Post by Zen on Feb 28, 2016 1:40:18 GMT -5
Name: Whisper
Age: 27 moons
Sex: Tom
Gang: Scavengers
Rank: Boss
Picture:
Description Summary: A lithe, short furred, mottled black and white tom with pale green eyes.
Full Description: Whisper is quite a distinctive looking cat, easily recognized, which actually tends to work against him, as a Scavenger. His pelt is a mottled black and white coloration, random blotches and specks creating a chaotic collage of fur. However, if it weren't for his striking coat, he would be entirely forgettable. He is not any particularly noteworthy size, merely average, lithe but not lanky. His fur is short, but dense. His eyes are the pale, youthful green of new growth in spring.
Personality:
Whisper has always been incredibly observant, preferring to remain in the background and watch as things unfold, but as he grew he learned he could influence events, that he could make them more interesting. While his observing began innocently, making him a loner among kits, it has become something far more sinister. He has grown into a skilled manipulator, never wanting to completely control, only to push and nudge, to lead others into interesting situations only to sit back and watch how they react to them, what decisions they make, how an event might change them, for better or worse.
Whisper is skilled at wearing personalities like masks, molding himself into whatever he thinks a cat wants him to be at the time in order to get what he wants out of them. During his thus far fairly short life, he has come to have an incredible grasp on reading others, at picking apart just what motivates them, what they want from life, and using that information to his advantage. He is an entirely disingenuous cat, and yet convincingly sincere when it suits his needs. At his core, Whisper is hedonistic and selfish, acting only for his own amusement and nothing more. To Whisper, life is a game, and every cat in it a toy to play with until it breaks.
The personality he chooses to show most cats is charming and cheerful, and he is actually quite charismatic. He is often sarcastic, unable to help himself when those around him say and do stupid things, but is skilled at making his comments seem far more innocent. It is nearly impossible for him to form close bonds with others due his selfish nature, though he acts the part well enough. Should he grow bored with any cat in his life, however, he won't hesitate to fabricate a way to get them out of it.
History:
Whisper was born Speckles, along with his brother and littermate, Spots. His was a rare litter of pure Scavenger blood, at least for the last two generations anyway (before that it's hard to say). From the time he was a very young kit, Whisper was a quiet observer. While other kits would tumble about and play, Whisper secluded himself in the shadows, ever alert, watching. He watched more than just the other kits' silly play. He watched the adults, how they interacted, began learning little things about them from how they held themselves... first when they spoke with others and then when they thought no one was watching. He learned of the true nature of the Gang he had been born into, of the culture of suspicion and paranoia that pervaded the Scavengers.
He was not close with his brother at first. Spots was a bubbly chatterbox, and Speckles heard the adults talk about him. There was often talk that he would not remain a Scavenger for long. If that was the case, Speckles thought, it would be a waste of time to interact with him. That didn't mean Spots didn't try, however. Spots seemed rather enamored with his brother. He would always try to get Speckles to play with him, and when he finally gave that up, he would sit beside him and continue to chatter away, making a rather annoying distraction of himself. Speckles didn't waste his breath telling him to shut up or go away. He knew his brother would never listen.
It wasn't until a cat dragged himself back to camp, torn up and bleeding, that Speckles really got to see what kind of cat his brother was, deep down inside. For the first time in his life, he witnessed a speechless Spots. But it hadn't been horror or fear he had seen in his brother dark green eyes, but excitement and curiosity. Spots left his side to watch the Healers work on the wounded cat, carefully keeping out of their way so he would not be sent back to his mother, for once in his life keeping his mouth shut, but to ask a brief question of the Healers now and then. Speckles witnessed all of it and for the first time, became interested in his brother.
Spots began to spend more time around the Healers after that, leaving Speckles alone at long last, though not for long. This time at least, it was his own doing, however. The Scavenger Boss, Shade, had two sons as well, both his age. He took a particular interest in the larger one, both amused and disgusted by his quick temper and lack of self control. At first he had thought getting close to the Boss's kits might grant him some sort of special treatment, but after observing them both for a time, he concluded that it would be much more fun to 'play' with the big one instead. It started with little comments, spoken carelessly enough so that he would be able to hear even though they were never really directed at him. All he ever did was snarl at him, telling him to say things to his face, but Speckles always pretended he didn't know what he was talking about.
Finally one comment sent him over the edge. The bigger tom leaped on him, digging in his claws and biting as hard as he could. Speckles shrieked from the pain and his mother and Shade managed to pull the two apart. It shook Speckles, for it was his first real taste of pain. He was more cautious after that, learning from his mistake. He still taunted that kit, for it was too much fun not to, but now he paid more attention, watching for the telltale sign he was about to be attacked so he could properly run away. Spots was all over him about his 'battle', kept pestering him about how it had felt to be clawed and bitten, kept wanting to inspect his wounds. While his only answer to such stupid questions was that 'it hurt', he didn't mind letting his brother get a look at the wounds he had gotten.
His mother had given him an earful after the event, telling him how getting into trouble with the Boss's kits was a good way to get kicked out, but Speckles didn't much care and tuned most of it out. He was aware of the possible consequences of his actions and was prepared for them, or he was now, knowing how much getting bitten and scratched hurt. It was a good lesson, in the end, and he was satisfied with the results. Other than pestering his self chosen nemesis and getting chased around a lot, his kithood went by fairly uneventfully after that. Spots sometimes had the nerve to ask him to get caught so he could see his wounds again, but he ignored his brother's morbid requests.
He was apprenticed at 4 moons to a tom named Spider. In the typical way of the Scavengers, Spider did very little initial teaching, simply watching over and guiding young Speckles as he learned on his own by observing. He would point something out now and then, if he found it necessary, but their relationship was a distant one, and remarkably quiet. He learned quickly, however, thriving in this new environment of supervised exploration. Spider became a bit more involved when it came to teaching him how to hunt, but only to show him the proper way to stalk and move a few times and from there giving simple corrections when Speckles failed to perfectly replicate his examples. He managed to catch a few mice living in the tunnels over his time as a Junior Apprentice.
He graduated to a Senior Apprentice shortly after turning 6 moons, leaving his brother and nemesis behind as a Junior Apprentices, something he used as brand new taunting material. His first venture into the world above was ultimately uneventful. He met no new cats, but saw his first human, which Spider warned him to stay away from. As the tom never spoke to him unless it was important, he took the warning to heart. He attempted to catch a pigeon, but was absolutely baffled by the creature's ability to fly and it got away. Spider cuffed him around the ear and growled at him to stop behaving like some wide-eyed kit. As the first of his age group to graduate to Senior Apprenticeship, he was incredibly popular upon his return as the others gathered around him to hurl question after question at him about the world above.
At first he was annoyed at the attention, but he quickly realized he could use their admiration to his advantage. It was at that moment that he forced a fundamental shift in his own personality, or at least in the personality that he showed others. He let them fawn all over him, feeding them tidbits of information as the days went on and he continued his forays out into the world above and learned more about it. He worked harder than he had before to learn, to know, to achieve, because with his Gangmates' admiration he could wrap them around his claws. His nemesis never bought into his newfound charms, which was honestly fine with Speckles. It would be boring if he simply joined his growing group of 'followers' and stopped being so very fun to play with.
He didn't have much longer to torment the other tom, however, for at 9 moons, Shade took her son from the confines of camp and when she returned he was not with her. He found out shortly after that she had given him to the Marauders, to his father who was a warrior in the other Gang. He had been unable to graduate to a Senior Apprentice and proven that he had too much Marauder blood in him, he didn't belong in the Scavengers. He found himself both pleased at this news, and incredibly disappointed. With his nemesis gone from the Gang, he turned instead to building the loyalty of his followers. He would find that tom again, when he was a warrior, and then he would play to his heart's content. Though there was the issue of Shade. If the Boss had any affection for her son, anything Speckles did to him now might come back to bite him as she could use the excuse that he was needlessly provoking another Gang, damaging their relations.
He focused on his followers, on keeping them, and on gaining more. When a cat hung on your every word, it was so very easy to push them in the direction you wanted them to go. He did not need any real authority, did not need to issue orders, suggestions were enough. He reveled in it. At 11 moons, he was named a warrior and chose the name Whisper for himself. It was not threatening, in fact it was downright misleading, and it was precisely what he wanted. He had thought long and hard about what he would name himself when he earned the right to do so, to leave his kittish name behind at last. He was the first among his peers to become a warrior as well, which had been his goal, for he knew how they would all worship him for it. He helped them train, granting them his precious attention, fed them encouraging words he knew they would want to hear. In the Scavengers, no one really cares about you, but Whisper made sure they thought he did.
When his followers began earning their warrior names, Whisper knew his praise and attention would start to lose its meaning to them. He turned his attentions back to himself. How could he change himself to keep their loyalty? What would they want and what could he give them? They could not start to think of themselves as his equals or he would lose his power of suggestion. They MUST continue to look up to him, to crave his approval, to need him. He began to build up contacts outside the Gang. If he was going to impress them, he needed to stay steps ahead of them, and for that he needed more than just his followers within the Scavengers. As they were becoming warriors, he introduced them to a few of his more useless contacts, playing at doing them a favor by getting them started on building their own networks. But of course if they hear anything interesting, they would surely tell him about it first, right?
At 15 moons he was assigned his first apprentice, a she-cat. The possibility of molding a young cat into exactly what he wanted was exhilarating, and he took to the task of mentor seriously. She was going to become one of the most loyal pieces he had to play in this game of life, and he wanted her to be a useful piece as well. He was more involved with her than his mentor had been with him, though he still gave her plenty of space to learn on her own, to show him what she was capable of, that he wouldn't have to drag her by the scruff every step of the way. A stupid pawn would hardly be a useful one. He gave his guidance, attention, praise, and even his affection on occasion, giving her a quick, encouraging lick on the head 'when no one was looking'. He played his part well and she ate it all up.
She convinced her sister, and two toms similar in age, of how great he was. It helped, of course, that two of his followers mentored her sister and one of the toms. As for the other tom... he noticed the fool's crush on his apprentice early on, and used it to his advantage. He spoke with the younger tom, promising to help him in his endeavor to win his apprentice's heart. It seemed that was all that was really needed to win the young fool over to his side. At the same time, he helped his followers out with their apprentices, keeping up their support and earning the support of their young charges all at once. While he was training apprentices, his brother was apprenticing as a Healer, something Whisper wholeheartedly encouraged. If he could have a Healer in his following, it would look all the better for him in the future.
Two of his followers started fighting over him, she-cats who seemed to have an eye on him to become their mate. They were both quite adamant they would be his only mate, but Whisper had no intention of ever doing anything so sentimental as tying himself to a single she-cat. And yet he found it to be a predicament, for spurning one would surely send her out of his control, and should he not prove the loyal mate the other wanted, he might lose her as well. He put them off for as long as possible, sheepishly telling them that he wasn't at all ready to be thinking about such things. They seemed to accept it initially, but the excuse wore thin after a few moons. He put them off for a bit longer, saying he wanted to focus on his apprentice's training right then and didn't want to have to worry about a mate or kits.
It gave him enough time to think, at least. One of them had a brother that followed him, the other did not. He would likely lose the brother as well, if he didn't chose her, and by choosing her he would very likely strengthen the brother's support. It was an easy choice, really. Though as for what to do later on when he decided to mate with some other she-cat, he had no answer just yet. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. His apprentice was named a warrior, and both she-cats shortly approached him, demanding an answer. With a pained look on his face and reluctant words, he told them his decision. It seemed his act was for naught, for the she-cat he had spurned became furious and even lashed out at him, but his new mate leaped on her before her strike could hit him. He managed to break them up, but he had indeed lost a follower, and she swore she would never forgive him. Things would have been so much simpler if they both could have accepted sharing him, but what was he to do? Her reaction was entertaining, at least, and he began to wonder how she might attempt to retaliate in the future.
Only a moon later, his new mate was joyously pregnant, and he doted on her properly. The prospect of being a father thrilled him almost as much as being a mentor. He might not be able to shape them as well if he didn't get a chance to mentor one or the other, but he could shape their first few moons, at least. While his mate grew with their kits, Whisper was growing restless. Things had been too peaceful for too long. Something had to change. He took an interest in Shade, wondering at how easy it might possibly be to depose her. While he had little enough interest in having the authority that came with being Boss, he had to admit that it would at least be exciting, never knowing when some cat might try to Challenge you, trying to pick out which of your own cats might some day betray you. And the ability to manipulate an entire Gang of cats... no... he could possibly even use his authority and his Gang to manipulate the other Gangs as well... he couldn't pass up the chance.
He started digging, asking about Shade and this Marauder warrior she had borne the kits of. He started dredging up old suspicions, feeding them. Whenever Shade left camp on her own, he would wait a short while, and make an offhand comment to some cat about how he hadn't seen her in a while. Other times he would wonder aloud near some cat about the son Shade had given to the Marauders, wondering if she ever regretted her decision. They were little comments, never accusations, but enough cats heard them and started talking about it that many led themselves to the same conclusion: Shade loved her Marauder mate and son and could no longer be trusted to lead them without letting her emotions cloud her judgment. It was so much easier than he had thought it would be to plant those ideas in their heads. And no cat could ever accuse him of making baseless accusations in a quest for power, for he never had.
When he Challenged Shade, the vast majority of the Gang stood with him, even the she-cat he had spurned, much to his surprise. Perhaps she had lied, maybe she had forgiven him after all. It was hard to say. Shade wisely stepped down, and Whisper killed her swiftly. She was the first cat he had ever killed. How quickly her life faded away. He found he did not dislike the feeling, the knowledge that he had ended another cat's life. There was something exhilarating about it, something that made him feel more alive. And so at 23 moons, Whisper became Boss of the Scavengers. A short moon later, his kits were born, a tom and a she-cat.
RP Sample:
Sitting on the lower steps of the staircase leading up to the rubble that closed the Scavenger camp off from the outside world, Whisper watched his Gang going about their day. His mate was fussing over their kits. They would be apprentices in only one short moon and that fact seemed to have her on edge for some reason. If they were not ready for apprenticeship at 4 moons they were not fit to be Scavengers. Perhaps he would claim they were not even his after all if that were the case. Such an accusation would devastate that she-cat. His ears twitched with interest at the possibility. His pale gaze traveled over two cats leaving camp, his younger sisters, ever inseparable.
He was not particularly close to either of them, and he had a feeling his mother had poisoned their minds against him while they were still young, before he became Boss, because they seemed to have an inexplicable disdain for him. His mother had never approved of how he treated Shade's son, after all, afraid it would lead to not only his banishment, but her own. Or worse. She had thought him reckless, but even as a kit he had never done anything without thinking it through first, figuring out the possible consequences, weighing his options. As the two younger she-cats disappeared, Whisper decided to follow them. Perhaps it was time he got to know his sisters better....
Age: 27 moons
Sex: Tom
Gang: Scavengers
Rank: Boss
Picture:
Description Summary: A lithe, short furred, mottled black and white tom with pale green eyes.
Full Description: Whisper is quite a distinctive looking cat, easily recognized, which actually tends to work against him, as a Scavenger. His pelt is a mottled black and white coloration, random blotches and specks creating a chaotic collage of fur. However, if it weren't for his striking coat, he would be entirely forgettable. He is not any particularly noteworthy size, merely average, lithe but not lanky. His fur is short, but dense. His eyes are the pale, youthful green of new growth in spring.
Personality:
Whisper has always been incredibly observant, preferring to remain in the background and watch as things unfold, but as he grew he learned he could influence events, that he could make them more interesting. While his observing began innocently, making him a loner among kits, it has become something far more sinister. He has grown into a skilled manipulator, never wanting to completely control, only to push and nudge, to lead others into interesting situations only to sit back and watch how they react to them, what decisions they make, how an event might change them, for better or worse.
Whisper is skilled at wearing personalities like masks, molding himself into whatever he thinks a cat wants him to be at the time in order to get what he wants out of them. During his thus far fairly short life, he has come to have an incredible grasp on reading others, at picking apart just what motivates them, what they want from life, and using that information to his advantage. He is an entirely disingenuous cat, and yet convincingly sincere when it suits his needs. At his core, Whisper is hedonistic and selfish, acting only for his own amusement and nothing more. To Whisper, life is a game, and every cat in it a toy to play with until it breaks.
The personality he chooses to show most cats is charming and cheerful, and he is actually quite charismatic. He is often sarcastic, unable to help himself when those around him say and do stupid things, but is skilled at making his comments seem far more innocent. It is nearly impossible for him to form close bonds with others due his selfish nature, though he acts the part well enough. Should he grow bored with any cat in his life, however, he won't hesitate to fabricate a way to get them out of it.
History:
Whisper was born Speckles, along with his brother and littermate, Spots. His was a rare litter of pure Scavenger blood, at least for the last two generations anyway (before that it's hard to say). From the time he was a very young kit, Whisper was a quiet observer. While other kits would tumble about and play, Whisper secluded himself in the shadows, ever alert, watching. He watched more than just the other kits' silly play. He watched the adults, how they interacted, began learning little things about them from how they held themselves... first when they spoke with others and then when they thought no one was watching. He learned of the true nature of the Gang he had been born into, of the culture of suspicion and paranoia that pervaded the Scavengers.
He was not close with his brother at first. Spots was a bubbly chatterbox, and Speckles heard the adults talk about him. There was often talk that he would not remain a Scavenger for long. If that was the case, Speckles thought, it would be a waste of time to interact with him. That didn't mean Spots didn't try, however. Spots seemed rather enamored with his brother. He would always try to get Speckles to play with him, and when he finally gave that up, he would sit beside him and continue to chatter away, making a rather annoying distraction of himself. Speckles didn't waste his breath telling him to shut up or go away. He knew his brother would never listen.
It wasn't until a cat dragged himself back to camp, torn up and bleeding, that Speckles really got to see what kind of cat his brother was, deep down inside. For the first time in his life, he witnessed a speechless Spots. But it hadn't been horror or fear he had seen in his brother dark green eyes, but excitement and curiosity. Spots left his side to watch the Healers work on the wounded cat, carefully keeping out of their way so he would not be sent back to his mother, for once in his life keeping his mouth shut, but to ask a brief question of the Healers now and then. Speckles witnessed all of it and for the first time, became interested in his brother.
Spots began to spend more time around the Healers after that, leaving Speckles alone at long last, though not for long. This time at least, it was his own doing, however. The Scavenger Boss, Shade, had two sons as well, both his age. He took a particular interest in the larger one, both amused and disgusted by his quick temper and lack of self control. At first he had thought getting close to the Boss's kits might grant him some sort of special treatment, but after observing them both for a time, he concluded that it would be much more fun to 'play' with the big one instead. It started with little comments, spoken carelessly enough so that he would be able to hear even though they were never really directed at him. All he ever did was snarl at him, telling him to say things to his face, but Speckles always pretended he didn't know what he was talking about.
Finally one comment sent him over the edge. The bigger tom leaped on him, digging in his claws and biting as hard as he could. Speckles shrieked from the pain and his mother and Shade managed to pull the two apart. It shook Speckles, for it was his first real taste of pain. He was more cautious after that, learning from his mistake. He still taunted that kit, for it was too much fun not to, but now he paid more attention, watching for the telltale sign he was about to be attacked so he could properly run away. Spots was all over him about his 'battle', kept pestering him about how it had felt to be clawed and bitten, kept wanting to inspect his wounds. While his only answer to such stupid questions was that 'it hurt', he didn't mind letting his brother get a look at the wounds he had gotten.
His mother had given him an earful after the event, telling him how getting into trouble with the Boss's kits was a good way to get kicked out, but Speckles didn't much care and tuned most of it out. He was aware of the possible consequences of his actions and was prepared for them, or he was now, knowing how much getting bitten and scratched hurt. It was a good lesson, in the end, and he was satisfied with the results. Other than pestering his self chosen nemesis and getting chased around a lot, his kithood went by fairly uneventfully after that. Spots sometimes had the nerve to ask him to get caught so he could see his wounds again, but he ignored his brother's morbid requests.
He was apprenticed at 4 moons to a tom named Spider. In the typical way of the Scavengers, Spider did very little initial teaching, simply watching over and guiding young Speckles as he learned on his own by observing. He would point something out now and then, if he found it necessary, but their relationship was a distant one, and remarkably quiet. He learned quickly, however, thriving in this new environment of supervised exploration. Spider became a bit more involved when it came to teaching him how to hunt, but only to show him the proper way to stalk and move a few times and from there giving simple corrections when Speckles failed to perfectly replicate his examples. He managed to catch a few mice living in the tunnels over his time as a Junior Apprentice.
He graduated to a Senior Apprentice shortly after turning 6 moons, leaving his brother and nemesis behind as a Junior Apprentices, something he used as brand new taunting material. His first venture into the world above was ultimately uneventful. He met no new cats, but saw his first human, which Spider warned him to stay away from. As the tom never spoke to him unless it was important, he took the warning to heart. He attempted to catch a pigeon, but was absolutely baffled by the creature's ability to fly and it got away. Spider cuffed him around the ear and growled at him to stop behaving like some wide-eyed kit. As the first of his age group to graduate to Senior Apprenticeship, he was incredibly popular upon his return as the others gathered around him to hurl question after question at him about the world above.
At first he was annoyed at the attention, but he quickly realized he could use their admiration to his advantage. It was at that moment that he forced a fundamental shift in his own personality, or at least in the personality that he showed others. He let them fawn all over him, feeding them tidbits of information as the days went on and he continued his forays out into the world above and learned more about it. He worked harder than he had before to learn, to know, to achieve, because with his Gangmates' admiration he could wrap them around his claws. His nemesis never bought into his newfound charms, which was honestly fine with Speckles. It would be boring if he simply joined his growing group of 'followers' and stopped being so very fun to play with.
He didn't have much longer to torment the other tom, however, for at 9 moons, Shade took her son from the confines of camp and when she returned he was not with her. He found out shortly after that she had given him to the Marauders, to his father who was a warrior in the other Gang. He had been unable to graduate to a Senior Apprentice and proven that he had too much Marauder blood in him, he didn't belong in the Scavengers. He found himself both pleased at this news, and incredibly disappointed. With his nemesis gone from the Gang, he turned instead to building the loyalty of his followers. He would find that tom again, when he was a warrior, and then he would play to his heart's content. Though there was the issue of Shade. If the Boss had any affection for her son, anything Speckles did to him now might come back to bite him as she could use the excuse that he was needlessly provoking another Gang, damaging their relations.
He focused on his followers, on keeping them, and on gaining more. When a cat hung on your every word, it was so very easy to push them in the direction you wanted them to go. He did not need any real authority, did not need to issue orders, suggestions were enough. He reveled in it. At 11 moons, he was named a warrior and chose the name Whisper for himself. It was not threatening, in fact it was downright misleading, and it was precisely what he wanted. He had thought long and hard about what he would name himself when he earned the right to do so, to leave his kittish name behind at last. He was the first among his peers to become a warrior as well, which had been his goal, for he knew how they would all worship him for it. He helped them train, granting them his precious attention, fed them encouraging words he knew they would want to hear. In the Scavengers, no one really cares about you, but Whisper made sure they thought he did.
When his followers began earning their warrior names, Whisper knew his praise and attention would start to lose its meaning to them. He turned his attentions back to himself. How could he change himself to keep their loyalty? What would they want and what could he give them? They could not start to think of themselves as his equals or he would lose his power of suggestion. They MUST continue to look up to him, to crave his approval, to need him. He began to build up contacts outside the Gang. If he was going to impress them, he needed to stay steps ahead of them, and for that he needed more than just his followers within the Scavengers. As they were becoming warriors, he introduced them to a few of his more useless contacts, playing at doing them a favor by getting them started on building their own networks. But of course if they hear anything interesting, they would surely tell him about it first, right?
At 15 moons he was assigned his first apprentice, a she-cat. The possibility of molding a young cat into exactly what he wanted was exhilarating, and he took to the task of mentor seriously. She was going to become one of the most loyal pieces he had to play in this game of life, and he wanted her to be a useful piece as well. He was more involved with her than his mentor had been with him, though he still gave her plenty of space to learn on her own, to show him what she was capable of, that he wouldn't have to drag her by the scruff every step of the way. A stupid pawn would hardly be a useful one. He gave his guidance, attention, praise, and even his affection on occasion, giving her a quick, encouraging lick on the head 'when no one was looking'. He played his part well and she ate it all up.
She convinced her sister, and two toms similar in age, of how great he was. It helped, of course, that two of his followers mentored her sister and one of the toms. As for the other tom... he noticed the fool's crush on his apprentice early on, and used it to his advantage. He spoke with the younger tom, promising to help him in his endeavor to win his apprentice's heart. It seemed that was all that was really needed to win the young fool over to his side. At the same time, he helped his followers out with their apprentices, keeping up their support and earning the support of their young charges all at once. While he was training apprentices, his brother was apprenticing as a Healer, something Whisper wholeheartedly encouraged. If he could have a Healer in his following, it would look all the better for him in the future.
Two of his followers started fighting over him, she-cats who seemed to have an eye on him to become their mate. They were both quite adamant they would be his only mate, but Whisper had no intention of ever doing anything so sentimental as tying himself to a single she-cat. And yet he found it to be a predicament, for spurning one would surely send her out of his control, and should he not prove the loyal mate the other wanted, he might lose her as well. He put them off for as long as possible, sheepishly telling them that he wasn't at all ready to be thinking about such things. They seemed to accept it initially, but the excuse wore thin after a few moons. He put them off for a bit longer, saying he wanted to focus on his apprentice's training right then and didn't want to have to worry about a mate or kits.
It gave him enough time to think, at least. One of them had a brother that followed him, the other did not. He would likely lose the brother as well, if he didn't chose her, and by choosing her he would very likely strengthen the brother's support. It was an easy choice, really. Though as for what to do later on when he decided to mate with some other she-cat, he had no answer just yet. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. His apprentice was named a warrior, and both she-cats shortly approached him, demanding an answer. With a pained look on his face and reluctant words, he told them his decision. It seemed his act was for naught, for the she-cat he had spurned became furious and even lashed out at him, but his new mate leaped on her before her strike could hit him. He managed to break them up, but he had indeed lost a follower, and she swore she would never forgive him. Things would have been so much simpler if they both could have accepted sharing him, but what was he to do? Her reaction was entertaining, at least, and he began to wonder how she might attempt to retaliate in the future.
Only a moon later, his new mate was joyously pregnant, and he doted on her properly. The prospect of being a father thrilled him almost as much as being a mentor. He might not be able to shape them as well if he didn't get a chance to mentor one or the other, but he could shape their first few moons, at least. While his mate grew with their kits, Whisper was growing restless. Things had been too peaceful for too long. Something had to change. He took an interest in Shade, wondering at how easy it might possibly be to depose her. While he had little enough interest in having the authority that came with being Boss, he had to admit that it would at least be exciting, never knowing when some cat might try to Challenge you, trying to pick out which of your own cats might some day betray you. And the ability to manipulate an entire Gang of cats... no... he could possibly even use his authority and his Gang to manipulate the other Gangs as well... he couldn't pass up the chance.
He started digging, asking about Shade and this Marauder warrior she had borne the kits of. He started dredging up old suspicions, feeding them. Whenever Shade left camp on her own, he would wait a short while, and make an offhand comment to some cat about how he hadn't seen her in a while. Other times he would wonder aloud near some cat about the son Shade had given to the Marauders, wondering if she ever regretted her decision. They were little comments, never accusations, but enough cats heard them and started talking about it that many led themselves to the same conclusion: Shade loved her Marauder mate and son and could no longer be trusted to lead them without letting her emotions cloud her judgment. It was so much easier than he had thought it would be to plant those ideas in their heads. And no cat could ever accuse him of making baseless accusations in a quest for power, for he never had.
When he Challenged Shade, the vast majority of the Gang stood with him, even the she-cat he had spurned, much to his surprise. Perhaps she had lied, maybe she had forgiven him after all. It was hard to say. Shade wisely stepped down, and Whisper killed her swiftly. She was the first cat he had ever killed. How quickly her life faded away. He found he did not dislike the feeling, the knowledge that he had ended another cat's life. There was something exhilarating about it, something that made him feel more alive. And so at 23 moons, Whisper became Boss of the Scavengers. A short moon later, his kits were born, a tom and a she-cat.
RP Sample:
Sitting on the lower steps of the staircase leading up to the rubble that closed the Scavenger camp off from the outside world, Whisper watched his Gang going about their day. His mate was fussing over their kits. They would be apprentices in only one short moon and that fact seemed to have her on edge for some reason. If they were not ready for apprenticeship at 4 moons they were not fit to be Scavengers. Perhaps he would claim they were not even his after all if that were the case. Such an accusation would devastate that she-cat. His ears twitched with interest at the possibility. His pale gaze traveled over two cats leaving camp, his younger sisters, ever inseparable.
He was not particularly close to either of them, and he had a feeling his mother had poisoned their minds against him while they were still young, before he became Boss, because they seemed to have an inexplicable disdain for him. His mother had never approved of how he treated Shade's son, after all, afraid it would lead to not only his banishment, but her own. Or worse. She had thought him reckless, but even as a kit he had never done anything without thinking it through first, figuring out the possible consequences, weighing his options. As the two younger she-cats disappeared, Whisper decided to follow them. Perhaps it was time he got to know his sisters better....
