#aph comanche

Physical Appearance:Emily is 5’3” and weighs about 150ish pounds, give or take. She has cool, mediumbrown skin that is speckled with freckles across her face and shoulders,mostly. Her hair is black, thick, and hangs past her hips whenever it’s not ina braid or bun. She has almond-shaped eyes that are kind of upturned, and theyare very, very dark brown, almost black. Her face is round and chubby, withfull cheeks. Her nose is largish, and it has a lot of freckles across the bridge.Also, she has several scars from just being a outdoorsy child and growing up inhard times on occasion, but the most notable is on her back, going from herheart to her right shoulder blade.

In regard to her typical clothing, she loves flannels layeredover other things, and she has one specific denim jacket that she got severalyears ago that she loves. She also likes pastels and the colors red and green;most of her wardrobe reflects these color preferences. As for bottoms, she wearsalmost exclusively jeans if she’s going out, but sometimes she’ll pick a skirtif she’s feeling it. Solid color tennis shoes are her go to, and almost all of herpairs are beat up and doodled on. While she usually keeps her hair down or in asimple braid, she does love putting those plastic hair clips for kids in herhair. Things like big, green plastic hearts and colorful flower pieces are herfavorites.

Personality:Emily is pretty energetic. She likes to cause trouble with her friends andbrothers, and she’s not opposed to some good-natured pranks and tomfoolery.However, she’s much more toned down without her friends to back her up. She isfriendly, even with strangers, but if she feels that she is in trouble or thatsomeone is upset with her, she gets very withdrawn. It’s hard to make her mad,unless you’re Texas. She doesn’t always make the smartest choices, but she iswilling to pick up the pieces when things don’t go her way.

All in all, she’s pretty spunky, but it’s not hard tomake her feel small if she doesn’t have her emotional support chaos buddies toback her up.

Likes: Ballet, dancing, good-naturedchaos, music, strawberries, watermelon, flowers, the colors red and green,pastels, animals, learning about cultures, languages, and her family and friends.

Dislikes: Loudnoises, yelling, thunder, feeling like she messed up, fake strawberryflavoring, fake fruit flavoring in general, the cold, tornado season, fatphobiaand racism, bigotry in general, being talked over, and being alone.

Relationships:

@texass-shenanigans’ Texas/Angel: Emily’s older brother,and the person who raised her for a good portion of her childhood. They bickerand pick on each other, but they would also kill someone for each other, so, y’know.Angel gets on Emily’s nerves a lot, but they get along when it counts. As anolder brother, he’s a little more level-headed than she is and he gets worriedwhen she runs off to hunt ghosts or cause chaos, but as Texas… well, he’s onlya little more level-headed, not a lot.

Comanche (Naduah) and Cherokee (Onacona): Emily’smother and father, respectively. Emily loves them both dearly and they areprobably some of the only people who can talk sense into her without making herfeel scolded and withdrawn. Well, Onacona is. Naduah is more where Emily gother wild streak from. Emily was raised by them during her very early childhood,before some issues caused them to let Texas care for her for a while. Still,the family is very close, and Emily wouldn’t trade her parents for the world.

Missouri/Miles: Wild Boi, big brother figure, chaosbuddy, and an overall very good bad example. Miles is actually a pretty sweet person,he just is prone to getting into things he shouldn’t, and this can cause issueswhen one of his pupils is a teenager. Emily looks up to Miles, and Miles isvery protective of Emily. He lets her explore her knack for chaos and she makeshim take a step back every now and again to take a safer route. Also, Miles isa big influence on Emily’s love of sparkly/brightly colored things.

Arkansas/Andrew: Less wild boi, slightly younger bigbrother figure. Andrew is calmer than his older brother and Emily, though stilla bit of a trouble maker, and he and Emily have fun watching the subtlenuisances they can create in the lives of friends and family. Andrew has beenvery helpful for Emily’s habit of curling in on herself when distressed byoffering her a safe and calm space where she can take a breath and reevaluate.These two are protective of each other and each has done wonders for the bodyimage of the other; Emily is chubby and Andrew has vitiligo. They’ve both beenbullied over these facts, but they find confidence in each other and theirfriends.

Kansas/Heni: Emily’s partner. Emily is head over heelsfor this nonbinary darling, and she is all the time coming up with some cutething to call them. Emily will fight anyone who tries to invalidate Heni’sgender or criticizes their fluidity. Heni would kill someone for making Emilyfeel bad about herself or her appearance. They are very supportive of eachother and their relationship is very Softe Teen Romance ™. Heni is always thereto be a firm stance and a rock for Emily when she feels battered or vulnerable.

Arizona/Kat: Kat is like Emily’s cool cousin. Shedoesn’t see her very often, but when she does, they spend a lot of their timechatting or being activists. Kat is a big Queer, Indigenous, and Latino rightsactivist, and Emily goes along to help in any way she’s needed. Kat issurprisingly level-headed and calm, and she’s a calming influence on Emily,helping her focus some of her chaotic energy into productive action.

@texass-shenanigans’ Louisiana/Alex: Alex is Angel’shusband and Miles & Andrew’s older brother. He is by far the calmest one ofthe bunch, and the one with the most braincells, bless his heart. He sometimesteaches Emily to cook, which often ends with the very messy kitchen and a very messyEmily. Alex and Emily get along pretty well, but much like he feels with hisbrothers, he does hope Emily will calm down soon. He’s an excellent confidant, inEmily’s opinion.

Miscellaneous:Emily loves stickers so fucking much. Especially sparkly ones.

Fire is also a thing. She likes to hold stick over acame fire and watch them burn.

Hates June bugs with a passion.

Her favorite treat is a strawberry milkshake. Thisgirl will absolutely do almost anything for a strawberry milkshake with realstrawberries in it.

Ballet is one of the first things that helped her loveher body. She’s been performing for decades now.

Speaks several languages, including several Indigenousones.

Learning ASL to be supportive of one of Miles’partners, Kentucky.

Naduah sat straight up, one hand grasping her spear, the other resting on the arm of her throne. The door at the side of the dais opened and Onacona stepped up to his own throne beside her, raising a staff and straightening his robes.

“Cutting it a little close, Love,” Naduah quipped, grinning.

“Ah, well, Huutsuu was trying to negotiate her way out of a nap, I’m afraid.” He smiled over at her. “I think she takes after you, in that regard.”

“Hmph, I’ll have you know, I am an excellent negotiator.”

“Of course, Nadie.” Onacona leaned over to kiss her cheek.

The main doors to the throne hall opened and a page entered and bowed.

“Your majesties, Emperor Antonio of the Creboral Empire seeks an audience.”

Naduah nodded and Onacona spoke, “Bring him in.”

The page bowed again and stepped out. A few moments later, the doors opened wide, and a man and his guard strode in. The guard split off to either side of the aisle up to the throne, taking a stance next to the throne hall guards, while the man continued to march down the walkway to the thrones, head held high. When he reached the end of the carpeted path, feet away from the base of the dais, he looked up at the monarchs and spread his arms and grinned.

“Hola, my friends!” Antonio nodded to each ruler. Onacona nodded back. Naduah quirked a brow when his haze lingered longer than she liked. “I have truly looked forward to standing here today. I have come to discuss a, ah… a potential joint agreement between our nations; one that, hopefully, will be beneficial to both our interests.”

Naduah eyed the emperor as he spoke. His words were flowery and offered a prosperous agreement, but her attention was on his actions. She knew of this man and of the campaigns of his empire, and she did not trust his intentions.

Diplomacy, while important, was not her forte. It was her husband’s, which was why he was the High Diplomat of Akottusha, and not just the Chief Warrior's partner. He was a keen negotiator and had a knack for spotting the tells and nuances of a person’s body language and words, and he had repeatedly made great gains for their country. The realm of negotiation, trade, and diplomacy were absolutely his strong suit.

And the battlefield was Naduah's. She had a mind for strategy, and she had earned her throne through years of not just fighting battles, but through knowing which ones were worth waging. Her job as a leader of Akottusha was to assure the nation’s people were seen as citizens to be protected and not treated as assets to be exploited.

Part of this duty was being informed of the military movements of other nations, and Creboral had been preparing for something. It was not lost on Naduah that Antonio had saw fit to approach other nations before this and to threatened those who were unsatisfied with his words.

Onacona shook Naduah from her thoughts when he responded to Antonio’s offer.

“Well, while this is all very interesting, the Warrior and I should discuss this before further considerations. Thank you for your time, Emperor.”

“Of course. Buenos días, my king-” Antonio nodded to Onacona, “and to you, my queen.” He extended a hand to Naduah.

She looked down at it, before nodding to him and saying, “That is not necessary. And I understand this is your first foray into our politics, but if you wish to negotiate with the High Diplomat and High Warrior, we would ask that you address us properly.” She smiled, trying to look more friendly and less distrusting. “For future encounters.”

Antonio beamed, but it did not put her at ease.

“Of course. My apologies.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naduah watched Onacona and Colonneh ride out of the gates of castle and toward a neighboring kingdom. This would not be the first diplomatic mission that his son had attended, but it would be the first Colonneh helped lead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They couldn’t even bury their bodies.

News of the attack on the envoy reached Naduah as he was getting his daughters ready for lunch. Supposedly, bandits had struck during the night and burned the campsite down in a botched attempt to distract the guards. Neither his husband nor his son were identified, but the bodies that were recovered were beyond recognition.

Antonio had brought him the news. He had claimed to be on a trip through the countryside of the kingdom that neighbored Akottusha to the northeast. His party noticed smoke in the skies and rushed to see what was happening. Unfortunately, the Emperor had said, by the time they had arrived and the blaze had been put out, the High Diplomat and the prince had been lost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I assure you, my lady, the Creboral Empire is here to extend any aid you may need. And I am also here to offer comfort, my queen, in the tragic absence of your husband.”

Naduah stiffened.

“I am not a queen, Antonio, and I am not  anyone’s lady. I am the Chief Warrior, and I am Onacona’s partner.” She stood and nodded to the guard, who began taking their usual stations at the entrances after the funerary ceremonies had concluded. “Thank you for your empire’s offer; my people will appreciate it. But I assure you, I am not in need of your comfort. Good evening.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was going to kill the bastard. Even if it took days, weeks, years, he was going to do it.

Not more than two weeks after the disappearance (the murder) of his husband and son, and Antonio had come to restart the failing negotiations, and the bastard had the gall to suggest they unite their empires through marriage. He had asked for Naduah’s hand, and still referred to him as the queen, his lady, etc.

That wasn’t why Naduah was angry.

Well, that didn’t help. No matter how many times Antonio was informed of which robes meant Naduah was masculine or feminine, he still clung to the feminine terms.

What really stirred Naduah’s distrust and dislike into hatred was Antonio’s reaction to Naduah’s refusal.

He’d threatened his daughters. He’d revealed what Naduah already suspected; the attack on Onacona and Colonneh's envoy was ordered by the emperor. And he had threatened war on his people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onacona had taught Naduah some things about diplomacy. Among them was the understanding that sometimes, in order to protect your people, you must take the bad deal presented, and then fight for changes later.

Naduah accepted Antonio’s hand.

She’d kill him later.