Character Name: Himura Suzume
IC Rank: ANBU Elite
Character Age: 25
Gender: Female
Sex: Female
Character's Physical Description: A woman of resounding grace, her gait sways with each perfectly light step. Standing taller than most women she is roughly 5’8” with a set of elegant yet protracted legs. She weighs just a hair above 130 lbs, with sun kissed skin that accent her large fawn eyes which hold a residual sparkle at almost all times. Below her eyes rests a small nose and a set of pert lips, the corners of which hold light smile marks betraying her age. Her cheeks are wide and happy, with a set of deep dimples each time she graces someone with her smile exposing her pale white teeth holding a slight overbite. Suzume’s hair is russet in color, long and silken typically held in a pony tail that nearly reaches to the small of her back, and if not then in a bun.
Her attire is generally kept practical and modest, travel wear consisting of various dresses, blouses, trousers, and a few kimono for more important events. Generally she is a fan of more traditional attire, though she does have a few contemporary pieces hidden within her wardrobe, pieces acquired throughout her travels. These include the occasional set of, mainly dark wash, skin hugging dungarees, modern slipovers, high-top shoes, and etcetera.
Character's Mental Description:
A woman of extraordinary talent, Suzume has lived what one might not describe as an ideal life, though over the years she has adjusted remarkably well. Happy, she is in a sense happy with her station in life and to a point enjoys her work, talkative and generally polite she has been at points described as meek in her speech but not in her actions. She is not one who could be described as having a strict moral code having lived a life as not only a bounty hunter but a mercenary as well. Outwardly she would debate this point, though more for the sake of how others see her rather than any sort of sense of self-gratification.
In fact she is quite the actor, humorous and outwardly good natured holds back an internal viper coiled and ready to strike at a moments noticed under the guise of a kind smile. When she chooses her words can be as poignant as her blade, when spurned she has been described as near aristocratic yet trenchant in her vernacular as if she had been born as a diplomat in a previous life.
She is not a woman quick to temper, in fact very few things could be further from the truth, one may describe her as patient and easygoing which to a point is true. In fact it is safe to say she’s not a woman quick to most emotions, though she chooses to feign them outwardly; however, inwardly she typically remains fairly apathetic. Often times manipulative and uncaring, she has an incredibly difficult time connecting to others, while it takes some people mere weeks or months to form a deep bond with someone it often takes her years. This is another matter she chooses to hide, having no problem ‘faking’ what most consider connections to other, she can be a shoulder to cry on, though her words are almost certainly hollow.
Character History:
The cost of a man’s head, good, bad, or somewhere in between, is anywhere from 50 to 5,000,000 Yen give or take. A lucrative business. Some call themselves bounty hunters, some mercenaries, some bandits. On different days we could claim Suzume has been all of these and none.
A Child of Tsukigakure, of the land of Moon, a land that only under a gossamer thin veneer of decency is filled with human destitution, and this was the world that formed her. The half child of a Seikon and a woman of the night, her father never spoke of her mother other than muttered curses under his breath. He was also a man forged by the lands of his forefathers, born and bred as a believer of the moon, in part a man of zealotry and in part a member of the moral bankrupt that encompassed their home.
“You do what is needed to provide.” Was his excuse and his mantra, and he provided as his daughter later would. A headhunter, and a profound one at that, he would say he was a good man. A man providing for his daughter, for his family, attempting to guide her in the only way he knew how, the excuse many a murderer and thief use. Whether he was a good man or not is largely unimportant, the man did what he did and formed a woman who would later “Do what is needed to provide.”, but perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.
Hoofs clacked against the ground, Suzume’s eyes averted from her father holding it’s leads, it had been four days since she had made five and two weeks since they had left Tsukigakure. She didn’t question whether the men, or what was left of them as it turned out it was more economical to bring the heads of the wanted rather than the whole body, tied to the side of their horse were good men or bad men. They were no longer men at all, and their lot in life no longer mattered, now they were payment for a warm meal and a stay in an inn instead of the cold hard ground outside. Still she couldn’t help but wonder what these men had done to have a price put on their head, though the whole concept was still incredibly foreign to the young girl only a few days passed ten. “What did they do?” She questioned aloud stealing a glance toward her father who immediately yanked the leads of their nag and staring down toward his daughter with a stern look, “It doesn’t matter what they did, only thing that matters is that each of these men are enough to eat for a year.” Confused the child stared at her father in silence trying to piece together the puzzles of his words.
Frustrated Suzume returned to silence staring down toward her feet as they trudged toward whoever would be paying for these men’s head and contemplating what they could have possibly done to have her father sent after them, soon reaching their destination as a rotund and gruff man stood in toward the side of the road drawing her father’s attention as he flagged the two down. In a sort of sodden silence she watched quietly as her father unbound the men from his horse, “5,000 each.” He stated simply staring down the man who nodded in agreement, unlike the last time they had gone out this man didn’t try to haggle. “30,000 total then.” The rotund man replied turning toward his nag and grabbing three separate coin purses from it’s side laying them on the ground at his feet, “We appreciate your work ethic, and as a professional courtesy we feel that we should give you an ample warning that these men have consorts that will in likelihood not take kindly to their unfortunate and sudden demise.” Her father scoffed, most men didn’t take kindly to the death of their friends, human nature and all that. “They have a price too?” He asked only half joking, and surprisingly the rotund man replied as he straddled his nag, “300,000 for the lot of them. I assume we’ll be in touch.” Turning the large man began to leave though something seemed to suddenly return to him, “Ah, and one more thing, I believe they have already put a price on your head as well, quite the pretty penny. 150,000 Yen. You should be quite impressed.” And without further notice the pudgy man rode off as Suzume and her father collected their most recent payment.
It was now a matter of time, who would collect their pay first?
It would come swiftly in the night nearly eight months later, blade pressed through his sleeping mat, he was good at what he did and it caught up with the man. Suzume mourned as any child would at the loss of their last parent, salty tears running down her cheeks the morning afterward. This land it was a cruel one, and she would soon learn the truth to her late father’s words, “You do what is needed to provide.”
It was mere days afterward before the rotund man found her, huddled under a small dogwood tree. His expression was not one of sympathy, but one of practiced distance and professional intrigue as he dug through his coin purse, “The price was for the lot of them, but I am a merciful man. 60,000 Yen for an incomplete contract, child. You understand how much money that is?” he questioned, though she couldn’t comprehend his words, why he was throwing money at her when her sole protector had been slain in the night. Dried tears stuck to her cheeks as she racked her brain for words that simply would not come as the tribute was tossed at her feet. Clearing his throat the man continued untying the purse from his side entirely, “On top of this there was a matter of an insurance policy. In the unexpected and unfortuitous event of your father’s death you, his only daughter, are to be given a hefty 500,000 Yen. I would say congratulations are in order, but I’m not quite that crass.” What was this pig of a man talking about? She didn’t give a damn about the money he waved about as if it was supposed to comfort her, it wouldn’t bring her father back, it wouldn’t help her, this man – he knew this full well and continued regardless, near completely detached from the situation. “Of course, street urchins are more than frowned upon, and as you are far too young to own land this leads us to a precarious position, girl.” Stepping from his nag the man trudged toward the young Suzume who did her best not to cower, another lesson from her father, to never let a man see your fear.
Crouching and leaning in toward the girl the rotund man stared at her as apathetic as before reaching his hand out to grasp her chin as to inspect her, yet before he could manage a small tanto pressed against his windpipe. Retracting his hand Suzume’s own were trembling as the blade drew a rivulet of blood from the man who couldn’t help but grin ever so slightly, this was the first time she had ever seen the man smile and it was in the wake of her father’s death, he was truly a pig of a man. “As expected.” He chortled ever so slightly.
With blade still pressed against his throat Suzume remained silent, still unsure of how to form the words that swirled around in her mind, what did this man want, who was he really, how could he be so cold, and so forth. Before she could formulate these questions he spoke again, “I have a proposition for you, girl. We give you room and board until you’re of age, you will train and work for us as your father did before you, and once you’ve had your eighteenth birthday you’re free to pursue whatever you wish. We will pay you amicably, as we did your father, and we will of course insure you’re able to find the men who assassinated your father should you choose.” What was she to say, no? And be subjected to a life on the streets were the urchins disappeared each and every day? No, this was her only option. “Who are you?” her voice rattled as it exited her lips the blade still pressed against the man who replied as if unfazed by the weapon pressed against him, “We,” why was he so insistent on using the term ‘we’ instead of referring to himself? “Are a group of men and women who see value in the disposal of people deemed undesirable. Names are troublesome thus we do not carry a name, we are we, understand?” she did not.
The man gently gripped the blade pressing against the throat pushing it away with practiced ease, offering his hand afterward “Your thoughts on this proposition, Suzume-San? We can be fairly flexible and shall do our best to honor any additional requests.” She had no real thoughts on the matter, how could she, just a child being thrust into this world, perhaps it was the wrong decision to shake his hand, a thought that would stick with her for the rest of her days.
Four years passed with an eerie quickness, each day was spent in training body and mind, her father had bestowed her with the genes of godlike men, but she had not learned to harness those powers. Four years of training, of beatings, of bleeding, of breaking, and of reforming. Each day was spent learning the arts of assassination, of where to cut, of how to speak, of how to act, of how to manipulate, of how to be a person. Later she would regret these times wishing she had been able to have a childhood, to have friends, to have childish love, to live, but there was little choice at the time. Thoughts of choice were blotted out by the firm whips of a kendo blade against her wrists and back in practice, there was no room for such thoughts, there was only room for the then and there. Each day passed as she grew a little faster, a little stronger, a bit more agile, and a bit more feminine, in the hope that one day she would grow to leave these people.
She no longer harbored a sense of resentment toward the men that murdered her father, Suzume had since come to understand what had happened in those days of her youth, her old man had gotten caught by a man just paid to do his job, the men that had paid him did it out of just retribution, they killed a messenger, but this was business…
Years blurred together as days, and the young Suzume’s skills had become unmatched by her peers, sheer willpower pushed her to move faster, to be stronger, to be better than her peers, they were leagues beneath her and it was incredibly evident. Yen soon found it’s way to her, work was simple, do whatever you had to do in your ability to complete your contract. Quite simple, really. One simply couldn't keep up with genetics, the Seikon in and of themselves were superior to most from the get-go, and with such rigorous training it seemed a certainty that she had surpassed the others.
The land of Moon, it was no more her home than it had been years before, the girl tired of these lands, of these people, of this government, it was time to leave.
It was a wonder what fistful of yen could buy, safe passage on a spice peddler's ship was one of the many things she bought, a mere 10,000 Yen, sitting quietly next to a shipment of turmeric admiring the smell of saltwater and the prospect of an actual life in a foreign land.
"300 taels, not a pence more." Lowballing bastard, Suzume sat quietly across a small table haggling with a man for the death of another, the flyer clearly stated the price at 500 taels, yet he sat here attempting to cheat her 200. These men weren't her everyday fare, this was a bounty for a group of highwaymen set by the Shogunate of Lightning and this bureaucratic turd was no doubt trying to keep a little off the top for himself, "500 taels dead, is what the flyer stated. These men are marauders who cause an immense amount of danger for everyone who travels throughout your county, sir. Now," Suzume paused for a moment standing and pushing her chair in grabbing the katana, a Hattori blade that she had damn near spent 100,000 of her savings on, and placing it back at her hip "You could always ask the Shinobi of Cloud for assistance, but they are likely to charge double what is stated, and I don't believe you will find any other bounty hunters willing to take your deal. In fact the more I think of the job the more I think it's worth around 550 taels instead of 500." the bureaucrat grunted heavily in his seat stroking his beard knowing that the woman that stood before her was entirely correct and seemed the type to up her price should he try to negotiate. "550 taels, you will be payed upon the return of their bodies." reaching his hand across the table to shake Suzume stared at him briefly as a cat-like grin spread across her cheeks shaking the man's hand.
Another day another dollar.
"Stop!" A vagabond yelled as she walked along the plagued roads, one of the men she had been tasked to deal with, there were four others, 100 taels per head plus an extra 50 through their haggling, wasn't too bad of a deal. She did as commanded as the bandit approached her waving a pitchfork about, some farmhand not making enough plucking leeks she assumed. "Certainly, now is there something you want from me?" She questioned rhetorically, already unclasping the coin purse at her side, inside was but a fraction of her accumulated wealth, nearly 20,000 Yen, none the less it was enough to give a bandit a half-chub. Before the thief could even request her money she had already tossed the bag toward the man who confusedly dropped his pitchfork to catch the yen flying at his face examining it's inner contents and forcing away a childish squeal of joy as he saw the amount he had just netted. "I'm looking for men who don't mind doing work that isn't exactly considered legal, more Yen. I hear that there's a certain group that fits that prerequisite." She remarked staring the man down, wondering how he would react to her false offer, "Why shouldn't I just take yer money 'en?" shrugging her shoulders the young Suzume continued her reasoning "Because that would end an opportunity for repeat business." the man seemed confused for a moment, having never met a woman such as the one that stood before him, obviously unafraid of him and his banditry.
"I would like to meet the others." Her voice radiated outward softly as the man gave a loud whistle watching as his brethren moved from the bush carrying clubs, knives, and what appeared to be a former table-leg, clearly intrigued by the proposition. Of course there was no real proposition, it was simply easier to bait the rest of them out than to root around in the bush searching for them, it cut out a good minute or two from the whole ordeal. The next ten seconds moved in a whirl as she collected the heads of the men and recollected her funding, they were untrained peasants facing a woman that had trained near ten years now to deal with their kind. It was simple, almost effortless, and soon over as she sheathed her blade looking down toward their bodies with no sense of accomplishment. "No fight at all, too bad." She muttered to herself aloud thinking of how she was going to drag the bodies back to that god awful bureaucrat.
She yearned for more than this life of slaying those who held little fight in them, something better than this, something more exciting at the very least.
Another five years passed with a remarkable quickness, each day searching for more, for something that could challenge her, for something that she was born for, she felt it in her blood and bones, she knew what she was born for. Now after 25 years of refinement it seemed it was time for her to begin her adulthood. The village of Cloud, there she decided was where she would make her home, perhaps there she could find a sense of purpose, to find a challenge, to find a connection to others. Perhaps... Perhaps not.
Main Branch/ANBU/Med-Nin: ANBUCustom Class said:
IC Rank: ANBU Elite
Character Age: 25
Gender: Female
Sex: Female
Character's Physical Description: A woman of resounding grace, her gait sways with each perfectly light step. Standing taller than most women she is roughly 5’8” with a set of elegant yet protracted legs. She weighs just a hair above 130 lbs, with sun kissed skin that accent her large fawn eyes which hold a residual sparkle at almost all times. Below her eyes rests a small nose and a set of pert lips, the corners of which hold light smile marks betraying her age. Her cheeks are wide and happy, with a set of deep dimples each time she graces someone with her smile exposing her pale white teeth holding a slight overbite. Suzume’s hair is russet in color, long and silken typically held in a pony tail that nearly reaches to the small of her back, and if not then in a bun.
Her attire is generally kept practical and modest, travel wear consisting of various dresses, blouses, trousers, and a few kimono for more important events. Generally she is a fan of more traditional attire, though she does have a few contemporary pieces hidden within her wardrobe, pieces acquired throughout her travels. These include the occasional set of, mainly dark wash, skin hugging dungarees, modern slipovers, high-top shoes, and etcetera.
Character's Mental Description:
A woman of extraordinary talent, Suzume has lived what one might not describe as an ideal life, though over the years she has adjusted remarkably well. Happy, she is in a sense happy with her station in life and to a point enjoys her work, talkative and generally polite she has been at points described as meek in her speech but not in her actions. She is not one who could be described as having a strict moral code having lived a life as not only a bounty hunter but a mercenary as well. Outwardly she would debate this point, though more for the sake of how others see her rather than any sort of sense of self-gratification.
In fact she is quite the actor, humorous and outwardly good natured holds back an internal viper coiled and ready to strike at a moments noticed under the guise of a kind smile. When she chooses her words can be as poignant as her blade, when spurned she has been described as near aristocratic yet trenchant in her vernacular as if she had been born as a diplomat in a previous life.
She is not a woman quick to temper, in fact very few things could be further from the truth, one may describe her as patient and easygoing which to a point is true. In fact it is safe to say she’s not a woman quick to most emotions, though she chooses to feign them outwardly; however, inwardly she typically remains fairly apathetic. Often times manipulative and uncaring, she has an incredibly difficult time connecting to others, while it takes some people mere weeks or months to form a deep bond with someone it often takes her years. This is another matter she chooses to hide, having no problem ‘faking’ what most consider connections to other, she can be a shoulder to cry on, though her words are almost certainly hollow.
Character History:
The cost of a man’s head, good, bad, or somewhere in between, is anywhere from 50 to 5,000,000 Yen give or take. A lucrative business. Some call themselves bounty hunters, some mercenaries, some bandits. On different days we could claim Suzume has been all of these and none.
A Child of Tsukigakure, of the land of Moon, a land that only under a gossamer thin veneer of decency is filled with human destitution, and this was the world that formed her. The half child of a Seikon and a woman of the night, her father never spoke of her mother other than muttered curses under his breath. He was also a man forged by the lands of his forefathers, born and bred as a believer of the moon, in part a man of zealotry and in part a member of the moral bankrupt that encompassed their home.
“You do what is needed to provide.” Was his excuse and his mantra, and he provided as his daughter later would. A headhunter, and a profound one at that, he would say he was a good man. A man providing for his daughter, for his family, attempting to guide her in the only way he knew how, the excuse many a murderer and thief use. Whether he was a good man or not is largely unimportant, the man did what he did and formed a woman who would later “Do what is needed to provide.”, but perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves.
Hoofs clacked against the ground, Suzume’s eyes averted from her father holding it’s leads, it had been four days since she had made five and two weeks since they had left Tsukigakure. She didn’t question whether the men, or what was left of them as it turned out it was more economical to bring the heads of the wanted rather than the whole body, tied to the side of their horse were good men or bad men. They were no longer men at all, and their lot in life no longer mattered, now they were payment for a warm meal and a stay in an inn instead of the cold hard ground outside. Still she couldn’t help but wonder what these men had done to have a price put on their head, though the whole concept was still incredibly foreign to the young girl only a few days passed ten. “What did they do?” She questioned aloud stealing a glance toward her father who immediately yanked the leads of their nag and staring down toward his daughter with a stern look, “It doesn’t matter what they did, only thing that matters is that each of these men are enough to eat for a year.” Confused the child stared at her father in silence trying to piece together the puzzles of his words.
Frustrated Suzume returned to silence staring down toward her feet as they trudged toward whoever would be paying for these men’s head and contemplating what they could have possibly done to have her father sent after them, soon reaching their destination as a rotund and gruff man stood in toward the side of the road drawing her father’s attention as he flagged the two down. In a sort of sodden silence she watched quietly as her father unbound the men from his horse, “5,000 each.” He stated simply staring down the man who nodded in agreement, unlike the last time they had gone out this man didn’t try to haggle. “30,000 total then.” The rotund man replied turning toward his nag and grabbing three separate coin purses from it’s side laying them on the ground at his feet, “We appreciate your work ethic, and as a professional courtesy we feel that we should give you an ample warning that these men have consorts that will in likelihood not take kindly to their unfortunate and sudden demise.” Her father scoffed, most men didn’t take kindly to the death of their friends, human nature and all that. “They have a price too?” He asked only half joking, and surprisingly the rotund man replied as he straddled his nag, “300,000 for the lot of them. I assume we’ll be in touch.” Turning the large man began to leave though something seemed to suddenly return to him, “Ah, and one more thing, I believe they have already put a price on your head as well, quite the pretty penny. 150,000 Yen. You should be quite impressed.” And without further notice the pudgy man rode off as Suzume and her father collected their most recent payment.
It was now a matter of time, who would collect their pay first?
It would come swiftly in the night nearly eight months later, blade pressed through his sleeping mat, he was good at what he did and it caught up with the man. Suzume mourned as any child would at the loss of their last parent, salty tears running down her cheeks the morning afterward. This land it was a cruel one, and she would soon learn the truth to her late father’s words, “You do what is needed to provide.”
…
It was mere days afterward before the rotund man found her, huddled under a small dogwood tree. His expression was not one of sympathy, but one of practiced distance and professional intrigue as he dug through his coin purse, “The price was for the lot of them, but I am a merciful man. 60,000 Yen for an incomplete contract, child. You understand how much money that is?” he questioned, though she couldn’t comprehend his words, why he was throwing money at her when her sole protector had been slain in the night. Dried tears stuck to her cheeks as she racked her brain for words that simply would not come as the tribute was tossed at her feet. Clearing his throat the man continued untying the purse from his side entirely, “On top of this there was a matter of an insurance policy. In the unexpected and unfortuitous event of your father’s death you, his only daughter, are to be given a hefty 500,000 Yen. I would say congratulations are in order, but I’m not quite that crass.” What was this pig of a man talking about? She didn’t give a damn about the money he waved about as if it was supposed to comfort her, it wouldn’t bring her father back, it wouldn’t help her, this man – he knew this full well and continued regardless, near completely detached from the situation. “Of course, street urchins are more than frowned upon, and as you are far too young to own land this leads us to a precarious position, girl.” Stepping from his nag the man trudged toward the young Suzume who did her best not to cower, another lesson from her father, to never let a man see your fear.
Crouching and leaning in toward the girl the rotund man stared at her as apathetic as before reaching his hand out to grasp her chin as to inspect her, yet before he could manage a small tanto pressed against his windpipe. Retracting his hand Suzume’s own were trembling as the blade drew a rivulet of blood from the man who couldn’t help but grin ever so slightly, this was the first time she had ever seen the man smile and it was in the wake of her father’s death, he was truly a pig of a man. “As expected.” He chortled ever so slightly.
With blade still pressed against his throat Suzume remained silent, still unsure of how to form the words that swirled around in her mind, what did this man want, who was he really, how could he be so cold, and so forth. Before she could formulate these questions he spoke again, “I have a proposition for you, girl. We give you room and board until you’re of age, you will train and work for us as your father did before you, and once you’ve had your eighteenth birthday you’re free to pursue whatever you wish. We will pay you amicably, as we did your father, and we will of course insure you’re able to find the men who assassinated your father should you choose.” What was she to say, no? And be subjected to a life on the streets were the urchins disappeared each and every day? No, this was her only option. “Who are you?” her voice rattled as it exited her lips the blade still pressed against the man who replied as if unfazed by the weapon pressed against him, “We,” why was he so insistent on using the term ‘we’ instead of referring to himself? “Are a group of men and women who see value in the disposal of people deemed undesirable. Names are troublesome thus we do not carry a name, we are we, understand?” she did not.
The man gently gripped the blade pressing against the throat pushing it away with practiced ease, offering his hand afterward “Your thoughts on this proposition, Suzume-San? We can be fairly flexible and shall do our best to honor any additional requests.” She had no real thoughts on the matter, how could she, just a child being thrust into this world, perhaps it was the wrong decision to shake his hand, a thought that would stick with her for the rest of her days.
…
Four years passed with an eerie quickness, each day was spent in training body and mind, her father had bestowed her with the genes of godlike men, but she had not learned to harness those powers. Four years of training, of beatings, of bleeding, of breaking, and of reforming. Each day was spent learning the arts of assassination, of where to cut, of how to speak, of how to act, of how to manipulate, of how to be a person. Later she would regret these times wishing she had been able to have a childhood, to have friends, to have childish love, to live, but there was little choice at the time. Thoughts of choice were blotted out by the firm whips of a kendo blade against her wrists and back in practice, there was no room for such thoughts, there was only room for the then and there. Each day passed as she grew a little faster, a little stronger, a bit more agile, and a bit more feminine, in the hope that one day she would grow to leave these people.
She no longer harbored a sense of resentment toward the men that murdered her father, Suzume had since come to understand what had happened in those days of her youth, her old man had gotten caught by a man just paid to do his job, the men that had paid him did it out of just retribution, they killed a messenger, but this was business…
Years blurred together as days, and the young Suzume’s skills had become unmatched by her peers, sheer willpower pushed her to move faster, to be stronger, to be better than her peers, they were leagues beneath her and it was incredibly evident. Yen soon found it’s way to her, work was simple, do whatever you had to do in your ability to complete your contract. Quite simple, really. One simply couldn't keep up with genetics, the Seikon in and of themselves were superior to most from the get-go, and with such rigorous training it seemed a certainty that she had surpassed the others.
…
They were true to their word, at eighteen the young Suzume left the graces of her would be family with over 1,000,000 Yen and the ability not only to put a man to a blade, but to blend in wherever she chose, she had become not only a mercenary but a bonafide actor. Of course taking a woman and putting her though eight years of nothing more than training to mold them into something and releasing them upon the world as if it had never happened proved to be quite confusing for her as she wondered what she was to do with the rest of her life. This is what they wanted, she only knew how to do one thing, and would no doubt continue to do it. Well, if anything it was good money....
The land of Moon, it was no more her home than it had been years before, the girl tired of these lands, of these people, of this government, it was time to leave.
It was a wonder what fistful of yen could buy, safe passage on a spice peddler's ship was one of the many things she bought, a mere 10,000 Yen, sitting quietly next to a shipment of turmeric admiring the smell of saltwater and the prospect of an actual life in a foreign land.
"300 taels, not a pence more." Lowballing bastard, Suzume sat quietly across a small table haggling with a man for the death of another, the flyer clearly stated the price at 500 taels, yet he sat here attempting to cheat her 200. These men weren't her everyday fare, this was a bounty for a group of highwaymen set by the Shogunate of Lightning and this bureaucratic turd was no doubt trying to keep a little off the top for himself, "500 taels dead, is what the flyer stated. These men are marauders who cause an immense amount of danger for everyone who travels throughout your county, sir. Now," Suzume paused for a moment standing and pushing her chair in grabbing the katana, a Hattori blade that she had damn near spent 100,000 of her savings on, and placing it back at her hip "You could always ask the Shinobi of Cloud for assistance, but they are likely to charge double what is stated, and I don't believe you will find any other bounty hunters willing to take your deal. In fact the more I think of the job the more I think it's worth around 550 taels instead of 500." the bureaucrat grunted heavily in his seat stroking his beard knowing that the woman that stood before her was entirely correct and seemed the type to up her price should he try to negotiate. "550 taels, you will be payed upon the return of their bodies." reaching his hand across the table to shake Suzume stared at him briefly as a cat-like grin spread across her cheeks shaking the man's hand.
Another day another dollar.
"Stop!" A vagabond yelled as she walked along the plagued roads, one of the men she had been tasked to deal with, there were four others, 100 taels per head plus an extra 50 through their haggling, wasn't too bad of a deal. She did as commanded as the bandit approached her waving a pitchfork about, some farmhand not making enough plucking leeks she assumed. "Certainly, now is there something you want from me?" She questioned rhetorically, already unclasping the coin purse at her side, inside was but a fraction of her accumulated wealth, nearly 20,000 Yen, none the less it was enough to give a bandit a half-chub. Before the thief could even request her money she had already tossed the bag toward the man who confusedly dropped his pitchfork to catch the yen flying at his face examining it's inner contents and forcing away a childish squeal of joy as he saw the amount he had just netted. "I'm looking for men who don't mind doing work that isn't exactly considered legal, more Yen. I hear that there's a certain group that fits that prerequisite." She remarked staring the man down, wondering how he would react to her false offer, "Why shouldn't I just take yer money 'en?" shrugging her shoulders the young Suzume continued her reasoning "Because that would end an opportunity for repeat business." the man seemed confused for a moment, having never met a woman such as the one that stood before him, obviously unafraid of him and his banditry.
"I would like to meet the others." Her voice radiated outward softly as the man gave a loud whistle watching as his brethren moved from the bush carrying clubs, knives, and what appeared to be a former table-leg, clearly intrigued by the proposition. Of course there was no real proposition, it was simply easier to bait the rest of them out than to root around in the bush searching for them, it cut out a good minute or two from the whole ordeal. The next ten seconds moved in a whirl as she collected the heads of the men and recollected her funding, they were untrained peasants facing a woman that had trained near ten years now to deal with their kind. It was simple, almost effortless, and soon over as she sheathed her blade looking down toward their bodies with no sense of accomplishment. "No fight at all, too bad." She muttered to herself aloud thinking of how she was going to drag the bodies back to that god awful bureaucrat.
She yearned for more than this life of slaying those who held little fight in them, something better than this, something more exciting at the very least.
...
Another five years passed with a remarkable quickness, each day searching for more, for something that could challenge her, for something that she was born for, she felt it in her blood and bones, she knew what she was born for. Now after 25 years of refinement it seemed it was time for her to begin her adulthood. The village of Cloud, there she decided was where she would make her home, perhaps there she could find a sense of purpose, to find a challenge, to find a connection to others. Perhaps... Perhaps not.