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Post by vellum on May 21, 2008 10:45:30 GMT -5
Sand. Sand and salt.
Vellum hadn't ever been to a tropical beach before, so he was wondering if he was dreaming about sitting in the sand with the surf soaking his shoes and jeans. Maybe he was imagining the oppressive humidity weighing down his thick hoodie, and that little crab trying to burrow it's way under his thigh? Yeah, that wasn't real either. This was all a manifestation of his mental processes during the REM stage of sleep, a reflection of his mind sorting the day's information feeds into something cohesive and easily accessible. He had been poisoned earlier, so this may have been a hallucination, or even a replay of a hallucination in the back of his mind.
But that didn't explain why he was at one moment sulking around in the Garden cafeteria one moment and sitting in some uncomfortably wet (and tight, he noticed they were far too tight for comfort) jeans the next. He hadn't fallen asleep or passed out recently as far as he could remember.
"Definitely dreaming. Anytime now, I'll wake up and this dumb crab will not be in my bed, and my jeans will not be soaked up to the thighs."
Vellum frowned, looking down at the pristine sand before sighing. Normally that was more than enough to wake himself up. Either he was in a coma or this wasn't a dream at all. Time compression, perhaps? Hardly, he knew that had been remedied sometime ago. What else could this be?
He shifted, reaching under his thigh to snatch out that still burrowing crab, ignoring the spiny pincher that attached itself to the skin between his thumb and forefinger before flinging it unceremoniously into the water. The skin tore a little, leaving an angry red trail that taunted him as he pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. The sun was awfully bright, and the colors looked off compared to what he had seen in his life. Where exactly was he?
He sighed again, leaning forward and pulling himself off of the sand with a grimace, sloshing out of the rising tide before stopping in the hot sand to kick off those soggy shoes and socks with a blank admiration of his surroundings. Well, there certainly were worse places he could have ended up, hallucination or not.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on May 21, 2008 12:05:29 GMT -5
Suddenly a dark portal appeared next to Vellum, and out of it rolled a hunched-over man, with long black hair held back by a crimson red headband, wearing a long tattered cloak that draped over his body and matched with the same color as the former thinly folded-bandana. As the dark portal wisped away back into nothingness, the raven-haired stranger slowly rose from his crouch, revealing more of his outfit. Underneath the cloak, seen from the front, he was wearing a black close-fitting but relaxed bodysuit covered in pockets, zips, straps and buckles. The bodysuit was long-sleeved up to the wrist, where on his right hand it was covered with a black glove. On the left hand, however, he wore a clawed golden gauntlet, that matched his golden pointed-toed boots and lower-leg plating. On his right hips where his hand had easy access, Vellum could see he had a gun holstered there, a silver keychain dangling from the end of a dog with wings and three heads.
Vincent looked up at his surroundings, taking in the sights and sounds of the coastline. This place reminded him of Costa del Sol, but he hadn't been there in such a long time. Perhaps because he was always too busy in action that he never had the time to relax, as people often did at that luxury resort on the beach. Or perhaps because he was so often in danger, he avoided peaceful and crowded places such as that.
Or maybe, the bright sunlight conflicted with his alabaster skin. He did prefer to move about in darkness, where he wasn't seen.
After taking in the sights and sounds of the peaceful beach world, did he finally notice Vellum, and peered at him questionably with golden eyes. Was he a local here? Did he seem him appear out of the portal?
He remained quiet, waiting to hear the boy speak first. If he was local, perhaps he could tell him what this strange, new tranquil world was. It would be a shame if Heartless, or even Deepground, appeared here...
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Post by vellum on May 21, 2008 16:19:22 GMT -5
Vellum was in the middle of pulling off his hoodie when the portal opened, causing him to only catch a glimpse of the spreading darkness and the form that rolled out of it before said portal closed. He blinked, scarred belly and back exposed to the warm air before he finally tugged off that offending article of clothing and wadded it up in his hands. The front pouch was emptied, various packets pushed into the pockets of those jeans before his undershirt was properly adjusted back into place.
He watched Vincent with an arch of his brow, hands straying toward hidden throwing knives (yes, he carried throwing knives with him to the cafeteria, those lines were dangerous) as he shuffled into a faintly defensive stance in the sand. The hoodie was dropped, landing in a heap near his shoes and socks as he watched the newcomer warily.
The man was overdressed, that much Vellum could say. The teen was already burning up and he had already removed his heavier clothing and this man was wearing at least twice as much as he had. Even with all the extra clothing however, the only thing Vellum could think when he saw that dark hair and eerily pale skin was cold. Maybe not in the literal sense, but certainly in the emotional sense. Cold, and intimidating.
When the stranger looked at Vellum all the younger male could do was freeze, staring back intensely as he seemed to assess the situation. A gun, a gauntlet, and that look in his eye that seemed deeper than the boy could fathom. His hand shifted, relaxing before he slumped a little and finally looked away. If they actually came to arms Vellum already knew he would be beat.
"Judging from the fact that you just tumbled out of a portal I'm guessing you're not from here, either," Vellum finally forced himself to speak, looking down at his feet as he kicked the sand a little. His brows furrowed as he saw a little crag scuttle over his big toe, tiny pincers threatening him. That freckled face looked up from the little crustacean back at Vincent with a twitch of his lips. "If you were, I'd ask where I could get a new pair of pants."
Vellum internally winced. Great first impression that one, but it was certainly better than asking just how goth the man thought he could be. That skin must have never seen the sun before now, and the teen wondered if the stranger would burn if they stood there for too long.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on May 23, 2008 4:44:19 GMT -5
Vincent continued to glance down at the young youth patiently, as he only met his eyes with a intimidated expression, before he finally spoke. It seemed like he wasn't from this world, either, from the sounds of it. Just as well... this world was a nice place, too. If he didn't have any way to refer to it by name, it would be that much more protected from the evil forces that were always nipping spitefully at his heels like taunting hounds.
"Hmph." he made the sound with an amused tone, turning around to turn his back on him, as if he didn't care, the way he usually treated people. "If you were from here, I'd ask where we were." he implied, sensing that that information was much more meaningful to him than the boy's apparel.
He started striding away from Vellum towards a small hut in the distance he had spotted, hoping maybe he would find some locals here who would actually be of help and tell him of the details of this planet. There were several hiding places for the people we was looking for in this place too... a cave, a treehouse, and a larger island nearby filled with simple cottages off the coastline. They looked innocent enough, but could house any of his past demons he was hunting.
There was no use asking the boy for help, if he wasn't from this world. He seemed more preoccupied with his appearence, more than anything. He made tracks slowly through the sand, not having a care in the world of what the boy thought of his behavior.
He'd get over it, just like everyone else did.
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Post by vellum on May 23, 2008 10:16:05 GMT -5
"You say that, but your pants are chafing uncomfortably." Vellum watched the man cautiously before looking away with a rolling shrug. Great. First person he's seen and he's already made an ass of himself. "It certainly makes you look a little less like someone who needs to be locked up for dementia."
Or someone who's suffering from a heatstroke, Vellum continued mentally, reaching down to pick up his dropped articles before looking up at Vincent's back as he walked away. Vellum winced visibly, pushing up those glasses once more as he stood up before following him. What else was there to do?
"Whoever comes here doesn't come that often. There aren't many footprints in the sand and I don't hear any people so this probably isn't a densely inhabited island." If inhabited at all. "Judging by the size of the footprints that are present I'm going to guess that the people who do come here are likely my own age, possibly even younger. Though they must have had help building these structures, they are rather complicated..."
Vellum trailed off, falling into silence as he listened to the surf and the sound of sea birds somewhere in the background. He looked around quietly, wiggling his toes in the sand before shaking the hair from his eyes. Everything was so bright, so innocent. He would have loved to grow up here as a kid. Playing pirates and Robin Hood, and maybe a little King Arthur. Do something other than learn how to work the earth, when to sow and when to harvest. I wasn't even good at that.
He paused, squinting his eyes and looking along the short coastline before looking away from the blinding water.
"Mmm... a dock. And boats. Perhaps someone is here after all."
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Post by Vincent Valentine on May 27, 2008 6:25:47 GMT -5
"My pants are fine. Worry about your own clothing." Vincent replied to the boy off-handedly as he walked off, maybe a little rudely. He sighed, sensing footsteps behind him, and sighed. What was with it and people wanting to follow him? Did they want to get something out of him that he did not have to offer, or was it just his mysterious nature?
At the boy's words, he considered them now, and thought about anyone he knew who was this boy's age or younger. Unlikely to be Shelke... perhaps Sora has been here, he thought to himself. It couldn't be Roxas and Namine's world, as they seemed at home back in Twilight Town. Or maybe simply they were characters he had not met yet.
Reaching the small hut structure, he opened the door after knocking and waiting a few minutes, then pushed the door open. Empty. Nothing.
The boy mentioned that there were boats nearby, a dock, leading over through open water to the main island. He wanted to check out the rest of the island, however. He passed the boy without a further word, and headed to look in the small cave he had spotted eariler.
Following it around, he found a dead end, with childish scibblings in the rock... around a door. It had no handle, and he pushed at it. It didn't budge. It must have been locked, judging by the keyhole that was there. One scribbling caught his eye though, a picture of a boy and girl's head giving each other stars with disembodied hands.
The boy looked awfully a lot like Sora...
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Post by vellum on May 27, 2008 12:32:50 GMT -5
"Hypothe-- You know what. Nevermind." Vellum was a little hurt, but he didn't show it. He hadn't done anything at all and this guy was already ignoring him! Intentionally ignoring him. The teen almost sighed, waving at the darker, older man as he walked away with a mental grumble. This was really great, maybe Lady Luck had finally deserted him.
The boy didn't look as Vincent searched through various nooks and crannies, instead dejectedly kicking some sand as he slung his makeshift bag over one skinny shoulder. Glasses were pushed up once more as he blinked, looking down with increasing curiosity as his shadow seemed to grow and solidify on the sand in front of him.
"But it's only early afternoon, my shadow shouldn't be that long... he murmured to himself, taking a bemused step back before realizing that the black spot that had formed under his feet hadn't been his shadow at all. In fact, it wasn't even a spot on the ground, because spots on the ground didn't have creepy glowing yellow eyes that looked up at him menacingly.
He started to say something when the Shadow seemed to form, sucking in the darkness that surrounded it before making a swipe at Vellum's jean-clad leg with pointed black digits.
"Shiva's tits!" His voice actually cracked as he bounced back, eyes wide as he barely kept from slipping in the sand.
The Shadow attacked again, missing as Vellum swung at it with his wadded hoodie, it's contents doing little other than making the creature turn it's head briefly. It was just enough for Vellum to spout off a spell, turning the Heartless into smooth stone before he skittered away, reaching down to pull out a throwing knife silently.
"H-hey! Hey! Guy in red! Where did you go?!"
The teen spied movement out of the corner of his eye, that knife launched without hesitation to stab a rising Heartless between the eyes before falling into the soft sand as the slain creature dissipated. Vellum rolled, snatching up that blade before taking off in a run once more. He wasn't even going to bother looking back to see if there were more.
"This is so not cool."
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Post by Vincent Valentine on May 29, 2008 11:22:13 GMT -5
(OOC: *laughs* Vellum, can't you even get your head out of the gutter IC? This is Kingdom Hearts, go easy on the Shiva comments.) "Get down!"
Vincent had appeared out from the cave again, and had spotted the Heartless. Pulling out the handgun Vellum had seen before, Vincent levelled Cerberus over Vellum's head and fired, splattering the shadow creatures with bullets, as more Heartless appeared.
This time came Tornado Step and Cresendo Heartless, along with the Shadows. The Tornado Steps spun their arms towards Vincent, while the Cresendo Heartless, looking like the noisy horns clowns squeezed on their clown cars, started honking loudly as it called for more Heartless.
Vincent fired some shots, standing next to Vellum. His rude ignoration was now gone, forgetting about inspecting the treehouse. "To the dock, and quickly." he ordered the boy.
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Post by vellum on Jun 4, 2008 11:22:29 GMT -5
If Vellum could do anything, he could take orders. The minute Vincent told him to get down he was crouched in the sand, casting another stone spell at a Tornado Step, sending it crashing into the sand with a heavy 'thud'. A knife was thrown at a honking Crescendo, deflating it's inflated body briefly before it started honking with twice the vigor.
"What are these things?! Vellum's voice cracked briefly, a flicker of an urge to retrieve his knife shoved down as Vincent ordered him toward the dock. The teen looked up at the dark man as he shot more of the creatures, nodding sharply before he kicked at jaw of a Shadow as he backed off quickly. "Gotcha, the dock!"
Sand was kicked up as he moved away from the Heartless, pausing only to turn around with a grimace, a brief muttered spell crossing his lips before he cast Confusion on another Tornado Step, causing it to wobble and weave before attacking the summoned Shadows closest to it. Vellum didn't look back to see the aftermath, already taking off once more toward that questionable dock.
"And here I thought I was going to get a vacation." He grumbled to himself, bare feet slapping against the salt- and water-swollen wood, heels almost slipping and throwing him into the water as he landed in a dinghy tied to the beam.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Jun 5, 2008 14:15:04 GMT -5
The ex-turk shot at a few more Heartless, finishing off the Cresendo and Tornado Step Heartless that had first appeared to them, before he ran after Vellum. Once he was sure of their safe passage, he jumped into the dinghy with him, and shot at the rope that was keeping it moored to the port.
"They're called Heartless." he simply said to Vellum, as he picked up an oar that was resting inside the boat, and powerfully started to paddle the boat towards the main island on the other side of the island.
He was rude with being distant, but he wasn't going to let the oy do all the work.
(OOC: Sorry if it's short, no muse.)
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Post by vellum on Jun 6, 2008 12:03:17 GMT -5
"Heartless?" Vellum did a quick review of the monsters he knew, the list quite expansive due to the schooling he received back at the Garden. No... There was no "Heartless" amongst the multitude of monsters that popped up in the back of his mind. None that looked like those creatures back there... The closest he could come (appearance-wise, at least) were Tonberries and those were just a tad harder to kill than the creepy beings slaughtered on the beach. Whether it was their appearance or the fact that there were no bodies left behind that made them creepy was something the boy couldn't decide easily.
That wirey form grabbed paddles as he shifted, obviously in thought before he started to work as best possible with those weathered oars.
"I must admit that water travel isn't my forte..." He paused awkwardly, watching Vincent move before mimicing the movement with a shake of his head. This would make him sore tomorrow, but that would be something he could deal with then. Perhaps he could be home by tomorrow, resting in his own bed while waiting further orders. "I take it you are familiar with these... Creatures?"
He moved to push his glasses up, hoping the man would be able to answer his questions. That hand moved down, rummaging through his makeshift sack before pulling out a sad little Saf-T-Pop, it's wrapper tugged off and shoved into a stiff pocket (with a faint grimace on Vellum's part) before the sweet disappeared into his mouth. It's string loop hung out lazily, wigging between his lips before he started to row once more.
"I certainly hope there's more civilization than that... I don't keep emergency supplies on me in the event of weird black portals."
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Jun 7, 2008 8:23:32 GMT -5
"Only recently, when I came into this universe from my own world. They are creatures manifested from the darkness in one's heart." Vincent answered Vellum bluntly, not missing a beat as he dug back into his ex-Turk survival skills and put himself into a beat with his stroking of the wooden paddle.
Soon enough they reached the opposite shore, to the more populated island with little houses, paved roads and street lamps. Vincent reached out for the wooden dock and pulled the dinghy to it, tying it quickly to it with the rope already provided there.
"Everything else beyond this is ocean." he answered Vellum curtly, striding out onto the wooden dock."Your world may be gone. I have a Gummi ship you can take."
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Post by vellum on Jun 10, 2008 10:42:41 GMT -5
"Darkness in one's own... Heart...?" Vellum looked at Vincent oddly, seeming to try and wrap his mind around what information he was being fed. His lips twitched, frowning briefly before he finally gave into a resigned shrug. "So what's a Heart?"
Vellum finished off that little sucker with a crunch, the string chewed on a little before being spat out into the water as Vincent tied off the dinghy before climbing onto the dock. The boy looked passed him at the somewhat low-tech street beyond, catching the comment regarding all else being ocean with an arch of his brow before he also climbed onto the dock. This place looked so... Quaint...
"Gummiship... Wait, what? My world might be gone? But it was still fine when I was pulled away. I mean, they were setting up a fireworks show for the festival but that's hardly anything that would destroy any entire world." Vellum looked a little worried, this was serious. Were those black things that powerful? The teens stomach dropped, leaden in his gut as he wondered just how little he knew about these creatures. "I mean... "
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Jun 10, 2008 14:55:09 GMT -5
The man sighed as he felt the cool sea breeze on his face, his tattered crimson cloak blowing behind him in the wind along with his long, bicep-length raven hair. Upon the boy's seemingly stupid question, without turning around to face him as he looked at the emerald sea waves, he answered rhetorically, "You don't know the vessel that's pumping your blood in your chest, that traditionally is meant to house all your emotions?"
Then he turned around to face the boy now, his eyes hard and cold like amber, and the same in color. "Most people had their worlds attacked and destroyed by the Heartless. That it their ultimate goal in a world; to seize the world's heart and add it's energy to their own." He was sure it was attempted on his world, and yet Gaia was there now. If the boy was sure that his world was still there, maybe it was unnecessary to fill him in on all this information if he was simply to take him home again.
He continued to look at the young male expectantly, as he didn't take his offer, and so prepared to leave. He gave the boy one last look, and prepared to find a appropriate site to re-enter his Gummi Ship, striding off towards the town. Although this time, his steps were more hesitant.
If the boy wanted to be dropped off, he could catch up.
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Post by vellum on Jun 10, 2008 16:50:55 GMT -5
"Uhm... No. I've always known the heart as the first description you gave me. Unless you're talking about a metaphorical Heart that some people might call a soul or spirit..." Rhetorical or not he answered, unsure of the man's tone and reaction. So cold, it was hard to tell if he had any emotion at all. Who better than to talk about a Heart?
When Vincent looked at him the boy was unnerved to be sure, brows furrowing as he wondered what exactly he had done to earn such a look. Being stupid, more than likely. You should shut up for once. He looked away, scratching the back of his neck nervously before slumping a little. This man acted like everyone knew this sort of stuff, like it was an everyday occurrence. Maybe... Maybe it was? Did something like that happen to his own world? Was it all gone?
When Vellum looked up again the man had started to walk away, leaving the teen befuddled and silent before he finally gathered his wits enough to follow and catch up.
"W-wait. I mean, I'm sorry. This is a lot to take in at once. I'm very confused... You said there was a way to get back? I mean, without that creepy portal thing..."
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