[J] True Colors // Mau

[CatCry]

True Colors
Tale of the Masked Cougar

"Er..hello. I'm Mau. Nice to meet you. Yes, I am a Faufur. Don't take what you see too seriously."

Rules:

Follow all Gaia ToS.
Follow all Cougars shop rules.
Follow all of Dragoil's RP rules.
Follow the laws of physics.
Literacy is appreaciated.

Anyone may come here and RP with Mau, but please don't change the setting when you enter.

Event: Mau is foraging with Tabitha

Planned Things:

learning how to make paint/about other tribes
Learning how to make disguises.
Teen Ceremony + Deciding to become a wanderer.

Warning: Cry is banned from the computer during the school year. Posting may be irradic and infrequent. (If I don't post in a month, just leave and we'll skip over that plot.)

Organization:

Speak: Regular RP post
Document: Important Event/Summary Thingy
Orante: Announcement

Click to visit Cougars Shop

 

[CatCry]

(Mau was a Prompt-Flatsale Kitten received on April 29 '06)

Name: Mau
Posting Color: Tan
Birthday: April 28
Age: Kitten

Tribe: Faufur
Totem: Mask
Class: n/a
Rank: Common

Specialty: n/a

Personality: Deceptive/Dramatic
Mau is very unsure of herself. She notices how all the other Faufur Cougars are much prettier and more brightly colored than she is. Her only saving point are her eyes, which are a bloody red. Because of this, Mau doesn't like to spend a lot of time within the Faufur village. She is often off by herself, just thinking. She also stays near the cooking fires in order to help her mother, a homemaker. Mau beleives that it won't matter how dull colored she is as long as her cooking tastes good. She is envious of Meeka and tries to observe and learn from the older cougar.

Other Notes: Mau shows a liking for stories and hearing about the other cougar tribes. Although her fur is dull, she seems to have to ability to see, blend, and react to colors more clearly than other cougars.

Pictures


This is Mau at flatsale, before coloring. Cry would like to know how you would have played her.


A doodle of Mau, possibly at teen stage, with her cloak.


Another doodle of how she might act at festivals as an adult.

 

[CatCry]

setting  

[CatCry]

Important Events

"Colorful Stew" - Pg. 1

Festival of Life Events
"Tabitha's Lesson" - Pg. 1
"The First Mask" - Pg. 1
"Silver Ash" - Pg. 2
"Lady Marxclaw" - Pg. 2
"Lost in Darkness" - Pg. 2
"Homemaker Training" - Pg. 2
"Despite" - Pg. 2
"Just Different" - Pg. 2
"Another Terrein" - Pg. 2
"Faufur Summer Hunt"- Pg. 2

Colors

Stories

The Littest Tree - Pg. 1
The Beginning of Life - Pg. 1

Posessions

The First Mask
 

[CatCry]

Relationships
In order of most familiar to most foreign.

Mother

Mau loves her mother dearly as all kittens do, and she tries to be as obediant as she can, but she also feels that there are some things that she hasn't been told. Regardless, she still trusts and cares for her mother.


Meeka

The Head Homemaker is essentially Mau's idol. She wants to be helpful all the time, and will work hard to get others, Meeka included, to look past her appearance.


Keiara

Something of a friend, and something of a prankster. Keiara likes to play tricks on Mau, and can be quite cruel without meaning to.


Tabitha

Mau also looks up to her for her wisdom, although she doesn't follow her around the way she adores Meeka.


Kalai

The Storm Mage. Mau is just a little bit afraid of her, but respects her as an authority for the most part.


Amalthea

She thinks that Amalthea is a little too shy for her own good, and is making a serious attempt to befriend the other kitten.


Stranger

Mau feels a connection with the stranger, because they are the only two things in Flowasha with dull coloring. She has shared words with him, but otherwise is cautious of him because he is not a cougar.

 

[CatCry]

Timeline Summaries

Kitten Stage

Physical Attributes:

Abilities:

Personality:

Relationships:

Events Summary:

Teen Stage

Physical Attributes:

Abilities:

Personality:

Relationships:

Events Summary:

Adult Stage

Physical Attributes:

Abilities:

Personality:

Relationships:

Events Summary:  

[CatCry]

The Littlest Tree

Sensing that the conversation was over, Mau waited a bit to make sure that the old cougar's attention was no longer on Timore. Then, she approached them shyly, and tugged on Tabitha's tail to get her attention.

"Please, um..Healer, m'am? Would you tell us a story?"

She looked up hopefully. The old healer knew the best stories and although she often resisted, she was the best at telling them!

Tabitha glanced down at the kitten pulling her tail.

"I have many stories. What do you want to hear?"

Mau hesitated, she hadn't thought things out quite that far. There were so many stories that she liked. There was the tale of the First Shamaness, and the Legend of K'moro the Fang (a bloody Quicktalon story that Mau had heard a long time ago, but she liked it none the less), and the Story of Flowasha and how the tribe of Faufur came to be. But, as always, the tawny kitten craved an exciting new tale. She had asked the same question to one cougar or another, and sometimes several, at every festival that she could remember, and now she asked it again.

"Will you tell me a story I haven't heard before?"

Tabitha rubbed her chin a bit, seeming stilly annoyed at the request but she was actually thinking of all the stories she had told and those she had not. Finally, she thought of one.

"Very well. This is the story ofthe first flower of the forest. You see, long ago, there were no flowers. All you could see was trees, blushes, grass, and all things green. But there were no flowers. No other colors save for the wood on the bark and the green of the leaves. The animals didn't even have color other than that. But they knew of no other color except those of the trees and grass.

One day, a small tree, so much smaller than the rest that it was nothing but a twig in comparrsion became sad. She would never reach the height of her sisters around her. And they aways blocked the best light with their long limbs and kept her from growing. She asked them nicely to move but she was ignored. She couldn't threaten them because they were so much larger. Even begging would not sway the large ones to allow her the precious light that would let her grown.

She thought and she thought. She spoke to the animals that took pity on her, for she was no bigger than some of them. They said that, if she stayed so small and looking the same, she would never be noticed or respected by her large sisters. The small tree cried many tears, but then, one of her tears caught a faint ray of sunlight. A rainbow of colors spilled across her leaves. She had never seen such colors before. The animals were amazed and asked her to make the colors again. But she could not. After thinking, she realized her dispair would not help her bring back the colors. Her tears would always bring back the rainbow, and soon she wanted to reflect such colors upon herself.

So she took in the sight of the colors in her mind, she called on the spirits to give her strength....then, upon a branch, a beautiful blue flower bloomed in full. The animals cheered her accomplishment. Eventually, she made a flower for every color she had seen in the rainbow. Her sisters looked down in amazement, and tried to copy her. But they found they could not. They asked their little sister to teach them to make the beautiful flowers that adorned her limbs. She said she would teach them if the promised to let her have the light she needed to grow and that they would share it with all the animals that pasted. They agreed and over the years, every animal came by the forest to change its color to something it found more fitting for itself.

That is why we have so many colorful and amazing animals here in the forest. Because one plain little tree decided to prove to all the others that she could rise above them by looking inside herself for the rainbow of diversity."

Mau listened attentively, picturing in her mind each tree and flower and animal in the story. Her smile brightened when she imagined the beautiful colors of the rainbow seen by the little tree for the very first time. But by the story's conclusion, her ears were laid flat back against her head although she continued to smile.

She wasn't sure if the old cougar had picked this particular story at random, or if she was mocking the kitten for her dullness. 'every animal came by the forest to change its color to something it found more fitting for itself' Then she was dull because nothing but dull brown fitted her! The rational part of Mau's mind reminded her that there hadn't been the slightest trace of disgust in the old healer's voice, but the irrational part was fighting back hot angry tears.

"Thank you for telling me a story."

Inwardly, she winced at the forced happy tone of her voice, but she continued to smile cheerily and walk calmly until she had left the clearing where the festival was being held.

"Come back here for a moment, young one. I haven't finished talking to you."

The old one just glared alittle, she wasn't a happy face type person.

The kitten wiped her eyes quickly, trying hard not to sniffle. She made sure that she still had the cheerful smile plastered on her face before walking every-so hesitantly back to the old healer.

"Yes?"

In truth, Mau wanted to run away and find somewhere to cry, but unwritten Faufur laws insisted that she obey her elders. She tried her best to act as if there were nothing wrong, but even she could tell that she wasn't exactly great at it.

"I have been watching you. You hide from the others. You slink away, looking down upon yourself because of your coloring or lack there of as you seem to see it. That is why I told you this story. You take away the wrong lesson! I see it in your walk and hear it in your voice. Think more clearly about it! Read more into it than just the colors that were made. The tree was plain. Nothing to notice. No one would help it, it had to help itself. And with only its dream and its determination did it rise above all others. Other animals came and choose colors that THEY thought suited them. But did they know if they were good colors? We have many brightly colored animals, but they must hide or be eaten. Or become so poisonous you cannot touch them. So lonely and frightened are the brightly colored.

Just because you are not as flashy as the others does not make you less of a cougar. Do not forget that the moth will match the tree bark to protect itself from the hungry bird. The leaf bug will act as a simple unimportant leaf to avoid being eaten. A mother bird will dull her feathers against the wood of her home to protect her young. These creatures are not upset that they are plain, they are SMART! Think kitten! If you were to be so flashy and bright as the others, could you hunt without having to hide yourself with cloaks or lurk in the darker shadows? Could you hide from an enemy as easily to surprise them? NO! You'd be spotted before you knew it! But you, you are a part of this forest. It has taken you in and let you learn to be one with it like the moth and the leaf bug. Like the mother bird hiding on the branch with her young while the bright male is hunted down in an instance. Remember this!"

The elder herself wasn't the brightest furred, old age and long years digging the dirt dulled her own coat until you couldn't tell what was her true color. But her explorations on the ground had taught her much.

Generally, Mau was a very very sweet kitten. Generally, she listened to her elders, and didn't cause trouble for her mother, and didn't pester the homemakers too often. Generally, she whined a little, but never really talked back. She didn't shout, or glare, or pout. But this was the Festival of Life, a time when Mau was touchiest, and Tabitha had clearly hit a sore nerve.

No longer bothering to hide her tears, she flattened her ears and snarled at the old healer.

"This is Flowasha! Maybe what you say is true for Blashini, but there is nothing plainly colored in Flowasha excpet for me! The moths are beautiful rich reds because the treebark is a beautiful rich red! The leaf bug is brilliant green because the leaves are brilliant green! The mother bird may not be flashy, but she is still bright and beautiful as the sticks with which she builds her nest!"

Mau's fur was bristled with frustration and she blinked often to keep the tears out of her eyes. In the middle of her rant, she reached down and grabbed a pawful of dirt, thrusting it outwards to enphasize her point.

"You see, even the soil of Flowasha is a rich dark brown! I match nothing! I will have to hide myself with cloaks of brightness to hunt!"

"Why must you match something? Why must you be like everyone else? What is wrong with being different? Do you hate yourself so much that you wish to erase all that is you just to become what you are not? Besides, you are missing another point. The animals you all named cannot change. They are stuck with their color. Should the moth fly against the tree he will be seen. He cannot change."

The old cougar pointed to some bowls of paints that had been made earlier, there was also an unfinished mask laying by its side. It was made of simple wood but it was not painted yet.

"But you, Mau, you can change your outside and still be yourself inside. You do not have to hide, you merely need to know what to change when you need to. Take the chamelon. He changes color to match his surroundings, but he does not change who he is. He is still the chamelon, he merely does what he thinks will best suit him. He was one of the creatures whom did not go to the tree for a color. He saw what the tree had done, and decided he would do it himself. He did not want to have to choose for the here and now. He remembered that the future shrouded in mist so he will need every trick to stay ahead. So very few can do that."  

[CatCry]

The First Mask

The tawny kitten flushed hotly under her fur. Now that she was finished with her angry outburst, she really felt rather childish for having said anything at all. However, she was glad that the old healer was taking the time to teach her something instead of just reprimanding her. She nodded quickly and swallowed her embarrassment, trying to show that she was grateful for the lesson.

The future is shrouded in mist.
The chameleon decided to do it himself.
Do not choose for the here and now.

These were things that were probably worth remembering, and Mau promised herself that she would write them down somewhere later, and recited them a few times in her head.

She picked up the mask, admiring the smooth surface and warm creamy color of the unpolished wood. The kitten looked at the colorful paints and glanced back at the elder cougar hopefully.

"May I?"

"Go ahead kitten, think of these lessons you have learned. And do what it is the spirits guide you to do."

The elder looks down at the white kitten, noticing the mark upon her forhead.

"And what story does this one wish to hear?"

Mau whispered a small "thank you", but the elder cougar had already turned away from her to talk to Amalthea.

She admired the paint, wonderingly. The colors were so bright, so beautiful, even the mask almost seemed to shimmer. It was a shame to change it. Her brows knit together and a determined expression settled on her face. No, she wasn't going to just change it, she was going to make it even more beautiful!

The kitten cautiously dipped a brush into the paint and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think of the chameleon, and the little tree, and the rainbows and flowers. Then, every so carefully, she made a little red mark just below the eyeholes. She added a dash next to it, and mixed in a little black to make a two dark crimson streaks above, like a vicious red double brow. Down from the inside corner of the eye and in a hook shape that mimicked a cougar's muzzle, she painted a subtle black line, and continued it to form a mouth. She added several shades of silver in an arc stretching from the cheek to the nose and three white semi-circles, araganged vertically on the forhead. Then, she added blue stripes, and teal stripes, and green stripes, and yellow stripes, and purple stripes, and blended them all together until the mask was a rainbow of color. They almost looked like Aliya's markings, only more colorful. Next, she daubed on shades of black, grey, and dull green, and browns.

The kitten held up her creation to inspect it. The lines were a little rough, and the color transitions a little scratchy, and she didn't have even coatings of color, but it was dazzling all the same. A perfect blend of light and shadow, of bright and dull. As an afterthought, she added a pair of bright red spots, at the inside corner of one of the eyeholes. There. Now it was done.

Beaming, she held it up to her face and ran to a pool of water to see her reflection. Before she had time to take a close look, she heard a loud and outraged avain scream. That meant the main part of the Festival was about to begin. Still wearing the mask, she scampered back to the festival grounds.