Description
Ivory Hekat
Age: 19
Talents: Expert archer. Animals are drawn to her (save the mutant monsters created by the witch). Very familiar with the art of poison. Doesn't read minds...
Ivory is thin and lithe. She's fairly slim due to lack of food and a vigorous lifestyle. She's silent and graceful - a natural hunter. Her usual garb is made up of forest green and black materials. Often skin tight trousers and tunic in one of the two colors. She prefers the tight clothing because loose material can often get caught up in the branches and underbrush of the forrest. Her shoes are shoddily-made moccasins, sewn together from animal hides (mostly rabbit). In winter months, Ivory can be seen with the skin of a large white wolf draped over her head and shoulders. Physically, Ivory has a wiry layer of muscle built up from her archery. Her shoulders and arms are especially toned from the repeated motion of drawing back the bowstring. Ivory is about 5'9, standing very tall in comparison to most women. This proves to be quite a benefit, for she can use a taller bow and shoot longer distances. Her hair is silver and black. Her hair used to be a dark and glossy black, but a couple years back her hair started growing out as silver. Currently, only a fringe at the bottom of her locks is the original ebony. The same color phenomena occurred with Ivory's eyes. She used to have coal black irises... But they too became a glinting silver. As for the scarf... Ivory will almost never be seen without it. She ties it around the bottom of her face.
Bow and Quiver:
The bow is made of yew. The arrows have blackbird feathers... It's her trademark. The bow is slung over her shoulder in a diagonal fashion across her body when traveling. The quiver is always strapped to her back where she can quickly snatch an arrow and nock it.
Personality
Ivory is a silent... She was always a quiet child. She most often played a protector, watching over her younger siblings. She was spartan in her words, speaking only in short sentences. However, when around her father, she spoke more often. She was nearly a carbon copy of her dad. Same body structure and they shared the same recessive gene that changed the color of the melanin in their hair and eyes. Ivory also felt very at home in her native woods. Although she would kill animals for food, she still loved them. In fact, she made a companion in a snowy white fox. Nature was Ivory's retreat. She'd sit for hours up in a particular birch tree, listening in content to the melodic birdsong. Ivory is also strangely serious. She hods a very business-like quality about her. She tried very hard to not be treated like a child.
Throughout her childhood, Ivory never experienced light-hearted fun. She charged herself with being responsible. Thus, she never really learned how to loosen up.
Currently, Ivory never speaks at all, save sparse words to Pan (the snow fox). She's hard with her experiences, searching forever for vengeance. That's her only aim in life. Destroy the witch... There's a cold and scarily methodic way Ivory goes about killing people. It's just a logical series of events... An arrow craftily shot through the throat... The slight twitch of a hand and poison falls into a cup... A heart stops, the lungs spasm... Death is too easy to accomplish.
It's been years since Ivory has experienced true fondness or love... And she's not looking for it.
Pan: He's an albino fox, not an arctic one. Out of all the animals that are attracted to Ivory, he loved her the most. After a couple of days trailing her, Ivory discovered Pan. She named him Pan due to the noises he made. It wasn't unlike the myth of "Pan" who used to chase maidens through the forest. He's Ivory's constant companion.
Equipment
Bow and Arrow (See above)
Knapsack containing various poisons, medical supplies, hunting knives, and other useful items Ivory manages to pick up.
Items of Clothing:
(Mentioned above) Moccasins, tunic and leggings (in green and black), scarf, wolf hide for winter...
Reddish-brown cloak w/ hood.
...Cupcake! I almost forgot.
History
Ivory was born to Amelia and Orion Hekat. She is the eldest of four siblings. Amelia died in the childbirth of the youngest Hekat, Kara. Kara herself barely survived, and was a sickly child. Although, Kara was beautiful. She had brilliant red hair that slowly darkened over the years to the glowing color of polished garnet. Kara was very small for her age and was a dainty girl. She was the apple of everyone's eye. Ivory loved her little sister, and forever stuck by her side. It was Kara that bought Ivory her scarf. She felt that Ivory deserved something nice, a change of pace from their homemade clothes. Needless to say, Kara was the sweetest child to ever grace the planet.
But she had the habit of wandering off.
Everything took a turn for the worst on a bitter day in January. Food was scarce, and the animals were disappearing. Trees were dying, becoming grey and dry... Like physical shadows of what they once were. Ivory was inside the Hekat's small home, tending to the fire. Her siblings were sitting on the cold, hard-packed dirt floor, playing. Ivory smiled at their antics. Until she noticed that Kara was not among them.
"Kara?" Ivory called. She was expecting the little girl to come running in from the one other room in the small house. But there was no reply.
"Kara?!" Ivory stood up in alarm from her crouching position. She ran into the other room, looking into the dark cavernous space. The multiple animal hides that they all used as sleeping bags were empty. Kara was nowhere to be seen. Instantly, Ivory was running out the door, leaving her three other siblings to themselves.
"PAPA!" She screamed. Orion Hekat bolted to his daughter, dropping his axe and abandoning the firewood he had chopped.
"Ivory! What's happened?!" Fear was alive in his silver eyes. Never before had he seen Ivory so afraid.
"Kara- SHE'S GONE!" Orion's heart nearly stopped beating. Yes, Kara often wandered off during the day. But she was always back before dark...
"Oh God." Orion spun and ran into the woods.
"KARA! KARA?!" He called desperately, eyes wild. For half an hour, Orion and Ivory sprinted through the heavy snow calling Kara's name. Suddenly, they found her. A choked sob broke from Ivory's throat. Hanging from the gnarled limbs of a black tree was Kara's body. Tree branches were wound around her corpse, tell-tale thorns sticking into the paper-white skin. The tree had gotten her... Vampiric branches had no doubt snatched Kara up from the ground.
"No... NO! NO!!!" Ivory screamed, tears streaming down her face. Ivory clutched at her scarf, holding onto it with an iron grip. Kara was gone... Ivory looked up in horror at the little girl's body. Her pretty red hair was caught in the branches of the deadly tree. Kara's eyes were open, dull brown eyes staring out at the two on the ground. Ivory couldn't take it. She whipped out her bow and shot the tree angrily. She knew it would do no good... But she felt that she had to do something.
"Ivory! Please, stop. Quiet!" Orion whispered urgently. Silent tears were falling down his cheeks, but he kept himself together. The same could not be said for Ivory.
"IT'S THE DAMN WITCH! KARA IS DEAD, PAPA! BECAUSE OF HER!" Ivory cried in anguish. Orion hugged Ivory close and pulled her behind a large dead oak, clamping a gloved hand over her mouth.
"Shhh! It will hear you," Orion whispered. Ivory bit back her sobs, confusion taking over. But then she saw it. Sitting in the branches... It was one of the Stymphalian birds. The monstrous thing had metallic feathers with blade-like edges. Ivory had only heard rumors of the beasts, and how they could skewer a man in a second. Her eyes travelled from the sharp beak to the long talons. The bird was about seven feet tall... Ivory bit her lip harshly to keep back a yell of fear, blood flowing into her mouth. The bird's head was cocked to the side, listening. It had heard her from before.
"It's only a matter of time... I love you honey, never forget that." Suddenly, Orion burst from where they were hiding with a battle cry. All he had to defend himself was a small hunting knife. The bird squawked terribly and descended on Orion, deadly wings spread. Ivory ran. She heard the gruesome screams of her father and the ravenous monster. She cried as she ran, trying to get far away from the horrid noises. She ran to their home.
But only found more disaster. No smoke was coming from the chimney. But why? Corin should have been tending the fire - he was the second eldest after all. Then she saw the streaks of blood on the snow, the drag marks, and wolf footprints. As Ivory entered the small home, she sobbed harder. The torn body of Corin laid on the floor, intestines ripped out. Wolves. Lila and Dak were gone. Ivory knew that the mutant dogs had dragged them away. Ivory fell to her knees next to her dead brother. She ran a hand through his soft brown hair, her tears falling on his cold face.
The witch... This was all her fault. It was she who let loose awful birds and mutant packs of giant wolves... It was she who scattered the seeds of the blood-devouring trees... Ivory stopped her crying. Her family was murdered, no, slaughtered by the witch and her minions. Ivory stood and quickly gathered her things. She shouldered her knapsack and pulled on her cloak. Last of all, she tied her scarf around her face. She breathed in the faint smell of Kara... A breath of violets in the barren winter air.
Ivory crouched and closed Corin's eyes. It was time for her to go. As Ivory stood in the doorway, she vowed. Vowed that she'd kill the witch. She would watch as the life drained from the damned's body as her arrow lodged itself in the evil throat.
"Pan!" Ivory called softly, before walking into the woods. Her footsteps were silent, even her breath was muffled by the soft snow. Flakes had started to fall. A snow white fox joined her in minutes. He smelled the blood on her and bristled. He let out a low howl of pain. Crows cawed and flew from their perches, black feathers floating down toward Ivory. She caught one and held it. A song suddenly flowed into her mind, a memory from her mother. Softly, Ivory sang.
"Move your body when the sunlight dies.
Everybody hide your body from the scarecrow.
Everybody hide.
Make a wish when your childhood dies.
Hear the knock, knock, knock when she cries.
We're all alone tonight.
Hold your breath when a black bird flies.
Count to seventeen and close your eyes.
I'll keep you safe inside."
After that incident, Ivory wandered around trying to find followers of the witch. She was looking for a way to get close to the damned woman and off her for good. But she had no luck. Over the three years that passed since the deaths of her family members, Ivory learned the art of poison. From living in the forrest, Ivory was already familiar with the poisonous plants. Through reading up on botany, Ivory taught herself how to concoct poisons. Bearing her deadly skills, Ivory stalked around forests and small villages. Dead-set on vengeance, Ivory will never stop until she or the witch is lying dead on the ground.
