Kunai

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Kunai was a minor character in Ascent: Trials of Vore. She was a lizardfolk woman who's history prior to her arrival in the Tower was unclear outside of her association with Oishī.

Her first and only appearance was in Floor 1 - The Gateway, of which she was one of the main antagonists. Despite consuming a large number of prey on the 1st Floor, she was defeated and absorbed by Syl.

Appearance
At the time of her arrival in the Tower, Kunai had glowing reptilian eyes, glimmering yellow-green scales and a hairless scalp. Her entire frame was sleek, curvy - most prominently in her thighs - and aerodynamically lithe, albeit with a subtle musculature - considered sexy by some - leaning more toward lizard than woman, being all scales and no skin. She had a slim, reptile's snout - containing a long, snaking tongue - as well as deceptively delicate-looking hands that hid her true strength.

For clothing, she sported a fairly basic grey two-piece athletic outfit that bore some passing and unclear similarities to Oishī’s clothes.

Personality
Kunai was less energetic than her companion, more of an intimidating force of nature who - while more cautious than her ally - possessed an underlying anger and ferocity reserved for her enemies. Similar to Oishī, however, she was incredibly predatory, being terrifying and sadistic, though more likely to dispense with theatrics - rather than play with her "food".

She also possessed a notable amount of pride, most notable in her self-perceived superiority to those around her - often referring to her opponents as "ants" or "whelps".

Background
The details of Kunai's life prior to the Tower are unclear aside from her being nominally friends with the cat girl Oishī. Where both came from is unknown, but they seemed to have been aware of the Tower's nature - and its gatekeeper, Porter, to a degree - before they arrived, apparently entering the Tower of their own will.

Kunai would, over time, experience Oishī's stubbornness in getting her way of things enough to know by the time they were in the Tower to accede to the cat girl's whims, as it was often the simpler solution.

Before coming to the Tower, Kunai would also have an eye-based charm or hypnosis ability shown off to her by Oishī, remembering it enough to bring it up later when the cat girl had seemingly forgotten about it despite having utilized it repeatedly and not shut up about it. (Floor 1- The Gateway)

1st Floor
The details of how Kunai's first moments in the Tower went are unclear. It is known, however, that she arrived with Oishī, both dressed in concealing cloaks, and - on arriving at the 1st Floor's stage room and encountering other climbers - witnessed Oishī steal a jug of water from the table Syl was or would be sitting at.

Shortly after this, a human woman who Kunai would not get the name of - but who was called Ashley Gray - approached the table attempting to find out what was going on from Kunai and Oishī. Oishī, ditching her cloak, would go out of her way to be terrifying, playfully threatening to "devour" Ashley for talking to them. Kunai would reign the cat girl in, forcing Ashley to leave to prevent Porter making an example of Oishī, but not before telling the human that they'd see each other again.

Soon after, Porter arrived before the audience, explaining the situation. No-one had been brought to the Tower by accident - especially true in Kunai and Oishī's case - all selected because of attributes Porter claimed they had, Kunai included, and the right to a mysterious destiny at the top of the Tower’s 1,000+ floors, un-reached in over 50,000 years. Through this explanation, both Kunai and Oishī would be very vocal in their excitement.

Porter would then summon Marie, a failed climber from the 5th Floor, whom she consumed and absorbed to demonstrate the mentioned attributes, as well as the fate that would await failures, horrifying most but further exciting Kunai. Porter chose to leave further "mumbo jumbo" explanations of the Tower to higher floors, though. Instead, she set the rules of the 1st Floor's challenge: the group would be spread across a vast maze, and would have to survive getting back to the stage. Only 2 of the group would survive the feeding frenzy, the doors to the next floor opening after that fact. Presumably, Kunai and Oishī were teleported, together, to a distant part of the maze.

What Kunai did after this is unclear, as the next hint of her actions was she and Oishī potentially being heard in the distance by Syl, prompting she and Ashley to seek shelter with Dawn to escape her. At this time, she may have consumed one of her fellow competitors - a centaur - though this could also have been Oishī's doing. She may have also consumed other competitors - as she would later hint at - but this was ultimately unconfirmed for all except a pig-like orc.

Just prior to arriving at the stage room, Kunai would capture and consume a fellow predator - a golem - while Oishī would deal with the golem's mermaid mistress. Kunai would also best a giantess who would attempt to escape into the stage before ultimately being caught.

Entering the stage room through the last unlocked door, the pair encountered a terrified Ashley - at that time one of the only other members of the group left uneliminated - feeling confident enough to gloat and flaunt their apparent superiority, despite buying Ashley's claim that she had eaten Syl. Kunai would have chosen Ashley as her final meal of the floor, but in deference to Oishī's insistent interest in Ashley begrudgingly allowed the neko first pick, instead opting to wait for the supposed other remaining prey.

Kunai would be the abrupt subject of an attempted overpower by Ashley, while she was distracted by a stealthed Syl attempting the same with Oishī. This would only last for a short time, Oishī incapacitating Syl using her eye charm ability, allowing Kunai to headbutt Ashley to the floor while she was in shock. Kunai would irately question why Oishī hadn't used the ability sooner, receiving the sheepish answer that she had forgotten she had it.

Kunai would then - rather forcefully - remind Oishī of the ability as it immediately slipped her mind, witnessing Oishī set upon Ashley and charming her into the drunken, lustful miasma as Syl's. Failing to notice Ashley snapping out of this almost immediately, Kunai would converse with Kunai, the pair bantering over their next course. In particular, Kunai would rebuff Oishī claiming she had a lack of creativity for wanting to dispense with theatrics.

Ashley would catch Oishī off guard, consuming her. Kunai - with a shout of shock and anger - attempted to intervene, but would instead be caught via stealth by the newly freed Syl, who would somehow manage to consume the lizard woman feet first, despite her much greater stature. Kunai - vicious and defiant with her words to her last free breath - was swallowed whole, leaving Syl with a massive, wobbling gut. By that time, Oishī had met the same fate, entering Ashley's stomach.

Kunai would put up a violent struggle, but it proved useless. Not long after, Syl's body absorbed Kunai completely, the lizard woman fighting til her last moment.

Only a tiny bit of belly pudge on Syl's front would remain as evidence of her existence. (Floor 1- The Gateway)

Abilities

 * Strength: Though not especially unique, Kunai possessed significant body strength that was enough to match opponents, a headbutt managing to functionally shut down an attempt to overpower her.

Equipment

 * Cloak: Before coming to the Tower, Kunai would acquire a cloak to conceal her appearance. She would ditch it at some point following Porter's opening speech.

Prey Tracker
Total Prey: Confirmed 003 - Possibly 004 - Potentially more unconfirmed

Detailed Record

 * Unnamed Centaur - 1F [Oral? - Ambiguous. Could have been Oishī.] (Floor 1- The Gateway)
 * Unnamed Orc - 1F [???] (Floor 1- The Gateway)
 * Unnamed Giantess - 1F [Oral] (Floor 1- The Gateway)
 * Unnamed Golem - 1F [Unbirth - Consumed in pieces, seemingly.] (Floor 1- The Gateway)

Affiliations

 * Start Group 20200517-E‏‎: This is the group of 20 climbers that Kunai was a part of on the 1st Floor. Outside of Oishī, Kunai showed no interest in truly getting to know any of them beyond minor encounters before she'd consume one of them.

Friends

 * Oishī: It can be inferred that Kunai and Oishī got along, most of their banter being darkly friendly. It is unclear exactly how much of this was for show, though, and whether the pair were truly friends or simply close partners was ambiguous. What is known, however, is that Oishī felt confident enough to joke around, while Kunai seemed genuinely upset and angry when Oishī was caught by Ashley, so regardless of the true nature of their relationship, it was evidently a strong bond.

Enemies

 * Ashley Gray: Kunai was one of Ashley's first true enemies in the Tower. Like Oishī, Kunai had a mild interest in Ashley - albeit less so than her companion - and intention to rule victorious, while Ashley's fear and later fear-tinged dislike of the lizard was readily apparent, as she and Oishī went out of their way to intimidate and absorb everyone in their path, taking particular pleasure in attempting to subjugate Ashley and Syl, especially following Ashley's failed attempt at an ambush.
 * Syl: Kunai was one of Syl's first true enemies in the Tower, albeit indirectly through Ashley. Many of the same issues that stood between Kunai and Ashley applied to her opinion of Syl as well, though the lizard woman did not truly meet Syl until what would be their final confrontation, despite choosing her as a finishing meal.

Others

 * Porter: Kunai's opinion of Porter is mixed. While excited by the gatekeepers displays of power and having been aware of her for some time, Kunai is apparently well aware of Porter's power, though more fearful of it than Oishī, as she had to remind the cat girl not to displease their host when she came close to consuming Ashley before proceedings had actually begun.

Trivia

 * Kunai’s original name in planning was Nigai, being Japanese for 'bitter'. However, certain unfortunate similarities to a slur were made apparent which couldn't be ignored. To replace it, QueenNyanlathotep suggested Nigami ('bitter taste') - which was too similar - and Kunai (Japanese trowel-like knife) - which was eventually used and which, when combined with Oishī's name, forms 'Oishīkunai', which means ‘not tasty’, for a fun naming couplet.