Post by Cheshire on Jan 4, 2021 3:20:18 GMT
Xato
General Information
Alias(es): Helios (real name)
Gender: Male
Age: 5 3/4 years old
Pack: Mercurior
Rank: Cause
Appearance
Xato took after his mother, Nix, with her fiery coat. A blazing flame among the flora, his coat is speckled with grey and brown. The only thing he inherited from his father, a pure white underbelly. A perpetual cold, unwavering gaze decorates his features. The Mercurior mark lies center on his left shoulder.
Born small and lacking proper nutrition during an important time of growth, Xato's full size is smaller than that of your average male. Lean and slim, he lacks the bulk of others. Viewed from afar, his size is such that he is mistaken as female at times. Perhaps to make up for that, he carries himself with a cold pride and heavy steps. He is the Cause of the Mercurior and not someone to be taken lightly.
Don't be fooled by his small stature, rather than fat, it is muscle that makes up his form. Though lacking the endurance for long bouts, he is more focused on quick, efficient matches. Helios is built for quick bursts of strength.
Reputation + Personality
Xato is a bitter wolf. He holds a quietly burning flame of hatred for his pack of origin. It is from them that he gained his outwardly cold demeanor. He snaps at any mention of his past and probing will be met with sharp dismissal. His past is thus largely unknown by his Guild mates. As he openly refuses to talk about it.
Despite his frigid demeanor, he is not as prickly as he may seem. Though he appears grouchy and unfriendly, his duties as Cause mean he is open to discussion. He is more than willing to extend a helping hand to his fellow Guild members albeit in his irritable manner. Once one breaks through his snappish exterior, Helios turns into a far more jovial wolf. Though one couldn't say he is happy, his icy exterior no longer holds as much of a presence.
History
Xato, born Helios, was Summit and Nix's first litter. The sole pup of the litter, he was small and uninspired. There wasn't much hope that he would ever make something of himself. Seeing him as promise-less and weak, he was left to his own devices by his parents. It wasn't long before he became the target of the other pups. It was clear to the others that he didn't hold any of the villainy inherent in other Sanzin members. For the first few months of his life, he let them push him around to their hearts content. He made no note of protest, only curled up and hoped they'd stop. Seeing as he was a supposedly willing punching bag, the harassment only increased. Unknown to them, internally, he was slowly starting to boil over.
Everything accumulated to a head in his first and last outrage when he was eight months old. He was being bullied as per usual, but during it, something broke in him. Helios lashed out for the first time in his life. He fought back with a ferocity they had never thought him capable of. The pup closest to him was unlucky enough to catch most of his attack. They found themselves gasping for breath and soon gone. The other pups got away with minor injuries. From then on, he was no longer the local punching bag.
The rest of the pups left him be. They actively avoided him and some even tried to get on his good side. No one said it, but everyone knew they were all waiting for him to snap again at any moment. He was annoyed by those who tried to suck up to him and ran them off. He was even praised for the deed. They told him he his ferocity meant he had promise as a fighter. In return, he was cold and indifferent. The silent treatment was the best gift they had ever given him.
A fact he knew better than to share with the pack was that he had felt ghastly after killing the pup. No one had been around to see it, but once he came to his senses, he had been overcome with such an immense sense of wrongness that he had immediately vomited up what little lunch he had had. He hated the praise. He hated that this was how the pack was run. That such acts were encouraged. The idea that he could ever become the deadly warrior they all thought he'd be sickened him to his stomach. He wanted nothing to do with it or the pack's ways.
His actions didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the pack. Though they didn't hit at the heart of it, they could tell he wasn't going to lash out again. Everything began to go back to the way things had been before. The harassment intensified and as his the end of his days as a Zero drew closer, it was clear he wouldn't find himself anywhere near the top when he was given his number.
His starting number was three. It was just a step away from the bottom. He had expected nothing less. Helios bounced around the lower number never getting any higher than a four for the next six months. It was during this time that Summit and Nix's second litter was born. He had long since stopped thinking of them as his parents and they had all but disowned him. They never formally introduced him to his siblings. Regardless, he went to spy on his new siblings. Despite everything, he could not help caring for them as their older brother. He watched their growth, never letting them know their relation with him, with a tender sadness as they succumbed to the pack's ways. They were better off not knowing about their failure of a brother, and it was clear, they wouldn't welcome him.
Soon enough, he angered the wrong wolf, or maybe it had been just a whim on their part, and he was dropped to joker. His treatment only worsened from there, and his growing hatred for the pack blossomed. His physical condition deteriorated. His coat was ragged. His eyes dull, and his body bony. After spending three months as a joker, he was ready to leave. It was easy to leave as a joker. No one cared enough to bother keeping track of them. And leave he did.
On the run, he avoided the Sanzin territory and left the entire area all together. He wandered past the Au'Dar territory into the rest of the world and eventually hapened upon the Mercurior Guild. They peaked his interest, and he spent a few months shadowing different members. Over that time, he rebuilt himself as Xato. He changed how he carried himself and how he spoke. Soon growing into a fine brute. His bitterness against the Sanzin remained unchanged, and he embraced the fighter they said he could be. He would show the Sanzin what fools they were. Though, he buried his past with them, but he didn't forget it.
When the Meeting came around, he got inducted to the Guild as an assassin. His first order of business: getting stronger. He built himself up day by day, week by week, and when the next Meeting came around, he challenged for the position of Cause. He won the position not without a great deal of trouble. At 3 years old, he became second-in-command of the Mercurior Guild, outranking many wolves of the Sanzin. With this victory, he felt some of the hatred for his old pack, his primary driving force, dissipate.
He threw himself headfirst into the duties of the Cause, all but forgetting his past entirely. Being able to dedicate himself to something other than the fury that had driven him for the past few years was invigorating. He was starting to think he might forget his anger when he received some grim news.
His younger brother had died at the hands of their father. Helios only heard about the death months after it had occurred. With its arrival came the return of a familiar old anger. He renewed his vow to see the Sanzin fall.
One could imagine his devastation upon hearing of his younger sister's ascension to the throne. The pack he had sworn to destroy was now headed by his own family. He fell into a despair, unsure if he still had the resolve to bring the Sanzin down. If he did, it would hurt his family. He couldn't have that. Though his hatred for the pack still burned, it was no longer his primary driving force.
