ooc note: currently having a hard time irl, i apologize for being slow with getting back to plotting dms / writing replies. i hope to get my shit together soon. thank u all for ur patience <3
the air in the training room smells faintly of sweat, mixed with a static hum — the whole room feels sterile, as if someone has scrubbed all signs of life out of it. even after five years as a guardian, the room still feels like an affront to her senses. it’s too cold, too artificial, too bright, in the wrong way. the hum of the fluorescent lights makes the brightness of the room feel too sharp, too artificial — nothing like natural sunlight.
five years in, she still hasn’t managed to find beauty in this room. and she doesn’t think she ever will.
she’s made a lot of progress in the past five years, though she can’t rid herself of the feeling that it’s not enough. that she should be doing more than what she’s capable of. sometimes it feels like however much she trains, her physical combat capabilities will never be enough.
(and she can’t help but think that, in the end, it probably doesn’t matter as much as she thinks it does. it’s not like, once promoted, she’s likely to have to see physical combat often, if ever. the guardians at the top don’t swing punches, they smile for the cameras. zyra sometimes thinks they’re like flowers on display in glass cases — something pretty to be admired, but not useful.)
having jaeyong to spar with for the past couple of years has helped. he’s better than her, by a landslide, though that doesn’t bother zyra. she’s just thankful he’s willing to help her improve.
that’s not to say it doesn’t get frustrating at times. zyra isn’t sure how long they’ve been at it this time, but it’s long enough for sweat making strands of hair cling to her forehead, and an air of frustration surrounding her.
jaeyong’s rhythm outpaces hers — his steps are more measured, more confident, while zyra can’t help but hesitate, nearly stumbling over her own caution. she moves to dodge, but his movements are faster, and she finds her wrist pinned in his grip for what’s probably the tenth time already this session.
zyra exhales sharply, frustration catching in her throat. her body never quite seems to be able to catch up to her mind, never fast enough. she allows herself a moment to relax, freeing her hand from the younger’s grip and taking a step back, as she lets out a huff of air.
“i never seem to get good enough at this, do i?” there’s an attempt at a smile, though jaeyong should know her well enough by now to see right through it. another sigh. “not that it matters in the end, anyway,” she mumbles, gaze flickering away from her sparring partner, towards the floor.
evening stroll
present - dream forest nature park
starter for @zyradx
the training is particularly grueling today and narae could feel her legs turning into jelly. as much as she wants to be useful, she doesn't really like combat training. all the moving and all the sweat and all the coordinated attacks just really takes a toll on her mentally and physically that sometimes she just wants to turn into mush. it could be felt from the way bruises line her arms and probably her calves too. she's so going to need a good warm bath once she gets home.
it's been a bit of a routine for her to stop by the park every now and then, to walk the rest of the way home. often times, zyra accompanies her and they part ways from there. but the weather was just too nice too day to pass up spending time outside. narae walks a little slower (not just because her legs hurt) but to also enjoy the breeze through her hair.
"i wish it could stay like this forever," she says, her wording a bit too dreamy for her liking. "i don't want it to get cold yet." she could already see some of the trees changing colours from green to yellow, some leaves already scattered about. "but most of all, i know winter is harsher for you." she finally stops to turn and look at zyra, her eyes soften a little, knowing how hard it is for her friend especially during the winter months. she continues to walk, backwards this time as she eyes the latter.
even though they both are tier d guardians, the abilities they manifested comes with their set of pros and cons. with narae, bonding with an animal isn't a walk in the park, pun intended. her energy must be focused, her goal set. but her mind was too messy right now, too full and too lost to even handle her canine familiars. a flock of birds pass by above them and as narae looks up, one swoops down and steadies itself on her left shoulder. she taps its beak, smiles and then waves her hand as if to shoo it away.
combat training is not zyra’s strong suit. and that’s putting it lightly. sure, she’s quick on her feet, somewhat nimble, and mostly has no issues dodging attacks. but her own physical strength isn’t something to write home about.
it’s been five years of guardian training now, and she can safely say she finds physical combat training to be the most grueling part of it all. it’s somehow even worse than the fact that becoming an A tier guardian isn’t even close to what she’d been expecting, what she’d been dreaming of since her teenage years.
she’s somewhat lost in her own world as she walks through the park, narae by her side. there’s a slight crunch of leaves beneath their feet as they walk — fall has begun to take over for summer.
zyra doesn’t like it.
narae’s words sound through her thoughts, grabbing the older’s attention. zyra nods, glancing towards her friend, though her eyes are soon occupied trailing a leaf falling from a nearby tree. something in her feels wistful as she watches it connect to the ground.
“i don’t even like this,” she admits quietly. “not really. the trees have already begun to shed their leaves.”
she allows her words to hang between them for a moment, her pace slowing to match that of her fellow guardian. there’s a soft expression on narae’s face, which in turns softens something in zyra, though the feeling of light despair is still prevalent.
“it feels like nature is dying around me.” and it really does. zyra glances away from her friend, gaze moving over the nearby trees — most of them with yellowing leaves, a few already losing them. it’s hard not to feel like she’s the one shedding her own skin this time of year.
hi hi hi, and happy opening!! so excited to be here with you all! i'm sage (she/her, 25+) and i'm here to introduce you to my lovely zyra! (i also have jae over at @jaedx and luce at @lucedx, intros for them coming shortly!)
mizuno akari aka zyra is a tier d guardian with the power of floral physiology. which kind of means her body is somewhat like a plant! her powers are heavily inspired by zyra (league of legends), poison ivy, flora (winx)! her profile (including background) can be found here, but i'll leave a short tl;dr under the cut along with some connection ideas because i've been too scatterbrained to make a page. please leave a like if you'd like to plot with zyra, and i will find my way into your dms!
tl;dr
born mizuno akari, from the outskirts of kurayoshi, japan, only daughter of a couple of rice farmers.
a quiet but lonely child. spent most of her time playing in the fields and forest near her parents' farm.
her powers manifested when she was in 2nd grade, and despite having parents with relatively weak powers, her turned out to be quite strong. she couldn't control them, which led to an incident at her school: during a stressful moment in class, she started releasing pollen that made everyone else in the classroom fall asleep. this had her permanently branded as a freak at school.
her parents didn't really know what to do bc like things were kind of bad for mutagens in japan?? so they decided to give up on the farmer life (rip) and move to seoul instead, because district x seemed like the best place for them to raise their daughter.
took a few years for her to feel comfortable in a new country and the new language but once she did, she actually made friends??? for the first time in her life?? so akari felt like she was having the time of her life i'm ngl.
started idolizing guardians during her teenage years.. like they were soooo cool to her and she just wanted to be like them, especially the tier a ones!! took her parents a lil time to fully be on board with the idea, but they eventually agreed and let her enroll in the heroes of tomorrow academy.
started going by zyra when she was accepted into the pinnacle institute at age 19!! and started training to become an a tier guardian once she graduated, which she was ecstatic about
she's on track to be promoted within the next few years, after having been a d tier guardian for five years now. though at this point she's realized being an a tier guardian wasn't all she thought it would be, but she still doesn't really see herself doing anything else, at least for now.
plot ideas
friends from high school?? like they would have been the first friends she ever made potentially... she's a bit of a hag tho since she's 29 so would have to be someone around the same age.
classmates from the pinnacle institute! she graduated in 2020! (i think, don't quote me on it i'm terrible at math and timelines)
any fellow guardians hmu... especially the ones in a and d tier — for the a tier one, she might look up to them? and the d tier ones i imagine she sees quite a lot.
neighbors, she lives in top view towers! but on the first floor bc she doesn't want to be too far off the ground... she's a good neighbor i promise like she'll water ur plants for u if u need to be away... or she could just help u keep ur plants alive in general?? maybe start a rooftop community garden with her?
past relationship(s)... for now i think she's probably had about 1-2 somewhat serious partners in the past, and potentially a one night stand or two but she's not really made for casual. open to exploring this tho!!
in addition to the previous relationships mentioned above, i want her to have one super devastating past relationship like. soul crushing. totally up to brainstorm what went down but i'm thinking it was like, a formative heartbreak for her, that taught her how much love could hurt.
maybe someone who admires her idk. big fan of her work w the guardians idk like since she's training to be an a tier guardian i'd imagine she's at least a little bit known to those who care about guardian business at least.
idk i'm kind of good at brainstorming sometimes i promise... pls plot with my girl 🤲
gummygunk
yousharknotpass
blakekathryn
jbbartram-illu
vaporwave
areudirty
theartofmadeline
pixelskylines
janainaart
