Shackle

Shackle is a shaggy, thick-furred, massive, heavyset, dark gray tabby tom with a heavily-scarred muzzle, chest, and stomach. He has a broad head, yellow eyes, a torn ear, large paws, and squared shoulders. He has developed a bit of a limp.

Shackle was born in a nearby Twolegplace, with two siblings. At a young age, he was taken from his mother by his father. Shackle was trained to be a servant, loyal only to his Master, although he had never met him. Shackle's training was very difficult; both of his siblings perished, but he managed to survive. The challenges made him strong, able to withstand plenty of pain and injuries that might cripple a smaller cat. However, they were not without consequences. Because he was trained from a young age and sustained many serious injuries, he often finds himself sore, especially before a storm. He does not have the full range of movement of most cats, and is not very flexible. His shoulders are especially weak, and when under extreme strain they are prone to giving way. He also suffered psychological damage. He was conditioned to be dependent upon a dominant personality. Without one to guide his actions, he suffers from confusion and a sense of helplessness. To cope with this, he does have his own idea of 'Fate,' which is the driving force for his actions without a Master.

Once Shackle's training was complete at twelve moons, he was given to his first Master. His first Master was young, but ambitious, and full of arrogance. He made it his mission to take over their Twolegplace, using Shackle as his prime tool for destruction. Shackle was completely loyal to his Master, to the point where he did not hesitate to kill Honey, the mother of Copper. Unfortunately, his Master's arrogance eventually led to his downfall, and his empire collapsed, leaving Shackle without a Master or home.

In search for a new Master to serve, Shackle entered the forest. He gave himself up to Fate, deciding that whoever he ran into first would become his new Master. He ran into Sleetkit, and pledged his allegiance to him. Sleetkit changed his name to Maelstrom and left Genba's rogues to strike out on his own conquest. On Maelstrom's orders, Shackle attacked Morninglight and Stonepaw, wounding Morninglight and nearly killing the apprentice, but his conscience forced him to back off at the last moment. He spent time training Maelstrom, showing him how to fight larger opponents. Eventually he ran into Larkpaw. They had a conversation, but were found by Copper. Copper recognized him as the cat that killed his mother and attacked, and was joined by more TacoClan cats. Vetis also appeared, informing Shackle that he could sell his soul to aid his Master. Shackle was forced to retreat, but relayed the information to Maelstrom. He agreed to sell his soul to Vetis in order to have the demon take one of Wolfstar's lives.

He followed Maelstrom to Griffin Hill, and Maelstrom ordered him to scar his face. He learned of Maelstrom's deal with Vetis to buy Shackle more time. The two of them had a violent argument. They had a few more disagreements as Shackle tried to express to Maelstrom the true meaning of a Master.

Shackle also took down Foxtrot on Maelstrom's orders, badly wounding him and leaving him for dead after Foxtrot had a fight with the rest of the group.

Shackle followed Maelstrom into TacoClan's territory where Maelstrom planned to go undercover, although he remained in the forest and away from camp, to avoid getting caught. One night, he met Copperblaze in the forest, and told him the truth about his mother; how she had been a spy for cats against his first Master, Tobias, and how she had asked for Shackle to protect Copper. He returned to his den feeling vaguely peaceful for once, after Copperblaze silently forgave him.

He was overjoyed when Mackerel returned, having sold her soul to save Maelstrom and him from their deals with Vetis. Joy was quickly replaced with worry, however, as he learned that Brand, a Master from Twolegplace, and her servant, Jackal, were in the area. He met with them to try and throw them off, feeding them false information. When he admitted what he had done to Maelstrom, they had another argument as Maelstrom tried to be the Master that Shackle wanted. He failed, unable to act so coldly towards the cat that had practically raised him, and ended their meeting by praising Shackle for his duties as a servant, which only unsettled him more.

Shackle saw Maelstrom and Shadypaw playing together while Maelstrom was under the guise of Sleetpaw within the Clan, and confronted him about it. He suggested Maelstrom would be better off leaving him behind to pursue happiness in the Clan, but Maelstrom refused. Later, Shackle confided in Mackerel about his worries for his Master, and she agreed to help.

When Maelstrom eventually brought Shadypaw back to the group and confessed, Shackle helped take her home again. He withstood another admittion of Maelstrom caring for him - despite feeling as though he is not worth caring about, as he sees himself only as a tool. He slept through Jaci's kitting.

During the battle, he attacked Eveningclaw, and killed Brackenfoot, Rabbitfur, and Sunheart. He then attacked Shadypaw (and accidentally Maelstrom, when he interevened), killed Darkstorm, and fought with Smokefrost. He also carried Copperblaze to safety, rather than fight him.

After the battle, when the group retired to the barn, he was faced with THE CHOICE, which Prin had hyped up for ages. Fetter led him out of the barn and gave him the choice between two paths: either he had to go to Castion and be killed (because Castion owned Fetter and Fetter owned Shackle, thus through the chain of command, Shackle had to follow Castion's orders), or he had to confront the startling truth that the entire Master/servant system was a lie, created by "employers" that had sought out Stone. Stone had accepted their offer to break cats in exchange for food and a place to sleep, and thus the Master/servant system had begun. Shackle was torn apart by these revelations, and snapped, nearly killing his father, but barely restraining himself at the last moment.

He left his father and tried to figure out what to do, but because of his training, was unable to come to any sort of decision until Mackerel, who had followed him, came to his aid. She comforted him, then told her own horrific story of abuse, and this gave him a new goal: to hunt down Eirem, Mackerel's mother, and to ensure that Mackerel and the rest of his family were safe from harm. They returned to the barn together, where they were treated for their injuries. Shackle soothed Maelstrom when he realized he was blind, and apologized for his earlier actions, not mentioning much of the incident with his father.

He helped bury Jaci and Jenner, and marked places for his two brothers, to ensure that they would still be remembered.

Larkflight sought him out while he was mourning, and they had a brief conversation about Copperblaze. She mentioned she was expecting, which surprised but pleased him, as he saw that without his intervention on Copperblaze's behalf, the kits would never have existed.

Members
Mother:
 * Burr:

Father:
 * Fetter:

Brothers:
 * Green:
 * Fleck:

Half-brothers:
 * Sentinel:
 * Auxil:

Half-sisters:
 * Thicket:
 * Briarheart:

Half-siblings:
 * Unnamed kits:
 * Unnamed kits:

Mistakes

 * He was described with amber eyes, and without his stripes.