Zuki

Zuki
Species	Unknown
Gender	Female
Allies	Deluna Portia Potter
Factions	Letter Bees
Status	Unknown
Home Reality	Soulverse

In the Soulverse, Zuki was a member of the Letter Bees who also worked as a bounty hunter on the side.

Description

Quite robust and slightly short in height, Zuki was a furry humanoid whose face bore many catlike features. She had stiff, narrow, mostly upright ears, while her eyes had pink sclera, crimson irises, and slit pupils. The fur that covered most of her body was mostly silver with the exception of her left ear as well as her lower arms and legs, which were all bright scarlet. In place of regular fingers were sets of long, straight black talons, while her legs smoothly tapered down to paws of diminutive size. Her foxlike tail was rather long and voluminous. She wore a loose white t-shirt, khaki jeans, and some kind of large bag on her hip which was adorned with a decal of a bee.

History

Zuki was doing her rounds in Ide on Rhadan when she noticed a skirmish occurring between Akko and Lala outside Carlos's Armory. The fact that a huge brute like Akko seemed to be unjustly terrorizing the much smaller Lala prompted Zuki to intervene, knocking Akko's hand away from the sword that Lala had purchased from the armory moments earlier. After Zuki reassured the shaken Lala that she would "take care" of Akko, Jake rushed in and lifted the catgirl off the ground, promising her that he would protect her while Zuki battled Akko. Zuki then informed Akko that she was a bounty hunter, which amused Akko because Zuki was dressed in the uniform of the Letter Bees, who were simply postal workers. However, Zuki proved her skill by dodging a swipe from Akko and slashing open a wound above his left eye with her claws.

Though Zuki was able to block another claw slash from Akko, she was subsequently kicked in the stomach, doubling over in pain. Akko prepared to follow up with another claw slash, but he stopped when he noticed that Zuki's ears had taken on a strange glint. Once she had regained her breath, Zuki leaped towards Akko with a series of frontflips, using her momentum to carve deep slashes into the ground and force her opponent backwards. It was then that Akko correctly deduced from the 'glints' and strength of the slashes that Zuki had the ability to transmute certain surfaces of her body into steel; an ability that Zuki called "Ken-Sei". Zuki extended two steel blades out of her forearms and lunged at Akko for another attack, but Akko sidestepped her and decided to flee, deeming Zuki more trouble than she was worth.

Zuki then walked into a nearby café where Jake had rested Lala on a chair. Once she had thanked Jake for his help and had properly acquainted herself with the roguish traveller, Zuki noticed her partner Deluna sipping on a coffee at another table. Frustrated that Deluna had gone to the café instead of helping her in the fight against Akko, Deluna confronted and berated the Nifling for her absence, reminding her that they were supposed to be partners. When Deluna attempted to defend herself by saying that she could not go without coffee for long, Zuki sighed and announced that she would be leaving to deliver the rest of the letters that she still had in her bag. Zuki's next destination was Carlos's Armory, where she apologized to Carlos for starting the brawl outside his shop by explaining that her opponent had been someone who tried to steal the sword that Carlos had sold to Lala. When Carlos commented that the sword brought bad luck to whoever owned it, Zuki correctly guessed that Yamaoroshi was one of the 'Ryo Wazamono', a group of cursed swords.

It was then that Zuki noticed that she had interrupted Greggory Issac Reilly, Kalvin Taylor, and Skyla Summer by chatting to Carlos, so she apologized to the trio and decided to conclude her business in the shop by handing Carlos his letter: an invoice to confirm an order of steel weapons. Once Zuki had received Carlos's signature on the delivery form, she thanked him for his patronage and left, though she came rushing back in a few moments later because she recognized Skyla as someone who she also needed to deliver a letter to. As Zuki retrieved the letter, which was a solid black color imbued with an evil aura, from her bag, she explained that nobody at work had known whether to take it seriously because the address was listed as ""KILL KILL KILL, DIE DIE DIE" and the only name on the front was "Skyla". Adding that the letter had arrived at the Bee Hive at exactly midnight the previous night, Zuki asked Skyla if she thought the letter could really be from "Him". After Skyla replied that she thought it could be, Zuki handed her the letter and commented that she hoped that it was genuine.

Next, Zuki asked Carlos if he knew where she could find a Nifling Medium and Thaumaturgist named Portia Potter, another mail recipient on her list who also happened to be an old friend of hers. Carlos replied that Portia had rented out a building close to the city library for her work, so Zuki thanked him again and left in search of Portia. After some exploration, Zuki eventually discovered Portia's shop wedged between two larger buildings near the Ide Library. When Portia answered the door and saw that it was Zuki, she immediately hugged her old friend and dragged her inside, proceeding to fix her a glass of iced lemonade to quell her presumed thirst. Once Zuki had downed her second glass, she retrieved the package she had come to deliver to Portia: a rectangular box that had been sent by Portia's grandfather. Zuki was curious as to what was inside the parcel, so Portia unwrapped it in front of her, revealing a grimoire that Portia claimed would help her with her thaumaturgical creations. After Portia added the grimoire to her collection, the two women went outside to sit and relax in a couple of chairs. However, Zuki soon noticed a girl nearby who was holding a small black kitten in her arms with a lonely gaze that seemed troubling. Zuki asked Portia if she knew who the girl was, but Portia was only able to reply that the girl's name was Mamimi, because that was all that she knew about her.

Abilities & Powers

• Ken-Sei: Zuki possessed an ability she named "Ken-Sei" that enabled her to transmute certain surfaces on her body into metal and extend steel blades out of her forearms.