Steal. Take it for yourself. Do whatever it takes to survive. No one suspects a little boy tugging on your coat because he can't find his parents. His parents raised him but he was all alone. "If you get caught, you get yourself out." "You're old enough now, get yourself dinner." "We're not going to here forever, you have to fend for yourself." Alone but never vulnerable, independent and never invested. Like a puppy left in a box out on the street, he grew into a feral mutt disguised with the coat of a pretty breed. Ever heard the saying, "never bite the hand that feeds you?" He would rip it off.

No pity. Kindness is weakness. Those who look out for other people will only get burned in the end. Everytime he's taken his defenses down, anytime she's been nice, he gets hurt. In the end, can you really be anything without kindness in life? And truly, it is that lack of kindness has made him into a thief and a rat. He learned better. Just because he's a sneak doesn't mean he can't hold his own, he's had to since he was born. He's patient and observant, silent and deadly, but when that's just not enough, his fists have bruised enough faces to weasel himself out of most situations. Especially when he found his Friend. His trusty misericorde, a prize of his thievery, are all that he really has.

Deep down, he wants to find a reason to fight. More than just survival, he's been surviving for a long time. Surviving for that long creates a special kind of person. He's cunning, devious, and analytical; he wants to know everything about a situation before going into it. He blends into that situation, and comes out of it with many prizes and more than anyone expects from a kid. He's a lot more manipulative than anyone believes. Meeting the Dawn Brigade though, meeting a reason to fight, gave him hope. Hope he's never had before; and hope that sent him searching desperately for that feeling of hope once more. They weren't going to accept a kid, so he fought harder, and found himself with those he thought were just like the Dawn Brigade. He gave his hope to them, and just like before, he was knocked back down again.

The Dawn Brigade brings out strange, new feelings that he's not sure how to respond to. He's not used to vulnerability like this, not knowing everything about the situation. But as along as he has hope, he'll find them again.

Demeter, "harvest". Harvest is bountiful and plenty, full of golden prizes. Demetri is "from the Earth", made of circling rivers and rich brown trees and sunsets that have to be watched until the sun finally dips under the horizon. Demetri always watched the sunsets when he was little, riding around the countryside. "All this could be yours if you just take it, my little sunset!" His mother would promise, just as she promised him happiness and love and "everything in gold", which was her favorite saying. That was the first time he felt hope. And it was by his very mother's hands that crushed that hope, and every dream he ever had.

They were thieves, before they were parents. A little boy could pull at a person's hand and a man brushing past her the other way could steal her purse within seconds. As a little boy turned into a young punk, Demetri was no longer the distraction they needed, but a burden.

So they left him out of the streets and told him to fend for himself. He was welcome at his home, of course, but if he wants anything, he has to take it for himself. "All this could be yours!" rang in his head every time his hands took what he wanted. He had to learn, and learning took a lot of time and a lot of escaping from the claws of angry shop owners and wealthy patrons. But once he learned, he was good. He terrorized small villages, small homes in the countryside, anywhere he could easily get in and out. He learned to plan and he became better than anyone would expect from a kid. He was better than his parents combined, and no longer needed them. So he went out on his own and took all that could be his. A scrappy kid with fast hands, he could be whatever he wanted to be and no one could stop him.

What did he want to be? More than a common thief, more than a survivor. He wanted to be... something. That something came in a Faeyeran soldier camp.

There were about ten soldiers, which in hindsight, was more than he could handle alone. But it was sunset, and he was feeling confident and planned. "Just take it, my little sunet!" Demetri Vilan could do whatever he wanted. He'd successfully snuck into two soldier tents when a soldier caught him by the throat. The soldier asked the other men what they should do with "the Reskaean rat". Some said they should keep him, or sell him as a slave. The one who caught him just wanted to kill him. Then he met the Dawn Brigade.

They saved his life from the Faeyeran soldiers, and told him to remember their name, the "Dawn Brigade". They would save Reskaea for all its citizens. And at that moment, that was all he wanted. So he searched for a group like them, a group based on hope. He found a group to belong, but they crushed his hope. There is no harvest, no bounty. Just Demetri, the lonely rogue.

It's all about the offense. Strike them before they strike you; at least that's how it started. The battles he started in where fights in a tavern or an angry shop owner who caught him stealing. He was never strong, or very good at keeping himself unharmed, but he had his speed. His feet moved as quick as his hands, and usually saved him from actually engaging in violence. When he did, he just didn't have any strength behind his moves. So when he found blades, he changed his fighting style.

His skill lies within stealth. Working as a spy taught him to blend into his surroundings and only attack when absolutely neccessary. In battle, he is the analyst. He has to understand how every level of the situation to understand how to win. Battles are about winning to him. He watches over other members when he is in a team, but enters most battles along. That's why he had to learn to use a weapon. He has different reasons to use each of his blades. With the misericorde, his "armorslayer", it is the ender of battles, only used by Demetri when he is against an opponent far outweighing him in strength and skill. Usually, he sticks to his iron dagger, a larger, thicker blade meant for close-range combat. When battling long-range targets, he uses his cloak to disappear into his surroundings and throw his knives from a viable distance. Though he lacks in strength, he can deceive and trick his larger, stronger opponents.