[hider=Baili]
[center][img]https://images.cooltext.com/5077797.png[/img]
[img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d7/eb/c7/d7ebc76f10eaf8d69dd3c664d909b7e5--short-girls-kendo.jpg[/img]
[color=a0410d][b]"To uphold justice and punish those who defy it. To protect Seireitei and annihilate those who seek to harm it. That is what the Gotei 13 is for! That is what being a Shinigami means!"[/b][/color][/center]

[b][color=a0410d]Name[/color][/b]: Baili (she doesn't have a surname)

[color=a0410d][b]Gender[/b][/color]: Female

[color=a0410d][b]Age[/b][/color]: Visible age = 20, actual age = 144

[color=a0410d][b]Appearance[/b][/color]: Baili has straight, dark brown hair that looks black when not under light which she keeps short in a messy bob-cut, the end of the longest strands falling just shy of the top of her shoulders. She takes after her mother in her mortal life regards to facial features and lithe body structure. She has high cheekbones and an oval face that ends in a sharp and pointed chin, framed by short side-fringes that are just a little longer than the rest of her hair. Her fairly-even-but-jagged forehead fringe is parted to the left and stops just above her slightly arched eyebrows, high enough not to get into her eyes when she does vigorous activities, or merely tilts her head down. She has a straight nose, thin, firm lips that are faintly pink and a strong jawline, making her more handsome than pretty. Her eyes are gunmetal-blue, staring piercingly out from under heavy-lidded eyelids, giving her a consistently bored look, as though she is always a minute away from dozing off. 

She can add excellent flexibility and muscle control to her physical attributes. Due to her short height and legs (standing at 165cm (5'5") and weighing 50kg), Baili has gotten used to needing to keep pace with people with longer strides than her, thus, her steps are always brisk and purposeful. Not to mention, her posture is ramrod straight no matter if she sits or stands as she wishes to appear taller. Her height is something of a sore spot due to her family members all being a good few inches taller, their teasing not really helping her slight complex.

[color=a0410d][b]Personality[/b][/color]: Baili has many different aspects to her personality. She is often serious, maintaining a bland expression which can turn into a sharp scowl if faced with something – or someone – she dislikes. Most of her insults make her sound like a grumpy old man, courtesy of Sabaku no Hogo-sha. As someone who does not like to be under the spotlight, she tries to appear bland and unassuming. Her common looks, unmodified Shinigami uniform allows her to fade into the sea of people around her and her polite, mild-mannered speech all contribute greatly in making her seem like an ordinary, boring person. The sort you meet by the handfuls in every squad compound. 

But unknown to mere acquaintances, she has a humorous side, often displayed in the form of dry or sarcastic comments - all influence of her spirit, really! - especially when hanging around the few people she fully trusts – most of them her squadmates. People on that list also include her adopted family, a few childhood friends she hasn't seen in a while, and a select few members of other squads. Baili only allows herself to be carefree, loud and active when in a place she feels safe, such as her home and her squad compound. She is relatively caring in that while she doesn’t believe in sugar-coating the truth no matter how harsh it may be, she will break the news gently if that person is close to her, or is in visible distress, close to breaking down. 

Baili is extremely practical, and strives to be a woman of sound moral principles, and would stand by them no matter what it cost her. She takes what the Gotei 13 stands for to heart, and will not hesitate to dole out justice if she believes is for the greater good. Staunchly loyal, firm, and unbending in her beliefs. She is a hard worker and can be stubborn and hard-headed when she believes she is right, and refuses to be convinced otherwise unless the opponent manages to bring sound logic into the argument. Though she has a sharp tongue and has no problems in standing up to others when she is in a temper, Baili is still the type of person who would give others a second chance when they had proven themselves worthy of it. She refrains from judging people by first impression alone, and usually reserves her opinion until she knows them better. While she might be a hard person to offend, she can't stand being belittled, and can get rather competitive, especially if that particular person proves rather challenging. Her temper is a slow simmering fire, not easily coerced into rearing up and retaliate, but the right trigger works like kerosene, making it explosive and abruptly, but dwindles down quickly. The right trigger? Threatening her friends. The older ones can take care of themselves, but the younger were her responsibilities. 

[color=a0410d][b]Biography[/b][/color]: Baili woke up in District 76, Sakahone, East Rukongai, where she discovered she had no memory of her past except for the name Baili, and the flashes of voices and images that surface whenever she drifts off to sleep. Dying at the age of 19 didn't exactly give her enough time to refine her social skills in terms of adult society, and she had never lived by herself besides during a trip in the holidays. However, her willingness to learn and work just for a place to sleep and food in her stomach did manage to bag her a job in a noodle shop as the cleaning lady. She did her best to keep her head down, not drawing attention to herself as thugs roamed the streets and gang fights were a common sight. 

For a few years this worked as Baili slowly integrated herself into this place, and learned about the world she is now a part of from anyone willing to share. Due to her getting along with her boss - a little old woman with several adopted kids of her own - and the family, she was gradually accepted into the little circle, becoming another one of the old woman's unoffical adopted daughter. Her life was fairly uneventful and peaceful, something which Baili was rather grateful for. Dying and losing her memories of her past life didn't seem so bad after all. However, what she wasn't aware of was that she possessed reiatsu higher than the average soul in this district, and her inability to control it - and ignorance of it - would land her in trouble sooner or later. 

The time came when she left to gather some ingredients for her adopted grandmother. A Hollow, attracted by the uncontrolled spiritual energy she was unconsciously emitting, pounced and managed to score a good hit on her back. Shocked, injured and bleeding, Baili desperately tried to scramble to her feet and crawl away, adrenaline helping numb the agonising throbbing and stinging from the wound. And large, bone-white fingers wrapped around her middle and she was lifted off the ground, Baili resigned herself to dying again. Except that didn't happen. There was a rush of wind and the sound of a sword leaving its scabbard. Then she was falling back to the ground. Landing on her side, she pushed herself upright despite her muscles screaming in protest just in time to see a person in black Shihakusho cleaving pieces of the monster with the sword in his hands. She watched the fight in awe, a resolve forming deep within her heart.

In a matter of minutes, the monster died and faded away with one last wail and the man - who introduced himself as a Shinigami of Squad Ten - was kind enough to heal her wounds and answer her questions. He even presented a piece of paper summarising Shinso Academy where one could train to be a Shinigami before departing. Hearing from a Shinigami's own mouth that she had enough reiatsu to be accepted into the Academy in a couple of years' time, Baili was ecstatic. She didn't like feeling so useless in the face of that Hollow, and a large part of her shudders at the thought of being devoured by it. 

The day she was accepted as a student in the Academy was one of the best things in her life, both past and present. Although kenjutsu came naturally to her, being talentless at kido held her back from early graduation. Hence, she graduated at the usual rate, and did not even get more than a passing glimpse of her Zanpakuto spirit when she joined a squad as a complete newbie. It was through a year of meditation and more years of facing Hollows that she eventually managed to get in contact with Sabaku no Hogo-sha. Even if sometimes, she really wish she hadn't. The fox had the personality and voice of a grumpy old man and over the years, she found some of its attitude bleeding into her own. It didn't help that she could always hear him. Sure, she can block him out, but Baili has never felt comfortable blocking out her Zanpakuto. It always feels as though she is missing a limb or two.

With a little less than a century of experience as a Shinigami under her belt, Baili still strives to uphold all that a Shinigami stands for. Perhaps it is due to her first impression of one being her saviour, but she tends to think the higher-ups all have the good of Seireitei in mind, even if the methods they use to achieve an end is less than ideal. 

[color=a0410d][b]Former Life[/b][/color]: The eldest daughter to a Taiwanese father and Japanese mother running a Kenjutsu dojo in the small city of Nagaoka, she was born Okita Yuya, with Baili being her middle name. Her mortal life wasn't all that exciting, with a normal childhood and normal life. She was six when her little brother was born, and she devoted herself to caring for the cute little boy. In between school, learning the Way of the Sword, teaching her brother and hanging out with her friends, she liked to go on random adventures with her best friend Senya. The two girls would always be gone for a week or so during their holidays, returning with stories of interesting sights or events. However, it was on one of this trip that she lost her life. The ship the two women took was met with a violent storm, capsizing the small vessel and throwing the passengers overboard. In the struggle for the pile of lifevests, Baili was knocked unconscious. At least she wasn't awake to experience drowning to death. 

[color=a0410d][b]Zanpakuto[/b][/color]:
[hider=Sabaku no Hogo-sha]
Mindscape: [url=https://hdwallsource.com/img/2014/5/fantastic-desert-landscape-wallpaper-37487-38347-hd-wallpapers.jpg]The Desert[/url]
Zanpukuto Spirit: Sabaku no Hogo-sha - A grumpy male desert fox with sandy brown fur, purple markings all along his body and glowing yellow eyes. He is a sarcastic SOB even to his wielder who hates getting wet. He is normally content with snoozing away in his wielder's mindscape but will get riled up whenever a fight is on. He hates his wielder losing as in extension, he is technically losing too. 
[img]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c8/15/4b/c8154b77f39233a765db4076300d14e5.jpg[/img]

When sealed, the zanpukuto takes the form of a wakizashi as it compliments Baili's short stature and preference for speed over power or reach. 
[img]https://acc-cdn.azureedge.net/accliveimages/0000895_brown-ornate-damascus-katana_550.jpeg[/img]

[i][color=a0410d][b]"Hisan to takashio, Hogo-sha!"[/b][/color][/i] (Scatter and surge, Hogo-sha!)
Unsealed, Baili's shikai leaves her with no physical weapon as it dissolves her sword entirely into sand she can manipulate. She typically condenses half of it into a whip while the other half stick to her skin, providing a layer of protection via sand armour. This usually tricks her opponent into believing that her shikai takes the form of a [url=http://www.westernwhips.com/images/whips/th_74.jpg]whip[/url] constructed from sand which can reform when it breaks as long as Baili has enough reiatsu to do so. She has just figured out how to inject her reiatsu into her sand in order to protect it from getting wet but is still unable to use this skill effciently in a combat situation. More practice is needed.
Baili has yet to be able to manipulate every grain of sand her sword becomes without a lot of concentration on her part. As she usually only divides the amount of sand two ways (as an armour and a whip), she still finds it difficult to have her sand go off in multiple directions at a time. Only through practice will she be able to improve. 
[/hider]
[color=a0410d][b]Abilities[/b][/color]: An expert of Zanjutsu and an adept at Hoho, she prefers to run circles around her opponent and strike any openings with her wakizashi, using speed and agility to her advantage in combat. She certainly has the stamina and endurance to drag any battles she has little hope of winning until backup arrives. Baili is best at close combat currently, with mid-range combat a close second due to the nature of her shikai. She has a higher than average ability in the field of Reiatsu Chikaku (Spiritual Pressure Perception) thanks to her zanpakuto spirit, which is enhanced when her shikai is released. Her resilience and refusal to give up is perhaps one of her greatest strength, allowing her to endure more than she would be able to.

[color=a0410d][b]Weaknesses[/b][/color]: Her hakuda skills are average, focused more on defensive than offensive due to lacking power and strength behind her hits and her kido is abysmal. Her reiatsu control is not atrocious, seeing as she can manipulate her shikai, but she just can't seem to grasp the basics of shaping her spells before firing them off. Most of the time, they blow up in her face and when they don't, it is either so weak it disperses before hitting the target or completely off target. Needless to say, she sucks at long-ranged combat. One of her biggest weakness is over-analysing her opponent in combat. She tends to overestimate them and underestimate herself, leaving her defending most of the time rather than keeping up constant attacks.

[color=a0410d][b]Theme[/b][/color]: Finding one

[color=a0410d][b]Other[/b][/color]: Although her Zanpakuto's element is sand, her reiatsu effect is not an elemental one. Rather, if she releases all her spiritual pressure, all the person standing next to her would be able to feel is as though sandpaper is being rubbed on their skin since she doesn't have that much presence. If she has it under control, nothing will happen.
She always end up curling into a ball when sleeping and has a habit of bearing her teeth when frustrated or extremely irritated. 
[/hider]