Jora

Taken from Wikimedia Commons

Basic Information

Name: Jora
Gender: Female
Orientation: Gray Sexuality
Birthdate: September 309
Breed(s): Alusky x Shepard mix
Variant:Augment (nnt^at) Basal (nntt) chimera
Mutation:None (yet)
Played by: Ninjaplushie (Ninjie)

Appearance

Height: 1ft 3in
Build:*Long legs *Lean muscle *Lithe frame *Dainty
Description:

Jora is a far cry from the image of powerful dogs the image of her family conjures. She, in fact, looks nothing like the rest of her family. In her current state, her body is lean and narrow. Stilted legs seem to skip across the ground like its water when she walks. Her face is slender with large erect ears atop her head like that of a fox. In fact, looking at her gives an odd mixture between a delicate, graceful young dog coming into form and a pitiful, sickly starving puppy. The gazelle-like physique of many dogs simply does not come natural to her; her family are dogs of a more large and stocky build similar to their wolf ancestors her height is a little over half of what it is supposed to be.

She was born a lethal white; a pale ivory and silver among a litter of brindles and muddy browns. As she got older, the silver darkened to a deep onyx black and the white remained as pristine as ever. Perhaps when she reaches her second year of age and her guard hairs finally grow Jora's black will silver sable at some points into a brindle and her white darkens into a light brown like her mother. Maybe her black will lighten into a rust and dark brown, bleeding into a cream and white underbelly like her father. As of now, she remains this stark contrast; black blankets over her head, body, and tail like a caped hood while the lower half of her legs, underbelly, neck, and face all are a pure white. There is a black pattern in the form of a cross that goes down her face as well; the sides resting right under her heterochromatic eyes; one a bright and glistening silver and one black as the darkest void. The later is also metallic with no distinction between the iris, pupil, and sclera and moves independently so that one may have a hard time figuring what her eye is focusing on. Even as she sleeps, it remains halfway open for surveillance.

Personality

Skills: *Enhanced aptitude *Heightened observational skills *Data mining
Abilities: *Accelerated healing factor *Cybernetic eye *Near-complete numbness
Description:

Jora is a long ways from the image of happy pup or the timid young vixen her age and history would reflect her to be. In fact, there isn't much of an image to be conjured by her; she is an empty husk that is only capable of the most basic form of communication; responding when talked to. She isn't one for expression; she never seems the slightest bit of angry or happy. One may think that she is perpetually sad at first glance, but it would be more of the pitiful condition she is in and the dreary drone of her voice rather than any genuine sadness she projects. The only feeling that can always be felt from her is calmness. But it isn't a welcome calmness; its a deadly silence kind of calm. For most, her aura is enough to not want to interact with her.

She isn't much of a talker, either. Jora prefers the role of a silent observer and she plays it well. She doesn't like to waste her words, so she only speaks them to those who are listening even if she holds helpful information pertaining to the situation. The only other time she speaks is so rare of a situation that most will never see that side of her; something buried deep within the void. The words spoken when this surfaces are filled with ambition and fearlessness. Not the good kind either; the ambition of mindless pursuit of the chase. And not courageous kind of fearlessness either; a fearlessness that no pup or any life-loving dog should have. Because the big secret is that she isn't this numb emotionless being she lets on to be; she had been hurt before. Psychologically, physically, and emotionally. And she is willing to become the enemy of life itself if it means that no one will ever have the power to hurt her again.

History

Lineage:
Father: Durrik | Augment | Alusky Shephard mix | deceased
Mother: Aria | Augment | Alusky Shephard mix | unknown
Sibling(s): Markzi | Augment | Alusky Shephard mix | unknown - Aurron | Augment | Alusky Shephard mix | deceased
Background:

Jora was born during a foggy, rainy autumn day. In fact, it was during the year of a rainiest autumn Canaria had seen in a long time. Her mother didn't make much of an effort to make the day brighter either. Her grandparents had been the epitome of Winterwood Pack; strong, noble and independent. They were so secure in their status that they couldn't possibly avoid raising such spoiled rotten brats as Jora's parents. Being the narcissistic beings that they are, they naturally took to each other. So when Durrik had been expelled from the pack, Aria foolishly followed out of love.
And things were well for a while. They went well all the way until Durrik died leaving her with a belly full of pups when she barely had the skill to feed herself. Fortunately for her, she only had two mouths to feed; her third pup was a pale and shriveled breathless lump. Moments after the other two had been named and were suckling away did the stillborn suddenly jerk to life; squealing and flailing pathetically. Aria made no effort to usher her to warmth and food or even give her a name; the way the land had been chilled with rain and fog spelled a terrible winter. Surely she wouldn't survive too long. But she felt the need to honor Durrik, for she truly did love him, and she didn't have it in her to abandon the pups, so at least she would try to save the other two. The only chance they stood is if they migrated to the warmer southern lands for the winter.

The nameless pup made it to her first meal, and thus the pattern of her life began; always struggling to keep up with her mother who would turn a blind's eye to her efforts because it would be unrealistic to believe that she would make it to the winter, let alone through it. It would be a waste of resources and time that could cost her healthy pups if she let the runt drag them down. The rain continued to fall heavier and colder with each passing day. Every day was worse than the last; the severity of season forced the pups closer and closer to their mother. And the closer they got, the less "motherly" she seemed.
Aurron had long given up on ever having his dream mother. He opted to trying to create bonds with his sisters. He focused the bulk of his effort on the nameless pup; he would snuggle up against her on especially cold nights and walk slower when her mother refused to slow her pace so she wouldn't get lost. He even was the one who would give her the name she is known by today; Jora. Markzi, frustrated by all of her efforts to win her mother's doting words being in vain, vented by making her siblings look even more pathetic and useless at every chance she got. She tormented and ridiculed Aurron for being soft hearted and would often attack Jora in front of him just to spite him. But sometimes she attacked Jora when he wasn't there to be upset about it, for Jora was particularly interesting to attack. This was about the time that Jora's curse was starting to manifest.

Jora can heal particularly fast, even for an augment, and she has a pain threshold far higher than any pup should. When it came to your typical bites and slashes, Jora seemed entirely unaffected. Punctures and gnawing would just make her flinch. The only thing she didn't take in stride was when Markzi was particularly frustrated with her cool demeanor and gouged out her eye, but even then it was more of a reaction of shock and horror than it was unbearable pain. Her nanobots were especially active and defensive; they seemed to be fueled by her determination to not be left behind. But in return for the endurance she needed to make it came a price so heavy it almost seemed pointless. Her nanobots are also stubbornly set on maintaining a stasis; every increase of the heartrate, expansion of the lungs, or shift in muscle and bone brings her closer and closer to an unreasonable limit that could cause her to faint or perhaps even die. Her lack of growth spurts and growing of her guard hairs could be just as easily attributed to the Lethal White DNA as it could to the nanostasis. Its as if she was stricken with a particularly heavy asthma, a kind that even a companion dog in Starlet City would have a hard time living with. She quickly learned that panicking raises the heartrate, and elevated heartrate means dizziness and lack of breath and actual pain; so above all else, stay calm. Keep it cool. Jora knew that if freaking out wouldn't be the cause of death, being abandoned after fainting would. So she quickly adapted to taking a more passive role in the things going on around her, absorbing them in all their essence, and using her head to get through the situation. She knew her body could endure if she didn't push it too hard. Or hoped it would, rather. She had no other choice but to grow confident in her ability and keep her wits about her. 

Despite all the odds being stacked against them,  the broken family made it to Lostlorn Forest where the winter snow wouldn't stack higher than the pup's heads...except maybe Jora's. Markzi and Aurron thought it was glorious. To Jora, it spelled the death that her mom had always taunted her with. Being constantly cold, wet, and on the verge of falling into a fatal slumber was unpleasant even for a numb creature like herself. At least Aria's pace had slowed down now that they were there. Aurron had stepped up once again to be her guardian; keeping her warm during the nights and even letting her ride on his back during heavy snow. Things weren't looking well for the family, but there never was a particular moment where things were better than bad in their life, so it was nothing that was going to stop them now. 

Life with what little family Jora had all came to a crashing halt one day when Aria had spotted a lone young mare eating a small patch of grass. It was a little early to try to pull off a hunt, but it was half of what they needed to survive the last ruthless winter month.  Jora was in a bit of a daze, exhausted by the strain every day life was becoming. When Aurron brushed against her to snap her out of it, it was almost too late; the gleam in their eyes and change of stance said it all. "You can't get by on those little snacks we've been eating when you need to survive a winter storm." Aria had whispered to them.  "Its now or never; hunt and eat or die..."

And like that, they were off. They had the element of surprise on their side; the mare scrambled to get herself together before she took off. Markzi and Aria had approached from the left while Aurron held he lower right together in attempt to steer the mare into a corner. Jora, of course, held together back...but then she began to fall father and farther behind. Her chest began to tighten and her vision became blurry, but the final words rung over and over in her head. She pushed harder and harder to try to keep up; harder than she had ever pushed herself before.  The metallic tang of copper began to form on her tongue as she coughed and hacked. Finally, he legs buckled so much under her that she collapsed in the snow; not a sight or a sound of her family to be had. Jora wanted to cry. She wanted to chew her useless legs to bone for failing her and scream into the snow; but she constantly reminded herself to stay calm. Being upset was only going to make things worse.  
Things got worse anyway. As she was trotting along, following the footsteps that were quickly disappearing in the fresh snow, a loud boom resounded through the area. It was a sound she had never heard before. Any dog with a reasonable mind would have been terrified, but Jora never got the chance to develop a reasonable mind. She followed the sound and it led her to a sunken in patch of cold hard ground and the heavy smell of blood. She had found a slick patch of ice that could easily lead anyone pummeling down a rocky ledge into a ditch to discover that is exactly what had happened to her brother Aurron. Jora made her way down cautiously into the ditch where Aurron called out to her in a raspy, stuttering voice.  Once she reached him, he started panting and gasping about how the mare wasn't wild; she belonged to a human. A human with weapons.  Jora remained silent as ever; seemingly lending an ear to her brother's revelation of being so quickly abandoned by his sister and mother. But her head was fogged with confusion and exhaustion; it was much to take in for such a young pup. She didn't say a word as the crushing reality of the situation fell on Aurron and he started to whine. She nuzzled against his faintly warm body until he fell silent and together they drifted to sleep. 

Jora was the first to wake, but she couldn't quite say she was well rested. The warmth he used to provide was gone; it felt like se was resting on a rug that had been left out in the rain. What was even worse was the smell. At the same time she began to stir, she was already thinking, examining, and contemplating the situation before making her move.  No matter the many scenarios she ran through her head, it always came to the same conclusion;

With injuries like his, Aurron surely would not be able to survive this winter. 


Her nose made its way to the strongest concentration of blood; a deep puncture that seemed to continue on forever. Her ears twitched as she listened to his shallow breaths; and even though she was sure that she was supposed to be feeling something, the mantra of her mind was too overpowering; the last spoken words of her mother: "...hunt and eat, or die..."

Jora dug her teeth into the exposed flesh, eliciting a yelp of pain and terror from Aurron. In his confusion, he weakly croaked for Jora to help him. But Jora didn't stop; her ears were deaf to his pleads. If she had listened to deeply, she might start panicking, her heart would start to race, and the situation would just get worse for the both of them. She didn't want to risk getting within harming range trying to place a bite into his jugular and she probably didn't even have the strength to, so her only option was to stay calm and keep going. When he had realized the truth of the situation, his cries turned into unholy wails, but still she didn't stop. Eventually it died down to sobs and whimpers, and then it was silence. Not a breath to be felt. Not another word to be heard.


Jora sighed from exhaustion. Her legs were trembling in effort not to fall apart. For a moment it was just nothingness, and then the wheels of her mind started to churn again. She had a whole month of winter left ahead of her and barely the capability of running. She would have to make the most of what she had. She doubted anything bigger would make the precarious journey down the cliff to eat something as unpleasant as dog meat. If anything, maybe more things would slip and fall to their death for her to scavenge off of. Even though she had managed to get through this moment, she never wanted to relive this nightmare again; at that moment, Jora vowed that she would overcome her weaknesses until she wouldn't struggle to live during winter; she would reign over it.

Accepted.