Like a Crow to Carrion... [OPEN]

[Larxene]

The Old Mansion of Twilight Town was always a cool, foreboding place, long abandoned by denizens now forgotten, built in the wooded area outside of Town, beyond the great wall that surrounded the Tram Commons. Its roof leaked, the windows were drafty, and everywhere it showed the passing of many years in dust and crumbling columns and creeping ivy like curtains upon its walls. But today, if possible, the air about the Mansion held a deeper chill.

The broken window panes frosted over and stone surfaces were slick with a thin coat of ice. If one let out a breath it would waft before them like a mist. It was like a winter, one without snowfall or lofty, white clouds, had fallen upon that place basked in eternal twilight and a red-gold glow.

But in truth it was Darkness that came. The black and white shape that perched above the Mansion’s great, arching gate was testament to that – Cersei.

With her beady, golden eyes, gleaming like molten treasures, the Magpie Heartless gazed over the grassy field before the Mansion and deep into the forest tunnel that led to the bustling Town that sounded so far away, yet was so near, ever watchful for the unwanted as her master worked within…

---

He knew quite a bit about the Old Masion, though he never had visited the place himself.

He knew that his pathetic excuse of a Nobody was once felled before the very visage of it, in a Castle that teetered between Realms Light and Dark, begging for his empty life with fears he did not have. He knew that it was before its gates that Xemnas, Master Ansem’s own hollow twin, found his Thirteenth shell – Keyblade Master made. He knew it was in the Mansion’s depths that a different, truer Ansem, Ansem the Wise, hid the very same Keyblade Master as he regained memories once stripped away. And it was here, he knew, that the once King of Radiant Garden erected a massive system of computers and machines, to aid in the Keyblade Master’s recovery, to imprison the Organization’s Thirteenth in a digital copy of the Town beyond the forest, and to conduct, analyze, and store research from the years of his exile.

Of the many things he knew of the Old Mansion, crumbling worse than ever these days and infested with vermin of the literal and Nobody variety, it was the last item and last item alone that Even bothered himself with a journey from his own lab.

He didn’t need the equipment there. Not really. But he could always have done with a few extra parts, just in case. And the simulation Twilight Town – well, more importantly the tech used to create it – Even wouldn’t have minded looking into that. Break it down, learn its secrets, and create simulation landscapes for his own use. Perhaps create a simulation lab to test his more… volatile experiments in, and do no damage at all to the real thing. If anything, though… he was far more interested in any data the old machines may hold – research that the old King may have haphazardly left behind when the boy woke and the battle against the Organization began.

Long braid slung over his shoulder, the Shivering Savant did his best the clean the dust that caked the main computer screen with the back of his sleeve. It came off in tangled clusters and made his nose itch.

When Even first found the lab it took a good while to get the power going again. It was a dusty clutter and the air was damp, and the lights, when they finally did come on, sputtered like candles in a draft. He nearly tripped once, and after much searching he found the power to the computers too. Like the lights the machines took their time whirring and rattling to life. Not a reassuring sound, Even mentally noted, and when the faint, pale light of the screens finally flickered, basking him in half darkness, he was seated in the dusty chair for a good five minutes.

The keys were dust filled and move stiffly when his fingers struck them, but all the same he set to work, navigating directories, leaning forward to squint at the still very dusty, scratched screen to find what secrets the old King must’ve... he had to have left behind.

His search had now begun, and all he needed now was time and quiet. And not to be disturbed.

“Do be a dear and see to that, Cersei,” Even said softly to the empty room, but he knew, though she was outside, in the chilled air, the Magpie heard him, and gently ruffled her wings.

[Deleted]

Twilight Town had been a relatively calm place in comparison to the fiend ridden Spira. It was a nice change for Netti, though he still missed his home. Though recently Twilight Town had been encountering quite a few of the dark beings the locals called Heartless, as well as a few of the white beings. It was in times like these Netti knew he needed more practice with his rifle. He knew how to shoot it, but shooting anything from farther than a couple feet away would likely equal a miss. When in the face of danger that was never a good thing so lately Netti had been doing some sharpshooting practice. One of his favorite spots was the woods and the old mansion, because they were mostly isolated, and when Netti practiced in town people always got grumpy because of the loud noise a gun would make.

The passageway to the forest was an old crack in the side of Twilight Town's wall. Netti had no idea how it got there and everyone he had ever asked didn't know either, so he could only assume it was made in order to get to the mansion. Though now he was once again passing to reach the old mansion. He would probably gather a few old plates or pieces of wood as targets though this time something was different. As he exited the woods something was really different. It was only fall yet frost was covering the ground, and ice on rocks. What was this mess. It was surely bizarre to Netti and he could only wonder if maybe it was the heartless other white creatures that caused this. It was either them or some mage spell gone wrong.

Something else then caught Netti's eye. It was a bird, and not a normal bird, this bird was creepy to Netti and was not like a normal bird in Netti's opinion. Was the bird causing the ice. Couldn't be it's only a bird, and even the windows had frost covering them. It was something else. Though the bird was still creeping Netti out and he wanted it to leave.

"Maybe the sound of my gun will make it run," Netti said taking his gun off of his back pointing it near the bird.

"Here goes nothing ," He mumbled pulling the trigger, causing the large thud of the gun to echo onto the old mansion. Of course the bullet was going to miss, even if he was pointing directly at the bird, but he hoped the noise and the fast moving object would be enough.

[Ren]

If you're blue and you don't know
Where to go to, why don't you go
Where fashion sits?

~ ~ ~

Because the woods was always creepy - perhaps the stigma of a so-called "haunted" mansion, perhaps the very existence of such a strange place hidden behind a crack in a wall, perhaps because of numerous rumors of attacks by strange creatures on innocent civilians and hearts being stolen - it was odd to hear a cheerful whistle ringing through the still, chill air.

Myde paused mid-whistle to chuckle at the word for a little bit. Chill. Snerk.

He himself had just been chillin' - el oh el, there the word was again - around at Market Street, making small talk, doing a couple of street performances despite being incredibly humble and quiet (neither of those adjectives were true, by the way) and just all around having a lazy time of it. Naw, he wasn't here on any missions; why did he have to be, to go sight-seeing, eh? Couldn't he just be taking some time off of his arduous schedule?

[Actually, his schedule more often than not contained mostly time off from his supposed backbreaking work. But, y'know, he liked to complain.]

True enough to his usual staying-inconspicuous-by-being-conspicuous plan (which didn't work sometimes, believe it or not), he was wearing a blindingly bright teal blazer over a casual white shirt, which was hanging loose over his black dress pants. A black fedora with a matching teal stripe of fabric around the middle was tipped just so over his face, giving him an air of what he liked to call "mystique" (though others would call it "douchebaggery").

Still, Myde was in a good mood, all things considered, and fancied himself a stroll into the creepy Woods, because why the heck not. And it wasn't, y'know, off base to say that he was more than moderately intrigued by the whole place (for many of the same reasons as Even, though he didn't know that, of course).

The cheery whistle evolved into a hum and mumbled lyrics: "Different types who wear a daycoat, pants with stripes / And cut away coat, perfect fits / Puttin' on the - "

BANG.

A crack like a bullet resonated through the eerily quiet trees. An uncultured shriek that was definitely not the next lyric split from Myde's lungs... to which he promptly cleared his throat and smoothed his blazer. Okay, he was still in one piece, so whatever had happened didn't really matter because it hadn't happened to him.

He poked his head out from behind a tree, blinking at the sight before him. Some kid a mite shorter than him had a gun out - gulp - and was aiming at something up higher than him. Frowning, Myde traced the angle of the gun with his eyes to -

... no way.

A slow, broad smile broke across his face as he surveyed the mansion in front of him. He hadn't noticed - he really could be quite oblivious sometimes - but a definitive chill - heheh, now he could really laugh - had crept through the still air. The windows of yonder Mansion were frosted like a house on a Christmas card, and spidery webs of ice had spread across the rocks and the ground. Coupled with the appearance of a bird that looked waaaaaaaaay too effing familiar, it was all Myde could do to keep from snorting with mirth.

But this kid. Did he sense something was up? Myde licked his lips nervously; if it was his pal holed up in the Mansion, well, it was better to divert attention, right? So, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants, he strode out from behind the tree, clearing his throat so as not to freak the kid out... though Myde looked pretty far from threatening, and to be totally honest, wasn't even much of a threat anyways.

"Hey, dude!" he called out. "I, er, had no idea that it was... um... bird hunting season. Unless, like, the bird ticked you off. Or something."

AKA: Who are you, what's going on, and what do you know.

Subtle? Maybe. Intelligent? Hardly.

Myde offered a friendly - if nervous - grin anyways.

[Ren]

(bump. it's been almost a month and a half now.)

[Deleted]

(Not sure if I'm supposed to post next or Cade.)

[Ren]

(Cade's turn... she's busy though... but just thought i'd bump it .__. )