Y'zhara Zekial

History

• Biography

  The Beginning (Childhood)
  
  Y'zhara was born in Southern Thanalan to the Yzh tribe. Her parents were Y'zheel Nuhn and Y'zheya. Zhara's mother Y'zheya was considered to be very charismatic and beautiful and would help work out trade deals and alliances with people outside of the tribe. Y'zheya was also a graceful dancer who enjoyed putting on festivals and parties to raise her tribe's spirits. She was also friends with trader and merchant Thorian Zekial. Unfortunately, the Yzh tribe had a few problems, one of them was the Amal'jaa that was in the area. Normally, they were able to defend themselves from such enemies until one unlucky day when the Amal'jaa overpowered the tribe and killed every tribesman that crossed their path. The only survivor of the attack was young Y'zhara who was only four months old during the invasion. Her eldest brother, Y'zhanis Tia had also survived, but only because he wasn't there during the invasion to begin with.
  Sad after finding out the horrible fate of his dear friend, Thorian tried to help where ever he could after he found out about the attack. After finding that Y'zheya's infant daughter was still alive, he went ahead and adopted the baby and took her home to his wife and young toddler son. Unfortunately, only two years after the adoption, Thorian's wife passed away from a horrible illness.
  
  Y'zhara grew up in the Zekial household as a happy, curious girl alongside her new brother, Gunduin Banedriver. Their home was in Horizon, but as a trader Thorian was often gone on trips, so Zhara and Gunduin were often taken to their aunt's home in Vesper Bay. While at her Aunt Freya's Zhara enjoyed reading books, more specifically fairy tales about heroes and knights who would save kingdoms and damsels in distress. These books inspired Zhara to want to become an adventurer one day, but at the same time made her want to be like the princesses in those stories and live a happily ever after. Both her and Gunduin were very interested in the life of an adventurer and would play pretend that they were going on an adventure when they'd play around the town. They also dreamed of one day being old enough to go on their dad's caravan so they could see the world, much like an adventurer would.
  
  Zhara also gained an interest in music at a young age since her Aunt Freya had a piano in her house, and would play and practice on her own as well as get lessons from Freya herself. She loved watching her aunt play as she heard the flow and melodic sounds of the piano. From then on, Zhara knew she wanted music in her life as well, but didn't know where it would place in her life until much later.
  
  Life on the Caravan (13-16 Years Old)
  
  Since Gunduin was a few years older, he was allowed to go on the caravan with his father at 13 years old, which made Zhara extremely jealous. Finally though, after long years of waiting Zhara was allowed to go on the caravan too, as soon as she turned 13. For Zhara, traveling from place to place was fun, new and exciting. She loved meeting and socializing with new people and made new friends, even if they were long distance while her family was on the go. She was also able to meet people of her own kind for the first time. Before going on the caravan, Zhara might've seen other miqo'te from the distance, but this time she was actually up close and talking to them. She had befriended a good few miqo'te friends around her age along her father's trade route, including two girls named L'millia and L'sohnna who she regularly wrote letters to.
  
  Since Zhara's father was a merchant, she and Gunduin also got to know many children from other merchant families. A close friend of hers from that group was lalafellin boy named Yayamiho who was a very talented weaver, even though he was self taught. Yayamiho was different since he suffered from gender identity disorder and had always wanted to be a female. Zhara was one of the only friends of his that was accepting of this and encouraged him to be the person he always wanted to be.
  
  Zhara also became attracted to a boy named Jarvis who was from a very wealthy merchant family that was in the same social group her, Gunduin and Yayamiho were in when Zhara was about 15. She confessed her feelings to the boy and the two became as much of a couple as two immature teenagers could become. Zhara thought she was lucky for having a cute and rich boyfriend, when in reality the guy was a total tool. Not only was he a jerk to the people he considered friends, but he was also very aggressive and demanding. One night at a party, he attempted to have sex with Zhara when she wasn't ready. When she refused to have sex with him, he attempted to rape her, which failed when Gunduin saved Zhara and punched Jarvis so hard in the face, that he broke his nose.
  
  Since then, Gunduin had become more protective of his sister and Thorian became more cautious and watchful when it came to the people Zhara made friends with. The whole situation also put a damper on Zhara's self confidence and made Zhara anxious around male strangers.
  
  Picking Up the Pieces (16 to 19)
  
  Mere moons after turning 16 cycles of age, the Calamity struck Eorzea in the worst ways possible. On the worst day of her life, Zhara was with her father's caravan on the way back to Horizon when earthquakes shook the ground and caused it to split. Zhara was knocked off the chocobo she was riding, hitting her head hard, causing her to be knocked out. She didn't remember much afterward until she woke up in a hospital in Ul'dah with her Aunt Freya by her side.
  
  Zhara then discovered that the majority of the caravan workers, chocobos and equipment fell into a crevice that was created when the ground was split open, along with her father. The whereabouts of her brother were unknown, but Zhara had feared the worst. Aunt Freya held a memorial service and burial for the fallen family members, whose remains were never recovered. Zhara was devastated. For the first year after the destruction, Zhara lived with her aunt as she tried to recover from the tragedy. For the longest time she was in a deep depression. She also found out that her friend L'phillia had committed suicide after losing her tribe to the Calamity. At night she'd have nightmares, and panic attacks but one night, something changed. After waking up from a nightmare, an emerald carbuncle stood at the end of her bed. He was friendly, and he was a comfort that Zhara hadn't had in a really long time. She named the carbuncle Bunky and started trying to teach herself about how to handle him while she searched for a job.
  
  Zhara managed to grab her first job as a barmaid in a tavern just outside of Horizon. She was excited, and Bunky was just as excited for her! The owner of the bar was an eccentric gypsy woman who taught Zhara how to dance. Zhara had just discovered a new passion and interest - dancing. She rediscovered her love of music all with this one career choice. Zhara continued working at different taverns and eventually raised enough gil to be on her own. Zhara eventually moved out of her aunt's place and traveled to Limsa Lominsa, where she wanted to learn everything about the wonderful book magics that were taught there. The future was now bright for her again as she continued forth, on her own, new adventure!
  
  Reaching Higher Heights (20 to Present Day)
  
  As Zhara improved on her skills in the arcane arts, and continued her career as a dancer, Zhara grew to be a beautiful young woman and had an uncanny resemblance to her late mother Y'zheya. Eventually Zhara got a big break in her career and landed an amazing, decently paying job at the Golden Saucer as a dancer and hostess. She was by no means rich, but this was the best job she had ever been hired for. Due to her skills in the arcane arts, Y'zhara was also able to join a free company called Bulwark, and was able to stay at their headquarters for free.
  
  Zhara also discovered chocobo racing, when one of her coworkers recommended it to her after telling her about how she grew up with and took care of several chocobos on the caravan. Zhara managed to get her very first chocobo - a young fledgling by the name of Ruby Rose. Zhara and Ruby Rose worked through the ranks at the sanctioned chocobo races until Ruby was considered a champion racer. Both handler and bird were very close, and the two of them were a team.
  Even though Zhara's life was very abundant of activities and a social life, she still lacked any sort of love life. It wasn't that she couldn't get one, because she was asked out by many of her customers and coworkers, she just wasn't interested. One night after winning a few chocobo races with Ruby, she came across a very lost and confused lalafell in Chocobo Square. Since she knew most of the ins and outs of the Golden Saucer, she decided to help the guy out. He wanted to get his bird registered for races, but unfortunately, his chocobo wasn't allowed to race due to its size. Afterward, the two went and got drinks and Zhara started getting to know him. He was an armorsmith named Chachanji Gegenji and something about the little guy made something click in Zhara's brain. Whether it was because he seemed like a nice guy, or if he was the cutest ball of muscle on the planet was uncertain, but she was attracted to the guy.
  
  After that night, Zhara continued her normal routine. She'd continue to run into Chachan on various occasions, until finally she worked up the courage to ask him on a date. They became fast friends and cared about one another. One incident caused Chachan to call his friend Jancis Milburga to the rescue when she was struck with a poison dart during one of her missions assigned to her by the Arcanist's Guild. Luckily Jancis cured Zhara of the poison, even though she was really sick and took time to recover. Only after a few weeks, Zhara confessed her feelings to the lalafell and the two got together.
  
  Shortly after getting into a relationship, Zhara was noticed at work by a talent agent named Desmond Dilaurentis who wished to give her a singing career in an all female songstress group. During this time, Y'zhara was also reunited with her brother Gunduin Banedriver after six painful cycles without him. She had feared the worst, but found him after discovering a wanted poster for herself that he posted up all over Ul'dah. With her brother back in her life and a potential music career underway, Zhara was very excited for life. Eventually Zhara was introduced to three other girls and formed the songstress group - WYNG with them. A few concerts later, Zhara eventually quit the Golden Saucer and was hired on as a performer for Kiss Cabaret and became a very happy kitty. To this day she still performs with WYNG, and has a wonderful life as she continues to work towards her happy ending.