Drake Valderis

Drake Valderis was born in the city of Mistral, though he did not stay there long. Soon after his birth, his biological father abandoned him and his mother, leaving them to fend for themselves. Due to a complete lack of support from anyone around them, Drake’s mother chose to move. They initially traveled north towards Wind Path. Throughout Drake’s life he has traveled almost the entirety of the continent of Anima. His mother was forced to continuously move to find work, food, and shelter for her son. Because of this nomadic lifestyle, Drake learned to avoid deep relationships with people, knowing that he would soon lose them. This caused him to begin to develop a subconscious bitterness towards people whom he simply expected to abandon or betray him. His mother worried about his emotional stability and decided to send him to Sanctum Academy. There he learned to fight and developed a strong appreciation for strategy and battle planning. Unfortunately, the stagnant lifestyle of the school led him to leave after a couple of years. Drake was a nomad at heart, and had a hard time staying in one place for too long. He returned to his mother, who was struggling to make a living and survive. Because of attending Sanctum, he was now able to protect his mother from Grimm and other people if necessary. They continued to travel around Anima, searching for work wherever they could find it. However, as Drake’s mother grew older, he knew he needed to decide what he wanted to do with his life. When he was 16 he helped his mother move back to Mistral permanently, where she then died in her bed two years later. After arranging her funeral, he then set off to find a purpose. After traveling throughout all of Anima (and not usually the areas of high society), Drake had seen so much pain and injustice, caused by both people and Grimm. He decided that he needed to help protect people, and to do that he needed to train. He decided that Haven Academy in Mistral was not for him, due to the many painful memories he had in Mistral, and so he looked elsewhere, to find somewhere he could trust. Finally, after much searching, he found Syne Academy, located on a small island called Bellmuse off the coast of Vale. He travels there now in the hopes of finding a purpose and a place to call home.

Drake took in a deep breath as he stepped outside. Well, he thought, let’s do this. He began to stride down the steps in the direction of the airship. He was apprehensive about going back to a combat school, not because of the combat, but because of the people. He knew making friends would be necessary (especially if he was put on a team), but he didn’t know how to make close relationships. At the very least I have to be nice to people. He began to think on how to deal with this dilemma, when a flash of light caught his eye. He turned to see what it was, and immediately threw himself to one side to avoid the bladed whip that was flying towards him. He rolled to one side and jumped to his feet, grinning. “Ah Cerise, I was wondering when you’d get here.” He spoke lightly, but stayed in a ready stance, certain that his foe would attack at any opportunity. Cerise glared at him “Where do you think you’re going, Valderis?” She stalked towards him, lightly waving her whip back and forth. “You still haven’t paid me for those rations from two months ago.” Drake started to reply, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the attack that he was waiting for commenced. He saw the shift of weight onto her left foot. Drake dived forward, rolling under the whip, activating Azure Ceraun as he did so. Cerise immediately pulled back on the whip, bring the blades ringing towards Drake’s back. Drake, knowing that he couldn’t avoid the attack, spun around to minimize the damage, bringing his bracers up to deflect as much of the attack as possible. Drake knew that Cerise would not let the opportunity go to waste. He was unsteady and she had the ranged weapon. He saw her rear her arm back for another swing, and instead of trying to avoid the attack, he leapt directly towards her. Drake activated his semblance, feeling the electricity course through him and arcing across the blades on his arms. Surprised by the unexpected direction of his attack, Cerise jumped backwards, spinning her whip in a circle in front of her to ward off his attack. But Cerise hadn’t prepared for Drake’s planning. Knowing the advantages that Cerise held, he didn’t attack her directly. He knew she had the range, so he had to get in close. Instead, he flipped over her, slashing at her head and back as he landed. Stunned, Cerise fell forward to her knees. She was surprised about the overhead attack, but she was also paralyzed by the electrical attack. Drake took the opportunity to sprint off, rushing into the airship moments before the door closed. He breathed a sigh of relief, and then sat down on the floor, back against the wall. Today is going to suck, he thought, as the ship flew off in the direction of Bellamue.