Candice

## History

Born among the Fetid Creek of her mother Drinda and raised by Rosie, the young pup Candice was born in secrecy and stealth from raiding Wastelanders. The pack was searching for all kinds of dogs to kill and Candice was no exception; in fact Drinda, Rosie and Candice were all a heavy target for raiding dogs, leaving Drinda with many scars, Rosie with a gash in her shoulder and for Candice, a quick slice across her eye.

It was harsh for the trio; when Candice had grown to one year, she had outrun the cruel dogs for miles, accompanied by her mother and nanny. Candice would have dreams of the horrible dogs (and still has them now), bursting into the den with teeth bared, dripping blood and a hungry, sadistic look in their bloodshot eyes.

Seeming like everything was fine with easier kills and less drama, Candice soon noticed her mother was gradually becoming fiercer and wouldn't eat the prey she hunted. Candice had felt these feelings too; one day, Drinda told her daughter she wanted to go on a hunting trip for a few days. Candice and Rosie looked after themselves fine during the time she was gone, but when Drinda came back she had grave news to give.

The raiders had returned and she told her that in their path, they left bloodied paw-prints, claw marks and carcasses. Attempting to flee the area with no signs of their presence, one raider burst into the open, snarling and salivating frothy blood. As it leapt, Drinda called to her daughter and best friend: "Flee, don't worry about me, just go!"

Before Drinda could escape, the raider clutched onto her neck; Candice felt tears leak as the horrid gasping and sounds of suffocating emitted from her mother's throat. Hearing a few words, "G-g-g....go... please," Candice's tail tucked as Rosie relentlessly urged her to flee and when the two had, Candice began to hear the sounds of the raiders on her tail. As they managed to escape them, she and Rosie joined forces with a pack known as the Python's Fang.

Candice used to believe she was born into a healthy world, careless and free. Murder, scavenging, cannibalism... it was all normal to her, that is until she came across her first Eden convoy. A dog, looking so hygienic, clean... she looked into their eyes through their mask from a distance, until she was spotted - she and a few others who lived with her went into hiding. Through this sighting, she developed a strong interest and curiosity in these strange dogs.

One day, Candice's leader, Fendro, sought out to abduct a lone Edener and the risky act was a fierce success; known by the name of Kenba, he was a low-ranking scout but nonetheless he had enough knowledge to give... but would he tell them their rites? After continuous denial and secrecy, Kenba's mask was eventually torn off by Fendro out of anger. Not only was the mask now removed but Fendro's fangs had sunk past the fabric into the flesh, leaving Kenba now as an Infected.

He eventually explained to the Candice and her group that the things they wore over their faces were called 'masks' and were worn to protect from an illness that all life of the Wastelands had. She asked him about the life-customs of the Eden dogs, and comparing them with her own she felt there was a massive difference in behaviour. As the curious soul she was, Candice began to feel connected to the Edeners, now equipped with knowledge of them. Knowing her life was no different and only a new view of life shone, she had at first felt a fierce hatred for the Wastelanders (including herself), which gradually branched to depression and fear for the Wastelanders and her own group, Python's Fang... life in the Wastelands would definitely be seen in a different way to young Candice.

She continued her life as she did any other day, feeling the same pain in her eyes, the same dry, rustic scent emerging from her fur. Kills around her group were growing, madness was beating hard and the pain-staking murder of Kenba killed by Fendro had brought more anger, more fear for her kind. There had to be some way of curing this, but how could she cure something she had lived with her whole life? How could a sickness that she and every other dog around her was born with, grown with and died with, possibly be curable? She sought the answer, and devoted her life to finding a way. Kenba told her there was no cure when he was alive, but she refused to believe his logics... there was a way, there had to be.

From that day on, Candice fled her group and became a loner, wandering the paths of the Wastelands. Fendro's insanity, Kenba's death... the rotting smell of decay all about and the death-screams piercing her ear-drums... she feared she had gone mad already.

Hiding away in the hidden spots of the Fetid Creek, Candice began to feel the sickness setting in deeper and deeper. It became difficult to eat, drink and sleep. Her dreams were filled with terror of Kenba's death, her own mother's death and the vapors in the air corrupting every soul to a devilish side. Candice would wake, sweaty and reeking of fear; her eyes would drip blood, her stomach felt like a burning coal and she was salivating heavy amounts of blood. She saw others... others further down in the Infection. Parts of their flesh had been bitten or just simply had rot away, their fur coats looked damp with sweat.

*This illness... it's taking all life in the Wastelands, corrupting and disposing of it...*