Sanja
Sanja
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Childhood
Sanja was born to a human mother and a lilthian father, as an accident. Her mother decided she didn't want to deal with a mixed child, and vanished the moment Sanja could be weaned.
Her father didn't want the baby either, but felt trapped. He begrudgingly raised Sanja until she was about a year old.
His sister, Petrea, took a better liking to Sanja than her own father. Noticing this, her father decided to mimic Sanja's mother and vanish without a trace, leaving Petrea and her family to take care of Sanja.
This circumstance dampened Petrea's mood around Sanja a considerable bit, but she tried her best not to rub it off on the child. Her family, however, was not as kind. They were furious to be laden with a "mistake" like Sanja. Petrea's husband and children all pretended that Sanja didn't exist.
As Sanja grew up in this environment, she learned very quickly that she was different. She learned to keep her head down, to not speak unless spoken to, and to never go out in public unless she shrouded her appearance. The older she got, the more she hated her patchwork skin and her strange eyes, and no matter how much Petrea tried to comfort her, there was nothing she could say to make it better.
Adolescence
When Sanja was fourteen, Petrea died suddenly from an illness. Sanja was devastated, but she wasn't permitted to attend the funeral, as Petrea's family wished to pretend that Petrea had never been involved with Sanja at all. Sanja took to visiting her grave alone at night. She'd leave wildflowers on the stone, trace the letters of Petrea's name, and weep.
After Petrea's death, Sanja's life became even more miserable. Her "family" ignored her, speaking to her only when ordering her to do chores for the house. She became little more than a slave to them, and was not even allowed to eat at the same table.
Almost nightly, she would wander to Petrea's grave to cry out her sorrows. She often wondered if it would be better if she, too, were buried under the earth. But as she traced the letters of her aunt's name over and over again, the tiny flame of hope continued to burn inside of her. Could more people like Petrea exist out there somewhere? Anywhere had to be better than here, right?
Young Adulthood
When Sanja was sixteen, she'd had enough of being ignored. She gathered what little belongings she had and vanished, just like her parents had. Petrea's family didn't even bother trying to look for her.
Thus began a life of endless wandering. She learned how to carve out a life for herself in the wildernesses between civilizations. She grew from a frightened teenager into a determined young woman. She did as many odd jobs as she could find and sometimes saved enough money to spend the night under a roof. Everywhere she went, people stared, gawked, or cringed. Everywhere she went, she was an outcast. Even if people occasionally showed her some compassion, nobody wanted to be her friend. Nobody was like Petrea.
At many points, she thought she might give up, yet the little hopeful candle burning within her refused to extinguish. She kept going, and she kept searching.
"As I collected the rabbit's carcass from the trap I'd fashioned and automatically began cleaning it, I paused. I considered the blood all over my hands, the hand-made cloak over my shoulders, and the boots that I'd (regretfully) stolen from someone's porch.
"I am not the girl I once was, I thought."
She searched until she found herself in the sprawling and chaotic streets of Mercy. The city was named for sanctuary, surely someone within its hundreds of thousands of inhabitants could have the love Sanja desperately burned for?
Mercy
Mercy, in some ways, was just as cold as other cities. In others, it was a breath of fresh air. The people of Mercy were often too busy to pay much attention to Sanja. It meant that she was once again invisible, but it also meant that she was not being spat upon, shouted at, or shoved. In Mercy, she could duck her head under the hood of her cloak and nobody would bat an eye at her as she passed. Here, anyone was anything, and everyone was everything.
But invisible people often didn't make much money. Sanja found it nearly impossible to find a job anywhere. If she wasn't turned away for her appearance alone, she was kicked out for lack of education, experience, or general know-how. She realized that while she felt she had learned so much in her travels, she really didn't know much at all about how to be a regular citizen in a city as huge as Mercy.
As the days dissolved into weeks, and Sanja found her resources growing thinner and thinner, she began to despair. If there was nobody here that could accept her, then where else could she go? Would she have to flee into the wilds again and become a lonely outlander, with no company outside of the trees and sky?
Then, one night, she found herself sprinting through the twisted alleyways of the city. She wasn't even sure where she was running to, but she was running anyway. As she whirled around the corner, she slammed right into another person, sending them both tumbling. As she scrambled to her feet, already apologizing, she stopped in her tracks.
The face she gazed upon was streaked with red and brown. Their eyes were dark, but their hair was pale. They had no arrow point on the tip of their short tail. They were lilthuman too.
Present Day
The woman she had run into was named Kate. Kate introduced Sanja to an entire community of lilthumans, all living in their own little section of the city. For the first time in her life, Sanja was surrounded by people who knew her, knew her struggles, and showed her love and empathy unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
Kate let Sanja stay with her until she could find a job in the community. There were lilthumans that were cobblers, tailors, blacksmiths, and bakers. They all supported each other and knew each other by name. They went outside with their hands and faces exposed. They gathered in the square to meet and laugh and cry with one another. They loved and were loved.
"As I crossed the square to my apartment building, I spotted Kate tending to her flowers. I waved at her. She waved back, beaming. It was strange to imagine what my life had been like before I'd met her. Would I ever find the words to express how grateful I was? If I hadn't run into her that night... what would have happened to me?"
Sanja found sanctuary in the city of Mercy, just as it promised. She found everything that she had ever wanted, all in a little poor community. Finally, she had somewhere she could call home. Petrea would've been so proud.
General Physical Condition
She is very petite, but stronger than she looks. She is prone to illness and often gets sick during the winter.
Apparal and Accessories
Even within the lilthuman commune, Sanja still prefers to wear her trusty cloak. She made it herself, and it has kept her warm and safe through many rough nights.
Now that she has money to spend for fun, she enjoys collecting charms and trinkets to put on necklaces or bracelets. She especially likes items that make interesting sounds as they clink together. She also likes to wear dangling earrings.
Education
Sanja has little more than a schoolchild's education. She was taught by Petrea, since she was not allowed to go to traditional school. In Mercy, she has been able to access libraries, which has helped a lot. She still lacks any formal education, but often puzzles over the possibility of attempting it.
Employment
She works in a textile factory near the lilthuman commune. The work is hard, but she enjoys the company of her coworkers, who don't seem to mind that she's mixed. At the factory, she hears about the latest city news and gossip, which she will often take back to share with Kate and her other friends in the commune. She hopes to maybe one day work as a tailor or seamstress, but she would need more formal education before she would be able to try that.
What a sweet story! I enjoyed the bit about liking jingling objects followed by liking earrings, a natural conclusion. And it seems Mercy does live up to its name.
Thank you!!