|
|
|
December 19th, 2010
07:56 am - Puss de Carabas
 |
Puss de Carabas
a funny, little cat
with a deep, mysterious past |
Name: Puss de Carabas, the Marquis
Story: Puss in Boots, relying heavily on portions of the short story Puss by Esther M. Friesner
Age: 3 years old in cat form. He is mostly ageless, given his history.
Gender/Preference: Puss typically identifies as male and associates himself as a cat, but his shapeless form crosses gender boundaries when and where he chooses. Puss loves anyone who will give him attention and/or affection. He is a sensual being without being overtly sexual, though he is often willing change shapes to satisfy any urge.
Appearance: PB: My very photogenic orange tabby, Lewis, Cat Prince of Darkness.
He is commonly an orange, striped cat with yellow eyes. He wears a scarlet cape, sash with scabbard, and feathered hat for court occasions as well as his scarlet boots. When he does not require any garb he plods around naked, save a heart shaped tag bearing the title Puss de Carabas (gifted to him by his beloved princess).
Personality: Head strong, confident, witty, and clever. Puss is a self made cat, relying on his mental virility to gain him a healthy place among humans and other sorts of creatures. He has a tendency towards over-dramatics, often breaking into loud purring when someone pets him and making a grand show of rubbing himself against his/her/its legs. He is a very proud animal. He is wildly curious about new people and always brazen enough to introduce himself in the most awkward of situations. He has a charming way about him and can often get what he wants with the proper amount of effort exerted.
When he is masterless Puss is a cheerful creature, spreading good will around. He is very friendly and kind and open to new experiences. When under the control of a master however, Puss ceases to be his own cat. He does whatever his master wants without thought to his own moral compass. He can disagree and still serve his master without impunity on his honor.
Strengths: Quick thinker, cat reflexes, any given strength that comes in any given form that he shifts to. Puss has a vivid imagination. Quick healer.
Weaknesses: His small cat body has obvious limitations; when he has a master he is bound to that master's will and must do as he is asked until he is freed (usually when his master dies). He has a tendency to be a tad forgetful, frequently of large things rather than small details.
Quirks: He prides himself on his knowledge of local histories and how things came to be.
Secrets: No one knows that he was originally an immortal. Only his masters know that he's a shapeshifter.
Skills & Abilities: He has a charming way about him and can often get what he wants with the proper amount of effort exerted.
Supernatural abilities: Has the ability to shapeshift (however his transformations require a measure of blood, freely given or he must be ordered by his master to change).
History: Puss was not always Puss. He did not always have a cat's body and name. He was once of the sea, an ancient creature. He was born of the dawn and shapetide, gifted with the ability to shift his shape and be anything he wanted, given the price of blood and servitude. Time moved forward and those shifting creatures became a thing of legend, all but forgotten by even the fairy tales. Few now know the truth of Puss' abilities and his origin, those few in the know are sworn to secrecy.
He has played the part of dancing, singing, fantastic cat for so many years that it is a second skin to his first, a form he scarcely recalls and can only reclaim when he is not thinking on it.
How he came to be Puss de Carabas is a simple and complicated story all at once. He watched from the shadows as a young miller prayed in the deep night of the woods. The miller called forth to the ancient ones for aid. Stepping forth he heeded the call and accepted his familiar shape of cat to do the deed and grant the meager wishes of the miller. When the miller died Puss believed himself free of his kindly master, but the master had made one last wish that Puss had forgotten about such a long time ago. When the young man known as the Marquis de Carabas in the fairy tale was born his mother died and the miller wished that his youngest son be bred to princes, a wish he held Puss to keep. Willed to the soon to be Marquis when the miller had willed all other possessions to his elder two sons, Puss was in for a rough time. The Marquis was not as good a master as the miller. He did not see the value in the sweet tabby that had not aged a single whisker in all the time that he had belonged to their family. He forced Puss into his ridiculous and (at the time) painful boots. He beat Puss within an inch of death to train him to act the fool, not knowing Puss' greater gifts, the artful way that he could obtain almost anything desired without speech or tomfoolery. Only when he was upon death's door did Puss remember his obligation.
Oh. Well. Then.
One of his gifts was to heal and quickly so. He considered it a life spent. 8 to go (in terms of cat). His people are mostly immortal; the terms of death come when their bodies are entirely destroyed. He rose anew and the pain of boots was gone. He could now walk upright and carry himself like a miniature man of fur. He spoke to his dreadful master, striking a bargain. No more harsh blows and you will have your wildest dreams. Bred to Princes you will be. You must do all that I say with no argument, lest our ruse become apparent. The soon to be Marquis agreed for all of the obvious reasons and did as Puss requested and required, to maintain his end of the bargain. He was still, no shining example of a master.
Puss laid the plans and worked his way to the ogre's castle, that which stood between the "Marquis" and the lovely Princess. By a slip of the tongue a peasant working the ogre's fields revealed a key truth. The ogre was a shapeshifter as well, something Puss never would have believed. He was the Outlaw, Renegade of the ancient shapetides. He broke the laws of shifting, took blood from the unwilling to change into any desired shape. It seemed only fitting that Puss could mete out some justice while stealing this castle for the Marquis.
Confrontation aside, Puss trumped the ogre shapeshifting fiend he called Cousin by tricking him into changing to a mouse, playing a game of better than you (changing himself into several forms by drinking the blood of the ogre's servants, becoming an outlaw himself without properly realizing). The King allowed the Marquis to marry the Princess and move to their new castle.
The Princess was not fond of her awful husband, whose people skills were interchangeable with his demeanor towards animals. Through a measure of her own plotting, she convinced Puss to help her kill him after their dreadful wedding night when she was beaten and taken by force. Being free now that he was "bred to princes" Puss was more than willing to take his revenge. With a little of the Princess' blood he shifted to a terrible form and made death a slow and painful process for the miller's son.
Years passed and Puss chose the Princess as his new mistress, retaining his cat form for many years. Through his art and skills the Princess had a delightful life from that point forward, but he could not have her live forever in the shadows, not now that he was a renegade outlaw. She died, leaving him with a heart shaped tag bearing his name. He wears it always to remember her.
Puss remained as cat for centuries, never aging, traveling the world in search of someone else to fill his soul the way the miller had, the way his princess had and even briefly as the ogre had. Still wandering the cat is quick to make friends and quicker still to pretend he is only a simple, talking cat.
Anything else we should know:
|
|
|
