Quaildapple

Rank: Brightclan Medicine Cat

Gender: Tom

Age: ~17 moons

Sexuality: Aromantic Asexual

History:

Quailpaw has a rather brief history. He has absolutely no memory of his time before Brightclan. More accurately, his first memory was the darkness around him fading away as Bravefern's concerned face came into view. From what she's told him since, a hunting patrol found him passed out in the middle of the forest at just 2 moons old. There were no foreign scents around him to indicate how and when he came to Brightclan territory. Quailpaw had no idea who his family was or how he came to be where he was, it was strange. Bravefern, worried Quailpaw might have hit his head or gotten some kind of sickness, decided to keep him in the medicine den where she could keep a close eye on him.

This was where Quailpaw started to discover what kind of cat he was. He was given the name Quailkit, a name he felt he was very suited for. Brilliantkit, another orphan kit of about the same age, came to visit very often, excited about having a new cat his age in camp. Quailpaw grew close with him pretty quickly, learning to play kit games and go on adventures with him. He also grew closer to Petunianose's litter of kits, particularly Trilliumkit, who was brash and a lot of fun to be around. When he wasn't playing with the other kits, Quailpaw was spending all his time with Bravefern.

They learned very quickly that Quailpaw had some kind of previous knowledge of healing practices. He was young to have studied any of it, but he could recite the more basic herbs and had a good eye for injuries. It wasn't long before Bravefern would allow him to help her sort herbs and she would talk to him about clan life. Through this, Quailpaw developed a passion for the medicine cat role and quickly decided to pursue this role in his clan life. He also grew close to Bravefern, seeing her as a mother figure in his life.

Everything seemed to be going well, until the dreams started. At first he thought he was finally dreaming of Starclan until he realized there were no stars in this forest. It was very dark. A cat did step out of the shadows though, a bright, cream she-cat with a scar on her muzzle and malice in her eyes.

"There's few of us now," The she-cat started, towering over him as other cats stepped forward from the shadows. "But soon the forest will be filled with cats ready to seek vengeance."

Ever since, Quailpaw's dreams took him further and further into that shadowy forest, familiarizing him with the clearly evil cats that live there. Quailpaw knew better than to tell his clanmates about these dreams, even Bravefern. They would dismiss him from Brightclan for sure.

Personality:

Selfless | Deceptive | Disobediant

Quailpaw is a fairly troubled cat. He has a lot of weight on his shoulders from the whole clan and he feels that weight heavily. He makes a great medicine cat apprentice, learning the skills and herbs quickly and providing a friendly face to his clanmates. He's a little more social than Bravefern, so he often engages their patients while Bravefern is administering treatment, providing comfort and distraction. He also makes plenty of time for his friends. He's developed a strong friend group in Brilliantpaw, Trilliumpaw, and Silverpaw. In fact, he's so close with all of them that he's not sure he could pinpoint one as a best friend over the others. He's probably spent the most time with Brilliantpaw, but Trilliumpaw has the most similar sense of humor. It seems like he's particularly close to Silverpaw these days, but only because of a secret they both share. He knows of Silverpaw's Starclan visions and she knows of his dark forest visits. They only trust each other because of their leverage over each other but somehow, it's made them particularly close.

Quailpaw still dreams of the dark forest all the time. He sees shadows of cats that once were and hears whispers coaxing him to do the unthinkable, but he has absolutely no patience for that. In fact, the normally good natured Quailpaw, has absolutely no patience for anything that goes against his personal moral compass or just doesn't make sense to him. No prophecies for Quailpaw, you tell him exactly what he should do and why or don't tell him anything at all. And because the cats of the dark forest don't particularly take Quailpaw's dismissal too well, he's taken to battle training with Trilliumpaw in his spare time. He won't be a defenseless cat that gets killed in his own dreams.

He's aware that there seems to be a central villain of sorts in the dark forest, Gladiolus. He only met her once, in his first dream, but he can sense the power and the hatred that seeped from her. Quailpaw is aware that she's the biggest threat there. At one point, with a cat named Massasauga's help, Quailpaw found the path that led from the dark forest back to Starclan. Quailpaw realized that he could end his dreams once and for all by taking this path, but he turned his back on it, choosing to dwell in the dark forest in his dreams. Why? Because of the appearance of a familiar brown tabby tom. Quailpaw had no idea why Trilliumpaw's father, Rockfall, would reside in the dark forest, but Quailpaw was determined to figure it out.

Quailpaw isn't one to be held back by something as small as clan loyalty. Yes, he wants everyone in the clan to be healthy and happy, but he knows, deep in his heart, he'll always choose the cats closest to him first and he's not above breaking rules when he feels it's necessary. He especially won't stand for any rules or policies that he feels are unfair.