Chirp

Personality/traits 

A determined slugcat. Chirp is loyal to her tribe and is a kindhearted soul that simply wants to fit in. They’re desperate to prove their worth to the scavenger tribe even though her presence there is seldom questioned. 

Chirp is craftier than other slugcats, especially in her earlier years, and has learned to use a variety of tools to her advantage. They have discovered in particular that they can use leaves and vines to make rudimentary containers to compensate for their lack of quills (which they would need to carry extra items like the rest of the scavengers). 

Despite their smaller stature and younger age, she is fully prepared to fight if needed, much to Click’s dismay. She’ll do whatever it takes to have the rest of the tribe view her as just another scavenger instead of the poor little slugpup Click dragged home one fateful night. 

Information 

Before getting washed away in a rainstorm, Chirp was known as Twigs, living with her parents and littermate. They led a rather ordinary slugcat life. They ate together, explored together, and kept each other safe. 

That is, until one cycle when her littermate had started to feel ill. Their parents had decided it was best to leave the pup in the shelter while they searched for food. Unfortunately, they had lost track of time… the rain started to fall. The flood rose quickly, driving the family back the way they had came as they ran as fast as they could manage. 

By the time they had reached the shelter, there wasn’t a moment to spare. However, a flash of lighting startled young Twigs, causing her to loosen her grip and slip away into the waters below. Her parents hardly had a chance to process what had happened, forced to shelter with one less pup. 

Separated from their family, they were almost certainly doomed to drown in the flood. However, a scavenger had been caught in a similar situation, and had seen the pup fall. She swooped in and dragged the poor creature out of the raging waters and fled home, ducking into a shelter. The doors slammed closed just as the water started to lap at the metal.

After their rescue, Click names the pup Chirp, as they were too young to properly understand or communicate their original name. Chirp grew up alongside Click’s own son, a young scavenger cub named Pluck. She treated the pup as if she were her own.

As Chirp grew older, her memories of that sorrowful night faded as she embraced her life among the scavengers. She tries her very best to prove her worth to the others. They feel at home in the tribe, yes, but something is still off… the scavengers treat her differently than her scav-brother. You can’t quite blame them; slugcats are generally smaller and more fragile than they are. But Chirp doesn’t care. She will continue to do what she can to fit in.

Chirp regularly coats their fur in mud, primarily around the head to try and replicate the common coloration patterns of scavengers. She tends to walk mainly on all fours and as a result is a faster crawler than other slugcats (although she is still generally faster and more agile when upright).

As a result of living with scavengers, she speaks their language fluently and has forgotten nearly everything she knew about slugcat language as she was far too young to properly retain that information.