A lanky longhaired chocolate tortoiseshell point with blue eyes and poor vision.

Snailpaw has a permanent unfocused expression, with wide, dark blue eyes that do not let them see the world well. Their pupils are usually near invisible slits but become extremely dilated when in darkness. Their eyesight is worse in bright sunlight (which can cause them pain and headache), but regardless most of their world is a colorful blur. She can discern colors and light, but cannot make out details.

The young cat's soft, mid-length coat is often dotted with scraps of moss or patches of dust. She doesn't do the best job of keeping herself tidy, but any brown patches tend to blend in with her markings. Snailpaw is mostly white, with her face, legs, and tail dappled with deep brown and pale ginger colorpoint markings. She has quite a narrow, triangular face accented by her large ears. The tortie point's body is built delicate and tall, with long legs that they haven't quite mastered control over.

Kithood The birth of kittens usually heralds joy, but when the cost of children is the mother's life, the moment becomes bittersweet. Beetletooth has to bid his love goodbye at the same time he welcomes their kits into the world. Cricketsong lives long enough to help him name the newborns, and then passes peacefully before she could get to know them. Thankfully, both kittens are healthy as can be.

Snailkit is the second born of that litter, surprising their parents with their pale coat. Her older brother, Fuzzykit, is a tabby like their mother but has a far thicker coat that earned him his name. Beetletooth is enamored with his children from the start, and despite being the sole parent he is the picture of a supportive and careful father.

The pair are nursed by an older molly, Violetwhisker, who had lost her kits less than a moon prior. This was not her first litter, and she was an experienced queen, caring for the kittens as if they were her own. Beetletooth stopped by as often as he could between his tunneler duties, regaling his kits as soon as they were old enough with tales of his day.

This instilled in Snailkit from the start that they wanted to be a tunneler, just like their Da. They wanted to be quick-witted and resilient, nimble-pawed, and plan the intricate web of tunnels beneath the fields that gave her father and Prairieclan so much pride. She shared this with one of the other kittens in the nursery, Buglekit, which made them fast friends.

Buglekit was an orphan, only a moon or two older than Snailkit, and without siblings—which made her itch for a likeminded friend. The mischievous duo (or trio, when they roped in Fuzzykit) would often attempt to dig tunnels beneath the nursery, but never got very far. This is the point where Beetletooth began to notice the differences in vision between his two kits.

Snailkit struggled reading cat's expressions, recognizing far-away objects, and preferred to stay in the nursery where it was dark rather than play outside in the sun. After some tests from the medicine cat, he concluded that the kit's vision was worse than their peers, but shouldn't be enough to keep them from training. Prairieclan had seen plenty of vision impaired and blind cats be excellent warriors. She just might need extra guidance, or to do things a little differently.

With their best friend Buglepaw now busy with tunneler apprenticeship, Snailkit can't wait for the day they become a 'paw. Their friend regales them with stories of their training, only making Snailkit's desire to become a tunneler grow. Fuzzykit is a little less enthused about the tunnels, but humors his sibling and her excitement.

Apprenticehood Snailkit joins the apprentice ranks the same day as her brother, pleased to finally be able to join her friends in training. She is apprenticed to a petite tortoiseshell molly named Turtlewhisker, who Snailpaw immediately adores. They love their training, despite their mentor's seeming distaste for the tunnels. Snailpaw does their best to convince the other cat that she'd be great at it, but does not understand the dangers Turtlewhisker wants to protect her from.

The point has tackled her training with a few bumps, having to adjust and go slower than a sighted apprentice might. Regardless, her spirits are high and she is determined to become a proud tunneler like her best friend and father. However, Turtlewhisker has other ideas, continuing to tell the young cat they aren't ready yet. It's been moons, will their mentor ever say they're ready?

Snailpaw has the personality you'd expect more from a carefree kitten, not an apprentice multiple moons into their training. Their cheer and naivete is refreshing to some, but annoying to others. She isn't the most socially conscious, despite her kindness, and is quite gullible as well as absentminded. They often forget details, struggle to understand jokes, and will be honest even if it is more polite to hold their tongue.

Pre-Plotting: Snailpaw has a family and group of friends plotted, as well as are a "pawn" in the movement for tunnelers to be disbanded. She really wants to be a tunneler like her parents, but is exactly the youth many are most worried about being in the tunnels. As they're so young and naive, their opinion is not well-informed, but they are of the mind that Prairieclan should help the other clans like peony-aligned cats.

Family: Snailpaw holds nothing but absolute adoration for her family. They love their father to bits, and feel the same about their brother. To her, family is like built-in best friends. They have no other relatives and have not thought about a family of their own—they're still young, after all!

Friends: In Snailpaw's eyes, everyone is a potential friend. Their definition of friend is loose (any cat who is cool and nice and who spoke to them at least once), but their terms are binding. Snailpaw is kind to every cat, but especially doting to those they consider friends, and loyal 'til the end.

Romance: Romance doesn't mean anything to Snailpaw right now. A mate is like, your really best friend, right?

Rivals: Snailpaw cannot comprehend not liking anyone and doesn't understand the concept of rivals or enemies. It is inevitable that someone will come to dislike her, but that'll just make Snailpaw try to be friends with that cat harder. It is similarly inevitable that they will like everyone, but even if they don't they will do mental gymnastics to convince themself that they do.