Rayne Hughes - Finished

[Rayne Hughes]

Shinigami

"Who are you...?"

Name: Rayne Hughes
Age: 102
Gender: Male
Height & Weight: 5'9", 182 lbs
Eye & Hair Color: Black shoulder length hair, silver-grey eyes

"I define who I am!"

Appearance: Rayne is lean and slim, built more like a runner than anything else. While he is a Shinigami, most of his time is spent in his Gigai, as it makes interaction in the Human world much easier. His Gigai has several marked differences from his appearance in spirit form. Initially, his hair falls to the middle of his back in a simple braid, and the color is more blue than black to begin with. His eyes in Gigai are green rather than grey, though the silver undertones are still there.

Whereas in Spirit form, Rayne wears an all white Shihakusho, in Gigai he tends toward jeans and tees, topping it all off with hoodies, combat boots, and ball caps. Adorning the middle finger of his right hand is a gold ring with a blue jade stone set in the middle, twin sapphires on each side of the central stone.

Spoiler:

"... And my actions define me!"

Personality Traits:
POSITIVE

• No matter what, each day, Rayne spends at least an hour in meditation, going back over recent events, as well as making sure that he is completely centered and focused for whatever may crop up next.
  
• Rayne is naturally very calm and collected when not out on Shinigami business.
  
• Rayne is very much a guardian, and will often go out of his way to help those in need.
  
• Rayne loves gardening, and this often makes him very easy to find, as if he can't be found anywhere else, he's in a garden somewhere.
  
• Rayne is a natural conversationalist, able to carry on a conversation with those that have been accused of being the most boring people out there.
  

NEGATIVE

• Rayne has been accused of being a little TOO trusting, though he denies it himself.
  
• Rayne is notorious for losing track of the time when he's working in the gardens.
  
• Rayne does have the bad habit of striking faster than he should, and has often left a spirit new to Rukongai and the Seireitei coming in with a scar or gash they should not have had.
  
• Rayne is a very humble person, so humble that he will never accept credit alone if there were other people involved.
  
• Orders are orders to Rayne. If he has been given an order, he will work himself to the brink of death to see to it that the order is carried out.
  

"You caught me in a Mono-log!"

Additional information: "N/A"

"You will be punished!"

Zanpakuto Spirit & Inner World:
Nageki Kazoku appears to be a young, 20-something female, clad all in black from her neckline all the way down to her toes. She herself doesn't appear to carry any weapons, though she moves with a grace that belies her small stature. She always has a perpetual half-frown on her face, though no one really knows why. Not that anyone but Rayne can see her. But this half-frown carries over, in the fact that sometimes, Rayne will look perpetually grumpy, no matter how much he is laughing. He can't explain this, as it's still a puzzle to him. And she hasn't deigned to answer his questions about her history.

She always appears with blonde hair, though there are traces that her hair wasn't always that color. Slight red highlights under the right lighting conditions -- red highlights that have been known to show through her link with Rayne in his own hair -- rip through the blonde slightly. Aside from this, her silver blue eyes are the only hint that she might be far more than what is seen. What she is, the blue of her eyes giving away the fact that she is actually part of a secret society that practiced more... elementalistic magic. She has transferred this control to Rayne in the form of his Shikai and Bankai forms, though the Shikai is by far the lesser powered of the two.

However, one thing Rayne has come to notice about her is that even though she won't outright answer his questions, she gives him hints, in her body language, and in her facial expressions, and he figures that this doesn't violate her way of doing things, her quietness and laid back nature. Even in life, she was a loner, not associating with anyone outside of where she was required to. In fact, many times her family threw parties trying to trap her into socializing, but she always managed to be out on business when the parties occurred, avoiding the traps altogether.

She smiles very little, and laughs even less. She finds very little humorous, and when she does, most things only warrant a smile from her. Protective to a fault, she will often force the unleashing of her Shikai form when Rayne is in trouble, or at least attempt to. Rayne is strong enough mentally and spiritually, however, that this doesn't often work. When it does, however, it is because Rayne has realized he is in true danger, and was about to release anyway.

Nageki Kazoku's Inner World is set in a quaint Oriental village, with pagoda style roofs and wooden walls. However, there are never any people save one, and that would be Kazoku herself. The village looks like it was once prosperous, but there is no sign of why it has become run down and dilapidated. There are three buildings in a cluster that have all completely collapsed, the roofs tumbled and scattered around. These buildings, or at least what is left of them, are scorched and crumbled, blacked by some strange event.

On the outskirts of the village, there is a small ring of one or two buildings deep that are still in a somewhat liveable state, but they, like the rest of the village, are empty. There are several grave markers placed throughout the village, but a small plot of five reside near the collapsed buildings, with the crumbled remains of a sixth. The five that remain intact all have the same last name on them, and it would appear that the sixth has the same name on it as well, but that something, or someone, has shattered it beyond repair.

Sealed Zanpakuto: In sealed state, Kazoku looks like a simply katana with a brass tsuba and a black and red leather emaki. The blade looks like water is running through and over it, even though touching it makes it clear that it is a solid piece of high-carbon steel. The scabbard is black, made out of oak, and rests easily against his thigh as he moves. The brass tsuba features a dragon coiling around the scabbard, mouth pointed in toward the blade edge. While the rest of the tsuba is brass, however, the eyes of the dragon are a pair of sapphires set deep into the brass. The fangs are blue jade, and the very tip of the tail is a minuscule piece of blue amethyst.

The black oak scabbard is the only hint as to the true power of the blade when it is sheathed. Along the edges of the scabbard, sockets were carved and blue sapphires and amethysts were placed in them, held in place by silver filigree. Through the center are chunks of what looks at first glance like ordinary rocks, but in reality they are river rocks embedded in the scabbard. These give Rayne nominal control over water even when sealed, but it is minimal at best. He dries very quickly, and doesn't seem to get nearly as wet as others in the same downpour. But this is about the extent of his abilities while in sealed state, and they aren't really true abilities, so much as signs of the harnessed power within the Zanpakutou.

Shikai Zanpakuto: Kazoku Shikai closely resembles what some mistakenly call a daikatana, but is more appropriately referred to as a nodachi. The blade, no longer the silver of high-carbon steel, is now a vibrant sapphire blue, but the ripples are now unmistakable. The tsuba is now a tsunami wave, curling around the blade, and the emaki is now a solid blue leather. Along the top outer edge of the tsunami wave on the tsuba is a solid line of various blue gemstones, that catch the light and cast a blue glow over anything close to the tsuba.

One oddity about the Shikai form of Kazoku is in the end of the blade. Along the spine of it, leading up to the point, are etchings of a wavelike pattern, that culminate in a slightly greater curl at the point, curving around on itself in a near barb shape. Also, the pommel has changed shape as well, a hook in and of itself at the opposite end of the blade. The pommel now resembles another tidal wave, curling up and back against the opposite edge from the blade. This is the final oddity. Where in sealed state, the edge is on the outside of the curve, once the blade is released, the blade shifts to the inside of the curve. There are multiple reasons for this, the main one being that even Kazoku, let alone her wielder, does not like to kill if it is not necessary. If you are fighting him, and you see him flip the shikai over, then you know you have earned his wrath, though it is slow to build.

Shikai Ability: The true power of Kazoku's Shikai, however, is in the blue tinge to the blade. Rayne draws his hand across the blade of the katana, along the blunt edge. As his hand travels, the ripples spread a deep blue color through the steel, accompanied by the sound of rushing water. The blade extends in Shikai form as well, reaching more of the length of a nodachi. Any water around when Shikai is unleashed is immediately swept up into a pillar of water that seems to move with a mind of its own. In reality, it follows Rayne's direction toward the enemy, and plows them under with a cascade of hurricane force winds and water. However, it is very taxing for him to maintain this, as he's dealing with keeping a decent amount of elements going at once.

"Are you the one from my past?"

Background: Rayne was born Douglas Erwin Forrest in Dublin Ireland, to a pair of peasants, or at least near peasants. His father, James Douglas, owned his own land, but in trust to the lord who owned not only the Forrest land, but also another seven family landholds. This was the way of things when Rayne was growing up. His father tried to raise him to be a proper Irish son, but Rayne proved a bit difficult to do this with. He was more at home in a forest than on a battlefield or in a pub brawl.

This led to him helping his mother in the family garden more often than he helped his father in the lord's fields. This in turn led to much consternation and ridicule on his parents' part, but they bore it well, knowing that their son was going to be a well-rounded adult if this continued. So they encouraged his interest in finer pursuits, including his interest in music. His first instrument was actually a set of pan pipe flutes that had been handmade by his grandmother. He quickly learned it quite well, and was usually the primary entertainment when all of the land trustee families got together, playing better than, some said, the Sidhe themselves.

He grew up this way for many years. But problems inevitably occur when this sort of thing continues, and Rayne was no different. He went with his father to the pub one night shortly after he had turned nineteen. A fight broke out over the way he had been raised, and in the aftermath, he was found with a knife wound straight through his heart. He died that day, and all he remembers of it is seeing a figure in black pressing the pommel of a strangely crafted sword to his head, and then a bright white light.

Rukongai and the Surround

Rayne awoke to found himself in a strange place that closely resembled the Oriental villages he had always heard described by those that knew someone that had seen it. Of course, they didn't resemble anything to him, no memory of his living life left to him aside from the bright white light that led him to Soul Society.

He had found himself in the sixty-third district of Rukongai, where he was quickly adopted by a group of children as their official guardian, the person that they chose to protect them from the less than savory adults in the district. He flung himself into the job with abandon, determined to use whatever he was offered to replace the memory he knew he had lost.

It didn't take long before the strong spirit he had even in life began to manifest itself, and in ways Rayne could never have imagined. The first manifestation was in a dark blue pulse one day that slammed one of the adults that was threatening three of the children under his care away from them, which left him staring in shock, and with an unshakable feeling of being watched after that, everywhere he went, even though he knew they weren't watching him.

Of course, this newfound power also allowed him to work his way through the ranks and districts of Rukongai, until he and the four children under his protection found themselves living in the Seventh District. But this joy was shortlived, and doomed to failure.

During the seventeen years he was watching over his children – because that is what he saw them as was his children – he had been watched by the Shinigami, ever since the incident in the market when he had released a blast that sent a man through a wall. Over the years, he had become able to use more and more of his innate spiritual power, and in more and more ways, even deflecting a thrown knife mere inches from his face.

The time finally came when the Shinigami approached him, offering him a place at the academy. A major conflict occurred with this, since in the seventeen years, the four children he had started with had grown up themselves, and now he was left with a group of a dozen or so children right back at the age where he had started. He didn't want to leave them, but it was the youngest of the group to make up his mind. “Sensei Morei, if you go to the academy, then you can teach us more about how to protect ourselves! And you won't have to just limit yourself to one district! There's a division that's always here in Rukongai somewhere!”

So it was that his decision was made, and he bade the children he was watching over farewell, and moved on to the next stage of his life: Seireitei and the Shinigami Academy.

Seireitei and the Shinigami Academy

His first week at the academy brought up a few memories of his human life, memories that were best left alone. He was very clearly surrounded by people who were better at this sort of thing than him, not to mention clearly in a higher position of status than he was. But after that first week, he quickly found his place, frequently doing as well as if not better than some of those who had gained nobility by being adopted by a noble family.

But even through all of this, even though he was constantly proving that just because you were originally from a lower district, didn't mean that you weren't any good, he never once lorded this over anyone. In fact, quite a few times when the nobles challenged him to a fight, he would back down, not caring when they all called him a coward.

However, there was one thing that he would get into fights over. Once the nobles learned what this was, he got into fights on a daily basis. The trouble truly started when he was in his fifteenth year in the academy. A few of the older students from the first district and the noble families were picking on some of the new initiates. During the ensuing fight, Rayne noticed that time seemed to slow and then stop.

(((Switching to Actual RP for this one, just because it's going to be easier on me.)))

A solemn voice, very soft and feminine, rang through the silence as Rayne stared at the other students. “The time is now, young Shinigami. Call my name, summon my power.”

He turned, staring at the beautiful woman that had appeared in front of him, along with the decrepit looking village that was now surrounding them both. “Who are you? What have you done to them. This isn't a fair fight!”

She smiled sadly, shaking her head, holding out a cloth wrapped bundle to him. “The time is now, young Shinigami. Take up your Zanpakutou, take up my spirit, and fight! Defend those that can't do so themselves. Call out my name. I am Nageki Kazoku, the woe of my family.”

She faded into the shadows, and the cloth fell away, revealing the silver of a steel bladed katana. He turned back to the brutes he had been fighting, one eye already swollen to the point that he couldn't see. “Kazoku, woe of your family, awaken, and answer my call!” he roared out, and was in mid-swing when one of the teachers simply reached out and touched him, locking him in place. The teacher looked down at him with a kindly smile, and then looked at the boys at the other end of the hallway. “I'd leave now. I do believe he just unlocked his shikai. If you don't leave now, he'll kill you all.”

Turning back to Rayne, the teacher waved a hand, and a gale of water crashed through the hallway and struck an invisible wall in front of the teacher. “Congratulations, Rayne. Welcome to our ranks. You have now graduated.”

As a Shinigami

Rayne has now been a Shinigami for about half a century, and has used every minute of it to do what he has always done as long as he could: protect the weak. However, problems inevitably arose. While many Hollows and Arrancar met their end at Rayne's hands, too many more of them managed to escape due to the bureaucracy within the Seireitei. When the corruption made itself apparent, Rayne left.

Leaving the Seireitei entirely, he went back to the Human World, paying a visit to the only person there he knew: a Quincy named Barrie Hughes. She took him in, even though she could have easily turned him away with her knowledge - given by Rayne himself - of what happened when a Shinigami deserted as he had. However, in spite of his disgust at how corrupt some Shinigami had become, Ryder convinced him to go back, but to still run through things and come back to visit.

For the past ten years, he's been doing what he can to help the empowered humans and Quincy, proving the lie to most Quincy perceptions of Shinigami in general, and his former division in specific. Specifically, however, he's been keeping an eye on Barrie, honoring the life debt she holds over him for saving him from a trio of Adjuchas class Hollows. In addition, he's been carrying the information that he's gathered and has been brought to him by various Quincy and humans back to the Seireitei, keeping the line of communication open.



Desired Position: Third Seat, Assistant to Ryder (5th Division)

RP Sample:

Rayne sighed, wandering aimlessly through the districts. He'd been thinking about the things Ryder had told him, and the information he'd managed to get access to since his time in the Human World. The things he'd learned disturbed him, more than anything else he'd ever discovered. It had been rather a disconcerting feeling to learn that everything he'd been taught here in Soul Society, everything he'd thought he was fighting for, was complete and total lies.

He leaned against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest as he started out at the horizon. "What do I do, Nageki? The Shinigami are my family, they're all I know!"

What about that Ryder girl? You seemed pretty sweet on her!

"NAGEKI!" he said, pushing off the tree and staring down at the handle aghast. "How can you say that? Yeesh, I swear, sometimes you read too much into things," he said quietly.

You were healed up on the third day there, Rayne. Why did you stay for almost a week, if you aren't sweet on her?

"I... I was... I was getting information!" He shook his head, flushing lightly as a light tinkle as of a river rang through the air. "Don't laugh!" he said.

He sighed, leaning back against the tree again. “I'm... I'm at a loss here, Nageki. I don't even know who to trust anymore. Can I even TRUST Ryder?” he said quietly. “She's a Quincy, yes, and away from the corruption here. But really, who's to say she's not just trying to lure me away from here so I can be killed?”

She could have killed you while you spent a week in her home. You realize that, right? And since WHEN did you need MY advice? You've never asked for it until now.

“I know, Nageki. I've never been in a situation like this before.”

What does your heart tell you?

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, smiling softly. “I know, okay? But if I leave, I become an enemy of the Shinigami. Are you willing to fight even my own squad, should it come down to that?”

I am, Rayne. For your sake.

He nodded. “Thank you, Nageki. Let's move quickly, before one of the others finds me. I have to get a Hell Butterfly and ditch this place while I can.”

Pushing off the tree, he leaped, lunging back toward the Seireitei, where it would be an easy matter to summon a Hell Butterfly, and get out of here while the getting was good.

What he wasn't counting on, what he didn't expect, was that someone had seen him. He had no clue just how much trouble he was about to be in, nor how much pain he was about to endure.

[Izumi Tenshi]

We do not have Rogue Factions. So that said you can not be an exiled Shinigami. You have to sign up as a member of Gotei 13. Also going by your app I will award you with 300 EP which is the equivalent of a Third Seat. HOWEVER I will not hand out the award until you change the Rogue stuff. This is something Miki made it very clear on, there will be zero Rogue/Maverick characters for now.

[Rayne Hughes]

Sorry. Fixed that. Yeah. Hopefully that's good enough.

[Kiriko Tenshi]

Approved for 3rd seat, 5th division. 300 base EP.

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