Hickorybranch

Hickorybranch was named for her tabby pelt, consisting of various shades of brown, along with a bit of white around the mouth. She is a lithe cat with long legs. Large, golden eyes take in the world around her, and she is known for having a horrible staring problem. While she may be a beautiful she-cat, even she has her physical flaws. Her's comes in the form of a limp on her right hind leg, explained more in her history, that kept her from being able to train as a warrior with her siblings. No one can see any scarring, as it has healed up quite nicely, but the internal damage is still there. This leg is still functional, but it can only be used to a certain, small, extent. When sitting, this leg sometimes points a little too far inward or outward, and she makes sure to never lay on it.

Hickorybranch is a quiet cat. She keeps to herself and tries to stay out of the way of everyone else. One could say she is shy, and they wouldn't be too far from the truth. She just isn't comfortable in the presence of other cats, unless they manage to form a strong enough bond with her. Sure, she likes the attention sometimes, but she can only handle other cats for so long before she hides away within the medicine cats' den. Large crowds terrify Hickorybranch, and she tries to put off heading out to gatherings of any sort for as long as she can, usually having to be fetched by someone before she does so.

Don't get her wrong, though. Hickorybranch is a sweetheart when she is more or less comfortable with the cat she is around. She also tries to put aside her little fears in order to help her clan, turning into a mother hen whenever a cat comes in for medical help. Don't even get her started about the aftermath of fights that break out during patrols and the like. She could talk someone's ears off on the subject, about how careless some cats can be.

Born as Hickorykit, she was the result of a short-lived love between two Thunderclan warriors. She has three rowdy siblings, all of which ended up bigger than her as time progressed. Her mother was a sweet feline who tried to provide the best she could for them, graciously accepting the help of the other queens. Her father, however? Well, she never knew much about him. Not long after her birth, her father apparently committed treason and was exiled from the clan. They kept quiet about the tomcat around the kits, choosing rather to let them make up crazy theories about who their father really was. As for Hickorykit, she didn't care much about the topic. She focused more on the family she could see.

Soon enough, she was named Hickorypaw. She and her siblings began their apprenticeship together, and Hickorypaw was dragged along on all of her siblings' adventures. Many of these adventures were borderline rule breaking, and it was those adventures she opted out on whenever she could. However, there was on adventure that her siblings somehow managed to convince her to partake in. She was only eight moons old, and her siblings took her out on some exploration trip. This trip involved going past a fox den and an old twoleg den. The fox den was empty, thank Starclan, as was the twoleg den. However, the twoleg den was falling apart, mere ruins of its former glory. One wrong move sent Hickorypaw plummeting to the ground with chunks of rock falling with her. She had to be rushed to camp and into the medicine cats' den. There she stayed with a broken leg for many moons. It was decided that she would never become a warrior. She should have been sent to the elders' den to spend the rest of her moons, but the medicine cat took pity on her (or, more like her company was enjoyed), and she was taken on as the new medicine cat apprentice.

Moons passed. She observed the old medicine cat, learning the different herbs and watching the treatments. When her leg had healed up enough, she was allowed to move around more and even try her paw at helping in the usual medicine cat duties. Sorting herbs became a sort of soothing pastime for her. When her leg was as healed as it would ever be, she was allowed to accompany the medicine cat out to find herbs, berries, and various other necessities. By the time she was twelve moons old, her siblings had become warriors. Hickorypaw remained Hickorypaw, however, as she still had a long way to go until she was ready. She was twenty moons old when she was given her medicine cat name: Hickorybranch. Only half a moon later, the old medicine cat died from old age, and Hickorybranch was left to do her work without her old mentor.

Her only plans involve continuing to serve her clan.