Ningyō

Personality
In her adolescence, Ningyō was shy and submissive to even the most minor of threats, but she was strong willed when facing opposition with her sword at her side. Now entering adulthood, the petite and otherwise seemingly harmless female has grown a bit more womanly with traits that still cling on to her from younger years, but she has also gained many valuable traits that have helped her gain some self-confidence and better deal with men; albeit still extremely shy around them, she has learned to control her stuttering, though it can an will flare up if she gets particularly stressed or nervous. She now diligently studies poisons to better prepare herself for the shinobi world, for albeit the world she is from only wields swords, she knows that the current time will destroy her.



Ningyō is a very benevolent young woman with a warm and kindly aura, and she has even shown to be magnanimous to some degree, so she has become quite the captivating little creature. Her manner of speaking has also turned to more modern speech, but it is to a point of eloquence due to her former ways of speaking to others. Level-headed and dutiful, the gentle and humble swordswoman is indeed a fair maiden. She is quite modest an also kind, but she has shown to be a very logical thinker with exceptional wisdom that goes beyond her age; this could possibly be connected to the traveling she has done.

Furthermore, she is very moralistic outside of being reserved, as she is will to set aside differences if it is the right thing to do. She's a bit insecure of herself still and is also very passive, but she has always stuck to the honor code of the samurai and will never stray from it so long as she lives. Ningyō is also a very punctual and polite young woman.

Appearance
She lives up to her name, as she truly resembles a life-size doll. The woman, upon first glance, appears very warm and welcoming, and her beauty is actually quite astonishing. With raven tresses and enchanting mint colored eyes that are slightly slanted, Ningyō is a beauty to behold, being in a category of her own in feminine grace and softness. She has a soft, fair complexion with sweet, gentle smiles and long eyelashes; according to appearance alone, one would believe her to be royalty. She normally dons elaborately decorated kimonos that reach to her ankles, whose floral patterns are breath-taking to say the leastbut her main attire consists of a black, long sleeved turtle-neck with the long sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a pair of pleated, dark blue pants reaching to her ankles with her hair pulled neatly in to a ponytail. White socks and sandals contribute to her outfit along; this is simply meant to ensure that she will not easily be infected by the parasites she studies, nor will she be poisoned by accidentally coming in to contact with an instrument covered in toxins. When the weather is warmer, her outside attire will normally shift to a white, short-sleeved haori and a pair of red, pleated pants that reach to her ankles; coupled with this is the standard sandals and socks. Her hair is often down during these times as well and reaches to her shoulders while her bangs, shorter than the rest of her raven locks, frame her face, revealing her forehead, and brush against her jaw bone. Her ever faithful sword remains at her side on the left hip.



The Tse Tse Fly
Durable, blood-sucking, and swift despite its large size, the Tse Tse Fly summoned by Ningyō is a formidable little beast. They are robust, sparsely bristled flies that are usually larger than their relative, the housefly. They range from 6 to 16 mm (0.2 to 0.6 inch) in length. Tsetses are rather drab in appearance, with colour varying from yellowish brown to dark brown, and with a gray thorax that often has dark markings. The abdomen may be banded. The females are more uncommon than males, but females attack larger animals than their counterparts, yet both drink their own weight in blood. Their bite is painful, but if that doesn't deter anyone from coming near them, this species summoned by Ningyō is prone to carrying a disease known for killing thousands every year. One bite causes a parasite to be injected in to the bloodstream, thus infecting the clean host. The disease starts off mild, something like a cold, but the longer it goes without treatment, the harder the parasite is to kill. Without treatment, it can and will kill its host.

The Tse Tse fly is mainly used for reconnaissance and swarming. Their swarms can be massive, which proves that they have swift breeding and hatching periods to keep up there numbers. The sleeping sickness they garner is actually gained from sucking the blood of an infected animal or person, and it is not genetically transferred. They harbor a strain of the virus known as Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, which is known for killing people within months after the initial infection. Death is slow and painful, sometimes leading up to full on organ failure. One of the symptoms of the second phase includes confusion and disorientation, making common sense decisions harder to make, and even making the decision to go to the doctor is difficult to come to.

With enough of them, they can suck the victim dry of all blood, so their swarms are very important in order for them to be deadly.

Kenjutsu
Ningyō, born in the land of Samurai, was trained from an early age in their ways. She's particularly swift and elegant in her attacks while also being very agile and flexible. Her abilities are ones that should be noted above all else, for she practices two types only: Iaijutsu and Iaidō. She's proficient in both, though is nothing in comparison to some; however, because Kenjutsu is her primary fighting style, she surpasses normal expectations for a petite, almost fragile appearing, eighteen year old. Her attacks are always well-timed and she will often utilize defensive or counter measures to ensure a win rather than blindly attacking someone. She prefers defense seeing as she doesn't have the upper body strength to deliver very strong blows, but always aims for the head of whoever she fights; if she means to kill, it will be swift at the very least.

Her lower body is particularly powerful, as her legs support her weight in her stances, thus she has an easier time maneuvering around the battlefield. Being light on her feet holds many advantages seeing as she can't deliver very powerful blows, and can easily be overpowered by others in strength; since she can't muscle her way through an attack, she has to parry and dodge, which requires her to be swift. Ningyō's reflexes also depend on her ability to quickly and easily remove her swords from its sheath to strike any incoming objects; both of her styles depend heavily on this manner of drawing out her blade, so she can't afford to be slow.

One technique in particular forces her to be fast or be blocked, though when she uses all of her possible speed to utilize this technique, she can be quite hard to dodge, especially when coupled with the Body Flicker Technique. She's certainly nothing to underestimate when using her sword, but it definitely isn't her strength which makes her fearsome.

Poisons and Parasites
Ningyō is gradually coming to learn of parasites and toxins found on the earth, and is fascinated by the two different worlds. Albeit creepy-crawling, insect-like creatures aren't exactly her forte, the young woman knows they could be of use to her, and finds their life-cycles very interesting. Poisons, on the other hand, she finds practical and genius; simply putting a dab of a potent toxin on her sword could ensure a win for her if she can hold out long enough for the symptoms of the poison or toxin to take effect. In any case, she finds that both fields could make for some practical uses in the future if she wished to truly delve in to the subject. Seeing as both parasites and poisons are widely spread throughout the world, the possibilities appear endless, as does the reading on each type. Some of them have very little on them, so she is skeptical of their usage, but does a lot of research on them.

Bukijutsu
A work in progress. Ningyō has not yet undergone any training in this area yet, though feels that if she were to follow this style of fighting, she would be more able to stick close to her roots as a samurai rather than a ninja.