The Eterna

Despite what her dense fur might portray, Ptarmiganstar is a long, slender cat at about 19 inches excluding her tail, and a rather average height of around 11 inches. Rather slim and light on her paws, Ptarmiganstar generally doesn't exceed 12 pounds.

Scars from previous battles are hidden beneath her thick pale fur, which is decorated with light brown around her extremities and faintly striping her sides, while darker chocolate marks streak across her face, legs and tail tip. The creamy brown and dark chocolate are broken by pristine white on her paws and muzzle, exposing pink paw pads and a mocha spike above her equally pink nose. Ptarmiganstar's eyes are a startling azure blue, sharp and focused.

Ptarmiganstar's prowess lies not in strength, but in agility. While she may not be the best in head-to-head blows, she is light on her paws and quiet as a mouse. This lends her speed and stealth, allowing her to jump in and out quickly, landing with precision. Swimming is not her forte, and she cannot climb too far without a perch to rest on, but she can leap brilliantly.

+ Practical + Confident + Dedicated + Strategic + Efficient + Thorough

Ptarmiganstar has always prided herself on being efficient and practically minded, no silly dreams and kit-like play diverting her attention. A world riddled with war had never been an easy place, and her demeanor reflects this. Guarded, slow to trust, with her heart and fears hidden away; cradled among a seemingly impenetrable force of solid roots. It is these roots she stands on, firm and confident. She watches her world with a critical eye and a clear goal in mind.

Ptarmiganstar will do anything for her clan, for their safety and their peace. She may not show it through affection or loving words, but Eagleclan has her devotion, for as long as they deserve it. She will plan every move with careful deliberation, trade, and make peace in a way that sees her clan safe and well. But she is no pushover. The things she will do for her clan are not limited to appeasement like her predecessors, and while she does not seek needless violence either, there is no hesitation behind her words and claws when they are needed. There is no mercy in her heart for those who betray, and no guilt in her eyes as she takes what her clan needs.

Yet despite her calculation and lack of mercy when lenience might get in the way, she is no villain, and she is not unreasonable. When a cat proves themself loyal, she will allow them her respect as readily as a traitor would receive her ire. She is reserved, perhaps coming off a little cold, but she is also calm and courteous. She knows better than to rile others up, and she has a preference for peace over fighting. She may not be as passive as Riverstar or impulsive and trusting as Rapidstar, but she knows that war does more harm to her clan than good. It is the last resort.

Named for the way their stark white pelts gained color as their mother dried them off, Ptarmigankit, Lemmingkit, and Erminekit were born in the warmth of the Eagleclan nursery to Hailstrike and Kestrelshade. Kitted near the tail-end of Newleaf, the trio received a safe and warm welcome into their clan. Kithood was not a difficult or scary period for Ptarmigankit, but it shaped her into who she would become.

Hailstrike was never the patient, forgiving sort, and that attitude carried on to her mothering. She never harmed her kits, but nor did she tolerate misbehavior once she felt they had been given ample opportunity to learn a particular lesson. She accepted their incapabilities as kits, certainly, but she did not treat them as innocent and helpless as other queens might. By the time they reached apprenticehood, there were still spirited young cats, but they had learned how to be as self-sufficient and respectful as one could be, confined to camp as they were.

That whole time, Kestrelshade had spent very little time with his kits, but that would come to change after their sixth moon. He saw it solely as the mother's responsibility to raise kits, but that did not mean they were spared his scrutinizing. The birth of the trio had been a mutual agreement not out of love, but in service to their clan, and it was the outcome that he was interested in. He had picked his protégée, and that protégée was Ptarmigankit.

While Mallowthorn was her official mentor, and an admirable one at that, Ptarmiganpaw was swift to learn that she was not her only mentor. Where Mallowthorn would hone her skills, her father was quick to swoop in and mold her mind. At first, Ptarmiganpaw was uncertain what to think of this tom suddenly taking over her world. Of course, she knew he was her father - she was no fool - but she had seen how almost every other father seemed to act, and he did not line up. Part of her was angered by his neglect, but a stronger part of her was intimidated and respectful. That was the part she listened to, and he took advantage of that.

It started as little whispers and nudges in moments when she was doubting or proud, guiding her extremes into a more constructive form, something that would bring results. Yet before she knew it, his words grew a stronger influence, wrapping around her mind until they shaped her reactions, her behavior. After a few moons, it was hard to tell where his words ended, and her own thoughts began. Kestrelshade had shaped his daughter as he wanted; a ruthless, loyal imitation of himself. Someone who would go to any lengths to see her clan succeed, who would not be distracted by feelings. Someone who could lead.

Ptarmiganpaw would not grow wise to her father's puppeteering until many moons into her warriorhood. Would not think back on her sole attempt at love and see its failure as his fault. And once she did realize, she would change only one thing. She would turn him away and follow her own path, but she would not abandon his teachings. They had become who she was.

Ptarmiganfrost was named for the seeming ruthlessness of frost itself, calculating and efficient as it worked toward some definite end goal. Her aims were not malicious, but the steps she took to reach them rarely followed the sweet path of a songbird's tune. It was perhaps this that saw her receiving one of the first rogue apprentices to join the clan as Rapidstar sought to sway the tides of war. His aim was likely for Kestrelshade's 'perfect' soldier daughter to form another, but he had miscalculated. For all the promise Fang's name gave, he was not made for war. His instincts were easy enough to refine, and his rogue upbringing made him unpredictable in battle, but he did not possess the spirit of a warrior. In the midst of the war, he vanished. Whilst the clan assumed the young tom dead Ptarmiganfrost had her doubts. Fang had deserted, she was certain of it.

Self-preservation seemed an asset the warrior life had dulled.

Fang's desertion was not the biggest bump in the path of Ptarmiganfrost's life, however. A forty-moon-long war would finally come to a shaky truce at the supposed intervention of Stellarclan, all three leaders falling to their deaths in the same moon. In their wake, they left a tense shadow of fear and distrust, all too paranoid to risk their new leaders' leaving for the Star Tree. But hesitation could not last forever. In time the new leaders departed, and as each traveled and returned without disaster striking, some of that tension ebbed. To find herself the deputy of this new leader was what had struck the most surprise in Ptarmiganfrost, but perhaps not as much as one might have expected. After all, she had been groomed to lead.

It was four moons into her deputyship, alerted by the whispers of the older warriors, that Ptarmiganfrost had begun to notice the load she bore growing heavier than it ought to. With Heatherpaw to train as well, some had wondered if the weight of the world might drop upon her shoulders. Upon reflection, Ptarmiganfrost later realized it had been happening from the start, not long after Burrowstar visited the Star Tree. Leaving her to handle the rogues with exile and demotion, the apprenticing of a litter of kits. They had seemed like duties too high for a fresh deputy even then, but she had excused it with how she had handled herself during the war. But soon the duties he placed upon her shoulders grew heavier, stranger.

Six moons into leadership, the time Burrowstar spent among their clanmates became glaringly minimal. By their eighth moon, what little they saw of them was magnified tenfold to the other clans as they ceased bringing Eagleclan to gatherings altogether. Leading the clan to the gathering in their place was one of the very few duties they did not grant Ptarmiganfrost, and it left the clan anxious. It was a relief to promote Heatherpaw to warrior status as the full mantle of leadership seemed to pass inexplicably to Ptarmiganfrost entirely, but the relief was minor compared to her predicament.

Five moons later Eagleclan in their entirety proved to have had enough, debating among themselves if they would be punished for dethroning their own leader. It seemed, however, that they were not the only ones to be fed up. Burrowstar's ill health was finally revealed to them in all its severity, the cause too unfamiliar and too far progressed to treat. They died only sunrises after the discovery, with none the wiser as to why they sought to hide it to their death. Whether they had slowly been losing their lives to this illness, had lost them all at once, or were never granted them at all, remained its own mystery.

Seeking her lives was the only step Ptarmiganstar had yet to take in ascending to leadership, and it was one she progressed to without delay. She took no time to mourn a fool who would leave their clan in the dark. Albeit an unconventional choice, Ptarmiganstar selected Featherstem from among her small sampling of able warriors to become her deputy. The molly may have been as different from her new leader as night was from day, but she was loyal, and there was a certain benefit to having a deputy with the clan's favor.

Ptarmiganstar had much to fix.