Post by roseleaf on Jan 31, 2011 17:23:14 GMT -5
Name: Rose Evelynn 'Kitten' Hartford
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Orientation: undecided
Guild: Thieves
Shapeshift Form: domestic cat
Appearance:
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Orientation: undecided
Guild: Thieves
Shapeshift Form: domestic cat
Appearance:
Human-Personality:
Overall, Rose is not the modern image of beauty- she's not pencil thin now, nor has she ever been in her life. She's built with wide shoulders and is slightly pudgy, but one of the few things she's proud of is her curvy figure, although the extra weight sometimes makes her wonder if anyone even notices the curves. Her 'tatoo' is on her side, right above her waist, which is why she never wears swimsuits without sides or belly shirts. She stands at a about 5'5", but tends to carry herself in a way that makes her look even shorter. At first glance, she is not what she appears- she looks very outgoing and fresh.
Although Rose hates to think of herself as shallow, there is one other thing she loves- her hair. She hasn't had a major haircut in two years- which leaves her hair landing somewhere between her hips and the bottom of her waist, depending on the style. It is naturally a thick bunch of curls, but for convenience, she usually had it straightened. She has side swept bangs that are died green, giving her a slight 'punk' appearance. The color of the rest of her hair is somewhat faded- it doesn't have as many red undertones as the most common brunette hair, which kind of gives it a color best described as 'sepia'.
Rose's eyes are something a lot of people don't see- she doesn't give them the chance. With one eye covered by her long bangs, she's usually tilting her head in some other direction enough that you'd have to get within a yard to know that her eyes are a dark shade of olive green. They are wide, like the rest of her, and never without a thick lining of mascara or eyeliner. She's got a round face that's really nothing to write home about- no boasting of a heart shaped face or high cheek bones, just an average looking face on a that's either one extreme or the other- ugly or beautiful, depending on if you perfer curves or...pencils.
As for Rose's choice of clothing, it only adds to the 'punk' affect. Anything pastel is usually there to accent the other neon colors or black on the rest of whatever she's wearing. On most days, her outfit consists of tank tops and jeans, especially her favorite pair that has holes in both knees that are patched with blue plaid fabric. She does have a few 'choice' outfits in her wardrobe that she saves for special occasions- a black corset with electic blue ribbon down the back for days when she's feeling frisky, and a couple baggy tee shirts that look like they should be on full grown men paired with a black hoodie. It's pretty easy to tell when she should not be bothered.
Shifted-
Matching her human form, Rose's shifted form is larger than some, but not obese. When she shifts, she takes the appearance of a Maine Coon. Specific to the breed, she has tufts of long ginger fur on her ears and in even larger quantity from her paws and elbows. She's a cross between a tortoiseshell and a calico, called torbie. She has white, black, and ginger patches like a calico, and brown, white, and black patches like a tortoiseshell, with some patches of gray mixed in. Rose is extremely fluffy when in cat form- expect hairballs. She is a torbie of the lighter variety, with more white patches than black. both her ears are almost fully ginger, with gray patches towards the back of her neck that intertwine at her shoulders. Past that, almost none of her fur is symetrical- it would take a while to describe every odd looking mariking on the cat. She doesn't have any noticable scars, but like any cat, if you run a hand through her fur, she has small battle scars from a couple cat fights here and there. Her hair seems to mimic her tail, which is very long and fluffy. When she can, she slips on a purple bow before changing- both a marker of who she is to shifters that know her and a precaution to make sure she doesn't get mistaken for a stray- because who would want to leave such a cute, fluffy kitty out in the cold, right?
Inward and outward, Rose's kind of troubled. She can often be found staring off into space, and has depression that sometimes leaves her a little less friendly. She's the kind that's hard to get to know- she doesn't give out much, and only talks when necissary. But she'll always be the first one to offer a helping hand or give up something for someone else. Sometime's proving detrimental to her health, she's always putting others before herself. She's often emotionally confused, caught up between who she wants to be- a confident girl, and who she knows she is- a mother figure. To close friends, Rose is sweet, but still likes to have fun. She'll throw out perverted jokes and do things that would have you rolling on the floor, but she knows when to call it quits. She can be a bit moody, and even a bit bitchy, but she always feels sorry for it later. Rose has a low self esteem, seemingly caused by nothing, but the support of others seems to keep her afloat.History:
Outside he emotional confusion, Rose is a smart girl...Well, she would be, if she knew how to use it. Often times, she can whip up plans in a second, but has trouble getting other people to understand them, and often needs one of her friends to mediate. If she weren't so soft on other people, and if she were a bit more of a heartless asshole, she might make a good politician. She's great at debating and knows what makes people tick. She's also got somewhat of a morbid facination with mental diseases and the dark side of society.
But just like every person, Rose has her limits. Combine her horrible self esteem with her calm demenor, and she's not the easy target she seems. Go ahead, taunt her, hit her, you'll probably just be told why that makes you inferior to people who can hold there temper and use words as weapons. But don't expect to take a step near anyone else with that intention- You really don't want to tell the medics you got your eyes scratched out by a fluffy kitty! Rose is very protective when it comes to others, probably sprouting from the fact that her older brother gets picked on a lot at school. Playful threats are Rose's thing, but she'd never make good on one...Not if it was about her, anyway...She's also got character flaws, way more than she'd like to talk about, but who does? Preppy people are the one 'race' she can't help but hate. She can be forgetful and just plain lazy. "I'll do it in a second' is a favorite phrase of hers.
And another thing, something Rose is more outfront about, is that she is NOT girly. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing pink unless it was paired with something pitch black, and if you asked her what she thought of cheerleading, she'd probably start gagging. Rose is one of the kind of people that take out their anger in sports- don't be surprised if you think she switched places with someone in a game of basketball, because she gets competitive and MEAN. One of her favorite games to play is rugby. Violent backwards football? Yes please! But, that's really her limit. She's not really the sports type, it's just saved for rare occasions. It's well known that Rose is an excellent artist. She loves writing, reading, art, cooking...pretty much anything where you get to decide what to do and how to make a beautiful creation! Especially Italian food...drool!
Rose was born Rose Jay Reed in a small town in Pennsylvania. As a child, she dreamed of the big city, but knew she would have a hard time taking flight from such a small town, and most likely would never leave. Her and her brother found out they were shapeshifters around the age of 8, or nine for Chris. But they were both pretty smart (and cynical) kids- they thought that if they told, they would be sent to a nuthouse. Good thing they did- the gene had been defunct for almost two generations- Their great grandmother was the last person to shapeshift in their family. So Rose and Chris snuck away when they could, one dreaming of a life free of manotny- where she could look out the window and see something new every day, and the other dreaming of simplicity, where reasons were clear and facts came from reliable sources. Rose and Chris seemed to be destined enemies from birth. They fought like animals (haha) when they were mad, but were attached at the hip when they weren't. But something drew Rose away very quickly- Matt. Living across the street from them were Kayla and Matt, Rose's best friend and her older brother, 15 at the time. Rose was smitten. People claimed that a chld did not know love until they had felt hate and loss, but what else could this be?Sample:
A charade, obviosly. While Rose was hopelessly in love with Matt, there was something wrong with him- to this day, she doesn't think he actually meant to cause her any harm, but sometimes, she still hears of Matt hanging out with 11 year olds. Some things just never change.
For four years, Rose kept quiet. As far as she was concerned, it didn't matter as long as she was the only victim. A cruel mistake, she beleived. And in some cases, she was right- Matt never raped again. Back then, she thought if she was a bit older, she would have been able to say yes without thinking. Now, she knows that Matt never loved her.
By the time people found out, Rose was already half gone. She had made plans with her brother to run away, but Chris couldn't- to pick up and leave would be a suicide mission. So Rose went alone. It wasn't to escape her rapist or the fear or anger- it was to find someplace where people didn't look at her like that, people who could see who she was now, not the person thy had lost, the one she was before. She faked her name and gave herself a slightly new identity and look, to make sure they wouldn't find her.
Rose went on for nearly five more years until she had found Shelpey Alley. She had been traded from orphanage to orphange, lived on the streets and with nice families, but she was finally ready to settle. She got a job, found a run down appartment building and rented one- no questions asked from the owner. Apparently, sleazy transactions by desperate teenagers were common in the city. She was amazed- people had always made out living on your own to be hard. Once she had gotten settled in, someone else came- a young teacher named Ben Rochford. At first, Rose couldn't understand why he had come here- from outward appearance and slight glimpses into his life from across the hall, he seemed to have enough money to get one of the nicer places in Shelpey- so why was he in this rathole? But her suspicions were momentarily forgetten when Ben became her friend, and Rose was smitten. Of course, she didn't tell him that- he was 24, not to mention a band teacher at a school- that would be the worst thing possible to do to both herself and him. Ben started to see himself as a father figure to Rose, unaware of the way she thought of him. But then, Rose figured out just how hard life alone was- her appartment was broken into, and her money stolen. She wasn't able to make rent in time with her minimum wage job and was evicted. Mr. Rochford offered to take her in. Cautiously, she accepted. After three weeks of living with him, Rose's suspicions returned- One drawer on Ben's filing cabinet was always locked. Albeit guiltily, she picked the lock to find the horrible truth- Ben had a file on her, and her rape case. There was only one of two possibilites- he was a well planned serial rapist, or a detective. She confronted Ben immediatly, but was surprised to find he was neither. He sat her down and explained something to her- when he was a teen, he watched his little sister get raped by his step father, and was beaten into silence. His sister had blamed herself, and ended up commiting suicide. When Ben had read of Rose's story, it struck him so much that he had to help.
Rose was automatically distrusting again, and even left Ben for a while. She couldn't beleive that anything like that actually happened outside of shitty soaps and investigation thrillers. But Ben called in his mother, who knew about the plan, even if she didn't support her young son's plot to help a stranger. Rose forgave Ben and thanked him for helping her, but refused to let Ben and Mrs. Rochford take her back to her parents. After much arguing, she agreed that if Ben would let her stay in Shelpey, she would go back before her 18th birthday. She only got involved in the Thieves' gang very recently, and still does not know her place.
The atmospheres were contrasting- the flicker of the streetlights sent a shiver through the hearts of wary travellers, but the warm breeze invited people to join the nightlife. Outside a club, with lights blaring and loud techno beats spilling from the open doors, a shadowed figure loomed. It wasn't that uncommon- clubs weren't exactly the place of lighthearted souls and puritains. But the figure in the gloom was a hardly a working girl- just a waiting one.Other:
From the other side of the street, there was a flicker of gray in the light. Seemingly unattached, a shaggy gray dog slowly walked beneath the soft glow of the neon lights, but what the bargoers did not realize is that the girl and the dog were speaking. Not with words, but in an instintual code that was shared between two people closer than friends. With a flick of the tail, the dog ran across the street. Not directly to the girl, but now, the connection was made- the girl followed into the alley without a sound.
The gray dog was waiting for her. Pulling a sack off her back, the brunette reached in and grabbed a pair of jeans and a trenchcoat, then, surprisingly, put them in front of the dog. As if the animal had practice, he got them on, letting them cling hapharzardly onto his form. Then, he changed. In a mere matter of seconds, there was no dog standing there, but a boy. He met the olive eyes of the girl through a mop of sandy curls.
"Rose." He murmured softly.
The brunette smiled weakly through a haze of great pain. "Hey Chris..." no matter how badly she wanted to jump on him and hug him, she put distance between them in her heart, even though both their backs were to the brick walls of the alley.
"...Mom's still looking for you, you know." Chris murmured gruffly.
"Yeah." Rose replied wistfully. "The whole gang knows, but they won't tell...I don't think. I bet a bunch of them were runaways too..."
"Most people have good reason to run away." growled the older blonde boy. He gave Rose a hard glare from steely blue eyes. "You didn't. You have a family waiting back home-"
"No I don't!" Turning on her heel, the brunette girl growled and stamped away from her brother. "I will always love mom and dad, but it's not the same! I'm fine here anyways!"
"Living with a guy you've known for about a month in a run down appartment, working your own job even though you're 16, involved in a gang?!"
"Stop talking about it like it's organized crime! They're people like us just trying to stay ahead of the curve, Chris!" Spat the girl. She folded her arms over her stomach uncomfortably- did Chris really think it was easy? She would give anything to go back to the life she once had...Where ignorance gave her bliss and she could fool herself that Matt wasn't just using her, was really the man she wanted him to be... "And besides, Ben came looking for me because he wanted to help me...He left his great life to help a stanger because he'd already watched his sister suffer!"
"Whatever, Rose...Maybe you have changed, but not for the better...but you're still my sister...Love you." With that, the blonde changed wordlessly back into the form of the gray beast and slipped out of the clothes, trodding slowly away.
"...I love you too, Chris..."
Gathering up the apparel, the brunette sighed and let her green eyes slide shut. For a second, her breathing seemed to stop until she too, had taken the form of an animal. She dragged the knapsack into a convenient hiding place.
A tortioseshell cat with a fluffy bow exited the alley where a girl had went in, and ran off into the concrete jungle to roam while the night was still young.