When I was first reading Warriors as a kid, the Fire Alone scene really stuck with me, and I had always seen Spotty as a sort of mystical, otherworldly seeming cat. I could always vividly picture her wide-eyed, unseeing stare, gaze glinting under the sparkling pinpricks staring back, blinking their secrets to her.
Though, I never really enjoyed the Erins' tendency to boil her down to nothing more than 'pretty'.
I particularly enjoy @bonefall's interpretation of her, with her generally unbothered demeanor, her pretty morbid interests and sense of humor, and ESPECIALLY the themes of leaf blight in her design. Those ended up working their way into my own vision of her, and now I don't think I can see her any other way!
I did end up combining the two ideas into a hybrid of how I envisioned her as a child and the far more dynamic portrayals of her I've come to love nowadays.
Behold our sweet, somewhat strange(/pos), leech-loving gal in all her glory!
I like to think in my own version of her, her appearance leads people to be rather unassuming of her, but she's not just a pretty face, and certainly not to be underestimated! She's incredibly skilled at what she does both physically and spiritually, and she could be just as tough as our dear Yellowfang if you're getting in the way of the treatment of her patients!
...Or if you're a particularly unruly patient yourself. They're just leeches! Are you a big strong warrior, or a kit?
On another note, this image showcases a little concept I like to work into my healer designs.
I always give my healers two herbs tucked behind their ear. It's a traditional thing. They're given their first upon apprenticeship, typically mirroring their mentor's own, a tangible signifier of the knowledge they're passing to their charge, and the hope that they can bestow their best traits onto their student.
The second is received upon earning their full name, a reflection of their skills, their strengths, their personality. It's wholly their own, symbolic of who they are as a healer, and as a cat. This is the one that will be passed to their future apprentice. A long chain from healer to healer, sharing the best parts of themselves to live on in the next generation.
The herbs Spottedleaf wears are Elderflower and Dandelion.
Elderflower, which was worn by Featherwhisker before her, represents compassion, humility, and zeal.
Dandelion is representative of faithfulness, happiness, love's oracle, and overcoming hardships.
Spottedleaf is a cat of much more depth than the books gave her credit for. I could go on about my thoughts on her for hours, honestly. She is, and always has been one of my favorite characters, and I've only grown to love her more and more over the years.
