Tai [Complete, for the time being]

Subject: Tai [Complete, for the time being] Tue Aug 03, 2010 6:00 pm

Tai Karimura

It's easier to see the world in black and white... grey? I don't know what to do with grey.

Basic Information

Name: Kita - Karimura Tai

• Nickname/Alias: ...

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Important Family Members: Mother - Karimura Sachie, raised and tutored him.

Personality: Angry people make mistakes and mistakes can get you hurt, among one of the dozens of phrases that were repeated to Tai throughout his childhood and a perfect example of a phrase that could be used to describe his personality, Tai doesn’t get angry, frustrated maybe, but not angry… In fact any outburst of emotion is uncommon. Tai isn’t emotionless he just doesn’t let he affect his decisions, he’s calm, inquisitive and with a beautifully dry and sarcastic sense of humour. Tai loves just watching or talking to people and finding out about them, he’s fascinated by different personalities and the way different people act, to the point of using his Karimura talent of sharp hearing to listen to other people just to find out their dreams and motivations. Because of this he comes across as a innocent if not unpredictable person… Death and murder is no strange thing to him and he will act without hesitation if the need arises. He’s ruthless, of course and his unwavering determination means that if he wants to do something than he probably will and he’ll probably do it in the most efficient way possible, the way he sees it is that there’s no point struggling with his role as an assassin, his victims are not innocent and he is a Karimura after all…

Artistic and musical talent is a sort of unofficial trait of the bloodline and numerous, though not all, clan members play some form of instrument or another, Tai is skilled enough at both the flute and the shamisen though due to his modest nature he doesn't often bring it up. He only carries the flute around with him - a simple wooden one made at the clan village – and will often be found in a quiet location with his eyes closed, lost in the music. Imagine the effect music would have on someone with such a strong sense of hearing and you’re halfway to understanding why Tai loves it so much.

General Appearance

Basic looks: Tai’s dark brown hair is cut short so that it barely reaches his temples, out of a sense of practicality if nothing else. The shortness of his hair enhances the appearance of a wide brow, lending him a curious, intelligent look which is most pronounced in his hazel eyes, deep set but with a healthy brightness and somewhat long, feminine-looking eyelashes and small straight eyebrows. The skin is pale, the thin lips of his small mouth a shade or so lighter as is the silvered scar – the result of an accident with a knife when he was younger - at the base of his long straight bridged and slightly blunt tipped nose. His chin is equally pronounced and his neck and shoulders are lithe with muscle…

... Lithe. That’s the one word that can be used to describe Tai’s whole body, lithe and athletic though not overly bulky with tapering arms and legs and a solid chest where another scar – caused by the same knife – can be seen, dark against the light peach flesh. Tattooed on his wrists in a deep greenish-blue ink is the name of his clan, the word sky on his right wrist and west on his left. Another, larger tattoo on his back consists of a hawk's wing on the right side of his spine, beautifully detailed and perfect in every way.

• Height: 5"8'

• Weight: 130lbs

Preferred wardrobe: Tai usually wears a grey hooded top, the hood more than large enough to obscure his face if it were to be pulled up and a pair of slim fitting ‘pants’ [assuming the majority of this site is American and not British like meh] about two shades darker and with small buttoned pouch containing his flute and anything else he may be carrying at that time. His slip on shoes are the same colour as his pants and made of leather. As his appearance is so intentionally simple there’s not much else worth describing.

Bloodline Information

Name: Kita - Karimura [Nothern Hunting Village]

• Description: The Karimura sense of hearing is worth noting… so sharp that it can detect the sound of a person’s breathing or a single rain drop dashing itself against the ground, it is so acute, so near that of an animal that it is rumoured that the clan itself is not altogether human. These rumours are, well lies to put it bluntly… the Karimura are human, humans which posses the blessings of a unique bloodline trait that grants them this incredible sense of hearing. Noises that would deafen a normal person present an understandable danger but a their talent has its defences, inside their ears is an odd mechanism consisting of the same membranes and bones as is usual of a human ear but with the addition of a pair of minute external ‘sensors’ that upon detected noises above the usual safety level will trigger the closing of soundproof 'doors' in the auditory canal that will effectively shut the ear to any external noise and protect the drum and other vital components from damage . The Karimura , not willing to dissect family members, are not aware of the more scientific details surrounding the talents in their inhuman anatomy.

• Physical Traits All clan members possess either grey or very rarely amber eyes...

• Ability Overview Enhanced hearing, unmatched skill in stealth and hunting abilities, masters of hand to hand combat and swordsmanship.

Rank and Skill Information

Village: Sunakagure no Sato

• Rank: Chuunin
•Letter Rank B
•Group affiliation Karimura Hunters

• Specialties:

- Main: Taijutsu
-Sub: Kenjutsu
-Combination ...

• Advanced/Secondary Skills: ...

Elemental & Jutsu Information

Elemental Affinity

• Primary Element ...
• Secondary Element ...
• Advanced Element ...
• Combination ...

Jutsu

Name: Combatants Stance
Rank: D
Type: Taijutsu
Element: ...
Description: The same stance [including minor variations] that is used in nearly every martial arts style ever developed, Ichiro will raise his forearms vertically in front of his face with his fists clenched. This allows for much more rapid strikes with the hands as well as protecting his chest and head and drawing his aggressor’s attention away from his lower body, meaning that any kicks he decides to throw will be unexpected and therefore more damaging and effective.

Name: Basic Hand Strike
Rank: D
Type: Taijutsu
Element: ...
Description: A simple close quarters combat technique performed from the Combatants Stance, Ichiro will throw a quick but powerful punch to his aggressors stomach, chest or head and then withdraw by rapidly stepping backwards, avoiding any counter that may be thrown his way and putting him in a relatively safe position. This technique is usually used when Ichiro is unsure of an aggressor’s strength and skill, using this quick strike to test them without putting himself in any position where he could easily be injured.

Name: Basic Counter Strike
Rank: D
Type: Taijutsu
Element: ...
Description: A countering technique used to respond to punches and other hand based strikes, Ichiro will duck under his aggressor’s arm and deliver a powerful blow to their stomach area. Because the momentum of their own strike has carried them forwards avoiding Ichiro’s is next to impossible and the surprise at being struck will only make it all the worse.

Name: Basic Disabling Kick
Rank: D
Type: Taijutsu
Element: ...
Description: A simple close quarters combat technique intended to quickly and efficiently disable an aggressor. Ichiro will deliver a swift kick to the side of an aggressor’s knee or lower leg, hitting the tendons and muscles with his shin in an effort to deaden their leg and cause them to stumble or even collapse. Because this kick is below the waist it is hard to counter and extremely quick as Ichiro’s leg have a very short distance to travel, this combination of speed and placement mean that avoiding it is extremely difficult.

Name: Multiple Agressive Strikes
Rank: C
Type: Taijutsu
Element: ...
Description: Used when his opponent has been weakened or has in some other way presented Ichiro with an opputunity to repeatedly strike them. He will lash out with flurry of increasingly fast and powerful punches finishing with an uppercut to his opponents chin and then an elbow to their forehead. If the two final blows land then they are usually enough to render an enemy unconcious almost instantly, unless of course they are incredibly resiliant.

History/Rp Sample

History:

A monochrome childhood…

Dear Sachie…

It’s me, Ichiro. I've staring thinking about death more and more lately, it's become a sort of dark obsession... I’ve seen it a hundred, shit, maybe even hundreds of times now, I’m the sole person who does see it, not even my victim realises he is a victim before the knife or hand appears at his throat and by then his brain doesn’t even have time to tell him he’s about to die, this minute he’s having a cigarette, idling at his post and the next he’s bleeding or gasping for breath. He ends up limp in my arms and I’m laying him quietly on the floor staring into those lifeless eyes wondering what his last thoughts were, no pain, no fear, no time to feel either…

I love you Sach, I really do, I love you more than you can ever imagine, to be honest you’re the sole thing that humanises me, the single thing that make me laugh, cry… everything. You’re everything to me Sach, I love you so much, so much and I’m sorry, I’m sorry because of you, because of the son I’m never going to be able to see again, sorry because…

*

Tai’s father died in battle on the day of his sons fifth birthday, Tai of course read his final letter to Sachie, his mother, but the last sentences had been moistened and blurred by tears, or maybe blood, he wasn’t sure. Sachie herself was only able to read it a single time before the wet lettering spread and became impossible to decipher and though he was often driven mad with curiosity the glassy look in his mother’s empty eyes, the way she would cry herself to sleep, the way the household descended from its usual bright and welcoming self into a sullen monochrome canvas that seemed to destroy the mood of anyone who entered… it was simply too much for a child to fully understand. It was a sad time and there was no funeral for them to say their final goodbyes and have any possibility of fully coming to terms Ichiro’s death, to not be able to say parting words was the worst part, to not be able to say how much they loved him or lay his body to rest, it was a disheartening loss for his family, both close and distant.

It was a full year before the mood in the household rose to its previous high spirits but the mention of Ichiro’s name was still enough to bring tears to people’s eyes and the topic of his death was largely avoided for that every reason, but still, Sachie tried to make do the best she could and helped Tai do the same.

It was two months after his sixth birthday that Tai was to be sent to a one of the clan’s secret villages to begin training. This may seem strange to an outsider, but to the Karimura every child is expected to begin training at the age of five, this will encompass both the basic and not so basic skills and will last six months known as ‘The building of the Karimura’, usually spring all the way through to early autumn. Tai and sixteen other children were sent to a Nishisora training village where they were to be instructed by an elderly, though incredibly skilled man named Karimura Isamu and his wife and it was under his leadership that this assembly of children were to be turned into hardened shinobi.

The rigorous routine began early one May morning; the children were to stir three hours before sunrise and, under a barely moonlit sky, bundle a meagre amount of food, plenty of water, a collection of weights and a single wooden training pole into a pack that they would then shoulder and carry six miles up the mountain. When they arrived the children would be allowed to eat their derisory breakfast of rice and then begin training, this would consist of hour upon hour of lifting weights and practicing with both the pole and bare hands and would continue until late afternoon when Isamu would give the word and they would begin their descent. As the months wore and the summer heat began to stifle the mountain air, the ‘building’ became even more difficult and began to incorporate such skills as moving silently and indifference to exhaustion, the beauty of their surroundings and the comforting simplicity of their day to day routine, as well as the occasional word of encouragement from Isamu or his wife. It rained more than once but no weather, no matter how miserable had any effect on the children, it was not uncommon to see their little outlines dripping with rain as they ascended the mountainside, happy for the merciful absence of the usual sweltering heat.

Summer eventually ended and as the days grew shorter and the trees began shedding their leaves, Tai had fallen in to the day to day routine and, almost without realising it, had become used to the torturous walk up the mountain and the relentless numbing practice that came soon after. Those rare people who are not part of the clan but have had the pleasure of being told of the Nishisora’s methods often find it strange and indescribably barbaric that children are taught the best way to battle at six years of age, and that children should be taught so bluntly about death. The clan do not bother with such arguments, their methods, whilst appearing brutal to some and are unquestionably unconventional, are not meant to encourage violence but rather determination and bequeath the children with the ability to act without hesitation.

The instruction went well into the autumn months, and it wasn’t long before the walk up the mountain was accompanied by the soft rustle of leaves underfoot and the stifling heat made the ascent longer and more arduous. The children crossed the leaves with barely a whisper and continued alongside Isamu, up, always up, up to the usual setting, where the sole sounds were the wind tossing the bare branches and the call of the crows roaming the clouded sky. This barren scenery became the site for the closing days of his teaching and having endured six months of steady restraint and practice Tai stood in silence, his movements perfect and deadly. In the months that would signal the end of that year’s instruction Tai would spend these last days at the village battling numerous cousins, uncles and other, more distant relations, most were victories and those handful of losses became nothing more than another chance to become better.

Life goes on.

By the end of his sixth year, Tai was stronger, quicker and generally in better physical condition than most more than twice his age. He had also began to show signs of the typical Nishisora dry sense of humour and their enjoyment of life despite being aware of its darker side. The next four years were relatively uneventful, apart from his yearly visits to the training village and his mother now and then being asked out on an assignment from which she would return rich with stories, usually about the capital but sometimes other towns and cities much further way to the south and west.

It was his tenth birthday, the end of his annual training at the secret village, when the name of the clan was tattooed to his wrists the kanji for west and sky embedded in his skin with a deep greenish blue ink, representing him as a true member of the clan, a sort of coming of age symbol of the Nishisora. This was also the same year his grandparents died; they were, in the way of the clan, cremated by simply having their bodies thrown on a fire and their ashes buried with most of the other Nishisora who have died; behind the village in the cherry grove, the pale blossoms to float wistfully over their graves. They were buried in the rain, the downcast weather matching the mood of the sombre onlookers, it was, like all clan burials, brief, and when it had finished Tai accompanied his mother as she took an assortment of their belongings and gave them to the fox shrine, the river swelling with the onslaught of the near torrential rain. Tai stood behind her as she knelt in front of the stone statue, wondering why she would be taking so long just to make an offering, it was then he realised she was praying, not just for her parents but for Tai’s own father. Tai himself couldn’t tell if she was crying or not but if she was then the rain quickly snatched the tears from her face

It was at least a month before both the village and the town returned to normal; Naomi’s parents had been well known and well liked throughout the district and their deaths had had a profound effect on the people, it was almost impossible to even think that two such people who had been a constant in the lives of more than one generation of villagers had finally passed away. Naomi herself had not cried since her prayers at the shrine but the sadness could still be seen in her eyes and she hardly talked to anyone for two months after her parent’s deaths. Tai’s father’s parents had died before he was born, before even they had married, so he was now left with no grandparents and no father, putting further pressure on his grief-stricken mother and Ayame to look after him. But if anyone is to be called weak it would not be Naomi and Tai was old enough to partially look out for himself so her situation was not as hard as some would have thought, though it was enough to mean that her work would have to be set aside for five more years and so losing the Nishisora a valuable asset.

A boy becomes a murderer.

And so whilst the clan was searching for an assassin skilled enough to match Naomi’s degree of success she would be resigned to caring for her son and taking part in more mundane tasks around the village. As he grew, Tai became more wayward and, for most of the time, would disappear into the town and adventure its many streets and alleys, disparagers would spread rumours that as he reached his fourteenth year he was ‘adventuring’ the many bars and brothels that could be found in the towns seedier districts. Tai paid no attention to rumours, especially if they were so far from the truth as those and although he may have been tempted by the brothels more than once and had even befriended some of the women he had never acted upon his impulses, to be honest he had no persisting interest in sleeping with whores and often wondered how some men could become so infatuated with them when they must have known that an true relationship was out of the question. His occasional eavesdropping on the townsfolk began as nothing more than the odd word that he happened to hear as he was wandering the streets but his curiosity, as well as boredom, got the better of him and he started sitting in the shadows of bars and on the rooftops of houses just to listen to what the people had to say, not that he would tell anyone but because he was fascinated by the hopes and dreams of these ordinary people, especially those whose lives were more impoverished and wretched than most. This habit however, began to occupy less and less of his time after his mother gave him a flute she had made, it was a simple wooden instrument, no different from the hundreds of others that must have been made in this district alone but Tai practiced it with a near obsession, and slowly the lonely sound of his music became part of the everyday song of the mountain.

Despite the flute playing in the forest, his life was not as peaceful as it seems; he was, after all coming to the end of his fifteenth year and fifteen is the age that the Nishisora are assigned their first assassination, every scrap of training he had had to endure since the age of six had been preparing him for this, the true test of his abilities.

Whilst waiting for a suitable assignment to crop up Tai decided to travel to the fox shrine to pray to the stone statue. Again it was raining, Tai couldn’t remember a time when the he had seen the shrine without a steady stream of water tumbling across its stone etched features, the fox was familiar with the rain and no weather would ever wear it away. The sheer loneliness of his surroundings was absolute; the forest was silent aside from the solemn mewing of the kites somewhere above him and the faint roaring of the river beyond the trees. It was as Tai was listening to these things that he heard the sound of someone breathing behind him, he was not unduly worried, the person had to be Nishisora to have been able to walk up behind him without him hearing. He turned round to see his mother outlined in the drizzle of the rain, she said nothing but gave a slight smile and gestured with her head for him to stand and follow him, she was, like himself, dressed in the dark travelling clothes of the Nishisora the hood pulled over her head.

‘We have a job for you…’ she murmured over her shoulder as she led in the direction of the town ‘You know Kasumi don’t you?’ Tai nodded, Kasumi was the sort of person that everyone knows, and the owner of one of the more popular brothels in town. ‘Well she’s been having a problem with Inaba…’ continued his mother ‘… a man from Nishigata, a lord of sorts, he’s a regular at her business and he’s been abusing the women… or something similar, Kasumi didn’t tell me the full details all I really know is that she wants he taken care of, she certainly has the money for it…’. A small distance behind her she heard a sharp breath from her son, ‘Shit…’ Naomi turned round ‘What is it?’
‘The man I have to murder, Inaba, I’ve heard of him, he has a… bad reputation in Nishigata’ Kousu ground his teeth as he always did when he was worried, his face hesitant and uneasy. With a slight smile Naomi reached out and pressed something cold into his hand, it was a vicious looking coil of wire around the length of his forearm and the width of a braid of human hair. ‘Reputation or not he’ll be asleep at this time… use this to kill him, Nesuro’s away in Mastumura so we’re short on poisons’, Tai nodded, Nesuro was his uncle and a master of turning mountain plants into lethal poisons, after a short pause to ensure the wire’s strength Tai coiled it back into shape and placed inside his clothes.

The mother and son continued on in silence, striding noiselessly through the forest, the house could be seen as nothing more than a dark outline in the moonlight, its size and austerity visible as no more than a single silhouette against the night sky. They both came to a halt, Naomi leant forward and whispered in her son’s ear ‘Inaba’s room is on the top floor, this side of the house, I’d suggest going in from the outside, less of his men to worry about… sorry I can’t help you’ Tai heard the slight shift in the air as she turned and disappeared back into the forest. Tai stood for a minute or so, childishly surprised that the advice and encouragement would be so brief, the moon was mercifully concealed behind the house meaning that he could scale the near side without any real threat of being seen. Now he had his route planned and was feeling more confident about the dark task at hand Tai listened for any sounds of movement in and hearing nothing but two men, probably guards talking about two floors up hoisted himself onto the wall. From here it was an easy enough task to leap across to the roof and climb until he was hanging directly below the two men he had heard moments before.

Tai took out his garrotte and hung there for a while, listening to the guards and mapping the routes he could hear them taking, none would be of any trouble to him save two that were standing right above him, he would have to climb straight past them to reach Inaba’s room, either that or kill them. He heard one of them strolling towards the screen joking with his companion that Kasumi would send an assassin to murder lord Inaba. Tai smiled to himself, partly because of the stupidity of Inaba’s men and partly out of pity, he heard the man say something about needing some fresh air, his companion mumbling something in response before leaving the room, the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards the screen and the soft scraping against the wooden floor as it was opened. Without even realising what he was doing Tai heaved himself up into the room, the man had turned and was oblivious to the assassin behind him, he was still oblivious when the garrotte tightened around his neck, he died without a sound. More footsteps could be heard coming from the hall, not stopping to examine the body Tai grabbed his knife from a nearby table and waited by the doorway for his companion to return. The second died as quietly as the first and lay on the floor, blood dripping from a gash on his throat. Tai studied the bodies, their faces were familiar but their names escaped him he felt no regret or remorse, just the sense of cold satisfaction that he had been told about so many times back at the Nishisora village. All the other guards were on the street side of the house and it wasn’t long before Inaba lay sleeping like a child before him, so innocently peaceful and unaware of his impending death, Tai uncoiled his garrotte, in a way it was too easy.

The past seven days.

The morning after, his seventeenth birthday as it happens, Tai returned to the village to find that news of the deaths of Inaba and two of his retainers had already reached them, his mother was waiting in the shadow of the eaves of their home to greet him. Nesuro had also returned with apologies that he had been absent and unable to assist in his nephew’s first assignment. Naomi told him that Kasumi wished to talk to him in, characteristically unforthcoming with the details, Tai however travelled into town as soon as all the formalities of his first assignment were over, the meeting with Kasumi was predictable enough; a word of thanks and the arrangement of some further form of payment. Tai turned her down at first, but she persisted saying that it would be rude not to do so, she offered him a choice of her women and when that failed to grasp his interest she mentioned that she could arrange travel to the capital if he wished to go there. To be honest Tai was unsure of life outside the relative quiet of the town and village but he had often been curious of the capital and as always his curiosity got the better of him and he accepted Kasumi’s offer. After a brief trip back to the village to inform his mother and the rest of the clan of his departure, the goodbyes were short and nobody seemed shocked by his sudden choice, nobody was expected to stay in the village their whole life and his leaving was almost welcomed, he left that same afternoon, meeting Kasumi, her men and horses at the eastern road leading out of town, it turned out that Kasumi would also be accompanying them to the capital but whatever business she had there remained undisclosed.

The motley group set off almost immediately, with little conversation save a brief greeting and description of the route they would take, the road through Kitsunemura wound north for around twenty six miles, down the mountain, before meeting the high road at a small village named Yamamoto, they would then follow the high road east for another thirty miles until they reached the capital. The horse’s progress was fast and despite stopping off at numerous towns and villages along the way they reached the coastal city of Kirikagure in a matter of days. Kasumi and her men walked Tai a small distance into the city before the woman mentioned that it was now time for them to part ways. After a short but fond farewell Tai dismounted and handed the reins to the nearest of Kasumi’s men, thanking the woman for the journey Tai turned to leave as the three of them rode off and disappeared into the bustle of the city…

Rp Sample:

Posted Sun 11 Jul 2010, 2:32 am on U.S :]

Spoiler:

Subject: Re: Tai [Complete, for the time being] Wed Aug 04, 2010 4:02 pm

Pretty much copied/ pasted from U.S so might not be perfect. Expect an amended version and a load more jutsu after I start rping...

ANBU Posts : 245 Points : 5160 Join date : 2010-08-01

While everything appears to be in, great working order, I'd just like to state that as a Chuunin you can start with as high as B rank techs, and that even if your character does not know which elemental affinity he has, you can still add it in if you wanted.

Other then that, extremely well written History, and a well balanced Kekkai Genkai to boot. This gets my approval, however you'll need a second one to get through.

Welcome back, and I look forward to the amended version.

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