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➸ W h y D o Y o u W a n t T o P l a y T h e H o p e ?At first, one might think that hope is a fragile thing. Something to be coddled and kept hidden from the world lest it is hurt or damaged. That through the slightest blow it might shatter and slip away, like so many broken dreams.
But they are wrong.
So very wrong.
Hope is the thing that bends and does not break. It is resolve and determination, the hidden strength that only shows itself when everything else has failed. Hope is a tiny light in an otherwise dark world, and the cooling shade in a light so white it burns. When life comes crawling, battered and broken to the brink of death, it is hope that lingers last on the edge; the one to pull back from oblivion, and say beyond reason, that there is still time to live.
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➸ R o l e p l a y S a m p l eX X ______________________________________________________________
➸ N a m e y o u g o b yNadezhda aka Nada
➸ G e n d e rFemale
➸ A g e16 Seasons (4 Years)
➸ D e s c r i p t i o nEurasian Wolf • 92lb • 31" Tall at the Shoulders • 54" Long Nose to Tail
Nada sports the plush coat of ruddy browns, creams and grays with black accents that is so common among wolves. In truth, she has no remarkable markings at all, as though she could be any wolf, this commonality perhaps being her most distinguishing trait. Lighter underneath and darker above, she has a grey mask and saddle, with rusty edges that blend gently into a soft cream as it moves down her legs to a near white for her paws. Eyes rimed with dark grey below and white on top, there is a decent amount of red that runs the length of her snout, though it too lightens and ends in white at her solid black nose. She has wise grey eyes, flecked with tan and gold, set deep with a long narrow muzzle. Though there is an appearance of bulk about her neck and shoulders, much of that is just her thick fur of her ruff, she is actually a lean wolf with long legs and large paws. Well suited to hunting and traveling, she agile and light on her feet, able to run for miles at an easy pace. It could easily be said that grace and endurance are her strongest physical attributes, with speed and stealth not far behind.
It can be said that through the scent of a wolf, you can tell their past, and Nada is no different. Her scent is loamy and sweet, like that of the soft grasses of her birth. There is also a lingering hint of snow and stone, from her long passage over windy peaks.
➸ P e r s o n a l i t yThough she would never consider herself a leader, Nada possesses an inner strength that is rare for someone so young. She is quite capable and self assured in her abilities, simply meaning that she can take care of herself. Thus Nada will seldom ask others for help, and is much more likely to be the one to offer. Some might see this as pride or vanity, but in truth she simply wishes not to be a burden upon others. She will never willingly leave a pack member behind for any reason, and her drive to 'save' them might seem a little less than sane to other less altruistic wolves.
Generally peaceful, Nada will explore all other options before resorting to violence, often trying to prevent it between others as well. However, this doesn't mean that she is cowardly. Only that she is respectful of those stronger than her, and kind to those who are not. If pushed to her breaking point, she will willingly fight to protect herself or her ideas, even so far as to lay down her own life for what she believes in.
Deeply in tune with the earth and wind, Nada enjoys spending time alone, simply listening to the whispering of the world around her. Not necessarily hunting, she may stalk silently through the woods simply for the pure joy of it. However much she may take pleasure in it, being alone with her thoughts invariably leads her back to the loss of her pack, leaving her with an empty heart and longing for companionship. At times such as these, she can be cold and distant, difficult to reach when she so desperately needs it. It is then though, that her true strength shines the brightest. No matter how sad or painful her heart may be, Nada always finds a way to pick herself up and carry on.
➸ S e c r e t l o v e ?Perhaps there will be, as Nada tends to see at least some good in all wolves. But for now, there is not as she is just meeting the pack.
➸ L o v e o f m y l i f eNone yet.
➸ A n y t h i n g e l s e ?((Nada will enter as a loner, and my first post will put her in the pack's territory as such. Hopefully, she can then be accepted into the pack and her rank can be decided then.))
Nada was born fifth in a litter of six to the alphas of the Pack of Thousand Lakes, so named for the wide shallow
valley in which they lived. Filled with small ponds and fenlands, the largest trees that grew were the wispy willows that would dip their long trailing leaves into the gently flowing streams in summer, and form briars of empty standing twigs in the winter. Everywhere in between was a marvelous covering of sedge and grasses, spreading out in an emerald carpet betwixt the deep blue lakes. In the distance, grey mountains rose, winking white with snow against cloudless skies even in the hottest of months. It was beneath a willow stand that she grew as a young whelp, and it seemed from the very moment her legs could carry her, she was moving. With no trees to hide their moments, Thousand Lakes hunted through endurance. Chasing their normal quarry of red deer for miles around and through the waters until it was too tired to go on. This would take them far from any den, and yet, for each of them the valley itself was home. With no other packs for competition, they lived in a blissful sort of isolation, filled with the heady freedom of the wild.
Though life was filled with long hard days of running, if helped Nada to grow up lean and strong with her pack as it lived in constant motion. For her first two summers, hunting was good and the winters mild. Then, as all things are want to do, life began to change near the end of her second autumn. The pack came upon a strange wolf of the purest white named Aaroein. Though she was pleasant enough, she showed little ability nor want to keep up with the pack. Strangely enough, her father showed a keen interest in the newcomer, and would regularly call her to kills with the rest of the pack even though she didn't lift a paw to help. Perhaps for an old wolf such as himself, there was something alluring about her life of ease, and though he sill loved his mate dearly, he spent much time with her. This left his mate to lead the pack and the hunt, whilst he laid happily in the late season's sun. Just as the last of the leaves left the willows, so did Aaroein, disappearing one night without a trace. Nada's father felt the wight of her leaving most heavily, a lingering sadness that his presence spread through the pack.
The weather turned cold and the normally soft ground froze beneath their paws, locking the little ponds with ice as snows weighed heavily on the willows. At first, the weather was of little concern as it seemed to slow the normally fleet-footed deer, the deep snow fouling their footing and hiding their food, leaving them weak and easy to catch. It was in this time of plenty that Nada first began to see the change in her pack mates, a growing indifference that seemed to push them apart. Her father was the first to go, leaving the others including her mother without warning. It was almost as if he had simply forgotten what it meant to live, laying down in the gently falling snow and refusing to move as it covered him over. Her mother was next, the loss of her mate an impossible burden to bear and she lay herself beside him. Thousand Lakes leaderless and directionless, with Nada and her siblings desperately trying to pick up the pieces.
Though they tried at first, the rest went the same, some would not wake with the dawn, others slowly fell behind during hunts, never to be seen again. So tired, oh so very tired they all seemed. Until it was only Nada and her big brother Dmitri left to fight their way through the snow. Nada always pushed him, telling him that they must go on. After all, the others might still be out there, lost and alone, waiting to be found. But even Dmitri, though he loved his sister dearly, found the emptiness more than he could bear. One night as the snow fell and winds raged, Nada desperately sought shelter with her reluctant brother in toe.
"Come on, Dmitri! Get up! Just a little bit further now, I promise." Nada urged, tugging at Dmitri's ear in an effort to get him up.
Dmitri yawned expansively, and slowly got to his feet. "But why? The snow is so soft and comfy... Can't we just stay here?" He whined, barely taking a two steps before stopping again, leaving his sister to walk ahead.
"No! It's too cold! We have to..." Her words failed her as she realized her brother had not followed, having sunk to the ground somewhere behind her. The violently swirling snow has already erased all evidence of their passing, and his form is invisible against the wall of white that meets her eyes.
Nada charged back through the snow, running back and forth for hours in fruitless search of her brother. Her circles grow ragged and the wind tears the breath from her nose and eventually she tires to the point of exhaustion and tunnels beneath a willow strand that has bent over into a sort of cave. There she passed out, only to wake hours later to a deathly silence.
The snow had piled so deeply, that Nada had to dig her way back out, and found the world she knew so well completely transformed. An alien landscape of gently rolling white hills the only thing to be seen for miles upon miles. Even the mountains were white against a fierce blue sky.The storm had obliterated all track and scent from their passing, and every possible landmark was hidden beneath the frozen desert. Though Nada raised her voice, howling for days until her voice was ragged, her ears met with no answer beyond the echos of her own voice reverberating off the distant mountains.
Where others would have faltered, fallen with defeat into the welcoming cold embrace of winter, Nada fought back. Through tears and anger she found the strength within herself to keep moving, to do what she had known all her life. To run. Leaving the memories of the valley behind, she headed towards the mountains, the only thing left that was recognizable to her lonely eyes in an otherwise barren world. Driven by a need to move, to believe that there was something more out there, Nada crossed the mountains in an impossibly long two year trek, bringing her at last to the lands of this pack. The tall trees as alien to her as a shrew to the sea. Yet here, in a world so different it is hardly recognizable, a familiar scent of wolves reaches her eager nose, a wild and desperate wish rising up in her throat, she moves forward with no small amount of eagerness to meet them. Holding on to her one constant companion: Hope.
