Rikiya

Siriki (dubbed Rikiya by his previous forced owner) is the first child found from what later turned out to be an illegal exotic pet vending operation, and was initially found by N'air and Black-bell trapped under a boulder and bruised all over. At the time, Rikiya was little more than an infant that had slightly more mobility than usual, though he was fully fluent in his native language. Pretty much immediately, he became attached to Black-bell, who comforted him while he cried in pain and fear, and soothed him from his nightmares of the death of his Clan and parents. Over the course of the apprehension of the animal poaching business, Rikiya began to grow more attached to Black-bell (and Nimo too), to the point that when Dirge appeared to help him find a Wish Master, he was able to create his first promise with Black-bell to protect him (and the unsaid portion to give him happiness when he could). The night following the creation of that bond, Rikiya's spirit stabilized within his body once he was able to 'eat' away at some of Black-bell's pain during their slumber (though he's never revealed how he does this), and he grew much larger as a result. From there, it didn't take too long before he was able to start speaking English and walking around. The stronger the bond grew, the stronger Rikiya grew as well, as did his protective instinct with Black-bell. After Dirge and Nimo left the acres, Rikiya began to actively try and help Black-bell out of his funk, with mixed results. Currently, he's doing his best to try and keep him distracted from his thoughts with such activities as training. Fortunately, Rikiya is the sort to ask others for help when he can't do something alone, although he's beginning to become less optimistic everytime he lands himself in a situation that requires he chooses between two groups he's close with. These changes aren't visible unless he's totally alone, however.

Rikiya's head over heels for Rosabelle, Rose's adopted daughter, and hopes that she'll one day grow to love him in return. Until that day comes along, he's vowed to help her grow up happily, though he'll bow out from her love life if she decides to choose someone else. In the meantime, he's given her a goose egg which bore Buan, a little gosling girl who's very attached to Rosabelle as well. He seems very proud of her for taking such good care of Buan so far as well.

Rikiya seems to be withholding many secrets from his friends and family, such as the fact that he's searching for his deceased mother's Core, and has found the fragments of his fathers that were left after the poachers killed him. While he has no plans to revive them, he does wish to bury them someplace safe so that they can rest peacefully.

He and Narusu don't get along whatsoever, though this is mostly due to the way Narusu ignores him. Why this is has yet to be known. However, after Narusu spoke with Phenelope about her grudge against Rikiya (as he accidentally ate one of her fish friends as a child), things seem to have started improving a little between them.

Rikiya is much happier ever since Black-bell and Rose began to date, and eagerly looks forward to telling Rosabelle and Bella that they're now a family too.

As his trials draw closer, the spirit within his shadow, Swift, has awoken and has begun to switch places with Rikiya mentally more often, especially after he borrows Swift's power. While he's like Stealth and Strength and exists to support Rikiya, it will take much more than Rikiya's willpower alone to keep him in line...

Swift gives a strength, speed and slight HP boost whenever he's active. He also seems to be centuries older than Rikiya, so the disconnect between their personalities is sometimes very easy to notice.

Rikiya hails from the Shadow Walker species, a species of Shadow creatures whose sole purpose is to guide the owner of the shadows they follow. When these creatures are born, they all must find their Wish Master (the person they first exchange a Promise Mark with) within a year, or else their spirits dislocate from their physical bodies, and they essentially become ghosts stuck in limbo while their bodies rot away. Rikiya was on the verge of becoming a ghost when Black-bell allowed him to make a Promise Mark with him, hence his sudden growth spurt. Able to hold a maximum of 3 wishes, all either to separate masters or the Wish Master, Rikiya depends on the bond the promises create in order to survive, as not even energy from his primary Element would save him if he had no promises left to fulfill. Thanks to becoming Black-bell's Spirit Animal, however, unless Black-bell were to die, he's in no danger of fading from such means anytime soon.

Rikiya is the last pure-blooded Shadow Walker from his Clan, as the others were killed by the poachers to avoid later problems (ironically enough), and Dirge was adopted into the Clan. It seems this status elevates him to a rank somewhat akin to a Demon Lord, given some of the strange abilities he possesses (such as making an almost realistic shadow puppet goose). So far, he's excelling in manipulating his own shadows, and that of others as well. He also possesses the ability to withdraw into the Shade World, the flipside of Ceres that only Shadow creatures can enter. While some of his skills now originate from his bond with Black-bell (such as being able to use Thunder Magic and rearrange portions of his body into stronger forms), many of them he hasn't actually used yet.

So far, Rikiya seems like he'll be fairly powerful with long-ranged weapons, and trains with an obsidian-steel short lance. Whether it's due to his cat-like traits or not, he seems oddly good at flips as well, and has a fairly decent sense of balance to accompany it.

Rikiya has paw-like hands and feet that look like that of a cat. As a result of this in addition to the long claws he possesses, he has quite a bit of difficulty grasping things like fabric or paper without getting caught up in it or ripping it. Hopefully this improves for him as he ages.

Rikiya has a large distorted brand on his back, though the burn he suffered as a small child was bad enough to damage some of his muscles and kill most of the nerves back there. The scar spans from the top of his shoulder blades to the middle of his back. While the smoothest parts are completely sensationless, the rougher patches of skin have some sense of feeling left in them if they're pushed on hard. Rikiya seems to think of it as an advantage for battle (in not being able to feel pain there), however, and considers it a symbol of his survival. He certainly isn't proud of it though.

After making a Promise Mark with Rose, Rikiya began to grow purple stripes and spots on his body; a symbol that he's beginning to grow even more powerful. The spots resemble that of a jaguar, whereas the stripes are on his cheeks, paws, shoulders and hips. With this, there's no doubt that he's growing up strongly.

Recently, Rikiya's begun to show his Insignia Flower, the mark on a demon's body that corresponds to their "flavour" of soul (the mark being directly connected to their powers). The marking is in the shape of a pair of lavender sprigs, though it used to be a tiger lily until he began to trust Black-bell and Roe more (signifying his tamer nature). It seems he's going to become a powerful demon once his ducks are in line.

Rikiya recently revealed to Black-bell "The Murderer's Curse" he received after he accidentally doomed his entire Clan to the poacher's whims. He's also revealed that he often acts childish in order to ease the worries of others (such as hiding the curse's Rose Rot effects on him to preserve the happiness of others). While he's gained strengths and weaknesses from the removal of his Core followed treatment, Rikiya doesn't seem to care about his own health at all unless it's detrimental to the others. He shows strong signs of having Survivor's Guilt too, though he mostly keeps his pessimistic thoughts to himself. Without a doubt, Black-bell is the only person he'll ever reveal his biggest secrets to, though Rose and Rosabelle are close seconds.

After the situation in Ceres that ended in the death of Valdis and the Clan of Death, Rikiya has become much more vocal about his uncertainties, and currently works towards trying to figure out what he'll do with himself (especially considering how it affects his family). While he's happy that Neoma, his sister, will be able to live without knowing the fear he grew up with, he still seems worried about her well-being. He's become much more focused on Black-bell, however, to the point of doing anything for him without hesitation.

After the trial of the Cleansing Flames, Rikiya and Mikilira were both finally freed from the Rose Rot curse and became healthy once again. Now that his vitality is back, Rikiya looks like he's going to grow up strong rather quickly, especially under the care of his beloved caretaker. It seems Swift has begun trusting Black-bell much more recently as well, as he's accepted an offer of friendship from him. Time will tell if Swift truly does believe him or not though.

Rikiya has become much more honest with Black-bell to the point of telling him even the most embarrassing or mortifying secrets he has. By this point, he's become protective enough that, should anyone try to boss him, Black-bell, Fulmine or their family around, Rikiya will certainly interfere and try to put an end to such behaviour. While he's become much more mature in the past few months, he's also become much less open...

As a result of his Heat becoming much more intense and uncomfortable, Rikiya has given and received Mate Marks from Black-bell (though with the explicit knowledge that he's not going to show it or say anything about it to others). Immensely happy with these results, Rikiya seems very hopeful that things will continue to improve for the better as well, secretly looking forward for the day he might bear Qualia's Seed as well. He'll pretty much trust Black-bell with anything and everything by this point, and holds hope that their plan to separate himself from Ceres will go smoothly. In the end, he'll trust Black-bell and Fulmine both with his life without a doubt by this point in time.

He's also become trusting and able to relax enough to let out his Insignia Flower near Black-bell. The lavender sprig possesses soothing qualities to it and is a symbol of his true nature and power. While delicate, he feels completely comfortable keeping it out in the open around Black-bell. It serves as a clear sign that Rikiya trusts him totally, without a doubt.

Now that Black-bell and Rikiya have maxed out the soul bond, Rikiya has never felt any happier in his life than he currently is. While the threat of things going awry is still existent in their lives, Rikiya feels much more confident about his ability to protect his loved ones, especially after he and Black-bell gained a magic upgrade from Zaelestis (which doubled Rikiya's health and increased his magic capacity). Once Rikiya separated from Ceres and became both dependent of Black-bell (and independent of Ceres 100%), and a new species, he feels like he's at the pique of his potential (or at least, like he will be soon). As a result of becoming a as-of-yet-unnamed new species, Rikiya has gained the ability to synthesize his own magical energy naturally, and no longer depends on the environment for it. As a tradeoff, he's lost the ability to absorb same-type magical attacks from Youkai (and completely rejects Youkai energy now if it's to be used on him). In addition, he's also gained the ability to have magic backups - something Youkai lack. Simply put, this means Anti-Magic is no longer lethal to him (not to say it's harmless either). With this rebirth of sorts, Rikiya looks forward to seeing what the future holds in store for them now that this change has occurred, and is ecstatic that his bad future has been averted totally by this event.

Now under the species name 'Yostic', Rikiya is quite giddy to have Qualia's Seed activated and junctioned onto his tail, and eagerly awaits the day he and Black-bell will be able to meet her in person.

On October 14, 2016, with the help of Black-bell and Immunità after an incident with Kibara, Rikiya was able to successfully give birth to Qualia with the boosted energy he was given, and is currently quite happy to have her in his life (though he does worry for her health, and of how well he might be able to help care for her). With Black-bell's support especially, he seems to have high hopes for Qualia, though at the same time, it became impossible for him to ignore his feelings for Black-bell any longer. With the suggestion of asking Rose if they might accept him into their relationship as well, Rikiya seems to be very hopeful that things will work out well for all of them soon.

While he was being hosted within Immunità's body, Rikiya received a heart-like organ that the ribbons and Immunità made to help strengthen his health and strength, and acts as a backup Core of sorts. It seems to be functioning well at the current time.

With Rose's acceptance, Rikiya has become partners with both her and Black-bell, and is even happier than ever now that he can be truly honest and as loving with them as he wants to be (not to say he'll disrespect boundaries at all). Even if things were to become tough, he looks forward to being partners with them and helping them raise their family together properly. Having made an Eternal Promise with Black-bell to ensure that they'll reunite every life they may have together in the future, Rikiya hopes they'll always be together until the day they can finally rest together in peace eternally.

After a while, Rikiya ended up bearing Eluria through a Flower Seed she had tried to save for Black-bell, after hearing it would’ve died without becoming a Spirit Flower. Unexpectedly, the hosted flower seed became a Magic Seed, and ended up becoming Eluria, a frail child Rikiya cares deeply for, but frets over often. By now, she’s had as big a family as she’d always dreamed of having, and is very happy with how her life with Black-bell has progressed. While she’s happy, she also wants to continue doing her best for Black-bell no matter what happens.

Backstory

As a tiny child, Rikiya was a very carefree individual. He loved the days he could fish with his parents and brother, Dirge, and had a close friend in Mikilira. Even when he was bullied by the bigger cubs and pups, he would never say he was unhappy with his current family. Still, he wasn't totally blind to the changes within his Clan, young as he was. At first, there weren't many changes; his father became quieter and began to encourage him to play with Dirge or Lira rather than spend a day fishing with him. His mother became more testy and began to mistreat him if he didn't follow through with her requests or behaved badly. From there, the vibe of his Clan began to decline as more of the children began to mysteriously disappear. To the young child, death by disease wasn't uncommon, but the sheer number in which the children began to fall was. Even stranger was the fact that their once-allies, humans and Mystics that had cured their illnesses and helped their frail in the past, were pushed away, and the Clan began to shuffle to the heart of the forest to live in. The ensuing winter was especially harsh, to the point that his father absorbed as much of the Clan's pain as he could, then left to die on his own. The treatment Rikiya received from his mother became downright abusive with her extreme depression. Even Rikiya himself began to maltreat others, and shoved away the companionship of both Dirge and Mikilira. To him, the situation was a hopeless one...

Then, an old ally of theirs came to speak to Rikiya after he escaped from the forest's safety once again. Recognizing her as the kind doctor who treated him when he was at his weakest, he spilled the beans to her after a bit of prodding and asked that she cure his mother of her madness (be it by conventional means or by giving her a taste of her own medicine). What he didn't expect was for the ensuing skirmish that would occur when their old allies sent not doctors, but poachers over to retrieve the remaining children for treatment. Mistaken as an act of war, Valdis and the remaining adults retaliated. The end result was a massive massacre in which only Rikiya, Dirge and Mikilira managed to escape from. With the forest burning down around them and the screams of the dying constantly ringing out, Rikiya fled soon after an encounter with Mikilira, where she laid The Murderer's Curse on him. Now troubled by Rose Rot, the young cub was eventually captured by a poacher, who sold him to an old hag of a Mystic Lord, where Dirge later joined him.

The memories of what happened during his stay with the Mystics has been fully remembered by Rikiya by this point in time. While he was with the Mystics, he spent quite a lot of time being 'trained' on how to be obedient...though, the training didn't quite work as intended, and instead made him fearful of a great deal of things (one of the primary things being a fear of being abandoned if he wasn't perfect or did everything he was asked/told to do). While he stayed with the Mystic Lords, he met the daughter of the Lords there, Elise. While she had a passion for breaking electronics apart and seeing what she could make with them, she was often told to be more 'lady-like' and was similarly repressed/quashed down (albeit in a much less abusive manner). When the two eventually met, as Elise had once been tasked with sweeping up the room Rikiya's cage was in, they spoke to each other shyly at first and eventually grew close to each other. During one of the few times he was allowed out of the cage, he kept Elise company and meekly stuck close to her. The unfortunate effect of this was that he ended up knocking over a vase that shattered upon impact with the ground, getting Elise in quite a bit of trouble, but netting himself a no-holds barred beatdown by the Mystic Lords. The beating was bad enough that Rikiya ended up dissociating and, upon realizing that his cage door had been left unlocked in the rage of the Mystic Lords, he ended up grabbing a pair of scissors he found in a storage closet and mercilessly mauled the Lords to death. Unfortunately, Elise happened to witness such a thing and declared him a beast, fleeing as fast as she could. After the event, the aunt of Elise came to take over the manor, and was quite terrible herself. Fortunately, it was around this time that Dirge was also brought to the manor, and he was able to escape with Rikiya long enough to flee the realm and hide him underneath the boulder he was discovered under. And that is how Rikiya came to the Overworld.

Wishes

1 (WM, purple). To help Black-bell find real happiness (fulfilled)

2. To help Dawn meet with None (fulfilled)

3. To help Rose find happiness (reverted by time)

4. To become Promised Mates with Sarah (broken)

5 (Yellow). Not to die to the strange energy when absorbing it (fulfilled)

6 (Red). To relieve Black-bell's suffering and to support him in whatever way he can (in-progress)

7. (Eternal, white). To always reunite with Black-bell in every life they may have and continue loving him sincerely, no matter the time, place, situation, or their forms for as long as they exist.

Black-bell and Rikiya.

Rikiya and Black-bell relaxing in the sunlight atop of the hill.