Nike

Sveta and Ava (Sisters)

Klaus and Vladimir (Brothers)

Naava and Lapis (Half-Sisters)

Extensive Highvalley Kin

## Application Sheet

Nike was a pale cream-furred she-wolf with a pink nose and albino-pink eyes. She was the youngest daughter of High King Rodwen and Queen Fia (NPC), the sister to older siblings Klaus, Vladimir, Sveta, and Ava, and half-siblings Lapis and Naava. She was swept from her home pack of Highvalley to Damasca in the flood, where she was rescued by Gabriel and spent some time in his care. She decided to join the marauding pack when they left the Domain. She was created and RP'd by Ramala.

## Personality

* ***Androgynous*.** I hesitate to use the word "tomboy" because she doesn't go out of her way to act like a boy, nor does she look like one. Nike is naturally scrappy, and rough-and-tumble, and though she grows up to be a quite feminine-looking lady, doesn't like to be constrained by the expectations lain on her my the circumstances of her birth, or her gender.
* ***Weight on Her Shoulders.*** Nike feels like she has a lot to prove. She is the youngest of her siblings, and the daughter of Highvalley's king. She feels like she needs to live up to her family's reputation, and needs to earn her father's attention. She loves Rodwen dearly, and worships the ground he walks on, which makes his naturally distant personality hard for her to swallow. She worries that she's not made of "the right stuff" to live up to her situation, but does her hardest to prove herself wrong.
* ***Naturally Goofy.*** Nike tries very hard to appear like her dignified, graceful father and siblings, and has achieved some success as she's gotten older. However, at her core, she is still an awkward, goofy, pup-like soul that tends to come pouring out the second a hole is poked in her royal facade.
* ***Diligent*.** Nike has the tendency to overdo everything she does. Ask her to catch a rabbit? She'll bring you back a deer. Ask her to study herbs? She'll try to become a master healer. While she underestimates her own abilities, her overcompensation often proves to others that she's far more competent than she thinks.
* ***Conflicted*.** She was raised from an early age to see a clear distinction between Highbloods and Lowbloods, along with all that entails. As a pup, she hadn't really wrapped her head around it, but as she's gotten older, she has picked up that she's expected to share the views of her fellow Highbloods. Because of her sheltered upbringing, she's largely only associated with Highbloods and does have a bit of an "us vs. them" mentality- but she emotionally struggles with the concept. Why are we so different, after all? She's naturally curious about Lowbloods, outsiders, and those that Highvalley society looks down upon, but has as of right now kept herself mostly out of conflict's way.
* ***Little Princess*.** While she doesn't like to lord her social standing over others, or to put on airs, she does live a pretty charmed life in Highvalley. Her perception of reality may not be the same as those who really need to live it every day. She is generally even-keeled, but can be thrown for a total loop if someone tells her something that doesn't fit what she thinks ought to be the case. She doesn't like to be challenged, and absolutely hates for her naiveté to be called out, which may result in an explosion- though she'll mull the matter over for days and apologize if she realizes she was in the wrong.
* ***Stubborn*.** Nike does what Nike wants. She has a very strong will, and the only one that can override it is Rodwen.
* ***Modest-Minded.*** Nike does not think very highly of herself in the way that she does not tend to put herself on a pedestal over others. Though she's taught from a very early age to think otherwise, Nike can't shake the fact that all wolves are just wolves- the difference between Highblood and Lowblood means very little to her as a pup. BUT. This is actively trained out of her as she grows, but she struggles with this natural inclination.
* ***Closed-Off*.** Life amongst Highbloods can be cut-throat, and as such- she doesn't let herself become vulnerable very often. She protects her soft little inside with a Highblood shell that she thinks Rodwen wants.
* ***Beauty-Seeker.*** Perhaps a result of her awareness of her own albinistic defect, Nike has a gift for seeing beauty in inperfection. She's drawn to the wildflower with a crumpled petal over the perfect rose, and is the same way about wolves. She's sensitive about the little things in life, and finds beauty everywhere.
* ***Understanding.*** While at first blush Nike can be guarded and naive, she thinks and feels deeply and will try to understand from another's perspective, even if she doesn't get along. She is intellectually honest, admits when she's wrong, and sensitive to others...though maybe not right away.

## Pre-Group History

She was born to Rodwen and Fia, the alpha pair of Highvalley. She was the only surviving pup of her litter, a birth which unfortunately proved to be fatal for her mother, Fia. While she's too young to really understand what happened, she feels the absence of her mother and has an idealized vision of her in her mind. She's grown up in a fairly bubble-like existence amongst Highvalley Highbloods, and strives to earn and be worthy of her father's affection, and to prove herself as a worthy member of the family. As the youngest of her siblings, she was born after Klaus had fled the pack, so she never knew him and wonders about him often.

## Group History

At a very young age, little Nike had a great deal of responsibility placed upon her shoulders. When she was just a pup, her father betrothed her to a pup named Mohawk. Mohawk was the son of the great Havirian alpha, Saurugol, and High King Rodwen had been interested in breeding into the noble bloodline for years. Nike was very close to her father, who adored her - she was his little girl, the youngest of his children. He promised her that Mohawk liked her - who *couldn't* like her? - and that the betrothal was in the best interest of young Nike.

Not everyone thought it was the right choice for Nike, however. Prince Vladimir, her older brother, thought that the Havirians were *lowbloods,* and he was disgusted at the idea of his little sister, the last remaining emblem of their mother, being wed to *filth.*

As Nike grew into a gangly young juvenile, she set her paws on the path of becoming a Seeker. She wanted to make her papa proud, but also prove her autonomy to herself by choosing such an independent task. Despite his reservations, Rodwen blessed her promotion to Delta Seeker.

Nike worked hard to rise in the ranks and become a Beta Seeker. She was proud of herself, and her father was proud of her, and things seemed to be going great (though, admittedly, the plans of wedding her betrothed were still on hold). But everything was turned upside-down when a flood swept through Highvalley. She was swept down from the Highvalley lands, to lands closer to Damasca, where, beaten and bruised, she succumbed to her wounds and passed out.

When she came to, she was being rescued by a stranger, who told her that he was named Gabriel. He helped her to safety, where she could be helped. She adopted an alias to give to him, and a story that was only partially true - she was a Highvallian, yes, but she was a *lowblood*, named *Lark.* Gabriel accepted this as the truth, for now, and the two made their way to a safe place just inside the borders of Damasca, where Gabe could tend to her without getting her involved with (or subjected to) the Damascans.

For awhile, Nike worked hard to recover. Her ribs had been broken in the flood, and recovery took time. She did her best to be kind to Gabriel - after all, he was the reason she was alive - but now and again, some traces of her royal entitlement would shine through. The pair bickered *constantly* but an affection grew beneath it all.

And then, one day, she felt her heart *breaking.* She didn't know why, she just knew something terrible had happened. She didn't know it, but her beloved father, Rodwen, had passed, and Highvalley? Highvalley was gone, led by the new High King, Vladimir, to new lands that could provide for his wolves. Nike would never be able to go home, would she...?

Of course, she didn't know this. She only knew that she was going to join Damasca - unwilling to go back and face her family, her arranged marriage, all of it. She enjoyed the freedom she had to be herself out here, with Gabe (no matter how annoying he was). And so, she went against his *adamant* wishes and decided to become a Damascan!

Lo and behold, she wasn't the only ex-Highvallian to arrive in Damasca. In fact, she wasn't even the only *royal* to arrive in the marauding pack. Her older sister, Sveta, was also recovering in Damasca, from a different type of wound - something deeper than Nike's physical injuries. Before long, Nike's identity was revealed, and Gabe made a spectacle about revealing it to her. She was stunned, but remained in Damasca.

Here is where Nike's story becomes shrouded in mystery. It is unknown what happened between her and Sveta, what happened when Gabriel learned her identity, or what became of her when Damasca disbanded. It is *believed* that Nike decided to stay with the pack who had taken her in, even though it meant separating from her rescuer Gabriel. In any case, she is gone - gone from the Domain, but still alive, somewhere.

## Trivia

* Nike chose the alias "Lark" because a lark flew past when she was introducing herself to Gabriel. Very original, Nike.
* Being a Highvallian means that Nike had extensive familial relationships in the pack. Her first cousins were as follows: Thorn, Gwendolyn, Quilo, Aspen, Alpine, Lycan, Amara, Rholdar, Avalon, Vysariel, and Amalthea...and several NPCs!

## Quotes

* "I was stuck in an arranged marriage in Highvalley. It’s just the Highvalley way - I never had any choice in it. That wasn’t the future I wanted, and now that I’m here…I can’t go back. Even if I wanted to, I…I don’t think I’m going anywhere at the moment." (the half-truth she told Gabriel, *What the Current Brought*)
* "I am *not* a princess! You have the wrong idea about me and about Highvalley. Just because I was raised with class - unlike *some* wolves - doesn't mean I can't fend for myself when I'm not battered within an inch of my life. I am as capable as anyone, and I'm going to prove it to you. Try to stop me, and you'll be the one needing medical care!" (to Gabriel, *I'mma Be a Pirate, Yar*)
* "Sometimes I don't hate looking at your stupid face." (her Valentine's Card to Gabriel)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* Ramala's deviantART Gallery