Mwenye [Spotted Hyena]

OOC
Name: Rosalina
Years RPing: for all you know i could have invented roleplaying i don't keep track of that shit
Slot Used: Non-wolf slot purchased on main account!
How You Found Us: baby ur my aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaangel

General
Name: Mwenye
Birthday: August 12th, 2014
Gender: Male
Species: Spotted Hyena

Physical
Height: 36 inches
Weight: 118 pounds
Coat Color: Brown with spots of black
Eye Color: Amber
Health Issues: Will suffer hearing loss with age
Other Information: n/a

Mental
Mental Stability: Unstable
History:

The first thing he can remember is the African savanna.

That was where he was born, where he thrived for the vast majority of his life. His first memories are of running with the pack, of inhaling the sweet scent of the long grass and learning how to tear into a carcass for the first time. He was born with other siblings, yes, but if one asked him to recall them he would shrug and say that they might have perished, or might have survived into their first year- hyena culture was one of survival of the fittest, and any of the pups who did not shape up and learn to survive in the harsh environment were quickly cast to the side, if not rejected altogether. His mother was the matriarch of their small pack, harsh and stern but with a softer side that was shown towards those who were loyal to her, and though Mwenye knew that he would never hold a position of power within the pack (being the sex that he was), he was content to live a life of relative luxury under the watchful eyes of his pack brothers, partaking in the traditions of the hunt and singing their songs at night when the moon was high.

Though he was physically strong and soon grew into a strapping young adolescent, Mwenye's personality left something to be desired. Even by the standards of a male hyena in a society that was ruled entirely by females, he was seen as soft, too caring and too trustful to make a name for himself within their small family group. When the other pups would pounce on birds and rip their feathers off in an attempt to practice hunting techniques, he would question why such cruelty was necessary. When he was told to crack the bones of a prey animal open to access the marrow inside, he would pout over the fact that he couldn't just keep the bone to play with. He had a softer side as a pup, that was for certain, and it was enough to make the other pups in the pack relentlessly tease him, enough to make his mother worry herself sick over the fact that it might lead him into trouble one day. Mwenye, at that time, did not dwell on their words. Let them think that he was weak or foolish, what did he care? He was simply following a kinder path in life, one that lead to happiness instead of bloodshed and misery. He still had a home, was still happy among his pack. He could learn to be content with that, even if none of them shared his rather unique sentiments.

He had no idea how wrong he was about to be.

Mwenye had spent about a year within his pack when disaster struck. One followed scent that seemed strange to him, and everything quickly went south- a rope tightening around his neck and legs, strange voices shouting at him, frightening naked creatures that walked on two legs surrounding him and forcing him down to the ground. Though his trusting nature still prevailed, the yearling was intelligent enough to know that nothing good could possibly come out of being outwitted by another fellow predator, and these naked beings- whose language sounded so strange, who poked and prodded at him and were trying to take him away from his family- certainly seemed like predators. He thrashed inside the trap that they had secured him in, cackling in distress and lashing out to bite whatever was within reach, but it was no use. The humans had long-range weapons where he did not, and one cocktail of tranquilizer being injected into him later, he was loaded into a crate and taken far away from the only family that he had ever known.

When the young male was finally roused again, it was in a strange and unfamiliar place, filled with the scents of other exotic animals, the stench of fear and anger palpable in the confined area. Subjected to the confined space of a small cage while being placed on the bidding block in an exotic animal auction, Mwenye spent much of his time cowering at the back of the enclosure, wishing above all else that he could go home and see his family again, that he had never followed the strange scent away from his pack in the first place. And for a while, the timid nature was enough to make any potential buyers pass him over- they wanted an animal that was going to have a bold kind of presence, after all, not one that cowered in the back of its cage and refused to emerge no matter what kinds of measures were used to coax it out. But eventually, a male with slightly less scrupulous morals than the rest of the buyers came up to the cage, apparently seeing something he liked in Mwenye and paying a large sum of cash to secure the young hyena. He wanted to turn Mwenye into the vicious predator that he knew he could be, one way or another, and the human didn't seem to particularly care what kinds of methods were used or what kind of danger he was potentially putting himself in.

The human tried everything- chaining the male out in the cold, shocking him with a shock collar when he didn't obey commands, pitting him against weaker animals so that he might be able to exercise his full killing potential- but for a time, Mwenye was resistant to the treatment. He was not going to be a monster, no matter how hard this human tried to make him out to be, no matter how much the punishments smarted and how much hatred was beginning to burn in his heart towards humans and the way they had treated him. He had hope that he would eventually escape from captivity, after all, had hope that he could traverse the lands of Africa to find his family again and return to them a bit worse for wear. But as the months wore on and the horrid treatment continued- not only the punishments for not acting like a "proper" hyena should, but also not being fed the proper meals necessary for a growing carnivore, beginning to waste away from malnutrition- and as all of his escape attempts were thwarted in some way or another, Mwenye began to realize that there was to be no hope of ever seeing his family again, was to be no future other than rotting in a cage for the rest of his days. And he would be damned before he allowed himself to starve to death in the house of a weaker species.

If they wanted him to be a monster so badly, then so be it.

Something snapped inside of Mwenye that day, when his owner came in to do the bare minimum of cleaning his cage- the hatred that had been festering within him finally reached the boiling point, leaping past the point of no return and making him see red. Finally showing every ounce of just how vicious he could be, the young hyena leapt for the human male, and only a very short distance between the door of the cage and a quick reaction time kept the exotic pet owner from being mauled altogether- as it was his right arm was still savaged, the bones snapped and flesh mangled. Not wanting word to get out of his mistake for fear of having his false reputation of being an expert handler ruined, the human arranged for the hyena to be picked up by a few of his closest friends and transported via boat to a discreet location farther down the beach, where the animal could be disposed of without prying eyes butting into his business. If anyone asked about the missing hyena, he could simply claim that he had offered the animal to be re-released back into the wild within one of the local game preserves, and that his injury had been a result of an industrial accident rather than the attack of a vicious apex predator. Perhaps the animal's body parts would even fetch a fine price on the black market, once they were done with it, and he might be able to get some use out of the wretched creature after all.

It was not to be. Breaking free of the flimsy binds they had secured him in once on the boat, Mwenye managed to run to the bow of the small boat they had chosen to transport him on, snarling viciously enough to fend off any of the humans who had thoughts about capturing him again before jumping into the sea and swimming away as fast as he possibly could, ignoring the way bullets stung in his fur as they tried in vain to subdue him again. He had hope that the violent sea would kill him- put him out of some of the misery that he had felt throughout countless months, allow him to at least see his ancestors again- but instead he washed up upon the shores of Anikira several hours later, shivering and wet and miserable. Puzzled over this strange new land that he had found and unsure of where to go from here, Mwenye began to travel in an attempt to learn whatever he could about this canine-dominated island and its inhabitants, his heart growing colder and more guarded the longer he traveled.

He may not ever see his family again, but he will not allow himself to be harmed a second time.


Personality:

Where there was once hope and optimism, now there is only bitterness and darkness.

So Mwenye's personality has changed over the years- once he would have been hard-pressed to find fault with much of anyone or anything, but the cruel treatment he has suffered over the years has twisted his soul into something dark and cold in turn, leaving him utterly unable to retain any ounce of happiness. Where the hyena was a young and vibrant youth before, now he is cold, stoic, almost unfeeling in the way that he deals with others and the world around him. Pessimism has firmly taken over his life- he has a firm "the glass is half empty" mentality about most matters, to the point where getting him to choose a side in a conflict will often lead to him shrugging and saying that the outcome will always turn out bad for both parties either way. To Mwenye, there is no such thing as happiness or sunshine in the world (as his personal sources of it were snuffed out a long time ago), and he is quick to turn his nose up at individuals who take a more optimistic viewpoint in how they choose to go about life, believing that they are deluding themselves into thinking that they're making the world a better place when it is actually falling to pieces around them. He is often impatient when he runs into unexpected company in general- though he does not have the quickest of temperaments as compared to some other members of his species, Mwenye still does not tend to suffer fools kindly, and will gladly take his business elsewhere if he believes that his time is being wasted by another party.

He is slow to trust, and even slower to show his true emotions to the outside world. Determined to not let himself be hurt by an outside party ever again, the male has cultivated a cold and stoic persona, rarely letting any expression other than a scowl or an exasperated snarl cross his lips, rarely speaking in anything but a low bass undertone that does nothing to convey what his true feelings on a certain scenario may be. His words are often blunt and to the point- he detests having to beat around the bush when giving information, and seems to detest small talk even more, as Mwenye very rarely speaks until spoken to (and even then, his words will often be rather curt and snappish, letting the unexpected company know exactly what he thinks of them). He is not particularly adept at lying because of this, and has often offended many a canine who could have become potential company with his lack of sympathy towards their troubles or blunt way of speaking, but in the hyena's mind there's no point in trying to soften your words to spare the feelings of another- it didn't work when he pleaded for his mistreatment to stop, so why should it work in any other case?

Not all of the brute's personality is necessarily bad, however. He is loyal to a fault, following whatever orders his superiors may have to give him, and has a good if somewhat dark sense of humor- but any positive traits that remain in his heart have been thoroughly consumed by a cloud of fear, hatred, and misery, so thick and cloying that the kind and gentle male that Mwenye once was rarely if ever manages to break through. The male is often plagued by night terrors of what occurred to him during the time that he was in the custody of humans, often flinching away from sudden movements made towards him or when somebody bothers to raise their voice. He has turned to combat as a way to bury his hurt and the festering hatred that he feels towards his captors deep down inside of him, for feeling the sting of teeth meeting his flesh has kept him from dissolving into more troublesome behaviors, but it is hardly a healthy coping mechanism, and only time will tell if Mwenye will manage to break free of the shell that he has built for himself and change his personality for the better.

Image:

STOCK