Honey Sweet As Nectar

Honey Sweet As Nectar "Honey" is a long-furred fiery ginger-and-white she-cat with a pink nose and yellow eyes.

## Personality

Like her name implies, Honey is a very sweet cat; she is kind and thoughtful, always willing to lend a helping paw to someone in need, whether they're from her Tribe or not, and she is a great listener, absorbing information that other cats give her and taking note of small things, all of which often help her when offering advice or comfort to others. She is perfectly fine being a shoulder to cry on, and would gladly help any of her Tribe-mates carry their burdens, even though that often puts her in stressful situations, as she will end up with multiple cats' worries knocking around in her head, and overwork herself trying to make everyone happy and solve everyone's problems for them. She isn't nosy or pushy, however, and won't force cats to open up if they don't want to, instead quietly offering to listen if they want to talk and immediately backing off if she's told to do so. Though sweet and gentle, she is rather shy and quiet as well, not one to strike up conversations with cats she doesn't know very well, and one who prefers to keep her nose out of others' business, not one to get involved in gossip or drama. She is typically private and withdrawn, even more so around cats outside the Tribe than within it, only really opening up around kits; as opposed to her usually quiet nature, around kits both her own and of other members of the Tribe, she is willing to play and act dramatic for the sake of a game or story, and will indulge them with almost anything, so long as they're being safe and not bothering anyone else. She can be stern when she needs to be, unafraid to enforce rules and good manners in unruly kits if she needs to. She knows that as a kit-mother, it is technically not the job of the actual parents to raise their kits, but she still believes strongly that parents of kits should hold a connection with them, even if the parents aren't kit-mothers themselves. If she happens to think the parents are inadequate, she will swiftly take the neglected kit under her wing, sheltering and nurturing them as she would one of her own. She is a motherly cat in general, fretting over the safety and happiness of those she's close to, sometimes to the point of nagging slightly. She can be surprisingly stubborn in taking care of others, not flinching away from being snapped at if she thinks that she's doing the right thing. Beneath her timid outer shell, she has immense courage and steely resolve; she will face anything in order to protect the ones that she cares about, deeply loyal to her loved ones, to the point that she would sacrifice her own life and go against her own beliefs. She struggles with loyalty to individual cats versus loyalty to her Tribe and the divine rules given to them by their Ancestors, which led to her situation with her kits and former mate (if he could be called that) to begin with. However, now she is much slower to trust other cats, respecting them and never treating them unkindly, but keeping them at arm's length most of the time, afraid of being used or deceived again – *especially* in regards to toms. She will sometimes become fearful of how much she cares for others and push them away, though she always feels guilty immediately afterwards, caught between wanting to open up to cats, distrusting them due to her past experiences, and fearing being judged or worse if anyone found out about her past. She tends not to speak up about her problems in general, being a people-pleaser trying to help others instead, and not wishing to "burden" anyone with her troubles, on top of a part of her simply not trusting others enough to tell them about her insecurities. She tends to be particularly distrusting of flirtatious individuals, and attempting sleazy lines on her is one of the quickest ways to prompt her usually docile self to be actually aggressive, as she will immediately close herself off, acting frosty and short, shifting into snappish if the cat doesn't get the hint to leave her alone. If she *does* actually manage to get close to someone enough to trust them, she will let her guard down, opening up to speak more, joking around and occasionally even teasing or poking fun, though she remains sweet and caring, growing into being physically affectionate with other cats as well, preferring such methods over verbal declarations of care. She believes one's actions speak louder than their words, and always endeavors to speak and act true to herself, even if she does censor herself a bit for the sake of politeness and proper respect at times.

## History

Honey was raised as the single kit of her litter, to a mother who was a cave-guard, so she didn't see much of her once she was weaned. She was raised by the kit-mothers instead, but without any direct siblings, she found it a little difficult to connect with the other kits her age, so she grew up without any close friends. She entered kit-mother training at eight moons of age, but didn't venture far out of the Tribe's cave until much later in her life. However, during one such expedition, she bumped into a handsome rogue, whom she quickly grew attached to; every time they would meet, he acted charming and polite, so very much the opposite of what her Tribe proclaimed many toms to be, that she couldn't help but fall in love with him. She discovered she was expecting his kits some moons later, and was overjoyed, rushing off to tell him as soon as she could. However, as she was babbling about perhaps leaving her Tribe to join him, so they could be together, another she-cat entered the area – the tom's *mate*. Honey discovered that she had been played by a tom, just like so many of her Tribemates had warned her would happen. She slashed the tom across the face viciously before fleeing, broken-hearted and furious – with the tom, certainly, but mostly with herself for being so easily fooled. However, when her kits were born a few moons later, her heart broke anew to find that her darlings, who she had clung to as a beacon of hope while recovering from her broken heart, were both toms, destined to be sent away from the Tribe once they came of age unless they passed the mysterious spiritual test to become Branches. She now spends every moment she can with them, loving them as much as she can and desperately clinging to the hope that they might become Branches and be allowed to stay with the Tribe.