Prince Ali

[dalek]

"Ô jours si pleins d’appas
Vous êtes disparus,
Et ma patrie, hélas!
Je ne la verrai plus!"


Photo © Kari Kinnunen (http://eljakim.deviantart.com)

Age: 5.5 years
Gender: Male
Species/Breed: Dog / Saluki
Height: 69 cm
Weight: 18 kg

Physical Description:

As a young dog Ali was handsome and well-built, a perfect representative of his breed with a fine, silky coat, striking dark eyes and all the regal grace of a lion. His beauty and bearing brought him great success in the show ring, his name gradually gaining prominence among members of the Fédération Cynologique Internationale, and despite his modesty Ali felt quite proud of his appearance for the gratification that his achievements gave to his master.
Now, however, Ali has become a shell of his former glory, his lean frame shrunken to emaciation and his handsome face gaunt with the shadows of anguish and malnutrition. A long, jagged scar mars the formerly-sleek fur along his left flank, a mark of the misfortune that destroyed his fame, and his gangly legs, though still muscular and strong, are tattered with the wounds of vagrant life.

Statistics

only one superior. only one above average. must have one poor/below average.[/center]

Stamina: Average
Speed: Superior
Strength: Below average
Intelligence: Above average
Mental Stability: Average
Interactions: Below average


Personality

In his time as a house pet and show dog, Ali was loyal, determined, affectionate and kind-hearted, though extremely shy around unfamiliar dogs and skittish among strange humans. He adored his masters and rarely strayed far from their sight, never questioning their motives and only ever pleased to be in their presence. Their death tore a gaping wound in his heart that has made his fear and cowardice only more intense, and his terror of strange dogs has likely cemented his fate as a loner.

Strengths:

• Naturally submissive and compliant, Ali has a born talent for keeping out of trouble, making himself as insignificant and unimposing as possible so as to be overlooked and disregarded by more dominant animals. This innate subservience also aides him in avoiding conflict in the rare event that someone approaches and he cannot avoid them.
  
• Ali is quite intelligent, and can usually worm his way out of a confrontation with a well-devised escape. He rarely ignores small details, seeing potential utility in the most insignificant surroundings, and never fails to spot any prospective route.
  

Weaknesses:

• Having spent most of his life as a show dog and pet, Ali has no experience whatsoever in surviving on his own and depends greatly on others in order to survive, scrounging leftovers from abandoned kills and seeking shelter within dilapidated buildings.
  
• Ali is immensely fearful of wild dogs and will go out of his way to avoid being noticed, convinced that any dog who might see him would surely have him killed on the spot. He will fight only when pushed to his absolute limits, and will always flee when the opportunity reveals itself.
  
• Because of his underfed and naturally lanky physique, Ali is almost completely useless in defending himself solely with brute strength. Though he can outrun many opponents and is quite agile, when trapped he becomes no more threatening than a carcass.
  

Hopes For The Future
Ali longs for a life of peace and serenity, a life unhindered by the cruel realities of the wild,
but bears no expectation that he will ever see such a time.

History

Ali was born in a litter of six to an esteemed breeder in the south of France, hand-selected at a month old to be raised for the show ring by his dam’s master. He lived comfortably and peaceably, touring throughout Europe for various competitions and spending his free time with his master and her young son, who named him Prince Ali and giggled every time the new title was spoken aloud. For three years Ali won trophies, ribbons and certificates by the handful, bemused by the business of competition but contented by his master’s delight with his success, until a collision with a speeding vehicle tore a ragged scar along his flank and he was no longer able to compete. Disappointed but ever optimistic, Ali’s family uprooted from Europe and moved to the Town of Flint, where they lived quite happily as invisible demons began claiming lives without the slightest notice. By the time Ali’s family realised what was happening, the island was choking with sickness. His master barred the door, barricaded the windows, scavenged for any food she could find to hide away in the pantry, but her efforts were in vain; within a month she was infected, rotting, dying, and her son fell prey to starvation soon afterward. There was nothing that Ali could do for them, nothing that he could do to protect them, and he could only watch as they collapsed in on themselves, writhed, wailed, and gradually deteriorated into empty, soulless shells.
For a day, a week, two weeks, a month, Ali remained within the confined house, ravenously consuming whatever food remained and scratching madly at the blocked windows as famishment began to creep up on him. It was only when his body had become a hollowed skeleton, when he had barely the strength to lift his head, that hunger finally overwhelmed his mind and Ali devoured the rotten corpse of his master’s son, barely processing what he had done until he was gnawing contentedly on an undersized thigh bone and realisation nearly brought the entire meal back up his throat.
Strengthened by the feast and driven mad with grief, Ali managed at long last to prise a plank of wood off of the bay window, his emaciated frame sliding through the exposed gap easily as he fell to the soil of a world that had collapsed into insanity. There were humans still alive, fighting desperately for their lives, and Ali made a living off the scraps of their mediocre meals, forcing the memory of his heinous betrayal from his mind as he found solace in the daily struggle to survive.
Alone, famished and terrified, Ali watched as the structure of humanity crumbled and perished, leaving him suddenly helpless and without any chance of rescue. He lives now as a scavenger, feasting on the carcasses of the old and the slaughtered, and hoping with every fibre of his being that he is never found by the ruthless dogs who rule the streets.

Location: Town of Flint
Previous Experiments: N/A

Pack: N/A
Rank: N/A