application
PLAYER
Name/Handle: Ashka
Contact: ashka_chan@wp.pl
Personal LJ: ashka-chan
CHARACTER
Name: Shing Meteoryte
Series: Tales of Hearts
Canon: OU
Age: 16
Timeline: after the desert
History:
Shing lived together with his grandfather Zeks, in a small fisher village known as Seable. Shing’s grandfather was teaching him there how to become a Soma User, at the same time forbidding Shing to leave the village. The boy was angry since he was the only person in Seable, who never even once was “outside”.
One day to their house came a man from a neighbor village, who said that his niece was apparently suffering from Despir Disease. It is Soma User’s duty to heal those who fall for this sickness and so encouraging his grandfather to go there and check up on the girl, Shing thought he’ll be able to go with his grandfather, but unfortunately, he was not allowed to.
Since he didn’t have other things to do during his grandfather’s absence, Shing went to the beach. In there, he noticed two people - a girl and a young man lying unconscious on the sand. Shing panicked that the two drowned, but fortunately they were still alive. Then he came to conclusion that he has to do CPR... but when he tried to, the girl woke up, screamed and kicked him, calling him a weirdo. Then the girl’s older brother also woke up and Shing hurried with the explanation, that they both have it all wrong and he only wanted to help.
In any case, the siblings asked him if he knew a Soma User called Zeks and Shing said that it’s his grandfather. He pointed at his house and the two without the second thought went there, leaving Shing behind. In the house, the girl asked where is Shing’s grandfather and he answered that his absent for the moment. Then the girl’s brother got angry and accused Shing that he probably lied to them to get his sister here. Shing told them that he’s not lying and claimed that he can prove it. He showed the two his grandfather’s Soma - Asteria - and the two finally believed his words. The girl then introduced herself as Kohaku Hearts and her brother as Hisui Hearts. They asked Shing if he knew about one more Soma that should be around here and he replied that there is one more in the shrine on the coast. Kohaku asked if he could take them here and Shing agreed.
In the shrine, Kohaku used some strange arte to unseal the Soma Elrond that was hidden in the there. The Soma was the memento of Shing’s mother. Right now, though, it seemed that Kohaku and Hisui needed this Soma, but before they managed to tell Shing why, the sorceress Incarose interrupted them and attacked Kohaku. Shing tried to fight the sorceress, but he had not even a slightest chance against her. Then his grandfather appeared and saved him from Incarose’s attack, getting hurt badly in the process. In his rage, a strange energy started to emanate from Shing and pushed Incarose away, but the voice of his grandfather stopped the boy from doing anything else and everyone quickly escaped to the village.
In Shing’s house, Hisui tried to heal Zeks. He couldn’t heal Kohaku though. It seemed that Kohaku’s Spiria was damaged and Hisui’s healing artes had no effect on her. Spria is what we would refer to as a heart - it’s a place that holds all the feelings of the person. With her Spiria damaged in such way, Kohaku was suffering greatly. There was no other choice; Shing decided to use the Soma and link with Kohaku’s Spria. The Spirlink transported Shing to Kohaku’s Spirmaze - the maze of her mind. In there, Shing saw that Kohaku’s Spiria is being eaten by the monsters known as Zerom - monsters that were devouring dreams in the fairy tale called the Sleeping Princess.
In the end Shing came to the deepest part of the maze, where Kohaku’s Spirune was. The Spirune is a center of the Spiria and it gives birth to all the emotions. But beside the Spirune, Shing saw also a strange girl there. A girl with emerald hair - a girl that looked like the Sleeping Princess from the fairy tale. She introduced herself as Lithia. Shing was shocked at first, but then asked the girl what she was doing here. Lithia was about to answer, but then she realized something and apologized to Kohaku. The next thing Shing knew was that Kohaku’s Spirune had been shattered, there was an explosion of light and he himself was lying on the floor in his house, blaming himself for what happened. When Kohaku woke up she only repeated words of her brother. All her feelings were gone and Hisui started hitting Shing... But then Kohaku called to him, telling him to stop this. Still one fragment of her Spirune, the Spirune of kindness was left. There was still hope for her. Shing’s grandfather said that, if they gather all the Spirunes, Kohaku will be back to normal.
But Shing’s grandfather was too close to death. Shing couldn’t believe in that, he begged his grandfather not to die, saying that he’ll do anything only so he would stay with him. But it was too late. In his last words Zeks asked Shing to raise his Spiria strong.
The death of his grandfather was a lot for Shing to take, but he had to stay strong. He had to remember that because of him, Kohaku’s Spirune has been shattered and so he decided to go with the Hearts siblings, to look for Spirune fragments.
Their first stop was the town of Cunos, where they found out that a girl named Uran was suffering from Despir Disease. The party decided to look into the matter, but when they actually found the girl, she told them, she was only pretending to be sick, so her beloved, Eucles would start to worry about her. Apparently the astronomer Eucles thought of nothing, but stars and one day, after a strange light appeared, he started saying that the moon is going to fall. Hisui said that the strange light must had been Kohaku’s Spirune and so, they headed to Lagos Cavern to look for the astronomer.
Before they headed to the Cavern though, Hisui asked the merchant - Innes Lorenz - to give him the Soma she was selling. Having no money to pay for something as expensive, he promised Innes, he’ll work for her even whole his life. He needed the Soma if he wanted to save Kohaku. Innes wasn’t convinced, but when Shing told her that he’ll work for her, too and give her his house and even his own Soma (after they’ll cure Kohaku of course) in exchange, she agreed.
In Lagos Cavern the team found Eucles, who told them that ever since a strange shooting star fall inside him, he became scared that the black moon will fall. Moreover, Eucles was also worried about Uran, but he couldn’t move because of this fear. He began to curse his own Spiria and his inability to overcome his own fear for the sake of Uran. Shing wanted to help him and together with Hisui they created the Spirlink. The reason why Eucles was so afraid, was because Kohaku’s Fear Spirune was trapped inside his Spiria. After removing it, Eucles came back to normal and quickly headed to Uran, apologizing to her for abandoning her like this. Shing though, defended him and explained to the girl that the astronomer was worried about her.
But the main problem started when the Fear Spirune was returned to Kohaku. Lacking no other emotions, Kohaku became overcomed with fear. When Shing tried to calm her down, she hid herself behind Hisui and yelled at Shing that she’s afraid of him. Shing didn’t want to believe that - why was the girl so afraid of him? But Hisui told him it’s only natural - after all Shing was the one who shattered Kohaku’s Spirune. From that point on, the boy tried his best to make Kohaku believe in him, but to no avail.
On their way to the next town, the group met a Crystal Knight Chalcedony of the Church of Velleia. The Crystal Knights were Soma Users that worked for the Church and Chalcedony was on his way to investigate the strange explosion the night before and its connection to sudden increases of Despir Disease.
In the town of Henzella, Shing and others almost got tricked by the merchants. The only thing that really saved them from losing all their money was appearance of Ecaille from the Chen Trading Company. Ecaille told them that her boss, Chen Daren knows everything about this town and so he would be able to help them. But of course not for free. Having no other choice, the party headed to Chen Trading Company’s building and spoke with Chen himself. He told them that in exchange for information they have to become his bodyguards. Apparently a Soma User was targeting people’s life and Chen told them that if they do something about that one, he’ll give them all information they want. Just after Shing was about to ask of some details, the said Soma User appeared in Chen’s office. They turned out to be a little, blond girl, wielding a giant paintbrush - her name was Beryl Benito. The girl exclaimed that Chen was trying to trick them all, to take their Soma from them. Beryl used to work for Chen, too, but one day the goods she was taking care of were stolen and Chen told her that in the contract, it was said that in such case, Beryl’s Soma (that giant paintbrush) will be used as compensation. Beryl ran away and started targeting Chen, believing that from the very start he meant to take her Soma.
In any case, after calling Chen a liar, Beryl ran off, proving that he has Kohaku’s Spirune fragment inside her own Spiria. Shing and others tried to find her and when they did, Beryl said that she doesn’t believe anyone... and even if she wanted to believe, she is unable to.
Spirlink time! Surprisingly inside Beryl’s Spirmaze... there were two Beryls. One was black, other was white, but they both said the same thing. That they don’t believe anyone and they both yelled at Shing and Hisui to “get out”. Then a giant Zerom appeared and Shing protected the two Beryls from it. The two finally admitted that he’s not as bad of a person as they thought, but also said that he’s just an “honest idiot that will be always made fool of”. Kohaku’s Doubt Spirune was removed from Beryl’s Spria and everything was okay in the end. Chen and Innes appeared at the scene and Chen told Beryl that Innes got rid of the thieves and returned the stolen goods... but Beryl’s Soma has been used as a payment for Innes! Beryl then stated that she “can’t trust anyone after all” and ran off again, after writing “thanks” on Shing’s face with her paintbrush.
After going back to the inn, Kohaku sudden was abducted by the girl named Peridot Hamilton of the Crystal Knights. The girl overheard Hisui and Shing’s conversation, when the two were talking about Kohaku’s broken Spirune and she demanded that if they want to see the girl again, they have to give her (Peridot) the Spirune fragment.
Peridot was waiting at the top of Mount Grim, but before Shing and Hisui got there, they were joined by Beryl . Then, at the top of the mountain, Bryl used a chance and “accidentally” tripped to give back Kohaku’s Spirune fragment. Peridot was angry and demanded an explanation of what just happened, but then Beryl started telling Kohaku that Peridot is a nice person and she won’t do anything to her. Sacred Kohaku yelled that Beryl is lying, kicked Peridot and ran away from her, giving the others an opportunity to fight the Crystal Knight. Peridot lost the fight and fled.
Unfortunately, the part of the mountain that Kohaku ran to was highly unstable and the fact that the girl was afraid of heights was not helping at all. The part of the ground she was standing on was shaking, but Shing didn’t think twice and jumped to Kohaku, telling her that she has to believe him and that they’re going to make it out alive. She didn’t want to believe him at first, she yelled that they’re both going to die and was too scared to move. Then Shing told her to take his hand and that he’ll risk his life to save her, because it’s all his fault she’s now like that. After that they both jumped from the shaking part of the ground, just in time. Kohaku’s also retrieved her Trust Spirune.
Next stop: the central continent Auldmaine - in the cities around the imperial capital - Estrega - the Despir Disease was suppose to be really bad.
The team traveled aboard the ship to the central continent and headed to the small healing town Goose. The town seemed a little odd, especially knowing that Shing and others were the first visitor in a while. Upon a short investigation, it turned out that a girl named Sasha was suffering from a “shyness sickness” every since a strange light appeared. Her sickness was so strong that it affected even the other townspeople. But Sasha was okay now, because a traveling Crystal Knight took out something from her Spiria. Obviously, it was Kohaku’s Spirune! And it seemed that the Knight was still in the town, moreover, they were using the hot-springs... and Kokau and Beryl were also in the hot-springs. Shing didn’t think much, he just rushed into the girl’s side of the hot springs to tell them they might be in danger... and was kicked out of there, labeled as a pervert. But it turned out the Knight in the hot-springs was Peridot!... But she wasn’t the one who helped Sasha. In fact it was Chalcedony who did that. And there was one more Knight with them - Byrocks. With those three Shing and others had no chance to retrieve Kohaku’s Spirune. Chalcedony then hurried to Estrega and the Goose mayor kindly asked our party to leave, because they picked a fight with the Knights who saved his village.
Anyway, it was time to chase after Chalcedony and thankfully, Innes came just in time to tell our heroes that if they agree to deliver a letter to Estrega, she’ll tell them about a secret shortcut. The shortcut was the Andale Tunnel, that was remains of the Stone Age. Also, in there the party saw a painting of the Winged Whale... a deity of Valleia’s Church. Of course, Shing found it stupid that they think a fish such as a whale has wings. Then Beryl commented that he himself is stupid if he thinks whales are fish.
The tunnel helped a lot and so Shing and others caught up to Chalcedony... but they failed to defeat him. However, Chalcedony lost a pendant after the fight. Shing picked it up and decided to give it back to him next time they meet.
In Estrega, Shing again didn’t think much when he saw Chalcedony, especially that the Crystal Knight was trying to attack a soldier that insulted him. All in all, Shing was arrested and taken to the head of the Church, pastor Labrado Arkham (who also happened to be Chalcedony’s father). Labrado knew Shing’s grandfather and asked Shing to join the Crystal Knights, saying that he could use more Soma Users. Labrado’s main goal was to use Soma User in a way similar to soldier. Shing didn’t like that idea at all. For him, Soma should be used to heal people, not to fight others.
Shing’s opinion wasn’t taken into consideration though and so, he was locked up, until his friends came to save him. Before that he also gave Chalcedony his pendant back, and later escaped thanks to Innes. In the meantime, Hisui and others also retrieved Kohaku’s Shyness Spirune.
So, Innes joined the party and everyone headed to the City on the Lake Sharlow. When they got to the said city, it didn’t take them long to notice that the Despir Disease in there was really bad. Everyone was mourning and despair was literally everywhere. The only person that didn’t seem to be affected was a beautiful girl called Marine. The girl told them that maybe the artist Smithosa was the reason behind this. The group headed to his studio then, but it turned out that the artist true self cares about nothing, but honors and status and moreover, even faked his own sickness when he couldn’t come up with new idea for the paintings. This revelation was especially shocking for Beryl, who admired the artist. Of course, Smithosa tried to bribe them, so they wouldn’t tell the truth to anyone, but it’s not like they would anyway. They met Marine again and this time, she told them that a maid Cassidy was in despair after her fiancé died. The maid wasn’t the one with the Spirune either, but it turned out that her mistress was Marine and that Marine was in fact the person who suffered from misfortune the most.
In her grief Marine decided it would be best for everyone to just drown and so she headed to Odette Sluice. Shing and others stopped her, before something bad happened, made a Spirlink, got the Sadness Spirune and everything was fine in the end.
Hearing rumors that everyone who entered the city of Yuraio never came back, the party decided to head there. In the city was a tournament - the Raio Grand Prix and everyone who came there, thought of nothing else but to take part in the event. Again, the city was affected by Kohaku’s Sprirune and this time the fragment was stuck in the sword that was the winner’s trophy. There was no other choice, but to win the Grand Prix, but Shing and Hisui started fighting with each other and so the two entered the competition in two teams. Also a guy named Ameth, who was said to be the greatest hero also entered the tournament. Anyway, the competition started and everyone were suppose to get to the highest floor of the Tower of Heroes. Shing and Hisui had to join forces after some time, since the tower turned out to be too dangerous. Once they were on the top and about to get the trophy, Ameth appeared, jumping out of his airship. The cheater tried to fight Shing and the others, but he lost and fled. Then Shing and Hisui resumed they completion and raced to the trophy... but then they got attacked by monsters. Kohaku scared of the two, got enough courage to fight the monsters away and... surprising she was also announced the winner of the Grand Prix.
But Kohaku’s victory turned out to be invalid... but anyway, the party decided to rest at the inn. Beryl told them she’s going to sketch at the arena and Shing tagged along with her. They were attacked there by the Sorceress Incarose though. A strange power burst from Shing when Incarose tried to hurt Beryl and after a moment Cornelvil of the Imperial Army appeared at the scene. Incarose was gone and Cornelvil was interested in Zerom. Too much interested actually.
Also, if it wasn’t enough Cornelvil had Kohaku’s Spriune fragment. The only way to retrieve it was to get to the Rignatol Garrison and look for him there. The way the party actually got to the Garrison wasn’t the one they planned... they were arrested and trapped. Only Innes managed to escape and get them out of the cell. Also, before they were saved by Innes, Cornelvil showed them a strange mechanical human. He told them said mechanical human was created by people of the Stone Age; by the same people who created Zerom.
In any case, once saved by Innes, the group started looking for Cronelvil... and when they found him, they also found out that he was making an army of Zerom-possessed soldiers. Those soldiers attacked Shing and others, Cronelvil fled to the top of the Garrison and the team followed him. On the top they again fought the Zerom soldiers, somehow defeated Cornelvil and retrieved Kohaku’s Anger Spirune, but at the same time, in the mist of chaos, they were separated from Kohaku and Innes. Also, the mechanical human from earlier appeared, this time working on his own. Innes yelled to them that they’ll mean in the place she asked them to deliver the letter to.
And so after getting out of the Garrison, Shing and others headed to Estrega, to meet up with Innes and Kohaku. On their way they met the mechanical human again. He introduced himself as Kunzite and briefly traveled with them.
Just as Chalcedony attacked Kohaku and Innes in Estrega, Shing got in his way. He told Chalcedony about the military’s Zerom soldier, but Chalcedony didn’t want to believe him. Then Marine - or rather the Empress Paraiba Marine de Raise stopped Chalcedony from attacking. Chalcedony’s Spria soon after that went crazy, since he didn’t understand why his dear Paraiba is trying to stop him, even though he was doing everything for her. Chalcedony also had Kohaku’s Sprirune fragment. Unfortunately, our heroes weren’t able to retrieve that fragment, since Chalcedony forced them to Link out of his Spriune.
In any case, again the party had to get out of Estrega and they used the sewers to do so. Meanwhile, Kunzite joined the party again, saying that he’s the guardian of Lithia - the girl that lived in Kohaku’s Spirune. Now that her Spirune was shattered, he agreed to help the others in order to revive Lithia. Also, another important thing is reveled - in fact it wasn’t Shing who broke Kohaku’s Spirune, but Kohaku herself did it, in order to let Lithia escape. Kohaku was afraid whole this time to tell Shing about it, because she thought he’s going to be angry at her. But of course, Shing wasn’t.
But now again they had to chase after Chalcedony. This time the Knight was going to the Holy City Pransule. The party headed there through the Sahera desert.
The desert was a dangerous place. A giant Sandworm attacked and separating our heroes from each other. Shing was with Kohaku, before he also was separated from her in the sandstorm. The boy was looking for her whole the time, until he got lost in the sand. He was tired and didn’t know where to go anymore. He thought he’s going to die, but he couldn’t accept such fate. He thought only about Kohaku. Then he heard Kohaku’s voice. He found her and the two somehow managed to be reunited with the others as well. Then the sandworm appeared again, but this time they defeated it. To everyone’s surprise, the monster had Kohaku’s Happiness Spirune. With this, everyone headed to the oasis.
Personality:
What kind of person is Shing? Well, it would be easiest to say his a typical cheerful, kind-hearted, optimistic, idealistic, naïve and idiotic hero. Shing never gives up, no matter what would happen and he always tries to help everyone around. He also somehow naively believes that there’s a good side in everyone and so, he is willing to give everyone a second chance. Shing also tries to make everyone around him trust him, because as he says, he wants to build his Spiria by believing and being believed in. In order to gain someone’s trust he can do a lot. He also follows his grandfather’s words a lot of times and quotes him saying “Grandpa always said that...”. He’s favorite one is “If someone is in trouble - save them! If a pretty girl is in trouble - save her even if it’ll cost you your life!”
But the fact that Shing is so trusty makes him also a an easy target. Though, Shing is not exactly all that naïve. He is pretty good at telling when someone completely can’t be trusted, but it also doesn’t change the fact that most of the time, he’s pretty easy to get tricked by other people.
Another thing is that Shing is honest and simple-minded. Though, it would be probably better to say that he lacks any form of tact and often says what he thinks, which makes the situation worse or really awkward. He also sometimes says words, which he himself doesn’t know the meaning of. He also doesn’t hesitate to voice his opinion, even in front of people that are of a higher status, which also gets him in a lot of trouble. Normally though, he speaks pretty politely with people older than himself.
Good example of how simple-mind Shing can be is how he reacts to most of the events; he rushes head-on into the fight, he runs into the girls side of the hot-springs to tell them they might be in danger, picks a fight with the Crystal Knights... in other words, Shing most of the time acts without thinking. Waiting? Planning anything? No, that’s definitely not for Shing. If he is suppose to do something, he’ll do it right away, right here, right now and most preferably head on. This is how Shing deals with most of his problems as well. Shing never gives up and never runs away. Even if he’s afraid. He believes that everything is going to be okay in the end and that’s also what makes him do reckless things.
But underneath the cheerful and optimistic exterior, Shing is hiding the feeling of sadness after losing all his family. The feeling of loneliness is why he wanted to make friends with Kohaku and Hisui... no, actually, Shing’s tries to be friends with just about anyone he meets. Helping them out and trying to make them feel better; Shing is always trying to understand how those around him feel or tries to find a reason behind their actions.
Another thing that being stuck in the village for most of his life makes him curious about the “outside” world. Whenever he sees something new, he doesn’t stop himself from exclaiming he never seen something like that before or asking lots of questions. Sometimes it’s pretty embarrassing for the other party members to answer his questions or even watching him making a scene over something he sees for the first time.
But despite all his flaws, Shing is also always willing to work on himself. He makes it part of his great mission to raise his Spria strong and so, he usually wondering out loud when he feels he did something wrong. He also usually openly talks about how he feels.
Kohaku is an important person for Shing. Whole his adventure started from shattering Kohaku’s Spirune. Shing was blaming himself all the time for what he has done and was afraid that when Kohaku will get her Anger Spirune back, she’ll be mad at him. He was also really shock when Kohaku exclaimed that she’s scared of him. He tried his best to make her believe him, he didn’t want her to be scared of him. That’s why, always with a smile he was again and again talking to Kohaku, hoping that something will change. After the girl finally started to trust him again, Shing almost cried from happiness. Though it later turned out it wasn’t Shing who broke Kohaku’s Spirune, Shing still does everything he can to heal Kohaku.
Abilities/Additional Notes:
-Soma
Soma is a special type of weapon that allows the user to link with other people’s Spiria. Soma Users are suppose to use their Soma in order to cure Despir Disease and destroy monsters known as Zerom, that eat weak Spiria. Soma also enhances battle abilities of their user and allows them to perform Mind Artes. For that reason, Soma Users are considered to be stronger than normal soldiers or warriors.
Shing’s Soma is Asteria - a shield with a sword embodied into it. It’s name means “Radiance of Stars” in ancient language.
Shing is specialist in sword fighting and his forte are extremely quick attacks. His artes are mainly of light element, which is very rare among the Tales male protagonists.
-Mind Artes
Shing’s Full Arte Exhibition
Third-Person Sample:
Shing was walking around for the longer time now. He was lost, wondering what in the world actually happened. Just a moment ago he was finally with everyone at the oasis... and now he was alone again. But he had no time to lose! He had to find Chalcedony and save Kohaku... He promised her!
“Kohaku!!”
Even though Shing wanted to believe the girl was somewhere around here, he knew she wasn’t. It wasn’t link on the desert. This time he really was alone. He just knew that. He could tell.
This wasn’t good. Shing was already tired after traveling for so long through the desert. He really thought he’s a goner for a moment. But then he heard Kohaku’s voice and everything turned out okay in the end.
But then again, this time was different.
“What should I do now...”
He looked around again.
“This place sure is creepy...”
Shing then started to walk again, calling: “Hey! Is there anyone around here?!”
There had to be someone here, right?
First-Person Sample Journal Post:
Where am I?
[It’s night and the feed shows a strangely dressed young man, that looks definitely lost.
He makes a thoughtful look, trying to recall what happened.]
I remember... we were at the oasis.
[he looks at the night sky.]
...What happened? I can’t think of anything! And why it’s a night already?
[but then, as he looks at the sky, he blinks a few times and...]
Wait... What?! There’s only one moon?! What happened to the black one?!
[but at that point Shing was more than sure that something really not right was going on here.]
Name/Handle: Ashka
Contact: ashka_chan@wp.pl
Personal LJ: ashka-chan
CHARACTER
Name: Shing Meteoryte
Series: Tales of Hearts
Canon: OU
Age: 16
Timeline: after the desert
History:
Shing lived together with his grandfather Zeks, in a small fisher village known as Seable. Shing’s grandfather was teaching him there how to become a Soma User, at the same time forbidding Shing to leave the village. The boy was angry since he was the only person in Seable, who never even once was “outside”.
One day to their house came a man from a neighbor village, who said that his niece was apparently suffering from Despir Disease. It is Soma User’s duty to heal those who fall for this sickness and so encouraging his grandfather to go there and check up on the girl, Shing thought he’ll be able to go with his grandfather, but unfortunately, he was not allowed to.
Since he didn’t have other things to do during his grandfather’s absence, Shing went to the beach. In there, he noticed two people - a girl and a young man lying unconscious on the sand. Shing panicked that the two drowned, but fortunately they were still alive. Then he came to conclusion that he has to do CPR... but when he tried to, the girl woke up, screamed and kicked him, calling him a weirdo. Then the girl’s older brother also woke up and Shing hurried with the explanation, that they both have it all wrong and he only wanted to help.
In any case, the siblings asked him if he knew a Soma User called Zeks and Shing said that it’s his grandfather. He pointed at his house and the two without the second thought went there, leaving Shing behind. In the house, the girl asked where is Shing’s grandfather and he answered that his absent for the moment. Then the girl’s brother got angry and accused Shing that he probably lied to them to get his sister here. Shing told them that he’s not lying and claimed that he can prove it. He showed the two his grandfather’s Soma - Asteria - and the two finally believed his words. The girl then introduced herself as Kohaku Hearts and her brother as Hisui Hearts. They asked Shing if he knew about one more Soma that should be around here and he replied that there is one more in the shrine on the coast. Kohaku asked if he could take them here and Shing agreed.
In the shrine, Kohaku used some strange arte to unseal the Soma Elrond that was hidden in the there. The Soma was the memento of Shing’s mother. Right now, though, it seemed that Kohaku and Hisui needed this Soma, but before they managed to tell Shing why, the sorceress Incarose interrupted them and attacked Kohaku. Shing tried to fight the sorceress, but he had not even a slightest chance against her. Then his grandfather appeared and saved him from Incarose’s attack, getting hurt badly in the process. In his rage, a strange energy started to emanate from Shing and pushed Incarose away, but the voice of his grandfather stopped the boy from doing anything else and everyone quickly escaped to the village.
In Shing’s house, Hisui tried to heal Zeks. He couldn’t heal Kohaku though. It seemed that Kohaku’s Spiria was damaged and Hisui’s healing artes had no effect on her. Spria is what we would refer to as a heart - it’s a place that holds all the feelings of the person. With her Spiria damaged in such way, Kohaku was suffering greatly. There was no other choice; Shing decided to use the Soma and link with Kohaku’s Spria. The Spirlink transported Shing to Kohaku’s Spirmaze - the maze of her mind. In there, Shing saw that Kohaku’s Spiria is being eaten by the monsters known as Zerom - monsters that were devouring dreams in the fairy tale called the Sleeping Princess.
In the end Shing came to the deepest part of the maze, where Kohaku’s Spirune was. The Spirune is a center of the Spiria and it gives birth to all the emotions. But beside the Spirune, Shing saw also a strange girl there. A girl with emerald hair - a girl that looked like the Sleeping Princess from the fairy tale. She introduced herself as Lithia. Shing was shocked at first, but then asked the girl what she was doing here. Lithia was about to answer, but then she realized something and apologized to Kohaku. The next thing Shing knew was that Kohaku’s Spirune had been shattered, there was an explosion of light and he himself was lying on the floor in his house, blaming himself for what happened. When Kohaku woke up she only repeated words of her brother. All her feelings were gone and Hisui started hitting Shing... But then Kohaku called to him, telling him to stop this. Still one fragment of her Spirune, the Spirune of kindness was left. There was still hope for her. Shing’s grandfather said that, if they gather all the Spirunes, Kohaku will be back to normal.
But Shing’s grandfather was too close to death. Shing couldn’t believe in that, he begged his grandfather not to die, saying that he’ll do anything only so he would stay with him. But it was too late. In his last words Zeks asked Shing to raise his Spiria strong.
The death of his grandfather was a lot for Shing to take, but he had to stay strong. He had to remember that because of him, Kohaku’s Spirune has been shattered and so he decided to go with the Hearts siblings, to look for Spirune fragments.
Their first stop was the town of Cunos, where they found out that a girl named Uran was suffering from Despir Disease. The party decided to look into the matter, but when they actually found the girl, she told them, she was only pretending to be sick, so her beloved, Eucles would start to worry about her. Apparently the astronomer Eucles thought of nothing, but stars and one day, after a strange light appeared, he started saying that the moon is going to fall. Hisui said that the strange light must had been Kohaku’s Spirune and so, they headed to Lagos Cavern to look for the astronomer.
Before they headed to the Cavern though, Hisui asked the merchant - Innes Lorenz - to give him the Soma she was selling. Having no money to pay for something as expensive, he promised Innes, he’ll work for her even whole his life. He needed the Soma if he wanted to save Kohaku. Innes wasn’t convinced, but when Shing told her that he’ll work for her, too and give her his house and even his own Soma (after they’ll cure Kohaku of course) in exchange, she agreed.
In Lagos Cavern the team found Eucles, who told them that ever since a strange shooting star fall inside him, he became scared that the black moon will fall. Moreover, Eucles was also worried about Uran, but he couldn’t move because of this fear. He began to curse his own Spiria and his inability to overcome his own fear for the sake of Uran. Shing wanted to help him and together with Hisui they created the Spirlink. The reason why Eucles was so afraid, was because Kohaku’s Fear Spirune was trapped inside his Spiria. After removing it, Eucles came back to normal and quickly headed to Uran, apologizing to her for abandoning her like this. Shing though, defended him and explained to the girl that the astronomer was worried about her.
But the main problem started when the Fear Spirune was returned to Kohaku. Lacking no other emotions, Kohaku became overcomed with fear. When Shing tried to calm her down, she hid herself behind Hisui and yelled at Shing that she’s afraid of him. Shing didn’t want to believe that - why was the girl so afraid of him? But Hisui told him it’s only natural - after all Shing was the one who shattered Kohaku’s Spirune. From that point on, the boy tried his best to make Kohaku believe in him, but to no avail.
On their way to the next town, the group met a Crystal Knight Chalcedony of the Church of Velleia. The Crystal Knights were Soma Users that worked for the Church and Chalcedony was on his way to investigate the strange explosion the night before and its connection to sudden increases of Despir Disease.
In the town of Henzella, Shing and others almost got tricked by the merchants. The only thing that really saved them from losing all their money was appearance of Ecaille from the Chen Trading Company. Ecaille told them that her boss, Chen Daren knows everything about this town and so he would be able to help them. But of course not for free. Having no other choice, the party headed to Chen Trading Company’s building and spoke with Chen himself. He told them that in exchange for information they have to become his bodyguards. Apparently a Soma User was targeting people’s life and Chen told them that if they do something about that one, he’ll give them all information they want. Just after Shing was about to ask of some details, the said Soma User appeared in Chen’s office. They turned out to be a little, blond girl, wielding a giant paintbrush - her name was Beryl Benito. The girl exclaimed that Chen was trying to trick them all, to take their Soma from them. Beryl used to work for Chen, too, but one day the goods she was taking care of were stolen and Chen told her that in the contract, it was said that in such case, Beryl’s Soma (that giant paintbrush) will be used as compensation. Beryl ran away and started targeting Chen, believing that from the very start he meant to take her Soma.
In any case, after calling Chen a liar, Beryl ran off, proving that he has Kohaku’s Spirune fragment inside her own Spiria. Shing and others tried to find her and when they did, Beryl said that she doesn’t believe anyone... and even if she wanted to believe, she is unable to.
Spirlink time! Surprisingly inside Beryl’s Spirmaze... there were two Beryls. One was black, other was white, but they both said the same thing. That they don’t believe anyone and they both yelled at Shing and Hisui to “get out”. Then a giant Zerom appeared and Shing protected the two Beryls from it. The two finally admitted that he’s not as bad of a person as they thought, but also said that he’s just an “honest idiot that will be always made fool of”. Kohaku’s Doubt Spirune was removed from Beryl’s Spria and everything was okay in the end. Chen and Innes appeared at the scene and Chen told Beryl that Innes got rid of the thieves and returned the stolen goods... but Beryl’s Soma has been used as a payment for Innes! Beryl then stated that she “can’t trust anyone after all” and ran off again, after writing “thanks” on Shing’s face with her paintbrush.
After going back to the inn, Kohaku sudden was abducted by the girl named Peridot Hamilton of the Crystal Knights. The girl overheard Hisui and Shing’s conversation, when the two were talking about Kohaku’s broken Spirune and she demanded that if they want to see the girl again, they have to give her (Peridot) the Spirune fragment.
Peridot was waiting at the top of Mount Grim, but before Shing and Hisui got there, they were joined by Beryl . Then, at the top of the mountain, Bryl used a chance and “accidentally” tripped to give back Kohaku’s Spirune fragment. Peridot was angry and demanded an explanation of what just happened, but then Beryl started telling Kohaku that Peridot is a nice person and she won’t do anything to her. Sacred Kohaku yelled that Beryl is lying, kicked Peridot and ran away from her, giving the others an opportunity to fight the Crystal Knight. Peridot lost the fight and fled.
Unfortunately, the part of the mountain that Kohaku ran to was highly unstable and the fact that the girl was afraid of heights was not helping at all. The part of the ground she was standing on was shaking, but Shing didn’t think twice and jumped to Kohaku, telling her that she has to believe him and that they’re going to make it out alive. She didn’t want to believe him at first, she yelled that they’re both going to die and was too scared to move. Then Shing told her to take his hand and that he’ll risk his life to save her, because it’s all his fault she’s now like that. After that they both jumped from the shaking part of the ground, just in time. Kohaku’s also retrieved her Trust Spirune.
Next stop: the central continent Auldmaine - in the cities around the imperial capital - Estrega - the Despir Disease was suppose to be really bad.
The team traveled aboard the ship to the central continent and headed to the small healing town Goose. The town seemed a little odd, especially knowing that Shing and others were the first visitor in a while. Upon a short investigation, it turned out that a girl named Sasha was suffering from a “shyness sickness” every since a strange light appeared. Her sickness was so strong that it affected even the other townspeople. But Sasha was okay now, because a traveling Crystal Knight took out something from her Spiria. Obviously, it was Kohaku’s Spirune! And it seemed that the Knight was still in the town, moreover, they were using the hot-springs... and Kokau and Beryl were also in the hot-springs. Shing didn’t think much, he just rushed into the girl’s side of the hot springs to tell them they might be in danger... and was kicked out of there, labeled as a pervert. But it turned out the Knight in the hot-springs was Peridot!... But she wasn’t the one who helped Sasha. In fact it was Chalcedony who did that. And there was one more Knight with them - Byrocks. With those three Shing and others had no chance to retrieve Kohaku’s Spirune. Chalcedony then hurried to Estrega and the Goose mayor kindly asked our party to leave, because they picked a fight with the Knights who saved his village.
Anyway, it was time to chase after Chalcedony and thankfully, Innes came just in time to tell our heroes that if they agree to deliver a letter to Estrega, she’ll tell them about a secret shortcut. The shortcut was the Andale Tunnel, that was remains of the Stone Age. Also, in there the party saw a painting of the Winged Whale... a deity of Valleia’s Church. Of course, Shing found it stupid that they think a fish such as a whale has wings. Then Beryl commented that he himself is stupid if he thinks whales are fish.
The tunnel helped a lot and so Shing and others caught up to Chalcedony... but they failed to defeat him. However, Chalcedony lost a pendant after the fight. Shing picked it up and decided to give it back to him next time they meet.
In Estrega, Shing again didn’t think much when he saw Chalcedony, especially that the Crystal Knight was trying to attack a soldier that insulted him. All in all, Shing was arrested and taken to the head of the Church, pastor Labrado Arkham (who also happened to be Chalcedony’s father). Labrado knew Shing’s grandfather and asked Shing to join the Crystal Knights, saying that he could use more Soma Users. Labrado’s main goal was to use Soma User in a way similar to soldier. Shing didn’t like that idea at all. For him, Soma should be used to heal people, not to fight others.
Shing’s opinion wasn’t taken into consideration though and so, he was locked up, until his friends came to save him. Before that he also gave Chalcedony his pendant back, and later escaped thanks to Innes. In the meantime, Hisui and others also retrieved Kohaku’s Shyness Spirune.
So, Innes joined the party and everyone headed to the City on the Lake Sharlow. When they got to the said city, it didn’t take them long to notice that the Despir Disease in there was really bad. Everyone was mourning and despair was literally everywhere. The only person that didn’t seem to be affected was a beautiful girl called Marine. The girl told them that maybe the artist Smithosa was the reason behind this. The group headed to his studio then, but it turned out that the artist true self cares about nothing, but honors and status and moreover, even faked his own sickness when he couldn’t come up with new idea for the paintings. This revelation was especially shocking for Beryl, who admired the artist. Of course, Smithosa tried to bribe them, so they wouldn’t tell the truth to anyone, but it’s not like they would anyway. They met Marine again and this time, she told them that a maid Cassidy was in despair after her fiancé died. The maid wasn’t the one with the Spirune either, but it turned out that her mistress was Marine and that Marine was in fact the person who suffered from misfortune the most.
In her grief Marine decided it would be best for everyone to just drown and so she headed to Odette Sluice. Shing and others stopped her, before something bad happened, made a Spirlink, got the Sadness Spirune and everything was fine in the end.
Hearing rumors that everyone who entered the city of Yuraio never came back, the party decided to head there. In the city was a tournament - the Raio Grand Prix and everyone who came there, thought of nothing else but to take part in the event. Again, the city was affected by Kohaku’s Sprirune and this time the fragment was stuck in the sword that was the winner’s trophy. There was no other choice, but to win the Grand Prix, but Shing and Hisui started fighting with each other and so the two entered the competition in two teams. Also a guy named Ameth, who was said to be the greatest hero also entered the tournament. Anyway, the competition started and everyone were suppose to get to the highest floor of the Tower of Heroes. Shing and Hisui had to join forces after some time, since the tower turned out to be too dangerous. Once they were on the top and about to get the trophy, Ameth appeared, jumping out of his airship. The cheater tried to fight Shing and the others, but he lost and fled. Then Shing and Hisui resumed they completion and raced to the trophy... but then they got attacked by monsters. Kohaku scared of the two, got enough courage to fight the monsters away and... surprising she was also announced the winner of the Grand Prix.
But Kohaku’s victory turned out to be invalid... but anyway, the party decided to rest at the inn. Beryl told them she’s going to sketch at the arena and Shing tagged along with her. They were attacked there by the Sorceress Incarose though. A strange power burst from Shing when Incarose tried to hurt Beryl and after a moment Cornelvil of the Imperial Army appeared at the scene. Incarose was gone and Cornelvil was interested in Zerom. Too much interested actually.
Also, if it wasn’t enough Cornelvil had Kohaku’s Spriune fragment. The only way to retrieve it was to get to the Rignatol Garrison and look for him there. The way the party actually got to the Garrison wasn’t the one they planned... they were arrested and trapped. Only Innes managed to escape and get them out of the cell. Also, before they were saved by Innes, Cornelvil showed them a strange mechanical human. He told them said mechanical human was created by people of the Stone Age; by the same people who created Zerom.
In any case, once saved by Innes, the group started looking for Cronelvil... and when they found him, they also found out that he was making an army of Zerom-possessed soldiers. Those soldiers attacked Shing and others, Cronelvil fled to the top of the Garrison and the team followed him. On the top they again fought the Zerom soldiers, somehow defeated Cornelvil and retrieved Kohaku’s Anger Spirune, but at the same time, in the mist of chaos, they were separated from Kohaku and Innes. Also, the mechanical human from earlier appeared, this time working on his own. Innes yelled to them that they’ll mean in the place she asked them to deliver the letter to.
And so after getting out of the Garrison, Shing and others headed to Estrega, to meet up with Innes and Kohaku. On their way they met the mechanical human again. He introduced himself as Kunzite and briefly traveled with them.
Just as Chalcedony attacked Kohaku and Innes in Estrega, Shing got in his way. He told Chalcedony about the military’s Zerom soldier, but Chalcedony didn’t want to believe him. Then Marine - or rather the Empress Paraiba Marine de Raise stopped Chalcedony from attacking. Chalcedony’s Spria soon after that went crazy, since he didn’t understand why his dear Paraiba is trying to stop him, even though he was doing everything for her. Chalcedony also had Kohaku’s Sprirune fragment. Unfortunately, our heroes weren’t able to retrieve that fragment, since Chalcedony forced them to Link out of his Spriune.
In any case, again the party had to get out of Estrega and they used the sewers to do so. Meanwhile, Kunzite joined the party again, saying that he’s the guardian of Lithia - the girl that lived in Kohaku’s Spirune. Now that her Spirune was shattered, he agreed to help the others in order to revive Lithia. Also, another important thing is reveled - in fact it wasn’t Shing who broke Kohaku’s Spirune, but Kohaku herself did it, in order to let Lithia escape. Kohaku was afraid whole this time to tell Shing about it, because she thought he’s going to be angry at her. But of course, Shing wasn’t.
But now again they had to chase after Chalcedony. This time the Knight was going to the Holy City Pransule. The party headed there through the Sahera desert.
The desert was a dangerous place. A giant Sandworm attacked and separating our heroes from each other. Shing was with Kohaku, before he also was separated from her in the sandstorm. The boy was looking for her whole the time, until he got lost in the sand. He was tired and didn’t know where to go anymore. He thought he’s going to die, but he couldn’t accept such fate. He thought only about Kohaku. Then he heard Kohaku’s voice. He found her and the two somehow managed to be reunited with the others as well. Then the sandworm appeared again, but this time they defeated it. To everyone’s surprise, the monster had Kohaku’s Happiness Spirune. With this, everyone headed to the oasis.
Personality:
What kind of person is Shing? Well, it would be easiest to say his a typical cheerful, kind-hearted, optimistic, idealistic, naïve and idiotic hero. Shing never gives up, no matter what would happen and he always tries to help everyone around. He also somehow naively believes that there’s a good side in everyone and so, he is willing to give everyone a second chance. Shing also tries to make everyone around him trust him, because as he says, he wants to build his Spiria by believing and being believed in. In order to gain someone’s trust he can do a lot. He also follows his grandfather’s words a lot of times and quotes him saying “Grandpa always said that...”. He’s favorite one is “If someone is in trouble - save them! If a pretty girl is in trouble - save her even if it’ll cost you your life!”
But the fact that Shing is so trusty makes him also a an easy target. Though, Shing is not exactly all that naïve. He is pretty good at telling when someone completely can’t be trusted, but it also doesn’t change the fact that most of the time, he’s pretty easy to get tricked by other people.
Another thing is that Shing is honest and simple-minded. Though, it would be probably better to say that he lacks any form of tact and often says what he thinks, which makes the situation worse or really awkward. He also sometimes says words, which he himself doesn’t know the meaning of. He also doesn’t hesitate to voice his opinion, even in front of people that are of a higher status, which also gets him in a lot of trouble. Normally though, he speaks pretty politely with people older than himself.
Good example of how simple-mind Shing can be is how he reacts to most of the events; he rushes head-on into the fight, he runs into the girls side of the hot-springs to tell them they might be in danger, picks a fight with the Crystal Knights... in other words, Shing most of the time acts without thinking. Waiting? Planning anything? No, that’s definitely not for Shing. If he is suppose to do something, he’ll do it right away, right here, right now and most preferably head on. This is how Shing deals with most of his problems as well. Shing never gives up and never runs away. Even if he’s afraid. He believes that everything is going to be okay in the end and that’s also what makes him do reckless things.
But underneath the cheerful and optimistic exterior, Shing is hiding the feeling of sadness after losing all his family. The feeling of loneliness is why he wanted to make friends with Kohaku and Hisui... no, actually, Shing’s tries to be friends with just about anyone he meets. Helping them out and trying to make them feel better; Shing is always trying to understand how those around him feel or tries to find a reason behind their actions.
Another thing that being stuck in the village for most of his life makes him curious about the “outside” world. Whenever he sees something new, he doesn’t stop himself from exclaiming he never seen something like that before or asking lots of questions. Sometimes it’s pretty embarrassing for the other party members to answer his questions or even watching him making a scene over something he sees for the first time.
But despite all his flaws, Shing is also always willing to work on himself. He makes it part of his great mission to raise his Spria strong and so, he usually wondering out loud when he feels he did something wrong. He also usually openly talks about how he feels.
Kohaku is an important person for Shing. Whole his adventure started from shattering Kohaku’s Spirune. Shing was blaming himself all the time for what he has done and was afraid that when Kohaku will get her Anger Spirune back, she’ll be mad at him. He was also really shock when Kohaku exclaimed that she’s scared of him. He tried his best to make her believe him, he didn’t want her to be scared of him. That’s why, always with a smile he was again and again talking to Kohaku, hoping that something will change. After the girl finally started to trust him again, Shing almost cried from happiness. Though it later turned out it wasn’t Shing who broke Kohaku’s Spirune, Shing still does everything he can to heal Kohaku.
Abilities/Additional Notes:
-Soma
Soma is a special type of weapon that allows the user to link with other people’s Spiria. Soma Users are suppose to use their Soma in order to cure Despir Disease and destroy monsters known as Zerom, that eat weak Spiria. Soma also enhances battle abilities of their user and allows them to perform Mind Artes. For that reason, Soma Users are considered to be stronger than normal soldiers or warriors.
Shing’s Soma is Asteria - a shield with a sword embodied into it. It’s name means “Radiance of Stars” in ancient language.
Shing is specialist in sword fighting and his forte are extremely quick attacks. His artes are mainly of light element, which is very rare among the Tales male protagonists.
-Mind Artes
Shing’s Full Arte Exhibition
Third-Person Sample:
Shing was walking around for the longer time now. He was lost, wondering what in the world actually happened. Just a moment ago he was finally with everyone at the oasis... and now he was alone again. But he had no time to lose! He had to find Chalcedony and save Kohaku... He promised her!
“Kohaku!!”
Even though Shing wanted to believe the girl was somewhere around here, he knew she wasn’t. It wasn’t link on the desert. This time he really was alone. He just knew that. He could tell.
This wasn’t good. Shing was already tired after traveling for so long through the desert. He really thought he’s a goner for a moment. But then he heard Kohaku’s voice and everything turned out okay in the end.
But then again, this time was different.
“What should I do now...”
He looked around again.
“This place sure is creepy...”
Shing then started to walk again, calling: “Hey! Is there anyone around here?!”
There had to be someone here, right?
First-Person Sample Journal Post:
Where am I?
[It’s night and the feed shows a strangely dressed young man, that looks definitely lost.
He makes a thoughtful look, trying to recall what happened.]
I remember... we were at the oasis.
[he looks at the night sky.]
...What happened? I can’t think of anything! And why it’s a night already?
[but then, as he looks at the sky, he blinks a few times and...]
Wait... What?! There’s only one moon?! What happened to the black one?!
[but at that point Shing was more than sure that something really not right was going on here.]