Progress as Planned

[starseeker]

A minute mission, a simple, quick survey of the world.
Ruold absolutely hated it.

Flying around masquerading as Phantom was good fun to scare the children and all -- oh, how he hated the brats -- but he was up to more of a challenge today. Why, the perfect opportunity chanced. A veritable feast of Hearts. Plenty of people to pick off silently, manipulate, all sorts of nice things!

And so he, a spirit errant, flew about the bailey. Looking for trouble.

[Shun]

((NOTE: Claymore security system is active and has been improved since its appearance in KH II... so cha, expect those little guys to track you down soon and perhaps alert the RGURC. Just a warning about what could happen XD))

[shudin]

Shudin was walking through the town of Radiant Garden, for what would probably be the last time for a while. He had secured a way off of this world, and was spending today getting ready for the journey... And on a subconcious level, taking in the sight of his true home.

Things seemed normal as he walked up to a shop, and browsed some of it wares. After a moment, though, he could've sworn he felt some sort of familiar presence.
"Hmm?" he said, turning around. There was nobody there, however.
Must be imagining things...

[starseeker]

((Thanks, Shun. Will be remembering that. But I'm not on the ground XD))

And who should he find but his former. . . client. . .

This would provide some wholesome entertainment, as well advancing the plot he had sown in this boy. Which reminded him, he didn't even know the youth's name. In which case~

Ruold, still in his cloth-clad form, swooped past the young man, breathing Darkness on him, and giving him another taste of the tantalizing power they both knew he wanted. Surely that would be bait enough, even if he was unknown at this point; returning to the Great Maw where they had chanced to meet before, he awaited his charge's arrival.

Oh, how he hated the waiting.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Islander Shaman

Giggles fluttered in the radiant air like bubbles and butterflies. For no reason in particular, unless new wardrobe counted, Kairi felt unbelivably lighter than ever as if she can genuinely dance on air. Despite her troubles such as: wanting to say goodbye to Reno before she left and find the constant evasive Kuu, she felt light-hearted, girly, and free; she had no idea that it was a little round sphere on her person not only changed her clothes, but also gave this sense of euphoria.

Her gym shoes were replaced with airy bround sandals that padded along the cobblestone; the straps laced up her legs so she didn't have to worry loosing her balance and footing from the sole, then pontentially sprain her ankle. The fringes of her skirt wrap brushed against her ankle as it part revealed her legs, while the knot rested on her right hip. This attire seemed typically normal for her since she had grown up on the islands, but the dressphere had seemed to keep her proper by bestowing her a pair of tight shorts. What she loved the most besides the wierd tatoo like markings that won't fade when she rubbed at it was the flowy doll dress top. Put it altogether and the princess was more inclined to spin and dance in circles happily.

To bad there wasn't a beach nearby, because the youth had missed running, rolling, and laying in the sand and kicking, running, and splashing in the ocean. The marketplace would just have to do for now for the sudden rush of energy she had, or does it? With a smile, she began to run towards Merlin's house, but she nearly skidded to a halt feeling...something.

Storm. Rain. The Beach. The Boats.

Memories of her island's descent into darkness came to mind instead, which only made her brows furrowed in a questioning manner. Was it darkness? She was going to call herself crazy, because darkness wasn't very evident in Radiant Garden thanks to Tron. As if on cue, she heard the buzzing fragment defense system beep and flicker. It was tracking something, but it seemed unsure since it never made a fast pursuit before dying down as if it was a false alarm.

What are you feeling Tron....cause I'm feeling it too....

For a while, she stood there trying to figure out the general direction, while question herself should she really pursue it. Was she truly prepared to take such endeavor and dive in it head first? Well it would typically be a Sora move to jolt forward ahead and plan as he went along. Her eyes shifted thinking about what would Riku most likely had done. Either way she was stomped, since she was neither despite how she looked up to them, especially the eldest of the trio. Then her mind drifted to the redheads, and from there she shook herself out of it.

"Get a hold of yourself."

[shudin]

As he looked around in confusion, Shudin noticed a girl with short black hair, and a rather "islander" sort of outfit. The young man guessed she was another outsider, like Zephyrus. His curiousity of other worlds flared up again, and he was about to go introduce himself to the girl.

However, before he could, a figure in a dark cloak brushed past Shudin, breathing on him as they did so. Normally, Shudin would've shrugged this off, but...
What was that... energy?
Something in the figure's breath seemed to draw Shudin's attention... It reminded him of something.
That power I felt... When Alkana did.. something.

For a brief moment, a dark look found it's way on the young man's face. Then, it disappeared as Shudin looked towards the Great Maw.
I wonder...
Shudin then looked back at the island girl for a moment, before deciding to head to the Great Maw.

[starseeker]

Relieved to be out of the vision of passersby, and out of reach of those blasted Claymores, Ruold took a trip down Memory Lane. He flew over to the exact cliff that they had met before. Not that it was at all distinct from any of the other blue crags in the Maw, but... Surely his little prodigy would recognize it.

It wasn't long before the bedsheet ghost spotted the boy running towards him. Making himself clearly visible, Ruold quickly melted into the darkness, and resurfaced a human....oid.

((bleh post is blehhh))

[Ellie who has 0%]

Kairi twiddled her fingers before drawing her own conclusion; whatever it was it couldn't stay in the city, so it must be in the outter bounds that circumferences about the town. She's been to the outside the Castle Gate and into the Ravine Trails, so perhaps it had landed all the way there. The disguised redhead hummed to herself; she would've grabbed Yuffie to tag along with her, but she had no idea where she could be now. The Ninja had away of not being around when one needed her and be very evasive only to pop out of nowhere at the oppurtune moment. She doubted these would one of the moments that she stalked behind her. Well she was an unofficial member of the restoration committee so she can always use 'scouting' as an excuse despite how she's somewhat not allowed to.

Alright I'm going!

She knew the way like the back of her head, but what began to make her uneasy was that...someone was going there to...or so she thought. There really wasn't multiple ways to get there, and she never saw this guy or so much blue before. With that said, she knew he had no business in the Ansem's Castle; sure there's a library, but she always thought the RG Committee should take better care of it, especially with someone so valuable like tron being in the same place. Sure there's a protected password that doesn't allow anyone and everyone to access it, but that doesn't mean structure wasn't needed.

Silently, she decided to let him travel a head of her before following suit. If he's heading to Ansem Castle, she can redirect him elsewhere, but if he goes any further she may have to play slueth or be the good sumaritan to tell him it isn't safe. Blue eyes rolled at the thought, he probably wouldn't take me seriously, since I was going there as well.

As she fell behind, her mind processed other possibilities. What if he wanted to join her? Her brows bundled in uncertainty, since she was rather eager to fly solo for once. That's the reasons she left the islands to find her own wings and soar. It's not like she was too prideful to ask for help, but in every scenario she could think of...she was always the one that needed 'the help' besides being the 'helper', which easily can denote her to literatery terms like 'damsel in distress'.

//Shudin please put a link of your charrie' profile in your siggy. I had to hunt it down to even know what your character looks like\\

[shudin]

As Shudin made his way, he thought he caught sight of the island girl following. He couldn't be sure, though, as his attention was more focused ahead of him.
Only someone who could defend themself would come out here... Or somebody really naive... I hope she's not the latter...

The cloaked figure had gone up what was a familiar route for Shudin. It was the route he normally took on his patrols. And the place, where the figure stopped.... It was the same cliff that he'd take a break at... It was also the one where he met both Alkana and Zephyrus.
Why here?

When Shudin arrived, the cloaked figure was gone... And in it's place was Alkana.
"You?" he said, taking a defensive stance, "What are you doing here?"
The young man hadn't drawn his sword like he had done the first time he'd met Alkana, but he was ready to. After all, the man was still a mystery.

[starseeker]

Ruold's ruse had been successful. "Ah. It seems you've readily taken to it. Good, good. Tell me, have you been utilizing it lately?" Walker put on his 'in your best interest' face, somewhat believing his scheme that he wanted the boy to find his sister. Now was a pretty good time, he deemed, so... "I don't believe you ever told me your name. Not that I didn't ask more of you, but. It seemed friendly enough, well enough courteous, he might as well introduce himself. "Actually, I haven't been totally honest to you about MY name, either. However, I'll reveal that to you in due time," he said with a tone of finality.

He noticed a particularly disgusting bright scent coming up from behind the young man. It seems he was in luck; Master Ansem would most surely want a Princess of Heart, non? It would also serve as excellent bait for any dashing hero that might be waiting in the sidelines.

My, but how plans conflicted! If he let her go, surely she would alert others in the city, and then there'd be trouble. But it seemed oh so worth it to possess this one as his pawn; and after all the 'work' he'd gone to towards the cause, too. Therefore, kidnapping her would make his fledgling despise him, and if he revealed himself, the entire XII of them.

What to do, what to do....?

[Ellie who has 0%]

What to do?

Kairi stayed back in the Crystal Fissures leaning against the wall that opened up to the Maw. Her brows narrowed at the peculiar situation; he seemed to know this heartless, yet there seemed to be an...estranged relationship that she obviously wasn't in on. Just how he directed himself at him made the overall dynamic delicate as if it can break at any moment.

"...have you been utilizing it lately," the heartless asked, which only made the Princess of Hearts more concerned.

What would anyone take from a heartless and trust it? It just smells like trouble waiting to happen, because with her own experiences heartless never came with anything good. Actually she learned those with the most humane faces are generally the ones to not trust; Ansem was the major influence in that, especially the hardship he gave Riku. She would rather trust a shadow than any of them, since even when Sora became a heartless he was no where near such monstrosity.

Wait a minute! They don't even know each other names! What kind of THING IS THIS?! Seriously she has been around strangers, but atleast they were polite and normal to give names. Hell she even gave people an alias, which she would use even now, since she found the characters before too risque to trust with her identity. Why on earth would anyone take something from a heartless and can't be trustworthy to stand on a square one of hospitality of a common name exchanging greeting.

This is bad...really bad. Silently she stood hiddened and nearly strained herself with hope that he was just give back what he had taken and walk away from the heartless complete. Walk away, Walk away

[Charme]

There was no scent. No way of knowing who or what he was. No sign of him approaching... Nothing but the sound of footsteps.

The man in the black jacket crossed his arms at the man known as 'Walker'. His black hair fell wildly in front of his face, his silver eyes full of contempt. The man held no weapon, no form of defense, only a grimace. Ienzo hid behind the protection he had created with Elaeus so long ago, one of the last remnants of the original Dark XII- created in the tower of Yen Sid, as a matter of fact. The garment could hide his signature completely, including scent and powers.

So to them, he was human.

"Since when did Heartless gain acceptance into the Garden?" he asked reproachfully. His eyes narrowed at Luord. If his accomplice gave his position away, Master Ansem would be furious, but Ienzo would be seething. "Your smell gives you away for miles," Ienzo said. Naturally, his nose was as sensitive as his Nobody's, although they wouldn't know that. He'd smelled Luord, and his fire had sparked. His friend didn't know that he had gained entrance to the Garden, with Tifa's permission. This was a neutrality that couldn't be wasted on a talk with the Princess. "As Ien of Radiant Garden, I'm asking you to leave or die."

But at the same time... He didn't need to know anything at all. This was Ienzo's business and Ienzo's mission. It might also mean he was absolutely screwed in terms of espionage, but that was a term he was prepared to deal with.

[shudin]

"Utilizing it?"
Shudin was confused by what Alkana had meant. What was it that he was supposed to be utilizing? Was he somehow supposed to use what the stranger had unlocked in his heart? If so.. How could he go about doing so?

Alkana then pointed out that Shudin never had introduced himself... And that apparently Alkana wasn't actually his real name.
The young man kept his defensive stance, rather unsure of what to do. "Alkana" had already lied to him, but.. At the same time, he had given Shudin something... That as worth something... Though it would help knowing exactly what the 'something' was.
"How about this?" he said, trying to bargain, "Give me a reason to trust you... Explain to me how to use whatever you unlocked, and then I tell you my name. Deal?

[starseeker]

A sigh came from Ruold. As he lifted his head to 'Ien', he spotted a knowing glint in his eye. A silver glint. Not ,any people had that eye color; that could be a future detriment to him. And his horrible creativity with names.

"My, my, my. Quite the party we're having here, hm? So many unexpected guests."[/color]

However... people had come, but he had no intention of letting them leave. A snap of the fingers, and a Dark Barrier came up. His nose wasn't good enough to tell whether he was successful in trapping the girl with them; a posse from town wouldn't be good, now would it?

Even so, announcing his alignment wouldn't do now... not while so many people had tailed the two of them. He would have to wait and see what would happen next. He closed his eyes, and put his feet together. He slowly raised his arms to his sides, small sparkles swirling about his feet as he did. As he returned to normal stance, he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the Crystal Glade.

[Ellie who has 0%]

The mutual aggreement between the Heartless and the other only boggled the princess more; now she wondered how stable the blunette's head was. Who would openly get so involved with a complete stranger. Creeping forward, she stood slick against the Crystal Fissure exit as she stared at them tensely to the point she didn't knew someone was approaching from behind. It wasn't until he was in the mix with them and spoken up when she noticed.

Wh-what wait...when did he get here! Kairi's mind realed as someone else stepped into the picture, and he was wearing a black cloak. Uuug that fashion statement was carrying a bad name and connotation to it. Everytime she saw it her mind relfected writing to the Nobodies.

She wanted to see and hear more but she didn't want to get too close. With another step forward, she felt something shield up behind her. Turning around she impacted a field with a mist black as night.

Oh no

It smelled and reeked with darkness. She would utilize her light to cast it off, but how would that manuever go unnoticied?