Astray Hāto

Appearance
Astray was a middle-aged man with a big frame and a more impressive upper body. His long, wavy, dark-red hair was always swept back behind his head along with a few short bangs which cover sections of his forehead. Complimenting it were a pair of fierce golden-eyes, a chiseled chin with some facial hair present and a vertical scar marking his bold left-eyebrow.

Traditionally, he wore a simple long-sleeved, dark-navy shirt made of hemp, a fibrous plant material, which also contained a faded emblem located on the right breast as well as on the back; it was presumed to be his emblem during his days as a Hunter but is now lost in time. A pair of dark-brown pants, made from the same material of his shirt, and bamboo sandals completed his basic look.

When he worked at his forge, Astray dons minimal amounts of protection save for a black waist-apron and a white bandanna for soaking up sweat.

Personality
Astray was described as quite laid back at times and professional when needed. However, he seemed quite disconnected from people, instead, he found solace in admiring the craftsmanship of objects, be it weapons, armour, to paintings and mechanical machines.

He was a man that forged his own direction, even as a Hunter, which made him a difficult member of a team to play well with. This forced his leader to work around him rather than with him for the majority of his career.

In addition, he was an individual who gave everyone the benefit of the doubt which ultimately led to his death.

Gerbera Breaker
During its days as a well maintained weapon used to slay Grimm by the hundreds, the Gerbera Breaker, was a trick weapon of brutal feats. Modeled after a Großes Messer, the one edged sword also sports a powerful Dust Injection Engine which enables the blade to spew elemental attacks during the blade's swings.

Dust Injection Engine
The Dust Injection Engine is built into the sword and acts similarly to a traditional combustion engine. It can be ignited by revving the handle of the sword similar in fashion to revving the handles of a motorcycle; this ignites the Dust, and ejects the energy released outward towards the tip of the blade. The Dust is loaded into the weapon via a magazine, of which he carries 3 along with extra Dust vials. A magazine holds 4 Dust vials each and thus, every 4 ignitions requires a replacement of the magazine.

In addition the effects of the attacks vary based on the type:

Fire Dust
Normally used as a range augmenter, this type of attack projects a short lasting breathe of flame as the Dust is ignited. This is Astray's favourite type of Dust and is usually used to quickly set everything in a 2 meter range, including his sword, ablaze.

Earth Dust
Usually used as a control, the ignition of earth Dust can be quite versatile depending on the release method. The initial use pertains to generating large amounts of dirt particles that smother an area around them in a short lasting sandstorm in an area around 25 meters in radius by swinging the sword in a circular manner. This can provide much needed cover at times.

The second and more impactful use requires the injection of the earth Dust energy into the ground which can cause devastating earth spikes to form around the user.

Wind Dust
Similar to earth, wind Dust can be and is perhaps the most versatile of the immediate Dust Types. It can be used to create powerful storms in a 25 meter radius. While not strong enough to carry individuals off the ground, sporadic wind speeds do make mobility quite difficult and causes most projectiles to veer off course if wind was not accounted for.

The Dust can also be used for accelerated movement by rapidly expelling wind energy opposite of the direction one would like to travel in. This allows for forceful dodges, rapid gap-closing, double jumping and lengthy air-combos.

The more lethal application results in a ranged projectile of wind focused by the blade into a wave of finely compressed air which can travel at speeds fast enough, and with enough force, to cut steel from a distance up to 100 meters.

Ice Dust
A purely defensive Dust but not without its practical uses, ice dust can be creatively executed in manners such as immobilization.

Astray has personally even generated an artificial snow-fall by pumping the ignited Dust straight into the air to impress female friends with romantic environments.

Lightning Dust
The most instantaneous of the Dust types, lightning Dust does not seem to have a multitude of purposes other than an additional projectile attack or elemental weapon buff.

Strangely enough, Astray does not admire his sword despite crafting it himself. He prefers traditional blades versus the weapons which harnesses the "crutches" he considered the special properties of Dust to be.

Armed
Astray's fighting style is brutal to its core but can result in expertly chained combos when executed correctly. His use of Gerbera Breaker is more akin to wielding a long-hammer rather than a sword as his swings have no intention to cut through flesh and bone but rather crush them to pulp.

Attacks contain long, powerful, but drawn-out strokes that are devastating to defend against, making it a better option to dodge rather than block or parry.

Attacks in this style was entirely self taught with a mixture of observing the styles of others. The lethality of the fighting style is further enhanced by the Dust Injection Engine as mentioned above and his Semblance.

Semblance: Revlius Trigger
Revlius Trigger is a Semblance that enhances the solidification of muscle memory. While not a very visible or flashy Semblance, it is an ability that guarantees the reproduction of previously practiced action without fault.

Take note, the target action with a desired result must be performed by the user before the Semblance can remember the action for the desired result to happen again.

Of course, this does not mean that hitting a target perfectly and copying the action will guarantee a hit when the Semblance is active, but rather the same action that made a hit beforehand. This applies to marksmanship of any type as well, hitting a target perfectly and remembering the action will only reproduce the exact effect again only if the conditions were exactly the same as before.

With the conditions in mind, Revlius Trigger was used by Astray as a means to reload the Dust magazines of Gerbera Breaker at a reliable rate at which no jamming for fumbling can occur. Due to many years of practice, he has gotten the reload time to just under 1 second. This allows a continuous ignition of the Engine in about 3 seconds, paving the way for insane combo potential.

However, the Semblance also acquires the drawbacks of muscles memory as well. If the action is not practiced constantly, the Semblance forgets it and can no longer perform with the same precision.

History
For as long has he can remember, Astray Hāto was to be a name of great importance and tradition. A member and heir of the Hāto clan, a family with ties to the lover of legendary sword-smith Kikimi Chitan, Astray was entitled to the secrets of the Hāto Sword-Making Techniques.

Despite being a family of long traditions, they were quite liberal with their children and wise in the ways of secular interactions. They knew of the Grimm threat and were aware of efforts being made to combat the crisis. Thus, with honest tidings and the promise to end all conflicts like Kikimi Chitan and his lover once did before, they provided well honed warriors to the battle schools of Remnant, Astray Hāto being among them.

The Hāto Sword-Making Techniques were a sword-making methodology developed by the Hāto to honour Kikimi Chitan. Unlike Kikimi Chitan, whose talent in the art was said to surpass even the gods, Hāto Sword-Making takes a much humbler approach by disregarding the quality of the materials but instead expressing the heart of the materials into its rightful form.

Astray's weapon originated from his first assignment at Signal Academy. His heritage and the Signal facilities allowed for easy production of a simple blade, this would be the first iteration of Gerbera Breaker before the Academy staff failed him for "simplicity". Thus, the current Gerbera Breaker was born.

As the years passed, Astray would excel in his combat abilities and graduated to Beacon Academy as one of the Jewel Generation of Hunters. It is here he earned the name of "Iron-Blooded Asura" for his brutally combo-efficient style. His graduation came and he operated as a highly respected Hunter for several years.

However, as time passed, he no longer found satisfaction in the slaying of Grimm and yearned to return to his roots as the heir to a sword-making clan. Not wanting to disappoint his clan by abandoning his duty as a Hunter, he began taking commissions for weapon forging, an action deeply forbidden by the Hāto. The presense of the weapons made by Astray soon reached the Clan, causing an uproar and resulting in the exile of Astray.

Free from his responsibilities, Astray retired as a Hunter and relocated to a remote village in the mountainous regions of Vale. There, he continued to hone his craft and assisted the people of the small community. It is here he found love in the platinum-haired daughter of the villager fisherman, married her and the two produced a daughter for the life of his wife.

As the sole caretaker now and having no knowledge of proper parenting, Astray neglected to give his daughter a name, as only he and she lived in their household. He still loved his daughter very much, however, but knowing only of smithing, he taught her the art at an early age, thus, passing on the Hāto legacy. He trained her and crafted a sword for his daughter. He named it Shiranami in remembrance of his late wife who always loved the crashing waves. He then taught her how to properly wield it along with the secrets of his trade.

During his daughter’s twelfth birthday, his father was visited by a group of white cloaked individuals who demanded the father to forge weapons for them, or, to hand over his forging techniques; in exchange, proper compensations would be provided. The father complied at first, tempted by the offer of money that would enable him to take care of his daughter and himself, but grew to resent his decision with every weapon he made. He somehow knew that the pieces he forged were used unjustly and for malicious purposes rather than respected as art or the preservation of life, but realized the lesson his Clan was trying to teach, too late. His eventual refusal ultimately lead to his terminal illness and death.

Heart
His daughter, which meant the world to him despite his lack of knowledge in raising a child. Like any father, he cared deeply for her and the feelings are mutual.

She would later be named Heart by a boy named Asher Stahl and attend Beacon Academy like her father.

Trivia

 * Astray alludes to the Arabic word for Satan (شيطان shaitan) which means astray or distant, one would assume the Devil has a red colour scheme.
 * Astray also alludes to the MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame of mecha manga and anime Gundam SEED: Astray.
 * References include the red colour scheme and the sword name of Gerbera Breaker similar to the Mobile Suit's Gerberea Straight katana.
 * Astray's physical appearance is modeled after Yukihira Jōichirō and Sōma from the cooking manga Shokugeki no Soma.
 * Astray's personality is slightly based off Shigure Kousaka's father from martial arts and ecchi manga History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi.
 * The Gerbera Breaker ,as well as the fighting style associating with it, is a straight influence of The Red Queen, Nero's weapon from the popular hack'n'slash game Devil May Cry 4.
 * Gerbera is a genus of plants (daisies) named after a German botanist and medical doctor Traugott Gerber.