Crowtuft

*"We are not Shadowclan by birth, but by our actions and loyalty."*

## Description

Crowtuft is a gargantuan, thick, black-pelted maine coon she-cat with a smokey scarf and underbelly. Huge tufted paws allow her to step easily atop snow even with her weight. A stubbed tail from an "accident" in kithood (balance is not a huge issue as she was young and trained only with the short stub, so she learned to compensate for the most part. However, she cannot climb trees due to it). Harsh yellow eye (partially blind, one is a much paler yellow, clouding over. She can only see light and movement in the injured right eye.) She is tall, broad, and entirely muscle.

Scarring:

Left ear has a torn off tip, right ear has top half missing. 4 scars down her face/muzzle leave her with a crooked nose, and a thick scar down her right eye partially blinds her. Right shoulder was bitten by a juvenile fox, with gross scar tissue hidden by surrounding fur. This gives her a limp in prolongued journeys, and drags her down in prolonged battle. Tail is stubbed. Other various scars peek through thick long fur.

After the battle with Juniperstar, she is left completely blind in her right eye, and along with various face scratches, has deep scarring on her chest from his attacks.Her right shoulder did not escape his claws, and the previously gnarled leg is now useless.

## Personality

A temperamental she-cat with little care to most. She is crass, aggressive, and fearsome in her every action, sharp gaze only intensified with her brutal facial scarring. And she knows this. She takes pride in her powerful battle skills, intimidating stature, and gruesome appearance.

She has trouble getting close to people, due to her history, although she doesn't know this reason. Most wouldn't even try, as she is rude and hissy, even to clanmates. She is very protective of her pack but not averse to in-pack conflict. She will trash them to their face but starclan save the outsider who does the same.

She has some tenderness to her, however. Reserved for some, this will be revealed. As she grows older and experiences heartbreak, her tempestuous ways have changed.

## History

Her mother, who now resides in the Dark Forest, was an elitist. She had no attachment to her kits, but she got pregnant often. She believed her kind to be superior, and searched for suitable toms, most often near the two-leg place. If possible, she would give birth alone, and ~~eat~~ rid herself of the runty kits. Only the strongest were allowed to live. If she gave birth in the presence of the medicine cats, she would simply let *accidents* happen, and not let the weak nurse, until they faded away on their own. Or, she would heavily encourage rough playfighting.

As for Crowtuft, she killed her last remaining sister in one of these instigated fights, not understanding entirely what had happened, as her mother praised her heavily. Her tail was broken in the conflict, and consequently was removed. None of this is in her waking conscience, and she only recalls in nightly terrors, forgetting once more when she awakens.

This is for the best, for she might go mad if the knowledge and guilt hit her. She is an avid believer in Starclan, especially after her mother brought her to the Dark Forest. As a grown-up, she follows the rules and has faith in the warrior code, for without it, she has nothing.

As an young apprentice, she was with another apprentice when a juvenile fox attacked them. They fought viciously until they managed to chase the fox off, though she sustained many injuries to her face. As an older apprentice, she fell in love with a beautiful loner named Rain, and almost left her clan for her. Their time together was short, and one day Crowtuft stole away to their secret meetingplace to find that her lover had moved on in the cover of daylight without warning. She tracked her all the way to a two-leg home, where she saw her wrapped around a kittypet tom. Her heart died a little that day. Many moons later, she saw a different loner that resembled Rain, and grew attached, though shortly after she found that same loners body, nearly unrecognisable.

After being the representative for Shadowclan at a few gatherings, she has newfound appreciation for the leaders being able to deal with each other despite moodiness and petty discrepancies. She bonded with Lupinehowl at a gathering, and found herself thinking of him as a friend, finding a similar darkness in him that haunts her. This has been good for her, removing the isolation and bringing amusement and happiness once more to her dull life. Due to this, she is trying to be more social and better mannered, leading her to seek out a conversation with the colourful Condorflight at another gathering.

After Gorsestar turned his back on Starclan, she went to the gathering against his orders and was followed by Lupinehowl. On the way back, they got into an argument as Lupinehowl was finally fed up with Shadowclan and it's warrior code. Harsh words were exchanged, but when he revealed his Dark Forest background/faith and left Shadowclan, she was completely shattered. The loss of her friend and her fractured faith allowed her mother to slip back in to her mind, and she went mad, fleeing Shadowclan to return to the Four Trees, where Lupinehowl and she had last had a good interaction. She felt abandoned by Starclan, while her mother in the Dark Forest suddenly felt like a place where she could never again feel such pain. When Juniperstar bumped in to the fractured Crowtuft, she initiated a fight, leaving him with a forever gnarled neck and one less life. When he knocked her back, the pain of his attacks and the sudden jolt caused her haze to lift, and she fled, horrified with her actions. Gorsestar banished her and she hobbled out of the territory, feeling as if she would die alone, as she deserved. Instead, she was captured in a TNR cage and taken by two-legs.

## Relationships

### *Family*

* **Sootclaw: Mother, Deceased Shadowclan Warrior, Dark Forest Cat. *Despises her with all her heart.***

### *Friends*

* **Lupinehowl: Shadowclan Warrior. *Sees bits of herself in him, she wanted to help his life not turn out like hers. She hoped she could help him shake his demons. Instead, they lashed out at each other and he left. She can't even think of him right now, his alignment with the Dark Forest caused a temporary fracture in her mindset and still hurts her.***

### *Acquaintances*

* **Condorflight: Shadowclan Warrior. *Perhaps not quite friends yet, but she finds her amusing, if not rather bold and direct.***

### *Neutral*

* **Her siblings**
* **Her clanmates**
* **Other clans**

### *Enemies*

* **Sootclaw: Dark Forest Warrior, Mother.**

## Statistics

++ Strength

++ Combat

-- Stability

-- Stamina

## Trivia

### *Facts*

* **She killed her mother. This is unknown to all but her and her mother.**
* **Lesbian but now averse to relationships**

### *Likes*

* **The Pines**
* **Night**

### *Dislikes*

* **Open areas**
* **Moors**

## Quotes

**Crowtuft, to Lupinehowl:** *"Don't worry about that, **thing,** we all fall apart sometimes. I've had more than a few episodes myself. It happens. We don't have to acknowledge it, if you don't want to."*
"You cannot protect everything, and sometimes you must be protected too. There is no shame in that."
"It is no fault to love, Lupine, it is a beautiful thing. When you have it, you would do well to hold onto it with your life, for it can be reclusive and impossible to find again."
"We all must bear our burdens, whether they grow in us as a flower or a tree. Perhaps it is too much, and it's not fair. But lifes not fair. You'll have to learn that again and again. I wish I had a better response than that, but that's all I've found myself. Knowledge hurts, but ignorance hurts more, for it never lasts forever."
"Hold onto your feelings, Lupine. Do not let the rules make your life meaningless. You are still a cat, perhaps even before you are a clan cat."
"You are Shadowclan, even if you weren't born here, just as some cats born here will never walk with our ancestors in Starclan, will never be true Shadowclan cats."

**Crowtuft, about family versus clan:***"They are not two different worlds at all, but two parts of the same. Loyalty to family and loyalty to clan, most see it as the same. The clan is a family, but we can't all claim the same love."*

**Crowtuft, to Condorflight:***"I am not the same cat that wandered off and fought at every chance she could get, but I carry her scars nonetheless."*