Ren Sakurai
Introduction
Calm and collected, Ren is a natural-born leader whose talents grew under the military. With discipline and skill, they rule over the Fire Nation.Table of Contents
Character
Appearance
Ren has golden/auburn eyes. Their eyes are very sharp, making them look intimidating. They have paleish skin although it’s
turned more tan in recent years due to being outside so much.
Their height is pretty average at 5’8”. They always have bags under their eyes from sleepless nights. Their hair is short, black, and usually messy. However, they do slick their hair back when wearing their military uniform and during important meetings. They have burn marks on their hands from when they were first learning fire bending and pushed too hard, losing control. Ren wears a gold crown with ruby gems that signify they are the head of the Sakurai family. They normally wear a dark red robe with golden accents. The robe has some padding at the shoulders and forearms in case of unexpected attack. However, they usually wear their heavily armored combat uniform when they’re in a fight. Their ears are pierced and they normally wear small silver hoops. They wear a gold belt with the fire nation emblem on the front. They are typically carrying a sword with them at all times which hangs from their belt.
Personality
Ren has a laid back personality and typically doesn’t take things too seriously. They crack a lot of jokes, sometimes at inappropriate times. Their time in the military helped them develop more discipline, but they never fully lost their humor. Ren can be very flirty, which got them into quite a bit of trouble in their youth. Ren has since matured and learned to be careful with what they say to other people. Ren is very good at adapting their mannerisms to suit whoever they’re around. They are able to show their strong leadership skills through the military, but also know when to let others take charge in a diplomatic setting. They are very self-aware of their shortcomings, which makes it easier to face them. They’ve always enjoyed taking charge of things, and can be a little bit of a control freak. Ren is a natural-born leader, and that really helped them advance through the ranks of the military. They’ve been leading people since they were a child, always taking charge in school projects or leading the neighborhood kids into the woods to play. However, this trait led to some problems when they were lower ranking in the military because they believed they knew better than their superior officer and had some trouble following orders. Eventually they overcame this and were able to show their leadership skills after they had been promoted a few times. They’ve always had a deep love and respect for their nation and are proud to serve it. Ren’s childhood left them with some severe abandonment issues as well as other deep-rooted insecurities about themselves. However, they are able to hide this very well by exerting confidence and authority that they don’t always feel.
Backstory
Growing up, Ren thought the world of their father. He always seemed so strong and self-assured. They didn’t realize till much later how cold and distant he was. Ren always wondered about their mother, but their father didn’t speak much about her. Ren could tell that even mentioning her would send their father into a mood. All Ren knew was that she was an air nomad and that she fell in love with their father while he was visiting the Eastern Air Temple. They had Ren together, but Ren’s father had to leave soon after and their mother couldn’t leave her people. Ren knew their father was always trying to visit the air temple, but his responsibilities as head of the family wouldn’t allow it.
While Ren’s father wasn’t always the kindest, he was an excellent fighter and taught Ren everything he knew. Ren picked up fire bending fast, but would often push themselves a little too much. The only validation Ren’s father would give them was when they perfected a bending form or mastered a style of swordsmanship. One day, Ren pushed themselves too hard while training, and set the ground around them on fire. They panicked and tried to put it out with their bare hands, scarring them. Their father was furious and didn’t talk to them for weeks. Ren felt like a complete failure, and this only caused them to work even harder to be a better bender.
When Ren was 13 years old, their father received a letter from the Eastern Air Temple. He was so excited as he rarely heard from Ren’s mother. The letter instead was informing him of her passing. His scream was so loud Ren could hear it from the other side of the estate and came rushing to him. He had lit the letter on fire and stormed off. Ren ran after him, but he was too fast. Ren waited for weeks for him to come back. He never did. After two months of sending search parties looking for him and finding nothing, the other members of the Sakurai family decided that they should proceed as if he had passed away. They were arguing about who should take over the estate and become head of the family for hours. Ren sat quietly in the corner the whole time. Finally, after 4 hours had passed of non stop arguing, they stood up and claimed that they were the rightful heir and that they should become head. The Sakurai family stood in silence for a whole minute, then burst out laughing. “You’re just a child,” is what they all said. Ren didn’t back down. Ren said that they were to inherit the title of head, as it was laid out in their father’s will. Everyone claimed that Ren’s father hadn’t known how young Ren would be when this took effect. Ren still stood their ground and argued with them for days. Finally, they agreed that Ren would become head of the family, but that the older members of the family would stay to advise them. Some Sakurais claimed that Ren was not mature enough to be head, and left the estate. Still, Ren remained at the position, learning everything they could, until they turned 18.
When Ren was 16, a man knocked on their door. He said his name was Lee and that he needed help. He was only 17 and had traveled very far to get to Caldera in order to ask the Fire Lord to provide support to his home town which was experiencing a drought. He said he didn’t have anywhere to stay and saw the Sakurai house which had a repetation for helping those in need. Ren agreed to let him stay the night, and they stayed up late talking to each other. Ren was curious to hear his story as they hadn’t met many people outside of their district. They clicked instantly and Lee asked to stay with the Sakurais for awhile to prepare for his meeting with the Fire Lord. Ren happily agreed. They spent about a week together, going on hikes, sparring, and talking to each other over tea. The two of them had a romantic relationship until Lee had to leave to go home. His talk with the Fire Lord was unsuccessful, and he needed to get back to his town to support his family. About a month after Lee left, Ren realized they were pregnant with his child. They knew they were not ready for a child, and decided to take a “vacation” to Lee’s village without telling their family members what was really going on. When Ren arrived, they got into a huge fight with Lee over what to do. Lee was begging Ren to raise the child at the Sakurai estate where he would have a good life, but Ren refused. Lee eventually gave in and took in the child, but told Ren that they could never see him, he wouldn’t even tell Ren the child’s name. Devastated, Ren left and tried their best to not think about their new on. They continued as head of the Sakurai family and didn’t tell anyone about their child.
On their 18th birthday, Ren claimed that they wanted to join the fire nation military and serve for a few years before returning home. They gave their uncle, Jozun, temporary control of the Sakurai family until they came back as he was their most trusted advisor. They spent 5 years in the military, ranking up to sergeant, before returning home. They had wanted the full experience of serving. They lived, trained, and fought with everyone else in the military instead of using their status as a Sakurai to live more comfortably. They learned a lot, became stronger and wiser. Upon returning home, Jozun refused to give up his role, claiming that he had done a better job running the family than Ren ever could. Ren challenged him to a duel as that was tradition in their family, and beat him easily. Ren had proved themselves worthy as a leader, and continued to serve in the military while also running the Sakurai family. It proved to be difficult work, but all worth it.
Two years later, the military stationed Ren in the EK due to some political conflict. While their main post was Ba Sing Sei, they decided to travel around a bit as they had never been to the Earth Kingdom before. When visiting Goose Island, they ran into a man named Vi. The two of them instantly hit it off, and Ren decided to visit him everyday until they left. Things ended up escalating into a romantic relationship. Ren ended up having another kid with Vi, but this time they decided they were ready to be a parent as their life was much more stable. They named the child Genji. Ren had to end things with Vi when they were sent back to the Fire Nation, but they always kept in contact. While it hurt Ren to take Genji away from Vi, they knew neither of them could abandon their nations. Raising Genji was difficult, and it often reminded Ren of their lost child, but with the help of fellow family members and the occasional visit from Vi, they managed well enough.
Finally, after 14 years of serving, they became General of the military. They were able to continue to live in their estate outside of Caldera as General, and was very pleased. It was not an easy job, but they did their best to run the military. A year later, Fire Lord Akuna was crowned. She soon held a meeting with all her new HROs to make an upcoming plan for the nation. Ren became distracted at the meeting when they noticed the new Grand Sage, Maia. It was like looking into a mirror. Their features were almost identical, and it freaked them out. Shortly after the meeting, Ren went home. They heard a knock on their door a few hours later and were surprised to see Maia standing outside. They invited Maia in and had tea.
Maia had some very startling news, they claimed that they traced their father to the Sakurai and that’s why they had come to my estate. A few weeks of talking to each other we finally put the pieces together and realized we were twins. We had been separated at birth, Maia staying with our mother and I going back home to the Fire Nation with our father. I was shocked to say the least, what other secrets did my father hide? Maia and I soon became close, and I was so honored to see them become Fire Lord. I took so much pride in being able to serve under my twin, and for a few years, that’s how it was.
Fire Lord Maia stepped down, and Ren was surprised to learn that Maia intended for them to become the next Fire Lord. I guess it made sense, they were family, they trusted Ren, and Ren had been General for 4 years, but it still came as quite a shock. They had believed Maia would rule for a long time, but the stress of the crown was ultimately not worth it. Once Ren had become Fire Lord, Vi proposed to them. He said it made sense to officially unite the Xiongs and Sakurai families as they already had a kid together. Ren said yes. They had a long distance relationship as Vi still couldn’t leave behind his life in the Earth Kingdom and Ren had too many responsibilities now to leave, but they made it work.
Ren
Political Figure:
Fire Lord (Current) Reign:
325 AG - Present Previous Fire Lord:
Fire Lord Maia Sakurai (324 AG - 325 AG) Nation:
The Fire Nation Current Residence:
Caldera
Basic Information
Gender
Nonbinary (they/them) Age
36 Bending
Fire
