Application for ilpromenade
PLAYER
✧ NAME: Icey
✧ LJ USERNAME: fortuneladyicey
✧ CONTACT (EMAIL, AIM, MSN, PLURK, ETC.): AIM - Fortunelady Icey | plurk - iceyly
✧ CURRENT MUSE LIST: -
CHARACTER
✧ NAME: Riku
✧ SERIES: Kingdom Hearts
✧ HISTORY: "I wanna be strong one day. Like that kid who left."
✧ TIMELINE: post Reverse/Rebirth - after realizing the Darkness in his Heart in Hollow Bastion
✧ PERSONALITY:
Since childhood Riku has always been curious about the worlds outside his own; he wants to explore them, to grow stronger as he travels and most importantly he doesn't want all of this just for his own sake: even at young age he already feels that somewhere out there he can find the strength he needs to protect his friends. This is what defines a large part of his actions: the will to do anything and everything to make sure that the people he cares about are safe and content - no matter the means and the costs. If Riku considers someone a friend, he will go to hell and back to help and protect them.
His absolute loyalty and protectiveness of those he cares about are two of his key traits and his most favorable attributes. As mentioned before, he doesn't really care what that will cost him and/or to an extend un- or semirelated parties. For example, when DiZ orders him to find and bring Roxas to Sora Riku doesn't hesitate to leave and later when he finds himself losing the battle against Roxas, he throws himself back into the darkness without a second thought, at cost of his physical appearance.
Before leaving home Riku has always been the strongest one on the Islands, fiercely competitive and eager to prove himself. Due this he certainly developed an arrogant streak along with fierce pride - both would cause him quite a bit of trouble when he first started exploring the worlds. Even before he had inherited the Keyblade from Terra, he dreamed about leaving the islands behind to see the worlds beyond his own. Over the years that curiosity turned into obsession - he felt trapped and restless and began to regard the Islands as nothing but a cage - which in return was the first sign of 'darkness' within him and ultimately triggered the events of KH I.
Riku was always used to the attention of others (first and foremost Sora's) lingering on him and seeking him out for leadership and advice. Maleficent ends up using that need in order to spark jealousy in his heart and guides him to start relying on the darkness. Despite that, Riku's original intention - to protect his friends - still remains true; though at that point Riku is willing to justify absolutely any means as long as the outcome is satisfactory. He feels little to no remorse about kidnapping Pinocchio and using him in order to find out more about Kairi's condition and is taken aback when Sora calls him on it, even angry that his supposed best friend isn't willing to see his side of things.
This rage would fester and poison their bond to the point of indifference and almost even hate (on Riku’s part at least), and that - along with the despair over being unable to help Kairi - would drive Riku further and further into the darkness, until Ansem, Seeker of Darkness became able to posses him, using the weakness he showed the moment he first started to crave strength out of selfishness instead of his desire to help and protect others.
However, Riku has grown wiser since. After awakening in Castle Oblivion, he first swears to be done with the darkness, though the matter was made difficult; Ansem, despite being defeated by Sora, still threatened to take over his heart. His presence and meddling of several members of the Organization XIII complicated things even more, since the basement group decided to manipulate Riku into fighting Sora, who was taking on the other half of the Castle Oblivion team in the upper floors of the castle.
With the help of King Mickey, with whom he formed a close bond in that time, Riku was more or less able to hold his own against Ansem and the darkness until his fight with Zexion, in which he came to realize several important things (with help of Nanimè): First of all, the past was the past and despite how much he wanted to go back and change it all, he had to live with it. And not just live with it, but accept it and learn from the consequences. Second, he is his own person, responsible for his own actions and the consequences that follow and he had to bear them. And thirdly he realizes that the darkness did not automatically equal evil, it was rather the intent it was used for that categorized it as such.
Later when Naminè offers to put him to sleep and seal away Ansem and the darkness in his heart along with his memory of both, Riku refuses, thinking that he would rather face with the consequences of his prior actions and be able to protect Sora from the Organization as he slept, than go to sleep himself and run away from all of it. He faces off with Ansem one more time before leaving Castle Oblivion, deciding that even though the darkness wasn't evil by itself, he wasn't about to shun the light - no matter what others would tell him about choosing one of the paths, light or dark, he would make his own way and go the middle road, the 'road to dawn'.
Riku often comes across as very serious and mature, even more so after his insights at Castle Oblivion. He is very thoughtful and kind to the people he thinks deserve it (and especially girls). When Xion asks him what she should do after finding out that her memories are not her own but Sora’s, he advices her to chose for herself but to take care that she chooses what is ‘right for everyone’. After that he makes sure to give her the time and keep her away from outside influences (namely DiZ and the Organization) that might sway her from coming to her own conclusion.
Despite his new insight, he hasn't quite lost his cocky attitude - he still reacts with jokes, snark and sarcasm in face of confrontation and will tease his friends mercilessly if given the opening, though he has lost the slightly cruel edge he displayed during the first game.
However, as confident as he may appear on the outside, since leaving Castle Oblivion Riku has begun to notice the changes and consequences his use of darkness has brought on himself and while he won't ever mention it and play it down if brought up, he is still concerned about it.
✧ ABILITIES/POWERS:
Riku is a Keyblade bearer, chosen to inherit the power by Terra, able to use any Keyblade of light and darkness and their magic. When he left the Islands those powers were still dormant, until Malificent enabled him to use the darkness. When equipped with a Keyblade, he can use it to lock or unlock any door or even magical barriers.
Riku has yet to obtain his own Keyblade; instead he is using Soul Eater, the sword he was given by Malificent (however it should be noted that Soul Eater is acting as interstage of Riku's Keyblade Way to the Dawn and has the potential to transform into it under the right circumstances). Like almost all KH weapons, Soul Eater is usually stored in a handy pocket dimension and can be summoned by Riku at any time. It grows stronger the more Riku relies on the darkness.
While fighting his way through the basement of Castle Oblivion Riku developed the ability to 'smell' the darkness around him; this sense seems to be quite longranged as Riku was able to tell that Marluxia had been defeated, even though there was a distance of several floors between them.
Despite defeating Xehanort's Heatless ("Ansem") by himself in Castle Oblivion, the Heartless still remains in Riku's heart, adding to Riku's own darkness. However, his presence enables Riku to use Dark Mode which in turn increases his strength and speed and allows him to wield the darkness more efficiently.
(It should be noted that Riku loses this ability sometimes between Reverse/Rebirth and Days - though it's never specified how and why. If possible I would like to have him lose it over time, if the darkness in him grows stronger and replace it with Ansem's abilities.
As shown in Days, Ansem's presence in Riku's heart will eventually enable him to change into his form in which he will be able to use Ansem's guardian, to levitate, and like in Dark Mode, his physical strength, speed and all his dark attacks will be boosted.)
Ansem's presence also allows him to use the Corridor of Darkness and create portals between different locations and worlds. In order to pass through the Corridor of Darkness unharmed and to obscure his identity from Organisation XIII after the incident at Castle Oblivion, Riku was given a magical Black Coat by DiZ. The cloak protects its owner from the darkness and automatically generates black trousers, boots and gloves.
While at this point Riku is pretty much unable to use magic himself (not counting his Dark Firaga spell), he has shown to have high resistance to all elemental spells and doesn't suffer status effects such as bring ignited, frozen or paralyzed.
His attacks are mostly physical and while his chosen weapon is the sword, he can also hold his own in pure hand-to-hand combat. He has the basic set of KH-abilities which includes but isn't limited to: Dodge Roll, High Jump, Auto Dodge, Air Slide, Aireal Recovery, Block and Auto Block.
In battle Riku as extremly fast and agile; his style is very similar to Vanitas' - one-handed and aggressive. His attacks often involve lunges and jumps, he is able to use the Corridors of Darkness to teleport close to his opponent and can create strong shockwaves just by slamming his weapon into the ground.
✧ TIME OF ARRIVAL: Night
✧ MASK DESIGN: "It's the road to dawn."
✧ PLACE OF SOLACE: Castle Oblivion - the surrounding hills, the crossroad and the front lobby of the castle
SAMPLES
✧ FIRST PERSON: "Looks like my win." (Meme thread)
✧ THIRD PERSON:
There is something reassuring about being on the outside again, about having left the castle, it's white white walls and the endless number of memory worlds within it behind.
It has changed him, he knows, the castle, the people he had fought inside, the conclusion he had reached in the end of all of it. Ansem's voice had been reduced to a bare whisper after their fight, his darkness hiding within Riku's own. Faint but still there, it worried Mickey (especially since every time he used the darkness his heart hurt with pain so bad that almost his whole body would start to feel numb).
Riku ignored the kings concerns though - they couldn't hold up with him, not right now - but enjoyed his companionship all the more.
'This is nice.' he thought sometimes to himself, right in the middle of the night and at the same he couldn't help but wonder if this was what traveling the worlds with Sora and Kairi would have been like.
(He is almost sure it would and wouldn't have at the same time. Sora would have been energetic enough to drive the rest of them mad, they would always have found something or other to compete about and Kairi would have teased them merciless every time they inevitably made fools of themselves. There would have been loud laughter, wild challenges, teasing words and a feeling of belonging that absolutely no one else could instill in Riku.
...Just as he thought that, Riku started to realize just how much he truly missed them.)
It was the kings voice that finally called him out of his thoughts again, telling him with a good natured chuckle that they couldn't linger here much longer, here on the edges of Hollow Bastion. Looking down from the hills, Riku could see the first results of the rebuilding efforts, foundations for walls and houses, carefully planned and laid out all over the plain.
It wouldn't take much longer until this world stopped feeling at the verge of destruction and darkness. Soon it would shine it's light again.
Just like it, Riku would have to work to truly reclaim his light; he knew that, had always known ever since refusing Namine's offer. But that's the road he's chosen and as long as it had been his own choice, he was ready to deal with the hardships it came with.