Serenade; Tryout Form, please no posting

[SkySmoke]

This is a tryout form for a Kiamara. Please do not post. Thank you.

Name: Serenade
A piece of music sung or played
in the open air, typically at night,
under the window of one's lover

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Demisexual, Demiromantic

[SkySmoke]

Curious: She loves to learn, about anything
and everything. If something catches her interest and
she doesn't understand it, she will spend as much time
as she needs researching about it until she does.
This led to quite a few "phases" as a child. She considers
herself lucky that she grew up in a family that nurtured
the trait rather than brushing her off. Her curiosity isn't
just reserved for learning new things; it extends
to people and places as well. She is endlessly curious
about people and what makes them "tick". She loves
to people watch and actually prefers to observe others
before meeting them. She also loves to travel to new
places and will always be the one in the crowd to climb
through the hole in the fence just to see what's on the
other side.

Bold: This goes hand in hand with her curiosity
and has gotten her in trouble more than a few times.
She is confident and isn't afraid to take risks.

Outgoing: She sometimes loves to be the center of
attention. She enjoys meeting new people, going new
places and trying new things. She does not embarrass
easily, except when being complimented. She has a hard
time accepting compliments and will often blush and
mutter a response while trying to duck away.

Introverted: It may seem like outgoing and
introverted shouldn't go together, but in Serenade's case
they do. While she loves going new places and meeting
new people, she often gets emotionally drained in large
groups or social situations if she stays for too long.
She needs alone time to "recharge" and becomes grumpy
and irritable if she doesn't get enough of it.

Impatient: While she loves to learn, and will
research things until she understands them, she gets
upset with herself if it takes her very long. She has high
expectations of herself when it comes to most things,
and gets mad when she does not meet them. She is more
patient with others than she is with herself, but not by
much.

Passionate: Serenade is passionate in everything she
does and everything she feels. All of her emotions are very
intense. This tends to be a double edge sword; if she loves
you, she will do absolutely anything for you. If she hates you,
she will go out of her way to make you miserable. She's also
very passionate about whatever hobby she is in to currently.

[SkySmoke]

As a young child, Serenade was very happy go lucky, outgoing and curious. She and her brother Aslan were very close and she could often be found tagging along behind him, doing her best to one up him. She loved tagging along with her mother to Tranquility, but often got in trouble for being where she wasn't supposed to be or doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. One of her favorite things to do was sneak out to the dance floor and either watch everyone dance or join in herself. Customers usually found her adorable and would pout when Zaira came out to wrangle her back into the back.

Her second favorite thing to do was hang out with her dad. She loved being around him, but knew he got irritated quickly when she didn't behave. Because of this, she was usually best behaved when she was with Arakeel. He promised to teach her things if she promised to stay out of the way and keep quiet when he asked. They both kept their side of the promise, so she learned how to fix many things at a pretty young age. Arakeel was happy that she was more interested in fixing things and helping him out than she was playing typical "girl" games that made him somewhat uncomfortable. Aslan tagged along with them too, but Arakeel preferred the company of the twins separately, as they could get somewhat over whelming together.

It was around the age of four that Serenade (and the family) discovered she had the same star powers as Zaira. Zaira was telling the children a bed time story, complete with a light show using her stars, when Serenade started to pout, saying she wished she could play with stars too. Jokingly Zaira told her to close her eyes and try and was shocked when her little girl was able to summons a few weakly glowing stars around her paws.

Serenade was thrilled and spent all of her free time practicing. She was soon able to create light shows and control the stars much like Zaira, but on a smaller scale. Zaira was quite happy that one of her children had inherited her powers, but she was careful to teach Serenade not to flaunt it or use it to make others feel bad.

As she grew, so did her interests and curiosity; much to Zaira's dismay. She preferred that her children stay close to her; either at home, at the club or with family, and Serenade just wanted to explore. She would read about far away places and beg to visit them. When her parents explained that she couldn't travel that far alone just yet, she became obsessed about learning as much as she could about places so she could visit them when she was older. She also wanted to be allowed to do things closer to home; like go exploring in a near by forest, or go away to weekly camps. Her desire to do and go so much led to some tense arguments between her and her mother. Zaira tried to come to an agreement by teaching her daughter as much about Tranquility as possible.

It satisfied Serenade for a while. She got really into music because of the club and encouraged her mom to branch out and try having different themed music nights. Occasionally Zaira would allow Serenade to arrange one of the nights just to keep her happy. As Serenade grew into her teenage years, her love of music deepened. She took lessons in piano and guitar, and also voice lessons. She loved to sing, as did her brother. They would sometimes perform duets at Tranquility.

Serenade developed a lot of hobbies as a teenager. Her love of music led to her trying her hand at song writing. That let to a love of writing in general and she went through a period of time where she would lock herself in her room for hours on end creating her own worlds and writing stories about them. She tried her hand at drawing and painting, in order to bring her stories to life, but much to her frustration she was never very good at it. She also dabbled in photography for a while.

Serenade passionately loved everything she got involved in. Because of this, she had a hard time determining what she wanted to do in life. She was always envious of her family. Aslan had his singing and his dreams of becoming a star. Zaira had the club. Arakeel was a professional fighter at one point in his life. Adaline was also involved in Tranquility and had her baking. To Serenade it seemed like she was the only one who had no idea who she was or what she was supposed to be doing with her life.

She went through a phase from about seventeen to nineteen where she refused to listen to anything her parents asked of her. She started hanging out with the wrong crowd, leaving home for days, falling in love with the wrong people and having very little regard for anyone else. She even started getting into drugs and drinking. It was all in an attempt to figure out what she was supposed to do in life. She felt like nothing she had was what she was supposed to be doing and she had to go somewhere else to find it.

Luckily her parents were able to sit her down and talk some sense in to her. She went thought a rehab program and therapy. During her therapy, she discovered music therapy. She has since started staying home. She is helping Zaira with Tranquility a lot and has started accompanying Arakeel on some of his odd jobs again as well.

Though she no longer goes to therapy on a regular basis, she is still incredibly passionate about music therapy. She's still learning, but she thinks she might have found her true passion. She's hoping she can use her star powers to somehow enhance the benefits of therapy.

She knows that no matter what direction her life ends up taking, she can always count on her family to be there for her.

[SkySmoke]

Age Six

"MOM!" Aslan whined loudly "She's doing it AGAIN!"

Serenade giggled as she sent the stars following her twin brother around the room as he hopelessly swatted at them while trying to run away.

"Serenade! Are you using your stars to bother your brother?" Zaira called from the other room.

"Maybe...just a little. But he wouldn't stop singing that stupid song!"

Zaira stepped in the doorway and raised her eyebrows at her daughter while trying to contain her laughter at the sight of Aslan running away from a trail of shimmery stars. Serenade sighed and called them back to her, then they slowly faded away.

"Freak!" Aslan growled from the other side of the room. Serenade bit her lip to hold back tears. She loved her star power, but hadn't quite learned to deal with how others felt about it.

"Aslan...we've talked about this. Do not call your sister a freak. Come here, right now." Her voice was stern, but not raised, and Aslan knew he was in trouble. He walked slowly up to his mother, his ears turned back, his eyes low.

"You two are going to sit back to back until you can speak nicely to each other. You are family. Family is always supposed to be there for each other. We are supposed to be able to count on each other when we can't count on anyone else."

Aslan sighed and sat down with his back against Serenade. He hadn't meant to call her a freak, and now his mom was making him feel bad.

"Now sit there, both of you, until you can say something nice to each other rather than name calling and annoying."

"Okay mom." The twins answered in unison. Zaira knew it would take the twins a while to resolve the issue since they were both pretty stubborn, so she went back in the other room.

At first both kids sat back to back without speaking to each other. Serenade knew she should say sorry for chasing her brother with her stars, but she wanted him to say sorry first. She hadn't called him names.

Aslan hadn't meant to call Serenade a freak, it had just slipped out. He sighed, knowing that Serenade would probably out wait him. He hated to sit still.

"I'm sorry I called you a freak...I didn't mean it." He muttered quietly.

"I'm not a freak. Mom can do it too."

"I know...but mom doesn't chase me with them."

"They aren't going to do anything to you."

"Yea...sometimes I wish I could do it too.."

"You do?"

"Yea."

Serenade thought for a minute and then summonsed her stars, trapping them between her paws.

"Here."

Aslan looked back at her over his shoulder, unsure of what she was going to do. She was smiling with a small ball of stars between her paws. He turned around and looked over her shoulder.

"Put your paws around mine."

Aslan put his paws around the stars opposite his sisters. He had to reach around her to do it and it felt like he was giving her a hug.

"Now just hold really still. I don't know if it will work."

Serenade slowly pulled her paws away but willed the stars to stay balled between Aslan's paws. They did, and for a moment it looked like Aslan was the one who had control of them. A wide smile split his face.

"WOW!"

Serenade smiled and the stars faded away. She didn't realize her brother was jealous of her powers. He was always so confident and loud, it hadn't even occurred to her.

"I'm sorry I chased you with them...and called your song annoying. It's not annoying. I like your singing. I wish I could sing like you."

"Thanks. We should go tell mom that we aren't mad anymore."

"Okay, lets go."

They ran out of the room together to find Zaira and tell her everything was okay again.

Age Sixteen

Zaira walked quietly down the hall as to not wake anyone up. It was late but she couldn't sleep. She stopped outside Serenade's door and saw a soft glow coming from the crack underneath. She opened the door a crack to see her daughter laying on the floor on her back. Her stars covered her ceiling, softly illuminating the room in a golden glow. A few straggling stars twinkled by Serenade, who was lost in thought. Zaira opened the door farther and cleared her throat quietly.

"Can I come in?" She whispered.

"You already did." Serenade answered, and without opening her eyes turned her head and stuck her tongue out at her mother. Zaira laughed and closed the door behind her. And then joined her daughter on the floor, combining her stars with Serenade's.

"Why are you awake?"

"Too much thinking I guess. That's why I came down here, sometimes this clears my mind."

As she spoke she arranged her stars into constellations. Some recognizable, and some of her own creation. Zaira smiled and swirled her stars around with her daughters as they quietly created their own night sky.

"What is it that you're thinking about?"

Serenade sighed, the sound barely audible because she didn't want her mom to worry. She didn't mind sharing with her mom, but she wasn't in the mood for a pep talk, which is what she knew she would most likely get.

"Life I guess."

"Did you want to be more specific? Or do you want me to leave you to your thinking?"

"I don't know...it's probably going to sound stupid. But I feel like I don't know what I want to do. I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't know what they want to do. You have Tranquility. Dad had his fighting. Aslan wants to be some kind of famous singer or whatever. Adaline helps you with Tranquility, but she has her baking that she's passionate about. It just seems like...everyone has something. And I don't. I mean...I like a lot of things, but none of them feel like the thing..."

Her train of thought trailed off into silence and she gradually let her stars fade until the only ones left were the ones she was idly spinning around her hands.

"Well...you're only sixteen. Maybe you haven't found it yet."

Serenade turned to look at Zaira; it was not the answer she had been expecting.

"You think so? I mean...how am I supposed to know?"

"You might not at first...sometimes its not something that instantly clicks. But eventually, you'll know. You won't want to do anything else. You won't really think about anything else. And eventually you'll step back and realize you can't imagine doing anything else."

"But what if that never happens with me? You know how I am. I'm constantly doing new things. Maybe there isn't one thing. Then what?"

"Then maybe that will be your thing. Constantly learning and growing. That wouldn't be so bad, would it?"

Serenade thought for a minute. She had been so focused on not having one thing that she hadn't even really considered anything else as a possibility. She still wanted to find that one passion, but her mothers explanation made her feel less anxious and panicked about the whole thing.

"Thanks mom. I'm glad you came in. I think I'll be able to sleep now."

Zaira took her cue and got up quietly to leave. As she looked back before closing the door, Serenade was climbing into her bed.

"I love you mom."

"I love you too Serenade."

Age Eighteen

"You can't make me!" Serenade yelled as she slammed the front door and stormed through the front yard and into her girlfriend Alyx's car.

Alyx arched a finely lined eyebrow and tossed her purple hair behind her shoulder.

"We good?"

"Yea. My mother is just...just go."

"Alright." Alyx stepped on the gas as she reached over for Serenade's hand. The younger girl laced their fingers together and smiled, her blue and purple eyes sparkling. Alyx laughed and brought their intertwined hands to her face and kissed the back of Serenade's hand.

"Where to?"

"I don't care...anywhere away from home. I just want...to forget everything."

Alyx reached in her pocket and handed Serenade a few pills. She tossed them in her mouth and swallowed them without asking what they were. She reached behind her seat to the cooler she knew was there and chased them with a wine cooler. She settled her head back against the seat and waited for the feelings she knew would overwhelm her soon. Alyx drove aimlessly for a while and let Serenade just be. She ended up pulling into the parking lot of a park that had long since been forgotten by most people. Serenade opened her eyes as Alyx killed the engine. Alyx could tell the pills and wine cooler had taken effect by the glassy look in her eyes.

"Feeling better?"

"Mhmm. Thanks babe. You always make me feel better."

Serenade leaned against the car and kissed Alyx briefly on the lips before getting out and wandering to the middle of a field of grass. Alyx followed her. She knew the best she could do when Serenade was in a mood was just let her work it out.

Serenade laid down on her back and gazed up at the night sky in amazement. She knew the drugs were wrong. She knew the drinking was wrong, but she couldn't stop. She wasn't sure she wanted to. It made everything feel so much less intense. She felt Alyx lay down next to her and she curled her body around the older girl and started to softly cry.

"No one understands."

Alyx ran her fingers through her girlfriends hair. It was times like this when she thought she should try to be better. That she should try to talk Serenade into getting help or talking to someone, but she didn't know how. So she did the only thing she knew how to do; she helped her feel better.

"My family doesn't get it. No one gets it. You're the only one who cares. Lets just leave."

"And go where?"

"I don't care. Anywhere. As long as you come with me."

"I can't leave here. You know that."

"Could you just sell stuff somewhere else?"

"Its not that easy. Just...its okay. You'll be okay."

"You don't get it. The only time I feel okay is when I'm with you. Everything you gives me makes me feel so much better. And my parents hate you. They hate anything having to do with you. But I don't feel like myself when I'm not with you."

As she spoke, Serenade became increasingly panicked and clung to Alyx even tighter. Alyx leaned over and kissed her deeply, hoping to break her train of thought. It worked, and when they pulled apart Serenade was quite for a few minutes.

"I can't go back home."

"You can...we can't live together yet. We don't have that kind of money."

"I can't."

"Look...I'll give you stuff to take at home. Just to get you through the time you have to be there, okay?"

"But...I thought you said only when we were together?"

"Well, I'm making an exception."

"I love you...you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"I love you too. I don't know that I'm very good for you, but I do love you."

They laid there for about an hour, until Serenade relaxed and the pills started to wear off. Then Alyx got her up and back in the car to take her home, not knowing what she was going to do to keep her out of trouble, but knowing she couldn't let her go.

Age Twenty

Serenade took a deep breath before walking into her therapist's office. Things hadn't been going very well for the past few visits. She found it hard to open up and talk about anything so most of the time was spent with the doctor asking random questions hoping to hit on something that would get Serenade to open up.

It had been a few months since her entire family had sat her down in the living room and made her see just how out of control she had become. They spent a few hours talking her in to rehab, therapy, and taking a break from her girlfriend. It had been a rough few months, but she was finally starting to feel like her old self again. She knew therapy would benefit her in the long run, but she was having a really hard time adjusting to it.

She was surprised when she walked in the room and a keyboard was sitting in front of her usual chair. Her therapist glanced up as Serenade closed the door behind her.

"I thought we might try something a little different today...if you want to, that is."

Serenade sat down and lightly ran her fingers over the keyboard. It had been so long since she'd played.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Well, it seems like you have a hard time knowing where to start or how to talk about your feelings. I was reading your chart, and it says you're into music. So I thought maybe that might be easier. You can play your feelings."

"That's....a thing?"

"Yes, it is. Music has many healing properties and is starting to be used more and more in therapy. There are some therapists that specialize in it. I am not one of them, but I'm willing to give it a try if it will help you out."

"So...what do I play?"

"Whatever you want. If there is a certain piece you want to play, play that. If you just want to play whatever comes to mind, do that too. Just play what you feel."

Serenade sat up straight and laid her fingers on the keys. She glanced up at the therapist again, waiting to be laughed at or something, but all she got was an encouraging nod and smile. So she started to play. The first few notes were a little hesitant because there was no set piece to follow, but then she was surprised at how freely the music flowed from her fingers.

It started off angry, harsh, sharp and loud as she thought about how misunderstood she had felt for so long. She hit the keys harder than she needed to and tired of that pace quickly. Her mind wandered to how much things had changed, and how much she had messed up during her two year temper tantrum. She took deep breaths and let the tears come as the music rolled over her. She closed her eyes and just let herself be sad; her fingers seemed to move of their own accord as she thought about Alyx and how much she missed her. She thought of her family and how much she'd hurt them. And finally she thought of herself and how lost she still felt.

As she thought of herself she realized she felt more centered than she had in a long time. She had always been comforted by music, and drawn to it, but this was the first time she felt completely enveloped by it. She wanted to feel this way a lot more often. Her playing slowly drifted into silence and she let her hands fall into her lap as she leaned back into the chair, her head resting against the back.

Tears still ran down her face, but those too were slowly. She felt oddly calm and self assured. Music therapy...she wanted to know more. She also realized she wanted to talk. She wanted to figure out how to fix what she was feeling and how she could deal with it. She was, for the first time in a long time, overwhelmed with good thoughts. She had so many questions about music therapy and how she could learn more and what she could do with it. But she knew first she had to fix herself.

"That was incredible. And powerful. Is there any part of it you want to talk about? Or did you need to play some more?"

Serenade smiled as she opened her eyes and met her therapist's curious gaze.

"There is so much...and I'm ready to talk about all of it."

[SkySmoke]

Zaira - Serenade loves her mother dearly, but their relationship can have its rough patches. Zaira's tendency to be over protective and Serenade's love for exploring and learning have often caused the two of them to butt heads. They are always able to work out a compromise though, and Serenade knows she can go to her mother with anything. They spend a lot of time together and are very close, even if they don't see eye to eye.

Arakeel - She is close to her dad, but not in a hug and cuddle type of relationship. They are affectionate, but not clingy. Even as a young child Serenade was never overly clingy with her dad. She loves that he is willing to teach her so many things. She also likes that he will be physical and play. Zaira was always protective, but she knew her dad would let her play rough and get dirty if she wanted to. Sometimes he would go a little overboard, but Serenade loved every minute of it. She thought it was pretty cool that her dad could wrestle and get tough, but then could also do some pretty cool hairstyles. She still loves that about him even as an adult.

Aslan - They were constantly together into their tween years. She loves her brother and he is a constant source of encouragement. She feels the need to "keep up" with him, regardless of what it is that he's doing. They got in trouble often as kids, though nothing too serious. He's always been there for her in his own way, even when she wasn't being very nice to everyone. During that time he would leave the names of song titles on little notes tucked under her pillow. She didn't know how, but he always knew which songs would make her feel better. They are still close as adults and she can't imagine her life without him in it.

Adaline - Serenade isn't overly close to her older sister. She sometimes wishes she was, but that's just never been how their relationship worked. She always has fun with her sister though. She loves to watch her bake, and then eat the creations. She used to try to learn and help, but she just isn't very good at it. She doesn't have the type relationship where the sisters tell each other their secrets, mostly because Adaline can't keep them to herself, but she knows if she ever needed her, Adaline would be there.

Anora & Fantasia - Serenade is curious about her aunts, but learned at a young age not to ask about them. She's never met them, and isn't 100 percent sure that she wants to. She'd like to ask her mom more about them, but knows it's not something her mom wants to talk about, so she mostly just acts as if they don't exist.

Alyx(andria) - They met during Serenade's "wild child" phase. Alyx used to sell drugs and that is how they met. They dated briefly and were pretty intense about their relationship.It only ended because Serenade said she needed to go back to her family and get things straightened out in her head before she could commit to anything. Alyx has also cleaned up since and no longer sells drugs. She runs a bookstore and Serenade has recently started contacting her occasionally again.

[SkySmoke]

Blushing at a compliment - lifewithpi on DA

Family Bonding - TruSpiritArt on DA

Let me Share My Stars - TruSpiritArt on DA

Late Night Ponderings - Nanuukk on DA

Free Star Divider From Deviant Art


This is where I leave Serenade's story for now. She still has a lot about herself to work through, but she knows she will be okay eventually. She really feels that she has found her passion in music therapy and plans on devoting much of her life to learning as much as she can about it and eventually helping others the way its helped her.

If I win, I look forward to developing her even more and building the relationships she already has as well as new ones.

Thank you for the opportunity to try out for this character and for taking your time to read my form. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating the character.