Nathaniel Clovers

Name: Nathaniel "Nathan", "Nate" Clovers (mostly just adressed by her last name)

Age: 32

Bounty: None

Species: Hybrid (mother human, father threshershark fishman)

Occupation: Government agent, Private detective, adventurer

Allegiance: World Government

Home Village/Ocean: Grand Line

Appearance: Despite the name suggesting otherwise, Nathaniel is, without doubt, female, though a rather tall one, standing at about 6'2'' (1,87 m). She is lucky enough to pass as a human most of the time, with her skin being a dark caramel tone, which is a common enough skintone for humans. If not paying real attention to it, most people don't even notice the slight gray shimmer it has when hit by sunlight. Not that sunlight reaches it that often, Nathaniel makes sure to wear a broad brimmed, black hat at all times to prevent that from happening. It pushes down her very curly, black hair a bit, which she keeps short (barely reaching her jawline) to make it somewhat managable. A much bigger problem is presented by her rather unusual eyecolour, which has given her heritage away more than once: without any visible presence of an iris or a pupil, they are fully dark black. She has always, as long as she can think, hidden them in one way or another to keep out of trouble, nowadays she does so by the use of reflective, slightly red tinted sunglasses, which make people a tad nervous, but won't cause them to try to kill her, at least, and making people nervous can even be an advantage, given her job. They have small, round glasses, which, while being slightly impractical if you think about their purpose, she chose because she found they had more style than the other options. Another clue as to her not being fully human is hidden beneath her full, actually rather pleasant looking lips. Of course, that would be her teeth, which are as sharp as her father's were. It's a hard thing to conceal, but Nathan did adopt the habit of barely opening her mouth or moving her lips when she speaks, though she barely notices she's doing so, which points to her doing so subconsciously. It also results in her voice being a bit hushed. The only thing she would have liked to have, she didn't get: gills. Though she's a fabulous swimmer and can dive up to five minutes and about fifty meters deep, if she gets that far, gills would have been more than practical... But oh well, can't change what you are.
Aside from being tall, Nathan is very athletic as well, and her posture is one of a sportive person. The arms in particular are stringy. Most of the time, the posture is the only thing indicating that she may be well trained, as she doesn't exactly show a lot of skin, ever. Her wardrobe consists of devilishly stylish suits, mostly, with the casual coat and scarf mixed in when it gets cold. She mostly prefers black suits, sometimes pinstriped, always finely tailored (it's hard to notice they're actually pretty cheap...), with plain white shirts under the jacket. She doesn't seem to think much of ties, but she does seem to like boutonnieres though, possibly as a way to identify her, as it's always, always one singly four leaved clover she's wearing. When it comes to shoes, plain, black and cheap will do just fine for her, as long as she can run in them.


History:
Perhaps it would be best to begin before Nathaniels birth, though not long. It would be best to begin with her parents. Her mother was the youngest offspring of a very influential family. They had worked for the government for generations, had high positions all around, and if one of their children didn't work for the government, for one reason or another, then they at least went and became a marine.
Nathaniel's mother, Alessia, was of course expected to do the same. But she was a strongwilled being, wanted to become an artist, and an adventuring one at that, instead of doing boring paperwork or having to bow to strict military rules. Her parents took it as just a phase. Maybe it was. Maybe if the family would have consisted of artists, Alessia would have been hellbent on picking the most boring and conventional job she could find. But leaving that aside, one can guess how this went. Alessia met a crew, bounty hunters, and fell, or rather, decided to fall in love with their leader, Nathaniels father. Today, Nathaniel thinks she did it because she knew it would shock her parents most if their daughter fell for a fishman, a poor one with a passion for gambling and no real job at that. But those are just her thoughts on the matter.
Fact is, when they left, she left with them. While he wasn't exactly a scholar, Nathaniels father, Asad, wasn't stupid either. He would never have taken the daughter of such a family with him, if not because he knew it'd get him in trouble, then because he knew it'd most likely make it impossible for her to ever return to them. At least that's what Nathaniel thinks. Alessia must have snuck on board and only found when they were on sea.
While Asad was shocked when he found her, a little disappointed as well, perhaps, since he had thought she would be smart enough not to do something as stupid as throw a perfectly fine life away, he knew he couldn't just bring her back and apologise. Those were tough times to not be considered human, and he'd most likely be killed on the spot for kidnapping. Stupid little kid and her stupid romance ideas...
He tried to make her life as easy as he could, though he knew she'd have to work as well if he wanted to make enough money to afford keeping her around. He had tried to drop her off, oh, how he had, but Alessia wasn't stupid either, and stubborn, and absolutely hellbent on staying with him and winning him over. He found it weird, who did she want to impress? Her parents were away, after all...
Long story short, she did win his heart eventually, and they were together for years, Alessia becoming an able fighter during the time, sort of an artist, and most certainly an adventurer. But as all things end, so did their relationship. After almost fifteen years, when Nathaniel and her twin sister Nadia were thirteen they seperated because of financial problems (as Nathaniel understands it, her fathers gambling problem had gotten more and more severe) after fighting over said problems for almost two years. The two daughters stayed with their mother, though they were allowed to go travel with their father for short periods of time when he came for a visit.
After spending the first thirteen years of her life mostly at sea, having what other people would view as adventures, settling into a normal life was hard for them. And then there was another new problem arising, which they had known existed, but which had, until then, been far away to them: racism. Them and their mother settled down in the cheapest part of Whiskey Peak, where their mother had friends, and not even a week had gone by when the whole town seemed to know the two children were mixlings – hybrids, they called them. They couldn't go out alone because they'd get into fights, most of them they hadn't picked, and they couldn't go out with their mother because it would get them all into trouble... Also, because it would break her heart. So the two sisters made a deal to never tell their mother just how bad it was. When they came home bruised, they'd just say they had been training, or that they had been caught plaing a trick on someone... Of course, Alessia knew. She knew, and they knew she knew, and still she didn't do anything about it, out of fear of being kicked out of town, until one whole year later.
Even after that year, Alessia didn't confront anyone about how their children came home beaten up whenever they left the house. She just packed their things and they moved out right the next day. Nathaniel still hasn't entirely forgiven her for not defending them when she knew she could- her mother was a grandiose fighter and a fierce speaker, she had all the means to at least try and stand up for her daughters.
The only good that part of their lifes had was that, while the training with their parents had taught them the basics and the easier fights, which their parents had sometimes taken them along to had given them a bit of experience, they had finally learned how to fight without the security that anyone would save them, would they actually not be good enough. They had learned to fight as if their lifes depended on it.
Once the three of them arrived at their new home, one of the cheaper parts of Water Seven, their mother had prepared them. This time, they wouldn't be so easy to pick out from a crowd as what they were. Sunglasses to cover their inhuman eyes, caps to keep the sunrays from giving off the grayish gleam of their skin, scarfs or, sometimes, the order to keep their mouths shut under any circumstances to keep people from seeing their teeth. She told people it was a rare disease, something like albinism, that sunrays could hurt them, which was why most of their faces needed to be covered up.
Those preparations, those new rules hurt a lot more than any of the beatings could have. She needed to be hidden, even having a child with a skin disease was more preferable than having one with the wrong genes. It didn't matter if their parents had been in love or that both Nathaniel and Nadia were bright, mostly polite and honest children. All it took for them to not be presentable was a few traits not seen commonly in humans.
Nathaniel started missing her old life, the simplicity of it all. They'd never stay anywhere long enough to have their race questioned, and the crew had watched them grow up, they had been family. As long as they were strong enough, they were held in high respects, and everyone had been amazed by their talents and skills...
When her father, after finding out where they had moved to, made the two girls the offer that they could always come with him for a week or two, take a holiday from what he called “city life“, Nathaniel accepted right away. From the cruelty of human society, she decided to flee into a fantastic world, where she could live through the adventures again, where she could train with her father and laugh with the crew. Nadia chose to stay with her mother. Nathaniel understands this today. While she had been egoistic, trying to get away from her problems by ignoring them, Nadia had not only seen the world and tried to change it, but also saw their mother's needs and wishes, and how she suffered from all of this, and tried to help her. And while Nathaniel got better and better at fighting and travelling, not to mention gambling, in the end it was, in her opinion, still Nadia who truly got stronger during the next ten years. Of course, at the age of twentyfour, neither of them would go out wearing scarfs and coats and acting as if they had a skin disease. While both of them stuck to the sunglasses, all the rest was pretty much lost. To Nathaniel, it looked as though the world changed in the cause of one day. One day, she got back from a rather one journey, and got to know Nadia had a job at Galley-La, was now almost close to being a respected member of society, had friends, human friends, who admired her not because of what she was, but because of what she did (which was, Nathaniel would find out, the ability to lift planks five times her size with relative ease). She ran around with her skin, arms, legs, face and sometimes midriff exposed to the sun, visibly shimmering gray, showed the world her teeth fearlessly, and didn't mind the stares she might or might not get. Her mother was an artist, selling her paintings and sometimes beating particularily smug thieves up a bit, just to show them they'd better not mess with her corner of the world, which she had worked hard to create.
It hit Nathaniel that life had been happening while she was away on some fantastic adventure, dwelling in the past instead of trying to change the presence. And she felt a deep shame about that. This part of her family had needed her, most likely more than her father ever had. Her father could have survived without her help. He could have taken down those pirates without her giving him a hand, most likely even slowing him down. But her motehr and her sister had been fighting the real war here. They could have used a hand.
During the following year, Nathaniel didn't travel with her father anymore. She tried to somehow correct her mistake, to fit in any way she could. She tried getting a job, wandering around like her sister did. But the looks she got made her uncomfortable, the work she did she did in a haste, and the few humans who approached her, she was too scared of to be nice to.
After one year, all she had done was gain a reputation as the black sheep of her family.
It was plain for her to see that she would neer really fit in, not here at least. Water Seven was her sisters and motehrs place, but not hers.
But she did feel she owed them at least a second try. Getting along with humanity wouldn't be easy, but maybe in a part of the world that thought more like she did, that relied on strenght and talent as the first quality rather than race, she could try. So she went out to find that place and wrote home on what she found of the world. Alabasta was too sunny for her (she was still a bit uncomfortable about freely giving away what she was, history had taught her that), Jaya looked good for a while, but the people there were just too crude to her, and she was neither willed to become a barkeep, nor to beat others up and take their money, so she moved on. Sabaody Archipelago, while looking promising, left a rather bad taste in her mouth when she got to know of both the human auction houses and the occasional visits from the world nobles. People who treated neither humans nor fishmen any good would surely find no more mercy in their hearts for a mix of both.
It took her one full year until, at the age of twenty six, she found an island she thought she could live on.
Kuraigana island had not, and would not for a long time face it's civilizations demise at a war they had begun. At that time, it still had a civilization, fitting the islands strange gloominess and somehow still being more welcoming than any other Nathaniel had ever seen. The people there didn't think her weird or creepy in the least, they had grown up with weirder and creepier things all around. And then there was the permanent absent of real sunlight... It was the first place where Nathaniel could comfortably go out without an kind of disguise, though of course, old habits die hard.
It would become her home, and her house is still there, awaiting her more and more unlikely return. She rented a small flat, the cheapest she could find, and started a small business. It took her some time to decide, but then she went for being a private eye, since she hadn't tried that before and this island was still in need of one.
During the next three years, Nathaniel lived and worked there, and it would almost have seemed as if she had found her peace, if not for the visits she payed to her family once a year.
It seemed that, while her life was turning out, while not exceptionally good, at least acceptable, her family was down in the gutters, though she couldn't tell if it was ther eonce more, or if it just hadn't moved up from the beginning, and its life had only seemed better to Nathan because they were doing something with it.
Her mother was slowly growing old and bitter, talking about the old days and how she had been too naive when she just threw all the things she had away. She had never heard of her family again, and now that she was growing older, she was starting to fear she'd never see them again. She had never even gotten to explain herself, or to apologise about just leaving without warning. She had been a bright eyed stupid little girl, she'd say. Back then, she could ahve had everything, and had ended up with nothing.
She didn't blame it on her daughters, but on herself and her naiveness. Natahniel couldn't say she related, she had never been much of a naive person, but she felt a bit guilty. She had done nothing for this family, ever. Nadia had always tried to fight, not only for herself, but for their mother as well. Nathaniel wasn't good when it came to fighting for the presence, she had always been a bit nostalgic. Fighting for the past was more her thing. That's why this was a chance to her. This was something about not fighting for the presence, but fixing the past, and that was something, she thought, she could try her hand at.
She tried doing so by applying for a government position, as if to make up for her mother not joining. There wasn't much hope to begin with, and of course she got turned down. Racism was still a thing, even in the government... But Nathaniel wasn't inclined to give up just like that, not this time. This was her chance to put two screwed up pasts right.
If the government didn't want to give her a place in their ranks, she'd just have to try and gain their respect from outside. It was hard work, that's for sure. Nathaniel had gained some contacts suring her time as a detective, she was a well respected partner of the police department, and all she had to do to be recommended was call in a few favours.
She started by simply supplying the government with information, passive help instead of active, which is very much what she's doing today.
It was a slow and long way, but she finally got recognised as a professional, and a promising one at that.
It was when she was thirty one when she first met her grandfather. He was the one who contacted her about an offer the government wanted to make her. Safe to say, he didn't recognise her, even though she bore a resemblance to his daughter. She knew it was him, he shared her mother's birth name and looked like the harsh old man carrying the weight of the world her mother had always described him as.
She wanted to reveal herself to him right away, to show him his daughter hadn't screwed up as much as he thought she had. But he was hostile, so hostile simply because of ehr race, that she quickly came to the conclusion telling him about her parents wouldn't be a good decision until she could prove her own worth. After all, trying to prove her mother hadn't screwed up by revealing that she had done everything that was wrong in his eyes wasn't going to help. She'd have to prove the wrongs he saw didn't have to be seen that way.
This began by convincing him to give her the job she had been fighting for so hard, and that was now in her grasp. The interview took a full three hours, and by the end of it, every person in the room had been convinced taht Nathaniel was intelligent, professional, but managed to be polite while not being gullible in any way, that she was the perfect person for the job, but that she still wouldn't get it, because who had ever heard of a nonhuman working in such a position?
In the end, it was her grandfather who turned the tides in her favour. He was bitter, yes, and a racist, possibly, but he was also a professional, and he knew potential when he saw it.
Granted, he did it a bit begrudgingly, but he made sure she got exactly the job she had been called there for. And not only that, he made sure he would be her direct superior, so he could have an eye on her progress.
From that day on, Nathaniel was finally an official informant of the government. The position was slighty over that of cleaning personnel, but it was still a breakthrough not only for her, but for the whole race system. Well, or would have been, if it hadn't been for her being an inofficial official, so to say. Her working for the government got hushed on large scales, but that was, from her point of view, the best thing that could happen. After all, she didn't do this because she wanted to revolutionise the system, she did this to get an old woman the respect she deserved and the chance to be embraced by her family at least once more before she had to go. Also, being an informant is really not quite as effective if everyone knows what you are.
It's still a kind of known information, but that's where her ties come into play. Her job as private eye had gained her contacts on both sides of the law, and she is valued by both of them. For the right price, she will even give some information to pirates, as long as it's not considered top secret or otherwise dangerous. The right price is mostly information. An answer for an answer. That's what makes her to efficient, she has the ties other agents lack.
And there's always her superior to keep a watchful eye on her, keeping her strictly in line while at the same time waiting for her to mess up so he has a good reason to have her punished.
Her duties as a government agent, even an official inofficial one, of course take time from what she regards as her actual profession, private eye. She refuses to give it up alltogether, but still only choses the most interesting jobs. She just doesn't have the time for any more.


Personality:
During her life, Nathaniel has never had many friends, or even nice experiences outisde of her family. It's not really that surprising that she's so mistrusting and unapproachable, especially towards... scrap that, especially towards everyone. It's hard for her to open up to anyone, even her own family. You will most likely never hear her ask for help, the idea of depending on anyone besides herself just makes her really insecure. After all, every time she has done that before it proved to be a bad idea.
Though she tires to not show it, she's also very insecure about herself. If she wasn't, she'd drop the hat and start opening her mouth more than absolutely necessary when talking. At her age, she's still not sure how to deal with her race, her past or her future, how to talk to others and who to trust (with the last one, she decided at some point to just not). She's professional and tries to act hardboiled, though this insecurity shines through sometimes. She's especially bad with humor, and has her problems with metaphors as well. It's practically impossible to get her to laugh, she believes admitting to finding something funny would mean growing closer to the person making the joke, which would mean putting herself in a vulnerable spot. If she does try to show affection, it's mostly extremely awkward, since she has no experience at all with such things.
She's better at showing aggression, hate or disapproval, which are all made to attack, and after all attack is the best defense. Her real defense though is to first, try to not get anyone close enough to get to her, and if tehy somehow do, to hurt them before they get a chance to hurt her.
When it comes to her job, she's not really a fanatic follower of the government or even a big fan of it's actions, but she is a professional, and she really wants to prove her worth, not to herself or the world, but for her mother, who sh feels she's let down way too much in the past.
Her relationship to her and her sister is still a bit distanced, but friendly, and they'd go through hell to help each other out. Especially Nathan and her twin sister share an incredible bond of trust, and until this day, Naida is the only person to ever have such a bond with Nathaniel. Even when all else fails, they know they'll still have each other.
As for her father, she's still on friendly terms with him, even though she rarely sees him, since, aditionally to his job, he has now gotten quite the reputation as a gambling bilk, though Nathan tries to pay at least some of his debts off. But through him, she also has great contacts to all kinds of folks, mostly bounty hunters but also slave traders, and even some pirate underlings. As for the last group, she guesses they can be useful when it comes to information, and the second group gives her the creeps, so she much prefers working with bounty hunters. Though of course, if the offer is right, she'll think about it.


Ship: uses government ships for transportation

Ship Flag: government flag

Devil Fruit: none

Special Abilities:
Martial Artist: Nathaniel grew up learning how to fight, was later trained by her father, and uses a style similiar to french boxing or Muay Thai.

Natural abilities: Due to her fishman genes, Nathaniel can swim and dive exceedingly well, though not as well as a fishman. She can stay underwater for a maximum of five minutes and dive up to fifty meters deep, though she still has to have the time to get back to the surface, or she'll drown like any human would.
Her physical abilities are also slightly enhanced, though not as much as those of a real fishman would be. She's naturally about five to six times the strenght of a normal human and about three times as fast.

Learned Techniques (Keep it 1-25): None.

Weapons/Items:
a standard gun she rarely ever uses
a switchblade knife

Goals:
Redeem her mother in the eyes of her family
Prove her own worth as a being to aforementioned family, especially her grandfather (or possibly just herself?)