Arnou

[Freesia]

Name — Arnou
Gender — Brute
Age — 4 and 1/2 - 5 years (adult)
Sexuality — Straight
Preset — The Thief

Fur — Deep black/dark gray in color, with a white/light grey underside
Eyes — Very lightly colored; in the right light they may appear light blue, but are more of a silver/grey color
Height — 5'3" (for RP purposes ;3)
Marks — Lightly colored underside (belly, chest, throat, insides of legs, face, ears, etc.)
Other — thick, shaggy fur

Likes — Winter, snow (the cold), solitude, the thrills of hunting, mysteries, adrenaline
Dislikes — Heat, swimming, pups, simpleness
Weaknesses — Speed, quick temper, always wants to be the "hero"
Strengths — Strength, stealth, calm demeanor
Fears — Afraid of becoming like his mentor
Secrets — His past
Dreams — A better life for himself, free from worries or obligations
Personality — Arnou strives to keep up the "strong and silent type" image. In his eyes, anything short of being the strongest is a weakness and shameful, and therefore he pushes himself to be the absolute best in all that he does. He's very quiet-spoken and steadfast, and is not one to turn his back on danger or someone in need, feeling an overpowering need to lend a helping paw. He's not one to trust easily, and most of his relationships are short and fleeting.

Mother — ---
Father — ---
Siblings — ---
Other — ---

History/Story Time! — Arnou was orphaned shortly after his birth when his mother died from the process. Out of a very large litter, he was the only one who survived without his mother, and was forced to "grow up" at a very young age. Having no one to support him or to call his family, Arnou quickly formed a reputation for being a "lone wolf". Throughout the early years of his life, he struggled with morals and was constantly getting in trouble, not having any mother to teach him the difference between right and wrong. Unknowingly, Arnou was flagged as a troublemaker, and the elders of his pack kept a close watch on him.

Soon after, an older wolf by the name of Luka noticed Arnou's struggles and took him in under his wing for mentoring. Arnou absolutely adored Luka; to him, Luka was an idol, in every way possible, and Arnou followed him everywhere. But there was something off about Luka's character, something that just didn't seem quite right in the way he acted or calculated things. It wasn't long after Luka took Arnou in that his true colors began to show through. In all reality, Luka was a cold-hearted killer, selfish and cunning in his ways. Arnou, though, failed to see this, and stuck close to his side.

The seasons continued to change, in the ways that nature does, and the blistering heat of summer gave way to the barren snap of winter. That winter was perhaps one of the harshest and unforgiving in the land, water supplies froze, and fresh game quickly diminished in the face of the growing wolf packs, and many starved or froze to death, and more were forced to take desperate measures just to stay alive. Deception, thievery, and murder became common among even the closest of friends. For most of the winter, Arnou relied on Luka to provide food for him, and never questioned where his meals may have originally come from. Until, of course, Luka decided it was time for Arnou to start to provide the meat.

Arnou, assuming they were just going on a normal hunt, went along with him the next time they went out. However, when instead of leading them towards the normal hunting grounds, Luka led him to a small band of rogue wolves instead, the young wolf began to grow suspicious. The small group was made up of just a few young males who had already downed their own small caribou. Despite Arnou's protests, Luka went about ambushing the group, killing one of the males in the process and running the others off, and stealing their kill. As Arnou had refused to help, Luka refused to share.

That was the first time that winter where Arnou did not eat.

Luka warned Arnou that if he did not help to catch their meal, he would no longer be allowed to partake of it. Scared and having no where else to go, Arnou was forced to follow Luka's lead in stealing and killing in order to survive. Months passed, and eventually Arnou became numb to the unsavory deeds, back to following Luka blindly. But even when the winter ended and the wild game moved back into the lands, Luka continued to plunder; and still Arnou stayed with him.

One day, while they were out looking for someone to steal from, they themselves were attacked. Luka, brutally wounded, was unable to defend himself, and the task fell to Arnou instead. What felt like hours really only lasted a couple minutes, but at the end of the fight Arnou found himself with their attacker's life in his grasp, ready to rip out his throat, with Luka growling at him to do it. As if awaking from a dream, Arnou stared down at the terrified wolf with shock and disbelief on his face, slowly letting him up so he could run away. Luka, enraged, stumbled to his feet and approached Arnou. Before Arnou could explain his thoughts, Luka struck out with his forepaw, clawing the younger wolf across the face. Howling in pain, Arnou ran off into the wood, where he spent nearly a week running from anyone and everything, not eating and hardly drinking. Eventually he collapsed from exhaustion and starvation, haunted by hallucinations and the knowledge of who Luka truly was. At one point, he was aware of himself climbed numbly to his feet and searching for game to kill. His first several attempts were met with failure, as he had become so weak from not eating and constantly running that he was sloppy and disoriented. When finally he did make a kill, he ate himself sick before sleeping for hours, his physical and mental exhaustion finally overwhelming him completely.

When he next woke up, still not quite in the right mindset, he set off for where he had come from. What had taken him only a few days to cover on the way out, now took him several weeks to backtrack and find his way "home". And when he finally did come face to face with the wolf who had relentlessly haunted his waking and sleeping hours ever since his departure, Luka acted as if nothing had happened between the two.

"Welcome back, Kid, and just in time! I found this great little band, two old and crippled parents with little pups. It'll be a steal to take from them!"

Arnou snapped. Turning against the wolf who had trained him and cared for him when everyone else had left him for dead, Arnou took out all his frustrations and anger and pain on Luka. Sparing his life was not on his mind, but somehow Arnou stopped himself before delivering the death blow on the now-unconscious Luka, fleeing back into the forest again instead, mind set on running away and leaving his past behind.  

Note: Please do not write on Arnou's bio. If you are interested in roleplaying with him, please pm me! Also, his bio will be updated as he is used and grows. ;3