The Kunoshi

**The Kunoshi**, often referred to as "owl ninjas", are female owls who are warriors for hire that specialize in protection, espionage, subversion, assassination, deception, and fighting. Notable traits of the Kunoshi include them wearing detachable hooded capes or hooded cloaks, tattoos usually of their groups' insignia if they are in any groups or of their choosing if they are not in any groups, applying dye and cosmetics to their eyelids, beaks, cheeks, and/or talons, and going by nicknames that usually go by a theme chosen by themselves. They are similar to hireclaws and slipgizzles as they are hired by their clients and do infiltration work, and often multiple Kunoshi travel together in groups of five usually called squadrons, companies, or squads. They appear in the fanfiction ***Tales of the Kunoshi***.

## Etymology

The word kunoshi comes from the Japanese words for ninja, *kunoichi* and *shinobi*.

## Practices

### Clothing

One key feature of a Kunoshi is wearing hooded capes or hooded cloaks that easily detach if they are caught onto something and are either dark or bright colors. They were not always detachable; in fact, this came to be so after multiple incidents of Kunoshi being injured or killed due to their capes or cloaks being caught onto something. The detachable capes and cloaks have become the norm to prevent any more injuries and deaths from such cases. They help hide a Kunoshi's identity which is useful for espionage.

### Tattooing

A Kunoshi wears tattoos that are usually located on the chest, but can also be on other areas. If a Kunoshi is a part of a group, they have a tattoo of the group insignia; for example: a sun for the Solar Squadron, a moon for the Lunar Squadron, a crow's head for the Darkness Company, and a flame for the Flame Squad. However, they can also have other tattoos. If a Kunoshi is not part of a group, they have tattoos based on their personality and/or liking, and they can have as few or many of them as they like.

### Nicknames

Kunoshi go by nicknames (called Kunoshi names) that they are identified by. The reason why they go by these nicknames is because this is to protect the Kunoshi's friends, family, and loved ones who are not Kunoshi from being targeted by the Kunoshi's enemies whether they are Kunoshi or not; this also protects the Kunoshi themselves. Due to the nature of their occupation, if they go by their real names instead of their Kunoshi names, they can and will run the risk of their non-Kunoshi friends, family, and loved ones being harassed, harmed, and/or killed by their enemies and even other Kunoshi.

### Cosmetics and Iroterute

Another key feature of a Kunoshi is wearing cosmetics and applying dye to their feathers in a way unique to the Kunoshi called iroterute which means "to dye one's body in certain areas and not others". The primary purpose of this is to help hide a Kunoshi's identity like with the capes and cloaks, and the secondary purpose of this is to make the Kunoshi attractive and help seduce males in order to distract them and to make them reveal secrets which can be used as information. A Kunoshi may remove their cosmetics and dye when they are having owlets.

### Groups

Unlike most hireclaws and slipgizzles, Kunoshi often form groups of five called squadrons, companies, and squads; any groups below or above five are named differently. Groups of five and below have a single leader that is self-elected or mutually agreed upon while groups above five either have a single leader or a group of leaders that are either self-elected, elected by the members, or decided by a competition. They can have no particular headquarters, a single headquarters, or multiple headquarters; most groups have either no particular headquarters or multiple headquarters due to their line of work.

## Notable Kunoshi

* Aamu (Barn Owl, Solar Squadron)
* Adelaide (Spotted Owl, Solar Squadron)
* Ainsley (Great Gray Owl, Solar Squadron)
* Yagmina (Snowy Owl Hagmite, Solar Squadron)
* Yayoi (Northern Saw-whet Owl, Solar Squadron)
* Aamu's Grandmother (Barn Owl, Solar Squadron)
* Yukiko (Leucistic Barn Owl, Lunar Squadron)