Esmae

𝓔𝓼𝓶𝓪𝓮

The beige collie mix trotted along the sidewalk, keeping her nose high as she sniffed for any food a human may have left behind or dropped. The sidewalk was nice and warm, her radio collar gave a small beep, and the humans didn't even comment on the dog walking without an owner. Whether they didn't care or simply didn't notice, the dog didn't mind. The less attention brought to her by humans, the better.

Noticing a pair of humans dining on a outside patio, the collie-mix walked over and gave her best puppy eyes. The female human cooed over her, and slipped her a chicken tender. The male human gave her a gentle pat. Giving a little spin to show her gratitude, the dog then slunk back towards the outskirts of the town, and headed back into the rainforest.

She walked past the pack of wolves, who had just caught a swine. As they ate, the collie-mix made her way to a clearing, where she found him. She approached her mate, Wilden, who was a wolfdog, and laid the juicy human treat at his feet. He gave her a sympathetic look.

"Esmae, why did you do this? You know the risk of going to Palm Cove."
"Because..." She says with an shy grin. "I thought I'd try to be like you."

He flashed her a bittersweet look. He drew closer, and gave her a hug.
"No. Be Esmae. The chattiest, happiest dog I know. The one I love."

𝓕𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂

𝐄𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐞 -- "𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝." [𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧]

⬥ Father: N/A
⬥ Mother: N/A
⬥ Siblings: N/A
⬥ Other Relatives: Kanikonna [Niece], Kuparr [Nephew]

⬥ Mate: Wilden
⬥ Offspring: Sandalio
⬥ Adoptive Offspring: N/A

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𝓑𝓲𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱𝔂

Shine like gold, buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile
[You Make Me Smile]

Bubbly, chatty and energetic, Esmae is the world's friendliest and most hyperactive dog. She's always eager to please and willing to chat, and while some may find her a bit annoying at times, no one can deny she's a great listener and that she's always willing to chat.

Esmae's life began on a sugar cane farm in Port Douglas. Her mother was a rough collie that had work as a sheep herder at the farm. She worked for the angry male human, who she only referred to as "Cruel Master." Esmae was the only pup Cruel Master kept, and he sold the rest of her siblings. She faintly recalls them, but she remembers her mother perfect clarity.

Esmae was quick to realize Cruel Master mistreated both her and her mother. If the sheep weren't in the pen within five minutes, you were starved. If you didn't sleep in the fields and snuck into the barn, you would be beaten. If you were caught playing, you would be forced to work all night. Anything done slightly wrong resulted in an empty stomach and bruises below your fur.

One of the humans Cruel Master had hired to work for him, who her mother called "Sheep Lady" since she sheared the sheep, noticed this abusive behavior. She reported him to the authorities, who arrested Cruel Master for animal abuse. Esmae and her mother were brought to an animal shelter in Palm Cove.

It was nice here, and Esmae's mother obviously enjoyed the attention and kindness the humans gave, as well as the other animals there. Esmae did too, but she couldn't help but feel trapped within the building's walls and fenced yard. As much as she had disliked Cruel Master, she loved the endless fields and the forests that lay beyond. She felt herself growing restless, and no one really wanted to hang around the dog that wouldn't stop talking.

Eventually, Esmae was adopted by a human. She didn't know her name, but decided to call her Bird Girl. Bird Girl obviously owned many birds, who squawked more than the dog herself talked, and Esmae wasn't sure whether she liked her new owner. Bird Girl never fed her the right food, and always pulled too hard on the leash. She lived in a apartment, which only made Esmae's restlessness increase.

Esmae's Collie brain that she had inherited from her mother, however, eventually taught her how to open the door. She had watched Bird Girl do it more than a few times, and Esmae decided to try it when she realized Bird Girl forgot to lock it behind her.

After dashing down the corridor past a few surprised humans, Esmae raced out the lobby. She heard some humans behind her, and ran across the road. An incoming car almost hit her, but Esmae kept running. Thankfully, Esmae was fine. She kept running until she was certain she had lost her pursuers.

Once she reached Tribulation Beach, where she hoped no one would find her among the crowd of tourists and other humans walking along the picturesque landscape. She flopped down, realizing for the first time in a while she was truly free.

Hope surged through her, and she stood tall, feeling bold. Until she was knocked back down by a large brown dog.

"Incredibly sorry!" He clumsily halted, kicking up sand. He looked at her with orange coral-colored eyes. They flashed a mischievous glint as he glanced back. Clutching the hot dog in his mouth, he ran past her as he called back. "Gotta go, nice meeting you!"

An annoyed looking hairless human in an apron pursued the brown dog, as he raced further down the beach, but the human gave up and let out a few curses. However, Esmae had to admit she was more than curious, and she began to follow the brown dog's tracks. They lead further down the beach and turned into a beautiful rainforest.

Esmae continued to follow the tracks until she wound up getting pinned by an odd creature. The creature looked like a dog, a Husky or German Shepherd, perhaps, but it had a more feral look. The creature had narrowed grey eyes and her fur had been adorned with feathers of a peregrine falcon. She smelled different, too.

"Who are you?" She said, letting out a snarl.
"I'm so sorry! I'm Esmae. I came looking for a brown dog." Esmae tried to squirm out. "Please let me go!"

"A brown dog?" The odd creature didn't respond to her plea and held her down, but she seemed curious now. "Do you know Seraphina?"

Esmae blinked a few times -- she hadn't heard of Seraphina, and she knew the dog was a male.

"No, he was large." Esmae knew that likely wasn't much help, so she continued. "He had orange eyes, the color of coral, and he had an owl talon hung around his neck."

Realization dawned on the odd creature's eyes, and unpinned the dog. "Wilden, then. He's not a dog though, he's a wolfdog. You should have just said that. It would have been so obvious then." She let out a snort.

Esmae tilted her head, pondering. What the heck was a wolf?

"A wolf?" She asked, curiously. "What is that?"
"I'm a wolf." The odd creature responded. "Can't you tell?"

Esmae shook her head. "No, I didn't know they were native to Australia."
The wolf let out a snort. "Right. Sometimes I forget we aren't in America anymore. No, they aren't native to Australia, but we took a human ship here."

Esmae sighed. This wolf was being difficult. But she still had more questions, so she asked. "Are there more of you?"
The wolf gave an eager nod. "Yep, a whole pack."

Esmae grew excited. "Ooh, can I meet them? Please?"
The wolf let out a sigh and began to walk. "Only if you behave. I don't want you to upset anyone."

"I promise I'll behave!" The dog spun in circles energetically, then bolted after her new companion.

The wolf, whose named turned out to be Cerulea, quickly realized that Esmae loved to chat. Socialize. Never shut up. But thankfully for the scout, the walk to their densite wasn't long and Esmae soon began to chat with the other wolves. She quickly warmed up to them, and particularly admired Wilden. Esmae soon joined the pack and learned to live among the wolves.

One day while she went to get a drink, however, a human shot an odd contraption at her. A feather-tipped canister hit her, and she let out a yelp. In a daze, she saw the human approach, before passing out. She didn't stir again until she heard the human talking again.

"Look, Katrina, I told you! There was a dog living in the rainforest." He put a finger through the crate.
"Fine Matteo, you win!" She said with a loving chuckle. "Still, this is quite the breakthrough!"

Esmae whimpered, and the male human, Matteo, gave her a sympathetic look. "Aw, it's okay little girl. Don't you worry. You'll be free again in a bit, we just had to put a radio collar on you!"

The dog looked down, realizing the contraption on her neck. She was confused. What was it? She tried to scratch it, but it wouldn't come off.

"We are scientists." Katrina told her, as if Esmae would understand what that was. "We just want to monitor you." Katrina turned to Matteo. "I wonder how she lives out there, surely she can't be alone?"

"Well, we can see where she dens. Maybe there's a whole pack of dogs there. The collar will let us know." Matteo added with a shrug, before the truck stopped and he set down the crate.

They opened the door before driving off, and though she felt somewhat unsettled by the collar, she decided the humans were nice enough. She ran back to the pack and told them what had happened.

The only one who seemed to believe her was Wilden. Even Delja had her doubts about humans being able to know they were there because of a collar. Esmae felt disheartened, but was happy that at least her mate had believed her.

"They can make cars, and rectangles they can talk on, so what's stopping humans from making some other crazy invention?" Wilden had said, before nuzzling her.

Since then, the pack hasn't been bothered. Esmae thinks it's because the humans don't want to disrupt them. But she knows that they could be watching. Still, the humans had seemed well-intentioned, so the dog didn't dwell on it, though she often retells her story to pups. Most of the Kohana Pack think she's a bit crazy, but no one truly hates her.

When Wilden and Esmae finally had a pup, they named him Sandalio. Esmae, at first, thought it meant sand dollar. But it actually meant 'true wolf,' and Wilden had proposed it jokingly, since he was a high percentage wolf dog (he had very little wolf DNA) but she thought it still fit. After all, he was related to the alpha, and he was in a rather decently sized pack, so he may as well have been a wolf.

Sandalio took after his mother's chatty personality, and always found it easy to make friends. The two often hung out, and Wilden would usually join them, bringing something interesting he had found (or stolen, he was Wilden) and chat about it. The three were a very happy family.

Esmae spends most of her time adventuring through the forest, chatting with visitors, and curling up with Wilden at night as the wind peacefully rustles the canopy above.

One fateful day, however, Esmae saw the two humans again. They were using a big black thing that stood on three legs, and pointed it at the pack territory. Thinking it was some sort of weapon, she quickly alerted Delja, who realized for the first time that Esmae had been right.

Though they had to move from the rainforest, everyone soon began to thank Esmae and apologized for not believing her story. She didn't mind it, though. After all, it did sound super crazy! Still, she became somewhat of a hero. The pack eventually relocated to a desert in Nevada.

It was an amazing place, aside from the lack of water. The endless expanse of pure nothingness, where she could run all day! She loved it, and Sandalio enjoyed it too. Wilden was initially a bit upset by the lack of humans to steal from, but soon figured out that they would usually come to visit at a certain point in the year, in which he would steal all sorts of cool things.

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𝓐𝓻𝓽 & 𝓞𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓸

Heh! [Made by PerytonFae] ⬥ Esmae Fullbody [Made by Akumu] ⬥ Pretty Pup [Made by Hollyjock]

⬥ Biomes Lived In: Rainforest, Desert
⬥ Daughter to the raffle stud Clay
⬥ Esmae is the second dog in the Kohana Pack, with the first being Seraphina