Asterfall Pineflight

[Asterfall]

Name: Asterfall Pineflight
Nicknames/Aliases: Aster
Gender: Female
Age: 14
Species: Grey fox squirrel
Occupation: Aspiring member of the Mossflower Guard, Redwall Abbey troublemaker

Physical Appearance:

General:
Asterfall is a wiry and healthfully built grey fox squirrel. Her underbelly is a light fox red-tan color, the rest of her a smooth furred grey-white. In her bushy grey tail you can see underlays of the same red-tan fox color of her underbelly. She's average sized and built for speed. She's a strong runner and though her sling arm is week, she can pull a bow any day. Her fur is short and sleek, her head smooth and pretty. Her eyes are a beautiful deep amber color, darker than her belly fur. Her ears are small and her nose a delicate brown.

Attire:
Generally the green habit of the abbey. Because of general romp, hers has been repaired in several areas from rips and tears. She wears a girdle chord around the middle. When preparing to do serious bits of climbing, she rolls up her sleeves, takes a long ribbon of burlap cloth from her pocket and ties the sleeves up and the ribbon over her chest in an x-pattern to keep the large habit sleeves out of her way. She goes bare-pawed for grip in tree bark.

Possessions:

Aster wears a mustard seed preserved in amber as a necklace around her neck, a gift from her mother. In her pocket is a long ribbon of burlap that she uses to tie up her sleeves, and several colored sticks of reds and greens that she made by dying charcoal and re-shaping it into a thin stick. She uses these to doodle, mostly on the pieces of bark and wood that she whittles when bored. She has a small knife in a thick barkcloth sheath that she uses to whittle wood with.

Personality:

Asterfall is rowdy and a lover of jokes and causing trouble for other people.. She's good at pilfering the kitchen and terrorizing the brothers and sisters of Redwall with the help of her twin brother, tag-teaming with him to distract and cause a rumpus. She loves warm spring days and is particularly drawn to pine trees, like her family name. She loves the smell of sap and enjoys spreading it's stickiness to those who need "lightening up". Still, she can be irritated easily and doesn't have the levelest head. She is most easy going and chummy when around her brother, and being with him generally puts her in a better mood, a side from the occasional spat she might have with him. Her attitude is full of sarcasm and she likes anything that entertains her - even if she has to begin the entertaining herself. She loves to race around the abbey grounds and has tried to promote herself to the company of older abbeybeasts to feel more important. A hobby of hers is whittling wood, which is a good, quiet activity for her to keep her out of trouble, something her father taught her. She likes to doodle designs on whatever she whittles with her colored charcoal sticks. She's strong willed and her spirit is on fire for protecting the Abbey - though she doesn't show it, her heart is there in the stones and the creatures. She aspires to join the Mossflower Guard.

Strengths:
She's quick and agile, a speed squirrel rather than one talented with archery or other war skills. Even though she's impulsive, she has a good spirit and priorities. Redwall first, stealing and causing trouble second. Most of the time.

Weaknesses:
She acts impulsively and that gets her into trouble. Her sling arm is weak but she can pull back on a bow fair enough; she has a terrible singing voice and a fear of fire.

History/Background:

Asterfall and her family had never had a permanent home. The great Pineflight clan their family once was had long since dwindled to a thin line. As a young squirrel she ate up stories of heroes and warriors and battle and strength and victory. But she wasn't a hero. There wasn't anything to be a hero for. Her family was simple; they moved from place to place because they were never comfortable in one area. They were just a family now, not a clan anymore, for those few tails of family tree had traveled off on their own. As she reached about the age of ten and eleven, Asterfall started getting frustrated with herself. She would get restless and in the middle of listening to a good tale at bedtime about heroes with lives different than her, she would cover her ears and try to go to sleep - she hated how everyone had a life more interesting than hers. She would get rowdy and cause trouble just for something to do. Her father taught her whittling to keep her busy. It helped, sometimes. When she started to feel frustrated she would attack a piece of wood with a small knife - but it would eventually turn into something nice. It was when her father died that they moved to Redwall. She was 11. They were visiting a few of the members of their old clan when the fever broke out. Her cousin caught it, then her father. He didn't survive the fever that ate his small body up. They couldn't stay with their relatives and risk catching fever again. They left. Her mother, Trestar, tried to keep up their tradition of moving from place to place every now and then. It didn't last long. They camped for shorter amounts every time until they were moving every day. Trestar was nearly falling apart from her loss. They arrived at Redwall Abbey, and were welcomed in, as are all weary travelers. The atmosphere gave Trestar a place to recover from a death she never wanted to experience. Asterfall refused to like it at first. She hated the idea of staying in one place for the rest of her life - it could only create more restlessness. Her mother gave her a small gift: a mustard seed preserved in amber on a necklace. Trestar told her that even though the seed was small, it was stronger than anything and had the potential to grow into a huge tree. She told her daughter that the seed has the same potential she does. Aster took it to heart. She slowly learned that she wouldn't leave the abbey behind for anything. It's hard to feel annoyed with a simple life when you live in an abbey full of the kind of creatures you want to hold close to your heart. Still, if you ever find her furiously whittling something, it's because she feels locked up and needs an adventure. She quietly knows in her heart that she won't become a hero like the ones she's heard of, so she has set her sights on a more easily obtained and nearly as full of glory goal: the Mossflower Guard.

Relationships:

• Trestar Pineflight, her mother
  
• Her twin brother, Sorrl
  

{I intentionally left our Asterfall's brother's name, because I'm hoping that my real life brother will join and play him for me. With a brother sister underlay in real life you can't go wrong with the characters, no?}

{Edit: My older brother has now joined the site - Asterfall's twin brother is named Sorrl.}

[Wildrun]

I'm going to venture a guesstimate-like question that you know that in Latin, "astra" means "star?" Honestly, that's what I thought the second I saw your name. ^^" Nevermind!

Accepted! I hope your brother can join--I like the relatives idea.