BRIGHTBERRY – BOULDERCLAN

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

<---- BRIGHTBERRY
tom, twenty-one moons

[/b] Medicine Cat
ALLIANCE: BoulderClan
APPEARANCE: Lanky, fluffy ginger and white tom with amber eyes.

PERSONALITY:

c l u m s y ! 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.

h e l p f u l ! Like any self-respecting BoulderClan cat, Brightberry has a strong distrust of outsiders of all kinds, and is likely to take immediate hostile action if ever he finds one trespassing on BoulderClan 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.

r e c k l e s s ! Planning ahead is, well, not his specialty. Brightberry has gotten himself into many a sticky mess because he didn't stop to think about what he was doing. Helpful and well-meaning he may be, but at times he can be a bit of an eager beaver, which is frankly annoying for the more practical members of the Clan. However, succumbing to the temptation to send him off on a solo task is a risky gamble, because Brightberry tends to get into a lot of trouble on his own. Imagine a cripplingly clumsy tom with a single-minded desire to be helpful to his Clan, and no sense of forethought or caution to mediate his actions. The results could easily be disasterous, or at the very least troublesome.

d e v i o u s ! 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.

REASON FOR NAME:

b r i g h t ! Named at birth for the bright ginger patches on his fur.
b e r r y ! Suffix represents the berry-like colour of the patches, and his strangely thorough knowledge of herbs.

FAMILY:

m o t h e r ! Poppyleaf
f a t h e r ! Ospreyfang
s i s t e r ! Featherpaw
b r o t h e r ! Thymepaw

HISTORY:

b r i g h t k i t! 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 Poppyleaf 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 Poppyleaf and her eccentric mate Ospreyfang could find no fault in their young child, 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.

b r i g h t p a w! Brightkit received his apprentice name at the beginning of leaf-bare, 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!

b r i g h t b e r r y! 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 Thymekit 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. Brightberry even became apprenticed to the Clan's current medicine cat, after one day dashing off and retrieving some herbs before the she-cat had even a chance to describe what they were like or where they grew. Soon, however, things took a turn for the worse when Poppyleaf 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. Ospreyfang 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, Thymekit 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. After a few moons, Featherkit and Thymekit moved out of the nursery to become apprentices, and Brightberry didn't need to visit them quite so much, although they still shared tongues together every day. When his younger siblings were both in their second moon of apprenticeship, however, Thymepaw died falling down a hillside in pursuit of a colourful beetle. Ever since then Brightberry has kept a close watch on his remaining sister, so that nothing bad happens to her.

Brightberry was twenty moons old when he became a true medicine cat under his own power. For the previous eight moons, he had trained and learned, following the directions of his mentor eagerly and competently, when he wasn't tripping over his own paws. He picked up knowledge of herbs quickly, already knowing many of their names, their uses and applications. It was only experience that he lacked, and for nearly three seasons his qualification in this realm increased as well. But for all of his training and ardor, he could do nothing but helplessly look on when his own mentor was taken by the very disease that had claimed the life of his mother. All the catmint in the territory seemed to do nothing for her, nor would anything else he tried, and so the old she-cat passed away, leaving him to receive his full name and title alone at the next half-moon. Since then scarcely a moon has passed, but he has helped his Clan to the best of his ability, even taking on an apprentice to alleviate some of the loneliness in his den, though StarClan knows he's not ready to mentor anycat yet.

RP EXAMPLE:

"Phaugh... this den is so disorganized!" The medicine cat's aggrieved sigh floated out from the shadowed entrance to echo around the largely-empty camp clearing. Brightberry was currently up to his elbows in all manner of leaves, roots and berries, shuffling around as he attempted to restore some modicum of order to the cluttered arrangement. A frown of intense concentration was fixed on his lean face, and his amber eyes were focused completely on his task.

There was a dried leaf stuck in the fur on his head.

"Oak leaves, marigold, poppy seeds," he muttered under his breath, as one long white paw brushed over the herbs in question. There had to be a more efficient way to sort them, so that each was easy to find when it was needed. Rather than have them all jumbled together in one big pile, he thought, he could place them in different parts around the den, so their scents wouldn't conflict. Perhaps new spaces could be dug for them--the den expanded, to accommodate the glorious organization which he would bestow upon it.

Yes... he could see it now. Seeds and berries in one part of the den, leaves and herbs in another, and another area just for flowers and roots. Or maybe they should be sorted by property... healing herbs to one side, and so on, so that even untrained cats could find something if they needed it. That might be even better, he decided, and set about making his vision come to life. Soil and clay flew in small spurts as the unkempt-looking tom worked to carve out space-efficient nooks and shelves in the walls, where there was room. Pockets formed among the roots, and though he avoided the wall that neighboured the nursery, Brightberry's eyes sparked as his dream began to be realized before him.

Finally he decided that he had done enough digging for the time being. His white paws were soiled and clotted with dirt, and a few pebbles had joined the leaf in his fur like some kind of odd decoration. Still, his breath quickened with excitement as he stepped back, turned to fetch the first of the herbs to place them in their new home.

And caught in his throat when, standing on his own tail, he jerked off-balance and ploughed face-first into the pile of herbs.

"Achoo! Achoo!" Brightberry sneezed out several poppy seeds that had climbed into his nose and scrambled back from the mess he had made. When he saw the extent of the damage, his mouth gaped open in dismay. "Oh no! My beautiful herbs, you were going to be so happy in your new homes! Now this will take even longer to sort out..." With a resigned sigh, he bent to begin the long process of sorting out the mess of herbs before finally arranging them in their new spots in the den. And on the evening of the half-moon, too...

This was one meeting that Brightberry would not be making it to on time.

PASSWORD: [admin edit][/size][/ul]

[' Swifty ?!]

Accepted.