New Orleans - Approximately 4 ½ Years Ago (Age 17, almost 18)

Night had fallen upon the French Quarter, and brought with it a heady dose of sin. In a city known for its debauchery, mayhem could run rampant. But New Orleans was known for many things aside from its accelerated levels of drunken revelry.

New Orleans was the mystical hotspot of North America, feeding off of the rich culture that surrounded it, and the large amounts of myth, legend, folklore and superstitious fiction.

Natala Dante was part of that culture.

She was one of the Panthera, an ancient group of shifters that dated back further than recorded history. Over the recent centuries they had drifted into mythical legend. Humans had forgotten about them, and the supernatural community itself was not even sure if they were a mythical rumor or an actual reality.

They were an organized group, or as organized as a group with such strong animal instincts could be.

Talia had the misfortune of being the granddaughter of a council member. It was a position that, should an early death come for the unnaturally long-lived species, Natalia would one day be expected to fill. It wasn’t anything she had ever wanted. God, all she wanted was to run wild and free. For a group that was so tied to their animal sides simply by their very nature, the wild Dante daughter was particularly so.

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her supple leather jacket as the soles of her boots strode silently across the bustling street of the French Quarter, coming closer and closer to the fringes. She couldn’t help but let her mind drift as the unmistakable smell of beer and fried dough caught the attention of her heightened olfactory senses.

The scents drifted away as Natalia headed further and further from the hustle and hubbub of the overly large packed crowds out and about cavorting on the streets of the ever-lively French Quarter.

She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes and simply savoring the moment. This was home, the only place she’d ever loved, the only place wild enough to suit her nature.

Pushing the natural waves of rich chocolate brown hair off of her face, Natalia ducked down an alleyway that she had frequented many a night. But this night it wasn’t empty, a fact that she noticed far too late.

Natalia knew that if somebody had managed to move silently enough to evade her hearing, they’d have to be some form of supernatural.

Her suspicions were confirmed as gunmetal grey eyes landed on the silhouetted figure of Christopher LeFleur.

He was a year older, and straight laced on the surface. By the rules, always obeying the edicts of the Council. His father was a seated member, and had been for quite some time.

There had always been something about him that threw Natalia off, some vibe that emanated from him that warned her away. But what he did next, that she had never believed him capable of.

With the preternatural speed of the Panthera, he launched himself from the shadows. Enclosing a hand around Natalia’s delicate throat, he shoved her against the stone wall of one of the buildings that formed the alley.

She felt her back hit it, the black leather of her jacket doing just enough to protect her, even as the back of her skull cracked against it.

It raised her ire as flecks of yellow bled into her irises, heralding a shift into the more feral and animalistic instincts of her dual nature.

His strong grip was closing around her windpipe in an attempt to cut her air off. She couldn’t help but wonder, even as her vision was fuzzing, why he wasn’t going for more lethal moves straight out of the gate. But that thought was simply a passion notion, as her instinct to fight, her instinct to live, kicked in.

Using her naturally elevated senses and physical attributes, Natalia quickly turned the tides on the murderous Panthera.

She managed to get him on the ground, momentarily pinning his arms to the pavement with her knees, utilizing force to keep him pinned down, digging slightly lengthened claws into him.

“You’re a Seeker, Chris, what the hell are you doing?” Her hair fell into her face, only to be thrown back with an irritable toss of her head, the currently raven black locks falling behind her. He was a Seeker, had been since he turned eighteen nine years ago. Seekers were the most esteemed of the specialized Panthera behind only the Sentinels. It was their duty to hunt down the unlawful Rogues - those who had refused to swear their loyalty to the Council and the Panthera’s laws, and the Slayers - the most reviled of the Panthera; those who had given in to their most base instincts and allowed the animal inside them to take over. The Slayers were the most feral of creatures, and it often took multiple Seekers to bring them down.

He had no business attacking her. Talia may not have ever trusted him, but she had trusted his resolve to keep the Panthera safe. This simply didn’t make sense.

His lips pulled back to bare elongated canines as his own eyes started sliding from brown to a truly stunning chartreuse. “This is a precaution, Natalia. One that you need not concern yourself with the finer details of.”

Chris opted not to expend further energy and instead of attempting to flip positions and regain the upper hand, he slipped his claws. Fingernails lengthened as he completed a partial shift, something that very few of the Panthera were capable of. With precise and blisteringly quick movements, he reached out, dragging the claws across Natalia’s ribs before removing them and aiming a curved hand directly at her heart.

Between his supernatural strength and the unique qualities of Panthera claws, the rogue Seeker would have had enough momentum to crack through to her heart, and remove it from her chest. It was one of the few ways to mortally wound a Panthera, and it would end her life if he was successful.

Due to preternaturally quick instincts, he was not. The tips of his claws grazed her, leaving deep scratches along her ribcage, but before he had the chance to land his killing blow, Natalia had her hands on his shoulders.

Digging in, she shook him, banging his head against the pavement of the alleyway until she heard a sickening crunch.

A pool of deep red blood immediately began spilling out around them, filling in the cracks of the decrepit alleyway.

Her hands trembled as she stood, her legs shaking beneath her.

What had she done?

She was the wild one, the one the Council had never been able to get to adhere to their stringent rules. On multiple occasions her grandmother had softened the blows she would have received from them.

But she had just killed a Panthera. In self defense, but without being sanctioned to do so. It was a grave matter, for a Panthera to die or be killed without the Council signing off on it.

“Oh god…” Would they believe her? The thought chilled her as her eyes went fully yellow in instinctual fear. Nadya Thibodeaux was in the minority of those who stood in favor of Natalia.

She backed slowly away from the body, eyes darting around like a panicked animal.

Nobody had seen her, nobody had heard them. She was clear on that account. But this needed to be reported, as soon as humanly possible. She knew that if she attempted to cover up what had happened here in any matter it would blow back on her.

Her hands shook as she reached into the pocket of her jacket for her phone, which had survived the scuffle unharmed. It took her three tries to unlock it, her unsteady fingers making it almost impossible to work the device.

Warm blood seeped down her ribs as she heard the voice on the other end, and almost wept with relief. “Rafa…” She swallowed, needing to hear his voice. He was the only one she’d ever had the courage to open her heart for, and had accidentally given away very large pieces of it to him during their year-long romance. He was a genuinely good person, whereas she was not, and he was a Seeker.

But she needed him as much for his Seeker status as for the status of her lover. For once she would have welcomed emotional support and a show of tenderness, two things that went directly against her nature at all times. “I….something…I killed him.”

The fear and terror was starting to fade, or so she had tricked herself into believing. Immediate worry and tension came through the line as his melodic accent wafted through the line. “Talia,” His voice was almost a purr as he spoke, designed to calm and comfort her. “Who?”

If she had been capable of paying more attention, she would have heard the concern. The worry. The suspicion.

“LeFleur,” she answered as she leaned back against a wall of the alley opposite the body. Sliding down to the ground, she pulled her knees close to her chest, whispering into the phone, eyes wide and cold. “He tried to kill me, I just reacted.” Placing a hand against her injured side she pulled it away and stared in a dissociated manner at the blood smeared along her palm.

“Please hurry, I don’t….please, just hurry,” she asked after reciting the address.

She closed her eyes and attempted to fight out the streaks of vision that were darting before her. The possible outcomes, the many ways that this situation could go wrong for her.

Her breath fogged lightly in the night air as she held a hand against her bleeding side and awaited the arrival of Rafael.

Origin & Beginnings

Since before recorded history, the supernatural walked the earth. Vampires. Lycanthropes. Witches. All forms of mystical beings that the Mundane have chosen not to believe in - or to hunt.

One of these groups is known quietly as the Panthera - The Panther. One of many forms of shifters native to the world, this particular sect is particularly reclusive, keeping very much to their own.

Spread around the world, the Panthera is centralized in the America’s, with a particularly large congregation in New Orleans, after being drawn there by the unnaturally large mystical and supernatural community.

Their history goes back before anybody can remember, but what is remembered and recorded is filled with strife. From their inception, the Panthera were viewed as other, even among what should have been their own clan.

Due to the anomalies in their genetics, the Panthera became a sub-sect from both the Jaguar and Leopard shifter communities. They were viewed as other, as unnatural, due to the genetic fluke that colored their fur as a black, with deep rosette underlays beneath the initial coat. Superstition and rumor ran rampant, and it was whispered that they had other abilities as well.

Truth be told, they did. One of the genetic anomalies present in the Panthera allowed them to control their shifts. They were not beholden to the same cycle as the others - who had control of their shifts at all times with the exception of the full moon - when a shift was forced upon them.

They were hunted by their own, almost to extinction. And so they learned, very quickly, how to disappear and blend into their surroundings, and keep themselves quiet.

The Panthera slipped into legend, even amongst the shifters of the world. The elusive and mythical Black Panther shifters, eventually falling out of memory and truly becoming figments of myth and folklore.

But they were there, the entire time. Centuries passed. The world progressed. Travel that did not involve walking or livestock came to be, and avenues of communication became more readily available as they turned from the Dark Ages, and that was when the Panthera were thrust into chaos yet again.

The Great Dispute & Tentative Treaty

There was a territory dispute between the Panthera and a local group of wolves. It ended in bloodshed and set the two groups down a path that would be walked for the following centuries.

Several hundred. Closed together, congregated. War raged, murder happened. The Council was replaced after a particularly brutal attack. They fought each other to a standstill and after extreme deaths on both sides, came to a tentative treaty.

They came together again to combat a particularly virulent threat. During the height of the Spanish Inquisition when Vampires around the globe commenced in a hunt. When the supernatural community should have been banding together as a unified force to take out the humans who were so intent on making their lives hell, they were busy turning on each other.

The vampires were rising steadily in power, and it was determined that they must be stopped before they could overtake all of the other supernaturals. It was this great conflict that brought two of the worlds most lethal groups past a tentative treaty and fully into an alliance of convenience. Even with the mighty forces and deadly abilities of the vampire, they were not enough to counteract both the lycans and the Panthera.

The tide was turned, and the lycans and Panthera went their separate ways yet again, each group fading back into myth and shadows, where they were much more comfortable.

However, it was only a matter of time before things went to hell, as they were always wont to do.

War between the two groups ignited over a reason long yet forgotten, and the treaty was never reignited. They did not fight with the same open ferocity as before, instead opting for occasional assassinations and the on-sight killing of one from the other group.

Ravaged Numbers

The world continued to progress and as it did so, so did the Panthera. Solitary from other groups by nature, their numbers began to spread across the world. Unlike many other shifters, they were more than happy to assimilate into human society, and with the utmost control, reined in their natures and lead fruitful lives. Corporate executives. Politicians. Soccer moms. They walked in all facets of life, infiltrating as much as assimilating and gathering wealth and power, should the Panthera ever need it.

They were in the modern day now, and thriving in it. Their members in the United States congregated in New Orleans, naturally drawn to the mystical centerpoint of the country. But as tantalizing as it was, it was also oh so dangerous.

The numbers of the Panthera had dwindled over centuries of hardship. Where they had once been plentiful, they were now down to much fewer. There were still a multitude, but with the way that things were trending, they would be facing a decline and within the next ten generations, a possible endangered rating.

They needed power and protection, especially in the midst of so much supernatural activity, and so an unlikely alliance was borne with the Arcadians, the thieves guild of New Orleans.

A match was created between Felix Thibodeaux, the future leader of the Arcadians, and Nadya Marshall, the daughter of a council member of the Panthera. It was a tale as old as time, romantic matchmaking for political purposes. But this did not end in hatred or resentment.

Over time, Felix and Nadya formed a genuine love for each other, and they knitted their two groups together in an alliance that held steady - until it didn’t.

Everything Good Must End

Felix and Nadya grew into themselves, both as people and as a couple, providing a unified front of renewed hope for both of their respective worlds.

They gave birth to one child, a daughter named Zara. She was slated to become the next head of the Arcadians, ascending to the role after her father. She had Panthera blood as well as Arcadian, but her shifting was dormant. This was almost unthinkable to the Panthera, and a disappointment to say the least, but it made her nothing less in the eyes of her parents, who loved her dearly.

Zara however, had the temperament of the Panthera. She was wild, uninhibited and unable to be tamed. At the age of seventeen years old, she formally announced her emancipation to both the Panthera and the Arcadians, abdicating her future role.

She left home and struck out on her own, unable to face the disappointment in her father’s eyes every time he looked at her, and having a yearning need to create a new life for herself, a name for herself that was hers and hers alone.

She became a thief, and took the homeless of the French Quarter under her wing, providing meals and clothes for them, and as the money began to roll in and she earned a reputation as the best, she slowly moved them into housing.

Rekindling

The treaty between the Panthera and the lycans had been voided centuries ago, and that combined with her emancipation from the Panthera, meant that Zara had no incentive not to go after the newest foe to cross her path.

The mother of Casimoro Cardoso was a lauded high sorceress, and her husband was one of the most legendary lycans to ever walk the earth. That did not stop Zara from targeting them. During her travels through the homeless population, and her befriending of them, Zara took note when numerous members of that community went missing.

She was able to track that to a particular high sorceress, and it was presumed she was using them for some sort of nefarious purpose. The retaliation was Zara stealing a key artifact from the power couple and reigniting a particularly potent feud, this one carried specifically between the Thibodeaux and Cardoso families.

It was not one that would die out any time soon.

The Next Generation

Zara was not an inherited shifter, but the younger of her two daughters most certainly was, and an unnaturally gifted one at that.

Natalia Dante completed her first shift at the age of three years old, and instinctively new just how to do it. For many the first shift was a brutal experience, but for her it was as easy as breathing.

She was everything that they had hoped her mother would be, and wanted it as little as Zara did. When given the option, Natalia refused to pledge her fealty to the Council, and had chosen to live with the repercussions of that.

Continuing to follow in her mother’s footsteps, she has taken up thieving. Known professionally as Le Petite Chat, the younger of the Dante Daughters is already becoming a known name in particularly nefarious circles.

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Council - The ruling Council is comprised by three members of the Panthera from each content. All decisions and laws are passed through the Council and must be voted with a majority. Council positions follow line of blood succession. The Council is also responsible for setting up safe houses (neutral ground and safe, secluded spaces - especially for shifting).

The Council is overseen by one specific Panthera. None of the others are aware of who this member is, or even if they actually exist.

Rogues - A Rogue is a member of the Panthera who has not sworn fealty to the Council, and who has denied their one chance to do so after their initial refusal. A Rogue is also one who has broken the laws and edicts set forth by the Council. The term can also be applied to those of the Panthera who have been excommunicated, and/or chosen to forsake their place.

Not all Rogues have committed crimes. There are allowances for members of the Panthera to remove themselves from the community as a whole and exist solitarily. This is a rare occurrence and is an option that is only taken up during extenuating circumstances.

In their history, there have only been eleven Panthera to go Rogue without breaking a law. One of them is Zara Thibodeaux, another is Natalia Dante.

Seekers - Seekers are the select Panthera who are designated with seeking out and hunting down Rogues and Slayers. A Panthere will have one chance to turn themselves over to the Council before being labeled a Rogue. After that, they are moved onto the list. Of all the rogues, there is a list of the top ten who are kill on sight by any Seeker. Aside from that, there are specific Seekers designated to specific geographic areas.

Seekers are not viewed favorably by the rest of the Panthera, despite being a necessary evil. They are hesitant to make personal connections, knowing that if any of those connections go Rogue, they’ll be forced to hunt them down.

Sentinels - A Sentinel is a protector. They are less aggressive than the Seekers, and their foremost function is the protection of those under their jurisdiction. They tend to monitor the underage Panthera in order to ensure that the more animalistic traits of their nature doesn’t overtake them and lead to incidents with the Mundane or other mystical populations.

In times of war, the Sentinels function as borderline generals, and are considered some of the most deadly Panthera alive, competing with only the Seekers for that title.

Sentinels are viewed much more favorably than the Seekers due to their more altruistic and passive functions.

Slayer - A Slayer is the most hated and perhaps the most feared of all the Panthera. A Slayer is a Panthera who has given him or herself over to the full force of their animal nature. This is a danger for any who spends too much time in their animal form, for the longer that they do so, the more traits and features of their other half that they risk taking on.

They are the top priority of the Seekers, due to their (borderline) feral nature and potential for destruction.