[center][color=42B9A8][h3]Hamasaki Elisa[/h3][/color]
[sub](Note: I used the Japanese format for names.)[/sub]
[img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2dh5gsx.png[/img]
[i]"I regret the things I haven't done more than most things I did wrong."[/i]

Elisa is of Japanese-French blood. Inheriting most of her mother’s traits, she looks more European than Asian. With a height of 5’ 3” (1.60m) she is of average height considering her nationality. She is slightly less slim than most girls as she enjoys cooking, but she doesn't deviate an extraordinary amount. (Let’s just say she has a bit more curves than most Japanese girls – some of which in the right places...)
Her smooth brown hair is cut in a short fashion. The color of her irises are a mishmash of blue, green and grey, of which the ratio of colors seems to alter a bit each day; they can most simply be described as being sea-green. In general her voice is warm and chiming, although there seems to be a certain sadness in her tone at times.

Her most prominent character trait would have to be her dreaminess, always wandering off in her imaginative mind. Elisa is quiet, but stiff rather than shy. Those who get to know her for longer however will very likely discover her warm side who easily cares for people and likes helping them. She can also be quite playful, especially having pleasure in teasing her sister Rina.
She is curious and studious, and although she gets desperate at times, she does not give up easily.

_________________________________________________________________

[/center]

[color=42B9A8][b]Codename:[/b][/color] Altair

[color=42B9A8][b]House:[/b][/color] The Whales

[color=42B9A8][b]Grade:[/b][/color] 12th

[color=42B9A8][b]Age:[/b][/color] 17

[color=42B9A8][b]Gender:[/b][/color] Female

[color=42B9A8][b]Sexuality:[/b][/color] Heterosexual

[color=42B9A8][b]Birthday:[/b][/color] May 6

[color=42B9A8][b]Blood Type:[/b][/color] O+

[color=42B9A8][b]Nationality:[/b][/color] Japanese, with roots in Europe, hence the European first name.

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[color=42B9A8][b]Hobbies:[/b][/color]
[list]
[*] Drawing
[*] Listening to music
[*] Going outdoors, mostly by cycling
[*] Experimenting (this includes drawing styles, music genres, cooking, tea flavors, computers...)
[/list]

[color=42B9A8][b]Personality:[/b][/color]
Elisa is quiet and dreamy, her head always full with thoughts, conversations, pictures and music. She is a warmhearted and playful person who loves to help people. Although she has great patience for helping and teaching others, she is very impatient at teaching herself new things. Being used to everything going right at the first try, she tends to rage quit when this is not the case. She does not give up easily however, believing that a little persistence goes a long way. Curious at heart and creative, she loves studying and experimenting with lots of things: trying out drawing styles, listening to different music genres, and sometimes practicing her cooking skills.

Not many people get to know her this well though as her social skills are rather weak. At first approach she may come off as cold and distant, and most people that don’t get to experience her for a longer period find her awkward to talk to. While she has been able to shake off most of the shyness she experienced during her childhood, part of her still doesn't dare to speak up. In group situations she will keep quiet unless directly addressed. She is also terrible at getting a conversation going.

This lack of social handiness has given her a low self-image over time and has often been the cause of periods of breakdown, leaving her quite depressed at times. She doesn't like to show this side, rather bottling it up. She doesn’t want to burden others with her problems. She also blames herself for a lot of things, even the smallest. This does not mean however that she will let herself get blamed or scorned when it is unjustified; she will always stand up for her rights.

Quite obviously she is not someone who loves to go out and party: too much people she doesn’t know or barely knows. Instead, she can mostly be found in her room studying, or passing her time drawing or browsing the web. Other than in her room she can also be found outside, relaxing and enjoying the scene, feeding her dreamy side and curious mind by watching birds and other wild life.

Those who see through her thick shell and stick with her over time will find a true friend in her: someone who is open and kind, and always willing to listen or give you a hand. Elisa often compares herself to a shy animal, who first needs to grow accustomed to those around her in order to show her true self.

[color=42B9A8][b]History:[/b][/color]
Elisa grew up in a loving family, consisting of mother, father, and a one-year younger sister Rina.
Her mother was of French origin, who once agreed to go on a family trip to Japan. Here she met Elisa’s father who worked at a local restaurant. The two got along very well and the two developed romantic feelings towards each other. When it was time for Elisa’s mother to go back home, she promised Elisa’s father she would return as soon as she had completed her nurse training. During her absence, the two kept in touch through phone calls and letters. This way they got to know each other better and grew closer, although there was such a large distance in between. After a few years, the two rejoined and slowly started building up their life together. Elisa was their first child, after which soon followed her sister Rina. With the addition to the family, their father decided to quit his job to care for the children, while their mother continued to work as a nurse.

Already at a young age it became evident Elisa had a calm and quiet nature, preferring to spend her time either alone or with her sister. The two of them could often be found playing outside, letting their creative minds on the loose.
Elisa did well in school, but the teachers always worried a bit about her since she seemed to seclude herself from the other kids. It made them wonder whether she was being bullied but such was not the case; she simply preferred her peace and on top of that was very shy.

Her excellent academic skills allowed Elisa to go to one of Japan’s best high schools. Here she still remained at the top of the class. Although she received C’s in geography and history, she excelled in both the natural sciences and languages. This was partially due to some ‘giftedness’, as she likes to refer to it, but also because the subjects interested her greatly, investing quite some time in them.
It was also here that her shyness slowly started to wear off, but due to the lack of social experience, she acted and still acts stiff. This lead to awkward situations on several occasions. It drove Elisa into despair, thinking she would never be able to change for the better. It made her wish she had been born as something else. The wind perhaps, so she could move across the land noticed yet unseen, or as a bird so she could simply fly away.

One day when these thoughts crossed her mind, a weird shiver went down her entire body, making her sick to the stomach. She shut her eyes, clenching her fists as her head went dizzy. This was not so strange as her body had just altered dramatically. When she came to, her beak dropped open when she saw her reflection in the mirror: not that of a fifteen year old schoolgirl, but that of a silver seagull.
Elisa immediately realized this was out of the ordinary and after overthinking what had happened, she carefully confronted her parents with it. They were not quite as shocked as the girl had expected them to be. They explained there were more teenagers just like her who suddenly discovered their hidden potential.

Because Elisa had such a wide interest and because of the new found ability, Elisa’s parents deemed it a good idea to send her to Ocean Star Academy on the age of sixteen. This way Elisa would be able to focus fine-tuning her ability and give her some time to think about her future plans.
Having spent one year training, Elisa has now gained a little more control over her power and does no longer experience any discomfort when she changes form. She still hopes to overcome her social awkwardness and throw off her shell to show her true bubbly self at first encounter.
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[color=42B9A8][b]Current Classification:[/b][/color]
Pre-star

[color=42B9A8][b]Special Ability:[/b][/color]
Shapeshifting. When fully mastered one can become anything they want, at any time they want: a creature (bear, dragon, amoeba, plant), a person (imitating someone, including their power, however not to the level of said person), an object (a sword, a chair to blend into a room, a body of water). Elisa is only a beginner though, and can only turn into a small selection of animals, and can imitate her sister since the two look and sound quite alike.

[color=42B9A8][b]Limitation:[/b][/color]
The time one can stay transformed into something is limited and depends on how much the form looks like their original human form. The less it looks like them, the less time they can spend as it. A master at shapeshifting who would transform into something that is very similar to them, say, another human, would be able to remain in this form for a maximum of 24 hours. (Elisa is currently able to maintain her form for a maximum of 2 hours.)

Furthermore, the ability requires a cooling down time. One cannot first transform into a bird, and then the second after that transform into a tree. The cooling down time between consecutive forms is always the same and equal to 3 seconds at master level. (Elisa’s current cooling down time between forms is 60 seconds.) The cooling down time per form depends on two things: it again depends on how much the form looks like the caster’s original human form. The less it looks like them, the more cooling down time it requires. It also depends on how much time one has spent in that form the last time. (For example, if the master mentioned before would actually remain into the form of another human for 24 hours, you don’t expect them to be able to transform back into it within 1 minute even though the forms are alike.)

[color=42B9A8][b]Imperfection:[/b][/color]
As described before, Elisa can't become anything she wants to yet. A prerequisite seems to be that she has to have actually observed the subject in real life, rather than seeing it on a picture or reading about it. If she tries to shift into a dragon for example, which she has only seen in fantasy books, she will just shift into a [i]picture[/i] of a dragon, rather than the real deal.

How well she manages to shift into something depends on how well she knows the subject or how many times she has observed it. For example, she is perfectly fine at shifting into small birds and rodents, okay at shifting into a bear or deer, but sucks at shifting into rare animals such as a crane or wolf. When she tries to shift into something she has observed only once or twice it will be a very imperfect copy of the animal, having traits of other animals, some parts being too large or too small, or some parts still remaining human.

Moreover, Elisa’s power is often influenced when she's emotional. If she is feeling confident or happy she will perform better. If she experiences negative feelings she will not always be able to transform at will or only partially. Additionally, her power sometimes become activated under such emotions, for example turning into a bird when feeling down, or gaining the claws of a bear when furious.

The only form over which she has full control is that of an [url=http://i59.tinypic.com/2i03ntu.png]imaginary animal[/url] (or misfit, however you want to view it), which looks mostly like an overgrown hamster, though it also shows some similarities with a bear and makes guinea pig noises. Basically it's a useless form, but Elisa tends to (mis)use it when she doesn't want to talk to people or when she wants get out of certain situations. She also sometimes (mis)uses her ability to get pampered and pet.
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[color=42B9A8][b]School Clubs:[/b][/color]
[list]
[*] Arts club
[/list]
Elisa sometimes joins in on the music clubs to listen, but never participates since she can’t play an instrument. (Or at least not well enough to play along.)

[color=42B9A8][b]Character Relations:[/b][/color]
[list]
[*] Ailís: 
[*] Cheng: 
[*] Daniel: 
[*] Edmund: 
[*] Hanare: 
[*] Jin: 
[*] Kassandra: 
[*] Mizuki: 
[*] Sebastian: 
[*] Soo-Jin: 
[/list]

[color=42B9A8][b]Other:[/b][/color]
Elisa wears a pendant which represents both a snowflake and a flower. She bought it mostly for the simple reason that she found it pretty, but also partially because she feels it represents her well: the snowflake impersonating the first impression most people get of her, while the flower expresses the side of her that people will know her for when they get to know her better.

Theme Song: [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndtQ6ReXO-s]Imagine Dragons - Shots[/url]