Additionally, Shao Jun is far from naive as to the nature of the world. This is expected given her age (21) but then, she hasn't been naive in a very long time. Born a concubine, she was the favorite of the previous emperor of China. Shame or being shy are foreign to her, as is being gawked at. After so many years, it became the norm for her. So, after about five years of freedom, it still doesn't always occur to her that this is typically found offensive by women of all ages and social statuses. Normally after living like that for so long, a woman (or even a man, let's not judge) would be wary of letting anyone touch them or even be near them. Some people would completely close themselves off but Shao Jun seems to be completely at ease in that sense, allowing people to touch her and get near her or even protect her.
Those five years though have helped Shao Jun developed into an incredibly independent young woman, one who harbors a disturbed past. Often times, it pains her to recall the events that occurred in her life, to recall the failed rescue of the remaining concubines after Zhengde's death, but they built her up to who she was.
She also tends to be very friendly. Or perhaps, she's a people person and people just naturally like her. All that can be told for sure is that she caught the attention of young Flavia Auditore who was notorious for sticking close to her father, Ezio. It's also entirely possible that she's used to being around children, since concubines did have children themselves, evidenced by the fact that Shao Jun was born into it so he mother was likely one herself. This could, in part, attribute to how open she tends to be to new experiences, cultural and otherwise.
As an assassin, death is something she's quite used to. In the beginning, until she grew used to the assassinations, it would have been quite simple to think about had been done to her and place her targets face there, helping her understand that she didn't this not for herself but for the people. This also makes her quite selfless, as the life of the assassin is meant to be. Perhaps some of her reasoning is still slightly selfish but, in time, she will grow out of that especially thanks to the lessons Ezio imparted her with.
Third person sample revision: (Italics for the additions)
Shadows.
This city had a lot of shadows. Night and day, there were shadows and Shao Jun’s eyes made sure to stare deep enough to know whether there was a threat there or not. At times, she wished that she had Eagle Vision, like Master Ezio. She managed just as well without it though, as she’d proven by surviving all the way to Firenze and against the Imperial Soldiers sent after her mentor and herself. And now she survived in this city. A city with no Templars or Imperials that wanted to hunt down anyone that would oppose Jiajing’s throne.
Her skills could get very rusty quick here though. She’d been warned against entering the forest but what could a little bit of training in there hurt? She was a well-trained assassin. A few beasts couldn’t be too much of a challenge, could they? Perhaps she would ask someone to join her though. They’d made it seem much worse than it seemed but they had been here longer than she had been. Yes, she’d definitely ask someone to accompany her, but only to interfere if she could not handle it. That was the point of training after all.
The assassin fished her watch from her pocket and looked it over. By now, she understood the function of it. It was a strange little device, all the same and often startled her when it started playing someone's video. It took a few attempts but finally she triggered a video of her own. She kept half of her face obscured by her hood as she started to speak though.
"For many of you, this many be the first time we are speaking. My name is Shao Jun." Her accent is very heavy as she spoke but she was doing her best. "This city is very stifling and I find it difficult to practice the skills I have trained so hard over the past several years. I was warned away from the forest but I need to practice. I would like someone to join me."
Or someone could offer to train with her. She'd have to strip herself of most of her equipment in order to do that though, unless someone wanted the added risk. Jun didn't want to place anyone at risk so unless she was directly asked, she would definitely be removing her extra weapons.
"If you would like to join me, I will wait near the obelisk in the center of the city."
Revisions
Additionally, Shao Jun is far from naive as to the nature of the world. This is expected given her age (21) but then, she hasn't been naive in a very long time. Born a concubine, she was the favorite of the previous emperor of China. Shame or being shy are foreign to her, as is being gawked at. After so many years, it became the norm for her. So, after about five years of freedom, it still doesn't always occur to her that this is typically found offensive by women of all ages and social statuses. Normally after living like that for so long, a woman (or even a man, let's not judge) would be wary of letting anyone touch them or even be near them. Some people would completely close themselves off but Shao Jun seems to be completely at ease in that sense, allowing people to touch her and get near her or even protect her.
Those five years though have helped Shao Jun developed into an incredibly independent young woman, one who harbors a disturbed past. Often times, it pains her to recall the events that occurred in her life, to recall the failed rescue of the remaining concubines after Zhengde's death, but they built her up to who she was.
She also tends to be very friendly. Or perhaps, she's a people person and people just naturally like her. All that can be told for sure is that she caught the attention of young Flavia Auditore who was notorious for sticking close to her father, Ezio. It's also entirely possible that she's used to being around children, since concubines did have children themselves, evidenced by the fact that Shao Jun was born into it so he mother was likely one herself. This could, in part, attribute to how open she tends to be to new experiences, cultural and otherwise.
As an assassin, death is something she's quite used to. In the beginning, until she grew used to the assassinations, it would have been quite simple to think about had been done to her and place her targets face there, helping her understand that she didn't this not for herself but for the people. This also makes her quite selfless, as the life of the assassin is meant to be. Perhaps some of her reasoning is still slightly selfish but, in time, she will grow out of that especially thanks to the lessons Ezio imparted her with.
Third person sample revision: (Italics for the additions)
Shadows.
This city had a lot of shadows. Night and day, there were shadows and Shao Jun’s eyes made sure to stare deep enough to know whether there was a threat there or not. At times, she wished that she had Eagle Vision, like Master Ezio. She managed just as well without it though, as she’d proven by surviving all the way to Firenze and against the Imperial Soldiers sent after her mentor and herself. And now she survived in this city. A city with no Templars or Imperials that wanted to hunt down anyone that would oppose Jiajing’s throne.
Her skills could get very rusty quick here though. She’d been warned against entering the forest but what could a little bit of training in there hurt? She was a well-trained assassin. A few beasts couldn’t be too much of a challenge, could they? Perhaps she would ask someone to join her though. They’d made it seem much worse than it seemed but they had been here longer than she had been. Yes, she’d definitely ask someone to accompany her, but only to interfere if she could not handle it. That was the point of training after all.
The assassin fished her watch from her pocket and looked it over. By now, she understood the function of it. It was a strange little device, all the same and often startled her when it started playing someone's video. It took a few attempts but finally she triggered a video of her own. She kept half of her face obscured by her hood as she started to speak though.
"For many of you, this many be the first time we are speaking. My name is Shao Jun." Her accent is very heavy as she spoke but she was doing her best. "This city is very stifling and I find it difficult to practice the skills I have trained so hard over the past several years. I was warned away from the forest but I need to practice. I would like someone to join me."
Or someone could offer to train with her. She'd have to strip herself of most of her equipment in order to do that though, unless someone wanted the added risk. Jun didn't want to place anyone at risk so unless she was directly asked, she would definitely be removing her extra weapons.
"If you would like to join me, I will wait near the obelisk in the center of the city."