| Tribe: | Wolfriders |
| Age: | Probably about 900 years |
| Gender: | Female |
| Soul name: | Eyrn |
| Hair: | Dark brown, curly and hanging to halfway down the back. Most of it is pulled back with a silver comb, apart from her fringe and two locks to the side of her face, kept together with two silver rings. Sometimes she wears a few purple flowers in her hair, or a small purple hat. |
| Eyes: | Violet |
| Recognized lifemate: | Strongbow |
| Relatives: | Daughter: Crescent, son: Dart |
| Wolf-friends: | Shyhider, Holtfinder |
| Status: | Mortal, alive |
| Life history: | Moonshade is a tanner, an Elder of the Wolfriders and the ever supporting lifemate of Strongbow. She is one of the staunchest followers of the Way, together with Strongbow, and will often voice her opinion against a decision if she feels it goes against the Way. She will also always support Strongbow, even if she knows in her heart that he is wrong. To her, this is also part of the Way: supporting your lifemate no matter what. Moonshade's life has always revolved around this adherence to the Wolfriders' code of law. When the tribe was forced to leave the Father Tree Holt and eventually ended up in Sorrow's End in the desert, Moonshade put up with her fate, but she never was truly happy in the desert, without the trees, the hunt and the wolves. Apart from that, she shared her lifemate's disdain of the Sun Villagers, seeing them as decisionless and too compliant. She hurt Leetah with her harsh words that she should have gone with Cutter on his quest, at least partly because she didn't understand Leetah's decision to stay behind when Moonshade herself would eagerly have left the Sun Village to go back to the woods she loved and missed. She had the opportunity to do so quite soon though, when it became clear that Cutter was in danger. Preparing new leathers for the tribe, she made ready to leave with most of the other Wolfriders, but was shocked when her son Dart announced he was going to stay to teach the Sun Folk how to take care of themselves. Though she and Strongbow disapproved, they respected his decision and only asked that he never forget his Wolfrider heritage. Moonshade and Strongbow were the first of the Wolfriders to be confronted by Winnowill's cruelty. Strongbow was kept in a cage in Blue Mountain for having killed Kureel's bond-bird-to-be, and was mentally tortured by Winnowill. Moonshade tried to kill Winnowill several times, even though she knew it was useless, because she just needed to try anything to save her lifemate. Later in the troll war, things were the same: Moonshade didn't stand out, she just did what she felt she needed to do: help her tribe and help her lifemate as best as she could. Not for nothing did Cutter ask her and Strongbow to always keep reminding him of the Way: no two people in the tribe knew it better. They accept every aspect of it without questioning and without resentment, including their mortality. I wouldn't be surprised if it were Moonshade and Strongbow who first called the secret council of the Elders in Thorny Mountain Holt to discuss the approaching stagnation in the tribe: danger is part of the Way, and should be allowed in their lives. Moonshade's most difficult time was during the war with Grohmul Djun for the Palace Shards. While her beloved Strongbow went with Cutter to regain the shards, she was separated from him and went with Ember as her Elder. Not only was she separated from Strongbow, however, she was also faced with a chief whom she still considered a cub and who disregarded her advice. Things got worse and worse between them, and only when Moonshade was stung repeatedly by insects whose poison caused hallucinations did things start to go better: Moonshade got a vision of her daughter Crescent, who was born long before Dart and died at the hands of humans. In reality it was Ember, who realised what was going on and used the opportunity to implore Moonshade to not give up on her young chief. After the war, Moonshade was reunited with Strongbow and the two of them followed Cutter back to the place of the original Father Tree Holt, there to found a new holt. |