a test of time (AQUA)

[cyclone]

Neverland hadn't changed much, but Ven supposed that was to be expected. After a short walk around the world he could definitively conclude that the trees and ocean looked about the same, at least. And while there was currently no sign of the friends he had made during his last visit, he did think he could spot a pirate ship on the horizon. Thankfully it wasn't shooting at him this time, so he took a moment to sit near a cliff-face, taking a short break and admiring the view. Maybe afterwards he would try by the treehouse. He'd be more likely to find them there if he couldn't spot them adventuring in the jungle.

Truthfully, it was strange to visit most worlds. He'd been gone for… a while, to say the least. Long enough for some places that he had visited to seem completely different. Ven hardly minded; it was like visiting a whole new world all over again! And amazingly a lot of old friends that he'd made had still been around and happy to speak to him, so it wasn't as different as it could be. Still, some worlds had less tangible differences about them. If Ventus was being honest, something did feel a little… off about Neverland, even. He couldn't quite place his finger on it. There was something in the air that felt a bit odd, and he had a sinking feeling it wasn't good.

It reminded him a bit of those... shadows that he'd seen in Traverse Town. Vanitas had called them "heartless," and they weren't creatures that he'd ever wanted to see again after remembering the first time he'd come face to face with them. Were they in this world as well? He hadn't seen any yet, but that didn't mean they weren't there. He would ask Peter or the others if he saw them about an strange creatures they might have seen, just in case.

Ventus was quite literally directionless at the moment. He'd hopped from world to world searching for a sign or news of any of his friends to no avail. He'd only been to so many worlds before, and so far the ones he'd returned to now hadn't given him any promising leads. He had run into Vanitas, and while that had proven just as unpleasant as he could have expected it did confirm a few things to the boy. One, not even Vanitas knew why they were still apparently separate beings, and two, he hadn't heard anything about Terra or Aqua or even King Mickey either. Of course coming from Vanitas it could only be a good thing that he didn't know where they were but Ven was starting to worry.

Crossing his arms, Ven gave a slight huff. "I'll just have to look harder." He said to himself, determined. That was it. He just wasn't trying hard enough! He'd have to stop at more worlds, talk to more people about the situation. Someone would have to know of-

CRASH.

Ventus scrambled to his feet, nearly falling over again in the process as he whipped his head back and forth to try and find the source of the loud noise that had interrupted his thoughts. His search brought him to the cliff's edge, where he glanced below in time to notice rocks falling from a circular indent in the wall.

"What-" Cut off again by the sound of another crash, this time Ven could see what was happening. Without him noticing the ship he had previously seen had come closer to shore and begun firing at him. Just like old times, he thought, bewildered as the next shot flew just wide of him. "Stop that!" he yelled to the shape on the horizon, but of course it was no use. His voice couldn't travel that far and even if it could he doubted it would have any effect on whoever was shooting him. It must be standard pirate code to shoot at people on-shore. More likely they thought he was one of the children that lived on the island (although that thought didn't make him feel much better either).

As the cannon balls increased in frequency Ven did what anyone would in that situation: he ran. Ducking a rogue cannon ball he tried to make his escape, heading towards a nearby waterfall in the hopes the the ship would give up on him and stop trying to blow him up. Not for the first time in his life did he thank himself for possessing necessary speed to outrun something (although in this case the projectiles were pretty slow; most people could probably outrun them) as he neared his destination.

Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky with his "paying-attention" skills.

Just as he was nearing the relative safety of the waterfall his concentration slipped, and so did he. His right foot collided with a rock, and despite his best efforts he was soon sprawled on the ground, mouth full of grass and dirt. Thankfully, the ship probably couldn't see him from here. Also thankfully (he thought as he groaned and spit out the dirt) there was no one else around (to his knowledge) that had seen his incredible lack of gracefulness.