Hei Yan

Pertaining to the darkness of the universe, the shadows of which envelop light. His Yin personality is sadistic and void of the usual empathy and emotions that would plague a human being - almost to the point where he can be described as lacking a conscience. There is always a constant need to indulge himself in sinful desires - sex, alcohol, and the spilling of other's blood - and when in this persona, he will do as he wishes and fulfil his wants as they come. He is most ruthless in battle when in this state, and strangely, much more level-headed and cool. Hei is quiet and speaks only when spoken to, and his replies are often full of malice and sarcasm, words aiming to hurt. It is not often that the world and it's inhabitants come across his Yin persona, and those who do are not able to speak of it - unless you can speak to the dead.

Although referred to as the lighter side, his Yang personality is only better when compared to his Yin persona. The more actively dominant persona, his Yang personality is charismatic and almost chivalrous, aiming to please others and maintain healthy, positive interactions. He is not as quick to use his weapons or abilities, but his skills do not deteriorate while in this state. Considerably less sadistic and blood-thirsty, he is more prone to have mercy and kill without stalling or drawing unnecessary blood. This is usually the side that people see most often, as it normally appears when he is passing through a city or town full of people. He is also seemingly much more trusting, and will not show open suspicion towards others.

Name: Furnace Flesh
Nation: Fire
Description: Residents of the Fire nation have lived and are around fire all the time. They have built up a resitance to heat and will not feel hot from their own fire or others. They can still get burned and feel pain from fire but will not be bothered by heat.

Name: Cunning wits
Nation: Fire
Description: Residents of the Fire nation are extremely cunning, they are good at battle plans and are very devious. They can formulate ideas quick in battle and are very sly indviduals.

Name: Ambidextrous
Range: ---
Description: Ambidextrous individuals are able to use both hands at equal efficiency in order to do everyday things - without having a dominant hand. The individual is able to wield weapons at equal speed and strength with either hands.

Name: Sole Affinity
Range: ---
Element: Fire
Description: This individual boasts only an affinity towards fire, and can not/will not train in any of the Advanced Elements relating to fire. This prevents their attention from being divided towards other skills, and allows them to push the limits of fire bending.

Name: Blade Wielder
Range: ---
Description: Although a bender, this individual has also trained in the art of blade-wielding, and is relatively skillful in this field. Instead of relying solely on bending, this individual prefers to use bladed weapons in order to incapacitate others.

Name: White Flames
Type: Custom
Range: ---
Description: Contrary to the usual red-orange flames of regular firebenders, the fire that this individual bends is a bright white (with a blueish tinge), as a result of the fire being highly oxygenated even before coming into contact with the air. These flames burn much brighter and have an overall increased temperature, but bending limits still generally apply.

Name: Unwavering Will
Range: ---
Description: This individual harbours an immense, unshakeable will towards his goals - usually fuelled by anger or hatred towards something. This allows him to never waver when fighting for a cause, and is highly unlikely to ever give up in any situation.

Name: Step of a Predator
Specialty: Tracker
Ability: This specialty allows the individual to walk without any audible sounds, enabling them to sneak up on their foes undetected. In addition to aiding in offense attacks (ie. drawing his sword without a sound), this also helps in hiding and other stealth-related actions. 

Name: Trained Senses
Specialty: Tracker
Ability: This individual has enhanced senses - eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and scent are all greatly superior to those who don't have this specialty. This allows for the individual to maximize their awareness in combat and when tracking people. 

Name: Immediate Adaptation
Specialty: Tracker
Ability: Personal preferences to certain environments aside, this individual has an exceptional skill at adapting to their surroundings and using everything rituals advantage.

Name: Cheetah Form
Type: Supplementary/Defense
Element: ---
Range: ---
Description: In Cheetah form, Zephyr is able to travel up to a maximum speed of 120km/h, and a maximum of 90km/h when carrying Hei on her back. She is able to leap 35 feet horizontally, and a maximum of 15 feet into the air - distances are decreased by 10 with Hei on her back. This form is generally used to cover large distances in a small amount of time, but also the form of which fatigues Zephyr the most. After approximately 1500 km, she will begin to show signs of fatigue and her speed will decrease by 10 km/h and by 2000km, she will revert back to her kitten form and be unable to shapeshift for the rest of the thread.

Name: Leopard Form
Type: Supplementary/Offensive
Element: ---
Range: ---
Description: In Leopard form, Zephyr's maximum speed is decreased to 70km/h - 65 km/h when carrying Hei, as the weight of what she can wear on her back is increased when in Leopard form. Stealth is maximized in this form, and regardless of her size, she can travel through most environments undetected. When attacking, she can cause superficial wounds approximately .5 inch deep. She is able to maintain this form for five posts maximum, and after the five posts is up, she must wait until five posts (in kitten form) before shapeshifting again.


Name: Bobcat and White Tigress Form
Type: Supplementary/Minor Offensive
Element: ---
Range: ---
Description: Both the Bobcat form and the Tigress form are generally used to fight multiple opponents two ranks lower than Hei, or in situations where Hei does not feel the need to fight them himself. Both can cause surface wounds (1 inch deep) scratches, and 2 inch deep bites. In terms of which of the two forms Zephyr decides to take on, it depends on whether size will serve as advantage or not. Aside from her kitten form, these two forms are the ones that she can maintain for the longest (through the whole thread of fighting weak opponents, at least 10 posts if not).

Name: White Panther Form
Type: Offensive
Element: ---
Range: ---
Description: Zephyr's strongest form in terms of combat. It is this form that she can fight almost alongside Hei (not as an equal, as her abilities are equivalent to that of a soldier or less). Bites and scratches are 5 inches and 2 inches deep respectively - fatal if bitten in the right spot. Her maximum speed in this form is 35 km/h, and she prefers to sneak up, attack, then engage the enemy head on (if it isn't an instant kill after the first move) without running or dodging around. Generally, any individual of a Captain rank or higher can incapacitate her in this form, but soldiers and lower ranks will have much trouble in facing her. The main downsides of this form is that she is weak against fire and water elements, and she can only maintain this form of a maximum of 5 posts in combat per thread.

Note: Zephyr can only have a maximum of two form transformations per thread, not including her kitten form. This includes all limitations mentioned in the abilities of each form, so if she exceeds the limit of a certain form, she may not take on another form and must remain as a sideline character (kitten form) for the rest of a thread.

The foundations of Hei Yan’s past were set long before he was born; an ancient, traditional animosity that was harboured by generations of the Long family from which he originates. The Long family were once respected nobles of the Fire Nation, belonging to the proud military branch which worked to keep their homeland safe as well as help to expand the Fire Nation’s power and influence to the other lands. They thought themselves – as a pure fire bender bloodline – to be superior to all others, from benders of other elements to non-benders. And under the reign of Fire Lord Ozai, their wealth and power flourished, leading them to believe that such was the life they were destined to live, and such was the life that their descendants will continue to lead.

But the appearance of the long-long Avatar Aang destroyed everything they had built for themselves, toppling their lives into an endless abyss of hatred and loss. Instead of accepting the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai and Azula, they fled from the main capital of the Fire Nation, vowing never to accept a leader who would willingly work alongside the Avatar for peace. Peace – in their minds – was simply an excuse for the weak, and would easily be trampled over by the right trigger. And so generations passed, through to the death of Avatar Aang and past the existence of Avatar Korra, and the Long family bided their time, living under the pretense of the working class while training their family members in the art of fire bending, hoping for one day when a heir to the family will be born that will take on the challenge of rising up against the Avatars.

And one fateful night, as the clock’s longer hand hovered just before striking twelve, a child was born to the Long family. A child so strangely different, with his mismatched eyes and split-colored hair; a child who absorbed the last of his mother’s strength as he came into the world and she, in turn, left it.

Growing up, Hei Yan – whose name literally translates to Black Smoke – lived a relatively sheltered life, away from other people not part of his direct family. The moment he showed signs of being a firebender at age five, he was set to training with his older brother (who was somewhat of a fire bender prodigy) and his uncle (who specialized in sword fighting). But within a year, his fire-orange flames suddenly took on a blue hue, its heat increasing to the point where it was sometimes unbearable for six-year old Hei. His family members were all bewildered, seeing as all of them had had the same standard flame color for generations. It was determination not to be different from others that motivated Hei to train even harder, to make up for everything that drew unwanted attention to himself.

By age ten, his flame color had gone completely white. And during one fateful day training alone in the back of his house, he accidentally set the entire surrounding area up in flames, attracting the attention of a nearby patrol of soldiers. Within moments, his entire home was up in flames, and in a blind panic, he killed two of the soldiers, prompting the others to call in reinforcements and capture any surviving family members. But of course, the Long family had been working in secrecy for far too long to be captured and interrogated, and so every single member put up a fight before they were finally subdued by two General-ranked fire benders – with only one positive hope … the youngest son, Hei, had escaped during the chaos.

Casting behind him the remains of his home and family, Hei survived almost solely on his drive to redeem his sins by carrying on his family’s wish – to rid the world of Avatars and allow benders to rule what is rightfully theirs. He spent two years living with a family who took him in with kindness and continued his training in sword-fighting, yet they knew little about his past, and were completely unaware of the fact that he was a fire bender. But Hei was unaccustomed to living out in the open, where his strange appearance brought upon him many fearful or mocking attitudes. As he became aware that the family he was living with were beginning to suffer because of the judgement of the other members in the village, he left once again, vowing to become a solitary individual with an unwavering will to complete his goals.

And now, twenty years later, he has trained up to the skills of a captain, travelling as a rogue and slowly preparing for some form of rebellion against the Avatars and those who suppress the benders.

A hungry child is an unhappy one, regardless of the other simple pleasures available; ones that were often associated with happiness.

It had been a day full of excitement — a relief that came after days of rotting in utter boredom in the school full of people decades older than her. She had gone out with one of the older students in the school, the day-long excursion resulting in her return home with an abundance of new stationary items, colorful new art supplies, and a new Mashimaro plushie. After assuring that she would find dinner on her own — seeing as she had given her day companion the courage to finally go and confess to a girl he liked — she had returned to her room, spending the next two hours drawing vague illustrations of … abstract things. Like her artistically talented parents, she had developed an affinity for art, but seeing as she was still in the earlier stages of development, her masterpieces were … unique, for the lack of a better term.

It wasn’t until a pungent aroma that wafted through the door and into her room that she realized it was way past her usual dinner time, and that she was famished. Hopping off her bed, she followed the hunger-inducing smell towards the door, much like a hound on the trail of game. Opening the door, the sight that greeted her just about met the criteria for the child’s definition of a ‘extremely cute’. A man, dressed simply, with the cutest bunny ears sitting atop his head. And — an addition that greatly added to her interest — a bowl of noodles in his hand, the source of the smell.

Padding up behind him — she was wearing her little pink slippers by now — she reached up to tug at the back of his shirt, a curious, wide-eyed look on her face instead of the usual smile.

"Hi, Mr. Bunny ~ " While greeting him though, her gaze alternated between glancing curiously at the bunny ears, and gazing longing at the bowl of noodles, her questions and intentions quite clear.