Post by Blackwood on Feb 5, 2007 21:12:33 GMT -5
Name of Cat:
Blackwood.
Age of Cat:
Sixty-two moons.
Clan of Cat:
LittleClan
Apprentice of Cat:
None.
Gender of Cat:
Tom.
Appearance:
Built entirely for strength, no cat alive would be able to look at Blackwood and think “Medicine Cat”. While not overly domineering in stature, a muscular frame and rather poofy--for lack of a better adjective--fur make him appear much larger than he really is. In truth, his body is no larger than the average Clan cat.
Medium-length black fur coats the whole of the tom’s body, obscured only by streaks of a silvery gray. Most of the stripes encircle his neck, though a few silver strands mark the tom’s back, legs, belly, and tail. Some of these sections, particularly those on his hind limbs, are spreading a bit, graying the surrounding fur. Though the tom is nowhere near death, age is creeping up upon him--and it shows. His tail adds a strange contrast to the fluffy feline; unlike the rest of his somewhat ruffled up fur, his tail is relatively sleek, with shorter strands of fur.
A brilliant sky-blue eye graces the left side of Blackwood’s face, while the other is a pale gold. These bi-colored irises are not for “show”, and they certainly are not something that the tom would be proud of--if he even harbored such egotistic thoughts, that is. Blackwood was born and deaf on his left side; the peculiar shade of blue is merely a mark of his disability.
Personality:
Like most other cats who are born with some sort of fault, Blackwood has learned to live with his narrowed vision and limited hearing. Because of his lack of depth perception, the tom often has trouble with gaging distances. This mingled with distorted hearing makes the feline an absolutely dreadful hunter.
Fighting, however, is one of his fortes. Stealth is certainly not his thing; brute strength and strategic movement to ensure full view of the fight is how he handles his battles. Becoming a Medicine Cat has not dulled his fighting instincts in the least. Whenever he can slip away from his duties in a battle situation, he will do so if it will ensure victory for his Clan.
The black tom's emotions are, apparently, just as limited as his vision, if not even more so. On one side of things, this makes him much more efficient in whatever duty he is carrying out. On the other paw, it makes him completely and utterly pitiless to his enemies, or any other cat that crosses his path. He appears emotionless, even when in the midst of battle or attempting to save a dying cat. Whatever the case may be, he is completely absorbed in his task, distracted by nearly nothing.
This does not make the tom a completely silent feline. He is known to partake in conversation, or even start it on occasion. The emotion he places in his words are just a *bit* limited, though.
It may be strange that a healer have such a strange desire for blood between his claws, though Blackwood is a somewhat disturbed cat. Only two things are known to soften to tom’s stony heart: working with his herbs, and the innocence of kits and young apprentices. Regardless of his lackluster emotions (that are only broken by a slight surge of anger when approached from his blind side), Blackwood is loyal to his Clan, and will be until his dying breath has left his chest.
History:
Born in a litter of two felines, Blackwood had the misfortune to be the kit born with a defect. His brother, then called Bravekit, was a perfectly healthy tom, filled with strength… and ambition. The twin’s parents, two cats known as Softriver and Topazcloud, were absolutely thrilled with their healthy son. While the two still cared for Blackkit, their attention was placed mainly on Bravekit, believing that the tom could become Deputy… and someday leader.
All this talk and “special treatment” obviously got to the young Bravekit’s head--as well as the mind of his less-than-thrilled sibling. Bravekit became quite egotistic, believing himself better than his crippled brother. The promising kit pushed Blackkit beneath himself, constantly indirectly insulting his brother. Only once did he call his twin “useless”, however. It was that moment that Blackkit’s anger flickered into life.
A kit that had begun just as peppy and hyper as others began to grow more stoic, quiet… darker. His only goal was to show his parents, his clan, and most of all his brother, that he was worth something. It became an obsession, even at that young age. While his brother paraded about camp, showing off his hunting skills with whatever unlucky insect was fluttering along, Blackkit would try to imitate him in the shadows. Because of his impaired vision, however, and lack of depth perception, he did nothing more than prove his worthlessness to himself.
When the two were apprenticed, the leader at the time, Longstar, made the mistake of appointing the current Deputy as Bravekit’s mentor. This did nothing but continue to inflate the kit’s conceited mind and make Blackkit’s wither even more. Longstar did have the grace to assign the Clan’s second-most senior warrior as the cripple’s mentor, though.
This cat, a tom named Fleetwing, did the best he could with Blackpaw, despite all the time and trouble it took to help the young cat gain skills enough to even slightly compare with his rapidly growing brother. Knowing that he was falling even further behind, the torch of anger behind Blackpaw’s single good eye continued to grow.
While not training or scuttling about camp attending to Apprentice duties, Blackpaw would find himself in the Medicine Cat’s den. The relatively young calico she-cat, Clovertrail, would talk to the young tom about various herbs. It was only here that the Apprentice’s barrier of anger, hate, and envy would break down.
Moons passed in this manner. Bravepaw improved swiftly and effortlessly while Blackpaw struggled to catch up. In order to keep his cool, the half-blind tom would breath in the soothing scents of herbs.
Bravepaw became a Warrior quickly, earning the name Bravesun. That was the turning point for Blackpaw’s training. The hatred he held for his brother--who had continued to mock his pathetic progression--completely bubbled over. The anger frothed forth as pure strength. While this energy was useless in hunting--in which the tom was absolutely dreadful--Blackpaw became an immensely dangerous fighter. He was lacking in style and grace, however. Noticing this, Fleetwing kept training the angry Apprentice, constantly worrying that the cat’s bubbling hatred would become too much for Blackpaw to handle.
In truth, Blackpaw’s only goal at that time was to prove himself to his brother. Even if that meant killing him to do so. When training, his claws were unsheathed. He didn’t care about whatever injury he may inflict, or have inflicted upon himself. He cared about being stronger--anything to prove himself.
One night, Clovertrail was out collecting various herbs. The she-cat was attacked by a badger that had built her sett on the outskirts of the territory. Bravesun and Fleetwing had been patrolling the area at the time and run to the Medicine Cat’s aid. Clovertrail was found half a sun later with two broken legs, bloodied body, ripped up ear, and nearly dead. Beside her was what had once been two warriors, and a bit further away a slain badger.
The death of his brother utterly stunned Blackpaw. All of his emotions were in a whirlwind of confusion. Everything he had ever yearned for was gone. His parents had both died a few moons back of illness, so he couldn’t even show his worth to them. Now his mentor was gone, as well. Completely lost, all the anger twisted into a new blockade around the tom’s mind. This one, however, was built on nothing in particular. He had nothing, and thus convinced himself that he never would.
Clovertail had been without an apprentice, as she herself had just become the Clan’s main Medicine Cat. Only Blackpaw had any bit of knowledge of herbs, so he was given the task of reviving the young healer. With the weak she-cat’s help, the tom’s knowledge grew. Slowly, Clovertrail got better, though she had been permanently weakened by the attack. In knowing that, she suggested that Blackpaw become her Apprentice. No other Warrior was currently able to train him, and it was obvious that the Clan might need a new Medicine Cat relatively soon. Longstar agreed, and thus a new path was laid out for Blackpaw.
Whether the tom himself was pleased with this turn of events was difficult to decipher. He had lapsed into an almost completely silent state after the death of Bravesun. He believed that he should have been the one to save Clovertail. He believed that he could have survived. That would have shown them all… whoever “they all” were.
As Clovertail healed, she helped to heal Blackpaw’s tormented mind, as well. The calm she-cat brought Blackpaw out of his shell at least a little before her death no more than twelve moons later.
Blackpaw--now Blackwood--became the Clan’s sole Medicine Cat. The barrier that had formed at Bravesun’s death never fell down completely; the wall of “nothing” still remains, sturdy as the toughest stone. In all the years of his post, the partially blind tom had never once taken up an apprentice, for none really called out to him, nor did StarClan give him any sign regarding a successor.
Regardless of his lack of apprentice, Blackwood had become somewhat attached to the going-ons of younger felines. Their innocence subconsciously reminded him of the life he’d never had.
Whenever anything should threaten the Clan, Blackwood would be there to help, both on the front and back lines. Fighting, and killing, for the family he had never proven himself to, and healing for the she-cat who had believed that he wasn’t useless.
Why Medicine Cat?:
I have yet to role play a Medicine Cat in any Clan. The position has, in truth, only recently sounded appealing to me. Blackwood was originally to be a warrior with a strange passion for herbs, though I’ve decided that altering his persona a bit to fill the Medicine Cat position could be quite interesting.
Why You?:
Because I’m a person that everybody hates to love. ^.^ Hm. That saying goes ‘loves to hate’, doesn’t it? Ah, well. It all works. ^.^ -bounces- I’m an uber active person once I become hooked onto a place, aaaaaaand… I like it here so far, so activity is almost a certainty. Plus I’m another “Cat”. Cat can’t say no to one of the many Cat clones in the world. x3