Silkfeather

Redwoodclan

longhaired silver tabby with yellow eyes

Silkfeather does not stand as tall as some of her Clanmates, but she would not classify herself as short. She sometimes struggles to see to the front of a crowd, but has also found all the places she can fit her bodies that her larger Clanmates can’t follow. She is a slight thing, willowy and graceful in appearance.

Her pelt is silver at its base and mixed through with darker gray tabby striping. If she were to bear a shorter coat, the stripes would be just that: stripes. They would hold definitely shape and pattern. But with her fur as long as it is, the stripes lose definition. They ripple and blend with the silver until it almost makes it hard to tell which color belongs where. Around her face and down her legs where the fur is shorter, the stripes make a more definite appearance. Her fur is long and feathery, though not necessarily thick and she sprouts extra long tufts from her ears and between her toes.

A good way to describe Silkfeather’s face would be “delicate”. Her muzzle is small, tapering gently to end in a dark pink nose. Long whiskers fan out from her face and are almost always arched forward to communicate her constant curiosity. Her yellow eyes are almond shaped and shine with quiet intelligence as she seeks to learn more about the world she lives in.

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+Intelligent, Patient /Curious, Gentle -Sensitive, Meek, Fickle

No cat could ever say that Silkfeather took her time learning new things. From new skills to new ideas and stories, she has a very easy time when it comes to picking things up. She is never one to let her riled emotions get the better of her and, instead, takes the time to think about her responses and weigh her options. She is a very patient cat and there is little that gets under her skin despite all the things that cause her concern. It takes a lot of prodding and antagonizing to get Silkfeather to snap.

Her intelligence has led to a curiosity so hungry there are times she feels it will never be satisfied. She feels an intense desire to know as much as possible about how the world works. One of the most controversial ways this curiosity manifests is with cats outside of RedwoodClan. She wants to know how other cats live, whether they’re from other Clans, from no Clan, from the Tribe or even the rare twolegs with their kittypets.

One thing that Silkfeather tries to keep quiet is the nature of her belief in StarClan. Even though her aunt is a medicine cat with a theoretically very close relationship with a Clan full of their ancestors, she is uncertain. Over the course of her life, the best conclusion she can come to is that there is some kind of higher power in the world even if it isn’t necessarily StarClan. Or maybe StarClan is real and then there are different entities that govern cats that aren’t from Clans.

She considers herself very sensitive to other’s feelings, but there is a catch. Some might hear this said about Silkfeather and laugh out loud. She is considerate of other cats’ feelings and speaks carefully to others out of a desire to not offend or hurt, but she has a rather glaring blind spot. If a cat were to approach her with romantic intent, those hints would fly right over her head. Even those that are only trying to become friends with her might find themselves having a somewhat difficult time getting her attention that way.



Silkfeather is soft-spoken and meek. She is easily cowed by stronger voices and her desire to avoid most forms of conflict means that she rarely speaks up in her own defense. She would give another cat her last piece of prey if they asked nicely enough even if she was starving just because she wouldn’t know how to tell them that she needed it more.

Although she supports Finchstar as RedwoodClan’s leader, she quickly learned that the easiest way for her to express this was through actions rather than trying to make herself heard over the more outspoken and angry warriors. If she knows that there is a battle on the horizon, she will spend her time making sure the medicine den and fresh-kill pile are properly stocked rather than arguing about whether or not they should be fighting.

Her family means more to her than just about anything. Her sister, Sleekfang, and aunt, Orchidshade, are the only surviving family she has and, even though she doesn’t necessarily agree with them about everything, she thoroughly enjoys spending time with them and would do anything to make sure they were happy.

That’s about the only thing she seems to be able to remain consistent on, though, as it has become kind of a running joke that her interests change as quickly as smoke in the wind. She frequently changes her mind on small things like what she does or doesn’t like to do and who she does or doesn’t enjoy spending time with that week, leaving her with few meaningful relationships.

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Kithood
Silk-kit was born alongside her only sister Sleek-kit to proud parents Marsh-heart and Feathernose. Her father, Marsh-heart had once been the medicine cat of the Clan but had since relinquished the position to his sister, Silk-kit’s aunt, Orchidshade. Silkfeather has very few memories from this period in her life save for a fuzzy, but warm, memory of her father’s face. When she was only three moons old, her father gave in to his chronic greencough and died.

Apprenticeship
Silk-kit became Silkpaw at six moons old. She trained diligently, excelling in most things her mentor taught her, but what really captured her interest was the stranger that showed up at a gathering. She had been among the crowd clambering for a spot to see the strange cat Finchstar had brought home that night. He called himself Hemlock, just Hemlock, and said that he came from an island nearby where he lived with his Tribe, not Clan, and they were sick and needed help.

Silkpaw’s mind spun and that night she didn’t sleep. She was far too busy thinking about this tribe. They had lived so close for seasons, but never known of each other and that fascinated her. Just when she was dealing with the disappointment of not being chosen to go visit the tribe with her aunt, LichenClan invaded their camp. The fighting was far more brutal than the naive apprentice had ever expected and that battle brought many casualties, including her own mother, unable to battle the infections in her wounds.

This loss devastated Silkpaw and to make matters worse, her sister had been terribly injured trying to save Feathernose. Sleekpaw, now with a broken leg, lay bound to her nest for what felt like forever while Silkpaw had to continue training alone. What followed was an incredibly lonely period. Her mother was dead, her sister nest-bound and her aunt gone to the tribe.

Gradually, things normalized. Silkpaw listened quietly to the older warriors whispering conspiracy theories and blaming all bad things on the appearance of the tribe. The apprentice found herself troubled by this. Bad things had happened before Hemlock’s appearance. The death of her father was a good example of this. They were even at war with LichenClan before Hemlock’s appearance. She quickly learned that there were cats that would use any event they could to twist the narrative in their favor.

Warrior:
Silkfeather became a warrior at the usual time, around 12 moons, with little fanfare. She was a quiet, studious apprentice and she was a quiet, studious warrior. The biggest difference to her was the freedom to wander without a warrior breathing down her back. She began to spend a lot more time either out of camp or in the medicine den asking her aunt any question about the tribe or medicine that she could think to ask. She has spent much of her time since then seeking any information she can about anything she can come up with.

She has faithfully, but quietly, supported Finchstar even though she doesn’t necessarily agree with the war. She has realized that they have very little choice in the matter because whether they want to fight or not, LichenClan wants to attack them. They have to either defend themselves or die. On that note, she feels bad for the warriors of LichenClan. She’s been to enough gatherings to see the way the warriors slink around. They look hunted, terrified of being spied on which has Silkfeather coming to the conclusion that there must be cats there that don’t agree with their leader’s crusade. She wants to help them, but she doesn’t know how.

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