Post by Isabella on Jan 29, 2007 2:22:00 GMT
Name: Isabella Valdez
Nicknames: Pretty happy with her full name, she doesn't mind occasionally being called Is' or 'Bella by the pack at large. However she rather affectionately enjoys the shortening of her name by her mate, Neal. She does not like to be called "Izzy".
Race: Werewolf - Pure Born
Occupation: Pack Fighter
Gender: Female
Skin Colour: Caucasian with a definite tan.
Age: 806
Clothing: There is a certain duality to Isabella's style of dress. At her leisure she is most comfortable in loose fitting, feminine shirts and jeans or cotton trousers and doesn't discriminate against colours though her wardrobe does show a preference for bold shades and modern takes on classic styles with a noticeable leaning towards a gypsy like flair. When out patrolling or on general pack business, Bella opts for black; pure and simple. The shade accentuates her Argentinean colouring, dark hair and eyes and she is quite fond of it. She likes tight but stretchy back combat pants that won't snag on anything accidentally, teamed with long sleeved, fitted sweaters and a short, zip up jacket with the hem in line with her hips. She doesn't like heavy boots because they hinder her movements and she opts for footwear close to 'slippers', light weight but durable. She has a fitted, black glove for her right (bow) hand that covers the three middle fingers completely and is fingerless on her pinkie and thumb; it prevents blisters and tightens at the wrist. Bella will on occasion also wear a black beanie hat, though in Los Angeles this aspect of her attire is less likely to be seen than in colder climates.
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 129lbs
Tattoos: Isabella has a butterfly tattoo on her right hip that is usually obscured by her clothes since she's not really a fan of outfits skimpy enough to reveal such a place. The tattoo is done in black ink.
Piercings: None.
Jewellery: Bella will wear jewellery as the mood takes her, sometimes a pair of clip on earrings and a matching necklace, sometimes just a simple bracelet around one wrist. She is rarely fussy about jewellery on the whole.
Body Modifications: Apart from her tattoo, Bella has several scars in places over her body, as would be expected of a wolf her age all the more notable ones are from her early history and she prefers not to think back on their origins if possible.
Wolf Form
Build: Well proportioned and muscular, Isabella's wolf form is certainly strong but not overly so, not in terms of brute force at least. With thick downy fur, moving over large distances with speed is one of the weaker points but the shaggy protective mane that envelops her neck and spine hopefully make up for this disadvantage in absorbing some degree of impact trauma. While in wolf form, as with her human form, Bella carries herself with a degree of poise and though her speed might be compromised by her coat in her wolf form her reaction times are just as heightened as ever making her light footed in close quarters.
Height: 7'5" when bipedal and 5'2" when quadruped.
Weight: 230lbs
Hair: White/Grey
Eyes: Bright, ice blue.
Defining Marks: Bella's wolf form has a very tick mane that bristles up between her ears, which are defining in their own right as they are very close together. She also has a medium length, fairly bushy tail.
Pack
Pack: Rayne's Pack
Position: Pack Fighter
Territory: Rayne's territory, roughly half of Los Angeles
Hair
Length: Long, skimming the bottom of Isabella's shoulder blades.
Style: Bella prefers to leave her hair down if she can; it is naturally straight and doesn't require much styling beyond brushing to keep it in good condition. If she's working she might pin half of it back and when out and about she is likely to tie it up in a high pony tail or braid it neatly. Overall the style is simple, no fringe or dramatic layers.
Colour: Black.
Facial Hair
Length: N/A
Style: N/A
Eyes
Colour: Dark Brown
Oddities: Like any other werewolf, Isabella's eyes will flash or flood their wolfen colouring whenever she is in the throws of a powerful emotion or when she feels she, her mate or the pack as a whole are directly threatened.
Personality: Proud, determined and warm. Isabella still speaks with a distinctive Argentinean lilt that she has actively hung onto throughout the years and which is perhaps an initial clue to just how much she values her heritage and her history as a whole. She is thoughtful and pragmatic when it comes to those decisions that allow for time to mull them over, not willing to rush into conclusions or a course of action without thinking it through first. After making the decision to join Sofia's pack so long ago and realising what an awful mistake it was much too late she refuses to let herself repeat such a mistake that other may have to pay for in addition to herself. At the other end of the scale she has the decisiveness necessary to make important conclusions when they are required of her. Indeed all the qualities of a leader are engrained in Isabella. She is happy to make jokes and has learned not to take herself quite as seriously as she was brought up to do. She is subtly playful and extremely good natured, keen to be as supportive to her fellow pack members as she can be, she is a trustworthy listener. She is a compassionate, understanding individual and is always ready to give advice and solace to those that need it.
To some degree she has retained the independent streak from her days when she was somewhat of a lone leader of the remains of her family, before they managed to break away and become their own pack with two leaders. Over the past several hundred years she has become increasingly open to accepting the support of others, namely from and as a result of her mate who has helped ease the burden of responsibility she carried for a long time. The seriousness of her youth has been hugely compensated for and Bella is often to be found laughing, usually as a result of Neal who seems to have triggered a lighter side in the female over their considerable time together. She is openly affectionate towards him, though not overly so in the presence of other pack members and is grateful to him for making up for the solemnity of her early years. They are equals in most every sense of the word.
Though still fiercely determined and strong willed as she has always been, Bella is now surprisingly pliant at times. She gives herself the time she needs to be quiet and to take stock; she hates to let the past consume her but does not deny herself her memories. She is a quietly devoted woman, to both her mate and the pack as a whole and it's obvious to anyone how strongly she feels for her pack mates. If it is necessary Bella will be vocal in her opinions, especially when it comes to the safety of those she cares about however, thoughts of her own safety tend to fly out of the window at such times. The protective streak in the Argentine wolf is undeniable and irrepressible.
Weaknesses: As a werewolf, silver is obviously Isabella's main weakness. Prolonged contact can produce silver poisoning which would be fatal and minimal contact burns the flesh, this is obviously a major weakness. Being an archer, Isabella often suffers Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) in the joints of her right arm. Though her muscles are strong, her shoulder, elbow and wrist joints are weak points for the fighter largely due to the sheer number of hours she spends training. She will often wear a protective sleeve up her right arm, under her clothes to both obscure this weakness and help to protect and support her joints. Perhaps a cliché, but Neal is a great weakness to the she-wolf. She would literally do anything for him and he is the one wolf she would outright break her own ideals and morals for, the thought of him in danger sparks anger in the usually docile Isabella. He is a huge part of her life and she would put his life before hers in a heartbeat.
Abilities: Speed, strength, stamina, incredibly receptive senses of both sight and sound as well as an excellent sense of balance; Isabella enjoys all the perks of Lycanthropy that easily balance the weaknesses. Isabella herself puts her poise to the most effective use. She has a knack for using tight spaces to her advantage and being petite in human form she is lithe and alarmingly quick footed, often finding alternate routes around and across urban landscapes. The elegance and precision of her attacks makes up for what disadvantages her height and weight put her at, and she prides herself on her stamina and accuracy.
Over the years she has taught herself to play the piano and on occasion will quite happily practise for a few hours, purely for her own enjoyment, sometimes singing too as she has a more than passable voice. 'Bella also speaks fluent Spanish and Italian in addition to English, the two main languages of her home country, Argentina. She retains her ability to speak Guenoa, which was the indigenous language the region of Argentina that she grew up in.
Weapons: For years 'Bella has preferred silent armaments. She does not own a single traditional gun of her own and instead is proficient in several bladed weapons, namely her Machete and Kunai (Japanese throwing knives). As ranged weapons go she favours a Compound Bow and even on occasion a full sized, 180lbs folding Crossbow (31" long, 50ft range, 150fps). Though she will not shy away from a full frontal attack, Isabella's strengths lie firmly in stealth and her fighting style mirrors this. With a mix of martial arts and basically acrobatic like movements, 'Bella is a gracefully, deadly opponent.
Bella's Machete
Bella's Kunai
Bella's Compound Bow
Bella's Crossbow
Prized Possessions: Bella is fond of her Bowie Dagger. Her parents gave her the blade when she first began training with them; she was so young that she barely remembers the actual event. As such it holds a deep sentimental connection for her and she doesn't use it in combat much anymore. 'Bella is also affectionate towards her Compound Bow. She has gone through several of the weapons over the years, in varying styles but she treats each one as a truly prized possession. She can often be found dismantling or cleaning 'him' to maintain his peak condition.
Bowie Dagger
Neal overrides all thoughts of weaponry however. When it comes to her mate, Isabella is ferociously protective. The circumstances that drew them together prey on her mind from time to time and the thought that she could have lost him is enough to assert a protective instinct in the female that borders on possessiveness, though she would never refer to him as such. She sees him firmly as her equal.
Home(s): The Four Seasons Hotel
History: Even before Isabella Valdez was born, Buenos Aires, Argentina, (though hundreds of years shy of its modern name and sprawling mass) was the arena of a nightly rivalry between the two dominant packs while other, smaller groups clung to their territory as the major packs maintained tenuous bonds. Isabella was born into the largest, the only child of two of the most senior pack fighters. As such a lot was expected from her from an early age, her parents had her life mapped out for her and Isabella was not aware enough of the fact to even think of rebelling. She didn't want to, she was proud to be in such a position. Even before her first change she was training hours on end with her father and mother, readily learning from them physical techniques and mental prowess that would prove invaluable to her in later life.
Her parents, as well as the pack on whole, were a proud set of wolves, culturally and individually. They were strong and confident and extremely tight knit and Isabella grew up knowing no other way of life; she respected her elders and watched out for those younger than herself but was never condescending. She was not naive to say the least, but sheltered to some extent from the world at large despite her obviously strong minded, driven personality. She was looked up to as an example by other wolves her age and was somewhat mature and serious for her youth, her combat skills however displayed where these traits were best put to use and why they were inherent in the youth. Her parents became that much more proud when their daughter achieved the next step in their design for her life and reached the status of Pack Fighter. But the pride that at first seemed conscientious and well placed would be the pack's downfall.
In contrast to the straightforward existence, behind the scenes there was a plot boiling. The main challenging force of Isabella's pack and a third smaller and less organised group, each with a stake in the colourful and thriving city, had joined together in a plot to take out the chief source of their frustrations. Separately they were outnumbered, but together they equalled the dominant pack for numbers and strength. When Isabella was 114, very soon after she had become a fighter for the pack, they attacked the home of their target out of the depths of the city. They went for the heart of the pack and what followed was a brutal, vicious battle literally to the death.
It was only through stealth that Isabella survived. She had become recognized for her covert style of fighting, using subterfuge and misdirection to get the upper hand on her opponents; her silent killing methods effective and brutal. That was not to say that the relatively young fighter was unscathed by the battle through her endeavours. In the end she barely escaped with her life. Stealth failed her at last after she had fought and killed a handful of enemies and subsequently become a beacon of mixed scents that drew attention. She was pulled into a heavily one sided frontal attack with two fighters from opposing packs. The three in wolf form practically tore one another to shreds. After a drawn out, bloody scrap Isabella faced just one of them, both she and her remaining opponent were staggering and pitching in the simple attempt to stand of their own accord. All seemed lost and when she saw the final charge coming towards her she knew it would prove fatal. Until her father stepped in between them and took the death blow for his only daughter.
He relayed the death of Isabella's mother to her, his own life quickly draining out of him in his daughter's arms. His one wish was that Isabella survived and he forced her to promise not to seek revenge. That she should live and carry on the memory of the pack with what rag tag members were still alive. She swore that she would obey his final wish and covered in blood and gore, a mix of the remnants of her own family and that of the enemies she had dealt with, she literally stumbled out into the thrum of Buenos Aires. She left behind everything she had grown up knowing to be strong and safe.
Merely twelve, a handful of the large numbers of their pack had survived the incursion and after frantic regrouping before the victorious conjoined forces could find and kill them, Isabella asserted herself as their leader; their alpha of sorts. She knew they couldn't join either of the remaining packs in the city and more than that she was not about to let the memory of their family be tainted by doing something as cowardly as joining their murderers. However, after a few days of slow healing word reached the female through tentative scouting that another pack had recently entered the city and Isabella was keen to investigate. She was young and they were looking to her for guidance after their whole world had shattered around them.
The pack belonged to one Sofia Maya who quickly preyed upon the vulnerability and youth of the rag tag group who came before her and 'Bella soon came to realise she had possibly made the worse mistake of her young life in leading the remains of her pack to join with her. The Alpha female was, beneath the surface, mad, and the male stood by and allowed the abuse of the members, something that 'Bella saw made him as guilty as the female and at first she strongly disliked the male. She became ever more fiercely protective of the remaining members of her pack, clinging to their existence as a life line was the only thing that saved the she-wolf from utter desolation. However, this devotion to her pack within the pack brought about the beginning of a chain of events that altered her life in new ways.
Most of the twelve survivors were fighters from the previous ranks and were forced into fighting for their new Alpha. After one night of hunting gone horribly wrong only half of a team came back, lead by one of the 'new' pack members. He argued that they were no match for any resistance that they faced out in the open, so broken beneath the surface were most of the members of the pack. Sofia would hear none of it and was furious with the failure, deciding to make an example out of the male, in front of the rest of the pack. Isabella, who had not been part of the team, put herself in between the two before she could physically do anything to the fighter. She told the Alpha that if there was punishment to be dealt then she would take it as the most senior member of the new fighters. Sofia seemed amused by the she-wolf's intervention at first but she didn't hesitate in taking her up on her offer, seeing the willpower in the young wolf before her as a threat. She assaulted the fighter, who simply allowed it, even though it was against her nature to sit back and take a beating. For her family she would do anything.
To this day 'Bella maintains that if the Alpha male, Neal Lewis, hadn't stepped in and somehow convinced the female to stop she would have been beaten to death by the enraged wolf.
Sofia seemed to keep her pack just under their peak of health as a method of control and as such it took Isabella a week, ebbing in and out of fitful sleep to recover from the injuries, even with her lycanthropy. No sooner had Isabella recuperated, however, when one of the other packs initiated an attack, seeing Sofia as a threat and wishing to take pre-emptive action. The fighter was thrown back into battle and though she fought hard it was mainly with the intention of keeping her group alive, caring little for what had become Sofia's territory. Once again she was helped out of a tight spot by the Alpha male as he helped her dispose on an enemy. It was the first time that she had actually been face to face with Neal; possessive and jealous, Sofia kept him distant from the pack at all times. Up close she could see some of the signs of abuse and realised that Sofia's cruelty was not simply used on the pack at large, but focussed on her mate... and not all of it was physical.
Not knowing if she would have another chance to speak to him without his malicious shadow, 'Bella took the chance while she had it. She thanked him for saving her life, realising that for doing so he was most likely being punished by the unhinged Alpha female. She admitted she had been wrong to judge him, in her eyes he had atoned for his silence up to the point first by standing up to Sofia at all and secondly for leaping into the fray with the fighters in their current altercation. She was well aware how the domineering female liked to keep him out of harms way and that to do so he must have defied her.
Neal told her that she should round up her group and leave while they had the chance, while they had confusion on their side and at first seemed confused when she appeared to be waiting for him. They both knew that Sofia would not let her mate get away so easily but when Neal voiced the fact, Isabella simply told him that they would run. Together, as a pack. He had saved her life, sacrificed his silence for her and drawn attention back to himself and she was willing to sacrifice a 'clean' getaway in return for that. In her eyes he was not as broken as so many of the other pack members and that meant she couldn't leave him behind. She knew her pack mates would understand completely, he had risked a lot to step in between Isabella and Sofia and more so to tell them to run.
(History Continued Below)