Who are you?

PERSONALITY TRAITS:
quiet, awkward, anxious, sensitive, naive, innocent, inventive, resourceful

PERSONALITY:

Having grown up in a very lonely and restrictive household, Emiko is quiet for the most part and does not talk much due to not really knowing how to hold conversations with others. She prefers to listen instead of speak, but will say whatever is on her mind if she feels strongly about the issue or situation. Because she has not really socialized with people other than her late mother and has lived alone for the past six years with almost no human contact, Emiko is quite awkward and is very aware that she is. This knowledge also makes her feel less inclined to speak first or talk at length, because she would rather avoid any accidental faux pas by saying or doing the wrong thing. Emiko also fears unintentionally revealing her firebender status to anyone who will prosecute her for being from the Fire Nation and it is easier for her to mask her powers when she inconspicuously stays in the shadows of others, silent and unmoving to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to herself. She becomes relatively more talkative once she warms up to a person and hints of her previous more outgoing personality from her childhood can be seen.

Because her late mother had been an extremely stressed out and paranoid woman, that anxiety rubbed off on Emiko at a young age. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, she has become more withdrawn and anxious as opposed to her more lighthearted and cheerful younger self, and this turbulent shift from extroversion to introversion has resulted in the loss of her "inner fire." Emiko is a repressed "alpha" character; she has become more demure and meek because her more fiery, outgoing self never had the chance to properly blossom under her mother's rules. She worries and overthinks easily, especially because she has had six years to herself in which all she has done is reflect on her life and the small world that she lives in. Emiko is sensitive to others' judgment, because her mother had drilled the mantra of "Do not let anyone know you are a firebender, otherwise you will be killed" into Emiko's head upon discovering the child's firebending abilities. She also thrives on compliments and will perform better with positive reinforcement instead of critcism and negative statements. Thus, Emiko tries her best to please whoever meets or at least tries to make it so that there is nothing they can really criticize her on. However, she does have a quiet inner strength that has developed over the years while braving the wild on her own. It does not show itself often, but when she does harness this hidden strength, Emiko is a force to be reckoned with due to her ability to take action when no others will since she has no one left to live for other than herself.

Despite the harsh lifestyle she has developed after her mother's death, Emiko is quite naive and childlike due to being extremely sheltered and coddled when she was younger. She is somewhat akin to "a sweet summer child," although she has had her fair share of hardships due to trying to survive in the forest by herself and conceal her firebending after her mother passed away. Emiko still has an innocence about her that has not been taken away by the stark realities of the war waging around her. To her, these hardships that she has had to face are not really hardships; they are just a normal part of life. Although she is quite knowledgeable when it comes to hunting and surviving in the wild, Emiko is otherwise blissfully ignorant about everything else in life. She is also a dreamer, thinking about the life she could have had if her late mother had not been such a hermit and kept her virtually locked up from the rest of the world. Emiko's active mind wanders a lot, conjuring random scenarios or contemplating life and all of its mysteries.

Emiko's innate resourcefulness is one of the main reasons she has managed to survive on her own for so long, even though she did not have any real survival skills prior to moving to the forest. Her inventive mind has saved her on dozens of occasions, whether it is in building a weather-proof treehouse or figuring out how to fashion weapons to be used for hunting and fishing. With her quick and creative thinking, Emiko has developed efficient and effective hunting techniques, and is always thinking about how to improve life for herself and others. Her innovativeness also extends to her firebending capabilities; even though she tries not to firebend too much, there is still a burning desire deep within her to see just how far she can push her firebending. So whenever she does give in to this inclination to firebend, Emiko experiments with her abilities and develops them as best as she can without a proper firebending teacher, reasoning that this will ultimately help her survive in the wild.

BACKGROUND: 

Once upon a time, there was a Fire Nation soldier named Jiro who was stationed in a small village at the western edge of the Earth Kingdom near the Fire Nation colonies. He was in his mid-twenties and very handsome, catching the eye of many local girls despite the fact that he was a firebender. Jiro was witty, charming, and suave, often flirting with these young teenage girls for fun with his fellow soldiers. There was one girl, Anzhen, who fell particularly hard for his charms and became extremely infatuated with him. However, she was never able to find a chance to approach him on her own, only speaking to him shyly whenever her friends were with her. Every year, in this village, there was a coming-of-age ceremony in the summer for the girls who had turned eighteen that year in which a feast and dance were held to celebrate their official transition to adulthood. Anzhen and the other girls her age decided to invite the Fire Nation soldiers, reasoning that it would help bridge the divide between the nations if the soldiers were able to gradually learn and appreciate this small Earth Kingdom village's customs. But in reality, they knew that a future with these soldiers was not feasible and the only times they would be able to taste what could be were at these festive social functions.

The night of the ceremony, Anzhen approached Jiro, who was drinking his fill while laughing with his fellow soldiers sitting with him. She offered to pour him some more alcohol, which he welcomed on the condition that she drank with him, and the two began to talk earnestly as they poured cup after cup for each other. The other soldiers who had been sitting with him left to socialize with other girls or return to their base for the night, but the pair were too drunk and engrossed in talking with each other to notice, thanks to their extremely inebriated states. Eventually, they found themselves stumbling away from the party into the nearby forest before succumbing to their drunken, lustful desires and spending a passionate night with each other, unbeknownst to anyone else. Upon waking, Jiro realized with horror what had transpired during the night and scrambled to leave before anyone could find out what had happened. In his haste, he dropped his red beaded bracelet near Anzhen, who woke up to find that as the only proof of the night she had spent with the Fire Nation soldier. She kept it with her and returned to the village, hoping to meet Jiro again to talk about her feelings for him that had now grown into love. But what she did not know was that this bracelet was part of a matching pair of betrothal bracelets and the other one was currently around his wife's wrist; Jiro was a married man with a three-year-old son and his family resided in the Fire Nation Capital. She never saw him again after that night and was left with a broken heart.

Anzhen was devastated when she discovered that she was pregnant. She knew that the only man who could have impregnated her was Jiro, so she silently kept to herself when she began to show, not wanting anyone to ask her questions about her future child. Anzhen herself was an orphan, so it was easy to lock herself in her small home and refuse any visitors. She was alone when she gave birth to a daughter whom she christened Emiko. As her child began to grow, Anzhen realized that Emiko had inherited many of Jiro's features and that she looked very much like she came from the Fire Nation. She blamed that on conceiving her child in the summer when the Fire Nation was the most powerful. So Anzhen kept her daughter inside their home as much as possible while dressing and styling her to look more like an Earth Kingdom child, in case she was seen by the other villagers when they went out to purchase food. Anzhen also made sure that both she and Emiko were dressed as inconspicuously as possible, always wearing hoods to keep their faces concealed for the most part and never making eye contact with people when they were outside. Emiko learned not to question her mother's strange decisions and rules, despite wishing that she could meet other children to play with since their home had become boring and there was nothing for her to do. And because her mother was her entire world, Emiko did not realize that having a father was normal and Anzhen did her best to keep it that way, never breathing a word about Jiro's existence to her daughter.

Because Emiko was usually left to her own devices, she had to harness her inner creativity and entertain herself most of the time, especially when Anzhen was too exhausted to play with her. One afternoon, when she was eight years old, she discovered that she could generate flames with her palms. It was fascinating and exciting for this young girl whose life had been utterly mundane before. But knowing that Anzhen would most likely impose more silly rules on her if she knew of this power, Emiko kept her newfound abilities a secret from her mother and experimented on her own. But when Emiko was eleven years old, Anzhen began to worry that her daughter stayed shut in her room all day, even though she was the one who kept her daughter hidden from the world in the first place. So Anzhen walked into her daughter's room unannounced one evening and, to her horror, found Emiko conjuring fireballs. She immediately questioned Emiko about everything regarding her firebending, which caused Emiko to cower in fear that she had done something wrong. It did not help that Anzhen insisted Emiko keep her firebending a secret, saying that if anyone found out she could firebend, they would immediately be killed. And because Emiko did not want to be the cause of their deaths, she obeyed and did not attempt to firebend from then on, even though she desperately wanted to.

The knowledge that her daughter was a firebender, just like Jiro, put immense mental stress on Anzhen, who was already fragile from her self-imposed exile. Her mind and body weakened with each passing day as she struggled to cope with her growing paranoia that someone would discover Emiko and her firebending abilities. Eventually, she fell gravely ill due to the overwhelming stress by the time Emiko was twelve. Knowing that her time was almost up, Anzhen made Emiko promise that she would keep herself safe and that she would never reveal her status as a firebender, saying that this would be the only way for her to survive in this cruel world because she was from the Fire Nation which was hated by the rest of the world. Emiko tearfully agreed, frightened and scared by how her mother was dying in front of her eyes. And on the day Anzhen finally took her last breath, Emiko further withdrew and closed off her emotions now that there was no reason for her to feel anymore with her mother dead.

Emiko left the village and set up camp in the nearby forest, the same one she happened to be conceived in although she was unaware of this fact. She taught herself how to survive, learning how to hunt and fish as well as build a ramshackle shelter that served its purpose to keep a roof over her head when she slept at night. Even though it had been a year since she had last practiced her firebending, Emiko was still able to generate and control her abilities to the extent of creating campfires and lighting up handmade paper lanterns that she had learned how to make from her mother, who had crafted them as a living for the various festivals held in the village. Years have passed without Emiko ever meeting anyone, especially since she makes sure to conceal herself whenever someone enters the forest, and she has grown up completely alone, save for the various animals that also live in the forest. As a result, she is blissfully ignorant of the war that is currently occurring around her. Her mother had never mentioned the war either, so Emiko is unaware of exactly why the Fire Nation is so hated. All she knows is that she is ashamed of having Fire Nation roots, so she mostly uses her firebending abilities for basic survival, and that it is best if she hides herself away from society because everyone will hate her, even if all she wants is a friend.

TRIVIA:

☯ Her red beaded bracelet is her most prized possession and she never lets it out of her sight. She doesn't know what she would do if she ever lost it, especially since she has had it since birth.
☯ She doesn't know what the Avatar is, having grown up with almost no contact with the outside world and because her mother had neglected to inform her of the most powerful being in the world.
☯ She crafts paper lanterns whenever she has the materials to do so, since they remind her of her late mother.
☯ To pass the time, she uses sharpened sticks to write stories and draw accompanying pictures on the dirt floor of the forest she lives in. However, they usually end up washing away whenever it rains.
☯ All she wants is a friend or someone to talk to, since she has been lonely for her entire life. Her mother, while very loving when she was alive, had always been too preoccupied with her own problems and insecurities to really lavish the attention that her daughter needed.
☯ She has a tendency to talk to herself, especially when she feels that the environment is too quiet and the silence is overbearing.
☯ She perches on treetops to glimpse the far-off stars during clear nights, because it makes her feel less alone in the world.
☯ She is uncomfortable with any sort of skinship, especially because it is so unfamiliar and foreign to her.
☯ She dislikes being under the sun because of how her powers feel heightened. This frightens her, since she is afraid of her firebending going out of control which may lead to her being discovered.
☯ Although her favorite color is red, she does not feel comfortable broadcasting that information because she knows this color is also associated with the Fire Nation. Some days, she even tries denying to herself that she likes the color, even though she knows she truly does deep down in her heart.

RELATIONSHIPS: 

☯ Half Brother - Ryu (21) / Fire Nation Soldier / practical, loyal, honest, fearless / 0/10 / face claim - Zhang Yixing (Lay) [EXO]

Ryu and Emiko do not know of each other's existence. At least, not at first. When their father returned to the Fire Nation Capital soon after the Earth Kingdom village's coming-of-age ceremony, Jiro had vowed to himself to never remember that night of passion with Anzhen ever again and completely wrote it off in his memory as a mistake. Especially after his young three-year-old son had run up to him with the biggest dimpled smile on his chubby face, Jiro had decided that he would do everything he could from that point on to be the most loyal Fire Nation soldier and the best father he could be for Ryu, and never told his wife that he had lost his betrothal bracelet. Jiro never found out the "forbidden" night had resulted in Emiko's conception and never could have dreamed that he had fathered a daughter. Ryu grew up as the perfect Fire Nation child: extremely loyal to his family and his nation, with pride in his excellent firebending skills that he had inherited from his father, and possessing no knowledge that he was actually an older brother. Ryu's mother, Lushui, also handed down her betrothal bracelet to her son once he joined the Fire Nation army, wanting Ryu to have something to remember his family by whenever he was away from home due to his obligations as a soldier.

It happens completely on accident, but when Emiko encounters the Fire Nation army, Ryu recognizes the red beaded bracelet on her left wrist that matches his own. He knows that this pair of betrothal bracelets is one of a kind and thinks back to how he has never seen his father wear his own. So he approaches her, wanting to know how she acquired this bracelet and how she is linked to his father. Ryu does not know if she is a threat or if she is someone he can call an ally, but what he does know is that he needs to find out who she is at all costs. Whereas Emiko, although she is curious to know why this Fire Nation soldier is insistent on pursuing her, is afraid that she is being targeted by the army and does her best to protect herself by avoiding the soldier as best as she can. That is, until the Fire Nation soldier reveals that her bracelet is a family heirloom and that he has answers to questions she never even knew she had. But these answers make her insides curl up with disbelief and distress, because they are not what she wants to hear.

RETURN TO the STORY

luv_kero ✩ Emily

LAST COMMENT: Here is my first of three! :D You already knew she was coming though, LOL, and this is the fastest I'll probably ever finish an app. XD I'm also just really happy she'll be in your hands for this story! ^^ Definitely let me know if some things aren't consistent or correct and I'll fix them right away! And feel free to change the details mentioned in the short overview at the beginning to better fit the story! How she ends up meeting Yyn is ultimately up to you and it can completely deviate from what I've written, hehe. Okay, I shall work on my next character now! :)

SCENE SUGGESTION: 

☯ None at the moment

PASSWORD: Feel free to matchmake her with whoever you think she'll fit! ^^