Quietmarsh

A chocolate and white harlequin she-cat with dark green eyes

Quietmarsh is a standard bi-color cat. Her fur pattern is harlequin, with her base color being the normal white seen in traditional harlequin colored cats. Her patches of color range from a extremely dark brown, almost black, to a light brown the shade of the brown grass or reeds found in the marshlands. Her color patch placements are as follows: her entire tail, a swirl of browns, to a mask that eclipses her face and ears, with her ear tips being white, stopping at her nose, a long patch horizontally from left to right elbow that extends vertically about halfway down her back, front right and both back feet being “socked” about midway up the leg, and one large blotch on her left thigh that covers most of the leg and connects to the brown “sock” already there.

She has dark green, rounded eyes and white whiskers, with a normal sized muzzle and somewhat small, rounded ears. She has medium length fur with feathered feet and tail, with long legs and a body weight proportionate to her tall and lithe build.

Quietmarsh is a young she-cat that is typically silent and reserved. She prefers observation over interaction, if she can help it; though its not for lack of wanting to deal in clanmate pleasantries and chitchat. Many who do not know her might mistake her more silent nature as coldness or unfriendliness, however this is farther from the truth. Though she does posses the sharp tongue and stubborn pride common in most Shadowclan cats, she tends to information gather via listening and watching before letting that temper fly.

The truth of it is, that as a young kit, she found most social interactions with family and those around her difficult to navigate and confusing. As as adult, now, she does have a better grasp on the “correct” paths to take while in conversation, though she is prone to misspeak and say the wrong thing. Various interactions that have resulted in negative social endings due to her inability to navigate the situation correctly led her to being as reserved as she is. She hopes that, one day, through listening and learning and watching how everyone else so effortlessly communicates, with and without words, she will be able to speak her mind freely, too.

She typically does well as a hunter, though her observational skills and ability to read body language due to her wallflower nature lend her to being a better one on one fighter than hunter. She’s certainly not the best, natural aptitude doesn’t equal practical application, but it’s rare for her to lose physical tussles and disputes, in the clan or out of the clan. She enjoys collecting small pebbles or stones that she finds in their territory, only ever taking the smoothest and roundest that she finds. It’s rare enough for her to find one that ticks all the boxes that when she does find an acceptable stone to add to her small collection nothing can wipe the smile from her face. Her favorite food is rabbit, though they are exceptionally rare.

• Born in the Moon of Running Prey (2019) 122

[0-6 Moons]

Quietmarsh was born to a litter of 4, in the harsh leaf-bare. Her mother was an accomplished hunter within the clan, and her father a stoic but responsible warrior. Tansymoth, her dam, would become sickly and bedridden halfway through the pregnancy and would, unfortunately, not survive the strenuous birth. Larkpool, her sire, would be devastated by Tansymonth’s death, but vowed to be there for his struggling kits. He would soon develop a mind case of whitecough, that would unfortunately evolve into a deadly strain of greencough that would take his life.

Being born to a sickly dam meant Quietkit (at the time) and her siblings struggled with life as well, for the first few moons. Sadly, she would be the only one left alive by the end. She would be unofficially adopted in by Murksong, who would raise her alongside his own kit.

[6-12 Moons]

She would be apprenticed to Honeyglow, a mild mannered and now well respected elder. Quietpaw, at this time, had alredy found a friends in both the excitable Emberkit and brave Nightkit, but struggled forming relationships with other cats her age, and oftentimes found herself getting along with warriors and elders instead. True to her name, she was a quiet apprentice, but loved learning. She would often end her day by peppering question after question to her mentor, needing to know specifics and semantics of certain hunting or fighting techniques in order to truly feel as though she had all the information.

She followed direction without question, and was a slave to her training, eager to prove herself in a way she couldn’t at the time accurately describe. Her apprenticeship was focused and poignant, and she tackled it with single minded focus and determination that many associate Shadowclan warriors with.

[12-13 Moons]

In the Moon of Turning Leaves (2020), Quietpaw would shed her apprentice name to become Quietmarsh. This was one of the few days she wondered of her birth family; who would her deceased siblings become? What would her mother and father’s voices sound like, in the crowd? Could they have all been here together? It was not for her to know.

Since then, she has dedicated her every day to her warrior life much like she did as an apprentice, with a narrow focus and objective based, task to task to task, work ethic. She still struggles with making friends and forming relationships, but she has Emberdust and Nightwhisper– and, really, she thinks that’s just fine. She’s more than content on the sidelines, tuning in on everyone’s gossip and stories secondhand, living every day the same as the last. She likes the reliability and predictability of it, and finds comfort there, instead of boredom. And, anyway, were she ever to start feeling melancholic or bored, her two psudo-siblings would surely come barreling through with some new… something. Problem, story, idea, adventure. She wouldn’t be lonely long.

• Carrion Quest (15SC'21)

Larkpool– Birth father, deceased.

Tansymoth– Birth mother, deceased.

Murksong– Adoptive father. Took responsibility for Quietmarsh as a kit when her mother and father died.

Nightwhisper– Adoptive sister, through Murksong.

Emberdust– Grew up in the nursery together. Sibling-like bond.