Meet Aila Longstride

Aila's father, Ethan Longstride, was youngest of seven exceptionally intelligent children. His parents trained him in the traditional ways of their people - hunting, fishing, tracking, and survival in the wild - but waited to tell them the truth about their heritage, in order to keep from inhibiting their choices in life. The children grew up hearing stories of the Natchez and even the Croatan without knowing their significance. Ethan entered college early and earned multiple doctorates in biology, geology, and horticulture, but never felt fulfilled until his parents shared the truth about their people--that they were Kinfolk. Resolving to help the Garou any way he could and to carry on his ancestors' traditions, Ethan took a job on a nature preserve as a wildlife biologist. Building a cabin miles away from the nearest town, he conducted his work quietly while secretly helping any Garou who passed through.

This was how he met the love of his life, Tsura. Her pack having suffered an attack from banes not far away, she literally stumbled into Ethan's life, gravely wounded. While he nursed her back to health in his home, the two shared stories and became close. Even after she's regained her health, she often found her feet leading her back to him. The visits remained infrequent enough that when Tsura returned only a month after her previous stop, Ethan knew something had happened. He was overjoyed when she told him they were going to have a child, though Tsura rejected every marriage proposal he made her.

Aila's birth was a happy occasion for Ethan, but he noticed the sadness growing in Tsura's eyes. About a year after their daughter was born, her Strider blood pulled her away again, leaving Ethan to teach their baby girl what his parents had taught him. Tsura did her best to return from time to time, but visits grew less frequent as her other duties intervened.

Aila grew up learning the traditions of both her parents from her father. As soon as she could walk, she was tromping barefoot through the woods after her father as he told her about plants and animals. He taught her herbalism, tracking, the languages of the Natchez and Romani, which Tsura had taught to Ethan. He taught her to hunt with bow and arrow as well as guns. Ethan even chose to home school his little girl since he found the schools in the area inadequate.

At eleven, Aila could survive for extended periods of time alone in the forest, knew the basics of multiple martial arts, had built her own computer (with a bit supervision from Ethan), and could recite the periodic table while running the obstacle course behind their house. Ethan was proud of his daughter's progress.

As much as she loved spending time with her father, Aila's favorite thing was the monthly trips into town where her grandparents lived, when her father gathered supplies and caught up on family news. She loved his family, and like to sit and watched the townspeople for hours without moving. This is how she found the local arcade. Aila spent so much time there playing pinball, Space Invaders, and Street Fighter that that her father finally bought her a game console. She learned to play online, teaching her father to play as well, and earned herself the nickname "Head-Shot" from her friends. Ethan did his best to excise the "net-speak" from her vocabulary, but she insisted on hanging on to a few (most notably "frag" and "newb") which found amusing.

Life changed drastically for the two when Aila underwent her First Change at the age of 14--an experience no amount of teaching or training could prepare her for. Unspeakably proud and sad, Ethan sent a message to Tsura and did his best to prepare Aila for what would come next.

Aila is not the first Garou in her father's family--one of her cousins is a Uktena tribe member, but she pursued her mother's path among the Silent Striders. A boisterous, gregarious girl, always offering help to those she sees in need, she loves listening to people talk and enjoys telling stories. Despite this, she finds it difficult to connect with her Tribe. Sometimes it seems as though she has nothing in common with the Striders. Her open nature is a rough fit with the quiet, reclusive Silent Striders, and while she keenly feels the absence of their ancestor spirits, she is not uncomfortable with it, considering the plight of the Coatan's descendants.

Likewise, she feels distanced from her mother's kin by their grief over the loss of their homeland. Aila often ponders their exile and wonders if she will ever feel a closer connection to Egypt. Never has she felt lost or out of place. She is comfortable everywhere she goes and considers home to be wherever her feet are. Further, she isn't sure she feels the typical Strider unease at staying in one place too long. Though she revels in traveling under the open sky, she feels no compulsion to. Instead, new sights, new experiences, and fascinating new people draw her on. Still, Aila has resolved to become as much a part of the tribe as she can and works diligently towards this goal.