Personal Info
Your Name: Kelsey, but I also accept Genkibat or DeadSikari
E-mail: [email protected] and/or [email protected] (I check my hotmail account more, but I also get more junk mail there. ^^;;;)
Other Contact Info: Aim is Suzunosama, I HAVE ICQ but I find it so confusing I never use it....
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Personality: Pearl is exceedingly shy, and would prefer to avoid big groups of people (one or two is fine) but she seems to have this odd curse on her that thrusts her into the oddest of social situations. She hates big groups of people, and any fast movement has started to make her jump a foot in the air, or at least squeak. Most of the students at the school scare her as well (not because of their powers or looks. She's surprisingly all right with that. It's their outgoing attitudes that make her run for cover) and she tries to avoid them most of the time. Sits at the back of class, stays after when she can to avoid running into people in the doorway, etc.
Appearance:
She's quite petite (barely 5'0) and very mousy. Underneath her thick sweaters and very figure-concealing cloths, she has quite the hourglass figure. Child-bearing hips, a thin waist, and although her chest isn't that large, she has a larger ribcage then most people to house her powerful lungs. She HAD pale peach skin, but now all the skin around the sides of her body; it's become greenish and scaly. Her fingers have started to become webbed, as well.
Skills:
Cooking/Baking: From pies to deviled eggs, to cheese souffl�s, chances are Pearl can cook it. She knows her way around a kitchen like she knows the back of her own hand.
Sewing: Although she was never a fan of it when she was younger, she has once more taken up the fine art of sewing. She can't yet make very elaborate cloths, but if she needed (and she will, later) she could make her own simple clothing.
Bicycle Ace: She's been riding a bicycle since she was young, and combines years of experience with a native talent and affinity, making her a bicycle ace, able to perform most bicycle stunts with style and flair.
Nana: Pearl has been a babysitter almost professionally since she was 12. She is an expert on the care and handling of children from the ages of a couple months old to 12 years.
Weaknesses:
Growing up in an anti-mutant family (and with a brother like hers) Pearl has little or no faith in her powers. She also thinks that she is not a mutant, but a freak. Half of the time she's near impossible to understand because of her awful stutter.
Shameful Secret:
Without her powers or extra mutations, Pearl can't even swim that well, barely dog paddle. She's trying to best to learn, but only late at night when no one else is around.
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Mutation:
Hydrokinetics. Pearl can control liquids. All kinds of water, and things with water in them (and vapor and steam) can submit to her will... with a little practice. Pearls powers themselves -which developed around second grade- have been repressed all her life and have thus fallen into disuse. Unless she's IN the water that she's controlling, Pearl becomes quite lightheaded. When her physical mutations kick in, they have become more of a natural reflex then anything. Such as, she can't remember how to emit the natural thin coat of slime that helps her move three times her normal speed underwater, but whenever she gets nervous and has the 'run' instinct, it will happen (above, or underwater). The one thing she's perfected so far is simply breathing underwater (so in case she gets stuck and forgets how to surface again, she'll at least have a lot of time to remember).
Once her physical mutations are complete, she should have fins that make her more aerodynamic and able to swim faster.
History:
Pearl was brought up and raised by a republican, god-fearing, good ole all around American family. She did moderately well in school, went to church every Sunday, and liked ponies. Her big brother, Henry, was always there to protect her so she had little to worry about.
Family/NPCs:
Edward Nerine, 42, Father
Sally Nerine, 40, Mother
Henry Nerine, 21, Brother
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Writing Sample
The water was there, all around her. She knew she was supposed to be scared, but for some reason, she could feel only comfort. Like when her mother held her when she had bad dreams and woke up crying.
Pearl awoke in a cold sweat. Or at least, what she thought was one. The clock next to her bed read 2:15. Or it was 3:10, she couldn't tell exactly in the moonlight. Pearl covered her face with her hands, trying to catch her breath.
Imagery
She has some major self-esteem issues. Pearl was always told that mutants were freaks and criminals, and going to hell... and believed every word of it. Although she's come to cope with the fact that everyone ELSE at the school is perfectly normal... she still can't cope with the fact that she's a mutant. This has also lead to some depressive issues as well, but thankfully never to the point of being suicidal or doing anything more then alienating herself. This might be because all of the mutants she's seen have very minor physical mutations, if any, and can usually pass for regular people. In another month no amount of excess clothing will hide the fact that Pearl isn't just a normal person. She wants desperately to be 'normal', or at least, the common consensus of normal.
Pearl tends to worry so much that she barely has time to enjoy anything. The phrase "what if..." never leaves her mind. Whenever she has friends, she can't help but worry about them all the time, no matter how safe they might be.
Her hair used to be naturally brown, but as it's grown, it's been turning seaweed green. She usually keeps it up in a bun in the back (when loose it reaches down to her thighs). Although it's commonly very smooth and soft, it's almost always at least a little damp now (usually soaking wet). Her eyes are wide and expressive, somewhat almond-shaped. They're also totally black. However, they've been adapted for under-water use, so to see anything above the water, she needs very thick glasses.
Pearl wears as covering cloths as she can find. Skirts that flow to the floor, turtleneck sweaters, etc. All in very muted, quiet colors that blend in. Unfortunately, she ends up usually wearing a swimsuit with "Mutant Academy Athletic Department" on the back (the farther along she gets with her physical mutations, the more normal cloths start to chafe...). She usually walks with her head down, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. She hates to be noticed, and as long as she can cover her physical mutations, the term disappearing into the crowd is an understatement.
It was around second grade when she first began to manifest her powers. Her family was on a normal visit to the lake, and Pearl and Henry were walking along one of the trails around it. This was an average safe little suburban community, so little kids roamed freely around, their parents with nothing to fear. Pearl, wanting to see the lake better, ran to the edge of the trail and lost her footing, tumbling in.
Now, the lake was very deep there, and Pearl couldn't swim. Henry dove in after her to get her, but couldn't find her. Once he surfaced, he saw that Pearl was sitting on the trail once more, sopping wet, but safe. When asked why she didn't drown, she just replied that she didn't want to drown, so the water put her back on the land.
Now, Henry was a smart child. He knew a mutation when he saw one. He didn't believe his beloved little sister could be one of those 'demonic freaks' that their father had ranted angrily about so often, so to 'save' her from the life of 'one of THEM', he told her to NEVER tell ANYONE about what happened at the lake that day, and to stay away from water from then on. Pearl, being the trusting child she was, listened to her brother. From then on, Henry was almost NEVER away from Pearl's side. He did everything possible to keep her away from the water (lest her powers awake again), even to the point of making her watch the "Jaws" trilogy at ungodly hours of the morning so she was downright scared of it for the rest of elementary school.
He said it was all to help her.
Pearl did well in school. Not so bad that she got in trouble, but not so good as to attract attention. Were it not for her protective older brother, her teachers might not have even known she existed.
Her brother also began to display violent behavior. Never toward Pearl or their family, but he quickly fell into a group called the "Friends of Humanity", and became a vocal supporter of them.
Pearl was frightened for her brother. She was the most trusted of anyone he knew, so she knew his hate for mutants was going to a terrible, terrible level. In all honesty, it was obvious what was coming... no one but Pearl cared to see it, though, and when she tried to tell her mother and father of it, her father didn't listen, and her mother told her not to bother her father with such matters.
A week later, there was a series of horrible anti-mutant acts of terrorism in their town and the surrounding cities. One of the dozen of people caught? Henry Nerine.
He went to court, got out of a death sentence on a technicality, and got a life sentence in prison. The family shamed, her father told her to never speak of her brother again. But all through growing up, Henry had been Pearl's only real friend. She knew that -despite the fact that he was quite obviously guilty- he was still a good person inside. Against her parents' wishes, Pearl visited her brother every chance she got, at least once a week. Even though the dark and gloomy attitude of the prison itself, the visits were the highlight of Pearl's week.
About two weeks ago, she began getting an itchy feeling almost constantly, soon it revealing itself as her skin becoming scales. Not only that, but her ears seemed to be growing pointed, and her eyes were getting continuously blacker, and much poorer. She also had the almost irresistible urges to swim 24/7. When it got to the point she could hide it no longer, Pearl grabbed what few belongings she could fit into a bag and left that very night, about an hour before sunrise.
She couldn't bear the thought of her parents or her brother finding out what she was, so she told no one, and left no note.
Her parents have assumed that she's been kidnapped, and although they have the police looking for her, the police are looking for a nice, normal girl. Definitely NOT a mutant.
Pearl found Mutant Academy by accident. Walking on the beach she got hassled by a couple of wanna-be gansta beach bums, and ended up being saved by Loki. Loki figured out that she was a mutant, and tried to persuade her to come back to the school with her. At first Pearl didn't even want to go, however, after encouragement that she wouldn't be considered a 'freak' there (and a promise of a pool without chlorine in it) Pearl accepted.
Edward Nerine is your typical all-American dad. He works as an accountant full-time, is the main breadwinner of the family, coaches little liege on the weekends, and plays golf. He comes home expecting dinner on the table, believes children should respect their elders, yadda-yadda-yadda. He's actually quite an asshole; he just does a good job at hiding it. Might be gay.
Perpetually trapped in the 50's. Always wears skirts and made Pearl do so as well. Believes a woman's place is in the kitchen, and to serve her husband, make the house a happy place and make sure the family gets to church every Sunday morning early to help out. Suffers from severe depression. She wanted to be an actress when she was younger (but then got married to Edward and had Henry. End of THAT dream), and she hides her depression quite well. Acts happy and chipper all the time whenever Edward is around, but has shown her true side to Pearl a couple times when the two were alone.
Currently serving a life sentence in prison for acts of terrorism. Henry is the main cause of Pearl acting the way she is, but he's NOT evil, despite that he's quite the bigot. He has something of a little-sister complex, and honestly thought he was protecting her. Henry himself has latent mutant abilities that he's suppressed as well. He can 'find' things (once he knows what he's looking for, he can track it wherever it is and see it in his mind's eye). However, haven taken to heart his father's ravings of how 'evil' mutants must be, Henry is the very definition of anti-mutant. The shame of the family, Pearl was the only one who came to see him.
'Am I drowning?' She thought to herself. Then, she could feel it. Inside of her, the answer.
'Do I WANT to drown? ... No. No, not really. Momma and daddy and big brother would be sad, and I don't want them to be sad. So I won't drown.' And all around her, the water moved, surged upwards, taking her with it.
Then paused.
'...That isn't sweat...' She thought, feeling the texture of the substance that covered her. It was too slimy to be sweat...
"...No..." She whispered, her eyes widening. The young girl jumped up from her bed and ran to the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.
It had happened again. Every night this week when she had that dream, it would happen again. Sometimes her skin would get a little greener around the sides. Other times she could swear her ears were getting a little longer. So far, she had been able to pass it off as nothing. 'Must be seasonal allergies' 'It's just the angle you're looking at me' or some other lie. But by now...
Pearl wetted a washcloth and wiped off her arm, feeling the texture of it. The scales that were unmistakably forming there.
"I can't hide it anymore." She whispered, doing her best to bite back tears as she wiped the slime off of her body. "I can't stay here. Momma and daddy would never understand... I can't let them know what I'm becoming. They... they would be so sad. And Henry..."
Later, when looking back on the situation, Pearl would scold herself for not thinking the decision over, for not being more rational about it. However, at the moment, Pearl was not in a rational state of mind. Hindsight was always 20/20, in any case.
In the span of half an hour, Pearl was dressed in her most covering cloths. In her backpack were a couple changes of cloths and memorable belongings. Her charm bracelet, her broken music box (it being a gift from her brother when she was a child), and a couple other trinkets, her savings, along with some photos of her family. Her father and mother were sleeping like rocks at this time of night (or, more appropriately, day), so she did not have to sneak out. Instead, she walked right out the front door. It was strangely easy. Too easy. Pearl felt that she should have done something more. At least left a note saying she'd be okay...
'No. I can't. Then they might figure out what I've become...'
She wasn't sure where she'd go. She had no friends; she had no family she knew of outside of her hometown...
"I feel like the hero of a made-for-TV-movie." She sighed to herself, watching as the sky began to lighten, the sun on its way. Pearl figured that the buses to the city started running at four AM, so she would be able to get there without too much of a hassle. 'Unless I get attacked by some rapist murderer who leaves me in a shallow grave'. She thought, taking a frightened glance around. No one was there.
"Once... once I'm in the city I can figure out what to do. There's nowhere I can get to from here BUT the city, anyway..."
Pearl brushed some hair out of her eyes.
"...I hope I'm doing the right thing..."
