Miranda Rains

Character Directory » Miranda Rains

Miranda

Nicole Scherzinger as Miranda Rains
Statistics
Fullname	Miranda 'Mandi' Rains
Birthday	May 6th, 1983
Species	Human
Age	25
Height	5'6
Weight	115
Eyes	Dark Brown
Hair	Black
Power	None
Parents	Naomi Rains - Mother(deceased), Shane 'Littlefeather' Rains - Father
Siblings	Only Child
Occupation	Animal Control Officer/La Push Park Ranger

Table of Contents

Biography

Life in Black Diamond, Washington is relatively peaceful. Free from the rigors and stress of big city life, countryside and mountains as far as the eye can see. On a clear night the sky is so full of stars that a body could get lost laying back in the sweet grass and staring up at them. It wasn't an easy life but it had it's own brand of rewards and it's charms. On May 6th, twenty some odd years ago a baby girl came into the world. There was no hospital delivery, there wasn't time to get there. The local MD was called out to the farm and he got there just in time to cut the umbilical cord and pronounce her a fat, healthy, baby girl. She came into the world kicking and screaming and sassy and never really changed. The tiny baby with the thick black hair and already tanned looking skin was named Miranda Naomi Rains. Her mother, a dark haired, olive skinned woman of Sicilian descent. Her father, also dark haired and dark skinned, of Lakota Sioux ancestry. It is no wonder that the baby had exotic and lovely features. Her father was a Deputy Sheriff of the area, a well known tracker and outdoors man. Her mother was a local veterinarian.

Never one to play with dollies or want to wear frilly dresses (despite her mother forcing her to wear them to Sunday School), the high spirited Miranda was often found getting into trouble and/or danger. From jumping out of the haylofts to trying to ride the unbroken stallions or tight rope walking the fence rails she was always fearless, into something or another. She was a good student in school but it didn't come natural to her. Many hours were put in under the watchful eye of her mother to get those good grades.

Her mother was the local vet for all the farms in the area and she often went with her mother to the neighboring ranches and farms and helped her tend to the animals. Of course when she was younger it was more of carrying the bag and handing her mother things, her assistance growing as she got older and more capable.

When not helping her mom she was found tagging along with her father, doing various chores about the farm, feeding animals, mucking stalls, brushing down coats of the horses, helping to round up the herds, helping in the fields, riding along with him into town in the cruiser. She was a regular tomboy. She got into trouble at school. A LOT. Usually from taking dares that ranged from mixing mustard in her chocolate pudding and eating it to jumping off the swing as it reached it's crest in the air.

Despite the modern times, old ways of thinking died hard. She was often teased by the other kids due to her mixed heritage. On more than one occasion she was called redskin, injun, and other derogatory names. Half-breed was the one that really had her seeing and would lead to fists flying every time. She had very few friends due to this, the other kids, as kids are known to do, shunning her thanks to the louder of the bullies that picked on her.

There was more than one occasion of getting in trouble for fighting but the day she came home with a black eye and a bloody nose was when her father decided that maybe some kind of structured environment would be best to channel her energy and teach her that sometimes it's best to walk away. Not to mention he was a little concerned about how things will be when she becomes a teenager. She was showing signs of the beauty she would possess. He took her camping out in the foothills near the Green River Gorge.

It was here that she was really introduced to her Native American culture. He had always managed to blend a bit of her heritage into her everyday life but it wasn't till then that he really put a focus on it. She was introduced to the basics of such things as archery, hand to hand combat, spear fishing, hunting, and more developed tracking methods. She was taught the songs and dances of her people, the philosophies and ideologies and spirituality. Even though it was a long weekend it was only the beginning of her training. Subsequent camping trips helped her hone her talents and skills. He taught her how to shoot his gun as well, their secret since her mother wasn't fond of guns. She was a natural in the woods, within a few years she'd even surpassed his own tracking skills. There was a natural affinity with animals within her; bird and other animal calls quickly learned and perfected. Plants identified and learned how to use in homeopathic remedies and first aid.

Her energy and zest for life was a bit difficult to tame at first but soon she was finding the flow of it and it helped in her studies managing to make the honor roll at least most of the time. There were no more reports of fighting at school which eased her mother's mind despite her disapproval of her daughter's tomboy ways.

She never quite grew out of her tomboy stage though. From a young age she'd tagged along with her father and grandfather on fishing trips and hunting trips. Sometimes it was meat hunting; deer, elk, duck, etc… Sometimes it was to take care of predators that preyed on the livestock. She was taught gun safety and proper handling but she was never as good as her father in that department. She loved seeing the animals and could kill them but it wasn't something she enjoyed. She knew how to field dress and skin an animal but more times than not she left that to the menfolk. She learned how to recognize and set traps and snares and what to avoid when riding a trail or walking to prevent harm coming to her or her horse as well.

It wasn't only the hunting and the rough work around the farm that she got into. Anything the boys did she wanted to do it as well. On a farm when something broke down you didn't take it to the repair shop. No you fixed it yourself. It was a very self sufficent community. People helped one another in hard times and took care of their own problems. When her father was up under the hood of one of the farm trucks or tinkering on the tractor she was right there with him asking questions, learning the tools, learning the tricks and knacks to repairing the vehicle. She might not always be able to fix it herself but she can at least tell you what's wrong with it for the most part. She was never one of those helpless girls.

It was this simple life and the love of nature that led her to want to become a Federal Park Ranger. She went to Montana State for the first two years of college, studying environmental sciences which encompassed many areas of knowledge that she would need; biology, zoology, herbology, environmental studies, climate effects on the planet (erosion, etc), and the like.She did well in school but when her mother fell ill she moved back to Washington to attend a local college to be nearer to home. It was her senior year that her mother died. Cancer, the doctors had said. Her father took it hard and threw himself into his job, often working double shifts and covering overtime. It didn't leave her a lot of time to be with him.

After graduation she applied for an internship with the National Parks Services, learning to be a park ranger. She worked out of Tiger Mountain State Park in Washington. She spent a year there and met Robert Parker, a native of La Push, Washington. He'd mentioned a job opening with the Animal Control services in the area. The job was offered to her and she applied. The job wasn't exactly the same as being a National Park Ranger but it would put her in the forest and Olympic National Forest was nearby. With her father's blessing she headed out to La Push when she heard that the job was hers.

She loaded up the old Chevy truck that her Pops had given her on her sixteenth birthday and headed cross the backroads to the unknown of her new life. She'd been driving all day and all night, wanting to hurry up and get to her apartment and get some sleep. Her eyes were bleary and the old, simple radio in the car wasn't picking up much to keep her awake. She didn't even see the creature that ran out in front of her until it was too late. Bits of fur flew through the air in the high beams of the truck and she felt the impact. Whatever it was it was something big. Thankfully, while her truck wasn't the prettiest of vehicles it was sturdy, made in a time when cars where made out of metal and steel.

Throwing the truck in park she grabbed the .45 revolver from the glove compartment that her father had insisted she take with her and climbed out of the vehicle. She saw the mangled and bleeding body of the huge wolf there on the road. Other eerie sounding howls echoed off in the distance. The thing was panting, barely alive, it's body broken and crushed. She'd seen enough injured animals to know that this one wouldn't make it no matter what. She hated doing it and even whispered a soft apology to it as she pointed the gun at the thing's head. She couldn't save it but she could put it out of it's misery. The crack of the report of the hand cannon resounded across the flat desert plain and the animal fell still, it's blood seeping out onto the pavement. She was amazed at the size of the wolf, it's thick black fur beautiful. She couldn't just leave it in the roadway. Dragging it off to the side of the road she felt an odd sensation that made her skin prickle and goosebumps rise along her skin. She couldn't put her finger on it or figure out what it was but it was strange. She wrote if off as the eerie sound of the wolves in the distance howling their dirge as being what was unsettling.

So far things in this new town has been quiet. She hasn't met a lot of the locals or gotten to explore a lot but she looks forward to venturing out to Forks and walking the coastline. She's gotten her gear, her jeep, and her uniform for the job as well as her badge and radio. She's still learning the radio codes of the area but fortunately they are similar to those she grew up hearing from her father. Only time will tell what this stage in her life will bring.