Username: Red weasel
Name: Atsuyavanth, Sometimes called Vanth
Meaning:
Combination of
Atsushi -Japanese- means compassionate warrior
Dhairyavanth - Indian -Brave person
Gender: Male
Element: Fire
Rank: Warrior - Fighter
Alliance: Rebel - wavering
I've exposed your lies, baby.
Personality:
Cocky - charismatic - social - mildly caring - sympathetic - loyal - dedicated - proud - bold - grumpy - moody
Atsuyavanth is good at what he does, and he knows it and knows it a little too well. He takes confidence to a level that is sure to annoy some people. Most don't say much because he gets the job done. He's not exactly the bragging type, but is more chock full of overconfidence, to the point that it almost radiates off him. His sense of pride almost radiates off him. He holds his head up high and is generally proud of himself and his accomplishments. He walks tall and clearly thinks he's better than quite a few rebellion members. He can be very moody, more so after his changed view on like. Despite all this, he can seem highly unhappy, especially if he feels he is stuck in a situation he doesn't like. As he becomes discontent with the rebellion, he becomes more unhappy with his situation. When he's in one of his moods, he is more prone to snap at other for no reason.
While his loyalties shift, whatever he thinks is right at the times what he'll stay loyal to. He is dedicated to his work, and believe that whatever role he serves is extremely important, high or low. Originally he aspired to become a strike leader. He no longer carries nay personal aspirations, as he knows he can't bring down the rebellion on his own. Lately, his loyalties have shifted from groups to people. There are two lions he deems worthy of his loyalty, though those are secrets to the rebellion. He would risk his life in the rebellion to protect the lion he's been feeding secrets to. He as always been the first to step up to the plate of any challenge before him. He has never feared putting his life on the line, even less so now that he has something to fight for, or more, against.
Talking to people is said to be his first love. From a young age, he was often known to talk to warriors, to the point of annoyance to many of them. This grew into him becoming quite the rebellion socialite, making it his goal to know as much about what was going on in the rebellion as he could, long before his hate of the rebellion came about. Sometimes he can be a bit of a flirt, even on the battlefield. He is skilled at getting on others good sides. His weakness and the reason for learning his distaste of the rebellion is his compassion. For much of his life, he turned a blind eye to cruelty the rebels functioned under. Once he took the time to see what was going on, her started to, he started to feel for all those who had cruelty directed at him. He began to realize that even his own fighting style could be seen as cruel even for war. He feels for people and thinks himself the best suited to secretly try and aide theses lions.
The underneaths no big surprise.
History:
Atsuyavanth was born into the rebellion, to parents who cared about him more than they let him know. He was raised with constant praise, due to his early acclimation to his power. What he lacked though, was affection. Loved as he was, his parents feared too much would make him grow soft, so they hid their love. They knew their son needed to be of use to the rebellion. This praise left him with a bit of a superiority complex, thinking early on in life that he was better than those around him. There was still concern from his parents though, who feared he would now be born with a warriors mane. Still, they groomed their only child in the hopes that he would be a perfect rebel warrior. His mother took pride in her son having her element, and conducting much of his training. His father mostly kept busy with his work. Atsuyavanth was unaware during his childhood that his life in the pride was at risk, and he wouldn't understand this fact to later on in his life.
Into his early 200's Atsuyavanth grew it a fine young warrior with a rather large build, still overly praised by his parents, and by other rebels too. He was well liked by many, a charismatic youth who seems to always know the right things to say. It was speculated by some that he was destined to climb ranks. Atsuyavanth turned a blind eye to the cruelty of the rebellion, convincing himself that is didn't happens. As far as he was concerned the only thing this war could be about was ideas. If he had ever been asked though, in truth, he didn't know what was wrong with the pride. He was raised to believe the pride was wrong, and he had no reason to question otherwise. Thus he showed a fierce loyalty to the rebellion. A low ranking in the chain of warriors, he worked as hard as he could. Of course, he knew that to climb ranks, he'd need more than skill. Atsuyavanth made sure to always be in good graces with anyone above him in ranks. With his low warrior standing, he still thought himself better than a portion of the rebellion.
As he inched closer to 300, that when things began to change for him. Atsuyavanth started gaining traction as a warrior, nothing too high ranking, but he made himself notable. Though he saw himself as more important than them, he knew the value of those who fought next to him. After all, it would be hard to have a glorious finish to a fight if the other didn't do their job. Often he was known to come in once an enemy was weak, trap them for himself, and finish them off with a fiery tail strike. Off the field, he was known to be a bit of a socialite, and sometimes a flirt. He was in good standing, and his parents were proud of his standing with the pride. As for his view on the needs of power, this was something he didn't quite understand. His understanding was that powered was earned. Of course the powerful would rule, for they had to work the hardest to gain their power, after all, that's what he had done. He had never known his parents fear that he would be too weak for the rebellion.
His understanding came to change one day, as he watched some cubs being trained. He had is an eye on one, in particular, a fire elemental. From his observation, the cub was having trouble making his fire he heat up. His instincts told him that he could easily show the child, and probably impress it in the process. In his mind, this would impress everyone. He watched though as the lion teaching the cub began to berate it. This only caused the young creature to become more nervous, and his flame began to flicker. With one harsh reprimand, the cub became so afraid that the fire went out altogether. Atsuyavanth felt sorry, but cubs teacher seemed furthered angered, and with claws out, smacked the child to the ground, then turned away. Before he could make a move to check on the cub, the child's parents came. They did not complain about the teacher as the pulled their child up to have him healed, but instead claimed their child to be a disgrace. He searched his mind for the days of his training, but he couldn't remember his parents ever being so stern. He deiced wearily that what he had seen mush have been some odd circumstances.
He never did find out if the cub was okay. He thought about the child often, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to notice what had been going on when he hadn't been paying attention before. Things seemed crueler now, and as much as he wanted to ignore it and go on liking the rebellion the way he was taught, he was starting to feel uncomfortable. Still, he had friends here, and he wanted to believe that they couldn't be cruel. But then he thought of those above him. The fought to get there. Not in the sense of training, but in the sense of war. He fought with himself to continue to pretend, to ignore the way he always had, but he couldn't. Slowly, he began to realize just how much he didn't agree with those that ruled above him. He didn't like the way some lions were treated, like lesser being, because of their abilities. He didn't like that he used to treat them the same way. He thought of healers, and how he saw himself above them because he was fighting this war, and realized he too had contributed to this way of life. He considered running away, becoming a nomad, but he couldn't. Unhappy as he was becoming, he still felt an attachment to his home. He had a family, and thought he questioned it, he felt he still had some friends, and he couldn't leave them behind.
The pride couldn't be right, but he realized that didn't make the rebels right either. His interests began to fade, but he tried his best to save face. Luckily, no one seemed to notice his disinterest in the war, at least no one important. He found himself around some the traditionally weaker roles in the rebellion. The most anyone noticed was he started making "Mistakes" on the battlefield. As much as he could get away with. He started to memorize some of the faces of pride members, it became a wartime hobby for him. He would nickname them by appearance or personality, whatever he could pick up from them. It was during a battle that he found a face he knew far better than the others. Had he been invested in the fight, he might have heard the whispers, "
traitor, traitor." He had stepped out from between to distractors, ready to throw a fireball at the support warrior they were targeting when he saw the face. A rush of ideas and feeling came to him has he looked upon the former rebellion member Viu. He sent a fire forward, aiming to miss by having it fly by the lions flank. Without thinking, he barked out, "Let me take him." there were protests for those around him, but he charged forward, without them.
Atsuyavanth didn't have a plan, and he knew he'd need one quick. Viu sent mounds of earth his way, and in dodging, he felt one mound clunk against his armor. He had to act fast, for he didn't want to the fight to continue much longer. As the male was about to send another round. In a defensive move, he shot up a wall of fire. "Viu..Stop please". There was silence, and no action, so he parted the fire to see what Viu was doing. His attack was lowered, but Viu still stood in a defensive stance. Atsuyavanth couldn't blame him, even he thought it was unwise to trust the rebellion. He lowered his flames and tried to stand as openly as possible, anything thing he could to make him seem as non-threatening as possible. He stared for a moment, trying to grasp at what he wanted from Viu. "I...need your help." He could tell Viu was suspicious, but slightly compelled. "What do you want." Atsuyavanth checked to make sure no one could hear him before he spoke. "I want to help bring down the rebellion. What they do...it's not right," he trailed off for a moment, mumbling a complaint about the treatment of cubs, "The only way I know how to stop them is to aid the pride." Viu looked him over with what he hoped was an honest consideration. "How do you plan to do that?". Atsuyavanth has to consider this question, he hadn't planned on getting this far, let alone doing this at all. "I can feed you information. We can pick some sort of meeting place. I promise I will ask nothing of the pride. I don't want to know. I just want this cruelty to stop." He bowed his head down low, the most he could think of to show the male that he meant no harm. "If you swear by what you're saying...then I guess it wouldn't hurt to help you."
After that, Atsuyavanths activity in the rebellion began to spike, and his discontent with began to spike as well. Some days he seemed like his old self, and other days he seemed to be forever in a sour mood. He still seemed to be a hard worker, so view really tough anything of it. At the most, people began to wonder if his moods were because many of the lions around his age were starting to set the waters of the idea of having a mate, while it seemed he found no one himself. In truth, Atsuyavanth had no interest in finding a mate, or in anyone from the rebellion. His sole motivation, the thing that made him appear to be such a hard worker, was that the more he worked, the more information he could gain. He didn't know what he would do id her was found out, and he rarely thought about what to do. He believed himself to be skilled enough to no get caught. If push came to shove he had Viu. His view on the pride began to shift, but he ignored it. He didn't want to like them, no matter how much he relied on them, or how much he tried to protect them. He was charging into the future blindly, and he was okay with that.
Now it's time for changing
Relationships:
Viu - When he was with the rebellion, Atsuyavanth thought him a formidable fighter. He couldn't understand why he left, but he always felt less angered than others when a lion left. He never felt that it was any use dwelling on. Nowadays he feels grateful for the lion's actions. He could think of no one else more trustable than him to work with. He has little to do with the lion outside of giving him information, but he likes Viu enough. Despite not really knowing him, he cares enough to want to see the male survive.
Enzo - As someone superior to Atsuyavanth, he initially wanted to be like him. He wouldn't say he's close to Enzo, but he uses to find him humorous to be around. Now he keeps his eye on him. Part of this is is his attempt to help the pride, and in part because he worries that the lion might catch on to what he's been up to. He has a feeling that if anyone was suspicious, it would be Enzo.
Keres - Atsuyavanth doesn't know much about Keres, outside of seeing her around sometimes. He is aware of her coming from the pride but doesn't want to take the risk of telling Viu. He want's to hold the trust of as many rebellion serving lions as he can. He hasn't gone out of his way to speak to her, but whenever the chance arises, he'll be sure to try and start a conversation. He doesn't want to waste something he sees as a wonderful opportunity after all.
Ezra - Atsuyavanth remembers when Ezra joined the rebellion fight. He couldn't understand why a mane would matter in a fight and felt this reflected poorly on the pride. The two have never been more than acquaintances, he has been sure to avoid this lion. He fears Ezra might somehow be able to that he's been in cohorts with a member of the pride, or that he's been faking his loyalties. If anyone knows the pride, it would be him.
Nakusa -She is a friend so to speak, or more, she is his guidance. She never talks much about herself, but she listens to his problems and tries to give him as much advice as possible. Because she is dealing with her own regrets, she knows how to help him deal with hers. He appreciates her guidance and knows she well always be there to help him if he needs it. She was the first person he came to trust.
Nissa - the name he gave this lioness based on observation is whiplash. She seems to him to be kind, but on the battlefield, she is a dangerous foe. She was harder to fight and even harder to back off from. He avoids her on the battlefield, fearing that trying to retreat from a fight with her could give away his secret position. He believes her to be one of the prides most formidable warriors.
Nila - Another strong warrior on the pride's side. He thinks she seems loyal to her kin, at least from what he's overhead. Therefore, he knows her as the loyal one. He respects her as a fighter and understands caring about those around oneself. He can fake fight her, but he is more likely to avoid her in, part of her strength, and part in some strange respect towards her.
Remiel -He knows this male as the annoying one. Though Atsuyavanth has his stake in the success of the pride, this lion is so annoying in a battle that he enjoys fighting him. He sees no humor in the males taunting, but he makes sure not to let it get to him. He would never purposefully do anything majorly harmful to the male, but his remarks making faking in just a little too easy.
Jezebel - He identifies her has the fierce one, as she seems to him to be both fierce in battle, and fiercely compassionate. Of all the pride members he has encoded in a fight, she is the one who most intrigues him. To the rebels she would have likely been treated as useless based on her element, yes she thrives in battle. Unlike the others, he has met her once. He had snuck off from the fight, and wandering about when he spotted her. Having seen her several times, he decided to feed his curiosity and watch her in hiding. She was able to sense and find him. the encounter was brief, and secret the hopes for another.
And cleansing everything
A short story like thing:
Atsuyavanth wandered off a lot, the walks helped him sort out all the cluttered feeling going on inside his head. He knew the nomadic lions might spot him, but he never did anything on these walks that could get him in trouble. He was so lost in thought on this particular day that he didn't notice that he was walking past a small makeshift shelter.
"You're closer to the pride than you think you are."
He spun around, eyes meeting with a lioness, lounging under a rock structure.
"Sorry," the lioness flicked her tail, "I imagine you do not want to be bothered. I was just getting ready to meet up with a friend anyways."
Atsuyavanth darted his eyes around, checking for any hiding lions, or any sign that this was some setup. The lioness looked on, looking almost amused.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" he growled, crouched down in a defensive stance. The lioness laughed.
"Calm down. I am Nakusa, a lioness of the past. I am no threat to you. I only know that you are not a lion of the pride because I visit there myself." She noticed that her words did not ease his tension, so she added, "I am just as lost as you are on what to do about this war. If you need to talk, go ahead."
He stared at her for a while, he didn't know much about the lions of the past, other than that rebellion wouldn't mind getting their claws on one of them if they got the chance. Of course, that meant he wanted this lioness as far from them as possible. He felt like she could figure him out if he let her, and he wasn't sure how much he could trust her.
A ball of water floated above his head, two fish swimming around each other. He watched for a moment, then checked the area once again.
"It's unwise for you to be so trusting of a rebel lion."
"I believe I am fairly good at judging what is wise, less so of what is right."
"Then you can't help me anyway."
"Well. I generally believe it's best to follow your heart. I forgot, my friend, is waiting. Come find, when you are ready."
The lioness stood up steadily, ducked out od her den, and ran off into the distance, her elements trailing behind her.
Atsuyavanth couldn't help but find some interest in the lioness and visited her on his walks. Over time he revealed more to her, making her the first lion to know of his betrayal to the rebellion, he regrets of his cruelty, his determination to fix his. She never judged him, and she didn't speak much. She would only comment when it seemed he was in need of advice. He had noticed that he knew very little about her, but never tried to pry. In truth, he didn't care too much, he needed the help more.
What he gained from her was the encouragement that the choices could make an effect on the war. If he believed he could trust Viu, he could. If a lioness or lion in the pride held his interest, it wouldn't kill him to investigate them if he did it right. She answered many of his questions, to the best of her abilities. It was clear she only had but so much social interaction in her arsenal to take from. No matter how much he tried though, there was one thing she refused to answer for him.What should he do in the future, where did he belong. Though he struggled to find his place, the rebellion, the pride, or somewhere else entirely, she always said them the same thing.
"I can't tell you what to do, you'll have to figure that out on your own"
Thanks to Willow, Rohan, broken*, Vraska, and NizoLuv for letting me use your lions! The song lyrics in quotation are from Plug in Baby by Muse.
