Art by Amanda C.
. . . . Physical Information
Species — Human.
Race — "Oriental."
Sex — ♀
Skin color — Extremely fair.
Eye color — Crimson.
Hair color — Azure.
Height — 4'10''.
Weight — 97 lbs.
Visible age — 12-15.
True age — 14.
Voice — Meek, but somewhat bordering on alto and soprano. Nonetheless, she speaks so meekly sometimes that it is impossible to hear her if one is not up close; she's much more audible when she feels confident about something, which is relatively rare. When speaking Common/English/etc., her voice is extremely accented; Cizokian is her only natural language. Common is barely a secondary language. She often cannot fully express herself in it.
. . . . Personae
Name — Etsu Hikane.
Status — Ressurected
Birthplace — Akinai, Cizok.
Nationality — Cizokian.
Demeanor — Generally expressionless. Etsu feels, but rarely shows these through smiling, frowning, or any other similar expression. She is often quiet, unless talking is required. More often than not, she follows her Master's orders perfectly, even if they require socialization or the physical expression of emotion. However, Etsu is frequently misconstrued as emotionless and doll-like, which is easily done when considering her social conduct. The opinions of others matter little to her, less the individual is emotionally close. Becoming that close with Etsu would be a chore, though, and up until now, no one individual amongst the Dirige has managed to do so.
Etsu is known to follow the Cizokian code of Bushido, despite her age, gender, and membership in the ranks of the Dirige.
. . . . History
Life — Hikane Etsu was birthed in the Cizokian city of Akinai, where she was born into a middle-class family who bordered the slums and the nobles. Etsu, an only child, lived without fear of economic troubles, but her parents rarely had enough extra money to provide any extra creature comforts. Her father, Hikane Toushin--a former daimyo under Shogun Almaster--was an honor-bound man with strict, yet strangely revolutionary ideals. He raised his daughter to honor the code of Bushido--the moral guidelines which all samurai followed. This was odd, however, as women were forbidden from learning the ways of the samurai. The knowledge that Etsu learned from her father was hidden from the public eye.
Etsu's mother, Hikane Sekino--a seamstress, generally worked during the day and took care of the house during night, while Toushin worked an opposite shift, usually with various jobs; though Etsu failed to see it as a child, her father had difficulty keeping a steady job, despite his record. Etsu was always quiet as a child, doing specifically what she was told--a value imbued into her mind by a strict father. This habit never faded, and even to this day, Etsu has always been silent and distant. Toushin never taught Etsu how to use a katana; it was not his specialty. Instead, his daughter was taught to use the naginata, regardless of how much the weapon was larger than she when she first picked it up. Since the age of nine, she was taught to use the naginata according to the techniques invented by her father: Kyokujitsu and Sekiyou. These techniques were passed down to her, with Toushin expecting her to teach her children the same later on in life.
However, it didn't seem as if Etsu would find a future husband. It was customary in Cizok to wed young--Etsu's parents had done so, as well. But her distant personality kept prospective men disinterested. This even hindered Etsu's ability to maintain friendships, which almost always ended in disappointing failure . . .
Death — By the time Etsu was fourteen, as many as fifteen prospective noble children her age had lost interest, as well as the boys' parents not wishing to have their children socialize with Etsu. Fearful that Etsu would not grow to pass on his lineage, Toushin investigated the concept of arranged marriages. These, too, were not uncommon in Cizok, but Toushin had--until that point--wanted to give his daughter free will over her life. He concluded her free will to be a failure and opted to do as many had done before him: finding a noble family to marry her into for her. The urgency for this also stemmed from the degradation of their economic standards, after Sekino lost her job.
A man by the name of Manoa Kiyon was selected as Etsu's husband. Kiyon, however wealthy, was nearly three times Etsu's age. Etsu followed her father's will, though, and at Kiyon's request, she was taken to stay at the Manoa estate. Kiyon, known to Akinai's noble community as empathetic and jovial, did nothing more in the day than try to make conversation with Etsu--at least half of these attempts failed. When the sun went down and his servants returned to their quarters, however--
Prior to this, the only man that had ever frightened Etsu was her own father. When Kiyon pinned her to the floor with lustful intent, Etsu found herself scared once again. This became the first time she ever struggled, too--she kicked, screamed, and did everything she could to fight Kiyon off of her. She had managed to kick Kiyon in the groin before he could do anything to her, and used the provided time to run as far from the Manoa estate as she could--she also managed to steal a kunai from one of Manoa's shrines, in case she needed to defend herself. When fear subsided, Etsu came to realize that she had essentially destroyed her father's hopes of a successful arranged marriage. These thoughts continued to develop into feelings of shame and dishonor.
At which point, Etsu--feeling that she had dishonored her family--plunged the kunai into her stomach, committing seppekku in the middle of a lifeless forest . . .
Rebirth — As her life began to slip away, Etsu felt nothing. As if entranced, she stared onward into nothing, waiting for her body to die and soul pass on. She could only hope that taking her own life exhumed her of dishonor. It was then that the fog came. The world around her ceased to promote life and color: everything, excluding herself, hosted only a gray-scale color scheme. Chills ran up her spine as a new feeling of emptiness tread throughout her soul. For a third time, she felt afraid, to the point where--even if she could move--she would have been unable.
Etsu's life had come to an end. She had bled to death, alone.
But when the afterlife's dark boatman stood before her, he could not bring himself to dangle her young soul over the pits of Hell--a place destine to suicides. The rarity of suicides in children was calming for the god of life and Death, as he rarely ever had to put himself through the moral dilemma of sending them off to a fate he did not believe they deserved. For several minutes, they stared at one another. Silent. Etsu's scarlet eyes looked up into the dark figure's golden eyes that looked down at her sullen and pitiful figure.
"Who . . . are you?" Etsu asked with an obvious tone of fear in her voice.
"Death," he responded, "I am here . . . to give you a second chance . . ."
Dirige — An organization under the direct command of the god of life and Death. They exist to fill in where the god fails, proof that even the gods of Utopia cannot do everything at once. Death's purpose in the colorless land of the dead is to send departed souls to their prospective afterlives. Therefore, this is what the Dirige aid Death in doing. Using a technique known as Seele Übertritt--first created by Death himself and passed down to his "disciples," the Dirige--they can transport themselves from Purgatory to any region(s) which require them and continue to pass souls on to the next life after this. But that is not their only point.
The Dirige also exist to exterminate those classified as the Âme Voleur. These individuals are thieves which harvest the souls of the dead for their own purpose, rather than permitting them to pass on to the next life. The Âme Voleur can range from necromancers to soul eaters. The Dirige also do what they can to maintain the balance of energy amongst the worlds. If any one world obtains too much spiritual energy, it can be a detriment to the others: especially Purgatory. As a realm made of Qi--spiritual energy--it becomes chaotic when threatened by another realm. For the sake of order, the Dirige filter spiritual energy throughout the worlds to the best of their abilities.
After Death breathed life into Etsu once again, she was permitted to remain in Purgatory. It was there that she enlisted as a member of the Dirige. She is one of the newer member, but has gained considerable battle experience over numerous missions--both failures and successes alike.
. . . . Occupation
Organization — Dirige.
Class — Reaper.
Rank — 2.
Salary — 0.00 credits per week.
Successful Missions — 4.
Pending Missions — 2.
Failed Missions — 1.
Total Missions — 7.
Permissions —
Dormitory housing (small).
Secondary Occupation — None.
. . . . Contacts
Toushin Hikane — Father. ". . ."
Sekino Hikane —: Mother. ". . ."
Death —: God of Life and Death; master. "My Master, the Shinigami himself . . ."
Sajuuk —: Âme Voleur, Lentoan class. " . . . "
Addison Draugr —: High rank Dirige agent. Trainer of rookie agents by choice. Mentor. "Draugr-sensei is kind and strong . . . she is very odd, too."
Scott Thompson —: Lower class Dirige support; primary support, acquaintance. "Scott-sempai provides useful support. He prefers to speak to others than myself, unless Draugr-sensei is near. Or if he needs something."
Eldridge Tsukimono —: Boyfriend. ". . . I only want to be with Tsukimono-kun--and Tsukimono-kun alone, forever."
. . . . Combat
Weapon of Choice — naginata. This type of Cizokian polearm is four and a half feet long, with a foot long, curved blade at the northern tip of the weapon.
Kyokujitsu — "Rising Sun." This is the first of two unique styles of fighting within Etsu's repertoire of naginata techniques. Not only does she use the full length of the naginata to keep enemies at maximum distance, she also makes use of the distance for quick upward strikes with the polearm's blade. While using this style, the curved blade's edge is always facing the sky. By using the weight of the weapon and her own strength, she can easily knock foes off balance by way of upward parries. Kyokujitsu is a purely defensive style of polearm combat, but Etsu frequently follows up with a brief change to the Sekiyou style after her foe is off-balance.
Sekiyou — "Setting Sun." Unlike Kyokujitsu, the Sekiyou style of combat is purely offensive. The naginata is held in the middle rather than the blunt end, allowing for quick offensive strikes that bear similarities to quarter-staff combat. Although it permits fast strikes and multi-way defense, Etsu only prefers to use it when she has an open target on an enemy. This style calls for the edge of the blade to always face the ground.
Seele Übertritt — Like all other Dirige, Etsu has been trained in the Seele Übertritt technique. Users of the technique can siphon spiritual energy from other realms, regardless of location. This can also be used to transport matter from realm to realm--which is exactly how the Dirige move souls into their prospective afterlives. Seele Übertritt can also be used for battle, however. During times of physical conflict, a user of this technique will tap into the spiritual energy of Purgatory, usually to place into his or her weapon or body.
. . . . Flaws
Pseudo-emotionless — Etsu feels, but does not show it (or speak it, for that matter). She is extremely difficult to socialize with or get close to.
Bushido — A flaw within itself--Etsu will knowingly walk into her own death if her master orders it. She will not question her master's will, and is willing--and prepared--to take her own life if she shames him.
Hellbound — Regardless of what Etsu does in her life, she's condemned to go to hell when she dies. A lifetime of charity can't stop that from happening. As she is aware of this, it is cause for despair on certain occasions, such as when death may be on the line, whenever it comes up in conversation, or when sending someone to hell.
. . . . Statistical Analysis
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