Name: Alina Alkaev
Age: 19
Height/Weight: 5'5 and 140lbs
Appearance:
A rather plain girl, the first thing people usually notice about Alina are her grey eyes that somehow resemble stained glass. Usually, it seems as if she's looking through someone instead of at them, making her seem distant. The girl has shoulder length black hair, with floppy bangs she keeps swiped to the side and tucked behind her ears. Sometimes the cold weather tempts her to grow her hair out, but she cuts it anyway, believing that the longer it is, the more likely it will hinder her in a fight. Alina has a lean and firm build, she's not soft or vulnerable looking, but is in no way intimidating either. In fact, the girl is just average, someone easily forgotten.
Alina has utmost respect for their uniform and whenever she is in uniform she tries to keep herself as presentable as possible out of respect, but it a rather daunting task considering all the snow and the fact that healers will get their hands dirty.
Personality:
First and foremost, Alina is calm, reliable, and maybe even apathetic. She does her responsibilities with determination and initiative, opting to finish what she can as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The young woman is a very dedicated person, often pushing herself to her limits in pursuit of perfection. If Alina thinks she can do better, she will try to do better. The girl refuses to give anything but her best and takes pride in her ability to notice minute details and mistakes. She has a good head on her shoulders and a thirst for knowledge. Often Alina learns from observation and imitation. When trying something new, she will repeat the same activity over and over again until she is either too tired to continue or finally satisfied with the results of her training.
Alina is rather harsh on herself. However, when it comes to dealing with her companions, she is the opposite. The girl expects them to give things their all, but is understanding and kind. Alina isn't very affectionate or the sort of person that radiates cheer and joy, but she's always willing to lend a helping hand, and always there to offer a shoulder to lean on. The young woman does her best to be a pillar of support during tough times. Often giving encouraging nudges or smiles when things look bleak. She isn't easy to faze, and has a strong grip on her emotions.
In the midst of battle Alina becomes a cold and apathetic healer, unflinching as she patches up the grizzly rips and tears in her companion's flesh, calm as she runs her fingers over the gash in her fellow priest's arm, and unyielding as she tries her darnedest to save lives. Alina takes her role of healer very seriously. It is a role that requires a level head, the ability to make split second decisions and the emotional stability that is needed in order to whisper words of comfort in a dying person's ear. Alina has grown numb to the sight of the dying, and makes it her job to ease their suffering, even just a little bit. She hates it when people suffer, which is why she'll do whatever she can to help keep them alive.
The girl buries her own fears and worries, becoming a pillar for those who need something to lean on. Sometimes she feels as if her emotions will eventually resurface to strangle her. Watching people take their last breaths has never been easy, but Alina copes for the sake of others.
Outside of missions, she lowers her walls. The apathy crumbles and Alina becomes less detached. The girl keeps to herself and can be a bit distant, but when approached she will never turn anyone away. The girl likes seeing people happy, and as a result finds herself drawn to cheerful optimists despite her reserved nature.
The frozen world needs all the warmth it can get after all, and she needs some of that warmth too.
Talents/Abilities:
She feels the energy draining from her fingertips as her hands press hard against the gash on her friend's side. Slowly, the torn muscles begin to mend, staunching the flow of crimson. Alina feels as if she's being electrocuted and her skin tingles. The girl lets out a huff, pouring more of her energy into her companion's wound. The flesh comes together, turning a blotchy pink, the blood ceasing completely.
Alina's talents lie not in weaponry or the sword, but in the art of healing. She works best as a supporter, but is a formidable foe when it comes down to hand to hand fighting. Alina's hands are deadly, and what she can heal she can also deconstruct. However, her specialty lies in healing people with her ether. Destroying muscle tissue or causing skin to tear takes a lot out of Alina and it's just painful and not a pretty sight, so she doesn't resort to it and has never really used it. In fact, realizing she could also cause suffering with her healing abilities was an accident and had happened when she was still rather inexperienced. Alina trained even harder at that and as a result she can keep the more dangerous aspects of her ability under control.
The girl isn't very strong, but she's swift and precise. When not healing her injured comrades, Alina is usually playing as bait, luring enemies away and distracting them before swiftly trying to knock them out. The girl is mediocre at most weapons, but does know how to fight hand to hand. As a healer, she has knowledge on the human anatomy and uses this to her advantage, often aiming for pressure points or weak spots in order to temporarily gain the upper hand on bigger foes. However, in battles that rely on brute strength Alina would be pretty much doomed.
Background:
The only daughter of a tinkerer and an apothecary. Alina's family was in no way rich, but they got by. Her dad made a variety of weird little doohickeys, ranging from portable heaters to toy trains of cogs and gears. More often than not his serious inventions would fail and fall apart. To be honest, Alina's father was more of a toy maker than an inventor. The children of Varya loved his wacky new ideas. In fact, the children would go out of their to visit her father when he wasn't busy. It only made Alina adore her dad even more.
The girl was always closer to her father, since he worked in the attic. Her mom on the other hand ran a small shop on the other side of town, selling homemade remedies and different kinds of herbs. Sometimes her mom would disappear for days, opting to stay at her aunt's house instead of taking the long walk back on chilly nights. Rarely did she spend time with her mother, but when they did spend time together it was always memorable for Alina.
Life was good to the girl and she was happy.
It didn't last though and one day her mother got sick. At first it was just coughing and few fevers, but the coughing grew into fits of hacking and soon the woman was spitting up blood. She always tried to shrug it off, but finally decided to visit a real doctor. None of her herbs had worked and she just kept getting worse and worse. The woman needed help, but that wasn't something the doctors were able to give her.
The doctors said it was tuberculosis and that they couldn't do a thing about it. Slowly, Alina's mom began to get worse and worse.
Her dad fell into depression and spent most of his days locked in the attic, tinkering with his mechanical trains and cogs. Alina on the other hand scavenged around the house for every medical book her mother had. Greedily, she read book after book. Absorbing new information in hopes of finding something that could help save her mother. The information within the books were far too great for a nine-year-old and soon she too began to lose hope. Alina spent most of days in the library, searching for something within the books labeled 'healing'.
That was where Alina met Mother Nadia.
The woman had a fondness for books and was usually at the library. Several times she had run into the distraught Alina, and the sad looking child had piqued Mother Nadia's curiosity. She began to question Alina, eventually learning more about the girl each time she came to the library. Alina never told the woman about her mother's sickness though and Mother Nadia never found out until one Thursday afternoon when the girl walked into the library sniffling and wiping away at tears. Mother Nadia coaxed the girl into telling her what was wrong and the nine-year-old cracked, revealing everything; from her mother's recent death to her father's descent into depression, Alina even including her failed attempts at dabbling in medicine.
Alina's father only got worse, his depression turning him into an unresponsive recluse. Alina always told Mother Nadia everything and one day the woman came to a solution. She asked the nine-year-old if she wanted to learn more about medicine and help people.The girl said yes.Mother Nadia then asked her if she wanted to go to the Red Seminary, stating that if she trained under the Holy Order she would be able to save lives.
Alina had nowhere else to go, so with a determined nod of the head, she agreed.