Winnie Bran

Airhead
Winnie Bran
Player: @Saucy Mynx
Origin:	Science
Archetype:	Corruptor
Security Level:	30
Personal Data
Real Name:	Winona Hale
Known Aliases:	Winnie
Species:	Human
Age:	34
Height:	5'6
Weight:	119 lbs
Eye Color:	Blue
Hair Color:	Blonde
Biographical Data
Citizenship:	Confidential
Occupation:	Unknown
Place of Birth:	Austin, TX
Current Residence:	Confidential
Marital Status:	Married!
Known Relatives:	Thomas and Janice Bran (parents), Wilbur Bran (Brother)
Known Powers
Control of air and weather
Known Abilities
Flight, change of form... for all intents and purposes, Winnie can control and BE air.
Equipment
'
Footnotes
No additional information available.

Winona Constance Bran was born to Thomas and Janice Bran on a breezy, calm September 9th in Austin, Texas. The labor was easy, the child healthy. Bald and blue-eyed, she was a sweet infant that quickly caught the heart of her parents. Thomas and Jan were teachers. Jan taught kindergarten while Thomas was a physical anthropology professor at the university.

The small family was living the American Dream. White house, picket fence, yellow labrador. And now the addition of their first child. It wasn't until Winnie, as they had chosen to call her, turned two that she actually had a full head of blonde hair. Once it was in, though, it grew fast.

The family grew as well, Janice finding out she was pregnant when Winnie was three. Wilbur Kevin Bran was born nine months later in the middle of June. His sister was happy to help, loving her little brother like crazy, and eager to tell anyone who would listen that he was hers.

Winnie was a bright and happy little girl, growing up with a love for the color pink, flowers, and horses. When she turned five, the couple enrolled her in beginner horse riding lessons. It thrilled the energetic little girl and she would stay with it until they moved.

The move occurred just weeks after Wilbur's twelfth birthday. Winnie was fifteen, knee deep in her horse riding and becoming interested in cheerleading. She had a small group of friends she had known since the first day of school. Thomas had accepted a position teaching anthropology at the Founders' Falls branch of Paragon University. The school was known for a wide range of studies - magic, science, liberal arts - and he felt that it would provide not only a good atmosphere, but more opportunity for research and trips. And so he accepted.

The family moved, settling in mere weeks before the school year began. Winnie, shy after being uprooted from her life, was hesitant to start the year. Wary about meeting new people. She wouldn't have her escape to the stables, at least she wouldn't for a while. Things would have to settle and her parents look for one she could use.

In the meantime, the freshman opted to try out for the cheerleading squad. She was an average student, never feeling very confident in her intelligence, despite having two teachers as parents. Her tryouts went well and she was accepted to the JV squad. Things were looking up, and it was not long after that when she met the group she would soon be attached to.

She met Shawn in math class. Were it not for him, it would quickly have bored her. The teacher's monotonous style and the fact that she already knew the subject matter meant that Winnie had planned to spend most of her time looking out the window. The brunette with a goofy attitude quickly changed that to spending her time staring at the back of his head. Not long after, they began to talk and he invited her to meet the others at lunch.

From there, The Quad -as she called them in her head- spent quite a bit of time together. Winnie's attraction to Shawn grew into a crush she didn't dare tell anyone about. Her brother figured it out and continually pushed her toward him, urging her to say something, but Winnie held back, sure that his eyes were either on Kaylie or half of the other girls in the school. She liked Kaylie well enough, the girl had an infectious laugh and kind spirit. Alex was different. Though Winnie cared for him and saw him as part of the group, she saw something in him that was kind of wild. He had a nice smile, but it sometimes carried a bit too much ego. She stayed close to him, hoping she was imagining things and that nothing would change.

Though... things always do, don't they?

Winnie had been offered the chance to travel to Spain with her mother's brother and spend the summer horseback riding and visiting the Lipazanner stallions. She'd happily accepted, not having come to a decision regarding college. She was to leave a month after graduation.

Two weeks before her anticipated absence, The Quad met up for ice cream. It was a beautiful, relaxing Tuesday. The sun was shining, a light wind blowing. They hadn't been in the ice cream shop long, each of them settling into the chairs with their preferred flavors when a group of men walked in, setting off Shawn's Oshi--senses. He immediately pushed The Quad to get up and leave. They did, only to find the men following them. The moment the group was away from any potential witnesses, the men attacked The Quad.

It took less than five minutes for them to subdue the teenagers, Winnie going down first and Shawn last. Tied up, muffled and blindfoled in typical cliche fashion, the group was driven over an hour and left in an unfamiliar building.

It looked like a laboratory... and they soon found themselves the guinea pigs. For weeks on end, the group was expiremented on. Injections, infused drinks and food, emotional pressure. Often the group was separated, isolated from each other, sometimes kept in the same room. Shawn knew it was his father, but when he brought it up to the group, no one wanted to listen... or at least openly agree with him. Winnie feared that saying anything would further irritate whoever WAS doing it to them and so often remained silent. Seeing how sure Shawn was made her secretly agree with him.

Still it went on, the expirementing. The wondering about her family. Where did they think she was? Was anyone concerned? Did they just think she'd run off? She never really got an answer. When all was said and done, The Quad had all been forcibly linked to one of the four elements. Shawn and water. Kaylie and fire. Alexander and earth - and almost ironically, Winnie with air.

She found herself able to partially shift into air, build up static and discharge it in the form of electricity. Additionally, she seemed to be able to simply think about it and cause gusts of wind to move around her body. It scared her. But not as much as what happened next.

Shawn's claim that it was his father had been corrent. Scott approached them. They would soon be transported to his new place and work for him. Things had been taken care of, he said, there was nothing to worry about. Then he left them to think about it. Mostly.

He walked into Winnie's room later that day. "Winnie. I'm sure you realize that Shawn and I don't ... quite get along. You're very perceptive, would be hard to miss that with as close as you two are. I hope I won't have any problems with you. You're smart... you wouldn't want anything to happen to either Shawn or say, your brother, as a result of not cooperating, would you? Because I assure you things could happen. And your brother would be rather tempting as a future subject of mine..." Here, he paused to wave a small vial in his hand. "His DNA is close enough to yours that I think he would work for one of my projects. Though, if you'd rather he weren't, I'd be more than happy to keep your lovely self with me... as for Shawn? I see how you watch him. I know you wouldn't want something to happen to him, darling Winona. Try to convince him to come along, would you?"

Winnie could only sit silent at the implied threats as he smiled, bid her good night and walked out of the room.

When the time came, Winnie and Alex went willingly with Scott. Shawn and Kaylie however, put up a fight. Winnie tried to convince them to just calmly go along, seeming for all the world like she completely agreed with Scott. In the end, the property was decimated and Shawn and Kaylie escaped.

Winnie and Alex were carted off to Nerva and Scott's compound. The expirements continued, strengthening their bonds with their elements, shifting a few things... as well as initiating several other, less friendly projects on other people.

Scott placed Alex and Winnie in his inner circle, culturing their dedication to his cause and to him. Once a week, he would check their DNA, see that nothing was going wrong and run standard health tests on them. Once a month, he'd possibly 'upgrade' their changes.

He gave them freedom to roam the compound and soon gave them each Wednesday off. With the freedom came responsibility. They were to not only retrieve potential projects, but hunt down Shawn and Kaylie. It didn't sit too well with her, but she had no room to argue.

Scott had one more thing to add to Winnie's duties. In order to keep his projects funded, Scott would often have dinner with potential investors. Winnie, being not only a successful project, but a beautiful one, was to accompany him to the dinners. She often sat beside him, politely conversing until introductions were demanded. The investors, often younger rich men or old rich men avoiding their wives, were often rather curious about the young blonde keeping Scott company. She served as the perfect introduction to his company, a pretty gloss over his other, sometimes more questionable projects.

Scott made no effort to hide his dissatisfaction at having lost Shawn and Kaylie. And so, between the tests he ran on them and the expectations he held for their loyalty and development, Scott added two more objects to Winnie and Alex's goals. Catch Shawn and Kaylie. And bring them in.

Needless to say, this gave Winnie conflicted feelings. To see Shawn again would be wonderful... but the circumstances would ensure the meeting was not pleasant. She was right. Finding him in the D, Winnie shifted into her normal form and stood beside him, immediately getting a cold reception. She seemed determined to bring her in, as much as he was determined to NOT be taken.

They exchanged words. Hurtful words. She didn't want him to know how much it stung, but if he knew her half as well as she thought, he'd pick up on it. Over the next five months, they continued to meet like that. Bantering. Snarking. And one day Winnie admitted she didn't want to do it. Scott had her in a vice, built of blackmail and fear. From then, the situation changed.

(( coming soon ))

(( coming soon ))

Tall, thin, curvy. The stereotypical airhead and cheerleader is what you would expect when looking at Winnie, and pretty much what you would get. Her years of horseback riding and cheerleading have toned her body and given her rather impressive posture. Though her smile has been perfected with a year and a half of braces, the one thing Winnie has not attempted to lose has been her glasses. She has a slight vision problem, though it seems to disappear when she is actively using her abilities or in her sylphic form.

How do you describe a gust of wind? Though her solid form is the lithe blonde, Winnie has the uncanny ability to shift her molecules to become, for all intents and purposes, air. It goes through various states, sometimes she allows herself to be mostly visible, seeming to be hazy around the edges. Other times, she lets go and becomes completely invisible, floating along the air current like another island breeze.

The current Winnie is typically shy, unsure of anyone's reception to her, though she is increasingly more at ease with offering smiles that do not come with her job. When working for Hale, Winnie is quiet, stern and serious. Seemingly dedicated to her job, she is efficient, hiding any hesitation behind the need to keep on Hale's good side.

In social situations, not involving work, Winnie is quiet, somewhat more relaxed, though to a degree, still serious. It is rare for her to crack a joke or tease someone and she will often resort to quiet contemplation over discussions and the people around her. Ever curious about others abilities and well-being, she is rather compassionate, a trait which may hurt her in the future. There are few, however, who get to see what she is like beyond this, in a one on one situation. Those who do may be surprised.

Thanks to the torturous manipulation that Scott put her through, Winnie is inherently bound to the element of air. Though it took her a while to get control of things, she is now able to shift her form at will into pure air. This change also enables her to channel the air around her into thick clouds, locally altering the weather by condensing the air and increasing pressure.

She is able to create pockets of static around her body and discharge it in bolts of electricity, often times increasing the likely hood of a local weather change. In some cases, Winnie has been known to build up so much static that it either forms a field around her, or condenses into a ball of electricity in the near vicinity.

Though she can shift her form into air, a lack of oxygen makes things more difficult for her. Be it from fire or a perfectly sealed room, Winnie tends to move slower if she does not have a steady stream of air and will begin to panic if she feels trapped.

If caught in her human form, Winnie is vulnerable to most things. Fire. Breakage. Bruising. Hurt feelings. Her mind is vulnerable once you can manage to find something to hold onto, her thoughts often being as flighty as she is -- on the surface, at least.

Shawn - One of her closest high-school friends, Winnie would never admit to anyone how she felt about him. Hearing him accuse her of not caring, of being a traitor, of being too secretive hurt more than she would admit. Still, the trust that he's shown her in her attempts to escape and help bring down his father have bolstered her courage. It was further strengthened when Shawn agreed to talk to her family and let them know she was safe. Shawn has always been one of the people Winnie considers a friend and would do almost anything for him. They finally admitted their feelings and after dating for several months, became engaged and finally married on November 12th. Winnie couldn't imagine anyone making her happier than Shawn has.

Kaylie Rubrick - The other girl in their quad, and the one Scott chose to bind to the element of fire. Winnie was always slightly jealous of Kaylie's looks and seeming closeness with Shawn, though she knew it was likely her self-consciousness speaking. She still considered Kaylie a good friend, and was happy to learn that not only had she escaped Scott's clutches, but she was safe and in contact with Shawn. Unsure of how Kaylie would take a reunion, Winnie's so far kept to herself and not attempted contact as she did with Shawn, though recent events have made it likely that she will need to speak to her, something that scares Winnie to no end.

Alexander Robertson - Bound to the element of earth, Alexander always seemed to be a lapdog to Scott. With the end of Scott's control, Winnie finds herself ashamed that she never considered Alex was in the same sort of situation she was. While she doesn't entirely trust him yet, she is open to working with him and helping him get back to 'normal'. She hopes she won't disappoint him or anger him too much.

Scott Hale - The man who made all of them into what they are today, Winnie seems to fear and severely dislike him. His constant need to create more monsters, to change more people sets her at great unease. To top it off, he holds quite a bit of sway over her, though she is hesitant to admit just what it is for fear that it could be used by Alexander if he finds out, and put certain people dear to her in danger. Though she is free of him now, and he is out of the picture, someone seems to be carrying on his work. Something that gives Winnie quite a bit of fear and frustration.

• "So, what can I say without being too cheesy? I love her. I love her more than anything on this earth. I would do anything for her. I'm happy that we finally found each other. ...Maybe that was too cheesy. Oh well. It's all true. I love you, Winnie!" - Shawn