:: galefrost :: vc {finished}

[Dusk]

***

NAME// Galefrost
AGE// 35 moons
GENDER// male
CLAN// vertigoclan
DESIRED POSITION// warrior
SHORT DESCRIPTION// a soldierly brown tabby with blue-green eyes.


DESCRIPTION//

build;;
First thing one will notice is this tom's size. He's a big boy - though not stocky or heavy-set - with broad shoulders and powerful legs perfect for trekking up and down miles of rough terrain. Certainly this warrior is muscular and well built; moons of training have left the tom with hardened muscle, though you can't really tell with all that fur getting in the way. But shave down all that fur, and you'll end up with a cat that's surprisingly lean for all his large size; this leaves him plenty of room for flexibility in a battle. Speaking of battle, watch out for those paws. Large and wide, they can pack quite a nasty blow with the power from those shoulders behind them. There's bulk enough on this tom to let him stay respectably quick -though of course he'll never be quite as fast a slimmer, more wiry feline- while still being able to take a heavy blow and recover. Overall, while he looks pretty big at first, he's still no lumbering giant.

fur;;
Many cats who've battled this tom have been surprised to find themselves with nothing but a mouthful of wiry fur when going in for a bite. That pelt is shockingly thick, giving the impression that there's more on this tom to grab onto when there really is only a layered coat. The thick fur serves admirably in the harsh winter months to keep him at a comfortable tempature, though in turn he finds himself overheating more easily under the summer sun than other fellow cats. It's actually not that long, though, just thick; it is on the longer side on certain parts of his body. His neck, for one, is coated in rich, soft fur longer than the rest; almost like a mane, though not quite. It's also long around his face and and on the backs of his front legs. Elsewhere it's just thick, so you can still get a general idea of the tom's shape, unlike with "true" long-haired cats. His tail is somewhat feathery too, or it would be if the fur wasn't so rough and wiry.

Moving on to the actual coloration, the tom is a mottled tabby. The fur itself is a gray-brown, broken up throughout his pelt with black tabby stripes. The stripes themselves are less obvious on his body, fading into the already dark fur on his sides so one can only get the impression of banding there thanks to a few light patches here and there. Along his forelegs, his back and the top of his head, though, the pattern is clear as day. The black seems to almost completely overtake his paws, leaving the top fur on his toes light brown and the bottoms and edges a blackish color; it sort of looks like he's been walking through mud. His head and underbelly are an overall lighter, more golden shade of brown. Part of this warrior's muzzle, along with his chin and the lower half of the fur on his face is white, almost as though his face has been frosted with snow. As for his tail, it's been mostly engulfed by black, leaving bits of brown on the bottom and sides of it.

gaze;;
Those eyes of his can be quite confusing to the viewer, for they seem to change color depending on the light. From far off, with lots of light, the warrior's eyes appear a startlingly bright green, almost spring green in shade. Close in though, and the green begins to become a more natural version of the color, with imperfections of blue and yellow beginning to show through. Once face to face with the tom, one can see that the green is actually quite pale and mixed with more blue than first expected. Not quite teal, nor viridian, but a mix of various shades of the two colors with faint gold bands in the iris.

PERSONALITY//

aloof & taciturn;;
Cool. Distant. Offish. Closed-off. Any number of words can be used to describe this tom's apparently cold nature. He's close only to a select few, preferring to keep to himself in all aspects of life from hunting to simply eating a meal or sleeping for the night. Indeed, in the warrior's den the tom's nest can be found a few feet apart from the others even in the harshest of winter nights. As a solitary figure he also makes sure to keep from getting in the way of others; it's not his job to get involved in another's business. The warrior might be coaxed into asking after another's problems if they seem in a truly chaotic situation, but for the most part don't expect him to be a shoulder to cry on. Vice versa, he won't go around looking for someone to find comfort in. The warrior would prefer to go off by himself and figure things out rather than talk things out with someone else.

the stoic soldier;;
He may prefer solitude, but the tom's loyalty can't be doubted in the slightest. Galefrost works without complaint, devoting all his energy to a task whether it requires that much effort or not. It doesn't seem as though he cares, though; he reacts with neither joy nor distaste to a task, just acceptance of it. In fact, this tom seems to simply accept everything for the way it is; he won't question orders from the higher-ups in the clan -the exception to this being if it goes against the moral fiber of his being- and accepts change as a way of life. He won't argue, he won't complain; the warrior will simply nod and move on without a word. Certainly not the sort of cat who wants things done his way or not at all. Some cats view this tom's cold adherence to orders as strange, others think it's can't be healthy. It probably isn't healthy; locking away his emotions and remaining ever unmoved, but at least it means he's reliable for the most part.

reckless fool;;
At the very least that's how some clan cats view the tom. The warrior jumps into potentially dangerous situations seemingly without thought for his health and safety. It's gotten him badly hurt before, but he never seems to regret making such a self-endangering decision. Well, one can't question his courage at least - his sanity from the viewpoint of outsiders, however, is another matter. Fearless but foolish? Truth be told, the tom isn't fearless; he just manages it in a fashion unlike that of others. Fear strikes and Galefrost accepts it then set it aside in another part of his mind, giving him an almost zen-like calm in all situations. Unfazed and impassive in a fashion that lets him leap into any situation without much fear of harm. Why? Any sane cat would let fear teach them to keep out of potentially life-threatening situations, after all. Truth be told, the tom isn't afraid of death. He lives in the moment, for the moment; no past, no future, just now. A viewpoint unlikely to change unless he decides he has someone else to live for.

finish the fight;;
...or die trying. That right there is Galefrost's favorite saying. He's certainly a determined and ambitious cat, not ready to give up in any situation. Nor is he ready to let others give up. He'll go to any length to achieve -or make other cats achieve- perfection. Just as this tom remains resolute in getting to a goal, he expects others to as well. More than one apprentice has been infuriated by the warrior's insistence that they try and try again when a task seems futile. He'll ignore cries of "It's impossible" or "I'm too tired" and demand that an action be repeated until it's done to his satisfaction. He can read into cats well enough to know what drives them, and he'll use that to his advantage. Be it sarcasm, scathing remarks, or simply apparent danger -he's resorted to "attacking" fellow clanmates before (though never hurting them)- he'll use whatever method seems best for getting results.

resourceful & observant;;
Few cats would realize it, based on his seemingly idiotic undertakings at times, but Galefrost is shockingly intelligent. Perhaps not the brightest star in the sky, but still pretty dang bright. What others see as throwing caution to the wind, he sees as taking the approach no one else notices - or refuses to notice. He observes and analyzes a situation specifically searching for those radical methods that others fail to see because of their extremes and the typical dangers behind them. What another might accept as an impossibility, this warrior will see as risky, but an option that might reap large rewards in the end. The tom refuses to let an option be overlooked simply because of the risks in acting upon it. It's a dangerous method, though, and hence, he'll rarely include others in those plans; he prefers to act on them alone if it's possible. The fewer casualties the better. Looking for the most dangerous option in the first place isn't very wise, though.

sociopath or liar;;
The unerring impassiveness and apparently small levels of empathy make a very convincing sociopathic personality in this warrior. After all, how can anyone be so stony and cold; so lacking in fear that one willingly endangers themselves? Never angry, never sad, never happy. Just...cold. He has morals though, and won't harm anyone simply for the sake for causing harm. That right there dispels the illusion of sociopath from this feline. True, he usually feels no remorse for previous actions, but he still feels guilty in causing harm where harm needn't be done. In reality everything is just a mask. A shell to hide the doubting, unsure tom that resides deep inside. Always there are those whispers of doubt; a lack of faith in his own abilities and a fear of failure. He ignores it by bottling everything up and storing most emotions away; covers it up with cold words and a brusque manner. It's a well trained and tempered shell, but even the strongest dam can break; and his act is one over-pressured dam just waiting for the right tap to shatter it.

EXPERIENCE//

galekit;;
Galekit was born in a litter of two, eldest son of Cedarshadow and Scatteredsky; sibling to Pewterkit. Both were cherished by their parents as kits, the two were stong and healthy; Pewterkit perhaps a little small, but he would grow out of that. Moons passed and the kits grew, Galekit becoming the more curious and adventurous of the two. He was prone to sneaking out of the nursery when neither his mother nor brother were looking; he still had yet to slink all the way out of the camp, though. One day he got his chance.

His mother had gone out to stretch her legs, leaving alone her two kits napping in the late afternoon heat. Only one wasn't truly napping. The camp entrance was unguarded -for once lacking a warrior as the shifts were just changing- and the dark tabby walked out unchallenged and unnoticed by anyone. A frantic Scatteredsky returned to the nursery to find a groggy Pewterkit unsure as to the whereabouts of his brother. The queen was quick to leave the nursery in pursuit.

Young, short, and unpracticed legs don't carry a kit very far into territory as harsh as Vertigoclan land, but a determined Galekit plodded on tirelessly through the shaded forest. It didn't help that he became lost in the all too similar looking scenery. One kit in the middle of a lush forest with many unfamiliar smells... not a good combination. Scatteredsky tracked him down within an hour of his "escapade" from the camp, the mother too frantic and busy berating the young tom to be bothered with scenting the air. In turn, when the pair of foxes attacked the warrior and her son were caught off guard.

Scatteredsky stood in defense of her son, but one cat defending a helpless kit against two full-grown foxes doesn't stand much chance. The kit was told to run, and run he did, luckily coming across a hunting patrol as he attempted to follow his mother's scent back to camp. The youngest warrior in the patrol escorted Galekit back to camp, the rest running to assist Scatteredsky. Too late. The patrol returned to camp as the sun was setting with a mangled calico body being dragged gently behind them. Cedarshadow was broken when he found out about his mates death, and the kits were left with an angry, bitter father. Well, Galekit was anyways. Pewterkit was still treated fairly by the tom, but his long-furred brother was now viewed by his remaining parent as nothing more than a plague.

galepaw;;
The two brothers eventually became apprentices, Pewterpaw assigned to an experienced and outgoing she-cat named Cloverstep. Galepaw, meanwhile, was assigned as the first apprentice of Sablenight. A dark brown tom with a kind enough nature, but somewhat young and obviously unsure of how exactly to handle his first apprentice. And it wasn't long before a spiteful Cedarshadow took advantage of the situation. The tom would come to the younger warrior insisting that he take over training for the day; that it was perfectly normal, the male only wanted the best training for his son, and it might be better if he first learned the basics from a family member. Sablenight was doubtful, but who was he to question a more experienced cat? The tom handed many training sessions over to his elder; leaving Galepaw to his abuse.

Training with Cedarshadow didn't start out too bad for the apprentice, just overworking and demanding expectations.

Oh, surely you can catch more prey than that.

One more patrol, off by yourself if no one is willing to go with you.

But with time the treatment worsened from simple passive-aggressive behavior to something much worse. No more lighthearted words with veiled spite behind them. Nor any gentle but insistent commands that refused to be denied. The warrior drove the apprentice daily to exhaustion, treating him to both verbal and physical abuse. Daily it was the same treatment, only steadily growing more taxing on both mind and body.
Worthless tom! You should have died in your mother's place.

What happened to that adventurous kit?!

Useless scrapmeat, you should've been handed to the crows at birth!

Awww, are your paws bleeding? Muscles tired? Too bad! Get back to training.

Take risks! It's not as though your life is worth anything...

The words dug deep into Galepaw, but he never went to anyone for help. Some part of his mind agreed with Cedarshadow's words. It was his fault for his mother's death -at least partially, perhaps the treatment was rightful punishment. He'd keep plodding on and hopefully survive. Eventually, though, Pewterpaw -who had since forgiven his brother's mistake as a kit- noticed how the tom never socialized at meal times; how almost always he was gone from his nest before anyone else and meanwhile Sablenight seemed to be without his apprentice more often than normal. The sibling confided in Cloverstep, who took matters in her own paws and followed Galepaw as he wandered out of camp one morning. She witnessed the abuse father commited to son. Then the warrior approached the current leader, who confronted Sablenight who admitted he'd left most of the training for the past four moons to Cedarshadow and hadn't the slightest idea what happened in those sessions.

And so the tom's abuse was stopped -he wasn't banished, but still never allowed near the brothers again- and a much strained Galepaw returned to a normal apprentice life. But the damage of four abusive moons was done, the apprentice would never be the same cat. Seeds of doubt were already sewn in his mind, which in some aspects was good but in other ways not so much. Perhaps he was worthless, like his father had said. Was it so bad to take risks to make up for the fact if no one else got hurt in the process?

Continued training and a good number of friendly cats helped keep the tom from melting into a stuttering wreck or a bitter, distrusting being at least. He couldn't bring himself back to being the same curious, friendly tom he used to be though. His father's eyes always blazed in the back of his head when Galepaw walked through the camp. The discomfort of always being watched made him wary, and over time he decided it might be better to simply not be close to others. He might hurt them like Scatteredsky. Or they might try to hurt him.

galefrost;;
Eventually Galepaw and Pewterpaw became Galefrost and Pewterflow, two good, strong warriors - though Pewterflow was the more liked of the two for obvious reasons. Galefrost had grown outwardly more sure of himself... and also more stony than ever. Cedarshadow was killed in a border skirmish with Zephyrclan -rumor has it that Galefrost killed the warrior himself though it's completely false. The tom never bothered trying to dispel the rumor, though. Pewterflow has remained one of the only cats he trusts, and even in that relationship the brown warrior is distant. His father's influence still lingers in his personality, it's a ghost of the past he'll never shake off.

OTHER//

Sooo, I think I might've gone a tiny bit overboard with his bio, but oh well. x3

I'd love if anyone wants to play Pewterflow. Not expecting anything, though.

[/blockquote]

[LYNX ♥]

accepted!
(I'm very fond of this cat, plus I'm excited to see you play him)