Rosepelt ~ SC ~ Elder

A Long-haired calico she-cat with Alzheimer's.

[Even in her age, Rosepelt is a beauty. When she was younger, her pelt was her pride and joy and even in her old age, that has not changed; she cleans herself constantly and her fur is always soft and fluffy. She is a calico, however a good portion of her chest and paws are white which gave her her name.

Her large eyes are a striking green that can fix on a single point for hours, almost as if she is thinking long and heard about something. Many cats speak in private about how creepy it can be.

being a long-hair, her paws are lined with tufts of fur that she used to keep short, but now that she has little reason to use her paws for herb preparation and the like, she has let them grow out more. Her claws, however, are almost non-existent, as one of her nervous habits and time passers is to claw at the stone floor of her den.]

[Rosepelt is very kind. She is very much aware that she has a problem with remembering things and she always feels bad if she can't remember a cat's name or who they are. It doesn't seem to matter how much she is visited by a specific cat, she has trouble remembering them. She does try though.

Rosepelt has a form of dementia, known to the twolegs as Alzheimer's disease. To the other cats, she just can't remember things any more. The only exception seems to be if you mention Oakheart, her mentor. At the sound of his name, her ears perk and here eyes gain a life to them. She can talk about him for hours on end and he seems to be something like a gateway to other memories. She can remember who her apprentice is and her siblings - if they are talking about Oakheart. Every once in awhile, however, the memories will come back without Oakheart's help. Sometimes she will just wake up and remember who she is and who everyone else is. These events last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

On the days she remembers nothing, she is often quite confused. She can be heard mumbling things to herself - usually herb names and uses - but she can't remember why she knows them and it often scares her. Sometimes, she claims there is another cat's mind inside of hers and she knows things she shouldn't know. It takes reassurance and reminders of who she was but eventually she will calm down.

She is very thankful to her Denmates who help to look after her. When Opalcloud is busy, they make sure she is safe and comfortable and happy. She loves the visits from kits and apprentices, although she doesn't know any stories to tell them and sometimes worries if she isn't doing her job as an elder. But when kits to come, she loves to cuddle them into her long fur and be their pillow. She loves to listen to the stories just as much as they do.].

[parents - Bouldercreek and Sweetmint got to know each other as apprentices. They were close in age and often trained together. He spent most of his time trying to show off to her and she spent her time playing hard to get. But one night, after they had both been made warriors, he finally got her to admit her feelings and they spent a glorious night together. Not long after, she moved to the Queen's Den and gave birth to two kits.

She would have two more litters, the middle containing Rosekit and her brother. After the third litter, Sweetmint moved strait to the elder's den and was joined by Birchclaw a few moons later. They died of old age within a moon of each other.

kithood - As a young'un, Rosekit was very bouncy. She had a hard time sitting still (a disease that ails many kits) but she grew out of that as she aged. She was very close to Ratkit, her littermate-brother and the two played often. But she had little interest in fighting or hunting. She had a nose for the herbs that the meek Thistlemind was using. But Thistlemind already had an apprentice so at six moons, she was named Rosepaw and sent off to learn the warrior way.

apprenticehood - Rosepaw spent her entire time as a warrior apprentice keeping her head over her shoulder, looking back at the medicine den. Something far more interesting was always going on there. Unfortunately, she never got the opportunity to follow her dream.

She was mentored by a recently-warriored tom by the name of Oakheart and oh was he perfect in every way. He was the one reason she was ok with remaining a warrior apprentice. And oh how he had fallen for him.

Oakheart had been originally named for his pelt being the colour of oak, but as he aged, it was obvious that the cat was also very physically fit. Although he was strong, he could never harm a living creature. His heart was pure and strong. Many cats came to him with problems beyond the physical. He was always a shoulder to cry on or a pair of ears to listen. Rosepaw thought he was amazing.

When she was nineteen moons, she was given her full Warrior name and for many, many moons the pair reigned as a wonderful team. Despite both of their pacifist natures, they still managed to come home with food. It was no surprise when, soon after her vigil was finished the announcement that they had taken eachother as mates was made.

But he was taken far sooner then he should have been. When he was only fifty-three moons when he contracted a terrible disease. Luckily, it did not kill him immediately, but he was no longer able to perform his duties. He retired.

full warrior- She visited him daily. She spent all of her extra time and energy to try to find hm a cure but there was nothing she could do. After four moons, he told her to take on an apprentice. She asked for Opalkit.

She was granted her apprentice and the young cat helped to keep her mind off of her sick mentor a bit (though she still checked on him daily). After four moons, at the age of fifty-seven moons, Oakheart died. Rosepelt was distraught but she struggled on with her work, knowing it was what he would have wanted of her. What she didn't realize was that her mind was slowly slipping away.

Her apprentice, now fully named Opalcloud, felt it was her obligation to take on more and more duties as Rosepelt began to pull away from her position. Five moons after Oakheart's death, at the age of seventy-four moons, Rosepelt woke up one morning and didn't know where she was. Opalcloud didn't know what was happening but the elder she-cat couldn't help with any details. She didn't know who she was, where she was or what was going on. She was terrified. Her only response was to curl into a ball and refuse to move until someone explained something. After a discussion between Opalcloud, Buzzardleaf and (The Leader) Rosepelt was moved to the elder's den.

elderhood - Her Denmates spent the next few days trying to calm her down and help her. While he was never able to jog her memory, she came to realize that she had a friend here and that she was safe. All of these young cats were not going to hurt her.

The last fifteen moons have been rocky with her. She has good days and bad days. Sometimes she remembers the events of the day before and sometimes she can remember nothing and reverts to the terrified she cat in a ball. And miraculously, some days she can remember everything. Those are the days Oakheart is looking after her in StarClan.

On the days that she does remember who she is, she believes strongly that StarClan is punishing her for the strong love she felt toward her mentor. Despite the fact that they were never mates, she spent her time looking after him - he was her first priority, not the Clan.

Most of the time, she is somewhere in between the two extremes. She can remember little things, like her favorite food or what certain herbs do. She has a difficult time with names and faces (although she is getting very good at recognizing Opalcloud again and her new little apprentice).

The only thing that seems constant is Oakheart. It doesn't seem to matter how bad of a day she is having, if you mention her mentor, she will smile, her eyes lighten and her ears perk. She can talk about him for hours and although she spent so much time trying to hide it when he was alive, it is all but obvious now to every-cat how she felt about him.

She is to spend the rest of her moons in the Elder's Den, living with her friends and looking forward to (as much as she can) the next visit from her apprentice or her brother.]

See One-eye.

Lyrics: Never Let Me Go by Florence + the Machine