Summary

What if the promises you make are the shackles that keep you tethered?Tiny bell bracelets that jingles softly with each step, hang loosely on one slender wrist.A serene smile mask the raging turmoil she feels inside most of the time. Wide eyes stare almost directly and remain hard to read. As soon as they see you looking, she turns to look the other way.Quiet strength and diligent work are her hallmarks. Obedient to a fault, she prioritizes the needs of others over her own. So much that she believes it's a weakness and does what she can to not get close to anyone if she can help it.Having tasted poverty, she compromises on too much things for gil.As fate would have it, from one tether to another, a life of searching would lead her to answers she wasn't prepared for.She now runs an unassuming izakaya in the Goblet, at the foot of a nearby apartment block. The guests seen coming and going often appear less than lawful. Amongst the diverse folk and within its rickety walls, the lithe raen greets everyone with a faint smile.

Currently

From nobility to rags, and then to riches. The last of the Fujiki clan now stands beside the xaela known by others as Arcadius Rhode. Together they manage the manufacturing corporation Chikage and its subsidiaries, Tairiku being one of them.

Tairiku

Are stories only told by the winners? Can black hair be bleached white if you really tried? She found out the answer to one of that question. The other, she doesn't wish to find out.Even kindness has a price and she wasn't ready to pay when the creditor arrived.

> Tairiku <

What She's Like

Polite
Reserved and respectful, she prefers to keep criticism at the door when she meets new friends. That is till she gets to know you better, her eastern hunger to seek perfection will be revealed as she barrels down on you with well meaning stares and kind remarks for you to improve, what are you doing, this isn't the way oh twelve why, can't you-Flirty
She grew up watching courtesans and entertainers alike earn their keep. Showing skin and navigating customers come naturally to her but she prefers to stay just out of reach.Family & Duty
Family always comes first. Always. Children should be filial, parents are always responsible and will never fail. Ever. As do the elders who look after the village and leaders who guide their charge. If everyone does their part, the system will always work. So why, father? Why did you draw that sword?Wealth
The poor are always in want and the world does not pity. Neither is the world a charitable place. Every gil earned is an extra chain to the armor, every sweat poured should sprout more than its worth. The rich can't hurt you if they see you as equal.Aspirations
Cool Pina Coladas by the beach, and golden crisp fish and chips. A café to call her own, a tight knit group of staff working to bring a smile to every sunbathing customer. A simple routine life, simple pleasures.Dislikes
Being poor. A messy home and cutting in when its not your turn. Like seriously, can't you wait? Look, everyone here is waiting why can't you?

Backstory

(Spoilers ahead)

What happens when the promises that you keep, are also the chains that hold you back?The daughter of a wealthy xaela samurai father and raen homemaker from Othard. Her parents were accused of committing treason and exiled to Sui-no-Sato where her father turned to alcohol and began abusing his family.Forced to support the family, Yselle's mother would work herself to the bone for a few years before passing away due to illness. On her death bed, Isa handed Yselle the only possession that she didn't sell, a pair of bell charm bracelets, one for each of the siblings, and make Yselle promise to keep the family together.By Isa's death, the okiya that Yselle worked at had taken a liking to her dancing talents and trained her as a geisha. Yselle also learned some fighting skills through a dancer.Returned home one day to find a raging drunk father about to cut down her younger brother, she reacted and injured her father in order to save her brother who ran from home that day. She lost half her vision, her brother and severed her bond with her father that day.She would later find out that her brother had fled to Eorzea with Yuigiri and so Yselle packed up her things. Made arrangements for someone to look after her father with all her savings and left for Eorzea to bring her brother back.Renamed herself to Tsubaki Motomeru after killing two Garlean troopers who recognized her in order to remain anonymous.At least that's what Tsubaki would tell others...

• Long version

Hook

OOC

Gallery

Backstory (Long ver.)Family
Yselle Sui once had a garden she could dance around in circles all day. Her father was a high ranking xaela samurai in Othard named Zayaat. They lived comfortably with her dutiful raen mother Isa, as well as her younger brother Toshisada. Along with a handful of servants in a moderately sized home.Her mother had disapproved of her father teaching her swordplay, insisting she needed to focus on skills that would help her get married but swords were the one thing her father liked and Yselle learned that was the only way to get any attention from the stoic man. Her father may be tough to get close to but he cared for the family in his own way. Yselle loved to climb up his back and on to his shoulders and although he protested, Zayaat never rejected Yselle.Exiled
On her 12th birthday celebration, her father was suspected to be working with the Liberation Front. Due to a lack of evidence, they were spared the death penalty and instead exiled by the Garlean empire. The family found refuge in Sui-no-Sato and took on the 'Sui' surname. Losing everything took a toil on her father who could never leave behind the sword. He had lost all meaning to life and Yselle couldn't figure out why the shoulders that used to let her sit on had turned so stiff.Her father eventually turned to alcohol and became increasingly violent towards anyone around him. Yselle's mother had to work to feed the family. Yselle didn't know what Isa did but she always came home reeking of smoke and alcohol. Occasionally she'd spot bruises and cuts. When asked about it, Isa would keep her gaze forward without saying a word and tug her sleeves over them. Isa had also began to teach Yselle how to read and write. When Yselle was older, Isa introduced Yselle to a local okiya to work as a custodian. Isa felt it would be better for Yselle to be near her despite the surroundings. At least there she could keep her safe and continued to monitor her education. Her biggest regret would be to leave Toshisada back at home.Isa's Death
While on her deathbed, Isa handed two bell charm bracelets to Yselle. The only possession of value that she didn't sell. One for each sibling.
A few nights later, after Yselle had just celebrated her 18th birthday, Isa passed away from illness and made Yselle promise to keep the family together through thick and thin. She handed Yselle the bracelets meant for Toshi despite it not being his 18th names day. Her father remained dead drunk while Yselle took care of the funeral and consoled her distraught brother. It was a proper funeral that kept to the traditions. People wondered how the young Yselle managed to scrounge up the money to prepare for the ceremonies. But no one could find it in themselves to involve with the distraught and gaunt looking raen that day who went along with the procession without a word. Some who looked back to that day would describe Yselle as another dead sending off the dead.At the Okiya
After their mother’s passing, Yselle took it upon herself to protect Toshisada. She tended to the housework and cooked meals while working at the okiya in the evenings. Due to her upbringing, she was well versed in performing arts and demonstrated a talent in dancing. The head of the okiya had already taken a liking to her and had begun training her to become a geisha. She would sing and dance for guests, occasionally accompanying them at their tables. It was during this time she befriended an ‘exchange’ colleague who taught her the basics of fighting as a dancer. This dancer friend helped Yselle drive the darkness that had begun to fester within her and it uplifted her spirits... temporarily.Drunken Rage
All seemed well for a while but Yselle came home one day to find an extremely agitated father in another one of his drunken rages beating upon Toshisada. This time however he drew his sword upon Toshisada and Yselle knew she needed to act.
Grabbing a Katana, she defended Toshisada with all the held back anger brought by her situation. Her father flew into an even wilder rage and swung his sword as a child throwing a fit, instead of the seasoned samurai he used to be. Though he lacked precision, the strength of his swings broke the bottles that layed around and Yselle felt a sharp jolt of pain in her left eye. Ignoring the pain she somehow managed to incapacitate her father by wounding his leg while her terrified brother fled into the woods and disappeared. Yselle tried to look for Toshi that day but with one wounded eye and finding herself unable to ignore her father, she eventually stopped the search and went back to face the drunk samurai in the house.Missing
When Yselle woke up, she realized her vision in her left eye had deteriorated to a point where she could only make out blurry shapes and some colors. The pain had subsided however. Consumed with concern for Toshi, she delayed treating her eye and simply wrapped it up before heading out to search for her lost brother.It was two days later before she sought help for her eye that didn't seem to be getting better, but by then it was already too late.She later found out that her brother ended up following Yuigiri to Eorzea. Remembering her promise to Isa, she vowed to bring Toshi back or at least know he was okay. So she packed what little belongings she had, went back home to bid a sleeping drunk goodbye. She left him a note and whatever savings she had with a family friend to help look after her father before boarding the ship to Eorzea.Eorzea
Being alone in a far away place with nobody to turn to. Yselle found herself struggling to survive. In Ul'dah she came across a sight she's familiar with. The night scene of folks dancing and making merry alongside bards and dancers. So she tipped a bard and asked if he could play her a tune while she danced. The bard made more than his usual that day but for some unknown reason declined her offer to partner up in the future.A New Identity
One day she ran into two Garlene soldiers who had recently transferred from Othard. They recognized her as the daughter of an exiled high ranked officer and nearly brought her back to the east had she not fought tooth and nail. In order for her to remain anonymous, she did the unthinkable and ensured their bodies were never found.Now that her hands were stained with Empire blood, something emerged from within her. A sense of justice. Others might say vengeance is a bad thing but it brought her a sense of satisfaction.She began introducing herself as Tsubaki Motomeru that day. Taking on the name of the flower she first saw upon arriving in Eorzea, also known as the samurai's badluck.
Her surname; Motomeru. To search for a missing sibling, and the life that she lost.Thus would Tsubaki describe her story.