Name: Onyxseeker
Prefix Meaning: Onyx: A very old family name passed down for generations; also in reference to the black in her fur.
Suffix Meaning: Seeker: In reference to her ability to explore and find things in the tunnel with spooky accuracy; mostly in reference to her rank as a tunnel - or a gem seeker. 
Sex: Female
Age: 35 moons
Sexuality: Homosexual
Rank: Warrior
Role: Tunneler
Adopt Thread: N/A

The Body

Base Coat Color: Black and red
Markings: Tortoiseshell 
Eye Color: Green
Body Size and Build: Small, slim
Fur Length and Texture: Short, rough
Additional Physical Traits: Long whiskers
Health and Scars: Healthy
Full Appearance Description: Very small girl, please watch your step around her - she is very easy to squish. Average in most thing, a rather unremarkable cat among her clanmates. She has a tortoiseshell pattern that has been romantically called "like a bright ember shining among dark coals". There are some light tabby markings that can be seen among the orange patches of fur but no one really spends much time taking a second glance at her so it tends to go unnoticed. Classic ChasmClan long whiskers that help her maneuver through the tunnels she digs. Dull green eyes that are unnervingly owl-like. 


The Identity

Positive Traits: Gentle, placid, upbeat, considerate
Neutral Traits: Hard-working, ordinary, skeptical, dreamer
Negative Traits: Self-critical, scatter-brained, dogmatic, hesitant

Loves: Smooth stones, diving (under water), the cute squeaks bats make, heights
Likes: Cold weather, sharpening her claws on tunnels walls, playing mossball
Dislikes: Bugs that sudden start flying, her own name, early mornings
Hates: Sand, snakes, that gross crunch sound that snails make when you step on them,
Fears: Being bitten by a snake, being the last of her bloodline
Secrets: Secretly likes the ways rocks taste


Strengths: Swimming, flexibility, climbing, jumping
Normals: Eyesight, hearing, hunting, stealth
Weaknesses: Defense, attack, smelling, speed


The Past

"Onyx" is an usual name for a ChasmClan cat. Black coloured stones are considered ill omens, according to common superstitions. Yet, one family used the name once per generation. Onyxseeker's family, to be exact. Her uncle had the name before her, her grandfather before him, and her great-grandfather before him, and so on. When it was Onyxseeker's turn to inherit the name, it was to inauspicious circumstances. Born to two respectable ChasmClan warriors, Onyxkit was guaranteed a great fate from the start. And maybe she would have, had the situation been different.  

Perhaps if her mother and father were not quarreling, if her mother hadn't gone into labour weeks too early, if her siblings hadn't been stillborn, if her mother had survived the birth. But that is not this life. In this life, Onxykit only enjoyed several minutes of life before she became motherless. Her father only realized his mistake in those last few moments. He begged for his mate's forgiveness until her dying breath. He was so sorry he accused her of cheating, he's sorry he lost their marriage gem, he's sorry he yelled at her, please just don't leave. His begging was all in vain and Onyxkit's mother was buried beside her two stillborn kits. Her father was the one to continue the family tradition and give his only living kit the name Onyxkit. 

It would be moons before she learned the significance of her own name. 

Onyxkit's time as a kit was some of the best days of her life. She was pitied by her clanmates for her status as an endling - the last of her bloodline. With her mother's death and her father's reluctance to take another mate, it looked like the future of the Onyx line laid on her shoulders. Not that Onyxkit realized it. She knew that her father was her only real family, but the rest of the clan was eager to take up the slack. Not far away from Onyxkit's nest lived a family who also just had a litter of kits. One of the kits, Mushroomkit, quickly became one of her best friends. The two of them were not as boisterous as the other kits and had difficulty keeping up with their adventures. Onyxkit liked to joking it call them the "Runt Club" - only losers allowed. So maybe they weren't as fast or strong as the other kits, but Onyxkit could play a mean game of mossball and Mushroomkit was a pretty decent goalie. 

Her friendship with Mushroomkit meant Onyxkit spent most of day outside of her home nest with her new friend. But every night, without fail, Mushroomkit's parents called him back to their nest. He would always make the same grimace of apology before chasing after his parents. Leaving Onyxkit behind to her lonesome. Until her father finally came to gather her after his guard shift. It left her with a longing to get to know her family more - or what was left of it. Her father was unsurprisingly tight-lipped when it came to them but he eventually yielded to her questions. He started with why she was given the name onyx. Digging through his collection of gems, her father revealed a large completely black stone. Onyxkit gasped loudly and backed away as far as she could. Everyone knew black gems were cursed! Why would her father keep such a thing? He explained calmly that this was the family heirloom. Generations before Onyxkit was born, one of their ancestors came across the black stone. Just as he was about to cast it into the depths of the mountains, their Ancestors spoke to him. They commanded him to stash the stone away and to keep it safe until the right moment. Eventually the stone became the family's secret and the reason behind the name Onyx. 

Onyxkit quickly brushed off the story as ridiculous. Black stones were cursed, why would they be so foolish as to keep one in their hoard? Her father refused to cast the stone out, claiming the Ancestors must have had a reason for them to keep the stone. Onyxkit was not happy with his reasoning but grudgingly left the stone alone. She put the issue out of her mind until the very next day. She got up, as usual, and went to go see Mushroomkit. Only to be informed his health had taken a turn for the worst during the night and was isolated in his nest until he recovered. Her thoughts instantly went to the black gem her father was hiding. Was this part of the curse? Because she had touched the stone? 

Onyxkit nervously brushed the thought aside. Surely Mushroomkit would recover quickly enough and this would be a thing of the past. The stone meant nothing. She was proven wrong when Mushroomkit passed away not long after. His family was devastated and mourning the loss. Too busy to worry about some silly friend Mushroomkit used to hang around. Onyxkit willingly faded into obscurity. 

Her life was a numb shock in the wake of Mushroomkit's death. Nothing her father did could snap her out of her funk. Eventually, enough time passed and Onyxkit officially became of age to become her father's pupil. Training was something to take her mind off Mushroomkit and Onyxpaw seized the opportunity gratefully. Working herself to the bone was a coping mechanism for her and while her father scolded her for not taking better care of herself, she could tell how proud he was of her hard work. Not many apprentices her age took their training as seriously as Onyxpaw did. 

It took very little time for Onyxpaw to decide she wanted to become a tunneler. She quickly found a mentor to teach her and continued through her training with very little trouble. That was, until her mentor became ill with whitecough. Their elderly age made them susceptible to the disease and the succumbed quickly. Onyxpaw grieved for their loss, but their death only weighed on her mind along with Mushroomkit's death. Desperate for a distraction, she moved on to her next mentor. This mentor actually lasted a whole moon before they became lame in one leg and were forced on bed rest, leaving her mentor-less once more. At this point, Onyxpaw was convinced that this streak of bad luck was due to the black gem her father kept. This "heirloom". 

Taking matters into her own paws, Onyxpaw decided she had to put an end to the stone, before it ended her first. While her father was out on his guard shift, she stole the stone from his nest. And that was about as far as her plan went. How does one get rid of stone anyway? Can you kill a stone? If anyone could, it would be Onyxpaw. First, she tried drowning it. It took her several long seconds to realize stones don't breath and therefore, could not drown. Okay, Plan B. Bury the stone. Feeling sentimental, Onyxpaw buried the stone on top of her mother's grave. The very next day there was some heavy rainfall that flooded some tunnels and washed away the dirt where she had buried the stone. She quickly took the stone back to her nest before anyone could spot it. Time for Plan C. Onyxpaw went to the highest ledge in all the territory and threw the rock off the ledge. The rock bounced harmlessly off the ground and remained not-dead. Plan D! Okay, she didn't have a plan D but she could make one. Heading up to the surface, Onyxpaw set out the stone under some plants and collected every snail she could find. She piled snails on the stone, hoping they would eat it or their slime would dissolve it. No luck. The stone was mocking her at this point. For the time being, Onyxpaw gave up. 

Her attention no longer taken with the stone and her training coming to an end, Onyxpaw - now named Onyxseeker - lifted her head from her own little world long enough to realize she was horribly gay. There were several she cats her age and they were all ridiculously pretty. This one she cat in particular, Sleet-, was heart-stoppingly beautiful. Onyxseeker had actually tripped over her own paws the first time she really noticed her. Finding herself completely out of her depths, Onyxseeker went to the only person she could: her father. It was probably the most awkward conversation in her life, but her father came through for her. Using his pure bloodline connections he set up a match between Onyxseeker and Sleet-. She was completely over the moon and couldn't stop thanking him. 

Sleet- was as beautiful in person as she was from a distance. The Ancestor's graced them with her presence. Sleet- was thankfully benevolent and open to a mate match with Onyxseeker. For some reason. Onyxseeker felt completely lacking when she stood next to her but Sleet- was convinced that she was worth something. Onyxseeker felt completely devoted to her mate-to-be. Their relationship was ridiculously sweet and Onyxseeker felt ready for the rest of her life as long as she had Sleet- by her side. 

Sleet- went on to become a full time guard. Her new duties took up more of her time but Onyxseeker loved greeting her every time she came home from a long guard shift with a purr and kisses. Sly, endlessly intelligent Sleet- suggested she accompany Onyxseeker on some of her tunneler quests. She eagerly agreed. The two of them would saunter down the tunnels with their tails entwined and heads ducked in private conversation. On one such instance, Onyxseeker was puzzling over her black stone problem when Sleet- ran into her during one of her patrols. She panicked and sat on the stone to hide it from her mate. There was no way in hell she was going to let Sleet- find out about the black stone. Unfortunately, in her scramble to hide the stone, Onyxseeker knocked it over a ledge and into a crevice. She launched herself after it and in doing so, barely escaped the cave-in that followed. Boulders the size of bears rained from the ceiling and crashed down around her, but Onyxseeker was already back up into the crevice with the black stone that she couldn't move. The cave-in continued for what felt like hours but in reality was only seconds. 

When it was finished, the "black gem" her family had carried with them for generations was crack in two. It revealed the colourful crystal insides. The "stone" was actually a geode. Onyxseeker stared at it in shock before she remembered Sleet-. She kicked the stupid geode to the side and screamed her mate's name. No one responded. She wiggled her way out of the debris and ran right into a ChasmClan patrol. They were the ones to tell her the bad news. Sleet- had died in the cave-in. 

The loss of Sleet- hit Onyxseeker harder than any loss she had suffered thus far. She had been so convinced that the geode had been an omen that was cursing her with bad luck, but the whole thing had been a farce. The only unlucky thing here was Onyxseeker. She showed her father the geode and he was the one who pointed out that the geode had saved her life. If she had not gone after the geode, she would have been dead alongside Sleet-. Maybe the whole purpose of the geode was to save her life in that exact moment? He proposed. Onyxseeker broke. What was her life in comparison to Sleet-'s? 

Life moved on without Onyxseeker. She honed her craft as a tunneler and prides herself on bringing back the biggest, most beautiful jewels back to her clan. She's had some time to heal from her past, but her wounds still bleed on occasion. For now, she has convinced herself that her best plan of action would be to keep her head down and her secrets to herself.