Rattlehunter

Rattlehunter is a black-furred she-cat with narrow, dark cyan eyes. She has simple, darker black cheek stripes as well as a dorsal stripe that runs to the tip of her tail, as well as diamond-like spotting along said stripe, with lighter spots inside. She sports long, wavy fur bordering on curly, with a distinct fringe on top of her head. She has long, pointed ears that are often tilted backward.

Her lineage also gives her a bulkier frame, akin to many in her Clan. She has sturdy legs and strong shoulders, a square-ish face, and a dark pelt to blend in with the marsh. The right side of her lower jaw sports two distinct beauty marks. She wears a cowboy hat and banana. Rattlehunter stands at exactly 1" tall.

POSITIVES; Strategic, Scrupulous, Logical.

⫸ Rattlehunter possesses a natural knack for thinking, and boasts a keen eye. She doesn't act on a whim; all of her actions are thought out and pre-planned. She knows when to act, when to speak, and when to abstain. She almost seems to possess an unspoken understanding of her surroundings and social cirumstances, perhaps due to her watchful and lone-wolf nature.

NEUTRALS; Individualistic, Intuitive, Serious.

⫸ Self-made is what Rattlehunter would describe herself as, though the traits listed above would be far more accurate. She prefers to be by herself, and while that proves her capable as her own warrior, she keeps everyone save for a VERY select few at an arm's length. She makes her judgements based on observed actions, words, and behaviors, though some may call her prejudiced. It's rare to find Rattlehunter in a light-hearted mood. Something that may sound like a joke to one, may absolutely not be intended as such.

NEGATIVES; Abraisive, Distrustful, Deceitful.

⫸ If there's one thing Rattlehunter is known for within the Clan, it's her horrible attitude. She isn't "calm" and collected, more like "ready to spit firey venom" and collected. She can rip into another at a moment's notice, both with words and claws. Trust does not come by her easily, as there are very few she even would consider putting her true trust in. Most cats she would throw under the bus at the drop of a hat. To accompany this, she's a chronic liar. She despises sharing truth about herself, unless given reason. She will also wholeheartedly lie to save her skin.

⫸ KITHOOD ⫷

Rattlekit was a single-born child, her name given to her for her mews and purrs as a newborn, creating quite the disturbance within the nursery. They were rough and raspy, mostly due to being never-used-before vocal chords, giving them a raspy quality. Her name also came from her spotty patterning that resembled the scales on a rattlesnake, and her father Vipersmoke. Her mother was named Roanflower, and while she wasn't officially mates with Vipersmoke, they may as well have been. The pair never wanted to put a title on their relationship, but they loved each other more than words could say. So, when they had their baby girl, they were esctatic. Roanflower & Vipersmoke were both ShadowClan born, with Vipersmoke being half-rogue. His mother unknown, his father had brought him to the Clan as a kit. They'd chosen an unfortunate time to start trying for a kit, as their camp had been totaled by, presumably, monsters. Roanflower had just been proclaimed pregnant after this happened, once refuge had been found in the waterfall clearing, leaving both parents worried for the future of their child. Lucky, ShadowClan uncovered a new camp, and Roanflower gave birth to their singular kitten. Rattlekit. A few moons after, Tundrakit was born. Little did either know the troubles that would cause Rattlekit and her family in the moons to come.

However, the destruction of their old camp was only the beginning. Cats started disappearing, only a few coming back at all. However, some returned... not fully intact. Petroleum, an outsider, had explained to them that they'd been sterilized; unable to reproduce. As Rattlekit was growing up, Vipersmoke had been spending more time tending to his duties, and even this news didn't stop him. Rattlekit looked up to her father with wide, proud eyes. Screw his heritage, he was awesome! The family had already faced some scrutiny, as Vipersmoke wasn't Clanborn, but he'd never had any other name. He had been unnamed until his father took him in, named Viperkit.

At the tail end of her kithood, Rattlekit met the newborn Stonekit. Really, her only interest in her new denmate was her heritage, which was of rogue descendence, just as she was. Though, she didn't much care for her mother, Lynxtuft... what a blabber-mouth.

⫸ APPRENTICESHIP ⫷

Rattlepaw began her training under Ravencry, one of her father's friends, whom had met her as a kitten. Rattlepaw didn't know much about him, aside from the fact that he had his own small family, which included his daughter Crowkit. Crowkit looked up to Rattlepaw with shining eyes, claiming she was excited to become an apprentice and train alongside her. However, Rattlepaw kept her distance, unsure on how to feel about someone potentially sticking to her side like a sandspur. Regardless, Rattlepaw and Ravencry got along well enough. Ravencry found sympathy for the young molly, understanding her struggle in her heritage. Why, she didn't understand. Ravencry never explained that to her. However, what he did explain, was how dangerous the outside world was. Ravencry was no stranger to battle, as he had his fair share of scars, so Rattlepaw took his word. Raven was a more strategical fighter than brute force, and preferred to use his surroundings to his advantage. However, that didn't quite work out with how Rattlepaw was growing into her paws. She had stockier built legs than he, as Ravencry sported a long and agile build, uncommon for ShadowClan warriors. So, Rattlepaw found what she was good at. Taking his advice and adapting it. Rattle got the chance to hone her tracking and hunting skills more as badger & coyote sightings increased, developing an even keener sense of smell.

Things were relatively content within her family at this time, the quickly-growing molly finding her knack for hunting just as fast as she was growing. She found she worked best solo, which worked for her anyhow, as she hadn't made any real friends in the nursery. Not with Tundrakit being a pair of snapping and yapping jaws at all the other kits. Rattlepaw was grateful for her time outside of the nursery, though she still could frequently be found around her mother when in camp. Roanflower would ask her how her training was going, if she'd made any friends, typical things like that. While the family had mostly been within their own bubble since Vipersmoke and Roanflower had been together, Vipersmoke did have a pawful of friends within the Clan; Mothfrost, Strawberryseed, and of course, Ravencry. Rattlepaw had been introduced to them at this point, though all three had met her as a kitten, when she was too young to remember it. Ravencry's daughter, Crowkit, grew to be Crowpaw in two-moons time since Rattlepaw had begun her training. The two were now apprentices together, and despite having grown up in the nursery at the same time, they hadn't had a proper conversation or learned much about the other. As it turned out, Crowpaw was also of rogue descendence; her grandmother had been a rogue who joined the Clan many moons ago. This brought the two together... Rattlepaw finally had a friend, it seemed.

The outside world was scary, inside the borders was far safer, but it wasn't safe from the scrutiny that came with her heritage, that only got worse as attacks caused by outsiders began to skyrocket. Cats were still being taken and only some returning with those distinct scars on their stomachs. Rattlepaw was, well, rattled. It gave her even more reason to stay within the Clan... even if she felt no real bond with it, being primarily a solitary feline. It didn't help that she'd developed a sharp tongue in response to comments on her father's, and by extension her own, heritage. This caused her to push others away, as she felt she couldn't back down from the insults hurled at her. She had to defend her father, it's not like he was doing anything wrong. He was a damn good warrior, and had long since earned his keep. However, she still had to prove herself in their eyes.

In her last moon of apprenticeship, outsider disturbances increased, furthering tensions within the Clans.

⫸ WARRIORHOOD ⫷

Ah, warriorhood. Rattlehunter was given her name for her keen senses she'd developed in her apprenticeship, as well as her outstanding hunting abilities. She found pride in this, as it could also be taken as a retaliation to those who believed she wasn't worth keeping around by heritage alone. Rattlehunter wore her name with pride, standing tall and puffing her chest out during her ceremony. Only thing was, Tundrapaw still hadn't gotten over her grudge against anyone and everyone. This had only been made worse by something she'd experienced just prior to Rattlehunter's graduation. She'd been attacked by an outsider whom had killed her mentor, and since had to be reassigned. She could just feel those blue eyes boring a hole in her back. Still, she had made her parents proud. That's all she could have hoped for. Also around this time, Stonekit had already become Stonepaw, just a bit after Tundrapaw. Stonepaw and Tundrapaw had been close, it seemed, but had a falling out after the aforementioned incident. 'Good,' Rattlehunter had thought. Tundrapaw had grown so venomous over her rogue heritage clanmates that the falling out was well deserved on Tundrapaw's part.

In her first moon of warriorhood, Basilspring, a warrior, is found tangled up in a metal twoleg device by Ravenheart, Nightfall and Nightwing on the border with RiverClan. They return his body for burial, and Raccoonstar determines to warn the clans at the next meeting, due to there possibly being these traps set in RiverClan too. The gruesome nature of Basilspring's death is a terrible warning to ShadowClan to stay away from the shiny, metal devices. Couldn't they have seen that coming? You have to be blind to not see that...

As Leaffall settled in and Leafbare approached, prey grew harder and harder to come by. The Clan was doing its best to keep up, but that didn't stop the predators. A starving coyote had followed Vipersmoke's patrol, catching them off guard soon after, before they could pick up on its scent. It attacked, leaving the patrol all injured in some aspects... and Vipersmoke dead. The coyote had gotten a hold of his head and thrashed him around, killing him quickly. However, the coyote didn't get away with its meal. The screeching drew in a fellow patrol, and the extra backup drove the predator away. Vipersmoke's body was carried home to a shellshocked Roanflower and Rattlehunter. Even as a new warrior, Rattlehunter blamed herself for not being on that patrol. When it was described to her what happened, she believed she could have picked up the coyote's scent and warned them. If only she had been there... Roanflower fell into a depressive rut after that, and Rattle did her best to support her mother, even as she grieved along with her. She'd shove anyone else away aside from her father's friends, though wouldn't accept their coldolences for herself. They were genuine friends with her father and by extension her mother, but she didn't have to like them... not when they could have done more to protect Vipersmoke before it was too late. It didn't help her cause to hear whispers of how Vipersmoke never should have been a warrior, how he, an outside-born cat, was a waste of prey and they were glad he was gone. It increased whispers about herself and her mother, how her mother should just move on, and how Rattlehunter would follow in his pawsteps.

As if she didn't already have a sharp tongue before, Rattlehunter soon grew abraisive to those outside of her family, including her father's friends. She didn't care much for them, though spared Ravencry the worst of it. She was never the most honest cat, often lying to let herself be on her own for many things, but now as she grew more distrusftul of her own Clan, she began to lie more frequently, and for her own gain, mostly. With her prior excuses and lying experience, she became good at lying. It wasn't something she was proud of until she began to get what she wanted; to be alone. Her abraisive nature and lying tendancies further isolated herself, but she was content. Her mother, however, was not approving. She still loved her daughter very much, and wished to see her thrive with the Clan, not without, but... there wasn't anything she could do. The two were still close, but Roan frequently tried to get Rattle to be a little nicer and reach out. She refused, of course, preferring her solitude.

Though it wasn't ShadowClan's problem, a fight broke out between WindClan and ThunderClan along their border, sparked over a hare, with WindClan claiming the victory. The two Clans remained tense afterward.

Meanwhile, there's one cat Rattle didn't truly push away aside from her mother; Crowwhisper. Crowpaw had graduated just a few moons before Vipersmoke's passing, and Rattlehunter found herself having meaningful conversation with the other molly, unlike any she'd had before. The pair soon found themselves in patrols together, or even just taking walks to get fresh air. While Rattlehunter had never considered it, she thought she may just like Crowwhisper. They were still young... she'd mull it over a while first. Tundrafang was a very appropriate name for the venomous molly she'd grown distain for. She'd attacked a harmless outsider, kicking away her own Clanmate to accomplish it. The outsider, Sophie, is treated in her outsider den by Batface, while Tundrafang is demoted back to an apprentice. Rattlehunter couldn't help but find that hilarious. The uptight, opinionated, sniveling dirtstain that was Tundrapaw got what she deserved. Unfortunate it was that someone had to physically suffer first before anything was done. Rattlehunter's relative peace came to an end two moons later, though, when Tundrafang earned her name once more.

At a Gathering, the medicine cats Wrenwater and Hydrangeawhisper of ThunderClan demonstrate to the Clans how to disarm a fox snare, so that no cat may be killed by one again, due to past incidents. Rattlehunter stowed this information away in her mind. In the same moon, Batface found RiverClan's medicine cat Freckleshimmer by the border, and brings her into camp to recover. She refuses to explain what happened. As she is... not a huge fan of the other Clans, Rattlehunter found this a waste of resources, whatever the reason the medicine cat's appearance there was.

Just as the season previous, cats from all clans have vanished. It's assumed they have been taken by the twolegs, as their clanmates were before them. The clans can do nothing but wait to see if they'll return at all this time.. Lucky, they all do, although they are not the same, and their abillity to have kits was taken, same as before. Rattle decides she's more annoyed and tired of it than anything. At the following Gathering, the four leaders announce that the Warrior Code has been amended after discussion with the clan's Medicine Cats... They are now permitted to have mates and start families, the same as any other member of the clan. Though many are happy for the healers who were once forbidden from love, others are jaded by the change to what is meant to be an inflexible code of honour. Rattle believes this to be for the best, should the meddies keep their priorities in check. No use in barring someone from the same basic rights as a warrior.

Moons pass, the two grow close. Roanflower is slowly getting better with help from Rattlehunter, and it seems there is something more between her and Crowwhisper. At twenty moons, the two had a sort of unspoken romance, sleeping next to each other and going for walks, sharing prey, all those kinds of things. Things were good at first. The pair would only butt heads on occasion, often over small things. However a wrench was thrown into their relationship in the moons to come; Tundrafang. Cats were going missing again, outsider attacks were growing more violent, and Tundrafang still remained the biggest thorn in Rattlehunter's side. Tundra would antagonize the two, primarily for their heritage, saying things like how they should elope together, return to their roots. Also known as get the hell out. Rattlehunter, being the more brash of the pair of mollies, clashed with Tundra worse than she did Crowwhisper. These antagonizing episodes put stress on their relationship, and Crowwhisper even suggested leaving the Clan and getting away from it all. However, Rattle wasn't having it. She'd rather antagonize Tundra in return than give her what she wanted, which put only more stress between them. They argued more, disagreeing on most things nowadays. Rattle needed to stay for her mother, and to prove assholes like Tundra wrong, and help deliver their karma.

Crow wanted to leave, to live a more peaceful life than that. She wasn't one for conflict, but she'd stand up for herself... at least against Rattlehunter. The two bickered and fell out, their young love coming to an abrupt hault as Crowwhisper declared herself ShadowClan's no longer. She spat this in Rattlehunter's face before turning tail, never to be seen in ShadowClan grounds again. Rattle called her a coward, marching right after her to tell her all the ways she was wrong, when Roanflower stepped in. She stopped her daughter from leaving, for fear that she would leave forever. Rattle paused and stared at her mother, before heaving a sigh of defeat and retreating to her nest. All while a smug Tundrafang watched on.

Helleboretongue, a senior warrior of ShadowClan, is killed by a rogue in the territory whilst on patrol. His death sparks outrage, as aggressions with the outsiders seem ever-increasing... Looks like she needs to keep her guard up.

Life carried on. Rattlehunter grew even more closed off, often straying from patrols to hunt by her lonesome, and even she had moved her nest to the back edge of the warriors' den. It seemed she didn't want to talk with anyone, not even Ravencry. Afterward, the missing cats that had returned (aside from Nerinenectar) told their respective clans a message from Petroleum; in a few moons, a threat like none before would rear its ugly head. She couldn't bring herself to think much of Valerianshade stepping down from her position, and being replaced by Squirrelsmirk. Two moons later, Kronos (Harvestwind) is killed by Tranceshadow after he threatens her grandsons. He gravely injures her in the process, where she dies a few weeks later. In the same moon, Rattle attended the Gathering that addressed the message from Petroleum, in which the clans begrudingly agreed to side with outsiders to defend the forest, but only after Hawkstar silenced the outraged crowd. Rattle did feel strongly on this matter, however, snapping back at those who protested with visceral hatred toward outsiders. Those who knew of her heritage especially. She didn't much like the idea of sending their numbers into a battle where many would die and become injured, but what else could they do? In the battle the next moon, Raccoonstar had lost two lives as he assisted the other Clans and outsiders in disabling the monsters. Honestly, Rattlehunter was preparing for Timberstar at this point.

Afterward, ThunderClan and ShadowClan patrols had discovered the new Twoleg structures; dubbed Twoleg Place. A few moons later, Yewbriar is abducted by twolegs in a metal trap, and does not return. Rattle was rather indifferent about this. She deemed that you'd have to be stupid to be caught that way. It's only two moons later that their Gathering is yet again crashed by outsiders... this time, a molly named Dixie, who wished for them to give up one of ShadowClan's elders in return for a life lost long ago. She threatened the Clans upon their refusal, claiming they were now subject to her wrath. Rattlehunter merely scowled up at the figure at ThunderClan branchers gave chase. "Ya have to be crazy to think it'd be that easy," she'd thought as the molly ran away. It wasn't long after that when Raccoonstar and Timberwolf stepped down, relinquishing their duties to Stonecold. Wait, Stonecold? Like, little Stonepaw? Well... shit. Rattle couldn't help herself but cheer, finding herself supporting the new leader wholly. A leader with rogue heritage would surely knock some sense into stone-skulls like Tundrafang, who was promptly punished by the new leader upon their return to find Tundrafang antagonizing the apprentice Irispaw.

In the same moon, Batface stepped down to become an elder with Flamestep, his mate. Squirrelsmirk takes his place, and chooses not to take on an apprentice so soon. A moon later, Turtleheart, Rookstone and Smokefeather are sent out by Stonestar to track down Scarletmoon, a warrior who had not returned to camp in some time. They follow her scent to the edge of the territory near Twolegplace, where it intermingles with that of outsider cats. The patrol returned to camp to report, and it is concluded that Scarletmoon was kidnapped by outsiders. Stonestar orders a doubling to patrols, and instructs all ShadowClan cats to report anything out of the ordinary. Rattlehunter deems herself an important asset in this search, seeing as she possesses a keen sense of smell and perception. Though, she also couldn't help but think of how Stonestar had just become leader, and was already facing her first trial. Would she drop the ball, or succeed...? In the wake of Scarlet's disappearance, Smokefeather is made Stonestar's first deputy.

Scarletmoon is kidnapped by the kittypet gang. Through Remus, a young kittypet, they reveal their demands; for Blackstag be surrendered to them, otherwise Scarletmoon will be returned to them in pieces. Stonestar refuses to give in, and as a result Scarletmoon's body parts including her ears and parts of her tail, begin to appear around the territory. Stonestar has patrols searching tirelessly, day and night to try and find her, but to no avail... Rattlehunter may not be close with the kid, but she knew cruel when she saw it. She was familiar with her biological father, and to a degree her mother, but not her herself. How could things have gone differently...? Scarletmoon is, after four moons of torture at the claws of Dixie and Roman, returned to ShadowClan; her own tongue laid out before her. The kittypet gang's message is clear. More violence will continue if Blackstag is not handed over. Scarletmoon is recovered and brought to camp as Stonestar does her best to quell the crowd and give Squirrelsmirk room to work. Rattle watches from a distance.

A mere three moons pass before the next tragedy. At this moon's Gathering, Dixie and Roman, with their gang of Kittypets attack the four clans by causing an old construction monster to roll into the Gatheringplace. All four leaders lose a life each, and countless cats are injured to varying degrees, compounded by the monster rolling being merely a ploy to draw cats near. The monster explodes, causing even more death and destruction, and only rains sent by StarClan can quell the fires. The four clans return home utterly defeated, with little hope on the horizon... The kittypets work fast, Rattle thought. While she had no previous distain for kittypets in particular, now she gained a reason to dislike them. She wouldn't join the xenophpbic crowd, though, especially not after the next event, two moons later.

Pebblecoo approaches Stonestar after discovering she is pregnant with kits, kits sired by Bonaventure, the outsider tom she's been spending time with. Stonestar calls a clan meeting to dictate Pebblecoo's punishement, but is met by the ire of Tundrafang. Outraged by the percieved laxicity of her littermate's punishment, Tundrafang challenges Stonestar to a duel to the death; with the winner taking over Shadowclan's leadership. Tundrafang manages to blind Stonestar in one eye before the current leader kills Tundrafang. Rattlehunter found it hard to stay silent, or still, as she had first barked back at Tundrafang in the wake of her outrage. Stonestar gave Rattle the command to keep out of it, so, Rattle obeyed. She stood by Vervainsneer, only approaching after the fight had concluded, and her enemy laid still.