DETERMINED / ALTRUISTIC / LOYAL / NAIVE / CHILDISH

DETERMINED │ HAVING REACHED A DECISION ; FIRMLY RESOLVED

when elksong makes up his mind, it's rare for it to ever change. he's stubborn, but is better said as determined. he'll stick to one task and carry it through until it's finished. he hates leaving things with loose ends or incomplete. routine is very important to him, and disrupting it will bring him plenty of stress. his determination can often lead to self - destruction, as elksong doesn't know when it's better let something go or when it's good enough. his loyalty to shadowclan works well with his determination, however.

ALTRUISTIC │ HAVING AN UNSELFISH CONCERN FOR THE WELFARE OF OTHERS

a big cat, and a big heart. despite his somewhat hostile - looking appearance, elksong is quite the opposite. he puts others before himself always, caring for them even if they don't return the same kindness. it doesn't bother him -- he doesn't require any thanks or anything in return. actually, he prefers if he doesn't get anything at all ; he believes taking care of others is a reward in of itself.

LOYAL │ UNSWERVING IN ALLEGIANCE ; DEDICATED AND FAITHFUL

elksong, born from outside shadowclan, makes it of uptmost importance to remain 100% faithful to shadowclan and prove himself worthy to remain there. he still feels like a bit of an outcast, with not many close friends, but continues to be unwavering in his support of the clan. he doesn't like to fight with the other clans, but if shadowclan is in danger or their reputation is being tarnished, elksong will stand up for them immediately.

NAIVE │ MARKED BY UNAFFECTED SIMPLICITY ; DEFICIENT IN INFORMED JUDGEMENT

he is a hopeless optimist, seeing the world as bright and sunny with very few shadows. at least, he tries to ignore said creeping shadows . . . elksong seeks out the best in people, even when there's very little of it to begin with. sometimes this cheery outlook works wonders for reassuring his clanmates and with pushing forward, but it cannot shield him forever from the painful and unforgiving reality of the world.

CHILDISH │ IMMATURE ; DISPLAYING LACK OF POISE

elksong is childish at heart, preferring to have fun over doing serious, important tasks. he often stops by the shadowclan nursery to talk to the kits and tell them stories, as well as playing mossball with them. he's good at it, but nowhere near as skilled as wisteriawish ; shadowclan's "mossball champion." he often talks out of turn or at inappropriate times, not able to read the room easily. he also likes to play pranks on his clanmates with wisterawish, whom the common victims are crocodiletears and decayingstar.

│ CHARACTER TRIVIA

- elksong is 100% a people pleaser, and will often bend himself and his opinions to be more appealing to others. he worries and frets over what cats will think of him, even if he keeps it entirely silent. upon first glance, cats see an extremely confident and sure of himself tom.

- he isn't very analytical nor intelligent. he prefers to play things by ear and go with the flow. whatever happens, happens. he doesn't like to think too far ahead.

- religion, whether it be starclan, the dark forest, or someplace in between, isn't very important to him. he won't doubt the existence of them and doesn't argue with others' ideals of it. however, elksong isn't devoted to any one faith and isn't particularly religious. his faith is kept towards his clan -- the living. his thoughts are their ancestors may be watching from above and possibly guiding, but it's the living who have to press on and keep living. not the dead.

- the scar on elksong's visage is a bit of an enigma. no one knows where it came from or how he ended up with it, but the truth is, elksong received this wound when he was an apprentice. it occurred in an accident when he was out training in shadowclan territory with his mentor spikefang. there are a few rumors about it from cats who knew elkpaw trained under spikefang, but elksong denies any of these theories and rarely talks about his former mentor.

CHARISMA⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀CONFIDENCE⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀INTELLIGENCE⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀KINDNESS
⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

EMPATHY⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀FIGHTING⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀HUNTING⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ SPEED
⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

SWIMMING ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀HERBS⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀OPENNESS⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀OPTIMISM
⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

PATIENCE⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀LOYALTY⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀FAITH⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ HONESTY
⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

elk was born in the damp sewers beneath the thunderpath between shadowclan and thunderclan, where the sound of loud cars rushing past became ordinary. his fear of the dark and water sprouted from here. his mother was a quiet cat, never speaking much, but she did take care of him fine enough for the time he grew up in the sewer.

however, it seemed elk's mother always appeared anxious or paranoid, looking over her shoulder constantly. one day, without a word, she brought elk out of the tunnel and through the dense pines, leaving him by a tree that gave off a strong scent and the ground around him were marred by numerous paw - prints. she told him to stay put and walked away without looking back. elk, not a cat to go against her word, waited. eventually, a shadowclan patrol came by the border and discovered the kit, promptly taking him back to the safety of camp.

upon being taken into shadowclan, elkkit was rather nervous being around the other kits in the nursery and felt out of place due to being brought in from outside the clan. he didn't talk much, struggling to grasp the concept and customs of clan life, all while never really growing close with his foster littermates.

however, the queens within the nursery took care of elkkit as if he were their own, and he quickly began growing into a strong, large, and healthy cat. in current day, he still visits these queens time to time, even if a majority of them are in the elder's den now.

elkpaw is assigned spikefang as his mentor, whom many in shadowclan hold an uncertainty about. he's a valiant warrior and is not one to be underestimated in combat, but elkpaw wishes he could've gotten someone nicer. but elkpaw pushed it down, convincing himself to be grateful he'd be learning from one of shadowclan's best. if shadowclan's best explained that a true warrior used their claws and fought as if for their life, even in sparring, how could he argue with that? during this time, he also met wisteriapaw and they'd often train together, much to the reluctance of spikefang. after private training sessions with his mentor, elkpaw would often return to the apprentices' den beyond exhausted, with scratches and scraped up paw - pads, and even sometimes with more severe injuries like torn claws or chunks of fur missing. wisteriapaw, noticing her new friend's injuries, began to insist her and her mentor accompanying elkpaw and spikefang whenever they trained.

despite wisteriapaw's efforts to call out the harsh treatment spikefang was issuing, elkpaw refused to approach the high ranks or any other warrior about it. he laughs it off with a warm smile and tells her she's overthinking it. perhaps it's due to the sharp, unforgiving and warning glare that his mentor sends him whenever he speaks to anyone. if he were to become a powerful warrior and be accepted by his clanmates, he'd have to train extra hard -- as well as keeping these secret training sessions to himself.

when elkpaw is further along in his apprenticeship, he's met with a face he didn't expect to ever see again : his mother, carrying a small kitten in her mouth interrupts a border patrol he's in with spikefang. she begs him to take his little sibling and take care of them in shadowclan, to which he wants to immediately say yes, but his mentor interjects with a snarl. this whole time, he's been trying to shake off his reputation of being an outsider, with the encouragement from his mentor. taking in an outsider and embracing that part of him ... it'd make him soft, it'd make him weak. a shadowclan warrior must stay true to shadowclan. elkpaw, determined to fit in among his clanmates and make spikefang proud, turns his mother away and turns his nose up at the kitten.

guilt follows him after that day, and it's difficult to shove it down. however, elkpaw's warrior assessment nears and so does wisteriapaw's. the day arrives and the two mentors agree to host the assessment together, as it seemed elkpaw and wisteriapaw were quite skilled as a team. however, as the two part ways to hunt down their respective catches of prey, elkpaw runs into an unfortunate predicament ; he misses every catch he attempts to hunt, and is stumbling over his own large paws -- pushed to his absolute limit due to the last moon of endless training and no real chance to rest. a sudden shriek and yowl of agony breaks through the pines and catches the attention of wisteriapaw and her mentor, who rush to the scene to find spikefang and elkpaw at the bottom of a slope, with elkpaw on the ground and bleeding heavily from his face. sharp rocks jut out from the hill and spikefang exclaims to the two onlookers that his apprentice had been hunting, tripped and tumbled down the slope and hit the rocks. this incident is considered just an accident, and elkpaw didn't speak of it again, despite wisteriapaw's gnawing suspicion that he had been spikefang's doing and attempt at sabotage.

part 1

part 2