Manauia
Contents
Description
Manauia's coat was a reddish orange with a darker cape and lighter underbelly. Her paws were dipped in light tan, her nose and tail slashed with the same darker tone that ran her spine. Her eyes were a fierce and uncompromising green.
The huntress was a fierce and uncompromising woman. She held undying loyalty to her home and her Queen and looked down on any and all outside of this. The only individual to ever gain her esteem outside of her own order was Tezcacoatl. She was short on words and shorter still on patience; the only time she could be counted on to bear any was within the confines of the hunt.
Defining Characteristics
- Literal
- No-nonsense
- Dutiful
- Loyal
- Aggressive
Connections
Queen
- Quetzalcoatl - beloved mentor, honored
Sisters
- Amoxtli - fellow member of Prince's guard, commander
- Citali - fellow member of Prince's guard, healer
- Eztli - fellow member of Prince's guard, warrior
- Nochtli - fellow member of Prince's guard, diplomat
Charge
- Tezcacoatl - favored son of the Queen
History
Pre-Teekon
When she joined her sisters, the warriors of Coatl's Rise, is when Manauai considers her life to have begun. She had been just a pup, so young as to barely remember life before. The Amazonian women took her in and trained her, teaching her their ways and making her one of their own. As a result she feels she owes them more than she could ever repay, especially her beloved Queen, Quetzalcoatl.
Her skill as a warrior and fierce loyalty caused her to rise through the ranks and, when the Prince was named, she was one of the favored who was placed on his personal guard. The annoyance she might have felt at the fact that he was male, and the fact that her commander was very much her junior, was outweighted far too heavily by the fact that her Queen had entrusted her with this task. He was beloved to her, so Manauai would do all in her power to ensure his safety. Her ability to track and keen eyes caused her specialty to lie in the field of hunting, a skill that would all too soon come in handy.
When their Prince disappeared, she and the rest of his Garrison left to find him. Ever since then they have searched for the missing Prince, knowing they cannot return without him, for he was in their charge. This search is what brought them to these strange lands full of savages and, even worse, men.
Lone Wolf
She first came upon Teekon Wilds along the coast, searching for Tezcacoatl amongst the packs there. The first wolf she encountered was his father, Ragnar, alongside his mate. She did not recognize him for what he was at the time and refused to acknowledge him, her deepseated bias turning her towards the woman instead. They told her he was not there and she moved on, disgusted.
Fortunately, her aim was clear, and she found the Prince soon after. He did not remember her, their home, or his mother. Instead he went by a new name, Týrr, and claimed only to be a "Viking". For the sake of her Queen, she refused to take no for an answer. She did not wish to remain, and it broke her heart to do so, but she could not return empty handed. To fail in her mission would be to disappoint her Queen and stripped of her rank. She would rather perish than suffer such a fate.
She continued to ghost about in the outskirts of Stavanger Bay, refusing to depart without him.
Duskfire Glacier
When Tyrr disappeared soon after, Manauia went to the place where he had pledged his loyalty. The practiced huntress knew that, were she to lie in wait, she was more likely to re-encounter him than she would be wandering aimlessly. To fulfill her pledge to her Queen, she would agree to remain here, festering silently under the rule of a strange male. It was a choice that rankled her to her very core. As she remained, her guardsmates would carry the message home that the Prince had been found.
She ghosted about the lands of Duskfire Glacier, training Maera in the ways of a warrior but doing little else to integrate with the pack. When she heard tell of another group who deemed themselves 'Amazons', Manauia took it upon herself to investigate and to carry word of these false wolven to her Queen. She also had the brief thought of perhaps taking her protoge, should she prove worthy, and introducing her to the Amazonian way... a thought further cemented when she encountered the girl's 'father', Njal.
At length, Tezcacoatl returned. He again professed his insistence in staying, stating that his fealty belonged to Tuwawi and that if she did not lead, he would take the role himself. Manauia was torn on this matter. Her preference was to be easily done with it and to simply accompany him home as ordered. However, a part of her knew that the Queen's favoring of her son was sure to end in disaster. The Rise would never bow to a King, no matter how beloved. Perhaps it would be better to leave him here, a ruler in a savage land, free to command those willing to follow him. Either way, she would remain for now.
She made few friends. She was harsh and uncompromising in her view of men, worthy only of slavehood apart from her Prince. Despite this, when Caiaphas left a head upon the borders of the Glacier, she was pulled into war. She did not mind; she was a warrior proud.
Before the war could come to a head, however, Quetzalcoatl arrived. Manauia greeted her with shame, the knowledge of her failure hot on her chest. She imparted the unhappy news - that Tezca had lost his memories and refused to return - and in turn gained the news that her guardsmates and 'sisters' had failed to carry their message. She informed him of Stavanger Bay's role in her son's memory loss and recovery, and of the lies they had likely planted to replace those lost. The Queen swore revenge against those responsible, then requested to be allowed to meet Tuwawi, the object of her son's fealty.
Still, the tensions with outside packs continued on. Manauia clashed often with Scarlett, unable to handle the woman's weak (to her) approach. Finally, the conflict broiled to a head when Caiaphas escorted her wolves to Duskfire and began to destroy their caches. A fierce battle ensued; she participated with absolute pleasure, seeing it nothing more than a test of skill, for she had no stakes to bear. In the end, the intruders were chased out and she bore only minor injuries to show for it. There was one casualty; Kevlyn, slain by Tuwawi.
After the war, however, her homesickness began to grow. She resented, more and more, being forced to share a strange dwelling with wolves she neither respected nor cared for. She missed her sisters, the comraderie of the Amazons, and the sureness of their claim and manner. This increased immensely when the joy of Duskfire Glacier's demise was undercut by the pronouncement, from her Prince, that he would be founding his own territory upon Frostfire Ridge. She was distraught; he would break her Queen's heart rather than give the Rise a chance. She rebuked him as a coward, but after a bitter argument, agreed to think upon remaining as advisor to him. It was weighed against returning home a failure twice over.
Then, abruptly, Noctli and Citali arrived. They'd been separated from the others but had finally managed to find their ways back to the Prince's claim. Manauia argued with them over the course of action, and it was settled that they would wait a few moons... just to see if he would regain his memory. If he did not, they would reconvene and consider more drastic measures. Manauia was loathe to risk upsetting the Queen further by harming her son, unconvinced of how well they would last carrying out any sort of forced accompaniment, and (secretly) too fond of Tezcacoatl to consider their offerings.
Frostfire Ridge
Tuwawi returned, and together the pack claimed Frostfire Ridge as their own. Still Manauia was troubled more and more often by her the sheer hypocrisy in her mission... and finally, she confronted Citali about it. Both agreed upon the necessary outcome; the Queen would need to be informed that her son was no more. Tezcacoatl was dead, replaced by this new wolf, and he would not be returning home. Manauia would return home to carry the message. Citali said she would not remain while this occurred. She could not live under the rule of a man, nor could she dwell in a place such as this. The huntress understood.
Her departure from the Prince was bittersweet. He gave his blessing, though his disappoinment was plain. As much as she ached for home, Manauia was sorry in a way to leave; he was close to a friend as she'd ever made outside of sisterhood, and were it not for her unyielding loyalty to his mother, perhaps things would have been different. With a final farewell she departed, seeking to find her way back into Coatl's Rise's ranks and her Queen's guard once more.
Gallery
by Lieu
