as a tom, he would be relegated to the nursery due to his ability to bare kits. Mousefur remarks that she always noticed he smelled a bit strange, but never thought to mention it.
Redpaw, Willowpaw, and Spottedpaw were all rebellious apprentices, as is pretty normal for cats their age. They frequently snuck away to TwolegPlace to meet with loners, rogues, and kittypets around their age, as well as apprentices from other clans. This is where Redpaw met a cat like him, another tom who had been labeled a she-kit at birth. This cat told him about the cutter, and how other than sterilization, cats return from it essentially unharmed.
Redpaw decided that if he still felt the same way after his Warrior ceremony, he would return and let himself be captured by the cutter. The night after his promotion, Redtail snuck away to the TwolegPlace to be taken in by the cutter. His parents, Adderfang and Swiftbreeze, were hysterial after his disappearance, and furious at him for his recklessness once he returned. However, despite their disapproval of him going to the cutter alone, they still accepted their son and wanted him to be happy.
Mousefur told Redtail that she doesn't feel like a tom, but Redtail reassured her that there's many reasons to do it, sometimes a cat doesn't want kits and that's reason enough. Redtail then talked to Bluestar, who approved Redtail to escort Mousefur to the cutter. Mousefur returned with a notched ear and a hidden scar, and became much happier afterwards. Sometimes cats notice she smells a bit strange, but not many mention it.
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