SAMIEL

FULL BACKSTORY

Past
Samiel was born on earth around the 1750s in what would later become modern Germany. His early life was rather normal, there was some familial issues, but it was overall peaceful. His father was a hunter, and Samiel took an interest as well, following in his footsteps. His father was well known for his skill, and Samiel made it a mission for himself to try and become even better than he was. This led to a perfectionist streak, which would eventually bleed into other parts of his life as well. He met his wife rather early in life, the two simply happening to chat as Samiel was selling his and his father's catches, hitting it off right away and quickly growing closer. Things went great for the two for a long time, getting married even discussing the idea of children. The peace was cut short however, when news came of the death of Samiel's father. While he'd never stopped his passion with hunting, it was kicked back into full gear, having never gotten to 'prove himself' and becoming lost within the goal again, only this time aiming to be the best hunter on the planet.

His obsession pushed a wedge between him and everyone around him, even his wife. Despite how much he truly loved her, it was not enough to overpower the ambition that consumed him. Eventually on a hunt in the woods one day, he was approached by a strange person, who said nothing but a greeting and challenged Samiel to a hunting competition. At first, Samiel declined, he preferred to hunt in peace. The stranger pulled out their own gun, well crafted and fanciful, and presented it in their hands to him, sweetening the deal by offering to give him the gun if he won. Samiel was suspicious, but he knew a good gun when he saw one, and this gun was a catch of its own. He shook hands with the stranger and agreed, setting the terms with eachother and beginning. The competition lasted the rest of the day, and in the end, it appeared that Samiel had indeed won. The stranger was very evidently shocked, but still kept their word and handed over the gun. Samiel went to examine his prize, and by the time he looked up, the stranger was gone. He went on to start using the gun the next day, having a fantastic streak, managing perfect aim each try. after the 6th shot, the stranger suddenly appeared again, shocking Samiel, but spoke without acknowledging anything strange about the situation. They asked how he was enjoying his prize, and then giving him the warning about each 7th bullet, that being, every 7th bullet will do it's damnedest to strike someone he loves. Samiel doesn't believe them. The stranger simply flashes a smile and asks if he'd like to risk it, then disappeared again. Samiel had always been a superstitious man, and it didn't take much for him to believe he had accidentally made a deal with the devil. Whether it was true or not. He did not use that gun for awhile, but one day trekked out as far out from home as feasibly as possible with the gun in hand, and called out to see if the supposed devil would appear again. They did, eventually, and he asked if the 7th bullet could hit from here. The stranger hesitated, but then answered honestly that the chances were not impossible, but very low. Samiel chose to challenge them this time, claiming he knew what they were, and wanted to rematch, with them really trying this time. His pride was involved now, and the idea of TRULY defeating the devil at his own game would be the sign that this gun is truly the ticket to his goal, to be the actual best, and he would accept the consequences that came of it. He'd been completely blinded to everything else by now. They accepted, and the two competed again, Samuel with the gun he won, and the stranger with a new near exact gun. Both with the same strange ability to always hit, Samiel's with the disadvantage that every 7th bullet went haywire, typically into a tree. At the end, Samiel still managed to win once more, and the last piece of his humanity died that day, there was nothing left to aim for, and his emotional and physical distance had ruined all those relationships around him. There was nothing else but to continue being the best hunter on the planet, and in a drunken state one night, he decided that to kill the people he cared about now would be better than for them to have their life cut short at a potentially terrible time. He believed if he did it himself, while they slept, they would get to be at peace. It was like putting down a dog to him by then, believing their quality of life would be best if it ended now. With great hesitation each time, he shot his wife and his mother in their homes as they slept, being the only two people he truly cared about at all by now. Lost again after doing so, he began to wander and show off his hunting prowess to any that would allow him to.

Over the years, his attachment to the gun and his 'position' in the world would change him, but mentally and physically. By the time he was 60, he looked far more beast-like than human, his face resembling a jackal or coyote, pitch black fur covering the rest of him, and small antlers beginning to grow on his head. As he became less human, interacting with humans became less viable, all being scared of him. He kept to himself for a few decades, slowly coming to assume that he may not age like a human anymore, and boredom overtook him. He had nothing anymore, he'd hunted so many things already, and the negative aspects of himself that he always had were far more prevalent than they once were. And he decided that it could be interesting to try hunting people. Working through underground markets, he offered services as a hired killer whilst showing his face as little as possible, very secretive. He started to become well known for this as well, and it only led him further down the hole. He still loved a good regular hunt, but people were a challenge, he could likely get away with shooting them publicly and then disappearing, but he liked to make restrictions for himself. Not being seen, shooting from a specific location, having to get into their heads and think about the best course of action. He would think as though his gun could still miss, finding that he still wanted to hone his skills and not fully rely on just the gun. sure, it would always hit, but it didn't always hit where he wanted, and he wanted to make it even more accurate. All he had now was to be the perfect marksman.

Centuries later, space travel to other planets was finally invented, and rapidly improved the following decades as earth eventually made contact with another space travelling planet. Samiel took quick interest in this, and managed to sneak his way aboard a ship as soon as he could. He continued his usual behaviors at this point, but space travel had become a hobby for him, both out of genuine fascination with the variety of beauty across the galaxy, but also because it meant his goal would be raised. Earth was no longer the only place where he wanted to be the best, he wanted to be able to outgun anyone on any planet he went to. And it turned out there was lots of places looking for the sort of work he did when it came to intergalactic relations. Doing these jobs led him to raise a lot of money, most of which he didn't care for, he wasn't much of a man for extravagant displays of wealth, but he did make one exception, to buy a very fancy custom ship for himself, allowing him to travel to new places easier. Upon learning further about other things throughout the galaxies, he also picked up portal making, using them to assist his shots at first, and then later honing them further to expand how long they could go. eventually he learned the techniques to go any place that he could visualize, regardless of how far it was. This led him into a photography habit too, to ensure he could remember locations properly. He'd already liked photos back when he was alive, though, at the time back then it had been paintings, using his abilities to capture a scene in his mind into words to recreate the moment, trying to keep it true to the moment with minimal exaggeration. Now with photography he could do exactly that, as well as have an assist to his memory when needed.

He continued on with everything he'd done before, his range across galaxies now widened. Throughout the past centuries, he'd isolated himself so thoroughly from social connection that many of his days that did not involve his 'hunts' simply consisted of being alone on his ship. Eventually, he discovers an isolated planet, though, in technicality it was more of a moon, it orbited a true, very large planet, but that technicality did not matter to him, he views it as a planet. It was able to support life, though nothing sapient, the forest were lush, many being hues of purples, pinks, and oranges, the water crystal clear. It was the one thing he could allow himself to fall in love with again, not being a person, it escaped the devil's deal, even if it hadn't, he could not kill a moon with a single bullet. He stayed there alone for about a decade, hunting not for the thrill of the game, but simply for food, despite not needing to eat, it still felt right to have a normal meal every now and then, a remnant of being human. He decided this place would be his new home, his one place of peace, and built himself a log cabin there. He eventually would leave and continue his hired killing and his own personally curated 'hunts'. But he would frequent back to the planet now, finding it the one place he could relax. He considers himself the guardian of the planet, and while having never had any sign or experience to give him reason to do so, decided that if anyone else found the place, they would have to be 'removed of'. The idea of other planets or galaxies finding and ruining the place caused him grief, something he hadn't allowed himself to feel in a very long time. Living a somewhat regular life again, even if still isolated, began to open up his feelings just a tad more again. Not enough to change him drastically, his behavior on other planets continued, but he would speak to people around him a little more often, even if they were often brief and cold conversations. He continued to drive most people away, but those somewhat like-minded to him would at least consider him an acquaintance, giving him some connections in other places. The same went for many of the more powerful people he had done jobs for.

Current
After all this time, Samiel has still not changed much. He is slightly more at peace with himself, his goal of being 'the best hunter in the universe' has simmered into more of a passive ideal. The frequency of jobs and hunts he takes hasn't changed much, but he allows himself to wind down with new things, having become a little more hedonistic. It conflicts in him though, chasing pleasures that he does not allow himself to emotionally engage with. After a particularly difficult job that lasted a few months, he returned to his ship only to find it was not on the planet he left it, but currently in space. Thieves were not a surprise to him, but finding a single blonde woman and two talking cats arguing within the cockpit was a new one. Most intruders upon his ship he would scare off or shoo, and these 3 were no exception. He got their attention by cocking his gun, the black cat looking scared shitless, but the woman and pink cat arguing. They refused to leave the ship, and somehow, by the end of it, managed to convince Samiel to let them stay. The terms were temporary to start with, and he's not even entirely sure why he agreed. Perhaps it was simply the good mood of finally finishing his most recent challenge still in effect, and maybe, though he'd never say so, he simply finally decided he wanted some company. He could see some of himself in the girl, the fact she herself had a large gun on hand only adding to it. He's still very cold and detached from them, his centuries long mindset wouldn't budge so easily, but he finds their presence on the ship is tolerable, and they're useful to have around. It at least leads to interesting places, that's for sure.