The breed standard of Aussies, Xiu looks almost like one of those dogs you would see in a dog show of old, rather than on the street, however, Xiu's build is lankier, and less muscular than is the norm. Her top half of her body is a snow white color, the bottom half peppery gray on top, and tan on the bottom. Her front paws are a dainty white, while the back continue the tanny bottom half of her rump. Xiu's ears are the gray color as well, with her cheek area the same tan as her hind legs. Finally, Xiu's eyes are bright, piercing blue, a blue that only comes along once in a while with dogs.

While Xiu may be pretty much perfect, her personality, however, is not. She isn't vain in any way, but she does know she has good looks, and sometimes uses those good looks to her advantage when dealing with males. She is good at persuading people. However, this is not her only way of keeping the pack in shape. Xiu relies on her sharp, barbed tongue to deal stinging retorts that keeps her pack together. Sarcasm is Xiu's best friend, Xiu herself being quite the snarky creature. But, with all her sarcastic remarks, she truly cares for her pack, and will give anything to protect them. Not being much on the fighting side, Xiu relies on the bigger tougher dogs to do the dirty work, while she stays in the background. As you might be able to tell, this is a weakness that she wants to work on. Nobody has found out about her fighting disability, but if they do, this could be a prime opportunity to try and take over the pack.

Xiu was born into greatness, her father being the leader of Saffron. Xiu was also born into a large family, being one out of 8 in her litter. Having always been on the tiny side, even then, she got pushed around by her burlier brothers and sisters.
The young dog got it into her head that she wanted to go out and explore, to leave the pack, and see where her fortunes lay outside the city. She was wily, and managed to convince Keaunu, her brother, to come along with her, not for companionship, but for protection. Keaunu was a slow, strong type, and had always admired the smarter Xiu. As always, he agreed to her decision without a second thought.
They traveled towards the setting sun for many days, and many nights, until they came upon a couple of angry loners, who were defending their territory from the unknowing intruders. The loners attacked the pups, and killed Keaunu, and Xiu barely escaped. She returned to her pack to find that, in a small famine that had racked the city, the rest of her siblings had died, leaving her the only daughter of the leader.
She spent the last year of her father's life lying low, being a good dog, so that she could rise above the rest and become leader when he passed on to the void.

Xiu trotted up to the mound of rotting cardboard boxes, where she promptly jumped onto the pile. The 1 year old Shepherd lifted her head into the wind, letting the faint mid-summer wind ruffle her fur. She closed her eyes until they were identical, ice blue slits, and took a deep breath, thinking about her future, which seemed only to go upwards from here.
''Xiuuuuu.......'' a loud whine jerked her out of her fantasies, bringing her back on top of the mound. She opened her eyes regretfully, and glared disdainfully down at her brother. Why the strongest of her siblings had to be so.... needy was beyond her comprehension. If she had known he would complain this much, she would have taken someone else!
"What is it this time Keaunu?'' she asked, making sure to keep the snarl out of her voice.
''I'm tiiireed. Can we stop for a bit?'' he gave her the trademarked puppy face, his brown eyes liquidy and large.
Xiu jumped off the box, landing a few feet in front of him. ''Not just yet, I already told you, we're going to try and get out of the city before nightfall! I swear to you brother, if I have to remind you again I'll let my teeth do the reminding.'' She clicked her teeth once, for emphasis, and then jerked around, padding off towards where the sun had set. Keaunu made to follow after her, but tripped over a piece of decaying cardboard instead. Xiu rolled her eyes and suppressed a giggle. She allowed to giggle to herself.
Brothers!

Applying for leader of Saffron please?

Blue Merle Australian Shepherds are my favorite dogs, like, ever. I noticed that she looked a bit like one of the dogs on the top banner, after I picked the breed.

And, she might do better with a burly, strong, fighting general, to make up for her not burly-ness. It's okay if she doesn't get a general like this, but I would greatly prefer this.
Thanks!