Post by Katara on Feb 9, 2020 15:06:16 GMT -5
APPEARANCE A huge, long-furred tabby tom with a white chin and green eyes. Along with his brother Moosejaw, Elkheart is easily one of the bigger cats in RainClan, and not just because of his incredibly thick pelt; he has broad shoulders and a powerful form beneath all that fur, though his bulkiness can sometimes make him slow. He looks incredibly similar to his brother, with the same long-furred tabby markings, but he seems to possess every dappled shade of brown in his pelt, which makes him appear a little lighter in color compared to Moosejaw. But if a cat were trying to tell them apart, they'd have no trouble - Elkheart has a distinct prowl to his gait that he takes with him no matter if he's running or walking, making him look like he's constantly hunched over grouchily. He has a short muzzle, and a splash of white on just his chin, and intense, forest-green eyes. Though he has such a heavy, thick coat, his fur has adapted shockingly well to swimming, no doubt thanks to generations of RainClan genetics making his pelt shiny and closer to waterproof than any cat with thick fur in any other Clan. | ELKHEART PERSONALITY
For the large presence that Elkheart seems to encompass, he is a very quiet tom. Though he appears to be a cat of few words, he usually has a very solid stance on any given situation, and is rarely neutral; things are just black-and-white to him, with little gray area in-between. He's just the type of cat that if a few words will suffice, that's what he'll provide. He's very straightforward, blunt, and without question, one of the most honest cats you'll ever meet. He has an incredibly strong moral compass, and like his brother, considers himself a defender of the weak, and an upholder of the Warrior Code. Though Elkheart naturally excels in battle, he is slower due to his size and the weight of his pelt, so often Clanmates will see him prowling the edges of battle, instead looking for tactical advantages in a fight where he won't be held back by factors outside his control. He's a very intelligent tactician in all aspects of his life, and will usually select the logical choice over anything else - especially in areas he falls short in. The areas he falls short in? Relationships with his Clanmates, hunting and stealth, simple conversation, and mentoring. Dreaded mentorships. Elkheart had an extremely strict mentor when he was an apprentice, and he's uncomfortably aware of the fact it shaped him into the cat he is today, and that it's definitely affected the way he mentors his own apprentices. He hates how withdrawn his mentor caused him to become, putting his warrior training before all else in his life, causing him to neglect areas he already felt stunted with - socializing and building good rapport with his Clanmates. But he often catches himself being the same kind of mentor she was, so in those moments, he tries his best to encourage his apprentice of the moment to enjoy time with their friends and family - but it usually backfires because they think it's uncharacteristic of him. The fact of the matter is, though Elkheart always means well, he often comes off as incredibly stand-offish to others, insensitive, and altogether bored, and he still struggles with expressing how he feels about anything. Elkheart only feels like himself around Moosejaw, where he seems to unfold into a completely different cat. He's relaxed, witty, even playful, enjoying roughhouse with his littermate and casual conversation as well as deeper talks. Moosejaw remains, to this day, one of the very few cats he can fully express himself around - though he is looking to change that, little by little. HISTORY
BIRTH & KITHOOD Elk-kit and Moosekit were born after several failed litters, so when they came into the world strong, the entire Clan were overjoyed along with the queen and her mate. They were raised lovingly in their kithood and there was no one they'd rather be with than each other; the two kits were rambunctious, and often found roughhousing near the nursery, or playing any sort of game they could come up with, but always, always together. Many cats swore they'd literally never seen them apart up until their apprenticeship, where it was decided they needed to be separated as any littermates would be. APPRENTICESHIP Elkpaw, for his part, was devastated. Though he hadn't expected anyone to accommodate for how close he and his brother were (but that didn't mean he'd never wondered Can a warrior take on two apprentices at once?), he also hadn't expected it to be so difficult for him to be separated. Moosepaw being away, trained by someone else, felt like he'd lost his leg and he was being expected to trod along helplessly without it now. What made matters worse was his mentor. She was incredibly strict and didn't have a good-humored bone in her body, keeping him focused on warrior training - particularly battle-training. Whenever his brother interfered, his mentor was sure to make it a nightmare for both of them, which eventually caused Elkpaw to begin to avoid Moosepaw and his antics when training so as to avoid punishment for the fun and games his mentor frowned upon. WARRIORHOOD With the end of his apprenticeship, Elkheart felt himself becoming even closer with his brother once again, and nothing was keeping himself and Moosejaw apart anymore. And they needed each other more than ever as, once again, RainClan's leadership changed, which prompted some of the Purists to return to camp under the leadership of Stormstar. With the Clan seeming to double in size before long, disease ravaged the cats again, and both Elkheart and Moosejaw were ever-so-careful to avoid those contracted with greencough, and neither came even close to the medicine den. Elkheart in particular worried for his mother coming down with the illness, recalling how last time it was their father who passed. But she remained healthy through it all once again, and the small family often went out to hunt, learning how to catch prey on land rather than trying to find melted places in the ice to fish out of. |
