Kassandra Vaitaki

[Aura]

Name: Kassandra Vaitaki
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Height: 5’11”
Weight 146 lbs
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Kills: One or none
Weapon: Chain and padlock

Appearance: Tall and outfitted with lean muscle, Kassandra is hard to miss in a crowd.  Her darkly tanned skin reflects her Tongan heritage, and her face is noted for being very sharp and stern-looking, largely thanks to her resting scowl.  Her hair reaches just past her shoulderblades, and is quite wild and eye-catching, being mostly straight, but having areas that stick up or curl oddly while the rest of her hair cascades downwards, giving the impression of layers.  On Announcement Day, she was wearing a black T-shirt featuring blue and green lines in the style of seismograph readings across the front underneath an unzipped gray hoodie, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

Interests: Kassandra is a huge fan of music, particularly electronic music thanks to her mother’s influence.  She has spent a significant amount of time trying to create her own tracks, with mixed success.  She is also quite involved in urban exploration out of a sense of wonder and wanting to see things that few other people do, and this hobby eventually grew to include an interest in parkour to help her get around more easily during these excursions.  Finally, she spends quite a bit of time in the gym, primarily working on the heavy bag and treadmill in order to keep herself in good shape.

History:  Kassandra was born to a mover and a truck driver in Denver.  Because her father spent a lot of time on the road, her mother was easily the most major figure in her life.  She quickly became a confidant for Kassandra, which was something that she desperately needed while facing prejudice and bigotry for seemingly no real reason on a near-daily basis.  The two of them have formed a strong bond that has persisted even though Kassandra’s turbulent teenage years.  She does love her father as well, but because he is away from home so much, there is a distance of sorts between the two of them, and they feel that they don’t know each other as well as they probably should.

It was early on that her mother introduced her to music, giving her some of her old CDs.  It was within those CDs that Kassandra discovered a couple of electronica artists who captured her attention.  Those two discs were played far more than any others in her early collection, and she would go on to search for more output from said artists as well as those who made similar music.  Once she was able to get a computer of her own, she started researching how to make music.  She recently required the necessary programs to create her own tracks, and now attempts to become an artist in her own right.

When Kassandra got older and didn’t need to be looked after as much, her mother took some more hours at the moving company in order to earn a little more money for the family.  With this new free time, Kassandra would explore the city, taking a particular interest in areas that were either closed down or abandoned.  At first she could only look around from outside, but eventually she developed the courage to sneak in through windows and look around inside, exploring places that likely hadn’t been seen in years.

She first got into parkour as a sort of accompaniment for her hobby.  However, she has accepted that she has virtually no chance of imitating the high level maneuvers such as flipping and spinning off of walls, and she hasn’t even attempted to replicate them.  Rather, she just uses the general philosophy of moving quickly and efficiently to help herself get around more easily both on and off of her exploration runs.

Outside of her hobbies, Kassandra does not have a very charmed life.  Her ethnicity leaves her as a target to those who would specify her as “Unamerican”, and her temper refuses to let her harassers get away clean.  As a result, she has been in a few fights with people who just couldn’t get the hint and leave her alone.  In an attempt to dissuade further harassment, she became something of a gym rat, frequently working out to make herself tougher and more intimidating, and therefore less of a target for bullies.

Personality:  Having to deal with bullies and bigots constantly has led Kassandra to become quite bitter and cynical.  She views those who consider themselves more “worthy” than others because of their skin color and status with disdain, and they frequently return the favor.  She gets annoyed very quickly, especially when dealing with stupidity or cruelty, and tends to lash out when she reaches her breaking point.  Most of the few times where Kassandra seems to actually be happy and content usually involve either indulging in one of her hobbies or hanging out with one of her few friends.

Reputation:  Kassandra has a rather negative reputation across the board.  The “patriot” students view her as a delinquent and a nuisance, and her clashes with them have only strengthened that perception.  Also, despite only being in a few fights, none of which she actually started, the rumor mill has crafted stories of her as a punch-happy thug who beats people up for fun.  Thanks to that reputation, even a lot of her open-minded peers are quite wary of her.