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Custom Type: Major edits - 400k
Colorist: Someone AWESOME
Zune's Name: The Scarlet Blade
Owner: ChaosTheories
Gender: Female
Stages: Adult
Eye Color: Red
Base: Pale skin tone
Inner Ear/Inner ear fur Colors: Pale skin tone
Marking Description:

Eyeshadow Black eyeshadow around eyes. See references.
Hat: Black pirate hat with gold around the top and bottom rims. Fluffy red feather on the top. A red bandanna sticks out from underneath it to cover the top of her forehead and is tied at the back over her hair.
Earrings: One large gold loop earring in each ear.
Hair: Long curly black hair.
Scarf: Wears a raggedy, gold scarf
Cape: Black, raggedy cape that gets more grey and torn around the edge. If you can, can you draw it to the side so it doesn't cover up her body too much? The bundle of fabric around her neck is a hood, and it should be under the golden scarf.
Shirt: Black and tank-top like, with edging as shown in the refs. Ends just above where her belly button would be.
Pants: Gold waistband. Red and poofy down to her ankles. I think it's pleated a bit, but it's hard to see. >>
Shoes: Black flats (for comfort!)
Sword: Sword with a twisted blade, which fades to black at the tip. Handle is a combination of silver and black (I think you can see it on the tektek avi). Red heart decorates the handle. You may position the sword anywhere you like.


Wing Color: N/A

Reference Images: Tektek list for avi. Avi itself is a little bit off.
Avi from front. Shows eyeshadow.
Avi from back


Background Image: If it is big enough, this. If not I'll find you a different one. xD
Song and Artist: Hoist The Colors by Hans Zimmer
Additional Notes: If this outfit is too complex, I can pay more. >>


Bonus story

The tavern was crowded, as usual. People mulled to and fro, laughing too loudly and spilling cheap drinks with enthusiastic gestures. While the noise level, the inhabitants, and the very smell of the place left something to be desired, Scarlet still considered it the best place to rest and hear the latest news from her sources. She slipped into a seat in the back and watched the mayhem around her, drumming her fingers onto the table impatiently. Did her informant always have to be so late? He was a good kid, and always brought her profitable information, but it was a gamble if he'd even show up at all. Oh well, Scarlet supposed she could replenish her supplies in town later. She couldn't linger for long, though. Her appearance would bring her unwanted attention, eventually.

A frazzled waitress came to her table, hoping to sit down and avoid her customers for a spell. But Scarlet, feeling no pity for the other woman, just glared at her until she left the seat and then ordered the best rum in the tavern, paying with a large, unmarked silver coin. She watched the waitress leave, and let her mind wander. She was once like that... Young, uncertain, shy. Bumbling about like a fool, afraid of rough, boisterous men. That felt like so long ago... Before she had gotten a taste of the sea...

Her name was once Maria. She had been a simple child, abandoned at an orphanage at birth, with no record of her real parents. Maria had tried to best to please her caretakers and to make a good impression on anyone who might adopt her, but she was a plain looking child with no special skills. Many, many times, she was passed by for cuter and friendlier children. For years she tried to please everyone, to sacrifice everything so that others could be happy... But she had remained shunned, unthanked, and unloved.

Then, she met him. Maria had just begun to reach the age where she was expected to leave the orphanage when he appeared in her life. He had been a blond fellow, a good number of years older than her, but with a youthful face. It was told that he was a successful merchant and sailor who planned to donate a fair amount of money to the orphanage. Immediately she was intrigued by the man, and he seemed to take an interest in her, too. They spoke more than once, and during one conversation, Maria told him of her predicament. He took pity on her, and suggested that she come work for him on one of his merchant ships. She almost said no, as it was unusual for women to be invited on board such vessels, but she eventually gave in. She had no where else to go, so wouldn't it be stupid to turn down her only offer of help?

It was very clear that Maria had never gone sailing, nonetheless worked on a ship before. She was seasick for days, and when she finally got used to the constant rocking motion of the vessel, they had traveled far, far into the open ocean. She found the open expanse of water disconcerting, and spent most of her time below deck, helping the cook clean and peel vegetables. But as the journey continued, the merchant encouraged her to come up on deck more and more often to learn the ways of the sea. He taught her the basics of a ship, from the way the wind and sails interacted, and how to control the entire vessel with just a turn of a wheel, to navigating by studying the stars, the sun, and the movements of the tide. She was a surprisingly fast learner and absorbed every bit of information she was told.

But, as she studied, she began to notice things were a little... off, with the crew. While they wore the garb of merchants, outfits were often mismatched, mis-sized, or just old. On top of that, she saw the men eying her unpleasantly on more than one occasion. Fearfully, she avoided moments alone by dividing her attention between the merchant and the kind old cook, and even asked the merchant to teach her how to use a sword. At first he laughed at her, but her nagging eventually changed his mind. Maria learned swordplay as easily as she had been born to do it. This delighted her, as she had never been good at anything before, and she felt more safe as she improved. She spent many hours practicing with the merchant, and trying out new moves on empty barrels in the storage room.

She had forgotten completely about her worries by the time they reached the first port. It was dark outside, and the crew had roused her from her bed to take a look. The merchant, with a big smile, asked her to go to the governor's house and send them a message. Without a second thought, she agreed, and as soon as they hit shore, she set off to make her delivery. It didn't even strike her as odd that it was the middle of the night. When she knocked on the door, the servant on watch answered grumpily, and they spent a few minutes disputing the time and the fact that the message could not wait until morning. Then, Maria heard something odd. It sounded like... men yelling? The servant turned around to look just as a sword flew out of the shadows and sliced the man's throat. The sword was followed by the merchant, who was still grinning.

"Oh Maria, I think you dropped something." With that, he shoved the bloody sword into her arms and fled. Bewildered, she stood there, her mouth agape, until the local guard came to investigate. Seeing her with the sword and covered in fresh blood, they immediately took her into custody and questioned her over and over again. She could tell them very little, other than she was not responsible, and the men who committed the murder had a ship docked at port. But they told her that there were no signs of a ship matching her description, and that the governor and his family had been slain their sleep, which would have been an easy task for a quiet young women like her. Then they asked her who she worked for, and when she said the merchant's name, they just laughed and said no one of that name had ever visited the place.

Maria found herself behind bars, sentenced to hang for a crime she never committed. Loneliness pressed upon her like a vice, and a hopelessness she had never felt before filled her to the brim. How could he? How could the man take her in, show her such kindness, teach her about the world, just to betray her in such a terrible way? It wasn't fair, she had never done anything to harm anyone in her life, and now this. She cried for a whole day, crying for a life that she would never have, for a friendship that she had lost...

Then, she stopped crying and thought. Of course, it made sense when she stopped and mulled it through. The mismatched clothes had been a sign. The merchant and his crew had never been merchants at all, but pirates disguised in old clothes on a stolen ship. She had been their pawn the whole time, a distraction for the crew and a scapegoat for their heinous crime. The realization filled her with such rage that she tore her cell apart, throwing her shoddy little bed against the iron bars and shouting at anyone who passed by like a wild, crazed animal. Damn him! Damn him and his entire crew! Damn... those bloody pirates!

That night, Maria picked the lock with an old bone from her dinner, and slipped off into the night. She would be meek, shy Maria no more. She was the master of her own destiny, she would control what happened to her and when, her fate was in her own hands... Even if it meant changing everything that she was...

"Umm, miss?"

Scarlet looked up sharply. Ah, the informant was here. And by some miracle, the night wasn't quite over. She found herself gripping the handle of her sword tightly, so she let it go, and snatched the glass of rum off the table. How long had it been here? She hadn't even noticed the waitress's return. Scarlet brought the glass to her face and crinkled her nose. Cheap, disgusting swill.... Not what she ordered at all. She'd have a word with the waitress later. Still, she downed the entire glass in one swig.

"Miss, I'm kind of in a hurry and uh, payment up front."

Scarlet brought the glass down with such force that it broke. "You better have somethin' good fer me, boy, or else I'll be skinnin' yah fer profit instead, understand?"

Her trip down memory lane had been enough stress for one night.

...

And that should be enough posts. x3