Ruri deLune

Ruri deLune (ROO-ri de-LOON) is a 20-year old Vulpix currently living at her home and making plans to study music in university, specializing in the flute.

Appearance
Ruri has pale skin accented by bright, red hair usually tied in a high ponytail, curling at the bottom and at the tips of her fringe. Her deep brown eyes are narrow and tiltted up at the corners, while her ears are a shade of brown darker against her hair. Her tails are an almost orange shade of tan.

Ruri usually wears feminine clothing consisting of dressed or dressy tops combined with leggings, usually in autumn shades.

Personality
Ruri is a playful extrovert at heart, preferring to be around people and having a bit of action going on. She dislikes being idle while she's capable of accomplishing something, and tends to have workaholic tendencies. Her way of dressing and the air by which she carries herself shows that she cares about her manners, and that she's rather conscious of how she looks. That said, she's also a little vain, particularly about her hair and fur.

Talk to her and she'll give you a warm, welcoming smile. It's not hard to generally get along with the Vulpix, and even when she's annoyed or disagrees heavily with a point, she'll be diplomatic about it or simply walk away. It's only when she's constantly pushed or harassed that she'll prove her words can cut egos just as easily as they can make anyone feel at ease. The Vulpix can get too easily absorbed in emotions, whether they're being shared with her by other people or when it's being explored in a piece she plays, dances or performs. This is why she avoids the tragedy genre on a general basis and prefers lighthearted comedy. If she gets too absorbed in anger or sadness she becomes more vulnerable than she'd care to show.

Though she's friendly, Ruri would only ever keep a close handful of friends she'd keep next to her heart, and would prove her loyalty and affection to those friends above all. Her nastiest side comes out most when those she cares about are troubled, because she isn't going to stand for unfair treatment.

She likes being around people, but the fox is never one to actually ask for help for anything above something as mundane as passing a glass at a table or borrowing an eraser. She'd rant a little to people she's close to if she had a problem, but she views asking for help or comfort as asking for people to care-- and she'd much rather they offer it themselves even though she won't even bring up any problem on her own. It's not a matter of pride; she's afraid that someone she's chosen to care about would disappoint her. This is also why she'd never allow herself to look vulnerable to anyone.

History
Ruri was born to a small family, having only a younger brother (by about 3 years) she's very close to. They were all close and and the children lived a fairly sheltered life, until Ruri caught her laid-back father having a relationship with another woman-- and when she found the courage to tell her mother about it, Ruri finally found out that said woman wasn't even the first her father had been cheating with.

Her father remained with them after a confrontation, but trust was shattered and Ruri unconsciously never let anyone so close to her, not without significant proof that the person cared as much as she was willing to care. She became more subconsciously protective of her mother, who was her role-model in discipline and inner strength.

Since she heard its music the Vulpix was fascinated by the flute, and would play her own constantly outside of the house to practice music she'd play by ear since she didn't know how to read notes, nor learned. After realizing her daughter's potential, her mother enrolled her in a school for the fine arts to nurture the talent professionally, and Ruri's been working to make her mother proud since.

PSOTA Arc
After moving into the school's music dorm, Ruri became acquainted with several other students--most memorable of which was a Finneon name LeRoux. They met after LeRoux had pranked a fellow student, nearly making said student drown while Ruri and another acquaintance were getting ready to play a bit of beach volleyball.

They met again after Ruri spotted him napping in a hammock somewhere in the school grounds. He woke up covered in flowers from the trees around him, after which they spent the day together, eating lunch and going to the beach later that afternoon. Ruri preferred to sunbathe while LeRoux went swimming, but was forced to join him after the Finneon picked her up and charged the waves with her.

Ruri nearly drowned them both in pure panic, but LeRoux managed to get them safely to where he'd wanted to take her all along--a rock that offered a spectacular view of the beach and the school beyond. The Vulpix apologized, noting how her outburst had somehow sobered the normally lively Finneon considerably. LeRoux became somewhat quiet after the experience, no longer joking nor flirting, but they continued to spend the day together. After refreshments and a bath, Ruri met LeRoux at the dance studio, where he'd started practicing tap.

LeRoux insisted she dance too, and after a few failed protests, the Vulpix complied. She failed to step to a beat as miserably as she expected. Smiling, LeRoux taught her by way of example, letting them both enjoy themselves until they'd stopped from exhaustion.

While they rested, Keith Sables appeared, looking for Ruri--whom he had met earlier that day when the Gulpin moved in the arts school dorm. The three of them had dinner, where Keith expressed a distrust of LeRoux, saying the Finneon scared him. Ruri shrugged this off, assuring the Gulpin otherwise. LeRoux left them after dinner--warning Ruri not to spend so much time with Keith--while Keith took Ruri  to the art room to demonstrate his skills with a painting of herself. He also expressed more concern for her with regards to staying in LeRoux's company, which Ruri empathized with despite assuring him yet again that LeRoux wasn't the bad guy Keith might think him to be. He told her about how his mother had fooled his father for money, something Ruri understood too well, and when he began to cry from being emotional about the story, Ruri unexpectedly made the Gulpin happy by giving him a hug. She'd been openly affectionate with the much younger-looking Gulpin ever since, feeling a sisterly love for him while enjoying LeRoux's company whenever she could.

Family Reunion Arc
During their school's summer vacation, Ruri had decided to stay behind in the school dorms instead of going home on the grounds that she'd be able to make full use of the school's facilities. Privately, she just didn't quite feel like going home, having preferred the school thanks to the friends she'd made there--even if one of those two friends were afraid of the other. She met LeRoux upon coming back from the grocery with steaks to treat herself, him and Keith with, planning to use a recipe of her mother's. He told her he was going to his parents', but she invited him to dinner that night all the same.

She met Keith on the way to the cafeteria, and met Albert Ivors for the first time. The meeting was tense, to say the least. Ruri felt scared of the Blaziken, believing Keith when he told her that Albert was the Gulpin's bodyguard hired by Keith's father. He happily accepted her invitation to dinner, and kept her company as she prepared the steaks. As their conversation turned to ages, Ruri learned (not without a good amount of shock) that Keith had been older than he'd let on all along, and that Albert wasn't actually his bodyguard; he was Keith's older brother and only a year older than Ruri herself. The farce of it made her feel taken advantage of, but before Keith left, she decided it wasn't worth sacrificing the closeness she thought they had and so reminded him that she still wanted him to come to their dinner.

She finished the meal will dessert in time. LeRoux arrived first, helping himself to the Vulpix's cooking while looking suspiciously beat up. When she asked, he told her he'd been hit by a cabinet. She also mentioned  that Keith was coming, expressing dislike for the boy's brutish-looking bodyguard. Keith arrived in time to swipe the cookies Ruri had baked as soon as LeRoux was about to bite into one, but was quickly served his steak after Ruri gave the Finneon a cookie herself.

Keith left when LeRoux mentioned his critique of Ruri's cooking was pretentious, looking murderous one second and casually inviting Ruri to lunch the day after in the next. Rather disturbed by this, Ruri tried to alleviate the ensuing tension, but things escalated when LeRoux began to lash out on her for her relationship with the Gulpin--letting loose a flurry of bottled up emotions and revealing how affected he was. He walke out after admitting that he knew exactly what he was talking about because Keith was his half-brother, as was Albert. Seething, LeRoux yelled that Ruri had no right to come crying to him after she gets hurt by either sibling.

Ruri, confused, hurt and furious, chased after him and bluntly told him he couldn't blame her for being the way she had been with Keith when both he and LeRoux had been so carefully lying to her all this time. Yelling at each other in fits of anger, it concluded when instead of hitting the crying Vulpix like he initially felt in the heat of the moment, LeRoux hugged her.He admited that he'd only lied because he didn't want Ruri to be caught up in his family affairs, nor know his 'sob story', not when he thought he could keep her happy with the LeRoux she knew who was always joking around. The fox countered by saying LeRoux was wrong to assume she didn't want to know, since she cared about him enough to know that just because she knew he had a sordid past didn't mean she'd think about him any less.

They went back to the cafeteria, with LeRoux admitting that he had no parents, and that the injury that Ruri had noticed earlier was from a cage fight he fought in for the money he needed for school supplies and food.

No longer mad, Ruri just served them both sodas, and declared that she was going to help him earn the money he needed to keep going to school. Not long after, the tired Vulpix fell asleep against the Finneon. The next morning found her in his bed while he'd crashed on his couch. She learned that he'd carried her there since he couldn't bring her to her room--not when her key was in her back pocket. More embarrassed about her bed hair than anything, Ruri noted aloud that it was only LeRoux who ever saw her at less than her best.

They agreed to meet up at the school entrance for breakfast. Ruri took the time to dress nicely and wore her hair down, feeling closer than ever to the Finneon, only to meet Kal Eidos at the restaurant they were supposed to eat in. She succumbed to the Hypno's powers within minutes, narrowly missing an injury from Kal's Psycho Cut.

She woke up in the Ballast mansion, in the company of a still sleeping LeRoux and Johannes Ballast himself. Before the Tauros could help them both get home--having just stopped Kal from delivering LeRoux to Albert and Elliot--Keith burst in with a sashimi knife. The Gulpin had been waiting for Ruri to appear for lunch. In a frenzy, Keith threatened to kill LeRoux and serve HIM for lunch while the Vulpix watched in fear, fighting against Johannes--who tried not to hurt the much smaller figure who burned his clothes with Acid Spray.

Reynolds arrived when Ruri called him on Johannes' phone, shocked at his son's behavior. Ruri watched on as Keith snapped, trying to escape through a window before Kal put him to sleep. Ruri called Meira after that so they could get picked up, finding comfort in LeRoux's (he'd been sleeping through the whole ordeal) company again as they waited for the Ninetales. Arrangements were made for LeRoux to live with them until school started again, with Meira agreeing that it would be safer and better if the two kids stayed in the house instead of returning back to the school. They took home their belongings within that day.

Recovering from the shock of having a friend she thought she was close to trying to kill another friend whose shell she'd just managed to get into, Ruri slowly took it all in stride in the comfort of her home. She found out later that her parents' divorce was final, and that the school she, LeRoux and Keith attended was closing down due to administration difficulties. She and the Finneon looked for alternative schools before deciding to attend Aldrian's university instead.

Moves and Abilities

 * Will-O-Wisp: Allows Ruri to create bright blue balls of fire that burn upon contact, or to simply create a light source when necessary.


 * Captivate:
 * Flamethrower: Ruri takes a deep breath, and blows a stream of flame.
 * Fire Spin: Ruri blows a continuous stream of flame that creates a circle of flame around her target, trapping them in it to inflict damage.

Relationships

 * Meira deLune - She loves her mother to the point were she idolizes the woman, even though she also admits Meira’s naturally strict nature scares her.
 * Aldrian deLune - They're very close, and though Aldrian teases her about LeRoux while rebuffing her own comebacks, their playfights remain just that: playfights.
 * LeRoux Wilgestein - Since meeting the Finneon, Ruri found him very interesting--going from mere amusement at his playful nature to something that blossomed into a close friendship the more she got to know the real him. Despite his misgivings about revealing his past, Ruri stood by him, as being with the Finneon makes her happy.
 * Keith Sables - She was taken in by his charms and cheery disposition, and genuinely felt close to him since they met. Since the Family Reunion arc and seeing his true nature, Keith now scares her.
 * Reynolds Sables - She knows he's Keith's father, but seeing Meira so happy in the man's company, Ruri held her tongue. The man didn't look like a liar, and when Meira mentioned that Reynolds' son was going to therapy, Ruri figured Reynolds wasn't in it to hurt her mother. Still, she keeps a close eye on the man.
 * Azariel Matthews - She hasn't met her cousin since they were much, much younger, but remembers the Samurott to be so fond of teasing her for her being conscious about her hair that she never really liked him much.

Trivia

 * LeRoux's nickname for her is Pumpkin, after her hair.
 * She has a sensitive nose, and wearing a little perfume around her puts her in a better mood.


 * She's not afraid to lie if it means things would run smoother.


 * Her tails and ears-- as well as her expression-- make her easy to read, emotionally. For example, her tails wag when she's feeling happy.


 * Her silver flute is a treasure from her mother, and is just as precious as her hair and fur.


 * Not a day goes by that she doesn't play her flute. She'd be seen playing it often, as she also turns to calming, classical music when she's stressed or bothered somehow.


 * She generally keeps a well-mannered air, but if she does get pissed or if anything precious to her is threatened, actual profanity will be flung in the perpetrator's way.
 * Being in large bodies of water that go above her chest. The Vulpix can swim, but total submersion makes her panic.
 * She may have an ear for music, but she has no skills with dancing whatsoever.

Quotes
"In case you aren’t eating there, want to have lunch with me? I promise my cooking’s decent ouo"

"Why thank you~ /sashawinkplz"

"Just because Finny had baggage doesn't mean I'd like him less."

"… and Finny, if you wiggle your way out of this arrangement, I’ll one day sneak up on you while you’re napping at night dressed like a dead Vulpix and scare off your pants."

"You’re the only person outside my family to see me looking so… raggedy… so often ='w=a"

Events
Ghost stories arc On the trip their extended family took to the Ballast summer villa, Ruri was one of the spectators to the storytellers in the group, eating fruit slices with LeRoux. The idea of Johannes seeing LeRoux's doppelganger in the house scared her more than the stories they'd been sharing--though Tory's story of the unhygienic woman disgusted her.

Slumber party arc
After watching Milla demonstrate how how to handle two lovers upon being dared to 'give a drink to her crush', Ruri found herself thinking that Meira would kill her for participating in similar situations the slumber party had been steadily providing. She had her first taste of alcohol after a simple drinking game, and found it downright embarassing yet  titillating  to do her dare: to take off her pink panties under her nightie and give them to LeRoux.