[murk]

Name: Murkpaw
Age: 8 moons
Gender: tom
Clan: GaleClan
Rank: Apprentice

Picture: link | older

Description:

Murkpaw was built perfectly for camouflage in the dark forest, which is why it's too bad he lives on the moor. His fur is a dappled mixture of black and brown, which form deep black patches across his body ringed by faintly visible dark brown rosettes. His coloration is technically a 'charcoal bengal', leaving him with clear tabby markings on his face and paws, but almost entirely black everywhere else, including a dark face-mask. His lightest marks are around his eyes and chest, where his stripes and spots are the most prominent. The effect is mostly unpleasant to the eye, leaving him a mishmash of murky markings that are barely visible except in bright sunlight, and when they are, just make him look that much stranger.

This is not a good-looking cat. When his paws and muzzle aren't caked with mud from digging in something, he has something else in his fur. He seems to never groom himself, and considering the strange smells he often rolls in, who can blame him? The fur along his spine and headquarters is spiked and unwashed, appearing physically greasy to the touch. A bald patch seems to recur along his hindquarters due to him pulling out his own fur, which unfortunately tends to get sunburned.

Some cats have a thoughtful or inquisitive expression-- Murkpaw just looks like nothing is going on. His pupils never seem to dilate or focus properly-- he's either not listening, not focusing, or tuning you out completely. His eyes are a dark, murky copper color. He has large, batlike ears and a long muzzle, with a skinny tail like an oiled whip.

Description Summary: A mottled black-and-brown tom with copper eyes.

Personality:

The first thing his Clan medicine cat remembers about Murkpaw is him nearly choking to death on a stick. That should give you a good idea of what we're working with.

Murkpaw eats everything. Bugs, bones, mushrooms, crowfood someone tried to bury. He's been doing it ever since he was a kit and has developed an absolutely iron stomach as a result-- he still makes regular visits to the medicine den complaining of bellyache, but it's never anything more severe than that. At least the Clan doesn't have to feed him-- Murkpaw basically feeds himself, for better or for worse. It's no use asking him to take any of his "prey" home to the Clan-- nobody but him would be interested anyway.

Murkpaw doesn't think he's stupid. Murkpaw thinks he's very clever and always has some insane rationale for anything he does. Unfortunately, the things he does are... not smart. You might technically describe him as 'creative', but really, how creative is digging a hole when hunting a rabbit because rabbits are always in holes?

Self-awareness isn’t the only quality Murkpaw lacks. He has a terrible memory and sense of direction as well. But don’t worry–with his brilliant problem-solving skills, he has taken to pulling out his own fur from a patch on his hindquarters and leaving tufts behind him that he can follow back home like breadcrumbs (this does not work when it’s windy, which is the story of how Murkpaw ended up living lost in the bottom of a ravine for two days.)

Murkpaw is a terrible coward, but has no real concept of that being a 'bad' thing. It just seems logical to him. "Stand and fight" only works as long as he's winning-- as soon as his luck runs out, he's the first cat off the battlefield, howling his head off due to pathetically low pain tolerance. He's bad at communication in general, thinking everything he does is obvious so he doesn't have to explain anything, and plays crybaby when pushed on the subject. This has never inspired anything other than brief disgust and pity on the part of the other party, but he seems utterly self-aware and keeps trying.

At best, attempts to rebuke Murkpaw will leave him sullen and muttering to himself with (unlikely) promises of revenge. “You will remember this day,” he’ll say ominously, but the truth is that Murkpaw is the one who will soon forget, since he can barely remember his own name-- much less ongoing grudges. He called himself “Muckpaw” for a full week. His Clanmates thought they were imagining things.

It's hard to take Murkpaw seriously, half because he speaks in third-person (maybe it's a phase?) and half because while his actions are stupid, they seldom negatively affect anyone except himself. He’s impulsive and outgoing, fearless of his Clanmates’ judgement, and doesn't care (or maybe isn't listening to) what anyone says about him, for better or for worse. Overall, this is a fun-loving and energetic young cat who probably belongs in a trash can.

History:

Dustbelly was a loyal warrior of LightningClan. While his love of StarClan was little, his love for his leader was second-to-none. Some cats are loyal to family, or friends, or social bonds--Dustbelly pledged himself to his Clan Leader alone. Without question, without judgement. He prided himself on his ability to get information from other Clans-- at gatherings, through observation and conversation, and sometimes even through elicit stalking and hiding along the borders.

He and his mate, Longleap, had already raised one daughter to adulthood, a lovely silver bengal named Flowerfang. But Dustbelly was pleased to hear when another litter was on the way. With prey running high and the Clan in good shape, he was confident in another safe birth, healthy kits, and a secure lifestyle ahead.

...After the earthquake, the Clans were scattered. While the majority were able to reconvene and take shelter with the Tribe, the pregnant Longleaf was separated from the others of LightningClan. Dustbelly refused to abandon the search despite the danger of aftershocks or subsequent quakes, and with the permission of the LightningClan leader, he and his daughter stayed behind in the rubble to find her.

They eventually found Longleaf, but one of her legs had been crushed in the earthquake and it was clear she would be unable to travel to the mountains. The family took shelter in an abandoned rabbit warren, where Longleaf gave birth to three kits, including Murk-kit, named in the darkness as she wondered what her future would hold.

Two of the kits didn't make it. Food was scarce in the aftermath, and Flowerfang and Dustbelly had to range out farther and farther each day to find any prey at all. They took what they could get-- anything to survive. Murk-kit grew up on days-old crowfood, scavenged scraps, and a variety of healthy insects.

When the newly-merged Clans returned, Dustbelly was at first devastated to learn about the changes to LightningClan-- then he became resolved to the shift. Determined to help his new Leader build a strong new Clan, he sent Flowerfang away to join MistClan as a trustworthy "spy", while he, his mate, and his new son joined GaleClan instead.

It would be nice to say Murk-kit made a positive impression on their new and old Clanmates, but after several embarrassing incidents that revealed Longleaf and Dustbelly had been raising him like a mutant raccoon in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, his parents thought it was better to just politely deny anything they ever heard about their son and try to move on from this awkward place in their lives.

Due to her leg injury impairing her ability to fight and hunt, Longleaf joined the elder’s den shortly after Murkpaw was made an apprentice. To every cat’s surprise, Dustbelly soon took a place among the elders as well. The stress and hardship in the wake of the earthquake had aged him beyond his moons, but he was confident in his daughter to carry on his unofficial work spying in the Clans. He did not have confidence in Murkpaw, who obviously had beetles in his brain, but that was fine. We try not to think about him.

Other: my namesake has landed