AGE — Twenty-three (23)

NATION — Fire Nation

BIRTHPLACE — A small island in the Fire Nation called Yuyan. 

FACE CLAIM (+BACKUP) — Tao Okamoto (Shu an Oon)
 

Yerahn is not a person who you want to come after you. It doesn't matter who you are or what your title or position is, Yerahn will do her job. She doesn't fear dying - to die for the Fire Nation would be an honor - she only fears failure. Yerahn puts everything she is and has into her missions; she doesn't let the idea or thought of fear or death hold her back. She doesn't care about what someone else might be capable of, because she knows what she is capable of. Her fearlessness should not be mistaken for recklessness, though. Just because she fears no enemy, it doesn't mean she underestimates them and rushes in. Yerahn takes her time and waits. She has no problem just sitting and waiting for the perfect opportunity. She believes its better to wait and take one shot than to rush in and take multiple shots. Yerahn's patience knows no limit - at least when it comes to a mission.

A reason why Yerahn does not fear any enemy is her confidence in herself. She knows what she is capable of and has faith in her abilities. She is a Yuyan Archer after all, her skills are legendary. She knows her skill with a bow is unmatched (at least from anyone not a Yuyan archer). She trusts her abilties, but the trust is well-deserved. Yerahn spent years honing in on her skill and practicing all hours of the day. Whatever the job, she puts everything she has into completing it. Of course, she never really had a choice. Discipline made her hard working. Anything less than a hundred percent was considered a failure. Shinu made the children believe that if they didn't work hard to achieve the Fire Nation's goals, that they were failing the nation and their families.

"They name the most powerful storms after women for a reason" ||

In Yerahn's mind there is the Fire Nation and then there is savages. There is no in between. She believes the Fire Nation and her citizens are superior to everyone else. She has a distaste for the other kingdoms and tribes. She follows many in the army and shows discrimination against waterbenders or earthbenders. She doesn't inherently hate the other peoples, but she believes they are misguided and need a guiding light. This is, in part, caused by her ignorance. Yerahn has been 'corrupted' for her entire life. She has only been exposed to one side of things. She is unaware of the true culture or history of the other peoples because of the propaganda she was exposed to. She doesn't know anything about the other people, but she believes she knows all there is to know. 

For the most part, Yerahn isn't overtly emotional. Honestly, she was trained and now she is disciplined to hide and push emotions down. It's made her job a lot easier if she simply believes she doesn't even have emotions. People who meet her - outside of the Yuyan archers - believes she's lifeless and robotic and is incapable of feeling anything. The sad part is, Yerahn wishes that were true. There are moments, however rare, that she finds herself caring, when she finds herself hoping, or dreaming, wishing, or believing. But, she's quick to hide these. It is not her place to feel. She is a Yuyan Archer - a destructive force with no ethical qualms. The only constant emotion is her cruelty and insensitivity. She doesn't understand emotions - since she didn't have a normal ing childhood - and she can't precieve how others are feeling. She's not sympathetic nor is she empathetic. So, her lack of regard for others' feelings comes off as her being insensitive to them. 
 

BACKGROUND —  

Yerahn's life has been anything but conventional. When she was just a small child, no older than three years old, she was removed from her family on orders of Colonel Shinu. She wasn't the only baby, however, far from it actually. For a handful of years, children of settlers in Fire Nation colonies were taken from their families at young ages. The families saw it as a good thing; their children were being taken by the Fire Nation to benefit their army. Also, the families were well compensated for their children, so there's that. Yerahn can hardly remember her parents. She only has vague images in her mind of them; she has given them common characteristics, features she is used to seeing, but it elicits no response from her. At a point, she tried to remember and tweak different characteristics in the hopes some combination would garner a response, but after awhile, Yerahn gave up on that. And besides, it doesn't bother her that she lacks memories of her parents. She found a new family.

She soon had many brothers and sisters who looked out for one another. Yerahn and the other children had been taken to a small village outside of the capitol to be trained. The village looked to be deserted and was far from comforting. The village might have been small, but a massive wooden, piked wall encompassed the village that reached unimaginable heights to the very, young children. In the beginning, many children cried out for their parents and families, wondering why they were here. There were old enough to know something was wrong, but not old enough to understand it. Colonel Shinu took no mercy on the young children, treating them as if they were soldiers. He commanded their attention and obedience. 

From the beginning, Yerahn and the other children spent every waking minute with one another. Their time was split between training and learning. Their training would go into all hours of the day and night. They learned various martial arts - whatever the Fire Nation knew or had access to. The children sparred with one another and were taught to never hold back. "You're opponent won't, so why should you?" Colonel Shinu drilled into them. They were handling bows, swords, knives, and other various weapons by a young age. They were expected to learn the weapons quickly; if they didn't, they were taught that they were letting down the Fire Nation.

When they weren't training, they were in 'school', which may have been more important than the physical training. Yerahn and the others were taught Fire Nation history, war tactics,  and strategies. To an outsider, however, it would be considered propoganda. Colonel Shinu and his subordinates who helped run the village, taught the children of the Fire Nation's prowess and the savegery of the other people and they taught the children their hatred and their racism as well. He showed examples of when rebels attacked; he exaggerated the losses the Fire Nation suffered as well as the might and strength of their army. The children were shown every negative thing either the Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom had done - carefully leaving out anything positive. The young, impressionable children began to despise the other, evil nations. Everything that was wrong in the world was due to the rebels and the resistance to the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation was a shinning light, showering the world in culture and civilization. The only way to make the world better was to further the Fire Lord's plans and the only way to do that was to remove any and all obstactles. Yerahn and the other children had these things drilled into them until they were repeating it verbatum. Years were spent where the children only every heard the words 'Earth Kingdom' and 'Water Tribe' when they were associated with 'savages' 'primitive' or 'beasts'. To Yerahn, anyone who wasn't Fire Nation was nothing better than a wild beast. They definitely weren't human so the thought of ridding them to further the Fire Nation's agenda was on par with exterminating roaches. If they had to give their lives to further their Fire Lord's plan, then it would be an honor to die for the Fire Nation.

During the children's training as they grew up, if someone demonstrated any firebending abilities, they were instantly taken away by Colonel Shinu. Yerahn never knew what happened to them, and she never asked. She and the others trusted whatever Colonel Shinu did; he was their superior officer and they did not question him. The colonel informed them of their purpose and why some of the children - those who could firebend - were taken away, however, after he had removed nearly half of the kids. He told the children that their group was only for non-benders. He wanted a non-bending unit in the military because he - as well as many others - had noticed how a firebenders powers weakened at night, when the sun was gone. Shinu wanted a group that was powerful no matter what time it was. That was the only explanation he offered, and that was all the children needed. Yerahn also noticed that after a couple of years, no new recruits arrived, but she didn't ask; again, the Colonel was not questioned. The truth was, Fire Lord Ozai had cut off funds to Colonel Shinu's little project. He had informed the Colonel that since he had produced no results - considering they were still children - Ozai would no longer continue to fund the addition of new recruits. He agreed to fund who remained - it took money to feed and clothe the children as well as to provide weapons and what not - but no more. 

By the time Yerahn reached the ripe age of sixteen, only twenty kids remained in the unit. Some had been removed if they were firebenders and some couldn't keep up with their regime and were also removed. Those that were left were lethal and obedient. Yerahn and the others had become experts with a bow, skilled with a sword, and deadly with knives. It was their skill with a bow that would make the kids legendary. When Colonel Shinu had noticed their skill with a bow, he began to focus all his resources into archery. As a training exercise, they would pin a fly by the wing to the target without killing the insect. This, combined with their stealth training, made them the living embodiment of 'silent but deadly'. Yerahn and the others followed orders without hesitation. If Colonel Shinu said jump, they didn't ask how high, they simply jumped. However, their loyalty only truly extended to Shinu. Of course, they would listen to others, but Shinu was their commanding officer. He was their only superior within the military. Having trained separately of the rest of the military, they were outside their rankings and customs for the most part. They didn't even have ranks that could translate to the general military.

The group isn't a secret, but still not common knowledge for those outside of the military. They are the ones who were called in when the main military can't accomplish something. The now teenagers used unconventional methods to complete their tasks; they perferred stealth to charging in head on. They relied on patience, distance, and precision. They never even had to get close to their targets. Many of their missions were assassinations of high-ranking Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe officials as well as rebel and resistance leaders. Their method of killing was so impersonal and distant that they were uneffected by it - or maybe that was due to years of training and propoganda. Rumors of their abilities and prowess began to spread throughout the military and myths and legends began to seep through the citizens of the Fire Nation. For the longest time, the group of twenty adolescents had no name and were simply referred to as Colonel Shinu's group; however, since it wasn't classified knowledge, it was discovered that the majority of the children had come from a small island called Yuyan. Soon, they became the Yuyan Archers. The markings that Yerahn and the other children now bare upon their face were given to them shortly after they were given their unofficial name. Colonel Shinu played off their status as an elite group of archers. The Colonel wanted them to be known by skill and looks. The marks were to symbolize and emphasize their deadly and keen sight, but the main reason was to mark them as an elite group. They were the perfect killers and now everyone knew.

For the past seven years, Yerahn has carried out any mission she has been given without hesitation. Killing for the Fire Nation was never an issue for the woman. Sympathy and empathy are entirely foreign concepts to Yerahn, as well as the rest of the Yuyan Archers. Yerahn would have continued on her path without question or a second thought... if it weren't for what she saw when she travelled to the various nations and lands. When she 'visited' the Northern Water Tribe, Yerahn was shocked at the elegent and magnificent structures carved entirely out of ice. She would never admit it to the other archers, but she thought the village incredibly beautiful. It took skill and dedication to carve out the pillars and bridges that adorned the Water Tribe village. Skill that no savage or primitive beast could manage. Yerahn quickly rid herself of such thoughts; everyone who was not loyal to the Fire Lord was a savage, nothing more. They certainly weren't human. She thought nothing more on it until she 'visited' the Earth Kingdom. Again, Yerahn was floored by the magnificence and power of the buildings in Gaoling. The pureness of the alabastor stone blinded her. Yerahn couldn't wrap her head around the craftsmenship and hard work that was necessary to construct such buildings. A seed of doubt was planted in her mind as she admired the buildings before she carried out her mission. Maybe savages were capable of such craftsmenship... Or, maybe, they weren't savages.   

SKILLS — 

— Archery || Yerahn has had a bow in her hands since she was six and now she feels bare when she is without it. The weight of the draw no longer effects her and she can keep an arrow notched and drawn for hours if she had to. Her aim is near impeccable - then again, as is all the Yuyan Archers'. She has been known to be capable of fire multiple arrows at once with great precision. 
— Martial arts || Yerahn is no master at hand-to-hand combat, but she can manage. If she were to face off with someone who had no formal training, there is a fairly good chance she will emerge the victor. However, if her opponent has had formal training or they're simply much stronger than her, the match would be in their favor. Yerahn is not a close combat fighter and prefers to keep her distance and finish people off with her bow. 
— Stealthy || Silence and patience. These core principles (?) were drilled into Yerahn since she was a child. She has learned how to walk in order to not make a sound; she has great control of all her muscles, allowing her to step in a percise manner, distributing her weight evenly on the ground to keep boards from creaking. Not only is she silent, she's patient. Yerahn has no qualms moving at a turtle's pace if it means her mission is not in jeopardy. One such mission required Yerahn to position herself near a rebel camp and conceal herself amongst the brush and grass. The camp had many scouts and were ever vigilant. Camofloging herself, Yerahn inched towards the camp in order to get a line of sight on her target. They never saw her coming.

• 'Friend'/Yuyan Archer | Rero, 23, Yuyan Archer, reliable, apathetic, confident
  
  Rero is the closest thing to a 'friend' that Yerahn has. Having grown-up together, they are practically siblings. They always have one another's back and are usually sent on missions together. To outsiders, they don't look that close, but the archers know that what Rero and Yerahn have in a friendship is the closest thing to a normal relationship they will ever experience. They always turn to one another when there's ever an issue or a problem they're facing. 
   
• Superior officer | Colonel Shinu, 68, Colonel in Fire Nation army, cruel, dedicated, emotionless
  
  Yerahn has nothing but respect for Colonel Shinu. He's her superiror officer and is never to be questioned. She follows his word and his orders. Their interactions only extend so far as that of subordinate and officer, but in truth, outside of Rero, it's the only real thing Yerahn has. 

Yerahn has always been an obedient soldier, always believing that anyone else was a savage. But she realizes that beauty is present in every culture - no matter what she was trained to believe. Yerahn must work to figure things out for herself and find out if they are savages, or if she was the one who was a savage when she mercilessly killed whoever she was told to. Yerahn will be forced to realize that what she thought made her strong, was her own weakness. That not caring for others wasn't something she should be proud of.