Name: Shirayuki, Ayame
Age: 124
Visual Age: 19
Gender: Female
Rank: Espada
Appearance:
Ayame maintains a semblance of perfection – clean, flawless, all in order. She gives off a pristine air, as though she’d never be found wearing dirt on her clothes. Even after missions, it’s very rare she’ll be dirty, as she takes utmost care to avoid it – almost as if she had a phobia of being dirty. Blood, too – if her clothes become blood-stained, she’ll never wear it again. The moment she comes back from anywhere, clothes are deposited into the hamper and an hour-long bath/shower is in session.
Ayame has clear, blue eyes, that seem to reflect everything she sees. They’re almost always shining, dancing with some sort of mirth, as though nothing could ever cloud her mind. However, should one try to see past the closely guarded blue orbs, it would be neigh impossible.
Ayame has pale, porcelain skin, unmarred by blemishes or scars. She does have a mole, though, just below her right eye, if one looks closely. She doesn’t like it, and is constantly trying to cover it up with makeup or her hair. She takes extra care with her skin, believing that clear skin is the foundation of beauty – she is a girl, after all. As much as she wants to, she seems to be unable to get tan – she gets sunburnt well enough, and grows red and has her skin peel if she stays in the sun too long, but eventually fades back to her pale white. Still, she tries, sunbathing every so often. Too bad she only gets burned.
Ayame holds herself with pride. Her shoulders are straight back, her chin slightly uplifted, back ramrod straight. It’s been installed into her since she was young, so she can’t help it, really. She’ll never slouch, and rarely leans back in a chair, instead sitting quite stiffly at the edge. It feels almost comfortable to Ayame, who has been living her entire life in such a position, trained from a young age to do so. She’d like to look as at ease as other people, but when she tries slouching even a bit, it’s as uncomfortable to her as normally-slouched people remaining pin-straight would feel.
Ayame's a feminine girl, through and through. Though she’s a fighter, pants and regular shirts are a complete void in her wardrobe. She’s usually seen in a thin, short, form-fitting dress, dark purple (appearing almost black) in color. It’s a strapless, accessory-less dress, quite plain save for the fact that it has a heart-shaped bodice and reveals much skin, ending mid thigh. It stretches easily and is made of durable material, and she wears thin black shorts underneath, so she has no problems wearing them in any occasion. She wears black boots, laced up all the way to her knees.
Her Arrancar number is emblazoned across her upper right arm, in shimmering, black-green font. She has no qualms about showing it, neither going to lengths to hide nor show it off. Her mask fragment is placed on the upper right portion of her head, and looks more like a crown than anything. Its a thin, white plate, with three carved points on the top - it's often mistaken for a mere, strange hair ornament. She has her hole on her upper stomach, just below her chest and above her belly-button.
Personality:
”What’s wrong with following the rules-?”
Ayame’s a born follower of rules. She was raised to respect the higher authority without question, or at least pretend to have none, and she does so well. Even if she may not agree with the given order, if it’s what she has to do, then she’ll do it as though she likes it. She’s not into the whole ‘rebel’ model, and has a distaste for those who don’t follow orders, no matter what the reason. She won’t enforce the rules upon others, but she’ll very rarely break them herself – even if it means death. It's not that she loves the Primera, or anything; in fact, she holds no emotion to the man particularly, but she knows what he can do. Call her a goody-two shoes, but she’s terrified of punishment, in any form.
”I know it’s supposed to be bad, but whatever.”
Ayame knows it’s dangerous to like someone with a race such as hers. She knows it’s suicide to fall in love. Still, her stupid heart is dangerously quick to do so, and she gets attached very easily. Be it with friends or boys, she’ll be falling head over heels in minutes, if not seconds. Still, she knows where her loyalties lie, something that many think is unlikely for such a girl. Even if she loves a friend or boy to death, she won’t break the rules for them – she won’t even bend them.
”The point of life isn’t to die – it’s to live, silly.”
Many think it’s strange for such a soft-hearted girl to be a monster, and scoff at her ways. Ayame appreciates life for all it’s splendor – she’s willing to waste an hour to gaze at the flowers, and she’ll spend the night watching the stars. She’s sentimental, too, the silly girl. To those of her peers who take life seriously, she laughs – ‘why take life seriously, no one ever gets out alive anyway,’ she’ll say. When outside of fights, it’s nearly impossible to see this girl as an arrancar – she’s frivolous and whimsical, hardly ever without an oblivious smile painted on her face.
”It's their problem; they can solve it.”
Ayame may be kind, but that's about it; she doesn't believe in getting tangled in others' businesses, unless it may involve her later in the future. She will walk on blithely, ignoring someone being hurt, or even killed, without batting an eyelash. Even if the victim were to cry out for help, she wouldn't even spare them a second glance as she walked away. But she'll still have that lovely smile on her face. She will, though, pick up strays, be it animals or children off the street, so her house is always full of them.
”It's called prioritizing.”
For Ayame, her priorities are set in stone; though she may seem like an air-head, she knows where her loyalties lie. She belongs first to the Primera, then to herself. She's selfish, almost to a fault; she values herself above others, a reason why her nickname is 'Princess.' She'll use others as her shield if she can, and will gladly step over a person to reach her goals, if needed. She's more likely to stab you in the back wearing that oblivious smile of hers than to help you get back up. Be careful~
”I know how to kill, I know how to kiss. I know how to live.”
Ayame’s persona changes completely when it comes to her everyday life and to her life as an arrancar. She's kinder than the everyday arrancar, sure, but that's about it. She can kill without guilt, without doubt, without hesitation, in seconds. She carries each of the Primera's orders out without question, and should anyone get in her way, they're immediately 'erased.' However, she still knows how to be, well human. She still feels sadness, she still feels joy; she still feels hurt when betrayed, and she knows how to feel guilt.
”I'd like to see everyone doing what they're supposed to, please~”
Ayame may be one of the kindest arrancar, but break the rules, and she'll be holding a sword to your throat in a moment. She'll give orders with a pleading tone and a pretty smile, but they are in no way a request - they're a command, simple and clear. She doesn't take kindly to being disobeyed, and even the slightest of disrespect will arise her irritation. However, she does take full responsibility for anyone under her command, and should anyone make a mistake, she'll take charge of it.
Fighting Style: Ayame's power mainly relies on her speed, and her ability to wield her powers and Reiatsu skills well. Strength is a near void in her style, as she avoids using attacks that pits her pure power directly against another's. Ayame's fights often end up looking as though she were dancing, as each movement flows smoothly into her next, fluidly, like a soft, gentle river. She'd skilled at using her sword, and often twirls while slashing at an opponent, for it gives her an extra boost of speed.
Background:
Human...Ayame had what others saw as an easy life. She was born into a prestigious family, one of those ancient, historic clans with their roots embedded deeply into the country. Her grandfathers and uncles were past war heros and fiercely involved in politics and business, and her own father was a prominent weapons dealer. She had two elder brothers, whom had both been top students in their academy days and were now studying under their father.
Others viewed her life as flawless, and problem free. What could she possibly have to worry about? She had as much money as she could possibly need in her life, both parents still alive, and all bullies were taken care of by her brothers. No sad deaths or violent pasts for her, oh, no.
But living in such a household was difficulty itself.
Women of her family were expected to be perfect. Feminine, sharp to the point of being uncanny, able to root out ‘problems’ within the family clan as the head’s ears, and well-trained in the arts and skilled in tongue. Ayame was…nearly none of those. She had too much freedom in her spirit, too much frivolities in her mind. She was a bad judge of character, too, something that was horrifying to her mother. Everyday, she had numerous tutors; the art of brewing tea, the art of painting, the art of eloquent speech. Of course, she was a helpless case in those.
But she had a beautiful voice, and a penchant for singing, probably her only saving grace. Her father favored her even though she was a failure as a lady, because when she performed for him and his friends when they came to the house, everyone was delighted. Her mother, too, though she tried to remain strict with the girl, couldn’t help that Ayame could charm even a snake with her laughing personality.
That all ended when the carriage with her and her family overturned in the middle of a busy road.
Spirit...For days, weeks, months, Ayame sat beside the area where the carriage had fallen, crying, sobbing, shrieking. How could this have happened to her? Her, the golden daughter of the wealthy family? How could the world have allowed such a thing to happen? She sat there petulantly, glaring and hissing at anyone who came near - but of course, no one could see.
She was a ghost, after all.
And the painful chain that attached to the hole she now had in the middle of her chest, oh, how she despised it!
She would tug often at the chain, grimacing each time because pulling at it hurt. But still, she tried. Perhaps if she'd tried hard enough, she could pull it all out-? Perhaps she could become human again.
But no one ever came to tell her otherwise, or to send her off to 'heaven.' Strangely enough, shinigami seemed to miss this particular girl.
Perhaps it was because her death happened at the time of so many others - over ten carriages had crashed in the huge accident.
Ayame watched, as her chain slowly shrunk, becoming shorter and shorter. It grew more painful with each day, but she held it in, tears brimming at her eyes. Where was her momma? Her papa? Her brothers? She didn't like this, not at all.
She was lonely, she was afraid.
She'd been so for months.
And then the fright turned into irritation, and irritation into anger.
Who was leaving her to be so? Wasn't someone supposed to come get her? Wasn't something supposed to happen now? Was she to spend the rest of her life like this?
And one day, the rage overtook her.
And she became a hollow.
Hollow...IN those days, she had neither speech nor thought, really. All she did was eat, day in and day out. She'd eat, eat, eat, and never get full - it was almost frightening.
And she ate humans, no less.
She seemed to relish in the terrified screams that were elicited just before she gulped down the humans, one by one, the fools that couldn't see her. She'd prowl the human world, narrowly avoiding being caught by the patrolling shinigami, ducking into hiding whenever she sensed them anywhere near her. She'd pluck up the humans, in pairs and trios, and gobble them up.
She didn't even taste them.
But no matter how many she ate, it was never, ever enough. The insatiable hunger drove her insane, and with each passing day, she hungered for more, more, more. Until finally, she began gulping up families at a time, so many families a day. She'd move from town to town after each meal, to avoid being caught - her mind had started returning, her wit had started coming back to her.
She continued to eat and hide, eat and hide, continuing the came of cat and mouse with the shinigami that followed her closely.
Until one day, she'd eaten enough humans to take on a humanoid adjuchas form herself. She could talk - the gift of verbal speech had been granted once more. She could think - mentality, too, was given back. She could jump, she could skip, she could think, she could laugh - she was practically a human, now!
But still, her hunger for humans could not be sated.
Even in human form, she desired to eat others. And it was easier, now - she, too, had the mental capabilities of a human. And she could think, she could plan, she could deviate. She was eating humans by the tens, switching location quickly, hardly ever allowing a shinigami to get even close to discovering her.
And then, she met that man...'Primera'.
Arrancar"Hmm, you seem rather strong. How would you like to gain a higher level of being and join me?" he'd asked her.
She'd nodded dumbly, feverishly, desperately. She'd almost latched onto the man in hysterics - what did 'higher level of being' mean? Would she become like a human again? Could this man possibly turn her back?
But something held her back from doing so. Perhaps it was the overwhelming aura that exhibited; his Reiatsu was something else. It was concealed, yes, but she could feel the oppressive power, trembling to be unleashed. Ayame had held back, but still nodded almost madly.
And he'd done his magic.
Somehow, someway, she could be seen again. Her body felt physical, and she could ram her fist into the brick wall and not phase through it. She didn't feel the terrifying hunger she always had.
Somehow, someway, this man, the Primera, had bent the laws of heaven itself and granted her life once more.
Of course, she understood she wasn't human, either. But she felt more human and alive than ever before in her life, so she didn't mind.
She was what they called an 'arrancar.'
And she loved every second of it.
12/3/2013, 6:23 am by 
