Adara's FFXIV Characters

Birth Name: None given

Race: Kitsune (currently the form of a midlander hyur)

Tribe: Vulpine Auspice (it is noted in Encyclopedia Eorzea II that foxes are the most common auspice, and seem to develop into the "title" at the age of 100 rather than 1000)

Gender: Female, potentially gender fluid as her shape shifting develops

Age: Upwards of 100, though she isn't certain of the actual number. Her appearance would suggest she's somewhere between 19-22, and her maturity would match that.

Name Day: As with her age, she doesn't remember her nameday, but has always considered it to be sometime in late Winter. (32nd Sun of the 1st Umbral Moon, 1467)

Orientation: Pansexual

Height: 5'2"/min height/157cm

Marital Status: Single

Nationality: Technically Doman

Current Residence: Shirogane

Occupation: Being a fox

Class/Job: Proficient in Ninjutsu and katana use

Likes: Savory foods, meat, doing and learning about "human" things

Dislikes: dogs, overly sour things, early mornings

Favorites: Fried tofu, pork buns

Hobbies: sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, making mischief

Motivation: To honor the memory of a cherished person

Outlook: Somewhat naïve

Disposition: Cheerful

Positive Personality Traits: Friendly, loyal, cheerful, curious

Negative Personality Traits: Chatty, curious, mischievous

Any standout quirks or behaviors? Has only been pretending to be a human for a few years, so has many strange quirks. She sniffs things often, and doesn't seem aware that she isn't hiding how good her nose is.

Rumors: Uncommon: Is it just a trick of the eye that her pupils sometimes seem to slit in direct sunlight? Rare: She got really tipsy once and her tail was out for nearly ten minutes.

Born to a three tailed mother and a single tailed father, the kitsune who would later take on the name "Fubuki" was born in a bamboo forest atop a hill. For as long as she could recall, there always lived a family of humans at the base of the hill who would cut the bamboo for crafting. They maintained a small shrine for her mother, and coexisted peacefully. The humans of import to this fox's biography would be Fujio and Fubuki Kitagawa. A grandfather carrying on his family's business and his granddaughter, left to him when his Son and Daughter-in-law passed during the initial invasion of Doma.

Before the arrival of Fubuki, the fox never cared much for human affairs. She was content to hunt and play and pester her family day in and day out. She only payed them any mind when Fujio would bring offerings to her mother's shrine (which of course were scarfed down as soon as the coast was clear) or to watch from a distance when he would come to gather bamboo.

However, this changed during the Garlean invasion. Like Fubuki's mother and father, the fox's mother went to defend her homeland as well. She fell in battle as well, leaving the young fox to mourn with her father.

Fubuki herself was just a baby when she was given to her grandfather's care, and thus became a common sight when Fujio would make his daily trips to the forest. The fox's curiosity was piqued by the small creature, and from then on she became increasingly interested in humans and their affairs.

As she grew older, Fubuki grew used to the sight of a white fox lingering around their home or following her to the nearby village at a distance. The fox never approached, seeming to enjoy watching her at everything from daily chores to secret weapons training with young rebels as she reached her teenage years.

For her part, the fox begged her father to train her in the ways of shapeshifting. It was his greatest skill, and she often would spy him wandering in an assumed form in the nearby village, looking for a book to read or to mingle with the locals. As she was still young, it took years before she was finally able to assume a human form (and after a time that she forgot the placement of human ears that her father described as "utterly horrifying"). Unlike her father (or her mother before her passing), the fox was unable to assume a form of her own design, settling instead for that of the girl she had admired for so long, albeit with eyes the hue of her own. Overjoyed at having perfected it after so much time and effort, she would often make trips of her own to the village, buying foods with magicked currency (read: an illusion cast over several twigs and a half-eaten bug) and taking in the feel of a busy market. If there was occasional confusion, ("Didn't I just see you this morning?" "You seem much more upbeat than usual, did something good happen today?" or an overlong glance toward her face "Something seems different about you today...") it never deterred the fox, and the actual Fubuki seemed none-the-wiser.

Of course in an occupied country there can never be only fun and happy days. The rebels grew impatient and set a plan of attack in motion. Fubuki would be a member of a team to infiltrate the normally-lightly guarded landbase for Castrum Fluminis to send a message that Doma was still a proud nation. Blinded by her need to avenge her parents, and her anger at what seemed to be inaction on the parts of the larger rebellion, she wouldn't listen to her grandfather's pleas to stay away from the fighting. After overhearing an argument between the two, the fox grew worried as well. She confided in her father, who promised to follow Fubuki and keep her safe.

The night of the operation came and went with no news, and no return from either of them. A week stretched into two, and it became clear that it had not only failed, but had been so utterly crushed that news of the attempt hadn't spread. When the fox finally found the courage to wander toward the landbase, she found only the lingering scent of human blood and a discarded black fox corpse riddled with holes. Heartbroken, she fled back to the forest.

It was Fujio who later found her, curled next to her mother's shrine where she had been for days. He brought with him the first offerings since that night, it was obvious he too had been mourning. Normally he would leave the food, offer a prayer and then go about his business but he sat and spoke, sometimes to the fox and sometimes to no one in particular. He spoke of the joy his family had brought him, and of the dreams he had for them. Before he left, he gently pat the fox's head before reminding her with a smile that meat buns taste best when still warm.

His words had moved her, and after a night of contemplation (and perhaps just a bit of crying into pork buns) the fox had made up her mind. She assumed the girl's form and made her way to the old man's home, claiming to be Fubuki and apologizing for making him worry. The old man at first seemed shocked, then seemed to consider her for a moment. Finally, he embraced her tightly and welcomed her home.

They lived together for years after, finding comfort in each other's company as the fox did her best to recreate the girl she had watched for so long. Eventually Fujio's age began to catch up with him, and he found himself bedridden under "Fubuki"'s care. He called to her before she went to bed one night, and took her hand in between his own. He spoke to her of life, and finding happiness. Finally, he looked her in the eyes with a smile and thanked her. Not as his granddaughter, but as the young fox who had done her best to fill his final years with joy. Despite her best efforts, she hadn't fooled him for a moment but he had still treated her as cherished family. He told her not to mourn him because he would be seeing his family again soon, and that she should go and live a long and happy life so she could meet hers at the end with no regrets. She promised him she would, and stayed with him until he passed in his sleep.