Sitka

[Sitka]

Sitka
19. Earthbender, Metalbender
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ALIAS(ES): Lion turtle
BIRTHDAY: January, 20, 1905
BIRTHPLACE: Republic City
CURRENT: Republic City
FAMILY:
• Mother: Atani, aged 50. Non bender cook, deceased
• Father: Hiro, aged 53. Non bender satomobile factory worker, deceased
• Sibling: MeiLin, aged 14. Waterbender, deceased

ALLIANCE: Ember Island Eel Hounds(former)
RANK: Earthbender teammate (former)
STATUS: Earthbender, Novice Metalbender
POWER:

• Earthbender: Having mastered earthbending at a young age through watching Pro-bending matches and earthbenders all over Republic City, he has come to create his own style through trial and error. He is very creative with the use of his bending, but due to his pro-bending activities he has a fast paced style rather than a rooted, head-strong one.
  
• Metalbending: Shortly before his accident, Sitka realized his potential as a metalbender. But as he can't afford a teacher he goes by instinct and what he has heard about metalbending from various (un)reliable sources. He is still very much a novice and he can barely control a chunk of metal that can fit onto his fist.

 
ORIENTATION: Heterosexual
PET: Sugar glider named Mei / Pygmy Puma cub named Zuko

SCARS AND MARKINGS: A vertical line across his back and to his lower spine, the result of him hitting the metalic edge of the Arena as he fell to the water during a match against the Wolf Bats. It is his only prominent scar and the result of a crippling accident that forced him to quit Pro-bending. He has several smaller ones or really faint ones from practising Earthbending on his own or getting into fights as a kid.

UNIFORM: He still keeps around his Pro-bending uniform, but has not used it since his final match. The one he got injured in. Nowdays, Sitka dresses in simple clothes of blue, grey, red, brown and gold that he attributes on the three nations he claims descend from. Northern Water tribe, Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Mostly he roams around in his working attire, consisting of a simple light blue linen shirt and leather harness, which serves as the base for a small backpack or for strapping objects on his back, dark grey or brown pants and boots. His 'fancy' clothes are actually a mixture of traditional robes from lower classes that he rarely uses.

DESCRIPTION: Sitka stands at 1.70m with a strong athletic built, with emphasis on his arms and shoulders as he had done a lot of heavy lifting as a kid and during his Pro-bending career. Having inherited the dark hair of his mother, he keeps them in a short, spiky fashion for the most part. His eyes are dark and almond shaped and tend to gleam when he is excited, happy or mischievous. His skin tone is light despite his mother being from the Northern Water Tribe. That is because his father is from the Earth Kingdom. However his skin tone is something you can't tell for sure nowdays as he returns from work at one of the numerous factories all smudged and dirty with dust, mud and grease.
PLAY-BY: Ki Hong Lee

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Fear: Drowning and being left paralyzed are two of Sitka's greatest fears as he had been nearly drowned and consequently in danger of permanent paralysis from his injury during a pro-bending match.

Desire: To create a decent life for himself while dealing with the fact he won't be able to pro-bend again. To see the people who killed his family pay for what they did, no matter what that implicates.

HABITS: He usually keeps a smooth dark brown river stone in his pocket that he bends into various shapes or circles whenever he is bored or absent minded. Whenever his thoughts stray to his family, the rock is shaped unconsciously to that of a Lion turtle. 

PET PEEVE: He hates it when he sees people being bullied or walked over just because they are poor or from a 'lower class'. It makes his blood boil and even though he can't fight to his full potential anymore he won't think twice about picking up a fight with the offenders.

STRENGTHS:
• Imaginative and practical
• Mischievous
• Caring
• Steadfast
• Self-disciplined

WEAKNESSES:
• Unable to overarch his back and in need of constant workout and physiotherapy routine to keep his injury from crippling him further than it already has. The weight he can lift without the help of his bending is very limited as well.
• Rush and daring due to his age
• Stubborn
• Hard to trust people

TRAITS: Sitka used to be a very mischievous and happy-go-lucky kid with a knack for getting into trouble like all boys should. Despite his family being from a rather poor background, he dared to dream big and to work hard for those dreams. He taught himself how to earthbend by mere observation and sheer hard work. So once he was given a shot with the Ember Island Eel Hounds, he worked twice as hard in order to make his parents proud and help them out with money so they would be able to work less and rest more. He was the kind of young man that you would always find in the middle of a laughing group and could be the heart of the party, not afraid to try new things and make a fool of himself if he failed.

However after his injury and the death of his family, he grew colder, more agressive and bitter. He burried that happy kid deep down and it will need a lot of work for him to return to his normal self. Nowdays he prefers to be left alone, he is easier to snap and the only one that can get him to smile is his sugar glider, Mei. He used to put trust in people easily, but this is no longer the case as people stood by and did nothing while his family was killed.
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HISTORY:

Sitka was the firstborn of a low class working couple that lived at Dragon Flats Borough. He had been the pride and joy of the couple, despite being an extra mouth to feed and thus would increase the workload of the pair. The boy grew to be a curious and energetic kid that always tailed his parents whenever they were at home, trying to learn as much as he could from observing and helping around the house.

His first signs of bending came when he was eight years old. The boy had been helping his mother cook dinner, when he slipped and the pot went airborne, threatening to spill the food everywhere on the floor. In a panicked attempt to save their dinner, young Sitka bended a pilar out of the stone floor that managed to catch the pot before it toppled over. His parents were proud of him and wanted to get him a teacher, but Sitka refused as he knew this would add more pressure to his parents. He was a smart kid. He would be able to figure it out and his parents agreed faster than usual as they also had to take their three year-old girl into account. However his parents made sure to introduce Sitka to as many earthbenders as they could, since it was obvious that Sitka had been paying attention and practised hard in order to develop his skills.

Life was hard for the family of four, but Sitka was doing his best to look after his sister and make some extra money to help his parents who tended to work double-sift in order to get by. As a result, Sitka didn't get a formal education and did odd jobs. A helping hand to unload the ships at Port here, an errand messanger there. At the same time, he honed his skills in earthbending, creating a unique style that was heavily influenced by 'street bending' but with several traditional elements he had picked up by watching demonstrations by masters from time to time.

At the age of 17, Sitka heard of an opening spot for an earthbender at the Ember Island Eel Hounds Pro bending team and he had been quick to join the tryouts. He managed to impress the team members with his fast paced style and the knowledge he had been self-taught. It wasn't a breeze to win the other candidates in one-on-one matches, but he did manage and the spot was his. Sitka had celebrated like there was no tomorrow as he would now be able to better support his family and eventually he hoped he could get them out of the small appartment and to a better neighborhood. His outgoing personality and bending potential allowed their team more time in the spotlight and earned them several new fans. Sitka was proud of that, but he didn't let it go to his head. He knew the value of hard work and self-discipline, never forgetting that until he managed to get into the team he had been just a face in a city filled with an ocean of them. 

Taking advantage of the extra money and doors his new job opened up for him, Sitka was quick to find an Earthbending master to teach him and help him progress to a more advanced level. It was around that time that he discovered his metalbending ability. However this was not going to last long. During a match against the Wolf Bats and about the time that the Equalists were rising from the shadows, Sitka hit his back on the edge of the Arena as he fell to the water below. Known for their ruthlessness during matches, it was no surprise that the blow was so hard that it seriously injured Sitka, to the point that he had to be fished out of the pool and rushed to the hospital, forcing the Eel Hounds to continue with just two members.

That was the beginning of the end for Sitka. He had to spend three months in the hospital and then go through physiotherapy in order to recover. Yet the injury on his spine was so serious that even though he was lucky enough to be able to still walk, he wouldn't be able to continue being a pro bender as the strain would be too great for his body to take. During that time, unknown to Sitka, his family had been forced into debt to the Agni Kai Triad in order to pay for Sitka's hospital and recovery expenses. A debt that they wouldn't be able to repay in time now that Sitka would no longer be able to earn money as a Probender.

Once discharged from the hospital, Sitka came to find his family appartment burned to the ground and the bodies of his family in line under fabric as the Firefighting and police units were taking care of the scene. He was informed of what had happened and had been offered condolences, but little else. With what little had been salvaged from the fire and freeloading on a friend's appartment for a while he had to go on. But he couldn't rest and he couldn't move on. He wanted revenge on the Kai's for killing his family over money and he also didn't wish to drag his friend into trouble. So as soon as he was able to he moved out. He got a low paying work at the Industrial area of the city and began to keep tabs on any activity related to the Kai Triad. Slowly but steadily he was tracking down the people responsible for his family's murder.

He hadn't been able to fullfil his quest for vengeance however, as the Equalists, led by Amon, had taken over and he was forced to seek refuge in the underground chambers of the city. While he maintained his body to decent fighting shape, he was prone to overexertion and he knew he was in no condition to fight against the Chi Blockers and mecha's of Amon. He didn't want to lose his bending either, so he decided it was best to hide himself. Eventually the capable benders and the Avatar would be able to stop this madness. And they did in the end.

So Sitka was able to continue searching lowkey for his family's killers. He found himself a small appartment close to the Dolls territory, as that was a safe haven if need be due to the Dolls keeping watch for free over their territory, and continued to work at the factory. At the same time he never hesitated to get into fights whenever people were threatened by the Triads and thugs of Republic City. He might've grown bitter and alone by choice, but that didn't mean he was going to stand by and do nothing. This eventually had him thoroughly beaten to a bloody pulp and he had been lucky enough to be discovered in the back alleys and rushed to a healer. He was also fortunate enough that the people who found him were also people he had once helped, so he had been in friendly hands until he was able to walk home again.

That was a wake-up call for him. He had to figure out a way to defend himself better now that he could no longer fight like he used to. Against regular thugs that the Triads usually sent to intimidate non-bender shop owners he could hold his own. But against a ganging up or someone actually smart enough to know how to fight, he realized he didn't stand a chance. So he layed low as the world went crazy around him. Giant spirits fought at the Harbor, which resulted in the City being swarmed with Spirit vines and spirits, and Air benders began to pop out like daisies. He kept about his business as normally as possible with all that was going on around.

His long absence from work had caused him to lose his job and he had to struggle with keeping up the small appartment he had near Doll territory. However a series of fires and the subsequent stop of Triad activity and the loss of his contacts, put his plans of revenge on a halt. Besides he had other problems to deal with. He could no longer maintain the roof over his head. He was behind on rent and the odd jobs he took while looking for another permanent one were not enough to pay for everything. Oddly enough protection fees started to be a thing even for the Dolls, which told Sitka it was time to move out again. But where could he go?

His only option were the numerous abandoned and half-destroyed buildings around the city after that mysterious round of fires. Putting his improvising and earthbending skills to maximum use, he managed to turn one of them into a manageable living space. It was not a home he could bring back a girl to, but it was a roof over his head, a much needed shower and warm bed that he didn't have to pay rent for. It was something to help him start over. It was at that point that he made friends with a pygmy puma cub and between that little fellow and his sugar glider, the abandoned building is never a boring place. He should teach the cub that the sugar glider was not food, but he also has to deal with the fact that what had been driving him for so long was no longer achievable. The Triad members he wanted revenge on had died during the fires he discovered. 

So now he needs to make peace with knowing that the killers were dead even though it was not by his hand and he would have to move on and find a reason to live again, not just survive day to day. Oh, and let's not forget to make sure his pet doesn't eat his other pet.
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NAME: Kiara
EXPERIENCE: 5+
CONTACT: PM and Discord
HOW'D YOU FIND US? I google searched for Avatar RPs that don't use stats.

RP SAMPLE: There was silence as he sunk deeper into the water. The cries of the crowd above as he took too long to resurface couldn't reach him. Only the shots of pain across his spine and the burn on his chest, as he yearned for air, filled his senses. Pained gasps escaped him as he tried to double over once removed from the pool of the Pro Bending Arena by the medics. He was stopped from moving, but he realized he couldn't move even if he wanted to. The pain and lack of hair were clouding his vision. Everything moved on a blurr. He could hear a cacophony but he couldn't really tell what was going on until eventually his vision faded and he was no longer in touch with the world.

ANYTHING ELSE?
• Mei, the sugar glider, had been his sister's pet originally, but he had been the one to name the animal after his sister as he wanted to tease her about how the two were similar in terms of personality. Mei loves to ride on Sitka's shoulder, staying in place by grabbing onto his harness.
• Zuko the pygmy puma, was named after what Sitka imagined Firelord Zuko to be like during the Hundred Year war. The cub is a fiesty one that tends to spy and pounce on Mei, the sugar glider, as well as on Sitka when he gets home. It is mostly a game for the cub as it is not that big to do much of a damage on Sitka and he has made sure to establish himself as the Alpha of their little pack. While it is still young, it grows bigger every day.
• Sitka was named after his grandfather from the Northern Water tribe.
• Now that he is injured, Sitka is struggling to change his earthbending style into a more rooted one, but it is hard as he needs to change his philosophy and muscle memory.
• The only things that survived the fire that killed his family are the sugar glider pet, a singed photograph of them and his father's Fire Nation sword, which was really more of a family heirloom that anything. Sitka doesn't know how to use it, but he keeps it in good condition out of respect for his great grand father, on his father's side, who had wielded the sword in the past to protect the colony as a Fire Nation Soldier.
• As a little kid, Sitka couldn't get enough from the stories about Avatar Aang and his friends and how they ended the Hundred Year War. He was particularly fascinated by the story of the Lion turtle and he liked to talk forever about whether the Lion Turtle Avatar Aang met was still alive, how old it was or how big it was and it was this fascination that made his dad nickname him Lion turtle.


Code: Probending