Jiro

***"You can let go of the past, you know. Forget it all. It's not easy, but it might be worth it. What use is remembering the ghosts of the past? Does it benefit you? Doesn't it make you sick?"*** - Jiro to Scout

**Appearance:**

In dragon form, Jiro is a small sized dragon with dark purple scales. She has silver dapples across the sides of her body, and a silver spear-like tail. Her wings are rather large for her body, giving her a smooth glide in flight. Her eyes are black, with a small salmon colored marking under them.

In human form, Jiro is a petite, fair-skinned girl with a slender build. She has triangular, lazy-looking black eyes, with notably long lower eyelashes and rather small eyebrows. Her hair is short, only around chin length, and is dark purple in color with an asymmetrical fringe. She wears a black leather jacket, a long salmon-colored shirt underneath, black pants, and black boots with stereos built into them. Jiro also has a pair of blue headphones with long wires dangling from both ends, and mic extending from it.

**Personality:** Jiro has a pragmatic, unenthusiastic, and teasing personality that is mostly shown to those she finds irritating. Jiro is not always like this though, as she does enjoy socializing with others, in which case she is usually nice and friendly. She is defensive for the ones she cares about most, including Scout, who trained her, and is basically a father-like brother to her. She is modest about her musical talents, and loves rock music a lot, much to the annoyance of Scout, who prefers lofi hip hop.

**Equipment:**

* Headphones: A pair of blue and pink headphones that have plug-like earphone jacks that dangle from both sides, not connected to anything in particular. However, she can tune into nearby radio stations, and listen to music even if her headphones aren’t plugged into anything.
* Mic: A small mic separate from her headphones, but can be plugged into them. Jiro always wears it plugged in. If she turns it on and speaks into it, Scout can hear her by tuning into her soundwaves by directing his electricity flow into his earpiece and into the same frequency as her.
* Katana: An iron katana that she wields in battle

Jiro has the ability to control and create sound waves. She can create ripples and miniature earthquakes by channeling them into the ground.

**Backstory:**

A small, dark purple egg sat in the middle of an old hut. In the corner, a large stereo blasted music. Obviously, the place used to belong to a human. The stereo was put there unknowingly by a human, and apparently they forgot to turn it off, or take it with them when they left. Jiro hatched as a dragon. But before she could even live for a full day as one, she unwittingly turned into a human. For the first years of her life, Jiro lived as a human, unbeknownst of the dragon world.

She lived alone, in the alleyways, earning little money from singing for people in the streets, and in clubs that she was allowed entry. It wasn’t the best life, but it was a decent one. Everyday, she listened to music blasting from pubs, and had a decent time.

Until.

When Jiro first met the white haired boy, the first thing she thought of was: what’s this guy doing here? He had a scared, yet fierce look on his face. Jiro went to interrogate him. Maybe he had money. Maybe he needed some company. All she got was a cold reply from the boy. That made her annoyed. Instead of leaving him alone, she kept tagging right behind him, following him around.

It was not until the boy got a good look at her that she learned about the world of dragons.

“*What?* Dragons don’t exist! They don’t-” Jiro broke off as the boy gave her a cold look, and morphed into a giant black dragon.

“They do. And you. Are one.” The boy morphed back.

“I’m not. You’re crazy. I’m clearly a hum-”

“Try. Imagine yourself as a dragon.” He leans against a wall, looking annoyed. Jiro tried. She pictured a dragon, and before she could even react-

“Woahhh…” Instead of looking down and seeing her normal human body, she saw a small sized dragon body. She morphed back. “Cool, thanks for telling me, I guess. Now. How’d you know I was a-”

“I can see it. Plain as day.”

“Oh. Well, you haven’t told me your name yet, weird white haired kid that has a super stiff looking jacket. Also, you know, scowling isn’t good for your face.” This comment made him scowl more.

“Scout.”

“Interesting. I’m Jiro.”

“Well, now that you know my name, will you please leave me alone?” He demanded.

“Nope. I’m following you.”

Scout adopted a scowl, and quickly headed off, Jiro close behind him.

That was how it went for two whole weeks. Scout winding through the city, Jiro right behind him. After some sparse conversations between the two, Jiro found out that Scout was on the run. From a mad king that really really really wanted his death, and would stop at nothing to see it happen. She still kept following him.

Eventually, Scout’s cold demeanor started to thaw towards Jiro.

They were practically siblings, by the end of the first month. An older brother and his naggy younger sister.

Three weeks after Jiro discovered she was a dragon, she met Draca. Being closer to Scout, she went bonkers when Draca insulted him.

“SHUT UP! DON’T CALL MY BROT-” Jiro cut off awkwardly, and stole a glance at Scout. He didn’t seem to react. He just stood, brow furrowed, his hand raised in a flicking position as if he wanted to flick Draca’s head off with his middle finger.

So Jiro continued with her rant.

“DON’T CALL HIM THAT, YOU SNOTTY OLD MAN!” She yelled. This made Draca furious.

“Me, snotty? Old man? YOU-” Before he could finish his sentence, Jiro yelled, and a giant soundwave rolled through the earth, starting from her feet. The land almost seemed to ripple with the wave, and a mini earthquake shook the perimeter of the land. The king screamed as the ground nearly swallowed him up, and was thrown in the air as another wave rolled through the earth. He clutched his ears, screaming. Scout winced at the sound wave, and made a flicking motion. Jiro squinted at his finger, and her mouth dropped as thin black veins creeped up Scout’s finger. A giant explosion rocked the earth, and Jiro was blown back into the air. Thunder screamed in the air, and a flash made her shut her eyes. Jiro yelled, arms flailing. Just before she hit the ground- she landed softly. On something misty. Three dimensional shadows- what? She got up, and watched as Scout, his finger broken, slid back a few feet. A giant column of shadows shot out of the ground, throwing the king up again. He lunged, and grabbed the king by the throat.

“No…” Draca hissed. He made a clawing motion with his hand, and disappeared with a poof. Scout growled, and Jiro shuddered as black shadows seeped out through his boot soles, leeching the color out from the grass and plants around him.

“Hmpf. So you do have powers.” Scout turned to Jiro, a dark scowl on his pale face.

“Well, I guess so… Doesn't make much sense. What was that thing you did? You flicked your finger, and a giant explosion just like, came.” Jiro waved her hands around in the air.

“Something I was taught a while ago. Shadows and electricity.” He turned, and Jiro had no choice but to shut up and follow him.

After her so-called power had been discovered, Scout set to the task of helping her harness and train her power. He explained that if untrained, a power could be potentially useless in the future, or even dangerous if the occupant couldn’t control it.

“I want you to create a small sound wave. One that doesn’t destroy the earth, yet will definitely impair one’s hearing.” As he said this, Scout pulled out a thick pair of earmuffs, and put them on.

Jiro squinted. She tried to summon a sound wave. Nothing

“I- How? Do I just like, call for it? Like calling for a dog?”

“What? No. You just summon it. Imagine it coming.”

“Wow, so clear. Fine.” Jiro shut her eyes, and imagined a sound wave ravaging- no, rippling gently over the earth. Just as she opened her eyes, a small rippling sensation nearly knocked Scout over. He regains his balance, and shoots her a thumbs up.

“Great. Try again. Make it slightly bigger, now.”

Jiro obliged.

“Hmm.” Scout peered at her.

“What?”

“You know how I have these gauntlets to help with controlling my powers?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to make you something.”

“I don’t want gauntlets-”

“Something else”

Half a week later, Scout presented a pair of blue headphones with a separate mic attachment to her. Earplug-like jacks dangle from both sides.

“Try it on.”

Jiro pulls them on, expecting them to be uncomfortable. Instead, they’re almost weightless- she barely feels them at all.

“Wow, thanks, Scout!” She hugs him, and quickly backs away, feeling awkward. Scout’s face expression doesn’t change.

“Ok. Those jacks- you can emit sound waves through them. Plug them into a wall- you’ll be able to hear more. Plug them into the ground, and summon a sound wave- it’ll be easier, and less draining. The mic doesn’t really have to do with your power. If you turn it on, and speak into it, I’ll be able to hear it.” Scout taps his earpiece. “I can tune into your frequency.”

Jiro tried, plugging them into the ground. A large wave swept through the ground; a rippling effect was created. Scout is nearly thrown off his feet.

“That’s amazing!”

And that’s how it went for the next few months of her life. With much dedication from both of them, Scout trained her to control her power to a state where she could summon a large sound wave just by flicking her headphone jacks.

“Great!” Scout actually looked happy for once. He reached over, and squeezed her shoulder. “You’re great with this. A few more weeks, and you'll have full mastery.”

Jiro blushed.

Despite Scout telling her over and over that she should join TSS with him, she refused, saying that she belonged in the human world, with all the music, other humans, and excitement. She got into a special school for humans with powers, where she trained her power even further. Each day, she and her unit (kind of a class) practiced in obstacle courses, killed monsters, and learned normal school stuff.

“You know how I joined the Secret Sea?” Scout, in human form, had visited Jiro at her school in the city.

“Mhm.”

“You wanna join with me? There’s a lot of dragons and people just like us- hybrids.”

“Sorry, Scout. I don’t belong-”

“Yes you do. All of us are there.”

“I’m staying here, Scout. I got into a good school, and there’s everything I-”

“Jiro, come on.”

“I’m staying, Scout. At least until I finish elementary school here.”

“What even is that? Nevermind. We have a good academy back there, too. St. Oaji’s.”

“I’m staying, Scout.”

Scout sighed.

“Alright. If you really want to, I can’t stop you. Hopefully, you’ll reconsider sometime… Stay safe Jiro. I’ll miss you. Best of luck to you, lil’ sis.” He smiles slightly, and hugs her tightly. Jiro hugs him back.

“Miss you too. Write to me!” She waves as Scout morphs into a giant dragon, and jumps into flight. He waves back.

\*2 years later\*

“I finished school here. I’ll go to TSS.” Jiro says into her mic.

\*5 hours later”

A 12 year old Jiro, with Scout right next to her, morphs into a dragon.

“Ready?”

Jiro nods. The two jump off the cliff, and stretch their wings out, soaring across the sky, into the wide expanse of sky over the ocean.