"Sometimes I wish I was a cloud... Just floating along, going wherever the breeze takes me."
-Shikamaru Nara, Naruto
BASICS
NAME: Shikamaru, preferred Shika
GENDER: Male
PRONOUNS: He/Him/His
ORIENTATION: Demiromantic Homosexual
BIRTHDATE: Fall 2752
AGE: 21 as of Fall 2773
LOCATION: High Reaches Weyr
OCCUPATION: Dragonrider
WING: Starfall Wing
APPEARANCE
EYES: Dark Brown-Black
HAIR: Black, Tied up
HEIGHT AND BUILD: 5’7”, Skinny
PLAY-BY: Shikamaru Nara (Naruto)
FULL APPEARANCE: Shikamaru’s appearance isn’t an overly eye-catching one, with dark brown eyes and unremarkable black hair often left tied up. He’s not tall or muscular, and while he keeps himself neat, he also rarely puts much effort into his looks overall. He doesn’t really dress to impress, keeping himself in simple clothes and dark colors that don’t stain easily.
He’s got a few minor scars from various childhood incidents, mostly tiny things from being scratched by various pets. All of these are on his arms and legs, the rest of his skin being smooth and clear. He’s kind of scrawny in terms of size, bordering on underweight but not quite there. He’s got next to no muscle mass, being lazy enough that even as a rider he’s never managed to build much. Shikamaru also has an ear piercing, just simple studs he got with his friends.
PERSONALITY
PERSONALITY: Shikamaru is someone who is naturally lazy. If he had his way, he’d prefer to live an ordinary life, watching clouds and avoiding marriage or attachments. Preferring to do as little work as possible, when faced with conflict or a task he’ll often outright refuse. If given no choice, he’ll proclaim the task or conflict to be troublesome, and often drags his feet in completing said task.
Despite this laziness, he possesses a sharp intellect. He rarely cares to show it, but he often cannot help but to analyze every situation to find out what exactly makes people tick. He’s not fond of not knowing things, and there’s very little that motivates him more than a mystery that he finds interesting enough.
Despite his lazy behaviours, however, he’s come to the recent realization that he can’t be lazy when it comes to protecting the people he cares about. If put into a position of authority, or a position in which his actions will affect his loved ones, he will use 100% of his abilities to make sure they aren’t hurt. While he does the most he can during threadfall he’ll still groan and complain and drag his his feet during the prep work involved. He’s also decided children especially need the ability to grow up in relative peace, and will do anything to ensure that they are able to be as carefree as they want growing up.
In this same vein, he’s given himself a new goal: to earn the position of candidatemaster or weyrlingmaster, to see the children grow and be happy for himself. He may complain about the work, and he may drag his feet until it’s necessary to stand up and actually put some effort in, but he’s fully dedicated to this goal - even if it means doing more work than he cares to do.
HISTORY
FAMILY:
Shikaku (Father, Retired Rider)
Yoshino (Mother, Holder)
Chouji (Best Friend/Almost-Sibling)
Ino (Best Friend/Almost-Sibling)
Asuma (Mentor, Rider)
SIGNIFICANT OTHER: N/A
BIRTHPLACE: Minor Cothold beholden to Igen Weyr
HISTORY: Born to a now retired rider father and a Holder mother, Shikamaru grew up in relative comfort, if not always ease. He had loving parents (though his father was absent much of the time due to his duties), and plenty of aunts and uncles and family friends around if he needed them. Ino and Chouji, while they were playmates as babies, didn’t truly become his friends until they were about 7. Shikamaru had been invited to play a game with the other kids, but refused when they didn’t allow Chouji to join them as well. Rather than staying with the bullies, Shikamaru left, and eventually ended up cloud watching with Chouji, who’d left before him. They were fast friends after that point, Shikamaru too lazy to make Chouji go away and Chouji happy to have someone who wouldn’t bully him.
Ino joined them as a real friend when they were a bit older, mainly through being pushy and stubborn until Shikamaru finally gave in and let her do whatever she wanted. The three of them were basically inseparable from that point on, to the point where they’d even sneak into each other’s rooms to have sleepovers together. More often than not, it was Ino and Chouji coming to Shikamaru, though.
They all became candidates at the age of 15, nobody really surprised when all three of them were chosen on the same day. Their parents had long seen it coming, and anybody who interacted with the three knew that they were as close as siblings, with all the petty squabbles that entailed. They were brought to Igen Weyr together, where they stayed, the same Weyr Shikamaru’s father was at.
Shikamaru impressed early on, 16 and finding himself a partnership with Konoith, a lovely green. Throughout his weyrlinghood, he often got in trouble for being lazy or slacking off, and he was never really considered to be one of the better ones in the class. He had the ability to do better, but he simply chose not to actively stand out too much by being good at things at the time. Despite getting in trouble for laziness more often than not, Shikamaru was able to pass through his Weyrlinghood just fine.
Around this time, he’d ended up under the mentorship of Asuma, who was one of the first ones outside of his family and Ino and Chouji to see the intelligence hidden behind the lazy exterior. They bonded fairly quickly, Shikamaru latching onto the man with a startling intensity reserved usually only for Ino and Chouji.
Once, when Shikamaru had been hanging around with Asuma, the man had likened various people to pieces from a game the two often played. He’d refused to tell Shikamaru the identity of the most important piece, however, wanting his mentee to try and figure it out on his own.
Not long afterwards, there was an accident during threadfall that injured Asuma and caused Shikamaru a great deal of guilt. The boy had got it into his head that he should’ve been watching Asuma’s back, and that he could’ve done something to help. Visiting Asuma while he was still on bed rest, he finally learned the identity of the most important piece: the children. Asuma told him that children were the future of the Weyr, and that he’d simply been doing his duty to protect Shikamaru, who was a part of that future. This revelation stunned Shikamaru, who ended up angsting over it for a long while. Eventually, after avoiding his mentor for a bit, he came to the conclusion that Asuma was right, and the younger generations needed to be protected. While he still didn’t agree with the fact that Asuma had been injured keeping Shikamaru from making a fatal mistake, he figured that he could ensure that children were able to grow up happy, and as lazy as they wanted.
Shikamaru, from that point on, decided to maximize what he did during threadfall to keep the kids safe. He’d protect his loved ones, and make sure that kids could choose what they wanted to do in the future. He was still lazy when he wasn’t acting as a rider during threadfall, but he showed a motivation he’d previously lacked.
Later, not long before Shikamaru turned 20, came another massive tipping point in his life. His father, who’d been in one of the different wings, had been severely injured- enough so that he was forced to retire from being a rider, while he’d survived. Shikamaru only learned of this fact after threadfall, and upon racing to see his father, found the man waiting for him. A tired Shikaku informed him that he would have to retire, and that he would be counting on Shikamaru to protect the Weyr during threadfall. Shortly afterwards, he told Shikamaru he was proud of him, before falling asleep and leaving Shika to his own thoughts.
Shika hadn’t felt as much guilt for his father’s injury, as the man had been nowhere near him and there wasn’t anything he could’ve done to prevent it. However, speaking with his father and learning of his pride in his son gave him a new goal. His father agreed with him that kids were important, and he wanted to see them grow up. From this, an idea was born: he would strive to eventually gain the position of candidatemaster or weyrlingmaster, though he lamented the loss of freedom and the work involved in doing so. Now 21, he’s still lazy, but is also determined to stop anybody else he cares for from being hurt like his father and Asuma had been.
Recently, he’s transferred to High Reaches Weyr from Igen, bringing along Ino, Chouji, and Asuma. He wanted to be in a place where the four of them could pursue their ambitions to the fullest.
UPDATES
- (Spring 2774) Konoith's coordination with the rest of her wing is off, and she misunderstands a warning. She doesn't move out of the way of some Thread in time. Shikamaru's left shoulder and the back of his neck are badly scored (Major), and Konoith's right wing is scored (Moderate).
