Vasilis

## Application Sheet

Vasilis was a black-furred wolf with russet and brown markings and amber eyes. He was a loyal member of Aryn, taking on the task of a Warden to protect his packmates. Unfortunately, he tragically lost his life when saving Athena and Alcatraz's daughter Teva from a stampede on her first hunt. Vasilis was created and RP'd by CoffeeHunter.

## Personality

* ***Composed, Honorable, and Noble.*** Vasilis the proud, honorable Warrior type. He's, for the most part, well composed and cool under pressure. This fellow has a gentle heart, but a fierce bite to any who threaten him or his pack. He has a sort of servant's demeanor. Willing to protect and serve, performing duties to the best of his ability and ensuring his packmates are well looked after...even before his own well-being.
* ***Self-Critical, but Fiercely Protective of Others.*** Vas is hard on himself, always criticizing and thinking down on himself, it seems that no matter what he has done he almost *thrives* to find something wrong with whatever it is. Needless to say, his self-esteem suffers terribly. Even worse, his past, and what he's done to overcome those past trials, has cursed him with a terrible trait. The very sight, or sound, of an innocent in pain or fear at the doing of another sets Vasilis into a red-zone state. Without thought, or warning, he will viciously set upon the offender...no matter who it is.

## Pre-Group History

Vasilis' story is a terrible one from the start. Though he barely remembers it as nothing more than a few fleeting and blurry memories, his birth pack was outnumbered and overthrown by a rival pack when he was only but a month old. He and his sister were torn from their parents, kept separate and raised by wolves who were more slave masters than loving caregivers. They were given surrogates to nurse from, cold and distant females who cared none for the newly acquired slaves, and their ears were torn from their heads to mark them as servants to the pack. Vasilis and his sister, Sibyll, as well as the other survivors of his old pack were subjected to awful beatings and torture whenever they stepped out of line or worked too slowly or not up to the standards of their masters. The females, and sometimes the males if they were 'worthy' enough were even subjected to hand-picked breedings to produce strong offspring to add to their slave ranks. Only rarely did these breedings produce a pup that was extraordinary enough to be chosen to rise above the slave ranks into the common ranks of the pack.

Vasilis and Sibyll, having only each other since the enslavement, were extremely close. This caused Vasilis to receive the brunt of Sibyll's punishments, for whenever she was targeted he retaliated instantly. It never got overly out of hand until, one day, his dear sister ran to him in tears..sobbing and inconsolable she reported to Vas how she'd been chosen for, and put through, a breeding. Vasilis snapped. He wasted no time in tracking down the slave master who had done this to Sibyll and laid into him savagely. He was able to wound the slave master significantly before others of the pack set upon him and dragged him away, snapping and snarling like a rabid beast.

Vasilis was severely beaten down, then was held down as he was forced to watch Sibyll receive a beatdown as well. Afterward, Vasilis was confined to a den until the day his sister gave birth, when he was then allowed out and allowed to see his nieces and nephews. Things seemed like they would start going well for the little family, or as well as the life of a slave could be, but it was only a cruel illusion. The pups were taken, as they had been when they had been overtaken, and given to a surrogate mother. Sibyll was forced back to work, never allowed to truly bond with her children. She fell into a slump, a fierce depression that caused her work and health to suffer. Punishments only made her weaker by the day, and Vasilis...though he fought for her as he always had...could only watch as she grew thinner and thinner until she was no longer able to rise or move. He was by her side the night that her life force ebbed away. with his larger paw settled over his dearest sibling's smaller bony one, he spoke gently to her. Speaking reassuring words, *'Everything will be okay'*, as her shallow gasps became farther apart until they ceased all together.

As one can predict, Vasilis' fury welled up through the pain and sorrow of the loss of the only wolf he had been close to. Knowing he could not fight his way out, he had to plan. In time, it all came together. After learning the schedule, and habitual routes, of each slave master..and with the help of other slaves brave enough to try to escape..the plan took action. The group of five took special precautions to mask their scent by taking advantage of a fresh elk kill dropped at the slave's quarters. They would wait until the slave masters were distracted by giving report to their relief in the depths of the night. By laying the scent of the elks' glands or urine on their bodies, and the paler pelted slaves darkening their fur as much as possible by coating themselves in mud, they would then go on the move. Time had been spent scouting, and creating, a path that would lead them as much out of the sight of the slave masters as possible by skirting around the dens and slipping through thick brush as silently as possible. With having disguised their scents, any rustling that was made was dismissed by the tyrannic wolves as elk in passing just as they'd hoped. The escape was a careful procedure, for many times they had had to stop and wait for a pack wolf on patrol to pass by. Of course, things can't always go perfectly. Having nearly reached the edge of the territory, and with dawn just barely lightening the sky, their cover was blown by a duo of patrolling scouts. Five to two...the outcome was obvious. Perhaps a soul shouldn't take so much joy in ripping the life from another, but the slaves had felt it a fitting end to their near-escape. Unfortunately, the scuffle had been a noisy one and had caught attention. Two other nearby scouting parties, each made of two wolves, had heard and come bolting. Howls of alarm from the scouts were thrown into the air, and the slaves knew they were running out of time. An escape attempt was punishable by death, which gave both parties a vicious edge. The slaves, knowing they had nothing left to lose and the pack wolves..knowing the slaves knew they would die anyway and would fight with their lives. As a bloody brawl ensued, other pack wolves were able to rush in and join the fight. After the first escapee fell to their merciless teeth, the others realized they were outnumbered. Two of previously well-coordinated escape group panicked and scattered, leaving only two against the mob of pack wolves. They were quickly hunted down and slain, but while that happened Vasilis and the remaining slave were able to break away from those they were facing against and make a dash for it. Already so close to the border, the two put their all into racing across toward the edge..pushing aside the pain of their injuries to keep out of reach of the snapping jaws only hair-lengths from their hindquarters. It seemed unreal as their paws flew over the territory border-line, carrying them past the edge and into the thicker forest of tangles and briars.

They had done it. Two of the five escapees had made it out alive. The pursuit had ended at the pack border, the slaves out of the pack's land and thus out of their jurisdiction. Yet still they ran. Ran until exhaustion forced them to stop and settle down. Vasilis and another male, smaller and more wounded than he was. In fact, the gravity of his wounds had been unnoticed until they'd stopped. Blood coursed from his hind legs and torso. One eye was all that remained, and his nose was better described as hamburger. Having aspirated blood from the latter wound during his mad dash, the smaller male's breaths rattled in his lungs. Vas did his best to clean the wounds that would not stop bleeding, and eventually the two fell into a deep slumber. Vasilis was the only one to wake up. The other..a combination of bleeding out and compromised breathing from his blood-filling lungs. The only survivor buried his comrade and moved on..eventually ending up at Aryn's border where he was taken in and his body nursed to health, though his mind and soul remain wounded.

## Group History

The Arynians tended to Vasilis while he was in their care. When he emerged from his den one day, determined to go and hunt, he was surprised to see Bloom hanging around outside the den. He asked her where the best hunting spots were, and she explained that she didn't know, because she was still new to the pack as a full member instead of a prisoner. He offered some comfort to her when she relayed the story of her pack's disbandment.

He'd gradually come to meet other packmates. Caught out during a windstorm, Vasilis escorted Gabitrix back to the camp. He checked in on her the next day with a small gift for her, and was relieved to see that she was only a little worse for wear. They discussed their pasts and Aryn's singular god, the One. He would also meet one of the pack's pups, Kane, who was eager to try sparring with the older male.

Things were so good in Aryn. Vasilis was happy. He had taken on the task of Warden, to protect his packmates, and he was making friends of wolves like Gabi and Bloom.

Unfortunately, Vasilis's life would be tragically cut short.

He was with Teva, Athena, and Raphael on Teva's first hunt, to aid the young female in bringing down a bison. He tried to give her advice on how to properly hunt the beasts, but Teva dismissed him. He was old, he wasn't a *future leader of Aryn* like she was. She could handle anything!

Only, she couldn't.

Teva made a bad decision during the hunt, and a bison came charging towards her. Vasilis, determined to save his young packmate's life, flung himself at her and knocked her out of the bison's path, falling to the ground. He would only be able to watch in horror for a split second before the bison's hoof came crashing down on his head, killing him instantly.

Vasilis would be honored by his packmates, and his death would become a central issue discussed by his packmates on the Rah'at, in order to decide how best to administer justice. Yes, it was an accident, but it was caused by Teva's refusal to listen to advice and orders. Ultimately, Teva would be administered a scar as a reminder of her responsibility for Vasilis's death, but she would never forget.

## Trivia

* Most of the scars on Vasilis's body were from his time as a slave - he'd done a good job avoiding serious injury during his life in Aryn, until his death.

## Quotes

* "That's alright, Gabi. I try not to dwell on the past. It was out of my control and it won't change anything, but I chose to change my future." (to Gabitrix, *Winds and the One*)

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* CoffeeHunter's deviantART Gallery