Anders

Ruffian (Half-Brother)

## Application Sheet

Oleander (better known as Anders) was a pale-furred male wolf with brown markings and sage green eyes, half-brother to Ruffian. An early recruit of the cult of Vektren, he was the first and highest-ranking Magister, close friends with, and eventually mate to, Lykos. Ultimately, haunted by his past *and* present, he and Lykos fled, adopting three children (Ronelle, Kichirou, and Fatou) and settling in Heyl. There, he became their first Medicine Keeper in the aftermath of a massive earthquake, though only for a short time. He and Lykos ultimately left the pack when their kids didn't need their care anymore. Neither has been seen since. Anders was created and RP'd by speckledplanet.

## Personality

* ***Sarcastic.*** Anders thrives on commentary. He might not be good at holding civil conversations that involve long, ongoing topics, but it's easy for him to pull out a comments of his own. His mouth tends to get the better of him.
* ***Dedicated.*** He takes pride in his work, simple as that. Criticism and collective input on what he can provide for the pack goes a long way, though the immediate response might be a bit snappish and put off. Any work he gets wrong he will try to fix, whether or not it was a willing fix.
* ***Passive.*** Though some comments may strike a chord in Anders, he tends to push them aside to focus on the bigger picture. It rarely ever stings long enough to draw more than a passing comment about the subject. If it does, well, nobody has to know. Right?
* ***Loyal.*** If there's anything that bothers him more than dishonesty on serious subjects it's a lack of trust. His loyalties tend to range from mutual respect to wholehearted agreement, and even then it's hard to push him to the bitter end of the spectrum. Anders knows quite well that opinions are varied on most, if not all, things spoken about. His feelings on such things, however, will never break what pack binds mean to him, regardless of the negative actions of others. If for some reason he cannot stop hostilities of another his main focus will always be to protect those he has grown to respect.
* ***Resourceful.*** Anders may have a smart mouth that can get the better of him, but when he can use it to his advantage, rest assured he *will* use it. If it's sweet talking either gender into working with him on a task or simply haggling off a kill from a loner, Anders will find a way to make a situation turn in his favor.

## Pre-Group History

Anders grew up on the outskirts of Vektren before the pack moved and claimed the territory bordering him. He was raised by his father up until he was a young adult and then moved off from that small patch of land. Most of his survival skills became apparent during the solid two years he spent on his own, both thieving and haggling something he found himself to be quite good at. If he couldn't barter off for food, he might as well shuck it from the area while there was a distraction. Besides that, Anders' life was little more than a blur of growing up too fast and being too careless about a lot of things. Such as his mouth. Which normally landed him into some sticky situations that he took the flight or fight option to heart, and normally the latter was his method of choice.

When the Vektren pack first established themselves in the area, Anders knew from the get go he really would have no actual choice but to, again, flee or fight. Except neither option left much more than a bitter taste in his mouth. When he was presented with a new option, the idea of joining a pack that didn't just consist of a very angry old man was a wave of stormy comfort.  Pack life had never been something he saw in his future, but that didn't stop the beast from trying his luck on using what he learned to make a name for himself within the ranks.

## Group History

He and the other Vektreni recruits were inspected by Mistress Hekate's lead Enforcer Stallion. Anders started to get to know his new packmates, like Andras, who was there when he was suffering through night terrors. Mistress Hekate became more familiar to Anders as well; he went to collect a rose to present to her in his first meeting (just the thorny stem, not the petals), but he get tangled up in a thorn-bush needing her to come to the rescue. In the end, they joked about creating flower crowns and she told him earnestly about his value to the pack, as the only trained Magister at the time.

With the passage of time, he and his packmates began treating one another like family. He was pranked by Rian, who dropped flower petals over Anders's head to tease him about being Hekate's noble flower-crown maker! He took it in stride, though.

Oleander was near the border when he encountered a Fellfangir, far from their own borders. Rutnik claimed to have chased a fox over Vektren's border. Anders and Rutnik exchanged insults and threats, but Anders eventually pushed Rutnik far enough to enrage him. A vicious scuffle occurred, with Anders delivering a few good blows before getting crushed under Rutnik's greater weight, and tossed into a patch of thorny briars.

Limping home, a touch embarrassed, Anders ran into Andras. The silver-furred wolf teased Anders for his briar-patch injuries, but was willing to help remove the prickly briars from his pelt - for a price. After discovering that Anders was no good at fighting, Andras told him that he would need to take training classes with him until he could defend himself - remarking that **"I'd hate to have to kill you."**

Some time later, feeling antsy to get out and hunt, Anders ran into a Viper packmate named Lykos. The two of them decided to hunt together, and Anders was there to help him with a small injury he sustained in the process! The two would become fast friends. He also met the lovely Seraph, who was setting traps at the borders. He treated a small cut she sustained while doing so!

Fortunately for Anders, not all of his border interactions would result in him getting his butt kicked. Uhera, a she-wolf from Vale, was sneaking around the borders and ended up getting caught on Vektren's side of a river. Anders was collecting herbs when they crossed paths, and though the she-wolf claimed to be a loner, the two learned a bit of information about one another's packs. Not too much, though - Anders was good at not letting his pack's secrets out! He helped her find a safe crossing of the river and there was no blood drawn.

A short time later, when he crossed the same river, he was surprised to find Uhera was still lingering in the area. It started snowing, and Uhera led him to shelter, so that they could hide out from the snow until it passed. They shared a bit more about his profession as a healer. The next day, when the snow had stopped falling, they walked back towards Vektren. Anders sustained a minor injury in a fall, as they raced through the forest, but fortunately, he was just a bit bruised and sore. They parted ways at the borders, Uhera cursing herself for not telling him she was a Valerian, but it was too late.

Coming back to the Nest, Anders ran into Agatha, whose head was stuck in a log. Fortunately, he got her out - though she puzzled him with her peculiarities, and she raced off, leaving him thinking he'd bored her!

The winter was long and dark, and Anders' friend Andras became...*less* friendly. Desperate to kill, or take an herb to take the edge off his anxiety, Andras approached Anders, but the two parted without finding a solution - without Andras voicing *what* he needed. Anders was extremely confused about where the two of them stood.

One friendship that wasn't being questioned was the one he had with Lykos. The two spent a great deal of time together, going on walks, learning about one another's pasts. It was nice for Oleander, who felt like he could speak about his personal life and his past with Lykos, in a pack where he felt all stories of his past needed to kept close to the chest. Lykos tried convincing him pinecones were edible and could provide a tasty high, but Anders was too clever to fall for the trick!

The Vektreni helped a loner named Renier take control of Vale, for a price. As such, several packmates were injured in battle, and Anders was responsible for treating their wounds. He was especially attentive to Lykos, who appeared in the Magister's den only *after* his wounds had become infected and he was lost in feverish near-hallucinations. Anders was *terrified* for his friend, and rested alongside him while he recovered.

They shared a den until Lykos was in the clear, and able to walk. When Lykos was in good enough shape to leave the den, Anders suggested they go to take a bath and wash the grime from his pelt. They went to the river, but were quickly interrupted by a stealthy mountain lion. The huge cat was accompanied by two juveniles. Anders and Lykos ran as fast as they could to the river, to escape, but Anders' flank was caught by the adult cougar's claws.

Lykos hurried to help Anders cross the river, but he was too injured to make it back to the Nest right away. He needed to rest and tend his injury (though he hated seeing his own blood). Lykos helped, and helped his friend to make it back towards the Nest. It was as they walked back from this attack, after Lykos risked his own life to save Anders, that Oleander realized something:

He was falling in love with Lykos.

It wasn't long after this realization that Oleander was caught up in some...family drama. His father Atticus managed to kidnap him from Vektren's borders, and was keeping him hostage. Anders managed to get free after several days, sending word to Lykos and Hekate, who helped him to escape...and end the life of his father.

This engagement put a bit of strain on the friendship between Lykos and Anders. Oleander went to Lykos after a period of tension between the two, confessing his love for his friend. They reached a peaceable place.

After returning home, Anders was assigned a student: Ruffian. The two did *not* see eye to eye. Ruffian was outraged when Hekate announced Vektren would be placed under a curfew, at the warning of an old ally, Adrian. Anders often sent the hotheaded, loudmouthed Ruffian to go collect herbs, and get out of his hair. He had other, more important things to deal with.

Octavia was a she-wolf found injured at the borders. The Vektreni tried to treat her, but she was stubborn and lashed out at Anders. As it turned out, however, her opinions changed when Lykos entered to help. The two were kin, and got into quite a heated argument, much to Anders's discomfort.

He tried to get out to the border to escape from the Octavia situation, especially because *Ruffian* was also considered kin to the she-wolf, having been raised alongside her as a pup. Ruffian was outspoken about his desire to help Octavia, for her to not suffer through reeducation in the pits - but Anders noticed he also spent a lot of time away from the heart of Vektren's territory. He found the reason, of course - a she-wolf named Moth, from Fellfang.

Anders warned Moth that she should cease visiting Ruffian, as he was not raised to be a good wolf, and their pack was not a pack that treated strangers with kindness. He warned her, fearing that he would discover her dead in one of Vektren's traps or along the borders. Moth insisted that people change, and the two parted ways, not knowing just how heavily their secrets weighed on them.

Anders knew that Ruffian had been sent on a job for Hekate, a horrible job. He confronted Ruffian about seeing Moth, and told him that he'd revealed the truth to her - that he was a bad wolf, raised to do evil things (though he didn't tell her the specifics of the job he'd done for Hekate). While the two were arguing, Cassandra appeared, smugly offering her services as a Cleric (a Necrolyte) to the arguing wolves.

Anders couldn't stand it anymore. Hekate was turning his brother into a monster, and he snapped, revealing to Cassandra that he intended to leave. She warned him of the consequences and departed.

He couldn't help the way he felt about Ruffian. Every time he looked at his half-brother, all he could see was Atticus - and every day he spent in Vektren only further connected the two. Realizing that Oleander was put off by his presence, Ruffian began to intentionally *bother* Anders, pushing and pushing until his brother begged to be left alone.

It was time to flee.

To find somewhere new, to start a life with Lykos - now his *mate.* They were a bit worried about what the future held, but together, they could face it. They left early, when nobody would pursue them.

Their departure was timed *perfectly*, for in the two weeks between clearing Vektren's borders and reaching a new pack, a safe haven for the ex-Vektreni, Oleander and Lykos found two pups in need of guardianship, washed up on the shore. These were Ronelle and Kichirou. Anders and Lykos brought the pair with them to Heyl, where the alpha, Fitu, welcomed them with open arms, to a place of *healing*.

They weren't in Heyl long when Oleander, meditating alone in the White Hills, discovered a *third* pup in need of a caretaker: Fatou. The blind she-wolf was determined to handle herself, but was open to Anders taking care of her and bringing her to Heyl. She was so small to be alone...

And just like that, the family of five was completed.

Shortly after that, a massive earthquake rattled the Domain. It was both a blessing and a curse - a blessing, because anyone from Vektren who may have been searching for them had more important things to worry about after that, and a curse, because it nearly ended the lives of the young family. Anders and Lykos grabbed their kids and fled as Heyl's cave system flooded.

The territory was too damaged to remain in. Fitu decided to lead his pack away, to find a new territory, and Anders took his family along after. It was after the earthquake that Anders officially became Heyl's first professional healer - a Medicine Keeper. Fitu asked it of him, which surprised Anders, who wasn't sure such an important job would be entrusted to an ex-Vektreni.

Shortly after that, he began to see patients. The first patient he saw as a Medicine Keeper was Robin, who was desperate for some kind of magical cure to her red pelt. Anders didn't understand (and she was *so* loud and whiny), but eventually was able to offer some degree of comfort, explaining that there was no 'magic water' that could change her pelt. He assured her she was lovely, and her new Heylian family would embrace her, even if her parents didn't like her pelt color.

His next patient was a pup named Saphira, who was bitten by a shrew! *That* was an ailment he could actually help with!

Ultimately, though, Anders felt the need to get further from Vektren. He and Lykos stayed in Heyl to raise their kids to be juveniles, and when they no longer needed parental supervision, the two of them disappeared from Heyl, and haven't been seen since.

## Trivia

* He rambles when he's unsure of how to phrase something (which happens a lot, actually).
* Born pessimist; never assumes he'll get through the day - *alive.*
* Dislikes his father and hopes to never be like him.
* Has a high pain tolerance, but the moment he sees his own blood he'll probably faint.
* Anders left Vektren due to a combination of guilt, his unwillingness to tell Ruffian the truth of his parentage, and the overall memories he had. Vektren was no haven for him, and with Ruffian as a second Atticus, he knew he had to flee.
* Anders and Lykos became mates on May 9, 2016!

## Quotes

* "Fellfang brute was on a wild goose chase and ran into our border. Bastard decided to sass me so I bit 'em. Threw me into a brier. And thus this beautiful mess was born." (to Andras, *Promise and a Threat*)
* "Sometimes... sometimes very sad things happen. Sometimes when we least expect them. I know... I know you don't want to disappoint them, and it hurts that they can't see it. But here, I- doll I hope you find far better things. You'll grow up and blow them all away, kid. Your pelt doesn't define you, and if... if it means anything, I'll help you in whatever way I can from here on out. Okay? You aren't alone here. Not anymore." (comforting Robin, *Anders' First Patient)*

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* speckledplanet's deviantART Gallery