Parsnip

Parsnip is a human-born shifter from Earth Prime, Anchorage 15-C. She is a traveller working with organizations across the timelines to prevent wars and stop malicious organizations.

Early Life
Born as Alexandria Brander to a human mother (Cassie Brander) and a previously unknown father (the shifter Aristomites), she lived in a rural Connecticut town during her childhood with her mother, Cassie. Her time in high school was especially turbulent, after a string of traumatic events and issues with depression and anxiety. She moved away for college and found a passion for studying psychology. After earning a bachelor's degree she moved to New York City to start grad school and a new life.

Family Background
While on Earth, Alex had no indication of her background as a shifter, or any connections to 5D. Her father, Aristomites, was leading other shifters in a rebellion against the King Beast in hopes to start an independent society. While hiding on Earth for a period of time, he met and fell in love with Cassie, but was assassinated before Alex was born. Since most of the information about the shifters and beasts was kept from Cassie, she was under the impression that he had simply left her, therefore having minimal impact on Alex.

Start of Traveling and Fragmentation
Alex came across a time machine in a hotel room in Block Island, New York, in the form of a small device with no labeling. Not knowing what it was, she started toying with it, which sent her across random dimensions, planets, and time, resulting in five different fragments of herself being left in each place. One landed on a planet unsuited for life and shortly died, another on Earth Prime in the 23rd century, and another on the Earth Prime of Skak’s timeline. The fourth one landed in the starting location and time, but was shot dead by a mysterious figure. The fifth landed on a planet with guided help on how to operate the machine, go back to Earth, and join TTN. This is the fragment that would log on, create an account under the name Parsnip, and go on to have adventures in the primary storyline.

The machine used is a device which cannot sustain travel of creatures that exist in dimensions higher than 4D, hence the fragmentations. Why it was put in her vicinity is still unknown.

Role as a Shifter
During the Eucharist, Parsnip took pity on the captured King Beast and decided the best way to end the battle was to free him. While doing so, she discovered that he could communicate with her, and she could comprehend him. After this, she started receiving strange messages and having her ship broken into by beasts. The King Beast told her soon after that she was a shifter, and that her people were trying to wage a war that could be stopped so long as friendly relations were kept between the two. The beasts, being massive creatures, were running out of space to live in the multiverse, and they wanted to experiment on the generic mutations of shifters in order to change form and occupy less space. After meeting Proteus and other shifters though, she joined their cause instead, and became a temporary leader. This escalated into a fight between her and the King Beast; after losing, she took his offer to turn herself in as a prisoner instead.

Since Parsnip’s body is in a human form, her natural shifting abilities are limited in bursts and only certain forms. After staying in the beasts’ captivity and being experimented on, her natural shifting capabilities were taken away. Squirt was later able to come up with a serum to allow for shifting, usually in hour-long spans.

Other information
Parsnip adopted Brownie, a mountain dog/brown bear hybrid, after coming across him outside an abandoned Russian laboratory in the 4000s. He live on her ship and with the shifter commune.

Her soul ribbon is gold, appearing in varying tones and luster.

At the end of the battle during the Cataclysm, her left leg was torn off. She replaced it with a robotic prosthetic, but still prefers her right leg in a fight.

Abilities/Equipment
Abilities:
 * Shifting (with the aid of serum post-capture)
 * Swordfighting: Wanting to be a capable fighter, Parsnip started training in swordfighting not long after she started traveling. This makes her especially suitable for close-range combat.
 * Navigation and tracking

Equipment:
 * La Cherie, a key sword
 * Mercury (ship)