A/N: You all can thank Kanzō for this chapter. She's stuck out so well and made a big hit on me, so… time-skipping up to her being an early adult!
Draconic Name (In English) [Details]: Ztisepzy (Yseranyx) [Corrin/Lupus, Middle Sister.] Pimtvsetbe (Nelstrasza) [Eldest Brother]. Nalaptijep (Mukanshin) [Middle Brother]. Utvseie (Ostraea) [Eldest Sister]. Qsoeqat (Priapus) [Youngest Brother]. Cimmefuppe (Belladonna) [Youngest Sister]. Zimipe (Yelena) [Lilith].
Canon Name = Nickname: Corrin = Lupus. Velouria = Vella. Keaty = Keaty. Setsuna = Seta. Hinoka = Hina. Sakura = Saku. Subaki = Superman. Ryoma = Red. Selkie = Silky. Kaden = Ka-da. Orochi = Viper. Takumi = Tako. Utvseie = Feisty.
Silky refers to Lupus = Lu-pu.
Qsoeqat = Quacker. Belladonna = Bella or Cimmefuppe = Kim.
Child Units: Artemis, forest green scales and eyes (Qsoeqat/Quacker and Hera). Kanzō, black fur with white patches, orange tips and golden eyes (Kaden and Kagero)
Consort: Yes, though I admit I just wasn't too sure on who to pair Takumi with, but I thought that a number of characters are really lacking in screen time, so… yeah. Takumi/Oboro it is! I even followed up where Lilith was showing herself off to Takumi from a previous chapter! See, there was an alternate motive to those provocative dresses! Still, it's good that things didn't go south, because yes… Lilith's approach to getting them together could've turned out sour, thankfully she's more than wise enough to know how to get it to happen without also causing a crush from Takumi to form.
Namu Rosutaoi: Hm… on my first playthrough, which would be Birthright, since it was labeled as the 'easiest', uh… hrm. I wanna say Midori/Kana, because well… I got so miffed at losing Kaze that I rebooted to before the battle, and decided the best course of action would be to S-rank him. So, yeah… I'm pretty sure Selkie came next, then Shiro, and… I just went through and finished Birthright.
Second playthrough, Conquest, gave me Velouria then Kana as the first two, because I didn't do Forrest's paralogue until a mission or two later, and I think I got Ophelia? Or was that my next Conquest…
Revelations saw Velouria/Kana and Selkie being recruited.
Rinkah of the Fire Tribe! Whew, her name really slips your mind, doesn't it? Heh…
We'll see, won't we? More hoping that I don't run out of creative inspiration for when the Wolfskin pups start rolling out.
I got… a very different idea for Lilith, next. ;)
It's the dead of night in Hoshido and a midnight-black fur Kitsune races through the open fields. A passerby wouldn't even see her run by. Her white-fur stomach and golden tipped ears and tail are hidden by Illusion magic, and whatever trail she would've left behind is also hidden… but with Kitsune magic. By all intents and purposes, she isn't even there. This Kitsune's name is Kanzō, daughter of the Master Ninja and retainer to Lord Ryoma… Kagero. Her father was an exceptional Kitsune, one who achieved the Nine-tails form without the need of a Beastrune… Kaden.
Kanzō is following in her mother's footsteps, while using her Kitsune heritage to further benefit her Ninja skills. She is also currently out on a mission, since just because Nohr and Hoshido are at peace, doesn't mean that there are no problems to be had. No… she's out for a quick assassination. There's a prominent member of a lower region in Hoshido whose dealings aren't… clean. Specifically in one, very sensitive matter.
He's turning the other eye for poachers.
Greedy bastard.
Kanzō huffs as she clears almost the entire distance within the span of a few hours. She could've been there and back some if she went into Nine-tails, but… she doesn't have full control of those tails. It's no joke, learning how to control another eight appendages on one's body. So, she trains her mind with her extra tails every now and then, but she tends to stick with her Kitsune form.
The town comes up close, and it's clear that this place is more well-funded than others. The guards are better suited, for one, the walls look reinforced and… she nods to herself and literally slips by the guards without issue. Simple.
She takes her human form, still as covered as before, and starts slipping through backs of buildings and… hold. "The plans?" Her superior hearing catches on inside a building next to her. "Yea, that! So… we're gonna go here, right?" She snarls, but refrains from making any noise. A quick detour, then. She looks the building over… windows would be too loud. The door is out of the question, but there's nothing available on the upper floors. "Hold, let me grab…" One of the men trails off.
Perfect.
She moves to the side of the house with the front door, step… step… step. Creak, open… slip! A small burst of magic and Kanzō ghosts into the building. These people may have been trained for assassins… but Kanzō was trained by the best. Once inside, she looks around the room, and almost lets out a growl. A single scent enters her nose and she is ready to slice their throats on the spot, because despite how well-cleaned they kept it…
Fur, animal fur. Kitsune fur.
One… two men inside. She can also spot a jar of Beast Killer venom. Alright, so… she's going to have to take these three down and still nab the leader of the village, hm… "Back!" The third man walks in with… no, no no! He hefts a small Kitsune onto the table, not even fully grown. Kanzō raises her hand, channels some of her magic and… whoosh, out goes the candles. "Huh?! What… oh, gods."
"Who?" The three men turn around and see nothing but a pair of glowing golden eyes back at them. "Is… is that?!"
"Demon! Golden-eye demon!" Oh, so the rumor has been properly spread. See, with Kanzō's early mishaps with the staff, she has spread a rumor about a 'Golden Eye Demon' that travels at night… exaggerated to where this demon kills 'unworthy' people. Shing, shing, shing. They draw out their weapons, despite not being able to properly see.
"...die." She mutters, closing the distance and expertly slitting the throat of the first. She can see just fine, after all… her fur bristles and she nimbly dodges a slash that actually might've hit her, then returns it with a stab to his chest with a shuriken, obviously not enough to kill due to the length of the blade, but that didn't stop her from carving through the skin, pulling out the shuriken, then jumping up and landing a cracking blow to the back of his neck.
"Wh-what? Uh, guys?" The third asks. "Are you…?" A single candle is relit, just enough to see the mass of black fur, and a few splotches of blood on Kanzō's body. "N-no, no! Please! Please!" He drops his weapon and trembles… even relieving his body of some fluids.
"Look at me." She snarls and he slowly brings his head up to… splat! She grabbed the hilt of a now ungripped hammer and shoves it through his eye. "Your kind disgusts me." The hilt hits the back of his skull, then she kicks the back of his head with the back of her paw, so now the hammer is now a grisly support, blood running down the handle. She flicks the blood off of her shurikens and moves towards the kit. A few quick presses, some magic… and she sighs in relief. "Paralyzed, barely alive. Lost a lot of blood, denied food…" She reaches into a hidden pocket to pull out a vial and a needle, then magically bolsters it. "Poison first… thank you, Lady Kim." She mutters as the needle sucks out the toxins into the vial, then she throws the vial away. "Some rations… and a small sleep aid." She crushes the nuts and fruits in her hand, and rubs some sleep powder into it. "Here… boy." She whispers. A whimper as she gently opens his maw, then places the food into it. She assists with the chewing motions, before tilting his head up a bit. She then gets a small bottle of water and drip feeds it into his maw to help him swallow. "I'll be back very…" Door. She blows the candle out, utter darkness once more.
"Hey! I…" Unarmored fool. Kanzō easily throws a shuriken that finds a new home deep into his neck. She dashes over and catches him before he falls, then drags his body in, before gently closing the door.
"Can't leave him here." She concludes. "Too risky, this must be a popular building." She moves back over to the kit, more bloody than before thanks to that man's open wound in his neck. The sleeping powder does was more than enough and he's much more peacefully sleeping with a full stomach. She scoops him up and hurries to the door. She places a furred ear on it… clear. She exits the building and rushes towards shadows… unfortunately, this kit, now that she has more than ample light to view him… he has snow-white fur through and through. Once she gets to proper cover, she uses her magic and… nope, that's way too much to change. So instead, she adds a few darker shades to it… it isn't much, but it helps.
With that done, she resumes her primary mission, now with a sleeping kit in tow. She weaves through the passageways and openings without any issue, before reaching the leader's house. Some extra, even better equipped guards… but nothing for magic. She smirks as she closes the distance and leaps over the small wall… it's barely even a single human tall! She silently lands and keeps going, then she gets to the building.
Fool, he has more openings, no glass, no doors, just several open air windows. Kanzō leaps up without issue, getting onto the second floor… even mother or Saizo would have trouble with that. She reaches one of this openings and listens in, "Yes… we're getting that done tomorrow… you'll have those pelts!" She hears a man angrily counter. "I even got a young one in the Carving House right now! Where's my payment!?"
Kanzō gently places the kit down, "One moment, boy." She slips into a fully lit room… just two men. One who has eaten more than his fair share of food and another who is quite built, probably a mercenary. Of course, the other man sees her.
"Th-the…" He stumbles back.
"What's gotten… oh, gods! You're…!" The fat man falls.
While those two buffoons were stumbling around, Kanzō closes the distance with the muscled man, no hesitation, she lands a shuriken in his neck, does an instant turn, then pounces on the fat man. "Leader of the village?" She snarls.
"G-Golden Eye… D-demon! I… I…" He cowers. "I thought… you were just a… m-m-myth! A rumor!"
"Are you the leader?!"
"Y-yes! Wh-what do…" He gurgles up blood as Kanzō slices a deep gash across his neck, before plunging a hidden blade down his huge gut.
"I want your death." She snarls. "You've allowed poachers to roam on your portion of land." Being a poacher was already illegal to start with, but due to Queen Mikoto's efforts and in part due to the assistance of beastfolk and dragons during the war… she has doubled down on that law.
"I…" Not dead yet, then… well, he does have a lot of blood to spare. So, to speed it up, she moves the blade through his body and to his heart… the distance covered was more than enough.
"Hmph." She huffs, then turns to leave the room without a second… whimper. The kit! She rushes out of the room and… whew. Alright, the kit is just dreaming. She scoops him up into her arms. "I'll get a loving family for you, boy." She whispers. "I know just the place…" She pauses as she feels it coming up, due to that, she snaps her maw shut right as the dreaded 'yip' comes out… it sounds more like a hiccup at this point. She then plants a quick kiss on his snout, then races back into the night. However, what she didn't know was…
This kit would end up being part of her family.
A/N: Welp, there's your 'M'. So, does anyone recall Peri/Kagero's support? Yeah, I wanted to cover a moment where being a Ninja isn't so cut and clean. So… the cute and fluffy Kanzō just spilt some serious blood.
Also, her 'yip' quirk is rare and random… like, once per appearance. I haven't forgotten it. Uh, not much else to comment on. And, well…
I've been on a 'dry spell' recently, and adding onto that, Feb is gonna be a doozy. Sparing the details, I'll be working 6 nights a week for 11 hours a night… for all of Feb.