Aeris and Branwen

[Aeris Avalon]

Name: Aeris, formerly spelled E-r-i-s
Age: Unknown
Species: Mewtwo
Gender: Female
Height: 6'2" when measuring at the tips of the ears standing normally
Tail length: 6'4"- 6'6" at best estimation- the tail is slightly longer than her body, but no one has ever measured it successfully
Weight: Something at around 210 lbs, but no one can really get her to sit still on a scale to find out.
Coloring: Medium pink tail, pale pink (almost white) body
Distinguishing features: Long hair, the coloring about the same as her tail
Eyes: Violet
Sexuality: Seems to be heterosexual, but has a hard time settling in one place long enough to build any actual relationships
Mate: None
Occupation: Thief for survival, otherwise she's not really employed
Likes: Strawberries, things that sparkle, anything shiny, soft, or warm
Dislikes: The cold, being in once place

HISTORY: See next post. Fecking character limit...

[Aeris Avalon]

HISTORY: The first actual memory that Aeris has is waking up in a lab with too many arguing humans around her for her liking. While she couldn't understand most of what they were saying, she did get the impression that they were arguing over some sort of experiment... something that went wrong...

The next conscious memory she has is of waking up in a bright room, again with too many people around her. It didn't take long for Aeris, or "Eris" as one of the scientists seemed fond of calling her, to figure out her place in the lab- the bottom of the ladder. She was their experiment and she was supposed to do what she was told when she was told to do it, that much was clear. It seemed to her that there were other experiments as well, although none of them quite like her, that had to go through the same things. No, what confused her was the way they initially gave her orders without explaining themselves, as though she were already supposed to know what they meant for her to do- and the way she sometimes did know, even if she wasn't sure how. It soon became apparent to Eris that there were things she wasn't remembering, a big hole where her memory should be, and try as she could to hide it the scientists caught on, too. She was subjected to more testing and numerous scans as they tried to determine the full extent of the damage. Her sole comfort was the female scientist who would sit and talk to her, sometimes even ushering the other scientists and their fights out of the room when Eris's head began to hurt. In time, that scientist would become her sole salvation.

Eris wasn't sure how many months of testing had elapsed, but as time went on the experiments conducted on her seemed to get rougher and rougher- as did the environment she was living in. It seemed like not just her, but everything was being bickered over as the group running the laboratory seemed to be falling apart. Eventually whispers started going around that the 'organization' was breaking up into two separate groups. It was at this time that her scientist 'friend' came to her with an object that she claimed would get her out of there- a purple and white ball that sent shivers down Eris's spine for reasons she couldn't comprehend. And then everything went blank.

When Eris was finally released from the master ball, it was into a completely different world. Her scientist friend, whom she came to know as "Izzy" in the months that followed, had brought her to an apartment in a city that would, supposedly, be safe as long as Eris didn't use her psychic powers- Saffron. As long as Eris stayed hidden and didn't use her special abilities, the presence of so many other psychics would mask her own signature. The experiment didn't mind. This new world of flavorful foods, soft places to sleep, and bright colors was a wonder to Eris, but as happy as she was she also noted Izzy getting more and more nervous. Finally, after almost half a year, Izzy confided to her that Eris's vanishing act had not gone as planned; the organization, or what was left of it, was closing in on the human as the source of their prized experiment's disappearance. Eris would have to flee.

This began the third part of her journey: Eris's rather short life in the wild. Izzy spent the next few weeks teaching the clone all she could about how to survive, including how to read, before taking an impromptu 'vacation' to the mountains and releasing her into the wild. The transition was a difficult one for Eris, who had never been out of doors before. She quickly managed to stake out a small territory, however, and leaned the location of a nearby campground where she could steal food from travelers as they slept late at night... and that was where she met a new fate. Approaching the campground one night, she was surprised to see massive bonfires long after the lights should have all been out. Her catlike curiosity overwhelming her, she edged closer to watch a variety of humans in strange, long clothes dance and chant around the fires. She became so enraptured in the spectacle that she failed to notice one youth taking notice of her. In fact, she remained clueless until the young man snuck around beside her and actually touched one of her ears, at which point she rather panicked. The result was that she tumbled right out into the open, landing in the firelight where they could all see her.

Much to Eris's surprise, the human group doesn't seem alarmed by her presence. They call themselves "wiccan" and actually welcome her as though she had been expected, and she spends the night in their company, watching the dancing and amusing the humans by voraciously devouring any food placed in front of her. As dawn breaks many of the humans leave, but a core group of them- including the young man who approached her to begin with- remain in the campground. They are modern-day gypsies of sorts, she learns, moving from place to place with the seasons. The youth is training to become something called a druid, and while Eris doesn't fully understand the concept, she quickly grasps that he is a friend to Pokémon and takes to peeking at his studying materials over his shoulder. He calls himself Dylan, and soon manages to coax her own name out of her- which causes a stir in and of itself. Apparently, as the poor clone finds out, her name is a word of terrible power, and she will need to be re-named immediately. It's the first time in her life that Eris puts her foot down.

The gypsies try to re-name the feline 'Bastet', but she has nothing of it. Eris pointedly ignores anyone who calls her by that name, answering only to what Izzy originally named her, until finally the small group of humans gives up. They agree to call her by what she was originally called, but the spelling must be changed. Thus "Eris" becomes "Aeris" and the new member of the troop settles in with the human she likes the best and his constant companion, a chatty Murkrow called Branwen. Aeris learns a lot from Branwen, but she learns even more from Dylan's multitudes of books, things that Izzy's tidy library knew nothing about. She soon learns to loose herself for hours in the stories of earth magic and ancient spirits, stories that seemed to strike a chord somewhere deep inside of her...

The rest of the fall was spent resting across Dylan's lap as he studied, her nose in a book as he idly scratched her ears. At his urging, she soon begins to dabble in the sort of sorcery that he is striving to learn herself; healing the sick, divining the future, and dipping her toes and her consciousness into the world of the spirits. Amazingly, she seems to excel at the ancient rites and rituals, and her first winter is spent in a whirlwind of learning as she clamors for more books. But like Izzy before him, Dylan seems to be becoming nervous. Finally, Branwen takes the confused experiment aside and explains things to her. As a child, Dylan was promised to marry into a family that was considered rather important to the gypsy families. Now that he is nearing his manhood, the time for him to marry is drawing near, and he is nervous about meeting a bride that he has not seen in years.

At first, the concept of marriage is a confusing thing to Aeris... but when the young woman Dylan is supposed to meet joins the troop the following spring, it becomes all to clear what his engagement means for her. Dylan's fiancé demands heavily on his time, eager to know him better, and Aeris ends up pushed to the side. 'Elain' takes to dragging Dylan into the woods for walks, sitting as close to him as she can at meals, and usurping Aeris's favorite position at his feet around the campfire. The only time with the human Aeris has left are the daily study sessions, and even those come to an abrupt end as plans for the wedding start to fly. Aeris found herself pushed even further to the side, to the point where she started to help the other humans in the troop just to relieve the loneliness. Even Branwen seemed to be suffering, but cat and bird both held on in the hopes that things would return to normal after the wedding. And, to an extent, they did- the afternoon study sessions resumed as before, but suddenly the two Pokémon found themselves shut out of Dylan’s tent at night. At first Aeris and Branwen take to huddling together by the fire, but soon other members of the troop start admitting them into their tents out of sympathy. It’s at this point that the two realize that life as they knew it is all but over and content themselves with watching the other humans instead. And then Elain announced that she was pregnant, and Aeris knew real jealousy for the first time. Dylan’s time would be consumed by Elain and the baby, and the ones who were loyal to him would be forgotten completely.

So, true to the fickle nature of cats and crows, they left.

Aeris never became involved in the lives of any other humans after that point. Instead she spent her time wandering from place to place, stealing what she and Branwen needed to survive and strengthening her magical abilities with the help of books and scrolls she picked up on her journeys. She soon learned to imitate and initiate spells with psychic power, blending the arts of magic and kinesis until one was indistinguishable from the other in her hands. Knowledge became her goal, and thus she adopted the nature of the gypsies, traveling with the seasons with the Murkrow on her shoulder. Only her dark companion sees how this restless nature disturbs her; the feline still longs for warm fires and soft hands to pet her. Her trust, however, has been battered until she no longer knows how to settle down. What good is a warm bed or a fire when you’re unseated so soon, after all?

And so she wanders, almost as much a part of the darkness as her feathered friend even as she craves the warmth of the hearth and that feeling of safety she used to know...

[Aeris Avalon]

Name: Branwen (Beautiful Raven)
Age: Unknown
Species: Murkrow
Gender: Female
Likes: Shiny things, telling stories
Dislikes: Thunderstorms that make her feathers wet

HISTORY: Formerly the favored pet of the human Dylan, Branwen grew up among humans without loosing ties to the wilderness that embraced her at the time of her birth. Perhaps this is why she adapted so easily when Dylan brought home a new animal, a feline the likes of which Branwen had never seen before. While the creature's origins were startling to all who could coax the tale from her, Branwen saw the newcomer as little threat, and indeed identified her as something of a chick, still new in the world. As such, it was only natural to Branwen that she should befriend and educate Aeris, teaching her the ways of the wide outside world. Thus, when Branwen found she had had quite enough of Dylan’s new wife, it only seemed natural to take the equally-neglected cat with her- or so her side of the story goes. Regardless of her rather edgy personality, Branwen considers Aeris to be a friend and stays at her side despite their conflicting types. It seems acceptable to her to ally herself with a psychic if the psychic is a sneak-thief at heart, a trait that her kind values.