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Contents
1. About Kate
2. Background
3. Personality
4. Possessions
5. The Story (RP log)
6. Relationships
7. Transformations
8. The Pacific Dolphin
9. Artwork

Kate grew up near San Onofre Beach on the southern coast of California, just south of San Clemente. She's the daughter of two folk musicians, David and Carrie Madigan. Though not known on a national scale, they were locally successful and toured somewhat around CA in Kate's infancy. As she grew older they took to settling down; her father David took a job teaching music locally while Carrie focused on raising baby Kate. Their income wasn't and still isn't very much, but enough to get by. Though easy-going people, they have been also somewhat overprotective of Kate, their only child.

Their inexact philosophies on child-rearing have led them to be either extremely strict or extremely loose about what they allow Kate to do, neither one of them sticking to either side. On two separate childhood episodes, Kate colored on the wall with Crayons. The first time it was met with praise from her parents, who saw it as a young artistic expression. The second time she was scolded and punished for making a mess. Situations like these have left Kate very confused about her parent's expectations of her throughout her life thus far.

Living minutes near the beach, Kate took to the water at a very young age and it's been hard to keep her away from it ever since. Her mother attributes it to her aquatic birthing (Kate's parents are big proponents of alterntive medicine). Kate was often taken down to San Onofre Beach as a child, where her parents would play for anyone that would listen, usually surfers. Many evenings were spent on the sand gathered around a bonfire, her parents with worn instruments plucking through an earthy song. Kate, being the only child around, was very popular at these events. Her parents let her walk unattended among the small crowds that formed, who played with her. She loved the attention.

Kate has had a difficult time keeping her energies in one place. She's explored nearly every interest that catches her and back. Her parents have paid for a staggerng variety of lessons and books and materials for art classes, music instruction, and sports equipment, but everytime Kate starts to get mildy involved (anywhere from a few weeks to months), she states "Nah, it's not my thing anymore," and moves on to another, more recent attraction. However, eventually she goes into her closet, the place where all of her discarded equipment is resigned to, pulls out a relic, "I should start oil painting again!" and the cycle begins anew. Every year of high school Kate has attempted to played a new sport, instrument, and taken a new language.

Now 17 and about to enter her senior year of high school, Kate's indecisiveness is starting to wear on many people, except for her. Kate isn't sure if she wants to go to college. If she did, what would she study? If she wanted to study Oceanography, she should go to school A, but if she wants to study Art, she should go to school B. Does she even know what to study, though? Maybe she should just take a year off and work more hours at the surf shop. "This is, like, my whole life here! I can't be expected make a decision that big in just a few months! I need more time, I've gotta find my passion."

The prolonged search for Kate's "passion" was wearing very thin on her parents. Pressure is mounting on Kate from all sides to, for once, make a decision and stick with it. And she's terrified.

However, there are two loves in Kate's life that haven't changed: One is surfing, and the other is... mermaids.

Growing up around surfers and surf culture had a big influence on Kate. She was facinated by how they were able to move with the water. When she went in the water, she just sank, but they seemed to fly on top of it. To her as a child, it was some kind of magic. When Kate was 11 she started learning how to surf herself, and since has become a strong surfer herself and has been encouraged to try competing, but is very reluctant about it ("there's no way I'm good enough"). Kate currently works in a surf shop, which is how she's able to afford all her gear.

As for mermaids, well, since Kate was young she has acknowledged a deep attraction to the sea. She's lived near it all of her life, and for the few times she's been away from it, Kate has experienced almost a strange "withdrawl" syndrome with frequent headaches and physical exhaustion. Between surfing and swimming, her friends joke that she spends as much time in water as on land. The ocean, to Kate, is this great, open, majestic, unknown. As much as she loves it, it also scares her. She wants to know its secrets and its reaches. Much in the way Kate admired a surfer's way to commune with the sea through movement, she views the mermaid as a creature with an even deeper connection to the ocean. As a child, stories of mercreatues delighted her in a light fanciful way, but as a teen, her attraction to them only grew, and in strange ways. She has dreams where she has become a mermaid, swimming in the endless sea. Kate wakes up from these dreams peaceful and refreshed. Their freedom, beauty, and grace were so appealing to her. Under her bed she keeps a huge scrapbook with article clippings, print-outs, and artwork she's gathered from various sources, especially online. Her infatuation with mermaids has only grown as she's aged. She's idolized them and every facet of their supposed society.

In recent months, the dreams have grown longer and more vivid, almost real. One morning, she wakes up in tears, and writes in her journal,




Since that morning, Kate has suddenly found her mermaid obsession to be somewhat of an embarrassment. She took down many of the posters and artwork off her walls and confined them to her closet, along with all her other abandoned gear from over the years. Her mother walked into her room and remarked, "where'd all your mermaid stuff go?"

She remarked, briskly, "It's not my thing anymore."

Pre-Arrival
Kate arrives on the island with only the clothes she was wearing while out surfing the morning she was taken by The Wave.

Wetsuit top
by the AQUA Surf Company, Kate's favorite brand. Their tagline is "love = water"

Two-piece swimsuit top (under wetsuit) and bottom
also AQUA brand

Beads and bracelets on both arms
gifts from her parents, supposedly some kind of eastern prayer beads.

A metal hair barrette
in her hair that morning. [lost]

Post-Arrival
These are items Kate has found after arriving on the island, either through events or RP.

Over-Shoulder Bag
A make-shift sling bag which Kate uses daily as she forages.

Walking Stick
Sturdy walking stick Kate procures to help her walk after her first transformation leaves her with somewhat awkward feet.

Hammers
Found in a crate on the beach. [from item raffle]

Coral and Seashell Necklaces, Armlets
Handmade while living alone on the outskirts of the island.

The Wave's Mark
Magic Seal Spell placed on Kate's head to help bring out her desire to change. Allows her subconscious mind a direct connection to the collective of the Wave of Change, so as to be constantly under its influence.

OOC/Gifts

Hailey CURRENTLY: Sunny
First person . . . uh, or mermaid, that I met. She saved me from drowning in the ocean. We didn't exactly get along in the beginning, but it seems like now that she's completely changed, Light has helped her accept what she's become. I'm happy to finally have the mermaid that saved my life as my friend, and there to cheer me on as I become one myself.

Leonard CURRENTLY: Cloudy
He's a lobster? I couldn't really get a read on him. Our conversation was pretty brief.

Kara CURRENTLY: Sunny
My first friend in this crazy place. Thankfully, I didn't screw THAT up. Kara is kind, funny, and dependable. She's been there for me through the changes and tough times, too. Though sometimes I wonder if I'm leaning on her a little too much. I'm just realizing how much I've missed her since I left.

Wesley CURRENTLY: Sunny
Interesting British guy. Some kind of a doctor to everyone here, and a friend of Hailey's. He was there for me when I first changed, which was a very awkward situation (since I was naked at the time). Any other guy would have been probably been a huge perv about it, but he was really mature. Hey, he even put up with my abrasive personality! That totally deserves points.

Jesse CURRENTLY: Rainy
What a jerk. First he throws-up black spit all over me (okay, so I kind of startled him, but STILL). Then, he gets all selfish after I help him open a box of supplies that he'd never be able to get into on his own. Ungrateful little twit.

Kai CURRENTLY: Cloudy
Another girl that Kara brought home. I left just after that happened, so I haven't technically met her yet. I wonder if she and Kara have become friends since I've gone.

Ian CURRENTLY: Cloudy
Thoughts in progress.


I wonder who else is out there . . . I want to meet everyone.

Shelly, Hailey, Michihi, Ta, Visola, Jesse, Kara, Jack, Alcine, Wesley, Skye, Leonard, Ian, Kainalu

The Pacific White-sided Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) is a very active dolphin found in the cool to temperate waters of the North Pacific Ocean. The Pacific White-sided Dolphin was named by Theodore Gill in 1865.

The Pacific White-sided Dolphin has three tones of color. The chin, throat and belly are creamy white. The beak, flippers, back, and dorsal fin are a dark gray. There are light gray patches on the sides and a further light gray stripe running from above the eye to below the dorsal fin where it thickens along the tail stock. A dark gray ring surrounds the eyes.

The species is of average size for an oceanic dolphin, weighing up to 150 kg in females and 200 kg in males and growing up to 2.5 m (male) and 2.3 m (female) in length. Pacific White-sided Dolphins tend to be larger than Dusky Dolphins. Females reach maturity at 7 years. The gestation period is one year. Individuals can live for up to 40 years or more.

The Pacific White-sided Dolphin is extremely active and mixes with many of the other cetacean species to be found in the north Pacific. It also readily approaches boats and bow-rides. Large groups are common; on average 90 individuals per group but supergroups of more than 3,000 have been recorded.



[from Wikipedia]

Prologue: Thrashed.

In her dream, everything was right.

She descended into the limitless blue void. Though panicked at first (what direction should you go when you could go anywhere?), she kept moving, and quickly the tension was pulled away as she sped faster and faster. Her anxiety couldn't keep up, so it left, replaced by excitement and wonder. She wasn't alone, either. A look to her left and right revealed strange forms and faces radiating trust, acceptance, and love. Though strange, She realized her face was just like theirs, and her body was just like theirs, and she belonged. A distant light came closer and closer, echoing strange sounds and song. She reached for it and ... and ...

* * *

Instinctively, Kate Madigan slammed the snooze button on her clock radio, burying a sigh into her pillow. She'd been having this dream almost daily for the past month and was growing weary of it. Not because she didn't like the dream, but because of the emotional torture. In the dream she achieved a peace she couldn't touch in the reality of her day-to-day. For a while, she started sleeping just to have the dream to escape to, but recently had taken the opposite approach: going to bed later and later and waking up earlier and earlier. The feelings in the dream were too perfect, too right, and almost scary. Kate just wanted to escape it, because she knew it wasn't real. That was what hurt the most: Imagine your greatest desires being fulfilled, and then stripped from you, night after night. And as odd as her desires were, rude awakenings didn't make the experience any less painful.

In her dreams, Kate was a mermaid.

She has been fascinated with them since she was a child, and though many children grow out of fantasy, Kate only grew further and further into it. Only until recently, her room was filled with siren paraphernalia: books, posters, figurines. One of her walls had a giant mural of a shell-bra adorned, green finned, seamaid, that looked like it might have been painted by a middle school girl (Kate was in 8th grade when she did it). Now, Kate is 17, and just a few weeks away from her senior year of high school in her hometown of San Onofre, California.

Carefully laying her surfboard into the back of her 1990 toyota pickup, Kate took off for where she had been going most mornings this summer: to the ocean for morning waves. It was just after sunrise, and soon found herself in her favorite place: Nally's End, a deserted, cove-like area cupped by high cliffs. It was her sanctuary, her space to think. This morning her thoughts were revolving around a heated argument with her parents over what was becoming nearly a weekly event: her future, and her indecision about it.

"I can't know that yet!" she shouted to the open water. "Talking" with the ocean was one of Kate's self-perscribed therapies. She'd shared a closeness with the sea since birth. "Everybody's too focused on this college crap. Why do I even need that? What if I'm not like that? I mean, I might be... I just don't know! Everybody says 'you've got your whole life ahead of you, Kate' well, hey man, that's great. Then why do I have to decide what I'm doing with it right now? Be free, take the journey. Man, how do you do something like that when everybody wants you to climb some damn ladder."

Her thoughts flashed into the dream again. "Would I?" she asked the tide, "yeah, I'd give it all up a life like that. It's not like there's anybody here holding me back..."

Kate sat quietly on her board for a long time. The waves were unusually tame today. Unsatisfied, she started to paddle in.

Then, about 200 yards from shore, a great, unnatural rumble rose up behind her. Kate turned and was faced with the most unbelievable beast of a wave she had ever seen. There was little time to paddle; the lip was about to drop in and close the wall of water over her. She paddled frantically out of reflex, standing up to try and ride the wave in, just to survive, and it baked on her. It felt like being slammed by a steel beam covered in sandpaper. Knocked from her board, Kate was swallowed quickly by hungry liquid. Her board would later turn up on the beach and her premature death would be lamented as a tragic loss to the community.

Kate had died, in one way, but she was also being born as the same time. Thousands of miles away, she'll awake on an unfamiliar island, a supernatural cradle for those that are the rebirth of a once great race.

To put it another way, Kate is finally getting her wish, and it will be both much more, and much less, than what she expects it to be.

Chapter 2: Girl vs. Wild(thing?)
After escaping the jungle, Kate runs into another inhabitant of the island.

Private RP with Leonard

A



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Chapter 4: Close the door, I'm changing!
Kate goes for a morning swim in her birthday suit, Wesley drops in (literally), and Kate starts changing.

Private RP with Wesley

A+9 TF



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