Sage Lupus

❝I'm just hanging out by the river, l-like normal organisms do...❞

Eden Lupus-Ashford [daughter]

-Sage to Jordan on their first encounter

## Overview

Sage Lupus is a background character from the prequel of Dark Horizons. She is Abyss' childhood from, also from Nowhere, Alaska, and studies botany and herbology. She was best friend to Aria Rose and the girlfriend of Jordan Ashford, eventually becoming pregnant with Eden Lupus Ashford and giving birth to the first immune child. After being abandon by Zee Ashford right after Jordan, his brother, was killed she became a single mother for 7 years and taught her child the basics of survival and how to forage for edible plants. Unfortunately, she was bitten and infected in the early months of 2030, leaving her precious child alone.

## Appearance

Sage is a small, petite woman with pale peachy skin. She has silky, pale strawberry blonde hair that is cut in a bob just at the base of her neck with a purple flower clip to pin her bangs back. She's known for her bright and warm olive green eyes. While having a good complexion she is riddled with scars from her past; two claw marks on her left jaw, a cut across her cheek, a scar across her neck, a burn on her back, and a stab scar on her right upper thigh next to her bum. Despite the apocalypse she likes to wear sundresses and overalls, which is why her daughter likes to wear overalls.

## Personality

Sage is a hard worker and passionate about what she does, and no matter how many setbacks or failures she will always bounce back; which sometimes inspires others. She isn't really the leader type, though, but rather the advisor. It's always a good time with Sage around and she is flexible to many situations, giving her good preservation instincts. On top of adaptability she is also willing to try new things, never shooting down an idea unless it's logically impossible. Sage might act a bit immature and aloof, but she is actually very intelligent when it comes to plants and animals.

While Sage is a cool person, everyone has their flaws. She is indecisive and has a hard time pinning down one idea, sometimes being too erratic to think about multiple options clearly. This leads to stressful situations and lots of anxiety! On top of this she is impulsive, so the first thing that comes to mind is the solution! Or so she thinks. Since Sage likes to explore she is somewhat flighty/unreliable, almost always choosing adventure over feelings. If she sees something better than what she has or is doing she will waste no time changing her path.

**Personality Strengths**

Hard working

Intelligent

Flexible

Quick-witted

**Personality Weaknesses**

Indecisive

Impulsive

Flighty

Anxious

## History

Sage was born in a small village in the middle of Nowhere, Alaska. It was a small Inuit tribe, around 10 people or less, as small families built homesteads that stood for generations. The rural area combined with multiple bear attacks, and harsh and long winters, made it undesirable for those not native to the village. By the time Sage was 6 there was only half the former population and this made her older sister, Cinder, a blessing. Cinder and Sage were close and spent most of their time exploring the forests around their house; against the elders' warnings. While exploring she met one of her only friends, Abilene Vynwood, and they spent time exploring and playing in the forest between their homesteads. Abby was good company and eventually when Cinder was old enough (or so Sage thought), Sage took her little sister to meet her on Sage's 15th birthday.

As dusk approached on Sage's 15th birthday she would never forget the setting sun dulling the color of her sister's blood as darkness fell over the scene. They had wandered into an adolescent bear's land and were attacked, Cinder sacrificing herself and dying while Sage ran away with deep wounds; mental and physical. Cinder's body was never found nor the bear, and Sage never left the town again.

She eventually began to study native plant life, slowly dipping into foraging and local herbs. Her mother also took her on hunting trips to teach her to track prey and people, something that would prove helpful if someone were to get lost or she needed food. Her hometown was in the middle of the Alaskan Bush and was pretty harsh, never having technology or much contact after her sister died. By the time she was 17 years old her fear of leaving town was gone and she actually spent a lot of time foraging during their family’s hunting trips.

Sadly, her good fortune came to an end when the outbreak started, her mother quickly succumbing to the undead. With no connections to her town she spent the past year traveling to the mainland USA all the way to New York. She was taken aback by all the tall buildings and weird looking “cars” they called them, so she scouted out the nearby woods. The first time she met Jordan was in a standoff as she was fishing at the river, with Aria later appearing. He actually thought she was weird and even though Sage was awkward, and seemed to be no danger, he was still cautious at first. Aria came and defused the situation, and Sage's nervous jokes were a bit endearing enough for the two to stay. While they walked through the forest, a starving wolf attacked the duo while Aria was away. There she met two people named Jordan and Aria, and thanks to her kind hearted nature she made friends pretty quick. Over time Jordan and Sage got closer, eventually becoming a couple. It wasn't long before Sage got pregnant, but as soon as she told Jordan the news he was shot by bandits that has been hunting them.

Sage was left alone to raise her child, Eden, which she did for the next 7 years until she too perished to the deadly flowers.