Nicholas Amondella

What is a man who has nothing to protect?

An empty shell, a void in which humanity once grew, no matter how fleeting.

A man with cold eyes may as well be a corpse.

It's a man who has something to lose who can be the most frightening.

It wasn't a terrible childhood by any means, a distant father and a not much better mother, but he had a sister, and that was all he needed. Someone to protect and care for, who would care for him in return. Still, the influence of his parents mannerisms could not be avoided completely, and Nicholas himself became distant, only his sister seeing the lighter, less serious side he could possess. However, in part, perhaps this distant nature could be associated to his philosophical side, the Lunite often spending much time reading and writing, though no one, not even Raisa was ever allowed to read his musings. It was a personal journey, fueled by the ideas and thoughts of philosophers both new and old.

Reading, writing and musing however was not enough for Nicholas, and through the belief that suffering held truth, he left home at Twenty two years old and submitted himself to the harsher realities of the universe. Purposefully he took very little money, and few clothes with him, instead choosing to see what he could learn living the life of the less fortunate, the criminal, those who had nothing to lose and even less to gain. After all, the richest experiences were often the most cruel.

A tour of the less outwardly harsh planets came first, La Terre, Sivad, Mars, Nicholas seeking out the most undesirable of people in society's daisy chain of classification. The bums, the poor, petty thieves and ruthless criminals. They all had stories to tell and Nick wanted to hear them. He wanted to know how they'd been thrown into the lives they led, whether it was through choice or circumstance, cruel fate or willful submission. There was a lot to learn from the outcasts of the universe. All the while though, tabs on his sister were kept, she was the one person he would strive to protect, even if it was from a distance, she had her own life to live, after all.

It was during one of these trips back to Luna to see to Raisa that that the planet switch occured, Nicky's departure soon after leaving him in this universe, rather than the one'd he'd originally come from. It didn't matter to him though, Raisa'd stayed too and she was more important.

His main target of interest soon grew to be Tomin Kora, the very way of the planet making it the logical next step in this journey of discovery, though it would prevent him from checking up of Raisa very often, off planet transportation being far too expensive.

Decent fighting skills and a cold, almost clinically calm manner got him in with a small rough and tumble gang, one that despite higher aspirations wasn't going anywhere. Even in the grimist of situations, hope fosters. While he was already better off than most in their rag-tag crew at hand to hand combat, he chose instead to pursue a position as sniper and lookout, taking to studying under the gang's gun 'expert' and practising diligently every morning the ways of his new trade.

Flourished wouldn't be the way to describe how Nick took to the job, efficient was a more likely candidate. He did it to the best of his abilities, striving not for want of being the best, but because it was what he chose for himself. It was the difference between him and them, he chose this life. He stayed for a few years with them, the Lunite doing more than a few undesirable things during his time, murder from afar, mostly, though there was more than a few beatings delivered in person and more than a few taken in return.

His time was up here though, he felt he'd learned all he could and it was time to move on. Without so much as a word to any he left, leaving instead a note which read, "Hope fosters in even the darkest of times, a blooming flower will always stretch towards the sun. Never give up."

Securing a ship to take him off planet, he left much in the manner he'd left when he was twenty two, with a few credits in his pockets and the clothes off his back. This time he would head for New Luna, it was time to come back to the way of life he'd left.

Every man has a choice, no matter how small, most just can't realise it.