I would like to adopt!
Number: 12
Picture:

Name: Kore
Species: Smili
Personality: Kore is usually a rather quiet Smili who prefers to keep to himself rather than interact with the larger family group on a daily basis. He does enjoy their company, sometimes, but only when he seeks it and not when others seek his company instead. He can be bold when challenged by others, but in some cases he usually backs down if the challenge seems pretty pointless.. In his opinion there is no need to waste energy on silly challenges when food is far more important. Kore is also never made to be Alpha material, he just doesn’t think that he is bold enough to take on such a roll and protect his family. Though he does enjoy providing for the family that is something he does well.
Likes: Hunting and providing for the family/tribe, watching things from a distance, studying his surroundings first and thinking before acting.
Dislikes: Pointless challenges, wasting energy, quick thinkers, others who are full of themselves, stubborn family members and other Smili who are ignorant and strive to be better than everyone else out there.
Background:
Dream:
“Kore, Kore..” A soft voice called in Kore’s ear and he groaned a little, trying to paw away whoever was trying to disturb him from his sleep. He could feel a chilled wind blowing over him now that he was half awake and his face scrunched in annoyance as he sighed, opening his orange eyes a little to see who was pestering him to get up. To Kore’s surprise it wasn’t a distant relative in the family, but his mother calling on him to wake up.. This was a little surprise indeed. “W-w-what is it?” Kore stuttered slightly and rolled onto his stomach, his gaze never leaving his mother for a second. “I thought you were going to hunt with the others today?” Caura, his mother, questioned curiously. “Oh, I guess I forgot about that at the last minute.” Kore murmured to himself and eventually sat up, glancing around at his surroundings.
Snow was lightly settling on the blades of grass and dirt surrounding the tribe’s territory. This wasn’t always good news as prey would become scarcer if the snow became heavier; this also meant that they would have to hunt for extra to survive the unknown days of snow to come. “Snow, menacing but beautiful nonetheless.” Caura broke the short silence and let out a sigh, staring up at the sky as more snow started to fall. “I say we get going now.” Kore said as he stood up and started to pad off towards the cliffs. “Maybe we’ll find some interesting prey over here.” He added, knowing that his mother would normally tag along with him. She never really had to wake him up a lot, this was an off moment for Kore.
Not long later the two had arrived on a wide ledge of the neighbouring cliff. It was a handy spot that helped with their “drop down on prey” technique. “Are you sure this is a good place? I don’t see any prey, or smell any for that matter.” Caura questioned and glanced around nervously. “We have to wait, silly.” Kore laughed and nuzzled his mother affectionately. “That’s part of the art to hunting, you taught me that.” He added, remembering how he was left to be cared for by his mother since his father did not fancy sticking around for long after he was born.. Though Kore was used to it that way and would faintly remember his father pacing around, waiting until he was strong enough to survive alone with his mother. It baffled Kore how some parents just decided to leave once the cub was strong enough to survive with either the mother or father, but that was the way things happened in his species. Though, if the cub was lucky enough both parents would tend to it.
The snow had finally settled on the ground and was beginning to pile up. They wouldn’t have the advantage of camouflage due to the colour of their pelts. Caura was flaming orange with a lighter underbelly and running from her shoulders and down to her tail was dark orange stripes, the same colour as her facial pattern. And Kore was basically on the edge of being a deep black, but his leopard spots were just noticeable. As for his father.. Kore didn’t know, he was a blur in his mind by now.
“Gah, we need to hurry.. I don’t want to be caught out in this snow if it becomes worse.” Caura growled lightly. “I’ve told you, be patient.. We could be out for-“ Kore was cut off as he heard crunching from up above. There was this foreign noise that was completely confusing and his tail twitched from side to side. “What is it?..” He whispered to himself, willing to check it out. But his mother already had that covered, wanting to protect her baby. “Mam, get-“ Kore was cut off again, but this time it was by a gun shot. More foreign noises were being made and a bit of cheering could be heard from the monsters up above. Caura was back in the snow, bleeding heavily and struggling for air. “R-r-run.” She hissed at her son who had crouched down with his tail raised, trying to make himself look bigger to the opposing threat. “Run!” A sudden snarl came from Caura and Kore dropped his threatening stance. He looked at his mother with saddened eyes but nodded slowly, willing to obey her final ‘request’.
Kore quickly leaped from the ledge and made impact with the ground below. He started to run but found it hard to pick up a quicker speed thanks to his stumpy legs. “I’m not made for running.” Kore panted lightly, not daring or wanting to turn and look back to see what was happening to his mother. “She’ll be in a better place, I hope.” He added and sighed, dipping his head as he quickly returned to the family’s territory. There was also the dreaded news hanging on his shoulders, how would he tell the family of a death? Surely they would all be devastated, and that’s what Kore wanted to spare them of.. ‘What the family doesn’t know won’t hurt them.’ He thought, thinking that this would be the best thing for everyone.
Upon arrival in the little ‘camp area’ Kore was greeted by a few family members with nuzzles and affectionate licks. “You seem tired, Kore. What happened?” Questioned Ku’chiri, his ‘aunt’. She was actually his mother’s close friend, but figured herself as an aunt since she partly helped raise him when his father left early. “Not much returned from a quick hunt. Nothing was out.” Kore quickly replied and went to find a shaded area to hide, wanting to allow himself to calm down first. “Where is your mother then?” Ku’chiri questioned again, causing Kore to stop in his tracks and turn to face her. He gulped slightly. “She’s wanted to stay out, just a little longer.” He lied and smiled innocently. Ku’chiri simply nodded and allowed Kore to continue, figuring that he’d want to find a secluded little area to hide. ‘They don’t need to know about some foreign creature, they’ll never find us anyways.’Reality:
Kore was busy napping in the snow with his tail curled around him to keep his nose and face nice and warm. It had been a couple of years since the family had found out about Caura’s death, but Kore only covered it up and said that she must have fallen ill to something like a plant. His secret was still kept with him and the strange creatures had never caused any trouble with their kind since, Kore hadn’t even seen them since his mother’s murder.
He eventually awoke and sighed. “Yet another dream.. They’re becoming more frequent, maybe I should just get this burden off of my chest. Those creatures aren’t coming back now, it’s been a long time since that incident.” Kore murmured to himself and stood up, shaking his pelt free of the snow and headed in the direction of the main ‘camp’.
Soon arriving in the main centre of camp Kore glanced around curiously and his ears twitched, along with his tail. He could feel his heart sinking to the bottom of his stomach and could also feel flecks of snow dancing on his dark pelt. Kore didn’t know who he could tell after it had been so long, but he needed to get it off of his chest so the guilt could no longer eat away at him... He wasn’t even sure what the family would think of him for bottling up this secret, there was really only two ways they could react. That was badly or give him sympathy for his loss, but that was the last thing he wanted from anyone.. He believed that it was his fault his mother died; he believed that if he didn’t run that his mother would still be alive; he believed that everything that happened that very day was his entire fault. It was a tough little burden. That is if you could even call it that.
Kore’s aunt suddenly appeared in front of him and gave him a swift lick on the head in greeting. “The weather isn’t getting any better.” Ku’chiri suddenly murmured and sat herself down as Kore twitched his tail, not sure how he was going to phrase everything. “Have you seen any creatures that don’t belong in the forest?” He asked curiously, causing his aunt to look extremely confused. “No, I haven’t seen any creatures that don’t belong. Only the usual prey, bugs, flowers and trees. Nothing else out of the ordinary.” Ku’chiri replied and tipped her head to the side out of curiosity. “Why are you asking this?” Kore gulped lightly and had to eventually sit himself down. “Well.. You know how my mother was killed by a mysterious cause?” He started, gaining a simple nod. “She wasn’t really killed by a flower or something along those lines, she was..” Kore paused, trying to think of a better word for these strange things. “She was killed by these strange creatures who wielded a weapon that made a loud banging noise.”
Ku’chiri could only sigh and shake her head in disappointment after hearing the story that Kore told her. “You should have told someone, not bottle it up and make us all worried about what actually happened to your poor mother. You should have also told us about these creatures in case they were to return, we would need to know information like this.” She scolded and batted Kore lightly with her paw. “But, I can see why you would want to keep it bottled up. For the safety of the family, right?” She added and smiled softly as she saw that Kore was nodding slowly and sighing. “Now maybe I can sleep peacefully with this off of my chest.” Kore murmured and lifted his lowered head.