#but they train with kairi and sora most often | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

empyreasheart · 3 months

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kingdom hearts pokémon teams

been playing the scarvio dlc lately and of course i always have to connect everything to kingdom hearts so ive taken the chance to build the three trios + naminé's teams according to the types i assigned them! this will probably end up being lengthy so i'm putting this under a readmore. all teams made on pokémon team planner!

sora

i think sora definitely admires cool pokémon & other "cooler" types, but normal pokémon would appeal to him the most, speaking to how he feels about not being chosen for the keyblade / not being a particularly special person. he enjoys showing other trainers that normal type pokémon are still powerful and formidable foes. while sora loves battling he has a soft spot for cute pokémon!

as for specific pokémon: if it's not clear litleo is a reference to his kh2 pridelands form.. i couldn't resist putting in an alolan pokémon (trumbeak) and some flying types! as references to destiny islands & sora's name meaning "sky" respectively

also, most of his pokémon are brown and to be honest i just thought him looking a little like his pokémon team was really cute<3

riku

out of the destiny trio, riku is probably the most serious about battling & the strongest trainer. he wants to prove something to others and himself. (another mentally ill pokémon rival) i actually think in some kind of kh-pokémon crossover spinoff, riku and kairi could both work as rivals - riku being a more serious counterpart to kairi.

however, despite dark pokémon being his preferred type to fight with, his woobat stays on his team no matter what. it's his dear friend ! <3

on specific pokémon: probably obvious, but woobat is supposed to be komory bat! i picked alolan rattata because... mickey mouse... lol. his umbreon matches the rest of the destiny trio's eeveelutions ! i also made sure to include a ground type (riku means "land"!)

kairi

kairi would 100% gravitate towards the cutest pokémon, specializing in water & fairy types. but don't let that fool you into thinking she wouldn't love battling! not only does she take good care of her pokémon, but she trains them to be strong too. she doesn't like people thinking she or her pokémon are weak just because they're cute.

i thought fairy fit kairi's aesthetic well. like sora-sky, kairi means "sea", so i had to include water types too!

on specific pokémon: i was inspired to put tinkaton because of @rhythmmortis's tank kairi agenda. to keep the theme with the rest of the destiny trio, kairi has an eeveelution as well. i was torn between vaporeon & sylveon but decided vaporeon suited her personality best. i decided to include a kalosian pokémon to represent radiant garden - floette fit perfectly (it even looks like baby kairi!). like the rest of the destiny trio, kairi has an alolan pokémon (ribombee)

naminé

nami is a psychic/flying trainer! in COM, her psychic types would probably aid her in manipulating people's memories. i think she would gravitate to flying types more, though, because she resonates with them - naminé is trapped in castle oblivion like a bird in a cage.

because in this au the organization would have forced naminé to use her pokémon to battle & manipulate memories against her will, i don't think naminé partakes in battles often, if at all. her pokémon team are her friends and she treats them with the kindness she was denied in castle oblivion. she's especially insistent on not making her psychic pokémon use their powers if they don't want to.

on specific pokémon: this team was honestly so easy to put together, everything just fell in place... i picked hatterane because of its witch imagery, jirachi because of nami's lucky charm. i added swanna because i wanted a water type to connect her with kairi & her name (naminé means "wave"). i included espeon too to match with the destiny trio - when she replaces kairi in sora's memories, i imagine her espeon replaces kairi's vaporeon as well. also wouldn't it be so cute if nami and repliku had matching espeon and umbreon!

i wasn't sure if oricorio fit at first, but it's an alolan pokémon - she might not be from destiny islands, but she imagines herself growing up there, so i think it's fair for her to have an alolan pokémon

roxas

roxas is definitely super serious about battling pokémon and would 100% make defeating sora in battle his mission. he specializes in dark & electric types. i don't have a specific reason for these, i just think they fit him.

on specific pokémon: roxas and sora both have zigzagoons, but roxas' is galarian! i wanted them to have a similar pokémon like this, as in "two sides of the same coin". i had a similar idea with morpeko, since it has a hangry mode, focusing on the "dual" aspect of roxas' character. i named my pawmot in-game after roxas so i couldn't not add it to his team! it looks just like him<3

xion

like kairi, xion would love cute pokémon the most! however, she'd definitely be a more casual trainer, battling friends for fun but not taking it too seriously. she specializes in ice types & ghost types. the latter is because her existence as a replica & an erased memory post-days, while ice is from my personal headcanons.

on specific pokémon: honestly, i just picked mimikyu cuz it was cute at first, but then i realized how well it fits xion, as she was made to mimic sora's powers. so in a way, she and roxas are kind of matching. i chose vanillish for sea salt ice cream - xion totally seems like the type to have pokémon that have sentimental meaning to her. sandygast is because of xion's love for the beach and collecting seashells - i want to imagine that she caught it when the sea salt trio finally went to the beach together!<3 lastly, she has a water type on her team for similar reasons as naminé - to connect her with kairi and her name (shio meaning tide).

axel

while i think axel would enjoy battling, he is definitely focused on the aesthetics of his pokémon, though he'd never admit it. he's not the best at strategizing and only has attack moves. he thinks his pokémon are the awesomest ever

on specific pokémon: i like the idea that axel & saïx have matching armarouge & ceruledge. they've grown apart but still have their respective pokémons on their teams.

i wanted to give him a houndoom, but i didn't really want to repeat pokémon on this list... so i offer you a headcanon! when roxas firsts joins the organization, he has no pokémon, so axel gifts roxas his houndoom. <3

ventus

ventus is an aspiring trainer! most of his pokémon are low-leveled, because he's just starting out. he wants to become strong like aqua and terra. he specializes in grass types, because his favorite color is green, but i included some flying types to fit his name (ventus meaning wind).

i don't have as many headcanons for the wayfinder trio as i do the destiny & sea salt trios, so i apologize for this being a little bare... maybe ventus has a skitty waiting on him, just like chirithy!

aqua

aqua might be the most dedicated & serious trainer - she's very strategy-focused and uses type-matchups to her advantage. for obvious reasons, she's a water-type trainer, but most of her pokémon are dual-types, allowing her to protect her team against water type's weaknesses.

terra

terra is trying to become a strong trainer, though he's not as good at battle strategies as aqua is. he focused too much on offense, and sometimes that puts him in a bind. his pokemon are still pretty strong though!

and that's all i've got! thank you so much if you've read so far, i hope you've enjoyed my ramblings. now i am very tired so zzzz

#elisey speaks #kingdom hearts #kh #i worked too hard on this to not tag it

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remmammie · 2 years

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Hello can I ask for a hc from a Sora (KH) when he is jealous please? Thank you, your blog is adorable 💞

Awh! You're so sweet! Thank you~ Sora's so precious, I'm always excited to write about him! I assume you meant in regards to being jealous in a romantic aspect, but, if you didn't, let me know and I'll write about it in a more general way.

Jealous!Sora HCs

Before I even say anything, we all know Sora has to most adorable pout in existence - he's done it before in-game and it really just makes you want to pinch his cheeks.

So, obviously, the first thing someone notices about Sora when he's jealous is that iconic, chubby-cheeked pout.

But, as for the feeling of jealousy itself, it's not something Sora feels often, especially not in a romantic aspect. Sure, he got annoyed when he was younger because Riku was always better at play fighting and Kairi had an incredibly creative brain, but he it wasn't a strong enough feeling for him to know it was jealousy.

Then, when he got himself a partner, everything shifted for his little world. He's definitely not the type to get jealous easily and that's purely because he's such an extroverted person. If someone's talking to his partner, of course he wants to join in!

The innocent boy is pretty dense too so he's not likely to notice if someone is flirting or showing a more intimate interest in his partner.

Still, if his partner is occupied for a loooong period of time with someone, whether Sora knows them or not, the jealousy is inevitable for anyone. Of course, the people closest to him are the first to notice: the folded arms, avoiding eye contact, that signature pout, tapping feet, and the boy's overall restlessness.

While Riku isn't likely to say anything until Sora starts becoming a nuisance about it, Kairi definitely teases the poor boy about it. They probably band together to tell Sora to just reach out to his partner and tell them how he feels.

It takes a while for Sora to act on any kind of jealousy. He's a people-pleaser and, if the person his partner is with is nice, Sora is going to feel really guilty about interrupting them - this is especially true if it's anything business-related or professional like stuff to do with Keyblade training or a job.

If he's not that fond of the person, then Sora just has to overcome the fear that his partner will think less of him when he admits he's jealous. He really doesn't want to come across as desperate or clingy - he hates being seen as childish and immature.

In the end, when Sora brandishes the courage to confront his partner about his jealousy (with assistance from his best friends,) his partner will have to assure the pouty Keyblade wielder that they don't think less of him and tell him that it's completely natural and is a very human emotion to be jealous, especially when it comes to your significant other.

He gives a shy smile that, eventually, as his partner encourages him more, grows into that same bright, vivid grin we're all used to.

And, if his partner admits that they've been jealous as an example, Sora's ego inflates like a balloon and that grin turns to a playful smirk. He's grateful to know his partner treasures him in the same way he treasures them.

#kh fanfiction #kingdom hearts fanfiction #kingdom hearts sora #kh sora #kingdom hearts #kh headcanons #kh x reader #kh fanfic #kingdom hearts fanfic #kingdom hearts headcanons #sora x reader

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palizinhas · 4 months

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Kaixi and 23?

The other one I found in my inbox!

…in relief.

Xion might be the most insane person Kairi knew.

(and she was best friends with Sora and Riku, so that wasn’t something she said lightly)

It had seemed like such a good idea to start training alongside her - Aqua a good Master, even if she seemed to treat Xion with a lot less caution than Kairi. She was tired of needing protection, and Aqua sometimes still put her Princess status over her Keyblade Wielder one.

But even with that issue, the training was good.

Going into her first actual mission with Xion, however, quickly proved that perhaps there was more Sora in her than Kairi actually realized.

It had all started extremely simple - the two of them needed to go to a beach world to research the weird Keyblade guys in animal costumes that Terra had come across recently. But Keyblade wielders had this thing where they often ended up meddling in things they shouldn’t, and somehow they ended up helping this cool Princess of Heart Moana with a problem.

And because sometimes things worked like that, there was some sort of quest island that they needed to solve stuff to go forward.

And Xion just THREW HERSELF OFF A CLIFF TO CHASE A GIANT BIRD.

It was an important bird, but Kairi couldn’t believe what had happened until Xion simply showed up again, having transformed her Keyblade into a grappling hook and landed back safely, holding the giant key the bird was guarding.

“Did you lose your mind?” Kairi tried to keep from screaming, a bit more panicked than she perhaps should be.

“I knew things would turn out alright,” Xion shrugged, not looking really phased by anything that had just happened.

“You’re insane!” Kairi complained, slapping lightly Xion’s arm for worrying her. “There was no need to do that.”

“Well, it was definitely faster,” Xion pointed out.

“And reckless.”

Xion opened and closed her mouth, because apparently she hadn’t noticed until then how reckless she had been.

One of Xion’s main issues was paying zero attention to her own life - and she needed to have someone who would. Kairi wanted so badly to make Xion care about her own safety.

“You’re right. We knew there was a trick to it, and it would have been safer to follow it instead of taking an unnecessary risk. i’m sorry,” Xion apologized like she was writing a report, and Kairi figured there was probably a reason for that too.

“You do this again and I’ll throw you off a cliff myself,” Kairi threatened, and then kissed Xion, just to make sure she was still there.

#kingdom hearts #kaixi

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hallowed-nebulae · 11 months

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little falling star

Kairi was born in Radiant Garden, but she does not know it. Raised in Destiny Islands, she knows this place more. Or: Kairi, and how she is and is not of Radiant Garden.

on ao3 here, or below the cut; wordcount: 570

She hates it, sometimes.

The dissonance. The difference. The choking feeling it has, sometimes.

Kairi is glad to have grown up in the Destiny Islands. She's glad that she was able to live there, safely, able to grow up with Sora and Riku and Selphie and Tidus and Waka. Glad she got that good education, glad she was always encouraged by her adoptive parents. Glad she had that safe place to live and stay in.

But it doesn't make her feelings and less strong.

Kairi was born in Radiant Garden, and lived there for the first four years of her life. She knows this, now, though she didn't know for a long while. Kairi was a part of a culture of an entirely different place -- even her name reflects the culture, the hard consonants and softer vowels that Radiant Garden favored for young girls when she was born, as Yuffie and Aerith had said. Kairi's got the reddish hair and pale blue-green eyes that are so common, pale freckled skin compared to the darker shades that everyone had on Destiny Islands.

Kairi hates that she has no connection to the culture and place and peoples that she belongs to. No one knew what world she was from, and she can't blame them for that, but she still wishes. Wishes she had been told the stories of Gaia and Lucrecia and Vincent and Rinoa, all the people of folklore and legends. Wishes she had been taught how to cook that same comfort food that Aerith and Tifa cook so often. Wishes she was from Radiant Garden in more than only name.

The worst part is when Sora or Riku ask her something about Radiant Garden -- well-meaningly, she knows, but it still cuts, even if she pretends it doesn't. I don't remember living there. She wants to tell them. I don't remember anything about it. I know less than either of you do.

(She wants to scream at them, sometimes. She doesn't. She just smiles, says nothing, and makes a paper star or two or ten until they talk about something else. Kairi had made a lot of paper stars. The jar on her desk is getting full of them.)

And there's nothing she can do. There's no real way to connect with that past of hers -- not with the Keyblade training, not with the looming threat of the Keyblade War on the horizon, not with the way that Kairi knows there will be danger, soon, and she has to prepare to be strong enough to survive. Not with the way that her roots are so firmly in Destiny Islands, now, the way that she cannot imagine living anything else.

Kairi, at the end of the day, is just. . . lost. Staring out her window. Making paper stars. Wondering about that past she won't ever get to go back to.

(Sometimes, when it's dark out and the stars are barely shining, she thinks that she hates Xehanort. Other times, she hates herself. For not remembering that past. For not wanting to remember. Is it so bad to cling to her life on Destiny Islands? Is it so bad to want to stay where she's safe, stay somewhere that she knows, rather than risk all the danger inherent in being a Keyblade Wielder?

Kairi doesn't know, and that -- that's what scares her the most.

At the end of the day, Kairi is just. . . lost.)

#drabbles #kingdom hearts #kairi #dug this up out of my drafts and therefore: upon ye

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phoenix-downer · 1 year

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Yeah, what you explained made sense. I did see a comment that talked about more of Yen Sid's negligence and incompetence regarding the exam and it's main objective. I'm glad that Sora didn't get it in one go because like you said, he needed to learn how to be more cautious and master his dark half, but it brought up a element from Sora and Riku's backstory: Riku is once again ahead and Sora needs to catch up. It also did another thing: Highlight the similarities between Sora and Terra.

(I think the final ask(s) got eaten, sorry about that!)

I agree that the similarities between Sora and Terra are really interesting, and I'm always a sucker for meta and stories that explore that potential. Wish we could see the two of them interacting more in canon though because I think they could have some interesting discussions.

I often wonder if Nomura wishes he had more time for moments like this too, but deadlines and budgets mean he can only include the most vital moments (especially for fully rendered cutscenes) in the games themselves. I do think that's why he writes extra stuff that's included in supplementary material and at KH events (like for the concerts where Naminé spoke with Lingering Will, Kairi talked about her training with Axel/Lea and we first heard the "there's no smile your heart won't reach" line iirc, Aqua talked about her resolve, Xion discussed her bond with Axel and Roxas, etc.)

So even if we don't get a scene in-game with Sora and Terra talking to each other, there's a chance we'll get some extra tidbit here or there in supplementary materials. And if not there's always the fandom to fill in the gaps.

Thanks for the ask!

#kingdom hearts #kh analysis #sora #terra #answer #division9scientist #long post

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stitchcasual · 2 years

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Kairi and Riku spend their last night together before Melody of Memory.

inspired by the song Marble Floors by Vian Izak

rated G, 2.5k words Kairi/Riku, background Sora/Riku/Kairi includes re:mind spoilers and MoM foreshadowing

Radiant Garden, even at night, lives up to its name. From her high window in the castle, Kairi can see the gardens, the walking paths that meander through the wondrous growing plants, lit with strings of tiny fairy lights. She still doesn’t know the names for half of the plants there. Ienzo gave her a book on botany when she arrived a week ago, and she’s been going through it slowly when she has a few free minutes between keyblade training with Riku and all the tests the apprentices want to run before they finally do this thing. She’s going to leave the book for Riku, hoping it will help him take a break once in a while when she’s asleep.

She presses her face against the glass, like that will help her see into the town just past the high wall of the garden. There are street lamps on, and every so often she can see the passing shadow of someone out late. Are they awake from nerves like her, or are they content with their situations, moving about because they simply want to and not because they have to?

At least Riku is asleep, soft breaths in the bed behind her. They’d gone to bed together a few hours ago, curled on their sides facing each other, hands entwined between them, bookending a space that should not still be empty. Maybe they should have figured out a new sleeping arrangement, but neither of them can bear the idea of acting like Sora might not come back.

Kairi rests a hand against her heart, closing her eyes. If she breathes softly, she can feel her pulse fluttering beneath her skin. Her heart kicks stronger for a second before settling down again, and Kairi bows her head. What did it feel like when Sora carried her in his heart? He hadn’t even known she was there until it was pointed out to him. Would she be able to tell if he was inside hers?

Come on, Sora, she thinks, just give me a sign.

Her heart continues to beat steadily, and she sighs. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. She doesn’t expect much of anything to be easy these days, but that doesn’t mean she can’t wish for it anyway.

Riku shifts in the bed and she freezes, determined to let him keep sleeping for as long as possible. Kairi knows Riku doesn’t sleep well very often; it had taken her fifteen minutes to sneak out of bed after she’d woken up so she’d be sure she wouldn’t disturb him. Most of their friends have fraught relationships with sleep, one more thing that ties them all together. The kitchen here in the castle has a coffee pot enchanted to keep the liquid within it warm for hours, but they hardly ever need it: between Kairi, Riku, and the apprentices, new pots are made constantly. Kairi bets there would be one down there now if she went to check.

Behind her, she can hear muffled sounds of distress and then the sharp exhalation of breath that she associates with Riku waking himself up from a dream. She frowns, saddened that he couldn’t sleep longer, though she’s not upset at the idea of having company.

“Hey,” he says, his voice thick with sleep. “What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.”

Kairi can hear him moving around, shuffling off the inordinate amount of blankets they sleep with as island kids, so she doesn’t turn from the window. He’ll join her soon enough. She’s trying to memorize what this place looks like, at night and during the day. If she visits Radiant Garden in her dreams, she wants it to be accurate. It’s an odd compulsion, this feeling that she needs to soak everything in before she leaves. But she’s always followed her heart, and this, though strange, is no exception.

“I’m going to sleep for who knows how long once I get down there,” she says, looking up at what few stars she can see over the glow from the city. “I don’t need to sleep now too.”

Riku’s response to that is an inarticulate grunt as he wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on top of her head.

“You should go back to sleep,” Kairi says, but she leans back anyway, getting comfortable against his chest. He tightens his hold on her once she’s done adjusting.

“Nah. I’m not going to leave you alone.”

Kairi hums and rests her arms on top of his, and they stand there for a quiet few minutes. It’s easy to fall into the same breathing rhythm like this, the way they used to when they were kids. The first time Sora and Riku had shown her the secret place, they’d been at a loss for what to do next, having never shared their spot with anyone else. So they just sat on the cold floor in a circle, silent and breathing together, until Sora’s dad started calling for them from the docks.

Normally it’s soothing for her, hearing and feeling the breath from each of her boys, the physical evidence that they’re present and not far away again. Except only Riku’s here now, and the air around them feels empty without Sora’s breathing to fill it too. Kairi grips onto Riku’s arm, and he kisses the top of her head, sharing the feeling.

“Which one of them is the Islands?” Riku asks. He must be staring up at the stars too.

Kairi looks at them more intently, as though she’d be able to figure it out from this far away. Still, as she looks, calling out with her heart for the heart of the Islands, she thinks it works.

“That one,” she says, surprised at her own confidence, but it feels right. She raises one of her arms and points into the sky at a tiny dot, just one of so many. Riku bends down to rest his cheek on her shoulder and sight along the line of her arm. He stays there for a while, longer than she’d expected, until her arm starts to get tired. Then he pulls away with a quiet, “thanks,” and settles back behind her again.

“Do you miss it?” Kairi asks.

She feels Riku’s arms tense around her before he shrugs and relaxes them again.

“You’re my home,” he says, which is absolutely not an answer and she’s about to call him out on it when he continues. “So is he. So get him back…and maybe then it’ll feel like home again.”

“I will,” Kairi promises. All she’s wanted to do since Sora disappeared is to go find him, and the anticipation of being on the eve of doing so is almost too much to bear alone. But she’s not alone.

She grabs Riku’s arms and spins out from between them. Slipping her hands into his, she looks up at him seriously, struck with a sudden, wild inspiration.

“Dance with me,” she says.

Sora would have immediately pulled her close and started galloping off around the room, uncoordinated but somehow still graceful, his enthusiasm and heart making up for any technical lacking. Riku blinks at her from arms length, caught off guard.

“What?” He’s stalling, trying to buy time for his brain to catch up, but Kairi doesn’t want him to think his way out of this. She reels him in and wraps her arms around his waist, settling her cheek against his chest.

“Dance with me,” she says again.

It takes a minute, but he finally puts his arms back around her too.

“...This is just a hug,” he says after fifteen seconds of dead silence.

Kairi laughs. “Then start moving, dummy. Then it’ll be a dance.”

Riku mumbles something, and Kairi pulls back a little to stare at him. He averts his eyes but says, a little louder, “I don’t know how to dance.” Kairi stares harder until he continues, “I skipped a year of school, remember? My mom was gonna make me take a dance class that year, but I—”

“Was too busy saving the world,” Kairi finishes for him so he can’t tag on something self-deprecating.

“…Right.”

Undeterred, Kairi sets her jaw and nods. “That’s fine. It’s not that hard anyway. Come on: I’ll lead, you follow.”

She nudges his arms into place gently but firmly, and he lets it happen, faint bemusement creasing his eyebrows. She’s glad for his cooperation, since she knows she couldn’t move him by herself if it came down to raw strength. Their training together has taught her that. It’s also taught her that powerful hits aren’t always the most effective tools, and that several lighter, better aimed swings can accomplish the same or more. Her strengths are in mobility and in finding new ways to surprise her opponent.

Mobility she puts to use now, sliding her left leg forward and forcing Riku’s right leg back. He compensates well for the change in balance, and Kairi beams at him. She shifts her torso, leaning slightly to the right into Riku’s arm, before stepping her right leg to the side. Riku falters for a second, his combat instincts telling him to move the other way, but he follows after a moment, and Kairi rewards him with another smile. He smiles back, a little bashful, jerking forward and to the side to follow Kairi when she moves again.

“Congratulations,” she says, when they’re back where they started, “you can waltz.”

Riku barks a laugh and says, “I really don’t think—” before Kairi is moving again. Her strides are longer this time, carrying them into the rest of the room.

Like many of the other rooms in the castle of Radiant Garden, their room is huge, the designer of the place having been a fan of large, open spaces. Their bed and dresser are on one end of the room and a sitting area with a couch, a couple chairs, and some end tables is on the other, leaving them with quite enough empty area in the middle to dance around.

Riku had protested at the size of the room when Aeleus brought them to it initially, but after being shown several nearly identical rooms in the guest quarters wing, he’d sighed and accepted it. Kairi wonders if it’s because most houses on the Islands aren’t this big, and all the open places he had growing up were outside. She remembers rooms kind of like this from her childhood before the Islands, and the mayor’s house on the Island had doubled as the town hall, so it was by necessity quite large. The castle’s size doesn’t faze her in the least.

Kairi leads Riku slowly through the steps of the dance over and over, moving to some hidden beat in her head, until his enviously quick-learning muscle memory kicks in. They dance all over that room, from the bank of windows to the door and across from their bed to the chairs, twirling together and smiling. Content, for now at least, to just exist with each other like this. Neither of them wants to say that it may be the last chance they get for a long time, but they both know it: Sora had slept for a year while Naminé put his memories back together, and Riku and Sora’s own dream dive for their Mark of Mastery exam had quickly turned complicated and could have lasted a lot longer if Riku hadn’t pulled them through it. There’s a lot that can go wrong, but so much to be gained if it goes right.

Riku pulls Kairi closer to him, putting a stop to their dancing in favor of just holding her. She wraps her arms around his waist and holds him in return.

“I’m still here,” she murmurs, feeling Riku’s arms tighten around her at the words. “And I won’t be alone when I’m down there either: Even or Ienzo will be with me all the time to make sure nothing happens.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Riku says, speaking into her hair. He doesn’t sound convinced.

Kairi can’t figure out if Riku’s just being protective, wishing he could be there for her, or if he still hasn’t fully forgiven Ansem’s apprentices for the actions of their Nobodies in Castle Oblivion and thus does not trust them to take care of her while she’s asleep. Well, either way, he’s going to have to get over it because she’s doing this whether he approves or not. She’s told him as much already and he knows he can’t stop her.

“I’m going to miss you,” he says, so softly she nearly misses it. She’s not sure if she was meant to hear it or not, so she doesn’t acknowledge it in words, just squeezes him tighter for a moment before peering up at him.

“Alright, your turn to lead now,” she says, grinning like it’s some evil plot of hers. “Think you’re up for the challenge, Master Riku?”

Bless that competitive streak in him that allows her to distract him like this, Kairi thinks, because Riku immediately moves back to a dancing position, mimicking the posture she’d had as leader. He takes her hand softly in one of his, resting his other at the small of her back. She sets her arms lightly on top of his, allowing her hand at his shoulder to creep toward the base of his neck. She rubs her thumb in slow circles there, waiting for him to start moving. He does, eventually, after staring at her for a long moment, as if memorizing her the same way she’d been memorizing the city.

Riku dances slowly, not because he’s unsure of himself in this, but because that’s the way he does a lot of things now. Kairi can see the results of his training with Terra in his movements, deep and deliberate. He’s nearly flawless in his execution of the dance steps too, faltering only near the beginning when he overthinks a turn. Kairi’s so proud of him: proud of the growth he made during the year he was away from her, but especially proud of the growth he’s made since she’s been there to watch and encourage him. It hasn’t been that long, but Kairi thinks they’ve made more progress together in that time than they would have apart.

They’ve always been each other’s strength, ever since Kairi came to the Islands and Riku and Sora welcomed her into their hearts. The three of them against all the invisible monsters they dreamed up, only now the monsters are real and don’t disappear when they leave the play island and the stakes are much higher than who gets to captain the boat on their way back home. Kairi’s experiences with the worlds beyond the Islands have been terrifying so far, if she’s honest, but fear hasn’t kept Sora and Riku from finding her when she was lost and she won’t let it keep her from finding Sora now.

She can do it. She’ll find him and bring him home, and then the three of them will protect the worlds, together, the way they were meant to. But that process will start in a few hours. Until then, she’ll stay with Riku, dancing through their room, and if, at one point, she hugs him close and steps up onto his feet, neither of them mentions it. Riku just kisses the top of her head and doesn’t let her go, only adjusting to hold her better so she doesn’t fall.

#kingdom hearts #rikai #sorikai #kairi kingdom hearts #riku kingdom hearts #i just have a lot of feelings about them and they deserve to be cute together

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kingdom-hearts-redux · 1 year

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It’s her! The girl! A (very poorly edited because I lack artistic abilities at the moment) bunny girl! Allow me to tell you about the girl!

~ Kairi ~

Is the Princess of Heart. As such, she was set to begin training at a certain age, but an unexpected tragedy struck her home and she was forced to flee with her best friend Shion under Aqua’s care. She never sees any of her family again but has made/found her own where she ended up on Destiny Islands and wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Knows that Sora has issues with letting himself be taken care of, and has taken small steps in trying to help Sora with it, like asking him about his day, offering to help out with any of his chores, and being kind, gentle and supportive to him when he needed it.

Is happiest when her friends and loved ones are happy too, and works very hard to make sure they are.

Kairi enjoys doing traditionally feminine things (cooking, cleaning, etc.) but is still a strong character. She likes making her friends healthy snacks, living in a clean space, and takes pride in her appearance. However, as time passes she becomes more concerned with it to try and appeal to whatever way she ‘looks best’ to others (specifically Sora and later Shion).

Is very sweet and mild-mannered towards others but books exactly no sass from anybody and is very witty, able to give back what she’s given and is more stubborn than she looks.

Can be surprisingly secretive but doesn’t like lying if she can help it. Wants to make sure that she doesn’t say more than she should and is never really sure when a secret is harmless or not and takes secrets very seriously. Often worries if this facet makes her untrustworthy.

Can be a bit of a troublemaker at times, more as she gets older, and relishes in a bit of harmless mischief.

Likes baking, cooking, cleaning, and is generally a very energetic and capable person.

Is highly dedicated to her goals. Once she decides something, nothing can deter her from it.

Very smart and observant. She and Shion tie for the highest grades in school, and the four of them often have ‘study nights’ (sleepovers) to help each other out with whatever areas they were lacking in- even Riku appreciated the help (but more on this later).

Has a strong sense of right and wrong and tries her best to be the best ‘her’ she can be to make Aqua proud (spoiler: she already is) and so she can help her friends stay on the right path.

Loves flowers and enjoys learning what each one means. Sora taught her how to make flower crowns.

Is very selfless and kind and becomes easily attached to smaller, more vulnerable things than herself because she’s also very empathetic.

Was faking her amnesia because she thought doing so would protect Sora and Riku from the shadows of her past if they ever came back to bite her (which happened anyway oops). The less anybody knew, the better. Part of her also thought of it as keeping her tragic past away from her happy new present.

Is usually more rational than emotional, and can work under pressure.

Very charming; quickly became the most highly-thought-of girl in town since her arrival.

Became friends with Shion while still at her old home in her early childhood. Shion was an orphan girl who she’d see on occasion wandering around town and one day actually snuck out from the castle to play with her. They became very close and Kairi fought tooth and nail to still be able to hang out once it got out that she was being sneaky without supervision and ultimately got her wish.

Loves Shion with all her heart and shared a paopu fruit with her at Shion’s suggestion shortly after hearing the local legend about it so they would always be friends and always be together.

Wakes up early on purpose. On a similar note, she can’t sleep without a night-light and is afraid of the dark and might also occasionally be visited by her sleep paralysis demon. Poor girl. She also has trouble sleeping if someone she trusts isn’t nearby, so Shion and her bunk in the same room on Destiny Islands.

Pink is her favorite color, but yellow and lavender are her second (and third) favorites. Her favorite ways of wearing them are usually ribbons or flowers.

Semi-frequently suffers from nightmares that she wakes from that give her an unshakable feeling of guilt and loneliness even though she knows she has friends who love her. On that note, she also has self-esteem issues, often thinking that she’s not going to be good enough but tries hard to get stronger.

Is really into witchcraft, legends, myths and fairy-tales as well as natural history and believes wholeheartedly in destiny.

Believes wishes can hold real power (and she’s not entirely wrong).

Has a tendency to be very hard on herself since she was the Princess of Heart who didn’t know how to use the Keyblade properly- especially when it mattered- even though she was like 5 years old at the time. Has a love/hate relationship with the Keyblade.

Sees Aqua as a mother figure.

Animal: Bun (specifically a Satin Rabbit)

#text post #Kairi #Kingdom Hearts Redux #my UA #she has a tail too I just forgot to add it and it's very late #and I'm not sure I'd be able to do it justice

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valorxdrive · 2 years

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Just a small observation but I've noticed each Keyblade Wielder has their own power actually unique to them!

Eraqus is arguably the hardest to pin, as we get all of like 10 minutes with him give or take, but he seems to be a master of practicality and solutions- in fact despite his youth being energetic and wild he seems to be the one who brings Order to the world around him.

Xehanort has the power of Hearttouch and an inate understanding of darkness and time- given a younger version mastered time travel, it makes sense he was a major threat up to KH4.

Terra is Unbreakable Conviction. He managed to psychically implant his own will between two forms (the Armor and Ansem's Shadow), and somehow stated all there and unbroken at the end.

Aqua is obviously a mage, but also perhaps one of the more open to interpretation. Perhaps she is an interpreter of will?

Ventus is the Sleeper, and has untold potential. Also the X-Blade. This extends to Vanitas.

Riku has walked both the light and dark- he's effectively the series' Mace Windu. Dawnwalker seems fitting- one who has been able to come back from the darkness and made themselves stronger.

Mickey is obviously the Traveler, never in one place too long but you know he has good intentions where he goes.

Kairi is... Well I can't say much, we don't have much! Spin off of her and lea Axel training when?

Axel stands out given how he is, bit he's in the same boat as Kairi with what he can do.

Roxas is Duality- light and dark, two blades for two hearts.

Xion is... A mimic. Until we get to see her in action again, there's not much else to say.

Which leads me to Sora. He's a Connector, but he also might have something else. Perhaps he'll be the first Wielder to be able to use that inner heartless beyond just the Rage form? What if he's more multifaceted and the one who has to go through the rigors before we really understand what his true calling is with the Keyblade? Time will tell.

Anon, I don’t say this allllll too often here. But did I ever mention I like the way you talk? There’s a sense of mystique and wonder you instill into the select paths you’re knowledgeable on, on top of making your own predictions too! I kinda want to just frame this whole ask here on my wall and just enjoy the wordiness of your evaluations. And believe me, of course I love me some words being an rp’er and all here!

Sora is certainly someone who needs a long road of trials to truly find what he is. I say that’s the exciting part of the journey despite the travails, we’re going to be on the same road cheering him on to find exactly what his hands can bring to life, and all the new ways his most powerful weapon; his heart, can sing with new rhythms against many new dimensions of adversity.

#Anon #| Bottle Mail #| Keepsakes #See this here #Is part of the reason I love the RP sphere so much #These descriptions!

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anthurak · 2 years

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One of the more subtle narrative details that I’ve always really appreciated about RWBY compared to other shows/games is the consistent emphasis and reinforcement of the Team part of Team RWBY. More specifically, the fact that Team RWBY have actually stayed a TEAM through the majority of the show.

I’ve seen many other shows, games and other kinds of series’ introduce this group of two, three or four main characters and continually make this big narrative deal about the ‘bond’ between them… despite having them be split up for most of the series’ actual runtime.

Like I’ve been playing through a few of the Kingdom Hearts games recently, and it’s been just a bit jarring to see the narrative of these games put so much emphasis on the bond between Sora, Kairi and Riku, and then keep having Sora going on adventures with Donald and Goofy while Riku is off doing his own thing and Kairi is alternatingly stuffed in a metaphorical closet, jail-cell or fridge. With only the most brief, fleeting moments given to these three to actually be seen doing anything together. These games will tell us over and over that Kairi and Riku are the most important people in Sora’s life, but will they actually let them be party members? NOPE.*

See also, how Naruto often talks up ‘Team 7’ despite this so-called ‘team’ being split up for the VAST majority of the show. With the show really just following Naruto while Sakura is largely sidelined and Sasuke is off being a flaming, hazardous-material-leaking, hundred-car train-wreak of a character.

Meanwhile, after Team RWBY becomes a team in Volume 1, they STAY a team. Even after the narrative splits the team up after Volume 4, it’s always clear that this team WILL reunite, with that big reunion being THE big emotional resolution of Volume 5. The narrative and undertones of the show has made it pretty clear that Team RWBY are supposed to be together. I mean, just look at the end of Volume 8; it’s easy to imagine a different show having only some of Team RWBY fall into the void to ratchet up drama and angst points for having been split up.

But instead, even as they suffered their greatest defeat in the show thus-far, Team RWBY still managed to stick together.

There’s actually an interesting consistent through-line I’ve noticed looking back through the show: When Team RWBY is together and united, things tend to go well for them. And when they are divided or separated, things tend to go badly for them:

The Battle of Beacon sees Team RWBY separated for almost the entire battle, and we all know how that ended for them. And going into Volumes 4 and 5, I think we can say that a common thread of each of RWBY’s struggles is that they are facing them without their teammates. For example, it’s easy to imagine Yang having a much easier time recovering in V4 if she had Ruby, Weiss and especially Blake to help her.

And no shade on Jaune, Nora and Ren, but I imagine that Team RWBY probably would have had a much better chance fighting Tyrian, and DEFINITELY an easier time dealing with the Nuckelavee.

Or compare the two times Team RWBY takes on the Ace-Ops: At the end of Volume 7 when the team is all together, they absolutely wreck the so-called ‘best huntsmen in Atlas’. Yet their rematch in Volume 8 when Yang is absent, despite having Penny and Nora filling in, doesn’t go nearly as well.

In fact, when we look at the first half of Volume 8 as a whole, I think we can see this subtle theme about how when Team RWBY is divided, things go bad for them, being emphasized more than ever. At the start of the volume, we see Team RWBY split on how to handle their current situation, and see Ruby, Weiss and Blake work with Penny and Nora to get the Amity tower operational while Yang goes with Ren, Jaune and Oscar to help the people of Mantle. And both of these efforts kind of blow up in their faces.

The efforts of Yang’s group ends up getting Oscar kidnapped by Salem. And while this does set the stage for some positive developments for our heroines like spurring Emerald’s and Hazel’s defection, Monstra being destroyed and Salem being temporarily incapacitated, it also sets off a chain of events that will lead to Cinder both getting the Lamp AND the password to summon Jinn.

Meanwhile, the efforts of Ruby, Weiss and Blake arguably blow up even harder, as while they do get the codes to launch Amity, the process also leaves Nora badly injured and out of commission for a while, and even worse, their scuffle with the Ace-Ops gives Watts and Ironwood their vector to hack Penny. Which in turn sets off a chain of events that ultimately leads to Penny’s death (Penny getting infected with the virus leads to her getting an organic body from Ambrosius, which in turn leaves her open to be later mortally wounded by Cinder).

And the funny thing is, when we look at the second half of Volume 8, namely Operation ‘Save Penny, Save Mantle, Save Atlas and Fuck You Tinman’ when Team RWBY (and JNPR) isn’t split up, things go MUCH better. Team RWBY+Penny is able to get into the vault, summon Ambrosius, save Penny and open a path for evacuation with no issue whatsoever and Team JNPR+Emerald+Winter is able to positively wreck ALL of Ironwood’s shit with likewise no issue.

And when we reach the finale of Volume 8, has anyone else noticed that it’s after Yang gets knocked into the void that things start really going south for our heroines? It’s like when Yang fell, it became a narrative inevitability that Blake, Weiss and Ruby would be following her.

I think that’s the theme with Team RWBY: Rise or Fall, Win or Lose, they’ll do it together.

*As an aside, this is actually why the ‘Clocktower Trio’ of Roxas, Xion and Axel are actually my favorite of the main ‘trios’ of the series as opposed to the ‘Destiny Islands’ (Sora, Kairi and Riku) or ‘Wayfinder’ (Terra, Ventus and Aqua) trios. Because the game following these three actually follows their growing friendship. Shows them going on missions together, shows them hanging out after missions, shows them actually being friends. We aren’t just told about the bond between these characters, we’re actually SHOWN their bond.

#rwby #rwby analysis #rwby volume 8 #Team RWBY #team analysis #basically rwby COMMITS to the Found Family trope a lot harder than most other shows #kingdom hearts

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kicktwine · 3 years

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do you have more thoughts on keyblade fighting that you need to put somewhere, because i have two hands ready to catch Should The Need Arise

anon: hey I heard you mention you’d analysed the combat styles in KH and what you said in the tags was already alluding to really neat stuff, but I for one would love to hear more of what you came up with!! so if you ever wanted to share any of your analysis then the floor is yours

aHAH, MY EXCUSE!!

Okay, so first some words on “standardized wielding styles”. These are styles shared by Terra, Aqua, Vanitas, Riku, and Xehanort and every other scala and daybreak kid. I will make the argument that the red style is the fanciest standard style, while the purple is seen often to make it easier on the little chibi sprites. BUT, I cannot discredit Eraqus, who uses the purple variant in bbs, nor can I discredit half of the Foretellers (Gula and Ava, at least, use this. Invi and Aced use the first type). So, two standard styles. For simplicity, let’s say one for primary offense, one for primary defense. The standard offensive style really wasn’t popular before Scala-era society.

check this difference out, specifically between ava invi and gula:

then between eraqus, hermod, and xehanort, and eraqus and terra.

These two were likely popularized and standardized for education in Scala ad Caelum for their predominant lack of obvious weak spots.

After this, we have unique styles. Those include Sora Kairi and Xion’s (similar to standard defense, but more mobile at the expense of form — Kairi takes after Sora but less confident, she hasn’t been hit that heavily yet), Ven’s (backhand, heavy range and mobility), Roxas’ (modified for two keyblades, but takes after Sora), and Axel’s (taught himself, comfortable with chakrams).

So! Let’s go.

Standard (offensive)

All styles have sub-variations, of a sense. Different wielders can choose where their keyblade points, and how they hold it exactly, based on what makes them most comfortable. Terra and Aqua point theirs downward, while Vanitas and Riku hold theirs above their head. What is recognizeable to this style is a hand for the sword, and a hand for guarding/blocking/items/magic.

It’s incredibly efficient. With only one hand on the weapon, you not only free up a hand for other things, but increase your range of movement with said weapon. Test it out yourself! The keyblade hand is always your dominant hand, held behind you for increased power when attacking (since you lose a significant amount of it by choosing not to grip with both hands). This style also decreases the speed of the defense you have, but with that increased mobility and swing power, along with a hand free to brace against the keyblade (defense strength up!), it makes up for it. Many people who use this also have strong barrier spells — both a testament to their preference for coverage and an acknowledgement that any directional block will take a little longer and be weaker if they try it with one hand.

The pointy end, though. What difference does it actually make, the height it’s at?

I think it’s half a matter of attack style preference and half intention. Riku, Vanitas, and Xehanort stab quite a bit. Aqua and Terra slice more. Not that they don’t do both, but it’s the first instinct. Aqua and Terra are also likely taught to hold their keyblade neutrally, in a safe position, until someone starts attacking. It’s polite! Eraqus also holds his one-handed, neutrally, until he gets into position. Riku and Vanitas learned to fight assuming everyone was out to fight them. Invi and Aced may like this style because of range (i hc she’s blind and strikes very very quickly, and he’s already very powerful with just the one arm and wants better motion).

and on character specifics: Terra often switches to two-handed, to copy his dad and add extra power to his hits without always sacrificing the empty hand. Vanitas likely was forced to relearn how to fight, as instead of solely being trained to be better at withstanding, he was constantly being made to better his own attacks. The moves Xehanort uses would best be replicated in the same style. Vanitas is wild for holding the massive spiky x-blade like that.

Now, what‘s good on this style does not correlate to what’s bad in the other. The two standard styles simply have different ways of dealing with each con they create or taking advantage of each pro.

(Here’s an interesting side note — Gula uses standard defensive, but in this instance, swaps. One hand… likely to display confidence! Wrong move, but hey. He got cocky. He’s also doing it wrong, and swaps back to two-handed to take Aced’s attack.)

Standard (defensive)

The main detriment of this style is the lack of ease of long range movement. Hold a wrapping paper tube out in front of you with both hands, then run. It goes to the side, or tucks in to your stomach, right? Dodge. Your legs will get in the way unless you know where to move that sword. It requires, interestingly, a little more discipline. You’d think Aqua would like that, but no, she wants movement and practicality, and she loves magic, and remember that you must take a hand off this style to grab a potion. You’d think young Eraqus wouldn’t, but remember that he’s a fancy royal lad.

The main draw, though, is tankiness, readiness, and power. You don’t need to move as much if nothing dares hit you! Ava and Gula might be attracted to this style because they’re not as physically strong, but want protection in close-quarters fighting. Using this style when your muscles aren’t as big but you still want to Hit Things Good, or when you want to be a boy you can’t knock over with a pail of water (horse stance rules), is probably solid advice.

Traditionally, this is a lot less like fencing, and a lot more like a samurai sword or kendo. Your blade is held in front of you, giving you very easy access to blocks and frontal attack/defense. In losing some twirly spinniness, you gain power and minimize your opponent’s ability to parry and block.

you gotta dodge master Eraqus so mcuh

All styles will swap between one and two hands for different moves. Eraqus, notably, swaps to a stance very similar to Xehanort when channeling a metric ton of magic.

Both of these styles require a degree of upper body/core strength, as does all swordfighting. I would be interested to see someone whose keyblade style relies on leg strength.

Sora, Xion, and Kairi

please look at the difference between the foretellers’ or eraqus’ two-handed grip and Sora’s. Do this with your shoulders and a top-heavy object.

They’re both in a hard stance, but hon. What are you, a gremlin? Anyways, a traditionally taught master would have… better form, even if it’s harder to learn at first. It’s habitual. Sora nearly crouches, and holds his keyblade back-pointed with two hands, which makes it easier for him to dodge roll, push off his feet quickly, and pull off those spinning combos he loves. It‘s really gonna hurt his muscles, in the future, though, since he’s doing a squat for like…. hours. Pulling on those shoulderblades and neck. Xion, too. Replicas had better have correct muscle dynamics. Kairi is brand new, so… maybe Aqua can teach her how to hold a sword so it doesnt hurt you.

Okay, now look at the grip itself. Held in front versus held to the side-back. They’re really attempting to combine both standard styles subconsciously, giving themselves more attack power while really wanting to keep that hard defensive parry, wanting to prevent all attacks to the front while also wanting mobility. It’s working for them really well, they fight like an anime character, and manage to get the best of both, with a minor sacrifice of length range that they don’t care about. We’re flexible and full of magic, baby! Holding the blade like this makes it pretty easy to let go with one hand without sacrificing that crouched defense position.

Now, Sora, specifically, is very adaptive. He’s had two keyblades, claws, guns, yo-yos, and a giant shield, to name a couple. He retains a bit of that alert crouch no matter where he goes, but Sora knows how he wants to attack and how to balance that with the most effective way to use his current weapon. He’s a smart kid! Sora has the most ridiculous shotlocks, which are also probably due to not always wanting to go standard for it. He also prefers to keep his focus on the enemy, which is evident in his reprisals and lack of very many effective “escape” moves.

Xion is very similar to Sora, but she does have some moves that are all movement. She switches to one handed for strikes a lot — using two for defending, one for smacking. In her data battle I’d swear some of those heavy hits are claymore-like. But anyways, since we’re magic, Xion cares not for the laws of exhaustion, and will ping about as a ball of light everywhere. Short range? Up in your business. Mid-range? In your business with one hand. Long range? Throws a boomerang. Hit her? No you dont. Ball of light. She’s above you and wants to bash your head in. (Vanitas also does this! A lot. It’s an easy way to catch someone off-guard. I’ll argue that the soras are very tough and strong, but not tanky. they want to avoid being hit a lot)

Another interesting note about Kairi. I say “unconfident” not because she doesn’t hit hard, but because her stance is also often tilted back, ready to dodge. It’s two handed, but almost all her moves are one. She does love spinning and throwing the thing! It looks like she’s been taking notes from the wielders she knows. It would be easy to teach her a standard style, I think. See here, she lets go on the strike, and by trying to do both, actually ends up with an advantage (being confusing) and disadvantage (losing both the power of two handed and versatility of one handed).

A counter to Sora and Xion is difficult to pin down. Time? Probably. Lack of heating pads. Something that takes all their attention is about the only way to get a sneak attack in, and then you have to hit hard. A counter to Kairi would be anyone who can knock her off balance. She needs a sturdier stance. .

Roxas

Roxas is interesting. He takes after Sora for the one blade. Wielding two, however, nets him a totally different way of fighting. Roxas’ clavicle muscles n… deltoids and stuff must be Ironclad. Also, two handed means you are very fast and sharp all the time. He has the advantage of standard defense (horse stance), and the advantage of offense (range of one sword, but twice).

Roxas generally attacks in two ways — simultaneous hits, and follow-up hits. Either he hits with both at once, or hits hard with the first one, and adds the second one as a bonus smack. He can attack by hitting in opposite directions with the two, like a drum, but that will be a little awkward and leave him prone to being tangled. That established, the follow-up hit method means he spins a bunch. As do we all.

Roxas gets a little complicated because we are not in the real world. We have magic and turning into light and physics that let you become a circular saw. So, typically, disadvantages would include: being unable to let go of a weapon to grab something or use an item, having just a very big silhouette to attack on, having difficulty with close-range attacks because Oathkeeper and Oblivion are kinda long, and convenience. Roxas gets to dodge #1 (keyblades can be unsummoned) and #4 (keyblades can be unsummoned). Speaking of dodging, he also gets to skirt the difficulty of dodging and rolling with two swords because he turns into a beam of light. But he can’t dodge how difficult it is to use two swords effectively — he needs to concentrate on fighting, and nothing else, or he risks messing up. He has to be very, very coordinated, and undistracted. Luckily he’s pretty good at making his opponents shut up, most of the time. Blocking is another thing — theoretically his blocks could be strong, but Roxas has no real brace: crossing your blades and taking a hefty stab might smack one of them back into your face. He mostly uses reversals and dodges, because of this.

The takeaway to this is Roxas is built for speed and power, and he is very strong. He’s a mid- to far- range fighter who if you’re not careful can snap you in half if you’re too close (be SO careful of that cross blade scissor).

A perfect counter to Roxas would be a tank that can grapple, and also be very distracting. If you can take hits, be talkative, and get close enough to stop his blades, you have a chance.

Ventus

This is a bizarre choice, my guy, but I get it.

Backhanded weapons are very impractical for a lot of... attacking, mainly in mid-range combat, and Ven likes to either fight very close or throw the keyblade like a boomerang (and hey, backhand gives it a good whip for throwing). His attacks aren’t meant to one hit KO, but they do come with a bit of power to them, especially on the backslash. Like holding a knife for gouging. It’s for very close defense — pretty good when Wayward Wind and Missing Ache have hooks.

Backhand also, while retaining that empty hand for potions and guarding, gives you an extreme coverage boost. By which I mean Ven’s sword hand now has a nearly 270 degree sweep of “I see you, don’t touch me”, very quickly, based on just flicking his wrist. It sacrifices a ton of strength/sturdiness, but you don’t need that if you’re dodging. You also don’t really need to block, which is slower, but relatively sturdy when Ven does it, as he blocks with mostly the chunky hilt between crossed arms. He sacrifices (again) a bit of strength for coverage — an attack would hurt his arms, not his chest, if he were hit head-on.

His attacks often have him flip the blade around in his hand, too. Quick swaps between standard moves and backhand ones. Basically, Ventus is built for moving, protecting himself, and quick attacks that wear down the enemy, not outclass it. Likely because he’s good at fighting, but everyone he’s fought hits harder than he can! It doesn’t matter how he holds it, getting hit will hurt. So he just. Doesn’t. He’s not a buff little guy — but he is a persistent one. Ven very likely made this up on his own, in Daybreak, and it was too hard to fix his whole style, but it was enough to correct most of his form so he doesn’t hurt himself too much. He is going to have to really stretch that shoulder and wrist (maybe get a brace), though. At least his neck is ok. … not sure about his knees tho dang boy that crouch

A perfect counter to Ven would be someone big and fast, who hits hard mid-range. He’s already been sparring with Terra, though, so when in doubt, try scruffing him?

Axel

Theres not a ton to say about him — he‘s not a swordfighter. He uses his keyblade like it’s a frisbee. Because that’s what he’s used to! His neutral is behind his back on his shoulder, which is terrible for readiness, but okay for chucking the thing. It’s good it has a sort of… ripstik like… boomerang quality.

Axel’s fighting style is completely made up, like most of the self-taught wielders’. His strengths lie in some of the benefits of standard offensive style (one-handed), and some of the same coverage stuff as Ven, having a cocked wrist most of the time so no one can sneak up around him without risking getting whacked very quickly, and having an interesting range due to the pointy end being basically on a spinny swivel wherever his hand moves. He’s not going to be good at close-range and he knows it — his attacks are mostly distance. And the guy has ZERO defense, combined with zero coverage when idle, so it’s for the better.

Distance-wise, though, he rocks. Treating the blade like it’s a flaming throwing weapon means his idle is actually great for sudden flick-tossing and attention-guiding for sneakier attacks, and his stance itself (…nonexistent) serves a different purpose: bait. Basically a big "come hit me". Fun, when you have a lot of fire magic and two friends who are beasts and love to take advantage of a distracted enemy — distance on the blade, proximity on the burning.

A perfect counter to Axel would be someone pinging around very close <—> very far and circling him incessantly. Like, data Xion could wreck him, as he has to wait for the boomerang to come back -- he no longer has two spinny wheels. Also someone with water magic.

SO! In conclusion! Having a teacher who teaches you correct sword usage rather than instinct may detract from overspecific styles that benefit you most but leave weak spots, but your muscles and your oversights will thank you. Everyone is glad we have the power of the Mouse and anime on our side.

Keep in mind again that I have done cursory research, and have had minimal actual sword instruction, I am not an expert and this is all for fun anyways :]

#I ran out of images which is homophobic #KH #ask #mojimallow #THANKS MOJI #If you’re wondering what the counter would be to Terra and Aqua; in terms of counters there are no counters #not style-wise anyways. That’s why they’re standard.#Terra can’t react very fast and Aqua needs more mp but that’s individual #and we are mostly talking BASE COMBAT here #of course lingering will can use keyblade transformations and there’s magic strategies — but that would make this post… much longer #brrrrrrr #kh analysis #kh meta #thanks to the handful of other people who asked me to expand on the same thing <3<3<3 #REALLY wanted to include one of Invi blocking — just go watch invi and aced fight for two standard offense #it Shows off their strengths and weaknesses #… no living adults do the two handed grip. Watch Sora and Xion’s data battle for an approximation I guess??#you. Hey you. Look in the notes rn #metazone

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embraceyourdestiny · 2 years

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I really hope the only reason Kairi has not been at the forefront of kh is because, like nomura often does with the series, he didn’t write a specific and concrete story for her so she could be used at a later point that fit her and the story more and gave him room to really work her in.

She’s the only main character in the series that we truly know basically nothing about which is bananas considering her significance to the story. She’s been a Princess of Heart since the beginning of this story and yet we hardly know what being a Princess of Heart even means? While we really don’t know much about the pasts of most of the main characters we at least know other aspects of their life and personality and abilities because of the journeys we went through with them.

Sure, we don’t know Aqua and Terra’s past and what life on the Land of Departure was like but we’re intimately familiar with their image of themselves, how they view morality and righteousness, their fears and shame and ambitions.

With Roxas, Naminé, and Xion we genuinely know every aspect of their life because we were there for it.

With Riku and Sora we’ve had deep dives (literally) into their subconscious. We’ve seen the worst sides of themselves and the best. We know their morals, their hopes, their feelings. They are easily the two main characters we know the most about.

Even Ven, though his past before and between Khux and BSS is still missing and he’s the most elusive of the main cast, we know about the things he’s chosen to hide from or forgotten against his will. We know about Vanitas and how he was abused by Xehanort (which even Terra and Aqua don’t know much about). We saw his struggle with jealousy and desire and we’ve seen the extent of his anger and his love.

But Kairi? We know a handful of things about her and most of them are just facts, not decisions she’s made or many aspects of her personality. Of Kairi we know,

•She was from Radiant Garden (KH1)

•She’s a Princess of Heart (KH1)

•Her grandma told her about the legend of Worlds and Light, which is connected to the Age of Fairytales (KH1)

•She enjoys writing letters, specifically to Sora (KH2)

•She trained with Axel under Merlin (KH3)

•She is the one who held onto Sora’s image and brought him back / kept him safe (KH1/3)

•She feels strongly about Naminé and thinks she deserves to exist (KH3)

•She was experimented on by Terranort and had her memories messed with (MoM)

And… that’s really it. Of course there are little, nuanced moments scattered throughout the series but they’re very small and rare that it really doesn’t add up to much. Melody of Memory gave us the most tease of the kind of person Kairi is beyond being kind and that’s 18~ years after she was first introduced.

What does Kairi look like at the end of her rope? How does she react under duty and responsibility? What makes her laugh, cry, sentimental? What insecurities does she have? Has she struggled with darkness? What would that look like to her? In depth, how does she feel being left behind beyond “it makes me sad?” There are so many questions to be asked of Kairi’s character and it feels too intentional for her to have “conveniently been forgotten” all this time. Out of 10 protagonists and dozens of other characters both major and minor, she’s the only one with minimal motivations and expressed emotions?

To me it feels like Nomura’s been waiting for the right place to put her and I really hope it’s true because Kairi has SO MUCH POTENTIAL. As a Princess of Heart, as a keyblade wielder, as a student, as a friend, as a person. And it feels like she’s just WAITING to be utilized. I really hope that finally that can happen for her because I know when it does it’ll be phenomenal.

#og #kingdom hearts #kh #Kairi kh

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glouris · 3 years

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What I still don’t get about young Xehanort (the time travelling one in particular) is whether all the weird stuff around him is just a bunch of plot holes or it’s all a deliberate choice.

The jackassery with his age for example? He is supposed to be Xehanort before Scala, yet that Xehanort is obviously younger than him.

Scala Xehanort is time travelling Xehanort’s age only when his training comes to an end, as we see him talk about it with Master of Masters in that one Re:Mind cutscene.

You may say that maybe YMX left for the future after leaving the Islands and finishing his training at Scala, but no.

I can’t think of any explanation apart from this being a plot hole, but it’s apparently not a plot hole since this age difference junk continues to stubbornly appear. If it was a plot hole they would have noticed it and stopped making it worse (AT LEAST I HOPE SO).

Either Xehanort did something to rewrite the past and leave the Islands sooner than he’s supposed to, or he magically looks 18 when he’s like 15, or he aged up while he was time travelling. The last option is the most reasonable one, if you ask me. If that’s the case his age was probably just reset when he returned.

His age shenanigans is not even the weirdest thing about him though.

He says this line in the Toy Box before he blasts Sora into Verum Rex (with a weird red attack he never used before that looks kinda similar to riskcharge from Rage Form for some reason)

It’s implying that this moment played out differently before and YMX is CHANGING IT. This should be impossible as you can’t change the events that already happened and everything you do just sets them in motion.

Impossible, unless it’s the second rendition of events after the jump to another worldline. Here everything may play out differently (strongly recommend to read the sleeping realm theory if you didn’t). Why is YMX aware of events being on their second run then? Is it because of his time powers? Is it because of something he’s done during the original timeline?

Anyway, here’s some examples of him knowing stuff He’s Not Supposed To.

Here’s him talking about Sora being held together by Kairi and the other princesses of heart after the fall.

Here he is telling Sora to find the hearts of the fallen guardians.

He’s essentially telling him to escape the fated fall to darkness. When all of the guardians fell, the X-Blade was forged, which means Xehanort won with no one left to stay in his way.

And yet, when Sora brought everyone back Xehanort lost. So why did YMX tell Sora to find them? Why is he happy about Sora ceasing to exist and still believes he’s won in the end if he told him to go after the hearts of the guardians which ultimately led to Xehanort’s defeat?

There’s something wrong about all of this. YMX goes out of his way to make sure Sora bodies the old man and disappears. Which takes us to the next part of this wild ride and we are going right off a cliff.

YMX was supposed to go back to his time after the events of DDD. Why is he in KH3?

The only answer I can give (besides Nomura being unable to write a straight story to save his life and forgetting that YMX said that he is going back to his time at the end of DDD, of course) is that YMX from KH3 is either a replica or not Xehanort at all. My guess, considering that this guy constantly contradicts himself in KH3, would be that it’s both and there’s two of him, like there’s probably two of Riku. In case you’re not familiar with the sleeping realm theory (go read it!!!!!), Riku from San Fansokyo may be not the same person as Riku Replica that’s on Xehanort’s side. He also has a very high chance of harbouring one of the original 13 Darknesses from Union X, the ones that Master of Masters wanted to trap. This Riku’s actions, just like some actions of YMX from the Toy Box, don’t line up with the Organization and Xehanort’s goals. Here’s a quote from the theory because I’m lazy:

“It turns out, there are multiple “Darkness”, and they often refer to themselves as a group. Conveniently as does Riku in BH6.

While we’re led to assume it’s just the Organization, this is a frustratingly perfect narrative loophole. Something to point to later going “Ha HA! The “we” he mentions is actually a different group entirely! GOTCHA!” which is pretty par for the course so far as this series is concerned. Something else that lends to this is that his goals don’t really align with the Organization. His goal here is to find a way to recreate the heart, possibly using data while focusing pretty strictly on darkness. The Organization on the other hand has plenty of hearts to go around, several options at their disposal to the point multiple characters are benched or go AWOL and they still meet their quota.

The point remains at the end, regardless of WHO it is, that the Riku in BH6 is most likely NOT the same one in the Keyblade Graveyard.

Rikunort 1 (????): Org coat, calm and smug demeanor, doesn’t get his hands dirty, calls plans into question, focused on data and uses actual Bug Blox from Re:Coded (and now frequenting KHUX), no qualms with not being “real”, has obvious ulterior motives.

Rikunort 2 (Repliku): Dark mode suit, aggressive and cocky attitude, very ready to get his hands dirty, follows orders willingly, insists he’s real til death, actually confirmed to be Repliku. Loves long walks on the beach.”

So Riku is looking for a way to recreate a heart in BH6. And what YMX does in the Toy Box? He’s looking for a way to place a heart in a vessel. Of which, by being Xehanort first and being in the Organization second, he is supposed to know plenty.

Moreover, why would he want to remember something if he knows that he will forget everything when he returns to his time? It doesn’t add up.

This phrase doesn’t sit well with me too, as like with BH6 Riku, the usage of “we” could mean not the Organization, but some different collective. And this YMX’s actions (throwing Xehanort under the bus, searching for a way to put a heart into a body) do not align with the Organization at all, but align with BH6 Riku’s goals perfectly. Which could signify that YMX from the Toy Box may be one of the Darknesses too. That could explain why he knows so much - if I’m not mistaken MOM mentioned that Darknesses might have sneaked a peek at the book of prophecies. It would also stand to reason why they want Xehanort out of the picture - he wanted to restart the world and rid it of both the false light and the darkness.

Where is YMX that’s on Xehanort’s side? He’s the one that catches up with Sora in BH6 after he recovers Lea’s heart and the one at the Keyblade Graveyard.

This all may seem like he knows a bit much too, but it’s actually different - he just makes observations and arrives at a logical conclusion as the dangers of misuse of the power of waking is a common knowledge between keyblade wielders - Mickey knows about it, Yen Sid too. Why would he scold Sora for going after his friends’ hearts if he told him to do it himself anyway?

There’s an important divide between the way YMX-Replica (lets just assume he’s a replica, I don’t have any other answer to why is he even there) and YMX-Darkness treat this matter: the replica warns Sora about the dangers, thinks that Xehanort will win anyway and is happy that Sora will cease to exist, the Darkness just tells him to do it and it even looks like he’s helping him. And it’s not returning the hearts of the guardians that makes Sora go take a vacation in Shibuya either - it’s jumping between guardians’ hearts to reach Kairi’s. And young Xehanort would know about a backup plan to make Sora run after poor Kairi’s heart in case they somehow avoid the fall. Kairi brought the armored Xehanort with her after all, which gave him a second chance to try and press the “reset the world” button. We know that the old man pLaNs FoR EveRy eVenTualitY and YMX knowing about his plans is not knowing too much. But YMX telling Sora to actually go after the hearts is very unnecessary and actively harmful to Xehanort.

A curious weirdness can also be noticed during the very first exchange with YMX at the Toy Box.

This (like everything else) may be far fetched, but why wouldn’t Sora remember him? If we don’t take this being the second run of KH3 events as a deciding factor of the time period because Sora doesn’t realise that more time has passed since, DDD happened days ago. Though, there is one thing from the dream that Sora may not remember.

This guy.

He’s the only nightmare that’s human, he has YMX’s body model that is unique to him, he uses red blades just like the ones YMX used in BBS, uses a bunch of YMX’s attacks and a couple of Ansem’s. He’s just Xehanort all around but also isn’t. What are nightmares again? One of the forms darkness takes in the sleeping worlds?

Him being “the first of the Xehanorts” would make sense too, as Xehanort is a reincarnation of the player character that was possessed by 4 different darknesses. This may just be one of them.

Moreover, this mister bears a striking resemblance to Sora’s Rage Form.

The eyes are the same and the patterns are very similar. I’m not saying that Sora is a Darkness too, of course not. What I’m saying here is that some Darkness or even multiple ones are helping Sora. Rage Form is there to save his life after all as it only appears when he’s low on HP.

I already mentioned that this weird move that YMX pulled looks very similar to riskcharge.

You can use riskcharge up to 3 times. Every time you use it a little crystal appears.

The texture of these crystals is identical to that of a heart. It’s like they are shards of hearts.

Every riskcharge changes Sora’s combo finishers. One of which is the summoning of these dark pillars - one for each charge.

Of course, let’s not forget about the stance Sora takes while in Rage Form which is similar to Vanitas, YMX and Riku’s stances.

Another similarity between these three that would further prove their status as Darknesses is that they all have Gazing Eyes in their keyblades. And what’s interesting about Riku and YMX having it is that they don’t have it in their other keyblades (I don’t count the No Name old man Xehanort has as his, it’s MOM’s keyblade). Soul Eater that later becomes Way to Dawn has it, Braveheart doesn’t; YMX’s No Name has it and Xehanort’s keyblade from Dark Road doesn’t. Vanitas is a confirmed Darkness, Riku and YMX have a potential to be Darknesses. It wouldn’t be surprising if MOM needed a way to spy on them. If he knew whose form they will take and when they will take it he could just sneak a little Gazing Eye on that person’s keyblade. It could also explain why Sora’s eyes transform in the data bossfight with YMX - that’s how MOM probably does his spying thing. It’s not like he could see anything from a keyblade that gets swung all over the place. Woudn’t it be more comfortable to see eveything through nearby person’s eyes?

So, Riku, Vanitas and YMX have similar fighting stances, Gazing Eyes in their keyblades + three shards circle Sora and he can summon three pillars of darkness while in Rage Form that looks a lot like that one Nightmare from DDD that’s probably related to YMX. Very interesting chain of coincidences.

Also, remember Vanitas saying that?

Rage Form doesn’t cast a shadow.

Lastly, there’s this interesting detail with villains’ final conversations with Sora. Almost everyone gets their sweet little character development moment. Everyone but Vanitas, Riku Replica and YMX (Xigbar/Luxu too, but at least we know what his problem is). And even if Repliku and YMX that are defeated at the Graveyard are not the Darknesses, the fact that it’s them who get this special treatment, along with Vanitas, is still kinda telling.

#kh's story is my 13th reason istg #kingdom hearts #kh #kh theory #kingdom hearts theory #young xehanort #xehanort #ymx #riku #riku replica #sora #vanitas

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the-messenger-hawk · 3 years

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Guiding Wind AU Things (Sora):

part 6 of...

A couple of changes the boy undergoes as a result of Ven & Van’s throwing the story off-kilter...

Ventus has made a point of encouraging the kids to say what they mean (had enough of the nonsense misunderstandings and lies he endured in the past), so he’s a big influence on getting Sora to open up about when he’s feeling genuinely upset. (Ven is one of the few who get this treatment though; he is the cool older brother figure after all, and Sora’s not letting go of his brave face that easy.) (also Ventus finds him early in during Hollow Bastion’s first visit after That Scene--you know the one--and makes Sora vent, and its really sad, and one or both of them are probably crying)

Naminé’s attempted memory manipulation on Sora in Castle Oblivion wrecks some absolute havoc on Ventus’ mind since their metaphysical connection was never actually severed, and Ven having a physical body even makes it worse. Since she’s not even targeting him (or aware of him for the most part), there’s no direction to it, and his memories are mash-potatoed together with the ones pulled out of Sora. So, Ventus ends up subjected to the same year-long memory-fix coma Sora had to go through (courtesy of Riku dragging him all the way for Naminé to fix after his brain goes swiss cheese.)

Sora at the beginning of KH2′s timeline is more accepting of the concept that “some darkness is ok actually” thanks to his run-ins with Vanitas. Though Vanitas is still a selfish, violent asshole a lot of the time, Sora’s cottoned on the knowledge that regardless of what he says, he isn’t “just darkness” and can be helpful sometimes too (also totally wants to befriend him and thinks he’s stubborn enough to do it). This colors his attitude towards other darkness users like the Organization as well; he’s less gung-ho about assuming they’re all evil (or at least that they could be evil for other reasons). That said, Sora being more likely to extend olive branches to the darkness also makes him a bit more vulnerable to exploitation.

Sora’s rather...advanced Heartless transformation left some lasting effects, like the metaphysical “stain” it left on his heart that only those deeply tied to darkness can sense (making Riku and his infamous dog-senses very nervous). Besides triggering Anti-form a bit more often, it gives him something of an analogous connection to certain Pureblood Heartless (especially the more developed ones). As you might expect, Sora accidentally ordering one to back off and have it actually do what he says freaks him out a bit.

Sora learns a few Key form changes early thanks to using Ven & Van as examples (though the latter’s Broken Gear is static until Vanitas gets ahold of keychain or two). Though the Kingdom Key doesn’t shift much; mainly because it doesn’t want to. Ventus grew up being taught to have a deeper connection to his Key beyond that of a weapon and being able to sense its vague Will, a sense he taught to Sora. The Kingdom Key burns with a ferocious drive for justice; Sora draws newfound confidence from it’s desire.

An approximate translation of the Kingdom Key’s Will:

Sora reuniting with Kairi (with Axel in tow like a scolded dog) at the Hollow Bastion Siege and training with her! She’s fiercely annoyed to found out from him that Riku’s gone and disappeared himself again, so the two of them make an oath to track him down and smack some sense into him. Between Kairi’s skill at managing the guys in her life and Sora’s forgiving energy, together they are the ultimate guilt-trippers redeemers.

#guiding wind au #sora kh #kingdom hearts #kh ventus #ventus #kh vanitas #riku kh #kairi kh

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teganberry · 4 years

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Atlantis AU - Character Designs

This was waaaaaay too much fun! I guess there’s something about Kingdom Hearts characters that translates really well into the aesthetic of Atlantis. Story setup and character bio’s are below the cut!

In the year 1920 world renowned archaeologist Professor A. Wise discovers a book known as The Shepherd’s Journal, which he believes may hold the location of the Lost City of Atlantis. With the help of his two best students, Professor Wise makes sort work of decoding the ancient Atlantean language, unlocking the book’s long held secrets. He presents his findings to the famous adventure Yen Sid in hopes of receiving financial backing from him for an expedition to the Lost City. While Yen Sid himself is now much too old to venture out on such an arduous journey, he enthusiastically agrees to financially support the venture. All that remained was for Professor Wise to assemble the talented crew required to see the expedition through.

Kairi: Kairi is a University student studying history and linguistics. She is one of Professor Wise’s top students and helped him in the decoding The Shepherd’s Journal. When presented with the opportunity to join him on the Atlantis expedition she excitedly agrees the moment he asks her. On the outside Kairi appears to have a very positive outlook on life and a rather happy go lucky attitude. However, this persona is a mask Kairi uses to hide a deep pain she has carried all her life. Born out of wedlock to the disgrace of both her parents, Kairi has always been seen as an outcast in her family. Her wish to be educated at a University far away was only agreed to by her wealthy family so they may finally be rid of her for good. With the exception of her friend Roxas, Kairi feels she has never been truly loved by anyone. That all begins to change, however, when upon reaching the city of Atlantis she meet’s a mysterious Atlantean man with the most charming smile she’s ever seen.

Roxas: Roxas attends the same University as Kairi, studying history and archaeology. He and Kairi met in their first history class together and became fast friends. Upon learning of Kairi’s family and troubled past Roxas promised that he could be her new family, and that they would always be friends no matter what. He was the second student who helped Professor Wise decode The Shepherd’s Journal. Unlike Kairi, however, Roxas was less eager on the idea of actually travelling to the Lost City, fearing the journey there would be fraught with danger. Kairi comforts him and tells him that so long as he won’t regret it some day, then he shouldn’t force himself to go on the journey. After thinking on her words and knowing deep down that not seeing Atlantis would haunt him for the rest of his life, Roxas agrees to join the expedition. After all, who knows what sort of other worldly treasure he may find? Or perhaps whom he may find.

Terra: A commander who served in the first World War, Terra is recruited for the expedition along with a number of other ex-soldiers for their military know how and leadership skills. While cool and stoic on the outside, on the inside Terra has become a troubled man, scared by the horrors he faced during the War. Having seen hell with his own eyes, he is now desperate to see “the other world” wherever it may be.

Xion: Adoptive sister of Axel and mechanical engineering wiz kid! Xion, along with her older brother, were both personally recommended by Yen Sid for the expedition. There’s no engine she can’t fix. Xion makes no secret of the fact that she and her brother are only in this for the money so they can keep financially supporting their family. But despite that mentality she has a kind heart, and finds herself easily making friends with Kairi and Roxas.

Axel: Like his sister, explosive expert Axel is in this for the money, plain and simple. He was also recommended by Yen Sid, and has well over a decade of experience with explosives. Axel likes to make friends with everyone, whether they like it or not. Roxas and Kairi were doomed to be his new best friends from the start.

Sora: Growing up Sora always appreciated how lucky he was. Despite having no parents and no royal title to speak of he was somehow accepted as a ward of the Atlantean Emperor. He grew up within the palace walls and became best friends with the Prince. He had to be the luckiest orphan around! Sora thought that he had everything he could ever want, that was until he came across a mysterious girl with impossibly red hair on the outskirts of the city, who claimed to have come from the world above. Sora knew from the moment he met her that he was a goner. He just hoped the Prince wouldn’t be too mad…and why are all the rumours that Sora may actually posses Royal blood after all suddenly re-emerging?

Riku: The Prince and heir to the thrown of Atlantis. Riku understands his duty well, but that doesn’t mean he always sticks to the rules. Much the the distain of his head guard, more often then not Riku can be found sneaking out of the Palace with Sora to go hunting, or explore more of their mysterious home. The boys both know that once Riku becomes Emperor their time together will no longer be free. They swear to one another that until that day comes they will spend every moment they can together. It is during one of his many expeditions with Sora that they come across the party of explorers from the world above. Riku notices that Sora seems instantly taken by the girl with strange red hair, and even he must admit that there is something about her...

Aqua: The Prince’s head guard and and attempted voice of reason, Aqua is a woman who will do anything to protect her Prince even if that means protecting him from himself. While she does her best to maintain a stern exterior appropriate for her position in society, on the inside she has an incredibly warm and loving heart. She will just as soon scold Riku, Sora and Ven for their inappropriate actions, as she will offer them heartfelt advice and comfort whenever they need it. When the Explorers first appear Aqua does not trust them. While some of the newcomers seem friendly enough, others among the group appear to have darker motivations. And then there’s the tall man in the group, with brown hair and a haunted look in his eyes. There’s something about him Aqua can’t seem to figure out, but she determined to find the answer. For the sake of the Prince’s safety of course…

Namine: There was once a time in Namine’s life when everything was normal. Her days would pass and nothing strange or out of the ordinary would happen. She could read and draw to her heart’s content. Then one day, through no fault of her own, she somehow got mixed up in one the the Prince’s crazy adventures and by the end of the madness had seemingly become friends with the Prince and his best friend, Sora. Ever since then Namine’s life has become one ridiculous adventure after another, so it wasn’t really much of a surprise when Sora came crashing through her front door one day exclaiming that strange people from the world above had somehow appeared in Atlantis. What did take her by surprise was when she finally laid eyes on the Explorers she found that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off one of them in particular. A young man with blond hair and a lyrical voice she just can’t get out of her head.

Ven: When Ven first signed up to be trained as a Royal Guard he had expected a tough training process that would teach him to be both strong and disciplined. What he had not expected was for the Prince and Sora to take such a strong liking to him that they would insist he join them on their expeditions at every opportunity. Caught between his duty of obeying the Prince’s request but also to follow Aqua’s commands, Ven often finds himself receiving an earful from the head guard. But once the lectures are done Aqua always admits that, while Ven shouldn’t leave his post, at least the Prince had taken some form of protection with him. When the Explorers arrive Ven is initially excited, but like Aqua he quickly becomes suspicious. There’s just something in particular about the Explorer with messy jet black black hair that sends an involuntary shiver down Ven’s spine.

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