Post by artificio on Apr 19, 2020 18:37:58 GMT -6
Sootpaw
ThistleClan
Small black she-cat with pale green eyes.
Apprentice
Female
Six moons
Appearance
Sootpaw is a small, lithe she-cat with a long tail. Her build is almost lanky, but the length of her fur makes this less visible than it otherwise would be. She has a sleek black pelt, which tends to puff out in certain areas despite her assiduously licking it down where she can; it plumes out around cheeks and tail, especially when she has been lying down, giving her a disheveled appearance when she first wakes up. She has almond-shaped, angular muted green eyes. She has large ears with prominent tufts. Her whiskers are long and narrow.
Personality
Sootpaw is extremely determined; once she's set a goal for herself, she works to accomplish it tirelessly, finding her own ways of overcoming setbacks and persevering regardless of others' input. She gets absorbed in, even obsessed with, specific details that most would find to be irrelevant; this applies to plans she comes up with as much as it applies to the things she sees or does. She doesn't always announce this, or show her emotions on it. In fact, she doesn't always show her emotions at all—not because of consciously concealing them, necessarily, but because she just doesn't instinctively have the body language or articulation to show it. Sometimes it's obvious she's set on a goal; other times, it's less so.
Whether her motives are rooted in mischief, spite, or selflessness, her methods can be less than righteous. She lacks a "stop" button. She is clever, and prone to scheming and bargaining to get her way. She doesn't consult others as much as she should, especially for her age and immaturity. She quite often treats things as bargains, assuming most others aren't likely to be on her side otherwise.
She tries to compensate for her general lack of emotional expression by observing and mimicking other cats, but then she has to make a conscious effort to convey things, and as such, she frequently lapses into her natural demeanor. She can frequently come off as odd or eccentric to other cats. Her speech can be anywhere from quiet and monotone to quick, impatient, and emphatic, and she tends to lose some of her conversational partners on the way.
Her intent, at least, is surprisingly moral—especially for a ThistleClan cat—and she concerns herself with the weak more often than not. However, she's not quite so concerned with the Warrior Code or StarClan.
Despite this moral code, Sootpaw comes off as callous and emotionless around things like death. Even with ultimately good intent, because of her conniving nature and her peculiar perception of reality, her methods can cancel this out.
She has a mischievous disposition, and enjoys humor quite a bit, sometimes in impertinent moments due to her poor ability to pick up on social cues. She can be surprisingly sassy or sarcastic, but doesn't usually mind whether those around her are actually aware of the intent behind her words when she is.
Though she appears to be oblivious to it thus far, Sootpaw's connection to reality often seems tenuous. She can become detached from reality in key moments, even unhinged and dangerous to both herself and others.
In an unfortunate combination with these other traits, Sootpaw is very impulsive; on top of the callousness, extremism, arrogance, and manipulative behavior, she has trouble with consistently thinking before she speaks. This shows up at random and inopportune moments. She will often ruin her own detailed plans without any external help. That self-sabotaging is often the result of this trait.
Though normally energetic and motivated, Sootpaw goes through bouts of intense apathy, accompanied by an increase in her reclusive and antisocial nature. These bouts are sudden and immediate, with no obvious warning. She recovers just as suddenly.
She hates loud noises and unexpected touches. She is easily spooked. Her worst fear is helplessness; when she loses control of a situation, she will do anything to get it back.
Whether her motives are rooted in mischief, spite, or selflessness, her methods can be less than righteous. She lacks a "stop" button. She is clever, and prone to scheming and bargaining to get her way. She doesn't consult others as much as she should, especially for her age and immaturity. She quite often treats things as bargains, assuming most others aren't likely to be on her side otherwise.
She tries to compensate for her general lack of emotional expression by observing and mimicking other cats, but then she has to make a conscious effort to convey things, and as such, she frequently lapses into her natural demeanor. She can frequently come off as odd or eccentric to other cats. Her speech can be anywhere from quiet and monotone to quick, impatient, and emphatic, and she tends to lose some of her conversational partners on the way.
Her intent, at least, is surprisingly moral—especially for a ThistleClan cat—and she concerns herself with the weak more often than not. However, she's not quite so concerned with the Warrior Code or StarClan.
Despite this moral code, Sootpaw comes off as callous and emotionless around things like death. Even with ultimately good intent, because of her conniving nature and her peculiar perception of reality, her methods can cancel this out.
She has a mischievous disposition, and enjoys humor quite a bit, sometimes in impertinent moments due to her poor ability to pick up on social cues. She can be surprisingly sassy or sarcastic, but doesn't usually mind whether those around her are actually aware of the intent behind her words when she is.
Though she appears to be oblivious to it thus far, Sootpaw's connection to reality often seems tenuous. She can become detached from reality in key moments, even unhinged and dangerous to both herself and others.
In an unfortunate combination with these other traits, Sootpaw is very impulsive; on top of the callousness, extremism, arrogance, and manipulative behavior, she has trouble with consistently thinking before she speaks. This shows up at random and inopportune moments. She will often ruin her own detailed plans without any external help. That self-sabotaging is often the result of this trait.
Though normally energetic and motivated, Sootpaw goes through bouts of intense apathy, accompanied by an increase in her reclusive and antisocial nature. These bouts are sudden and immediate, with no obvious warning. She recovers just as suddenly.
She hates loud noises and unexpected touches. She is easily spooked. Her worst fear is helplessness; when she loses control of a situation, she will do anything to get it back.
History
Sootpaw was born in a litter of three, all female. Starlingkit and Sootkit had the same sleek black pelt, while Pinekit had a pronounced striped tabby pattern that stood out against the two. As kits, their personalities quickly diverged from each other, but the three remained close. Pinekit was the weakest of the three, slender yet feeble and uncoordinated. Starlingkit was the most outgoing. Starlingkit and Sootkit liked to roughhouse, and were more even in abilities, so Pinekit would stand back and watch more often than not.
Their father was kind to all of them at first. Their mother was one of the harsher ThistleClan warriors, prone to scathing remarks and with a hostile approach to teaching; she was intolerant, and had high expectations of her kits. Selfishly or not, she cared about all of them; she would often try to encourage Pinekit to get stronger, with increasing vehemence as they neared apprentice age. As a result, Pinekit got most of the attention from their mother.
Sootkit was slow to learn certain basic skills. Her demeanor and lack of intuition became off-putting to some, including both her parents, and she didn't make friends outside of her siblings. Over time, she became another target of their mother's attempts to fix her kits, while their father seemed to want nothing more than to pretend Sootkit and Pinekit didn't exist.
When the kits were three moons of age, in her impatience and exasperation with the two failures in her litter, their mother brought Pinekit and Sootkit out of camp. She did this repeatedly—to the dismay of some of the other queens—leaving Starlingkit behind in the nursery and not always bothering to tell her where they were going.
In the last of these ventures, Starlingkit was not in the nursery when they left. Only when they arrived back at camp with one sister missing and the other shaken, disheveled, and utterly silent for the rest of the day did she learn they had been gone.
After that, their mother became distant from them all, doing the bare minimum and waiting for them to hit apprentice age. Their father disliked Sootkit, but she and her sister grew closer than ever in reaction.
Sootkit found her faith in others quickly diminishing, though.
Their father was kind to all of them at first. Their mother was one of the harsher ThistleClan warriors, prone to scathing remarks and with a hostile approach to teaching; she was intolerant, and had high expectations of her kits. Selfishly or not, she cared about all of them; she would often try to encourage Pinekit to get stronger, with increasing vehemence as they neared apprentice age. As a result, Pinekit got most of the attention from their mother.
Sootkit was slow to learn certain basic skills. Her demeanor and lack of intuition became off-putting to some, including both her parents, and she didn't make friends outside of her siblings. Over time, she became another target of their mother's attempts to fix her kits, while their father seemed to want nothing more than to pretend Sootkit and Pinekit didn't exist.
When the kits were three moons of age, in her impatience and exasperation with the two failures in her litter, their mother brought Pinekit and Sootkit out of camp. She did this repeatedly—to the dismay of some of the other queens—leaving Starlingkit behind in the nursery and not always bothering to tell her where they were going.
In the last of these ventures, Starlingkit was not in the nursery when they left. Only when they arrived back at camp with one sister missing and the other shaken, disheveled, and utterly silent for the rest of the day did she learn they had been gone.
After that, their mother became distant from them all, doing the bare minimum and waiting for them to hit apprentice age. Their father disliked Sootkit, but she and her sister grew closer than ever in reaction.
Sootkit found her faith in others quickly diminishing, though.
