Appearance: Forest stands at an average 5'11'' with brown hair and forest green eyes, that match and gave his name. Beyond hair, people find two things on his head. First would be his spotted ears. He and his few friends have definitely agreed that they are cat ears with the speculation, and later confirmation, that they are a Bobcat's. "It was Lil' Em who guessed it. Found a kid's encyclopedia on animals. She was flipping through it one day and suddenly hollered. Heh, she has quite the pair of lungs, let me tell you. So I went running on over, worried that she'd tripped and broken something. We didn't have money for a doctor's trip, so the worry was valid. Anyway, I find she's quite fine and eager as a bouncy ball. Pointing at a picture in her book saying 'lookit Verse! Lookit! This is you.' And she was right. Docs at Beacon did a little bloodwork to confirm it. Making sure I was all up on my shots and found out I was behind since I was born. They freaked a bit but it turned out alright. As you can see, I didn't die of disease." Second are the high quality, super durable, noise canceling headphones. Through them, he listens to whatever he can get his hands on. It's one the artifacts he refuses to tell where he got it from. Other than that, Forest wears a variety of simple T-shirts and cargo pants. It shows lean, wiry muscles and tan skin that's laced with multiple scars. He adapts to the weather by simply throwing on a heavy duty green trench coat that he carries around with him, stolen by Thatch, and a thick, home-knitted black cap that fits nicely over his headphones, knitted by Onyx.
(Note: Picture is from his time at Beacon. He's way too young. Also known "as I couldn't find what I wanted.")
Name: Forest "Verse" Thorn
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Race: Faunus (Cat, with the confirmed theory of being a Bobcat due to his ear shape and spots.)
Aura Grimm: No
Role: Hunter, White Fang Associate
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Height: 5'11'' (180cm)
Weight: 170 Ibs (77 kg)
Backstory: Forest was, in his own words, "born and raised by the streets of Vale." Due to the misfortune of his father dying in a theft attempt and his mother dying in childbirth, he never knew his parents. He was then passed around by the homeless faunus community of Vale he was born into to see who could and would take care of him. Due to the sheer racism that existed at the time, the members agreed not to send him to an orphanage because they wanted to try and spare him from growing up hated. He was taken in by 18 year-old Cobalt, a bear faunus. Under his care, Forest got his first name, a healthy distrust and dislike of the middle and upper classes, a knack for pick-pocketing, stealing, and scavenging, the beginnings of a fighting career, and how to avoid the dangerous part of the criminal underground. In short, he learned to work the streets. What he never learned, and didn't have to, was a love of music. Cobalt had come home from a day of "shopping" to find the then three-year-old Forest dancing crazy to an old record that Cobalt had scrounged up. "Kid was just swingin and spinnin in whatever way he wanted. All in verse and all. Thing is, what he wanted happened to be good, for a tyke." Naturally, Cobalt gave him that as a nickname and middle name. Verse. Cobalt would encourage the habit and this would lead to years of practice and the development of Forest's unique fighting style. It would be five years later that, the day before Forest's birthday, Cobalt stole Forest's headphones. They were bright blue, brand new for hunters and huntresses for their armored durability. Through an insane combination of luck and skill, Cobalt was able to get them out of the store and into the hands of Forest on his birthday. It would be the day after that Cobalt was caught, not by the police, but by the draft. The never ceasing troubles of Grimm took away Forest's friend, brother, father, and mentor at the age of eight. And never brought him back.
Forest withdrew into his music and his headphones, becoming almost estranged in the community of homeless to which he belonged. He contributed to it with the traditional theft and begging, but kept dancing and fighting on the side. Even this was not to last. When the advent of the faunus wars arose, Forest focused on one thing alone. Surviving. It was something that took most his effort as, what was once angry racism, turned to deadly attacks. Avoiding violent citizens, dangerously zealous police, while besting starvation was extremely difficult and put to test all the young teen had learned. Then, one night near the end of the war, a mob put the slum of his home to the torch. Trapped beneath burning debris, Forest believed his life was about to end. Only it didn't. He was saved, rescued, restored by a huntress. Carried through the destruction, the flames, and protected from the angry mob by her. It would cost her life to save his. A debt he feels that can only be payed in one way. To take up her mantle and become a hunter. A feat that would be exceedingly challenging given his standing. An orphan, alone, and with only his music. He took only one thing from her corpse, a lock of her auburn hair to remember her by. He keeps in a locket he stole. It would be some years before he found out her name. Karen Thorn. Forest then took her last name as well.
Forest would not be alone for long, however. Due to his growing prowess in combat and growing nature to protect and help people, Forest pulled together a small of gang of four friends. Thatch, a scrawny human lad of 12 who could dislocate his shoulders for fun and fit through tight gaps. Onyx, a raven haired 14-year-old faunus girl and the best a reading and writing. Fume, an 8-year-old faunus boy who is most apt to pick the most pockets and cause the most ruckus. Lastly is Emerald or, as everyone calls her, Lil' Em. A faunus girl of five with a chronic illness that is in growing need of treatment, but with sympathy towards faunus low, and no money at all, she had yet to get it. It was during this part of his life that Beacon noticed him. It started out as a simple turf conflict as a rival group of more brutal thugs wanted Forest's alley, where he and his friends had made their home, for their own. Whether through luck or divine intervention, a teacher happened to be passing by just when the fight went down. With grace, skill, and the tempo of his song, Forest thrashed the gang with ruthless efficiency. Recognizing his talent and realizing that Forest could perhaps be picked up by a darker criminal element if not helped, he gave Forest an in to Beacon. An in to which his friends cheered him towards. And so, he went with the promise to become a hunter and help them all get out of the homeless life and into a better one.
And so he did. Going to Beacon marked a turning point in his life. Not least for his grammar and edickit. Forest would rise to lead team FRST, Frost as it were, with distinction in the tournament brackets and combating with Vale's human problems. It would be safe to say that his team became Hunters and Huntresses of other people, rather than Grimm. Not that they weren't trained and skilled in it, it merely wasn't their forte. However, it was a rocky start. A faunus along with a nasty habit of pickpocketing almost got him expelled, multiple times. Luckily, his team was understanding and, with their help along with continued pushing from his family in the city, he was able to keep the habit checked towards the more useful workings inside Vale. Namely taking it from the criminal element. Yes, as cliché as it is, Forest took his team against many of the criminals of Vale. Naïve in some ways in how they believed they could clean up the streets and make them safe, but they were teens. Eager to prove themselves to the world and help out Forest's situation.
For, while it took the better part of three months, the young man did come to trust his team with his secret. A homeless boy who lived in the streets of Vale with his few friends/family. They rose to occasion with flare. Working together to keep the alley in they lived from any encroaching gangs or other criminal elements. This continued for throughout his first year at Beacon before, returning one night with himself and his team seriously injured, Onyx and the staff member who got him into Beacon in the first place, kicked Forest's daydream of saving everyone out of his mind. "Forest," the teacher said, "you have shining star potential. But if you keep going as you are, you are going to get your team killed." Onyx followed that with "Verse, we don't need this alley safe; we need a proper home."
It was a smack in the face, but a needed one. Teens can't so easily save the world. They were not invincible. So, with their second year rolling in, they changed tactics. Instead of working to beat up the criminals and stop crime outright to save the world, team FRST worked to earn money. Part-time jobs and small tournament money that, while it would have taken one person awhile, took team FRST and Verse's family a minimal amount of time to earn enough and become established and stable enough to give an income that could afford an apartment. Not a good apartment, but one that Forest's family could live in safely. The safe part came through a strike of cleverness and kindness. Afterall, the damage that team FRST had smacked onto crime in Vale was neither forgotten nor forgiven. While some elements would settle for the team, others wouldn't mind harming family for the sake of getting to them. Forest came up with the idea of having the deed of the apartment in someone else's name. The teacher who effectively had sponsored his attendance at Beacon agreed to it. It was another debt Forest felt he could never fully repay.
So passed their second year at Beacon. It would be in his third year that hell would rain on down. But such events are not willingly recalled by Forest "Verse" Thorn and are, as such, not recorded here. What then remains is his most recent activities. From an extended period of absence, Forest has returned on the mapped. Marked by him and his headphones appearing going from village to village, making his way through Vacuo. Why? Few people know.
Weapon: Therein lack of! Or rather, he uses mixed martial arts to continuously develop and change a diverse and eclectic means of combat that uses himself, his environment, and any weapons kindly provided by friends or the opposition.
Semblance: Forest calls his semblance "Aura of the Dancer." Verse's semblance is truly and simply a heightening of instincts and aura control. The music becomes a guideline to complex martial styles that shift based upon the tempo. Fluid, loose, and very difficult to read. In this form, he is able to guide and direct his aura with pinpoint control and precision, honed over years of street-life fights, training at Beacon, and many years as a full-time Hunter. What this direction does allows him to seamlessly shift the position of aura and force. He can reinforce his legs for quicker movement and stronger kicks. Similar to arms, chest, and head or various sides of his body. Whatever he wants. However, the drawback has the potential to be quite, deadly. Wherever he shifts his aura to, it pulls away from somewhere else, ruining the perfect balance around his body and exposing weakness and even gaps in his aura's protection.
Aura Color: It is as his name, forest green.
Dust: He uses it whenever it fits into the scenario. Meaning of someone is using a dust weapon against him and he disarms them, he'll turn it right around on them. Or if there are some lovely fire dust crates and, he sets it up correctly, he'll use them as a local bomb.
Talents: General Thieving (lockpicking, pickpocketing, etc.), Excellent Leadership and Strategic Mind (Born and nurtured both from helping his fellow orphans on the street and leading a team at Beacon.), General Mothering instincts.
Hobbies: Listen to music, dance, read, train, randomly volunteer at homeless shelters/triage centers/etc.
Other: He's very shut off about the White Fang, being asked to sing, and people asking after his current lovelife.