Kite/Carmen Byrd

Carmen Byrd, also known as Kite, is a hawk miraculous holder roleplayed by Spirit (eaglebreeze48). Because Spirit isn't currently active enough to properly participate in the ML FWRP, Carmen has temporarily moved to a city called Kip's Bay about an hour and a half from Forumsville.

## Appearance

#### Civilian:

Carmen doesn't look like anything particularly special. She has dark ash-brown hair about halfway down her back that she usually puts up in a ponytail or braid, and gray eyes that some people find disconcerting. Carmen always wears a brown and white hairclip, and usually wears jeans and a dark blue jacket. She is on the tall side of average, and fairly slender.

#### Hero:

As Kite, she wears a brown and white bird-mask with a black beak. She wears a skin tight suit with a brown feather pattern. Kite has a light gray cape she can attach to her wrists and use to glide.

## Personality

#### Civilian:

Carmen isn't generally a people person. She takes a bit to warm up to people, but once she does she is a loyal friend. Carmen is very observant and perceptive, so she will usually notice when something is wrong, but won't always know what to do about it. She can be rather awkward socially, but tries her best to fit in and not let anyone know much about her background. Carmen often worries about what other people think of her, and focuses too much on the small details without always taking in the big picture. She is quick and clever, but sometimes forgets to think before she acts and gets herself into trouble.

#### Hero:

As Kite, Carmen has a fairly similar personality, all though she is braver and quicker at coming up with ideas as to what to do. She is a bit reserved with the other heroes, but still makes jokes with them and sometimes lets her guard down. Kite does have some friends among the heroes, but she is sometimes a bit too critical and serious.

## Abilities

When she is in hero form, Kite is quite a lot quicker than she would usually be. She also has excellent eyesight, being able to see things from very far away, as well as glide through the air. She can use her string to tangle with akuma victims, swing through the city, and many other uses.

Kite's special power is Kite Sight, which makes her see weakness as glows, on both inanimate objects and people. For people or animals, she could see prior injuries they had, pressure points, and other weaknesses. For inanimate objects she can see the weakest parts of them, or the best ways to take them down. It changes depending on what exactly she needs, similar to Ladybug's lucky charm. If she was trying to defeat an akuma, it would show her their weak points, and where their akuma is. If she was trying to get into a locked building, it would show the best way to break in.

## Backstory

Carmen has (or rather, had) two older sisters. One of them, Rebecca Byrd, who went by Becca, was only a year and a half older than Carmen, and they did a whole bunch of stuff together. The other, Ella Byrd, is four years older than Carmen. Carmen's mother (Allison Byrd) always had a bit of a fragile mental state, and her dad (David Byrd) would do anything for her mom. One day, when Carmen was 10, Becca was 11, and Ella was 14, their whole family went on a trip to the ocean.

Ella and David went on a walk down the beach, while Carmen and Becca played in the waves. Allison was sitting on the beach towel, reading. Becca and Carmen were dodging the waves, getting a bit farther out than they perhaps should have, almost over their heads. When a huge wave came, both of them were looking the other direction, laughing. Carmen got pushed over by the wave, tumbling 5 or 10 feet before hitting the bottom, breaking her collarbone. Becca tried to dive through the wave, and was pushed straight down, hitting her head on the ground.

Carmen couldn't see Becca anywhere, so she swam back out to the place they had been. Her foot hit something soft, and Carmen screamed. Her mother had realized something was wrong by now, and ran down the beach to the waves. Carmen dove down into the water again, trying to grab something- an arm, a hand, a handful of bathing suit. She finally got purchase, and she swam as hard as she could, trying to bring Becca to the surface. They were close to the same size, but Carmen was having trouble moving without a sharp pain, and was getting slightly dizzy. Carmen started screaming for her mom, who was still struggling through the waves.

By the time her mom got there, it was too late. Becca was gone. After that, the memories came in pieces. Her mother crying, pulling Becca's body out of the water. Carmen staring dumbly, not quite comprehending what had happened yet. Her mother's sorrow slowly turning into anger. The moment when she turned, and the realization that she had lost two family members that day. Allison's crazed screams, echoing down the empty beach. Not being able to breath, the pain in her collarbone increasing, being underwater and everything going black before her father came running down the beach to pull Allison off of her. Ella's horrified expression. The blackness and the obliviousness that were almost welcome.

When Carmen woke up, she was in a hospital bed with her arm and shoulder in a cast. No one in her family was there, but a nurse came into the room. "Oh, good, you're awake."

"Where is... my family?" Carmen's voice felt dry.

"Oh, sweetie," the nurse looked at her sadly, "They'll be up here soon."

"What's wrong?" Carmen asked, getting worried. "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember what happened?" The nurse asked. Her nametag read "Doris"

"I remember- the ocean. And the wave. And Becca and my mom." Carmen said, "But I think that was just a dream. Seeing as I'm in a hospital bed, it was most likely a hallucination brought on by heatstroke or something similar, right? I read a book about that."

Doris shook her head, expression one of deep sadness. "Carmen. That wasn't a dream."

"What? No, you're wrong. You must be part of my hallucination too. This is a dream, or a joke, and a not very funny one!" Carmen said hysterically. "My mom would never attack me! Becca's probably just at home. Stop it, it's not funny!"

Doris shook her head sympathetically. "Carmen, it's real." She left the room, leaving Carmen alone with her thoughts. Tears came pouring out, and Carmen curled up into a ball, willing it to not be real.

After a few minutes, she was aware of the door opening, and she sat up quickly, drying her tears. Ella walked in, avoiding Carmen's gaze, and her father followed.

"Dad!" Carmen rushed up to him, and he let her hug him, but pushed her away quickly. Feeling a bit hurt, she turned towards Ella, but Ella wouldn't look at her either.

"Where's Mom?" Carmen asked, looking at Ella and David's faces for some sort of sign.

"She's in a mental institution." David said, not looking at her.

"An asylum?" Carmen said without thinking, before wincing. "I mean..."

"No, it's only until she gets better." Ella spoke up, stilling studiously avoiding her gaze.

"Why are you guys avoiding me?" Carmen asked.

They both looked away for a few moments, before Ella spoke up. "I'm sorry Carmen, I don't think you would, but.." she trailed off.

"Your mother swears that you tried to drown Becca." David finished.

"What? I-" Carmen tried to defend herself.

"I know you didn't do it." Ella said unconvincingly

[WIP}