Boots
'Do not be troubled, you have only to give me a pair of boots in which I can go among the bushes, and you will see that you are not left so badly off as you believe." ' ~Charles Perrault
Name: The Master CatNickname(s): Most people have learned to call him Boots, he's not fond of it when people call him Puss and like a true cat he's quite capable of holding a grudge when they do. He occasionally likes being called Master Cat though it's all about context and mood and he can be, of course, finicky in that regard.
Age: 32 in human years
Story: The Master Cat, more commonly known as Puss in Boots
Character: The Master Cat, also known as Puss though he really dislikes that name and prefers Boots.
Status: Named
Length of Time on This Side: A dozen years, more or less.
Heirloom(s): One would think Boot's Boots were an heirloom. In fact, his boots are just boots. He has a lot of boots, none of them are his boots. He's not sure what happened to his boots. He's not sure about a lot of things and he chalks that up to having lost his boots. He wants to know what happened to his boots.
He does have a bag. It's a very nice bag. He had a lot of nice things in his bag when he came through The Door. He put his bag in a vault in the bank. He sometimes takes it out to buy things that get lost UnderTheBed. One day he hopes someone loses his boots UnderTheBed.
Physical Description: At just 6 tall and 13 stone Boots is tall and lean though not beanstalk thin. He carries himself with a feline grace and the occasional odd manner, lounging about, curling around himself, stretching and shifting.
His hair is dark and always a swept back. He gets it cut often but it grows remarkably fast going from short to long in a matter of a day or two. He keeps it swept back and almost always well-kempt. The same is true of his attire, perhaps more so. He loves clothes, loves the feel of fine cloth, the sound it makes. Always well dressed, he sometimes tends towards the flamboyant but always towards the stylish. In fact, it could probably be said his clothing budget could feed a whole village of Nameless if he so chooses; it couldn't and he doesn't.
His eyes are blue, ranging from blue-grey to sky bright to sea dark, something which may be a sign of his mood or just simply a trick of the light. Regardless, they are knowing and observant, even when not looking directly at someone. They are curious and patient, as though hes constantly waiting for something to happen to give him a reason to move.
And he always wears boots. They aren't magical boots, of course, and change style to suit his mood though even in a nice suit they are still boots, just dressy boots. People bring him boots. In return, he does things for people. One day he hopes someone will bring him his boots.
Distinguishing Marks: Boots has sharp teeth, not all of them, but sharp canine teeth. While they aren't wolf-like, they are noticeable when he smiles.
He also has sharp nails. He gets manicures as frequently as haircuts. He's somewhat sensitive about his hands and often wears gloves though it could also be said that if he's wearing gloves and takes them off something might be able to happen.
Personality: After the initial shock of the transformation Boots embraced his human form, eventually with the sort of glee that would make even Pinnochio proud. He finds pleasure in fine food, fine clothes, and all the entertainments to be experienced on the crest, the island, and the town. He particularly likes movies and often sneaks over the wall to go into town to watch moving pictures flash across a screen. Could he go through the gate? Sure but Boots is still a cat and no one owns a cat and he doesn't like to play by Havencrest's rules.
Boots is still a cat. Cats are cunning. Cats are playful. Cats are spiteful. Boots is a cat. But Boots isn't just any cat, Boots is a Master Cat. He is The Master Cat. He's patient. He's observant. He's curious. He's bored. He doesn't remember much from The Otherside except that someone gave him special boots and it made him special. People give him boots now and he does things for them in return. It makes him feel better for a moment but no one has given him special boots. He's still waiting for someone to give him special boots.
Why Did You Come Through The Rift?: Unlike some Tales, The Master Cat wasn't chased through The Rift by The Enemy or whatever you call it. He came through of his own volition. As such he came through well supplied and more than a little rich. He hadn't entirely figured on forgetting so much on This Side but that was a small matter, a Tale doesn't change his stripes any more easily than a tiger does and the group of Nameless Tales who came through with him remind him of that now and then when he starts to forget.
History: https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/perrault04.html
Most people know the story. The youngest Miller's Son gets the 'least' of an inheritance, a wiry tomcat. Thinking it would barely make a decent meal he was surprised when that cat made him an offer, for the gift of a pair of boots the cat would "scamper through the dirt and the brambles" and show that the son was not so poorly off as he'd imagined. And he wasn't.
Through the cat's machinations, the death of a dozen rabbits, a parcel of partridge, poached game, threatened villagers and a murdered ogre, the Marquis was given the hand of a princess in marriage. Now, that marriage might not have turned out so well in the 'ever after', but as the story goes, 'the cat became a great lord, and never again ran after mice, except for entertainment.'
Ever After: Of course, in the Ever After things didn't necessarily go Happily Ever After. Boots might have forgotten what had driven him from Carabas with a small band of villagers who'd lived under the yolk of one Ogre and had no interest in living under another. They sometimes tried to remind him of why they'd left but they were happy to forget as well, the lands of Carabas had never been a happy place and Havencrest was the real Happily Ever After.
He still checked in on them, those that stayed in Havencrest, those that went into Astoria. He didn't mind the forgetfulness that he felt outside the walls, he was often forgetting Before After and that was fine, the Ever After was better, most of the time.
Boots arrived over a decade ago, coming through with a small entourage of Nameless, bags full of gold and bare feet. Like any other Tale, their transformation was jarring. It couldn't be said Boots took it well at first. Though he'd claw out their tongues for ever saying it out loud there were those who would recall how he fell to the floor and clutched at his bare feet and screamed a high pitch yowl. He might have stayed there yowling had not a man in black known what to do, calming him with a pair of boots. They were not his boots but they were boots and he clung to them like they were made of gold. That person told him how he could repay the gift of boots by showing other Tales that they weren't "so badly off as they believed" and he's been repaying that gift ever since. Soon others brought him new boots and he repaid them too and in time people began to realize they could come to him if they needed help and that he'd help and all he would ever ask for in return was another pair of boots.
