Appearance
A beanpole, but that just makes her incredible strength all the more surprising.
Her style could be best described as 'thrift store chic' sans the chic. If her clothes aren't old or ratty, they're baggy, ill-fitting or out-of-fashion. She usually jeans, a t-shirt, and an oversized button-down.
Always has a blue Jansport backpack. She is deeply attached to this bag, even if it's ancient and ratty.
Animal Appearance
A Siberian tiger. Her hybrid form looks like a juvenile cat, fur a little untidy and puppy-pawed. It matches her human form in a relative sense in that she is somewhat skinny and coltish but that is only relative to other shifters. She is still eight feet at the shoulder, strapped with muscle and destructive fury.
History
- Born in Richmond, VA. Only child. At the age of four, Juniper was diagnosed with terminal illness.
- Parents tried absolutely everything, but her outlook was never good. Trips to the hospital consumed her life, but she still developed into a happy child, gaining the mental strength to withstand the battery of tests, procedures, and pain that accompanied her illness.
- Unfortunately, her condition only worsened and her parents turned to more esoteric means. At some point, they connected with a man who claimed to be able to enchant Juniper with the power of a tiger and heal her. At this point, they were desperate and the claim, as insane as it was, warranted a 'why the hell not'.
- It turned out the man was a kind old weretiger. After proving his power to Juniper's parents, they explained the situation to her. To their relief, the little girl agreed, even if she didn't fully understand.
- During the next full moon, Juniper transformed into a monstrous tiger cub and from then on, the kind old tiger did what he could to mentor her.
- Her illness and frailty disappeared overnight and her family was overjoyed. Due to both afflictions, she never really had the chance to be a normal kid, but at least she was healthy now. Healthy, unbelievably strong, and on a hair-trigger.
- Despite her mentor's best efforts, as a child she could not quite control her shifts, or keep her mind during them, and disaster struck.
- One day, Mr. and Mrs. Gray disappeared. Juniper never found out what happened to her parents. Not long after, the Exchange appeared and took the old weretiger away. She hasn't seen him since.
- Since then, she's been in the Exchange's system, a young orphaned supernatural. She learned a lot about her abilities and even developed new ones, but never managed to develop control.
- There were a lot of blackouts. A lot of incidents. Unwilling to take any more chances, the Exchange Tongue-Tyers took over. Juniper was enchanted with 'words of power'. Speak these secret words and no matter her form, she will fall unconscious. The spell appears as a crown of white-blue runes around her head and only Exchange agents know it.
- Things only got worse as she grew up. As a teen, she became angry and emotional, resentful of the Exchange, despite the way they tried to foster and help her.
- Eventually, she stopped trying to gain control and just allowed the animal brain to take over. There were more incidents and the Exchange branded her as a juvenile hazard.
- Now she is in Easthaven on a kind of 'parole'. She was a child before, so she received leniency, but now as an adult, her lack of control has led the Exchange to look at other methods of containment, things she would much rather avoid. She lives at Lethe House and attends community college in the Lower Fens. She's still trying to find a direction in life, while learning how to channel her incredible power.