Kalani ♕ RAT

[».kalani☀]

Name:
Kalani
Nicknames/Aliases:
Kali; Lani
Gender:
Female
Age:
Eighteen
Species:
Rat
Occupation:
Deserter; Healer;
Tattoo-ist

Physical Appearance:

[GENERAL].&&
Obsidian lenses, nonchalant in their view of the word, blink softly underneath a long veil of eyelashes; so very sweet, but ruined by the fixation that perpetually marks her eyes. It takes but a glance into her gaze to know that she is so selfishly fixated on this thought of hers, that her attention can, surely, not be fully attained. Accentuating the darkness of her stare, a powered mixture of crushed beetle and some other remnants has been brushed gently over her eyelids, staining the thin bits skin a medium shade of lilac; the powder is applied lightly, mimicking the shape of her eyes - bigger than most, and round, rather than slanted.

The poise in which the rat carries herself, dignified and even haughty to an extent, forces the maid to draw herself up to the highest point she can reach - roughly the height of the average female mouse. In a horde of jostling bodies, sinuous vermin limbs bursting with energy, she is absolutely tiny, and had she not been considered the exclusive property of the horde's highest-ranking Captain, she probably would have been trampled to death seasons ago. The fragility of her build, so petite and breakable, prevented her from ever serving her Warlord in battle, and as such she was shunned to the ordinary, tedious life of a female, learning the womanly arts of healing and weaving, rather than that of war and battle. She refused to acknowledge that she would just end up being slaughtered; to her, the slender curve of her waist and the slimness of her arms in no way detract from any skill she might have possessed.

Handsome black threads are stitched over her hide, lying flat and sleek over her silhouette; when her temper runs away with her, her fur often bristles, giving her a 'fluffy', dibbun-like appearance that completely diminishes the threat of her words. Her ears, round and positioned evenly at her crest, are a smokey grey, darker on the outside, but a lightening gradient from the rim to her eardrums. Her tail is coloured in a similar fashion, its length tapering into a fine point. Down her front, light grey is spilt down her throat and stomach, but vanishes beneath the folds of her dress, proving to be an effective camouflage in waning lights.

Due to her size, and the prettiness in her features, it can prove challanging to distinguish Kalani as a rat which, once-upon-a-time, made her a candidate for espionage. However, there is something in her expression, undetectable by most, a glimmer in her eyes that gives away her savage heritage. Once another creature catches the inbred brutality, they finally realise that she is a rat - and no matter if she has made up her mind to abandon violent ways or not, she will always, without a doubt, have that capacity for cruelty.

[ATTIRE].&&
Coming from a vermin horde, Kalani grew up wearing rags - old, worn, and often stained with old blood. Other young vermin lads often tried to impress her by gifts, but they were as poor as her own family, and couldn't give her more than broken beads from necklaces or the tattered remains of a skirt from a slain creature. It wasn't until she had secured the affections of a Captain was she given clothing that was in any way decent. A pretty hue, laying between lilac and pale blue, the dress tumbles down to her mid-calfs, with thick straps that, at the time, were new, but now are ripped and nearly severed. Around her neck, a warm, woollen scarf is wrapped, regardless of the weather or season. A deep blue, and much too long for her, the ends flutter about her knees; the scarf belonged to a creature whom she regarded as her one and only love. The only thing she has to protect herself from any onsalughts of rain or wind, is the simple hooded cloak she wove herself.

Possessions:

There are very few material possessions that Kalani can call her own. But there is no doubt that her most treasured item would be her scarf; she cannot bear to be parted with it, and is even prepared to risk her life for it. When removed from her grasp, she will quite often burst into tears, usually melting the heart of the thief and henceforth seeing its return. Other than that, and the clothes on her back, she has a small pouch that is placed inside a cloak pocket. Within this pouch, medicinal herbs, along with her eye powder, are contained, as well as three different-sized needles; these are for the express purpose of tattooing, an art that her mother taught her. After the desertion of her horde, tattooing local vermin (and at times woodlanders) has become her way of earning a crust, as her healing skills are too limited to make a profession of.

Personality:

It is difficult to confine a living, breathing thing to some form of stereotype, and alas it would be nearly impossible to hem Kalani's actions and emotions into a category. A young maid constantly swaying between virtues and darker desires, her behaviour is far too erratic to class into an single alignment. Good, bad, neutral - these words have no meaning to the rat, who has hidden her shame away, from the prying, judgmental eyes of others. A constant battle between a conscious that, by the day, becomes more emphatic, struggling against the savagery of her blood, a suppressed pleasure of pain. Due to this constant swirl of wicked ideas against a repentful heart, Kalani is often confused as to what she should be, or even who she is?

One thing that is to be said about her, is that she can be remarkably impudent when others displease her; if she is upset, all the courtesy that she manages to portray falls away to reveal the most childish, nasty side of her. Spoilt and ill-mannered when disgruntled, her first reaction is to sharply push away others if they are trying to make her feel better - too caught up in her bad mood, her spitfire nature strips her of her normally gentle facade. This is but one trait her vermin roots have instilled within her. But, if a creature can stand before her and take the brunt of her abuse with a smile, nothing but an overwhelming love towards them is felt. Afterwards, all she can do is admire their patience with her, and plod along after them, wanting to somehow make it up to them.

Each new day that the ratmaid experiences, somewhere deep inside of her gains some understanding and empathy for others; but not physically. No, when in comes to physical pain she delights in it, but her conscious seems over-tuned when it comes to being sensitive to another's emotional pain. Now, Kalani doesn't like being empathetic to the extent that she is, so when a story of loss is to be told, or tears are rolling down cheerless features, she will - very coldly - remove herself from the situation. She is just as self-centered as her vermin peers, and feels no shame when she has show such an ugly trait; to her, it is only her survival that matters in this world.

The quaint thing about the youth, is that she never really lies - she never really has to. Generally her words are direct, usually to a hurtful and tactless degree, but when Kalani does not want to tell something she will lock her lips tight and you won't hear a word out of the pigheaded rat. She also seems to be fond of, at times, to abandon her blunt way to speak in vague and undefinable terms, particularly when someone wants information on something; why should she give up her knowledge to another? Unless confronted with an ultimatum, Kalani is content to keep her information.

The maid herself lacks very little initiative; when starting on some kind of goal, it is taking that first step into the project. If upon that first step she finds a desire to continue, she will leap forward with unrivalled perserverance, a thirst to continuously do better driving forward industriously. But if that first step arouses no such desire, then she will not budge another step, and will become frustrated with the task at hand and carelessly discard. Her approach to creatures is startlingly similar.

Like most vermin, Kalani finds a strange and exciting pleasure in the pain of others, and this is truly the ugliest side to the rat. Her heart beats wildly, thrumming against her ribcage if she hears a moan of agony, invoking a smile and delight that has become an addiction; her laughter is so sweet, and so cruel, when she laughs at blood. Such sadistic desires are all part of being a vermin, and it is in this aspect that the rat reflects her heritage the most. In fact, the only reason the maid took up the art of tattooing, was that she could cause an ordeal of physical pain, without being striked; by herself, Kalani is nowhere big or strong enough to pick any fighters with even the most peaceful of woodlanders. To her, there is no satisfaction achieved in the skillful pictures she prints of flesh.

If you were to sum Kalani up, in all generalness, you would not call her brave; weak and unable to defend herself, she has only made is thusfar by others favouring her because of her beauty. On top of this, she has an intense fear of water, caused by her witnessing her father's drowning; she didn't love him, so it was not great loss in that aspect, however watching him gasp for air before being dragged under and suffocating - for Kalani, asphyxiation is the worst way of dying. Now, whenever she is around water, she is paralysed, and if pushed in would surely drown. The ratmaid does tend to be a coward, but she has he brief moments of courage - if she actually loves something or someone, then she will actually defend it with her life. A surprising virtue for one so selfish.

The one thing about Kalani that attracts companionships and friends to the young rat is that she is witty; flexible, her sharp tongue can be satirical, or find humour in a better-natured way. Her ability to make others laugh, backed up with a bold 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' approach leads to feelings of admiration as the maid never ceases to be herself or show any shame. Generally happy and enthusastic for the most part, she is a cheerful and optimistic creature, but if you were ever to rub her the wrong way, then you would be on the receiving end of a quick, biting wit.

Strengths:

• Is a fairly competent healer [she knows the basics of healing, and although her knowledge in more advanced areas of medicine is lacking, her skill with applying medical aid is excellent].
• Tattooing [she is a wonderful tattoo artist, and has yet to meet her peer].
• Singing [in no way does she have a gorgeous voice; it is merely 'pretty', and easy to surpass vocally, but the sheer catchiness of her voice is what makes it so pleasant and infectious].
• Pretty [her beauty gained her status at one point].
• Witty [her charm is her humour, which can usually warp to suit the general sense of most creatures; it makes her verbally strong].
• Competent weaver [taught since she was little, and has wove many tunics and shirts for her old vermin horde].

Weaknesses:

• Reading [she knows very few creatures that can read or write, and she has never been taught; regardless, she would have lost patience with it].
• Water [she cannot swim, and instantly freezes in it].
• No direction [travelling alone, the rat has no idea of any kind of direction, and is just absolutely hopeless when it comes to it].
• Sadistic [she will never be accepted into the society of good creatures because of her sadistic tendencies, and her past doesn't help].
• Deserter [cannot be trusted or let back into any other vermin horde, army or organisation, for she could leave again].
• Defenceless [can't weild any type of weapon].
• Ignorant [has a black-and-white understanding].
• Sleep-walker .

History/Background:

Kalani's great-great-grandmother was a very beautiful creature; praised for her beauty among the horde, who's Warlord at the time was a rat, she was taken to be his wife and possessed all the luxuries the army had to offer. There was great disappointment within the horde, however, when she bore children both plain and weak; two daughters, and three sons. As they grew older, and the Warlord's reign was drawing to a close, a weasel challanged the lord to leadership; he was killed, and his two sons, heir to the Warlord, were subsequently killed as well. The weasel, however, did support the lord's widdow, although to a lesser entent than what she was used to. One of her daughters died of an illness, but the other became the mate of a low-ranking officer within the horde, and gave birth to two sons.

The youngest of the two was Kalani's grandfather; despite being the son of an officer, he himself displayed nothing than utter averageness, and became a disappointment to his parents, and was thusforth disowned. He was an ordinary soldier, yet he survived through many battles from sheer dumb luck, taking an ordinary rat as his wife for he couldn't hope for anything better. He had a single daughter whom he called Dogrose, and she was taught the feminine arts and did not enter battle; she was then wed, and in Springtime became the mother of Kalani. But by the time she was born, all the influence that their family had possessed generations ago had been stripped down with each new failure, until they were but the lowliest of vermin families. Dogrose still held fast to the idea that, somehow, she would regain her line's influence, and was absolutely delighted when she saw that her daughter was beautiful.

From the day she was born, Dogrose had planned to use her daughter to gain benefits for herself - no matter how long it took. Her father, Hookear, was in agreement, and they raised Kalani with the sole purpose of she marrying the Warlord or one of his highest officials; they didn't particularly love her, for she was a tool to them. However, it was proving difficult to get anyone of rank to notice them, for officers did not want to have anything to do with such a poor family. However, Dogrose got lucky when Kalani as a tiny babe wandered off and bumped into a group of vermin babes whom were the offspring to officers; although their parents disapproved with them playing with her, as she was so low in rank, they continued to play with her and grew up as their friend.

When she was seven, the horde split up to travel - one on the sea, close to shore, and one across land. Her family was marched onto a boat, to attack and ransack a large seaotter holt, and her father was among those sent to kill the otters. They were tough warriors however, and although the horde succeeded in their massacre, her father was drowned; she could see him go under from the boat, and how no one helped him. She felt no sadness at his death, but ever since witnessing the mighty force of water and how it suffocated, she has been afraid of it ever since.

So Kalani became the only daughter to Dogrose and Hookear, and, widowed, Dogrose poured all of her time and effort into making sure Kalani could marry someone of importance. She taught her the arts of healing, weaving and tattooing, and the maid would practice the latter using the bodies of those the horde had slain - a gruesome way to teach, but Kalani seemed to enjoy it, and excelled. When she was seventeen, her mother's wishes finally came true as Tafari, a rat who acted as the second-in-command to the whole horde, discovered the maid's existence; he made it clear to all others that she was his property, and any male to be seen with her slaughtered-on-sight. From then, he pursued her, treating her to gifts and any wealth that he could offers; her mother benefitted grandly from this, and was so very pleased with Kalani.

And although Tafari was wealthy and strong, and his affections for her assured that she was garbed in the best he had to offer, ate good meals and was assured of protection... she did not love him. And she knew she never would. Still, it seemed to be the best life she could have - that was, until one day she took a trip down to the river. She was gathering herbs gingerly by the water's edge when she tumbled; she froze instantly, and was about to run out of breath when a strong paw seized her and pulled her ashore. Shivering and distressed, she looked upon her saviour - a tall, handsome young mouse; she was instantly smitten. Her unwrapped his long blue scarf from about his neck and wound it around hers, chuckling that she was a "clumsy little mousemaid". Head-over-heels, she instinctively complied with a "yes", not telling him that she was in fact a rat.

He sat down by her on the sand riverbank, and talked to her as she dried off; his name was Lain, and he was a warrior and wanderer. She listened to his every word, subtly batting her eyelashes, hoping that he would find her pretty; he seemed strangely uneffected, but several times she thought she saw a blush tinging his cheeks. Not wanting to go, she asked to see him again, and he seemed in happy agreeal; they would meet again, tomorrow morning. This meetings, in secret, continued for months, with the ratmaid having to event all sorts of excuses. She eventually told Lain that she was a rat, and he seemed shocked and angry, and did not show up at the river for several days, and the rat waited hours each day for him to show up - thankfully he did come back after about four days. Eventually, Tafari became suspicious as to where Kalani was going - he was planning to ask her to marry him soon, but until that day that he was certain of the maid's feelings, he wanted to keep her away from all males.

Kalani visited Lain, and the mouse himself seemed to have similar desires to Tafari - he was ready to ask Kalani to be his wife. He kneeled on one knee, but before he could ask Kalani, Tafari ambushed them and charged Lain, slaying him in front Kalani whilst he was still kneeling. Tears burst from Kalani, and Tafari pulled her into a tight hug, ignoring her feeble attempts to hit him; she managed to grab Lain's scarf from his body as Tafari escorted her back to camp. Upon hearing what had happened, Dogrose was outraged at Kalani for jeopardising her wealth, and grovelled at Tafari's footpaws, pleading for her daughter to be forgived. Tafari overlooked the incident, for he loved Kalani. For the next week, he kept her constantly by his side, trying to make her smile, laugh, be impressed - make her realise that he was far better than that stupid mouse, and that she was lucky.

Finally, he asked her to marry him, but all Kalani could think about, forevermore, was Lain; hatred burned within her at Tafari, for what he had done. Dogrose screeched with joy, screaming out dozens of yes's on behalf of her daughter, which was enough for Tafari; against her will, Kalani had become his fiancee. That night, she wrapped Lain's scarf around her neck, gathered up her cloak and medicinal pouch, and attempted to flee into the night; Dogrose had suspected that the maid might try to do something like this and barred her path at the fringes of the wood, a small distance away from camp. But Kalani was determined to leave; using the club that she had stolen from a soldier, she swung at her mother, wanting to just ward her off. Unintentionally the club actually found the target, cracking soundly against her mother's skull. Dogrose crumpled on the spot - slain. Abandoning the weapon, Kalani fled into the night, and into a strange world.

Relationships:

• Hookear [ deceased father]
  
• Dogrose [deceased mother]
  
• Tafari [ex-fiancee]
  
• Lain [deceased love]

Other

CHOCOLATE! :D

[Blackbeak Silvertalon]

Doing pretty good so far, Kalani.

[».kalani☀]

Thank you very much Blackbeak! ♥

Finally, I'm all done!

[/blockquote]

[Ashstripe]

Well that looks to be well over a thousand words - I mean a well written profile.


Seriously though. Unreal...Probably one of the best profiles I've read in a while.

Approved! Welcome to Redwall!