Willow Heart

Willow Cassandra Heart

Race: Vampire
Age: 75 but really looks 22
Gender: Girl

Character

Looks: Willow has long brown hair that reaches to the end of her back. The only time she ever does anything with her hair, as in put it up in some sort of fashion, is when she is called to another castle or is meeting someone at her own castle. Otherwise she just lets it be free so she doesn't have to worry about it. Her eyes, which are very large and tend to draw people into them, are a reddish brown color. If seen in the right type of lightning, it looks as if she has just brown eyes under her long lashes. However, in the dark of the night, when she needs to feed/is feeding, or really pissed off you can tell she has the classic red vampire eyes. The girl stands at about 5 foot 6 inches. Her skin is pale just like ever other vampire in her kingdom. What sets her off from the others is not that but how frail she looks. Other vampires had often written her off as just another frail Heart woman who could do nothing and let the boys once again carry the weight of fending off the werewolves from taking over the kingdom. However, she is a lot more nimble than she looks. She has learned to be deadly with what she was given and often uses that against her enemies. As for what she wears normally...it isn't a dress. She wears a black leather shirt that stops right at her waist and has no sleeves. Her wears fitting brown pants and boots for easy travel. At her hip is her sword that she keeps on her at all times. She wears black elbow long fingerless gloves and a gold ring with a fire opal on her left ring finger. (The engagement ring that Nathan was forced to give her a few decades ago.) She also has a dagger strapped to her right leg just incase it is needed.

Personality: Willow is the type of girl to jump into things and then ask questions later. It has saved her life many times before. If you are in her way, she ram into you as she says to get out of the way. If someone is in trouble, you can bet the girl will be there to defend them regardless if they are right or wrong in the situation. If she deems them in the right he will make sue the other backs off and walks away otherwise they taste her steal. For that matter, the girl is very loyal to the friends she makes. She will to painstaking measures to make sure her friends are safe...or go hit them for being an idiot and drag them back to their senses. The vampire also loves to fight. She is often seen at the werewolf boarder, and beyond, fighting with the Dante Sisters. Epic battles have been waged between the four yet never once have they actually ever won a battle. Sure sometimes the three sisters have all ganged up on Willow by herself, but somehow she has always been able to get out and walk away.

Being brought up in the Heart family, at a young age Willow has learned to not show fear or sadness. Her father often tells her that it is a sign of weakness and that the other Royal Families expect only the bravest of vampires to be called a Heart. Not wanting to let her father down, she has learned to start only freaking out to her friends or just mentally until she can't take it any longer. When she cries, she cries alone so no one can see her. Only very rare times have she cried because she was in pain or sad. She didn't even cry in front of anyone when her grandparents had finally passed on. If actually caught, she will deny it and try and flee the area so she can cry somewhere in peace.

She does not like the people who she is going to call family soon. In fact she often tells people, that are close to her, that they are just stuck up snobs that always get their way. Every time she is forced to go over to that castle, she wants to rip her hair out or fake her own death. Why is this? Well she actually has to find one of the most difficult dresses to ever put on or off. Her hair has to be done and take a few good hours, and she has to sit in a carriage for hours on end without much of a break. If it was up to her, she would just put on the normal clothes she always wears, dirt and blood that went along with the look, hair flowing behind her, and just greet them. Maybe then they would want to break off the engagement.

Likes: Being outside, the calm sound of water, the moon when it is full, the moon in general, freedom to make her own choices, fighting, and helping those who need help.

Dislikes: The man she is to marry, the family she is to live with once married, having to be put in a dress, being told she can't, the word no, people who think they can do whatever they want, being lied to, and the color pink.

Fears: She fears her life being run according to someone else's plan. She actually fears the day she has to say I do and be wedded off to Nathan. She longs to find a way to change this destiny and get out of the nightmare forever. Her other big fear is finding herself all alone. She is a strong girl and can take care of herself, but ever since the incident when she was younger, she fears that everyone will leave her to die by herself. And her last fear? Well she fears that the illness that she had when she was younger will come back to reclaim the life it was meant to take.

The ability: Willow has the talent of feeling basic emotions. It is something her grandmother had when she was still alive. Though she is nowhere near close to actually mastering it, she can tell when someone is sad, happy, or even lying without them saying a word. It only happens when she is very close to a person or touching them.

Backstory
History:
"Welcome to the world...my little Willow"
Willow Heart was born into the Heart Royal family 75 years ago to a man named Adien and a woman named Lillian. But when news traveled around the Kingdom that a girl was born to the Heart Family, the Belladori's quickly took action. The two family made an agreement that when Willow turned 110, she would get married to their second son Nathan. As the Belladoris had put it, only a true heir to the Belladori castle could be granted this I he or she married another member of a royal family of the Vampire Kingdom. They had even paid in advance a bit of money if the old vampire heir would allow this. Adien had no choice but to agree to this. They were already growing low on funds to provide their people, and with the constant werewolf attack lately, they needed to train more men and woman to fend them off. Thus Willow Heart, on her 110th birthday, was to marry Nathan Belladori and seal the deal for him to claim his castle later down the road.

However, what people didn't expect was to find Willow so frail as she had grown up. Actually it was not just her but a lot of the vampire babies that were being born of late. With the lack of funds to get rid of the werewolves that constantly came over the boarder, finding a decent meal was getting harder and harder from families. Many children were starting to get sick and weak...and many were dying because of this. Willow, when she had turned seven, had finally gotten this mysterious sickness that had wiped out a lot of the newer generation. Her father feared for her life, her mother wept, her older brother smashed his fist into a wall and ended up leaving a huge crack that reached from the ceiling to the floor. The doctors said that there was nothing they could do for the poor girl except to hope that she passes peacefully. As days turned to months, Willow started to notice that her parents and brother were starting to see her less and less....and she couldn't figure out way.

One night she over heard a conversation with her parents at her door. At first all she could do was hear muffling and a bit of sobbing. So being curious, the little vampire girl walked up to the door and was going to ask what was going on only to over hear what her parents were talking about. What they had said not only scared the girl, but froze her behind the door. What they were talking about was the plans of what to do with her body when she had finally died thanks to the sickness. Fear ran wild in the small little girl. How could they let this happen to her? Her mother continued and said that she couldn't bear to see her little girl anymore. And her father agreed. It was too painful to see their daughter dying before their eyes. Willow didn't know what to do. She was being left alone to die by herself. No one was going to hold her hand until the end. And that scared her to death.

For a while she didn't move, she didn't even bother to eat. Her brother, who was starting to return to see her, was noticing what she was doing. Every day he would come to her room and try and get her to talk, to get her to eat...to get her to do something. Finally when he got feed up with her he actually started to yell at his younger sister. Saying that she might as well be dead if she was going to start acting this way. That if she wanted to be dead so badly that he would just end her life here and now so their parents could move on. At that point Willow started to cry, begging her older brother to help her. She didn't want to die...she wanted to live. She wanted her parents to get happier and them to come and see her again. Hunter said he would help.

"I am going to do this and there is no way you will stop me."
When it was apparent that the girl wasn't going to die within the year of her getting strange illness, Willow was allowed to actually start learning again. At night, when everyone else was asleep, Hunter would take her out and start teaching her the way of the sword. However, her muscles were not yet fully developed. So he went back to basics with her. And what Willow had found out was she wasn't ever going to change the way she looked, all frail and such, because of that sickness that was killing her. Instead, she was a lot faster, more precise at attacking and a lot more nimble than her older brother who was built for the front lines. That didn't matter to her. Willow was on her way to showing just what she was made of. Sickness and all.

When she had turned eighteen, Willow had decided that she was going to go off with Hunter and fight the werewolves that were trying to destroy their village and way of life. What she had found there was freedom. This was the place that the young vampire felt more alive. Along side her brother, the vampire quickly became a imposing person. It was said that her name alone was starting to drive not only fear but excitement into werewolves that tried to head over the boarder. It was like a giant game of dare. Neither would back down and most every time Willow was the one sending the mangy werewolves packing back across the boarder. However, news traveled fast and word got to her father.

When she returned back from a hunting party, she was confronted by her father. He was furious and outraged that hi sickly daughter was endangering her life for something like this. Willow on the other hand yelled back that she felt alive out there, more than she could say about being locked up in the castle with a sickness no one knew about. At one point the doctor was actually pulled into the conversation. Her father wanted to know exactly how much longer it was until she was dead. The doctor on the other hand didn't know what to say. As he looked between the two vampires, all he could say was that the illness had vanished. Willow Heart was not
sick anymore. That was all Willow needed to hear. With a smug smile she looked at her father and said that he couldn't stop her from doing this anymore.

"It is time for you to start learning how to be a lady"
When Willow had turned 30, her warning days were starting to stop. This was not because she had gotten sick or because she was taking over the family castle. It was right after her grandparents had died when her mother had come to her and started to explain that was expected of her. She learned that she had been betrothed to a man named Nathan since she was born. She was outraged by this. Why should her life be planned out for her before she could even have a say. What did her mother say to this? Well actually she had slapped the girl across the face and told her that she needed to start learning where her place was in life and to stop thinking that everything in life if fair. And thus Willow had to start learning how to become a lady and know everything there was about the other royal families in the Kingdom.

She had started getting close with the Nos family heir named Mizumi. Though the woman was old enough to be her mother, Willow found that being in her company was rather enjoyable. It was easy to talk with her and she didn't have to put on an act whenever she went to visit, or when Mizumi had come to visit them. Sadly, that wasn't the case for when she had to visit the other two castles. The Demi family was nice enough. They kept more to themselves and cared little if Willow left early or got there late. So that in itself was a blessing. But her headaches came when she had to visit the Belladori family. Everywhere she looked, the place was filled with some sort of treasure. She was sure that there was golden paper to wipe their butts with somewhere around here. And when she was to go to their castle, she had to always get into the most pleasing and hard to get into dress of all time. It was madness.

Though she tried to keep an open mind about her soon to be family, she really didn't like them. Quickly she realized just how stuck up they were. All they ever cared about was the navy they had created, the wondrous treasures they continued to find, and how life for them was so simple. She once asked them if they had ever gone into their town square and seen how things were going. Everyone gave her a blank stare before laughing. Confused, Willow asked what was so funny. Nathan, her soon to be husband, calmed down enough and cleared his throat. He said that something like that was for the hired help. They had no reason to actually go down there and see what they common people were up to. After she climbed into the carriage and started heading home, she swore to herself that she was going to find a way out of this situation. There was no way she was going to be married and related to these people.

"With this ring, we truly are to be married."
It was the night of her 45th birthday. Her parents had been planning it for about a week. Willow didn't understand what was so important about it. She often bothered Hunter about what the reason for this was. He constantly lied to her, which she knew he was doing, and said it was nothing. But this was something. The servants had measured and remeasured to make sure the lovely ball gown that she was placed in would be absolutely perfect. All the girl wanted were some answers as to why she this was happening. But once she found out, she wished she never knew.

The entire Belladori family, as well as Mizumi and Sapphire, were invited to this birthday. When Willow heard that THAT family was coming, she was trying to head for the hills. She had managed to sneak out her window and was planning on hiding out in the forest for a week before coming back again. She wanted nothing to do with this family, ever. However, Nathan had sensed that this was going to happen and caught her before she could get away. He asked her why she was running away. Willow, knowing better than to say exactly how she felt and getting her father into trouble with this family, lied and said that she didn't like all of this being put on for her. She just wanted to celebrate her birthday with as few people as she could. Nathan then said why not just the two of them. Again, Willow couldn't say no and lied that she would like that.

So for the night it was just the two of them. They wondered far away from the castle and out into the forest where they could be alone. Willow couldn't help but wish that she had gotten away quicker, or at least stayed at the party with everyone there. Nathan noticed that she was feeling uneasy and stopped her. He got down on one knee and held out a beautiful golden ring with a fire opal gem. Confused, Willow asked him what he was doing. He said that even though she was forced into this before she had a choice, he wanted to ask her himself. Even going as far as to say that he would understand if she didn't pick him. Willow on the other hand knew the answer....knew what she had to do. She couldn't make an enemy of this man. So with a heavy heart she took the ring, slid it on her finger and smiled at him, saying that she would marry him. Nathan quickly scooped her up in his arms and said how happy he was to hear that. Suddenly he kissed her on her lips for a moment before pulling away. He seemed embarrassed at what he did and said sorry. Willow said it was alright, already pulled into his excitement because of her talent of feeling emotions. And with that...she was pulled further into this build up and ended up sleeping with her betrothed before their wedding.

"I can't allow this to happen...I can't get pulled in by the man ever again"
That night was the biggest mistake of her life. From that moment on whenever she went to visit the Belladoris, the aftermath of that one night haunted her. The family thought that it was the final blow to getting this girl to stay with them. To tame her wild heart. However, they did not know Willow that well. Just because this had happened, didn't mean she didn't know what was going on. As it turned out, Nathan had the same sort of talent she did. The only difference was he was a master at getting girls to fall for him. He had years upon years of practice, and she walked right into his trap. To him, Willow was the prize at the end of a very long goal. He needed her to become the new ruler of his castle. He could care less about the problems that her family was having and said it was no concern of his.

Willow could not stand for that. He was worse off than she thought. Not wanting to get swept up in that lie again, she started to try and save herself that problem called Nathan's talent. If she knew when he was using his to get what he wanted, she could stop it before it fully worked. As if Nathan was telling a lie. In the mean time, she did her best to only go to that castle only when it was a necessary thing. She even thought about showing up in her normal clothes when he came to her home. However she played nice and watched his every move. She was going to know the signs, even if it killed her. Thankfully by the time she turned 70, she could see the signs and defend herself against his 'attack'. Though she did have to play along just so he didn't know that she was figuring it out...so he didn't know how smart she actually was. As she told herself, she didn't need an enemy like him. Not until she was able to actually confront him.

She had time though. The marriage wasn't until she had turned 110. But when she turned 74, she learned what was happening in the areas to the north and to the south of her. Her people were getting worried. Some were even trying to make the wedding day much sooner. Yet there were others who were saying that they wanted to two to split. Saying that the reason why the other races were starting to get this way was because of the union of these two heavily military forces. It was like an act of war to the humans and mages, as well as the changelings. To Willow, this was a sign to get out of the marriage. Or at least that was what she thought until people started putting hits on her.

It actually bothered her that people would go as far as to try and kill off her...and Nathan. She would actually be very relieved if Nathan had been offed, but her? Why would they kill one of the most important members of the Midnight Castle area? She was holding back the werewolves rather well...well her and her brother were doing an outstanding job. Her father, filled with worry about her safety, decided that it was best that she stay out on the front lines as much as possible. It would not only save her trips to going to the other castles and families, but it also gave her a chance to start figuring out how to get out of the situation with Nathan.