06-01-2018, 03:32 PM
[align=center][div style="max-width: 600px; text-align: justify; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10pt;"]These people are strangers to her, as most people are. Not one to go out of her way to socialize, Melantha remains unfamiliar with a majority of individuals despite the overlapping interactions between several of the clans. Jacob is the friendly one. The approachable one. The level-headed one. On the contrary, Mel is suspicious and cold and not at all easy to get along with. She blames it on her upbringing. Although her early days were happy ones, with a loving family and a full belly all the time, it was quickly torn from her grasp. And then she was forced to survive in the wilds all on her own with very few life skills to support herself. Mel remembers the moment she lost it all quite vividly...
Corbett screams, treading the water with flailing limbs. He was never a strong swimmer. She doesn't know why he wandered too close to the swollen river, but he did. And now the powerful current is sweeping him away. Melantha dives in after him without a second thought. Rushing water burns her flesh, fills her longs with cold. Only adrenaline keeps her moving in spite of the freezing water beginning to slow her bodily functions. Her brother is sucked beneath the rapids, out of her line of vision for one moment, two, before he resurfaces with a spluttering cough. Mel's muscles burn. She can no longer feel her body. But she has to save him. Corbett needs her. With a last spurn of energy, she manages to grasp her younger sibling by the scruff, straining to drag him to the shore before they are both swept away. Relief floods her body as she watches Stella pull Corbett ashore. Now it's her turn to be saved. She's so tired. Just a little longer...
Melantha blinks, torn from the flashback with a jolt. It's been happening a lot more recently. She misses her home, her family. Snowound is a wonderful place, but the young female is homesick; lonely. She has many friends but no one she can talk to. No one knows who she is beyond what she shows to the world. Melantha keeps it that way on purpose, although sometimes she wishes someone would be brave enough to force her to let down her walls. Powerful muscles tense as the lithe wildcat rises to her paws. Jacob is heading somewhere, probably drawn to some unfamiliar presence at the border. She feels inclined to protect him, and is therefore drawn to accompany him.
Little more than a glorified bodyguard, the plain-faced creature stands silently beside the Chief. Pallid olive eyes sweep over the two strangers standing before them with subdued interest. A memorial service for their dead leader? At first, Melantha finds it hard to be sympathetic. These two women are strangers. Why should she care about their stupid leader or their sad feelings? They mean nothing to her. It's not because Melantha does not feel sadness or anything, but she is reluctant to become emotional for people she does not even know. It opens her up to weakness. Melantha prefers to remain objective about most things. But then she starts to imagine Jacob as Starrynight. How would she feel if she lost him? Perhaps the one person in the entire clan she feels compelled to love and protect? It would be terrible. Her heart aches at the mere thought of losing Jacob. Mel then rethinks her reaction to the news, and allows herself to display a bit more emotion than before upon her visage. "My condolences." It's genuine, if not a bit awkward. The cougar does not exactly partake in the whole...empathy/sympathy thing.
She shifts her weight. "My name is Melantha," introduces the girl in a stiff voice. She's trying to be friendly but it's uncomfortable and weird. "We will be sure to attend." The whole thing sounds awkward; extremely bad movie dialogue. But she's trying. She really is. And that's the most that she can do.
Corbett screams, treading the water with flailing limbs. He was never a strong swimmer. She doesn't know why he wandered too close to the swollen river, but he did. And now the powerful current is sweeping him away. Melantha dives in after him without a second thought. Rushing water burns her flesh, fills her longs with cold. Only adrenaline keeps her moving in spite of the freezing water beginning to slow her bodily functions. Her brother is sucked beneath the rapids, out of her line of vision for one moment, two, before he resurfaces with a spluttering cough. Mel's muscles burn. She can no longer feel her body. But she has to save him. Corbett needs her. With a last spurn of energy, she manages to grasp her younger sibling by the scruff, straining to drag him to the shore before they are both swept away. Relief floods her body as she watches Stella pull Corbett ashore. Now it's her turn to be saved. She's so tired. Just a little longer...
Melantha blinks, torn from the flashback with a jolt. It's been happening a lot more recently. She misses her home, her family. Snowound is a wonderful place, but the young female is homesick; lonely. She has many friends but no one she can talk to. No one knows who she is beyond what she shows to the world. Melantha keeps it that way on purpose, although sometimes she wishes someone would be brave enough to force her to let down her walls. Powerful muscles tense as the lithe wildcat rises to her paws. Jacob is heading somewhere, probably drawn to some unfamiliar presence at the border. She feels inclined to protect him, and is therefore drawn to accompany him.
Little more than a glorified bodyguard, the plain-faced creature stands silently beside the Chief. Pallid olive eyes sweep over the two strangers standing before them with subdued interest. A memorial service for their dead leader? At first, Melantha finds it hard to be sympathetic. These two women are strangers. Why should she care about their stupid leader or their sad feelings? They mean nothing to her. It's not because Melantha does not feel sadness or anything, but she is reluctant to become emotional for people she does not even know. It opens her up to weakness. Melantha prefers to remain objective about most things. But then she starts to imagine Jacob as Starrynight. How would she feel if she lost him? Perhaps the one person in the entire clan she feels compelled to love and protect? It would be terrible. Her heart aches at the mere thought of losing Jacob. Mel then rethinks her reaction to the news, and allows herself to display a bit more emotion than before upon her visage. "My condolences." It's genuine, if not a bit awkward. The cougar does not exactly partake in the whole...empathy/sympathy thing.
She shifts her weight. "My name is Melantha," introduces the girl in a stiff voice. She's trying to be friendly but it's uncomfortable and weird. "We will be sure to attend." The whole thing sounds awkward; extremely bad movie dialogue. But she's trying. She really is. And that's the most that she can do.