Post by Roxie on Jul 7, 2012 14:55:56 GMT -5
brighteyes
male | riverclan | 38 moons | warrior
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Appearance
With his broad shoulders and his well-muscled build, Brighteyes looks a bit like he might belong in ShadowClan or ThunderClan rather than RiverClan - yet his lithe, quick movements, sleek fur, and affinity for swimming quickly erase any doubt of his heritage. He is long-limbed and his paws are a bit large, sort of like a puppy's, though he is neither canine nor infant-aged. Still, this aids him to be an especially good swimmer, which is perhaps why he loves the water so much.
I suppose you could describe his fur as black in color, though in truth it is much more. It's a bit like a dark, subtle shadow, a mix of all shades of black imaginable. The gloss of a raven's feather, the mistiness of a starless night sky, shades from purpelish to smokey. His fur is fairly long, but not extremely so like a Persian's would be. It is soft in texture, but also sort of wiry in places - somewhat water-resistant, at least by feline standards, the way most RiverClan cats' are. His tail is in particular is a bit bushy, and while he is an unusually strong swimmer, because of the amount of fur he has he is not quite as quick in the water as some of his clanmates might be.
His long white whiskers and boxy muzzle certainly give his face character, but it is his eyes that draw the most attention. As one might imagine, he was given his warrior name for his eyes, which in their unusually bright orange color, stand out in sharp contrast to his dark fur.
Personality
If there's one blatant weakness Brighteyes has, it's that he's not much of a team player. It's not that he's not loyal to his Clan, he is, fiercely, but he's not known to socialize much - and whenever possible, he prefers to hunt and patrol alone. He doesn't go out of his way to make friends, although he is never cold or impolite, just...a tad reserved. He's not a cat who makes an open show of what's going through his mind, and it can be difficult to tell whether or not he likes you.
A sure way to get Brighteyes to open up a little is to make him laugh - whether intentionally or unintentionally. He enjoys being around cats who help him take his mind off of things. There was a time when Brighteyes never laughed, but he's since learned that humor can be a key ingredient from preventing one's self from seeking into depression. So while he keeps his distance from even most of his clanmates, Brighteyes is always up for some idle, entertaining conversation - never getting too close, never discussing anything too personal, but trying to enjoy himself all the same.
His warrior duties, however, are something he does take very seriously - and he's convinced that everyone else should too. He can get a tad exasperated with younger cats, or even his fellow warriors for this reason, and he can be a bit sharp if he thinks you're wasting his time - but he's not anywhere near as hot-tempered as he once was.
He is a thoughtful tom who listens more than he speaks, but is clever and quick-witted when he does speak. He is also extremely perceptive - he can tell a lot by simply observing another cat for awhile. And Brighteyes can be a tad judgmental - if he doesn't like what he sees in you, he may be quick to jump to conclusions, or forget that every cat has a reason for being how they are. But he's also never once forgotten what Hazelpaw did for him when he was at his very lowest, and from that sparks a strong sense of compassion. Brighteyes will never leave another cat to suffer, whether it's from physical pain, loneliness, anger - or just out-right depression. He is a traditional tom who clings to the honorable ways of a warrior, and despises some of this disorder he's seen since StarClan has all but vanished from the lives of the Clans.
History
Born and raised in RiverClan, there was only one aspect of Brighteyes' birth that stood out as unusual: he and his siblings were born in mid-winter, which made things very difficult initially - newborn kits do not exactly mix well with frigid temperatures. His brother, Bearkit, died very early on of greencough - but Brighteyes has no memories of him to speak of, seeing as soon as Bearkit was diagnosed he was quarantined in the medicine cat's den. That left Brighteyes with his mother, Shadowflight, and his sister, Juniperkit. Their father had died before the kits were born, accidentally in a border fight with ThunderClan.
As kits so often will when there are only two of them in a litter, Brightkit - who'd been named after their father, Brightblaze - and Juniperkit quickly grew inseparable. They'd play games, get into trouble, and listen to their mother's stories. Snowleaf would often tell tales of their father, and so as Brightkit grew into apprenticeship, he grew something of a grudge against ThunderClan. Being a somewhat bold apprentice, Brightpaw ventured foolishly into ThunderClan territory - at a time when things were shaky enough between the Clans as it was. Though he'd assumed he'd managed to sneak off unnoticed, Juniperpaw was quick to realize what her brother had done. Afraid of getting him in trouble, she'd tracked him without a word to anyone else, hoping to be able to bring him back before any cat noticed he was gone. ..Unfortunately, she was a little too late, for when she arrived on the scene Brightpaw had already been confronted by a particularly hostile border patrol.
The ThunderClan warrior leading the patrol had intended to chase the apprentice off with a warning, but the two apprentices accompanying him - Eaglepaw and Cherrypaw - antagonized Brightpaw into attacking. When Juniperpaw arrived she threw herself into the fight to aid her brother, and the resulting battle very quickly got out of hand. Eaglepaw, hardheaded, quick-tempered, and fiercely eager to prove himself in a fight, lacked restraint when facing off against the much smaller Juniperpaw....and to this day, no cat can prove whether it was deliberate or accidental, but Juniperpaw died at the paws of the other apprentice. Such an act of violence between such young cats was enough to shock the ThunderClan warrior into calling off the battle, demanding that a shell-shocked Brightpaw return home with his sister's body.
RiverClan's leader was furious with the young tom for invading ThunderClan territory, especially since it had resulted in a death - but left the punishment up to Brightpaw's mentor, Badgerstripe. It did not escape Badgerstripe, however, how much Brighteyes was already punishing himself. There was no cat more disgusted with his actions than Brightpaw himself - his foolishness had gotten his sister, and only friend in the world, killed. In Badgerstripe's eyes, that was more than punishment enough - but Brightpaw seemed determined to punish himself. He began to push himself to the brink during training sessions, to almost dangerous levels - Badgerstripe would actually have to order him to return to camp for rest every night. However, every time his mentor would suggest any sort of assessment - anything that might advance him to warrior status - Brightpaw would find some excuse not to partake. He'd feign illness, or ask to go on a patrol instead, or insist he wasn't ready. In all honesty, Brightpaw felt that he didn't deserve to be a warrior.
Thankfully, there was one cat who was able to pull him out off his depression. Her name was Hazelpaw, a she-cat who Brightpaw had more or less grown up with, though they'd never been close. Hazelpaw had actually been through quite a bit herself, and while she didn't demean Brightpaw by pitying him...she understood him, and got him to stop feeling sorry for himself. Because, as Hazelpaw was the first cat to ever point out to him, Juniperpaw would have never wanted that.
With Hazelpaw's help, Brightpaw regained his determination to serve his clan, to actually make up for what he'd done instead of wasting his life away brooding over it. Before long, Brightpaw and Hazelpaw became warriors together - Brighteyes and Hazelstripe.
Brighteyes has served his clan ceaselessly ever since, and although he has noticeably withdrawn from most of his clanmates, his devotion to them has never once wavered. And he's never once forgotten the things that he's lost - or the things that he's learned.