NAME
Ruben Van der Plas

BIRTHPLACE
Lusaka, Zambia

DAY OF BIRTH
October 30, 20XX

AGE
18

SPECIES
African leopard

HEIGHT
6’1”

ORIENTATION
pansexual

PERSONALITY
INFP

OCCUPATION
enhanced/biological weapon – private military contractor for Decanter

An empathetic yet cautious idealist, Ruben Van der Plas is a free-spirited maverick whose relentless temerity and immeasurable creativity mark him well as an unpredictable opponent.

Ruben was born in Lusaka, Zambia, to Joyce and Stijn Van der Plas. Stijn, a jackal and the leopard’s stepfather, was a South African expatriate and entrepreneur who eventually fell in love with Ruben’s mother, Joyce, around the time she became pregnant. The child’s father, a Mosotho military contractor and one of Stijn’s most esteemed colleagues, tragically died when the man’s contingent was besieged by jihadist forces in northern Nigeria. In the wake of this terrible loss, Joyce and Stijn drew closer and soon cultivated an intimate relationship. Months passed, the two were wed, and Joyce gave birth to a boy born into this world prematurely.

As a result of this premature birth, Ruben suffered chronic health issues stemming from neonatal respiratory distress that left him particularly vulnerable to infections and other ailments after his initial recovery. Determined, Stijn utilized the clandestine contacts his family had fostered to secure small doses of a unique and experimental pharmaceutical compound that miraculously counteracted the many maladies which affected Ruben since his birth. With her son now healed, Joyce used this incredible occasion to impart him with the wisdom and idealism inherent to her devout Protestant faith. Life for this atypical family was tranquil and untroubled by the communal and hospitable nature of Lusaka where it takes a village to raise a child and blue skies hang low to the ground. Although reserved and reticent, the leopard cub formed close bonds with a select few peers at French school through his empathy, thoughtfulness, and a hidden wild streak that revealed itself most distinctly during jaunts in the great outdoors.

Their relative peace was shattered when the boy’s mother suddenly fell ill with a mysterious affliction that left her hospitalized with symptoms resembling nerve agent toxicity. In a frenzied effort to save Joyce’s life, Stijn sought the finest emergency care for his wife back home in Johannesburg, but sadly, this effort culminated without success. Guilt-ridden and grief-stricken, Stijn took it upon himself to migrate back to Gauteng where he could rejoin the family business of antiquity acquisition with a new sense of purpose and his son by his side. Her death had a profound impact on Ruben’s psyche, and the once laidback, albeit taciturn, six-year-old boy became more wary and apprehensive toward others. Over the next six years, Ruben’s stepfather traveled considerably throughout huge swaths of mainland Africa in search of relics and hidden treasure with a compliment of military contractors.

On one such occasion, Stijn chaperoned Ruben to Djibouti where he would remain under the supervision of one Etienne “Tristan” Zeelie while he and this young man’s father headed an expedition into the Rub’ al Khali. Over the course of a week, the leopard cub acquired an unexpected, brotherly bond with the eighteen-year-old Afrikaner whose kind words and idealism mirrored what his mother had taught him. Once the team safely and successfully returned from Saudi Arabia, Tristan proposed to help escort Stijn and Ruben to Addis Ababa with several rare findings. While en route to Ethiopia, their small convoy came under assault from armed insurgents, and in the end, the outfit suffered numerous casualties. Once the dust had settled, Stijn sustained a fatal gunshot wound and Tristan all but disappeared into a blinding flash of light as he helped shield Ruben from stray fire.

The leopard cub was able to survive the assault upon manifesting a phenomenal gift: the innate, telepathic ability to manipulate random and periodic vibrations. Niels Zeelie, Tristan’s father, recovered the boy hours later, and realized soon thereafter how Ruben had conjured this gift and walk away unscathed. Years ago, Niels sold Stijn the very pharmaceutical that thoroughly reinvigorated Ruben’s fading health, and he knew the dramatic toll it might one day impose even if Stijn did not. Distraught by the apparent loss of his son and outed as a smuggler, the jackal was in no position to resist when his London benefactor insisted he would train the orphaned boy whose newfound power they desperately needed.

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As always, I want to extend my thanks to  fcsimba. They always do such a fabulous job making each of my characters look their best, and Ruben's no exception! FC is such a kind, talented artist, and I'm so very grateful to commission them so very often. If you haven't had the chance to check out their gallery, carve some time to look into their work. I know you won't be disappointed by what you find!


art is ©  fcsimba

Ruben Van der Plas is ©  nazcapilot