Searching [OPEN]

[kokoran714]

"Show me the way. Those heartless aren't going to destroy themselves right?"

Grinning broadly, Paul replied, "Well than!"

Grabbing Corona, he gripped the sun ornaments on the ends of the lyre, and the instrument glowed a bright light, it's structure changing. The light faded, and there in Paul's hands lay a a beautiful bow with details exactly the same as its other form.

"I can assume you have some form of weapon or another, so let's shove off; we have ourselves a Heartless hunt!"

With that, Paul began to stroll down a nearby street, he leading Miki to one of the points in town that he knew was quite the Heartless hotspot. This'll be a lot more fun with Miki in tow! I don't know her combat abilities, but it's something to certainly pass the time. And we should be good... I've yet to see an extremely dangerous Heartless in the area we're going...[/i]

And so they continued, making their way through the streets, towards the intended destination.

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After about 10 minutes of walking, the duo had reached the place. The journey had been quiet, and the sun still shone brightly over head. Birds chirped in the distance as the two stood in the middle of a complex of houses, all having rather beautiful gardens, and large fences in front of them to protect against Heartless attacks. Those who chose to live here were probably some of the bravest souls in Radiant Garden; with the Heartless that more commonly appeared here, you had to be brave enough to defend the sanctuary that you called home.

The town's castle could be seen in the distance, as well as a rather crystal filled canyon, with a large gorge also apparent. But for now, Paul remained focused on what was around them; any minute now, the devils would make their appearance, and the priest was wanting to have the upper hand on them.

Suddenly, Paul had the nagging feeling something was watching him; not just Miki, but as though there was an audience wathing him. Not turning to Miki, Paul warned, "I think the party's about to start. Draw your weapon."

With that, the youth held his bow aloft, and scanning the vicinity, and awaited the appearance of his shadowy foes.

Come on out, Heartless.... I know your're there...[/i] Paul chided in his head. He was getting anxious. He wondered how Miki was feeling for the coming storm....

[armybrat213]

Miki followed Paul quietly. He led her to a small area in the middle of a group of houses. If this was a hotspot she couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live here. She took note of the tall, thick fences. They didn't seem like much.

"I think the party's about to start. Draw your weapon."

Miki glanced at Paul. He was scanning the area with his bow in hand. She slid her finger over the top of her gloves and the blue, durable shield began to form. The blue shield took shape around her fingers and grew up to around her elbows. She rubbed her hands together and could feel the electricity in her gloves charging up.

She was nervous to say the least. Miki had only a small idea of what to expect which only added to her nerves. She swallowed the small lump that had formed in her throat and scanned the area with Paul.

Suddenly Miki noticed a small black form appear out of nowhere. The black blob seemed to grow slowly from the ground. It lifted it's head and stared at Miki and Paul with bright yellow eyes. Long antenna sprung out from it's black head.

"Is that..it?" Miki asked. It didn't seem like much at all.

[kokoran714]

Paul saw the small black blob crawl out of the ground, the shadow Heartless twitching around in jerky movements. The priest thought it strange for just one to appear at first, but felt quite confident that more were to come.

"Is that... it?"

Paul shook his head no, but then bit his lip and then nodded yes. He then went on to explain, "Yes... that's a Heartless. I call 'em Shadows; they're the most basic Heartless I've seen... They're kinda pathetic." But that doesn't mean they can't be dangerous in a group.".

At once, the Shadow, in its quirky little dance, had its head snap to face Paul, and then lept at him, claws flying.

The priest didn't flinch as the Claymore system released a pillar to where the Heartless was in the air, smashing into the critter, and then causing the Shadow to dissapate.

"I'm not sure what that is, but I suppose it's some sort of defense system of the town... I often wonder if the committee of the town are in charge of it." Paul remarked, his bow still at the ready.

An unatural quiet filled the area, leaving almost complete silence. Once again, Paul glanced around anxiously, anticipating to where the next Heartless was to appear.

Using his peripherals, The youth took a look behind him when he heard buzzing coming from Miki's direction; what appeared to be a field of blue energy that covered in a similar way guantlets did, however... this one hummed... humming like the machines Paul had seen that work because of electricity.

It was then ahead some dark little orbs appeared, and then exploded into Heartless; a platoon of 3 soldier Heartless barred the way in front of Paul and Miki.

But that wasn't the last of them. A wave of 5, small Fire Bells (Red Nocturnes) appeared behind the duo as well, their beady little eyes watching Miki and Paul.

"Ah... there's the welcome I know." Paul chuckled. With that, he slung an arrow from his quiver onto his bow, and suggested, "The Fire Bells are pretty flighty, but I'm good at knocking them from the air with my arrows; but which ones do you wanna tackle?"

Another peculiar thing was happening; it almost seemed that the Heartless were controlling theri urge to kill the two, as though they waited for something. Paul couldn't care; that gave he and Miki time to plot how to defeat them. He awaited her response, eyeing the floating little heartless in red capes, and was hoping Miki was watching his back.

[armybrat213]

Miki watched in interest as the first heartless was destroyed easily by a pillar not brought on by Paul or herself. Moments later when more creatures appeared her eyes widened. The pictures Paul had drawn were wonderful, but seeing the real thing was still so different.

"The Fire Bells are pretty flighty, but I'm good at knocking them from the air with my arrows; but which ones do you wanna tackle?"

She was glad Paul would be able to knock down the flying ones. She'd probably be able to get those eventually, but it'd take to long for her. Miki was a good jumper, but if those things flew any higher she'd be at a loss. "I can grab the ones on the ground then help you take care of any that are left of the flying ones."

'I hope...' Miki thought. As soon as the thought crossed her mind things flew into action. One of the heartless lunged towards Paul and Miki. She met the creature halfway and stepped sideways to avoid it's sharp claws. As the creature became level with herself she punched down on it's already hunched figure sending it sprawling in the dirt. Because of her gloves the heartless was now temporarily paralyzed. She turned her attention on the other two heartless on the ground to make sure they weren't heading for Paul.

[kokoran714]

In response to his suggestion, Miki replied, "I can grab the ones on the ground then help you take care of any that are left of the flying ones."

In response to that, Paul gave a sincere nod, and then maneuvering himself between Miki and the Fire Bells, he answered back, "Thank you."

It was then the chaos broke loose. The priest heard the clank of boots and could only assume one of the Soldier Heartless had begun the charge on the two of them. But that's not what was drawing Paul's attention.

The Fire Bells began flitting around the battle field, floating every which way. While trying to decide which to take out first, he recieved a quick fire ball to the forearm, to which he hissed in pain as he patted out the flame that had begun to burn his arm.

A thud echoed throughout the area, and the clank of metal hitting something solid could only mean that Miki had succesfully pounded one of the soldiers. With a Grimacing smile, Paul notched an arrow, and sent a swift projectile straight through one of the Red bells that had begun to get to close to take a shot on Miki.

The spell caster exploded into darkness as the arrow sailed through it, the ammo dropping to the ground where the Red Bell once floated.

Arming a second arrow, Paul sent the shot at another one of the flying Heartless. Luckily, it hit it's mark, and yet another of the pyromancer Heartless fell. Going into a kneeling position, Paul examined the battle field; his targets were now weary of him shooting fireballs, and seemed to be moreso on the defensive, trying to bounce more than attack.

However, one of the Red Bells finally took an action, and sent a blazing ball of fire at the exposed back of Miki. Not wanting her hurt, Paul raced forward, and batted the ball away with a swipe of his bow, quickly returning fire. The priest thought to himselfI hope Miki's doing good... I'll heal us if need be...[/i]

The arrow missed, but caused the hot headed Heartless to float right back among its bretheren.Paul taunted in his head, That's right... go into your litte flock so I can pick you off easier.[/i]

[armybrat213]

After seeing that Paul was doing fine with the other ones she returned her attention to her problems. The two heartless stood idly and Miki took this chance to take out the paralyzed one. She punched it in the chest one more time and watched as the creature disappeared in a puff of smoke. When she glanced up she saw both of them running straight for her. The first one clawed at her and she dodged it, but by dodging it she got caught straight in the path of the other. It reached out it's claws and tried to swipe Miki's face off. She leaned back out of the way so only a finger caught her face. It scratched her down the cheek.

Miki turned her body and kicked the creature in the chest onto it's back. The other heartless ran up to her for a lunge. The electricity in the gloves had all but run out, but she knew that she could use the extra strength it gave her just as well. She threw her arms back and as the creature got close she clapped him on both sides of the head. It disappeared just like the first one had.

The creature on the ground now slowly began to get up. Miki stood up straight to catch her breath when she felt the heat rise behind her. As she turned around she watched Paul jump right behind her and swat a fireball away from her with his bow. She grinned and turned back to face the heartless on the ground, "Thanks Paul! How you doing over there?"

The heartless finally stood up tall and lunged for Miki with it's claws stretched out. In one swift movement she grabbed the heartless' claw and flipped it over her head throwing the creature into the ground and finishing it off.

[kokoran714]

As Pul warded away the fire ball attack racing towards Miki, she said gratefully, "Thanks Paul! How are you doing over there?"

Taking aim once more, Paul inhaled deeply and held his breath, and let another arrow sail through the air. Unlike the last one, this one also hit its mark, leaving just two more Fire Bell Heartless.

"Pretty well. They're more like gnats if anything." The priest responded to Miki's question.

Many clanks could be heard in the background, but Paul tried to ignore them; he still needed to finish his job. Taking aim once more, he was about to loose another arrow at one of the beasties. That was, until the other one decided to start charging up an attack. Quickly shifting targets, Paul took advantage of the Fire Wielding Heartless being stationary, and released his ammo, the arrow penetrating the cloak of the Red Bell.

One more floating Heartless remained. Once again, the soud of armor hitting the pavement sounded, and that more than likely meant Miki was doing quite well herself.

The last Fire Bell looked frantically around, trying to find some cover, but before it had a chance to move, an arrow lodged itself in its head, and like its bretheren, exploded in a cloud of darkness.

A small clink also sounded, as a small vial of blue looking liquid also fell to the ground; an ether. Quickly snatching up the "drink" and some of his arrows, Paul glanced back to see that Miki had vanquished all the Soldier Heartless.

Paul called to her, "That's great Miki! But get ready; I think the next wave's coming!"

[armybrat213]

Miki turned off her gloves and touched her cheek. It had stopped bleeding and now was a bit sore. She shrugged it off as a minor annoyance.

"That's great Miki! But get ready; I think the next wave's coming!"

The words had just escaped Paul's mouth when six more heartless appeared. They were tall, thin humanoid heartless with the same glowing yellow eyes. They wore silver armor and held a sword in their hand (Armored Knights).

Miki took a hesitant step back towards Paul. She quickly turned her gloves back on and stood at ready. "So which ones do you want to take on this time?"

[kokoran714]

The six Knight-like Heartless appeared, and Paul drew his bow, preparing to defend himself if need be. This was not a species Paul was familiar with, so he had no idea how this kind of Heartless behaved, or how it attacked. This could be bad.

Beside him, Miki asked, "So which ones do you want to take on this time?"

Notching an arrow, Paul replied to her, "I'd think it'd be better if we both fought all six; I'm not going to lie, I don't really know much about these Heartless, so it might be better to stay on the defensive for now."

The Knights, much unlike the previous wave, wasted no time in beginning to charge their enemy the foes in a long line with their swords drawn.

Paul, not really wanting to get skewered, placed his hand on his pocket, preparing to draw his fletching knife. If all went as according, the priest was going to try and knock away the blade of the Knight Heartless, and then proceed to stab it in it's "armor chink".

His world fell almost silent as Paul awaited the incoming Heartless, his blood flowing loudly in his ears. 20....15....10...9...