WIP

The first profile from Wilderness to be uploaded, and it's not even of a main character! This will probably be downgraded later on to be a mere deviation, because my ideal profile style is quite different to this image. And yes, I went overboard with the description.

Uh...I'm going to get a better scan too -_____-; I scanned at work...our scanner is revolting. Honest to god, it doesn't look THIS terrible on paper.

This is Dan from my story Wilderness...he looks very different to what he sounds like. That's because you're all reading (if reading at all) the old version of the story. The version in edit mode at the moment features a completely re-written Dan...the only feature that's stayed the same is his hair colour.

As a note...anyone with a scrap of Maori blood in them, you're much more qualified than I am with names. I need a surname for our friend here but I don't want to cock it up and offend anyone so if you're any good at all with naming etc in Te Reo please talk to me

Name: Daniel, prefers Dan. Hates being called Danny.
Age: 26
Gender: Do I really need to answer that?
Height: 6'2" (188cm)
Nationality: Half Maori, half Samoan, but claims to be full Maori even though he doesn't look it.

Job/role in story:
Dan is one of the 'Wilder Trainers' at Greenlane Subaru. Since these creatures are living beings and not metal monsters, they have the same biological features as everything else. One of these features is of course behaviour and intelligence. Dan is an expert in this field, arguably one of the top three in the country; he and Craig are the two best in the North Island at least.

He mainly deals with 'Wild' creatures - that is, those not born and raised in suburbia by humans - though his expertise covers all Wilders of all ages and species. He specialises with Subarus and particularly loves Imprezas as he himself is a bit of a speed demon deep within. He helps Wilders and their owners bond when they're new together, and helps Wilders adjust to city life. Training them in the ways of road rules and how to behave around both humans and other Wilders is something he spends a lot of his days doing. His job description also includes caring for and training baby and adolescent Wilders, helping to re-home creatures that have been abandoned or whose owners have died or mistreated them, and simply being on the premesis to keep creatures feeling calm and safe with some of the work that often needs to be done on them in the workshop.

Of course, he is also proficient in mechanics and Wilder biology and never hesitates to get his hands dirty with a Wilder's health or mechanical problems.

He's surprisingly rough with the creatures he deals with, but even more surprising is their tolerance of it. Wilders often don't understand how fragile humans are compared to cars and don't know how hard they can hit without hurting them. Dan is particularly strong and quick, and Wilders generally recognise this and appreciate some firmer contact from a human.

Despite the playful rivalry that goes on between Craig and Dan, the two are close friends and will often be seen working together on the same project. They share opinions and frequently use each other as bouncing-boards for ideas. Between the two of them, you can rest assured your Wilder is in safe hands!

Personality:
He's one of those guys that knows how far to push it. Despite being enthusiastic and effervescent in personality, he knows when to call it quits and be serious. After all, he's more than completely dedicated to his job. Still he is a bit of a clown by nature; he often roleplays what he's trying to explain and has the typical New Zealand slang mixed in with it all. He has a reasonably distinct accent rather than the typical 'Pakeha' accent so there's no mistaking his heritage.

Dan is strong...very strong. Typical of his heritage, his muscle and bone structure is a lot more dense and more powerful than his caucasian comrades and he uses this to great advantage when dealing with Wilders. On the flip side, he's one of those guys who just isn't violent. He takes out his aggression in the form of pure brute strength throughout the working day dealing with metal-clad creatures weighing over a tonne...he not only doesn't have the personality or compulsion to be violent, he usually doesn't have enough oomph left at the end of the day to be such.

His best friend is Michael, one of the salesmen at the dealership at the opposite end of Greenlane Subaru. They're flatmates and have been since the end of highschool; despite their different career paths, the two always find somewhere to instersect considering they work in the same building. The only thing that can come between the two of them is their preference in cars; Mike is a big fan of the bug-eyed new-age Prodrive STis, whereas Dan is an old-school enthusiast and much prefers the last of the CG8 line, including the 22B, S201 and version 6 STi. While that may seem trivial, it makes for some explosive arguments at times.

Overall, Dan is a playful, outgoing kind of person and is hard to get down. It's difficult to wipe that smile off his face. He's hard to hurt, both physically and emotionally, and that makes him a steadfast sort of guy to be around. His dedication to his job means he can be relied on, and his mature and sensible yet positive and playful outlook on life means he can be trusted.

History:
Dan's past isn't all rainbows and sparkles. He was born into a relatively poor family on the outskirts of town; his Samoan father and Maori mother didn't always get along and through his early childhood years, he was exposed and subject to a lot of abuse. His father was eventually caught seeing another woman and simply left his wife for her, but not without an immense display of violence and words best not repeated; Dan was left to be raised by a solo mum as a result from five onwards. By then he had a number of siblings - they all shared one small house with quite a number of other relatives. Because of his father's betrayal of his mother, Dan denounces his Samoan heritage in favour of his mother's nationality.

He was somewhat of a troublemaker throughout his school years as a result of his unhappiness. Since he had lost his father (who was also his abusor, considering he was the eldest child) and had no purpose in life, he lacked any form of enthusiasm for anything and resorted to causing trouble to amuse himself. Fortunately for him, he was considered 'cute' enough to 'get away with it'. Dan's mum never re-married - the pain she'd suffered was too great to risk repeating.

As he entered his first year of highschool, things took a sudden turn. One night he'd gone out to meet with some friends, and was sneaking back home to get some sleep considering it was the middle of the school week; he passed by an alleyway between shops and the sound of something rummaging about caught his ear. At first he assumed it was a cat in a dumpster, but soft whimpers and murmerings told him otherwise.

He entered the alleyway to investigate, but all he could see was an abandoned car. It had been smashed up - windows, headlights, panels, you name it. Its wheels had been stolen and it had been left sitting on the ground. The snuffling and whining was coming from around the car somewhere...as he drew closer, he realised half the alleyway was drowned in dark, dried blood...whatever had bled here had bled a hell of a lot.

After peeking around the back of the smashed-up wreck - which was inevitably some kind of Japanese import - he found the source of the noise. A mini version of the wrecked car was nosing about between the dented driver's door and the brick wall of the alley. It was a Wilder! And it was tinier than any Wilder he'd ever seen...it was just over half a metre long and looked like a big bubble, only vaguely resembling the larger car in shape because it was so small, fat and rounded. Both cars were silver, and both were Impreza sedans.

At that point Dan realised that the wreck wasn't a wreck...it was a dead Wilder mother. Typical of the area, someone had stolen parts and run off with them...and had smashed up the poor creature in the process. She'd been left to die...hence the blood all over the concrete. She'd clearly been there for several days! And the mini-Wilder...that was definitely her baby.

The baby was whining as it nibbled and gummed toothlessly at the bent and warped front door. He knew next to nothing about Wilders...but he knew that there was a pocket in the front doors that Wilders fed their babies through. The poor thing was obviously hungry.

Carefully, he crouched down beside the baby and gently ran the back of his hand over its bonnet. The metal surface felt more like skin - soft and warm, and instead of being hard it indented under the soft pressure like fatty tissue. The baby squeaked with surprise and looked up at the stranger, its little headlights shining dimly against him. Instead of hiding or running, it simply sat and looked up at him, too weak to move.

Something died inside Dan when he saw the look on the little baby's face - all his life he just hadn't cared about others one single bit, he'd only lived for himself...but the look of desperation and loneliness and fear in that tiny creature's eyes was enough to pull a switch in his heart.

Without even realising what he was doing, he reached down and picked the baby Wilder up with both hands. It squeaked again in surprise, but didn't attempt an escape...it simply watched him worriedly as he pulled it toward him and placed it on his lap. It immediately made a grab for one of his fingers and began sucking with incredible force for such a small creature...it was so hungry it would try and suck on anything for a drop of milk.

Dan knew what he had to do...for the first time in his life he knew he had a responsibility. He dumped his jacket over the little baby and carried it against his hip, parallel to the ground, all the way home. Once inside he placed it on his bed and raided the kitchen for milk. His youngest sister had just grown out of baby bottles but there were still some left lying around; he filled one with the milk, warmed it up, and took it back to the baby...it sucked the lot down ravenously. In fact, it drained an entire 1-litre box of the stuff! Once it had been fed though, the little baby simply passed out from exhaustion.

When he woke up the next morning, Dan hardly knew what had happened. He remembered investigating the wrecked Subaru and finding the baby, but the rest had been some weird instinct. In fact, he'd woken up with the little Impreza snoring softly next to him, under the covers and with his arm draped over it.

From then on he knew what his calling was...these little creatures needed him. He continued to look after the little baby, who he later found out was only a week old when he found it. One night longer, and it would have starved to death. The mother had been killed so early in the baby's life that it hadn't been named - since only a Wilder can name a baby, and only a Wilder the baby deems as a parent, the baby grew up nameless. It did, however, grow into a full-sized male Impreza CS by the time Dan was in his second-to-last year of high school, and was by then his closest friend. He'd also finally gone from a D-student in school to an A-student since he'd finally found a reason to put his nose down, pull his socks up, and use his intelligence for something other than troublemaking.

Unfortunately, because the Wilder hadn't been raised on mother's milk, he was often ill. By the time Dan was in his final year of high school, the creature's health had deteriorated so badly that he was stuck at home and was on the verge of death. Dan cared for him as best he could, but by the time final exams came around the creature passed away. Though he was devastated, Dan didn't let the loss reflect on his exams...he continued to study and completely and utterly blitzed every paper he sat.

From then on he went through a series of courses that trained him in proper Wilder care. He chose to specialise in Subarus and their behaviour and well-being, and after graduating with High Distinctions and Honours in almost everything he did, he landed himself a job at Greenlane Subaru. He quickly proved he was one of the best and became highly recognised for his work with the creatures.

Something that had helped him through the rough times was a fellow student at high school that had become his best friend. Michael was fascinated by the new-age Imprezas, which were at the time a relatively new discovery. The two would talk for hours about Wilders, and when they hit University years, they moved in as flat-mates to help each other along. To this day they're still flat-mates and still sit and talk for hours, when given the chance, about their dream cars.

Dan, to this day, still hasn't got a Wilder of his own. Mike plans to get himself a Prodrive one day, but Dan has no compulsion to get one. He loves them all to pieces, but to him, getting a new one would betray the spirit of his first Impreza, the baby he'd saved from certain death. He believes though, that he will find one that will suit him perfectly one day...because he believes that the spirit of the Wilder he lost would find him again.

The amazing thing about this man is that he has completely left his past behind him. The uncaring, angsting and troublemaking Dan from the ghetto is as good as dead, because today's Dan is a completely different person. He never talks about his past because he prefers to leave it there...he looks forward to the future and concentrates on his passion for Wilders...after all, if you're constantly looking back, how can you move forward?