Yanhua the Spirit Wolf

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Yanhua (full name: Huo Yanhua, Chinese: 火炎华 “Blazing Flame”), is a spirit wolf and the non-blood elder sister of Qiuye the Spirit Dhole. Her human identity is a senior 2 student at Dongzheng Middle School and a classmate and good friend of Leiyu, Leiting the Spirit Loong‘s elder sister. Cheerful and talkative, she enjoys interacting with humans and excels in social works. However, she has high emotional needs and is very dependent on her little sister.

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Origin

Mongolian wolf from the Qilian mountains: Yanhua was once a wild Mongolian wolf (scientific name: Canis lupus chanco, conservation status: vulnerable), she became a spirit animal when she was still a cub. Becoming a spirit animal greatly reduced her animal instincts and drove her closer to humans, which led to her being abandoned by her pack. She then met Qiuye, who had become separated from her pack in a snowstorm. Together, they hunted for preys and begged for food from humans, traveling all the way to Zhenyang County in Gansu Province.

Going to Dongguan for schooling: When Qiuye and Yanhua arrived at Zhengyang, the local spirit animal association found them and provided them basic training as spirit animals. Coordinated by the China Spirit Animal Congress, they went to Dongguan for schooling. Yanhua was assigned to Leiyu‘s class, and they have been close friends ever since.

Name: Yanhua was deeply impressed by the first fire she saw, so she adopted the surname Huo (Chinese: 火 “Fire”) and the name Yanhua (Chinese: 炎华 “Blazing Flame”). She identifies her human form’s race as Mongolian, reflecting her species of Mongolian wolf.

Personality

Cheerful and social: Yanhua is cheerful, talkative, and very easy to get along with. Maybe because of the experience of being abandoned by her own wolf pack, she has a very strong emotional need and always craves for attention. When she feels neglected, she becomes deeply anxious.

People-pleaser: To be liked by others, Yanhua often forces herself to meet people’s expectations, leaving her exhausted.

Blind optimism to escape reality: Yanhua is an overly optimistic person who believes things will always turn out well. As a result, when problems arise, she struggles to adapt her strategies effectively. This may be her way of escaping reality.

Careless and sloppy: Yanhua is not very detail-oriented and often overlooks important aspects of her tasks. As a result, Qiuye and Leiyu often have to remind her about it.

Close to humans: Yanhua has little self-awareness of being a spirit animal and often beg humans to pet her in animal form.

Specialties

Capable social worker: Yanhua is well-suited for social work because she has a thick skin and an outgoing personality that makes her likable. She somehow seems to know about every spirit animal – not just locally, but also those across the nation and even overseas. The Dongguan Spirit Animal Association has offered her a future position as a new staff member, which she gladly accepts. She is also considering pursuing a degree in psychology or sociology at university.

Athletic: Yanhua is very athletic. She is good at all kinds of sports and can also handle heavy physical labors.

Language talent: Yanhua has an outstanding gift for languages and can speak many foreign languages fluently.

Slack and perfunctory: Each time when things go wrong, Yanhua always comes up with a way to get through it for the time being. However, her methods are mostly sweeping dirt under the rug rather than addressing the root cause, leading to more complications later on.

Deep understanding of human preferences: Yanhua knows what humans like in animals and shamelessly uses it to her advantage. While wandering with Qiuye, Yanhua taught her how to beg for food from humans.

Life

Chosen family and caring for her elder sister: The local spirit animal association arranges for Yanhua and Qiuye to live together, intending for the older Yanhua to care for Qiuye. However, it turns out that the younger but more mature Qiuye ends up taking care of the older but unreliable Yanhua instead. They reside in an old apartment owned by the now-defunct Dongguan Diesel Engine Factory in Xuanjiao Community.

School life: Yanhua is the secretary general of the student union at Dongzheng Middle School. She is always proactive in solving problems for fellow schoolmates, and frequently participates in basketball, volleyball, and badminton games. She has quite a following among the students and is well-liked by everyone.

Helping the local Spirit Animal Association: Yanhua and Qiuye often help out at the Guancheng Spirit Animal Association headquarters. On weekends, Yanhua also visits the Kongshan spirit realm in Shuilian Mountain to upkeep the place and prune the plants.

Relationships

Qiuye, Yanhua’s non-blood related younger sister: Qiuye the Spirit Dhole is Yanhua’s younger sister, though they are not blood-related. As cubs, they roamed the wilderness of northwest China together, forming a strong bond in the process. However, their personalities differ greatly. Despite being younger, Qiuye is more mature and thoughtful, often caring for the immature and emotionally needy Yanhua. For Qiuye, it is quite embarrassing to see Yanhua transforming into animal form, begging for attention and being walked like a dog.

Leiyu, Yanhua’s classmate and good friend: Yanhua and Leiyu, Leiting the Spirit Loong‘s elder sister, have been good friends since primary school. Leiyu was unaware of Yanhua’s spirit animal identity until Leiting became a spirit loong and teamed up with Yanhua’s sister, Qiuye. After that revelation, Yanhua began visiting Leiting more often, transforming into her animal form to beg for pets or to be walked like a dog.

Other spirit animals: Yanhua has a wide social circle, almost every spirit animal in Dongguan knows about her. Her excellent foreign language skills allow her to communicate freely online, connecting with spirit animals from other cities and even overseas.