Phoenix Archer

The Ditto Phoenix Archer first appeared in Ditto Story 4 (The Battle for the Fountain), but left at the end. She returned at the beginning of Ditto Story 5 (Redemption), and has remained in the story to the present day. She travels with three phoenix companions---Brianna, Anna, and Diana---as Phoenix Archer, a travelling vigilante with some unique abilities. She also goes under the alias of Vanessa Jones, an archaeologist with three younger siblings---Rose, Tara, and Sarah (who are really her phoenix companions in human form). Her real name is Ryana Armaya (ree-AWN-ah are-MY-ah), "Armaya" being her middle name; her last name is currently unknown.

Species and Abilities
No one is quite sure what Phoenix Archer is, other than her phoenix companions; she appears human most of the time, but some of her abilities hint otherwise. However, those abilities also aren't up to the full strength an adult phoenix's would be, so they only make things more confusing for those trying to put the pieces together. So far, it has been hinted that Phoenix Archer has phoenix blood, but is partially some other species.

Phoenix Archer is partially telepathic, though it would appear her telepathy is limited to receiving messages from other telepaths, and occasionally talking to her phoenixes silently, as well as a few other things she can "sense". For instance, she can sense a "familiar prescence", which is, essentially, being able to tell when someone she knows fairly well is nearby. This power also seems to apply to vampires in general...though she has never mentioned sensing other humans, Elves, or any other species (in general) than vampires.

This telepathy also gives her at least one more ability that has come in very handy for her: with it, she can change her appearance. At least, she can change her hair and eye color, though she has been unable to change what her face looks like. How she accomplishes this is she figures out what she wants to change her appearance to, then she sends out a telepathic "pulse" which fools all other minds into believing her appearance is whatever she choses. This works on any organic mind, even a telepath; it's virtually unnoticable by telepaths, since it's very subtle in nature, and it can affect those resistent to telepathy because it doesn't affect the consciousness, unlike other forms of telepathy. It affects the visual parts of the mind. The only minds the "pulse" wouldn't affect are synthetic minds, like robots.

Phoenix Archer's second ability is the ability to control three elements through three different weapons: fire through a specialized dagger, ice through a specialized dagger (two different weapons), and lightning through specialized arrows. She has very basic control over these elements, and can only use them with her weapons.

Phoenix Archer's most noteworthy ability is the ability to extend and retract two golden, eagle-like (more likely than not, phoenix-like) wings from her back. These wings are made of what seems like flexible, organic golden metal; it can even deflect bullets, though it's clear that this isn't the best solution (Phoenix Archer has noted that it makes it more difficult to fly with a wing hit by a bullet). Though it appears to be an easy and painless process, she does have two scar-like marks on her back where her wings extend.

Description(s)
Without any use of her abilities (referred to in the Stories "As Ryana"), Ryana has bright, wavy red/gold hair, which falls just past shoulder length, and her eyes are light blue; almost cyan. Her face can be described as non-descript, yet somehow ethereal. For the most part, the only people who Ryana ever (willingly) lets see her in this appearance are her phoenixes.

In her Phoenix Archer disguise (referred to in the Stories "As Phoenix Archer"), she keeps her hair and eye color, but she wears a mask to protect her identity. This mask covers the bottom part of her face, like a bandana, and is made of a dark gray material. However, embroidered on the mask is a design that looks something like a storm cloud; on the very top, there is a cloud-like black strip of fabric, and out of this fabric comes a yellow lightning bolt pattern. (Phoenix Archer has a cape with a similar pattern---black hood and a lightning bolt running down the back on a dark gray material---but the inside doesn't have the lightning bolt, so she can turn inside out when she needs to blend in.)

She also wears fighting robes, which have a mostly dark, but warm color scheme. On her shoulders, a decorative, gentle curve of fabric (reinforced with some kind of ribbing) which slightly resembles a curled flame is present, both curving towards her neck, and her sleeves end just below her elbows. It's assumed that most of the robes are one piece, since she has actually been able to sheath her daggers, horizontally, on her belt, then conceal them by pulling some of the fabric around and wrapping it (somewhat loosely) around her belt. Beyond the belt, there is a split-skirt that goes just beyond her knees; she also wears pants which reach all the way down to her boots. Her boots defy the rest of her color scheme; they have a monochromatic blue scheme.

When she is pretending to be Vanessa Jones (referred to in the Stories "As Vanessa"), her appearance, minus her actual face, is almost entirely different. She uses her telepathic abilities to make her hair appear straight and black, and her eyes appear brown. She tends to wear a simple green travelling dress (with yellow trim), and she rarely wears anything that she doesn't want to get dirty in. The only exception is when she's at any kind of social function, and even then, she tends to wear simple outfits.

Personality
When she is disguised as Vanessa, she is somewhat friendly, but you can almost never get past the surface with her. To anyone who pays attention or spends a lot of time with her, it's clear that she's putting on an act. While Vanessa, she tends to be kind and listening, but she is also very practical and rarely likes it when a conversation goes on for a long time about nothing. Occasionally, she will even lose her temper and make a cold comment or two. (She rarely ever shouts out of anger.) In any situation involving a vampire, she is likely to lose her temper.

As Phoenix Archer, she adopts a very milataristic and cold attitude. She maintains (or tries to maintain) a very intimidating and menacing appearance to her enemies, but often fails against anyone she doesn't catch by surprise. She is also absolutely determined; she will do anything, minus things that cross her moral boundries, to accomplish her goals. Since this is the most real side of her most people see, she is most likely to be truly sympathetic and compassionate towards people she doesn't know when she is Phoenix Archer...though this is rare, since she spends little time with people.

When she is at home with her phoenixes, her personality comes out the most. She is actually very contemplative, and spends most of her "spare time" looking out a window and thinking. Generally, these times without having to act does her a lot of good and she's at peace, but if she's been going through a hard time, these can be somewhat detrimental. Not even Ryana's phoenix companions can pick up on this, but she really does enjoy fun things in life, and deep down inside, she still is a child at heart. She does a very good job of hiding it, though.

History
Little is known about Ryana's background. It's been established that she has been travelling with the phoenixes for most of her and their lives (since she was 21 in her first appearance and the youngest of them was 15, it's likely it's not an exaggeration), and that, for the most part, she has had no adventures they don't know about, and there are very people she knows that they don't. However, it's also clear that, before she met them, she went through some kind of rough experience with a woman named Hasaré.

Sometime while they were travelling together (and possibly more than once), Phoenix Archer and the phoenixes met up with Ditto Hunter, a bounty hunter with a formidable array of magical weapons and gadgets, and with almost no moral objection to many heinous acts, such as assassination. Since their morals clash, their relationship has become one step short of enemies.

Ditto Story 4: The Battle for the Fountain
Ryana/Phoenix Archer's first appearance in Ditto Town occured while she was travelling around the area. She'd heard of Ditto Town and had asked Brianna, who is a fire phoenix with the ability to scry (limited ability), if she would see what was going on. Brianna discovered that a man (J, though they never were directly told this) was promising to rid the town of evil. Phoenix Archer was suspicious, being a full believer in the evil nature of mankind, and decided to check it out. The first thing they did was take on their human disguises, and after that, they entered Aurora's Tea Shoppe. This was when they first learned of the Inn Between...and of the vampires in Ditto Town. This immediately caused an emotional response from all four of them, but Vanessa was able to contain them and head to the Inn Between. At first, things were all right, but when Boo-kay locked them in when Vanessa didn't pay the rent right away, she lost her temper and kicked him across the counter. They quickly moved out, and they found a cottage which was available for renting. It was the right size, so they rented it.

Not long after that, Phoenix Archer and Anna went out on a survey of Ditto Town and caught two bank robbers. When she caught them, she tied them up using ice, and left the inscription "Phoenix Archer was here" in the ice. After this, she went on "patrol", as she dubbed it, multiple times. In fact, she was there when Cymru mourned the death of her chicken, DaVinci. Seeing the two holes in the chicken's neck, she assumed it was a vampire's work...partially because it looked like it, and partially out of her prejudice against them. Just as she was about to leave, she ran into some of the members of the Ditto Team. After a short discussion, in which she revealed her suspicions, she left.

Later, Vanessa was in Lianna's Apothecary with her "sisters" while Lianna and her vampiric assistant, Giles, were working, and while Cymru was there. While she was there, she lost control of her restraint and openly asked Lianna why she trusted a vampire to work there. While Giles was trying to convince Cymru to leave the room with him so he could discuss something with her, Rose made a cutting comment about trusting vampires...unknowingly letting Cymru know that Giles was a vampire. After Cymru fainted, they decided it would be best to leave.

Around the same time, the Ditto Artist disappeared. Phoenix Archer decided to look for her, and after a few hours, finally found her, unconscious with a strange substance on her mouth. Phoenix Archer recognized it; it was designed to knock someone unconscious and keep them that way. When she learned that someone has stolen her horse, Hwesta, Phoenix Archer promised to look for her. Taking Diana with her, they both began surveying the area, and eventually ran into the Vice President, Frinio (FRIendly Neighborhood Insane One). After a short discussion, they agreed to take her with them on their search, and called Anna and Brianna to join them. After some searching, they finally found a small house with a stable. After they landed, they discovered that the stable was filled with several stolen horses, many of them from the Ditto Town Stables. They ran into the woman responsible, and despite her attempts to deceive them, then eventually to threaten them with her gun, they managed to apprehend her.

They took some of the horses back to Ditto Town and, on the way, they ran into those who had been involved in the Battle for the Fountain (including the Vampire Fancier and some of her vamps, but they were able to contain their tempers this time). After some explanation, they headed home. A few days later, Vanessa visited Lianna in order to apologize for her actions since she was leaving Ditto Town. (She mentioned she would've apologized to Giles, too, but she didn't want a repeat of what had already happened.) During their conversation, Vanessa mentioned (under her breath, but Lianna heard it) that she wished she could get over her bad feelings for vampires, but she couldn't. A few minutes later, she also apologized to Cymru.

While she half-heartedly left Ditto Town, she reflected on the love she had already developed for the town. As she took one look back, Ryana declared, "From now on, I am the Ditto Phoenix Archer."

Ditto Story 5: Redemption
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Ditto Story 6: DisOrganization!
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Ditto Story 7 (Untitled)
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