Sakura Pinku

Sakura Pinku:

Race: Fox Faunus (Kitsune)                       Height: 5’                       Weight: 140 lbs.

Gender: Female                                          Eye Color: Pink              Age: 17

Hair/Fur color: Pink w/ White highlights

Weapon of choice: uses hand-to-hand combat and carries fireproof ninja-style hand claws w/ three dust cartridge containers and foot claws, which are used to amplify her Fox-Fire Manipulation abilities.

Semblance: Fox-Fire Manipulation, the ability to generate and manipulate Fox-fire which can manifest as Electricity, Fire or Light, through the static she generates when she rubs her foxtails together. After years of training she has the ability to increase and decrease the fox-fire’s intensity, can make the manifestations dance to hypnotize and daze her individuals, use them as fiery projectiles, take some of the life-force of Grimm and other opponents from the heatwave, or envelope herself in fox-fire to dash and propel herself in any direction.

Appearance: 5’ tall, 140 lbs. young lady with almost unnatural beauty, grace, and toned physique, with fox ears and three fox tails. Her eyes are deep pink, her hair/fur also pink with white highlights. Wears a black and pink kimono with a picture of a cherry blossom in a gentle breeze on the back, over martial arts wraps around her whole torso, arms, hands, and legs.

Personality:

Despite the unpleasantries of her past she possesses an abundance of charisma, spirituality and guile. A bit of a hard-ass, she strives for herself and her teammates to achieve a level of perfection by encouraging them to train hard. However, she does have a sense of humor and is not afraid to have fun, even in the midst of combat. She is actually quite the cunning tactician and trickster able to take note of her allies’ strengths and exploit her enemies’ weaknesses by dashing between them and distracting them in such a way to meet her allies’ needs.

Backstory:

Sakura Pinku is the youngest sibling of three in the Pinku family, a family of fox faunus which are a rare breed of faunus due to their reputation during the Great War for having the ability to use Fox-fire, charm and siphon energy from people, faunus and the creatures of Grimm alike. Before Sakura was born her family led a nomadic lifestyle for years due to their heritage, until they came upon the town of Meadow, a moderate-sized well-defended mining town, secluded in the mountains by the Greenmeadow Valley Pass, to the southwest of Vale. The Greenmeadow Valley has been the Green clan’s home for centuries and their reputation for being skilled miners, blacksmiths, and engineers set them apart from many humans that the family had met previously. Upon their arrival the village’s Foreman and Elder, Dirk Green, welcomed them despite their heritage’s reputation.

Dirk Green was indifferent, hospitable, fair, and open-minded stating openly “It is inexcusable to punish, hunt down, and/or kill someone because of their differences, no matter how diabolical they may seem for that is the essence of our authenticity and diversity but, if we are to succumb to such grim actions in the name of hatred and fear, Are we no different, if not worse than the very monsters tormenting our door steps?” Sakura’s father and mother swelled with pride and both sighed and smiled in relief. Since the Pinku family had no money but showed a knack for hospitality (due to their countless conversions over some of Mrs. Pinku's Green Honey Tea.) Dirk and the rest of the Green clan built the Pinku family a moderately-sized inn, The Fox and Shamrock, as a way for them to earn their keep and have a warm hearth and home. They have lived and thrived ever since. For Sakura, growing up in a town of mostly humans and being a rare kind of faunus with a devious reputation was a tough upbringing. In school and on the playground she was picked on by human and faunus children alike, that is until Dirk’s son Hunter, the boy with green crystalline eyes, came to her rescue one fateful day.

As she laid there barely conscious from a blow to the head during one encounter, he stood between her and the other children telling them to leave her alone and shielded her from the rocks and stones they continues to throw at her, never once backing down. Even after the parents of the children took notice, breaking up the fight and scolded all of them regardless of who the perpetrators or the victims were, he still defended her and carried her back to his mother’s apothecary where she got treatment for her wounds and plenty of rest. They have been inseparable ever since. Whenever Hunter was to help in, his mother, Autumn’s garden she always volunteered. As they both grew, Sakura continued to help Hunter out in Autumn’s garden becoming an accomplished gardener herself and used her herbal knowledge in becoming a fine up-and-coming barista and chef cooking up herb-themed drinks and elixirs coupled with excellent seasoned dishes at the family tavern.

At the age of 13 she and Hunter both saved some villagers from a group of beowolves that made it through Meadow’s defenses, her semblance manifesting as the Grimm were converging on a little girl, petrified with fear. Her second tail grew and without thinking she generated her first fox-fire obliterating one beowolf and immolating another. At that moment she realized her mistake, she had charged in blindly, and it looked like her blindness was going to cost her, as two beowolves she had not notice until now closed in on her. She immediately wrapped herself around the scared child to protect her from the coming danger. She heard Hunter cry out, and a jagged rock wall erupted from the ground in front of her, catching the Grimm off-guard, their yelps of pain ending in a wet thud and crunch of bone. Shocked and shaken she just sat there with the now weeping little girl staring blankly at the wall. Until her concentration was broken as she looked up to see Hunter’s worried face and, felt his warm steady arms wrapping around her and child. Nearby villagers heard the commotion and gathered around the spectacle dumbfounded. when word got to him Dirk Green rode over, wrapping the trio in blankets, and guiding them to Autumn's apothecary.

The next day, the Green clan setup an emergency town meeting to discuss the other day’s events and courses of action. During the meeting, representatives from Vale had arrived to negotiate prices on weapon and armor materials for Signal Academy’s Hunter training program and, having heard the recent news from local gossip extended an invitation to Sakura and Hunter. Which, after much thought and arguing (mostly from their mothers worried meddling) Sakura and Hunter decided on attending Signal, where they honed their skills, manifesting and developing their semblances, and created weapons geared towards their developing fighting styles. They both graduated from Signal Academy with flying colors.

Upon graduating from Signal, Sakura applied for, passed the entrance examinations (where she earned a third tail), and was accepted into Beacon academy by Professor Ozpin.

Hobbies and other activities:  In her spare time, she studies aromatherapy and candle making techniques, she also relaxes by helping out at Hunter’s Aunt Ailbhe’s tavern, Of Brew and Stew, where she and Ailbhe swap recipes and talk.

Character Name Meaning:

Sakura is a Japanese word for “cherry blossom” and is written さくら using the hiragana writing system.

Pinku is a direct Japanese translation from the English word “Pink”

Trivia:

Kitsune are therianthropes that appear in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese lore. often associated with the Shinto deity of rice known as Inari. Kitsune were believed to be the messangers of Inari however over time there have been depictions of Inari as The Lady showing her as being a ten-tailed or Thousand-tailed Kitsune.

Japanese lore describes them into one of two groups:

Myobu- or celestial foxes, white foxes that are directly associated with Inari and are presented as being benevolent.

Nogitsune- or wild fox (literally “field fox”) who are often, though not always, seen as malevolent, in Korean lore kitsune

Korean Lore always depicts kitsune or Kumiho (literally “nine-tailed fox”) as being evil nine-tailed foxes that have lived a period of one thousand years