Check (LonelyPuppet)

[xthelonelypuppetx]

Damn, he's good.

Helena sheathed her Xiphos now that the prickling feeling had faded away. She wasn't horrified by the way he fought the Heartless. True, his eyes gleamed with something close to madness, and his features seemed touched by a tad bit of mania, but Helena was aware that the heat of battle could change people. She experienced it herself often, actually: how the girl could so quickly destroy something she would so willingly protect was astounding. Fighting gave a person a reason to change from who they were before. It wasn't rocket science. Oddly enough, though, battling changed more about Hero's appearance. His cloak had even changed colors while he was fighting. Helena considered this for a moment, wondering what process allowed this to occur.

"Don't worry about getting carried away, Hero," Helena reassured him with a kind smile. Still, she would not take her hand off her sword. Now, however, she was absent-mindedly running her thumb and forefinger down the ribbon her father had given her long ago (why she didn't get rid of this ribbon, however, was beyond her.) Turning on her heel, Helena considered the best way to tell Hero what her powers were...

The pin-and-needles feeling was back. Helena smirked to herself and turned her head to her right. One last Soldier was approaching the trio. With each step it took, there was a resounding sound of metal clanking against metal. The Heartless was eying her in particular, apparently aware of the fact that his friends had underestimated Hero... well, probably, at least. Helena held out a hand in Hero's direction to signify for him to wait. She could handle this one. It was the very least she could do after Hero went and fought all of the Heartless off. Helena took a few wary steps toward the armored Heartless. Its beady eyes were locked onto Helena now.

The Soldier dashed toward the girl in a burst of speed.

"Farewell."

The sound of the snapping of fingers pierced the perpetual night sky.

Instantly, the Heartless lit up in a flurry of flames. It managed to trip over itself and went head over heels before lying flat a few feet away from Helena, flailing about in an useless attempt to put out the fire. The flames consumed the entirety of the beast, eventually leading to its demise and the release of the captive heart(s) within it. A flurry remained, slowly inching forward as if desparate to consume something else, but with the gesture of her hand, Helena put out flame from where she stood. Her smile had never faded.

"I've got pyrokinesis. That's my power." Helena turned back toward Hero, that grin growing ever so slightly. "Y'know, I was thinking earlier that I should ask you to spar, but seeing you fight so well, even now, makes me think that I'd probably lose." No, she wasn't giving herself any credit. If he could destroy those Heartless in the state he was in now, Hero must have been much stronger when he was at full health.

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"Oh, you flatter me! Really, I'm noth-"

Hero collapsed.

In the end, it turned out, he had used to much of his physical and kinetic energy without thinking much.

Apologies, Divine one. I thought you needed a bit of help.[/font]

Hero nonchalantly rose, using the crowbar as support. Even when he rose, he was rather unsteady on his feet.

"Well, they're all gone now, right?" said Hero jovially, though, his head was pounding uncomfortably. Hero noticed the amount of heartless and human blood had gotten on his cloak, so he removed it and managed to stuff it into his rather tight handbag.

"So you can use Pyrokinesis, is that right?" Hero said, "My power has no name. I just call it Kinesis - and stasis."

Since it didn't take as much concentration as Kinetics did, Hero raised another palm, and instead of the same cracking noise, a large brick came flying out of an old alley. It looked as though he was going to catch it, but it zoomed past his fingers and hit his already bleeding forehead. Hero recovered, still smiling, though it was a little bleak.

"Well, that's that."

[xthelonelypuppetx]

When that brick hit Hero's forehead, Helena couldn't help but freeze in horror, her mouth agape, her eyes wide. No words would come. No movements. Not even any thoughts. She wasn't used to things flying around, but of course, she wasn't used to bricks hitting people in the forehead, either. Hero did recover, to her relief... though she did remain somewhat paranoid that he'd get in again with a brick. He smiled, though bleakly, and said, "Well, that's that." Helena recovered from her shock and she relaxed entirely. At least he didn't pass out or something. How fast was that brick flying, anyway? If that thing would've hit me, I think I would've passed out...

Wow, was she really freaking out about this? How very hypocritical of me. I alwas tell myself that I hate it when people freak out, and here I am... umm, freaking out.

"You okay? Helena couldn't resist asking. "It's not everyday that I see people get hit with bricks in the head and walk it off. Stasis, is that what that power is called...?" Kinesis, or movement, and stasis, or stability. They were both very scientific names. Helena considered this for a moment, contemplating what other powers Hero possessed. Obviously he could move objects with his mind, but this was all she could really determine. What was the extent of his power? How could he use it? These were all dizzying questions. Helena had never been so fascinated before.

This adventure, so far, had been a "first" for many things.

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"Ah, well, even though I'm not strong, I'm fairly resistant." said Hero in an optimistic tone.

He lightly scraped his forehead with his thumb and stared with a perplexed look on his face at the blood that got on it, following it with a sigh.

"I don't think I'm going to like what I see in the mirror tonight."

His crystal-violet gaze turned towards Helena. She seemed pretty shocked, but relaxed when she saw Hero in a more relaxed condition than she expected. A fresh wave of blood started to drip down on Hero's face. He, on the other hand, looked towards the horizon. The night was growing - it was getting late. Hero contemplated the stars for a moment, sighed, then turned towards his companion.

"I don't think we'll have time to make it to a vet, Miss Ella. Dangerous things come about when you stray too far from time. I'm going to take a detour to my home."

Hero was about to wish her a good night when he paused, remembering what she said earlier.

"It'll take a lot more than that to get rid of me."

"Care to accompany me? I have the needed supplies to cure this dog as well."

[xthelonelypuppetx]

Hero was certainly right about that. Helena had wandered these streets thousands of times at the witching hour before. The numbers of Heartless would come to a peak, and every soul but Helena's knew that walking around at this time was a bad idea. This didn't bother her, of course. The Heartless weren't much of a problem, and more often than not they didn't care to bother her because she didn't care to bother them...

But still, Hero was the one who needed help here. He looked as though he was about to take his leave for a moment, then he paused as if remembering something. "Care to accompany me? I have the needed supplies to cure this dog as well." Blood was running in a thin line down his face. The motherly instinct kicked in again. Besides, Hero was her friend now, after all. Helena had to make sure he was taken care of.

"I'd be happy to walk with you, Hero." A smile touched Helena's pale lips. She continued, "You lead the way. I'll keep an eye out for enemies in the meantime." Helena took a few steps forward and pondered... Her eyes looked skyward. Hmm? The stars, though numerous, looked simply like small rips in a black blanket. One of them, in its final moments, shivered and went out. Helena frowned.

That just about ruined my moment...

Helena turned back to Hero, recomposing herself. "I'll take the dog for a few moments, if you want me to. I feel like I'm not helping very much, haha." The nervous laugh that followed marked the fact that she wasn't too used to this.

[ooc: My muse isn't working too well today *sigh*]

[untitled01]

( My muse is never working. Just lots of explosions and fictional genocide in this little noggin of mine. SO I'LL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. )

Hero gladly handed her the dog. A little blood was starting to get into his fur anyways. Hero stowed his crowbar int his blood-stained cloak and motioned Helena to follow him through a series of dark and dimly lit alleyways that looked more than capable of being murder scenes.

Hero could already tell Heartless were looming overhead. The wispy sound of crawling Shadows resonated on the rooftops, and every now and then, he saw a pair of grey, beady yellow eyes watching him from above. He felt Helena tense, but he pressed forward. It wasn't far now.

As Hero walked, he heard a rather audible rustling noise from above. As soon as he looked up, he had to take a step back, for the the dimly lit ground that was once occupied by Hero's foot now was replaced by a rather squashed little shadow, it's face shoved into the cement uncomfortably. It seemed stuck.

Hero picked it up by it's leg and stared at it. It stared back. Then, it's eyes narrowed, and it began to fretfully make attempts to claw Hero's face. Since he was holding it too far away, the stubby little arms failed to reach. Hero sighed, then tossed it into a nearby trashcan, where it rattled viciously, rolled it over, and was sent tumbling down another alleyway.

Hero knew this location well, but he almost completely got separated from Helena on this one turn. Hero halted in his tracks, cleared a few drops of blood off of his left hand, and grabbed Helena's hand.

"With this, it won't be so hard to get lost." he said, alacrity in his expression but a good deal of worry on his mind.

[xthelonelypuppetx]

Looks like I don't know Traverse Town as well as I thought I did.

Yeah, so Helena exaggerated a little. This was the part of town that she really didn't like to go through. Honestly, she wasn't a fan of small, cramped spaces. Alleyways were where she'd go to train herself, but they always did creep her out a little bit, especially late at night. The Heartless were numerous, but they were completely invisible, cloaked in the shadows cast by the moonlight. The dog in her arms seemed a bit uncomfortable as well, but she did feel a little safer knowing that she wasn't completely alone. Animals had an odd way of picking up on the emotions and thoughts of humans, and it too settled down a little when Helena came to realize that she wasn't alone. The girl adjusted her arms so that the dog could rest itself across one of her arms and the other was free. She brought up her palm.

"Ignite." Helena snapped her fingers, and small flame burst into life over her pale hand as she continued walking absent-mindedly. How she admired the vivaciousness of fire... She loved the way it danced above her open palm, eagerly reaching out to dispatch flickers of light across the darkness. The duality of the good and evil of fire was also attractive to Helena. It could preserve life through warmth and light, and yet it could consume everything it touches. For some reason, the way her powers could be bipartite almost reminded Helena of herself... She was a protector and an attacker, a guardian and a predator... Odd, how it worked out for the girl. The dark-haired girl considered this for a while until finally, she looked up from the hypnotic flame to see where Hero was.

He was gone.

"Hero...? The flame above her hand shivered and extinguished. She was alone again in the darkness.

And then he came back. He took her hand in his.

"With this, it won't be so hard to get lost." Hero looked willing but worried, an odd combination that she didn't see often. Helena nodded circumspectly with a quick glance around. The dog--a girl, no doubt--shifted in position across Helena's arm. They had to be close by now.

"Yeah... I kinda got lost in thought. Sorry for nearly losing you. Helena changed positions uncomfortably. She didn't like being here.

[untitled01]

"Here we are."

Hero and Helena came to a rather shoddy-looking building. Vines grew and crawled all across the brick wall that cemented the crumbling structure together. The moon above them started to wane as clouds hurried to busehl around it. Hero gave an in-audible yawn and opened the door. On the inside, it was just as dark as it was - if not darker - than the outside. No lamps or lights were lit on the inside, and the moonlight was barely able to illuminate the base of a staircase.

Hero looked to the side and retrieved a small flashlight hanging on the wall. It flickered a bit before finally showing light on the pale staircase. Holding Helena's hand tightly, Hero led her to the top floor of the apartment. A door at the end of the corridor shone with warm light at the edge of it's door frame. Hero fumbled with some keys before opening the door.

That apartment room and the apartment itself - well, they were clear opposites. The room was ornamented with warmth coming from the fireplace, lamps, lanterns, whatever light source there was. The furniture was furnished wood with an ancient-like smoothness to it, the carpeting was comfortably plush and not at all like the stone floor outside. Hero set his headphones on his shoulders and let his bag down by the door.

"Please be comfortable."

(( IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIIMMMEEE OF THE YEARRRRRR ))

[xthelonelypuppetx]

Ugh, not this building...

Helena distinctly remembered this building. She had always thought that it was possessed or haunted by some kind of demon. Most of the time, it looked like nobody lived there. On the outside, it was falling apart, and it was almost as if something was trying to hold it together through the use of vines. All of the lights were off. The sidewalk that lined the front of the building was made up of a spiderwebs of cracks... This was the part of town she hated to explore. Hero was either awfully brave or he had no sense of fear.

The case must have been that latter, because Hero decided to step inside.

"Wait... We're going inside?!" Helena muttered to herself. She wasn't one to feel much emotion, but fear was definitely an emotion that was not new to her. For quite a while, the girl had feared that she'd never see her home again. Eventually, the emotion had settled, and she'd become numb to emotion, but fear... Helena had come across plenty of places in Traverse Town that made her skin crawl. It was hard to believe that she'd fearlessly gone deep into caves flooded with Heartless to save others before, but that was a different instance. Nobody needed saving around here because virtually nobody lived here... And if they did... Well, look at Hero. He's tough. I bet he laughs in the face of danger.

Being inside the wretched building was even worse. It was virtually pitch black everywhere except where the moonlight fluttered in. There were no sounds, no good vibes to this building. If it was any consolation, the dog that lay in Helena's arms seemed to be fine. She relaxed a little bit and let Hero continue to lead the way up the creaky staircase and down the almost blacker than black hallway. He came to a stop at a door at the end of the corridor, in fact the only one with some light behind it, and took out a set of keys. After fumbling around in the darkness, the door finally opened, letting a flood of light into the dark hallway. For a moment, Helena allowed her eyes to adjust...

She stepped inside the apartment room.

The room itself was the polar opposite of the apartment building. Everything had a clean, crisp look to it. The carpet beneath her shoes was soft and unblemished. All of the furniture was furnished wood... Warmth emanated from every possible light source. Helena felt right at home here. Hero did seem to have quite a lot of stuff, though. I wonder what he does for a living... He's definitely got a lot of furniture. AND he pays rent. I wonder if there's an opening...?

"Sooo, what would you like me to do with the dog? I wouldn't want to stain your carpet..." Helena looked at her dirtied shoes self-consciously. She slipped them off and placed them by Hero's bag next to the door. The dog was excited to be in such warmth and squirmed in her arms.

[untitled01]

Hero gently took the dog from Helena's arms and placed it on the table, where it sat obediently, still looking around the room excitedly. Hero contemplated it for a few seconds.

"It's bruised, but not badly hurt. I think it just needs some rest and band-aids."

Hero pulled open a cabinet and received just that. Within a few minutes, the dog looked healthy. In fact, it seemed healthy, for once given permission to do so, it happily trotted around the room, stopping to sniff at Helena and Hero. He looked happily at it for a few moments before standing up, the sound of a scraping chair leg stifled due to the carpet. Speaking of rest..

"By the way, how do you get home?" Hero said to Helena. It was already late, and he might have held her up somehow.

Well, if that was the case, it wouldn't be too much just to walk her home again.

(( I'm sucking with my posts like a giant.. sucker.. ))

[xthelonelypuppetx]

Helena was pleased to see that the dog would do just fine. She loved to see a happy ending, even though she didn't reveal this to most. As she took a seat, the dog curled up next to her after investigating the immediate area to see if there were any more monstrous kids. The girl wondered to herself if she could keep the dog... That would mean more food to find, but Helena didn't eat a lot anyway... What a novel idea. Father wouldn't have any pets back home, so maybe I should go ahead and test it out...

"By the way, how do you get home?" That statement alone was like crashing into a brick wall at a hundred miles per hour. That's right. I don't really have a home... Helena quickly composed herself, hoping that Hero wouldn't see her expression. The dog peered up at her as if expecting an answer.

"Umm, well, I don't really live anywhere, actually. Some old woman near the First District takes care of me sometimes, but I'm the kind of person who roams around a bit. I don't sleep a lot either." She felt a bit self-conscious. Yeah, there was an older lady who offered Helena a safe place to sleep... but only in return for some chores done around her house. The truth was that Helena wasn't exactly employed. She was lucky if someone offered to give her a little bit of munny in return for her services. Though she would enjoy to have a little place of her own, Helena had no time--or patience--for work. Yeah, she thought to herself sourly, I'm too busy walking around waiting for something to happen...

((haha short post.))

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Hero stared quizzically at Helena's bitter features for a moment. It's true that Hero didn't really have a definite home either, seeing as his job required for him to constantly move between worlds, but someone took care of Helena every now and then. He never had a mother, a father, nor anybody else who took care of Hero but himself, besides the man who had accepted him into his company to work. He then wondered what it was like.

The dog whined, but sat still in it's quest to stare at the crackling fireplace.

Hero's expression cleared. "Well," said he, "Maybe you should stay a while. I don't think it would be okay for you to keep roaming at this time."

True it was that pyrokinesis was a special ability, Hero knew Traverse Town very well. Not even the largest amount of flame could burn down the wave of darkness and fear that crippled the many unfortanute wanderers who unkowingly ambled down the deathly alleys, far separated from the only safe haven in Traverse Town. Most of the workers that did jobs for Hero's company were already living in the first and second district. The third district was far too dangerous to live in, so Hero picked a place far to the side, and very high up. In other worlds, he sometimes had to pitch a tent in what only seemed like a safe place to do so.

This brought Hero's train of thought to another subject. Nobody he knew was really ever safe from darkness, but he also knew nobody who was affected by it just as much as him. Of course, like earlier, he could wipe out the least amount of heartless, but when it became too overwhelming, strange things happened. The voice in his head grew louder, and his vision wavered. His already frail body became more heavy with what seemed like drowsiness. The color of his eyes as well.. red?

Hero picked up the dog and smiled bleakly at it, trying to forget speculating over such things.

"I think this thing could use your company as well."

It barked in agreement.

(( WHEN YOUR POSTS ARE SHORT, just ramble on for a few hours about something totally unrelated to anything or something.. ))

[xthelonelypuppetx]

'Stay a while?' That was definitely a peculiar phrase to use. Helena knew that such words could have many multiple meanings. She was careful to look at his words in circumspect, though she did keep in mind that his personality as she knew it did not match up to several of her potential outcomes. Hero was a good guy, Helena assumed. He wouldn't be the kind that would want to hurt her in anyway... But there she went, assuming things that she really didn't have any proof for. Normally, the tsundere would condone such an action in any case... On the other hand, things had been awfully different ever since she'd met him. This much Helena was sure of.

Will things change for me now that I've met someone who's changed me...? Given that meeting Hero marked a quick shift in personality in Helena, she couldn't help but feel sympathy with her stray thoughts. Up at this point, she wasn't even sure when the changes would begin to take over entirely. She had no idea what would happen to the new Helena or if the old Helena would emerge at last from her sleep. Would the tsundere wake up one day and wonder who she was? Would there ever be a day when Helena would find herself dying so that whatever she left behind that fateful day could emerge from the ashes? Why am I so similar to the phoenix, anyway? Will I go through several cycles of death and rebirth because of this?

What a silly thought. Helena quickly let them go.

Still. No matter what emotions and thoughts got in her way, she still had to figure out how to say 'no' to her first friend. It had been quite a while since she last had someone to say 'no' to. How did one say such a thing without inciting negative feelings? Was that even an option with some people? This made Helena come to the realization that this might be part of the reason why she disliked people. She didn't like to imagine what a person might do.

"I'd hate to refuse your company, Hero, but I can't. I would like to see that you'll be okay..." The girl muttered self-consciously. The dog, as if she understood Helena's words, whimpered softly. Her rust-like eyes gazed up at Hero. "I hope you understand."

[untitled01]

[/color]

He felt like Helena misenterpereted something, but then again, he felt like he said the wrong thing. He liked Helena a lot, though, and it had been a long time since he felt this intimate towards a friend.

Master, you take intimacy a little far.. I've known you for a long time, shouldn't you consider me as we-?

"That's, um, okay. I'll accompany on your trip home, though. I'm afraid I can't have you object to that." Hero traced his lips, his eyes dancing with something playfull.

(( HNNNNNNNNNG CAN'T COMPETE WITH YOUR AWESOME LITERARY SKILL ))[/ul]

[xthelonelypuppetx]

When Helena saw that rapid change of expression, her heart sunk. She'd said the wrong thing. Oh, daaaamn... For a moment she continued chanting those thoughts in her mind until she finally realized what she had done. The tsundere turned on herself viciously. What a way to make yourself look like a total jerk, Helena. You like the guy. He isn't at all like anyone else you've met or seen around. You thought for a moment you had nothing to lose and WHAM--hit you like a ton of bricks. Nicely done, Helena. Wait--to--go. For a moment, she was more shocked than anything. Helena couldn't even move...

"I, uh, well...?" Yeah, she'd really screwed up here. Though his words did somewhat help her recover from her own surprise, Hero seemed taken aback as well. He paused; she wondered if perhaps, the feeling was almost mutual. Patiently, she waited for Hero to continue. She knew he had more to say, something extra to add. He was much more kind than she could ever hope to achieve on her own. After the pause, Hero picked back up, "That's, um, okay. I'll accompany on your trip home, though. I'm afraid I can't have you object to that." Something in his eyes was a bit playful. Helena fully recovered from her state of shock. Her muscles relaxed. Perhaps he wouldn't be too mad at her. She felt horrible about the whole ordeal already.

Hero...

"If you insist, Mr. Hero," She returned warmly. Helena hoped that this would quickly tide over. Yeah, she was aware she made a mistake. The tsundere didn't want to dwell upon it though. "But only after you're completely taken care of, okay?" She was aware of what it was like to walk around in a condition like his. Pushing yourself too much was exhausting. Within a moment she made a promise to herself not to move an inch until Hero was accomodated. That's what friends are for, right?

[[thankies :3 buuuut i think you've got a bigger vocabulary which i hate to not have. >_<]]