Name: Katherine Anne Aleski (Though she’s normally called Kate for short).
Age: Six (And a half, she claims, though in reality just barely six).
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Hair: Short, just below her neck, it’s a light, almost auburn color. It’s soft and smooth after it’s washed, but gets to be dirty easily with all her playing outside.
Eyes: A pretty blue color, they almost appear dark purple at times.
Weight: 37 pounds (She’s a little underweight.)
Height: 3’4. (She’s also slightly short.)
Weapon: A small dagger, about nine inches long including the hilt. The blade is six inches. She keeps it either in her pocket, sheathed, or on a belt around her, only because she’s forced to just in case she needs to protect herself. In case of emergency, she uses anything to defend herself.
Armor: None.
Strengths: It goes without saying that one of her strengths is simply looking too defenseless for anyone to attack her, since she’s only a little girl. Being as small and light as she is, she can easily hide from attackers in tight spaces or inconspicuous places. Because she belongs to something of a demi-god, she is protected by his might, which gives her a certain measure of strength. She’s good at figuring out ways to make people feel better emotionally. Due to this, she can easily make allies/friends with those who like her, giving her more protection of a second-degree. She’s relatively smart for her age, despite not going to school. Although this is also balanced out with a tendency to act more like a younger child.
Weakness: She’s only a human little girl, after all. She’s extremely frail when it comes to the damage she can take. A simple scratch could cause her to cry. She’s also quickly distracted by simple things, and equally easily fooled by lies. She can’t reason past a certain state of mind, and she can’t do many physical labors. She hates loud noises and scary things in general, including fire, darkness, and shouting. Her frail body is also easily smacked around by the elements, including the weather. Despite retaining her innocence, she has slight mental scars from seeing so much death and pain in her life. This is why she doesn’t like fighting at all.
Skills/Magic:
Burn –A skill bestowed upon her by Pyralis, anyone whom she feels threatening, upon touching her skin, will be burned. This doesn’t mean they will burst into flame, but they will most likely not be able to keep a hold on her, if they can feel heat. This only works if they touch her skin, as her clothing would feel normal. The burns can intensify or lessen depending on Kate's feelings at the time. Obviously, if she's panicky or frightened, they'll be more serious.
Hell Hounds – In order to keep an eye on her as she wanders freely, Pyralis frequently sends literal hell hounds to watch over her or bring her back to him, which she refers to as her “puppies”. Before they appear, a normal sign of their nearing is a pair of glowing red eyes, or the smell of smoke. When they do appear, they are about the size of large Dobermans. Their fur is pitch black, and their paws are ignited in flame. They have large, curved, gray horns sprouting from their skulls, and their tails are thick and wavy.
There are three at a time he assigns to guard her, two smaller and one particularly large. The smallest are still able to drag her, the largest being the size of an adolescent bear. They can be destroyed with an amount of power, although they are very smart and agile. They attack in patterns as normal canines would, using their teeth and claws more than anything else. If they succeed in cutting their prey, the wounds will burn as if on fire. If they are destroyed, more can always be created, but Pyralis, being busy with his own affairs, can only take so much time out of his day to do so, which means it would be anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks before she receives new ones.
The dogs are not strictly meant to return Kate to her master if she wanders too far or does something unfavorable. They are mainly meant to protect her from danger.
Animal Friends – Katherine normally attracts animals of any sort, possibly because of her pure heart and innocent intentions. She finds friends even with wild creatures, normally with little trouble. It could be used to her advantage at times, although she does not have the unrealistic powers to immediately tame lions or other less social beasts. Her befriendment is limited and not always effective.
Appearance:
Katherine at Age Five (Notice her bunny. *Explained in detail under the pictures in this section*)
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...ume88/girl.jpg
Katherine at Age Six (Her befriending of animals can be seen here, with the presence of the cat trying to comfort her.)
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1.../1dceff7er.jpg
Manual Appearance: *For those unable to look at the pictures for any reason* Kate has almost auburn-colored hair that reaches to just past her neck, thick, but not wavy. Her skin is a peach color, sometimes a bit paler. She likes to wear things in her hair, usually barrettes or ribbons. She normally doesn’t wear footwear, because she can’t afford it. She loves wearing dresses of any kind, but only owns one currently, as seen in her second picture. The bottoms are beginning to tear, and change colors from white to brown. She is barefoot, owning no shoes. Her dress is also short-sleeved, leaving her at the mercy of the weather and elements.
Her face is entirely innocent and pure when she smiles, capable of melting most cold hearts. In reverse, she does things wrong as any child does such as arguing, disobeying, and lying and it is incredibly easy to tell she is doing so by the facial expressions and body language she gives off.
Another thing about Katherine that must be duly noted is her Bunny. *Seen in picture one* Bunny, as Katherine calls him, is her most precious item in the world. When she was four years old and going to a restaurant with her family, they discovered they had to wait for a table. While waiting, Katherine dragged her father over to the small arcade room. Her eyes skipped past the various machines and mechanical animals to ride until they settled on a claw machine.
There, leaning against the glass almost longingly was her Bunny. She begged her father to get him out, because the poor stuffed rabbit looked so lonely, and after so much pleading, her father finally conceded. It turned out it took her father around ten dollar’s worth of tries to get the treasure for her, but eventually, he did. From that day on, Katherine has always kept her Bunny next to her, no matter where she is. Due to being carried around so long, his button eyes are not as shiny as they once were, and his velvet pink ears are growing dull, but he’s the same to her. It is little-known that he has a zipper built into the back of him where Katherine can store a few small items or one big one. He is very soft, and Katherine refuses to let anyone else touch him unless she gives consent. Sometimes she also speaks to him, pretending he talks back.
Personality: Sweet and heart-warming, naïve and innocent. She has an amazingly huge heart towards people that she deems need her help. Though she tends to be needy and stubborn when she’s cranky, she will never fail to do what she’s asked by those she loves. She would never hurt any living being beyond self-defense, and even then she would feel terrible. She hates violence and fighting with a passion. Katherine is, however, extremely shy. One of the things she’s most adamant about is not talking to strangers, since she’s scared of them. This is mostly due to her unfortunate past. This fear is easily overlooked, though, if someone shows her kindness and gentleness. She’s naturally more inclined to make friends with a nice person than a scary one, or if someone is her age, she’s more likely to bond.
Bonding with her is actually simpler than it sounds. For Katherine, something as simple as joining her in a tea party makes her loyal to that person until they show her a reason not to be. Once she opens to someone, it’s difficult to get her to be quiet around them. Past that barrier, Katherine is good at being social, but she is also very good at being by herself, imaginative. She doesn’t get lonely easily, but she sometimes gets too involved in her made-up world, making it difficult for her to accept reality in some situations.
She is very easy to please, and likes pretty things most little girls would, such as dresses, jewelry, and of course, toys. Bugs are also high on her list of enjoyment, though only cute ones like caterpillars and butterflies. Sweets (candy, for those of you who don’t know) are also enjoyed by her. She enjoys being with those she cares about, and snuggling. She’s a very physically-oriented little girl, so unless she is being touched when with someone she trusts, she normally feels uncared for and insecure. This does not always apply when in a group of people she knows, but it certainly applies when she’s around people she does not know. She enjoys being carried, her back being rubbed, and general affection. Though she does not have much, Katherine is satisfied, not knowing anything but what she has exists. More than anything in the world, Katherine wishes for a Daddy.
As far as dislikes go with Katherine, she is prone to hate violence more than anything else. Also high on her list, nearly equal with violence, are her fears of strangers, the dark and loud noises such as thunderstorms. She is generally scared of ugly bugs and things she doesn’t understand. She gets easily irritated if she's treated too much like a child or left out of things like conversations between adults. She doesn’t like boys, considering them to be yucky and carriers of cooties, but this belief fades after they reach the age of eighteen. She isn’t old enough to understand the concept of a God of any sort. Despite not going to school, she does, however, know a good deal of information about the world around her. She’s also very polite and generally obedient, thanks to her upbringing.
Biography:
“Begin interview. Subject’s name: Kate. Time, Six P.M. You can go ahead and begin.” The man set the tape recorder upon the table.
She paused and placed a finger on her lips, looking upwards. “I ‘member it like it was yesterday… isn’t that how grown-ups always say it? Well that’s silly, I know it wasn’t yesterday, ‘cause yesterday was a Monday and I know when it happened, it was on my birthday, when everyone was happy. I ‘member ‘cause I got to go and get all these presents during the festival. So it was on Saturday, I think.”
“Go on.”
“Well, I know he didn’t mean to. I was just so little, and there were so many big people. And he had all those boxes he was carryin’ with all that good stuff inside. And he went to get me that pretty, sparkly hair ribbon, the one with the diamonds all over it that I had been wanting for
forever . And I was lookin’ at something else in another window, I think, and then I felt that scary man’s hand over my mouth, and it hurt me and he was really ugly and smelled bad. And I started to yell and scream, because he was taking me far away, inside the alley. But Daddy couldn’t hear me, because the man had put that huge napkin over my mouth and tied it so tight I couldn’t talk anymore.”
“What happened then?” From outside the small room in the police station, normal hustle and bustle went about.
“Mm… I know he put me in a scary place, really, really, dark. I think it was a closet, because I could smell his shoes, and they were really yucky.”
“He put her in a closet? Sounds like a routine kidnapping…” whispered the dark-haired man in the suit to the other. “Continue please, Kate.”
“He was really mean. He told me to be quiet or he was goin’ to make me, so I got really quiet because I like talking.”
“Yes? Then what?” asked the other man, the one with black hair.
“I know he was talking about getting a lot of dough from somewhere, but the only time I heard dough was when Mommy makes cookies, and I don’t know why he wanted cookies so bad.”
“Probably ransom,” whispered the first.
“I can hear you, you know! Just ‘cause you whisper doesn’t mean I can’t!” she chimed in, with an angry tone. She had no idea why they were whispering, but she hated being left out.
“Okay, sorry, Kate. Keep going. We’ll listen.”
“Okay, so where was I? Oh, yeah. Okay, so I heard him talkin’ about dough, and then the door of his house really quickly opens. I saw it through the crack where the key goes. So the man with the red hair told the man that grabbed me that he was going to give me up. And they started fighting and yelling, so I was really quiet, and then…” she stopped.
“What then, Kate?” the second man prodded, leaning in with his pen and paper.
“Then…” her voice shrunk so low, both men wondered if the recording tape could catch it. “He… killed ‘em.”
“Killed?” Both men passed each other a stare. “What do you mean killed? Who killed who, Kate?”
She looked so solemn it would make a funeral appear to be a party; her head bowed. Tears gathered in her eyes. It was clear she didn’t want to speak of it. Small tremors ran through her body every few moments.
“Who killed who, Kate?”
“Master killed the man that put me in the dark place.”
Immediately, the two started talking. Obviously, this “master” was not suited to take care of a little girl, and besides that, this might be the man they were looking for, the one responsible for all those deaths. “Kate,” began the black-haired man, “how would you like to live somewhere new, with another Mommy and Daddy?” Her head shot up, a shocked expression on her face. She squeezed her rabbit tightly, and the men began to smile. “We’ll arrange it right away, Kate. Don’t worry about a thing.” Both began to speak with each other, and one headed for the door.
“Mm-mm.”
“Huh?” The one nearest the door did a double-take and watched her shake her head slowly. “What’s wrong, Kate?”
“No. I don’t want a new Mommy and Daddy. I want my old Daddy.”
“Kate… how long has it been since your father and you were separated?”
“I dunno… a long time.”
“When someone’s taken like you were, Kate, they usually don’t see their parents anymore. But it’s alright. Your new Mommy and Daddy will be just fine.”
“No!” she stubbornly cried, this time tears gathering in her eyes. “Daddy said he’d always be there for me and I know he’ll come!”
“Kate… it’s not safe for you right now. If your Daddy comes to claim you before your foster parents and legal actions are taken care of, then if he’s seen to be fit to take care of you, you can go with him. For now, we need to take you somewhere else.” They stood up from their seats, approaching her in the tiny room.
“I don’t want a new Mommy and Daddy! My Daddy is coming for me! He is! I know he is!” The men both suddenly snatched her arms, one hand on each, firm, but not harmful. She was obviously not mentally stable and needed to be forced to calm down if necessary.
“Kate! Relax! We’re not going to hu- Agh!” The hands flew from her shoulders as the men gripped them tightly. Their hands were singed with burns so that a small smell of burning flesh wafted into the air. Kate huddled in a corner of the room opposite the men, burying her head into her knees and sobbing.
A thunderclap of explosion suddenly sounded from what sounded like the front of the station, followed by several gunshots and cries of death. The door swung open and closed as one of the two interviewers exited the room to help his fellow lawmen. The rapid gunfire went on for a period of about three minutes before it calmed completely. With a slam, the door fell from its hinges and collapsed on the floor, leaving in the wake a tall, red-haired man, a large sneer on his face. “Where is she?”
“You… you killed them!” he gasped out while staring at the remains of his fellow officers. “You can’t just take her like this! What kind of sick, twisted bastard would do this to a little girl?” the remaining man rasped from his dry throat, blocking the way to the girl, his heart thudding in his chest.
He extended his palm. In a flash of superheated flame, the man was gone. “Me.” He turned to look at the child, stepping purposely on the ash left in the man’s place before bending down to threateningly stare into the core of her eyes. “Kate. Let’s go.”