Mordecai, Viper

[Viper]

“Everyone will leave. That'sss what I know, yup.”

VIPER MORDECAI

Nicknames: 'Little Snake', but only her father called her that.
Gender: Female
Age: One year
Species: African Lion
Homeland: None, until she gets adopted. Current loner/vagrant
Rank: N/A

Quick Description: Pale russety brown with lighter undersides and minty eyes. Split tongue.
Full Description: From the time she was born, it was clear that little Viper would grow into a beautiful, though frail lioness. Brushed with a pale, earthen tone of brown, the slightest hint of russet running through it, she tends to have a hard time in the sun- her dark-colored coat makes things a bit hotter for her. Her tail tuft is filled with more russet than her desaturated pelt, and were she a male, would promise a handsome mane- however, it seems this color is limited to the fluff at the end of her tail. How sad, as it is a very pretty color. Her undersides and muzzle, as well as her eye circles, are all simply a few shades lighter than her main pelt, and do not seem out of place in the least. Perhaps she was from a finer lineage than she thought, for she does not have the rougher appearance of the lowlanders. What most first notice before they hear her speak is her eyes- a deep, bright, minty green, pale in color but vibrant in their brightness and intellect. However, once she speaks, many wonder at what may be afflicting her; in truth, it is a split tongue, lisping her 's's and causing her to speak as one might imagine a snake would. One last notable thing- she is undersized and very frail-looking, as she was born prematurely.

Personality: Though she was originally quite the innocent creature, the beginnings of her life morphed her firstly into a very meek creature around males. Males scare her, to a point of near-silence and constant staring at the ground. She can be extremely flinch-y, and extremely jumping around males. However, with females, she becomes extremely clingy extremely fast. She has, in her past, almost always relied on females for protection and love- there was only one exception to this rule in her life, and he abandoned her, as far as she knows, so she is back to fearing males. There's no telling if this will ever change. Despite all of this, she is a very sweet, very respectful girl, and extremely intelligent. Curiosity can be her downfall, as she always finds herself getting lost while exploring. She also has some major trust issues with anyone and everyone. If times are desperate, she will put belief in someone, but fully expect them to let her down. She is also very self-depreciating, hating her lisp and hating how tiny and frail she is. She wants to learn to be a fighter, but her size and fears will most certainly put a huge barrier in the way of this. Around other cubs, she is also distrustful, and not quite as playful as one might expect of a girl her age. Though she can muster up courage in some situations, more often than not, when fighting with other lions, she will taken the beating and do nothing in retaliation.
Goals: She wants to one day find the courage to look a male in the eye, to stand up straight and be proud of who she is. Except...that will be extremely difficult, as she absolutely hates herself at the worst of times and still puts herself down in the best of times.

History: Viper cannot tell you where she was born. Her parents, her birth parents, were wanderers, exiled from their pride for some reason or another- reasons they would never speak of to her. They were cruel and vicious, and she could only think that perhaps they were not meant to be together, for in the most vicious of their tempers, they would berate her. They would tell her that she was the whole reason they had no pride. At times, her father would hit her, jerk her about roughly by her scruff- but nothing more than that, nothing more until a night when his rage truly overtook him. She was only six months old when he forced her jaws open and sliced his claw down her tender tongue, splitting it in half and forever impairing her speech. Not long after that, he and her mother began fighting on a daily basis. Though she often allowed the abuse in silence, merely comforting her child when all was said and done, this, she said, was too much.

Her mother would die at the hands of her father, and he would abandon the frail cub where she lay that night, torn by his own actions and wishing to never see the 'cause' of it all again. For the first time, Viper- who had never been blessed with a name, as her parents had never bestowed one on her, or even told her her gender- would begin wandering. It was not long after this that she stumbled across a small group of lions, with one they called a king, though they were no true pride. Their 'king', Nahuar, would find the cub, emaciated and starving, and he and his mate would take her in. Bestowing the name Viper on her for the lisp she always held when she spoke, he treated her amazingly- she was his little angel, and slowly, he was making her believe that perhaps she could be loved, and she could have a loving family.

She befriended another young female cub merely two months after that- from another small group who ran under a king, yet this group also was not large enough to be considered a pride. Both of them 'princesses', little Viper and her newfound best friend, Leaf, would become close very quickly, which was strange for Viper. She was unused to having fun as other cubs did, but with Leaf, she cold. Unfortunately for the two, their fathers hated each other.

Viper's adoptive father led his group in an attack against Leaf's father, fully convinced that he was using his daughter to try and take Viper away. The ensuing battle was chaos, and Viper was left in their den, far from the battle scene. It was there she would stay, worried, waiting, for quite some time- munching on whatever spare meat there was, as her father had left her some, starting to grow sad and fearful as it finally ran out. At this point, Viper was eleven months old- right on the cusp of turning a year.

A week later, her birthday arrived, though the cub knew nothing of it. She did not know much at all. Nahuar had taught her to hunt small animals, and so she did, surviving as best as she could as she ventured out in a determined hunt for her adoptive mother and father. She could not find them- and this is where we now pick up her story. Although extremely weak, the cub is surviving- though there is no telling how long she will be able to keep things up, due to the lack of even small animals she can find as she wanders. Yet Viper has a spirit in her, though it is mainly broken- her spirit will not let her give up.

Author Alias: Quinn
RP Experience: Ten years ^_^
How You Found Us: Random searching >.>
RP Sample: "Ssslither, ssslither, little ssnake...."

Weak vocals kept up the little lullaby Nahuar had always sang to her. Why Viper clung to it, she was unsure- after all, just like her real father, he had abandoned her. Everyone abandoned her. Even Leaf was nowhere to be found- Leaf, who'd promised to stay by her through everything. Why, she remembered the time that the two had gotten lost, and oh their fathers had been furious. But for that week they survived alone, and promised that even though their fathers hated each other, they would stay best friends forever.

Now, yet again, Viper was alone. The sad part, she thought to herself- well, it was that she'd never felt so alone before in her entire life. It hurt. Tiny paws dragged through the dust, partly from weakness and partly from sadness; the girl was depressed, and feeling completely helpless. Pale mint eyes would stay trained on the ground, though she should really be looking for a rat or something of the sort. She hadn't eaten in almost a week now. "Nobody even caresss," she murmured to herself, letting out a scoffing noise, berating herself for caring. Why should she care when nobody else did?

In fact, she wondered if she really cared, or if it was that thing that Dad- Nahuar had taught her about. Survival, wasn't it? The thing that made you want to live, no matter how you felt. She paused in her steps, everything beginning to overwhelm her. The silence of the savannah around her, the heat, the weariness of her tiny frame- everything. She simply let herself fall, collapsing in a heat and causing dust to rise around her form. "Daddy left. Leaf left. Mommy left. Why'd they all leave me?"

[Samaki]

Accepted, welcome to DNE! ^ ^