Secondary Image
:: Name ::
Havik
Also called Havi by some very close friends and Vika by his dam
:: Age ::
Five
:: Gender ::
Stallion
:: Sexuality ::
Homoromantic/Bisexual
He/Him
:: Band ::
The Southern Band
:: Rank ::
Heir
:: Breed(s) ::
American Paint Horse
:: Appearance ::
Standing at a proud 15.2hh—and still growing, he'll remind you—Havik is pretty as a picture in everything from his colour to his build to the way he carries himself as he surveys the Southern Band's territory. His features are all refined and feminine with large, expressive eyes and a face that tapers to a point at his pink muzzle. A full blaze adds to and accentuates this with the illusion that that his face is thinner than it is. He always looks alert, thinking, like he's constantly processing everything around him, small ears flicking at every sound. His mane and tail are sparse; though the thin hair grows long, it tends to break off before covering his neck or touching the ground.
His body seems to be in juxtaposition to his pretty face, from his short neck and barrel chest to his thick hindquarters and long legs; it's clear that he was built strong for protection and endurance, making him quite capable of doing his job as heir, and an exceptional candidate as his band's possible future leader. He does like to point out that he's still at "that awkward stage" and though his body is somewhat gangly now, and yes, his hip is a little high, he still has time to even out before he's finished growing for good.
What's possibly the most striking about Havik on first sight, however, is his uniquely beautiful coat. The sandy buckskin isn't uncommon enough to turn heads, though the fawn-like shade adds to the overall softness of his appearance. No. What's so unique about him are the tovero markings that mottle and interrupt the colour with white along the sides of his body, leaving his legs and the top of his neck completely colourless.
:: Personality ::
+Dedicated +Loyal +Intelligent | -Guarded -Capricious -Gauche
Havik tries so, so hard to stay somber, and he does a pretty good job of it as well. He takes his role as heir very seriously, considering the implications of the title, and realizes that it's just as much his responsibility as his leader's to keep the band safe. He's diligent as far as his scouting patrols go, and is always at his leader's beck and call—he didn't have to be given this position, so he does whatever he can to show that he not only deserves the honour, but treasures it. In some ways, he makes it his whole life, with little room for anything else. It's important, after all. Losing his family and loved ones made him realize that; next time, he wants to be able to make a difference, even if that's only alerting the band so they have enough time to escape before any of them can be taken away.
That alone means the world to him.
But there are chinks in his armor where the briefest moments of his true self shine through. Still young, and young at heart, it's clear that there are times when Havik wants to be excused from his duties so he can relax and socialize with his bandmates. Despite the desire, months of mostly keeping to himself have left him quite awkward and he tends to either overthink everything he says, or just blurts out whatever's on his mind in attempt to appear more casual, depending on his company. It tends to get worse around those he's not familiar with, those he's in complete awe of, or those he likes just a little more than a bandmate or friend.
:: Bio ::
Months prior, when he and his family coexisted with the Native people of the land, Havik was happy. Most of the time he spent with people was when he was too young to be good for anything but a laugh, bucking and kicking with the other colts as they played pretend, imagining they were the great warriors from their parents' bedtime stories. Havik, in particular, was quite the comedian as a foal; he was nosy and got into things he shouldn't, and then reacted with an explosion of energy like a land mine being stepped on when he was scolded. He never really was much of a pocket pony in his youth, and perhaps that bled over into his young adulthood, contributing to his social awkwardness.
As he grew older and was finally backed for the first time, the colt's desire to stay free and do his own thing only grew; he really wasn't so sure he liked having those funny naked two-legged things on top of him where he couldn't see what they were up to. He was pretty sure that he was destined for bigger things, anyway; he wanted to be a great fighter, like his hero, Cumulonimbus, who was a jet black stallion said to bring about violent storms to vanquish his enemies. He was old enough to know that those were just old mare's tales, but it didn't stop him from dreaming, even when he was far past the age of playing pretend. The tribe didn't consider him a lost cause just because he was hard to handle, though. It just meant that they had to work harder until Havik began to comply with what they were asking, and eventually he did. Even if he didn't like it.
Through all this, one of the few things that made any of it bearable at all was a stallion named Nimbus, just a year older than him and named for the warrior in his favourite mare's tale. That was probably why he liked him so much, to be honest. It had much less to do with Nim's shy, reserved nature and the way he looked up at everyone through thick, long lashes with his head held submissively low. It had absolutely nothing to do with the way he was gentle with the people and genuinely appeared to enjoy letting them crawl all over him, and how he treated the younger horses with the same careful manner. It most certainly had nothing whatsoever to do with the way the sunlight crept over his back and through his mane, catching on his eyelashes as he raised his head in the early mornings to greet Havik when he came closer. If he was crushing on the other male, he wouldn't have said anything.
Along with Nimbus came a human girl who practically hung off him like a tree. The two of them were nearly always together, so even if Havik had wanted to confess the feelings that he definitely did not have, he just wouldn't have felt right doing it in front of the girl. She was a handsy little thing, too, though Havik was pretty sure she was old enough to know better, and no matter how many times he tried to set her straight, there was no stopping her from braiding flowers into what little hair he had, picking the burrs from his coat (which he hated; he'd worked hard to collect those), or washing the patches of mud off his white spots. He was impeccably clean because of her, and he despised that. Warriors weren't supposed to be clean, after all. He didn't mind her, though; especially when she called him a big, strong warhorse and painted him with things besides flowers and butterflies; Havik wore that paint like a badge of honour. This girl liked to play pretend, too, and sometimes when they rode down to the river to collect water, she'd tell him stories where the two of them left on a conquest to get rid of anyone who threatened their way of life. And Nimbus could come, too, of course.
All that was nice, until the time actually came to defend their people. Havik would have stayed and fought, but as it turned out, war was scarier than he'd ever thought it would be. In the skirmish, Havik lost his girl and his parents, and watched as Nimbus was trapped with ropes and pulled off by the invaders who managed to subdue him no matter how much he fought. The whole experience left Havik shaken as he was finally forced to escape with a small group of horses led by Dale.
He changed after that. The exuberant, eccentric colt seemed to have been left behind in the smoke and ashes, creating a husk of a horse who spent far too long trying to process everything. Slowly, he regained a sense of self, something much closer to what a warrior actually should be rather than his foolish idealized image.
:: Family/Relations ::
Family
Sire - Phantom, a large cremello overo with a very over-the-top and energetic nature
Dam - Lasciel, a petite bay tobiano with a flair for dramatics
Friends
Past
Nimbus; a grey stallion with whom Havik certainly, definitely, most assuredly did not have feelings for, probably.
Current
(None right now, but definitely open!)
Enemies
(None right now, but definitely open!)
Romantic Interest
None (PM me for discussion)
:: Views ::
Dale; (To be added)
Lucca; (To be added)
:: Other ::
Wind Rush
Theme Songs
Greyson Chance - Low
CANVAS - Spell It Out
Novo Amor & Ed Tullett - Alps
* * *
:: Name ::
Chenoa
:: Age ::
Nine
:: Gender ::
Mare
:: Sexuality ::
Panromantic/Pansexual
She/her
:: Band ::
Northern
:: Rank ::
Follower
:: Breed(s) ::
Quarter Horse
:: Appearance ::
Standing just over fifteen hands and perfectly proportioned, Chenoa certainly is a sightly mare. Her build resembles that of a hunter-type Quarter Horse, with sleek musculature, a powerful hindquarter, and long legs and neck. Her head is small but fits nicely on the thinness of her neck, which connects to a straight, narrow shoulder and back. She's deep through the heart girth, her legs are straight and correct. Through confirmation alone, she's a stunning little mare, clearly made for sport and suitable as a hunter or light riding horse.
Her colouring isn't anything special. Chenoa is a strawberry roan, out of strawberry roan parents, though with the amount of white mixed into her light chestnut hair suggests that she's dominant for the gene. With the way in which she's roaned out, she could almost be mistaken for a varnish Appaloosa, with the white concentrated mostly toward her back and hindquarters, but this isn't the case. Still, for such a common colour, the mare wears it well, fully enjoying the stereotype of the fiery redhead, even if it's not (always) true. Maybe it's because her mane and tail are flaxen like spun gold, rather than the matching red that they should have been; she's not totally red, so she can pick and choose when she wants to uphold the cliche.
As lovely as she is with her confirmation and colouring, upon closer inspection, one might notice that her ears are just a little too large for her head, and her eyes are just a little small, set wide on her head. It's lucky for her that the star and faint stripe disguise this fact just enough that it's hardly noticeable unless she's being finely examined. If brought up, she simply brushes it off because they're not flaws, they're uniquenesses; every horse is different, and how boring would it be if they were all the same, right? However, the irregular socks and stockings on each of her legs do little to hide the scars on her pasterns which are certainly not a result of genetics.
:: Personality ::
+Magnanimous +Ambitious +Optimistic | -Obstinate -Reckless -Thoughtless
While Chenoa's name is widely believed to mean "dove" in the language of the Cherokee, this little mare is nothing like the supposed symbol of peace and purity; instead, she's much more alike to the river that she was truly named for. Babbling non-stop to anyone who will listen and blazing her way through the path of least resistance, Chenoa has always been said to have water in her personality. She is strong-willed and bullheaded, often charging into things headfirst without thinking, though one must admire her passion to do so repeatedly until she accomplishes whatever it is she set out to do. Nothing can get in her way and nothing can stop her once she has her mind set on something, no matter what that something is.
In some contrast to her ubiquitous intransigence, Chenoa is also quite positive and upbeat. Some may find her devil-may-care attitude to be annoying, especially when she's bulldozing her way through their problems in what might seem like an insensitive manner. It's not that she doesn't care, however; it's just that sometimes she's so focused on the goal that she forgets her cause. This can be especially troubling because she likes to spend so much of her time helping others, and doesn't realize that she may be doing more harm than good. Still, Chenoa is well-meaning, and most can respect that about her, if nothing else.
:: Bio ::
It's generally understood that not every horse who leaves the camp will return. After generations of seeing it happen, it was just something that was accepted. Some even wanted to be chosen and saw it as a symbol of their perfection. Chenoa was not one of them. She had no desire to see what exactly happened to the horses that never came back, and preferred her perfectly peaceful life as a hunt horse alongside her sire to any adventures beyond the horizon. Living with the tribe was easy, she was well cared for and loved, given numerous outlets for what her favourite person called "exuberant expressiveness", and wanted for nothing. She was content with this lifestyle, and didn't even mind that it could be a little on the boring side sometimes.
Of course, it couldn't last. Nothing good ever does. When six-year-old Chenoa was traded to a neighbouring tribe, she spent months wondering what exactly she'd done wrong. These new people were rougher with her; they didn't have the softness the of experienced hands that she was used to, and judging by the state of their herd, it was clear that they really were just inexperienced. It wasn't their fault, and she could never hold it against them. That didn't mean she liked them. And it certainly didn't mean she had to cooperate.
Especially not when she discovered what their purpose for her was.
Chenoa had been traded as a broodmare, to strengthen their weak little herd. She should have figured as much when she was taken to her new home with two other mares, but it hadn't entirely clued in until it was too late. Her colt, Marlowe, was born in the spring of her seventh year, and she adored him despite the fact that the people she began to call her "captors" knew little of breeding and the diet of a mare in foal. It wasn't her son's fault that her body was permanently scarred, or that she'd lost an obscene amount of weight. For him, she did everything she could to stay positive.
Inexperienced with foals, the redhead did her best to be a good mother to him, teaching him the best places to nip humans to make them leave him alone, and showing him how best to release his own exuberant expressiveness. Above all, she taught him to be positive: one day, he would be able to make his escape, and when he did, he would know exactly where to go because she also made sure he knew the general direction back to where she was from.
With much perseverance and all of her zeal, Chenoa managed to free herself from her captors and made her way back to her home. Bedraggled and unkempt, it took the mare much longer than it should have to return after her escape; most seemed to think that she was blowing her story a little out of proportion, which was probably at least mostly true, but she didn't really mind. They could think what they wanted. The important part was that she was home, the scars on her body had healed, and upon inspection of her state, there was little chance of her ever ending up back in the hands of the careless tribe again.
:: Family/Relations ::
Family
Sire - Arroyo, a small and stocky hunt horse who was also prolific during races.
Dam - Nerida, a lithe mare who was akin to a Thoroughbred in appearance, lending most of her looks to her daughter.
Son - Marlowe, a big bay tobiano colt who looked like he might max out over 16hh.
Friends
(None right now, but definitely open!)
Enemies
(None right now, but definitely open!)
Romantic Interest
None (PM me for discussion)
:: Views ::
To Be Added
:: Other ::
Wind Rush
Theme Songs
Leo Stannard x Frances - Gravity
Anthem Academy - Good Life
Wylder - Swells