Catherine Valor

Grace Cantrelle (Maternal Grandmother)

Catherine "Cat" Valor is played by FreshMatcha.

## Early Life

Catherine "Cat" Alma Valor was born June 8th, 1880 to an unloving mother and a doting but eventually distant father. Catherine's father was a war veteran, a victorious Union soldier but marred by countless scars internal and out. However, his family was the pride that saved him numerous times on the battlefield, his little girl "Cat", especially. Her mother however, was not of the same mind as Leonard Valor. Ingrid Valor gave birth to Catherine out of wedlock, only joining Leo in matrimony when her own mother emphasized how poorly it'd reflect on them for her to run off with someone else after just giving birth.

Ingrid gave Catherine to her grandmother at the early age of 3, explaining to a distraught Leo that she had "wandered somewhere and must've fallen in some creek.". Only this plan failed when she was brought back to her father and mother by Grace herself, commenting on how Catherine was '"a burden [Ingrid] had to carry with her until she met God herself.'" Catherine's childhood was a miserable one until she met Elizabeth Elwood at the youthful age of 6. Around this time, Ingrid's mother Grace decided to move in with their family as she was getting older and Ingrid wanted to care for her aging mother. As a result, Catherine's father abruptly decided to move from their small home in Bangor, Michigan all the way to Blackwater, West Elizabeth. History was made the day she hauled her small satchel from the wagon and made eye contact with a slightly taller blonde girl, tight pigtail curls, and a curious look on her face that Catherine can still only describe as "*fascinated but mildly conniving*".

Her relationship with her mother and grandmother only soured as she aged, and her father only grew more distant as he seemed to already know Elizabeth's, *or "Birdie's"*, father quite well. Because of this, Catherine and Elizabeth spent countless days of their childhoods together getting up to mischief. Birdie was always the leader of the duo when it came to elaborate plans, whether that was tormenting a local newspaper boy who always threw eggs at them in front of the general store, or squishing their faces against Blackwater's local saloons front window just to annoy the owner and run away-- they were inseparable. And for Cat, to finally have someone who wants her around or expects her each day, this was all life changing.

It wasn't until one morning, when they were 10 and 12 respectively, that Catherine ran outside to the tree they always played under and planted herself on the swing anticipating today's adventure. The night before, Birdie seemed rather gloomy and even more so, Leo, who refused to leave his bed after Ingrid's calls for supper. Catherine swung her feet, pulled grass and even climbed the tree at one point(a mistake as she's always falling out of it and can't seem to get down when she manages to stay in it) just tp gain vantage and see if she could spot Birdie in her upstairs window. The curtains were drawn and her house seemed still.

Catherine slipped off the tree, adrenaline making her forget about her ankle only to find an empty house and a half-written note on Birdie's desk. It was tear stained, and the words, "We have to go back to England for momma. I love you Cat. See you--".

The following years were harder than anything else she'd previously endured. The onslaught of emotional and physical abuse from her mother and grandmother, as well as the ghostly state of her father, was nothing compared to the hole left in her heart after Birdie's abrupt departure. They spent years apart. Catherine's grand mother died in 1892 and her mother died in 1897, both funerals of which she never attended and left dead roses on the graves of respectively.

Her father however, distant, was another story. She spent the remainder of his years alive nursing his failing health and helping him maneuver the house with new contraptions she ham-fisted together to help him walk easier. However regardless of how much she tried to reach out and connect with him, he was never quite the same when Birdie and her family left Blackwater. In the many silent periods of her daily life, she found solace sketching and drawing the various people who'd pass through the city. It filled that sense of adventure Birdie planted in her so many years ago, however she couldn't bring herself to go far without her partner. So she painted. The people she imagined Birdie meeting-- the people she imagined *herself* meeting one day.

She went to bed one night, imagining her childhood friend and deciding to paint her before resting her head, And as if summoning her by the power of God or some almighty being, she received a telegram from a name she hadn't expected to read in a long time. Elizabeth Elwood was coming home. She was finally reuniting with her best friend.

## Arrival in the Commonwealth

Catherine had been living on the streets of Blackwater for a while, struggling to find employment that would pay enough for their house after her father Leo passed away. She managed a few odd jobs here and there, and sneakily slept between houses on the coldest nights and out in the plains on the warmest, until Birdie finally arrived and was horrified by the state of her childhood friend.

The duo learned to hunt, feed, and fend for themselves until whimsically Cat mused to Birdie about how she wanted to visit Saint Denis *so* badly, and that they could even deliver a package to make the trip worth it. Birdie agreed, however warned Catherine it was a long and far ride from Blackwater. It had been years, decades even, but Catherine had her partner by her side and knew she was ready to finally leave Blackwater.

Upon arrival, the duo were quickly lost. The city was significantly larger and grander than Blackwater, windier too with all of the alleys and various streets about. So Cat suggested they visit the local Saloon and see if anyone in there had suggestions for where to go and how to deliver this parcel. That was the fateful night they met Tilly Paris, the owner of La Bastille Saloon and quickly became one of the kindest people they had met in the Commonwealth to date.

Initially, she tried to direct Birdie and Cat to the delivery location, but the two became confused and too embarrassed to go straight back and ask for help again. However fate had other plans, and while aimlessly wandering the street on a horse, they ran once again into Miss Tilly and Carlo Porgini, who escorted them back to the Bastille. Miss Tilly then offered the two a job there as bartenders, money for clothes, and food to soothe their starving stomaches. It was suffice to say, they had found their new home.