Raised quite traditionally and religiously on the country side, right by the sea. Her family consisted of herself, her younger sister, and her parents. They lived a nice life, until one day, her sister drowned while they were playing around on the sea-side. The tide suddenly became far too high for the children, and Zuri was unable to save her sister. Her parents know that it wasn't Zuri's fault, but they distanced themselves from her, and soon they all moved to the city. Zuri, wreaked with grief, returned to the ocean late at night, with the intention to drown herself. Her parents were fast asleep at the time, however, when her mother woke up only to find that Zuri had left a suicide note, she quickly woke up the father, and the two called the police, to look for the girl. But by then, it was too late. They were only able to witness the girl throwing herself into the ocean, with tears in her eyes.
A few days afterwords, she was proclaimed dead and missing, and both her parents were wreaked with grief themselves. They got into more fights, and soon, the mother and father divorced. The father began to smoke, and do drugs, while the mother hung herself. However, unbeknownst to them, Zuri was alive.
In fact, Zuri had swept up in a more further away cave, wet and injured. She cursed at herself, as she was sure that she had died. Her stomach rumbled, and she decided that she might as well find some food. She didn't feel like she wanted to commit suicide a second time, as she was far too hungry to think much of anything around her. She searched, and searched, however was unable to find anything on the little island she had found herself on. She eventually found some birds, and attempted to kill one of them so that she could eat and cook for the night, but she couldn't bring herself to hurt them. She drank some of the lake water, and ate a few leaves and berries that were around the area, but it was never enough to help her hunger. The birds kept watching her every day, and noticed how she gave up on trying to catch them. Pitying the girl, they always brought her berries, and pieces of fruit back to her cave when she was finished exploring. They also brought back straw, vines, and etc so that she could make what she needed with them. Due to living on the island, she was able to adapt to the weather conditions, the cave, and she was able to make a living there for a little while. She began talking with the animals, as they were her only company. Eventually, she was able to understand what they needed, and what they were saying. She created a small bird house with some left over bark she found washed ashore, and the vines that she collected over the few weeks, so that the birds would have a place to rest their wings when they were tired of coming over.
Prairie dogs began helping her out, chirping now and then to transfer information around quickly. Their language was the most complex, and it took the longest for her to understand. They were able to describe what a human wears, the description of a predator, and if a human were holding a gun, all in one chirp. She also had trouble with frogs, as they heard on a higher frequency. However, she was still able to get other animals to speak to the frogs, and eventually, they were able to understand her through body language. She also spoke with a number of parrots, who were the only ones who made her remember about the english language. They taught her words that she forgot, and basic pronunciation and speech (I know, ironic).
She learned something similar to morse code from beetles. Yes, beetles. The echoing they would make when communicating with others was eerily similar to that of morse code, and so she was able to pick up on it, and kept a record for a reference to write as letters, and form them into words.
More and more animals started coming out, like rabbits, foxes, and bears. At first, she was terrified of the bear, in fear that they would eat her. But the birds kept pecking at any animals that would dare harm her, and she would patch them back to health, soon gaining their trust. Another number of weeks later, she was able to communicate with the majority of species. She got honey from the bears, some meat from the wolves, and she even got some seaweed from dolphins. By the age of 14, she had learned the majority of animal speech, and had almost completely forgotten English, as she hadn't spoken it since she was 6 years old. Many of the animals agreed that they would be unable to help her forever, as their life spans were much shorter than her own, so a wolf carried her over to the sea-side, where five dolphins were waiting for her, along with two sharks that she had somehow befriended when they washed ashore when they were younger and more playful. Now, they were larger, but they wouldn't hurt the girl as most animals wanted to help her get home.
This was probably the saddest part of her life, as she had to leave the animals that took care of her for all these years. The animals explained to her that the island was going to run out of resources, and she would never be able to stay there forever. After a hell lot of convincing, the wolf pushed the girl onto one of the dolphins, who began to swim with her all the way home. A few days later, she was found on the beach where she was proclaimed lost, and was reported unconscious to the police by a couple walking on the sea side. After a lot of DNA tests, and extended research, she was deduced to have been the same Zuri who disappeared eight years ago.
However, the sudden change in environment for Zuri was too much for her to handle, and she ran out of the building out of fear. The lights and the screeching of cars was too much for her to take in, as everything was so different in the city. As though in shock, she passed out, and was rushed to be sent to the police to be kept there while they contact her father. The father looked horrible, after 8 years. He was skinny, pale, and he looked wreaked. Upon finding Zuri, they had an odd conversation.
"What? Are you just going to stare down at the ground?! You can't be Zuri.. She died years ago.."
"..."
"Say something! Why did you run into the ocean?! Why did you leave us?! You made your mother kill herself, and look what happened to me!"
"..."
"Say something you little--!"
"... Ah!"
".. Look at me. A wreaked old man, wasted his entire life because both his children died. And now.. Suddenly... One of them reappears out of no where. I couldn't save just one child, one child. I know you must have had it worse where you were, and you just came back."
"..."
"I'm sorry.. For being such a horrible father.."
".. Ah.. Dad.. dy.."
"Right.. Daddy, daddy's here for you, Zuri."
"Me.. Zuri?"
"Yes, you are Zuri."
"... Good bye, Daddy."
Soft sobbing was heard from the cell, as she watched her father die from the large intake of chemicals and drugs. The police was debating on what to do to the girl, as now, she didn't have anyone. All of her family's reletives would never forgive her, so they chose to put her into an orphanage. Obviously, she didn't agree, and she ran out of the station the moment they let her out of her cell. The first place she could think of was a secluded area, and eventually ran up to the abandoned house soon known to be Tanaka's gang's lair. The police didn't chase her, and she ended up staying in the house for a while. One day, she heard people speaking on the lower floor, and she quickly got defensive, attempting to attack the people who intruded, and would soon be known as the Tanaka gang. She began attending school, for her grade but she has to take a special class due to the fact that she was absent from society for so long.
Currently, she lives in the house, as there is a side room that is her bedroom, due to the fact that her educational status is far too low to be able to get a job.