Mittens

**Mittens** is a tortoiseshell and white cat with hazel eyes.

**Mittens** was born as a kittypet to unknown parents.

## Appearance

Mittens is a tortoiseshell and white she-cat with hazel-colored eyes. Her ears are pointy and short, and her nose is colored a light pink. Despite being relatively short-furred, her pelt appears fuzzy even from a distance, colored mostly a brownish black with soft orange marbling. Her round face is primarily a bright orange tabby color, while her neck and paws are creamy white. A white patch in a rough pointed shape can be found on her belly and upper lower chest. She has two large front paws to which she owes her namesake, each with an extra toe. The soft pads underneath are a slightly darker pink than her nose and tongue.

## Personality

Once considered “scarily clever” among cats of her Twolegplace for her sharp wit and quick tongue, Mittens is now a shell of her former self since parting with her best friend and first love, Ferno. Almost ephemeral in how she carries herself, she goes through her life in a foggy daze, like a branch taken downstream by a strong, unstoppable current. She had never imagined herself a weak cat, and yet here she is, utterly heartbroken and lost for words.

The pair had been inseparable since kithood; a package deal, with each complementary to the other. Relatively straitlaced, the tabby-and-white tom had been a perfect foil to the snarky tortoiseshell. Otherwise, they were lockstep in both interest and ideals, notably sharing the same wild, restless spirit, constantly searching for new experiences. They laughed together; they cried together; they watched the stars together, eyes wide with wonder. And so, it had been through seemingly endless seasons since, all the while growing closer to one another as Mittens fell deeply for him, and so did he.

A few moons prior, he had come into contact with a strange new group of cats, spending less and less time with Mittens. While intensely hurting as nights without him grew longer and longer, she made a decision to keep it to herself. That was until the day he disappeared, prompting her to go on a panicked search through the dark alleyways at nighttime to find him. When she did, he had stared back blankly, appearing not at all happy or thrilled to see her. After dragging him out of the alleyway, they burst into a fierce argument as for the first time ever, the ideals they had shared seemed to shatter into a million pieces. Ferno searched for purpose, while Mittens had already found it in simple adventures with him. Yet adventure in itself was simply no longer enough for the tom, who tried to convince Mittens to join him and his new group instead.

For the days after, it was an endless tug-of-war, with Mittens convinced that his heart could be changed back to how it used to be; such was her wish that they could go back to their old life together. Every day, she would come across him, and the cycle would repeat with the same disappointing conclusion. Eventually, heart worn down to the core by countless arguments and barbed words, she made one last desperate appeal to the cat she had loved—still loved—with her whole heart. He turned her down with words cold and sharp as ice; it was then that she finally decided to give up and retreat to a secluded life with her Upwalkers.

Nowadays, she can usually be found close to—if not inside—her Upwalkers’ den. There, she is often either huddled close to the fireplace or staring blankly from her fence to look at the passing Upwalkers and monsters on the thunderpath, her previous penchant for adventure burnt down to a coal-black heap. She mostly spends her time alone in self-reflection, poring through endless memories of the happy days she had shared with Ferno, now days she would rather forget. A dull life with simple pleasantries is ideal, or so she thinks to herself. While she hates her paws being handled—as her Upwalkers often do when they cuddle her—she begrudgingly permits out of sheer respect for them. It was the least she could do to tolerate their weirdness, when they had provided her a constant refuge filled with warmth and food.

It is only during the few nights she leaves the house that her personality returns slightly back to how it used to be, particularly with passing loners and other cats. With them, she lets loose with a fake yet convincing flirtatiousness, searching for anything that would cool the searing pain that remained in her heart.

Her former snark and thrill-seeking nature seemed to have been crushed that night. Things were never going to be the same. She had completely resigned herself to a life of boring certainty, and that was okay. But perhaps the future would hold a kinder fate for her?