Application Edensphere
CHARACTER INFO
CHARACTER NAME: Rinoa Heartilly
SERIES: Final Fantasy VIII
RESERVED: No
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Rinoa is a kind, caring person with a tendency to get in over her head. When she wants to do something she gives it everything she's got. Unfortunately she's lacking on a lot of experience in life being only seventeen and this can make her rash in impetuous. Still she always tries her best.
While Rinoa may be very brave in normal matters, having no hesitance to get into a scrap for her friends or something she feels is right, her luck seems to run towards getting in over her head more than anything else. She hides it well, but she's not stupid; it's natural for anyone to feel fear when they're in a situation beyond their depth. Still she struggles on and does her best anyways, no matter how scared she might get. Whatever seems right... she'll do it.
Still when it comes down to it Rinoa isn't some great warrior who goes out and saves the day. She's a cheerful girl with a lot of guts and an optimistic outlook on life who's not afraid to smack someone she feels is getting out of line. Outgoing almost to a fault in most cases, she makes friends easily and has an intuitive feel for when others are down or having problems. She tries to help and cheer them up as best she can though she's not so optimistic she'll deny a terrible reality when it's staring her in the face.
Ironically when it comes to herself Rinoa tends to lock up the things she's feeling. Her fears, her hopes, her less happy thoughts. The person she shares these with is rare and is usually someone she cares greatly for and depends upon heavily. When it comes to these people who have Rinoa's trust so deeply she can be clingy; it's not often she finds a person who gives her comfort in life. Usually she's the one doing the comforting. So she has a tendency to hold on and not let go if she can help it, secretly afraid they'll disappear if she lets them go.
Something of a leader, Rinoa tends to take initiative. When she wants something or she sees an injustice, rather than give up she's more likely to plan and take action as soon as she comes up with something that seems feasible. Her plans aren't usually as well-thought out as others would like, but where there's a will there's a way, right? Her care and strength often inspires others so even if she gets into trouble she's not likely to be alone and usually someone will come to rescue her. She never does learn her lesson, but keeps on trying, always rushing in. Along with the cutesy way she can act, often teasing others, this can make her seem quite childish and cause more serious people to not take her seriously. Unsurprisingly she ends up getting into a lot of fights with those who have more serious demeanors.
TIMELINE: Post-game
BACKGROUND: Rinoa was born the daughter of the Galbadian general Fury Caraway and his wife the famous singer Julia Heartilly. When she was five Julia died in a car accident and Rinoa never got along with her father afterwards. Over the years they grew distant and eventually she ended up running away from home to join a resistance faction in Timber called the Forest Owls. With their help she worked to free Timber from its annexation by Galbadia (her birth country) nearly ten years prior.
Not long after she met a SeeD cadet named Seifer Almasy and her life forever changed. Seifer taught her a lot of things, but most importantly she found herself falling for him. He in his turn cared for her to at least some extent, spending a summer with her and helping her with the Forest Owls. He was the one who told her how to hire SeeD, a mercenary force renowned the world over, and later helped her meet and speak with the founding head Cid Kramer.
After that the three SeeD Squall Leonhart, Selphie Tilmitt and Zell Dincht. After a failed attempt to capture President Deling of Galbadia they decided to use the Timber TV Station to send of message of independence over the airwaves, but that plan was canceled after Rinoa got into a fight with Squall and ended up running off. Seifer arrived and took Deling hostage while he was in the middle of a speech at the TV Station, but was kidnapped by the sorceress Edea. Lock down on Timber by the Galbadian army began in earnest and Rinoa barely slipped out of Timber along with Squall, Selphie, Zell and another SeeD named Quistis.
They made their way to Galbadia Garden, a training facility for SeeD where the SeeD with Rinoa received the orders to assassinate Edea with the help of a SeeD cadet named Irvine Kinneas. They made their way to Deling City, the capital of Galbadia, where they met up with Rinoa's father and put the plan into motion. In a fit of impetuousness though Rinoa ran off on her own to execute her own plan thinking to trick Edea into wearing a bangle that canceled out sorceress magic. Edea saw right through her plan though and it was only by a timely intervention by Squall that she was saved from becoming a festive sacrifice.
After a scramble the original assassination plan went into motion, but ultimately it failed and Rinoa along with the SeeDs (minus Irvine) were carted off to D-District prison, the high security facility for political prisoners. Rinoa's father managed to use his political pull to free her, but she wouldn't leave the others and forced Irvine, her escort, to return with her to rescue them. Rescue under way all the SeeD along with Rinoa managed to escape.
At that moment though Galbadia launched their long range missiles and took out Trabia Garden, another SeeD training facility. In an effort to save Balamb Garden, the only Garden not destroyed or controlled by Edea (as Galbadia Garden had been taken over by her and Seifer who was now her knight), the group split up with half of them going to the Missile Base and the rest going to warn Balamb Garden. Rinoa went with Squall to Balamb Garden.
There they manage to restore the Garden's flight capabilities and fly out of the way of the missiles just in time. Afterwards the defeat the traitorous proprietor of Garden, NORG before crashing into the sea-based town of Fisherman's Horizon. Squall is made Commander of SeeD and Balamb Garden and the SeeD who went to the missile base return.
Squall's first act as Commander is to return to the town of Balamb and free it from Galbadian occupation before continuing on to the ruins of Trabia Garden. There the original SeeD group remember their past and that Edea was their caretaker as children at an orphanage located in Centra. The SeeD decide to check the orphanage out, but run into Galbadia Garden, controlled by Edea and Seifer, on the way. A battle between the two Gardens ensues and Rinoa nearly dies by falling off of Balamb Garden, but is saved just in time by Squall. Afterwards they infiltrate Galbadia Garden and track down Edea and Seifer. The two are defeated, but everyone is knocked out after the fight. Rinoa finds Edea's sorceress powers passed on to her and a sorceress from the future possesses her, sending her into a comatose state.
In an effort to revive Rinoa Squall takes her to Esthar, the most technologically advanced country in the world and leading researcher into sorceresses. Supposedly Ellone, a girl from Squall's past with the ability to go back into the past, is there and may be able to tell him the cause behind Rinoa's comatose state (since her possession was not apparent as of yet). In Esthar he takes Rinoa into space to see Ellone at the Estharian space station. Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future, takes control of her then though, awakening her and causing her to free the evil sorceress, former tyrant of Esthar, from her prison floating in space.
Only intervention by Squall saves Rinoa from dying in space. He manages to get Rinoa back to the ground, but she chooses to go with Esthar officials to be locked away so that she can never cause more trouble with her sorceress powers. Squall frees her though and tells her to stay beside him. They make a promise that if they ever lose one another they'll meet in the field of flowers behind Edea's orphanage.
At that moment the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire, contacts SeeD and makes an offer. Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future, will continue to try and possess Rinoa and use her as well as Ellone to cause time compression, a state in which all time fuses and none, but Ultimecia can live. In an effort to stop this he will pay SeeD to take down Seifer who still heads Ultimecia's forces in the present and go into the future and stop Ultimecia.
SeeD takes the job and Rinoa accompanies them to Lunatic Pandora where they battle Seifer. He kidnaps her and gives her to Adel, beginning a fusion between the two of them. SeeD manages to destroy Adel before this can be completed though and Rinoa inherits Adel's sorceress powers as well. Ultimecia possesses her again and Ellone sends them both into the past thus beginning time compression.
Time compression is the only way the group can reach Ultimecia who lives in the future and so they make their way through her castle and have one final battle. After Ultimecia's defeat time compression dissolves and time restores itself to normal. To get back to their proper time the group has to concentrate on it. Squall fails to do this though and Rinoa has to search him out and rescue him from time compression, bringing him back to the field of flowers were they promised to meet. In celebration of defeating Ultimecia Balamb Garden throws a party and Rinoa and Squall enjoy eachother's company and not having anything trying to kill them for once.
ABILITIES: Rinoa is a sorceress. This means she can wield innate magic. Basically she can cast all the spells of Final Fantasy VIII without needing to be junctioned or draw magic from others. She doesn't quite know how to use her powers yet though so she can only access these powers when she goes into Desperation Mode (basically low health or mental stress, the sense of death getting close). Then she grows angel wings on her back and basically becomes a spellcasting machine until safety is restored.
The abilities to pass through solid material, telekinesis, make barriers, teleportation, mind control and mental possession are all things she also has the potential to do. She never realizes them in the game, but I want to mention them since in Edensphere she won't have the memories that made her never want to realize her full potential in the first place (at least to start with, so while it's not a plan of mine it is quite possible she might eventually try to realize her full abilities in an effort to learn more about herself).
Beyond magic Rinoa also knows how to use a Blaster Edge, a sort of blade she can shoot off a launcher on her wrist that returns to her (...if you've ever seen Yu-Gi-Oh it's like a duel disc system only instead of shooting projectors it shoots blades and hurts). She's also capable of shooting her dog Angelo off of this. Don't ask me how, it just works. Finally she has expert skills at dog training since she can even teach Angelo to revive the dead (or at least heavily unconscious).
Squall
I sort of want to discuss Squall separately since he's such an overpowering part of Rinoa's story and the main factor for her emotional development, but I didn't want him to drown out the actual game events.
When Squall's first assigned to Rinoa he and her don't get along at all. For his part he just sees an annoying amateur who has no sense of how to do things in Rinoa. For Rinoa's part his military coldness, the way everything is "just a job" and he only needs to "follow orders" drives her crazy. She's used to people behaving like people, not machines and it takes her a while to realize Squall's personality is just a lot quieter and subtler than most peoples, something that needs to be dragged out.
At the TV Station they get into a fight and confront eachother and Squall's condescension practically drives Rinoa to tears. She's trying really hard to be the leader of the Forest Owls and free Timber, but it's true, she's never had any military training, she's just a civilian and a seventeen year old girl at that. She's learning as she goes along and doing the best she can. That's not good enough for Squall though and his high expectations make her feel inadequate in a way she doesn't like. She ends up running off only to return after seeing Seifer on the TV.
She continues on with Squall after they escape Timber together, having ordered him to take her somewhere safe, but on the way she's continually frustrated over and over again by his apparent lack of care towards his fellow SeeD. She continues to tag along even after the assassination order, after all the sorceress is a threat to everyone, right? But Squall continues to aggravate her.
After her botched attempt to incapacitate Edea though she begins to understand a little the risks and necessary professionalism of Squall's job. When he rescues her she sees him in a new light and finds a sense of safety in his presence she hasn't had since her mother Julia died. She's used to depending on herself, but in Squall she's beginning to find someone she can depend on instead. When she falls down and can't get up on her own she slowly begins to realize Squall is someone she can depend on to help her.
As the game continues on Squall is forced to interact with others more and Rinoa actively seeks to help him be a better leader and person by not closing himself and his feelings off from the world. When he's stressed she works to make him feel better, at Fisherman's Horizon in particular she helps to throw a concert and help him enjoy himself at it. They still fight, but Rinoa at least finds herself appreciating Squall for the strong person he is, flaws and all.
As the game continues on she tries to help him wherever she can, both believing in his cause and him. And yet when she receives her sorceress powers and becomes possessed by Ultimecia she receives a large blow to the sense of security Squall has given her in the tempest of fighting that her life has become. Her fighting abilities and even more so his she's learned to believe in, but how can he protect her from an enemy that can infiltrate her very mind and turn her against herself?
This fear, of Ultimecia and of herself, of the unknown strangeness of being a sorceress and the crime she did in freeing Adel, haunt her and Squall's promises to protect her make her want to cling to him even more and hide within his strength. When they return from space though her fear of herself trumps any trust she might have in him and she hands herself over to the Estharian authorities. Even after Squall frees her that fear still plagues her and she finds herself building a crutch in Squall even more.
They make a promise in the field of flowers behind Edea's orphanage to meet there and Squall vows to keep her safe even if the whole world becomes her enemy. Afraid of what's happening to her and trusting in Squall Rinoa goes along with him to execute the plan to destroy Ultimecia and end the war once and for all. It's her very dependency upon Squall though that ends up getting her captured by Seifer as in seeking him out looking for that safety he provides she runs into Seifer instead.
When time compression later begins to unravel again she seeks that safety she places in his presence and waits for him in the field behind the orphanage. It's when he doesn't show that she finally regains some of the courage she'd lost and seeks him out instead. Braving becoming lost in time and space for eternity she tracks him down in the world of time compression and brings him back with her to the present. Finally from Squall she's found not only someone who comforts her and that she can confide in, but how to believe in herself again. When she needs him he'll be there and when he needs her she'll be there.
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Squall (She won't be realizing this is Squall's name, but will be thinking of it in the meteorological sense so I hope this okay)
BIRTHDAY LOG: Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you naked. Yes.
DREAM: "Can I tell you a story?"
She turned to look at someone. Smiled. Flowers everywhere, as far as the eye could see, the sunlight, the wind. But the only thing she wanted to look at was this one person. He turned to look back at her and-
"I had a dream."
The man was gone. She was all alone. Where was he? Panic began to set in. Where was he? Where did he go? She turned around in the endless field of flowers, called and shouted.
"It was a scary dream."
She started to run. Where did he go? Where was he? She was all alone. You promised.
"I... I just want to see you so badly."
The field of flowers gave way to an ocean that stretched all the way to the horizon. She couldn't find him. Her fingers clenched around two rings dangling from a necklace at her throat. You promised. I need you.
"So I scream."
The words tore themselves from her throat. Where are you? Where are you!? They echoed out across the ocean and the waves brought them back to her. Where are you... Where are you...
"I was crying."
She began to run again. Straight out into the ocean. The waves shivered and in one single breath pulled back. The world began to distort. Change. The ocean floor below became the tiled cement of an outside terrace and the waves the blue-blue sky idling by. The wind was in her hair and the birds above were calling. But she kept running.
"How about this..."
The steps beneath her feet shifted, flattened, and a gleaming polished floor spread out before her. The clouds shifted into marble columns and the sound of birds became an haunting song she couldn't quite catch the strains of. Faceless figures waltzed across the floor.
"I'll be here."
She pushed through the elegant dancers. Eyes searching every face, she almost cried to find they were all blank. Not a single feature to even find familiar. Empty. She kept searching.
"I'll be waiting for you."
She pushed past another couple when a sense drew her; she turned. And as she did so did the world. The lights, the music, the dancers, the starry night sky: they all melted away to reveal a stark wasteland. Heavy mist kept the eye from seeing too far and a creeping darkness made details hard to discern.
"If you come here, you'll find me."
She clutched her necklace as she walked through the dark mist. I need you. Don't leave me. Walking, forever walking, distance didn't seem to matter in this place. Was she walking for hours or was it only minutes? That feeling drew her forward. She saw a figure in the mist.
"I promise."
And the world went black.
Squall...
JOURNAL SAMPLE: So we write in this and everyone can see it? That doesn't sound too complicated.
It's weird living in a giant tree, but at least it's pretty. Is it always summer around here? I'd hate having to clean up after these leaves, there's a lot of them.
[A pause in the writing before it continues on.]
Does anyone have a memory. A memory of meeting in a field of flowers? There's a girl. And [The writing stops.]
Well if you have a memory like this tell me! Okay? Thanks!
~Squall
ASPIRATIONS:
PLOT PERMISSIONS:
ES 4th Wall: Yes
Chara 4th Wall: Yes
ES Mysteries: Yes
Memory Rec'v: Yes
Memory Distrib: Yes
Dream Distrib: Yes
Your Wilderness: Yes
CHARACTER NAME: Rinoa Heartilly
SERIES: Final Fantasy VIII
RESERVED: No
WISHLIST: No
PERSONALITY: Rinoa is a kind, caring person with a tendency to get in over her head. When she wants to do something she gives it everything she's got. Unfortunately she's lacking on a lot of experience in life being only seventeen and this can make her rash in impetuous. Still she always tries her best.
While Rinoa may be very brave in normal matters, having no hesitance to get into a scrap for her friends or something she feels is right, her luck seems to run towards getting in over her head more than anything else. She hides it well, but she's not stupid; it's natural for anyone to feel fear when they're in a situation beyond their depth. Still she struggles on and does her best anyways, no matter how scared she might get. Whatever seems right... she'll do it.
Still when it comes down to it Rinoa isn't some great warrior who goes out and saves the day. She's a cheerful girl with a lot of guts and an optimistic outlook on life who's not afraid to smack someone she feels is getting out of line. Outgoing almost to a fault in most cases, she makes friends easily and has an intuitive feel for when others are down or having problems. She tries to help and cheer them up as best she can though she's not so optimistic she'll deny a terrible reality when it's staring her in the face.
Ironically when it comes to herself Rinoa tends to lock up the things she's feeling. Her fears, her hopes, her less happy thoughts. The person she shares these with is rare and is usually someone she cares greatly for and depends upon heavily. When it comes to these people who have Rinoa's trust so deeply she can be clingy; it's not often she finds a person who gives her comfort in life. Usually she's the one doing the comforting. So she has a tendency to hold on and not let go if she can help it, secretly afraid they'll disappear if she lets them go.
Something of a leader, Rinoa tends to take initiative. When she wants something or she sees an injustice, rather than give up she's more likely to plan and take action as soon as she comes up with something that seems feasible. Her plans aren't usually as well-thought out as others would like, but where there's a will there's a way, right? Her care and strength often inspires others so even if she gets into trouble she's not likely to be alone and usually someone will come to rescue her. She never does learn her lesson, but keeps on trying, always rushing in. Along with the cutesy way she can act, often teasing others, this can make her seem quite childish and cause more serious people to not take her seriously. Unsurprisingly she ends up getting into a lot of fights with those who have more serious demeanors.
TIMELINE: Post-game
BACKGROUND: Rinoa was born the daughter of the Galbadian general Fury Caraway and his wife the famous singer Julia Heartilly. When she was five Julia died in a car accident and Rinoa never got along with her father afterwards. Over the years they grew distant and eventually she ended up running away from home to join a resistance faction in Timber called the Forest Owls. With their help she worked to free Timber from its annexation by Galbadia (her birth country) nearly ten years prior.
Not long after she met a SeeD cadet named Seifer Almasy and her life forever changed. Seifer taught her a lot of things, but most importantly she found herself falling for him. He in his turn cared for her to at least some extent, spending a summer with her and helping her with the Forest Owls. He was the one who told her how to hire SeeD, a mercenary force renowned the world over, and later helped her meet and speak with the founding head Cid Kramer.
After that the three SeeD Squall Leonhart, Selphie Tilmitt and Zell Dincht. After a failed attempt to capture President Deling of Galbadia they decided to use the Timber TV Station to send of message of independence over the airwaves, but that plan was canceled after Rinoa got into a fight with Squall and ended up running off. Seifer arrived and took Deling hostage while he was in the middle of a speech at the TV Station, but was kidnapped by the sorceress Edea. Lock down on Timber by the Galbadian army began in earnest and Rinoa barely slipped out of Timber along with Squall, Selphie, Zell and another SeeD named Quistis.
They made their way to Galbadia Garden, a training facility for SeeD where the SeeD with Rinoa received the orders to assassinate Edea with the help of a SeeD cadet named Irvine Kinneas. They made their way to Deling City, the capital of Galbadia, where they met up with Rinoa's father and put the plan into motion. In a fit of impetuousness though Rinoa ran off on her own to execute her own plan thinking to trick Edea into wearing a bangle that canceled out sorceress magic. Edea saw right through her plan though and it was only by a timely intervention by Squall that she was saved from becoming a festive sacrifice.
After a scramble the original assassination plan went into motion, but ultimately it failed and Rinoa along with the SeeDs (minus Irvine) were carted off to D-District prison, the high security facility for political prisoners. Rinoa's father managed to use his political pull to free her, but she wouldn't leave the others and forced Irvine, her escort, to return with her to rescue them. Rescue under way all the SeeD along with Rinoa managed to escape.
At that moment though Galbadia launched their long range missiles and took out Trabia Garden, another SeeD training facility. In an effort to save Balamb Garden, the only Garden not destroyed or controlled by Edea (as Galbadia Garden had been taken over by her and Seifer who was now her knight), the group split up with half of them going to the Missile Base and the rest going to warn Balamb Garden. Rinoa went with Squall to Balamb Garden.
There they manage to restore the Garden's flight capabilities and fly out of the way of the missiles just in time. Afterwards the defeat the traitorous proprietor of Garden, NORG before crashing into the sea-based town of Fisherman's Horizon. Squall is made Commander of SeeD and Balamb Garden and the SeeD who went to the missile base return.
Squall's first act as Commander is to return to the town of Balamb and free it from Galbadian occupation before continuing on to the ruins of Trabia Garden. There the original SeeD group remember their past and that Edea was their caretaker as children at an orphanage located in Centra. The SeeD decide to check the orphanage out, but run into Galbadia Garden, controlled by Edea and Seifer, on the way. A battle between the two Gardens ensues and Rinoa nearly dies by falling off of Balamb Garden, but is saved just in time by Squall. Afterwards they infiltrate Galbadia Garden and track down Edea and Seifer. The two are defeated, but everyone is knocked out after the fight. Rinoa finds Edea's sorceress powers passed on to her and a sorceress from the future possesses her, sending her into a comatose state.
In an effort to revive Rinoa Squall takes her to Esthar, the most technologically advanced country in the world and leading researcher into sorceresses. Supposedly Ellone, a girl from Squall's past with the ability to go back into the past, is there and may be able to tell him the cause behind Rinoa's comatose state (since her possession was not apparent as of yet). In Esthar he takes Rinoa into space to see Ellone at the Estharian space station. Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future, takes control of her then though, awakening her and causing her to free the evil sorceress, former tyrant of Esthar, from her prison floating in space.
Only intervention by Squall saves Rinoa from dying in space. He manages to get Rinoa back to the ground, but she chooses to go with Esthar officials to be locked away so that she can never cause more trouble with her sorceress powers. Squall frees her though and tells her to stay beside him. They make a promise that if they ever lose one another they'll meet in the field of flowers behind Edea's orphanage.
At that moment the President of Esthar, Laguna Loire, contacts SeeD and makes an offer. Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future, will continue to try and possess Rinoa and use her as well as Ellone to cause time compression, a state in which all time fuses and none, but Ultimecia can live. In an effort to stop this he will pay SeeD to take down Seifer who still heads Ultimecia's forces in the present and go into the future and stop Ultimecia.
SeeD takes the job and Rinoa accompanies them to Lunatic Pandora where they battle Seifer. He kidnaps her and gives her to Adel, beginning a fusion between the two of them. SeeD manages to destroy Adel before this can be completed though and Rinoa inherits Adel's sorceress powers as well. Ultimecia possesses her again and Ellone sends them both into the past thus beginning time compression.
Time compression is the only way the group can reach Ultimecia who lives in the future and so they make their way through her castle and have one final battle. After Ultimecia's defeat time compression dissolves and time restores itself to normal. To get back to their proper time the group has to concentrate on it. Squall fails to do this though and Rinoa has to search him out and rescue him from time compression, bringing him back to the field of flowers were they promised to meet. In celebration of defeating Ultimecia Balamb Garden throws a party and Rinoa and Squall enjoy eachother's company and not having anything trying to kill them for once.
ABILITIES: Rinoa is a sorceress. This means she can wield innate magic. Basically she can cast all the spells of Final Fantasy VIII without needing to be junctioned or draw magic from others. She doesn't quite know how to use her powers yet though so she can only access these powers when she goes into Desperation Mode (basically low health or mental stress, the sense of death getting close). Then she grows angel wings on her back and basically becomes a spellcasting machine until safety is restored.
The abilities to pass through solid material, telekinesis, make barriers, teleportation, mind control and mental possession are all things she also has the potential to do. She never realizes them in the game, but I want to mention them since in Edensphere she won't have the memories that made her never want to realize her full potential in the first place (at least to start with, so while it's not a plan of mine it is quite possible she might eventually try to realize her full abilities in an effort to learn more about herself).
Beyond magic Rinoa also knows how to use a Blaster Edge, a sort of blade she can shoot off a launcher on her wrist that returns to her (...if you've ever seen Yu-Gi-Oh it's like a duel disc system only instead of shooting projectors it shoots blades and hurts). She's also capable of shooting her dog Angelo off of this. Don't ask me how, it just works. Finally she has expert skills at dog training since she can even teach Angelo to revive the dead (or at least heavily unconscious).
Squall
I sort of want to discuss Squall separately since he's such an overpowering part of Rinoa's story and the main factor for her emotional development, but I didn't want him to drown out the actual game events.
When Squall's first assigned to Rinoa he and her don't get along at all. For his part he just sees an annoying amateur who has no sense of how to do things in Rinoa. For Rinoa's part his military coldness, the way everything is "just a job" and he only needs to "follow orders" drives her crazy. She's used to people behaving like people, not machines and it takes her a while to realize Squall's personality is just a lot quieter and subtler than most peoples, something that needs to be dragged out.
At the TV Station they get into a fight and confront eachother and Squall's condescension practically drives Rinoa to tears. She's trying really hard to be the leader of the Forest Owls and free Timber, but it's true, she's never had any military training, she's just a civilian and a seventeen year old girl at that. She's learning as she goes along and doing the best she can. That's not good enough for Squall though and his high expectations make her feel inadequate in a way she doesn't like. She ends up running off only to return after seeing Seifer on the TV.
She continues on with Squall after they escape Timber together, having ordered him to take her somewhere safe, but on the way she's continually frustrated over and over again by his apparent lack of care towards his fellow SeeD. She continues to tag along even after the assassination order, after all the sorceress is a threat to everyone, right? But Squall continues to aggravate her.
After her botched attempt to incapacitate Edea though she begins to understand a little the risks and necessary professionalism of Squall's job. When he rescues her she sees him in a new light and finds a sense of safety in his presence she hasn't had since her mother Julia died. She's used to depending on herself, but in Squall she's beginning to find someone she can depend on instead. When she falls down and can't get up on her own she slowly begins to realize Squall is someone she can depend on to help her.
As the game continues on Squall is forced to interact with others more and Rinoa actively seeks to help him be a better leader and person by not closing himself and his feelings off from the world. When he's stressed she works to make him feel better, at Fisherman's Horizon in particular she helps to throw a concert and help him enjoy himself at it. They still fight, but Rinoa at least finds herself appreciating Squall for the strong person he is, flaws and all.
As the game continues on she tries to help him wherever she can, both believing in his cause and him. And yet when she receives her sorceress powers and becomes possessed by Ultimecia she receives a large blow to the sense of security Squall has given her in the tempest of fighting that her life has become. Her fighting abilities and even more so his she's learned to believe in, but how can he protect her from an enemy that can infiltrate her very mind and turn her against herself?
This fear, of Ultimecia and of herself, of the unknown strangeness of being a sorceress and the crime she did in freeing Adel, haunt her and Squall's promises to protect her make her want to cling to him even more and hide within his strength. When they return from space though her fear of herself trumps any trust she might have in him and she hands herself over to the Estharian authorities. Even after Squall frees her that fear still plagues her and she finds herself building a crutch in Squall even more.
They make a promise in the field of flowers behind Edea's orphanage to meet there and Squall vows to keep her safe even if the whole world becomes her enemy. Afraid of what's happening to her and trusting in Squall Rinoa goes along with him to execute the plan to destroy Ultimecia and end the war once and for all. It's her very dependency upon Squall though that ends up getting her captured by Seifer as in seeking him out looking for that safety he provides she runs into Seifer instead.
When time compression later begins to unravel again she seeks that safety she places in his presence and waits for him in the field behind the orphanage. It's when he doesn't show that she finally regains some of the courage she'd lost and seeks him out instead. Braving becoming lost in time and space for eternity she tracks him down in the world of time compression and brings him back with her to the present. Finally from Squall she's found not only someone who comforts her and that she can confide in, but how to believe in herself again. When she needs him he'll be there and when he needs her she'll be there.
GAME INFO
EDENSPHERE NAME: Squall (She won't be realizing this is Squall's name, but will be thinking of it in the meteorological sense so I hope this okay)
BIRTHDAY LOG: Think of the giant squirrels. They think of you naked. Yes.
DREAM: "Can I tell you a story?"
She turned to look at someone. Smiled. Flowers everywhere, as far as the eye could see, the sunlight, the wind. But the only thing she wanted to look at was this one person. He turned to look back at her and-
"I had a dream."
The man was gone. She was all alone. Where was he? Panic began to set in. Where was he? Where did he go? She turned around in the endless field of flowers, called and shouted.
"It was a scary dream."
She started to run. Where did he go? Where was he? She was all alone. You promised.
"I... I just want to see you so badly."
The field of flowers gave way to an ocean that stretched all the way to the horizon. She couldn't find him. Her fingers clenched around two rings dangling from a necklace at her throat. You promised. I need you.
"So I scream."
The words tore themselves from her throat. Where are you? Where are you!? They echoed out across the ocean and the waves brought them back to her. Where are you... Where are you...
"I was crying."
She began to run again. Straight out into the ocean. The waves shivered and in one single breath pulled back. The world began to distort. Change. The ocean floor below became the tiled cement of an outside terrace and the waves the blue-blue sky idling by. The wind was in her hair and the birds above were calling. But she kept running.
"How about this..."
The steps beneath her feet shifted, flattened, and a gleaming polished floor spread out before her. The clouds shifted into marble columns and the sound of birds became an haunting song she couldn't quite catch the strains of. Faceless figures waltzed across the floor.
"I'll be here."
She pushed through the elegant dancers. Eyes searching every face, she almost cried to find they were all blank. Not a single feature to even find familiar. Empty. She kept searching.
"I'll be waiting for you."
She pushed past another couple when a sense drew her; she turned. And as she did so did the world. The lights, the music, the dancers, the starry night sky: they all melted away to reveal a stark wasteland. Heavy mist kept the eye from seeing too far and a creeping darkness made details hard to discern.
"If you come here, you'll find me."
She clutched her necklace as she walked through the dark mist. I need you. Don't leave me. Walking, forever walking, distance didn't seem to matter in this place. Was she walking for hours or was it only minutes? That feeling drew her forward. She saw a figure in the mist.
"I promise."
And the world went black.
Squall...
JOURNAL SAMPLE: So we write in this and everyone can see it? That doesn't sound too complicated.
It's weird living in a giant tree, but at least it's pretty. Is it always summer around here? I'd hate having to clean up after these leaves, there's a lot of them.
[A pause in the writing before it continues on.]
Does anyone have a memory. A memory of meeting in a field of flowers? There's a girl. And [The writing stops.]
Well if you have a memory like this tell me! Okay? Thanks!
~Squall
ASPIRATIONS:
PLOT PERMISSIONS:
ES 4th Wall: Yes
Chara 4th Wall: Yes
ES Mysteries: Yes
Memory Rec'v: Yes
Memory Distrib: Yes
Dream Distrib: Yes
Your Wilderness: Yes