BRIGHTBERRY, riverclan warrior

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

n a m e : Brightberry
a g e : 18 Moons
g e n d e r : Tom
c l a n : RiverClan
r a n k : Warrior
s t a t u s : Healthy
a p p r e n t i c e : None
l o v e . i n t e r e s t : None

d e s c r i p t i o n .

Lanky . Long Tail . White . Ginger Patches . Long Fur . Amber Eyes

Reasonably sized for a tom, but lanky and thin, Brightberry could be called scrawny without any worry of being unfair to his appearance. He is scrawny, and wimpy-looking, and there really isn't any getting around that. Fortunately, trying to intimidate other cats isn't something that he has ever had any interest in doing, because he would be really terrible at it. Somewhat atypically for a RiverClan cat, his fur is both thin and long, sticking up in fluffy tufts in places along his flanks and especially on his head. It doesn't keep out water very well, so he isn't very fond of swimming, although he likes fish and will happily catch them from the banks. Brightberry's fur is mostly white, with flame-coloured patches placed here and there, marking his tail and body, and covering the top of his head as well. He has quite a long tail, and rather large paws, although he has finished growing, and somehow has developed the ungainly habit of tripping over anything available to him, including his own tail or feet. His eyes are large, amber and intent. Their depths often shine with a kind of scarily-obsessive, crazed gleam.

p e r s o n a l i t y .

Clumsy . Loyal . Friendly . Helpful . Optimistic . Clever . Resourceful . Inventive

With his large, awkward paws and unruly, fluffy pelt sticking up in tufts, the figure that Brightberry cuts is easily dubbed as ridiculous. It's the first impression that most strangers have of him, and honestly it's a pretty accurate one, which is only reinforced the longer one spends in his presence. Because in addition to being a bit of an odd bird looks-wise, Brightberry is possibly the most ungraceful cat in all the four Clans. To say that he is careless with his paws would be an understatement. Not only does the cat have an almost magical ability to trip over nothing, but if nothing isn't good enough then he somehow manages to get his own tail tangled up in his legs and stumble that way, which is always worth a laugh unless it's in the middle of a mission or patrol.

Like any self-respecting RiverClan cat, Brightberry is loyal to his own Clan above all others, and is likely to take immediate hostile action if ever he finds one trespassing on RiverClan land. However, with his own Clanmates and friends, he is one of the friendliest, most kind and helpful cats that you ever will see. Every waking moment of his time is spent in good humour with the knowledge that he has a place among his Clan and kin. He lives for his Clanmates, and would do absolutely anything for them. Even small tasks, such as helping out with mundane chores if there aren't enough apprentices, are eagerly tackled by this cheerful tom, which sometimes can lead to him being taken advantage of. He's almost sickeningly optimistic, actually, to the point where sometimes you want to cuff him on the ear and tell him to get his head out of the clouds.

Despite all of the above, however, Brightberry is somehow not a stupid cat. To the contrary, he may very well be one of the most inventive and resourceful cats in his Clan. If only he would use that flexible mind of his to be a supreme tactician, it would be much easier on his Clanmates. Unfortunately for them, however, this warrior's head is full not of brilliant battle stratagems, but rather innovative ideas to improve the ease or efficiency of various tasks, or, even more disastrously, schemes to take care of long-standing problems that are usually carried out without knowledge or consultation of his Clan. He fancies himself to be quite the genius, but usually fails to take little things like "reality" into his plans, which inevitably results in his current project falling apart at the seams.

h i s t o r y .

Brightberry's parents were already quite old when he was born. Having become mates later on in life, they had been mated for a year, but failed to conceive until Poppynose was already seventy moons old. Finally, however, the pair did manage to produce one single kit; a ginger-spotted tom whom they lovingly named Brightkit. As the moons progressed, and Brightkit grew and developed in body and mind, he proved to more than live up to his name. The young tom loved to visit the elders for stories, and at the encouragement of his doting parents, frequently made up stories of his own, and would act them out for his parents' amusement. Gentle Poppynose and her eccentric mate Shiftyeyes could find no fault in their young kit, even though he was a bit small for his age, encouraging every new idea that he shared with them and shrugging indulgently whenever he got himself in trouble. Their kit was going to do great things someday, they were sure. It was best not to stifle him.

Brightkit received his apprentice name at the beginning of leaf-fall, immediately upon reaching his sixth moon. His parents were glad to see their son moving up in the world, and were sure that Brightpaw's new mentor would be able to teach the young tom to use his unique talents in a way that would best benefit the Clan. For his part, Brightpaw was far from lacking in enthusiasm. He was extremely excited to have reached apprentice status, and soaked up his mentor's teachings like a sponge. However, despite being a working apprentice, he still managed to have enough free time to concoct his own dreams and plans, and then to execute them when his Clanmates neglected to watch him for long enough. Sure, his mossball-transport scheme needed work, and often his experiments with different kinds of plants would leave interesting stains on his fur, but he managed to complete his training despite that. There was a collective groan when he moved into the warriors den, but at least the apprentices were all happy for him!

Around the same time that Brightberry became a warrior, his mother moved into the nursery for the second and last time, expecting another litter of kits. Shortly thereafter, the old queen gave birth to a tom and a she-cat, whom she named Beetlekit and Featherkit. The newly-named Brightberry was overjoyed to have siblings at last, despite the age difference between them, and for a little while all was well with the happy little family. Soon, however, things took a turn for the worse when Poppynose came down with a bad case of white-cough, which eventually graduated to green-cough. Her young kits were only three moons old when she passed away, despite the care that Brightberry's mentor provided to them. Shiftyeyes was traumatized by his mate's death. The old tom, who had recently joined the elders, sank into a pit of confusion and paranoia, and died of stress a few moons later.

In the meantime, Beetlekit and Featherkit had no parents to care for them, although the other nursery queens did the best they could to comfort the two young cats. It was during this time that Brightberry really came through as an older brother, visiting his younger siblings as often as he could and sharing his many adventures and exploits with them. As a result both kits probably got into even more trouble than they might have, but it helped to ease the sorrow of their mother's death and their father's absence, so no one could really complain. But despite Brightberry's dedication to his younger siblings, he couldn't protect them completely. When Featherkit and Beetlekit were both in their fourth moon of kithood, the apt-named Beetlepaw died falling into the river and drowning in pursuit of a colourful beetle floating on a leaf. Ever since then Brightberry has kept a close watch on his remaining sibling, so that nothing bad happens to her.

m o t h e r : Poppynose
f a t h e r : Shiftyeyes
s i s t e r : Featherkit
b r o t h e r : Beetlekit

o t h e r .

Moved from Untouchable. ouo

[Yoko]

ACCEPTED! GO FORTH AND MULTIPLY!