APPLICATION: Bleach - Kira Izuru
This application has been ACCEPTED.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Ama
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: None!
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Kira Izuru
SERIES: Bleach
RESERVED: Yes
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Kira is a man of unintentional contradictions, torn between duty and his own emotions and feelings about something, particularly where concerning people with which he has established close relationships. He is often level-headed, rational, and the voice of cautious reason among his friends and comrades, many of whom are foolhardy and brash. He is well-intentioned, choosing his actions carefully but not without heart and care for how those actions may have repercussions. Nonetheless, he can be naïve of other people’s intentions and his own intentions can lead him to places that are not what he envisioned.
He is generally quiet, reserved, and often appears aloof at first sight. To those who have the chance to get to know him better, Kira is fiercely loyal and amiable. His life has gone through a series of extreme changes over the last few months in his canon, with the desertion of the captain for whom he acted as an adjutant and the subsequent need for him to step in as acting-captain of his Division (a military unit in the afterlife approximately the size of a battalion, or a small regiment). In addition to the drastic changes to his duties--something he takes with the utmost seriousness--Kira underwent a progressive maturation as a result of the betrayal of his former captain. His closest friends were endangered, forcing him to rethink his priorities and shift them from absolute, unfailing loyalty to tradition and duty to complete devotion to his friends and allies and their defense. While Kira believes strongly in justice, it is the personal affronts against him that inflame him far more than any offenses against justice and tradition. Though he is a soft-spoken, mild-mannered man, he remains fierce against those who harm the people and ideals he has dedicated himself to.
Kira is not violent by nature, and in fact has very strong ideals regarding war and violence. Despite that he abhors unnecessary violence, Kira is not unwilling to step forward and do what is necessary to fulfill what he has set himself to do, even if it comes to violence. He is not prone to excesses, and as a result very few people ever see his full potential unless it becomes necessary for its use. He is analytical by nature, making him an excellent tactician, even in situations where quick thinking is necessary to chart out a course to follow. Kira naturally recognizes abnormal behavior in others, and as he has been naturally observing them, can attempt to determine reasoning for their behavior. In contrast to this, however, he has a healthy fear of his mortality, not out of cowardice, but an exposure to death and loneliness from a young age. As canon has progressed, he has come to terms with these fears, especially has been demonstrated during the battle for Karakura. In the past, though it has not been proven if he has overcome this character flaw, his fears when things do not appear to be going well occasionally manifest in panic that must be quickly shoved aside in order to focus on the issues at hand.
Finally, Kira deeply dislikes changes, but has recently come to accept them as a natural part of life. Though he may not like what comes, and may first have some trouble coming to terms with things (again, often coupled with his melancholic bursts), once Kira has been given the chance to readjust and begin taking in observations of an unfamiliar circumstance, he begins to adjust himself accordingly. He will automatically begin taking in information in order to form analytical plans, and only will feel comfortable when he has some degree of knowledge of his new environment.
TIMELINE: Post-chapter 364, the last canonical point at which Kira is seen and has any interaction with another character.
BACKGROUND: Kira is the only child of lesser nobles in Soul Society. While the majority of the population is composed of souls of the departed in Rukongai, there is a class of people who are born in Soul Society much as one might be on Earth. Kira is one of such a family. While he is not as high ranked as the greater noble families, he did grow up with a certain amount of wealth and prestige that would naturally come with his position. In addition to being born in Soul Society, Kira was orphaned at a relatively young age (the exact point of his parents’ deaths is not revealed in canon), and raised by his remaining family members. As a result, Kira has shown a youthful fearful acknowledgement of death and its risks, partially from seeing his parents die and also from never experiencing death as a soul brought into Soul Society. Due to his noble heritage, Kira was raised in the traditions of honor and upholding his duties at any cost in order to preserve familial dignity.
After the mores and norms of Soul Society were ingrained into him, Kira joined the Spiritual Arts Academy with the highest scores of his year, and was placed in the First Form. A few months into the school year, the First Form was sent on field training in the human world, where he was assigned to a group with Abarai Renji and Hinamori Momo, fellow members of the First Form. Also present on the field training mission was Hisagi Shuuhei, a well-known member of the Sixth Form who was assigned to oversee the training as a student teacher. When an extremely powerful Hollow attacked the class of undertrained students, killing two of the other Sixth Form students assigned to the training mission, Kira and his classmates were instructed to run and leave Shuuhei behind to do what he could to defend the younger students. Momo’s refusal to abandon someone based on her own inability prompted both Renji and Kira to stay behind with her and the three of them attempted to fight back the Hollow, only to be confronted with even more Hollows of similar strength. Kira panics at the situation, demonstrating his terror of dying just before the intervention of Captain Aizen Sousuke and Lieutenant Ichimaru Gin, both of whom Kira later serves under when he joins the Gotei 13. As a result of the disasterous training mission, Kira becomes extremely close friends with Renji, Momo and Shuuhei, maintaining friendships with them that carry through to present canon and making the three of them his oldest and best friends.
After his graduation from the Spiritual Arts Academy, Kira spent time serving in both the Fourth and Fifth Divisions (is is not explicitly stated in canon, but it is implied that there was some sort of unpleasant event that spurred Kira to leave behind the Fourth Division and his abilities as a healer until they are required in later canon) before being promoted to Lieutenant of the Third Division, under Captain Ichimaru Gin. It is at this point that the canon timeline picks up for Kira, who is still serving as Lieutenant of the Third Division when canon events begin to unfold. His fight with Momo during canon is a pivotal turning point for him, as he was acting in the role of his position, rather than with regard to their long-standing friendship and despite the personal nature of Momo’s attacks against his captain, which he intercepted as a part of his duties. Following this fight, Kira is imprisoned and physically restrained after severely damaging both his cell and himself. When his captain breaks him out of prison, he witnesses the first indication of the man’s coming betrayal, when he threatens to kill Momo, who is unconscious and defenseless, while he is incapacitated. The next time he is seen in canon, he is sent to distract Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou and Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku, while Captains Aizen and Ichimaru begin their betrayal of Soul Society. No longer acting by duty to his former captain, but by an (implied) deal he has made with the traitorous captains to prevent Momo from being hurt, Kira leads them away, only to send Captain Hitsugaya back to check on Momo and then engages Lieutenant Matsumoto in a battle that is ended quickly by the incompatibility of his zanpakutou in comparison to Matsumoto’s. After his response to the betrayal, horror that Momo has been grievously injured despite his efforts to prevent it, Kira is virtually cut from canon until he reemerges during present canon.
It is in his battle as a pillar guardian in Karakura, preventing Aizen and his minions from breaking through the defenses in place to keep them from wiping out the city, Kira reveals several key elements of his character. In his battle with Avirama Redder, he explains his philosophy toward war, explaining that war has no glory to it, and is only despairing, which is why people try to avoid it as best they can. Despite this philosophy, Kira shows no hesitancy when swiftly ending the fight by beheading Redder with the final words that a warrior does not beg for his life, showing that he has made progress from his youth. Even if he fears for his life, he is no longer the kind to beg for it, seeing where sacrifice is necessary for justice. In addition, during the battle, he shows an uncharacteristically short temper when presented with his former connection to Ichimaru Gin, releasing a quickly contained rage toward the man that betrayed him and harmed the people he cared for the most. After his battle, he resurfaces to rescue both Matsumoto and Hinamori from a “pet” monster that knocks them out of commission quickly and effectively. It is at this point that the extent of his kidou abilities, including the ability to use healing kidou, is revealed, when he is put to the task of healing the injured lieutenants, his friends, and preventing them from dying. While he is at work trying to heal his friends and comrades, he is temporarily under the protection of Captain Komamura Sajin, whom he later urges to rejoin the battle when it turns against the favor of the shinigami. This outburst, from Kira, is uncharacteristic and demonstrates his desperation for survival, but also his growth as a character from someone who is paralyzed by fear of dying to one who recognizes that there is no purpose in survival if they fail the mission, Karakura, and Soul Society as a whole.
ABILITIES: In Bleach canon, Kira is a member of a race of souls in the afterlife whom have the charge of caring for the natural flow of souls from Earth to their realm of Soul Society. Part of this duty is to protect these “plus” spirits from “hollow” spirits, which are souls that have endured some sort of torment and not been helped along to Soul Society in time to prevent their transformation into a monster that feeds on “plus” spirits. As a shinigami, Kira is trained in four specialties, which he varies in ability. Though he is a very well-rounded warrior (and must be, as he was the second-in-command of the Third Division in the Gotei 13, which is a position reverred second only to the captains of the divisions), he does have areas in which he excels over others. He has stepped in as the acting-captain of the Third Division in the absence of the former captain and proven himself worthy still by being assigned as a specialized guardian during a key battle in the ongoing war.
Kira is considered a master swordsman with his zanpakutou, Wabisuke, which is unique among the zanpakutou in Soul Society. While most zanpakutou are arranged by their type (melee and kidou/elemental), Kira’s zanpakutou demonstrates his well-rounded abilities. On first look, Wabisuke could be a melee weapon when released into shikai (the first of two releases available to shinigami, though Kira only has control over the first), when it takes on the peculiar shape of a regular katana with a squared hook at the end. As is revealed to his opponents during the course of battle, each strike of his sword, blocked or otherwise, doubles the weight of whatever it strikes. Each additional strike doubles the weight again and again, until his opponent is unable to move any longer. It is at this point that the purpose of the strange hook is revealed as a means to behead his opponents.
Though it is not immediately obvious, Kira’s ability with kidou (demon magic) can hardly be considered secondary to his swordsmanship. He has demonstrated the ability to use some of the highest classes of spells while bypassing the incantations, something that is only possible to those who have fully mastered the spell and is not common among shinigami. He is proficient in both offensive and defensive kidou, and has also been revealed to be capable of using healing kidou as a former member of the division responsible for the medical needs of the Gotei 13.
While his flashsteps (shunpo) appear to be mastered, Kira is certainly not as fast as some shinigami, who specialize in their shunpo abilities. His hand to hand combat skills are also not equal to others who have greater physical strength, though his slight appearance should not indicate physical weakness. His strengths are certainly more so with his spellwork and swordsmanship, rather than hand to hand combat or dexterity.
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Gin
DREAM: His first thought is fleeting, more a feeling than anything he could put to words, an impression of the flourishing garden all around him. On the surface, it’s all right, everything’s in place the way it’s supposed to be. Underneath it, like a stinking rat creeping under the floorboards of a well-built house, there is something wrong about everything, something that catches the corner of his eye like a glint of silver in sunlight. He knows it, feels it, and pushes it aside because it’s not important, because it’s ungracious not to appreciate the garden as it is.
The sense of wrongness grows with each step, like the garden is rotting around him, and the silver at the corner of his eye grows more constant, more tangible, until he turns and sees it: the silver fox, grinning widely at him before darting off through the garden, which disintegrates around him when he turns and runs, straw sandals digging into the softening ground. The trees grow enormous and tear at him, the ground more like sinking mud with each step, but he keeps running, pushing himself against the environment toward the running fox, which is always just there, a few steps out of his reach.
I hate you I hate you I hate you
The burn of hatred in his chest is worse than the one in his lungs, though some part of him knows he should be using shunpo, anything to seize any advantage over the slippery fox. He almost doesn’t see that it’s stopped in the clearing ahead and stumbles over his own feet when he bursts out from the maze of trees and hedges all around. In the very center stands a petite tree, peach blossoms blooming in a perfect contrast to the crumbling garden around him. Among its roots sits the grinning, silver fox, its head cocked to the side intelligently, as if it’s been waiting for him to come here before making its next move.
“Don’t-” he begins, but whatever he intended to say next is lost, blown away by the harsh, whipping wind that tears through the clearing, ripping away the blossoms while the fox watches, then climbs smoothly up its trunk and starts ripping at leaves, branches, digging through the tree as though it could dig straight through to the heart of the tree.
Distantly, he’s aware that he’s shouting, trying to make it to the tree, to stop it, but something roots him in place, as though he were no different than the ruined peach tree no more than a few meters away.
The fox emerges from the branches and grins at him again, an awful, taunting smirk. Something whispers in his ear, a voice he recognizes with a jolt as his own, and he knows that he isn’t the tree, not anything like it. The words leave him shocked and silent and pulsing with hatred that digs deep within him like the fox in the tree branches, and detonates like a bomb.
“The fox is you.”
JOURNAL SAMPLE: They tell me the dream is my only link to who I was before, that it’s something to hold onto, but I don’t know that I want to. Whoever I was, whatever I did, was it so bad that I deserved to come here, or is this my chance for absolution, to prove that I am better than who I was before? What kind of person was I? Did I feel remorse for hurting the people and things I hurt? What do I hold to now that I am here: to my dream, or the possibility that I could be better here and now? If I could, I would turn away from it, but I don’t know that I can. I am tied to this past of mine, just like everyone here.
I suppose the most pressing question now is not so much who I was, though that is the question everyone asks in this place. Now, I want to know who I am to be.
ASPIRATIONS: Kira aspires to come to terms with the disturbing nature of his dream and settle on an opinion for what’s happened to him. He wonders if he’s somehow done so wrong in his former life that he deserves his fate in Edensphere, or if this is his chance for redemption. Similarly, he is torn between learning more about his past and making amends for whatever it was he’s done wrong and trying to forget the old life entirely and try to build a new one that could be destroyed by memories of the old one. Either way, whether he remembers or not, he desires to make up for his perceived transgressions and guilt in whatever ways he can.
PLAYER INFO
NAME: Ama
CURRENT CHARACTERS, if any: None!
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Kira Izuru
SERIES: Bleach
RESERVED: Yes
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Kira is a man of unintentional contradictions, torn between duty and his own emotions and feelings about something, particularly where concerning people with which he has established close relationships. He is often level-headed, rational, and the voice of cautious reason among his friends and comrades, many of whom are foolhardy and brash. He is well-intentioned, choosing his actions carefully but not without heart and care for how those actions may have repercussions. Nonetheless, he can be naïve of other people’s intentions and his own intentions can lead him to places that are not what he envisioned.
He is generally quiet, reserved, and often appears aloof at first sight. To those who have the chance to get to know him better, Kira is fiercely loyal and amiable. His life has gone through a series of extreme changes over the last few months in his canon, with the desertion of the captain for whom he acted as an adjutant and the subsequent need for him to step in as acting-captain of his Division (a military unit in the afterlife approximately the size of a battalion, or a small regiment). In addition to the drastic changes to his duties--something he takes with the utmost seriousness--Kira underwent a progressive maturation as a result of the betrayal of his former captain. His closest friends were endangered, forcing him to rethink his priorities and shift them from absolute, unfailing loyalty to tradition and duty to complete devotion to his friends and allies and their defense. While Kira believes strongly in justice, it is the personal affronts against him that inflame him far more than any offenses against justice and tradition. Though he is a soft-spoken, mild-mannered man, he remains fierce against those who harm the people and ideals he has dedicated himself to.
Kira is not violent by nature, and in fact has very strong ideals regarding war and violence. Despite that he abhors unnecessary violence, Kira is not unwilling to step forward and do what is necessary to fulfill what he has set himself to do, even if it comes to violence. He is not prone to excesses, and as a result very few people ever see his full potential unless it becomes necessary for its use. He is analytical by nature, making him an excellent tactician, even in situations where quick thinking is necessary to chart out a course to follow. Kira naturally recognizes abnormal behavior in others, and as he has been naturally observing them, can attempt to determine reasoning for their behavior. In contrast to this, however, he has a healthy fear of his mortality, not out of cowardice, but an exposure to death and loneliness from a young age. As canon has progressed, he has come to terms with these fears, especially has been demonstrated during the battle for Karakura. In the past, though it has not been proven if he has overcome this character flaw, his fears when things do not appear to be going well occasionally manifest in panic that must be quickly shoved aside in order to focus on the issues at hand.
Finally, Kira deeply dislikes changes, but has recently come to accept them as a natural part of life. Though he may not like what comes, and may first have some trouble coming to terms with things (again, often coupled with his melancholic bursts), once Kira has been given the chance to readjust and begin taking in observations of an unfamiliar circumstance, he begins to adjust himself accordingly. He will automatically begin taking in information in order to form analytical plans, and only will feel comfortable when he has some degree of knowledge of his new environment.
TIMELINE: Post-chapter 364, the last canonical point at which Kira is seen and has any interaction with another character.
BACKGROUND: Kira is the only child of lesser nobles in Soul Society. While the majority of the population is composed of souls of the departed in Rukongai, there is a class of people who are born in Soul Society much as one might be on Earth. Kira is one of such a family. While he is not as high ranked as the greater noble families, he did grow up with a certain amount of wealth and prestige that would naturally come with his position. In addition to being born in Soul Society, Kira was orphaned at a relatively young age (the exact point of his parents’ deaths is not revealed in canon), and raised by his remaining family members. As a result, Kira has shown a youthful fearful acknowledgement of death and its risks, partially from seeing his parents die and also from never experiencing death as a soul brought into Soul Society. Due to his noble heritage, Kira was raised in the traditions of honor and upholding his duties at any cost in order to preserve familial dignity.
After the mores and norms of Soul Society were ingrained into him, Kira joined the Spiritual Arts Academy with the highest scores of his year, and was placed in the First Form. A few months into the school year, the First Form was sent on field training in the human world, where he was assigned to a group with Abarai Renji and Hinamori Momo, fellow members of the First Form. Also present on the field training mission was Hisagi Shuuhei, a well-known member of the Sixth Form who was assigned to oversee the training as a student teacher. When an extremely powerful Hollow attacked the class of undertrained students, killing two of the other Sixth Form students assigned to the training mission, Kira and his classmates were instructed to run and leave Shuuhei behind to do what he could to defend the younger students. Momo’s refusal to abandon someone based on her own inability prompted both Renji and Kira to stay behind with her and the three of them attempted to fight back the Hollow, only to be confronted with even more Hollows of similar strength. Kira panics at the situation, demonstrating his terror of dying just before the intervention of Captain Aizen Sousuke and Lieutenant Ichimaru Gin, both of whom Kira later serves under when he joins the Gotei 13. As a result of the disasterous training mission, Kira becomes extremely close friends with Renji, Momo and Shuuhei, maintaining friendships with them that carry through to present canon and making the three of them his oldest and best friends.
After his graduation from the Spiritual Arts Academy, Kira spent time serving in both the Fourth and Fifth Divisions (is is not explicitly stated in canon, but it is implied that there was some sort of unpleasant event that spurred Kira to leave behind the Fourth Division and his abilities as a healer until they are required in later canon) before being promoted to Lieutenant of the Third Division, under Captain Ichimaru Gin. It is at this point that the canon timeline picks up for Kira, who is still serving as Lieutenant of the Third Division when canon events begin to unfold. His fight with Momo during canon is a pivotal turning point for him, as he was acting in the role of his position, rather than with regard to their long-standing friendship and despite the personal nature of Momo’s attacks against his captain, which he intercepted as a part of his duties. Following this fight, Kira is imprisoned and physically restrained after severely damaging both his cell and himself. When his captain breaks him out of prison, he witnesses the first indication of the man’s coming betrayal, when he threatens to kill Momo, who is unconscious and defenseless, while he is incapacitated. The next time he is seen in canon, he is sent to distract Captain Hitsugaya Toushirou and Lieutenant Matsumoto Rangiku, while Captains Aizen and Ichimaru begin their betrayal of Soul Society. No longer acting by duty to his former captain, but by an (implied) deal he has made with the traitorous captains to prevent Momo from being hurt, Kira leads them away, only to send Captain Hitsugaya back to check on Momo and then engages Lieutenant Matsumoto in a battle that is ended quickly by the incompatibility of his zanpakutou in comparison to Matsumoto’s. After his response to the betrayal, horror that Momo has been grievously injured despite his efforts to prevent it, Kira is virtually cut from canon until he reemerges during present canon.
It is in his battle as a pillar guardian in Karakura, preventing Aizen and his minions from breaking through the defenses in place to keep them from wiping out the city, Kira reveals several key elements of his character. In his battle with Avirama Redder, he explains his philosophy toward war, explaining that war has no glory to it, and is only despairing, which is why people try to avoid it as best they can. Despite this philosophy, Kira shows no hesitancy when swiftly ending the fight by beheading Redder with the final words that a warrior does not beg for his life, showing that he has made progress from his youth. Even if he fears for his life, he is no longer the kind to beg for it, seeing where sacrifice is necessary for justice. In addition, during the battle, he shows an uncharacteristically short temper when presented with his former connection to Ichimaru Gin, releasing a quickly contained rage toward the man that betrayed him and harmed the people he cared for the most. After his battle, he resurfaces to rescue both Matsumoto and Hinamori from a “pet” monster that knocks them out of commission quickly and effectively. It is at this point that the extent of his kidou abilities, including the ability to use healing kidou, is revealed, when he is put to the task of healing the injured lieutenants, his friends, and preventing them from dying. While he is at work trying to heal his friends and comrades, he is temporarily under the protection of Captain Komamura Sajin, whom he later urges to rejoin the battle when it turns against the favor of the shinigami. This outburst, from Kira, is uncharacteristic and demonstrates his desperation for survival, but also his growth as a character from someone who is paralyzed by fear of dying to one who recognizes that there is no purpose in survival if they fail the mission, Karakura, and Soul Society as a whole.
ABILITIES: In Bleach canon, Kira is a member of a race of souls in the afterlife whom have the charge of caring for the natural flow of souls from Earth to their realm of Soul Society. Part of this duty is to protect these “plus” spirits from “hollow” spirits, which are souls that have endured some sort of torment and not been helped along to Soul Society in time to prevent their transformation into a monster that feeds on “plus” spirits. As a shinigami, Kira is trained in four specialties, which he varies in ability. Though he is a very well-rounded warrior (and must be, as he was the second-in-command of the Third Division in the Gotei 13, which is a position reverred second only to the captains of the divisions), he does have areas in which he excels over others. He has stepped in as the acting-captain of the Third Division in the absence of the former captain and proven himself worthy still by being assigned as a specialized guardian during a key battle in the ongoing war.
Kira is considered a master swordsman with his zanpakutou, Wabisuke, which is unique among the zanpakutou in Soul Society. While most zanpakutou are arranged by their type (melee and kidou/elemental), Kira’s zanpakutou demonstrates his well-rounded abilities. On first look, Wabisuke could be a melee weapon when released into shikai (the first of two releases available to shinigami, though Kira only has control over the first), when it takes on the peculiar shape of a regular katana with a squared hook at the end. As is revealed to his opponents during the course of battle, each strike of his sword, blocked or otherwise, doubles the weight of whatever it strikes. Each additional strike doubles the weight again and again, until his opponent is unable to move any longer. It is at this point that the purpose of the strange hook is revealed as a means to behead his opponents.
Though it is not immediately obvious, Kira’s ability with kidou (demon magic) can hardly be considered secondary to his swordsmanship. He has demonstrated the ability to use some of the highest classes of spells while bypassing the incantations, something that is only possible to those who have fully mastered the spell and is not common among shinigami. He is proficient in both offensive and defensive kidou, and has also been revealed to be capable of using healing kidou as a former member of the division responsible for the medical needs of the Gotei 13.
While his flashsteps (shunpo) appear to be mastered, Kira is certainly not as fast as some shinigami, who specialize in their shunpo abilities. His hand to hand combat skills are also not equal to others who have greater physical strength, though his slight appearance should not indicate physical weakness. His strengths are certainly more so with his spellwork and swordsmanship, rather than hand to hand combat or dexterity.
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Gin
DREAM: His first thought is fleeting, more a feeling than anything he could put to words, an impression of the flourishing garden all around him. On the surface, it’s all right, everything’s in place the way it’s supposed to be. Underneath it, like a stinking rat creeping under the floorboards of a well-built house, there is something wrong about everything, something that catches the corner of his eye like a glint of silver in sunlight. He knows it, feels it, and pushes it aside because it’s not important, because it’s ungracious not to appreciate the garden as it is.
The sense of wrongness grows with each step, like the garden is rotting around him, and the silver at the corner of his eye grows more constant, more tangible, until he turns and sees it: the silver fox, grinning widely at him before darting off through the garden, which disintegrates around him when he turns and runs, straw sandals digging into the softening ground. The trees grow enormous and tear at him, the ground more like sinking mud with each step, but he keeps running, pushing himself against the environment toward the running fox, which is always just there, a few steps out of his reach.
I hate you I hate you I hate you
The burn of hatred in his chest is worse than the one in his lungs, though some part of him knows he should be using shunpo, anything to seize any advantage over the slippery fox. He almost doesn’t see that it’s stopped in the clearing ahead and stumbles over his own feet when he bursts out from the maze of trees and hedges all around. In the very center stands a petite tree, peach blossoms blooming in a perfect contrast to the crumbling garden around him. Among its roots sits the grinning, silver fox, its head cocked to the side intelligently, as if it’s been waiting for him to come here before making its next move.
“Don’t-” he begins, but whatever he intended to say next is lost, blown away by the harsh, whipping wind that tears through the clearing, ripping away the blossoms while the fox watches, then climbs smoothly up its trunk and starts ripping at leaves, branches, digging through the tree as though it could dig straight through to the heart of the tree.
Distantly, he’s aware that he’s shouting, trying to make it to the tree, to stop it, but something roots him in place, as though he were no different than the ruined peach tree no more than a few meters away.
The fox emerges from the branches and grins at him again, an awful, taunting smirk. Something whispers in his ear, a voice he recognizes with a jolt as his own, and he knows that he isn’t the tree, not anything like it. The words leave him shocked and silent and pulsing with hatred that digs deep within him like the fox in the tree branches, and detonates like a bomb.
“The fox is you.”
JOURNAL SAMPLE: They tell me the dream is my only link to who I was before, that it’s something to hold onto, but I don’t know that I want to. Whoever I was, whatever I did, was it so bad that I deserved to come here, or is this my chance for absolution, to prove that I am better than who I was before? What kind of person was I? Did I feel remorse for hurting the people and things I hurt? What do I hold to now that I am here: to my dream, or the possibility that I could be better here and now? If I could, I would turn away from it, but I don’t know that I can. I am tied to this past of mine, just like everyone here.
I suppose the most pressing question now is not so much who I was, though that is the question everyone asks in this place. Now, I want to know who I am to be.
ASPIRATIONS: Kira aspires to come to terms with the disturbing nature of his dream and settle on an opinion for what’s happened to him. He wonders if he’s somehow done so wrong in his former life that he deserves his fate in Edensphere, or if this is his chance for redemption. Similarly, he is torn between learning more about his past and making amends for whatever it was he’s done wrong and trying to forget the old life entirely and try to build a new one that could be destroyed by memories of the old one. Either way, whether he remembers or not, he desires to make up for his perceived transgressions and guilt in whatever ways he can.