Kosmo

An odd-eyed, cinnamon ticked mink tom with primal markings & most of his tail missing

In the realm of the average feline, Kosmo stands above with a long line of sight, being large and baring a sleek, prowling sort of countenance that finely meshes his bloodline; the size of a maine coon from his noble grandfather, and the colored points of his oriental shorthair granddam, and the sleek, angled structure of his half-abyssinian sire. His long legs are lined with tested muscle and end in large paws and curved claws that have seen both miles and bodies beneath his feet.

Kosmo’s coat is short and dense, with only a bit more length near the ruffle of his chest and the slightest fringe on his underbelly. The warmth of his toasty, fawn colored mink coat is punctuated by a bright cinnamon colored point on a ticked coat pattern. Primal tabby markings are most prominent on his hocks, tail, and face, distinguished by a classic ‘m’ on his forehead.

From his angled face sits two triangular ears, each rounded at the tip with the slightest bit of fuzz on the ends, a ghost of his distant maine coon heritage. His nose is a dark pink, outlined with the slightest bit of cinnamon, punctuated by host of uneven, white whiskers. From his darker face sits a pair of almond shaped eyes, both differently colored than the other. His right eye is honey-amber while his left his summer green, trait and colors inherited by his granddam.

The final stroke of cat lies in Kosmo’s tail—a short and marred appendage that he was not born with, but rather lost during his life. It carries the dark broken rings of cinnamon, but ends in a scarred nub of flesh and fur that has more or less lost all feeling.

Experiencing the loss and hardships of survival have instilled in Kosmo a sense of caution. He has learned to tread carefully, whether in battles or while navigating the complexities of the wilderness. This caution is evident in his approach to challenges, ensuring he assesses risks before making decisions.

He tends to be naturally distrustful of others when he can’t easily discern someone’s motives to the point where it seems like a defense mechanism. No one remains from his immediate circle that had not died or become lost to him.

Growing from a mixture of different backgrounds and oft time conflicting beliefs, torn between his knowledge of Starclan and the harsh teachings of the Cabal has made him naturally skeptical. He questions the narratives presented to him, seeking a deeper understanding and discerning truth from myth.

This skepticism has contributed to his reflective nature, stemming from an open mind and inquisitiveness towards the natural world. Kosmo’s fascination with legends, codes, and the mysteries of nature reflects in his nature. He seeks knowledge and understanding, always curious about the world around him. This trait is a driving force in his personal growth, pushing him to explore new territories and expand his understanding of the interconnectedness of life.

Yet beneath the surface of his newfound compassion towards healing lies a darker hunger for vengeance against those who have stolen the warmth from his life. Resentment stirs for the cats of Thunderclan not only for what one did to his dam, but also what they did to his mentor all those moons ago. His sleepless nights are punctuated by poppy use, anything to keep his memories from keeping himself at night, although his frequent use has caused him to be dependent on the herb.

• Born in the Moon of Long Sun (2018) 110

[0-4 moons]

Kosmo was born into a militaristic world where the natural order was to be observed. It was be strong or die, and in the vast empire of his grandsire, he had every reason to believe that he would be destined for greatness. His dam, Andromeda was the sole heir of his grandsire’s empire, and she took to her title as princess in stride and his sire was one of the many cats who had taken to Caligula’s side. He was the youngest out of a litter of three, with his eldest sister and older brother before his claim.

Yet born as a helpless kit in these times were a harrowing ordeal as drought claimed the land in sweltering heat. Water sources dried up, and what remained became pools of mosquito infested sickness that spread within their ranks. Without proper knowledge of this sickness or how to treat it, as well as conflicts arising from the lack of prey and clan war on the horizon, the Cabal decided to abandon their territory for greener pastures.

Even before turning his second moon, his oldest sister perished to such sickness, and he and his older brother had to make a trek passed the houses of whitehart to a faraway place in which to find another home. His aged grandsire found seemingly found an abandoned campsite, enough land to suit their dwindled numbers in which he believed they could rest, regain their strength, and one day return to the land he had claimed from underneath the clans’ noses.

[4-8 moons]

His training had begun early, for they needed able paws to be able to provide and protect, and while he wasn’t personally trained by Caligula (that honor was given to his older brother) his education was left to his mother, Andromeda, and granddam, Drusilla. While his brother was eager for battle, Kosmo was fascinated by the stories told by his granddam of the clans, of the blood red creature known as Bloodstar and her exile from Thunderclan. Entertained by legends and codes, and even by Starclan – a notion scoffed at by his dam, who was every bit her sire’s daughter.

From Andromeda he received the Cabal side of his education, supplemented by group training sessions led by his grandsire. Proper fighting techniques, stances, learning how to anticipate strikes, and even to receive blows and take pain. Cowardice was shamed and there were many times where he was pitted against his brother, and while he didn’t possess the sheer budding strength of his sibling, he was relentless and cunning. There matches had grown equal in standing, and even Caligula was pleased with his two grandsons.

[8-10 moons]

Moons of plenty and peace had given the Cabal everything it needed to begin to heal its scars and during this time, his granddam passed peacefully during this time, and Kosmo was especially saddened. Death affected him more deeply than a scratch or bite ever could, and missed the stories she told and her generally endearing, kind mannerisms. His sadness was often chastised by his older brother, who believed allowing emotion to show was weakness, and was target for both verbal and physical rebuttal. Andromeda tried to keep the boys from all out war, and while Kosmo tried to avoid his brother at his meanest, his brother would often follow him out into the wilderness always looking for ways to impress his grandsire.

[10-11 moons]

During one of these moments where Kosmo tried to get some space and his brother followed they were attacked by a dog that had escaped from its owners lodge. The coonhound tore through the trees where it had spotted the two cats. Both were young and healthy, but Kosmo was quicker and his brother was caught beneath the dog where the two fought tooth and nail. Not wanting to be seen as a coward, Kosmo turned and began to assail the dog with his usual hit and run tactics, swiping and slashing before darting off just in time to avoid the dogs jaws.

Once the dog had decided he had enough of the two cats’ claws, it turned tail and escaped, leaving Kosmo with sore, bleeding paws and pulled muscles to stare down at what remained of his brother. He was still alive, but only barely with a fatal bite wound on his belly. Kosmo looked desperate for anything that might help ease his pain and immediately searched nearby for poppy – bringing back only a meager amount before he returned to his brother, now passed on. To Starclan…? No. They wouldn’t have wanted him, and it seemed like no where wanted them. Brooding over the loss, he marched home to bring the dire news.

[11-14 moons]

Now the only surviving kit out of Andromeda, Kosmo began to learn quickly he didn’t want to be under the ire of his grandsire. An heir to the Empire brought an increased amount of expectation on the young cat, but his training was followed by a time of relative ease. It had been over a year since the Cabal’s exodus from clan lands, and now it was time for the group to return. Kosmo barely remembered a time before being on the move or this camp, but he was excited. It would be a new beginning, and they would return to the ancestral home of his granddam.

The journey was a long and arduous one, but it was a route that was ingrained into Caligula as the old, grizzled cat led them through woodlands, moors, and avoiding human beings at all cost. They had a close run in with a group of humans in the woods, but near the end of the trip while crossing a road, Andromeda nearly got run over by a monster but Caligula saved her at the expense of his life. The old cat had given it his all, and caused an accident on the road in the process.

Stricken by the loss of their once great Caesar, Andromeda took up the mantel. Now returned to their old stomping grounds, (Lion’s Glory 2019) she made it clear not to show their force until they were ready to. Prey was running well, and there was little need to invade clan lands. Kosmo preferred this approach, and tried to absorb all he could – especially now he had a chance to observe these so called clan cats at a distance.

[14-18 moons]

As green leaf turned into leaf fall, so with it came an increase of wetness and rain. The banks of the river swelled, flooding outwards into the territory making the range inadequate for finding enough to go around. With leaf bare around the corner, the group segmented into different regions to search for prey. Smaller of twos and threes tended to favor hunting and passing by more easily in the flooded regions of the territory. Caligula’s crossing has become unpassable, and so the groups were separated with Kosmo and Andromeda on the right side of the river while the remaining four, including his sire, remained on the left.

He would remain at his dam’s side. Even in her aging years she was a respectable figure, and he had still much to learn under her tutelage. So together they went north, passed the eastern thicket in Riverclan territory, into the woods of Thunderclan, skirting the edge of their borders as they searched for more easy prey among the trees instead of on the open plains of their own washed out territory. On the borders they survived, picking off prey and fattening themselves up for the quickly approaching leaf bare. Kosmo had a feeling this Leaf bare would be a bad one…

Waiting out the wetness was going as planned; they’d return to their territory as soon as the waters froze over and the Cabal cats could be reunited again. It would have worked out if not for the factoring in of clan cats. Their intrusion was caught by a lilac colored she-cat (Long Nights 2019) who surprised them, pouncing on Andromeda as a fierce fight began. This cat… this horrible Thunderclanner had taken the life of his dam, but the Thunderclanner had not gotten away unscathed. Kosmo had taken the she-cat’s eye in return before he out-maneuvered her through the trees, kicking up a spray of mud to evade her. He ran until he came to the road and panted, shaken by the turn of events and wailed into the sky. How could he ever hope to carry on the responsibility of an Empire when he couldn’t even protect the ones he cared about most?

[18-25 moons]

Unable to contain his emotions, he fled clan lands to a place of open fields. With Leaf bare in full effect and snow giving way to blizzards, he took refuge in a small barn. Every part of him knew he would be much better off with the Cabal – every part of him knew not to trust the structures of humans where they could be, but the barn was warm and full of feathered birds that made for delicious prey. He could go as he pleased, but after a moon of easy living he was punished by his hubris.

While out in the woods by the field he stumbled into a trap meant for whatever fox or beast was marauding the farmer’s chickens. The trap snapped shut on his tail, and after hours of struggling himself to exhaustion he was left to consider his life. He had plenty of time to contemplate himself and what had brought him here. To die here in a human trap was unbecoming of a Caesar, and after a couple days of struggle and contemplation, struggle and contemplation and could feel himself becoming weaker, he faced his tail and gnawed himself free. After an hour of agonizing work, Kosmo had regained his freedom at the cost of his tail, and took it as fate to leave the farm behind.

He wandered here and there, finding enough to merely keep himself from starving in the harsh winter. But instead of his tail healing, the wound began to fester. No matter where he looked he couldn’t find anything that might fight it, or ease his pain. Kosmo became weaker and weaker. He couldnt hunt, and when he couldn’t walk, he stood, and then fell over. His life would have ended then and there, if not found by a greyed, old she-cat.

When he awoke he found that his tail was numb of pain and staunched with moss. The she-cat laid in front of him, sheltered in a dense thicket with the smell of herbs thick in his nostrils. She introduced herself, and Kosmo was shocked that he knew her name, or at least heard of her from the tales of his granddam. Equally surprised at this stranger knowing the tale of her exile, both shared a common hatred for the clans. At last he found someplace to belong, and when he could speak, told her of the Empire and its inevitable downfall, but she only encouraged him to not surrender his fate just yet.

Due to the she-cats timely intervention and skilled healing ability, Kosmo was able to fully recover, but nothing could grow back a tail. In these strange woods, he provided food and company for this ancient cat and in return, she treated him like an apprentice, noticing his basic knowledge of herbs. For six moons they lived and learned together, and eventually lived to see the sunlight dawn on leaf-green and a flux of prey. He learned plenty about herbs, where to find them, treatments and when to recognize symptoms and complaints. He even tried his healing on other creatures he found wounded in the woods, those who spoke strangely but with some practice and with the she-cat’s guidance became a novice at languages of the forest.

His teachings with her resonated with the tom, and stayed with her until her last dying breath, where his odd eyes could have sworn he saw her spirit lifting into the sky. Hallucination or not, Kosmo was filled with determination – he needed to go back to Cabal lands, retake his territory and find those who had survived the Winter Before the Promised, and then… he’d rethink his strategy against the clans that had robbed so much from him and his wizened, old mentor…

[25- Current moons]

Kosmo has returned to Cabal lands, walks along the trails his grandsire trod proudly scanning his Empire. But he would be a different Caesar than Caligula with more knowledge than he could ever have against them and with his new found passion for herbs, he is eager to display his talents for healing – and hurting.

• A Fateful Encounter (23CF'20)
• Creature Comforts (23LN'20)
• Heretical Harvest (2LG'20)
• High Above Our Rivals (13LG'20)
• Home on the Range (23LG'20)
• Shrouded Safe (13LG'20)
• Sun-Baked Therapy (11LG'20)

Notable Cats:

• Belladonna: A handsome stray Angora she-cat who Kosmo had once helped. She later bore a litter of kits that he sired that went to the clans after her untimely demise on the Thunderpath.
• Prudence: A half La-Perm she-cat whom has met his acquaintance on a rainy night.
• Duke: A like-minded individual who was once part of a large group of cats. A potential, valuable ally.
• Lawn Gnome & Ghost: These two friendly cats who live in the abandoned farm house up north. The farmhouse is one of many secondary refuges for Kosmo and acts as a dry place to store herbs and rest.
• Aurelius: An old friend from an old life, revitalized. This will be a cat who helps to forge their new future in the forest.
• Aspenberry (WC): A thoughtful, perceptive she-cat whose potential is hampered by being part of the four clans. Kosmo wishes to bring that potential to light.

Met Clan Cats:

Thunderclan:

• Sunstrike
• Wrentalon
• Tigerrush

Riverclan:

• Coldgaze

Windclan:

• Fawnstar
• Rowanglade
• Piperpaw
• Cloudflare
• Boulderdash
• Aspenberry

Shadowclan:

Heritage:

Maternal Grandsire: Maine Coon

Maternal Granddam: 1/2 Oriental Shorthair, 1/2 Domestic Shorthair

Dam: 1/2 Maine Coon, 1/4 Oriental Shorthair, 1/4 Domestic Shorthair

Paternal Grandsire: Domestic Shorthair

Paternal Granddam: Abyssinian

Sire: 1/2 Abyssinian, 1/2 Domestic Shorthair

1/4 Maine Coon, 1/4 Abyssinian, ~1/3 Domestic Shorthair, ~1/8 Oriental Shorthair