In this dewdrop world, I shall create my own Heaven.

A fragment of a deity with a fragile soul. A heavenly creature with a will of iron. A dedicated wife with a heart of gold.

Personality

Yuukiko wears many faces, and just as many people will claim she is a kind-hearted, benevolent beauty as she is a manipulative, black-hearted witch. Due to the fact that she can appear however she wishes, she can easily adapt to just about any personality type to better fit her perceived role. She can pretend to be anything from a terrifying youkai, a soft-spoken village girl, a dignified scholar, a seductive courtesan, and so on. Only a select few people know what she is truly like and only one man knows all of her personality traits.

At her core, Yuukiko desires to be loved and to love back in return. However, due to her nature as a kitsune, her very blood inclines her to act in a very extreme manner, often at variance with humanity. Her love for Jinshou is so intense that she is fiercely protective of him. While this brings out many positive traits (her understanding nature, her selflessness, her observant and brilliant mind, etc.) it also brings out a few negative ones as well (her jealously, her overprotectiveness, her vindictiveness, and her tendency to wish extreme punishment to be leveled upon those she feels are becoming too familiar or are attempting to seduce her husband).

Before meeting Jinshou, she chiefly sought only to ensure her own survival. She allowed herself to fall in love, only to be betrayed or rejected once she put enough trust in her past lovers to reveal the truth of what she was. Even now, this has caused her to distrust humanity, and by extension, distrust kitsune, for she has found her species to be no less manipulative than these greedy humans were. She does her best to keep an open mind, but these preconceptions make her quite guarded even to this day.

Yuukiko is extremely determined, and settles for no outcome aside from obtaining what she desires. This has worked to both her benefit and her detriment. She excels at reading others and adapting to better to get them to trust her, and maintains a very elegant and refined tone. Yuukiko has little patience for rude or cruel people, but depending on the situation, will either rebuke them immediately or not let on that she finds their behavior offensive until the perfect time to strike presents itself. Extremely passionate, she can talk for hours on end about the things she loves and by extension, loves a good conversation. Although she can be fairly social and makes friends easily, she prefers to keep all but a few very close friends at a healthy distance.

As one might imagine, when Yuukiko falls in love, she is quite dedicated to the man of her affections. Her husband, however, is the only person she had ever truly been in love with beyond amorous infatuation. For his happiness and safety, she is willing to do anything, completely disregarding her own well-being (which he refuses to allow in any situation where he is conscious). Due to this, while Yuukiko is willing to fight to the death for her beloved, for both of their sakes, she is more pragmatic, and is more than willing to flee from danger with him rather than take a stand. Of course, she plots vengeance against such a foe, never forgetting their transgression.

Background

Long ago, a great star fell from the Heavens, its tail a shimmering gold, its light blinding to all who dared to behold it. When it struck the ground, the land itself shuddered as though a malicious force had been lodged within its breast. Onmyouji argued about the nature of this shard of paradise and whether the portents it bore were good or evil. Yet nothing so simple can encompass any living thing, for the twin wills to protect from and to do harm are constantly locked in battle within the spirit. Whatever had come from the star had long moved on before the curious investigated it, though they may have been surprised to see what had been birthed from its core was a simple fox with dull yellow fur. This shape would not be worn for long, however, for the being detested such a beastly form. By observing humanity, she grew to love them, and used her power to appear like them. At first, however, she could do nothing to conceal her tail or ears, but with dedicated practice of her innate magic, she learned to conceal even this reminder of her heritage. The only thing that would ever remind her that she fell from that star were memories buried in darkness, and a strange piece of jade always carried close at hand. After spending a century learning of her powers and watching over humanity more, she could no longer bear to live such a lonely life and strode forth to join the creatures she had come to love so dearly. It was then that she took the name of 'Yuukiko' after overhearing it from other mortals.

She found, however, that humans had a distaste for that which came from outside of their realm or understanding. Many times she had attempted to give her heart to men of every class and learned the complex nuances of rejection, fear, and hatred. Thus, her heart hardened and froze, no longer desiring to do anything but survive by her own means, no matter who she had to manipulate. For centuries more she lived the life of an outsider, able to blend in or adapt to any community, yet never truly belonging to any. Until a fateful day when she and a man literally bumped into one another. Not knowing he was the country's Emperor, she still fell deeply in love with him the moment she looked into his deep, dark eyes. To anyone else, perhaps he would not have seemed like a man worthy of a beauty like Yuukiko. Yuukiko herself, however, had never been more attracted to someone. Perhaps it was the man's soul she saw, able to glimpse past his flesh and bone to see the alluring spirit she had long sought. The more she spoke with him, the deeper her desire grew. No one had been as intelligent, as insightful, as poetic, as gentle as he was. From that point on, in her eyes, no one else ever would be able to surpass him in any of these qualities. Finding out he was the Emperor after the fact was a great shock to her, but she did not truly care...he could have been a beggar and still she would have followed him.

Happiness was a difficult thing for Yuukiko to comprehend. Never had a love felt this genuine, this pure; it was all too good to possibly be true. She expected to awaken any moment to find herself curled up in the dark, alone as always. Yet, it never happened. Emperor Jinshou only fell more and more in love with her with each passing day, even as his advisers began to speak with discontent. It was still difficult for her to truly accept her situation, and many times she thought of spiriting him away so that she could keep him forever without fear of rejection or change. These thoughts were only in passing, for the thought of this man no longer being himself would be far more painful and cruel than to simply be rejected by him the moment he saw her for what she was. She knew she was not likely considered worthy to be wed to the Emperor himself, and tried to convince herself that even as his concubine, she would bear such a pain just to be with him. The Emperor, however, had a secret of his own that he revealed to her one night when the storm within her was at its peak. He had known what she was all along, having glimpsed one of her tails the first time he ever met her. It was embarrassing to think that she had been so shocked that she had failed to keep up her disguise, but at the same time she could not deny the fluttering in her heart as it poured forth joy and affection. He admitted the depth of his love and prayed she would spend the rest of time alongside him, wrapped in her embrace. Needless to say, Yuukiko was ecstatic with such a revelation, and admitted to the depth of her love and attraction as well. Only days later, he announced his intention to the court that he would take her as his wife, ignoring the murmuring of the families whose daughters they had planned to attempt to wed to him. From that day forward, her life was bliss. A great war was fought during their marriage, but they found strength in each other and arose victorious. Their reign was marked by peace and prosperity, and although Empress Yuukiko had a reputation for being a bit of a firebrand, she was much beloved by the people and seen as one of the pillars of the Heavens alongside her husband. That is, until he died of a wasting illness.

For days she clung to his corpse, hoping beyond hope of possibility that his eyes would open again. The trauma proved to be too much, and the love and tenderness that had pushed back her darker nature shattered, and all of the hatred, malice, and vindictiveness pouring through like a black tide. Thus began the darkest point of Yuukiko's life, wherein she gave herself over to the monster inside of her and abused her power as Empress to satisfy her own selfish needs. Any who spoke ill of the late Emperor were punished in gruesome ways,often involving the brutal removal of their tongue. She put many rebels into the ground and tortured many more. So great was her depravity during this time, it earned her a spot forever in history as one of the Five Great Terrors, terrible monsters feared by all. It was not until an extraordinarily powerful Onmyouji named Koizumi no Rin revealed her nature and expelled her from the palace after a lengthy battle did Yuukiko fully comprehend the depth of the evil she had committed. The flight from the palace would be the last time she ever took the form of a fox, for in her desperation she saw no other means of escape. She was hunted like a beast after she fled the capital, until she reasoned she had nothing more to live for, and that perhaps, in death, she may even see Jinshou again. Certainly, it was the punishment she justly deserved after all of the evil she had created. Death would be the beginning of her repentance. She was filled with arrows as she stood there and allowed the Imperial guard to fire all of their bows upon her. Jinshou however, was not idle in the Heavens, and interfered on her behalf, protecting her vital areas from being struck After being convinced she was dead and warned against taking her head lest her vile and wicked spirit come back for vengeance, the royal guard left her body to rot and returned to the capital. Yet, she awakened some time later to find she was alive and gained a new resolve. She would do whatever it took to bring her beloved Husband back from the dead to make up for all of their lost time. Even if he could no longer love her for what she had done, he was unfairly taken from the world, and such a fate for such a great man was unacceptable to her. She hoped that in time, shecould even redeem herself for the crimes she committed, but these thoughts were always secondary to her quest.

After the passing of 1,000 years, through which both Husband and Wife faced many trials, reunited once again. Though there is much more to tell of this tale, such a tale is best told another time...

Skills & Abilities