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{Ignorance is bliss... until reality throws a Heartless siege at you.}

[Traverse Town : Kuropo's Maze]

As the Dragon Knight continued to limp through the maze, he wondered if he'd ever run into the others. If he ran into another group of Heartless on his own... he'd survive. But after awhile, he'd definitely run out of potions. And then he'd have to heal himself, and use his only Ether in the process. And then he'd die.

He was not fond of that idea, to put it lightly.

However, as he reached a cross-roads, he heard someone familiar call his name down one of the pathways- turning to glance, he was rather shocked. It was Kuumaru, the heir, along with a rather large group of others, including Shugotenshi, a moogle and chocobo, a rather dark looking fellow (Shade) and his wolf. Quite the gathering.

But one was missing.

"I'm fine. No luck with Suzuran?" he asked, sucking up the pain in his leg and standing up straight. As a knight, he'd refused to show weakness, especially in the presence of royalty (and a sort of rival, though said rival looked to be a child). "We must hurry- this maze is filled with Heartless, and- Souzourou!"

As Soryuju had turned the way the larger group had been going, he spotted the male scholar coming off of another path connecting to their own pathway. Then they were all definitely here. Which meant they still needed to find the heiress.

"Have you seen Suzuran?" Soryuju called out, motioning for Souzourou to come toward the group. They'd need to get moving soon, lest Suzuran be in danger.

[∫ ʋ ʓ ʋ ʁ ᾲ ɳ]
{You look like you fell down a tree and hit every possible branch on the way down.}

[Traverse Town :: Maze]

Unfortunately for Suzu, who was rather far up the hallway had made a turn. She was rather light-headed, and was more frantic about finding her way out of the maze and locating Maru. But that made her more reckless, she stopped sensing for any presences ahead of her but instead ran in a limp to make up for any lost time. She always had her brother with her, they kept each other in check. But now she felt lost, her calm demeanor was quickly slipping away.

She turned again and stopped short, spotting a group of heartless not to far ahead, much like the ones she had just battled. Her face paled, she wouldn't be able to handle another group of Wyverns and Darkballs and a Fat Body. She quickly ran back into the cover of the wall, contemplating what to do. Baddies always blocked the exit... so... Suzu groaned as she heard a thundering of running, which could only mean that they saw her.

Summoning what magic she could, the geomancer created a wave of water to crash into the heartless still keeping herself in the shadows. The water rose as it struggled to find a way out of the maze, knocking the Fat Body over while biding for time. "Maru! You jerk! Where are you?" She shouted, as she stood atop the water, contemplating her next move.

The boy looked down as the warrior brought up mention of his sister. He clenched his fist tightly, until he overheard Sory and Souzourou talking. Kuu perked up a bit when he heard Souzourou say:

"...And Suzuran....that was her right?"

He looked towards the direction that Souzourou pointed in and began to ran past the rest of the group. "Don't worry Suzu! I'm on my way!" He came rushing into a group of Heartless and saw his sister riding on top of water. Without giving a second thought, he ran up to a Wyvern, jumped up and then drove his heel down on its head causing the enemy to crash into the ground. He jumped back towards his sister and gave her a reassuring smile. "I've got your back, and you've got mine. Let's clean up this mess, Suzu!" He said while preparing for the Wyvern and Fat Body to regain composure.

[Traverse Town::Jonah's shop]

The awkwardness between the two was almost palpable. But it was that normal and almost expected atmosphere among two people who had just met--
"You alright from earlier? Combat is always startling after the first time, but it will pass..."
Well, so much for the awkwardness. It seemed that Nalo did not have any fear (or tact for that matter) when interacting with other people. He just...ignored all of the normal subtleties of body language and tension, didn't sense what the things Window was feeling that others might have picked up on. There was always an unconscious and unseen aura and exchange people gave off, but Nalo didn't seem to sense it. He really was like a little kid! Window would have laughed again, but the rare mood had passed and so he kept it in. He didn't quite feel as comfortable as Nalo did at the continuing conversation, but still tried to adjust and answer the questions.

Window nodded his head. "Yes, I believe I'm all right. It is a very different experience, though. As for meeting up with others..." He paused. Now that he thought about it, what did he really want? He didn't know how or why he got here...he still didn't know where "here" really was. He knew nothing--nothing about all of these worlds, of the battle being fought, of the innumerable lives being lived and lost. His world had seemed so large before...and now it did not even merit a pinprick in the sky. He had a life back on his world...

The question was, did he want it back?

His father and sister were still there, but he knew they were safe. There had been no sign of the Heartless on his world, and an invasion would take some time to spread--if there ever was one. He should go back to warn someone, nevertheless. Although, who would believe him? Still, it wouldn't hurt to try, right? But his inner scholar interrupted, screaming, "How can you go back just yet? How can you leave all of this behind, this universe of unexplored and unknown life? How can you go back to that little bubble of existence without at least trying to see just a tiny sliver of what's out there?" The inner scholar had a point, and Window's curiosity was beginning to smolder and ignite. There was too much he didn't know; he had to see some of it, or at least discover why the Heartless were there and how to stop them. It was the least he could do--he couldn't go back without a solution to the problem of how to keep his world safe.

Window cleared his throat. "I...I think I would like to find out more about the Heartless. And...if you don't mind, I'd love to see some more of this universe. It is hard to convey, but...I have lived in such a small and protected corner that all of this is new to me--new conceptions of life and, well, everything. I know it's important for me to get back home, but I am afraid that my thirst for knowledge can be quite demanding. Do you know who is going off to travel? Maybe we can join them, and hopefully also find information on how to find my homeworld."


[Well, I've posted too many references to us being in 3rd district, so let's just pretend that I meant 2nd district this entire time. I just wish we had caught it sooner!>_<|||)

[Moggie & Shade : Traverse Town : Kuropo's Maze]

Moggie walked away from Enyb and down the path, curious as to what all the new commotion was about. She soon found out. There was another human. This time a female. And she was being attacked by heartless.

"Oh boy. This should be fun...." Moggie said as she readied herself.

Shade and Fang were way ahead of Moggie. After giving a silent order, Fang charged into the battle. The black wolf leaped into the air and pounced the Wyvern that was facing down Suzuran and Kuumaru. The wolf brought the heartless down to the ground where he started to use it's wings as chew toys before it disappeared into black dust.

The ninja drew her swords and stalked up behind the fat body. She was readied her self to strike it from behind with her swords. Shade stayed in the back and waited for the right time to strike.

[Traverse Town::Jonah's shop]

Nalo looked taken aback for a moment. Did Window saw something wrong? Had he committed some sort of taboo? He didn't think he did; certainly he had followed the conventions of conversation he had demonstrated previously...then it must have related to the content. What had he just said? Well, he had agreed to ask others where they were going and insinuated that they might ask to tag along as well. He didn't see anything wrong with that. Besides, Nalo seemed to shake it off. Maybe it was nothing. "That sounds like an agreeable option," Window nodded, still unable to shake some of the formality but become more warm with each conversation. "I mean, I do not yet understand how I got here, or about the Heartless, or what they can do, or how they spread...I do not even know how to get home in the first place! I also have to figure out how to not cause panic with my arrival, or how to avoid being locked up in a place for the insane..." After a moment of silence during which he mused inwardly, a thought struck Window. "But...isn't there anywhere you want to go? Anyone you want to see? Anything you want to do?" It escaped him that Nalo might have been concerned about Window's callousness to familial matters. But how could Window have known? He still did not have a very good idea about who his companion was or his background, despite the earlier breakdown. It would take time and patience before Window could see any perspective besides his own.

Tsurumi

I'd prefer if you were to just...

...disappear

{Land of Dragons ~ Field near the Forbidden City}

Looking around the area where they had stepped out at, she found it to be rather boring. Grass, a small river, and sunshine. That was pretty much it. Sure, there was a city to be seen, but it wasn't all that special of a scene. Ah well, not all things in life could be dismal and destroyed. Well...not yet anyways.

"Yes yes. I did indeed hear our orders." She said in a monotonous voice before she closed her eyes and focused on the wind. She started sending faint breezes away from her, in all directions, feeling the area around her for any significant changes. Then she extended that area, almost to the city. She would know if anything came towards them.