Welcome to Gaia! ::

Your Name: Teigra
Pae'il's Name: Lailah
Breed: Angel
Gender: Female

Suggested Power: Light Grenade - Lailah is able to draw the light from an area and collect it in an orb in her hands. She then has three minutes to either get rid of the orb to keep the area in a state of temporary darkness, or she can throw the orb which will act like a flash grenade to temporarily blind anyone caught in the blast.
Weaknesses - If she holds the orb longer than three minutes, it will begin to burn her. Any jostling or bumping of the orb will cause it to explode (a la flash grenade), so if she decides to get rid of it in any other way, she has to carefully set it somewhere and hide it. In time, the hidden orb will dissipate on its own and the light will return to the area.
Weapon of Choice: Dual curved fighting blades

Personality: Every thing she does, she does for the Guardians. She feels no particular draw towards her own Pae'il companions, nor any real bond with them. Honestly, if the Guardians ordered her to turn on them, she'd slit the nearest one's throat without hesitation, before they even heard her unsheath her blade. She only desires the favor of her beloved masters, seeking to please them in order to earn just a bit more of their attention and recognition as their most devoted follower and servant.

Aside from the moral code that they've been taught, passed down from the Guardians themselves, she seems to have no particular set of rules of her own that she follows. She has no reservations about violence, no fondness for silly concepts like mercy and compassion, as they only make one weak and set one up for disaster. Considering some of the other potential Knights, she figures that someone has to be the one to handle the 'dirty work' that will obviously need to be done; why not her?

• Merits:
  1. Devoted - Lailah's devotion is more than mere attachment. It is not easily earned, and likely no one will do so other than her beloved Guardians, but it is not easily damaged either. She would follow the object of her devotion to the ends of the world without question, as well as performing any task she is asked, and even some she is not, if she believes that it would please her Guardians in the end.
  2. Independent - While she has grown up surrounded by others, constantly being trained and taught, prepared for her greater role, she feels no particular dependence on these others, whether fairy or Pae. She prefers to do things for herself and not to rely on anyone else for anything, lest she end up in a situation one day and must rely only upon herself to get out of it.
  3. Reliable - Due to her perfectionist nature, when Lailah commits to a task, she gives it all she has until she has completed her mission, no matter how great or small. No matter what it takes, she will complete her objective, even if sacrifices are required.
  
  
• Flaws:
  1. Perfectionist - Lailah strives for perfection in all that she does, whether in her training, studies, or in her future missions. Even if she is lacking in some areas more than others, such as her history and magic lectures, her faults drive her harder to persue perfection. Failure is not an option. Especially not when the Guardians are involved. It has not yet occurred to her that it might not be possible to be perfect, no matter how hard she tries, not even in the Guardians' eyes. She does not deal well with stumbles along the way and she refuses to entertain the possibility that she is fallable. Denial is much easier; when under stress, she can sometimes lean more to the side of obsessive-compulsive behavior, enough so that it affects her actions as a coping mechanism.
  2. Sadist - Fascinated from a young age by the concept of life and death, Lailah slipped down a dark path. In her 'experiments' with the mysteries of death and the moments before it takes hold of a living thing, she discovered a dark pleasure in watching the suffering of others, as well as the ways that they fought or accepted the concept of their inevitable demise. Sad to say, the fairies had to deal with many small animals found on the grounds over the course of the future Knights' training.
  3. Short-Tempered - When things do not go her way, and the possibility that she may not in fact be as 'perfect' as she aims to be, Lailah's temper flares up like a righteous flame. Slight offenses against the Guardians can also provoke a similar response, and when her anger flares, violence is soon to follow.
  

Likes: The adrenaline rush of battle; the grace of a perfectly trained fighter; the coppery scent of blood
Dislikes: Wishy-washy Pae who can't make up their minds, even if that decision is wrong, at least stick with it; history lessons; crickets

Fears: Confined spaces; failure; her own flaws, or at least those that she perceives as flaws
Goals: To be perfect for her beloved Guardians and to be loved as their most obedient servant; to cleanse the Isle of the tainted 'abominations' who dare call themselves 'Ancients' and band together against the Guardians and the Light
Character Behavior: Lailah tends to keep to herself, in that she won't seek out others without a particular purpose, but if they approach her instead, she will tolerate their prescence, as long as they don't become obnoxious. She spends much of her time training, both with weapons and in hand-to-hand combat, as these skills come much more naturally to her than do such things as history and rhetoric lessons. She doesn't like focusing on things that she can't do well. She can be a bit unnerving to spend much time around, due to her fascination with mortality and her continuing studies on the matter, despite the discouragement from the fairies. However, if the other has a strong stomach, and shows interest, they may find themselves entertaining questions on the matter and their opinions on the best methods to torture 'heathens' in a last-ditch effort to turn them to the light.

Brief History: With few memories before she was taken at a young age by the fairies to Telrunya City, Lailah has known little but her life in the sky. She's always had the best of care at the hands of the fairies, creature comforts in the luxurious castle, devoted caretakers always on-hand for her every need. And yet, she doesn't necessarily enjoy such things, taking them in stride, but with a casual air of indifference. Yes, of course she's entitled to such things, but at the same time, she never let herself grow reliant upon them. Early on, she'd been told that she was there to become something special. Something important. The life-giving Guardians had blessed her more than most and wanted HER to become one of their champions! Well, she wasn't about to let them down, and she needed to be prepared to face anything. Somehow, she doubted that such important work would always allow her to laze about and enjoy such comforts, so best not to grow dependent on them. she spent as much of her time as possible sparring with Grand Champion Hania as soon as they were allowed to begin combat training. She did what she needed for her other lessons, but all of her extra energy and effort outside of normal lessons went into her fighting skills.

Questions: (answer in-character please)

1. While growing up, did you get along with the other kids? - I suppose so. I didn't get into too many fights or anything. They were just sorta' 'there' most of the time. I didn't exactly seek them out to go 'play' or whatever it is kids do. I'd rather sit back and observe, but once or twice, I ended up in a scuffle with one of the others before the fairies stepped in to break it up. I wasn't about to let some smart remark go unpunished, of course.
   
2. What is your earliest memory? - I don't remember learning to worship the Guardians; it's just always been there. So the earliest memory I can recall would be the day I tried to lecture the birds in the garden on the proper way to sing praises to our Guardians. They were doing it all wrong, you know. I told them so. And I was only trying to help them, but they just wouldn't listen, the stubborn, ignorant things. Archmage Tansa gave me a lecture when she found me with one of the little beasts I'd managed to catch before the rest had flown away. It hadn't survived the re-education process, and she seemed upset at this. I told her that I was only instructing the heathen birds on the proper way to sing the Guardians' praises and they'd rebelled against my enlightening instructions. So, further measures had been necessary. She had frowned at this and explained that the birds are only poor dumb animals and aren't as advanced as we are. They can't understand the concept of proper worship and praise; it's beyond them and we can't hold them at fault for their short-comings. what a shame. Poor things are doomed to remain ignorant. I'm sure that when we deal with the heathens and cleanse the Isle, that something can be done to 'fix' these dumb creatures as well.
   
3. Are you an optimistic or pessimistic? - Well, of course I'm an optimist. How else are you going to perfect yourself if you don't believe that you can?
   
4. Do you have any annoying quirks, mannerisms, or habits? What are they? - Of course not. And if the others say I do, then they're lying. I mean...counting is not annoying. How is counting things annoying? Even numbers bring balance...especially fours. Fours are a nice, stable, soothing number. And balance is a sign of one growing closer to perfection, don't you think? Especially when things aren't going well...not that they wouldn't go well, of course. Why would you say that? It's just, if something did go badly, well, you probably didn't do something well enough. That's it. So, if you did it again, maybe things would work better. You could do it three more times though, just to be sure. Probably best.
   
5. Name the one fairy that had the most influence on you while growing up. What was it they did? (You can make up the fairy) - Grand Champion Hania, of course! He helped me to unlock my potential, training and honing my skills as a fighter, to better become a weapon to be weilded against the heathen darkness. Of course, we were taught to try and handle problems non-violently first, but that doesn't always work. And I'm not sure the others have what it takes to handle the dirty work, you know? Someone's gotta' be willing to do what needs to be done, and I have Grand Champion Hania to thank for helping me prepare myself to do whatever is necessary.
   
6. In your opinion, what is the worst thing any creature could do? - Nothing (as in refusing to make a choice), though it's hard to just do nothing, when doing nothing is doing something, isn't it?
   
7. Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love? - The only true love is mine for my dear Guardians. All others who claim anything similar are liars.
   
8. How honest are you about your thoughts and feelings (i.e. do you hide your true self from others, and in what way)? - Eh, most of the time. I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to let the others know that I think they make better tools than companions, would it? Archmage Tansa told me that once, when I was younger. She said I needed to treat the others as equals and friends, that we were to be colleagues and brothers and sisters in arms, fighting for the greater good. That's true, but can't I do that without getting all emotional about it? Aside from that, I'm pretty open with my feelings on a particular situation or towards other beings.
   
9. Do you have any biases or prejudices? - Only against those who would defy our great masters. Fools; they will all get what's coming to them in the end if they do not see the error of their ways and embrace the Light...if they are even capable of doing so.
   
10. Is there anything you absolutely refuse to do under any circumstances? Why do you refuse to do it? - Like I said before, someone has to take the tasks that others will not. Anything my Guardians ask, I will do. If I think that they will be pleased by my actions, I will take them. The only thing I'd refuse to do would be to forsake my masters, and obviously they would never order me to do so.
    
11. Who or what, if anything, would you die for (or otherwise go to extremes for)? - Why, the Guardians, of course. They have granted life, it is theirs to take away. However, if I'm going to give up my life, you can bet I'm going to bring a few others with me. [She grins wickedly.]
    
12. What do you do to unwind?

- Unwind? [She looks puzzled at first.] The fairies took my butterfly wing collection away... [She pouts for a moment, then looks around furtively before continuing.] Course, that was only the first one.[She grins.]


Pick ONE of these prompts to respond to: (please limit responses to 1000 words or less)

Free-form: Write a monologue or solo, describe anything you'd like to about what your pae may encounter, or has experienced, or how he or she feels about anything.

Slash! Slash slash! Block, parry, thrust, then slash!

The flurry of blows and combos continued, a deadly rhythm in the otherwise silent training yard. The lean angel bounced and maneuvered, closing in to attack, then retreating to a safe distance before throwing another, different combo at the training dummy. The dusty sackcloth was tattered and worn, now bearing fresh, clean slashes on its battleworn frame. This one wouldn't last much longer, that was certain.

Her mind was locked in attack mode, focused only on the target before her and its inevitable destruction. The voices of her instructors, not just those of fighting, but magic, history, healing, and knightly behavior, echoed in her head as she drilled herself on combos and maneuvers.

There are those who have fallen from the Light...

Her face creased with a frown, not of concentration, but of distraction. No, shake it off. Focus.

...they have forgotten the truth. Lost their way...

Sweat beaded and dripped down her face as she pushed her exercises further; faster, more furious.

...though some would seek to destroy them altogether...

A vicious snarl ripped from the angel's lips, and she went at the target like a being possessed, red touching the edges of her vision. Dirty beasts! Savages! Monsters! They must be stopped...at any cost!
She pushed herself harder and harder, the images in her mind formed of what she believed these heathen monsters to be, imagining their dark purpose. She could not let such evil exist in the world. Their plans must not come to fruition! She would be the weapon of the Guardians, weilded against the darkness, bringing a stop to the lies and deception that spread to aid their purpose.

Surely she could prove her worth to the Guardians; she was invaluable to their cause. And it was a righteous cause indeed! They would unite the Isle in their light, and she would be rewarded as their most loyal, devoted servant. The thought made Lailah smile, but considering her continuing drills, it was a grim expression that crossed her face.

Her limbs were beginning to tire and her breathing was heavy, signaling that one way or another, her exercise would end soon. When her strike faltered, her grip sweaty and slipping from her blade, she let out a curse as the razor sharp edge sliced the side of her palm before clattering to the ground.

"Guardians' breath!" she hissed, immediately raising the wound to her lips. It wasn't much of an incident; more of a surprise than painful, but she was more upset that her lack of concentration had caused the trouble. The coppery taste of blood touched her tongue for only a moment, then was gone. Yet, she froze that way, closing her eyes and forcing her breathing to slow and her muscles to relax. She'd lost her temper again. She really was trying to work on that, but progress was slow at best.

"I wonder if you push yourself too hard sometimes, my child. A rest now and again will do wonders in the long run."

She turned to face the voice, her eyes alighting on her combat trainer. "Grand Champion Hania," she greeted immediately with a slight bow. "I was just finishing my drills for the day..."

"Of course," the fairy nodded with a knowing look in his eye. "Just remember to balance your drills between offensive and defensive techniques. Only knowing one and neglecting the other will lead you to disaster. A true master is a master of both skillsets."

"Yes, sir," she responded obediently, bowing her head again. She knew the teachings well by this point, but subconsciously, she didn't seem to have completely adopted the concept in practice. Her drills were primarily offensively-based, with only the minimal effort spent on defensive techniques.

The fairy considered her for a moment, then offered, "Well, your skills are much improved." The angel flushed slightly, pleased by the praise, but offering no other sign of her acknowledgement. "A shame you've finished your routine already. I had a proposition for you, but it seems that I'm too late..."

"What is it?" the angel blurted, curiosity taking the place of decorum. Luckily, the fairy only chuckled at her enthusiastic response, before she fell quiet again.

"Perhaps you might be interested in a sparring match? It has been a while...I thought perhaps you'd like to test your skills. However, it wouldn't be fair to take advantage of your weariness." He raised a hand before she could object or protest that she was fine, or other such nonsense. "No, no. If you are interested, however, I propose that you get some food and drink, a short rest to recover, and we meet here again later. Would that be an acceptable proposition?"

"Yes, Grand Champion, sir!"

The fairy smirked, crossing his arms over his chest with a nod. "Very well then. Go now and prepare, and we shall meet again this evening." He watched the angel bow and back away, quickly picking up speed as she retreated from the training area. His expression faded only slightly, amusement giving way to contemplative thought.

Lailah, on the other hand, grinned with eager delight, no more thinking about the food nor rest that she was to receive, but her thoughts only on the proposed sparring match ahead. A chance to test her skills against the master! It was a rare occurrence and she wasn't going to let it slip through her fingers. Oh no, she would give it her all, show them all that she was a worthy warrior, a righteous blade for the light, and a force for the darkness itself to fear...