username: WetPaint23
clan: The Nestname: Seer Egret
age: 4 years
gender: Male
prompt: Egret is... surprisingly normal personality-wise, all things considered. At least on the outside. To his Groupmates he's a perfectly well adjusted guy, with absolutely no dark, life altering secrets at all.
Seer Egret works as the Star Seeker for The Nest, using the night sky to read omens shared by the stars above. His job is potentially one of the most important within The Nest, used to keep the members safe from impending disasters. At least, his job would be the most important. If he wasn't a total lie.
Potential Star Seekers are identified early in The Nest. Future Star Seekers are associated with a strong interest to the sky, a tendency to daydream, and absolutely horrific prophetic nightmares. Egret was identified at the age of 6 moons, when he came running into camp late at night, crying about a deadly blizzard on its way. When questioned, the kitten stated that "the stars had told him." The Flock, desperate for a new Star Seeker after the recent death of their previous one, immediately believed him and began preparing for the storm, which hit down two days later. Egret's skills were celebrated, and he began his formal Star Seeker training, learning to read the night sky and its warnings.
But Seer Egret is a sham. An imposter. A fraud. He knew it back then, and he knows it now. The stars didn't warn him about the storm. They don't tell him anything!
Egret made the blizzard omen up completely. As little kittens often do, he felt bored, and wanted someone to pay attention to him. He figured if he brought news of a big storm, someone would have to finally notice him. And they did. Egret immediately panicked when they questioned him further, blurting out his statement about the stars. He had no idea what he truly was saying, picking up the idea from the discussions he had overheard from his parents. He only wanted to avoid getting into trouble, and didn't realize the magnitude of what he had done. And when the storm hit two days later (as they often do when living at the top of a mountain range), Egret's fate was sealed.
Seer Egret hates his job. He is an absolute mess of anxiety almost constantly, terrified that someone is going to realize the truth and expose him. He would back out if he could, but he's in way over his head at this point. The little kitten enjoyed the extra attention at first, but now, over three years later, he can't stand it. Now he spends his days playing the "worst case scenario" game, both for himself and to figure out what lies would be realistic and believable enough to share with The Flock. He'd prefer if he didn't have to at all, but the others tended to get a little stressed if he ignored their questions for too long. It's honestly a wonder he hasn't been figured out yet. Through a mixture of extremely vague false omens ("it will rain... eventually?"), absolutely insane coincidences (an extremely rare thundersnow event occuring just minutes after a new "prediction"), and taking action into his own paws (using melted slush to flood camp himself, one of his dumber ideas) Egret has managed to keep The Flock in the dark about who he truly is.
All of his actions have been purely selfish, designed to improve his own life, from his initial lie to his continued falsifications. The only reason he doesn't come clean and let someone else, someone actually qualified, take over is because he's too afraid of the repercussions. What if the exiled him? What if he had to join the rest of The Flock, as a worker!? He doesn't know how to protect himself! He's never had to! And as the Star Seeker, he never has to hunt. That's been pretty nice... Always the freshest of prey, whenever he requests... Why would he give that up? He's had a pretty easy life so far, and his poor little heart just wouldn't survive such a dramatic lifestyle change.
Egret is a twitchy, jumpy, and pretty selfish ball of fur who has pledged to take his secret to the grave, if only for his own benefit.
