SHADE

Under a Tree

Tribe of Floating Stones

long haired very dark brown tom with golden-yellow eyes

Shade is a fairly lanky cat. His legs and body are long. He has a well built petite frame. His legs are the only muscles that have been well formed from the many moons of hunting. While he is a "larger" cat, he only comes in at 10.5 pounds on his heaviest days. His tail is well proportioned to the length of his body as it, in fact, almost as long as he is.
Shade is a very dark colored cat depending on the brightness of the area. He is a black within the shadows and nearly invisible at night. In the light and sun, however, his fur is a rich chocolate brown; his true fur color. He does occasionally get patches of grey fur during the shedding seasons. They are removed as quickly as possible, but usually has one or two tuffs of gray fur during the off season. He is very noticeably longed haired, but the hairs grow long around his chest, cheeks, and tail.
His face is very memorable and some may say intimidating. It is very broad and his head is heavy compared to his body. He has a thick and long muzzle as well. His eyes are large and are sat fairly close together. They are colored a golden yellow with a handle of gold flakes scattered through the iris'. Shade's nose and whiskers are black like the rest of his fur.

If there is one thing this tom is, it is family oriented. Everything he does is for his children, especially now. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for them, even if it means breaking his cautious rules. His family is the only thing that would make him blow caution to the wind. There isn't anything that would stand in his way if there was something he could do for his kids. They are the reason he continues with his life.
One thing Shade knows how to do is love. He constantly shows his friends and family how much he appreciates them and all they do for him emotionally and mentally. While he prefers no handouts, he is grateful for the emotional support he has received for the deaths in his life. Whatever he receives, he gives back ten fold. While he may forget the big things, it is the little things he remembers. A piece of prey for a friend, a break for a mom, a lesson for a To-Be. Anything and he's giving his all being. There isn't much he wouldn't do for others.
He loves playing and goofing around like he hasn't aged past six moons. Before the sickness, he was constantly hanging around the kits, giving the moms a break and tiring out their kids. It was very hard to get him to do anything while his kids were young. He loves making hunting trips a games and tries to get his daughter to compete often. Despite being an old soul, he'll never stop behaving like a kit in that aspect.
This tom is constantly forgetting certain aspects of his life. The biggest notice is how he consistently calls Trout by his deceased sister's name, Robin. It hasn't changed since he was born. He's even forgotten that he was in the middle of a hunt a few times. Usually he'll get distracted and either starts climbing a tree or swimming in a body of water. The worse time was when he forgot to bring a piece of prey to Mint several times while she was nursing. It's not a common occurrence of his, but it happens enough where most cats know not to trust him too hard to remember certain requests.
Shade has always had a short temper, especially as a To-Be. He has mellowed out over the moons, but not enough to stop yelling when frustrations grow. It isn't just with his kids either. He will snap at any cat that either pushes his buttons or does something in a way he just wouldn't do. Not necessarily a perfectionist, but to him there are ways of doing things. If you don't do it his way, then it is wrong and it will set him off.
Once a very adventurous cat, Shade has changed over the years. He has come cautious to the point where he comes off as over bearing. It has made him less fun as he used to play first and think later. Now he thinks constantly. This all stems from the loses over the moons for him. What drove the nail in the coffin was Mint's death only six moons ago. Now he constantly questions the actions of his children and reminds them too much on how much safety should be their main focus. For a tribe that enjoys adventure, it is very hard for his children or others to take him seriously.

Shade was born to a prey-hunter and stone-guard and was one kitten out of two. Like his mother, he was long-haired, but had his father's coloration. He shared the nest with his sister, Bird Flying in the Sky(Sky). They had another brother before them, Talon's on a Crow(Crow). As they aged and were able to move around more, they realized how much their older brother scared them. He was massive cat like their mother which intimidated the small kittens. As he got closer to becoming a To-Be, he started to admire his older brother more and more, wishing one day to be as strong and brave.
When him and his sister were finally To-Bes they were beyond excited. Both had just watched their brother graduate to become a Stone-Guard. That pushed Shade to want to follow in his brother's foot steps more. Unfortunately for him, he was finding himself fall behind his sister in size, but not height. As a lanky To-Be, Shade was clumsy during any sparing matches he had. He was uncoordinated as his body grew. During his hunting practices, however, he began to excel. He noticed his tracking ability was becoming perfected. His sister, on the other hand, was following in their older brother's paw-steps and it made Shade angry.
The day came for them to be put with the prey-hunters or the stone-guards. His sister went first and was placed with the stone-guards. Shade tried so hard over the time of training to get as good as his sister and brother, but he knew in his heart where he'd be placed. It was no surprise to him when it was announced he would be a prey-hunter.
For the next twelve moons, Shade held a large amount of jealously for his siblings. He was acting like he was a To-Be again and avoided their contact. Even with his parents he would avoid them. Shade would purposely only leave the camp if they weren't standing guard at the entrance. Anything he could do. That meant he was running into other stone-guards. One she-cat in question often pulled him aside to talk with him and have casual conversations. Eventually she asked about his brother and sister and told him how much his silence was hurting them. At first he was angry with her, but realized how much courage it took to stand up to him regarding family matters. Her name was Mint that Grows Tall(Mint). It wasn't instant love or even instant like - especially through his angst filled teenage stage - but he fell for her.
Thanks to Mint, he was able to express himself to his family. It was a long time before they decided to bring kits into the world and almost as long to conceive. Shade was 42 moons before he was able to see his kits brought into the world. By this time his mother and father had passed unable to see his children. The deaths hit him hard, but they were old cats and everyone knew it was their time. His kits were: Robin Leaping among the Branches(Robin) a solid brown she-cat like her mother, Leaf on a Tall Oak(Leaf) a brown tabby, and Dark Tunnels made by Shrew(Shrew) a brown and white splotched tom. It was a new stage in his life where he felt restored.
Sadly, right before the kittens were four moons old, his sister and brother were both killed in a tragic coyote skirmish. It was a shock to the tom to lose the remaining of his family in one fell swoop. He had to be strong for his children though and shoved his feelings down. Mint knew the tom well and eventually they found some alone time to talk it through, she was his rock after all.
Soon his children were To-Bes and he was 48 moons old. Mint was hinting at already being ready for more, but he wanted to invest his time in his current children before committing to more. Who even knew if he could be a great father? He watched his son grow into a massive tom with the fierceness of his mother with Robin following closely in her brother's footsteps. Leaf was more dainty like Shade and he enjoyed taking her out on long hunts whenever he could.
Finally, after six moons, Shade felt like he could fit more children into his life. This time it didn't take long before Mint was with kits. At the end of her pregnancy, Robin was in an accident where she ended up fracturing her femur. Unfortunately for the family, she didn't last the night. Everyone was obviously distraught, but once again Shade had to be strong, especially for Mint. He didn't want the shock to be too much for her with her so close to kitting.
Just five days after Robin's death, they welcomed two more kits into the family and another that wasn't born alive. That was Shade's breaking point. He sobbed over his child's lifeless body for hours. Shrew and Leaf tried to comfort their father, but there wasn't much they could do for him. So they watched over their mother and the two that made it. They were two little boys. Losing so much family in such a short time in his life, it broke him a little. He was less outgoing and less happy.
It took Mint days to name the kits due to her depression. Shade finally came into the nursery and collapsed next to his mate. Night when the Coyote Howls(Night) an almost duplicate of his father and Trout that Swims Downstream(Trout) a solid brown cat, with a white bib, almost identical to Robin. Looking at Trout was hard for Shade. With him being born so close to her death, it was hard for him to remember they weren't the same. He often called him Robin and Mint would swiftly correct him as it angered her.
It only took two more moons for Leaf and Shrew to grow up more and be assigned their positions. It was obvious with what they excelled at. Shrew was a stone-guard like his mother and Leaf follow in her father's footsteps.
Shade grew more as a father and mate over the next four months; even though the deaths still felt fresh. Mint and him decided that they didn't want anymore children, at least for the time being. It was finally time for his youngest sons to become To-Bes. Once again, Shade was a proud father. He saw him and his sister in these two boys. Both boys grew fast and large as the moons went on. It was obvious to Shade that they would grow into amazing stone-guards. His oldest son, Shrew would often go out with them and train. Leaf was on her own adventure at becoming a better hunter than her father.
Luckily for the family, nine moons passed with no incidents; minus a few scrapes and bruises. They proudly watched Trout and Night become stone-guards.
It took about another ten moons of peace before they saw the first signs of the sickness. Mint was among the first to fall ill. It wasn't long before she passed that Shrew had also caught it. Shade sent the rest of his children off and away from others. He knew they could look after himself for the time being while they got the situation under control and he wasn't losing another cat to this. Soon after Shrew passed away. Shade didn't have time to grieve. He needed to make sure he and his three remaining kids were safe.
To this day, at the ripe old age of 85 moons, he still hasn't fully processed the lost of his mate. She was his everything and left a giant hole in his heart. He absolutely loves and adores his children, but without her strength he feels none.
He currently refuses to be a Has-Been quite yet and stays stubborn in wanting to continue hunting for his tribe.

*for my for adopts later: Trout + Night age 25 moons; Leaf age 37 moons*