Your Nickname: Zira
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes.
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Friend.
If you have written other characters here: Yes.
If Yes, list them all: Landis Morgan, Darian Morgan, Erin Harper, Hannah Harper, and Michael Dark.
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: TWT character slot.

Full Character Name: Kayla Marie Austin
Character Birthday & Age: April 21st, 1993
City & Country of Birth: Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Halfblood, raised in a muggle family.
House & Year: Salem, 6th, Cliodne Hall.

Wand: Cherry with unicorn core, 11 inches and nicely swishy.

Physical Description: Kayla is 5'8, with coltish long limbs and a boyish figure. She has high, small breasts, a long torso, a wide mouth, and a smattering of freckles. With chunky bangs and long brown waves, frizz is a frequent scourge. Her eyes, which are hazel, variate in their ratio of clear glass green to earthy shades of brown. Jeans and a pretty blouse are her preferred apparel when not in her school uniform; during the summer, back in the Carolina heat, she affects tissue-thin tank tops and bohemian skirts, long necklaces, flats, summer dresses over her swimsuit and worn-out denim shorts. The occasional girlishness of her clothing is not reflected by the rest of her beauty regime - predominantly a bit of a tomboy, Kayla doesn't bother with much makeup or fixing up her hair. She takes a very low-maintenance approach to personal appearance that, while it doesn't allow sloppiness or poor hygiene, also doesn't mean she wants to spend an hour in front of the mirror every morning like some of her peers. Kayla is a sunny, cheery sort of person: this is reflected in the impression she usually gives off to the world, always smiling, or smirking, or reaching out to snag someone's hand. She is a very warm, expressive person, and this is demonstrated daily through her body language.


Personality Description: Kayla is a girl who knows her own mind, or at least who is smart enough to pretend that she does even when she doubts. Being raised in a tight-knit, very loving family has lent her confidence and self-assuredness; success in academic fields and a childhood spent roaming her local woods has made her fearless and independent. She possesses the unflinching ability to allow barbed comments to sail on by and does not care much what other people think as long as they are not one of her friends. The bad opinion of one she respects or loves leaves her fretful and upset, desperate to correct it, and she is very much one of those people who anxiously asks, "You're not mad at me, are you?" when they've gone a day without hearing from a friend. Her mates mean the world to her, and she is immensely loyal to them. She considers herself a good judge of character but unfortunately often falls into the trap of wanting to help everyone, even when their problems are far beyond her capacity to fix. This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't mean that she occasionally fell prey to those whose desire for a sympathetic ear extended into the realm of the selfish and all-consuming, and more than once Kayla has been trapped in an unhealthy friendship, taken advantage of by her inability to say no.

She is generally a pretty happy person, often smiling or laughing. Black moods are no more infrequent for her than for any teenage girl, but Kayla is not very good at expressing herself negatively - which is, as she sees it, bothering other people with her problems. When upset she's more likely to keep quiet than speak up, the only time her outspoken nature is smothered. Ordinarily, she speaks very bluntly, which can lead to the impression that she's too brash or even rude - but she's quick to apologize if she thinks she's offended unless, of course, the other person needed to hear that. Kayla is a very firm believer in tough love.


History: Kayla was born and raised in the small town of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. She grew up happy and a little bit wild, spending her summers swimming in the Albemarle sound or at the Nagshead beaches not so far away, saving the woods for winter with their wet-black bark and beautiful frozen swamps. Elizabeth City is small and not very interesting, richer in history than in things to do, but Kayla developed a love for nature that flourished in a region of flat marshy land, fertile fields, rugged beaches, and heat.

She has three half-brothers, the eldest of which, Bane, is 13 years older than her, married and with a son. Michael is next at 10 years older, an unemployed artist who currently makes his living selling beach paintings to the tourists. Adrian, the closest in age at 21, is a quick-tempered senior at the College of the Albemarle. Their mother died several years before Kayla was born. Her father, Andrew Austin, is a member of the local police force. Her mother, whom Kayla has never met, was a tightly-wound, angry woman, whose romance with her father must have been born of equal parts stupidity, sheer blind hope, and loneliness.

Her father is a good man, and he is a Muggle. When Kayla's mother appeared in town he was supposedly, immediately, smitten. She was a drifter, and a witch; he didn't know about the latter, and thought he could fix the first - as well as fix her. So the story goes. Andrew's introduction to magic was not the most pleasant: the day after they'd been married she burned up the supply of hotel water glasses by hurling them at the walls,  clutching her wand and sobbing as they shattered. Andrew, who was not unaware of his new wife's fragile constitution, was less surprised by her breakdown than he was by the levitating glasses. Magic began to be a problem in the newlywed's household, Andrew's three boys skittering around wide-eyed at reckless displays from a woman they already disliked, Andrew himself terrified that a neighbor would see. Elizabeth City was a tight-knit community and home to several different Christian denominations, all of whom would have had something to say about a witch for a wife: she was too careless for comfort. She used magic on everything from ordinary household chores to stalling out cars with magic, ensuring she got the last cut of beef at the grocery by slipping it from under others' fingers, and blasting out windows when she was angry or upset. Unable to get anything more than snatches out of her about the wizarding community, Andrew had no idea whether there were many others like her, much less that her fickle behavior was stretching the Statue of Secrecy. He was patient and he was kind, and he tried very very hard to make their marriage work.

But two years was too long for Kayla's mother to stay in one place, let alone one as small and unchanging as Elizabeth City; she barely waited a fortnight after Kayla was born before she disappeared as suddenly as she'd come, not having taken well to the physical tether of pregnancy and bored with Andrew's responsible, steady nature. Her father raised Kayla as best he knew how in a household of boys, and kept an eye out for anything his daughter might do that resembled magic. But Andrew Austin was not an unkind or close-minded man, and when Kayla did begin to display signs of early magic he did nothing to discourage her. Still, it was a relief at age 11 when the Austin household received her invitation to Salem.

Kayla was thrilled at the discovery of a magical community and adapted well to life at Salem. Living at home had been nearly as isolating as if she'd been a muggleborn, and although she began with a steep learning curve the school years at Salem quickly became preferable to the magic-less summers at home. She quickly joined every activity and club the school offered, determined to catch up on everything she didn't know about the Wizarding world. Although this acquainted her with many of her current friends Kayla's grand plans dissolved upon confrontation with the Salem Senior workload and she dropped most of her activities. Despite her enthusiasm she never got the hang of the magical sports like Quodpot (too explosive), but she's gotten pretty good at archery after she picked it up as a freshman and will jump in on the spontaneous student games of soccer, football, or tag that sometimes break out in warm weather. She's notorious, even now, for switching clubs after a year or so; although she devotes herself to the club or activity while she's there, Kayla tends to be flighty and indecisive, and can't shake the feeling that she's missing out on something else. Whether by accident or design her early love of nature manifested in a remarkable affinity for Herbology, and she is known affectionately by some as the school's "plant prodigy." She enjoys her schooling and, although her skill with plants could lead to any number of career paths, is looking to pursue Healing after she graduates.


Why Was The Student Allowed/Permitted To Attend The Tournament??: Kayla is a bright and eager young pupil, one of Salem's top students in Herbology as well as moderately skilled in Transfiguration and Charms. Cheerful, talented, and acknowledged by the teachers as quick to make friends, she was chosen as a good representative of the American school: exactly the sort of image Salem wanted to put forth of the standard student being pleasant, well-rounded, resourceful, and capable of magical contribution to match their European sisters.


Sum up your character in one paragraph: Kayla Austin is a good-natured, open-minded sort of girl, prone to physical affection and sensibility whether it's wanted or not. Known around Salem as friendly, inquisitive, and mostly harmless, she makes friends easily and well, although sometimes her too-trusting nature gets her in trouble. If, with both something of water and something of wood in her soul, she is a little quirky, quick to daydream, quick to converse with flowers - they are witches and wizards! Who isn't a little quirky?