BIOGRAPHYname//Basilstar {formerly: Basilbreeze, Basilpaw, Basilkit}.
gender//Tom.
age//34 moons.
group...Riverclan.
rank//Leader.
reference//A thin-bodied silver tabby tom with light green eyes.
appearance//Basilstar is a tabby, with swirled black and silver stripes littering his coat. His short, coarse fur rarely tangles upon itself and manages to twine itself into very few mats. However, the fur has a thickness to it and traps all the dust it comes in contact with, or at least it seems that way. Basilstar’s paws are the color of clouds on an overcast day, but often appear a darker shade of gray due to their constant dirty state. His tail is ringed with alternating stripes of black and gray. His coat does not exhibit a glossy sheen, but is rather dull instead.
This tabby cat is small, long-legged, skinny, and, as a result, occasionally clumsy. His legs are wiry, with thin-corded muscles running their lengths. Basilstar’s appendages are concluded with tiny, narrow paws that, at times, seem to get lost under his tall frame. In spite of this, Basilstar is rather flighty on his feet, with speeds rivaling those of scrawny feral cats. Compared to that of an average cat, Basilstar’s tail is lengthier, helping him with much-needed balance.
Basilstar was give his title as a kit due to the light green coloring of his eyes, a coloring shared with the plant of the same name. Though his eyes, for the most part, maintain a single shade of green, there are flecks of forest green throughout his irises, giving them a crystalline appearance.
As is to be expected of any cat that has seen battle, Basilstar has apparent scars on his back, shoulders, and haunches. Some are small, some more noticeable. One ear is ripped off at its approximate midpoint, while the other has a tear at the tip, splitting it into two distinct points. The most noticeable of his scars is probably a thin line running from the bottom of his chin and the entire length of his left side.
personality//Basilstar is a very determined cat, focused on what he wants and willing to do whatever, within reason, to get it. However, he has a heart and couldn’t live with himself if he were to reach his goals through immoral methods like betrayal or lies. Though his clan means the most to him, he still cares about the well being of the other clans. They may be enemies, but without all of the clans, life in the forest would lose its balance. He knows that for his clan to survive, so must the others. Basilstar is blessed with a large amount of patience; something he believes is uncommon in toms and is very proud of. Though he is ambitious, he is not power-hungry; he’d rather see the whole forest thrive than see cats tremble in front of him.
Basilstar is a solid pessimist, attempting to create what he doesn’t even believe can be created. While peace, health, prosperity are desired, he doesn’t believe that they can be achieved. He may have dreams, but he doesn’t always think he’s capable of reaching them. Although he is very tolerant, once his patience level is breached he loses his head with anger, almost as though his logic becomes obscured. Basilstar’s most harmful habit doesn’t hurts others, but rather himself. He believes that he must put on a façade for others, attempting to seem optimistic, when he truly believes otherwise. Though Basilstar works to make the best for others, it takes quite a toll on his own state of mind.
Basilstar does suffer from occasional (yet dramatic) mood swings, going from pleasant to pissed in three seconds flat. Sometimes he’ll go through phases, lasting a few days, in which he shows zero emotion and behaves like a hollow shell. Pessimism and mixed with fake optimism tend to have their own unusual effects on Basilstar.
history//According to Basilstar himself, his own personal story is certainly not lacking of personal flair. His parents relationship was one that defied the boundaries of the clans. Spiderstride, his mother, was a Riverclan cat while his father, Flickerclaw, was a Shadowclan cat. The two met at a gathering and somehow managed to begin a relationship, despite the hardships they faced. As their clans did not share a border they had difficulty meeting each other without tracking through Windclan or Thunderclan territory.
They didn’t particularly desire kits, as they believed that their relationship would taint their young’s reputation. When Spidersilk got pregnant, however, they decided that their bond would most likely end badly and, though it pained them greatly, they vowed to discontinue seeing each other. In order to keep their children’s heritage clean of scars, Spidersilk entrusted her best friend, Frozenstream, with her secret. He agreed to play the role of her mate, to act as though her kits were his.
Birth went normally without any complications. Three healthy, yet slightly premature, toms were born to a rather excited first-time mother. Basilkit, Icekit, and Muddykit were all similar in appearance, their eye colors the only surefire way that Spidersilk could tell them apart. Basilkit had green eyes, Icekit had blue eyes, while Muddykit’s were brown. Within their first few moons of life, a bout of whitecough took the lives of both Icekit and Muddykit, then left Spidersilk struggling to pull through. Basilkit was left unaffected, yet still saw the destruction Starclan could cause, thus began his pessimistic attitude.
Spidersilk lived long enough to see her only living son become an apprentice, assigned to the leader of the clan, Risingstar. When Basilpaw was only eight moons old his mother passed away, her body never fully recovering from her former illness. Basilpaw was rather sickened by the occurrence and looked to Frozenstream (who he believed was his father) for guidance. Frozenstream accidentally let slip the truth about Basilpaw’s heritage to the young apprentice. Basilpaw, put simply, was outraged.
How could I have been so blind? I don’t look like my mother or my ‘father’!Basilpaw came to avoid Frozenstream. There was no point, in his mind, in hanging around a liar. He put hard work into his training; it gave him an escape, a way out of his ‘screwed up’ life. Through the early portions of his training Basilpaw befriended an older apprentice by the name of Amberpaw. They shared good times together, and he was the only cat, other the Frozenstream and his father, that knew about his Half-Clan heritage.
After Amberpaw’s warrior ceremony, the two didn’t get to converse with each other as much. Roles had changed. Other than the occasional ‘hello’ not much else happened. Prey was captured and delivered to elders. Herbs were collected with the medicine cat apprentice at the time (a cat he never really knew but acted kind towards nevertheless). Mock skirmishes were fought with Risingstar to hone his abilities. Apprentice life was monotonous and boring, but at least it gave Basilpaw a method to relieve his frustrations with life. As his apprenticeship came to a close, Risingstar gave Basilpaw the warrior name ‘Basilbreeze’.
Basilbreeze found no comfort in mates and didn’t seek one. He yearned, not for kits, but for success, something for which he could look back on a say ‘I did well.’ He put all the effort he had in training his given apprentices. First there was Dovepaw, a flighty white she-cat with the brains of a field mouse. Her work ethic left a lot to be desired and Basilbreeze was always frustrated by her unintelligent antics. Basilbreeze knew that her ways would get her in trouble eventually, so when he came back from a hunting trip with Ambershine to find her lifeless body in the middle of the camp he was not surprised. He was downhearted, but by no means surprised.
Basilbreeze was soon given a new apprentice, though, and this one he actually enjoyed mentoring. Bluepaw was a light-hearted she-cat that proved to be hardworking and kind. She not only attempted Basilbreeze’s challenges but gave him his own challenges, helping him grasp who he was. On the day of her warrior ceremony Basilbreeze could’ve been seen, gazing upon the young cat with clouded eyes. Bluestreak was Basilbreeze’s source of happiness and pride for a long time. Then disaster struck.
Risingstar’s nine lives were dwindling when a Thunderclan ambush struck Riverclan’s camp. In a last ditch effort to protect a queen and her four kits, Risingstar attempted to fight off two or three Thunderclan cats. He lost his last life, then and there, but he also took the two Thunderclan cats with him. Ambershine, the newest deputy, was to become leader, and, (as Basilbreeze was not only his friend, but a hard-worker) Ambershine chose Basilbreeze to be his deputy. Basilbreeze was somewhat elated. He’d found success.
His happiness was not long-lived, however. As Ambershine was on his way to the Moonstone he was attacked and killed by an emaciated fox. Basilbreeze had lost a friend and had found responsibility thrust on his shoulders. He was to be leader of Riverclan.
acquaintances//Spidersilk//Mother. Died from after effects of whitecough.
Flickerclaw//Father. Exiled from Shadowclan for reasons unknown to Basilstar.
Frozenstream//Fake-Father. Uneasy relationship. Caring yet shy.
Risingstar//Former Mentor. Deceased.
Dovepaw//Apprentice. Drowned in the river.
Bluestreak//Former Apprentice. Casual friendship.
Ambershine//Former Friend. Killed by fox.
notes... In my mind, silver and gray (cat-wise) are the same. I don’t know if that’s the same with you; that’s why I’m stating this. Sorry if this doesn’t meet your requirements. I read through some of the critiqued bios to see what you wanted, but I’ve never really written a bio that follows your rules. xD
ROLEPLAYING PROMPTMany cats have been mysteriously injured, and some have disappeared. ____ finds out that a fox and his pregnant mate are in RiverClan territory. ____ sends out three patrols of four cats each to hunt the fox down. One patrol comes back, having found the other two. ____ comes with the patrol leader and finds three cats heavily injured and two missing. The other three killed the male fox, but the female fox still wants food for her unborn cubs. What does ____, your character, do?. . . t h e y | l i e d | w h e n | t h e y | s a i d | t h e | g o o d | d i e | y o u n g . . .Basilstar followed the patrol leader quickly, his paws hardly touching the ground. If there was a fox at hand, there were bound to be injuries, if not deaths. In fact, there were most likely deaths. After all, a fox didn’t like to leave the living behind. If it were to die it’d bring as many cats with it as possible. If it were to live... Well it’d still kill as many cats as possible. Either way... Death was to be inevitable.
. . . s t a y | w i t h | m e . . .When Basilstar laid his eyes on the site of the skirmish, he knew his words to be true. Three of his warriors lay, bloodstained and barely breathing, on the ground next to a fox with blood pooling around his neck. At first Basilstar did not pay much attention to the three on the ground. They were heavily injured, and even the medicine cat at his side would probably not be able to help them. But at further inspection, he noticed his pride and joy, his very own Bluestreak, lying next to the other two fallen warriors. The corner of his mouth turned down in a scowl.
. . . s t a y | w i t h | m e | t o n i g h t . . .He turned to Mountainfrost and hissed,
“Her first.” His gaze was meant to be commanding, to give the she-cat no reason to disobey. He hoped it worked. Looking around at the scene before him, he took stock of the patrol members. Two were missing. He didn’t fear the worst. He knew that the worst had happened. There was no doubt in his mind.
. . . b u r n i n g | d o w n | b r i d g e s | n o w | s c a t t e r | t h e | a s h e s . . .Anger flared in Basilstar’s heart, adrenaline pumped through his veins. This creature, this fox on the ground had given Bluestreak wounds that could, no... would kill her. It had hurt the cat that he had come to love as the child he never wanted. This thing... it had young of its own out there, even if they were unborn. If it wanted to kill Basilstar’s warriors, especially his Bluestreak, then it would bring the same fate on its family.
. . . g o d s p e e d | t o | a l l | y o u ‘ r e | a f t e r . . .Basilstar began to pace forwards, in the direction of the hungry female fox. He couldn’t speak; his voice would quaver and give away his pain, anger, and sadness. Instead, he flicked his tail once, telling his warriors that he was going to fight, whether he was alone or not.
SHORT ESSAYBasilstar doesn’t always fit the typical Riverclan personality, despite being their leader. He can be daring, when much is at stake, but he is not prejudiced. One cat doesn’t have any more importance than another. He is fair, showing no favorites and picking on no one. He is hard-working, always putting his clan first and fighting for the good of the forest. Though he is not always the most stable of cats, he is strong and, for the most part, reliable. Basilstar is intelligent and is a great, dedicated warrior.
