Areli

 

Playlist

• Fluffy Bluff Galaxy
• South African Ocean
• Through the Sea of Time
• One For All, All For One
• Temmie Village

 

Bio

Challenge Areli to do anything. I mean it. Anything. From running five miles to crossing a treacherous river to saying the alphabet backwards - twice - Areli won't turn a challenge down, no matter how hard or how strange it sounds. He's always on the hunt for a thrill, or a new adventure. This means it's hard for him to appreciate the little things in life, like a wonderful sunrise or the first flower of spring. He's a focus-on-the-big-picture lion.
Not that this stops him from doing his job well. 'Job' - he wouldn't really call it that. It's just part of the adventure. Being a traveling trader, seeing the world - it's been his dream ever since he was a child, and he loves every minute of it. Well, except the parts where it rains and they don't have any cover. Or bandits attack (fun at first, during the fighting, but not afterwards, where you find out that half your stuff was just stolen and you have a brand-new sprained paw). Or any other inconvenience, at all. Areli gets discouraged very easily. Even though he knows that life isn't perfect, he wants it to be, and when it's not he can get very grumpy. Luckily he has Astraea's cheerful outlook to see him through.
He's still young and a teenager, as much as he would love everyone to think he was completely mature already.Granted, it's easier to convince others you're older than you actually are when you've never met them before and probably will never meet them again, but he's not that great at putting on the act. Often without meaning to, he'll say something rude, or maybe brag a bit much.
Even though he messes up a lot, Areli is always willing to learn. Though he sometimes finds it really boring, he puts his best paw forward into his studies. (Social skills and how to tell if a trader is lying about the value of their goods and how to barter without asking for too much. The list goes on and on. It's a lot.) This is true of essentially anything, actually. Yes, he might get discouraged after a bandit attack, but during all his complaining and sighing he'll be thinking - how can I do better next time?
Areli is incredibly friendly. He's prone to starting conversations with random strangers (mainly because he's bored, but still) or challenging the closest person to a race. People he doesn't know he tends not to judge until he really gets to know them. Most people find this a little odd, but he either doesn't notice or doesn't care. Probably the first - he does worry about what other people think of him, though he's bad at actually figuring out what they think.
He might annoy almost everyone he meets in some way or another, but it's practically impossible to dislike him. He never intends to hurt someone's feelings (though this happens almost every day) and in those rare times he realizes he goes over and offers a very awkward apology. The times he doesn't realize... well, from the rest of the conversation one might have with him, it becomes clear that he didn't mean any harm.
He's determined to see the whole world eventually, and Astraea's willing to take him. Who knows - maybe one day he'll be just as good a trader as his best friend and mentor. But he doesn't want to think about that - he's in it for the journey, and even though there's rain and bandits and who knows what else, he wouldn't trade his awesome life for anything.

 

Backstory

"Who should talk first? You wanna talk first?"
"You seem far more excited about this than I am, Areli."
"That's because I am!"
"Then why don't you start?"
"Ooh, good idea."
Areli grew up in the savannah. Well, I say 'the' savannah, but it was more like 'a' savannah. There's so many savannahs out there, and by now Areli's seen more than he could count. He likes the jungle better, though. Or 'a' jungle. Really any jungle.
"Areli, you should get to the point. You're boring our readers."
"Oh. Right. Sorry."
Anyway, a savannah. Areli grew up in a huge, always busy village. When he was younger he would often just sit in the doorway of his family's hut and watch the passing crowd of lions and cheetahs and hyenas and dogs and - well, basically every species you could dream of. His mother was a hunter, his father was a storyteller. And of course his parents wanted him to become a storyteller when he grew up. Far less risky. More praise. People tended to take hunters for granted, cause they rarely saw them actually hunting.
He always wanted to go watch a hunting party, but instead his father always brought young Areli along when he went to tell his stories in the marketplace. Some of them were amazing. Stories of ancient creatures with incredible powers fighting, or brave lions sacrificing their lives for another, and Areli would look up at his father with wide eyes as he hung onto every word. Others were love stories, which he found boring and rather pointless at the time. And now, too.
When the really boring love stories came around, Areli would let his mind wander around the marketplace. All the hustle and bustle was incredible. He'd look at each face, each watching his father as he spun his tale, and he'd watch the passerby, and most especially he'd watch the traders. But the story was always over too soon, and before he knew it he'd be stuck at home again. Until one day.
That day, when Areli was older but still sort of young, his dad came over with a special task for him. "You're growing up, son," he said, "And you should start helping out around here more. So I have an important job for you."
"What? What is it?" Areli asked, and his father handed him a bag full of dry herbs and berries.
"We need something - a gift. There's a visitor from a neighboring village coming here. He's of some importance. Every household is obligated to give a present to him, so you have to go to the marketplace and find something to give him."
Maybe Areli would have asked who was visiting, but every other thought was pushed out by that one idea - he was going to the marketplace. By himself! Before his dad could say another word, he said a quick and excited 'thank you!' and raced out the door.
The marketplace was even more busy than normal that day, maybe because everyone else had been thinking the same thing as his dad. Still, he held on tightly to his bag of berries and shoved his way through the crowd as he tried to get a good look at the things for sale. He heard the call of voices on all sides, from the buyers and the sellers, and saw the seemingly endless spread of blankets and things for trade and people doing the trading. For a moment he felt a little overwhelmed, but then he saw something amazing.
Areli wandered clumsily on over to the peacock feather he saw near the edge of one of the blankets. Once he got there, he sat down and just stared at the sparking colors on it. That's when he heard a quiet voice. "Hey, can I help you?"
He looked up, and saw a smiling african wild dog, with feathers tucked behind one ear and feathers tied on a string around her neck and feathers tied around her tail. Feathers everywhere.
"Wait - that's me?"
"Of course it's you, Astraea!"
"I don't have that many feathers."
"Well, all those and the peacock feather. And you had others for trade, too. You were feather crazy to me!"
"Hmm. Maybe I was. Probably still am, in fact. Feathers are beautiful. Continue?"
"Nah, you should tell about your own life now. Just up to the time that we first meet."
"Well, okay. I'll tell our readers about me."
Astraea was born into an entire trading community. They were nomads - they wandered from place to place, town to town, and traded. Some of them put on plays for the locals, or showed off their drawings of faraway lands. It was a constant life of adventure, and it wasn't her choice - in fact if she'd been able to choose, she'd have picked a much quieter lifestyle - but her parents weren't settling down somewhere because she didn't want to keep traveling. So she went everywhere with them.
It was terrifying and exciting all at once. As they reached a new village they were welcomed with smiles and wide eyes and endless questions. 'Where were you? We haven't seen you in three years! Was it dangerous? Was it fun? What did you see out there?' everyone would ask them. Astraea would hide behind her mother and just watch. She loved and hated the attention.
Then she would watch as her father and mother would unfold their blanket and set up their wares, and the many hopefuls looking to buy things from far off lands would come over and they would argue over the right price. It took Astraea years to be able to do the talking part of things, but she would help out near the back, with set up or clean up, or counting things. Or she'd just watch the crowds.
As she grew up, and the endless traveling continued, her father realized she didn't really enjoy it as much as everyone else did. It was certainly fascinating for her, but she didn't think she'd be able to do it herself. So he talked to her about it. "Astraea... you know your mother and I are getting older. We're going to need someone to, well, carry on the family tradition. Please - I want you to promise that you'll keep at it."
She had tried to say no, to say she'd think about it, but he was so genuine that at last she agreed. Five years later, she felt that this was a horrible mistake.
See, what happened about then is that both her parents -
"No. I can't. I just can't say it."
"You don't have to describe it at all. Just say that it happened and keep going with the story."
"...Okay."
So Astraea's parents... died, because of a thing that she just doesn't have the heart to tell the readers about. Right then would have been the perfect time to try something else, start a whole different life, but she'd promised to continue trading, and she didn't want to let her mom and dad down. Of course she tried to stay optimistic, that's what she was best at - but she was feeling pretty down by the time she came to Areli's town.
The dog set up her wares and sat down in the middle of them with a small sigh. It wasn't long at all before she noticed a lion cub looking at a peacock feather she had for sale. Rae mustered up her best smile and said, "Hey, can I help you?"
His shock was evident as he froze for a moment, but as he looked up at her she saw his gaze was full of awe. "Are you a trader?" he asked. 
The question was surprising, as she hadn't expected it. "Well, yes. I have been my whole life."
The lion's grin only got bigger at this. "It has a lot of adventures, right? I'm gonna have tons of adventures when I grow up!"
"Oh. Um, yes," Astraea said, slightly overwhelmed by this energetic figure.
"Yeah! Say, if you've had lots of trading adventures, do you think you could tell me about a few?"
That was how, for the next hour, Astraea found herself recounting wild tales of what had happened to her on some of her journeys. At the end, the young lion paid for the peacock feather, thanked her a ton, and dashed away, grin still on his face. She watched him go, realizing her own smile was a lot more genuine. He had really wanted her kind of life, and here she was not wanting it. Maybe it was time to appreciate it more.
I think it's your turn, now, Areli. You need to talk about how you became a trader."
"I totally will! This is my favorite part."
As Areli proudly trotted home, peacock feather carefully held between his teeth like it was the biggest treasure in all the world, he thought about the trader he'd talked to, and how nice she'd been, and how awesome all her tales had seemed. Areli had never thought about becoming a trader, but the more he thought about it now, the more he wanted to become one. By the time he was home, his mind was made up. Maybe he had wanted to become a hunter like his mother, but now, when he got old enough, he was gonna be a trader and explore the world!
...That dream soon became a reality, and when his mane had grown out and the day had come for him to choose his own path, he'd set off with a handful of seeds, nuts, feathers,and other trinkets in a pack.
For a few months he journeyed from village to village, having the time of his life. However, he'd had no real training on how to trade properly, and things weren't as perfect as he had hoped. A good thing was to come, however.
One day as he made his way into the market of yet another town, he noticed a very familiar canine selling her wares. She was wearing feathers. Lots and lots of feathers. "HEY, FEATHER LADY!" Areli shouted over to her. The african wild dog looked up, shocked, as he ran over to her.
"Do you remember me?" he asked.
"Should I?" she replied, gaze confused. Well, he didn't blame her. His mane had grown in - he certainly looked a lot different.
"I'm Areli! You met me once in my town and told me all about your adventures, and you inspired me so much that now I'm a trader, too!"
"Really?" Feather dog paused for a moment, then she nodded with a smile. "Yes! I remember you. You bought the peacock feather! I'm Astraea."
An hour of conversation later, and Areli had decided to travel with Astraea. That was how it all began, and how the two travelers ended up inspiring one another. The end!
"Are we really ending this that abruptly?"
"Yes. Yes we are. I'm tired of talking, anyway. How about we go to the next village now?"
"Well..."
"Please? I'm bored."
"...Okay, Areli. Off we go."

 

✔ LIKES

✔ Adventure

✔ Being noticed

✔ The jungle

✖ DISLIKES

✖ Fire

✖ Getting critisized

✖ Losing

 

RELATIONSHIPS

Astraea | mentor
The best and most amazing feather lady he knows. Astraea is incredibly kind and willing to teach him everything he wants to know, though she often gets a bit overwhelmed by his energy and enthusiasm.

Makalie | mother
He used to think she was just trying to keep him from doing fun things. Now he understands how kind she really is, and how she just didn't want him to get hurt. The world's actually pretty scary at times.

 

TRIVIA

• He totally ate a ghost pepper once. Not a fun experience.
• Please don't dare him. It won't end well.