A slender beauty, this tom is a striking specimen. He is neither imposing in size, nor particularly unique in his features, but there is something about him that makes an impression. His coat is a foggy gray with dark gray and black spots and stripes covering his body. His eyes are a powerful and intense shade of green, carrying a weight behind them as ancient as the ferns they so closely resemble.

His movements are graceful and silent in the way of a shadow, and when he is still, he could be mistaken for a statue. Though many scars mottle his skin, the only ones significant enough to show through his fur are on his right hip and thigh. It is an old injury that will cause an intermittent limp, but one that he has learned to conceal and not allow to hinder him.

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childhood (0 moons to 6 moons)

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Born the second son of a ruling pair in the mountains, a two-moon journey from the valley, Anubis found himself with freedoms not afforded his brother, Horus, but still with responsibilities to his sister and brother born after him. Osiris, his father, spent the majority of his time with Horus, while Anubis found himself in the company of his mother, Isis, more often than not.

In his younger moons, many believed Anubis and Horus would develop a sibling rivalry, based on competition for their father’s attention and mentorship. They quickly proved that such speculation could not have been further from the truth. While Isis and Osiris both cared for their kits, Anubis had no desire for their father’s devotion, more than pleased to leave the leadership grooming to his brother, and it appeared the same applied for Horus regarding the more gentle and reserved attentions of their mother.

Anubis thought the world of his mother. She was his role model and support, and he took it upon himself to learn from her in everything she had to offer, fancying himself her protector, even when he was far too young and only her willingness made it true.

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adolescent (6 moons to 15 moons)

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Even though he enjoyed the time with his mother and shared the unspoken duties of caring for his siblings with Horus, Anubis found himself to be quite independent as he grew. He was seen as a strange cat, never caring for the hierarchy of their society and frequently accompanying the workers on many excursions. Even when it came time to eat, he would wait until the elders had eaten before taking any for himself, despite his mother’s protests.

“There is order in our way of life, Anubis,” she would tell him.

“I don’t care about our way of life, Mother,” he would reply. “If it will not cause harm, what reason is there for me not to choose my own version of order?”

And through his respectful—and victorious—arguments, through his own version of order, he began making a name for himself separate from his family within their society.

He played with the kits much younger than himself, becoming a sort of community-wide older brother. Because why not? What reason was there to not see them all as family? He worked extra for those who could not work. Because why not? If he was a little more tired than before, that wouldn’t hinder him from giving his all for them all. He spoke with the elders, hearing the stories from their youths and listening to advice for life milestones and events that he might never see. Because why not? What reason was there to not gain experience from those who have come before him?

When he wasn’t spending all of his time associating with those groups, he accompanied the workers in whatever they did. He wanted to gain knowledge and experience, wanted to live.

There was a worker of approximately forty moons that he got along with well, named Styx. She was an accomplished scout and skilled hunter, and he found himself in her company more and more. She taught him the art of scouting, how to hunt (properly), but most importantly, she taught him the value of life, of death. She was something of a loner, just as he was, and he believed that was why they connected so easily.

Styx reinforced in him the art of ensuring silence in the way he moved, awareness of his surroundings, especially when he believed himself to be alone. She assisted in perfecting a method of ending a life that was swift and painless. And though she used those lessons to teach him how to cause the least amount of pain, he also realized the lessons could be reversed to tell him how to inflict the most amount of pain. It was not something he strived for—in fact, it was something that unnerved him when the thought occurred to him—but he was beginning to learn that he had an ability to see things through a scope of balance.

Anubis saw things in ways most didn’t, or perhaps, in ways most denied seeing. There were always two sides. Every action had a counteraction, every word had an antonym, fire had water, earth had air. There were opposites everywhere which created natural harmony, and it fascinated him.

Though he was taught the preservation of life from Styx and the importance of a quick death when necessary, he also learned the value of death, of the impact of death on the way one lives.

For a time, the contemplation had him confused and sometimes upset, sequestered away on his own with only his family for company, but it didn’t take long for him to break free of it and use the lessons to form a silent support of the way he had already chosen to live.

When he was eleven moons, things changed…

Horus decided that he was going to leave and venture out on his own. Much more of a homebody and very attached to his family unit, Anubis was less than kind in his reaction to what he saw as a betrayal from his brother.

He was angry and felt abandoned by who he saw as his own personal opposite. He did not understand how to exist in a world where he and Horus were not beside each other, and though he logically knew what Horus was doing was normal, he could not convince his emotions to release the disdain he felt for his closest brother.

Though his parents tried to tell him that his own responsibility did not increase in Horus’ absence, that reassurance did nothing to dissuade him from assuming the task for himself. He practically took over the role of first son in the same way he would have if Horus had died. Was it an overreaction? Perhaps, but for all he knew, he would never see his brother again.

Over the three moons following Horus’ departure, Anubis found his rhythm. He became significantly less playful, but he never changed at his core. His role became more leadership-oriented, in the same way Horus’ had always been, and he did his best to conform to what Osiris wished of him, but it had never been who he truly was. He questioned more than his brother, wanted to look deeper, create more connections that would be meaningless to most leaders. He wanted to be nobody, and he was forced into the role of somebody.

The next moon came and went, and with it came trouble.

With it, came death.

Their home was attacked by an unknown group of cats. The workers protected the elders and others beneath them, while Anubis and Osiris stood together to defend their family.

He had never been put in a situation where he had to legitimately fight, let alone kill, his own kind, and though he tried desperately not to be, he was scared. But not as scared as he was when he watched his mother fall…

His ears rang, his vision blurred. Blood… There was so much blood…

Anubis lost all ability to think. There were unfamiliar cats between him and his mother, and when he blinked, he was by her side, the taste of blood on his tongue, wet under his paws. Pain coursed through his body from his right hip, his leg no longer supporting him properly.

Words failed him, and he tried locating his father, lost somewhere in the chaos. He looked for Bastet and Ra, realizing he had lost them as well in his single-minded decision to reach Isis, to force the life back into her that was taken. It felt as though he was a kit again, barely able to separate from his mother’s side despite wanting to explore. Anyone who came near her body was met with an unforgiving, grieving fury and a painful end.

His father almost joined that list, claws swiping without rhyme or reason. Thankfully, his father was a more skilled warrior than the cat of just fifteen moons.

“Where are Bastet and Ra?” Osiris asked him, but Anubis looked at his father in pleading silence, unable to form words.

His father snapped his name at him, sending a jolt of shock and fear through him, strong enough to break his silence just enough to say, “I don’t know.”

“Find them,” his father tasked him, then giving him a meeting place to bring them so they might reunite.

Anubis ran.

He was scared, injured, and he ran, as fast as his crippled leg would allow him.

Before he escaped, he tried looking to find others who had fallen; elders he had loved, kits he had played with, workers he had learned from. He tried looking for Styx. He could not find her and could only hope she escaped.

A full day passed, as he tried tracking his siblings, but with their own skills and his current disability, he failed to close the distance. Eventually, he failed to be able to go on. Healing was not a skill he had been taught, and the amount of blood he lost in the fight, followed by the constant irritation through his travels, had weakened him to the point of not being able to continue.

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young adult (15 moons to present)

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Anubis fully credits a cat named Oak for his survival. He did not know if his injury was bad enough to end his life, but he did know that it was bad enough to prevent his ability to fend off predators and hunt successfully for quite some time. So, Oak having found him when he did… He was a lifesaver for sure.

The young healer cat allowed Anubis to stay with him until he was fully capable of striking out on his own again. That said, Anubis stayed with him longer. Oak told him that he was grateful for the company, and though Anubis was still simply scared and missing his family painfully, he was also grateful. There was safety in companionship. He didn’t know what it meant to be on his own. Besides, he decided that it was probably for the best that he at least learn the basics of healing if he was without the safety of the society he had grown up with.

He stayed with Oak until he was twenty-two months, helping his friend in the mountainous wilderness while being taught the differences and uses of several medicinal plants and herbs available to them. Though they grew close, developing a bond based on mutual necessity and loneliness, Anubis eventually confessed his need to depart.

“My father gave me a duty long ago, and I have to complete it, no matter the slim chances.”

“The chances of finding your family are so slim, Anubis,” Oak told him, sympathy in his eyes. “Stay and we’ll travel to the valley together. Perhaps they’ve gone there for refuge.”

“That will be my next destination, but I have to see if they went back,” Anubis told him.

The journey back to his old home was long and filled with dangers of the mind. Real physical dangers, for sure, but the most perilous things he came across during his trek were manifestations of deeply buried fears and regrets. His own mind called him a failure, called him worthless. He started resenting his long-gone brother, as if Horus being present during the attack could have tipped the scales, could have protected their mother.

He stopped before reaching his old home, traveling instead to the meeting place his father had instructed him to go to. It was an abandoned den that some of the workers would use as shelter when out hunting, but it appeared to not have been occupied in some time. As Oak said before he left, the chances of his family being there were nearly nonexistent, but how could he not turn over every stone when it was family?

Finally, he resolved himself to travel the two moons to the valley. He stopped where he and Oak lived for seven moons, finding it abandoned. Once again, he felt the crushing weight of abandonment. There was no sign of blood, old or new, so he must have left of his own volition. He hoped he went to the valley as they planned to do so together, but there was no getting rid of the gnawing feeling that he would never see his friend again.

Anubis reached the valley when he was twenty-five moons. It took time to initially acclimate to the different dynamics of the clans, not finding many who were immediately open and accepting of a stranger in their parts. He did his best to keep his head down in his exploration, until finally deciding he was better off not testing the waters further in clan territory.

He had not been given any viable information about his family, and he thought he should move on, maybe try somewhere else completely. But where? He had no other leads, no companions in the wilderness.

So, he set about doing exactly what he enjoyed most. He traveled and explored, he spoke to others who would speak to him, he silently observed and absorbed, he learned everything he could.

Anubis found his favorite sanctuary in the old graveyard. The dark, mossy headstones provide warmth to lay on and—usually—solitude for him to simply be with his thoughts.

Whatever may come of his determination to find his family, he does not know. But he can hope. Hope was always something he was good at.

Pre-Plotting: Anubis is adopted from you’re on another planet


In Clanless adoptables, Anubis wholly identifies as Lawless. His allegiance lies with none…or so he’d have everyone believe.

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