Ao Wyverios

Early Childhood (~14)

Ao descends from a prestigious Huntsmen family from Atlas. His family has produced generations of highly talented huntsmen, and that's the path Ao should follow, too. Tales tell about his great-grandfather fighting a giant Wyvern Grimm by himself and being victorious, but shortly afterwards succumbing to his wounds. To commemorate this victorious day, the Wyverios family keeps his broken sword hilt as an keepsake to follow this example.
Ao is the only offspring in his generation to bear the name Wyverios. That's why great expectations were laid on him since early childhood. Like most children in the Four Kingdoms, he listened to fairy tales of brave Huntsmen who had slain ghastly Grimm. As he got older, he also learned of his parents' missions and actions to protect the kingdom. Ao loved these stories very much and listened very closely to his grandmother as she recounted them. Inspired by this, Since Kindergarten Ao strived to be a Huntsman himself and defend the population from threats. But just a wish would not be enough to achieve this goal, he'd also need to prove he's got the will and ability to be accepted into one of the academies at all.

In the hope that Ao would one day live up to the family name, his parents put him at a primary combat school as soon as possible. Since the family did not lack funds due to their reputation, they chose one of the best schools they could find in Atlas. Their son should one day become a formidable Huntsman who could bring honor to the name "Wyverios". But that turned out to be more difficult than they initially thought...
Ao was admitted, but had a very hard time in his first two school years. No talent, no patience and no balance left him falling behind most of his classmates. His parents' expectations weighed on the boy, and it seemed as if he could not live up to them and would soon have to leave school. However, Ao didn't want to give up that easily. Being a Huntsman one day was the only thing he could see himself as, in the future. There was no plan B. In order to be able to keep up in the Primary Combat School, the boy decided to extend his training hours. As soon as classes finished, Ao took out his practice sword, entered the training parkour and practiced and practiced and practiced. Week after week, month after month he trained tirelessly untilhir efforts were bearing fruits. He was finally able to keep up with his classmates and get closer to his goal. Still, his parents still weren't satisfied. They expected nothing but Excellency from their son and Ao was still far away from that.
In the following years, Ao fought his way up to the top of class. That he owed in large part to his semblance and his weapon. When the day of forging his own weapon came, he decided not to start from scratch but to use the family heirloom - the sword hilt. That evening, when Ao came back home with a reworked version of this sword, his father was seething with rage. Why had his son dared to destroy a family heirloom like that? Because of this incident, Ao's father refused to speak to him for more than two weeks. At first the boy felt bad about his decision to give the sword hilt a new purpose, but he has not regretted doing it to this day, as it proved to be very handy.

Ao + Bleu (15~17)

At around 15, Ao felt at a point where he could live up to the name Wyverios. The hard additional training had paid off and he was finally at the top of his class. Now his parents had to realize that he deserved to bear the family name and to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. At least that's what he thought ...
That summer his parents decided to take in Ao's younger cousin Bleu from the distant city of Argus. Bleu had recently shown extreme potential to become a formidable Huntress one day, as her Semblance began to show. Since her parents no clue how to support their daughter the best, they asked Ao's parents for advice. They recognized the girl's enormous talent and persuaded her parents to take her in and train her to become a huntress. However, there was too little time to prepare them for the entrance exams to the Huntsmen Academies with a Primary Combat School, so Mr and Mrs Wyverios decided to take Bleu's training into their own hands.
Since than everything changed for Ao: Bleu, the "prodigy", eclipsed him in every respect. She was extremely gifted understanding and performing new techniques. Within a few months she made it to a level of fighting prowess that was in no way inferior to Ao's. All attention was paid to her education and every success was showered with compliments, while Ao continued to work hard for his acceptance into Atlas Academy without hearing a single word of appreciation. All of that filled him with bitterness and jealousy towards Bleu. He hated to be in the shadow of "the child prodigy" as he always called her, and see how easy everything fell to her while he spent hours and hours to achieve his goal. During Bleu's time in the family's manor, Ao tried to ignore her as much as possible. In his eyes she was an outsider who wanted to claim his place as her own, while looking down on him. The boy therefore put all his efforts into his training to finally be able to show his parents that he was better than Bleu.

The strained relationship with his cousin often led to arguments between the two of them. These fights often went so far that Bleu stormed into her room and didn't even want to show up for dinner. That the young girl locked herself in was nothing too unusual, but one time, after several hours without a single word from her, the family got worried. They soon found that the girl had run away from the property. The police were notified, but they had no choice but to wait. At first, Ao didn't care. If she ran away, he would finally no longer have to live in her shadow.
Then came the report from the police: According to video recordings, Bleu had managed to get to Mantle. In the district she was last seen, however, was a Grimm attack shortly afterwards. Since then there hasn't been any trace of her. It was possible, that she had found shelter somewhere, but even after several days there was no sign of life from her and the family slowly gave up hope.
Ao was consumed by guilt. Has he been to cold hearted to her? What did he say that made Bleu leave? Meanwhile, his parents mourned the potential they've lost and had to find a way to somehow explain Bleu's parents what had happened to their daughter. Since then, the relationship between the two parts of the family has been very strained. Bleu's parents blamed Mr and Mrs Wyverios' failure for their daughter's disappearance and potential death.

Atlas Academy (17~20)

At the age of 17, Ao was accepted into Atlas Academy. This day made him particularly proud: The first big step on the way to becoming a Huntsman was taken. Four years of hard lessons lay ahead of him to make a formidable fighter out of him. Ao was still chasing after the family name, even if he had the creeping feeling that he would never be able to do it justice. Furthermore, his cousin's disappearance hadn't helped draw his parents' attention to his successes.
Surprisingly during Initiation, Ao was chosen as the leader of Team "APCT" (Apricot), which meant a new challenge for him. Firstly ,his teammates needed to learn to get along and work together, including himself. Everyone had their own ego, insecurities or other problems that stood in their way. Nevertheless, he found fulfillment as the leader. His observation skills and ability to make plans helped the team immensely in their first couple of missions.
Over the next 2 school years, he and his team grew very close. He could count on his friends to keep his back covered and he was just as willing to risk anything to keep them safe. In addition, thanks to Team APCT, he was finally able to let go of the family name. He could see that there are more important things than running after old glory and trying to be a person he isn't. Sometimes it's just enough to do your best and try to be a good leader, no more, no less. He was him, with all his flaws and strengths and that's what mattered.

In their third year at Atlas Academy, the team was chosen as a participant in the 38th Vytal Festival as one of the Teams representing the Kingdom of Atlas. Excited, the team accepted and immediately began preparing for their trip to Vacuo. Tactics were discussed, new combat maneuvers developed and thinner clothing packed. Once in Vacuo, the four young adults had a few weeks of lessons before the Vytal Festival, and the integrated tournament, should take place. That time passed faster than Team APCT expected. The four of them had already got used to the chaotic daily life at Shade Academy and were able to get to know many new teams.
At the day of the tournament opening ceremony, Team APCT had a good feeling. They had practiced a lot, found new tactics and watched some of the other teams' maneuvers so they would be well prepared to be victorious in the group stage. An the actually did very well in the arena: none of the four young adults was knocked out - even though just barely. They had come out of the group stage victorious and qualified for the next round. Ao was very surprised that they had made it through the first round relatively easily, as the terrain of the arena hadn't exactly been in their favor. This surprise shouldn't be the only one that day: Just a few matches after APCT's success, Ao couldn't believe his eyes when he recognized someone all too familiar in the middle of the arena: Apparently someone had survived the Grimm attack a few years ago, but never left a single sign of life. Now there she was, Bleu, Ao's cousin, representing Vale together with her teammates. Ao couldn't believe it. Countless different emotions came to him at that moment: Relief that she wasn't dead. Rage why she never showed any sign of life. Surprise that he could even see her again. Bitterness over old memories of his childhood. Disappointment that she was treated as a "child prodigy" by his family but made so many mistakes in this fight. Aand many more feelings rose up inside him. The unexpected reunion with his cousin managed to totally put him off his game, which normally couldn't happen that easily. The youth made made up his mind to corner Bleu at the end of the tournament.

The conversation with his cousin was calm at first, but it became more heated minute by minute. They hardly talked about the events of the past few years, but he rather criticize Bleu about her sloppiness in the arena and the potential she missed because she left home. Since that moment, the rivalry between the two had reignited. Now it wasn't just a question of their own abilities, but also who was the better leader of their respective teams. In the end, Ao challenged Bleu and her team BLZM. If the two of them should meet in the tournament, Ao would ensure that Bleus team will be eliminated.

Ao hadn't been that angry in a long time. Usually, Ao had been particularly good at staying calm and rational by keeping his emotions in check. Bleu however, time and time again managed to hit his weak spot.
The small victory celebration that Team APCT held in the evening had become a little tarnished by the argument. Ao's mood was at a low point and his teammates had to try to cheer him up again. When the matches of the double round were finally announced the next day however, Ao was motivated again. As luck would have it, his team really would play against Bleu's Team, Team BLZM. Ao's team decided that he and Phoenix would compete in this round.
Now, Ao was in serious mode. All concentration was now focused on preparing for the upcoming match. They knew who they were up against, now it was just a matter of finding weaknesses and faults in the opposing team's tactic. When the moment finally came, APCT vs BLZM, a fierce battle broke out between bothsides. Nobody wanted to lose, not only because of the tournament itself, but also to prove a point. In the end, Ao and Phoenix emerged victorious from the match. However, he had to realize that Bleu was stronger, than he had initially thought.
Some days later Ao's team won the Vytal Festival. Team APCT was very proud of this achievement, but the whole experience in Vacuo itself had been something special. They were able to make new friends from all four kingdoms and get to know their cultures, too.

In addition, the initially bitter rivalry between Ao and Bleu slowly but surely developed into mutual respect. Both cousins realized that Ao's parents hadn't been the best influence on the teens. They also realized that they had a lot more in common than they had initially expected. During the following holidays, Ao even accompanied Bleu to Argus when she contacted her parents for the first time in years. Ultimately, both of them were able to learn from their mutual strengths and grow from them.

Post-Graduation (20~25)

After Ao graduated a year later, he decided to join the Special Operatives Unit of the Atlas Military. As a specialist, he carried out various missions on behalf of the kingdom.
On one of these missions he and other specialists pursued an escaped criminal as far as the Kingdom of Vale. However this mission dragged on for several months until they could identify and capture the criminal. The group of Specialists was supported by Huntsmen from Vale, including an old friend. Muna, a team partner of Bleu, was part of the reinforcement. During the time they spent together on this mission, mutual feelings developed and after the mission was completed they decided to start dating. Just a few weeks later, they went public with them being a couple. (Bleu's facial expression at the next family celebration was priceless when Ao brought Muna with him)

The following years were not particularly eventful, Ao was able to climb some ranks within the Specialists and make a name for himself. With the fall of Beacon Academy and the months that followed, he saw for himself the tensions within the Atlesian military, as if they were preparing for war. This feeling was to be confirmed when the Dust-Embargo began and tensions rose inside Atlas over the election of the council seat. Although he initially helped with the evacuation of Mantle during the massive Grimm attack, he had to withdraw early when Muna put herself in danger, even though her Aura was exhausted. Fortunately, she had only bruised a few ribs when she tried to keep Grimm in check, although in this situation she should have got to safety.
Then Monstra landed in the fields in front of Atlas. Like most Specialists, he was called to the front lines to protect the city from the incoming Grimm Invasion. Ao was only 25 at the time, but knew that this battle could decide the fate of countless lives. Though he might fall, as long as Atlas and his friends and family could be safe, he was ready to give his life for the greater cause. Fortunately, it didn't come to that, and a large amount of Grimm were wiped out by an explosion inside Monstra. Before he could return to town however, things were going from bad to worse: Atlas was falling.
Ao was evacuated before the city was finally razed to the ground. Exhausted, but reunited with his girlfriend Muna, he was now part of a huge crowd of people somewhere in the desert in front of Vacuo surrounded by Grimm...