Post by Zero on Feb 23, 2011 12:56:21 GMT -5
Name: Zero Cipher
Alias: Nil
Spouse: Mitsuko Clara Cipher
Children: Matthew Adam Cipher
Age: 18 years old[created] ~ 22 years old[after marriage]
Height: 172cm | 5'8
Race: Human
Birthdate: November 12, 1993 (Scorpio eyes bore deeply into you, mercilessly, as if they're penetrating your very soul. They are.)
Class/Occupation: Hitman / Bounty Hunter
Country of Origin: Outskirts of the domain's forests
Country of Residence: Veyyard, The Lost Lands
Background: (Warning: Do not read if sleepy)
Zero was born nameless, have nothing to inherit genetically or materially, and no family to claim him, thus is why the man who found him in the sewers eventually called him "Zero". Unfortunately for the baby, the man who found him is a drunkard gambler, who lives with his fellow alcoholic housemates in his messy precarious cottage, very close to a forest since the men are lumberjacks.
So of course, Zero was raised poorly.
During his childhood years, Zero was often looked down upon whether in his house or in the neighborhood. His very name is the core of all the insults that was thrown onto him, and thus he grows as a very bitter and angry child. He began to rebel against the men in his house before he even reached 10, and in turn, got kicked out. But not before getting beaten half to death by his horde of half-drunk caretakers, of course. His blood attracted several forest wolves taking refuge inside the forest and it's not long before his half-conscious body got dragged inside the woods.
When he awakens, he's been treated and bandaged by a very soft-spoken 12-year-old girl with the largest blue eyes. It was actually the first act of kindness Zero had ever received, so he greatly respects this girl, whom he learnt later on that her name is Mitsuko. She offers him to stay with her under the care of her godparents, but Zero stated that he'd just stay till his wounds were healed. Little Mitsuko disagreed of course, but the young boy had silently promised himself that he'd sneak out if he have to.
Through her gentle ways, he tries to correct himself to not get violent when people calls his name, but accept it as no matter how crude his name is, it actually symbolizes him. Mitsuko had suggested if he could change his own name, but Zero refuses. He said that people remembers him by this name, and while they remember, he'd like to show them that just because his name means 'of no value', that doesn't mean he can't succeed in life. The rest of his days, he spent living with Mitsuko and eventually she became his very first best friend. She even made a pair of rings for the both of them, on hers it wrote 'best' while on his it wrote 'friend'.
By a cruel twist of fate however, just when Zero's wounds were fully healed, he heard noises outside his window and upon opening them, saw a pack of fleeing bandits passing through the forest. Panicked that there's a witness, the bandits swiftly pulled the boy out from his window and kidnapped him to kill him for later when they're at a safer area. By that time, the only thought that lingers in his mind is at least he kept his silent promise.
8-year-old Zero was kidnapped and brought right into Veyyard. The men who dragged him there even shot his right arm to play around with their sadistical games. They then tied two very thick red clothes around his wound while not even bothering to pull out the bullet inside the poor boy's arm. What truly pisses the boy off is when they stole the ring Mitsuko made for him, so Zero exploded in such anger, he managed to wildly bit the shooter's earlobe off.
That got the man very surprised at how spunky the kid is, and after a pause, he threw a gun to Zero, kicked the boy inside Arthera, and challenged the boy that if he managed to live through Arthera within one week without pulling off the red clothes that was tied around his arm, then the men would take him in for a 'surprise ride'. Burning with anger, little Zero accepted.
Being a ferocious little guy, Zero didn't just survive in Arthera, he even got used to it. Himself being a lefty saved him since his right arm is basically useless to even hold up the gun. The wound from the shot he got on his arm is paining him because he can't even clean it or get the bullet out, since it's a part of the deal to not pull of the red clothes off. The bacteria had caused his whole right arm to numb, and it's terribly disgusting by the smell it emitted.
He bumped paths with the men who kidnapped him 7 days later, and upon seeing the child still breathing and seething at them, the men took Zero into custody like they promised. The 'surprise ride' they were talking about was actually gunmanship. That's when Zero's life began to turn into a critical twist, and he turned out being one of the youngest bounty hunters of Veyyard, by the alias of "Nil" for the rest of the hunters, meaning 'something of no value or importance'.
Updated Background:
After reuniting with his first and best friend, Mitsuko, Zero has been completely inseparable from her. As more time passes, one after one challenge kept presenting themselves to the two. It is then that they both began to realize how synchronized they are in all aspects, be it emotionally, spiritually and even physically.
Both of them finally confessed after a year of reunion, and they moved forward from being best friends to lovers. Through it all, their relationship only gets stronger and brighter. A year after that, Zero proposed Mitsuko on her birthday, and their marriage is planned out by their many families and friends. It was the most amazing day up to date in Zero's life.
After being blessed by Jean, Mitsuko's adopted father, and Faun, Zero's claimed guardian, they lead their life happily together. A year after that, Mitsuko conceived a beautiful blonde baby boy and named him Matthew Adam Cipher. Thus began, Zero's adventure as a husband, a father and a caretaker.
Personality:
Zero is an extremely short-tempered young man who would lash out violently either verbally or physically by even the tiniest things that annoys him. Thankfully, he's not that easily annoyed, so just stay on his good side. On normal terms, he's rather controlled and frigid. Growing up with a number of misfortunes that always befalls on him, Zero has a bitter outlook of life and always wears a sour expression on his face. If you're sensitive, don't ask his opinion or advice. You'll get the naked, brutal truth. He can be cruel sometimes, for his own, unfathomable reasons, and he may even exhibit a sadistic sense of wit.
Though, thanks to the encounter with Mitsuko, he had gained a realization of how troubled his heart is, thus he is trying very hard to soothe it. That is why, unlike other bounty hunters, Zero would investigate the background of his victim before he was sent to hound them. Then, based of what he learnt, Zero would either blast the person's head off, or just saying that he did but in reality helping the person escape. This shows that he's a very fair man, and isn't afraid of rebelling against orders that doesn't feel right to him.
Zero is intensely loyal to his few selected friends. He would leap instantly, instinctively, to brave the bullets and drag his buddy to safety. Sometimes it seems Zero unconsciously seek violence deliberately, as a challenge to his strength. He enjoys a good fight, but he intends to win it - ALWAYS. Compromise is not one of his virtues. He never forgets a gift or a kindness, and it's richly rewarded. Conversely, he also remembers an injury or an injustice, and how he paid them back is hauntingly mortifying. Zero would lie awake nights figuring how to get even.
In a nutshell, Zero can be a saint and or a sinner. He's fiercely protective of children and the weaker souls, yet he is a dangerous man if he began to question your motives. He can hate with bitter venom and love with fierce abandon, one thing's for sure; he's never wishy-washy. Now that he's strong enough to fight back whatever's been holding him down, Zero sets out to find the things that were stolen from him, to prove to those who mocks him that he's capable to be someone beyond his name, and hopefully to find the angel that saved his spirit from corrupting.
Weapons/Abilities:
Of course, being a marksman, Zero handles a gun. Though he usually uses his Dragunov, a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight, since if he decided to exterminate someone, he rather does it from a distance and kills his victim silently.
He also owns a pair of handguns strapped on each of his waist in case there's a horde of people encircling him. One of the handguns is loaded with a special bullets that would explode upon contact with solid objects. Other than that, he still kept his first pistol belonging to the man that shoot his arm before, though he rather kept it as a memorial than using it to protect himself.
For abilities, Zero is not that lucky to possess incredible special inherited qualities(for he was born as 'nothingness'), but his normal everyday abilities did critically heightened when he's in danger. During a risk, Zero would have a higher chance in shooting very precisely, has a higher strength to withstand pain and even gained a sort of sixth sense to correctly guess which way to go away from danger...despite his no-sense-in-direction problem.
Strengths:
Born with nothing that could give the tiniest clue of why he even live, Zero relies on hard-work and persistent determination to get through challenges and shaped up who he is now. Thanks to his constant hardwork, he has gained the habit of pointing his gun at everything, including his temmates. Especially when he was jostled by a loud sound or impact, Zero would nimbly flipped up his gun in a moment's time automatically, which makes him a very quick shooter due to his quick reflexes.
He has the will of steel, unmeltable unbreakable undestroyable steel. Zero not only enjoys winning, he HAS to win. Something inside him dies when he loses, even in small ways; yet oddly enough, the young man normally practices good sportsmanship. While others are mumbling and crumbling and grumbling, he is at his forceful, courageous best. He seldom wallows in envy or self-pity, and he doesn't happen to think that life owes him a single penny. Instead of pouting in dissapointment when real troubles hit, he meets them head on. Conquer them? But of course.
Mentally, Zero is driven by justification. He would strongly stand his ground in defending circumstances that were proved to be of solid reasonings and for what he 'feels right'. This shows that he relies on both rational thoughts and his instincts, which is a rare combination to lean upon since both of those aspects contradict each other on normal terms. Though for Zero, it's somehow very easy for him to synchronize them. Zero's sense of justice is as strong as the sense of revenge. He'll remember every kindness and give you back double for that, too. It works both ways.
Weaknesses:
Due to the unfortunate events he had gone through all his life, Zero had silently lacked self-confidence and seems to suffer from an inferiority complex issue. He always believes that he's at a disadvantage in basically everything, since he's not gifted with skills that are inborn within him, so this makes him slower in catching up with the others. When he wants to learn something, he has to start from square one, the very basic, and it would take him a longer time in being as the same level as the others.
Another one of his weakness is he can't read. He was never properly educated, so that pulls him in a disadvantage when he's out exploring and he can't even read a signboard on where to go, so he frequently got lost, and as an after-effect of continuously loosing his bearings, Zero had lost his sense of direction entirely, comically. He can't seem to find his way to the local toilets even when he has been living in the area for 10 years, thus he needs someone to always be his chaperone. The other hunters understands his strange quirk needlessly.
Physically, Zero's right arm is significantly weaker than his left one due to the traumatic experience he went through as a child. He was shot at his right arm and the bullet wasn't pulled out for a long while. Though he had seek medical attention to it and had pulled the bullet out a week after he was shot, the doctor said his arm will be permanently weak like this for the rest of his life, thanks to bacterial infections. So basically, Zero relies on his left arm most of the time.
Zero's biggest weakness is his anger. Once he's pissed off, he would get so lost in his rage, he basically would start shooting and punching at everything like a madman. He has a brilliant explosive temper that can strike a life-time wound. He has forgotten to be rational during his flipping phases too, which proves to be all the more dangerous since nobody can really calm him down. This makes him an easy target since his wild punches would be predictable and others can easily trick him into a trap. The only way to stop him during his phases is to seek shelter and waits till he tires himself out and collapse.
Appearance:
Zero still kept the two red clothes that was tied around his bloodied right arm during the time when he was shot as a child. He washed it regularly and would tie them around his right arm till now, to remind himself of that once-in-a-lifetime experience for him to never give up, and also as a sign of luck.
The red tie was actually a gift given to him on his 18th birthday by the very man that shot his arm before, as a sign that he has grown up to be a man, and despite Zero's dislike of anything that bounded his neck, he was forced to wear it by the man, and was told to give the tie back to the man if Zero ever gets himself married.
Basically, the tie is a reminder for the other hunters of their youngest member being 'untouched', much to Zero's annoyance since they kept teasing him with it.
