[Lily Finnian]

Lilian Finnian

" No need to rush."

Age 18 Gender Female Faction Haven Academy Tier Beginner Face Claim Original Artwork owned by Clockwor OOC Name Lily#7127

Character Traits

Date of Birth: 17 November 6 AV

Species: Faunus

Hometown: She's still trying to figure that one out.

Romantic Orientation: Bi

Hair Color/Style: Black Hair. She takes special care of her hair, and it is one of the few things she may be considered conceited about. It is meticulously combed in between missions and assignments, and finds it difficult to properly meditate if her hair is disheveled. She keeps it long, during missions and classes she keeps it pinned back pragmatically, but in her liesure time she enjoys wearing it loose. Her hair is long and straight and reaches her middle back when tied. Her bangs are also long enough to completely obscure her eyes if they are not properly parted.

Eye Color: She has dark gunmetal grey eyes.

Aura Color: White

Height: 163 cm

Weight: 67kg

Appearance:Lily is short, with an agile build of lean muscle. She tends to move quickly, but gracefully, however in combat she moves wildly, weaving unpredictable paths through the battlefield. She favors comfortable clothing that is easy to move in, tending towars greys whites and blacks in her clothing options. She wears anything from pleasant dresses to gym attire depending on her mood each day, but favors a knee length dress that had obsiously been retailored many times. Dozens of patches and different fabrics seem to be woven together to make up the garment. The dress is prediminantly black, but a white frill had obviously been added at the bottom at some point, as the frill very little indication of wear and tear as some of the other segments of dress. There were some patches that are particularly threadbare, some actual patches of black fabric that don't exactly match the other black used for the rest of the dress, and a few holes and tears that had yet to be patched. Still, it was her favorite garment and she never packs for a trip without it.

Her black hair has two black pointed ears protruding from the upper sides of her head, with tufts of white fur poking out from the insides of those ears. If one were to somehow catch her in a state of undress, they would note a large scar present on her upper back, as well as a corresponding, slightly smaller scar above her left breast.

Personality: Lily is a complex creature with many conflicting emotions and ideologies bouncing around in her head. Though she does not remember as much about her birth parents as she would like, she remembers the fanatical discipline they lived by. No time was to be wasted, nothing should be attempted halfheartedly. You must put everything you have into everything you do, and make your will as hard as ice.

This philosophy shines through the most in her training and academic studies, where she fanatically works to better herself, even to the point of sleep deprivation at times. She follows a personal schedule that factors in time for study, time for training, and time for recreation.

Her foster parents had much different beliefs about what it meant to be a strong family. They valued patience, gentleness, and self expeession. Lily grew to love the way spending time with them made her feel, and understands the value in treating people well as a result. Even so, the warmth and confort of that environment neve left Lily feeling truly at ease, as she knew what her birth parents would have had to say about the weakness such a life can instill. In the end, she has trouble accepting time of peace without also being racked by guilt. She is uneasy around people, and can take some time to warm up to somebody, but will be fiercely protective of the bonds she does forge. Depending on her level of comfort with another person, or the topic or conversation, she could either say very little at all while being absorbed by her own discomfort, or babble on forever nervously excited about the topic at hand.

Underneath all of her confusion and abandonment issues though, Lily is a sweet simple girl who wants things to be better than they are. She may be unfocused in how she accomplishes that at times, but her heart is in the right place.

Combat & Inventory

Light Speed

Rank of Semblance: E

Semblance Type: Physical boost

One Sentence Summary of Semblance: Light speed is physical boost type semblance that increases the speed and agility of the user when activated and clouds them in a white glow.

Description of Semblance: When Lily enters her semblance, for a short few seconds the whole world seems to slow down and come into focus. Her body is shrouded by a white glow, which persists even after she has moved on, leaving a trail of bright light in her wake. The main function of her semblance is of course the speed it provides. She rapidly dashes in a straight line, but has trouble adjusting her momentum without careful use of her weapon. The main thing that sets apart her speed from other speed bonuses of this type is her degree of control over the speed. She can use it to travel quickly of course, but she can also choose not to take a single step while her semblance is active. In combat this can be used to quickly dodge incoming blows or projectiles. So long as she doesn't make any large movements that throw her momentum off, she can dodge.

Drawbacks of Semblance: Aura drain when active. Momentum carries. If she is knocked off balance before coming out of her semblance, the speed can be turned against her. Furthermore poor trajectory decisions on her part could leave her exiting her semblance hurtling toward imminent harm.

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Final Embrace


Rank of Weapon(s): F

Description of Weapons(s): Final embrace is a set of claw type weapons which were built with both utility and deadly efficiency in mind. In it's nondeployed state, the base of each claw prong juts out over her knuckles. The bladed claws are turned blade edge out along the length of her forearm, allowing her hooked blades to act both defensively and offensively. In very close quarters, she can slash opponents with her forearm, but it also functions as a vambrace, allowing her to turn steel with careful precision. She can also take up a boxer's stance, and use the dull nubs at the base or her claws to pummel her enemies into submission. Between the gaps of the prongs her trigger gaurd hangs. It provides minimal protection to her fingers like that, but it's main function is deploying the weapon to proper state. When she tugs the trigger guard into its proper position, the claws are pulled up and down quickly, with the faint sound of wires being retracted quietly into the steel metal wrist cuff that holds the blades in place. There is a faint clicking as the nubs at the base quietly click into place. The blades extend nearly two feet from her wrist in this position, and gives her melee range a few extra feet to work with. With the trigger guard being fitted properly in place, Lily can then loop her index, middle, and ring fingers into the trigger grips. Each trigger has two stages. The first stage fires the corresponding prong out, while the second stage reels it back in. Each prong is attatched to a reel of razor wire housed in the metal ring cuff around her wrist, allowing the hooked projectiles to be reeled back in and fired again several times during the course of a single fight. The tips of the prongs were designed in such a way that when the second trigger stage was pulled, the pronged tips would collapse into the straight length of the claw, allowing it to more easily pull free of whatever surface it is embedded into. If however, she did not want to release the pronged tips, she has the option to flip the first trigger upwards, which activates the reeling function.

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Non-Combat Abilities


Name of Non-Combat Ability: Wilderness Survival

Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F

Description of Non-Combat Ability: Can provide for herself in the wild, able to secure clean food, shelter, and drinkable water. Likes to camp.


Name of Non-Combat Ability: Speed Reader

Rank of Non-Combat Ability: F

Description of Non-Combat Ability: Using a localized burst of her semblance in her eyes, she can quickly take in information. She often uses this for quickly knocking her studies out so she can return to her training more quickly. Were she the type of student who put off doing her work, it would be ideal for last minute cram sessions.

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Combat Abilities


Name of Combat Ability: Marathon Runner (Stamina)

Rank of Combat Ability: F

Description of Combat Ability: Constant training has left her body capable of pushing itself for long periods of time.


Name of Combat Ability: Reflexive Aim(Marksmanship)

Rank of Combat Ability: Rank F

Description of Combat Ability: Time spent slinging her Final embrace as a means of getting around in forests has given Lily an intuitive feel for where she needs to send her claws.


Name of Combat Ability: Wire Slinger (Acrobatics)

Rank of Combat Ability: F

Description of Combat Ability: She makes use of her natural nimbleness as well as her weapon's razor wire to find purchase and sling herself around the battlefield like some sort of acrobatics junkie.

Biography

History
Lilian Finnian is the adoptive daughter of Vern and Xanthe Finnian, but her story does not start there. Her story truly starts over a decade prior to her first introduction to the gregarious hunter duo. Though she never learned the proper names of her birth parents, she remembers them well. Her mother was a true warrior, the only one capable of reigning in her hopeless father, or so she would say frequently to Lily when the two shared a moment alone. In these moments, her mother displayed a tenderness towards the young faunus that stood in stark comparison to the tyrant that had been teaching her the basics of combat. Her mother was also in charge of the young Lily's survival training, and seemed to think the best way to ensure she could survive would be to imperil her life at every opportunity. The misty valley where she spent her formative years was fraught with many dangers, and her mother had a bad habit of guiding Lily to those dangers just to see how she would contend with them, and then disappearing entirely the moment the curious young Lily would inspect some bug or flower. She often found herself alone in the deep thickets of the forests and made to recall her own way home.

Once, Lily returned home a few days late covered in the mildly poisonous needles of a spiker tree. She was sick for nearly a week, and made to train twice as hard every day she complained about the nausea to quote "Make up for the days you spent slacking in the woods."

Her early life was hard, she rarely went to bed without dropping from exhaustion as soon as she hit the lightly padded mat she calles a bed, but she was joined through the hardships by her older brother Yarrow. Though he was less than a year her elder, he excelled at everything while she only just barely struggled through. Yarrow, like their father, was a massive bear faunus. Unlike their father, who was known by some as the misty bear shaman, he took naturally to martial skills. Their father was known in some groups as an incredibly specialized user of aura and semblance, and had dedicated a lot of time and passion into the pursuit of those interests. Her brother seemed to be the same in regard to his pursuit of physical excellence. He always seemed to have more energy at the end of the day, and liked to taunt their mother by saying her exercise was an excellent warmup. This would typically result in the following days exercise to be unbearably brutal, which Lily would have to suffer through right alongside Yarrow.

Their father rarely took a direct hand in their training, as he was often busy concocting things for the numerous guests that would seek him out. When he would take an interest, it would often be to teach his offspring some odd meditative pose which, he insisted, if done correctly would bolster their rate of aura development. She would later in life add these meditations into her daily training regiment, but at the time had very little skill for the poses, and not nearly the attention span to focus on meditation.

Their mother too would on occasion be visited by strangers, however when she was, it always meant Lily and Yarrow were to be tested. Her mother had once explained that this was a ceremony performed by the elders of her line, and all of the offspring of certain individuals within their ranks must be tested. Yarrow and Lily were close enough to be tested together, and so once a year or so after Lily's sixth name day, (or her ninth year of age, as children are left unnamed for their first three years in their particularly odd family) she went on her first trip outside of her misty valley home.

The first trial wood was simple, she was forbidden from working with her brother for the trial, but the goal was straightforward enough. Survive the ordeal for one week and return to the tallest tree in the forest for pickup on the seventh evening just after sunset. In a lot of ways, that week was a much needed vacation for her. She was able to secure a resonable shelter and clean water early on. Foraging enough food for her small frame was relatively easy, so she was able to relax for most of her day each day, and sleep far longer than her parents had ever let her. She knew she should be more diligent against the grimm, but after the first few days of not seeing any, she relaxed her guard somewhat. She was almost sad to put her cozy little campsite behind her when it was time to meet with her brother again. The two waited together until their mother returned in their small nimble airship.

Afterwards her mother questioned them about the methods they used to survive, and had them each tell of their encounters with the grim. Her brother, when it came time to tell his story spoke of the weapon he had improvised, and the many grimm he had sought out in the wood to test his might. Lily realized that she had only spoken of her shelter and gathering abilities, and hadn't even thought to improvise a weapon. She wondered then how she had managed to evade the grimm for her whole duration of her stay in the camp. An intense stare was briefly shared between their mother and Yarrow after the stories had been told, but nothing further was said. Her mother didn't mention her own thoughts on their time out there, merely saying "Good job surviving kids." She spent the rest of the trip pensively staring out the window.

They would go on three more of these excursions before Lily's time with them would come to an end. Each new trip would bring with it new limitations or challenges. With the extra years of development under her young belt, she was much better equipped for the trials she would face, but still, she was a child left in the woods. The next few trips were much more dangerous. She wasn't like her brother. She couldn't challenge the grim directly. On the second trip she came uncomfortably close to a pack of beowolves and nearly recieved a nasty wound when her improvised weapon broke. She managed to avoid harm, and led the grimm into a section of forest she had previously set several snare traps to catch food. She found one of her twitch-up snares, easily spotted thanks to the bent sapling. They were too insubstantial to hinder the grim meaningfully, but a ten year old girl was easily a light enough load for the young but strong tree. It propelled her upwards, which allowed her to grasp one of the otherwise out of reach lower boughs of a much older tree.

From there it was easier to climb up, and she made her escape in the dense upper boughs.

After surviving her second year's trial wood, she went home and had a lot to think about. Her brother had returned once again with impressive tales of his exploits. It was clear that he was well suited for this. All she had been able to do was run and dodge. For the following year, she did something she'd never done before. She started looking at the training not as a daily chore, but a means to push herself further. She resolved to land her first kill next year, and when the time came, she did. While she didn't match up to her brother's all around prowess, she had begun to train to her strengths. She used her speed and agility not just to run, but to lead. She maneuvered the grim, and would strike out with her simple weapon time and time again until it fell. She managed a few other kills that year, but only beowolves. Her brother claimed an Ursa that year.

She could never seem to catch up with her brother, but by the final trialwood she would see she thought she had at least closed some of the gaps. The young faunus did not know this would be the last of the trial woods she would see. The trial of this wood would be much more difficult than previous years. However, the twelve year old Lily was more confident this year than in others. She had unlocked her semblance, and had trained harder than ever. They were each given tasks based on their own strengths. Lily was tasked with taking down a large beowolf without alerting the rest of the pack. Her brother was tasked with taking down a group of Ursa Minors, since he'd already proven himself capable of handling a singe one. Lily gritted her teeth and clenched her fists then. She hated that he was tasked with something so much more dangerous than her, and wanted to prove that she could handle herself too. She was disappointed because her parents had never acknowledged her hard work, not when her brother was always shining so much brighter during training, and she was resolved to show them she was capable. Unlike other years when a date and time had been established for their pickup, her mother said they should go to the clearing she would be dropping them off in once they had accomplished their task.

When they arrived, she sent Lily off with a pat on her head, and a tender rubbing of her ears. It was an incredibly unusual show of affection from her mother, who would usually only even speak kind words to the young girl when the two were alone. In training, she never ceased to push her children as brutally as possible. With that, she was sent on her way.

She found this new wood to be unlike the others. Tall dark trees were so densely packed together that it was difficult to keep one's bearings. The grimm were numerous, and seemed to be waiting around every corner. She levied her speed and agility to their fullest advantage by staying in the trees. Many trees were dead, choked for sunlight by aggressive vine growth and taller trees. As a result she never knew just how strong a bough would be until she landed on it. Once or twice a bough broke, careening down into the forest floor below, but she had developed a good sense of movement among the branches, and never accompanied the limbs down, always nimbly pushing off of the branch and onto the next. At one point she could hear the sound of her mother's airship passing over head, but she was focused on her task. She had managed to find a pack of beowolves with a particularly menacing beowolf among their number, and had been stalking them for some time. She gripped the handle of her weapon firmly, but felt little tension in her mind. She was a stalker, silently watching the group of grimm, all other thought pushed far away. Her target was the largest in the pack, and was much tougher looking than the beowolves she'd faced up until that point. Her only concern was remaining undetected as she jumped through the trees. It took a while but she finally found her ideal ambush spot. She'd scouted a clearing in the direction they were heading. Something had knocked down a bunch of trees in the area quite some time ago, leaving a small pockmark in the dense forest where sunlight could shine through. A few shrubberies and tall grasses had sprung up. It was in this underbrush that she would lie in wait.

She descended from the trees silently, hiding in the tall grass and waiting for the unsuspecting pack of grimm to make their way to her. Her heart was thundering in her ears while she waited. Each second felt like an eternity passing. She realized her breathing was suddenly labored, and focused on breathing exercises she had been taught to steady herself. No sooner than she had, the pack made its way to the grassy clearing. There were eight of the grimm by her count, their leader apparently much older than the others judging by its size. While most of the grimm in its pack were engulfed by the tall grass, the leader alone stood head and shoulders above. Its footfalls were much heavier than its lesser companions, and she used that to keep track of the leader. Since her tartet was bigger and heavier than the others, she levied that to her advantage, using the heavier footfalls as a beacon that would lead her to her target. As she weaved her way quietly through the grass, she found herself thinking about what she had been taught about grimm. They were made to kill humans and faunus, to grow older, bigger, and more capable in combat. Bigger grims could be centuries old, and each grimm used their experience fighting against mankind and the huntsmen to keep becoming an even deadlier threat. She wondered how old this grimm was. Decades? Centuries? She was much younger by comparison, but she had still wagered her years of training against its years of experience. When the moment was right, she gripped her makeshift spear and charged. Her semblance slowed the world around her as she sped toward the grimm and watched in slow motion as the sharpened point of the wooden spear pierced the creature's eye. She held her grip, and kept running. She watched the spear rip through the head of the creature until it was no longer recognizable as such, and then she was gone. She had fled through the grass and back into the forest leaving nothing but a trail of white light through the grass to mark her passing. After that she returned to the boughs of the trees and started retracing her steps. However, the forest was massive, and looked mostly the same to her, so she got herself lost a few times before making her way back to the meeting point. Once there, she had naught to do but wait. She waited for her brother, and at first was filled with glee that she'd beaten him back for once. She waited for the hum of airship engines, for anything to break the sound of forest's noises around her. She waited a very long time. As the days passed she began converting the area into a campsite. She never strayed far from the rendezvous point while gathering supplies to build her camp, fearful that she may miss her mother's return. However as the days became weeks, and the weeks months, she was forced to accept the fact that nobody was coming for her. She rationalized it dozens of ways. Maybe her mom got attacked and had to retreat. Maybe she got lost, and couldn't find her. A thousand possibilies flooded her mind, but none of them seemed overly likely except for one. She kept remembering the sound of quiet airship engines passing above no more than a half an hour into her hunt. They didn't sound like they were being strained, they weren't running, they were simply leaving. Though she couldn't admit it to herself, it was exceedingly likely that she had been abandoned. She eventually resolved to leave the forest, and find her way to some place where people were. She'd never left her misty valley for anything but a trial wood before, but her father had once told her that the buildings they lived out of and stored the components for his work were all once something called a village, and that the people that once lived there had been forced out by grimm. She hoped that if she searched she could find one, but didn't have any idea of what she could do after that.

After leaving her campsite survival was not as easy as it had been. She had no means of transporting water with her save a small hollowed out gourd she had brought from home, and she had to focus on her day to day priorities of food water and shelter while also trying to make sure she didn't walk herself in circles. The massive forest was overwhelming, and the girl's spirits were at rock bottom. She tried her best not to think about anything but what was right in front of her, but it was impossible to keep all of her stray thoughts in check. Her every step seemed dogged by grimm. She spent as much time running from conflict to preserve her energy as she did on maintaining her body with food and sleep.

Eventually she progressed into a part of the wood where trees were less dense. Sunlight shone through the boughs in the day, and there was a sweet scent in the air. She followed her nose, and before long came to a small village. She came upon a group of men leaving the village and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. The two other men with him had their bows levied against her as well, and she found herself frozen in place. The rifleman barked at her,

"What's your business?

"Probably a bandit spy, best to shoot her and be done with it," said the long haired eyepatch sporting bowman on the left.

"She's just a kid," the other said appalled.

"Are you huntsmen?" Lily asked a bit wide eyed. She'd never met one before, but she had heard that the kingdoms are defended by powerful warriors who could even rival her parents abilities. This innocent question seemed to draw a laugh from the wizened rifleman, who saw the girl's innocense and smiled at it.

"No, but close, we're hunters. We get meat for the village here. Where are you from girl? Ain't nothing for miles that direction except grimm and the occasional bandit."

"I'm from..." she didn't know exactly how to answer that. She had traveled hours by aircraft to arrive here, and all she knew about her home was that there weren't any other people there. "Err... I don't really know. I'm lost and I don't know how to get home." With these words she suddenly started crying. The hunters shared an uneasy look between themselves. Something passed unspoken, as the younger one with the kind disposition said "Hey, how about I introduce her to Aurelia and come meet up with you guys in a bit." The other two nodded and said "Be quick, meet us at the regular spot." He said while the third maintained an icy silence. She was led through the dirt roads of the small village toward the sweet scent that had drawn her to the village in the first place. She was led into a bakery, where the scent was overwhelming. She was so caught up in basking in the smell, she was completely oblivious to the world around her until the closing of the door brought her out of her reverie. She was left alone with a blonde woman with green eyes that regarded Lily with a warm smile.

"Morado explained your situation, don't worry. You can stay with us until the auditor from Mistral comes by in a few months. He always comes with an escort of huntsman, so he'll be able to get you to the city safely."

"What happens then?" She asked, and the girl looked a bit sad. "Well, then they'll help you find somewhere to live," she said, tactfully avoiding talk of orphanages and new families. "But for now, how about you help me out here for the day."

And so she spent the day at the bakery helping out how she could, after a very thorough shower at Aurelia's insistence that is. She mostly helped with the cleaning while Aurelia taught her the very basics of baking. She had a wonderful time. She mostly got to relax, Aurelia saw that she was worn out from whatever ordeals she'd been through and insisted the young faunus act as a taste tester for each new batch that finished. She was stuffed by the time she was walked home that evening. Theirs was a quiet little cottage, and as they entered she smiled. "We have a spare room upstairs, you should have heard Morado bellyache when I had him build it. He insisted we'd never use it." Her smile was the smile of the vindicated. She pulled Lily upstairs and appeared shortly after with a bedroll and a blanket. Lily passed out almost immediately when she lay down. She smelled of the bakery, but the warm shower earlier had done little to ease the fatigue that had settled on her after months alone in the forest. Though she was essentially laying on several loose boards stacked atop the ceiling beams of the houde, it couldn't have been more comfortanble for her.She awoke the next day when the sun was high in the sky, and rushed to the bakery. Aurelia explained a little more to her then, about how the village couldn't take in another mouth to feed for long, and the kinds of things she would see in the big city. She then told her to go out and make some friends because she wasn't needed at the bakery that day. She felt guilty for eating so much of the baked goods that had been offered, if she'd known food was a problem for these people she wouldn't have eaten so much.

She had been turned out, and had to go find something to do with herself. She spent some time walking around the village, familiarizing herself with its streets and introducing herself to people she met. Some people seemed uncomfortable around her, while others greeted her enthusiastically. There was a third group that made a much stronger impression on the young faunus. They treated her with outright derision. She came to realize that she was likely the only faunus in this village, and some humans didn't care for faunus.

She finished making her rounds and decided she would seek out some kids her age. She met a small gaggle of kids ranging from younger than her to older than her playing in the field just outside of town. She was nervous to introduce herself. She'd never been in a situation like this before. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the children came to her.

"Hey! It's that faunus my mom saw at the bakery yesterday!" One of the youngest and loudest present shouted. A bunch of the excitable youngsters approached all at once and she took a few steps back while trying to offer a greeting.

"I hope nice Lily" she said cramming together several plattitudes and managing to say nothing coherent. She was flustered, but somewhat happy with the warmer than anticipated greeting. Some of the kids were really curious about her ears, while others wanted to know how she had survived all alone out there. Before she could answer though, one of the older kids who had only hald approached loudly asserted

"My dad says faunus are liars, so there's no point in asking her for stories."

"Don't get too close, Faunus can go feral at any moment," and Lily's fears about the encounter were proven true.

"Since they're half animal," said the same kid, "happens all the time I hear," he supplied.

"What? No we don't," Lily said, pained to see looks of fear and suspicion spreading across the faces of the children nearest her like a wildfire. "We're practically the same!" She shouted wildly, causing some of the children to back off a little.

"Is that right? Never met a person with ears like that before." Said one of the eldest present as he began to encroach on Lily's personal space. He was big, likely a few years her senior, and held himself confidently. She felt her pulse quicken, but continued to hold her ground. She didn't have anything to say, it was clear how they felt. She could see nothing she could say would have any effect. She realized her fist had been clenched, and she turned to leave. As she did so, the boy suddenly lunged at her. "Oh no ya don't, we're not done here." He said as he clumsily grabbed at her. Lily could hear his movements before she could see them, and hopped to the side befor turning to face him again.

"I don't want to make trouble." She said in as calm a voice as she could muster. The sense of danger which had been waning after her peaceful first day in the village suddenly flared up. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her, the only other humanoid opponents she'd ever sparred against had been her brother and mother, and she had never once scored a victory over either.

The boy was apparently incensed by her dodging, or perhaps it was her apparently calm demeanor.

"Then you should have stayed in the bakeshop with that beastloving whore." The way he said the insult was off. Almost like he'd never said the words aloud, and was testing something he'd heard before out to see how it agreed with his tongue. Lily didn't know what a whore was, but the tone of his voice was unmistakable. She wanted to punch him for insulting the person who'd been kind enough to take her in, but knew that she was in no position to be starting fights. In this instance though the option was out of her hands. The boy lunged at her again, shouting "Stay still!"which Lily was not at all inclined to do.

She dodged him easily time and time again, and realized he didn't know what he was doing in a fight at all. She could seriously hurt him if they fought. She was content to dodge until the boy tired himself out, which would be soon with as much unnecessary movement as he was making. He was already huffing and puffing. In a last ditch effort, he dove at her. She jumped vertically and the boy sailed beneath her. When she landed, she activated her semblance and ran off. She ran past the field and into the forest, where she remained until dusk when Aurelia would be leaving the bake shop. She had spent her time in the forest first training, to work off the adrenaline rush and to feel the familiar movements her mother had taught her. Then, she sat in meditation a bit. It had never been her thing, but it had always helped her organize her thoughts in the past, and she had quite a bit of thinking to do.

She returned that night and told Aurelia and her husband what had happened with the other kids and the disappointment was palpable. She continued to tell them that she had resolved to leave town on her own. She had managed alone thus far, and she was confident that she could make it there if she knew where she was going. She agreed to stay one more night with them, and thanked them sincerely for their hospitality. They enjoyed a meal which Aurelia single handedly stopped from being somber with her light hearted stories and silly jokes. Lily had a truly good evening, and went down to rest.

She was woken not long after by a commotion downstairs. Listening in, she could tell that there were a few groups of parents gathered to complain about the incident with the kids earlier that day. Apparently the boy that dove at her had badly skinned his knee which apparently was cause for a bigger commotion than Lily could have guessed. She listened to them go on for an eternity and in the end could no longer bear it. She gathered her things, which consisted of the clothes on her back and a few things she'd either made or found useful on her journey. A small leather knapsack she'd made from animal hide and sinew, a small knife carved of stone, her drinking gourd, and her makeshift spear. She saw Aurelia and her husband Morado just outside the front door, and a small crowd of people standing beyond. She approached quietly from behind, and once she was past the threshold of the door she leaped nearly vertically, kicking off of the wall above to door frame to push her past the throng of people. As she ran past the dusty village cottages she whispered thanks to Aurelia and her husband for the generosity they had shown her, and tried to fight back her bitter thoughts for the villagers who had forced her to flee. She didn't slow down until the village was only a blip in the distance.

When she slowed to a walk she began thinking of the story her father had once told her. The village they stayed in was once a place where life flourished. Long ago, before she was born, a man came to the village while seeking out rare herbs that grow in the valley. Using those herbs, he created a tonic to share with the villagers who had been hospitable to him. The tonic invigotated the soul. Those who drank had a younger, healthier appearance, and their strength was said to increase twofold. The traveler continued to produce this tonic, but the people of the village became greedy. They would horde the tonic, and those who could not get any became jealous and irrational. It wasn't long before the traveler realized his tonic had disrupted the peacefulness of the village, and so he left hoping to take the bitterness with him. However, the people began to blame each other for driving him away, and their resentment for each other grew and grew until the village was consumed by grimm, drawn in by the negative emotions swirling in the air.

She did not want this to become the fate of that small village, so she opted to leave before things could get worse. Roughly half an hour into her journey, she was startled out of her melancholic reverie by the sound of footsteps fast approaching from behind. She turned sensing danger, and was met with an out of breath Morado.

"A-ah.. glad I caught you." He said panting, "I-we talked about it, and..." he looked guilty. "Food was never the problem. We knew how a lot of people felt about faunus, we just didn't think it'd be a problem so quickly. Me and Aurelia," he said, pausing for a few moments to catch his breath, "We didn't feel right sending you off alone, so I decided to give you a parting gift. It's a custom around here to give someone a gift when they leave for a journey, and well, I'm sorry it's not more."

She was handed a small cloth wrapped parcel, and a glance towards Morado showed he was waiting on her to open it up. She undid the leather strips holding it closed, and found a polished wooden bow with a small quiver and a bundle of arrows.

"It was mine when I was a boy, I was hopeful it might come in handy if you're deadset on making this journey alone. Me and Aur feel are still more'n willing to put you up if you change your mind though," he said, but relented easily when Lily sadly shook her head.

"I have my reasons," she said somberly.

"I figured you'd say something like that. You're a good kid. Stupid, but good. I get it, and I won't keep you, but if you're ever near Eskur again feel free to drop in. I'm sure Aurelia would love to make something tasty for you." He said already turning away. Lily was thankful for that, as she had begun to cry. She watched him walk away in silence, feeling like there were still words to be said to him, but sensing the moment had passed. All that was left to do was continue her journey.

Her travels went smoothly for a bit, that is, until she came upon a crossroads. It was with some consternation that she realized she could not read the characters on the sign. She saw two arrows pointing in two directions. She opted to go right down the path, which drew her quite a way away from Mistral, but would ultimately get her there. However, the trials and ordeals she faced on that incorrect path would see her losing the bow she'd just been given, badly scarred, and with a phobia of nevermore that would persist in her subconscious forevermore. Despite what she had gone through, all memory of that path beyond that crossroads was a blank space in her mind. She could not remember anything after leaving the sign, or before waking up in a sweat soaked bed in a Mistral hospital. She learned that she had been badly wounded in a town that had been recently overrun by grimm, and was only saved because of the talents of a small group of huntsmen and huntresses who had been contracted to clear the infestation out by one of the surviving members of the town. While she was awake, she was not perfectly healed. She had to spend some time bedridden, and when it was discovered that she was without parents who could front the bill, she was released into the care of the state.

Lily was, at this point, not doing so well. The trials of her journey were catching up to her, and her immature mind was not prepared for all it had endured. Abandonment, discrimination, and now she was responsible for her own debt. Though she lived in an orphanage, she was not allowed to socialize or play with the others. She was treated as a servant by the Headmaster. He had 'explained' to her that until her outstanding debts had been paid she would be at his beck and call, unless she was adopted, at which point the debt would be put on hold until she became a legal adult or unless her new parents would take on the debt in her stead. She could hear him muttering under his breath how unlikely it would be for someone to adopt a mangy animal like her anyway, but at this point was becoming accustomed to the way her people were apparently regarded. She worked hard every day to complete her chore list, and would spend the remainder of her time completing the training exercises her parents had left her. It was the only time she ever felt close to them anymore, and her training became something of a fixation for her. So much so, that when she was finally adopted it became a point of contention. She would insist on getting her training in while her new 'parents' insisted she was being unruly. The grew tired of arguing with her when they wanted her to do something while she was in the middle of an exercise. That coupled with her fits of melancholy invariably ended with her being left once more in state care. It was years before a fifteen year old Lily would meet the people who would become her true foster parents.

Verne and Xanthe Finnian were graduates of Haven before the fall, and were both talented huntsmen in their own right. Due to an injury, Xanthe was unable to bear children of her own and the couple sought out adoption options. They had been through several orphanages, but none of their children truly caught their eye. Though Lily didn't know, Xanthe had seen her training in the park one day monthe prior and had admired young woman's determination. Her surprise was palpable when she entered the orphanage to find her busily scrubbing the floors. They met with the headmaster and told them about their circumstances. Verne did most of the talking, and before long a gaggle of kids was being led out for their inspection. Lily was conspicuously absent from the gathering, but Xanthe had already set her heart on the dark haired young faunus. She tugged Verne's sleeve, and he tilted his head down so she could stand on her tiptoes and whisper in his ear.

"What about that young faunus we saw cleaning earlier?" He asked after his wife was done whispering.

"That filthy stray? She's not allowed to attend these little meet and greets prior to her chores being completed. You see, despite her young age she has racked up considerable arrears. This is how she repays her debt to society. That aside, she's had no less than four sets of adoptive parents so far and all have returned her to us thusfar. She is simply too uncivilized for a conventional home." Those his tone was even, Xanthe tugged Verne's sleeve again. She gave Verne a pleading look, and he sighed while rubbing the back of his head.

"Sounds like trouble," he said listlessly.

"Oh yes! Esteemed graduates such as yourselves would be much better off with one of these children. Good boys and girls from Mistral, not some vagabond stray like her."

Verne looked down at his wife, who was still giving him the look that he could never say no to.

"Well, even so, we wanna talk to her a bit." He said in a tone that somehow managed to both sound bored, and brokered no disagreement.

"A-ah, right away sir."

The man disappeares, but roughly a minute late his angry shouting could be heard.

"Hurry up and clean yourself girl! You've been requested in the foyer! If you make our guests wait so help me!"

He returned and continued speaking to them in pleasant tones as if their line of sight had somehow prevented them from hearing his words.

"She'll be down in a moment, please forgive us. She's a bit of a slothful thing-" he said as Lily entered the room.

"Y- I told you to clean yourself." He snapped at her. Her hair was wet though, and her clothes were soaked.

"I did though," she said with a shrug. "There was soapy water in the mop bucket, I just used that." Her response seemed to incense the headmaster, but his angry words were silenced by Xanthe's laughter. It was sweet, and rang through the small chamber silencing everyone else. Verne looked between the dripping girl and his wife and said, "Well, I guess that settles that. We'll take her. You guys do delivery?" Which earned him a playful swat from his wife. The headmaster seemed to disagree with their choice, but was professional enough not to question it, and though she did not know it at the time, Lily would soon be on her way to the place that she would soon begin thinking of as home.

Unlike other households, they did not pester her for information about her life before. Verne didn't seem to care much, and Xanthe was practically a mute so she never felt the need to defend her upbringing to them. Her training too, was much less of a problem. At first she was nervous because Verne had taken to watching her train with a look of consternation on his face. After a few weeks of this he finally approached her. She expected to hear him say she was training too much, but instead he said "You're gonna stunt your growth if you do it like that." The exercise in question was one her brother had taught her, so she was a little skeptical until he began repositioning her.

"Now try," he said holding his hand in the middle of her shoulders to keep her upper body positioned properly. She could feel the tension in her shoulders as she went through the motions of her exercise, and let out a squeal of pain.

"Feel that? Your spine is gonna get even further misaligned if you keep hunching like that. Do it this way for a while and you should start to feel the difference."

From then on Verne would occasionally visit her and show her new exercises, even joining her when he was feeling up to it, though he preferred to watch her work from the shade.

Though she rarely heard a word from Xanthe, the quiet woman was constantly doting on Lily. She bought her clothes, combed the tangles out of her hair, and was always by Lily's side in the morning when she would experience her night terrors, something that had been happening since she had woken up in Mistral. At first she didn't care for the treatment, but even in the face of her resistance, Xanthe never let up and eventually wore the faunus down. It didn't take long before Lily stopped fighting back when Xanthe got in a mood to pamper her, mostly because Xanthe was truly a master of submission holds and Lily had no chance of escaping her.

It was Xanthe who gave Lily her treasured weapon, Final Embrace, though it was Verne that taught her how to use it. It was a valuable weapon, lovingly crafted by Xanthe herself, who was apparently a weaponsmith of some renown. Upon presenting it to her Xanthe spoke quietly to Lily.

"I think my kitten is finally ready for her claws. These years with you have been a treasure. Verne and I have been talking, and we're going to send you some place where you can truly grow into a powerful young woman."

Lily was hesitant at first, she had grown to truly love her life, but she had also grown to trust Verne and Xanthe. If they thought this would be best for her, then she would at least consider it. That consideration was over pretty quickly when she added, "It's where Verne and I met, and where we learned to be total badasses." Though she giggled at that, not expecting the sweet and quiet Xanthe to curse, she had long ago acknowledged their skills, and so in an effort to reach higher, she agreed to attend Haven Academy.




Family
( If Your Character Is An Orphan, Then Just Place Unknown In The Father/Mother Section and feel free to do the same with the Siblings section. )

Father: Unknown, known Moniker "The Misty Bear Shaman"- Alive
Mother: Parent Name Unknown- Alive
Adoptive Father: Verne Finnian - Alive
Adoptive Mother: Xanthe Finnian - Alive
Siblings: Yarrow (Blanchette, though Lily doesn't know that name)

Extra
Lily is a white flower and invokes white imagery. Both Blanchette (her blood relations) and Finnian (adoptive parents) as surnames originating from colors. Finnian from old irish "finn" meaning white which later came to mean "Little fair one" which I thought fit Lily to a T. Blanchette on the other hand was a little harder to track down, but as near as I can tell comes from the Le Blanc line. What drew me to that name for her family was actually the family words of the Blanchettes, "Sans tache" or "Without stain" a perfectly ironic motto to be used for her blood family who are indeed quite stained.

[Wolfe]

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[attr=class,punkiduoinneropacity]Hello Lily!

Lilian's application is APPROVED. Make sure to stop by the Face Claim Listing and the Haven Academy Roster to complete the application process.

Please also remember to change your Display Name to your character's first and last and add at least your application to your profile so that other people can find it easily in the future! I hope you enjoy your time here at The Remnant Project! Happy hunting!

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