[NOTE: Old art featuring VJ's previous design!]

"Fleet Admirals, Family...and Friends?"

Several years later since the first story, and "Apprentice" Hedgehog has learned much from her mentor.

Vee-Jay turns fifteen, her coming-of-age, and faces a whole new territorial ballgame as she steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight of leading the DSF Elite. Dangerous troubles lurk beneath the surface of the seemingly pristine and stable Elite team, and the current leader, Commander Antony D'Callais is having none of VJ's presence, nor will he give up his position as team leader anytime soon. Thrown into the already-volatile mix is the added bonus of a possible spy within the ranks of the DSF, a puppet master lurking somewhere in the tiers of the Draconi'dia Council and a coup de tat from someone unexpected lying in wait for its moment to strike.

Learning how to be a proper leader is difficult enough, but Vee-Jay's about to walk right into a situation which will have dire consequences for all involved if she makes the wrong choice at the right time...

~**~

Okay, few things about this image;

They're supposed to be in one of the Council Hallways, but I can't draw straight lines to save my life. More practice is needed here. Before it's said, I don't like drawing with rulers either. Yes, I'm a basket case XD

The foreshortening on Antony and Thomas is somewhat off. Antony stands a full foot and half taller than Vee-Jay and Thomas is just shy of her shoulder-height. They're supposed to be standing a ways off from VJ (she's supposed to be standing on a platform/pedestal), but ended up being drawn too close, so that's why they're a little shorter than they're supposed to be.

[[That's what I get for drawing at 5am!]]

At this point in her teens, VJ has reached her full height as an adult, which is why she seems so tall in comparison to Thomas & Antony here. She is without sneakers for the first couple of parts of the second story, as they, along with another little token of appreciation (Casper), are a gift from her mentor Lady Kara-Ma Zalinski.

Vee-Jay may look confident (as any young teenager would be) but it's mostly an act. She's still in the middle of recovering after what her parents did to her, and has gotten quite talented at hiding her low self-esteem and anxiety with a heightened sense of overconfidence, brash arrogance and a pretty volatile temper.

In this particular chapter of her life, she has gone without friends and family for so long she's nearly completely independent; love is one of those things she'd rather leave behind as it's nothing but trouble, family is the same - she'd rather be without it as it's proven to be something that slows her down too much. She's just started to gain a proper hold on her skills and abilities, lessons taught to her by Kara-Ma, but is still of great interest to the Draconi'dia Council, the Admiralty and the Tribune. This continues to worry her; she wants to stay beside Captain Jameson as much as she can, but at the same time, she wants to keep as much distance as she can between her and the Naval Tribune especially.

Their intentions, however noble or unjust, still sends chills down her back.

When she comes of age, at 15, she finds that Captain Jameson has kept his promise to her and allowed her to slide into the position of Commander of the DSF Elite without interference...but she'd have reckoned without the current Leader, Commander (now Lieutenant Commander) Antony D'Callais.

What follows is the hell of a curve ball as she struggles to keep her personal facade of confidence together and earn the trust of her new teammates. And they're not going to make it a cakewalk for her.

Antony's going to make doubly SURE of that...!

DSF: ORIGINS Literature and Character Design: Commander Vee-Jay Hedgehog, Cadet Thomas Colloute & Lieutenant Commander D'Callais belong to Victoria S. Rodda, 1991 - 2015