Kuro is an impatient person; she has no time to waste on people who refuse to accept her for who she is. She shares a rather antagonistic relationship with her friend and lover, Marise. They have the strange ability to push every single one of each other's buttons, and yet somehow, they make it work. The deep, abiding love they share for one another is painfully obvious to those around them, even though they fight so often. Abraxas has a tendency to refer to Kuro as a pain in the ass, but a lovable pain in the ass.
Kuro has, however, no such loyalties to the rest of the Senshi with whom she work. She has little patience for the almost-fatal struggles of her leader's advisor, Sailoraine, to save the lives of the innocents they work with. Kuro believes that if their hearts were more pure, they wouldn't wind up in situations where the Senshi have to intervene.
She is learning through the patient tutelage of her own advisors - the Lavender wolf, Hihana, and Sailors Etherios and Luminatia - and Sailormoon herself, that sometimes people aren't deserving of the fate that the youma would have in store for them...that sometimes good people are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Kuro's attacks as Sailoriridan are sometimes wild and unpredictable; the darkness she casts in her shadowed earth element are often just as likely to strike friend as foe, and she trains night and day with the help Marise, Etherios, and Luminatia (Anna and Karen Kain, respectively) to better control her dark power so as to keep from destroying the people she is slowly coming to see as friends.
WARNING: The story of Iridan's origin is directly tied to her life on earth in present day. Spoilers may and likely are present; proceed at own risk. As with the awakening, this is taken word for word from the Sailormoon Vengeance chronicle itself.
"Acheria must not fall! We are the first line of defense in this war, by the gods, and I refuse to allow them even an inch of ground on our fair world of shadow!"
The cry was met with the ragged cheers of a bone-weary army, and Izanami watched her guardian and lover trying to rally the warriors into some semblance of strength for what was obviously a last stand.
Izanagi paced in front of the battered soldiers. "I will be marching out at your head, my warriors," he promised. "Follow me to victory!"
And with those few stirring words, Izanagi led the charge.
Izanami watched him go, watching until her pale grey eyes could see him no longer. "Farewell, my love," she murmured, tears in her eyes that she refused to shed. She knew full well in her heart that she would never again see him in life, and had resigned herself to that fact with a bitter heart. He shouldn't have been leading that charge. He should have been there. With her. With Izanami, protecting his princess to the end.
Instead, Izanagi was in denial. He refused to admit that Acheria had fallen, that their people wouldn't survive the week.
She turned her back on the charge and the battlefield and strode purposefully back inside the castle. "Izanagi," she murmured to herself, "you lost your claim on me today. And if we ever meet in our next life...you must earn me back."
Hours later, the castle had been breached.
Two days later, there was nothing left of Acheria's civilization except smoking rubble and bodies. Starting a trend that would continue on even to Mendhai, the world at the system's center, a lone figure strode through the rubble, that of a dark-skinned young woman with golden eyes and lavender hair. Hihana, Mendhaian Goddess of Shadow, patron Goddess of the world of Acheria. She gathered up Izanagi's fallen body and carried him to the castle ruins, laying him beside Izanami. 'Irrin, the first of our worlds has fallen,' she murmured to the heavens.
Her father-God, Irrin, replied. 'I know, Hihana. I never expected Chikatte to influence so many from the void...'
'And now he will soon be free. I foresee the end of us all. Unless something can be done.'
'Wait, Hihana. I wish to see the fates of all our worlds...before I intervene. Have patience, my daughter. Your children of shadows may yet be restored.'
Hihana nodded, golden eyes gazing sadly at her fallen children. Many long days passed before Irrin spoke to her again. 'Chikalle will intervene. Our Lady Fate...shall give our children another chance...and give us a hope that her brother Chaos may once again be sealed away. The Mendhaian princess must pay for her sins, though she will be required to do this during her next life.'
'Where are they sent?' Hihana asked, the Starseeds of her children winging away skyward.
'Earth...the future...where they will be needed most. Innocence needs saving there, and our children can stop the evil that comes.'
Hihana nodded. 'This is appropriate,' she murmured. Blurring into the form of the lavender wolf that was her totem, Hihana leaped into the sky, loping along beside the Starseeds of her children as they soared away toward new life, new wars...new hope.
WARNING: The story of Iridan's awakening is taken word for word from the Sailormoon Vengeance chronicle itself; spoilers might be included, but if so, they are small in number and importance.
Kuro was finally tired of it. She'd stormed out of the apartment she shared with Marise, vowing that there was no way in hell she was going back. He'd pushed it one too many times with that constant "Oi! Onna!" crap, and now it was either leave, she decided, or beat him into tiny pieces with one of her shoes.
She heard the door to their apartment building slam behind her as she stormed off down the street, and knew Marise was coming after her. "Leave me alone, Marise!" she snapped behind herself.
"Kuro! Don't do this again!" he called. "You won't stay away forever! You never do!"
She turned, walking backward. "Guess there's a first time for everything then, isn't there?" she snarled.
It was then that she realized he wasn't looking at her anymore. He was staring instead several feet behind her and to the left. She frowned curiously, her feet still pedaling backward on autopilot, and turned, thumping into and nearly tripping over a creature made entirely of darkness. "Where Abraxassss...?" it hissed, sounding as though human language was difficult for it.
She blinked. "Back off, pal. I'm so not in the mood."
It gripped her arm. "Where Abraxasss?" it hissed again, its claw-like fingers digging painfully into her arm. She looked down at her arm to find blood welling up at the skin.
"I said, back off!" she snapped, wrenching her arm free and causing the thing's claws to rend large gashes in her arm. They sizzled for a moment and cauterized completely, bringing a surprised, pained curse to Kuro's lips. "What the hell is this thing?"
It snarled. "Abraxasssss!" it howled, lunging at her. "Tellllll...or killlll..."
Taken completely off-guard, Kuro crashed to the ground beneath the thing. "Get off of me!" she said, struggling weakly. She'd hit her head when she was knocked over, and the impact had rocketed through her spine, making her limbs tingle.
Marise started running. "Kuro!" he cried, only to go flying head over heels as one of the things grabbed at his ankles as it materialized in the darkness. He crashed to the ground and pulled himself up onto his arms, dazed.
"Marise, help me!" she cried. The shadow-creature suddenly felt as though it weighed a ton, and no matter how hard she pushed, Kuro couldn't get it off of her.
It was moving one long, razor-like talon toward her throat to finish her when a blur of lavender shot into it from the side, taking it down with a canine snarl. The thing flailed and thrashed while its' throat was ripped out. The small, glowing form standing over it then proceeded to rip something free from the creature's chest, and crushed a small, black crystal between its pointed teeth.
Kuro got to her feet, dazed as she watched what was obviously a small, glowing lavender wolf finish off the creature, who dissolved into nothingness when the crystal shattered. "Izanami-hime! Behind you!" The wolf spoke, a soft, feminine voice.
Kuro didn't question, simply ducked as one of the shadow creatures flew over her head and rolled, getting to its feet.
"Your sword, Izanami! Become Sailoriridan! Fight!"
"My...what are you talking about?! WHO are you talking about?!" Kuro cried, dodging swing after swing as the creature tried its hardest to decapitate her.
"Sotsuteka! The Lavender Blade! Izanami, repeat after me! Shadows of Earth," the wolf said, golden eyes watching Kuro expectantly.
"Shadows of Earth," Kuro echoed uncertainly, wondering what the pint-sized wolf was getting at.
"I'll get you for that one later, girl," the wolf growled, having read Kuro's thoughts and hearing the pint-sized comment. "Shadows of Earth, Enshroud Me!" the wolf cried. "Say it, Izanami! There is no time!"
Kuro bit her lip as she ducked under another clawed swing. "Shadows of Earth," she repeated a second time, the words somehow sounding vaguely familiar, though she couldn't place why, "Enshroud Me!"
Violet and golden light swirled and danced and tore around Kuro, darkening slowly until they were a malestrom of energy in darkest purple and golden brown. She stood very still, pale grey eyes darting around at the storm surrounding her. It closed in around her, forming to her body, and she let out a surprised shriek and a curse.
When the light cleared, Kuro stood in the garb of a Sailor Senshi, turning and spinning in place to try and look at herself. "What am I?!" she cried. "Xena the Warrior Hooker?"
Kuro watched a lot of American television shows.
Very little material constituted her clothing, and she was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. A katana with a blade of lavender-tinted steel materialized in her hand and she yelped again, feeling completely out of her element and utterly helpless.
The wolf growled a warning, the shadow creature having launched itself into the air, headed for Kuro's back.
A ball of lavender-tinted darkness rocketed through the air, sending the creature to oblivion with a shriek.
Kuro whirled, surprised to see none other than Marise standing there, clothed in warrior's garb that reflected the colors of her lavender and gold Sailor fuku. His own grey eyes were hard while he watched the creature dissolve, but the moment they came to land on the girl he'd just saved, they softened considerably. "Izanami...have you finally returned to me?" he asked quietly.
She stiffened, the name bringing memory upon memory, and the reply came unbidden to her lips: "Izanagi. I have returned...but you must earn me." Grey eyes flashed challenge as she spoke.
His lips quirked upward in a wry smile. "Then I ask only one borrowed kiss," he replied, bowing. Izanagi stepped close to her side and tilted her chin upward, kissing her softly.
She folded into his arms. "You win, Izanagi," the being that had been Hoshihana Kuro murmured softly. "I could never resist your touch."
The wolf, animal form of a Goddess of Shadow, looked on, smiling faintly in the canine way, tongue lolled out between her front bottom fangs as she laughed in silence. "And thus is Sailoriridan, Senshi of Darkness and Shadows reborn," she said, and padded away into the shadows...where she would watch from a distance and remain unseen until she was needed again.
Name :: Hoshihana Kuro Meaning :: "Black Starflower" Gender :: Female Height :: 5'10" Eyes :: Pale Grey Hair :: Short, Medium grey-green Birthday :: February 11 Age :: 21 Sign :: Aquarius Blood type :: B Favorite Food :: California Rolls (Kuro calls them "fakie sushi") Least Favorite Food :: Mashed Potatoes Favorite Gemstone :: Tanzanite Goals :: Kuro wants to work with special needs children and is currently in college working toward the degrees necessary to pursue this career fulltime. Strengths :: Her work with children, ink painting, perseverence when it comes to her training, Hihana Weaknesses :: Impatience, imperfect attack skills, tendency to fight on her own without her teammates, loyalty Hobbies :: Polishing Sotsuteka, wrestling with Hihana, bickering with Marise, and ink painting Family :: None
Princess Name :: Izanami [Appendix A] Name Meaning :: The Female Who Invites Planet :: Acheria [Appendix B] Senshi Name :: Sailoriridan Name Origin :: Iridan, The World Beneath [Appendix C] Colors :: Lavender, Yellow-Gold, Black Guide :: Hihana, lavender wolf [Appendix D] Weapon :: Lavender blade, "Sotsuteka" [Appendix E] Collar :: Lavender Tiara :: Yellow-gold Tiara Gem :: Lavender Earrings :: Lavender star gems Choker :: Lavender, silver star in center Brooch :: Lavender star crystal Gloves :: Fingerless except index finger Right glove :: Yellow-gold Left glove :: Lavender Upper bodice :: Black; yellow-gold stripe and lavender stripe at hemline Skirt top layer :: Lavender Skirt bottom layer :: Yellow-gold Skirt bows :: Lavender ribbons, yellow-gold bow Boots :: Black, silver star in the center of each boot Left Boot :: Line at top of boot :: Lavender Right Boot :: Line at top :: Yellow-gold Henshin Mantra :: Shadows of Earth, Enshroud Me! Power Realm :: Earth, with power from Darkness Other :: Telepathy Power Counter :: Wind, Light Dark Earth Summoning! :: Iridan brings Sotsuteka up over her head, blade pointing downward, and slams it into the earth, embedding the blade. It sends a wave of rock and earth arcing at the enemy to bury them alive beneath a flood of living soil. The enemies buried by this attack are never seen again. Standard base-level Senshi attack. Eternal Darkness Rise! :: Iridan once more calls upon the blade Sotsuteka and calls forth the shadows themselves to prey on her opponents. This attack is very dangerous as Iridan cannot call it off, and once activated, she is forved to remain vulnerable to attack upon her person while she controls the shadows that she raises. Until the attack is complete, Iridan is defenseless. Attack is very volatile, and hard to control; Iridan has hit friend as well as foe in the past and now trains to control it, using it only in the case of extreme emergency. Starshadow Serenade! :: Iridan's ultimate attack, the Starshadow Serenade cuts off the enemy from any source of light that exists anywhere within a radius of one hundred yards. Once encased in this bubble of pure darkness, the enemy's worst and most horrible fears and night terrors come screaming to life to rend them limb from limb. The only problem is that this attack draws on the life forces of not only Iridan, but her comrades as well. Attack is only used as a last resort before death. Opening Theme :: "I'm Still Here" Vertical Horizon Image song :: "This Is How You Remind Me" Nickelback Dance Club Mix :: "Lost Complex" Iceman Memory Retrieval Mix :: "Here With Me" Dido Romance Mix :: "Here's To The Night" Eve6 Background Mix [happy] :: "Thank You" Dido Henshin Mix :: "Hey Baby" No Doubt Evil Mix :: "Devil's Trill Sonata" Vanessa Mae [Yami No Matsuei] Fight Mix :: "Lies" Evanescence Angst Mix :: "Don't Speak" No Doubt Death Mix :: "When I Look To The Sky" Train Heartbreak Mix :: "You're Gone" Diamond Rio Background Mix 2 [sorrow] :: "Dante's Prayer" Loreena McKennitt Fight Mix 2 :: "Supernova Goes Pop" Powerman 5000 Angst Mix 2 :: "It Doesn't Matter" Allison Krauss Sorrow Mix :: "Long Way From Home" David Lanz Fight Mix 3 :: "Firestarter" Prodigy Evil Mix 2 :: "Break Me Shake Me" Savage Garden Fight Mix 4 :: "When Worlds Collide" Powerman 5000 Background Mix 3 [tense] :: "Uninvited" Alanis Morissette Final Fight Mix [end] :: "Viva Forever" The Spice Girls Aftermath :: "Full of Grace" Sarah McLachlan Closing Theme :: "Calling All Angels" Train Appendix A - Izanami :: An ironic name chosen by Izanami's mother. The word means "the female who invites" in Acherian speech. From birth, Izanami was a challenging, spirited soul, just as likely to turn away from someone as help them. The love-hate relationship she shared with her protector certainly evidenced this, as they were just as likely to scream and yell at each other as speak kindly. Izanami made everyone she knew earn her trust, family, friend, or no. Surprisingly, there's no staggering legend behind the choice of this name as there has been with the rest of Abraxas' team. Part of Izanami's temper, however, may have stemmed from the fact that her name was chosen as an ironic pun against her life. [top] Appendix B - Acheria :: The outmost world of the Mendhaian star system, Acheria was the first of the three Outposts, the first defenses against attack. Its fellow Outposts were Anila and Neimin. When the Outposts fell, it was a beacon to the rest of the star system that their worlds were in danger, or, even to some, doomed to fall. Being the outermost world, Acheria was shrouded in a nearly perpetual night, causing its people to learn to love and appreciate darkness as well as light. It was this love for their shadowed world that gave the first Sailoriridan the powers of shadow as well as the powers of her element, Earth. To this day, due to the people's love for their dark world, the girl chosen as Sailoriridan has been able to utilize the powers associated with Darkness with almost more ease than those of her natural elemental realm. The word "Acheria" itself means "Darkness", though not the sort of darkness that stems from evil; the sort of darkness that is merely produced by an absence of light. [top] Appendix C - Iridan, The World Beneath :: Iridan is the name of the Acherian underworld, the place where souls go to await their final judgement. It is perhaps a universal irony that this name was chosen for the protector of a world of darkness, for the Sailor Senshi responsible for this world controls the power of Shadow almost as though it were a part of her own body. [top] Appendix D - Hihana, lavender wolf :: Hihana was the Mendhaian Goddess of Shadow, patron deity of the world of Acheria. When Acheria became the first world to fall before the attack of Chikatte's army, Hihana was the first to plead to Irrin, her father-God, to restore the souls of her world's protectors. Irrin would not fill this request immediately. In fact, he wouldn't resolve the issue until Mendhai itself had fallen. He wanted to see if the people would be able to overcome the evil. And the people of that innermost planet might have...if it hadn't been for an impulsive princess and a last-ditch attempt to save her world at the sacrifice of her own life. Hihana was among those Gods and Goddesses who followed their charges to Earth to guide them through their new lives, but unlike the others, Hihana is not a constant companion to her charges. She instead remains in the shadows, watching over them from afar and staying just close enough that she can be called if needed. [top] Appendix E - Lavender blade, "Sotsuteka," the katana :: Sotsuteka, a word meaning "earth-shadow", is the katana wielded by Sailoriridan since the first incarnation of the dark Senshi. Sotsuteka is a simple katana, the only striking feature being the lavender tint to the steel blade, a symbol of its lineage and meaning. The blade itself carries no special powers, but instead serves as a channel for Iridan's own powers, amplifying them and strengthening each attack. Mastery of the amplification properties of Sotsuteka, however, is a long an arduous process, taking great fortitude and strength of mind. For the current Sailoriridan, it's a curiosity as to whether or not she'll have the patience to learn the ins and outs of her new weapon. Will she have the patience to learn how to wield it? Not even the blade itself knows for sure. [top]