Shi "Shiro" Yamato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stillsmiling) wrote2018-01-04 11:39 pm
stillsmiling) wrote2018-01-04 11:39 pm
History of.
Marion Wing was born into this modern world of spirits. And he was born as an absolutely normal human being. His parents were a young couple, who were not quite ready for the responsibility of a child. His father eventually walked out on them, leaving his mother with a son that didn't even look like her... Which would be a fact that followed Marion for the rest of his life. He was born with unnatural white hair and haunting cyan blue eyes.
By the time he was five years old, his mother could no longer ignore how creepy her son looked. Combining with the not-so-accidental warning of a fortune teller, the young woman became convinced that her son was not her son at all: He was some sort of spirit from legend, and he was there to curse her for her sinful early life.
So she did what any responsible adult would do... Just kidding. She abandoned her young son by an ocean deity's shrine, and tried to physically escape her supposed demons. All the while, her son turned out to be exceptionally bright. Marion understood every word from the fortune teller and he understood why he was left at the shrine. But despite being smart enough to understand these things, he was still a young child. Since he saw the adults in his life believed he was a curse, Marion came to agree with their assessment. He made no effort to chase after his mother, because he loved her and didn't want her to be cursed anymore.
There was a sliver of fortune in this portion of the tale. The shrine where Marion was abandoned was not abandoned itself. It was tended to by the elders of a nearby fishing village, who continued to believe in the ocean deity that once resided there. On the flipside, it was not a shrine full of happy spirits. The village only believed in the bad luck and curses of the ocean: They blamed the shrine for every bad fishing season, every storm, every sinking ship, and generally any misfortune that befell them. The spirits that gathered there were either negative by nature, or not eager to fill the role of The Ocean's Curse. The spirits were especially discouraged because the shrine was located on a cliffside, far from the village, and no one even visited it.
That is, until those village elders found Marion.
When he was found, Marion would not reveal his name. He was given the name Shiro, the Japanese word for white, because of his striking white hair. His unusual and sudden appearance led many of the elders to believe Shiro was some sort of Kami. All of the faith and superstition eventually stuck to Shiro, making him a living shrine for The Ocean's Curse. In other words, Shiro was made a Sacred Child. The Ocean's Curse was the kind of lonely spirit that wanted to see more of the world, and moreso it wanted to change the villager's opinion of its power. Shiro, it hoped, would be a chance to make the villagers love the Ocean Kami again.
Shiro was cared for by the villagers as if he truly was a Kami. This made the children his age distant and the elders fearful of upsetting him. When things in the village went wrong, they blamed Shiro for them. This did hurt the Ocean Kami, who was truly doing their best to bless the village with their bits of power. But the villagers did not credit things like calm seas and lots of fish to a Kami, but to their own skills as fishermen. So the Ocean Kami never managed to change their perception.
Eventually, the village's opinion of Shiro solely one of fear. They had always been afraid to destroy the shrine built into the seaside, because they did not know how to 'kill' a building... But a human shrine was another matter entirely. The villagers began to debate whether or not they should straight-up commit murder and solve their "Curse of the Sea" problem once and for all.
The Ocean Kami that used Shiro was mortified by this. When they discovered what was afoot, they left their living shrine and began searching for help. They hoped to find a Spirit Seer in time to rescue Shiro and clear up the misunderstanding.
But they were not fast enough. The Ocean Kami was weaker than they expected. They couldn't even warn Shiro not to trust the villagers. One night, Spirit Hunters came into the village due to a request. They found Shiro, brought him back to the physical shrine, and murdered him. At the very least, no one had the heart to disrespect the dead child's body beyond the initial stab in the back.
All of the spirits in the area were 'exorcised' away, except for the Ocean Kami. They had been searching for help and far enough away to avoid the slaughter. When that Kami returned, they found their innocent shrine had been murdered at the young age of ten.
Then, things took a nightmarish turn.
The Ocean Kami was devastated to have led their Sacred Child to die. They cried and threw a tantrum, creating stormy seas that destroy a portion of the village. Their wrath was meant to make the villagers feel bad, but they continued to only lay blame on outside forces. In particular, they blamed the dead boy Shiro for their recent curse.
Shiro was revived because of this. His passing spirit was attached to his shrine, his body, which had died but not been destroyed. Shiro was oblivious, and thought he had just been lucky somehow. He did not even realize that he was now the Curse Kami that the villagers so strongly believed him to be.
He was reunited with his Ocean Kami patron, if you even want to call them that. Shiro had never directly met the Kami that used him as a shrine. They were ashamed of what they had done and did not want to make Shiro unhappy, so decided not to tell him the full story. Shiro was simply led to believe that he had been saved by the spirits living at that shrine and he was grateful.
During their initial reunion, the Ocean Kami took the form of a young woman. 'She' now wanted to openly care for her former Sacred Child and fill the role of a mother or big sister. It quickly became apparent that their relationship had changed considerably. For one, the Ocean Kami no longer had any sort of physical shrine. She was clinging only to Shiro and knew she needed to let him go: He could not be the shrine for two Kami, and it was more important he now house his own spirit.
The other major difference was her new relationship with Shiro, who was a very strange case. Shiro was a Kami who lived in his own physical body. He still retained that special connection to the physical world that other spirits dream of. This meant that Shiro also had the ability to use that secret naming magic, even if he did not understand what it was.
So when Shiro decided he had to call the Ocean Kami by a proper name, he accidentally created her shrine. He decided that she was so beautiful, kind, and wonderful that she was a real-life "Princess." Or "Prinny," as she preferred to be called. The name "Prinny" became the Ocean Kami's new shrine, even if neither of them realized the significance.
Prinny still loved Shiro as if he was her own child, so insisted that he leave the village and run far away from the ones who hurt him. She thought this meant they would be separated forever. She insisted that she walk with him to safety, expecting that she would eventually meet a boundary and have to leave him. However, the boundary never came. Prinny was able to follow Shiro all of the way to the next town. Because she did not know of name magic, Prinny assumed this meant she still shared Shiro as a shrine. She decided to stay this way until it became harmful to him, and protect him for as long as possible.
The next years of Shiro's life were a strange few. Though his body was dead, Shiro believed he was alive and kept 'living.' He aged, got hungry, got tired, and got hurt like he believed he should. Prinny's spirit form was weak and invisible to normal humans, but she provided companionship and guidance as best she could. Shiro met kids his age and spoke enough of his "big sister Prinny" that they came to believe she was real. Thusly, Prinny eventually gained the power to be seen by others and hold a physical form. After all, even adults were expecting to see Shiro's guardian when they came to his house.
Their house was another strange factor to their new life. It was customary that Kami go to the shrines of any town or land they visited, and politely introduce themselves. Otherwise, they were seen as invaders out to steal faith and often eliminated by the local, established spirits.
Prinny took Shiro to the shrine of Asteria City and taught him to introduce himself. Asteria City did have a fairly active and established Kami: She was called Tina and she used the City's mascot as her shrine. Likewise, she looked like the fictional fairy that Asteria City used in a fifty year old advertising campaign.
Tina's shrine was the tourism bureau. It had a statue of her mascot self outside and was filled with "Tina the Aster Fairy" posters. Tina allowed Shiro to live the attic, which is to say... Suddenly, there was a homeless boy in the attic. Things would have been very different if not for Shiro's use of naming magic. His talk of Tina being a real person who really did live upstairs in the old tourist bureau gave Tina credibly, faith, and the magic to make that a reality.
Pretty soon, little Shiro had two big sisters who were looking after him. For three years, they did have a peaceful life in Asteria City. Tina was strong enough now to give Shiro and Prinny real, legal identities: Shi Yamato and Prinny Harper. The sisters decided to let "Shi" enroll in the local school (more like, they were forced by concerned parents and LAWS to let him go,) and reluctantly admitted that they needed part-time jobs.
But they were all very happy. Despite some grumbling, the Kami were even happy to have the need for real jobs and real money. They were living the dream of any spirit... Which is to say, they finally felt like they were living.
But again... everything came to an unfortunate end for the happy family. Prinny was still the Kami of the Ocean, even when she wasn't seaside. Tina was still the Kami of Aster flowers, even when she worked as a waitess. And Shiro was, still, a Curse Kami.
Shi Yamato still became associated with misfortune. He was still cursed, all of the way from the old village, and radiated bad luck. He cracked mirrors by looking into them, brought rain to field trips, caused accidents, and spread unhappiness. As soon as one person blamed him, his curses began to snowball. Within three years of moving to Asteria City, even the modern cityfolk believed Shi had to be cursed. There was just no other explanation.
Spirit Hunters moved in. He was recognized by some as being the "Shiro" they had tried to kill three years prior, further cementing his Curse Kami legend. This time, Prinny and Tina were both caught in the crossfire. The pair of them insisted Shi leave ahead of them, but never managed to follow after him.
He had never planned to live on his own, nor had he ever known he was a Kami. He initially returned to Asteria to find his sisters, but found the tourism bureau had been burnt to the ground. Tina's statue was shattered and most of the mascot's appearances had been vandalized. Her spirit no doubt had no where to return and had been destroyed.
As the reality sunk in, Shi was noticed by some of the town's residents. Fortunately, it was the kinder ones who found him first. They gave the young Kami money and supplies, then insisted that he run away before he was killed too. They called it the last favor they could perform for Tina and Prinny, who had truly been loved by some residents. When Shi asked how he could repay their generosity, he was given a simple request: "Find a place where you'll smile again."
Shi did not understand the request at first, but he did his best. For a few years, the thirteen year old boy wandered around lost and confused. He wanted to learn more about whatever he was, so followed a trail of libraries. It was a learning experience on many fronts. As he gradually came to understand that he was a living shrine, Shi also met many more spirits. He never came to understand his ability to name spirits and give them shrines, but was always grateful for the company.
He also came to learn his most unfortunate lesson: He was, and always would be, a curse. Time and time again, he encountered as much misfortune as he spread. Those who let the homeless boy into their house would lose everything. Those who treated him kindly became hurt or unhappy. Even Shi himself suffered lose time and time again, whether it was a friend or precious object.
Throughout it all, Shi determined that he would keep smiling. He understood that he was a unique Kami and had what all spirits wanted: A physical life. And Shi intended to make use of it. He also learned that he needed to back off and not cause so much pain and suffering.
At age fifteen, Shi is more self-aware. Perhaps too self aware. He tries not to interact with others out of fear of cursing them, and is generally living alone. That doesn't stop him from at least trying to be happy: He enjoys composing and playing music, reading, and a lot of one-player sports and games. While he does long for a family again, he has no idea how to handle his growing curses. And they are growing, despite all of his attempts to stop it.
By the time he was five years old, his mother could no longer ignore how creepy her son looked. Combining with the not-so-accidental warning of a fortune teller, the young woman became convinced that her son was not her son at all: He was some sort of spirit from legend, and he was there to curse her for her sinful early life.
So she did what any responsible adult would do... Just kidding. She abandoned her young son by an ocean deity's shrine, and tried to physically escape her supposed demons. All the while, her son turned out to be exceptionally bright. Marion understood every word from the fortune teller and he understood why he was left at the shrine. But despite being smart enough to understand these things, he was still a young child. Since he saw the adults in his life believed he was a curse, Marion came to agree with their assessment. He made no effort to chase after his mother, because he loved her and didn't want her to be cursed anymore.
There was a sliver of fortune in this portion of the tale. The shrine where Marion was abandoned was not abandoned itself. It was tended to by the elders of a nearby fishing village, who continued to believe in the ocean deity that once resided there. On the flipside, it was not a shrine full of happy spirits. The village only believed in the bad luck and curses of the ocean: They blamed the shrine for every bad fishing season, every storm, every sinking ship, and generally any misfortune that befell them. The spirits that gathered there were either negative by nature, or not eager to fill the role of The Ocean's Curse. The spirits were especially discouraged because the shrine was located on a cliffside, far from the village, and no one even visited it.
That is, until those village elders found Marion.
When he was found, Marion would not reveal his name. He was given the name Shiro, the Japanese word for white, because of his striking white hair. His unusual and sudden appearance led many of the elders to believe Shiro was some sort of Kami. All of the faith and superstition eventually stuck to Shiro, making him a living shrine for The Ocean's Curse. In other words, Shiro was made a Sacred Child. The Ocean's Curse was the kind of lonely spirit that wanted to see more of the world, and moreso it wanted to change the villager's opinion of its power. Shiro, it hoped, would be a chance to make the villagers love the Ocean Kami again.
Shiro was cared for by the villagers as if he truly was a Kami. This made the children his age distant and the elders fearful of upsetting him. When things in the village went wrong, they blamed Shiro for them. This did hurt the Ocean Kami, who was truly doing their best to bless the village with their bits of power. But the villagers did not credit things like calm seas and lots of fish to a Kami, but to their own skills as fishermen. So the Ocean Kami never managed to change their perception.
Eventually, the village's opinion of Shiro solely one of fear. They had always been afraid to destroy the shrine built into the seaside, because they did not know how to 'kill' a building... But a human shrine was another matter entirely. The villagers began to debate whether or not they should straight-up commit murder and solve their "Curse of the Sea" problem once and for all.
The Ocean Kami that used Shiro was mortified by this. When they discovered what was afoot, they left their living shrine and began searching for help. They hoped to find a Spirit Seer in time to rescue Shiro and clear up the misunderstanding.
But they were not fast enough. The Ocean Kami was weaker than they expected. They couldn't even warn Shiro not to trust the villagers. One night, Spirit Hunters came into the village due to a request. They found Shiro, brought him back to the physical shrine, and murdered him. At the very least, no one had the heart to disrespect the dead child's body beyond the initial stab in the back.
All of the spirits in the area were 'exorcised' away, except for the Ocean Kami. They had been searching for help and far enough away to avoid the slaughter. When that Kami returned, they found their innocent shrine had been murdered at the young age of ten.
Then, things took a nightmarish turn.
The Ocean Kami was devastated to have led their Sacred Child to die. They cried and threw a tantrum, creating stormy seas that destroy a portion of the village. Their wrath was meant to make the villagers feel bad, but they continued to only lay blame on outside forces. In particular, they blamed the dead boy Shiro for their recent curse.
Shiro was revived because of this. His passing spirit was attached to his shrine, his body, which had died but not been destroyed. Shiro was oblivious, and thought he had just been lucky somehow. He did not even realize that he was now the Curse Kami that the villagers so strongly believed him to be.
He was reunited with his Ocean Kami patron, if you even want to call them that. Shiro had never directly met the Kami that used him as a shrine. They were ashamed of what they had done and did not want to make Shiro unhappy, so decided not to tell him the full story. Shiro was simply led to believe that he had been saved by the spirits living at that shrine and he was grateful.
During their initial reunion, the Ocean Kami took the form of a young woman. 'She' now wanted to openly care for her former Sacred Child and fill the role of a mother or big sister. It quickly became apparent that their relationship had changed considerably. For one, the Ocean Kami no longer had any sort of physical shrine. She was clinging only to Shiro and knew she needed to let him go: He could not be the shrine for two Kami, and it was more important he now house his own spirit.
The other major difference was her new relationship with Shiro, who was a very strange case. Shiro was a Kami who lived in his own physical body. He still retained that special connection to the physical world that other spirits dream of. This meant that Shiro also had the ability to use that secret naming magic, even if he did not understand what it was.
So when Shiro decided he had to call the Ocean Kami by a proper name, he accidentally created her shrine. He decided that she was so beautiful, kind, and wonderful that she was a real-life "Princess." Or "Prinny," as she preferred to be called. The name "Prinny" became the Ocean Kami's new shrine, even if neither of them realized the significance.
Prinny still loved Shiro as if he was her own child, so insisted that he leave the village and run far away from the ones who hurt him. She thought this meant they would be separated forever. She insisted that she walk with him to safety, expecting that she would eventually meet a boundary and have to leave him. However, the boundary never came. Prinny was able to follow Shiro all of the way to the next town. Because she did not know of name magic, Prinny assumed this meant she still shared Shiro as a shrine. She decided to stay this way until it became harmful to him, and protect him for as long as possible.
The next years of Shiro's life were a strange few. Though his body was dead, Shiro believed he was alive and kept 'living.' He aged, got hungry, got tired, and got hurt like he believed he should. Prinny's spirit form was weak and invisible to normal humans, but she provided companionship and guidance as best she could. Shiro met kids his age and spoke enough of his "big sister Prinny" that they came to believe she was real. Thusly, Prinny eventually gained the power to be seen by others and hold a physical form. After all, even adults were expecting to see Shiro's guardian when they came to his house.
Their house was another strange factor to their new life. It was customary that Kami go to the shrines of any town or land they visited, and politely introduce themselves. Otherwise, they were seen as invaders out to steal faith and often eliminated by the local, established spirits.
Prinny took Shiro to the shrine of Asteria City and taught him to introduce himself. Asteria City did have a fairly active and established Kami: She was called Tina and she used the City's mascot as her shrine. Likewise, she looked like the fictional fairy that Asteria City used in a fifty year old advertising campaign.
Tina's shrine was the tourism bureau. It had a statue of her mascot self outside and was filled with "Tina the Aster Fairy" posters. Tina allowed Shiro to live the attic, which is to say... Suddenly, there was a homeless boy in the attic. Things would have been very different if not for Shiro's use of naming magic. His talk of Tina being a real person who really did live upstairs in the old tourist bureau gave Tina credibly, faith, and the magic to make that a reality.
Pretty soon, little Shiro had two big sisters who were looking after him. For three years, they did have a peaceful life in Asteria City. Tina was strong enough now to give Shiro and Prinny real, legal identities: Shi Yamato and Prinny Harper. The sisters decided to let "Shi" enroll in the local school (more like, they were forced by concerned parents and LAWS to let him go,) and reluctantly admitted that they needed part-time jobs.
But they were all very happy. Despite some grumbling, the Kami were even happy to have the need for real jobs and real money. They were living the dream of any spirit... Which is to say, they finally felt like they were living.
But again... everything came to an unfortunate end for the happy family. Prinny was still the Kami of the Ocean, even when she wasn't seaside. Tina was still the Kami of Aster flowers, even when she worked as a waitess. And Shiro was, still, a Curse Kami.
Shi Yamato still became associated with misfortune. He was still cursed, all of the way from the old village, and radiated bad luck. He cracked mirrors by looking into them, brought rain to field trips, caused accidents, and spread unhappiness. As soon as one person blamed him, his curses began to snowball. Within three years of moving to Asteria City, even the modern cityfolk believed Shi had to be cursed. There was just no other explanation.
Spirit Hunters moved in. He was recognized by some as being the "Shiro" they had tried to kill three years prior, further cementing his Curse Kami legend. This time, Prinny and Tina were both caught in the crossfire. The pair of them insisted Shi leave ahead of them, but never managed to follow after him.
He had never planned to live on his own, nor had he ever known he was a Kami. He initially returned to Asteria to find his sisters, but found the tourism bureau had been burnt to the ground. Tina's statue was shattered and most of the mascot's appearances had been vandalized. Her spirit no doubt had no where to return and had been destroyed.
As the reality sunk in, Shi was noticed by some of the town's residents. Fortunately, it was the kinder ones who found him first. They gave the young Kami money and supplies, then insisted that he run away before he was killed too. They called it the last favor they could perform for Tina and Prinny, who had truly been loved by some residents. When Shi asked how he could repay their generosity, he was given a simple request: "Find a place where you'll smile again."
Shi did not understand the request at first, but he did his best. For a few years, the thirteen year old boy wandered around lost and confused. He wanted to learn more about whatever he was, so followed a trail of libraries. It was a learning experience on many fronts. As he gradually came to understand that he was a living shrine, Shi also met many more spirits. He never came to understand his ability to name spirits and give them shrines, but was always grateful for the company.
He also came to learn his most unfortunate lesson: He was, and always would be, a curse. Time and time again, he encountered as much misfortune as he spread. Those who let the homeless boy into their house would lose everything. Those who treated him kindly became hurt or unhappy. Even Shi himself suffered lose time and time again, whether it was a friend or precious object.
Throughout it all, Shi determined that he would keep smiling. He understood that he was a unique Kami and had what all spirits wanted: A physical life. And Shi intended to make use of it. He also learned that he needed to back off and not cause so much pain and suffering.
At age fifteen, Shi is more self-aware. Perhaps too self aware. He tries not to interact with others out of fear of cursing them, and is generally living alone. That doesn't stop him from at least trying to be happy: He enjoys composing and playing music, reading, and a lot of one-player sports and games. While he does long for a family again, he has no idea how to handle his growing curses. And they are growing, despite all of his attempts to stop it.