This character was created for a school writing assignment.

Backstory

Born in a small logging town in Montana, Sarah Smith always wanted to get out and see the big city.  She grew up in a normal family with a mom and dad as well as an older brother.  Her high school years passed without incident and as soon as she graduated she went off to college.

Beyond her wildest dreams she was accepted at the University of California to study industrial engineering.  She studied hard and progressed rapidly through her courses.  Always she kept in contact with her family, exchanging hand written letters with her mother on a weekly basis and calling to talk to her brother.  Her first two years flew by as she enjoyed city life and made progress toward a great career.

One day though the letters stopped and her brother didn’t answer his phone.  Sarah became a little worried but finals were just three weeks away so she pushed it to the back of her mind.  She kept sending letters though she gave up calling by the time finals week rolled around.  

After finals a friend invited her to visit her family in New York City and the temptation pushed the last of the worry about her own family out of her mind.  They spent the whole break between semesters enjoying shows on Broadway and partying at clubs.  When they returned to California Sarah discovered that her last letter had returned with a note that no such address existed.

Now incredibly worried and more than a little guilty Sarah made arrangements to fly to Montana and see for herself what was going on.  She arrived two days later and when she drove up to where the edge of town should have been there were barricades and little else.  Signs warned that the area had strong radiation and there was to be no entry.  She pulled out her phone to look for any news about what had happened here but couldn’t find anything.  The town seemed to have completely vanished from public record, along with even a trace of her family.

Filled with horror and confusion she wandered around the edge of the area and into the nearby woods.  It was there that a spirit animal found her and led her deeper on to a sacred place where she could find some answers.  A major corporation wanted to develop this area and use it as a testing site so they had poisoned the town and torn it down, removing all trace so there would be no one to stop them or question what they were doing out in this remote area.  Her family was truly gone.

The spirits had an offer for Sarah though.  If she would stay and help fight this corporation, stop them from destroying the forest and all the life there, they would help.  They would grant her skills and abilities that would help to protect the area.  They would also bring her brother Bryan back to her, for his spirit was still young and strong enough to save, though they could not make him human again, they could bring him back as a wolf.

Sarah accepted their offer, feeling guilty for jumping into a world that could do such horrible things and wanting to do anything she could to stop it from happening again.  She became a hunter of the night, protecting the land and the people of the area while working to drive the corporation back where it came from.

Secret Identity

Sarah Smith moved to another small town in Montana after gaining her powers where she works as a mechanic.  With her schooling she was able to get a job as an apprentice in the local shop and she quickly made a place for herself when they saw the value of her sharp mind and dexterous hands.  Her brother lives out in the woods, though he often comes and visits her house where he enjoys sleeping on the couch.

Powers

Sarah received several powers and a number of skills when she accepted the spirit’s gift.  These serve her well in the guise of the Ebony Fang.  She has the ability to shape shift into various natural animal forms though this can be a difficult process and is only used as a last resort.  She can also borrow the abilities of the spirit animals, temporarily gaining things such as the cougar’s night sight or the bear’s strength.  This also allows her to communicate with and command animals.  She can also communicate telepathically with her brother and by extension his pack.

Sarah was also given the skills of the hunter.  Only the animals that make the forest their home rival her skills in tracking and stealth.  She is also skilled at archery, something she had enjoyed all through childhood and had even continued during her time in the city.

Nemesis

Ebony Fang’s nemesis is mainly the corporation.  It is called Achievement and is head quartered in Seattle, though she only deals with the local branch most of the time.  The man in charge of the area is named Lucas Haber.  He is a very rich and cold-hearted man, even going so far as to order the kidnaping of local residents so they can be experimented on.

Ebony Fang spends most of her time hunting down the abominations released into the wild by Achievement as well as infiltrating the corporation bases in order to disrupt their work.

Adventure

The sun had barely set when the huge wolf pushed his way through the dog door, jumped up on the couch and flopped down with his head in Sarah’s lap.  He panted as if he had just run a great distance and Sarah sighed.

“Really Bryan, can’t I get through a full episode once in a while?” she asked.

Bryan looked up at her with an annoyed look, the uncanny intelligence clear in his lupine eyes.  “You don’t get to complain.  I’m the one that has to live out in the woods and run down deer for dinner,” he said in her head with a grumble. “And anyway, we have work to do.  Another one got loose and it’s fast, I didn’t beat it to town by much.”

Again Sarah sighed but she got up and headed into the other room.  “Let me grab my gear,” she called back to the wolf on the couch that had now turned to watch the TV.  He didn’t have much time to get into the show though.  Sarah stepped back into the room wearing her dark hunting gear, a bow and quiver slung over her shoulder.  

“Let’s go,” she said.  Bryan nodded and together they stepped out into the night and the awaiting woods.

It didn’t take long to find the thing as it had traveled incredibly quickly.  Following the unnatural scent that carried on the breeze they found it about a quarter mile outside of town.  It was huge, looking like some cross between a man and a bear with four arms and a great gaping maw.  This would not be an easy fight but at least Bryan’s pack had followed it and was there to help.

As they approached the thing it didn’t seem to notice anything but the small shed it had found which it was in the process of dismantling.  They needed to get its attention to draw it away from town before it found something alive to tear apart.  Bryan crept closer and they snarled at it but the thing didn’t even acknowledge him.

When the thing lost interest in the shed and began to move towards town again Ebony Fang brought up her bow, an arrow nocked on the string, took aim and let it fly.  The arrow buried itself in the things back piercing through to where its heart should have been but obviously wasn’t.  Finally it turned, saw the wolf in front of it and roared a terrible deep-throated sound somewhere between the roar of a bear and a human scream.

Bryan whirled and ran as fast as he could, barely staying ahead of the thing.  It used its extra arms to move and it was fast.  He headed to where his pack was waiting to ambush and hoped he could keep out of its reach.  Ebony Fang followed behind but even borrowing the quickness of the hare she could barely keep up.

Luckily Bryan’s pack wasn’t far off and they were ready to help.  As soon as Bryan rounded the corner into the ravine they were waiting in they began attacking the thing, nipping at it and confusing it.  It whirled and raged, occasionally sending a wolf flying through the air as one of its giant paws made contact.  Though they managed to solidly bite the thing it still fought, not even seeming to slow down.

It wasn’t until Ebony Fang arrived and brought her bow up that they were finally able to stop it.  She stood and waited, bow drawn and poised to shot, until just the right moment.  When she saw it she loosed the arrow and it buried itself in the creatures eye.  It stiffened and then collapsed with a spasm.

No one wanted to get close to it after seeing how strong and resilient it had been but they needed to know more about what they might soon be facing.  Eventually Ebony Fang went over and managed to roll it over after borrowing the strength of bear.  The thing had no ears, which explained why it had not noticed anything until the first arrow struck it but what was most horrifying was the nearly human face that stared up at the woman and the pack around her.  Things were getting a lot worse.