Post by asukilupa on Jan 18, 2010 2:31:30 GMT -5
Name: Azuki Shinamori
Age: 155
Gender: Female
Personality:
Skill Level: Swordsmanship: Advanced
Skill Level: Shunpou: Advanced
Skill Level: Hand-to-hand: Intermediate
History/Background:
Age: 155
Gender: Female
Personality:
Azuki is a quiet person, who prefers to observe situations rather than make a fuss. Although she is perceived as antisocial, Azuki enjoys conversations with her fellow shinigami, but will not initiate such interactions unless she knows the person(s) rather well. It takes time for Azuki to trust someone, even her authorities, and when that trust is gone, she almost never trusts that person again. She loves helping the people of Soul Society in anyway possible, thus why she decided to become a shinigami.Appearance:
As a shinigami, she is calculating, cold almost, in combat and always has a plan B to transition to incase something goes awry. Her specialty is close-ranged combat, especially with her zanpakuto, Kajikami. She also keeps up on whatever paper work assigned. When on duty, she always wears her uniform as per regulation. Azuki is a stickler for rules, and will point out violations to her fellows before someone with more power notices.
Outside of being a shinigami, Azuki loves to read. She is often spotted in trees with a book in her lap. Other times, she is found simply dozing on a branch. Azuki enjoys music, and plays the flute. As with all other aspects, she tries to perfect her skills. Her other hobbies includes playing with children in the streets of Soul Society, helping out in some booths, and coloring. She found that coloring helps release tension, and so, she adopted it as a hobby.
She likes clean, organized, efficient work spaces, and is often referred as a "neat freak." She enjoys being in large groups, simply watching the whole going-ons. Her favorite foods are chicken curry, rice pudding, and almost all pastries. Azuki's least favorite things are messes, obnoxious pranks, and sour things.
Azuki stands at 5'4", often thought of as "short." She has a slim build, with longer legs and a shorter torso. Her hands reach her hips. Despite her slight build, she is mostly composed of hard muscle from training. She appears as an 18 year old girl. Azuki has an olive complexion with a strong nose and almond eyes set evenly apart. Her irises are plum purple with black pupils behind smart, wire-rimmed glasses. She has wavy, shoulder length, black hair that is usually held in a neat bun.Zanpakuto Spirit:
While on duty as shinigami, Azuki wears her standard uniform as per the regulations. Her hair remains in a bun, and her glasses sit high on the bridge of her nose. Her sword, Kajikami, is always belted on her left hip for easy access. During her off hours, while she traverses Soul Society, she wears a simple, black yukata with a floral pattern and purple and lavender obi. Kajikami is usually hidden, strapped to her leg. Her single accessory for both outfits is a black choker and wolf pendant.
This is the picture used as a guide for how Azuki looks:
This a picture of the choker:
Finally, this is the wolf pendant:
Sealed Zanpakuto:Kajikami:
The Wolf of Fire
Appearance: Kajikami has the build of a regular wolf, only larger. Her mane and other feathering on the legs, back, stomach, and tail, are living flame that flicker between red, orange, yellow, and blue at the hottest parts. Her eyes, nose, paw pads, and nails are the color black obsidian. The flames grow and shrink according to her emotions. Small diamonds mark her forehead, muzzle, and front ankles. This is the picture used to model Kajikami: Picture
Personality: Kajikami is the opposite of Azuki; passionate, loud, out-going, and emotional. She is often rash, acting out of emotional rather than logic. She balances Azuki by reminding her of all the merits of showing emotion. Despite all these fiery qualities, Kajikami projects an air of wisdom and calm. She gives Azuki excellent advice.
Inner World: Due to the nature of the wolf, Kajikami's inner world is that of a dense forest. In the middle of the world is a clearing, with a large lake in the middle. Massive, mossy boulders sit off to one side, where Azuki usually appears, with a bubbling creek feeding into the lake from the opposite end of the clearing. The leaves on the trees are always a dense, dark green. Beyond the clearing, the forest stretches into infinity, sun dappling the forest floor.
These are the reference images for the inner world:
Kajikami, when sealed, looks like a normal katana. The blade measures 29" in length, with a 10" long hilt and square guard. This brings the whole sword to be 39" long. The blade tapers into a wickedly sharp blade that curves. It looks alive when flames reflects on her, the light flowing like fire. Kajikami is belted to Azuki on the left side, either on the hip during shinigami hours or to her leg for her off hours.Shikai Description:
Kajikami is released by Azuki saying "sougishiki," which means "wake." In a horizontal slash, Kajikami blazes to life, burning closer to the hilt, as it solidifies into the kodachi. At the same time, the guard turns into molten lava, quickly cooling into a polished, obsidian circular guard. The flame dances along the blade and up Azuki's arm. This increases Azuki's close-range melee abilities, and allows Azuki to use the offensive and defensive abilities of the flame, as well as fight closer to her opponent.Shikai Abilities:
The general ability of Kajikami's shikai release is burning things upon contact. The blade's flames easily eat through wood and other such materials, and melts normal metals.Bankai Description:
Hinami (Fire Wave): Azuki weaves a simple pattern in front of her with Kajikami, expelling a wave of hot fire approximately 5 feet tall by 10 feet long. The wave moves like any other, expanding in length and decreasing in height the farther away it is from Azuki. The weakness of this attack is that the attack pattern is predictable, and therefore avoided. Also, the flame can not only be out-ran, but completely dissipate before it reaches the target. It also takes approximately 30 seconds to recharge for another go, effectively cutting down on the ability to keep on throwing waves at opponents.
Kakitate (Fire Shield): Azuki holds the blade in a defensive position, and mutters the word "kakitate." A fire shield protects the front of her, incinerating anything normal that it comes in contact with, and repelling attacks. Depending on the attack used against it, the shield can disappear anywhere from 5 seconds to a whole minute. The weakness of this skill is that it only protects Azuki's front, leaving her back exposed to attackers. It also can only be withheld for a maximum of a minute. Afterwards, it takes at least two to three minutes to regain enough energy to summon it again.
N/ABankai Abilities:
N/ASkill Level: Kidou: Beginner
Skill Level: Swordsmanship: Advanced
Skill Level: Shunpou: Advanced
Skill Level: Hand-to-hand: Intermediate
History/Background:
As a child growing up on the outskirts of Soul Society, an old lady adopted Azuki. Through working in her humble market booth, Azuki learned the values of hard work and honesty, and their just rewards. She had no "siblings," to speak of, and no friends her age. Thus she began to value reading and solitude. Eventually, the old lady passed away from an illness, leaving Azuki an orphan. She worked for several different booths, restaurants, and inns for the next few years, never really accepting that she had no place in the world. Her day-to-day tasks were grueling, and few would talk to her, leaving books her only companion.RP Sample:
Finally, one day, she saw an attack in town. Before she could act, a shinigami came and protected everyone, quickly apprehending the culprit before anything could happen. That event inspired Azuki to join the ranks of the shinigami. The very next day, she enlisted and joined the academy.
The first thing that delighted Azuki was the size of the library. She could spend hours at a time simply caged up, reading everything she could about anything she wanted to know. Similarly, such tendencies alienated herself from her peers. She became cold when other spoke to her, keeping her composure in front of others. Her true outlet came when she learned swordsmanship. It clicked with her, coming easily, as did running. She began spending more time in the training arena than the library, eagerly sparring with anyone who would fight her.
After a day full of lessons and spars, Azuki had a curious dream. It began in a black abyss. Slowly, the light came, streaming from the sky, though it was obscured by leaves. A beautiful dappled pattern danced across the floor, which she noticed was of dirt. Looking up, trees towered above her, towers climbing to the sky. A gentle wind breezed by, whispering "find me."
She ran as fast as she could. For whatever reason, she wanted to catch the wind, go where it lead her, and even further. All the while, the wind played with her hair, teasing her, leading her to some unknown destination. Azuki didn't slow when she came upon dense underbrush. She plowed right through, until she appeared at the bank of a deep, clear lake. On the other side stood a massive wolf. Its fur, pure fire, flowing along the wind, its eyes boring right into her soul.
"Child," her strong voice resonated inside Azuki's mind, "You have finally found me."
"Who are you?" Azuki asked, perplexed by the large creature.
"Who am I? I thought you already knew. I am with you everyday," she replied.
"What? I am sure I'd know if I knew you. If that made sense," she added as an after thought. "I'm sure I don't know you."
The massive beast heaved a sigh, and walked across the lake towards Azuki. The living fire swayed in the breeze, embers disembarking into the air. The wolf's obsidian eyes continued to stare at Azuki's soul. Transfixed, Azuki could do no more than stare back at the depthless eyes.
"I am the one who helps you. I slay your enemies, protect your friends, redeem you, and bestow justice," the wolf stated.
"No... you couldn't be," Azuki stuttered, realized who, or what, the massive wolf embodied.
"Yes. I am the spirit of your zanpakuto," she confirmed. "I am Kajikami."
The last thing she remembered of the dream were the obsidian eyes of the wolf; the spirit of her sword. The darkness surrounded her, blotting out her surroundings. The sounds of the forest, the bubbling of the stream, disappeared. Only the voice of the breeze remained.
"Remember," the voice of Kajikami echoed in her mind, "if you need me, all you need to do is awaken me from my slumber."
With that, she woke up in a cold sweat. Dawn slowly crawled up the hill, a dull light illuminating the dorm Azuki called home. She quietly got ready for the day, and snuck down to the training arena. Against one of the dummies available to beat on, Azuki warmed up, trying to make sense of the dream. Awaken from slumber, huh, she thought to herself.
Finally, she decided to "wake" her sword up. Shouting "sougishiki," her sword blazed to life, guard becoming pure, black obsidian, her katana into a kodachi, and flame licked all the way up her arm. Instead of burning her, like she thought it would, it felt warm, almost tickling her arm, not even harming her uniform. She marveled at the changes, as the wolf stood before her. Azuki looked up, into the eternal, black eyes of the wolf. Without words, they understood each other; from today onwards, they would be partners in all they did.
With that, Azuki quickly excelled at swordsmanship, easily syncing with Kajikami outside of shikai. The instructors were impressed with her skill, and promoted her into the Gotei 13. Together, Azuki promised to live a life the generous, old lady would be proud of, serving the populace.
The morning sun peaked over the hill, as dawn's colors crossed the sky. Birds of all kinds chirped from the trees that surrounded the training arena, and the metallic clang of a sword resonated across the valley. Amid the luscious, green grass stood a pit of dirt dotted with small mannequins of hollows. A lone figure stood in the morning light, looking at the collateral damage. Beside her, a fiery wolf watched, clearly amused.
"You know, if you hit a little harder it might actually hit him," she sniggered.
Azuki Shinamori cast her companion, the spirit of her sword, an icy glance. She struck the dummy once again, unleashing a monstrous force. Returning to her position next to the wolf.
"I'm sure he didn't literally mean you were an ice queen," the wolf continued.
"I'm sure he didn't, Kajikami," she retorted, "Exactly why he held a torch in front of him to keep him form 'freezing to death'."
Once again, Azuki charged towards the dummy. Instead of attacking at once, she hit multiple places, executing a combo attack she recently learned. Sweat gleamed on her olive skin, the only sign of exertion. Her calculating gaze fell upon the dummy once again, assessing the damage done.
"You shouldn't let his opinion get to you," Kajikami replied, gentler this time. "Besides, if he knew I am a fire zanpakuto -"
"He wouldn't believe me. Even if he saw you," Azuki cut the beast off. "We've been over this, Kaji. Seriously, they would think I made the hologram. Even if an instructor told them otherwise, they'd never believe. Besides, its not him I'm worried about."
"Ah. You're worried about the other guys, especially that one guy, huh?" Kajikami accurately guessed.
Azuki assaulted the dummy with renewed strength at the comment made. Of course she worried about what her peers thought, she just never showed it. Her reply to the social pressure remained the same; shut everyone out, unless they tried to get close. That rarely happens, Azuki thought.
Just then, a loud clang resounded throughout the green valley. Birds took wing, and small creatures fled from their hiding spots. Within moments, joyful shouts and greeting could be heard from beyond the hill. The day at the shinigami academy just began. With a last analytical glance at the dummy, Azuki sheathed her sword, the visual sprit form fading in the morning sun.
"You know, we could burn them up! Or at least melt some of the stupidity off of them," the amused wolf echoed in her mind.
"And you know we can't do that," Azuki reminded her spirit.
"True, it would be too messy, and too much to explain. I hate explaining things," Kajikami replied at length.
Azuki rolled her purple eyes. Of course the wolf wanted to show off. She's never been shown off before. A second bell clanged through the valley followed by the sound of waking shinigami. Soon everyone would be at the dining hall, and there would be no food left, Azuki thought. She hurried up the hill, and followed the stream of fellow students into the morning sun.
