Kingdom Hearts : Heartfelt Adventure {Day 8 ; Invite Only}

[Kaegoe]

((Okay I have been meaning to bring in this character for awhile, but haven't had a good chance to do so and with Dawn being gonked out, might as well do something.))

[Quina : Hawaii : Beach]

As Ajora and Nick continued to swim along in conversation something else in a white apron and chief's hat had been swimming down below them. He/she floated to the top of the water just in front of the replica as Nick swam away knocking water into Ajora's face. He/She simply stared at Ajora with an otherwise emotionless face.

"Who you?" the creature said, "You scare fishies. Very tastie. You should try some."  

[fractalJester]

[ Ajora : Beach : Hawaii ]

Ajora raised an eyebrow, only to immediately feel the wind move rapidly, a frown growing on his face. He was able to close his eyes in time for the wave, which left him in turbulent water for a few moments. As the waters were calming down, the Replica remained in place, treading water and staring at the sea, slightly fuming, but not enough that Nicholas would need to be worried.

It was at that point that some strange, disgusting looking creature rose up, glancing at Ajora and speaking with the eloquence of the mentally disabled.

"It's a secret," Ajora responded, placing his hands lightly on the creature's shoulders (as if preparing to tell him the 'secret')... only to swiftly lift his legs up, and with an insane amount of force, kick off of Quina, jumping clear out of the water and at least 30 feet into the air at about a 45-degree angle. The force of the Dragoon Jump was likely enough to thrust Quina back down into the depths a few meters.

Flipping and twisting himself in mid-air in order to make sure he was properly composed, he landed in the middle of the beach (not far from Nicholas, and pretty much in the center of the spread out group) as if he were merely kneeling down; the landing kicked up a large amount of sand, likely getting all over Nicholas and his clothing.

Standing up straight, his entire body was now in view; he was wearing swim trunks that went down an inch past his knees, mostly black with a pattern of white flames licking up from bottom, particularly on the sides. He was barefoot and shirtless, and in clear view, covering most of the center of his back and the top-half of his upper arms (just below the shoulder to about an inch above the elbow), were ornate tribal tattoos that could be identified as Command Seals by anyone familiar with Ivalician mythos. Around his neck was a white puka shell necklace with a small metal pendant, not quite an inch in diameter, engraved with the symbol of Virgo, hanging off the bottom.

"Dynamic Entry: Success," he said, grinning as he looked at the others nearby. He still ignored the fact that some of them were very definitely on their guard, Riku included.  

[Sable Argent]

[Alan :: Hawaii - Beach]

"Yes," Alan said, crossing his arms (and still smirking). "Very dynamic." One of Alan's peculiar traits was that, regardless of his actual feelings, he pretty much never registered surprise or fear. This was why, even now, with the most infamous of the infamous replicas within a few feet of him, he appeared as calm as ever.

Despite his relaxed appearance, however, Alan was prepared to fight at a moment's notice. His mind was already running through possible combat situations, even as he made senseless smalltalk.

"You would be the infamous Ajora, I take it?"  

[Jeimuzu Kuro]

{Leon : Village Outskirts : Path -> Beach}

Leon didn't say another word to Cloud as they both made their way back to the village and towards the beach. As he walked, he was deep in thought on the events that had just transpired with Genesis, as well as the events that had occurred so far in this place. They had seen no signs of Mickey, nor any clues as to where he had gone next. The gunblader felt fairly certain that if the King were still here, he would have sought them out. He gazed around the village, still somewhat damaged from the attacks, though it seemed in better shape than when they had left. The village now seemed fairly peaceful, though he knew that it could not last.

The atmosphere couldn't be more different though as his boots treaded across the sands of the beach back towards the group. His eyes focused in particular upon the person in the middle of the group who had just stated something about a dynamic entry. He looked at the young man and recognized him as the Kyle he had met from the other group, yet why did a number of the people seem on guard then? It took less than a second for the obvious connection to be made.

"A replica." Leon stated, not sure if Cloud heard or not as he brought his gunblade off of his shoulder and quickened his pace toward the group.  

[fractalJester]

[ Ajora : Beach : Hawaii ]

"Oh! My reputation precedes me!" he responded with an almost-Scottish accent, his R's rolled a bit more than necessary; he even lifted a hand up to his chest and recoiled slightly. It was obvious he was one for melodrama. "I'm flattered, truly!"

After that, the Replica chuckled, using the lifted hand to cover his mouth for a moment before speaking again, looking at Alan with relative interest. His voice reverted to 'normal', though his pronunciations seemed a bit more formal or British than usual. "Ah, but alas, you know my name and I've yet to learn yours. How simply barbaric. Introductions are in order, no?"  

[Sable Argent]

[Alan :: Hawaii - Beach]

Alan matched Ajora's affectations of gravitas with equal aplomb. "Alan Solomon. Charmed, I'm sure." The two of them cut a somewhat ridiculous image - Ajora, of course, was wearing swim trunks. Alan, though dressed appropriately for the register he was using, had an obvious burn mark on his face from his previous battle.

"So tell me - what brings a Saint, such as yourself, to this dismal land?"  

[Psalm Grasshopper]

[Amy : Hawaii : Beach]

Within a very short amount of time, in one way or another, all of Amy's numerous questions had been answered. The Trinity Charms, she noted, were very useful things... They reminded her of the power of the internet. Instant communication was not something to be taken for granted, and Amy, for one, was immensely grateful for it, while feeling an apprehension about it all the same.

Ajora's landing kicked up the sand and splattered it about. Still standing in the ocean next to John, Amy was far enough away to stay clear of it. The waves still pushed and tugged at her, and in order to escape them she neared the shore.

She, like the others, was suspicious of Nick's behavior– it was hard not to be. She was curious what all of this was about, and came to a hazy conclusion that the newcomer, a replica named Ajora apparently, was going to attack Bobbi?

Or maybe, like Azrael, he was just going to pull a Hojo.  

[Kaegoe]

[Quina : Beach : Hawaii]

After several long minutes after Ajora used it as a spring board, Quina came onto the shore. On a large fork the creature had in its hand, it carried two large fish that it somehow managed to stab onto the teeth. Each fish was about 8 inches in length. It was unknown as to how he/she managed to get them on the fork.

Quina walked up to the group with its large tongue hanging out, "I catch fish. I cook. We eat!" The creature turned to Ajora shaking its head side to side, "None for you. No food for bad manners."  

[Kaegoe]

[Dawn : Black Pearl : Upper Deck]

Dawn's body continued to remain motionless on the deck of the Black Pearl. She almost appeared as if she was in a peaceful sleep on her back. As time passed, those who were paying attention to her left hand, would have noticed the seal beginning to distort on her skin. It appeared as if the seal, starting from the center, was being twisted in a spiral, placed in a metaphorical blender. It was on Dawn's hand for no more than a minute or two before it began to recede, being sucked into a single point before vanishing entirely.

A few seconds later a soft sigh escaped from the girl's lips, the first sound she had made since falling into unconsciousness. Movement behind her eyelids could be seen. It was several seconds later when her eyelids started to open.

During the process of her eyes opening up, the symbol on her hand was slowly disappearing. Now that she was conscious, it was completely gone.

"Wha...?" she whispered as her mind tried to focus once more. She felt tired, and her chest felt heavier than it normally did, "My head..."

She slowly started to shift her body to sit up. Dawn was surprise to realize that the heaviness was caused from someone laying on top of her. A realization that made her freeze her movements and tilt her head to try and see whoever was on top of her. Dawn couldn't even make anything out behind the blown locks of hair.

"What did I miss...?' she whispered. Her mind being clouded of the previous events, just as it normally was when she woke up. The only memories came to her were the ones of being in pain that she would never be able to forget.  

[Misheru Kuro]

[Michelle : Black Pearl : Above Deck]

Michelle had been sitting very much like Anthony cross-legged on the pair's other side focused on every breath they took and itching to hold Dawn again. When her sister roused and the bizarre sign faded from the hand she had been clutching it felt like Michelle's chest cracked. A block of ice begging to thaw so that she could breath a little more easily at last, breathe deeply again and again. She was sorely tempted to remove the other fellow who's name she hadn't caught, after all it couldn't be good for her sister to be pinned under his weight, but what if there was something more still... "Dawn were right here with you everything is going to be okay. Just try and relax and hold still till he wakes up as well and then I'm sure he'll move. I love you Chickidee, I'm so glad your awake again." the last statement was full of fervent devotion and Michelle would have probably started crying again this time with joy, but she was so very very tired, and so she just stared watching her sister with love.

 

[Enji_Chou]

((sorry for not replying in a while I’ve had real trouble trying to get online long enough- then I got sick, spirited away from home, ect, it’s been one heck of time. I’m sick as a dog which has kept me home long enough or this but I apologize for typos and such my vision is seriously blurry as hell>_<” I’ve not had a REAL FLU bug in a long time I forgot how they can knock you on you’re a$$.))

[Hawaii: Tide/waves: Underwater]


It was peaceful here below the blue in the sky of sea. It was like the heavens and the sea were just mirroring each other, but in truth, a being could fly through either one. She was weightless, and stretching her arms wide she could fly like peter pan below the surface of the waves.

Shadows danced above her, Demyx’s leg causing bubbles above, she saw his form abruptly swim away in the opposite direction.

Being below Kyla was unaware of anything serious going on, and for now that was ok. She needed to be alone with her thoughts and let all the baggage she picked up to drop away so she could be herself again. This was the nature of the introvert. Their energy is sapped away by others and things going on around them- they need to get some level of solitude to recharge. She was determined to achieve this so she could continue and return to them fresh and ready for what happened next on this insane adventure.

??? ‘ What’s that?’ Something caught her eye as she rolled over underwater so she could look up.

Something silver- above the surface. Kyla had lost track how far she drifted from the group, and frankly didn’t care too much. No matter where she ended up she’d simply surface and sue Tyue to float back if she was too far right? She stared up at the distance glimmering shape curiously her legs pulled up to her chest.

Eventually curiosity got the best of her and she rose closer to the surface till she could make out more of it. The silver took shape to that of a person seated with her gaze turned towards the horizon- Riku! Kyla rose no further and remained below looking up at him. If he was out there, he came here to relax and be alone just like her. The last thing he needed was his own relaxing seclusion broken. It didn’t take a genius to realize he needed to think.
But there was something symbolic about this moment, and she felt like she was looking at herself from some outsiders’ vantage point.

How pitiful it must look.

They were two different people, from different worlds, and though she could always see him clearly, she would always be below the surface beyond his thought or notice.
It was the same with everyone else. Why did it feel this way- friendship? Such an ungraspable thing. One moment she’d feel so accepted, the next her own doubts returned and she felt as detached and alone as ever before.

If she dare rise- and tell anyone she was there- surely she’d turn into sea foam.


~ What are you thinking?~

‘- I have no right to ask for his help or friendship. Not just his. Alan. Kichi. Dani. Bobbi. John. Amy. Kyle- everyone-..but maybe thats not the only reason. Can someone be afraid of friendship?‘

Kai’s words popped back into her head. “ If they knew what you could do. You’re just if not worse than a villain. If they knew the sin you committed. They’d never consider you one of them-“

No no no, she can’t start thinking like this again! She couldn’t let these thoughts cloud her mind. It’s exactly what Kai wants. She wants to plant these things inside her heart and turn her. Besides, it’s not like she was the only one suffering.
Noelle. The times she saw her she was always in pain. Kyla actually wondered if she ever saw the girl’s smile yet. Kyle, when they parted he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
When he hugged her, Kyla could sense the problem. It was strange. Like if hearts could talk to one another. Kyle’s was..sick..somehow. Sensitive. Overly sensitive.
Was it the right decision to leave him for this side of the quest?

Kyle?!!! A few things happened all at once.
Something plummeted below the surface in the distance she could see the shadow passing below in the blue distance. Then a voice came over the trinity charms.

Bobbi… someone protect her…

?!!?
‘Bobbi?!’
That voice. Dawn? What was that she said- what’s going on up there?
Kyla broke the surface, paying no attention anymore that Riku would have figured she was there this whole time now. And swimming to shallow waters she stood chest deep in the waves her hair fanning out around her shoulders as she watched the exchange between Ajora, no way that was Kyle,( she just knew- It didn’t feel the same)Nick, and Alan.

Was he the threat to Bobbi? Or was it something else he set in motion? Threats and danger aren’t always so easy to decipher. And just like his original- Kyla had no doubt Ajora was a schemer. He was clever and had a way of re-routing the actions of others to benefit him the most.

She didn’t summon her weapon but walked closer to the shore till she was only waist deep her soaking hair long and clinging. The way the replica’s lounge there in the sun seemed so comical and somewhat believable. It made her wonder- how did Sephiroth take his down time?  

[phoenixianCrystallist]

{Hawaii .:. Tides}

Bobbi nodded sharply at Kyle. She wouldn't calm down, necessarily. For her, calming down equated to relaxing, and she would not relax with Ajora in their midst. Azrael, sure, he didn't seem to be as much of a psychotic threat as Ajora was.

~:Focus,:~ Shiva advised, her tone stern but truly nothing more than a murmur in the back of the Archer's mind. It was like a litany, helping her clear her thoughts past her rage and fear. ~:Deep breaths. You have warning, you have friends, and you out-number him. Stay in the background, but stay on guard. I will also stay alert for any dangers other than this.:~

Thank you, Shiva, Bobbi responded, moving towards the shore with Kyle and Dani. She never let her glare leave Ajora, keeping her vision locked solely on him. She barely even blinked when the weird thing rose out of the ocean near the replica, and he used the thing as a launch pad. Her gaze followed his trajectory, her hand itching to fire one of her arrows at his landing point. But she stayed her hand, against her better judgment; she would trust her friends, and follow their lead.

Demyx watched everyone, taking note of how few of them (or rather, how none of them) took his advice to relax and just chill. He ignored the replica's smarmy remark about blowing them up, but didn't really have much to say until Ajora's jumping display.

"Eh, nine out o' ten for the landing. You coulda done that without spraying anything," he remarked, folding his arms across his chest and taking on a cocky stance.  

[fractalJester]

[ Ajora ; Riku : Beach : Hawaii ]

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Ajora responded to Alan, bowing melodramatically as he did so, putting on arm far out to his side and bending the other at his stomach. "However, I must disagree; this place is far from dismal! Au contraire, it is quite the paradise. Then again, I was a beach lover in my past life, so such a bond is understandable."

"I come for a few reasons, none of them blatantly offensive, I assure you," he explained, lifting himself back up and rolling his neck. "Most obviously, I've come to gather what information I can on you neophytes. See how you work, what you look like, et cetera et cetera. I'm evil incarnate, obviously I have to have some ulterior motive, right?"

He genuinely laughed. Had he not been openly known as a Replica, had he not openly (and truthfully) announced his antagonistic ways, the laugh would have been considered jolly, and (as many have told Kyle) contagious.

"But most importantly, I've come to relax, much as Az over yonder," he said, jutting his thumb in the other Replica's direction. "I'm human, relatively speaking. Even I like to relax every once in awhile, and I haven't had a break since... well, since I was born!"

Again, he laughed. He seemed to completely ignore Quina, though when Demyx called out to him, he seemed to glow with... joy? As close to joy as a Replica could express, anyway. "Yesssss!" he shouted, pulling his fist back as if to celebrate some sort of victory. "High score! Couldn't help the sand, you try landing from that distance without disturbing thousands of nearly-weightless dust particles!"

Riku watched from afar, the Road to Dawn still in his grip. He had to resist the impulse to blast Ajora out of the sky; every one of his protective instincts told him that it had seemed like an obvious attack. However, the Replica had made a point- if he wanted to attack them, it was obvious he could have done it from afar. So why, then, would he willingly place himself in the middle of their group?

Riku hesitantly dispelled the Keyblade in a flash of light. He knew they could take on one, lone Replica. They could probably do it with relative ease by this point; after all, it would have been roughly 10-to-1. Azrael and Noelle's Replica had had trouble with greater odds earlier that morning. And to be honest, Azrael didn't seem to fond of Ajora even being there; maybe they weren't all so tightly aligned as he feared?

Understandable. They're beings of Darkness... Darkness knows no allegiance.

But then there was the warning about Bobbi being in danger, and the coincidental appearance of Ajora. Yet, he openly acknowledged that he had less-than-pure intentions... if anything, he seemed completely unconcerned with them knowing of his plans. He seemed... confident. No- arrogant.

Riku was getting a headache.

"Alright, guys. It's obvious he doesn't want to fight. But I don't want Bobbi alone. Dani, Kyle, stay with her, watch her back; Bobbi, don't start something we might not be able to finish. If he's this confident after sticking himself in the center of our combined forces, he obviously has a trick up his sleeve. It would not be a good idea to make him pull it out."

That was sent over the Charms to everyone on this side. He didn't like it; it went against pretty much every instinct he had, and those instincts kept him alive. But he was also experienced enough to know that if you have an enemy by the throat and he's still smirking, you messed up somewhere.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Cloud and Leon finally approaching the beach, which definitely gave him at least a little relief. Having someone else as experienced as himself, if not moreso, was definitely comforting in this situation; he hated to be dependent, but if Sora had taught him one thing, there was strength in bonds, not in loneliness.  

[LevDa]

[Dani :: Hawaii :: Beach]

“He is right Bobbi,” Dani looked to Bobbi since she was now in her power ranger suit. “I really do not know this guy but he looks like he would be hard to beat alone.”

Dani eventually made it to the shore and immediately found a purple teardrop shaped seashell and picked it up. As soon as Dani finished her examination of the seashell and stuck it inside of her pocket, intending to put it on her necklace later. “Well I found the seashell that I needed. I guess I will need to put it on later.”

Dani then heard Riku’s voice over the charms before she had finally had enough. “Guys,” Dani sighed into the charm, “I really do not know what the big deal is. I barely know who you guys are talking about in the first place or why this guy seems to be so ‘powerful.’ Can someone please be kind enough to fill me in with the details?”  

[Sable Argent]

[Alan :: Hawaii - Beach]

Alan bowed deeply in return. "Perhaps I was being a bit melodramatic," Alan said. "Still, dismal or not, this is a far cry from Paradise, no?" Alan was, of course, referencing Ajora's namesake. He had finally realized where Ultima came into all this, and was being determinedly cheeky about it.

Alan dropped the ridiculous register around this point. Ajora seemed to be speaking genuinely, so Alan continued to match him. Throughout all of this, his face was neutral. Ajora may be the most dangerous of their enemies, he reflected, but at least he was fairly easy to talk to.

"Evil Incarnate, though?" He seemed politely curious. "Is that what you are? The corporeal manifestations of the eeeeevil in our hearts?" He drew out the word evil, almost as if to make fun of the concept.

Meanwhile, Dani was asking a question. . .

"Oh! Sorry! Um, well, basically these people are evil copies of earthlings? They're the ones who we were fighting in Angel Grove - the other ones in armor. Somebody else could probably explain this better - one of the people who've been here longer."

It was pretty clear that Dani was fed up with being ignorant. Since Alan was in the same position less than a day ago, he felt particularly bad about having failed to notice until now. He added:

"Hey, come to me later and I'll explain everything I know. Once I'm not trying to schmooze up our mortal enemies."