The Moth
Full Name: Mozello 'Moth' Shao
Gender: Female
Age: 35
Element: Fire
Birthplace: Fire Fountain City
Position: Firebending Instructor
Personality:
Fiercely independent, hates charity or being given something for nothing. Patient most of the time, her calm exterior is shattered only when she is bending fire. Friendship takes time with Mozello, she is reserved amongst strangers and only really develops actual friends herself through working relationships such as those that study under her and other instructors in the regional academia. Because of the way she was raised, Mozello often treats children as if adults, giving them as much heed, equality and respect as she would an adult. This is one of her traits that makes her a sought after and well-known instructor amongst young upcoming firebenders. She enjoys imprinting her stoic, stand-alone nature on to others in the hopes it will aid them later in life.
Abilities:
Mozello's devotion to the flame is clear through her firebending, embracing both the form and desire to consume, moving in combat as wildly and unpredictably as an untamed forest blaze. Often burning herself from overfeeding fires to the point where a weaker-willed firebender would lose focus from the pain and neglecting defense entirely to trade heavier blows in response. Her passion of the art of firebending is deeply infectious, those under her tutelage who truly desire to learn of the element will often start bending if they are learning the art for the first time or surpass their previous limitations in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
Despite her mastery, Mozello has never been able to emulate the art of channeling lightning generation. Although she has been able to bring the charge into herself from time to time, it always dissipates as she directs it from her body. Cai, her retired teacher, theorizes that because bending and emotions are so closely integrated together in Mozello's mind; she will never be able to achieve the blank state required to use lightning offensively. So instead focusing solely on achieving the perfect flame, when she isn't busy teaching her students.
Mozello does not use weapons to fight, even though her parents often offer to forge her one as a keepsake, such as a katana. To her, they seem impractical, as firebending is her greatest weapon. The only time you'd ever see her in possession of one it would be purely for ceremonial purposes or in keeping with a dress code such as honor guard.
Appearance:
Height: 5'11"
Weight: Broad and muscular
Eyes: Light Blue
Hair: Black
Mozello is 5'11" tall, strong woman with a broad, imposing frame magnified by her shaggy, unkempt, waist-high jet black hair and a multitude of scar tissue gathered from decades of daily firebending and sometimes disputes. Her standard attire consists of a large, flowing throw-over coat with gold leaf patterns which she typically wears as a cloak, a tight fitting button-up shirt, a short skirt with a side slit to allow her scarred legs mobility and knee-high plated boots, a practical gift from her parents born of their profession. When sparring with her students she takes these boots off as they are quite dangerous to be kicking her students in, no matter how light the contact might be. One would normally be generally hesitant to approach her for the first time if it weren't for her calm exterior, outside of firebending the intensity of her azure eyes dims away, voice softens and entire body visibly relaxes. She shares in the same pale complexion that most born of the Fire Nation have and would be easily identifiable as a citizen of them even if she wasn't wearing red proudly.
Weaponry & Other Gear:Mozello travels light, taking nothing but her clothes and steel-plated boots.
History:
As a child, her parents refused to treat her as one. They taught her how to be independent as soon as she was able to run around and understand language. She learnt how to cook her own meals, clean her own clothes and earn money so that Mozello could buy the things that she wanted rather than pulling on their sleeves nagging them for presents. They even went to the extent of giving her money for the basic necessities for a week and leaving her to learn how to manage currency in a mature way rather than spending it on meaningless toys. Because her father and mother both worked as blacksmiths at the Fire Nation factories, they had very little time to watch over Mozello and thus she was given free reign to do as she pleased.
Alone, her only companion at home was the embers of the living room fireplace or the light of a bedside candle. She would spend hours staring idly at the flames dancing in the fireplace and fantasize bending it like she would often see her elder peers do when making deliveries at her part-time job or picking up groceries at the marketplace to feed herself. Unable to afford the lessons out of her own wages and unwilling to ask her parents to bare the cost, Mozello began to sneak into the courtyard of a local firebending academy before dawn, hiding in the garden and observing the firebenders practicing their art every few days or so. She would then practice alone in her backyard, replicating their movements and reciting the words of the female firebending instructor, Cai, whom she listened silently to from afar.
This shady practice continued for almost a year, the undetected Mozello rapidly grasping firebending; as the willful youth really had no other hobbies, pastimes or distractions to speak of. Eventually she was discovered, by Cai no less, who had witnessed the young woman sneaking in as the sun barely began to rise. The instructor played along, not signaling that she'd detected the girl until the daily training had begun.
"Alright class, pick your sparring partners for today... Kenari, come here. Your partner today is-"Mozello fell backwards in alarm when Cai's finger pointed directly at the bushes, rustling them audibly, hands tensing in the dirt. The ruse was up, she had been caught red-handed and her little heart began to race. Worse still, the instructor had intentionally waited until all her students were outside; their curiosity obvious as they all turned to watch the scene unfold.
"You there. Girl, step forward."Nervously walking into the courtyard to come face to face with her opponent, glancing at the looming instructor Cai who regarded her with as much interest as her students, before bowing and assuming a crude San Ti Shi. Kenari let out a short laugh of confidence before doing the same, hurling a bolt of flame at Mozello in a singular kick in the belief that he had no reason to bother trying.
Unused to the concepts of actual fighting, she found herself unable to move, taking the hit fully with crossed arms. The projected fire licked at her exposed skin, but there was no scream or cry as the crowd had anticipated, only retaliation. Mozello stepped forward immediately with a defiant shout, launching her entire body into a half-twist cartwheel and projecting a small inferno with both palms directly towards the cocky Kenari as she landed. Quickly understanding the danger her student had unwittingly put himself in, the instructor Cai leapt into the space between the two teenagers and erected a fire wall absorb the torrent of uncontrolled flames, preventing a serious injury and ending the sparring match abruptly. Snatching Mozello roughly by the wrists, the instructor dragged her inside the firebending academy, furious at the fact that one of her students had been bested so quickly by a peasant, who by all accounts, shouldn't have had a chance even if she could firebend.
When Cai had managed to force the whole story from the young girl's lips, she couldn't help but be both surprised and amused. An agreement was reached shortly thereafter, Mozello would earn her tuition through the upkeep of the academy, cleaning the halls, cooking meals, washing the uniforms and in return the instructor would permit her to continue learning through her in an official capacity as an actual student. After that, home was no longer where her parents rarely turned up, but within the academy and by Cai's side, where she could truly hone her self-taught firebending skills.
As the years past, waves of students came and went but she remained, Cai had become something of a mother-figure to the maturing Mozello and she was reluctant at first to leave the side of the instructor who had given her so much; feeling there was a debt left unpaid. When there was nothing left for Cai to teach her, she went on to become an approved instructor and without missing a beat began to travel to other firebending academies during downtime to improve her understanding of the art.
With the additional freedoms adulthood brought, Mozello's aspirations burned brighter each year, participating in bending tournaments, both national and internationally, rebuilding her own firebending form from scratch to find methods of handling the other elements; in between teaching her very own retinue of students. She did however make a point of always finding time to meet up with Cai and reminisce with her mentor.
Students both past and present now to affectionately refer to her as the Moth, because of her nonchalantness whenever she was burned then proceeding to do so again a few days later. Like the moth that would fly directly into the light of a flame; and even if it hurt the fragile creature, it would continue doing so regardless even if it would end up killing them.
19 years have pasted since that fateful day at the academy, 11 years since she became an officially-recognized instructor of firebending. Mozello's latest ambition that only began to surface recently; is to find a prodigal student as Cai once found in her so that she keep the fire burning.
