"The famed Warrior of Light, all three yalms of her, will always be a mystery. A simple adventurer through all the covered scars, but none can doubt her word, or counter her skill and martial prowess. Many notice her habit of throwing the whole deck on the table to get her point across, even if her heart is on the line. Her life seems disjointed, as when asked about her time before the storm, she'll shrug it off with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes..."

General Information

Ari Rhabfu, born Nenebi Nebi, is a Dunesfolk Lalafell born and raised within the Black Shroud. She lived with her biological parents (Mother and Father) until six years old due to their untimely deaths, and her adopted father (Dad) until 19 years old when she left to become an adventurer. It is unsure how old she truly is given the nature of her adventures, but she can note that during her time in Gyr Abania and Othard she was 22. While she never settles in one location, she does have her own room in her Free Company's house located in Ishgard's Empyreum. (Ward 1, Plot 2, Moogle, Chaos)Aside from the Warrior of Light and the many others she's gathered on her journey, her self proclaimed title is The Survivor's Song, categorised by her surviving the unsurvivable, and her want to remember the forgotten through her love of song. She has not taken to any nicknames, aside from her Dad's habit of calling her Prince.Ari says she is female, but the media is unsure of that fact, as she has said she has little time to figure herself out in between saving the world, and she doesn't care for identity labels. She is aromantic, jokingly claiming she is 'married to the grind', but she also worries about attaching herself to anyone romantically as she fears she could lose them in one way or another. Ari has publicly expressed hatred for suggestive and explicit conversations (which explains her detachment from Thancred in the early days), and typically claims to be asexual too, as she doesn't want to explain that having a libido spike and experimenting with friends still makes her asexual.

Appearance

Despite being an average Lalafellin height of three fulms flat, she is far thinner, worryingly so, compared to her race's natural stoutness. While not uncommon, her wavy lavender hair, bright pink eyes, and white freckles makes her further stand out from her race, and other races as a whole.Due to her life on the battlefield, Ari is littered in scars, the most prominent ones having various effects to her self-image.
~ A burn and slash wound spanning the back of her right hand and arm. This did not heal correctly in the slightest, resulting in the scar looking as fresh and raw as when it was inflicted at least over a decade ago. There is a slight dent that spans her arm, where the wound was at its deepest.
~ A wide star-like scar spanning under her right shoulder blade, and a smaller scar under her right breast. Sensitive and prone to brusing. (2.0 Lv50) Inflicted during her fight with Gaius in the Praetorium after Lahabrea had unleashed Ultima, exploding the arena and impaling Ari on rebar, killing her instantly. While Hydaelyn was able to revive her, only her internal wounds are healed without scarring on revival.
~ Clusters of scars across her wrists, with a wider, more severe one across her left. (3.0 Lv57) (TW//SH, attempted suicide) Self inflicted as an attempt of her own life, a couple days after sieging the Vault, due to the grief of losing Haurchefant.
~ Three claw marks spanning her left arm; across her shoulder, elbow, and wrist. (3.3) Inflicted on the Steps of Faith by Estinien while possessed by the wrath of Nidhogg.
~ A small yet noticeable scar on the right of her waistline. Healed on sight. (4.0 Lv61) Inflicted by Zenos during the siege in Rhaglr's Reach.
~A long and wide scar across her chest, from her left shoulder to under her right arm. While healed on sight, the scar wasn't clean. (4.5) Inflicted by Zenos in the Ghimlyt Dark seconds before she falls unconscious. (5.0 Lv79) Later stained by corrupted Light aether, permanently cracking the edges into a Lichtenberg figure, and causing a faint glow even after the excessive Light was removed.
~ A scar trailing from her left cheek and spanning around the left side of her neck and shoulder. Messy from contact but faint from preventative shielded healing magicks. (6.0 Lv83/MSQ-adjacent) Was caught in the crossfire while trying to shield her father from his own after an argument gone wrong.
~ A long and rough scar spanning her entire torso, from her left shoulder to her right hip. The wound healed before medical attention could be accessed, causing the scar to be jagged. (6.0 Lv90) Inflicted by Zenos in Ultima Thule after fighting the Endsinger.Ari has a typically neutral identity when it comes to style, nothing too stereotypically masculine or feminine. Most of her outfits consist of overlapping layers and sections of armour, as she prioritises safety and comfort over expression. There are several items of clothing people have come to relate to Ari, namely chapeaus and wide-brim hats - no matter how hard it is to see her face because of it, her love for fingerless gloves - at first to hide a scar she never explained, and thighboots that almost covers all of her leg. Among her canon jobs, she wears a combination of purples, blues and blacks, aside from her Paladin and White Mage, which is primarily white, and her Warrior and Red Mage, which are primarily red.

Personality

Once a shy and quiet teen, Ari's journey as the Warrior of Light moulded her into a strong, mature, yet trauma-ridden woman. She is still naturally awkward, in the sense she is still a little clumsy, but she's playful, selfless, and a voice of reason. She can be vague or blunt with her wording at times, chalks her forgetfulness up to Echo blackouts, and is an awful navigator as a result. She ignores her health if it means she can continue helping others. She is stoic to a fault, as she is so closed off about the trauma she's endured that she can break into panic attacks with no prior indication, and even then she tries to subdue them, as she doesn't want others to believe she's weak.Ari started her adventure anxiety incarnate, always sitting on the backseat as her social skills were lacking. Stutters and fumbles, and lack of eye contact, her skill on the field spoke for her. While people would grow to trust her word as she gained recognition, she'd still never call but respond, even with her optimal solutions. Initially terrified at the prospect of fighting Primals, she came to accept it due to the Echo aiding her in her fights, though it didn't stop her from shaking in fear when she faced the next one. (2.5) The Banquet pulls her into a catatonic state as a trauma response, the realisation that this depressing fate was hers, and she was willing to wallow in it.Cold as the Coerthas she lived in, Ari turned into a whole different person. While she was still quiet, her words were laced less with stutters and more with ice. She was much harsher and colder, and more prone to violence, but all could tell it was a result of her struggling to handle her grief. Her brief respites in the Fortemps Manor left her drowning herself in her own emotion, making her a mess both at the table and on the field. (3.0 Lv57) (TW//SH, attempted suicide) After the events of the Vault, Ari was near enough placed on suicide watch, considering she locked herself in her room and committed enough harm that she could have bled out if left alone. (3.0 Lv60) After some realisations, she proceeded to take that blood-fuelled rage out on Thordan during their trial, leaving her in a bloodied and mental mess over his corpse. (3.2) Thancred scolding Emmanellain, claiming he just needs to 'learn to live with [his consequences]', was the reality check that Ari needed. This prompted Ari to at least try and think less of the past and more of the future, fuelling her resolve to help once more, now with the acceptance that not everyone can be saved.It took some time for Ari to warm back up, coupled with the Scions near enough training her personality by turning to her when they believed she had something to say. It was around here where she turned into the workaholic people-pleaser everyone now knows her as, unintentionally self-destructing as she disregarded herself for others. (4.0/gen) Her hatred for Zenos was formed by his misbelief that she fought for bloodlust like him, and that persistent belief was insulting everything she had fought for. (4.3) The panic attack that was inflicted by the summoning of Tsukuyomi made all around her (bar Alphinaud as he already knew) realise that she was scarily good at hiding her very obvious trauma. (4.5) The loss of the Scions forced her to think on her feet, though at the time most of her thinking was though her bow. Many commented that she reverted back to her jittery self, if only until she was swept away like the others.(5.0 Lv79/80) Ari's reaction to the Light was far from what the Scions expected. Similar to the corrupted in Amh Araeng, Ari fell into an near-unresponsive state, initially becoming a recluse in fear of hurting others, turning from an insomniac to a hypersomniac in the span of a day with never-ending whispers that she was tired and that her head hurt, as well as standing at the edges of The Tempest's cliffs staring into the abyss despite not being suicidal. Things got progressively worse over time, limiting her much-needed combat skills, but the defeat of Hades reverted her personality back to what it was before.Though just as stoic, the Scions could tell Ari's time as WoL was wearing on her, as she continued to dive head first into possibly world-ending situations. (Lv89) Hydaelyn confirming the state of her parents finally gave Ari closure, after almost two decades of bottled disbelief. This relief was noted by the Scions as she was more relaxed over the talk of Primals. (Lv90) The sacrifice of the Scions in Ultima Thule almost caused Ari to blasphemise in the overwhelming fear of losing them again, but the resolve to not let her chance go to waste is what kept her going.