Post by spike on Jan 8, 2010 3:53:29 GMT -6
Name:
Icetail
Age:
24 moons
Gender:
Tom
Clan:
SkyClan
Apprentice:
None
Rank:
Warrior
Mate/Crush:
None
Kin:
Buckfur (father, deceased)
Yellowclaw (mother, deceased)
Description:
Pure white. Silky white. Maybe that is what you see. After seeing his reflection, Icetail thinks quite the opposite. His fur is white all around, the dirt on him tainting it with ease. But his father was tan and his mother was a very light ginger. He is white. It's just the show of the genetic difference in him.
He has a fair build, One that would've made a great warrior if he had the ability. Thin but with strong shoulders, he is powerful but has rarely uses it. He has slightly larger paws along with a stout tail. His whiskers are straight and also extremely white. All the flesh on him, some being more and more apparent on his head, is pink. A rosy shade of pink. Even his nose is the same. His ears turn outward but are thin and pointed high.
None of that can compare to the pink-red eyes that rest on him. The sign of what he was. Not a "who" but a "what". An albino. He didn't know the word but he knows he is different. How can a white kit come from two parents that are quite different from white? How can the others move their mouths and answer to it when he cannot? He knows he is different and yet that hasn't really diminished him much on the inside.
Personality:
Icetail makes all think of a different personality from who he is. Yes, he is deaf. Does that mean he has to shrink into himself? Does he have to sit in the corner and weep? Well, it does affect him slightly. For one, he is a follower. He has no clue what the world is like beyond sight and sound. He needs another's help and often takes to the medicine cat to follow. He is no medicine cat of course. He has no purpose with herbs since he is quite useless without hearing. But the medicine cat is somebody to follow.
Secondly, he's highly curious. If he can't hear the world, why not explore it? He wants to but his fear has kept that down. Wandering the camp is the most he can do. Maybe the occasional trip on a patrol on the nicest Green-Leaf day, if a warrior was caring enough to show pity on Icetail.
And lastly, he is joyful. He has lived to this point, hasn't he? The least he could do is live it with a smile. He knows he is of some use somewhere beneath it all and tries hard to do so. Even if it is just a smile to give, it's better than what they expect of him.
History:
Buckfur and Yellowclaw were not the greatest couple. He adored kits and wanted as many as possible. He wanted a large family to call his own. Yellowclaw did not enjoy them. She was fiercely loyal and the idea of being stuck in a nursery with kits almost disgusted her. She dealt with the news, however, that she was expecting them.
What should've been a healthy litter turned out to be one kit. He was snow white and handsome. Yellowclaw and Buckfur didn't understand it either but decided he should be called Icekit. It really turned out for a joy for Yellowclaw. She learned to love Icekit. But when he opened his eyes, she feared him. Icekit would tell by the way she flinched away. They were an ugly, harsh reddish-pink color. He knew this from looking in a puddle.
By three moons of age, Yellowclaw questioned why her kit was so disobedient. He never answered to her calls and constantly was ignoring her. When she got him, he looked surprised. So she had the medicine cat look at him. Maybe there was something wrong with his head! Yet the news was not as she thought. Icekit was deaf.
Buckfur accepted it and tried to continue calling him Icekit, not that he knew. Yellowclaw despised it. She renamed him to be Deadkit. That was all she wanted him to be. Dead. Yellowclaw did not have the stomach to kill a kit, however.
For the deaf kit, the world was always silent. He wondered what his mother was going when she moved her mouth and others did the same. He knew who his father was. That scent was easy to tell. He adored him and followed him around camp. Some grinned at him while others scowled.
At the age of six moons, his mother led him to sit before his leader. He knew who the leader was because all the cats went to him and he stood on this mighty Rockpile. Anybody that stood on it had to have power! To the others around him, he announced that Deadkit was Deadpaw and he'd be mentored by his father, Buckfur. It was the only cat willing to do it.
Trying to return to the nursery, his mother stopped him. She flicked her tail, a common sign now as she taught him new things, towards a den. He slunk off to it unwillingly and allowed himself some rest in his new nest. With Buckfur now coming to him more, Deadpaw began to learn. He learned many signs like the food he ate were signaled with two snaps of the jaw. Or if he wished to walk on a patrol, his father stepped in place. It was quite exciting knowing that others were beginning to use his father's way of communication.
Hunting was a slight hassle. He only used scent and the occasional feeling. He didn't hear the world that made sound so he just used that. Eventually, they gave up on that. But fighting? That was a strong point. His lack of hearing made it unclear on when Buckfur would attack him but the apprentice had learned, unlike the other apprentices his age, how to throw them off in a mere second and run a claw down some part of their body before escaping.
That feeling of uselessness escaped him once more. Cats were not so cruel. The training, however, was never going to be enough. The other cats had something he didn't and, though he didn't know what it was, he knew it was required.
Still, he was made a warrior, Deadear, and was forced to stay in the camp. Buckfur now avoided him but always took the nest beside him at night. Yellowclaw had died while having another litter of Buckfur's just a moon ago. None of the kits survived either. There were too many complications apparently.
It was strange for his first night in the warrior’s den. It was nice to have Buckfur but change was never a fun thing. The next morning, his father approached the leader with anger on his face. If he could’ve heard the words that were spoke…
”I want his name changed,” Buckfur ordered. The leader seemed to pause with uncertainty. Deadear was a fine cat and the only reason the Clan agreed to the name was because of Yellowclaw. She wouldn’t have it any other way. But the thought was clear on his face to know that Yellowclaw was deceased.
“Are you sure, Buckfur? You always said that you hated your son’s name but you felt it right for Yellowclaw. Is her memory no longer with you?”
“She is a pile of fox dung to me now,” the tom snarled out. “I only have my son and I will not be calling him ‘Deadear’ for as long as I live.”
That was the end of the conversation and the deaf cat was lead by his father to sit before the leader once more. The words spoken were not heard by him but a grin couldn’t help placing itself on his face. If he had heard, he would’ve heard his name ring out as Icetail now. His former name was properly placed on his being. A new respect filled him for not only the Clan but for himself. The Clan didn’t seem to back away when he approached. Yellowclaw, a mother that always seemed so clear to treat her albino kit poorly was gone and could not stop others from giving kindness.
Sure, there would always be cats that disagreed with him. He was of very little use though he still worked for patrols the best he could. He provided smell, one of his best senses, and they provided hearing. He still enjoys being able to sit near the medicine cat den and watch. He doesn’t like working with herbs but the she-cat keeps him good company. He needs that after his father passed from an accidental eating of a death berry. It confuses Icetail to why that even happened but life has its ways. He now leans heavily on anybody that can give support. It’s not easy when the world is silent to you.
Roleplay example:
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Other:
Yes, Icetail is albino and deaf. I decided to keep that stuff. I looked up the picture I have and found that the photographer owned an albino and deaf cat. (That picture.) So I’m just keeping to the cat.
Also, some signs Icetail knows if you wish to speak to him:
This list will be updated as I think of more.[/u]
Flick of the tail: pointing
Walking in place: a patrol
Bat of the whiskers: play fight
Bite in air twice: prey
Claw the ground: hunting
Kit pic[/size]
