Nevermind — Roleplayer Guild

Malik

Age:
25

History:
Malik's father was a tradesman of the Northern Water Tribe by the name of Sakari. Sakari, like the majority of his kind, was situated in the capital of the North Pole. He was by no means a rich man, in fact he often found himself barely making ends meet, and due to being a single father, he struggled to care for his child. And, despite his rather humble profession, Sakari was a man of pride, and a man of morals. Two qualities that are perhaps more commonly found in a warrior than a trader, but qualities he had, nonetheless. These two qualities, however, gave Sakari quite the dilemma. Could he raise this child and risk having it struggle in life like he had himself, or would he have to swallow his pride and ask for help? In the end he decided on the latter, begging his older, more successful brother, Tuktu, to take Malik in and raise him. Tuktu reluctantly accepted, and before he could have any second thoughts, Sakari went missing whilst out at sea.

Tuktu was a waterbending master, and was renowned as one of the greatest waterbenders alive. Tuktu took Malik in, but he did not love him. He already had three children, all of which he cared for dearly, so Malik was more like a permanent guest than an adopted child. Malik received plenty of love from his aunt, the woman that took the primary 'mother figure' role in his life, but he was always constantly striving for his uncle Tuktu's approval, and no matter how well he did he could never attain it.

One thing Malik had in common with his uncle was his skill for waterbending. Ever since he could walk, he was ten steps ahead of everyone else his age in terms of his ability to bend. This was partly due to the exceptional training he received from his uncle at a very young age, and partly down to the fact that he was simply gifted with great talent. As a young boy he attended the Water tribe's school. Despite already being versed in the basics of waterbending prior to his school years, Malik still went through training that any waterbender his age was expected to be given. He excelled in this environment and was, by quite a distance, the most gifted student of his generation.

Though Malik was very similar in many ways to his father, he was given many more opportunities. He had been told that his father had wished to be a warrior, but he could not bend or fight, so he would have been useless. Malik was quite the reverse - not only could he bend and fight, but he had spent years in school learning the history of war, tactics and anything else that was relevant to being a warrior. The prospect of being a soldier filled him with anticipation, so he followed that path.

He served as a warrior of the Tribe throughout his late teens and, for the most part, due to the Tribe's isolation, had very little to do other than stand on look-out or scout around the city. Being a rash young man, Malik struggled with being confined like this and had some minor issues with taking orders. When he was a boy, working through school, he had never seen life as a warrior like this. Standing still, waiting for something to happen. It was not what he had hoped for, but, he knew he could not ask for any more.

By his early 20s, Malik was already on the verge on mastering waterbending, which was seen as quite an exceptional feat. He received no praise from his uncle, however. The only reward for his years of hard training in that respect was his uncle scolding him for his arrogance. Which was not much of a reward.

It was at this time that Malik was delivered one of life's cold hard lessons. He fell for a girl in the tribe, a waterbender like him. She pretended to love him back but he soon learned that she was just trying to find a way for his uncle to tutor her. She had never cared about Malik.

At the age of 22, only days after getting his heart broken, Malik was with a small group of warriors scouting the lands around the city when they came to blows with some wild men - one of which, Malik noted, was a woman, only armed with a basic club, evidently unprepared for battle and only wishing to protect herself. Malik and the group fought well and quickly defeated the barbarians, but when the fight was over, a small few remained standing. One of them was the woman. Rukk, Malik's superior, ordered for Malik, being the strongest waterbender of the group, to finish them off. Malik refused, believing that the killing of weakened enemies who could just as easily be taken prisoner was bad enough, even worse if it was a defenceless woman. Rukk called Malik weak, and then went to finish the barbarians off himself. Malik stopped him and let them get away.

When they returned to the city, Malik was scolded for acting against his superior. Malik responded poorly, verbally lashing out at his superiors. As punishment for his outburst, Malik was temporarily suspended from his work as a warrior. Though, he had no intention of ever returning to his service. Unable to accept what had happened, Malik left the North Pole on bad terms with everyone there, including his uncle.

Malik set out in to the world alone as a young man, his link with the Northern Water Tribe forever broken due to his refusal to fall in to line. He found himself in the Earth Kingdom, where he travelled and studied for several years, spending his time honing his abilities and learning about the history of the world. He struggled to find himself a calling in life, but this was no different from when he had lived in the North, as he had not been happy with the future he had there, either. To this day he travels, seeking a place to call his home, or someone to follow.

Skills:
From a young age, Malik excelled in waterbending and it's many uses. By his early 20s he was already verging on becoming what is considered a 'master', due to being tutored by his uncle since he could walk. He still has things to learn, but now, at the age of 25, there is very little on which he can improve.
In addition to his bending skills, Malik is very agile and strong, having spent years training as a warrior of the Northern Water Tribe. He is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and although there are probably many who can best him in a spar, he is certainly above average. These are very much his secondary-skills, though, and are not too out of the ordinary for a warrior.

Personality:
Malik is typically a calm and composed man. He does not come off as aggressive or overly arrogant. In fact, people probably take good first impressions from him. He is assertive and alert, but can be laid-back and have a sense of humour, depending on the context.
Malik can, however, be hot-headed and act of reflex. Most of the bad decisions he has made in his life have been decisions he has made five seconds before he has carried them out. Though typically calm and responsible, Malik can become very passionate if the situation is significant enough. He is often very stubborn, and is unlikely to back down easily, whatever the circumstances.
He has few friends, but those he chooses to befriend are very important to him. There are few people he cares for and has loyalty for, but to those people, he is completely invested in and unwaveringly loyal.
He wants to be a man of honour. He wants to be the man his father wanted him to be. He fears death, but he will give his life if he must.
Malik has a guard that he rarely lets down, but when he does, he is vulnerable and easily manipulated. He can often go from having no trust for someone to completely trusting them, if he feels they deserve his faith. This may not always work out in his favour, however. If he cares about someone, he will put his life on the line for them and do whatever he can for them - even if they do not necessarily care for him, and are perhaps using him.

Appearance:
Malik has the typical dusky skin-tone and icy blue eyes of a member of the Northern Water Tribe. His dark brown hair is moderate in length and quite messy in it's arrangement. He usually keeps his hair in a pony-tail, and has a small flick of hair on the right side of his face. He has a warrior's physique - strong, yet agile. He is quite tall, standing somewhere around six foot.

Sample post:
3 years ago...

Malik stood in silence on the deck. His arms were crossed over, resting comfortably on the side of the ship as he peered down at the blue maw of the sea. He was wearing light furs and leathers, one of many practical garments that he had taken with him from the North Pole. That was the bulk of what he had with him: clothing. He had one or two personal mementoes and some gold pieces that he had received in exchange for his North Pole currency from a trader he had met back on the docks before he had departed, but other than that, he was leaving his homeland with nothing. But he needed very little. As long as he had the basics to survive, he was confident he could make his way in life. He was independent and capable. 

He had left following a spat with his uncle, and the chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe. They had called his lack of obedience unacceptable. They called it defiance. As if refusing to kill weakened enemies who would most likely surrender if given the chance was a bad thing. He scoffed at the thought of it all. When he was a boy he had dreamed of being a legendary warrior, saving damsels in distress in slaying evil beasts. What was he doing instead? Slaughtering innocents? That was not the kind of man he wanted to be.

"Hey, kid," one of the deckhands spoke up, approaching Malik and giving him a friendly nod. "What's a boy like yourself doing all by himself, travelling so far from home?"

"Why should the travels of a 'kid' bare any relevance to you?" Malik retorted, frowning slightly at being labelled a child.

The deckhand shrugged slightly, clearly not intuitive enough to understand the hint that Malik was dropping. "Passes the time I guess."

"Let's just say... I don't think the Northern Water Tribe is part of my fate."

"But you don't have anyone with you?"

Malik peered at him. "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't need anyone with me." He smirked slightly. "I can handle myself, don't worry."

The man chuckled slightly. "All right, kid. Well, best of luck out there. It's a big world. Lots of dangers. If you ask me, you were best off staying in one of your comfy ice huts in the North Pole."

"They're not as comfy as you make them sound."

The man chuckled again. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we should hit the coast of the Earth Kingdom pretty soon, kid. Might want to pack your things up."

"Okay, thank you."

The Earth Kingdom. The nation of spring, Malik had once read. Some people linked the Earth Kingdom with spring, just like the Water Tribes were linked with winter, which had always fascinated him, because seasons meant very little to the Water Tribes. Snow would always fall, and the tide would always roll in, whatever the time of year. Any change that a new month would bring was so marginal that it would go completely unnoticed by the locals and would seldom make any kind of difference, significant or otherwise, to life in the North. The hulking blocks of ice remained, and the stinging chill of cold was always on the skin of those out in the wind. That was how it was.

Anyone who had never ventured south would have no real concept of the changing of seasons, save for a few picture books from the school. Malik had been one of those people, having only a limp grasp on the idea of a land where the ground was green and not concealed by thick layers of white. But now he saw the horizon of a new land. An expanse of green and yellow and all kinds of colour. It was surreal to witness, as the two other expanses that he had laid his eyes upon had been the endless white of the North Pole and the endless blue of the ocean. Both endless and bland. Flat. This new world was the reverse - full of life, deep and ever-changing.

It was not only the sight of the Earth Kingdom that Malik was fascinated by, but it's heat, too. He had not anticipated it to be so different. Over the course of the boat journey he had slowly shed the various furs that he wore until he was only clad in a very basic layer of clothing. He could now understand why people visiting the North Pole were so dramatic about the climate. He had always thought that they were overreacting, but perhaps it was, to them, as cold as they said.

Malik noted in his head that he was in a place that was not really regarded as hot. There was the Fire Nation, and there were deserts in the Earth Kingdom, he believed. Surely they were even more of a difference than here. Neither the Fire Nation, nor the desert, were places that he was eager to visit. They were places lacking in water. A place lacking in water is no place for a waterbender. Malik could bend well out of quite minimal supplies of water, but he was no miracle worker. He felt more content with the prospect of spending his days in the more pleasant reaches of the Earth Kingdom.
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