Kekoa

Berengar (Brother)

Doba (Sister)

Cordelia, Kira, and Aurora (Nieces)

Zodiac (Nephew)

Laelaps (Adoptive Mother, NPC)

Beltran (Father, NPC)

## Application Sheet

Kekoa was a reddish-brown male wolf with heavy scarring on his left side and vivid orange eyes. Born outside of the Domain alongside Berengar and Doba, he and his brother eventually made their way to the Domain and reunited with their sister in Fellfang in the midst of the Hive Wars. He became an enthusiastic uncle to Doba's new litter: Zodiac, Aurora, Kira, and Cordelia. His story is ongoing. Kekoa was conceptualized and designed by Willowbyrd, and RP'd by panderingpangolins.

## Personality

* ***Easy-Going.*** It is very difficult for Koa not to get along with someone with his laidback nature. He is a patient and tolerant wolf and little bothers him, even when there’s a disagreement. He’ll happily go along with someone else’s plans and do whatever is asked of him. Due to this, he rarely becomes irritated or angry.
* ***Goofy***. Life is too short to take it seriously all the time. Koa believes a healthy dose of fun is exactly what every wolf needs to live a good life and he has an endless supply ready to share with the world. Laughter is the best medicine to him and he won’t stop until he gets even the iciest of hearts to melt at his dumb dad jokes.
* ***Hardworking.*** Koa is a wolf who loves his relaxation time above all else. He isn’t a fan of labor at all, but in order to properly enjoy his free time he’ll power through any task and won’t stop until it’s done and done properly. He takes great pride in his work and his efforts make his reward all the more sweet.
* ***Gallant***. Koa won’t hesitate to spring into action the moment someone is in danger. He loves to play the hero and get recognition for it. (This is especially true if there is a pretty wolf in need of rescuing.) His feet move on their own, quickly followed by his heart, and lastly his brain and all its reasoning.
* ***Cocky***. There’s absolutely nothing Kekoa cannot do. Or so he claims. Koa is extremely arrogant, always boasting and bragging about his accomplishments in life, his appearance, his personality, anything and everything that revolves around him. He isn’t one to ever back down from a dare and can be reckless in order to show off just how great he is.
* ***Stubborn***. You’d have better luck convincing a rock to walk instead of getting Koa to change his mind once it’s made up. He’s experienced a lot in his short life to form his current opinions and values. However, he is willing to budge a little bit for those he cares for, but certainly has a hard time meeting them in the middle.
* ***Detached***. Despite being an incredibly extroverted wolf, Koa has burned a lot of bridges in his few years.  This constant meeting of strangers only to never see them again makes him wonder why he continues bothering getting to know others. Losing his loved ones time and time again has left him with a sour outlook on developing worthwhile relationships, which only fuels his philandering, no-strings-attached habits.
* ***Aimless***. While Koa is very much a go-with-the-flow kind of guy in most aspects of his life, he often has a difficult time imagining his future. It was once easy to just let his paws carry him through major life decisions, but as he’s gotten older he’s become more hesitant when faced with crossroads, unsure of which path is best.

## Pre-Group History

The origins of the red drifter known as Kekoa vary depending on who you ask. None of the facts ever line up and to most wolves he has a different name altogether. The dashing rogue may be a hero to some, a villain to others, and a passing smile to most. Only a select few truly know where he came from, and that is only because they were the ones who raised him.

The actual story starts as if it often does, with a pair of lovers forbidden to be with one another. Ivan and Millaray fled their pack with their children in tow and executioners on their heels. Though they tried to escape, their little family ended as quickly as it had begun. Both wolves were murdered, leaving their three tiny pups to fend for themselves. The daughter had managed to hide herself in a field of lavender. The son wasn’t so lucky.

Kekoa was found crying, covered and sticky with blood, by his mother’s side. All his life he had followed after her and he would not leave her then. But the assassins wasted no time in seeing their work completed. They left him to die in unbearable agony after mutilating the poor pup’s face, treating him like a play thing. He would’ve died from the wounds had his cries not caught the attention of a passing raven. One moment the world had been nothing but pain and darkness, and the next Kekoa was as light as air, his entire body flying through the clouds. The talons pressing into his back were nothing compared to the seething fire on his face and the numbness that clutched his heart.

He woke up hours later on the ground once more, his wounds tended to. The raven by his side greeted him and apologized for the rough flight. Kekoa, dizzy from blood loss, just stared blankly at the bird. Evidently, the raven, called Beltran, was an orphan collector. He had witnessed the scene of the murder (though Kekoa could not remember the events at this time) and swooped in to save the young pup. That’s when an aging she-wolf made herself known. Her name was Laelaps and she had just lost the last of her kin days prior. Beltran had brought Kekoa to her, hoping to give both wolves a companion in their time of need. With no other family and nowhere else to go, the young pup stayed with Laelaps and was raised as her son.

Kekoa of the Sky, she called him. For he was reborn upon the wings of a raven and delivered from the sky above.

From this time forward, Koa lived the life of a loner with Laelaps and would travel endless paths, meeting all sorts of wolves, and learning many different cultures. Home was little more than an open road and good company. He no longer had any nightmares of monsters chasing after him, of blood soaking his fur. He thought little of the sister and brother left behind. They were probably dead, anyhow. His only concern was to live his life as it was meant to be lived: with his mother and Beltran by his side and no cares in the world.

The red pup soon grew into a healthy, albeit cocky, young adult. Though his face would forever be scarred, memories of that day rarely crossed his mind. In fact, he wore his scars proudly, though he never gave a truthful answer as to how he got them. It wasn’t long before his youthful confidence and endless flirting charmed the hearts of many wolves, much to Laelaps’ displeasure. She saw her cheerful little pup grow into a hedonistic casanova and there was little she could say to stop him (not that she didn’t feel some level of pride by how handsome he had become). He was sure he fathered a fair share of litters during this time, though was never around long enough to confirm it. He never settled down. His home was everywhere and nowhere all at once. Every stranger was just a friend waiting to be befriended, a potential lover waiting to be loved. His life was full of infinite possibilities and he was content to live that way until the day his heart would burst.

That was, until Laelaps started to get sick.

The pair traveled as far as they could to seek a healer when the elderly wolf collapsed. That was the second time Koa had felt true fear in his life. He had wasted his youth chasing pretty wolves instead of learning medicine, and none of the sparse knowledge he did know would do any good for his mother. He sent Beltran to the skies to seek out help. The raven had luckily found a nearby patrol who quickly brought the trio back to their den where Laelaps received the care she needed to fight her illness. Though she made a speedy recovery, Kekoa was reluctant to leave the group for fear that she wasn’t strong enough to wander as they always had. And so he requested they join the pack known as Giba and all three were welcomed in their ranks.

Giba was small, only just having been formed by a group of rebels seeking freedom. In exchange for their help, Kekoa offered to teach them all he knew of the lands they now called home. It was strange for him to have stayed in one area for longer than a week but he quickly took to the routine of his new life. Perhaps he was always meant to be a pack wolf instead of a vagabond. The rebel leaders, twins Fell and Faye, turned to him often for advice. In time, the three formed an alpha-type unit and led the pack into a period of prosperity. They bonded over their trials and traumas in life, and now they were able to heal within the safety of their own kingdom. Koa felt like he was on top of the world.

It was no surprise when he and Faye became mates. It was no surprise still when his daughter was born months later. A spitting image of him, Laelaps would say. His little echo, and Echo her name had been. He was certain there were a bunch of his little rascals running around in distant lands, but Koa never had the opportunity to help raise one of his children. He soon realized that being a father was exactly what he was meant to be all along. He spent all his time with Echo, whether it was caring for her, playing for hours on end, or teaching her the ways of the world. There was no greater purpose in his life than to be with his little girl.

Life continued on much the same for the red wolf. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine himself as an alpha with a pack of his own. Never did he think he’d be gifted with not just another mother, but an entire family that grew more and more every day. The humble Giba soon turned into an asylum for outcasts and wanderers with nowhere else to go. It was a healing place, somewhere hurt souls would come to rest and recover from the hardships of life. And that was the most shocking part of it all, that Koa the selfish and shameless flirt and opportunist could create a refuge for wolves like him. That he could give old Laelaps a family bigger than just him and a dumb bird. That she could die knowing she was beloved and never alone. Her passing hit him hard but Beltran comforted him, telling him how he’d never seen the old wolf as happy as she’d been raising Koa’s snot-nosed face. It got easier after that.

Life was good. It was surprising for him to admit just how good it was. But then fate intervened as it tended to and in the worst way possible. After months of peace, Giba was found by the ruthless pack they had abandoned, and Kekoa’s life was once more thrown into turmoil.

Fell and Faye were executed immediately. The invading pack slaughtered those who didn’t bow down to their rule, which decimated most of the already meager pack. It was only in those moments of brutal bloodshed that Kekoa was able to remember the murder of Ivan and Millaray and he cursed fate for making him live through the same horrors again. Strangely, the invaders were merciful to him. Though he was an “alpha” -if he could even be called one- he hadn’t slighted the pack, after all. He was just a loner that got caught up in someone else’s fight. But Giba was his family now, his responsibility, and his pack. He wouldn’t leave them to die while he got to live on. He stayed and fought the invaders until they dragged Echo to the jaws of the executioner. It was only in that split second of panic that allowed the goons an opportunity to overpower the red wolf and finally drive him out.

Kekoa fled from Giba, Beltran following close behind. But his sudden, endless hatred continued to fester within his heart as the hours passed into days. He had never felt anything as intense and every thought of his family, of Laelaps, of Fell and Faye, of Echo, only heightened his growing rage. He never strayed too far from the pack and sent his raven to check on the Gibans, how little there were of them. He stood on the outskirts and watched as Giba’s den was completely abandoned. He watched the invaders line up his family as though they were slaves and forced them to march south. He watched as the invaders led him directly to their very own den. It was then that Kekoa conspired with Beltran to plot out a means of rescue for the few survivors that were left. And the roaring of thunder overhead gave the all-too-clever raven a perfect idea.

As black clouds littered the humid sky, Beltran led Koa to the tallest mountain where he placed a dry branch at the peak. Lightning shattered the air, connecting onto the dead wood, igniting it. Koa watched the flames flicker and spread down the length. Within the fire he saw destruction and death. He saw liberation and a life together with the wolves he loved. He snatched that future, cradling the torch in his jaw as he flew down the mountain. In his mind, in that moment, consumed and blinded by his sorrow and wrath, there was only one option to save his pack.

He hurled the torch out into the dried summer grass surrounding the invaders’ den, immediately sending a wildfire through the entire field. He stood amongst the flames, allowing all his hatred and pain and sorrow to seep through him. He stood amongst the flames and cried for the first time since his parents’ murder, for the siblings he never knew, the life he never had. He stood amongst the flames and cried, for in that moment, wails of terror and anguish reached his ears, and he knew he had made a horrible mistake.

Kekoa raced through the fire, his feet pounding hard on the dead earth. In his mind he saw Laelaps’ gentle smile as she spoke of her pride in him, Faye’s rolling eyes as she teased him relentlessly, Echo’s terrified face as she was taken to be killed.

Time blurred in those moments; it felt like seconds had passed, it felt like years. When Kekoa came to his senses, he was standing in the middle of the stone hollow, water clinging to his soaked pelt. The pouring rain had extinguished the blazing fire, leaving nothing but smoke, ash, and death. In the darkness and shadows he saw wild, panicked eyes staring back at him. So some had survived, after all.

He found he didn’t care.

He took another look around the clearing for the familiar scent of his dear Echo, but everything smelled like rot to him. She had probably been killed alongside her mother. At least she had taken her last breath in Giba. Without another glance back, Kekoa walked away from the destruction he created.

Left exhausted and alone, the red wolf wandered aimlessly. With nothing holding him to the places of his youth, he made his way northward. Surely something, anything, that awaited him there would be better than what he had left behind. On his travels, whispers of a wolf mad enough to kill his own pack were spreading like the wildfire of that day. The Mad King of Giba, they called him. It fit him as well as any name, he supposed.

However, the further he traveled, the more his heart seemed to heal. (No, it did not heal, but it was able to scab over and at least attempt to mend itself.) The winds blew him where they may. It was on a night of visiting with a lone group of storytellers that he heard a name he believed was long since forgotten: Berengar.

Purpose flooded his veins anew. He may have lost his family, but perhaps not in its entirety. The choice to find his long lost brother was the easiest he’d made since his choice to save Giba by burning everything to the ground. He only hoped this decision would lead to a better conclusion.

And so Kekoa of the Sky set off towards yet another path in his life. A path towards easing regrets, as his soul carried a heavy burden he hadn’t quite recognized before. A path towards redemption, hopefully.

A path towards the future, whatever it may hold.

## Trivia

* Frequently and very excitedly will say “Take a look at my good side!” while showing all those he meets his disfigured face with a prideful smirk.
* Adores puppies above all else.
* Is very much a dad friend. Thinks he’s hip, his terrible puns are endless, he WILL embarrass you in front of all your friends, etc.
* Enjoys singing and dancing. Loves to tell stories to anyone who will listen.
* Has a pretty good poker face but is prone to be easily manipulated.
* Loves to collect shiny things. No this isn’t related to his dad being a raven.
* Isn’t the biggest fan of fire.

## External Links

* Official Application Sheet
* panderingpangolins's deviantART Gallery