Post by Annie on Oct 18, 2019 13:00:18 GMT -6
Quickstrike
lichenCLAN
tall, lean tomcat with charcoal rosette fur and amber eyes
deputy
tom
54 moons
Appearance
The very embodiment of tall, dark, and mysterious, Quickstrike is a quite striking tom cat. His build is true to LichanClan cats, being lean and nimble with a noble, long face and equally long body. But the normal clanborne attirbutes tend to end there. He stands out amongst his fellow clan members, hailing from a long line of dark coated Bengal cats, and quite literally above the crowd. His legs are as long and tall as his body is lean and his steps quick. His speed is almost unrivaled by any. He's a cat built for quiet stalking in the dark and has earned his name, for he's not only nimble, but quick to strike. He moves with purpose, each pawstep and movement not wasted, carefully thought out.
Quickstrike is a cat that is best suited for night time activities. His pelt is a deep charcoal, mottled with large, rosette eye spots and long splashes along his topline to break up his overall outline. His fur, while thin, is particularly glossy and water repellent, as his favorite and preferred type of freshkill is fish. His muzzle is the traditional shape for his clan, long and pointed, with pale fur to outline his dark, amber eyes and larger than normal ears. His eyes tend to be sensitive to daylight, so Quickstrike is often out and about in lowlight areas, choosing to be active in the early or late daytime hours, whilst obviously much preferring to be most active at night. To help cover his eye sensitivity, he has put his large ears to use and tuned his hearing, and his whiskers have grown long, and thick, colored a striking white against his dark fur.
Over time, as the rebellion turned revolution waged on, Quickstrike began to accumulate evidence of his trials and tribulations. A parting gift to forever remind him of his dark dead of killing a tyrant stretches across the right side of his face and muzzle. His lower left shoulder holds yet another battle scar earned in the overthrowing of Minnowstar.
Quickstrike is a cat that is best suited for night time activities. His pelt is a deep charcoal, mottled with large, rosette eye spots and long splashes along his topline to break up his overall outline. His fur, while thin, is particularly glossy and water repellent, as his favorite and preferred type of freshkill is fish. His muzzle is the traditional shape for his clan, long and pointed, with pale fur to outline his dark, amber eyes and larger than normal ears. His eyes tend to be sensitive to daylight, so Quickstrike is often out and about in lowlight areas, choosing to be active in the early or late daytime hours, whilst obviously much preferring to be most active at night. To help cover his eye sensitivity, he has put his large ears to use and tuned his hearing, and his whiskers have grown long, and thick, colored a striking white against his dark fur.
Over time, as the rebellion turned revolution waged on, Quickstrike began to accumulate evidence of his trials and tribulations. A parting gift to forever remind him of his dark dead of killing a tyrant stretches across the right side of his face and muzzle. His lower left shoulder holds yet another battle scar earned in the overthrowing of Minnowstar.
Personality
+ OBSERVANT & INTUITIVE
Over time, Quickstrike has learned to 'play the game,' as he calls it, well. And that game is the game of life. He's learned through a constant haze of threat and fear of being found out to see the little things. He has learned to read the subtlies of one, instinctively knowing when to play the devoutee or the rebel. He has developed a penchant for looking out for those who have been oppressed like himself, and desires to make life easier for them.
SELF-DISCIPLINED & STEADFAST:: A tom cat with a strong sense of Clanborne pride, Quickstrike is a cat driven by responsibility to his clan and his duties as a warrior. He has a strong will power, getting most tasks done with steadfast, almost obsessive, fortitude. Quickstrike will get the job done, quickly and quietly without fuss. He's honest and well known in his own abilities; if he cannot do it, he will find a way to get the job done with help.
+ ENDURING & STONG-WILLED:: Quickstrike used to be known for his rather abrasive and insensitive tongue. He often times would speak frankly of situations or others with little regard to their personal feelings of his words. He was nonchalant in the repercussions of his actions, despite his parents careful upbringing. He didn't care to mince words at the expense of others, and that has caused him in recent moons to become the center of Minnowstar's keen, suspicious eye. He has endured for a long time under her harsh gaze, learned to watch his words and actions. After all, as time has passed, his actions hold repercussions for others now, not just himself. He has become very good at acting and spying, and his strong will to persevere is easily rubbed off on.
- SKEPTICAL & PRAGMATIC:: Quickstrike over the moons has become skeptical of things he cannot understand. He's a simple cat who likes to rely on the things that easily explained and understood, things he can touch and see with his own eyes. Despite all Shadowface and Swansong have done with encouraging him to believe in the unseen, Quickstrike will always remain a tom who prefers to do things with his own paws, and in a clan full of believers, he's been forced to hide this. He does not like to lay faith in others too much and can be rather untrusting of the unknown, but pushes himself to lay trust in what he cannot see. It's a part of himself he will always be at war with despite outward appearances.
- ALOOF & WITHDRAWN:: A private tom, Quickstrike is not known for his emotions, and is often hard to read. He's quiet and reserved, even for his clan, to the point where he is almost a mystery himself. The Quickstrike most know is almost superficial in a way. He's a model Clan cat, known for his devout duty to his clan, and little more. While practicality may be seen as a good trait to most, in his clan, Quickstrike stands out. He does not have as much faith in StarClan as his clan does. He believes in them and follows preset rules, but in the end, prefers to rely on himself more than devote prayer. He has been seen as self-serving many a times, for he is quick to leave should things get rough for him personally.
-SELF CONFLICTED
Quickstrike is a tom who's whole life has been left out and ostracized. His life has been a mixture of overlooked and forgotten, yet still filled of criticism and being singled out for little more than who he comes from. As he has grown, Quickstrike has felt lost in himself, torn between wanting to voice his concerns for his clan, for his friends, and that innate desire and even programmed instinct to remain silent, unseen, and unheard.
History
KITHOOD::Born to long line of LichenClan warriors, Quick-kit was expected, from birth, of great things. His parents, Kestralwing and Silverspring, were exceedingly fond of him, and he grew up close to his siblings and family in a tight knit cluster. He is the middle of a litter of three, and came into the world a squalling, fighting mess, and earned his name (named as so by his sister Swansong) as being the first in his litter to do everything. As a youngster, he was loud, feisty, and quite a handful. He was strong from the beginning despite his age, and dominated his siblings to the point of almost cruelty. He was a bit of a bully to be honest, and was quite spoiled and used to getting his own way. His kithood personality was quite different from his current one.
APPRENTICESHIP:: In an effort to curb Quickpaw's headstrong personality, he was assigned to Hemlockheart, an equally strong, almost cruel mentor. Quickpaw's apprenticeship was not easy and he found no comfort in Hemlockheart, only a brutal teacher. He suddenly found himself on the receiving end of his boorish tendencies and was very quickly cowed into being the perfect, model apprentice. He was taught to never think for himself, that StarClan would look down on him for being so selfish. He was pushed hard from the start, and learned quickly that while his mother gave him everything, he was expected to work for it now. Nothing came easy to Quickpaw, everything was earned through hard work alone and no amount of prayer to StarClan for a break or a little aid, helped Quickpaw. Quickpaw's apprenticeship broke him in a way, solidified his almost disbelief in StarClan, and as he aged, surrounded by devout followers, he knew he would have to keep his thoughts to himself. He became reclusive to the point of being timid, and grew distant from his family. A tragic accident, brought about the death of his litter mates, Falconpaw and Larkpaw, when the apprentice, despite his mentor’s warnings, attempted the teach his less capable siblings some advance climbing maneuvers. The litter snuck out together during a storm, and when Owlflight learned of this, the eldest brother attempted to rescue them from what he knew would happen. Not even experienced warriors braved the high cliffs during squalls. Owlflight attempted to have his own litter mates, Ferncloud and Swansong, help, but the she-cats gave Quickpaw the benefit of the doubt. He was a strong apprentice on the cusp of his warrior name. They believed fully that he would not endanger his siblings in such a matter. Little did they know It was one last ditch effort to rankle against Hemlockheart's tight grip over him. Quickpaw was never the same afterwards.
WARRIOR STATUS:: Despite his harsh apprenticeship, Quickstrike became a warrior quickly after the accident, pouring himself obsessively into his training. He wanted out from Hemlockheart's grip, and became well known for his devout duty to his clan.
After receiving his warrior name, Quickstrike sunk in to the shadows of the clan, becoming little more than an observer of those around him. He became lazy in a sense, applying himself to his physical duties and little more. He became careless even, for Minnowstar soon became suspicious of his relaxed, carefree air. The night of the gathering where Hemlock appeared, revealing the secret of an island of a group cats called the Tribe, Quickstrike was seen nonchalantly conversing with cats outside of his clan. Minnowstar forced the tom to repent and ever since, Quickstrike has been wary of being caught off guard once more.
As time passed, unrest in the clan grew. Quickstrike became more aware of it when Shadowface pointed it out. The words spoken between them whilst a hunting trip would have ended with Shadowface's death perhaps, but instead of being a good, obedient servant, Quickstrike kept the secret to himself. Something inside him was stirring. As the moon passed, Quickstrike found himself adopting Shadowface's kits as his own, despite there being no blood relation. He felt an unresistably strong urge to protect her at all costs, and raised the kits as any father would, wholly his sons. He has never once viewed Spiderpaw and Cresspaw as anything other than his kin.
Shadowface's unrest and word haunted him, and before he knew what was happening, he found himself caught in a tangle of secrets, a rebellion hellbent on overthrowing Minnowstar, and at the mercy of his newly revealed heritage. Quickstrike eventually stepped forth at the urging, and nomination, of his peers to lead the rebellion.
Seasons passed as Quickstrike toiled with in the shadows to end Minnowstar's reign. He experienced loss in many forms (Shadowface, Cressclaw, Spiderfrost), and in his sorrow, found comfort in the darkest of places. With the supposed death of Shadowface, Lavendermist, a highly entrusted comrade and rebellion queen to his king, stepped forward to help comfort him. Their love for each other hit in the most unexpected way, but quickly grew.
For moons, Quickstrike played double agent, leading the rebellion in secret and leaking false information to Minnowstar in an effort to gain her trust. Everything came to a head when Quickstrike was demeanded to give names of rebels. With the threat of his treachery and rebellion being revealed, the rebels decided as a whole to turn in two cats. Lavendermist and Sparrowheart stepped forward to volunteer themselves.
Thankfully, Minnowstar did not demand for their lives, banishing Lavendermist from the clan and locking Sparrowheart in the catacombs instead for high treason. Spot at Minnowstar's side secured, Quickstrike continued to meet with Lavendermist in secret and plan Minnowstar's downfall.
After the discover of the tunnel cats and that Hemlockheart, now Yarrow, was indeed alive and willing to help, events happened in a landfall. Before long, the whole island rose up against Minnowstar, and together with Yarrow, Quickstrike saw an end to her reign.
Annoited deputy by StarClan, Quickstrike now stands beside Yarrowstar as they struggle to rebuild LichenClan to it's former glory all the while preparing for his own new adventure. Deputy, new mate, and new dad.
