Description
Darna Shaelladh does not typically wear her military uniform, replacing it with rather neutral looking clothes. When out in public, she can be seen wearing a pair of dark sunglasses. She is very tall, as tall as most men and taller than most women her age. Darna seems weak at first sight, bearing no kind of intimidating stance or glare. Her eyes are white, no pupils or any color to distinguish her soul. When gazed upon, she looks like a doll, standing lifelessly on the ground waiting to be puppeted. In her right hand is always a thin walking cane, plain and white. With long white-blond hair, Darna doesn't care much for looking like a woman. She does not wear make-up, nor does she style her hair. Darna prefers it down, the bangs hanging in her lifeless eyes.
When in uniform however, Darna is a different woman. She respects the Fuhrer Roy Mustang, and therefore wears it proudly. Still with cane in hand, she stands tall and not as lax as she would in street clothing. Sunglasses are not on her face, and her hair is tucked back in a rubber band at the nape of her neck. There is something in her air that sucks all the weakness away. No one disrespects her and all seem to feel a sense of power hovering around her.
Personality
Darna likes to have fun when it is appropriate. She enjoys a good brandy and a thick cigar. The smell and taste dull her senses and she appreciates that. Though she likes having fun, you will not see Darna out in a large crowd for an extended period of time. With losing one's sight, one's other senses are heightened, and the energies of so many people cause her migraines. It is a shame, too, for Darna loves society. Before she lost her eyes, Darna was the well known Alchemist in town. With a simple transmutation circle, she could fix anything placed in the middle. It gave her a reason to smile.
But anymore, Darna only smiles at a good joke, someone's folly, or a quick thought in her head. Darna is haunted by something, and this fact is plain on her face when she doesn't feel you watching her. Her mind is always thinking, always on the past.
Darna is known for always helping those in need. It is not something openly spoken about in her presence, for she whips many people with her cane when her name is mentioned. Darna does not expect any compensation for it, nor recognition. This is her duty as a State Alchemist and as a human being. It is obvious though, she distinguishes first whether one is deserving of her help, and then sets forth on the path to aide.
Equipment
As stated before, a thin white cane in her right hand.
Also, a military issue pistol, her State Alchemy pocket watch, and a picture she can no longer see.
History
Darna Shaelladh was a happy young alchemist, ready to help anyone who needed it in her rather small village outside Central. Her father was a farmer and her mother raised her and helped whenever father needed it. She was a blessed child who wanted for nothing. The little girl would walk around helping anyone she could with anything they needed. Her alchemy was very good, flawless even at a young age. She studied everything she could get her hands on and grew incredibly knowledgeable in the art of Alchemy. As she grew older, her alchemy grew in potential and many told her to take the State Alchemist's exam. Darna did not want to because the current Fuhrer King Bradley was a disgrace. The way he used Alchemy made her sick. She'd read about the war in Ishval and couldn't stand hearing stories of it. Whenever she saw a Veteran who had lost a leg or an arm, she grew angry at their country's leader.
One night, while Darna studied, a young woman rushed through her parents' front door and fell to the floor before Darna. She begged for help. Her child was dead. There had to be some way Darna could save it. This woman and her child were dear friends to the Shaelladh family and Darna's heart wrenched in two when she saw the toddler laying helplessly in its cradle. She made them leave. Her mind turned to one path. In her studies she'd seen the circles, memorized them, thought about all the ways she could help people if she could do it. Darna was a powerful alchemist at the age of 20, and she knew it was taboo. But the woman who sobbed outside the door, clawing at the wood, begged her to save the baby. The circles were drawn, the body in its center. Thin, shaking hands slowly moved to touch it, and that's when the monster appeared.
Her body was being torn apart by little black hands. People whispered in her ears, screamed at her, cried at her, begged her to save them, as she fell through a darkness she thought she'd never know. When she was spat onto a white floor, her bright blue eyes looked up to watch as giant stone doors closed behind her. A voice spoke.
You wanted to see if you could do it, huh? You wanted to see if you had the power, did you? She could only make out an outline of woman, the same height as herself. Darna was frightened, on her hands and knees.
What can you see after I've done this? Slowly, Darna's vision blurred and she was looking at something new, something more distinguished than the outline of a woman. Now the woman was taking shape and color and detail. But when the vision was no longer blurred, she screamed. Before her eyes was herself, but with nothing where her eyes had been. All Darna saw was her body moving the way she was telling it to, her hands reaching up and grabbing her own face. This had to be a trick! There was no way this was happening! She was dreaming! But those eyes were lifeless, the color drained.
The creature laughed and Darna watched as the doors opened, the black tentacles reaching for her body and sucking her back into reality. She screamed and cried and felt around the floor. A rush of air and everything was screaming. Millions of voices in her head all screaming at once. Darna thought her head would explode.
That night has never left her mind. She thinks about it constantly: her dismissal from the village; the tears of her parents as they realized the taboo she'd committed. It seemed pure luck that someone found the starving, depressed woman on the side of the road and took her in. His name was Taven and he was old, but young at heart. He taught her to see without eyes and kept her studying alchemy, especially after both realized all she had to do was clap her hands and whatever thing she touched became what she wanted. It was with this revelation, as well, that Darna realized she could detect what something was by the energy it put out. It was like she could see the Alchemy in everything without actually seeing it.
It was years later she found out the story of the Fuhrer and the Elric brothers and that the military was starting a new turn of peace. No one thought she could make it through the State Alchemist's exam, but Fuhrer Roy Mustang seemed intrigued by her. His aura attached itself strangely to her own as if he was familiar with her. Darna discovered he had been close with Edward and Alphonse Elric and that Edward Elric had been able to do what she could do with Alchemy. Once established, Darna made sure to never bring this up with the Fuhrer, even though she wanted very badly to find out what they'd learned about it. She was an alchemist after all, forever searching for answers.
