Riku Toiiku

Riku Toiiku
Member of Corvus Cinis
Gender	Male
Race	Lalafell
Clan	Dunesfolk
Citizenship	Gridania
Age	15
Affiliations	Corvus Cinis / The Order of the Twin Adder
Occupation	Dragoon / Soldier
Job	Dragoon

Riku Toiiku

Riku is a young, incredibly timid Lalafell with a playful curiosity that only shows when he is comfortable. He is so socially naive that he takes everything said literally. Innuendo and euphemisms confuse him greatly, and any talk about romance or sexuality has little meaning to him. Despite appearing to be incredibly fragile, clumsy and anxious, Riku is a fierce fighter, especially when protecting his friends. Despite his great improvement in confidence when in combat, Riku still abhors killing and will often go to great lengths to keep his opponant alive whilst still completing his objectives, no matter who or what said opponant is.

Riku's time spent in solitude has made him incredibly detatched to social life. However, due to his timid nature, and the vast amout of discomfort even one stranger in a room full of friends can bring him, Riku has been known to become clingy and seek more physical comfort from those he is comfortable around. His sensetivity toward social situations is so intense that being the centre of attention for a prolonged period is enough to force him into tears.

Theme Tune: Click to listen!

(Title: Forever Roaming) (Composer: Ricky Bennett)

Basic Info

• Riku by Kass edited.png
  Full Name: Riku Toiiku
  

• Pronunciation: ri:ku: ˈtoʊi:ku:
  

• Age: 15
• Race: Lalafell
• Clan: Dunesfolk
• Gender:Male
  
• Current Residences: Twelveswood - Central Shroud / Thanalan - Ul'dah: Corvus Cinis Headquarters
  
• Place of Birth: Unknown - the wilderness
• Relatives: Immediate Family - Deceased / Extended Family - Unknown
• Affiliations: Corvus Cinis, The Order of the Twin Adder, Ishgard
• Occupation: Dragoon / Chief Serpent Sergent
• Religion/Philosophy: Open-Minded
• Combat Style: Formerly practiced in sword combat, now skilled with the lance. Riku is a Dragoon who uses his acrobatic abilities to overcome his height difficulties. Against larger foes, his feet are rarely on the ground.
• The Echo: Although Riku has the power of the Echo, he has never experienced it beyond the ability to understand all languages of speech. If not for this abiliy, Riku would have never learned to read Eorzean (as the ability helped him teach himself the language during his time spent roaming), nor would he have been able to converse with the continent's residents, due to his unknown origins outside of the continent.
  
• Status: Riku is currently suffering from major psychological problems caused by traumatic time in Ixali captivity. Although his physical health is fine - aside from malnutrition - Riku's mental health is far from it. As well as the recent trauma, Riku still retains minor memory loss of events during the duration of a large portion of the early stages of the Garlean attack on Eorzea this spring.
  

The Story So Far

Living in Gridania

Gridania. The first city Riku had chosen as his residence. A city of trees and wooden houses – the perfect place to transition a boy used to the wilderness into the ways of civilisation. It was here that he had chosen to settle down for perhaps the first time since he had begun travelling around five years ago. Within Gridania, he made a living running minor errands for the city folk in exchange for meagre amounts of Gil, which he spent on the essentials of life with almost nothing left for luxury – not that he needed it, for Riku’s primary source of entertainment involved the Black Shroud, and all the friends he had made out of the wild animals living there. And although he was not treated with significant appreciation, he still enjoyed living there; his will to adventure had finally ended, and Gridania was the perfect place to settle down. It was then perhaps unfortunate that so few appreciated his presence; only the wild marmots of the Central Shroud and the Wood Wailers guild of Gridania.

It was perhaps due to some of his errands requiring the use of basic combat that Riku was recognised by the Wailers as a potential recruit. They very much acknowledged his skill with the sword, and through watching him deemed him more suitable for wielding a lance in the sword’s stead. He had the acrobatic ability and skilful hands necessary for becoming an expert lancer, and although his intelligent, agile style was more useful to a pugilist, Riku’s poor physical strength made wielding a sharp, sturdy weapon a requirement for causing injury to his foes. In fact, the Wailers thought his skills so promising, they reported him to the dragoons of Ishgard, whom also saw significant potential in him.

As Riku’s errands slowly transitioned toward more combat-heavy missions, involving protecting caravans, escorting followers of the disciplines of the land, driving off blood-thirsty beasts and generally keeping the city folk safe; the people of Gridania began to welcome his presence and accept him as a citizen rather than just a stray adventurer. Riku was finally becoming a part of Gridanian society. But one thing would never change; Riku had the heart of an explorer – a heart that led him to adventure. And the Adventurers’ Guild saw this. And thus they had an errand of their own for him – one taking place on the island of La Noscea – home of the impressive city Limsa Lominsa.

When Riku arrived in Limsa Lominsa, he was more than just a little bit overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the place and the bustling streets, filled with haughty nobles and begging thieves. A stark contrast the peaceful, wild city of Gridania. But despite his fears, Riku completed the errand he was sent to accomplish, and rather welcomed the idea of finally leaving the city. However, before the young Lalafell could reach the Airship Landing, he was approached by a rather confusing Goblin. Although Riku understood very little of the Goblin’s speech, he managed to work out that the beastman was offering him a business proposal involving the gathering of some sort of strange item known as a “Tongueflap” in exchange for an apparently equally worthwhile “Jinglyshine”. Riku politely declined the Goblin, but as he began to leave, the Goblin told him that should he ever need a job, the Goblin would always be available.

As Riku readied himself for sleep that night, curling up under the starlit sky of the forest whilst sat upon a broad tree branch, his mind wandered to the offer the Goblin had given him, and the thought of exploring the rest of La Noscea. Riku’s adventurous side was awoken once again, and his dreams were filled with the possibilities of what lay beyond the gates of Limsa Lominsa, and out in the wilderness of La Noscea.

Corvus Cinis

After a night spent exploring unknown lands, traversing the vastness of his own dreamscape, Riku awoke, his thirst for adventure urging him to immediately act upon what he had envisioned. Within an hour, having eaten breakfast and collecting his belongings, Riku had arrived at the airship landing platform, a ticket to Limsa Lominsa held firmly in his small hand. When the craft arrived, Riku displayed his ticket to a rather absent-minded conductor, who upon glancing at it, paid the strip of parchment no further examination. And thus the airship departed, taking Riku along with it.

For a while, Riku was blissfully unaware that he had in fact boarded the wrong craft; for the passage to Limsa Lominsa was in the same direction as the route the airship was currently taking. However, when the airship began to close in on a wholly unrecognisable city, panic struck at the boy’s heart. He had absolutely no idea where the airship was heading – it certainly wasn’t destined to arrive at Limsa Lominsa!

Once Riku departed the craft, he realised that he had ended up in a large city in the middle of a vast desert. The heat was intolerable; but the next airship was estimated to arrive after a significant wait. And thus, Riku chose to instead take the time to explore the new city, hoping to be back in time to leave. After all; exploring was what Riku enjoyed most. And this was by far an event allowing ample opportunity.

After wandering around in the hot, stuffy streets for a good while, Riku found himself to be lost. He had travelled so far, amongst the huge crowds and gigantic buildings, he had no idea where he had ended up. Thankfully, as he began to panic, Riku was approached by a helpful Miqo’te named Kassandra Dawn. Kassandra explained that Riku was currently outside the Headquarters of an organisation named Corvus Cinis, of whom Kassandra was a member; and the city itself was a location named Ul’dah, nestled deep in the sandy desert of Thanalan. She offered to show Riku into the building, which the Lalafell gladly accepted, desperately wanting to move into shelter from the sun.

When Riku entered the building, he was introduced to the leader of the organisation – another Miqo’te, by the name of Alothia Starkwood. Alothia entered the kitchen to make tea, whilst Kassandra explained to Riku that Corvus Cinis were a company whose job it was to find things that people had lost. Terrified by the close proximity to complete strangers, Riku hardly replied, saying very little, until he accidentally spilled his tea due to being taken by surprise by the sudden noise of someone knocking at the door.

As Alothia cleaned up the mess and Riku sat upon the sofa feeling incredibly guilty, Kassandra answered the door to a muscular Highlander man. After a short chat, Kassandra and the man left to go out on a date, leaving Riku alone with Alothia. Perhaps aided by the presence of sugar in his tea, Riku soon found himself opening up to Alothia, explaining to her a great deal of information on his past, occasionally becoming embarrassed at himself for talking so much. Alothia did not mind, however, and hinted at Riku joining the company. However, Riku being as naïve and serious as he was, missed the hint entirely. However, he did take up the offer to spend the night in the building, inadvertently making himself appear interested in the job offer.

The next day, Riku spent some time wandering around the city in an attempt to become used the bustling crowds. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. When Riku attempted to return to Corvus Cinis, however, he found himself once more lost within the city, and it took him a few hours to finally find his way back. When he did return, however, Kassandra was there to greet him with an offer to show him around the city. Riku gladly accepted, hoping that the tour would be of aid to his present situation.

After the tour had finished, Riku unfortunately found himself to be none the wiser. Despite the tour being thorough and informative, Riku had trouble keeping up with it all, losing out to his poor sense of direction and the completely overwhelming atmosphere. However, he pretended that the tour was at least slightly successful in order to not hurt Kassandra’s feelings.

The last stop on the tour was a tavern known as the Mineral Concern – a meeting place for adventurers that members of Corvus Cinis often frequented. It was here that Kassandra took Riku so that the Lalafell could enjoy a drink and get to know other company members. Despite feeling ill at ease within the rather crowded venue, Riku got to know various new faces, including those of Blue Sunil, Endricane Feltaro and Miyuki Tatsugawa. He also met Leon Heius, although a lack of future meetings with the man resulted in him not only forgetting his face, but his name as well. Riku was not able to endure the entirety of the night, however, and found himself drifting off to sleep before the others had even begun to consider leaving.

The next few days were spent attuning his body to the hot climate of the desert and beginning the process of training himself in the use of the lance. Riku spent the nights in his new room at Corvus Cinis, but almost the entire days outside. It wasn’t until a few days later that events within the company were to involve more than just returning for the night to sleep.

One evening, after a particularly busy day of training, Riku had returned to find himself issued a job for the company, despite not even realising he had become a member. He was partnered up with a Lalafell named Miyuki and issued a job to deliver wedding invitations for the marriage of Nel Celestine and her lover. Riku found himself at odds with this offer, not being one to enjoy menial, repetitive tasks, but if he was expected to work, he would not decline – after all, he had a sense of duty, especially to his friends – whom Corvus Cinis surely were by now – and was allowed free lodging within the company headquarters. It was the least he could do. Unfortunately, however, he was still yet to know his way around the city. And thus he was hesitant to immediately begin acting on the order to pursue the job. When the mention of the job ended, Riku was allowed time to acquaint himself with Endricane – the highlander he had seen on his first day at Corvus Cinis – and Miyuki, both of whom he was beginning to feel comfortable with – especially Miyuki; who, given her racial background, was someone Riku felt he could relate to.

Riku’s encounters with the company did not decrease in frequency as the days passed. In fact, he was fast becoming rather at ease with the members he spent more time in the company of. And one day, after a particularly dangerous errand out in the sands of Thanalan, Riku returned to find himself once again in the company of Kassandra and Endricane. It was in the Mineral Concern where he was to meet these two once more, after reporting to the bartender about his success in ensuring the safety of a caravan of imported ale. Endricane was the first to greet Riku, and soon took to his usual behaviour of teasing the boy, persuading Riku to tip the lady dancing on the stage. Riku did as he was told, but he was not comfortable in doing it. He rushed over to leave some Gil on the stage, before returning swiftly to hide himself from the dancer’s view.

Once their time in the Concern was over, the trio returned themselves to the Corvus Cinis HQ. Endricane continued his teasing trickery by persuading Riku to take a sip of ale. Thankfully, the young Lalafell found the taste to be disagreeable, and so returned the drink, not wanting to consume any more. The rest of the day was to be uneventful, and it was not until the following day that events started picking up.

The festival of Little Ladies’ Day was beginning across all of Eorzea. The festival celebrated young girls, with the placement of blossom trees and other spring time decorations all across the continent. Riku spent all morning playing in the pink-petalled trees, continuing his enjoyment of the plants until an Ul’dah guard disciplined him for his actions. Seeing his incredibly timid expression, the guard mistook it as a sign that he was upset, and so presented Riku with a clip-on earpiece resembling a flower - identical to a popular earring that was being widely worn as symbolic recognition of the occasion. When Riku finally returned to Corvus Cinis, his hair was full of blossom petals. He was still rather joyful, despite being told off. When he entered the building, he found that Endricane was asleep on the couch, awakening only when Kassandra entered the front room with some food she had cooked herself. Riku enjoyed the meal - especially the raisins (he normally had a distaste for dried fruits, but those raisins tasted divine) - but did not have the appetite to finish it. He continued to enjoy the day as it progressed, but like all good things, the enjoyment was not destined to last for eternity.

Riku’s mood transitioned back to its usual terrified, timid shyness, as Corvus Cinis had a visitor – Blue Sunil, a Miqo'te who Riku had only had minor social contact with in the past. Once again, he found himself filled with great discomfort - discomfort increased ten-fold by Endricane, as he took to excessively teasing the poor child. Provoked to the point that he was close to tears, Riku found protection when Alothia finally arrived. The small Lalafell huddled against her, taking refuge behind her large white robe, hiding from the others as he held tightly to the Miqo’te for comfort.

When Miyuki turned up, and the rest of the group finally began to disperse, Riku was left sleeping lightly on the sofa. Miyuki sat herself down beside Riku whilst she conversed with Blue Sunil - who had just been accepted into Corvus Cinis - eventually waking the boy up with the shared dialogue. Whilst still in a dazed state, Riku found himself comfortably accepting Miyuki's care over him, until Blue left. After the departure of the now newest addition to the company, Riku explained why he had fallen asleep on the chair to Miyuki. As he began to wake up, and his mind became active once more, the discomfort of the previous conversation returned to him, and he found himself gently leaning against Miyuki's shoulder. Apparently unable to sleep, having spent most of the day lazing around, Endricane returned to the front room whilst the two Lalafell were still pressed against each other for comfort. Still slightly stung by Endricane's teasing, Riku found himself in need of more comfort, and gently hugged against Miyuki in a frightened embrace. And it was there, in Miyuki's arms, that Riku fell asleep that night.

Snakes, Dungeons and Lalafell Hugs

The next morning, Riku travelled back to Gridania via airship, remembering something he had read in a notice about the Order of the Twin Adder. They were looking for freelancers and recruits in order to fend off the likely Garlean invasion that was said to be coming. Not wanting the forest to be ruined by Garlean soldiers, Riku travelled to the Adder's Nest to look for work. Unfortunately, he was intially turned down by the Order because outwardly, he looked weak and frightened. However, on the wall of the Adder's Nest front room was a notice to all members about sightings of Garleans around the entrance of Toto-Rak dungeon. Riku decided he would prove himself by investigating.

After sneaking past the guard outside of Toto-Rak, Riku entered the dungeon and fought his way into its depths. The monsters were tough, but he managed to hold them off or sneak past them. Eventually, he reached a room that was full of alchemical equipment. Already quite tired, Riku did not wish to remain within the room and study the alchemy any further. Instead, he took as many bottles, vials and test tubes as he could and left, faciing yet more loathesome creatures on his way out. Exhausted, he stepped out into the forest and beginning to become rather dazed, handed over the equipment to the guard outside.

Astonished by what he had recieved, the guard accepted the equipment graciously and promised to tell the Order about Riku's aid in the matter. Now covered in monster blood, and a few scrapes and bumps, Riku looked around to see where he had left the chocobo he had rented. Unfortunately, it had escaped back to its master. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to spend time with his new friends at Corvus Cinis Headquarters, Riku decided to walk back to Ul'dah, through the blazing hot desert in thick leather armour, already exhausted and dehydrated.

Once Riku finally arrived at the Corvus HQ, he was so tired, he wasn't even aware of his actions anymore. Walking straight past Miyuki in a zombified state, he opened the headquarter doors and immediately collapsed into unconsciousness in the doorway. When he awoke, however, Kassandra and Miyuki were busy tending to him. Riku tried to move in an attempt to look after himself and ease the burden he was placing upon his friends, but was unable to even lift up his arms. He had barely any energy left in him.

Riku spent the rest of the evening under the caring eye of Miyuki, who made sure to tend to him whenever he needed help - no matter how much he claimed not to need it. Before long, Riku found himself leaning gently against his new friend, enjoying her close company. He was even comfortable enough to start singing to himself, but once Miyuki caught ear of his pleasant singing voice, her enjoyment of the song caused Riku to begin singing at a more confident, louder volume. However, just as was the sad sorrowful song he was singing before, the tavern song about drinking and maidens he chose to sing was rather inappropriate for the occasion.

After a conversation about their pasts, the two Lalafell began to get drowsy. Forcing his shyness out of the way, Riku affectionately lay his head upon Miyuki's lap and snuggled up against her, expressing his brotherly feelings toward her. Although seemingly quite embarrassed, Miyuki appeared happy letting Riku rest in that position, and she herself relaxed and began to drift off. Eventually, with one arm wrapped across Miyuki's back and his face pressed gently to her belly, Riku fell asleep on the sofa in an embrace with his equally small friend for the second night running.

The next day, Riku returned to Gridania in order to visit the Order of the Twin Adder. His strong desire to protect his friends from the threat of the Garlean invasion brought him the confidence he needed to confront the Grand Company. On his way through the forest, Riku came across an Imperial scouting party. They immediately attacked attacked him on sight, but Riku defeated them without significant effort. After finally reaching the city, Riku entered the Adder's nest and found himself facing a recruitment request from the Order. The conditions on his joining were two-fold. Firstly, he was to deliver a letter to an operative in Little Ala Mhigo. Then, he was to offer aid to the other Grand Companies as a ways to bring unification to the continent's defenses. With both tasks in mind, Riku returned to Thanalan and payed Miyuki's hometown of Little Ala Mhigo a visit.

Riku's time at Little Ala Mhigo was quite uneventful, and after he had delivered his letter, he returned to the Corvus Cinis Headquarters, hoping to see Miyuki again. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the Headquarters, Miyuki was nowhere to be found. However, Kassandra was sat at her desk doing paper work, so with much curiosity, Riku joined her and watched her as she sifted through mail. A short while later, Alothia arrived and joined the pair in the front room. Riku asked if Alothia had seen Miyuki, but unfortunately she had not. In an attempt to contact Miyuki, Alothia activated her linkpearl, but there was no reply.

It was not long, however, before the reason for the lack of reply became obvious. Miyuki had been asleep all along, and eventually found herself downstairs, amazed and rather embarrassed that she had slept for so long. Riku watched her happily, glad to be in her company again, but also not knowing what to say now that she was actually there. Thankfully, he did not need to think for long, as Endricane walked through the door. Still unsure of what to expect from the man, Riku watched him cautiously. However, Endricane noticed his gaze and merely chuckled, making Riku feel rather embarrassed.

As the group began to settle down, an unexpected visiter snook his way into the building without anyone noticing. However, Alothia's shocked and excited reaction was sudden enough to make poor Riku jump in surprise and fall off the desk he was sitting on. A man who Alothia obviously cared deeply for had arrived - his name was Zenge Eien, and it seemed that he had been away for quite a long time. Noticing Riku's discomfort over the new face, Miyuki joined him at his side and allowed him to hold her hand for support. When it became clear that Riku was in fact not working and was merely being nosey with the paperwork, however, Miyuki took him over to one of the sofas, and the two Lalafell snuggled up together comfortably.

Once more, the expanding group began to settle down. They had all paired off on seperate sofas - Endricane sat with Kassandra, quietly flirting to her; Alothia sat with Zenge, enjoying the company of the man she had not seen for so long; and Riku and Miyuki huddled together on third sofa, as Riku rested against Miyuki for comfort against his timid feelings toward Zenge, and Miyuki held him gently with her hand placed gently over his head. Before they knew it, all six of them began to get tired - too tired to notice someone else had entered the room and sat down comfortably on the remaining sofa. A particularly dark-skinned individual named Akane had arrived, and seemed more content with watching the group than taking too much of an interest in their activities.

Eventually, two-by-two, the couples retired to the bedrooms. Firstly, Alothia and Zenge, who appeared as if they wanted to make up for the time spent apart from each other. Secondly, it was Kassandra and Endricane's turn to leave, Endricane's usual manner suggesting the possibility of something more than sleep. Finally, becoming drowsy themselves, the Lalafell began discussing their own sleep.

Not quite understanding the implications of two invidividuals their age sleeping together, Riku suggested that they share a bed, so that should they fall asleep together, they would not need to be moved into seperate rooms again. Miyuki appeared rather hesitant at the proposal, aware of what sharing a bed could mean, and feeling rather embarrassed about it. However, unexpectedly, it was Akane who eventually solved the issue by stating that sharing a bed was more economical. And so Miyuki took her younger friend to her bedroom, and Riku changed into his night clothes and joined Miyuki in a warm and comfortable embrace atop the large tallfolk-sized bed. Gently and innocently, the two Lalafell drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

Date...?

After procuring tickets to an event that both Endricane and Kassandra were attending, Miyuki decided to take Riku with her to see a show in Gridania. After landing safely in the forest city, Riku decided to go on ahead and waited for Miyuki near the Ampitheatre. Still unsure exactly what was going on, all Riku knew was that he was being taken to watch something occur somewhere in the northen part of the city.

As he waited, Riku was approached by a Miqo'te girl by the name of Miyu Evans. Miyu looked Riku over and questioned him as to his membership in Corvus Cinis. Just as she began trying to persuade the confused Lalafell to head down to watch the show, Miyuki arrived.

Seeing Miyuki turn up behind the Lalafell boy, Miyu came to the conclusion that the pair were watching the show as part of a date. Miyuki blushed at the accusations, whilst Riku found himself completely confused at what Miyu meant - a date reffers to a specific moment in time as per a calendar, right? Seeing that the Lalafell were both becoming rather shy, Miyu ushered them on toward the Ampitheatre explaining that should they dawdle any further, they would be late. And so, taking Riku by the hand, Miyuki gently led him to a seat at the front of the audience, where the pair huddled up and watched the show.

As the show progressed, Riku's confusion increased by the minute. Even as it began drawing to a close, he had absolutely no clue just what was going on, only that it included men doing bizarre things on stage and getting clapped at by the primarily-female audience. Soon, he began to doze off in Miyuki's arms, and eventually fell asleep in her embrace. Herself quite comfortable with having Riku in her arms, Miyuki too began to drift off. By the time the show had ended, the Lalafell were softly napping against each other.

Noticing that both Lalafell were asleep, Endricane lifted them up and took them out of the Ampitheatre, accompanied by Kassandra Dawn and Blue Sunil. However, Endricane had some buisness to attend too, so he was unable to take the pair home with him. Instead, he gave Riku and Miyuki to Blue and Kassandra respectively and left the group.

With one Lalafell each, the Miqo'te ladies walked toward the airship docks, both discussing the show's events. By the time they had returned to Corvus Cinis Headquarters, it was already dark outside, and nearing bedtime. As they walked in through the front door, Miyuki began to awaken, and so as Blue set Riku down comfortably on the sofa, Miyuki was placed on the ground herself, where she remained drowsily watching her friend as he thrashed about in his sleep, apparently having an eventful dream. After watching Riku fall off the couch in an attempt to embrace something invisible and Blue placing him back on the sofa again, Miyuki decided to join Riku. As she cuddled him softly, the boy began to calm down and relax, and noticing the effect her company had on him, Miyuki lay down beside him and snuggled up to the sleeping Lalafell.

An Unusual Take on the 'Father-Son' Bond

Late afternoon the next day, after returnning from visiting the Immortal Flames of Ul'dah, Riku approached the headquarter doors thoughtfully. Deciding he did not want to enter the building just yet, he approached the tree that was placed outside of Corvus Cinis specifically for the festival, and climbed onto one of it's branches in an attempt to peer in through the window. Unfortunately, with all the blossom growing on the tree, he was unable to see clearly into the headquarters, and so instead, decided to relax for a bit atop the pink-petalled plant. However, before Riku could rest, his mind suddenly made a comparison with the blossom tres that instantly changed his mind. Those beautiful pink petals, as soft and gentle as they were, definately reminded him of something - no, someone. Yes, gazing upon the blossom thoughtfully, Riku's mind was made up. Hopping down from the tree, the Lalafell cheerfully entered the building, his hair now full of blossom petals.

As Riku stepped into the front room, closing the door softly behind him, his eyes caught sight of the very person he was thinking about, and lit up happily. There, sitting in the couch opposite, was his friend and collegue Miyuki Tatsugawa. At first, Riku was too embarrassed to sit down - Miyuki had asked him what he was doing, and Riku gave the whole answer, stopping half way through revealing his thoughts after gazing upon the blossom. Miyuki's inquiries, however, finally brought the full story out of him, and offered Riku a seat beside her, apparently quite flattered over Riku's comparison.

And so that was where the pair remained for a few hours, hugging as tightly a usual. However, their conversation took a dark turn when Riku promised to defend Miyuki from whatever the approaching red moon in the sky above would bring down on the planet. Worried for Riku's safety and scared that he would get himself hurt, Miyuki protested the boy's claims. However, his heart definately in the right place, Riku calmed his friend, and explained to her that he would do anything to keep her happy, and if that meant worrying her a little in the short-term, he would take the risk. But despite the risks involved with the current, most significant problems that Eorzea faced, Riku promised that he would try all he can to not get hurt, and to return to Miyuki whatever the mission. Although not completely eased by Riku's promise, Miyuki began to calm down. She was still rather worried but she trusted Riku and believed his promises. With the stress now mostly behind her, Miyuki began to fall asleep in Riku's arms.

As Miyuki slowly approached sleep, her mind turned to more trivial matters. Dazily pulling a blossom petal from Riku's hair, she decided that she would make something with all the pink petals falling from the trees. And then, after closing her eyes, Miyuki rested her head gently on Riku's lap. Before Miyuki could fall asleep, Kassandra came walking into the building, sitting herself at her desk. With another individual now in the building, Miyuki began to re-awaken. But before the trio could settle into a dialogue, a shout from outside suddenly caught their attention. Kassandra rushed to the door to see what was going on, followed by Miyuki who was now wide awake. Not wanting to part company with his friend just yet, Riku caught up to Miyuki and grabbed hold of her hand.

Awaiting the Miqo'te and the Lalafell couple were two women who appeared to be in urgent need of aid. One was a beautiful Elezen woman by the name of Deirdre Ta'ea, and the other was a tall axe-weilding Miqo'te named Maliana R'Konde Darksidhe - introduced as Mali. It seemed the former of the two had a problem involving her infant son and was seeking all the help she could get. It seemed Riku was about to embark on his first serious mission for Corvus Cinis, but his main concern was still Miyuki and what she wanted.

It seemed that all three present members of Corvus Cinis were in agreement - they all wanted to help out. And so, Riku and Kassandra returned to the building to get ready. After completing his preparations and giving Miyuki his old sword, Riku joined the rest of the group, and the party of five set off across the vast desert of Thanalan.

Their destination seemed to be a small, comfortable-looking camp on an unmarked plateau somewhat off the standard map of Thanalan. It was at this location that numerous other individuals awaited, a number of whom were also called specifically for this task. Shockingly, Riku spotted Endricane among the small crowd, and the man did not look happy about the new arrivals. Just as the newly-arrived party began to settle down, Endricane angrily protested about their presence. Thankfully, his protests were contested and he eventually settled down, still rather protective toward Kassandra and the two Lalafell. As everyone made themselves comfortable - everyone except poor Riku, who found himself at odds with the number of strangers around him - Shurin Mizune - Deirdre's lover - stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

Shurin began his tale at the beginning - his own history. According to what he told the gathered adventurers - or at least what Riku had interperated from the story - he was born in another land and sent to Eorzea on some sort of mission. Blessed with great power, he arrived at the continent to serve his powerful master, only to lose his way and find himself ignorant to the task he was ordered to accomplish. Thus he settled down and took  Deirdre as his lover - that is, until his past caught up with him. An unusual huntress began chasing him down; she had revealed herself to him as a former aquaintance and informed him that he was not performing his mission adiquately. Not feeling any trust toward her, Shurin and his family hid themselves from the woman for as long as they could. Unfortunately, they had another problem - as Shurin was deemed unable to fulfil his master's wishes, a replacement was selected - his son. This meant that the great powers within him had slowly begun to feed into the infant, taking with it Shurin's life energy. With the huntress once again alerted to his presence, claiming that she could take the boy to a place where the deadly bond would cease to function, Shurin needed all the aid he could muster. And so, he had gathered whatever help he could in an attempt to find a solution.

Many voices spoke out about their ideas, but it was not until Endricane broguth forth his thoughts that the debate began to heat up. Endricane's suggestion was that he would take the baby so that at the very least, the bond between the child and Surin would be weakened enough to allow time to solve the problem. However, Deirdre would not allow it, and so filled with great frustration, Endricane stormed off to sit by himself.

Riku was the next to make a helpful contribution; albeit shyly and with much hesitation. Quietly, he suggested using external sauces to absorb energy back into Shurin - almost like an Aetherial medication to replenish the lost life energy. However, pehaps due to his shy presentation of the idea, Riku found himself in ridicule, as some members of the group scoffed at the idea, sarcastically toying with the thought of eating crystals. Thankfully, there was one person who took Riku's idea seriously, albeit as something somewhat incomplete. The apparently knowlegable Syesta Rajani took inspiration from the notion and formed her own hypothesis - feedback loops.

His discomfort increased vastly by the reception to his idea, Riku found himself on the verge of tears. Not wanting to draw the concern of the others, he slowly stood up and wandered off to the far end of the plateau, sitting by the only means of access to the area. Noticing Riku's absence, Kassandra and Miyuki also excused themselves to comfort the boy, realising that he was in great distress. Now in the sole company of his friends, Riku slowly began to calm down, but remained somewhat miserable, blaming himself and dismissing his own idea as stupid. However, as time passed by, Riku's mind returned to the conversation itself and suddenly, he remembered what Syesta had said, and finally registered the idea - feedback loops!

The idea was simple enough - to created a feedback loop in an Aetherial transition, one only needed a vessel with which to draw and distribute energy. Riku's idea indeed slotted into the process quite nicely, but only answered part of the puzzle. On reflection, Riku became somewhat displeased at himself for not coming out with this idea - he certainly had the knowledge to think of it himself, and the intelligence to formulate a plan, but as usual, accessing said knowledge was what let him down.

Just as he was considering the difficulties involved in setting up a feedback loop, and the methods required to overcome such difficulties, the group began to disperse, Kassandra left to check up on Endricane, and Syesta approached the two Lalafell, her attention directed toward Riku. Perhaps noticing that the boy was upset, Syesta reassured him by explaining how his theory was sound and rather quite smart. Then, before leaving, she thanked the Lalafell for his contribution and left, leaving Riku sat beside Miyuki with a bright red face.

As time passed, more people left, including Shurin himself, who confused Riku as he passed, jokingly toying with the idea of eating crystals in a much more light hearted manner than that of those who ridiculed him. Riku came out of the conversation feeling somewhat confused and mistaken, until Miyuki explained to him that it was a joke. Still not entirely understanding the joke, Riku merely accepted it for what it was and cuddled Miyuki softly.  The Lalafell sat there quite comfortably, until Miyuki decided to approach Alothia to aid the Lalafell in returning to Ul'dah.

"Agh!"

The sudden shout was enough to distract all of the still-present individuals. Riku recognised it as Endricane's voice, and hurried along with the others to peer down the cliff face. When it was clear the others weren't going to do anything about it, Riku hurried off to check up on Endricane, feeling incredibly worried. Miyuki quickly chased after him, barely managing to keep up.

When the two Lalafell finally reached the location Endri's shout had originated from, they found Endricane and Kassandra, staring off into the distance. Endricane reassured Riku by explaining that he was letting his anger out on a tree with his axe, and if not for the relief he felt that Endricane was alright, Riku would have been rather appauled at the abuse directed at the innocent plant.Seeing the concern on the Lalafell's face, Endricane decided to return to the camp, taking the others with him.

Once back at the camp, whilst Miyuki and Kassandra were busy watching Deirdre's infant son, Endricane suddenly lifted Riku off his feet, making him suddenly panic. However, before Riku could even exclaim in surprise, Endricane embraced him in a tight hug. As Riku was set down on the floor, his mind was filled with different emotions - happiness toward the gesture itself, confusion as to why Endricane had performed the action and embarrassment at having been hugged in such an unusual manner in front of Kassandra, Miyuki and Deirdre. Not quite knowing how to react in return, Riku thought for a moment, then latched onto Endricane's leg, that being about the best hug he could manage at his height.

After having watched the baby, it was time for the group to leave. Endricane decided to stay in order to chat with Deirdre, whilst he sent Riku and the others on their way back, asking that Riku would protect the girls. Dutifully, Riku escorted Kassandra and Miyuki home, watching all the nearby monsters with close caution . Fortunately, the trip was rather uneventful, and acter changing out of his armour, Riku sat himself down on Kassandra's desk. The group was soon joined by Alothia, who perched herself on the other side of the desk, while Kassandra sat at her usual seat behind it. Seeing that Riku seemed to be seated comfortably, Miyuki joined him to sit at his side.

Very soon, the conversation progressed to a discussion about beauty, where Riku expressed his views that all of his female friends were beautiful. Although he thought to himself that he considered that Miyuki was the prettiest - partly due to her being a Lalafell and thus having a more favourable shape and stature to other Lalafell - Riku did not say it out loud, as the two Miqo'te, who were already down-playing their appearances, would no doubt go further, and he did not want to push them deeper into such misery. So instead, he merely cuddlied Miyuki and chimed in at the conversation when he thought it helpful.

As the conversation continued, dates began to be mentioned, and in confusion, Riku asked for a definition. From what he interperated, a date was an event where an individual would take someone they care about to a place where the pair could be alone. Also, in order for it to be a date, the pair would have to be considering the possibility of kissing one another or doing other weirder things that come after kissing. Upon further questioning, Alothia explained to Riku that he really did not want to know what the weirder things were. Kassandra also agreed, stating that he was too young to know. Alothia also gave her best definition of what romantic love was, and Riku conceded that he did not love Miyuki in such a manner.

However, realising that saying such a thing may have hurt Miyuki's feelings, he questioned her as to whether she was upset. Unfortunately, Miyuki did not hear the question, and Riku began to get particularly worried. Seeing Riku's distress, Miyuki tried to determine the problem. Riku once again asked his question, and Miyuki explained that she didn't care at all. Sighing in relief, Riku carefully led Miyuki onto her side so that they could cuddlemore closely.

A little while later, Endricane entered the building, and miyuki decided to lead Riku to the sofa so that they could cuddle more comfortably. However, Endricane appeared rather distant and preoccupied, and soon left again to head to the bar. Somewhat worried, Kassandra silently walked up to her room. Concerned that Kassandra may be upset, Miyuki led Riku up to find her and keep her company, but as the two Lalafell sat themselves within Kassandra's bedroom, Riku found himself too tired to think straight, and Kassandra left to check up on Endricane.

Both sleepily holding each other in their arms, as was now becoming rather usual, the two Lalafell once again fell asleep together. Riku's last thoughts that night were of Miyuki and her happiness, and his will to protect her. As his mind faded away into unconsciousness, he hoped that his presence would be enough to allow Miyuki to rest well, and for once have a night not plagued with worry over the ominous red moon.

Truth or Dare?

The next few days were rather busy for Riku. On the first day, he joined members of Corvus Cinis on a training exercise, which he later regretted, as it involved hunting down other beasts. The evening was spent sitting with his friends, comparing scars with Endricane and snuggling close to Miyuki.

The following day proved to be more eventful for Riku, however. He had returned to Gridania, only to find that the Wailers were seeking him out, hearing about his work for the Order of the Twin Adder. After Riku completed his first task for the Wailers, they attempted to recruit him, but Riku declined, having other obligations, but remained open to any individual job requests the Wailers had for him. After hearing Riku's timid attempt to politely refuse their offer, the Wailers pondered his future, and decided the time was right to send him to a man qho could further benefit the boy's ability with the lance.

And so, Riku trotted off to Coerthas, where he arrived at the Ishgard Gates of Judgement. Whilst there, he was approached by a man who asked for why he had arrived. Riku explained he was sent by the Wailers to learn new lancer techniques. Looking over the boy with a serious expression, the man decided to send him to prove himself by fighting off monsters near Camp Nine Ives in the Black Shroud and bringing back proof of his victory.

So Riku journeyed back into the Shroud, fought off the nasty beasties in question and returned to the man at the gates, hoping to be rewarded for his services. And indeed, the man was impressed that someone so young and so small was able to overcome such foes. Noticing how much potential Riku had, the man gladly accepted to train Riku, only there was a catch - Riku had to train and learn the techniques himself. The man expained to Riku that he himself was versed in the way of the Dragoon - a fiercely skilled type of lancer trained to fight against the likes of Dragons - and that should Riku be ready, he would teach the boy, but only if he was willing to accept the responsibilites the job entails. His only guide was to be a book - a book titled Fundamentals of Dragoon Training. It outlined several basic attack tequniques and Lance-handling methods roughly, and gave simple instruction on how to perform the Dragoon's signature weaponskill technique - Jump. Sending Riku on his way, the man told the boy to return to him once he had mastered all the techniques within the book.

The next day, Riku practiced hard. The book's introduction stated that it normally takes about a week to complete, but by late afternoon on the first day, Riku had already mastered Jump and a number of otherbasic skills. His handling of the lance was now becoming smoother, more efficient and far more deadly.

By the emergence of evening, Riku had returned to Ul'dah, where he made his way into Corvus Cinis. When he arrived, he could not help but use his new abilities to jump clean over most of the room and land himself comfortably on the far sofa. After placing his spear to one side, Riku turned his attention to what was occuring around him.

Kassandra appeared to be present within the room, but her attention was occupied and she was too busy to pay full attention to Riku's acrobatics. Her attention was on Endricane, who appeared to have decided that he did not need to get dressed in order to take a trip down to the kitchen. Although Kassandra was rather embarrassed that her lover was in such a state in full view of Riku, the Lalafell himself was more confused than anything else. Endricane himself, however, seemed to be unfazed, but for Riku's sake, he went upstairs to get dressed.

When Endricane had entered his room, a woman emerged from the kitchen, appearing as if she had been around for a while, but had no plan to interrupt the other Corvus members currently present. Her name was Lily Dawnsworn, a midlander, who by her choice of weapon, appeared to be a gladiator.

Once Endricane was dressed, He sat beside Riku and cuddled the boy gently to one side whilst gesturing Kassandra to sit at the other. Together, they sat comfortably, whilst Kassandra and Lily discussed past and present events.

It wasn't long before the group were joined by Alothia, who wandered down from her bedroom to join them. And then, apparently having spent the evening unnoticed, Miyuki awoke from where she was sleeping on the sofa Alothia had sat upon. Noticing that Miyuki was now awake, Elndricane sent Riku off to join her, and the Lalafell happily complied, snuggling up to his Lalafell friend. However, as was common within the walls of Corvus Cinis, just as the room was settling down, a new face showed itself, and it belonged to a Miqo'te named Rosa Canina. Riku did not understand much about what the girl had said about her history, but he was too shy to be interested, anyway. Instead, he concentrated on Miyuki, becoming more and more discomforted by the crowded room.

Then, it got worse.

Zenge walked in.

Thankfully, as the room was filling up, a new suggestion was made that the group head on down to the Mineral Concern. Glad to be moving to a venue with more open space, Riku rushed off to his room to change out of his armour and into something formal, and joined the rest of the group as they headed off to the tavern.

As Riku and Miyuki sat to one side of the room hugging and drinking soft drinks, everyone else sat by their usual table and began to play a game of Truth or Dare. 'Dare' seemed to have been the popular choice, as nobody was interested in revealing a truth. Kassandra was forced to hug a Roegadyn patron, but got her revenge by forcing Lily to kiss the man. Then, Zenge was dared to dance on stage, balancing a mug on his nose; only he took it a step further, and decided to add to the display by stripping. Endricane was then dared to attempt to lift all four women at the same time - which he impressively managed with his bulky Highlander muscles.

At last, it was Endricane's turn to dare. And Endricane, being Endricane, broke the game. His dare involved all of the women, as he made them all dance on stage in their underwear whilst juggling bottles of ale. Endricane sat back and watched the display with a triumphant and satisfied expression on his face, whilst Riku watched with an expression of confusion. Once Endricane's dare was over, the group slowly began to head back to the headquarters. Alothia and Zenge were the first to leave, followed by Riku and Miyuki. Once the two Lalafell returned, they headed straight for the bedroom, where they sleepily undressed into their nightwear and collapsed into bed together.

Nightmares

Riku's night was long and broken, plagued with one terrible dream that completely disrupted his ability to sleep. Having not had any friends prior to joining Corvus Cinis, Riku had never experienced a nightmare that pitted them against him - the dream he had on this night came as such a shock, especially with how lucidly it came to him.

The dream began as a seemingly normal day. Riku had awoken from sleep, only he apepared to be in his own room without Miyuki by his side. The dream being a dream, however, he did not notice anything unusual - in fact, within his dream the majority of the headquarters appeared to be a tranquil forest, with individual rooms nestled inside broad trees; and this did not feel out of place. The trouble, however, began when Riki stepped outside into the streets of Ul'dah.

As Riku emerged from his interesting reconstruction of the building, he found the great red meteor Dalamud awaiting him. It hovered just above the ground, at sat their, lightning flashing across its crimson surface violently, occasionally striking at the ground below it. Riku stood staring at the object in a terrified silence, until it struck out at him, as along hose-like appendage broke out of its depths to suck him up.

Riku found himself inside the red orb, in a dark near-pitch-black room with a single light in the middle. The light was shining upon a wide stage, where Alothia, Kassandra, Lily and Rosa were all dancing, wearing nothing but their underwear. Behind them, laughing diabolically, was Endricane, his face twisted into an evil expression. Suddenly, Endricane noticed Riku's presence and pointed meaningfully toward the boy. The girls snapped too attention, ceasing their dances, and immediately turned to face Endricane. After noticing the man's gesture they turned around to face Riku, and their expressions transformed into murderous smiles. Then as if they had suddenly broken free of a spell, all of the stage's occupants burst from their skin - all except Endricane - to become horrible twisted demonic versions of themselves. Endricane's transformation was different, however - his clothing dissintegrated from his body, as his muscles all of a sudden grew to many times their original size. His skin turned a bright red colour, and two large devilish horns extended out of his forehead. He stared at Riku with bloodlust.

Riku found himself frozen to the ground in fear, watching as the group of women slowly hopped down the stage, overlooked from a distance by Endricane. The ladies began to pucker their lips and advance toward Riku, until they suddenly stopped simultaneously, then broke out in a sprint toward the Lalafell boy. Upon realising that the demonic women were rushing forward to smother him in vile kisses, Riku turned tail and ran as fast as his stumpy littly legs could carry him. Looking back, and running into an endless shadow of darkness, Riku was beginning to feel relief as he began to form a gap between him and his pursuers. Then, as another twist of horribleness, the area in front of Riku suddenly turned bright red. The boy stopped, to find Endricane was standing right in front of his, the smile on the man's face crazed and insane, a horrible hunger etched into his expression. Slowly, Endricane opened his mouth, which stretched larger and larger until it was big enough to swallow Riku whole. he thens tarted sucking the air in front of him, drawing Riku closer and closer, until he fell into the maw and then into nothingness.

For a while, Riku lay there, the area around him pitch black. Then he suddenly remembered - his eyes were closed. All he needed to do was open them.

Slowly, Riku opened his eyes and examined his surroundings. He was within a rancid fleshy cavern, his body propped up against a slimy, wet wall, the ground beneath him covered in a horrible green-ish liquid. A sound was eminating from below the liquid, and bubbles were popping at its surface - something was down there, and it was coming to get him. So Riku did the only thing he could think of - he tried to run. But it was no use. He couldn't move. Upon further self examination, he found that his legs and arms had been chewwed off, and he was stranded where his limbless body was propped up. Soon, horrible creatures began to emerge from the fetid pool, some worm-like, others insect-like, some of them too horrible to accurately describe. All with hungry, murderous expressions, they advanced toward Riku.

"No!" He shouted to them "No!"

"NOOOOO!!!!"

Suddenly, the boy jolted upright. He was now in Miyuki's bed, alone, the light from outside shining in through the window. It was all a dream.

After dressing, and determining that the day was already in full-swing, Riku headed downstairs, finding Miyuki sat on her own on one of the sofas. Riku joined her, and snuggling up to her tightly, explained the horrors he had witnessed during the nigth, almost bursting into tears. Seeing her friend so upset, miyuki too began to waver, until Endricane entered the room and sat by their side. In panic, Riku pushed himself into Miyuki's arms even more tightly, trying to hide from the man who had eaten him in his dream. Endricane, however, managed to slowly calm Riku down, making him recount his dream and comforting the boy as best he could. Still shaken from his nightly visions, Riku calmed down slowly, and was beginning the get comfortable, sipping slowly from a glass of water - until there was a sudden noise as Miyu Evans forced her way in, sending the door swinging violently into the wall.

Startled, Riku dropped his glass, covering the floor, table and sofa with water. Thankfully, Endricane caught the glass before it could break, placing it on the table safely and sending Riku off to clean the mess up. Riku did the best he could to wipe up the puddle, but his efforts were rather poor, and after giving up, sat by Miyuki's side once again.

Slowly, things began to settle down, although Miyuki remained cautious and somewhat angry toward Miyu for giving Riku such a shock whilst the boy was already in a delicate state. Miyu and Endricane were beginning to get acquainted, until a woman named Raven Bloomfield arrived. There was obviously some tension between her and Miyu, so Raven sat herself down on the opposite end of the settee to Miyu. As Endricane attempted to relieve the tension, Riku fell asleep in Miyuki's embrace.

When Riku awoke from his nap, he was being held within Endricane's arms in the kitchen. Once Endricane had discovered that the boy had awoken, he placed him on the ground and give him two glasses of juice to hold, before leading both Riku and Miyuki - who was also in the kitchen - back out into the front room. Confused about what was going on, Riku placed the juice on the table and decided not to give it any further thought. Instead, he returned his attention to the sofa, and found that the only empty space was next to Miyu, who had was yet to get properly acquainted to. He was afraid to sit by her side, so instead looked for alternative options.

Seeing no other choice, Riku carefully climbed up Endricane's legs to sit on his lap. Edging closer to one side, Riku leaned down from atop Endricane's thighs to hug Miyuki. It was there that he remained for some time, mostly oblivious from the conversations occuring in the room, even as Lily walked in. By the time Raven and Miyu had left the room, Endricane Placed Riku neatly by Miyuki's side to allow the Lalafell to snuggle properly. In this position, Riku told Miyuki more about his past.

As Endricane and Lily shared histories themselves, eventually, the muscular warrior decided to end the conversation and leave the room. After he left, Riku and Miyuki discussed their plans for the rest of day, with Lily chiming in with suggestions. Eventually, the two Lalafell decided to go to Gridania and climb trees.

Once in the Central Shroud, just outside Gridania's gates, Riku took Miyuki to a clearing in the forest where numerous Marmots roamed around happily. After finding a suitable tree, Riku grabbed hold of Miyuki and leapt up onto one of the branches, keeping his dear friend close and secure. There, within the tree, they sat, snacked on cakes, discussed the forest itself and generally relaxed together. But once they were beginning to become distressed at having witnessed numerous adventurers coldly killing Marmots for no decent reason, the pair decided to move, and instead sat at the edge of a rarely-used road, resting by the edge of a flower bed and watching the marmots wander around nearby. Miyuki asked Riku to tickle her chin whilst they were relaxing, leading to him comparing her to a marmot as he both tickled her chin and stroked her hair at the same time. Eventually, happy to be in each other's company in such a tranquil location, the two Lalafell fell asleep together on the forest floor.

Wedding Bells

The next day, Riku awoke early to find Miyuki was still asleep. Deciding that his friend was safe enough where she lay, and they the weather seemed to be holding out, he travelled deeper into the forest to obtain some drinking water. It was here that he bumped into a rather frightened looking Lalafell botanist, who explained that an area of the forest needed tending to, but she could not reach it because rabid animals were attacking anything in the vicinity. She also explained that the animals were likely in great pain, and death would be more than a little respite for their tortured selves. And so, Riku felt duty-bound to perform the grim task, returning later to Miyuki in a thoroughly depressed state. No longer his usual curious, cuddly self, Riku sat with the awakening Miyuki as if in some sort of trance, barely reacting to her attempts to cheer him up.

After a while, it began to rain, and so after lending his coif to Miyuki, Riku led her back to the airship landing in order to return to the Corvus Cinis headquarters. By the time they arrived, Miyuki was beginning to get sick, and so Riku tended to her for the rest of the evening. Whilst the pair sat within the building, numerous comings and goings occured. The first was the arrival of Endricane, and then a miqo'te woman. After that, Kassandra and Alothia also turned up, only to leave again with everyone else in order to attend a party. Riku and Miyuki sat alone for some time, until a Dragoon named Aylis Crescent arrived at the door, seeking for Alothia. After finding that Alothia was not present, she left, and the Lalafell decided to head to bed in order to sleep.

The day after turned out to be rather busy for Riku. He spent most of the day working for the Immortal Flames as per the request of the Order of the Twin Adder. When he returned to Corvus Cinis, there was already a gathering within the building. Zenge, Tessa Jalloh, Kassandra and Endricane were in the midst of a conversation. As Riku rushed to Kassandra's side, he was asked to be the ringbearer at a Miqo'te named Nel's wedding. Not wanting to disappoint, Riku accepted and rushed up to his room in order to change into his formal outfit. Once Riku was ready, he returned to the others, asking exactly what a wedding was. It was explained to him that a wedding was a joining of two people, and Riku mistook that to mean something along the lines of item synthesis. When everyone was finally ready, they headed off to the airship landing in order to travel to Limsa Lominsa, where the wedding was taking place.

There was quite a large crowd already at the wedding when the Corvus Cinis party arrived. Riku immedately felt terrified, but thankfully, Endricane was there to lift him up and hold him tightly for comfort. Once he had given riku enough time to overcome the initial shock of the large crowd, Endricane took the boy over to Alothia, leaving him in her care. It was then that Alothia explained to Riku what his duty was, handing him the wedding rings, which he held within his hands as if they would break from the slightest of mishaps. Just as Riku was getting to grips with what he was supposed to be doing, Miyuki arrived, and met up with Alothia and Riku, recieving cuddles from her fellow Lalafell. Alothia explained to Miyuki that she would be the flower girl at the wedding, and it was her job to walk down the aisle with Riku ahead of the two brides, and throw flower petals from a basket. Once the nervous Lalafell were properly instructed, Alothia left them to stand by the rear exit, and asked the guests to be seated.

Once everyone was sat down, Riku and Miyuki began their timid progression down the aisle. They reached Alothia - who was acting as priest at the wedding - without incident and nevously slipped behind her so that they were free of the attention of the guests. Riku clung onto Miyuki tightly in an embrace, whilst Nel and her partner arrived and exchanged vows. Eventually, it was once again Riku's turn to step out to the audience in order to deliver the rings. As soon as all eyes turned on him, Riku suddenly becamed petrified, shaking rather violently and appearing as if he could burst into tears at any moment. He carefully handed the rings back to Alothia - unsure as to why he had even been given them in the first place if he was just giving them back - and returned to Miyuki's side, hugging her even more tightly.

After a few more vows, the brides kissed and suddenly everyone celebrated. Soon, everyone gathered at the back of the small outdoor tower, adn Miyuki led Riku gently over to mingle with the guests. It appeared, however, that Riku was uncomfortable with this idea. Instead, he wanted to climb a nearby tree, in order to get some space between himself and the crowd. Miyuki originally wanted to retrieve some cake, but when it turned out Riku did not want any, she decided toa sk Alothia to save some pieces for them, then joined Riku. As per Miyuki's request, Riku leapt into the tree with Miyuki in his arms, and landed gracefully within its brances, setting his friend down and sitting by her side. Within the tree's branches, the Lalafell hugged and looked down on the guests. As time passed by, the Lalafell continued to hug, and Riku began to sing softly. By the time his singing had stopped most of the guests had left, except for a few who Riku did not recognise. Rather upset that Kassandra, Endricane and Alothia had abandoned him and Miyuki at the wedding, Riku alerted Miyuki, and the pair decided to head home to the headquarters.

When the pair arrived at Corvus Cinis, it was getting late. They were greeted even before they had begun entering the building by Aylis, who was once again seeking Alothia. Miyuki decided to invite her in whilst Riku made some tea.

After a clumsy accident, Riku emerged from the kitchen with a painful limp and three mugs of tea. He placed the mugs down on the table and was called over by Aylis, who graciously cared for his injured knee. When the healing was done, Riku sat between Aylis and Miyuki, and embraced the latter gently. As Aylis began explaining to Miyuki why she behaved how she did, and that someone dear to her had been taken by the Empire, Riku began to fall sleep against Miyuki, even though she was beginning to get upset at Aylis's words. Eventually, Riku finally slipped out of consciousness entirely.

In the morning, despite his knee, Riku set out to begin working toward fulfilling his mission to help out the other Grand Companies. However, just as his duties were coming to an end, he was invited to the second of Nel's weddings. Not quite knowing whether it was normal or not to have two weddings, Riku rushed over as per Kassandra's request, and arrived at the ceremony rather late.

After watching the ceremony, Riku returned to the headquarters with Kassandra, Miyu and Tessa. Although he spent a while asleep on the sofa, when he awoke, he found himself presented with a rather delicious meal, produced by Tessa's rather impressive cooking skills. Once he had eaten and spent some more time resting, Riku set off to return to the Dragoon he had met in Coerthas, having mastered all the techniques presented to him to learn.

Riku was then tasked with another mission: every now and then, a large Bomb would appear deep in Cassiopeia Hollow, causing a stir in the rest of the cavern's inhabitants, driving monsters out and endangering passers-by outside of the cave. Riku was the defeat the latest of these Bombs as part of his training. Although he was warned to bring three warriors to aid him, Riku went alone.

Riku's battle with the Bomb was lengthy, but easy. Most of the time, he was able to keep the creature from moving; however, when the Bomb was able to act against him, it threw powerful fire spells in his direction. Riku managed to avoid most of the attacks, only leaving with minor burns, and defeated the beast on his own, gaining vital experience for doing so. After having completed his task, he returned to Ul'dah with plans to continue his Dragoon training when he feels ready for it, just as he was instructed.

Upon returning, Riku rushed off to the bathroom in order to bathe. When he returned, his burns became the centre of attention, and caused Miyuki much worry. Miyu, however, who was also present, dismissed the light injuries, explaining that it wasn't important. Miyuki remained worried, despite those words, and hugged Riku tightly.

Eventually, Miyu left and a Roegadyn named Burgenheim Rousa arrived. Riku and Miyuki continued to converse within his presence until Kassandra and Endricane joined them. At this point, the conversation took a turn for the worse, and Riku's innocence sparked a rather embarrassed discussion about sexual interraction. Miyuki feinted from embarrassment and shock after Riku's mistaking of innuendo terms caused the others to begin to suspect the pair of taking their relationship further than just cuddling. Endricane thus decided to give the boy the talk.

Riku payed little attention to Endricane's lengthy description - he was too worried about Miyuki and understood little of it anyway. All he learned as that babies were made when two individuals perform some action or another together whilst not wearing pants. After the discussion, Miyuki finally awoke and Burgenheim left. Alothia decided to take Riku and Miyuki into the kitchen in order to show Miyuki how to make tea. However, after Riku mentioned Aylis, Miyuki remembered to explain the Dragoon's situation to Alothia, upsetting the Miqo'te quite a lot, for apparently she knew the person Aylis was looking for quite well. After Alothia left for bed, the Lalafell followed suit, and returned to Miyuki's room, where they fell asleep performing one of their usual cuddles.

Arthur

Riku returned to Gridania the following day, and spent most of his time working for the Order of the Twin Adder. After a highly productive afternoon, Riku was promoted straight to Private Second Class. When Riku returned to Corvus Cinis, he met up with Miyuki, who - after their usual cuddles - decided to lead Riku to a cave she thought was pretty.

Riku and Miyuki spent the evening enjoying themselves within the cave. Riku's playful, curious side dictated his behaviour, as the pair hugged one-another and petted Marmots. After that, they decided to go swimming in the lake, which both enjoyed, until Riku's innocence brought up a topic of conversation that caused Miyuki to feint from embarrassment. Riku quickly led her out of the water and dried her off on his Grand Company overcoat, before dragging her over to a more comfortable spot. There, he hugged her until she regained consciousness.

When Miyuki awoke, she was initially rather dazed. The Lalafell sat, hugged and talked to one-another for the rest of the evening, Miyuki remaining in a somewhat embarrassed state, as Riku's innocent behaviour led to yet more discussion of taboo topics. Eventually, they fell asleep within each others' arms.

The next day, Riku returned to Gridania after seeing Miyuki back the headquarters. He spent the night over with the Order, and was presented with his own chocobo mount the next day. Riku decided to name the bird 'Arthur' and took the chocobo into Corvus Cinis HQ with him.

When Riku returned to Corvus Cinis, he had caused quite a stir. Both Kassandra and Endricane protested to the fact that Riku had brought the chocobo inside, but Miyuki instantly fell in love with the animal, not wanting to let it go. After Endricane went to bed, Kassandra was left with mixed feelings about the chocobo, seeing Miyuki and Riku's reactions to the thought of forcing Arthur to stay at the stables. Eventually, Kassandra herself decided to go to bed, not coming to a firm decision about the chocobo.

When Kassandra was gone, Riku and Miyuki discussed the idea of going swimming again some time. Overhearing the conversation, Blue Sunil supported the idea, considering joining them. Miyuki felt very embarrassed about this, knowing Riku's innocence and being worried of what Blue might think of his behaviour. However, before she could make any response to Blue's request, Blue left the building, leaving Riku rather confused. Riku decided to lead Arthur up to his bedroom, where he settled the chocobo down, then he and Miyuki bathed and went to bed in Riku's room so that they could be in Arthur's company. Once again, the Lalafell fell asleep within each others' arms.

In the Morning, Riku awoke early to begin training his chocobo. Giving Miyuki a tight cuddle, he got dressed and led Arthur out into the desert. There, he trained the chocobo to obey gesture commands, and the vocal command 'sneak'. When he returned to HQ, Kassandra and Endricane were there. Riku was beginning to feel a bit unwell by this point. He had been out in the desert for a while, and the heat was affecting him. Eventually, he entered a dazed state, and barely even registered Miyuki entering the front room. Before Riku even knew it, he had dozed off.

When Riku awoke, the front room was rather empty. However, that did not last long, as - in time - it began to become filled, thanks to the arrival of Kassandra, Miyuki, Alothia, Endricane, Aylis, Zenge, Rosa and Feral Ren. The group began in indepth discussion over a rescue operation for Aylis's partner, but Riku was too preoccupied looking after Miyuki - holding her tightly and keeping her comforted - to pay much attention. Eventually, he decided to make tea for everyone, and when he returned, the crowd began to thin out.

As things got quiet, Blue Sunil arrived, and began trying to organise a swimming trip to the beach. Riku was confused by the amount of preparation that was required; he thought that swimming only involved removing ones clothing and getting into water - why would you need a whole bag of supplies? Eventually, Blue left to go to sleep, whilst Alothia returned, bringing a midlander with her in order to offer him a place to stay. It was then that Endricane came down the stairs dressed as a Garlean Officer. It seemd that the burly highlander was planning a rescue operation for Aylis - a heroic endeavour, but also an edeavour that greatly worried both Riku and Miyuki; and likely Kassandra as well.

Once Endricane left, things began to become quiet again, and Riku made more tea for himself and Miyuki, before the pair decided to head off to bed, bringing Arthur upstairs with them.

The next morning, Riku was first to awaken. Heading downstairs with Miyuki, Riku made tea, and the pair discussed what they were going to do. They decided to return to the cave so that Riku could teach Miyuki how to swim properly so that she would be ready for their swimming trip with Blue. Once more, the Lalafell pair enjoyed themselves within the water, as Riku managed to teach Miyuki to swim in a matter of hours. After swimming, the pair decided to relax, until Riku got bored and decided to play. His first action was to gently wrestle Miyuki to the ground like a playfighting Marmot, where he lay upon her in a gentle hug, nibbling her ear gently and occasionally nibbling at her shoulder. Both decided to compare each other to marmots at this point - Riku decided that Miyuki was superior to Marmots, with her soft skin, beautiful body and cuddliness, whilst Miyuki decided that Riku's playful pounce was similar to Marmot behaviour. The two Lalafell continued their cuddles for a while, playing Eye-spy until they began to tire and fell asleep.

When the Lalafell awoke, they both decided to return to HQ. They dressed and rode Arthur home, only to find Corvus Cinis Headquarters completely deserted. Riku made tea again whilst the waited for Blue, who arrived slightly later than the two Lalafell expected. Now in the company of Blue, they once again set out to go swimming at the cave. Blue Sunil seemed quite embarrassed when she found that the Lalafell didn't bring swimsuits, but she seemed to handle it well, hiding her embarrassment as much as possible, although still blushing quite often, as she herself joined them, not wanting to be the odd one out. The trio had plenty of fun when they were in the water, whilst Arthur too enjoyed himself, bathing and playing and relaxing in the cool shade of the canyon. Riku showed off a trick he had come up with that combined his swimming ability with his Dragoon acrobatics, then gently got Miyuki to swim, praising her about how well she was progressing. Blue merely watched them for a time, before coming over and placing Miyuki on her shoulders whilst Riku fetched the ball Blue had brought along. The trio played catch for a while, until Miyuki fell from Blue's shoulder, falling into the water, hitting its surface with a painful belly flop.

In a great deal of worry, Riku quickly retrieved Miyuki and brought her to shore, and began massaging her belly. Miyuki seemed to be enoying it, until Blue came over and tickled her. Riku was a little worried that the tickling would hurt Miyuki, but she did not seem to mind. Watching Riku stand to one side, Blue decided he required tickling as well. Riku, being incredibly ticklish, did not react well to being tickled. He flailed wildly and laughed somewhat loudly, not even having time to breath. Completely ignorant to Riku's utter distress, Blue Sunil placed him on her lap to tickle him further. It was Miyuki who pointed out how Riku seemed to be reacting poorly to the activity, causing Blue to stop, leaving Riku almost paralysed in exhaustion and oxygen deprivation. Seeing Riku in such a state, Miyuki took the boy and held him on her lap whilst he weakly tried to hug her. Blue was initially rather upset about what she had done, but Miyuki managed to calm her down, offering her to lie beside the Lalafell as they relaxed. Things began to calm down a litle, until Riku's curious side led him to ask questions about Blue's breasts. Blue seemed much more accomodating to the questions than most women would, and was quite taken-aback about Riku's innocent comments on their size, not considering them particularly big herself. Eventually, Riku fell asleep with Miyuki once again, fading out of the conversation and into slumber.

Can't Dance? Let's Hug Instead!

Riku and Miyuki spent most of the next day playing in the water, even after Blue had left. Eventually, after a long cuddle together that neither wished to end, they decided to get dressed and head back to HQ in order to see whether anyone was around this time. When they returned, some members of Corvus Cinis were beginning to gather - Alothia, Kassandra and another member of Corvus Cinis had all arrived by the time the Lalafell had properly settled in. Once it was clear nobody else was going to come, Alothia decided to lead them off to visit some sort of event at the Gold Court. Riku brought Arthur with him, as Alothia had explained the event was to entertain and heal sick children, and thus the chocobo might prove to be an enjoyable attraction to them.

Once the group arrived, Alothia took Miyuki off to one of the tents, led by Oskar Helvig - who had organised the event - in order to heal some of the children. Riku let Arthur go to allow the  chocobo to wander around, whilst he sat himself down by Kassandra's side and cuddled her for support. Riku was feeling incredibly nervous in the crowd, but cheered up a little when a member of Corvus Cinis bought him some food. Riku remained seated for a while, unknowingly giving Kassandra comfort from her worries over Endricane, who had still not returned. It was, however, when Nel - who was performing musical entertainment for the event - requested volunteers that Riku was to leave his spot.

A member of Corvus Cinis had volunteered to waltz along to the music, and had chosen Riku as his dance partner. He lifted Riku up, and swung the poor Lalafell around to the tune, placing Riku in confused distress, the youth having absolutely no idea what was going on. Eventually, the man fell over, and Riku slipped from his grip, sliding a few metres along the floor. He certainly wasn't going to do that again.

As Riku steadied himself, he was requested to join yet another dance, this time with Xenedra as his partner. However, before he could be dragged into another dance with another member of the taller races, Miyuki emerged from the tent, interested in dancing herself. And so, Riku and Miyuki began dancing together. Miyuki found difficulty in keeping up wth the dance itself, but managed to carefully move somewhat fluently to the rhythm. Riku, however, despite his acrobatic finesse, found himself only able to offer particularly clumsy foot work, often accidentally standing on Miyuki's toes. Eventually, he just decided to give up, and cuddled Miyuki instead. For a while, the Lalafell held each other tightly, swaying gently to the music, until Miyuki decided they should return to the other Corvus Cinis members, who were now joined by Zenge. Riku agreed and led Miyuki over to them, hopping onto Kassandra's lap as Miyuki climbed onto Alothia. Cuddling up to their respective Miqo'te, the Lalafell sat comfortably until it was time to leave.

When everyone returned, most of Corvus Cinis decided to head to bed, whilst Riku and Miyuki remained with Kassandra, attempting to offer emotional support. Riku offered to sing to Kassandra in attempt to cheer her up. The song, however, did not seem to have much of an effect, despite its cheerful nature:

The Dark Devil Lord doth call Ogre for tea,

And Ogre politely eyes Devil, says he:

"Oh Devil, oh Lord, thy horns art so sharp,

Thy eyes art so eerie, thy evil so harsh;

But naught doth compare to your skills I now see,

As none doth yet best you at brewing sweet tea!"

After the song, Miyuki had suddenly become thirsty for tea, and so Riku made the beverage, and the three drank their tea slowly. When Riku finished his tea, he leaned against Miyuki and drifted off to sleep

Riku had a rather busy day the day after, as he spent most of it working hard for the Order of the Twin Adder. When it returned to HQ, it wasn't long before Endricane also came home, with arrows embedded in his shoulder. It appeared that due to the armour he had worn in order to go undercover, Endricane had been shot by members of the Immortal Flames upon his return. Thankfully, Kassandra's ability at first aid was enough to have the arrows safely removed, with a small amount of help from Riku. Riku wondered why Endricane hadn't brought an extra set of clothing to wear whilst in Eorzea so as to to prevent such a mistake in the first place.

After the arrows were removed, and Miyuki had made some delicious tea, Endricane decided to take a bath, soon joined by Kassandra, leaving Riku and Miyuki alone in the front room, until Blue arrived. Blue had barely sat down, before a newcommer came in through the door; an obsidian-skinned Miqo'te named Iingaate Leviathan, Who was interested in joining Corvus Cinis. After the newcommer introduced herself, Riku brought some snacks from the kitchen. The group began to settle down, until Endricane came back downstairs in just his towel, dripping blood everywhere and causing quite a stir among the ladies. Endricane began to get quite a bit irritated at the questions he was given by the two Miqo'te ladies, being tired and injured. And thus he went straight upstairs after fetching a glass of water from the kitchen. Riku cleaned up the floor after Endricane left, and returned to Miyuki's side to hug her tightly.

After a while Riku rested his head on Miyuki's lap and nuzzled into her belly gently. Pressed up against his best friend in a sleepy cuddle, Riku fell asleep.

The next day was perhaps busier than the last for the young Lalafell. Riku began the day working hard for the Grand Company, only returning to Corvus Cinis for a brief respite during the afternoon. It wasn't until duty brought him back to Ul'dah that he finally had a chance to relax. He had become so mentally and physically drained, that he was having trouble focusing, and was beginning to become even clumsier than usual. It was in the company of Endricane and Miyuki at the Mineral Concern that he had a chance to rest, although his dazed state left Endricane worried for his health. As Endricane chatted to the also-present Xenedra and another member of Corvus Cinis, Riku blindly reached for the nearest beverage in order to quench his thirst.

Unforunately, the bottle Riku had picked up was a rather strong alcoholic drink. Riku's co-ordination some how managed to drop to even worse levels, as he became unable to sit still without swaying, and fell off his chair onto the cold floor. It was at that time that Miyuki was forced to take him home, under the orders from Endricane to make sure Riku was to take a bath before bed.

Unfortunately, Riku had other plans - his intoxicated state led him to completely disregard Endricane's orders. instead, he crawled up onto a sofa and fell asleep, the corner of one of the cushions held softly in his mouth after idly chewwing at it.

Azure Dragoon

Riku had a busy two days after his last major visit to Corvus Cinis. At the morning of the first, he was promoted to Corporal by the Order of the Twin Adder. Then, he was called back to Ishgard to continue his Dragoon training. When Riku arrived at the Gates of Judgement, he was lectured in the exact reason he was chosen for Dragoon training. Apparently, it was the choice of higher beings to select those worthy of becoming an Azure Dragoon - an elite knight whose duty is to defend the region of Coerthas from monstrous dragons. Riku was one such chosen individual, and it was the task of his mentor to train him into this role.

Riku's mentor seemed impressed at how quickly the boy had progressed in so little time. It had been but days, and yet he was ready to take the final test. Riku spent the rest of the day practicing, taking only a short break to visit Corvus Cinis - although he did not stay long. After leaving and conducting more last-minute training, Riku returned to the Adder's Nest, where he was given new orders that combined two of his three jobs for more practicality. Riku was placed on patrol in the Black Shroud, heading to Quarrymill in the morning, and then to Coerthas in the afternoon, where he was to spend most of his day patrolling the border in order to defend the Black Shroud from any stray dragons. Once his allocated time was up, he would then head to camp Dragonhead, where his task would be to defend Ishgard for the early evening. Once that task is complete, he is then allowed leave to return home.

R

Riku Dragoon.jpg

iku's decision was to spend his free time at Corvus Cinis upon ending his work hours, but this night was not one where he chose to do as such. He had a busy day in the morning, and so lodged with the Order of the Twin Adder.

The next day, Riku returned to training until he was summoned to Ishgard. He was told to prove himself by defeating a dangerous Drake that was maturing into a future threat for the city. Dragons live for a long time, and if this Drake was not to be killed soon, it would reach adulthood and become a near-invincible force that only a veteran of the Azure Dragoons could handle. And so, Riku set out to complete this dark deed.

The battle was long and arduous, but Riku succeeded in the end. He returned to his mentor with the Drake's heart as proof, and thus was presented with the Drachen armour of the Azure Dragoon. Riku had become a fully-fledged Dragoon.

When Riku returned to Corvus Cinis that evening, he was not instantly recognised, due to his armour, but his identity was guessed with relative ease, as he was the only male Lalafell to reguarly enter the HQ after performing combat duties. Riku changed out of his armour upon returning and settled down with the rest of Corvus Cinis, as they were joined by a Miqo'te named Nanami Takanaru who had apparently been a friend of many members of Corvus Cinis for a long time. Meanwhile, Endricane and Kassandra had declared their will to find a new place of residence together, leaving the HQ, and Endricane passed on his security job to Riku, givning the young Lalafell yet another job to perform. Riku, however, despite the increasing burden upon him, was glad to have been given the opportunity to do something more useful for Corvus Cinis. He found that helping others was fulfilling, and would happily run himself ragged keeping his friends protected.

Lost Innocence

A few days passed, mostly uneventful; the most notable occurance being Riku's promotion to Serpent Sergeant of the Order of the Twin Adder. Life continued as normal, until the coming of the weekend; where Riku's life was about to change.

It had been a busy day, and Riku was keen to see Miyuki again. Heading down the Sapphire Exchange, he unexpectedly bumped into her as she was purchasing supplies for her botany, which Riku had suggested Miyuki should try, after an emotional conversation about usefulness. After greeting one-another, the two Lalafell decided to go out into Thanalan and start gathering resources.

The trip was a pleasant one, without the interruption of hostile monsters. Miyuki collected supplies, whilst Riku guarded her, until they had gathered all they could. Once they had finished, they returned to HQ, where Miyuki showed Riku a drawing of a marmot she had created. Riku was impressed by the picture, and would have hugged Miyuki tightly, if not for his dangerous Dragoon armour. The drawing made him make up his mind: he was going to buy Miyuki a beautiful new dress.

And so, Riku went off to the Market Wards, and returned with a woolen robe, handing it over to Miyuki. When she tried it on, both Lalafell  became so exited, they couldn't help but hug, at least after Riku had changed out of his Drachen armour, anyway. And so, for a time, the Lalafell cuddled up together, until Kassandra entered the building, and Miyuki excitedly showed her the result of the botany expedition. Kass seemed pleased to see the supplies, and praised the two Lalafell for their work.

Suddenly, Tessa's voice came over the pearl, rather excited and cheerful. There was a story-telling event occuring at the ampitheatre in Gridania, and Tessa wanted more Corvus Cinis members to join her there. With Kassandra unable to attend, it was down to Riku and Miyuki; and the latter Lalafell seemed rather interested, such as her enjoyment of stories was.  And thus Miyuki led Riku to the ampitheatre in Gridania to join the event.

When the two Lalafell arrived, they found that many familiar faces were present. It was Oskar's turn to entertain the group, and his choice was a rather unique poem that sounded more like a demon summoning ritual than anything else. Riku was incredibly confused, not really understanding any of the poem; but then so were most of the people present. When Oskar was done, it was Nel's turn, and she told an interesting fable that Riku quite enjoyed. The fairy tale was well recieved by the audience.

When Nel was finished, a Lalafell Rikitiki Tavatiki was called down from the benches overlooking the ampitheatre in order to tell a story of his own. However, before Riku could enjoy hearing this new story, a second call from the Linkshell stole his attention. It was a report from a member of Corvus Cinis - Imperials were attacking Gridania!

Riku immediately rushed off to join the battle, changing into his armour along the way. Once he arrived, he joined the numerous Adders, adventurers and mercinaries who had assembled to hold the battle line. The fight was fierce and arduous, with many deaths on both sides; but eventually, Eorzea prevailed. Riku was among the more active combatants, his fierce protectiveness driving him to the front lines in an attempt to lure harm away from the other Eorzean soldiers. Despite how naive he could often be, and despite his loathing of death and killing, Riku knew that if he was to hold back even a little, he would be leaving himself - and the rest of the defending army - open to attack.

A layer of the young Lalafell's sizable innocence had been torn appart.

When Riku returned to the ampitheatre, bringing news of the attack's end, everyone were leaving. Miyuki had fallen asleep nearby, so Riku sat down to rest, his mind disturbed by the actions he was forced to take against the Garleans. When Miyuki awoke, she immediately rushed to Riku's side, asking about the progress of the battle. Riku replied truthfully, including revealing what he was forced to do. As he began to truly realise what he had done, Riku was unable to hold back the tears, and began sobbing loudly, holding Miyuki tightly for comfort. And unable to remain calm with Riku's utter distress, Miyuki too began crying. There, the two Lalafell sat, crying, holding each other tightly, until they decided to return to Corvus Cinis.

When Riku and Miyuki returned, Kassandra was already inside.The Miqo'te seemed to be in considerable physical pain, apparently she had been out fighting until exhaustion. Unfortunately, however, little thought was spared for her - the two Lalafell were so utterly distracted by the Garlean invasion and the effect it had on Riku that they were unable to focus on anything else. The state of the two Lalafell was more than enough, however, to fill Kassandra with deep concern for them. As Miyuki was explaining to Kassandra about the battle, Endricane returned, he too having taken part in the defence of Eorzea. Endricane, however, did not offer comfort toward Riku. He believed that Riku should give up fighting; that he wasn't strong enough to deal with the darker side of protecting Eorzea from the Imperials.

Kassandra offered Riku something to help him sleep, but Riku declined the offer. He did not want to sleep - not after causing the deaths of soldiers, who even if they fought for a bad cause, were still living people worthy of honour and respect. Instead, Riku left the building to create a small memorial for them and offer them the closest he could manage to a funeral. Endricane was rather against Riku's moral view on the matter, but left the boy to do as he pleased, instead helping Kassandra to bed. When Riku returned to the building, he was alone with Miyuki.

Riku and Miyuki's moods began to become strained in the time they were spending on their own together. Miyuki was worried for Riku, wanting him to be happy, whilst Riku was upset about what he had done, and wishing to remain unhappy so as not to disrespect those he had killed. With the tension rising, Riku decided to leave the building to get some space, whilst Miyuki was left to head to bed, crying.

Riku did not sleep that night. Instead, he stood upon the highest point of Ul'dah and stared at the stars as if in a deep trance. By the morning, he had calmed down, but did not know how long this calm would last.

When Riku returned to the Corvus Cinis Headquarters, Kassandra was leaving the building. She spotted Riku as he stood upon the open gateway along the Sapphire exchange, leading the crossroad just by the HQ. She called the young Lalafell down, and Riku complied, and as was requested, escorted Kassandra safely to the Bismarck in Limsa Lominsa.

At the Bismarck, Riku and Kassandra joined Xenedra at one of the outdoor tables. They were then joined by Blue, Tessa and Endricane. Endricane noticed Riku's behaviour - the boy was clearly depressed. And so Endricane took Riku to one side and offered him advice. He told the Lalafell to try to keep his emotions contained and try to keep a smile so that others would not be affected by his emotions. Riku decided to follow Endricane's advice, and returned to the table, finally accepting food, and almost becoming his usual self, as his inner emotions just gathered up in their contained prison, threatening to burst.

When the idea of storytelling and song-performing came up, Riku accidentally hinted at his ability at lute-playing and singing. Apparently being her typical self, Xenedra pushed Riku to perform, handing him a lute to play on. And so, Riku played and sang a song that greatly impressed all of the present diners.

Once Riku's song was over, the group began to leave. Riku returned to HQ with Kassandra, where Kassandra began writing fliers. When they arrived, Miyuki was on one of the sofas. Riku immediately tore off his armour and embraced Miyuki in a huge appologetic hug for their conflict the night before. There the two Lalafell hugged, until Kassandra was done. After that, they examined the jobs Kassandra had written up on the fliers, joined by Blue and Rosa, then Miyuki went off to bed to take a quick nap.

Whilst Miyuki was away, Rosa sat herself down beside Riku and spoke of eating wild Lalafell. Riku got so afraid, he went to hide behind the sofa. He remained there until Alothia arrived and managed to determine that Rosa was mistaking Marmots for wild Lalafell. Riku was no less upset from hearing that Rosa ate Marmots, chosing to remain behind the chair until Rosa would move. Then, he pulled himself over and cuddled up with Alothia, until the Miqo'te had to leave. When Alothia was gone, Rosa began to ask Riku questions that brought his contained emotions to his attention. Riku began to get upset despite his attempts at holding in his feelings, and hugged Kassandra for support. Miyuki came down whilst Riku was holding onto Kassandra, and she too joined the hug.

Whilst the trio were hugging, Alothia returned to the room, seeming a little out-of-sorts. She promptly left to go drinking, visibly upset over something. Noticing how upset Alothia was, Miyuki, Rosa and Kassandra decided to go and comfort her. Riku came along with Miyuki, although he thought that Alothia had left because she wanted to be alone, and thus should not have been disturbed. When the group arrived at the Mineral Concern, they began to comfort Alothia, whilst Riku found a quiet corner to sit, knowing that seeing Alothia upset would be enough to set him off on an emotional outburst. Once Alothia was calmed down, attention turned to Riku. Miyuki began to become upset at Riku's cold, dry state, wanting the old Riku back. Alothia heard Miyuki, and decided to give Riku some advice of her own, telling him not to hold his emotions in, but to instead return to the headquarters and take his anger out in the basement.

And so, Riku returned, and began destroying items in the basement with his lance, until there was nothing left to destroy. Then, he started punching and kicking the walls until both his hands and feet were raw and covered in blood.

When Riku emerged from the basement, Miyuki and Zenge were the only ones present. Miyuki was so shocked by Riku's appearance, she started crying once more. However, Riku was now rather calmed down, only offering Miyuki a soft smile as Zenge saw to the wounds on his hands, completely forgetting about Riku's feet. When Zenge was gone, Miyuki expressed how upset she was that she was unable to help, and so Riku got her to help him bandage his feet in the same manner Zenge had dealt with his hands. At long last, all of Riku's wounds were covered, and the two Lalafell cuddled, both glad that Riku was returning to normal. They decided to head straight to bed, where they lay together cuddling, as if everything was back to normal. Unfortunately, what Riku would not share with Miyuki was that he had predicted a sleepness night for himself. And sleepless it was; ever time he would drift off, he could immediately awaken from dream of death and killing.

On the next day, after Alothia's white magic had healed Riku's bandaged wounds, Riku was sent word that the Imperials had a new target: Ul'dah. They began their attack near camp Black Brush, but the morning's defence force - including Riku himself - managed to keep them held at bay. Riku's fighting began early in the morning, and by noon, he was dismissed due to fatigue and sent to rest by his superiors with a Linkpearl for contact in case he was needed once more. When Riku returned to HQ - with Arthur, who had been taken to Ul'dah by the small force of Twin Adders who had joined the fight alongside Riku - he immediately vented the anger at having killed more Imperials, then cuddled with Miyuki tightly.

After a few hours, Endricane entered the building, apparently having entered the battle shortly after Riku had left. The man was utterly exhausted and covered in blood - most of it unlikely to be his own. It seemed that the battle was reaching a stalemate - the Imperials kept coming, but the far smaller defence force were holding them off with minimal casualties. It was likely the Empire would eventually lose, given the numbers they had thrown at the battle line. Surely they would run out of soldiers soon.

The rest of the day turned out to be mostly uneventful. Riku was not required in the battle after he had left, evidence of the defence force's success. And so instead, he spent the evening cuddling Miyuki, until the two Lalafell went to bed.

Reversion Through Loss

The day after, Riku returned to working for the Order of the Twin Adder. His day was mostly uneventful, except for the fact that he was beginning to break down further and further from the trauma of having killed. Driven closer and closer to the borders of insanity, Riku returned to Corvus Cinis HQ, his expression a false smile, as he not only tries to convince his friends, but also himself, that he was totally fine. Unfortunately, it would not last. Short, sharp outbursts began to occur as he struggled to hold back his feelings. He felt rage toward things he should not, and his mind continued to flash at him images of death and destruction.

As Riku continued to wrestle with his emotional state, a new person found their way into Corvus Cinis; a dark-skinned Miqo'te named Maytoya. Maytoya seemed to have been running from someone, seeking refuge at Corvus Cinis. However, with Kassnadra and Endricane flirting with one-another, whilst Riku broke down and Miyuki got upset, Maytoya found herself partly ignored - at least for a while.

As time passed, Riku's condition grew worse, until his mind simply could not handle the stress and emotional turmoil. And thus he feinted, and when he awoke, he had entirely lost the memory of the past four days, believing that he had just given Miyuki her new dress, and suddenly fallen asleep for an unknown reason. At first, Miyuki seemed worried, whilst the other members of Corvus Cinis seemed oddly unaffected, perhaps having seen such events many times in the past. Slowly, however, Miyuki's mood began to ease up, as the joy of Riku returning to normal began to outweigh his memory loss. The two Lalafell barely stopped hugging that evening, even as Maytoya added to the confusion by switching personalities; as it seemed that this particular Miqo'te had more than one of them, and it appeared that at least one of the personalities did not know of the existance of the other.

After a while, though, the night started to calm down. Rosa made a brief visit, whilst the others discussed magic. Endricane - who had fallen asleep by Kassandra's desk - had finally awoken, and claimed that he was daydreaming, leading Kassandra to comment that he had been off in Lala-land. This expression greatly confused Riku, who had taken it literally to mean some sort of location filled with Lalafell. The topic soon changed, however, as Kassandra and Endricane both retired to bed, leaving Riku and Miyuki snuggling up together on the sofa, until Riku fell asleep, no longer the troubled killer; his innocence restored - at least until his memory would return. Riku was no longer a boy who had killed.

The next day, Riku performed his usual duties for the Adders, before returning to Corvus Cinis, then setting out with Miyuki to visit her parents. Miyuki's mother seemed rather fond of Riku, but also seemed to have mistaken the relationship between Miyuki and Riku as something rather more than it was.

After sleeping over at Miyuki's family's home, Riku set out once more, only to have a far less pleasant day than the previous. During his patrols, he had come across Maelstrom soldiers leading prisoners back to Limsa Lominsa. They seemed to pirates who were recruited into the Grand Company's ranks, and appeared to be trying to make money by handing in Adder operatives as spies. This however, appeared to be a bluff, and Riku felt saddened to watch the deceptive display, wishing he could do something about it, but not wanting to start a civil war. The whole display had caused him to feel depressed for the rest of the day, also making him doubt whether it was really worth protecting a continent with such immoral people. Fortunately, in the evening, Riku was calmed by Alothia.

Season of Sorrow

With the season now closing ever nearer to its peak, and the blossom trees around the world losing their beautiful flowers, so too began the decline of cheer and happiness within the walls of Corvus Cinis.

It began with Alothia. After returning from a mission with Kassandra, Alothia was shouted at by Endricane for potentially endangering the man's lover. This made Alothia particularly unhappy, as she felt as though she could not do anything right; but equally, her and other members of Corvus Cinis began to realise how Endricane's overprotective treatment of Kassandra was almost as if she was his possession. That night, Alothia, Riku, Miyuki and Rosa spent the evening together in order to provide comfort for Alothia. Riku felt considerable anger toward what Endricane had caused Alothia to feel, and his anger was not helped when Endricane briefly returned, but did not offer appologies.

The next day, no aid was aimed toward healing emotional wounds, as Endricane refused to appologise to Alothia. He also suggested Miyuki and Riku should spend more time apart, before telling the Lalafell to do more jobs for Corvus Cinis - something which Riku found difficult, given the only availible jobs he knew about were not to his strengths; whereas Miyuki was not particularly comfortable going anywhere alone outside of Ul'dah, unless it was her home in Little Ala Mhigo. Eventually, Endricane left in a strop over Riku's anger toward him over the previous night, and so Riku took Miyuki out for tea and ice cream in an attempt to cheer her up.

The following day, Riku and Miyuki put their names down for a job on Kass's notice board, but it wasn't until the day after that in which further events occured. Upon the said day, Riku's duties for the Order of the Twin Adder stretched well into the evening, as he was tasked with guard duty to aid the Wailers, who were currently low in number due to frequent Garlean attacks on the Black Shroud. And so, Riku was posted at the ampitheatre to oversee a rehersal for a fashion show that was going to occur on the weekend. Unfortunately, events were not to Riku's expectations, as both Alothia and Kassandra had arrived to watch; neither of whom paid Riku much attention, making the young Lalafell feel ignored and unnoticed. And thus, he spent the night in the shroud with the marmots.

After yet another day of work, Riku finally decided to return to Corvus Cinis Headquarters, where he was somewhat relieved as Alothia explained her and Kassandra's lack of interaction with him. That night, Alothia showed various members her book about sex, causing Miyuki to become embarrassed and Riku to become confused. Two days later, however, sorrow and drama returned, this time in the form of an argument between Kassandra and Miyuki over Endricane. The result was that both participants broke down in tears, although Kassandra took it a step further by storming out of the building, making as if her intentions were to never return.

The next day was yet more eventful, as it was the day of the fashion show. Riku was once again placed on duty, and he found himself rather bored until two nobles who appeared to be in charge of one of the two teams began causing trouble. At first, they appeared to be applying enchanted perfume to their team, then they started insulting the other team. Riku found himself keeping a close eye on them, until their team lost and one of them started flipping tables in a fit of rage. Riku tried to control the situation by threatening to arrest the raging noble, but he was largely ignored, until one of the audience members came forth and assaulted the hysterical woman. Riku remained as calm as possible, however, although still appearing rather timid - perhaps that being the reason he was ignored in the first place - and threatened the attacker with the possiblity of arrest, too, although not acting immediately because of who her victim was. The woman pointed out the she was also a member of the Order of the Twin Adder, but Riku thought to himself that if he could not arrest her, he could report her to his superiors instead. He decided against that, however, as the woman ceased her assault, and the crowd began to disperse. Rather exhausted from the ordeal, Riku awaited for the majority of the audience and competetors to leave before he returned to the Adders' Nest to report to his superiors, leaving out the actions of the violent audience member, as he had told her he would only act if she had not stopped. Instead, he only explained the event itself and the action of the nobles both during and after the results were declared.

Another passing of days – very lonely days, as Riku’s schedule seemed to cause him to miss almost all of the activity within Corvus Cinis. A damaged linkpearl, worse for wear due to very clumsy usage, adding to the illusion of isolation. Riku was beginning to feel depressed and lonely – until one day, his linkpearl decided to work.

All of a sudden, Riku was hearing an on-going conversation. So excited to hear the voices of his friends, he managed to overcome his fear of using the device in order to join in. And join in he did, although most of his contributions were accidental, as his pearl was stolen by a marmot, and then his comments on the rain were overheard. The company had a fearful moment when Riku decided to use a Funguar as shelter, but thankfully, it was one of the less-dangerous breeds. Upon hearing rumours of plant-zombies caused by the spores the Funguars produce, Riku immediately ran to the nearest body of water to wash his exposed head, the pond at the Acorn Orchard.

Once at the Acorn Orchard, Riku was befriended by a thirteen year old Hyur boy and his eleven year old brother. Although Riku was the oldest, and by far most experienced of the trio, his personality and stature led to his treatment putting him on par with the younger of the brothers. Upon visiting their home, Riku was greeted in a friendly manner by the siblings’ mother, and stayed for dinner.

When it was time to go, Riku bid the family farewell and returned to Corvus Cinis. Unfortunately, the HQ was as empty as was usual as of late, as if the conversation over the linkpearl was like a glimpse into old times, yet Riku was stuck in the lonelier present. And thus, under these circumstances, Riku decided to have an early night.

Riku spent the next few days in the presence of his new friends in Gridania, spending two nights there at their request. He thoroughly enjoyed himself, able to live as a regular child for the first time in his life. He had so much fun that he actually began to wish to remain in Gridania - only he had to return to Corvus Cinis, to see Miyuki and all his other friends.

When Riku arrived at Corvus Cinis, he could almost feel the change in atmosphere. He felt distracted and slightly depressed, as those around him behaved as adults. For the first time, he was not in the mood for cuddles.

At the moment Miyuki entered the room, Riku began to feel worse. Miyuki was the reason he returned to Corvus Cinis day after day. She hadn't been out of her room much at all recently, so Riku had seen very little of her - he was beginning to feel slightly detatched. She was also the person keeping him from moving back to Gridania. As the afternoon progressed, Riku's mood didn't change, until the contrast between Corvus Cinis and Riku's friends' house in Gridania was emphasised when Kassandra referred to Riku as a man.

Riku could not remain any longer. He needed some air. And so he took a break outside. When he returned, Kassandra had gone outside and Riku and Miyuki were alone. Emotions began to tense up as Miyuki managed to get Riku to explain why he was in such an uncharacteristic mood. Feeling upset that Riku wanted to move, Miyuki went straight to her bedroom, leaving Riku lying on the sofa, not knowing what to do or what to think. He just lay there, until he fell asleep.

A few days later, within the headquarters, Riku found himself feeling somewhat uncomfortable in the presence of all his friends, despite wanting to see them more often. It was a number of things that added to his negative emotions; the fact that the others seemed rather casual about the lack of encounters, that fact that Alothia didn't mind about Riku's thoughts on moving away - which only made him feel even less like he belonged. Then there were hints that Corvus Cinis was busy on a number of jobs recently, which completely contrasted Riku's experience in the company, making him feel more like an outsider. In the end, these feelings, combined with those he had felt earler, made the young Lalafell feel rather depressed. He broke down in tears in front of everyone.

Just as Riku was recovering, with Miyuki's helpful comforting, there was a knock at the door. It was Deirdre, and she was absolutely covered in blood. As the others performed surgery on her, Riku was left sitting in the corner, feeling not only emotional, but now useless, too. When the ordeal was over, he went straight into the kitchen with the wish to be alone, and eventually fell asleep on the hard kitchen floor, with Miyuki overlooking him.

Magical Cheesecake

On the next day, Riku had the morning off work, within which he spent his time with his friends in Gridania, discussing various subjects commonly discussed by children, and playing numerous games also quite often played by those yet to be adults. By the time Riku was ready to go to work, he was feeling rather quite happy.

Riku's work hours turned out to only be rather short, and only involved standing around camp Dragonhead; technically, he had the day off as a member of the Order, but as a Dragoon, he had no such luck. When his work finally ended, he returned to HQ to find Kassandra cleaning up the floor and an Elezen he had never seen before standing around. As he entered, Burgenheim came up behind him and also entered the building, whilst Miyuki conveniently entered the front room from the hallway. It seemed that today was going to be another uncharacteristically busy day at Corvus Cinis.

After Riku had rushed upstairs to get changed, he returned to find Burgenheim carefully carrying out the sofa that had been ruined during Deirdre's surgery. Meanwhile, Souyo Xander - the Elezen - was planning meals to make for company. Riku found Souyo almost too enthusiastic to cook, making him think that the Elezen was fattening the rest of the company up - especially the two Lalafell - to eat them. Naturally Miyuki was quite amused by this, as she told him that it was highly unlikely.

When Miyuki herself left the room to change out of her night clothes, Riku sat against the wall, out of everyone's way, amusing himself by playing games he had learned from his friends in Gridania. Burgenheim caught Riku in the act of producing rather abysmal shadow puppets, although the Roegadyn seemed oddly complimenting over Riku's ability. Soon, though, Miyuki returned, meaning Riku didn't have to entertain himself anymore - not that that had the time to; Souyo had already begun cooking, and soon arrived with two plates of salad - one for each Lalafell, as Burgenheim left to run some errands, whilst Kassandra had fallen asleep at her desk. Miyuki thoroughly enjoyed her salad, whilst Riku was not quite as grateful; he was still worried about the nature of the meal, and although he did not dislike salad, his opinion of its taste was rather neutral.

The next part of the meal arrived before Riku had even finished his salad - it was soup. Riku's suspisions rose at the sheer amount of food that was coming his way, so much so that he spoke his fears outloud - loud enough for Souyo to hear! Thankfully, the Elezen was not offended, and assured the boy that he did not favour the taste of Lalafell. And so, Riku continued his meal, pouring the remains of his salad into the soup and eating it, getting soup all over his face, which amused Miyuki.

After the soup, it was time for cake - cheesecake! This quite excited Miyuki, who began enjoying her cake immediately. Riku was less excited however, but ate his meal none the less, once again adding to the mess on his face. Once Riku had finished, Souyo handed him a cloth to wipe his face with, whilst the Elezen left to wash up the dishes. Riku - with the sugar slowly entering his system, slowly giving him rather too much energy - complained to Miyuki how full up he felt, wondering if having such a heavy belly was how it felt to be a fat person. Soon, he began pondering whether hugging a fat person would be any more comfortable than hugging a thin person, as surely a fat person would be more cushiony, then finally, the sugar rush began.

Somehow, Riku managed to transform the idea of a fat person into the idea of a person made of jelly. Soon, he started making jelly onomatopoeia, sending Miyuki into hysterical giggling. The energy kept coming, however, and Riku found himself running around the room, pretending to be made of jelly, much to the surprise of Kassandra - who had barely woken up - and Endricane, who had only just entered the building. Riku finally tired himself out, however, collapsing onto Miyuki with a cuddle. However, his jelly-fantasies were far from over, and continued even after Alothia entered the room - and Aly did nothing but encourage it, joining in with the jelliness. And so, Riku - changed as if by magic by the sugar within the cheesecake - continued with the jelly silliness until he was so exhausted, he fell asleep on the floor, dreaming about jelly.

When Riku returned to HQ on the evening of the next day, however, the building was quite different. Empty. Deserted. Nobody was there. However, he did not have to look far to find out why - his linkpearl told him instead. After much fuzzing, fizzing, buzzing and chirping, the object finally began to work, alerting him to the fact that everyone were out playing games. When Riku asked about it, he was told that he was late to Tessa's party! Without even thinking about changing out of his deadly Drachen armour, Riku rushed off to the Mineral Concern as he was instructed to do.

When Riku arrived, he saw Tessa standing around in what appeared to be her underwear. He decided not to ask about it, and instead nibbled on some of the food until everyone else arrived - apparently having had played hide-and-seek around the city as one of the party games. Alothia gave Riku a replacement for his damaged pearl, whilst Tessa took to the stage in order to address the reasonably large number of guests. A gambling game involving dice was announced, which Zenge won, but he was stripped of his prize on account of the fact that he had already won a game. And so the prize went to a man named Daemon Blade instead. Once this game was over, some of the guests assembled on the stage as part of a costume competition, whilst Endricane rushed off to get a costume of his own. Riku seemed rather uninterested, however, happier instead to sit under the table rolling a die across the floor. Until Endricane returned in a full set of Drachen armour.

Riku was incredibly surprised Endricane even had a set of Dragoon armour, and wondered how he had managed to obtain it. He did not ask, however, but oddly, nobody was able to guess who Endricane had come dressed as. Tessa had dressed as Burgenheim, Kassandra had dressed as Deirdre, Endricane had dressed as Riku, Daemon had dressed as Kassandra, Burgenheim had dressed as Fearless Wynn, Nel had dressed as Oskar and Riku missed who Alothia was dressed as.

As the costume contest came to a close, Riku began to fall asleep, apparently somehow able to manage it in his rather spikey, blade-covered Drachen armour. When he awoke, Riku finally removed his armour, becoming rather uncomfortable in it after sleeping with it on. Everyone were now playing a rather adult drinking game named "shot or dare". Naturally, most of the guests were now becoming quite drunk, and some of the dares were becoming quite fearsome indeed. Riku decided he would be better off not joining in with this game, thinking: "adults play such weird games...".

When that game was over, Riku was invited to join the circle of guests as a story-telling game was beginning. However, Riku was becoming so sleepy, he was unable to pay attention, and soon fell asleep cudding the lion cub Endricane and Kassandra had brought with them. When Riku finally dozed off, the lion cub was removed from his arms, and Burgenheim carried him back to HQ.

Captivity Most Foul

As the days continued to pass, Riku's happiness rose higher. Aided by numerous servings of delicious cheesecake, Riku was at long last happy after substantial time spent in depression. But the happiness was not to last.

It began with a mission. Given Riku did not have a clear-cut affiliation with any of the sub-groups of the Order of the Twin Adder due to his position of performing two jobs simultaniously (Adder and Dragoon), the mission had him attached on the short-term to the White Wolves, a section of the Order devoted to the youths of Gridania. The group were on a training exercise that was to teach them the basics of strategically defending a position whilst surviving out in the depths of the Black Shroud. Overlooked by a contingent of the Red Otters, whom were the main force of the mission, the White Wolves were supposed to be safe from harm.

The goal of the Red Otter force was to blockade the primary exit from a valley where a group of Ixali had settled. These Ixali were severely disturbing the forest, and the Adders hoped that with the blockade in place, the Ixali would retreat down the other side of the valley and out into Coerthas. Alas, their expectations were set too high.

As the blockade force began to settle down to rest, the Ixali ambushed their camp. Riku and the Red Otters fought hard to protect the White Wolves, allowing the trainees and their supervisors to escape, but in the process getting captured themselves. Riku soon found himself in a makeshift prison built into a valley-side cave, tortured for information on the strengths and weeknesses of the Order of the Twin Adder; it seemed the Ixali were looking for ways to slowly take over the Shroud.

Riku spent weeks in captivity, forced to endure horrific actions taken out by an Ixali torturer. The other soldiers were slaughtered one-by-one as they either refused to give information away, or simply were not able to understand the wishes of their captors. And Riku was forced to watch every single murder. Forced to endure horrible living conditions. Forced to almost starve in a deep, dark cave. Days turned into weeks. And slowly, Riku's hope drained away.

Clink… clink… clink… clink...

A small sound. A sound that in any other situation may be forgotten. Ignored. Unnoticed. But now… now it could have been as loud as the roar of an Imperial airship engine for all that mattered. Because Riku knew that sound. A sound embedded into him so furiously, considering that but a few days had passed, that it could not be mistaken. The sound all the prisoners listened out for… before they had all died one-by-one as demands remained unmet, leaving only Riku and one other – a Roegadyn man named Rhys Hywnywth. But the sound… the clinking. The metal on metal. It meant only one thing… two were going to become one.

Creak…

Riku dared not look up. He dared not direct his eyes at what he clearly knew was occurring before him. The opening of the cell door. Slowly. Gently. Gently, but not for comfort. No, the gentleness was for suspense. To prolong the moment. To instil fear of what was to come. A fate that both prisoners knew well by now.

One of them was going to die.

No, Riku dared not look up. He could not bear it. He could not look upon his Ixali captor, with its sharp beak and horrible horns. Nor could he possibly gaze upon the face of his aging cellmate, as all he would see is an expression of pathetic hopelessness.

Clink… clink…

The Ixali was getting closer, its terrible gruesome axe clinking and clanging against the beast’s crude armour.

Step… step… step…

Silence.

“Squaaawk!”

Loud. Sudden. The beast let out its shrill squawk, something Riku very much expected, and yet he could not help himself from suddenly jolting at the sudden noise.

“No!”

Booming, yet aging, the voice of Rhys Hywnywth called back with a failed attempt to mask fear. But it was no use. It was impossible to hide it anymore. Because Rhys knew what the Ixali were capable of. This one in particular. Because it was cruel. Cruel and evil and a beast with an excessive joy for mutilation. No, there was no way for one with the experience of such a creature’s presence to hide their fear in the slightest.

“Take me! He is too young!” The Roegadyn demanded with a wavering voice.

“Take you?” The Ixali replied, its shrill, horrible voice like nails across a chalkboard. “Take you, I should? Why? When one so old, you are. Oh, the eyes of an old dying one, to see. Watching, as die, one so young does. Yes. Enjoy seeing those eyes, this one does. Enjoy. Enjoy the taste… in the air… yet equally… enjoy seeing the eyes of the child, this one does also. The fear… the horror… so strong, almost taste it already, this one can. Tough choice, it is.”

“Please…” Rhys begged. “Please! I am old! Worthless! The boy must live on! He means more to the Adders! If you keep him alive, there is a greater chance of co-operation!”

“Yes…” the Ixali mused. “Yes… yes! This one sees! See, this one does! Smart, that one is. Smart. Oh, so smart. But watch, the child must. Watch. And see the death.”

The Ixali took another step forward.

“Well?” Rhys asked. He did not understand. He was not gifted with the knowledge of the speech of Garuda’s beasts. “What will it be?” Suddenly, Riku felt a sharp pain as his hair was tugged upon with great force, snapping his head back into position so that his eyes rested upon the Ixali’s face. He closed his eyes to remove the image, but a violent slap across the face forced him to reconsider. He had to watch. There was no other choice.

“No!” Rhys called in anger. He dashed forth to attempt to tackle the Ixali to the floor, but as suddenly as he had sprung forth, a second Ixali rushed into the room and sent its knee straight into Rhys’s chest. The aging Roegadyn keeled over, clutching at his stomach in pain.

The Ixali holding Riku smiled. “Swap,” it said in a cunning voice, a wide smile forming on its face, all of its terrible teeth visible. Suddenly, the Ixali let go of Riku, causing the poor Lalafell to collapse violently to the hard ground. But as soon as Riku had been released, the other Ixali quickly regained hold of him, forcing him upright with painful force and holding his head to face his fellow captor. The Ixali used its free hand to forcibly hold open one of Riku’s eyes so that he would not miss a moment of what was to come. “We begin,” the torturer sneered, before retrieving its axe – covered in barbs and spikes and all manner of horrible extensions. This was not made to cleanly cleave and cut. It was made to splay and rip and tear…

“Thank the Twelve!” Rhys said, a joyous tone taking his voice. “Thank the Twelve that he is spared! Riku! Listen to me! Please… get out. Get out of here. Do it for me. Please.”

Then it began. The Ixali sliced and cut and chopped and mutilated, all the while with Riku watching, unable to look away. Unable to blink. He watched as Rhys broke up – literally. Pieces of frail Roegadyn coming clean off, skin dragged from bone. Flesh torn from limb. Organs dug out and displaced all across the cell. Whimpering, Riku watched, too horrified to cry. Too horrified to scream or call out. He merely whimpered. And watched.

And then it was over. Rhys was unrecognisable. Just a pile of unidentifiable fleshy mess. It was over. Riku was alone.

Alone. And desperate.

And that was when they left. The Ixali. Their work was done for the day. No doubt they’d be back later, to attempt to drain Riku of all strategic information he had on the Order. Just as they had been doing day after day.

Hope? No. He had none. Not anymore. No hope was left. Riku just felt… alone. Alone and forsaken.

But then suddenly, light began to shine through gaps in the walls of the cave the cell was built into.

Clink… clink… clink… this wasn’t metal on metal. It was metal on stone. The sound got louder and louder. The light got brighter and brighter.

Freedom.

Freedom was coming.

Freedom…

When Riku was finally rescued, his traumatised state was untreatable at the Adders' Nest. And so, he was sent back to Corvus Cinis to be among friends. When Riku returned he was welcomed by Alothia and Miyuki who made sure to see to his needs. But his behaviour only told them one thing: it would be a long recovery. And even then, it was likely Riku would never fully return to normal.

A few more days passed as Riku spent his time within the Corvus Cinis Headquarters. He couldn't sleep, he hardly ate, and spent most of his time alone, crying, watching flashbacks of the horrible grusome actions he had witnessed within the Ixali prison. Even Miyuki's presence was not enough to change his behaviour. But one person's certainly was. Leanna Milose. Another Lalafell, who seemed to at least have some acquaintance with Corvus Cinis. However, Riku did not know Leanna. And thus, when she went to help him, flashbacks of what he had seen in captivity led him to completely mistrust and misread her actions. He panicked. He found himself desperately trying to escape Corvus Cinis, hitting the same spot on the wall over and over in an attempt to break through. But the only thing he managed to damage were his hands. He gave up. Shaken, he looked to Miyuki for comfort whilst she carefully fed him. Eventually, however, Riku collapsed in exhaustion from lack of sleep, allowing the others to bandage his hands and take him back to bed.

History

Birth and the Early Adventures

Riku's eventful history began as dark and bloody as often a failed adventure may end. For it was under dire circumstances that his birth took place; and even furthermore dire timing. It was a cold evening - but it was always cold in these particular mountains, where a group of five adventurers had set up camp beneath a canopy of snow-covered trees. The smallest of these adventurers - a Dunesfolk couple - were tending to the basic chores of the camp whilst the other three, who did not have the burden of an unborn child, hunted for food. It was - for some hours - just like any other evening in these lands. Bitterly cold, quiet, and uneventful. However, by the time nightfall came upon the land, that was when the party realised they had chosen a poor place to pitch up their camp on this particular day.

It started off as a distant howl - the voices of wolves carried across the frozen winds with a chilling lick of air to accompany them. With the barely visible full moon shining through the tree-tops and the smell of burning pine to guide them, the blood-thirsty beasts that inhabited these parts snaked their way through the forest like an earth-bound cloud of hungry bees. They sought for one indulgence and one indulgence alone - treasured meat with which to fill their starved bellies.

The unsuspecting Lalafell, in the meantime, had a problem of their own to attend to. Mrs Toiiku's waters had broken, and now, the pair needed to carefully and gently extract the baby from its fleshy cradle. It was not to be a short labour - Mrs Toiiku was young and this was her first birth; it was only too soon that the sound of snarling and growling and barking and howling reached the couples' fragile pointed ears. The Dunesfolk almost immediately sensed their little lives beginning to be sucked away from the realm of the living. But they cared not; for there was now only one thing and one thing alone that filled their tiny heads - the safety of their offspring.

"Push! Push! Push!"

snarl! howl! Arf!

At long last, the child was free! Cradled in the arms of its mother as if it were - and in fact it very well was - the greatest treasure she had ever laid hands on. Mrs Toiiku's new baby boy had finally revealed himself to the outside world.

But there was no time to celebrate. No time for joy or for relief or for respite. The wolves were closer - the wolves were here! And even as Mr Toiiku pushed himself away from his loving wife and darted toward the weapons rack, the wolves tore themselves through the fragile canvas of the tent and hungrily advanced upon their newfound prey.

it was all Mr Toiiku could do but to distract the ravenous beasties, keeping them away from his now sobbing wife.

"Hide the baby!" He shouted in panic. "Quick! Somewhere safe where the wolves won't go looking!"

Mrs Toiiku complied. She quickly stashed the child away within a bundle of clothes and stepped up to her husband's side, holding the knife that was used to cut her child's chord. The couple knew they didn't stand a chance as unarmed as they were, but they had to try. For the sake of their child.

When the other adventurers returned to the camp, they arrived to face an unpleasant scene. A pack of hungry wolves fighting over unrecognisable bundles of ripped-up meaty corpses. Enraged, the trio of avenging warriors let loose on the distracted wolves, hacking, slashing and casting until the entire pack was cut down. There was much sobbing that night, but also some jubilation, when one of the party came across the new-born Lalafell. A life had been spared after all. A life the adventurers agreed to treasure and look after as one of their own - it was the least they could do for their fallen comrades.

And so for a year, the adventurers took the boy along with them. They named him 'Riku' after the late Riku Niku, a Plainsfolk man who once travelled with the party. Mr Niku was once the group's leader, and the former lover of Mrs Toiiku - but his death three years prior to Riku Toiiku's birth destroyed any chance of a serious relationship between the two, and forever left a soft spot within Mrs Toiiku's heart. However, despite their good intentions, the adventurers found that a baby was not the best travelling companion. Not only did the child's presence endanger his own life, but also endangered the lives of the rest of the party. And these people could not simply settle down and stop adventuring - it was in their blood, and it was a drive that would be agony to ignore. There was only one thing left to do, and that was to return Riku to his own kind.

Not Fit for the Desert

The journey through the barren homelands of the Dunesfolk took its toll on all the adventurers. However, the one who suffered the most was the one most expected to be at home in the heat. Riku became sickly and unwell in the high-temperature, brightly lit desert. It was only in the night where the temperatures dropped dramatically and the sun had fallen from view that the child could find respite and comfort. With Riku's condition in mind, the party decided that their long search for the nomadic relatives of the child was endangering the lad. Their best option was to leave him in the safe hands of the first Lalafell they came across - maybe they could find his family instead.

And so that is what they did. The Lalafell happily accepted the child into their care and promised that should they ever cross paths with Riku's family, they would return him to his rightful relatives. And thus two years passed. Two years that more than took their toll on the child. As time went by, the boy became more and more sickly, until his unease became so severe, his new parents were forced to consider sending him away to cooler lands. Thankfully, one of the nomadic group's number was a former adventurer, who knew of an old couple who could look after the child in relative safety. Not only that, but they lived in a region of cold temperature, although it rarely went below freezing. It was a safe environment for such a sickly child.

Thus at three years old, Riku was sent off to yet another home, and lived - for a time - under the care of an elderly Hyur couple.

The Call of the Wild

Riku's condition had greatly improved once he had settled in with his new foster parents. The young orphan spent the majority of his time under their care alone in the wilderness, playing with the docile Marmots and climbing through trees and bushes. He did, however, also have a studious side to him, and often spent some time reading through his parents' huge collection of books, or learning to play one or more of the instruments his foster father owned. In all, the child was satisfied with his new life; but he felt something was... missing.

Once Riku was ten years old, his parents realised that he could not stay with them any longer. They were getting too old and approaching death, and did not wish for him to be present to witness it. Also, the child showed great curiosity for the lands beyond his home, and his outings into the forest were taking him deeper and deeper, and sometimes lasted days. It was clear he had the survival instincts required to live within the wilderness, and seemed almost depressed to have to return to the same place to bathe, study and eat. With that in mind, one day, Riku was allowed to begin a life of adventuring. Given a simple sword to defend himself with, Riku left the last parents he would ever have.

The rest of Riku's life was mostly solitary exploring. However, from time to time, he would come across a village and study whatever books they had, and practice his musical talents on whatever instruments he could find. It was during this time he discovered his talents for mathematics, as well as magic casting, although he spent little time studying the arts fo conjuration, and instead focused on the magic that truly excited him - Thaumaturgy.

Eventually, Riku's travels took him into Gridania. He was originally looked down upon by the isolationist residents, but soon proved his trustworthiness by completing numerous tasks for the townsfolk. However, after taking part in a purification rite and being told it was safe for him to travel beyond the central forest, Riku began to feel the pull of adventure draw him away. This pull, however, faced the newfound urge to find family or friends to enjoy the company of. An urge brought about by witnessing the daily lives of the townsfolk of Gridania. There was little remaining of his childhood - in fact in the eyes of some cultures, it had already ended - and he did not want it to end without some eventful memories to look back upon that were not the hazy memories of a past he was too young to remember nor encounters made deep in the wilderness.

Appearance

Stature

Riku is a small 15-year-old Lalafell boy with an apparently small appetite. However, although he may only be seen eating small amounts of food, Riku eats very regularly whilst he is out in the wilderness, and usually consumes more food than the average Lalafell. Despite this, however, he remains to be rather skinny, and quite light for his height.

Facial Features

Riku has short red hair, which is often untidy and unruly. His eyes are violet, and as is typical for a Dunesfolk Lalafell, are also glossy and somewhat reflective of light. Riku has a small band of freckles crossing the bridge of his nose. These freckles are more visible below his eyes, where they are most numerous.Despite not having spent much time with his own people, like most of his clan, Riku wears a gemstone on his forehead, although it is barely visible as it is usually covered by his fringe.

Bodily Features

Riku's skin is incredibly pale, and seems to glow when light hits it. For some reason, he seems almost immune to sunburn, despite his skin colouration and poor heat tolerance. Riku's skin is also prone to turning pinkish hues, as is most visible in the colour of his cheeks. The tips of his toes, fingers and the soles and palms of his feet and hands are also slightly more pink than the rest of his body.

Riku has one distinctive scar across his left breast from an incident when he was twelve years old involding wolves. The scar has still not fully healed, hinting at just how deep the original wound was. Other than that, despite the odd cuts and bruises from time spent in combat or playing in the wilderness, his body is generally undamaged.

Clothing

Riku has a moderate wardrobe of clothing collected as rewards for various errands. Usually, he prepares to wear simple outfits that are practical, comfortable and unrestrictive; however he also has his own sense of style, and although not one to care about fashion or fad, he will often refuse to wear and outfit he does not like. Riku has a selection of casual, formal and combat-ready outfits. He can most often be seen wearing Dragoon armour or an Order of the Twin Adder uniform.

Personality

Riku is an incredibly timid boy. The slightest scare can easily set him off in panic, and he will often hide away from strangers. Despite being solitary, he will seek protection from his friends when in social discomfort. Although Riku is used to being alone and does not like spending too much time in the company of others, the comfort offered by a close friend is something he likes to seek out when he returns home after a day of adventuring. Although he warmed up to Kassandra Dawn, Alothia Starkwood, Miyuki Tatsugawa and Endricane Feltaro rather quickly, he generally does not make friends in a short space of time. However, in the case of the aforementioned individuals, Riku was subconsciously seeking out friendship, and now that he he has a nice group of friends, he no longer seeks to add to their number.

Sexuality

Having spent most of his life alone in the wilderness, Riku has no notion of romance or any knowledge of sexual desire. Perhaps influenced by such facts, Riku is an asexual boy, meaning he is not attracted to either gender. He does, however, have the capability to love someone very intensely in a platonic manner, as he has shown by his sudden and quite deep platonic relationship with Miyuki.

Alignment

Riku is a neutral-good individual. Almost all of his efforts go toward aiding those in need, and he has little thought for himself, except when he has nothing else to do. Although he respects and obeys laws, if such a rule were to contrast with his sense of morality, he would happily disregard it.

Motivations

The main motivation for any action Riku performs is the wellbeing and safety of other individuals - especially his friends. However, there are also a number of items that he will personality work to possess. Such items are mostly specific foods he has a fondness for, and include tea, raw meat, raw fish and milk. As well as all of this, Riku would happily take any excuse to explore new lands.

Fears

Being a timid and jumpy individual, Riku has a significant list of personal fears. Firstly, he can often become panicked when confronted with a crowd of people. As well as this, he is easily intimidated by an individual's appearance,s hould they look frightening to him. Thirdly, Riku is scared of strangers and will even often stop talking in the middle of a sentence should a stranger walk into the room. Riku is also rather jumpy, andd is frightened by even the slightest of sudden noises or movements. Finally, the last of Riku's most prominant fears is his disliking of social attention. He has been known to burst into tears after prolonged attention by too many individuals.

Demeanour

As well as being excessively timid, Riku is also incredibly curious. He has often been accused of being nosey and enjoys examining strange new artifacts. This curiosity is usually accompanied by a playfulness that often causes others to regret allowing him access to rare treasures. Riku enjoys climbing, playing with animals, and even playing with toys in a manner a child half his age would. Despite his shyness, Riku is very friendly and does not anger easily. He never holds a grudge, although his trust for an individual can sharply drop if said individual teases him or acts in a manner he finds inhumane or unfair.

Talents

Riku is exceptionally talented at mathematics and physics, having an affinity with numbers and calculations. As well as this, he is a musical prodigy and has a pleasant singing voice. Also, Riku is a skilled swordsman and lancer with admirable knowledge of thaumaturgy. His combat style is often based about his acrobatic and athletic ability which he has built up over the years of surviving in the wild. His perceptive ability is also above average from time spent in dangerous places. His hearing is particularly sensetive, but his eyesight is also above average. However, oddly, he has never had a particularly good sense of smell.

Riku does have some major weaknesses on the other hand. Firstly, he is incredibly clumsy, and has been known to quite often break or drop fragile objects. This means that he is unsuitable for crafting and has difficulty with even the basics of crafting chores. He also has little to no knowledge about geography and finds human geography especially difficult to grasp, particularly when it comes to the commercial aspects. His ability with natural geography is quite decent however, due to the sciences involved, but when it comes to mapping, using maps, and following his sense of direction, Riku is at a major disadvantage. He has an absolutely terrible sense of direction and can easily get lost in a place, even if he has been living there for a while. Generally he has more difficulty with this in citys rather than forests and plains.

Despite Riku's skill with weaponry and his agility, the child has poor physical strength, even for one of his age.

Musical Talents

Riku is notably musically gifted and is skilled in a variety of music instruments, except for the harp and a number of wind instruments. Despite the skill he has in this area, his lack of training with the bow makes him unsuitable for training to be a bard. Riku also has a pleasant singing voice, and the ability to almost perfectly stay in tune to a song even without a backing melody to guide him. Despite how his voice sounds untrained and lacks the usual flurishes and effects professionals are known to include in their vocals, Riku's voice has much potential.

Interests

Riku enjoys cold weather and darkness rather alot. His poor heat tolerance gives him a disliking to hot weather, and he often feels safer at night, when less people are awake and the air becomes quiet and still. He also prefers quiet, natural environments to loud, busy cities. As well as this, Riku has a particular fondness for marmots, having spent a lot of time sleeping with them and becoming friends with various marmot families. This drives him to feel great distaste for anyone he discovers killing them for reasons other than survival.

Riku has a huge dislike for impoliteness in general, especially rude behaviour, bad manners and vulgarity - although he can rarely tell when the latter is being performed due to his naïveté. he also dislikes prejudice and unfairness, and holds little respect for those who treat others harshly. When such treatment falls upon him, Riku can often get upset easily and start crying.

Hobbies

Riku's main hobbies include studying physics and mathematics, playing or composing music, studying thaumaturgy, exploring the wilderness, climbing trees and petting marmots.

Other Information

Mind

Riku is very intelligent but also incredibly naïve. He is quick to believe another's word due to his gullibility and has difficulty telling lies. Despite how easily he can fall for a trick, Riku is slow to trust anyone.

Emotions

Riku's usual emotional state is that of timidness and nervousness. However, when comfortable, the boy can become rather calm and friendly. His feelings can be easily hurt, on the other hand, and so if pushed he may quickly break down in tears. On rare occasions he has been known to get angry when those he cares about are threatened.

Voice

Riku's voice is soft and quiet. It is also somewhat high-pitched without being unpleasant. His voice has a childish tone to it that makes him sound even younger than he already is, even by Lalafell vocal standards. Most of the childishness of his voice comes from speaking in the manner of a timid boy about two or three years younger than himself rather than the actual tone.

Relationships

Family

Blood Relations

Mother: Deceased

Father: Deceased

Corvus Cinis

Kassandra Dawn: Kassandra Dawn is Riku's first ever friend. He used to see her almost like a motherly figure, feeling safe in her presence and looking to her for guidance. Kassandra's role in Riku's life has somewhat reduced after Riku met Miyuki, and has dropped ever further now that Riku rarely sees her.

Alothia Starkwood: Alothia once filled the role of aunty to Riku, but has since felt more like a motherly figure. Although Riku had a greater bond with Kassandra, Alothia's presence within Corvus Cinis has allowed Riku to see her more often, and thus come view her as his parental guardian. Second only to Miyuki, Alothia is an important part of Riku's recent life.

Endricane Feltaro: Endricane's care toward Riku has been far from subtle, and Riku realises it. Although originally, Riku had some cautious feelings toward Endricane and his joking personality - which still confuses the Lalafell - the defensive barrier has begun to drop. There are times when Riku wants to snuggle up to the man; but there are are also times when he wants to hide away from him. It all depends on the subjects being mentioned at the time, and whether or not Endricane is teasing him. Riku's feelings back toward Endricane are somewhere between seeing him as an uncle and as a fartherly figure.

Miyuki Tatsugawa: Riku loves Miyuki with all his heart. He cares for her perhaps more than most people care for their romance partners, despite the fact Riku's relationship with Miyuki is purely platonic. He feels he can share everything with her - both mental and physical - and often through his innocence, persuades her to feel the same. Sometimes Riku's innocence causes him to behave in a way that would be deemed innapropriate for someone without his ignorance, but whereas Miyuki would be uncomfortable with someone possessing the knowledge Riku lacks, she is able to accomodate Riku, albeit with some embarrassment from her own thoughts and experiences from society. It is probably Riku's innocence over sexual matters that allows him to forge such a pure, yet deep relationship with the Lalafell, although his deep care for others and the similaries between him and Miyuki are probably important factors as well. It seems that with every passing day, their relationship becomes deeper and deeper. It has become so deep as of late that the only way for it to get any deeper would be for the pair to merge into one being.

Blue Sunil: Riku is beginning to see Blue Sunil as a friend, although he still holds some caution toward her.

Lily Dawnsworn: Riku has spent some time around Lily, but is still not completely comfortable around her yet.

Tessa Jalloh: Riku definately finds Tessa to be friendly and cheerful. He considers her to be a nice person. Although he hasn't spoken to her much, he knows that she is a member of Corvus Cinis, thus he considers her to be an ally.

Miyu Evans: Riku has yet to spend enough time around Miyu to become comfortable around her. He is a little fearful and cautious of her due to warnings from Aylis.

Rosa Canina: Riku is afraid of Rosa. He has alway been cautious of her, but after she had mentioned eating what she had described as Wild Lalafell (although it turned out she had mistaken Marmots as such), Riku began to feel terrified of her. Although a little has transpired since then, Riku still feels somewhat cautious of her.

Zenge Eien: Riku's experience of Zenge thus far has been good. He has quickly become comfortable around the man, despite their lack of interaction prior to the night where Zenge bandaged his wounds. Although Riku does not yet consider him a friend, and still holds some shyness toward Zenge, he is comfortable enough to enter conversation with the man without hesitation, even though he is not yet comfortable enough to initiate such a dialogue.

Burgenheim Rousa: Although Burgen is a Roegadyn, Riku isn't that scared of him. Although no opinion has been formed as of yet, Riku believes Burgen is at least a nice person.

Daemon Blade: Riku hasn't spent much time around Daemon, but he thus far considers him to be a good person.

Souyo Xander: Souyo certainly likes to cook... and he makes delicious cheesecake! Riku looks foward to having him around, but beyond the cooking, there is still much more to find out about Souyo to forge any other opinion.

Allies

Player Characters

Aylis Crescent: Riku is barely comfortable enough around Aylis to be social toward her. However, he does respect her after she healed his injuries when he hurt himself whilst balancing on a wobbly stool in Corvis Cinis HQ.

Deirdre Taea: Although Riku has not personally spoken much dialogue with Deirdre at all, he has seen her a few times. Although Riku considers her an ally, rumours of her habits for stabbing people have left him terrified of her.

Xenedra Ambreaus: Riku doesn't know what to think of Xenedra. He hasn't seen her enough times to form an opinion. However, he does believe she is a nice person, and views her as quite an entertaining bard. However, he knows now not to reveal his talents in music in front of her...

Non-Player Characters

Torran: Torran is a thirteen-year-old Hyur boy who Riku met in Gridania. He lives with his mother and younger brother. Although Torran is younger than Riku, he is more socially mature, and thus treats Riku as if he is a younger sibling.

Mickel: Mickel is Torran's eleven-year-old brother. Although Riku spends more time with Torran than with Mickel, he feels a closer connection with the younger of the siblings. Riku and Mickel are quite similar in terms of personality, except Mickel doesn't have Riku's intelligence and knowledge of the outside world, whilst Riku doesn't have Mickel's confidence or social experience.

Aeraea: The mother of Mickel and Torran, Aeraea is a Hyur woman who originally was somewhat cautious of Riku because of his age in relation to her sons. However, when she got used to him, she soon became fond if his innocent personality. In all, Riku gets on well with Aeraea, although sometimes Aeraea can be quite stern with Riku, especially when Torran persuades Riku to take him on an adventure, and the children return home rather late. But eventually, most of the blame lands on Torran.

Other Companions

Arthur: Arthur is Riku's chocobo. Riku and the bird immediately built a bond between each other, with help from Riku's empathy with animals. Arthur is well behaved and quite docile. He loves attention and enjoys travelling. For a wild animal, Arthur is oddly hygene-conscious and will refuse to travel through dirt unless there is no other alternative. Arthur is also particular about where he relieves himself and what he eats, turning down any food other than Gysahl Greens. Arthur was not in fact the stable owner's first choice of chocobo for Riku - he was a chocobo that could not be sold due to disobedience and free-spiritedness. Riku, however, immediately felt a connection with him, and outright asked for the bird. The stable owner warned Riku, but was cut short as Riku managed to persuade the bird to come to his side and allow him to mount. Despite Arthur's nature, with Riku's ability to control him, Arthur would make a suprisingly good house pet, so long as he is allowed plenty of exercise.

Rumours

Within Corvus Cinis

"Riku...? I heard he and Miyuki have a thing going on..."

"I think he has a security job. He doesn't look particuarly strong, mind..."

Within Adder's Nest

"He's a Serpent Sergeant. And a damned fine one, despite his timid disposition."

"How can he keep up with all these jobs!? He's a Dragoon and a Serpent Sergeant?"

Ul'dah

"Oh, that shy Lalafell always running errands? He's so sweet - he wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Did you see that Dragoon guarding that building at the end of Sapphire Avenue?"

Gridania

"I hear the Wailers tried to recruit him, but he turned them down."

"Isn't he a member of the Order of the Twin Adders?"

"Yeah, I've seen that boy. He seems to like marmots, and spends a lot of time outside with them. Strange kid."

"Oh... you mean the one who gets upset at the mere mention of hunting...?"

"He fought well defending Gridania from Imperials. It's surprising how fierce he is, given how shy and quiet his personality can be."

"I've seen him playing with some kids around the city. He must be a young Lalafell... it's so hard to tell with that race..."

"That young Lalafell? I'm surprised one so young would even be accepted as a soldier! He must have been recruited by one of the tallfolk - a Lalafell would never make the mistake of recruiting a child..."

Coerthas

"Riku? Oh, you mean that Lalafell who is one of the Azure Dragoons?"

OOC Information

• Riku's distant relatives are alive and well, currently living in the dunes of the Dunesfolk homeland.
• Most Lalafell hate cold temperatures, whereas Riku for some reason loves them. This is due to numerous things, including personal preferences and the fact that he was not only born in a frozen region, but also his parents were present there since his conception.
• Riku is completely asexual (in terms of sexuality not biology). His relationship with Miyuki is completely platonic, even though it does not appear as so.
• Riku was trained to be a Dragoon by a man posted outside the Gates of Judgement. This man was not the quest-giver NPC.
• Although Riku was promoted to sergeant by the Adders, he still has nobody under his command because he lacks command ability. They promoted him mostly to allow him higher-level clearance after he had proven his potential.
• Riku's job at Corvus Cinis does not officially place him as the company's security. His post is mostly unofficial, taking Endricane's request for him to take care of the company too seriously.
• Riku's skill with the lance makes him a combatant at the same level as some of the more powerful people in Eorzea. He still has room to improve, however, and is still a way behind the level of more experienced warriors, such as Endricane. As well as this, Riku's sword skills are to a professional standard, although nothing special, and his Thaumaturgy, although particularly impressive for someone with no training, is below the level of standard soldiers of that class. Riku also has some skill with hand-to-hand combat, but due to his physical strength, is unsuitable for the role. He does, however, incorporate some of the hand-to-hand style in his lance combat, utilising the blades attatched to his armour, and using kicks quite often whilst airborne.
• To other Lalafell, Riku is very obviously young. Not only is he small, but his facial features and his mannerisms are child-like. He looks youthful enough to be any age between thirteen and fifteen. To non-Lalafell, however, it is difficult to determine his age as all Lalafell look child-like to the other races. Riku is certainly a young Lalafell, though, going by his personality. His height might even make him appear as a teenager to those who have spent more time around Lalafell or are perceptive enough to notice his height, given that where Riku would be a few inches shorter than an adult if he were Hyur, the difference is much smaller between Lalafell, as they are a small race in the first place.

Alternative Character Biographies:

Role-Player Coalition / Hydaelyn Role-Players

Aes Sedai Tower (Membership required to view)