Ivorytail

Ivorytail is a ThunderClan warrior played by Monument.

Appearance
a small, albino tom with light red eyes

Reason for Name
Ivory- name given for his snow white pelt

-kit : suffix given to a kit from birth until apprenticeship

-paw : suffix given to a young cat during apprenticeship

-tail: suffix given to him for his sense of balance and agility demonstrated by his affinity for climbing trees

Personality
Ivorytail is a very strange cat. Though his immediate family was very supportive of his weird eyes, the rest of the clan had not been as thrilled about it. While no cat outright despises him, many attempted to avoid him, especially as a younger cat. His old denmates in the apprentices' den made Ivory turn in on himself. It is strange how the influence of other creatures affects another. Because of this teasing and avoidance, Ivorytail became shy and withdrawn, choosing to be on his own rather than others.

He is independent and curious. His curiosity was the primary quality that made him take to the trees during his early apprentice moons. There, he perfected his climbing skills and actually learned to jump from tree to tree. This was where he got his suffix from. He could spend hours lounging around in the treetops, imagining an alternate universe where red eyes were normal and he was normal. But he would eventually have to come down and face reality once more.

Ivorytail, by nature, is not very judgmental of others. He is skeptical of their true intentions, but he tries not to make assumptions if he can help it. He is also very gullible because of this. It used to be a lot worse, and he would believe almost anything his peers told him as long as it sounded plausible. But after getting his feelings hurt too many times, Ivorytail began to develop his skeptical outlook. He just wanted to believe the best of others, but they tend to disappoint him.

Ivorytail is not unlovable, but he does make it a little difficult. He finds several cats attractive, but is not willing to pursue anything major unless it leads to a very intense relationship. He does not wish to be toyed with, and will wait as long as it takes to find the she-cat or tom of his dreams.

His odd little portion of immediate family, including his mother, sister, half-brother, and half-nephew is all he needs for right now. Whitestep, his half-brother, almost-- if awkwardly-- became like a father to him because their real father had died before he and Mottled- were born. Ivorytail really looks up to Whitestep, and hopes to make the deputy proud.

Family
»  Sloefur, father (deceased)

» Poppyheart, mother (adoptable)

» Mottled-, sister (adoptable)

» Whitestep, half-brother (fallow)

»  Redfur, half-sister (deceased)

» Oakjaw, half-brother

» Roseface, half-sister

» Adderfur, half-brother

»  Thymekit, half-sister (deceased)

» Cherrypaw, half-niece (whereabouts unknown)

» Nettlestrike, half-nephew (ender)

History
Many important things in Ivory's story happened before he was even born, so we will begin there.

Sloefur and Dappledsky were destined to be together from the very beginning. The two met in the nursery as kittens, and grew up together. Dappledsky was shy and reserved while Sloefur was adventurous and courageous. They meshed well together despite their differences, and officially became mates whenever they decided that they were mature enough. Their relationship had seen many twists and turns, but the pair of ThunderClan cats always managed to come back together after an argument.

Oak-kit and Redkit were the first offspring to result from the union between Dappled and Sloe. They were great parents, but they may have given their kits a little too much attention. Sloefur and Dappledsky adored their children so much that the kits began to feel as if they were better than the other kits in the nursery. A little bit of positive encouragement goes a long way, but Dappled constantly told her children how special and wonderful they were and this went straight to Red and Oak's heads.

So by the second time around, Sloefur and Dappledsky had learned from their mistakes and were quite a bit more strict with their second litter. This one consisted of four kittens: Whitekit, Rosekit, Adderkit, and Thymekit. Sadly, the 4th kit had been a stillborn, but Dappled named the kit nonetheless. She mourned the loss of her daughter, but had three very healthy and very rambunctious kits that remained and she needed to take care of them. This time, the kits had rules to follow (once the were old enough to learn right from wrong), and they were expected to abide by them.

Adderkit and Whitekit were practically inseparable. The two toms did almost everything together. Rosekit had little or nothing to do with them as she found herself much more refined and levelheaded even as a young cat. Unfortunately, Adderkit began to get much more adventurous as he aged, following in the pawsteps of his father. Whitekit, on the other hand, wished to mind the rules without question. The two brothers began to go do their own things as they aged into the apprentices' den. Regardless, Adder still tried to coax White to join him on his adventures. Whenever it directly went against a rule that they were supposed to follow, White refused. Adder assumed that White just thought that he was so much better then his brother and that's why he did not want to play. When the siblings were about halfway through their apprenticeship, Adderpaw severed all ties with his brother. This hurt Whitepaw, but he figured that it just might be for the best. Adderpaw had been a bad influence, and White wanted to go on and achieve greatness. White began to avoid his brother entirely. He turned the opposite direction whenever he saw his brother. He did not understand why Adder had pulled away from him, but it hurt.

Then he met Gorsepaw. Gorsepaw was an apprentice, but she was absolutely extraordinary in Whitepaw's eyes. They instantly hit it off. The two of them seemed to always have something to talk about, and they began to become very close. They remained very good friends even after they gained their warrior names and then officially became mates. Everything seemed to be going fine until Whitestep's mother, Dappledsky, contracted greencough and died. The whole family was absolutely devastated, but even their mother's death did not bring Adderfur and Whitestep back together. The brothers remained estranged and Sloefur moved on. Though Sloefur was up there in moons and did not have a very high amount of moons left in him, Whitestep had never imagined that his father would find another mate. But just a few moons after his mate's death, Sloefur began courting a young warrior named Poppyheart. The she-cat was young enough to possibly be Sloefur's granddaughter, but the two were very happy together. Most of the clan did not know how to feel about the arrangement, and some were appalled. Whitestep just decided to let his father be happy for the limited number of moons he had left.

It came as a shock to everyone when Poppyheart announced her pregnancy. Whitestep's older siblings, Redfur and Oakjaw, completely denied Poppyheart and their unborn half-siblings. They thought that what Sloefur and Poppyheart had done was inconceivable and unforgivable. When Whitestep went to inform Gorsefur, she told him that he would be a father as well. The two she-cat's pregnancies developed almost simultaneously, and it was all very strange for Whitestep especially. Sloefur did not get to see the birth of his third litter of children. He was found dead one morning, and the medicine cat declared it was from natural causes. Whitestep was grieving, but he had to deal with his pregnant mate as well as his pregnant stepmother. Some of the other queens ignored Poppyheart because her relationship with Sloefur had been so strange and they did not agree with her situation, so she really only had Gorsefur and Whitestep.

Poppyheart went into labor first, and gave birth to two kittens that she named Mottledkit and Ivorykit. The last kit, Ivorykit, was definitely the most strange. Neither of his parents carried a white fur trait, yet he was white as snow. His sister was a calico, so why did he lack color? Poppyheart shrugged it off entirely, and loved her children equally. Gorsefur, Whitestep's mate, gave birth to a she-cat named Cherrykit and a tom named Nettlekit about a week later. By this time, Poppyheart's kits had begun to open their eyes and attempt to explore the nursery a little. To the queen shock, Ivorykit's eyes were a pale pinkish color instead of the kit blue eyes that his sister and all of the other kits' possessed. The older kits were cautious and the other queens thought that her son's weird eyes must have been Poppyheart's punishment for messing around with a senior warrior who had already lived a happy life.

But their odd little family, including Whitestep and his children, did not treat Ivorykit any differently. In more ways than one, Whitestep stepped in as a father figure to Ivory and his sister. They grew up with their half-niece and half-nephew, treating one another like extra siblings. It all must have seemed very strange to an outsider, but it was completely normal to them. Ivorykit and and Mottledkit became apprentices at the same time as Cherrykit and Nettlekit. Whether this was an attempt to solidify the sibling-esque connection that they had made or just a coincidence, no one knows.

Being an apprentice was brutal for Ivorypaw. The other apprentices avoided him like he had a deadly disease. Other than Mottledpaw and Nettlepaw (Cherrypaw had been chosen to be the medicine cat apprentice), Ivory felt very alone. The way that his denmates ignored him made him feel as if there was something terribly wrong with him, though he had no idea what. He was close with all of his "siblings", but had made a special connection with Nettlepaw for some reason. In his mind, he understood that he and Nettle were not brothers, but Ivory never thought anything different. Their bond only strengthened when Cherrypaw disappeared. No cat had seen any sign of her. Some of the other apprentices blamed Ivorypaw for no reason other than the fact he was different.

Ivorypaw had been given Rowanfur as a mentor. He got along fairly well with the deputy, but they did have some differences in opinions. Thankfully Rowanfur was totally understanding when it came to Ivorypaw's odd behaviors, though he often put his paw down when they needed to get some training done. Whenever Ivorypaw got embarrassed or threatened by one of the other apprentices, he would go out into the territory and climb trees. The little tom was a natural-born climber, and preferred to stay above the ground. Eventually, he taught himself how to leap from tree to tree just like the squirrels did. He felt free up here. Even though the others were learning how to climb, none of the other apprentices could even come close to Ivory's skill. Because he was so thin and nimble, it came very easy to him.

Only two moons into his apprenticeship, Rowanfur became Rowanstar and gained his nine lives. Rowanstar chose Whitestep as his deputy, and Ivorypaw was extremely proud of both toms. It was strange being the apprentice of a deputy-turned-leader, but Ivorypaw found it fascinating. Rowanstar was a very busy cat, especially during those early moons of leadership, but he still managed to train Ivorypaw to the best of his ability. Ivory had been honored to received the deputy as his mentor, but now that Rowanstar was leader, Ivorypaw felt as though he had something to prove. He trained extremely hard and eventually was given his warrior name, Ivorytail, for his amazing balance.

Ivorytail had tried his best to ignore the jeering of his denmates as an apprentice, but the words still got to him. He pulled away from reality every time he climbed into the canopy over ThunderClan's territory. He and Nettlestrike did not remain as close as they once were, but the toms still spoke. Nettlestrike and Mottled- are pretty much the only real friends that Ivorytail claims. Whitestep has become a large part of his life, and he is basically Ivory's father. Whitestep and Gorsefur are beginning to distance themselves from one another, but everything else is going all right.