Erum is a rose grey equine with Arabian heritage. His mane is black and so is the hair at the end of his leonine tail. A black beard grows on his chin. Halfway up each of his legs a black mark reaches. In his hair Erum often wears a pair of feathers. He also has several beads of gold woven into his mane. A bracelet is worn on his foreleg and a few others are worn at the end of his tail. Three rings of gold pierce one of his ears. Erum also wears a cape on his back held in place by chains of gold.
Vulnerable--Hesitant to Trust--Seeks out Belonging--Devoted--Brave--Holds Grudges--Will Steal
Erum relates better to animals than what he does with other equines. He is slow to trust and slow to consider a stranger a friend. Erum watches for the lies hidden in smiles and it makes a genuine smile slow to show upon his own features. Around other equines he seems to be stern and unyielding but around animals he is a different man. With the beasts of the forest Erum is open and smiles often; around them he becomes animated. Erum is a soul made tough by circumstance and a heart left vulnerable by the same. Having never fit in as a child and finding nothing but enemies in adulthood he still seeks out a sense of belonging but is plagued by doubts that he will ever find it.
Many of his traits come from his time with animals. Erum uses body language more than what he speaks out loud. So much of his life was spent in shifted form that there are words that he will still struggle to say or there may be meanings he does not remember. The stallion sees no harm in sleeping around if the mood arises and does not understand those who deny themselves such a simple pleasure in order to save themselves for only one. He is a talented thief and sees no wrong is stealing what is needed to survive. Like a bird Erum likes shiny things and from time to time will steal a piece for his collection.
Erum comes from a shape shifting tribe but was lost as a boy. Erum was an orphan and was raised by the tribe. Not feeling as if he ever truly fit into any of the families, Erum enjoyed his shifted forms more than what he did his equine form. He stayed in form more and more often and began to become recognized by the animals he visited with them he began to feel as though he belonged.
Years passed and eventually the families stopped expecting Erum to show for dinner. The boy who never belonged began to be forgotten. Though he was rumored to sometimes be spotted, Erum became more of a tall tale told to the young as a cautionary tale; telling of what happens if an effort is not made to remember self while shifted.
The year Erum turned six a new group moved close to the forest. They were rowdy and loud and their numbers were great. Theirs was a culture much different from the tribe that Erum had been born to. To them animals were not brother and sister; they were furs to be worn or perhaps ill gained feathers to decorate themselves with. To these newcomers animals were to be hunted.
Erum watched helplessly as the animals he had grown up with began to flee the forest. Even his own people left. The only tribe member left was the forgotten one.
Erum became guardian to the forest and to the animals that stayed. He played cat and mouse with hunters that came; crafty and daring he drew attention away from the animals he guarded.
One day Erum was not quick enough though. To draw attention away from a pair of nesting doves he shifted to the highly sought after hawk and let out a piercing cry declaring the game begun. As usual he led a great chase but he was shot down with an arrow through the wing.
The shape shifter did not give himself easily, even haven been wounded. The king, who had fired the arrow, admired Erum’s fighting spirit and returned to his home with the hawk as a prize for his daughter. The princess was the best shot in the kingdom but had stayed home feigning illness. Recently she had suffered the loss of her beloved hunting hawk. The king thought she might want to heal the hawk he brought to train as a new hunting partner; more valuable than the feathers he had been downed for.
Whenever the princess saw Erum, still in hawk form, she felt the emotional scab of loss ripped fresh again. Initially she said she did not wish to have another bird. Whenever the crestfallen king opened the door to the cage, preparing to be rid of the unwanted animal, Erum threw himself out and attacked with beak and claw. Erum threw all of his rage towards the kind that hunted the animals into his attack. If he was going to meet death by their kind he would at the very least leave a memory upon them. Erum fought until his body gave out.
The princess who had thought herself not to be ready to heal and train another so soon after the loss of her beloved hawk, but the spirit of the hawk her father brought took her. To the king’s delight she took interest in the animal. The princess tended to the marks that Erum left on herself and her father and then went to find supplies to tend to the hawk.
Erum was too weak to resist further and he was put into another cage in the princess’ room. In such a state he dared not to shift to his equine form so he let the woman heal him. During his time of healing Erum learned much about the princess and the king.
The king had moved his people to the area because they fled from a rogue band that held the current king accountable for what the king before him had done. The rogues had once been a large tribe but their numbers had dwindled. The king before had feared the power of the tribe and had forced them to divide. Brothers were torn from sisters, daughters taken from mothers, wives taken from husbands—the previous king was ruthless. Despite pleading with the king none were told where their family and friends had been moved. The king had sold some to slavery, others were simply forced to a new land and were unable to find their way back; and those that were left behind grew bitter with hatred. All that was left of a once proud band was a small group seeking revenge.
The rogue band caught up to the pair and stormed the castle. Erum took it as his chance to escape. Shifting into his equine form in front of a stunned princess he made a dash for the exit. His movement was stiff from being freshly healed and the rogue band captured Erum and took him to their base.
Though they were rough in the beginning, the band treated Erum nicely. He learned of their former customs and was treated with their customary dishes. Erum became a caretaker of the children and kept them entertained with his ability.
The kingdom hunts had been halted for the most part. The princess was intent on finding Erum—and though some believed it to be foolish; because they assumed him to be a spy, she wanted him brought to her alive. Erum himself had found a time of happiness. A number of the animals returned to the forest and he had made a home with the rogue band.
Besides those of the children the rogues were heavy hearted, and they would not desert their determination to make the king pay for the sins of the one before him. In one of the attacks the band captured the princess and initiated a forest fire was set to make their retreat a successful one.
The forest burned to the ground. Erum’s forest burned.
Under the cover of a moonless night Erum stole away with the princess and returned her to her home. Made from enemies to allies; one by betrayal and the other by hatred Erum and the kingdom joined forces. He was assigned as guard to the princess. Together they made war against the band. Erum fought the entire war at the princess’ side though he warned her that he would never take a blow for her. “I will be your aide,” he had told her, “but I will not be your hero.” Erum acknowledged that she had healed him but he did not forget that her kind was why he had needed it to begin with. Their relationship was an odd one, and was frowned upon by most, but the princess had laughed and told him that she expected no different.
The final battle, the siege of the band’s base, was the bloodiest. Though Erum was known for his loathing of the kingdom’s people he fought hard for them, and several times he saved a stunned soldier. Though he never took a life of one of the rogues. Most of his time was spent at the princess’ side. Oftentimes he took the form of a raven and would shout warnings to the men of the king or the form of a bear to swat the rogues away with paws. Erum did this though the rogues did not see things the same way as he did; they set out to destroy him just as they did the king’s men. The shifter could not shake the memories that he had made with the rogue band.
In that final battle Erum came face to face with one of the elder children he had once watched over while he had been with the band. No longer did the young stallion look at Erum with the eyes of a child. Erum could not bring himself to swat the other stallion away with his bear paws that could harm—instead he shifted to his equine form and tried to reason with the rogue he knew so well.
While Erum was distracted and the younger stallion hesitated another one of the band saw an opportunity. Erum had been true to his word and had never made move to take a hit for the princess but she did it for him. Erum spent the rest of the battle, with tears stinging his eyes, standing over the princess; valiantly protecting her from any further harm. The young rogue stallion he had known spent the rest of the battle at Erum’s side.
The war finished with the kingdom’s victory. The princess confessed her love to Erum—and though she did set something new in his chest to stirring, Erum could not love her or her people. He could forgive but could not forget all that the kingdom had done—what they had cost him.
Erum stayed long enough to see the princess healed and then set out to find a sense of belonging again. The kingdom gave him a hero’s farewell and clothed him in cloth and gold – and perhaps he did forget some of the pain the kingdom gave him, because he still wears their gifts.
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