skinktail

redwoodclan

large brown tabby with yellow eyes

Skinktail is built heavy. Both tall and wide, he has some weight to throw around after moons of laying around eating prey others caught. You know when he walks in. Skinktail has mustard yellow eyes and a short, brown tabby pelt resembling that of the common five-lined skink. White colors his mouth and chin. He's got a short, stubby tail and typical tomcat jowls. Scars part his fur here and there, small nicks in the skin from a slap across the face or flank.

fickle -- Skinktail is not your friend. It seems like he is. He walks like your friend and talks like your friend, but Skinktail is not your friend. Skinktail is looking out for Skinktail and he changes teams rapidly. If he gets a chance to screw you over and boost himself, he will snatch it right out of the air and feel no remorse for leaving you facedown in the rotten-smelling mud. Or if you offend him, he’s suddenly ghosting you and it doesn’t look like he misses you.

lazy/shiftless -- Skinktail lacks ambition or motivation. You won’t find him lusting over positions of power or volunteering for any extra patrols. Responsibility nauseates Skinktail. He much prefers lazing around camp and soaking up that sweet sunshine. Skinktail does just enough to scooch by and keep leadership off his ass.

antagonistic -- Skinktail loves to stir up trouble. He casually spreads rumors, hurls insults and mocks others until they snap and fight back. At which time he retreats with a dirt-eating grin, swears he didn’t mean it, only to bait someone else into an argument the very next day. He feeds off tension and your anger like a hungry leech. Skinktail starts fights, Skinktail never finishes them. Nothing is off limits in a fight Skinktail starts.

inappropriate/crass -- Skinktail ain’t got a filter. He says whatever, whenever, no matter how stinging or rude. He pays no attention to boring social cues or norms. Don’t count on him getting embarrassed over trespassing social boundaries, either, because he doesn’t.

smart -- Skinktail isn’t dumb. Sure, he acts like all he’s got in his brain is a monkey clashing cymbals together. Look past that pseudo-stupidity and you’ll uncover a quick wit and a tom a fox-length ahead of you. He analyzes a situation in seconds and reads others like a juicy tabloid. Skinktail demonstrates excellent problem-solving abilities and his conclusions are usually worth listening to.

rowdy/boisterous -- When he’s on his best behavior, Skinktail has a contagious energy. He talks loud and he laughs loud. He stomps around, makes gestures and expertly disarms a judgmental crowd. He’s got good jokes and funny anecdotes that get everybody howling. It’s a real party.

boastful/egotistical -- Cats have noticed a pattern of Skinktail telling stories where he’s a hero. Skinktail is a smug jerk, has been since birth, and nobody’s ever gonna convince him he’s just a guy. He loves attention and any press is good press in Skinktail’s eyes. Hey, at least you’re talking about him. Skinktail loves talking about Skinktail.

flexible/adaptable -- Skinktail rolls with the punches. Nothing really fazes him or bends him out of shape. Skinktail knows in the grand scheme of the universe and StarClan and the Clans, his life is pretty infinitesimal. So, hey, what happens, happens and he'll get used to it. Change is no skin off his back.

Applefur and Moletooth were normal parents. They balanced love and discipline alright; it would've been impressive for brand new parents if Skink-kit hadn't turned out a menace anyways. Keeping him in the nursery was near impossible. He ran out, full speed, between queens' legs or snuck out under the cover of darkness. After a successful escape, he followed around warriors or leaders. Kitten-sharp teeth dug in their tails, nipping at their ankles, at their soft underbelly. He talked non-stop and called them names and challenged them to fights with his chest puffed out.

Applefur wept with glee when he was named an apprentice and she was freed from the responsibility of helicopter parenting Skinkpaw. His mentor cursed their bad luck and prayed to StarClan that they could power through the next six or so moons. Skinkpaw took battle training pretty seriously - gotta know how to defend your ass when you have a habit of starting scuffles. Icesong's aggressive training regime largely benefited his skills in a way that continues into his adult life.

Rest of his apprentice duties didn't get the same attention from Skinkpaw. He was real interested in eating the prey, less interested in catching it himself. Skinkpaw gained his chub around then from stealing prey off the pile before he had hunted and dozing in camp for hours. He played sick or hurt to avoid any boring patrols, but he volunteered for any that might see some action during the war. His usual pastime was lounging in the branches of a tall tree and coughing up any nasty words he could think of to call clanmates that passed below, fleeing if they scaled the trunk after him.

Skinkpaw had a less than friendly attitude towards visiting tribe ranks and LichenClan refugees. They were frequently a target of his pugnacious tendencies, suffering verbal blows, false accusations and rumors to damage their reputation within RedwoodClan. All in good fun, Skinkpaw argued, what's a welcome to RedwoodClan without light-hearted ribbing?

Skinktail earned his warrior name late, around his fifteenth moon. His ego was bruised by Finchstar delaying it; no worries, it bounced back lightning flash quick. Skinktail relished in the freedom of warriorhood. No more chores, nobody snitching on him, no limits on where he could go or what he could say. Social customs obviously dictated otherwise, but what does society know? 

Skinktail largely stayed out of politics and didn't question his leader's decisions regarding battles. Why would he? He wasn't being paid the big bucks. Talk of dreaded omens fizzled out around Skinktail. If Finchstar and Icesong wanted a fight, Skinktail was foaming at the mouth to defend RedwoodClan and shove some LichenClan cat's face in the dirt. Cathartic. His xenophobia tripled after Applefur was slain in battle with LichenClan's rogues.

Skinktail misses war. He thought the tension and constant threat of a violent battle got everybody's blood pumping. No? Just his? He's the exact hedonistic, warmongering heathen Minnowstar believed made up the other Clans.