Minnowpaw

[Jelly]

Written: 12/25/2011

NAME:
Minnowpaw

AGE:
6 moons

GENDER:
She-cat

CLAN:
RiverClan

RANK:
Apprentice

APPEARANCE:
Slender silver she-cat with hooked claws and dark blue eyes.

PERSONALITY:
Spitfire is one way to describe Minnowpaw. A bottle rocket is probably a little more accurate though. She has a tendency to try to be everywhere at once, doing everything she can (and some things she can’t). This has, very frequently, gotten her into trouble in the past, especially when she and her brother form a temporary truce and join forces in mayhem. Unfortunately, she has yet to learn that she can’t really do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Sure, there are obvious restrictions: before she couldn’t try and leave the nursery without her mother watching her, she was never allowed outside of the camp (but that was okay, the camp was big enough for her), and she should never disobey an order from her leader or the medicine cat. But even admitting to those, Minnowpaw hasn’t grasped just what ‘following orders’ and ‘listening to directions’ are supposed to mean.

Of course, she’s not just an endless ball of energy that can’t sit still or do what she’s told. That’s… just the first impression many get.

She enjoys her rebellions, despite the consequences, but she’ll need a strict mentor to teach her that life isn’t all fun and games. Minnowpaw’s still too young to realize that there’s a lot of work and effort she’ll have to put into things to get what she wants. And she wants a lot – ambitious is just another obvious description for the girl. Now, she doesn’t necessarily want power. Not when there’s the connection between power and responsibility. No, she just wants to ‘be the best’ at something, be that hunting or fighting or anything else. Well, that and she wants to crush her brother in absolutely anything, whether or not that’s possible. Sibling rivalry, anyone?

Minnowpaw’s also very social, despite her competitive nature. She loves talking and playing and competing against others, regardless of hierarchy or clan borders. Of course, she’s one incredibly proud Riverclanner who couldn’t possibly stand by while someone else tried to imply that their clan was better, but she won’t turn down a possible friendship just because someone else doesn’t know how to swim or hates the idea of eating fish (after all, that only means there’s more fish in the forest for her! – and her clanmates). Be warned though: she may talk your ear off if you give her the chance, most likely with exaggerated (and possibly made up) stories of her amazing accomplishments.

Hopefully age and training and the hardships of life will be able to mold her into a more reasonable cat, but for now Minnowpaw’s content living her life as she is, without a real care in the world other than beating her brother to warrior-ship.

REASON FOR NAME:
“Minnow-” – her silver coat like light flashing off minnow scales, as well as her small size and her speed
“-paw” – her status as an apprentice

HISTORY:
There is very little to say about Minnowpaw. As a young, newly-appointed apprentice, she only has her kit-hood behind her.

Well, her kit-hood, and the small parts of her parents’ stories that tie into her own – which are much more exciting. Then again, considering how stubborn of a cat her mother Rainwhisper is, it isn’t entirely surprising that she wandered out of the camp so close to her kitting. Without her mate all but breathing down her neck with his self-imposed vigil outside the nursery as she grew close (as Kestreltalon had been assigned to a border patrol that evening), she took the chance to slip out and enjoy the sun-down out beside the river.

Of course, she wasn’t planning on her normally nimble and graceful paws slipping out from under her and sending her tumbling into the water. It wasn’t the fall and the current that was an issue, though, certainly not for a RiverClan cat. No, it was the time she still spent out in the slowly-chilling night air as she stubbornly tried to groom herself and wait to for her pelt to dry before she returned to the camp. She could have told her clanmates she had been out and tried to catch a fish, but she would have most likely been scolded for being so reckless (which she had been anyways). But Rainwhisper would have rather save the small bit of dignity of not being able to catch anything if she used that story, and decided to wait.

She still returned to the camp before Kestreltalon’s patrol returned, with none of her clanmates the wiser, but within the next few days she came down with a cough. Slowly, it worsened, as her kitting grew nearer, even though she was given herbs and did little else but rest and eat. Thankfully, the kitting itself went rather smoothly, giving birth to the small Minnowkit that looked so much like her mother and the reckless-right-out-of-the-womb Stonekit. And although Rainwhisper eventually recovered from her cough after she was through the stress of the kitting (and after days of both her and her kits being watched over in the medicine cat’s den), she never quite grew healthy again, even with how easily she dealt with her two rambunctious and troublesome kits.

Minnowkit and her brother were the scourge of the camp whenever they weren’t under their mother’s watchful eyes. There was even one incident where they both set out to explore the entirety of the camp (in a race of sorts – and a test of bravery for wandering away from the nursery while Rainwhisper dozed), and were found bounding their way through the myriad of nests in the warrior’s den, having destroyed quite a few in the process.

Suffice to say, Rainwhisper and Kestreltalon were somewhat relieved when their son and daughter reached apprentice age; whereas said son and daughter were ecstatic in all the ways that clan kits usually are during their apprentice ceremonies. Now it was finally someone else’s turn to be responsible for the two, to mold them with the teachings of the warrior code, and to hopefully turn their (somewhat destructive) energy into something that could actually help the clan, instead of terrorize it as only fluffs of kit-fur can.

ROLEPLAY SAMPLE:

“Minnowkit, get back here. It’s not time for the ceremony yet, you have to wait for the patrol to return from Sunningrocks.”

Despite her mother’s sharp meow, the silver she-kit scrambled just out of reach of the queen and then out through the mouth of the nursery den. Stormkit wasn’t quite so lucky – not with their mother on the lookout and determined not to let both of her kits escape her. But they weren’t going to be kits for very much longer, and the excitement of her apprenticeship let Minnowkit restless and eager. Just as soon as her father returned from the border patrol, Gingerstar was supposed to call together a clan meeting, but there was no way she was going to wile away the time in the nursery with Rainwhisper fussing over her and Stonekit.

Instead, she was content to chase an errant downy feather across the camp, leaping and throwing herself at it with what just had to be the perfect warrior crouch and pounce. Really, she felt bad for her mentor; they wouldn’t have a lot to teach her. Mostly the borders, and perhaps the finer parts of hunting and fighting. But honestly, she had all the natural talent – no one could deny that. Well, except Stonekit, but he would receive a sharp bat against the side of his head or a tackle from behind whenever he voiced such things. She’d show him. She’d become a warrior moooons before he did, and leave him sitting in the dust.

Of course, she had to become an apprentice far before she could become a warrior. But that wasn’t an issue, thankfully. She just had to wonder who Gingerstar would pick for her mentor… Minnowkit and Stonekit had debated that issue for about the past moon, arguing over which warriors would be the best for each of them (or rather, which ones they admired most and wanted as their mentors). Gingerstar and Featherleaf were out, both having their own apprentices by the time the two siblings could consider it, but that still left the deputy and plenty of fine warriors open for them. Honestly, Minnowkit hadn’t decided just who would make the best mentor; she just couldn’t wait to be able to leave the camp and explore the territory – maybe even actually learn to fish!

A rustling near the camp entrance distracted the she-kit, and she popped up from behind the elder’s den with the stray feather between her teeth, completely and totally alert as she realized it was the patrol from Sunningrocks. Although, before she could scramble back toward the nursery and make herself at least look like she was behaving right before her apprentice ceremony, she realized the feather was tickling her nose and whiskers. A split second after she noticed, she couldn’t help but sneeze. And somehow the small, high-pitched noise was enough to catch her father’s attention as he crossed the camp toward the nursery (or maybe he had some fatherly-sixth-sense that made him realize she wasn’t already there), and she flinched down as he called her name. “Minnowkit! Get over here, do you want me to ask Gingerstar to postpone your apprenticeship?”

Ears back against her head, the silver she-kit slunk over toward him and her mother who was making her way out of the nursery, Stonekit in tow. “I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” she mewed softly, trying on her best innocent expression. For some reason, she doubted it was winning her parents over this time. Oops.

OTHER:
Yay for Klads making her brother! <3