i'll sit SHIVA for you

ϟ ϟ ϟ
hello hello, introduce yourself, won't you?

NAME: Shiva
AGE: four years
GENDER: female
BREED: border collie
PACK: westwood

ϟ ϟ ϟ
okay that's nice to know, tell us more?

APPEARANCE:

With average length legs and an average length pelt, one would expect nothing less than, well, average. However, this is not so for Shiva. Her build is heavier than females of her breed, thanks to her training when she was younger. Her bite is especially mean, since she's practiced with it the most. Over the muscles that lace down her back and legs lies a sleek, silky coat. Shiva's underfur is an off-white color which runs from her chin to her belly and tops her tail off. Her toes are also this color, and a streak of it paints the top of her muzzle. Her topcoat is a deep, chocolate brown. The fur that covers her is of medium length, and is more thick and dense at her chest and around her cheeks. A pair of ghostly pale, yellow eyes tops her off. Shiva has very expressive eyes, which is helpful to others, but often gets her into a thicket of trouble.

PERSONALITY:

strengths ;
passionate, adventurous, reliable, keen, intelligent

weaknesses ;
paranoid, untrusting, tense, reserved, schizophrenic

Shiva is not one to take to strangers easily. Having a bad case of schizophrenia does not help her at all. She often has to ask her companions if they do indeed see the newcomer for confirmation that they are real and breathing and not in her head. Shiva does enjoy being by herself, but when she is, she lets her mind wander and that is not good. So she makes an effort to at least be in the perimeter of another dog she trusts. Her mental issues aside, though, she is a very reliable and intelligent dog. She does not like seeing the ones she cares about hurt and will do her best to keep them from feeling so. However, she's not one to show sympathy. She'll say a few kind words and then not linger. Shiva is not very talkative, just like many of her packmates, and enjoys dozing off in a quiet area. Exploring, while it may seem childish, is one of her favorite activities. Curiosity will nag at her until she gives in and checks everything out. It also makes her feel safer, feel a sense of calm that she knows her surroundings. Shiva doesn't like not knowing where she is, and whether she shows it or not, panic will set its stone in her belly. Shiva wears her calm mask fairly well, but with her schizophrenia, there are some permanent cracks in it.

HISTORY:

Life started off as one would expect it to. Blue skies dotted with white, puffy clouds and pretty sunsets. However, when two dogs, Bechet and Malachi, both high-standard border collies, had a litter of three, the good things shattered into billions of small, sharp pieces. Bechet claimed she was not ready, just a few months ago she turned two years. She did not want the puppies, but Malachi insisted that she was going to have them, so suck it up and push on. It was then she began to hate him, but he never seemed phased by it.

So when the puppies did come, she expected change in Malachi. Some magical fatherly quality to grow in him, right? That's what happened, she thought. So Bechet fed the puppies well, and made sure of their health. After they were weaned off her milk, though, she left during a stormy night, just like that. Malachi now held their futures in his paws. But having no magical fatherly quality sprout within him, well, he was not adequately prepared for such task.

The three puppies, Ari being the oldest and only male, Shiva being the middle, and Rivka being the youngest, grew up quickly as is to be expected. At six months, the trio were pretty close and already showing traits of good qualities. Shiva was a bit different, though, as she would often be seen talking to nothing in particular. It bothered no one except their father. He cast her weary glances and claimed it was just a phase. She would grow out of it.

Malachi began training his pups around their sixth month mark. There were all sorts of topics he chose to drill them on, but his favorite was sparring. Ari showed much potential, as well as Shiva, but his eyes were always on Rivka. She had a speed none of them could match, not even Malachi himself. She was quickly deemed the golden child and was treated like it. She didn't seem to notice though. On one particular night after some long training, Shiva had plopped down next to Ari. Tension was radiating off of him, she could feel it. His breath came in heaves. Shiva glanced at him, at his fiery eyes that, at the time, she thought held a certain hatred. She assumed it was for their father as the brown border collie followed his gaze toward Rivka and Malachi, still practicing. Only a few days after did she realize his rage was not directed toward their father, but at their sister.

It was a few weeks after the trio of siblings had turned a year and a half. Ari had grown into a handsome lad and had a nice layer of muscle over him. He was still closer to Shiva than he ever was with Rivka. He'd grown cold, though, and seemed to have a constant wave of anger flowing from him. Malachi never seemed to notice. If it didn't involve Rivka in some way, he didn't care. Rivka had become a heart breaker, she was beautiful and deadly all in the same. She preferred her father's company over her siblings'. And Shiva was in the middle of it all, trying to play nice around her sister and calm her brother.

Ari approached her one night while she was resting her head on her paws. He was giddy, she could tell. Something flashed through his eyes that she couldn't place. He wouldn't sit down, he just stood in front of her and stared at her. Shiva looked at him with guarded eyes. That was all he could take, apparently, because he spilled it then. He was going to kill Rivka. When she was asleep, of course, and not in the proximity of Malachi. A growl of disbelief escaped Shiva's jaws. She snapped back at him. It was not just, not right. He could keep his hatred for her, but he could not take her life. He didn't care. Ari pushed past her, but she followed.

He finally found Rivka, and, of course, she was by herself, dozing against a fallen building. Shiva launched herself at her brother, grasping his neck in her jaws. It wasn't a hard grip, she didn't want to hurt him. But Ari snapped back, blinded by his anger. He shoved her off of him and went, jaws wide open, for her neck.

In the end, Ari lay dead on the ground, blood seeping from his neck. She had killed him, because it was, indeed, kill or be killed. Rivka cast a glance her way from where she stood the entire fight. She had not moved a muscle to aid her in her struggle. Panic, anger, sadness, guilt, guilt, guilt. Ari was dead, and she had killed him. Malachi turned the corner and gave her his detached stare, frozen with emptiness. She never saw his face move. It did not show grief or any of the sort. He just mumbled for Rivka, and the two left her standing there in the darkness. A certain coldness shot through her veins until she couldn't stand up. As she lay there, heaving and bleeding, her brother's blood pool mixed with her own and seeped into her fur. Although it has washed away in the years, sometimes she swears she can still feel it.