Ooookay, finally finished! If there are any issues I'll change whatever just say so (: But if not I'll get my post in as soon as I get the okay, I added some stuff sorely to fill out the background but can water down whatever is necessary.
As for my team, I never picked a sixth and would like to remove Jangmo-o if that's allowed. The others will stay till I figure out what would best suit my OC. (:
MELELANI "LANI" ONAONA
BIRTHPLACE
Okalae village, Ichiki, Kealu.
APPEARANCE
Despite her age (16) and height (5'8), Lani's dainty frame only weighs about 110 lbs; she does have a (extremely slim) figure, notable features being her long legs and fingers meant for the piano. Beneath her thick lashes are dark brown irises, speckled with amber; her brows are groomed a bit thin, lips medium-fill and blush colored against her fair skin. Her long, fine hair is (color). Her face/body is spotted with the occasional chocolate freckle, with a splatter of faint freckles across her cheeks. Above her mouth, to the left at the corner of her lips, is a prominent beauty mark. Her only notable islander features are her nose, which has a bit of an exotic distinction, and her eyes which are quite large and native; she is odd for having the lightest skin in the village, though that's due to her being half islander.
PERSONALITY
Melelani is a perplexing individual, insufferably finicky, but earthy enough to be described as a breath of fresh air. She often garners the response "but that doesn't make sense" and while most of what she does is truly unconventional, more often than not, she finds a way to make it work. Her voice is soft, words riddled with insightful responses and unique vocabulary; you can always learn something Melelani, though it's typically her dislikes (of which there are many) that people find out the soonest. Her oddball nature can really be taken any way, and garners her as much trouble as it does favor-ability - some love her, and some think she's just a bumbling skinny thing. She is obviously kind hearted, though easily turned off; generous by nature, and enjoys sharing what she has.
LIKES
Being tucked away from the world, soft chimes, earthy remnants (such as the cave crystals and riptide shells), pink sand, mornings, orchids, sharing, making diy gifts with stuff she finds.
DISLIKES
Overcrowded areas, a lot of attention, low/negative vibrations, coffee, being mistaken for air headedness, intimate encounters, spicy foods, grapefruit, rejection, idle time, being indoors very long, oranguru, elders,
FEARS
Drowning (To a lesser extent, swimming)
Losing her voice, as her music is all she really has.
Rejection, which she has faced many times but naively seems to rebound from and try again.
ASPIRATIONS
Aside from exploring the depths of the sea caverns to find what she once saw, and perhaps taking on more instruments? Nothing, at the moment.
TALENTS
Has an unusual, somewhat trance inducing singing voice tuned to an odd frequency that resonates with animals, specifically marine life. Her music is unconventional, some describe it as haunting, while others that're more spiritual believe it to have healing properties - some say it's the lost tribal music, others think it's off key and a bit uncomfortable. But it garners everyone's attention whether they like it or not, and the sounds have become familiar within the community, could have been a local tradition if she hadn't been enrolled in the Academy.
(Also a habit) Often practices to play piano (accurately finding the keys) on table surfaces, in the air, etc.
Decent if not better at other forms of art, specifically watercolor and charcoal.
Novice gardener.
Can actually
hula quite well, but has zero confidence in that ability so it's something only vibrava and her mother have witnessed.
STRENGTHS
Creative Intellectual, abstract thinker and improviser. In many ways and is quick to hone to new outlets be it musically, physical art, etc. Has always been inclined, inherited much skill from her mother, a well known artist on Ichiki.
Courageous, if she's curious, could also be described as
stubborn.
Clear spoken, communicative,
persuasive. Can make light of serious situations, and sweet talk her way out of (most) trouble, though her naivety can lead others to mistake her for insensitive, or air headed.
Others would call it pure luck while lost, but she always seems to find her way, literally and metaphorically speaking, with a
natural sense of direction.
She'll help out even when she didn't have enough for herself, this
generosity and
kindness can also be seen as a weakness, however, as it's easy to take advantage of if she's comfortable with you.
WEAKNESSES
Defeatist and easily discouraged.
Fragile, easily bruised/scarred/bleeds.
Socially naive, she's quick to fall for stories and is often too honest/open.
Likes to take detours, to wander off on her own without a word and generally just get lost due to
curiosity.
No sense of time.
HISTORY
Born in the village of Okalae, descendant of a well respected tribal bloodline though she, herself, was an outcast at birth for being only half; most of the family never really accepted her, demanding she sit at the far end of tables and shunning her lack of traditional mannerisms. This is a rejection she always seemed to recover from, but also endured enough to make it something she fears often. She has an immense disdain (and near fear) of oranguru, as the elders of her family would purposefully have their own keep an eye on her, enforcing their disciplines like not playing with the other kids, doing extra chores and putting together their food. They constantly watched her, and she recalls their "heavy glares" as she sat in the wrong chair at the dining table, which would weigh on her until she moved or left the kitchen entirely.
Since the beginning, Lani's been a misunderstood creative soul, either using the same talents as her artist mother to craft, explore new artistic outlets, or as she's become a little known for, singing. In her much younger years, her mother (as well as older cousins) was a well known and exquisite dancer, a grace and elegance Lani is convinced she doesn't have though on the contrary, she picked up from her mother's later year teachings and could be just as successful if she'd only practice (sometimes she does, when she's alone).
Though well acquainted with animals, be it the domestics or that which inhabited their village, she was not a battler at a young age and never received her license; as the others left early for journeys, trials or other dreams, she stayed home mostly, only really starting to explore when some cousins moved in. She was never antisocial, in fact quite the opposite, though via her personal experiences she would argue that she's had better conversations with rocks than people. While the rest were typically surfing, traveling or battling, Lani half heartedly took up gardening with her mother, only ever wanting to plant orchids, and failing quite often with her own side of the garden for she didn't have the heart to shoo the yungoos or zigzagoon off and instead kept feeding them all their vegetables. It was here that she had become acquainted with a trapinch, which went to great lengths with it's slow nature to come to the garden for it's favored snacks. It was a frequent visitor and friend of Lani's until her cousins scared it off trying to catch it, to her dismay it never returned.
Her earliest memory of (a not so pleasant) real adventure was when her older cousins had been tasked with watching her (to their dismay) though instead of staying within the village, they took her down to the sea caverns to meet up with their friends. The drive was dangerous, especially when the road broke off and the group had to go on foot - Lani was entirely oblivious to the dangers, allowing them to turn the trek into a game of who could be quiet the longest on the way down to the shoreline. The truth was, the area belonged to the dragons - the boys knew better, keeping as far from the heart of the territories as they could on their way down. The village was well acquainted with pain of loss, be it from the disappearances of brave trainers that weren't prepared for the strengths above, or the unproven tales of local spirits being the lost souls of those who were lost to 'dragons'.
Foolishly they let the child come with them into open waters. It was not long before they got distracted, letting their grip on her loosen up for a mere moment, just long enough for a rush of water to come in and snatch her from their grasp, abruptly thrusting her into the deep, open waters. Incredible distance was put between them, teenagers flailed in fear that her death would be on their heads and little Lani herself was already choking - the struggle lasted much longer in her mind than it truly did, however, which explains her modern day fear of being submerged in water - she will always opt out of swimming. After a few seemingly hopeless moments she'd found herself perched on the back of what she'd later come to identify as a Lapras. The creature seemed to greet her with a kind gaze over the shell, watching curiously as the girl sputtered and choked, attempting to rid her innards of all the salt water and simultaneously make sense of what was going on. Her cousins watched on in awe as the little girl drifted on the back of the sea creature, of which perked its head and began to emit haunting yet beautiful cries that shushed the crashing waves and were soon met with many more - Melelani soon found herself surrounded by the 'big blue turtles' as she called them, of which joined in a song that was tuned to a frequency non of them had heard before, though it resonated with the soul. Being the curious child she was, after regaining her composure and boldly clinging onto the neck of the Lapras, she too began to mimic their sounds, which earned a reaction she'd describe today as acceptance. The indescribable moment lasted for just that, before she was taken back to the shoreline, dropped off and for a few months she wasn't allowed anywhere near the waters (or her cousins for that matter) after her mother learned of what had happened.
Time passed, however, and Mele found herself adventuring back out to those same sea caves, and every time since she'd been greeted by some school of marine life, seemingly teaching her new songs and responding positively to her own voice. Years passed and she found herself amateurishly playing first the piano, and then the guitar, far from capable of producing a proper song, but able to tune the strings and chords to that same frequency and get a greater reaction not only sea side, but from the local hives, compromised of diverse bug types, all of which seemed to want to introduce her to their music as well, be it with the vibration of their wings, or their own chirps and clicks. Through her own music, played at home and emitted from her window, she attracted a familiar spirit back (the former trapinch), though it's now a young and bumbling dragonfly known as vibrava, of which began to stick around again, and is seen always attempting to collaborate with her own frequencies though it's ultrasonic waves have created far more headaches than music
Melelani dedicated many months to hanging around those sea caves, to her mother's dismay, and while she's honed her skills the girl has gotten hurt on several occasions, be it attacked by wild animals, slicing herself on the rocks, or nearly freezing herself in the rain much too stubborn to leave. She finally lost her privileges to venture out there when she wandered into an off limits cave and went missing for nearly three days. No one believes her, but she swears to have been led in there by an animal she'd never before, which sang beautifully and seemed to be trying to show her something, reaching an even more unique frequency of which Lani has always wished she could mimic, but can't seem to find the strings for it. The vibrava was there and remembers it as well, but even together, no one was convinced.
PRESENT LIFE
Melelani was enrolled in an Academy some family attended, so her mother didn't have to worry about her venturing off anymore. The news was rather devastating, first meeting the girl's irrefutable refusal before she found her things packed for her, and was on the first boat up to Leiluahu.
