"75% recap, 25% original content. My life has become an episode of Street Fighter II V."

[poiuppx]

Okay, time for another recap fest. But never fear, kind readers; I actually have a little meat to go with the same old bones this time around. So stick with me here, I may actually keep your interest a little

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Re: Haruko

[poiuppx]

Hell, I think if anyone wants spoiler-free work on Dragonfly, they probably shouldn't be in here. ^_~ Okay, lesse... I should point out she remains a main character once she joins the main cast in Season 2. However, in terms of her original goal of revenge, by the end of Season 2, her vengence has been settled. Her aspirations really are so focused on that revenge that she doesn't even have an easy time seeing past it. Long term planning is about as foreign to her as friends and lovers...

As for the future, best to start with her first appearance in Season 2, Episode 4. Here, near the start of the group's mission to hunt down Darian, while the group rests in a nearby inn, Shinobi spots a man who he remembers from a bounty poster. Needing additional funds to help the group's trip across the world, he guns after the man, only to run afoul of another bounty hunter who also has designs on the man. But when the two are about to come to blows, Shinobi spies her weapon- Fate -and realizes it is Haruko. The sudden realization between the two only has a moment to set in before the city guard show up... and DEFEND the murderer, attacking the duo in force. Forced to flee into the slum-like heart of the city, the two while in hiding pass the time catching up. Haruko explains she is here on business from a family living in a nearby village; the man they both chased kidnapped their daughter, with the blessing of the lord of the city and the wing of the city guard he has in his pocket. He keeps the man on hand to deal with his enemies, while letting him do as he pleases with neighboring villagers as payment. Shinobi explains why he went after him; finding out the identity of the man who destroyed his family, hunting him because of not only what he did but what he may yet do. The concept hits home with Haruko... the two perform a surgical strike on the lord's estate, crushing his guard, defeating the murderer, and sending the lord in a panic out into the street and into the arms of the awaiting NOT on the take members of the city guard, alerted thanks to them by the rest of the group. Haruko, following this, declares she'll be joining up with the group to help them out. "Consider it a belated payment" she says, hefting the mighty Fate, "for a weapon that has saved my life more times than I can count over the years." (remember, Season 2 is 3 years later)

Re: Haruko

[poiuppx]

Now, the question of whether she joined just to repay Shin for the weapon, if it was because of the similarity to her own quest, if she simply wanted to help them do the right thing, or some other personal reason is a question left somewhat ambiguous. The fact is it's a combination of all of the above. However, during their travels, she begins to remember what it means to have friends, to have things beyond revenge and honor in one's life. In particular, Shinobi begins to bring out the most change in her... the two through numerous encounters grow close to one another, keeping Shinobi human in spite of his quest for vengence and reminding Haruko she is human in spite of her own. However, that quest comes back in a big way when they begin to realize that many of Darian's more attrocious actions were not in fact his own, but those of a doppleganger acting under Paladin Lorc Wyler. Among these actions is the order sent to the Darklings to find more slaves... and resultingly, Haruko's father's death. This, combined with Lorc's vile experiments, their attacks on the group, Lorc's responsibility in the death of Iori's father, and his killing of Seta's first master before his and the master's daughter's eyes, leads the group into direct conflict with him. It becomes a massive war, Lorc and his Evolutionary Forces versus the group and anyone they've managed to gather to them. At long last, Haruko has her shot at revenge... but now on all sides of her are people out for the same man's blood. In the end, they get that revenge, having to defeat him not once but twice (technically thrice, but the third time is just a matter of the house coming down on him, so to speak). Now her goal is at last completed... but her star is no longer tied only to revenge. She joins with the group, the first group of friends, of people who matter to her. Now, eyes turn from her own quest and to the next one... the hunt for Darian.