Goosefur

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Goosefur

Name | Goosefur

Gender |she-cat

Age | 28 moons

Rank | Warrior

Clan | Streamclan

Beliefs| Oh Goosefur and her beliefs… she really doesn’t know anymore. When she was younger, she was definitely a believer in Starclan. She figured that someone had to be watching over her friends when they were chased up that tree by the enemy clan. She used to think that she was never alone and that Starclan would always protect her and her family, no matter what. Unfortunately, though Goosefur tried to stay optimistic, her faith faltered during the harder moons of the journey. She just couldn’t believe that Starclan was letting so many cats suffer. This led her to think that maybe…maybe Starclan was powerless, or maybe…maybe they didn’t even exist. Because if they did exist, then they would help her clan, right?

So Goosefur is on the brink of atheism, though she still clutches to the hope that someone is watching over her. Anyone. It doesn’t even have to be Starclan, she just wants to know that someone out there cares and is protecting her friends. Because if there really isn’t anyone up there, like the Pineclan cats believe, than that means that she is alone.

That being said, she has absolutely no problem with Pineclanners and she thinks they are just the same as everybody else. She tends to get a little angry when cats insult them and it’s one of the few things that get her riled up. She almost takes it as a personal insult, since one of her closest and dearest friends is a Pineclan cat.


Parents | Mother- Speckledheart (deceased)
Father- Beaverleg (alive, NP)

Siblings | Sister- Duckstripe (alive; played by Allie)

Other Kin | None

Mate | Not yet

Crush | Cloudstar

Kits | None

Apprentice| None

Appearance |

If asked to describe herself, Goosefur would think about it for a while and then, with a hesitant smile, she’d say she was cute. And that’s the perfect way to describe her. Cute, if not a little bit goofy.

Her fur is short and soft, and she takes special care in keeping it as silky as she can, as presentable as possible. Her coat consists of two colors—one a traditional white, the other an almost red-brown. The top of her coat is that peculiar shade of brown, while white fur hugs her belly, neck and muzzle. The brown covers her right front leg and both her back legs, but the left leg is masked with more white. On the other three legs, as the red fades out to white paws, there are faint tabby stripes.

Her face is round, her muzzle short and narrowed, her nose the color of cotton candy—and it looks just as soft too. She is an extremely expressive cat and all her features look a little bigger than necessary. Her eyes look especially big, though this is because she tends to be “wide-eyed” and “in awe” all the time, no matter what the situation. Even when she’s sad, her eyes are huge and swimming with her thoughts. They are a yellow-brown in color, almost like syrup.

As for Goosefur’s physique, she lies in the average category. She’s no small thing—in fact, her legs look pretty muscular and stocky. But she could never pass for a tom, and she has many feminine qualities that she’s proud of, like her narrow shoulders and thin face. One could say that she looked more like a hunter than a fighter though and Goosefur supposes they are right.


Personality |

Goosefur is a precious light all her own, the sweetest, simplest of the bunch. It doesn’t take much too please her—hardly takes anything at all. A smile, a laugh, a conversation, perhaps you brought her a piece of prey to share. It’s the little things that matter, and she lives her life by those little things. This is probably why she is so sensitive to even the tiniest things in life. So while she can get happy very, very easily, she can also become ridiculously sad at the drop of a pin. The sight of an arguing pair of cats, the hiss of pain from an elder as he readjusts his position on his moss bed. All these things upset her and she feels the need to fix them, to almost force a smile onto these faces of cats. She does this with her stupid jokes and stories. She likes to try and be funny. Is she really funny? Well, her humor, like most humor, only appeals to certain cats. But she tries and she tries, no matter how painful her jokes get.

Surprisingly, it takes a lot to get her truly angry at you. If you do something that offends her, she’ll only be miffed at first and she won’t tell you why (which can be pretty frustrating). She’ll give you the cold shoulder for a while too and if you don’t notice, then she’ll really get angry. And then she’ll let loose and she won’t be afraid to yell in front of you in front of other cats. Luckily, this doesn’t happen very often.

She’s naturally very goofy and dorky, always moving, always sort of jittery and “raring to go!” She likes to shift back from foot to foot, and she can be very expressive in the way she says things. It’s the words, yes, but also the tone that she uses. She likes to really emphasize what she’s saying. She can be quite a shouter, a giggler, an exclaimer. And Goosefur is rarely ever calm. She try to reel her more “hyper” side in if she’s at the Gathering, or if Cloudstar is holding a clan meeting. If she’s ever calm or quiet outside of those two situations, it’s because something is troubling her.

Goosefur acts more like an apprentice than anything and this is because, all her life, she has been trying very hard not to grow up. She likes the freedom of kithood and the recklessness of apprenticehood. Warriorhood, though? Going on patrols, repeating the same routine day after day after day after day? It isn’t the way she wants it. Goosefur would rather not have that obligation to her clan. She wants to wander through mysterious woods again; she wants to dive into strange streams, not knowing what’s in it. Because most of her life was spent on the journey, she is restless and adventurous and she longs for that life again. Settling into the routine of the clan is becoming increasingly more challenging as the days wear on and the new home becomes more and more permanent. She misses the road. She misses the thrill. And most of all, she misses when the four clans were all one clan, and she hunted along friends.

Because of this, Goosefur is not a loyal warrior. She hunts along border lines on purpose, she sometimes disobeys orders and she likes to venture ever so slightly onto enemy territory just to see if there is a chance she’ll spot her old friends. She doesn’t listen to anyone—well, okay, she listens to Cloudstar. But not because he’s the leader, but because she wants to impress him and be liked by him. And so, though she does break the rules, she tries her best not to be caught, since disappointing Cloudstar would kill her.

Goosefur also has a very annoying and relentless romantic dwelling in her. She’s always been one to point out toms she thought especially handsome, and she liked to joke about it with her sister, or tease Loonstep and Cranetail about it, since she knew it made them squirm. It wasn’t until she was in her late apprentice moons that the romantic really awakened. No longer was love a joke to Goosefur. No, it became real. She can’t help but yearn for that connection with another cat and dream for those kits, and since she searches for the good in all cats, it doesn’t take much for her to crush on a tom. When she does develop a crush though, it begins to gnaw away at her, growing like a weed until she’s hopelessly head-over-heels. Because of that obsession affection, it takes a lot to get her OUT of love. It doesn’t help that she gets shy and she can’t manage to admit her feelings to the tom. She just plods along their side as nothing more than a friend, half-miserable, and half-blissful. The way she sees it, at least she gets to be near the tom…so why ruin everything by taking it a step further?

Her relationships with her friends make up a big part of who she is. She is the little sister, the one the others feel the need to protect, though she no longer needs their protecting. She trusts her whole life, her whole heart, to her friends and leaving them was the hardest decision she ever had to make.

Concerning Duckstripe, Goosefur plays the part of the admiring sister who strives to be just as good as her older sibling. Most of the time, she is pleasant and supportive toward Duckstripe, but there is a darker side to Goosefur when it comes to her sister. Goosefur is often jealous of Duckstripe—for her ideas, her courage, and most of all, her beauty. It is no secret that Duckstripe is beautiful and Goosefur often looks at her reflection and wishes for Duckstripe’s face instead. She isn’t just jealous of her sister though. She’s actually a very jealous cat overall, and it’s one of the ugliest traits about herself. Goosefur often struggles with it, and it’s very hard since sooo many females talk to Cloudstar all the time. But she manages to keep her jealously under control.

Her friendship with Loonstep is probably her most comfortable friendship. She has always looked up to him and she possibly trusts him more than her sister. She goes to Loonstep first for advice, or if she wants to talk. She definitely feels like Loonstep is the one cat that will always be there, the one cat who will be honest and upfront with her. She also thinks he’s the smartest and most sensible of the bunch and for that, she respects him. There have never been any romantic feelings for him, but this is probably because Cranetail has always been in the way. If Cranetail had never existed, it would have almost been definite that she would have fallen for him and been quite happy with him as a mate. In fact, Goosefur’s life would have been a whole lot easier if she had seen this great cat in front of her, instead of going after Cranetail.

Ah, Crantail. Goosefur’s relationship with him is the most complicated. She isn’t his “little sister” and she doesn’t want to be. Goosefur knows what’s underneath Cranetail’s act and she draws out the real him—a funny, kind and honest tom. It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome either, not to mention brave. Bravery, to Goosefur, is one of the most important and venerable trait a cat can possess and so it was really Cranetail’s bravery and his confidence that made her fall in love, and this is why his quieter brother was overlooked. Recently, however, she has begun to get over him as she lives in a new clan with the equally brave and handsome Cloudstar. Seeing him now will be strange for her and she’ll act more withdrawn and awkward toward him.

Skills |

Goosefur, because of her training on the journey, is an excellent hunter. She can easily adapt to new situations and territories, and so she can hunt in forest, in field, and stream. Fishing is just one of her preferences, and she’s relatively good at it, but not as good as hunting in bushes. This makes her a good asset to have when the stream freezes, since she is able to pick out the prey from the little undergrowth that Streamclan has. She’s resourceful as well, and can keep her head on during disasters—usually.


Unfortunately, everything said above goes to the dirt if she’s the least bit upset, and that’s one of her greatest weaknesses. Because of how sensitive she is, Goosefur’s emotions directly impact how well she can focus on hunting or fighting and so she becomes useless if she’s unhappy. Completely and utterly useless. Also, because of her lack of loyalty, she never tries as hard as she could and she acts kind of silly on patrols, like she isn’t taking them seriously. So she has the talent…but she doesn’t have the drive.



History |


The Birth:

From the very beginning, Loonstep, Cranetail, Duckstripe, and Goosefur were the closest of friends. This could have possibly been because the two groups of siblings were born at nearly the exact same time in the far away land of Forestclan. It was Cranetail and Loonstep’s mother who went into labor first. And as the medicine cat began to get ready to deliver the kits, lo and behold, Goosefur’s own mother suddenly had her water break too. It was, more or less, a disaster in the den, with the medicine cat running back and forth between the two shrieking, very temperamental and demanding she-cats. In the end though, the queens and their kits pulled through and the birth of the four kits was the talk of Forestclan for quite a while.

Because they had been born so close together, it was like they were littermates. They certainly acted like littermates, and all the other warriors joked that they were. Goosekit nearly believed it herself, if it wasn’t for the physical differences. Her own mother used to say that they had rushed out of her womb just so they could meet Loonkit and Cranekit. Goosekit loved that idea, and she liked to believe they were all soul mates.

“Soul mates?” smiled Speckledheart. “You can’t all be soul mates, dear—“

“No, no, not that kind of soul mates,” giggled Goosekit, before becoming absolutely serious. “Not in a romantic way, Ma. But in an I’ll-always-be-there-for-you way. Your friends can be your soul mates too, y’know.”

And to this day, Goosefur still believes that.

Kithood:

Their kithood was filled with trouble—trouble that they caused of course. Duck-kit was always eager enough to break the rules and Goosekit was more than happy to oblige her. The sisters were a perfect pair of pranksters—Duck-kit was the leader among the two, always suggesting bold and daring new plots. Goosekit was definitely shoved into the role of the sidekick, but she was fine with that. She liked it actually. From her role as sidekick, she could put on the final touches, keep her sister from going too far, and sometimes make light of a situation that had gone awry. Being in charge would have been too much pressure for this kit.

One of their more memorable tricks was a collaboration with Cranekit and Loonkit. It was actually Cranekit and Duck-kit’s idea. They wanted to spy on another clan’s leader, and try to bring back this information to Forestclan. So they devised a plan, splitting their fearsome foursome into two parts—one half would stay behind and distract the clan from noticing the absence of their fellow kits and the other two would embark on a more serious journey… toward enemy territory, with nothing but their inexperienced claws to defend them. There was some arguing on who would get left behind, and so they finally amended their previous plan. Only one kit would stay behind.

And Duck-kit was more than happy to volunteer Goosekit. Of course, this made Goosekit a little upset, as she had been dying to see the forest, but after she thought about it, she was actually more relieved than anything else. Goosekit was just a sidekick and her job was to stay on the sidelines. And she would do that job well.

When her three kits set off, Goosekit immediately set to work with entertaining the queens in the nursery. How? Well that was the hard part, but luckily this job was built for someone like her: outgoing, funny, a little ball of smiles. It went smoothly for the first half of the day, with Goosekit teaching the queen’s different kit games. But then, Goosekit met her weakness: the other kits. Her energy and antics attracted her future clanmates, and they all wanted to learn and play too. And well, Goosekit obliged enthusiastically. Unfortunately, as she was entertaining her fellow kits, the queens were free to notice that three kits in particular were missing.

Meanwhile, the other three were in over their heads as they snuck deeper into clan territory. It was actually quite a surprise that they managed to find it, using just their noses. What little victory that was was soon dashed as a patrol of enemy warriors found them. They made a race up a tree, to the highest branches, where the other warriors were too heavy to climb. They were safe—but stuck. Desperately stuck. The warrior patrol camped out, while sending word back to camp about the current intruders.

Because of Goosekit’s failure at her job though, a patrol was released and they soon tracked down the kit’s sent with relative ease. Now, at first they thought that the kits were catnapped by the other clan, which spurred a storm of fury from Forestclan and Brownstar was snarling, ready to declare war. Goosekit reluctantly stepped forward and explained their plan and how she was apart of it. War was narrowly diverted, and the kits were returned. The air between the two clans, however, was very tense.

The “fearsome foursome” was severely punished, with their apprentice ceremony delayed two whole moons.

But Goosekit, unlike the others, didn’t care. She was actually sort of happy that this happened. As far as she was concerned, the more time as a kit, the better. Because, after all, who wants to grow up anyway?

Apprenticeship (The beginning of the Journey)

The moon they were apprenticed, Cedarclaw announced his plan.

Goosepaw didn’t know how to feel about it herself. Being a relatively young cat—though somewhat older for the normal apprentice—she wasn’t involved with the politics of clan life and she didn’t know much of Brownstar’s corruption. The only things she knew she found out from her mother, who was a fierce supporter of the deputy. She knew that her mother would leave and that was enough to get her thinking.

Then her best best friends sold her on the idea. Duckpaw, especially, was very much for the move, though she saw it as one giant “rebellion”, a “big adventure” that they would be “mousebrained not to participate in.” The way she talked about it, Goosepaw could see herself trekking through the long fields and harsh rocky mountains and she wouldn’t be afraid. And if her mother was going, her sister was going, her other two best friends were going—she was not going to be left behind. She did have to say goodbye to her mentor, but they had only been together for a week and so it was not hard at all. She was assigned a new one by Cedarclaw and well…life went on.

Yes, life did go on, despite the harrowing journey. Every night, they would set up some makeshift camp. For a day or so, there would be patrols and they would hunt for the clan cats. And then, after a day or so, they would pick themselves up and move again, traveling, traveling, always traveling. And Goosepaw’s apprenticeship did not stop. She went on every patrol, suddenly a vital piece—a young and strong and energetic cat, who could hunt for two and eat a little less than everyone else. The apprentices were actually worked harder than the actual warriors and Goosepaw found it both exhausting and exhilarating. This was the way to train a real warrior. Facing a new, strange territory every day gave her courage, but also made her careful. The very long, double, even triple hunts that she had to perform to feed her clanmates perfected her stalk and her quiet steps. The starvation she felt in her belly taught her about hardship.

Her apprenticeship was also a time, not only for physical growth, but for her emotional growth as well. She spent a massive amount of time with all of her friends, of course, but found that she spent more than any in particular: Cranepaw. Why? It was probably coincidence at first…but then Goosepaw found herself volunteering to be put on patrols that she knew Cranepaw was going on. She liked him. Like-liked him. It was her first taste of this kind of affection, but of course, not her last. Goosepaw admired him from a distance, however, finding herself shy when it came to her actual feelings. After all, she knew that Cranepaw only saw her as “one of the gang.” They had been friends for too long and Goosepaw would not ruin that because of her silly crush. Of course, it wasn’t a silly crush—it was a full-blown love sickness, and she was soon wracked with it every time she was near him. She barely managed to put on a smile and pretend that she felt just friendship for him as the moons progressed. Finally, she told her sister Duckpaw, and her other friend Loonpaw and some of the pressure was lifted as the two cats reassured her. Her confession matured the friendship they all had. No longer were they a band of troublemakers—they were cats ready to protect each other to the deaths. Of course, Cranepaw was left out of this little secret, and to this day, knows nothing of Goosepaw’s past feelings for him.

Warriorhood (The last five moons of the journey)

The day of the four friends’ warrior ceremony came early—or rather just on time, since they all got apprenticed two moons late. On the cusp of Goosepaw’s thirteenth moon, while the clan was picking their way through the forest, Cedarclaw stopped the cats and announced that here, in the middle of nowhere, he was going to perform the first warrior ceremony since the beginning of the journey. Goosepaw, at first, had no idea why he had chosen that moment. Looking back on it though, she understands that Cedarclaw didn’t just do it for her and her friends; they were an example that clan life could be preserved even when home was far away.

Goosepaw became Goosefur, Duckpaw became Duckstripe, Cranepaw to Cranetail, and Loonpaw took on the name Loonstep. But Goosefur felt no different than before. If anything, she was disappointed. Like before, she had wanted to prolong her eventual entry into adulthood as long as possible. But there was no denying it, she was a grown she-cat and a real Forestclan warrior.

The journey got harder and more cats were dying. Goosefur barely managed to keep her chin up as she saw her friends fade away to skin, to bones, to nothing at all. It was the hardest time for her and she became more of a queen than a real warrior, as she tended to the little kits born during the journey, and the sickly cats that were weaker than the rest of them. She didn’t hunt as much, didn’t go on patrols with her friends. She became more withdrawn as she decided to dedicate her time to those who needed her company. Goosefur played with the kits, told jokes, and spread laughs. It was her real strength, her greatest skill, and one she happily shared. It also provided a distraction from Cranetail, and her ongoing love for him. Getting space from him was enough to get Goosefur to put her head on straight and remember that she was just his best friend. It was enough to chase away most of her feelings, though some still lingered on.

And then, the introduction of Reynold—Cloudfang—diminished the rest of her desires. Her interest in Cloudfang was, at first, spurred by just curiosity. He was the first real rogue to make a splash in the ever changing group of cats. It wasn’t his pelt, or his name, it was more the way he presented himself that initially made Goosefur take real notice of him. So just like with Cranetail, she volunteered on patrols so she could get to know him. She never really talked directly to him, though every now and then they would have short, shallow conversations. Nothing too deep, nothing too lasting but enough for Goosefur to learn what kind of cat he was: Strong, fair, a real warrior, despite his rogue blood. She loved his enthusiasm for clan life—such enthusiasm she had only seen in a few other cats, let alone a foreign rogue. She began to fancy him—it was not as strong as her love for Crane, but it was growing steadily as she admired him and fantasized about actually talking to him—for real. And though Goosefur knew that most of it was just in her head, she couldn’t shake the smile she got on her muzzle when she looked at him. She was a romantic and Cloudfang had unknowingly made her fall for him. And such a thing had consequences.

All too soon, the massive group of cats—no longer just half a clan—found their way home. Cedarclaw declared the new found territory the place where they would set up camp. But they would not be together. There would be four clans now. Four clans, four territories, four leaders. And the family that the cats had become began to split up as the leaders emerged.

Cedarclaw claimed an expanse of field, calling it Meadowclan and taking on the suffix –star. Goosefur knew this wasn’t right for her. She was so used to hunting in forests and in streams. They had rarely ever stayed in a place with an open sky. It was too dangerous to be in the open like that.

Owlstar fled to the heavy forest but Goosefur didn’t like Owlstar’s way of leadership, and she didn’t want to be in a clan that was fiercely dedicated to Starclan. It wasn’t her, her beliefs were all over the place.

And then…Cloudfang was named the leader of Streamclan and it was set. For Goosefur, she couldn’t leave the tom she had been stalking admiring from afar. She fancied him too much, was too curious over what could happen to him. And the streams fit her perfectly. She loved wading in the water, she was an excellent fisher, and she had a knack for hunting in bushes as well. The idea of going to Pineclan entered her mind though, but in the end she was scared away by Gingerstar’s harshness. Who could stand that uptight she-cat?! The more Goosefur thought, the more Streamclan appealed to her. It was the perfect, perfect clan.

But her friends! Through some weird horror, they had all decided to choose different clans. Her sister was staying in Meadowclan, Loonstep revealed his atheism and fled to Pineclan, and Cranetail thought Fogclan to be the only reasonable choice. Just like that, the fearsome foursome, who had survived so much together, was separated.

“But we’ll stay best friends,” said Goosefur desperately, a tear in her voice. “Right?”

They vowed that they would, and then they parted ways for the first time in 18 moons. The adjustment to clan life, of course, was not easy, but soon Goosefur found a rhythm and she kept her smile on, and remained as childish—if not moreso—than ever. Every now and then though, she finds herself yearning for her friends and wishing that she was back on the journey, back on the road, where she was truly comfortable.

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