Blackbird who

CARRIES WINTER frost

Tribe of Floating Stones

large long-haired black she-cat with green eyes

Blackbird is a massive she-cat, who stands above most of her den-mates. While this would bother a more delicate and sensitive cat, Blackbird relishes her stature and uses it as a steadfast shield in battle. The musculature over her body is well defined and easily noticeable beneath her feathery coat. Due to the requirements of her rank, she strives to remain fit and ready for any immediate crisis or threat. While the tribe encounters few enemies on their isolated island, Blackbirds continues to train and develop her strength in order to defend her tribe-mates and maintain the status quo. Her musculature is lean in nature and this causes her to look rather lithe and thin, albeit solid to the touch.

Her lithe body is further accentuated by her feathery coat. The bulk of her fur falls from her shoulders, hocks, stomach, and tail. While she does have more fur than the usual tribe-cat, her coat is thinner and looser than a Redwood warrior with a dense and burly pelt. Blackbird has a solid black coat that turns brown in the summer months due to the sun. This is evident in the looser fur around her neck, stomach, and tail. She has a few stray white hairs on her chest that almost resemble a dash. However, the white flecks are almost unnoticeable in the sea of black, and without a closer look, would not even exist at all.

Blackbird carries the usual narrower face that most tribe-cats boast. She does not have as much oriental blood as her den-mates, but her face still fairs on the leaner side than broad. The black she-cat has carved cheekbones that are further accentuated by the hollows of her cheeks. This almost causes her to have a somewhat aristocratic look. Her maw is on the smaller side, which emphasizes her narrowed face, since it is thinner than her broader crown. The she-cat has a small black nose and tall narrower set ears. Her ears also end in accented black fur tufts, while the insides boast another tuft of hair that is both black and white. Blackbird has round, circular eyes that watch in an icy shade of green.

Maternal -- Blackbird breathes to mother her tribe-mates whether they reciprocate her attention or not. While she relishes her rank in the tribe, the black she-cat also carries a buried desire for motherhood. This stems from her thirst to teach and mentor. She wants to carry on the lessons she has learned from her own trials and tribulations and pass them down onto her future kits. As a substitute, she instead mothers her tribe-mates and acts as a vessel for advice or instruction. Some tribe-mates lean on her for wisdom. Others think her views are unsolicited and irrelevant to their situation.

Protective -- The black she-cat is fiercely protective of her tribe-mates. This means that she will defend them without hesitation and risk her own health for their safety. This is has caused her to become distrustful and wary around outsiders or unusual situations. She does not want to take a chance and risk the lives of her tribe-mates. Her rank has also molded her into a cautious individual, who will observe even the most harmless intruder for hours before her defense loosens. When she encounters a threat, Blackbird will battle until the enemy is defeated or her body refuses to move.

Rational -- Blackbird is not interested in nonsensical conversation or ideas. Her interests are based on analytical observations and systems that are tried and true. This makes her a resourceful member in the tribe, since she usually thinks with her head more than her heart. Her irrational emotions tend to remain concealed; and instead, she relies on realistic information and sound wisdom to make her decisions. When a sensitive or emotional cat comes to her for advice, Blackbird has a knack for remedying the situation with a rational answer. This characteristic allows her to remain calm and collected in even the most horrendous of circumstances.

Possessive -- While the she-cat is maternal, she is also unnecessarily possessive and tends to control her den-mates and intervene into their intricate lives. Blackbird likes to make decisions for her tribe-mates, because she believes that her choice is the best solution to any problem. While some cats need this intervention, most find it a nuisance. Blackbird also has issues when it comes to her close friends and their attention. She does not like it when her friends have other intimate relationships. This deals with her own issues with trust.

Trite -- Her need for rationality makes the she-cat a bit trite in nature. She is not creative at all and wrestles to invent new methods to solve an issue. Blackbird thinks that creativity blurs the line with irrationality, since it is often more emotional than analytical. However, this also stems from her own inability to stretch her limitations. While her methods lack freshness, they are also based on moons of trial and error, so she believe that they will lead to eventual success. Her inability to add nuance to conversation or situation stems from her fear to look like an idiot or fool in front of a tribe-mate. Blackbird desires to be a wise resource on the island, not a romantic moron.

Stubborn -- Since the she-cat relies on rationality and her own experience to make a decision, she is rather stubborn in nature. Blackbird has a one track mind, which means she is unable to welcome another solution. She hates when her tribe-mates do not heed her advice or listen to her instruction. Ironically, she in turn, does not like to be told what do, unless the cat exceeds her in rank and wisdom. While her stubbornness has aided her in battle and her several ambitions in the tribe, it has also lead to several failure and caused her reevaluate her rank on the island. 

When Blackbird was born, the island was covered in a thin layer of snow. It was late autumn, and winter around the corner. Most of the migratory birds had left for the season. However, on the morn of her birth, her mother, Nettle who Blooms without Color, noticed a blackbird desolate on the island in the snow. The bird landed into the harsh frost for a moment, locked stares with the she-cat, and then vanished into the cloudy sky. Seconds later, Nettle birthed her second kit and named her Blackbird to honor the unusual interaction. When the sun finally broke through the clouds, the dark she-cat had birthed four kits into the tribe: three toms and one she-cat.

The winter was harsh that season, so Blackbird remained in the den for the first four moons of her life. Nettle refused to let her children leave the nest for no more than a few minutes at a time. She was scared that they would succumb to frostbite or catch an incurable disease from the cold winds. Her mate, Coyote who Bays at Moon, tried to convince her otherwise, since he believed his children would become too sheltered due to their detainment, but Nettle ruled over her mate with a cold bite. Coyote was also not as interested in his kits as the moons waned, and soon, he died from the very sickness Nettle feared.

While Nettle once cared for her mate, she was a colder she-cat, who liked to isolate herself from the tribe. If his death bothered her, Blackbird could never tell, because she hid it well. As Blackbird matured in the confinements of her den, she became the voice of reason over her three rambunctious brothers: Loon, Cardinal, and Fern. Her own mother slowly became detached from her kits and left the nest a lot to hunt or visit with the tribe at the central stone. Blackbird soon fell into the maternal role her mother abandoned and looked after her brothers. This increased when her meekest brother, Loon, fell sick with the arrival of warm weather.

As the warmer weather loomed in the air, Loon became sicker and sicker. Her mother in return became even more detached from her kits, and then abandoned them one early summer morn. She never returned. Some tribe-cat swore she walked into the lake and beneath the water. Others said she climbed into the hills and vanished like smoke. Without Nettle, Blackbird took over the role and cared for her brothers as a mother should. However -- her care did little to save Loon, and soon, he took his final breath and returned to very earth from which he was born.

Blackbird cursed and blamed herself for his death and vowed to never fail her friends or kin again. She entered her role as a to-be more mature than most cats her rank. Her brothers, on the other hand, remained a bit more rambunctious in nature, since Blackbird had been forced to take on more responsibility than a kit should. That said -- Cardinal and Fern did not escape the reality their situation without their own issues and neurotic behavior. Fern was a nervous cat, who wrestled with indecision, while Cardinal became mistrustful and bitter.

When the black she-cat hit her thirteenth moon, she was driven down the stone-guard path. Her protective nature and maternal inclinations made her an exceptional candidate for the role, and the duties fit her rational mind. Her brother, Cardinal, also became a stone-guard, while the more restless Fern became a prey-hunter. This caused Blackbird and Cardinal to become closer as brother and sister, while Fern interacted with their more like-minded tribe-mates. That said -- Blackbird continued to watch over her brother like a silent shadow.

As the seasons turned, Blackbird became an official tribe-member at twenty-one moons. Due to the sickness that claimed several tribe-mates, her ceremony was delayed. Her brothers were soon raised in rank as well. When she was twenty-six moons, the black she-cat realized she wanted to become a mother. She found herself lost in maternal lust whenever she interacted with a band of kits. She fawned over their questions, and soon learned, that she liked to impart wisdom.

This maternal desire increased when she started to assist in to-be lessons. While a lot of to-bes liked the fast and unpredictable lives of a prey-hunter, Blackbird was able to convince several to see the necessity in the stone-guard path. Many cats trusted her rational advice and found solace in her wisdom. That said -- Blackbird was not a flirtatious cat and wrestled with the fact that she needed a mate to have kits. Most toms found her too rational and wise to be attractive. 

When she was twenty-nine moons, the current teller, River, fell ill and died. Her new to-be, Creek, was hastily appointed as teller, and the tribe dissolved into chaos. Blackbird remained as one of the few voices of reason in the clan and used her maternal and collected demeanor to calm their worries and doubts. While Creek exists as a risk to the clan and lacks overall experience, Blackbird trusts in the natural worlds and knows that the tribe will continue as surely as the seasons. This rational conclusion has followed her as the moons turned, and still dictates her very actions and decisions, even as the tribe succumbs to another sickness.