Marquis

Lilia (Sister, NPC)

Westward and Harvey (Brothers, NPCs)

## Application Sheet

Marquis was a dark brown, near-black, wolf with forest green eyes. He joined Aryn in the midst of the Hive Wars, where his story is ongoing. Marquis was created and RP'd by FVKKAT.

## Personality

* ***Articulate, Charming, Hardworking, Protective, and Thorough.*** Mars is well-spoken, it’s obvious that he comes from a family of knowledge. The large wolf takes time to explain his words and meanings if given the opportunity. It brings a sort of charming air about him. They carry themselves confidently around with a small smile spread along their lips. If one were to switch subjects or change the pace of conversation, he’ll vary the ways he talks in order to stay on topic and keep up with his company. While he is able to swoon and sway others when necessary, he is still protective over his pack, family, and friends and he will put himself first to guard those he cares for most if pretty language fails him. Marquis is devoted to his role within the pack and he has given himself a regime that he actively follows in order to achieve the best version of himself that he can be. He will perform with empathy for those around him, and strive to maintain that self-perfected image he’s crafted. Each step of their journey has been wrought with tough challenges— from crossing foreign lands to scavenging for food to fighting for his life— he survived due to his ability to be thorough as he searched for something better than what was left behind. Due to his methodical and fast-acting mind, it's ingrained into the smallest threads of his body that he won't stand down from investigation or curiosity, even if it's a trivial scenario he’s found himself in.
* ***Competitive, Confidential, Formal, and Solitary.*** The black wolf never backs off from a challenge, whether it be a race or fight, he is almost overzealous in his desire to participate and prove himself to those around him. That sense of obligation was bred into him through his old ways of life within his former pack and that makes him unable to turn away even the hardest requests, but it also adds to why he speaks very little of his past in the first place. It’s hard to verbalize those events and downfalls without triggering some form of negative response from them. If he’s approached with these subjects, their mood often takes a turn for the worse, all manners are forgotten. Masked in formality, Mars knows it’s far easier to present himself beautifully to everyone rather than show the flaws in his design and be judged for it. *“No one will favor those who don’t strive for perfection,”* his mother used to state every day as a pup. Even after all that time, she still held sway over his self-image. While he favors the company of his pack above most else, he still enjoys being alone for most of his day-to-day errands and chores and finds distractions during work to be off-putting at best. Regardless, Marquis will make due, and he will remain compliant and cool even when faced with things he’d rather forget.
* ***Brutal, Impulsive, Obsessive, Reactionary, and Tense.*** For someone with high standards for themselves, they're often overtly brutal in fights and borderline skeevy during them. He often acts on a whim to protect those he loves, a habitual reaction of fear and insecurity from days long since past. Mars is afraid to lose what he lost before, and he attempts to improve these aspects about himself to prevent history from repeating itself. They are willing to work through tough situations best they can, but they’ll resort to violence if all else fails. This weaves a very tense personal bubble around them, but they’ll constantly mask it with a sweet smile and words to discourage any further confrontation. Very little does he open up to others, perpetually worried things will grow too heated or corrosive and he'll end up with another death etched into the back of his head. Connections as a whole make Mars sick to their stomach, so they rely on their ability to lie through their teeth in order to avoid finding out the exact reasons for these terrible feelings.

## Pre-Group History

His Mother Camille and his Father Roseward had been born and bred in the pack. They were lovers from a young age and as a result, children followed in their steps early on into their official marriage: Lilia, Westward, Marquis, and Harvey. Being born into Haal was how one would expect any seaward pack: to be perpetually covered in sand, salt, and the smell of the ocean and its mighty breeze. It is one of the few things that makes him reminisce and think back on his childhood, having grown up with his siblings who spent most of their time in the family den sites littered around the shoreline. They overlooked the oceanside right from their nest; a lagoon always filled with wolves and wondrous sights and sounds. It felt like something that belonged in a dream for a child so young.

As they all began to sprout like weeds, Mars spent most time with his brother Harvey. They would often adventure beyond the den for lizards and birds that had lost their way. They weren’t really aiming to hunt but spent that time burning their energy in one another’s company, and it was the safest area to do so within the borders of the pack— something their Mother made clear to them time and time again. But when he was with her beyond he and his brother’s safe bubble, they ventured in the shallows. He often searched for sand dollars, shells, and the occasional slug stuck to a rock of which he’d slug-nap and later stick to his sleeping siblings, much to his Mother’s disgust.

The ocean had always been a part of Mars’ upbringing, and his earliest days could be recounted by the myriad of shells and trinkets he brought back for his family.

When Mars was able to comprehend more than just the basics, he started to understand the dynamics and his role in the pack. It was simple: he was to grow to provide and protect for those around him. Those ideals were all introduced by his Father, who in turn was taught by the Alpha known then as Hale. He was a wolf of little fear and the leadership to conquer all, and Mars looked up to him almost as much as he looked up to his own Father. To be as strong and courageous as wolves like them, what more could he ask for? But, that brave persona would be washed out no different than the sands at high tide.

One morning shortly after his eight month celebration, the whole pack was called out to the lagoon’s mystical shores. It is then the news had cut through the fog: Hale had been banished by his own mate. She spoke of betrayal and rallied the members of the pack in hopes of removing the Alpha, and in this he witnessed such peaceful wolves turn on their Alpha who only wished to provide for his pack. Each individual snapped in their own way and as he had sunk between the legs of his Mother, the seething anger that pooled off of his Father’s face would be etched into his mind forever. There’d been words exchanged that he couldn’t repeat even if he tried, and paired with the actions of both his packmates and his family, he was shaken to his core. Since that day, his Father had gone lifeless behind his eyes and he wished back then to be told why… Not even his Mother would explain. No answers came to him about that day, at least not for a long time.

With that event came a change in every aspect of his life. Mars' Father started to teach them extreme survival-based techniques and ideas- it was consistent and rigorous, and it dragged on for months. These topics ranged from stalking and sabotage, to Mars’s least favourite: combat, of which he always dreaded more than the rest.

During one of these particularly dreaded exercises, Westward had come up with the idea that they venture into the woods for actual practice rather than take their skills out on the streams full of fish. They needed to be involved with all forms of wildlife in order to live beyond the borders of the pack lands someday in the future. That wasn't the first time they hunted out that way, so their Father had agreed. It was safe and they frequented it more and more as Mars and their siblings found their footing, and their Father was no fool. Exposing them to terrain like that would benefit their hunting and stealth better than the fine sands and shores ever could.

When the day had passed, they'd all been in the process of returning home when they ended up crossing paths with a bear. They usually never bothered predators and found different routes to take to avoid them all together, but there'd been a certain look in its eyes, and like that, their Father had charged to fend off the bear so Mars and his siblings could escape. A few wolves who had been out gathering had heard the commotion not soon after it began and rushed to collect the children, much to their protests and fearful whimpering. Those who ran them home only lingered long enough to warn their Mother, and their Mother in turn alerted the others. The gathering group left, and didn’t return for hours.

When a search party had been sent out, it had been confirmed there'd been a total of two deaths that night: one of the gatherers and their own Father.

The weeks of grieving that followed had been hard, but that loss only further solidified Harvey and Mars’ relationship. They were practically inseparable after the incident, donning one another as shields and comfort blankets. They spent most of their free time training with Bezerk, an elder ring fighter, someone who their Father thought highly of— as did Hale. A lot of these sessions followed closely in the footsteps of their late Father, with the only real difference being how unfamiliar and cold Bezerk was. They stayed with them knowing Bezerk followed beside Hale and Rose. When not further honing their skills, they often stayed near the ocean, talking and digging up sea shells to stick on piles of sand to pretend they were protected from the tide and its relentless pull.

Everything felt almost normal during those times spent with their younger brother, and for a while, all of the calamity they had faced as a family seemed dull in comparison to their shared company.

Mars had started out as one of the worst trainees Bezerk had claimed to ever have despite their numerous sessions together. For all that time spent in his shadow, Mars didn’t understand why Bezerk held such distaste for him. It made the young wolf bitter and more reactive toward his teacher to the point he constantly challenged their authority until one day, Berserk snapped. Mars was sent straight to The Ring with a challenger that same day with nothing but a brief, curt warning from his teacher about the punishment. Punishment was putting it lightly, given the lengths wolves would go to not fail when sent to The Ring to fight.

The basic rules of The Ring were simple back then: avoid getting knocked from the circle made of dried palm leaves and stone. Whoever crossed out of bounds or pinned their opponent over long enough would be awarded a title and get to choose how the loser was disciplined. At least, these were the rules set for young adults and those who spoke out of turn towards their superior.

After the rules were briefed by the referee, Mars had entered the infamous circle from Hel and found themselves face to face with their opponent— a tri-colour wolf a year older than him who was bulky and an absolute unit of a fighter. The lanky figure of Mars was no challenge to someone like him. All the siblings, summoned by the news, watched in horror. They knew deep down that the Queen rigged this entire match to wipe the weaklings from the competition, and as a result, the pack’s lineage as a whole. It was plain as day. Even their Mother fretted by their side, and Mars could only imagine how scared she was that she might lose him so soon after their Father. They’d been standing there for more than ten minutes as the two fighters circled one another until Mars’ match swung, but the blow didn’t land. By some miracle, he had dodged it. Words and quick remarks were thrown between the two, and Mars thought back to the day Hale was exiled. He now spoke the words he couldn’t repeat then, with the same anger that his Father shared. They wondered if he shared the same fear then as they did now. Mars was in over his head but what more was there to lose? And like that, there was a firm clack of the Queen’s fighter’s skull against his own, toppling over the dark wolf instantly. Before Mars had the chance to fight back, the bastard went straight for his stomach.

There was a flash of light behind Mars’ eyes and a sweet tang of fear, but before it could be snuffed out, another flash of color arose as his eyes cracked open. The larger male had toppled back in agony, and the sands blotted out the two figures completely. The air was cut by a sharp, familiar yelp, and like that Mars’ vision went blurry, and every fiber of his being was electrified. Someone shouted, his Mother screamed, and his siblings said a name that barely parsed the static noise of his ears.

When the dust settled, there was no stopping the rage and anguish that sent Mars into a frenzy of teeth and tears. The only wolf who mattered to him lay as still as a stone, and it took Bezerk and a few other Ring fighters to separate Mars and his now bloodied, yelping, *begging* opponent.

It was announced a draw by the Queen.

A month had passed before Mars was brought before the Queen and revoked of any status or future promotions. Because of his actions, he was reduced to practically nothing to the pack. A No-Body. It was a proper title for someone who seemed to trigger the worst in everyone, according to the Queen.

After that, it didn't take long for their Mother to sneak all of her remaining children from Haal. They couldn’t prosper how she wanted them to there: not anymore, not after so much loss and so much change. To protect her children, she had to make the sacrifice of staying behind. The Queen would have at least one wolf to punish, and she would not be able to harm her children anymore. Mars, despite the initial protesting, had an easier time leading his siblings far from their home thanks to their Mother’s decision. She showed him and him alone the passage to take, and she acted as a diversion one late night while he guided his siblings out and away from their childhood home.

When the coast was clear, they ran for it and never looked back. For some time they all stuck together through the journey, knowing if they split there’d be no telling when or even if they’d ever see each other again. But as the months passed by and the seasons began to change, one by one their paths began to diverge. At the end of Spring, Mars was the last one left traveling North.

Mars only began to slow when he approached the first tell-tale signs of the packs some loners had spoken of before, and a tentative type of hope had risen in his chest. While he didn’t feel prepared to rejoin a pack, he knew it wasn’t safe to keep on the road much longer. Loners spoke of white wolves, of unimaginable bloodshed, and if Mars ever hoped to see his siblings or his Mother again, he would need to face his fears and do the unthinkable:

He would have to join a pack called Aryn.

## Trivia

* Marquis is scared of thunderstorms.
* He is in the closet about gender (currently uses he/they pronouns).

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* FVKKAT's deviantART Gallery