Raye Hino | Sailor Mars

OOC Information
Player Name: Faetan
Contact Info: faetan
Character Info: Rei Hino/Sailor Mars - flamescout - Sailor Moon (AU)
OOC Goals: I'd like Raye to go on several adventures so she can eventually meet her goal of becoming a member of the Order of the Sun. While I don't mind if those goals change along the way (CR has a habit of affecting the things a character ultimately wants), I'm also looking forward to having her develop as a person too. The way she is at the beginning of the game, she's proud, stubborn, and lonely after living with a distant father and shunned by her peers for her odd abilities. Eventually she'll make friends and be less prickly, and may even prove to be an exceptional leader after all.
Legend/Prophecy:
A child of war who strives for peace
Born with a passion that will not cease
Favored by the fires and purifying the land in their name
She will carry the blessing of the sacred flame

IC Application for Probationary Citizenship
Your Name: Raye Hino
Age: 18
Date of Birth: Spring 17
Occupation: Shrine Maiden
Background: Raye is the daughter of a distant baron in a neighboring kingdom. Her father earned his position by currying favor with nobles of higher elevation and spent all of his time at court, even when his wife was stricken with a terminal illness. At age 10, Raye sat by her mother's side when she passed away. As a child, and a baron's daughter, she had very few childhood playmates and none of them considered her a friend because of her strange ability to detect the presence of the blight. Deemed weird and creepy, and often called The Crow Witch, she was avoided, and so Raye turned her back on them to focus on her own independence. She studied archery and magic, finding she had a natural talent for fire spells, and at times could even catch glimpses of the future in any flame to which she bent her attention and focus. When she was fifteen, she declared herself to be of age and left the baron's manor with a group of travelers to reach Rendezvous where her mother's father kept a small shrine dedicated to the spirits of nature. She had made up her mind to care for her grandfather and help him maintain the shrine while also working to fulfill her own dreams to become a powerful warrior against the blight.
Talents/Abilities/Powers: Raye excels at any magic that involves fire, so she's become a specialist rather than seeking to diversify her magical portfolio with other spells. She has a strong link with nature that she inherited from her mother, who was said to have been blessed by a dryad in her youth, and that the cherry trees around the shrine still carry her influence. (Raye is pretty sure one of them IS inhabited by a dryad, but has yet to receive any proof.) She can vaguely detect the presence and strength of the blight and knows when something under its influence is nearby. Finally, her link to fire and nature gives her some small ability to divine glimpses of the future when she meditates before a fire -- the bigger the fire and the more pure the land on which the fire burns, the stronger the vision. She can at least predict the next day's weather with unerring accuracy, and she uses this gift in exchange for donations at the shrine.
Other: Raye makes luck charms to supplement what meager income they get with offerings. She also sells eggs, and cherries in the spring. Because she devotes so much time to taking care of her grandfather, Raye doesn't have as much time as she'd like to go on quests, but she'll eagerly seize any opportunity to become a squire. She's ambitious, but also impatient and reckless with a hot temper and a prickly nature she puts up as a natural defense. Once she really cares about somebody, though, she's as loyal a friend as they come and would lay down her life to protect that person.

PLAYER
Name: Faetan
Age: 35
Personal Journal: faetan
E-mail: pyiiiii at yahoo dot com
AIM/MSN/etc: RainaMoonsinger via AIM

CHARACTER
Name: Raye Hino
Canon: Sailor Moon (English dub)
Age: 15 (almost 16)
Timeline: Shortly after befriending Catsy and recovering from her injuries.

Personality: Raye isn't particularly close to anyone, save the scouts, her grandfather, and perhaps Chad who came to work at the shrine to take a break from his wandering musician life. Though her father still lives, Raye is resentful of him for his continual absence, even when her mother was ill and dying. He sends her a white dress and Casablanca lilies for her birthday every year, but it's a cold and impersonal gift selected by his secretary, and his yearly visit is meant only to save face with his constituents. Still, Raye continues to meet with him each and every year despite her reservations. He's still family, and people can change. She's just not holding her breath.

She does a great deal for her grandfather (her mother's father), though she often chides him for his lecherous behavior towards the young girls who come to visit the temple. She still loves him despite this, and it was Raye's suggestion to live with him at the temple and take on the duties of a shrine maiden.

When it comes to getting what she wants, Raye is incredibly ambitious. She takes charge of the situation and formulates a plan of action, following through to the very end. She's a very determined girl, and her confidence in herself is unshakeable. She dreams of being a famous singer, model, and actress, as well as taking over the duties of the temple in the future. Raye works very hard to fulfill her dreams, without neglecting her schoolwork or duties as Sailor Mars.

Raye can be very controlling, and gets to be pushy and overbearing with her opinions. She's frequently argued with Sailor Moon and the two butt heads a lot when it comes to matters of leadership. Raye used to think that she was far better-suited to being the leader of the Sailor Scouts, but as time went on, she realized that Sailor Moon had more guts than Raye realized. Raye has since dropped her claims of being leader, but hasn't ceased nagging Serena to take her duties more seriously.

Blunt to a fault, Raye can be very critical of others. She doesn't bother to hide her displeasure, and can be somewhat reckless with others' feelings. Serena in particular is usually on the receiving end of Raye's sharp tongue, but the truth of the matter is, Raye pushes her harder than the others because she wants to see Serena succeed and reach her true potential. Raye knows it's there, but Serena's childish neglect and ditzy ways drive her completely crazy. It's not that Raye hates those she criticizes, she just gets frustrated by their actions. She still likes the person very much, and she wouldn't harp if she didn't care.

Trying to push Raye around will usually result in a headache. The girl is painfully stubborn. She refuses to apologize unless she knows she was absolutely wrong. And if there's no proof, there's no way she'll say she's sorry. She dislikes being bossed around, and prefers to be the one giving out orders. She's independent and strong-willed, and doesn't take well to those who would attempt to force her into doing something she doesn't agree with.

Her take-charge attitude can sometimes get her into trouble. She's impatient and prefers to meet the enemy head-on even when it would be better to formulate a plan. She's had a few clashes with Amy because of this, but there are a few times where she'll defer to her friend, especially when Raye's low on ideas. Even so, she thinks it's better to blast the enemy to ashes instead of wasting time debating.

Even though Raye and Serena are often at ends, they have more in common than they realize. Both of them have the same taste in guys, and get more than a little boy-crazy. They both like reading the same comic books, and both have dreams of being a star someday. Maybe this is why they clash so often. Raye's a little more down to earth, especially when it comes to romance. She knows when something isn't meant to be. When she found out that Serena and Darien were destined to be together, she was sad, but she deferred and backed out without a single harsh word, and harbored no resentment.

She has a strong attachment to Chad, the boy working at their temple, but she keeps her feelings in check and rarely lets them show (which keeps the poor guy in a state of perpetual insecurity). She does think he's cute. But for now, she'll still flirt with other guys.

Despite all of her faults, Raye is an honestly good person. She has a strong sense of justice, and can't stand evil. She fights hard to keep innocent people safe, and has never once complained about risking her life to do so. She's proud to be a Sailor Scout, and it shows.

Ever since meeting Serena and the other scouts, Raye has opened up a little more. She doesn't trust others easily, and her harsh personality wasn't exactly winning her many friends. She's softened a little, though she still has a long way to go, given to bouts of pettiness herself. Raye treasures her friendship with the others more than anything in the world, and would go to any lengths to protect them.

Background: Below is a super abridged version, but the link to her Wikipedia page is here. It's just not the best resource because it covers ALL the different versions of Sailor Mars, including the manga and live action versions.

Raye's lived with her maternal grandfather at his temple for most of her life. Her mother died when she was young, and her father was far too busy politicking to spend much time with his daughter outside of anything more than a yearly birthday visit...to appease his constituents, of course. The only ones Raye was ever close to were her grandfather and two crows, whom she calls Phobos and Deimos.

She first met Serena when a general of the Negaverse disguised himself as a temple worker and began selling bogus good luck charms to young girls to sap them of their energy. Raye discovered that she was the rightful owner of the powers of Mars during a crucial moment, and helped Serena, who she learned was Sailor Moon, to defeat Jadeite's evil monster and restore peace to the temple. After that, life began to change for the better. She had friends now, and a divine destiny.

She also got a hot boyfriend when she began dating Darien. Sadly, it wasn't meant to be, as he was revealed to be Serena's true love in a past life. Despite her feelings for him, she stepped back. You don't mess with true love, and though she and Serena squabbled and bickered frequently, she's Raye's best friend. Never was this made more apparent when she sacrificed her own life to protect Sailor Moon in the final showdown against Queen Beryl and her most deadly minions.

After Sailor Moon defeated Beryl, Raye and the other Sailor Scouts were returned to their normal lives, forgetting everything that had occurred pertaining to the Negaverse and the Moon Kingdom. But when trouble arose once more, they were called back into action, and their memories were restored.

Abilities: Raye's powers as Sailor Mars are primarily fire-based. And as the series goes on, her powers and strength only grow stronger. She's a fierce fighter with no qualms about toasting the bad guys, and won't hold back one little bit. Occasionally she combines her fire powers with Sailor Moon's tiara, or with the powers of the others. She's a versatile fighter, but her abilities concentrate more on a strong offense than defense.

Nonetheless, Raye has her own share of grace and agility even when she's not using her Sailor powers. She has a black belt in karate, and is incredibly skilled on the ski slopes. She possesses a sixth sense that allows her to detect and seal evil, and even interpret visions seen in dreams and the temple fire.

First Person: (Taken from a previous game.)

[Raye's communicator is set down on the counter, where it flicks on and begins transmitting the most boring scene ever. The priestess is dressed casually for an exceptionally warm summer day, in red shorts with a striped t-shirt with a baseball cap settled backwards on top of her sleek black hair. The yellow hoodie is shucked from her shoulders and thrown over the back of a chair, the hat following shortly. Then she turns to go through her sack of groceries, unfolding the newspaper and giving it peripheral glances as she puts things away.]

...ugh...

[Who knows why she's 'ugh'ing. It could be any number of reasons. But secretly, it's because of the week of forecasted showers. A whole WEEK? At least it'll be warm.]

[She takes down a small ceramic bowl, putting a few sweet mochi balls into it.]

Lunaaaa! Lunch!

[She also picks up a package, unwrapping the thick white paper, to reveal a couple of fish heads. Raye's nose wrinkles, but Luna said she loved them, so she made sure to get a few--]

Huh?

[Now she's looking directly at the communicator. Raye FROWNS, and reaches out to slam it down on the counter to turn it off.]

Stop recording banal things!

Third Person: (Taken from a previous game.)

Feeling uneasy and feeling tired were not mutually exclusive sensations, Raye discovered, leaning her palm against the stone wall of the temple's descending staircase. She'd nearly broken her neck the last time she left after an all-night meditation session in the Sacred Flame's room, too tired to properly place one foot in front of the other. This time she took the stairs nice and slow, one step at a time, furrowing her brow in concentration until she reached the bottom.

She knew she needed sleep, and she'd tried getting it before, but it never worked out. Either that sense of constant unease kept her staring at the ceiling, or she would be plagued with constant nightmares. Of Rex being trapped outside of the city, beating against the gate and getting devoured by some cosmic horror sweeping down on him, of her crows screaming as someone Unmade them at a gruesomely slow pace that tore them apart, of her friends sprouting fangs and claws and tearing her to shreds...violent, awful dreams.

It was getting harder to concentrate on her meditations. She'd been doing it for years, so she didn't have many problems ignoring physical needs like food and sleep while she was concentrating, but even her experience was being sorely tested. She needed more than just a few hours of troubled and frequently disturbed rest, but for the life of her, she just couldn't manage. She didn't dare try for any sort of medication or Bending solution. Too much could go wrong. And supposing she went under, and couldn't get back out once the nightmares started? That was a chilling possibility.

So she left the temple and started walking. It was only due to a sense of fierce pride that her shoulders stayed erect and her head remained lifted, dark eyes shifting and moving to take in her surroundings. If her prayers weren't getting any answers, then it was time to start digging for the source of that unease.

It sure was hard to track down the root of all those bad vibes when it seemed like they were coming from everywhere at once.