[KARAZHAL]

NAME: Poppytail
AGE: 14 moons
GENDER: she-cat
CLAN: RainClan
RANK: Warrior; auditioning for Medicine Cat Apprentice


IMAGES: FROM BEHIND + BUST + FROM THE FRONT + FACING LEFT

AT A GLANCE - A mostly white she-cat with calico patches and green eyes
DESCRIPTION: Poppytail's fur is dominated by white. She is a patchy calico of average build, and she's been trained by a relaxed mentor for her apprenticeship so her figure is not as muscled or sharp like her more battle- and hunting-oriented siblings. She has a small head with a calico cap. Her face is white, but above both of her eyes are orange tabby "brows" followed by a medicine hat of black that gives her the appearance of having short black bangs. A patch of orange tabby sits right in the middle of her skull. Her left ear has an orange tip, but the right one only has a very tiny orange spot, leaving the rest uncolored. Beyond the orange head patch comes the black again, but this time it mingles with the orange like a tortie's brindle.

Following along Poppytail's back are a series of round calico patches. First she has two orange spots parallel to each other on either side of her spine. A few inches down, she has a big orange patch right in the middle of her back. To the right of that is a black patch that somewhat overlaps its big orange companion. Coming down further, on Poppytail's right hip, right hindleg, and left hindquarter are some more black patches. Last but not least, the base of her tail is orange, but the tail itself is brindled black and ginger. Poppytail's eyes are a brilliant shade of green.


PERSONALITY: Poppytail has a cheerleading personality. She loves to cheer on others and motivate them to do their best. She may hide how she truly feels if she thinks it will bring the mood down; she struggles listening to her own needs and puts others before herself. Like a helicopter mom, she feels compelled to act when others are in trouble, and much of her first days as a warrior were spent spazzing out at a kit's yelp. She is a natural teacher though; she sees the potential in others, and with her warm charisma, she can encourage even the most unruly kit to pursue greater heights. She's dynamic and productive, and when she's given a task with set goals and clear communication about expectations, she becomes visibly energized about doing the work.

While this hard-working she-cat is more comfortable following a pre-set plan or her mentor's cues, Poppytail has shown the ability to take initiative in many situations where diplomacy is required. She tries to avoid conflict, but as this sensitive she-cat has matured from kit to young adult, she's come to understand that you can't always win someone over. Much of what she does is motivated by feelings, whether it be her trusty intuition or her whisker-like sensitivity to emotions. She thrives when she can build relationships with other cats, but she's found that trust is lacking in RainClan.

Even still, she's committed to bettering the lives of her clanmates. Without seeing the civil war with her own eyes, Poppytail is actually quite ignorant to it except from what other cats say. She's friendly, cheerful, and silly with everyone. Some clanmates find her naivete annoying, especially since her own mother was a Purist and had the audacity to hide the truth. They sneer that childishness isn't becoming for her. She tends to talk more than she listens. While her analyzing eyes gained commendations, Poppytail struggled with making hard decisions and dealing with unforeseen problems early on. Unfortunately, she takes things too personally sometimes and is weak-willed, as her emotions can be played with and she can be easily persuaded by a dumb sob-story. She appreciates those who value her contributions and who aren't overly critical of her. For all of her flaws, however, Poppytail is a plucky cat. She shows courage and diligence. As she settles down and matures, she may learn how to be a quick thinker independent of her mentor's shadow.

HISTORY: At the time of having Poppykit's litter, experienced queen Cygnetwing had been through pregnancy twice already, first giving birth to toms named Heronkit and Storkkit and much later on, a she-cat named Carpkit. While caring for Carpkit, she had been alone--the last remaining survivors of the Purist band. Cygnetwing's life was hard without the support of the clan she'd been raised in and after the death of her second mate Salmonclaw, she knew that she had to return to RainClan if her child was going to survive Leafbare. Escorted by the warriors Brookfall and Stormfeather, she returned to RainClan like a prisoner enchained. Eyes fixated upon her and whiskers twitched as she was led to Silverstar's den. This was no glorious return.

She became a warrior once more and was rarely let out of anycat's sight. To earn back RainClan's respect would be a tough job; she was given extra duties, like an apprentice, plus she still had to take care of Carppaw, whose training and socialization had been scarce without the presence of the Clan. One handsome warrior named Lionstride befriended Cygnetwing and loved to impress Carppaw. Although he was much younger than her, Cygnetwing and Lionstride took to each other well and in the advent of her newfound love, she was able to push back the harsh memories of Salmonclaw and Surgeclaw. With the blessing of the medicine cat, she was moved to the nursery and cared for as she brought three healthy kittens into the world: Poppykit, Perchkit, and Fogkit.

Ever the devoted parent, Cygnetwing chose to hide her past from her three young kits and taught them the fundamentals of RainClan, such as fishing and the Warrior Code, instead of blood purity. Lionstride, like his father before him, was a strong-minded parent and raised his kits alongside Cygnetwing, deflecting gossip and negative vibes whenever he could. His pride and vanity disallowed him from letting his clanmates speak poorly about the kits he'd given his strong genetics to. He also practiced warrior fundamentals with the three of them personally in case they ever needed to defend themselves if he or their mother wasn't there.

While Cygnetwing could hide her past, she could not keep her trio from finding out about her other children, who were just as beloved to her. Heronsplash and Storkleg had disavowed her, much to her dismay, but Carppaw was still fond of her. The kits, who knew nothing of the civil war in the recent past, were raised with her as their older sister and they all cheered Carpleap! Carpleap! when it came time for the young she-cat to be named a warrior.

Her big sister's ceremony, more than anything, made Poppykit excited to be an apprentice. Once she was six moons old, she awoke excited as ever. Her mother tried so hard to cling to her kit in the final moments she'd have with her in the nursery, but Poppykit's excitement couldn't be leashed. Silverstar called forth the three of them. Poppypaw was henceforth assigned to Berrybreeze, to mentor and rear her as a future RainClan warrior. Berrybreeze too was a child of Purists, and there was much grumbling around the Clan after the ceremony. Poppypaw even overheard one of them calling Berrybreeze a slacker. That seemed wrong, Poppypaw thought, for Silverstar's ceremonial speech had praised Berrybreeze's strong will and said she'd earned an apprentice. Poppypaw was sheltered, still naive to the arguments between cats older than her. Still, she did not let the words of others stop her from looking forward to training.

Unlike many warriors who boasted a tough, battle-ready regimen, Berrybreeze was a laidback mentor. She did not get worked up whenever Poppypaw made mistakes, and she didn't enforce the rules with a strict paw. Berrybreeze's lessons always incorporated her best skill and one she would pass on to Poppypaw: tracking, whether it was visual--spotting dangerous red deathberries--or olfactory--hunting prey. It also built up her endurance from having to roam the streams and territory alongside her mentor, seeking out some rare prey for a finicky elder. Berrybreeze sometimes pulled Poppypaw away from chores to go on adventures or just relax together on some tree branch. Unbeknownst to Poppypaw, this was causing some resentment with Perchpaw and Fogpaw. Why were they saddled with doing Poppypaw's share while she and her mentor gallivanted about the countryside chasing dragonflies?

The two started to play with each other more and stopped whenever Poppypaw joined in. At first, she didn't question it, but when it kept happening on different days, she finally stood in Perchpaw's way and wanted to know why they were excluding her. Fogpaw said they were always tired out from playing. "Especially after doing your chores as well as ours," Perchpaw added accusingly. "I'm just training with my mentor!" Poppypaw protested.

However, her siblings had gotten their point across, and Poppypaw started telling Berrybreeze she would join her after she finished moving old moss. All seemed forgiven with Fogpaw, but Perchpaw was resentful of her after that. She felt that resentment strongest after a disaster struck the Clan, and their medicine cat subsequently had a vision from StarClan that showed her a squirrel's Leaf-bare cache of poppyseeds tucked away in a tree hole. Poppypaw and Berrybreeze sniffed them out at her request, and they helped the medicine cat return with them.

The look Perchpaw gave her could've rotted fish to bones. If she wasn't so insecure, she might have spent more time trying to repair the relationship, but being around her siblings just made her anxious, like she'd never be cheery again. Perchpaw and Fogpaw became warriors before her, and the two left her behind to chase their ambitions. She thought it would be a long time before she'd get her name, but at fourteen moons, she was named Poppytail and became a warrior just like them.



ROLEPLAY EXAMPLE IF SHE WERE TO BE MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE: Poppypaw sucked in a heavy breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her face scrunched up, tugging up her lips; she looked quite amusing but it was the best way for her to get all the scents. Her whiskers sensed Dewfrost moving in front of her, and then the herb scent flooded in.

"Dock," she responded quickly. Dewfrost made an noise of approval. Another smell wafted in front of her nose. "Juniper. Borage. Burnet." Her nose wrinkled as she fought the zesty scent of borage from taking over her nostrils. "Ohhh catmint." Poppypaw sighed in longing at the very distracting smell. She leaned in Dewfrost's direction only to be batted gently across the whiskers.

"Pay attention, Poppypaw," Dewfrost chastised softly, and Poppypaw opened her eyes slowly without meeting those of her mentor. "I know Berrybreeze gave you some bad habits, like being easily distracted,"--"Sorry...," she whispered--"but a medicine cat cannot afford such leisures. You have quite the aptitude for distinguishing herbs, however." Dewfrost lifted up Poppypaw's chin and gave her a kind smile. The mostly-white calico smiled back. "I've appreciated your help restoring my herb cache in these trying times. We thank StarClan for the prey everyday, but now we mean it more than ever. If you hadn't found those squirrel caches, we would've been ruined."

Poppypaw was grateful for Dewfrost's faith in her. Even though she'd spent moons training with Berrybreeze, she felt just as insecure as a six-moon-old again. She'd been excited starting out as a young apprentice, when she didn't know anything and knew everyone else was on the same floating log as her, all struggling to stay balanced. Now it was like she'd reset and was at the beginning, watching everyone's tails in front of her get farther and farther ahead. Did she deserve her place here? Her siblings didn't think so. A few clanmates didn't either. A Purist's daughter? That's just what we don't need, she thought she'd heard someone mumble under their breath. And she was done with that. Purist or Loyalist? It didn't matter. She hadn't been born for that anyway, and she was going to prove that she was more than her bloodline, even if her paws bled.