Home Sweet Home [Skylar, OPEN]

[skylar]

Skylar decided to search the area where he last new Axel was. The upstairs room across where they were now. As Skylar walked into the room he didn't see anything out of the ordinary from what he should expect from this run down mansion. It seemed to be a library with all the books covering the walls. "Come on Axel where are you. Just show me some kind of sign. Any sign will do." Wondered Skylar.

Searching the room more thoroughly Skylar couldn't seem to find any trace of Axel. He even went as far to pull every book off the wall in case there was a secret passage or something. After setting all the books up in a corner of the room Skylar continued to search the rest of the room. He began tapping around to find some kind of hollow spot or something that could hint some kind of secret room. Finally his searching started to pay off. He found out that about three quarters of the room's floor was some kind of metal cover. He could hear the difference in the sound of the floor when he tapped on it. "Hey! Aidan!! Think I found something!"

Once Aidan made his appearance Skylar explained what he had found. "If you listen closely, you can hear the difference in the sound. If you tap the floor here it sounds like you tapping a wooden floor. But if you tap over here it sounds like there's a metal substance underneath. At first i thought it might have been an air vent or something but it spreads over most of the room. There's diffidently something under here. What are you thoughts?' Skylar concluded.

[wanderingknight]

Aidan pulled Skylar back a bit and stepped onto the area that the teenager had called to attention. Making sure there was enough space overhead, the Taranian unsheathed his weapon, jumped up, and slammed his sword into the ground, creating a strong shockwave which created a large hole in the floor. Anyone who looked in would see a room underneath the floor. "I think you're right," he quipped. "Might as well investigate."

He gracefully jumped in first to pick up his sword and decended the flight, not checking to see if Skylar was following. In Aidan's thoughts, it didn't really matter whether they found anything about Axel in here. He'd finally come across an interesting find. After a lot of searching, it was refreshing to have at last come upon a new discovery. Once they had a clue about the kid's friend, he'd have to make a point to come back here and investigate sometime.

Walking around, the room seemed like a big change of scenery. It was much unlike the rest of the mansion so far. More metallic than the wooden floors and walls that he'd been grown accustomed to. Certainly, there was something very odd about this part of the building. A doorway was visible near a flight of stairs, and Aidan eagerly ran through, his curiosity getting the better of him.

[skylar]

When Aidan pulled Skylar back then created a huge hole in the floor with his large sword Skylar just stood there dumbfounded. "I guess that's one way to do it." Remarked Skylar. Skylar jumped in right after Aidan and saw a stair case leading up to where they just were indicating there was a way down there through that room. "Really? I stripped that room clean. How could I have missed a way to open this room? He Stated.

After taking a few minutes to look around the room, Skylar couldn't find any trace of Axel anywhere. Suddenly Aidan ran through a door that seemed to lead down into the basement of the mansion. "Huh? Hey! Aidan wait up!" Yelled Skylar as he began to run after him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs Skylar was amazed to see what looked like some kind of secret lab. "Whoa sweet... Think this was a secret lab or something?" Wondered Skylar.

Skylar had a look around the room to see if he could spot any signs of Axel anywhere. Sure enough there was a piece of his armor laying on the ground by another door way. The armor piece looked like a scrap of its main body part like it was scratched off which means he was in trouble or still is. "Aidan! This is a piece of Axel's armor. He came down this way. He must be here and he could be in trouble. AXEL!!!" Skylar yelled as he ran into the next room.

Once Skylar ran into the next room he saw nothing but a big empty metal room with another door off to the far right side of the room. Axel!!! You here! Say something!!! He roared in vain. AXEL!!!! He kept screaming as he made his way into the next room hoping he would reply but there was no answer. The next room was a long hallway and down the path a bit where some strange looking pod like containers big enough to fit a person in one. Skylar frantically checked each one in hopes of finding Axel in one of them but to no avail.

[wanderingknight]

Aidan was looking around the strange computer room when he heard Skylar's approaching footsteps. It seemed that he was just as interested in this place. Who knows what this place had been used for? Before he could start wondering about it though, the teenager called out, saying he had found a piece of his friend's armor and then rushing down another hall. Deciding to hold off his investigation for another time, Aidan followed.

Reaching a hallway filled with weird pods or something, his ally began searching them to see if Axel was inside, but he doubted he was in any of these. Otherwise, there'd either be fighting, or at least enemies roaming about. There were none. Now that he thought about it, it all seemed strange. There were signs of a scuffle, but then where were all the Nobodies? Surely if he were fighting them, the duo probably should have encountered some stragglers. Something didn't seem right, it was too quiet.

At the end of the hallway was, of course, another door. Upon opening it, Aidan was dazzled by the change of scenery. The room was nearly all white, just like the strange room he had been inhabiting for the last few weeks. In the center was a large pod, and an unconscious person lay just before it. "Hey Skylar, I think I found him!" He waited for Skylar and they made their way to the middle, but before they could get there, Nobodies appeared! Several Dusks surrounded the two, accompanied by two other types of Nobodies: Samurai's and Assassin's.

Not good. Not only were they greatly outnumbered, but the tough Samurai were already a challenge to the Taranian, and the troublesome Assassin's, which could swim through the ground, would only further add to the chaos. "It was a trap," Aidan growled, unsheathing his blade. The only exit out had been blocked. This wouldn't be pretty.

[skylar]

As Skylar continued to check each pod frantically for his lost friend he quickly found out that he wasn't here at all. As Aidan wondered off to the next room Skylar fell to his knee's in disappointment and frustration. "Dammit!" He cried out punching the floor several times. "Why... If only I had retreated back to where he was... This is all my fault..." Moments later Aidan cried out that he found him. Skylar couldn't believe it and ran for the next room.

Upon entering the room he saw Aidan standing by the doorway and there was Axel lying on the floor right in front of the pod in the center of the big white room. Axel appeared to be badly hurt, his blue armor was torn from top to bottom and his helmet that concealed his identity was cracked open. From across the room it looked like he was still breathing which meant he was still alive. "That's him!! Axel!!!" He roared running to help his friend. As Skylar and Aidan were haft way to him, a squad of nobody's quickly surrounded the them. Skylar counted 5 Dusk's and and 2 Assassin's and Samurai Nobody's before taking another glance at Axel but to his surprise Axel disappeared in a blinding light then appeared another dusk in his place. "Axel!!!" he cried out realizing that this was indeed a trap set for him.

Skylar clenched his fist in anger with his knuckle cracking as he did so. Skylar became angered and began to start breathing harder because of it. "Damn you nobody's... This is not a good time... To PISS ME OFF!!!" He bellowed and began to charge towards the dusk that was pretending to be Axel. He made his way past the first few dusk's that were in his pathway with relative ease and once he made it to the Dusk, he punched it as hard as he could right in the face which sent the Ducks flying into the pod right behind it causing the creature to fade away. Skylar turned ready for more. "Who's next?" He said as he turned to face his enemies.

[wanderingknight]

Aidan's ears twitched at this display of rage from Skylar. It wasn't all that surprising though. Skylar's friend was missing, and Aidan understood far too well how mad a person could get in that sort of situation. For a brief moment, the memories of that fateful day flashed through his mind, the screams and wails of his friends would always haunt him.

But now was not the time to think about the past. There was trouble here, and his focus needed not be on the teenager. He seemed to be able to take care of himself. Instead, the taranian mentally scanned the Nobodies. Samurai's were tough, but they were more calm and hung back more than the others. As long as Aidan kept an eye on them, it wouldn't be too much of a problem to leave them be for a bit. The Dusks were much more numerous and aggressive, and would most definitely be a real nuisance. The Assassin's were somewhat dangerous too, but it might be a better idea to start taking out a few of the Dusks so that he could concentrate more on the stronger enemies.

Aidan attacked the nearest Dusk with a short combination of slashes. The creature made a strange movement, a telltale sign that it was about to strike, so Aidan pulled off a Reversal. It was a move he had been working on from fighting them before. The red fox slid behind the Nobody, being as slippery as his foe. Three other Dusks and an Assassin were drawn in by the commotion he was making, while the Samurai's watched, waiting for a good opening. Using another Reversal, he positioned himself to avoid being surrounded. It was important to keep a route open for a quick retreat just in case.

[skylar]

Skylar began to charge in to assist Aidan but was cut off by the remaining dusk and the other assassin. The assassin was swimming around in waiting for a moment to strike while the dusk charged straight for him. Skylar clashed with the dusk hoping to get a good grip on it but was quickly thrown of balance by the assassin which dove at from under him knocking Skylar down. Then the dusk counter attacked forcing Skylar to slide a little further away from Aidan. Its apparent that they want to keep us separated.

Skylar got up on his feet and readied himself for there next attack once again the dusk charged in first while the assassin swam around waiting. This time Skylar dodged the dusk's attack and kept an eye on the assassin but it just kept its distance. Skylar was now on the far opposite side of the room were the door was with Aidan fighting not to far in front of it. The dusk kept up its straight forward attacks at Skylar but this time Skylar stood his ground and waited for this last possible moment and back flipped away from the dusk and landed on his hands and held his position. The assassin saw this as a moment to strike and began to charge along with the dusk. The dusk charging straight for him while the assassin came from the right. Once the assassin dove out from the ground and Skylar began spinning around in place and once the two creatures were in range he stretched his legs in and out towards the nobody's kicking them both very hard causing them both to veer away from Skylar and landing on the ground hard.

Skylar took this opportunity to take down that assassin and charged it. But unbeknownst to Skylar the assassin was charging for some kind of attack. When Skylar got close enough to attack the assassin began to glow white. Skylar didn't know what to expect so he stopped as soon as he could and guarded himself then the assassin blew up forcing Skylar to fly back and hit the back wall hard then fell to the ground badly hurt. The dusk was then on its feet and began to charge towards Skylar to deal the final blow.

[wanderingknight]

Aidan noticed that Skylar was having a bit of trouble in the fight, and the effort the Nobodies were going through to keep them separated. Most of the enemies were concentrating on the taranian, and rightly so. Even badly outnumbered, he was giving them a lot of trouble. It would be difficult to regroup with the teenager with so many in his way. Hopefully Skylar would be able to hold his own for now while he tried to clear a path.

A couple of Dusks rushed him, but Aidan deflected their blows and counterattacked with a forceful slash that sent them reeling. The Assassin thought he was distracted, but was also blocked. This wasn't good. He wouldn't be able to get to Skylar if he was constantly on the defensive like this, but the Nobodies gave him little openings. Aidan tried striking the Assassin a few times before it dove again, but a Dusk took advantage of the distraction, and once again, to his frustration, he was on the defensive.

The sound of an explosion made the red fox's ears twitch. Skylar looked to be in big trouble! There wasn't time to hesitate anymore. With a big jump, Aidan slammed the sword into the ground, causing a shockwave that stunned and knocked down the Nobodies nearby. Leaving the sword behind for now, he rushed towards the teenager. He raised two fingers like a gun and cast Fire, hitting the distracted Dusk and defeating it. He stood protectively in front of Skylar and raised his paw to the ceiling. Another burst of leaves appeared over him and two drops of water spiraled around the two, healing their injuries. "You okay?" Aidan asked, keeping his eyes on the Nobodies.

One of the Samurai looked to be on the move. It walked over to where Aidan's sword was lodged in the ground and attempted to pull it out. Of course, only someone as physically strong as a taranian could do so, and the Nobody pulled in vain. It made Aidan wonder, thought. "Are they...after my sword?" Still, he needed to get the sword back to fight effectively, and that wouldn't be easy with a bunch of these guys in the way.

[skylar]

After Aidan cured Skylar of his injures, Skylar staggered onto his feet ready to continue fighting. "Yeah... I'll be fine. Well now I know they can do that but what about the ones carrying the swords what can they do?" Skylar replied while skimming the battlefield of the remaining enemies. Skylar counted out 7 more enemies to take down. Two Samurai, one Assassin, and 4 Dusk left. "Come on Skylar think there's got to be a way out of this..." He pondered.

Soon later the 4 dusk's began to close in on the to warriors then it finally hit him. "Hey Aidan, do you think you could take on the two samurai and the assassin by yourself? If you can I will try and take these 4 down. I do believe I got these dusk's figured out enough to were I can win." Skylar suggested. "I will make you an opening for you to make a break for your sword. Just follow my lead." And on that note Skylar ran to the left side of the room charging past two of the four dusk's in his way while screaming "Alright you weaklings!!!! Come and get me I'm right over here!!! Or you four so weak that you cant even take one pint sized teenager!!!" Skylar screamed as loud as he could. Skylar believed that the nobody's wouldn't give in to such taunts but he had to give it a try and sure enough all four of the dusk's charged his way.

Once Skylar ran out of room to run, he stood his ground holding his fists up ready to fight with a big smirk on his face. "Hit me with your best shot." He remarks to the oncoming nobody's. They came at him all at once one after another. Skylar took up his defensive stance to wait for an opportune moment to strike. Every attack the dusk made had little effect on him now that he new how they fight so well. The dusk's attacked fiercely stretching there limbs out to try and strike him from a distance. All Skylar did to dodge was step here and lean there and jump to there. As long as he kept moving and working his way around there attacks he would be fine for the moment but he cant keep it up for long other wise fatigue would set in soon.

[wanderingknight]

Aidan nodded at Skylar's plan. He felt that, by now, the teenager had some experience fighting Dusks. Hopefully it was enough for him not to get defeated too easily. In the meantime, he needed to focus on the more dangerous in the group: the tricky Assassin and the skilled Samurai. These he probably couldn't take without his sword, luckily it seemed that his ally had a plan.

When Skylar's sketchy taunt managed to draw the Dusk's attention, Aidan moved towards the sword trying not to draw their attention. The sword was lodged in the ground, so he had to pull hard to try and free it, which attracted the attention of the other three Nobodies. With great effort, he pulled out the sword just in time to block the attack from the Assassin, not realizing that the Samurai had circled behind him.

With a pained shout, he stumbled away from the two to try and regain his balance, but the other Samurai was in position to take advantage of the situation. On the ground wincing, the three surrounded him. It seems that the Samurai were there just for backup, and now that their numbers were starting to thin it was time to step in. A Reversal in this situation would help little. The taranian was fast running out of options, when he noticed one of the Samurai's change in stance. Aidan understood, and nodded as if accepting a challenge, which he was. The Samurai wanted to duel. If he failed this, he'd be wounded greatly, but it was risk he needed to take if he wanted to turn the tides.

A few tense moments passed with the two watching each other closely, and then...!

[skylar]

The nobody's relentless assault was beginning to take its toll on Skylar. After a few minutes of maneuvering around the dusk's attacks while observing there every movement and reactions, Skylar finally had his plan of action. It was risky cause not knowing exactly how smart these creatures were, he could be walking into a trap but he was hoping it would at least catch them so off guard it would give him enough time to finish the job. "Alright... It's now or never."

All four nobody's continued to stretch there arms and legs out towards Skylar in hopes of tiring him down and keeping him away from them so he couldn't fight back. Skylar waited till two of the dusk's finished there attacks and was preparing to attack again while the third dusk was making its attempt. As the third dusk's attacked, Skylar readied himself for it and stood in its path. As the Dusk's attack was about to hit its mark Skylar grabbed its arm right before contact and jumped forward using the Dusk elastic body to help whip him even faster towards the nobody's. Skylar let go of the made a solid punch right in the nobody's face. The attack caught the nobody so off guard and the hit came at such a fast speed, the fading process began and ended in a blink of an eye.

The 4th Dusk was already attacking where Skylar was before his maneuver but the first two were ready to strike and attacked at the same time. Skylar was ready for the duo attack and once again grabbed there attacks right before contact but this time ripped them toward him instead of bring the fight to them. Once they were close enough Skylar lashed out both his arms towards the oncoming Dusk's and landed both punches directly to there torso's causing them to fade as they passed by Skylar. Skylar quickly turned around to face the last remaining Dusk and said "And then there was one!" as he charged forth.

The final Dusk was prepared to fight but unlike the other two, it didn't repeat their mistakes. Instead it leaped into the air to dodge Skylar's attack and landed behind him then charged forth to attack while Skylar was trying to turn around. But Skylar didn't turn around instead he kept on running until he got to the back wall and ran right up the wall about haft its length. The Dusk stopped just short of the wall and watch as Skylar did so. Skylar kicked off the wall towards the Dusk and the Dusk leaped forth as well. The dusk attacked stretching its arm out at a fast rate hitting Skylar in the stomach. Skylar ignored the pain and extended his leg straight up and dropped kicked the nobody dead in the head but that wasn't all the way he hit the nobody caused him to spin in a 360 degree angle to have another attempt to finish the Dusk off. When the Dusk hit the floor Skylar did another drop kick as he came crashing down on top of the nobody causing it to fade into the shadows. "And that... Ladies and gentlemen... Is my "Double Dragon Drop" attack." He cockily remarked.

After the last Dusk was dealt with, Skylar fell over on his side with his arms wrapped around his stomach trying to settle the pain from that nobody's last attack. He opened an eye to check on Aidan to see how he was fairing and saw he was about to cross swords with one of the Samurai. Skylar decided to wait and see how he fairs cause him he were to jump in and help at this moment he could be doing more harm then good.

[wanderingknight]

It was all a flash, a quick blur. In less than a second, the two had both already swung their swords at impressive speeds. For a second, nothing happened. Suddenly, the Samurai faded into nothingness, leaving Aidan as the victor of the duel. The fight wasn't over yet, however. While it seemed like Skylar had managed to beat his opponents by a somewhat small margin, there were still two more opponents to go, so the Taranian readied his sword for more fighting.

However, the Nobodies suddenly found themselves with less of an advantage that they had a few minutes ago, and the rest of the battle didn't exactly seem to go the way they were hoping. They began to run from the room in hopes of leaving this area in one piece. A bit too tired to want to chase them, Aidan instead collapsed onto the ground to rest and stared up at the ceiling. It'd probably still be a while before he could cast another Cure spell.

Of course, he wasn't the only one in the room. Once he'd taken a few deep breaths, the red fox was once again back on his paws. He walked slowly over towards Skylar and sat down. "I'm sorry that Axel wasn't here," Aidan consoled the teenager. "I think that the Nobodies might have him, but I have no idea for what purpose. I also believe that they were trying to take us, too. Something seems to be up, if the Nobodies are trying to abduct people like this. I have a feeling this is going to lead into something bad."

In the meantime, however, the two seemed to have escaped defeat at the hands and claws of the Nobodies. Sitting against the wall, Aidan stared at the strange, white room, lost in contemplation. While digging through one mystery, it seems that he had uncovered a much larger mystery. What could this mean for Twilight Town? Where was Axel taken?

And why did Aidan have an ominous feeling that this was only the beginning...?

[skylar]

This fight was definitely anything but random. The nobody's were after us but why? What do we have that they need? Why Axel too? What are they up to...? So many questions ran threw Skylar's mind. "I think its time we get some answers about these nobody's." Skylar finally said after a few minutes. He slowly got up onto his feet and began walking towards the door with one arm still around his stomach. "This place is no longer safe. If you need a place to stay I have a place in town but... My parents live there and I don't know how they would react to... Well for one me all beat up like this considering all I did to tell them what I'm doing is by just up and vanishing on them with a note on my bed saying "I'll be back"." He laughed stopping just short of the doorway.

"I know someone in Traverse Town that, well from what I suspect, knows more then she was letting on." Skylar continued. "She's not exactly a nice person but she isn't against throwing a few small bones if you get my meaning. That is if you want to come with that is." He asked. If Skylar was going to survive this he would need allies. Not just any allies strong ones."This is something I can't ask you to do but I am going to find a way to the realm of darkness and I'm going to look for Axel myself. If the nobody's do have him then that's where they would take him. They have to have a strong hold somewhere. But before I can do any of that... I need to get stronger and I need allies... Friends that will be willing to help." Skylar stood there silent for a bit hoping Aidan would say something but feared if he would refused. Although if Aidan did accepted it would also scare Skylar cause he doesn't want to see another friend hurt and disappear again. If anything he wouldn't want to see a friend get hurt over doing this alone. But Aidan is stronger then Skylar right now and should be able to handle himself. But this wasn't his chose to make. Either path wouldn't be easy so what will Aidan decide?

[wanderingknight]

Aidan sighed. Hearing that there was much more work to be done just made him feel even more tired. Getting up, he padded towards the door, not wanting to stick around to see if more Nobodies would show up. As he did so, he weighed the options that lay before him. It definitely sounded like Skylar could use some help, but the red fox could only imagine the kinds of dangers they might have to face. This fight could only be the prelude to a much larger conflict looming in the distance.

There was also the fear of losing someone else. Aidan once had a lot of friends before the Heartless tore him away from everyone he had ever cared about right in front of him. If he declined, he at least wouldn't have the same feeling he had that fateful night: the feeling of being unable to protect those he cared about.

Still, his heart knew there was really only one answer to the question. There was no way he was going to have Skylar face this alone. And besides, if the Nobodies were targeting them, he certainly didn't want to face them alone. Finally, he reached the doorway, as well as a decision. Not turning to face the teenager, he replied. "As if you actually need to ask." The taranian grinned. "Besides, I bet this'll be a breeze. Shall we get going, then?"

[skylar]

Skylar couldn't help but laugh at Aidan's response. It wasn't that Aidan said something funny or wrong. It was just that it sounded like something Skylar or Axel would say just to sound cool. "Alright tough guy." Skylar replied as he threw his hand on Aidan's shoulder and began to walk out of the room. "Lets head to my parents place and rest up for a while then we will head to Traverse Town sound good?" He asked without even really giving him a choice in the matter. "I just hope mom and dad don't flip out when we show up. Aw who am I kidding there going to murder me." He sighed as they made there way out of the room.

Once they arrived at Skylar's parents place, Skylar stood outside of his former home shaking with regret. "I plead you not to say anything that's going to happen in here ever again please." He begged Aidan before opening the door to the house. It went as expected, Skylar got an ear full of lectures from both his mom and dad for leaving so suddenly and not to mention his mother slapping him several times for it. During the next hour or so, Skylar tried to explain the best he could about the journey he's had so far to them while trying to leave out any information that would cause them trouble namely the heartless and nobodies. Once Skylar and Aidan had recuperated, Skylar bid farewell to his parents saying he will promise to stop by more often to let them know he's OK and made there way to the teleport crystal just outside the Central Station.

"Hey Aidan before we take off. I think I should warn you. The Witch Witch of Traverse Town, like I said before, isn't very... Nice. So I would appreciate it if you would let me do the talking unless you have to say something. Can you do that? I wouldn't want you to get on bad terms with her like I am. She would make you regret it. Trust me. It doesn't take much considering she is pretty much royalty. Not to sure about that though." He informed Aidan as he waited for an answer. After getting his answer from him Skylar turned towards the Teleport Crystal and informed the moogle where they were heading to and took the first plunged to Traverse Town.