TPT || Sunder

Update 12/9/15:: Finally redid her app art--and included a full markings guide in her physical description section~
Update 11/25/15:: Massively revamped Sunder's history, and adjusted inventory and soul class due to results of Trial 1!
Update 10/8/15:: omg I'm in!! ;o; I can't believe it ahhh my babe lives <3333
Update 10/5/15:: Just some aesthetic adjustments to make the sections easier to read!

((Oh man here we go!! Really REALLY hoping to get into this group. ;o; ))

________

&& Basics

*Name: Sunder

    Pronunciation: SUN·der

    Name Meaning: to tear; to split apart; to separate by force

    Nickname(s): Sun, Sunny, Sunny-D

*Age: 3 years

*Gender: Female

    Gender Identity: Female (she/her)

*Soul Class: Blue

    Soul Color: Unknown

    Soul Level: lvl. 4 

*Inventory: Bag o' Wind: "Giant, but light as a feather. This seems like it could come in handy quite soon." Used in Trial 1

&& Physical

            For full markings, refer to this file: sta.sh/01ixpg3ls4m
            Breed: 1/2 American Shorthair, 1/4 Burmese, 1/4 Somali

    Body type/build: Semi-cobby. Due to her Burmese heritage, Sunder is rather stocky and broad, especially for a female. She is larger than most cats in general and has broad shoulders, thick legs, large paws, and a hefty body. She is not overweight—she’s just plain big. Her head is slightly large and blocky, with average sized ears. Her tail is slightly long. She stands about 17 inches at the head. 

    Fur length/texture: Mostly her fur length is in the shorthair range, though she does have fur that is somewhat thicker than most—especially on her ruff and cheeks. The exception is her tail—she has the tail of a Somali, meaning the fur is quite long and silky.

    Color: Sunder is mostly a dusky white, but her back, haunches, shoulders, tail, and face are blotched with an almost calico mix of blue-gray and orange. The markings are asymmetrical. Within the patches of blue-gray and orange, there is a darker striping pattern that almost resembles a brindle or tabby stripe, but which doesn’t extend into her white fur. The insides of her ears are light pink in color, as are her paw pads.

    Accessories: None

    Scars/disabilities: As a kit, an attack from a coyote left her left shoulder severely wounded. Over time the scar became less visible, covered by her fur, but she still walks with a limp as a result of the injury. While the limp is still noticeable, it does not slow her down in battle. 

&& Personality

    [ + ] Charismatic. Sunder is a natural-born leader. She has presence and poise, and has a way with others that attracts them to her. She inspires loyalty and trust in those around her. Others naturally seem to gravitate to her, and she oftentimes becomes the de facto leader of any group she is a part of.

    [ + ] Intelligent: She is incredibly smart. She is normally quite calculated in her decision making, although sometimes impulsiveness gets the better of her. She is very thoughtful, with a keen mind for strategy and warfare. She listens more to her brain than to her heart.

    [ + ] Loyal. If there’s one thing Sunder is, it’s loyal. She is loyal to anyone who earns her trust and friendship. She will do whatever it takes to do well by them. Sometimes, she is loyal to a fault—she will sometimes trust the judgement of anyone close to her over that of someone who is more qualified. She will defend her friends to the death if necessary, and nothing would ever cause her to turn on them.

    [ = ] Moral. She often tries to act as a moral compass of sorts. She is quite firm about being the best you can be in all aspects of life. She doesn’t believe in unnecessary violence or hardship, and is adamant about helping those in need. Being moral and a "good person" is a big deal for her, and as a result can often be the crux of many of her decisions.

    [ = ] Protective: She has a bit of a maternal streak. She views everyone, in some way or another, as being under her care. She will try to shield and protect those around her, even if it puts her in danger. She is especially protective of youngsters, like kits, and other she-cats.

    [ - ] Blunt: Sunder is not shy about calling others out on bad behavior. She is outspoken and vocal about things that matter, and even things that don’t really matter. She has opinions and she’s not afraid to share. She also does not spare the feelings of others if it’s an important matter—as long as she gets her message across. Sometimes it makes her seem rather rude.

    [ - ] Stubborn. She has a bulldog-like tenacity. When she wants something or makes up her mind about something, it is very hard to change her mind. She often thinks she is right about most things, and in some cases it prevents her from listening to reason. She is very headstrong. In most instances, she will refuse to take orders from anyone. 

    [ - ] Ambitious. Sunder has always wanted to be the best she can be. She mostly channeled this into nonthreatening, non-nefarious means. But, she does like to be right and she doesn't like to lose. And she likes having power and respect from others. Whether there is a darker side of her ambition is yet to be seen. 

&& Character Info

Sexuality: Bisexual

Relationship Status: Single

    Past relationships: None

    Currently interested in: N/A

Extra Information:

    Fun facts:

• Heterochromatic (left eye blue, right eye orange)
• An only kit—no other siblings
  
• Is terrified of ever having kits of her own, but won’t admit it to anyone
  
• Loves water and swimming
  
• Self-conscious about her limp
  
• Made fun of and bullied as a youngster due to her larger, non-feminine size
  
• Despite being so leader-like, she very much enjoys quiet time by herself
  
• Her favorite food is squirrel
  
• [meta] Sort of (a lot) based on Clarke from the TV show The 100

     Likes:

• Challenges and puzzles
  
• Outsmarting others
  
• Thunderstorms
  
• The crunchy leaves of fall
  
• Stargazing
  

     Dislikes:

• Heights/climbing trees
  
• Fish
  
• Know-it-alls
  
• Bullies
  
• Coyotes

      Voice Actor: Eliza Taylor (American accent) (www.youtube.com/watch?v=f67Fpg…)

Family Tree:

    Prudence | Mother | orange and white tabby American Shorthair | Deceased—killed in childbirth| NPC

    Underfoot | Father | dusty red-brown Burmese/Somali | Alive | NPC

    Siblings: None

    Offspring: None

    Friends: Jace (Alive, in Paradise), Elliot (unknown)

&& History

Prologue

Much of the reason Sunder is the way she is now is because of her parents. Sunder was the child of Prudence and Underfoot—a very odd pair to anyone on the by anyone’s reckoning. Prudence was sweet, quiet, and very kind. She was petite and soft-hearted, a cat that could see the good in anyone. Underfoot was quite the opposite; surly, bulky, and brash, he was almost as cold as he was distant. Things, however, hadn’t always been this way. There had been a time when Underfoot was charming, and exciting, and cared about his mate. Prudence fell for his charm and charisma. But by the time Sunder was born, their care and love for one another had all but dissipated.

You see, Underfoot was no longer the cat Prudence had loved before. Time had changed him, turning him first from the flirtatious tom to a closed-off companion, and then from apathetic den-partner straight to aggressive tormentor. Underfoot was not kind. He was abusive.

Prudence tried to hide the claw-marks and bruises from others, but her littermate, Sitka, was not so easily fooled. Sitka was tougher than her sister, more able to stand up for herself, and she had always felt protective of Prudence, who had always been one to let others walk all over her. They were one another’s closest friends, and confidantes. Over and over again, Sitka tried to get Prudence to do the right thing, and to leave Underfoot far behind. “Get out from under him,” she would urge, “he’s dangerous, and does nothing but hurt you anymore.” But Prudence was too good, too trusting. “He’s still the tom I fell in love with,” she insisted. Part of what kept her there was loyalty. A larger part of it was fear.

When Prudence met Arlo, it was like kitten love all over again. Arlo was kind to Prudence—kinder even than Underfoot had been on his best days. And he loved her, really loved her, the way she had always wanted to be loved. She kept her infatuation hidden from Underfoot, not wanting to bring down his wrath. But now both Arlo and Sitka were pleading with her to leave—to run away with them, start a different life far away. They had all but convinced her. Now they were just waiting for the right time.

Everything changed when Prudence found out she was pregnant. She came to Sitka first, panicked, because she knew—both of them knew—the kittens weren’t Underfoot’s. This, Sitka reasoned, was all the more reason to go. But something inside Prudence had shifted. Something broke in her, and now she refused the plan. She couldn’t leave Underfoot, she tried to explain. Not now. She told her sister she would stay—she would tell Underfoot the kits were his, and no one else’s. Arlo, so eager to run away with Prudence, was heartbroken. But there was nothing he, or Sitka, could do about it. It was all Prudence’s decision.

And so she stayed. She had hoped the abuses would stop when Underfoot knew they were going to have kits, but she was wrong—wrong like she had been about the tom from the beginning. And so she could only suffer through, hoping things would change, while her sister and true lover watched from a distance, unable to interfere for fear of hurting the one they cared about.

The day she was going to have her kits, Prudence knew something was wrong. Something felt off inside of her—something she couldn’t name. Her labor was long and painful. Sitka stayed with her the whole time. In the end, only two kits were born, and one was birthed dead. The last kit, the only one to survive, was Sunder.

But something failed in Prudence. Others would say it was the delivery that killed her, but Sitka knew better. She knew it was so much more. But Prudence was dead because of it, leaving behind a helpless kit, and Sitka felt there was no one else to blame but Underfoot. There, in that dingy cave over her sister’s body, Sitka vowed to look after little Sunder, and keep her save from her father’s torment.

Early Life

Underfoot was enraged when he learned of his mate’s death, and the fact that she only bore him one living kit. And even then, a weak one at that. Sitka, who had recently lost both of her infant sons to a tragic bought of kittencough, offered to Underfoot to be Sunder’s milk mother. The kit would die, she reasoned, without someone to provide her with milk. Underfoot agreed, but only under one condition—Sitka would accompany them to the desert, far away from any other cat.

Before they left, Sitka met with Arlo one last time to tell him the news. He was crushed by the death of Prudence, and even more by the fact his kit was being taken away. But Sitka promised him—they would not stay with Underfoot. At the first opportunity, she told him, they would escape, and they would come back here to find him, and Arlo would at least have a chance to raise his daughter.

And so Underfoot, Sitka, and Sunder left for the desert.

It took weeks before an escape plan was even possible. Sunder was not a strong kit, and struggled to find life for the first month. It was only when Sunder was strong enough that Sitka would ever attempt to get away from Underfoot, who, now that Prudence was dead, turned openly hostile towards Sitka. When Sunder was a mere four and a half weeks old, Sitka couldn’t take it any longer. She hated Underfoot, she hated the desert, and she hated being afraid all the time. So one night, on the night of a new moon when all was black, she took Sunder and fled.

But Underfoot was smarter than she ever imagined, because he had been expecting something like this—expecting Sitka to take his kit and flee. And so he was ready. He caught her before her escape even really had a chance to begin, and his fury knew no bounds. He attacked her, all teeth and claws and bone-crushing brawn, and she was lucky he didn’t kill her—but he did take one of her eyes. She only managed to escape with her own life by leaving Sunder and fleeing, bleeding and half blind, back to the wasteland they had come from. She wasn’t able to save Sunder, and now that Underfoot knew her true intentions, there was nothing she could do. She had failed.

This was all before Sunder was old enough to remember.

The way she remembers it, she grew up under the care of Underfoot. In his version of the past, her mother had died when she was very young, leaving him to raise her on his own. He made no mention of Sitka, and Sunder never knew that her real father wasn’t Underfoot at all. She never knew she could have been destined for so much more. Instead, she took Underfoot as his word, called him “father,” and obeyed every command he gave her.

Unfortunately, Underfoot was a greedy and ambitious cat, and what he wanted more than anything from Sunder was to make her into a warrior to protect him and enforce his bidding on any other lone cats they came across. So that's what he did--he trained her from a very young age, rigorously and cruelly, not only in body but also in mind. He honed her already sharp instinct for strategy and charisma, and instilled in her a resistance for ever giving up. He made her powerful, and although Sunder hated the reason why, she still is thankful that she became so strong under his tutelage. 

Escape

When she was a year old, Sunder finally had enough of her father’s dictatorship. One particular night, after they had been following some stray, sickly tom for days, Underfoot commanded her to attack and kill him, because he had encroached on their territory. She refused—she had had enough, she told him. Underfoot was furious. He attacked her. But, he was now becoming old and out of his prime, and Sunder was young and strong, so it didn't take much for her to overpower him. She wasn't cruel like he would have been—all she did was tell him she was leaving, and that he shouldn't try and stop her, and that was it. She took off into the desert on her own, away from her father at last. 

Sunder almost didn't survive the trip out of the desert, and the rest of the wasteland wasn't much more plentiful than the desert had been. But she was smart, and she figured out how to survive on her own, and she lived as a nomad for several months, relying only on her wits and strength to get her through.

Things changed the first time Sunder met Elliot. It was a purely chance encounter—the two she-cats had been hunting in the same area and almost quite literally bumped into each other. Sunder, unused to meeting new cats in a non-hostile situation, immediately went on the aggressive defensive. Elliot, on the other hand, remained calm and nonthreatening. The two talked (grudgingly, on Sunder’s part) until she told Sunder that she was part of a band of she-cats. It was a group, Elliot insisted, she might want to meet—she might be a good match for their ranks.

As it turns out, this group of she-cats was led by none other than Sitka—Sunder’s aunt.

Sitka recognized Sunder quickly—even with one eye, she could recognize her distinctive coat anywhere. But she made no motion like she knew her. Instead, she just welcomed her warmly and, after a few days, offered for Sunder to join them. Later, she would question her decision on why she did not reveal their relation, but in truth, she was satisfied enough that she had found Sunder again, alive and well and strong.

Sunder accepted Sitka’s invitation, never being the wiser about who the leader of this gang was. She stayed with the group for many moons. As charismatic as she was, she grew quite popular among the other cats. It had been nearly a year when Sitka, her age and experience finally catching up with her, died. Some of the others wanted her to assume the new leadership role, but Sunder didn’t want to shoulder the responsibility. The group continued to function without a leader, but sometimes Sunder became the de facto voice of reason.

During this time, Sunder also became fast friends with Elliot, she she-cat who had first welcomed her into this group. They were of similar minds about many things, and tended to enjoy each other’s company most. So it was with much surprise and dismay that, one day, Elliot went missing. She was simply gone—disappeared without a trace. For several months, the group attempted to look for her, but found no sign of Elliot.

Jace

Several more months passed. Not much changed within the group, besides new whispers about a place named Paradise circulating among the other cats they came across. Things only seemed to start to change when Sunder met Jace and Rumlow.

It was a moment of déjà vu for Sunder when she ran into Jace the first time. It was much as her introduction to Elliot had been—a collision of pure circumstance. Jace and her companion told them they were wanderers, a lot like themselves. Sunder and her group agreed to let them stay for a few weeks, to tag along with them until they decided to move on. There was no harm in it—though Sunder wasn’t quite sure what to think of Jace at first, who had a knack for aloofness and a bizarre sense of entitlement and fate about a lot of things. For the most part, Sunder tried to ignore them.

What was harder to ignore, however, was the attack of the wild dogs. There had been a pack roaming around close by, and it had only been a matter of time before they sniffed out the cats and attacked. One of the dogs went after Jace. Sunder, seeing this happen, sprang to the other she-cat’s defense. Sunder was still one of the strongest among the group, and they were able to fight off the dog. After that, the two cats seemed to come to some mutual, unspoken understanding. It was the strangest friendship Sunder had ever started, but it was a friendship nonetheless.

What was even more interesting was that, as Sunder soon came to find out, Jace had known Elliot.

And she had known her quite well, apparently. Jace told her the story of how Elliot had saved her life—coming to her rescue when she and Rumlow had been split from one another. With the realization of their mutual friendship, Jace and Sunder became even closer. Neither of them knew where Elliot had gone, but both were intent on finding her someday. They talked about it often, in the weeks they spent together.

But eventually, Jace and Rumlow had to head off on their own path. Sunder watched them go with a similar sadness to when Elliot went missing. Her friends, it seemed, were destined to only be temporary.

Paradise

It wasn’t weeks later that the rumors of Paradise, which had been swirling for months now, came to a head. Every new cat they saw seemed to think that Paradise was real, and that they knew how to get there. The more Sunder thought about it, the more she wondered—would Elliot have gone to Paradise? Would she have tried to find the gates? And what about Jace and Rumlow? Eventually, Sunder couldn’t stand the hypothesizing anymore. She announced to the group that she was leaving in search of Paradise. She felt torn, leaving behind the only form of family she had come to know, but this was something she felt she had to do.

The journey to Paradise was a hard one, but if anyone could make it, Sunder would. She finally reached the gates of Paradise but, she realized, there was still no trace of Elliot. But Sunder hadn’t given up hope. Perhaps she had made it into Paradise already. Perhaps she had already stepped through the gates.

It came as somewhat of a surprise when she once again ran into Jace. Rumlow was not with her—apparently they had gone separate directions looking for food that morning, and Jace had ended up here. At this time, the gates of Paradise started to open. Jace and Sunder both wanted to find out if Elliot would be on the other side. So, on mutual agreement, they stepped side by side over the threshold and into the unknown. 

&& Roleplay Information

      Availability: currently OPEN
      Methods: notes, docs, skype
      RP Info: sometimes I take a long time to reply; I usually write a couple paragraphs for each reply
      Roleplay Sample(s): (from TheRomanDefection)

Outside the Ferox camp, the woods were quiet. It was barely after dawn and dew still covered the ground, gathering in jewel-like clumps on leaves and blades of grass. The early morning sun, dappling down through the trees, cast everything in a warm, lovely glow--something that was unfortunately lost on Callisto. 
The blind leopard stood among the trees, the fur on her paws wet from dew. She stood still, ears swiveling to catch every minute sound and nostrils flaring to catch barely traceable scents. After a moment, she started forward, walking deeper into the trees. I've been here for weeks now, she told herself. I should be able to find my way around for Jove's sake. She picked up her pace until she was trotting through the trees, aiming in a wide arc around camp. She counted the steps in her head, ducking and weaving around the trees she knew where there. 
She jumped forward into a lope, her tail streaming behind her and her piebald fur looking as dappled as the wet earth under her paws. Yes! I can do this! she thought with an edge of smug pride before her paw caught on a root. 
She pitched forward into a tumble, rolling to an abrupt stop against the trunk of a tree. She grunted as the air gusted from her lungs, leaving her to lie there and pant. She muttered a curse to herself. Gods dammit. Her paw throbbed and ached, but not as much as her pride. Hopefully no one saw that.

&& Supplemental