Name: Dustin Castelli
Nickname(s): Occasionally "Dusty" when others joke around with him.
Age: 19
Birth Date: November 18
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Occupation(s): None, other than being dragged along with Mina wherever she goes (an unwilling employee).
Sexuality: Straight
→ → → →Appearance ← ← ← ←
Height: 5'10''
Weight: 145 lbs
Body build: Athletic body with a little more than average build
Eye Colour: Hazel
Hair: Short, chestnut brown, somewhat wavy
Clothing: Any natural-colored, loose-fitting, comfortable clothing.
Other: He always tends to wear his jacket, or at least some other jacket, wherever he goes. He only takes it off when
he's in his or Mina's dorm, or when the weather is extremely hot.
→ → → → Personal ← ← ← ←
Personality: Dustin is generally a very calm, silent guy that's pretty much keeps to himself. He is fairly intelligent, which leads him to having to often tutor Mina and sometimes other members of the student council. Anyone else, he always refuses to tutor. Though he tends to fall asleep throughout the daytime, he is generally up all night, looking for clues to where his mother may be.
He really doesn't care about school activities very much, but when Mina asks him to, he generally still says no. But Mina is quite a persistent person, and after a few minutes of pestering, he usually gives in. He usually can't bring himself to continue saying no to her for very long. This is how Mina usually gets him to do so much around the school. She occasionally has to make sure he even wakes up in the morning. In general, he is quite irresponsible and lazy.
Likes:
♥Sleeping
♥Rain
♥Parades
♥Spicy foods
Dislikes:
✖People
✖Sweets
✖Work
✖Bright lights
✖Heat
Fears: Though he won't admit it, Dustin actually has many fears. Most of them have to do with his parents, such as never finding his mother, his father dying in battle, etc. Others include him not being able to protect Mina or having to choose between staying with her or going to find his mother.
Motto(s): "Whatever."
Personal Belongings: His father's jacket that his father gave him when he was little, when he first went off to war. It used to not fit him, but now that he's grown, it fits him fairly well, and he wears it most everywhere.
Bio: Dustin and his family are all from Brazil, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. There, his family and him weren't rich, but they had enough money to be secure and happy. They always participated in the parades and parties. The parades were always Dustin's favorite attraction. But eventually, the company his father worked for ran itself into the ground, and, now jobless, his father now had to look for a new job. But in the city they lived in, jobs were quite few. Not even the Brazilian military would provide sufficient enough pay to support his family. Finally, when worse came to worst, Dustin's father signed on to the American military, which was desperate for soldiers since they were in a seemingly important war. The only problem was that he would have to live all the way in America. Despite how much they loved their family and country of beautiful Brazil, they had to move in order to make end's meat. But once they became acquainted with the American lifestyle and language over the next four years, they actually quite enjoyed the new country. To Dustin's disappointment, there weren't as many parades, but as long as they were together, he was happy. When his father came to visit once every few months, they all had a big celebration, inviting their neighbors and new friends to their home to have a party. Dustin thought it was about as close to his home of Brazil as he could get.
Then, when he was eleven, Dustin's mother disappeared. His father was off training up north, over 800 miles away, when it occurred. Dustin simply woke up one morning, and she was gone. He immediately called the police, and after an hour of waiting, they showed up at his house. He had obviously been crying, but the police paid no attention to him. They dusted the house for fingerprints but found none, nor any other evidence of her being kidnapped. The police simply signed it off as a missing person's case, despite how much Dustin insisted that she must have been kidnapped.
Dustin was sent to a foster home to wait for his father to return from training, which he soon did once he heard about his wife's disappearance. But he couldn't stay long, however. He could only stay long enough for the police to explain the situation to him and for him to spend some time with his son, trying to explain it to him, as well. But Dustin couldn't accept it. Before he knew it, his father had leave again, but this time, he said he would be gone for over a year, to pay for their house and other expenses now that Dustin's mother was gone. They were both very emotional, but his father was willing to leave if it kept Dustin safe.
And then Dustin was alone. More alone than he had ever been before. He was in a foster home full of all kinds of kids, but he was alone. He called the police station so many times, they ignored his calls. And when they started ignoring him, he sneaked out in the dead of night and ran to the police station instead, constantly asking them if they had anything new to tell him about his mother.
After a few months of the police barely even searching for her (being preoccupied with other, more important cases), the police declared they were now looking for a body. This infuriated Dustin, and, without thinking, he just ran. He ran away from the foster home and everyone that pretended to care. He didn't know how long he ran, but when he looked around, all he saw were trees. Trees, trees, and more trees.
Eventually, after only two hours of running, Dustin lowered his guard, and in that one moment, he tripped over a bundle of thorned vines, his foot getting caught inside it. His body hit the earth with a loud thud, and for a while, his heart was racing too fast to even open his eyes. When he did look down at his foot, it was already covered in blood. He sat up and touched it, wincing even from the pain of that small gesture. From the way it was already swelling, he could tell his ankle was twisted, or possibly even broken.
Once he was able to untangle his ankle out of the mass of thorny vines, he tried standing up, but even that felt unbearable. Still, he continued, but he only managed to walk about another mile before collapsing from the pain. He could even feel his heartbeat pulsating in his ankle.
He sat there for a while, trying to absorb all that he had done. He dug his fingers into the dirt, regretting his rash actions. But he couldn't go back now. Not after all that had happened. Dustin decided he would have to crawl.
So for eight hours, he crawled across the forest, though at his slow pace and the frequency at which he had to rest, he wasn't getting very far. He tried standing again, and the pain actually wasn't that bad. But when he tried walking, however, his ankle suddenly wrenched in pain, and he fell again. He sat there, clutching his leg and groaning in agony, before he heard a tiny voice ahead of him.
"What are you doing here...?"
Dustin flinched, freezing at the sound. Someone couldn't possibly have found him, could they? And in this situation? Bewildered, he slowly lifted his head to see a little girl. She had short, orange hair with the most striking green eyes, they almost seemed to pierce him.
Suddenly, the girl giggled, much to Dustin's surprise. He must have been hallucinating.
"What are you laughing about?" he asked her, trying to sound threatening, but it seemed to have no effect on her.
"Your face just then looked so funny!" Her tone only succeeded at angering him, and he scowled at her. He was starting to think he'd rather die of starvation rather than spend another minute with this girl.
She asked him how he was, but he wouldn't answer her. She seemed to spot his bloodied ankle though, and before he knew it, she was crouching in front of him, offering him her back. He protested very strongly, but she suddenly turned to him, her expression was so determined that Dustin was at a loss for words.
"I can't just leave you here!"
"You're nuts... You won't be able to carry me!" he said.
"Get on already!"
She finally gave up on trying to convince him and started to simply make him, pulling him onto her back, despite how much he squirmed as he tried to escape her grip. Eventually, he was on her back, and she continued in whatever direction she had been going earlier. It didn't matter to Dustin. He didn't care.
However, the girl was having to take frequent breaks more and more often, as he noticed. But even though he hadn't walked in hours, the fatigue from earlier was still weighing heavy on him. They talked as they traveled, though, and he learned her name was Mina, and she had run away after her family died in a disastrous earthquake two days before. She didn't say they died, but he assumed it, since she refused to actually say it. Apparently, the survivors of the disaster refused to take her in, and when he asked why, she told him they thought she had purposefully only saved herself, leaving her father and pregnant mother for dead. They had always thought she was a demon, but she wouldn't quite say why, and he didn't ask. He knew how she felt. Dustin had always had a remarkable memory, not to mention uncanny strength. He was able to conceal it well, however.
Hours afterwards, Mina was panting heavily. She was sweating and becoming more and more uncoordinated. He urged her to stop, but she insisted she keep going.
"I can't just give up! I will protect you!" she had said with so much ferocity that Dustin dared not to say another word. But he was a bit touched that she would grow so attached to someone so soon. But of course, it really shouldn't be surprising. Her entire family had died only days before, and she had the entire thing blamed on her. Still, he refrained from trying to get attached to her as well. After his ordeal, all that he had learned was that everyone leaves one day, and she would be no different.
After some more time of walking, Mina suddenly stopped. Her head perked up, and her eyes darted from one side to the other. Dustin looked at her irritably, almost feeling himself twitch in agitation.
She looked around a few more moments before responding. "I thought I heard something.."
"Heard what?"
More silence. Suddenly, Mina darted in the direction of whatever she heard. If Dustin hadn't been holding on, he surely would have been thrown off her back. She ran until the sun was far below the horizon, but Dustin was slowly losing consciousness with each step she took. He began to see black spots, and he almost fell off of her once or twice. But she didn't look like she was doing so well either. She stumbled, and he had to secure his hold on her to stay on. He no longer cared how embarrassing this was. All he wanted was some sleep.
"Mina..." Dustin murmured into her neck. He wanted to tell her to stop, that it was no use.
"Don't die on me, Dustin! I know I heard it! A train!" she said with so much determination that Dustin found it within him to look up at her a moment, but it ended quickly. His head slumped back down, and he groaned his disapproval of her new hallucination, but he no longer cared. He just wanted to sleep, even if he never again woke up. And then he lost consciousness.
When he came to, all he could feel was the cold chill of the earth on his skin and a cool sensation slowly wrapping itself around him. He grunted, barely being able to lift his head off the dirt, but what he saw before him made his eyes go wide.
A train. The most detailed, most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It had clouds trailing behind and around it, but the train itself was stunning. It was as blue as the sky, with silver intricate design accenting it. It even seemed to be gleaming in the moonlight.
He gazed at it in awe, and he thought he was surely dead. This mus be his transportation to Heaven or Hell, whichever he was to be sent. Suddenly he remembered Mina, and looking around, he quickly spotted her not too far from him. He stood, despite the immense pain, and made his way over to her. She was obviously unconscious. Then, the door of the train was opened, and there stood an elderly woman, smiling as if she had been expecting them, and for all Dustin knew, she probably had been.
"Are you coming aboard?" she asked.
Dustin blinked, staring at her for a moment before realizing it was his turn to say something.
"Er- Um, yes. I just need to my, uh-" he stuttered, unsure of what to address Mina as.
"Your, uh, what?" she said, quoting his stutters.
Dustin looked at her once more before looking at Mina. "My friend."
"Ah, then hurry along." she urged, turning and walking back inside the train's interior.
Dustin quickly picked up Mina's small figure in his arms and limped into the train, collapsing on top of Mina at the first seat he came to, which was just as opulent as the train's exterior. She didn't seem bothered by it, but then again, she was unconscious. The next thing he knew, he had fallen under the sandman's sleep spell as well.
When he awoke for the second time, he was in a cold, white room. He groaned, feeling the pounding in his head. He sat up and looked around. There was bright light flooding the room from a wall lined with windows, so much so that he had to squint to keep his head from pounding any further.
"So you're finally awake?" a warm voice from behind him called out, and he quickly darted around to look at its source. There stood a nurse, probably in her early thirties, preparing a syringe. His eyes widened at the sight of the needle, and he quickly tried to escape the bed.
"Nah-ah-ah, not so fast~" she cooed, grabbing the back of his hospital robe. She was surprisingly strong, and there was a certain glint in her eyes that filled Dustin with fear. Before he could protest further, however, he felt the sharp pain of the needle in his side. He yelped loudly, and the doors to the infirmary suddenly burst open, and there was Mina, virtually good as new. She looked far tidier than when they had first met, and for a moment, he wondered if his hair had even been brushed in the last two days.
Mina's wide grin only seemed to brighten the room as she quickly ran towards his bed. He had already forgotten about the shot he had just taken, until the nurse suddenly slapped a band-aid on him, and again, he yelped.
Mina immediately started going on and on about how amazing the place they were taken to was, and his first question he asked her was "Aren't we dead..?" At this, Mina laughed.
"No way! I've never felt so alive!" she said, clapping her hands together. She tried pulling him out of bed to show him around, but the nurse shot her a glance that made Mina practically turn to stone. She immediately released Dustin, and for the first time since his mother's disappearance, Dustin laughed. Mina pouted at him laughing at her, crossing her arms across her chest, but she dare not say a word, in fear of the nurse.
Over the next few days, Mina would visit him in the afternoon and tell him abut all the things she had seen at the academy and all the amazing people.
Dustin soon healed, and Mina dragged him all over the academy. Her dorm was on the east wing of the academy, while his was in the west wing. He didn't mind the distance, but Mina complained heavily. If they were any closer, Dustin feared she would visit him every hour on the clock. He actually enjoyed her presence, though he wouldn't admit it, but he needed his alone time to search for his mother. Since she disappeared, he has been researching the criminals most likely to have some part in her disappearance, or anyone else that didn't particularly like her, which was very few. He has journal after journal of notes, possible suspects, and theories as to what happened to her. He has never shown or told anyone about them. Not even Mina knows about them. He spends almost every moment he has alone investigating, talking to the local police station he had back home over the phone. He generally calls them so frequently that they eventually started blocking his calls. He gets little information and participation from them anyway. His goal now is to become a private investigator and find out what happened to his mother himself, but when the time comes, he doesn't know if he could leave Mina in search of his mother, or how he could do it either.
