Brendon Crescentmoon

[Akatala]

Name: Brendon Crescentmoon
Nickname: Bren / Crescent Moon (Whalewatchers tag)
Gender: Male
Race: Were - Halfling descent
Age: 24
Season: Summer
Element: Water
Alignment: Light
Were Animal: Orca
Were Animal Description: In animal form, he is a smaller Resident Orca male with a twin talon shaped saddle behind his dorsal fin. A small black crescent moon shaped patch is found on the left side of his tail. This signature marking on his otherwise entirely white fluke underside, along with his signature saddle, and smaller size, make him easy to spot when he is lingering amidst a pod.
Human Form Description: Brendon is an average 5'9 and lean 140 lbs as a human. He is of Native American build but has some Polynesian features in the face from his mother. His face is similar to the young Jake in the movie, except his eyes are Asian, his face longer, and his chin smooth and more angular.

Long raven black hair flows freely (except when he's forced to tame it with a leather tie) down three inches past his shoulders while his dark chocolate eyes are so dark, they seem black. He wears a necklace of carved ivory spike-style shark teeth in between onyx beads on leather with a one inch high and two inch long Northwest Native stylized Orca carving as the central amulet. On his left outer calf, he has a tattoo of a black crescent moon. On his right bicep is a black-ink-only tattoo of an Orca leaping over the crescent moon. On his left bicep are small one-inch-sized Kanji (Chinese/Japanese) characters for Strength (力), Courage (勇), and Spirit (気). Along with these tattoo markings, he carries a few sets of shark bite scars that transfers between forms.

Personality: Brendon is a laid back easy-going sort of guy. He loves to socialize but he also knows that there are some things best left unsaid, actions not taken, and times to just walk or swim away from a situation. He is intuitive and rather empathic in nature, being one so closely tied to water, the element of emotion, as he is. Brendon prefers to play the role of entertainer, making ease of clowning around for the amusement of self and others. However, he carries a darker nature which draws him back to hide in the sea where he is free to wallow in his troubles on his own.

On days when the water is warm, Brendon can be found in a wet suit and on a surf board, riding the waves. It is a skill he has trained since he was a boy, when he visited family in Hawaii. if he's not on a surfboard, then he's doing something else water or nature related. He sees ignoring a nice weathered warm day as an absolute sin for which he will not be easily caught committing. Thus his jobs, when he's usually consist of helping lifeguard at beaches in summer and playing caretaker at aquariums in winter.

His mixed heritage of Hawaiian and Asian roots from his mother's side, and mixed Alaskan Native heritage (mostly Tsimshian and Tlingit) are pieces of him that he wears as art, proudly proclaiming his roots however mixed they are. Thus are his multitude of Orca symbols (which he was told as a boy was his primary Totem spirit) and Northwest Native art accessories, the bright colored Hawaiian shirts he's often seen wearing over long-sleeve black or white shirts, and the Kanji characters in his ever-growing set of tattoo art. His ever present converse sneakers playfully declare the wild American boy in him.

As a whale, though he is technically a Resident Orca, he tends to roam from pod to pod, as a lone social nomad. Therefore, his seemingly random location spottings (when he's caught anyway) continue to confound whale-watchers. He does seem to prefer warmer waters, however, thus is most often spotted no further north than Vancouver Island. His whale diet consists almost entirely of fish aside from an occasional shark, which is normally one that manages to irritate his pacifist whale mind into combat. Thus he carries scars in both forms from such encounters with razor sharp shark teeth.

History: Born in Seattle to two marine biologist parents, Brendon spent his childhood living first in Seattle, then in balmy Tampa Florida for his teen years. Much time was also spent traveling to Alaska and Hawaii to visit relatives from both sides of the family. Thus, Brendon grew up as a born treehugger and marine-enthusiast thanks to his parents and his family genes. He often spent his time out in the woods or more often, in the water learning every water sport he could.

It was on a Senior Graduation trip with friends to the Bahamas where his life abruptly changed forever. A squall formed quickly over the boat of teens and a few adult diving experts (Brendon's parents not included). Shortly after making the mayday call for help, the boat was capsized and sank. In Brendon's mind, it hadn't helped that his friends had joked about the Bermuda Triangle the entire time they had been on the trip. All crew and passengers were recovered, save for Brendon.

As the humans floated in the sea hanging onto life vests and climbing into the on-board life raft, Brendon found himself sucked deep into the sea where his body, in the roll of the tempest changed from man to Orca. Frightened, he only lingered to make sure his friends' rescuers were sighted. Then, he vanished into the sea to learn how to live in his new form. For several years, he traveled the Atlantic, thinking that he was stuck as a whale. It wasn't until he intentionally beached himself to try to help a pod of pilot whales that he found his body changing back to human with the lowering of the tides. He now often makes jokes about the old Tom Hanks movie Splash due to his method of discovering the mental and physical triggers that allow the change to take place.

Upon his rather embarrassing return to land by being caught nude on a beach with a pod of pilot whales, Brendon returned to the human world. He traveled back to Tampa to reunite with his parents. However, he was dealt another hard blow upon learning they had perished in one of Florida's angry hurricanes.

Grief stricken, Brendon took what he could with him and left to visit relatives in Hawaii then Alaska before finally ending up back in Seattle. He changed his surname to the nickname the whale-watchers in the Pacific had given him: Crescent Moon. In the years since, Brendon has tried his best to bury his past by rebirthing himself into his new persona Crescent Moon the Were-Orca. He recalls having heard tales from the Alaskan tribes of animals taking form of people and vise-versa. He no longer cares about the human words for what he is. He just simply is what he is, in his mind. Brendon Crescentmoon, guardian of the sea.

Thus Brendon has settled into a routine of spending time on land in the Seattle area getting involved in the marine scene. This allows him to play watch-guard from land as well as to keep tabs on the people who keep tabs on his whale form. Then, while at sea, he stays close to shore, watching the whales and marine life as well as watching the people.