Dovesong

Dovesong is a slender, pretty pale she-cat with cream-colored spots and hazel eyes.

## Personality

Dovesong is a sweet and polite cat, treating everyone around her with respect and kindness unless they give her a reason not to - and even then, she will usually force herself to continue being polite, refusing to "cause a scene" or otherwise stir up trouble within the Clan. She may behave frosty and passive aggressive to those that manage to irritate her enough, but she will deny doing so to anyone who asks. She will silently glare daggers at anyone who's managed to piss her off, and though she usually shows restraint, she will deliver swift retribution if someone manages to genuinely anger her, be it a verbal rebuke, or a physical blow, though that is almost exclusively reserved for cats outside of VineClan. She's a fair cat, not one to judge others until she's heard both sides of a story, but she can be quite stubborn in her beliefs once she has committed to a decision. She is humble, and tends to deflect compliments rather than take them, growing uncharacteristically flustered if someone insists on extolling her virtues (or if someone whose opinion she values does, anyway). She is creative and has a good mind for problem-solving, making her an excellent resource for structuring, delegating, and battle tactics. She is organized, observant, and meticulous, and is good at both doing her job as a warrior, and helping out her Clanmates by offering advice or comfort. She generally makes herself available to her Clanmates in order to offer these things, and will never turn away someone who comes to her seeking advice. Though generally a positive influence on the Clan, she has a resentful side, able to hold grudges for long periods of time, and sometimes acting divisive purely out of spite; it isn't easy to rouse her temper, but once someone has irked her, she won't soon forget it, and she'll make sure that they don't forget it, either, behaving especially curtly to them and sometimes making passive aggressive remarks, along with the occasional death glare. She's at least somewhat conscious of this flaw, though it will sometimes take someone else bringing it up for her to recognize that she's being petty in the moment. She always strives to be a good example for younger cats, but sometimes struggles to balance kindness with strictness. Growing up with high expectations on her shoulders, she sometimes finds it difficult to know how hard to push younger cats or what standards to hold them to while still letting them grow at their own pace and not causing them undue stress by making them feel that they have something to live up to. She won't tolerate slacking or disrespect of the Warrior Code from anyone, even her own kin, but she knows that not everyone has the same standards of ladylike behavior and propriety, or the same sensibilities, that she does. She never wants to make anyone feel insecure or alone like she was growing up, and she is always deeply contrite for any mistakes she makes in how she deals with others' struggles or feelings.

## History

Dovesong was born into a very proud, very traditional VineClan family: her mother and father had singled each other out in their young warriorhood, flirted and courted, and eventually become mates, later having Dovesong and her siblings. Throughout her life, it was made clear to Dovesong that her parents expected her to be perfectly ladylike, graceful, and polite, always responsible, always perfectly groomed and well-presented, and, while meant to become a good warrior for the Clan, never meant to be *too* tough or pursue ambition - not when her parents wanted her to settle down with a tom and give them grandkits as soon as possible. Dovesong strived to live up to her parents' expectations all her life, and mostly succeeded, but repeatedly fell short in the romance department, unable to bring herself to settle on any tom that she courted, and earning herself a reputation as a player as a result. In reality, she was not a player, just a very, *very* repressed lesbian - and settling down with a tom just didn't seem *right* to her, no matter how hard she tried to make herself go along with it. It eventually came to a head in a very intense argument with her parents after she had broken off courtship with yet another tom, and her relationship with her parents seemed irreparable. Soon thereafter, her parents both died of sickness. Suddenly left without their pressuring influences on her life, Dovesong was adrift, and kept up with her old patterns for a time, before she began to notice a Clanmate - Almondheart - subtly attempting to cheer her up. The two had been friends as apprentices, and were friendly as warriors even though they weren't close, but Dovesong was deeply touched by Almondheart's efforts, and slowly stopped repeating her old patterns and began to grow into herself and move past her insecurities. Eventually, she noticed she was harboring romantic feelings towards Almondheart, and, though it took her a long time even after the realization to accept this, she eventually confessed to the other she-cat, and found her feelings returned. They courted for a time, then became mates shortly after Almondheart was made deputy. Later on, some time after Almondstar became leader, the couple found a pair of two-moon-old she-kits by the edges of VineClan's territory that they adopted and took in as their own, naming them Hibiscuskit and Orchidkit. Their daughters were very recently apprenticed, and Dovesong couldn't be prouder.