Alistair

Family: None in London, though he has a mother and older twin sisters who are show cats in America.

Personality: Alistair is defined heavily by his conflict avoidance. His prime desire in life is to feel at peace and harmonious, and because the potential for conflict in life is virtually unavoidable, he is fairly withdrawn. Not many could claim to know Alistair well at all. He is social to an extent, and knows his fellow Henches very well, but he has a tendency to stay 'checked out' to some degree in order to insulate himself from threats to his peace. He is not, however, neurotic or secluded. In fact, most would say that he is fairly easy-going. He does not make it a habit to stir the pot, rock the boat, et cetera. Conflict can be best avoided by 'going with the flow', he has found, so he is generally likeable and self-effacing.

For the most part, Alistair is trusting and likes to see the best in others. He does struggle with feelings of paranoia and anxiety because of the secrecy of his power, so he heavily keeps to himself when he is in unfamiliar situations. He is uncomfortable with change, and is often incapable of motivating himself into action because of it. However, he can handle it better than he believes, and does not give himself enough credit in general. His self-effacing attitude often causes others to take him for granted, as well as his aversion to the word 'no'. 

Though Alistair avoids outward conflict, he cannot escape the conflict that grows within himself. Because others take advantage of him so often and so easily, he has a lot of anger building in his psyche. This anger can only grow and fester, as Alistair would never express it purposely. It may erupt into fits of temper, but these quickly blow over and are generally forgotten. More likely, it manifests in a passive-aggressive attitude and burning resentment. Alistair is overlooked often, and this has caused a deep sadness to grow inside of him that he cannot ever give voice to.

History: Alistair was born across the pond, to a breeder in America. His mother and father were both show cats, and his older twin sisters as well. The human breeder used Alistair as a show cat for a time, but Alistair despised the unstable lifestyle and refused to stand still or walk or pose when the humans wanted him to. The human grew tired of it, and shortly after he entered adulthood, he was sold to a different human who lived in northern England. His carrier was misplaced when he arrived at the airport in Oxford, and he was put on a truck to Reading. When the human transporting him realized he wasn't part of any shipment, he released him from his carrier and left him.

Alone and lost in a big city, Alistair very well could have panicked. Luckily, it was not long until he came across a few friendly strangers. He told them his situation, and they suggested that he find help at a nearby pub. He is still not sure if it was the stress of the situation that triggered it, or if it was something else, but his power began to emerge during the conversation. He knew instantly that they were lying to him. He assumed that they were trying to send him to a dangerous location and called them out on it. The ringleader realized he must be a mystic, and the group, heavily prejudiced against mystics, beat him and left him.

He wandered anxiously in a direction that seemed safe, until he met some truly friendly cats. When they saw the cuts and bruises, and the exhaustion that the beating and his power had left him with, they invited him to visit their tribe's home to rest. He stayed with them in their park home for a little over a week, and considered officially joining their tribe and settling down with them. Before he could make the decision, though, he was approached by a queen who spoke of a cat named Macavity in London. She told Alistair that Macavity knew about the mystic incident, and could help him with his power and stop such an incident from happening again.

He traveled with the queen to London, following the Thames for almost a week and exercising his new-found power along the way. It was during this trip that he discovered that the power could not work on cats who knew he had it. He also became well acquainted with the physical toll it took on him to use it. He met with Macavity as soon as the duo reached London, and the ginger tom's promise of safety and stability won him over quickly. He did some training with Macavity to fine-tune his power and discuss the work he would be doing, but it all came pretty easy to him.

Now, he has been living and working at the Warehouse for almost half of his life, and aids Macavity in any way the Napoleon requires. Other cats are unaware of his power, even the Henches, and he keeps a relatively low profile to ensure it stays that way. He enjoys his life with the Henches and considers many of them to be friends, but he does not spend very much time with most of them due to their naturally confrontational nature. He is quite happy with his life, but has started to feel lonely.

Powers: Alistair has the ability to detect when other cats are lying. This works through a kind of precognition, where a supernatural sense of intuition gives him a 'gut feeling' when somebody is lying. It is not an automatic ability. Rather, Alistair has to turn it 'on' when he needs to use it. He can turn it 'off' as well, but it typically peters out on its own when he begins to weaken.

Weaknesses: Like most mystic felines, Alistair is limited in how much he can use his power. It is quite physically draining, resulting in muscle weakness and migraines if he accesses it for too long. He can typically keep it going for an average-length conversation before he needs to rest, and rarely can he use it more than once or twice in one day. Another weakness, and the one that causes the most anxiety for him, is that the power is useless against anybody who knows that he has it. Macavity is the only other cat in London who knows, and Alistair is desperate to ensure that it stays that way.