Cairn Woods Any pronouns
"You don't have to be the biggest thing in the woods. Just the hardest to catch."
SPECIES: Human (Non-powered) OCCUPATION: Unemployed AGE: 26 Years Old PLAYED BY: Alyssa FC: Cailee Spaeny
BIOGRAPHY:
Cairn’s parent, her pama as she so affectionately coined from the babblings of her infancy, had always been a little too superstitious. It was dismissed as eccentric behavior until their claims of folklore turned into something far more damning. Soon after the birth of Cairn, they accused their spouse of not only being haunted by the darkness but bound to it. With those accusations came consequences. There was no choice but to run. Not out of madness or malice as they all believed but out of an understanding. Something lurked inside of Cairn’s blood, they were sure of it - and they would never allow it to be awoken in the light of society. The world would have no place for their child, so they made their own. Deep in the Appalachian mountain ranges where they could lose themselves, where they could never be found.
Raised with no illusions about the world, Cairn never had the luxury of viewing the world with child-like wonder. Her parent’s teachings were harsh but necessary, aimed at preparing her for a reality where danger lurked in every shadow, whether human or beast. There was no such thing as safety, not even within the makeshift cabins and camps they called home. From the moment Cairn could walk, she was taught to track, to hunt, and to understand the land around her. Every inch of earth became a lesson in survival, every sound a potential threat. She learned the ways of the forest, the secrets of living far from the horrors of human society, a society her pama insisted she could never be a part of. But no matter how far they ran, the creatures of the mountains always seemed to find them. The beasts of the shadows never stopped coming.
Yet, as she grew, Cairn learned that fear was a tool to be used, never to be controlled by it. Her pama’s teachings always guided Cairn. “If the forest whispers in familiar tongues, it’s a trap; if it roars, take heed.” That one she learned the hard way after following what she believed was her pama calling out for her only to recall their own words right before she stepped foot into a ring of tree stumps. It was her pama’s words that kept them safe, kept them a step ahead. Until one night, when the darkness swallowed them whole. There was a New Moon that night, and as they walked, her pama spoke of constellations when the world suddenly went quiet. They moved, keeping to the stars, but when the path grew too dark, they took to running. The sound of rushing water drew them forward and as they crossed, her pama muttered, “Running water can't be crossed.” Or so they believed. It was too late - by the time they realized, they were already in the creature's domain.
“Stay sharp, stay steady, and when it all falls apart - just stay running.”
And run she did.
Her pama bought her time to run, the cost paid in blood. Cairn tried to stay in the cabin, but the creature returned with the dark. It was nothing like she had ever encountered. So she ran, taking to the Appalachian Trail, moving even through the night. She could feel it watching her, lurking at the edges. She wondered if it, too, sensed the danger in her blood and stayed away.
As she traveled north, she began to cross the line between the wild and the world, between the deep, uninhabitable forest and the trails where hikers and campers roamed. It was a line only her pama had ever crossed before. She only crept in close at night, taking what she needed and disappearing before dawn. But the closer she got to the edge of the woods, the harder it became to slip back in. The presence would grow heavier when she neared the forest, keeping her from retreating. And so, she made a choice - what harm could there be in lingering deeper into society? None for herself, she was the dangerous one wasn’t she?
That was how she found herself inside Wicked’s Rest. The culture shock stunned her. Her best teacher had always been her eyes so she took to watching - how people moved, spoke, interacted. What little her pama had told her about the world helped her find some balance, but plenty still left her stumped. Things like automatic doors. They open before you can touch them. How do they know? Some things, she supposed, were mysteries she might never unravel.
PERSONALITY:
Resourceful · Fearless · Independent · Instinctive · Resilient · Paranoid · Blunt · Reclusive · Suspicious · Defiant
OTHER INFO:
Cairn is guided by folklore sayings, most of her behavior, her decisions, are influenced by them. They’re often vague or just purely ominous. She recites them to herself believing it keeps her parent alive. As such, her survival knowledge is enough to keep her a step ahead and prevent direct interaction. Her main goal when being confronted (by any threat) is to find a way to flee but she can’t help her nagging curiosity.
Isolated. Not feral. Cairn is rough around the edges but not animalistic. She was shaped by the wilderness, learned to be one with nature but her humanity is still intact. She’s observant, mostly silent, watching this new world with sharp eyes. But she’s a fast learner and has developed a very rough understanding by spending time in the library.
Cairn’s identity is something she’s never had the time or privilege to figure out. Her pama was non-binary themself so it's simply what she’s used to but again, she’s not had time to think of herself over the years. Now that she’s in this new society, she’s being referred to as so many things, young man, little lady, fucker. She doesn’t seem bothered by any of them.
She was shaped by a world without safety nets, where instinct mattered more than knowledge and survival was never guaranteed. Even among those who live in darkness, she is set apart. Hunters have mentors, monsters have kin, even the lost usually find a place to belong. While others fight to protect something, Cairn has only ever fought to endure.
