Beetlenose

THistleclan

charcoal bengal with golden eyes

If one were to just glance at Beetlenose, one would immediately think he was just an older apprentice. Rather small for his age, this tom was not overly blessed with the stick strong muscles accustomed to Thistleclan's heritage. With his small size, he is able to slip into smaller crevasses that most apprentices or kits could find themselves hiding in, but he prefers to use his size to be able to slip and crawl through the Thistleclan forest tracking down prey or anything else the clan might need. 

Custom to the Thistleclan heritage, Beetlenose's pelt is a mixture of dark stripes and spots that start near his toes and grow closer and closer until they seem to form a black shell like coating over his back. His tail is solid black but his stomach and chest are this light brown, almost golden, mi of fur that sticks out against the dark markings that cover the rest of his body. 

Beetlenose's face looks like what many would consider a mask. He has the same black Bengal markings that seem to expand from the back of his neck and over the top of his head and his ears to cover most of his face. There are patches of the golden brown fur that bright to focus his eyes and his mouth. His eyes, much like the fur around them are the honey golden color and at the very end of his snout sits a solid black nose.

There is no doubt that Beetlenose is active member of Thistleclan. While there are some that would back away from a chance to go on a patrol of any kind, Beetlenose is always found at the front of the group ready to go at a moments notice if his name is called. He is eager and ready to help his clan in anyway possible. Some would call his eagerness annoying while other say it will help him grow into a fine Warrior as he continues to grow. 

On top of always being ready to work for the clan, Beetlenose is pretty attentive to the moods and actions of his clanmates. He can usually tell if someone is having a bad day and usually wants to try and put a smile on their face or at least make their day a little better. He isn't the greatest at taking situations seriously but as long as he can make someone feel better he feels as if he has done a good job helping that cat. 

Beetlenose has a horrible time focusing. It is not uncommon to listen to him ramble on from topic to topic with no sense of direction and purpose. Many cats, especially the solitary Thistleclan cats, find this highly annoying and more often than not he has been snapped at to quit talking. When this happens, soon after Beetlenose will sometimes wander off stalking after something that has engrossed his attention. More than once he has found himself far from patrols and been whacked across the ear for worrying the group.

Beetlenose is also horrible at noticing a tense situation. His bubbling and outgoing personality always seems to kick in before the realization that there might be danger brewing thus he usually says something to try to break the growing tension which usually is taken the wrong way and makes the tension grow even further. He does mean well and he will fight to protect his clan and territory but sometimes his fighting can be seen as a playful tussle which does tend to irritate other warriors in clans. It is very rare to see this young take a fight super seriously, but you might watch out when he does. 

Beetlekit was the smallest of three born to Thornshade and Dapplerun, two respectful warriors in the Thistleclan community. His siblings, Dark-kit and Bramblekit, were stronger and always stayed close to Beetlekit doing their best to keep him warm and get him stronger so he could survive in their new home. Thornshade many times expressed that he probably wouldn't make it through the cold leaf-bare, but at night in the silence around them, Dapplerun would whisper words of encouragement to the small kit and told him one day he would grow to be an amazing warrior just like his siblings. 

As they kits got older and grew, Beetlekit grew alongside his siblings, however always seemed to be a step or two behind but it didn't damper his cheerful mood. Many times while Dapplerun would bask in the afternoon sun and the kits would play, Beetlekit would be found attempting to stalk after his name sake crying out in dismay as Dark-kit would chase of the bug before falling into an uninvited tussling match with him. Bettlekit didn't really like fighting and so usually Bramblekit would break the two up and take her brothers place. 

As they closer to becoming apprentices, Thornshade spoke with the children expressing his expectations to each of them in turn. To Dark-kit he could see him becoming a strong and protective warrior for the clan. Bramblekit had the skills to also be a strong fighter or hunter, a wonderful addition to the clan. As he reached Beetlekit, the small tom looked at him with wide excited eyes. Thornshade just stared him down a moment and then muttered if he got his wiggling under control he too could make a good addition to the clan. That night in his happy state, Beetlekit was finding it hard to sleep and found a small bug making it's way out of the den. Wanting to move around, Beetlekit followed after it working on his stalking. He may not be a good fighter, but maybe he could help his clan in other ways. He was so engrossed in his stalking that he hadn't noticed the shadow darting for him until there was a loud yowl and he was bowled out of the way and Thornshade started tussling with a large owl. Startled Beetlekit watched wide eyes as his father fought the large bird receiving a gash that split his ear in two before the creature flew away into the night. Thornshade then turned and looked at Beetlekit, frustration and angrier in his eyes. The small tom just shrunk then scampered back to the nursery at Thornshade's barking order. His father had saved him, but the angry conversation he heard between his parents indicated that he had done it not our concern for his safety, but because of Dapplerun's affection for the small tom. 

At six moons old, Beetlekit became Beetlepaw and was assigned to a stern but caring she-cat named Brooktail. Brooktail probably was the best pairing for him as she allowed him to be his quirky hyperactive self, but also worked with him on trying to channel that energy into something that he could use to help the clan. Beetlepaw learned very quickly that he would not be a great fighter like his siblings, but with all his time stalking bugs and beetles as a kit, he had gotten very good at tracking and hunting. Brooktail helped his harness these skills and soon, Beetlepaw was being asked to go on more hunting and boarder patrols than most of the other apprentices. 

While he was learning and growing well, Brooktail worried about his size and personality for him becoming a warrior. She discussed it personally with him and in the end they both agreed that it was probably best if he had at least one more moon of training before he became a full fledged warrior. So when he and his sibling reached twelve moons old, Beetlepaw watched with pride as Bramblepaw became Bramblegaze and Darkpaw became Darkpelt. He ignored the snide remarks his brother made and worked even harder over the next moon with Brooktail to make sure that he was a warrior that the clan could be proud of.

Now at thirteen moons old, Beetlepaw has finally received his warrior name, Beetlenose, and is working his way into the warrior ranks. He will still hear snide comments from time to time but he had learned to push those aside and focus on the well being of the clan.