Born to a lineage of heroes with incredible powers, Ashley Protagonist has had a glowing golden eye her whole life. It's not exactly clear why Ash inherited the powers, but not her brother. It's possible that it's because she was the firstborn, or because of her kindness. Or maybe it's just fate. But that's silly.

Ashley doesn't really care about this, though. Whatever fate the universe has for her, she's not too interested. It can wait. There's people suffering *right now*, who need her help. Mild-mannered and intractably impressionable, Ash simply can't stand by idle, or ignore a cry for help. If she doesn't have a job only she can handle, like a monster to slay, Ashley will wander to the nearest soup kitchen and volunteer, eager to help.

She's not invincible, of course, as much as her ability to nearly-multiply herself would lead you to think otherwise. In fact, going on her first true quest and coming back all battered and bruised, her little brother still just a tiny baby, sent her parents into a panic that resulted in them hiring a bodyguard. She's actually accumulated a few scars since, but she doesn't exactly seem to mind--it's all in a day's work.

Still, her tendency to ignore her own well-being can be an issue sometimes. She's been called a 'goody two-shoes' before, and it's not exactly inaccurate. This bleeding heart is surprisingly easy to push around, and in situations other than general heroism she usually becomes a wallflower, lacking initiative when it comes to her own personal life. She usually needs a kick in the ass to actually get anything personal done, a fact that she's painfully aware of.

If you asked Cason what his profession is, he'd instantly respond 'Dark Hero.' If you asked him 'what's the difference between a Hero and a Dark Hero,' he'd stare at you intensely until you retract the question. If you asked him why he's a Dark Hero instead of a normal Hero, he'd clam up and walk away.

The truth is, he's a Dark Hero so he can set himself apart from his big sister Ashley. Since she was the firstborn and, therefore, inherited the most potent form of the family powers, he's spent a lot of his life trying to set himself apart from her. Early on, Cason decided that the best way to set himself apart from his 'goody two-shoes' sister, as some have called Ashley, was to become a Dark Hero. The convenient part about being a Dark Hero is that you do the exact same things as a normal Hero, you just add an extra layer of 'darkness' to whatever you do. What 'darkness' means, exactly, minorly varies based on how Cason feels on any given day. Generally, though, they justify his preference for swording first and asking questions later, in contrast to his sister's heavy reliance on shields.

All of that isn't to say that he distinguishes himself because he doesn't have powers, though. He's just as capable of creating afterimages as his older sister! It's just that his afterimages, for probably the same reasons that resulted in his gold eye being less radiant than his sister's, aren't sentient, and are quite a bit more fragile.

One might expect someone who cloaks themself in faux 'darkness' to be utterly insufferable to be around, and you'd only be about 25% right. While Cason does have an annoying tendency to express any given sentiment with a ludicrous amount of unnecessary 'dark' theming, he isn't really a 'dark' person. In fact, from the perspective of some, he's as much of a goody two-shoes as his big sister, in both actions and thought, just with a lot of trying-to-hide-it added on top.

Cason does have two major weak points: cute guys, and being told that he's cute. Both of these will instantly cause the Dark Hero facade to crumble, and turn Cason into a stuttering mess. If a cute guy tells Cason that he's cute, Cason will likely go silent for the rest of the day.

"I'm Sharpe! I'm from Et- uh, I mean, I'm from the mainland! I wanted to join your Guild because I heard that you were a Hero! And I think that's awesome, and I wanted to learn about bein' brave and fearless and cool like you guys! Me, I'm not that cool, but I wanna be! I'm good with a bow, my m-mom taught me when I was young! I can show you later, if you want! Uhh, more about me, more about me... I'm quick on my feet, because I've been helping my mom hunt since I was eight! Yeah... Since I was eight...

"What about my m-mother? Well... I guess she was one of the explorers back when they discovered that Yggdrasil Labyrinth, or somethin'. She never told me. I guess she was a good shooter, cuz a lot of people said she was famous! Probably more famous for being crazy... Huh? Oh, s-sorry, th-that was nothing! Nothing! U-uh... All my mom did for training me was... she..."

*sniffle*

"Aahh! D-Don't remind me! I don't want to be thrown into the woods again! She'd always throw me in there with just my bow and she'd tell me that I'm not allowed to come home for five whole days an' she kept on yelling at me to do better and said I had to hunt my own food if I wanted to eat, and, and... I'm s-sorryyyyy!"

*sob*

"S-sorry... Mom told me that she was gonna make me go through more crazy stuff if I didn't improve. I ran away cuz I didn't want her to put balloons on me and throw me in the sky again, or toss me down a ravine fulla animals! B-but I'm good at shooting things! I can show you! J-just... I'm still scared of being alone, and I heard the m-monsters are bigger in these Labyrinths. I c-can help, promise! I was a good hunter with the normal sized animals, bigger shouldn't be too bad!! A-an' I said I wanted t'be cool an' brave like you guys, so I will be! And I wanna get stronger too so that I don't have to see mom again! If I get better then she w-won't find me, right?! I j-just need someone to train me up to be better than her! Without throwing bears at me! I swear I learned a ton from her, and I'll be helpful, cross my heart!"

The daughter of a noble family, born and raised to be wed to a princertain of high esteem, master of all types of weapons, and destined to be

*WHACK*
"Ow, ow, okay!"

In reality, Holly is a hopeless romantic. Her father, a stern, gruff older man, taught her in the ways of the shield like he was taught as a young lad. On the battlefield, she's a rock of stability, and frequently did more work than 3 boys combined when she was younger. Off of it though, she's naive and often believe's that people constantly fall in and out of love. This of course, makes for a very...scatterbrainee girl who constantly is trying to hook people up. And what better place to practice her shield skills and her hobby than a bustling labyrinth town?

A globetrotter, Kyoko has explored nearly every corner of the world. Whilst most Labyrinths are simply too harrowing for a lone artist, she nevertheless has accrued quite an impressive tally in fulfilling her wanderlust. She has plunged into the depths of Ginnungagap, joined the Highlanders in hunting and exploring in the wilderness, sailed nigh-on every corner of the seas of Armoroad, traversed the four lands of Tharsis, and more. As an artist by trade, she always seeks inspiration. A life-or-death struggle awakens indescribable feelings, and beautiful, strange, or disturbing vistas bring forth contextless descriptions. You merely need to put them together, and make a piece out of them.

...Of course, she's one lone warrior-poet. Battles which would take a squadron of five are simply insurmountable for her, and so she has adapted to this. On top of her survival expertise, Kyoko has refined skills that allow her to disable opponents, ending battle without requiring defeat, and in extenuating circumstances, cut down swathes of weak opponents. While her choice of the more defensive stances may cause other katana-users to raise an eyebrow, her occupation is unique enough that she feels justified.

Having traveled the four corners of the world, Kyoko has learned a great deal in language and customs. She tends, however, to speak in an antiquated, sometimes slightly-verbose way. This, combined with her composed personality, occasionally causes her to come across as distant or stoic. Nothing farther from the truth, however: Kyoko is mostly aware of her speech quirk, and will often leverage it when cracking jokes. She can also be quite impatient when she needs to, leading to things like attempting to accelerate a battle because inspiration has JUST STRUCK, so this dragon better die quickly because she does NOT want to waste this.

And, once she'd heard that the archipelago of Lemuria contained beauties from the world over for an unexplained reason, her wanderlust piqued. Despite having just gotten home to Aslarga for a purported rest, she immediately set plans to head there and find a guild, one which would allow her to explore these wonders of the world.

And she brought all her paintings, poems and other artistic creations.

A wolf is quite loyal to those who are wise, and Heath is no exception. Unlike most wolves, Heath usually carries around a decent lot of stuff with him, most of which being medical tools with some alterations for... Well, being a wolf. How he learned to use the types of tools in the first place isn't exactly certain, but what is certain is that he's one hell of a good service wolf. He's somewhat protective, but that's just how he is when he sees people he likes being hurt. And trust me, he likes a lot of people.

Friedrich is a fat cat. He's Heath's traveling companion (boyfriend? maybe? it's a bit hard to tell with animals). Sometimes he appears to hand bandaids to Heath? Mostly he just sort of sits on Heath's back and...converses? with Heath. "Conversation" between those two being more akin to back-and-forth barks and nyurms.

Sophian hails from a town not too close to High Lagaard, far to the west, known as "Nice."

Born of a high house, Sophian's interests laid less in the politics of the house and more in studies and experiments, and as it came due that Sophian would make a lousy heiress and worse wife and there were several other sisters who'd be better equipped to marry to forward the family's status.

Sophian, however, was dedicated to education! In a land of Sovereigns, what could be more equalizing than tools and machines? The old world that was had them, clearly, and after stumbling upon principles of firearms, gunpowder, "electricity" and other ancient concepts in olden libraries, she'd commit and doubled down to her works - even as others wrote her ideas off as "wild" and "ridiculous" and also "destabilizing to the monarchy" for ideas like "the means of production belong to the workers who use them."

Sophian worked harder to prove her work's worth for the masses and - found herself discharged from the city of Nice, following her dreams and ideals and the traveling adventurers - first to High Lagaard, and then from there, with caravans towards Armoroad and Tharsis, before finding herself en route towards the city of Maginia.

Generally more likely to develop and build machines and ammo types herself to prove her studies correct, but attempts to create machines to replicate and ease people's lives from menial duties tend to draw attention from people who'd rather profit off them - Sophian more than eager to sabotage herself so as to not see her work put to use for only the rich to profit from.

Attempts to look cool in battle leave her flustered and frustrated when things don't go her way, and is more outwardly dorky the more she tries to be cool and collected. Fond of malaphors, though its less because she's stumbling over words and more "its more fun to be bad at popular sayings." (frex., "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it!" or "GO BIG OR GO MAKE LEMONADE!")

Full Name: Queen Lavi Othniel, 'The Lioness'
Lavi was the only daughter, and the youngest of 3 siblings, born to a king of a desert kingdom. Her oldest brother was the thinker, and the second brother was the physical fighter, while she showed a aptitude for the magical arts from a young age. However, their father decided that the eldest should lead the armies, the second should support his brother from home, and she was to marry the prince of the neighboring kingdom, to resolve their eons long feud.

Everything went wrong when, during her wedding, Lavi was almost assassinated by her groom, and her father was assassinated by the best man. She fought through the saboteurs, and this led to the rekindling of the war between their nations. In the end, both her brothers died trying to be what their father wanted, and she led her kingdom and the resistance of the other kingdom to take the land and slay the kind and prince. She now rules over the joined kingdoms, and wants to go back to keep things from tearing apart again.

In personality, Lavi is pragmatic and reserved, only showing flashes of genuine emotion occasionally. Once she relaxes with people, she's quiet but snarky, and is brilliant at pulling pranks. She actually enjoys singing, and has a wonderful voice, able to accompany herself on lute. She can also drink men under the table, lift entire logs, and has incredible stamina. She's mostly humble about her accomplishments, but sometimes you can find her smiling with pride over things she'd done.

For a whole week Adan had been having strange dreams; a fierce woman in warrior's garb, the signature spear of their people held with practiced ease. These dreams left him feeling heated and tired, worn out as if he's run all day and soaked in sweat. On the seventh day the dream abated and he awoke refreshed, but the back of his hand sported a swirling brand of quicksilver. His life was never the same.

Everyone knew what the marks meant. At the center of town was a gallery of statues; proud warriors who brought pride to their people, each bearing a metallic mark on their hands. Those chosen by the champions would be imbued with their mark, and the tribe accepted those chosen as being destined for great things, as the champion literally made manifest again. Adan had met a few of these marked people and the knowledge of their new selves was instinctual and natural to all born into the culture.

Acceptance of the change was immediate. His name was lost to those around him, he was now Abby. He was summoned to the village elder, who smiled knowingly and showed Adan his own mark. "The Union is a great thing, although I know it is a lot scarier to actually go through it than everyone thinks. The Union is a partnership, you should take the opportunity to learn from each other, to grow and become something better than either of you could be on your own."

At first Adan tried to be accepting, although his old life was shattered. He had been apprenticed to a baker, but no more. "Abby was no baker! You must resume your spear training that she may stride the field of battle once more!" With little choice he did, and the spear felt more natural in his hands than it ever did as a child, an extension of his arm. The newfound talents were both invigorating and terrifying,.

Shortly after that the changes began. He had accepted his new name, although it still felt a little strange. It was when the outbursts began that Adan began to panic. Abby was renown for her mercurial temperament and it seemed like she wasn't content for things to move at Adan's pace. He was scared but everyone around him seemed thrilled. "That's more like the Abby we knew!" they cried, though Adan was frightened. He gathered up his spear, armor and a few mementos and fled, although he knew it was futile. The desire for people of his skill was great and the call for Yggdrasil had just reached his hometown. Perhaps someone there could lend some insight into his new life, or maybe just being far from home would help...

Adan/Abby is a story of acceptance and understanding, though tinged with adversity. Adan views the current state of affairs like some sort of possession while Abby feels trapped. The pairing of souls is guided by some structure designed to benefit both halves, but Adan is unwilling and Abby can't really see what he has to offer (yet). The process of the Union is inevitable, the original soul being bound to the champion's soul, but it is up to both parties to reach an amenable conclusion and understanding of what that means.

Adan is reserved and practical, favoring caution.
Abby is confident and outgoing, but brash and headstrong.

Once upon a time, there existed a pair of kingdoms, no short distance from Etria.
Riegel, who prided itself on its abundance of scholars, its neverending wellspring of lore and knowledge.
Niveaulle, whose pride stemmed from the nation’s ever growing list of magicians whose affinity for magic was strong from birth.
Despite the likeness in their paths, however, the nations struggled to see eye to eye.
Magic in its raw state, bestowed upon the immature was deemed a danger by Riegelian scholars, while their requests to examine and study this odd phenomenon that ran through Niveaullian veins was time and again denied; reason being that should Riegel find the fault in their pride and soul, there would be little to stop them from annexing Niveaulle into their own.
Thus, the two kings eventually came to a compromise.
The first prince of Riegel- whom had scarcely seen four summers when this was decided- would have the hand of a Niveaullian princess in marriage, and through this their countries be united. From then on, there would be little reason to doubt each other’s intentions, and no reason to have at each other’s throats.
There was, however, one problem;
Try as they might, the King and Queen of Niveaulle could not give birth to a princess.

Edelvale Ast'rcae Niveaulle (pronounced Eh-dell-vey As-te-ra-see Nee-val; think of the flower!) is the twelvth and youngest of the Niveaullian Kingdom's princes, and his birth marked the moment when the rulers gave up actually trying to have a daughter and decided they'd have to make do with what they got. Since he can remember, he's always taken different lessons than his brothers; whilst they toiled in the war room, discussed tactics and hunted game, he always seemed to be left out, and instead, Edel's tutors gave him lessons on how to be pretty and prim and polite. This did nothing to deter the young prince from sneaking into his brothers' lessons and activities; nay, it only furthered it. While Edel did have to admit he was quite fond of his own lessons, he wished to be a proper prince like his brothers were capable of, too! Said siblings also only encouraged their youngest brother to join in, showering him with support that only their parents disapproved of, that the sigh of relief was almost visible on their faces come the day of Edelvale's 18th birthday; and consequently, his wedding.

Now, let it be reiterated that Edel did not complain about his role of princess by technicality; he was in full understanding, by then, that the marriage was merely to facilitate the official tie between their countries, and that his husband would likely sire an heir from a mistress, etc, etc; but know that despite all this, he still remained hopeful that his husband to be would be someone... perhaps fun? Maybe a dashing prince charming? Or a scholarly cool man, like they say Riegellians were wont to be...

Those thoughts were all shot down the moment he saw the man from afar; an irritable, baggy eyed man who barked orders at his servants without end.

(Nevermind that the man was very, very stressed, very, very tired, and may or may not actually have been inherently mean. But for reasons obvious, Edel was nervous; of course he'd jump to conclusions!)

But in any case, Edelvale realized then and there, that happiness in this marriage would seldom last if this man's temper was to be believed; and so he begged one of his brothers, please, oh please don't cage me in like this, and who was he to deny his precious little brother? The prince travelled aboard airships, hopping between them with ticket in knuckle-white grip, still in the dress that he was to wear for the ceremony. After about a dozen rides, though, he saw a figure in one of the airships giving a speech; a member of a royal family all too recognized, Princess Persephone, declaring her intent to investigate the mysteries of the land of Lemuria's labyrinths.

That is, their current ride's next destination.

Edel had always been a spontaneous person, so it was no surprise that he jumped on the opportunity to become an adventurer, even while wearing the dress- shh, it's pretty! (He doesn't know that it's been magically reinforced to protect him from attacks quite yet; his parents were very, very adamant about him not being sniped in the wedding!)

Chihaya's clan - the Tadakata clan - have been protectors of the world since ancient times, with the eldest child being taught every sword technique they've accumulated over the years, before being passed onto the next generation. That eldest child will then travel the world, righting great wrongs and checking in on areas of magical interest, before settling down and having a child to pass onto the next generation. Thus, the family's traveled far from their home, and Chihaya has no idea what country she's descended from.

But Chihaya had the misfortune of being born with a twin sister - Akiha - and, being a lazy sort by nature, decided to act the slacker to make the decision easier on everyone. Akiha was chosen as the next heir, and Chihaya would be free to do what she liked.

Unfortunately, this arrangement wasn't meant to be. As Akiha grew older, she also grew more sickly, while Chihaya stayed as healthy as could be. Despite all their visits to healers and doctors, it became clear that Akiha was just cursed with a weak constitution. Halfway through her training, the heir suddenly shifted to be Chihaya. But Chihaya was already sixteen at this point, and fairly set in her ways.

She still passed her mother's training, with much prodding from her sister, and set out on her journey. Thus we get Chihaya as she is - a serious, forthright, blunt person who comes across cool and collected until you realize that she really just doesn't care. Without motivation, she tends to slack off, and despite the intentions of a grand journey she's mostly just wandering in circles.

How did she wind up going on some kind of adventure, then? Easy.

She blew all her money on mahjong and booze. Please hire her.

Born to an arrogant alchemist that wasn't all that good at their job. It didn't take long for him to find out (much to his displeasure) that his daughter was a heck of a lot better at his whole 'alchemy' thing than they were. One heck of a bad relationship later, Trinity escaped. She tries to distance herself from this past as much as possible, to the point of abandoning her alchemic talents in favor of astrology.

She's got some pretty crippling self-esteem issues because of her origins, and all she really wants from life is to be useful to someone and generally just be a better person than the one who 'raised' her.

Amatsu was born into a prestigious ninja family, trained rigorously for years, and never really questioned their life of rigid structure and rules. One day, however, on a break from their teachings, Amatsu was sidetracked by a group of traveling performers putting on a show. It didn't take long for them to be enthralled by it all, and after receiving whatever official ninja designations they had in their hometown, Amatsu drafted a carefully thought out letter to their parents...

"Honorable father and dearest mother:

Running out and joining the circus. See you around, nerds.

<3 Amatsu"

(It sounded better in their head.)

Since then, Amatsu has traveled the world, learning new things not only about themself, but honing their skills through showmanship. Each day is a new adventure, and they're thrilled to experience it.

Rumored to be a descendant of the legendary chef Apicius, Lilian displayed unparalleled talent in the arts of a chef from a very early age. Graduating from her homeland's premier culinary academy at the age of fifteen (a feat purportedly achieved by only two before her), she could have apprenticed under any master chef she chose. But, while touring the restaurants of the world to make her choice, her complaint was the same no matter where she went and what she tasted: as tastefully prepared and seasoned as the dishes might have been, the ingredients just weren't fresh enough. Even when the chefs protested that they had been gathered just that day, Lilian wouldn't have it; the food just didn't "taste right" to her.

One day, as Lilian's tour was nearing an end and she was beginning to despair as to whether she would ever find culinary satisfaction, she visited a certain Lagaardian restaurant which, of all the things, used ingredients from the local labyrinth to emulate the recipes of Apicius himself. Lilian was singularly impressed with the innovation and unique style their cooking displayed but, once again, dismayed with the freshness of their ingredients.

As she slept that night, prepared to reluctantly move on with her tour, she dreamt that she was wandering aimlessly through the local forest when, suddenly, a towering horned monster appeared before her and charged, screaming with rage. Trembling and paralyzed with fear, she suddenly found herself reaching into her bag, pulling out a jar of alchemical fire, and throwing it with all her might at the apparition. It evaporated before her eyes, and, to her surprise, before her instead lay the freshest, juiciest, and---as she tore into it---most delicious and succulent steak she could ever imagine. (Reflecting, she wasn't quite sure how the plate, fork, and steak knife got there, or for that matter how it appeared in a cut and fully seasoned state, but hey, chefs have strange dreams, okay?)

She woke up brimming with inspiration and confidence; she had finally stumbled upon her true calling as a chef. She vowed not only to take after the style of her supposed ancestor, but to go even one step beyond to ensure that she could one day surpass him. From that day forth, she would prepare, season, cook, and perhaps even serve her food in the depths of the labyrinths themselves, even in the heat of battle if the recipe so demanded, to guarantee without compromise that her ingredients were the very freshest ingredients possible.

Naturally she isn't going to do this all by herself; after all, a true master chef needs to concentrate, and having the ingredients fight back when they should be getting seasoned or cooked isn't very helpful to that end. So as long as other adventurers aren't going to do anything stupid like get in the way of a well-timed barrage of seasoning or dice the monsters that are supposed to be finely julienned, Lilian is happy to have them along, perhaps as sous chefs if needed.

Though there are those who question the sanity of a chef rushing headlong into potential mortal peril, Lilian will stop at nothing in the pursuit of perfection, and it is said that her intensity and zeal make the performance of her unique art truly a sight to behold. When she's not cooking, thinking about cooking, or at least thinking about food... well, nobody really knows what she's like, or even whether she ever DOES think about anything else. Her current ambition is to one day save up the money to open her own restaurant, where she hopes her guests will be able to taste food of peerless and hitherto unseen levels of quality, innovation, and above all freshness.

Born into a family of mages who helped run the Vental Kingdom magic university Astra was read childrens stories about the legendary adventures of heroes which sparked an interest bordering on obsession within her.

Astra spent all her spare time studying records on the fighting style of Heroes and teaching herself how to fight with a sword and shield in order to imitate them even going as far as dressing herself in what she thinks is appropiately heroic clothing.

Initially her parents were concerned about how these activities would affect her studying but were pleasently surprised when her attempts to recreate a heroes elemental attacks were partially successful, using the knowledge from her magic lessions she was able to divise a sword attack that would temporarily convert a persons mana into a volitile element of her choice which would then flare up upon further attacks.

Her parents let her continue her hobby thinking that she would perhaps create an interesting style of elemental magic for them to study, this was a mistake as Astra immediantly moved on to developing body enhancing magic in an attempt to create afterimages (a feat she has never managed to accomplish much to her dissapointment) and by the time they realised this she was already able to overpower and evade all the mages in the university.

So when a notice came in calling for capable adventurers to explore a newly discovered land there was no one who could react fast enouth to stop Astra from recklessly charging out to start her own heroic adventure leaving her parents praying for her safety.

TLDR: 'A reckless, happy go lucky hero wannabe girl using her self taught imitation fighting style to go on a heroic adventure'

An adventurer who describes herself as a fallen angel. She's completely obsessed with relics of the ancient world, particularly those from Etria, and believes that anime openings and j-pop were actually ancient warsongs holding great power. She aims to collect as many as possible, and adorns her living quarters with strange statuettes of busty women in bikinis.

Once an ordinary if irritable scholar of mathematics, Nadym was thrust into turmoil when a sinister organization launched an ultimately successful plot to discredit and eventually destroy his university. Trusted with his mentor's magical arm-mounted computer Magna-Calcula, he must learn the arts of combat geometry that his mentor was developing in secret in order to win a new life.

For the time being, he sees M-C as a tool - it can't really answer back, but it does have a command line interface, so in some measure this is justified - but it's not a magical computer for nothing and has a developing will of its own, one that wants Nadym to accomplish great things. If nothing else, it won't stand cowardice; even though Nadym is relatively inexperienced in combat, if there is so much of a chance at victory M-C will try to push him to seize it.

An imperial engineer sent to Armoroad to research the Yggdrasil there, but she gave up on that almost immediately. She opted to research yggdroids and their culture instead. She's incredibly fascinated by robotics and machinations. After receiving news that her duties searching for a way to awaken the yggdrasil in her homeland were no longer needed, she decided to travel the world searching for more machines to study.

Secretly wants to build a giant pilot-able robot.

A young girl who had thought about being a Necromancer before realizing that none of them have any fashion sense, she now dresses like a vamp and practices fighting with her body, attempting to hone an art where people can wear decent clothes and still fight effectively, while searching for the mythical secret to truly becoming a vampire, in part because what she knows of vampires is that they're physically blessed, and that means she can be even better as punching!

She has an eagerness towards her chosen art, enjoying the burn of a good routine, and the rush of a tough fight, while still being lovey and affectionate and cute to most everyone at home or while exploring

Once upon a time, there was tale of a dragon's blood that made such a powerful medicine, that it was guaranteed to be a cure for any and all diseases and wounds. However, this dragon was also infamous for its unsatiable hunger, its never-ending desire for destruction...

'Tis but a tale long lost to the wind, carried by the bard who once passed by. There isn't even any proof to it. Still, Yukiko and Maru are determined to find it.

Maru Miyasato was born with fragile bones that only deteriorated further with her growth, and no one in her clan, no matter how skilled the herbalist or shaman, could find any means to cure her. This meant that her ability to walk was poor since childhood and she was rendered completely lame at the age of 10. By no means was she abandoned by her clan, though; she was still trained as a herbalist, and by age 15, she was proficient at the trade, procuring potions, poisons, smoke bombs, all sorts. Still, travelling by caravan always left her longing to see the outside world which she only ever saw through wooden windows.

One day, during a festival in which the Miyasato clan were busily peddling their wares, a girl snuck into her wagon; a wandering swordswoman by name of Yukiko Kurihara, begging her for a cure for snake poison. After giving her what she sought, Maru expected never to see her again; except that the odd, rabbit-headband wearing swordswoman stuck with their group and offered her sword in exchange for transportation.

She and Maru grew to be fast friends, with Yukiko (or "Yuki" as Maru quickly came to call her) full to the brim with stories of adventures and exciting tales of all kinds. It was because of this that Yuki noticed her loneliness and wanderlust, and after weeks, nearly a month of pleading with her clan, promising them that she would protect her, she was finally able to convince them to let her take Maru with her on her next adventure.

This is somewhat an excuse to search for the aforementioned cure, but honestly, the two are happy to adventure regardless.

Yuki is confident that Maru won't be a hindrance by any means, of course; she's promised that she will be her legs so that Maru can focus on applying poisons to Yuki's weapons and administering potions at will.