Noriko was born to loving parents. Hoshidan merchants who had traveled to Nohr to attempt to sell their wares, but didn’t find much success
Following numerous hardships the family tried to leave Nohr and return home, but were accosted by Nohrian hunters and killed for their fur. Noriko escaped the attack and managed to flee to her parents homeland of Hoshido.
There, she found sympathetic people from a minor noble’s estate who brought her back and fed and housed her.
She was still young and in no shape to do much for a time and was allowed to stay purely on compassionate grounds after the noble and his family heard of what had happened.
Noriko learned from the noble’s personal cook and slowly began to take over his job, becoming the full time cook at age 16 when he took ill and died. She performed quite admirably in the role - as well as developing a particular fondness for certain foods such as aburaage.
She kept growing, and people came to admire her strong physique and tall build, unusual for kitsune. One of noble’s retainers persuaded her to train martially and she accepted after some cajoling, gradually switching over from cook to a formidable warrior with a natural knack for violence
Despite all this, however, she maintained a fiercely burning hatred of Nohr. This came to a head when a Nohrian merchant came into town and, on seeing her, commented to one of his aides that her fur was of exquisite quality and would fetch an excellent price here or at home. On hearing this, she attacked the man and injured him severely due to her size.
The nobleman whom she served, while understanding, could not allow her to remain in his employ after such a display. She was ordered to leave his lands within the week and is gifted a small amount of money, her equipment, food, and some spare clothes to help start a new life elsewhere.
From there she drifted into a port town after some months, settling in with the local riffraff and making a name for herself as a rabble rouser prone to scuffles and fights. However, she eventually landed stable employ in a tavern for a short time, working both behind its counter and as security. She then became a bodyguard serving a wealthy merchant in the city until the man’s tragic death by poisoning. Though the family did not blame her she had a hard time finding similar work again.
After this, she worked numerous odd jobs for the next few years, amassing a host of unusual skills and stories - but eventually grew restless and itched for something new. She boarded a ship abroad looking to start over once more. The ship came under attack by pirates whilst at sea, and Noriko eagerly joined its defense. She successfully killed several, but was unaccustomed to shipboard combat and eventually surrounded and, faced with an offer of joining them or dying, joined the pirate crew for the next ten years, preying primarily on Nohrian shipping.
Her pirating career came to an end with a battle against a Nohrian crew, both ships sinking out at sea. Noriko, fueled by little more than sheer refusal to die, swam to shore clinging to flotsam from the wreckage. With nothing more than the clothes on her back and a pendant given to her in childhood to her name after the loss of everything she had worked on for ten years, she washed up on Osha’s shores half dead. With the last reserves of her strength, she dragged herself further up the shore and out of reach of the high tide before collapsing. When next she awoke, she had been taken into a holding cell as a precaution.
It was whilst in this cell that she spoke with Toda Ujiteru, who suggested to the castaway that she take up mercenary work when freed. Noriko promptly did so at his suggestion. She found her way to the company of the Silver Hawks and joined their ranks. Over the following years, she worked her way up through the ranks through a combination of competence, combat experience, and a knack for staying alive no matter how poorly a battle seemed to go or how badly she was injured. It was after a particularly grueling battle that she became the Sergeant-At-Arms of the company, a position she held for another eight years and in which she served with distinction - though her hatred of Nohr worried many. Not long after her promotion, the very same Toda Ujiteru joined with the company.
It was in another hard fought battle that the previous Captain, a Nohrian minor noblewoman named Astrid, died in combat. Though aware of Noriko’s animosity towards Nohrians, the Captain, like Noriko, was ultimately a pragmatist above all else and trusted the Hoshidan kitsune not to stab her in the back. Noriko, in turn, afforded her respect unheard of for the other Nohrian members of the company. Appointing Toda Ujiteru as her replacement, Noriko took on the role of Captain in the aftermath of her death, suspicion has been rampant that Noriko played some role in her demise. She pointedly ignores such accusations.
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