Dalenka

→ Quirks

When she’s stressed out she tends to fiddle with her necklace or ring. Most times she’s not aware of it until someone points it out. Although she has softened up her Russian accent a bit, it comes back full force whenever she’s angry or upset. Often times she’ll start speaking in Russian without warning too if she’s angry.

She loves picking mushrooms, and she can tell from just one glance if it's edible or not. This was mostly something she picked up from when she moved to a new town, as it was something the locals did for fun. She can also point accurately to the north without needing a compass due to many winters hunting with a family friend. And, although she acts like she doesn’t know how to have fun, she really enjoys dancing. Getting her to do this is a little more difficult than one would think, however, because she’s often far too serious and cautious to relax enough. Not as much of a talent, but more of something she’s grown used to—Dalenka enjoys taking dips in ice cold water. It was a tradition for new years that they performed in Russia. Other than that she loves reading and can finish a book much faster than other people. Sometimes she finds that once she picks it up she can't put it down. Dalenka is also very good at making animal calls, which she mostly uses as signals for the group.

→ Abilities

Like all other Hunters, she's able to see in the dark, but her unique power is manipulating fire. A secondary power that she develops later on is her ability to create tremors in small to moderate areas. 

→ Desires

More than anything she wishes she could find out what became of Eve. Despite everything, she still holds that first love very close to her heart, and if nothing else, Eve was her best friend. She would like to think that she’s still alive out there. Dalenka recognizes the many problems in Sanctuary. She tries to correct what she can but also knows that she can only push so much. Being there from the very beginning has given her an almost protective/motherly feeling towards the residents of Sanctuary. 

→ Fears

Although she figures he’s gone now, she still fears running into her father again. Something she plays very close to the heart is where she got her necklace and ring from. She also doesn’t like to talk about the scars that line her arms. Or anything regarding her past really. Tucked away in a pocket is a letter that she’s often seen pulling out and reading over. She fears letting the residents down and causing someone else’s death.

→ Other

She has a small seashell tattoo on the back of her neck from her time at the brothel. It was a mark of sorts for the man who was in charge. Besides that, she has numerous scars on her arms from the times that she was given drugs in the brothel, and some scars here and there from her father’s beatings. She’s always seen wearing a necklace with ballet shoes and music note pendants that belonged to her sister-friend Sasha, and her mother’s ring.

People tend to regard Dalenka as a very bossy, pushy individual. She’s also not the friendliest person in the group and she’s very guarded about her past so it doesn’t do anything to help her case. Despite all of this, people tend to realize that she looks out for the group. More than anything she’s known for her supply of weapons and practical survival knowledge. She knows quite a bit about first-aid and finding food. She’s also a very good hunter and has an uncanny ability to find food. She’s a skilled fighter and is just known overall for her usefulness to the group. It’s something she takes pride in. If she were ever to become a burden to the group it would kill her, as she tends to value people based on their abilities to help the group. One a more negative side she’s known for her bad temper and sharp tongue when people piss her off. She’s very direct and sassy, something that doesn't exactly help either. People have also have noticed that she often sings something to herself at night, but it is in Russian, so not many know what it means.

Dalenka likes to act like she only cares about herself, but really her actions are always group oriented. Now that she has grown attached to the people in the group she feels a sense of responsibility that pushes her to make decisions (not always popular) for the group. She tends to give her opinion about things even when she’s not asked for it; she’s assertive and often takes the initiative to get work done, especially if it’s for the group, but she will not tolerate people lazing about. If she thinks something needs to be done she’ll often ask (tell) people to do the jobs necessary to complete a task. She’s especially intolerant of selfish people or anyone who endangers the group. She doesn’t trust outsiders much and likes to err on the side of caution. There is little that she will not do in order to survive and ensure the group safety, so she’s not one to pass up on looting a corpse or home. However, she’s not about hurting others to get ahead.

People who know her better know that she’s a very caring individual, but that she’s tough in order to survive. She doesn’t care much to tiptoe over feelings or be cautious if someone needs a good stern talking to. Despite this, she hates fighting within the group, and tends to shy away from conflict. It doesn’t do much good, and she would prefer everyone to be on the top of their game.

She doesn’t very much believe in God, magic, or any sort of chance. She prefers to stick with facts and logic. She has a low tolerance for bullies or anyone who tries to be too controlling, especially if they’re men. She’s often quick to respond with sass, and sarcasm. She doesn’t appreciate being pushed around and is protective of more submissive type females, or anyone that vaguely acts like a child. In fact, children are her soft spot.

 → History

⋅ CHILDHOOD ⋅

Dalenka was born in Oymyakon, Russia to Taras and Inessa Petrov, and although her parents had been excited to have her, the home was not the perfect place for a child. Taras was a generous host, always quick to give despite their humble circumstances, but the face he showed to others was not the same he showed his family. He was a dedicated man when it came to providing for his family, but he believed that that also entitled him to treating them as he saw fit.

Taras enjoyed good vodka, often spending a good amount of food money on it. Inessa was submissive, never one to speak up against her husband. The few times she tried her husband would quickly shut her up with a slap to the face. Growing up, Dalenka learned to keep quiet and not question him. For many years her father left her alone, for the most part, but the older she grew the more often she'd find him yelling at her and threatening to hit her. Most of the time this was only when he was drunk.

But he was drunk often.

Her father worked at the power station, helping to maintain the fire there that kept the lines from freezing. He was gone most of the day, leaving Inessa and Dalenka some hours of peace. It was during these moments that Dalenka learned how to sew and cook; a proper woman, her mother would say, needed to learn how to cook a meal.

At home, Dalenka was mostly a quiet, but helpful girl. But whenever her father was gone she came alive. And if there was anyone that could make her smile more than her mother it was Markov, her father's best friend. He stopped by often, and he never failed to bring her a gift on her birthday, although Nessa always seemed a bit reserved during these times. It looked like she was often caught between smiling and frowning, and Markov never seemed to stay too long when Taras was not around.

Dalenka hated the long winters Oymyakon; there wasn't much to do at home, and going outside was painful, although the hot spring was nice. Many people in their town weren't too fond of the warmer summers, but Dalenka couldn't get enough of it. She loved feeling the sun actually warm her face and being able to go outside without her own saliva freezing and pricking her lips.

Once she was older, around eight years old, Markov began teaching her how to hunt. Her mother didn't like the idea too much, but Taras seemed proud that his daughter was being useful, and that was enough reason to push her into it. Living in one of the coldest places was no easy feat, but Markov made sure to teach her everything he knew. She learned to track animals, to recognize the different prints and to notice sounds around her. She learned how easy it could be to get lost, so she always kept track of the direction she was going. By the time she was ten it was so ingrained in her that she could point north instinctively.

A few months before she turned eleven, Taras decided to move back to Vladivostok, his hometown, when his mother started to fall ill. Although Nessa was against this with the town’s reputation, she could do very little to deter Taras.

⋅ ADOLESCENCE ⋅

Adjusting to their new environment was not easy. Dalenka and Inessa rarely felt comfortable hitting the streets alone; it was dangerous being in the street because they ran the risk of being mugged or worse—captured. People in the town went missing from time to time and were sold to work as prostitutes. While Taras worked the girls were to stay at home, and only when Taras and Markov were around could they walk through the town comfortably.

The family passed through some hard financial troubles in their first year in Vladivostok; work was hard to find, and Dalenka’s grandmother required a lot of care. Inessa took care of the older woman, although she endured much mental abuse from her; Nessa had never really earned the woman’s approval, and never seemed able to do anything good enough for the woman, but still she was always caring and gentle.

They were just coming into their second year in their new home when Dalenka experienced for herself the horrors Vladivostok had in store. As Dalenka was coming home from school Inessa watched as a car rolled up alongside her and pulled her in. The then-thirteen-year-old girl struggled against the man who had grabbed her, but all it did was earn her a hard knock over the head which left her unconscious. When she came to she was in a dark room, the only light coming through were slivers of moonlight from the window. It was boarded up, so she couldn’t see much through the small cracks.

A man, calling himself Sevastian, appeared in her room shortly after. They told her that she needed to be prepared for work, that they would get her ready. She tried to hit him, fight against him as he started to undress her. Sevastian beat her down to the floor and then kicked her until she begged him to stop. It was then that she sat up and began to strip down for him. He raked his gaze across her body, but without much interest. “Let’s go,” he told her, taking her arm and dragging her down the hallways, still naked. He took her to a washroom and stood outside while two women started bathing her. They had purple bruises on their skin, and pin pricks scattered down their arm. Dark circles under their eyes.

After she was clean, they wrapped a towel around her and made her sit down on a wooden stool while the cut her hair a few inches. They gave her clothes to put on that were too revealing, too tight, too… wrong. Dalenka was taken back to her room to rest for her big day. She couldn’t sleep that night and simply sat on the corner of her bed with the walls at her back. She watched the door, fearing the coming morning. Somewhere between crying and missing home, and thinking about what tomorrow would bring she fell asleep.

The next morning Sevastian was knocking at her door, ordering her to come out. Dalenka was then brought into a room where one of the women from the day before was waiting on a bed. Sevastian, like usual, waited outside. The woman, Sasha, pulled out a small box and showed her how to prepare the drug, how to insert it. Dalenka shook her head, protesting, but Sasha just laughed and lowered her voice, a deep sadness entering her eyes. “It makes it easier… to forget.” Dalenka still didn’t understand fully, maybe because she didn’t want to, but she would soon.

A man entered the room, looking Dalenka over with hungry eyes, but he went straight for Sasha. “I will teach you how to do it right. Keep them happy… and they won’t hurt you too much,” she explained as she began to undress.

Dalenka watched every sickening movement, heard every grunt as the man pushed into her. Sasha was quiet for the most part, only crying out now and then when the man was too rough. When Dalenka closed her eyes and tried to turn away the man would yell at her, threaten her. Now she understood everything, and she dug her nails into her palm. It was all she could do to not break down and cry right then and there.

For the following weeks, she was drugged up every few hours and taken to a room to meet with a new client. She welcomed the sickening haze that came with high, liked to imagine she was far away. The days bled into each other, sometimes she wasn’t quite sure how long she’d been there. It was hard to keep track inside the poorly lit rooms, and they never let her outside.

Sasha watched over Dalenka, as much as she could. They spent their few free moments together. Sasha would tell Dalenka stories about her life before the brothel, about how she had been a ballet dancer and how she’d had big dreams about becoming a famous dancer in Moscow. Sometimes Sasha would teach her some moves and pull out her old ballet shoes from the back of a drawer. She’d kept them when she was taken, and although they were a bit too small, she still managed to look graceful in dancing. Dalenka enjoyed learning and welcomed the distraction from their bleak life. She didn’t think she would ever get out, but she was at least glad to have one friend there. Whenever a client was too rough they patched each other up. Sometimes Dalenka snuck into Sasha’s room to sleep with her.

She noticed that sometimes girls disappeared when they grew too sick. It was why she worried when she woke up with a fever one morning. No one cared to bring her any medicine or pay her much attention. It was far easier to just find another girl. She succumbed quickly to the sickness, her skin a pasty white and her body aching all over. And even in her condition, they pushed her to work. They would use her up until the very end. Just when she believed it was all over for her she heard people screaming somewhere down below. Gunshots rang out and Sasha came running to her. In those weeks the woman had been her only friend. They took care of one another, as best they could. Sasha brought her into another room down the hall. Together they pushed a wardrobe aside to reveal a hole in the wall—it looked like an old vent system. Sasha pushed her inside and pushed the furniture back to cover it up before she ducked into a nearby closet.

Dalenka remained hushed as people stormed the building. She feared she’d cough and give herself away at any moment, but everything remained fine. Many of the girls were screaming in the hallways, their voices falling silent after the rain of gunshots. She trembled in the small space, panicking as her lungs cried out for air. It was so tight—she could only just move her elbows enough to help crawl back when the door to their room flew open. The door hit the wall and she pulled her hand over her mouth, barely daring to breathe.

Just before the footsteps retreated she felt a cough building up and wrestled to keep it in. She must have made some sound before the footsteps began to approach her hiding place. Suddenly she heard the sounds of other doors being thrown open. Sasha yelled “I won’t go! I won’t come out, don’t come out!” The latter, she knew, was directed at her, so Dalenka resisted the urge to cry out, even when she the gunshot rang out in the room that silenced her friend.

Things had fallen relatively silent, although she could hear the stomping of feet coming towards their room. A final gunshot rang out, and she heard the thud of a body hitting the floor. When she heard the furniture being pushed aside again she tried to crawl back further to get away, but she was grabbed quickly and dragged out. Dalenka kicked and screamed. She reached for the knife tucked into her pocket. She wouldn’t go without a fight. If she was going to die she would try to take them down with her. They disarmed her quickly and restrained her. They waited until she looked at them, and explained that they were the police, that she was being taken back to her family. Before they could take her away, she paused to look at one of her captor's bodies... the man who'd shot Sasha. Then she turned to kneel by Sasha’s body, and turn her over. Her eyes were blank, empty of the spark they had held before. They had been close, not only friends but sisters.

She broke down into tears.

Dalenka took the necklace she was wearing—it was a thin gold chain with three small pendants hanging from it: ballet shoes, music notes, and a heart.

At the hospital, they explained that she had been gone for three months and that her family would be there soon. They gave her medicine to help speed up her recovery, but they could do little to deal with was her addiction. A few days after she was well enough to go home some men showed up with Inessa and Markov. They explained about how Markov had sought help from the government to find her, and how they had found key information about the man in charge of the prostitution ring in the area. Dalenka, as she found out, had some face to face with him many occasions. The man… Sevastian, had already made threatening phone calls to their home. It was no longer safe for them in Russia. The American government was also invested in bringing the man to justice for crimes he had committed overseas. The American government offered them protection and a chance to start over if Dalenka would testify when the time came.

Taras, although very unhappy with the decision, agreed to allow the move. They were given new names and a new place to start out. Dalenka picked up on the language quickly, surprisingly, though she struggled get over her addiction. In the first weeks, she cared little about her family; she was angry, lashing out at just about anyone that came her way as the withdrawal drove her to the brink of insanity. Her mother remained at home to care for her, though both men worked to help keep the family afloat.

Markov spent all his free time at the Petrov home caring for her. He put up with her moods and tried to help her curb her cravings. It wasn’t easy, and she failed more than once, but she was doing better overall. She still felt uncomfortable leaving home and panicked every time she had to step outside, but with time she grew back into her confident self. With time she the cravings began to fall away and she was able to control them.

In America, she blossomed.

Dalenka chose to act like she didn’t remember the times in the brothel, and her family indulged her, never asking her for details. She never quite moved on for that time; whenever boys acted like they were interested in her she became uncomfortable and acted either angry or completely sassy. She never let anyone get to know her too well, for fear that Sevastian might somehow find her.

With all this new freedom Taras began to grow angry. He didn’t have the same control over his family as before and he turned to drinking again. He especially took it out on Dalenka because he blamed her for the move. But Dalenka wasn't the only one who changed with the move. Inessa began to see how different the world was. She questioned the behavior she tolerated and began to think dangerously. Together with Mark, she secretly made preparations to leave Taras. They kept Dalenka in the dark, not wanting the girl to give away their plans with a change in her behavior.

On the day of the Purge, Nessa had planned to leave while Taras was at work, and had sent Markov to pick up Dalenka early from school (she was 14 at the time), but he came home early and surprised her.

When Markov and Dalenka arrived the house was in disarray. Inessa was nowhere to be seen, and Taras refused to answer their questions. Suspecting the worst, Markov lost his control and went after Taras. In the middle of the fray, they heard the sirens and screaming. They broke apart and soon pieced together that something was very wrong. Taras took off, taking the pause to escape. Markov turned on the TV to catch the news talking about an epidemic that was spreading. When the first infected began to come into the neighborhood he grabbed Dalenka and what supplies they had and took off in his truck.

They escaped the city and kept driving, putting as much distance between them and the outbreak. Two long years went by and they learned to survive on their own. They learned not to trust others or fall into the false security of groups (who could always turn on them). Both lived on with the aching torture of never knowing what became of Inessa, but their focus on survival helped keep their minds occupied.

Eventually, they ran into a girl who had lost her mother to raiders. Dalenka didn't trust her at first. Eve wasn't as capable as Dalenka, and that was something Dalenka couldn't stand. She hated people who couldn't be useful, and she was angry that Mark had to keep putting himself in risky situations to help this stranger. But, Markov insisted that Eve would be part of their group now, and nothing would change his mind.

They managed to pick up on a transmission one day on an old radio, announcing a new safe haven, called Sanctuary, for survivors if they could find their way there. It was on the trip that the girls really began to come together. The challenges and dangers they faced forced them to overcome their reservations and build up a bond. She was the only person she grew to really trust besides Markov. Something beyond just a friendly bond seemed to be growing underneath their interactions, but they never had the chance to really explore it.

Markov and Eve died on the journey, just a few days before they reached Sanctuary. It nearly broke Dalenka, but she refused to let their sacrifices be in vain. When she reached the city, they were in the process of creating the wall that would surround the entire city. But the big project that they had in the works was a new formula that would tip the odds in the survivors' favor. Compound Z was supposed to be the answer to their problems, was supposed to create new, strong, powerful humans.

However, many of the residents of Sanctuary were hesitant about taking the Compound and the list of people who were willing to be part of the first test group was small. Children were not supposed to be included on the list. They needed more developed individuals, perhaps some who were more expendable, but Dalenka insisted on it. The journey had made her sick and she was so weak she risked dying anyways. This Compound would either save her or kill her, and she wanted it to be the last choice she made. She convinced the doctors and scientists to let her join the test group, making her the youngest person in the group to take the Compound.

In the following years, she slowly dealt with the changes the Compound caused: her hair color on one side, strength, reflexes, speed, and then later on the powers. Hers were especially powerful, all of the first group's were. But that made them dangerous. Some couldn't control them and it led to a burnout which killed the subjects. Those that didn't die from the burnout realized that they had a hunger they couldn't quite satiate. A driving compulsion to hunt zombies and drink the fluid secreted from their bodies. As long as they ingested the fluid regularly they did not experience the hallucinations. These drawbacks ensured that many of the first test group did not survive long, and they were kept secret from the general public. Of the first group, only Dalenka and two others survived. 

At the same time, Sanctuary continued to grow and thrive. The Compound continued to be changed and developed, becoming safer each time, although not all subjects who took it survived. The changes themselves caused subjects to go through a temporary sickness, fever, and bout of pain. If they could live through that then they went through the rest of the changes. New hunters were created, ones that didn't have to feed on zombies to stay alive. 

Once the city was deemed safe, all the rules started to show up. Living in Sanctuary could feel a bit constraining at times, but it was something everyone learned to deal with in exchange for a place to stay.

⋅ ADULTHOOD ⋅

Most of her adult life has been dedicated to protecting the residents of the Sanctuary and keeping the peace. Although, now that she's older, she feels a lot of the subtle pressure to have a child with another hunter (to be fair, most hunters feel that pressure once they're old enough). Scientists believe that children of two hunters have a better chance of having their body accept the Compound, and if they can have second generation pureblood hunters then maybe humanity can take back their world from the zombies in the future. It's only when Eve shows up her life again that she starts to question what's really out there and if Sanctuary is the best place for them. 

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