Name: Etansi
Age: 17
Sex: Female
Sexual Orientation: Confused
Craft: Thief
Rank: Candidate
Location: Western
Physical Description: A heart shaped face, large dark brown eyes, and gently sloped brows draw attention to her looks that aid in her general thieving but often anger her beloved twin. The deep color of her skin and long dark hair she has braided into thick cords down her back give her a wild look that she happily cultivates for her own nefarious purposes. That braided hair is the only part of her that she does her best to care for, even going so far as to find a source of water to wash it with when it begins to resemble a tangle of vines.
Average of height and only just growing into the adult body she will someday inhabit, she lived on the fringes of society for so long that she is not much more than a bony wraith of a girl. The short time spent actually indulging in food did nothing to add to her frame, but nature had a way of doing that in areas without her consent anyway. Etansi's beauty is only growing with each day, even if she detests it she finds it useful.
Personality: This girl is very much a product of the darker sides of Pern, a teenager shaped by neglect and loss that unwittingly became both intensely overprotective and dangerously co-dependent upon the only person that stayed in her life. Only now is she growing enough to understand that these were issues, where once before she had no concept of how her emotions and her own feelings were being shoved down past the armor she had built to protect herself more than her twin brother. Her understanding of why it was and how it was built was something that she stayed rather oblivious to for turns because she never needed any explanation for it, she had to be strong for her twin and so she was, she had to be a shield for the kinder side of him and so she squashed the kinder side of herself that existed down under layers of what she thought was anger. With the help of a small golden dragon and having her brother Impress, thereby breaking the co-dependency by separating them more than they had been, only now is Etansi starting to realize that the feelings she’d thought herself devoid of are still there. Though it will take time to access them all she’s taking her first cautious steps forward to see herself as something other than just a tool for her brother and accept that she can’t become a tool for someone else either.
Much of this issue stems from her taking the entire world upon her own shoulders and making it her problem. Her mother leaving? That was her fault, she should have seen it to stop it. Ma Loa dying? Well how had she missed her being so sick and if she’d been smarter and more observant she could have stopped it, also her fault. Radfel and Erastan fighting that resulted in them being thrown out? Should have thrown herself between them when she saw it coming and let herself get hurt since it was her own fault anyway that it started right? Every problem that life has thrown at her she believes wholeheartedly are her own doing and that she should be punished for being unable to overcome them, never once has she blamed anyone else or been kinder to herself for things out of her control. If she could take the entire world’s issues onto her shoulders as an option she might, but generally it was reserved for anything that happened to her twin and stems from her overprotective nature that she hides behind her gruff exterior. Truly, if there were any that were willing to break through to her like Khamaith had they would find the same level of protection she gives to Erastan extended to them as well, for there aren’t many she thinks would want to be around her. Before she would have shut them out, but training has taught her that she cannot shut the world out or things will always stay the same. It has been proven to her recently that there ARE those willing to reach her, but she’s hesitant and disbelieving still that they won’t leave her, so her battle is against herself as she can be impatient both inwardly and outwardly towards others that don’t move quickly enough for her own needs and it isn't their fault that they don't.
While she speaks haltingly she is nothing if not intelligent and because she had to learn very hard lessons very early Etansi can learn on the fly and adapt to most situations if given the right incentive. In the past it was the desire to keep Erastan safe and hunger that drove her, now it’s the need to learn so that she might stay within the Weyr that did not send her out after her foolish behavior (not that there was any real danger of that). Plans come to her quickly and instincts can take over where she’s lacking in knowledge, driving her faster towards her goals, for she never wants to simply sit back and let life take it’s time. Life is hard, so she must be strong to protect the things that she cares about. Life is cruel, so she has to appreciate what she can in the small moments of quiet it gives her. Thanks to her bond with her two fire lizards she’s come to understand what it means to be a bit kinder and have to care for something that might leave at any time and as she adapts to this at least it’s helped her co-dependency a bit to know that she can’t always be there to protect them or indeed anyone else. There might be those that need to protect her though, as she is easily distracted by anything shiny and of value but has very little care for allowing it to stay with it's original owner! In fact her hands will often move before she realizes it and suddenly she's acquired the knife or necklace or other valuable belonging, a skill that helped she and her brother eat in the past. Since coming to Western she's tried to curb these tendencies lest she be caught with various degrees of success.
Positive Trait List: Intelligent, Quick-witted, Adaptable, Protective
Negative Trait List: Overprotective, Gruff, Cautious, Impatient, Co-dependent tendencies
History: Life was not kind to her. Etansi and her twin brother knew nothing but pain and strife for many years of their young lives until they finally reached the Weyr, though in Pern that was never so uncommon. The twin children of a woman that whispers and lies followed like breath dancing behind her in the cold and there was never a time that she thought her children were worthy enough to know, at least as far as Etansi could feel about it. Beside the fact the woman was a horrible and neglected her children she left them with a lack of understanding about how they even came into the world. No father that they knew of, or even that they must in fact have one biologically, neither had enough information to care to ask what had become of the man. Did it even matter to them?
Their mother, beautiful if aged, drug a parade of men through the pitiful excuse for a home they'd been living in. Neither care nor desire roused her to feed them more than was necessary for them to survive through long months of cold. This nature of hers lead to the pair becoming more wild than civilized and in no time at all Etansi and Erastan were spending time with the camp canines, living and eating together with them the two even slept with them and were spared from any tunnelsnake attacks or in fact any other animals that might harm them. Food was the only thing that they could offer the canines and for scraps and bones the animals returned their love.
Nine long years their life was this way, never knowing that it could be any other way they rarely complained, though they barely spoke. Everything would shatter soon enough. Dawn broke one morning to an attractive young teenager that claimed he sought his mother, a claim that their mother's manipulative ways instantly responded to. His fine belongings had her embracing the youngster with mock tears in her eyes and a love love that Etansi knew she'd never seen before nor ever would in the future. Somehow she ingratiated herself to the teen and though she attempted to take them with her, rebuffed that there was no more room than for two, their mother left their lives. Any promise she made fell on the deaf ears of her daughter whose eyes hardened slightly more that day.
For her brother, her twin and other half, Etansi waited, whittling away the months that lead towards winter with nothing to show for it but the further protruding of the ribs she'd come to know so well. If it weren't for her brother she would have left, if it weren't for his love she would have died. On her own one day, cold waking her to bones that physically ached, Etansi found an old man willing to teach them how to make traps and build a fire, though she was more than aware that it was only from pity rather than any sort of kindness. As winter blew in they did what they could to survive, berries and roots could only hold them over for so long though and eventually theft became commonplace for them, food here and supplies there. Always small and scattered they did their best to spread the pain to members of the camp as well as travelers and traders that passed through, the scrawny children were caught from time to time but though punishment could be fierce it was always dolled out with the knowledge that they were members of the rag-tag camp and starved just like everyone else there. Etansi tried to take the worst of the blows onto herself, offering before the punishment could so much as be metted, though it only worked occasionally she was able to save her beloved twin some pain and every time he was hit she blamed herself and held onto the anger.
When a large caravan rolled through the camp the twins plotted to track it, following through the shadows and trees as it wound through the forest before settling that night. Knowing that it would be foolish to strike while the sun was up instead of during the darkest hours when few guards were able to keep heavy eyes open, the twins executed their plan when the longest hours of the night stretched out and were not at all disappointed. The haul was good, many fine quality items traveled in the bags and crates the caravan held but things were destined to fall apart. Tempted by a knife her brother betrayed his position with his shadow, crackling embers dancing about him as the wind blew foul and screams filled the dark night before Etansi could stop them. Breaking cover she darted towards him, hoping to grab him before anyone else and watched in horror as he was scruffed by an older man, drug up from his feet and held tight. Violence flared in her mind and she fought with everything she had to no avail, anger spitting from her, bony arms and legs punching and kicking for freedom from what was sure to be their deaths. It was obvious, she thought, that they were no threat to any of the well armed men and women of the caravan, at least until their valuables spilled from the ragged bags the two carried with them.
Discussions of life, death, or punishment of the most extreme types happened right in front of them and after some time silence finally filled the dark camp. A large woman, the Matriarch and owner of said caravan as it would turn out, named Ma Loa rose from her spot and turning her fire filled eyes onto them drug them into the first hug either had ever received from someone other than their twin. Etansi was at a loss, her emaciated body could not possibly be worth hugging and yet this old woman was showing her kindness, it must have been a trick! The girl struggled until she was ordered cleaned and clothed, only then did she fall into silence and confusion, large brown eyes staring from her thin face in awe. Once she was fed, making certain that Erastan ate before she so much as even attempted to swallow anything, and their story told to the matron it was laid before them to join. Would they accept?
There was no question even needed.
Adjustments were however, neither had grown up around children their own age before and Etansi in particular showed no interest in them, viewing them as spoiled and fortunate to have had easy lives in the caravan. The draw of a community other than starving individuals that cared only for self pursuits did attract her however and she did her best to tow the line Ma Loa had handed to her. The widowed woman took them as her own responsibility, having only grown children of her own, and the rest of the caravan was not entirely quiet about their disapproval for the small thieves that came to join them. Shadows moving might always be them and the pair stole as they saw fit, for Etansi it was always something shiny or sharp that drew her in and she was rarely caught as often as Erastan. Pity could only stretch so far but none dared say or do anything with Ma Loa to contend with.
Education was their next course from her, taught to read and write so that they might join their fellow humans for the first time in over a decade of living lives not fit to an animal. She was everything to Etansi. Learning the finer points of cursing, cooking and spitting from her beloved mother figure, and she did indeed believe she was more of a mother figure than the sorry excuse for one they'd been born to, she developed quickly and flourished greatly under the woman's care. So it was that her heart was ripped from her chest when an infection of Ma Loa's own chest took her life. No healer on the road, Etansi's tears knew no end when the time finally came and she hated herself more every day for her weakness and love, turning only to Erastan with her grief.
Passed to the hands of Ma Loa's eldest son, adopted in words and not actions, she became darker in mind and hatred filled her when the reality of their community came crashing around her naive ears. The kindness she had once felt dissipated as quickly as it had come into her life and Etansi grit her teeth against the treatment they received from Radfel, Ma Loa's grandson. Etansi was no one's slave and certainly not that of a boy barely older than herself, but a slave she became to stay alive within the caravan. Erastan sought to fight Radfel when the opportunity arose but Etansi simply sat back and seethed, remembering everything and forgiving no one. It came as no great surprise to her when Radfel's attentions became more pointed and she had a plan to end such treatment that ended abruptly the day her brother attacked him. Before she could try and get between them, try to stop them even if it cost her a few blows, a rock fell into her brother's hand and their tenure with the caravan ended in tragedy.
Radfel would never be the same and Rivercrest became their new home when the group passed it. Nothing needed saying when they reached it, the twins simply disappeared into the Hold like the ghosts they had once been so long ago and yet not very long ago at all. In no time they were back to their previous state, stealing and conning anyone that came their way with even the smallest amount of fortune to their name. Rivercrest turned out to be much different than the sullen and wild camp though and food was never so far away from them as it had been when they had nearly starved in the wilds of Pern. Once or twice they did find true work, paying work with more honest ends than their thefts had ever had.
On the streets of Rivercrest they met her, the gold rider that came asking for directions and made herself their next easy mark. Etansi planned to distract her long enough for Erastan to relieve her of any valuables, neither knowing how the minds of riders and dragons worked. To her horror the gold dragon appeared behind Erastan and she broke from her kind character to run to his side, escape screaming in her mind, but it was not to be. Somehow the rider had known and she could not suppress her grin when she looked at the twins and told them of their potential, of her own twin. Would they join Western Weyr, would they come to stand before another golden queen and attempt to Impress one of her clutch? Or would they stay in Rivercrest, living on the fringes yet still, even if food came easier. The promise of food and shelter made their answer even easier than the question that was posed.
And so it was that Etansi went from a wild child to a Candidate of Western Weyr in only fifteen long and dark Turns.
On their very first attempt at standing for a Hatching Etansi's worst nightmare came true when Erastan Impressed to a shy blue and in her mind left her just the way their mother had. When he turned his back to choose his dragon it felt as if he left her alone and shattered her to pieces as she realized that she no longer had him in her life. With the gentle reassurance of a newly hatched golden dragon she felt a part of her break and she ran from the sands to the water in an attempt to hide her onrush of emotion, only to be spooked by a green she'd never met and the attempted kindness of a fellow Candidate. After hearing the beckoning of her Candidatemaster's dragon Zinath she ran to the dragon and buried her face against her as the green blocked her from view, hiding the shame that she was slowly drowning in.
Since then she's begun to actually make friends, very few in number, but growing as she grows herself. Each one of her friends is just as important to her as family is, as they're her new family around the Weyr she lives in and she'd do anything to keep them safe. With luck, one became a dragon rider, on a blue just like her brother even if that friend and her brother dislike one another. The others, at least she figures she can use herself as a shield if they need her.
Other: Twin sister of Sinders Path's Erastan
Etansi is kind of a cat ;3 (Only kidding a little)
Candidate Specific Questions
Do you want them to have an official Search RP? No
Do you understand they will age every passing year regardless if you're there to RP the or not? Yes
Do you want them to have a possible Stands Impression? No
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