Magpie

Magpie is a small, short-legged tom with a thick, pretty black-spotted white pelt and bright yellow eyes.

## Personality

Magpie is a spunky and energetic young tom, always rising bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning and rushing off to greet the day's first adventure with a beaming, excited grin. Exploration is one of his favorite things in life, though generally not just for the simple joy of it – frankly, it's because he's a bit of a hoarder. He loves collecting odd trinkets and baubles from all the places he goes, picking up all kinds of strange and otherwise utterly useless objects that he covets like a water source in a drought. He is sentimental about all of his "treasures" and usually justifies collecting them with something along the lines of, "It might be useful, someday! You never know!" Thus far, this has not been the case, but he stubbornly insists that that might change at some point. His propensity for collecting things also leads to a bit of kleptomania, his pull towards material objects making it all too easy for him to start taking things that aren't really his as well. He justifies this again as him keeping various things safe and giving them more appreciation than their previous owners. He finds the need to justify most things, as he doesn't like to think of himself as having any sort of problem or being a bad cat, insisting on using words like "repossessing" instead of "stealing," or loudly and pointedly talking over or changing the subject on anyone who suggests that he might want to throw out some of his collection of miscellaneous things. He believes that life out in the wilderness collecting pretty things and running around to play wherever he wants all day is pretty idyllic, but he still kind of misses curling up by the fireplace and getting pet by his housefolk… Oh well! Best to push those thoughts away and bury them in lots and lots of new shiny things and plots to scam other cats out of their prey or other possessions orchestrated by him and his friends. He avoids his problems and any emotions he doesn't understand like the plague, instead focusing on other things and putting on a bright smile for anyone and everyone around him, attempting to fool them as much as himself into thinking that he's perfectly fine, maybe even incapable of feeling negative emotions. Even his rather startling small size doesn't seem to bother him, as he always shrugs off others' remarks on it with a crooked and mischievous grin, claiming that smaller size has its advantages – namely, he can wiggle his way into a lot of places other cats can't, and it makes him harder to notice and lends him more stealth to carry out his little thieveries without anyone realizing. Even beyond that, he has a fondness for feeling small when he trusts that those around him are capable and willing to protect him, perfectly content to let one of his larger friends curl around him for any reason at all. He's got a blithe frankness about him that, while occasionally making him come off as naïve, can be used quite pointedly to very pleasantly get across his point to others; he's not much one for sarcasm, but he'll tease, and he rarely has any shame in spelling things out for others, taking special delight in going into excruciating detail on things that other cats really don't want to hear. He's the type to say "I told you so" very loudly, and possibly repeatedly, if he's feeling particularly smug about something. Regardless, he has a good heart, and is very loyal to his friends, even if he tends to pour his affectionate nature into maintaining his treasures more so than he expresses his fondness towards those he cares about.

## History

He was born in Twolegplace and was taken from his mother and siblings at a young age to live with new housefolk. They were generally kind, and he enjoyed the warmth of their home and the food they fed him, but he was often too energetic and rough for them, leading to frequent scolding. Eventually, he ran away, deciding to strike out on his own. He didn't know how to hunt at all, which led to a very rough beginning, but he eventually ran into some other cats that he formed a bond with, and began traveling with them, running scams to get prey from other cats when they couldn't find or catch any prey for themselves.