Post by V on Apr 17, 2020 10:37:46 GMT -5
The Essentials
Name: Asphodel
Sex: Male
Age: 24 moons
Sexuality: Bisexual. He isn't really looking for a mate, but who knows, maybe if the right tom or mollie comes along?
Role: Outsider
Adopt Thread: N/A
Last Character: This is my first character.
The Body
Base Coat Color: Black
Markings: Tuxedo (white chest, belly, paws, part of face)
Eye Color: Green
Body Size and Build: Average
Fur Length and Texture: Medium-long
Additional Physical Traits: Long whiskers, plumed tail, black nose
Health and Scars: Nicked right ear, many small miscellaneous scars
The Identity
Positive Traits: Calm, observant, curious
Neutral Traits: Noncompetitive, quiet, private
Negative Traits: Cynical, lazy, indecisive
** Maybe lazy isn't exactly the right word. He'll do important tasks diligently but won't go out of his way to make something perfect. He settles if something is good enough and doesn't see the need to improve it.
Likes: Naps, having enough to eat, exploring, colourful plants
Dislikes: Change, selfish leaders
Fears: Making the wrong choice, a specific unnamed mollie (see "The Past")
Secrets: Most of his past
Dreams: A quiet life
Strengths: defense, attack, speed, eyesight
Normals: hearing, stealth, jumping, flexibility
Weaknesses: hunting, swimming, climbing, smelling
The Past (TLDR available at the bottom)
His earliest memory was of a large tom lifting him from a pile of rancid garbage. “You’re a Fang now. We saved you, your life belongs to us.”
The Leader named the kitten Asphodel, and made him into a scavenger. Asphodel was to wander the streets and bring back anything edible that he could find, be it scavenging rotten meals from trash bins or hunting the few scrawny rats that scurried about after dark. He was assigned a partner, a cat not much older than himself, named [Friend]. As the light began to fade on Asphodel’s first day scavenging, he had yet to catch anything. Letting out a defeated sigh, he heard a chuckle from behind him. “Not much of a hunter, are you?” [Friend] sat there with a stupid grin on his face and a small pile of critters at his feet. “Not to worry, I’ll catch enough for the both of us. Just watch my back, yeah? Let me know if there’s any dogs nearby. Or monsters. Or Claws. Especially Claws” Upon seeing the confused look on Asphodel’s face [Friend] continued. “What? You don’t know about the Claws? They didn’t tell you? Well, no matter. The Claws are the other cats that live around here. All nasty pieces of work, or so I hear. Anyway, help me carry the prey back will you? You can pretend you caught half. There’s plenty.”
Along the way back, [Friend] explained the rules of the Fangs. “The Leader eats first. He gets first pick. Usually hogs all the good stuff for ‘imself too. eats next. You know ?” Asphodel shakes his head and [Friend] continues. “Oh, well, you know? He’s the one… the one with the… the… teeth? And… he has claws? You know what, I’ll just point ‘im out when we get back. After 'im are the sentinels. They do most of the fightin’ so I guess that makes sense. Lastly is us, the lowly scavengers. It’s not much of a life but it’s the best we got. Better working for them then be dog food I always say!”
That’s how they lived for the next year. [Friend] did the hunting and allowed Asphodel to pretend he caught his share. Asphodel was always on alert to ensure [Friend] wasn’t in danger. On several occasions Asphodel fought off strange creatures which [Friend] called “Rak-koons” or “Poe-somes”. Life was alright. They managed.
As the days grew warmer the Leader grew greedier. He grew fat on the prey the scavengers brought back and lazy under the protection of the sentinels, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted more territory. Many scavengers, including Asphodel, were reassigned to be sentinels, to defend and patrol the territory. The plan worked, at first. As the number of sentinels increased so did their territory. More and more scavengers were reassigned and the territory continued to grow. Until the day the remaining scavengers couldn’t bring back enough food. The Leader was outraged. Cats were denied meals if the Leader didn’t think they contributed enough for the day. During a time when prey should be plentiful, many were skin and bones.
Asphodel was on edge as he patrolled the edge of Fang territory. Every now and then he could swear he heard paw steps following him but the untimely passing of monsters drowned out any suspicious sounds. Paws reached out from a nearby rubbish heap and Asphodel found himself pinned to the ground and unable to move. “Relax, we won’t kill you. Yet,” the mollie whispered. “We know your leader hasn’t been treating you very well recently. Tell us where to find him and the Claws will get rid of him for you. Promise.” Unable to get a good look at his attacker Asphodel settled for a hiss, though he wasn’t proud of how pathetic it sounded. “Feisty,” the mollie purred and released him. “You know where to find us if you change your mind.”
That night at camp, as Asphodel lay with his eyes closed, he heard a cat call out to him. “Asphodel? Is that you? I haven’t seen you in moons!”
“Hey, [Friend]”
“Wow, a sentinel. And a good one too. Thank the stars! I thought you’d died! Not many of the scavengers who were reassigned had any fightin’ experience, and, well…” [Friend] trailed off. “I guess those Rak-koons were good for something after all huh! Taught you how to fight they did!” Asphodel looked at his friend, and his eyes lingered on the clearly visible ribs showing through his matted fur. “Hey, Asphodel, you alright? You look terrible.”
Asphodel gave his friend an affectionate lick on the ear. “No worse than you.”
“Right, well I caught a plump pidgin this afternoon and managed to hide it from the Leader. Wanna split it?” [Friend] pauses. “Well, maybe plump is an overstatement but I’m sure it’s better that whatever you last ate.”
Asphodel glanced towards the Leader, surrounded by guards and lazing on his throne of bones. His stomach churned with disgust and something within him snapped. Why does he get to live like a king while the rest of us suffers? “Thanks [Friend], but I have another patrol. Maybe some other time.”
“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” [Friend] looked down at his paws and whispered, “be careful alright? I don’t want to be the one to find your body.”
Asphodel gave his friend another lick on the ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix this.” With that, he marched out of camp and directly into Claw territory and told them everything. Where the camp was located, how best to get there, the number of guards, everything. “Just kill him!”
The mollie purred as she led a patrol of Claw fighters out of the camp. “Return to Fang camp at moon high. It will be done.”
At the appointed time Asphodel returned to the camp on shaky paws. As the camp came into view, there, as promised, was the body of the Leader, atop his throne, dying it red with blood. At the base of the bones lie the bodies of many Fang sentinels. As malnourished as they were, they never stood a chance against the Claw fighters. He felt a lump form in his throat as he began to understand what had happened. His paws were swept from under him and once again Asphodel found himself pinned by the Claw Leader. He struggled to turned his head, if only a little, and found himself stating into [Friend]’s dead eyes. “This isn’t what you promised!”
The mollie smiled. “Oh? I killed your leader. That was the promise.” Asphodel felt her dig her claws into his shoulder and hissed in pain. “I suppose I should give you a reward. For your assistance in destroying the Fangs, I shall allow you to live.” She leaned in close and Asphodel could feel her breath on his ear. “Now, get out of my camp.” Too stunned to do anything but obey, Asphodel took one last look at the destruction he caused and took off into the night.
TLDR: Used to be a stray that was part of a "clan" in a twoleg place. Leader was selfish and terrible, hired assassins to kill said leader. Assassins killed everyone and he ran away.