[L] {4A} Falema

-- LEAD WARRIOR FALEMA --

(fah-lay-mah)

[Bibliama’s Enthusiasm -- This wolf may use IBFs whenever pregnant.]

Entered at 4 yr, 10 m old (116 rollovers); able to breed as of 10/29/20

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-- PERSONALITY --

[Arrogant/Proud] -- blurb

[Wary/Analytical] -- blurb

[Loner/Independent] -- blurb

[Knowledgeable/Stubborn] -- blurb

True Neutral

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-- BIO --

[TW: Abusive marriage, child death]

In a time long ago, Falema used to roam the Grasslands. She was born to a small, tight-knit group, where all were equal and the atmosphere peaceful, but marriage bonds were hard to come by, since most interpack relations would be incest. If one wanted to produce pups, they'd need to seek an external mate.

Falema was affianced at 2 years old to a passing rogue, whom, admittedly, no one knew very well, but the desperation of dwindling numbers drove them to encourage the bond when he showed his interest. She wasn't entirely crazy about it, but agreed out of a sense of duty to her kin. Thus, he joined, they were married, and the clock was ticking until she would enter heat and be able to bear a litter.

On the surface, their relationship seemed fine... but behind closed doors, it was tumultuous. He was bossy, controlling, short-tempered, often overly critical of her and insulting her in subtle, underhanded ways. It hurt her, of course, but she'd been picking up on there being something off about him ever since he laid eyes on her -- the cold, calculating gaze of a predator surveying its prey more so than a lovestruck fool gazing at his lover -- so suffice to say, it wasn't entirely a surprise. Just wait until you've had pups, she would tell herself with gritted teeth and forced smiles. Then you can tell the pack of his behavior and they'll expel him at once.

Time passed, she became pregnant... but the pups didn't make it. Her pack consoled her, unaware of her true plight, and her mate pretended to do so the same... but, like he always did when they were alone, subtly jabbed at her and implied she "should've taken better care of herself". She had half a mind to rip his throat out right then and there... but remained composed, instead modifying her previous plans: get pregnant, then chase him out. Don't wait.

So, they tried again once she was able, and she fell pregnant a second time... but her plans fell through. That winter had been hard on many in the pack, not just her. Their hunters were bringing back less prey, wolves were getting sick, another she-wolf in the pack that had been expecting had lost most of her litter... Many of the able-bodied wolves in the pack had to fill multiple roles and spread themselves thin so as to pick up the slack, and Falema's mate was one of them. She recognized at once that to try and expel him now, when he was one of the few pillars still keeping them afloat, would be just as detrimental as failing to produce a litter. Until summer then, she told herself, where illnesses will be cured and prey will be bountiful…

Just until summer.

Spring came and she gave birth: three pups, two of which were weak and sickly, but at least it was something. Unfortunately, this would be the only good news for a while. The pack's leader died, as did a few of the hunters from overexerting themselves; things were falling apart. Falema's mate stepped up and pronounced himself leader, and the grief stricken pack did nothing to stop him, knowing they needed a new Alpha but too downtrodden to name one themselves. There went her plans of chasing him off... Though she hated to leave her kin, she knew she couldn't continue to live with him, couldn't stand to raise her children around him and watch them get influenced by his behavior…

She had to leave.

In the cover of night, when her pups were old enough to walk, she had to make a heartbreaking, but necessary decision: to take the healthy one, the only one that could travel without being susceptible to illness, and leave the other two, along with the only home she'd ever known, behind.

She took him and traveled to the mountains, where hopefully her mate would never suspect to look for her. I'll spare the details of the long, arduous travel, and the many scares she faced as a single mother to a now only child, and get to the tragic end... her child didn't make it, and Falema just barely did.

Tired, hungry, grief stricken, she arrived in the mountains alone... and at what cost? She would spend the next few years there, traversing the rocky slopes and gradually becoming as cold and hardened as the ground beneath her feet. She made up her mind she would never join another pack, never take another mate, and never have another litter, even if some part of her still yearned for motherhood.

At nearly 5 years old, a fully realized mountain woman and somewhat comfortable with the solitude her new life brought her, she stumbled upon two young she-wolves attempting to take on the mountains alone -- 1 year old Kitizra and Praleda. She quite literally bumped into them while traversing her usual paths, and instinct drove her to bare her fangs in warning at the strangers, even if they were young. She was surprised to find the red one growling right back, not at all hesitating to step in front of her friend and deliver some threats of her own, then prattle on about being some... queen or goddess or... something.

A puzzling experience, for sure. Trepidation morphed to curiosity, tinged with perhaps a bit of maternal concern -- what the heck did these two children think they were doing, out here all on their own, in the mountains of all places?? And threatening perfect strangers. She almost laughed at the absurdity and audacity of it all. But... in all seriousness, if they didn't get someone to set them straight and teach them a thing or two... they were goners, plain and simple.

Pushing aside her own pride, she sighed and "played along" with their little god shtick, just to keep them close and make sure they didn't go diving nose first into trouble. She offered to show them how to hunt, teach them about the mountains, and entertain their religious notions, so long as they didn't stray from her side and didn't try to threaten her again. Kitizra didn't take kindly to being talked down to... but Praleda talked some sense into her and convinced her that they probably did need the help... so she obliged, and a mutual agreement was reached.

Fast forward some time later, with the girls a little older and a little wiser, Falema was now given a choice: stay and commit herself to the Cult, or leave and stay out of their way. Hmph. Rude.

By now, she knew all about their religion and even the story behind what drove them out here, and she deeply sympathized... and was also, as much as she hated to admit it, a little curious. Somewhere amidst those prattlings was a goddess of childbirth and rejuvenation... If what they said was true, if these goddesses were real and the herb they carried could really allow anyone to commune with them... would she be able to speak to her children? To just... get some closure, if nothing else...? Bah! How silly! She shook her head and hated herself for getting so caught up in the stories of welps...!

And yet, against her better nature, as if some unseen force were guiding her paws, she agreed to stay in the Cult, telling herself it was to look after them or something like that, and submitted herself to the Initiation ceremony.

There... in her dreams... she saw a she-wolf. Of a bright, vibrant pelt, glowing with colors impossible for any mortal to bear, and emitting such a warm, loving light that Falema felt herself become choked with tears. In the haziness of the vision, in the very corners of her eyes, she saw the flickering forms of children scuttling around the vibrant she-wolf's paws, and she gasped when she realized they looked faintly like her own... but their forms weren't solid enough to be sure. The pastel hued goddesses before her approached and pressed an assured nose to her side, near her stomach, and though her lips did not move, Falema heard a voice echoing calmingly in her mind. "Do not lose hope. Do not give up. There is still time."

With that, the vision faded, and she awoke with a start in front of Praleda, who was gazing at her and grinning ear to ear.

They knew from the look on her face what she had seen... and knew that any doubts that may have existed before were washed away now, leaving a clean slate for their first member to claim.

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Aromantic Heterosexual