Piper

Main Character, Mentor, Ninja, Spy

Agent, Special Agent Piper, "Tachibana" (by her mom), Mentor

Female

15

Average

5'9

Jet black

Short (about shoulder length), messy, jagged because it was cut by a katana

None

Steel gray

Human

Pale white

Athletic, strong build from spending all her time outside and on missions

A jagged scar on her left cheek

Always folding her arms across her chest or idly swinging her katana around (or whacking things with it.)

She wants to prove that she's the best at what she does, to be as good as her parents and to not let them down.

She's fiery, stubborn, cruel at points, critical, and disrespectful (most of these due to the hate she has for other people after her parents were killed.)

That everyone is terrible and can't be trusted (although it was only a few people who betrayed her trust.)

She's an incredibly skilled samurai, which includes a lot of talents. Sword fighting, agility, strength, and other factors are important in this. She's also a talented actress as she has to play lots of different roles on incognito missions.

Basically, the only things that are fun for Piper are taking out anger with her katana, going on missions, and getting revenge on people. Also making things with plants. And teasing Kris. (Shhh-- she wouldn't actually admit that.)

Introvert (literally, she hates other people.)

Not mentioned

Not mentioned

Special Agent for the AS HQ.

Black

Anything Japanese as it reminds her of home

Her katana. Obviously.

Katana ;3

Panda

Samurai

January 7

Graduated from high school at the HQ, skipped college as it kind of mixed in with her high school education, no primary or secondary school

Piper is a Japanese forest girl born and raised in Japan. Her samurai parents were the most important people to her, and she loved them more than anything, training with them, learning with them, fighting with them, learning properties of different plants with her mom-- so when they were both killed in an intense battle, she was on her own. She stayed that way for a while and then journeyed to the Animal Spies HQ, where she quickly learned English and befriended Kris, who seemed to understand her in a way others couldn't. He was the only person who she trusted and didn't completely shut herself off from. She graduated early and then retreated back to the forest, training harder than ever before and becoming one of Orangutan Man's most trusted and skilled warriors.

None (although there's a certain panda that follows her around for an unknown reason. She named it Shadowface.)

Despite her cold exterior and angry, antisocial nature, Piper actually has a strange, dark sense of humor, always pulling pranks on people when they're least expecting it. It just goes to show that she certainly has a lighthearted side in there somewhere.

Excerpt of her first introduction to the story:
“Heard you needed some help,” a low-pitched, rough female voice said.
I looked around. I didn’t see anyone. “Who’s there?” I asked, confused.
“Me,” the voice said casually.
“No, seriously. If this is a prank, please show yourself,” I told the voice, which sounded like it was coming from the trees. “I don’t have any lights, but I can still see.”
“Ā, ōgoe de sakenda!” the voice snapped in a language I didn't understand. Chinese? Japanese? She muttered a word I probably wasn’t allowed to say. “I’m right here, on the knotted birch tree!”
I looked at the tree she was talking about and then squinted. There was a person, alright, and she was lying lazily in the crook of the curvy tree. I gasped in shock when I realized it was a girl, not an adult! Just slightly older than I was, probably fourteen or fifteen.
She had short black hair with a jagged edge, and wild bangs covering one side of her pale face, as if a little kid had cut it with those little safety scissor things. She was wearing all black, and she was glaring at me with cold, almond-shaped gray eyes. She also had a golden heart locket on, and a heavy black backpack, along with scuffed black boots that looked old and worn. I saw something gold gleam behind her. A sword sheath?!
“Look, I have things to do,” the girl said sharply. “So stop staring and standing there, please.”
“I . . . .” I closed my mouth, then opened it again. “I’m Skyhawk. Who are you?”
“That’s none of your business.” The girl slid down from the tree and kicked it. “Do you need help getting back to the HQ, or what?”
“I do,” I told her, a bit shocked at her attitude. “Um . . . that would be nice.”
“Fine.” The girl hefted her backpack up and brushed her bangs away from her face, revealing a jagged pink scar on her cheek. What had happened to this girl?! “I’m . . . I’m Piper Tachibana.”
“Nice to meet you, Piper-- uh-- Totcheebonna,” I told her, trying to be nice. “Could you please get me back now?”
“Listen, I’m going to get you there, Skyhawk. My new job is to protect you. Because there are people out to get you. Bad people. Lots of bad people. And bad people do bad things, and you can’t just defend yourself alone . . . You need someone to help you with that. And that someone is me.” Piper unsheathed a sword, long and with an angled tip, and held it in front of her. “And I come prepared.”

Kris:
When she first joined the Animal Spies HQ, a place for people who can turn into a certain type of animal, Kris was the only one who welcomed her (besides the head of the HQ, of course). Instead of acting like she was freaky or dirty or mean, he talked to her, asked her questions, learned more about her. They got to know each other, and she discovered that she actually enjoyed his company. However, when she graduated, she left, leaving him heartbroken (although the relationship hadn't progressed to anything more than friends yet.) She retreated to the forest, and through going on other missions and spending time away from cool-headed, reasonable Kris, her hate for other people deepened and she became even more angry than she was before. When she returned for the first meeting of "The Seven," Kris was horrified to discover who she'd become. In the time they were apart, Kris had actually developed a crush on Piper, although they hadn't communicated in years.

Tyler "Skyhawk":
Piper was assigned to be Skyhawk's "guardian" when he joined the HQ and Orangutan Man realized that he was something special. Since he was new to everything and very curious, his constant questions drove Piper crazy. Her lessons and teaching were all very abrupt and not-very-well-thought-out, and so when he couldn't do the tasks she was asking him to, she got mad (of course). Over the course of the series, Skyhawk learns to do more on his own, and Piper learns to be more patient and understanding with him. That doesn't mean the two like each other, though-- they're still far from it due to their contrasting personalities.