Boulderbelly

Thistleclan

Fat gray tom with orange eyes

Throughout his entire life, Boulderbelly has always been a fat cat by the standards of warriors. While he would only be overweight compared to a kittypet, he appears obese compared to his lither warrior counterparts. While Thistleclan cats are inherently stockier than other clans, Boulderbelly has an exceptionally large frame, with most of his weight held in his midsection. What contributes to his abnormally stout appearance are his short appendages that put his center of mass closer to the ground, giving him a boulder like appearance. His stubby legs and small paws are perceived as a disadvantage, but the stocky legs give him tremendous power in quick bursts of movement.

Beneath the adipose layers is a muscular cat with fast reflexes that aid him in becoming one of the most luctrative hunters in Thistleclan. While he has very poor endurance, he has incredible explosive power to make him deadly in close range to unsuspecting prey, even in Thistleclan’s dense foliage. A short, purely blue-gray pelt surrounds his large mass, giving him the ability to blend in well to many settings since it does make him look like even more like a tiny boulder. His large orange eyes are capable of picking up on the slightly movements as well, enabling him to pounce before his prey has time to move another muscle.

Not only are his eyes an asset to the hunt, but they contribute to his warm, friendly appearance. The large orange eyes exude compassion and innocence while his muzzle appears to be always poised in a playful smile, giving him a charming look. Atop his head, his small ears complete his amiable presence.

“I’m only fat because I eat naughty kits,” says Boulderbelly as he playfully warns kits that brazenly comment on his weight. He has enough humility to launch self-depreciating jokes about his weight, but he does feel anxiety and shame for it nonetheless. Shame, yet acceptance, for his weight creates the greatest inner turmoil Boulderbelly experiences. Judgment from other cats that he may be stealing prey perpetually burdens him, but in reality, he simply has a very slow metabolism due to some internal health problems that have only surfaced in his inability to lose weight, despite his best efforts at losing weight. In spite of his slow metabolism, he often feels hungry, leading to rash measures to satisfy his gluttonous cravings, such as eating two-leg food left by island tourists!

Though Boulderbelly internally struggles with his weight problems, his external disposition is quite extraordinary. Boulderbelly is described as being playful, cheerful, funny, mirthful, caring, benevolent, loyal, courteous, humble, selfless, and trusting. Ultimately, he is a mostly virtuous cat. However, these traits often lead him to be taken advantage of by his manipulative clanmates in Thistleclan. Not only that, but he is often the victim of the merciless ridicule of his sharp tongued clanmates. Despite being the butt of all jokes, the words roll off of him like water on a duck’s feathers for he is aware of his flaws and does not allow the jabs to penetrate his modest exterior. Oftentimes, he even victimizes himself to lighten the spirits of the clan, even at the expense of his non-existent pride.

For as long as he could remember, Boulderbelly has been bullied for his weight by most clan cats. However, both of his parents, as well we his littermates, never bullied him for his weight. Thus, he has grown up with a safe group that loves him for who he is, enabling him to develop his fun-loving disposition. His family inspired him to endeavor to become the strong hunter and loving clanmate he is today, earning him some respect from his clanmates. Due to his humbleness, most of his clanmates are unaware of his benevolent actions and continue to treat him cruelly. While his family insists that he show some ego in order to thwart the onslaught of insults his way, Boulderbelly is too dedicated to his modesty to exhibit the pride that Thistleclan is notorious for.

For instance, during a desperate hunting party during leafbare while he was an apprentice, Boulderbelly discovered a cluster of voles on Thistleclan territory that would provide enough food to revive the clan on the brink of starvation. After quickly dispatching them, he called over his mentor and other hunting party members. After a quick flicker of relief and elation for Boulderbelly’s tracking among the assembled cats, the hunting party did not acknowledge Boulderbelly to the leader for his find, and instead gave the credit among the other group members. Meanwhile, Boulderbelly did not argue the truth. This behavior was common during his apprenticeship, causing him to become a warrior later than his littermates because his mentor and clanmates thought he was unprepared and lacked ambition, despite him become an exceptional hunter.

Though Boulderbelly is a proficient hunter, his true calling is fatherhood. Since he grew up in a supportive family unit, he subsequently wanted to raise a family as loving as his own. He loves kits, frequently playing with the kits of his clan and babysitting them. They love him as well, mostly because he is a large jungle gym and he is funny. However, he has doubts that he will ever find a mate due to being too selfless, unimpressive, and perceived unattractiveness. Thus, he has silently resigned to be the clan’s perpetual bachelor babysitter. Outside of his family, he does not have many close friends. Though he is amiable and friendly with everyone, no one really gets close to him for they feel embarrassed to be friends with the presumed clan’s prey thief. However, everyone is more or less friendly with him since his personality is too wholesome to hate entirely. Not only that, but he is an amusing cat to keep around.