Kaliyia
19 ✧ Female ✧ Bisexual ✧ Waterbender
Kaliyia is dancer within a dance troupe; occasionally she takes on some odd jobs like waitressing in order to help make ends meet.
Place of OriginThe Northern Water Tribe
ResidenceKaliyia has a room in a house rented between herself and her three friends in the Middle Ring. The home is owned by one of her roommate's sisters, a private healer to several wealthy families in the Upper Ring and as a result, she gives the girls a discount which is why they can afford the property.
AppearanceKaliyia is very feminine in appearance and is considered by those around her to be quiet a pretty girl. She has thick, long brown hair as typical of most water tribe woman. She often wears it up for ease and day to day use, but occasionally she will wear her hair down. She is of average height standing at around five foot six. Her frame is quite lithe and slim. She has some slight definition, but she is certainly not muscular. Kaliyia has moved away from water tribe clothing since arriving at Ba Sing Se, she does not wear their colours nor the thick pelts they are famous for. Instead, she goes for the much more neutral colours and clothing worn by the everyday citizens of Ba Sing Se. She likes to wear flowing garments as she likes the style. Occasionally she will accessorise with a hair ornament or a bracelet but outside of that, there is nothing notable about the way Kaliyia dresses.
PersonalityKaliyia is the sort of young woman that wants to have her cake and eat it too. She is bold, ambitious and forthright. She wants everything the world has to offer and is unafraid to grab it with both hands. She is a person who believes ultimately in fairness; everyone should be given equal opportunity in her eyes and she defies anything that says otherwise, be is tradition, belief or the spirits themselves. Kaliyia is willing to stand up for these beliefs and challenges what defies them. She has both conviction and spirit and refuses to spend any more time holding herself back for those around her. A studied healer, she is compassionate and has moments of reserve and gentleness – although she has always been sorely lacking in patience. Still, she has a good, if not a little odd, bedside manner and is often willing to help those around her.
The traditions of The Northern Water Tribe stick with Kaliyia in the back of her mind like a constant nagging, despite her best attempts to shake them. As a result, Kaliyia is constantly at odds with her own femininity. Sometimes she feels ashamed of her femininity as she sees it as a sign of weakness; a small twinge of guilt when she wants to go to the spa when she could spend a day training. At times she weighs up whether or not she should cut her hair to appear more masculine. She is concerned that those around her won’t take her seriously as a bender. Subsequently, she is afraid to show any sign of weakness as she fears it will discredit her. She constantly does her best to project herself as strong and capable and is often unwilling or unable to ask for the help of those around her. In order to combat these thoughts, Kaliyia attempts to champion herself and women around her – hopeful if she repeats it enough times it will be true. At her core, she does believe the sexes to be equal but as with every person, she falters at times. But that does not stop her from doing her best to challenge and destroy gender biased notions whenever she sees them.
As one might expect Kaliyia does not feel obligated to fit in. She is fiercely independent, sometimes to a fault. A product of her upbringing and the situation with her family forced her to become comfortable with her own company. Refusing to bend and mould herself into someone she is not for anybody; Kaliyia is who she is and if that is not enough then Kaliyia will make no apologies. But that does not preclude her from being loyal to those she forms friendships with. She has a tendency to be guarded at first, but it does not take as long as Kaliyia might pretend to melt your way into her heart.
Unlike most of the multicultural residents of Ba Sing Se, Kaliyia is not proud of her heritage. She holds no warmth for her home in her heart and she does her best to distance herself from it wherever possible. How could she be proud of the very system that drove her from her home? And the people who allow such rigid traditions. Kaliyia takes issues with waterbenders who uphold the more traditional values of the tribes and does her best to avoid them.
It can easily be said that Kaliyia’s biggest vice is her pride. A pride that is so awesome it convinces her nothing is beyond her capability if she works hard enough. No task is too great if she sets her mind to it and no power is too awesome that it is beyond her control. Kaliyia has little humility and does not recognise her own limits and it is the chink in the armour of her soul. When her faith in herself is shaken, Kaliyia does not cope well – she is used to relying on herself for most things and if she cannot depend on her own abilities for whatever reason then she is often driven into a state of panic.
Although a flawed and complicated young woman most people she meets tend to agree that although she is certainly rough around the edges Kaliyia is a bright young soul whose heart is in the right place – now if only her mouth and head would follow.
Likes and Dislikes• The Cold. She finds the bitter chill refreshing.
• Music. She is fascinated by anyone who can play an instrument, but she doesn't have the time to learn herself.
• A Romance Novel. She is a young woman who dreams of love, but of course, she would never be willing to admit it.
• Sailing. It didn't interest her growing up surrounded by ships, it does not interest her now.
• Sour food. She would rather enjoy her meal than want to spit it out.
• The colour red. It's just too garish.
Skills• Healing – Kaliyia is a studied healer, learning from the best master within The Northern Water Tribe her skills are certainly not be underestimated. She has learned all about the healing of ailments. She is a careful and precise healer and leaves no marks where even talented peers would struggle. Kaliyia is adept at dealing with whatever comes her way, but she has a talent for wounds to the chest area and matters involving the heart. Back in the healing hut, Kaliyia was considered to the best out of her peers and although she does not practice as much as she previously did she works to keep her skills sharp.
• Waterbending – Having undertaken formal instruction in waterbending Kaliyia is now able to use her bending for combat purposes. Her lessons have been many and she has taken a shine to the art form without doubt, but Kaliyia is far from a master yet. Although she is comfortable with nearly all of the basic waterbending techniques and forms and has begun to study the more advanced techniques of waterbending she still lacks a lot of real combat experience apart from the occasional street thug. Kaliyia's instructor is a waterbender from the north who moved to the south and thus she has the benefits and experience of both styles of waterbending - although it pains her to admit that the Northern style comes to her more naturally.
• Medical Techniques and Training – The Northern Water Tribe had a library of scrolls and books relating to different practices of healing used throughout the world. The healing hut was a place of teaching for bending, but the women learned all kinds of other medical techniques such as bandaging, suturing, wound care and herbal remedies. As well as the diagnosis and management of disease. As a result, Kaliyia is a gifted medic even without her bending. Since arriving in the Earth Kingdom she has read a few books on how doctors in the Earth Kingdom heal the sick without any bending to assist them and even attended a lecture in the water tribe enclave for healers but her focus has been on her waterbending training.
• Dancing – The natural fluidity and elegance of waterbending are also key ingredients for good dancing. Kaliyia is a very graceful and skilled dancer and, perhaps more importantly, a good show woman who is often able to bring even the most dead crowd some life. Having been dancing to pay her way through the Earth Kingdom with her friend, the girls have plenty of different dances and routines. Since improving their own waterbending they have even begun to include it in their dances.
HistoryKaliyia started out life in the Northern Water Tribe with her twin brother and two parents. The north had always been steeped in tradition and Kaliyia’s family was no exception. Her parents were both traditional having been raised on the traditions of the tribe themselves. Kaliyia was raised to be a proper and well-spoken young woman, her brother was granted slightly more freedom but still kept on a tight leash. It was not an overly comfortable life but it was a simple one. Kaliyia and her brother, Kartan, took comfort in each other and fostered a harmonious relationship of shared occasional rebellion and sibling camaraderie. But things changed when both twins discovered the possessed the ability to waterbend.
Kaliyia’s parents were brimming with pride to discover Kartan was a waterbender, they almost immediately sought about ensuring he was set to receive lessons with the other benders his each within the tribe. Shortly after when Kaliyia discovered her own bending ability she was met with a bored disinterested – they were not proud of Kaliyia in the same way they had been of Kartan; they nodded and said she would be of use around the village but it was easy to see they did not particularly care about Kaliyia’s own ability and they made a very half-hearted attempt to disguise it. So, like the rest of the girls, her age Kaliyia was sent to the healing hut to learn about medicine, cheat and healing with waterbending. The repairing of physical and mental wounds and the treatment of them. Kaliyia found the lessons interesting without a doubt and she was certainly eager to hone her skills in this aspect of bending. Still young, and not quite fully aware of the restrictions placed upon her, Kaliyia sent her classroom into silence when she asked her instruction when they would begin the lessons on waterbending for combat purposes. The room was completely still for a moment as her instruction stared at the girl with a confused expression, as if she had just announced to the world she was the long lost avatar, before advising that battle was no place for a woman and that female waterbenders mastered the art of healing and that was it. There was no option to study the traditional northern style like her brother, no choice or say in the matter, it was decided – and had been long ago before Kaliyia had even been conceived.
At first, Kaliyia was confused as to why she should be denied the opportunity to hone her own waterbending ability the same as any man would and she didn’t see why healing was considered a lesser skill. She felt men should be able to treat the wounded same as any – but she was a young girl whose long voice could not shatter the chains of tradition that shackled the tribe. So she instead focused on her studies with her classmates, but Kaliyia was clearly gifted and the healing hut quickly ran out of new challenges to keep her engaged. There were few actual injuries within the tribe to sustain any real practice and Kaliyia continued to grow frustrated as she felt her skills had expanded the environment she was trapped in. Home was no better. Her parents had started talking about arranging a marriage with a long-standing family friend who had good ties within the court system. Kaliyia was not interested in getting married, certainly not as soon as she came of age and this caused a divide between her and her parents. By the same token, Kaliyia watched as Kartan was lavished with praise for his own waterbending – which in truth was unremarkable whilst her parents barely recognised her own efforts. Kaliyia resented Kartan for the fact he was an at best mediocre waterbender and yet he received the tuition she craved. This resentment and frustration continued to bubble and divide the siblings until eventually, they didn’t speak at all. Despite Kartan making several attempts to reach out to his sister and bridge the gap between them – unaware of what had even caused it to begin with.
As time went on Kaliyia continued to be at odds with her family and had resorted to sneaking out at night to try and learn waterbending herself. She made excuses to sneak out of the healing hut and observe the boys practice and watch intently whenever her parents insisted Kartan demonstrated some of his bending at home but her efforts were fruitless. Without a master to instruct her, point out her flaws and guide her through the proper forms her skills did not improve. Eventually, her parents announced to her that they had agreed her marriage without even discussing it with her as if to add to her contempt for them. Her mother had spent the day teaching her to prepare the favourite meal of her husband to be – without informing her why they were going to such effort before the man himself attended dinner and presented her with the betrothal necklace. Kaliyia spent a few days in a low hum, unsure of herself and what to do next. The new few days were filled with the sound of silence as she couldn’t escape her own head until the silence was shattered by the sound of the warhorn.
The Northern Water Tribe was attacked by the Fire Nation due to rumours they were harbouring the Avatar – the only person left standing in the way of their tyranny. However, the rumours were false and the tribe was left only with their own waterbenders to fend off the attack. The women, Kaliyia included, manned the healing huts and worked on the warriors injured during battle. Kaliyia felt passionately that they could be more helpful in the heat of battle, but as the women were uninstructed in ways of waterbending for combat they would only slow the men down. Kaliyia understood her role as a healer was important, but she felt they could be doing more. The north was her home as well, why should she not defend it? Still, the tribe was successful in repelling the attack and even managed to nab some armour from the Fire Nation soldiers. The sight of it made Kaliyia realise that this war was all too real; the fire nation was real and was a threat to them all.
Shortly after the dust had settled after the attack Kaliyia was approached by one of her classmates from the healing hut. There had been hushed whispers among a small group of girls in the hut for a while now. This particular classmate had an older sister who left the tribe one day; Kaliyia did not know much about the finer details other than she was not supposed to talk about it. Her classmate explained that her sister, also sick of the traditions of the tribe, had decided to leave for a better life with her lover. The two had ended up finding their way to Ba Sing Se within the Earth Kingdom – supposedly it was a safe haven from the Fire Nation, but what truly grabbed Kaliyia’s attention was that there was a waterbending instructor there. He had been born in the Northern tribe but married a woman from the Southern tribe. The two ended up going to Ba Sing Se in order to help fight the firebenders. He was willing to take students for waterbending, the lessons were not free but provided you could pay he was willing to instruct – regardless of gender. Her sister had been able to send her a map along with her latest letter providing the girls with a path. But it was not without risk; none of the girls knew any waterbending outside of healing, should they be caught by pirates, bandits or heaven forbid the fire nation who knows what would become of them. But Kaliyia realised that although they were safe with the tribe; they could not speak freely, they could not choose who they married, they could not utilize their gifts freely – bending or otherwise. Perhaps they were not prisoners of war, but they were certainly in captivity. It was right to leave.
Kaliyia went home that evening and stared at the twin brother she was once loved so dearly, that love now twisted with contempt, jealousy and bitterness. And her parents, the relationship poisoned by the traditions they upheld so dearly over their own daughter's happiness, and she knew she made the right choice. She wrote a letter explaining she had left and that she would likely not return until it was time for a change and she hoped one day she could forgive them. She made it clear that she was never going to marry the husband they picked out for her. She left the letter with the betrothal necklace she was given and amidst the dead of night the girls hijacked a boat and followed the map the girls were sent.
Kaliyia has many different stories about the girl’s trip to Ba Sing Se but the most notable one is the group running into a travelling bard on their journey. He played music to attract the women to him and through a strange series of events the girls ended up dancing to his music; using the same fluid motions found in the few waterbending forms they knew and the many traditional dances found in The Northern Water Tribe for festivals. The bard enjoyed the girl’s performance so much he asked them to dance with him in the string of villages on the way to Ba Sing Se – the girls agreed and began to dance their way through the Earth Kingdom. Once they eventually arrived in Ba Sing Se the girls had grown accustomed to their new little dance troupe and decided to keep dancing in order to pay their way.
Kaliyia has now been in Ba Sing Se for around nine months, the attack still fresh in her mind from ten months ago. The girls continue to live together and dance – deviating from the norm of water tribe women working in the clinics. They regularly dance in several venues within the Middle Ring and have even played a few private shows in the Upper Ring. The funds go to the girls shared apartment and lessons from their waterbending instructor – her bending has come on in leaps and bounds and is the natural she hoped she would be. Her instructor chides her for her arrogance at times and she still has a way to go but Kaliyia is too wrapped up in her fascination and joy in the art to be frustrated. Still, Ba Sing Sae is not totally free and although Kaliyia has been a model citizen since her arrival she still cannot shake the feeling that she is under the microscope. There is certainly unrest within the city and despite Kaliyia’s attempts to distance herself from it, like the tides of the sea, the pull of people might be more than she can quell.
AmbitionsKaliyia has several ambitions; in the long term, she would like to master waterbending and return home to the North in order to break the traditions by defeating the waterbending instructor to prove women are capable. Although in the midst of the war that sometimes feels like a pipe dream. Ultimately, if that cannot be achieved she would like to at the very least establish a school for waterbenders where men and women are treated equally. Marriage would be nice too. In the short term, however, Kaliyia would like to make more connections with people, learn how to cook better and wants to do what she can to help those right in front of her.
OtherThank you to kyone-kuaci on deviantart for this lovely piece that I am using as a face claim. I did try and find a link to the art directly but I think it might have been removed.
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