Post by Taxx on May 16, 2018 18:30:35 GMT
SERAPH
Just like fire, burning out the way
If I can light the world up for just one day
Watch this madness, colorful charade
No one can be just like me anyway
If I can light the world up for just one day
Watch this madness, colorful charade
No one can be just like me anyway
BASIC INFORMATION
Name: Seraph
Gender: She-cat
Age: 85 moons
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Affiliation: Patria
Residence: Patrian cottage
Rank: Royal Family
PERSONALITY
Appearance: Long-haired, dark brown-and-black she-cat with yellow eyes
General Description: Seraph is a no-nonsense she-cat, used to having others do as she says from her past seasons of being Patria's Matriarch. Though she has since given up that role to her daughter, she is still a highly influential cat who isn't afraid to offer her view on a situation or give advice, even if she isn't asked. She has, for the most part, done her best to keep from undermining her daughter, giving her the authority a Matriarch is entitled to, but she will readily offer wisdom if Sophie asks for it.
Her children and her grandkits, Shiloh and Sylvia, are her world and she would do anything to keep them safe. She'll never forget, or forgive, Hayneedle for his attempt to kill Sophie after killing her five kits, and she hates that he escaped without receiving the punishment he deserved. That incident has made her much more wary of outsiders, male and female alike, and she became more wary even of cats who came from the other colonies, though she never closed her borders to Soror and Viridity.
Since her retirement, Seraph has turned to healing to fill her days- she can be a bit short-tempered, but she's always had a good memory and learning herbs and treatments offers a way to remain useful- she simply can't imagine lying around all day and doing nothing. She does, however, enjoy moments shared over prey, talking to friends she's known for moons on moons, relationships that have lasted since before Sophie took her first breath.
Strengths: Communication, listening, problem-solving
Weaknesses: Ruthless with outsiders, does not like being questioned, can be a bit overbearing
Goals/Ambitions: To help her daughter make Patria as grand as it's ever been
Worst Fear: Losing everyone she cares for
Likes: Spending time with her loved ones, helping others sort out their problems
Dislikes: Newcomers to the colony, laziness
Habits: Tends to be a bit pushy, rarely sits still for any length of time
FAMILY
- Daughter: Sophie, Matriarch of Patria
- Numerous other sons and daughters
- Granddaughter: Shiloh
- Granddaughter: Sylvia
HISTORY
Seraph was the lastborn in her mother's third litter. Life started poorly for her; she was weak and easily pushed aside by her bigger siblings. With her mother's help, however, she survived, and when weaned on to solid food, she seemed to make up for the early weeks of uncertainty. She grew quickly and blossomed into a strong-willed she-cat- perhaps a bit too strong-willed. From one extreme to the other, her mother teased, but her birthright was as solid as any of her older sisters, and Starling included her in the lessons that she might one day need.
The relationship between Seraph and her most of her older sisters was a bit strained, and aside from their lessons they rarely spent time together. It suited Seraph just fine; they were bossy and irritating, thinking they knew better just because they were older- as if her being younger meant she was automatically more stupid than they. Determined to prove she was not, Seraph became intent on showing the older mollies up, pushing herself to excel at every aspect of the training they all acquired.
Aside from her bothersome sisters, however, Seraph was friendly enough. She had friends among her colony-mates that she spent time with when not training, and she had a fondness for kits- especially those who were timid or undersized or picked on for whatever reason. Stature never defines the cat, she would tell the young ones- what was inside counted far more than physical appearance. After all, strength meant nothing to the Physician, or the Midwife- their talents lay in skills based other than in physical areas, didn't it?
For whatever reason, when Seraph had reached her second year, Starling announced that she would continue on the line of Matriarchs. To most, it was news received with joy. To her sisters, however, it was intolerable. When arguing with Starling changed nothing, a few left, protesting the choice. Some stayed, however, and while some of these slowly accepted the idea, it was the ones who struck up trouble in petty ways that caused strife. It caused disruption in a usually peaceful colony, discontent gradually building until it came to a head one day.
It was no explosive outburst that ended it, just Seraph finally putting her paw down and putting an end to the older mollies' irritations. It was her first true test in standing on her own paws, handling the situation without her mother backing her up- even as she did so quietly- and the strife her sisters were causing came to an end. Those who remained accepted her reign and continued to enjoy the benefits of being part of the Royal family. Those who refused, left.
Seraph's lessons in leadership continued for many moons; her mother had been fairly young when she had chosen Seraph to follow her, and only the outbreak of disease brought about her end. At forty moons, Seraph took over leadership in her mother's stead, and the older she-cat was buried with proper ceremony.
Wary of leaving the colony without a successor, Seraph was quick to find a willing tom. They mated, but there was no lingering attachment, and the single kit Seraph bore was all she could have hoped for. A female, so close to her own color they could only be mother and daughter, and the future of Patria. Seraph only waited until the kit had survived her earliest moons before naming her, and announcing to Patria that the next in line had been born. Little Sophie, bright-eyed from the start, ensured the continuation of leaders that traced right back to the first, Patricia.
Seraph gave the kit her youth, making no demands on her until she was nearly grown, and then began the lessons Sophie would need, just as she had learned them. Clever and attentive, the young molly caught on easily to each aspect Seraph taught her, from hunting to how to handle disputes between colony members. She seemed a born leader, and Seraph could not have been prouder of her first-born daughter.
When Seraph grew pregnant again, she ended the lessons- she'd passed on all she could. The rest Sophie would find out on her own, through her own experiences. While she cared for her newest litter, the Matriarch gave Sophie more weight in the colony's day-to-day life, giving advice when asked but also pushing Sophie to work through to come to her own solutions. And, as she'd hoped, her daughter did wonderfully.
Still, Seraph held off on passing the leadership. She might be proving herself at every turn, but Sophie was still young, and Seraph wasn't quite ready to push the weight of the colony's well-being onto such a youthful cat. Soon enough she would have that responsibility- there was no rush. If she died unexpectedly, Sophie would be quite ready to take over, but Seraph was healthy and not old enough to consider retirement just yet.
Shortly after she had birthed her own kits, Sophie announced her pregnancy. It was quite a shock- her kit having kits- but Seraph was thrilled for Sophie. She was, however, less thrilled when the young she-cat began to ask if a stranger, a tom who had promised to care for the kits as their father, could join. Seraph, at first, refused. Long-standing custom dictated that males were not welcome, and Seraph had not allowed one in during her moons of leadership. But Sophie begged and pleaded and finally convinced Seraph to meet the tom. From the first there was a skin-crawling sensation of distrust, a feeling in her gut that she would later wish she'd listened to- but at the time, looking into the face of her daughter and seeing the weight of her need, Seraph gave her consent.
It seemed to go well, at least. The tom, Hayneedle, was polite and helpful, and he took to the kits with ease even though he wasn’t their father. Seraph was thrilled to see Sophie’s kits born healthy, and they grew quickly, bright and happy members of the Family. The Matriarch spent all the time she could with them, wondering which daughter- if any- Sophie would one day choose to follow her in leadership.
It ended in the worst way when the kits were still young; Seraph was unaware that anything was wrong until she heard the screeching from the cottage, and when she went to investigate, she found the horrific scene. She attacked Hayneedle instantly, driving the tom away from her badly injured daughter, doing her best to kill him. He escaped, however, and Seraph’s more immediate concern was for her daughter and grandkits. It was with a heavy heart that she realized none of the little ones had survived the brutal mauling, but Sophie still clung to life, and Seraph begged aid from Viridity, for the healing skill Sophie badly needed.
She also made certain that Hayneedle would find no safe haven in the other colonies by spreading the word of his attack on her family. While she was hardly fond of either colony, she still kept peace with them, and she knew that the other leaders wouldn’t allow such a dangerous tom in their midst. Her only regret was that she couldn’t make the tom pay for his senseless attack. Additionally, she made it clear that no future outsider toms would be allowed to join.
Sophie recovered, and Seraph pushed aside as many duties as possible to remain with her kit in the moons following- comforting her, doing her best to assure Sophie that the attack wasn’t her fault, and watching as the younger she-cat began to recover from the ordeal. Seraph herself went on to have two more litters, accepting Sophie’s help in raising them until they were old enough to join the colony.
At seventy moons, an illness swept through the camp; it was easily dealt with by the healers of Patria, but it left Seraph with a lingering cough and chronic shortness of breath. When she realized it wasn’t going away, and how it affected her duties, she came to the conclusion that, perhaps, now was the best time to pass the leadership along.
Her retirement, however, meant that the once-busy she-cat was left with little to do, and in an effort to fill her days she began to learn more of the healing art, expanding on the paltry knowledge she had gained, which was little more than first aid until more skilled healers arrived. It was something to do, a way to fill now suddenly empty days, and she enjoyed it.
Sophie's news of her second litter was met with mixed emotions- joy, but fear too. Of course, life didn't have to repeat itself, and Sophie had learned a lesson in the hardest way; no tom was ever mentioned or showed interest in the kits, two little females, when they were born. Seraph watched over them as they grew, more than happy to tend to the mollies when their mother was busy, but trying hard not to step on Sophie's paws in regards to their upbringing. So far, neither has been named as Sophie's successor, but, as Starling did with her own daughters, Sophie is grooming them both for the role that one of them will hold.
OTHER
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