Tsubaki Silvius

"A flower only blooms in the rain."

- Tsubaki Silvius

Tsubaki Silvius is a second-year student at Beacon Academy--the second member of Team NTHK (Nighthawk) as the partner of Kaili Hart.

Appearance
Tsubaki has a pale complexion, and stands at a height of 5'9". Most of her long, wavy light pink hair it kept down, with a white headband to keep it out of the way of her face, save one bundle of strands on the left side of her face. Two separate parts, one on either side of her head, are curled up in a circle, held with two white ponytail bands, and with several strands sticking up away from her head. She wears a white eye-patch over her left eye, under which is a massively scarred area, while her right eye is a red color.

When out of Beacon uniform, Tsubaki wears a red-trimmed, white kimono that only goes to her knees. A light pink version of her symbol appears on the bottom-left part of the kimono. The belt/sash part of the kimono is mainly red, with the middle stripe being light pink, on the left side of which a katana sheath is attached. The kimono itself is made so she can easily move in it, as well as fight. Tsubaki also wears a pair of pink flower earrings like the ones in the picture.

Personality
In general, Tsubaki is quite unnerving. She always wears a straight face, very rarely showing any sign of emotion, and her one red eye tends to make people feel like she's staring into their soul.

Tsubaki has a habit of interrupting shenanigans before they happen, as shown with her prankster teammate Kaili. Tsubaki's always calling her out in the middle of an attempt to startle Hirsch or annoy Nile. And being herself, her tone while doing so isn't raised, nor reveals any hint of emotion, while her statements are delivered bluntly. In fact, that's how Tsubaki states most things - bluntly.

Quite stoical, Tsubaki rarely shows any sign of the pain and suffering she's been through. She doesn't like talking about her past, and prefers to keep it all inside, not wanting to be pitied or comforted. She never cries in front of others - in fact, Tsubaki shows pretty much no emotion to others. Even by herself, she tries not to show anything, not knowing who might come along.

History
Tsubaki was born in Roseville, to a couple whom she barely remembers. Growing up, she had a mostly quiet life. Then, when she was 6, a gang burned down the town, taking the children and killing the adults. The kidnappers forced them to do many things, from building to fighting each other (killing optional) - sometimes even small, baby Grimm for the more experienced.

At first, Tsubaki couldn't stand to fight, and never attacked unless under severe stress. When she did, however, it was with a fierceness that can only come from being in a life or death situation. Eventually, Tsubaki became reclusive and shut off from almost all feeling. The days went by in a blur of numbness for her, and she barely flinched whenever she was beaten - which often caused the beater to go to greater lengths.

As a result, Tsubaki gradually came to have a very high pain tolerance and her present stoical nature. And since she still refused to fight, the bouts she was put into became both interesting and a bore - interesting because no one ever knew when she was going to break and finally lash out, but a bore because waiting for that time took forever.

Relationships

 * Nile, as the team's leader, is someone Tsubaki respects. She follows pretty much every order given by him, speaking up if she disagrees with something, which led to Nile making her second-in-command. They aren't actually very close, due to Tsubaki's near-emotionless state, but she has no problem putting her life in his hands, knowing he'll make the right choice. She's a faithful deputy to his leadership.
 * To Tsu, Hirsch is a bit of a baby. She finds it disappointing that he never notices when Kaili's about to prank him, and teases him often. They have a bit of a brother-sister relationship, though Hirsch doesn't tease her back, which Tsubaki finds slightly disappointing.
 * Tsubaki sees Kaili as a reckless, arrogant fool who doesn't know how to or can't follow orders and plays around way too much. The prankster annoys her to no end, and Tsubaki seems to love making Kaili's plans fall apart, knowing it sets the pirate on edge. Though she has to admit the girl's combat skills are very good, Tsubaki wishes Kaili would just stop being so reckless and arrogant, and wouldn't trust the girl with her life unless there was no other choice.

Weapon
Tsubaki wields a nodachi that has a red hilt, with the diamond-shaped parts being a light pink, and a blade length of about 35 inches. She's named it (TBA).

Blade: The blade itself can fold up to the length of a katana, for easy storage in her katana scabbard.

Besides blade extension, it does not transform, nor does it use Dust. It is one of the few weapons in the RWBYVerse that doesn't have another function.

Semblance
Tsubaki's Semblance is Sensory Link. It allows her to use her Aura to link one person's senses with another or others, so what one feels, the other(s) also feel. When she uses it, glowing pink bands appear somewhere on the people she's linked - usually around the right wrist, or in the case of a Grimm, right foreleg. She can also put one on herself, not just others.

But Tsubaki can't start the link with someone more than ten feet away from her. Once she's started the link with one person, though, Tsubaki can link them with anyone else within 50 feet of herself. The farther away the people linked together are, however, the more it drains Tsubaki's Aura.

Keeping the link going also drains Tsu's Aura at a steady rate. How fast depends on how many people are linked together. Her Aura will be practically gone if she links three people, at maximum range, for 5 minutes.

If in a one-on-one battle, Tsubaki will usually link her senses with her opponent's, so as to make him/her/it feel the pain she feels from their attacks, and to set them off-balance. If facing multiple opponents, she links their feelings, so what one feels from being hit by her attacks, the other(s) feel as well.

Abilities
Tsubaki is a graceful young woman, with an abundant amount of agility. Her movements are not only elegant, but surprisingly fast as well. She uses this to her advantage in a fight, dodging and striking with incredible speed and grace.

Due to her past, Tsubaki also has a huge amount of endurance and willpower. Even after her Aura runs out, Tsu can take multiple hits, with what seems like barely any reaction to a simple bystander. Though to a keen observer, slight tensing can be seen, and she makes grimaces which can be seen by anyone at more serious wounds, like (if fighting an Ursa) claws raking her back.

It can also be inferred that Tsubaki is very perceptive, with keen eyesight, as she's always alerting her teammates to danger - or Kaili's antics. Whenever on a mission with her team, she's the one who takes note of landmarks, becoming a valuable asset when they get lost.

Tsubaki's fighting style incorporates many of her skills. With her endurance and agility, she wears down opponents, while at the same time, noting weak points with her eyes. Then, she strikes with precision at the noted weak points of her opponent. Being more of a one-on-one fighter, Tsu uses her Semblance to her advantage when facing multiple enemies, linking one's senses with one or more of their comrades.

Trivia/Author's Notes

 * Tsubaki means "camellia flower" in Japanese. Camellias are usually shades of pink.
 * Silvius is derived from Latin silva, meaning "wood, forest", though most use it as a twisted form of the word silver.
 * Tsubaki alludes to Ikaruga, a member of the Dark Guild Death's Head Caucus in the anime Fairy Tail.
 * While Ikaruga calls her sword a katana, the long blade suggests it's more of a nodachi, so that's what I made Tsu's weapon. A nodachi is similar to an Ōdachi, which is why the link goes there (that and "nodachi" redirects there).
 * Tsubaki's past, however, alludes more to Erza Scarlet, while her Semblance alludes to Meredy's Maguilty Sense, having the same name and purpose as Meredy's spell Sensory Link.
 * I give big thanks to CrazyGeek31, who did Tsubaki's symbol without me even asking. I have absolutely no words to describe my appreciation.
 * Her quote is reminiscent of the name of one of the Fairy Tail episodes, A Flower Blooms in the Rain. While it doesn't have her inspiration (Ikaruga) in it, I thought it was a very good parallel to the lesson of "the hard path brings the rewards" or whatever that saying is (I can't remember it off the top of my head).