This is How it Happens (Open)

[Joshua]

TRAVERSE TOWN
District Two
Items: None.
Muse: ---
Tagged: ---
OOC: first thread! I'll throw some heartless in later (:

you love so deep so tender your people and your land,
you love them until they can't recall who they are again.
but i am but i am but i am not a number not a name!
but i am but i am but i am a carefully laid plan...

Now where on earth had he ended up? Shibuya's -now missing- conductor wandered the dark alleyways and stone streets of a place that he'd never been before. It seemed a lot more rustic than the streets that he was used to - everything, from the dark lamp posts to the brightly colored buildings that made him feel as if he was on some sort of trip. As for the darker areas, such as the alleyways a bit ahead of him that he had yet to explore... seemed to be crawling with something nasty. Yet he hadn't a clue what was in there - and honestly? Joshua wasn't sure that he wanted to find out what it was. Noise would be something that he expected and knew how to handle - they were completely within his frequency and he would sense then in the area and know what he was up against before they had the chance to attack. Whatever was here? Well, they were possible enemies that Joshua wasn't sure whether he could take on alone in this form. Which in and of itself was completely ridiculous. Why was he stuck looking so young again? He shouldn't have his powers limited when he hadn't been the one that decided to leave his chair. He had been perfectly content with his improving city - although... something had been irking him in the days before his sudden yank away from his beloved city. Others were disappearing too. Not in numbers that called his attention away for more than a few moments - but it was happening. To think that his carelessness could be the cause of his own departure.

"What to do." The boy muttered, his hands in his pockets as he tried to get a good grasp on his surroundings... but that would be impossible unless he found someone or something to stalk or speak to. Stalk, being if he wasn't able to communicate with the people here because damn it he didn't know how other worlds worked - he wasn't exactly your average person. Hopefully a conversation wouldn't be difficult to have instead. He didn't mind having to think his way through a situation - but doing it when it wasn't planned and not a thing about the game was on his own terms was something... new to him. A hand raked through his grey blonde hair, his eyes closing with something akin to frustration. "What is this, karma?" His voice was louder this time - but as far as Joshua knew he was alone. As for his question... although he was under the angel's watchful eyes half of the time he could bear to be a bit more religious. Although he believed in karma, it was too easy to think that he was... exempt from the force himself. Yet here he was, his powers capped, unable to hear any frequencies at all and as lost as he had ever managed to be before.

Turning a corner, he was met with a set of stairs that led to a fountain. Huh, well wasn't this place cute? Cobblestone streets weren't something that he saw often... the sounds of his footsteps on the stone floor made him feel far more alone than he probably was. There had to be people inside of those shops - that was what he was going to assume at least, unless proven otherwise. For now, he would let his curiosity get the best of him as he got a little taste of this strange little town... although he didn't truly want to get involved with whatever was lurking in the shadows - he might give it a look against his better judgement.

[/size]

[Anti-Sora]

(Did I hear you say Heartless? Let’s play! ^_^ )

It was about ten minutes before the strange blonde boy had appeared in Traverse Town that the humble town got an even stranger visitor on its hands. The cloaked figure had emerged from the darkness of the alley like a shadow causing quite the stir from the more suspicious town folk that had happened to be out in the streets at the time. As the cloaked figure walked, the townsfolk scattered into homes and shops as if they were trying to avoid the figure walking about, but the question was why?

This figure did not seem to be a threat.. just a curious and lost traveler that took to exploring the town seemingly to oblivious to the escaping townsfolk; however, the figure was very aware of what was happening. For you see, this being wasn’t human at all. As the people fled, the being under the cloak smirked pleased with this world. So many yummy hearts to feed on and what was this? Listen. You hear that content hum of the world’s heart? Yes. Yes. That’s right. This place was a perfect blend of Light and Dark—neutral in other words— meaning the chances of Light coming in to stop a nice lunch break was a 50/50 chance at best. A chance that this particular figure liked. Besides…this town needed something to spice it up. Despite all its happy buildings and lighting, the Heartless in the world seemed to be holding back on the people around. A disappointing find, but one that could easily be fixed now that he was here. All it took was a little taste of Darkness to stir them and what better way to tilt the scale than to use his own Darkness? And used it he did.

Without much effort, the golden eye being under the cloak unleashed a small amount of darkness from himself, letting it spread about the town like a flood. As soon as the darkness was released there was an immediate response. Soft whispers, grumbles, and ruffling filled the shadow’s ears turning the slight smirk into a joyful grin. The Heartless were moving and now that he was here, they would most likely attack and collect. Perfect.

Quite pleased with what he had done, he continued to walk about the town humming to his own tune of joy as he peeked into this or that window, observing all the foods and other items the Ones with Hearts sold. He kept himself content with his exploring, thinking how yummy a piece of bread would go with a Heart, when his attention was turned from food to something within the immediate area.

It was a faint tug of Light and Dark that almost blended in complete with the world’s present aura; however, a beating Heart could not hide from this Heartless. Turning away from the window of the bakery, golden eyes scanned the area until they landed on the blonde haired boy that had appeared in the area.

The shadow under the cloak tilted its head. This one did not come from a Corridor…this one had simply appeared, making the creature curious as to how and why. From what he had gathered from the world’s song, this place was for those who did not have a home to return and this boy certainly did not belong here, so where did he come from? What was his story?

The Heartless’s curiosity rose and then…the boy was walking away heading towards one of the other districts of town. Anti-Sora watched him go debating on following. He wanted to know about the boy, but he also really wanted that bread from the bakery….Oh, the choices.

As he was pondering what to do, a single Shadow Heartless made up his mind for him. Without hesitating, the weaker Heartless had turned into a puddle and was moving along the ground at a quick pace to catch up with the boy that had disappeared behind one of the large doors in town. Deciding to forget the bread for now, the shadow of Sora followed at a casual pace behind the Shadow Heartless. It would be interesting to see just what this stranger would do when faced with a Heartless or two.

[Beat]

(I think another TWEWY character added to the mix, especially a blunt one, should be interesting)

Beat sat in the small café in the First District, holding his head in his hands. Wherever he was it wasn’t Shiyuba and he didn’t know where Rhyme was. It didn’t seem like one of the Reaper’s Games, but he knew that only because there was no Noise and he hadn’t died. None of it made sense and he didn’t know where he should start.

Maybe he’d be more confident in his ability to find his little sister and get them out of this weird situation if there was at least some semblance of his city in this odd place. The people didn’t appear to follow any trends, everything looked so dark and dank in contrast to the bright lights of home, and hardly anyone spoke. The quiet, low murmur of the area only further served to put him on edge, since the last time he had heard a place be so quiet was when Shiyuba had the weird red pins that made everyone babble like idiots. Beat frowned and stood up, walking around instead of dwelling on the past. It only served to make him more upset.

Before another minute past the boy was racing towards the Second District. That was just it! He wouldn’t do anything worthwhile sitting around and moping over the fact that he wasn’t cozy back home. If he survived three whole weeks of The Game he could deal with anything this place dealt out. With that in mind one of his signature confident smiles burst onto his face and he skated through the doors separating the districts. He’d find Rhyme and they’d be back home before she knew what was going on. His throat began to close up on him as he thought about how he had failed his little sister during The Game. This time he wouldn’t screw things up.

Oblivious as he was to most things, he didn’t notice the Heartless lurking in the corners of dark places and hiding in the shadows, playing off the odd feelings as worry for his sister or something. It didn’t matter. He passed right by the cloaked figure without a second glance, never even sparing a thought as to why they were the only people in this area.

Well, at least so far as he had noticed, until he spotted Joshua down by the fountain. Beat’s first reaction to seeing Neku’s old friend was distrust, which quickly led him to anger. Maybe Neku did partner with the kid at one point and maybe he did spare Shiyuba from being destroyed and without him Rhyme might not be alive, but he ran the blasted Game and he almost killed Neku and he was the one plotting to destroy Shiyuba in the first place. That was all the information Beat needed to make his decision.

“Hey prick! Whatchu do with Rhyme, yo?!” he yelled, ready for a fight. He didn’t care that this guy was the Composer and supposedly was powerful beyond belief. Once he was ready to kill him and he could do it now. Beat grinded down the rail and raced towards the kid. If he had to beat the answers out of him he would.

As he neared Joshua, he saw the small, twitchy creature rise behind the blonde. Thinking it was some kind of weird Noise, Beat skated right into it, knocking it out of the way. It didn’t occur to him that he had helped the very person he was going to attack; the thing had simply been in his way and it didn’t look like a friendly. He wouldn’t be paying any more attention to it though. Beat wheeled around in front of Joshua and grabbed his collar, furious. “Where is she?! You fess up or else! I ain’t playin’!”

[Joshua]

TRAVERSE TOWN
District Two
Items: None.
Muse: Great ^^
Tagged: Beat and Anti-Sora
OOC: I always forget to change these until afterward xD

you love so deep so tender your people and your land,
you love them until they can't recall who they are again.
but i am but i am but i am not a number not a name!
but i am but i am but i am a carefully laid plan...

He hated being so... out of tune with the world around him, but there was little that he had a grasp on in this strange place. What he did know, was that there were dark little beings that lurked in the shadows - and he had supposed he would meet them before they came to him. But he was wrong - and he knew one of the things was close, but couldn't kiss which direction it was coming from. The dark puddle wasn't seen by Josh's untrained eye, and if it wasn't for a certain loud mouth, he would have been ambushed. Joshua turned toward the blonde, recognizing him immediately. He had been the boy, with the potential to be a reaper. He had fought for his sister, and fought beside Neku while he was away. His lips twitched into a frown at his informal greeting - but his curiosity was piqued at his question. 'Rhyme is missing, again?' Well it wasn't his fault, he hadn't done a thing with the girl. If she was missing, that was his own fault, not anyone else's.

As the other slid down the rail, it seemed that he got rid of the potential threat - as he rolled right into the thing, knocking it out of the way and into plain sight. Joshua flipped out his phone, pressing a few buttons and dropping a trash bin on the creature's head. Ah, so his phone still worked here - a relief, he wasn't at a total disadvantage here. Perhaps he would get his more potent abilities back as he went along - sending a beam down on an enemy would be a good knock out move, but he might just need a partner for that if he was stuck in this form. The dirty blonde barely had time to flip his phone closed before he was grabbed and pulled by his collar. Oh, now that was going to wrinkle wasn't it? Thinking logically, he wasn't truly sure why Beat blamed him for anything that happened to his sister - he had been the one to give the two of them a second chance had he not? Without their participation in the games, they would simply be dead by their own accord.

"Now, now - do you have to be so rough? I haven't seen nor heard from your sister since the last game." He said, his voice as snooty as ever, but he was telling the truth. He didn't know why anyone else from Shibuya would be wandering around here - but if he was here, and Beat was here, then there was a good chance that his sister had ended up around here as well. Yet he was sure that this boy, wasn't capable of thinking so hard, and he would end up with a skateboard shaped implant in his face if he didn't calm him down or divert his attention far sooner than later. "But if we're both here, she might be wherever here is as well. Let me down, and I might just help you look?" Josh's hand twitched as it held his phone - next line of defense was dropping the nearest inanimate object on the other blonde's head and hopefully knocking him out.

All the while he was left wondering whether the dark creature that Beat had knocked into was down for the count. If it wasn't, then they quite possibly had bigger issues to deal with than fighting with each other.

[/size]

[Anti-Sora]

Anti-Sora was still following the first person the Shadow had gone after, but before he could get to the door the child had gone through, he was almost ran over by some other kid on some sort of wheeled vehicle he had never encountered before. Getting out of the way, he watched as the kid went into the Second District and disappeared from sight. A bit annoyed, he picked up his pace and went through the doors that were slowly closing back. He slid in and then looked around a bit taking in the place. Unlike the other district, this one was quiet. Only the quiet trickle of a fountain could be heard. It was peaceful and nice. Well...that was until Mr. Faster-Than-Light saw something and began yelling. Anti-Sora frowned a bit as he watched the guy make his way noisily down the side of the railing and into the lower sections of the district.

Anti-Sora moved to the railing to watch what was going to happen…only to find himself wincing as Mr. Faster-Than-Light hit the Shadow trying to get at the first boy. How rude! Did he not realize what he had just done? And now look. That poor little Shadow was now reeling in pain and disorientation…and you know what? That kid didn’t apologize. He’d have to pay for that offense. Yes indeed.

Anti-Sora narrowed his eyes at the guy below and was not surprise that his manners towards the kid he was initially following. The area was quiet enough that he could hear their conversation…although the loud one was a little hard not to hear. He watched and listen as the pair conversed below. It would seem that the calmer of the two was being accused of doing something to the other’s sister. Despite all the yelling, the calm one seem to not know where said sister was and was trying to bring the rather angry one back to Earth with cool logic. Also, unlike Mr. Faster-Than-Light, Mr. Calm actually took notice of things and was beginning to become a bit concerned about the knocked over Shadow. The shadow could see the concern in the boy's Heart. Well at least someone had respect, but that wouldn’t save the pair from paying. Without his command, more Heartless were coming into the area to get vengeance for their fallen friend. Besides even if the loud one hadn’t hit the Shadow, his yelling was enough to wake the dead, so it was no surprise the creatures came out in mass now that Hearts were nearby.

They were hungry and wanted to feed. As knights and shadows formed to attack the pair below, Anti-Sora casually walked down the stairs as if the event was normal, only stopping to pick up the injured Shadow in his arms. The little creature didn’t mind being picked up. In fact it was quite happy. It made its own little greeting to him as it looked up at him with bright yellow eyes for a second and then refocused on pair that is kin were gathering to. It's Antenna twitched here and there as it watched what was going to happen. As for Anti-Sora, he said nothing as he continued to hold the Heartless and watch the pair with a cautious expression. He could spare them if he wanted to, but it really depended on what the pair did and what the Heartless would do to avenge their injured kin. There tense anticipation all around as the Heartless were moved in, but not to attack. They just moved about the pair watching them as if they were waiting for the right cue or time to strike.

[Beat]

(You’re making me feel bad for running over the Heartless! D: ).

Beat glared at Joshua all the while the boy tried to save his worthless hide. Still, he couldn’t deny that there was some sense in what the prick was saying. Rhyme was with him before he ended up here, so she might be in the same place, but she wouldn’t have left him. Then again, Joshua used Neku in the Game so taunting him with Rhyme might be another of his dirty little tricks. Beat sighed and let go of Joshua, his head starting to hurt. He wasn’t cut out for all this deep-thinking stuff. Rhyme would tell him to keep going over his options, but there was no time for that. She could be in trouble and he had no idea where she was. Maybe it was best to take the help offered to him, even if it was from a piece of dirt like Joshua.

“Aight, fine. It ain’t worth punchin’ your face in when I got better things to do. We gotta find Rhyme yo!” If Neku trusted this guy, then he could too, especially to help his little sis. Only now, after he had lessened his focus on Joshua, did he notice that there was more than one of those weird Noise hanging around. Beat raised his guard and scanned the creatures warily. This was one odd Game if the Noise looked like this. “Call ‘em off,” he growled at Joshua. “We don’t be needin’ to deal with Noise.” He didn’t know if the Composer dealt with Noise or not, but since the job description meant Joshua was the head of the Game, it made sense he could do something about them.

Beat kept shifting to make sure they wouldn’t be ambushed, and as he tried to cover he spotted the cloaked figure reach down to pick up the Noise he had knocked aside earlier. His eyes widened and he raced over to stop the person from doing so. The guy obviously didn’t understand that the Noise would erase him if it got its hands on him. Before Beat could say anything to warn him, the little creature was sitting in the person’s arms, but to Beat’s surprise the Noise didn’t seem to mind or attack. Beat furrowed his brow and stared at the Noise, not knowing what to make of it. He wasn’t sure why, but being this close to the Noise made him feel uneasy, although he attributed that to the fact that he was in a new place and out of his element.

“Why ain’t the Noise attackin’ you, man? You should be dead. You can’t be a Reaper since you missin’ the wings. Who’re you anyways?” He tilted his head to see better under the hood and immediately jumped back. “Bwaaaa! You got the same eyes as them! What kind of freaky Noise are you guys?!” Beat stepped onto his skateboard, ready to ram into those things again if he had to. Maybe it had been a bad idea to run over one of them in the first place, but there was no sense in being sorry about it now. The Noise were about to come at them. Beat glanced over his shoulder at Joshua, partly to make sure that the blonde was still there. "We really need these things to go away man." He really didn't want to fight Noise right now, but it didn't look like they were being given an option, unless Joshua would would call the blasted things off already!

This was not turning out to be a good day.

[Joshua]

TRAVERSE TOWN
District Two
Items: None.
Muse: Great ^^
Tagged: Beat and Anti-Sora
OOC: this one got long xD

you love so deep so tender your people and your land,
you love them until they can't recall who they are again.
but i am but i am but i am not a number not a name!
but i am but i am but i am a carefully laid plan...

Oh what he would do to be in his true form - being stuck this way out of his own accord was silly. 'I mean really, if I'm going to play by anyone's rules, they won't be Beat's' Shibuya's composer nearly sneered, but kept his expression neutral as he gazed back at the other blonde's baseless glare. He thought that he would end up fighting, but lo and behold, for some reason Bito here decided to let go. From the look of frustration on his face, he had come to some sort of mental hault, but hey, Joshua wasn't complaining. Casually fixing his collar, the dirty blonde only half listened to Beat's next words. How quickly he moved from target, kill to team mate and the word 'we' was used so quickly in such a manner that if Joshua were anyone else he would be left reeling. The boy though, only half cared about what Beat here had to say - because what was left of his attention was on the... things that were closing in on them. The way that they felt was similar to Noise, but they were something far different. They were impossible not to feel in someone that could sense the noise without even trying... but only when they were close.

Close enough to be seen.

And if they could clearly see the little mob that looked like they were just itching to attack - then they could be attacked. Looking past Beat as he began to... yell again, he stared at the cloaked man and his bright yellow optics. How peculiar, was he made of the same thing that these creatures were? That could very well make him an enemy and... there was something less feral, more human-like about the way he carried himself. The nearly powerless composer sighed, the first potential fight, and they were greatly out numbered. "This isn't a normal game Beat." Obviously. Beat seemed to know so much, didn't he know that Joshua wasn't really allowed to get involved in his own games? Of course not. That would be vital, helpful information that would get this man-child off of his back. "You look dead at a cloaked man with the same eyes, and think I'm the one in charge of them?" This time cool sarcasm was mixed with a healthy dose of surprise and more importantly annoyance. Joshua wasn't sure whether he had the patience to help this boy at all - it almost made him feel bad for placing Neku in a situation where Beat was the ONLY person he could rely on for a very important final game.

Now, as for Shadow man, Joshua would love to question him, and find out why he was here and what he wanted, but the swarming things were getting far too close for any sort of comfort and or conversation. "I can tell you that they're not Noise." He could confirm that - but... couldn't even begin to fathom what exactly they were. Perhaps the yellow eyed one would? If he wasn't intent on killing them after all. For some reason the little swarm of... whatever they were, hadn't decided to attack yet. It wasn't in his best interest to start a conversation but really Beat had started it for him, and fighting without information wasn't the best of ideas either. "He can tell us what they are." Joshua could help a bit, he wasn't completely powerless, but he damn well felt it without having the entire world and it's information at his fingertips. Staring at the cloaked man that he would temporarily dub inky, he sighed, feeling stuck between a rock head and a hard place. "Will you? I mean, we are quite lost and would appreciate the lesson." Josh spoke a touch louder for Inky, but his voice still didn't hit the sheer decibels that Beat's did on a regular basis. As valiant as his tenacity could be, he was loud and hard headed to boot.

Moment of truth, if this guy was going to kill him he would issue an attack sometime soon... perhaps. If he didn't, the creatures that were circling them would. Either way, Joshua was prepared for a fight, and had no qualms with knocking a few heads in retaliation and then running for his life. He had to get home after all - who would watch Shibuya without him?

[/size]

[Anti-Sora]

(@joshua: Long is good. ^_^ Beat: You hurt my baby! >.< Of course, I’ll make you feel bad. It is my duty as a Heartless to do so. =P)

This was an odd little place to be in, now wasn’t it? On the one hand, Anti-Sora had every right in the book to let the Heartless rip the pair apart, according to his logic anyway, but on the other hand, he found himself very confused at what was going on around him. Let’s start with the arguing pair. At first it seemed Mr. Faster-Than-Light was going to kill the calm one, but then after a few exchanges of words here and there, the boy let the other go and was now talking as if they were buddies or partners....Okay, so what were they then? Friends or enemies? It was hard to say and now what?

They had noticed the Heartless that wanted revenge. Good. They should’ve because they were closing in to get within range to strike, but then along came the confusion again that put even the Heartless’ revenge on hold for a moment as they tried to figure out this new turn of events. Now a little thing to know is that Heartless aren’t as dumb as some think. A bit simple minded at times, but they do understand commands and do know what they are called, so when someone starts calling them Noise instead of Heartless, it causes some to have a slight identity crisis as they try to figure out if the new word is something they are now being called and someone forgot to pass the message on to others. Anti-Sora, on the other hand, just stared opened mouth at what he was hearing. Noise? Yes there was noise, but it wasn’t the Heartless. No, it was the loud one that was making all the noise and what was that. Also, was said loud mouth asking the calm one to call off the Heartless. Oh please. Now that was laughable. As if he could. Only those that actually knew what a Heartless was could control them and quite frankly with Anti there that power was his alone at the moment. Clueless outsiders would not get to share the power with him. No. No. Not at all. And why should he share anyway? Had not the loud one just ran over a little one? Nope. Nope. This would not do at all.

He continued to ponder what was happening for a moment longer and then came back to reality as the loud one actually approachedhim and the Shadow he was holding. Even though his intentions had been noble indeed, the move was an error on his part. Had he forgotten that quickly what he had done?

The words spoken, then the small eye contact the loud one and he had made, and then the almost hit from the Shadow that had swung out when he had gotten too close and the knight like Heartless that had slid across the ground in an attempt to trip the boy up and add more damage to him. The thing that saved him was his backwards jump as he realized that Anti wasn’t exactly normal. Still how to answer his questions, if he didn’t even know what a Noise was? Whatever, it was Anti was certain it did not apply to him or his kind. That he was sure of. Heartless were Heartless end of story. In any case, there was more talking. This time from the calm one.

Unlike the loud one, this one had held his ground and was more curious about what was happening than freaked out. Nice to know someone was keeping his cool, but despite that he was on edge with the Heartless that were moving closer by the second. The good thing was that he did not react and stayed calm not agitating the situation even more. Unlike his rash friend. Also, the calm one at least made more sense than the other…somewhat. He was definitely something to use if it came to a chat instead of battle, but let’s put that on hold for now. Hm? What was this now?

Game? This was no game. This was the real world and if these two didn’t eat that piece of information and swallow it gracefully, they would find out the hard way just how cold, cruel, and painful this world really was. After all, he wasn’t the only person in these worlds and not everyone was as curious or merciful as he was. Yes, they’d better change their thought pattern and fast. Okay. What else? Well, at least the calm one appeared to be the smarter of the two. At least he knew he was not in control of the...the Noise… A light sigh and frown came from Anti at this. This was not good. They were worse off than Vanitas. At least he had some clue as to what was going on around the world, but these two? Hopeless. Completely hopeless.

And now the calm one was asking him to help them out, breaking all sorts of rules along the way. If he was Light, he might’ve gotten on their case about their bickering and even confirming that they were from another world, but he wasn’t Light now was he? No, he was quite the opposite and in turn could use this little information to his advantage. That is… if his patience with two didn’t end too soon. The calm one he could handle, but the loud one? He didn’t know. It was all a matter of time, he supposed. Anyway moving along.


As Anti-Sora was absorbing all of this, the more impatient Heartless, a knight and a Shadow attempt to make themselves leaders and attacked the pair coming from the left and right; however, their attack was halted by Anti-Sora’s words.

“Not time for Heart snack here. Go find other Heart snack elsewhere,” he said to shifting the Shadow in his arms to his side as if it was a baby and waving off the others that had gather with the now freed hand. For the most part the Heartless left, leaving five knights in the area that surrounded the pair in case they did anything fishy; however, Anti-Sora wasn’t bothered by them. They were just protecting their own after all.

In any case, once the area had cleared out, Anti-Sora made his way towards the pair with the injured Shadow in tow. Instead of answering their questions, he stopped a safe distance away and looked coldly from one to the other.

“No answer questions,” he said, annoyance in his voice as he turned to his golden eyes to the loud one. “You say sorry to little one, Mixed Heart.”

His words to the loud one were short and final. A command that was better followed than not. As Anti said this, he held the Shadow out for the loud one to see and apologize to. While the small creature was still angry, it looked up at the loud one innocently enough as if it was expecting the apology to come. Depending on what happened from here would determine if this encounter was going to be good…or bad. The ball was now in the newcomers’ court.

[Beat]

As the creatures kept twitching and keeping their odd, blank eyes on the pair, Beat couldn’t help but begin to question if they were Noise at all. Noise never waited this long to attack and they weren’t so…twitchy. That being said, it didn’t give him any reason to put his guard down. If anything it made him more distrustful of them and the cloaked figure who bore such a resemblance to the thingys than before. Even though he didn’t like Joshua all that much (and he was growing to dislike him more every time the prick opened his mouth), that didn’t mean he would put up with someone trying to ambush him. That, and they were surrounded by the creatures, all of them ready to attack at any instant.

While he and Josh had been standing there, he had been pointedly ignoring what the other had been saying, as he hadn’t been helping whatsoever and he couldn’t understand why he should listen to the Composer whine about the little mix-ups he made, but he couldn’t stand it for any period of time. It was nigh impossible to ignore that attitude. Beat shot him a look over his shoulder out of pure defiance and aggravation. Why did that guy have to be such a pain all the blasted time? “I got it yo. Don’t be treatin’ me like some kinda idiot.” He couldn’t stand it when people did that. Sometimes it took him a little longer to understand or piece things together, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. He knew what was important and he had a general idea of how he was going to ensure those things and that was what he cared about.

But enough of that for the moment. He could fight Joshua later when he had that luxury. The creatures were still there and showed no signs of leaving. Beat rolled his shoulder, wishing he could keep all the creatures in his line of sight. Having his back turned to the enemy made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It’d be better if they either fought with the things or- All of a sudden things were going too fast. Two of the things charged, coming straight at he and Josh. Beat tensed and quickly picked up his skateboard, ready to block and give him a chance to retaliate and send them halfway across the square, but the figure called them and a good many of the other creatures off.

It took a few moments for the action to sink in and a little longer for the words to confuse him. What in the world did the guy mean by a heart snack? He doubted the creatures would reach into his chest and pull out his beating heart to eat, as they didn’t seem violent enough for that, but if that wasn’t their intention then Beat didn’t have a clue what the words meant. As he turned around to ask the figure, since he thought it was his turn to ask a few questions after Joshua had so many, the confusion etched on his face quickly turned into shock and the whole thing about heart snacks suddenly seemed far less important.

The figure was holding the creature like a child, as if they honestly cared for one another. Seeing this, he couldn’t help compare the two to he and Rhyme. If someone had run over Rhyme and he had been there to watch, well, he’d be doing a lot more than looking at the offender harshly and asking for an apology. Beat’s shoulders dropped a few inches as he realized his mistake. He had no idea what the creatures were like so he couldn’t have known that the two cared for each other, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel extraordinarily guilty for hurting someone’s friend or family like that. He tore his gaze away from the small creature and looked the cloaked person dead in the face, hoping that he’d understand that he was being sincere and wasn’t trying to gain favor. The answers to the questions weren’t what mattered right now.

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t know. Is…it aight?” It was amazing how quiet his voice could get when he wasn’t trying to put on a show. He reached out a hand to put on top of the thingy’s head but stopped in case it’s friend or protector or whatever wouldn’t appreciate the gesture, keeping his hand held out so the other could decide. Maybe these whatever-they-weres weren’t so bad after all.