Hollow // Au'Dar Avant Garde Healer

[attr="class","hollowheadertitlegradients"]\ Basics /

The Dark Scholar

Name	Hollow	Aliases	Holly (Nenalle)
Age	5 Years 3 Months	Gender	Male [He/Him]
Sexuality	Hetero	Status	Engaged
Pack	Au'Dar	Rank	Avant Garde Healer

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[attr="class","hollowheadertitlegradients"]\ Tafa /

Name	Razun (rah-zune)
Gender	Female
Species	Hare

Razun is a rather large and a tad intimidating tan hare with large ears, an athletically thin frame, an angled face, and rather judgemental orange eyes. On her own, she is very serious and almost prissy, turning her nose up at other tafa and wolves if they get on her nerves or are annoying to her. When it comes to Hollow, when they are at home she is nearly always by his side or somewhere in the den, often helping him organize or deliver herbs. When they leave home, she will typically follow along right at his side or lay on his back, but she will also follow close by in bushes and shadows if she is ordered or if something is off.

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[attr="class","hollowheadertitlegradients"]\ Appearance /

IRL Face Claim Credit goes to Stephanie Moon
More Pictures:

SPOILER: Click to show

A rather tall and elegant fellow, Hollow may not be the biggest wolf in terms of muscle mass, but intimidation seems to be a rather natural trait for him even without bulk. With an almost graceful movement in his steps and a head always held high, it is as though he is constantly looking down on those smaller than himself, whether in judgment or in appearance. What he lacks in bulk he makes up for in height, with long legs built for speed and a long body that glides with him.

In terms of pelt, his body is covered in medium-length deep black fur that grows shorter on his legs and face. While he is primarily black in color, many areas are flecked with lighter grays and browns that are mostly seen in certain brightness. Beyond these patches of speckled color, a primary marking that Hollow is most known for is a brightly-colored white stripe that begins at the end of his chin and extends down his jaw, neck, and chest, ending in a point just between his front legs.

This tall and lean brute’s dark features are accented with a pure black nose, black claws, and a pair of often narrow pale yellow eyes.

Height	38"
Weight	100 lbs.
Voice	Lower pitched and husky, typically firm and gruff
Scent	Charred applewood, has an almost sweet undertone

Strength
Speed
Endurance
Stamina

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[attr="class","hollowheadertitlegradients"]\ Personality /

+ Observant + Honest + Dedicated + Quick-thinking

- Short-tempered - Blunt - Serious - Petty

When it comes to the role of a healer, most may typically assume them to be gentle and heartfelt beings who chose their path for the sake of helping others. But that's…not how nearly anybody would describe Hollow. A very stoic and cold man by nature, he isn’t exactly as approachable as most would assume a healer should be. Besides the constant look of annoyance or disdain on his face, Hollow is more well known for having a rather short and impatient temper, his buttons easily pressed when done so in the right way. His patience for others is quite thin, especially when he is in the middle of trying to help them, so there’s plenty of wolves who try to avoid him as much as possible. When he is in a foul mood (and often when he isn’t as well), he has a tendency to be very blunt and completely honest, sometimes even insulting if the need for it presents itself. He tells things like they are, and if you don’t like it, then maybe you should’ve gotten help from someone else. And with that line in mind, it is worth noting that he’s also a bit…petty. Openly. If you act a certain way towards him, either he will act the same way back in the moment, or he will wait until the next time you need him, since more than likely you will eventually. And when that time comes, he will “treat” you with sarcastic remarks and reminders of back when you were rude. When it comes to being treated how you want to be treated, Hollow is a force to be reckoned with.

But, as much of a crab ass as Hollow is, no one in the pack could deny that he is a very smart wolf and, despite his rudeness, is great at his job. When it comes to memory and observation, he has those things down packed, able to analyze situations quickly and think of solutions for them to the best of his ability. When it comes to times of unease or panic, he is able to level his own head and keep his mind in his duty, surprisingly able to try and soothe others with his normally snippy voice. Even though most of the time he may appear to be in a bad mood, he isn’t constantly someone to avoid. While he may be overall better at the more healing and herbal side of his job, Hollow does know that sometimes an already stressful situation is handled far better with a bit less of the rudeness or snapping. No, he isn’t good at giving heartfelt speeches or giving affection or showing sappy emotion, but he is honest. Sometimes his honesty comes off as curt and insulting, but in his case it's also his way of helping. How are you supposed to handle a situation or improve yourself if you aren’t told directly what is wrong? No, he doesn’t tell you what you want to hear, but he does tell you what you need to hear, and if you ask him, the latter is worth way more. His people skills may not be great, but Hollow is a very dedicated and hard-working wolf who really does enjoy his job.

Strengths	Honesty, memory, quick thinking, problem solving, situation control
Weaknesses	Impatient, irritable, a tad manipulative, sappy feelings, being gentle
Likes	Organization, control, peace and quiet, appreciation, respect, creativity, night time
Dislikes	Disorganization, chaos, crowds, disrespect, being insulted or undermined, liars, cockiness
Hobbies	Organizing his herb stores, collecting herbs, finding new methods of medicine making
Habits	Stares into space when focused or thinking, bares his fangs quite often even when he isn’t super angry
Goals	Just continue to do his job and support the pack
Fears	He keeps them secret, but he does have a couple fears. One of them being encountering injuries or diseases in others that he can’t heal or cure and having to watch someone die because of his lack of knowledge. He also fears losing Razun, and even dying himself.

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[attr="class","hollowheadertitlegradients"]\ History /

Birthplace	Au'Dar
Birth Season	Spring
Mother	Visri | Female Healer Garde of the Au'Dar | Alive NPC
Father	Lynar | Male Warrior Garde of the Au'Dar | Deceased
Siblings	Nenalle | Female Hunter Garde of the Au'Dar | Alive Adoptable
Other	None/Open
Fiance	Danali | Female Hunter Garde of the Au'Dar | Alive Adoptable

Birth

Hollow was born to two Au’Dar born and raised wolves named Visri, a healer, and Lynar, a warrior. Two wolves of smaller families, he was only born alongside a single sibling, a she-wolf who they named Nenalle. While Nenalle had been born with more of their father’s dark red and auburn pelt, Hollow had taken after his mother, with a mostly black pelt and a unique white stripe on his chest. As Visri was a healer, she found it easy to spend a lot of the first small portion of the pups’ lives in the healing dens, watching over them with her opossum tafa Ilem by her side.

Puphood

On the topic of puppies, Hollow and his sister were practically complete opposites. While Nenalle had a tendency to get big bursts of energy and was constantly in the mood to play, Hollow preferred to sit alongside their mother and watch her sort her herbs, many of which she would tell him the names of. More often times than not, Nenalle would come barging through the den and mess up all of the organized herbs, and it was when she did things like this that Hollow would flare a temper, snapping at her and sometimes even chasing her down if she got on his nerves enough. Despite him going after her with actual annoyance, she always just found satisfaction in knowing she got her brother to play with her. Even though the pups fought a lot, Visri knew that they loved each other and adored them both for their individual personalities.

As is typical within the Au’Dar, both Hollow and Nenalle were watched closely by their packmates and evaluated in their strengths and weaknesses. While Nenalle was best noted in her quickness and her energy, Hollow was far better with his logic and his memory.

Yearling

The two siblings were assigned their trades and mentors as they reached a year old, Nenalle becoming a hunter apprentice while Hollow became a healer apprentice, like his mother. Though, much to his dismay, it was not his mother who he was mentored by once his general training was over, which frustrated him to no end. Instead, it was a graying brute who became his mentor, a very irritable old man who was strict and to the point, never one to mess around. While most others tended to avoid him unless needed, everyone could appreciate his focus for his job. Which was something that Hollow admired and sought to be similar to. Though, at times the two being so similar in temperament would cause fights between them, as both of their tempers could flare and send sparks flying at any time. When this would happen, he would go and spend time with his mother instead and learn from her.

His year as a Healer Apprentice went by rather smoothly, as his memory easily caught on to information about the different herbs and his organization gave him focus. He did as much helping and shadowing as he could, helping when sickness broke out or packmates were injured. He had even been present for a birth or two, which while the process made him feel icky at first, he knew that it was a part of life. Though, there was a bit of a hiccup during his training that truly tested him. Nenalle had come to Alvik’s den, guided by another wolf who she leaned on for support, the bottom half of her leg twisted, and even though her face too was twisted in pain, she still had that signature toothy smirk. While out on a hunt she had tripped and been stepped on by a deer hoof, breaking a part of her leg. And of course the healer they brought her to happened to be his mentor. With his absolutely wonderful sense of humor, Alvik instructed Hollow to treat her himself while he would simply supervise. And as to be expected, the entire time all his sister did was pester him, asking him stupid questions, making fun of how much like flowers he smelled now, being loud, lounging as though she were there just for a visit. It was beyond irritating, and he snapped at her multiple times, but, to his credit, he had her leg on its way to healing pretty quick, she just needed recovery time, which she thankfully spent in her own densite rather than theirs.

2 Years

As Hollow reached the Coming-of-Age threshold, Nenalle and himself, as well as a few others of similar ages, all stood before the Centurion and received their ceremony, agreeing to Marklov’s pledge and readying themselves to get their tafas. Truthfully, while a few of the others, including his sister, spoke briefly of what kind of tafas they hope they get, he didn’t really have any expectations or hopes going into it. If anything, the only minor hope he had was that his tafa, whatever it ended up being, was not super energetic and chaotic, for he already lived in the presence of Nenalle which was enough energy already. Hollow walked the Citadel silently, and while he met eyes with multiple animals of varying shapes and sizes, most of them simply looked and scurried away. Honestly, he wasn’t sure how long he was in there, though Visri claimed that it was an hour or so. There was a point when he had pushed through some bushes and found himself in a sort of small clearing of sorts, one with multiple little burrows and dens throughout. And all through the clearing were rabbits, bunnies, and hares. Most of them ignored him, focusing on whatever it was they were doing. But, among them was a rather large hare, one who stood right at the center of the clearing like a statue. Just as he had arrived, the hare had turned and begun to stare at him, but did not move. When his eyes met the hare’s, he could only describe what he felt as a shiver down his back, like a drop of water moving against his skin through his fur. The two had stared at one another for quite a while, and then Hollow lightly bowed his head, which the hare returned. She moved from her position and approached him, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. It almost seemed as though she didn’t like him, but when another rabbit began to approach, she casually moved sideways, putting herself between the other rabbit and the black wolf. As Hollow walked away, she followed, but each time that he glanced back at her, she would stop and look away from him. This process continued all the way until Hollow walked to the center tree and looked back at her. Though she seemed as though she was less than interested, she still stayed, and Hollow made their marks on the tree. The two left the Citadel together and went so that Hollow could establish his own den.

One thing that did happen, much to his surprise, was Visri had called both him and Nenalle to the main densite, where they found that she was waiting for them with Lynar at her side. Throughout their lives, both of the siblings of course knew that Lynar was their father, that fact was never a secret. But he hadn’t really interacted with them much, nor had he ever been there to help raise them. He was present within the pack, they saw him sometimes, but he never went out of his way to speak to them or be around them. So seeing their parents together was rather suspicious to them both. With both siblings and both parents gathered together, Lynar spoke to them both, saying that while he has never been around personally in their lives, he has always loved Visri and that even if his word did not mean much to them, he was proud to see them both become Gardes. He acted as though he wanted to get to know them and come around, but neither sibling really seemed too invested. They just kinda shrugged and walked away.

3 Years

Lynar's attempts at becoming closer with his kids was one that he kept at for a little bit, though neither sibling really found purpose in it. But, after a few months of "connecting", both Lynar and Visri approached the two of them and admitted that they had planned to begin the same process that they went through when they were the same age: arranging marriages. The two of them had become mates in the first place because their old fashioned families followed the views of “mate for genetics first, love later”. Their parents had arranged them together to have healthy pups, they just got lucky that their personalities meshed well together. But now, following in their family traditions, Lynar and Visri wished to do the same with their children. Unfortunately for them, neither sibling had any interest. Nenalle was the sort to flirt and mess around with whoever she wanted for the sake of fun, she wasn’t mate material or mother material, nor did she want either of those things. And Hollow…he was more focused on his job and didn’t seem overly interested in romance of any form, much less pups.

Still, determined in their resolve, they did whatever they could to try and set the two of them up with others of the Au’Dar. Countless times Visri would come to Hollow’s den, a random she-wolf by her side, claiming that the lady with her would make a great mate and a great mother or some variation of that, and every time Hollow would shoo them away.

Not too long after this process of theirs began, Alvik had passed away of old age, and under the presumption that Hollow was grieving, the parents put more focus on Nenalle, thankfully. And they weren’t wrong; Hollow did miss his mentor, despite his grumpy old man nature, and he was grieving, but his method of doing so was to simply keep working.

4 Years

Just as Hollow reached the age of 4, there was an accident. A couple of rogues had come sneaking around the territory, and while chasing them out, Lynar had fallen from the mountain and died from his wounds. Though they had not been close to him, the siblings did try to be there for Visri, as she had loved him. She didn’t mention or act on the whole marriage thing for a little while, but a couple months after his death, while they were spending time together Visri mentioned it again to Hollow. She told him of how in the beginning Lynar hadn’t wanted pups either, nor had he wanted a mate. But after they got together, despite neither of them knowing what they wanted, they came to love one another. And that was the same fate that she hoped that Hollow and Nenalle would go through: finding someone to care for and to care for them and have families. Not wanting to drive his mother away, he gave in, a little bit anyway.

The first she-wolf that Visri brought to Hollow was one named Hyta. She was a sweet wolf, at first anyway, but she rather quickly revealed that she was rather…lazy, with a pathetic work ethic and more often times than not found some excuse to get out of her duties. Hollow entertained his mother’s offering for a few months, but his temper did none of them any favors when he eventually booted her from his den and instructed her to leave him alone.

The second was a she-wolf named Aluny, who truthfully reminded him way too much of Nenalle. High energy, high strung, talkative, and unbelievably clingy. There wasn’t a time of day that she didn’t try to cling to Hollow’s side while he worked, going with him everywhere as if she didn’t have anything better to do. Sometimes she tried to help him with his herbs, but most of the time she would just make a mess. Just like the first, Hollow demanded that she leave him alone, that he was no longer interested.

The next couple months Hollow avoided his mother and any she-wolves she tried to bring his way, and while much of his time was spent doing the normal, he had a chance to do something he hadn’t done before. A Hunter had come running into the Healers Clearing calling for help, saying that during a hunt one of the other Hunters had been impaled by a large deer antler and needed help immediately out in the field. Hollow was the first to scoop up a cluster of herbs and run for it. In the field, the wolf was bleeding out and in a lot of pain, and many of the others in the hunting party were gathered around in a panic, unsure of what to do. Hollow snapped at all of them, demanding silence and sending some of them for other resources nearby. It took a little while of pressure and nonstop effort, but Hollow managed to stop the bleeding, patch the wound, and ease their pain with herbs. Multiple healers had approached him, asking him questions about what he had done and how he did it. But it was Nenalle who approached him, rather calmly which was strange, and she thanked him, as the wolf he had saved had been her first Apprentice who had recently been promoted to Garde. She did bring in some humor that she probably thought was just a tease, claiming that he could be the Avant Garde. But while she thought she was making a joke, it was really that that put into motion his sights.

In the few years that he had been working on healing and herbs and medicine, he knew that he was smart enough and had enough creativity that he could do more than what he was doing. He wanted to find and create new ways of healing, he wanted to hold influence over how healing within the pack was done, and he found himself naturally gravitating towards being more authoritative, especially with the Apprentices. And after keeping that wolf alive, and all the words from his peers and his sister, Hollow formally challenged the Avant Garde. He knew what he was signing up for when he challenged them, and he had memorized and practiced all that he could, readying himself. The challenge begun and Hollow was given his list of illness symptoms to try and identify a certain illness, and he was to go and fetch the herbs needed to treat said illness. Unfortunately, his illness was rather difficult to figure out, as this combination of symptoms was unknown to him. He spent some time thinking it through, and he doubted his success rate momentarily. But then he remembered his puphood days, his days spent by Visri’s side listening and watching as she talked about herbs and healed packmates who came to her. The illness he was given, he had seen it before, back in those days. Upon remembering, Hollow ran in search of the herbs needed, one or two of which had been rather rare and only grown in the gardens. He returned, herbs in maw, and identified the illness, which turned out to be correct. The Avant Garde at the time, an older she-wolf he had become rather good friends with, was very proud of his efforts and was glad to be handing her rank to someone she knew the pack could depend on.

Not too long after his rise to Avant Garde, Visri sought him out, and, much to his dismay, she had a she-wolf at her side. Visri spoke of how she was beyond proud of his accomplishments and proud of him for rising in rank. But, just as he suspected, she also spoke of how his own determination and drive for a higher rank was something that she knew he could bond with someone over, especially someone who had the same goals. The she-wolf she introduced was one he had known of for a little bit, a female named Danali. She was a hunter, like his sister was, and she was just a little bit younger than they were. She was rather quiet but well-spoken, more elegant and set in her ways. In the time that they initially spent together, she spoke of how her goal for the not-so-far future was to become the Avant Garde Hunter and have more influence in the pack and the strategizing of the hunters. Even though at that point he still had no desire for a mate or a family, admittedly, Hollow couldn’t deny that of the she-wolves his mother had brought to him thus far, Danali was the most similar to himself, and he found that he could comfortably have discussions with her when they saw each other outside of their working. In a way, the two didn’t really become “mates”, more like “fiances”.

5 Years

After a couple of months spent “together”, Hollow wasn’t entirely sure what he thought of this situation anymore. He had come to learn after a little bit that while Danali was a hard worker and similar to himself, she also had a more manipulative and condescending nature that she displayed when she wasn’t around him. Nenalle would sometimes come running to his den to gossip, asking if it was true that Hollow had declared his love for Danali and that they were fully mates and that they planned on having as many pups as possible. A bunch of random things that he had never done nor said that she claimed Danali was telling others. She also told him of how any time another she-wolf even mentioned his name, Denali would become defensive and would claim that Hollow was her’s and that he was taken. In his mind, this kind of behavior was beyond childish, and very irritating. But he had not witnessed it himself yet, so while he did keep it in mind, he continued on keeping an eye on her and looking for all of these red flags that she didn’t show around him.

Current

Hollow and Danali could still be considered “fiances”, but he has been distancing himself from her. He still watches out for this awful behavior he has heard about, but he has more important things to focus on than she-wolf drama and lies.

In addition, after the recent upheaval of the Au'Dar's political stability, Hollow isn't entirely sure how to feel. He does not support Akala, nor her method of taking over the pack, and he does not hide this fact. But he has not and likely will not leave the pack. Instead, he makes his own snide comments when the topic is brought up, and his interactions with the new Centurion in person are...honestly not too pleasant.