Thornpaw

[Fia]

Name: Thornpaw

Prefix Meaning: Simply because her pelt is brown like the average thorn, and because some of her tabby markings are rather sharp and pointed.

Suffix Meaning: She is an apprentice; thus, -paw.

Age: 8 moons

Rank: Apprentice

Clan: SunClan

Description: Thornpaw’s a medium-sized cat, not particularly large or small. She’s still young and has only recently lost the last of her appearance of kithood, but is growing into a slim, graceful she-cat. Her limbs, tail included, are neither exceptionally long nor exceptionally short. With constant battle training and hunting practice, Thornpaw has developed impressive physical strength despite not being a particularly muscular cat. She’s quick and agile, though not so much as a stereotypical DayClanner, and fights and hunts with neat, efficient movements.

Thornpaw’s fur is a warm, strong shade of brown, growing softer on her lower flanks and the backs of her limbs. A little oddly, her stomach is the same color as her sides, as opposed to a shade paler. Her chest, throat, and muzzle are much lighter, a pale golden-brown, and her chin is nearly white; in contrast, her ears, the back of her head, and the top half of her face are a darker brown than the rest of her, besides her tail. Her distinct tabby stripes match the light and dark pattern of their brown background: darkest on her face and tail, rich brown on her back and shoulders, a little lighter on her chest and throat. Regardless of color, a number of her stripes -mainly on her face- end with distinct points, never fading into the background but standing out right to their thorn-sharp tips.

Now, Thornpaw isn’t the most stunningly beautiful she-cat around, but she has a simple, pretty charm about her. Her face is neat and pleasant, and bears an ever intelligent expression. She has a slim muzzle and a pretty, black-lined, bright pink nose. Her eyes are lined in dark, dark brown, then immediately by pale tan fur. The eyes themselves are light, warm amber, made more distinct by their dark lining.

Personality: A very bright young she-cat, Thornpaw is an easy apprentice to train. She isn’t an exceptionally knowledgeable individual, but is naturally clever and growing increasingly wise. She’s got a good memory for events, names, and places, simply because she pays attention to such things. Thornpaw likes to look at the big picture, but understands that big pictures are made up of many crucial details, and struggles to see them all. She is slowly developing leadership skills, and is willing to step up and take charge if no one else can or will, but is usually content to do as the warriors direct her. She’s not an incredible strategist, but perhaps only because she’s had no experience in the area. She does, however, have a brilliant sense of direction, and is usually quite aware of surroundings until her mind starts wandering. A thoughtful young cat, Thornpaw often enjoys simply sitting and letting her thoughts drift. She is not an air-headed she-cat, however – when she needs to focus on a situation, little can distract her. She’s a down-to-earth apprentice, reasonable and practical, too rational to let things like pointless pride cloud her judgment; she’s willing to compromise and negotiate, and bright enough to do it well.

And Thornpaw knows she’s smart. She realizes she isn’t all-knowing and infinitely wise, but she has very strong views (many based on common sense) on a number of topics and if anyone disagrees, well, obviously they’re wrong and they’re just too stupid to know it. But while she has her own views, and will voice them, she doesn’t care to argue over a difference of opinions; when others disagree, she’s the mediator, the voice of reason and diplomacy. Violence is the absolute last resort for her, not because she’s afraid, but because she doesn’t see the point in fighting over something that could be settled peacefully. At verbal warfare, however, she is a master, and can win a battle of wits without so much as raising her voice – in fact, that’s her preferred way of thrashing opponents, mostly because it tends to infuriate them. She can be sharp and stinging with words, and often is, when she loses her temper, but is not known for shouting or lashing out. Her cool self-control in an argument is a trait that could make her many potential enemies, but also one that makes her a good cat to have on your side – the fact that she’s a brilliant feline lawyer.

Besides which, Thornpaw simply lives to help out her friends. She’s the first to leap to their defense at any sign of trouble, regardless of whether or not they want her help. Fiercely, blindly loyal in the extreme, Thornpaw only manages to keep from annoying friends with her protectiveness because she’s got enough sense to know when enough is enough; that doesn’t keep her from wanting to protect them though, and she worries incessantly if she’s not right there to watch out for them. Her logic and common sense simply do not apply there. If ever she has nightmares, they inevitably involve harm befalling loved ones, and haunt her for days, if not weeks. Perhaps it’s a fault, perhaps just a quirk, but along with fierce protectiveness come unconditional love, trust, and support.

The trouble with that is, a friend does not necessarily mean a Clanmate. Once again, reason flies out the figurative window. Thornpaw knows, obviously, that her Clan must come first. The Clan must come first. In her head, she knows that; in her heart, she knows that a friend in another Clan would mean more to her than Clan or code; and she knows it’s a fault, a weakness, but frankly doesn’t much care. ‘Friends come first’ is the phrase burned into her mind above any other, whether or not her friends hold her in the same degree of importance. She makes it a point to be polite and well-mannered with strangers, as long as they extend the same courtesy, and is easygoing and humorous with friendly acquaintances, fond of jokes and stories, easily amused. With friends and family, she’s happy and lively and virtually carefree. She works to earn her keep, and has a moderate sense of duty to her Clan but little, if any, ambition, not even to be an especially brilliant warrior – she prefers to watch the days go by, to ponder the universe, and to enjoy her time with friends. The future is of little concern to her, for she doesn’t see any sense in worrying over it; daily problems of immediate concern are priority, and she simply handles them from day to day. What will come will come, she shrugs mildly, and she’ll take care it when it does.


History: Thornkit was born on a bright and sunny afternoon, safe and sound with her brother Blazekit. She took the usual two weeks or so to open her eyes, and a little longer than her adventurous littermate to start her kithood escape attempts – though they began soon enough, for she was instinctively curious about the world outside her nursery home. At a moon old, she’d learned to wrestle with her much bigger, much more energetic brother, who was forever tackling and crashing into her; naturally she had to defend herself. While she enjoyed play-fighting, Thornkit was happier listening to stories from Fawnspots and Redblaze, for the proud, adoring young parents were always happy to entertain their kits. The little she-kit would listen eagerly, then gladly repeat the stories for Blazekit and any other kits who cared to listen when the queens were napping or chatting with each other.

Thornpaw vaguely remembers the day, six moons ago, that Blazekit first escaped the nursery – waking up to find him missing, flying at her mother’s head to tug at her ears, and waiting with a strange combination of terror, pride, and envy as the warriors searched for her brother. When he returned unhurt, full of excitement and triumph, and they had retreated to the furthest corner of the den to discuss the morning’s events, Thornkit determined that she would accompany Blazekit on every one of the following escape attempts. And she did over the next few moons, for most at least, staying behind only when she was too sleepy, too busy with some other game, or already in trouble for some recently pulled stunt of theirs. But when Redblaze volunteered to take his fove-moon old kits exploring, she jumped at the chance to learn about her territory. She and Blazekit would practice stalking prey –and each other– and play-fight with moves their father showed them. The last happy moon of their kithood passed quickly, but not nearly fast enough for them impatient pair, and they were as thrilled as any kits the day they were made apprentices.

Thornpaw took to training immediately, quick to learn and always eager for some new information or hunting technique. She proved to be a natural as creeping up on prey, for her light paws and brown tabby pelt kept the little animals from noticing her. Battle training, she discovered, had its ups and downs; she struggled with a few moves, as apprentices tend to do, for fighting didn’t come quite as naturally for her as for Blazepaw. And so they promised to help each other – Thornpaw would sit and watch him through narrowed eyes as he tried to hunt, and hiss if he started to squirm impatiently or lose his focus; and, more effectively, she would compete with him to see who could catch the most fresh-kill within a time limit. She rarely lost, but her wins got narrower and narrower. As for Blazepaw’s part of the deal, he practiced battle moves with her sister whenever they had free time on their paws. This deal of theirs is still in place today, and still works brilliantly for them both.

Little has happened in the past two moons. The two received the honor of attending a Gathering in their first moon of apprenticeship, Blazepaw as a reward for his progress, Thornpaw because she convinced her superiors that she, the young diplomat, would benefit from the experience. It didn’t work perfectly – her brother managed to make enemies of a NightClan apprentice and a much-older DayClan apprentice, despite Thornpaw’s best efforts to keep the peace, but they did both part on good terms with a few young MoonClan warriors. Nonetheless, Thornpaw liked what she saw and heard overall, though she privately agreed when Blazepaw raged (happily) about the obnoxious, creepy NightClan tom and the offensively abrupt, cold DayClan tom. Since then, she has done little but keep training, adapt to cold weather, and slip off a rain-slicked boulder in late Leaf-fall and tumble to the bottom of SunClan’s camp’s rock pile, only to land, sore but safe, in a patch of puffy, springy mushrooms – and then watch in exasperation as her brother repeatedly hurled himself off the lowest stone to bounce off the mushrooms until every single one was crushed.

Picture: {Link 1}

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[sunfrost]

I can't see anything to fault you with ^__^

Accepted! Your cat is now being moved to the accepted board. Sorry for the wait!