name of character:: Akeelah, female (uh-kee-luh)
username:: mango sherbet
personality:: Akeelah is a smart, capable fox for the most part. She is quick on her feet and nimble, and is also a quick thinker. The best thing about Akeelah is that while usually she is as honest as she can be, she also can talk her way out of almost any situation. It's not lying, exactly- just bending the truth. Akeelah's greatest weakness is her fear of the dark, which consumes her so much that she wears a necklace with a vial on it with her pet firefly, Shiro. Shiro keeps changing, because he keeps dying and needs to be replaced. Every time he dies Akeelah buries him with a little ceremony. In fact, Akeelah's firefly dies so often that she's given up naming them individually and calls them all Shiro, after the first.
Akeelah is very secretive. She doesn't like lying, but it's not exactly like all her thoughts are out there for the world to see. She's a bit sneaky and has an all-consuming curiosity that's always getting her in trouble.
brief story of her childhood:: Akeelah was born in a small, cramped den full of wriggling puppies. She was the runt of the litter, and hated being overpowered by her siblings. When Akeelah and her sisters were old enough to go outside, Akeelah gladly ran out into the sunlight. She wandered away from her sisters and found a small grove with a pond in the center. Akeelah was happy to find a quiet place away from her family, and resolved to come back again soon.
Akeelah was at peace by her special pond, and spent most of her time there from then on. One day she left the den to a loud, scary noise from the direction of her grove. She scrambled back in and began to shake her mother, whimpering, "Wake up, wake up!" Akeelah's mother was quickly roused, and Akeelah showed her mother to the den's entrance.
"Quickly," said her mother. "They're going to tear up the ground. We have to get out of here, quickly."
"But what about Daddy?" Akeelah asked over the roaring, which was getting louder.
"He'll find us. Come on, we have to leave before they tear up our den."
"What's them?" inquired Deira, who was the strongest. She looked scared and weak now.
"No time," their mother said. "Follow me." She darted out of the den, quickly followed by Akeelah, who was muscled aside by Deira. She fell back and brought up the rear.
Huge monsters were tearing up the ground, yellow monsters that moved with an odd, mechanical motion. They were destroying Akeelah's grove. Akeelah shrieked with anger and fear and stopped running. Her heart was pounding, and her vision was suddenly blurry. These things were destroying all she held dear, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
"AKEELAH!" screeched her mother, pushing her way past the rest of her pups to pull away her youngest daughter. "Hurry!" She ran back to the front of the line, dragging Akeelah by her scruff. There were several minutes of dizzying panic, and finally they were tucked up under the clawed-away roots of a tree. The mother clutched Akeelah tight while the rest huddled around them. Their home was gone, but they were safe, and would live to see another day.
art:: 
Sorry about the horrible colors, my scanner hates me...
