Username:SpartanAmethyst
Name:Alik, Russian, "helper of man"; derogatorily nicknamed "Krampus".
Gender:Male
Design:
Born of the Snow:Alik was born on a freezing winter's night on a farm just outside Moscow. During the night, wolves had managed to find their way into the family's barn of sport horses, and killed one of the broodmares. Her foal, who was just coming up to its weaning stage, managed to slip away under the stall door and flee into the night, away from the beasts distracted by their meal. The father of the family and his daughter both heard the commotion, and despite her father's protest, she followed him out to the barn. With his rifle he quickly killed two of the wolves, and fatally injured the third, who managed to escape into the forest. The daughter, though, upset and panicked that her favorite mare had been killed and her future mount was gone, went running off into the forest to try and bring the foal home. The father screamed for her to come back, but she was already long gone.
He ran back to the house and quickly released Alik; though Alik isn't as we see him today. You see, in his first life, he was an Australian Shepherd, a close member of the family since he was a puppy, and especially close to the young girl he'd grown up with. The father opened the door and commanded him to find the young girl, and Alik took off. Despite the freezing cold and chest-deep snow, Alik searched and searched until it was close to daybreak. It was then he saw her, laying inside a tree, where no snow had fallen yet. She was so
cold. He quickly grabbed her jacket sleeve and began to drag her, try and pull her onto his back, everything to get her home. He had almost made it when he felt her stir, and together they stumbled to the treeline, where her father had just come back from his own search of the forest trails. While she was being tended to, Alik slipped back into the forest, hoping the foal would have survived too. He didn't know it, but the foal had already come back, and he was wandering off into the forest in vain.
He was cold, hungry, and tired, but he couldn't give up. He wanted to find his girl's colt. He had to. Just a few more steps and he'd stop to rest. There was another open tree trunk, or was it the same one? He noticed the fading drag lines, and saw he'd been going in circles. Looking around, he was so tired he couldn't remember which way he came from. It was dark, and the snow was coming down harder. He needed rest; in the daylight he'd be able to find his way home. There was a red scarf inside the tree; it was his girl's, her favorite one. He'd bring it back tomorrow. So he curled up in the tree trunk, and slowly slipped off to sleep.
But he never woke up.
Days later, Alik was reborn as a Qen. The scarf became his, a white lantern hung from it, so he could help lead others in the dark forest back to safety.
Design Addition:Two antlers in the same color as his darker hooves.
I forgot to add a few things, so I'll be making a brief edit hopefully before the competition ends.
