Dappledbrook :: Warrior

[dappledbrook]

Dappledbrook
Dappledkit / Dappledpaw
Tall calico she-cat with murky golden eyes



NAME EXPLANATION:

Dappled – For her patched pelt
Brook – For her speed and stealth

AGE:

3 years and 6 moons (42 moons)

RANK:

Warrior

EXTENDED APPEARANCE:

Her pelt a mixture of colours and patterns, it is easy to see where Dappledbrook got the first half of her name from. The predominance of white on her muzzle, chest and belly are scored by streaks of orange and black that can be striped like a tabbies or solid. Her tail is striped grey and black, as is the left side of her face. A small spot of orange can be seen at the top of her head and all four paws are white. The fur is short and thin, giving little resistance to the cold, sharp winds of leaf-bare.

Dappledbrook has long limbs, making her stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the larger toms in the clan although her lithe and slim body separates her from the bulky appearance of a muscular tom. The muscle is hard and wiry in places from the amount of training and the good use she makes of her fighting and hunting skills.

The she-cat’s eyes are dark golden amber, with flecks of yellow. Her ears are tilted outwards and keep a sharp triangle shape. She has long white whiskers and a light pink nose.

PERSONALITY:

Determined and eager, all her life Dappledbrook has displayed a desire for power. She has never had a problem with leading others and is quick to speak her mind without worrying what others think of her opinion. She is sure of herself and displays an almost arrogant confidence and pride in her abilities. While she appears to listen to her clanmate’s opinions and suggestions, she has usually made up her mind way before. When Dappledbrook has decided she wants something, she doesn’t stop until she gets it, and while this makes her a valuable, hardworking member of the clan, the intensity of her determination can be overwhelming. She voices her opinion of what she would do if she were in Badgerstar’s paws loudly and often.

Dappledbrook is not a boring cat by any means. She loves to chat and knows just what to say at the right moments to keep a conversation going. The she-cat can be friendly and sweet to others and has been seen as one of the kinder souls in the clan, less willing to judge somecat harshly and quickly. However, one wouldn’t describe her as gentle, for once she’s made up her mind that she dislikes someone, her anger is ruthless and she can hold a grudge for a long time.

Dappledbrook’s intelligence isn’t that of the tactical genius’ or of the ‘outside-the-box’ thinker’s but has a practical, sensible quality to it. She picks up skills quickly and thinks on her paws, trying to never hesitate for too long. When she makes a decision, it might not be the smartest one but it will be one that she sticks with and deals with the consequences of. She’s too impatient to spend much time going over all the different options. If she finds a solution that seems to work she’ll go with it.

FAMILY:

Father --> Rabbitwhisker, elder, 75 moons
Mother --> Dovecloud, deceased
Brother --> Russetfang, warrior, 42 moons
Sister --> Duckpaw, apprentice, 12 moons

Mentor --> Stormwhisker, deputy, deceased

HISTORY:

Kithood: Dappledkit was the first-born kit of Rabbitwhisker and Dovecloud. Dovecloud was originally a loner by the name of Dove who had joined Wildclan after being found half dead from being attacked by a fox. Rabbitwhisker was the warrior that found her and played a major role in driving the fox away. As she recovered in the medicine cats den, he never left her side and convinced her during her recovery to stay with the clan. Dove agreed, smitten by the handsome tom, and (after much pleading with Badgerstar) was renamed Dovecloud and brought into the clan. The two became mates immediately and a couple of moons later, Dovecloud had moved into the nursery and given birth to two healthy kits: Dappledkit and Russetkit.

Growing up, Dappledkit found it easy to quickly establish her authority over other kits in the nursery. Daring and quick to learn, the little scrap of mottled fur often decided the games that were going to be played, talking down kits who wouldn’t listen and building up a group of allies with her charismatic charm. Russetkit proved more than a match for Dappledkit, often challenging her and arguing back. However, the two never crossed the boundary between sibling quarrels into lifelong enemies and were close friends, playing off each other’s strengths to establish the flimsy, endearing monopoly over the nursery.

Apprenticeship: The origins of Dappledbrook’s ambitions can be traced to the moons she spent as an apprentice, under the guidance of Stormwhisker. Stormwhisker was an ambitious and skilled tom with many friends. Dappledpaw was quick to idolize the powerful tom and followed every instruction and order with such passion and joy in her heart that the two became close friends. Dappledpaw’s intelligent, thoughtful style allowed her to rapidly excel and she combined Stormwhisker’s powerful and overwhelming strategies with her own touch of balance and delicate, controlled ferocity. Stormwhisker was named deputy to Badgerstar about halfway through Dappledpaw’s training, and the little she-cat couldn’t be happier. She was often present when Stormwhisker was organizing patrols or speaking quietly to Badgerstar, allowing her to slowly come to the realization that, one day, she wanted to be the one leading the clan this way. She wanted to be the one to

Simultaneously, Dappledpaw had walked face first into something she had not been searching for and yet had found anyway: love. A slightly older tom apprentice named Adderpaw had fallen in love with Dappledpaw and followed her around endlessly, laughing at any joke that she spoke, agreeing with every word she said. At first Dappledpaw found it strange and disconcerting but found herself liking Adderpaw’s company more and more, until the two were inseparable. The determined she-cat still spent a lot of time on her training, but now also shared her dreams and ambitions with Adderpaw. The young tom supported her, telling her she would make a great leader someday and Dappledpaw accepted the praise as she built up her own dreams, training and making friends and asking Stormwhisker about his role as a deputy constantly. In no malicious way whatsoever, she occasionally allowed herself to imagine a time when Badgerstar had passed away (everyone knew that the leader was growing old although no one knew how many lives he had left save for the medicine cat) and Stormwhisker became leader, naming her deputy in his place. However, when she mentioned her ambitions to Stormwhisker he purred with amusement.

“You’ve got a long way to go and a lot of learning to do before you’re even close to being ready for leadership, Dappledpaw” he had told her, flicking her on the ear with his tail, “And it’s not all fun and games. ”

Warriorhood: Despite Stormwhisker’s warning, Dappledpaw’s dreams never faltered for a moment. At her warrior ceremony, a few moons after Adderpaw had become Addertail, Dappledbrook felt as though she had finally made it. Now she could prove herself to be a warrior worth noticing. She was disappointed when she was not asked to mentor the next batch of kits, even when she had asked Stormwhisker to recommend her to Badgerstar. Stormwhisker explained that she was too young and inexperienced but Dappledbrook would hear none of it and was sulky around the leader for a few moons.

Meanwhile, Addertail had moved his nest next to Dappledbrook’s and was spending every waking moment with her, following her on hunting trips, patrols and eating and sharing tongues with her in their spare time. Dappledbrook enjoyed his company but never returned his affection in the way Addertail had wanted. After a few moons of subtle hinting and questions, Addertail became frustrated and outright asked Dappledbrook if she was his mate or not. Dappledbrook took the question with surprise and outrage.

“I can never have a mate, not properly, don’t you see Addertail?” she yelled at him, “If I want to be deputy someday I can’t get tied down by kits now! Badgerstar and Stormwhisker need to see that I’m fully dedicated to the clan, not to kits or a mate!”

Addertail was destroyed by this outburst. He had not realized that when he had supported Dappledbrook’s dreams he was helping to build a wall between them that would prevent them from being together. He tried pleading with her at first, declaring his undying affection for her and promising that having kits would not ruin her chances of rising in the clan. When she still refused he grew angry. Hurt and humiliated that he had given so much to the she-cat only to have it thrown back in his face, he stopped speaking to Dappledbrook and found ways to see her as little as possible. A few moons later, Addertail was seen spending most of his time with another she-cat named Yellowflower, and in a short time they had three kits together.

Dappledbrook was shocked by this turn of events. She had truly loved and cherished Addertail but had not wanted to take the extra step to become mates and lose her dreams of power. She had not expected to lose Addertail completely, to have his reassuring company so suddenly revoked from her. Dappledbrook became bitterly jealous of Yellowflower and treated both Addertail and his new mate with contempt and spite. She threw herself into working for the clan, the only thing she felt she had left to live for.

When Dappledbrook was finally assigned an apprentice, the experience was a mixture of relief and anger. For her first apprentice was to be Eaglepaw, Yellowflower and Addertail’s first born son. The young tom was the spitting image of his father. Conflict arose within Dappledbrook. She wanted to be a great mentor, to train her apprentice well to prove her skill to the rest of her clan, yet all she could feel when she looked at the tom was anger and bitterness and a faint, biting nostalgia for her own apprentice days, when she and Addertail had shared so much together. It took everything in her to be as fair as she could to the young tom. She pushed him to work hard and poured all her energy into teaching the little tom everything she knew. Occasionally she would slip and scold the apprentice gratingly. “You’re just like your father” was a common phrase. Eaglepaw and Dappledbrook’s relationship was tense, but eased as the moons passed. By the time Eaglepaw became Eagleflight, Dappledbrook saw him as a strong warrior who was once her apprentice, not as Yellowflower and Addertail’s son.

Around this time, Rabbitwhisker and Dovecloud had a
second litter, with a single she-kit surviving. It had been a difficult
birth and Dovecloud died a few days later. While Dappledbrook and
Russetfang held vigil over their mother’s body, Rabbitwhisker kept
moving between the nursery and his dead mate, terrified that the little
kit would die as well. Rabbitwhisker watched over his youngest daughter,
Duckkit, until she became an apprentice and then moved to the elders
den.

Stormwhisker’s death, some moons after the death of her mother's, hit Dappledbrook hard. Her idol and friend was killed in a fight against a group of rogues which Dappledbrook had not been allowed to go to. At the time, Stormwhisker had ordered her to defend the camp, telling her that he trusted no cat to hold it better. Those were his last words to her, for the next time she saw him, his lifeless body was being dragged into the camp. In her mourning, Dappledbrook forgot about her dreams of power. She didn’t once think about who would be replacing Stormwhisker as she held her silent vigil over his corpse, almost forgetting that he had been deputy. All she could think was that she had lost the tom who had helped her so much and that he could guide her no more.

However, when Badgerstar made the announcement that there would be no new deputy, Dappledbrook responded with outrage. Was everything being taken away from her all at once? Her ‘mate’, her family, her mentor and now her dreams? She did not know if Badgerstar would have made her deputy anyway but she knew she had had a fair chance. Dappledbrook immediately argued against Badgerstar, loudly claiming before the clan that not choosing a new deputy was an insult to Stormwhisker’s memory. She was silenced by a glare from Badgerstar and it was Addertail who covered up for her, making her come off as emotional and stricken by grief rather than rebellious. But Dappledbrook did feel rebellious; she felt the bitterness and ache of a dream snatched from her giving her new energy. She could be silent for now, but her ambitions had not left her. They had only been renewed.

CBOX NAME:

Teapot

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OTHER CHARACTERS:

Nettlestripe and Cinderpaw

RP SAMPLE:

See Nettlestripe

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