Elizabeth Matthews
Alias:
Shift
Gender:
Female
Age:
22
Powers/Abilities:
Eli has the ability to transform into any kind of animal that she has seen before. The process is extremely painful and long, putting her body in great stress. Once in the animal state, she cannot speak, but she can understand what other people and animals are saying. She can also perform actions that particular animal can do, but she must first adapt to her new body. Upon the first transformations, Eli will have the same capabilities as a baby. With more practice however, she can control even the smallest twitch of an ear. Shifting back into a human is the same as turning into an animal - gruesome. Without her power, she is like a normal university student - going to class, working a part-time job, hanging out with friends. Transformation, however, sometimes happens at random and she can shift during these regular activities.
Personality:
Eli tries not to let her power define who she is and tends to ignore it (though it's pretty hard to ignore when it happens). She is quiet and laid-back. For the most part, she appears to be happy and satisfied with her life. She is also a great listener but a terrible speaker. She thinks too much and when she figures out what she can say, the opportunity has gone and slipped away. Eli masks the pain that her power brings, as well as any sort of negative emotion that she feels. She dislikes being pitied and loves being around people.
Backstory:
For as long as she could remember, Eli lived with her father. He was always working to support her, not allowing the two to have some father-daughter time. It was rare for her father to have a break, but when he did, the two would go out and have fun, sharing their stories from the past days they didn't see each other. One day, Eli was playing in the nearby park. She was chasing after squirrels and chipmunks, climbing up trees and scaling rocks. The other children were in the playground, playing with the park equipment. Their parents were watching them from the benches. Away from their supervision, Eli continued to rough around with the animals instead of the kids. As she was climbing one particular tree, she knocked over a bird's nest. She didn't realize what had happened until minutes later, when she plopped back onto the ground. Just a few feet from the trunk lay broken twigs that led to the nest. There was one egg inside. The others were scattered around the grass, cracked and broken. Eli began sobbing as she picked up the nest with the single egg and returned it to its place on the branch. She sat beside it, tears rolling down her face. Before she knew it, an owl, most likely the mother bird, appeared. Eli noticed her and sputtered out apology after apology. The owl glanced at the egg and then at Eli. She ruffled her feathers and hopped closer to Eli. She patted Eli's knee with her wing, as if comforting her. Lightly pecking her knee once, the owl shook her wings out, taking Eli by surprise. She lost her balance and fell off the tree, screaming on the way down. She blacked out midway. From what she could recall, she could see glimpses of the parents and a few of the kids, larger than normal. They weren't looking straight at her, but they were close by. She lost consciousness again, only to wake up at the base of the tree. The sky was dark and the park was silent. When Eli looked up, the nest was no longer there. She trudged back home, her whole body aching. When she arrived, her father opened the door. His eyes were red and his hair was disheveled. He was quiet for a minute, before giving her a tight hug. It was explained later to Eli that she had gone missing two days prior, at the park.
Unknown to her at the time, she was an owlet, hidden under a leaf. The mother owl was feeding her from time to time until she transformed back into a little girl. The owl watched as Eli unconsciously chirped in pain, and as a human, groaning in pain. She flew away moments before Eli opened her eyes. It was the beginning of the series of events of Eli's shape shifting. The second time she transformed was at midnight a week later. She was screaming and crying, but no one came to help. Her father was working a night shift. When she no longer felt pain, she wondered what had happened and tried to sit up. It was difficult, but she dismissed it as the mysterious pain. She saw that everything in her room was bigger and thought she was dreaming. But, she realized that it was midnight and she was able to see things clearly. Looking down, Eli saw a furry stomach and paws. She had transformed into a kitten. She sat there in confusion until her body began heating up. She could hear distressed mewls coming from her mouth, which slowly faded into shouts of agony. After that, she kept transforming at random, though she did her best to run away from the public eye when she began feeling pain. A few weeks later, Eli figured out what was happening - though without explanation - and learned how to suppress the random shifting and control it.
As a side note, Eli hates her power and wishes it would disappear.
Alignment Status:
Neutral, but she may be swayed to either side during the RP.
I feel like my profile is a bit 'fantasy-like', so if you want me to change anything, I'll gladly do it.
(edit: woah there i think i got carried away with that backstory. i didn't know it'd be that long.)
