ThornShadow

Backstory

ThornShadow has two siblings, named Clear Starry Night (Starry, to him) and MuddyFoot. Starry is his best friend,

ThornShadow was born in the Old Territory, only shortly before another pack started their aggression to his pack. He was still a trainee (named ShadowPup) when the last battle with them took place. ShadowPup's pack was losing sorely, and the Alpha, Howl of Furled Bracken, had suffered a severe injury to his neck. He was unable to howl out the order to fall back, but ShadowPup noticed him and was able to relay the message. This is when he got his facial scars. During their retreat, it was learned that the Beta of the pack had died. ShadowPup's coming-of-age ceremony was held shortly after, to honor his quick thinking and his loyalty to the pack, and he chose the name ThornShadow. To assure a proper pack structure in the precarious time, Howl of Furled Bracken quickly, and somewhat rashly, promoted ThornShadow to Beta within days of him earning his full name. The pack was forced to flee the territory a few days later, and was attacked again during this retreat. In the ensuing chaos, the pack was separated in two. ThornShadow and AmberBark, Howl of Furled Bracken's mate, struggled to lead the Pack without a true Alpha. They did as much as they dared to leave a trail for the other half the pack to follow. Eventually, they found their way to the lake, where they met the other five packs who lived there. There was easily enough space around the lake for them; in fact, there was a territory reserved specifically for the presence of a new pack. However, as they had no proper leader, the other packs were hesitant to cede them the land and let them join their arrangement. AmberBark was reluctant to give up hope of her mate returning, but eventually decided that the pack was more important. After some deliberation, ThornShadow reluctantly agreed to step up as Alpha. The sun was setting on the territory, when Howl of Furled Bracken and the missing pack members arrived on the territory. ThornShadow was relieved to not be put in a position of leadership so young. Proper pack order being restored, the other five packs granted them their new territory, made up of forest and some hills. Initially the pack had intended to wander the territory and set up camp in different places each night, but they found a canyon carved through the forest that made a very good permanent camp. A large pine tree was growing out of it, and so the pack dubbed themselves the Pine Canyon Pack.

Being relieved of much of his leadership responsabilities, ThornShadow was allowed to be young again. It was summer; food was plentiful; and the pack was new, so borders were fairly relaxed. ThornShadow became friends with a trainee around his age in the Ice Tundra Pack, who was conincidentally also named ShadowPup. During a play-fight, there was a serious accident that left the trainee with a great scar on his face. He blamed ThornShadow for the accident, even suspecting it was not an accident, but purposeful and malicious. Their friendship turned sour, and though ThornShadow did not begin by feeding their enmity, he quickly lost all trust in his former friend and was constantly on guard around him. (The trainee eventually earned his full name, ShadowFang.) ThornShadow still tries not to provoke ShadowFang (at least, not often), but he often ends up at odds with him anyway. This is how ThornShadow got his rival.

ThornShadow's rank in the pack made him quite popular. He is friendly, open, and likes attention, so he didn't mind too much, but the constant interaction did often wear him out. However he often pushed through, as he felt the need to prove himself, especially given his rank. One type of attention he did dislike though, and that was the romantic attention. He never felt any interest back, which lead him to questioning his sexuality. He figured "I'm not interested in female wolves, maybe it's because I'm interested in males." He had a brief (and low-key) relationship with another male wolf, but broke it off after realizing he just wasn't interested in anyone.

Being friendly, ThornShadow often makes friends with the lone wolves who live around the Pine Canyon Pack territory. He has faced some trouble about this at times. He's tried to convince many lone wolves to join the Pine Canyon Pack, though this usually doesn't work. Dark Howling Silver Moonlit Night the Great, a young wolf who was found half-starved on the territory, is one such wolf. The pack tried taking him in, but he did not fit in well. DHSMNtG was found to be sneaking out to care for two pups who had apparently been travelling with him. Howl of Furled Bracken did offer to take them in, but the distrust coming from both parties was evident and so the offer was refused. DHSMNtG and his pups stayed at the outskirts of the territory, but they still had friends (including ThornShadow) in the pack, and over time they gained familiarity with the others. Now they are allowed on the territory when food is plentiful. Another example of this is a pair of "lone" wolves: Simon and Sylas. ThornShadow found Simon confusedly wandering around the territory. Seeing that he was struggling a bit on his own, ThornShadow took him back to the rest of the pack. When it became clear he was no threat, the pack offered to take him in. Simon was constantly confused, and struggled to keep track of so many wolves, and the way he talked and interacted with them often confused the pack wolves right back. At the same time, the pack had had numerous run-ins with a wolf named Sylas, who unlike Simon was very aggressive and threatening (despite being blind). Simon was the first to be able to do anything about him. Simon had wandered off on his own and gotten lost. When the pack found him, he and Sylas were together. This was the first time Sylas atually spoke with the pack in more than threats. Sylas returned to the camp with Simon and the pack, mostly just out of curiosity toward Simon. He agreed to try out life in a pack. He did not get on well with the pack. ThornShadow related to him somewhat; as both needed lots of alone time. He tried to befriend Sylas, and got a fair share of bites and scratches as a result. But since ThornShadow was friends with Simon, and neither shunned Sylas nor tried to force him to be super social, Sylas tolerated him more often than some others. Eventually the fighting went too far, and Sylas left the pack. Simon went with him. Simon and Sylas live by the outskirts of the territory. ThornShadow would consider them all friends, but Sylas dislikes him (as he does with everyone but Simon).

Present Day

ThornShadow has currently stepped down from his position as Beta, due to his youth and inexperience (not to mention the stress). Even so, he is still well-liked and popular in the pack. He has a trainee, PinePup.

Drawing Notes

MIND THE ASYMMETRY. His RIGHT ear is torn, his LEFT ear is brown, his LEFT eye is scarred, his front RIGHT paw is brown, his front LEFT leg is brown with a black paw, his back RIGHT leg is brown.

I don't particularly mind whether you give his markings solid, jagged, or blended edges.

Hair and eyelashes are optional.

In anthro form, he carries his weight mostly on his hips and thighs.

If anthro, clothing is optional.

Ideas

Expressions that work well for him are determined, smiling, goofy/funny/silly faces, calm, and tired. Lots of poses/situations are ok for him, but some ideas are: running or standing on a hill at night, sleeping in the sun, howling, hunting, and being fluffed up in the cold and snow. Interactions with others may include laughing, pranks, and fighting or play-fighting. If anthro, he could also be playing guitar, reading, playing video games (PC would be most common but whatever floats your boat).

Outfit ideas (anthro only): He likes toned down and washed out colors. His favorite color is purple, and he likes gradients and simple patterns. He has a vaguely alt/emo look, but not as much as my other sonas. He likes layers, though will only wear one layer on his arms. He likes hoodies and jeans, along with scarves. He doesn't have qualms about typically feminine clothes. He might also wear ace pride apparel (and/or aro, but more commonly ace). In a formal settings he will almost always wear a dress. He especially likes gowns/ballgowns with layered skirts, open backs, and sweetheart necklines. He has no piercings.