Ren's Canons [Merida, Kuja, Jim]

[Ren]

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Ren | Myde

[Ren]

Name
Princess Merida of Clan DunBroch


Age
Sixteen.


Gender
Female.


Species
Human.


Position
Chaotic Good. She does what she feels is right, but in her own way and on her own terms.


Themes
Touch the Sky - Julie Fowlis
Into the Open Air - Julie Fowlis
Learn Me Right - Birdy and Mumford & Sons
Fate and Destiny
Noble Maiden Fair (A Mhaighdean Bhan Uasal)





Powers/Abilities/Techniques/Skills
Archery – Merida’s prowess with the bow is a marvel. In the movie, she’s shown to be riding her horse at a pretty fast speed and hitting targets she’d previously set up in the trees with arrows – and never missing a bulls-eye. Due to the fact that her father has been training her rigorously with the bow from a very young age – she received her first bow on her sixth birthday – and her own love and adoration of the weapon, her skill is incredibly proficient for her age. When she’s had to defend herself, this was her primary mode of defense. She rarely misses the target. However, archery is perhaps not the best way to deal with hordes of Heartless and Nobodies, especially when you only have a limited supply of arrows. Her arrows certainly didn’t help her fight off the demon bear Mor’du, who shrugged off the blows as if they were tiny scratches.

Swordplay – Along with archery, Merida’s father Fergus taught her other methods of fighting, believing in the idea that she should learn to defend herself. Specifically, he taught her how to use a two-handed longsword. Now, this is not Merida’s preferred method of fighting – she’s lithe and agile, and has certain strength, but not enough vitality to keep at the swordplay for long – but she’s not too shabby when she needs to be. Her father was tough on her when it came to keeping herself safe, so she’s all right with the longsword and can give her father a run for his money once in a while.

Knowledge of the Outdoors – Merida despises the confines of the castle, and ever since she can remember she’s been venturing into the woods if she ever had a free moment. The woods and outdoors are dangerous in the untamed wilderness of Scotland, however, so to counter this, her father made his lessons for her include knowledge of said wilderness. She is shown to have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of wild plants – advising her own mother against poisonous berries – as well as the ability to catch fish bare-handed from the river. It can be assumed, then, she has enough knowledge to survive on her own in the outdoors, as she can also use her bow to hunt and obtain food. Perhaps not for weeks at a time, but she can survive on her own for a while.

Physical Prowess – Merida is speedy and light on her feet, while maybe not an entirely unpredictable fighter. She is strong – having climbed the treacherous Crown’s Tooth whilst wearing a dress, no less – but not overly so (most of her talents lie with her bow). She has a high endurance factor when conserving her strength – for instance, wandering the woods at a slower pace, shooting only when she needs to and being cautious – but can be overpowered easily by larger and stronger enemies, especially at a close range. It is best for her to remain at the back of any fighting party, firing arrows conservatively from a safe distance and rarely missing. Despite all her training with her father, she lacks a number of combat skills, as she doesn’t come across a lot of fights in the woods, and she’s no good at holding back large, powerful opponents like Mor’du the demon bear or great numbers, like hordes of Heartless. Combat isn’t really her style, anyways – she doesn’t mind sparring with her father or the guards once in a while, but her skills are geared more towards exploring and surviving, or running away if she can’t win.

She has no magical abilities.


Weapon/Items
Bow – Merida’s bow is her most prized possession. She wears it slung over her back, with the string of the bow on the front of her body. It is a wooden recurve bow, and often Merida will carve symbols into it as a sign of its individuality. It is slightly burnt from the time her mother threw it into the fireplace, but it was saved in time and still it good condition.

Arrows – In a quiver slung around a belt on her waist is a stock of fifteen wooden arrows with slim steel bodkin heads. These arrows are no good for penetrating through plate armor, but – with the right amount of force – sink in easily through wood, fur, and flesh.

Hunting/Survival Knife – Not supposed to be used for combat, Merida only uses this when carving, hunting (gutting and skinning primarily), or in a dire circumstance of close-range combat with no time to fire an arrow. Slung about her belt, the hilt is a smooth, grip-friendly wood and the blade is slim steel. Where Merida’s from, this blade had to be custom-made, commissioned by her father to ensure his daughter’s safety in the woods, as knives were mostly used in the kitchen and swords on the field.

Traveling Cloak – A hooded cloak made of slightly thick black cloth, Merida wears this when she’s out adventuring. She puts the hood up if there’s a chance her wild red hair could get her in trouble – whether it means she’ll be spotted, or it will get snagged in something – or to protect her from rain and snow.

Despite her ability with it, a longsword was not on Merida’s person when her world died, so she does not have access to it.





Picture
Merida


Appearance
Merida is a young girl of sixteen. She stands at a fairly average height for a teenager from a place reminiscent of medieval Scotland at 5’, with another inch of height gained because of her unruly locks. She weighs 115 lbs, though a lot of that is muscle and sinew. She has a fairly flat chest that probably won’t grow in much more, and healthily curved waist and hips. Her skin is a creamy white, with a rosy complexion and easily-red cheeks, as well as a smattering of light freckles here and there because of the sun.

The first thing you will ever notice about Merida is her hair. Reaching nearly to her waist, it is a blazing shade of red and a wild mop of tangled curls. (Fun fact: according to the animators, if her hair was ever straightened, it would be four feet long and reach the middle of her calf.) Each curl seems like its own individual personality, making for one unruly mess. She adores it, though, and with good reason – her hair is a lot like her character.

Her eyes are a pale blue, and her hands are calloused. She wears dresses often, simply because that was the variety of women’s clothes. She prefers dresses she can move in, however; her favorite dress is a dark, velvety blue-green with white ruffles on the elbow and shoulder, and a comfortable skirt. It’s loose and easy to move around in, and her primary outfit when adventuring.

However, her mother likes to put her in tight corsets and stick her hair where it can’t be seen during special occasions. This Merida loathes – there’s no point to an outfit if you can’t breathe and move in it, so why even wear it at all?

Sometimes she’ll get some dirt on her person, but that’s not too much of a big deal to her. She likes a healthy amount of dirt.


Personality
Merida has always, always been a wild child. Freedom is the most important thing to her; it is her oxygen, and the way in which she lives her life. She makes decisions based on how it will affect her, leading to some selfish behavior. She can be quite proud and is unwilling to admit mistakes until the last moment.

Her temper can get out of control sometimes, especially with her mother. Due to her love of freedom, she believes she should have the freedom to express herself – emotions and all. She does not think before she acts, but is led to act by her emotions and desires. She is a little more cautious in the woods, but that is because nothing in the woods is controlling her, so she can slow down instead of being so fiery.

However, she does love her mother dearly, and has intense love and admiration for her father. She’s also fond of her little brothers (the wee brats). She fights with her mother a lot, however, because of their opposing viewpoints, and neither is willing to give in to the other.

Merida knows her physical strengths and when she needs to back off and run. But she never backs down from a verbal fight, fighting to make her mother listen instead of slowing down and listening to her as well. And that is something the two of them have in common.

However, in the absence of her home world, her primary motive is to figure out what’s going on and see if she can get home. She is afraid of what happened to her family, and if she’ll ever see them again… and if not, what will she do? She doesn’t want to ask herself that; she prefers to act, and then ask questions later.

Her interests primarily include exploring, adventuring, archery, eating, and being by herself. Her horse – Angus – is very important to her, and probably her best friend (as antisocial as she can be). She’s a bit unwary around people she doesn’t know, and doesn’t have much in the way of social skills – though her sense of dry humor and sarcasm can be quite charismatic sometimes. She’s not very good at public speaking or motivating other people; they just seem to foreign to her, like they’re nothing like her. She knows how to motivate herself, and that’s about it.

She dislikes anything to do with sitting still and being patient. She wants to be out there, doing things, and despite her worry for her family, she’ll probably come to enjoy the exploration of the new place she’s in. She never had the diplomatic ability of her mother, to quiet and calm a crowd with her very presence – Merida’s much better at riling people up. She doesn’t care very much for restricting rules (though she understands things like no stealing, no murder, and things that are very clearly morally wrong). She’s very individual, and sometimes she thinks other people could never understand her because of how different she is (which is sort of an egotistical thought).

She’s not really a leader, but she’s not a follower, either. She does her own thing, and is unwilling to seek help – though she knows she’ll probably need it (if people can understand her thick accent).





Original World
Scottish Highlands
Current World
Radiant Garden


Movie/Video Game(s)
Disney-Pixar’s Brave (2012)


History
(just so I have my chronology right: BBS took place 10 years before the first KH, KHII took place a year after the first, and this site takes place ‘a year since the supposed defeat of Organization XIII’ so a year after KHII.)

Merida was born sixteen years ago in the magical realm of the Scottish Highlands. She was born to royalty, her father being King Fergus of Clan DunBroch, and her mother his wife, Queen Elinor. As such, she is the Princess. Not too long ago, the four great Clans – DunBroch, Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall – had come out of a warring state to forge an unsteady treaty against foreign invaders. The treaty was made a few generations prior to Merida, making the kingdom that followed – a kingdom united under Clan DunBroch – a young and unstable one.

Nonetheless, it was a time of peace while Merida was growing up. On her sixth birthday, her family was out traveling, as they are prone to do from time to time. For this birthday, her father Fergus gave her her first bow, along with the implied promise of training. It was on this very day that Merida encountered her first mysterious Will-o’-the-Wisp. Her father didn’t believe in the magical “nonsense” that Merida felt pervaded the entire land, but her mother entertained her fantasy by telling her that the Wisps could lead one to her fate.

Nearly immediately after, the demon bear – Mor’du – attacked the family. Elinor rode off with young Merida in tow, and Fergus fought the bear valiantly, and lost his leg in the process (a tale which would be often repeated; indeed, Fergus gained the title “The Bear King” from the fight). Mor’du lived, however, and stalked the Highlands – though no one had seen him since.

It was around this time that Elinor began teaching her daughter in the ways of a proper princess. Lessons on reading, writing, stitching, public-speaking, music, cooking, diplomacy, history, and other such “refined” things followed. In her younger years, Merida was inquisitive about those things at first – but as she grew older, she felt trapped by the traditions and the teachings. She didn’t want to have perfect posture and good grammar; she didn’t care about when her ancestors fought in some battle or when an ancient legend had a moral message not-so-subtly hidden within. She lived for the rigorous training with her father, and for the days when she did not have to be a princess, and could ride instead through the wilderness with her trusty horse, Angus.

When she was younger, she was assisted by guards at all times in the forest. Then, the older she grew, the less she needed the company, until two years ago when her father decided she could take care of herself. She was proficient with the bow and knowledgeable about survival; let her be free, he thought, away from the confines she doesn’t care for.

When Merida was eight, her mother gave birth to three red-haired triplets: Harris, Hubert, and Hamish. As they grew up it became apparent that they were three mischievous little devils, and Merida would alternate between encouraging their rascally behavior and becoming irritated when they wouldn’t let up. However, the four of them had a pretty good sibling relationship, and she grew to love the little tricksters.

Years passed, and Merida matured into a young maiden of sixteen. She came home one day to find her mother’s newest plan for the princess, and it was one that horrified the wild teen to no extent: the three other Clans of the land were offering up their firstborn sons to the DunBrochs – specifically, to Merida.

Elinor wanted Merida to get married.

To Merida, that was the end of the world. She just was not cut out for the diplomatic life her mother lived, and didn’t want to be forced into something she wasn’t ready for, especially when her freedom was at stake.

When the Lords and their sons came, and contested for her hand, Merida was trying to think of every way out of the situation. She ended up finding the tiniest of loopholes and acting on it – even if it didn’t exist. She strolled right out onto the archery field, announcing herself as the firstborn of the DunBroch royal family, and said she’d be shooting for her own hand. This only succeeded in getting her – and her family – in the kind of trouble Elinor had striven to avoid: the Lords were close to the brink of war. In a fit of rage, Elinor tossed Merida’s bow into the fire, after Merida had slashed an embroidery of the family – specifically right between the two of them. They each had closed their ears and minds off to one another, refusing to listen.

And after the bow was in the fire, Merida ran away. (Thankfully Elinor realized how important the bow was to Merida, and pulled it out before it sustained any severe lasting damage.)

She and her horse reached this circle of standing stones where, spooked, the horse threw her off in his haste to stop. Merida – in a royal mess by this point – caught sight of a Wisp. Cautiously, she followed them, until she came to a little cottage in the middle of the woods. It appeared to belong to an eccentric wood-carver with an obsession with bears, until she revealed herself – inadvertently – to be a witch. In her haste to stop the wedding, Merida bought out the entire shop along with one spell using a royal pendant from around her neck in a trade. After an awkwardly-worded wish of “I want to change my mother, because if she’s changed, my fate will change,” and a bubbling potion, Merida had a little cake in hand the witch had given her that the latter had promised would make her mother change.

When Merida arrived back at the castle – late at night – Elinor found her, worried out of her mind. When Elinor made it clear that she still intended for Merida to be married, Merida offered up the cake as a “peace offering.” Elinor took a bit and immediately began to experience a sort of strange sickness. Instead of worrying about her mother’s state, Merida took it as the moment to keep asking if the marriage was still on. She escorted her mother to the latter’s bed chamber via the main hall, where the various Lords – having grown more and more irritated with Fergus’s antics to keep them distracted – converged upon Elinor, where Elinor revealed she did not feel well and would converse with them in a while.

However, once in the safety of Elinor’s room, she went through an incredible change and became a bear. Merida panicked, until it was clear that Elinor’s consciousness was still intact. They attempted to sneak out of the castle with the help of Harris, Hubert, and Hamish… though their help came with a price. Merida told them to eat anything they wanted in the kitchen, but she had forgotten one little thing: she had left the magical cake in there.

Merida and Elinor attempted to find the witch’s cottage, but when they got there, it was dark and unoccupied, except for the soul cauldron – so it seemed. Upon a closer look, there seemed to be little, shadow-like creatures hiding within, twitching about like insects. Merida – who had recovered her bow – quickly realized they were not friendly, and took them out swiftly. The creatures disappeared, but her arrows, thankfully, did not.

Within the cauldron, the witch had left a message for Merida. The first part was that the spell upon Elinor would be permanent by the second sunrise. The second offered a bit of hope: in order to break the spell, they had to decode a riddle. “Fate be changed, look inside. Mend the bond torn by pride.”

The next morning, Elinor attempted to get them food, but ended up only finding poisonous berries and infected water. Merida showed Elinor how to catch fish as a bear, and the morning was fun for a while – until Elinor began showing more truly-bear-like tendencies. There was, in fact, a moment where her consciousness was completely gone – but she snapped out of it before she hurt Merida.

The pair of them came across Wisps, which led them to these creepy old ruins, infested with the weird shadow-creatures. They’d been encountering more and more of those in the forest, but especially in dark places. Upon further exploration, Merida realized a legend her mother had told her was true: Four brothers turned to war when the eldest was overcome by his lust for power. Then Merida realized the eldest had gone to the witch, seeking the strength of ten men… and she turned him into Mor’du, the demon bear.

At this revelation, Mor’du himself turned up, and Merida and Elinor barely escape. Merida theorizes that in order to stop Elinor from becoming a real bear, they would literally need to “mend the bond:” the tapestry that she had sliced in a moment of anger. They sneak back into the castle – encountering more shadow creatures – to do just that.

However, when Merida entered the great hall, it appeared the four Clans are right on the brink of war. She attempted to talk them out of it, but at first, her lack of skills for public speaking come through and she just seemed to make things worse. Finally – with some help from her mother, standing in the back, attempting to remain unnoticed whilst signing with her paws – Merida calmed them down and, to her intense pleasure, Elinor told her to tell the lords that their sons and daughters should be able to marry for love. The Lords appeared to argue, until their sons agreed, that they should choose who they marry.

It seemed everything will be all right. Merida and Elinor successfully sneak into Merida’s room to mend the tapestry. However, Elinor lost her consciousness again for a little while, becoming a bear inside. Fergus came across Elinor’s room and finds it in a completely trashed and broken state, and assumed she was dead. He charged into Merida’s room, saw what he thought was the bear that killed Elinor, and chased it off with the intent to kill it. He locked Merida in her room after it seemed like she will hinder his progress.

Desperate, Merida managed to alert her three younger brothers – who have become bear cubs, because of them eating the cake. They managed to get the key to her room and help her out. She took the half-sewn tapestry with her, as well as the three boys, and she mounted Angus and rode off after her father and the Lords.

They reached the standing stones, and it appeared Fergus was going to kill Elinor – who had been back to her senses for a while. Merida got in the way, and he wasn’t sure what to think… until the absolute worst happened.

Mor’du appeared, along with hordes of the black shadows.

A fight ensued, while most of the Clans were held back by the shadows. Fergus was knocked aside by a single pawswipe from Mor’du. The demon bear turned on Merida (perhaps sensing prey that was like him, someone that over-valued their own individuality and sought to change their fate). Elinor managednto break from her bonds and began to fight Mor’du.

However, the earth started shaking and crumbling and, to Merida’s horror, completely breaking up. Thousands upon thousands of shadows spilled out of the cracks, and Merida never saw the end of the fight between Mor’du and Elinor. All she knew was that the ground split underneath her, and she tumbled into it.

And then she woke up in a place completely unfamiliar and strange, not knowing how much time had passed… only knowing that she had to get back to her mother somehow. Perhaps the world ending meant that the curse wouldn’t come to pass, and her mother was still stuck as a bear somewhere, waiting for her. She refused to believe that the worst had happened: that Elinor was a bear forever… or worse.


Role Playing Sample

[atrb=width, 450,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,false][atrb=background,http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa302/yukineko109/Merida_bg-1.jpg] “Oh, Mum!” “Merida, Ah’ll not have ye complainin’ like that every other moment,”

[/b] Elinor said with a mask of patience. “Now, your recitations.”

As Merida opened her mouth, the door to her room suddenly swung open. She caught sight of her father, and her heart jumped when she saw the fear in his eyes, and opened her mouth to ask him a question. But Elinor beat her to the punch, rising gracefully, yet her demeanor was anxious.

“Fergus? What is it?”

“Ah dinnae, boot they… th’ creatures look as wee demons…!”

“Creatures?” Merida cried out, rising. “Da, what – ”

“Merida, hush. Ye stay poot. Fergus an’ Ah will sort this oot.” Elinor silenced Merida’s rebuttals with a stony glance, and then she was gone, the door shut behind her, following Fergus to sort out whatever these ‘creatures’ were…

Merida fell into a moody silence, her arms crossed. It wasn’t fair, her mother [/i]never told her what was going on. She was forced to stay in her room, not ask questions, do as she was told… When would her mother finally let her know the secrets of the kingdom?

Also, the talk of dark creatures was making her a little nervous. Perhaps they were magical and friendly, like the Wisps… or perhaps not. Fergus certainly seemed much more worried than if a mere country of men were invading. Mystical things he knew nothing about? He was unprepared for a fight of that sort.

But, this did mean that there were no more lessons for the day.

She allowed herself a slight smile.

“Ahhh… my head…”

The world was blurry and unfocused, and Merida’s brain struggled the grasp the events that had just happened. She was sure she had been dreaming just a moment ago, reliving a moment in her past… but how had she begun dreaming? When had she fallen asleep? She recalled a sense of intense danger, and fear curdled deep in her stomach… and then she remembered: Mor’du.

She stumbled to her feet, her eyes still refusing to focus. The world spun in front of her, and she doubled over for a moment, overwhelmed. “Aiya…” she wheezed, attempting to breathe slowly. “Ah feel laeke Ah took a sour beatin’ or some such thing…”

As her eyes slowly focused, she became aware of the fact that Mor’du was not actually around – and nor were the Clans, her father, or her mother. In fact, she didn’t know where she was… everything was strange and unfamiliar and was that a bird walking on two legs look at the SIZE of that thing.

Her eyes went wide as the marvels around her slowly took shape, and she winced, holding her head.

“Mayhap Ah’m seein’ things… Those bloomin’ Wisps up tae a trick.”

But for some reason, she felt like it was all very real.
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[Ren]

Name
Kuja.


Nickname
“Mysterious Man.” Angel of Death, if applicable. Lord King in Treno.


Age
Kuja was created 26 years ago, so it is fairly safe to say that he is 26 years of age. However, he was created, physically, as is – with the body of an early- to mid-twenty-year-old. His body will not physically age, even if he does.


Gender
Male.


Species
Genome.


Position
It is difficult to say. It is certain that part of his alignment is Chaotic; however, whether Evil or Neutral is up for debate. True, he was the epitome of Chaotic Evil during his reign of terror over Gaia – but, he also had changed, and saved his hated enemies because maybe he didn’t hate them so much after all. But now, with darkness blooming in his heart, will his route take a more Evil turn yet again? For now, it is safest to say that he is Chaotic Neutral.


Themes
Kuja's Theme
Immoral Melody ~ Kuja's Theme #2
Footsteps of Desire ~ Kuja's Theme #3
Kuja's Theme (Millennium Version) ~ Desert Palace Theme
The Fall of Trance Kuja
Dark Messenger ~ Battle Theme
Kuja 5





Powers/Abilities/Techniques/Skills

Magic
**When navigating this section of his profile, there are a few things to keep in mind. The first is that a “turn” references a round of posting, with the first turn being when Kuja casts the spell. A turn comes to an end when it is Kuja’s next turn. (Ex: Turn 1 is Kuja, Person A, Person B, Person C. Turn 2 is Kuja, Person B, Person A. Turn 3 is Kuja, Person C. The length of an actual turn is quite flexible; it only ends when it is Kuja’s turn yet again.)

The second thing to keep in mind is this profile’s definition of “post.” A post can be made by anyone. So, if a spell of Kuja’s takes 3 posts to cast, he begins casting on his turn. The next post counts as his first casting post, and the next counts as his second casting post. On the third post after he begins the spell, then, is the one he could potentially cast the spell in. However – what with posting orders and whatnot – those 3 posts are only the bare minimum. So if another person posts before Kuja posts saying that his spell has finished, he is still in the casting stage. But it can be finished casting any time after those 3 posts. If he ends up having to post before those 3 posts are done, he simply spends one post saying that he is still charging that spell. If he casts another spell during that time, then the spell he was previously charging loses all of its charge and he must power it up again if he wishes to use it.

On that note, Kuja can only cast one spell per post. So, if he wants to cast Glide, that is the only spell he may use in that post. (However, Glide is a little different, in that he doesn’t have to keep casting it; he just has to use 1 MP per turn in order to keep himself in the air.) If he is charging a spell, he may not cast any other spell during that charge period, or else he forfeits the powered-up spell and must repower it in order to use it again. Why is this? Well, first of all, it takes concentration to charge spells, and second off, spell-casting isn’t some willy-nilly art. It’s dangerous, as you are about to discover.

Kuja starts off with exactly 100 MP. (This number may be slowly increased if he “levels up” as time passes.) Outside of battle, if his MP is not at his max, he regains MP at the rate of 1 MP per post. During battle he gains no MP, unless he is in his cooldown phase (in which he gains 3 MP per post; the specific effects of the cooldowns are mentioned later). In threads of completely new days he starts off with all his MP.

((Now I know that an MP counter is not a particularly “realistic” way to explain his skills. But I thought it was sufficient, with clear drawbacks and limitations – namely, MP loss. Think of MP as sort of his… energy. No matter the situation, if it isn’t all the way full, he’s not at his full energy. In this sense, MP sort of takes the role as vitality. Health, then, would be his physical condition, like cuts, bruises, and other hindering effects – and both health and MP are taken into account if he is to win a battle, or faint, or etc.))**

Kuja is an extremely gifted mage, possessing strong and powerful magic unique to him. As a trade-off, however, he has absolutely nothing in the way of physical prowess, and can’t wield any weapons.

Glide – using 1 MP per turn of upkeep, Kuja can almost effortlessly float himself above the ground, traveling through the air rather than allowing his dainty feet to touch the ground. This is his preferred mode to be in during battle, avoiding Earth damage and dodging physical attacks.

Thunder – low-level Lightning spell, used for damage. Short range in that it crashes down one lightning bolt per opponent, and is almost useless against more than one foe. Costs 6 MP. Instant, due to its ease in casting and low-level power.

Thundara – medium-level Lightning spell, used for damage. Wider range, considering that it is a spray of lightning down on one or multiple opponents; it is much more effective on groups than the previous spell, and on one person, it’s positively frying. Costs 12 MP. Charges for two posts. It takes a bit more time to cast, considering it’s a little more powerful than Thunder.

Thundaga – powerful Lightning spell, used for damage. Long range, and targets the field instead of single individuals; lightning rains down from the heavens, possibly causing property damage. Costs 24 MP. Charges for four posts – due to its high power, it takes longer to cast than the lower Lightning spells. However, it is not nearly as powerful as harsher attacks, like Holy and Flare Star… though don’t be counting it out by any means.

Ice and Fire Elemental Spells – not unlocked.

*Cure – Low-level healing spell. Costs 5 MP. Instant, due to its ease in casting, and it only heals small cuts and bruises on the receivers of the spell. It is hardly useful as a ranged spell.

*Cura – Medium-level healing spell. Costs 10 MP. Two post charge, due to its higher power level than Cure. On multiple people, will heal deeper cuts and bruises, but on one person, it will put them back on their feet.

*Curaga – Powerful healing spell. Costs 20 MP. Four post charge, due to it being the highest level Cure spell Kuja has available. When ranged, it heals a few major injuries – but on one person has the capability to heal deep gashes and even broken bones (so long as they’re previously set, or else the bone will heal in an awkward place).

*Reflect – Reflects magic attacks back upon the caster. Costs 6 MP. Only used on one person per cast, as it is not a ranged spell. Instant, due to its ease in casting. The spell itself lasts for 3 of the receiver’s turns.

*Holy – an extremely powerful Light-elemental spell. Costs 36 MP. Six post charge, due to its high power. This spell, despite its power, cannot kill anyone. White light fills up a smaller targeted area until it explodes in a burst of White Magic. Very powerful against Heartless, but typically weak against people of the Good alignment. (Holy in action)

Flare Star – Kuja’s most powerful attack outside of his Trance abilities. Non-elemental, it ignores Reflect and is not able to be blocked. Costs 50 MP. Wide-range. Ten post charge, due to its extremely high destructive power. Typically this spell does not do enough damage to kill someone – but it can surely bring one to their knees. Beads of light surround the targeted area – about Holy’s range – until they home in on the life forms in that area. When the light gathers together, it explodes in a smaller explosion reminiscent of Flare. (Flare Star in action)

Trance
Using his newly-acquired powers of darkness, Kuja can access Trance once per thread, if even. Trance is only brought on under extremely stressful and emotional circumstances – especially if those emotions are negative. Trance can last anywhere between 4 turns to 8 turns, depending on the cause of his transformation. However, the longer Kuja stays in it, the longer his cooldown will last (as a dangerous Trance is a lot to recover from). A Trance of 4 turns has 1 of Kuja’s turns as a cooldown; 5 turns, 2 turns as a cooldown; 6 turns, 3 turns as cooldown; 7 turns, 4 turns as cooldown; and 8 turns, 5 turns as cooldown. The more Kuja uses Trance, the higher risk he also has of his heart being swallowed by the darkness… so he must use this ability carefully, conservatively… and perhaps it would be better if he never used it at all. You see, Kuja’s Trance comes to him unnaturally, as he was never supposed to have one. Before, he just used the corrupted soul of the dead Queen Brahne, but after his defeat, he let the soul go. Now, he uses the powers of darkness to inadvertently power is Trance (as Trance typically comes on with blind emotion).

In Trance, his MP and health momentarily restore to full. The following abilities become instant casts: Glide, Thunder, Thundara, and Thundaga. Flare Star only takes 5 posts to cast. All MP costs are halved, and Glide takes absolutely no MP at all, as it is an innate ability of his Trance. Along with that power boost, Kuja briefly gains two new abilities that are otherwise inaccessible.

Dark Flare – the upgrade from Flare Star. A spell intending death and destruction, its range is huge and its effects are disastrous. Non-elemental, it ignores Reflect and is not able to be blocked. It costs 60 MP to cast and has a post charge of six, due to Kuja’s insane power boost. Be careful around this one; it’d probably be better to run, or else risk getting knocked out. Its range is a lot bigger than Flare Star; it begins much the same, but the resounding explosion takes up much more space. It also takes the form of darkness exploding – since this is a reborn spell of Kuja’s old Flare attack, reborn into darkness. This spell typically takes a huge chunk off his own health if he casts it.

Dark Ultima – the most powerful attack in Kuja’s arsenal, deadly to all foes – and himself. It proves that this kind of power can only lead to one’s own destruction. Originally, he had a spell named Ultima that he could access only in Trance that would bring any party to its knees (and indeed destroyed the entire world of Terra). However, after become comatose for a year, regular Ultima was locked and he could not access it, even as he slowly gained the rest of his abilities, because he had lost his Trance. When the Heartless invaded his home, his emotions became so great and negative that the darkness from the incoming Heartless powered his Trance – and gave him a new form of Ultima, Dark Ultima. This spell takes all of his MP to cast, no matter what his MP is at. It has a post charge of seven, and then it releases holy hell on basically the entire surrounding area, leveling buildings and possibly brutally damaging civilians. No matter what turn he’s on, Kuja immediately comes out of Trance after casting this spell. All of his MP is spent by this point, and his health is pretty much completely gone. There is no cooldown after a spell of that magnitude, especially with the darkness – he simply faints, the spell having eaten away at his mortality a bit more. He would need medical attention ASAP – perhaps an entire other thread of bed rest to regain his strength. The more he casts it, the more likely it is for him to not come out of it alive. Dark Ultima takes the form of dark purple energy that he shoots from his palms that nearly destroys everything it touches. (Ultima in action)

If Kuja comes out of Trance without inciting the power of Dark Ultima, he still loses all his MP – the price of his briefly terrifying power. He comes out a lot weaker than he was going into Trance, and no amount of cooldown will put him back in top condition for the rest of the battle – if there is still a battle by this point. If Kuja was in Trance for an entire 8 turns, then it is very likely that he could be out cold for one or more of his cooldown turns. The purpose of the cooldown, anyhow, is to gain back his MP (so he cannot use any magic at all during the cooldown phase); if he lets his body rest for the amount of time mentioned earlier, his MP will come back at 3 MP per post, and at the end of his cooldown he should have enough to cast a Cure spell – perhaps the lowest-level one – to give him enough strength to flee… if he even has the chance by that point. (But once the cooldown stage ends, his MP stops regenerating, even if he runs out again.)

*A NOTE: Cure, Cura, Curaga, Reflect, and Holy CANNOT be cast in Trance. They are spells of White Magic, and his power during this unnatural Trance is drawn from the darkness. He is also not invincible in Trance; indeed, while he may be at his strongest point in Trance, he is also at his most vulnerable, as he does not possess healing powers to counter any damage he may receive. He is extremely weak to Holy at this point. Also, the more often he uses Trance, the higher risk he has of losing his White Magic spells for good, due to Trance’s darkness. After using Trance once, Holy will no longer be available to him. Two times, Reflect is gone. Three times, Curaga; four times, Cura; and finally, after his fifth Trance, his last healing spell will be gone, leaving him with just an arsenal of destruction. If he uses Trance any time after that, he will become completely corrupted by the powers of darkness – either losing his heart, or his life.

Other Abilities
Kuja’s other abilities center more on his personality. He can be quite the charming smooth-talker, which he uses to further his position in society – or whatever his goals may be at the time. He is definitely not lacking in intelligence (though he tends to prattle on and on about himself), and is quite well-read in literature and educated in the fine arts, which he appreciates. His acting is quite astounding, and is good at manipulating “pawns” to do his bidding.

He possess very little physical prowess, finding physical fighting vulgar and beneath him (and unwilling to admit that he has no talent for it whatsoever). In fact, he is quite weak and fragile in this sense – especially since his life span isn’t nearly as long as most humans. It is implied that he is already close to the end of his mortality.


Weapon/Items
Kuja carries no weapons, nor does he have any items on him at the time. (This could change, of course, as he progresses through RPs and picks up Ethers and whatnot – but as of right now he is empty-handed.)





Picture
Headshot
Full Body
Trance
Alternate Outfit


Appearance
Kuja is – physically speaking – extremely effeminate. He has smooth, creamy white skin, and his complexion is naturally clean and pretty. He is a little shorter than average height for a man of his stature – 5’7” – but the conspicuous feather in his hair gives him a few more inches, as well as the heeled boots he wears. He is also very light, due to his slenderness, only weighing between 135 and 140 pounds.

He is very aesthetically pleasing to the eye, with a beautiful, slightly curvy body that marks his decided androgyny. His long, flowing locks are not the usual color for a Genome (dirty blond); instead, his silky hair has a silvery-white sheen, not unlike the feathers he so loves. His eyes are a cold violet blue – almost like lavender ice. He has a thin, lovely face, with thin lips that will sometimes be curled into a mocking smirk. (He also sometimes applies light purple lipstick and a hint of mascara to darken his nearly invisible eyelashes. Metrosexual? I think yes.) He’s not afraid of showing off his body – so while his garments are always regal in nature, they are often very, shall we say, revealing. Due to his Genome heritage, however, he also possesses a monkey tail – but while in his normal form, he hides it, due to his shame at his birth.

However, due to his degrading health, Kuja’s pretty pallor has begun to look slightly unhealthy. There is a certain deep sadness to his eyes that was certainly never there before – as well as dark bags underneath them that show of troubled times. His hair’s started to wilt slightly, and to his horror he’s discovered the occasional strand falling out.

When in Trance, Kuja loses some of his clothes – but fur the color of blood grows on his legs, his feet, his chest, his shoulders, and his arms. His sleeves become ripped and ragged. His hair turns the color of his fur, as do his eyes. His monkey tail is visible for the only time. However – due to his new, unnatural Trance – Kuja also supports an aura of darkness that seems to radiate from his very limbs, turning his body darker.


Personality
The things that drive Kuja the most are his feelings (though he would not care to admit it). Despite considering himself to be a very logical human being, he puts a little too much stock into his intelligence – though he is an extremely smart man – and he does not place much emphasis on his own feelings. That is because when he was created he was told that he had no feelings; thus, when he developed them, he was sadly out of touch.

His feelings are, in turn, driven by his most basic fear: that he has no personal significance.

When Kuja was created, it was intended that he would be a soulless, heartless doll, and bring nothing but destruction. But Kuja refuted those beliefs and was immediately struck for a desire to be different than the rest of them; he wanted to be somebody that mattered… and it didn’t matter to him how he achieved that. If that meant he had to rule both Terra and Gaia for him to not be a pawn, so be it.

What one must understand is that Kuja is an individualist, first and foremost. All his desires come from him wanting to be unlike the crowd. His narcissism stems from placing himself, pretentiously, above everybody else – especially above the worthless pawns, like the Genomes or the Black Mages. People like monarchs both interested and repulsed them; how dare they think that they had some divine right to rule when people like him had to claw their way to the top.

Kuja is a man of many faces as well. He is an excellent liar and actor, and is a top-notch manipulator. He prefers to work behind the scenes rather than take center stage, as it were; he knows when it is time for him to take the lead, and possesses high quantities of patience to that effect.

He is well-read, aristocratic, and refined; he enjoys a life of luxury, is almost always incredibly polite (even if it can be rather mocking at times), and has a love of theatre and the fine arts. Often his references to people and events are rather elegant and dramatic; he called Queen Brahne the “elephant-lady” and Princess Garnet a “canary.” He can be caught in monologues about himself, however. Kuja – despite his intense narcissism – is actually hiding a deep-seated insecurity about himself and life in general. Terrified of dying, he once strove to escape death at all costs – and when it seemed he couldn’t do that, his individuality got to his head and he claimed that if he could not live, then no one could. He has this intense envy of everyone (as he sees so many awful things about himself and traits he desires he sees in others), as well as a feeling of shame and guilt that he typically pushes out of the way when committing more sadistic acts. He doesn't mind hurting others so long as he isn't close to them - but if he does, he feels a bit more conflicted - more than he used to.

Recently, solitary, individualistic, jealous Kuja has forged attachments to people that can only be labeled as friendships. His time in the Black Mage Village allowed him to grow very fond of his little “sister,” Mikoto, as well as Vivi before he stopped and then disappeared. He also has a grudging respect for Zidane, since the boy came to save his older “brother’s” life – and Zidane also taught him what it is to truly live, instead of live in fear.

But the darkness is back in his heart again, twisting his desires to be more selfish. With the end of his drastically short lifespan approaching, and his appearance in a strange new world, Kuja is – at best – uncertain about what to do. Should he try and find a way home? Or… should he attempt to tackle mortality again…?





Original World
Terra. If we are speaking in Kingdom Hearts terms, Terra and Gaia can be considered two parts of the same whole, so Terra/Gaia.
Current World
Traverse Town.


Movie/Video Game(s)
Final Fantasy IX.


History
Once upon a time, the newly born, peaceful world of Gaia was in trouble.

An older planet by name of Terra – which had the tradition of assimilating newer worlds in order to keep itself alive – had set its sights on Gaia for its next assimilation. The Terran people attempted to fuse their world crystal with Gaia’s and overtake the planet. However, Gaia’s own world crystal was too strong for them, and it resisted the assimilation – thus, Terra was warped inside of Gaia, and its moon became Gaia’s second moon. The merging process was a failure, so the Terrans put their own souls to sleep to be watched over until the time was right to try and retake Gaia.

A man named Garland was created to watch over these souls. Garland also created Genomes – soulless, empty vessels that would be occupied by Terran souls when the takeover happened. In order to speed up the takeover process, Garland used the malignant Iifa Tree to stop cycling the souls of Gaia, sending out a vile Mist that hardened people’s hearts and drove them towards war. The more death and destruction, the more Garland could insert Terran souls into the cycle and slow Gaian souls – and the more Gaian souls Garland stopped from cycling, the more Mist was created, and more death and destruction happened. This was to go on 5,000 years.

But the sleeping Terran souls grew impatient, so Garland hatched a plan.

Twenty-six years ago, Garland created a fully-grown Genome. However, it was not just the nature of this Genome’s creation that was different – Garland gave this one a soul. Garland’s plan was to send out this particular Genome into Gaia to speed up the death and destruction. However – due to this Genome being created as an adult – he would have no access to Trance, as Trance develops from young emotions growing up. In order to counter this negative effect, Garland imbued his creation with the gift of powerful, dangerous magic – all the better to incite war. This Genome’s nickname was the Angel of Death. His real name was Kuja.

It became clear within a few years of training that Kuja strove for individuality and self-purpose – a dangerous thing in a vessel of war, and one that was supposedly conscienceless. So Garland set to work again, and between missions he had given to Kuja he managed to create another Genome, a more perfect Angel of Death in comparison to what he believed the failure that was Kuja. In the meantime, Kuja went to work inciting war; twelve years ago, he completely decimated the Summoner village of Madain Sari on Garland’s orders. The old Terran feared that the Summoners’ powers over Eidolons could prevent the future assimilation of Gaia. However, Kuja found the power of the Summoners very interesting indeed…

While on Gaia, Kuja typically lived in his home beneath the sand dunes, the Desert Palace – a luxurious place. However, he knew to visit other places instead of seeking solitude – since solitude doesn’t exactly lead to war. Treno drew him in greatly. Also, in order to satisfy Kuja’s need to travel to other places, Garland gave him a powerful Silver Dragon that would serve as Kuja’s vehicle and accomplice. At one point, in his later years, Kuja stole the airship the Hilda Garde I, accidentally kidnapping Hilda – the wife of Cid Fabool IX, Regent of Lindblum – in the process. He showed her no harm; rather, he kept her in a luxurious setting and talked to her often.

The little Genome that Garland was taking care of at that point was a little boy with a soul, and one that was able to experience childhood so that he would learn Trance. Kuja became jealous of Garland’s attention over the young boy, and he felt threatened by the Genome’s future abilities – and, above all, Kuja was terrified he would be discarded the second the young boy came of age. So, in a shallow moment of spite, Kuja kidnapped the child (six years old at the time) and dropped him off in the colorful world of Gaia in the hopes that he would die there.

How wrong he was.

It was at this point Kuja stopped going back to Terra for Garland’s instructions, preferring to do things his own way and receive his orders telepathically from Garland. For many years, Garland did not interfere with Kuja, as the first Angel of Death was doing just as he was designed for – causing death and destruction in his own way. But little did Garland know that Kuja was only loyal to Garland on the surface; the elegant man was planning his own way to usurp Garland’s power – namely, using the Eidolons that he so admired. Kuja was desperate to hang onto his individuality at all costs, and he knew that the moment he was no longer needed, Garland would rip his soul from him so a Terran soul could take its place – becoming a soulless vessel like all the other Genomes.

Kuja was never going to let that happen.

He partly moved into Treno – a city he both despised and admired – and masqueraded as a mysterious noble by name of Mr. King. Politics, bribery, blackmail, and money got him places in that city; soon he became known as the mysterious Lord King, the owner of the esteemed King Auction House. On this throne he had fashioned for himself, Kuja waited for the right time to plunge the world into chaos – and in the meantime, he researched everything he could about Eidolons. He saw fit to control the strongest one of all – the dormant Alexander, for which the kingdom of Alexandria was named. The crystal shards that controlled Alexander, however, were hidden within the four different kingdoms: Burmecia, Cleyra, Lindblum, and Alexandria. The way Kuja saw it, he would have to destroy these kingdoms to get to the ultimate prize.

His chance to dominate came when Queen Brahne of Alexandria lost her husband. He arranged an audience with her and made sure he was made her personal advisor. Sensing darkness within her, he quietly twisted her grief-filled mind into something a lot more greedy and sinister, and soon Brahne was exclaiming how much she wanted to conquer the other kingdoms. Kuja took on the guise as a weapons designer, and sold Brahne “recipes” on how to make soulless mages… a recipe that he had learned from Garland long ago, though with his own twist. Thus began Brahne’s secret manufacture of Black Mages.

Once Brahne trusted him enough, she let him in on a secret: Her daughter – the beautiful Princess Garnet til Alexandros XIV – was actually not related to her at all. She was a stray that she and her husband found off the coast of Madain Sari after their own daughter had died, and there was reason to believe that she had Summoner blood. They adopted her as a replacement Princess. Kuja revealed, in turn, his own discoveries to Brahne – that at sixteen years old, a Summoner’s Eidolons can be extracted for others to use. Brahne greedily and eagerly awaited Garnet’s sixteenth birthday, excited at the destruction Kuja offered.

But Garnet was kidnapped on her sixteenth birthday – two years ago – by a troupe of thieves by name of Tantalus. (Little did Kuja and Brahne know that she had actually wanted to be kidnapped.) Irritated but unruffled, Kuja suggested going ahead with their planned attack on the rainy kingdom of Burmecia.

With the Black Mages by their side, they overtook the rat kingdom with ease. However, they did not so easily find the King of Burmecia – who was concealing one of Alexander’s crystal shards, which was Kuja’s main prize. During their search for the King, three unexpected people stumbled upon them – who had been intent on saving Burmecia. The three of them fought Alexandra’s finest general, Beatrix, but lost, and Kuja examined their weakened bodies. There was a female rat, which was not surprising; an old prototype Black Mage that seemed to be thinking for itself, which was interesting, but made Kuja’s skin crawl for some reason; and the third figure had dirty blond hair and a tail. He was none other than the Genome that Kuja had dropped off in Gaia years ago, and had begun going by the name Zidane Tribal.

The game was about to get very interesting indeed.

Undeterred, Kuja and Brahne returned to Alexandria. Garnet – the little canary – had finally found her way back to them, and Brahne took Kuja’s advice and began the Eidolon extraction process. They actually used one of the extracted Eidolons – Odin – to obliterate Cleyra, taking the shard of Alexander that they held there and taking the one from the Burmecian king who had gone into hiding there. Little did they know that the troupe that had tried to fight them before – Zidane, Freya the rat, and Vivi the Black Mage – stowed away on the Red Rose to save the Princess. At Alexandria, they teamed up with the Princess’s knight, Steiner, and Beatrix turned on Brahne and Kuja after coming to terms with the fact that what they were doing was wrong. Zidane, Vivi, and Garnet escaped – but Freya, Steiner, and Beatrix (who had bought them time to escape) became prisoners.

Kuja was not particularly ruffled, however; they’d extracted enough Eidolons to use another against Lindblum. Kuja and Brahne teamed up again and, with the power of the Eidolon Atomos, defeated Lindblum’s forces and Kuja swiped the shard of Alexander they had.

Kuja knew, however, that Zidane’s little party had started to figure him out, and guessed that they were headed to the Iifa Tree. Some time after Zidane defeated the SoulCage in the tree – which had been a device that had helped stop the flow of Gaian Souls – Kuja went out to meet them on his Silver Dragon, boasting about how it didn’t matter. Brahne followed him out there with her fleet of airships, her army of Black Mages and her stock of the extracted Eidolons. She declared that she no longer needed him, and Summoned Bahamut.

But Kuja had yet another trick up his sleeve. You see, he had access to the old Terran warship, the Invincible – and little did the pathetic mortals of Gaia know that the red “eye” on its underside had the ability to raze the ground with flames – and enslave Eidolons. Kuja wasted no time in placing Bahamut under his control, turning it upon Queen Brahne and devastating her entire fleet – and killing her in the process. Her soul was then absorbed into the Invincible, squatting there until it would one day come of use.

Not long after Garnet assumed the role of Queen of Alexandria, Kuja returned to the kingdom – as he had left the shards of Alexander there. But, instead of outright attempting to claim the shards, Kuja Summoned Bahamut in an attempt to get the two Summoners he knew were lurking in Alexandria – the Queen Garnet and the little stray Zidane picked up, by name of Eiko – to Summon Alexander for him. The two girls brought together the four crystal shards – the one from Burmecia, one from Cleyra, one from Lindblum, and one from Garnet’s own Alexandria – and did just as Kuja desired: Summon the most powerful Eidolon in human history. Alexander beat Bahamut without much trouble, so Kuja – delighted at its enormous power – called upon the Invincible again.

To the Angel of Death’s fury, Garland was at the controls of the airship. Garland had grown wise to Kuja’s attempts of rebellion, and instead enslaved Alexander himself. Using Alexander’s power, he decimated Alexandria – and then forced the most powerful Eidolon in history to commit suicide, so that Kuja may never have its power. Furious, Kuja vowed to find another Eidolon even more powerful than Alexander.

He headed back to his Desert Palace – but he made a quick little side trip first. He stopped by the Black Mage Village (a little village of Black Mages who had stopped being mindless dolls), by then fully aware of Black Mages growing consciences. Kuja knew, also, that Black Mages had a ridiculously short life span (and at the end of their life span, they would die, or “stop” in their terms), and he lied to them by promising them that if they helped him he’d elongate their lives. Foolishly, the sentient Black Mages chose to go along with him and help him, afraid of their own deaths.

Kuja was not surprised at all when Zidane’s little troupe found his Palace. He sent Zidane on a mission to Oelivert to retrieve the Gulug Stone (an artifact he would need for his next plan), and while he made another promise to not harm Zidane’s friends, he attempted to kill them once Zidane and his party of three others were gone. Lindblum’s Regent Cid – who had been captured along with them and, due to some past mishaps, was in the shape of a frog – managed to free everyone, however, and Zidane returned in time for their whole group to take on Kuja. But Kuja got his hands on the young Summoner Eiko and kidnapped her, spiriting away to Esto Gaza and up to Mount Gulug – which was accessible now that he had the Gulug Stone.

In the depths of Mount Gulug, Kuja used the magic of Queen Brahne’s old stooges – Zorn and Thorn – to attempt to extract the Eidolons from Eiko. But Eiko was not yet sixteen, so the attempt was a failure. In order to protect her ward, Eiko’s friend – the Moogle Mog – entered Trance and became the summon Madeen. Kuja witnessed the power of Trance and devised a new plan; instead of Summoning a powerful Eidolon, he would become the powerful one.

He was going to enter Trance.

Garland – in the meantime – had created a third Angel of Death, with the intent to take Zidane’s place should he fail like the first Angel of Death. The first female Angel of Death, her name was Mikoto – and despite her having a soul, she seemed rather cold and unfeeling. Kuja was completely unaware of her existence.

Kuja returned to Terra around the same time Zidane did, in order to claim the Invincible from Garland. Due to Garland being busy with Zidane, Kuja found no resistance, and took the warship with ease. He witnessed Zidane fighting Garland and realized that Zidane had probably discovered the truth about his birth. Kuja intervened when it seemed Garland was on his last legs – only to kick his maker unceremoniously off the edge of a cliff.

During the ensuing fight with Zidane, Kuja finally engaged Trance. He brought them all to their knees using Ultima, and explained to Garnet the secret behind why he got Trance: He used the soul of Queen Brahne – which had still been within the Invincible. Even in death, she was still suffering under Kuja’s darkness.

Before Kuja could deliver the finishing blow, however, Garland’s spirit spoke to Kuja, warning him that his life span was almost up. Jealous, insecure, individualistic Kuja could not bear to hear those words, and in a fit of rage began destroying the entire world of Terra using Ultima. Zidane and his friends escaped with the Genomes and Mikoto – dropping off the vessels in the Black Mage Village (which had become repopulated again once the Black Mages under Kuja realized he was lying and could not extend their life spans) – and Kuja fled the world, too, before it was completely destroyed… forever.

Due to the death of Terra, the excess souls were spat up by the dead world and the Iifa Tree, covering the world in evil Mist. Kuja flew to the Iifa Tree, summoning a legion of dragons to fight anyone who dare follow. He entered Memoria – a world created above the Iifa Tree by the memories of the expelled souls – and headed all the way to the beginning of time, to the Crystal World… and to the Mother Crystal, the source of all life, with the intent to destroy it. Zidane and his friends followed Kuja there, and in an epic battle, finally defeated the insane, narcissistic mastermind.

But little did they all know that Kuja’s despair and hopelessness in life had bounced off the Mother Crystal and created the god Necron, whose desire was to destroy all life. It was because of him that death was born. Zidane and his friends fought valiantly until they beat the god.

Kuja – during the fight – had a few revelations about life as he listened to Zidane. He realized that he had been too selfish, too willing to hang on to any dream about immortality, that he had never truly lived his life. This caused him great sadness, and the guilt that had been bubbling in him ever since he was created finally rose to the surface. After Zidane’s triumph, Kuja used the last of his strength to teleport them all down to the Iifa Tree – and he teleported himself inside the dying, monstrous tree, intending to die there himself.

But Kuja could not resist one last narcissistic maneuver, one last ploy to realize who exactly had saved their lives. He sent out a telepathic message to Zidane, saying a simple Farewell… Little did he know that Zidane would, moments later, decide to take it upon himself to save his “brother.”

Zidane reached Kuja at the core of the Iifa Tree – and the latter was prepared to die, even if he was dreading each passing moment. After a brief conversation, Kuja closed his eyes, ready to give up.

Those eyes would not open for another year.

When he finally did come to awakening, he found himself in the care of Mikoto in the Black Mage Village – weak, but alive. She explained to him that she had heard his and Zidane’s awareness in the Iifa Tree, and had concluded that the two were still alive. (This third Angel of Death seemed to be able to tell where her two “brothers” were.) She led a team of Genomes and Black Mages to the then-dead Iifa Tree in order to dig the two of them out. The process had taken a few days – but by then, Zidane and Kuja had both been nearly dead (indeed, Kuja had only been kept alive in a comatose state due to the Potions Zidane had shoved down his throat). Mikoto, the Genomes, and the Black Mages carried the weakened two all the way back to the Black Mage Village, where Zidane had rested up before taking the long journey back home; first to Lindblum – too seek out Tantalus’s help – and then to Alexandria to see his beloved Queen. Kuja was left in the care of Mikoto – who watched him throughout every day of his unique slumber.

As he was recovering after his year of coma, Vivi the Black Mage would come to visit him once in a while – first, because of his dislike coupled with interest, and then later because they had a few things in common. Kuja grew reluctantly fond of Vivi, in much of the way he had started to respect and care for Mikoto. Once in a while he would enquire as to Zidane’s well-being, having a grudging respect for that “brother” of his.

And then – not long after Kuja woke up – little Vivi stopped. (This was around the time Kingdom Hearts II happened , so it wouldn’t be unrealistic to say that Vivi could have re-woken up on Twilight Town with no memory of his past life, due to the interesting magic the Black Mages had, and the strength of heart that Vivi himself possessed.)

For the first time in his life, Kuja felt sadness at the loss of a life that was not his own. He used his own recipe to create “clones” of Vivi in an attempt to get him back – but, alas, they were not Vivi. Due to the Mist having completely vanished, Kuja had to use some of his dormant magic, and made – by accident – quite a few more than were necessary. He – and the rest of the village – started calling them “Vivi’s sons.”

As Kuja regained his strength, he found himself enjoying the quiet solitude of the Black Mage Village. They had all come to terms with their mortality in this village; indeed, many Black Mages had stopped within the last year, and were definitely coming close to extinction. But they embraced their lives in a way that made Kuja jealous – as it was a way he would never experience. For, even as he regained his strength, he could feel that his body was close to the end of its lifetime; Garland probably never planned on having Kuja see past the age of twenty-five, let alone thirty.

However, the desire to access his other, stronger magic was a strong one – though, for a while, he forbade himself from doing it, out of fear of becoming a destructive maniac again (as his narcissism and individuality was still very much intact). He never lost his ability for Glide; in fact, he used that often, as he was in too weak of health to walk early on but his magic power allowed him the strength to Glide. But there were monsters in the woods that would injure the wandering traveler once in a while – and not a soul in the village had access to White Magic. As a result, Kuja quickly unlocked his White Magic again – Cure first, then Cura, then Curaga. Reflect came next and, in a fit of defending himself, Holy was unleashed. It appeared that Kuja had become a White Mage.

But the individualist inside Kuja complained loudly that he was above the commonplace White Mage. So – while defending the village from a monster raid – he accidentally-on-purpose cast a low-level Thunder spell. The village became slightly suspicious, but the time for complaining was behind them, as most of their Black Mages had stopped by this point, and none of the Genomes knew any magic – not even Mikoto. (Garland had probably avoided giving Mikoto the sort of powerful abilities he had bestowed in Kuja in order to avoid another failure.) Soon, Kuja would venture outside the village’s borders to level up his Thunder magic – all in the name of protecting the village, of course.

It seemed that Kuja could never fit the peaceful lifestyle as much as he desired to. So, in the dead of night, he would sneak away and try to unlock Trance. However, without another’s angry soul to power it, the ability remained unavailable to him, despite the human emotions he felt; he had missed the stage in his life where Trance would develop. In fits of rage, he accidentally cast Flare Star – the highest-level ability he had unlocked. He kept that a secret, however, for he feared the village would kick him out – and he was beginning to consider it a home.

Kuja’s spell Flare Star became unlocked almost a full year after he had awakened from his coma – and two years after his fall from power. The darkness of the spell, however, also unlocked the darkness in his heart – and it was this that finally drew the Heartless to Gaia.

It was nighttime when they arrived, slinking through the shadows of the forest and gathering around the Black Mage Village. Since Kuja’s dark heart was there, that was the first place they targeted. Their numbers were too many for the peaceful inhabitants of the village to fight off, and Kuja spent a lot of his energy to make sure his friends weren’t hurt. But the darkness around him and inside him caused him to feel a lot angrier and more negative – and soon the darkness was powering up his Trance.

He had reached another unnatural Trance – but one that corrupted his heart more than he was willing to admit. He took out wave after wave of Heartless – but burned his village to the ground in the process. When Trance finally ended, he blacked out…

… and woke up in a strange, new town, covered in snow. The signs all around him stated that this was called Traverse Town.

Now, Kuja – with the stench of darkness in his very skin and death coming ever closer his way – must figure out what he should fight for – a way home, a way to survive, or perhaps follow the dark road down to immortality.

After all, he was never expected to live to see thirty.


Role Playing Sample

[atrb=width, 450,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,false][atrb=background,http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa302/yukineko109/Kuja_BG.png] “Uh…ungh…” “Hold on,” a voice whispered from far away. Kuja stirred, but the darkness pressing against his eyelids did not let up. His body felt racked with aches and sores – and above all, unbearably cold. Mikoto? “You will wake in due time… You’ve been sleeping for a year now.” Oh, he would, would he? How delightfully vague. He tried to move, to twist, so see if he could roll into a different position – but his attempts were insufficient and futile. A whole year he’d been asleep, hm? How strange. The sense of déjà vu swept over him, rendering his thoughts momentarily frozen. Another voice floated through his subconscious. “Will he live, Mikoto?” “Yes, I’m sure of it. His will to live… it’s strong.” But that is odd, Kuja thought idly, the cold making him very uncomfortable, and therefore hard to think. I… remember this conversation… His eyelids flickered. He could feel his body shifting, as though he was finally coming into a tangible appearance. He moved, sucked in a breath – and his eyes flew open. The first thing the delicate man noticed was the sky. Dotted with thousands upon thousands of stars – had he ever seen so many? – it was swept through with the darkness of night. Whether or not it was an eternal night was another story… was this some sort of afterlife? A dream? A hallucination, made of reality’s playful phantoms? As he blinked, a star winked out – and then another, in his peripheral vision. Wincing, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. The immeasurable cold he’d felt was suddenly explained. Blanketed across the streets, on buildings, on lights, on his very person, was endless snow. Kuja could not suppress a wrinkle of his nose. How he hated the cold. This was a person who’s home had been underneath a desert. A more temperate climate he could fathom. But this winter “wonderland?” Hmph. As he examined the place, the voices he’d been hearing earlier came back into his mind – and he was greeted with the memory of his awakening from a year-long coma. Of course. Those voices had been nothing but phantoms, and he had latched onto the familiarity, seeking comfort from the unknown and potentially dangerous. Tch. Perhaps he’d gone soft, then, all that time in the Black Mage Village. But then he’d never been one for conflict anyhow. Kuja rose gracefully to his feet – but his eyes were squinting in pain. Whatever had happened… however he’d gotten here… he felt so incredibly weak. There was a strange pain in his chest, as well, and he placed a palm over his heart, sucking in a deep breath, the world spinning momentarily. Mysteries must be saved for later, no matter their intrigue, he reminded himself. If I allow myself to stay out here pondering much longer, I will surely… die. He did not linger on that unpleasant though – but his mind immediately threw up another. Where was Mikoto? Where was anybody? What had happened to them…? Another pang hit his chest, and he was briefly surprised; the pain seemed to come from the thought of his erstwhile companions’ welfare rather than his own. Strange, indeed. He began to walk - slowly, laboriously, ruggedly. But he was walking all the same.

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[Ren]

Name
James Pleiades Hawkins.


Nickname
James always goes by “Jim,” so that’s more of a name than a nickname. His other nicknames include Jimbo, Jimmy (to his irritation), and cabin boy (to his humiliation).


Age
Fifteen.


Gender
Male.


Species
Human.


Position
Chaotic Good.


Themes
I'm Still Here (Jim's Theme)
Always Know Where You Are
12 Years Later
Silver Comforts Jim
Jim Saves the Crew
Silver Leaves





Powers/Abilities/Techniques/Skills
Jim has no magical abilities whatsoever, and little fighting prowess. However, he does have quite a few skills that come in handy.

Intelligence – Beyond anything else, Jim is an exceptionally smart kid. As his mom puts it, “he built his first solar surfer when he was eight.” He figured out how to open the tricky sphere map to Treasure Planet when Dr. Delbert Doppler failed to do so – and countless others. When Silver was teaching him a number of things – like knot-tying and operating a space longboat – Jim would stop paying attention halfway through because he’d figure it out, and end up being one step ahead of his teacher. His knowledge of engineering is pretty incredible as well. Logical and pragmatic, his low self-worth causes him to think nothing of his own intelligence; he’s barely aware that he’s smarter than others. Of course, since he’s young, his natural smarts can sometimes be outweighed by his naïveté and unfamiliarity with some dangerous situations – poking his nose in where it doesn’t belong, for instance.

Agility – Though not much of a fighter, Jim is quick on his feet – faster and more lithe than most of his opponents. Coupled with his smarts, he’s able to think on his feet as well. He’s no good at fighting – the first time he’d ever used a laser pistol was when Captain Amelia handed him one – but he figured out the basics of wielding it quickly and could aptly defend himself. His quick feet and mind are what gets him out of trouble.

Sarcasm – Unfortunately, this ability often gets him back into trouble – along with curiosity. Still, there’s no point in denying that Jim is especially blessed with the gift of deadpan.

Survival Skills – Tying knots, operating vehicles, building things – all those skills come in handy in living on his own. While he has all the skills, he sometimes lacks the instinct, and seeks out dangerous thrills for the hell of it.


Weapon/Items

The Map to Treasure Planet – a round, golden, puzzle sphere a bit bigger than his fist. Before the Heartless came, Jim managed to nab the map yet again for his own safekeeping. As of right now, it’s hiding in his deep pockets.

Laser Pistol – also known as a plasma pistol. This particular weapon has the aesthetic value of a steampunk style pistol. It shoots out bolts of purple lasers that are hot and intense enough to melt holes in metal, and they’re quite explosive. However, this particular pistol only has a certain number of shots: 15 rounds, to be exact, because he didn’t swipe any extra ammo. Every shot counts in this case, and thank goodness shots can’t be fired in rapid succession.





Picture
Official Artwork
Concept Artwork
Headshot


Appearance
Jim is just under 5’6” and weighs 140 lbs. He’s a slender kid, but there’s a certain stock to his sinewy muscles that gives him a little more bulk than, say, someone like Sora. He’s pale, but not abnormally so; he spends a lot of time outside doing things, so, as a result, he doesn’t have the pallor. His eyes are blue – precisely the same shade as his mom’s – and possess a childlike roundness that is a direct contrast to the shadows between his eyes that show when he’s particularly moody. He’s a brunet, with short hair that frames his face; the bottom half of his scalp is shaved, except for the tail of hair he’s got braided on the back of his head.

Often, Jim wears baggy, high-waisted pants held onto his slim body with a belt; a loose, collar-baring shirt with rolled up sleeves (often in black or tan); comfortable yet slightly clunky boots; and, once in a while, a dark, high-collared jacket that gives him a distinctive “bad boy” look. However, at the moment, he doesn’t have the jacket on him – so he looks like more of the “boy” and less of the “bad.”


Personality
Jim is a complex kid with a lot of darkness in his past that he’s yet to quite get over. An introvert, Jim is a man of few words – though, when he does speak, it is with an unmistakable snarkiness. He is quick to protest when things don’t go his way, or to downplay particularly dangerous events. He’s got this core of anger inside him that reflects a lot in his low self-esteem, an anger that seems to lash out at the most unexpected of times. For the most part, he just seems generally unhappy – or even apathetic.

Still, he’s been working through that. Though it’s hard having two father figures, now, that have turned their backs on him, at least one of them pretended like he was worth it for a little while. That thought took hold; he became more confident in his abilities, all right with showcasing his intelligence once in a while, and just generally started enjoying life more. He doesn’t want to be a hero, but he just wants his future to matter.

Jim is a guy who likes to take risks to avoid the emotional turmoil he’s got going for him. He doesn’t like playing by anybody’s rules except for his own – and that counts for laws and such. With his solar surfer, he’d ride the wind to wherever he pleased, to hell with the consequences. A lot of that came from him not knowing what to do with himself – seeing no future for him in school and failing on purpose, belligerent and moody – but some of that is tempered with the childlike sense of adventure he still possesses. As much as he can gripe or complain, around people he cares about – his mom, Silver, Morph – he can joke and goof off and generally lighten up and smile.

He just really wants to do the right thing – though he’s not quite sure what the right thing is, or how to even begin finding it. He’s a lost, angsty kid, and it didn’t help that he lost a role model at a young age. Nonetheless, when given a task, he’s hardworking and perseveres through tough, backbreaking jobs, if only to prove himself to the world. He’s thoughtful and pragmatic, if a bit dry and suspicious. He’s brave and got his own morals, even if he doesn’t always follow through with them.

And speaking of suspicion – Jim’s got a curiosity that can get him into trouble in the worst of times. He finds out a lot of things about people by paying attention and being observant – though not being as quiet as he perhaps should. He doesn’t go around picking fights, but his attitude certainly doesn’t help him when confronted. He’s risky yet cautious, stiff yet laidback, unhappy yet excitable. It all depends on whom he’s around.





Original World
Montressor
Current World
Traverse Town


Movie/Video Game(s)
Disney’s Treasure Planet (2002)


History

The world Jim is from is not the only world he’d been to; before gummi ships, there were giant ships that used solar-powered sails to move about through space. While a number of worlds had barriers to break through, it could be done – and so, at least in his part of the universe, a lot of planets and places had been explored.

James Pleiades Hawkins was born fifteen years ago on the planet of Montressor to Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins, the owners of the Benbow Inn – a lovely little joint on Montressor that welcomed in various travelers through space, which was nice, considering the Montressor Space Port was so close to home. For the first few years of his life, Jim looked like he was going to have a nice family growing up, and his childhood was completed with the stories he’d read about the notorious pirate Captain Flint, who looted thousands upon thousands of ships and hid all his treasure – the loot of a thousand worlds – on a legendary world called Treasure Planet. These sort of stories made Jim dream of space travel, and one day finding Treasure Planet for himself – perhaps not to be a hero, but also not quite for the loot, either; maybe it was the idea of such a fantastic adventure.

But his time as a good-natured dreamer was short lived. As Jim grew older, his father became more and more distant, not even bothering to take into account the marvels that his little boy was building as the days passed. One day – when Jim was around eight years old – his father got up before Jim or Sarah (his mother) had awakened and left them, without so much as an explanation.

Jim was never quite right after that. Childhood neglect and apathy led him to be quite apathetic as well, though hiding just under the surface was his growing temperamental nature. Despite his genius, he grew dark and moody and spent his days seeking freedom and a way to get off this blasted rock. Guilt hung around him wherever he went, as though Sarah Hawkins’ disappointed eyes followed his every misstep; but he tried to ignore it by diving into dangerous activities. By the time he was in high school, he was failing most of his classes and talking back to authority; he’d even been put on probation for solar surfing in out-of-bounds areas. On one particular day, he was brought back by the police bots after they’d confiscated his solar surfer and his mother was informed that if he crossed the line one more time, he’d be on his way to juvenile hall.

This was the state Jim was in – angry, miserable, and convinced he was never going to have a future in life – when the stray ship crash-landed on the Benbow Inn’s docks. An old salamander by the name of Billy Bones toppled out of it, and Jim took him inside, as it looked like he was dying. Before Bones’ last breath, he gave Jim a peculiar golden sphere and warned him to “Beware the cyborg.”

Mere seconds after he’d died, the Inn was under attack by what could only be pirates, after the strange prize that had transferred to Jim’s possession. He, his mother, and the old family friend – the astronomer Dr. Delbert Doppler – escaped the Inn, and it was unfortunately burned to the ground by the murderous band of pirates – which meant Jim and Sarah’s home was gone. At Delbert’s place, Jim got the sphere to work, and it ended up being a three-dimensional map of how to get the world of legend: Treasure Planet. Sarah didn’t want him going, but Delbert – now that there was proof such a planet could exist – wanted to go quite badly, so after some convincing on Sarah’s behalf, Delbert and Jim were to set off on a ship called the RLS Legacy with a crew that Delbert had hired.

The captain of this ship – the unyielding, witty, tough, and feline Captain Amelia – explained to Delbert that his crew he’d hired was highly suspicious – something Jim kept in mind. Amelia ordered Jim to work with the cook – Mr. John Silver – for the duration of the voyage, and she confiscated the map from him for safekeeping (which he resented, as he was already considering it to be his map).

Upon meeting the cook, however, Jim realized there was something highly suspicious about him: he was a cyborg, the very sort that Billy Bones had warned him against. They got off to quite a rocky start because of this – in their first conversation, Jim was determined to get some sort of information out of him – but, perhaps, Bones was speaking of a different cyborg. Silver set Jim to mopping the deck – to Jim’s annoyance – but the kid ended up accidentally picking a fight with the awful, ugly, and insect-like spider psycho by name of Scroop. Silver came to his rescue, and even though it took all night for Jim to swallow his pride, he thanked the cook for the help.

For the next few weeks, Silver would work Jim ragged with a number of menial and backbreaking tasks. Silver was perceptive; from one of their first conversations, Jim had admitted that his father had walked out on him and his mom, and Silver sort of took Jim under his wing. He noticed the kid was smart, and Jim started noticing how much Silver actually paid attention to him, tutored him, advised him, and joked with him; it was more than his own father had ever done. As a result, they started to grow a strong, father-son sort of bond that was felt equally by both parties.

And then, disaster struck. A storm came by way of exploding star; while it was Jim’s job to check everyone’s lifelines – which he had done – one of them, it seemed, had come undone; and it was the one of Mr. Arrow, Amelia’s cherished first mate. According to Scroop, he perished because “his lifeline was not secure.” Little did Jim know – though he would find out later – that Scroop had actually cut Mr. Arrow’s lifeline in a moment of vindictiveness.

Still, Jim felt like a failure. For a few precious weeks, Silver had made him feel like something that mattered… but then he’d gone and screwed up again, proving all of his insecurities right. Silver found him, and gave him such a profound speech and Jim actually started to cry – something he hadn’t done in years. The two shared an incredible moment, where the father-son bond between them was acknowledged by both of them; it was obvious how much the two cared for one another.

“Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins. You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes, you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails, and show what you’re made of! Well, I hope I’m there… catching some of the light coming off you that day.”

The next morning – after chasing around Silver’s little pink blob pet named Morph, who could shapeshift and mimic voices and just generally got up to a lot of mischief – Jim found himself in a barrel in the galley, and in the most extraordinary place for eavesdropping. A few members of the crew had come down to talk about something with fervid irritation – Scroop among them – and, to Jim’s shock, they were looking to Silver as their leader. It was mutiny they were discussing – about taking the treasure for themselves, and killing all who weren’t part of the mutiny. To Jim’s horror – when Scroop confronted Silver about his supposed soft spot for Jim – Silver denied it, saying he cozied up to the boy to keep him off their scent (which Jim had been on in the beginning; he’d been right, Silver was the cyborg Bones had spoken of). There was a shout of “land ho!” and all the pirates – for that’s what they’d revealed themselves to be – raced up to the deck to gaze upon Treasure Planet. Jim, dazed, hurt, and angry, started to dart up the stairs to go tell Captain Amelia – but Silver (who’d come back down to get his spyglass) encountered Jim in this state and put two and two together. After several visibly tense moments where it seemed as though Silver could be threatening Jim’s life, Jim darted by Silver – stabbing a knife into that cyborg leg of his – and raced up to the captain’s quarters before Silver could catch him.

Jim, Amelia, and Delbert – along with Morph – all tried to escape the pirates, and made it as far as the longboats. They were held up, however, when Morph – choosing the wrong moment to be mischievous – grabbed the spherical map and darted off with it. Jim and Silver both encountered him and tried to coax Morph over – but Morph couldn’t pick between his two best friends and dove into a pile of rope with the map. Silver scrambled for it, but Jim got there first, nabbing the map and running off.

After a wild escape on the longboat – where Amelia was injured – they reached the surface of Treasure Planet… where Jim realized that he’d grabbed Morph, shaped like the map, and that the map was still probably on the ship. While Delbert took care of Amelia, Jim and Morph scouted ahead to find a place to hide. They encountered an insane robot by name of B.E.N. (short for Bio Electronic Navigator) who had been marooned on this planet for years and years. Jim tried to interrogate him about Flint’s treasure – B.E.N. mentioned something about the “centroid of the mechanism” – before B.E.N. could no longer access those memories. His memory drive had been removed, and he could not help Jim even if he wanted to. He did, however, take them to his home, which was an ideal hiding place.

Silver and his pirates found them, and Jim and Silver met in the middle of no man’s land, where Silver tried to bargain for the map… which only meant he didn’t know it was still on the ship. Silver tried to rope Jim into coming back to his side – saying he didn’t mean a word of whatever Jim had heard in the galley – but Jim (whether or not Silver was telling the truth) was having none of it. They left – each angrier than they had been going into the negotiations – and Jim decided they’d have to get the map back. Using a secret passage, he and B.E.N. encountered the site where the pirates were camping out – and, more importantly, where they had a longboat. They took the longboat back up to the RLS Legacy with the goal of getting the map back and disabling the laser cannons.

Jim told B.E.N. – who was highly erratic and likely to get them caught – to stay put, but he zoomed off to find the laser cannons anyways. Jim found the map in the pile of rope and pocketed it, just before an alarm went off because of an accidental plug that B.E.N. had pulled. Scroop – who’d been left to guard the ship – encountered Jim, and had every intent of killing the little cabin boy. After an ensuing chase – during which the gravity was turned off – Scroop ended up floating away in space, probably to die from lack of oxygen shortly afterwards.

Jim and B.E.N. returned to the hideout to find that they’d been so loud by the campsite that they’d awakened Silver and his gang, who had overpowered Delbert and the injured Amelia. Silver took the map from Jim, but couldn’t get it open; so – using Delbert and Amelia’s lives as motivation – Jim opened the map for the pirates, and forced them to take him along, for no one else could figure out how to open the map.

They reached an empty plateau, but Jim found an inscription in the ground to place the map in. A huge triangular portal appeared before them, as well as a holographic map of anywhere discovered in the universe. Jim and Silver started to flip through the worlds in order to find the treasure.

But trouble struck; the door opening and closing and opening again alerted the dark Heartless that were on plenty of the worlds to filter into Treasure Planet. Soon there was a horde upon them, and in the confusion Jim concluded that the treasure was actually in the center of the planet – the “centroid of the mechanism” – and he used the opportunity to pick the sphere out of the ground and pilfer a pistol from a fallen pirate. He jumped through the closing door into a mysterious world that he’d never seen before, leaving the pirates – and Silver – to fend for themselves… and he was worried for Silver, whether he’d ever admit it to himself or not.

Still, Jim believes the pirates are after him, and – all by himself in this new world – resolves to find the rest of his friends and a way back to Treasure Planet, to the loot of a thousand worlds… and to see if Silver’s all right and still a jerk. If the latter is true, exacting revenge might be necessary.


Role Playing Sample

[atrb=width, 450,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,false][atrb=background,http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa302/yukineko109/Jim_bg.png] Silver was getting anxious, irate; as he shoved Jim aside, the boy scowled, the darkness around his eyes increasing as he observed his once-confidante. It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, he was hanging onto every blasted word that cyborg was saying, telling him about greatness and the light within him and pah. It was all a bunch of pipedream nonsense, the sort Jim had no time for in such a dangerous situation. The colossal triangular portal ahead of them flicked closed and open erratically as Silver – with increasing frustration – poked at new destinations in the holographic map. Didn’t the old man ever think about his actions before he went through with them? It was like this whole “loot of a thousand worlds” dream had gotten him crazier than a Phalupian Karmite with a rash. The term ‘obsession’ hardly covered it; Jim had learned the hard way that nothing mattered more to the pirate than the blasted treasure. And even with all that so close to him, he was slipping up, right when it mattered the most. Well. Jim was no idiot. He was noticing things that seemed to slip right by the backstabber – that, for instance, they were not just looking in, but things were looking back at them. Little, dark, creepy things, aliens of some kind, poked and prodded at the door – and a few seemed to take a liking to crawling through the door. B.E.N., next to Jim, was freaking out again. At first, Jim took no notice – preferring to glower at Silver’s back – until he realized the android was muttering something about the treasure again. He thought aloud for a moment, finishing the robot’s sentence… “Buried in the centroid of the mechanism…” A thought arrived, an incredible, crazy idea that seemed so delightfully obvious: “What if the whole planet is the mechanism?” Before the thought that Jim was completely sure was correct could leave his lips, something unexpected happened – something that threw their whole treasure hunt into the backburner. The little dark aliens were crawling through, all right. The pirates had been eyeing them warily, sure, but they’d seemed harmless and twitchy and, well, let’s face it, the pirates had their minds on other, shinier things. So it took everyone by surprise when a little shadow guy reached into a pirate’s chest and yanked out his heart. Jim froze. Everyone pulled out of their treasure-induced stupor and into a panic; shrieking occurred, guns blazing, and another heart was lost. How… what… what was going on? He’d never seen anything like this. He knew about murder and torture and various other ways of hurting a being, but never yanking someone’s heart out! The rumors that had spread through the galaxy – rumors that spoke of planets from faraway, unexplored regions completely blinking out of existence, of terrifying creatures that stole people’s souls and hearts – well, they didn’t seem so farfetched now. But Jim was never one to be stuck in panicked limbo. Seizing the opportunity, he rammed his body into a dazed pirate and pilfered their laser pistol. Silver, it seemed, had gotten distracted by the blighters, and was not directly at the three-dimensional map. Speaking of the aliens, it seemed as though they’d set their sights on Jim; one clawed at his ankle and he kicked it aside, his heart thumping louder as though it could sense something out to destroy it. A bit freaked by all the chaos, he poked a random spot on the map – somewhere far away from Treasure Planet – and the door changed again, into a place that looked like it was covered in snow, and where civilians meandered aimlessly past – making Jim wonder if perhaps the door could only be seen from one side (which would explain how no one ever found out how Captain Flint vanished without a trace). Still, there was no time for dallying about; he wouldn’t go unnoticed for long, and he couldn’t allow the pirates to change the map to where the treasure was. A daring thought struck him, and he took the opportunity; he plucked the spherical map from the ground and watched, in slow-motion, as the map disappeared into thin air and the triangular door started to close. Without pausing to think about Morph, or B.E.N. – the only thought in his mind was can’t let Silver find this – Jim dove into the closing door, seconds before it winked out of existence.

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