Post by ♏aple♢ on Sept 7, 2015 0:37:11 GMT
 Stone When you wake up from a nightmare and realize that you were the villain. That the fear you felt was not of the monsters hiding in the shadows, but of the monsters hiding in your own heart. general info
APPEARANCE
Is this even a cat? Are you sure it's not a... Lynx? Or bobcat? Or ANYTHING ELSE? No? Really,,,:? Well, I'd hate to see the size of his parents then. Yes, Stone is an absolutely massive tom. He towers well over most other cats he encounters, being quite large even for a mountain cats. They breed them large up there in those cold and dangerous places. The cats seemingly have to be as big as the mountains in which they live to survive. And oh, does Stone fit that bill. His build is thick and powerful, long-furred and heavily muscled. Seasons of harsh training and brutal discipline have made Stone into a beast of a cat. His paws are large, his limbs thick, and his face hard. He's a handsome enough tom. Intimidating, stone-faced, terrifying, but handsome. His face is broad with a wide muzzle, and his eyes are a deep copper. They're hard- just like the rest of him. That was how he was raised. Strong toms shouldn't wear their hearts on their sleeves. Strong toms shouldn't wear them anywhere. He walks with heavy pawsteps and purpose. Stone's coat is long and rather unique. Well, not in comparison to his family, but to the average cat he might stand out. If he wasn't already standing out for his size and hard demeanor, that was. Long and silver gray is his undercoat, thick and perfect for dealing with cold temperatures. His pelt is very dense, making him seem larger than he actually is (which is an impressive feat in itself). His throat and underbelly are a pale gray, thick and unruly. His overcoat is what really catches the eye. Dark stripes, black and pronounced line his body. His muzzle is speckled darkly at the base of his whiskers, and his nose and pawpads are black.  personality
Strong, solitary, silent. Brave and vicious, hard and cold. That was the kind of cat Stone was raised to be. That was the cat he was brought up to be, and the cat that he's live most of his life as. Living that life- wearing a skin that wasn't his, making decisions that always felt wrong, constantly trying to prove himself in a world against him- was what nearly drove him mad. Selfish, perhaps, not to want to spend your entire life screaming on the inside. His family certainly thought so. Stone himself, too. Years of being beaten into the dust with sharp fangs and words that cut deeper than any claw have hardened him. Made him confused about who he is- who he ever really was in the first place, but unwilling to find out. Shame is ingrained in his soul as deeply as his stripes on his pelt. He feels like the kind of dirty that water cant wash out, and has nearly drowned himself in efforts to feel clean. He wants praise, love, acceptance. He wants to protect the weak and challenge the brutal. To be able to let himself thaw. But past experience has left its mark on him. Cats don't want gentle toms- toms who are free with their hearts and generous with their love and smile like the sun and could talk for hours on end about nothing but the shade of the sky. They want warriors. Fierce and brave, callous and calculating. Ambitious, brave soldiers who don't take no for an answer and get what they want no matter how they have to get it. They want everything that Stone isn't, and everything that he forces himself to be.
HISTORY "Either this disgraceful act ends now, or your life does. I have nine sons. I will not tolerate one acting the she-cat." Stone had felt his blood run cold, heart freezing mid-beat. Eight moons old with his kit-fluff just beginning to fade, he had wanted nothing more than to make his father proud. That was all he had ever wanted. He was so young, still just learning. He didn't know between good and bad- especially not of the world in which he grew. He didn't understand why toms couldn't like hunting more than fighting, or lying in the sun instead of battle training. Why he wasn't allowed to spend time with toms outside of his family- all he wanted was to learn more about the world, that was all he'd wanted. And when he'd asked his father, what he'd gotten was a bloodied cheek and ears that would bare clawmarks for the rest of his life. That was the day that Stone learned to hide. Fighting to survive was part of their life. Rogues to the core, Rockslide was a ruthless father. Rayleigh was a strict mother. Blizzard, Cyclone, Striker, Thunder, Lightning, and Hazard were vicious siblings. Cats had to work hard to live in that life, and family was competitive. Fighting over what food was brought home. Battling over den space. Ambushes while hunting. It kept the gene pool clean, or so they said. With older siblings determined to make his life a living hell, Stone had to grow up strong. He had to be quick-minded. He had to learn how to conceal himself- both mentally and emotionally. He had to bring honor to his family, as his father would call it. They all had to bring honor to the family. The family was the least honorable thing that Stone could think of. He didn't realize it until his tenth moon. Still so young, but more than old enough to be considered an adult in that wretched world. He'd gone hunting with his youngest brother. Snake, a litter younger than he, hadn't completely succumbed to their lifestyle yet. He was to teach the tom to be strong. His father had sneered giving him the task- "If you want to act like a queen, why don't you take care of the kits?" Stone didn't understand what his words meant. Not yet. He fought just as hard as his siblings- why was he singled out like this? It had to have been because of his questions. But he was still determined- so determined to prove himself. If his father wanted him to teach Snake, then he would train Snake into the best damned hunter this hellhole had ever seen. Snake would never become a fine hunter. Snake would not live to see his fifth moon. After giving basic instructions, Stone and his brother had split. Rogues did not hunt together, even when living in familial units. Stone's instructions had been thorough however, and he believed that Snake would do a fine job. He hunted for a time, catching a handsome cache of prey. In the moons to come he would forget what he had captured, but not the sight that would meet him once he'd returned to their designated meeting place. Three fully grown toms- warriors with seasons experience greater than he- beating his youngest brother to a pulp. Snake, who hadn't yet grown to fear questions. Who still smiled at Stone's jokes. Who had been so eager to learn. To prove himself to their father, just as Stone had been. Stone flew into a blind rage. He must have blacked out- or blocked the memory from his mind- for the next thing he could recall was standing over their limp bodies. Stone carried his brother back to their family home wordlessly. And when he arrived home, he found his father waiting at the entrance to his family's den with a smile. It had been a test. To prove his manhood, and to prove that he could be a cat worthy of being called 'son'. Rockslide had told him that he was proud that he'd finally become a man. When Stone asked of Snake, appalled, his father had shrugged. 'It was natural selection', he'd said. Snake had gotten in the way. He'd come back too soon, and it was his own laziness had been at fault. What mattered was that Stone had preformed better than any of his brothers, pulling him from the lowest of rank to the highest. If he had not already been the star target of his brothers, this would have brought him center stage. The beatings got worse, but Rockslide was finally proud of him. Stone began to wonder if the pride had ever been worth it at all. "Your best isn't good enough! Don't let yourselves become complacent! We will regain our former glory." It should have been expected that their society would crumble. Should have been, but wasn't. It fell around the time of Stone's first year, collapsing into chaos. Rockslide was furious. He wasn't ready to let his power go, and so he dragged Stone along with what sons remained alive to the mountains. To the tribe. A group of cats, strange as they may have been, was better than no group at all. Their values were different from the ones that Stone had been raised with and it took time to adjust. He didn't have much room to either, considering his father's obsession with regaining their former status. Fighting skills weren't as heavily valued in this tribe. No, doing battle with your tribemates was looked down upon- forbidden, even. And so, they had to find some other way to earn their names. Hunting. This was a place where Stone could shine. Despite his large size and slow movements, he enjoyed hunting and considered himself to be good at it. His father set sky-high standards now, however. Dragging them out of their nests in the middle of the night. Traipsing them through harsh terrain and dangerous peaks, telling them to set their sights on deadly prey. Most often the heavily guarded hatchlings of eagles. The tasks he set forth were near impossible for some of the brothers, with their monstrous size and brains fit for fighting over strategy. But Rockslide worked them to the bone. Sometimes beyond. He may have been the star child now, but his father still imposed impossible standards. Perhaps higher standards than his siblings, given his favored status. Hunt twice as much as the tribe cats. Work through the day and train through the night. Don't sleep until absolutely necessary and never make an embarrassment of yourself. Do not show your emotions and do not grow close with these cats. We are meant to be above them, not with them. By the time he'd reached proper adulthood, Stone had nearly been driven mad. But he found his saving grace where he'd least expected it. Rockslide had sent Stone out to preform an impossible feat. 'Hunt down and kill a bobcat, or do not return.' His standards had been growing higher and higher with each day. Stone was running ragged on lack of sleep and nearly feral from absence of proper social interaction. He was more beast than cat. He slept. He woke. He followed orders. He slept again. But nothing that he did was good enough. It would never be good enough. Stone had to be inherently flawed, otherwise his father wouldn't be working so hard to fix him. But what did 'good enough' even mean? He felt a deep seated hatred burning within him, but he could never pinpoint for what. He didn't know who he was imagining in the Bobcat's face as he sunk his claws into the creature, his father or himself. Of course, no one cat could take on a bobcat alone. Even one as massive as Stone. Or... not in his state, at least. The creature had had him pinned, readying itself to end his life when something had hit the side of it's face. A giant ball of... dung. The beast had reeled and yowled in horror, giving Stone just the chance he needed. Stone slew the beast, and when he turned to find his savior he was surprised at what he found. A she-cat. He'd been taught all his life that she-cats were weak and frail, only meant for hunting, gossiping, and raising young. And yet here was this molly, all too happy to claim responsibility for the life-saving throw. She said her name was Raven, and she was a healer. Stone felt a horrible sense of shame at having been assisted- no, saved by a she-cat. And he was even more horrified when the damn thing followed him home! He couldn't exactly chase her off dragging a bobcat in his jaws, and he just had to put up with it it seemed. He'd hoped she would leave him be once they reached his home, but no. The harpy joined the tribe! Stone wanted to strangle the she-cat in his embarrassment, but he owed her and he knew it. But as it turned out... She wasn't that bad. She and Stone began to spend time together. Or rather, Raven began to follow him around. While Rockslide was glad of his son finally spending time with a she-cat 'like a real tom', he heavily disapproved of her ragtag status and apparent lack of fighting ability. He scared Raven off, going so far to scar the she-cat's flank when Stone refused to do so himself. However, this did not deter Raven. For the very next day she returned, informing Stone's father that she was now the healer's apprentice. She dared him to say a word about her befriending of Stone now. And after his father had left, Stone had nearly died laughing at the sight of his father's face when a she-cat one third went toe to toe with him. Yeah... Raven wasn't that bad at all. After that, they became the best of friends. Family by bond, rather than blood. Honestly, Stone had experienced enough blood to last a lifetime. For the first time... Stone felt like he was allowed to feel. To laugh. To talk. To just... be a person. To be treated like one. It was a stark change, and Stone began to realize just how wrong his life had been up until this point. He'd realized that perhaps his family's way of life hadn't been something to be proud of... But now he discovered how much it had distorted his view of the world. How much it had distorted his view of others, and of himself. He began to realize that maybe he was better than all of this. The killing, the savagery, the bloodshed. He also realized, thanks to Raven, that he could never love a she-cat. If he could, she would have been perfect for him in every way. She had opened his eyes to the world, and they were closer than family. He loved her dearly and she loved him as well. But it was only platonic. Could only be platonic. On his end at the very least. She was like the sister that he'd never had, but he could never give her the kind of love she wanted. The kind of love, or life, that she deserved. When his father began to push harder for Stone to find a mate, Raven offered herself. She knew that nothing but friendship would come of it, and she offered even so. And Stone... couldn't do it. Stone had discovered so much about himself since meeting Raven. He learned that he could enjoy things. He wasn't just good at hunting, he loved it. He loved sunning on the stones and relaxing after a hard day's work. He found that he loved kits. While the rest of his family thought them weak and pathetic, Stone adored them. So sweet and innocent, blind to the cruelty of the world. He longed to protect them. Who would have thought that Stone- massive, cold, Stone- would adore the tiny lives that even Raven would grumble about? And he could make jokes. Under Raven's careful tutelage, Stone found that he could even be funny. And he enjoyed it. Raven said that he was even surprisingly witty under his whole 'I'll-kill-you-if-you-breathe-wrong' persona. For the first time in his life, Stone had a sister. Stone had family. And despite his brutal upbringing, he could not bring himself to let her ruin her life for him. He refused to take advantage of her love, despite his brutal upbringing that told him it was justified. He wanted to be better than that. 'Better' just turned out to be taking on someone else. He couldn't keep his father at bay forever. Stone knew this. So instead of the healer's apprentice, he chose the next best viable option. The Chief's daughter. Avalanche.. was not a difficult cat to woo. Word had it that she'd been paws over tail for him for quite some time, and it took only the mere mention of the idea to her after a few moons courting. Raven told him that there were plenty of she-cats in the tribe who felt this way about he and his brothers. It was their 'cool, distant demeanor' that Rockslide's kits held about them. Little did they know that that 'demeanor' had been beaten into them through years of violence, manipulation, and abuse. That that 'demeanor' was what kept them from ever escaping their father's grasp, and that half his brothers would sooner gut a cat than mate them. It turned Stone's stomach. Avalanche seemed like... a decent cat, though. Kind enough. Massive, high ranking. A cat who would make his father proud. Maybe he could even grow to love her, if he tried hard enough. In a way. Eventually. As soon as he stopped feeling claustrophobic whenever they were alone together. At several points he tried to open up to Avalanche. He tried to share his softer side- the side that loved newborns and warm Greenleaf days and joking and chattering about nothing important for hours. The side that he'd hidden for years and, with the awakening he'd found in Raven, wanted so desperately to share. The side that so desperately wanted not to be alone. But each time he did so, Stone was met with strange looks. Avalanche laughed at him, claiming he should not try to act like a she-cat to please her. Those words stung him worse than any claw. His father's voice echoed in his ears. His chest constricted and the claustrophobia increased. But still, he tried. Then she seemed dissatisfied, wanting to know why he was behaving so strangely. Again, like his father. After all, no tom was allowed to be anything less than bloodthirsty. No tom could ever want not to be a warrior. No tom could ever show emotion, or laugh, or just have.. a softer side. Eventually she went to, of all cats, Rockslide for answers. The older tom, red with rage and embarrassment that his son was not 'performing properly', took Stone from camp. He beat him until he lost consciousness. Stone never again tried to open up to his mate after the incident. She hemmed and hawed over him for days, 'nursing him back to health' as she put it. As if the damnable wench hadn't put him in that situation in the first place. When he angrily brushed her off, all Avalanche did was smile warmly at her. 'Its alright, i know you love me anyways'. As if she thought that was a sign of love! When he stopped trying to share with her, when he withdrew into himself, he saw her happiness only rise, content that her mate was not somehow damaged in the head. Because seemingly cruelty and distance was the only thing that this she-cat could understand for a male. Maybe Raven had been wrong. Maybe he had been a fool all along, and toms were supposed to be as Avalanche wanted. Stone bitterly cursed that if only one of his other brothers had gotten to Avalanche first, she could have gotten exactly what she wanted. A heartless, rage-filled monster to keep her as a cute little pet, possessive and cold as the snow that froze a cat's tail off in the Leaf-Bare. The pressure of always being on alert, of always being angry and possessive to keep up appearances for his family and mate, was stifling. Stone felt more and more of his new budding self dying each day. The joy, the humor, the tenderness. He hated them all for it. He hated himself for it. Stone spiraled downwards into a pit of constant anxiety, aggressiveness, and self-loathing. He was even forced away from Raven when one night, Avalanche sobbed to him over how she felt he was leaving her for another she-cat. Was she not enough for him? Would he never open up to her? Why would he not talk with his mate? Oh, Stone had tried. And it had gotten him broken back down into the beast he'd always been. Maybe the beast he had always supposed to be. She wanted him on a kept leash, and it was strangling the last vestiges of sanity from his mind. And then, in a stellar show of irony and queen bitchery, she had begun sleeping around on him. It was unbelievable. And stars, the things he'd been forced to endure over that. His family nearly skinned him. Any tiny scrap of respect he'd earned from them or his tribemates withered. Everything he'd worked his entire life for. His father's pride. His siblings respect. A place in a group where he could provide for others and be praised. Every. Single. Thing. Gone. With their respect died a part of Stone, and he hated Avalanche for it. He hated her more and more with each passing day. She'd acted so coy, so delightful and pretty on the outside. But behind closed doors Stone knew the truth. She was nothing more than a heartless banshee, wailing her sorrows to anyone who would listen even as she strangled the life out of him one day at a time. He was ensnared, a prisoner in his own life. A prisoner in his own heart. The point came at which they didn't even keep up appearances. When his 'mate' looked at him, he knew that her mind was elsewhere. On other toms. In other nests. She never saw him- never truly saw him for who he was. She never had. She never would. Avalanche had never even tried. What was the point in reaching out, if all it would get you was pain? Punishment? Shame? What was... What was the damned point in anything. Some days he just wanted to grab her and scream in her face, just to see if she would even react to it with more than a curious blink or that same dopey smile she gave him every single day. Every. Single. Day. Eventually, he snapped. Burning from the harsh words of a few male tribemates about his mate's promiscuity, he had stormed to their nest to get some peace and quiet. But there was Avalanche, lying happy as a cat with cream. Stone found it on the tip of his tongue to snarl out just whose cream it was this time, but he held it back by a very slim margin. Very slim. Then Avalanche started to talk. Stars how he hated that voice. How he hated that distant smile she gave him every day, even as she went out to find even more new and creative ways to make his life a living hell. This was a mistake. This had all been a mistake. This she-cat had cost him everything he had. Every ounce of respect, every ounce of pride. Each and every one of the few friends that he'd managed to earn now laughed at him, or had been pushed away. And she just laid here! Chattering on without a care in the world, as if nothing was wrong. And finally he was unable to take it anymore. She shoved her head up against him for a nuzzle, pushing right into a bruise that one of his brothers had happily administered the day before. His control broke, and he slipped into a blind rage. When Stone came back to himself, he found the she-cat huddled and terrified on the floor. Stone stepped backwards, horrified and unsure of what he had done. Realization hit him. Sickened with himself- with the cat he had now become- he ran with the sound of the she-cat's sobs slipping out of the nest after him. He ran to the only person he could think of. Raven calmed and soothed him, even as Stone puked his guts out in her den and babbled near-incoherently from shock and horror. He was disgusted. Disgusting. A monster, just like his father. Raven convinced him that this farce wasn't worth what it was doing to the both of them. He had to break it off, no matter what the consequences. With shaking paws and his head hung low, he returned to his nest the next morning- to find Avalanche more sweet and loving than ever. She doted on him and spoke loving to him, gentle as sweet as could be. For a few days they pretended as if nothing had ever happened. It seemed like nothing had ever happened. But the blossoming bruises beneath fur and the burning shame in Stone's heart told him otherwise. Maybe.. things would be alright, now. He hoped. But a few days. That was all it took for the flightly she-cat to stray again. This time, Stone tried to end the relationship for good. He could not live like this. No sane cat could. But Avalanche cried and wailed, tackling him to the ground. Stone reacted on instinct, striking the she-cat, and she.... calmed down. She spoke rationally. She acted like she was fine with... This. Whatever in the name of the stars this was. Stone didn't know what to think. Fine, Stone decided, his anger flaring at the lot life had given him. At the parallels between this and his youth that he was too afraid to draw. If she really wanted to live in hell, he could school her on that. And then some. Maybe then she would actually appreciate it when a tom tried to share his heart with her, rather than snatch it out of his chest and feed it to him. For moons they danced this dance. This horrible, sickening dance. Avalanche actually left him be sometimes now- even without crawling into other cats' nests. His family approved of him. The tribe respected him. All it had cost him was his humanity, but, who really needed that anyway? All it had ever gotten him was hurt. Beaten. Broken down. Furious. And now, he had the perfect outlet for it. Raven tried to talk to him, but he was through with being the good cat. All the world had ever wanted him to be was a monster, and he was sick of fighting fate. The angry, violent young tom he had been before Raven entered his life returned. And he was all too happy to reign down his fury on the bitch who had killed any goodness left in him. Stone lost himself in the haze of rage and fury that he had kept locked away all his life. He gave in to his demons -right up until the moment he killed his own kits. The tom had never meant to hurt them. He... he had never even thought that... Stone's entire body had shook with horror and revulsion as Avalanche was led away and his face was pressed into the dirt by the cats that were supposed to be his friends. He shoved his tribemates off and escaped into the woods. He was sick in a bush and his breath came in ragged gasps as he tried to cope with what he had done, just like he had so many moons before. But this time there was no Raven to console him. And this time he had not hit his tormentor, but rather his own kits. Young, innocent, sweet kits. Kits who hadn't looked a thing like him or their mother. As strong as he was, he... he had probably killed them. He had killed his own kits. A murderer. A kit killer, That was what he was. Stone's eyes swamp with tears as agony ripped through him and he howled up to the stars above. Was this the father he had become? Was he the exact same monster as his own father? The idea had him retching all over again as his stomach and mind revolted against it. Stars, he was a monster. He was no better than the bastard that had raised him. He was no better than their mother that had tried to poison so many several moons ago. I don't want to live like this anymore. Stone returned to the den, his head low and his tail dragging. Please -please just let them kill me and get it over with. He came back only to find his kits were alive. Relief washed over him, but it was only momentary.Two of them at least, one had died in the night -but he was forbidden to see them. Only their mother was allowed close. The one who had already tried to kill them when she'd first learned of her pregnancy, and likely would have if not for him beating the fear of god into her. The one who had tried to hide the illegitimacy of their family and her own unfaithfulness by killing her kits herself. Terrified for his remaining son and daughter be they blood or not, and not wholly convinced the she-cat had not killed their firstborn herself, he was ready to crash his way in and take the kits from her right then. Luckily, Raven talked sense into him. He trusted her to come up with a plan to protect Avalanche from the kits, while he spread the truth, the real truth, about the kit's mother to the Tribe. Avalanche ran off with his son a few days later. Raven told him she had lied to the she-cat. Had tricked her into thinking her daughter was dead, but had not been able to fool her about her son. The crazed she-cat had gone off to the forests in search of her brother to raise the tom, but any cat with half a brain knew the newborn would never survive the journey. Stone knew his son was dead. Heartsick over the cruelty and selfishness of others, Stone curled around his one remaining kit. His eyes were dull. Stone was dead inside. But this kit... Alive. She was so small, so frail and helpless. How could she possibly survive in such a cutthroat world? This world of demons and monsters and cats who cared for nothing but themselves? Raven told him her name was Summit. He could not have cared less. She could have been named Viper for all he cared. She was alive, and whole, and that was all that mattered. At three moons, Stone left the tribe behind to protect his daughter and ensure she was never corrupted by his family's bloodlust. He pleaded with Raven to come with him, but she stayed to ensure his family would not try to follow him. He apologized one last time for not being able to love her. If only he could have, so much pain and heartache could have been avoided. But fate was cruel and if wishes were prey, beggars would never starve. . THREAD TRACKER This section is not necessary, but is provided if a member wishes to keep track of the threads that this character participates in. | ooc info  ☆ NAME☆ Maple ☆ OTHER CHARACTERS☆ STARLINGFUR TURTLEFROST TORNPELT CHERRYKIT WOLFKIT SNIPEKIT HAWKKIT MISTLEKIT Rosekit |