S T R A T U S

Stratus was born Iseul, or Sasha, in a small city in Arizona to a loving mother and father, with one older brother. Their early childhood was pretty normal, going to school and such as any young kid did. They played outside with their brother and their friends, and got into classic kid trouble. They were a fiery, rambunctious child, but was generally happy.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened until they were about eight years old. Stratus, their brother, and their friends were playing outside when one of their basketballs bounced into the street. Stratus ran after it, but a car came speeding down the residential road towards them. Suddenly, Stratus had disintegrated into, essentially, a cloud, but the car swerved off the road toward the other children. Only one child was hurt, and sent to the hospital, but the event left all involved mortified.

Completely unfamiliar with this change in their form, Stratus was unable to return back to normal for a long time, and only was able to reappear once the ordeal was over and their parents had alerted the police that they’d been missing. Their parents were glad to see them, but their brother pulled them aside later that night and harshly accused them of running away and blamed them for the one kid getting hurt, before going on a whole separate tirade about their mutation.

Mutation?

Stratus hadn’t even thought it a possibility-- the phenomenon had honestly felt more like an out-of-body experience at the time, but with their brother here calling them a freak and wishing they’d never been born, that initial confusion and panic took a backseat to their frustration. Retaliating, Stratus gripped their brother’s arms hard and, without even thinking, or knowing it possible, sent him a short shock.

Their brother was not seriously injured, but it scared the both of them away from each other, and that rift only proved to grow bigger.

Stratus’ mutation was a family secret for only a short while, as accidental mishaps coinciding mostly with their own frustration grew in frequency. It didn’t take long for the burden of anti-mutant sentiment to hit them, starting with simple bullying in school and escalating to meetings with teachers and law enforcement officers after reports of ‘attacks’. Their parents did their best to keep them safe and tried to make sure they were alright, but it was much easier said than done, especially when their other child was working against that.

When they were fourteen, Stratus and both their parents were leaving the school parking lot when their car was mobbed by taunting, jeering, insult-slinging students, one of them breaking the window and reaching for them. It had already begun storming over the car, but that shattering of the glass startled them, causing yet another jolt of lightning to emit, coursing through the car and injuring anyone touching it.

Stratus’ parents did damage control in the following week, handling the situation as gracefully as they could. They were all afraid, and with Stratus holed up in their room with the shades drawn, they were going crazy, stressed beyond belief. Their parents assured Stratus everything was alright, but things their brother told them in secret had them even more afraid.

A few days later, in the middle of the night, a fire broke out in the house. Panicked, Stratus tried to get to their brother and parents to help them escape-- but their door was locked, and they were unable to unlock it-- strange, considering the lock had never worked in the past, but something they weren’t thinking about in the moment.

Choking and near passing out, they turned to mist again, and were able to move out of the house, but were unable to re-form until it was too late yet again.

Thinking their whole family gone, Stratus knew there was no way they could face anyone and be given any shred of sympathy. They retreated to the forest behind their house and... were surprised to see their brother there. He was shocked to see them, too, and it became apparent to both of them what had happened. He had rigged and locked the door, set the fire, expecting the parents to escape to safety but for Stratus to be trapped, when instead the opposite happened.

Again, he blamed them, and again, they jolted him, this time enough to leave him lying unconscious.

They moved around after that, staying as long as they could in one place at a time before getting run off or accidentally hurting someone or just plain being too angry to get along, or often all three.

After years of this, they eventually found the settlement created by Erik Lehnsherr. With assistance from Erik and the other mutants, Stratus is learning to control their power, as well as their anger. They are happier and more comfortable than they have been in a very long time, and for that, they are grateful.

Stratus is, at first impression, cold and irritable with a short temper. They become defensive quickly and many of their not-exactly-angry emotions manifest in the form of anger or frustration. They can be rude and reckless and even though they have calmed down quite a bit, they are still definitely this kind of fiery.

However, once you get to know them, it's easy to see a lot of that is mostly from years of using it as protection. They enjoy having fun, once they can get over themselves, and do genuinely care about those around them who treat them well. Often when they are upset they just find it difficult to express what's bothering them calmly and therefore are prone to thunderstorms accompanied by possible outbursts.

They take loyalty very seriously and despite their reservations about trusting easily, they do not take lightly when someone betrays the trust they do give them. They would do anything to protect their friends, including the fellow residence at Erik's settlement. They are wary of humans, and definitely more comfortable around other mutants.

Also, they highly prefer being called Stratus. Only a select few people are allowed to call them Iseul or Sasha.

Some say that Stratus would be quite adorable if they didn't always look so angry all the time. They may indeed be angry frequently, but more often than not it's just their default expression, complete with blank, unbothered stare. They are quite small, and quite soft-looking, with round, full cheeks, large eyes and short stature.

After living on the run a lot, they stopped caring too much about what they wore, however after settling down a bit they have started regaining their appreciation for being able to pick their own style more often.

Their mutation isn't usually visible, however when they get worked up, they may start to form cold condensation on their skin, their skin may start to crackle and glow or produce vapor, or cloud may form around or above them. Their eyes also glow a white-gray color when using their powers.

Weather Embodiment differs from Weather Manipulation in that the 'weather effects' center on and stem mostly from the user, rather than the atmosphere around them, though some abilities may be similar.

Stratus is able to, among other things, turn their body into a mist (and has learned how to reform at will), shoot and conduct lightning, ice, and water, and form small rain-/thunderstorms over her. Many of these things they are able to do on command, but they also tend to happen when they are worked up with intense emotions.