Rustic ☆

Rustic is a black and ginger tortoiseshell tom with striped, colored markings on his face, legs, backside, and tail. He has deep-orange eyes, and wears a sparkly muted-orange neck frilly held together by a charm in the shape of a red ruby. He wears a gold plastic crown on his head.

Rustic is a cheeky and mischievous tom who has no qualms about being a huge inconvenience, or frankly, an annoying asshole towards anyone he interacts with. Along with this sly and playful nature, he's quite full of himself as well, taking great pride in his appearance and generally acting very arrogant and a bit of an obnoxious jerk while flaunting himself every chance that he gets. While any normal cat finds him to be insufferable as it seems that he's very inconsiderate towards social etiquette, others think that his energy is quite uplifting, as Rustic does truly care for his community and for all the cats who aren't so fortunate, whom he'll act as the positive, pep-talking friend who tries to raise the local morale. In fact, his loyalty and compassion towards those he cares about is unwavering, and he has no problem taking things seriously when necessary; afterall, cats still have important responsibilities, and what cat would he be if he didn't follow through with his claims of being the most superior cat in existence? All in all, though, Rustic is the life of the party, and even when he grew more humble and settled down during his older years, he never lost his chaotic charm. If you want to find a fun, long-lasting partner, Rustic is the cat to meet...probably at the expense of your life quality, however.

Rustic was born to Ice King and Umbra alongside two other littermates, Solstice and Bubblegum. He and his siblings had different names back then, originally being called Cocoa, Ripple, and Petal by their parents, and had a pretty normal and happy kithood for the start of it. Most of the time, they were left in the care of Umbra, their father who was in charge of raising them and giving them the enrichment kits needed, while Ice King was the breadwinner who often went out to hunt and provide for the family. Their intimidating and apathetic birthgiver was never as emotionally nurturing as their loving and gentle father, but nevertheless, Ice King always made sure their kits were well cared for, and their kits loved them just as much as they loved their dear father. Unfortunately, though, when the kits were only two moons old, Umbra disappeared without a trace after the only time he wanted to be the one who hunted for once.

With the loss of their mate, Ice King now had to take on the full responsibility of raising their three — still very young — kittens. This included providing them the enrichment Umbra used to give, as well as continuing to hunt, but with no one to watch them, they had no choice but to leave the kits alone in a safe spot. The city was a dangerous place, and Ice King told them as such; they didn't want to take them out there until they were older, and they shouldn't go snooping around without them, either. Consequently, this also meant that when Ice King went on their daily hunting trips, the kits were left to their own devices, only really having each other now that Umbra vanished. Along with this, Ice King wasn't entirely in-touch with their own emotions, having been made worse by losing their mate, so all the extra love, development, and interaction the kits would've ordinarily gotten from Umbra were absent in the care of Ice King. Thereby, the kits formed an idea, an idea that would drastically change their lives and show them exactly why Ice King didn't want them sneaking in the city.

On one fateful day, the kits decided to go against Ice King's wishes and explore the city on their own; partly because of their own curiosity, partly because they were tired of staying cramped at home, mostly because they still held onto the hope that Umbra was still out there. Perhaps, if they were to find their missing dad, Ice King wouldn't be so sad anymore, and they could go back to being the happy family they were before. With their plan in action, the kits left their homely safespace and sought out on their search. It wasn't long before they got lost in the city and came across a creature they've never seen before; a creature with barely any fur and standing on two legs; a twoleg. On an account of both wondrous curiosity and hoping that the twoleg could help them on their quest, or at thr very least get them back home, the kits approached the twoleg, but the twoleg didn't meet them with the same friendly response. Instead, they were met with fear, then anger, then the wrath of the likes the sheltered kits have never seen before. The twoleg was out for their blood, and the kits realized it with a shot of fear and adrenaline.

Cocoa, being the biggest and strongest amongst the kits and having always took the lead up to that point, tried his hardest to shield his weaker littermates from the aggressive twoleg. However, right when the twoleg was about to strike, they were unexpectedly saved by Ice King, who had noticed their absence and swiftly gone looking for them. Ice King attacked the twoleg and faltered them just enough for the kits to get an opening getaway, but was easily overpowered and thrown to the ground, sustaining a bad head injury. As for the kits, once the twoleg dealt with their parent, they promptly turned to them next, and it wasn't difficult at all to catch up to the fleeing kits who's little legs were no match for a huge twoleg — Ripple in particular, who had fallen behind their two siblings due to being the slow runt. Petal noticed Ripple lagging behind them and tried to go back to save them when they saw the twoleg dangerously advancing, but Cocoa, in a desperate split-second decision made out of panic, snagged his sibling's scruff and dragged them away. He didn't turn back for one moment despite the anguishing screeches of Petal, and the last thing they heard as they escaped was the shrill yowl of Ripple that they could only assume was the twoleg making quick work of them.

In the end, Cocoa and Petal were left alone, having lost both parents and their fellow sibling. They never found their way home again, and when they went back to the attack site, both Ice King and Ripple were gone, leaving only a puddle of dried blood in their wake. Cocoa felt horrible about the ordeal, growing highly protective of Petal as a result, and together the two had to survive the horrors of the street while still being so young. Fortunately, with the basic survival skills Ice King and Umbra taught them, as well as the help of passing loners, particularly a sibling duo consisting of Maribelle and Patch, the struggling pair managed to survive another two moons. Maribelle acted as the warm parental figure the kits needed, and even when Patch was much less keen on raising two random straggler kittens, they managed a little longer under Maribelle's temporary care. However, the guilt of Ripple's supposed death still weighed heavy on their minds, and soon enough it became too much for Petal to bare. They had grown tired of Cocoa's smothering, and with the last memory they had of Ripple being that they couldn't save them, they put the blame of their death on their brother, the cat that prevented them from doing so. The anger fostered in Petal until one night, they finally let it all out in an explosive argument with him. Cocoa desperately tried to defend his decision, but the argument ended with Petal scratching him across the cheek, running away not to be seen by him again. Feeling resentful, horrified, and despaired, Cocoa ran in the opposite direction, ensuring the full fall out with his last remaining littermate.

Growing completely bitter and helpless from the situation, Cocoa gave up, living the next couple of moons of his life very carelessly. He barely batted an eye in the face of danger, didn't care to eat or tend to himself some days, and acted very fussy towards any loner who tried to help him. The notion that he was a failure of a brother who couldn't protect his littermates haunted him, and would do so for the rest of his life. It was also around this time that Cocoa began to question his gender identity, but he didn't explore those feelings much other than the acknowledgement that he felt discomfort over being called a she-cat and being expected to "act like one," chalking it up to the negative feelings he was experiencing from his lackluster life and being confused about his emotions in general. At some point during this period, he comes across Maribelle and Patch again, who treated him the same as they did back when he was with Petal. However, when Cocoa tried to bring up his gender struggles to them, Maribelle unexpectedly waved off the validity of his feelings, shoving him deep in the closet and making him even more bitter. Patch accepted him, but even when he uncharacteristically took to caring for him when Maribelle acted like nothing ever happened, Cocoa couldn’t view her as the same warm, motherly cat anymore, and even Patch's desperate attempts to support him couldn't stop how disgusted he felt. Eventually, Cocoa felt too shattered to stay and abandoned the sibling duo, his carelessness soon landing him in yet another dangerous encounter with a twoleg, but this time, he accepted his fate.

This encounter differed from the last. Instead of immediate murderous intention like the first twoleg, this twoleg simply captured Cocoa and locked him up in a small room inside a warehouse. There, he was met with the cat he was going to be housed with for the next moon, Bluebell. Bluebell was the same age as him, and seemed very delighted about having a buddy, but he was too broken to interact with her despite her efforts to befriend him, being snappy towards her and treating her with hostility whenever she tried. Consequently, the pair spent most of their time in sad and uncomfortable silence, having nothing to do but lay around in an empty space with barely any resources to sustain themselves — as the twoleg didn't care for them — and wistfully hope that something would change. In time, Cocoa grew sick in the suffocating atmosphere, his loneliness making him long for affection and feline interaction again, which drove him to finally speak to his despondent cellmate. She welcomed him with open arms despite previously receiving the cold shoulder, showing him more genuine love than anything he ever received in the last clutch of moons, which planted the first seed of recovery in Cocoa's life. Bluebell was a kind and giving cat, quickly making him grow comfortable with her, and sorrowfully still having the same bleak outlook on life, Cocoa decided to tell her everything, figuring he had nothing else to lose even if she'd reject him like Maribelle had; from losing his family, to giving up, to all the emotions he was feeling inside. He vented to Bluebell, and she whole-heartedly listened, offering sympathy, comfort, and advice. She also taught him several more life skills and street strategies such as hunting and defense techniques, so that if he ever were to escape, he would more successfully survive as a loner. Along with this, Cocoa opened up about his gender struggles once again, which Bluebell accepted and assured him nothing was wrong, suggesting that he could possibly identify as something other than a she-cat — afterall, she as well did not feel like a tom, and they didn't have to be stuck as something they didn't feel described them if they didn't want too. At last, Cocoa felt like he took a breath of fresh air, and he kept all of Bluebell's words in mind, her company making his terrible experience a little bit more bearable from the darkness he was swimming in.

After the moon of boring and barely acceptable living passed, Cocoa and Bluebell woke up one day to a commotion outside, and to their suprise, an out from their isolated prison. They carefully ventured out into the warehouse with each other by their side, heading towards the loud and disturbing noises happening in the middle of the building, only to be met with a horrifying sight; another one of the twoleg's prisoners — a slightly older tom by the name of Casper — engaging in a brutal fight with their captivator. Despite being so horrifically injured, the young tom ripped out the twoleg's throat, successfully killing them in front of an increasing audience of fellow victims, but ran away before any of them could confront him. This left Cocoa and Bluebell stranded in a room full of blood and the twoleg's corpse, accompanied by many other cats they weren't even aware of during their stay, two of which being Windbreak and Gemstone. Cocoa wanted nothing more than to get out of there as soon as possible, but that desire wasn't shared by his newfound friend, who wanted to stay to handle the aftermath and reunite with her family whom she got separated with when she got captured, much to his dismay. Bluebell made sure to comfort him and give him a promise that he'd be okay, vowing that they'd meet again one day, before she bid Cocoa a loving farewell, watching him as he ran off to continue his life as a loner.

Cocoa lived normally for a while after that; exploring the city on his own, practicing his strengths, mingling with other loners if he felt like it, and growing to be sneaky to get what he needed to survive. When he was ten moons old, Cocoa finally discovered himself to be more comfortable identifying as a tom rather than a she-cat, and changed his name to Rustic after the color of his fur, trimming his head tuft shorter with a glass shard he found and facing the world with a brighter perspective. He focused on finding things to enjoy on his lonesome, figuring he really liked climbing things, getting dirty, berries, and fishing out reactions from other cats with silly antics. One of these cats was named Emu, a loner who, after cruelly denying him help when he was struggling one time, Rustic decided to torment as revenge. He would frequently steal her prey and make fun of her, and while he got hurt by her on several occasions, Rustic gradually improved in his skills of speed and parkour, and actually grew to enjoy the altercations he had with her. Eventually, he got tired and moved on, but his experiences with Emu made him realize his troublemaker roots and enabled him to expand on his talents and unorthodox hobbies, shaping him into the chaotic cat that he is. He continued with this life for several more moons, bothering loners for entertainment and experimenting with things to better himself.

Rustic was sixteen moons old when he met the loner Artemis, a cat who lost their home and had been alone ever since. It was a silent night, and they were afraid of him, but Rustic felt the need to help them after seeing himself in their paws. Artemis had no interest in interacting when Rustic tried to befriend them, but after his own experience with Bluebell when he too was just a broken soul, he knew he didn't want to leave them, so he stayed persistent and stuck by their side despite their touchy nature. It took a while of patience and gentle consolement, but Artemis opened up to him little by little, until they were able to be proper friends who could take on the world together. Artemis still held their grumpy and serious attitude, but Rustic experienced the true cat that they were inside, and they pledged to have each other's back through anything and everything. Their platonic bond would only strengthen as they lived their lives as loner companions, and they would be known as the most peculiar, but strongest formidable pair to everyone who's ever met them around the city for seasons to come.

Six moons later, after Artemis wanted to explore a burnt down house, they and Rustic uncovered the badly burned Hansel from the debris. They were the cat of the house who's owner got executed, and they ended up hurt in the fire that their murderers set afterwards. Artemis immediately wanted to care for them, and Rustic wasn't going to protest, so they patched their newest companion to the best of their herb knowledge. Fortunately, their inexperienced handiwork payed off, and Hansel successfully survived their wounds. They were extremely appreciative of their saviors, despite being so grief-stricken at what happened to them, and accepted their offer of joining their little survival duo as a way of giving back. They became a trio, living in town as a small group. Eventually, after feeling inspired about their experience, Hansel suggested that they should form a colony so that they could help more cats, just like they did with them. Artemis and Rustic agreed, and the Bad Kitty Gang was formed that day. Artemis became the leader as they were the more responsible one, while Rustic became their loyal deputy, vowing to himself to stick by their side forever. He would later find his signature gold crown in the garbage, along with the cloth scraps and charms he would use to craft the Bad Kitty Gang Council frillies — the glittery ones specially reserved for himself, Artemis, and Hansel. They settled in the suburbs of town, where Rustic would happily watch his clowder grow and experience all kinds of events as it's proud deputy, all the way until he meets his end and joins the ranks of wandering ghosts.