Who are you?

 

PERSONALITY TRAITS:

ESFP, The Entertainer, Gryffindor

(+) observant, friendly, free-spirited, self-assured

(=) excitable, restless, loud, curious, flexible, proud 

(-) obsessive, selfish, trouble-prone, busybody,  

character equivalents: Gon Freecss, Star Butterfly, Mable Pines

PERSONALITY:

+

Iro was trained to be an observant person by her surroundings and role growing up in the colony. She had to be in order to please the grown-up in her life. More than anything it was a self-imposed role that she took up after noticing how interacting with people the way they want her to be, gets her what she wants. Iro mostly chooses when to be observant, only picking up what she deems important and interesting to her.

Iro is a very social person. Having grown up as a political pawn, the idea of stranger danger was not implicated in her mind at all. She was expected to talk eloquently to everyone she meets so much so that she started talking well before she reached her first birthday. All this lead to Iro genuine interest in people 

Iro gained the trait of being free-spirited traveling with the nomadic group. She learned how to let go of negativity and let it pass through her like a calm wave away from her.

Because of being alone most of her life, mostly through her formidable years, Iro has a deep understanding of herself. She had all the time to self explore and thus she is confident in what her core believes are.     

=

She gets excited over seemingly benign things. New food, new animals, new places new sword move all spark her interest. They also divert her attention from the things she's meant to do.

Iro can't sit still, she's full of energy and this can go either way. It can be destructive or efficient.   

She has a booming voice that is akin to an announcer, the more excited she gets the louder she gets.

Iro whats to know everything about everything and everyone that are of interest.

Iro is a very go-with-the-flow type of person. Most of her plans are spontaneous, since planning ahead seems like a dull thing to do. Iro just lets life take her wherever she needs to go.

Iro is a prideful girl, she won't let anyone look down on her be it her appearance, background, style, attitude, or skills. She takes pride in who she is and will not tolerate insults directed towards her. The downside to this is that it's hard for her to accept assistance from others that genuinely want to help her. 

-

Iro gets oppressive over people and ideas, so much so that she doesn't see the blaring negatives in them. She would wholeheartedly believe in whatever it is that she's currently obsessed with, and think of nothing but that for large intervals of her day. For example, the frantic search for Zhu, and her infatuation with anything related to Avatar Kyoshi.   

Iro has been the one taking care of herself since childhood, so naturally, before anyone else, she puts herself first. She is her own priority.

Trouble seems to follow Iro wherever she goes. She just seems to attract it. She does however thrive in it, chaos is what keeps this girl going.

Iro has been and always will be a busybody, whether it's because of her innate curiosity or a habit from the years she spent tacking her brother, Iro's ears (metaphorically) get larger at the sound of hushed voices. 

BACKGROUND: 

Iro was born to a Fire Nation colony mayor and an Earth Kingdom merchant daughter. Their union was a strategic one, to strengthen the standing of the newly appointed major in the eyes of the earth kingdom natives, ensuring a peaceful transition for the new leadership. She was told that her mother stayed with them for the first year of her life, but she doesn't remember that. She only knows how the woman looks like because of a family portrait, painted when she was a year old. Though, the figure that intrigued her most was the boy beside her father and not the woman holding her. Zhurong, her brother. Only knowing him by his neat handwritten letters to Osalu, she had never met him at this point. And wondered what he was like or how having a brother would be like. Iro kept getting excited about all the possibilities of that would be. 

When Iro had started talking and walking, her father had started her education. "Once you've learned to read, write and fight. My duty to you is complete," he told her. Her days consisted of strict tutors, endurance training, and being on her best behavior for her father's guest. Reading was her favorite thing to learn, she took to it like a turtle duck to water, reading anything and everything she got her hands on. Writing, on the other hand, or rather calligraphy, was a much harder skill to learn. She struggled with it but persevered with the thought of not seeing the grouch tutor or his painful wooden brush every again, and her bruised head thanked her for it. Endurance training was mostly picking up larger and larger rocks and transporting them from one side of the courtyard to the other. Having learned the basics of what her father wanted her to learn, Iro had gained a new sense of freedom at the age of five. She was free to roam around the colony and mess about as she pleases. The only time she had to be presentable was when guests were over. And she did actually enjoy the dreadfully long feasts and meeting the people her father would host. Meeting those new people, seeing how they all walked and talked differently was endlessly fascinating to her. Although, no one came close to being as fascinating as her brother.

She first met him one early morning, sitting in the family room with a book in his hands. She crept towards him, squinting till she recognized him as the boy in the portrait. Overjoyed to have finally met him, She immediately started to talk and try to get to know him. She noticed that, just like their father, he was reserved. But unlike the older man, Zhu had a warmth to him. He noticed everything she did, scolding her when she looked unkempt or talked to 'strangers' for too long. Iro didn't get what the big deal was but still did what he said. And surprisingly, praised her when she did follow his rules. Zhu's reactions were baffling to her, not just expecting her to be good but actually praising her. It made her feel special. That was when she had made him special to her. Her very own older brother; quiet, reserved, caring, and strong. She wanted to know everything about him, and in little sibling fashion, emulate everything he does. So hearing that Zhurong was a great swordsman, Iro put extra time into her own training.                

By the time she was six, Iro had read all that was available to her in her home library and made it a mission to sneak into her father's private study to get her hands on new material. It was easier than she thought it would be, though she was usually invisible in her own home. Sorting through the boring war reports and colony business she did not yet understand, Iro found bending scrolls! Stealing one of the firebending scrolls, Iro went to a less-trafficked part of the colony to attempt it. Zhu is a firebender, so she could be one too right? to her shock, instead of fire coming out of her fist, an adjacent wall cracked. If she wasn't lying to herself, Iro was scared. She didn't want to be an earthbender, she would have rather stayed a nonbender. Being one meant that she was different. She'd never met one before, and everyone always boasted about killing or capturing one. It meant she wasn't safe, so she kept it to herself. She did, however, go back and learn everything about earthbending in the study. Seismic sense, she learned its name was. She's been doing it since she could remember, and it was an earthbending skill. She would have laughed if she wasn't trying to recall if he ever performed it before an audience. Iro has been terrified of the dark since she was born, she assumes, seeing horribly disfigured faces inching towards her menacingly. She remembers being alone, closing her eyes as to not see them, then seeing the room clearly with none of them. Her weapon against the dark. That made her feel closer to her natural bending. It made her fear it less. 

And with that, her days resumed as usual. With her only training left being the sword, Iro had more free time in her hands. When she wasn't running around the colony being in everyone's business, she was reading materials she wasn't supposed to be. There Iro discovered the wonders of the Avatar. A single person who has the ability to bend ALL elements and be a bridge to the spirit world, Iro was flabbergasted. Reading books and documents and reports with anything that related to the Avatar and their cycle. She was engrossed with the idea of them. How noble and wise they must be, how honorable and dependable they were. One particular Avatar had caught not only her attention but also her love and admiration was Avatar Kyoshi. She had made a whole island out of the Earth Kingdom mainland, what's not to love.   

Her normal days came to a drastic halt the day Osalu announced the death of his son in the front lines near Omashu. They didn't hold a funeral nor lit a single candle in his memory. It all felt unreal, and she wasn't about to believe it. She sought answers from her father and he had lied to her face. His heart rates escalated yet his stone face stayed the same cold as ever. After that day, Iro breathed, ate, and slept sword training. Abandoning all her other hobbies and interest to focus solely on it. She kept thinking that the sooner her father tells her that her training is complete, the sooner she'd be out there looking for Zhu. She hopes, no, she KNOWS, that he is safe and will be till she gets to him. She held her swords till her hand bled and didn't let them go even then. She had never felt that desperate in her life; she even almost cried the first time she lost her revision duel with her father. She doesn't like to think of that time in her life, feeling embarrassed about how emotional she got. And finally, after a year of hard work, she passed Osalu's test.   

Iro, alone at 11, set off to find her brother. Equipt with her trusty daab swords, a few bending scrolls, and survival necessities, Iro felt confident to take on the task. But of course, no amount of preparation would ready her for the hardships of travel. She struggled the first few months, keeping herself well-fed and rested. She even struggled to build a fire, and the nights she couldn't, she slept before the sunset to escape the dark. Yes, in the colony she did have to take care of herself by herself, though she did have shelter, light, and food when she was hungry and other creature comforts. Now, she was alone, truly alone. Somehow, by sheer luck and determination, she got through the initial hurdle. Iro started making her way to Omashu, her brother's last known location according to Osalu. Passing through countless villages and towns, Iro met lots of people and seen many new things. She practiced earthbending anytime she could, during camping which wasn't as much as she wanted. But some training is better than nothing right? Reaching the Fire Nation outpost, she quickly identified herself as an inspired recent baby-faced graduate who independently volunteered to help her nation's troops. She became a kitchen aid and slowly weaseled information about Zhu through the couple of weeks in the camp. There wasn't any battle, and no one died there in a long time. Then she heard it, "I never expected Zhurong to be one too," a captain said to someone, referring to the sudden increase of deserters. Iro finally had a lead.     

Two years, TWO YEARS, she'd been tracking him. The minute she heard deserter, she knew where to go or who to find. Jeong Jeong, the first known deserter of the Fire Nation. He and his camp had been slipping past her for what feels like eons. At long last, she made it. Iro was still very skeptical of the deserters, hearing about their bad deeds, she thought it best not to interact with them. Instead, she surveyed around their camp. No Zhu. She went around again and again almost getting caught a couple of times. He wasn't there, now what? She was back to square one.

Feeling lost, now that she doesn't have a clue on where to look next, Iro started aimlessly traveling around the Earth Kingdom focusing mainly on refining her earthbending. One unfortunate day, while practicing, two patroling fire soldiers came across her. They quickly determined that she was a threat and started attacking. She stood her ground and fought back as hard as she could, but they were two fully grown trained firebenders that attacked her before she could grab her swords so they easily overpowered her. Cornering her on a cliff one of the soldiers blasted fire at her while she was grabbing for her swords, she panicked and covered her face with her hands in a protective motion, and fell backward off the cliff.

The first thing she noticed after waking up from her unconsciousness was a searing pain in the palm of her right hand. She was burnt, but she didn't have time to deal with that yet hearing the soldiers going down the cliff in her pursuit. So she swallowed her pain and gathered her things, and bolted in a random direction away from her pursuers. 

She didn't know how long she was running for, but when she stopped she noticed the tears that were streaming down her face. And then and there, she broke down crying. Suddenly everything came to the surface. She was truly alone, Her brother was probably dead, her hand was burnt, and she hadn't had a decent cup of tea for years. The last one was the silliest reason and that was enough to make her stop her crying and start hysterically laughing. That was when a traveling group found her. Apparently, the group was sure her loud laugh was caused by a screeching bird, but the quietest one, Moku, was sure it wasn't, so they went to investigate. And thank the spirits that they did because, throughout their light-hearted explanation, Iro passed out. 

Coming too again, Iro found her hand cleaned, balmed, and bandaged. The traveling group she found was a nomadic musical group. They were a friendly empathetic bunch that knew how to cheer her up while not being suffocating about it either. The first couple of weeks, while her injury was healing were the hardest she'd ever had. It all seemed pointless now. She had lost her purpose. She started mourning her brother after that, finally accepting that she would never get to see him again.

Slowly she adjusted to traveling with a group and eventually she started to join in on their conversations and singing. Months passed with flower braided hair, bouncy songs, and good conversations around the fire camps with filling meals. For the first time in her life, Iro lived day-to-day with no expectations or responsibility or a self-imposed quest. She was at peace. But soon, the restlessness returned.

She felt something calling out to her, something bigger than herself. She couldn't just frolic around with no purpose in life. She wanted to have something to strive for, so she packed up one full moon night and left with no goodbyes.                     

TRIVIA:

☯ Iro never had a friend, a true friend her age, and she longs for it
☯ She likes smooth surfaces, and whenever she's camping, she bends small rocks to make that effect and fidgets with them. 
☯ A smile is the first thing she puts on in the morning and the last she takes off at night. She doesn't do it continuously, it just became part of her face as much as her eyes or nose. 
☯ Iro never had a crush on anyone before, she had heard people talking about it, and through her seismic sense, she'd seen how people reacted to interacting with their crushes. She's positive she had never felt that towards anyone before. The closest she had come to that feeling was towards a particular blacksmith apprentice. In her travels, she bent her sword trying to cut through a rock with earthbending and went to fix it. There, watching the blacksmith work with such diligence and focus, Iro couldn't help but stare. She had her hair tied back, face covered in soot in full view. It was the first time Iro thought of someone as beautiful.  
☯ For most of her life, fire was comfort. It was bright and warm, just like she wanted the whole world to be. After her hand was burned, her feelings got complicated. She never bore any ill will to the responsible soldier, he was just doing his job after all, but her relationship with the once gentle has turned slightly violent. 
☯ Once Iro was proficient enough with training swords, Osalu gifted her a pair of daab swords. He told her that they are an exact replica of Zhurong's own swords. She, of course, treasures them deeply. At first because of the link to her brother but later on as an extension of herself. The swords themselves were elegantly crafted, with an engraving on the blade that reads 'honesty'. Iro never saw the point in it, "everyone lies after all" and just shrugged it off.
☯ Iro's father was not an affectionate man and as much as she denies it, she has inherited more than just his features. Feeling very uncomfortable touching people, Iro avoids people subconsciously while walking constantly. She's fine with the occasional shoulder pat or arm grab, but going beyond that makes her a bit nauseous. 
☯ Upon learning of the specialized bending skills of earthbending, Iro was fascinated with the idea of lavabending. She is on a mission to find anything that would help her learn it. Even if she knows the chances of her being one is very slim, she is willing to try.
☯  Iro is not opposed to stealing. In fact, she has stolen multiple times during her travels. She would never admit to it, of course, she would just claim that she has found the items in question abandoned and took them. 
☯ The hardest thing for Iro to do is say goodbye, so instead of doing just that, she leaves without saying anything. This stems from a fear that if she does, she would be tempted to stay and that ruins the image she has in her mind of her being a determined person.
☯ Usually, Iro is cautious with her word, especially when it comes to sharing information opting to listen rather than talk. However, if the person she is conversing with shows the slightest interest in specific topics, she finds herself rattling on and on without a filter to catch them. These specific topics include but are not limited to; Avatar Kyoshi, tea preparation, and rumors.
☯ Iro's once farfetched dream of being a Kyoshi warrior has fizzled out once she was faced with the reality of the world. Why would they accept her? She's a Fire Nation daughter after all, and anything they touch turns to ash. But in her heart of hearts, she's still hanging on to that hope. 
☯ She was never really a picky eater as a kid and she carried that trait into teenhood as well. In fact, she would try any new dish she comes across.
☯ Iro can't swim. She never needed to, so she never learned. Besides, deep water is too dark for her to attempt any of that.

RELATIONSHIPS: 

☯ brother - Zhurong (30) / ex-soldier (announced dead) / caring & strong & dependable / 9/10 / App

Her first impression of her brother was that he looked nothing like his portrait. Growing up, she only heard about having an older brother and saw him only in the family portrait hung in the mostly unused family room. Their first meeting was when she was five. Unlike her father, he fussed about her appearance and manners even when there were no guests around. This confused her, but when he started teaching her etiquette she already knew, she humored him, acting like it was her first time learning them. He taught her carefully and patiently, nothing like all her other tutors. The moment that made him really stand out in her mind, though, was later that night. Going to her room to turn in for the night, Iro did what she usually does, close her eyes tightly before entering the dark room. She felt him following her, but she didn't want to risk opening her eyes, so she pretended he wasn't there till she was safely under the blankets. Peeking out at him, she saw him sit beside her on the bed, conjuring fire from the palm of his hand, "sleep, I'll stay here till you do." He told her. She felt at peace that night; for the first time in a long time she slept without the fear of the faces getting her. From that day on every time Zhu came to visit she'd be the first to greet him at the door, bombarding him with everything she learned while he was away, and updating him on everything that happened in the colony, even the rumors that circulated it. She knew that he wasn't listening to most of it, but that didn't stop her. The news of her brother's death had hit her hard, and after asking her father about it, she made up her mind that it was a lie. Throughout her training the next year, all Iro could think about was how she would find her brother and finally be reunited with him.        

☯ father - Osalu (60) / colony mayor / distant & intelligent & hard worker/ 4/10

Iro's feelings about her father are complicated, to say the least. She never really saw him as a father figure but more as a distant relative who lives in her house. A lot of the colonists raved about how she looked like him, but she never saw it. Her first memory of Osalu was of him hunched over his office desk working. He almost never addressed her in private, except of course for sword practice, and choose to ignore his daughter's presence whenever they found themselves in each other's vicinity. Iro didn't take it personally, 'it's just how he is' she told herself, instead electing to make a game out of it. The game was walking in the shadows as quietly as possible and then suddenly entering the light or, in short, scarring him. Because of Osalu's trained composuer, his facial features and body language didn't change. Still, Iro could feel his heart rate increase just a tad, and that was enough satisfaction for her. she would remain as calm as him and act as if she didn't know what she was doing. She greatly enjoyed that, finding herself looking forward to these rare occasions. one month, she was able to play the game three times; it was a great month. A day after her last game, that month, she got a bracelet with a bell attached to it on her bed. she laughed but never wore it. Ultimately, other than the game, Iro never had an interest in getting close to Osalu; maybe it was because he never showed it to her, or maybe he was never an interesting person to begin with, whatever it was Iro didn't care enough to find out.

☯ grandfather - Baatta (67) / businessmen / gentle & sad  / 6/10

By far the simplest relationship Iro has with a guardian. Baatta comes from a family of tea distributors from the Earth Kingdom who were currently expanding to the Fire Nation again, so he was away for business in other colonies most of the time. Though, on his visits back to her colony Iro would no doubt greet him at his house. She felt at peace there with him; she felt cared for and wanted. They didn't do much in these meetings, only make tea and enjoy it together, but that was all she needed. In the comforting silence, she would imagine that Baatta was her only family, that she was his daughter welcoming him home after a day's work. But that fantasy is almost always broke because of his nickname for her 'fire ferret.' It was a reminder of who she was. Who her real father was. Which nation she belonged to. And what they've done to people like her grandfather. She never voiced that, though; it was his nickname for her and the only thing he ever gave her. Iro thinks it might have been a reminder for him too, or maybe a warning sign for him to not get too close to a Fire Nation girl. Either way, Iro feels warm and happy whenever she remembers her dear grandfather, like a warm, delicious cup of tea on a low day. 

☯ friend - Lily (?) / nomadic musician / motherly & optimistic & airheaded / 8/10 

Lily was the closest thing Iro had to a motherly figure. She was the one who mainly took care of her injury, and kept her company during her depressive episode. During Iro's travel with them, Lily's presence slowly grew to be a safe haven for her. Before meeting the older woman, Iro didn't know that she missed having a female figure in her life and ached at the non-existing memories. Her best memories of Lily are those of her braiding flowers in her hair humming soft tunes as she works. Iro misses her the most and sometimes wished she could go back and travel with her again.  

☯ friend - Chong and Moku (?) / nomadic musicians / laid-back & friendly, childish & quite / 7/10 

Spending a little over a year traveling with the band, Iro warmed up to the two men surprisingly fast. She assumed this was because of their friendly and easy-going nature. She learned to take life a little bit lighter than she used to because of them and how to let go of negative emotions more peacefully. Granted, she had always been able to do that but with them, it had been easier.   

RETURN TO the STORY

blueheadphone ✩ blue

LAST COMMENT: Iro is in your hands now, I'm down with anything you see fit for her character and I'm so excited to see her interact with the world.

also, Iroh has been my comfort character since the first time I watched ATLA, that's why I named Iro after him lol.

also also, I realized halfway through the app that Iro is my first fully-formed app that is actually submitted.     

SCENE SUGGESTION: 

☯ If she does end up in Yyn's group, she could even start relearning earthbending the correct way from scratch alongside her. 

☯ Series of miscommunications with Zhu every time they talk.

PASSWORD: Every time I start working on Iro this song pops into my head and doesn't leave till I stop working.