Natsume Kuro [APPROVED, 4-1]

Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:07 pm

SHINIGAMI
死の神

BASIC INFORMATION
Upfront Details about this character

Name: Natsume Kuro
Gender: Female
Age: 215
Appearance: Natsume Kuro [APPROVED, 4-1] 92675210

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PERSONALITY
Who are they on the inside?

Personality: Having been brought up in the slums of a city and living out most of her time in the Soul Society in the Fifty Seventh Rukongai District, Natsume’s mannerisms are not what one would deem socially acceptable. She is quick to speak her mind, and says things like they are. While some may appreciate this blunt honesty, many have been quite offended by the statements the young Shinigami has uttered. She doesn’t hesitate to point out what she likes and dislikes about something, whether it be a person’s personality or haircut to a commonplace object such as a hairbrush. As one expects, the lack of filter has landed Natsume in some trouble before; usually when she talks about people of a higher rank than her. While her intentions are pure, she often comes off as disrespectful to those who are unfamiliar with her honesty about the world and everything in it.

The art of battle is a very interesting topic to Natsume. This is mainly due to the ever changing strategies and moves that opponents pull out of their sleeves, and the way a fight can go either way until the very end. Her favourite combat style is hand to hand and other forms of close combat. Despite her small size of five feet, she is quite the formidable opponent if pitted against one of her rank due to her speed.

It isn’t particularly difficult to excite the young Shinigami. She is easily motivated to do something, whether it be research or paperwork to an important mission. Throw in the mention of a “hero” or a Shinigami famous for saving or aiding the Soul Society, and her willingness to accomplish something only hardens. Natsume looks up to Lieutenants, Captains and any of the past heroes of the Gotei, and strives to do her best so as not to let anyone else down or lower the Gotei’s reputation.

Natsume has very few hobbies. She enjoys meandering about the Seireitei or World of the Living (wherever she is at the time) and just seeing what there is to see. Oftentimes she’ll scout out a quiet, cozy place and take a little nap if the weather is pleasant. Some of the other things the young recruit does in her spare time include drawing and playing with the stray animals that are so often found in any plane of existence.
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BACKGROUND
What is there past like?

History/Background: Some time in the year 2284 in the World of the Living, a child was born to a poor couple who lived in the slums of a city. This two people had not been trying for a child, and it’s conception had come as quite a surprise for the two. Viewing their baby as a curse and hindrance on their chances of survival, they condemned the newly born Natsume to a life of poverty and neglect. As an infant, her cries for food and attention were almost always ignored, and it became common practice to hold a hand over dry, cracked lips to quiet the child when suspicious characters wandered into the scene, searching for the money that so many had borrowed from them without a thought of the consequences.

When Natsume reached the age of five, her pathetic parents would leave her alone in the filthy, poor excuse for a hut that they lived in for two weeks at a time. They would leave only a glass of murky, distilled water and a meagre slice of stale, possibly mouldy bread for the child, if they were feeling unusually generous. This deformed, unethical lifestyle continued on for many years in which the situation only worsened.

When the neglected child’s tenth birthday came around, she was similar in appearance to a living skeleton. Her skin had adopted an unhealthy yellow tinge, marred by dark bruises and painful sores from living in such revolting conditions. It was quite easy to count the bones through Natsume’s horribly discoloured skin, and it was painfully obvious that the child was about to meet her demise.

Her suffering finally ended sometime during the heat of the summer months. Dehydrated, starving, alone and as sick as a dog, the ten year old girl succumbed to the jaws of death… Which were much more welcoming than the harsh world she had been brought into.

Natsume did not linger in the World of the Living, a place she now despised. Determined to move on, away from all the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her neglectful parents, her young soul made it’s way straight to the Soul Society and ended up in the Fifty Seventh Rukongai District. While it certainly wasn’t the most pleasant of districts, it was an improvement as opposed to her lifestyle in the World of the Living.

It didn’t take the young spirit to adapt to this new environment, and she made a few friends with the locals. Slowly she began to learn about this vast, interesting world of souls and the Shinigami who protected not only this plane of existence but the one the humans occupied as well. Something she did not question was the still constant need for food. That necessity had always been there in the World of the Living, so why wouldn’t it be common here, too? As such, Natsume had no clue that she possessed any spiritual pressure at all.

After hearing of old legends and tales of heroism regarding the brave Shinigami, Natsume bid farewell to her comrades and set out for the First District, set on enrolling in the Shino Academy. However, due to her inexperience with the Soul Society in general, it took her three tries before she scored high enough on the entrance exam to get in. Ecstatic about this new adventure, nothing seemed to deter the young Shinigami-in-training as she took her first step into becoming a warrior.

During her six years at the academy, Natsume learned a great deal about the world around her and proved to be quite adept at retaining information despite her dislike of applying effort to things she had no interest in (such as history, which as it turns out, wasn’t all about the old legendary Shinigami and their enemies). Her best classes were concerning Hoho/Shunpo and the art of assassination, mainly due to her small size. Many of the other students were a great deal taller and heavier than her, and were quite capable of taking out the tiny girl in feats of strength and physical power. Her tendency to speak truthfully wasn’t helpful either; anger seemed to only increase the opponent’s physical strength.

Now, fresh out of the academy and eager to climb her way up the ranks, Natsume is looking for new adventures to partake in and new comrades to party with.
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Zanpakutō
What is this characters power?

Zanpakutô Spirit Name: Kuroneko
Appearance: As her name suggests, Kuroneko takes on the appearance of a silhouette of a black cat. About the size of your average house cat, there seems to be nothing spectacular about the spirit at first until one tries to take a good look at the spirit. It is next to impossible to make out any detailed features, whether it be the eyes, nose, mouth or individual strands of fur. If one looks hard enough, it almost looks like Kuroneko’s form is actually shifting, not unlike smoke swirling when it’s trapped in a container.

Inner World: Natsume’s inner world and Kuroneko’s home is unexpectedly dark. Tall, eerie trees block out what would most likely be a starry, night sky, and stretch on for as far as the eye can see. Gnarled roots protrude out of the damp soil of the forest floor, trying to snag the feet of trespassers, along with the numerous stones and branches that lay scattered about. A perpetual, heavy mist hangs in the air, restricting an individual’s sight to only a few feet ahead of them.

Sealed Zanpakutô Apperance : Unlike most Zanpakutō, Kuroneko’s sealed form is that of a tanto that is roughly 25 centimetres in length. Despite it’s small size, the cold steel blade is wickedly sharp and can inflict a nice amount of damage on lower levelled opponents. The hilt is cross wrapped in a black fabric, and the pommel is devoid of tassels and other ornaments for practicality reasons. The small, circular tsuba is simple in design, and to put it bluntly, Kuroneko’s sealed form is fairly unremarkable.

PhatomTech: None

Release:

Shikai Description:

Shikai Abilities:

Bankai Description: (This does not apply until you learn Bankai)

Bankai Abilities: (This does not apply until you learn Bankai)

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RP SAMPLE
It was quite uncommon to find a quiet hour within the large walls of the Seireitei due to the massive number of Shinigami and nobles who make up the population of the city sized base. However, if one were to stay up late into the night, they may find some solace in the ungodly hours of the early morning when the majority of the Seireitei’s residents slept to refresh their minds and bodies.

It is at this time when all the small lights that illuminate the thousands of rooms and buildings go dark, and the only thing to guide the few who lurk in these dark hours is the dim light of the moon, for the stars never seem to be too inclined to shed much light on the world. Eerie shadows are cast across surfaces of all kinds and can startle even the most hardy of officers with the heart-stopping figures they form.

However, on this particular night, there was still one small flame flickering in a window- literally. Perched on a dangerously narrow windowsill was a thin albeit short candle, illuminating the cluttered room it was located in. It’s flickering light cast oddly shaped shadows on the numerous books, papers and dirty clothes that were strewn over all surfaces of the room. A tall bookshelf was jammed into the far corner, crammed full of novels, textbooks and the odd trinket. On the opposite side, near the top of the room a small single futon was pushed into the corner. Just like the rest of the objects within the four walls, it was in a state of chaos with the sheets and blankets kicked off onto the floor near the foot of the futon while the pillows were somewhere near the bookshelf.

The person responsible for making the room resemble the aftermath of a hurricane was lying on her stomach atop the futon. A hand was propped under her chin, and an unusually thoughtful expression was plastered to her features as her brown-red eyes scanned through the page she was reading. As she took in the information her legs swung back and forth in an subconscious act that had been formed over the years.
Still unaware of the incredibly late hour, Natsume continued to read the book. She was completely immersed in the tale as it spun the incredibly interesting tale of the Winter War; an event that had troubled the Shinigami a little over 400 years ago. It was fascinating to read about how the conflict had began with such an inconspicuous character as Sosuke Aizen, and escalated into something so extreme that it threatened the entire world and all of it’s planes of existence. The web that was so intricately spun by the traitorous Shinigami was fascinating.

It was also interesting to read about how the numerous battle tactics that had been thought out to the very last detail had all fallen into shambles when the enemy turned out to be stronger than anticipated. Ah yes, the art of war never ceased to keep the young Shinigami up to the incredibly late hours of the night, what with all of it’s thousands of outcomes, strategies and possibilities.

Natsume continued to read, her eyes never leaving the crisp and detailed pages of her history book for any reason. Time was irrelevant here, in this untidy room where she could forget about the world and immerse herself in the legends of old until the sun rose and finally interrupted her nightlong reading session. But there was no need to waste time thinking of that unpleasant hour in which she would have to return to the material world.

For now, the book was all that mattered.

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SKILL SHEET
This characters strengths

{Please do not fill out the following until your character has a tier}

General Skills
• Durability: Beginner
• General Speed: Beginner
• Strength: Beginner
• Weapon Skill: Beginner

Racial Skills
• Hoho: Beginner
• Kidō: Beginner
• Zanjutsu: Beginner
• Hakuda: Beginner