Post by Arey on Mar 30, 2017 3:09:12 GMT
-Picture- (shows Ratclaw without his scars)
Name:
Age:
47 moons
Rank:
Warrior - Guard
Clan:
FerryClan
Description:
A small and lithe black tom with tuxedo markings and blue eyes. His pelt is covered in scars, the tip of his tail is missing, and nearly half his right ear has been torn off as well.
Appearance:
Despite being a small cat, Ratclaw walks with the confidence of a cat who has nothing to fear. The scars that litter his body tell the tale of the hard life that he has lived; and the hard look in his pale blue eyes tells anyone caring to look that no matter how hard life hit him, he always hit back harder. Ratclaw's remaining fur is rough and often looks dishevelled no matter how vigorously it was cleaned. Under that fur, his body is small and compact, but full of muscle and hidden strength. Many a cat has underestimated him and paid for that mistake. His head is round and despite all his other injuries, he still has all his teeth. Ratclaw's tail was broken near the tip and now points at an angle. He has occasionally joked that he should get it broken again so it will at least look straight.
Personality:
Dedicated - Curious - Tough - Blunt - Crafty
At first, Ratclaw can be a little ornery. Many cats initially think that Ratclaw doesn't like them, but the truth is that he won't speak unless he has something to say. And when he does speak, he can have a dark sense of humour and be overly blunt. He doesn't think that lies help anyone and if you ask him a question, expect his honest answer. That's not to say that Ratclaw is mean in what he says, just honest. He is also an extremely dedicated warrior. He guards the Clan's borders extremely well and most of his more serious scars were acquired in service of his Clan. Ratclaw also makes sure that when he's on patrol, he always finds food to bring back to camp. Since this has never impacted his ability to protect the Clan, he is allowed to keep doing so. Of course, Ratclaw isn't totally serious. He has gotten into a bit of trouble when his curiosity has led him into some dangerous situations (that's how his ear got damaged). After a few close calls, he became more cautious, though he will still go and investigate. Ratclaw has been in a lot of fights over his life and he's become pretty tough. In a fight, he will work through any pain if it means winning. It can be unnerving for an attacker when Ratclaw doesn't seem affected by an injury and often, the attacker will run off before either is too badly hurt. If a real fight occurs, however, Ratclaw can be very cunning and he knows how to use his smaller size to his advantage. And he isn't afraid to attack in ways that more honourable warriors wouldn't. To him, honour is all fine and good until it might get you killed. Honour doesn't help any cat if they're dead.
History:
Ratclaw started his life as the sole surviving kit of a loner who lived on the streets. His mother named him Button. Of his three littermates, one was stillborn and the other two died within the first moon of their lives. Button's mother became very protective of her remaining kit, doing everything in her power to keep him safe, fed, and happy. She would leave their den under cover of night and find food for herself, always returning before Button was too hungry. But when Button was about 3 and a half moons old, his mother didn't return. He left their den and began searching for her. Eventually, he found her body. She had been hit by a car.
In the moons after that, Button scavenged for himself. But he was young and small and couldn't compete with the larger cats who roamed the streets. In time, he became so skinny his ribs showed through and he began to lose fur, especially on his tail. This earned him the name Rat. The cat who named him this was a rogue named Scratch who started showing this skinny kitten how to get food. Rat was wary at first, but came to trust Scratch. He saw the rogue as a parental figure and in a way, Scratch was Rat's first mentor. It was from Scratch that he learned to hunt and fight, how to steal food from under the nose of a larger cat, how to know when to fight and when to get away. With Scratch, Rat grew stronger. He gained weight until his ribs weren't showing and he grew muscles under that skin.
Throughout summer and fall, Rat was happy with Scratch. Then the chills of winter came. It was Rat's first winter and Scratch tried to prepare him for it, but when the cold hit hard and fast, no one was prepared. Cats all over town got sick and the illness spread to Scratch. The rogue fought the sickness as long as he could, but there came a day that he went to sleep and didn't wake.
After Scratch's death, Rat felt a coldness fill his life like no winter wind could bring. With the skills Scratch had taught him, he was surviving, but something was wrong. To distract from his own troubles, Rat would spend hours watching the town. It was then that he noticed the FerryClan cats. The winter had been harsh even on them and hunting patrols had started being sent into different parts of town to find food. But even with the harsh claws of winter striking at them, the Clan cats were recognizably different from the loners and rogues that lived around town.
Rat became curious about these strange cats and one day decided to follow them. They were in a group that moved together. All the cats knew where they were going and their strength allowed them to run through alleys and over fences in a way that Rat found difficult. Still, he kept up fairly well, though the effort was harder for him than it seemed to be for the FerryClan cats. He was running after them down an alley when they took a swift right. Rat followed them and found himself face-to-face with a large and stocky blue tabby she-cat while the cats he had been following disappeared from sight behind her.
This was a situation that Rat knew Scratch would tell him to run from, but he didn't. Instead, he hissed and launched himself at the large tabby. She batted him aside like he was nothing. Rat hit the ground on his side, but spun around to face her again. Although she watched him, she didn't really seem to care. This angered Rat and he tried to attack again. Again, the she-cat knocked him back. This time, as he righted himself, she yawned and said, "You're just going to tire yourself out like that."
With that comment, she turned and started walking in the direction the Clan cats had been heading. She got a little ways, then turned to face him again. "If you want a meal, follow me." And again she walked off, not checking to see if Rat was following.
Rat hesitated for a moment, but the prospect of easy food and his curiosity urged him to follow this strange tabby. She led him into a part of the town he didn't know, eventually reaching a building that smelled like a lot of cats. The smell of so many potentially hostile cats scared Rat, but he didn't show his fear and walked in after the she-cat. Inside were indeed a lot of different cats, including the ones he had been following. But there were also kits and their mothers and old cats that had younger cats bringing them food. The blue tabby went up to a cat that Rat would learn later was the leader and said something into their ear. The leader murmured something back and the tabby returned to Rat.
"Wait here," she ordered. Not looking to see if he was or not, she went to a pile of food and took a songbird that she dropped at Rat's feet.
Rat ate it immediately. He knew that some foods could kill you, but he had seen other cats take food from the pile. If they were willing to eat it, it probably wouldn't kill him. As he pulled off feathers and ripped at flesh, the she-cat, who introduced herself as Rockfang, started telling Rat about FerryClan. She didn't tell him everything, not even a lot, but she said enough that he got the idea. When he finished eating, she didn't say anything, just looked around at the building and all the cats inside. Rat looked around as well. He saw how the cats there looked. Though the winter had been hard, they were all fed. The older cats complained of joint pain, not an empty stomach, and the kits that rolled around with each other while their mothers watched had round bellies full of milk.
But, seeing all these cats, what hit Rat the most was how everycat here had each other. He thought about his own loneliness. He had had his mother, and then Scratch. But that was the past. Now he was just alone. Rat was young, only 10 moons old, but he knew what living was and what surviving was. These cats lived. He survived.
"You know," Rockfang commented, "A lot of cats weren't born here. Or their parents weren't." She didn't look at him, or offer any explanation on those words, just let them sit in the silence between them and the noise of the Clan.
"Could," Rat began, then started again. "Could I be part of FerryClan? I'd - I'd get more'n enough food to make up for what I'd eat!" He started to get worked up, "And I can fight! Real well. I'll help protect everyone. I'll make certain no one and nothing ain't ever gonna hurt anyone here!" He would have continued, but Rockfang interrupted him.
"Don't make mouse-brained promises like that," she snapped. Her tail twitched back and forth and again she let silence settle between them as she stared him down. "Now, I don't make the decisions like that, but I'll put in a good word for you with the leader."
By the end of the day, Rat was a FerryClan apprentice and his name became Ratpaw. He was older than many of the other apprentices and the scars he had already accumulated made them wary of him. But he already knew how to hunt and how to fight. When the younger apprentices saw that, some of them started asking Ratpaw to help them practise. For his part, Ratpaw was a fast learner and an ideal student. And he watched Rockfang. Her duties as a guard seemed to him the best way to do what he had promised - protect the Clan. Although most of the Clan had heard his outburst, they had mostly forgotten his promises, but Ratpaw never did. So he worked hard and after an apprenticeship that felt like it lasted forever - though it was actually shorter than most - he earned his warrior name.
Many seasons passed since that, but Ratclaw never stopped his hard work. What confused many cats was that he wasn't ambitious. He had no desire to become deputy. Instead, he was content to do as he did, protecting FerryClan's borders and getting food to feed the Clan that welcomed him.
Family:
Mother:
Father: unknown
Siblings:
Genetics:
Black - White spotting (under 50%) - Solid - Colour point (carried, doesn't show)
