serpentpaw

thistleclan

reddish ticked tabby tom with green eyes

11" tall full grown. 9" tall as an apprentice.

Serpentpaw is sinewy and lean. Though he has yet to reach his adult size, he is taller still with large paws. He is naturally athletic with a fast metabolism. He takes on muscle easily, and is resistant to taking on extra weight. This makes for a very gluttonous cat, though you couldn't tell. With a streamlined chest and powerful hindquarters, Serpentpaw is fast. He moves almost ethereally, a grace unbefitting his age. Like the wings of a barn owl, he can move through the air soundlessly.

A short coat of dark golden-red slips lithely across the peaty soil, blending in amongst the woods. Though his fur is thick for it being at a meager length, it still allows him to maneuver through the thickest brambles and thinnest trails without difficulty. It also makes him just that much more resistant to the coldest temperatures.

His face has sharp angles, accentuating his cheekbones and jawline. His muzzle tapers like that of a fox. Almond-shaped, green eyes peer out from the beige marks lining them. They're narrowed when at ease, but open wide when alert. His ears were tall, about the same height as his face. After a close call with a weasel in his kithood, they're damaged beyond repair. Now the tips of his ears flop downward, the muscles weak where the flesh has been tattered.

When Serpentpaw makes a decision, a switch is flipped. It goes beyond stubbornness. He becomes resolved, sticking to it no matter what obstacles lie in his path. He, to some degree, understands the consequences of this. He accepts them, and accepts that he may fail. He'll try his damnedest anyway. Not a step he takes is uncertain; he lets no doubts cross his mind.

He's the last one to obsess over what's already happened, or what can't be changed. He'd rather eat a mouthful of moss than listen to complaining -- let alone complain himself. He focuses on the present, on what he can do to improve things, and he tries to instill this mindset in his more negative clan-mates as well. It's not that he doesn't have his own gripes but, similar to doubts, he doesn't let these things take up space.

Not everything about Serpentpaw is rigid and serious. He is a genuine cat, and generous too. Though he likes to divulge in the pleasantries, he doesn't see why others can't join him. He's never had a selfish hair on his hide, and would give up his nest if someone needed it. He believes that strength comes from community, and tries to bolster his relationships with his clan-mates with consistent generosity. He can even find it within himself to be thoughtful, finding gifts for others that he thinks they'll like. But he'd be embarrassed the whole time.

Though Serpentpaw has a much more impulsive side to him. As mentioned, when he makes a decision he resolves in it. But he's quick to make them, and quicker to act on them. His aggression, when he feels justified in it, is intense. It's a nastier side of him. Toward outsiders, he'll find any excuse to tear into their hides. His prey drive is so strong that he'll hunt just for sport. Spars are often taken too seriously. He wouldn't really turn against his Clan-mates if it killed him, but his aggression is sometimes misdirected when someone gets in the way.

Because he is fleet-footed and slick-furred, Serpentpaw finds it easy to sneak his way around limitations - especially those having to do with confinement. In combination with his determination and impulsiveness, he's often getting up to things he probably shouldn't. He believes he just can't be caught, and sometimes sneaks around for the thrill of it. He's heard some interesting things from eavesdropping this way. He thinks it's fun, imagining he's an assassin or a spy.

Windchaser had her kits without a father to claim them. Serpentkit and Sharpkit grew up without much family anyway, so this didn't strike them as so terrible. They had their mother, and she was doting as ever.

Yet, as Serpentkit got older, he may have suffered from a lack of another parental figure in his life. He was not always closely supervised, did not always feel as though he could go to his mother with his youthful concerns. And he didn't like being vulnerable anyway, it made him squeamish. So he acted out instead in order to get the attention he sought. From the time he was a kit, he practiced sneaking around the camp. Sometimes it was just to see how his mother would react. Or to listen in on conversations thought to be private.

Eventually, inevitably, he became so bold as to sneak outside of camp. He only intended to get a glimpse of the forest beyond, and go straight back before anyone missed him. Yet, as he crawled through twisting brambles, he came face-to-face with a weasel. Its beady eyes locked on him and, perhaps out of surprise or fear, it lashed out at him. His ears burned from the injuries and he ran home, wailing the whole way.

It was his sister who found him first and took him to the medicine cat. Though his ears would never fully recover, and would never be able to hold themselves upright again, he managed to avoid infection thanks to Shadepool's care. He was truly remorseful, apologizing profusely to his furious mother.

Perhaps because of his genuine penance, he was not punished harshly. To his mother, he promised he wouldn't take a step outside of the camp until he became an apprentice. And then, he would not leave unaccompanied by a warrior. He feared another attack too much to try something like that anytime soon.

Aside from that traumatic event, Serpentpaw spent a lot of his time with older warriors listening to their recounts of past battles with rogues and tribe cats. He learned about the fall of LichenClan, how it all started with a mysterious cat from a far-off island.

He learned from these warriors, that the cats beyond their borders were not to be trusted. The rogues had killed many of his clan-mates and, though he didn't know them, he felt a strong duty to honor their loss. As well as defend his Clan and prevent something like that happening again. Something that will require growing up, getting stronger, honing his skills as a warrior. So he hopes that, as he steps into the next part of his life, he can learn how to fight for ThistleClan. Learn enough to know that he can, without a doubt, win those battles.