Tough as Nails Adoption (Closed for renovations!)

[Xanre]

*jabs everyone*
Try out for Soleil. XD

[wibeke]

I really want to see what will come of the crazy bear-type thing. xD

[Atwood]

I do wonder what goes on in Teria/Red Ace's mind sometimes... XD The 'bear' looks more like a carnivorous sloth of some sort to me - I think it's the claws.

[Sykhe]

I would like to adopt!

Number: TEN


Name: Rajah
Species: Smili
Gender: Male
Personality: Rajah could easily be described as a gentle giant. Although he is large in stature, he is also large in heart. He only hunts when needed, and he is always kind to his prey, putting them out of their misery as soon as he can. He does not enjoy suffering of any being, but can be extremely protective and violent when either he or his loved ones are in danger. He is a quick learner, and easy to intrigue. Despite that he is a typical animal in the sense that he is cautious, and extremely wary of new things. Once you gain Rajah's trust you have a friend for life, but if you break his trust it's likely you will never be trusted again.
Likes: Lynann, freedom, climbing, food, sunny days.
Dislikes: Guns, cages, most humans, vehicles, and other such man-made things.

Background:
The creature paced in the back anxiously, continuously making huffing and growling sounds. His claws were unsheathed; you could tell by the clicking of them against the metal floor of the cage. The growling sound that eminated from his throat was louder than the rumble of the engine. He clearly wasn't very happy about being in the metal contraption. Then again, who in their right mind would be?
The passenger turned in her seat to look back at the bright yellowish-green eyes that almost seemed to glow. "You are such a beautiful creature," she said to him. Her green eyes sparkled at him. She loved how magnificent he was. She just couldn't get over it.
The driver snorted. "I can't wait to catch more of these guys," he said, grinning widely.
The woman glared at him. "Don't get cocky. You'll likely never see one of these again. We only managed to catch him by chance."
Shaking his head, the driver ignored her. "I just want to see that stupid theory about these things being related to Asian Dragons disproven. Then I'll be happy."
The woman glared at him again. "That is a very valid theor-"
"Dragons aren't REAL, Miss Grae!" The man said gruffly, cutting her off.
"Well, the top scientists of the world say you, and people like you, are wrong," she said, crossing her arms stubbornly. She hated people. Especially people like this guy. Her 'partner'. She was not pleased being paired up with this doofus in the first place, but their boss said it would be good for them. Polar opposites in many cases, their boss thought they'd complete each other in the work field. Their boss was dead wrong.
"Hogwash," the man muttered to himself.
The creature groaned as if he understood the conversation. Miss Grae turned back to him, smiling. "Don't worry, you will be placed in a private sanctuary. No zoos. We just need to learn more about you and your species. After all Smilis are a newly discovered animal to humans. We don't know anything about you, where you came from, what you're like, or anything. You're going to help us with that." She wanted nothing more than to be able to touch and know the animal. She loved animals. It had been that way all her life. Animals over humans. The only human she had ever really cared for to the same extent was her grandmother, who had raised her since she was young. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was four, and her grandmother - despite her age - took her in. Her grandmother had passed away when she was sixteen, only five years ago. Her grandmother had been in her eighties, although no one knew exactly how old she was since she would never tell anyone her exact age. The wise old woman would simply say that it was rude to ask someone's age.
Ever since her grandmother had died all she'd had were the animals she worked with. And the moron next to her. They had issues from the get-go, despite their boss' valiant efforts to make them get along. They were always butting heads about one thing or another. He thought that animals were simply there for human amusement, toys to be studied and played with; whereas she viewed animals as smarter than humans and wanted to somehow enter their secret world. The man thought she was a loon for having such beliefs, which was the initial issue. Afterwards they both just found anything they could to not get along.
The man sighed. "Stop talking to it, it can't understand you. It probably thinks you're nuts." That statement was met with a huff. "Besides we're almost there." The road had long become nothing but dirt and rocks. As they drove along, the pair became increasingly excited. She was excited because this opportunity was likely to never happen again for them, so being able to study the beast was amazing. She figured her idiotic partner was excited because he wanted to prove her wrong, and would enjoy poking and prodding the lovely being.
They pulled into large gates and screeched to a halt. Stepping out, they were surrounded by other humans. One man was short with glasses and asked the woman a ton of questions.
"No, the only way to drug him is to use more than we'd give an elephant. His metabolism must be off the charts. Even the dose we gave him to catch him barely lasted five minutes! It's safer and easier to move him this way. Isn't that why we have these big guys anyhow?" Miss Grae said as a handful of men opened the back of the vehicle and gawked at the animal. "He is mostly docile, so he shouldn't give you boys too much hardship," she said as the men glanced at one another warily. The beast was larger than a tiger and his fangs stuck out of his mouth like a Saber Tooth cat from the stone ages.
Using the grabbing poles on the cage, the men lifted the heavy creature out of the vehicle and into the sunlight. His dark pelt shined beautifully as it rippled. The men set the cage on the ground so everyone could observe the exquisite creature. Everyone made appreciative sounds at the being.
"Like a God from the Heavens..." Miss Grae said, sighing. Just like that the animal burst the door of the cage open, sending people scattering, running, slipping, and screaming. Looking around, the beast began to run. Not fast for an animal, but faster than a human. Miss Grae had begun running the same direction and turned, stumbling. She fell to the ground, terrified. She flipped on her back to see where the animal was, certain it was the end of her if he continued in her direction.
Still running, the animal didn't notice her at first, he was too focused on getting away from the group. When he turned to look straight ahead he realized he was running right for the woman from the vehicle, who was shaking violently. There was no way she would be able to outrun him, and they both knew it. The creature stopped less than a foot in front of the woman, who had curled her knees up to her chest in an attempt to protect her torso. The creature circled her tightly with his tail raised to make himself look bigger, and she watched his muscles ripple as he moved. He had his eyes narrowed, taking in everything about the woman. He didn't know what to make of her yet. She shuddered, crying. "P- please, don't kill me." She said. The beast cocked his head and began to untense as if he understood. Realizing what kind of person she was he walked up to her, his face and hers perhaps three inches apart, lowering his tail. He pushed his nose to her cheek as if trying to comfort the woman. She stiffened, but stopped crying. When he pulled back slowly, she stared at him, and he stared at her. She reached out slowly with her hand and touched his large head. He made a chuffing sound similar to a sound a tiger would make when greeting one another. The woman smiled, rubbing her hand across the top of his head. His fur was soft on top, but thick and wiry on the lower layers.
"I wonder what you would be called." She said softly. The creature turned his head from side to side, as if to check something. When he looked back to her, he narrowed his eyes. "Rajah." He said to her. She gasped, and pulled her hand away from him quickly. "D-d- did you just... SPEAK!?" She whispered frantically. He nodded, but she wasn't sure if she was simply imagining everything. She began thinking that this may all just be a very vivid, very wild dream. Or perhaps she was dead.
"Name?" He said to her. Her eyes grew wider. She floundered, uncertain. "Name?" He repeated.
Shaking her head slowly, she tried to gain composure. "L...ynann..." She said slowly, unsure if she was crazy. "Lynann?" the creature said. She shook, but nodded.
The voices of the other humans could be heard now. They were shouting to catch the creature and to find Lyn. Rajah turned his head quickly, and then looked back at Lynann. "Come." He said to her. He walked beside her, crouching a bit. She looked at him, confused. "Ride." He said.
She shook her head. "No no no no... I...." She glanced at the direction the voices came from. She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a business skirt, button up shirt, and heels. She would never be able to ride this creature appropriately. And where would he take her? What if he ate her? She chewed her lip. Rajah huffed impatiently as the voices got closer. Lynann stood up. She thought about the fact that she'd never really taken any chances in life and mounted Rajah. She locked her arms around his neck, her torso flat against his back, and her legs bent so they wouldn't drag. Suddenly Rajah lurched, and they were running. Rather, he was running and she was holding on for her dear life. She shut her eyes tightly, trying not to scream. Rajah ran straight towards the gates.
He stopped at the gates and said "Tight." Lynann wondered if he was talking to her (she still wondered if he was talking at all), and quickly found out he was when he stood up on his back legs and began to climb the gate. She locked her arms tighter around his neck, trying not to choke him. When he reached the top, rather than climbing he jumped down as he would do if he was using the typical Smili drop-down technique. She let loose a scream. Rajah hit the ground running and they disappeared into the jungles that surrounded the sanctuary.

Lynann couldn't relax during her ride on Rajah. The entire time her wheels were spinning, going around and around about how she could be an easy meal and how she just left a good paying job. But she also thought about how she had no living relatives, no boyfriend (hmph), and no close friends. Her job took up most of her life after all. Finding, capturing, and researching rare animals did take quite a lot of time and effort. It took up far too much time for her to attempt to have a life.
Lynann didn't know how long it had been, but after what seemed like forever of traveling and thinking Rajah stopped. When she looked up from his dark fur it was almost night. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon, as if it was shy. Lynann hopped off Rajah, brushing herself off and smoothing out her clothes automatically. She then realized that she had no reason to do it; she was in the middle of god-knew-where with a creature that could kill her in one swipe if he wanted to! She suddenly began hyperventilating, falling down into a crouching position, her hands brought up to her head, grabbing her hair. She rocked her torso back and forth, back and forth, muttering to herself as she wondered how the heck she'd put herself in this position. Why had she been so stupid as to jump on the back of a furry creature that could only speak a few words? How could it speak at all!?
Her mind spun and the edges of her sight began to go black and fuzzy. Suddenly her mind collapsed into empty space. Nothingness consumed her and her body lapsed onto the ground.
The sudden sound startled Rajah. He had been sniffing around, trying to make sure that he had stopped at a good place. When he heard the woman's body connect to the Earth's face he turned towards her, walking slowly. Her breathing was shallow but steady; he decided that the woman was probably overwhelmed. Not wanting to hurt her, but wanting to get to a slightly better place he began nosing her arms until her torso was mostly on his shoulders. Lurching his body a few times he eventually got her limp one onto his. He moved slowly, careful not to let the woman fall off of him. He took her to a large tree. He realized there was no way he could climb it without her falling so instead he found a place where the roots seemed to make a little nest. Rajah laid on his stomach in a very low crouch and slowly tipped himself so Lynann slid off of his back. When her body was on the ground she unconsciously curled into a ball. Rajah wondered if the woman was chilly. Her clothing now had snags and tiny rips in them. Her panty hose had runs upon runs and her shoes were scuffed and dirty. Not that any of this meant a thing to Rajah. But the large Feline-type creature laid down. It had been a long couple of days for him. He snuggled his body to hers, keeping her warm. He drifted into sleep easily.

The daylight streaked through the tree's branches and leaves onto Lynann's face. She opened her eyes slowly, confused at first. The chirping of birds swam in her ears, and the warmth of something that wasn't quite a blanket pressed against her. She rubbed her eye with her fist, and attempted to sit up, but realized there was a weight on her. She looked down, seeing a large black furry leg wrapped in its own way around her stomach. Suddenly her mind exploded. Getting up a bit quickly, she tripped over a root of the tree. Rajah stirred, awake instantly. He looked at her lazily and yawned. "Light." He said sleepily. Lynann kneeled, turning towards him. She nodded saying, "Day time." Rajah cocked his head to that, as if he didn't fully understand but seemed to disregard it for the most part. Lynann sighed, slipping her heels off and sitting on a root that rose up out of the ground in such a manner that it was easy to sit on. "Rajah. I don't think I can stay with you. I have to go back... I've never been out in the wild alone before and I'll die out here." Lynann chewed her lower lip, unsure what else to say.
Rajah watched her closely as she spoke. She knew he only understood a little bit, but she hoped it was enough for him to get the gist of it. Which he did. He stood up and walked towards her slowly. She tensed her body, but she knew she couldn't run. Rajah could tell she was nervous, but he pressed the top of his head against her chest, making her gasp. He made a soft sound that almost sounded like purring. "You not like human," he said quietly. Lynann jolted. "You like animal. Be animal." He could sense everything about her. How she hated humans, how she could only bring herself to trust one other human in her life, and how she longed to be an animal instead. And although his English was bad, Lynann could tell that he meant that she didn't get along with humans as she did animals.
Lynann sat there with her arms at her side for a minute, but then began to lean forward. She was partially bent over, leaning on his head and neck, her arms wrapped around his throat. She buried her face into his soft overcoat. "I... am weak. I need protection." She whispered.
Rajah removed his head, forcing Lynann to sit up again. He looked directly into her eyes. "Rajah protect. No harm come. Protect," he stated plainly. Lynann smiled. She realized that she hadn't trusted anyone as much as she trusted this being. Not even her own grandmother. She patted his head. "Okay. You can protect me." She knew her life was starting over. She was going to have the life she should have been born into.



Ohmygod, I've been waiting for this for like a week! xD
I've had this thing critiqued by multiple people and I feel pretty confident about it. <3

[wibeke]

Atwood: It says "Bear, dog thing. Up to the owner" So i guess it's up to interpretation.
Unfortunatley half my characters are already insane. They don't need another one to go and join them.

[Lady Masquerade]

OMG I LOVE THE DOG SPOTTY MADE!

[Sykhe]

Omg, I hope I didn't jump the gun. o__o; {Just thought of that}

[Skylarr.]

Are there any for donation?

[Atwood]

The list hasn't been updated on the front page yet, but if you look halfway down Page 232 you'll see all the donations that are available now with their numbers. :3

[Skylarr.]

oh ok, thanks!