leolin (( SEEKER

[idk my bff brindle]

l e o l i n

n a m e leolin
a g e 52 moons
c l a n seeker
g e n d e r tom
r a n k leader

a p p e a r e n c e

!!. Leolin is an impressive cat, tall at the shoulders and also broad. His muscles are fine and strong, and he walks with a quiet dignity that isn’t seen on many. He has the air of the leader, and he carries himself with pride. His neck is lean and powerful, supporting his massive head. His jaw is square and his cheekbones are prominent, giving him a wide head. He looks a lot like Baltasar, being shaped extremely like a wolf. But unlike his ancestor, Leolin’s frame is leaner. He isn’t as thick and powerful- instead, he has a lithe, rugged shape. His pelt catches on his muscles as he moves, showing off his strength. He was raised for this life, and his body shows it. His flanks are strong and wide, and his paws are rough from wear. His tail is long and it curls around him. His belly is sharp and accentuated, his chest heaving with the rise and fall of each breath.

!!. Leolin’s head is wide, and his cheekbones are prominent and angled. His muzzle is a medium length, and it tapers not to a tip, but to a blunt point. His jaw is strong and his chin accented. The top of his head is wide, though his head doesn’t look dome-shaped. His ears are tall and pointed, with small tufts of fur not unlike those of a Maine Coon at the top. His eyes are a very pale blue in colour. They aren’t translucent enough to be called ice blue, but they range from a soft powder blue to a darker, steelier blue, depending on the light. The fur on his head is a pale grey, and his nose is a dark grey in colour, almost black. There’s slashes of white fur rimming his eyes, nose and ears, and by the back of his head.

!!. Leolin’s body is covered in a thick coat of shaggy fur. It’s a tarnished grey in colour, with slight variations all around. Patches of white fur are common near his paws and muzzle- the handsome tom is going prematurely old, due to the stress of his role and of his maniacal dreams. In the center of his coat, his fur is a darker grey. On his flanks and underbelly, his pelt appears almost silver. When he moves, his fur colours shimmer and he is somewhat like a wolf. There are dark patches of grey behind his ears, and a couple of black spots on his muzzle. His coat is marked with Bengal markings that start from the nape of his neck and gow down over his back and down his flanks. His tail is ringed, with a patch of black at the tip.

p e r s o n a

!!. Leolin has a mixture of many different traits. Some see him as a vengeful cat, one bridling with rage. Others see him as a friend, a companion, and one who would be faithful until death. A special few see him as kind and caring, strong but also smart. Leolin sees himself as on the verge of delirium, fighting to keep his leadership and to restore power to the Seekers. A mixture of many things, Leolin is undoubtedly a strong leader. But he has his weaknesses, his fears, and moments when he fears he’s crazy.

!!. Vengeful. Yes, Leolin is vengeful. He’s angry at the world. He’s angry at Baltasar for killing all of the she-cats. He’s angry at Aiyetoro for even seeing another tom. He’s angry at himself for stirring the rebellion that brought down Baltasar. But the tom doesn’t know how to express his anger. He takes it out when he hunts, and when he’s alone, he tries to calm himself, to place that dark fury back where it was, locked in a box inside of him. But he can’t, and sometimes Leolin takes it out on the cats around them. Usually a good and fair leader, it’s not uncommon for him to turn and snap and someone when he’s not feeling good. Leolin, usually patient, can quickly become impatient when he feels the first stirrings of the rage inside him. He sometimes stalks off, tail lashing through the air, which prompts the other Seekers to wonder what happened to him, and what they did wrong this time.

!!. Leolin is also a fiercely loyal. But he’s not loyal to the leader of the Seekers. He had no guilt in murdering Baltasar, digging his strong claws into the tom’s greying neck. He did what he thought was necessary to help the others, and to protect whatever she-cats they might find on their travels. Because no matter what Baltasar though, they needed she-cats to survive. He’s a good companion and friend when he’s not angry. When Leolin’s in a subdued mood, he can just talk quietly for hours, reflecting on the world. He usually talks with his friend and second-in-command, Neta. While sometimes he feels like he would die for Neta, he realizes that he needs to stay to lead the others. Though it pains him to not be able to put a friend’s life over his, he can’t. But if it was a question of his life or the lives of the other five, he would die.

!!. Many cats think Leolin’s all brawn. He’s large, he’s powerful and he can run without stopping. He yells and snaps without patience half the time, the other half only giving assenting murmurs. But there are a few who see him as he really is. One was his mother, who saw that there was a sensitive side to the grey Bengal. His vulnerability was trained out of him at an early age, but it’s still there. To those he cares about as more than companions or allies, Leolin can be soft and caring. He can reassure and protect. There’s also a lot of intelligence in him, though not everyone sees it. Most think that he’s the leader because he’s strong, but he’s also smart.

!!. Ever since Baltasar died, Leolin has had to deal with the stress of being leader. When he sleeps, he dreams of murder and battles. When he sees his scars, he thinks of those battles when he had believed in Baltasar. He remembers with an uncanny accuracy just how many he killed and how much blood stained his claws and fur. Since becoming leader, Leolin has started to see himself as a murderer, not as a saviour. There are times when he just snaps, becoming angry at everyone, or times when it’s worse- he’ll become quiet, suicidal. Sometimes he can’t even see himself in the water without remembering cries, fear and blame. He’s worried he’ll go crazy, and the tom doesn’t know how to stop it.

h i s t o r y

!!. Like many of the inbred Seekers, Leolin's parents looked extremely alike. There was Penda, a large silver bengal tom. Unlike his son and his older ancestor, Baltasar, Penda's coat was the sleekest silver, and he wasn't very large. He was light on his paws, though he wasn't the swiftest cat. Usually quite mild, Penda was known for his quiet anger. He could stare anyone down without saying a word. When he was extremely angry, his words were ice. At a young age, he fell in love with a she-cat by the name of Deira, and she was a very small she-cat. Her pelt was the darkest of silvers, and her eyes the deepest of blues. She was a war-like she-cat, despite her small size. She was very assertive, and even the larger male seekers, including Baltasar, respected her opinions. It was awhile before she left her warrior-like life and became Penda's mate.

!!. Their joining didn't last very long. Penda went out to fight, leaving his mate pregnant. He died in battle against those who wished to disrupt the fragile peace in the lands. His body was taken back, and Deira was left sobbing into his cold fur. She bore him two sons. One was extremely large, even at birth, and it's a wonder that the birthing of him didn't kill Deira. The other was smaller and silver, Penda's image. Named Wulfhere, this small one seemed weak at first, but always left others shaking from his barbed tongue. The larger one, with his tarnished grey pelt, was named Leolin. He seemed exactly like Baltazar, and the old leader took a liking to him. Wulfhere and Leolin were not the best of friends, but they got along. They were never truly brothers, in the same sense that they were never a family without their father. Wulfhere had no one like him to look up to, so he couldn't defend himsef against taunts that he was too passive.

!!. Leolin was strong and respected as he grew up, and he was kind enough. He was loyal to his friends and brother, even if they had their differences. He grew up wanting to be just like Baltasar and eventually lead the Seekers. Baltasar took interest in him because of his speed and stamina. Leolin could run without getting tired, and he could leap far distances. He was a natural killer, with skull-crushing jaws. He had a shaggy coat and stood a good head taller than the other toms. He also had slightly webbed feet, which reminded Baltasar of himself. Yes, Leolin seemed like a perfect heir. Leolin himself never knew of Baltasar's intentions, and kept feeling like he had to prove himself. Though he cared greatly for his friends, he kept wishing that something would happen to put him in power...

!!. To let him lead.

!!. His wish finally came when Baltasar caught Aiyetoro with another tom. When Baltasar grew mad and decided to kill all of the she-cats, Leolin stood aside and let him. But when Baltasar couldn't lead anymore, Leolin took the initiative. He rounded up the others, including his childhood friend, Neta. Together, they overthrew Baltasar. Then Leolin took control. It was a harsh existance at first, but Leolin managed. When Baltasar and Aiyetoro came down to him, Leolin felt like this was everything he had worked for. He could make the Seekers great again. All he needed were she-cats.

f a m i l y

m o t h e r deira
f a t h e r penda
b r o t h e r wulfhere

e x a m p l e

!!. Looking up towards the sky, the immense bengal tabby narrowed his cool blue eyes. Without a trace of emotion, he bunched his muscles and leapt from the rocky outcropping. He landed lightly onto another small plateau, raising his majestic head to survey the scene around him.

!!. He was on a small flat rock face, surrounded by gnarled trees and stunted bushes. The cold mountain air flew over him, flattening his thick, tarnished fur. The tom was travelling far, and he had simply stopped for a small hunt. Pricking his ears, he swivelled them left and right in the hopes of hearing the scurrying of a vole or the scuff-like steps of a rabbit. When at last he heard a scrabbling to his left, the large cat lowered himself into a hunting crouch. He took large but light steps forward, webbed toes brushing against the pebbles that were scattered over the ground. Lowering himself even further, Leolin crept closer to where the rabbit sat pawing the stony ground, concealed from view by a small rock. Stealthily creeping around the rock, he pounced.

!!. His large claws speared the rabbit somewhat messily, and a small spatter of blood hit the ground. Leolin grimaced, knowing it would attract larger predators. Gulping down the rabbit, he leapt on top of a large flat rock and began to groom himself. It was early afternoon, and he could take as much time as he needed. As his tongue slid over tangled strands of fur, Leolin began to reflect on the day. He was only a third of the distance he needed to travel, but the lean and war-like tom was confident he could make it in time. He had been running non-stop for the last two days, and his legs still throbbed with boundless energy. Leolin wasn't known for getting tired.

!!. When the large tom's tongue grazed one of the jagged scars that adorned his silver coat, he paused. A smile quirked at the corners of his muzzle as he remembered just how he had recieved this one. Closing his steely blue eyes, Leolin's mind drifted. He had been fighting, obviously. The war-like tom didn't recieve scars from falling down. His opponent had been reckless, and a cat that had insulted Balthasar. Claws had been flying everywhere, and one had sliced Leolin down his right flank. Blood had stained and matted the tom's fur, but he had kept fighting. Blood coursing with fury and justice, Leolin had pinned down the other tom. With wolf-like strength, he had held him there, eyes flashing. Then the tom had reached down, crushing the tom's skull between his massive jaws. At first, there had been resistance. Bone on bone. Then the skull had given way, splintering before Leolin's strength. He could still remembered the expressions on the faces that had gathered around in a circle as he had howled Baltasar's superiority to the world.

!!. Of course, that had been before Baltasar had gone mad and had forced his kin to kill him. Leolin had emerged as the leader of the group, strong and capable. Still, he sometimes woke up in the night, hearing the howling in his head. The pain and the sorrow of those she-cats as they had faced Baltasar's fury. Sometimes Leolin wondered if he himself was going completely mad. That's why he had taken this time off, for a scouting mission. It was for a week- just to be by himself. Neta could handle the others in his absence, so Leolin wasn't worried about anything.

!!. Any day could be the breaking up of sanity.

c o d e

painting portraits of ghosts

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[(aurora) of the problematique]

_{Accepted. We're gonna need to make a seeker's board.}