Profile
Kieruu 
(Boar)
“This is in someone else's hands... is there any other way for it to be?”
K is very ordinary. He comes across as restrained and docile, sociable yet quiet, and oddly non-judgmental. It's hard to tell if he's just oblivious or sincerely open-minded, but being universally supportive to all who cross his path has landed him on good side of many dangerous characters. He has a bit of a naive heroic impulse to defend the weak and help his friends, which is endearing but kind of worrying when it comes to serious situations.
He's enthusiastic about learning how to use a sword, it's just hard to find a decent teacher... There's some doubt that he could really hold his own in a serious fight despite his interest. He seems to view it all as a fun sport rather than a means to defend or harm. He has a decent aptitude for it but he doesn't exactly have a 'killer instinct'.
When first encountered by those who would become his family, he was originally very shy, near mute and afraid of showing his face. As he gains confidence he remains quiet, but is kind of a deadpan moral asset to the kids' crew. He might not be the most mature or aware of his surroundings, but won’t abandon his friends and is very hard to genuinely spook. He never raises his voice and most often wears a look of calmness occasionally bordering on confusion, though if he is truly upset he has a menacing glare and becomes more physically intimidating as he gets older - but after observing him for only a few minutes it becomes hard to believe he could do anyone harm.
Overall there’s a sense of comfortable complacency to him - he is quite happy, but maybe fate and has been a bit too kind to him thus far. He rarely questions the minds of others' and is not interested in delving into even his own murky past. Can he really take up a hero's mantle if one day there was a monster that could not be stopped peacefully?
- A big time animal lover, he is excited to meet, feed and pet any kind of creature. He even volunteers to work with the animals at a rescue-and-sorta-lab, where he got his anxious, low-energy pet micro-sheep, Strawberry. He doesn't understand much about what happens to them there, but tries to make the animals comfortable. While he's happy getting up close to any animal, he doesn't have the heart to discipline them, so it's lucky his own pet has such a mild disposition.
- Often seen carrying an umbrella, maybe at the advice of Kuve or in attempt to mimic her. Like a lot of his security blankets (face-obscuring hat, oversize scarf) it is less prominent when he is older.
- Although he tends to be very obedient towards his seniors, he has habit of snacking because nobody in his house is particularly good at cooking. Kuve is just not good at it, but he doesn't want her to feel bad, Misa will end up burning down the house, Sao can only... order pizza. K himself is actually decent when given instructions, but he loves salt and sugar.
- He was raised by kind townspeople after his parents - a pair of retired knights (whom he did learn about) - were mysteriously killed when he was a toddler. After leaving the town, he was adopted by his current guardians. He feels lucky that he's always had someone to rely on.
- In addition to being lucky, K is relatively strong (if not very graceful) and has a big growth spurt in his late teens. It's a bit of a growing pain; he can't hide under clothes/behind others anymore, and even as he becomes more confident with his appearance, being reminded about impending adulthood is inward pressure to make himself useful for those who took care of him.
- He sometimes looks flustered, but he less easily embarassed, intimidated, or even enthused, than he might seem. He wishes he was more naturally expressive, but doesn't know what to do with his hands or face sometimes and ends up looking fidgety.
- Hearing people swear makes him nervous. Loud coughing and sneezing can also make him jump and he becomes almost overbearing with concern if someone seems sick.
- He seems like he'd be a bit of a tattletale but is actually a pro at keeping secrets. Although, his reasoning seems to be that everyone has good intentions deep down, so this could one day lead to him protecting the wrong people.
Weapons
K has two highly sentimental swords from his hometown, the only items he retained from his birth parents. The gold sword was his father's and the black one, a pure blessed weapon made from what was originally the head of a staff, was his mother's. The latter can instantly emit large fractals of darkness in shapes that resemble lightning, which solidify or contract to create shells, spikes, or long-distance appendages. Although he doesn't learn how it works until he's grown up, due to the spiritual source of its ‘ore’, it expresses almost sentient protectiveness.
They're both pretty heavy and intended for two-handed use, so even when he gets bigger... no dual wielding for him.
Guardian
K's guardian, role model and most trusted protector. She was only a teenager when she found him trundling around the countryside but took him under her wing, and while K always sees kindness in strangers, she was also the first person he saw as a truly strong and guiding hand.
The city folk may call her pushy and old-fashioned, but Kuve was quick to teach him that what others want is not always right. K has absolute respect for her to the point where he'll happily follow her instructions and subconciously models himself after her, although she is rather dainty and he just cannot be; his clothes always seem to end up a bit too heavy, he doesn't have the most delicate touch with parasols, and prefers sugar in his tea instead of bitter roots... regardless of his lack of refinement, she always seems forgiving and proud of any decision he makes for himself, and it is all he wants to keep her happy. While they rarely show open affection (onlookers might see their interactions as stiff), there is a deep trust from years of quiet cooperation and well-placed words, and K has never strongly felt the need to act out againt anything Kuve has told him.
K is certainly enchanted by the idea of knighthood and swordplay in recent times, and may be accidentally caught up in some things he's starting to worry about - things he really can't tell his guardian. But at heart he is peaceful, and while Kuve cannot teach him to fight, responsibility and morals may be even more crucial to his growing up than anything else.
Guardian
Kuve might not be up for hugging and biking and staying up after 10, but Misa more than covers that. Kuve's jaunty partner, and K's second guardian, Misa takes a much more spontaneous approach to parenting and sometimes K just needs that bit of relief. Aside from being happy to lend her size and strength to opening jars and piggyback rides, she also is always willing to lend an ear and her unfailingly cheerful approach to everything makes her a comfort to him when he's anxious... Even if her guidance tends to be less practical than Kuve's. (Sometimes it's nice to hear someone say the school bully needs a whack on the nose, even if you know it's not right.) There are stories of her roughneck past, and she can appear overconfident, but knowing such a person has his back is one of the big reasons K was able to come out of his shell.
Misa and Kuve had already been traveling together when they adopted K, and he can't imagine live without the two of them. Being asked about his 'real family' is one of K's few annoyances, since he sees his current one as so important he dislikes them being overlooked. While he cannot quite articulate it, they give his life a balance that means he always feels he has someone to turn to. Of course, as he grows older, some things become difficult to talk about; he feels he'll worry them, or is obliged to try taking responsibility. But he has not yet grown up so much that he feels he could live without them. Also, he'll probably never beat Misa at arm wrestling!
Sort of Guardian
A childhood friend of Kuve's who has moved in with them; originally seen as a disruption, soon downgraded to just a bit of nuisance, Sao is a suave, knowledgeable figure of hazy past who loves lazing about and excels at talking his way out of chores. K is wary of Kuve's warnings not to grow up a 'layabout' like that, but Sao is somewhat intriguing - a mystery who dropped right on their doorstep - and he also ends up being K's first male role model.
K looks up to the way Sao seems to glide through life, in suits, smiling, with infinite small talk, but Sao is harder to approach than Misa or Kuve for advice. Even as they warm up, Sao laughs off questions about himself too often for them to really be considered close, but is genuinely much friendlier than his cool demeanor implies, and does his best to address K's growing pains without making fun of him (as far as K can tell). Sao's advice tends to be cryptic, and he is less reliable than Kuve, but he's always fun to talk to because he tells great stories - if they're true or not, questions for another day. Sao also sneaks him snacks... though K always feels guilty about keeping them secrets from Kuve. Sao often says he resembles her, without much giveaway in tone, but K's sure it's a compliment.
Friend
A kid from the neighborhood, and later a classmate, Misaki is a troublemaker with the face of an angel, and often seen as the wicked witch to his knight. Although she tries to wind him up, K is quite happy to follow around someone loud and exciting, and he can tell she doesn't hate him as much as she wants others to believe. She appears immune to bullies - sometimes extending that power to stand up for him. While tough, she has her fits and moments of overreaching, but always springs back from failed pranks and pratfalls (with all the acrobatics she takes some hard falls), which K admires. All fun and games, until it isn't.
It takes time to catch her off guard, but with patience K learns a terrible secret. When it comes to shifters, Misaki becomes a scarily proficient hunter, perhaps even killer. She sneaks nighttime trips to the city, and the fire magic she has is something beyond anything accessible to a kid their age. But still, she is K's friend - despite argument she's never tried to harm him, and he's hesitant to report her. Her secrecy, frustration and rare bouts of anxiety - there's something personal and important to her, and she hasn't lost her soul or anything. So any opportunity he can he tries to change her mind, make her more careful, or find another way to go about things where nobody has to get hurt. It distracts her sometimes, but that won't be enough. As they get older, he tries hard to keep up with her, and the world of shifters and LFs that she's clawing around in. That's where trouble - and progress - starts.
Friend
Fellow animal lover! A bashful, industrious dinosaur-keeping classmate who does odd jobs around the city, and seems good at keeping secrets. Kind of a middle ground between him and Misaki, Pal is confusingly (to K) neutral towards their shapeshifter hunting issues. She tries to act dispassionate to avoid any kind of trouble, and really clams up around new faces, but is definitely a caring person (you can tell, how she treats animals) and stronger than she looks. She's very independent, in some ways even more than Misaki in that Pal doesn't seem attached to any human - it's all about the dinos, and she makes no pretense of being a protector, in fact she relies on them quite a bit.
And despite her tractable nature, she's somehow a lot harder to talk too than loud and opinionated Misaki... but she seems like a reliable friend to have, if you can earn that.
Friend
And old friend whom he does not remember, but she has such fond memories of him and his hometown it must have been a wonderful time.
They meet in an animal volunteer group, where Shu seems to have a magic touch with every animal. Initially cagey, she opens up when K reaches out to her, and really fires up when they're entrusted to work alone, beginning to bring up those memories of her - their? - old mountain hometown. Shu is rather eccentric, she alternates between chronic shyness and boisterousness physicality, and fumbles with some off-color jokes. She lashes out hard at any percieved threats, which she admits is because she is unused to living among so many people. She makes mistakes but really does seem to try to right things as soon as he asks. K is somewhat aware that she is much softer on him than anybody else, and while initially afraid of disappointing her as he often is around others, begins to build up confidence in speaking to her and against her if it's right, occasions that both surprise and please her. K's influence on Shu isn't infalliable though - even as she opens up there is a side to her that she won't even show him, like she's playing up her naivety and knows lot more than she's letting on, and there's definitely something playing out offscreen - but there's also inexplicable comfort to feeling that her mysteriously wild nature take his side. Despite all reasons to be suspicious, K has come to trust his strange, self-proclaimed childhood protector.
Friend
Close to K’s age and with too much time on his hands, Tou seems to find joy in pestering people into a rage, and K became his favorite target for a bit. Having always done his best to get along with everyone, that was the first time K found himself in the tail end of irrational bullying. Ironically K came to find Tou’s pointlessly combative attitude almost refreshing, and returning fire was a way to vent frustrations without hurting anyone K was afraid of disappointing. Tou comes around begrudgingly, and K learns more about him - kid genius and super-early graduate, user of magic and even basic swordplay - it’s kind of cute how flustered he gets when someone compliments him. Conversation is more civil nowadays if often ending with Tou dominating (he can really talk) but K still finds time with him something of a breather in a world that sometimes has stifling expectations. It's nice to have someone you can show your less-nice side to.
Mentor
A courier and part-time coach at the local gym. Patient and subdued, Waifaiseeto's specialties (self-defense and mock weapon training) opened up a whole new world to K. Word on the street - and from Misaki, who boards with him - is that he's a retired, secret military ace. There is a certain gravitas to the coach, and he seems combat-experienced, but seems more interested in meditation, and is oddly silent on the topic of his past.
As K encounters more colorful people and situations, it's easy to be excited and forego Waifaiseeto's teachings of stillness and conservation, and at a certain point he seems to have taught K all he can. But even as he outgrows those kid classes, K comes to admire his coach for more than fighting ability: how he still protects his past like a fortress and often refuses to throw fists, even in situations where it seems 'cool' or 'easy'. Dry it is, perhaps it was right that K first learned to defend himself this way - on a foundation of quiet restraint and most importantly, looking to avoid future regrets.
Weaponmaster
Not many people know how to work an ancient magic sword.
