Kokeko Inuhouou

Prologue 1: Tattered notebook
 ''"Basa basa"... This is ridiculous, I know, but anyone who finds this book please take notice, heed my words as they may become wiser than any daoist text in the near future; run. Run away, now. Especially if you hear that dreaded noise. "Basa basa... basa basa, basa basa" what sort of wings make that ungodly noise, it's unbearable. It's like a rooster, yet it breathes these brilliant flames like a dragon. Each time I try to look, I've only caught a glimpse and then it was gone. I just find myself screaming "what are you" what are you, what are you...''

The text continues on repeating this through several pages...

''If you're still reading this then you're already dead. So am I. That thing doesn't stop. I finally saw it. It was huge. It was some giant dragon rooster thing. No that can't be it. It's tricking me I know it...''

The rest of the page is gibberish.

''You know I heard that sound again... "basa basa"... "basa basa". What kind of sound is it ev...''

The ink seems to have been smeared across the page starting from that word.

''Basa basa... basa basa...''

The book holds blood stains on each page, most of which seem to be the words themselves which just repeat. The rest of the book is fairly useless.

Prologue 2: New life, new name


"Basan, Basabasa, giant cock... Inuhouou... I like that one." Said a young looking girl as she walked down a worn path, tearing a piece of meat from the skewer she held in hand before offering it to the fowl on her shoulder, who tore a vegetable off instead. "Inuhouou... They come up with weird things, don't they? Come to think of it, I never found a name for you..." She tapped the skewer against her lips as she finishes recalling a book that she read. The fowl on her shoulder looked at her curiously, wondering what she meant.

"A name? Ya ain't had need fer one 'fore. What's changed?" The fowl said in such a way only the girl would truly understand.

"Well it's only fair. I've got this form, and you have my old one. We're one in the same."

"Alright, lemme rephrase it. Why do you need a name?" The fowl cawed, somewhat annoyed at the blatant dancing around the question.

The girl thought about the answer... or so it seemed before she merely responded, "Aaaah, that's it... Kokeko Inuhouou... Has a nice ring to it, yes?"

"Phoenix dog? Really?" The bird would narrow its eyes if it could, "Whatever, lass... Now answer my question"

"Oh fine..." The girl huffed, defeated, "Traveling around is getting so boring. I want to settle down in one of the human villages. Preferably soon."

"This far from home?" The bird tilted its head, a bit confused.

"May as well. Humans are getting smarter, after all. They already know of... us... to an extent"

"Works'a fiction"

"Not fiction, are they?"

"Point given, but are ya sure 'bout this?"

"You know I am, Basabasa"

"..."

A silence befalled the two as they walked. It was quite a nice day out, if not a bit cloudy. Neither of them quite minded, though. The sun was ever so unbearable in the summer, after all.

"... What?" The bird asked, simply.

"... what? Don't like it?", replied the girl, now taking her turn to cock her on head to the side.

"... Keep walkin', missy."

Chapter 1: The peaceful hermit


High in the mountains of the Iyo Province, hidden admist a bamboo forest, was placed two simple looking huts. One of the huts was filled with hens and roosters, while in the other lived a simple, peaceful man - a hermit, one could say. Though not the magical, nor immortal type of hermit, the man chose simply to lead a life of his own where he would die peacefully, alone. Though the alone that was seen by other people who thought his choice a bit silly was not this man's belief, for he had the birds of the air and the fowl of the ground to keep him company.

Often would the man care for the chickens, and each day he would go out to feed and nurture them, one may find that he was not truly alone, as he would often converse with these fowls as if they were his own kind. He knew better than to think them like his kind, or he like there kind, though, but the occasional traveler that he'd find passing by, taken in and fed meat and eggs by this man, would always find this conversing with the fowls to be for the demented. As such, they would be gone the next day. The man always knew why... he did not mind. He feared that two hungry mouths would lay waste to his friends, rather he enjoyed the balance that he alone kept.

As the years went by, he noticed that though the roosters he had started with had mostly passed on, leaving their children to take their place, never once did the alpha change out, neither from death or defeat. Rather, it seemed to be the same one he started with all those years ago. This revelation was something he found odd, not only in of itself, but also for the fact he had not noticed this despite the alpha perhaps being his favorite of the bunch. To lay rest to his doubts, he decided he'd watch this one more carefully than the others, and brought the rooster into his own hut. Though he expected the rooster to go against being torn away from his family, his flock, the rooster showed no such protest, in fact enjoying living with the hermit in his hut. The man? He was surprised by this, what could only be called emotion, but never the less was happy.

Within the next few days, the unthinkable happened. Within the man's own hut, he'd found an egg. Though this egg was not his intended breakfast, nor was it found where the rest of the collected eggs would be, were there any. Rather, this egg was found sat upon by the rooster, no longer considered a rooster by the man who took care of it. Rather it was a brilliantly colored hen that managed so well to pass for a male, which surprised the hermit. How did he ever possibly make that mistake? He considered the possibility that perhaps the rooster changed its gender, or that it was a mix of both genders, but he soon realized the notion altogether was foolish, and hence, forgot of it.

And so he did, and so did both he and the fowl live together in the hut they now shared, every day returning outside to take care of the other fowls. Such became a routine, so much so that combined with an aging mind, the hermit never noticed how big his favorite fowl had grown, nor of how long it had lived, perhaps having come to terms with it. Before he knew it, he was quite aged, and didn't even realize the second pair of hands that helped alongside his own. They were young, smooth where his was aged, wrinkled, and calloused. He never noticed how each trip started and ended with a human figure passing him by to tend to the chickens, leaving him to just watch. He never noticed as this figure now aided him back and forth, but yet... he was blissful. He was happy with the life he'd chosen and lived out. He was happy with the friends he had through it all. This figure he barely noticed, but yet he believed in, made him so happy. Even when he no longer was accompanied by it, not because he was abandoned, but rather because he could no longer go out with her to tend to the chickens, he was still happy.

He was so happy, so blissful, that he fell into a peaceful slumber.

Chapter 2: Birth of the Basan
 Alone in a bamboo forest, the moving of dirt was heard, followed by the patting of a shovel on the cold ground. A petite figure stood over the hole she'd just filled in, now marked by a mound of risen dirt where something filled it. She stood there for several moments before heaving a heavy sigh and heading back to her two huts. At least, she thought she could now call them hers. There was no-one else that they could belong to. When she arrived, she carried out the usual routine... feeding her family. At least, she thought she could call them that still. She had her doubts. A lot has changed. The fowls still saw her the same, they knew no other. Though she knew. She wasn't sure if she cared though. Something told her not to, and so she didn't. Though... she wasn't quite happy.

When she came inside her own hut, she was greeted with a old looking rooster that quickly perched upon her shoulder. An odd thing, with a rather abnormally long tail and the ability to fly not well common among chickens. The girl, of course, smiled at this friendly creature and fed it accordingly before retreating off to her study.

"Scrolls... The girl thought as she looked through the said scrolls. She liked reading, right? She knows he did, so she may as well. "Magic..." another word came to mind as she read through one of the scrolls. It promised some kind of power, something that she knew nothing about aside from him never being able to figure it out. That alone brought her enough curiosity to try it out, to succeed where her friend failed. Her father perhaps? Her mind wondered about that for a moment but decided it was too late now to acknowledge him as that. The more she thought about it, though, the more her tears started to well up. Eventually she just pushed the thought out of her head and continued on with her, and the hermit's, studies...

How long was it since this hut in the mountains had company last? Did the chickens or the occasional forest animal count? Both these thoughts passed through the young girls mind as she turned towards the door upon which a knocking fell. She wasn't foreign to people, not by any means, but this was the first she'd had to deal with them alone. It was close to a year since her father, as she'd accepted him as, passed away, and since she'd been studying various books and scrolls he left behind, but none of them mentioned anything about strangers. Also, that knocking... was it supposed to be that heavy? It seemed as though it was a door whoever on the other side didn't want there anymore. It wasn't until the door fell heavily that the notion proved true, as a few humans quickly stormed the small hut, having watched the girl alone for some time. It didn't take them long to subdue the confused young girl, who could only form questions in any form of speech. These questions proved futile, and were quickly silenced as the girl saw only black...

The girl awoke with an aching head soon after the ordeal passed. The humans, no doubt desperate travelers, seemed to have held no interest in such a girl, but what they did find interest in the girl found missing as she came to her senses. Still confused, the girl found a now dirtied house, devoid of many belongings that were once precious, but the girl barely noticed them gone. Jars of silver pieces were now broken or empty... They were shiny, but nothing important to the girl. Some food went missing, but the girl fret not - she hardly ever grew hungry, and food was not hard to come by. The rooster she admired soon landed on her shoulder, as confused as she was about the mess, clearly having hid during the ordeal, so the girl found there was no great loss. As such, she continued her daily routine only to find that her greatest loss was soon found in a hut once full of life, now full of death. Lying before her was the carcasses of her once beloved family, at least as how she considered them, stripped of their meat. She was never opposed to death of a few, as her father had eaten them before... but now they were all gone. Now she had none but one. Even the one she had was but an extension of herself. A part of her. It was her, and she was alone. Her father was gone, and so were her friends and family. Like before, her eyes welled up as her tears fell like rain onto the blood stained ground. The girl was not happy...

They say from depression spawns anger, and so did anger weigh on her shoulders. They say anger is a great beast, and so did a great beast appear upon her shoulders. Anger burns like a flame, and from the beast's mouth spew a great, intimidating flame. Before she knew it, the girl could hear the startled cries amidst the ruffling of wings in front of her. Screaming and crying, pleading and groveling. The sounds filled her ears, a smile crossed her face, and a laughter roared from her lungs as the sun rose from the horizon...

And for once in a long time, the girl was happy.

Chapter 3: Leaving the Nest
 Many years passed after that day. Decades, perhaps a century or two even. It didn't much matter to the young girl, all that mattered to her was her studies. Throughout the years, people had learned to stay their way from the bamboo forest, fearing that they'd be attacked by the great beast that inhabits it. A fear that the girl herself instilled so that no humans would dare threaten her again. Even so, she started to take joy in the occasional traveler that would wander into the forest. It gave her a chance to hone her skills and put into practice what magic she's learned. She took preference to illusionary magic, and with that she'd nearly perfected her ability to instill fear into humans. Aside from this, she also honed a skill she needn't learn, as she already seemed to possess it - she was able to create powerful beasts out of the smallest of creatures, such as the fowl that stood upon her shoulder. At first this ability was merely an outburst of anger embodied, now it was a tool she could harness and use at her very whim, and so she did. Though it was not long before her interest in the humans grew, but so did her lack of reading material.

The girl always made sure to snatch whatever manner of items she could from unsuspecting travelers, but she grew tired of startling them away before being able to get anymore. Her curiosity soon led her to follow some of these travelers to nearby towns at the base of the mountains, where she would find use for the shiny discs she'd gotten from a dropped bag and used them to purchase more books for herself. She found most interesting the ones the humans thought useless decorations, actually tomes explaining more magic that the girl could learn and use. Though these books were expensive, and stealing money from travelers would soon prove as not enough. She had to find alternatives.

Months passed and the girl had watched some measure of magic shows performed by the humans. During her time among them, she'd learned many things about their culture, including their rumor about the beast upon the mountains, most of which made her laugh a bit. It was from these things she formed a fun idea, to host one of her own shows. Knowing actual magic, she figured it would be nothing to impress the humans, especially if she would play into the rumor of the beast that shrouded her home. As such, she gathered a crowd one day and decided to give them a real show of magic by changing her beloved fowl into the beast they heard such rumors about. Though she had such great expectations around shocking and exciting her audience, her wish became all too true as the crowd soon fled from such a sight, arming themselves with what weapons they could against such a beast, much to the girl's dismay. Before she could be bombarded with stones, though, she fled the town, and even her home out of pure fear, and decided that what she'd done was perhaps not the wisest thing to do. Perhaps it'd be better to try her hand elsewhere...

Chapter 4: Traveling and Settling
 Following her previous failure, the girl soon found herself wandering around, from town to town, province to province. Following the mindset of "learning from past mistakes", she developed new techniques to earn money for herself. One such thing she found herself doing was fire juggling. Something she found so incredibly easy, at that, as she could control fire for herself, but not fire that could burn. Sure she fumbled up a bit, leaving people to wonder how she never got burnt in her beginnings, she made up for it by never really staying in the same place for long enough for them to investigate.

A downside she soon found in her travels, though, is that she never really had any more chances to settle down and study magic. She always found herself too busy performing or moving from place to place to actually sit down and read. So, she came to a decision that she'd take up cooking as well, perhaps buying herself a bit more time in each place she stopped in. She already knew how to cook rather well, anyway, having to prepare whatever meals she needed for herself, nor was it hard for her to soon find jobs selling food in various villages. Though, she soon found this, along with her performances, to be counterproductive as she had less time than ever. It wasn't until one day while walking down a worn path that she came to the conclusion that she would just... stay somewhere. Finally settle down somewhere. Never before had she a name, but she found one for herself easily enough. Never before had she even thought to settle down somewhere, but down the worn path she found a human village in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere, an odd place for one to be placed, she thought, but it sort of reminded her of home.

Before long, she found herself settled in this village and carried on with her goals. She worked in various places within the village, both as an entertainer and a chef. She had quite a life. As time went on, she even managed to find magic to keep people from noticing her lack of aging, something that she was genuinely worried about, it was something that held her back from going further with her goals. With that in place, she soon found use for all the money she had gathered and bought a building for herself, a place she could call home, but could also serve as a place for her to use her skills to their fullest. People came from all around the village, too. Even youkai that had snuck into the village caught wind of her place. Some of which even offered to help out in exchange for a place to hide among the village, leading humans to even become employees. Everything went so well as the girl, now named Kokeko, continued to perform for the various patrons of her restaurant, now named "Basabasa Izakaya", after her favorite pet who even took part in her many shows.

Life was good. Life was fun. As such, the girl was happy.

Personality
Kokeko is an entertainer. She enjoys making people smile or amazing them with her performance. As such she usually gives off a sense of grace about her personality as well as the way she performs. Though she has a lot of energy, though, she is usually sort of soft spoken, even sort of shy when not on stage. Despite this, she's not afraid to greet people, she just doesn't much open up to them or seems to keep her distance. All things considered, though, she still does prefer to be in the kitchen cooking rather than greeting people.

Despite her shy nature, she's still quite spirited, and free spirited at that. Though she is an owner of a semi-popular restaurant, the amount of staff allows her to take frequent days off so that she may go off and roam the village, the outside of the village, or just stay home and tend to her many birds such as chickens, thrushes, even hawks. No matter where she goes, she is always accompanied by her most loved chicken, Basabasa, whom her restaurant is named after.

When bored, usually on slow days or her days off, she will sometimes go out to have some fun by causing minor mischief. No-one in the village is quite aware of her exact species, as she does well in hiding it, so she's not often expected. Usually her mischief involves having her pets scare passerbys, or have them grab people's belongings - usually small, shiny things of sorts. Other days, though, she may go out and frequent the local bamboo forest, sometimes observing its denizens in stealth or playing subtle pranks on them.

Power/Combat
Manipulation of Biological Transmutation, most notably in fowls - This ability allows her to change any sort of creature into an immortal, but not necessarily invincible, dragon-like beast, for a short amount of time. Though this ability can apply to most of any biologically animalistic creature, it is best used on fowls or species similar to her own for reason of better biological understanding.

As an aside to this, she is also able to speak to and influence animals, but is mostly restricted to birds. Further reason why she doesn't go and try transmuting a human or something.

Natural understanding of and use of illusionary magic and learned understanding of fire-based magic, including minor teleportation.

"Ghost fire" - A reason why she pushed to learn fire magic, Kokeko was created with the ability to spit out and manipulate brilliantly hued flames. The downside is that they are merely a glow and have no actual fire-like properties. This actually ties into her illusionary abilities. Though these flames are mostly useless, she has mastered them down to an art form and uses them for entertainment purposes.