Post by mero on Feb 14, 2022 9:09:13 GMT -6
SNAKEJAW
THISTLECLAN
SKINNY BLACK TOM WITH GREEN EYES
senior warrior
male
75 moons
Appearance
Since the moment his mother welcomed him into the world, Snakejaw has been a relatively unimpressive sight. The lone kit of his litter, he was spindly and lanky from the start - a condition that hardly changed as he grew - with slick, unmarked black fur and keen green eyes. Throughout his career as a warrior of ThistleClan, he has remained unassuming in terms of looks. Average height, unimpressive build - his aptitude as a warrior has always relied upon his speed, stealth, and accuracy rather than anything resembling physical strength.
His face wears the mask of a perpetual smirk, the inwardly-knowing glance of one who sees and judges all with the perspective of long-entrenched experience. Stoic to a fault, Snakejaw is difficult to read - if any change in expression can be detected to begin with.
His face wears the mask of a perpetual smirk, the inwardly-knowing glance of one who sees and judges all with the perspective of long-entrenched experience. Stoic to a fault, Snakejaw is difficult to read - if any change in expression can be detected to begin with.
Personality
First impressions are often misleading. A falsehood built on signs and signals sometimes so subtle, it’s hard to believe they were even noticed. Nothing about Snakejaw upon first glance would leave any cat to sniff out the true machinations below the surface - and that’s just how he wants it.
Outwardly, Snakejaw’s minute-to-minute impression tends to be one of near-boredom or disinterest. The lack of obvious emotion to alter his bland neutrality is barely changed upon speaking; his detachment and ability to quash emotional impulse extends equally to his speech. With a dry voice, his commentary tends toward a brusque and sarcastic vein. What words he spares for those he finds asinine or unworthy of his time - typically time-wasters or the unproven - can be sharp, barbed with acerbic wit. That same keenness of mind extends to the rest of his standards for dealing with other cats. A stringent proponent of ThistleClan superiority, relations with those outside the territory are tantamount to heresy in his eyes. Those deemed worthy - through perceived usefulness or a true level of quality - are treated much more favorably.
In any sort of a pleasant mood - though rarely demonstrated for the general population - Snakejaw’s bearing veers toward a feeling of genteel civility. Politeness is paramount. Respect, if offered, will be considered thoughtfully before being returned - simple sucking-up is one of those things he finds tasteless; such desperation is far and away one of the most annoying things in this warrior’s eyes. There is a certain elegance to Snakejaw’s maneuvers, and not just in the physical sense. He dances around other cats with his words - setting snares and convoluted cantrips as a sort of test, and those who know the dance’s steps as well as he definitely step up a notch in his estimation. He enjoys the finer things - one could almost call him “cultured” - he is sensitive to uncleanliness and picky about his prey; oft-times he can be found taking a quiet moment on a hunt or patrol to take in a particularly pretty view, to listen to birdsong in the quiet air, or to collect small, aesthetically-pleasing objects to add to his nest.
Passion is not something that often graces Snakejaw’s mind or heart - but there has only ever been one thing that can reliably stir his emotions to any sort of meaningful degree; ThistleClan itself. The way he was brought up by Lilybreeze, his mother, meant that there was a foundation of near-narcissism established early in Snakejaw’s mind when it came to ThistleClan and its standing among other Clans of cats. His genuine belief in the fact that everything about ThistleClan rises above the others in the region has shaped his life from the time he was mature enough to realize how he could use his intelligence and bearing to influence circumstances in the Clan’s favor. Without the gleaming charisma of some or the sheer heroic physical strength of others, he poured his effort into the gentle nudges and subtle manipulation of other players to the advantage of the Clan.
+ cunning, intelligent, devoted
- narcissistic, dogmatic, dispassionate
History
From the start, Snakejaw’s future path was fairly well settled. He was born a single kit to a mother whose righteous hauteur was well-known in the clan. Lilybreeze was, put simply, a diva of the highest order. She demanded the best, and in her mind it was unthinkable that anything about herself, her family, or ThistleClan could ever be anything but superior. She chose her mate simply because he was attractive and successful as a hunter - the lack of romance and his lack of input into her pregnancy and parenting never bothered Lilybreeze’s outlook on the situation. When her only son, Snakekit, was born, it started. From the first, she fed her young son a litany of what was - to her - nothing but the truth. ”You are my perfect son. Our clan is the best. Our territory is the best. None can compare.”
When it came time for Snakekit to receive his new name and move to the apprentice’s den, the focus of Lilybreeze’s “pep talks” changed from establishing the idea of superiority to planting the seeds of the new apprentice’s future methodology. ”You may not be the biggest or the strongest,” she told him - it was true, he was skinny but bright-minded and fast, ”but your mind and your words are your greatest assets. Think carefully before you speak and use no more words than are necessary. You are my son and you will not disappoint me - nor will you disappoint the Clan.”
Snakepaw took his mother’s words very much to heart. He must have seemed unbelievably reticent to his fellow apprentices from the start. It was rare that he struck up a conversation with anyone, and he tended to prefer dealing solely with his mentor, Sorrelnose, who was luckily also of a thoughtful disposition. That quietness lent itself well to the young tom’s hunting and tracking practice; his self-awareness helped him stay silent and still under cover while stalking prey for much longer than some more impulsive, wriggly apprentices, though he struggled somewhat in combat practice. His lack of obvious strength made him the target of mild ridicule among the others - including the much larger fluffy black Crowpaw - but the lack of reaction from Snakepaw at the teasing meant it was short-lived.
With time, Snakepaw’s fighting skills developed. Sorrelnose - though larger and with greater physicality than his apprentice - recognized that his strength would be in his long reach and general speed. The strategy became darting in for quick strikes before disengaging to avoid a heavy blow, and Snakepaw at last felt ready to be tested - to receive his warrior name. After Crowpaw’s failed attempt to take two fellow apprentices out at moonhigh for whatever shenanigans he’d had in mind, Snakepaw felt reassured once again at his “better-than” status compared to the other tom. With great pride in himself - and with his mother beaming from the audience - Snakepaw was named Snakejaw and promoted to warrior.
Not much changed for the first stretch of moons following Snakejaw’s promotion. Sure, he moved from the apprentice den to his own tunnel dug out near his mentor’s in the warrior den. And yes, he started going on patrols with much more regularity - and was even brought along to the very first Gathering after his promotion. But Snakejaw had to wonder for a moment - “This… is it?” From the way his mother had described it, he’d be moving mountains right away - influencing Clan politics from the start and helping to elevate ThistleClan’s standing among the others. For a little while he felt almost lost. He drifted away from Lilybreeze somewhat - something he regretted when she passed suddenly after a wound sustained while hunting brought on a nasty infection - and almost doubted himself. But then he realized: he’d have to make things happen himself. The circumstances weren’t just going to be there, waiting for him - there might be seeds planted, but they required tending and careful planning.
And so he began to play “the Long Game,” as he thought of it. Fostering friendships with the competent and smart - the others who seemed, like him, to be familiar with the ways of those not gifted with great strength to get what they want. Those friends were few, but Snakejaw wasn’t fussed; he was the last cat to need the approval of others in order to feel valid.
In time he was given an apprentice, Silverpaw, who he tutored with great care. The little she-cat was promising - curious and eager to learn. While perhaps not as suited to his fighting style as a longer-limbed, more agile cat, Silverpaw took to battle training with great aplomb, though she could still appreciate the subtleties of a more refined fighting style. Snakejaw took great pride in seeing her skills become more and more well-rounded until she was finally given the name Silverclaw and took up a place in the warrior den. She would remain one of his closest confidantes as she joined his rank - exposure to the more political aspects of Clan life opened her eyes to what kind of importance a more temperate, less reactionary and war-oriented outlook held.
It was shortly after Silverpawn received her warrior name that the unthinkable happened - a kit was stolen and its mother murdered right under the noses of the Clan. Unsatisfied with the outcome and detesting the idea that the blood of Thistlclan would be so detestably twisted, Snakejaw resisted the urge to raise a greater outcry than what was brought up naturally. Previously pragmatic on the topic of clanless cats, this incident planted the seeds for future resentment.
Two seasons after Silverclaw's promotion, Snakejaw was once again called upon to mentor a young cat - this time it was young Applepaw who came under the tom’s sharp green gaze. Only this time, the younger cat was found lacking. Applepaw was Silverclaw’s utter opposite. Where the latter had hung on Snakejaw’s every word and taken his advice eagerly, Applepaw was almost sullen, pouting over the fact that he got “that skinny jerk” as a mentor instead of one of the “better” warriors. Why, to Applepaw, Snakejaw was hilariously unimpressive in comparison to Ripplefang’s close-combat brawling skills or Crowstrike’s obvious strength. It was an uphill battle that put every fiber of Snakejaw’s not-inconsiderable patience to the test. Instead of taking offense at Applepaw’s belief that he was inferior as a mentor to others, he took the tack of using “guest training sessions” with other mentors as a reward for lessons learned without complaint. Successful stalking practice and chores done without whining were met with (pre-arranged) compliments from those more idolized figures. Through this careful game of coaxing, Applepaw was eventually deemed ready - just a moon behind his littermates. With the name Applepelt, the young tom joined the warriors, though Snakejaw kept their relationship purely professional; with how little respect he’d been afforded by the tom as his apprentice, Snakejaw wasn’t about to extend more than his standard civility.
Without an apprentice once more, Snakejaw threw himself into his warrior duties to try and shake the bitter disappointment Applepelt’s training had been from his mind. No moonhigh patrol went un-volunteered for, and every spare moment was spent hunting - especially as rogues and loners became far more common. This increased threat of clanless outsiders quickly cultivated an even nastier regard for the unaffiliated than what had begun many moons prior. While those of other Clans were undoubtedly lesser-than those in ThistleClan, cats without a Clan whatsoever were beneath any kind of notice whatsoever.
Despite his insistence to the contrary, Snakejaw's age had already begun to wear on him in advance of the rough Leaf-bare whose storm wrecked ThistleClan's camp. He would never own the truth, but his survival through to the following Newleaf was more based on luck than any resilience of his part. Though recovering from the season himself, Snakejaw nonetheless did his duty in helping to drive the rogues from Thistleclan's home camp, and threw his remaining strenght into restoring their rightful place.
His xenophobia towards cats who walked the forest without affiliation took a sharp spike when disaster repeated itself; the theft of a second kit, this time with the influence of a clearly-misguided mother. Whatever Birchsong had told herself in justification could hardly heal the insult; Snakejaw's intolerance of rogues and loners was only expanded further to include those who affiliated with them openly.
When it came time for Snakekit to receive his new name and move to the apprentice’s den, the focus of Lilybreeze’s “pep talks” changed from establishing the idea of superiority to planting the seeds of the new apprentice’s future methodology. ”You may not be the biggest or the strongest,” she told him - it was true, he was skinny but bright-minded and fast, ”but your mind and your words are your greatest assets. Think carefully before you speak and use no more words than are necessary. You are my son and you will not disappoint me - nor will you disappoint the Clan.”
Snakepaw took his mother’s words very much to heart. He must have seemed unbelievably reticent to his fellow apprentices from the start. It was rare that he struck up a conversation with anyone, and he tended to prefer dealing solely with his mentor, Sorrelnose, who was luckily also of a thoughtful disposition. That quietness lent itself well to the young tom’s hunting and tracking practice; his self-awareness helped him stay silent and still under cover while stalking prey for much longer than some more impulsive, wriggly apprentices, though he struggled somewhat in combat practice. His lack of obvious strength made him the target of mild ridicule among the others - including the much larger fluffy black Crowpaw - but the lack of reaction from Snakepaw at the teasing meant it was short-lived.
With time, Snakepaw’s fighting skills developed. Sorrelnose - though larger and with greater physicality than his apprentice - recognized that his strength would be in his long reach and general speed. The strategy became darting in for quick strikes before disengaging to avoid a heavy blow, and Snakepaw at last felt ready to be tested - to receive his warrior name. After Crowpaw’s failed attempt to take two fellow apprentices out at moonhigh for whatever shenanigans he’d had in mind, Snakepaw felt reassured once again at his “better-than” status compared to the other tom. With great pride in himself - and with his mother beaming from the audience - Snakepaw was named Snakejaw and promoted to warrior.
Not much changed for the first stretch of moons following Snakejaw’s promotion. Sure, he moved from the apprentice den to his own tunnel dug out near his mentor’s in the warrior den. And yes, he started going on patrols with much more regularity - and was even brought along to the very first Gathering after his promotion. But Snakejaw had to wonder for a moment - “This… is it?” From the way his mother had described it, he’d be moving mountains right away - influencing Clan politics from the start and helping to elevate ThistleClan’s standing among the others. For a little while he felt almost lost. He drifted away from Lilybreeze somewhat - something he regretted when she passed suddenly after a wound sustained while hunting brought on a nasty infection - and almost doubted himself. But then he realized: he’d have to make things happen himself. The circumstances weren’t just going to be there, waiting for him - there might be seeds planted, but they required tending and careful planning.
And so he began to play “the Long Game,” as he thought of it. Fostering friendships with the competent and smart - the others who seemed, like him, to be familiar with the ways of those not gifted with great strength to get what they want. Those friends were few, but Snakejaw wasn’t fussed; he was the last cat to need the approval of others in order to feel valid.
In time he was given an apprentice, Silverpaw, who he tutored with great care. The little she-cat was promising - curious and eager to learn. While perhaps not as suited to his fighting style as a longer-limbed, more agile cat, Silverpaw took to battle training with great aplomb, though she could still appreciate the subtleties of a more refined fighting style. Snakejaw took great pride in seeing her skills become more and more well-rounded until she was finally given the name Silverclaw and took up a place in the warrior den. She would remain one of his closest confidantes as she joined his rank - exposure to the more political aspects of Clan life opened her eyes to what kind of importance a more temperate, less reactionary and war-oriented outlook held.
It was shortly after Silverpawn received her warrior name that the unthinkable happened - a kit was stolen and its mother murdered right under the noses of the Clan. Unsatisfied with the outcome and detesting the idea that the blood of Thistlclan would be so detestably twisted, Snakejaw resisted the urge to raise a greater outcry than what was brought up naturally. Previously pragmatic on the topic of clanless cats, this incident planted the seeds for future resentment.
Two seasons after Silverclaw's promotion, Snakejaw was once again called upon to mentor a young cat - this time it was young Applepaw who came under the tom’s sharp green gaze. Only this time, the younger cat was found lacking. Applepaw was Silverclaw’s utter opposite. Where the latter had hung on Snakejaw’s every word and taken his advice eagerly, Applepaw was almost sullen, pouting over the fact that he got “that skinny jerk” as a mentor instead of one of the “better” warriors. Why, to Applepaw, Snakejaw was hilariously unimpressive in comparison to Ripplefang’s close-combat brawling skills or Crowstrike’s obvious strength. It was an uphill battle that put every fiber of Snakejaw’s not-inconsiderable patience to the test. Instead of taking offense at Applepaw’s belief that he was inferior as a mentor to others, he took the tack of using “guest training sessions” with other mentors as a reward for lessons learned without complaint. Successful stalking practice and chores done without whining were met with (pre-arranged) compliments from those more idolized figures. Through this careful game of coaxing, Applepaw was eventually deemed ready - just a moon behind his littermates. With the name Applepelt, the young tom joined the warriors, though Snakejaw kept their relationship purely professional; with how little respect he’d been afforded by the tom as his apprentice, Snakejaw wasn’t about to extend more than his standard civility.
Without an apprentice once more, Snakejaw threw himself into his warrior duties to try and shake the bitter disappointment Applepelt’s training had been from his mind. No moonhigh patrol went un-volunteered for, and every spare moment was spent hunting - especially as rogues and loners became far more common. This increased threat of clanless outsiders quickly cultivated an even nastier regard for the unaffiliated than what had begun many moons prior. While those of other Clans were undoubtedly lesser-than those in ThistleClan, cats without a Clan whatsoever were beneath any kind of notice whatsoever.
Despite his insistence to the contrary, Snakejaw's age had already begun to wear on him in advance of the rough Leaf-bare whose storm wrecked ThistleClan's camp. He would never own the truth, but his survival through to the following Newleaf was more based on luck than any resilience of his part. Though recovering from the season himself, Snakejaw nonetheless did his duty in helping to drive the rogues from Thistleclan's home camp, and threw his remaining strenght into restoring their rightful place.
His xenophobia towards cats who walked the forest without affiliation took a sharp spike when disaster repeated itself; the theft of a second kit, this time with the influence of a clearly-misguided mother. Whatever Birchsong had told herself in justification could hardly heal the insult; Snakejaw's intolerance of rogues and loners was only expanded further to include those who affiliated with them openly.
