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Name: Okuni Kumou
Canon: Rengoku ni Warau
Canon point: Chapter 15
Age: 18 years old
Species: Human.
Appearance: Black/dark brown(?) eyes, very long black hair that goes to her waist even though it's curled, the tips of her hair are tinged with a muted red -- only the fringe on her forehead is noticeably red at the end.
Height: 159 cm or 5'2'' feet
Weight: 45 kg or 99 pds.
Clothes: Her outer robe is black and edged in red with the symbol of the Kumou embroidered on the back. It also goes all the way down to her feet. She wears a fancy kimono + obi underneath and geta sandals. She has a big golden hairpin stuck in her hair that's decorated with this symbol.
Likes: Baren, pranks, anything new
Dislikes: Baren when he's being too persistent, busybodies, boring things
Talents: fighting, building traps
Title: The 8th Head of the Kumou Shrine
Companions:
Weapon: Her orange-yellow Kumou fan, her sword.
Skinship/shipping: It really depends on your friendship level, but more often than not, she's not gonna like it! She'll bust out the fan!! but of course oocly, it would be funny to throw Okuni off so go ahead. I'M OPEN TO IT??? IF WE HAVE CHEMISTRY??? but 10/10 Okuni will prob reject everyone... She's got a town to save and a world to go back to! Also, she's too much of a prankster and punk to encourage those feelings in anyone probably. which prob would be fun to play out
Fighting/violence: Always open to it! Okuni can definitely hold her own unless it's against a OTT-tier level character of course. Feel free to initiate fights too! We'll just discuss it if it gets serious/leading to like mortal injuries for either character.
Backtagging/threadjacking: Yes to both!
Mind-reading: Feel free! She has no mind-reading barriers or psychic abilities in place. If she ever finds out though, then she'll do her best to think of really annoying things like the wheels on the bus go round and round over and over again.
Triggers: I... can't think of anything too specific. I'm generally okay with anything that's IC for the character/situation. if it's something completely out of the blue then I'll generally let you know whether or not I'm comfortable with that.
how do I get into contact with you?!?! MAGIC or plurk or email! that's all on the HMD post ;)
MEMORY 1 -- "preventing the resurrection of the Orochi is our family duty"
Okuni can see Baren fidget in the corner of her eye, clearly uncomfortable at having to sit for so long. She is too, but that doesn't stop her from reaching out to pinch him on the arm. He bats her arm away with a scowl, but whatever quarrel that's about to erupt immediately disappears at the sound of their mother's voice.]
Okuni. Baren. Please, it is important for you two to listen to me.
[At that, Okuni straightens -- she's a good girl, she thinks, she can definitely listen to her mother, especially when she's so serious. Her curiosity is well and alive even at eight years old, and Okuni listens carefully as her mother continues. She speaks of their duty as members of the Kumou family. Duties that have persisted since the beginning of their family line. Duties that are devoted to the Orochi. Here, Baren interrupts. "What's that?"]
A cursed serpent. [Her tone shifts, almost like she's telling a story. But it's not a story, not with the solemn gaze in her eyes and the wrinkle in her brow.] Our duty is to prevent the resurrection of the Orochi. If that fails, we must stop and seal it once more.
[Okuni's thoughts are not frightened, nor are they particularly worried. The Orochi seems like one of the many monsters in the stories her mother tells them. It's not that she doesn't believe what her mother is saying. But it doesn't seem like a real problem, not when things like having to listen to lectures that are too long or losing what little playtime she has left in the day.]
The Orochi appears in a chosen vessel. It only appears in those who belong to a cursed bloodline. Those whose families are closely entwined with the fate of the Orochi. Families like ours. Baren... Okuni...
[She looks at each of them.]
You both are vessels. I am as well. If worst comes to worst, if any of us should fall, then we must carry out our duty.
[I'll turn into an Orochi?
There's a sense of unease now, but too vague to really be fear. She still doesn't quite understand what her mother is saying. So she can turn into a monster? And Baren? And her mother? But if they have to stop the monster from appearing, then does that mean --
She doesn't know what that means, and she's interrupted from thinking further by Baren's loud voice as he jumps from his seat to fling his arms around their mother, face alight with boyish determination.
"Don't worry, mother! I won't let anything happen to us or to Oumi!"
"Hey, no fair!" Okuni jumps to her feet as well, and the memory ends with Asahi laughing brightly as her children cling to her, a sound clear enough to chase away the unease and the fear, as if neither of them even existed.]
MEMORY 2 -- "you're a god damn curse" aka cal knows this canon so i have to throw a headcanon at her
[Okuni shrieks in pain, her small hands flying up to cradle her head. Old man Ietsuna's hands yank again at the edges of her long hair, eliciting another yelp.
That hurts! He's seriously way too strong for a gramps --
Her thoughts are interrupted by another yank, and she twists around to glare up at him -- arms raised to punch his gut. She's too small to reach anything taller than that. At nine years of age, she's already smaller than Baren. Her twin is sprawled on the ground some ways away, his head pressed into the dirt by another man, the bird feathers Okuni placed so carefully in his hair quivering with fury. Old man Ietsuna glares right back at her.]
I warned the both of ya! If you two showed your faces around here again, then I'd deal with you both myself! We all said to stay in that cursed temple of yours!
[Cursed...! A flicker of a woman's smiling face suddenly flashes through Okuni's head. That image rings in Okuni's head like a hammer striking metal, and she digs her fingernails into the hand still holding her captive with a snarl.]
We don't have a home to stay in -- you hateful, old -- !!
[Baren's sudden yelp cuts her off, and she immediately looks around to see him, frantic. shes see Kentaro the fisherman kicking Baren in the side -- Kentaro who always relented when Baren asked for a ride on his back . The other villagers form a loose ring around the scene. Their gazes are baleful, their eyes hard and angry. Each face is as familiar as her own. Grandma Emi, who sneaked them sweets after dinner. Rina and Saya, girls who played with Okuni and giggled after Baren. Eitoku, who made new hair ornaments for them and for their mother. Face after face, all made stranger by their disgusted expressions. They should look happy, they always looked happy, so why]
Homes are for people, brat. You two are just beasts -- you should be grateful that you're even alive. Your mother gave birth to you abominations and took care of you for those ten miserable years, and to think that all that remains of her are cursed -- !!
[Old man Ietsuna, who used to smile at her kindly and now looked at her like she and Baren were filth. What did we do that was so wrong! I really don't understand!
Her eyes fall on the man's right knee. She remembers, Ietsuna had a bad limp. Her mother had helped carry him all the way back to town when he had gotten hurt. He had been so thankful, then.
No. It doesn't matter. Baren and I -- we made a promise!
Okuni aims a vicious kick at the man's knee at the same time Baren suddenly rams into Ietsuna's side, the force of both throwing him to the ground and releasing Okuni. The old man clutches at his leg and howls in pain, the ring of people breaking in a flurry of confused outrage. Okuni thinks it, even as a part of her sneers in satisfaction, a single sincere apology echoing through her mind as her small hand slips into Baren's. She meets her twin's eyes and there are no words, they both turn and run
but not before they both reach out and grab the edges of the cloth holding Ietsuna's wares, yanking it off the table and onto the ground, the sound of porcelain and pottery breaking filling their ears. It's a vengeful gesture, an awful one, but the thought -- this is what we said we'd do -- beats in Okuni's head like a mantra even as Baren throws his small head back in his loudest and most garish laugh.
Only Okuni can see the shiny tears forming at the corner of his eye. Her mouth quivers, but she bites it down and lets loose a laugh too -- one a perfect complement to his. It's better to laugh, mother always said, and it's just the sort of thing a pair of abominations would do.
This is what we said we'd do. This is our promise.
Hand in hand with Baren, running as fast as they can, as if this is just one giant game. As if they're just playing another game of chase with the village children. Laughing a bit too loudly and too long, even after the shouts of fury and hatred fade behind them.]
MEMORY 3 -- "stumble and suffer"
The smell of gunpowder sits heavy in her nose as she leans back on a barrel, reclining as if she's on a throne. The nervous, frightened man before her deserves her scorn, and she makes it seem as if she finds him pathetic and useless as she giggles along with her brother, but her thoughts are... understanding.
This is what happens when you don't believe in your leader enough to tell her about your family, old man. If you love and respect her so much, then you should have tried harder...! Not that he'd listen if we told him that now. We're demons for a reason.
Her smile stays perfectly in place as her and Baren sneer down at him, even if her sneer slips at the appearance of the new man -- Sakichi, green-haired and straight-backed as ever.
Not him again...! Sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. He'll seriously ruin everything Baren and I are trying to do! He's way too honest and obvious. There's no question to the amount of chaos he might cause just by existing...!
Still, she laughs at the same time Baren does.
If it's fun, then we don't give a damn about who gets hurt.
If it gets Sakichi distracted, then I don't care how he thinks of us. We don't need to be understood by him. Her thoughts flash to the image of Toubee as Baren mentions her. Young, responsible, and entirely too willing to shoulder the burdens of her entire clan.
Too young and too foolish. She thinks that she's weak. She can't see that her strength is what makes everyone follow her... When Yuusei tries to kill her, then she'll have to see that she's going about this the wrong way.
But more importantly, Okuni's thoughts focus on Sakichi -- the clear and obvious thorn in their side. Her thoughts so far have been matter-of-fact, but they stutter to a fault when Sakichi holds the match to the barrel --
The memory ends with a white-hot flash, and the sound of exploding gunpowder filling her ears even as one thought rings through her mind --
IDIOT!!!!]
MEMORY 4 -- "i hate this type of guy the most"
His hand is on her.
He's going to lose that as soon as I get out --
Okuni rubs her tightly bound wrists against the rope restraining them, not even flinching as the rope tears into her skin. Even better that she's a red -- despite the fact that Okuni's bruised, battered and bleeding, none of her pain can be felt in this particular memory. Instead, her thoughts are crisp and sound annoyed, though it's the sort of annoyance akin to a fly buzzing in her ear.
But whatever else she has in in mind is abruptly interrupted by the sound of the door cashing to the floor and the figure standing in the doorway. Okuni recognizes her -- The Iga ninja I defeated in Oumi. I wonder if she's here to kill me? She'll have better luck with me tied up like this than free.
Except it's not that at all, and Okuni watches with mild interest as the girl and the men clash. Mild interest -- that then turns sharp at the sight of the girl's trembling fists.
"There is no place for you anywhere!"
Words that Okuni has heard her entire life. In Okuni's mind, it's not this ninja saying them. It's the villagers of her home town. It's the people she once loved sneering at her as if she was nothing more than filth.
Orphan? Stranger? Those are the words I hate the most -- you shitty bastard --!
Okuni ripping the ropes off her wrist and around her waist, lashing out with her still injured leg to slam it into the head of the sneering ninja -- deftly catching the instrument he used to torture her just earlier with one hand. It's as if she wasn't even tied up or tortured at all. The confidence she exudes is one of someone who doesn't mind torture or the pig-headed words of strangers, as long as they aren't directed to those who don't deserve them.
The girl ninja's eyes are round with surprise, but Okuni smiles even as her thoughts wince at the feeling of her injured feet on the rough wooden floor. She doesn't know her at all, but she doesn't need to.
No one deserves to hear that from anyone, no matter who they are.]
MEMORY 5 -- "girls won't understand"
A battle. Again.
She flicks her fan open and yawns behind it -- even as the screams and gunfire in the air ring out around her.
Noble lords and powerful samurai. They're all the same in the end. Anyway, where's Baren?
Attention already drifting, Okuni moves out of the temple yard and deeper into the forest, finally reaching the shores of a small river where her twin brother, Baren, rests. He's truly her twin, almost a mirror image of her -- if not for the eye patch hiding his left eye. Still, his hair, face, and clothes are a matched set with hers. Though instead of lazy boredom, his right eye is twinkling with excitement.]
There you are, Baren. What are you even doing here?
[He huffs, resting on his elbow as he gazes at Okuni.]
I was watching the battle nearby. Did you see it, Okuni? It's huge! Seriously, I wish I could fight in a battle field like that one!
[Okuni stills for a brief moment, before her tone grows sharp.
Baren, again... He has such weird ideas sometimes!]
Don't say weird things like you want to be a warrior.
[In response, Baren looks sulky, lip pushing out as he gathers to his feet. "I'm not," he replies. "I just want a chance to fight like that for once."]
Well you shouldn't want to. Isn't peace the most important thing? That's the reason we were forged for the sake of our roles. Baren, don't forget that.
[Her twin shrugs, already turning away from her.]
You wouldn't get it, Okuni.
[It's just another sort of sibling quarrel that sometimes takes place. Okuni loves her brother deeply, and he loves her, she knows this for a fact. But they're also two different people and it's only natural that they disagree.
But it's not natural for us to disagree. We're not like other siblings. We're twins. We understand everything about each other, but
why is it that I can never understand this about him? Don't tell me I wouldn't understand -- and just explain it to me!
Instead, Okuni huffs herself and turns away, moving back through the forest to their home. She can hear Baren's footsteps fading away. She has an idea of exactly where he went. She knows for a fact that there's no way he'd get hurt or roped up in the nearby battle. And maybe he should! Maybe that will teach him not to want stupid things. It's only her thoughts that can be heard, but the hurt Okuni fosters in her heart practically echoes in her head.]
MEMORY 6 -- "i know this, and i love you"
That single indolent thought drifts through Okuni's head as she gazes out the door of the shrine, one hand patting the head of a small tanuki lazing around on the tatami. She's used to waiting for Baren to come home. Usually, she'd be up and about with things to do too, but it's nearing night time now. There's little places for her, a woman, to hang around at. Not that Okuni lets propriety or etiquette stop her from frequenting places, but she's only needed to visit the gambling parlors and bars and brothels once before losing interest in all three.
The figure that appears in the yard gets her to straighten up, and the tanuki leaps to his feet to run to her twin. Okuni doesn't run, but she does walk to the porch to greet him properly.]
Baren! You're late.
[kind of. her voice is chiding, but her thoughts are relieved. Baren, a mirror image of her in so many ways except for the eye patch that hides his left eye, strolls casually inside and flops on the tatami, scooping up the tanuki.]
I'm home, Okuni. Don't be too mad. I brought you something from town.
[She can never stay mad at Baren, Okuni thinks. Her curiosity piqued, she settles next to him with big expectant eyes. Baren needs no further prompting, he reaches into his sleeve to pull out an elegant kanzashi.]
Oh! [Pretty! Except,] Where did you get this? Did you steal it from old man Eitoku?
[Baren smirks, as if the mention of stealing is as normal as say, actually buying the item. Okuni doesn't even say it with a hint of scolding to it, she says it matter-of-factly. As if the twins are always stealing things like this.]
One of the courtesans gave it to me after confessing to me.
[Again? Baren sure is popular if even courtesans fall in love with him. Okuni shakes her head.]
I hope you let her down gently. Even if she was lying or trying to get you to stay longer, that sort of thing deserves a respectful answer.
What do you think I am -- a barbarian? I know how to treat a lady. [he snorts, then with steady fingers, gently slides the kanzashi near the base of Okuni's ponytail. It dangles there, matching the longer kanzashi already in her hair. Okuni reaches up to touch the ornament, smiling. It's pretty. It's also frivolous. It reminds Okuni of a different happier time, and she can see from the soft look in Baren's eyes that he knows what she's thinking.
She lets her hand fall and gets to her feet, primly.]
I've already made dinner. Come in and have some. You too, tanuki.
[The raccoon needs no more prompting, nameless as it is -- it knows that it's a precious addition to their small family. With tanuki at his heels, Baren settles at the table and eats their small, scant meal. Okuni could have stolen more, she notes, but the harvest was small -- the other villagers need it more. The night itself is peaceful and calm, and stays that way as the twins sit together and relax -- sometimes talking of the town itself (And then I watched as he fell into that puddle! It was hilarious, Okuni!) sometimes not talking at all, but always with that easy, comfortable rapport two people who've spent their whole lives together would have.]
MEMORY 7 -- "suffer in purgatory"
Okuni's seated in a tree once again, her eyes fixed on the small crowd of men dressed in the peasant clothes of an era long past. They're holding torches, stones, buckets of noxious looking liquid -- their faces are reddened with drink as they laugh. The young man that accompanies them sticks out like sore thumb -- his clothes are of a higher quality than theirs and he's carrying a sword -- but also, the shocked and unhappy look on his face is in clear contrast to the gleeful crowd around him.
Why is he so shocked? We're the hated twins of Oumi, after all.
Okuni makes no move to join the people down below. The man sitting on the branch above her glares down at them all, but neither does he move either.
We've seen this all before. They'll throw a couple more stones and set things on fire and then they'll grow tired of their games.
She thinks of the past -- all those long ten years funneled into a series of flickering images. Broken boards and temple statues, slop and chicken blood smeared across the door. Even if that young samurai is now shouting at them to stop, seizing the hand of one of the villagers, Okuni feels nothing.
I don't trust the pretty words of a stranger. How could someone so high and mighty understand? False sympathy is even worse than what those men are doing.
He should go home.
Go home! And leave us alone!]
MEMORY 8 -- "smile, you'll feel better that way"
But it doesn't take long for her to realize her surroundings. Stone surrounding her, bars in front of her, and ropes around her feet and wrists. A jail, then. The sound of the other girl's voice rouses her fully, and she thinks she can spot her from the corner of her eye. Pink hair, black clothes.
That Iga girl... Ouka. She carried me all the way here? She really is gentle... Life as a ninja must be difficult for her.
Still, Okuni lets none of her sympathy leak into her voice as she talks casually with her jailer. It's as if being bound hand and foot in a strange, shady prison means nothing to her. Or at least, isn't that much of a concern. Baren will save her, she thinks. No matter what happens, he'll come for her.
More importantly, her gaze focuses on Ouka -- now standing in front of the bars, gazing at her with an expression akin to confusion.]
...You really do seem to have a death wish. Getting involved in a fight between strangers.
[Okuni shrugs, as if it doesn't matter. I don't need to know you to worry about you. But her casual almost careless expression changes when Ouka's face pinches in pain.]
Don't make a face like that. It's not like I'm picking on you.
[Whether you're Iga or Koga, even if you're not from Oumi -- you shouldn't bear that kind of pain.]
You should hold your head high and laugh.
[Like Mother always says. Okuni, her expression changing from studied nonchalance to something more sincere now, lighter. That smile she makes sure to carry in her own heart appearing on her bruised face,]
It'll be easier to breath that way.
MEMORY 9 -- "we'll carry out our duty"
Our home. Mother's things. Now, we have nothing.
She turns her head away as if it doesn't matter right now. Nothing matters more than the small hand in hers right now. Baren, with the family robe their mother had lovingly made for him pulled over his head, biting his lips as he cries.
Okuni can feel the tears in her eyes too.
I'm older than Baren. I can't cry in front of him.]
Baren, don't cry. [She can hear herself say, but she can't even stop herself from weeping too.
Smile! Smile! No matter what, I have to smile.
Her brother smiles too -- and that helps her more than words can say. Hand in hand, she cries with him, smiles bright. After a moment, as Baren and her finally settle-- taking great big gasps of air in attempt to calm down -- Baren murmurs.
"What do we do now, Okuni?"
What do we do?
Okuni thinks, but she already knows the answer. Everything is gone. The villagers betrayed them. But that didn't change who they were.]
Mother's gone, so we have to carry on the Kumou duty. Baren -- we have to stop the Orochi from appearing, and we have to protect this town.
[Even though they hate us. Even though they never loved us.]
That has to happen no matter what. Even if -- like mother said -- even if the Orochi appears in either of us --
[Baren makes a small, choked sound at this, but he doesn't yank his hand away. Instead, his grip grows stronger. Baren's strong too. He understands.]
You have to promise me too -- you have to promise that if it's in me -- [She can barely finish that sentence, barely finish that thought.] I'll do the same for you too. I won't let the Orochi use either of us.
[She can't see Baren's face. He's so quiet she wonders if he's heard her. But then he gives a nod, and his single visible eye shines steadily back at her. We have each other. We know what to do. It's too early to think about it, but if it happens... She tugs Baren close so she can lean into him, the sound of his heart beating in her ears.
We'll carry out our duty. That's the only thing we have left.]
MEMORY 10 -- "guns are better"
Still, the way she needles Toubee despite needing a favor from her is purely Okuni. It's what she does -- she can't not tease the other girl, especially after all the trouble she's caused for her and her clan. She has a reputation to uphold. She can't show her soft side so easily.
The Kunitomo clan is famous for their weaponry. We couldn't steal their treasured gun, but I can still ask her to make a gun for me. It'll have to be a pistol. I can't hide or carry a rifle easily. The whole point is for it to go unnoticed, after all. I have my sword and fan, but guns are better. They can kill faster. She can admit that readily enough. Accuracy and practice isn't a problem either, she'll learn to use it perfectly.
She pauses at Toubee's question, gaze lingering on the other girl's baleful gaze. Toubee's eyes are arrow-straight and steady. The sort of eyes from a person who doesn't know how to lie. When you think of the protector of Oumi, Toubee-dono is the sort of person you think of.
But this is my way of protecting Oumi too.]
To take the life of someone. Someone very precious, that is.
[Her thoughts are riveted on him. Her brother, Baren. The only person who understands her, and the only one who understands him.
That's why it has to be me. Baren holding her hand as they both cry, Baren touching his eyepatch and not meeting her gaze.
I have to be the one to kill him. The memory ends there, the tone of finality echoing in Okuni's thoughts as Toubee's expression grows pale in shock -- only for it all to disappear.]
MEMORY 11 -- "this guy talks too much"
Three Iga ninja and tools for torture, but the door's not that far --
The sudden kick to her abdomen cuts the rest of her thoughts off. She takes a deep breath, gaze flicking to the man in front of her. He's holding an instrument and talking about it, and Okuni can't help but think --
Ah, annoying. I hate a man who talks too much and not of anything important. I know what a heat hook is, idiot. Get it over with already. Her thoughts ring with impatience, even if her emotions aren't accessible in this particular memory. During all of this, Okuni's wrists are turning against the ropes around her hands, working them hard all in the meantime.
The only time she stops is when the ninja mentions that one word.
Orochi. I know the Iga wanted it, but they found out about it so quickly. Is that our fault? Were we too lax in our duty? Even though Baren and I turned everyone against us. Even though we don't trust anyone around us anymore...
He's speaking about power now, his eyes are shining with the maniacal glint of someone who believes too strongly in his cause and no one else's. Okuni's familiar with that sort of look.
Is that all they want? Power? What would a demon serpent do for your clan exactly? The Orochi will destroy everyone; man, woman, and child. You think it won't turn on you after annihilating your memories? This is why this is stupid! If you're going to torture me, then I wish they picked someone with a brain in his skull.
Her thoughts are rapid and cold, even as her mind also calculates how soon she can escape -- how soon she can leave -- how hard she'll have to push after pushing this man too far, and how soon he'll drop his guard after he finishes beating her.
I'm a shield. I was forged to bear this. Now, hurry up -- !]
MEMORY 12 -- "why did they....?"
The smell is stronger now.
Something's wrong --]
OKUNI, GET UP!
[A boy suddenly crowds her vision, small hand reaching to yank her out of her futon.]
Baren -- [She's still half-asleep, but the smell is so sharp now. She coughs out the rest of what she's about to say, muffling her mouth against the thick black smoke.
A fire -- !
She doesn't waste any time. Hand in hand, she runs after Baren through the house and finally out into the yard. They should run farther, she knows. But she and Baren turn around instead to stare at the building burning brilliantly in front of them.]
Our... house...
[Okuni can't take it in. That's their house? Burning? But -- how, why]
Mother's things -- Baren! We left mother's things -- we can't let them burn! [But Baren's hand tightens around hers, and she already knows the futility of her plea. There's no going inside now without dying. Her eyes flick around in panic as if to find some sort of solution but instead she sees people.
People she knows.
They've come to help! She thinks, eyes teary from her relief. But no, their backs are shrinking in the distance. They're running away. To get help, surely. Her mind reasons. But then one of the men look over his shoulders back at her and Baren, and that single look of hatred burns her far worse than the house in front of them.
Did they...]
Baren, what -- ?
[But her brother's already sinking to his feet, having seen the same sight as Okuni. He's pulling the robe their mother made for them over his head and burying his face in his hands as if to escape from a dream. Okuni wants to escape too, but the fire is too hot on their faces and the smoke is too high. Too high for her to go back inside. Too loud for it to be a dream.
She falls to the ground next to him, hand still in his. Staring mutely as their home burns down in front of them, staring long after the last embers disappear.]