Azurine Zaffer

"I'm... I'm not good at this. I'm sorry, guys. I'm letting you down as the leader, and I know that, and I'm sorry."

- Azurine Zaffer

Azurine Zaffer
Azurine Zaffer is the seventeen year old leader of Team AQMR with incredibly low self esteem, but high intelligence. She comes from an average family with one younger sister, Vadali Zaffer

Appearance
Azurine has long, wavy black hair with one blue streak that reaches to the small of her back, but is normally tied in a loose bun for convenience. She has a fair complexion and azure blue eyes. Her height is 5' 7", and she weighs 157 lbs. Although she is slightly overweight, she is fairly muscular.

Before FoB
Before the Fall of Beacon, Azurine was normally clothed in a blue coat with a yellow border and her emblem on its back, black pants, white over the knee boots, and black gloves.

At the dance, Azurine was

After FoB
After the Fall of Beacon, Azurine's eyesight was reduced, causing the addition of glasses. Her formerly white over the knee boots were replaced with beige combat boots. Besides these changes, her uniform remained the same.

Personality
Azurine is a highly intelligent, shy girl with dangerously low self esteem. Despite this, she has great leadership skills she refuses to acknowledge, and can relate with others on a much higher level than she is willing to admit.

She suffers from generalized anxiety disorder, depression, and panic disorder, a combination that does not serve her well in battle, as she is prone to failure due to random panic attacks.

Her disorders can be noted in her movements and speech, such as avoidance of eye contact, heavy and quick breathing, trembling, and a low tone of voice. She can be contentious due to lack of sleep, but tries to hide her irritability.

In combat, a new side of her is shown: quick, energetic, confident, and focused, a quick thinker who doesn't back down despite her mental issues. This is when her intelligence is proven by her astounding strategizing skills and unwavering focus.

After the Fall of Beacon, her anxiety is intensified, but also her determination and sense of justice. Although she still has a low ego, she believes more in herself and her strength.

Semblance
Azurine's semblance is Empathy. When it is activated, it causes her aura and irises to glow, and she is able to sense the target's current emotion, future movements, sincerity, and personality, and plants that information in her mind. This semblance is derived from her hunger for understanding and information.

Applications
Azurine can use her semblance to:
 * Predict her opponent's next move
 * Detect lies, as she can read their sincerity
 * Emotionally connect with them/relate
 * Understand them better
 * Easily manipulate people

Limits
After using her semblance, Azurine gets a moderate to severe headache, and her vision is blurry for the next ten minutes. She also has to write down the information she obtained quickly before she forgets, if she would like to keep it, as she forgets the information exactly twenty-five seconds after Empathy is activated. She also must be able to see her target, and the semblance takes ten seconds to charge, while staring at the target (awkward). The semblance can only be used once a day.

In combat, the semblance is only useful for quick planning, and can only predict the target's immediate next move, unless the semblance is super-charged.

Super-Charged
"Super-Charging" Empathy allows Azurine to gather more information about the target, and she can predict an opponent's next ten moves rather than one. To super-charge her semblance, she must have immense focus and willpower, and the normal charging length is extended to twenty-five seconds rather than ten.

As this harms her brain for an extended amount of time, sometimes permanently if she uses it too harshly, Azurine has never used it, although she knows about it. She promised herself to only use it in the case of a severe emergency. Not much else is known about super-charging her semblance.

Before FoB
Azurine's weapon, Mauti, is a ring placed on her right middle finger that, when taken off, is enlarged into a tri-spiked chakram. She uses this weapon for melee and ranged combat, although she much prefers melee. In its ring form, it is silver, but in its chakram form, it turns black with silver spikes.

After FoB
After the Fall of Beacon, Azurine changed her weapon once she had recovered from the sting of loss and grief. She added spaces in each spike to place dust, firing laser beams of dust if she pressed one of five buttons. The first three buttons (1, 2, and 3) would fire a laser beam from the corresponding spike. The fourth (A) would fire laser beams from all spikes at once, and the fifth (B) allows the weapon to be thrown and exploded once it reaches the ground (like a bomb), while still remaining intact. The colors remain the same, but the name is changed to Conniption.

Childhood
"I thought everyone knowed that."

- 6 year old Azurine Zaffer From the young age of 5 years old, Azurine was gifted in intelligence, receiving high marks in all subjects in school. Her intelligence got positive and negative attention from her teachers and peers, as some were envious of her.

Other students began to bully her for her marvelous intellect, using violent words and actions to put her down. The bullying soon lead to depression at the age of 7 and, half of a year later, anxiety and panic disorder joined in. She hid her disorders and lied that she was okay. She did not want any more special attention or anything else to be bullied about.

She caught on to the hatred of the White Fang as more and more people trash talked the group, and began quietly joining in herself. When her parents showed disapproval of her new hatred, she was confused, and decided to keep most, if not all, of her thoughts to herself.

One of her teachers, thinking she was cheating due to other students' complaints, physically harmed Azurine and threatened to lower her grades if she told anyone or failed to show up at the location in time. Thankfully, this was stopped by the principal, who gave Azurine a free extra textbook about weapons and dust. She spent most of her time from there in her room studying this textbook, and this inspired her to become a huntress.

Signal Academy
When Azurine was old enough, she qualified to enter Signal Academy, and was accepted for her supreme intelligence. When she was creating her weapon, she spent all her time and effort into getting it perfect, wasting no time for anything else. Due to its inability to use dust, and her perfectionist trait, she was unsatisfied with the outcome, but went with it anyway.

She received high marks in all of the classes, catching the attention of Professor Ozpin and Professor Lionheart. In a desire for understanding, she accidentally activated her semblance when speaking to another student, and had a nervous breakdown in shock and fear, as she had never used it before. However, when she used it again three days later, she started to gain more control over it, and when she used it a third time the next day, she had already mastered it.

When her mother found out, Azurine expected a negative response, but was given the opposite: battle training and semblance mastery. Although her disorders still remained prominent, she was learning to enjoy life a bit more.

Invitations
Shortly before Azurine's graduation from Signal, her parents got a letter from Professor Ozpin asking to meet with them and Azurine separately. At the meeting, her parents were asked permission to enroll Azurine in Beacon, which her parents eagerly accepted. When it was Azurine's turn, Ozpin asked about herself before asking if she would like to join his school. Although nervous, Azurine accepted.

Two days later, the same offer was given by Professor Lionheart, not knowing Azurine was already preparing for Beacon. Her parents kindly rejected him and continued expressing their excitement about Beacon.

Vadali was torn between being happy for her sister and envious, but got over her envy when Lionheart offered her to his school, which she accepted with a broad smile. Although the two were going to different schools, they were happy for each other nonetheless.

Skills

 * Master of her semblance
 * Strategizing
 * Studying
 * Cooking
 * Offense
 * Knowledge
 * Dust
 * Strong
 * Quick thinker
 * Intelligent

Weaknesses

 * Defense
 * Easily triggered
 * Anxiety and panic disorder
 * Depression
 * Evasion
 * Overwhelming curiosity
 * Self conscious
 * Sensitive
 * Fidgety
 * Art

Initiation and FoB
The rest of the story has not been made yet, and will be published with a link once it has.

Initiation
At initiation, Azurine fell to the ground hard, not having perfected her landing strategy due to her perfectionist trait and tendency to change her plans. Coincidentally, she fell on another initiate who had fallen face to the ground as well: Quartz Limpyd.

Quartz slid out and apologized before helping her up. He noticed her anxiety and felt bad, so he made a promise Azurine doubted he could keep: help her overcome it. The two made their way through the Emerald Forest until they were attacked out of nowhere by a giant slug Grimm, which the two were unable to defeat despite Azurine's intelligent plans, until Mazarine Capreen appeared and aggressively attacked the slug, distracting it while Azurine finished it off by slicing it in its left center side.

Ronchi Taupe jumped from a tree and claimed he could have taken it before attempting to kiss Mazarine's hand. Mazarine jerked it away and introduced Ronchi, her teammate. Azurine and Ronchi instantly hated each other.

The four traveled together until they reached the relics, where everyone else was battling Grimm. Azurine, knowing they couldn't do anything, decided to slip around them and choose the only pieces left. When initiation was done, the four were made into team AQMR, with Azurine as the reluctant leader.

Fall of Beacon
When the unknown woman had completed her speech, Quartz insisted that they go help the fighters, Ronchi agreeing with him. However, Azurine pointed out that they weren't prepared, other people were dealing with the situation, and they had a high chance of death.

Despite Quartz and Ronchi's protests, Mazarine agreed with Azurine, and Ronchi, thinking it would improve his relationship with Mazarine, agreed as well, leaving Quartz outnumbered. The team went to the evacuation ships to find that Quartz was missing.

They looked around until they found Quartz assisting in the battle against the Nevermore. Azurine hurried over to him and grabbed him by the arm and tugged him away from the battle and to the evacuation ships. She explained why they couldn't fight, and admitted her own fears, to him, until he finally agreed, and the four left Beacon. Although she regretted her decision, Azurine knew she made right, most logical choice.

Still in a team, the four went to Azurine's house, Mazarine talking with Azurine's parents for a little while and the others watching television while Azurine planned a large strategy. When it was ready, she called the others into her room so she could explain the plan to them. They agreed, and set off on a journey to get revenge on the White Fang, who assisted in the Fall of Beacon.

Quotes
"I... um... this is a.... thing now. Team. Us."

- Azurine Zaffer in the dorm "Oh... hey. You're really... you're... cool... really very... um."

- Azurine Zaffer to Mazarine "Are we the best? No. But are we going to rock this dance? Probably not that either, but we'll still be cool."

- Azurine Zaffer "Stay out of it. Stay out of it. Quartz! Stay out of it!"

- Azurine Zaffer during the food fight "Shut up, you ignorant brat, stick to the plan."

- Azurine Zaffer to Ronchi

Trivia

 * Azurine is a French name meaning sky blue.
 * The surname Zaffer was inspired by the color zaffre.
 * Azurine's first weapon name, Mauti, means "death" in Swahili.
 * I don't have much to say for the trivia. That's pretty much it. Thanks for reading this, I guess?