Opening Title
09-16-07, 10:37 PM
Name: Matsu Hayashi
Age: 31
Race: Human.
Hair Color: Mostly silver.
Eye Color: Dark grey-green.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 171 lbs.
Personality: Generally composed and aloof, with a nonchalance that will border on silliness. He keeps himself emotionally detached from people, probably because he finds complicated emotions such as 'love' and 'devotion' a bit too scary. Indeed, Hayashi is afraid of romantic commitment, and every fling he has enjoyed thus far has been nothing more than an anonymous one-night affair. Despite his detached demeanor, Hayashi is friendly enough and has a kind, if cautious, heart and a healthy sense of humour. He is laid-back practically to the point of laziness (especially when he is not training), and has taken punctuality to a new low. He can be dangerously overconfident and arrogant, thinking little of other people's deadlines and obligations, although the few friends he might make will bring out the best in him. When it is time to be professional, he is all business and deadly resolve.
Appearance: He would cut an imposing figure if it weren't for his tendency to slouch. Hayashi's slender frame is well-toned, sculpted for speed and agility.. His skin is pale and resistant to most tans (but not so much sunburns); his hooded, often tired-looking eyes are dark grey-green, almost black. As for hair, he has a rather copious amount of the stuff, and rarely bothers attempting to calm it's unruly nature. It is mostly silver, as it has been since he was a boy, save for a scattered few streaks of reddish brown. The lower half of his face is usually hidden by strips of white cloth that continue down his neck and are tied off at the collar bone. A thin cord of raised, off-coloured flesh meanders from the hairline above his right ear, accentuating his cheek and finally disappearing beneath his mask.
His daily apparel consists of a pair of loose black pants, the calves beneath and ankles wrapped for support, and battered albeit highly flexible woven zôri and black socks. A simple black turtleneck with a red strip circling the waist and loose sleeves he can easily push up to his elbows remains his shirt of choice. He sports an old, battered flak vest created with utility in mind, as it has several pockets and pouches seen and unseen. Both arms and hands are wrapped in cloth like that surrounding his jaw and calves, often worn with fingerless black gloves sporting narrow strips of mildly protective scratched iron. Most of this boasts a fine layer of orange cat hair.
History:
Matsu Hayashi was born in a village concealed within a forest on the gulf, in a distant land. When his ancestors colonized this minute patch of Althanas countless centuries ago, refugees from an alternate plain of existence, an alliance was soon forged with the closest city, Ophilans, and the group of two hundred or so families were made comfortable in a most familiar livelihood. Ophilans, capital of a small, fairly insignificant country called Ophila somewhere on the far eastern coast of the continent, was home to a wealthy populace and catered largely to a somewhat corrupt government. By increasing their numbers with lured natives, the shinobi of the village hired themselves out to whomsoever should come a-knocking on their door. These transactions were always completed in private, with many of the employers working to conceal their identities. As a rule, questions were never asked, and the village's nin performed flawlessly. Typical jobs included espionage, assisting in illegal trade and, of course, assassination.
The village had no formal name (known simply as 'The Village' by it's inhabitants) and would persistently fail to show up on any map face. Those working there cared not who came to them, as long as they were paid for their efforts. The land they lived off was barren, the drought-stricken countryside stripped of it's resources, and while it had been debated early-on on as to whether or not a move to more fertile ground would be appropriate, the majority decided to remain where it was a sure bet they would recieve work. Soon, everyone in Ophila knew who to ask when there were certain things that needed getting done in a swift, silent, and timely manner.
Hayashi, like generations before him, was born on Althanas. His father was a stranger, KIA a month before his birth, but the stories his mother told him about the man were enough to satisfy any curiosities. It was not uncommon for children in the Village to lose one or even both parents before their 18th birthdays, and it was considered normal for friends and neighbors of the deceased parties to be seen raising unrelated offspring. Their way of life was dangerous; there was no room for pity, only compassion. Hayashi's mother, Lara, was a retired shinobi who could no longer work thanks to an old injury. He enjoyed a loving and relatively tame youth with his mother and uncle, and started training at the customary age of four.
Hayashi grew to be a sharp and talented student, and graduated the training program three years early at the age of fifteen. He was good at many things, but truly exceptional at nothing. This was a constant source of frustration for the young man and he drove himself to exhaustion in his strive for improvement. Perhaps it was this fierce determination that eventually granted Hayashi's dream, making him one of the more sought-after powers in the Village.
The shinobi descendents of the first colonists were predisposed at birth for an 'animal totem'. For the rest of their lives this totem animal would appear consistently as a guide, sometimes manifesting itself in any attacks the individual would learn. The affected nin could even talk to the species of their totem, and shared a special affinity with them. Totems were hardly unique, and there could be several people having the same totem at once. Hayashi's totem animal was the domesticated cat, and one of the first techniques he learned was the summoning of the Fire Cat Tsuku, who was followed in turn by Water, Wind, and Earth. He was renowned for his ability to control them in battle above any other skill he possessed.
Around his twenty-eighth year, Hayashi took on a student with the same totem -- pupils were almost always paired with mentors of similar totems in the later part of their training, in order to reap the benefits fully understanding their totem could bring -- named Kalae. He was a strict teacher, and Kalae blosomed under his tutelidge. She was bright, with skills that had the potential of surpassing even his own in time. Kalae unfortunately was a hot-headed youth, and while on a joint mission with her sensei she acted rashly and was mortally wounded. In his attempt to rescue her from the hands of the mercenary gang they had set out to follow, Hayashi let his concern cloud his senses and was hit with a blast of enermy magick that stripped him to his very core. The same blast finished off Kalae.
Thinking him to be dead, the mercenaries left, abandoning the two nin. He was found by Lotus, an ancient hermit who lived on the outskirts of the Village. She was rumoured to be the last surviving Ancestor.
Lotus revived Hayashi to the best of her ability, but he was weakened beyond what any magick could repair. Everything he had worked so hard for was gone. Unimaginable hours of painful training, and in the blink of an eye he was weaker than the Village's youngest and most inexperienced children, unable to do so much as throw a shuriken without hurting himself. "You're lucky you ain't dead," reminded Lotus, but to the depressed ex-shinobi death would have been preferable to this hell. After a few weeks of regaining what was left of his strength, he returned to the Village and was immediately scorned for his ineptitude. Lotus had brought Kalae's body home the night she found teacher and student sprawled side-by-side in the clearing, and had simultaneously informed them of what had happened, having witnessed the final scenes.
"You should have protected her! She was your goddamned student!"
"Done in by mere second-rate mercenaries, for the love of..."
"You should be ashamed."
Hayashi was exiled, and he left the Village, vowing silently to himself to regain his power, no matter the stakes. On the way out of town, he was met by Lotus, who gave him an orange-painted statue of a cat sitting with it's tail curled neatly around it's paws. "To help you on your journey," was all she said before dissolving in a cloud of white smoke. The exile briefly studied the statue before pocketing it and continuing onward.
Three years later, he arrived in Scara Brae.
Skills:
Taijutsu; basic unarmed combat - (slightly above average ability). When paired with an opponent of the same level, Hayashi can hold his own with some difficulty. Anyone stronger, however, and he resorts to sloppy defensive and evasive maneuvers in a hope to wear them down over time until he can get a punch in (unlikely). Hayashi trains obsessively in taijutsu and will almost always accept an invitation to fight in order to strengthen himself, with little heed given to the source of said invitation.
Shinobi-iri; stealth - (average ability). Hayashi is able to sneak up on normal people who are not paying attention when there is adequate cover and enter buildings and the like with little sound.
Basic sword tatics; as it pertains to his balisongs and tantô - (below average ability). He can be extremely clumsy in the use of these blades and prefers to only use them during training or whilst in combat with another of similar ability. If he has to, he will use the tantô to stab and slash in close-range, but is limited in what he can do with it.
Basic medicinal knowledge - (average ability). Since the draining of his power, Hayashi finds himself on the receiving end of pain quite often and has had to learn how to treat his own injuries. Small wounds such as sprains, cuts, burns and the like can be treated with what he carries in the first-aid kit, but anything more and he is usually seeking out a healer.
Felid Elementus - (innate ability, not really a fighting skill). Basically put, Hayashi can summon an elemental being that resembles an average-sized housecat. The single element he is currently capable of using is Fire. The element must be present in order for the summoning to take place. For instance - a campfire would do the trick nicely. The summoning includes a sacrifice of a few drops of his blood upon one of the four small, smooth Elemental Stones he carries in a pouch at his side, and a murmured mantra. The Fire Cat, Tsuku, can scorch an enemy if allowed to get too close. In the future, he will be able to summon the other three cats (Hitasu, Kaze, and Tsuchi), and they will become weapons, but for now his single Elementus is pretty useless unless he is using it for hunting, lighting, or heating purposes. He can only summon it thrice a day, for a length of ten minutes at most with an hour interval in between. It will disappear into it's Elemental Stone when weakened, when the time limit has arrived, or when it is asked to do so. Summoning Tsuku leaves him feeling ill, and it doesn't always listen to his commands and can be rather unreliable in battle.
Tsuku's body is made of self-contained flames, with eyes that glow molten white and whiskers of smoke. Tsuku's flames do not burn unless it has been commanded to do so, although it does radiate a moderate amount of heat. It's Elemental Stone is faded orange with a white marking for 'Fire' inscribed on the center. If rained on or showered in soil, Tsuku will dissolve into ash.
Special abilities: Tsuku can walk through flames unharmed.
Equipment:
The following items are stored within his tan cloth backpack.
- One black travelling cloak for rough weather (also doubles as a pillow).
- One blue sleeping bag.
- A water-tight first-aid kit containing a roll of sterile dressings, a handful of various-sized bandages, two small containers of herbal salves, two packets of medicinal tea, tweezers, a roll of suturing thread, a small bottle of antiseptic, and another small bottle half-filled with oral capsules for reducing fever and pain. (He will not sell the items.)
- One depleted baggy of cat treats (four flavours -- chicken, beef, salmon, and ocean whitefish).
- Two extra pairs of socks and boxers.
- A needle and spool of white thread for repairs made to clothing.
- One bar of soap.
- One small cast-iron kettle and cup, and a pair of wooden chopsticks.
- One small hide flask.
- Three or four small packets of dried rations.
- One comb.
- One sudoku book.
Weapons (these are stored on his person):
- Two cheap dueling balisongs, with blades made of soft, blunt iron.
- One tantô forged in hira-zukuri. The steel blade is 30 cm long and very thin. The hilt is bound in red-dyed cloth imprinted with four faded white diamond designs. It generally hangs from his belt in a plain black scabbard when he's not using it.
Familiars: A hairy, three thousand year-old marmalade cat with golden eyes called Mika, who stands six feet at the shoulder. Mika allows Hayashi to ride on her back with no need of a saddle or any other sort of demeaning contraption. They can communicate telepathically, although Mika is capable of speaking with her mouth and has a great capacity for learning languages. She resides in a painted stone cat statue with her likeness that is about two inches tall, kept in her human companion's pocket. Mika is pretty good about emerging when summoned, with only a drop of Hayashi's blood required for the task. However she is quite independent and occasionally ignores him. She can run as fast a horse and has a cat's agility, but this is nothing exceptional when Hayashi is riding her, as his weight hinders her movements. The two are still learning how to cooperate together, and for the time being Mika does not partake in voluntary battles, thinking humanoid scuffles to be below her. She will, however, rush to aid her companion if he desperately needs it, but this is only if she has already been summoned and is made aware of his predicament.
She wears no armor and is extremely vulnerable to attack. She may be immortal, but she can still die from injury and infection. There is no limit on how long Mika can remain outside her statue, however she must return to it in order to properly rest and recover her energy, which is quickly spent.
Age: 31
Race: Human.
Hair Color: Mostly silver.
Eye Color: Dark grey-green.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 171 lbs.
Personality: Generally composed and aloof, with a nonchalance that will border on silliness. He keeps himself emotionally detached from people, probably because he finds complicated emotions such as 'love' and 'devotion' a bit too scary. Indeed, Hayashi is afraid of romantic commitment, and every fling he has enjoyed thus far has been nothing more than an anonymous one-night affair. Despite his detached demeanor, Hayashi is friendly enough and has a kind, if cautious, heart and a healthy sense of humour. He is laid-back practically to the point of laziness (especially when he is not training), and has taken punctuality to a new low. He can be dangerously overconfident and arrogant, thinking little of other people's deadlines and obligations, although the few friends he might make will bring out the best in him. When it is time to be professional, he is all business and deadly resolve.
Appearance: He would cut an imposing figure if it weren't for his tendency to slouch. Hayashi's slender frame is well-toned, sculpted for speed and agility.. His skin is pale and resistant to most tans (but not so much sunburns); his hooded, often tired-looking eyes are dark grey-green, almost black. As for hair, he has a rather copious amount of the stuff, and rarely bothers attempting to calm it's unruly nature. It is mostly silver, as it has been since he was a boy, save for a scattered few streaks of reddish brown. The lower half of his face is usually hidden by strips of white cloth that continue down his neck and are tied off at the collar bone. A thin cord of raised, off-coloured flesh meanders from the hairline above his right ear, accentuating his cheek and finally disappearing beneath his mask.
His daily apparel consists of a pair of loose black pants, the calves beneath and ankles wrapped for support, and battered albeit highly flexible woven zôri and black socks. A simple black turtleneck with a red strip circling the waist and loose sleeves he can easily push up to his elbows remains his shirt of choice. He sports an old, battered flak vest created with utility in mind, as it has several pockets and pouches seen and unseen. Both arms and hands are wrapped in cloth like that surrounding his jaw and calves, often worn with fingerless black gloves sporting narrow strips of mildly protective scratched iron. Most of this boasts a fine layer of orange cat hair.
History:
Matsu Hayashi was born in a village concealed within a forest on the gulf, in a distant land. When his ancestors colonized this minute patch of Althanas countless centuries ago, refugees from an alternate plain of existence, an alliance was soon forged with the closest city, Ophilans, and the group of two hundred or so families were made comfortable in a most familiar livelihood. Ophilans, capital of a small, fairly insignificant country called Ophila somewhere on the far eastern coast of the continent, was home to a wealthy populace and catered largely to a somewhat corrupt government. By increasing their numbers with lured natives, the shinobi of the village hired themselves out to whomsoever should come a-knocking on their door. These transactions were always completed in private, with many of the employers working to conceal their identities. As a rule, questions were never asked, and the village's nin performed flawlessly. Typical jobs included espionage, assisting in illegal trade and, of course, assassination.
The village had no formal name (known simply as 'The Village' by it's inhabitants) and would persistently fail to show up on any map face. Those working there cared not who came to them, as long as they were paid for their efforts. The land they lived off was barren, the drought-stricken countryside stripped of it's resources, and while it had been debated early-on on as to whether or not a move to more fertile ground would be appropriate, the majority decided to remain where it was a sure bet they would recieve work. Soon, everyone in Ophila knew who to ask when there were certain things that needed getting done in a swift, silent, and timely manner.
Hayashi, like generations before him, was born on Althanas. His father was a stranger, KIA a month before his birth, but the stories his mother told him about the man were enough to satisfy any curiosities. It was not uncommon for children in the Village to lose one or even both parents before their 18th birthdays, and it was considered normal for friends and neighbors of the deceased parties to be seen raising unrelated offspring. Their way of life was dangerous; there was no room for pity, only compassion. Hayashi's mother, Lara, was a retired shinobi who could no longer work thanks to an old injury. He enjoyed a loving and relatively tame youth with his mother and uncle, and started training at the customary age of four.
Hayashi grew to be a sharp and talented student, and graduated the training program three years early at the age of fifteen. He was good at many things, but truly exceptional at nothing. This was a constant source of frustration for the young man and he drove himself to exhaustion in his strive for improvement. Perhaps it was this fierce determination that eventually granted Hayashi's dream, making him one of the more sought-after powers in the Village.
The shinobi descendents of the first colonists were predisposed at birth for an 'animal totem'. For the rest of their lives this totem animal would appear consistently as a guide, sometimes manifesting itself in any attacks the individual would learn. The affected nin could even talk to the species of their totem, and shared a special affinity with them. Totems were hardly unique, and there could be several people having the same totem at once. Hayashi's totem animal was the domesticated cat, and one of the first techniques he learned was the summoning of the Fire Cat Tsuku, who was followed in turn by Water, Wind, and Earth. He was renowned for his ability to control them in battle above any other skill he possessed.
Around his twenty-eighth year, Hayashi took on a student with the same totem -- pupils were almost always paired with mentors of similar totems in the later part of their training, in order to reap the benefits fully understanding their totem could bring -- named Kalae. He was a strict teacher, and Kalae blosomed under his tutelidge. She was bright, with skills that had the potential of surpassing even his own in time. Kalae unfortunately was a hot-headed youth, and while on a joint mission with her sensei she acted rashly and was mortally wounded. In his attempt to rescue her from the hands of the mercenary gang they had set out to follow, Hayashi let his concern cloud his senses and was hit with a blast of enermy magick that stripped him to his very core. The same blast finished off Kalae.
Thinking him to be dead, the mercenaries left, abandoning the two nin. He was found by Lotus, an ancient hermit who lived on the outskirts of the Village. She was rumoured to be the last surviving Ancestor.
Lotus revived Hayashi to the best of her ability, but he was weakened beyond what any magick could repair. Everything he had worked so hard for was gone. Unimaginable hours of painful training, and in the blink of an eye he was weaker than the Village's youngest and most inexperienced children, unable to do so much as throw a shuriken without hurting himself. "You're lucky you ain't dead," reminded Lotus, but to the depressed ex-shinobi death would have been preferable to this hell. After a few weeks of regaining what was left of his strength, he returned to the Village and was immediately scorned for his ineptitude. Lotus had brought Kalae's body home the night she found teacher and student sprawled side-by-side in the clearing, and had simultaneously informed them of what had happened, having witnessed the final scenes.
"You should have protected her! She was your goddamned student!"
"Done in by mere second-rate mercenaries, for the love of..."
"You should be ashamed."
Hayashi was exiled, and he left the Village, vowing silently to himself to regain his power, no matter the stakes. On the way out of town, he was met by Lotus, who gave him an orange-painted statue of a cat sitting with it's tail curled neatly around it's paws. "To help you on your journey," was all she said before dissolving in a cloud of white smoke. The exile briefly studied the statue before pocketing it and continuing onward.
Three years later, he arrived in Scara Brae.
Skills:
Taijutsu; basic unarmed combat - (slightly above average ability). When paired with an opponent of the same level, Hayashi can hold his own with some difficulty. Anyone stronger, however, and he resorts to sloppy defensive and evasive maneuvers in a hope to wear them down over time until he can get a punch in (unlikely). Hayashi trains obsessively in taijutsu and will almost always accept an invitation to fight in order to strengthen himself, with little heed given to the source of said invitation.
Shinobi-iri; stealth - (average ability). Hayashi is able to sneak up on normal people who are not paying attention when there is adequate cover and enter buildings and the like with little sound.
Basic sword tatics; as it pertains to his balisongs and tantô - (below average ability). He can be extremely clumsy in the use of these blades and prefers to only use them during training or whilst in combat with another of similar ability. If he has to, he will use the tantô to stab and slash in close-range, but is limited in what he can do with it.
Basic medicinal knowledge - (average ability). Since the draining of his power, Hayashi finds himself on the receiving end of pain quite often and has had to learn how to treat his own injuries. Small wounds such as sprains, cuts, burns and the like can be treated with what he carries in the first-aid kit, but anything more and he is usually seeking out a healer.
Felid Elementus - (innate ability, not really a fighting skill). Basically put, Hayashi can summon an elemental being that resembles an average-sized housecat. The single element he is currently capable of using is Fire. The element must be present in order for the summoning to take place. For instance - a campfire would do the trick nicely. The summoning includes a sacrifice of a few drops of his blood upon one of the four small, smooth Elemental Stones he carries in a pouch at his side, and a murmured mantra. The Fire Cat, Tsuku, can scorch an enemy if allowed to get too close. In the future, he will be able to summon the other three cats (Hitasu, Kaze, and Tsuchi), and they will become weapons, but for now his single Elementus is pretty useless unless he is using it for hunting, lighting, or heating purposes. He can only summon it thrice a day, for a length of ten minutes at most with an hour interval in between. It will disappear into it's Elemental Stone when weakened, when the time limit has arrived, or when it is asked to do so. Summoning Tsuku leaves him feeling ill, and it doesn't always listen to his commands and can be rather unreliable in battle.
Tsuku's body is made of self-contained flames, with eyes that glow molten white and whiskers of smoke. Tsuku's flames do not burn unless it has been commanded to do so, although it does radiate a moderate amount of heat. It's Elemental Stone is faded orange with a white marking for 'Fire' inscribed on the center. If rained on or showered in soil, Tsuku will dissolve into ash.
Special abilities: Tsuku can walk through flames unharmed.
Equipment:
The following items are stored within his tan cloth backpack.
- One black travelling cloak for rough weather (also doubles as a pillow).
- One blue sleeping bag.
- A water-tight first-aid kit containing a roll of sterile dressings, a handful of various-sized bandages, two small containers of herbal salves, two packets of medicinal tea, tweezers, a roll of suturing thread, a small bottle of antiseptic, and another small bottle half-filled with oral capsules for reducing fever and pain. (He will not sell the items.)
- One depleted baggy of cat treats (four flavours -- chicken, beef, salmon, and ocean whitefish).
- Two extra pairs of socks and boxers.
- A needle and spool of white thread for repairs made to clothing.
- One bar of soap.
- One small cast-iron kettle and cup, and a pair of wooden chopsticks.
- One small hide flask.
- Three or four small packets of dried rations.
- One comb.
- One sudoku book.
Weapons (these are stored on his person):
- Two cheap dueling balisongs, with blades made of soft, blunt iron.
- One tantô forged in hira-zukuri. The steel blade is 30 cm long and very thin. The hilt is bound in red-dyed cloth imprinted with four faded white diamond designs. It generally hangs from his belt in a plain black scabbard when he's not using it.
Familiars: A hairy, three thousand year-old marmalade cat with golden eyes called Mika, who stands six feet at the shoulder. Mika allows Hayashi to ride on her back with no need of a saddle or any other sort of demeaning contraption. They can communicate telepathically, although Mika is capable of speaking with her mouth and has a great capacity for learning languages. She resides in a painted stone cat statue with her likeness that is about two inches tall, kept in her human companion's pocket. Mika is pretty good about emerging when summoned, with only a drop of Hayashi's blood required for the task. However she is quite independent and occasionally ignores him. She can run as fast a horse and has a cat's agility, but this is nothing exceptional when Hayashi is riding her, as his weight hinders her movements. The two are still learning how to cooperate together, and for the time being Mika does not partake in voluntary battles, thinking humanoid scuffles to be below her. She will, however, rush to aid her companion if he desperately needs it, but this is only if she has already been summoned and is made aware of his predicament.
She wears no armor and is extremely vulnerable to attack. She may be immortal, but she can still die from injury and infection. There is no limit on how long Mika can remain outside her statue, however she must return to it in order to properly rest and recover her energy, which is quickly spent.