[Red Wolf] Antiope

[Antiope]

OOC
Name: Attatar
Years RPing: On and off for probably about 7-8 years
Other: n/a
How You Found Us: Either a topsite or browsing forums

General
Name: Antiope
Birthday: April 24, 2013
Gender: Female
Species: Red Wolf

Physical
Height: 29 inches
Length: 52 inches
Weight: 76 lbs
Coat Color: Red with a white underside and paws, some black on her face and backy
Eye Color: Yellow
Health Issues: None
Other Information:

Mental
Mental Stability: Sane
History: Her parents’ union was a happy one. The young pair of wolves had found their kindred spirit in the other, and it was with great joy that they prepared to welcome their first litter into the world. But that year, the last vestiges of winter clung to the territory far into the spring, and frost still dusted the ground when the pups arrived. After a trying birth, four lay curled against their mother’s side – two males and two females – but only three of them were breathing. With heavy hearts, the young parents buried their stillborn daughter in a grave made shallow by the frozen ground before returning to the offspring who now needed them more. However life for them was never quite the same after that; they were not quite as carefree as before.

And so it was by a disillusioned father and a mother with a broken spirit that Antiope and her brothers, Copper and Baron, were raised. Growing up with a pair of loners meant that there never seemed to be quite enough food to go around and interactions with strangers were few and far between; nevertheless, the memories of the first months of her life found a special place in her heart. Now the only she-wolf in a litter of males, who had discovered very early on that a favorite past-time of theirs was play fighting, she had to learn to hold her own or get left behind. Determined and perhaps a tad too competitive from the start, she refused to be bested by her brothers and proved to both herself and her family that she had the spirit to match them win for win. As they grew older, their competitions began to take the form of dares and other challenges alongside their usual combat, and through honing their abilities, they bonded over mutual respect and friendly rivalry with the others.

Forever weakened by the emotional toll of burying a child, their mother intended to raise her remaining offspring as best she could. She did not want them, particularly her only daughter, growing up knowledgeable about little else than fighting and insisted that they spend some time with her. More often than not, this time involved them sitting and listening while her mother tried to share life lessons. While her brothers might have found value in the teachings, Antiope, who was always more inclined toward actions than words, found the older she-wolf’s lessons more tedious and boring than informative. She much preferred the company of her father, with whom she practiced hunting and practical skills, to that of her meeker mother, who, through storytelling, wished to instill a sense of caution in her strong-willed daughter.

As it turned out, life did that for her. When she and her siblings were around 10 months old, they set out to hunt on their own as they had so many times before. Their first winter had not been an easy one, and they soon found themselves drawn to prey – deer – larger than the scrawny rabbits they had been tasked with catching. A month of successful hunting made them overconfident in their abilities, and her brother, Baron, in particular, found himself yearning for such an impressive catch; as she listened, the young she-wolf realized that such an accomplishment would serve to both impress her parents and provide for the family. Having successfully convinced his siblings to follow his lead, her brother led the expedition, but what already started out as a poor idea soon became an utter disaster. Antiope was thrown off and landed wrong, twisting her paw, but it was Copper, the youngest of the litter, who would pay the ultimate price for their youthful overconfidence. He had received a kick to the side from the deceptively strong doe, and though they had no means of identifying the injury, a broken rib had punctured his lung. With her feeling of invincibility rudely shattered, Antiope could only watch as her brother suffered a prolonged death.

Burying their youngest left an irreparable tear in the fabric of their family. The young she-wolf could not help but to feel partially responsible for the circumstances of his passing; after all, she had agreed to that fateful hunt. Broken-hearted and grief-stricken, their mother insisted that her remaining two pups stay close by. Baron, undoubtedly bearing a similar burden upon his shoulders, as well as her father became more withdrawn, and neither contested the new rules set by the older female. Only Antiope scorned her mother’s orders, craving the open space and freedom of solitude, but under the pressure of her brother and father, she acquiesced. However, that did not mean that she was happy. Insidious, the silent resentment toward her mother slowly grew, until it finally bubbled over. An argument over some inconsequential detail began, but it ended when Antiope snapped that, unlike her mother, she could take care of herself. The silence that followed her declaration was deafening, and the outburst died as quickly as it had sprung into being. But, like the elephant in the room, it was on everyone’s minds. Her father and brother sided with her mother, and everyone began to subtly distance themselves from Antiope. She understood the implied belief that if she could take care of herself so well and no longer wanted to be with them, she was welcome to leave.

So, at 1.5 years, the young she-wolf left. Facing the challenges of living alone allowed her to ignore the undeniable betrayal that the actions of her family had caused, and she buried the hurt deep. There it fueled her slowly rekindling spirit, the implicit doubts of her family serving to strengthen her inherent yearning to prove herself. Through months of trial and error, she learned to fend for herself – never too far from her family, for she could not yet bring herself to leave them entirely – and her self-confidence grew. In the end, a chance meeting with her father triggered the complete breaking of ties. In a cool but polite exchange, he told her that her brother, Baron, had left, and with a jolt, she had realized that she had far less reason to remain than she had thought. Later that month, curiosity drove her across the shallow sea to the island that she had always seen on the horizon.

Antiope has long since become accustomed to a hard life of solitude, but as a wolf from the mainland, she does not know this new territory which is called Anikira. But she finds herself hopeful of a new beginning.

Personality: Ambitious and head-strong, Antiope is fiercely independent and determined to make a name for herself. With a pride bordering on haughty and an indomitable spirit, she does not fear the challenges life throws at her, instead stubbornly believing that she can overcome even the most impossible task with enough work and effort. Those seemingly impossible undertakings fuel her need to prove herself, but while her determination might assist her in some endeavors, it can just as easily harm her. Very competitive, she rarely backs down from a fight, especially if her pride is on the line, and she is not above using underhanded tactics to accomplish her goals. Similarly, if the situation calls for it, she is not afraid to get dirty, though once the circumstances have changed, she will not remain that way for long; she prefers having a clean pelt to an unkempt one. Ultimately, she fears becoming meaningless, and this fear drives her yearning to become a legend. She is afraid of being forgotten and accomplishing nothing with her life. With such a powerful motivation comes a specific harshness of which she is not particularly proud: the young she-wolf will put down others to make herself feel better.

Others might note that, apart from her powerful ambitions, she has an average intelligence with a sometimes-too-sharp tongue. Months of solitude have done little to keep her social skills in shape, though it is undeniable that they exist under layers of rust. Not one to trust with any particular ease, Antiope tends to alienate wolves rather than befriend them, for she has a tendency to appear aloof while trying to form an opinion about others. She tells herself that she does not care about what others think of her. But she’s lying. She internalizes everything she hears about herself, and because she can’t help but to take others’ words personally, she especially has a hard time taking criticism. For one so intent on making history, she, surprisingly, would much rather deny her character flaws and pretend they do not exist rather than work on improving herself. Antiope has also never been good at following the pecking order. History has made her wary of blindly following orders; she often won’t, unless they follow her own inclination or are given by those whom she trusts, and she has a hard time bending her neck in any situation but those that require it.

She is slightly more cautious than she was in her youth, though she is still more likely to rush forward with a half-formed plan, ready to improvise, than remain indecisive and overthink the issue. Though her desire to prove herself has only strengthened with time, she is more likely to pause to consider the consequences of her actions. However, a wolf of actions instead of words, she has little patience for those who speak but do not act. Overall, Antiope is a young she-wolf driven by ambition and the determination to become a legend. Always one to stand up for herself, she is fiercely independent and proud, rarely backing down from a fight though not necessarily going out of her way to avoid them. Ultimately, she has a good heart, but it has been toughened by her life of solitude and placed aside in favor of achieving her dreams.

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