These two were created for a contest run by Jessica Elwood to create new character for her and MoCaW's Death Dealers story, which I was a winner of. I think partly because I'm told Jessica was itching to draw these two, so hopefully we'll see that at some point.

Kageko and Nikkoru Shineko
"Ninja of light and darkness"
Age: 20
Species: Siamese cats

Background: Kageko and Nikkoru Shineko are the daughters of Kensetsu Shineko, leader of the eastern clan of ninja known as the Shadow's Dawn. Both the clan as a whole and in particular Kensetsu himself are respected and feared for their skills and mystical abilities. Kensetsu often hires out the services of the Shadow's Dawn to the very wealthy and powerful while taking great care to accept only those contracts which will further his own agenda and enhance the power and influence of his clan.

Twenty-so years ago, when Kensetsu learned that his mate was pregnant, he set in motion a great scheme that he had been planning for some time. Powerful in the mystic arts and rites of the ninja, Kensetsu performed a ritual that would infuse his unborn child with great magical potential in the form of a very carefully controlled and balanced combination of yin and yang forces. It was his intention to create a magically powerful warrior with unlimited potential that would be raised from birth to obey and serve him. Although his mate would not survive the ordeals of carrying and birthing the child, such was an acceptable sacrifice.

Kensetsu's plan was carefully orchestrated and the rituals performed to perfection. His scheme would have succeeded perfectly if not for one oversight - his mate was pregnant with twins. As would be obvious at their birth, the carefully balanced yin and yang forces had been split between them. One of the girls, whom Kensetsu named Kageko, was born with the vast majority of the negative yin energy. The other, named Nikkoru, was born with the vast majority of the positive yang energy. Kensetsu found this result to be most unexpected, but was not displeased.

The twins were trained in the martial arts and the clan's disciplines of stealth and subterfuge virtually since they were old enough to walk. As daughters of the clan leader they received the finest instruction and attention available. Kensetsu spared no expense in their education. They trained in both combat and social arts alike, and as they began to master these mundane skills, their father took them aside to train them in the mystical arts.

Kensetsu taught them the most rudimentary of ninja magics, teaching them how to create illusions, control the thoughts of the weak-willed, and enhance their abilities in combat. He taught them how to control their unique gifts, and taught them how to use their abilities in unison to make the whole of their fighting ability stronger than the sum of the parts. In time the twins became the most feared and respected kunoichi within the Shadow's Dawn clan. They carried out many missions of espionage, sabotage, and assassination for their father and their clan, and have thus far never failed in an appointed task.

At this point their history is deliberately open-ended in order to better suit any involvement they may have in the story. Perhaps the twins remain daddy's little girls, remaining loyal to him and performing missions on his behalf, acting as assassins and enforcers for the clan. Maybe they betrayed and killed their father, taking his place as leaders of the Shadow's Dawn, sending genin to do their bidding while not getting directly involved unless they must. They may have decided that their talents and skills were too valuable to waste slaving away for the clan and went rogue, travelling to the west to seek their fortunes as freelance mercenaries or assassins while dodging the pursuit of their vindicitive father. Or possibly they have grown increasingly aware of their father's evil and the direct role he had in their mother's death and have turned against him, taking on a more heroic motivation for their actions.

Talents: Both of the twins are experts in armed and unarmed combat. Nikkoru tends to favor more direct styles such as karate or kung-fu variants while Kageko tends towards more of a "soft" style such as jiu-jitsu or aikido, but they are adept in all manner of fighting arts. They have also trained extensively in the arts of stealth, acrobatics, subterfuge, seduction, and infiltration as well as social graces. They are skilled in the arts of deception and can make bold-faced lies seem like convincing truth.

In addition to these mundane skills, both sisters are trained in the magical arts typically associated with the ninja. They can create minor yet convincing illusions (best used for distraction), control the thoughts of the weak-willed (You did not see us, we were not here), and enhance their speed, agility, and fighting ability. However, their true power comes from their specializations.

Nikkoru possesses strong yang magic. She can use this positive energy to heal the wounds of herself or others, add extra power in the form of focused ki to her attacks, enhance her or another's strength, endurance, and metabolism, produce blinding flashes or light, or other such feats. Passively she recovers from injury very quickly and is all but immune to most poisons and diseases.

By contrast, her sister Kageko possesses strong yin magic. She can use this negative energy to conjure spells that drain the life energy from others, weaken or sicken an enemy, curse a foe with ill fortune, or create an obscuring cloud of darkness among other, similar magics. Passively she is highly resistant to magic of a shadow or necromantic nature.

Personality: Although Kageko and Nikkoru are two distinct persons, they often seem to act as one. The twins share an empathic link with one another and their thoughts are usually on the same page. The sometimes finish each others' sentences or speak in unison, which can be quite unnerving.

When on a mission the twins are very focused but not beyond having a little fun in the process. They might taunt or joke with an enemy, and may play around with one that they consider too weak to provide any real challenge (it's a cat thing). At times it seems that they have short attention spans and trouble taking what they're doing seriously but as with all things involving them, it is difficult to tell what is real and what is an act. They are definitely capable of turning deadly serious when the situation calls for it.

When "out of the ring" as it were they are reasonably friendly if not overly approachable. They tend to take on a relaxed demeanor in order to put those around them at ease, getting them to relax their guard. The twins are usually scheming at all times and are habitual opportunists. They evaluate nearly all situations for how they can best manipulate or exploit it to their advantage.

Kageko and Nikkoru spend most of their time together and are almost inseperable. Partly this is due to their sisterly bonding and their upbringing to always work together as a single unit, but it is also born of necessity. The imbalance of yin and yang forces in the twins is so severe that if they were to spend a significant amount of time away from each other it could prove very debilitating or possibly fatal. Each sister depends on the balancing energy of the other for survival.

The twins are not complete carbon copies of each other and there are differences between them. Nikkoru is a bit more outgoing and spontaneous, and can be a bit more emotional than her sister. Kageko has more of a drol and sarcastic personality and seems to be the smarter of the two. But these are subtle differences between the two, not overwhelming personality traits.

Sexuality: If the twins have any real interest in such a thing they hide it well. They flirt and tease quite a bit but it's mostly an act, just another one of their tricks to distract people and take them off their guard. Neither of them has been known to take a lover, not counting the men they may bring into their bed in order to get them into a vulnerable position. If seducing a target is an effective and efficient means of carrying out a task, they will not hesitate to do so.

For the most part they view sex and sexuality as just another tool or weapon to be used and mastered just like any other. They attach no more meaning or pleasure to the use of sex to achieve an objective than they do to the use of a shovel or other tool. Any serious advances are either laughed away or politely declined.

However there are rumors and subtle indications that the sisters may be "very close" indeed...

Quotes:
"Do not make the mistake of confusing light and darkness with good and evil."
"You would be surprised how little they have to do with each other."

"My apologies, but the Shadow's Dawn has declared your life to be in forfeiture."
"We are here to collect..."

"This isn't personal, it is just business."
"If it were personal you would deal with our father, not us."
"And then you would KNOW it was personal."

"It's a shame to kill him, he seems nice."
"I agree. Since we're going to be the last sight he sees before he dies, maybe we should kill him naked?"
"Yes let's! He at least deserves to die smiling."