Post by Yorushiro on Oct 6, 2009 18:04:23 GMT -7
Name: Issara Shinuiya
Also known as (nickname): Phantom Rose, Knight of the Black Rose, Illusory Mirror Knight
Age: 1327 years old
Age Appearance: 13 years old
Race: Ghost/Poltergeist?
More on this in history, but I would like some sort of idea on whether they should be classified a ghost or poltergeist. Or something else entirely, for that matter.
Gender: Girl.
Appearance: She has the appearance of a young girl, slightly short for her age, with bright, reddish-brown eyes and, inexplicably, rose-red hair. She has a surprisingly strong build that belies her character at a glance. Her reddish-pink hair is straight and somewhat silky, if such a word can describe hair; she always keeps it down and grown to about waist level. She still has an immature body and thus has maintained the appearance of an innocent young girl. However, behind this happy-go-lucky appearance, she has a true fighter's spirit, and 1300 years of experience to boot. After well over a millennium of living, fighting, and training, she can rarely be seen shocked, frustrated, or with any other emotion, for that matter. Even so, an experienced individual can see within her eyes, albeit subtly, every emotion she has at a given moment. When observed, most often she portrays emotions of sadness and longing, perhaps an obscure picture of her turbulent past. A more visible picture of her past is the clothing she always wears: a grayish-white leather breastplate with black metal bordering, and similarly colored metal shoulder and arm plating. The armor ends at her forearms, which are covered with long leather gloves with grips on the palms and exposed fingertips, to easily hold and grab things. Below the waist she wears simple, grayish-white leather pants with several pockets of many sizes, ranging from a square foot to the size of a walnut. The pants only extend halfway down her shins, where the rest of her legs are covered by simple, yet beautiful black leather boots. This "warrior's garb" is complete with a black leather belt with a sheath strapped to it, also made of black leather. Shinuiya's outfit seems to contrast heavily to her initial innocent impression, but it fits her personality, that of a true fighter, exceedingly well.
Personality: Despite seeming young, Shinuiya has knowledge of 1300+ years under her belt, and certainly does not act immature. She does not easily trust others, for personal reasons. Her deeply hidden emotions of sorrow are out of habit, almost; she has witnessed much sorrow in her many years. Because of this, and to hide any fear from an enemy or similar emotions, she always maintains a straight and passive face.
Other than that, Shinuiya often loses focus or is distracted by things. She generally considers time as fleeting, quickly passing, (since she does not age as time passes) and nearly always has difficulty focusing on any given moment or event, except fighting. Because of this she is usually considered quite distant, off in her own world. She doesn't consider much, except herself and her wants and needs. If teaming with another will get what she wants, she will join them and no questions asked. Until, of course, she is satisfied. If she is forced to stay longer, she will get angry.
Anger is in fact one of the only emotions plainly visible in her; there will be, instead of a soft sorrow in her crimson eyes, a flame of hatred and frustration. If one were to infuriate her enough, she does shake with rage, an even more visible sign. But it may be too late at that point to calm her down, since she would likely aim to kill the perpetrator. When encouraged, her rage is sharp and fast as a vorpal blade.
Alternatively, if you can find just what she really likes, she will smile quite sweetly and thank you for it. Even after 1300 years as a phantom, there are still remnants of her young, truly living self.
On that note...
What she likes:
- One-hit thrills! *slice*
- Good competition. You can really see it in her eyes.
- Fried squid.
- A good cup of Chinese tea.
- Changing the subject at random junctures (though, this is normally unintentional-- she's kinda spacey sometimes).
- Trees and forests. She loves the natural beauty, the fresh air, of a forest. They make good practice targets, too.
What she dislikes:
- Really arrogant people. Who doesn't dislike them?
- People who ignore her when she talks to them. (Hypocrite.)
- Humans, even though she was one when she was alive.
- Losing, and also sore losers. Still a hypocrite. But try to say that to her face. (She may tear yours off.)
- Anyone who steals. (History again...)
- People/things who burn forests. Because... she likes forests. That's all.
- Oh, and power hungry freaks who plot random ways to destroy Gensokyo or gain ultimate power, or who employ her and force her to stay to deal with stragglers when she gets what she wanted.
But you knew that, right? And something she wants is the world. She can't get what she wants in the world without the world.
Common sense, you know.
Sorry, I was trying to be clever and funny. I'll get on with it.
Greatest Fear: The one thing she fears in the world is complete and trusting friendship. You could be a simpleton and call it love, but that's not it, really. She fears love just a little less.
She fears true friendship because it is what caused her to die, and be thrust into a state of non-aging eternity. (See history.) Friendship now seems to her a recurring accident in human nature that always ends in betrayal or emptiness.
If that doesn't make you afraid of friendship, I don't know what will.
Incidentally, she does have some "acquaintances", but she doesn't fully trust any of them. She holds and facade of trust while staying prepared for their possible betrayal.
Ambitions/Desires: First and foremost, let it be known that Shinuiya's leading ambition is, in fact, to fulfill her desires. So here are some things she wants in life:
- She wants, through some method, somehow, whether she must dig up all hell to do it, to find her mother (or her soul), and apologize. She wants to apologize for being unable to see through the facade of friendship, and recognizing it for what is really is.
Of course, Shinuiya thinks at the moment that friendship is an exploitation of someone through faking positive feelings towards them, and eventually betraying them for self-benefit.
If she ever finds her mother, she may have some perceptions to reconsider.
- Ultimately, she wants to be the best fighter in Gensokyo. But she doesn't really work too hard to get to that lofty goal. She might just be lazy, but she also believes that if she really does become the best, there wouldn't be any challenges. It would just get really boring. All things considered, what she wants is good competition, which has been mentioned.
- She wants to stop being such a wayfarer. Not that she doesn't want to travel, but she wants a solid "base of operations". It is for this reason she always seizes a chance for taking over others' residences. This usually doesn't sit well with the residents.
Shinuiya has considered building one, but not building it herself. She has yet to find someone with the capability or motivation to aid her.
Weapons:
Shinuiya uses but one weapon.
Her sharp wit!
Well, and a sword. Her wit's not that sharp, either.
This sword is not just a sword, as I'm sure you could guess. Her sword, called Kuroimira, is kind of a "ghost" sword, if that term really applies here. The fact is, while Shinuiya was alive, she lived in a very magically influenced society about 1314 years ago, if her age is any indication. She was incidentally predetermined to become a warrior of the sword, but her sword was special; every warrior of that kind in the village was given a weapon imbued with a soul, and the warrior's soul would be linked with that of the weapon. The soul was of an unknown entity, but it kept her sword from wearing or becoming dull, and it would have grown slowly as she grew in age and strength, because of the link between them. But, Kuroimira is now invisible and can only be seen by youkai, because half is in Shinuiya to keep her alive (See history yet again...). Some claim that she is able to communicate with Kuroimira, which is very likely. But if so, it would be subtle mind-speech used during battle to execute commands and control powers. Since she shares a soul with her sword, they essentially think the same thoughts.
Different youkai, when fighting her, each claim the blade to be a certain color, depending on their own personality. This is mostly a phenomenon unsolved, but I'll chance a guess that is has something to do with soul sealed within the sword. Kuroimira has been poetically dubbed the "Phantom Mirror", being something of a phantom, and a mirror of youkais' personalities.
I know it sounds a lot like Konpoku. I'm struggling to be original.
Abilities and Fighting Style: Shinuiya uses a sword, and was trained to fight less from a distance and more hand-to-hand when fighting. So, her technique consists mostly of dodging through bullets and striking quickly and directly at an enemy. She shares a soul with her sword, granting her plenty of control over its form and powers, even more control if she can actually communicate with it. Thus, she uses a number of more spiritual techniques while not in close-combat. Among them are enlarging her sword incredibly, and blasting out copies of her sword that are visible from the glow of energy, but can become intangible and multiply themselves. One of her favorite techniques is to extend her sword (with visible energy) into a whip, with which she fires waves of bullets that shortly lose visibility. Like the sword, youkai can still see any and all bullets she fires.
Strengths: Even if Shinuiya can't age, she still physically exists in the world, so she builds physical strength as she trains and fights. Naturally, after 1300 years or so of fighting, she has become very strong for a human with her body. Though I don't think you'd call that a real physical strength.
So, a list:
- She is almost completely impassive to insults, about her body, friends (or lack thereof) , fighting style, clothing, anything. This is due to her generally impassive mentality.
- She is very good at regular, no-magic swordfighting. This also means she is good at swordfighting in a magical fight, so you should keep away from her if you don't want to get slashed to ribbons.
- It is very difficult to intimidate her. No matter how massive an attack is thrown at her, she calmly calculates a way around it with few injuries as possible. Ideally, none.
- She is very fast, but only utilizes this speed to dodge closer to a target and slash them.
Weaknesses: Shinuiya's weaknesses are hard to pinpoint, but are potentially very exploitable:
- She is significantly weaker without Kuroimira. She can still generate bullets without her sword, but not with the same magnitude as she can with it (It technically has half her soul). But, this weakness is hard to utilize, since she always keeps her sword close, and only youkai can actually see it.
- She just can't stay focused if there is someone talking while she fights. Whether it's the enemy, someone in the sidelines, even an ally, it's impossible to focus with words flying around with the bullets. Because of her disciplined composure, she just interrupts them subtly.
- She still has a young body, even with her muscular build. So, she can't take many hits, if one can manage to hit her.
- If she is really angry with her target for whatever reason, she will attack very fiercely, but tends to make more mistakes. This gets her in a lot of trouble, since she can take so few hits.
- For some reason, even if she's fighting, anything that burns always manages to distract her from what she's doing. If it's an attack (fireball coming towards her) she'll avoid it, but if it's a tree or house she'll probably look for some help to douse it, no matter the situation. Everyone considers her a bit strange.
History: (Finally!)
Shinuiya was born in about 735 A.D., in a small village of Gensokyo, located right next to the present day Hakurei Border. It was a village of fighters, renowned for many famed warriors to which it gave birth.
In this village, everyone's life was predetermined, by methods of future sight now lost over the years. However, the future only be seen in a cryptic message; it varied in difficulty when it came to interpreting it, depending on how much there was to see in the person's future. Of course, no one could predict she would be held to the mortal world for eternity. So, Shinuiya's message was incredibly cryptic at the time: She will fight well and hard, but will forget life in order to live.
They couldn't make real sense out of it at all. As it happened, they did realize she was to be a fighter, so she was presented with simple weapons once she came of age to train, and found the sword most comfortable. Then, after a laborious series of rites and rituals (which are now forgotten), she was made a sword imbued with a soul, Kuroimira. The sword would never wear or become dull, and it was to grow with her as her fighting companion. And so, she trained until she was 13.
By then, she had shown much prowess in swordfighting. Some called her a prodigy, as she could defeat many veteran fighters who had seen more combat situations than she had seen months. She was known for supposedly predicting an opponent's move, then acting quickly around it. And despite her hard fighter's spirit, she still had a soft and caring personality. Almost everyone in the village adored respected her, some for her natural talent in fighting, others for her caring mantra. But, there were only two people who she truly cared about: her mother, and her best friend. Her mother was now a widow since her husband fought in a war outside of Gensokyo, and did not return. Shinuiya was barely a toddler then, and could not remember her father in the slightest; her mother had recovered from the initial sorrow, and did not talk of him much. Thus, Shinuiya loved her mother, with love ideally given to both parents. Her mother loved her back, and worried about her. She knew if she was to become a fighter, she might face the same fate as her father. If such circumstances such as war arose, she would protect her child in any way she could, though she had no fighting skills or magical power. Shinuiya hardly noticed how worried her mother was, and always talked to her for hours about the day's training. Though she was a fighter, she was still taught basic housing skills as she grew, though admittedly, she was not as skilled at these things.
And then there was Shinuiya's friend. There is quite a story to tell here. As for who that friend was, it is not known now. But it is known she had especially strong magical powers, but not much control over them. Shinuiya's friend was undergoing similar training, for control of her powers, with significantly less success. But they had always liked each other nonetheless. Or so it seemed.
While Shinuiya was considered a child prodigy in the village, her friend was always reprimanded for her inability to bring out her potential. All could see her power's potential, but it was not contained; it was wild, bound to lash out at any given time, and it gained her a reputation for being cursed. Shinuiya, however, disregarded others' opinions and felt everyone deserves a friend of some sort. So, she was the sole companion and defender of her friend.
Yet as friendly as Shinuiya was, her friend was jealous of her-- jealous that they should both be born with great power, but only Shinuiya was able to control it. Thus, the timeless tale of jealousy and spite was spurred to growth.
It was a fine morning in the village, but not for this friend of Shinuiya's. She woke up with a bad taste in her mouth, angry at her parents for waking her so early, but she knew work was to be done. She went out to the fields to harvest some rice, newly grown fresh in the brisk morning air. But all she earned for a hard morning's work was a reprimand for ruining a full sack of the harvest in her anger. The day continued like this until she got so infuriated with her father that she screamed at him how she was tired, she wasn't feeling good, and I have enough problems with being the "cursed girl", damn you! She failed to see her power brimming from her furious state; until it struck her father and sent him hurtling across the room, smashing into the wall and falling senseless. She screamed in horror-- either at herself or her power, likely both-- and the only thing she could think to do was run out of the village until she was falling from exhaustion. Shinuiya never learned the circumstances of her disappearance.
Shinuiya's friend immediately decided to look for a way to control her power, so she could be regarded at the same level as her. However, she looked in quite the wrong places.
On the other side of the present-day Hakurei Border, there was less magic than in Gensokyo, but still some traces here and there. Unfortunately, the supposed "traveling band" Shinuiya's friend found had no magic abilities they claimed to have. They were, in fact, no more than brigands who lived off the land through cutthroat and deceptive tactics. There was no way of the girl knowing this, so she told them her story.
From what she had said, the brigands could pinpoint another village worthy of pillaging. Of course, all that was left was to draw her away so she wouldn't notice until too late. They brought her to their "mystic"-- who, naturally, had no actual magic power-- and they told her to find a rock shaped like a sphere, or some such nonsense. She protested, but they said it was vital to control one's power. Eventually, she left on a quest of futility for the spherical stone, while the brigands wallowed in the opportunities brought by their clever trick. They quickly made their way to the village.
Meanwhile, it was getting to be evening, and with no spherical stone in sight. The girl wondered whether she was being tricked into something. She walked back to the camp, to find it hurriedly packed up, with a dagger sticking up in the grass where one of their tents used to be. She then realized her horrible mistake. Whether she killed her father or not, she had to run back to the village, to warn them, do something. But if they were gone already, she knew she was far too late. That made her rush to the village all the more rushed.
Shinuiya was at the end of a lengthy day of training, mostly duels between her and her teachers. Even if she could beat them, she was not always so lucky. There was always more to learn. Even so, she could sense Kuroimira tiring of combat, and she was getting tired herself. Well, more like exhausted. It was probably that weariness which let the brigands surprise the village so easily.
Before anything could be done, two houses were on fire, one with people inside, who hastily retreated. The brigands had taken many things from the houses already, and fire can so easily spark panic. But they hadn't expected this village of warriors, who had been trained to forget their panic in the face of adversity. The first of the brigands were quick to fall. But on the other side of town, more brigands were stealing things from houses, and soon, at least 7 houses were aflame. At this point, the village was an inferno. The brigands were taking advantage of their surprise tactics and the tired fighters, and had killed several people, both warriors and civilians. At this point, Shinuiya was in the action, slashing down all brigands in sight, when three came upon her. She almost immediately dispatched one, and the other was soon after. The third stayed far out of her range, and drew a bow upon her. There wasn't much she could have done.
But, the third never got a shot, because Shinuiya's friend struck him down in one blow. In her fury and panic, she had a glow about her, and wielded her power with ferocity; at the same time, she could control it at all. Shinuiya called to her, but was ignored. She thought it might be there was a bandit her friend saw, and went to search for them herself. Shinuiya came upon another two with their knives in hand. She simply ran to their side to keep them in a line, and dispatched them one at a time. But she didn't notice another with a bow on a rooftop, and her fate was sealed. She took an arrow through her left lung before the brigand was killed by a magic shot.
The inferno-- or rather, the village-- was almost gone. With clouds gathering, there looked to be a storm before night fell. But there was a glow in the village of magical energy, still killing brigands left and right. Shinuiya's friend was furious with the brigands and herself, but mostly herself. She knew she was the reason for this, even if she didn't consider the brigands might have come this way anyway. She had to apologize to everyone still alive, but especially Shinuiya. And incidentally, as she thought that, she saw Shinuiya, injured some distance away from her. The fear that washed over her dissipated the glow of her power almost instantaneously.
Shinuiya was crouching, clutching the arrow which hit her. Laces of pain shot up her arms and in her chest, but all she thought was that I should have trained more, I could have avoided that, but I wasn't...urgh... good enough...
She then saw her friend running up to her, and it refreshed in her mind several questions she wanted to ask: Were you controlling your power, how, why were you killing so many, I thought you were against killing, and where were you?!
As it happened, the garbled questions in Shinuiya's mind all tried to come out at once with little success, but the point was across. The girl was left to explain herself. Thus she went on to explain how she had found a traveler's band, who tricked her to find the village, and turned out to be bandits, the ones that attacked. She eventually figured it out, and ran fast as she could back to town, but she didn't remember anything after that until she killed the bandit that hit Shinuiya. All in all, her summary didn't answer much.
Shinuiya wasn't really listening anyway; she was starting to see red, and felt herself getting light-headed from the blood loss and pain. Then she remembered something else she wanted to know. Why did you find the bandits? What were you doing out of town?
With a sigh, her friend let open the floodgates of the feelings she had inside, hidden from sight. She was jealous. Jealous of Shinuiya, and how she was always the prodigy of the village, but I am always the cursed girl, the evil girl, who kills and destroys with no control! Then, in an instant, she went from jealous anger to sobbing to intimate concern, since Shinuiya had just then fallen unconscious. But the last words Shinuiya had thought were as follows: She was jealous, still angry though I was the only friend I had and could get... she wanted to be stronger than me... she... betrayed... and then everything went black.
Only two buildings were left standing, and those were badly damaged. Most of the villagers were gone; they were either dead, had hidden themselves, or fled into the wilderness, to find another village. Those left (other than Shinuiya and her friend) were one full family of a wife, husband and two children; Shinuiya's personal trainer, a battle-hardened warrior who killed many of the brigands; and one doctor with limited healing power. The doctor cared for Shinuiya under a makeshift leather tent, with her friend on close watch. With an arrow lodged in Shinuiya's lower left lung, there was nothing the doctor could do, for all his experience. It might be best to let her die peacefully, while she still slept. Shinuiya's friend, however, could not accept impossible as an answer. She dug deeply into her thoughts, for something, anything, that could be done.
If she couldn't think of anything, she decided she would take her own life with Shinuiya's sword, Kuroimira. But then, that sparked an idea.
If Shinuiya died, her soul would be lost. But Kuroimira had a soul within it. She knew from her lessons that switching a soul's body would simply destroy the souls switching, especially if a soul was moved to a soulless body. But since Kuroimira's soul was linked to Shinuiya's, maybe she could use that soul switching magic to cause them to share Kuroimira's soul. It was far-fetched to say the least, but the only option, if it worked at all. So, without a word, she set to work preparing the rites to work the specific spell she wished for. It would have to be done right before Shinuiya died, or her body would become a useless corpse, unable to house a soul under any circumstance. She finished the rites and incantations, and readied herself to say the final word. She looked into Shinuiya at her soul, to exact the time to act. The soul was barely holding on; Shinuiya was starting to turn pale. Now.
Shinuiya woke up. She could not remember where she was, but it was cold. She felt a twinge in her lower chest-- The arrow had been removed, and there was no indication she had ever been wounded. She then wondered how exactly she was alive. Then she saw Kuroimira. It was strange, to see into the soul of a sword, but it seemed familiar somehow, like it was part of her.
Distracted by the sword, her head brushed the top of the tent she was in; she was floating in midair. She looked down to see her friend, staring into space, a glow about her; but the glow was flowing, leaving her body. She then realized the glow was flowing into her and Kuroimira. Is she saving me? But, how?
The glow of power had almost faded, and its host began to fade as well. She looked up and saw Shinuiya, floating, but alive. She wondered if it had worked, or this was Shinuiya's ghost. Or, she would have wondered, if her soul hadn't expended at that instant. Her body fell to the ground, and her spirit left with the words, I'm sorry... I caused... so much... pain...
And yet, she left with a smile on her face, because she could save one life. Her friend.
Note to self: No more excruciatingly long drama/action scenes. Nothing like that actually happens in history!
Whether or not Shinuiya heard those passing words, she still doubted her friend for allegedly betraying her's and the village's trust. She stared again at Kuroimira, then picked it up. There was a peculiar yet comforting feeling deep within her, and she was immediately warm again. She knew her soul was linked with Kuroimira, but these effects had never been felt before. She decided it might be best to contemplate later.
While still in the tent, she tried floating around a bit, with little success due to its small interior. She floated down to the ground, and noticed her friend's body still on the ground. She moved it easily to the bed, then walked out of the tent without a word of respect or even a backwards glance. Shinuiya wasn't sure what to think of her friend anymore; she decided not to think of her at all.
There was no one left in the ruins of the village except for the doctor; he had faithfully remained in case Shinuiya could be cured. Upon seeing her fully recovered and walking, his first emotion was joy, but he inquired where her friend was. Shinuiya told him, She gave her life to save mine. I don't know how, but I don't care. After a strange and almost comical mix between puzzlement and complete shock, the doctor rushed back into the tent. Without a word, Shinuiya went to visit her house, her mother's house. It was one of the houses still barely standing after the fire died out. She entered slowly; she called to her mother, getting no answer. She called again, louder. Once she entered the kitchen, she saw that though the house still stood, nothing could have survived in it. There was ash everywhere, no telling where her mother might be, if she hadn't escaped. Shinuiya decided it was best not to find out for sure; some hope was better than none.
By the time she left her house, the tent and the doctor was gone. Standing in a small pile of ashes was a small, makeshift shrine. Shinuiya stared awhile, but then flew off, away from her home village, that no longer remained. She took only her training clothing, as it is seen today, and her sword. She left her memories of the village behind.
The next 10 years were difficult. At first, she was mostly worried about hunger and thirst. Eventually, though, she discovered she didn't actually need food in this world. By sharing Kuroimira's soul, she shared nourishment, and it seemed Kuroimira derived nourishment straight from the unknown realm from which his soul came. She could eat and get full, to use energy from this world for a change, but it was unnecessary; she only ate when food was presented to her or easy to get. Incidentally, she does eat often for the flavor, since otherworldly energy doesn't taste like anything, and that's boring.
It was also during the first 10 years that Shinuiya discovered the consequences of her friend's actions. While she wasn't exactly eager to have her body mature, she knew it was coming soon. So, it was undoubtedly strange to not be able to age even a day for 10 years. At the time she became sure she could not get older, it gave her another reason to hate her supposedly traitorous friend. It should be noted, of course, she did not consider them a friend anymore.
She already had a negative opinion about friendship, but her experiences in the rough of Gensokyo could only make it worse. Everywhere she looked for a companion or acquaintance, they always ended up mooching off of her at one point or another.
Eventually, Shinuiya figured no "friend" could be as truly grateful and compassionate as she had been to her former friend. And despite what she had felt for her friend, they still turned their back on her and betrayed her. For the next 100 years of her existence, she contemplated what she would do after this "revelation".
Her only conclusion was that she could hide away everything from others: emotions, past, belongings, everything. That way, they could not take it and use it against her. So, she trained for perhaps 1000 years; constantly without emotion, whether happy or sorrowful. Even if she felt in her mind and soul these emotions, she swore she would not display them. It may have been over these countless years that she developed a distracted, sometimes oblivious personality. It often seems to hinder her ability to fight and train, but she nearly always finds some way to avoid any consequences of her distraction. She still trains to this day in the same manner.
She has recently also come to desire a residence to rest from her long days of training. Not that she really needs it, but it is human nature. Thus, she often breaks into residences, from an old shack to any luxurious castle. It gets her into sticky situations more often than not.
She would likely never fully trust another being again, because she misunderstood her friend's actions so horribly. It could be described as incredible ignorance on her part, or that she is simply very sensitive when it comes to feelings. Either way, the damage is done, and it is nigh impossible to fix.
Done? Is it really?
I think it is.
Done!
Also known as (nickname): Phantom Rose, Knight of the Black Rose, Illusory Mirror Knight
Age: 1327 years old
Age Appearance: 13 years old
Race: Ghost/Poltergeist?
More on this in history, but I would like some sort of idea on whether they should be classified a ghost or poltergeist. Or something else entirely, for that matter.
Gender: Girl.
Appearance: She has the appearance of a young girl, slightly short for her age, with bright, reddish-brown eyes and, inexplicably, rose-red hair. She has a surprisingly strong build that belies her character at a glance. Her reddish-pink hair is straight and somewhat silky, if such a word can describe hair; she always keeps it down and grown to about waist level. She still has an immature body and thus has maintained the appearance of an innocent young girl. However, behind this happy-go-lucky appearance, she has a true fighter's spirit, and 1300 years of experience to boot. After well over a millennium of living, fighting, and training, she can rarely be seen shocked, frustrated, or with any other emotion, for that matter. Even so, an experienced individual can see within her eyes, albeit subtly, every emotion she has at a given moment. When observed, most often she portrays emotions of sadness and longing, perhaps an obscure picture of her turbulent past. A more visible picture of her past is the clothing she always wears: a grayish-white leather breastplate with black metal bordering, and similarly colored metal shoulder and arm plating. The armor ends at her forearms, which are covered with long leather gloves with grips on the palms and exposed fingertips, to easily hold and grab things. Below the waist she wears simple, grayish-white leather pants with several pockets of many sizes, ranging from a square foot to the size of a walnut. The pants only extend halfway down her shins, where the rest of her legs are covered by simple, yet beautiful black leather boots. This "warrior's garb" is complete with a black leather belt with a sheath strapped to it, also made of black leather. Shinuiya's outfit seems to contrast heavily to her initial innocent impression, but it fits her personality, that of a true fighter, exceedingly well.
Personality: Despite seeming young, Shinuiya has knowledge of 1300+ years under her belt, and certainly does not act immature. She does not easily trust others, for personal reasons. Her deeply hidden emotions of sorrow are out of habit, almost; she has witnessed much sorrow in her many years. Because of this, and to hide any fear from an enemy or similar emotions, she always maintains a straight and passive face.
Other than that, Shinuiya often loses focus or is distracted by things. She generally considers time as fleeting, quickly passing, (since she does not age as time passes) and nearly always has difficulty focusing on any given moment or event, except fighting. Because of this she is usually considered quite distant, off in her own world. She doesn't consider much, except herself and her wants and needs. If teaming with another will get what she wants, she will join them and no questions asked. Until, of course, she is satisfied. If she is forced to stay longer, she will get angry.
Anger is in fact one of the only emotions plainly visible in her; there will be, instead of a soft sorrow in her crimson eyes, a flame of hatred and frustration. If one were to infuriate her enough, she does shake with rage, an even more visible sign. But it may be too late at that point to calm her down, since she would likely aim to kill the perpetrator. When encouraged, her rage is sharp and fast as a vorpal blade.
Alternatively, if you can find just what she really likes, she will smile quite sweetly and thank you for it. Even after 1300 years as a phantom, there are still remnants of her young, truly living self.
On that note...
What she likes:
- One-hit thrills! *slice*
- Good competition. You can really see it in her eyes.
- Fried squid.
- A good cup of Chinese tea.
- Changing the subject at random junctures (though, this is normally unintentional-- she's kinda spacey sometimes).
- Trees and forests. She loves the natural beauty, the fresh air, of a forest. They make good practice targets, too.
What she dislikes:
- Really arrogant people. Who doesn't dislike them?
- People who ignore her when she talks to them. (Hypocrite.)
- Humans, even though she was one when she was alive.
- Losing, and also sore losers. Still a hypocrite. But try to say that to her face. (She may tear yours off.)
- Anyone who steals. (History again...)
- People/things who burn forests. Because... she likes forests. That's all.
- Oh, and power hungry freaks who plot random ways to destroy Gensokyo or gain ultimate power, or who employ her and force her to stay to deal with stragglers when she gets what she wanted.
But you knew that, right? And something she wants is the world. She can't get what she wants in the world without the world.
Common sense, you know.
Sorry, I was trying to be clever and funny. I'll get on with it.
Greatest Fear: The one thing she fears in the world is complete and trusting friendship. You could be a simpleton and call it love, but that's not it, really. She fears love just a little less.
She fears true friendship because it is what caused her to die, and be thrust into a state of non-aging eternity. (See history.) Friendship now seems to her a recurring accident in human nature that always ends in betrayal or emptiness.
If that doesn't make you afraid of friendship, I don't know what will.
Incidentally, she does have some "acquaintances", but she doesn't fully trust any of them. She holds and facade of trust while staying prepared for their possible betrayal.
Ambitions/Desires: First and foremost, let it be known that Shinuiya's leading ambition is, in fact, to fulfill her desires. So here are some things she wants in life:
- She wants, through some method, somehow, whether she must dig up all hell to do it, to find her mother (or her soul), and apologize. She wants to apologize for being unable to see through the facade of friendship, and recognizing it for what is really is.
Of course, Shinuiya thinks at the moment that friendship is an exploitation of someone through faking positive feelings towards them, and eventually betraying them for self-benefit.
If she ever finds her mother, she may have some perceptions to reconsider.
- Ultimately, she wants to be the best fighter in Gensokyo. But she doesn't really work too hard to get to that lofty goal. She might just be lazy, but she also believes that if she really does become the best, there wouldn't be any challenges. It would just get really boring. All things considered, what she wants is good competition, which has been mentioned.
- She wants to stop being such a wayfarer. Not that she doesn't want to travel, but she wants a solid "base of operations". It is for this reason she always seizes a chance for taking over others' residences. This usually doesn't sit well with the residents.
Shinuiya has considered building one, but not building it herself. She has yet to find someone with the capability or motivation to aid her.
Weapons:
Shinuiya uses but one weapon.
Her sharp wit!
Well, and a sword. Her wit's not that sharp, either.
This sword is not just a sword, as I'm sure you could guess. Her sword, called Kuroimira, is kind of a "ghost" sword, if that term really applies here. The fact is, while Shinuiya was alive, she lived in a very magically influenced society about 1314 years ago, if her age is any indication. She was incidentally predetermined to become a warrior of the sword, but her sword was special; every warrior of that kind in the village was given a weapon imbued with a soul, and the warrior's soul would be linked with that of the weapon. The soul was of an unknown entity, but it kept her sword from wearing or becoming dull, and it would have grown slowly as she grew in age and strength, because of the link between them. But, Kuroimira is now invisible and can only be seen by youkai, because half is in Shinuiya to keep her alive (See history yet again...). Some claim that she is able to communicate with Kuroimira, which is very likely. But if so, it would be subtle mind-speech used during battle to execute commands and control powers. Since she shares a soul with her sword, they essentially think the same thoughts.
Different youkai, when fighting her, each claim the blade to be a certain color, depending on their own personality. This is mostly a phenomenon unsolved, but I'll chance a guess that is has something to do with soul sealed within the sword. Kuroimira has been poetically dubbed the "Phantom Mirror", being something of a phantom, and a mirror of youkais' personalities.
I know it sounds a lot like Konpoku. I'm struggling to be original.
Abilities and Fighting Style: Shinuiya uses a sword, and was trained to fight less from a distance and more hand-to-hand when fighting. So, her technique consists mostly of dodging through bullets and striking quickly and directly at an enemy. She shares a soul with her sword, granting her plenty of control over its form and powers, even more control if she can actually communicate with it. Thus, she uses a number of more spiritual techniques while not in close-combat. Among them are enlarging her sword incredibly, and blasting out copies of her sword that are visible from the glow of energy, but can become intangible and multiply themselves. One of her favorite techniques is to extend her sword (with visible energy) into a whip, with which she fires waves of bullets that shortly lose visibility. Like the sword, youkai can still see any and all bullets she fires.
Strengths: Even if Shinuiya can't age, she still physically exists in the world, so she builds physical strength as she trains and fights. Naturally, after 1300 years or so of fighting, she has become very strong for a human with her body. Though I don't think you'd call that a real physical strength.
So, a list:
- She is almost completely impassive to insults, about her body, friends (or lack thereof) , fighting style, clothing, anything. This is due to her generally impassive mentality.
- She is very good at regular, no-magic swordfighting. This also means she is good at swordfighting in a magical fight, so you should keep away from her if you don't want to get slashed to ribbons.
- It is very difficult to intimidate her. No matter how massive an attack is thrown at her, she calmly calculates a way around it with few injuries as possible. Ideally, none.
- She is very fast, but only utilizes this speed to dodge closer to a target and slash them.
Weaknesses: Shinuiya's weaknesses are hard to pinpoint, but are potentially very exploitable:
- She is significantly weaker without Kuroimira. She can still generate bullets without her sword, but not with the same magnitude as she can with it (It technically has half her soul). But, this weakness is hard to utilize, since she always keeps her sword close, and only youkai can actually see it.
- She just can't stay focused if there is someone talking while she fights. Whether it's the enemy, someone in the sidelines, even an ally, it's impossible to focus with words flying around with the bullets. Because of her disciplined composure, she just interrupts them subtly.
- She still has a young body, even with her muscular build. So, she can't take many hits, if one can manage to hit her.
- If she is really angry with her target for whatever reason, she will attack very fiercely, but tends to make more mistakes. This gets her in a lot of trouble, since she can take so few hits.
- For some reason, even if she's fighting, anything that burns always manages to distract her from what she's doing. If it's an attack (fireball coming towards her) she'll avoid it, but if it's a tree or house she'll probably look for some help to douse it, no matter the situation. Everyone considers her a bit strange.
History: (Finally!)
Shinuiya was born in about 735 A.D., in a small village of Gensokyo, located right next to the present day Hakurei Border. It was a village of fighters, renowned for many famed warriors to which it gave birth.
In this village, everyone's life was predetermined, by methods of future sight now lost over the years. However, the future only be seen in a cryptic message; it varied in difficulty when it came to interpreting it, depending on how much there was to see in the person's future. Of course, no one could predict she would be held to the mortal world for eternity. So, Shinuiya's message was incredibly cryptic at the time: She will fight well and hard, but will forget life in order to live.
They couldn't make real sense out of it at all. As it happened, they did realize she was to be a fighter, so she was presented with simple weapons once she came of age to train, and found the sword most comfortable. Then, after a laborious series of rites and rituals (which are now forgotten), she was made a sword imbued with a soul, Kuroimira. The sword would never wear or become dull, and it was to grow with her as her fighting companion. And so, she trained until she was 13.
By then, she had shown much prowess in swordfighting. Some called her a prodigy, as she could defeat many veteran fighters who had seen more combat situations than she had seen months. She was known for supposedly predicting an opponent's move, then acting quickly around it. And despite her hard fighter's spirit, she still had a soft and caring personality. Almost everyone in the village adored respected her, some for her natural talent in fighting, others for her caring mantra. But, there were only two people who she truly cared about: her mother, and her best friend. Her mother was now a widow since her husband fought in a war outside of Gensokyo, and did not return. Shinuiya was barely a toddler then, and could not remember her father in the slightest; her mother had recovered from the initial sorrow, and did not talk of him much. Thus, Shinuiya loved her mother, with love ideally given to both parents. Her mother loved her back, and worried about her. She knew if she was to become a fighter, she might face the same fate as her father. If such circumstances such as war arose, she would protect her child in any way she could, though she had no fighting skills or magical power. Shinuiya hardly noticed how worried her mother was, and always talked to her for hours about the day's training. Though she was a fighter, she was still taught basic housing skills as she grew, though admittedly, she was not as skilled at these things.
And then there was Shinuiya's friend. There is quite a story to tell here. As for who that friend was, it is not known now. But it is known she had especially strong magical powers, but not much control over them. Shinuiya's friend was undergoing similar training, for control of her powers, with significantly less success. But they had always liked each other nonetheless. Or so it seemed.
While Shinuiya was considered a child prodigy in the village, her friend was always reprimanded for her inability to bring out her potential. All could see her power's potential, but it was not contained; it was wild, bound to lash out at any given time, and it gained her a reputation for being cursed. Shinuiya, however, disregarded others' opinions and felt everyone deserves a friend of some sort. So, she was the sole companion and defender of her friend.
Yet as friendly as Shinuiya was, her friend was jealous of her-- jealous that they should both be born with great power, but only Shinuiya was able to control it. Thus, the timeless tale of jealousy and spite was spurred to growth.
It was a fine morning in the village, but not for this friend of Shinuiya's. She woke up with a bad taste in her mouth, angry at her parents for waking her so early, but she knew work was to be done. She went out to the fields to harvest some rice, newly grown fresh in the brisk morning air. But all she earned for a hard morning's work was a reprimand for ruining a full sack of the harvest in her anger. The day continued like this until she got so infuriated with her father that she screamed at him how she was tired, she wasn't feeling good, and I have enough problems with being the "cursed girl", damn you! She failed to see her power brimming from her furious state; until it struck her father and sent him hurtling across the room, smashing into the wall and falling senseless. She screamed in horror-- either at herself or her power, likely both-- and the only thing she could think to do was run out of the village until she was falling from exhaustion. Shinuiya never learned the circumstances of her disappearance.
Shinuiya's friend immediately decided to look for a way to control her power, so she could be regarded at the same level as her. However, she looked in quite the wrong places.
On the other side of the present-day Hakurei Border, there was less magic than in Gensokyo, but still some traces here and there. Unfortunately, the supposed "traveling band" Shinuiya's friend found had no magic abilities they claimed to have. They were, in fact, no more than brigands who lived off the land through cutthroat and deceptive tactics. There was no way of the girl knowing this, so she told them her story.
From what she had said, the brigands could pinpoint another village worthy of pillaging. Of course, all that was left was to draw her away so she wouldn't notice until too late. They brought her to their "mystic"-- who, naturally, had no actual magic power-- and they told her to find a rock shaped like a sphere, or some such nonsense. She protested, but they said it was vital to control one's power. Eventually, she left on a quest of futility for the spherical stone, while the brigands wallowed in the opportunities brought by their clever trick. They quickly made their way to the village.
Meanwhile, it was getting to be evening, and with no spherical stone in sight. The girl wondered whether she was being tricked into something. She walked back to the camp, to find it hurriedly packed up, with a dagger sticking up in the grass where one of their tents used to be. She then realized her horrible mistake. Whether she killed her father or not, she had to run back to the village, to warn them, do something. But if they were gone already, she knew she was far too late. That made her rush to the village all the more rushed.
Shinuiya was at the end of a lengthy day of training, mostly duels between her and her teachers. Even if she could beat them, she was not always so lucky. There was always more to learn. Even so, she could sense Kuroimira tiring of combat, and she was getting tired herself. Well, more like exhausted. It was probably that weariness which let the brigands surprise the village so easily.
Before anything could be done, two houses were on fire, one with people inside, who hastily retreated. The brigands had taken many things from the houses already, and fire can so easily spark panic. But they hadn't expected this village of warriors, who had been trained to forget their panic in the face of adversity. The first of the brigands were quick to fall. But on the other side of town, more brigands were stealing things from houses, and soon, at least 7 houses were aflame. At this point, the village was an inferno. The brigands were taking advantage of their surprise tactics and the tired fighters, and had killed several people, both warriors and civilians. At this point, Shinuiya was in the action, slashing down all brigands in sight, when three came upon her. She almost immediately dispatched one, and the other was soon after. The third stayed far out of her range, and drew a bow upon her. There wasn't much she could have done.
But, the third never got a shot, because Shinuiya's friend struck him down in one blow. In her fury and panic, she had a glow about her, and wielded her power with ferocity; at the same time, she could control it at all. Shinuiya called to her, but was ignored. She thought it might be there was a bandit her friend saw, and went to search for them herself. Shinuiya came upon another two with their knives in hand. She simply ran to their side to keep them in a line, and dispatched them one at a time. But she didn't notice another with a bow on a rooftop, and her fate was sealed. She took an arrow through her left lung before the brigand was killed by a magic shot.
The inferno-- or rather, the village-- was almost gone. With clouds gathering, there looked to be a storm before night fell. But there was a glow in the village of magical energy, still killing brigands left and right. Shinuiya's friend was furious with the brigands and herself, but mostly herself. She knew she was the reason for this, even if she didn't consider the brigands might have come this way anyway. She had to apologize to everyone still alive, but especially Shinuiya. And incidentally, as she thought that, she saw Shinuiya, injured some distance away from her. The fear that washed over her dissipated the glow of her power almost instantaneously.
Shinuiya was crouching, clutching the arrow which hit her. Laces of pain shot up her arms and in her chest, but all she thought was that I should have trained more, I could have avoided that, but I wasn't...urgh... good enough...
She then saw her friend running up to her, and it refreshed in her mind several questions she wanted to ask: Were you controlling your power, how, why were you killing so many, I thought you were against killing, and where were you?!
As it happened, the garbled questions in Shinuiya's mind all tried to come out at once with little success, but the point was across. The girl was left to explain herself. Thus she went on to explain how she had found a traveler's band, who tricked her to find the village, and turned out to be bandits, the ones that attacked. She eventually figured it out, and ran fast as she could back to town, but she didn't remember anything after that until she killed the bandit that hit Shinuiya. All in all, her summary didn't answer much.
Shinuiya wasn't really listening anyway; she was starting to see red, and felt herself getting light-headed from the blood loss and pain. Then she remembered something else she wanted to know. Why did you find the bandits? What were you doing out of town?
With a sigh, her friend let open the floodgates of the feelings she had inside, hidden from sight. She was jealous. Jealous of Shinuiya, and how she was always the prodigy of the village, but I am always the cursed girl, the evil girl, who kills and destroys with no control! Then, in an instant, she went from jealous anger to sobbing to intimate concern, since Shinuiya had just then fallen unconscious. But the last words Shinuiya had thought were as follows: She was jealous, still angry though I was the only friend I had and could get... she wanted to be stronger than me... she... betrayed... and then everything went black.
Only two buildings were left standing, and those were badly damaged. Most of the villagers were gone; they were either dead, had hidden themselves, or fled into the wilderness, to find another village. Those left (other than Shinuiya and her friend) were one full family of a wife, husband and two children; Shinuiya's personal trainer, a battle-hardened warrior who killed many of the brigands; and one doctor with limited healing power. The doctor cared for Shinuiya under a makeshift leather tent, with her friend on close watch. With an arrow lodged in Shinuiya's lower left lung, there was nothing the doctor could do, for all his experience. It might be best to let her die peacefully, while she still slept. Shinuiya's friend, however, could not accept impossible as an answer. She dug deeply into her thoughts, for something, anything, that could be done.
If she couldn't think of anything, she decided she would take her own life with Shinuiya's sword, Kuroimira. But then, that sparked an idea.
If Shinuiya died, her soul would be lost. But Kuroimira had a soul within it. She knew from her lessons that switching a soul's body would simply destroy the souls switching, especially if a soul was moved to a soulless body. But since Kuroimira's soul was linked to Shinuiya's, maybe she could use that soul switching magic to cause them to share Kuroimira's soul. It was far-fetched to say the least, but the only option, if it worked at all. So, without a word, she set to work preparing the rites to work the specific spell she wished for. It would have to be done right before Shinuiya died, or her body would become a useless corpse, unable to house a soul under any circumstance. She finished the rites and incantations, and readied herself to say the final word. She looked into Shinuiya at her soul, to exact the time to act. The soul was barely holding on; Shinuiya was starting to turn pale. Now.
Shinuiya woke up. She could not remember where she was, but it was cold. She felt a twinge in her lower chest-- The arrow had been removed, and there was no indication she had ever been wounded. She then wondered how exactly she was alive. Then she saw Kuroimira. It was strange, to see into the soul of a sword, but it seemed familiar somehow, like it was part of her.
Distracted by the sword, her head brushed the top of the tent she was in; she was floating in midair. She looked down to see her friend, staring into space, a glow about her; but the glow was flowing, leaving her body. She then realized the glow was flowing into her and Kuroimira. Is she saving me? But, how?
The glow of power had almost faded, and its host began to fade as well. She looked up and saw Shinuiya, floating, but alive. She wondered if it had worked, or this was Shinuiya's ghost. Or, she would have wondered, if her soul hadn't expended at that instant. Her body fell to the ground, and her spirit left with the words, I'm sorry... I caused... so much... pain...
And yet, she left with a smile on her face, because she could save one life. Her friend.
Note to self: No more excruciatingly long drama/action scenes. Nothing like that actually happens in history!
Whether or not Shinuiya heard those passing words, she still doubted her friend for allegedly betraying her's and the village's trust. She stared again at Kuroimira, then picked it up. There was a peculiar yet comforting feeling deep within her, and she was immediately warm again. She knew her soul was linked with Kuroimira, but these effects had never been felt before. She decided it might be best to contemplate later.
While still in the tent, she tried floating around a bit, with little success due to its small interior. She floated down to the ground, and noticed her friend's body still on the ground. She moved it easily to the bed, then walked out of the tent without a word of respect or even a backwards glance. Shinuiya wasn't sure what to think of her friend anymore; she decided not to think of her at all.
There was no one left in the ruins of the village except for the doctor; he had faithfully remained in case Shinuiya could be cured. Upon seeing her fully recovered and walking, his first emotion was joy, but he inquired where her friend was. Shinuiya told him, She gave her life to save mine. I don't know how, but I don't care. After a strange and almost comical mix between puzzlement and complete shock, the doctor rushed back into the tent. Without a word, Shinuiya went to visit her house, her mother's house. It was one of the houses still barely standing after the fire died out. She entered slowly; she called to her mother, getting no answer. She called again, louder. Once she entered the kitchen, she saw that though the house still stood, nothing could have survived in it. There was ash everywhere, no telling where her mother might be, if she hadn't escaped. Shinuiya decided it was best not to find out for sure; some hope was better than none.
By the time she left her house, the tent and the doctor was gone. Standing in a small pile of ashes was a small, makeshift shrine. Shinuiya stared awhile, but then flew off, away from her home village, that no longer remained. She took only her training clothing, as it is seen today, and her sword. She left her memories of the village behind.
The next 10 years were difficult. At first, she was mostly worried about hunger and thirst. Eventually, though, she discovered she didn't actually need food in this world. By sharing Kuroimira's soul, she shared nourishment, and it seemed Kuroimira derived nourishment straight from the unknown realm from which his soul came. She could eat and get full, to use energy from this world for a change, but it was unnecessary; she only ate when food was presented to her or easy to get. Incidentally, she does eat often for the flavor, since otherworldly energy doesn't taste like anything, and that's boring.
It was also during the first 10 years that Shinuiya discovered the consequences of her friend's actions. While she wasn't exactly eager to have her body mature, she knew it was coming soon. So, it was undoubtedly strange to not be able to age even a day for 10 years. At the time she became sure she could not get older, it gave her another reason to hate her supposedly traitorous friend. It should be noted, of course, she did not consider them a friend anymore.
She already had a negative opinion about friendship, but her experiences in the rough of Gensokyo could only make it worse. Everywhere she looked for a companion or acquaintance, they always ended up mooching off of her at one point or another.
Eventually, Shinuiya figured no "friend" could be as truly grateful and compassionate as she had been to her former friend. And despite what she had felt for her friend, they still turned their back on her and betrayed her. For the next 100 years of her existence, she contemplated what she would do after this "revelation".
Her only conclusion was that she could hide away everything from others: emotions, past, belongings, everything. That way, they could not take it and use it against her. So, she trained for perhaps 1000 years; constantly without emotion, whether happy or sorrowful. Even if she felt in her mind and soul these emotions, she swore she would not display them. It may have been over these countless years that she developed a distracted, sometimes oblivious personality. It often seems to hinder her ability to fight and train, but she nearly always finds some way to avoid any consequences of her distraction. She still trains to this day in the same manner.
She has recently also come to desire a residence to rest from her long days of training. Not that she really needs it, but it is human nature. Thus, she often breaks into residences, from an old shack to any luxurious castle. It gets her into sticky situations more often than not.
She would likely never fully trust another being again, because she misunderstood her friend's actions so horribly. It could be described as incredible ignorance on her part, or that she is simply very sensitive when it comes to feelings. Either way, the damage is done, and it is nigh impossible to fix.
Done? Is it really?
I think it is.
Done!
