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Rite — Description

Rite is a red cat with a lighter orange underside, tall ears and a half-tail. Scratch scars of varying severity rake their front legs, all old wounds. They bear stormy blue-gray eyes, the pupils permanently dilated and hazy. There appears to be wounds around their eyes and across their face, the skin bare but dry. Scars of past corruption.
Cursed with an overwhelming apathy, which can only be cured by their own blood. Rite feels no emotional attachment to or loss of anything, though they’re very capable of reasoning why they should care about something - why another cat is in despair while they feel nothing. The only thing they naturally can care for is themself, retaining a strong sense of self-preservation and a desire to better themself that skirts just around selfishness.
Rite’s blood is bright blue when fresh, but dries into dark, desaturated red. Whatever Rite’s blood is spilled upon becomes emotionally bound upon the viewer (whilst the blood is still blue.) This effect works on Rite as well as any other cat - as long as they can and do see it - and is stronger proportional to the quantity of blood.
This “blood-bond” makes you suddenly care tremendously for the “blood-bound” subject. You can still reason why you shouldn’t care for it - why you might even need to put an end to it… but the emotions are strong and hard to ignore. And in the event of the subject’s destruction, you may find yourself shedding tears despite your rationale.
Rite is a cat who chooses to give others a chance, in spite of their curse willing all empathy out of their system. The selfish part of Rite genuinely wants to care for others and for the world. To be so detached and unfeeling is a disservice to themself, for it’s these connections that makes a cat whole. A “weakness” some might call it, but Rite never saw it as such, as much as their curse insists the view upon themself.
To put it another way, there is no battle of logic or emotion within Rite. No, logically they want those emotions… just at the right time, for the right cats and the right things. That’s the trick.
Rite is an old entry of PAIN, predating Kill’s rise to terror. And they were naive in those early days. Frustrated with their inability to care, they sensed they had the power to amend that, and discovered the effect of their blood. Watching the drops of blue stain the Heart’s black floor, Rite finally - finally - felt a connection with something.
They stayed in the Heart then, curiously meeting all the new arrivals as well as growing familiar with the Pillar who claimed the tower his own. It made sense to get acquainted with him, as he held control over the structure Rite now cared so much for. This cat - Calm, he was known as back then - was a touch full of himself, yet Rite could somewhat relate. Who doesn’t believe in - or at least strive for - the importance of one’s self?
And Calm had a curious sort of curse... Rite wasn’t particularly vulnerable to it, but they were fascinated by its effect. It could almost fool Rite’s body into feeling something... And foolishly, they thought it seemed harmless. Eventually Calm pried into what Rite’s curse was, and Rite - not yet discerning enough - figured they might as well prove their curse directly.
It was misjudgement. For the moment their blood stained that black-eyed cat’s head - a cat they mistakenly believed would become their friend - Rite had unknowingly sealed their own fate.
A long time passed, and Rite reigned as one of Kill’s closer confidants. Confined to his side, Rite watched their “friend” do horrible, illogical things. Grow worse and worse despite any of their efforts to reason with him - or against him. The bond forged by their blood made it impossible for them to rationalize the corruption out of their mind, Rite’s emotions deceiving themself. They were helpless to stop it, as much as they tried.
Worst of all, Rite was made an accomplice. Their own logic was blotted out far too easily by the Pillar’s curse, and they were convinced into shedding their blood upon Kill’s head again and again and again. Tightening the grip Kill held over other victim’s minds as they were blood-bound to him.
In hindsight, that was the only reason that dictator kept them around so long. Otherwise, with all of Rite’s attempts to steer Kill away from his path, they would have been made another “runaway traitor” long before Kill’s death.
For Rite, Kill’s death was… complicated. But the good far outweighed the bad. For the good was the end of Kill’s senseless paranoia and bloodshed. It was freedom for many cats who were stricken by his corruption, or at the very least a chance for it. Even Rite’s blood-bonds were weakened by the death of the body it was bound to.
And they could realize the bad was a fault of their own emotions. And that their emotions were a fault of their own misjudgement. Emotions failed them, but only did so because their logic failed them first. Never again would Rite be so careless.
It didn’t take long for Rite to free themself of the corruption, shedding the panicked, angry echo of Kill that lingered in their head. And despite the tears threatening their eyes, they left the decaying Heart with their newfound freedom. It hurt too much, seeing that place twist and break…
Though Rite didn’t know where they should end up, they knew there was at least one cat they wanted to find: Free. That Pillar didn’t deserve what his brother did to him, and as small as it would probably seem, Rite wanted to give their gratitude to Free. The trouble was finding him, Rite was hardly familiar with Free’s territory before it was a maze of twisting trees and constant rain.
Eventually, Rite did find Free, curiously alongside a cat they vaguely recalled as a newer arrival to Kill’s group, Drip. Not long after meeting them, Rite found themself once again, a newly forming group’s earliest member. Though this time, with no blood shed from their end. Only the logical agreement that there should be an exit to PAIN for the unfortunate cats here, and the willingness to help in that cause. Even if Rite never really minded their curse, they couldn’t deny other cats often had it far worse… Drip being a convincing example before them.
There is fulfillment in finally working for a good cause, and Rite has no regrets for taking Free and Drip’s side. They’re a fairly close confidant to Drip, with her often seeking their advice on what should logically be done. And the two align quite nicely on their shared mindset of giving most cats a chance. Even a cat like Buzz with their history of violence and a snappy nature. Even a cat like Take who drives everyone away from getting too close - for an understandable reason. Even a cat like Glow with a curse oh-so-similar to that wretched Pillar’s.
Having some medical knowledge from the time before PAIN and from treating their own self-but-technically-Kill-inflicted wounds, Rite has taken up the role of medic for Drip’s group. And they have become quite familiar with the bandage making and applying process for Drip’s sake. Rite avoids getting involved in any fights if they can help it, their blood far more of a hindrance than a help when spilled in those situations. Hopefully being a healer makes up for their uselessness in that regard.
That Glow, with her Kill-like curse, has shown great interest in learning how to help cats heal and often can be found assisting Rite. They don’t mind teaching Glow what they can… even if her curse is off-puttingly familiar…
They all deserve a chance. A chance to prove themselves worthy of emotional bonds. Rite would be a hypocrite to their own philosophy if they didn’t include her. She seems harmless and yet… wasn’t that what they thought of Calm all that time ago?
Perhaps there will be a time that Rite trusts a cat enough to make that emotional connection again. Until then, they’ll play it safe. They’ll survive unwhole.
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Edit: Lore. This one's a long one, since Rite has a pretty involved backstory that I hopefully did a good job explaining.
Like Fade, Rite's Lore is not fully done yet. I'm going to try at least finishing the first part to every cat's description, which goes over their appearance and curse at least. Writing their backstory tends to be the more time consuming part.
Anyway, this is Rite! A legit newer character to PAIN. I really love how their ref came out, I think I managed to nail the perspective I wanted to convey, somehow.