Raid #46 [Plot]

Steel covered boots implanted the marking of their soles within the sand before the gates of the Olympus Coliseum, causing golden sand to crunch beneath each step taken. How many times would he have to look upon this world before he would never see it again? Auron wondered such things as he looked around the wide open space before the Coliseum's doors, and continued to wonder as he observed the grand statues of two warriors locking blades. Such sculptures reflected his own activities of late, always crossing swords with another opponent. His single, unmarred eye took in his surroundings as he reflected on his time spent here in Olympus. A land of immortals.

Not here, but rather within the confines of it's darkly hued counterpart, Auron had met a trio of powerful individuals who he had the pleasure of calling "friend". Sora. Donald. Goofy. The three names reverberated on the inside of the Guardian's mind as their faces came into clarity within thought. The memories of them were strong and good, just like those of Braska and Jecht that never left Auron even for a moment. No, they were permanently implanted within him, and the former Guardian of both the High Summoner and his daughter would have it no other way. A fierce gust came rolling through the gaps of the various pillars holding up the walls, causing sand to form small cyclones around him before they subsided. The wind gave motion to both his attire and hair as the moment passed, while the man in red tightened the grip on his weapon.

Sora was a very unique individual, and Auron upon their first meeting, quickly had his skepticism about the boy's power erased. All doubt had been put aside at the witness of such skill, and Auron had replaced it with a respectful fondness after being saved by Sora. Behind his dark glasses, a slight frown formed on the face of the Unsent as he recalled what Hades had done to him. Such crimes were unforgivable, and no being should ever gamble with another's free will as the god had done.

Auron glanced to his left, continuing into a full turn of his body so that he now looked upon the portal that led down to the Underworld. The sight did nothing for him, save for provide a reminder of why he was here. The Fayth, and all the hearts connected to his called him back for his help, to which he willingly obliged. Darkness waged this everlasting war and everything he had fought and destroyed Sin for was in danger. A distant hope of everlasting rest in peace would be his reward, and oblivion would serve as his opponent's.

This open space would serve as their battleground, and would soon be soaked with blood, high running emotions and the utter defeat of the foolish. Auron remained still as he turned his head back to the giant statues, looking at them once more with his single eye in peace. This was the rare, nerve gripping silence before the battle, a silence that instilled fear and would take the very heart of a man. Luckily for Auron, fear wasn't his cup of tea.

(OOC: Uh, Dyne, hate to break it to you but Auron didn't walk through the gates or lobby to get into the Coliseum. If you had read the post thoroughly, he says he remained in the space outside the Coliseum at the world's entrance. I'll post that Auron and Dyne are there, but you might want to pay more attention next time.)

So, here he was again, and he could feel it.

From his Gummi Ship, Chip and Dale had notified him that a new darkness had appeared back on the world of Olympus Coliseum, a world he had saved from the tides of Darkness before. It was there he had met that strange, sadistic clown that had also attacked his island, so the evil that could have tried taking over the world could be him or something equally as powerful. The Gummi Ship had beamed him down into the 'lobby' of the Underworld that connected to the Underdrome and the rest of the Underworld, the river Styx casting it's eerie green glow around the cavernous walls, droplets echoing throughout the wide space to dispel the uneasy silence in between. Not one to phase the brave heart of Sora's, he took a quick glance around the area, but couldn't see anyone that could fit the description of a dark character that was causing trouble. It had been so much easier back in the days when all he had to look out for were Heartless and black-hooded cloak people, but even then he had to admit he could tell straight away from new characters who was going to be friendly or antagonistic, and who had a conscience or not.

Deciding to take the shorter path to check out first, he ascended the stairway towards the Light, azure blue eyes adjusting to the bright new contrast of day.

He pushed open the large, heavy doors leading from the Underworld to the Olympus Coliseum, and it was here he found the characters he had been hoping to find. On the first part, he instantly recognized Auron, who was standing in the area just before the large statues that lead into the coliseum itself. Wind blew through the pillars from the outside, waving the spiked locks of his brunette hair and the loose sleeves and hood of his clothing, as he took close steps towards him. It had been a long time since he had seen his favorite guardian; maybe not even since the last time he had been here to defeat Hades? He couldn't even remember what he had to eat yesterday, but whatever the case, it was a relief to see a friendly face after so long. Sora simply gave him a smile, as nothing else needed to be said for the moment if he noticed his entrance; Auron was a man of few words unless he had something important to say, and wasn't one to directly say how he felt or express his comradeship openly.

As he continued to approach cautiously, he turned his head to look at the new presence, the reason he was cautious. This new guy looked... different. He wasn't sure what to make of him, as he had a smug grin on his face, but despite how cocky he looked he had to give new friends the benefit of the doubt. But there was still the fact he felt a tension somehow as he stepped into the scene... Sora listened as he closed in from a short distance away, hearing the man's nickname of 'Gramps' to Auron and the mention that he crashed his Gummi ship. The keyblade master tilted his head as he looked around the man at the gummi ship in the corner of the area, wondering if the man even knew how to pilot one? Then again, when he had started out he had crashed his gummi ship into Deep Jungle, so he supposed he was not one to talk.

"Gramps? He doesn't look that much older than you or I." the spike-haired youth interjected truthfully, complimenting offhandedly to save Auron the trouble of dignifying the insult with an answer, while modestly regarding himself and the stranger were no better with age in all fairness. He felt the need to fold his arms in front of him defensively, but resisted the strange urge to be guarded what he could consider to be a new friend, if he wasn't one of the villains who was bringing the Heartless here. "Heya, Auron." he finally decided to regard his comrade in arms, to help break some of the tension, and after that acknowledgment turned to the enigmatic man. "New to gummi ships? It should be able to repair itself if you bind the blocks back together." he offered kindly, deciding to test the man's response to see if he was a friend or foe. If he was a friend, perhaps they could find the people who were manipulating for the world to be consumed by darkness for it's destruction, but if he was a foe... well, let's just say Sora was grateful that he could summon his Kingdom Key at the ready.

Wind continued to kick up the sand, hair and their clothes as if they were in a dust storm, as the wielder of the keyblade of the Realm of Light stood alongside the legendary swordsman facing the mysterious face that had arrived, but remained cautious for any enemies that would pop out of the entrances at their gathered presences.

The way this newcomer addressed Auron, he felt, was highly reminiscent of Jecht's boy. Towards the beginning of Yuna's pilgrimage, Auron often heard such remarks from the likes of Tidus which often reinforced the misplaced overconfidence within the boy. It had been Auron's place then to watch over the boy and give him guidance, as well as correction, when he needed it. Yet this man before him now was not Tidus, and knew nothing about the individual he had so informally addressed as 'Gramps'. Auron merely greeted him with silence as he took in the appearance of the newcomer observantly. The aura coming from this individual didn't clearly resonate with the dark presence he had been sensing earlier, and thus didn't appear to be much of a threat.

The legendary Guardian found himself listening to yet another set of footsteps within the sand, but his curiosity regarding the second person's identity was eliminated upon hearing the sound of Sora's voice. He provided the mysterious man before Auron with an answer, kindly reprimanding him for the nickname as addressing the Guardian himsself. Naturally his shorter friend addressed him with a friendly hello, to which was replied with a nod before the Keyblader addressed the other man again. He gave him useful advice about gummi blocks, whatever those were. Sir Auron was only familiar with what transportation was available on Spira, and felt it was irrelevant to ask about how Sora traveled to other worlds. Ironically, no one had ever asked him the same.

"Sora," began Auron as he glanced over to the boy from behind his dark sunglasses. Perhaps Sora had felt the darkening aura that had been growing within this world, however as the young brunette had not informed him as to why he was exactly here, he had to make sure. "What are you doing here?" asked the man in the red coat, who had not moved an inch since the conversation had started. If the Dark decided to try something now while Sora was here, the forces would find themselves greatly outclassed by the two friends.

Auron had faith that Sora would always lend a hand to those in trouble, and knowledge that the Keyblade Master would not sit idly by while his friends were in danger. He had witnessed such a facts firsthand. Auron however was not dependent on Sora's power, as he had his own to call on when things turned to battle, and underestimating either of the two was any opponent's grave mistake. His grip remained firm on Battlefield of War as the giant blade remained resting on his right shoulder. His guard would not be so easily dropped while he remained alert for any sudden hostilities in the area. Anything was bad to happen, and if one was careless they were more than certain to pay the consequences for their foolishness.

This man before them had yet to introduce himself, or reply at all to what Sora had said to him. While his side was not known, he could present a problem to Auron and his friend if he decided to align himself with an enemy. Neutrality was always an unpredictable factor when it came to war, and proved to be an unfortunate liability when fate turned it against him. However he remained still, unmoving like a rock as he continued to observe this newcomer and Sora some more.

As the brown haired youth looked around for anything else out of the ordinary, besides the newcomer to the games, and his crashed spacecraft, he turned as he heard his name called. The legendary guardian spoke few words, but when he had something to say, it was sure to be important as he commanded a presence in his serious and deep tone. Blinking azure eyes at him out of curiosity for a moment, he listened to what he had to say, and nodded. "Yeah. There was this darkness I saw around this world, so I came to check it out." he paused, having acknowledged Auron, staring up at him in all seriousness. He didn't have a sense to detect the darkness and the light as much as his friends Kairi and Riku could, as he was just an ordinary kid who relied on the power of his friends, but even they couldn't assist him with the power to find out where the entry point of the enemy was unless it was clearly obvious enough to see with his own two, blue eyes. "Something must be be causing it, might be Hades up to his old tricks again... if it's not coming from the coliseum, it must be coming from the Underworld." he decided, sticking to his belief that he would give the enigmatic warrior the benefit of the doubt.

The thought of even going back to the Underworld made the youthful brunette cringe... not because he was afraid of the Valley of the Dead or anything like that as Donald and Goofy were, but he and Auron understood well in their trek together through the caverns the sapping power the Underworld had on heroes like them. But if it was some big bad Heartless or a triage of villains that would face them down there, Sora felt grateful he had at least Auron as a comrade by his side he had fought alongside before. Auron was really came through and saved people he had barely met when times got tough, and lended his assistance even when people never asked for it, that much Sora knew and experienced in his own eyes. He was also rather solitary and curt when there was no danger around, leaving without the slightest hint of notice he had gone, and Sora had to respect that. Through Auron's memories Hades had captured with his free will, Sora had seen the samurai had had a hard life, and if he wanted to continue chopping down the villains and their flunkies with him then they had better get out of their way.

He glanced from the swordsman to the new face curiously, still unsure what to think of him just yet, and wondering if he should even say anything at all. There was nothing wrong about him as far as he could tell, he looked like the kind of warrior that came here to participate in the games from another world, just like Auron did... but so did Emil. She fought on the side of the bad guys for her own reasons, and the memory of his new friend only made him wonder if the stranger was just like her, a good person that could end up a friend who just happened to be fighting for the wrong side. He would just have to try to make friends with him then, but this way of thinking was quickly cut short when the man yelled out his name like a crazed fan. "...Pipsqueak? Hey, who are you calling shortie?" he answered in an annoyed tone, bunching his gloved fist by his sides at the name-calling about his height when he was only a bit shorter than the two of them, this guy quickly getting on his nerves as much as a certain blond guy did who was head of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee.


This was quickly met with awkward confusion when the guy stopped taunting him into a fight and introduced himself, and Sora let go of the tense breath he felt he had been holding, and unfurrowed the slight scowl of his eyebrows that he felt were reminiscent of his Nobody. "Nice to meet you, Dyne. I'll take you on..." he huffed eagerly, not about to back down from being tormented like that from anyone, but was still relaxed as the man made the mention of the Heartless reminded him what he was doing here in the first place. "... but maybe later in the games. I can't fight if my friends are in trouble. I'm going to go check out the Underworld, for what's causing that darkness." he decided, knowing Auron would join his party only if he willed it, and maybe his challenger if he wanted to fight him later on. The keyblade master turned from the two warriors, crunching sand under his boots as he walked alongside the wind which scattered the grains of earth before him, reaching out to grab hold of the handles of the double doors and pushing them forward to enter the Land of the Dead once more.