Cat Name;; Russetglow
Gender;; Male
Age;; 48 Moons
Clan;; PetalClan
Rank;; Warrior
Prompt;;
(If this is too much to read, I'd recommend just reading the Head, Eyes, Back, and Feet categories.)
Head - What are this character's thoughts, feelings, and beliefs?
- Russetglow tries his best to be others-oriented. He believes that if everyone focuses more on others rather than themselves, the world would be a much better place, and everycat would be looked out for and safe. He's been told that he would make an excellent leader, and, although he sometimes believes it, he doesn't ever want to be in a position of leadership unless absolutely necessary. The responsibility of leadership just isn't appealing to him. He believes firmly in the repayment of all debts, even just simple favors.
- Despite the rough times he's been through, Russetglow has yet to have taken a negative viewpoint towards the world. He views life as something you just have to keep living, regardless of how badly things turn. He's seen a lot of cats around him die due to the harshness of nature, including his family. Unlike some cats, however, he's never turned to viewing nature as an evil force set out to destroy everyone. From his point of view, nature simply does what it does, and there's not anything he can do to change that. He's mostly accepted the deaths of his relatives and friends, and just keeps going, because there's no other way to go.
- One of the benefits of being the oldest in a group is that Russetglow can act experienced and wise whenever he wants, and his Clanmates will actually take him seriously. He only does this when he truly believes that he needs to convince his Clanmates to do something for their own good, but is concerned that they won't listen to him any other way. "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided"* is Russetglow's favorite quote, though it isn't one he invented himself; he heard it from his mother, who likely heard it from somecat else. He's spent a lot of time trying to come up with a self-invented inspirational quote, but he keeps finding logistical flaws in what he comes up with. The best he's thought of so far is "Life is like a narrow tunnel. There's no other way to go but forward." The problem with the quote is that, technically, you could go backwards too. He's working on improving it.
- Occasionally, (usually when it rains) Russetglow's buried sadness over the deaths of his family and friends will resurface. He spends most rain storms watching the raindrops fall into a river, which he finds relaxing. It's what led to his almost drowning. Russetglow firmly believes in repaying debts, and carries with him the guilt of those debts he failed to fulfill (such as his vow to protect Stump).
- Russetglow, who was known as Russet during his time outside of PetalClan, lost his mother, father, two brothers, little sister, and his extended family (including his aunt and her mate and kit) in a forest fire when he was only about eight moons old. After the tragic event, Russetglow was forced to fend for himself. He already knew the basics of hunting, but had to teach himself many additional tricks to improve his success rate. When he was about twenty moons old, a series of strong wind storms began striking his forest. During on of these storms, a tree branch fell on Russetglow's leg and broke it. He recovered, but only due to the help of Stump, an elderly brown tomcat. Stump used his knowledge of herbs to heal Russetglow's leg, and Russetglow spent a few moons living with the tom. He intended to spend as long as possible ensuring that Stump was well-fed and cared-for, in order to repay his debt to him for his life, but that time was cut far too short. A moon after Russetglow was proclaimed fully healed, Stump was himself hit by a fallen branch. Stump wasn't nearly as lucky as Russetglow, and lost his life. Russetglow spent the next almost twenty moons living mostly alone, but helping other rogues and loners out whenever he could. He considered it a way of indirectly repaying his debt to Stump.
One day, during an intense rain storm, Russetglow accidentally fell asleep by a riverbank. He woke up awhile later, and found that he was half-submerged in water. He began trudging towards the shore, but was pulled under by a sudden wave. Despite much desperate paddling, Russetglow was unable to break away from the powerful current. He hit his head on a rock, and, next thing he knew, he was in the medicine den of PetalClan. The Clan's deputy, Frostwish, explained to him that he had washed up on the bank of the river going through PetalClan territory. Frostwish and Sorrelstar, the Clan's leader, brought him back to camp, where they tended to his wounds as best they could with their limited herbal knowledge. Russetglow thanked both cats profusely, and pledged that he would serve them for as long as possible, in payment for saving his life. Both cats insisted that that wasn't necessary, but Russetglow remained with PetalClan regardless. He's now the senior warrior of the Clan, has officially received his warrior name, and is slowly adjusting to living with other cats for the first time in many moons.
- Russetglow is an exceptional hunter, provided that he's in a forest with sufficient cover. Unfortunately, PetalClan does not live in a forest, so his forest-based hunting talents aren't currently of much use. He's also great at settling arguments, though that talent also isn't of much use in PetalClan.
- The answer Russetglow would immediately give you is, "PetalClan." He's been devoted to protecting and caring for his Clan since the day he discovered they saved his life. It's a debt he believes will never be repaid, but he's certainly going to try his hardest. Although his family is gone now, he still loves them quite a lot as well.
- Russetglow holds on to his memories of his family, though he tries to focus only on the happy moments with them. He doesn't have a very close friend yet, but, now that he lives in PetalClan, he will likely find a best friend quite soon.
- Russetglow has never really "left" anything behind. Things have just been taken from him, so he never made a choice to leave. Even his moving to PetalClan was more of an accident than anything else.
- Russetglow grew up in a hardwood forest, and travelled across many different forests after that. He's spent the majority of his life living in forests, so living in the meadow of PetalClan territory is a very new experience for him.
- Since PetalClan lives in a meadow rather than a forest, Russetglow has had to adjust years worth of hunting knowledge to fit a flatter terrain with less cover. He's still practicing, but is improving every day. Russetglow's biggest fear is growing too old to be helpful to anycat. He doesn't want to be some old elder who needs everycat else to support him; he wants to be the one supporting others. Slightly below his fear of old age is his fear of fire. Since he nearly died in a fire when he was around apprentice-aged, and his fear is well-founded.
- Stump. Stump was an elderly tomcat who helped Russetglow recover from a leg injury many moons back. Other than ensuring that Russetglow wouldn't walk with a limp for the rest of his life (for which Russetglow is forever thankful; he feels old enough already), Stump also helped Russetglow start to realize his purpose in life. Unfortunately, this happened through Stump's death. When the old tom cat died, Russetglow decided that, if he couldn't dedicate the rest of his life to helping Stump, he would "transfer" his debt to Stump to everycat else in the forest. Russetglow helped other rogues and loners whenever possible, and with any task they required help with. This ranged from rescuing kittens, to moving large rocks to more convenient spots, to just hunting fresh-kill for those who needed it.
