Plumpounce

Plumpounce is diligent and hardworking, and has been ever since she was little. She’s always had a natural drive to perform, and picked up all her lessons with ease as an apprentice–at least, in the eyes of her mentor. Some may see her as a stick in the mud, since the studious, rule-following image of herself is the one she projects the most often. Plumpounce holds her emotions close to her chest, and always seems to have an eerie calmness and neutrality about her. But she does like to goof off every once in a while, just… far from prying eyes. And, privately, she appreciates the boldness of those willing to do something dangerous just for a laugh.

Outwardly, Plumpounce seems to have all her ducks in a row. She does the duties asked of her, and often puts in extra work to maintain the clan, even if she doesn’t seem all that interested in spending time with her clanmates outside of work. She can go through the niceties, will listen and advise when asked, but she artfully avoids talking about herself whenever the conversation drifts that way. Plumpounce keeps all the ugliest parts of herself hidden away: her temper, her judgment, her fears, her exhaustion. If she’s just one bad day from falling apart completely, well, then she’s the only one who needs to know about it.

And it’s likely it’ll stay that way: Plumpounce keeps all of her clanmates at tail’s length, and has ever since some time during her apprenticeship. Possibly, Azaleablaze and Dogwoodheart were the only ones close enough to ever really know her, but even then they were closer to each other, and now not even Azaleablaze is privy to Plumpounce’s thoughts.

Plumkit was born to Heathermeadow and Peachpetal, alongside Dogwoodkit and Azaleakit. In youth, times were good: Plumkit could more freely be young and silly, and she loved her family unconditionally. She was the cleverest kit, and didn’t have doubts plaguing her every decision. But even all the way back then, the seed had been planted in her mind: what made a good warrior, and how important it was to be the perfect one.

As an apprentice, Plumpaw did not lose the cleverness that had been seen as “potential” as a kit. She listened, and watched, and learned, and slowly shed the playfulness of her kitten days… and for a while, Plumpaw could manage the work. The expectations, and the failures, she took them in stride; if she failed, she would try again, harder this time.

But it was never enough. A lesson learned only meant there were more lessons, a successful hunt didn’t matter if the prey was too scrawny, or too easy to catch. And Plumpaw was good, but there was always some way to do it better. The sacrifices she’d made to be better, never taking the time to rest or socialize, weren’t enough.

And with Plumpaw’s cleverness, she began to question: what was the point of all this? To be the “perfect warrior”? What did that even mean? Was being the “perfect warrior” supposed to feel so…

So Plumpaw kept trying, but she didn’t act on Peachpetal’s demands quite so readily. She kept her head down, hid behind her father and her mentor and drifted away from her siblings. She found ways to avoid Peachpetal’s gaze, because it was easier to stay just outside her periphery than to outright refuse her mother, even as she began to quietly resent her.

Becoming a warrior gave Plumpounce more freedom to escape the watchful eye of her mother. She could take on extra patrols, leave camp under the guise of searching for nesting material, or hunting for extra prey. For a few short moons, she could almost imagine the pressure lifting off of her shoulders, especially with Peachpetal’s attention turned towards a new litter of kittens. But nothing lasts forever.

Heathermeadow’ and Dogwoodheart’s deaths changed Plumpounce, in some ways for the worse, and in some ways for the better. Not only would she not act on her mother’s every whim, but she wouldn’t need her praise or approval any longer (though she could not seem to stop wanting it). Their deaths thrust upon her new responsibility when she had to shoulder the burden of stepping in to care for Lotuskit and Coralkit while Peachpetal grieved, and, once again, a litter of kits had had their childhood wrested from them.

And, well, if Azaleablaze was going to turn a blind eye to the way their entire family was treated, then Plumpounce was just going to have to make it her responsibility to protect them from themselves. She’d practically raised her own little siblings, anyhow. She could manage.

But if Plumpounce had been somewhat reclusive within her own Clan before, she was practically a ghost within the camp by the time Lotuskit and Coralkit became apprentices. With her withering relationships during apprenticeship, she found she really had no friends of her own to depend on, and she could no longer turn to Azaleablaze.

Plumpounce is a longhaired tortoiseshell molly with amber eyes. Her fur is always soft and neatly groomed, with nary a hair out of place. She is lean and well-muscled, evidence of her constant activity.