When Rheri's parents bade her to go to bed that morning, she nodded obediently, then snuck out the window of her room when her father rounded the corner.

Rheri wasn't usually disobedient, despite the fact that, at fifteen years old, she should have been well into her rebellious faze. But her family hadn't led her wrong before, and there was no reason for them to start now.

However, she did think they would hide the truth from her if they thought it was for her own good. Unfortunately for them, even she could see what was going on. Who could miss the sudden growth of Dalamud, or the angry red color that it had taken on as of late? Everyone in the village would eye it warily from time to time, and the washed-out color of the auras Rheri could see clinging to the Wood Wailers when they would pass by from time to time made her nervous. A couple of fanatics claimed that Menphina's Hound was descending from the heavens, come to cleanse the world of its taint. They weren't welcome in the village for long.

Whenever Rheri mentioned it to her parents, however, they would smile and tell her not to worry and that it was nothing to worry about. The sudden brightening of their emotions, and the trace of dull yellow along their outskirts, proved otherwise.

Eventually, she decided to implore their permanent houseguest for an answer. Even if he did not give her a straight answer, at least the Elezen would not lie to her.

But Martiallais was silent for a long time when she voiced her question where her parents couldn't hear. She watched as the colors of his conflicting feelings flickered across his aura, before settling into the sky blue and scarlet flicked with gold that was his neutral state. He chuckled once he realized what she was doing.

"There's no point in not telling the truth when you'll know the moment I try to lie. Your Sight is improving," he complemented her, and she blushed at the praise. "Try not to be so obvious that you're doing it, though. It might help you in the future."

Martiallais hesitated for just a moment, then he breathed deeply and continued on. "You're right. Something is wrong. Dalamud is descending toward Eorzea. Many say that its arrival will herald the beginning of the Seventh Umbral Era, but it's too soon to say."

There were no lies in his voice or his aura. The idea scared Rheri, and he must have seen it in her eyes, because he bent down to her level. "Rheri, listen to me. Don't be afraid. I promise to you, no matter what, I won't allow anything to happen to you or your mother, nor your father. Not while I draw breath." The determination in his voice and the silvery tone the blues in his aura took on reassured her more than any words could. Martiallais would not lie to her, not even for her own good, and while the "not while I draw breath" comment should have been disconcerting, even the idea of him dying was unfathomable.

Still, the grays in his and her parents' emotions when she left for her bed that morning told her that they were hiding something, and would probably discuss it when she was supposed to be asleep. Instead, she hopped lightly onto the roof with the aid of a conveniently placed crate of supplies, snuck over to the main room of their home, using her tail for balance, then shimmied on her stomach over to where a space in the boards of the roof created a gap for her to peek through.

The first figure she spotted was her mother. Even though she had been deaf from birth, Mhiallan was invaluable to the village. In one as small as theirs, powerful mages were rare, and white mages were sorely needed when the death of only a few people meant that a large portion of the population had passed on. On top of that, her shielding spells had saved the village from many an Ixal attack. In the end, the village had adapted, and even the youngest child knew a few of the hand signals that she used. Mhiallan had also adapted – though outsiders were rare, the occasional one did stumble off of the main road and into their home, to the villager's dismay. Between them and some of the more stubborn villagers, Mhiallan had mastered the art of lip reading.

The next person she spotted was her father. As a Seeker of the Sun, G'orho looked more awake that Mhiallan, who was a Keeper of the Moon. His heritage was evident in slit, green eyes and warm, golden colors of his skin and hair. From what Rheri understood, her father had been a nunh in his tribe for quite some time, but after some time, had been challenged and defeated by a younger and stronger male, demoting him to the title of tia. Afterwards, he had left to become an adventurer, but had eventually met her mother and settled down, leading to Rheri's birth.

The third and final figure in the room below her was Martiallais, and the only one in the village who was not a Miqo'te. The dark-haired Wildwood Elezen had once been an adventurer, like her father, who had helped her mother to defend against an Ixal attack once. He hadn't left since, and though initially cautious, the other villagers had eventually grown accustomed to him.

In truth, Martiallais was like a third parent to her. He had been the first one to discover her talent as an empath, and taught how to develop the ability. Though her father taught her much of the archery she knew today, Martiallais had taught her different techniques to go along with it that even her father didn't know. Just as much as either of her parents, he had bandaged her scrapes when she had taken a tumble or dried her tears when she had a nightmare.

She could fondly remember a time in her life when she had convinced herself that she hated Martiallais – she must have only been eight or nine years old. True to his advice, she had been developing her ability to read emotions, cataloguing what someone's base emotional state looked like and how different situations and emotions would change the colors or the way the mixed. That was when she started to notice the soft, rosy glow his aura took on when he spoke to her mother, or the bright red patches that would arise and disappear again. She had refused to speak to him for days, convinced he was trying to rip her family apart.

Finally, in a panic, she had approached her father one morning, when she was supposed to be asleep, when he was fletching arrows outside of the house.

"Did you know Martiallais is in love with Mother?" she demanded, her fists shaking in a combination of anger and fear.

G'orho looked up at her in surprise, then shrugged and returned to his work. "You only just figured it out?"

Rheri stared at her father in disbelief. "Aren't you worried?"

Her father blew gently on the glue holding the feathers to the shaft of the arrow, then set it back onto his workbench. His eyes focused on hers, and he patted the bench beside him, inviting her to sit with him. "Rheri, have you ever seen Martiallais act in any way that was anything other than friendly toward your mother?"

Slowly, she joined her father at his seat. "No…Does this mean that this isn't new? That…he's felt this way for a long time?"

Her father nodded. "Since before you were born. You should also know by now that Martiallais is no fool – as much as he values your mother's love, he values your mother's companionship and happiness more. Telling her of his feelings would compromise both of those things at once."

Rheri thought she understood, but it was all so confusing. "What about you? You can't like this."

"I don't," was his reply. "How could I? But in truth, his feelings benefit me as well. Though his love may go unrequited, he'd never allow your mother to come to harm – gods know the Black Shroud is dangerous when you've got all five senses to help you, let alone when you're missing one. He'd never allow you to come to harm, either. On top of that, he's saved me more times than I can count by now. As much as I might hate to admit it, he's my friend, and I'd never throw him out of my home if he hasn't wronged me. Feelings and emotions are something we can't control, Rheri, but we can control how we act on them."

That brought another worry to Rheri's mind, and she frowned. "But…how do I talk to him from here on out? I've been avoiding him since I figured it out." She peeked up at her father nervously. "Do you think he might be mad at me because of that?"

G'orho laughed. "I doubt it. Even though you're not his, you are of your mother, and you're more like her than you know. As for how you approach him about it…Well, that's up to you. You could ask him directly about it, if you want. He might appreciate the honesty – most everyone in the village knows, but no one's really spoken about it. Then again, he might want it to go unspoken."

Rheri shook her head, dispelling the old conversation rising from her memories. Instead, she focused on the hand motions going on below her. Unfortunately, she was sitting at a poor angle to distinguish the signs – both Martiallais' and G'orho's backs were to her, and her mother only gave the occasional signal. Her aura signified her distress, however.

Finally, her father sighed. "I wish I could stay," he said aloud, "but I couldn't; not with a clean conscious. The Order of the Twin Order will need all the help it can get. How can I refuse to go when it might mean your deaths here?"

Her mother shook her head violently, the tassels in her white hair jingling with the movement. But her father rose, rested his hands on her shoulders, and leaned down to kiss her cheek, murmuring something in her ear that Rheri didn't catch. Then, he rose and left the room, leaving Martiallais and Mhiallan as the only ones in the room.

Carefully, Rheri crept off the roof and back into the window to her room, her lips set in a tight line. Whatever was going on, it was sure to become apparent in the coming days.

A week later, her father left the village, adorned in his old armor and a longbow slung over his shoulder.

Rheri had overslept well into the night when she was shaken awake violently. "Hm?" she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Get up. We need to leave, now." The urgency in Martiallais' tone and the way his aura was drawn in close to his body had Rheri sitting straight up, pulling her boots onto her feet. Her mother was already awake, a pack slung over her shoulder.

"No time to gather anything, but grab your bow and quiver on the way out. We may need it," Martiallais said grimly. Rheri knew better than to disobey that tone, and snatched up her shortbow and the quiver of arrows she usually used to hunt with. Then, she chased after her mother and Martiallais.

The sky.

The sky was on fire.

For a moment, she couldn't help but stare as it streaked across the sky, and an ear-shattering roar pierced the air. Then, Martiallais grabbed her arm, forcibly dragging her along with him. After a moment, she shook herself out of her fear and ran along with him, and eventually, she and her mother were the ones that were dragging him along, thanks to their superior night vision.

Finally, they reached the place that Martiallais was directing them towards – a set of caves to the west of where they lived. They quickly made their way inside, taking the twists and turns that Martiallais called out.

Something was…strange, though. As they headed deeper and deeper into the cave, it slowly became brighter and brighter, but the colors shifted strangely. Her mother and Martiallais hardly seemed to notice.

Then, they rounded a corner, and the assault on her sight nearly became too much. Others had also found the cave as a shelter, and their panic was evident. The colors of their aura were bright and ever changing, evident of their panic. They expanded until they nearly covered her vision in a layer of shifting, swirling colors. She pressed her palm to her forehead, dizzy.

It was Martiallais who steadied her, grabbing her shoulders and leading her to turn away from the others. "Rheri, look at me," he implored her, and she obeyed. His aura was drawn tight to his body, in a way that usually meant secrecy and trying to hide something – his fear, most likely. Rheri was grateful for it, however – though she could still see the frenzied colors in her peripherals, Martiallais was the calm in the middle of the storm of confusion.

"We're not the only ones that are going to be trying to take shelter here," he told her, his voice calm and soft. "The beasts of the forest will also be looking for safety, but if some of them make it in, fights will surely break out. Take your bow and stand near that tunnel over there – don't let them in. Don't focus on what's going on back there – your mother will take care of it." Sure enough, when Rheri glanced back with a wince, her mother was in the midst of the confusion, calming the people and tending injuries as she went, with a little boy from her village translating her signs for those that weren't familiar with them.

Rheri nodded and followed Martiallais to the tunnel he had indicated. For the first few minutes, it was quiet, with only a few panicked Gridanians and a Chocobo or two sprinting down the tunnel.

Then, an inhuman screech echoed down the halls, as well as the sound of flapping. Martiallais rose from his crouched position, drawing his longsword. "Back me up if I need it," he told Rheri. She nodded her assent.

After a moment, a Vulture came crashing down the tunnel, slamming into walls in its fear. Martiallais raced forward, bringing his sword down in a vicious cut that took its right wing clean off. When it fell to the ground, he plunged his blade into its throat.

It was not the only one, though. As the night wore on and on, more and more of the monsters from the forest came rushing into the cave. Martiallais felled foe after foe, and Rheri loosed arrow after arrow.

Eventually, a pair of Ixal scouts found their hiding place, and advanced with a crazed sort of hunger in their eyes. Martiallais didn't falter for a moment, nor did Rheri. She snatched an arrow from her quiver, drew it back, and let it fly right into the eye of the one on the right, with a screech, he recoiled, allowing for Martiallais to kick it down and push his blade through its heart

Rheri reached for another arrow to take down the second Ixal, only to find her fingers grasping at air. Turning with a gasp, she realized her quiver was empty, and Martiallais was still trying to pull his sword out of the other Ixal's dead body.

"Martiallais, watch out!" she screamed, but it was too late. The Ixal's claws dug into his back, and its teeth into his shoulders.

Rheri rushed forward, ripping a stay arrow out of a previously slain enemy, quickly knocking it and shooting it into the Ixal's shoulder. It let out a surprised screech and released Martiallais. In one quick movement, he ripped his sword from the first Ixal and decapitated the other in one fell blow.

Rheri grabbed him as he collapsed, slipping his arm over her shoulders and half-dragging him back to the cave. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed over and over again. "I'm so, so sorry. Please be okay," she begged.

Martiallais gave what should have been the semblance of a grin, but coughed halfway through. Rheri tried to pretend she didn't notice the blood that splattered to the floor.

Rheri all but kicked a small child in her rush to drag Martiallais back. "Go grab Mhiallan. Now!" she demanded, and the boy forgot his fear for a moment when he heard the tone in Rheri's voice.

In a moment, her mother was there, motioning for her to set him down so she could look at him. Her mouth was drawn into a tight, worried line, but Rheri did her best to ignore the colors of her emotions. His wounds were bad, and she couldn't afford to worry about him by knowing her mother's verdict before she even made it.

Weakly, Martiallais coughed and gripped Rheri's wrist. His lips moved, but the syllables weren't clear enough for her to lip read, nor could she hear him. She leaned down so his lips were closer to her ear.

"Barricade," he whispered weakly. "Barricade the tunnels."

"A barricade?" she whispered, then shook herself and stood up straight. "We need to barricade the tunnels!"

For a moment, the others in the cave glanced unsurely at each other. Then, a dark-skinned burly Keeper of the Moon from her village rose, and roared, "Well? You heard the girl! Barricade the damned tunnels!"

The cave burst into a flurry of motion, with everything from the boulders lying around the cave to bags people had brought with them to the bodies of the enemies Rheri and Martiallais had slain going onto the piles. But finally, the piles were high and thick enough that, even when slammed against from the outside, they would not fall.

After that, the tunnel went mostly quiet. No one was quite sure what to do, but many lay down to a fitful sleep. Others stayed up and kept watch. Every once in a while, the cave would be shaken by a low rumble, and children would awake whimpering until their mothers soothed them. As for Rheri, she sat with her legs crossed all night, stony faced as she listened to the roars outside and felt the cave's quakes, holding Martiallais' hand until it went cold in her grip.

After almost a week in that cave, people were starting to go crazy. The stench of death was suffocating. Water had to be rationed carefully, and the food had already been gone for days. She caught a couple of people eyeing Martiallais' body hungrily, but the one time someone actually approached, she lunged forward and snarled fiercely with a temper she didn't know she had in her. After that, people left her alone.

Finally, it was decided that they couldn't live hiding in that cave forever. The barricades had ceased to shake many days ago, and the roars and rumblings of the earth had long since died out. The chances of survival outside quickly became better than those inside, and reluctantly, the barricades were taken down, and people began to creep outside.

Some wished that they never had.

The forest was in ruins. Parts of it had burned to the ground, and in other places, the land had warped so much that the trees had been ripped from the group, destroying roads and homes as it went.

Rheri and her mother silently looked over the hill that had once crested their village. Though some foundations still stood, most of the homes had burned to the ground. Rebuilding was impossible – where there had once been flat land, a jagged scar in the land now cut through the village, throwing boulders this way and that.

The only thing to do was to start over, and the thought made Rheri weak. This was the only home she had ever known. The tree that her father had taught her to climb on had been unearthed, and thrown half a mile down the road. The stone which a training dummy had once been mounted on where Martiallais had taught her to shoot her bow had been reduced to little more than dust. Even her home, where she had shared so many happy memories with her family, was entirely unsalvageable.

When the silent tears began to roll down Rheri's face, her mother pulled her to her shoulder, her body a strong pillar to lean on and her emotions a calming blue-violet. Only then, Rheri let out a gasping sob, and allowed herself to cry for everything she had lost.

A/N: Yup, that's right, folks, time for yet another fanfic! I only started FFXIVARR recently - I'm playing at a friend's house, since I have neither the money for a PS4 nor a subscription - but I have to say, I am loving it.

I decided to write this fanfic because I noticed that there seems to be a lack of SYOC fanfics in this fandom, which, for the record, is an absolute crime considering that MMOs like this are pretty much the best possibly format for this type of fanfic. I'm not entirely sure which direction this fanfic is going to take yet - I don't know if I want to follow the main storyline or make my own up, but I guess I'll figure that out in the coming weeks.

Please submit your OCs to me using this form! I do prefer long, well-thought out profiles, so I get a really good sense of the character. You can submit either via review or PM - though review is preferred, if you're going to be sacrificing length and information for it, I'd much rather you send it via a couple of PMs. Oh, and please be creative with your characters!

That being said, all parts of this form must be filled out, but please delete the stuff in parentheses before you submit it. Below the form is an example I've made up for Rheri.

Name: (Full name. I'd really appreciate it if the names are lore-friendly, which isn't difficult. If you look up "Miqo'te names" or "Hyur names" there should be a wiki page with the traditions behind it. Some aren't a big deal, others are very specific. If you need help, at the bottom of each of the wiki pages is a lore-friendly name generator that might give you some good ideas.)

Gender: (Male? Female? Trans? Genderfluid? Agender? Etc?)

Age: (The age of the character. Please note that there will be a five year timeskip from this chapter to next chapter, so please put their age after the timeskip.)

Species: (Both general and specific - like "Midland Hyur" or "Wildwood Elezen".)

Class: (This doesn't have to be set in stone - it's more that fits the character best.)

Occupation: (What do they do for a living? The most common answer here might be "adventurer", but you're free to pick something else as well.)

Weapons/Abilities: (Since this is a fanfic, I've got a bit more freedom when it comes to abilities. Rheri's empathy would be impossible to implement in a video game setting, and even if it wasn't, it would be practically useless! But, within a fanfic setting, I think it'll be fun to experiment with. In the same way, you can make your character have something that perhaps isn't in the game. Just, you know, don't make them a Mary Sue/Gary Stu.)

Appearance: (Their general appearance. You know, hair, eye, and skin color, face shape, body type, distinguishing features, etc. If you want to include clothes, you can, but if there's something they always have on them, like their mother's pendant or something, definitely mention it. If you feel so inclined, you can add a picture - one you took of your character or whatever - but this is in addition to the written description, not instead of.)

Personality: (Obviously, how they act! How they react to certain situations or how they act around other people. Really, this should be obvious, but probably one of your more detailed sections. Please don't just list adjectives, though.)

Sexuality: (Heterosexual? Homosexual? Bi? Pan? Ace? Other? I don't know if I'll include romance, but if I do, this will be useful. If their romantic orientation differs from their sexual orientation, you should also mention it here.)

Family: (Do they have any family members? How do they get along with them?)

Reactions: (This is more so I can figure out how they react to the other introduced characters - just list the important ones that have been introduced so far and how you feel they would get along with them. For this first chapter, Rheri is the only one you need to write one of these for - her mother, father, and spare parent will not feature prominently - at least, not yet. Feel free to interpret this how you want - as just a first-meeting thing, how they'd get along if they got to knew each other, or more and beyond.)

History: (Is there anything in their past I should be aware of?)

Other: (Anything else you would want me to know? This could be anything from their favorite food to what colors Rheri will see as their base emotional state.)

And here is Rheri's sample! I've shortened it since there's a lot of stuff I want you guys to figure out in writing, so feel free to make it longer than mine if you so desire!

Name: Rheri Amariyo

Gender: Female

Age: Twenty

Species: Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te - though she is technically half Seeker and half Keeper, she displays almost all of the Seeker traits, like the rounded eyes, sharp teeth, night vision, long ears, etc. The only difference is that she has a lot of her father's Seeker golden colors.

Class: Archer

Occupation: Adventurer

Weapons/Abilities: Rheri is an empath - she can see the emotions of others in the form of auras, and is also capable of reading their base emotional state. Unfortunately, being around a lot of people, especially if their emotions are strong, can make her dizzy and give her migraines. She is quite skilled in both Elezen and Miqo'te bow techniques, and always carries her bow and a quiver of arrows with her. She's also decently skilled with a dagger, and also carries one or two with her.

Appearance: Rheri inherited many of the Keeper of the Moon traits, like her rounded pupils, long, cat-like ears, and sharp canine teeth. The only real Keeper of the Sun traits she inherited were her warm colors - though her skin is fair, it has golden undertones, and her hair is a dark, honey blonde. It's cut short, along her jawline. Her eyes are blue and come from her mother. She's not overly tall, like many Miqo'te, and only stands around five feet, four inches. Her face is round and full, but with a strong jawline and a sharp chin.

Personality: It would be easy to recognize Rheri as shy, but that's not really what she is. She's more reserved and quiet, but she does enjoy the company of others. She's a bit dreamy, and can often be seen staring into space, in her own little world. Because she's so reserved, she's had a little bit of trouble making friends in the past, but it's not out of fear or dislike. She doesn't do well in large groups of people - partially due to her personality, partially because the intensity of their emotions can give her migraines. Though she can be difficult to get to know, once you are her friends, she is loyal to a fault, and is quite fun to be around.

Sexuality: Heterosexual

Family: Rheri's mother is a Keeper of the Moon names Mhiallan Amariyo. Mhiallan is deaf, but has powerful magic. Her mother is married to a Keeper of the Sun, G'orho Tia. G'orho used to be a nunh, but left his tribe when he was displaced. As such, it is possible and even likely that he had other children, meaning that Rheri probably has half-siblings she doesn't know about. Finally, though Martiallais Estienne, a Wildwood Elezen, was not technically related to her, he functioned as a third parent to her, and Rheri loved him as much as her own father. It's also possible that he had other children before meeting Mhiallan, but possibly more unlikely.

Reactions: Rheri is the only submitted character at the moment; therefore, no reactions are necessary.

History: Rheri grew up in a small village of Keeper of the Moon Miqo'te in the Black Shroud. Though Mhiallan and G'orho were married, Martiallas also lived with them. Rheri was discovered to have empathic abilities when she was young by Martiallais, who taught her how to develop the skill. However, when she was fifteen, Dalamud began to descend, and G'orho left to fight the Garlean Empire. However, he never returned, and is presumed dead. Martiallais was killed by an Ixal during the Calamity. Though Mhiallan and Rheri helped to rebuild their home over the five years that followed, Mhiallan eventually slipped into a deep depression, and the family slowly lost money. Rheri decided to leave and become an adventurer in hopes that she would be able to pay for new hunting licenses for her family.

Other: