Name: Hisoka Fennec
Age: 16
Birthdate: November 19
Rank: Genin

Village: Yokuchi
Clan: Fennec
Element(s): Suiton, Raiton
Specialties: Summoning, Ninjutsu
Special Characteristics: 

Spoiler:

Height: 5'11
Weight: 155lbs
Hair Color: Dusty Blonde
Eye Color:Honey Gold
General Description: A blank expression and wise eyes; that's the first thing most people notice about Hisoka. Raised to show nothing to outsiders, those of the Fennec clan are almost the exact concept of desert nomad; stoic, stone faced, and somewhat hesitant of outsiders. Not hostile; they welcome visitors and travelers into their camps with little protest; the laws of the desert and the nomads wouldn't allow them otherwise. Unless he was traveling into the cities; he wears the normal bundled robes and head-coverings of the desert; nothing showing but his eyes, and not even that at times. Bright colors; thick, but still light materials; and any number of foxes dancing between the camel's legs; the clan standard. If his head-covering was removed; the ears stand out quite starkly; even with the coloration being the same as his hair. Large and fox-like; the mark of his blood. Within the cities he would dress lighter; fewer layers but still full coverage, and a special head-scarf that covered his ears and most of his face; leaving only his eyes unless he felt like showing more. His ears made people stare; and when they stared they wouldn't buy his wares. He was a merchant, just like the rest of his people, after all.

Personality: In a single word? Contradiction. Quiet, but loves to talk. Almost prudish in his dressing style; but flamboyantly colorful. Although, this is as much about his home in the desert (with all of the sandstorms and blazing sun), as much as it is a personal choice. Quick witted, sharp mind; naive in his viewpoints of the world. Honey tongued merchant, purveyor of truth. About the only thing that was absolute about him was his love for his home, his foxes, and his people. His loyalty to his people was absolute; the desert nomads could afford little else. This makes them fierce allies as well; to those they feel worthy. Hisoka fits into this mold perfectly; although he is wary of outsiders to a larger degree then most. This doesn't stop him from his duties; it just make him... cold, at first. One he warms to you; you've found a life-long friend; and one that can be counted on at all times. He carries one of the small foxes that gave his clan it's name; a young adult he hand raised from infancy. The kit had been orphaned in one of the worst sandstorms any of them had seen since the Great Storm that led them to the oasis; and he'd taken the baby in. Called nothing more inspired then Kit; the little fox never leaves his side; normally napping somewhere in the many folds and pockets of Hisoka's robes, or riding on his head between his ears.
Likes: Hisoka is a simple creature, with simple tastes. The sweet tang of desert honey; the yips and chirps of the fox kits; cool breezes of the late evening in this high deserts. The talk of his people around the campfires; brutishly strong coffee the desert nomads loved. The smell of the spices and the pure white of the salts they traded. Calls of the hawkers in the markets. The soft fur of his pet fox; the puppy breath of the babies as they played on his prone form during the late afternoon siestas. He was a simple man, with simple tastes; and the simplicity of his world fit him just fine.
Dislikes: Simple is as simple does. Likes, dislikes, all of it. Few things can be categorized as a dislike; Hisoka being the type to enjoy most aspects of life in general: it was a gift, a precious one at that; to balk at any of the many facets was to be ungrateful, and that was a sentence of death in the harsh lands of his world. Accepted as they came; but not enjoyed; that was a better description for him. Lack of water would be the closest to a dislike he ever came; his people where highly adept at rationing water when not near a clean source; and to run out without good reason was to show weakness and be taken a fool; something that would invite ruin among his people. Beyond that... liars. Not the silken tongue of the merchants; that was a world he understood and in doing so saw the truths of the people; but outright deceitful liars. Those that went out into the world spreading falsehoods and breeding distrust; two things that lead to death in the lands of deserts and ever shifting sands.
Motivations: Survival, plain and simple. Survival of himself, his people, and their wards; the foxes that gave them a home and a new purpose so long ago. To maintain their home; keep the waters clean and never abuse the gift so as to have it taken away. Their clan was stable and strong because they had a stable source of food and water; income from the sugar dates and salt caves they mined, and the exotic spices that they where able to grow in their hidden home. The prospered because they maintained the balance; they survived comfortably because they worked to better themselves without taking advantage. Hisoka's drive is the same as the rest; maintain his home, keep his clan alive, watch over the foxes that trust them; and make a few extra ryo on the side for a little desert honey.
Fears: Disorientation, lack of water, loss of baring: the biggest dangers and greatest fears of the desert nomads. Without water, you die. Disorientation leads to death when you roast like a steak in the sun. Baring lost means you don't reach your stops; you miss your water sources and your campsites; and to be lost in the desert means death comes quickly for you. Beyond that; there is little to fear in the desert. So long as you know your way; know your stops; and understand the lands and their moods; you are safer no where else in the world. You must be cautious; not fearless; to survive there. The fearless die horrible, painfully slow deaths. The cautious live long, comfortable lives.

History: How to quantify the life of the nomads; even ones that have a home to return to. Hisoka was born in the shaded paradise of his clan's homeland; under the gently swaying date trees and the smell of water, salt, and sand in the air. Foxes of all ages sat and watched, chattering and yipping to themselves and the older clansmen that stood nearby; speaking of how strong the young baby sounded, the color of his hair, and even the ever increasing instances of the fox-ears he was born with. It was a time of celebration and cheer; the clan was large; but highly scattered, and to have a birth in the oasis was somewhat rare. More likely to be born in the city or widely scattered villages in which they traded their wares.

His childhood was easy enough; he was one of the lucky few that was able to stay in the oasis for most of his young life; only leaving for short times to follow the elders on local trades near by; or into Yokuchi for the yearly supply runs. His world was water and green and shady trees them; a paradise in the desert sands. The foxes loved him, and he them: his ears made it easier to hear their talk, and he was especially fond of several of the yearlings that had been born when he was first old enough to help take care of the new kits. There was one; the runt of a litter of 6 (large for the Fennec Fox); that intrigued him more then the others. They had the same coloration you see; the little kit was different from it's darker siblings; and Hisoka found him to be beautiful. Then, the sands threatened to overtake their homeland: a storm the likes of which where seen only one, maybe twice in a generation hit and many of the elder foxes where lost in a cave in. This left many of the young kits orphaned; but never alone. The clan took care of it's own; and the foxes where their closest friends. The kits would live, and they would thrive under the nurture of Hisoka's family. In this time; he took the baby runt under his wing; became it's caregiver and he Hisoka's closest friend. From then on they would be inseparable; Hisoka's young mind having no name for the baby but Kit; the term for all the youngster, but which had taken on a deeper meaning between them. They where both orphans now; as Hisoka's father and mother had been lost trying to save the foxes. They where both orphaned kits now; and they had to stick together.

It was not long after this that the recruiters from Yokuchi began to eye the Fennec as they brought their older children into the city to learn the merchant ways. The Fennec where strong, stronger willed, and highly valuable as allies: the clan was exceedingly rich by most standards, even if they did not flaunt this. The knew the trade routes and the secret locations of the spice and salt mines; the water holes and shaded valleys; everything of the desert existed in the minds of the clan. To have them in the ranks of the village's ninja would be a blessing and an asset. It was then that the clan was approached with a deal. Favored positions and reduced taxes on their trades and sales; a lucrative contract to supply the village itself, and not just the markets; and freedom of travel anywhere the desert sands touched. The clan was... interested, and said so. Then the rest of the deal. To turn over their youth to become part of the Yokuchi ninja... it was not something they where ready to do. They where merchants; not warriors after all. However; they would consider the offer. A week later; they had summoned home all of the clan that they possibly could and presented the offer from Yokuchi. Then, they gave the youngsters a choice. Stay, and train as merchants; or go, and become ninja.

Most chose to stay.

Some chose to go.

Hisoka was one of them. In his mind; he felt the strength of the ninja would allow him to protect his family; so that another tragedy like the sand storm cave in would never happen again. And he knew that his people would benefit greatly from the increased trade opportunities.  They could provide for Yokuchi the goods that where needed to thrive and become truly great; and in return would be free to continue the life they had always known. Freedom from the laws and rules of the city-dwellers. Freedom in their ancient home. The life of the merchants would continue; but they where not above change. They would adapt. They would grow. The balance would be maintained. They where wiser then most; they would not fall into the pit-traps of gain for the sake of gain.

Hisoka would make sure of it.

RP Sample: The setting sun was prismatic off the sand of the desert; recently turned and churned from the passing sandstorms. There would be rain soon; the smell of the water was in the air. The fox kits danced in the cooling air, enjoying the soft light and drinking the smell of the coming life that would blanket their home after the rains. Even the grasses on the edge of their oasis lake would not bloom until the rains fell; the signal for the start of the short growth season. He could hear the shouts of of his elders and cousins transplanting the newest crop of date seedlings; they would grow best if their first drink was of the blessed sky rain; filled with the energies of rebirth.

A night of celebration under the cover of the rocks with their foxes and families; a time to roast the rare cow they had acquired  from an allied merchant group. They would celebrate the changing of the seasons; the new life coming to the desert; and maybe even the birth of a new litter of kits.

It was a good night to live in the desert.

Faceclaim: Takashi Natsume – Natsume Yuujinchou