Emberstripe [P I N E]

[Tonners]

you think that you can take me on, you must be crazy.
ain't a single thing you've done that's gonna phase me.

Name | Emberstripe

Gender | She-cat

Age | Twenty Moons

Rank | Warrior

Clan | Pine

Beliefs| Ember was not raised in a community that worshiped the dead, nor believed in any form of a heavenly community. She proclaims it illogical and therefore unwise to waste time believing in such rubbish: It seems silly to have only one medicine cat, when battles can be fierce and stressful. What is one medicine cat going to do? Haul the bodies by him or herself, for those that can't walk, gather herbs, and tend to them before infection or death, plus dodging blows and things him or herself? Not to mention the fact that any cat that prays to a dead cat for help obviously has self-confidence issues. If Starclan could see all cats, like the fools believe, where were they when she lost her gifted clan? Selection of the strongest, survival of the fit, baby.

Parents | Father, Stripedfur (NP); Mother exchanged her clan name for the name their human gave her, Cally.

Siblings | Litter one; Pigeonfur (NP), Blackfur (NP); Litter two, Bigpaw (NP, deceased), Ember herself, Spottedheart (NP) and the last born, Littlepaw (NP, deceased).

Other Kin | None

Mate | Not yet
Crush | Not yet
Kits | Not yet

Apprentice/Mentor | Not yet

Appearance |

get off of my back, and into my game, get out of my way, and out of my brain

Emberstripe is not an especially large cat, and doesn't have much of a weight advantage, but naturally, she takes it as a challenge. She is strong, for a girl - I mean, as strong as any tom cat, and she'll dare you to prove otherwise! She is rather legged, her body angular instead of rounded, tail a bit longer than the norm. Call her delicate, and she exclaim being wiry and durable, flexible and do you want to test to see who's the better?

Her muzzle is a tid-bit small, despite the loud mouth -erm, outspoken feline she is. It is not boxy, as you'd expect, but her facial features are a bit more feral than the rest of her. The M on her forehead is heavy in marking, the bridge across her nose a definite orange in color. Tawny and gray are flecked in between, as it is on most of her body. A tabby she is, but a fiery one, but in looks and at heart. Darker brown, striped patches outline her cheeks, and two stripes are on either side of her eyes, as is the tabby way.

From her lower chin, however, there is a great deal in color contrast. Reddish-orange fur lights like a fire down her neck and chest, lightening where some cats have a white patch. It seems to spread, much like a glowing ember, to the rest of her pelt and figure, hence her name. In differing lights, she can look as usual as a tabby, but most days bring out the red and orange undertones and highlights. The colors are stronger in her legs, with heavy, dark barring; her tail, too, is marked in the traditional tabby bars. Her hindquarters are a bit lighter in color, the reddish-orange coloration blending in to look rather bronze and gray muddle with stripes in dull lighting. If it weren't for the strong influences of red and orange, she'd look just about like any other tabby. Her eyes are a warm golden-brown.

Personality |

you know its all just a game, that i'm playing;;
you think that you can find a way in, is what i'm saying;;

For the most part, Emberstripe could be described as an ENTP. Curious, inventive, and energetic, while to the point and brief with details, Ember prefers to stay on the move and have an exciting life. She voices her opinions and thoughts, and while stubborn with her own personal values, she is ept to completely changing her mind if her company energetically provides an idea. Her pride is about the only thing about her that is easily offended, but we’ll get to that.

• EXTROVERTED •

She’ll take the attention she can get, and lives paws-on as an experience junky. She is all about the social aspects of life, doing what she can to find the activity here-now whenever she gets the chance. Em thrives on excitement, and is usually quite the bubbling, talkative cat, provided you’re a fellow she-cat, or homosexual. Although she is feminist, and rather sexist against males, she is energized by social activity and is happier in the company of others. Simply put, she’d –grudgingly- rather spend time with a tom cat instead of being alone. Speaking as she thinks, she may end up including a few lines spoken outloud to herself rather than to anyone in perticular. The female may have trouble accepting something or visualizing something unless she can talk about it, and so thinking out loud improves her thought process. Despite being a stickler to her own values and pushing her own ideas, as well as doubting males (and wondering just how weak they surely assume all females to be), she is a friendly feline, playful and, if sometimes a bit blunt, well meaning. What mean cat loves kits so much that they cannot tell them no?

• AMBIVERTED •

It could simply be that she didn’t sit long enough for the experts; its hard to tell. Most results conclude this chicky to be intuitive, but several sensing traits prove otherwise. Sensing types, for example, live in the here and now as she does; they can quickly adapt to various situations; self confident. And confidence she has a-plenty! And yet, intuitive types do not like routine, and are interested in anything and everything new, challenging, different. She goes with herself, whether her heart is leading her, or her mind. When its both, she usually can’t make up her mind, and becomes infuriated with herself and short tempered for a small time span. It typically does not last long, provided she can find some way to cheer up. She is extremely self confident, with it being only matched by the fierce loyalty to her clanmates; it is her life’s goal to become one of the best warriors the clan has ever seen. Emberstripe has the heart of a tomboy, and does not mind rain, mud, dirt or anything in between or otherwise. She doesn’t have a problem cleaning up if the occasion calls for it – she has cats to impress, and an efficient warrior is a fine-pressed one, right? Either way, clean or dirty, she doesn’t much worry about the future or the past.

• THINKER •

While she carries a few select traits of a feeler (passing her moods to others, mainly; her hyperactivity can be rather contagious), she is mostly a thinker. Ember has difficulty talking about her actual, personal emotions, aside what she thinks is for the clan’s best interest, and what a warrior or apprentice could be doing to help the clan. She does pass judgement on others’ behavior according to her own morals, and doesn’t care much about tying up lose ends. There’s far too much else to do than worry about those in the past! Emb both does and does not take things seriously- it simply depends on what your talking about. If you want to get her going, start comparing battle strategy- you won’t be able to shut her up, or get away from her. During such conversations are when she’s the least sexist; boys are brutal, and aren’t girls the one with more heart? Hopefully, her new life can cure the far-from-truth ideas her previous home had given her, but that’s a matter a-side. She is still on the young side, and her responsibilty –from a loose clan life, to now, a tight, more “group dependant” clan life- will, with the right influences, grow… And maybe her love to argue can be curved a bit, if at least for the better. She is usually verbally and cerebrally quick, being clever and, well, her love to argue is sometimes for the sake of spoken thought and, naturally, conflict. Not that she’s that dramatic- come on now, the girl loves to rough-house, and she’ll take on any challenge you can muster. And, if there is anything those qualities, her fierce loyalty, and desire prove useful for, to keep her on the right track, its obeying the respected and proving others wrong - even if that means someone challenging her that she can't get on friendly terms with another cat. You may not be able to talk Ember into something unless she looks up to you for one reason or another, but you can probably challenge her into it.

• PERCEIVER •

Unlike most of the other categories, Emberstripe is a true perceiver. While she loves certain tactics in battle, for instance, the full plan is usually short lived, chaotic, disorganized, and, well, impulsive. She goes with the flow, and can sometimes try to start too many tasks at once and have much going on in her life, socially or otherwise. But, the chaos keeps her energetic and happy. She prefers freedom, but the bonds birthed in her are too strong; she is curious, and her work productivity, while she strives to have it unmatched, can sometimes vary if she is in a sour mood. When upset or angered, she is usually sharp tongued and rather rough in her bodily movements, despite efforts not to be, if she cares to provide any. She does not usually wait around for preparation, preferring to “work on the go” as it were. But, if there’s action, you bet your catnip Emberstripe will be among the first to arrive, and the last to leave.

Quirks
Ember does not like frogs; she fears badgers; and hates birds. She will try to attack a bird even if it is a hopeless attempt (and it usually is), and it will take a few badger attacks, should it ever happen, before she stops fearing them. Having seen a deer or two in her lifetime, she is fascinated, but fearful of the creatures, and she trusts foxes as much as she does toms. Those that observe her in her first land-snow will be entertained as she tries to find means of escaping it, as it will be for probable several years to come. She adores being able to play in creeks and brooks now, and loves the smell of pines.

So you see, Emberstripe has an adoration for trees, and perhaps it is because a bird will chase anything from it's nest that she hates them so. She will attempt to climb any tree she sees fancy; her vision of heaven is a forest, trees as far as the eye can see.. And, well, any catnip plants around, like the ones the captain kept in his cabin for the clan. If there is anything the she cat believes is about land, is the plant life. Nature. And her claws give her the ability to tear into it. Despite how little of her life she has spent majorly on land, she is a good tree climber because of her love for them.

Kits are the only thing that can completely silence the she-cat, and she loves them all, always trying to assess what each one would be best at.. On a ship, mind you. It will take a long time for that habit to fail. Once the kits grow older, she is not so fond of the toms, and will usually pick a favorite or two, of the boys. Warriors, good luck getting her attention; a history-made quirk of hers, is that she is always on the lookout to prove that she-cats are better; growing up, she had heard otherwise. Emberstripe believes she-cats can fight just as well as toms, hunt, and give birth, all in one lifetime, and be prepared, because its a speech you'll get used to hearing.

She also has a habit of taking things with her to bed- whether for decoration, prizes, or pure enjoyment, such as pine needles and cones for their scent, and does indeed enjoy her privacy when nesting. If she has a few feathers or the skulls of her first few clan kills hidden away in her nest, don't be surprised. Its a show of triumph to the feline. While I'm thinking of the possible list of what she may do, she has a thing for pretty colored rocks, adoring how different they can be, how colorful and the like. Can you blame her, having spent most of her life aboard a wooden world, that was both your camp and your hunting ground? There were long gaps in between shiny, pretty things, she'll declare, and you complete land cats take it forgranted!

Skills |

get out of my face, or give it your best shot,
i think its time you better face the fact -- get off my back


Ember isn't about to admit what she does wrong or not-so-well; her pride doesn't permit it, a lesson this youth still needs to learn. But, while she's distracted, I'll tell you.

Unless its a rabbit or a fish, her hunting skills could be considered mediocre at best. When she attempts hunting mice, squirrels, and birds, her depth perception, timing, speed and agility all become a tangled mess of failure. Rabbits are closer to the size of the rats she and her previous clanmates hunted. She is better at fishing than hunting small prey, albeit ungracefully, and sometimes it seems she is trying to fight the fish rather than catch it. She has only once caught a bird, because it had been crippled on some other day of its life, and tore the little thing to shreds.

Her treatment of the feathered annoyances is the opposite of her love of young, furry bundles of fur, and yes, the boys too, at least until they become apprentices and warriors. Any kitten of Ember's would be well spoiled, and probably used to silent lectures. What I mean to say is, Emberstripe cannot say no. She cannot bear to hear a kit cry, and if she found a straggler, she'd promise to play with the kit later, pick him/her up, and take him/her back to the kit's mother. Basically, mothers, becareful about deciding to let Emberstripe babysit. She's an excellent caregiver, and loves to entertain them; she would start teaching them from the get-go, if allowed. But, Emberstripe lacks the ability to say no, or lecture, or even criticize any kit, no matter how much trouble they cause. (Then again, she's never really witnessed a kitten-hood; she will struggle for moons about the transition. There was no time for play, in her day!)

Now, what she gloats about is her ability to fight, and her stealth. She has rather unusual tactics, and is rather.. Odd. She enjoys trying to hide her scent, and is usually covered in one mess or another, looking for ways to lose her identity or further her skills in stealth. It may sometimes appear suspicious behavior, and contrary to her usual attitude, she will avoid giving away her position (or anything else) on the battlefield..Which, to her, is everywhere except home. Any meeting with a strange cat becomes a confrontation, an argument on who can get the most information and come out with the upperpaw, so to speak. She will rough house on any occasion, and with time and practice, she has enjoyed trying to find ways to be unpredictable.

The she-cat aims for any part of the enemy she can get ahold of -litterally- and could (and does) spend hours rambling about any battle tactic she can get someone to listen to. Emberstripe entertains herself mostly, by trying to make up new battle plans to memorize, ways to sneak up and attack an opponent in a way that the enemy will not expect. Now that she is on land, this oppertunity has only strengthened, and, well, she's thrilled, obviously. One tactic she will always employ, is to target any part of the enemy within reach of claw or tooth. Leg, ear, tail, doesn't matter. A maimed, hurt enemy, is a weaker enemy. A second tactic would be, obviously, staying in the river to hide track and scent, but if you ask her, any fleabitten kittypet would know that. She has worked here entire life to hone her battlefield skills and knowlege; it was her life before. And what would it hurt to stay that way? Its always for the good of the clan.

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History |

dear, dear, diary, i wanna tell my secrets; i've been a bad, bad girl, for so long; i don't know how to change, so this is what i've done

Ember isn't exactly the girl down the path. She isn't from around the area, no, not at all. Her birth-clan was based along the Great Salt Lake in Utah, though had no real name to the felines. Man was there but avoided; some cats were feral, others, tame. Many two-legs had captured some of the felines, and even somewhat tamed a few - such as her clan leader at the time - and so, some smaller clans lived among the boats. Her clan had been one, catching the large rats that stole upon the fishing and merchant boats. Indeed, it was a large community, a sort of inland-ocean like harbor area, to the cats. There were gangs of humans and dogs just as there were cats; it was not a place to be a girly feline, afraid to get muddy or into a fight. She and her clan mates had the routine when they went to shore, as their human-leader was careful to maintain the same time from dock to dock. He'd fish closer to, and in, the northwestern parts, and traveled to the southern docks to sell everything they could catch. Why, Ember never know, nor cared.

Her mother had been tamed; her father had not. Their family was not close, although she and Spottedheart had stayed by her father's side as soon as their mother allowed it, when they could walk properly. Her youngest sister stayed with her mother; her brother came and went. Periodically, she saw her other siblings from her parents' previous litter, Pigeonfur, and Blackfur. Both were on different ships; both were toms, and though she regarded Pigeonfur with politeness, she did what she could to see Blackfur. She was fond of her sweet-tempered brother, a gentleman of their kind, for the area. She was an aunt! But his mate would not allow her to see her neices and nephew, for fear of taking them to her own ship.

For the clan cats, each clan seemed to have their own tests, usually to the whim of the leader, but most were the same, especially on the idea that the would-be new members were at the bottom of the food chain. The first moon was a trial; every moment had to be guarded, every possession, even every duty. The worse of the felines would shirk the duties they hated until a feline on trial came, and then every moment was a chance to make someone else pay for their own low-rank. The felines on trial were picked on, stolen from, unless the cat was lucky. Her parents' ship had been good natured, and theirs had been, too, if not a little less gentle. But in their world, if your share wasn't eaten, it was stolen; outcasts were murdered more often than leaders, or disposed of one way or another, picked on, and fought. There were one or two more brutal that chose to mark their own; some others had too much heart, and half their clan was too weak for the lives they lead. Some could get by this way, for a while, until a fight broke out because of pride or a show of dominance or power.

If an outcast was looked on favorably, they were sometimes stolen when the ship went to the docks. If it was a strong female, the chances were greater. Some groups periodically had leaders that killed the females birthed, and abducted others, to avoid inbreeding, to display power, and create terror and fear. Others, like her gift-clan, did things more respectively, as long as the leader was well admired. But even that clan had limits, and of she-cats, it had too many. It didn't matter where a she-cat went, tom cats claimed that females were for birthing and tending to the kits and toms' wounds, not fighting. Strong to give birth and survive in battle enough to see to the real heros, not to fight. Even still, it was not always so. Emberstripe's parents, half their clan, and almost the whole of her gift-clan had been good natured and decent at heart.

When a litter aboard a ship was born, the rightful tradition was to find new homes for each of the kittens aboard a different ship. The older a cat, the harder it was to become initiated, let alone be allowed to board. There were several clans, and more; some went unseen, most of the time. Even so, they had their own scents, just as much as any land-cat's border, they knew one another for what they were, and it said about who they were, individually. Naturally, they each chose where to take a kitten, once it was weaned, based on its apparent personality, although a few clans went by looks. Emberstripe's parents had been allowed to choose, instead of the leader, and so they had selected two of their own to go to another ship. Emberkit, back then, had been furious when they had not allowed her to go to the same ship as her elder brother, Blackfur; he had been her favorite of her siblings, and had always asked her to help him when he visited.

Aboard some vessels, family ties were typically welcome, so long as they did not get in the way or use the clan's shares. Her family had been among the usual crew, keeping guard for intruders, hunting bilgerats, and some of them even tended to the humans, despite not allowing themselves to be touched. Day in and day out, the two legs stopped being such a mystery, and had their usual things and sounds for their personal belongings that some cats, who cared, came to recognize. Her leader was such a cat, to an extent, and even slept in the captain's quarters.

During the first moon kit is brought on board, at the age of land-clan's apprentices, they are given two mentors, if the cats can be spared. They have one moon to teach them as much as possible; hunting, fighting. It is hard, stressful, and exhausting, even for shipboard kits. Bigpaw and Emberpaw were not permitted to speak to one another except for when they were allowed to eat, or when the sun had long disappeared from the sky. Bigpaw was the larger of the two, but he did not have the fire that Emberpaw had. All too often, Emberpaw stuck up for him, and comforted him at night when they slept, when she could, and they were not on guard duty. He was a quiet sort, with as much pride as she, but was more cautious and undecisive.

She had been a gift to her human sailor, and yet a kittypet she was not. Ember had only allowed him to touch her once after she was set upon the deck with her brother, Bigpaw. The clan had proceeded to put up with them for a moon before the initiation ceremony. She had been accepted; her brother had not, and was left on the dock at the next trip, scared, and alone. She was female, they needed she-cats; she was bold, if not a little reckless, and goodnatured despite her tomboy muzzle. But, brash was the only word most toms knew; the she-cats onboard were outnumbered five to one, and all kept their mouths shut unless a tom raised a paw to a kit, save two of them. One was missing an eye, and was a foul-mouthed, filfthy, cranky brod, and the other seemed to go wherever she went, a quieter version of Emberstripe herself. But Bigpaw had been picked on, and had let her stick up for him; he had been challenged, and had not challenged back. He was a tom, and too hesitant; their clanmates had to have loyalty ties stronger than anything, but he did not have them.

Ember was not allowed to leave the ship for several moons, as was tradition, also, and when she finally got word from her parents, her brother had been killed by another cat. Her sister Littlepaw had suffered a similar fate, but had been instead given to a rather unsteady cat crew aboard a smaller vessel, and had been pitched off the side by a young male warrior. Their parents had had a different leader, and had chose the clan for her in hopes of sporting some sort of respectful deal, but much of it had failed, and the cat had died. Spottedheart, her other sister, had survived on a third ship, more similar to her own, and made a name for herself after replacing the ship's deputy. It was a harsh life, and no word of Starclan had existed. Survive, or die trying.

Her own story wound up quite differently. Ember had been cornered in one of her usual alleys by four city rogues, who belonged to a group she had not recognized. If it weren't for another of the more friendly groups (albeit not by much) who knew her favored brother and father, she would have died in the fight, or not long after. By the time the threats and minor attacks were over, her father was bleeding from the hip, her brother out of breath, Ember with cuts of her own, and her ship was gone.

Heartbroken and distraught, Ember had been too overwhelmed with the confusion she felt, having spent most of her life aboard the ship. She declined both offers to live on either her father's ship, her born ship, or her try and join her brother's; she was much too old for a Joining attempt, as was their way. Her family members departed unwillingly; Ember spent the night in the alley, and was gone the next afternoon, when her father and mother came looking for her.

That was the last she had seen of her old life; she has wandered blind, quickly becoming lost and unkempt without the presence of others. It was by luck of scent and trail that she found any clan at all, but the lack of the Starclan-possessed felines in Pineclan was comforting.

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[Crowzerplorodon]

Okay so the idea of clans on boats is so freaking awesome, I think you deserve a medal. <3 Just a few little things actually wrong with the application.

1. "Blackdust" can't be accepted here, please change the suffix.
2. From my knowledge, there are no rivers near Northern Colorado (where this is set) that would match your description and are close enough for her to travel to in a short period of time. Now, this isn't that much of a big deal, as we can stretch things a bit, but I'll have to talk with the other staff, first.

[Whiskers]

First of all, kudos. Crow is right. o.o This clan-on-boats thing is amazing and I would so...love to explore that sometime. You've got something really good there.

That being said, I'd like a little background on this clan's life. There's a bunch of little things you mention that confuse and intrigue me, ceremonies that this type of clan has that others don't. For instance:

"The clan had proceeded to put up with them for a moon before the initiation ceremony. She had been accepted; her brother had not, and was left on the dock at the next trip, scared, and alone.
--

This is a nice idea. I suppose this is like the "Joining ceremony" which you mention in the end. I"d like to know more about this, the /why/ Ember made the cut when her brother did not. Not only would that give me a better picture of what Ember's early life was like, but it would help you explore how she became the cat she is. Plus, I really want to learn more about this boat idea.

Something that is never truly explained and that I have a bit of a problem with is her feminism. I don't understand how she got this idea. Was it something she acquired from her boat life? Was the leader there female? Did a male snub her? Or were males the favorite, and does she feel the need to "prove" that females are just as good, if not better? You could incorporate an explanation in either history or personality. Whichever one you see fit.

Also: Her skills are a bit jumbled together, and a I think a lot of what you said in skills could be put in other sections to make for an easier read that...flows better? I'd put the bit about trees in her quirk area (which I like a lot) and the last paragraph in the skills is pretty much all personality to me. The rest of it I can see working in skills.

[Rolo]

This is a very beautifully done bio and your cat is very unique and imaginative, well done . However, at the moment I think there are a few issues that need to be fixed with the presentation and wording of details. One of the things bios need to be are easy to read and easy to extract information from, and at the moment this is a little difficult, not because you are not eloquent or apt at describing elements, but it's because you've used the personality test as your outline. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a personality test to create a cat (it's actually pretty darn creative... wish I'd thought of it, I'm hoping to study psychology at university/college ya see ;P) but one of the issues with it is that a person who doesn't know a lot about psychological things or personality tests will have some difficulty understanding your cat. As a bio is supposed to be a long-standing thing which can be read by any of the members to learn about your cat, it's important we simplify things down a little further so that anyone, even those without knowledge of personality tests can read it. I'm really sorry if this clashes with your normal way of going about things, but I'm going to try and find some fixes for you that will help this bio and your style without impacting too much upon it.

First things first, it would be incredibly useful for you to, instead or as well as listing her personality types, you list down what traits she has in a subheading. Swinging your focus from how well she meets Jung's criteria for the types to the actual traits will make your bio much much easier to follow.

After this, it would be good if you took out the talk about how much she 'matches' each type in the actual personality section, it would make your bio more streamlined. However if you're uncomfortable with this, I'll allow you to keep it in this one.

Next, if possible go back and simplify your language into more everyday terms:

"Speaking as she thinks, she may end up including a few lines spoken outloud to herself rather than to anyone in perticular. The female may have trouble accepting something or visualizing something unless she can talk about it, and so thinking out loud improves her thought process."

Instead, you could say:

"Emberstripe talks to herself occasionally, thinking out loud. She finds it easier to organise her thoughts if she talks about them to herself."

This should make your bio much more friendly thost reading it ^^

This isn't a bad bio at all, in any respect, so don't think it is. Once these things are done, it'll be even better than it already is. I'm sorry if you find this a little disrespectful, it is not meaning to be and I know how hard it is to change bio changing style, but grudgingly this time I have to ask.

For your next bio, may I suggest going for the 'List' approach? You seem to have a very organised way of going about things. Maybe creating a bio with a list, where you explain one trait at a time would be up your street?

[Rolo]

This thread has been moved to Inactive Cats on the request of Tonners.
If this cat is withdrawn, it needs to go through the application process again.