Yzume Shindo

> "Whilst folk like you are gifted with the power to control flames, or Ezra can quite literally turn the tides... I was not blessed to be a bender. I've had to rely on nothing but my own strength, and I find that swords are best for it."
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**Yzume Shindo** is a Fire Nation mercenary, trained samurai and second-in-command Red Lotus leader, who strongly believes in an ideal world without borders or governmental bodies, and believes that the true balance of the world begins with the execution of the Avatar. A former samurai within the Fire Nation, she was exiled from her school after becoming too aggressive, and abandoned her code to instead join the Red Lotus.

She and the rest of the Red Lotus have proved to be a consistent threat to Team Avatar due to their schemes in killing Avatar Genji, as well as destroying any governmental bodies they deem to be corrupt. Her exploits have taken them to the Southern Water Tribe, where a failed attempt at kidnapping both Genji and Kue forced her and Ezra to abandon Zorok to be arrested. She later was able to kidnap Kue and Nico in the Fire Nation in an attempt to lure Genji to their rescue, but the pair escaped.

Later on, Yzume participated in the seige of the Fire Nation on the side of Fire Lord Azaera. However, Azaera and the Sozin's Elite would betray the Red Lotus, which forced Yzume to flee and leave Aster Sage and Ryoza behind.

With three of her members now gone, including their leader, Yzume took control of the Red Lotus. She managed to recruit two new members, and stage a rescue at Tianchi Volcano, successfuly recovering Zorok from White Lotus hands and massacaring a large portion of the White Lotus forces.

## History

### Early Life

Born in the Fire Nation within Capital City, Yzume's upbringing was pitiful due to her low economic background, with her family residing in the poorest district within the city. She lived with her single mother and an older sister named Isuyo.

From the very start, Yzume was highly neglected by her older mother. Whilst Yzume lacked the attention and love needed for a young child, her older sister was pampered. This was because Isuyo was a Firebender, unlike Yzume and her mother. Her mother believed that as a Firebender, Isuyo was more privledged and could use her abilities to win fortune for the family. Despite Yzume's desperate attempts to win her mothers favour by taking up sword-wielding lessons, her mother ignored her. Similarly, the Fire Nation continued to do nothing to assist the poverty-stricken family.

At age 16, Yzume decided to leave the family for good and ran away from home. Neither her mother or sister seemed to be bothered to seek out Yzume. She scrounged money within various towns and cities within the Fire Nation by pickpocketing money and stealing goods, until she was able to save up enough to afford tuition into a samurai and sword-mastery academy in the north of the Fire Nation.

### The Samuari Academy

Yzume considers the highlight of her life to be her time in the samurai academy, where she proved to be a prodigy. She was taught the respectful *bushido* code of the samurai, and was given her own personally forged katana and tanto to wield. Yzume loved the attention she got during the academy, as her talent was in full-display during duels.

During the periods where Yzume would travel across the Fire Nation, she would put her skills to the test by particpating in combatative tournaments. Her endless victories at the tournaments would win her enough money to be extremely comfortable.

Believing that the money and her talent would be enough to win the favour of her mother, Yzume finally got back in contact with her mother. Unfortunately, their happy reunion wasn't to last - Yzume discovered in the middle of the night that her mother was secretly plotting to extort and steal as much of Yzume's winnings as possible, then leave in the night with Isuyo.

Struck with rage, Yzume proceeded to burn the house alight in the night, trapping her parent and sister inside. She allowed them both to burn to death, and left Capital City for good.

Upon her return to the academy, her talent with the blade increased. Although word never got out about the crime she had committed, the corruption of her henious murder began to infect her mindset. She repeatedly began to break the code of *bushido,* by breaking the codes of compassion to fellow students, and respect to their opponents. After an incident in the academy that resulted in one of her opponents being mortally wounded, Yzume as expelled from the academy and dishonoured by the clan that taught her to fight.

### Mercenary Career

Now expelled from her school, Yzume set off independently to put her sword to use by becoming a mercenary and bounty hunter. Along the road, she would meet Zorok, who was set as one of her targets. Zorok was able to defend himself, and managed to convince Yzume to harness her hatred of the Fire Nation government for abandoning her as a child and join the Red Lotus. From there, she became Zorok's right-hand and would soon become a secondary leader of the Red Lotus.

## Abilities

### Weapon Proficency

As a non-bender, Yzume has been forced to make do in contact without the use of bending. Whilst training at a samurai academy, Yzume became highly proficent in swordsmanship.

## Relationships

### Zorok

> "Too many losses, Zorok. I have a plan, something that will work - but we need your guidance."
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### Ezra Tempest Shui

> "You got to laze around in the *base* whilst we risked our necks. If only you weren't incompetent and could Bloodbend without a full moon, then we'd have the Avatar chained up right now."
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### Kai Ghojin

> "Kai is strong and has incredible potential, he's straight-forward thinking and dutiful." - Yzume to Zorok, about Kai
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### Ren

> "Ren is a force of nature all on his own, his reputation precedes him." - Yzume to Zorok, about Ren
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### Kue

> "Hello, Kue. I missed you a lot. I've been thinking about our last encounter a lot... it was fun, wasn't it? And now we can hang out a little bit more."
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Yzume and Kue are shown to have an extremely antagonstic relationship, although Yzume's is shown through a more psychopathetic affectionate kind. Upon their first meeting in the Southern Water Tribe, after kidnapping Kue, she is extremely dismissive towards Kue and regards her as some 'no-name girl' that wasn't even worth attacking. Afterwards, however, Yzume began to think about Kue a lot and even claim to 'miss her', as she became obsessed with the fear that Kue had shown around her. This was further enunciated during Kue and Nico's capture in the Fire Nation, where Yzume taunted Kue and manipulated her fear.

### Nico Tshomo

> "I've heard so much about you... boyfriend of the Avatar, the representation of peace within the group... following Genji Yamada like a little puppy. It's wonderful to offically meet you."
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### Genji Yamada

> "Genji *is* the Avatar. And a start-up one, too. Last we saw, he barely had even mastered fire."
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### Aster Sage

> "You're smart. Smarter than any of us. What do you think?"
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### Ryoza

> "Don't worry, folks, this guy can be trusted. Pulled me out of more than a fair share of scrapes."
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## Quotes

*"My name is Yzume Shindo. I am out here because this is the current base for the Red Lotus. What you've come across on sheer accident may spell the very start of a new life... or it could be the end, depending on what you decide."*
*"Nobody beat me. Not the Avatar, not the Dai Li, and certainly not that raging little bitch. I survived. I left them with scars and trauma. The Avatar's friends are captured by the Fire Nation because of me. I burnt the hands of that Firebender so bad that she might not be able to bend a little flame for a long time. And through this battle, I've realised what we have to do."*

*"Don't you understand, foolish boy? With the Avatar in our way, we will never succeed. He has to be disposed of... permanently."*

*"For generations, the Avatar is meant to be the one to bring balance to the world. But don't you find it contradictory that he has no balance himself? Why should someone be given so much power to control the four elements and bring forth power of the Avatar's generations previous? How is it fair that people like me are forced to live with the increasing number of benders, shunned and thought of as weak and powerless, whilst he reigns with godlike power that he hardly deserves?"*

## Trivia

* Yzume was implied to have followed the code of **bushido**, a moral code followed by samurai and Japanese warriors. Some of these codes she still follows; others, she has broken.
	+ In particular, Yzume has repeatedly broken the virtue of **rei** (respect), to not be cruel nor prove their strength to other warriors and **jin** (compassion) of using power for good. However, she venemently follows the code of **yuuki** (heroic courage) by never hiding, and **makoto** (honesty and sincerity) by committing to the actions she intends to do.
* Shindo (真藤) is Japanese surname meaning 'true, reality'. Her first name is similar to the name 'Izumi', meaning 'spring'.
* The weapons that Yzume wields are a *katana,* characterized by a curved, single-edged blade that was forged from silver during her time at the academy, and a *tanto,* a double-edged dagger.
	+ Yzume's original weapon was destroyed by Eri Tomao during the Fire Nation siege, who melted the blade. Ezra replaced her blade after the battle.