History/Story
History: Coreopsis, the floating city… home of the beautifully elite, the researchers… as well as the dirt poor and thieves of Tartarus Guild. In this city of opposites, born to a dirt poor family is where Shikaramu began his journey. Born to two very loving, but fairly uneducated hard labor workers, Shika was the first child. Three years later, he would be joined by a baby sister, Alexandra, whom he adored with every fiber of his being, even at that young age. His mother, Caroline, did her best to teach them all she could, but her own education was so limited that she could teach only basic reading, writing and mathematics. However, apart from that, she taught them to see the beauty in the world. She would take them to various beautiful spots in the city, and they would admire the highborn who strutted by.
However… Shika and Alexandra were growing quickly, and needed more and more. Caroline went back to work when Shika was six, leaving him in charge of Alexandra. She and her husband, Trenton, worked long hours cultivating the city’s natural beauty and getting paid almost nothing for all the hard labor they did. Shika continued to take Alexandra out to see the city while he scavenged and begged on the side in order to try and help his parents make ends meet. He promised Alex that one day… one day they’d wear those fine clothes, eat food that didn’t taste like dirt. When he was 8, they discovered their favorite place in the entire city: the library! Shika was naturally drawn to all the knowledge there, and a kind librarian named Arianna became a mentor to him, helping him as often as she could with his studies. His progress grew in leaps and bounds. He was clever, and it would be his saving grace. His mother had taught them one lesson specifically: Apply yourself and work hard, and you will be rewarded. However… he saw them work hard day in and day out, and their circumstances never improved.
For nearly 5 years this cycle of learning in dirt poor circumstances continued. Then… that day happened. No one was really sure what exactly happened, but what everyone can agree on is that Trenton somehow angered the noble, who did… something. All Shika knew for sure was that his father was dead, and that his mother was heartbroken. She tried for Shika and Alex, but within a few months she had become sick and weak, unable to move… and Shika could only do his best to make sure Alex saw as little as possible while her mother died in front of them. Within a week of her death, they had been kicked out of the small hovel they called home. With nowhere else to go, no options to speak of, they took shelter in cardboard boxes in an alleyway and their scant possessions.
However, living in the even dirtier alleyway was taking its toll on Alexandra. She was getting sicker and sicker, and Shika didn’t know what to do. Begging wasn’t enough, now that he was getting older and people had less and less pity upon him. He went without food to try and give Alex sustenance, but he knew he needed more, and quickly. So he scavenged. He was scavenging behind a bakery a few days later when he first noticed the silver key lying on the ground. It was full evening at this point, and he needed to get back to Alex soon, but he didn’t want to go back empty handed. Curiously, he picked up the key. Could it really be? His heart in his throat, he went to the nearby backdoor of the now deserted bakery. He put the key to the hole, held his breath and then started pushing it in. Halfway in, he thought he might have found salvation… and then it stopped, stuck. It was the wrong key.
Shika couldn’t help it, his hope had deflated, and the sob of a lost man escaped his young throat. Why? Why couldn’t the key have fit? It NEEDED TO FIT! He shoved at the key, and to his surprise… it went in. He turned it incredulously, watching in shock as the door opened. He took out the key, and it wasn’t the same key he’d shoved in earlier. It had changed… confused, but unwilling to waste this opportunity, into the shop he went, closing the door behind him. Following his nose to the day’s leftovers that were still good enough to be sold the next day… heavy breads and pastries, the nutty grains seemed to intoxicate his nose with their rich scent. He thought no more. Finding the largest bag he could find, everything he could get his hands on went into it, and then he ghosted back out of the shop, hurrying now to Alex. For the first time… they would feast like kings!
He glanced at the key that he’d stuck in his pocket, noticing that it was the key he’d first found once more. It didn’t matter, and he went happily on his way. Only one thing caused him to pause, and that was the second serendipitous event that would change their lives… “We’ll see you in a few weeks when you get back then! Have a good trip!” Shika watched as the man locked his apartment door, waving to his neighbor and walking down the steps, out into the night. He filed the information away, then hurried on to his sister.
Hours later after they were both full to the point of feeling slightly sick, Shika sat staring at the key in his hands. Could it be? It was the dead of night, so he decided he needed to try. Leaving Alex sleeping more peacefully than he had in ages, he snuck off to at least… try. Key in lock of the empty apartment… he concentrated all his energy on that one desire… fit the lock. He felt it shifting in his hand, and had to stop himself from whooping triumphantly as he let himself in. That was good enough for him. Leaving it unlocked for now, he quickly went back to Alexa, rousing her and bringing both her and the supplies to their new place for the next few weeks…
That was the turning point of their lives. Shika had realized that homes were his playground. Within a month of house robberies to various areas, he had enough money, and he got them a nicer apartment. He filled it with more stolen goods, buying only the larger things such as couches and beds. He and Alexa started to look like respectable young folks, wearing nice clothes and eating good meals. Having shaken the street image that had clung to them, held them down… doors began to open. At one point Shika considered becoming an actor, having learned to mimic voices so that if someone caught him unawares, he could use the voice of a family member to send them back to sleep.
When he was 16 , Shika found his passion. Photography and fashion. Soon he was sketching his own designs, and Alexa learned to create them for him. The two of them began to sell their designs to wealthy folk, and soon the brand name "Shika" for high fashion appeared. Catering to high society, their fame spread quickly. Now owning stores in Coreopsis, Magnolia, Belladonna, Crocus, Acacia, Pointsettia and Shirotsume Town, with plans to open in any city that has high classes to cater to. Though he is now wealthy and famous, with no need to hoard money… he’s still a greedy scrooge as far as anyone but his sister is concerned. He will never spend a jewel more than he has to, and frequently performs house robberies as a fun way to pass time.
After all… there can never be enough money.
History: Coreopsis, the floating city… home of the beautifully elite, the researchers… as well as the dirt poor and thieves of Tartarus Guild. In this city of opposites, born to a dirt poor family is where Shikaramu began his journey. Born to two very loving, but fairly uneducated hard labor workers, Shika was the first child. Three years later, he would be joined by a baby sister, Alexandra, whom he adored with every fiber of his being, even at that young age. His mother, Caroline, did her best to teach them all she could, but her own education was so limited that she could teach only basic reading, writing and mathematics. However, apart from that, she taught them to see the beauty in the world. She would take them to various beautiful spots in the city, and they would admire the highborn who strutted by.
However… Shika and Alexandra were growing quickly, and needed more and more. Caroline went back to work when Shika was six, leaving him in charge of Alexandra. She and her husband, Trenton, worked long hours cultivating the city’s natural beauty and getting paid almost nothing for all the hard labor they did. Shika continued to take Alexandra out to see the city while he scavenged and begged on the side in order to try and help his parents make ends meet. He promised Alex that one day… one day they’d wear those fine clothes, eat food that didn’t taste like dirt. When he was 8, they discovered their favorite place in the entire city: the library! Shika was naturally drawn to all the knowledge there, and a kind librarian named Arianna became a mentor to him, helping him as often as she could with his studies. His progress grew in leaps and bounds. He was clever, and it would be his saving grace. His mother had taught them one lesson specifically: Apply yourself and work hard, and you will be rewarded. However… he saw them work hard day in and day out, and their circumstances never improved.
For nearly 5 years this cycle of learning in dirt poor circumstances continued. Then… that day happened. No one was really sure what exactly happened, but what everyone can agree on is that Trenton somehow angered the noble, who did… something. All Shika knew for sure was that his father was dead, and that his mother was heartbroken. She tried for Shika and Alex, but within a few months she had become sick and weak, unable to move… and Shika could only do his best to make sure Alex saw as little as possible while her mother died in front of them. Within a week of her death, they had been kicked out of the small hovel they called home. With nowhere else to go, no options to speak of, they took shelter in cardboard boxes in an alleyway and their scant possessions.
However, living in the even dirtier alleyway was taking its toll on Alexandra. She was getting sicker and sicker, and Shika didn’t know what to do. Begging wasn’t enough, now that he was getting older and people had less and less pity upon him. He went without food to try and give Alex sustenance, but he knew he needed more, and quickly. So he scavenged. He was scavenging behind a bakery a few days later when he first noticed the silver key lying on the ground. It was full evening at this point, and he needed to get back to Alex soon, but he didn’t want to go back empty handed. Curiously, he picked up the key. Could it really be? His heart in his throat, he went to the nearby backdoor of the now deserted bakery. He put the key to the hole, held his breath and then started pushing it in. Halfway in, he thought he might have found salvation… and then it stopped, stuck. It was the wrong key.
Shika couldn’t help it, his hope had deflated, and the sob of a lost man escaped his young throat. Why? Why couldn’t the key have fit? It NEEDED TO FIT! He shoved at the key, and to his surprise… it went in. He turned it incredulously, watching in shock as the door opened. He took out the key, and it wasn’t the same key he’d shoved in earlier. It had changed… confused, but unwilling to waste this opportunity, into the shop he went, closing the door behind him. Following his nose to the day’s leftovers that were still good enough to be sold the next day… heavy breads and pastries, the nutty grains seemed to intoxicate his nose with their rich scent. He thought no more. Finding the largest bag he could find, everything he could get his hands on went into it, and then he ghosted back out of the shop, hurrying now to Alex. For the first time… they would feast like kings!
He glanced at the key that he’d stuck in his pocket, noticing that it was the key he’d first found once more. It didn’t matter, and he went happily on his way. Only one thing caused him to pause, and that was the second serendipitous event that would change their lives… “We’ll see you in a few weeks when you get back then! Have a good trip!” Shika watched as the man locked his apartment door, waving to his neighbor and walking down the steps, out into the night. He filed the information away, then hurried on to his sister.
Hours later after they were both full to the point of feeling slightly sick, Shika sat staring at the key in his hands. Could it be? It was the dead of night, so he decided he needed to try. Leaving Alex sleeping more peacefully than he had in ages, he snuck off to at least… try. Key in lock of the empty apartment… he concentrated all his energy on that one desire… fit the lock. He felt it shifting in his hand, and had to stop himself from whooping triumphantly as he let himself in. That was good enough for him. Leaving it unlocked for now, he quickly went back to Alexa, rousing her and bringing both her and the supplies to their new place for the next few weeks…
That was the turning point of their lives. Shika had realized that homes were his playground. Within a month of house robberies to various areas, he had enough money, and he got them a nicer apartment. He filled it with more stolen goods, buying only the larger things such as couches and beds. He and Alexa started to look like respectable young folks, wearing nice clothes and eating good meals. Having shaken the street image that had clung to them, held them down… doors began to open. At one point Shika considered becoming an actor, having learned to mimic voices so that if someone caught him unawares, he could use the voice of a family member to send them back to sleep.
When he was 16 , Shika found his passion. Photography and fashion. Soon he was sketching his own designs, and Alexa learned to create them for him. The two of them began to sell their designs to wealthy folk, and soon the brand name "Shika" for high fashion appeared. Catering to high society, their fame spread quickly. Now owning stores in Coreopsis, Magnolia, Belladonna, Crocus, Acacia, Pointsettia and Shirotsume Town, with plans to open in any city that has high classes to cater to. Though he is now wealthy and famous, with no need to hoard money… he’s still a greedy scrooge as far as anyone but his sister is concerned. He will never spend a jewel more than he has to, and frequently performs house robberies as a fun way to pass time.
After all… there can never be enough money.
