Fernheart

ThistleClan

classic blue tabby-and-white w/ green eyes.

As plain as they come, Fernheart is no bearer of conspicuous features. He boasts no long furs or extravagant markings, only the humble plainness of a classic blue tabby pelt, broken only by the white at the chin, throat and underbelly. His eyes are a rich green, as deep as the pine needles, and in build he is lean and well-muscled. Since growing out of the awkward gangliness of his adolescent, as an adult, he has matured considerably, though his face is no more memorable, his feature no more impressive; their plainness counteracted only by a niche upon the bridge of his nose—a gift granted to him by his sister and one he wears with a strange fondness.

com·pas·sion·ate | /kəmˈpaSHənət/ | feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others. || Raised in an environment where to express one’s emotions was a common thing, Fernkit will share in his mother’s affinity for sympathetic expression. Considered by many to be an avid listener (for in truth he feels there is very little he has to say), he reflects his mother’s compassion for others and is a ready dispeller of ill feelings. He is supportive and empathetic to the point it pains him and can become so engrossed in the emotions of others that he experiences them vicariously through those he interacts with. 

sen·si·tive | /ˈsensədiv/ | quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences. || Not only is Fernkit sensitive to the emotions of those around him, but also how others might view himself and his family. Fernkit is painfully aware of how his actions affect the environment around him and acts tentatively because of it—almost to the point of inertness for fear of drawing unwanted attention to himself. As such he is the last to speak, the last act and would much rather listen than add his own voice to the discussion so that he might better gauge the best responses and how they are perceived. Because of this on the rare occasion he does speak, he does not speak for himself, but in favor of what others want than what he himself believes.

meek | /mēk/ | quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive. || An insecure youth, though Fernkit may develop skills more honed than his peers, he will always wrestle with the underlying belief that he is not deserving of any of the talents he possesses. In combination with his mother’s incessant coddling, this tentativeness will make him soft-hearted and subservient. Always will he be a gentle spirit, nestled up in the comfort of her limbs, never taking the initiative and willing such responsibilities onto those around him.

re·served | /rəˈzərvd/ | slow to reveal emotion or opinions. || Withdrawn to the point of shyness, Fernkit does not share much with those outside his family, nor is he one to readily speak or engage in conversation with others. He prefers to listen and squirms at the thought of having someone instead listen to him. He does not care for admitting his true feelings or thoughts for fear of how they will be received and so allows others to do so for him, preferring to hide behind his mother’s leg than confront situations head-on.


well in·ten·tioned | /wel inˈten(t)SHənd/ | having or showing good intentions despite a lack of success or fortunate results. || All that Fernkit does is he does under the guise of necessity. If he acts out, he will not initially view it as a bad thing, for what other choice did he have? And so it is not uncommon for him to act without truly regarding how it will affect the whole, to press questions that are not his to ask, and to confront those who he has no right facing.

de·fen·sive | /dəˈfensiv/ | very anxious to challenge or avoid criticism. || Tender-hearted, Fernkit is one who wears his heart on his sleeve and does not know how to shield himself or others from criticism and instead responds to it in a way that is altogether volatile and unproductive. Whether ill-intentioned or otherwise, he is prone to pouting fits and early surrenders at the slightest sign of provocation, and as he grows, this habit will grow from secession to aggression. He will do all in his power to avoid slights, and in this, draw more towards him than he ever initially intended.

00-05 Moons.
17-12 Moons ago, Barren Nests… During a time in which kits disappeared from the sides of their own mothers, many queens clung desperately to their children for fear of such mishap befalling their own kits, though few could ever boast of being so suffocated as Fernkti and his sister. Sheltered in the whimsical dredges of his mother’s nest, while the leaf-bare chill settled over their hunting grounds, inside their den, they were shielded from the worst of the worlds cruelness. Their mother filled their heads with whimsical stories and grand and fanciful deeds, and it was only upon the arrival of their second moon that their father came to drive them into the real world and all its many wonders.

Amid the cold, to Fernkit, young and meek and sick on the sweetness of his mother’s kit-tales, the world was frightening. His Clanmates dour faces and raging tempers reminded him little of his mother’s gentle nature, and he loathed the cold and the sickness it brought him. Yet his father, despite his mother’s insistence, wanted for them to grow up naturally, and so he did, and quickly grew sick with green-cough, spending the bulk of his kithood fed herbs and honey to soothe his coughing and ease the chills from his body. Although he did not spend as much time around his mother and father then as Foxkit, he remembers even then how they would argue upon visiting him, or even the sad way his mother would gaze at him when she thought no one was looking. Though he lacked words for it then, he knew his family was unlike any other in the vale.

06-08 Moons.
11-09 Moons Ago, Admittance… Spurred by inadequacies that manifested during his kithood, Fernpaw is anxious to overcome his shortcomings as he approaches his sixth moon and is entrusted to the warrior Willowshine. Under the she-cat’s tutelage, Fernpaw works tirelessly to escape from his sister’s shadow, and find fast friends in littermates Oriolepaw and Bearpaw throughout his training. Yet his seemingly upward trajectory is cut short as a blood moon hangs and shortly after his mother confesses his father’s infidelity in the clearing for all to hear. Catching the last vestiges of the conversation, Fernpaw finds himself unable to help himself from loathing both his mother and father for stripping him of what normalcy he had, and as his father flees, leaving a grief-stricken Cinderfeather in his wake, he nurses her back to health, feeding her herbs and cleaning her den, and finding that, even then, he cannot help but to blame her for the stares which never seem far from them.

09-14 Moons.
08-03 Moons Ago, Ego Death… Cinderfeather’s sudden announcement of the litter she is expecting spurs Fernpaw to spend additional time tending to her needs. Fetching her prey and looking over the little ones once they are born, Fernpaw finds solace in the den-bound duties out of the scrutiny of his Clanmates and finds an escape from the critiquing eyes as he ensure his sibligs are granted a life more comfortable than his own. His refusal to attend training, however, leads Willowshine to refuse him his assessment despite his previous promise. Angered but no more driven to attend his lessons, Fernpaw continues to neglect his duties, and it is only after the final clash with LichenClan, himself felling his foe in combat, that he is granted his warrior name at fourteen moons.

15-17 Moons.
02-00 Moons Ago, the Great Escape… A long and ponderous winter drives over the island, burying all beneath a formidable covering of snow. Amid the blizzard, Fernheart revisits old haunts with a warrior by name of Lionthroat, spending a vulnerable moment cramped and alone in which he confesses his newly-sparked feelings. Though the tom entertains him for a time, their return is awkward and tense, and as he recovers in the medicine den, he finds himself only further denied when he admits his feelings to his long-time friend Bearpaw. Despondent from the rejection of two cats whom he believed himself to be close to, he is met again by further harrowing news: his father and mentor have become mates and are expecting a litter. Despite his own desire to be happy for his father, Fernheart cannot help but to feel as though both his mother and father are running from the failure that was he and his sister, and cannot look on the new with any fondness, again feeling the inescapable feeling of not belonging. But rare news brought in from a gathering offers him some respite from his feelings, and without uttering a word to anyone but his family, Fernheart makes preparations to leave the Clan for the tunnels below where cats whisper of unifying the island and peace. To some it is a worthy and honorable calling, and Fernheart largely thinks the same—but most of all it is an escape, and one he finds he has been in desperate need of, and so he takes it.