PineSMOKE

ThistleClan

a large seal-point she-cat.

Dressed in downy tresses and graced with a genteel face, despite her youth and apparent naivete, there is a certain poise and refinement to Pinepaw’s visage that contrasts sharply with her childish humors and the clinging kitten pudginess that will follow her through adulthood. She is fair of pelt with only the softest touches of color at her nose and limbs where burgeoning seal points have taken root, while her toes are each tipped in softest ivory, melding neatly with sprawling pink pads. Her eyes are a pale blue that later will show up starkly against her dark points.

Positive Traits: empathetic, bright, conversational, thoughtful.
Neutral Traits: earnest, well-intentioned, naïve, forgiving.
Negative Traits: impulsive, dependent, emotional, trusting.

One might wonder how a cat so gangling and capricious could be born from either Juniperfang or Stagstar, yet few would venture so far as to question to whom it is Pinesmoke belongs. Harboring a gentle spirit, Pinepaw exhibits the inherent traits in most children. She is deeply fascinated by the world around her, insatiably curious, and prone to fits and tantrums when things do not go as she would have wished. She is deeply interested in Clan life, just as she is infatuated by her father's role as Clan leader and her mother's station as a warrior of renown amongst their ranks, and deeply desires to meet both parents' lofty expectations. However, despite these desires, Pinesmoke is inherently flawed in everything she does. Although with every act, she has only the best intentions, her being prone to impulsivity and her delicate emotions will often find her plans—however grandiose in her head—to unwind into an unsightly mess with herself at their center, and her parents scowls not far in behind.

Of course, it is never her aim to do these things. And however clumsy she is and however common mishaps seem to be, there is no denying that she harbors a certain intelligence and her voracious appetite for discovery only further solidifies it in her earnest attempts to learn more about the world and impress some new discovery upon those around her.

Yet, at the root of it all is a naivete that does not aid her in such pursuits.

Where her brother may be perceptive to the wants and desires of those around him, always managing in that odd and seasoned way to say the right things when asked of him, Pinesmoke harbors a certain ignorance that denies her such tact. Instead, she is prone to fall into incriminating tangents and ponder on questions that sour the ears of all those who hear them without realizing it. And where her brother may steel himself behind a veil of stoicism, offering only rare moments of tenderness, Pinesmoke is not so skilled and instead implores to bare her heart to the world and all the troubles and desires bellied in it. Indeed, few can throw themselves into the emotional fits which Pinesmoke is all too well known, much to the chagrin of her parents and her own dissatisfaction. Yet she has never had much control over such things and perhaps never will.

With age, Pinesmoke will slowly separate herself from these kittenish habits while still clinging to them almost stubbornly, and while she may give into to her parents' more stoic and officious natures, there will perhaps always be a tiny morsel of the kit she once was wrestling to be free from their expectations.

Basic Fear(s): Not living up the expectations of the Clan and her parents—mostly her parents.
Basic Desire(s): To satisfy the desires of her parents and, eventually, earn the validation she’s craved since kithood.
Key Motivation(s): Her parents approval; genuine companionship.

✦✦ Season 2022, Leaf Fall || Amid the snow and cold, a single kit is brought, limp and wailing, from the jaws of strangers, set alongside a tom-kit whose kin have perished before their first breath to fill the role of kin. They name her Pinekit and her brother Bramblekit, and though their blood is sparingly shared, they are raised as though they came from the same womb. Pinekit never wonders after this; she has no recollection of that critical moment when her milk-giver was taken away. Her earliest memories are instead of Juniperfang, her mother, and all the stern lectures which she was made to sit through, the droning, tiresome speeches, the lessons upon lessons upon lessons… her kithood did not permit very much in the way of fun. Eager squeals and romping play were replaced with even-pitched recitals of ancient codes and leader-born children’s stiff, proper steps. Despite this, she found room for mischief, sharing laughs with Yewthorn’s kits and uncovering odd friends in medicine dens.

✦✦ Season 2022 and 2023, Leaf Bare || At the approach of her sixth moon, Pinekit, dubbed Pinepaw, is entrusted into the care of the stoic and seasoned warrior Smokestorm and transitions comfortably into her new life. She rekindles old ties with the tom she found wounded in the medicine den and learns of his new name, Lostpaw. The two become fast friends, uncovering dangers in the undergrounds of ThistleClan camp. When they are set upon by a weasel, Lostpaw kills it in a fit of impassioned savagery. Though she thanks him, she looks at her friend differently following the event.

✦✦ Season 2023, New Leaf || A storm rolls over the island, submerging ThistleClan camp. While their camp crumbles around them, the call for retreat is made, and the camp comes alive with a swarm of fleeing cats. Amongst the confusion, Pinepaw stumbles and falls behind the group, only to be saved by Bramblepaw as the others flee. Stranded in the storm, the two construct a plan to reconnect with their departed clanmates.

✦✦ Season 2023, Green Leaf || ThistleClan continues to count their losses in the aftermath of the flooding. When word of Lostpaw’s own brother going missing in the flood reaches Pinepaw’s ears, she begins to expend her energy on uncovering her friend’s lost brother in the ruins of their territory. When the two are unsuccessful, they are found by a patrol sent out by her father, and the pair are returned with Pinepaw called into Stagstar’s chambers. Made to stand before her father, she endures his scolding but refutes him. As he chides her for endangering her life, she denounces him as a coward before she is scornfully sent away to her own nest. There she is found by her brother, who, noticing her crying, approaches—first with the intent to soothe her, but later, she finds, to admonish her for her foolishness. Irritable and defensive, Pinepaw lobs her own admonishments at his feet, and the two fight, ending in both wounded and unwilling to speak to the other. It is the last time she speaks to him for some moons, and his absence is sorely felt.

✦✦ Season 2023, Leaf Fall || Noticing his apprentice’s sodden spirits, Smokestorm offers her an opportunity to regain favor in her father’s eyes. They venture into the forest, uncovering a badger trail, tracking it to their source, and fighting the creature off. Upon returning, bloodied but proud, Stagstar is forced to acknowledge her courage, and soon after, she, Bramblepaw, and Lostpaw are gifted their warrior names.

✦✦ Season 2023, Leaf Bare || With Lostgaze, the only friend left to her in the camp, Pinesmoke seeks solace in another cat’s company from across the creek. Silentpaw, an apprentice she first met at a gathering, has become a favorite haunt—a cat to whom she can speak and entrust her secrets where no one else has the time to listen. Her need for the she-cat’s company grows, as do her feelings, though her absence is quickly noted, first by her mentor and later by her family. As she returns from an outing with the LichenClanner, undeterred by previous warnings and secretly giddy with her own insubordination, she is confronted by her brother, who denounces her actions and reveals a terrible truth.