Post by Caelum Ashworth on Mar 25, 2019 13:40:16 GMT -5
Caelum Ashworth
" If you want results, you have to work for them."
 | Age 17 Gender Male Faction Haven Academy Tier Beginner Face Claim Ludger Will Kresnik // Tales of Xillia 2 OOC Name Magi (magiertama) |
Character Traits
Date of Birth: 1st November, 7 AV.
Species: Human.
Hometown: Mistral.
Romantic Orientation: Undisclosed.
Hair Color/Style: Light Gray with black bangs.
Eye Color: Turquoise.
Aura Color: White.
Height: 190 cm.
Weight: 89 kg.
Appearance:
Always carrying himself with a straight back and self-assured steps, Caelum has a casually elegant air about him. He is tall, and physically fit from the constant work he was doing around the house while he was still living with his family. His ash-gray hair is grown to a comfortable length and swiped to one side to make sure not to bother him during everyday activities. The callousness of his hands and the tiny scars found on his body are the result of the work he had been doing even as a child.
His choice of clothing usually reflects his overall style. Collared button-up shirts and ironed black pants are a common occurrence for him, although he often pushes up the sleeves of his tops as he dislikes having anything cover his wrists and lower arms. You can say that it is a weird tick that makes him appear more casual. Occasionally he adds neckties to his sets, but the leather straps and his holsters are there even when he does not carry his weapons around. A thin chain hangs from his belt that disappears into either his pocket or one of the holsters – it hides a pocket watch he got from his father.
Personality:
Caelum is what a big brother turns into when being born as the middle sibling.
Never pressured to go and continue the family lineage as the oldest brother, and never sheltered for being the youngest female in the family, Caelum was given relative free reign with his life except when it came to how to deal with his own family members.
He learned drive and observation while tailing his big brother to school and to work. He can grasp people’s emotions and thought processes as if he is reading a book. Words mean little to him when he is empathetic enough to see behind a mask and a cold demeanor, pinpointing lies and half-truths like it was second nature. He is not quite competitive, no, but there is always a desire to do everything to the best of his knowledge, to reach his absolute best and go even beyond it. With his head usually held high, he had enough trouble with people who thought they were smarter than him, and dealing with them straightforward was his usual option. While he is able to bow his head if he has no other choice, he will refuse to follow authority if it clashes with his values, or in the case it is just plain stupid. If he thinks a higher-up’s order is wrong, he will elect himself to ignore it and come up with a better solution. He will more than likely sass them as well, which can only go so well.
He learned humility and acceptance while caring for his disabled little sister at home. As she was a soft and kind person, she gently enforced to be treated with the same respect she held for others, and that included Caelum. He learned to be considerate and take other people’s opinions as something that existed even if it clashed with his own views. He would accept others even with the obvious differences coursing through Remnant, because there were no two persons with the same interests and thoughts in the world. But that process is... hard, to say the least. With as strong sense of self that Caelum possesses, it is quite hard to make sense why some people do the things they do. Acceptance is not the same as understanding, after all.
He has two defined points that set off his usually calm and optimistic nature’s fuse for the worst. One is targeting those that he holds dear, whether they be friends or dead relatives. It surfaces his protectiveness of an older brother and automatically redirects whatever harm that befalls his loved ones to himself. The other is questioning his resolve. He could fill a ten-page essay with his reasons to be at Haven Academy and to become a Huntsman, and if someone does not understand that, he is ready to prove his worth to them – no matter the means.
With his good problem solving ability, quick thinking and empathic, adaptive nature, he can even be a rather good leader in the right team in time. The problem is, he is bad at taking orders, often going after his own head while politely telling people to stand aside, and he has to practice letting other people do what they are actually capable of. But he is here to learn, here to become a Huntsman, and here to inspire other people with his presence. But there is something holding him back, something that can only be associated with the fact he lost nearly the whole of his family in one single night, the whole of his support system that made him into who he is. Survivor’s guilt is a heavy thing, and he is carrying it like a cross.
Species: Human.
Hometown: Mistral.
Romantic Orientation: Undisclosed.
Hair Color/Style: Light Gray with black bangs.
Eye Color: Turquoise.
Aura Color: White.
Height: 190 cm.
Weight: 89 kg.
Appearance:
Always carrying himself with a straight back and self-assured steps, Caelum has a casually elegant air about him. He is tall, and physically fit from the constant work he was doing around the house while he was still living with his family. His ash-gray hair is grown to a comfortable length and swiped to one side to make sure not to bother him during everyday activities. The callousness of his hands and the tiny scars found on his body are the result of the work he had been doing even as a child.
His choice of clothing usually reflects his overall style. Collared button-up shirts and ironed black pants are a common occurrence for him, although he often pushes up the sleeves of his tops as he dislikes having anything cover his wrists and lower arms. You can say that it is a weird tick that makes him appear more casual. Occasionally he adds neckties to his sets, but the leather straps and his holsters are there even when he does not carry his weapons around. A thin chain hangs from his belt that disappears into either his pocket or one of the holsters – it hides a pocket watch he got from his father.
Personality:
Caelum is what a big brother turns into when being born as the middle sibling.
Never pressured to go and continue the family lineage as the oldest brother, and never sheltered for being the youngest female in the family, Caelum was given relative free reign with his life except when it came to how to deal with his own family members.
He learned drive and observation while tailing his big brother to school and to work. He can grasp people’s emotions and thought processes as if he is reading a book. Words mean little to him when he is empathetic enough to see behind a mask and a cold demeanor, pinpointing lies and half-truths like it was second nature. He is not quite competitive, no, but there is always a desire to do everything to the best of his knowledge, to reach his absolute best and go even beyond it. With his head usually held high, he had enough trouble with people who thought they were smarter than him, and dealing with them straightforward was his usual option. While he is able to bow his head if he has no other choice, he will refuse to follow authority if it clashes with his values, or in the case it is just plain stupid. If he thinks a higher-up’s order is wrong, he will elect himself to ignore it and come up with a better solution. He will more than likely sass them as well, which can only go so well.
He learned humility and acceptance while caring for his disabled little sister at home. As she was a soft and kind person, she gently enforced to be treated with the same respect she held for others, and that included Caelum. He learned to be considerate and take other people’s opinions as something that existed even if it clashed with his own views. He would accept others even with the obvious differences coursing through Remnant, because there were no two persons with the same interests and thoughts in the world. But that process is... hard, to say the least. With as strong sense of self that Caelum possesses, it is quite hard to make sense why some people do the things they do. Acceptance is not the same as understanding, after all.
He has two defined points that set off his usually calm and optimistic nature’s fuse for the worst. One is targeting those that he holds dear, whether they be friends or dead relatives. It surfaces his protectiveness of an older brother and automatically redirects whatever harm that befalls his loved ones to himself. The other is questioning his resolve. He could fill a ten-page essay with his reasons to be at Haven Academy and to become a Huntsman, and if someone does not understand that, he is ready to prove his worth to them – no matter the means.
With his good problem solving ability, quick thinking and empathic, adaptive nature, he can even be a rather good leader in the right team in time. The problem is, he is bad at taking orders, often going after his own head while politely telling people to stand aside, and he has to practice letting other people do what they are actually capable of. But he is here to learn, here to become a Huntsman, and here to inspire other people with his presence. But there is something holding him back, something that can only be associated with the fact he lost nearly the whole of his family in one single night, the whole of his support system that made him into who he is. Survivor’s guilt is a heavy thing, and he is carrying it like a cross.
Combat & Inventory
Heaven's Tracker
Rank of Semblance: E
Semblance Type: Physical Boost
One Sentence Summary of Semblance:
Heaven’s Tracker gives enhanced speed on top of the ability to maneuver in mid-air by stepping on or touching momentarily created stationary emblems.
Description of Semblance:
While this semblance is active, Caelum’s eyes shine pale white, and white light particles gather around his body. His movement speed will be greatly enhanced, giving him the speed of someone specialized in that aspect (43 km/h). The second perk of his semblance is that Caelum can create a stationary emblem in close relation to his body whether it be under his feet, at his back or side, or above his head. This emblem is a white circle with a maximum diameter of 1 meter, showing the sigil of Caelum's family - that of a motif of the Sun and the Moon in the same circle. It will let him get his footing even in mid-air, as the emblem creates a non-moving surface, and allows him to jump away from it even as far or high as a telephone pole (10-12 meters).
Mechanically, this semblance enhances the user’s Speed and gives the ability of Flight.
Drawbacks of Semblance:
Heaven’s Tracker depletes the aura of the user while it is activated. Going with top speed for too long can make him disoriented and dizzy, lowering his maneuverability, which can cause missteps in his own semblance as well.
The emblem he creates for the mid-air step can be destroyed with a well-aimed hit as it has no durability aside from being able to withstand one touch from Caelum. It only stays for a short moment, and then disappears into the same shining white particles that surround him without leaving anything behind. Emblems can not be created too far from his body, the approximate range being an absolute maximum of 1,5 meter, and can not be used by anyone else but him. Only one emblem can be active at a time.
Luna & Solis
Rank of Weapon(s): F
Description of Weapons(s):
His weapon is a pair of twin blades that are about the length of his own arms. The blades have a rather distinct and recognizable design and carvings on their surfaces. They grow thicker towards the hilt, which is curved to fit into the hands perfectly. With one click of a button and a harsh flick of the wrist, the handle will relocate itself while the blades pull back and give space for the barrels of the miniguns they turn into, which look a lot like the big brother of our day’s Desert Eagle. While the twin blades seem completely identical, they originally did not form a pair. Luna is metallic in nature, while Solis has a pale ochre coloring. The first one was Caelum’s original weapon, while the second was wielded by his brother. This ochre one has its gun barrel clogged, which makes it unusable in gun form until a mechanic takes their time to properly work on it. That is, if Caelum lets them touch it.
His swords need no sheath – the blades fold into themselves, hiding their sharp edges. They look a lot like their gun form, except the handles stay in line with the folded blades so the barrels can not be used. They can be kept in the holsters Caelum carries on him.
Non-Combat Abilities
Name of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
Description of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
Combat Abilities
Name of Combat Ability: Windstep Style Martial Arts
Rank of Combat Ability: F
Description of Combat Ability:
Thanks to his own mother’s teachings, Caelum was trained in fighting even before it was obvious he had to pursue the profession of a Huntsman. This art uses precise, well-timed movements to redirect the opponent’s attacks either with a weapon or using hand-to-hand combat. Using this style with Caelum’s preferred weapon can make his strikes accurate enough to slowly wear down the opponent’s aura in a close quarters fight.
Name of Combat Ability: Hardworker (Stamina)
Rank of Combat Ability: F
Description of Combat Ability:
Working around the household while going through a harsher than casual training by his parents and balancing work and school life gained Caelum a significant stamina reserve. It takes him more time to get tired in a fight or any other physical activity, and he uses up less of his aura reserve when activating his semblance.
Rank of Semblance: E
Semblance Type: Physical Boost
One Sentence Summary of Semblance:
Heaven’s Tracker gives enhanced speed on top of the ability to maneuver in mid-air by stepping on or touching momentarily created stationary emblems.
Description of Semblance:
While this semblance is active, Caelum’s eyes shine pale white, and white light particles gather around his body. His movement speed will be greatly enhanced, giving him the speed of someone specialized in that aspect (43 km/h). The second perk of his semblance is that Caelum can create a stationary emblem in close relation to his body whether it be under his feet, at his back or side, or above his head. This emblem is a white circle with a maximum diameter of 1 meter, showing the sigil of Caelum's family - that of a motif of the Sun and the Moon in the same circle. It will let him get his footing even in mid-air, as the emblem creates a non-moving surface, and allows him to jump away from it even as far or high as a telephone pole (10-12 meters).
Mechanically, this semblance enhances the user’s Speed and gives the ability of Flight.
Drawbacks of Semblance:
Heaven’s Tracker depletes the aura of the user while it is activated. Going with top speed for too long can make him disoriented and dizzy, lowering his maneuverability, which can cause missteps in his own semblance as well.
The emblem he creates for the mid-air step can be destroyed with a well-aimed hit as it has no durability aside from being able to withstand one touch from Caelum. It only stays for a short moment, and then disappears into the same shining white particles that surround him without leaving anything behind. Emblems can not be created too far from his body, the approximate range being an absolute maximum of 1,5 meter, and can not be used by anyone else but him. Only one emblem can be active at a time.
--------------------------------------------------------
Luna & Solis
Rank of Weapon(s): F
Description of Weapons(s):
His weapon is a pair of twin blades that are about the length of his own arms. The blades have a rather distinct and recognizable design and carvings on their surfaces. They grow thicker towards the hilt, which is curved to fit into the hands perfectly. With one click of a button and a harsh flick of the wrist, the handle will relocate itself while the blades pull back and give space for the barrels of the miniguns they turn into, which look a lot like the big brother of our day’s Desert Eagle. While the twin blades seem completely identical, they originally did not form a pair. Luna is metallic in nature, while Solis has a pale ochre coloring. The first one was Caelum’s original weapon, while the second was wielded by his brother. This ochre one has its gun barrel clogged, which makes it unusable in gun form until a mechanic takes their time to properly work on it. That is, if Caelum lets them touch it.
His swords need no sheath – the blades fold into themselves, hiding their sharp edges. They look a lot like their gun form, except the handles stay in line with the folded blades so the barrels can not be used. They can be kept in the holsters Caelum carries on him.
--------------------------------------------------------
Non-Combat Abilities
Name of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
Rank of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
Description of Non-Combat Ability: N/A
--------------------------------------------------------
Combat Abilities
Name of Combat Ability: Windstep Style Martial Arts
Rank of Combat Ability: F
Description of Combat Ability:
Thanks to his own mother’s teachings, Caelum was trained in fighting even before it was obvious he had to pursue the profession of a Huntsman. This art uses precise, well-timed movements to redirect the opponent’s attacks either with a weapon or using hand-to-hand combat. Using this style with Caelum’s preferred weapon can make his strikes accurate enough to slowly wear down the opponent’s aura in a close quarters fight.
Name of Combat Ability: Hardworker (Stamina)
Rank of Combat Ability: F
Description of Combat Ability:
Working around the household while going through a harsher than casual training by his parents and balancing work and school life gained Caelum a significant stamina reserve. It takes him more time to get tired in a fight or any other physical activity, and he uses up less of his aura reserve when activating his semblance.
Biography
History
His father was an engineer originally from Mantle, mostly dealing with the development of prosthetic limbs and occasionally with the weapon creation plans, while his mother was one of the many huntresses Haven Academy produced after those who were part of the war were re-educated to be Huntsmen and Huntresses. They got to know each other after the war, and decided to settle down on the continent of Anima, in one of the villages at the outskirts of Mistral.
The father worked from home, only traveling to Mistral once or twice a week, or to Atlas once every two months when his presence was needed with presenting new blueprints and ideas. The mother was doing freelance Huntress work, but her main objective was to keep their own home and the village they lived at safe. Instead of a simple family house, they kept a farm and sold the animal skin and meat as well as the vegetables they managed to grow for an extra income. For a few years it was only the two of them, but as the farm grew, so did the family.
Caelum was born as the middle child, his bother one and half a year older, while his sister two years younger than him. As soon as they were able to walk and carry a small shovel or a bucket, they had to help out around the house. Weirdly enough, it felt nothing like a chore. As a way of life, work was normal for the children, and with the caring and uplifting nature of their parents, it almost felt like play too.
His sister was the only one having some complications around the house. Being born with a weak body, a faulty hip that could not carry her around for more than two hours a day, and the inability to speak, she was often spoiled and cared for to the point where she was becoming annoyed by it. Caelum, being the closes to her in age could understand her trouble, and pestered their mother to let her help out whenever she had the strength for it. She was tasked with the household works, cleaning the inside in a steady pace, or packing the meat and vegetable to be sent to the buyers. Caelum was especially fine with working in the garden or around the animals, but he occasionally snuck into his father’s study to watch him lean over the blueprints of a mechanical arm.
His brother was expected to take on the jobs of their parents after he was old enough. Caelum did not mind that, but because the obligation fell to another, he had the option to choose what to do with his life. For a while, he was working the farm, but he knew that this life was not the one he wanted to lead. He kept being more and more distracted by the plans his father made, and on the rare occasions when he actually bought home parts to build test models for his blueprints, Caelum was there to bother him and hand him the necessary screwdrivers from the other shelf.
Being a Huntress tasked with the protection of the village, their mother had pushed back the smaller bandit groups with the help of the rest of the villagers, and was able to keep the smaller Grimm at bay. However, she found it important that her children can defend themselves against a threat. She taught them how to survive, how to run away from opponents they can not come up against, and how to avoid being hurt. Caelum’s semblance surfaced during these training sessions, although all they thought of it by this time was that it made him quicker than the average person. It was their father who provided one foldable blade to each of them to use in case they could not do anything else but fight. As the work around the farm started early, their training was always on the afternoons and the evenings, which made their daily schedule even busier, considering they were also following the education fit for their age.
On the rare occasion when Caelum had time to leave the farm, he grouped together with the rest of the village kids to play, but his headstrong and free-spirited nature often caused a bit of conflict with the others when he refused to follow their foolish ideas blindly. Children do stupid things sometimes, but as Caelum told on them instead of helping the children cause mischief, he was quickly branded as the stuck-up no-fun kid who made their games boring. Instead of playing childish games, Caelum focused on work, and as soon as he was old enough, he took on odd works around the village, helping out the shopkeepers or the other farmers when school and his household chores let him.
He was merely fourteen when his brother was enrolled into Haven Academy to become a Huntsman as well, following in their mother’s footsteps. With one less pair of hands helping out, work at the farm became just a tad bit busier. Not half a year after his brother started his life at Haven, a coordinated bandit attack hit the village. One Huntress was not enough to push back all the attackers coming during the night, and a lot of harm was done to the village’s resources. Caelum, although young, fought back valiantly, but a barely trained young boy can only do so much when a fight broke out. He managed to save people from being more injured at least, as the vehemence with which he fought back was a discouraging sight for the bandits. Fighting against him proved to be more trouble, but this was true to many of the hardened and desperate farmers as well. Eventually, the bandits were gone, leaving behind injured villagers and some raided buildings burned to the ground. Nothing that can not be dealt with time and hard work.
However, such an organized bandit attack attracted the Grimm. When they came, chaos broke out.
Help from Mistral was called, but by the time they arrived, damage was already done. Grimm caught many of the villagers, further damaged the buildings and the crops while continuing to call more of their brethren. If one Huntress was barely enough to fight off bandits, then she was far from capable of fighting off this many monsters.
Caelum was told to grab his sister and run with the other villagers while his parents hold off the Grimm. He did not listen, and that was a regret he had to live with for the rest of his life. It was not that he expected to be the hero to save everyone, but he thought that one more person to fight would make their chances better. The thought that Grimm were much different than bandits never occurred to him. His sister, unable to run away with her faulty legs was clawed open by a Beowulf as he stood in front of her to protect her. His father’s spine broke under the paw of an Ursa. His mother was pierced through the chest by a Lancer while protecting him. The Nevermore that targeted him was shot down by the arriving backup. The only reason he managed to stay alive for so long was due to his semblance that let him get out of harm's way, but only him. A handful of villagers, including him, were saved and escorted to the city of Mistral until they healed and they could either go back to rebuild the village or settle somewhere else.
Caelum had injuries on his arms and torso, broken ribs, and was in shock, but was alive. He hated it.
His brother was there with him as soon as Caelum’s feet stepped on Mistral’s ground. No matter how much he was asked, no matter how much his brother wanted to know more, Caelum never talked of the details of that night.
Once Caelum had recovered, they managed to get a temporary apartment to live in, although only he spent time in there as his brother stayed in his school’s dorm. However, he still spent as much time with his little brother as possible, but Caelum felt like he just wanted to make up for lost time. To make up for not being there when their family died.
From that time on, they supported each other everywhere they could. His brother was either at the academy, or working to gather some income, while Caelum was also doing odd jobs just like he did back at home, in their village. In his free time, he was training, continuing to perfect the style his mother taught him. They trained together with his brother occasionally, and Caelum decided to enter the academy as soon as new students were allowed to come. His brother was not happy with the decision, and told him many times to reconsider the choice – it was enough if only one of them entered the path of blood and revenge. He urged Caelum to instead learn engineering and follow their father’s line of work, creating weapons and prosthetics. Caelum would not have minded that one or two years ago, but things were different now. He had the drive to go against the Grimm, but such bloodthirst would just send him into a downward spiral, and his brother knew that. They postponed their talk to a later time, when graduation was nearing, and when, hopefully, Caelum’s guilt and thirst for revenge would lessen.
But then the Fall happened.
When he heard the news, he was numb. He desperately hoped to hear his brother was miraculously alive, even though somewhere inside he knew that such an accident could have no survivors. Even during the identifications and the funeral, he repressed as much of his emotions as possible. He took his brother’s belongings from the school, the little he had there instead of their apartment.
Only one thing was running through his head. Now it was up to him. Only he remained to do what they had to do. If he had a choice before, he did not have it now. Taking his brother’s weapon as a match for his own, as a reminder of why he is choosing this path, and what he had to do, he set his sight on Haven Academy’s entrance exam. He passed, and that was all that mattered to him at this point. He talked little of his past, even less of his feelings, but one thing was sure – he desired nothing else than to prevent the Grimm from expanding and killing more people, even if it costs his own life.
Family
Father: Grayard Ashworth – deceased
Mother: Doveline Ashworth - deceased
Siblings: Altum Ashworth (Older Brother) - deceased; Skye Ashworth (Younger Sister) - deceased
Extra
“Caelum” means “heaven” or “sky” in Latin, which makes people think of light blues and whites.
“Ash” from Ashworth is a color in itself, a pale gray much like Caelum’s own hair color.
His father was an engineer originally from Mantle, mostly dealing with the development of prosthetic limbs and occasionally with the weapon creation plans, while his mother was one of the many huntresses Haven Academy produced after those who were part of the war were re-educated to be Huntsmen and Huntresses. They got to know each other after the war, and decided to settle down on the continent of Anima, in one of the villages at the outskirts of Mistral.
The father worked from home, only traveling to Mistral once or twice a week, or to Atlas once every two months when his presence was needed with presenting new blueprints and ideas. The mother was doing freelance Huntress work, but her main objective was to keep their own home and the village they lived at safe. Instead of a simple family house, they kept a farm and sold the animal skin and meat as well as the vegetables they managed to grow for an extra income. For a few years it was only the two of them, but as the farm grew, so did the family.
Caelum was born as the middle child, his bother one and half a year older, while his sister two years younger than him. As soon as they were able to walk and carry a small shovel or a bucket, they had to help out around the house. Weirdly enough, it felt nothing like a chore. As a way of life, work was normal for the children, and with the caring and uplifting nature of their parents, it almost felt like play too.
His sister was the only one having some complications around the house. Being born with a weak body, a faulty hip that could not carry her around for more than two hours a day, and the inability to speak, she was often spoiled and cared for to the point where she was becoming annoyed by it. Caelum, being the closes to her in age could understand her trouble, and pestered their mother to let her help out whenever she had the strength for it. She was tasked with the household works, cleaning the inside in a steady pace, or packing the meat and vegetable to be sent to the buyers. Caelum was especially fine with working in the garden or around the animals, but he occasionally snuck into his father’s study to watch him lean over the blueprints of a mechanical arm.
His brother was expected to take on the jobs of their parents after he was old enough. Caelum did not mind that, but because the obligation fell to another, he had the option to choose what to do with his life. For a while, he was working the farm, but he knew that this life was not the one he wanted to lead. He kept being more and more distracted by the plans his father made, and on the rare occasions when he actually bought home parts to build test models for his blueprints, Caelum was there to bother him and hand him the necessary screwdrivers from the other shelf.
Being a Huntress tasked with the protection of the village, their mother had pushed back the smaller bandit groups with the help of the rest of the villagers, and was able to keep the smaller Grimm at bay. However, she found it important that her children can defend themselves against a threat. She taught them how to survive, how to run away from opponents they can not come up against, and how to avoid being hurt. Caelum’s semblance surfaced during these training sessions, although all they thought of it by this time was that it made him quicker than the average person. It was their father who provided one foldable blade to each of them to use in case they could not do anything else but fight. As the work around the farm started early, their training was always on the afternoons and the evenings, which made their daily schedule even busier, considering they were also following the education fit for their age.
On the rare occasion when Caelum had time to leave the farm, he grouped together with the rest of the village kids to play, but his headstrong and free-spirited nature often caused a bit of conflict with the others when he refused to follow their foolish ideas blindly. Children do stupid things sometimes, but as Caelum told on them instead of helping the children cause mischief, he was quickly branded as the stuck-up no-fun kid who made their games boring. Instead of playing childish games, Caelum focused on work, and as soon as he was old enough, he took on odd works around the village, helping out the shopkeepers or the other farmers when school and his household chores let him.
He was merely fourteen when his brother was enrolled into Haven Academy to become a Huntsman as well, following in their mother’s footsteps. With one less pair of hands helping out, work at the farm became just a tad bit busier. Not half a year after his brother started his life at Haven, a coordinated bandit attack hit the village. One Huntress was not enough to push back all the attackers coming during the night, and a lot of harm was done to the village’s resources. Caelum, although young, fought back valiantly, but a barely trained young boy can only do so much when a fight broke out. He managed to save people from being more injured at least, as the vehemence with which he fought back was a discouraging sight for the bandits. Fighting against him proved to be more trouble, but this was true to many of the hardened and desperate farmers as well. Eventually, the bandits were gone, leaving behind injured villagers and some raided buildings burned to the ground. Nothing that can not be dealt with time and hard work.
However, such an organized bandit attack attracted the Grimm. When they came, chaos broke out.
Help from Mistral was called, but by the time they arrived, damage was already done. Grimm caught many of the villagers, further damaged the buildings and the crops while continuing to call more of their brethren. If one Huntress was barely enough to fight off bandits, then she was far from capable of fighting off this many monsters.
Caelum was told to grab his sister and run with the other villagers while his parents hold off the Grimm. He did not listen, and that was a regret he had to live with for the rest of his life. It was not that he expected to be the hero to save everyone, but he thought that one more person to fight would make their chances better. The thought that Grimm were much different than bandits never occurred to him. His sister, unable to run away with her faulty legs was clawed open by a Beowulf as he stood in front of her to protect her. His father’s spine broke under the paw of an Ursa. His mother was pierced through the chest by a Lancer while protecting him. The Nevermore that targeted him was shot down by the arriving backup. The only reason he managed to stay alive for so long was due to his semblance that let him get out of harm's way, but only him. A handful of villagers, including him, were saved and escorted to the city of Mistral until they healed and they could either go back to rebuild the village or settle somewhere else.
Caelum had injuries on his arms and torso, broken ribs, and was in shock, but was alive. He hated it.
His brother was there with him as soon as Caelum’s feet stepped on Mistral’s ground. No matter how much he was asked, no matter how much his brother wanted to know more, Caelum never talked of the details of that night.
Once Caelum had recovered, they managed to get a temporary apartment to live in, although only he spent time in there as his brother stayed in his school’s dorm. However, he still spent as much time with his little brother as possible, but Caelum felt like he just wanted to make up for lost time. To make up for not being there when their family died.
From that time on, they supported each other everywhere they could. His brother was either at the academy, or working to gather some income, while Caelum was also doing odd jobs just like he did back at home, in their village. In his free time, he was training, continuing to perfect the style his mother taught him. They trained together with his brother occasionally, and Caelum decided to enter the academy as soon as new students were allowed to come. His brother was not happy with the decision, and told him many times to reconsider the choice – it was enough if only one of them entered the path of blood and revenge. He urged Caelum to instead learn engineering and follow their father’s line of work, creating weapons and prosthetics. Caelum would not have minded that one or two years ago, but things were different now. He had the drive to go against the Grimm, but such bloodthirst would just send him into a downward spiral, and his brother knew that. They postponed their talk to a later time, when graduation was nearing, and when, hopefully, Caelum’s guilt and thirst for revenge would lessen.
But then the Fall happened.
When he heard the news, he was numb. He desperately hoped to hear his brother was miraculously alive, even though somewhere inside he knew that such an accident could have no survivors. Even during the identifications and the funeral, he repressed as much of his emotions as possible. He took his brother’s belongings from the school, the little he had there instead of their apartment.
Only one thing was running through his head. Now it was up to him. Only he remained to do what they had to do. If he had a choice before, he did not have it now. Taking his brother’s weapon as a match for his own, as a reminder of why he is choosing this path, and what he had to do, he set his sight on Haven Academy’s entrance exam. He passed, and that was all that mattered to him at this point. He talked little of his past, even less of his feelings, but one thing was sure – he desired nothing else than to prevent the Grimm from expanding and killing more people, even if it costs his own life.
Family
Father: Grayard Ashworth – deceased
Mother: Doveline Ashworth - deceased
Siblings: Altum Ashworth (Older Brother) - deceased; Skye Ashworth (Younger Sister) - deceased
Extra
“Caelum” means “heaven” or “sky” in Latin, which makes people think of light blues and whites.
“Ash” from Ashworth is a color in itself, a pale gray much like Caelum’s own hair color.
