Melody

Melody is another central main character of the **Into The Whispering Woods** series, lives in Haven.

### Personality

Melody works too hard, simple as that. She puts others before herself to where it's problematic, but the others know she means well. A born leader and surprisingly very persuasive if there's something she 'needs'.

### Strengths

* Is able to remain focused in even the most stressful situations.
* Very persuasive, if not persistent.
* Strong bite force.

### Faults

* Physical: Has weak legs and can't walk properly in either stance. Needs support crutches or a wheelchair.
* Reminding her of bad memories is enough to cause her a momentary shut down.

## Skill

### Increased Sensory Awareness

A strangely acute form of knowing who's about to walk through the door before it's even revealed.

## History

Melody and her family used to live in the farmlands, an area governed by Brackenridge Von Ulfstein and were struggling to make a simple living, to where even the kids were working. Concord and Bishop moved in with each other to aid each other after Melody's mother up and left without a word, leaving Concord alone with at least two litters of pups, Melody being the oldest in the first litter.

With the Sandlewood's farming business being 'pulling', Melody was unable to contribute due to being born with weak legs, initially giving her a posture similar to a weak German Shepherd but unable to stand upright. Concord and Bishop put together what little money they had to buy Melody some supportive splints just for the sole purpose of being able to play with her brothers, sisters and cousins since she was missing out on important social skills.

As Melody was finally able to interact socially, she was desperate to catch up on some much needed playtime, and her cousin Rook was the only one willing to indulge her endless desire of play. They crept outside one night and played catch, but as Melody chased a ball that was tossed too far, she was suddenly ambushed and beaten viciously, her screams catching the attention of her father and uncle and the assailants took off into the night. The injuries she endured included shattered leg bones and causing severe pain to the pup, and she was quickly rushed to the hospital by medical personnel.

Melody's older cousins, Rook included, decided to hunt after the assailants via footprints, and happened upon Brackenridge's property, and even found the baseball bat with patches of fur and blood on it. The cousins took this info to Concord and Bishop and the two filed a lawsuit, but Concord went through hell with corrupted police officers trying to get him to drop the case through various means, from attempted force to even bribery, and even Brackenridge himself claiming he had no involvement, but Concord remained steadfast through the whole ordeal until Bishop got Regent Kraven IV involved, who examined the evidence himself and declared that Concord was in the right, winning Concord the demanded amount of money to pay for Melody's hospital bills and surgery, even acquiring donations from various civilians after witnessing the video Rook's cousin had uploaded. The money won and the donations were enough to get Concord and Bishop a cozy living place in the business district, where their pulling business expanded and even got Melody some new support splints after her legs healed enough, but she could never walk properly again, requiring the assistance of crutches or a doggy wheelchair to get around.

### Meeting Ridge

In the Haven equivalent of 'elementary school', Melody only had her cousin Rook to count on, not able to play with the other schoolchildren because of her disability and often having to take physical therapy lessons in between classroom time while Rook remained nearby if she needed help.

In class, a new student, who had been avoiding everyone, student and teacher alike, like the plague, had been picked to choose a partner from the jar, and the paper read Melody's names. Given Melody's condition, Rook was allowed in on the partnership and the three worked on the assignment, the new student, named Ridge, being awfully quiet and antisocial, but doing his part. The trio worked, but Melody was curious, and started passing little notes to him, not expecting to get a reply.

To her surprised, Ridge started replying with little notes of his own, and the two gradually grew to vocalizing their conversations, and became good friends to where Ridge would go over to Melody's place, but would be hesitant to go back home for some reason.

### Meeting Skipper and Indigo

As higher school years approached, Melody and Ridge developed their own interests, Ridge studying mythology while Melody studied her own thing, Rook taking courses on being a personal disability assistant. Melody eventually met Indigo, and eventually Skipper, both becoming her best friends while Ridge was dealing with issues at home as well as the enrollment of his half-brother Kaine. The pair accepted Ridge pretty quickly, but Kaine kept his distance from each of them, gluing himself to Ridge but watching everyone else wearily.

At some point Ridge asked Melody out, and initially unsure, she accepted. Everyone was unsure. Even Concord.

### Trauma

When Melody graduated basic learning school and enrolled into a successful boarding school, she began to think about what she wanted to do with her life. Settle down, have a family, but Ridge seemed to be having a disagreement with his father about the whole thing to where his father gave him a very vague threat, Melody put those plans aside until they could come up with something. Ridge, however, knew she wanted kids of her own, and thought about letting someone else impregnate her, and for some reason Kaine was all too willing to oblige, without anyone's knowledge, not even Ridge's.

During one of Ridge's social parties, Kaine chose to make his move while Ridge was stoned out of his mind in plain view of their father's hidden home security cameras, and made a move on Melody while she was also trying this experimental haven-weed stuff, all the while Rook was distracted with a gaming stream he was participating in.

Melody pieced things together quickly and had several mixed reactions, and now she was pregnant. Kaine was stoic, Ridge was horrified, and when Ridge's dad found out, he initially confronted Ridge, but Kaine came to his defense, both vocally and physically, admitting that the pups were his, which for some reason infuriated their father even more.

On one of Melody's outings, she received a text message from Ridge and wandered away from Rook to where she found herself alone. When she tried to find Rook, she was jumped and assaulted, taking several nasty blows to the belly which resulted in a miscarriage of seven pups and another hospital visit. Fortunately, the assailant was caught, and placed under house-arrest.

Melody recovered physically, but mentally and emotionally, she never completely recovered, being plagued by nightmares every few days or so and being plagued by severe panic attacks to where she completely shuts down entirely. Ridge made things worse by breaking off the relationship and isolating himself from everyone.

### An Apex Operation

Still dealing with the trauma of the attack, as well as her final year at the boarding school, her peers plan a summer getaway party for her and other graduates, hoping that she can let loose and relax, but things get tense when a wrangler arrives without any known reason.

## Relations

### Symphony

Melody's missing mom. She's confused as to why her mom would just up and leave, especially when she had a litter of pups barely old enough to open their eyes.

### Rook

Her cousin, best friend and live-in assistant. Rook is rarely ever far away and trained to become an aide because he feels he's at fault for her being disabled in the first place.

### Ridge

Was her best friend, but recent issues caused them to grow apart, albeit unwillingly. She's worried about him after hearing from Skipper that he tried to overdose on sleeping pills a few days after refusing to stand against his father.

### Indigo

The black to Melody's gray, the pessimist to Skipper's optimist, the down-to-earth but highly protective friend, is much more aware of how much life can really suck.

### Skipper

The white to Melody's gray and the optimist to Indigo's pessimist, has her head up on the clouds and an unhealthy obsession with coyotes. Acts as Melody's extra eyes and is good at gathering needed information.

### Brackenridge Von Ulfstein

She's never hated anyone more than she's hated this guy.

### Trey

He makes her suspicious, but for some reason is resistant to her persuasive talent.

## Appearances

### An Apex Operation

Her friends plan a summer getaway for her official retirement from boarding school presidency, but something's amiss when a wrangler arrives for no reason.