#➥ job class sel. ┊ sora.

[asteriskheart]

“ why did you come? ”  @ Sora

►  ❪ QUESTIONS  ❫

         Wide smile stretched across visage, a shower of light marking the exit of his blade, hands linking behind mused hair as body rocked on its heels, balance righted just before gravity took hold. Nonchalance, a bit off tempo in the beat of the moment but the key’s chosen wielder would argue that a silly question incurred a silly response.

         ❝ Of course I would. ❞ Excuse him if fond exasperation glossed over the teasing tucked away in the recesses of his voice. Why would he show up ? Why wouldn’t he ? Honestly, Gemiya held much closer bonds to Kairi than Sora, but still — she should know him better than that by now. They were friends !

         ( weight upon shoulders builds, bending / creaking / but bones not quite breaking — ready to give just a bit more, as much as it took to see it through. how much can one heart give before it gives, collapsing under the heaviness of its own kindness ? )

         If it could help even a little bit, then putting in an appearance would be worth the effort. It’s who he was, had always been, and despite everything on his journey, hardships and trials hadn’t changed that the slightest about them him. ❝ I’ll always lend a hand. You know how it is. ❞

[asteriskheart]

         The world somehow managed to be both familiar and entirely alien to her. Mysterious but as warm as the eternal sunset colours painting the sky. Acclimating to Twilight Town was proving to be, in and of itself, a unique challenge. Yes, some time was clocked here while laying low during her escapade during the commotion on the islands but that was... different. A wholly separate experience of being marooned on a world unknown to her, hiding in plain sight among the people going about daily routine underneath the cyclical chimes of tolling bells. She's been around but she didn't really know the place. Who could say if this bistro was around the last time she wandered down these alleyways and streets ?

         Kairi lasted two minutes gawking over the impressive professional grade kitchen - it must be, she's never seen so many seemingly high end appliances lined up in one place like this before - before attention turned to the recipes pinched between fingers. During their brief stop at the Moogle Shop, in the midst of her excitement and a desire to contribute to the upcoming activity, she forked over some munny to acquire a pair innocuous cards. The titles sat scrawled on the flat papers, detailing the puzzle pieces to Kupoberry Cheesecake and Moogle Mousse with Kupoberry Sauce. Nothing she'd heard of before but hey, trying their hand at new desserts could further test the newfound boundaries of Sora's apparent skill in the kitchen he manifested in the window of time they'd been apart. However, one small problem arose. Strawberries and oranges.

         Sora had stepped out with the mouse  ( rat ?  regular rats were bigger in size than mice on the islands but who knows about anywhere else. and that big one — remy's his name, sora said — had looked mighty comfy perched atop her friend's bed of wild spikes for whatever reason, but he appeared friendly enough )  that ran  (??)  this place, off to briskly scour the nearby areas in search of missing ingredients. Maybe while they were out she could get a head start ?

         Easier said than done. That was the hope, the dream, but alas not all dreams were meant to be.

         The creak of the door hinges had a head whirling to face it, disheveled red and white locks swinging. Powdered clothes sat in a manner of disarray. A healthy dusting of white dislodged by the abrupt movement flew into the air, drifting flurries settling on shoulders, face, freckled nose and coaxing forth a small sneeze with a jerk of the arms. The fumble sent a few precariously perched containers free of contents clattering to the floor, newly honing reflexes kicking into gear just so, snatching a few wayward eggs rolling off the edge from meeting a similar fate.

         Shoulders slumped, lined with defeat. Already she could feel it. Bones turning to dust with age, hair graying, crepitus settling in as the years were shaved off her life with each subsequent mishap. With an anguished groan, the eggs were placed on the granite tops back in their rightful place among the haphazard spread.  ❝ ...I can explain. ❞

@valorxdrive

[asteriskheart]

In honor of KH20th, I finally got up and wrote out my canon divergences for my Sora and what effects it's had on him

Heart Issues

After Vanitas was ripped out from him, the remainder of a dying Ventus' heart made contact with a newborn heart and almost dissolved into it. However, the newborn heart refused this and they remained separate, but the connection did leave its imprint. ( ie the constant same face syndrome )

Sora has a weaker heart from birth due to the strain of helping Ventus. First from first loaning some of it to support Ven and then housing him inside his own heart while he recovers. His heart essentially overworks to try and compensate. This led to him having arrhythmia  ( irregular heartbeat )  and mild hypertension  ( high blood pressure ), putting him at risk for more various heart complications. 

Growing up, his parents took him to a doctor frequently, but they could never figure out what was the cause behind it since there's no prior family history that would indicate this. The best the doctor could do was prescribe their son medications to help manage it.

Sora tried being careful about his health and not overwork himself too much, but he did have moments where he would experience chest pains, shortness of breath, bursts of anxiety, fatigue, dizziness, moments of (near) fainting, etc. He never liked it when some of the other kids / adults on the islands would treat him like glass when they heard about his health problems, but Riku and Kairi always treated him normally.

He dreamed a lot more about his station of awakening, but most memories of it never stuck.

When Kairi ended up in Sora, weirdly enough it helped him???  maybe it was due to her nature as a princess of heart but it helped strengthen his heart. While it didn't get rid of his condition, it did ease his symptoms throughout kh1.

After being blasted off Destiny Islands, Sora luckily had all his medication with him in a pack he usually has on him. However, when he was knocked out by Leon, they removed his stuff and he actually forgot to pick his pack back up in the wake of all the Keyblade nonsense. Sora leaves with Donald and Goofy and they're almost by the first world when he realizes he doesn't have his meds. He didn't tell his new companions about his condition for like, the first two worlds because he doesn't want to be treated differently by them or be benched in this new adventure when he had to find Riku and Kairi. Plus he's been fine since the islands !

Things were not fine. His condition flares up in world 3 and he's force to fess up. Donald is the first to call him out on how dangerous that was while dragging his ass back to Traverse Town, and Goofy points out how worried the both of them are. Then they ask about what they need to know about, what he needs, and what to do when something happens. They monitor Sora to make sure he takes his meds, and ensure to take breaks during their journey. If anyone complains, Donald threatens their life.

Replica

After Xion went back to Sora, it caused some stress on Sora's heart but he's had an extra one before. It’s all good. Manageable. It's when DiZ has a resistant Roxas assimilate with Sora in a disjointed merge that things quickly go sideways. Adding in Ven's heart and Roxas' heart exacerbated Sora's condition in a bad way. It's a lot to ask one body to house four hearts. 

DiZ and Namine scrambled to do something when they realized he was dying and tried to stabilize him, but it wasn't enough. Sora died of heart failure in the memory pod near the start of kh2.

DiZ saves Sora's heart and sticks it into his own version of a replica. It was originally a spare, partially finished replica he had taken from Castle Oblivion and was conducting research on using Vexen's notes. It'd be able to handle the extra weight better but isn't quite the "perfect replica indistinguishable from humans" that Vexen creates in kh3. They assumed that was the end of that and the problem was resolved but this caused its own issues.

The replica fully adopted Sora's identity / memories, operating under the belief that he was the original when he awoke in the pod. For all intent and purpose, he's Sora - same heart, personality, memories, goals - but also... not quite in a way, since the replica somehow wound up developing it's own half formed heart attached to the old. One derived from the original, dependent on it. Namine is the first to realize this is happening.

Sora's heart pretty much the replica's own now, but there's a distinct part of the "original" Sora still in there as a sort of parallel mind. It's like the files of Sora 1.0 and Sora 1.5 are saved on the same disk, but instead of being overwritten completely some of Sora 1.0 exists as a hidden addition to the new file.

The replica carried on like usual, unaware of his nature as a clone replacement, but there were times when he'd act a little different from his established personality ( thanks to that new addition of half a heart ), and when he'd see himself or hear things in his own voice when he didn't say anything. Sora's original mind would accidentally, unknowingly take control of the body, which confused the current Sora.

Riku... had quite the reaction when he heard from Namine what happened.

Sora  ( and everyone else )  only ever finds out what happened when DiZ has his mask off moment to reveal himself as Ansem and dropped another truth bomb while he’s confessing his sins. You can imagine how everyone responds to that. Confusion, horror, shock, anger. Riku blows up at Ansem for all this shit going down and not breathing a word about it to the one most affected from his actions. Meanwhile Sora can barely process it, the explanation is wild and yet it perfectly clicks with the weird stuff going on around him. He wonders if he's really Sora at all, or if he's just some fraud. An imposter. Some imperfect shell only impersonating the original, stealing his life, connections, and friends.

I'm still working out the ddd and kh3 aspect. He experienced a lot of imposter syndrome, and questions a lot about himself, and the Organization doesn’t exactly help with all the cryptic bullshit they constantly spout, but Sora at the point of kh3 has more or less come to terms with his situation, viewing both the new and old as the "real Sora".

[asteriskheart]

@hamadaxfighter​​​​ asked; “ i’ve lost something as well. “ ( Sora or Kairi )

►  ❪  THE GREEN KNIGHT  //  accepting  ❫

         Sora had to wonder, with how much his heart's worn on his sleeve, if the darker side appeared more transparent as well. He was trying so hard to not to let it get to him, but guess he failed in that regard. A brief falter, but noticeable all the same for one of San Fransokyo's protectors to voice concern. Maybe it's the way his upbeat cheer dialed back a bit, or the stare cast over the ocean reflecting the light of the setting sun — a reminder of home, of where this spiral began.

         Startled laughter, a touch nervous / embarrassed as a gloved hand scratched the back of his neck,  ❝ Sorry Hiro. I’m being a bit of a downer, aren’t I ? ❞

         Enough of that then !  Gotta remember only happy faces powered this ship !  Hands settled on hips, stiff posture relaxing and stance adjusting, ready to lighten the mood even just a tad. Only, Hiro spoke up again, a hint towards his experiences.

         A unique type of pain sprung from the cavern of false ribs, a pang that settled deep within the recesses of a too full heart. It ached  ( it always has ), knowing that friends had also needed to bear the sting of hurt, to be weighed down with the agony of loss. How unexpected it was, and how it took and took and took, until it felt you had nothing left to be stolen away. As much as he'd like to take on all their burdens, Sora couldn't save everyone. The price a hero had to pay.

         ( it's your hurt too, isn't it ?  it must be ... to leave such deep scars in even you )

         But Hiro was here. His light hadn't been snuffed out. Despite the events in his life, he found his own way to move forward to this point, was still discovering his own path. Hiro really was something, wasn't he ? ... ( the true mark of a hero )

         ❝ I don't know what the 'you' of that time was like but I know losing something... can change people. ❞  Oh, he knew. A hand rested on his chest and lingered, gaze rising from where it'd fallen to the ground.  ❝ You're really strong, Hiro. I can only talk from the perspective I've got, but I know there's plenty of people out there who're glad they got to know the person you are today. Including me. ❞

[asteriskheart]

@yukikorogashi​​​ asked; “ you made it! i’m glad you’re safe, bro!" (Itsuki @ Sora!)

►  ❪  AGE OF CALAMITY  //  not accepting  ❫

         ❝ Didn't think I had it handled the whole time, huh ? ❞  A quick response, cheerful grin on full display as arms uncrossed to ruffle mussed hair.  ❝ I did tell you I'd be back ! ❞

         A prompt intervention on the world skipping passerby's part staved off Heartless closing in on the young girl, an urge for her to flee the scene given as soon as a starlit strike cleared the path forward. Naturally, with darkness banished and light filtering through the area unbidden once more, Sora sought the child out afterwards, compelled to make sure all was well and good.

         Worry had prickled at his skin, a dull buzz twitching anxious fingers from the silent fear that perhaps one slipped through while concentration split, encouraging legs to move faster, grip on Kingdom Key curling tighter as it's held at the ready. Only when the chosen wielder rounded the corner, finally spied her safe and sound, did the thick tension coiled in muscles deflate. ( wow, she made pretty good distance in such a short time frame too; it even took him a moment to pick out where the girl had scurried off too ! )  Now that's a load off the shoulders, he’s really quite glad she's alright.

         ❝ Anyways, no need to worry 'bout me !  It'd take more than that to bring me down. ❞