barkfawn

basic description > barkfawn is a sturdy, thick furred cat with soft, freckled brown tabby and orange fur. her eyes are a soft orange cream color.

build > barkfawn has a stocky build, much like her mother. they tend to pack on both muscle and fat easily, thanks to the thick Hailclan genetics.
fur description > thick and fluffy, barkfawn has a double layered coat to help her keep warmer in the winter. this, however, means that water is a huge 'no', as it would take forever to dry.
breeds > moggy

height > 25 cm
weight > 11.5 lbs
voice > momo yaoyorozu eng voice [from - BNHA]
scent > evergreen and allspice, with faint floral notes.

scars > xxx
accessories > a white, red, and orange flower crown with ferns in it. [given by ferretpaw]
banned traits > xxx

positive >
    >> optimistic, cheerful, energetic > barkfawn is a rather optimistic and peppy cat, always seeking out the good and fun in everything they possibly can. her positive attitude leads her to have an overall happier outlook on life and has allowed her to form a shell against even the toughest situations.

    >> innovative, dynamic, creative > barkfawn has an active and constantly wandering imagination, allowing them to come up with creative solutions in otherwise hard situations. combined with being outgoing, they tend to be a very helpful asset to their clanmates, knowing when and how to brainstorm non-conventional solutions.

    >>  protective, loyal, forgiving > soft in the heart, barkfawn holds a tight-knit and warm relationship with her friends and family. very much others-orientated, she puts those close to her first, and tends to forgive easier than others. the downside to this is that she fails to put up boundaries and tends to become a bit of a pushover - but that is always something that could be worked on with time and experience.

neutral >
    >>  tidy, orderly, well-kept > barkfawn is one that holds pride in her surroundings and appearance, always making sure to keep her looks well-kept and her nest looking just as fresh as it was the last time it was made. they often willingly take up cleaning tasks and finds pleasure into making things neat and tidy. while barkpaw doesn't project onto other cats, they do tend to get annoyed when their hard work is ruined by a cat who simply doesn't care too much for aesthetics.

    >> religious, devoted, faithful > barkfawn has always believed in starclan, not that most cats didn't. her faith in the beings reigns strong, even in times they are silent and unhelpful. her faith keeps her going, and she holds it as one of her main core values - next to her friends and family, fully believing that as long as she has faith in the stars, everything will be okay. even if that makes her a tad gullible.

    >> empathetic, emotion-driven, sentimental > barkfawn's brain has always been driven by their heart, always using their emotions to first make decisions before anything more logical. she's empathetic and tends to put her own emotions onto even.. inanimate objects. while obviously being able to hold so much emotion is typically a good thing, she certainly shouldn't be the first option for making more.. logical decisions.

negative >
    >> dishonest, indecisive, weak-willed > easily persuaded, barkfawn is one that tends to twist or half tell the truth to cushion feelings or lessen punishments. while she means well by this, honesty isn't exactly her best asset. combined with this, they are rather indecisive, often flip-flopping from one thing to the other, always trying to come up with the easiest or best solution - but this often just ends up in nothing getting done. she has one soft shell, and is easily taken advantage of if she doesn't have another standing beside her.

    >> delicate, lazy, squeamish > barkfawn would much rather sit on the sidelines when being faced with warrior duties - especially hunting. if its not cleaning or doing other not so paws-on things, it wont be uncommon to see barkfawn looking rather uncomfortable. she's not one to complain at all, but she will do almost anything to weasel her way out of doing uncomfortable things. which... tends to fall under anything useful to the clan.

    >> regretful, dwelling, fearful > barkfawn doesn't get scared too easily, but when she does, she gets terrified. when faced with repercussions, regret and anxiety flood her mind to the point where it consumes her entire being. it makes her rather stressful to be around, but luckily, this isn't something that happens often. but if it does, it could very easily take her moons to get over her own brooding thoughts about said manner.

 parents >
    >> snowfeather > a stocky, white and gray she-cat with dark blue eyes. [deceased]
    >>feathercloud > a fluffy, high-white brown tabby bi-color tom with pale blue eyes. [alive]

siblings >
    >> shelldance > a dilute calico she-cat with medium white and pale purple eyes. [alive]
    >> lizardtounge > a high-white grey bicolor tabby cat with pale blue eyes. [alive]
    >> ashfrost > a medium white dark grey ticked tabby tom with dark blue eyes. [alive]

mate >
    >> --- >---

kits >
    >> --- > ---

extended >
    >> avocetburr > paternal grandmother [deceased]
    >> salmonstar > paternal grandfather [alive]
    >> elkshade > paternal grandmother-in-law [alive]
    >> cricketsong > uncle [alive]
    >> phoebecall > aunt [alive]
    >> copperbounce > aunt [alive]
    >> squirrelbark > uncle [deceased]
    >> avocetflame > aunt [alive]
    >> harenose > uncle [alive]
    >> juncogaze > cousin once removed [alive]
    >> ferretpaw > second cousin [deceased]
    >> weaselpaw > second cousin [alive]

    >> tansyheart > maternal grandmother [npc, deceased]
    >> birdclaw > maternal grandfather [deceased]

mate > xxx
    previous mates > xxx
    romantic interests > sweetsong
    looking for > crushes, but if they really click, then maybe something more serious in the future ! she is still not over sweetsong, so likely nothing for a little bit!

likes in a potential mate >
    > gentle, sweet personalities 
    > outwardly affectionate 
    > takes care of self and appearance 

dislikes in a potential mate >
    > bold, brash, or mean cats 
    > emotionally distant, can't show affection 
    > messy or disorganized 

interested in kits > maybe!
preferred family size > small

kithood [ 0 - 6 moons ] >
    barkkit was born alongside her three littermates, shellkit, lizardkit, and ashkit - to parents feathercloud and snowfeather. barkkit doesn't know much at this stage of life, but they sure are happy to be snuggled up in a warm nest with plenty of food and love.

several hailclan cats, including bearbranch, juncogaze, cinnamonblaze, and moosepaw, were chosen to be sent on a quest. barkkit is too young to remember them leaving, but is later told about it during their absence and admires their bravery. she wonders about their adventures. she thinks it would be cool to go on an adventure some day, but didn't they have to hunt their own prey? yuck! and what about no soft cushony moss beds? barkkit later promptly said, no thank you!

it was a bustling, regular morning for barkkit, who was curled up beside her mother in a milk-dazed coma - when the earth began to harshly shake - rocks tumbling down and crashing in the hailclan camp. being so little, barkkit and her siblings were carried to safety - and luckily, were all okay. barkkit was too little to vividly remember this happening - but she sometimes still recalls the way she felt the ground shake beneath her. many cats from all the clans passed away from this incident, and barkkit quietly gave her sympathy from afar.

once everything began to settle down, barkkit recalls her mother, snowfeather, frequently leaving the nursery to stretch her legs. during one of her trips, she brought back a small bundle of butterflyweed, and laid it in the nest. barkkit hardly had her eyes open, but she remembers absolutely adoring the vivid, blurry orange laid beside her.

it didn't take long for another tragedy to strike - going under the radar for moons, snowfeather suddenly passed away from a long, festering, untreated illness. barkkit was too young to remember her mothers fur losing it's warmth in the night - or the panicked whispers of her clanmates when she didn't wake up - but she remembers snowfeather's fur being replaced with feathercloud's, and the scent of rotten flowers for the next few days.

a few moons go on, barkkit developing a deep interest in starclan, her deceased mother, and flowers. she finds herself frequently asking feathercloud about snowfeather, despite how awkward it was to talk about her. barkkit mourns the loss of her mother deeply, feeling almost as if she was also grieving the loss of a mother-daughter relationship. despite being told that she was a tom-kit all of her little life, she is soon to realize that she... doesn't really feel like one? barkkit feels confused and sad, but certainly not like a tom-kit. barkkit briefly brings it up to her dad, and says that she feels like a she-kit instead. feathercloud is more than supportive, and barkkit begins going by she/they. she's elated to finally feel more comfortable about how she's referred to!

in an urgent clan meeting, laurelsprout announces a vauge danger about the bathing boulders to the clan. barkkit picks up on the nervousness of her clanmates, in turn making her equally as nervous. what was this all about? would her papa and littermates be alright? barkkit spends many nights fighting to sleep, trying to get all the thoughts of danger out of her head. despite her worries, barkkit goes around and attempts to cheer others up with little flower bouquetes! surely it couldn't be that dangerous, all they had to do was steer clear, right? barkkit soon turns her thinking around, and frequently attempts to give her clanmates a similar optimistic outlook.

barkkit’s aunts, phoebepaw and copperpaw, and uncle cricketpaw, become apprentices. she is excited for them, and wishes them good luck. she wonders what being an apprentice is like, but soon gets exhausted at the thought. whew! barkkit would much rather just stay a kitten forever, all that training sounds tiring. and having to kill prey? that's so sad! barkkit quite frankly believes that she could never ever in a million moons do it.

barkkit’s great grandmother, lilacpool, passes on in her sleep. bark briefly mourns the loss, despite not knowing her well, but still acknowledging her as family. she loved listening to the elder's stories, and was very sad to lose lilacpool. that night, she insisted to her papa that she should sleep in lilacpool's old nest, but despite her protests, went to bed that night in the nursery once more.

a moon passes, and hailclan’s quest cats return, only to be quickly rushed to the medicine den due to extensive injuries. barkkit delves herself in deep worry about those injured, and frequently makes trips to and from the medicine den to check up on them. she makes her signature little flower bouquetes for each, and wishes them a safe recovery.

harenose and mallowbark become mates! barkkit becomes giddy and excited at the thought of her own future romance - and wonders if this means she might be getting some cousins soon. unfortunately for barkkit, that was not the case - but she was excited regardless!

barkkit's brother, ashkit, discovers bugs - and likes playing with them, a lot. despite barkkit liking ashkit, barkkit does not like bugs... at all. in fact, she hates bugs. and doesn't like them in her nest. well, little barkkit can only wish for so much!

as new-leaf settles in, the fesitival of flowers comes and goes, and during this, barkkit meets ferretkit, who teaches her how to make flower crowns after she was a little late to cottonpounce’s demonstration due to a well needed beauty nap. ferretkit gives the flower crown he had made to barkkit, placing it on her head. after asking, barkkit does the same to him. they talk, and barkkit learns about ferretkit’s dislike of touch. barkkit is giddy about her new friend!

laurelsprout announces a prophecy detailing ' a group of strangers masquerading as friends will lead to the downfall of the clans ' . barkkit became nervous and withdrawn over the news, like any cat would be. filled with more than enough dread, she opted to coop herself up in the nursery - reluctant to play with her siblings. this all felt like too much for her, she missed her momma, she didn't even want to be an apprentice yet, she didn't want any of this! she was so nervous about everything and despite the support all around her, barkkit still felt overwhelmed.



apprenticeship [ 6 - 12 moons ] >
    despite her dread about the day, barkkit, unfortunately, becomes barkpaw. while she doesn't relate to her littermates' enthusiasim about the rank-up, she is still slightly excited to explore her new found freedom. and more freedom means more flowers.... err, right?

barkkit, now barkpaw, becomes apprenticed to juncogaze - her own father's previous apprentice, and dreadfully, one of the quest go-ers. to her, this meant the expectations were higher than she could possibly ever meet, oh dear great starclan. after a quick prayer session, and surpressing a nervous breakdown, it became soon apparent that juncogaze was actually... pretty chill? and wasn't going to make her hunt down 14 rabbits on her first day? whew! what a relief. barkpaw briefly caught a jealous glance her way from none other than her sister, shellpaw, but brushed it off with a twinge of guilt.

barkpaw gets to know juncogaze, and gets along with him rather well. but as far as training goes, barkpaw strugges getting the hang of.. well.. anything. she quickly becomes overwhelmed, and beats herself up about it. after trying some climbing practice, she finally finds something that she's pretty decent at! at least she's in luck if there was ever a flood in the hailclan hills.

barkpaw's father, feathercloud, makes the decision to become a permanant queen. surprisingly, barkpaw gets upset by this - feeling as if he didn't want to spend time with his kits, despite that being far from the truth. she sulks over this for a few days, before eventually getting over it and coming to terms with the fact that if it made him happy, then maybe it was... for the best.

after coming back from a morning patrol to her nest in shambles from some inconsiderate apprentices, barkpaw sulks and begins to clean up the mess. another apprentice by the name sweetpaw sees the mess and offers to help clean - and to barkpaw, sweetpaw was the prettiest cat she had ever laid her eyes on. stumbling on her own words a bit, barkpaw agreed to the help and they began talking, bonding over their shared value about tidyness. they quickly become friends, and barkpaw is elated!

barkpaw notices that sweetpaw is a lot more dedicated to training than she ever was, and in turn, also decides that she is insanely dedicated to training. so much so, she just has to go train with sweetpaw, every single day. despite originally going because of how pretty sweetpaw was, barkpaw enjoys her company quite a lot too. she loves being her friend, and talking about anything and everything that comes to mind.

she finds herself growing closer to her sister shellpaw, as well! they bond over their current crushes, shellpaw's being snowpaw, and barkpaw's being, well.. sweetpaw. they take turns egging eachother on, barkpaw making gifts for shellpaw to give to snowpaw, with promises of 'oh yeah, just give her this, she'll be in love with you for sure!' - and shellpaw telling barkpaw to simply shower sweetpaw in compliments and she'll be in love in no time. not that barkpaw didn't already do that! as things settled down, barkpaw finds joy in this part of her life - she missed her sister and certainly loves feeling all giddy from her current crush.

barkpaw hears about a final attack at the crystal falls, and initally becomes nervous at the news. she hears about two cats, tawnysong and gloomthorn, dying in the battle - both of which she didn't know, and a cat by the name of shadowfeather becoming the new guardian of the veil. to be honest, she wasn't sure what most of it meant, and she found herself frequently asking questions about it to anyone who was willing to answer. regardless, the news of starclan becoming restored again was a weight lifted of her chest.

laurelsprout's unfaithfulness to their rank came as a shock to everyone in hailclan, but barkpaw seemed especially upset by this, at least at first. how could you hold such an important, starclan-fearing job and still do the one thing you're asked not to do? barkpaw found herself dwelling and upset on this for a while, but as she thought more about it, what if she had been a medicine cat - and she could never have a chance of being with sweetpaw? surely she would find herself doing the same? barkpaw grew some empathy for laurelsprout's situation, but found herself nervous about what hailclan would do without a medicine cat.

and then ferretpaw died. barkpaw would feel a deep grief well up like a ball stuck in the bottom of her throat. they hadn't talked for a while, especially since barkpaw found other cats to talk to and focus on, but she still had considered ferretpaw one of her very first friends. her littermates were, well, just littermates. but ferretpaw? he had no obligation to be friends with her, and yet he still showed her patience and compassion. even though they didn't talk, barkpaw would wake up everyday and put on the flowercrown he had given her many moons ago. as days passed, barkpaw found herself frequently visiting his grave, and eventually made the desicion to leave ferretpaw's gift to rest on top of the still disturbed soil. she walked back to camp that night and found herself feeling guilty. she wasn't close with martenfang, but wouldn't it have been better to give it to them? surely, they were grieving their son more than barkpaw was? before she could go back and correct her mistake, she arrived to his grave the next morning to see the flower crown already gone - either trampled by some animal or blown away by the wind. barkpaw would dwell on this for some time, and begin avoiding being around martenfang out of guilt.

two cats by the name of nightinggale and rippletide temporarily reside in hailclan to lend their aid. barkpaw is a little intimidated by nightinggale's big badger cape, but they both seemed nice enough, right? after some chatter back and forth, fenpaw is determined to train under nightinggale to become the next hailclan medicine cat. barkpaw is happy to see someone so willing to take up the rank, and is relieved that they won't be without a medicine cat for long.

as fall grew more.. well.. muddy - there were obviously mud puddles. after a particularly rainy day, barkpaw was out training with sweetpaw, once more. she got into hunting position and she felt her paw began to slide backwards - in an attempt to put it back, she moved her other back paw and slid straight into a pile of mud. after scrambling out, barkpaw promptly began sobbing at the mess, both from her well groomed fur being messed up and brutally humilating herself in front of sweetpaw. of course, sweetpaw, the angel she is, simply comforted barkpaw and helped clean her off. this unconditional adoration from sweetpaw truly locked in barkpaw's feelings, and through her rose-tinted glasses, she would firmly believe that there was zero chance that sweetpaw didn't also like her back. but confessions could always wait, right?

laurelsprout promptly goes missing in the middle of the night shortly after the exile ruling, and many patrols are sent out to look for them, much to no avail. barkpaw seems upset by this, wondering why they wouldn't spend as much time with their kits as possible before they were forced to leave. she would dwell on this for a while and frequently bring it up in conversation, seemingly relating it to never being able to form a bond with her own mother. barkpaw begins resenting laurelsprout from a bystander perpective, despite them being long gone at this point.

barkpaw's grandma, elkshade, retires to the elder's den. this makes barkpaw slightly nervous, realizing that her grandparents were, in fact, getting older. she makes a point to start visiting the elders more often, and spending more time with her family.

as barkpaw neared warriorhood, she found her and sweetpaw frequently excitedly talking about how they're going to decorate their nests. being hopelessly in love, barkpaw giddily plans to confess to sweetpaw after their warrior ceremony. i mean, how perfect would that be? and then they could be mates and decorate a single nest together! barkpaw finds herself spending late nights thinking about it, looking over at a sleeping sweetpaw, and smiling.



warriorhood [ 12 - present moons ] >
    barkpaw stepped up in front of the clan, and was gifted the name 'barkfawn', for her gentle and kind hearted personality. she was excited to be a warrior, as silly as that would've seemed to her as a kit. everything seemed perfect on this day, and all that was left was to confess to newly named sweetsong.

to say she was nervous was a massive understatement, but she was confident that sweetsong had to of liked her back, right? and so she prepared a late leaf-fall bouquette, consisting of lots of pine stems, clovers, and berries, and presented it to sweetsong with a grin on her face, before citing her confession. much to her shock, and immediate devastation, her feelings for sweetsong were not mutual. barkfawn would feel guilt and regret, knowing that their friendship was over. and though sweetsong explained that she'd known about bark's feelings for a while, and offered for them to still be friends and put it behind them, barkfawn refused and took a step back.

barkfawn felt lost without her friendship with sweetsong, and didn't even bother to decorate her nest, like she had planned to do so for the last moon. it felt so odd to wake up and not talk to her, only communicating through awkward glances and longing stares. she missed her best friend more than she missed the possibility of them being more than that, but bark didn't think she could bare to even fathom the thought of just being friends with sweetsong - let alone watch sweetsong eventually find some dumb tomcat to fall in love with.