Dark Discovery (PM to join)

[shudin]

Out in the wasteland of blue, a blue-haired young man sat. Shudin Darcana had the day off from his patroling duties. Still, he didn't feel like being in the busy town today. Instead, he was out here, looking up at the late afternoon sky. Surprisingly, he hadn't been ambushed by Heartless so far. It was looking to be a good day

Maybe I can unlock that power...

The young man felt over his heart as he thought this. A couple days ago, a stranger had tested him. After passing the test, the stranger had unlocked something in Shudin's heart.... What exactly was unlocked, he wasn't sure... However, it did feel good.
If it'll help me find her... it's worth it....

[13ulbasaur]

It was so long since Zephyrus had first plummeted into a new world. It was so odd, the whole idea that there were other worlds to his own. Even now, he's still a little dumbfounded by this discovery. But with the help of a friend, he finally managed to get out of Traverse Town and visit a new place by this odd flying device called a Gummi Ship. The name baffled him initially, it made the solid machine sound like candy. Though honestly, it didn't really look that impressive. It had such a simple design, one that he would expect to see on a child's toy. Except children's toys don't have powerful weapons and missiles that could take out heartless while traveling through space at high speeds.

Why was he even pondering this anyway? He's finally at a new place, though he's not sure what he can do here. The place is huge, so his first impulse was to explore, leaving his moogle friend to take care of his ship. And explore he did, he met a number of characters, and he soon found himself wanting to explore a little further out from the town. Of course, he had heeded the warnings some had given him about heartless possibly popping out, but he supposed it was a matter of avoiding them and if it really has to come to it, see to it about fending them off.

But thus far, everything's been fine. He could take in the scenery without the sudden appearances of the creatures. He wasn't too worried about getting lost, even if he was new to this place. As long as he could still see the tall castle that towers over the place he should be able to make his way back before dark. Hopefully.

As he turned another corner, he saw a glimpse of strong blue. For a moment, Zephyrus' heart leaped in a momentary panic, thinking it was a heartless, but upon moving a little closer, he noted that the blue was hair, attached to a person who was very much alive and not heartless. He smiled, his ears flickering in a momentary delight. It was nice to see someone else out here, hopefully he could befriend this person? But then it might seem awkward, just some stranger suddenly walking up. Huff...

He walked closer to the person, into a more suitable range for socialization. "Ah, hello, good afternoon. I uh, couldn't help but notice you sitting here all by your lonesome. I thought.. some company would be nice." He started, with a friendly smile. "You don't mind if I sit here next to you, do you?" He motioned at the space next to where the other sat.

[shudin]

Shudin's solitude was interupted as a person came into sight. An interesting sight, too. Like himself, the person had blue hair, though it was much longer in the back. Unlike Shudin, the person had yellow eyes that were similar to that of a cat, or beast. To add to this, they had fin-like protusions instead of ears. Lastly, Shudin noticed the person wore glasses, and had somewhat aquatic colours for their clothing.

The stranger greeted Shudin, and asked if he could sit down. Whoever they were, they were polite at least.
"Sure." Shudin responded, motioning to the spot next to him, "Go ahead."

For a couple moments, Shudin said no more. He wasn't too certain what to say. Lead with a question about the stranger's... oddities? Ask him to be a test for unlocking his heart further? No... Instead, Shudin figured he'd start rather normally.
"My name's Shudin." he said, extending a hand for the stranger to shake, "What's yours?"

[13ulbasaur]

Zephyrus grinned as the other gave him the okay to sit next to him. He was actually, initially, a little worried about how the other might act. He had met with more than his fair share of... not so friendly people. Though it might have also been Zephyrus' own fault for his own odd behavior then. He had to remember he wasn't a prince here. Either way, it was nice to meet with another who knew politeness and at least Zephyrus knew his greeting was okay. So Zephyrus seated himself next to the boy.

There was a momentary silence, Zephyrus glanced around awkwardly, but mostly looking at the sky. Since he had 'left' his world, he had been looking at the sky more than he did his entire life. Though he had basically been on land all the time since he came here and besides that he hadn't even seen any oceans. Zephyrus stared at the sky with those thoughts, before he realized he hadn't introduced himself. That was a minus for him, he should have introduced himself. It's basic etiquette! But right when he moved his gaze from the sky back to the other to introduce himself, the boy had started already.

Now that Zephyrus identifies him as Shudin he smiled and took his hand, shaking it lightly. "It's nice to meet you, Shudin. My name is Zephyrus." He let go of the other's hand, looking back at the sky, "It's a really pretty day today, isn't it? It's actually nice to see some sunlight, I've been in Traverse Town for how long and it's like an endless night there." He looked back at Shudin, "So do you live here, or are you also just on a visit?"

[shudin]

Shudin nodded. It was a pretty day, more or less. Then Zephyrus said something that got his full attention.
"Traverse Town..." he said, "I once lived there... Though this world is my home..."
For years, Traverse Town had been his temporary home. It was there where he learned most of what he knew, including his swordplay. Unfortunatly, his sister had never arrived there.

Shudin looked to the sky for a brief moment. Indeed, it was different from Traverse's Town, which almost always resembled night.
"So you've been to other worlds..." he said, "How'd you get here?"

[13ulbasaur]

"Ooh, so you lived there once? Hehe, it's a pretty nice place, huh? Hmm~ But it must be quite nice to live here too. It's so beautiful and the folks I had met thus far are really nice." He grinned, remembering this duck-like fellow who apparently was selling some kind of ice cream. Sea salt, was it? He didn't get any, but thinking back on it now, what would an ice cream that was apparently flavoured with or after pretty much where he used to live taste like? How did they get it anyway? The sea salt. Maybe from the other side of the planet, or imported from another planet that actually has an ocean? Hm... Oof, he should get his thoughts back on track. Shudin had asked him a question, it'd be best if he answered it.

"Oh, well I haven't really been to many other worlds. This is the first different world I visited, after winding up in Traverse Town through a.. chain of events." He grinned, once again, before adjusting his glasses which had started to slide down his nose some. "Well I have a moogle friend in Traverse Town, and he said he was going to explore some other worlds. I asked if I could come along and he said it was okay, he wanted a bit of protection outside his ship anyway since he doesn't do fighting so much. So I rode from there to here on his Gummi Ship. He's probably relaxing in town at the moment. I thought I'd do a little exploring around, the whole idea of there being different worlds is still quite exciting for me."

[shudin]

Shudin smiled. It was interesting to hear an outsider's perspective on your home world. Shudin agreed, to an extent. It could be a nice place to live. The people were generally nice. There was a saying... familiarity breeds contempt. Something like that.

"Hmm..." he said, thinking. If Zephyrus had access to a Gummi Ship, then it would do well to get on his good side.
"I know the feeling." he said, "When I first arrived in Traverse Town, I wanted to explore it as far as I could."

Well, that was a partial lie. Mostly Shudin wanted to explore Traverse Town to find his sister. Still, Zephyrus didn't need to know about that. He was still only an acquaintance, after all.

[13ulbasaur]

Though Shudin obviously meant that in the way that Traverse Town would have been a new world for him after Radiant Garden, or something along those lines, Zephyrus grinned, remembering his experience when he first ended up in the town of night. "Haha, my first arrival at Traverse Town wasn't too fun for me, though. I literally fell off the balcony in the Second District and landed on someone else. Heh, it was pretty embarrassing, really. But he forgave me, even if he does have a cold attitude in general. I actually still wonder if that's part of his personality or he still dislikes me for that... Oh, sorry, I think I was talking too much, huh?"

He gave a cheesy smile, scratching his finned ears lightly, before focusing his attention back on the other individual. So how do you often continue a conversation? Zephyrus thought on this. He didn't really want there to be an awkward silence. Those were just awkward. Hence why that word is in the term. Asking questions would often do, but what should he ask about? Maybe just get to know Shudin a little more in general? Yeah, those are good to continue conversations. He thinks anyway. "Hmm, so, what do you often do? You know, like a, a, what was it, ah, yeah, a job. To earn Munny. I'm just curious, is all. I used to just act as a delivery boy in Traverse Town for the item shop. I didn't really earn much, but it was just enough to eat."

[shudin]

As Shudin listened to Zephyrus speak, the young man formed an impression of him. Zephyrus seemed like a good man. Curious, and perhaps prone to tangents, but a good person. Shudin then wondered what kind of impression he was giving off. Hopefully nothing bad...

It was then that Zephyrus asked what kind of job Shudin had. Not a completely odd question, though random nonetheless.
"A job?" he replied, "Well, I sorta..."

With somewhat ironic timing, a group of Heartless appeared behind the two men. Shudin heard them before they had a chance to attack. He got to his feet, and drew his sword, ready to take them on.
"I take these out." he said, answering Zephyrus' question, "Of course, you're welcome to help... If you can. If not.. just stand back."

With that, Shudin charged forward, and slashed at the first Heartless he could, vanquishing it. Another two jumped at him, but the young man was prepared, and he rolled forward. The two heartless colided.
"Ha!" Shudin said, taking the opportunity to slash them both out of existence.

[13ulbasaur]

Well Zephyrus certainly liked Shudin quite a bit. He's nice, though he didn't talk too much. Or maybe it was just Zephyrus who was talking too much. Or maybe it was both. Perhaps Zephyrus needs to cut down on the amount of words he uses. But then he might seem too quiet. Zephyrus' ears perked up slightly when Shudin started to speak, his attention pulled away from his random thoughts to listen to what Shudin's occupation was. He got up to his feet almost at the same time as Shudin had, just a tad slower, his rather ornate spear suddenly appearing in his hands in a small white flash, similarly ready to take them on. "Heh, I never knew you could earn a living taking Heartless out. Though I don't know many things, I have much to l earn. Don't worry, I'm capable of taking these guys out too."

Unlike Shudin, Zephyrus did not charge forward, instead he held his ground and raised his hand. In a short moment, a blast of electricity was summoned down on a small group of Heartless nearing Shudin, knocking them down, before charging in and, with his spear, slashed at most of the Heartless with the sharp fin part of his spear. Most of them disappeared, but some of the stronger more resilient ones remained and got back to their feet. Zephyrus stepped back hurriedly, not wanting to be in their attack range due to his own poor defenses.

[shudin]

Shudin saw a flash of lightning take out a group of the heartless, and realized it was Zephyrus' doing.
Good. He's capable. This'll make things easier.
As Zephyrus took out the weaker heartless, Shudin vaulted off one of the remaining ones, into the air. He then dived back down, thrusting his sword through it.

"Heh." he laughed, taking note there were only two heartless left. A Soldier, and a Large Body. Shudin could take both of them. The Soldier lunged at him, only to be blocked, and counterattacked.
"One left."
The Large Body was heading in Zephyrus' direction. Shudin intercepted it's path, and kicked it back, launching himself into the air. Here, threw his sword into the staggered Heartless, destroying it.

After landing back on the ground, Shudin walked over to grab his sword, talking to Zephyrus as he did.
"Thanks for the help." he said, "You're pretty good, actually. And yeah, you can get paid for taking out heartless... Of course, the pay is so-so, and it can be long hours..."
As he finished his last sentence, he was facing Zephyrus, with his sword sheathed on his back.

[13ulbasaur]

Zephyrus whistled a little as Shudin pulled off his little aerial dive trick. Well it was pretty impressive, even if he was a little bit of a show off. Shudin is a pretty skilled sword fighter, or at least what Zephyrus has seen so far makes it seem that way. He probably is though, since he apparently fights heartless for a living. It must be really tiring, and really dangerous too! Heartless aren't exactly your average dangerous little animal after all.

Zephyrus noticed the Large Body approaching him. At this, he backed up slightly and hefted his spear a little, raising his free hand slightly to use another magic attack, but Shudin quickly took care of it, once again performing another fancy aerial attack. He really was an impressive sword fighter. Still a show off though. Zephyrus looked left and right, checking to see if there was any remaining heartless, before focusing his gaze back on Shudin.

"Ah, thanks. I didn't really do too much though, you're really skilled with the sword." Zephyrus smiled, and the spear in his hand disappeared in a soft white flash, "You must have a lot of stamina to spend hours on hacking at heartless, huh? It must get pretty tiring." Zephyrus took one last glance around, you know, just in case any more Heartless pop out. It was fairly quiet now, so it should be okay. Hopefully, anyway. Zephyrus moved over to where he was previously sitting and sat back down, "Huff, heartless are such curious creatures though. Like, what are they, exactly? I was told they are more or less, like, beings of darkness or something. But it's still quite something to think about."

[shudin]

Shudin smiled with a bit of embarassment as he went to sit down next to Zephyrus once more. Really, he praised Shudin too highly as far as he was concerned.
"Thank you." he said, "But I'm not that great, honestly. I'm just used to it by now."

This was true. There was a time Shudin remembered where he could barely harm a Shadow. But, as with most things, it only took practice... And in Traverse Town and Radiant Garden, Shudin had plenty of it. By now, Shudin knew how to handle most of the heartless that showed up here.

Zephyrus then pondered about what Heartless were, exactly.
"You have the basic point right there..." he said, "Though, if I remember correctly, they have something to do with the darkness in a person's heart."

Darkness in the heart.. I wonder how much is in mine...

Shudin then looked at Zephyrus, and wondered how much darkness was in his heart... Going off his impression of the man, Shudin guessed there wasn't much. Then he had a thought....

"Hey, Zephyrus..." he said, "You mentioned that you had a moogle friend with a Gummi Ship... I was wondering... would he have room for one more person?"

Alright, so he went the blunt way about it, but sometimes blunt was good.

[13ulbasaur]

"Darkness, huh? Ever since I came about in Traverse Town, I've heard a lot of talk about darkness and light. And hearts. A whole lot of stuff actually, but mainly those three. Or maybe it's just me." Zephyrus stretched a little, and rested his head on his hand as he started trying to think of something to continue the conversation.

Zephyrus lifted his head up when Shudin started talking, well at least now he didn't have to ask him another weird question, "Hm?" ...Ooh, so Shudin wanted to go somewhere, too? "Well, the ship is fairly big. I'm sure we have enough for another and I don't think my friend minds, hopefully, but it also depends on where it is you want to go, uhh, depends as if, like, whether he'll say it's okay or not. Since I don't think he'll want to move too far from our original route."

[shudin]

Where did Shudin want to go? He never had given much thought to that. There were countless worlds that the young man had never seen out there... He didn't know the names of them either... Aside from Traverse Town.

"I don't have any specific world in mind, actually..." he said to Zephyrus, "If anything, I'll probably get off at the first world we come by... If I'm allowed, that is.."

Shudin hoped this moogle pilot would allow him to come along. He hoped Zephyrus wouldn't mind, either. It was probably a lot to ask of strangers, but...
The benefits outweigh the costs in the long run...