Skirts and Shadows (Victoria, OPEN)

[valkyrie]

His dream was dark. Not the blink-and-time's-passed flash of dreamless sleep, Victor dreamed of an oppressive darkness which flooded his lungs and threatened to push him apart from inside out. He awoke with a gasp, disturbed by the intrinsic wrong-ness of the dream.

It took a few moments for him to breathe out the darkness, to realize that everything else was wrong, as well. His apartment was gone. He was still huddled up exactly as he must have fallen asleep, skirts spread around him, clutching the knife to his chest. It was everything around him that was different.

He didn't stand, not yet. Instead, Victor rocked back on his heels to get a better look at his surroundings. His back thumped against a wall and he turned to confirm that he was indeed in an brick alley. One that was fairly clean, but nothing like the looming buildings of metal and glass he was used to weaving through. It was quieter, too -- none of the constant chatter of commercial billboards, cycling through the combinations of news reports and sales jingles. The quiet settled deep into his bones and made him feel just off.

The strange... sound (if it had to be described, Victor would frown for a while before calling it a "Woomp") was like the snap of a twig in a creepy forest, the groan of a door in the haunted house. Victor scrambled to his feet, clutching the dagger behind his back. Wherever he was, whoever had taken him there, it was best not to show immediately that he was armed. They might respond with a weapon of their own, and Victor could not deal with that right now. He needed more information.

After all that tension, what came around the corner was slightly anti-climatic. A small creature, black like wet velvet, crept around the corner. Big yellow eyes stared up like twin moons.

"Hey there, you're not.." Something was wrong. A voice in him was already shouting. He had to get away-

It wasn't until it lunged and bit him, on his leg, that the image fully came back to him. He had seen these shadows before, swarming the streets of his home. He reacted on instinct. Though he had never used it before, his hand with the knife darted out to strike the creature across the head. The sound was all around him now, he was acutely aware that more of the shadows were coming. He turned and ran through the alleys until he saw the glow of a streetlight. Even when he burst from the alley into the pool of light, the shadows still chased after. "Dammit..." He looked around. He had to find safety -- but what was safe? There were some buildings around, but there was no way he would want to trap himself in a room with these things."Get away from me!" He was in some kind of plaza, with other alleys going every which way. The shadows crept at him from the way he had come. He held the knife as threateningly as he could, though his leg was starting to hurt where it had been bitten. He didn't dare to check if he was bleeding.

[untitled01]

The sound of blood.

Blood, dripping on to a stone floor.

Hero never remembered much about his past, but the constant flashes that concerned a terrifying monster that stalked him throughout dimy lit halls - there was blood. A lot of it.

Before these rather un-likely events, Hero was dozing on the rooftops of the first district. His company often ordered him to deliver products, information, money, and retract certain possessions from clients. Doing this in the multitude of the worlds was highly satisfyingly hard, but still, tiring. His shift was finished for the day, and he was a tad too tired to travel back to his residence, so he settled his heavy handbag down next to a metallic air-vent, laid back against a seperate side of it and slipped his headphones. Odd as they were, Hero liked them. They provided as good earmuffs and objects of comfort when it wasn't playing music, and he liked the cat-ear-like design it had on the plastic wirings.

Hero felt himself drifting off to sleep when..

SWHOOP
THUNK

SPLATTER

In accordance, Hero could envision the scene as if it was in his mind. The swift sound of air being pushed against an object, the sound of teeth, or something of the sort, biting into flesh. Then, blood, which brings us back to the present.

"Dammnit! Get away from me!"

He was suddenly wide-awake. Hero's grip suddenly tightened on a metallic, thin object. The sound of rubber soles against concrete echoed throughout the area as Hero threw himself off of the rooftop's edge.

Then, the thought came to him.
Why did I do that?

Hero unsheathed a gleaming crowbar from beneath his shallow cloak - his rather skimpy substitute for a jacket. Like the petals of a flower, the cloak extended, revealing a plain, black sweater underneath, the portion below the elbows exposed.

To quickly stop his fall from being disasterous, Hero held the crowbar high over his head, cheked if his hands weren't too sweaty, and swung. The force exerted from the metal to the small, black head managed to stop him from getting his head splattered across the sidewalk. However, he was forced into a bending position as he landed. The brown cloak let down, leaving only the base of the sweater and a baggy pair of red jeans underneath.

But, one shadow out of the many wasn't nearly enough.. And these shadows were not the same as he had once seen them before. Hero watched as the others started to rally from having one of their comrades knocked into them. Setting his headphones on his shoulders, He let his hand with the crowbar stay limp at his side, and instead, raised his left palm facing the mass of black and yellow.

Kinetia!

An invisible force parted the crowd of the heartless - a defeaning sound of rushing wind filled the air as, it seemed, Hero shot some invisible force out of his palm that sent one portion of the alley flying out of the opening. However, only half a minute was all they had, and using Kinetics took a lot out of Hero.

This was odd. He had seen soldiers act as if they had seizures, Red Rahpsodies bounce around and shoot out great, flaming balls of fire, but never were the shadows this, how could this be described, evil? Hero had encountered some form of resistance against the heartless during his expedition throughout worlds, as he met them frequently whilst delivering products for his job.

Finally, he turned and looked at the boy who was attacked. Considering his curiosity, Hero would have taken a moment to acquaitance himself, but it didn't seem fit.

"Your injured - please escape through the cleared opening!"

( Jeez, why does my muse feel so hyperactive at 12:00 pm.. )

[valkyrie]

As embarrassing as it was, when the blue haired boy came flying down from above, Victor was so surprised the knife fell from his hands. It didn't seem to be a problem, though, because he wouldn't have to worry about those black... things if there were people who could blast them away without touching.

The logical, rational part of Victor's brain rejected such an idea, but the rest came around to remind them that these shadows had transported him (it had to be them, such coincidences just did not happen) from the safety of his room to somewhere completely unlike he had ever seen, and then attempted to eat his leg.

"You're injured - please escape through the cleared opening!"

Well, they certainly didn't have any time to waste. Victor crouched down, wincing when he saw the dark stain spread across the sock of his right leg. He didn't think about it, couldn't think about it. He grabbed the knife, trusting his own adrenaline to carry him through the run.

He didn't let himself see the shadows as he ran through the path, just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. There was somebody here, someone who knew things and could hopefully explain what was going on. That alone was more comforting than Victor anticipated.

He didn't look back until the sound of the shadows had ceased, the whoosh of his breath and bangbangbang of his heart the only things in his ears. He looked around to see a cafe, obviously empty from the lack of front wall, and collapsed onto a chair in front of it, resting his head in his arms as he allowed his heart, lungs, and mind to catch up with his body.

Belatedly hoping that he had been followed, but not willing to dash the hope by raising his eyes, his voice was slightly muffled by the sleeve of his jacket.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Shifting to crack an eye open, he added, "My name is Victoria."

[untitled01]

The shadows departed within a few more minutes of bashing. As threatening as they looked, they were fairly cowardly. Hero waited a moment to catch his breath, then, stowed the crowbar underneath his leather cloak. It occured to him that he should check on the person he just saved.

He peeked around the corner, then noticed a small trail of blood leading him onward. Hero retched slightly from the smell - obviously, blood gave no odor, but Hero was particularly different, in a bad way, that is.

He coughed to clear his throat and paced on. From using such heights of his strength, Hero was almost beat as well. He finally found the boy, whom was exhausted as well. He settled down into a chair next to him and slammed his forehead on to the surface, still trying to catch his breath.

It was an odd scene, two children face down, tired from what seemed to be a game of tag.

Herofinally looked up, his chin resting at the moment, hearing the person make his acquaintance.

"It's nice to meet you, Victoria," said Hero, with the slightest tremor of both sarcasm and questioning. It was strange, he thought. This person was clearly a girl - fascinatingly pretty at that, but there was something oddly masculine about his eyes and the way he spoke. He shook the feeling off. "I'm Hero."
"And pay no mind to my courageous deeds. I've seen much worse - I'm sure you have as well."

[valkyrie]

Victor frowned, both at the tone and words. Reaching up almost unconsciously, he smoothed a hand through his hair, checking to see that the wig was still in place -- it was.

"Hello, Hero." He said, sitting up and back. The younger boy was clearly still recovering, so Victor took the opportunity to get a better look at his rescuer... Hero. (Convenient name for a rescuer. Some kind of stage name? A code? He'd heard enough weird names in the performing business)

Whoever he was, he was clearly used to fighting, and expected Victor to be the same. It lent a strange maturity to his face, which conflicted with the youth also very present. He did not seem terribly surprised to encounter Victor, which indicated that that other people were not uncommon.

He breathed a small sigh of relief at that. Just to be mysteriously trapped in a maze of shadows? The thought made him grit his teeth slightly as the pain of his leg came back. He moved his hands to his lap and clenched his long sleeves tightly. It would pass, it would pass...

He could distract himself. "I don't have any idea what you are talking about. What do you know about," he lifted a still-clenched hand to indicate, well, everything, "These creatures, this place. The shadows. They took me here, I think. And how was it you could..." He waved his arm around in the best imitation of the magic. Sure, he carried an earring imbedded with the powers of transformation -- such things were not uncommon among those with enough munny --but that was for the practical purpose of clothing. The idea of magic used for fighting was something he had never encountered.

[untitled01]

Hero titled his head and looked at the boy strangely. Did he irritate him somehow?

"What do you know about these creatures, this place? The shadows?

Hero finally understood - this was, most likely, another fugitive of a world that was either destroyed or overrun by heartless, and - upon survival - managed to be transffered to this world, the home to such people. He opened his mouth to explain, but then-

"They took me here, I think. And how was it you could...?"

The girl raised her hands imploringly.
Hero took the notice. He sighed, slumping lower in his seat. Even though he had not taken any substantial damage directly, Hero's body was rather frail for somebody his age - rather, somebody who looked his age - ever since he emerged from a cryogenic gummi-ship, he had only lived his life 9 years. His face still pressed to the table, his words came out quite clearly, british accent ringing.

"It's nothing special - I wouldn't like it much if I didn't need it."

"More importantly, that leg needs some patching up?"

Hero reached into his handbag and pulled out a thin-looking first-aid kit. He was the one usually using it - getting constant bruises and cuts from numerous things.

"Where does it hurt?"

[valkyrie]

A first aid kit -- good to see he was prepared. Victor wasted no time. He stood, angling himself away from Hero, and pulled the long sock down until it sat baggy around his ankle, over the small boot. He was careful going over the wound, which went from under his knee and halfway down the shin, wet the feeling of wet fabric disengaging from the wound sent a shiver down his spine. He pulled his chair out a bit more and sat again, propping up a thin leg on the table without any shame. This put it at his eye level, though, and his eyes and hands suddenly became focused on getting the arrangement of skirts and petticoats just so.

As he did, he considered. "Nothing special?" Where had he ended up that such a scene was not notable? And the accent... it wasn't like any he had heard anywhere else in the world. Was it the local speech, or was the other boy not from this... wherever as well? He certainly looked out of place, the blue hair and purple eyes standing apart from the warm, slightly-worn feel of the place.

Hero seemed respectable, if a bit contradictory, but something in Victor was unsettled. "You didn't answer my questions. Besides, whatever that was was clearly something special. You look exhausted."

[untitled01]

(( Ack, I keep mixing up the words boy, girl, he, and she. > > Let me know again if another error pops up in the next few posts. ))

Hero managed a weak, bleak grin as he started to lightly dab at the wound with antibiotic medicine. The wound wasn't very deep, but considering his past experiences, they could turn into something worse.

"I don't know where it came from either." Hero said tirelessly, as he applied a bandage over the wound and secured it with adhesive cloth tape. "I have my share of questions, as you must have, but I fear no answers will come to me any time soon."

"Whereas.." Hero set his leg down gingerly, wiping his hands. ".. I may be able to answer a few of yours, however slow my uptake."

Hero finally managed to sit up respectably. "Those odd creatures you saw just now are Heartless - reincarnations of hearts that have been devoured and transfigured into many different forms of danger, the ones you saw just now being the most ordinary."
He showed no sign of faltering alacrity as his calm gaze met Victorias, the pale, violet eyes seem to study the green, as if there were some value in them.

"You're in Traverse town. A world that may or may not have been similar to yours, but I'm guessing that as of now, it is all you have."

[valkyrie]

((No problem! I totally get how it could be confusing.))

The antibiotic stung a little bit, but Victor was able to put it out of his mind. When Hero finished dabbing it over and sat back, Victor pulled his leg from the table and kicked it about experimentally. Already it was feeling better.

Though his vacant gaze may have made it seem that his mind had slipped off without him, Victor was focusing on Hero's words, turning them over in his head. Other worlds... it seemed he had traveled farther than he ever imagined.

His world (it was strange now to think of it in such terms, and in the past tense) had been one of constant action. Though the sun rose and fell, there were always people awake, lights on, sounds blaring from the roads far below. As such, any sight of the sky above was often through the haze of lights. As Victor stared up into the sky, he was struck by the stars, how bright they were -- like distant windows and streetlights, worlds of their own.

Still, there had been the rare, almost impossible night when the entire city, together yawned together and shut off their lights. The shock of it drove everyone out into the streets necks craned upward, seeing something so unlike the usual.

The two sights were both utterly unique and perfectly identical.

And the Heartless... "You are right." His knife had fallen when he sat, and hi picked it up now, looked at it with consideration. "This Traverse Town is what I have now." If those had been the most basic of the creatures, Victor was unprepared to be alone. It simply wasn't safe. He could barely fight, but he would get better, make do with what he had.

Something deep inside of Victor rebelled at the idea of relying too heavily on a stranger, one who could have any sort of motive. Still, Hero was someone with knowledge and power, at least for now. Besides, it never hurt to make connections. He looked at the boy. "What about you, Hero? Where are you from? What do you do?"

[untitled01]

"Hm.. well, that's a problem, you see."

Hero put away his first-aid kit and balanced his chin on his palms.

"Even though I don't look it, I'm only 9 years old. Biologically, I don't know where I was born or what exactly might have happened in my earlier years."

That was slightly wrong, though. Time and time again, morning, noon, and night, raspy and rattling voices sometimes troubled his mind. His nightmares often cropped up with experiences with horrible, terrifying creatures that chased him to the point of near death. . . But Hero didn't see how that connected, so he just suggested to himself that he had some kind of trauma.

"I work for a company that sends employees to clients to deliver, or recieve information, packages, or money. It's nothing special, but it's my only job."

Hero's gaze was kind of trance-like as he looked back at Victoria. This person did indeed have a past, a present. He missed one of them, but he tried as hard as he could to look ahead. Now that she was here, Hero wondered how she would fare, judging by the stature of her after dealing with heartless.

"Even though the first district is the safest, I don't think you should stay here long. How about I escort you to saftey? That is, unless your leg still causes you pain."

[valkyrie]

((Apologies, I am in the throes of AP testing.))

Only nine years old...? It was a strange idea, but Victor was in such a situation that the laws of reality as he knew it had taken a significant step to the left. He was prepared to try and understand the realities of others. Victor hummed a note of attention to this strange tale, not really knowing what would constitute a proper reply.

Victor noticed the strange, almost empty way that the young boy was staring at him. Clearly, he was seeing something far past an injured human in skirts. Victor stared back without reservation, curious despite himself.


"Even though the first district is the safest, I don't think you should stay here long. How about I escort you to safety? That is, unless your leg still causes you pain."

The question startled Victor, interrupting his wondering, but he did not let it show. He just blinked once, twice, and looked at his leg. Whatever medicine was effective, at least at numbing. He stood up and rested weight on it carefully. It gave at first, just for a moment, but he caught himself. He walked in a small circle, coming to lean his arms against the back of his chair. "So, where exactly is safety? Is there somewhere the Heartless cannot get to? And is it in this world, or another?"

[untitled01]

"Hm.. well, there are a few residences within the more friendly portion of Traverse Town, but there aren't really any designed safe houses, as heartless like the one we just saw were really rare."

Hero scratched his cheek and hurriedly inspected the ground. He rarely felt insecure emotions, but he was good at hiding them.

"Um, nobody ever bothers me at my apartment.."

Ironic, it was, for Hero to use the word "nobody".

( No problem, I'm facing similar faults. Sorry for the short post. )

[valkyrie]

Victor's mouth was set in a grim line. "No safe houses, huh?" He tossed the knife from hand to hand, a well-practiced idle move. His eyes tracked the blade as it moved, the clean metal glinting. "Looks like I'm going to have to figure something out." He'd survived so far, and he was coming to accept that the new definition of survival was a little more... deadly. The prospect still made his stomach twist a bit, but he would find a way to adapt. He had to.

As for the rest, Victor shifted his attention the young boy with a raised eyebrow and quick exhale that wasn't quite a chuckle, noticing how Hero had become suddenly fascinated with the bland brickwork. "If you are proposing your apartment as a place for me to stay, I refuse with apologies. I like my privacy." It's his own private joke, really. It's not one he's particularly proud of, but he doesn't plan to let it go. "However, if there are any other apartments in your building, it never hurts to know someone in the area." His lips curl up almost unconsciously into his Charm smile, the one that had made others blush and open doors.

[untitled01]

A charming feature embraced Victoria's features.

Hero didn't really comprehend.

"Uh, well, you see, the apartment I live in actually is abandoned, and in an abandoned area, therefore, the reason why it is rarely visited," He explained. "It would indeed be fitting for you to go near the centermost region of town, but after those heartless, I'm not sure which area is safe anymore is what I'm concerned with."

Hero stood up, slinging his handbag around his shoulder.

"Most of the residential buildings would be closed at this time, though." Hero raised his finger and traced the outline of his lips in speculation. "We'll have to risk trespassing through the district to find a suitable arrangement for you to stay until you recover. It wouldn't be pleasant for the horde to find us one more in our conditions."

He gave her another bleak smile, but it was difficult to do so.

[valkyrie]

As soon as he saw the boy was merely confused, Victor let his face slide back into simple nonchalance. Figures the Charm wouldn't work on a nine-year-old.

He considered his offer carefully, though there didn't seem to be much of a choice. Victor didn't have any money on him, so there was no option of getting an apartment through legal means. Besides, who knew how the rules worked around here? Since Traverse Town seemed to be a mish-mash of heartless and fellow stranded people, the chance of a government or police force was very low. It wouldn't be the conditions he was used to, but Victor knew he could find a job somewhere, and get by like he always had.

Though he held some trepidation about traversing through parts worse that the danger he had already seen, Victor held his chin high. Standing, he smoothed a hand over the bandage on his leg, then over his skirt -- an idle, skimming touch that reminded him of his need to take care. He sighed. "I see. If that's the only option, then I must ask you to lead the way, Hero." His leg was feeling alright now, but he had no idea how long the medicine would block out the pain, and putting strain on it could be risky. At least for now though, it had to work.