[Spirit Class 8] Leona Sheridan

» Name: Leona Sheridan
» Alias: N/A
» Age: 200 (but looks to be in her mid-twenties)
» Gender: Female

» Association: Gotei United, Fourth Division

» Appearance Written: Leona is a young woman with blonde hair that extends just below her ears who stands 5' 4" tall. She also boasts a curvy physique that can lead some people to think that looks is all she has going for her, but they would be wrong. Leona is deceptively strong and durable for her height and body type and will give those who assume that she is just a pretty face cause to regret making that assumption.

» Appearance Image:

Leona:

» Personality: As the youngest Shinigami in a family of Shinigami, Leona is something of a rebel in the sense that she has went her own way instead of endeavoring to join one of the divisions her other family members are in. While her mother Sophia and older sister Lucia are in the Second Division and her father Samuel and older brother Leonidas are members of the Seventh Division she is a proud member of the Fourth Division. That has caused more than one verbal clash with her parents, who support their daughter's career but wish that she had chosen another route. Those wishes fall on deaf ears because Leona has found where she belongs and intends to stay there.

Leona likes to fight more than is probably healthy for her... she discovered that when fending off handsy individuals long before going through the Academy to refine her skills. Driving a fist into the offender's face or kicking them around gave her a rush and over time she has developed a taste for combat that has only grown stronger with service in World War IV. She likes sparring with her fellow Fourth Division members and with her older brother Leonidas whenever he can spare the time. While she will spar with anyone who is able and willing to do so, she prefers to spar with strong opponents because they help her avoid becoming complacent and give her incentive to constantly improve.

When not on duty Leona can frequently be found training by herself to improve her aptitude in the Shinigami arts, especially Zankaputo so that she might one day attain Bankai. When not training Leona can be found sitting around and drinking coffee. On rare occasions she might actually lie on her bed and stare at the wall or the ceiling. On those occasions she is a far cry from her usual self... some would say that she acts like her big cat namesake by appearing languid when not in motion, but to assume that she is lazy is an assumption that could not be further from the truth.

Leona's social skills are far from the best around. She has focused so much on training in an effort to improve her aptitude in the Shinigami arts that her ability to socialize has fallen by the wayside and is best described as "adequate." Leona tends to keep to herself whenever she is not on duty but can extend the life of her social batteries for colleagues in the Fourth Division, Shinigami from other divisions, or superiors. She also gets along with her family well enough but occasionally feels disconnected from them because her path is one she is walking alone.

When it comes to romance Leona does not know what she wants. She is reluctant to approach men after what happened to her as a young adult but is not in the market for a girlfriend either. With that being said, she blushes furiously and finds herself at a loss for words whenever an attractive young woman flirts with her. That goes double if they show physical affection by actually hugging or kissing her.

When not wearing her Shinigami uniform Leona's fashion sense is best described as "plain." She prefers simple clothes like t-shirts and pants or shorts and a lot of her shirts are various shades of green, blue, or gray. Most of the time Leona covers herself completely, but occasionally she wears a crop top or tube top. However, she always wears a jacket with either style of top that she can cover herself up if she begins to feel overexposed. After the groping incident Leona seldom wears skirts and should she wear one she will never wear a crop top and skirt or tube top and skirt together.

» Likes:

Fighting: Leona feels most alive when she is fighting someone or something. Few other activities can give her the rush that she gets from battle.

Strong Opponents: Leona likes a good fight and the stronger the opponent the happier she is. She respects strength in both male and female adversaries and will even openly compliment them if she finds them worthy of it.

Coffee: Leona likes coffee almost as much as she likes fighting. Hardly a day goes by without her drinking at least two cups of the beverage and she can frequently be found with a cup of it in hand. The stronger it is the better.

» Dislikes:

Prolonged Periods Of Boredom: When not on duty Leona usually finds ways to occupy her time. Whether she is training in the Shinigami arts by herself or with the help of others, sparring with someone, drinking coffee, talking to someone, or even socializing with others on the infrequent occasions she tries to be sociable, Leona does not like to be bored. She appreciates being able to take breaks from her normal routine and understands that sometimes there is just nothing meaningful to do, but not being able to do something for long periods of time is still something she tries to avoid if she can.

Decaf: Leona detests decaffeinated coffee. She cannot stand the sight, scent, or taste of it. Only the genuine article will work for her.

Rope: After being bound and repeatedly groped by a gang of hoodlums some time before enrolling in the Shinigami Academy Leona hates the sight of rope and hates how it feels on her skin even more. Just seeing rope reminds her of that unpleasant memory and makes her feel disgust and anger. Threatening to tie her up (even in jest) is a quick way to make her angry.


» History:

Leona does not remember anything about her life before becoming a Shinigami other than hearing sounds such as a car going off the road and tumbling into a ditch and the sounds of life support machinery. She gets occasional flickers of images to accompany the noises, but they never last more than a second and certainly do not last long enough to give her time to remember what happened. She also gets sharp and intense pain in her legs that is often enough to take her breath away and bring her to her knees, if not send her to the ground on all fours. Leona has never pieced together the significance of the images and pain and never might because she is too focused on the present.

In the more recent past she grew up in the 58th district of Northern Rukongai with her family and lived a happy life with her parents Samuel and Sophia, older sister Lucia, and older brother Leonidas, who were all Shinigamis and members of divisions in Gotei 13. She lived in a fairly seedy part of town where the worst things that happened were young hoodlums trying to get handsy with the local young women, vandals doing minor acts of destruction like egging houses, and the occasional mugging attempt. Every once in awhile more serious crimes like a mugging that turned into a physical assault, houses being broken into while the occupants were still inside, and other more violent acts occurred, but by some minor miracle Leona's household was spared the worst of it. Thankfully the real trouble did not start until she was in her late teens and young adulthood.

The harassment started off with rowdy young men slapping or squeezing her backside and running away while laughing. Those incidents were annoying and easily brushed off as youthful stupidity exacerbated by hormones, but as time went on the perpetrators grew more brazen. The riffraff started working in small groups and on more than one occasion Leona found herself in a grimy alley with her back against the wall. She had to rely on speed and timely dodging to escape the situation and usually got away by the skin of her teeth.

When she was sixteen her brother Leonidas taught her the basics of both Hakuda and normal hand-to-hand combat so that she could defend herself since neither he nor their father could always be there to protect her. She eagerly accepted the training and thanks to what she learned over the course of a year Leona begn to send her tormentors packing with bloody noses, broken arms, and shattered pride.

Leona went from success to success for slightly over three years until one day she tried to fend off a gang of a dozen of the local hooligans she had beaten up so many times before. She managed to force seven of them back before being hit with a punch to the back of the head and finding herself lying on her stomach on the ground. From there she was kicked repeatedly in the ribs from all sides until she could barely breathe, then felt her hands pulled behind her and her wrists bound behind her back with rope before her ankles were tied together. Once tied she was hauled to her feet and taken to a corner of a back alley, where she had her face slammed into the wall a few times before being spun around and punched in the left eye until it turned black and swelled shut.

Next the blonde suffered the indignity of her outfit top being ripped open to expose her bra and hearing various comments about the size of her chest before being groped on both her chest and backside by her captors. Not wanting to be reduced to a plaything for perverted young men, she struggled against the ropes with everything she had but just could not get free. The ill treatment went on for thirty-five minutes and near the end a hand went up her skirt and came to rest on the inner thigh of her right leg, causing Leona to fear that the situation was going to take a very ugly turn. However, fate was on her side because Leonidas and Lucia showed up before things could go any further. The two fought their way through the crowd and freed her before dealing with the people who had harmed and humiliated their younger sister: those who did not run upon seeing two very angry Shinigami came to regret their decision when they were left with broken arms, broken legs, and black eyes courtesy of Leona's vengeful older siblings.

After being rescued Leona was taken home and her physical wounds were treated by the combined efforts of her mother and sister. Her mental wounds were not so easy to heal and lingered long after her body had recovered from the ordeal. Along with a strong dislike for ropes Leona had also gained the burning desire to get stronger so that she never had to suffer the indignity of being at another person's mercy again. Three months after the incident she enrolled in the Shinigami Academy with the blessing of both Sophia and Samuel and soon began studying the Shinigami arts.

The Kido classes were easily the most challenging classes she took at the academy. Wanting to become a reasonably well-rounded Shinigami, Leona studied as hard as she could and trained both by herself and with the help of others but by the time of graduation she was still only average in that subject. She was reasonably adept at Hoho and found it to be a useful skill worth building on because of its potential uses in battle, but soon she found two subjects that she was even better at... Hakuda and Zanjutsu.

Since Leona already had some basic knowledge of Hakuda thanks to Leonidas' tutoring she picked up the finer points fairly quickly and built upon them to become a competent user who could hit harder than her appearance let on. Having experience using the art in real fights against human adversaries helped her because she already had some idea of how to move, when to strike, and when and how to defend against attacks. That experience gave her quite a few wins against sparring partners who were just learning the basics.

Zanjutsu was another subject that she took a liking to and wanted to learn more about. While she had no experience with that art before the Academy, her enthusiasm for and interest in it did not wane despite never having wielded any sort of weapon before receiving her asauchi and losing multiple sparring matches because of her inexperience. On the contrary, those losses only made Leona more determined to succeed.

Almost right away Leona noticed that whenever she held her asauchi in both hands it wobbled violently like it was trying to get away from her but never did that when wielded one-handed. After a year at the academy the blonde had observed it enough to suspect that the asauchi was trying to tell her that it was meant to attack, not defend, but at that point she had no way of knowing that for certain, so she continued to observe how it reacted to her. At the end of her second year she noticed that from time to time she felt an updraft whenever her fingers wrapped around the grip, suggesting that it had a wind element.

As Leona continued her Zanjutsu classes and engaged in sparring matches she learned more and more about the asauchi and steadily gained more and more control over it. By the end of her third year she could hold it steadily with two hands but discovered that it had gained the quirk of feeling heavy at the bottom of the grip like it wanted her to take away her left hand and let it free. Just before a sparring match with a male classmate at the beginning of her fourth year Leona relented and decided to use the weapon like it seemed like it wanted to be used. While the new approach did not grant her victory it certainly made her opponent less willing to attack because from his view he was facing a series of fast sword swings that just did not seem to stop. Leona lost the match because her opponent was skilled enough in defense to weather the initial flurry of sword strikes and take advantage of her right arm getting tired to counterattack for the win, but from then on she knew what worked for her.

Armed with that new knowledge, Leona began to train her strength and physical stamina as well as her swordplay so that she could go the distance against adversaries who tried to defend themselves until she wore herself out. Near the end of her fourth year she got a chance to test her newfound stamina by facing the same opponent who had defeated her earlier in the year. Again she attacked first and again he blocked every strike... at one point he had the audacity to smirk like his victory was assured if he could just hold on long enough for the blonde to lose steam like she had done last time. She continued to attack with rapid swings that emphasized speed over power to keep pressure on him. As the rapid-fire sound of metal meeting metal continued the opponent's confident smirk began to fade and his focus was gradually whittled down until a momentary lapse allowed her to deal a shallow cut to his left shoulder with a left-to-right diagonal swing.

He staggered back with an expression of shock plastered on his face and Leona smelled blood in the water. The emboldened blonde renewed the offensive, employing the same tactic of rapid sword swings that had forced him to make the mistake that had given her an opening. Each blocked attack chipped away at his stamina and focus until after a particularly forceful diagonal swing knocked his blade away from his body and sent the tip diagonally to the ground he succumbed to panic and surrendered.

"They could not weather the storm." A female voice whispered to Leona in approval. She was the only female in class that day, so it could not have been one of her fellow students or the instructor. Maybe it was her weapon... Leona was riding a victory high after putting the smug young man in his place, so she did not bother to investigate.

After that victory Leona's resolve to master Zanjutsu became even stronger. Knowing that she could not win every match by swinging her asauchi wildly, Leona began to study two-handed styles of swordsmanship such as Kendo so that she had more offensive options. By the end of her fifth year her asauchi had finally consented to be held in both hands without demonstrating any more quirks, but there was one more goal she wanted to achieve and that was to attain Shikai.

Leona learned more about Zanjutsu from each victory and each loss, but no matter how much she improved she just could not achieve her goal until three days before graduation. On the night of the third day she sat and looked at the weapon she had wielded for six years and reminisced on some of the key battles with it. As she gazed into its blue-white blade and looked at her reflection she heard a voice that was not her own speak to her.

"Do you truly desire power?" Came the question.

Leona saw that her reflection in the blade had changed to a that of a purple-haired young woman with blue eyes that seemed to peer right through her.

"Yes." Leona answered confidently. The blade gleamed silver and the female voice spoke again.

"Then come and fight me for it!" Came the bold challenge. Leona reappeared inside of a stone tower and sitting on the floor while clutching her asauchi. Only a second later the young woman whose face she had seen in the blade of her sword charged at her with a katana raised above her head ready to bring down on the blonde the instant she got within striking distance. Leona leapt to her feet and took a two-handed grip on her sword, then raised her weapon to block the stranger's as it descended towards the top of her head. A CLANG sounded and the two combatants made eye contact after spinning back and away from each other to get enough separation for another attack.

"Your reaction time is good." The purple-haired young woman complimented Leona for reacting to danger so quickly despite being taken from familiar surroundings to a strange new place.

"Yours is too." Leona freely returned the compliment. After the brief exchange the two resumed fighting. They used everything they knew... Hakuda, Zanjutsu of both one-handed and two-handed styles, and even mundane hand-to-hand combat. The battle went on for hours until after one last clash of swords each young woman took a single step back and made eye contact with the other.

"You are one tough individual." The purple-haired young woman praised Leona's toughness and refusal to yield to her.

"So are you." Leona returned the praise with sincerity. The purple-haired stranger lowered her weapon and the blonde followed suit.

"Even though you did not defeat me, I can respect the fact that you went the distance with me." The young woman offered more praise before giving a light smile.

"You truly desire power and are willing to fight for what you want." She said next. Leona remained silent, but her heart was racing and so was her mind, which was focused on only one question.

Was she about to get what she was after?

"My name is Reppūmaru." The young woman gave Leona her name. When the blonde heard the syllables of her name the former could not help but to grin. Getting what she wanted was every bit as good as a victory over the purple-haired challenger.

"Go with my blessing and know that I will be forever by your side." Reppūmaru bade Leona farewell for the time being before the blonde was returned to the normal world. She instantly stood up and held her weapon in her right hand to look at it with admiration. The blue-white katana was named Reppūmaru and it was her weapon... she had finally attained Shikai, but that achievement was not nearly enough to satisfy the blonde. Leona wanted to attain Bankai for the power that having it would give her.

After graduating the Shinigami Academy and applying for the Fourth Division the blonde filled her days with training, sparring matches, and constant wishing for a chance to put her skills to the test in a real battle. When World War IV broke out Leona got her wish and was sent into battle on so many occasions that counting them was not possible... despite her limited combat experience she thrived amidst the mayhem and seemed to never tire of fighting. All her superiors had to do was point her towards the enemy and she would happily go into the fray.

By the end of the war Leona had earned no major distinctions, but she had gained a better practical understanding of how to use all of the Shinigami arts in an actual fight. In particular she had learned that the time spent in learning two-handed sword styles to gain some knowledge of defense was time well spent because knowing the basics of defense had saved her when she was unable to dodge an attack. She had also learned the value of Hoho in both offense and defense, using shunpo to either close the distance with an adversary or using it to get some distance before preparing another form of attack.

When peace broke out Leona reluctantly accepted that the fighting had come to an end but continued to spar with her Fourth Division colleagues and train by herself to continue working towards achieving Bankai. She occasionally entertains the idea of trying to earn a seat in the Fourth Division, but so far she has not made any solid plans to do so. Other than that Leona is happy right where she is and will not rock the boat by questioning superiors or otherwise making trouble.


» Natural Abilities:

Hand-To-Hand Combat: In addition to the rudiments of Hakuda Leonidas taught Leona hand-to-hand combat that did not use reiryoku. While her normal strikes lack the additional punch of Hakuda they can still hurt if one underestimates her.

Uncommon Toughness: Leona spent years fighting the riffraff roaming her neighborhood and took punishment almost as often as she had given it. Spending six years at the Academy engaging in so many sparring matches that she lost count also gave her toughness a boost. As a result she is a little bit tougher than the average Shinigami.


» Racial Abilities:

Hakuda Long before her academy days Leona had been trained in the basics of Hakuda by her older brother Leonidas. She took to the skill with ease and had many opportunities to practice it on the hoodlums in her neighborhood. The Academy courses only improved her skill and she won quite a few sparring matches because of already having some idea of how to use the art in a real-world combat situation. Sometimes being able to throw a good punch or kick can do more to win a fight than an artful display of Zanjutsu.

Zanjutsu: Zanjutsu was not quite as easy for Leona because she had to start from square one, but she did not have much trouble picking up the basics and during her academy days learned enough to achieve the first stage of Shikai. However, Leona is not content with what she already knows and trains diligently with the ambition of improving her Shikai and perhaps even attaining Bankai one day, but she is aware that achieving the second goal will be quite an undertaking.

Hoho: While Leona's skill with Hoho is not the stuff of legends, she is nevertheless able to use shunpo several consecutive times within a short timeframe without feeling any sort of negative effects and she can get to where she needs to go with little fear of going drastically off course. On occasions she is feeling particularly bold she will employ Hoho in combat to try and surprise an opponent, but most of the time she relies on the speed of her own two feet. Leona currently demonstrates no special cosmetic variation of shunpo.

Kido: Kido was easily Leona's worst subject in the Academy and she had to work hard during her time there just to become average in it. Even at her current level of aptitude, being able to sling spells is a surprise Leona will bring out against opponents who think she can only fight at close range.


» Zanpakutō Name: Reppūmaru ("Violent Wind")

» Zanpakutō Spirit:

Appearance:

The Zankaputo spirit is a young woman who often dresses in a Japanese schoolgirl uniform and has an old-fashioned hairstyle. She goes by the name of Reppūmaru and is taller and leaner than Leona. She seldom fails to make an impression with a combination of blue eyes and long purple hair. She shares the blonde's affinity for combat and frequently challenges the latter to a match atop the tower in Leona's inner world whenever they meet. That is a challenge the blonde has yet to decline.

Reppūmaru and Leona tend to think a lot alike, especially when it comes to fighting. Both of them like to get into the action as soon as possible. They also share the desire to become stronger so that new and more varied techniques can be learned. Finally, while they will fight anyone who challenges them, they favor strong opponents who can give the pair a tough battle.

» Inner World:

Inner World:

Leona's inner world consists of a sturdy and majestic stone tower sitting on a mountaintop that looks over a verdant forest far below. The weather is always bright and sunny with a calm wind blowing most of the time and the multiple open windows of the tower let in sunlight and wind on all floors. On the first floor of the tower are masterfully carved statues of lions and lionesses standing proudly while gazing at visitors as if assessing their worthiness to climb the tower. When one arrives on the second floor the statues change to depictions of winged women such as harpies in flight and Valkyries brandishing their swords. On the third floor and every floor after the statues alternate between lions and winged women until they disappear altogether on the twelfth floor, where Reppūmaru can frequently be found waiting for Leona.

That floor is home to an austere space that has hosted many clashes and conversations between the two. There is no decoration on the walls and the only standout features are two large windows that open to the outside world. There is no furniture except for two plain wooden chairs that look almost brand new... that is because they are seldom used.

» Sealed Zanpakutō Appearance:

Sealed Zankaputo:

» Sealed Zanpakutō Power: N/A


» Shikai Release Phrase: Blow across the land, Reppūmaru!

» Shikai Release Action: N/A

» Shikai Appearance: Leona's hair glows silver and blows about violently like she is standing in the middle of a storm.

» Shikai Abilities:

Crescent Wind: Leona concentrates intently on her zankaputo and holds its in one hand with the the blade upright and the edge facing outward. She focuses her reiatsu into it and causes the blade to visibly glow silver. After that she slashes at her opponent with a one-handed swing, firing a visible crescent blade of silver wind towards her opponent that has a range of up to 25 meters. If the opponent is hit they suffer damage that would be the same as if she had hit them directly with her zankaputo.

While the damage is nothing special, the real strength of the ability lies in just having a ranged attack available to possibly surprise an opponent. She can fire a wind crescent with a horizontal, vertical, or even diagonal slash with no loss in power or range. There is a one-post cooldown between uses.

Gale Blade: Leona puts a hand on the grip of her zankaputo (which is still in its scabbard) and channels reiatsu into it, which also makes its scabbard glow silver. When the technique is ready Leona performs an Iaido-style quick draw and lashes out with the blade, leaving a momentary afterimage of a silver streak in the air followed by a visible gust of silver wind that follows the path of the streak (this wind is simply a cosmetic effect and does not do damage). If Gale Blade hits the target suffers a 10% reduction to their speed that lasts for two posts due to a strong and visible silver wind pushing against them no matter which direction they move in.

However, swinging her zankaputo at such a high speed can be taxing on Leona's sword arm, so there is a two-post cooldown between uses and currently she can use it three times in a single thread.


» Bankai Name: Leona has not yet achieved Bankai.

» Bankai Release Action: [Does your shinigami do any physical action to release their bankai? Feel free to remove this if not.]

» Bankai Appearance: [What does your shinigami's bankai look like?]

» Bankai Abilities: [What abilities does your shinigami gain in bankai?]


» Equipment: [If your shinigami has any equipment? Put it here. If they don't, skip this section.]


(To Find Out about what these skills are for, please READ THIS THREAD before you try doing anything to it)

General Attributes
» Durability: D
» Speed: D
» Strength: D
» Soul: C

Will Skills
» Willpower: Adept
» Deduction: Beginner
» Focus: Adept

Shinigami Skills
» Hoho: Beginner
» Kidō: Beginner
» Zanjutsu: Adept
» Hakuda: Adept


» Roleplay Sample: [Please show us how you role play by either posting a previous post from another site or creating a new one. We do this so we know your RP skill. If you already have an accepted, you need not do another RP sample]


» Character Intent: [Optional. This is where you can explain the intent behind the character. What this might entail is where you are imagining the character strength-wise, your purpose for creating the character, and potential story beats. This section is to assist the grader in understanding where you are aiming with your character and may be able to provide advice if other aspects of the application do not match. This needs to be no more than 5 sentences.]