shadedmask [wc]

name • shadedkit > shadedpaw > shadedmask
age • eighteen moons
gender • female
sexuality • bisexual
clan • windclan
rank • warrior

allegiance • a small tan-colored she-cat with dark brown points, white paws, and blue eyes.
full • Shadedmask is smaller than the average WindClan warrior, but she is far from diminutive. She has thick, tan fur on the main part of her body; her face, legs, and tail are a rich dark brown. Shadedmask has four white paws, ice blue eyes, and a black nose.

+ Curious. Shadedmask is the embodiment of "curiosity killed the cat." As a kit and early in her apprenticeship, her natural inquisitiveness came off as nosiness. She was constantly poking her nose into places where it didn't belong; Shadedmask got told off quite a few times by her mentor for always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As she matured, she began to channel her curiosity in more...appropriate ways. She focused more on learning how to be a warrior and spent quite some time out exploring, trying to learn every inch of WindClan's territory.
+ Compassionate. Shadedmask is very moved by the thought of suffering, whether the other be Clanmate or not. She finds it very difficult to sit by and do nothing once she learns that another is in pain.
+ Confident. She is proud of her intellect and her courage, and she portrays herself with a quiet confidence in her interactions with other Clans. Shadedmask knows that she is a very young warrior, especially as she was given her warrior name only two moons ago, but she will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a senior warrior and disagree with them if she believes that the way being proposed is wrong.
- Bossy. Her natural curiosity led to her being quite knowledgable about the goings-ons in WindClan territory, whether that be where to find rabbit warrens or where a fox was last sighted. Consequently, Shadedmask feels the need to impart some of her knowledge onto those Classmates that might be less well-informed. Some cats may find this trait endearing, while others roll their eyes when she starts a sentence with, "Well, actually..."
- Socially-awkward. She knows that cats sometimes look at her like she has two heads, but she doesn't always know why. Shadedmask has difficulty figuring out how some of her behavior impacts those around her. She has said and done things that were not appropriate given the context, and she has missed some social cues that were very obvious to those around her at the time. That being said, she has learned from the mistakes of her kit- and apprentice-hood and tries her best to interact with her Clanmates in an appropriate way.
- Insecure. Shadedmask is self-conscious of what others think of her; at times this causes her to second guess her actions. She is also very aware that her small size can inhibit her success in battle. Shadedmask is afraid of failing her Clanmates and is always trying to distract them from her faults by striving to impress them with her intellect.
= The first few weeks of leaf-fall are her favorite, as that is when the weather is still warm and there is a pleasantly cool breeze.
= Shadedmask is an annoying cat to sleep next to. She ends up on her back with her legs curled up to her chest.
= Her compassion for others can lead her to be a bit harsh with those that might disagree with her. When Shadedmask feels passionately about an issue, she can say something that she may later regret.

father • pinepelt, male, alive
mother • swanfeather, female, alive
sibling • bearfang, male, alive
sibling • whitestep, female, alive
sibling • skyheart, female, alive
sibling • brownkit, male, deceased
sibling • gorsekit, male, deceased
sibling • whisperkit, male, alive

mentor • addertail, male, deceased

Shadedkit was the last born in a litter of five. All three she-kits took after their mother, with their varying pelts of cream and tan and dark points. Bearkit and Brownkit looked like their father, with their dark brown fur and golden eyes. Her very first memories are of being warm and full, with the sweet and rich taste of milk still on her tongue, cuddled into Swanfeather's soft flank with her two brothers and two sisters while the queens told them stories. While she and her four littermates were still young, Swanfeather would give them gentle, soothing licks and purr deeply until they fell asleep. Swanfeather kept her kits confined to the nursery until they were beyond their first moon and could walk without constantly tumbling over their own paws.

The second she set paw outside the nursery Shadedkit's fur bristled with excitement. The heady scents of many different cats, warm heather, and other things that she did not yet know the names for filled her nostrils. Shadedkit craned her head to peek between Bearkit and Skykit. "Wow!" She breathed, blue eyes widening, as she stared at the bustling Clan. Big cats with scarred pelts strode around importantly, greeting each other with flicks of their tail and twitching ears. A group of smaller cats trotted into camp with rabbits hanging from their jaws. "Wow!" Shadedkit said again, this time much louder. She bounced in a small circle as Swanfeather nudged Brownkit out into the clearing.

"When can I go hunting?" Shadedkit demanded.

Her mother purred, blue eyes crinkling with affection. "Not until you've been made an apprentice, dear one." When Shadedkit's tail drooped with disappointment, Swanfeather said, "Don't look so disappointed. You'll have many moons to chase down prey! Why don't you sit with Brownkit for awhile?"

Shadedkit shrugged and sat down next to her brother, pressing her side into his brown pelt. Brownkit didn't say anything to her. Then again, he barely ever talked. Shadedkit had faked sleep one day and overheard her parents discussing their second son. Brownkit had been born with many health conditions and was not expected to live to see six moons. Shadedkit's heart had plummeted with sadness, but Pinepelt's deep mew made her prick her ears. "StarClan has a reason for everything," the brown warrior mewed. "He will be our guardian from the stars."

That first day out in the clearing Shadedkit spent her time chattering happily about the goings-on. Although Brownkit merely blinked at her now and then, she was not discouraged. Her heart felt warm with affection for her sibling. From then on she made a point of telling Brownkit everything she learned in her many hours of bustling about the camp, pestering the elders for stories and the apprentices for the best hunting and fighting techniques.

Several nights before Swanfeather's four healthy kits were to be apprenticed, Shadedkit approached her parents. Brownkit was still alive, and although his health hadn't improved at all, he had whispered to her in halting tones that all he wanted was to be made an apprentice. When she mentioned this to Swanfeather and Pinepelt, her parents exchanged sad glances. "Shadedkit," Pinepelt sighed, beckoning her to his side with a flick of his tail. She sat down between her parents and looked up at them. "Not every cat walks the same path. It is StarClan who sees our destiny, and StarClan has a different destiny for all of us." Pinepelt hesitated briefly. "Your brother is kind and affectionate. But he can never be a warrior."

Shadedkit sprang to her paws, fur standing on end with frustration. "But that's his dream!" She insisted.

Swanfeather shook her head. Shadedkit had never seen her pretty mother's blue eyes so sad. "Brownkit is not strong enough," she said softly. "He can't play fight, he can't keep up when you five have races. It would be cruel to dangle the future of a warrior in front of his nose, when he knows that he will never be able to perform those duties, don't you think? Flowerpelt just had her kits. He will serve the Clan well by helping her care for them."

"You're both being hare-brained!" She raced away from her parents. Resentment boiled in her stomach, but she had to admit that her parents made sense. That still did not stop her from feeling bone-deep sad for her brother as she, Bearkit, Whitekit, and Skykit were made apprentices. Brownkit had fallen very ill the day prior and was resting in the medicine cat's den. Barely a moon into her apprenticeship, Shadedpaw was returning from a training session when she was intercepted by her parents, who relayed in hushed, saddened voices that Brownkit had gone to StarClan. The family grieved deeply for the little kit, but the sun continued to rise and fall, and none of the apprentices missed training for very long. Soon Shadedpaw was back to annoying Addertail, her mentor, by constantly showing up whenever so much as the ends of his whiskers poked into the clearing.

Fed up with her constant gossiping, Addertail stuffed Shadedpaw's schedule so full that she would be out of the camp from dawn til dusk, and then she was so tired that she gulped down a meal and went straight to bed. Shadedpaw's curiosity slowly began to fixate on the lessons she was being taught until one day Addertail, curious as to where his apprentice had gone one morning, found the little she-cat practicing fighting techniques just outside camp, a serious frown on her face.

"Great StarClan," he purred with satisfaction when Shadedpaw noticed him. "You're actually making progress!"

When Addertail finally started giving her some free time, Shadedpaw got a chance to reconnect with her siblings. The four young cats spent time sharing tongues and swapping stories. They all had such different personalities, but that littermate bond hadn't gone. "I wish Brownkit was here," Shadedpaw confided to Whitepaw one evening as they shared tongues after a meal.

Whitepaw blinked at her sadly. "Me too." Her sister sighed and stretched. "But I bet he's watching us from Silverpelt every night."

Shadedpaw tipped her head back and studied the stars, which were just beginning to twinkle in the lilac dusk. "I still wish he'd been able to achieve his dream of becoming an apprentice. But maybe...maybe StarClan has a different future for him."

Bearpaw flopped down next to them with Skypaw just behind him. "Brownkit would never've been able to keep up." Shadedpaw turned on her brother with an angry hiss, blue eyes narrowing, but Skypaw gave them both a warning look. "It just wasn't meant to be," Bearpaw said clumsily.

Anger rippled her fur. "You should be more respectful," she snapped, tone softening as Bearpaw looked apologetic.

The four siblings were taken by surprise as Pinepelt and Swanfeather trotted over to them. Their parents looked to be positively bursting with joy. "You're going to have more siblings!" Pinepelt announced, chest puffing out proudly.

They sprang to their paws with meows of congratulations, touching noses with Swanfeather. Shadedpaw was over the moon at the announcement. More kits! She went to the medicine cat's den the next morning and asked so many questions about pregnancy and complications that she was asked -- a little sarcastically, she thought later -- if she was thinking about becoming a medicine cat apprentice.

"Will you settle down! You're going to scare off the prey!" Addertail barked at her later that afternoon as she chattered incessantly about all the different pregnancy facts she had learned. As she bounded away with her tail held high, he called after her, "And try shutting up for once!"

The four apprentices became warriors in short succession with each other. Shadedpaw was finally made a warrior at thirteen moons after she scented a badger in WindClan territory and volunteered for the patrol that was sent to drive it out. She held her head high and proud as the Clan cheered her new name, Shadedmask.

The new warrior was sharing tongues with Addertail several days later when Skyheart raced toward her, the fur bristling along her spine with excitement. "The kits are coming!" She yowled.

Shadedmask's eyes widened and she sprang to her paws. "I'm coming!" She called after her sister since Skyheart was haring away toward Bearfang, who was just trotting into camp. Swanfeather kitted two kits this time -- a little cream-and-white tom, Gorsekit, who was stillborn, and a black tom that Pinepelt dubbed Whisperkit for his soft mewls. Shadedmask ensured that Gorsekit would be buried next to Brownkit and dug the stillborn kit's grave herself. She was saddened by the death of another of her siblings, but she clung to the belief that Brownkit was even now meeting Gorsekit in StarClan, both of them with stars in their pelts and their eyes, free to play together without ailments.

Instead of brooding over Gorsekit, Shadedmask played with Whisperkit in her spare time. She liked her little brother and found his little kit tail adorably cute. Shadedmask was definitely looking forward to Whisperkit being apprenticed so that she could finally hunt with all of her living siblings.