Alternate Universe Canon Character
Out Of CharacterName: Neo
Age: 24
Journal:
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Aim: idealistictruths
Plurk: BakerHound
In CharacterName: Tybalt The Cat
Canon: Reynard The Fox Fables
Canon Point: Around 3000 years after the original Fables, in modern day times
AU point: The fable characters had begun to bleed into the other worlds long ago, and discovered they could take human forms to help them blend in.
Sex/Gender: Male
Actual Age/Apparent Age: 4012 / 27
Belongings: The clothes on his back, a thin, cold iron dagger and his sword.
Skills and Powers: Tybalt is a sly and bold cat. He is a skilled swordsman and fighter, a singer and a crafty feline, though no where near the level of sly that Reynard the Fox holds claim to. He is also very agile and quick, with the flexibility afforded cats, rather than men.
His powers are just two, and fairly simple gifts.
The first is the gift bestowed upon his kind. 9 lives, that were cut down to 8 by Reynard, 2000 years ago.
The second is his ability to change his shape, from cat to human, and back again.
Physical Description: As a cat, Tybalt is a sleek and large Bengal cat, with one blue-green eye and the other a milky blue of blindness all the way through.
As a human, his eyes are the same, though the rest is vastly different. He is a tall (1.84m) and lanky man who looks to be around 27. He has slightly curled ginger hair and is generally clean shaven, though he let's his shadow grow from time to time, never full enough to be a beard or moustache. He has a faint scar through his left eye, which is a milky blue, from an earlier trickery of Reynard the Fox.
He is not picky on his dress, though he chooses sensible clothes that will not impede him in a fight. He carries himself tall and unencumbered and moves with an agility most men can not claim.
Book Description: Tybalt's book is an old fashioned string bound book with faded and discolored leather covers and tattered, uneven pages. The cover is a reddish brown that was once a deep, rich maroon. The bookmark is bordered in the same discolored leather with an image that resembles the old depictions of Puss in Boots. A slightly anthropomorphic feline with a sword pointed and poised in en garde position.
Alternate History: After the fables, Tybalt continued to work as an enforcer of the King's laws under Chanticleer. His bitterness toward Reynard the Fox and his sly nature often pitted him as the one to go after the elusive trickster. Though they often tried to match wits, Tybalt usually found himself at the wrong end at the end, tricked and taunted until Reynard escaped once more.
Eventually, Tybalt's search for Reynard led him into a chance meeting with one of Reynard's lovers. A Fae by the name of Bran who had wandered into the King's forest. Tybalt challenged him for the location of the Fox, and the two engaged in a sword fight. Tybalt's sword against Bran's double blades. The skirmish ended in a draw, after which Bran confessed to having no knowledge of Reynard's whereabouts.
Intrigued by the strange Fae soldier who sang while he fought and managed to match Tybalt in a battle of blades, the cat decided to follow the Fae for a time, reasoning that Reynard would eventually return to seek out his lover, and the cat could capture him then and take him back to face justice for his crimes.
Tybalt joined the Raven Lord's army to fight alongside Bran, and the two became brothers in arms, battling, singing and drinking together. After a time, Tybalt became distracted by the thrill of battle and the company of his new friend. It was not until the Fae captured Reynard for crimes against their kind that Tybalt was knocked back to his original reasons for joining the Raven Lord's army.
Tybalt, knowing of the Fox's treachery and sly tongue, pleaded with the Raven Lord to be assigned watch over Reynard. During his time spent with Bran, the cat had come to realize that Reynard had stolen away the Fae's heart, and added it to the list of crimes, refusing to allow the Fox to see Bran before his trial.
Unfortunately for Tybalt, Reynard was as crafty and clever a fox as ever, and managed to escape his ropes and subdue Tybalt, tying him up in his stead. The Raven Lord, furious with Tybalt for his failure, and for the escape of Reynard the Fox, had Tybalt executed in his place. Thus, Tybalt lost the first of his nine lives, paying for Reynard's escape with his own.
After this, he was banished from the Fae's lands and the army he had joined, unaware of what fate had fallen Bran, his best friend and brother in arms.
Tybalt returned to his King's forests, and Chanticleer, resuming his hunt for Reynard the Fox, and his title as an officer of justice and the law. When next he crossed paths with Bran, the Fae had adorned the names of Puck and changed himself as drastically as any who tossed aside their emotions to become a trickster puck.
But Bran had not fully adorned the title of puck, and Tybalt soon found his emotions were not quite as cut off as he wanted to believe. The pair of them became fast friends once more, with Tybalt swearing to himself that he would keep Bran from ever fully becoming a puck.
As time progressed, Tybalt took titles and places in the mortal world and lived various lives, passing the time while blending in with the human world. He continued to keep his friendship with Bran and his antagonistic feud with Reynard the fox. However, the longer Tybalt remained in the mortal world, the further out of touch with his own brethren he became, until only Ysengrim the Wolf and Reynard the Fox were known well to him.
Driven by the dual motives of revenge toward Reynard and love of his best friend, Bran, Tybalt always remained close at hand to the Fae, seeking to protect him what little he could from the Fox's treachery and trickery.
He had reached a troubled state of uncertainty, so much so, that when he at last had the fox at his mercy, he could not strike the blow to kill him, knowing that doing so would once more push Bran to the brink of becoming Puck and a shell of his true self.
Tybalt fights constantly with the need to bring Reynard to justice, knowing that even if killed, the fox would merely return, unhindered by a limit of lives in the way that the Cat was.
When he arrives at the Library, it will be shortly after Chanticleer has relieved him of his duties as an officer of the King.
Personality: Any who have read or seen Romeo and Juliet may recognize the name, Tybalt, The King of Cats. The young nephew of Lady Capulet whose fiery temper and brash attitude led him to murder and then his own demise at the hands of Romeo. This character of Shakespeare was named for Tybalt the Prince of Cats.
Like any feline may be expected to be, Tybalt is a prideful character. He is confident and sly, and very self-assured. However, Tybalt's pride is often his downfall. The cat believes firmly in his abilities and strengths, and will fight to prove them whenever challenged. A fact often used against him by Reynard.
He is also very keen to justice. A quality that afforded him a position on the King's court as a trusted voice of reason and justice, as well as an officer of law. When all others brought forth arguments against Reynard the fox, Tybalt initially protected the trickster's rights, arguing that each of the creatures submitting complaints could be found equally guilty of their own sins. Even when justice would go against his own desires, Tybalt more often than not will strive to protect and enforce it.
Tybalt is also a temperamental cat. He is easily goaded into a fight and quick to draw his sword. It is for these reasons that his Shakespearean legacy was given his name. If Tybalt's pride is challenged, he will not hesitate to cast aside justice and reason both to reclaim the lost pride. Not intentionally, but as an ingrained response.
Tybalt does not plan ahead, nor does he often learn from his mistakes. His head is centered in the now, and only looks ahead when trying to predict his opponents moves in a fight. It is for these reasons that he is often seen as brash and reckless. He prefers the immediate gratification to the promise of future triumphs, and rarely stops to wonder how his actions might affect his future.
More than anything, Tybalt loves a good fight. Unlike many, he does not fight to reach the end result, but for the pleasure and thrill of the battle itself. He would sooner end a fight with the point of his blade to his enemy's throat and let them live, than to run a good opponent through. For this, many others he has defeated either respect him or attempt to fight him again in the future. He is often counseled to dispatch of his enemies, lest they kill him in his sleep, but once more his pride triumphs over reason.
It is a surprise, with the number of times he had been beaten, by both Reynard and others, through means of trickery or cheating, that the cat still abides to and holds the honor of a swordsman. For Tybalt, that honor is as much a part of the justice he swore to uphold as any. He believes in using the weaknesses of opponents against them, but he will always face an opponent, rather than stab them in the back.
Killing without honor is tantamount to murder, and Tybalt refuses to fall to the level of those he accuses.
This does not make him a kinder cat, however, and if justice calls for it, he will play the part of the executioner.
It has always been clear that Tybalt was a loyal cat. Even after Reynard turned the king against him, Tybalt remained loyal to his sovereign. However, no one had managed to show how strong that loyalty truly lies until Bran and Tybalt became friends. The Cat will set aside his own values in the name of protecting the Fae, even in so far as to help Reynard, his oldest enemy, for the sake of Bran. The Fae is the first of Tybalt's friends not to betray him as many of his creature brethren, and the cat will go far out of his way to keep that friendship alive. What started as a comradery and respect between swordsman had developed into a bond of brothers in arms and later to something akin to love, though the kind of love not easily or simply labelled.
SamplesFirst Person/Action brackets: Books. I am really, very tired of all these books. Everywhere I go in this blasted place, there is nothing but stacks and shelves of the things.
Why would anyone build a place like this?
I've taken about all I can of being surrounded by tomes and bindings. If anyone actually needs me I'll be near the gates. If I don't get out of here soon I am just going to retreat to the dark areas and kill the bloody monsters until I find a way out or they kill me.
Someone, please tell me there is something worth doing. Anywhere. I would take a good fight over these walls full of words, any day.
Is
anyone here actually skilled enough with a blade to spar?
Third Person/Prose:Waking up in a different place than the one he remembered falling asleep in was nothing new for Tybalt. In fact, it was a very familiar feeling. He half expected to find himself sprawled out on one of Bran's couches. Or perhaps sporting a few fresh injuries from his latest brawl. The strange part of this particular experience was the mysterious lack of a hangover. That tinny voice, however, was being ignored for the moment.
"Welcome to The Library!"Slowly sitting up in the chair, Tybalt's good eye scanned the location, brows drawn together in confusion, a low growl in the back of his throat. Okay. This was definitely not the sort of place he generally found himself after a rough night. The Cat rose to his feet, checking that his sword was still in it's place. Dagger as well. Good. He wasn't unarmed. Not that he needed his blades to cause damage.
"I've woken up in worse places." He ran a hand through his hair, muttering to himself. Worse places, yes, but usually more desirable than a
library. Was this some new place of Robin's? He sniffed the air experimentally and no familiar scents reached him. That hologram was still talking. Tybalt shot it a look, but there was nothing his sword would do against the thing, so he let it prattle on about 'being selected' and 'need your help' while he studied the book in his hand. Why did he have a book in his lap?
He had not been reading. He
knew that was not the case. The only time he actually bothered to read was at the insistence of his best friend, and certainly not during a night of indulging in liquor.
Still, he did not have the urge to drop it just yet, flipping it open to the bookmarked page. He knew quite a few languages, and yet the words on the pages meant nothing to him. Made his head spin. Tucked in between them was a bookmark with an image of a cat. A cat who looked surprisingly like an artist's rendition of him. He tilted his head, running his finger over it with interest. Was that real leather?
The moment his fingertip slid down the length of it, the bookmark changed, a touch screen of little symbols appearing. Cats were a curious breed of creature, and he was no exception. Fascinated, he tapped at the little pictures, momentarily distracted from his confusion by the prospect of something new to figure out.
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