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Post by nightfall on Feb 14, 2012 12:51:23 GMT -10
 Name |
Joshua
Ravenheart
Gender |
Tom
Age |
38 moons
Rank |
Loner/Rogue/Healer
Medicine cat
Beliefs |
Most former rogues don't believe in a thing. Ravenheart is much, much different. Upon meeting a cat when he was younger, he began to believe in a pantheon of gods who controlled everything from the sky above him to the underworld. He has names for all of theses gods and goddesses, and knows that they come in the form of huge Two - Legs who care for all in their domain. He knows that his own patron god is Apollo, the god of healing and medicine. When healing cats, he prays to him for their well-being.
He also knows all the other gods - Zeus, Hera, Artemis, and Athena, just to name a few. He prays to them as well when he needs aid or there is something wrong. They are his protectors, the ones who guide him on his path in life.
Clan |
Pineclan
Parents |
Rhea [mother, alive, dc]
Jareth [father, unknown, np]
Siblings |
Jared [litter brother (younger), deceased, np]
Other Kin |
Lowe [brother, alive, np]
Russ [brother, alive, np]
Cleo [sister, alive, np]
Lara [sister, alive, np]
Den [brother, alive, np]
Porter [brother, died at birth, np]
Hailey [sister, died at birth, np]
Cindertail [adopted brother, adopted, alive, dc]
Apollo [uncle, alive, pc]
Clay [uncle, alive, np]
Pence [grandfather, deceased, np]
Australia [grandmother, deceased, np]
Mate |
None
Crush |
None
Kits |
None
Apprentice/Mentor |
Adelaide
Appearance |
The first thing most cats notice about Ravenheart is the fact that he's pretty damn big. He could probably sit on someone if he had to fight them. Then cats notice that he's completely black, and that he has yellow eyes.
To those who don't know him, he's terrifying.
But actually, Ravenheart's quite weak. Moons of long travel made him thin and bony, but his long, fluffy fur makes him look quite filled out. He has big clumsy paws (no thanks to his father, who he's a spitting image of), and a long tail that can make him pretty unbalanced.
As you can guess, he trips over himself a lot. Heck, he trips when he's sitting still.
And yes, while he's been with PineClan for a bit and should probably have filled out by now, Ravenheart doesn't eat much. His body's metabolism is extremely slow, and his tendency to get distracted by work for long periods of time forces him to only eat when it's absolutely necessary.
He's weak, thin, and is likely anorexic. It's quite the wonder he's still standing.
This begs the question: does it show through his face? The answer is: No, not particularly. Ravenheart, quite luckily, received his mother's genes for an attractive, angular face, so his anorexia doesn't really show at all.
Now, that's not to say he doesn't look ever so slightly goofy. After all, big ears tend to do that.
Personality |
Now, Ravenheart isn't your average Australian heartbreaker. Ever since he got back from down under, he seems to have become... A bit of a whack-job, really. And no, not a Miststar-type whack-job. There's no way in Hades he'd ever manage to gain even one supporter in taking over PineClan, and he's just not into that. Too much work.
But you'll notice, maybe, that some of his laughs are a bit forced, or maybe, just maybe, you'll see that his jokes are a little bit too bad.
All of these odd tendencies, these "quirks" as they'd say, seem to stem from the fact that Ravenheart is damaged. Yeah, damaged.
Some rumours say that Ravenheart lost someone close to him, driving him to pseudo-insanity. Others say that he once rode an owl all the way to the cold north, driving back the Sasquatches and killing the great-
Okay, moving on.
Anyway, what exactly makes Ravenheart seem so odd will not be discussed here. Check the history, guys.
Overall, despite (extremely odd) rumours (who came up with that Sasquatch one anyway?), Ravenheart has always been quite amiable. He's gentle, kind, friendly, a bad joke teller, and a good storyteller. He always seems fun to hang around with, really.
However, many PineClan cats feel that his personality is not befitting of a Medicine Cat. He's too relaxed, they say. He's not pushy enough, they say.
However, Ravenheart takes this all in stride. As you can see, Ravenheart is the chillest of the chill. He never gets in people's faces, never tries to hurt. He just goes with the flow.
But, to say that he never gets serious or angry would be a complete and utter lie. When Ravenheart gets serious, he gets serious. When Ravenheart gets angry, watch out, because heads are going to roll. Off shoulders.
And, when he's enraged... Find the closest cat, tell them you loved your family, and wait for the incoming apocalypse. Maybe your last thought will be of how stupid a cat must have been to piss off Ravenheart.
At the same time, another worry to Ravenheart's personality is the fact that he doesn't have a filter. Thanks to a certain mother by the name of Rhea, Ravenheart was brought up to be brutally honest in what he says. He always speaks his mind. He also does not filter gore and death. He will happily tell a kit a story about death. Also, thanks to his mother. After all, a cat will subjected to grief and pain sooner or later, so might as well start early. At least, that's what his mother always told him.
Oh, and he's bisexual. Isn't that interesting?
Skills |
Ravenheart's best skill is not one of true use in a clan. Storytelling, the way he would find a place to rest and eat in the wilderness of Australia, had no place in a clan of cats whose main needs are food and safety. So, when joining the clan, he went for his second-best skill. Healing.
To say Ravenheart is a flawless healer would be the ultimate overstatement. Ravenheart is far from perfect. While yes, he is skilled in the art of impromptu antidotes and mortal wounds, his expertise in illnesses is next to none. There just wasn't much sickness going around in Australia. He definitely has gotten better since he joined PineClan, but his skills are far below what Crowflower or any other medicine cat has.
As well as being an alright medicine cat, Ravenheart also has language problems. Thanks to the fact that he grew up in a completely different place from any other medicine cat, the names he often has for animals, illnesses and herbs are completely different from the norm. To say this makes him hard to understand is an understatement.
What Ravenheart lacks in healing is not made up for in any of the usual departments of what a good Clan cat would be good at.
While Ravenheart has the potential to be a good hunter, he lacks the wish to be. In Australia, prey was so plentiful that a cat could sit in one place and would have dinner curling up in their paws in about ten minutes.
The same goes for tracking. Cats in Australia were lazy and usually lived in the city. In the city, they usually stayed in one place, so there goes tracking.
Fighting is an extremely special case. Cats have often noted that Ravenheart has the build and strength to be an amazing fighter. One problem: Ravenheart abhors violence. He doesn't want anything to do with it. While those who don't know him attribute this to a "I'm a medicine cat so I should be peaceful" thing, those who do know him know that the reasoning cannot be discussed in earshot of Ravenheart or even out of earshot. He will hear about it sooner or later, and then he'll be pretty dang mad.
History |
Ravenheart was born as Joshua, the eldest of his mother's third litter. He was born alongside his brother Jared. Until both were about 7 moons, the lived with their parents; upon reaching their seventh moon, they both departed with their parents' blessings, hoping to find adventure.
For about a moon the brothers traveled west. They eventually reached a Two-leg town. A big town. Very, very big.
For a few days, they toured the town. By accident, they came upon a vast expanse of water and Two-leg... things. Not sure exactly what they were. But hey, they looked cool. And harmless. Maybe.
So, being the young idiots both brothers were, they took a gander and climbed aboard one of the big Two-leg things. Much to their surprise, a short while after they climbed in, the thing started to move.
So they went along with it. The Thingy (yes, it had officially been dubbed Thingy by Jared) stopped off in many places, included a very hot, very windy place full of sand and Two-legs, and another place that seemed oddly dangerous and had red stuff coming out of the top of a dark mountain. All in all, though, it was a pretty sweet adventure.
What was waiting for them at the end of the trip was even better. Because it was unlike any place they had ever seen. It was gorgeous, filled with long stretches of land uninhabited by Two-legs and these awesome things that stood on two legs, had really long legs, and liked kicking Two-legs that went near them.
Yep, those things were definitely the epitome of awesome.
Now, an even more interesting place was a huge Two-leg settlement on the edge of another vast amount of water. Tooons of water. This place is where Joshua and Jared made their home.
They spent quite a few moons of their life running around, enjoying the city of Sydney (they had decided to ask a local what the name of the place was). But unfortunately, those moons of lollygagging and amusement had made both brothers unaware of the dangers around them. Up until that point, they had been lucky. But then their luck ran out.
During a certain romp through some... ahem, less than nice areas, the brothers came upon some kind of nest.They weren't sure exactly what it was. So they poked it.
Rather, Jared poked it. Though it was his choice to poke it, and was not pressured to poke it in any way by his brother, what happened next would weigh heavily on Joshua's mind for the rest of his life.
A... thing was in the nest. Yes, another odd thing, something the brothers had never seen. It bit Jared and scuttled away on eight legs. Jared laughed off the bite for the first couple of minutes.
Then, he dropped dead.
Never before had Joshua felt such horror. He began panicking, screaming for someone, anyone, to come save his brother.
No one came.
Then she appeared.
A lovely, motherly white she-cat by the name of Adelaide. She was the one who pronounced Jared dead, officially. Joshua's world fell apart.
Perhaps out of pity, or maybe because she saw talent (where she did no one knows), Adelaide offered to take Joshua in that fateful night. She offered him a solid, comfortable place to sleep and eat, and the chance to have a purpose in life.
Joshua threw himself into his apprenticeship, working hard to forget the past and only think of the present and future. He learned how to heal small cuts, broken bones, and most importantly, how to make antidotes for certain poisons.
But, every day was still spent in misery. He pined for his brother, the cat who had been with him since he was born. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He ran away.
For several days, Joshua suffered in the scrub land. No water, no food. He eventually collapsed. His last thoughts were if this was the end.
Of course, this bio wouldn't be here if he was dead.
No, someone had saved him. Another cat, actually.
This is how Joshua met his best friend as his first crush, Heracles.
Heracles was an odd cat. He told Joshua he was actually from somewhere west of Sydney. A place called Athens. Lovely place it was. Very warm, very windy, very relaxed.
For a couple of moons, Joshua spent time with Heracles. He felt his sadness ebb away around this new, relaxed, gentle cat.
For once in a long time, Joshua felt happy.
Heracles taught Joshua about the Greek Pantheon, telling him about Zeus and Hera, Aphrodite and Hephaestus, Leto and the twin archers, Apollo and Artemis. He explained the idea of Hades and the
Underworld, and how many went to the Fields of Asphodel and were then reborn.
Somewhere in those two moons, Joshua realized something.
Holy Zeus, I think I have a crush on Heracles!
As can be assumed, Joshua kept this to himself.
After those two short moons were over, Joshua felt compelled to return to Sydney. Not wanting to go it alone, he asked Heracles to go with him. The cat agreed, of course. And so they set off.
Upon entering the city, Joshua and Heracles were greeted by an enormous, scary cat who went by the name of Leo. Leo was not a stranger to Joshua - Leo was part of the ragtag little party of cats that tended to hang around Adelaide and a couple of others.
Joshua was happy to see Leo. Leo was not happy to see Joshua. He accused Joshua of abandoning them at a crucial time, right when there was a spike in poisoned cats. Joshua tried desperately to tell Leo about why he had left, but to no avail.
Leo became angrier when he realized that Heracles wasn't from Australia at all.
So, what's any mean, angry cat to do about someone they don't like?
Kill them.
Yes, Leo was definitely happy with the idea of spilling Heracles' blood right in front of Joshua in a show of power, and enjoyed actually doing it even more.
What he didn't expect was for Joshua to kill him.
It was inconceivable. As Leo stood over Heracles' lifeless body, he was bowled over by something very strong and very angry. He tried to fight back, but couldn't really fight against Joshua. Joshua was /angry/. Very, very angry. He had just watched his crush best friend die. Right in front of him.
And somehow he hadn't done a thing.
So yes, the next best course of action was apparently to kill Leo.
So he did.
And only when he stood triumphant over Leo's dead body did he feel a sense of downright horror at what had just happened. He had just killed someone, in cold blood.
He had to leave. The other cats in the area would kill him for what he just did.
But he needed to see Adelaide first.
So when the sun set that day, he made his way back to his mentor, expained everything, and left. There was nothing else for him in Australia. It was time to go.
He took a chance and boarded the first Thingy (no one had actually told him what they were called, actually) he could find at the town Joshua and his brother had left at first to see more of Australia. Luckily, this one took him back to his homeland.
From there, he decided to travel east, hoping to find someone familiar.
Instead, he found the clans.
Rather, the clans found him. He hadn't realized he'd walked on to
Pineclan territory until they ambushed him and had dragged him back to their camp.
Yes, a lovely way to meet your soon to be mates.
There, Joshua met Gingerstar. Lovely cat really, just a bit dismissive.
He bartered his way into the clan on a whim instead of leaving, telling the leader he was a good healer and the clan would have some use of him if he could stay.
She agreed, surprisingly enough. He was given the name
Ravenheart (as per clan rules) and met his new mate (not in that sense, in the Australian sense) Crowflower.
He's been there ever since.
Role Play Example |
"It hurts!"
The tiny wail of the little she - kit rang in Ravenheart's ears. He chuckled.
"Of course it hurts, you little ankle - biter, but it'll get better. You'll be romping around with you brothers in no time." He swiveled his head to face her. "Also, stay out of the brambles."
The kit pouted. "But they pushed me! It's not fair. I'm always the one getting in trouble. They never do."
Joshua chuckled again. He turned towards the herb store again, checking it silently. Goldenrod for the pain? No. Poppy seeds, maybe. Hm, they needed more chervil; he'd need to talk to Crowflower about that.
Deciding against giving the kit anything for the pain, he instead settled down on his large front paws and watched the kit silently. She was still complaining.
" -- and they never respect me, even though I'm the oldest! And they're always teasing me because I'm the only girl! And - ... Ravenheart?"
Ravenheart licked one paw and began to draw it over his ear, in semblance of washing. The kit squirmed. He did the same with the other paw and ear. She continued to squirm. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
At this point, the poor little she - kit was practically bouncing with anxiety. Settling down again, Ravenheart regarded the kit with a serious golden eye.
"Rugrat, how about I tell ya a story." The kit blinked; she wasn't expecting that. Before Ravenheart had the chance to continue, the kit jumped.
"Why?" It was out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop it.
Ravenheart paused, mulling it over. The kit squirmed again. "Well..." He began. He continued to mull it over. Internally, Ravenheart was laughing his ass off.
The ankle - biter really needs some time out, he thought. Too much energy.
The kit was bouncing again. Ravenheart reached out with one large paw and slapped it of the kit's head, stopping her movement immediately. She looked up at him, and repeated her question.
"Why?"
Ravenheart let out a loud laugh; the kit jumped.
"Why? Well, I feel like telling you a story. Is there something wrong with that?"
The kit shook her head. Ravenheart smirked triumphantly.
"Then listen, little kit. Maybe you'll learn something interesting."
Ravenheart took a deep breath, and began.
"Once, I traveled through a spectacular place. The two - legs called it Australia. We cats though, just called it down under. Such a lovely place it was, little one. Huge bodies of water, great plains full of prey, and communities of two - legs. It barely rained, and was always warm.
"For a long while, I traveled down under with my litter brother, Jared. Back then, I was known as Joshua, "the chosen of God." We spent many days hunting and eating until we were sick, or jumping among the two - legs and frightening them. It really was the time of our lives."
Ravenheart paused, letting the memories of the past drag him in. The kit watched him with huge green eyes; she was taken, fascinated. Too bad he'd have to ruin that fascination and exchange it for shock.
"One day though, we made the worst mistake we ever could. We got too curious, little kit. Such is the bane of every cat in existence. We got too curious, and Jared payed dearly for it.
"One day, while romping through the two - leg settlements, we came across a huge, eight - legged creature. It was ghastly. Yet, Jared was amazed. Never before had he seen such a thing, and, like any cat, there was only one thing he wanted to do. He wanted to poke it."
Ravenheart took another pause; The kit looked confused.
"He wanted to poke it, wanted to see if he'd get a reaction. He got a reaction alright. The thing jumped the moment he touched it; it turned, and bit my brother.
"At first, we laughed it off. The thing had vanished into the bushes, and the bite didn't look bad. Then Jared started feeling woozy. Then, out of nowhere, he collapsed."
"W-What happened?"
Ravenheart gave her a sad smile.
"Well, I panicked. I ran, yowling for help. A couple of cats answered me. When they saw my brother, they immediately yelled for someone else."
"Who?"
"My old mentor, Adelaide. She took one look at him, sniffed him over, and told me that he was done. Goodbye, sayonara, au revoir. He had no chance.
"Naturally, I freaked out on her, demanding that she save him. She only smiled sadly and told me that if whatever god was up there wanted him to live, he wouldn't have been bitten in the first place."
The kit looked confused, and immediately asked, "She didn't believe in Starclan?" Ravenheart waved his tail at her.
"She's never heard of them, little one. Starclan is a Clan thing."
"... Oh."
He continued.
"And so, I lost my brother. Australia wasn't looking so spectacular anymore. Then Adelaide took me in. I learned everything from her. Then, with all this knowledge, I returned here and became your medicine cat."
The kit was silent for a moment.
"... Wow." Ravenheart laughed.
"Wow indeed, little one." He tapped her on the head, and looked into her eyes. "But, rugrat, can you figure out the lesson behind this story?"
The kit paused. Ravenheart could see the gears working in her head. She eventually looked up.
"Never trust things with eight legs?"
Ravenheart burst into laughter. The kit pouted. When he finally stopped, he cuffed her over the head with one large black paw.
"That's a good one, but no. The lesson in this story is to always be wary of things you don't understand. Little one, never jump into things headfirst. Always be responsible. After all, you are the oldest. You carry the honour of your family. Never throw it away for anything."
The little she - kit nodded silently. "Okay." He gave her a small grin.
"How does your paw feel?" He sniffed at it. The swelling had gone down, and it wasn't as warm.
"Better."
"Good. You can go back to the nursery. Tell your mother that you're sorry and you've been suitably punished, listening to my ace stories. If she has any problems with that, she can find me and talk to me about it."
She nodded, and began to pad out of the den. He followed her, and sat at the entrance, watching the little kit patter up to her mother. After a few moments, the queen glanced up and nodded at him. Ravenheart nodded back, and slipped back into the den.
For several minutes, he lay on the ground, staring into his reflection in one of the pools of water in the medicine den. Sighing, he looked up, eyes following the patterns of brambles and leaves.
Jared, you sporadic idiot...
&&
grey -- ravenheart's thoughts.
black -- ravenheart's words.
blue -- kit's words.
Character Songs |
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
"Last of the Wilds" by Nightwish
"English" by Toby "Radiation" Fox
"Saviour of the Waking World" by Toby "Radiation" Fox, original (Doctor) by George Buzinkai
Critique level |
Criticise all aspects of my character |
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