Post by Gabriel on Apr 11, 2007 23:25:45 GMT
NAME: Gabriel Madden.
NICKNAMES: The only nickname he really permits is Gabe, and even then, it is only acceptable from a choice few; obviously, Neal, Isabella and Mateo may call him this, and he also allows Calista to call him by this abbreviation.
RACE: Werewolf; pureborn.
OCCUPATION: Pack Fighter.
GENDER: Male.
SKIN COLOUR: Caucasian, with noticeable colouring as from a tan.
NATIONALITY: Argentinean.
AGE: 796, though he looks to be in his early thirties, physically.
CLOTHING: Gabriel is practical without being too regimented in his sense of style, though it is obvious he has grown accustomed to always being prepared, and dressing as such; he never wears anything either too restrictive or loose, so he won’t have any difficulty twisting and won’t snag on anything when he moves. He prefers darker colours, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t wear anything in lighter shades such as white or grey, though he does tend to steer clear of block colours such as green and anything else in that vein. He will wear deep reds and blues on occasion, but prefers to appear somewhat ‘unimaginative’ when it comes to colours; usually, it’s very simple. Black with white, and so on. He’ll wear dark blue or black jeans, or black slacks and sweatpants, depending on the activity, and his shirts are far from complicated; a t-shirt, button-down or even thin material sweatshirt. Occasionally, when he’s training or practising he will either wear a white ‘wife-beater’ or no shirt at all, depending on the day and his mood. In terms of footwear, he will either go barefoot or wear a pair of somewhat cliché toe-capped black boots which are ‘affectionately’ scuffed around the toes and heels. For the times when it is needed, he has a black duster that reaches just below his knees, and can sometimes be seen, if the occasion calls for it, wearing fingerless black gloves to finish a combat-worthy ensemble.
HEIGHT: 6’.
WEIGHT: 176lbs.
TATTOOS: None.
PIERCINGS: None.
JEWELLERY: The only thing Gabriel wears in the form of jewellery is the pewter chain and cross pendant around his neck. He is rarely seen without it.
BODY MODIFICATIONS: Given his age and position, Gabriel has his fair share of scars. The most noticeable one is on the left side of his chest, not far from his heart. It is a kind of crisscross shape, and presumably made with a silver weapon, but he doesn’t talk about it much, if at all.
WOLF FORM.
BUILD: Extremely feral and noticeably wolfen, Gabriel is somewhat fearsome to look upon, and it wouldn’t be hard to believe that he has frightened more than his fair share of opponents just from the sheer viciousness of his appearance. He has the same sort of proportions as a wolf in the wild, but larger, and noticeably so; everything about him is almost doubled in size compared to that of a common wolf. His head is stocky, with a short, compact muzzle that houses wicked fangs and powerful canines, with crushing force in his jaws. His ears are somewhat short, but pointed. He had a very deep chest and high arch to his neck where it meets his shoulder blades, which lead down into long, subtly muscular limbs. The same can be said about his hind quarters. Gabriel’s chest tapers into a slightly lean waist, allowing him to twist and flex agilely, whether it be during a hunt or in the midst of battle. His back legs lack the joint necessary for bipedal movement, but he makes up for this with his intense speed, stealth, agility and power even when on four legs. The claws on his paws are vicious, and deadly like knives. Finally, his tail is somewhat scruffy, and lean, allowing for that little bit more balance and grace.
HEIGHT: Quadruped — 4’11.
WEIGHT: 253lbs.
HAIR: Jet black, rather coarse and almost ragged in appearance, and covering the entirety of his body in a protective, insulating pelt.
EYES: Orange-red; they almost seem to glow, eerily.
DEFINING MARKS: The compact snout, the deep chest and high shoulders and his long, lean tail.
PACK.
PACK: Rayne’s Pack.
POSITION: Pack Fighter.
TERRITORY: Rayne’s side of Los Angeles.
HAIR.[/i]
LENGTH: Gabriel’s hair is actually rather long, but not too unmanageable. It reaches to his shoulders at the sides and back, being shorter at the front, where it hangs on and around his brow at the front and temples. There are several different lengths throughout the body of it, which he keeps, having never really entertained the idea of getting it cut shorter.
STYLE: Gabriel’s hair carries a natural, very loose curl, and most of the time, he allows it to hang loose. He isn’t the type to spend time on his hair, preferring to rake his fingers through it or brush it once roughly and be done with it for the day. It does as it pleases, regardless of how much he may or may not fuss over it. He could tie it back in a ponytail, but seems less than fond of the idea.
COLOUR: A very light chestnut colour, appearing almost blonde in some lights.
FACIAL HAIR.[/i]
LENGTH: Kept trimmed at several centimetres, stylishly.
STYLE: Gabriel boasts a beard, moustache, slight goatee and sideburns that connect his facial hair to his ‘mane’.
EYES.[/i]
COLOUR: Blue.
ODDITIES: As with all werewolves, Gabriel’s eyes have the tendency to give away his lycanthropic nature, whether it is an instinctive fluctuation, or a conscious one; they will shift to the glowing orange-red of his wolf if he is experiencing heightened emotions, such as fear, shock or anger, and even pain, or he may simply will the change in colour if he wishes to taunt, tease or intimidate an enemy.
PERSONALITY: Gabriel Madden is far from the loudest member of the pack, but he isn’t as quiet as his old friend, Mateo Agustin. He is somewhere comfortably in between the two extremes, seeming soft-spoken but possessing the capability to be commanding and even brutal in his mannerisms and tone. He is something of a born warrior, having learned how to fight at a young age, and that is something he has kept with him through his life, going from day to day with a kind of graceful, subtle readiness in the way he carries himself, and his body language belies his true nature as a fighter. It isn’t hard to pick him out of a crowd of his own kind and identify him as a pack defender; he has the carriage and stance of one who has seen battle, and perhaps more than his fair share of it, and he carries the scars of such combats, both physical and mental alike.
He has managed to change with the times, but that isn’t to say he is no longer old-fashioned; he will treat women with respect, like a gentleman, holding doors open for them and dipping his head in recognition of them, seeing them as graceful, beautiful creatures with intelligence and wit. He isn’t one to discriminate because of colour, age or sex; he hates any kind of prejudice, and will quickly put right anyone who sees females as inferior. This may stem from his growing up in a small pack led by a single female, or it might just be because he is a werewolf, and as a race, they have always seen their females as equals. It doesn’t matter. Gabriel sees all wolves in a pack as vital, playing a role. He merely holds certain individuals in a higher respect than others.
Two such individuals are Isabella Valdez and Neal Lewis; they have been Gabriel’s Alphas, his leaders and fellow warriors, for centuries, and even in the pack they live with at present, he cannot shift himself from the mindset that they are his Alphas. That isn’t to say he doesn’t have respect for Rayne and Dante. He believes they are leaders… he just can’t bring himself to see them as his leaders, though that doesn’t mean he fails to treat them with the respect that Alphas deserve. Gabriel is merely, like Mateo, more likely to go to Isabella and Neal with any problems or issues before he thinks about approaching the pack’s actual leaders. Some might view that as some kind of disloyalty, but he would quickly show someone with such an opinion how much a pack means to him. A pack is a family, and Gabriel would die for his family, plain and simple. He believes in loyalty, honour and obedience, trusting in a pack above all other aspects in life. Gabriel is the type to gladly step into battle alongside a fellow pack member, and he would willingly lay down his life for each and every one of them, most of all, Bella and Neal.
Despite all of this, Gabriel is far from melancholy or rigid in any way; he knows the value and importance of a smile, or a laugh, and sometimes, nothing pleases him more than to sit with his pack mates, listening to their stories and laughter. Knowing that there is still happiness in a world that has changed so much from how he remembers it in his childhood reassures him, and puts him at ease. There are some who can more easily bring out a softer side in the old fighter, however; Calista Nyx is one such wolf. He respects the Greek female intensely, and noticeably so, and would never hesitate to help or protect her, regardless of the need for such things. Obviously, his old pack mates from Argentina, and those like Neal who joined along the way, are closer to his heart than most. In this vein, he is set in his ways, and clearly unable to shift.
WEAKNESSES: Being a werewolf, Gabriel is incapable of withstanding silver in proximity or contact; it will nauseate or burn him, and if it were to infect his bloodstream, it would poison him, possibly to the point of ‘no return’, wherein, if the heart, lungs or brain suffer critical infection, he would die. Sometimes the old wound on his chest seems to cause him some kind of discomfort, but while he isn’t stubborn, Gabriel is the type to suffer through pain if it means reaching his goal, or saving someone else instead, which counts as a double weakness, given the fact that it could be abused. His intense, unmistakeable loyalty to Isabella and Neal, as well as Mateo and the other Argentina pack members could easily be exploited, since he would willingly sacrifice himself for any of them, and the same could be said about Calista Nyx; even though she was not with Gabriel and the others during their travels, he feels equally as committed to and protective of her.
ABILITIES: Gabriel has all the standard lycanthropic abilities: enhances senses, reflexes, endurance, agility, grace, balance, strength, speed and stamina; a powerful healing factor; the ability to shift consciously from man to wolf; the capability of jumping to, from and across great distances and heights. Because of his age, Gabriel has long since mastered control over the wolf side of him, and no longer obeys the call of the full moon, meaning he decides if and when he transforms, without exception. Because of his upbringing, he is a highly skilled fighter who can hold his own with deadly efficiency; though he can fire a gun or bow with practised ease, he prefers close combat, seeing more honour in face-to-face battles, not that he thinks any less of marksmen or snipers. He is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert swordfighter; he can wield a wide variety of blades with breathtaking proficiency. Gabriel is multilingual, able to speak the dead language of Güenoa, as well as Spanish and Italian (and obviously English), all three stemming from his life in Argentina.
WEAPONS: Gabriel owns twin black battleaxes, which are double-edged, and a long-bladed sword.
PRIZED POSSESSIONS: His sword, which belonged to his father, and his cross, which belonged to his mother. Since he never met either, the two possessions are his way of keeping them with him, almost.
HOME(S): The Four Seasons, with the rest of the pack.
HISTORY: Gabriel Madden was born in what became known as Buenos Aires, Argentina, the only child of a widowed pack member who died during the process of childbirth, leaving her baby an orphan before he had even taken his first breath. Gabriel’s father had been a pack fighter who lost his life defending the territory in a years-old battle that had waged between two rival packs. Growing up without parents in a pack wasn’t to say that Gabriel was unloved, or even considered an outcast. Though he was different in more than one way, he was accepted all the same, one of their own; Gabriel’s parents had travelled to Argentina from England, and their son grew up, quietly recognising the differences between himself and his friends — skin tones, hair colour… little things that inevitably made no difference, but were inwardly intriguing to the young wolf all the same. As soon as he learned of how his father had died, the young Madden decided he wanted to honour that title and become a fighter himself, to follow in his father’s footsteps the only way he could. So it was that when the time came, Gabriel was presented with his late father’s sword, and trained how to use it, slowly but surely becoming proficient, and then highly skilled with the weapon; it didn’t take him long to become one of the best swordsmen in the group of trainees, well on his way to becoming a valued pack fighter along with so many others. Blades were his area, it seemed; though he was a brutally adept hand-to-hand combatant, the art of the crossbow and longbow never seemed to take. Gabriel himself realised they weren’t for him, much more comfortable with the ways of close-combat.
Growing up in such a tight-knit, proud pack taught Gabriel to honour and respect all those around him, male and female alike, and in fact, one of his dearest friends was a female some few years his senior, by the name of Isabella Valdez. It was Bella herself, and the other females like her in the pack, confident and strong, who showed Gabriel that women were just as skilled and potentially deadly as any man, no matter their species.
Not long after Gabriel passed his first century of life, still learning the methods to control his wolf during the moon, but already a qualified, albeit young fighter, something unexpected and even unbelievable happened. Unbeknownst to their group, their rival pack had joined forces with a third, their combined numbers more than the likes of Gabriel and his family could overcome. It was the young fighters’ first major battle, and it shook them all to the core, in more ways than one. Fighting for not only his life but those of everyone he had ever held dear, Gabriel watched as his pack brothers and sisters, elders, youngsters… they fell around him, cut down and brutalised; it seemed hopeless, they were so badly outnumbered, but they all fought on, seeing their own blood spilt along the way. Gabriel himself was badly wounded during the fight, the head of a spear catching him in the chest, a wound that would stay with him for the rest of his life. Somehow, even with the vicious injury, he managed to survive, and keep fighting.
By the time it was over, a mere twelve remained. Gabriel felt heartbroken by the losses, but in the face of tragedy, the proud survivors knew they could not submit, and so… they left. Nothing would be worse than joining those who had destroyed their pack; they had no other choice. Isabella, the eldest and strongest of them, stepped up as their leader, a move that the likes of Gabriel fully supported. For a time, they wandered, licking their wounds and trying to regroup after the carnage, but it didn’t take them long to realise they were too few; they needed a pack.
It was this decision that led them to one Sofia Maya, a female Alpha who preyed upon their shaken state; their wounds and weaknesses left them vulnerable to her manipulation, and Gabriel, Bella and Mateo Agustin, along with others, became new additions to her fighting force. Gabriel was distrustful, but he told himself it was the recent tragedy that was making him paranoid; he kept quiet, thinking it would get better. So long as they were together, they would keep going, somehow.
They remained with Sofia’s pack for some time, slowly but surely seeing more hints of madness in their Alpha female. Gabriel led a doomed party out against superior numbers one night, returning with only half of his team. Sofia was outraged, honing in on Gabriel to punish him for the failure, but Isabella stepped in, claiming responsibility for the incident, and any others that concerned the group she had joined the pack with. Sofia wasted no time in taking the other female’s offer, and Gabriel watched, horrified, as his friend was beaten in front of him. It was only the actions of the Alpha male that stopped Sofia, or she surely would have beaten Isabella to death. Neal Lewis had always seemed so withdrawn, something that Gabriel could not understand; he had heard how some packs had a dominant female rather than a male, but Neal had always seemed so subdued and submissive; not like a leader at all. But it was his words to Sofia that stopped the mad, power-crazed female from beating Isabella to death, and that redeemed him somewhat in Gabriel’s eyes, at least.
Malnourished and barely cared for at all, the pack went from day to day, obeying their Alpha’s orders, and once again, the fighters were thrown into a vicious battle. Gabriel, Isabella and Mateo were among them, and together, they fought the rival pack that had attacked. Sometime during the combat, their small group was rallied to Bella, and together, they ran, at the advice of Neal, of all people. Gabriel, like the others, did not argue when Bella insisted Neal come with them, and so it was that they all ran together, fleeing the mad Alpha and her tyranny. They fled north, into America, the new male addition to their number having knowledge of the terrain from his time in the country before meeting them.
But Sofia would not simply let them go, least of all her ‘mate’. Gabriel, in close quarters with Neal, could see that the male had been no willing Alpha alongside Sofia, and this realisation concreted his opinion of the new acquaintance; Neal was no enemy, and if Isabella trusted him, then so could Gabriel and the others. The group were warming to the Scottish wolf, and so, when Sofia caught up with them and they were once again thrown into battle, they did their best to protect him as if he had been one of them all along.
Though they managed to escape, it was not without casualties; Mateo had been badly injured, and though Gabriel and another of their number supported him, their journey was hindered. Not wishing to risk Mateo’s condition by forcing him to run, they concealed themselves temporarily outside of a small village while they healed from their wounds. It was Bella who realised their missing member first. Neal had vanished, presumably returning to Sofia in order to keep the small group safe. That was the last little push Gabriel needed; Neal truly was one of them. And even though others volunteered to go back with her, Gabriel himself included, Bella told them all to stay behind while she went back for Neal. She told them all to go on without her if she did not return, but even before she left, Gabriel had made up his mind; he wouldn’t be leaving without his Alphas. He had seen how much Isabella had come to care for Neal, and the male’s actions had more than redeemed him in the eyes of those left behind.
So, when Isabella did return, Neal in tow, the pack were waiting for them… their Alphas.
Again, they ran, fleeing to an old, rundown farmhouse, where their leaders discussed a plan to stop their pursuers once and for all. They couldn’t run forever, which meant either giving up, or defeating their hunters. They had never been ones to easily admit defeat, and so, the trap was set. Neal himself was used as bait to lure Sofia and her number in. They had laced the farmhouse with gunpowder, something Neal had told them of, and though it had been alien to them; a dangerous kind of ‘magic’ that made them wary, they trusted him.
It paid off.
Their pursuers were destroyed once and for all, though a search through the remains turned up no body for Sofia herself. All the same, they felt as if they could finally relax and live again, and Gabriel for one felt a wash of relief overcome him at the idea of truly being a pack again. Small though they were, they were free, and after Neal and Bella became mates, a unified pair of Alphas, everything seemed to fit again. They kept to themselves, avoiding territories and humans and vampires successfully.
But it was as civilisation truly evolved and mighty cities started to grow that they came to realise they were no pack… not truly. If anything, they were a band of rogues, and… they were no rogues. They were pack wolves, many of them by birth, and they knew they would never truly be safe and completely happy unless they had a pack. The decision was met with conflicted views; they all wanted that sanctuary and reassurance, but Gabriel, among others, wasn’t keen to see Neal and Bella as anything but Alphas. They had been their leaders for so long, it just seemed wrong to integrate into a pack where they would become pack fighters, or less.
But survival was more important. For a time, they scouted potential packs, weighing pros and cons, and observing behaviour and habits, but it was a pack that had not long ago passed into the leadership of one called Rayne that they finally settled on. Gabriel, for one, was truly sceptical of the idea of entering a pack whose defeated, and no doubt bitter former Alpha still remained a member… a fighter no less. But Isabella and Neal believed it was the right choice, and so, Gabriel discounted his own views, trusting his leaders. They joined the pack, integrating themselves, many of them becoming pack defenders.
It was strange to see his leaders as fellow fighters, and not as his Alphas, but Gabriel forced himself to become accustomed to the idea. He was merely a creature of habit. Making new friends in the pack was something of a trial at first, Gabriel wary as any new member would be, but one definite addition to his circle was Calista Nyx, a Greek-born female who proved herself worthy of Gabriel’s trust and respect.
They have remained with the pack ever since, and though Gabriel awaits the day when he will once again see Isabella and Neal as Alphas, he is content enough in his way of life.