Cel

He reeks of power. His chill pierces bone. Prey feel the prickling of cold eyes, yet are blind to their creep from the shadows. He might be hidden now, but Cel of Phoenix Tribe promises to be the last thing they will see.

Formerly Sell, Cel is a black wolf with faded crimson stripes matting his thick fur. He was a scouting understudy to Cedar and Rusty in his underpawship. He is currently a chaser in Rumbling Thunder

Cel is a mute wolf possessing immense knowledge and strength. He communicates through body language and clawwork to those who are literate. When writing, he's flowery in his words, evocative and thoughtful and dancing around his points.

Cel is highly independent and driven by his passions. He runs to the beat of his own paws, frequently seen doing this or that around camp with no explanation. He obsesses over trophies and keeps a stash of his finds from scouting, which decorates from wall-to-wall over his nest.

Puphood
Spoiler
Upon introduction to the Phoenix tribe, the other pups tended to take issue with his muteness--whether that be awkwardness, frustration, or misunderstanding--and never invited him to play. While Sister would share toys during her time at Moss Rock, she began underpawship soon after Cel joined and stopped interacting with him.

The isolation led Cel to be reserved in nature. He is bonded more to toys, like bones and feathers, than he is to fellow wolves. He spent most of his time learning how to get around the pack's rules--for example, he realized Glass Eye didn't keep an eye on pups in the early morning and began sneaking out. He would spend hours in the forest, often coming back with scratches from branches or skirmishes with small woodland creatures.

Eventually, most other pups left to the Rock Moss den, leaving Savage and Cel to live alone together. Cel had quirks from his lack of socialization and seemed aloof to Savage, assuming he wouldn't pay him mind. He was surprised when Savage initiated play and shared his fresh kill with him.

Savage began joining him on his explorations and truly started befriending him. Cel began to win Savage's trust, showing how adept he was at leadership with learned navigational skills that beat the older wolves. Cel, likewise, made his first friend, forging a strong loyalty between the two.

The night of Savage's Underpaw Ceremony, Grouse and Jay were brought into the pack. They two were prissy, bratty troublemakers, but the brutes could write script--they were the only wolves in the pack who could communicate with Cel. They saw Cel as a mentor, an older paw who would tell them about cool creatures he fought outside the den. They liked Cel! They listened to Cel--and only Cel. This bond would grow to staunch loyalty over the moons.

As an underpaw, Cel worked closely with Cedar and Rusty to observe scoutwork. He showed a natural talent for scouting, honed by his explorations in puphood. Rusty was respectful towards Cel but wary at the same time. He was respectful of Cel's muteness, but saw a look in his blood red eyes that made him wary. Despite the many hours spent together, they never broke the ice.

Instead, Cedar seemed to grow attached to Cel. Since she was absent for her litter's rearing and still rarely saw them, she was overjoyed to spend her days with a paw and treat him as her own son. He never felt the same affection back--he felt the love was a little overdone and clearly not directed at him. Still, he benefited from her doting, from removing his ticks to giving him first bite of their scout kills.

Cel didn't get to know Hayden well personally, although he occasionally broke up Grouse and Jay from picking on him.


Adulthood
Spoiler
Cel, originally trained for scouting, was instead made a hunter after his Night of First Hunt. While originally forming his own group, Blood's Glean, the group didn't work well together and disbanded, leaving Grouse and Jay to form their own duo pack and Cel to become a chaser for rumbling thunder.

There, he began to form a bond with Vision and her littermates. Getting to hunt with Savage was a breath of fresh air, being a friend from his puphood, but the group seemed to get along well. Cel found it easy to guess what the others were thinking and their synergy was unrivalled.

In his homelife at camp, Cel slept by Split Sap as a hoard guarder with Zircon and Twig. Twig, the tribe's herbalist, knew Clawwork and found him helpful, asking for his assistance tracking inventory and taking notes on sicknesses medicinal discoveries.

Zircon, a wolf he didn't interact with much in underpawship, seemed to open up and think similarly to Cel. While he could not read, he seemed relieved by Cel's quiet observative nature. They developed their own rudamentary way of talking through gestures, which Zircon often used with Cel. Cel thought Zircon was a considerate and thoughtful wolf and enjoyed eating most of their meals together.

With Zircon came his littermates, Apricot and Vision, who sometimes visited to sleep by him. Cel's like for Vision grew when they spent time together outside of camp. although he saw through Apricot's pleasantries and found it a little curious, he never said anything about it and acted polite.

Cel loved training the underpaws and generally spent a lot of time with them, being one of the more favorite wolves in the pack to learn from because of his natural skill in teaching. He gave Aurora tips by having her observe his choices chasing in the forest, and would often use his free time between hunts to watch her use what she learned.

Lux seemed a bit aloof around him, but if she asked for anything, he was happy to oblige.

Copper never failed to make Cel chuckle. The paw was a mess! He only saw him while on hunting observations, unsure where he went during camp. While he was there, though, Copper seemed to freeze up when Cel—or anyone, really—made eye contact, fumbling on his paws and curling his tail between his legs. Cel worried Copper was intimidated at first, but soon realized it was something else—a case of intense puppylove. Cel couldnt help but tease him in his own way, with just eye contact leaving Copper stammering. It was the only time Cel told himself he'd do something like this to a paw, but since Copper was clearly enjoying it too, he didn't see the harm.

Cel was surprised to learn Copper was an artist, and found his pieces to be thought provoking. Cel invited him to the Bitter Den to mix materials with the hoard supplies, and also decided to start teaching him clawwork. He may or may not have slipped in more teasing there, too, although he hardly admit that motive to himself.

Cel was also surprised when Copper joined his hunting party! How nice. Copper ended up making his nest in the bitter den, which Cel didn't complain about. He still had the same over-the-top reactions to Cel, although he also started opening up to the wolf - Cel spent many hours teaching Clawwork to him, and they would in their free time pick berries and flowers to help make Copper's paints.