.:: Brambleberry's Joy ::. - Nekoyasha12's contest

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Here's my entry for 's Warriors contest. Entrants had to draw a warrior cat with their "inner animal". I chose to draw Brambleberry, and her inner animal, the otter.

To be honest, the otter came into my head before Brambleberry did. I was brainstorming ideas for which character I could choose, and which animal would fit them, as well as simultaneously thinking up how I'd put that onto paper. I forget how the otter came up, exactly - I know that when I thought of it, I said to myself immediately (probably thinking of what an otter looks like, plus the fact that it swims), "That's OAKHEART!" and ran off to see if the symbolism fit him. It didn't. But the moment I read what an otter symbolized, Brambleberry flashed into my head and wouldn't get out. I was certain that she fit the otter perfectly, especially since she isn't among my favorite characters and I hadn't even read Crookedstar's Promise or Secrets of the Clans recently, so there was no other explanation for my thinking of her.

So, why do I believe that Brambleberry's inner animal is the otter?

.oOo.

In Celtic lore, otters represent:

-Joy. Although Brambleberry isn't an overtly joyous cat - that is to say, she doesn't bounce around spouting out rainbows and sparkles - I feel that her character emanates a quieter type of joy, a sort of feeling of being right with the world and deep contentment. Brambleberry has a very positive outlook and seems to love her life and her calling as a medicine cat, as well as having a deep connection with StarClan.

-Sharing. Brambleberry is a generous cat, showing no animosity towards the other Clans (and of course, as a medicine cat, she's not supposed to), and from what Featherwhisker says in Bluestar's Prophecy about having to borrow herbs from her implies that she's given help like that to her fellow medicine cats before. She also shows a spirit of a different kind of sharing in her message to Jayfeather in The Last Hope, when she tells him that the Clans must unite against the Dark Forest - not only does Brambleberry share material items such as herbs, but she sees the importance of shared strength in unity. And that's not to mention all of the wisdom that she shares with others, particularly Crookedstar, in her conversations with them.

-Helpfulness. Well, obviously, she's a medicine cat! Brambleberry, though, even stands out among medicine cats in regards to this trait - she even went so far as to figure out a way to help kits to take their herbs with minimal stress to everyone involved (hiding the herbs in freshkill). In her first appearance in Crookedstar's Promise, moreover, she's shown assisting a queen giving birth (it's worth mentioning that while she was doing this, her supply of herbs was being swept away by a flood, but she focused on helping Rainflower). After the flood, she helps the warriors rebuild the camp, even though she's a medicine cat. When Mudfur wants to become a medicine cat, she lets him do so. And again, in The Last Hope, she brings Jayfeather the message that the Clans need to unite.

-Faithfulness. As a medicine cat, Brambleberry's faithful to StarClan. She's also faithful to Crookedstar throughout their lives, and never fails to help him when he needs it. She's faithful to her calling as a medicine cat as well - she is among the surprisingly few medicine cats who are never seen wavering in any part of their strict rule code. Unlike Hawkheart, she isn't vicious towards other Clans; unlike Goosefeather, her connection to StarClan is strong and unshaken; unlike Leafpool (and many other medicine cats), she takes no mate and bears no kits. Brambleberry is a deeply faithful cat.

In Native American lore, otters symbolize:

-Female energy/woman medicine. Brambleberry is a she-cat in an important position in her Clan - that of a medicine cat, whose job it is to heal her Clanmates and maintain a steady connection with the Clan's warrior ancestors. She does an amazing job of this, handling her power and responsibility with poise and maturity, even in the earliest moons of her time as a full-fledged medicine cat.

-Laughter, joy, and good-natured feelings. I've already explored Brambleberry's joyfulness, but she has a good sense of humor as well, joking that her name ought to be Swallowherb in order to relieve some of the newly-named Crookedkit's stress and anxiety. As I've said, Brambleberry also emanates a feeling of general good humor and a positive attitude, and is a very friendly, motherly, and accepting cat.

-Grace. Brambleberry's both graceful and gracious. She's graceful in her handling of her extremely stressful and demanding position in the Clan, as well as in her surrogate mothering of Crookedstar. Her graciousness shows through in her helpfulness and generosity, which I've already discussed.

-Empathy. Brambleberry shows her empathy in many ways. Although her invention to help kits take herbs is helpful to her because it gets the kits to eat the herbs faster, it's also helpful to the kits, who can't handle the nasty taste of herbs as well as adult warriors can. She cares for other cats' feelings in a way that suggests a deep empathy, an ability to envision herself in their paws, and seems to always be trying to help others work towards what they feel would be best, so long as it is a good thing (her assistance to Crookedstar, her acceptance of Mudfur as an apprentice, her support of Snowfur becoming Mosskit's guardian in StarClan, etc.).

-Family bonds and nurturing. This is displayed by Brambleberry in her care for Crookedstar throughout his life, after Rainflower basically rejected him for his disability. She comforted him and helped him and in many ways became his adoptive mother, filling in for what Rainflower should have been doing but wasn't. Additionally, she's a medicine cat, so nurturing is a big part of her everyday job.

Besides these symbolic reasons, I chose an otter for Brambleberry's inner animal because an otter is a unique mammal in that it lives on both land and water. Its den is on land, and it can move around quite adeptly there, but it swims, plays, and catches food in the water, just as a RiverClan cat does. Brambleberry is, of course, a medicine cat of RiverClan.

.oOo.

...Whew, that took a while to write! I hope you like this entry, and that I have a good enough grasp of who Brambleberry is that my reasons for choosing the otter as her inner animal made sense.