Raine Shiba

Roheline Shiba, more predominantly/commonly known by his nickname "Raine", is a student attending  Siren Academy, the third member of  Team STRM , and one of the protagonists of  The Coming Storm.

Appearance
Raine is a teenager of slender build, average weight, and average height. He has a tanned skin color inherited from his father. His hair seems black, but is in actuality a very dark shade of green, and reaches down to the nape of his neck in slightly shaggy locks. His body is of a somewhat defined sculpt, though is not kept to the same intense athletic standard like many of the other males attending Siren Academy. As he grows older he begins to grow out his facial hair, a trait which he seems quite fond of as it feels externally indicative of his maturity. His most noticeable feature is the stark turquoise eyes inherited from his mother.

Volume 4 Onward:  After the events surrounding  Cold Void in  Volume 3, Raine has tied his hair back into a low ponytail, and traded in his clean white tunic for a more practical ensemble that will keep in warm in the coldest of times. His new dark green jacket comes down to his waist and is secured by a button loop closure with a green string and two diamond clasps. Along the large hood are bunches of white fur, as well as at the tops of his thick suede arm braces where the excess fabric of his sleeves is tucked in. Over his forearms are couplings of scratched up metal plates acting as his upper body defense from projectiles and close range attacks. Around his waist, Raine wears three accessories, including a ribbed cincher that comes up to a point in the middle and two sashes, one dark gray the other bright green. Over these is a tilted brown belt where he keeps his additional ammunition stored. The pants are gray in color and kept secured to his legs by two brown string ties just beneath his knees. His footwear is relatively simple—a pair of dark gray ribbed leg warmers and brown hiking boots. Additional metal plates are tapered down to these as defense.

Volumes 1-3: His attire has many pieces. Raine wears a long-sleeved, black v-neck shirt and a pair of black trousers as his base layer. Other these, he dones a white hooded, vest-like cover with two collar folds and a coattail that hangs down to his knees. It is lined with a number of light green accents, all typically one centimeter away from the edges of the coat. He holds this in place with the assistance of a brown archery chest guard that straps over his left shoulder and under his arms, and a tight green sash around his lower waist. This green sash is somewhat loose, but is secured by a thin black scarf which is clasped tight by a silver buckle at his left side. On his forearms are a pair of light green gloves the same color as his jacket accents, with only one sewn appendage to stick the thumb through; the rest of his fingers are free standing. Over these long gloves are two plated guards made of the same material as his chest guard, which strap three times around his arms. His footwear consists of a comfortable pair of brown hiking boots lined with white fur at the tops and tied at the ankles with two light green bands. Over all of this, Raine wears a green cape that extends down to his thighs; he prefers to wear the cape for some form of personal security, if not warmth.

Personality
Raine is a very bold individual who has managed to learn the importance of focusing and keeping a positive outlook on life. What he lacks in brawn he compensates for with his battleground creativity and strong understanding of inspirational morality. He is very aware of the things happening around him, and he usually doesn't fail to notice something out of the ordinary. In social circumstances, he tries his best to do things that will yield better results for everyone involved. Deep in his core, Raine is sincere; he likes to ensure the wellbeing of others and still seeks to become just as influential of an individual to others as his parents and those before them did. He will readily defend those he has managed to bond with, because he is passionate about anything he has emotionally attached himself to. Because of this, when anything he loves deeply is harmed he will feel an overwhelming sense of emotional urgency, and might throw himself into a situation head-first without sufficiently thinking it through.

Raine's problem-solving methods oftentimes rely on the unconventional, with strange inventive methods achieving many of his desired effects. He finds himself focused intensely on goals or obstacles (and the various unorthodox avenues through which he can manage through them) presented to him and won't stop until he's achieved a satisfying result. This has its drawbacks though, for by the time he returns his attention to his current circumstance, his surroundings very well may have changed entirely; this trait is one of the primary reasons he didn't pay attention to or hear about his brother's status until after the news of his untimely death was delivered to the family. Despite the troubling events of his history, Raine is able to keep a light heart. His relationships rely heavily on his moralistic views, as he often stresses how important being a good person is to him. Having grown up with a brother who so frequently feigned strength of character, Raine will only trust and respect an individual entirely if they are the type of person who is strong-willed and will go through every obstacle to defend what means most to them.

Background
Raine Shiba, born as Roheline Celadon Shiba, was a son of the Shiba family in a large generational estate in Xervia. While the home boasted qualities of a traditional manor, its many wings and annexes added to it over the generations have made it appear architecturally inconsistent, and has since made it something of an fascinating anomaly to their neighbors. Being the third of four children, the halls of the home were often filled with the voices of his siblings (August, Esmeralda, and Oran) and whatever extended family that happened to be there at the time. His parents, Therese and Midori, were the heads of the household; and while they were initially very loving and overprotective parents, years of family-related controversy wore away their more positive traits and instead left them largely emotionally detached from their own children.

The first half of Raine’s life was met with comfort and luxury. His father, a former hunter of notable name, spent his retirement as an artist of sorts, infusing creativity with his engineering skills to create unique and peculiar masterpieces that caught the eyes of many clients and buyers willing to spend a great deal of money for his creations. Oftentimes these masterpieces possessed a hidden gimmick or mechanism that allowed the piece to ‘come to life’. His mother, alternatively, as a well-established academic scribe and former huntress, attempted many times to impress a degree of practicality and analytical-prowess into her son. Where she succeeded in pulling August under her wing into a routine of strict and rigorous training, Raine pursued more unconventional methods with his father, and demonstrated a certain talent that rivaled that of his older brother’s. Where August would need to spend hours struggling and studying through mentally intense study sessions in order to grasp and perfect certain techniques, Raine seemed to arrive at the solutions quicker, oftentimes implementing roundabout methods. This sparked a jealousy within August, who made it a life goal to constantly belittle, challenge, and harass Raine at every given opportunity.

Nevertheless, Raine held his chin high and took it with stride. August, being the eldest sibling of the four (and for that matter the cockiest) annoyed his three younger siblings quite a great deal. Because of his unwavering dedication to his training, August was held in high esteems by his parents and had a bright future ahead of him as the potential heir to the Shiba Huntsmen tradition. Esmeralda, being a middle child with a keen interest in studying law, did her best to act as a neutral peacemaker of sorts between her brothers (a trait Raine respected deeply, and oftentimes tried to emulate later amongst his own friends). As a result Raine generally avoided August and instead grew closest to Oran, who being four years younger than him, bore a lisp that made it difficult to pronounce ‘Roheline’. And so, because of Oran’s insistence, Raine took on his nickname initially as a ways to make it easier for his brother to refer to him; it would later become a name utilized as a term of endearment for him. August refused to ever call Raine by ‘such a pointlessly stupid nickname’.

One particular day, Raine (ten years of age) decided to practice with a new bow he found amongst the arsenal of training weapons, not realizing it was a weapon gifted to August by their mother the night before. August, then thirteen, spotted his brother using the weapon. Furious, August went to Raine’s room to begin destroying his collection cherished possessions. Esmeralda heard this first, and when her attempts to stop her older brother caused enough commotion in the house, it finally caught Raine’s attention. His attempts to explain the misunderstanding to August went unheard, and the older brother continued his tirade. Pushed to his limit, Raine retaliated, and the two began to fight one another physically. Realizing that August was physically stronger and more adept in combat, Raine resorted to one of their father’s statues, triggering a mechanism within that released a coil that would ensnare his brother and pin him down, utilizing the machinery in a way it was not intended to be used at all. Enraged, August ran and told their parents, who to Raine's surprise were rather impressed with his unconventional but surprisingly effective use of the statue’s gimmick as a weapon. The following months demonstrated the obvious, both parents began to invest more time in Raine’s future and dedicated less attention to August. By now, their hopes had transformed to sending Raine to study at Sanctum Academy so he could be a great archer.

The very one-sided rivalry predominantly expressed by August fueled his motives for several consecutive years. Anything he did seemed to be out of spite. His volatile temper oftentimes rendered family gatherings uncomfortable and tedious, to the point where most of the extended Shiba family would politely decline any invitation made by Midori or Therese to come visit. Their attempts to reprimand or control his actions only worsened his behavior. Still, they focused on training Raine. Finally, after six years, the family woke up and found that August had run away, planning to attend Haven Academy to prove out of spite he was far superior to his siblings (specifically Raine, as he detailed in his letter). With him out of the house, Raine's family felt a strange sense of peace without a disruptive force looming over their heads. Training went smoother, the halls were quieter. While Midori and Therese continued to teach Raine, something about their initial passion for his success seemed to fade. Almost like they were tutors, instead of his parents. Raine firmly believed that they might have felt guilty about August’s disappearance.

Not long after, the Shiba family received word that August had died during his initiation, by means of Grimm attack. Much to Raine’s shock, his parents seemed unfazed by the news, but it was very evident that whatever luster within them had died with the news. They piled all of their hopes on Raine, attempting to mold him into an impossibly perfect hunter who could demonstrate the ideal, flawless blend of his father’s inventiveness and his mother’s strategy. Raine underwent rigorous training, and severe stress, which gave him little time to play with other kids in the neighborhood, let alone enjoy any time with Esmeralda and Oran. At one point, during a harsh criticism over one of Raine's failures, Midori had gone as far as to accidentally call him "August". Raine fell into his own sort of a depression, and wondered if this was the sadness that had gripped and warped August so severely. He held this heaviness close to his heart, and promised himself that with any optimism he could muster, he would come out of this stronger than August did. He was sure to be cheery for the duration of his early teens, often smiling and showing charity to those around him no matter how bad it hurt him.

When Raine was sixteen years old, he chose to submit an application to Siren Academy rather than Haven in the hopes that he could pave his own path. It was accepted shortly before the summer break arrived. Bothered by this decision, but content nevertheless with his potential for success, his parents wished him good luck on his venture to the physical trial. Raine's siblings, however, made more of a spectacle of the whole ordeal, and threw a 'going away' party for him before he left, which ultimately made him more excited about his future. When he arrived at the trial, he stood in the presence of two highly esteemed teachers from Siren, as well as the headmaster himself. With a renewed sense of inspiration, Raine was delighted to showcase his talents. Everything seemed to be going flawlessly, until an undetected attack from one of the obstacles rendered his ankle broken. His performance impeded, points were very clearly being deducted. He panicked, knowing he needed to act fast to keep his score up. Much to his audience's surprise, he utilized one of the machines on the field against the others, demonstrating his talent for circumventing the problem and finding solutions using the field rather than himself. This was done well in conjunction with his newfound teammate, Macy Anumati. He managed to complete the course on one foot, proving that he could go on despite what obstructed his path. He passed, even with the marks made against him at the beginning. Two months later, ankle healed, he could finally begin his first semester at Siren Academy with his hopes and sense of internal strength renewed.

Weapon


Name: Merles Arc (Robins' Bow)

Primary Type: Long-Range

Modeled After: A heavily modified compound bow

Capabilities: Merles Arc has quite a few abilities in store. The first, obviously, is its ability to transform from one phase to another. In sleep mode, it looks like four regular rods with a spherical mechanism in the middle. In reality, said four rods are hollowed out, and inside lie the many more components that make up crossbow and ringblade mode, such as the grips, the arrowhead's resting perch, and the blades.

In regards to ammunition, Raine uses sharpened steel arrows which are hollowed out, allowing them to be filled with the dust of his choosing. He's able to balance up to three arrows at a time on the retractable string, and usually keeps them stored in the quiver on his back...when there isn't any food in it.



Merles Arc v.2
Merles Arc v.2 was made after the original weapon was broken beyond repair during Volume 2 of The Coming Storm. The new version isn't as compactable, but uses a string-and-pulley system to enable grappling abilities. Just as well, the inside edges of the end segments are sharpened steel to equal blades.

The inactive state is contracted into a ring shape which can be worn over the shoulder, or hooked onto a belt or sash. The first active state is a separation of the bow into two segments, each with a retractable grip for easier handling. One may be held in the user's grasp while the other can be thrown or shot forth like a grappling hook. Likewise, it can also be used to attack enemies from afar by swinging it around in a similar fashion to a flail. The second active state of Merles Arc v.2 is the full compound bow form with a slightly more advanced string system than the average bow.

Semblance
Arbormancy: Raine’s Semblance is one that while being distinct and unique to him, is quite similar to that of his mother’s. His semblance is best described as ‘wood manipulation’, though as a general practice he tends to focus on exerting his power into the body of a tree. When in contact with trees, or a byproduct of a tree, he can warp or manipulate the shape to respond to his needs at the time. This is because the tree becomes an ‘extension’ of his body. When his semblance is active, his veins glow green, a pattern that trickles down to his palms (or feet, should he be barefoot) into the bark when he’s touching the tree he’s in contact with. Small manipulations (like extending/shifting a branch of the tree longer to increase his range, or performing a quick ‘lashing’ attack) require minimal energy from him. Raine’s ability is limited to the size of the tree, the larger it is, the more effective he is in combat at the expense of his energy/stamina. He can bend it (as far as it can go without snapping), grow portions of it (like rapidly growing a branch to behave like a projectile, so long as it does not extend further than its root system), and use its foliage to his advantage (for example, to create a canopy to block him or shroud him).

Unconventional uses of his Semblance:
 * Earthquake : Raine touches a tree, and allows its root system to thrash about like tentacles underground. This unsettles the earth in the areas the roots reach, replicating an earthquake effect that can throw off the stability his opponents.

Cons/Disadvantages of this Semblance:
 * Casket : Raine can cause the roots of the tree to come up from the ground and entangle an opponent. A smaller scale version of this would involve quickly uprooting a single root slightly into an opponent's path to trip them or grab their foot. Alternatively, he can cocoon himself into its roots if he is in danger.
 * This power does work on wood that has been severed from trees (i.e. carved wood, or timber) however it is significantly weaker and will normally only go as far as fraying the bark to create splinters or spikes. This only works on raw, untreated wood pieces. [More details below]
 * As long as he is in physical contact with the tree, he feels what the tree feels. Cutting parts of the tree while his semblance is active will feel to Raine like parts of his body are literally being cut. This makes use of the semblance against someone proficient with a blade quite painful.


 * ‘Dead’ wood, or rather, pieces of wood that have dried out and have been altered with varnishes or paints (for example, furniture) take much longer and are far harder for him to manipulate. If he touches a table and hopes to manipulate it, he might be able to, with enough focus, extend or warp one of its legs and splinter its surface, but nothing further. He oftentimes feels sick after manipulating treated wood. Altering these feel to him much like the equivalent of trying to move a numb limb, and he may feel phantom limb pain as a result. A similar effect occurs to him with rotted wood.


 * His power is really only predominantly effective in a forest (or a location with access to trees), given the setbacks with trying his semblance on treated wood.
 * His power does not work on burnt or charred wood. Burning wood makes the experience of manipulating it far too painful for him to endure, so maintaining any sort of focus over it is impossible to him. Therefore he simply cannot alter or affect wood that is on fire. If he is manipulating a tree that is somehow set aflame during combat, it will forcefully disconnect his semblance from the tree. (For this same reason, Raine refuses to touch torches)

Future Developments to his Semblance:

Earthquake / Earth Moving Pulse: After years of focus and training, Raine can extend his conscience throughout the entire network of trees connected via roots (within a densely forested area). Touching a tree and releasing a surge of his energy causes the underground roots of each tree within range of one another to shift and quake in a sudden sequential pulse. This pulse loses potency the further out it goes. To his opponent, it will feel as though Raine has punched the ground and caused a shockwave to resonate across the forest.

Relationships
Saige Cristallo: Raine's teammate and leader. Raine identifies Saige as a valuable member of Team STRM, and someone he knows he can count on when things get rough. In their first meeting during the second stage of initiation, Raine found her to be quite cold and intimidating, until it was later revealed she was willing to give up everything for the wellbeing of her friends and family. Since then he's found her to be quite lawful and sacrificial, and holds her in high esteem, though they can't exactly hold a conversation for long.

Tara Rhys: As Raine's teammate, Tara was at first thought to be constantly angry and judgmental in his eyes. She seemed to be, as he puts it, "The fire to Saige's ice," though it was later shown she just held bottled-up anger and used combat to exert those feelings. Raine understands the pain she faces, coming from a difficult family background, and keeps her as a good friend...and tutor, on occasion.

Macy Anumati: The first person to truly give Raine a panic attack. When they met for the first time, Macy was overly exuberant, and wound up almost pushing him to the brink of destruction quite a few times, only to find he was more so a distraction while she took out the Grimm they faced. Raine is overall unsure about what to think of her, seeing how her attitude is almost constantly bubbly and cheery. He doesn't terribly mind, though—after all, he does, too, but not to such a high degree.

Canaan Vogel: Honestly, Raine doesn't know him well enough. He appreciates having another cheery individual in his presence and looks at him as the version of him that's strong enough to lead a team single-handedly. Though that judgment tends to waver when he sees Canaan stumbling like a clutz around Macy.

Ringo Alexander: Oh, boy. These two have issues. Raine is a little intimidated by Ringo, if not just annoyed by him. The two sparked something of a rivalry within their first few days at Siren, though have to keep their heads cool around the others to prevent another "incident."

Shark Zabka: An admirable person. Raine likes Shark for his levelheadedness and high intelligence, with the ability to keep his stress suppressed when things get a little out of hand.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Evelyn Scarborough: A girl with a passion for a little too much makeup. Raine likes Evelyn as a friend, though is concerned about her interests in things unrelated to school cirriculum, considering it might get them killed one day. He doesn't see her as a ditz, though wishes she would be more careful in general.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">August Shiba: Raine's older brother, and the biggest jerk he's ever known. Over the years, Raine came to loathe August, simply for being called the "golden child" when their parents were unaware of his abusive behavior towards him and his siblings. After August almost destroyed Raine's locket, Raine held a grudge until the day he died. At that point, Raine felt a slight pang of guilt for never having made up with August.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Minerva and Ahren-Gray Shiba: Raine's parents aren't exactly...nurturing. They tend to push their children to become admirable individuals, and don't really believe that love and gentle encouragement are the way to go. Raine was never truly close with them, despite the few moments they shared.

Trivia

 * Raine's birth name is 'Roheline', an Estonian word that directly translates to "green". Raine's entire name, with each word translated in their respective languages, results in the definition: "Green Brushwood".
 * Raine's nickname is a variant of the name "Rain" which directly alludes to rainwater, typically depicted as cool colors ranging from blues to light greens.
 * His middle name is 'Celadon', a shade of green which best signifies the shade frequently seen in his ensembles.
 * His last name 'Shiba' is Japanese in origin and has two meanings: "turf" in western Japan, and "brushwood" in eastern Japan. The two meanings of his last name allude to earth-tone colors, which serve as the color palette for his attire, and ties together with his represented color green. Moreover, the terms acknowledge Raine's close relationship with the forest and his semblance's manipulation of root systems.


 * In terms of team themes, Raine's representation in Team STRM is the earthquake.
 * The team's secondary theme of Greek mythology is extended through Raine as the symbol of Apollo—known as the god of music, arts, healing, and enlightenment. One of Apollo's most recognized attributes, the lyre and the bow and arrow, is shown as Raine's primary weapon of choice.
 * Apollo is also considered to be the ideal of the kouros, otherwise known as a beardless, athletic youth, which is reflected in Raine's younger physical characteristics.
 * Raine is of mixed heritage, and exhibits French, Estonian, and Japanese influences in his character.
 * Design inspirations come from a mix of pop culture icons, such as DC's Green Arrow, Howard Pyle's Robin Hood, and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed.