Scorchstorm

Scorchstorm is a ginger-and-black tom with amber eyes.

## Personality

Scorchstorm is very much a mama's boy - he admires Burnrunner quite a lot for her intelligence and strength, and wants nothing more than to please her and receive her affection and attention as often as possible. If his mother was anyone else, this wouldn't be much of a problem - unfortunately for Scorchstorm (and for the rest of MarshClan), Burnrunner is a sociopath, which makes Scorchstorm's adoration for her a lot more dangerous. Since his mother's view on the Warrior Code and the nobility of Clan life is negative, so too is Scorchstorm's; he views "noble" and "honorable" warriors, and overly emotional cats in general, to be weak and barely worthy of his pity, let alone his respect. He values strength and fortitude, and is extremely competitive, unwilling to accept loss or failure and sometimes taking things too far in his efforts to achieve victory over his peers - whether that means playing too rough with other kits in the nursery, or "accidentally" unsheathing his claws during a spar once he's an apprentice. He's impulsive and petty to many degrees, disliking when others receive praise or recognition over him, especially amongst his siblings, as he wants to be the sole recipient of his mother's approval. He cares little for the lives of those outside of his family circle and those individuals involved in his mother's plot; he will do his best to protect those that he does care for, but isn't the best at being emotionally supportive, tending to fall more into the "tough love" category of care, if constantly pushing others to better themselves and not care for anyone who followed the "wrong way" or was "weak" can be considered caring. Despite his impulsive, jealous, and prideful attitude, he is actually quite intelligent, willing to listen to his mother's lessons and try to learn from them in order to grow stronger; he has quick reflexes that allow him to analyze situations and identify the weak spots of his opponents (be them physical or emotional) easily, and to utilize those weaknesses to his own advantage. As much as he hates failing or losing, he is also willing to learn from his mistakes and adapt, becoming more of a threat to his opponents the longer he fights against them. Despite his best efforts, he's not nearly as good a liar as his mother, not able to effortlessly pull off the guise of an innocent, kindhearted warrior of MarshClan like she can - he can't entirely contain his disdain for many of his Clanmates, and lets it out in sarcastic, biting comments from time to time. However, he does his best to cover his tail and conceal his true thoughts and feelings by playing off his nastier comments as mean but lighthearted jokes. If he still manages to offend someone, he'll offer the most sincere-sounding apology that he possibly can, and try to suck up to whoever he offended to get back in their good graces and evade suspicion. He keeps most other cats at arm's length, keeping his "friends" more as acquaintances, not likely to discuss much more than Clan matters or exchange allegedly lighthearted teasing with them, not one to pour his heart out under any circumstances, though he'll put up with a little bit of it from others if they start to unload on him - though he certainly won't encourage it. His strongest "connections" with others are the flirtations he occasionally lays on his Clanmates, charming toms and she-cats alike with a silver tongue and his good looks. His disdain for most other cats dissuades him from being attracted to most on more than the surface level, and he tends to scoff at those that form emotional attachments easily - even if it is by his own design. However, despite his dedication to his mother's plan and his internalizing of many of her beliefs, some part of him that he tries desperately to bury does have doubts. Though he has harsh views on many of his Clanmates, he does sometimes look at those around him, see them happy and with loving relationships with their parents and siblings, and wonders: even if they're weak, they're happy, aren't they? They don't fear being disowned or disgraced the moment they show weakness, do they? They don't work tirelessly towards a goal that may not even come to fruition, do they? They aren't like his family. Their emotions, love, and dreams are unconditional. He sometimes entertains fleeting thoughts of having real friends and a real family, often fueled by Lynxstep's influence in his life - who he knows, on some level, actually does care for him and his siblings, and doesn't believe in Burnrunner's vision. And even if the Warrior Code has a lot of stupid rules (like "no killing" - what's wrong with gutting a cat from time to time?), it still promotes those same dumb values that seem to make other cats so damn happy. He tells himself his mother's approval is the only approval he needs, but he wonders what it would be like to be unconditionally loved and trusted, to not live in fear of failing and being cast aside.