AGE — 18

NATION — southern water tribe

BIRTHPLACE — harbor city, southern water tribe

 

FACE CLAIM (+BACKUP) — model // rina fukushi ( actress // courtney eaton )
 

                


TRAITS —                             sagitarrius // istj // gryffindor 

                  pos / independent, innovative, observant, conscientious, selfless  
                     neg / dauntless, withdrawn, repentant, resenting, untrusting 

 

 

namaka was always the type who put others before herself. she is the eldest in her family of 6 and because of the absence of her father and the loss of her mother she was ultimately the parental figure in her household. she would wake up early mornings to go hunt for tiger seals for their meal for the day. her and other groups of hunters would search for these animals miles out from their village, but because of the fire nation raids, tiger seals and otter penguins became scarce around their area. this brought the idea of her group to create traps and lure's that would be undetected by the fire nation that occupied the area. she learned the patterns of these animals by continuously studying the way they live. observing their routines to be able to create the best traps and lures. though often namaka is seen distant from her group as she tries to go past the border the fire nation created for them. she's curious of what was beyond that line. all her life she has gone through the same routine, the same path, and seen the same people. she craves adventure and wants to learn about the unknown. she has heard of the other villages that survived the raids and she needs to know if her father is part of one of them. after her many attempts to go passed the border, she has only gone around a 100 ft radius. to keep track of her journies she would draw her path on a map she had gotten from her father. her abilities to create maps and new technology has helped her survive the harsh weathers of the southern water tribe. it would also help her people escape if they were ever raided again. and only her best friend knows of her paths as he would cover for her as she ventured the land. because of this her independence and abilities to take care of herself are strong. She is not the type to depend on others as she is the one people would lean on her. her father taught her to be a leader with the support of her mother. seeing her parents impact the village with their actions, it gave namaka two strong role models. she wishes for the leadership skills and assertiveness her parents had with the village. but it also keeps her from becoming part a group or building her teamwork abilities. she is so used to a partner or being by herself she doesn't take the iniative to learn how to work well with others. she believes she only needs her abilities as it has taken care of her thus far.

because of how small namaka's village is, it was very hard for the citizens to not know who and how many people lived there. with a small population of roughly 600 people, everyone knew all the names and general background of the citizens. namaka's family line stood out the most. her father was the chief of the village before the fire nation took over. before the fire nation had the chance to execute him as a sign of power, he fled on a polar dog to who knows where. namaka was only 10 yr old at the time. everyone looked up to her father as he was a symbol of strength and hope for the village. now he was a symbol of betrayal and cowardliness by some, villagers continue to treat her family with respect but others sneer at the presence of them. this led namaka to be emotionally numb to negative words. it also taught her that people are quick to change. neighbors that used to praise her father daily now frown at the mention of him. she learned to be strong and to be a role model for her younger siblings who couldn't understand the situation at the time. though she loves and respects her father with all her heart, she resents him for leaving her whole family on their own against the brutality that would head their way. she also held a grudge against any memeber of the fire nation tribe as they broke her family and village apart. both have never been the same since. she thrived to be better than him, mentally and physically stronger. she needed to be the hope of her village. she wanted to do only justice for her people as her parents had let them down. that is why she is breaking the gender boundaries even more by joining the men in their morning hunts and training. all she had was her physical strength to protect her village. she had the burden of the village on her shoulders and it motivated her to become the person she is today. after the incident, an emotional wall was put around her. she couldn't risk having anyone else disappoint her or leave her. after the loss of her friend, father, and mother, she had enough. she is often neutral about many things in fear that she would just be disappointed. she keeps her emotions to herself and a select few to keep others from getting to know her and become a part of her life. she rather stay a lone wolf. she doesn't need a pack to rely on her and for her to rely on them. 

 

BACKGROUND — 

                                    "the girl who is watched by the spirits."

it was a joyous day when namaka was born. the infamous glacier spirit festival was ongoing when her mother, sokana gave birth. every villager surrounded the igloo to watch the birth of their chief raham's child. many meditated around the igloo in hopes that the spirits would watch over the child and allow her to be healthy and strong. the elders circled around the couple and medic as sokana was giving birth, chanting prayers and blessings to the spirits. that day especially was when the spirits watched over their village with the power of everyone's prayer. that night the skies were as bright as ever. the spirits danced across the night sky responding to their wishes. namaka was blessed by the spirits to one day become a strong women who would be the hero of their village. but only the elders knew of this blessing as they were the only ones who communicated with the spirits. 

growing up, namaka was treated differently than other kids her age. she was taught at a young age the importance of leadership and respect. the elders watched her closely as she was prophesized as a future hero. they didn't know what age or why she would become a hero but they knew she needed to learn how to become one. around the age 6, namaka was gifted her first boomerang by her father. her father believed people shouldn't be bound by gender normatives and given the chance to do what they wanted. her mother, of course, was against the idea. she was her first daughter and she wished she would be elegant and ladylike. thankfully she was pregnant with her 3rd child and she had another chance for her wish to come true. namaka watched in awe as her father and other warriors would go hunt in the mornings, train in the afternoons, and clean their equipment in the evening. she wished to be as brave and strong as the men in her village. secretly, she practiced fighting with her boomerang on snowmen when her mother was cooking with the other mother's in the village. her neighbors, buha and tojan, would also join her in her game of fighting. the three of them were a close bunch who did everything together. buha was older than namaka and tojan was younger. tojan was a waterbender while namaka and buha were not. tojan would train with the other benders before playing with the two. the three of them continue this "game" for years until namaka was 10. everything changed that year. their lives weren't the same ever again. 


                      "everything changed when the fire nation attacked"        

no one saw this day coming. because of the isolation between villages and how far the southern water tribe is from the other nations they didn't know the harmony between the 4 was destroyed. not many knew of the hundred year war as it never hit their village yet. fire nation army ships could be seen from by warriors who were along the shore. they went hunting for seals when they saw the smoke from the horizon. the villagers didn't know how to feel as it was rare for anyone to visit the southern water tribe. before they knew it soot began to fall from the sky which they have never seen before. it caused panic and dysphoria among villagers. the sound of marching still haunts the villagers' nightmares. children were told to stay in their igloos and men were told to grab their weapons to prepare for a fight. namaka gripped onto her boomerang and guarded her younger siblings with her mother. buha and tojan stayed inside as well as they were too scared to be alone. the bright light of fire shone through the blanket that shielded the outside. cries were heard throughout the village. namaka's mother guarded the children, hoping they wouldn't glance out the opening. unfortunately, namaka's angle had a perfect view of what was happening outside. she saw people, kids even, being pulled away by soldiers. fire was being thrown onto houses, melting away the ice. the masked soldiers continued to destroy the village without a second of hesitation. it wasn't until they got to her igloo when they realized the true reason they came.

the children covered their mouths to hold in their screams. but that didn't stop the soldiers from melting their home, the only thing guarding them against the madness outside. the two soldiers voices are etched in namaka's mind forever. they glared at each person in the igloo in search of a waterbender. they shouted to another soldier to bring a prisoner with them to verify which child was a waterbender. buha guarded tojan with his whole body in hopes to hide him. but the prisoner was tortured into revealing tojan's identity. tojan at that point was a crying mess, as the fear of dying washed into his mind. buha screamed in rage as he tried everything he could to keep his brother by his side. but he was easily overpowered by the elder and thrown towards namaka while tojan was carried away by the soldier. both tojan and namaka ran towards the soldier, against her mother's cries, in hopes to reach tojan on time. but by the time they caught up to them on the shore, all prisoners were aboard the ship and bounded with shackles. all that was heard was buha screaming tojan's name. namaka knew they didn't have a chance to save him and held buha back with what little strength she had left. minutes later the ship was off the shore and sailed into the horizon. silence washed over the water tribe, except the sobs coming from the shore.

 

                                   "the true meaning of being a warrior"

days after the fire nation's raid on harbor city, the villagers tried to rebuild their homes with whatever they had left. children didn't have the energy to run around as they used too, men didn't have the strength to go hunt for food, women cried at the loss of their husband and/or child. the feeling of joy and warmth weren't present anywhere. it was almost as if everyone has given up. namaka has stayed by buha's side through the days. buha was emotionally numb. he hasn't gotten up from his bed since that day and he hasn't eaten since. namaka's parents led the reconstruction of the village while she tried to revive her best friend. she herself was on the edge of a breakdown as she was just as close to tojan as she was to the other but she tried to remain strong to influence buha to also be strong. they were only kids. they didn't have the capabilities to hunt down every ship that could possibly have his little brother. they didn't have the choice but to move on. yet, it seemed the spirits was against namaka's wishes. 

it was dawn when soot once again showered upon the village. citizens didn't have the strength to scream or fight back, this time they calmly exited their homes as they watched the soldiers, who this time was unmasked, imprinted on the snow. one man in particular led the troops to the center of the village, where everyone could watch his every movement. raham faced the unmasked man demanding they leave his village. the unmasked man scoffed at his try of intimidation. with only a snap of his fingers, four soldiers bound his hands and feet with shackles. he shouted to the villagers "this is your leader, a man who in seconds is bound by the fire nation. we hereby take his role and be your new leaders as we are much more capable than the latter. anyone here disagree!" everyone was in a state of shock and fear that they couldn't even respond to his answer. "no one? okay, that settles it." the unmasked man then dragged her father to elevated area making a grand demonstration. "now to show you that you should be grateful for our services, let's show you all how powerful we really are." raham was on his knees, a masked firebender was ready to execute him, until all of the sudden raham fought back. his silence and lack of resistances gave the fire nation a feeling of weakness which distracted them enough for him to make a surprise attack. the crowd cheered as he successfully unshackled himself and fought with the soldiers, singlehandedly. warriors morale had risen, inspiring them to fight back. they join namaka's father as they fought the soldiers. it was a messy fight. namaka and buha were in the back but they knew they should leave the fighting to the elders. namaka tried to look for her father to see if he was winning against the soldiers, but suddenly he was nowhere to be found. namaka continuously shouted for her father, and looked to behind her to see that her father had taken their polar bear dog and fled the scene. namaka cried for her father as he rode away before only a shadow was seen. the warriors later became outnumbered and then, in turn, were shackled. the villages last hope was taken away from them. everything that has been built to that point was gone. the spirits were not on their side. and this is when they realized they were a part of the hundred year war.

 

                                                  "the search is on"

8 years has passed since that day. the other nations have heard of the downfall of the southern water tribe at that point and even their sister tribe has gone down with them. namaka was a grown woman who has yet to fulfill her prophecy. only 3 out of the 10 original elders have survived after the fire nation raids. prayers and meditation towards the spirit have been neglected by many as they believe the spirits are not watching them anymore. the glacier spirit festival has now stopped being celebrated. the fire nation has kept a base near their village as they have watched their every move. but as time passes they have neglected the village as they do not see them as a threat. they allow them to practice their culture with hunts and clothes making as it didn't effect them much. namaka and buha hunted every morning to aid their families. namaka's mother died when she was 16 yr old. after the incident, the negativity and the fleeing of her husband led her to a depressive state where she then drowns herself. namaka has then become the sole head of her family. buha's parents help look out for her siblings while she hunts or trains as they treat them as their children. no one else in the village was willing to do that. 

not a day passes without the thought of tojan and her father. both buha and namaka planned for a day where they can escape the southern water tribe to search for his brother and her father. they trained in secret by mastering whatever weapon they could get their hands on, learning martial arts from scrolls, and even trying to create new styles of their own. namaka herself has tried to learn chi blocking but because of the dangers it has on a nonbenders body she hasn't been able to try it on an actual person. they believe that this training is leading up to something bigger, which they will learn it will soon.....
 

SKILLS — 

                  

martial arts // being a non-bender means to defend yourself with only the power of your hands, legs and mind. namaka has learned self-defense from a young age and has mastered the art of fluid fighting (tai chi) which is used by waterbenders. she uses light and smooth motions to impact a strong punch. this allows her to become flexible and agile. she is also highly skilled in a fast impact fighting (like jujitsu) and the abilitie to overthrow her opponents (judo). 

throwing projectiles // having her first boomerang at age 6, namaka has master the art of the boomerang and has then added throwing knives, and stilettos during her travels to the other nations. she hopes to learn the bow and arrow once they reach the earth kingdom. her accuracy is high but no where as great as mai's. she practices on seals from a long distance and fishes in the water. 

swordsmanship // her primary weaponry is the scimitar. she obtained this when her father fled and left all his belongings. her father's scimitar was a whale's tooth carved into a wooden stick. she then upgraded it to a blade from metals she found and blacksmithed herself. she would also use battle axes and pikes, but those were only if she didn't have her scimitar with her.   

RELATIONSHIPS — 

• best friend | buha, 19, warrior, headstrong, hot headed, courageous, loyal
  
  buha has been there since the beginning. he has seen all of namaka's stages from being a little girl to a strong willed woman. everyone knows of the namaka and buha duo as they are inseparable. he is the only non-family member that has seen her smile or kept a conversation. with the loss of his little brother, his ultimate goal is to find his brother with the help of namaka. he is her companion, partner in crime, and shoulder to lean on. he is her brotherly figure as she is the eldest female in her family, but as time goes on he doesn't know if he sees her as a little sister or a woman.
   
• best friend | tojan, 17, unknown (prisoner), cheerful, opptimistic, dependent
  
  just like buha he was also always on namaka's side. because he was a water bender he would show off his new skills to his older brother in hopes to make him proud. even though he had bending abilities he never believed he could be stronger than his brother as he wasn't as brave as the other. to namaka he was a little brother that she cherished. of course she had other brothers but they were much younger than her. tojan had a special place in her heart, but it was ripped away when he was taken by the fire nation. she and buha plan to find tojan and bring him back home.

namaka's goal has been to find her father and best friend who are out in a world she has not even ventured before. as she journies through the different nations she realizes how big the world really is and how much history she has missed by staying in the southern water tribe. she learns that life is short lived, so by resenting people and their life choices is not how one should spend most of their life.