We have a few main plots going on. The Burntstar's Fanclub plot is slowly falling into place as the involved kits are starting to be apprenticed and learn more about their idol to-be.
BeachClan is on the verge of attacking FrostClan. What will happen to the snowfaring cats if their sand-dwelling rivals succeed in their offensive? And what would this mean for the other clans?
AquaClan is still reeling from the destruction of their entire territory in a forest fire. However, spring is on the way, so the new shoots of green poking through the ash may finally be a sign that everything is going to be all right. They have been living in the no-cat's-land for about six moons now...
For the plots board, click here.
FrostClan has recently suffered a small snowstorm; expect sleeting and thick frost. RainClan is finding thick frost in the higher parts of the forest but it is quickly melting where the sun's rays reach it. BeachClan has a splattering of snow but it is relatively sunny with cold sea breezes. AquaClan is finding the same in their territory with morning frost preventing any new growth. Expect more rain and snow at higher levels.
Non-clan cats joining clans (this includes clan cats who were formerly rogues, loners, or kittypets).
Joined: Dec 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 1,947 Location: At the end of the world ^^ Karma: 10
Long Cloud-->Guide « Thread Started on Jan 18, 2009, 9:05pm »
And The CloudsStreakAcross The Sky
{Navigation} I would like to recommend the use of Ctrl + F if you are looking for a section in particular. This application is very long and it is easy to become lost or disorientated. In case of an emergency please fire a flare and help will be on it's way. Thank-you and Good-luck.
{Basics} My name is Long Cloud I am the Guide of the Guild I have seen 20 Moons I am a Tom Love? Oh, I wish there was somebody for me to love!
My mother, Windy Night, has retired to the Nursery My father, Long Shadow, was killed in a land side My sister, Dark Cloud, was taken by sickness
{Appearance} Look! His pure white fur seems to glow in the sunlight, reflecting rays of light. The glare is hard on your eyes and you often find yourself squinting. And that's when you notice the other colours. Along his tail are caramel stripes, barely visible in the glare on the sun. More patches on his lower legs and it appears there's some shading on his shoulders. Then you're drawn to his face. His ears are a soft ginger and the colour seems to trickle down his forehead and around his eyes. There's little streaks across his cheeks. And those eyes! The lightest blue, like a robin's egg. So striking because the skin around his eyes is pink, just as it is on every other white cat, but on him, around those eyes, it is beautiful. His muzzle gently slopes down in a perfect curve. It is short but not short enough that it seems pekish. Perfect.
He moves and his body stretches out, a Long Cloud. How fitting. His chest is long and hides the fact his legs are too. They don't appear stocky or too lanky but just right for him. From long days of hunting and climbing up the steep hills, there's a hint of muscles rippling under his fur. He's not strong but not weak either. Just the right balance needed for his lifestyle.
{Personality} [When You First Meet Him] Quiet So very quiet. When everybody's talking, their voices loud and filling the air, you would think you wouldn't notice but you do. You can feel his silence reeling you in and you can't help but turn and ask "What are you thinking?" And he would answer, sincerely, in such a soft voice you would have to lean in and focus all your attention on him. Every word is precious and you must absorb every one before the noise envelopes him. Because when you're with him, it's just you and him and the soft, calming quiet. What a wonderful trick.
[When He's Alone] Deep So very deep. His head is in the clouds, another world swirling through his mind. What does he see when he looks up at the sky, a small smile resting on his face? Forever thinking, contemplating, pondering. Where do the butterflies go when it rains? What does a bird sing about each dawn? When does a leaf know when to fall? Such a dreamer. So patient and quiet. Never lonely on his perch on the hillside. He never asks for somebody to sit with him. If he asked, we would come. But he's always alone, his silence riding on his shoulders, head in the clouds. He thinks of all us, everyone of us. He just wants to guide us down the right path. And that makes him happy. Such a gentle soul.
[When You're Around] Pleasant So very pleasant. It's like lying in a warm nest, that satisfied feeling tickling through your stomach. There's knowledge that when he's around nothing could go wrong. How could it? His light blue eyes twinkle with a smile. His face is open and when he speaks every word is delivered so casually but you know he's thought it all through. So cautious. Like a kit, you overlook any awkwardness or confusion as a endearing feature. A newborn foal taking his first steps, you can't help but smile in amusement.
But when you're sad, you know it brings him down. A sunflower in a downpour of rain. And you have to throw aside your worries although it bothers him. It truly does. He's the one who is meant to be cheering you up, solving your troubles. He all but forces himself upon you. Anger does not suit him, it never has and hopefully never will. What a dark time that would have to be.
If life is like a stream, then we members are like fish. We dart along in the current, not knowing where we are going. Long Cloud is our rock. When life overwhelms us for just a brief moment, he snags our tails and holds us there until we're ready to leave. And the waters of life will tumble over him and he will hold his ground unflinching. Life carries him roughly, you can see it sometimes in the depths of his eyes. But he would never let us carry him. He's much too proud. So young but so tired.
[When He Leads Us] Observant So very observant. He watches us for every sign. Are we unhappy, lonely, tired, hungry, anxious, happy? He knows we know. Sometimes you'll turn and catch his light blue eyes watching. And he'll smile or frown, depending on how you are feeling. He'll pad over and talk to you so softly, gentle words, rising your spirit or sharing in your news. You both part, happier than before. He gives an unspoken promise to serve us well.
In leaf-bare, his fur clings to his frame. Never does he touch the fresh-kill before every learner, queen and kit has been fed. He would kill himself slowly for us. For anybody for that matter. He would climb up the hills over harsh stone and through gorse if there was even the slightest chance that there was one more mouse or a sprig of lavender there. He believes it is his duty but sometimes, you can't help but wonder, if he does some things purely out of curiosity. What a strong desire.
[Inside His Head] Overwhelmed So very overwhelmed. There's so much work to do I can't help but think this Guild is helpless, hopeless. And so am I. If an Advisor dies this leaf-bare who will I choose? If a bringer looses her kit what do I tell her? I must escape to the sanctuary in my head, the calming quiet and think it all over. I cannot make a mistake. I am their Guide and Guides do not make mistakes. Do they? Maybe I'm wrong, but that in itself is a mistake and Guides are not meant to make a mistake. Right? See my dilemma! I'm trapped, balanced on a precarious ledge, ready to fall. I work hard for them but sometimes I find myself drowning in it all and I have to escape again. I sit up on my perch in the hills, atop a rock in the hillside. I sit and calm myself, unwinding after a particularly stressful day. There's only so much I can do to stop shaking and push away the desire to start wailing like a kit. At night, sleep cannot take me in it's warm arms. I'm too busy worrying if the learners have learnt how to hunt yet of whether one of the bringers have had her kits yet. And then more worries come. Did Fire Song look unhappy today? Perhaps I should of said something. One of the Advisors looked tired today, I think I'm boring him. I saw the Healer collecting herbs today. Somebody must be sick. It could spread. And it's back to the ledge again. A trembling, nervous wreck. What happens when I fall? There's nobody to pull me back up again. I have nobody. A whole Guild but no friends. Not even my own learner. Such a lonely world.
But on other days;
Excited So very excited. I love the sun. I love how the grasses glow in it's light and ripple with the wind. It's like a golden ocean and I can't fight the urge to run through it. The stalks tickle my ears and nose and I must confess, I laugh to myself and batter at it with my paws. I'm no better than a kit. Because chasing mice or leaping after birds thrills me so, hunting is my secret pleasure. Life is just one big game sometimes. And I will smile at everybody and dart away before they can ask me what it is that has made me so mouse-brained. In the fields it is not uncommon to find patches of heather or sprigs of lavender. I know it annoys the healer, for she/he scolds me sometimes, but I roll in it until I carry the scent in my fur. What a silly habit.
{History} The second born kit of Windy Night and Long Shadow. He is similar in build to his mother with a wide chest and well built legs but her face is broader and her shoulders more muscular. Her pelt is white with a few black patches, although it could be the other way round. It is she where he gets his blue eyes from. When Long Cloud slept beside her in the Nursery she used to tell him the story of where she got her name from. With only words she sent her son into a dark night where the wind carried white clouds across the sky.
Windy Night was not close to the father of the kits but she always remembered to tell them who he was. He visited the Nursery once, a few sunrises after their eyes had first opened. Long Cloud can barely recount what he looked like but he is sure of a few things; His muzzle sloped down his delicate face, his pelt was a light ginger and his body was long and elegant. Long Shadow was truly a handsome creature. But he died.
Earliest memory Commotion! Loud voices, yowling, wailing. It was later explained to Long Cloud that a piece of the hillside a group of cats had been hunting on had became unstable with the leaf-fall rain. It had slipped right out from under their paws and sent them tumbling to their deaths. Two members killed, no warnings. One survivor. Just one survivor to come back and tell the tale. And Long Cloud missed the father he never knew. But of course, there's only so long you can grieve for something you never had.
As a kit he was always quiet and seemed to blend into the background. He never shouted or spoke loudly. He never played roughly with his sister or was rude to his Elders. To every bringer he was the perfect kit. Except for one flaw; he was a dreamer. And there were plenty of occasions where he would slip away from his mother's sight to chase after some silly fantasy.
[Tree Blossoms] "Long Cloud!" Windy Night's frantic call broke through the calm morning air of the camp. "Where are you?" The members began stirring themselves from their sleep and moving over to the upset bringer. Their Guide was the first to reach her. "What's happened?" Bracken's Thorn demanded. "It's L-Long Cloud!" she explained, her eyes still searching the camp," When I woke this morning he wasn't beside me!" Bracken's Thorn nodded and turned to the crowd that had gathered. Like any leader should, he split them into groups to search for the missing kit. The camp quickly emptied leaving Windy Night alone with her remaining kit.
Bracken's Thorn took the small forest closest to the camp and began searching for a trail. If Long Cloud had left at dawn he mightn't have got far. As the brown tabby tom pushed through the ferns, calling out Long Cloud's name he heard a responding meow. It was so soft, for just a moment he had thought he had imagined it. "Are you here to see the blossoms too?" Bracken's Thorn jumped and looked up, for that's the direction of where the sound had came from. Sitting up in the branches of a birch tree was the white bundle of fur formally known as Long Cloud. "No, I was looking for you," the Guide replied in confusion. He shook his head and asked the kit,"What blossoms?" He smiled down at Bracken's Thorn, his eyes twinkling. "Last night, Red Leaves told me that green-leaf was coming and soon all the flowers will be back. I'm going to be the first to see them!" "You'll have to wait awhile," Bracken's Thorn laughed, clearly amused at the whole idea. Long Cloud shrugged and went back to staring intently at the leaves of the birch tree. "It'll be worth it when I've seen the flowers. I don't mind how long it takes," he whispered. The Guide was stunned. This kit had the clear intent of sitting in a tree for days just to see a single flower. "Long Cloud," he meowed sincerely," You're mothers worried sick about you. You can see the flowers next season." Long Cloud frowned and thought it over. He sighed before nodding. "There's one small problem though....I can't get down."
After that excursion, Bracken's Thorn kept his eye on Long Cloud. When the kit was brought back to camp and Windy Night had stopped thanking him profusely, Bracken's Thorn repeated Long Cloud's story to the Advisors and they all agreed that if his patience could be pushed into other areas, he would make an excellent Guide. So the cats all watched the growing kit for any little sign that confirmed their suspicions. There were plenty. In play fights, it was common for Long Cloud to pause the game to correct his sister's stance or tell her there was no practical way for a cat to take down a sheep unless they were skilled members and aimed for the throat. Running Creek once discovered him sitting up at the hillside, his paws bleeding from scrambling over the rocks. He told her he wanted to see the ocean and hadn't even noticed that his paws were hurt. He practiced hunting on the fresh-kill the learners brought him and chased butterflies through camp.
As soon as he was old enough, Bracken's Thorn offered Long Cloud the position of being his learner and he accepted. Usually the Guide took a new member rather than a new learner, but he felt that anyone else would mistake Long Cloud's quiet nature for shyness or stupidness. The learner would just have to work twice as hard to get his membership.
Being the learner to the Guide is different from being the learner of a member. For one, you may never get your membership. It is only when the existing Guide dies or retires do you become a full member of the Guild. Until then, you are just a learner. Long Cloud was taught hunting, basic fighting and leader ship skills. The latter often involved him following Bracken's Thorn everywhere to get a good idea of what the daily life as the Guide was like. Long Cloud found it pleasant and enjoyable. He knows now he was so wrong.
One leaf-bare, a few of the learners had been out drinking from the stream when they had fallen in. There was a big uproar as already a member had lost her life to the swollen waters. Luckily, they were all unscathed. Or so it seemed. Each of them developed a harsh cough and a fever. It spread through the learners' den like wildfire. They were quarantined and the Healer began looking for a cure. During that time though Long Cloud's sister, Dark Cloud, died from the sickness leaving her mother grief stricken and her brother deeply upset. Long Cloud survived the sickness as he had contracted it later and had been successfully cured. He wishes every moment that his beloved playmate had just held on until she could of been cured.
[The Cough] Her slim black and white body was still. Long Cloud couldn't comprehend how still she was. Her sides didn't rise with every rasping breath and the tip of tail didn't flick in that steady, distressed beat. One little cough. Gone. Lost. Dead. Forever. Never again would they play fight and hunt together. Never again would Long Cloud hear her cherry voice ask "What are you thinking?" Never again would she pounce on him while he was sleeping or flick balls of moss at his head. Loneliness overwhelmed him and Long Cloud wailed loudly. A horrible heart breaking sound. Such a loud sound from a normally quiet cat. But he wanted her to hear him. Wherever she was.
He recovered slowly from both the illness and the grief. Dark Cloud's death caused him to slip away a little more into himself. He became withdrawn, and if possible, more quiet. He was only 8 moons at the time, a young cat, and has had plenty of time to recover. He still misses her though.
Long Cloud was made a full member of the Guild as their Guide when Bracken's Thorn was killed by a rather irritable badger. His hunting party accidentally discovered it's den and were quickly dispatched. Long Cloud was 15 moons and you can imagine he was quite close to Bracken's Thorn. He mourned the dark tom openly for one day before accepting his death and acknowledging he was now the Guild's Guide. He relied heavily on the Advisors at first but has grown up alot in the last five moons. Many cats have forgotten how old he really is and it seems he has led them for a long time.
Strangely enough, Long Cloud took a learner rather quickly. From the young members he picked Pine Needles, a tabby she-cat only a few moons younger than him. It had been recommended to him to wait until he was older and more experienced but he felt that if he did wait he would miss out on this opportunity. He had grown up beside her and knew that if he was to choose any cat to take his place it would be her. Long Cloud feels a little awkward when tutoring her due to the fact they're just about the same age but hopes to overcome it.
{Roleplay} [Bad Feeling] Long Cloud was sitting in the long grass gazing out across the fields and at the surrounding hills. The sun was setting, bathing the world in a soft orange glow. Windy Nights, her joints stiff and aching, came to sit beside her son. She glanced at him and noted his faraway gaze and the upset expression on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked him, her voice filled with motherly concern. Long Cloud turned to face her, his face creased with a frown. "Do you ever get that feeling where you just know something bad's going to happen?" The bringer was at first worried at what her Guide was implying but shock it away. This was her son she was talking to. "Of course," she told him, giving a small smile. "Before you're father and Swooping Bird were killed I had this horrible feeling all day." He gave a slight nod and looked away, gazing at nothing in particular. "I'm having one of those moments," Long Cloud meowed.
{Other} Clearly I'm insane for writing this much. Nobody is expected to do this for an application. In fact, I recommend they don't. I've spent several hours on this app when I should be reading The Picture of Dorian Gray. I've just fallen in love with Long Cloud's character and every time I want to write something about him I end up with long poetic...nonsense. I hope you can understand the images I've been trying to create. If not, I have failed. ;_;
Later I may add a section on {Love} and his {Learner}
{Code Word} What are you talking about? A code word?
« Last Edit: Feb 7, 2009, 10:49pm by á£Îmaý---♫♥ »
Re: Long Cloud--> DONE « Reply #8 on Jan 22, 2009, 3:49pm »
Speaking on behalf of Cat and myself, I am proud to announce that Long Cloud is the new guide of the guild. Congratulations on your achievement and extraordinary app. c:
On a less formal note, this is absolutely jaw-dropping. He's an awesome character and he'll be a great guide. xD
Joined: Dec 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 1,947 Location: At the end of the world ^^ Karma: 10
Re: Long Cloud--> DONE « Reply #9 on Jan 22, 2009, 7:16pm »
Squee. Thank-you!
*dances*
I can actually imagine how Long Cloud would react when he meets Whitestar and FrostClan. He'ld be really excited and probably wouldn't stop asking questions xD
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