Arwen Final Product

Elko, Nevada. 28 May, 1974. 2314 hours. The birth of Arwen was something of rather simple nature, born in a hospital, daughter to Isi and Hania Maiara.  However, the birth of her brother who accompanied her came along with a few more complications as he struggled to breathe, and regardless of the efforts of the staff, he passed away before he was even allowed his first breath.

Her father didn't like to speak much of the son he was never allowed, and that shifted him into spending longer days at bars, and drinking much more often, usually at the expense of spending those extra few dollars on some more beer rather than a loaf of bread to feed his wife and daughter. Arwen was rather shy as a child and outspoken, she wasn't as socially active as everyone else, but she wasn't much of a person to be entirely alone. Stuck in between like many, she had simpler sorts of tastes. Ever so young, there wasn't too many children she felt comfortable enough to interact with, aside from family. Her mother and aunt often set up play-dates to keep Arwen entertained, even regardless of the vast age difference of her twelve year old cousin, and the mere four year old Arwen.

"Trust me, These are grown up games, don't you want to be grown up?" Asked her cousin with a devious smirk on his lips, something that was beyond the childlike innocence that masked Arewen's expression as she merely nodded with a loss of words. "I-I want to be a grown up.. Let's p-play the game," she insisted after a moment only to have her cousin's hand that was resting along her knee creep up higher, already underneath the lengthy skirt her mother had made her wear that same morning. Regardless of how uncomfortable she was, and how wrong it felt she didn't know any better, and that hand rose higher until the cousin wasn't straying from molesting the poor girl. "Play-Dates" becoming more often, they became the norm for Arwen and her cousin, although that vague feeling in the pit of her stomach made her question just how natural these games were.

It turns out wasn't too natural at all, although a first attempt to ask her mother about the games her cousin liked to play was rather unfruitful, at the first sign of worry that her mother showed she immediately closed off the conversation and changed topics. However, curiosity gathering the best from her, she ended up asking the neighbor the very same thing, with much more dire consequences. Scandalous as it was, it ruined the Maiara family name within Elko, known as that one family with the poor girl, looks of pity, sympathy, and disgust became more and more common. Ironically, the incident itself brought a few positive things along with it, Hania took it as initiative to stop drinking and become a much more active force in his daughter's life.

Childhood shifting into adolesence, she became a bit more immersed into her studies, and just as reserved. She wasn't the most social girl, but she was sweet and tender when it came right down to it. She wasn't one to pick too many friends, but those who she did select held a very dear and near place to her, even if she found herself unable to trust. Teenage years awkward as can be, they could only be bested by all the changes her body was experiencing, along with a trait that she only had her father to thank for.

The first shift was much of a surprise to her, sleeping only to wake in the forest in all fours, yet feeling so much more relaxed in the process. Initial panic of her having fur all over her body, and much more acute senses eventually washed away from her, and she listened. Everything seemed to hold a different air about it, as she became beast but withheld her senses, and thankfully sanity. It was comforting to be able to be so free, and do something so unorthodox in a manner that felt like a second nature to her. Violence wasn't strong within her heart, but even the most reserved of people held some rage simmering under their veins.

Her father wasn't surprised of his daughter's genetics, and rather than to keep her astray from the life he was raised in, he decided to continue the legacy as she found herself of age. Her father spoke of stories of many people like him, people like them, groups of them vast and as diverse as any set of regular people. He spoke to her of the meaning behind the world, how there was so much more to learn, and she was granted the ability to learn as much, especially when she was allowed a new view upon the world she was brought into. Studying became more frequent with her, except rather than schoolwork, she spent time in the forest relishing in the comfort the woods brought to her.

Artistic at heart, as the years drew by, her thirst for knowledge about her and her people became more insatiable, but not obsessive. Her father applied a guiding hand to make sure she didn't stray too far from the path, but otherwise she was going along on her own. Years ticked by as she learned, but didn't seem to inch closer in covering everything that her people had experienced, there was much more history, much more to their culture, much more to their traditions than she could be limited to access. She shifted from a shy reserved girl, to an expressive and free young adult, one who was gifted and blessed with the ability to partake in two worlds, one of man and one of beast.