Kazuya Tange : Candidate-Dancer : Male

CHARACTER PROFILE
Name: Kazuya Tange [ka-zoo-ya ta-n-gay]

Age: 18 [Mid Spring - April 8]

Gender: Male

Distinguishing features: Always appears content

Hair Color: Brown-Black

Eye Color: Black

Description: For all of his mixed blood, it is his Japanese heritage that shines through. He has the skin, hair, and eye tones, as well as the facial structure. Though there are some differences from the oriental norm, he has been mistaken for a 'full-blooded' Japanese. These variations are found in the form of firmer bones, most notably building his square chin, and his slightly wide, very triangular nose. He isn't the best-looking guy to wander the face of any planet, not by a long shot. Still, he's quite far from ugly, especially with his habitual slight smile.

Short by the general opinions, Kazuya stands at a mere five feet and six inches. He has a light build and no extra weight: any fat is burned away to make room for muscle even before it has a chance build up. His every movement is lithe and graceful, a testament to his position as a performing dancer. He walks next to silently and lands nearly as well as a cat. He moves fluidly and never appears to be startled; everything is smoothly planned, controlled, and executed.

Kazuya keeps his dark hair fairly long in the back, with medium-length bangs swept to each side. Though it is straight for the most part, it has the most annoying habit of flipping out at the bottom. So, for anything putting him in the spotlight (or at least on a stage) he makes sure to use his stash of hair products to gain and maintain control over it. If he doesn't, well... It flips.

Personality: Kazuya has been through a lot. Looking at him, though, one would never suspect it. He is composed, controlled, and calm. With a maturity belying his years, he strides gracefully through each day of his life. Kazuya views every moment as a performance and is always prepared to do his best. To do the bare minimum is not really an option here, for there is a touch of the perfectionist in him, though losing the big picture is par with underachieving. Dedicated and steadfast, he is reliable and will always be available to lend support or a hand - or anything more, should it be required. One does not always need to call for help in order to receive it either.

Kazuya believes that anything worth the price is always worth the fight. He doesn't look for the easy road except to orient himself and has no problems forging his own way. That isn't to say that he can't go with the flow; no, he makes use of all of his resources. Unlike so many teenagers, Kazuya has no interest in the free ride and works actively to control his future. There is little worth gambling for in terms of lifelong circumstances. After all, should one shoot for the moon and miss, there is not going back to try again. Kazuya lives his life as it happens, and plans for the future just to keep his life from spinning out of control.

Kazuya knows that the first step is always the hardest to take, and while he's well on his way, he will go well out of his way to help someone take that stride. He offers gentle support to those around him, whether or not he has any clue who they are. Rank has never mattered much to him either, which does annoy some. Still, he doesn't look down on someone, even if he knows full well that they are in some horrid position because of their fully conscious decisions. Maybe he's just too nice for his own good, but hey, that's the way he is.

And then there is the side behind the performer. Not a lot of people get to see this side, and those who do don't often see it long enough to realize that it is a different facet of his personality. It's the part of him that kept him intact throughout all of the troubles of his earlier life. Kazuya is honestly lighthearted and quick to forgive. He doesn't take anything negative personally and still retains much of his childhood innocence. Perhaps he would be different if he were more pessimistic, but the fact remains that Kazuya is an optimist with his head and heart firmly planted in the real world. He is like a combination of earth and water: soft, fine soil that is rich and fertile, and cool, fluid water than continuously cycles across and through the faces of all living things. He gives more than he resists but isn't easily pushed around; he slips through one's fingers sooner than be caught in a tight grasp. And he does it all with a serene smile.

History: For all of his tumultuous childhood, Kazuya has always been pacific. The youngest of three half-related children cared for by a single, misfortunate mother with a Japanese obsession in a run-down, gang-controlled neighbourhood, he had to learn quickly that to take offense was to risk serious injury. He soon had insults and physical threats rolling past a lazily shrugged shoulder, and even at a young age he was nimble enough to easily avoid anyone who tried to catch him. By the age of seven, however, the general inability to 'punish' the half-foreign kid had come to the attention of the gang's local head.

The Bull, as he was widely known, was considerably smarter than his namesake and saw in Kazuya a business opportunity. His entertainment industry had been weak for some time, and there would certainly be interest in a bilingual young male dancer. So he had some of his gentler minions head on over to Kazuya's home and pick him up. His mother protested, of course, but mostly to save face, and Kazuya himself wasn't exactly in a position to try to say 'no'.

That was where Kazuya learned to dance. It proved to be a very good thing, for he turned out to be talented, a natural performer, and loved to do so. In less than six months the Bull's investment began to pay off, and people streamed into whichever club he was rumoured to be working at for the day. Kazuya was happy.

And then, of course, someone had to come in and disrupt it. The police found enough evidence to arrest the Bull and raided his main base. Kazuya was taken away and sent over to Children's Services as soon as they were sure he wasn't there by choice to help the gang (not that it took long), and he no longer had an opportunity to dance. Instead he was given to a foster family long used to street kids and treated just like one. His new 'parents' were firm nearly to the point of being harsh, but did have his best interests at heart. They just expected him to be... different.

After a month there, they decided that he was saveable and should go into some social activity club or something. When he suggested dance, they stared at him; how many little boys want to dance? Seriously. Still, he did suggest it, so they looked around and found an inexpensive school with a style he approved of. They primarily taught modern, but had heavy influences from old tropical and african styles. Kazuya loved it, and progressed quickly.

Some time before he turned eight - he was never one to keep track of time - someone came by. They were looking for unfortunate children who might fit in better on a newly colonized planet, assuming that a family or individual already on the list was willing to be their guardian. Considering his obvious resiliency and noteable maturity, Kazuya was introduced to several possible families.

One of these was the Tanges. Also with some Japanese blood, they were childless but were more than willing to help someone out. They liked each other as soon as they met, and in their first discussion decided to pursue Kazuya's case further. Paperwork was filled out, Kazuya talked to Maren and Syorn repeatedly, and it was finalized. Kazuya would be adopted by the Tanges and go with them to Pern.

The trips to and from their colony ship were undoubtably the worst part. Kazuya was sick within moments of each take-off and remained so for hours after docking/landing. His new parents comforted him as best they could, but when he had a mild allergic reaction to the anti-nausea medicine he was given, there wasn't much they could do. Eventually he stopped suffering enough to sleep, and he woke up above a new world. And then got sick again. True, the fresh Pernese air helped a great deal, but mostly he was glad that he would not be heading into or out of another atmosphere any time soon.

Once he was finally recovered, and hopefully for the last time, it was on to building his new world. Kazuya frequently performed in the early evenings, at least once he was back into proper shape. Everything happened so quickly that he really doesn't remember a lot of those days. What he does remember, though, is the advent of two little beasties. A blue and a green dragonet. Sure, they had been discovered some time before, but Kazuya and his group of loose friends had never come across any viable eggs before. This time, though, Kazuya was wandering a beach on his own and came across a green clutch, fairly newly laid and still soft-shelled. Considering the predicted survival rate for green clutches, he quietly stole two eggs and gently brought them home.

When they hatched into his Ao and Midori, he was very happy. Some thought it odd that he wasn't even happier, but hey, there was no reason to be overjoyed. He had just made a few new friends, and they were hungry. As usual, he shrugged off any unfavourable comments or opinions and went on with his life. He didn't wander quite so much as he had before, but he was doing a lot more as an entertainer, and was even taking informal lessons from a number of dancers in the community.

He was fourteen when he was presented with another dragonet egg, this one very hard and ready to hatch. The present was left at his door, accompanied by an anonymous note thanking him for a performance. He didn't have too much time to think on the conundrum, however, as a sharp crack caught his attention mere hours after he had brought in inside.

The small bronze that proudly crawled out of the shell was quick to dominate (and be worshipped by) Ao and Midori. Considering that his hide was closer to brass than a true bronze, Kazuya named him Shinchu. Life flashed on quickly, and then came an incident Kazuya tries to forget.

Shinchu found himself a pretty gold who was feeling ready to fly. After a few days of determined stalking, he had the chance to race against the other nearby males. Caught in the raging hormones of his age and the company of the gold's equally hormonal owner, things... went a bit further than Kazuya cares to admit. There were no long-term ties, fortunately, and they silently agreed never to see each other again. This was determined with all of Landing between them.

Thread fell. Kazuya had begged out of an adventure with his friends: he had an important performance the next day, and the sixteen-year-old was serious about his hopeful-career. It turned out to be a good thing, too, as they were trapped in a small cave, their dragonets flaming Threads mere inches from their faces, as three of them were caught out and devoured before their eyes. At least Kazuya was spared that. As might be expected, the performance was postponed until further notice.

As the high-up scientists raced for some solution, Kazuya took it upon himself to help keep the spirits of the surivivors high; 'Above where Threads are found,' he would say if necessary. If they were to beat this challenge, they had to keep their heads and their hearts in it. Kazuya's heart was firmly set in Pern, and he, for one, was not about to give it up.

Eventually the call came for the first of the settlers to move to the new location, and Kazuya and the Tanges were among that pioneer group. Once again he performed after the day's work was done and people were trying to relax. When the announcement came out for possible candidates for the dragons, everyone he knew told him to go. He did. And then he found out that he wasn't old enough. He was turned away, saying that he should be eighteen before the second batch of eggs hatched.

Despite yet another disappointment, Kazuya cheerfully watched the first Hatching on Pern and cheered on those who met their matches. He danced whole-heartedly at the following banquet in celebration, and stayed up so late entertaining that he slept the entire next day. It also turned out that he overstretched something at some point the night before, and he was limited to slowly hobbling around for anything he needed.

He healed, and both dragons and eggs grew. Kazuya had numerous female encounters, but gradually realized that they weren't his favourite. He had that fact quite firmly seated one night while he was rather drunk. Another young man was even more inebriated but still persuasive enough to get Kazuya to lead him off to his room. While he was gone when Kazuya woke, and he never really remembered what he looked like, much less his name, the dancer was still given the opportunity to decide just what sort of person he was interested in.

Pets

Name: Ao

Species: Dragonet

Colour: Blue

Age: 9

Description: Coming from a green clutch, it is no surprise that Ao is on the small side for a blue. He is nicely proportioned and a smooth shade of greeny-blue, with a few brighter flecks adorning his toes and the sides of his neck. There are also darker speckles along the edges of his wingsails, but they really aren't all that noticeable. Well... unless you stare at them for long enough with a bright light on the other side.

Personality: Cheerful but calm, Ao is perfectly content to sleep through each and every day. He likes to listen to music as well, but he would much rather sleep. He complains loudly if woken and tends to circle around the nearest head until someone apologizes. With food. It doesn't need to be a lot, but he deserves something in return for cutting his rest short.

Name: Midori

Species: Dragonet

Colour: Green

Age: 9

Description: Also a bit small, Midori isn't a great deal shorter than her blue brother. Her wingspan is considerably greater, however, but her wings are very narrow. This gives her better agility but sharply decreases her stamina. She is a pale green with a faint tinge of blue. The secondary colour is slightly more pronounced along her spine and the backs of her hind legs.

Personality: For all of her shared interest with her owner, Midori is far from as intelligent. She's a bit slow on the uptake (unless it involves food or play), is easily distracted by a toy, tidbit, or touch of music, and shows her appreciation of music by going into wild acrobatics that are far from safe. Kazuya tends to leave her out of the way (out of hearing) with a puzzling toy to keep her busy. She means well, but she... doesn't have the best brakes.

Name: Shinchu

Species: Dragonet

Colour: Bronze

Age: 4

Description: Now, this dragonet is unusually small for a bronze and browns that are larger than him are not incredibly difficult to find. Shinchu is a very dark, brassy shade for his colour. He is even better proportioned than Ao, with a sleek structure and apparently bred elegance. It is something that he is openly proud of, and can almost always be seen showing himself off if a female is nearby.

Personality: Despite his size, Shinchu has energy more befitting a green and the hormones from several bronzes at the peak of their colour's size. Midori is quite firmly in his harem, but he is far from satisfied. If he sees a ripe green or gold, be they dragonet or firelizard, he's bound to be gone in an instant. Despite this, he is also an accomplished assistant for Kazuya. He's no dancer, but he takes messages responsibly and is always prompt. Unless someone's Rising nearby. Normally he is quiet but fidgety and usually pays attention to whomever is speaking. He also has a dominant streak, and he tends to strut whenever other metallics are nearby.