Leocadio | Shepherd Garde

Born to a Hunter Avant Garde Father and a mother known as the Valkyrie, Leocadio had a destiny from the moment he was born. His family had always held the Hunter or Warrior Avant Garde rank and it was expected that he and his siblings do the same. They all competed fiercely with each other to do just that. All except for one: his sister Nuala. Regardless, Leo didn't much care what Nuala chose to do with her time. All that mattered was that they were happy. Their family was content and whole. They were at peace.

He was not even a year old when it happened. The moment his family began to crack. As warning howls broke the night, Leo watched from behind his mother as Nuala snuck out after their father. He huddled with his siblings as he watched his mother race out of the den and peered with worried eyes outside as more howls broke the still night air. When his mother finally returned, blood caking her usually pristine white coat, he knew from eyes, eyes that held a glare sharper than any edge, that something had gone horribly wrong. Together, he and his siblings raced towards the scene, his mother's icy gaze fresh in his mind, to find their father's dead body and an unresponsive Nuala. That dark night became imprinted in his memory, an event that he will never forget and the turning point of everything.

In the month after the attack, Leo watched his family begin to crack. Tensions were running high in the family with a negligent mother and a dead father. With no one to guide them the siblings began to drift apart with Nuala closing herself off from them the most. It was then that ice began to fill Leo's veins. He became colder to everyone around him, but, more than anything, he paid attention to his mother. The harsh gaze of his mother that night meant something important. Unfortunately, he would not find out what until it was far too late. His once attentive mother now seemed to have lost her focus. She failed in her duties and she was often found at the scene of the attack. Soon enough, she was gone entirely. The Valkyrie left in the night like some kind of Avenger. Leocadio was anguished, frustrated, More than anything, he felt a cold rage, one he directed towards Nuala. Had it been anyone else, they would have been able to help father. Instead, it had been Nuala to follow him, to let him down. Had Nuala trained as fiercely as the rest of them, their father would not be another dead body and their mother nothing more than a ghost. The morning after the night their mother disappeared, the siblings met for a meeting. It was then that everything came to a head. Anger, grief, and guilt flashed between them. In one explosive morning, the family shattered all together.

When it came time for their apprenticeships to be announced, as expected, they were all to be either warriors or hunters. Leo was apprenticed to be a hunter. Ever since their fight, none of the siblings had so much as acknowledged each other's existence. Leo was perfectly fine with that, but one of his brothers wasn't. His youngest brother came to speak with him one day, a month after their apprenticeships had begun. He was apprenticed to be a hunter but instead, informed Leo that he had appealed the decision and been approved. He would now be apprenticing as a Healer. His youngest brother advised Leo to do appeal his trade as well. He thought there was another calling, a better calling, for Leo. Leocadio mulled over the decision and decided to follow his youngest brother's advice. His appeal was approved. He would now be apprenticed as a Shepherd. It was this moment that began to knit back together the shattered family. His youngest brother began reaching out to their other siblings. Thanks to his brother's efforts, Leocadio and his siblings were able to repair their relationship. By the time their apprenticeships were coming to a close, they were no longer fractured though things would never be quite the same again. Every now and then, cracks and fissures would appear in their carefully constructed family, but they were nonetheless whole. Regardless, the damage had been done to Leo. He was now a far colder wolf than he had ever been before.

When the time came to claim his tafa, Leo made his way into the Citadel with confidence. He was familiar with the place due to his apprenticeship and already knew who his tafa was. His pace and path were deliberate. Just as he expected, his tafa awaited him curled upon the rocks. Iro the many-horned adder was to be his tafa.