nightpaw, apprentice of skyclan

NIGHTPAW

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AGE 6 moons
GENDER she-cat
CLAN skyclan
RANK apprentice

SHORT DESCRIPTION a small, fluffy black she-cat with white underbelly and paws; yellow eyes
APPEARANCE there are many things that one should go over when describing an individual. what stands out? what doesn't? how do we tell them apart from the crowd? well, one sure way to know that it's nightpaw is that she is small, slightly underdeveloped. perhaps nightpaw is more plain and simple in terms of color. black fur, yellow eyes. nothing too special. covered almost entirely by deep, jet-black, nightpaw was aptly named after the dark midnight skies she was born under. now, remember that she is almost purely black. nightpaw has what is called a tuxedo pattern, meaning she is black with white unders. it covers the entire length of her stomach, and all four of her paws are white too. the white continues on above her chest -- almost creating a ring around her neck -- and stops just between her eyes in a snip. her chin remains black, untouched. she has unusually long white whiskers all across her body, which is perhaps why she is so adept at noticing the details of her surroundings.

it is certain that not much about nightpaw sticks out, except of course her medium-length fur on a windy day, but there is one thing about her that not many cats can boast they have. she can't even tell you that she has this trait. nightpaw can not make a sound. the most she can do is a breathy hissing noise, or purr -- given that purring isn't so much vocal as it is vibration. she is mute.

now, as for physical skills and prowess, nightpaw is a fast, stealthy cat -- and it shows. she may be weaker compared to most cats her age, given that she was underdeveloped in the womb, but at least she has those other skills to fall back on if her strength fails her. she is a careful cat. not in personality so much, but in her definitely in her movements. at times it seems as though every step is carefully calculated.

(I like to have bullet notes of appearances, for myself and for others)

• small and short, underdeveloped
  
• medium length, but easily tamed, fur
  
• mute; cannot speak or make noise
• not much for strength and endurance, but is fast and stealthy
  
  
• a potentially good hunter, not so much luck in battle though
  

PERSONALITY masked. nightpaw's 'normal' attitude and prowess could only best be described as aloof and somewhat standoffish. though this may be because she cannot speak, and in the company of a group she keeps a straight face. to those that are unaware of her speaking disability, she seems like the type of character who is reserved, distant. truly, this is not the case. sometimes it may seem as though she wants to appear this way, wants to be the "strong, silent" type.

mysterious. this isn't necessarily her true personality[she's not the type to hide things], and it is related to the fact that she is mute. nonetheless it is an important thing to know about the impressions she makes on others. since she doesn't speak, she can never share anything with anyone. no past experiences, no opinions, nothing. if she seems mysterious, it's because she is. nightpaw is quite a mystery if some cat wants to know something about her. everything one hears could be wrong, could be completely false. but nightpaw will never be able to say that, will she? she couldn't even if she wanted to. that's just it, though. she doesn't mind. i wouldn't go so far as to say she doesn't care, but if she finds it hard to express herself or get anything across she will give up on them [them being whoever it is].

unmasked. nightpaw, unmasked is mostly seen by her clan-mates. it is an elusive creature really only those that she knows, that she is close to, that she thinks have good intentions.. will see just how much she can act her age.

bold, exaggerated. not to be mistaken for the same thing as outgoing. nightpaw may act reserved and aloof at a gathering, but as soon as it's over she'll be a happy bubbly annoyance towards her clan mates. but even if she is not outgoing, if she sees that something must be pointed out she will do so. or if something catches her eye [like a shiny object], she's bound to investigate. she is fearless in many ways, and in fact i've never once seen her shrink away from the face of evil. being bold, but unable to speak hinders her. just being mute hinders her by itself! so how does she express herself, her feelings -- at least a little? well, it's all in her face and her body. that's the only kind of clues you'll get from her, but lucky for you she's very dramatic. being mute has taught her that she can still communicate, she just needs to be more exaggerated than others. so she is.

calm, reflective. not always, not indefinitely. it is a faulty calm, subject to change at any second. it's all situational. as long as her surroundings are calm, she is.

easily discouraged. while there are simply some things that she is stubborn about, she is undeniably weak-willed. not cowardly by any means, but she tends to give up quickly on feats she thinks are impossible. and she is not the most patient of cats, so things become so-called 'impossible' very easily. nightpaw's not stubborn, and when things get hard her morale starts to deteriorate. she can start off with the best, most positive attitude but in the end if she thinks she truly can't accomplish the task... she probably won't. this applies to communicating too, but it's usually dependent on the other cat. if he or she just seems impossible to get through to, nightpaw won't waste her time. and that's all there is to it.

selfless. there are things about nightpaw that are age-relevant, and things that are the least expected of someone her age. in some ways she is as immature as the next freshly-appointed apprentice, and in other ways she can be more mature than some of the warriors she's seen. despite her age, she does not have the 'mine, mine' mentality that most youngsters have. maybe not all are aware of this greedy mentality, but nightpaw became aware of it in herself quickly. and she didn't like it, so she completely turned around and became more of a selfless cat. perhaps even self-sacrificial. there are many lengths she would go to for others, even those she doesn't know well, and few lengths she wouldn't go when it comes to the greater good. when it comes to being needed.

impulsive. given her age, she lacks the maturity to stop and think before leaping into a situation... or jump-starting one. that is, if the tension and drama levels are low she's usually good at keeping her head. but even if she is calm, i never claimed she is collected. when discussions or situations get heated is when she tends to make decisions on the fly. she doesn't yet know how to handle herself in an emergency, or in high-action situations.

high-minded. being high-minded does not mean you think highly of yourself. it means that you have a strong sense of right and wrong, it means you are good at deciphering between the two. nightpaw has enough common sense to know what is good and what is 'evil'. if she had to pick an alignment, she would pick 'good'. in no way is this little cat villainous. quite the contrary, she adamantly follows the codes that she agrees with and even if she doesn't agree with all of them she does her best not to break any. in her opinion, rules were made to be followed -- not broken. they are there for good reason, it doesn't matter what she thinks about them.

• SkyClan started its journey, leaving its home.
  
• Birdpelt, a senior warrior, realized she was pregnant with kits sometime after setting out. the father, another SkyClan warrior, was Badgerclaw. he was younger than Birdpelt, inexperienced and immature. she never found the right moment to tell him. he died on the journey, and she wished she had said something.
• SkyClan arrived to the new territory
  
• Birdpelt gave birth to four kits shortly after settling in. two were stillborn, while the remaining two were weak and small. their future did not look bright, but their strong mother stayed awake all night with them on their first night. it was then that she named them. Silverkit after her silver tabby pelt, and Nightkit after her darker one.
  
• Silverkit died in the middle of the night a week later, too weak to carry on any longer. Birdpelt was breaking more and more, but she held on to what she had left of her litter.
  
• Nightkit survived to her apprentice ceremony. she had been sickly the first few months, and it showed in her growth that she was underdeveloped, but she was becoming stronger. progressing into apprenticeship was not a problem, nor was it delayed.
• her aunt Honeythroat's kit, Graykit, is born. Nightpaw was barely made an apprentice when her cousin was born the very next day. she cannot wait to have younger family to train and play with, and is already in love with the little kitten.