Guidelines

History

  BIOGRAPHY    Jess grew up in an apparent ordinary family, with loving parents who protected and coddled her like a little princess. But when she was ten years old, everything crumbled; on a terrible incident, her parents died protecting her from the wanderers. After that, she grew up in an orphanage, alone. Jess had to become an adult too soon to survive, losing all the warmth that raised that little girl. Years later, she found a purpose, and that was becoming a hunter to not let any other kid go through what she did. Disguised revenge.She studied hard to enroll in the hunters academy, becoming the top of her class despite being an ordinary human. Everything seemed fine, until her evol appeared. A huge explosion destroyed everything but her; the fire consumed it all, leaving nothing intact, yet strangely didn’t harm her, as if it was protecting her. That day Jess realized she wasn't ordinary at all, and what seemed a blessing to others it was nothing but a curse to her. It was a power she couldn’t control no matter what she did, and ended up not wanting to use it at all. But there was something else that changed that day, and that was her heart; it was heavier, and for some reason she found herself… scared with things that never frightened her before. Over time she slowly became more reckless at work, far too much for her own safety.Unfortunately, after an incident on her last mission she decided to retire as a hunter. It hadn’t been an easy decision, because being a hunter was everything for her, but she ultimately decided to take that step and end that chapter in her life. After retiring she moved to her own house, now learning to live slower with Kuro, and perhaps find a new journey.

Lore

  PAST    Many, many years ago, existed a deity that lived among humans. The goddess of Niava. She was radiant, like a flower in full bloom under the morning sun; soft, warm, gentle. Humans loved her, not only for her godhood, but for her pure heart. Her hair was bright like soft sunlight, and her blue eyes shone like the purest stars, enough to drown you in. All kinds of flowers grew around her, lilies always amongst them as they were her favorite, creating life from her fingertips, raw, beautiful. Niava thrived, thanks to her. The goddess lived alone in her tower, but she was never alone, for the love of her followers was always enough. Until she met him. A human caught her attention; he was gentle, charming, different. The way he looked at her, the way his fingertips lingered on her skin, the sweet words he whispered to her ears, the small gifts he always brought her. It wasn’t devotion to a goddess, but to her. And then, the goddess fell in love.The days became brighter, and he turned into a daily presence in her life. He taught her what being a human truly meant, not from above her tower but from among them. Everything was new to her; walks around the market, playing with the kids in the streets, stargazing in the middle of a flower garden, but nothing could compare to the feeling of her hand on his. The goddess felt safe, cherished, loved. And on the night of a blue moon, she gave her heart to him. The blue jewel hanging from her heart carried a fragment of her divine powers, able to grant him eternal life, so death wouldn’t pull them apart. That night was the happiest of her life; a love shared under the stars that reached the deepest parts of her soul, with tangled limbs and sweet promises of forever.But something changed afterwards, it was so subtle that she didn’t even notice, or perhaps she was too blinded by love to do so. But once she did it was too late. His visits became less frequent, his gifts stopped coming, his sweet words became quiet, and his touch turned into a ghost on her skin. The light in her eyes dimmed, waking up everyday in an empty bed, his traces slowly disappearing, as if he hadn’t existed in the first place, and the warmth that surrounded her turned into frozen cold. She didn’t understand, and thus the goddess went after him, there had to be a reason; and there was one, but she found it the most disastrous way.The human she loved the most, the one she willingly gave her heart to, was in another woman’s arms, and the jewel was hanging on her neck. He gave her heart to someone else. He never loved her, he lied to the goddess to earn her heart so he could save his real loved one. She was betrayed, used, and the goddess' heart shattered into pieces; it hurt so much she couldn’t even breathe. The despair ate her alive, and then she broke. What was once creation turned into destruction, and everything around her burned down; her beloved flowers, the streets where she played with the kids, the tower built on love. Niava crumbled into ashes by the very one who made it thrive.Endless destruction surrounded her, and the goddess was punished for it; she growled and cried, why was her the one being punished when she was the one betrayed? No one answered, no one dared to. The goddess was stripped of her godhood, condemned to a mortal life, repeating the same betrayal again, and again, to pay for her wrongdoings.
But before that, she was able to fragment a part of her consciousness and attach it to her soul, carrying a part of the goddess in every lifetime, in hopes to protect what she couldn’t the first time.Her heart.

  FAMILY    April 16. Sunday. 21 years ago.The day started sunny, not a single cloud in the sky after a cloudy and busy week; a faint smell of pancakes coming from downstairs woke little Jess, making her rush to the kitchen excitedly, finding her parents getting breakfast ready. They had decided to spend the day outside, going for a picnic at the park and enjoy all the blooming flowers that their little daughter loved so much, just like her mother. It was perfect; the park was filled with countless flowers, the blooming cherry trees turning everything pink. There were lots of families and couples enjoying the scenery, and among them there was a little girl wearing pigtails and a pretty daisies dress, running around looking for flowers with her dad following right behind, afraid to lose her in the crowd.On their way back home, Jess wanted to stop by the playground, which her parents obviously allowed. How could they say no to their precious daughter? That’s where it all began- or ended. While Jess was on the slide, the air shifted, and a loud rumble shook the ground; big creatures appeared out of nowhere, huge, strange, scary. The sounds that came from them were horrible, but it wasn’t comparable to what came afterwards; panicked screams, cries, and… mechanical noises snapping bodies in two. Little Jess stood frozen in place, shocked, scared. One of those creatures- a monster, a wanderer, saw her, approaching dangerously close. There was no hesitation from her parents; they ran towards her, throwing themselves into danger to protect her. Her mother took Jess in her arms, while her father stood in between them. The time suddenly slowed down, the noise disappeared, and the only thing she could hear was her mother’s voice.“Baby look at me. It 's okay. You’re safe. Mom and dad will keep you safe.”
“I love you.”
“We love you.”Then that huge wanderer lounged forward, and her dad stood there, trying to stop it from getting closer. But what he didn’t notice was the other wanderer coming from behind. Jess’s mother kissed her forehead before pushing her under the slide, taking the blow from the wanderer. The hit was so strong that it made the slide collapse over the little girl. Her vision was blurry, but she saw it, how that monster crushed her mother’s body, the screams echoing in her head. To the side laid her father’s lifeless body under the other wanderer’s feet, covered in blood. Luckily, those two wanderers got distracted by other people’s screams, and they went away, leaving Jess under the rune, blood running down her face from the hit, and eyes wide open in shock, fixated on her mother’s lifeless face. Not too long after, the little girl passed out. Hours later, the screams stopped, leaving everything in complete silence. She laid under the rune until the sun started to rise, where a hunter found her unconscious little body.When Jess opened her eyes, she found herself in an unknown place, alone. She had multiple wounds all over her body, and had suffered a huge concussion in her head. The two following months were confusing, scary. Adults explained her things she didn’t understand, and all she wanted to do was run to her parents arms- but they weren't there. They were dead. After a few weeks, little Jess understood the situation she was in, and slowly came to terms with it, even though the pain never faded away. There was no one to console her, and all the adults' words seemed empty to her broken heart. Even though her parents sacrificed their lives for her, the little girl felt abandoned; she was left all alone. How could she continue with her life? Why her? Little by little, her body slowly recovered, yet her mind was another story; Jess became terrified of thunder, as the sounds and faint rumble reminded her of that terrible day. When she recovered, Jess was sent to a special orphanage where she spent the rest of her childhood, alone.If you have nothing, there’s nothing to lose.
They can’t leave you.
Not again.

  PUPPY    The bright little girl that became nothing but a vessel for revenge. That was her; a hunter, a self made weapon of destruction that only harbored hatred for the monsters that destroyed her family. The warmth she once had, buried in the depths of her heart, hidden, forgotten.Life after her evol’s appearance became numb, meaningless. What was the point when she had nothing? When there was no one that cared if she returned home? A home that was but an empty place, just like her heart, like the burning cold evol that consumed her. The only thing she knew was killing. Monsters at first. Facing them with numbed fear, unlike the terrified little girl she once was. Then came humans. Cold blooded hands pressed triggers against sweaty foreheads, knives slicing through trembling throats without remorse. There was no light in her life, only darkness that narrowed her path more and more. It was heavy, torturing even. Some days she just wanted- wished to die in one of her missions, but fate didn’t even allow that. It was cruel. Endless nights tormented by a shadow without name, nightmares that swallowed her heart and barely allowed an escape once the sun rose. Jess was barely alive, and worst is that she knew, but couldn’t do anything to break the chain around her neck.Though all of that changed one rainy day; it was thursday, and Jess was on the run after a runaway wanderer in the suburbs. She was thrown into a little building, blood dripping down her temples as she ended that monster’s life with a mere gun. Her whole body hurt like hell, but she endured it as always. Before Jess could realize though, the owner of that building pulled her in, away from the rain, and to her surprise it turned out to be an animal shelter. Dogs, cats, and other animals welcomed her warmly. It felt strange; not because of the animals- she actually liked them, but it was the warmth of the place what put her off. A painful reminder of what she once lost.The owner offered to help tend her wounds, but Jess refused. And as she turned to leave a puppy went after her. It was small, too small, but for some reason it followed her, and seemed to have no intentions to let her go away. Then the puppy sat in front of her, looking up as if it saw something in the girl with blood dripping down her face. It was actually quite a comical scene. After the owner explained that the puppy was barely a month old and had been abandoned, her heart crushed. Those eyes looking at her made a tiny crack on the walls she’d built around her heart, and without even realizing Jess came out of the shelter with the puppy in her arms.Jess didn’t really understand how that had actually happened, but she found herself in her apartment, clothes dripping wet and bloodied face, holding a small golden retriever puppy wrapped in a towel. The puppy suddenly barked and she saw a tiny black dot on his tongue. She tilted her head, and without thinking muttered a faint word, «kuro», and he responded with two happy barks. That’s how the puppy found his name and a home, but also how the broken girl found a reason to smile again.Life changed after that, slowly at first, as she learned to take care of someone else, but he managed to dig up the warmth buried in her heart. No more shadows, no more silence. The cold turned warm, the darkness turned bright, the loneliness turned joyful. Kuro gave her a purpose, a reason to live, and the darkness that surrounded her recoiled, thanks to a small light that appeared in her life by coincidence. Or perhaps it was just meant to be.

  RETIREMENT    Jess wasn’t a regular hunter, in fact she also worked in secret as an assassin for the association. She accepted the job at 25, thinking it was worth the risk, as wanderers weren’t the only monsters around them. At first she worked alone, moving easily in the shadows, silently ending people’s lives just like that. With every life, she kept telling herself it was justified; no one would mourn for a human trafficker, or a murderer. Eye for an eye, that’s how she lived her life.Then, at 28 she was assigned a team and became the leader. Jess didn’t like it at first, she was used to work alone, but they ended up getting along and moving like a sole person. Despite this, there was one rule: she was the only one allowed to dirty her hands. Every life ended had to be by Jess’s hands, that was her responsibility as team leader.
At 30 though, something shifted. She got a puppy, and also met someone. The changes were subtle, but her attention was somewhere else, and her efficiency started to falter. Jess started to think that perhaps the risk wasn’t worth it anymore.On her last mission, everything went wrong, and ended up in a calculated trap. Her teammates were killed in front of her while she was drugged and taken away. Jess was shot on her shoulder, tortured and her cheek cut, resulting on a small scar. The drug was an evol suppressor that collapsed her heart, and barely managed to survive. After that she just couldn’t go back, not because she was afraid, but because risking her life wasn’t an option anymore.Jess took the hard decision to retire, putting an end to her never ending revenge to start a new life, and perhaps a family.