Post by Squee on Mar 12, 2013 2:24:30 GMT -5
Character permission: Dutch
Name: Kveta (name within DLA: )
Race: Codru-Ji
Age: 7
Height: 2’8
Weight: 105
Birth place: Dantooine, farmhouse
Appearance:
Kveta is still young for a Codru-Ji, and therefore still in her wyrwulf form. Her six-legged body is covered in fur of a rich, red-brown coloring. It’s long, and thick, with tufts off her bent legs and long lengths hanging from her curly tail. Each paw is tipped with non-retractable claws and protected by thick pads from running around outside. She has beautiful, sea-green eyes and ears that stand straight up. Little fur tufts fly off the tips of those ears as well. As mentioned, she has six legs: a pair more forward, and then two pairs serve as more her back legs.
Though a mere juvenile, Kveta’s jaw is capable of biting and holding, with enough force to make it hurt. Due to growing up on an animal farm, where her primary task was to herd her parent’s livestock, Kveta’s cardiovascular system is supremely developed for one her age. She bears a large chest area viewing her from the side, and has narrow shoulders and hips. Though small in the shoulders, Kveta stands decently tall as a puppy, with her head rising to the hip of a man of average height. A lean creature, it’s easy to feel her body’s whipcord muscular structure when rubbing her down with vigorous pets.
A long, lolling tongue and a black-brown spotty nose complete Kveta’s adorable puppy-like expressions.
Personality:
Her world is currently very strange. Kveta is very aware of the situation happening around her, yet the Dantooine Liberation Army is without knowledge about Codru-Ji. Her current situation forces her to accept most people see her as nothing more than an animal, like the kath hounds. Albeit, she’s far more intelligent and, occasionally, serves more useful and clever purposes, such as fetching items.
Overall, Kveta is like a child and prone to childish behaviors. She is attracted to attention and love, and easily accepts any person who readily gives either. Though she loves to receive rubdowns, Kveta’s favorite actiosn are hugs, cuddles, and kisses. Usually, without hesitation, she’ll respond with kisses of her own, lapping up the cheek of her attention giver.
Those who don’t showcase some kind of love toward her receive the cold shoulder and she tends to ignore them. She does not respond to her name if she’s angry or extremely upset, and will usually run away and hide with protesting whines and barks.
Kveta’s easily frightened by strange objects larger than herself, such as a spaceship. Coming from an isolated animal farm, Kveta has yet to see many objects or even what a proper city looks like. Though she has a child’s curiosity, it has a large limit.
She is not like to stray from whoever she attaches herself to, or who she is told to go with. Danger of the DLA’s scale is something she’s never had to contend with before, and is therefore more like to be underfoot than any real help. She will need direction and guidance in dangerous situations, and a massive amount of comfort if she is wounded.
Other than that, Kveta can be a very happy, quirky Codru-Ji child. She likes to prance around and hop on her back legs. She likes to “talk”, which is only in barks, growls, and whines right now. Kveta is prone to bouts of excitement where her tail wags so quickly, one might think her bottom is about to waggle off. If she doesn’t feel like she needs it, she will provide comfort to another, and will also fetch things that she thinks might make a person feel better.
Occupation: Dantooine Liberation Army (DLA)
Rank: Full time puppy
Skills:
Passion
Oddness
Licking and biting people
Giving unconditional love
Herding
Imagination
Ships/Vehicles: N/A
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 3
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 4
Leadership: 2
Unarmed: 2
Melee Weapons: 0
Ranged Weapons: 0
Bio:
Rikka-si, Kveta’s mother, had been kidnapped not once but twice by a rival clan during her childhood. Her family paid a gross ransom for her safe return both time, largely denting the wealth of her own family. When she selected her mate, Toma was his name, Rikka-si was marrying in relative wealth, and hence realized her children were in increased danger of being kidnapped, just as she had been. Toma, who had been fortunate enough not to be ransomed for as a pup, listened to his wife’s concerns about children. As it was, Rikka-si did not want children unless their safety could be guaranteed.
A plan and agreement were struck between Toma and one of his friends, Dargo-ju. Together, the two men selected a safe place that would offer relative solitude for both of their families to raise their children quietly. They purchased their way to Dantooine, relying heavily on Toma’s wealth for transport and for their new home.
Luckily for Toma’s and his wife, Dargo-ju’s mate had grown up as a farmer. The Codru-Ji woman picked out their land, their animals, and began teaching her friends how to care for and fit into the roles of their new lives. Though difficult and over their heads at first, Toma and Rikka-si adapted to their new lifestyle.
Her primary concern absolved, Rikka-si was very open to having children, and so she did… six years apart. Kveta was the second child and had an older brother named Cyril during his pup years.
Kveta was her parents’ little “blossom”, hence her name. She was their little girl, after all, and probably the only one they would ever have. And like most parents, they found their daughter to be precious and beautiful. It wasn’t rare to find the extremely young Kveta bundled up in Toma’s arms, the father rocking his fidgety daughter to sleep.
Though begin extremely restless as a newborn, Kveta’s squirminess leveled out and soon she could fall asleep by herself. And she slept a lot. For long stretches at a time, usually only waking because her belly rumbled or if she needed to make a mess. It took her parents a bit longer to break her into the proper way to use the restroom.
As the months stretched out, Kveta eventually curled from her sleeping ball and became more active. She began to vocalize more, having to learn the proper way to address others with the tone of her barks. Though her parents found their daughter to be pleasantly cheerful, and her yips particularly high-pitched with joy when she was chased.
Her name fit her perfectly then.
Kveta went from reserved sleeping pup to hyperactivity. As the young codru-ji grew in limb coordination, she became more spritely, interactive, brighter, and happier. She became locked into a constant state of play, the scrambling scritches of her nails heard on the boards of the house. The pup stole things, making her brother chase her around the house. Because each time she stole from her parents, they would chase her and smack her bottom. The pup had to be warned more than several times to not chase the animals. One time one unhappy creature chased the young codru-ji. That wasn’t fun, not for the animal, not for Kveta, and especially not Kveta when her parents finally rescued her. More butt smacks. And corner seclusion.
Often getting on her brother’s nerves, Cyril’s snaps at her usually ended in rough playfights of nipping and fur pulling. As soon as the fights turned into snarls and squeals, Toma and Rikka-si would separate their children and berate them both. Despite this, whenever there was a thunderstorm, Kveta would sneak into Cyril’s room with tail between her legs. Their parents would find their daughter’s reddish brown fluffiness with their son’s dun coloring, his front leg protectively on his younger sister.
Cyril was an older pup when Kveta was born, and so she got to watch her brother go through his transition. Only two at the time, finding a rubbery blue cocoon in the place of her brother while sneaking into his room was… unsettling. Kveta howled in fear for her parents, smelling life, but not seeing her brother. Bleary-eyed parents answered their scared daughter’s call, who cowered in the corner of the room, ears folded back against the crash of thunder and wide eyes on her brother’s cocoon. Rikka-si spent a long time cuddling her daughter and soothing her raised fur.
While Kveta didn’t completely understand what was happening with her brother, she did get the sense it was normal from her parents. There was nothing to be afraid of. Happens to every codru-ji. Cyril was just getting older. He would look different when he came out, but he’d still be her brother.
The next weeks passed in comparative boredom for Kveta. With no brother to annoy and to play with, life seemed without fun. She watched over her brother’s cocoon, spending a long time lying on her brother’s floor. Her parents made a point to be more interactive with their daughter, often taking her with them on sunset walks. Rikka-si would snuggle with her daughter and read her stories, and spend extra long brushing the pup’s fur after a bath. Toma would roughhouse with his daughter, laughing jubilantly as he taunted his daughter with quick taps of his hands.
However, when the cocoon began to crack, the excitement began. Toma closed himself in her brother’s room, while Rikka-si sat outside, petting her daughter and waiting to be called. A couple of times, Toma stuck his head out, asking for towels and more snacks. Rikka-si would fetch the items, Kveta following with tail wagging.
It was some hours before Toma opened the door, inviting wife and daughter inside. Kveta, bouncing and pushing beneath legs and feet, came to a complete halt. Her butt dropped, and she refused to get closer. They were calling him her brother, but Cyril didn’t look like Cyril anymore.
He’d lost his fur, swapping for a shock of it upon his head. He now looked like Mom and Dad, with two legs, four arms, and that smooth, fair complexion of Mom and Dad instead of fur. He wore clothes now, and seemed very unsteady on his two feet as he hugged Rikka-si. The rubbery blue cocoon lay to the side, split, and damp, goopy towels tossed around it. Cyril looked at his sister, sitting beside Toma. With Rikka-si’s help, managed to his knees and growled at Kveta. The codru-ji pup took the encouragement and approached her brother, who stroked her ears and pulled her close for a hug.
Cyril wasn’t known as Cyril anymore, either, not with Mom and Dad suddenly calling him “Poruc-ni”. It wasn’t the first time Kveta witnessed a transformation, as Dargo-ju’s children, older than Kveta, made their transformations too. And afterward, they all went by different names.
Her relationship with Poruc-ni changed. While he would still surprise attack her from time to time, he would verbally communicate to her, trying to speak like Mom and Dad. He sounded funny, and Kveta couldn’t help but yelp at her brother in amusement, often frustrating him. Yet every time he would go for a run, Kveta would be right beside him, trotting along with bushy tail waving. She would still pester him, heckling him while he tried to finish his newfound chores now that he had hands. It was strange, having him yell at her now instead of just snapping his jaw. Occasionally, though, Poruc-ni would snap his teeth at her out of habit.
Now with Poruc-ni in his human form, Toma started to corral Kveta in the morning to help him around the farm. When he was still Cyril, he would help herd the animals from and to their pins each morning and evening. Kveta, being a bouncy, active pup still, would learn to take his place.
It was confusing, and Kveta always felt she was doing the wrong thing. Toma would constantly harass her with instruction, crying “no!” and “wrong!”. Feeling yelled at so much, Kveta grew frustrated very quickly, and would sit down and let Toma finish up the chore.
In fact, picking up Poruc-ni’s chores in general was a pain. From the herding to dragging a basket behind her during the harvest. The chores were difficult for the soft pup who, up until this point, had merely played. The working did help the pup with foot and eye coordination, as well as building the young codru-ji’s character. Rikka-si did, however, spend a lot of time applying healing ointments to the pads of Kveta’s feet, which dried and split often until they hardened.
However, as the months passed, Kveta would begin to herd well. At five, Kveta was the only pup between the two families. She was used for her ability to dig quickly. Some crops had large seeds, and Kveta would dig the holes while someone planted behind her. When weeds cropped up, she was once again employed to churn up the roots.
Herding became fun. It was time she got to spend with Toma, and there was a thrill in chasing the animals all the way home and into the pen. Toma would often flip her a delicious treat for all her help. From time to time, Kveta would get hurt. Toma would carry his daughter home as she whined over her stepped-on paw or from being kicked in the ribs. Rikka-si would scold both of them as she wrapped sprained legs and checked to make sure ribs weren’t broken. She bandaged split noses and washed the dirt from Kveta’s fur each night.
When not helping around the farm in her puppy way, Kveta amused herself around her home. She expressed an aptitude for creativity in the way she played with her toys, barking and growling in different pitches while moving one toy or another with a paw. This never ceased to amuse her parents, and Rikka-si would often sit and play house with her daughter as time allowed.
Both Toma and Rikka-si continued to read to her, and Kveta would howl and growl and yip as certain events played out in the stories. And when the thunderstorms came, Poruc-ni still welcomed his furry little sister into his bed, both arms over her protectively.
Some months into her sixth year, Kveta’s ear picked up the word “invasion” spoken between Rikka-si, Toma, and Dargo-ju. The pup noted her mother’s increased anxiety over the following weeks. Toma spent a significant time reassuring their safety to his wife. Nobody was interested in them, Kveta heard him say, eavesdropping through the door of their wall. They were just a codru-ji family, far from any city, living their life by selling crops and meat. They were insignificant. Nobody was going to come get their children. They were safe. Kveta was safe. They weren’t in danger. Nobody was interested in a family of codru-ji…
And for many months, that seemed to be true. Another harvest passed by, Kveta taken to her duties as a child farmhand without complaint now. Her body had grown lean and toned. She was strong for a pup, quick too, a better herder than Poruc-ni had ever been.
The only difference was the family would gather around to listen to the news. Noting the invasion of the so called “Sith Empire”, where it was, where it was going. Kveta didn’t understand it. She had no concept of where the nearest city was, the nearest town, the next neighbor besides Dargo-ju’s family.
One very early morning, Kveta awoke to yelling between Poruc-ni and Toma, their deep voices bellowing in argument. Kveta followed closely at the back of Rikka-si’s legs as the two emerged from their rooms. Ears folded back against the yelling, she watched as Poruc-ni pointed in a general direction, screaming something about the Sith and the Dantooine Liberation Army. Toma was kicking dust, snarling about how it wasn’t their fight and if they weren’t being bothered, they should just stay out of it. Poruc-ni argued that Dantooine was home and it was being overrun. Rikka-si sat down and pulled her daughter into her lap, petting Kveta’s fur with tears in her eyes. In the end, Poruc-ni kicked dust at his father and marched for the hills.
Toma went straight to the animal pens, calling for Kveta to come help him with the herd. The sky was just barely graying, but he decided with was best to start the day anyway. Afterward, though, Kveta sat staring at the hills and whining at her father. Toma scratched his daughter’s ears. Sometimes, you couldn’t hold them, he told her.
For weeks, Kveta sulked about her brother’s departure. Her parents found her on the porch, staring off toward where Poruc-ni had stomped away. More than a few times, they would find her sleeping in his bed instead of her own. Sometimes she whined when they approached her. There was no doubt the codru-ji pup missed her older brother dearly, to the point that it almost hurt to think about him. Kveta thought about him often.
And then, one day, he showed up again. Kveta was herding the animals back to their pens when she heard Toma shout. When she saw him next, he was running for a four-armed figure walking toward them. Dust was left in Kveta’s wake as she streaked past her father to bulldoze into Poruc-ni, her yips high pitched in her joy and excitement as she rapidly licked her brother in greeting. It had been months, and he’d missed her birthday and he’d missed his friend breaking her leg and Toma and Rikka-si celebrate their fifteenth anniversary and and and…
He was stronger, bulkier, and looked very dirty and tired. He embraced his father with an exhausted happiness. Poruc-ni had become more serious, perhaps hidden and a bit mysterious, like he had a side that he didn’t want to show his family. He’d been working with the DLA, doing what he could, and having to learn new skills. The family was all too happy to embrace their kin, though his message was not what they wanted to hear.
The Sith were coming. They were scouring the planet, looking for lifeforms outside their jurisdiction, claiming their homes and farms for their own, and moving the people where they could be more easily looked after. The DLA was a threat, and they wanted to demolish as many possible safe hideouts there could be, and that included places far from the cities.
Toma, of course, held distaste for the news and was unwilling to surrender his home that he and his friend had strived to build. What would the Sith want with some Codru-ji? There were more words, about how they couldn’t be afford to play idiot or to be complacent. Poruc-ni yelled about trying to bring them to the safety of the DLA. Kveta slunk off with ears plastered to her head and fled to atop the nearest hill in the growing moonlight.
In the end, Poruc-ni stayed with them. Life continued as normal, though Kveta could hear the growing strife between Toma and Rikka-si. As before, the pup found some solace in her big brother’s arms.
Yet weeks passed and Poruc-ni’s words suddenly rang true. The Sith knocked on their door, literally, and began asking questions. Who were they, what were they, how many, what they did, things like that. They looked skeptical when Rikka-si stood between them and Kveta, claiming the pup as her daughter.
One little “no” was all it took. Toma refused to give up his life’s work, to sacrifice his farm, trying to explain they wanted nothing to do with the DLA, with Dantooine really, that it was a place to live because no one could survive in the vacuum of space. Yet the Sith would hear none of it. Kveta wasn’t sure how it all started, but it did. Toma was suddenly baring his fangs and grappling with a soldier for control of a weapon. Rikka-si was sinking teeth into the hand of another. Then there was the whining sound and a flash of light burned a hole into the wall.
And Poruc-ni, grabbing her scruff, pointing a strange thing that shot light, and dragging her through the back. Kveta half followed, though was half dragged as well, a good distance from the house before he knelt and grabbed either side of her head. He told her to run south, to run until she found the sea, big, blue water without an end. Then the turn right, and to keep going, to find ruins, a big pile of rocks that once looked like a building.
He promised to meet her there.
Kveta knew which way south was when the sun was still shining. With hesitation in her step, the pup fled. Never before had she ventured beyond the range of the area they herded their animals. The pup ran as long as she could, though before long, her tongue lolled out of her mouth.
At night, she made her way through the plains, keeping as straight as possible. Though she collapsed for some sleep at some point. She’d never had to make such a journey before, and lapped at what puddles of water she found and ate prairie grass. She’d never known what it was to be hungry either. Two days to the sea.
Almost another to the ruins. Where she found kath hounds in the middle of the night. Though the hounds snarled and sniffed at the cowering Kveta in suspicion, after a couple of minutes, they seemed content with the Codru-ji’s presence. And at some point, Kveta found her squeezed between two of them, seeking a bit more warmed and to feel secure for the first time in three days.
The following morning, she found herself waking up to a hand petting her head. He was a strange creature, with two arms and two legs and little bumps on his head. He grinned down at her, saying something along the lines of “Fluffy” and “lost”, and scratched her behind her ears.
Kveta decided she liked him then. And he seemed to like it when she licked his face, enough to introduce her to his big friends. The pup realized where her brother had sent her now: the DLA.
And he promised to meet her here.
RP Sample:
Her paws hurt and her tongue was so dry that Kveta thought it might crack. She could get enough moisture to sooth her poor, poor tongue. Neither could she keep it in her mouth. It was so hot, and she was so very tired of running. Her eyes were sore as well. Not from a lack of sleep, just a lack of water.
When she found the ocean, Kveta could smell the water was not safe to drink. There was something wrong with it. It smelled funny. Bet it tasted weird. What was the use of water she couldn’t drink? Just a big… thing of… worthless water endlessly expanding before her eyes. It was stupid, it was. It taunted her.
I’m just a big puddle of water that’s not really water. You’re gonna want to drink me, but who knows what you’re actually drinking.
Maybe it would make her grow up faster?
Or maybe it had a great big monster that would pop up any minute now. Would it eat her? Or become her friend and share in her journey?
Kveta whimpered as a sharp blade of grass wedged just right into her cracked pad. Maybe I won’t make it. Maybe I’m just stuck here next to this sea thing. But Poruc-ni said he’d meet me at the ruins. She had to find the ruins. Her brother would be there, and he would wait for her. As long as it took. Because he loved her, right? That’s why he told her to run.
She didn’t want to think about the flashes of light and the mean creatures.
Just mean, mean. All of them mean. They wanted to hurt Moma and Dada. All they wanted to do. And take all the animals. Take all my friends. Have to meet Poruc-ni.
Her green eyes watched the sun sink from the sky as she put one paw in front of the other. There were fluffy puffs of clouds in the sky. They glowed in pretty colors, though they slowly faded into one inky blue. The moon never made anything pretty.
The winds from the plains ruffled her furs. The longer the night went on, the colder it got. Though the air smelled wet. Oh, please don’t rain. I don’t want to be wet. But if you have to cry on my head, you sad little clouds, please don’t shout. She hated thunder. It scared her.
She could go on a bit longer, though her legs hurt now.
She could go on a little bit longer, though her nose was so dry, it felt shriveled.
Just a little bit longer.
Just a bit.
Ten more steps.
Okay, maybe another ten. Then she’d stop and rest.
Then they loomed in the distance. A shadow, at first, but looking more and more like… a broken building! The broken building Poruc-ni told her about! He would meet her here! Kveta panted as she trotted onward, her soreness forgotten as the old shadow grew closer and closer…
And then the shadow snarled at her. Haunches dropped as her heart jerked forward in her chest. There was a snort and another growl, and she saw its eyes glitter in the moonlight. She sniffed. A kath hound? She knew about those, they weren’t so-
Oh my tail. It’s huge.
Kveta flattened herself to the dirt, her ears laying back as she stared at the huge hound. His teeth were bare as he slunk forward, nose twitching as he approached her. Her wide eyes shut as he snuffled at her shoulder, his nose pushing against her fur. For several seconds, Kveta held perfectly still, afraid of what the kath hound might do if she moved. In the end, it sneezed and nipped her and padded away.
On shaky legs, Kveta stood again, feeling her tail curl closer to her body some. There were more of them, moving around. A whole pack of them. But they paid her no mind though. Unsteadily and with caution, she approached, moving into the walls of the broken building. Some of them were laying down.
And I am tired. He will meet me here.
Kveta crept close, moving between sniffing noses of curious kath hounds. Smaller than the first one. She didn’t care. Curling into a ball next to a couple of them, she could feel their panting bodies against hers. Tail and aching paws tucked close, she closed her stinging eyes.
He promised he’d be here.
Name: Kveta (name within DLA: )
Race: Codru-Ji
Age: 7
Height: 2’8
Weight: 105
Birth place: Dantooine, farmhouse
Appearance:
Kveta is still young for a Codru-Ji, and therefore still in her wyrwulf form. Her six-legged body is covered in fur of a rich, red-brown coloring. It’s long, and thick, with tufts off her bent legs and long lengths hanging from her curly tail. Each paw is tipped with non-retractable claws and protected by thick pads from running around outside. She has beautiful, sea-green eyes and ears that stand straight up. Little fur tufts fly off the tips of those ears as well. As mentioned, she has six legs: a pair more forward, and then two pairs serve as more her back legs.
Though a mere juvenile, Kveta’s jaw is capable of biting and holding, with enough force to make it hurt. Due to growing up on an animal farm, where her primary task was to herd her parent’s livestock, Kveta’s cardiovascular system is supremely developed for one her age. She bears a large chest area viewing her from the side, and has narrow shoulders and hips. Though small in the shoulders, Kveta stands decently tall as a puppy, with her head rising to the hip of a man of average height. A lean creature, it’s easy to feel her body’s whipcord muscular structure when rubbing her down with vigorous pets.
A long, lolling tongue and a black-brown spotty nose complete Kveta’s adorable puppy-like expressions.
Personality:
Her world is currently very strange. Kveta is very aware of the situation happening around her, yet the Dantooine Liberation Army is without knowledge about Codru-Ji. Her current situation forces her to accept most people see her as nothing more than an animal, like the kath hounds. Albeit, she’s far more intelligent and, occasionally, serves more useful and clever purposes, such as fetching items.
Overall, Kveta is like a child and prone to childish behaviors. She is attracted to attention and love, and easily accepts any person who readily gives either. Though she loves to receive rubdowns, Kveta’s favorite actiosn are hugs, cuddles, and kisses. Usually, without hesitation, she’ll respond with kisses of her own, lapping up the cheek of her attention giver.
Those who don’t showcase some kind of love toward her receive the cold shoulder and she tends to ignore them. She does not respond to her name if she’s angry or extremely upset, and will usually run away and hide with protesting whines and barks.
Kveta’s easily frightened by strange objects larger than herself, such as a spaceship. Coming from an isolated animal farm, Kveta has yet to see many objects or even what a proper city looks like. Though she has a child’s curiosity, it has a large limit.
She is not like to stray from whoever she attaches herself to, or who she is told to go with. Danger of the DLA’s scale is something she’s never had to contend with before, and is therefore more like to be underfoot than any real help. She will need direction and guidance in dangerous situations, and a massive amount of comfort if she is wounded.
Other than that, Kveta can be a very happy, quirky Codru-Ji child. She likes to prance around and hop on her back legs. She likes to “talk”, which is only in barks, growls, and whines right now. Kveta is prone to bouts of excitement where her tail wags so quickly, one might think her bottom is about to waggle off. If she doesn’t feel like she needs it, she will provide comfort to another, and will also fetch things that she thinks might make a person feel better.
Occupation: Dantooine Liberation Army (DLA)
Rank: Full time puppy
Skills:
Passion
Oddness
Licking and biting people
Giving unconditional love
Herding
Imagination
Ships/Vehicles: N/A
Attributes:
Physical Strength: 3
Intelligence: 4
Speed: 4
Leadership: 2
Unarmed: 2
Melee Weapons: 0
Ranged Weapons: 0
Bio:
Rikka-si, Kveta’s mother, had been kidnapped not once but twice by a rival clan during her childhood. Her family paid a gross ransom for her safe return both time, largely denting the wealth of her own family. When she selected her mate, Toma was his name, Rikka-si was marrying in relative wealth, and hence realized her children were in increased danger of being kidnapped, just as she had been. Toma, who had been fortunate enough not to be ransomed for as a pup, listened to his wife’s concerns about children. As it was, Rikka-si did not want children unless their safety could be guaranteed.
A plan and agreement were struck between Toma and one of his friends, Dargo-ju. Together, the two men selected a safe place that would offer relative solitude for both of their families to raise their children quietly. They purchased their way to Dantooine, relying heavily on Toma’s wealth for transport and for their new home.
Luckily for Toma’s and his wife, Dargo-ju’s mate had grown up as a farmer. The Codru-Ji woman picked out their land, their animals, and began teaching her friends how to care for and fit into the roles of their new lives. Though difficult and over their heads at first, Toma and Rikka-si adapted to their new lifestyle.
Her primary concern absolved, Rikka-si was very open to having children, and so she did… six years apart. Kveta was the second child and had an older brother named Cyril during his pup years.
Kveta was her parents’ little “blossom”, hence her name. She was their little girl, after all, and probably the only one they would ever have. And like most parents, they found their daughter to be precious and beautiful. It wasn’t rare to find the extremely young Kveta bundled up in Toma’s arms, the father rocking his fidgety daughter to sleep.
Though begin extremely restless as a newborn, Kveta’s squirminess leveled out and soon she could fall asleep by herself. And she slept a lot. For long stretches at a time, usually only waking because her belly rumbled or if she needed to make a mess. It took her parents a bit longer to break her into the proper way to use the restroom.
As the months stretched out, Kveta eventually curled from her sleeping ball and became more active. She began to vocalize more, having to learn the proper way to address others with the tone of her barks. Though her parents found their daughter to be pleasantly cheerful, and her yips particularly high-pitched with joy when she was chased.
Her name fit her perfectly then.
Kveta went from reserved sleeping pup to hyperactivity. As the young codru-ji grew in limb coordination, she became more spritely, interactive, brighter, and happier. She became locked into a constant state of play, the scrambling scritches of her nails heard on the boards of the house. The pup stole things, making her brother chase her around the house. Because each time she stole from her parents, they would chase her and smack her bottom. The pup had to be warned more than several times to not chase the animals. One time one unhappy creature chased the young codru-ji. That wasn’t fun, not for the animal, not for Kveta, and especially not Kveta when her parents finally rescued her. More butt smacks. And corner seclusion.
Often getting on her brother’s nerves, Cyril’s snaps at her usually ended in rough playfights of nipping and fur pulling. As soon as the fights turned into snarls and squeals, Toma and Rikka-si would separate their children and berate them both. Despite this, whenever there was a thunderstorm, Kveta would sneak into Cyril’s room with tail between her legs. Their parents would find their daughter’s reddish brown fluffiness with their son’s dun coloring, his front leg protectively on his younger sister.
Cyril was an older pup when Kveta was born, and so she got to watch her brother go through his transition. Only two at the time, finding a rubbery blue cocoon in the place of her brother while sneaking into his room was… unsettling. Kveta howled in fear for her parents, smelling life, but not seeing her brother. Bleary-eyed parents answered their scared daughter’s call, who cowered in the corner of the room, ears folded back against the crash of thunder and wide eyes on her brother’s cocoon. Rikka-si spent a long time cuddling her daughter and soothing her raised fur.
While Kveta didn’t completely understand what was happening with her brother, she did get the sense it was normal from her parents. There was nothing to be afraid of. Happens to every codru-ji. Cyril was just getting older. He would look different when he came out, but he’d still be her brother.
The next weeks passed in comparative boredom for Kveta. With no brother to annoy and to play with, life seemed without fun. She watched over her brother’s cocoon, spending a long time lying on her brother’s floor. Her parents made a point to be more interactive with their daughter, often taking her with them on sunset walks. Rikka-si would snuggle with her daughter and read her stories, and spend extra long brushing the pup’s fur after a bath. Toma would roughhouse with his daughter, laughing jubilantly as he taunted his daughter with quick taps of his hands.
However, when the cocoon began to crack, the excitement began. Toma closed himself in her brother’s room, while Rikka-si sat outside, petting her daughter and waiting to be called. A couple of times, Toma stuck his head out, asking for towels and more snacks. Rikka-si would fetch the items, Kveta following with tail wagging.
It was some hours before Toma opened the door, inviting wife and daughter inside. Kveta, bouncing and pushing beneath legs and feet, came to a complete halt. Her butt dropped, and she refused to get closer. They were calling him her brother, but Cyril didn’t look like Cyril anymore.
He’d lost his fur, swapping for a shock of it upon his head. He now looked like Mom and Dad, with two legs, four arms, and that smooth, fair complexion of Mom and Dad instead of fur. He wore clothes now, and seemed very unsteady on his two feet as he hugged Rikka-si. The rubbery blue cocoon lay to the side, split, and damp, goopy towels tossed around it. Cyril looked at his sister, sitting beside Toma. With Rikka-si’s help, managed to his knees and growled at Kveta. The codru-ji pup took the encouragement and approached her brother, who stroked her ears and pulled her close for a hug.
Cyril wasn’t known as Cyril anymore, either, not with Mom and Dad suddenly calling him “Poruc-ni”. It wasn’t the first time Kveta witnessed a transformation, as Dargo-ju’s children, older than Kveta, made their transformations too. And afterward, they all went by different names.
Her relationship with Poruc-ni changed. While he would still surprise attack her from time to time, he would verbally communicate to her, trying to speak like Mom and Dad. He sounded funny, and Kveta couldn’t help but yelp at her brother in amusement, often frustrating him. Yet every time he would go for a run, Kveta would be right beside him, trotting along with bushy tail waving. She would still pester him, heckling him while he tried to finish his newfound chores now that he had hands. It was strange, having him yell at her now instead of just snapping his jaw. Occasionally, though, Poruc-ni would snap his teeth at her out of habit.
Now with Poruc-ni in his human form, Toma started to corral Kveta in the morning to help him around the farm. When he was still Cyril, he would help herd the animals from and to their pins each morning and evening. Kveta, being a bouncy, active pup still, would learn to take his place.
It was confusing, and Kveta always felt she was doing the wrong thing. Toma would constantly harass her with instruction, crying “no!” and “wrong!”. Feeling yelled at so much, Kveta grew frustrated very quickly, and would sit down and let Toma finish up the chore.
In fact, picking up Poruc-ni’s chores in general was a pain. From the herding to dragging a basket behind her during the harvest. The chores were difficult for the soft pup who, up until this point, had merely played. The working did help the pup with foot and eye coordination, as well as building the young codru-ji’s character. Rikka-si did, however, spend a lot of time applying healing ointments to the pads of Kveta’s feet, which dried and split often until they hardened.
However, as the months passed, Kveta would begin to herd well. At five, Kveta was the only pup between the two families. She was used for her ability to dig quickly. Some crops had large seeds, and Kveta would dig the holes while someone planted behind her. When weeds cropped up, she was once again employed to churn up the roots.
Herding became fun. It was time she got to spend with Toma, and there was a thrill in chasing the animals all the way home and into the pen. Toma would often flip her a delicious treat for all her help. From time to time, Kveta would get hurt. Toma would carry his daughter home as she whined over her stepped-on paw or from being kicked in the ribs. Rikka-si would scold both of them as she wrapped sprained legs and checked to make sure ribs weren’t broken. She bandaged split noses and washed the dirt from Kveta’s fur each night.
When not helping around the farm in her puppy way, Kveta amused herself around her home. She expressed an aptitude for creativity in the way she played with her toys, barking and growling in different pitches while moving one toy or another with a paw. This never ceased to amuse her parents, and Rikka-si would often sit and play house with her daughter as time allowed.
Both Toma and Rikka-si continued to read to her, and Kveta would howl and growl and yip as certain events played out in the stories. And when the thunderstorms came, Poruc-ni still welcomed his furry little sister into his bed, both arms over her protectively.
Some months into her sixth year, Kveta’s ear picked up the word “invasion” spoken between Rikka-si, Toma, and Dargo-ju. The pup noted her mother’s increased anxiety over the following weeks. Toma spent a significant time reassuring their safety to his wife. Nobody was interested in them, Kveta heard him say, eavesdropping through the door of their wall. They were just a codru-ji family, far from any city, living their life by selling crops and meat. They were insignificant. Nobody was going to come get their children. They were safe. Kveta was safe. They weren’t in danger. Nobody was interested in a family of codru-ji…
And for many months, that seemed to be true. Another harvest passed by, Kveta taken to her duties as a child farmhand without complaint now. Her body had grown lean and toned. She was strong for a pup, quick too, a better herder than Poruc-ni had ever been.
The only difference was the family would gather around to listen to the news. Noting the invasion of the so called “Sith Empire”, where it was, where it was going. Kveta didn’t understand it. She had no concept of where the nearest city was, the nearest town, the next neighbor besides Dargo-ju’s family.
One very early morning, Kveta awoke to yelling between Poruc-ni and Toma, their deep voices bellowing in argument. Kveta followed closely at the back of Rikka-si’s legs as the two emerged from their rooms. Ears folded back against the yelling, she watched as Poruc-ni pointed in a general direction, screaming something about the Sith and the Dantooine Liberation Army. Toma was kicking dust, snarling about how it wasn’t their fight and if they weren’t being bothered, they should just stay out of it. Poruc-ni argued that Dantooine was home and it was being overrun. Rikka-si sat down and pulled her daughter into her lap, petting Kveta’s fur with tears in her eyes. In the end, Poruc-ni kicked dust at his father and marched for the hills.
Toma went straight to the animal pens, calling for Kveta to come help him with the herd. The sky was just barely graying, but he decided with was best to start the day anyway. Afterward, though, Kveta sat staring at the hills and whining at her father. Toma scratched his daughter’s ears. Sometimes, you couldn’t hold them, he told her.
For weeks, Kveta sulked about her brother’s departure. Her parents found her on the porch, staring off toward where Poruc-ni had stomped away. More than a few times, they would find her sleeping in his bed instead of her own. Sometimes she whined when they approached her. There was no doubt the codru-ji pup missed her older brother dearly, to the point that it almost hurt to think about him. Kveta thought about him often.
And then, one day, he showed up again. Kveta was herding the animals back to their pens when she heard Toma shout. When she saw him next, he was running for a four-armed figure walking toward them. Dust was left in Kveta’s wake as she streaked past her father to bulldoze into Poruc-ni, her yips high pitched in her joy and excitement as she rapidly licked her brother in greeting. It had been months, and he’d missed her birthday and he’d missed his friend breaking her leg and Toma and Rikka-si celebrate their fifteenth anniversary and and and…
He was stronger, bulkier, and looked very dirty and tired. He embraced his father with an exhausted happiness. Poruc-ni had become more serious, perhaps hidden and a bit mysterious, like he had a side that he didn’t want to show his family. He’d been working with the DLA, doing what he could, and having to learn new skills. The family was all too happy to embrace their kin, though his message was not what they wanted to hear.
The Sith were coming. They were scouring the planet, looking for lifeforms outside their jurisdiction, claiming their homes and farms for their own, and moving the people where they could be more easily looked after. The DLA was a threat, and they wanted to demolish as many possible safe hideouts there could be, and that included places far from the cities.
Toma, of course, held distaste for the news and was unwilling to surrender his home that he and his friend had strived to build. What would the Sith want with some Codru-ji? There were more words, about how they couldn’t be afford to play idiot or to be complacent. Poruc-ni yelled about trying to bring them to the safety of the DLA. Kveta slunk off with ears plastered to her head and fled to atop the nearest hill in the growing moonlight.
In the end, Poruc-ni stayed with them. Life continued as normal, though Kveta could hear the growing strife between Toma and Rikka-si. As before, the pup found some solace in her big brother’s arms.
Yet weeks passed and Poruc-ni’s words suddenly rang true. The Sith knocked on their door, literally, and began asking questions. Who were they, what were they, how many, what they did, things like that. They looked skeptical when Rikka-si stood between them and Kveta, claiming the pup as her daughter.
One little “no” was all it took. Toma refused to give up his life’s work, to sacrifice his farm, trying to explain they wanted nothing to do with the DLA, with Dantooine really, that it was a place to live because no one could survive in the vacuum of space. Yet the Sith would hear none of it. Kveta wasn’t sure how it all started, but it did. Toma was suddenly baring his fangs and grappling with a soldier for control of a weapon. Rikka-si was sinking teeth into the hand of another. Then there was the whining sound and a flash of light burned a hole into the wall.
And Poruc-ni, grabbing her scruff, pointing a strange thing that shot light, and dragging her through the back. Kveta half followed, though was half dragged as well, a good distance from the house before he knelt and grabbed either side of her head. He told her to run south, to run until she found the sea, big, blue water without an end. Then the turn right, and to keep going, to find ruins, a big pile of rocks that once looked like a building.
He promised to meet her there.
Kveta knew which way south was when the sun was still shining. With hesitation in her step, the pup fled. Never before had she ventured beyond the range of the area they herded their animals. The pup ran as long as she could, though before long, her tongue lolled out of her mouth.
At night, she made her way through the plains, keeping as straight as possible. Though she collapsed for some sleep at some point. She’d never had to make such a journey before, and lapped at what puddles of water she found and ate prairie grass. She’d never known what it was to be hungry either. Two days to the sea.
Almost another to the ruins. Where she found kath hounds in the middle of the night. Though the hounds snarled and sniffed at the cowering Kveta in suspicion, after a couple of minutes, they seemed content with the Codru-ji’s presence. And at some point, Kveta found her squeezed between two of them, seeking a bit more warmed and to feel secure for the first time in three days.
The following morning, she found herself waking up to a hand petting her head. He was a strange creature, with two arms and two legs and little bumps on his head. He grinned down at her, saying something along the lines of “Fluffy” and “lost”, and scratched her behind her ears.
Kveta decided she liked him then. And he seemed to like it when she licked his face, enough to introduce her to his big friends. The pup realized where her brother had sent her now: the DLA.
And he promised to meet her here.
RP Sample:
Her paws hurt and her tongue was so dry that Kveta thought it might crack. She could get enough moisture to sooth her poor, poor tongue. Neither could she keep it in her mouth. It was so hot, and she was so very tired of running. Her eyes were sore as well. Not from a lack of sleep, just a lack of water.
When she found the ocean, Kveta could smell the water was not safe to drink. There was something wrong with it. It smelled funny. Bet it tasted weird. What was the use of water she couldn’t drink? Just a big… thing of… worthless water endlessly expanding before her eyes. It was stupid, it was. It taunted her.
I’m just a big puddle of water that’s not really water. You’re gonna want to drink me, but who knows what you’re actually drinking.
Maybe it would make her grow up faster?
Or maybe it had a great big monster that would pop up any minute now. Would it eat her? Or become her friend and share in her journey?
Kveta whimpered as a sharp blade of grass wedged just right into her cracked pad. Maybe I won’t make it. Maybe I’m just stuck here next to this sea thing. But Poruc-ni said he’d meet me at the ruins. She had to find the ruins. Her brother would be there, and he would wait for her. As long as it took. Because he loved her, right? That’s why he told her to run.
She didn’t want to think about the flashes of light and the mean creatures.
Just mean, mean. All of them mean. They wanted to hurt Moma and Dada. All they wanted to do. And take all the animals. Take all my friends. Have to meet Poruc-ni.
Her green eyes watched the sun sink from the sky as she put one paw in front of the other. There were fluffy puffs of clouds in the sky. They glowed in pretty colors, though they slowly faded into one inky blue. The moon never made anything pretty.
The winds from the plains ruffled her furs. The longer the night went on, the colder it got. Though the air smelled wet. Oh, please don’t rain. I don’t want to be wet. But if you have to cry on my head, you sad little clouds, please don’t shout. She hated thunder. It scared her.
She could go on a bit longer, though her legs hurt now.
She could go on a little bit longer, though her nose was so dry, it felt shriveled.
Just a little bit longer.
Just a bit.
Ten more steps.
Okay, maybe another ten. Then she’d stop and rest.
Then they loomed in the distance. A shadow, at first, but looking more and more like… a broken building! The broken building Poruc-ni told her about! He would meet her here! Kveta panted as she trotted onward, her soreness forgotten as the old shadow grew closer and closer…
And then the shadow snarled at her. Haunches dropped as her heart jerked forward in her chest. There was a snort and another growl, and she saw its eyes glitter in the moonlight. She sniffed. A kath hound? She knew about those, they weren’t so-
Oh my tail. It’s huge.
Kveta flattened herself to the dirt, her ears laying back as she stared at the huge hound. His teeth were bare as he slunk forward, nose twitching as he approached her. Her wide eyes shut as he snuffled at her shoulder, his nose pushing against her fur. For several seconds, Kveta held perfectly still, afraid of what the kath hound might do if she moved. In the end, it sneezed and nipped her and padded away.
On shaky legs, Kveta stood again, feeling her tail curl closer to her body some. There were more of them, moving around. A whole pack of them. But they paid her no mind though. Unsteadily and with caution, she approached, moving into the walls of the broken building. Some of them were laying down.
And I am tired. He will meet me here.
Kveta crept close, moving between sniffing noses of curious kath hounds. Smaller than the first one. She didn’t care. Curling into a ball next to a couple of them, she could feel their panting bodies against hers. Tail and aching paws tucked close, she closed her stinging eyes.
He promised he’d be here.
