[h1][color=mediumseagreen][center]Cheryl Lusby[/center][/color][/h1]
[center][hider=tuff gurl]
Image credit: [url=https://www.artstation.com/lesly-oh]Lesly Oh[/url]
[img]https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/007/081/511/large/lesly-oh-x322.jpg?1503535237[/img][/hider][/center]
[color=limegreen][b]Appearance[/b][/color] | [color=khaki]Standing at 1.6 metres, Cheryl's default expression is one of intense disinterest. Her auburn hair curls around her neck in a bobcut, with a side bang that has an irritating tendency to fall into her left eye. Nowadays, it's held back by two simple bobby pins. Steel-knuckled fingerless gloves adorn her hands and a utility belt tucked under her jacket holds her meagre possessions - a knife, money, and her mana shards. The front pockets on her utility jacket are where she keeps odds and ends. Heels? Nah. She's lovin' her steel-toed combat boots.[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Age[/b][/color] | [color=khaki]23[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Gender[/b][/color] | [color=khaki]Female[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Orientation[/b][/color] | [color=khaki]Heterosexual[/color]
[color=limegreen][b]Occupation[/b][/color] | [color=khaki]Bounty hunter[/color]

[h3][color=mediumseagreen]Personality[/color][/h3]
[hider=how she be][color=khaki]Practical. Either someone's of use to her or they're dead weight and she'll drop them. That's not a rule she abides by strictly, though. She's interested in the unusual and empathises with the weak. This leads her into trouble more often than not. Cheryl does have sense, however - if it's obvious that helping someone out will give her more than she can handle, she'll walk away.

She's quite short-tempered. When annoyed, she'll threaten to punch the offender in the teeth. When pissed off, she'll just punch them in the teeth. Talking with her fists is her favourite type of conversation.

Money is a good way to get Cheryl to do something. To her, life has become a cycle of one job after the other and it's a cycle she's grown comfortable with. To live is another day is to take someone's head off in exchange for money.[/color][/hider]

[h3][color=mediumseagreen]Traits[/color][/h3]
[hider=how she flex]
[b][color=limegreen]Affinity[/color][/b] | [color=khaki]Air[/color]
[b][color=limegreen]Magic[/color][/b] | [color=khaki][i]Air manipulation.[/i] She needs mana for this and the only thing she can do with this ability is to steal the breath out of people, suffocating them. Mana is expensive so she usually reserves this for the killing blow with her targets.[/color]
[b][color=limegreen]Strengths[/color][/b] 
	| [color=khaki][i]Melee.[/i] She's good with her fists and better with a knife. Despite having never been formally trained, her time in the underground was spent watching other mobsters fight amongst themselves and she's been in enough fights that she can handle herself. Wily and slippery, her strength lies in her nimbleness, flexibility, and the swing of her knife.[/color]
	| [color=khaki][i]Reconnaissance[/i] | Her growing reputation as Breath Stealer made infiltrating underground operations a lot more difficult. A new tactic that she's been cultivating over the past couple years is to study her target's patterns and close in where they're most vulnerable.[/color]
	| [color=khaki][i]Lock-picking.[/i] She picked up the ability at some point or other and has found it extremely useful since. Uses her hairclip to do it. Heavy-duty locks and up are her limit though.[/color]
[b][color=limegreen]Failings[/color][/b]
	| [color=khaki][i]Murderous.[/i] Her best go-to solution to a problem is to kill it dead.[/color]
	| [color=khaki][i]Arrogant.[/i] Her reputation as the Witch Hunter has more than stroked her ego. In the face of a challenge, she'll never back away and is always convinced that she's got the teeth to chew whatever she's bitten off. Once she's got the upper hand, she'll almost always grow complacent. This complacency has almost ended in her death in a few situations.[/color]
	| [color=khaki][i]Physical strength.[/i] This is not to say that she's not strong, but a hand-to-hand with someone bigger than her without a knife means that her best bet is to run away. Unfortunately, that's not a bet she's ever willing to take.[/color]
	| [color=khaki][i]Unrefined.[/i] Cheryl's definitely good at her job, but assassinating and fighting are two different things. While capable of handling herself in a fight, she has almost no chance with a trained or skilled fighter.[/color]
[/hider]

[h3][color=mediumseagreen]History[/color][/h3]
[hider=how she grow][color=khaki]Born in the dark, gritty parts of [url=https://www.oxpal.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/medieval_town_map_big.jpg]Sonarlis[/url], Cheryl and her mum were left with an abundance of debt when Cheryl's father died before he could even lay his eyes on their firstborn. As it was, Cheryl's thoughts regarding her late father summed up to a simple, '[i]Good riddance.[/i]'

Cheryl spent most of her childhood on the streets, stealing what she could to put food on the table while her mother worked as a tavern waitress to pay off her husband's debts. Gambling buddies weren't quite so friendly once they were owed something. For a while, they walked on eggshells and Cheryl thought that things weren't so bad, considering her livelihood.

Then she stole from the boss of a crime syndicate.

He caught her, of course, but was impressed by her guts and quick fingers. For the payment of allowing her to leave with her hands intact and, after some bargaining on her part, 3% of the profits, he put her to use as a dragon stealer. The job was fairly simple - travel to dragon habitats and steal their eggs. Dragon trading on the black market's a profitable career and even with her meagre allowance, she eventually managed to pay off the family debt. Even then, life wouldn't give her a break it seemed. Her mother fell ill from the stress, both physically and emotionally (she never quite got over her husband's death). At this point, she was 12 and had been stealing dragon eggs for two years.

Taking initiative in her own hands, she took a risk. On another errand to steal a dragon egg - one of those pygmy types again - she let herself be discovered by the dragons. These pygmies, however, were living closely with Siyat dragons. An intelligent breed with long memories, they captured her, then pondered on how best to deal with the insolent human child. She made a deal - she'd let them know the leader behind the dragon trade and they'd help her kill him. In turn, their eggs would stop being stolen.

This was, of course, a lie. There were humans aplenty across the world that stole dragon eggs. Killing the crime boss would hardly change anything. However, as intelligent as the Siyat dragons were, this particular group did not dabble into human affairs. Unaware of the numerous other dragon traders who would continue stealing their eggs, they agreed to her deal. They sent her back with a spell that could steal a person's breath. So she managed to get her boss alone to herself and suffocated him to death. The use of magic scared everyone to death and that day, she ran from the hideout with the boss' head in her hand.

The bounty for the crime boss head proved enough to get her mum a caretaker and the medicine she needed. After threatening the office into making her a bounty hunter, she spent the next few years of her life travelling for bounties and struggling her way to the top. Life wasn't always easy and it certainly wasn't as smooth as people seemed to think it was - 'She became a bounty hunter at 12? Wow...' - but she survived. That was more than she could say for all her victims.[/color][/hider]

[center]~~~[/center]
[center][h2][color=lightgray]Piper[/color][/h2]
[hider=bundle of feathery scales][img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/dragcave/images/d/dd/Pipio_Pygmy_male.png/revision/latest?cb=20181004002554[/img][/hider][/center]
[color=lightgray][b]Appearance:[/b][/color] [color=salmon]About the size of a small cat. Though he's covered with feathers, hard dragon scales lie beneath. Try messing with him and Cheryl won't lift a finger - those teeth and claws aren't for show.[/color]
[color=lightgray][b]Species:[/b][/color] [color=salmon]Pipio pygymy dragon[/color]
[color=lightgray][b]Age:[/b][/color] [color=salmon]Three human years - that translates to a middle-aged dragon.[/color]
[color=lightgray][b]Gender:[/b][/color] [color=salmon]Male[/color]
[color=lightgray][b]Occupation:[/b][/color] [color=salmon]Messenger dragon. Requests strokes as payment.[/color]

[h3][color=lightgray]Personality[/color][/h3]
[hider=how he floof][color=salmon]Though capable of telepathy, Piper's not a great conversationalist. He communicates his moods through the usual coos and chirps of a pipio pygmy and has a habit of stating everyday observations when he feels like it. It's only in times of great stress, imminent danger, or pestering boredom, will Piper make the effort to speak up. 

He's usually agreeable to whatever Cheryl asks him to do, which consists of delivering messages or items most of the time. Quiet and obedient is how he is - just the way Cheryl likes it.[/color][/hider]

[h3][color=lightgray]Traits[/color][/h3]
[hider=how he ror]
[b][color=lightgray]Affinity[/color][/b] | [color=salmon]Air[/color]
[b][color=lightgray]Magic[/color][/b] | [color=salmon][i]Flight.[/i] Technically not magic, but it'd be a lie to say that there isn't air magic involved to enhance pipio pygmies' flight, considering their capability to survive in most places.[/color]
[b][color=lightgray]Strengths[/color][/b] 
	| [color=salmon][i]Melee.[/i] What sharp teeth and claws you have, Mr Piper.[/color]
	| [color=salmon][i]Obedience.[/i] He'll follow whatever Cheryl tells him to do to the letter.[/color]
[b][color=lightgray]Failings[/color][/b] 
	| [color=salmon][i]Lack of independence.[/i] Piper knows enough to survive on his own, but he won't quite know what to do with his life without someone there to tell him.[/color]
	| [color=salmon][i]smol boi.[/i] Sharp teeth and claws are great and all, but once someone bigger than him overpowers him, he's done for.[/color]
[/hider]