Name: Ashley ‘Ash’ Dawson
Gender: Female
Age: 21
Shifter Form: Dryad
Appearance:
To describe Ashley’s figure as ‘willowy’ is perhaps a tad coincidental, but nevertheless, it is the truth. She stands at 5’8” (173cm), with a slim and graceful build. In her human form, Ashley has little in the way of excess muscle or fat on her body. She is not athletic, but a quick metabolism and a light appetite keep her from putting on weight.
Ash’s hair is a shade or two lighter than black in colour, and very thick. Her heavy locks are fairly high maintenance, and most of the time, she will simply opt to tie her hair back in a ponytail. However, in exceedingly rare instances of vanity, she will put the effort in to make her hair look nice. When this is the case, her hair cascades past her shoulders in smooth waves.
Her facial structure is pretty enough to be approachable, but not so beautiful as to be intimidating. She’s the sort of girl others would describe as ‘cute’. She wears her emotions openly on her face, be it an easy smile, concern for others, or fear. Bright green eyes complete her face, though photos of her from younger days show dark brown ones.
Shifter Appearance:
When Ash shifts to her Dryad form, everything changes. As a human, she is far from uncoordinated. But as a Dryad, her grace would put even the most trained dancer to shame. Every move she makes is careful and precise, and her actions are a sight to behold. Her build remains slender (not as curvy as the photo), and she gains an inch or two of height.
At the physiological level, the very makeup of her body changes. Flesh and blood change to vines and leaves. Her bones are ironwood, her muscles wrought from plant fibres. The entirety of her body is covered with a layer of foliage, a mixture of vines and leaves. Though she is essentially nude, Ash is unburdened with shyness or embarassment when she is in her Dryad form. In her human form, this would be an entirely different story.
Though one would assume plant matter to be fragile, Ash’s Dryad form is stronger than it looks. Weapons and attacks will still do damage, and she experiences pain to the same capacity as a human. However, the effects of attacks are lessened by the fact that her body is reinforced with a natural magic. If she does take damage, the regeneration of tissues begins instantaneously, at the cost of some energy.
Abilities: Ash’s gifts lie in her interpersonal skills. She has a natural trustworthiness about her, and others will frequently go to her when something is bothering them.
She also plays the flute, when she has the spare time to do so.
Powers: When resorting to combat, Ash is much better equipped for defence and support than she is for any sort of offensive attack. She is gifted at manipulating life forms. Plants are easiest. She can greatly accelerate the metabolic rate of a plant, causing it to grow rapidly. She can make vines shoot from the ground, can craft wooden weapons for her teammates, or create roots for opponents to trip over. For the process, carbon dioxide and water vapour are drawn from the air. The energy required comes from Ash herself. However, Fae are known as the magical powerhouses for a reason. She has magical energy to spare, and even the most rapid of plant generation will only drain her after a long fight. Further manipulation of these plants, such as making them move, is even easier.
Manipulating human bodies is a tad more complex, and her skills are limited to healing, rather than manipulation and motion. Using magical energy, she is able to speed up the body’s natural healing processes. However, it takes time, and focus. She will usually set up defenses before beginning to heal a teammate, in the form of a wall of ironbark or interwoven vines. Should these defenses fall or be damaged, both her and the one she is healing are once more susceptible to attack.
Background: Ashley was born in the year 2552. She is the second child in the Dawson family, with her sister, Taylor, being three years older. Her mother worked as a teacher’s aid, her father as an architect. The Dawsons were comfortably middle-class, perhaps a tiny bit on the lower end of the income scale. But their struggles were nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that any other family wouldn’t encounter at some point.
The girls grew up in Ireland, attended public school, and had a relatively uneventful childhood. By the time Taylor graduated, Ashley was finishing tenth grade. The two were often mistaken for twins, due to uncanny similarity in appearance. Both had the same unruly dark hair, the same slender build, and the same kind expression. However, in terms of personality, the two were opposite souls. Where Ashley was quiet and trustworthy, always taking the time to think her actions through, Taylor was much more impulsive. She was more athletic, and something of an adrenaline junkie. Secrets were wasted on Taylor, as the girl always spoke her mind. However, the two sisters did have something in common. Both of them wanted to do great things, and make a change in the world. Taylor Dawson got her chance when she graduated. Not two days after receiving her diploma, she was signing up for The Academy. She was accepted into the program, tested, and found to be compatible with the Titan class – Fire Elementals, to be specific.
For the next few years, Ashley’s contact with her sister was diminished. She got letters, and the rare visit home, but the two weren’t able to talk nearly as much as they used to. Ashley missed her sister terribly, and relished the stories she got to hear about The Academy. Her sister’s tales of the Academy were inspirational, and planted the seed in Ashley’s mind. For the next three years, getting accepted into The Academy, following in her sister’s footsteps, was all she could think of. She turned eighteen two months before high school graduation, and applied with the Academy’s recruitment team. Ashley was accepted, and travelled to England to find out what Shifter class she was compatible with.
The next few weeks were filled with anxiety. Finding out her Shifter class was an ordeal, and she internally feared that she would not be compatible with any. Her hopes of becoming an Elemental, like her older sister, were quickly shut down. She was almost immediately labelled as incompatible with Titan classes. Demon were also out the window. She was most likely a Fae, and the options were finally narrowed down. Ashley was compatible with Dryads. When she told her sister of the news on a videochat, Taylor immediately shortened her name to ‘Ash’, “Like the tree”, thinking it was hilarious.
The day arrived for Ash to undergo the procedure to become a Shifter. She had always had a slight phobia of hospitals and medical procedures, and it fully surfaced on that day. As the electrodes were being attached to her body, the process had to be stopped twice as a result of the girl beginning to hyperventilate. She was given time to calm down, and then things would resume. Finally, the blue light appeared, the transformation began, and she fell unconscious.
When she awoke, she was shell-shocked by her new body. She was still naked, but no longer panicked or embarrassed by the fact. She
felt like a plant, and it felt good. She learned quickly the basics of her abilities; she was tolerable at offensive attacks, but gifted at healing and instinctive defence. When it was determined that she was a successful Shifter, Ash boarded the plane to head to The Academy.
It wasn’t until Ashley was at The Academy’s doorstep, eager to meet Taylor and show off her new Dryad form, that she received the news. Her sister was dead, killed in battle. Or rather, just after battle. As Ash had been travelling to The Academy, her sister had been responding to an attack, called in as reinforcement for Academy students being slaughtered by Endolan forces. When Taylor had been called in, as well as a few other students, Earth quickly began to win back the fight against Endola. When it was seemingly evident that the fight was over, Taylor Dawson and a number of other students had shifted back to their human forms. Ashley was told that her sister had turned her back, to face her teammates and congratulate them, and was attacked from behind. An Endolan Valkyrie had been feigning death, and struck before anyone could realize there was danger. The Valkyrie was killed almost instantly by the remaining Academy forces, but not before her magically imbued sword had cleaved through Taylor’s spine.
The next weeks were a blur of shock for Ash. She was unable to function, only able to mourn her sister’s death. Her parents tried to bring her home, but she refused to leave The Academy. She answered questions robotically, and went through the motions of life without really caring about anything. She trained mechanically, but didn’t put in any true effort. Depressed, she truly was a shadow of her usual self.
After a few weeks, the Fae teacher, Sylphide, finally asked to speak privately with Ash. She was empathetic, patient, and quickly proved herself to be one of the few people Ash could truly have a heart-to-heart discussion with. Sylphide offered Ash a new perspective on life; one which she quickly embraced. Ash’s gift as a Dryad was in support; defence and healing. If she trained hard, she would become a valuable asset to Earth’s forces. She would be able to help prevent Taylor’s fate from befalling others.
Ash committed to this goal, and it framed the next few years of her life. She focused her training on defence and healing, and excelled. She recovered from the mental shock of her sister’s death, and once more became her usual friendly self.
Personality:Ash is unquestionably kind. To others, she is a confidant, someone who can be trusted with any sort of sensitive information. She is the shoulder to cry on, the one people look to for advice. She doesn’t mind, not in the slightest. She willingly bears the burden of other people’s problems, but will rarely try to confide her own issues to others. She actively seeks out friendships, and is always ready with a genuine smile.
Even after three years at The Academy, Ash has still never experienced much in the way of true violence. In a battle, she will be the supporter, never the offensive force at the front line. Even during training, she is careful with her attacks. If she accidentally hurts another student, or even thinks she did, apologies are instantaneous and sincere.
Other:Theme Song:
Mostly relevant to when she is in her Dryad form.
Going to reserve the rest of the ‘other’ section for any noteworthy character developments that happen.
Lord Wyron