SPECIES: Balam
OCCUPATION: Arborist apprentice
AGE: 32 Years Old
PLAYED BY: Mary
FC: Adria Arjona
Elín Salazar was a man determined to end the hunter conflict ravaging his community. In Allagash, Maine, he found his haven. Good news reached home, and family moved north to settle in the wilderness. The woods sheltered his bloodline, nature kept their secret. No traditions were imposed, other than a strict regard for confidentiality. The rules of nature applied to everything else. The system worked. Children grew, decades passed without blood spilled, allowing balam a respite to heal and exist in peace.
With a new generation, the responsibility of keeping Allagash a place where balam didn’t fear extinction fell on Elín Salazar Jr, who dutifully followed his father's footsteps. However, he extended his generosity beyond blood ties. Biology didn’t bind their community; the common suffering at the hands of hunters did. Any balam in need of sanctuary would be embraced.
Nicole was born on a cloudy day in summer, when the community thrived. Two years later came Esaí, a feral puma who showed up on his own. Three years after him, Nayeli was taken in after she was found wounded and alone near the river. The cubs grew together, siblings. Entwined with nature, but encouraged to exist in harmony with their human counterpart. Given the tools to survive both ways.
It was Nicole's mother, Angela, who brought up the benefits of exploring the outside world again. Things were improving; there was a deeper understanding of supernatural activity in the area. No major disputes had developed in years. Relationships with surrounding packs were respectful. Elín accepted, despite the fear his late father instilled in him. It was a decision that would cost them greatly.
Academics made Nicole feel inadequate, but it was at school where she connected with real humans for the first time. Their similarities were in plain sight; she longed to discover their differences. The fascination wasn’t always positive. Not many kids knew about growing fur and claws on command, nor ancient feline spirits. Anxiety was prevalent when she let curiosity guide her. The discomfort of being judged was stronger than her desire to find out more. Perhaps, humans were meant to be admired from a distance.
When Nicole finished school, she moved back to Allagash. She would help raise the younger balam. It was too late for her to adapt to the human world. But it wouldn’t be for her siblings, who shared the same interest in the world beyond their community. Only, they would have better support to navigate it.
Her youngest, more social sister made the most of it. Adapted so well to school in Fort Kent that she was set on moving out. College would be a first for Salazars. Nayeli collected more friends than Nicole ever did. Friends who encouraged her to celebrate her 18th birthday party with them, in town. Her father was apprehensive about this, but Nicole, responsible like every firstborn Salazar, promised to chaperone her siblings.
The celebration went smoothly. The return to Allagash, however, didn’t. It poured that night, storm in the forecast. They were traipsing through the woods when humans attacked with precision. The cats resisted the opponent, but in the end, tranquilizers tamed the beasts.
When the jaguar regained her senses, she was restricted by metal bars. At first, she saw her siblings imprisoned near her, but time wasn’t something the jaguar measured with accuracy. Days might have passed, weeks. She was transferred to a secluded place. Nobody visited, no matter how loudly she roared. Food was scarce. One day, a human error gave her the chance to flee. Dinner that night was a feast, a piece of the feeder’s arm in her mouth as she ran from the contingent rushing to intervene. The scared jaguar outran them all.
She was stuck in flight mode for a long time. A previous understanding between them— If there was ever a threat to their lives, the jaguar would take control. Human grief was a monster Nicole couldn’t brave. The jaguar was patient, until the threat was debilitated to something bearable. Nicole woke up far from Allagash, far from where she was held captive. She returned to her community, in hopes that her siblings had found the way back home too. The initial reception was warm, but upon learning the circumstances, upon learning why the other two didn’t return, things soured. Many didn’t hide their resentment.
Soon, she heard the anxious whispers. If her captors were clever enough to chip her, she might put the secrecy of their location at risk, their safety at risk. The pack didn’t abandon their own, wouldn’t abandon her if she stayed, but Nicole understood she had become the threat her loved ones feared. She left, relocated by the waterway, lived in solitude. Through sporadic communication, she learned that her siblings never returned. Guilt ate her alive. The jaguar protected her from pain once more.
It was a dream about them. Nightmare, rather. Years after the tragedy. Woke her up weeping, snapped her into a decision: to search for them.
Powerful and skilful as the jaguar was, Nicole knew this required her to stay in human form; retaining memories was essential. The problem— Adjusting to a society she’d long forgotten after extended periods in the wilderness. Transition was complex. Fear was ever-present.
A conversation in a sketchy bar brought up the likelihood of Balam specimens south of Allagash. Nicole looked too interested, too desperate, asked the wrong questions to the wrong person. Fell into a hunter’s snare. Didn’t matter, the gash on the jaguar’s back was worth the information. She ran once more, with purpose this time.
Nicole established herself in Wicked’s Rest half a year ago. Adjustment took time. Everything was faster than what she was used to. Yet human life was much slower, too. More hours to fill, pretend to be an ordinary human. She had to do that. It was imperative to polish her humanity, not only to keep her identity safe, but to uncover the truth of her siblings’ fate.
Empathetic · Observant · Courageous · Intuitive · Humble · Distrustful · Secretive · Cranky · Solitary · Paranoid
Despite her preference for living out in the open, she’s decided to grab a small cabin in The Pines, where she lives with her dog, Nacho. The owner can’t demand it back, as the jaguar took care of him. More importantly, this cabin is a solid middle ground. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the town. To keep the jaguar out of trouble or to retreat when she’s overstimulated. But not too isolated from the world either, when she’s required to blend back with the humans.
Having spent a big chunk of her young years in the jaguar form, Nicole is not great at social interactions or norms. She still retains some of her childhood education, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand, and much more she finds stupid and unnecessary. Because of this, she’s reluctant to engage in conversation with someone in person, but is trying to get better at it by testing the online waters first. Unfortunately, she’s not that great with modern technology either.
She has full control of the jaguar spirit and is able to shift, partially or fully, at her will. Their relationship is one of mutual respect and balanced power. Each half trusts the other to take the reins when the situation demands it. But there had been instances of the jaguar refusing to let up control. It comes out as a protective mechanism. But the lack of memories has gotten her into trouble in the past.
Works as an arborist, independently, with the sole intention of being able to exist among humans without conforming to suffocating schedules. Decent job, she smiles at it sometimes, especially likes that she can mostly be on her own. Also took a seasonal gig at the State Park when she first arrived. Her preference for an outdoor lifestyle has led her to encounter more than a few supernatural incidents. It seems the human world isn’t the only one she’s ignorant about.
She has an unspoken fascination for ghosts. Since she can remember, she’s coexisted with them. The spirits, however, are more receptive when in jaguar form. It doesn’t stop Nicole from walking around a cemetery or two when she feels restless and shifting isn’t a possibility. It’s not a hobby per se, but these ghosts are nowhere near as scary as the living.
