Arrow

Artist: MeowPazzow

## Backstory

### Childhood

Arrow was born in Regensburg, Germany. When he was only around four years old his parents dropped him off near an orphanage, supposedly because they were unable to raise a child at the time. It didn't take long for him to be found and taken in by the orphanage which quickly became his new home a year later. Growing up he had no issue making friends as he was a very sociable kid even at a young age. He managed to keep his hopes up that one day his parents would return for him and they'd return to their normal lives. As time went by no family seemed to take interest in adopting him nor did his parents ever seem to return for him, at the time he was unaware of their passing. He didn't seem to let this bother him as he had a semi permanent room in the orphanage by the time he was six years old. He spent most of his days running around playing whatever games he could with the other kids there.

His best friend at the time, Theodosia, was more timid and quiet at a young age so the two seemed like they'd make for a fairly odd friendship but in the end they seemed to never stop talking or hanging out, making it hard to forget someone like that when he grew up. At the time he also made friends with Cherry, Riley, and Ella. Ella had supposedly run away at some point but the caretakers never seemed to tell them what had really happened to the girl. So it ended up just being the four. They wasted their days away hanging out and playing non-stop it seemed.

It wasn't until Arrow was around ten that his life had a major change. It was fairly late when it happened but a woman arrived at the orphanage, talking with the caretakers for several hours before Arrow was informed he finally had a new home to go away with. Arrow was hesitant at first, claiming that he wanted to wait for his parents which lead to the caretakers finally breaking the news to him. He found it hard to believe that only a year after his parents had dropped him they passed away in a car crash. He never got much info on where they were headed or if they were ever going to truly come back for him if they had still been around so he ended up leaving with the woman that night. For a long while he often felt lost and angry that he had to get used to.

Not long after leaving the orphanage his mother bought him a few essentials before taking the long move to Venlo, Netherlands. Here was when he was introduced to his second language. His mother, being born in the Netherlands, felt the need to teach him her mother language despite him only knowing German for his whole life so far. Although Dutch wasn't hard to pick up due to it not being far off from German, he was still fairly against learning it because at the time it felt like she was trying to erase his past though that was never the intent. They lived there until he was twelve years old before she announced to him that they'd be making another large move. This time they'd be going to the United States. It wasn't until they had really arrived there that she introduced him to the man she had been dating for awhile and they finally decided to move in together. With another big shift in his life he felt more out of touch with his roots and for awhile was bitter towards his new parents as he strongly believed his parents were still out there.

The family moved out to California and settling in the Mojave desert. After finally settling in Arrow was put into a public schoolhouse since neither of his parents could stay home and really teach him. This was a struggle for him as he only knew German and Dutch so he often didn't understand the lessons and couldn't ask for assistance either. This often lead to him missing out on a lot of information and causing his grades to never be great. This caused him to have to learn a third language which his father went out of his way to spend hours on in teaching the other it. It took awhile but in the end his English came out to be pretty good though he couldn't quite catch up in school due to his education be quite all over the place, which often lead to many seeing him as being a pretty dull kid.

When he wasn't in school he spent his days traveling around the desert and the small civilizations in them. They seemed very old time and western, their fashion screaming they were definitely not ones for modern day things. Once he reached the age of fourteen he seemed to really find himself enjoying the "cowboy" life and began to practice the different skills it took to be a "cowboy". Although he was often told this wasn't a talent his parents always seemed to say otherwise, reassuring him that he could be the best cowboy there ever was.

When Arrow turned fifteen his parents trusted him to deliver a package to a small town called Clear Gates. Upon arriving he took the package straight to the mayor, Sylvester, intending on getting in and out. Though this didn't go quite as planned as the mayor asked if he'd be willing to do him a favor. Arrow didn't want to be rude and decline so he took up the offer. He went on his way to deliver a letter from the mayor to another town nearby. He was unaware that his parents had come searching for him in Clear Gates and told that Arrow had not been seen in town leading his parents to believe he was now missing. He returned near sun down, ready to get back home and cuddle up with his mother, but yet again this didn't quite go as planned as Sylvester broke the news that their small town had been raided by some dangerous bandits and that it'd be safer for him to stay with him for awhile. After this day Sylvester found a way to keep him roped into the town, eventually naming him a sheriff giving him an even stronger reason no to go. Arrow often got homesick, missing his mother and father, but could never find a way out of the mayor's grasp. That was until he turned eighteen.

### The First Game

Long before being apart of DRVIIX he was trapped in another game similar to the one he's in now. He was more fierce and bold in the game before. He often said it was because he had someone special always by his side who had a flame that couldn't be put out. To him he saw this special someone as an inspiration. Her name was Theodosia and was someone he grew up with for a long time, so she was no stranger to him going into this game. Throughout the game the two were inseparable as they confided in each other and always seemed to have each other's backs despite the grim reality of the game they were trapped in.

The two also had a few other friends intertwined in their little friend group. Those few being Cherry, Riley, and Quinn. They all agreed to stick with each other throughout the entire game because they beloved these were the people they could trust in the end. As days passed and several trials passed the group number seemed to dwindle until it left just Riley, Theodosia, and Arrow near the end. Theodosia seemed to grow more nervous by the end and even began to speak as if she was already being targeted. Arrow did what he could to reassure the other that he'd protect her and that she was going to be ok. Though he did his best to reassure the girl that he'd grown to love in the end, his eyes gave away the despair he felt about it all.

He knew deep down she saw it too but he refused to admit that aloud as he wanted to believe it would end up being alright and he'd get to see a life with Theo after they escaped. Though his hope and plans for the future seemed to be quickly shattered when a new motive was released and not long after that day, a new victim came up. The other was left feeling lost when the victim was revealed to be Theodosia. He seemed horribly shaken, for once his blind optimism and calm front vanished by the end. When the trial arrived he seemed to blindly accuse the people he once considered friends. In the end the blackened turned out to be Riley, someone he had refused to accuse before during the trial. As soon as Riley was revealed to be not only the blackened but the mastermind as well, Arrow seemed to lose his senses as the group scrambled to take down the person who had put them into this horrible situation. Though their attempts seemed to go nowhere as Riley decided to destroy the mansion so no one could escape.

As the four survivors rushed to escape, Arrow found himself unable to go. He stayed behind as Riley stood not far away in the main area also attempting to escape. Despite the risk of losing his own life he aimed his gun at the other and fired, killing the other in the end. He had accepted this as being the perfect way to go out, he got his revenge, but Ai seemed to have other plans as she hurriedly got the other out of the way before several pieces of rubble came tumbling down. Ai was never seen again once it all fell and a piece had caught Arrow's arm as he was pushed away, causing to lose some mobility in the arm. In the end, he was one of the three survivors of the game but now has no recollection of what had gone down before.

### Life After

After escaping the game Arrow continued to feel lost and even more alone after losing the love of his life. In the end he ended up travelling the deserts, avoiding Mojave for a long time, as he wanted to be free and try to find himself after all that had happened. During this time he decided to grow his hair out enough to cover up his eyes as he grew ashamed knowing that he had failed to cheer Theodosia up because of them. He spent two years travelling around with Miles and collecting fun little knick knacks on his adventures. During these times he was able to forget all that had happened and was at peace though these peaceful and carefree times in his life didn't last long when he was suddenly roped into another cruel killing game.

## Relationships

### Tetsuo

Arrow seemed very fond of Tetsuo from the start of the game. At first the feelings seem to just stay as being friendly though it didn't take long for him to grow a much stronger feeling towards Tetsuo though he was hesitant to admit it to himself after his last lover. He would eventually come to terms with how he felt for the other but buried them beneath his other emotions as admittedly he was scared to get back into such a relationship during the game and a part of him hoped that the other would return the feelings. Throughout their time hanging out together Arrow found himself often getting lost in the other as he brought him a sense of comfort and was more calm compared to Hamari which was something he preferred a lot more.

### Apollo

Arrow was unaware of Apollo's existence for quite a while in the game. It wasn't til after a certain chapter that the other came to his attention in a way he didn't quite care for. Upon learning how Apollo felt towards Tetsuo he quickly felt an old anger deep down resurface towards the other. It had been awhile since he had felt such a hatred towards another person but he found this situation to be painfully familiar so he couldn't help but only feel bitter towards Apollo.

### Hamari

Although the two never quite seem to see eye to eye they get along fairly well. They're both kind hearted and dull people so it's not too difficult for them to get along though their perspectives on how they project their emotions are what set their relationship apart some. Hamari is a more open and vibrant person who always tries to make friends with those she meets while Arrow prefers to keep himself closed up and leaving little room for others to make friendships with him. He enjoys the other's company from time to time but for the most part prefers to spend his time with Tetsuo and Hamari is sometimes too much to handle when just hanging out but this is mainly just on him for being a fairly laid back person when it comes to hanging out with others.