Otterthorn

Otterthorn is a sleek cinnamon and white she-cat with green eyes. She was made Divestar's deputy immediately following their ascension to leadership, a testament to the bond formed between the two during their original mentor-apprentice time period.
==Description==
===Appearance===
:Otterthorn is tall, sleek and powerfully-built, leaving no room for misconception about her formidable warrior abilities. She has a few scattered scars, most notably a long ropy mark on her left hip from the dog whose defeat earned her and Adderflash their warrior names. A kithood injury left her leg tendons slightly damaged, although the only real effect now is that her claws do not retract fully, and her tracks are easy to identify due to this distinct feature.
:Her coat is a deep cinnamon russet colour with slightly paler golden guard hairs, very thick but short, soft and dense.. Her whiskers are also short and red-gold in colour, a little darker than the guard hairs of her coat. Otterthorn is marked in the classic tuxedo pattern, very symmetrical with a white muzzle; the pointed tip of which is almost perfectly centered between her clever olive eyes. Her paws are also white, the markings ending just under half way to her elbow joints on the front legs while on her back legs they just brush the top of her knee joints. As mentioned, her claws appear slightly longer than most due to the inability to fully retract them, and her ears are slightly tattered from moons of battles. Her nose is pink, a little mottled in places from the inevitable sun and snow damage, and her tail has a white tip around the same length as her paw.
:Otterthorn walks with a slight limp, this is worsened in cold weather to the point where she cannot run at all. In warmer weather it is barely noticeable to an onlooker, Other than this, she is a fairly intimidating presence; powerfully built and well-muscled, fairly tall though nothing like Divestar's imperious height; with slightly rounded eyes of an unusual cold green without a trace of yellow.
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===Character===
:Strictly homosexual and homoromantic.
:Otterthorn is brisk and practical to the bone, not unfriendly per se but simply otherwise occupied with the thousand and one tasks she has to complete in a day. As an apprentice she was known to be solemn, intensely dedicated and strictly honourable; these traits have stayed with her into adulthood though her more serious self is tempered by an acerbic sense of humour that comes out when she is at ease.
:As a mentor, Otterthorn is a hard task-master, at first pushing her apprentice too much before a quiet word from Divestar encouraged her to slow down somewhat. She doesn't quite grasp that not everyone has the same relentless drive to improve that she does, and is easily frustrated when the standards of others don't match her own. She is not naturally patient or empathetic and relies on Divestar's calming influence to help temper her frustrations with others.
:Otterthorn believes in following the code without compromise, exacerbated by her own personal code of honour and untempered by the expedience that some warriors employ in their daily lives. As such she can come off a little intense or overly lawful, and this impression would not be entirely incorrect. However, she is harder on herself than on others and employs a mask of brusque indifference so as to avoid dealing with social stress.
:With the influence of gentler cats such as Shadefern, Silverpaw and Ashfeather, Otterthorn has learned to mellow her usually abrasive manner, becoming more aware of the way she can intimidate others without fully intending to and consciously thinking through her interactions with her less secure peers so as to begin building more relationships. Much as she'd like to pretend she can, Otterthorn is not a cat who can stand entirely alone and thanks to Shadefern she is slowly becoming more communicative and perhaps even developing the beginnings of patience.
===Abilities===
:Otterthorn is a capable warrior, performing well in most areas - hunting, fighting, swimming and more - not through any extra measure of talent but with hard work and sheer stubbornness. Her solid build and permanent tendon damage limits her ability to run however, so she prefers to fish in peace or lie in wait for prey rather than wasting energy in a full chase. The damage to her legs, however, does also limit her ability to climb and she prefers to stay grounded, though unlike most she is relatively comfortable in small spaces or underground.
:Now part-way through training her second apprentice, Otterthorn has discovered she enjoys teaching and with just a little care is a very capable mentor, a reassuring thought given that her disability does sometimes limit her more physical abilities depending on the weather. Divestar has also been teaching her the more subtle ways of leadership and she's taken to them quickly; sometimes the manipulative side of diplomacy doesn't quite sit right with her stubbornly chivalrous nature but she's developing a certain sense of pragmatism when it comes to protecting the Clan and those she loves.
==Life/Biography==
:As a kit, Otterthorn barely spoke. She spent most of her energy exploring the camp and listening to the world around her, often rebuked for wandering out of camp or eavesdropping on the apprentices' training sessions. Once when she was exploring however, she got somewhat carried away and ended up tumbling through the roof of the cave, tearing the tendons in her lower legs as she desperately tried to catch herself. Recovery was slow and her apprentice ceremony was delayed while she healed, but heal she did with only scars to remember the accident by. By the time she had recovered, Otterthorn had outgrown what charm was attached to her intensely precocious need to learn everything. Flickerstar gave her to Divestar - Seahawk at the time - to train with the intent of testing him, and rather than endlessly clashing the two became very close, both had a practical outlook on the world and tendency to come off as snooty or intense; but where Otterthorn was prickly and perfectionistic Divestar was calm and patient - the two complemented eachother well.
:When Otterthorn was five moons into her training the camp was attacked by a feral dog, and working with their mentors Otterthorn and Adderflash managed to drive it off. Otterthorn sustained a wound to her hip while Adderflash died of blood loss hours later. Otterthorn was made a warrior for her bravery and Adderflash was named posthumously, and the traditional new warrior's vigil was melded with mourning for the loss of her sister.
:Not long after Otterthorn was made a warrior, her mother's second set of kits were made apprentices, and the ruddy warrior watched jealously as Divestar's time was eaten up by somebody else. The transition to adulthood was difficult as she had no-one to support her when she felt confused or lost, Divestar was too busy with her younger half-sibling - someone she'd been taught to resent as their mother Sealblaze did - and the other apprentices cast furious glances her way, feeling that she had not earned her early promotion. However, not long into her new warrior life Otterthorn was given an apprentice, and immediately she had greater concerns than the resent of her peers. Ashpaw was hotheaded, impulsive and reckless; and paired with Otterthorn's quick temper the two clashed at every occasion. The ruddy warrior pushed Ashpaw too hard initially, forgetting that not everyone had the same drive to learn that she did, but with Divestar's quiet intervention the two managed to form a better working relationship.
:Otterthorn's warrior life continued far more smoothly as she'd proved herself to her Clanmates and quickly asserted herself as a capable patrol leader and willing to pitch in to any tasks that needed extra paws. When Divestar succeeded Flickerstar she was surprised at the request to become their deputy - however, nobody else was, and has since proved herself a competent if often brusque second in command. She was Ashfeather's loudest supporter as the good natured smoke-furred tom was made a warrior recently.
:Not long after Ashfeather completed his training Otterthorn took on a second apprentice, her foster-sister Silverpaw. Shy, dedicated Silverpaw is a drastic change from charming, unfailingly confident Ashfeather, As before, the adjustment period merited an intervention from Divestar, but this time Otterthorn adapted quickly and cares for the small bengal she-cat in her own prickly, noncommunicative way.
:Shellskip's kits were born toward the end of leafbare, and seeing his pain caused Otterthorn to question the way their mother had taught the three oldest kits to completely ostracise the younger, when they were just innocent victims of Sealblaze's infidelity and subsequent guilt. In her own time Otterthorn unpacked and worked through her resentment of the one remaining half-sibling and has since grown much closer with him, given that their mother still has nothing to do with him. She likes Skyflower well enough and feels intensely guilty that it's taken this long for her to deal with her familial troubles and support her only brother.
:Mid-leafbare, Otterthorn met Shadefern - a sweet, pretty GladeClan she-cat. Against her better instincts Otterthorn suggested they meet again and the two have been meeting regularly since. For a while Otterthorn neglected Silverpaw's training, although she has since begun to balance her time better. She feels somewhat guilty but that feeling has lessened, replaced by Otterthorn's still-growing affection for the gentle smoke tabby. Much as she would like to believe she remains true to SplashClan, her loyalties are becoming increasingly divided.
==Lineage==
Mother:
:Sealblaze: Alive
Father:
:Sandrattle: Alive
Sibling:
:Irontang: Alive
Sister:
:Adderflash: Deceased
Half-Brother:
:Heronpaw: Deceased
:Shellskip: Alive
Half-Sister:
:Wavepaw: Deceased
Stepfather:
:Honeywhisker: Alive
==Quotes==
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==Relationships==
===Family===
:Sealblaze - mother. Strained relationship but still makes a point of speaking to her regularly. Resents her for abandoning her second litter of kits and teaching Otterthorn and her siblings to ostracise them the same way, slowly trying to encourage her mother to deal with her self-hatred and take more of an interest in caring for Shellskip.
:Shellskip - half-brother. Delicate relationship, still rocky in places but she cares for him a great deal and is far too stubborn about honour to leave him now. They have grown closer since the birth of his kits, and Otterthorn spends whatever time she has free helping him.
:Sparkpaw, Shimmerpaw and Shadowpaw: New relationship, but Otterthorn is enjoying her new family. The hurt and cause of their conception is always a shadowy presence, but Otterthorn is determined not to let her bitter fury at her brother's abuser tarnish her relationships with these bright, vivacious apprentices.
===Friends===
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===Love interests===
:Shadefern: Close, dedicated relationship. Divided loyalties as a result. Hasn't quite reached the stage of admitting she loves her, but love is definitely what this is.
===Rivals===
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===Peers===
:Divestar: Mentor/apprentice, close friends. Otterthorn looks up to them and appreciates their assistance when everything is frustrating.
===Other===
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Category:Cats with WPOSC Arts