#ailurocide: droplet

[ailurocide]

Can we know a bit about the current Rough/Soft paws across the factions?

!!! Sure thing!

This took. So long.

The Highpeak (perhaps predictably) have the most paws’ out of the current factions.

Rat is the son of Newtbelly and the littermate of Mouse, and the oldest of the keenpaws. He is fierce, sharp, and a bit more aggressive than he needs to be - but Amberface specifically favors him due to his disposition, especially during these times of war. He’s especially protective of his family, especially his mother, whose own family - and faction - isn’t the greatest towards her. However his loyalty is to his faction above all.

Mouse is the daughter of Newtbelly and Rat’s littermate, and significantly more laidback than her brother. Despite her youth, she has a very good head on her shoulders, and often acts as the reason to Rat’s wrath. They make a very good team, though Mouse is deeply empathetic and senses that something is on the horizon… Something that threatens the whole of the Fealty, as well as her family. Too bad Rat doesn’t quite believe it…

Spider is the child of Magpiebelly and Toadfur, and Roach’s littermate. They are an extremely skilled hunter, very clever with their paws, and a brilliant strategist - so long as they’re on their own. When other folk get thrown into the equation, Spider has a tendency to freeze up, their voice failing, and just meekly nod along to whatever anyone else says, or plodding along in someone else’s shadow. They’re far more comfortable that way, anyway.

Roach is the daughter of Magpiebelly and Toadfur, and littermate of Spider. Unlike her littermate, Roach is immensely suave, cool, and self-assured, truthfully believing that she’s the best of the best and can accomplish literally anything if she sets her mind to it - and, in a way, she’s not incorrect to believe these things. She is very skilled, with a knack for picking things up incredibly easily, though she usually gets bored of whatever she’s working on shortly after perfecting it and has no issues moving onto the next thing without a glance behind her.

Vine and Mildew are littermates and foundlings, with no other family within the Highpeak. They’re pretty quiet and a little ostracized from the rest of the faction. They don’t have a whole lot of characterization, aside from Vine being very boisterous and Mildew being eager to please.

The Mightmire currently only has three paws’, due to the sudden plague that claimed so many lives.

Laurel is the daughter of Locustfang and the Mightmire’s head-guide, Mottletail, and littermate of Elm. She is sharp-tongued, competitive, and slightly egotistical — though not without reason. With her parents’ rankings and own skill backing her up, Laurel is fully convinced that she is the best of the best, which doesn’t help when she easily masters new things, skillfully passes any assessment, and is her parents’ favorite child, revered and spoiled by the faction, as she is viewed as an herald of good fortune and good times ahead. Though… she’s still just a paw’, and pressure has a tendency to prey on insecurities, no matter how deeply they’ve been buried.

Elm is Laurel’s far more reserved littermate, son of Mottletail and Locustfang, and the most least-assuming of his family — not for a lack of trying on his part, however. He’s desperate to prove himself as something, anything, so long as he can gain attention for him being him, not merely the son of the head-guide, not merely the grandson of a fairlead with a failed legacy, not merely the little brother of an already so accomplished folk budding with promise that he doesn’t possess. But he’ll make sure that he’s seen — one way or another. He has to…

Pigeon is Shrikethroat’s son, and successor to the Mightmire’s successor — though this doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest. He’s a ball of energy and curiosity, constantly trying to test both the boundaries of those around him and even the physical boundaries of the faction, which oftentimes lands him in trouble that he just shakes off easier than rain water. What are rules for if not to be broken, after all? And if a rule was made for any other reason, then, well, he’ll just figure that out on his own. No harm no foul, not in his eyes! Even still, with so much going for him, Pigeon can’t help but feel dissatisfied, somehow… That more lays beyond the home he knows, and he’s determined to see it… Someday.

The Outpour faction has four paws’ currently, and all of them come from very different origins.

Talma is currently the eldest of the paws’, but only by a single moon ahead of Moss and Fern, and has only been a rough-paw for two. They are the child of the late Brimnose, as well as an Evergreen, though those who have knowledge of this are limited to very few. They are a bold presence, with an untamed tongue and a do-it-yourself sort of attitude, with very little patience for anything that they don’t deem to be “exciting”. Talma is the Outpour’s little prince that shines under attention, spoiled absolutely rotten due to the circumstances of their family — but, in turn, only truly thrives under the attention of Beaverback and Ibisfang.

Moss is the daughter of Bassnose, and littermate of Fern. She is a bit of a black sheep within her faction, being unusually quiet and reserved, more eager to spend time alone than with others, and far more comfortable in silence than making songs. She was close with her littermate, and close-ish with Talma, and very close with her mentor, Ibisfang, but otherwise? She was okay with being in the shadows, not under the eye of anyone, merely going about her time occasionally wishing for attention but never actively pursuing it… Until him.

Fern is Moss’s littermate and the firstborn daughter of Bassnose. In contrast to her sister, Fern is bright, bubbly, and sociable, with a fierce temper and a genuine lack of understanding towards Moss’s meek demeanor. It’s best to stand in the spotlight, draw eyes and attention, and she just can’t get why her sister prefers to lurk in the shadow of that weirdo sharpclaw that nobody even likes… She does her best to push Moss further into the spotlight, but if there was one thing that Moss inherited from their father, it was her stubbornness — but Fern remains determined that she can, one day, coax her littermate into standing under the spotlight with her.

Droplet is the only daughter of a cross-faction couple, her parents Chatterheart and Railfoot, and also the only one of her litter to have remained within the Outpour where they were born. Web and Tangle, her littermates, were the strongest, and thus left to be with their father’s kin as soon as they were able to, but Droplet was the runt, despite also being the litter’s firstborn, so it was deemed too dangerous to move her, even as she grew older. She’s a very subdued type, quiet and most comfortable in the shadows. Her emotions are very dim, though she doesn’t find any issue with that, and still goes about her days with her head held as high as she dares despite her small stature.

Heavy is the faction’s only soft-paw, currently, and a foundling. His lack of family within the Outpour doesn’t perturb him at all, though, and doesn’t dim his bright, sunshine attitude any, either. While his body is large and thickset, a quality held in great regards to his faction, it is also notably weak, though not even that can slow his role. He is loud, proud, and endlessly curious, often pushing himself past his body’s bounds and ending up on strict nest-rest… Much to his frustration, and much to the exhaustion of his mentor. Despite this, he is beloved by the older keenpaws, and they all treat him as a little sibling, offering him the attention and love that causes him to thrive even further.

The Undermoor faction boasts keenpaws all of very notable pedigree, something that, individually, they all find great pride in.

Thrush is the daughter of Linnetwhisker, sister of Larkpelt, and Stagclaw. She is also the littermate of Shrike, whom she is immensely close with, even by the Undermoor’s standards. While Thrush is the “darker” half of the Undermoor’s favorite twins, with a bit of a downer disposition and a tendency to believe the worst first, her brother balances her out nicely — not that her incredible hunting and tracking skills don’t already bolster her name on its own.

Shrike is the littermate of Thrush, son of Linnetwhisker and Stagclaw, a descendant of one of the Fealty’s Founders, and is the faction’s “most popular girl”. He is friendly, intelligent, bubbly, and always eager to help others, especially if that means he can coax a conversation out of them, as well. And, despite being beloved by pretty much everyone, his favorite folk is his sister and littermate. They’re practically attached at the hip, and he certainly doesn’t mind when she overshadows his skills at times; he’s practically mastered the art of combat, and that’s good enough for him.

Cotton is a lone-litter cub, the only child of Hazethroat and Hareheart, and granddaughter to Cloudheart (also her mentor) and Woollytail respectively. While relatively laidback most of the time, she also sports a fierce temper that is quite easily provoked if you know which buttons to press, and is generally an unassuming hothead with a no-nonsense attitude… Though she still bears a deep sense of pride and love for her faction and fellow keenpaws.

Web is a jerk. Every paw’ in the den can agree, even his own littermate, Tangle. He has a sharp tongue and sharper claws to back him up, a true bullying type who likes to pick on those smaller than him just for the fun of it — especially Cotton, whose status as an only child is frowned upon in the Undermoor, and serves as easy prey for him whenever he becomes bored. And sure, there’s probably a lot of issues lurking beneath the surface that he needs to deal with… But those are so messy, and just being rude to express his frustrations is so much easier.

Tangle is Web’s littermate, child of Chatterheart of the Outpour and Railfoot of the Undermoor, grandchild of Quailtongue, and vastly different to their brother. They’re actually far closer to their sister, Droplet, even if their meetings are rare; both are softspoken and introspective, somewhat easily distractible, and far more comfortable lurking in the shadows cast by their brother’s jarring light.

Wheat, Rush, Teasel and Barley are the children of Pheasantfang, Rabbitear, and Oatwhisker, brand new soft-paws, newly named — and with very little actual characterization. Rush and Teasel are mollies and twins, Wheat is also a molly, and Barley is the only tom.

BONUS:

Castel is the only companion of the Sunguard House that is currently undergoing training, being raised right alongside the house Head’s favored, only male heir, and being meticulously groomed into the heir’s loyal protector and servant. And, despite being well aware of his destiny as a mindless attendant, he still fiercely holds onto his curiosity and penchant for mild mischief — something that is only encouraged by the soft-spoken, meek Sachairi, who is his best friend first, and overseer last.

[ailurocide]

Everybody loves Droplet?? So much lmao???

Sorry to disappoint y’all but I think Droplet has like. ONE line in the whole of the arc 💀

[ailurocide]

Tangle, Web, and Droplet are very interesting to me, what’s their deal in a bit more depth - family drama or faction drama, specifically 👀 -🪷

There is SO MUCH drama happening within these guys, honestly… Though mostly it’s around and between Web and Railfoot lmao; Railfoot tries too hard and Web turns his nose up at it

Chatterheart and Railfoot were a simple fling; Chatterheart had a moment of comphet, and Railfoot’s ego was inflated by the fact that he was specifically sought out for a night of passion, so they shacked up a couple of times before Chatterheart ended up pregnant.

Chatterheart didn’t want cubs at all, but her parents convinced her to at least keep one of the litter to carry out their legacy, so she carried to term. Railfoot had no idea about her pregnancy until she was showing up with two of the three new-blooms, telling them that they were his, and then dipping back out.

Undermoor family dynamics are very different than the other factions; cubs are raised by the whole of the faction rather than just their parents, and are expected to be very close with their littermates, as the Undermoor holds a very notable “together we are strong” mentality that was born from the notion that a group of folk is harder to pick off than a lone folk. Tangle and Web are incredibly close due to this, and Tangle keeps their hot-headed, cruel-tongued brother in check as much as they can. Since there were originally three in the litter, they’ve also kind of adopted the single child Cotton into their squad, despite Web’s bullying of her.

Railfoot, despite his best efforts of being involved in their raising (since he’s from outside the faction), is kind of shunned by Tangle and Web. So he turned more aggressive, trying to brute force his way into their lives, and then got dragged back by his factionmates or told off by his son.

The Outpour also raises a cub through faction, but the bloodkin are expected to be much more paws-on. As Chatterheart didn’t want to raise any cubs, she handed off Droplet’s raising to her parents (Teaktooth and Shimmeringface) and then went off to just… live her life. Droplet is aware that Chatterheart is her mother, but moreso views her as a distant sister-figure instead. Droplet also doesn’t hold any bitterness towards her, as the situation was explained to her pretty young; she understands fine, and she doesn’t need a parent when she has her grandparents.

Tangle, Web, and Droplet have met a few times at Gatherings, where Droplet also met Cotton. Droplet is closer to Cotton than she is her littermates.

Tangle and Web also met Chatterheart, and respect her as a linguist and songsmith, but nothing more. Droplet met Railfoot, who immediately tried to smother her with “parental love”, and she wasn’t impressed — by him, nor by his attempts.

[ailurocide]

Also, no specific questions, is there anything you think is interesting about Droplet you could share? I love ‘em already :3

She’s a calico! (Black-silver-and-mostly white)

She chose her name first out of her littermates, despite being named last.

Her favorite foods are anything with a shell. (She likes the crunch)