Nimbletail

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Nimbletail
Affiliations
Current	Exile
Past	Broken Forest Troop
Biographical Information
Gender	Female
Species	Golden Monkey
Age	Young Adult
Family
Sister	Quicktail
Uncle	Flicktail
Cousins	Swingtail, Duskback
Book Appearances
Creatures of the Flood, River of Secrets, Journey to the Dragon Mountain The Dark Sun

Nimbletail is a female golden monkey, and a member of the Broken Forest Troop.

Appearance

Nimbletail is a small young adult female golden monkey.

Personality

Although Nimbletail initially seemed loyal to Brawnshanks, it's revealed in River of Secrets that Nimbletail doesn't support the schemes of her troop nor Sunset Deepwood as she didn't tease Ghost when the latter hesitated to enter the cave nor did she give away Rain's location when she found the latter hiding in the bushes. Nimbletail unsuccessfully tried to protect Rain with the pretext that the bush the latter was hiding in was too dark. Nimbletail is shown to dislike Strongback and is quick to defend herself from his insults by dubbing the latter "Scaredy-back". When Peony and Rain were imprisoned, Nimbletail criticized her troopmates for mistreating the two bears arguing that they were prison guards rather than torturers. In The Dark Sun, Nimbletail is shown to care deeply for her sister and their band. Although Nimbletail has no desire to become a Strong Arm, she partakes in the Three Feats to improve her sister's chances of promotion.

History

Creatures of the Flood

Brawnshanks sends Nimbletail, as well as some other members of his troop, to fetch dream leaf for Sunset.

River of Secrets

Nimbletail is present when Ghost is assigned by Sunset, to "watch" her and her troopmates. Ghost notices that the monkeys seem to be the ones spying on him rather than the other way around. She and her troopmates then goad Ghost to enter a cave. There, Nimbletail is teased by a troopmate named Strongback who expresses fear of the cave. Nimbletail responds to Strongback's insults by calling the latter "Scaredyback" Nimbletail then encourages Ghost to enter the cave.

As Rain is hiding from Shadowhunter, she notices members of Brawnshanks' troop swinging from the trees overhead. There, Rain recognizes Nimbletail as one of the monkeys. As Rain is hiding in a bush, Nimble finds her but instead of alerting the panda's presence to her troopmates, she attempts to distract her troopmates by claiming that the bush is empty, but to no avail. When Nimbletail's troopmates arrive at the bush Rain is hiding, the other monkeys scold Nimbletail for her apparent oversight. After Rain chases the monkeys away, she spots what she believes to be an expression of guilt on Nimbletail's face.

Journey to the Dragon Mountain

As the monkeys feed Rain and Peony their rations, Nimbletail warns the pair not to provoke Brawnshanks. Later, she conspires with Ghost and Shiver to free Rain and Peony. In the Epilogue, Nimbletail is present when Pebble delivers a message from the Triplets. She travels to the Broken Forest where she witnesses Brawnshanks amass an army.

The Dark Sun

Nimbletail is present when Brawnshanks announces the Three Feats. The troop is excited at the prospect of becoming Strong Arms, including Nimbletail's own sister, Quicktail, and cousin, Swingtail. Quicktail eagerly partners up with Nimbletail, who finds herself unable to refuse.

For the first Feat, Nimbletail urges Quicktail to think carefully about Brawnshanks' challenge and finds an empty bee nest. Crookedclaw is pleased with her cunning, but Nimbletail quickly makes enemies of Briskhand and Brightface.

Nimbletail and Quicktail pass the second Feat by swinging each other across a large gap in the cave. Nimbletail is also the one to discover that the sounds coming from the bottom were monkeys, by throwing a stone at them.

For the third Feat, Nimbletail and the rest of the troop are taken to the lava cave. She and Quicktail race across the lava river, but Briskhand and Brightface interrupt them. Nimbletail fights them off, getting herself disqualified in the process, but to her dismay, Quicktail passes the challenge.

Later, as the band are settling into their new tree, Nimbletail is called away by Crookedclaw for a secret mission, which involved kidnapping one of the Children of the Dragon with Briskhand. Together, they find the pangolins and steal Spiral Moon, but Nimbletail feels guilty about doing so. She goes to check on the pangolin and saves him and Curling Star from a falling rock, earning their trust enough to hear the secret story of the Great Dragon's origin. Through this, she realizes Brawnshanks plans to separate the Dragon in two.

On the day of the Dark Sun, the Broken Forest Troop escorts a large group of pangolins to the lava river. Nimbletail secretly alerts Curling Star and helps a small group of the pangolins escape. Because of this action, the Great Dragon is split in three, not two. Nimbletail hears Brawnshanks' plan to kill the dragons and warns Rain, offering to spy for her.

The Lightning Path

Nimbletail meets up with Rain and explains how she feeds Crookedclaw lies about how Rain is always in company and it will be difficult to assassinate her. Lychee is aware of Rain's meetings with the monkey spy, and worries for Rain's safety by claiming that Nimbletail may be spying on Rain, not on her troop. Nimbletail also notices Lychee heading into the Northern Forest alone, and tells Rain that he may be spying for Brawnshanks. Rain dismisses this, suggesting that he may be spying on the monkeys rather than for them.

Nimbletail is eventually captured and thrown in the same prison pit as Dasher and the Children of the Dragon, who explain to Dasher who she is. Initially believing that Briskhand turned her in, she tries to help them look for a way out. Nimbletail participates in the evacuation due to the fire and the escape under the darkness summoned by the Dark Dragon. In the aftermath, she realizes that Lychee was the one who really reported her, and leaves to protect Rain.

Though too late to stop Lychee's attempt to drown Rain, Nimbletail reaches her and Ghost, and all three resolve to save the kingdom.