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Zatana watched 'Sacred Order's Cleric of the Dead', a very interesting name, as the woman left the battlements. There was something there that bothered the dark elf, and she was sorely tempted to follow the woman to uncover if a simple rest was all the woman was after. If she had not been set on seeing the Prince back to the safety of the keep, Zatana probably would have followed Drana. Tired or not, that was information she could pass onto her grandfather and use to get into Balthazar's good graces. The lack of trust from the old wizard was entirely understandable from a professional viewpoint, though it was incredibly irritating to her sensibilities of wanting to do her job well. The clashing orders of keeping the Prince alive, gathering information and then following any other orders she was given was a thankless task. One that Zatana would succeed in and complete to the utmost of her ability and achieve the outcome desired. It was merely a question of whose outcome it would be.

The city itself was recovering from the first of the siege's waves. A tide of enemies that would come and go and crash against the walls until they receded for good or the walls buckled to their onslaught. A thing of beauty when it was read about and terror to behold. Her thoughts were puzzling over the poetry of war and mysteries that she had yet to solve when Prince Leonidas spoke, his tone joking. While he might not have expected a reply, he was given one. "Of course, Your Highness. I shall inform him of your injuries, including the gash to the shoulder and the stab wound to your forearm. Along with diverting your protection to covering a orc with a heavy weapon and thus leaving yourself exposed." The dark eyes locked onto Leonidas as the drow gave a polite smile that befitted the crueler of her race. It was horribly rude of her, Zatana knew, to speak thus to the Prince but she was sorely tempted to take his hammer and beat it into his skull that she was his protector. Yes, she would be whatever was needed at the time, but his safety was of the highest consideration in all of her instructions. If she had to countermand orders to be assured of it? So be it. "Unless, you would rather-?"

The trade square had been given over a party, and Zatana had perched in the shadows and listened in amusement when the Prince and Balthazar wore the Duke down into hosting a celebration for the men. It was needed, the dark elf admitted, but it was not a place for one of her kind. Bergkoff's residents did not care for the drow and when they were full of drink and a siege sat on their doorstep? They would have swords and sharp opinions close at hand. Her presence would only cause problems, and Zatana was loath to sit on a roof and listen to the festivities. Surrounded by so many soldiers, what harm could the Prince come to? Her mind filled with possibilities and Zatana couldn't but grimace at what her imagination could drag up from the depths. Having remained in the war room, Zatana had attempted to allow herself to doze while listening to the absent chatter. A simple trick of catching cat naps here and there to keep yourself reasonably rested in a warzone. Her weapons cleaned and checked for when she next would have to hurry off to intercept some form of trouble. If there was any trouble, the news would reach the war room and Zatana relatively quickly. The center, the brain, of an operation was exactly where the rogue wanted to be. One dark eye opened as she surveyed the room as she shifted restlessly. This fight was not over and the enemy was still out there.

@Martian Here's the first draft. I know it's a bit long and if anything is confusing or you see anything that contradicting let me know! I enjoyed writing it.
Real Name: Ayita Laine

Codename: Cerid

Age: 24

Gender: Woman

Appearance:

A tall woman Ayita stands at nearly six feet tall and weights an appropriate amount for a woman of such stature. Lean and wiry, you could say she was what a wolf would look like if it was poured into human skin. Her tanned skin show plenty of time spent outside and there is something wild in her amber eyes. Thick brown hair is often confined to a series of braids or one large one when it's not let loose. She generally wears clothing in dark or forest colors, with a studded leather jacket and gloves. The latter meant for archery. 

Personality: Ayita's personality is a complex one, to say the least. She is extremely loyal to friends and family, an insatiable curiosity about the whys and wherefores of life, and she's lacking in the understanding of pop culture. Often she is a silent watcher, teasing with little tricks and pranks and endlessly working on solving any problem that appeals to her in that particular instant. Yet, she will fully admit she is not fully 'human'. A part of her is always thinking with the animal instinct of her powers and leaving her somewhat unsure of humans and more comfortable in an animal form. She is, however, extremely exasperated by her brother's antics and can find humans to be relatively foolish. She separates herself from humans due to her powers, and she prefers not to lie, avoiding it whenever possible. Ayita also does not talk about her parents or her childhood with her grandmother. To her, the time spent with Layla was hardly lovely, but she hardly thinks of the old woman who raised her. Seeing Bubba and Richard and the time spent with them rather than the fights and chores. Essentially, Richard speculates, but Ayita has shoved her time with Lalya into a box and closed the lid. Disassociating with it as it is 'unimportant, compared to what I learned'.

Powers/Abilities:
Shapshifting: Sharing abilities with her mother, Ayita can shapeshift into any creature or shapeshift parts of herself. However, she must understand the mind of the creature. Be it bird, mammal, fish (Which she considers mindless for the most part and despises even the consideration of taking such a form). She extensively studies them and their psychology and physiology. The reason for this is that she must balance between the instincts of the form she wears and her own inner self. If she leans too far to her Self, she loses the form. If she leans too far towards the creature, she loses the human thoughts rendering her no more than any other creature, but with powers. The better she knows and understands a creature, the faster she can change into them.

Regenitive Healing: She can heal herself to some extent, though it is only minor wounds and only when she changes forms, a painful process she has learned to live with. Her shapeshifting breaks bones and splits skin, her healing attributes quickly fix small wounds (Small cuts, scraps, bruises.) during this, but large wounds are far too much for her to heal from in these quick changes.

Telepathy: Mind to mind she can speak to various creatures about the world and command them to her will by mentally dominating them as head of the flock, pack, or herd. The latter she tends not to do over much or without good reason as she sees it as rude and no different than mind-controlling innocent men and women to fight.

Healing: As someone who has studied the bodies of humans and creatures, Ayita has a solid understanding of human physiology. As such she is able to harness this ability taught by her brother to heal the wounds of others to some extent. Though it takes a lot of time, concentration, and leaves her weary afterward. She cannot heal a broken bone completely and healing anything more than a serious gash will have her sitting down for a few hours. Her first aid kit ability will handle a broken leg better while her own ability can stop someone from bleeding into a lung but cannot remove the puncturing item from the lung.

While she is practiced at using rifles and pistols, Ayita prefers a bow and arrows and has two long knives she uses being a more agile woman. She was also taught judo, though she has a bad habit of improvising with claws and fangs. In the simplest of terms, she was trained for stealth and for the hunt.

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History:
Things generally start with a beginning of what you are talking, but Ayita's beginning began before she did. Richard Laine, the son of Hugh Laine, one of the Howling Commandos was born in 1946. After the war his father became interested in the idea of mythology, borderline obsessed 'in the nutjob, whacky good way' Richard would say. Richard's mother was the only reason the boy did not end up named 'Merlin' something he was eternally grateful for. His father, Hugh, had delved into the occult and mythology and Richard found the entire thing humorous and so enjoyed the 'bonding time between the boys'. However, in 1961 Richard's mother- an American woman- moved back home with her son and husband to care for her ailing sister. It was this sad twist of fate that Richard found himself drafted in '67 for the Vietnam war while studying history and human biology. It was during the war, he lost half an leg and found he had certain abilities. Richard was sent home, due to the missing arm and his mother nearly fainted over it. She did faint when he was able to heal his leg over the next two years. After that, they returned to England. Hugh and Richard hid his ability and discovered exactly what it was. Richard had strong healing powers, however, for most of those years, he slept and complained of fatigue and headaches. However, Richard also found he could heal others about him and proceeded to study to become a doctor finding that this knowledge helped him to ease the headaches afterward. He also incorporated knowledge of the occult, his father's life long passion, taking the mental fortitude that came with it. He never revealed himself as a mutant, though he debated if he was one or something bizarre had happened that he couldn't' remember. Either way, the man would shrug and say he could do what he could do and the details beyond that were anyone's guess.

It was in 1997, when he was 53 that his parents died in an automobile accident. That Richard moved to Alaska to study the medicine practiced by the people up North, and to get away from England and his grief for a time. There he met a young woman. During the past fifty odd years, Richard still merely looked in his early thirties an effect of his healing abilities which seemed to work passively on himself. Something that leaned Richard to figuring he was probably a mutant, or 'sparkling Carlisle'. The two of them fell into a summer's, or in case winter's fling, and Richard much restored from his grief and back to his chipper, charming ways decided to bid adieu. What he did not exactly realized was the woman he left was pregnant.

Ayita Laine was born Ayita Dyrkin in 1997. Her mother, unfortunately, died shortly after her birth when a robber thought to try and rob the late-night gas station she worked at. Ayita was raised by her grandmother who did not know anything of Ayita's father and only knew from her daughter that he was a British man and a photo of him. She kept the photo tucked away and later forgotten. Richard returned to the area when Ayita was three, simply to see his old flame again as he was passing through the area to Japan. It was then he found out he had left a child. The old woman and Richard talked and Richard thought it was well enough that Ayita stay with the woman. Layla Dyrkin was as sturdy as they came and could handle a child. Richard promised to send money for the upkeep as he was busy studying medicine in various countries. But he remained in the area until Ayita was four despite his uneasy thoughts of being a parent. He then left Ayita with Layla and continued to travel the world to study medicine and sent Layla the money to keep up with Ayita's expenses.

Ayita's life with her grandmother wasn't exactly easy. Layla for all she was a wonderfully intelligent woman was slowly deteriorating in her health. It did not help that she was a very good closeted narcissist woman. Layla had lost her daughter and the little girl was a bastard granddaughter who Layla put to work with a long list of chores at the age of five. Ayita's childhood wasn't exactly happy but pushed on through. When she was finished with her chores, she often slipped from the house lest she be assigned more, and from the neighbors who were hunters and woodsy folk she learned the lore of the woods and no answer was ever satisfactory. Ayita spent more and more time in the woods, watching the local wildlife through the seasons. Deers, foxes, ravens, even pods of orca came close to the shore which she loved most of all.

Anyone asked about the two Dyrkins would call them 'a tomboy granddaughter and a sweet old-time woman'. Layla Dyrkin's husband had died from old age, being a good decade older than his wife, a decade past so the neighbors helped out when they could. After all, you helped your own in the rural areas. The burly old Bubba Jerkin's was essentially an uncle figure to Ayita and the lumberjack taught the girl to shoot a bow. When she was six, Ol' Bubba gave her one of her very own, though he never found out that she hid it in the woodpile every night. Grandmother Layla would have snapped it and burned it for kindling as she had so many of Ayita's toys. The young girl, however, did her chores and learned her lessons in the small local school, but Layla was quickly losing her mind. More rules were made up and more often Ayita would find herself disappearing into the thick forest behind their cabin. The neighbors weren't blind to the issues and were keeping a close eye. They liked the inquisitive, polite little girl and Layla was slowly becoming the neighborhood nuisance.

It was when Ayita was nine she was in a fierce fight with the old woman. Her grandmother had found her bow, because for once the woman had gotten the wood herself, and snapped the bow into the fire just like Ayita had feared. The fight was so loud, some thought a bear had gotten over to the place and so went over to make sure all was alright. Layla was screaming and shrieking as a young raven swooped out of the house and into the forest. Unknown to the neighbors Ayita was that raven and her human self had been lost in the panic of her grandmother picking up a knife screaming of sin and demons. She had reason to be fair, a nine-year-old generally doesn't start sprout feathers in the middle of an argument. Ayita's temper had been frayed to the breaking point and her hatred of her the old woman had awake her power.

For the better part of a month, Ayita was declared missing though she was about as a raven surviving. It was after that month that she came back to the cabin and found it empty. Ol' Bubba's was the next place she went and the lumberjack had said her grandma was in the hospital. It was true, the old woman was getting psychiatric help and had been suspicion after Ayita's disappearance. Bubba had known the daughter of the house and thought he had seen a middle-aged fellow there a time or two. Ayita helped her burly old neighbor search the house and between the two of them found the details of one Richard Laine.

Ayita's memory of the tall man with dark brown, nearly black hair, and a narrow face was blurry but she did remember born from the instinct of her own power that he was important. Yet, she did not straight off trust the man. Richard was all but a stranger and while he stayed up late at night talking the situation over with Bubba, she knew, she could not help but wonder but what he would do if she sprouted feathers again. She need not have worried. Richard himself suspected that Ayita's mother had been a mutant, though he had no proof.

As far as the authorities were concerned, Ayita had been transferred to a relative. Which Bubba got Layla to confirm by charming and lying through his teeth. The old lumberjack knew the woman's eyesight was bad and he also knew if Ayita's father did it, the old woman would not be getting the little mercy she was. Richard had disclosed to Bubba that he was in fact Ayita's father in blood, though he admitted that he hardly felt like it. He had left the child in the care of a lunatic and blamed himself. Saying no father would have done something so foolish. Bubba would have argued, but he decided to let the man run his course and instead offered that Richard should become an uncle to Ayita. While that had been the intention of Richard, it did not turn out that way.

The two of them spent a number of months with the old lumberjack and finally moved on, but too late. a group of HYDRA operatives descended on the cabin. Bubba was killed defending Ayita, who was badly wounded trying to attack the intruders. Richard, who had been on a run for supplies to give Ayita some space returned to the scene and snatched his sister away before returning to separate and take down the operatives. It was something that hardened Ayita and she loathed her own weakness and lack of ability to heal like Richard. 

Ayita had come to believe Richard was her brother. It seemed plausible, even if he was a half brother through the father she had never known. The two journeyed across the world as Richard studied medicine, but more of that study was turning into teaching his young 'sister'. Ayita had a thirst for knowledge that rivaled his own and her power was just as tied up into it. As they traveled, Richard taught her literature, history, the occult, and Ayita delved more into the minds and bodies of animals and honed her skills with bows, axes, and long knives. Finding the historical way of fighting highly interesting and oddly fair. Richard taught her how to use guns from handguns to rifles, all too aware of the world after having lived in it for over half a century. He explained the physiology and psychology of humans and Ayita in turned explained the behavior and opinions of animals.

Ayita practiced her brother's occult teachings and found them oddly helpful with balancing the clash of orderly human thoughts and animal instinct. When she was twenty, Ayita was a tall young woman. Nearly matching her brother in height thought he had a solid three inches on her, Richard being six foot three inches. Her body had the scars of various battles with other creatures and she was adept at surviving on land or in the sea. While Ayita knew her brother hated her learning the brutality of the world, she had firmly pointed out that domiance among creatures must sometimes be fought for. She learned how to avoid hunters, much to her brother's outrage, and she learned how to hunt man. Her brother every so often teaching Ayita the ways of fighting HYDRA, his father's old enemy, and mutants which would do harm to humans.  Ayita, however, is frustrated over her own lack of the ability to heal others as well as Richard and often studies his notes trying to figure out how he manages what he does while her own abilities are lacking.

It was a year ago, her brother took her to meet an old friend of his, or rather, an old friend of his father's. Richard had heard the Avengers were looking for help while Ayita was on one of her explorations and he had seen the wounds, the death, the pain caused over the last two decades. While Richard himself, claimed to be busy with research he urged Ayita to join. 'You have fought creatures, and people, the globe over. Your language skills need work. Scratch that, your human skills need work. Plus you're bored. You need a cause other than knowledge and you've got one right in your lap. Plus, how else am I going to charm people if I have a raven pecking at my ear?' She was resistant at first, claiming she would hardly be of use, but she had also seen people in pain over the last decade spent with her brother and relented. Richard pulled strings he had with old army veterans and tossed his father's name and the Howling Commandos into the Capt's lap as a polite invitation to tea. Unbeknownst to Ayita, Richard had known something was going to call his 'sister' to fight and he was certain she was ready. Her 'brother' lured Hydra operatives out into the open with some juicy bits of information and quite literally sipped teas as his sister exploded on them in fury (and later Richard, though he was not sipping tea but struggling to block her blows, for luring them to the cabin the two of them shared and endangering himself). Having tracked them from a camp she found while flying about. It appeared HYDRA was not expecting the northern bay to host a very annoyed orca and a flock of gulls which seemed to like dive-bombing only HYDRA operatives or that the orca happened to be able to become a woman and handle a bow.

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