Shypaw

Shypaw is a blind, primarily black tortoiseshell tom kit.

## Description

### Physical

The tom isn't the strongest nor most muscular cat in the world- he's what is expected of a reclusive character. Shypaw is on the thinner side with legs spindly and long in comparison to his form. Overall, the tortoiseshell's height is considered average, yet his slimness does make him appear smaller than most others. "Scrawny" is perhaps the best way to simply describe the young tom.

However, his coat is unique and generally attractive due to its mottled appearance. Shypaw is more black than he is ginger, allowing him to hide among the shadows so that he can be left alone. His red tortoiseshell patches are like sparks in the dead of night: small, yet still somewhat abundant. His fur could be considered medium-short and is soft to the touch, should one be able to get close enough to the skittish cat. After being kidnapped into TundraClan, he was determined weak and was attacked by Loststar. As a result, he lost his vision from the damage to his eyes but miraculously survived the serious attack.

### Personality

As his name might suggest, the young tom is extremely reserved, and is especially skittish around strangers. He continues to uphold his shy personality even around his own clanmates. Whenever confronted, the tortoiseshell will stumble over his words and begin to stutter, only worsening his own situation by causing him further embarrassment.

As a reclusive cat, one might think that the tom is indifferent towards the opinion(s) of his clan. Surprisingly, it's quite the opposite. Shypaw is incredibly sensitive, especially to the thoughts and feelings of his clanmates. He might put off an independent vibe because he nervously avoids others, but in truth, he hates to be alone. He actually makes good, supportive company in privacy. He likes to be close, to have friends and try to reassure them, but he's seen as spineless and gets teased for it. Once close to another cat, Shypaw becomes quite personable. He's very supportive and loyal to his tiny friend group.

## History

### Roleplay

Shykit is born to Dawnrise and Shadowhollow of WillowClan during their fight with The Pack and ScarClan. He is joined by two littermates: Forestkit and Blossomkit. He hides in the nursery for the most part, up until TundraClan kidnaps him and his brother.

Similarly to how he behaved at home, Shykit proceeds to hide in TundraClan camp to avoid confrontation. However, he is eventually targeted by their leader, Loststar, and determined to be weak. He is practically killed in the process, but miraculously survives the assault. As a result, the leader leaves him alone, but he has lost his vision as a result. Glacierpaw, the medicine cat, tries to comfort the frightened Shypaw. He offers to train the tortoiseshell as his medicine cat apprentice, at least until his vision is restored (assuming it'll heal) and he can properly defend himself against the others.

Shypaw isn't the best at medicine cat work, and struggles to adjust to his lack of sight. However, he manages to learn a few things to help out the others. When Crashpaw, Rosemarypaw, and Chestnutpaw fight Baypaw to defend Beepaw, the medicine cat apprentice desperately tries to make them stop. They refuse to listen, and he's upset that they're giving Loststar what he wants.

Eventually, he accidentally spills the junipers while cleaning out the herb store, and feels helpless when trying to find them without squishing the berries by means of accidentally stepping on them. He manges to collect them all before having to discard of the bad herbs. He's extremely nervous, as he fears that Loststar will jump and kill him.

## Kin

**Mother**

Dawnrise: Deceased, verified StarClan member
**Father**

Shadowhollow: Living
**Sister**

Blossomkit: Living
**Brother**

Forestkit: Status unknown
## Relationships

### Family

**Dawnrise & Shadowhollow:**

Maybe he wasn't exceptionally close to his parents, but Shypaw still loved them dearly nonetheless. Perhaps he was a little closer to his mother, Dawnrise, than he was his father. He was paranoid about failing them when it came to becoming a warrior, but when he was stolen from WillowClan, he missed them more than anything else. It broke his heart to see his mother pass away right in front of his own paws, and in those moments, he felt that he had nothing left to go to.
**Blossomkit & Forestkit:**

When he was a younger kit, Shypaw didn't interact much with his littermates. He would often shy away from them just as much as he avoided the other kits in the nursery. However, like his parents, he still loved them because he got that naturally sensation of "family", of actually belonging somewhere. When kidnapped into TundraClan, Shypaw rarely saw his brother, but still fretted about him frequently. His sister ended up following his parents into the clan when they tried to steal him back, and since then, Shypaw has done his best to be a responsible brother to his sister.

### Love Interests

**Owlkit:**

Shypaw was never great at communicating, and he feels weird about his emotions towards the other tom. It's not normal, right? Does Owlkit think of him a freak for just blankly staring at him, with no words to justify his actions? He always felt a weird fluttering sensation in his belly whenever around Owlkit, and he doesn't understand why. Just his usual nerves? He's never voiced his feelings for the other tom, both because he doesn't understand them and because he thinks it would be socially wrong to like another tom.

### Other

**Glacierpaw:**

He really loves to learn from his mentor, and is honored that the young tom was kind enough to take him in and protect him. He admires Glacierpaw's caring personality, and hopes to live up to the medicine cat's standards. Shypaw also thinks the TundraClan tom brave for taking on such a task, willing to teach a cat despite never fully completing training himself. He hopes they can be real good friends- Glacierpaw seems to be one of the kindest cats he's ever met.

## Trivia

* His medicine cat name will be Shyheart.
* He might stay in TundraClan following his capture?
* He's bisexual, but leans more so towards toms.