Name: Mizushima Riku 水島陸
Age: 8
Gender: female
Village: Kiri
Rank: Academy Student, E class
Title: Witch (Majo)
Clan: Hozuki
Bloodline: Hydrification Technique
Element(s):
Skill(s):
Stats 1050 total, 0 earned, 0 unspent
Unique Abilities:
Appearance: Riku is a bit short for her age, standing at 3’9” (115.2 cm). She has a thin build, mostly due to being a young girl, but she is deceptively strong. Riku has a heart shaped face framed by chin-length, blue hair that makes the girl stand out. Her facial features are softened by a bit of baby fat, giving Riku a cutesy look. Despite her best efforts to look serious, Riku’s young face and large brown eyes often make adults and teens underestimate her.
Riku typically wears dresses and leggings, often in bright colors because they remind her of poisonous plants and animals. Her hair is kept out of the way with headbands, or by tying it back in a short ponytail. Riku favors close-toed boots and either long sleeves or arm sleeves. Occasionally, the girl will use senbon to pin up her hair.
History: Riku’s mother was born of a minor clan that was subsumed as the Hozuki clan took control over the territory that would become Kiri. The violence was brutal, but marriages with people loosely related to the Hozuki clan preserved them and helped the Mizushima establish their place within Kiri as a sort of vassal to the Hozuki. Not much distinguishes the Mizushima from other small families except that occasionally children will inherit the Hozuki's famed Hydrification Technique.
Taji, Riku’s mother, married a man whose father had been a Hozuki as a part of her clan’s survival strategy. Riku was born to Lee and Taji just 10 years after the formation of Kiri. Her birth solidified the tenuous political connections between the Hozuki and Mizushima. Two years later, Taji would give birth to another girl, Tsugi.
Taji and Lee began to train Riku and Tsugi as soon as the girls were able to move. The lessons were somewhat subtle at first: games to help develop skills like hand-eye coordination and balance, hide and seek, and observing local plants and animals. Once Riku learned to read and write, her training intensified and less of it was disguised as games.
Riku entered the Academy shortly after, at age 5. Small, yet colorful, Riku attracted the attention of Ryuutei Satori. The taller boy took the short girl under his wing quickly and the two became fast friends. Despite Satori’s friendship, making friends with others her age proved to be difficult and Riku’s small size often was taken as a sign that she would be easy to bully. The blue haired girl began to fight back indirectly by orchestrating unfortunate events against those who crossed her. The girls who called her names would get a rash the next day, the boys who pushed her down mysteriously failed tests, and so on. Riku even began to poison herself in order to build up a tolerance so that she could lace her own bento to get back at other kids that would steal her food. This pattern of misfortune that followed anyone who annoyed Riku did not go unnoticed, earning her the nickname “Witch”. The kids could not explain how Riku caused their misfortunes, but they knew she was responsible.
Personality:Riku is an inquisitive person and often spends time watching her surroundings, taking note of the people, sounds, plants, etc. in a given area. Occasionally, she misses social cues or zones out of conversations because of something interesting on her mind. Riku is also very goal-oriented and a hard worker. She dislikes people who don’t take her seriously and has no compunctions about seeking petty revenge against her peers.
As well as being in her own little world much of the time, Riku is also relatively quiet around people who aren’t in her inner circle. Bullying from her peers has made Riku suspicious of other people.
Being small and young drives Riku to prove herself by improving her skills and showing other people up when given the opportunity. Although some of Riku’s more petty behaviors have been curbed by her time in the Academy, she still occasionally lashes out.
Riku likes to make poisons and keeps a hand-written field guide of flora and fauna and their uses. She takes detailed notes and carries out small experiments to enhance her knowledge. The blue haired girl also keeps coded notes about her peers complete with as much information about them as she can gather such as height, approximate weight, strengths, weaknesses, and allergies. Such information often aids Riku’s pursuit of petty revenge.
Riku is fiercely protective of the few people she is close to and will also use her skills at sabotage to discourage others from bothering them.
Roleplay Sample: Riku typically left home to walk to the Academy about half an hour before she really needed to. The extra time allowed her to make detours around the path in search of new plants and animals. A sleepy yawn forced its way past her lips, but the eight-year-old ignored the urge to go back to bed. Eyes still half-open, lids drooping every so often, the girl left her house quietly. She had a brown satchel slung over one shoulder that clinked as it bumped against her hip, jostling the small jars inside.
The humid air dampened Riku’s clothes, making them stick to her skin a little bit. She shivered a bit, but ignored the discomfort, gaze sweeping back and forth. The blue haired child made her way to a puddle she’d taken note of in her field-guide yesterday. Riku knelt by the bank and set her bag down. She rolled up the sleeves of the red shirt she wore and pulled on a pair of gloves. Carefully, the child opened one of the glass jars from her bag and crouched beside the puddle.
Her brows knit and a slight layer of sweat slicked her forehead. Eyes narrowed, Riku scanned the water for any sign of motion.
There!
Quick as lightning, Riku used the jar to scoop up a small frog from the puddle, shoving the lid on and screwing it shut. Pleased with herself, the child stowed the jar in her satchel and moved on. The next location was near a marsh she regularly walked past on her way to school. Riku hummed softly to herself as she knelt and peered between the tall grass for shorter plants that grew in the area. Gently plucking a few samples, the blue haired girl stowed those away in jars as well. Her eyes flickered skyward. With a frown, Riku realized that class would be starting soon.
She stripped the gloves from her hands and stuffed them in another jar to wash at home. After the purple frog incident, Riku stopped picking up unidentified plants and animals with her bare hands. Arms chilled from exposure to the cool morning air, the girl rolled down her sleeves and hurried toward the Academy.
She arrived with about ten minutes to spare. Smiling to herself, the blue haired girl made her way into the classroom to find a seat near the back of the room so she could watch her peers file in. Riku settled into her seat and stuck her hand into her satchel to feel around for the notebook she wanted. Opening to a blank page, Riku also found a pencil. She jotted notes on who arrived in what order, notes on their outfit, and a few words about their interactions.
Suzumi appeared to be particularly irritable today. Riku drew a frowning face with eyebrows slanted angrily next to her notes about Suzumi. Her writing paused and the quiet girl continued to observe her classmates in hopes of gathering clues about what could have piqued Suzumi. Her best friend, Satori walked into the classroom and took his customary seat beside her.
The others knew better than to take his spot at her side. Smiling at the memory of what her friend had done to the last kid who tried, Riku tilted her head back to meet Satori’s eyes and greet him.
Their instructor arrived maybe thirty seconds before class was to start as usual and began taking attendance. Biting back a sigh, Riku drew a few flowers in her notebooks to ease her restlessness. That frog wasn’t going to dissect itself. Waiting all day to take her prized catch home would be a drag, but the results would be worth it.
Age: 8
Gender: female
Village: Kiri
Rank: Academy Student, E class
Title: Witch (Majo)
Clan: Hozuki
Bloodline: Hydrification Technique
Element(s):
- Water
Skill(s):
- Chemistry
Stats 1050 total, 0 earned, 0 unspent
- Strength: D
- Constitution: D
- Stamina: D
- Speed: D
- Coordination: D
- Intelligence: D
- Perception: D
Unique Abilities:
Appearance: Riku is a bit short for her age, standing at 3’9” (115.2 cm). She has a thin build, mostly due to being a young girl, but she is deceptively strong. Riku has a heart shaped face framed by chin-length, blue hair that makes the girl stand out. Her facial features are softened by a bit of baby fat, giving Riku a cutesy look. Despite her best efforts to look serious, Riku’s young face and large brown eyes often make adults and teens underestimate her.
Riku typically wears dresses and leggings, often in bright colors because they remind her of poisonous plants and animals. Her hair is kept out of the way with headbands, or by tying it back in a short ponytail. Riku favors close-toed boots and either long sleeves or arm sleeves. Occasionally, the girl will use senbon to pin up her hair.
History: Riku’s mother was born of a minor clan that was subsumed as the Hozuki clan took control over the territory that would become Kiri. The violence was brutal, but marriages with people loosely related to the Hozuki clan preserved them and helped the Mizushima establish their place within Kiri as a sort of vassal to the Hozuki. Not much distinguishes the Mizushima from other small families except that occasionally children will inherit the Hozuki's famed Hydrification Technique.
Taji, Riku’s mother, married a man whose father had been a Hozuki as a part of her clan’s survival strategy. Riku was born to Lee and Taji just 10 years after the formation of Kiri. Her birth solidified the tenuous political connections between the Hozuki and Mizushima. Two years later, Taji would give birth to another girl, Tsugi.
Taji and Lee began to train Riku and Tsugi as soon as the girls were able to move. The lessons were somewhat subtle at first: games to help develop skills like hand-eye coordination and balance, hide and seek, and observing local plants and animals. Once Riku learned to read and write, her training intensified and less of it was disguised as games.
Riku entered the Academy shortly after, at age 5. Small, yet colorful, Riku attracted the attention of Ryuutei Satori. The taller boy took the short girl under his wing quickly and the two became fast friends. Despite Satori’s friendship, making friends with others her age proved to be difficult and Riku’s small size often was taken as a sign that she would be easy to bully. The blue haired girl began to fight back indirectly by orchestrating unfortunate events against those who crossed her. The girls who called her names would get a rash the next day, the boys who pushed her down mysteriously failed tests, and so on. Riku even began to poison herself in order to build up a tolerance so that she could lace her own bento to get back at other kids that would steal her food. This pattern of misfortune that followed anyone who annoyed Riku did not go unnoticed, earning her the nickname “Witch”. The kids could not explain how Riku caused their misfortunes, but they knew she was responsible.
Personality:Riku is an inquisitive person and often spends time watching her surroundings, taking note of the people, sounds, plants, etc. in a given area. Occasionally, she misses social cues or zones out of conversations because of something interesting on her mind. Riku is also very goal-oriented and a hard worker. She dislikes people who don’t take her seriously and has no compunctions about seeking petty revenge against her peers.
As well as being in her own little world much of the time, Riku is also relatively quiet around people who aren’t in her inner circle. Bullying from her peers has made Riku suspicious of other people.
Being small and young drives Riku to prove herself by improving her skills and showing other people up when given the opportunity. Although some of Riku’s more petty behaviors have been curbed by her time in the Academy, she still occasionally lashes out.
Riku likes to make poisons and keeps a hand-written field guide of flora and fauna and their uses. She takes detailed notes and carries out small experiments to enhance her knowledge. The blue haired girl also keeps coded notes about her peers complete with as much information about them as she can gather such as height, approximate weight, strengths, weaknesses, and allergies. Such information often aids Riku’s pursuit of petty revenge.
Riku is fiercely protective of the few people she is close to and will also use her skills at sabotage to discourage others from bothering them.
Roleplay Sample: Riku typically left home to walk to the Academy about half an hour before she really needed to. The extra time allowed her to make detours around the path in search of new plants and animals. A sleepy yawn forced its way past her lips, but the eight-year-old ignored the urge to go back to bed. Eyes still half-open, lids drooping every so often, the girl left her house quietly. She had a brown satchel slung over one shoulder that clinked as it bumped against her hip, jostling the small jars inside.
The humid air dampened Riku’s clothes, making them stick to her skin a little bit. She shivered a bit, but ignored the discomfort, gaze sweeping back and forth. The blue haired child made her way to a puddle she’d taken note of in her field-guide yesterday. Riku knelt by the bank and set her bag down. She rolled up the sleeves of the red shirt she wore and pulled on a pair of gloves. Carefully, the child opened one of the glass jars from her bag and crouched beside the puddle.
Her brows knit and a slight layer of sweat slicked her forehead. Eyes narrowed, Riku scanned the water for any sign of motion.
There!
Quick as lightning, Riku used the jar to scoop up a small frog from the puddle, shoving the lid on and screwing it shut. Pleased with herself, the child stowed the jar in her satchel and moved on. The next location was near a marsh she regularly walked past on her way to school. Riku hummed softly to herself as she knelt and peered between the tall grass for shorter plants that grew in the area. Gently plucking a few samples, the blue haired girl stowed those away in jars as well. Her eyes flickered skyward. With a frown, Riku realized that class would be starting soon.
She stripped the gloves from her hands and stuffed them in another jar to wash at home. After the purple frog incident, Riku stopped picking up unidentified plants and animals with her bare hands. Arms chilled from exposure to the cool morning air, the girl rolled down her sleeves and hurried toward the Academy.
She arrived with about ten minutes to spare. Smiling to herself, the blue haired girl made her way into the classroom to find a seat near the back of the room so she could watch her peers file in. Riku settled into her seat and stuck her hand into her satchel to feel around for the notebook she wanted. Opening to a blank page, Riku also found a pencil. She jotted notes on who arrived in what order, notes on their outfit, and a few words about their interactions.
Suzumi appeared to be particularly irritable today. Riku drew a frowning face with eyebrows slanted angrily next to her notes about Suzumi. Her writing paused and the quiet girl continued to observe her classmates in hopes of gathering clues about what could have piqued Suzumi. Her best friend, Satori walked into the classroom and took his customary seat beside her.
The others knew better than to take his spot at her side. Smiling at the memory of what her friend had done to the last kid who tried, Riku tilted her head back to meet Satori’s eyes and greet him.
Their instructor arrived maybe thirty seconds before class was to start as usual and began taking attendance. Biting back a sigh, Riku drew a few flowers in her notebooks to ease her restlessness. That frog wasn’t going to dissect itself. Waiting all day to take her prized catch home would be a drag, but the results would be worth it.
