Post by LadyLux on Mar 25, 2019 20:16:07 GMT
TATTOO - FOUR - MARE
THE BASICS:
Nickname: N/A
Breed: Appaloosa x Thoroughbred
Height: 15.2hh
Coat Color: Bay appaloosa
Mane/Tail Color: Dark brown
Eye Color: Emerald greenTHE SPECIFICS:
Description: Tattoo boasts your standard appaloosa markings. She has four white socks and a snip down her nose. She has a well muscled, albeit average frame with long, slender thoroughbred legs. Her ears are tall and pointed atop her head. All in all, she is fit and healthy with a shiny coat that is flecked with white hairs. If the hairs on her face were any darker, she could easily be confused with a roan appaloosa. Three of her hooves are a light grey with the left hind hoof being black in color. Her mane and tail are a chocolate brown with a few stray white hairs throughout.
Personality: Tattoo is a feisty mare with a lot of attitude to spare. She accepts no authority and has even gone so far as to spit in the faces of those who dare try to boss her around. She doesn't follow rules and has a tendency to do the opposite of what she's told. She fears nothing and no one and it's much more common to be greeted with sass and hostility than it is to have a civil conversation with her. She trusts no one and always thinks that those around her have ulterior motives, no matter how charming or kind they seem to be. It's not uncommon to see her with a scowl across her face and narrowed eyes staring like daggers into your core.
She has a quick, sharp tongue and her opinionated personality shines like a beacon at the most inappropriate of times. Unfiltered and brutally honest, there aren't many who can stomach her for more than a few moments. She's made many an enemy by speaking her mind or simply saying the first thing that comes to it, though she never regrets any of it. It's almost as if she's incapable of empathy of any kind and it's obvious in her mannerisms that she is not caring or nurturing like most other mares. That's not to say she can't be caring or show empathy. It's simply not in her nature, and that side of her is a rare sight to behold. She'd much rather hide behind hostility and resentment than admit she actually has positive feelings for anything or anyone.
Tattoo is extremely intelligent, though one likely wouldn't notice as she plays dumb more often than not. But, she is well versed in many different areas, and thanks to her observant nature, is quick to pick up on social cues and body language, even if she ignores them. She can pick up on the slightest changes in someone's demeanor and tone of voice and will adjust herself accordingly. She is almost always in her own mind and rather than spit out a drawn out statement during conversation, she often remains quiet and simply listens. She is easily bored by everyday small talk and prefers instead deep, intellectual conversations. If you can earn her trust enough to get that far, anyway. She isn't personable with just anyone and you truly have to be something special to access this part of her. Despite her mostly nasty personality, she can be quite charming when she wants to be. This is especially true once she's learned what makes an equine tick. But don't be fooled. At the end of the day, it's all just an act for the show. Or so she tells herself.
She is a mare that does not understand or offer kindness to others. When she manages to be kind for even a moment, it is clear that she is uncomfortable and not quite sure what to say or do. A soft nature has never been her strong suit and it can be rather awkward to watch her attempt to be sympathetic and loving. It's almost as if it causes her physical pain to actually be nice. To cope with this, she always adds a dash of sass to the mix, whether it be with an eye-roll or a hostile remark after the fact, she always find some way to get back to her mean old roots without completely burning bridges. While you may think she would rather burn bridges and be left alone, the fact of the matter is that in a very contradicting type of way, she actually does not like being alone. Not completely burning bridges is her own unique way to keep others just within reach to provide company, without them getting any ideas or becoming so attached to her that they never wish to leave her side, or vice versa.
To put it all simply, she's a mean mare that secretly wishes to be better and know what companionship is, even if she doesn't know to properly reciprocate. She wants to know what it's like to be normal, but has never been taught since most can't seem to get past her gritty exterior and to her deepest, truest self. Because of this, she buries who she really is behind anger which serves as her guard against emotional pain. Since she has hidden behind this hostility for so long, she has truly lost herself entirely and often times feels hollow or like she is seeing the world through someone else's eyes and living in someone else's skin. She's a confusing mess that is slowly fading into emptiness and nothingness.
History: Tattoo grew up in a herd that was 20 strong, not including the lead stallion. Mares within this herd were more or less production factories and nothing more. They had no say in what happened during the day-to-day, and "free will" was slim to none. There was nothing they were allowed to do without the leader saying so. Because of this, most of the mares were very submissive and incapable of surviving on their own. Of course, there were always a few exceptions, but those exceptions never lasted long. The leader had a knack for beating even the most stubborn, proud mare into submission. Those that he could not force to submit to his will were exiled or traded off to neighboring herds. It was only in very rare, extreme cases that a mare was killed due to insubordination.
When Tattoo was born, she entered the world with eight siblings, only two of them being colts. While foals were free to play and run as they pleased, there were still strict rules that had to be followed, and failure to follow them resulted in punishment. The lead stallion had a sort of soft spot for his young and would give them many chances before giving punishment, however. Perhaps this is where he went so wrong with Tattoo.
From the very beginning, it was clear she would be a problem child. She was rambunctious, loud, and always stirring up trouble. Her mother, who was good as gold, tried her best to reel the unruly filly in, but to no avail. But again and again, time after time, the lead stallion just gave her chances. He reasoned with himself that she would grow out of her wild-child phase in due time, but it also seemed that her half-siblings were punished more often than she was. To be truthful, the lead stallion played a sort of favorites game with Tattoo. She was the only filly to carry his appaloosa genes, and was also the first filly born that year. The leader had always been more fond of his daughters than his sons, but Tattoo held a very special place in his heart.
Tattoo was the object of affection for many other stallions that were in alliance with her herd, but each time they requested her in a trade, her father would turn them down, convincing them that she was still too young and wild and needed to mature before she would make a good mare. After all, what kind of alliance could they have if he handed off a filly that did not obey orders and was as unruly as she? Besides that, she had been promised to another long before her birth. The first filly born that spring was to be given to the Stronghold, a herd that housed 40 members and was unarguably the strongest herd in the valley.
When she and her siblings reached two years of age, her father knew that he could put it off no longer. He banished his two sons to start a life and herds of their own and began trading off his fillies. Tattoo was the last to go and when it came her time, he personally escorted her to her new home. Meeting the leader of the Stronghold, Tattoo knew instantly she did not like him. She was tensed, ready for anything. Scarred mares accompanied him to welcome Tattoo, and she knew immediately that those scars had come from the leader himself. But these mares were strong and resilient, capable of fending for themselves if need be, which surprised Tattoo. Why stay when they could survive on their own? The leader of the Stronghold was rumored to be a nasty brute with dangerous tendencies and from their first meeting, Tattoo knew they were no rumors.
Much to her new leader's chagrin, Tattoo caused many a problem. She would often fight other mares when they so much as looked at her wrong. Each time she stepped out of line, the leader brutally punished her, but it changed nothing. She seemed to never learn and only became worse and worse. Each day there was a new story to tell about Tattoo. Either she'd attacked a mare, been caught trying to sneak away or some other offense. After a few months of this so-called foolishness, her new leader asked to meet with her father to discuss the mare and what he could do with her. Her father warned that punishment did not help, that she would need more freedom than the others were given if he really wanted her to behave as he'd like. Of course, her leader did not accept this answer and instead insisted that he could not give more freedom to mare who did not listen. Besides, why would he dare give her more leeway than his own lead mare? The very idea was ridiculous! So, he became ever more strict to the point that he enlisted young stallions from other herds to be with her at all times as her guards. If she stepped out of line, they were free to take any actions they deemed fit.
After a year of being in the Stronghold, it was time for Tattoo to bear her first foal, though it would prove to be no easy feat. She fought the stallion time and time again, and each time she lost the fight. However, she was smart. She knew that he would not breed to mare so battered and beaten. How could she carry and care for a foal in such a state? So each time she fought him, knowing that the longer she kept up the fight, the more bloody the battle would be and the less likely he would be to breed to her. Other mares resented her for not bearing foals to this treacherous brute while they were forced to. Tattoo simply saw them as weak for allowing such a thing to happen to them. She was more assuredly the outcast within the Stronghold. She rarely spoke, and when she did, she would practically hiss through her teeth. Most avoided her, knowing that her violent tendencies could rear their ugly head at any time. To them, she was not worth the punishment they would received for squabbling.
Her second year with the Stronghold, and just shy of her fourth spring, the leader had finally decided that if Tattoo wanted to battle him, he'd have no part in it. This year, she would bear his foal, like a good mare. But, as he walked his lands to find the appaloosa colored mare, he was met with her guards instead, who apologized profusely, but admitted that she was no where to be found. In fact, Tattoo was far away by now, having ran as fast as she could through the night in search of her freedom. That was all she wanted. To be free. The leader of the Stronghold put a high price on her head. Find her and return her to him, and you will be gifted the finest young mares in his herd and a massive slice of his heavenly land. The rumors followed her that the stallion still searched for her, and even Tattoo knew that he would never give up his chase to retrieve her. After all, the way he saw it, she belonged to him and her betrayal was an action punishable by death. There were times when he almost found her, tipped off by those who had seen her passing through or had the misfortune of interacting with her. Most of the time, these snitching equines were other stallions that were bitter when she refused to go with them to their homelands. She would spit on them, fight them, and often end up scarred and injured, though they never left without a few injuries themselves. Despite being into her fourth year, and it having been months since she escaped the Stronghold, the word around is that the stallion still searches for her tirelessly, wanting nothing more than to give her, her ultimate punishment for defying him and his rule.
Other Info: The lead stallion of the Stronghold still searches for her and believes that she still belongs to him.