Softstep
Clan: RiverClan | Rank: Warrior
Pelt: Sleek grey with frozen-lake–colored eyes
Trait: Light on her paws, watchful, and steady by the water — loyal to her Clan and careful on every patrol.
Hi, I'm Athena Hu
Reader · Artist · RiverClan · Builder
Bookworm
Artist
RiverClan
Builder
Explore My World
01 — Reading
Reading
Lost in long series where the story never really ends — especially Warrior Cats and Wings of Fire. I need quiet, a clear picture in my head, and room for the same book more than once. In the forest, only RiverClan is mine.
Series & favourites
Long series are what I gravitate toward — stories that keep going across many books, building lore and storylines that run for volumes. Warrior Cats and Wings of Fire are the two I come back to most. Both have detailed worlds with their own rules, histories, and places that feel real when I read them. In the Clans, the only one I truly like is RiverClan.
Inside the story
Reading works best when it's quiet, with no background noise or distractions. While I read, I picture scenes clearly — the characters, where they are, what the place looks and feels like. I focus most on characters: how they grow, what shapes them, the choices they make and regret. A well-built fictional world with strong settings and real lore makes a story stay with me long after I close the book.
Rereading
Favourite books get read more than once. The long storylines that felt so big the first time start to reveal their shape on a reread — and I always notice things I missed before. A line that seemed minor turns out to matter, a detail foreshadows something pages ahead, a small moment lands differently now that I know what's coming.
On My Shelf — tap a spine
Guide
Wings of Fire
Warriors
RiverClan
David Walliams
Animals
Rereads
Quiet
One thick companion guide book sits with the long series: not the main plot, but the map, the names, the bits of law and land that the novels fly past too fast to anchor.
I read it when I want the world standing still in order — who lives where, what the rules are, which roots run under the battles on the page.
The story is in the series; the guide is where I go when a detail tugs and I need the rest of the picture.
Dragonets chosen before they hatch. Prophecies carved in fire and bone.
Tribes of sky and sea and sand — each with scars, grudges, and something worth fighting for.
Wings beat; the story doesn't land until the last page.
Four Clans, one code, endless paw-steps on moss and pine — but my heart stays with the river.
I follow the main arcs for loyalty, loss, and leaders who carry too much.
The forest is huge; I still reread for the small lines I missed before.
Reeds, water, fish — RiverClan is the only Clan I truly like in the series.
I imagine patrols along the bank, the hush before paws touch the current.
The river is where my Clan loyalty lives — separate from my favourite individual cat, who walks under the oaks.
Loud laughs, awkward heroes, and grown-ups who don't have all the answers.
Stories that feel silly until they sneak up and matter.
The kind of book you finish grinning — then reach for the next one.
Wild hearts in fur and feather — not cute props, but whole creatures with wants and wills.
I read to walk beside them: through snow, reeds, burrows, and open sky.
Every animal story is a reminder the world is wider than human noise.
The best series don't expire — they wait on the shelf until I'm ready again.
A second read turns foreshadowing into a quiet "oh," and grief into something sharper.
I notice new details every time: a glance, a prophecy half-spoken, a name in the background.
No chatter, no screens — just me, the page, and the world opening up.
Quiet is how the pictures in my head stay bright and steady.
When it's still, characters feel closer, and the lore has room to breathe.
02 — Drawing
Drawing
Pencil-first, imagination-led, and often cat-shaped — sketches that start loose, get erased and redrawn, and sometimes grow into characters with names of their own.
Animals & cats
Animals are my main subject, and cats are the focus I come back to most. My sketchbook is full of them — different poses, expressions, and markings, trying out what each one looks and feels like on the page.
Pencil & quick lines
Pencil is my main drawing tool. I prefer sketching and quick drawings over spending a long time on one detailed, finished piece — the loose, fast version of an idea often feels more alive and honest than the polished one.
Build & redraw
Most drawings don't come out right the first time, and that's part of it. They start simple, then change — a line gets erased, a shape lightened, a detail redrawn from a slightly different angle. The drawing figures itself out while it's being made, not before.
Original characters
Most of what I draw comes from imagination. I create original characters — sometimes with a clear idea in mind, sometimes just seeing what shape appears on the page. References are useful sometimes, but the starting point is almost always my own head, not something I'm copying from.
Lives after the sketch
Characters don't always start with names or personalities — those sometimes come after the drawing is already there. A design gets made and then it slowly becomes someone: a name, a mood, a way of carrying themselves. The sketch comes first; the character follows it.
Styles & experiments
I like trying out different animal designs and styles, not just sticking to one approach. Drawing is a way to think in pictures — to take a new idea, work it out visually on paper, and actually see it instead of just imagining it somewhere in my head.
Little things
- Graphite smudge and a fresh page
- A pose that finally clicks after the third try
- Naming a character after the sketch already exists
- Flipping back through older sketchbook spreads
03 — Warrior Cats
Warrior Cats
RiverClan above all for Clans — the river, the reeds, the stories I reread. My favourite cat in the whole series is Sorreltail of ThunderClan. May StarClan light your path.
TC
ThunderClan
Brave forest cats under the oaks. Sorreltail is my favourite character in the whole series — she belongs to ThunderClan in the books, and her scenes are the ones I look for first.
Sorreltail's ClanSC
ShadowClan
Pine and secrets — a Clan I follow on the page, not one I root for like the river cats.
In the booksRC
RiverClan
The only Clan I truly like in the series — water-wise, graceful, tied to the river and everything that comes with it. That’s Clan pride; my favourite character, Sorreltail, is ThunderClan in the canon (see the ThunderClan card).
Favourite ClanWC
WindClan
Swift over the moor — I respect their open sky, but I always drift back to the river.
In the booksStories I build
I use the Warrior Cats world as a base and create my own stories inside it. That means camp life, training sessions, patrols, and battles — but also quieter things: the relationships between cats, how they talk to each other, the interactions that happen when nothing dramatic is going on. The whole Clan world becomes something I can keep adding to.
RiverClan territory
RiverClan's territory is something I think about specifically — the river, the reeds, the way everything around the camp is shaped by being near water. I imagine what it would be like to live there: where patrols go, what the banks feel like, the sounds along the current. Those details become part of the scenes I play out in my head.
Names & OCs
My original characters have their own names, appearances, and personalities, made from scratch. I enjoy coming up with warrior-style names and building cats from nothing. The canon books are the foundation and always stay that way; my characters and fan pieces sit alongside them.
Characters
Softstep is my RiverClan OC. Graystripe is fan art on a reference sheet.
Graystripe
Clan: ThunderClan | Look: Thick two-tone grey fur — charcoal on the back and head, lighter grey on chest and muzzle — with bright golden-amber eyes and a plush, tufted tail.
Notes: Reference-style poses from relaxed to fierce in the spirit of the Warriors books.
04 — Building
Building
Forts and small models from whatever is in the room — no blueprint required, just cushions, blankets, and the next adjustment.
Forts & models
What I like building most are forts and small models — physical structures made from whatever is already in the room. Chairs, blankets, and cushions are the main materials. The goal is something real: a structure you can actually be inside of, not just look at from the outside.
What it becomes
Most of my builds don't have a specific meaning or theme — they don't need to represent anything to be worth making. The point is just the space itself: a nook, a shelter, somewhere that feels like its own place. Most are temporary anyway, and end up changed, taken apart, or rebuilt into something different later.
No fixed plan
I almost never start with a fixed plan. Building happens step by step — one piece goes up and it suggests the next one, and the structure adjusts and changes as it grows. Walls move, openings shift, parts get swapped out or removed. The build figures itself out while it's in progress, not before it starts.
Alone & connected
Building alone is how I prefer it — it's a quiet, hands-on activity that works better without other people involved. Sometimes it connects to games like 99 Nights, where ideas from what I'm playing influence what I end up building. After a while, most structures get taken apart and rebuilt into something new anyway.
05 — Coding
Coding
Small programs, a personal site, and the same patient trial-and-error I bring to forts and drawings — one piece at a time until it runs.
What I use
Most of my work so far is in Python — scripts, experiments, and tools that talk to the outside world. I am getting comfortable on the web too: HTML, CSS, and a little JavaScript so a page can feel alive. I use an editor, a browser, and a lot of open tabs.
What I have built
This site is one of them. I have also made a desktop chat app on my computer (the “happy otter” one) plus small one-off projects when an idea is worth the keyboard time. None of it has to be huge; I care that it works and that I understand it.
How I learn
I read errors, try a smaller test, change one thing, and run it again. I am fine not knowing the whole map at the start. Coding feels a lot like building: you add a piece, see what the structure does, and adjust. Quiet focus, a clear goal, and room to get it wrong once or twice on the way.