Ellie Lark

Ellie Lark is a green-band Gamma who has the power to convert solar energy to sound. She was an unofficial ward of the Rook.
==Biography==
===Early life===
As a small child, around the age of three or four, Ellie was found abandoned in an alley by Marshal Underwood. It was a cold, wet October night and Marshal had been patrolling with his father Corbin when he heard a child crying. He followed it to a little girl with stubby, downy growths protruding from her back. She was soaked to the skin, and clearly suffering from hypothermia. Wrapping her in his cape, Marshal screamed for the Rook, and the two of them rushed the girl to hospital.quipquipquip: Things To Know About Ellie Lark
Their quick actions saved her life, but tracking down her family proved much more difficult. The girl could not speak at all, and had no identification on her beyond a single name written on the inside of her t-shirt: LARK.Bad Things Happen Nobody reported a winged child missing. Nobody stepped up to claim her. Corbin was reluctant to send her to an orphanage, where she was likely to have a difficult time, and eventually he gave into Marshal's begging and agreed to keep her. He did not officially adopt her, however, and worked hard to prevent her paper trail from leading back to him. He did this to protect her, knowing that if the press caught wind of her existence, they would not be kind.
Although she could not talk, the little girl was old enough to know her first name, so Marshal would take every chance he had to read to her from a baby name book, until at last she reacted to "Elouise". Subsequently, her legal name was listed as Elouise Aurora Lark.
Ellie was a cheerful child. Although she did not speak, she picked up fragments of English and American Sign Language with ease, and after her feathers began to develop she surprised everyone by imitating Marshal and Corbin's voices with perfect accuracy. Amira was the one who figured it out: Ellie's posterpower allows her to convert light energy to sound, with her silicone feathers acting as solar cells. Since her power relies on her wings, she had not been able to use it at all until they had developed.
As she grew older, Ellie started to realize that her wings were not growing with her. Having dreamed of flying ever since she started pinning, she was crushed to realize that it was never going to happen. Reasoning that lighter things had a better chance of staying aloft than heavy things, she turned off her food for a while.
===Life with Marshal===
After Marshal's younger brother, Matt, was murdered, Marshal went rogue and killed the man responsible, and as a result was forced to go on the run. He never asked Ellie to come with him, not wanting her to have to make the choice between him and Corbin, but Ellie insisted on joining him.
Following Marshal out on patrol as a vigilante was never an option, so she learned to help in other ways, stitching up wounds and protecting Marshal in her own way.
When Mal Underwood showed up in their lives, the sight of a new Little Bird who resembled his dead brother caused Marshal to fly off the handle. Ellie was more measured, and as Marshal and Corbin yelled at each other, she took Mal out for a burger. Having been raised on the Foundation campus, Mal had never eaten unhealthy food before, and the expression on his face when he tried his first milkshake is one of Ellie's favorite memories. She and Mal did not see each other often, but whenever she got the chance to visit, they would get milkshakes. Mal would often help Ellie study, and would walk with her whenever she went out after dusk.Origins, Issue #7, pp. 365-366
Ellie attended Corbin's funeral with Amira and Mal. After the funeral, she said her farewells to Mal, who was going back to Foundation, and gave him a belated birthday present, a hand-carved rook necklace.Origins Issue #1 She is currently working as a waitress at the Swan Dive while studying nursing (specialising in urgent care), Corbin having set aside money for her in his will to cover her bachelor's degree.quipquipquip: "What field of medicine is Ellie going into?"
==Personality==
Ellie's unofficial last name stuck not only due to the coloring of her wings, but also her disposition: she epitomizes the expression "happy as a lark". She is a glass-half-full kind of person, known for her cheerful bedside demeanor and her sweet singing. Not having any real memories of her life before the Underwoods found her, her sense of identity is tied to their family.
She is empathetic and compassionate, but "it should never be forgotten that she was raised by two masters of underhanded vigilante tricks." There is a reason that Corbin left her almost everything in his will.quipquipquip: "Bad Things happened and now everything hurts."
==Physical appearance==
Ellie's most notable feature is the small birdlike wings growing from her back. The feathers are variegated golden yellow and brown, reminiscent of a sun lark's coloring. They are as expressive as any other part of her body.Origins, Issue #4, p. 158 When her wings absorb solar energy, they glow with a light that laces up the shaft of every feather from tip to root, pulsing in time with her heartbeat.
Ellie is 4'11, with a small frame.quipquipquip: "How tall is Ellie?" Her blonde hair is wild and curly, usually worn loose around her shoulders. Ellie's exact age is unknown, but she is thought to be roughly six years older than Mal (who is fifteen at the end of Origins).quipquipquip: "How much older is Ellie than Mal?"
A green-band poster, Ellie wears neon green clothes and jewelry instead of the earthier green band paraphernalia preferred by many other energy-manipulating posters.Origins, Issue #1 Due to her wings, Ellie leans towards backless clothing and owns a lot of green racerback and halter-tops. She is also good at tailoring things to fit her properly. The only article of clothing she does not modify is her coats, which she instead buys a couple of sizes too large so that her wings can fit underneath.quipquipquip: "I have a question about Ellie's clothing."
==Powers and abilities==
Ellie's posterpower gives her control over the sounds which her vocal chords can produce. This is supported by her physical mutation: the undersized, lark-coloured wings protruding from her back act as solar cells, with the each silicone-based feather absorbing sunlight which Ellie is able to convert to sound energy. She can sing, can accurately imitate voices and can shriek loudly enough to burst eardrums and induce vomiting.Origins, Issue #1Origins, Issue #7, p. 366
As her abilities rely on absorbing solar energy through her feathers, Ellie requires at least a few hours of sunlight per week in order to use her powers.Origins, Issue #7, p. 366 Because Portland tends to have more rainy days than sunny ones, she is limited in how often she can recharge. When she is moulting, as she does every autumn, she is left both powerless and completely mute.quipquipquip: "If Ellie could pass for a baseliner, could she be classified as a Beta?" Ellie's wings are far too small to support her weight in flight; Corbin described them as "a mutation that didn't get it right the first time".Bad Things Happen, p. 30
==Relationships==
===Marshal Underwood===
Marshal is an attentive brother to Ellie.  He is teaching her how to carve wood.Origins, Issue #1
She more or less imprinted on Marshal, so wherever he went, she followed him like a duckling. ... Since Marshal protected her, she did the same for him whenever he needed it. ... Wherever Marshal went, she followed. Somewhere along the way, she’d started taking care of him more than he took care of her, and she refused to let him think that he was alone.
===Mal Underwood===
Ellie had a way of ignoring him when he tried to get a rise out of her.Origins, Issue #1
===Corbin Underwood===
===Amira bint Balqis===
==Trivia==
*Ellie's favorite color is lime green.quiqpquipquip: "What are the kids' favorite colors?" Her love of bright and neon greens is due to Mashal's colorblindness — she has always been careful to stick to the few shades he can see.quipquipquip: "So I'm trying to put together an Ellie Lark cosplay..."
*The look of startled glee on Mal’s face when he tried his first milkshake is among Ellie’s favorite memories.http://quipquipquip.tumblr.com/post/38682725209/things-to-know-about-ellie-lark-name
*Ellie's first word was "wrench".  Her second was "bitch".Bad Things Happen
*Ellie's middle name was chosen after her favorite Disney princess.Bad Things Happen
*Ellie's wings are reminiscent of a sun lark's, and in fact act as solar cells; appropriately, the name Elousie Lark literally means "sun lark" ("Elouise" is sometimes associated with the Greek word "helios", meaning "sun").
*After Matt's death on Halloween night, Ellie swore off trick-or-treating, though she reneged on that promise twelve years later in order to teach Mal how it was done.
*Due to her posterpower, Ellie has a beautiful voice and loves to sing. The Beatles are her favorite, and she begins most days by greeting the dawn with "Here Comes the Sun".quipquipquip: "Do any of your character in The Posterchildren ever randomly break into song?"
*If Ellie were at Hogwarts, she'd be a Hufflepuff.quipquipquip: "Hogwarts houses"
==Appearances==
*Origins
*Bad Things Happen
*Castling: Part One (mentioned)
*Castling: Part Two
*Corona
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Green-bands
Category:Gammas
Category:Origins characters
Category:Bad Things Happen characters