Life Story
Page 1
Yuzunamiki was an orphan, taken in by a hidden village of ninjas. Persecuted for their beastfolk blood, she and her family made their way to the East from the continent, yet want of food laid them low upon the road, and Yuzunamiki alone survived.
The girl, once her strength was restored, laid her brow upon the earth and supplicated the people of the village.
"I'll work as hard as I can. So please, let me stay here."
The people of the village who took Yuzunamiki in were not themselves beastfolk. Yet, though she was beastfolk, she was neither tormented nor struck, and indeed, they shared with her their food and clothing, and bathed her.
Surely there was no other place to be found like this.
For a time the people of the village were silent, and then they spoke.
"Then, as a shinobi, can you dedicate your very life to a mission?"
Yuzunamiki gave a solemn nod. The hardships of life as a shinobi were beyond her knowing. But if she were to die, there would be none left who knew her kin. And thus their very existence would vanish from the realm of the living.
This filled her with dread. And so she set her will upon survival.
Page 2
The hidden village of ninjas that took Yuzunamiki in had strong bonds and secluded ways. A long council was held to decide whether they could accept this outsider into their midst.
After several days, a ritualist came before Yuzunamiki, still awaiting the verdict, and intoned a malediction upon her. All around the girl foxfire burned, flickering and dancing with otherworldly light.
"This is the village of the Violet Flash shinobi. To labor here is to become a shinobi, life pledged to its keeping. Betray the Violet Flash and foxfire shall consume you." Yuzunamiki bowed her head once more. Her determination had long been set.
Yuzunamiki entered the training of the Violet Flash shinobi. She was behind the children born in the village, so her training was even harsher, but she immersed herself entirely in what needed to be done. As long as her body was in motion, the hollow ache in her chest could be forgotten.
The absence of needless longing or attachment, which could impede her duties, was counted as a sign of her aptitude as a shinobi.
Page 3
Yuzunamiki pursued her training with steadfast silence, and in time she came to execute missions as a shinobi. Her primary missions were the gathering of intelligence, infiltration, and covert operations.
Yuzunamiki took on the guise of townswomen, traveling shrine maidens, and serving girls within noble estates; her deeds accumulated with steadfast diligence. Though she faced perils that threatened her very life, she clung to survival, lest all memory of her family vanish from the world.
In those days, the East was mired in strife, with no end in sight. Under the standard of Shrine Maiden Dougen, whose presence inspired the Eastern host to seek unity, Violet Flash fulfilled innumerable missions.
A new charge was laid upon Violet Flash: the dispatch of spies. The objective lay in a vast pleasure quarter-the Flower District. It was a melting pot where all manner of men and women converged; a place where the most gifted of women were said to be coveted by samurai households as their consorts.
Yuzunamiki alighted in the Flower District: her stance a vision of perfect grace, the movements of her dance radiant, her smile steeped in otherworldly charm.
To any she exchanged even a few words with, her very presence was enthralling, and she quickly became the subject of wide fascination.
Page 4
Yuzunamiki was bestowed the title of supreme flower "Princess," blooming in the garden of the night, and came to be called the Dancing Maiden, captivating all who beheld her. Even the most renowned warlords yielded to her charm. And from them she drew, with exquisite cunning, whatever information they possessed.
The strategies of hostile households, the strength and disposition of their armies, the intricacies of the terrain, and even their schemes of assassination-all were borne to the Eastern army beneath the standard of Shrine Maiden Dougen, and, through the subtle labors of Yuzunamiki, shaped the fortunes of battle for the Eastern cause.
On the eve of the decisive battle that would fulfill their long-cherished aim, Yuzunamiki was visited by a senior apprentice, the most skilled among Violet Flash. Word had come that the Western Army's great general had drawn his forces near the Flower District.
"They will come to the Flower District. If the Western general's head were to be taken, the Eastern army's victory in tomorrow's battle will be all but assured." So the senior apprentice spoke. Against the power of the Western army, the strength of the Eastern army fell short. The fate of the East would be decided by the success or failure of this mission.
Yuzunamiki's charge was to bear tidings of his triumph to the Violet Flash, the foxfire itself serving as the silent messenger. She lingered in the shadowed night, every breath drawn in solemn wait for the flame to arise.
Page 5
The senior apprentice was a shinobi who always fulfilled his missions with unfailing punctuality. Yet when the appointed hour arrived, no word of the assassination's success came. Yuzunamiki, a shadow among shadows, silently followed his trail through the darkness.
Flitting through the night, her keen ears caught the faint creak of warrior armor. She had located a party of warriors attempting to leave the Flower District. The general of the Western army walked among them, and in his hands he bore the severed head of the senior apprentice.
"My ally has failed. Then it falls to me to see this done."
Her skills in assassination and combat fell short of those of her senior apprentice. Yet Yuzunamiki did not hesitate. Like a shadow upon the night, she trailed the warrior party, setting her sights with unwavering intent upon the head of their general.
At dawn, in the shadowed alleys of the Flower District, the body of the Western general was discovered. Only a single, diminutive footprint marked the scene. Entering battle in disarray and confusion, the Western host met the Eastern banners and was utterly shattered.
In the years that followed, word spread among the shinobi that a woman had succeeded the leader of Violet Flash, yet none ever realized that she was the Dancing Maiden of the Flower District.