Aiden Farrenholde

Sister - Elizabeth Farrenholde (Spirit Pact)

Introduced in Part 7 along with other members of The Dastardly 12 Crew, Aiden is the youngest and least experienced of the organization. It was later revealed that he is the last of his race, the Leoson, a species from the far-away continent of Tarkus. He, along with his sister Elizabeth's spirit, seek a way to return to their home, but both for entirely different reasons.

## **History**

### **The Destroyed Home**

Aiden was born on the foreign continent of Tarkus, the same as the King of Centrus, as a Prince to the people known as the Leoson, or 'Silver Lions.' Through discussion with the King, it was revealed that the 'Golden Lions' destroyed his home, as well as the possibility that they've taken over the entirety of Tarkus under their rule. All Aiden seems to care to remember about is the beautiful landscape of his home and a particular Golden Lion known as ----. There are still missing pages in this Chapter...

### **A Missing Friend**

A poor child wanders the street, unable to feed himself. Aiden, having suffered from the past incident, had become a stray. For years, he lived like a rat, stealing whatever he could while escaping the wrath of those who would beat him for his crime. The only thing that seemed to keep him going was his Darkness and Spirit Maya. It wasn't until one fateful day when his life turned around for the better. For assisting someone who was being mugged by a cold-hearted man, Aiden was given a small amount of silver for his troubles. With a skip in his step, Aiden made his way off to the market for food...that was until the same man that was mugging came for Aiden. It was at this point that his destiny was decided. At the young age of eleven, Aiden found himself about to be recruited under the mysterious The Dastardly 12 Crew, an organization of bounty hunters taking only the highest bidder.

Forced to defend himself, a particularly violent target of the organization found himself robbing the wrong boy at the wrong time. Using a cloud of darkness to blind the man, a member of The Dastardly 12 Crew suddenly murdered the man in cold blood. Seeing a potential use in the child, he offered him a place in the organization, so long as he was willing to do dirty work. With the help of his sister's spirit and his Darkness Maya, his skills were quickly put into use for the organization's interests. It was at this time that Aiden followed two members of the same crew; Blake and Fuyuki.

As Aiden finally arrived at Centrus Park, he was confused at the complete disappearance of Fuyuki. It was already well-known in the organization that he wasn't one to be late if he could help it. Sensing foul-play, Aiden and Blake immediately went on a search for their missing associate. Initially, their only clue was nothing but a water trail, until they spotted a dog under a white bed sheet. With a witness finally at hand, both Aiden and Blake made their way over towards the dog. Unfortunately, the canine started to run away the second they confronted it (note: Blake *did* throw something at the dog.) In an attempt to stop it from fleeing, both bounty hunters used their Maya in an attempt to capture it, which only turned out to be futile. Worst still, strangers arrived to interrupt their investigation. Fearing police intervention, Blake instructed Aiden to cover their escape in pitch-black smoke with his Darkness Maya. Taking Aiden in his grip, Blake used his Strength Maya to help them escape the scene.

With only the trail to lead them towards their missing partner, the two set out once more to hunt down the missing Fuyuki. Out of the corner of his eyes, Aiden spotted an attractive young woman making her way through the park, catching his eyes almost immediately. While his eyes were captivated, his mind was only set on working, and immediately pointed her out to Blake. Seeing this as another potential witness that they could get help from (at least from Aiden's point of view), both young men made their way towards her. While they were unable to receive any information, Blake decided to get a little too flirty, causing Elizabeth to come out and knock Blake straight down on his head, causing a break in the sidewalk below (poor Infrastructure Department.)

A disgruntled Blake came to his senses once more and bid her farewell; Blake with a goodbye and Aiden with a formal bow. As Blake went to request assistance from another member of The Dastardly 12 Crew, Avon took Aiden's hand, and expressed a desire to help the duo. Albeit confused for her reasoning on want to help them, Aiden felt rather flattered over her taking his hand, and gave her a small nod before informing her that it was up to Blake's discretion since he was currently the one in charge. As they made their way over to Blake, they noticed him struggling with the button, to the point where he was hardly even aware of what Aiden was saying.

Aiden apologized to Avon, but before a conversation could come further, a strange man arrived without much of a warning. Blake and Aiden immediately showed their respect to their 'boss.' As Aiden stood still and at attention, Blake stammered an explanation for their search, informing him of their missing companion. Forett, looking to Aiden, asked who Avon was. Not one to shy away from an introduction, she immediately gave her name as Aiden immediately afterwards stated that she was wanting to assist. As courteous as he could be, Forett introduced himself with as little detail as possible, and accepted her help before ordering them all to follow the trail. Aiden immediately followed after him, with Elizabeth popping out to give Blake a teasing expression, causing him bitterness and frustration over the situation.

As the party followed the trail, they found themselves upon a train with little to no other evidence. Forett decided to have the place raided. Aiden remained outside with Avon as Blake and Forett went ahead and moved in, trying to find whoever was responsible for their friend's kidnapping. Unfortunately, despite sensing Fuyuki somewhere on the train. Forett took hold of a poor hobbit's ring as Aiden boosted Avon up to deal with scouting for their group. When Forett gave the command to enter the train, Aiden found himself cut off as the doors inside of the car began to close quickly.

The train started to move, causing Aiden to fall off. Forett, with little other choice, decided to move forward on the train with Blake in order to find their missing associate. Avon made her way to a connector between two trains and assisted Aiden back on. With the doors still locked, he decided to help Avon through by forcing it open with Elizabeth's help. Though exhausting, Avon made her way through the door, and Aiden was able to let it go. Climbing up on top of the train to get over towards the other side, Aiden finally regrouped with the others. It was at that moment that they had found the same dog from earlier, Spook, with two of it's pups. Immediately entering the defensive, Blake and Forett engaged in a verbal confrontation with it, demanding information. Aiden, however, wasn't one to see needless violence, and immediately tried to calm the situation down upon hearing Spook's words. With both parties searching for their missing friends, it was only reasonable to believe that someone had taken them both. Fortunately, both calmed down, and the combined groups continued forward.

Immediately, Forett sensed Fuyuki, while Spook sensed his own friend. Quickly formulating a plan to get in and out in a jiffy, Aiden was instructed to kill the lights. Unfortunately, while it initially went smoothly, the party was surprised by two assailants making a run for it via hopping out of the train, Jango and Dawn. Blake, with his Strength Maya, quickly latched onto the duo, preventing their escape. Aiden climbed to the side of the train and immediately dueled with Dawn, a large man in a suit of armor. The duel was short-lived however, but deadly nonetheless due to the precise attacks between the two. The train had erupted from it's tracks, causing most of it to derail and crash in the plains of Centrus Territory. Immediately afterwards, Forett engaged both Jango and Dawn, with Blake joining in afterwards.

Aiden, having stumbled a bit from the crash, caught a falling Avon. Setting her down quickly, Aiden engaged with his teammates. Unfortunately, even with their combined strength, there wasn't much that the group could do against the powerful duo. Luckily, Aiden performed a complex maneuver to launch himself towards Dawn. With his sister's strength, Aiden used Spirit Maya to jump towards Dawn. While initially missing him, Aiden pierced his sword into the ice tower that Jango stood on, using it as a platform, and once again used his Spirit Maya to launch himself from the sword towards Dawn, this time using both of Elizabeth's feet to maximize the force of his jump. The overwhelming force of the jump made it excruciatingly painful for him to breath, but he remained vigilant in his endeavors to land a hit on the unsuspecting Dawn. Right as Dawn looked down at Aiden, a powerful punch landed him square in the face.

The force Aiden had brought with him had wounded his hand, but the hit was excellent and allowed the others to move in on Dawn. Before he could hit the ground, Avon had saved him with Vindicator. Setting him down, she immediately joined the fight with the other two. The fight had lasted for some time, until the trio were finally able to defeat the Ice Golem that Jango had used, which resulted in both Fuyuki and Pyce being freed from their cubic prison. With Dawn retreating and Jango left behind, Forett took him away, and the party had a short-lived reunion. They were interrupted by the appearance of a man that made their way slowly. Pyce, sensing the danger, used Earth Maya to escort them through a tunnel back to Centrus. As they made their way back, Blake gave him small praise for his work, causing the young man to smile, a sense of warmth wrapping around him at the praise of his efforts.

### **No Blue Moons**

When the party had arrived at Centrus City, they celebrated inside of a local bar for their victory. Aiden, during this time, had tried desperately to wipe off as much of the dirt from his face as possible. The conversation around the group was relaxing, but it was quickly disturbed by the sudden appearance of another new acquaintance in a coat. Feeling heavily anxious around him, Aiden gave his seat up quickly, told the group that he was getting some fresh air, and stepped outside. He spied on the man from the window, then turned back to discuss his anxiety over the man with his sister's spirit. Aiden had a terrible feeling about the man, but wasn't able to quite put his finger on it. His discussion was cut short when the man walked out of the bar, moving up close behind Aiden without a single word.

As Aiden and the man stood outside, he spoke to the boy about the moon and the night's beauty. With a sinister grin, he pondered to Aiden on a Blue Moon, before pulling out a figurine and asking him if he'd like to see one. Questioning him quickly, Aiden asked what it was that he held in his hand. Menacingly, he informed Aiden that it was in fact a God and held it out for the boy to see. Without so much of an after-thought, Aiden mindlessly took it from the man, and began to inspect it closely. Swiftly, he took Aiden's wrist, and held on to it with an iron grip. The pain was terrible and Aiden believed he would be killed. Luckily, right at the nick of time, Forett came out and confronted him, causing the man to lose his attention on Aiden. Thinking fast, he used Elizabeth's spirit to take her hand out of his body and take the statue, hiding it in his coat. As the tension began to rise, the man decided to reveal his Maya. A thick pile of smoke arose, taking Aiden up in the air, and choked him. As soon as he threw Aiden however, the conflict began, with Aiden breaking into a full blown sprint into the city streets of Centrus, a statue of a God tucked carefully underneath his jacket.

As Forett and Blake engaged the smoking man, Aiden was pursued by a dark being, with Pyce, Avon, and Fuyuki following after. Looking into his coat, Aiden discovered the statue to be living, and revealed to be Gaia himself. With the shadow gaining ground, Aiden decided to use his Darkness Maya to wrap a tentacle around a sign, and pulled himself up to a roof, where he continued his run. Believing himself to be in the clear, Aiden was unexpectedly met with a fist wrapped in iron to his face. After he recovered himself, the bloody-faced boy was shocked to find Dawn, the same armored man from earlier that fled. Claiming to have realized his weakness, he took his helmet off, and revealed his skull; the once normal man was now undead. Cornered by both the shadow lady Demi and Dawn, Aiden's only chance to escape was to jump off the roof towards Pyce. Before he could swing himself out of the way with his Darkness Maya, he was caught by a flock of birds, which placed him back on the roof near the edge.

Luckily, Pyce separated the roof from the building, causing Aiden, Dawn, and Demi to fall. Aiden, believing himself to be safe, was suddenly pierced with Darkness Spears casted by Dawn, leaving him pinned to roof as it dropped onto the ground. Elizabeth tried desperately to defend him, but due to his critical injuries, he was unable to sustain her, and was expelled by Dawn, who merely waved her off with another spear through her, and in turn, Aiden. Bleeding profusely and suffering, he looked down at Gaia, noticing that he too was pinned by the arm from an unlucky blow. In an act of defiance, Aiden held on to the god closely, refusing to allow them an easy hit on the god. As Fuyuki and Avon appeared, they aided Pyce in a clash against Dawn and Demi. Suddenly, as if Gaia was restored to his full status once more, the Earth around them trembled, and Gaia forced his out of Aiden's jacket. Now a colossal beast, Gaia engaged his enemies in fierce combat. Gaia, in his wisdom, instructed Pyce to Destiny Valley, where he would ultimately fight one of their greatest enemies.

With the sudden appearance of one of The Dastardly 12's sworn foes, Tragedy, Fuyuki and Avon were forced to engage separate enemies. As Fuyuki faced the overwhelming horde of undead set forth by Tragedy, Avon made her way over to Aiden to save him, but was cut off by Demi and forced to fight. With all his strength, Aiden pushed himself until he was standing, covering his wounds with his hands. As if hearing his mental prayers for assistance, Gaia covered his wounds with sand and gifted him with powerful armor made from layers of rock. Pushing himself to aid Avon in her fight with Demi, the situation was getting more and more dire by the second. With Blake's arrival, it was time to get somewhere safe. With Avon and Blake holding on to him, Blake launched them away from the block, with Fuyuki forced to follow them through another swarm of undead.

After the trio stopped moving, Aiden was able to catch his breath. The bleeding had stopped, but the loss of blood had taken it's toll on the boy. Luckily, Fuyuki arrived after cutting down his enemies, albeit covered in the blood of the undead. With Avon and Blake dragging him forwards, their plan to head to the hospital was cut short by the intervention of Demi. Unable to continue without facing her, the group turned towards her and engaged, with Aiden kept back as she targeted him for an easy kill. Almost as suddenly as she appeared, she was annihilated by a blast from Blake, effectively killing both her and Dawn, who'm had been undead under. Finally reaching the hospital, Aiden quickly grabbed on to a doctor and demanded assistance, before being carried off. Avon was instructed to stay with him in case anything happened and the party was split up. The night, at least for Aiden, was over.

### **A Not So Calm Intermission**

After spending a short while in the hospital, Aiden was surprised by the sudden appearance of Cretus as he stared out the window. He thanked him for saving his son, Gaia, and gave him a brief history of the past events in order to catch him up with the whole feud. While Aiden didn't care much for the fight between Gods, he was at least glad to see that Gaia was okay. Avon entered the room, but before Cretus disappeared, he gave Aiden a quick warning of what was to come next; Royal Guards. Under the watchful eye of Vice Admiral Silverstone, Aiden was taken away from the room, with Avon being able to do very little, if not anything. Arriving shortly at the Black Obelisk with a new set of clothes, Aiden was immediately greeted by both King Daigon, King of Centrus City, and Derus. The meeting, albeit rather short, was about the events that had transpired and the future plans of the King. When it was all said and done, Aiden made his way to the bar to meet up with his friends and discuss what had happened over a few drinks. It ended with Avon promising to throw a party for his eighteenth birthday.

After a few escapades (including Avon buying him a new suit, albeit he keeps the coat off), the masquerade came at last. Much to Aiden's shock (and almost near annoyance), Avon had sent invitations to everyone in Centrus City. Nonetheless, the festivity was enjoyable to the majority present. It was here that Aiden met Kiara Redfield. The two quickly sparked a romantic feelings in one another as they danced, but something seemed to bother Aiden as soon as they had finished. Confronting Fuyuki quickly, he requested that they take a job and leave the party. Fuyuki, having a list of bounties already at hand, accepted the proposal and left with Aiden, Blake, Avon, and Pyce. Discussing the bounty of a man named Dietrich, he had supposedly been selling illegal weaponry and other contraband. With Aiden and Avon assigned as the ones to look at the contraband, Fuyuki and Blake sat away in disguises (which nearly made Aiden laugh.) Pyce was assigned to make sure the party wouldn't get jumped by any new comers.

Enticing the group slowly at first, Avon and Aiden were able to successfully convince the duo of goons that they were looking to buy. As Fuyuki and Blake inched closer and closer, the time to strike was apparent. The duo were able to subdue the two goons. Unfortunately, a third man was caught running for the back door. Both Avon and Aiden were assigned after him and they quickly gave chase. While initially unsuccessful, Aiden was able to finally catch him in an alleyway using Darkness Maya. Unfortunately, the whole thing was a trap; every bar patron worked for the gang, including the bar tender himself. Blake and Fuyuki were forced into a fight while Aiden and Avon were bind with rope and taken away at gunpoint into the van with Dietrich. As they went along the streets, Aiden was interrogated for information on the whereabouts of D12's Headquarters. Giving him an honest answer, Aiden simply said he didn't know. He had never been there before in his life. He explained that he had never even met their boss before either due to the secrecy of the organization

## **Leoson**

The Leoson are a proud race of humanoids hailing from the continent of Tarkus. As the "Silver Lions", their greatest rivals and 'cousins' are the Lion Clan. Similarities between the two are hard to see aside from two major factors; the burning pride they exhibit and fangs (albeit Leoson fangs are hardly noticeable, but can clearly be seen as slightly larger than a regular humans.) Though the validity of the claims of being blood-related are highly skeptical, both Leoson and Lion begrudgingly acknowledge some form of common ancestry. Due to their prideful culture, both Leoson and Lion have been at each other's necks since the beginning of recorded history in Tarkus. Leosons exhibit three special traits; a second and larger reserve of Mayax, amber eyes that appear to glow as if burning when tapping into said reserve (if they have unlocked it), and silver aura that flares like an unstable fire. This has been confirmed as an ability known as 'The Silver Mane', which can only be tapped in at times of great need. The only way of unlocking one's potential of this ability is excruciating training and extreme stress. Sir Maximillion, a so-called Knight of the late Leoson kingdom, is the only known Leoson who has tapped into this power.

## **Personality**

Surprisingly, despite his occupation as a bounty hunter and past problems, Aiden tends to have a positive outlook on the future, himself, and life in general. Mellowed by the humility that he faced growing up, Aiden has a soft spot for the unfortunate and those who tend to be in trouble. While not necessarily a brave boy, Aiden is not one to cower away from a situation, thanks to his training in The Dastardly 12 Crew. One of the only few problems that arises in regards to his personality is his laid-back demeanor, which often arises when he isn't engaged in combat, making him miss certain things that he would have otherwise caught had he only focused. Usually it takes a good punch from Elizabeth to set him straight and put him back on track. Interestingly, the boy is easily embarrassed over certain things, namely being treated like a child. Because of this, he tends to get a little heated with other members of The Dastardly 12 Crew, who view him as the 'little brother' of the group and tend to teasingly 'protect' him from sensitive things, such as violence or other unclean things.

An interesting note about Aiden is that he tends to be mute on many matters, only speaking when he believes it's really necessary or when he becomes comfortable enough around a person. Some people have even accused him of being unable to speak due to his quiet nature. In regards to discussing his past, he refuses to speak anything of it. In a rare case, Aiden is able to speak up and even form a long speech about certain subjects or when talking to specific people (I.E. talking with Forett or discussing who The Jesters are and why they're to not be taken so lightly to Zak.)

As stated by Elizabeth in the quiet of their home, Aiden suffers from an unknown circumstance. The only words given was that he was "stunted." This is later to be revealed that the reason why Aiden hardly expresses himself is because of the trauma of the events of his past. Growing up homeless and fending for himself with only the spirit of his sister to aid him has caused him to grow up 'stunted', but not wholly incapable of expression. As he has begun to grow up and see his home for the first time in years, his feelings have begun to surface and bloom.

## **Abilities/Maya**

* **Darkness Maya** - While still somewhat of a novice with Darkness Maya, Aiden is able to project a small tentacle made of shadow for offensive, defensive, and support purposes. It should be noted that while he is able to do this easily, his other use of the maya, such as his creativity, is lacking, as there is very little that he can do other than to form a single physical shape in times of need, rather than using it in general. Another skill that he has expressed in the past and has helped him greatly with bounty hunting is blinding a target with a concentrated amount of shadows to blind an opponent directly in their eyes, as opposed to blinding a whole area with smoke like Shadow Smoke.
* **Spirit Maya** - Ever since the day Aiden and Elizabeth made a pact, he has been practicing with his Spirit Maya feverishly. His sister is able to manifest herself completely from his body, but because of his constant use with Darkness Maya, she tends to stay in him and only sprout out her limbs in case of an emergency. For instance, the most common ability he has displayed is when his sister sprouts out a limb or two in a certain location of his body to defend him. This is seen mostly when he is attacked in a direction that he can't cover. Because of the ability to transfer Maya to a spirit, her defense has been bolstered by the application of his Darkness Maya, making him extremely tanky if he can concentrate on the fight at hand.
* **Melee Prowess** - While not necessarily an expert in combat, Aiden's diversity in weapons allows him to switch from one type of melee to the next, giving him a distinct advantage in the field. If he were to lose his current weapon, he could just as easily switch over to another. Of course, this really comes in handy when it comes time to "borrow" a weapon from a target or a friend. If need be, Aiden can comfortably switch to hand-to-hand combat, thanks to the intense training The Dastardly 12 Crew provided him as he grew up.

## **Relationships**

* **Elizabeth Farrenholde** - As far as siblings go, they couldn't be any closer (literally.) Elizabeth practically raised Aiden alone, albeit as a Spirit without any actual control. Without her guidance, Aiden would have surely died out in a gutter somewhere, and because of this, Aiden shows nothing but the most extreme of loyalty and compassion for his sister. Their bond as brother and sister have only strengthened through the years as the duo fight together to catch bounties. The relationship has grown so strong that Elizabeth will even watch over Aiden as he sleeps, making sure to protect her precious little brother from harm. This protectiveness has led her to even make conflict with some members of The Dastardly 12 Crew, namely Blake.
* **Blake** - Despite the clear rudeness towards Aiden, Blake is shown respect by his subordinate during their missions and interactions. Nonetheless, Aiden doesn't particularly like Blake; not because of the harsh attitude that he has, but rather because when Aiden has a somewhat good idea, Blake will snap at the boy for trying to act like a leader, then proceed to go with the plan anyways. Still, Aiden tends to keep his thoughts to himself and roll with the punches, aiding Blake when needed. Interestingly, Aiden likes the over-confident side of Blake, and hopes to gain a little of that personality for himself in order to grow as a fighter.
* **Fuyuki Takara** - While there is no prominence in their relationship like Blake or Forett, both Aiden and Fuyuki are on excellent terms with each other, so much so that Fuyuki straight up calls him their 'little brother' teasingly. Aiden looks up to him and hopes to excel in his melee skills through Fuyuki's instruction.
* **Forett Utvara** - As a prominent member of The Dastardly 12 Crew and to Aiden, Forett can be seen as a sort of father-figure to the boy. Despite not particularly liking his brutal or cruel methods (so much so that he fears it), Aiden strives to live up to his superiors expectations. A compliment from him will make Aiden appear to glow with joy, while a chastising comment would upset Aiden greatly to the point where he'll put improvement on that subject to the top of his list of priorities. All-in-all, Aiden greatly respects and reveres Forett, and seeks any opportunity he can to gain his approval, so long as it doesn't conflict with his own personal morals.
* **Avon Thorne** - The relationship between Avon and Aiden is extremely friendly, but Avon tends to act a little too flirty at times with the poor boy, causing him embarrassment at her cooing and constant compliments. Nonetheless, Aiden doesn't really try too hard to put up much of a resistance, and just plays along to make her happy. He considers her a close friend, but isn't exactly too quick to admit it, just in the hopes of messing with her.
* **Pyce Kai** - Though not quite on friendly terms like the rest of The Dastardly 12 Crew, Pyce is considered a friend enough to Aiden. This is mainly because of the events that transpired when a group of criminals attempted to kill Gaia, a friend of Pyce and the Son of Cretus. He is grateful for the aid that Pyce gave to him on that night, although it wasn't much considering how he was instructed to head elsewhere for another situation that had arose.
* **Zak Tiro** - Aiden tends to look away from and ignore Zak, but never outright expresses it. His dislike for him mainly comes from the latter trying to butt in to a subject that Aiden was uncomfortable with going into further details with, especially after he had already told the other members of his crew a short and simple answer without any of the details.
* **Kiara Asav Redfield** - Both Kiara and Aiden appear to share romantic feelings for one another (clearly.) However, despite the obvious feelings that he might have for her, there seems to be something bothering him...
* Maximillion - The knight and Aiden share a friendly, yet strictly business attitude between one-another. As a Prince and Knight, both hold great respect for the other.

## **Trivia**

* Aiden, as the son of a royalty, was taught thoroughly in certain social skills or hobbies. Activities include dancing, archery, etiquette, instruments (although he's only skilled with a piano), and more.
* Despite having grown under his biological families household, he sees Forett and the D12 Crew far more as family than them, aside from Elizabeth. This could be either a method of coping, preference, or both.
* His Dastardly 12 identification tattoo is located on his right collar bone.
* Aiden marvels at the technological advancements of Centrus City and the land of Cantasia. Despite his love of nature, his curiosity and intrigue by technology far exceeds his enthusiasm for the outdoors.
* It is unknown where and what methods Aiden uses to get his constant supply of weaponry. His only answer is that "the crew looks after their members."
* Aiden loves the modern forms of transportation far more than the traditional ways of travelling.
* Aiden adores dogs and tends to get carried away by his love for them. This is first seen when he approaches Spook and attempts to pet him, despite the latter's warnings and threats to back off.
* Aiden has an irrational fear of sea travel.