[Plot] Cimmerian [Complete]

[Clio]

Considering what they had to work with... Clio's attention shifted from the individuals who had gathered so far. She offered an affirmative nod to Lorena, then focussed briefly on Marmadue and scratched at the back of her head. "I will not speak for you, but in your shoes, I would choose to go with either of the offensive parties. Everybody seems pretty well taken care of here. And since we don't know what to expect out there, healing on the offensive could be pretty valuable." It was peculiar. Clio didn't really use the word 'kupo', which made her a bit of an odd moogle. Or simply, it was that she didn't use it quite as often. Perhaps her studies had something to do with that, or perhaps it was a personal quirk.

"Once you all have decided where to go, I think you should get to it. Time is valuable. And something about tonight just doesn't quite sit right with me." 

[Axel]

There weren't too many souls to pick from. Perhaps one or two here and there. That guy he'd passed outside, if he'd bothered to come in, seemed like a good fighter. Perhaps he'd join the team as well. And what about that orange-haired chick?

Lea quietly waited for the last of them to finish making their decisions, ready to leave with what one or two others might join him.

[Era]

Era watched and waited, interested to see who would go where. She decided, perhaps, it would be better to prioritize the wellbeing of as many as possible, and so her lot fell with those going to search for supplies and any other lingering survivors. "I'll go with those looking for supplies and stragglers," her words carried a certain positivity with them. Sure, their situation seemed somewhat morose, but there was no use becoming discouraged about it.

Instead she would focus on doing small things, like remaining positive, to ensure that people didn't lose heart. They would do their best to keep the lingering inhabitants of Twilight Town well taken care of. And hopefully their little scavenging crew could even find enough supplies to take care of those who were going to come back from Castle Oblivion? Hey, even if not, she could dream.

By standing to the left she cast her vote, although truth be told, she was still a little worried about the trouble she was having in summoning up her Harvesters. After a moment of thought, Era decided she didn't need her weapons to fight. No matter how much easier they would have made any opposition, she could make due without them.

We're going to be leaving soon. is there anything else I need to bring? She began to think over anything she might have missed that might be handy for their little excursion. A carribean ice gaze focussed on the softly-lit floor, and her toe gently kicked a little pebble, causing it to bounce before skidding to a stop just a few inches away. Maybe it would be good of us to grab some backpacks from the supply table on the way out. If they found anything out there, they'd need to be able to take them back to the sanctuary.

[Marmadue]

Like he had expected – and feared, the ones that spoke felt that a healer would be best suited for the dangerous missions where they might find injured people. Marmadue didn't like that, but this was not the kind of a comfortable situation where he had the luxury of only doing things he liked. He swallowed, nervous, and hung his head. He didn't really have much of a choice, did he? They had to do everything they could if they wanted to survive.

"I, ah… Yes, very well. I cannot offer much, if any, offensively, but there is the possibility of those whose status is, ah, unknown, to be unfit for movement and in need of a healer. It would ah, be of more use for myself to go to their aid rather than force them to seek me out," he finally spoke, lifting his head up. Even if he had hoped for someone else to make the decision for him, the ball was, ultimately, in his court. The Yuke's gaze met Era's for a moment before taking those uncertain steps towards her, feeling that a group looking for supplies would hopefully cover enough ground to find anyone who might have been in need.

And if they were to bring anything back for such a large group of people, they were going to need a lot of hands!

"This, ah, feels like a suitable role for me. Unless, of course, someone comes up with an alternative," Marmadue continued, though his gaze was drifting towards Lea. Right now, it was looking like no one would be joining him, and that wouldn't be very safe either…

[Clio]

"Oh dear," Clio's tiny hand reached up to the side of her face. "There aren't enough volunteers." Certainly it was unwise to send anyone on a mission alone... Finding missing adventurers and extra supplies seemed easy enough. Finding the keyhole would require a little more effort. And well, as it stood, there were no volunteers to defend the tunnels.

Her gaze shifted to the survivors on her right and on her left. "I'm going to suggest priorities in order of needs. And since I don't advise anyone to adventure alone, for obvious reasons, I think you should all focus on finding the keyhole. It isn't likely you'll find more survivors, but if you should find either survivors or supplies, please, send a few of your party back here with them. The moogles will do what we can to defend the tunnels while you're away."

And that would be it! Her bobble twitched. She was tickled with her slightly authoritative tone.

[Axel]

Lea's gaze shifted between the individuals who had stepped forward. Certainly he'd expected more. Bunch of lazy souls! That was his first impression, anyway. But looking at the survivors in general, there weren't that many of them to pick from in the sanctuary. And of those who looked battle-capable in any measure, even fewer. His head tilted slightly to the side with a bit of frustration at the situation. It was what it was. There was no changing that, still.

The lack of ability to do things by himself certainly was more limiting to him than liberating. He didn't like playing by that rule, but suppose they got out there and he split in favor of the greater good, it wasn't really like anybody could stop him.

"All right, if we're done with the minutiae, I say we get out there!" He grabbed a few supplies off the table and headed for the tunnel entrance.

[Era]

Her expression returned silently to Marmadue was warm and welcoming. If he felt he should stand with her, well, she could definitely use the help! Era was more of an offensive sort of player anyway, having someone to watch her back would make any battle situation they got into that much easier!

After Marmadue had taken his uncertain step toward her, she let Clio and Lea have their turns. The young female could sense the bit of frustration coming from the little Moogle, even if she was happy with herself for directing priorities, there was a sense of worry. As she went to the supply table and hoisted a backpack over her shoulder, she turned to Clio with a gentle, encouraging sort of smile. "You can count on us!" she hummed encouragingly, then turned on her heel and followed suit.

[Marmadue]

They didn't have enough. It was the horrifying truth that was unveiled to them all – but perhaps they should have expected this. So many of their capable fighters had joined Aqua on her mission, so many others were currently incapacitated in some other way… It was seeming like all they had were a handful of people who could make a difference against the Heartless – and one of those was Marmadue, who was not at all fit for combat! The Yuke in question seemed to be fidgeting nervously as the scope of their plan was forced to change due to the lack of participants. Was this going to be even more dangerous than just looking for anyone in need of help…?

Marmadue swallowed, trying to keep that negativity and worry inside him, lest he allowed it to infect the rest as well. He grabbed a backpack just in case as well, as they definitely needed something to carry any extra supplies they might have come across. They were going to just have to multitask somewhat! With that, he was ready to follow the rest outside, even if a bit reluctantly.

"Ah… I have heard a mention of this keyhole in the past, though ah, unfortunately it was a quite recent discovery for myself. Mister Maxwell seemed to know more of this phenomena and had been exploring the town in an attempt to find it, but it seemed to have been fruitless this far. I must say, I'm afraid I do not quite know what we are looking for, and would be quite overjoyed to hear ah, any aid in the matter."

[Lorena]

As Lorena had feared, there didn’t seem to be enough fighters among them to divide up the tasks evenly, though while she feared their sanctuary would be lacking in defenders, it was actually the party going for the keyhole that was lacking- Lea had been the only one to volunteer after all. The moogle then decided that they would all help towards finding the keyhole, and they could look for supplies and survivors along the way. Lorena herself knew very little about this keyhole, having only recently learned about its existence, but perhaps Lea would have an idea about where they could look, considering he had been the only one to volunteer for the job.

As for the rest of their strange band, Lorena couldn’t help but try to assess their skills. The one called Marmadue had already admitted to a lack of combat skills, so he would be the most vulnerable out there in the open. She had already seen Lea jump into action when some heartless appeared outside the underground, so she wasn’t concerned there. As for the orange haired girl, Lorena didn’t know anything about her. They would need to discuss a plan for how they were going to traverse the town; if they left themselves open for an ambush, they wouldn’t be much help to anyone after all.

She followed behind the rest of the party after leaving her cloak on the table and replacing it with a backpack. As they walked through the dimly lit halls toward the exit, she set right to business on making plans, ”I don’t know much about any of you, and how you are in a fight, but we should probably come up with a defensible formation as we move through the city, as well as where we should start looking for this keyhole.” Though Lorena seemed tactfully minded when it came to combat and danger, it seemed she overlooked the simpler things, such as introducing herself and learning the names of her new comrades. Her focus was on their fight ahead, apparently.

[Era]

Hoisting the bag higher up on her small shoulder, Era smiled. Marmadue was the first to speak. It was good information. "Do you happen to know what ground he already covered?" She questioned. Maybe they could save some time by choosing to cover ground less explored by their predecessor. It was just a guess, but maybe something to ponder on.

The other female fighter spoke. She was obviously well-versed in tactics, and she quietly appreciated that quality. "That's a great plan. I'm Era by the way," she hoped a gentle wave and a smile would suffice. While perhaps it wasn't time to make friends, it would behoove of them to know each other's names, especially when it came to being in the midst of battle. "I would consider myself a fighter." Now wasn't a good point to bring up her recent flop with her weapon summoning abilities. If she had to fight with sticks and stones or with her bare hands to protect her friends, she would. There was a bit of sheepishness in her next comment. "Though admittedly, I'm probably not as good as either of you," her suggestion was meant toward Lorena and Lea. If anything, Lea should probably be the spearhead, being their most offensive. But maybe there was a better strategy she wasn't aware of.

[Marmadue]

"Ah," Marmadue looked in Era's direction as the girl asked about the area Maxwell's search had covered. There was a moment of silence as he thought back on all the information he had received, realizing that it had been quite a while since…
"Ah, yes, if we were to produce a map, I believe I should be able to, ah, recall and mark down the locations easily, if we chose to avoid them. Slightly more difficult task from ground level, but manageable. The search efforts were, ah, rather systematic in their approach, street by street. Slow. And, ah, Mister Maxwell seemed to be the only one who truly knew what to look for, so after his," there was another moment of silence as the Yuke glanced aside, trying to find the words,
"…Unfortunate accident, the efforts came to a standstill, I'm afraid."

It had been slow going, search that had to be done inch by inch. That much he had heard. The ground they covered hadn't been so much that they could now easily rush over to comb over the unsearched areas and hope to strike gold quickly. The task they had been, well, tasked with, was still as daunting as ever. Though perhaps this time, they had something that Maxwell's search party lacked. Marmadue's gaze started to drift towards the redheaded man, one of those Keyblade wielders. They never had had one actively search for the keyhole before, and it seemed as if these Keyblades and keyholes were connected in some way…

Not something that helped the Yuke feel that much better, though. He still seemed as apprehensive as ever as he walked in silence, the steps of their small group echoing in the shadowy tunnels. The woman he had seen before at the meeting – Lorena, or something like that, he believed he had heard her being called – was quick to try to work out some kind of battle plan, squeezing out some information about the rest of the group. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of them all would be a good idea indeed.

And luckily, the rest seemed to be the kind who could fight. Unfortunately, that made him stick out as the weakest link.

"…Ah… As, as mentioned before, I… I do not, ah, have combat experience," Marmadue started,
"I have ah, worked as a healer. That is something I may provide, if the need arises, though I do require close proximity for such. I have been experimenting with the Materia and may be able to provide some, ah, other kind of protective magics, though I have not attempted such in a life-or-death scenario…"

[Axel]

What luck they had to have a healer in their midst! He had pulled his pack off to rummage through the contents the moogles had packed into them. And, look at that, a little map! It had been drawn carefully on the back of an old poster. The detail was enough to get them around. It might not have been the most accurate thing out there, but the lay of the land was good enough to act as a bit of a guide if the adventurers were to get lost.

His hand reached for the bottom of the pack, under what supplies had been packed. He eventually pulled out one third of a red crayon. "Seems like the moogles couldn't afford to lend us pens." He lightheartedly mused, offering the map and the writing utensil to Marmadue so that he could make his marks. Lea's mind was already wandering as his gaze drifted up, toward the ever-purple sky. As a Keyblade Wielder, was he supposed to be able to feel Twilight Town's Keyhole? For some reason, he didn't really feel like he could feel it at all. Maybe it was just the eerie taint of the town; maybe it was just that he wasn't really as in-tune with all this, or as experienced as the others were.

[Marmadue]

Marmadue's gaze turned to Lea as he started to dig into the bag of supplies they had been given, eventually pulling out… Some kind of rolled piece of paper with artwork on it? It certainly took a moment before he registered it as a map, once he saw the other side with the drawn on marks.
"Ah, thank you," he was quick to reply out of politeness once the map and the crayon were handed to him – a waxy nub so small that it just seemed to disappear between his fingers no matter how daintily he was holding onto it, but it seemed to be the best they had. For a moment, the Yuke studied the map, trying to familiarize himself with the many streets and connecting them to the ones he had seen himself from ground level. It didn't take long before he started to mark out the areas he knew had been searched before, to give them all a visual aid.

"Here, I ah, believe this should be it," Marmadue lifted his eyes from the paper once he had looked it over and come to the conclusion that he hadn't missed anything, allowing the rest to take the map and have a better look if they wished.
"…But where we should start looking, that I do not have an answer for. This… This keyhole… Ah, I wonder if it would appear in a central area by design, or if it were to be very well hidden in a nook one would not even think to investigate…"

He had never seen one. He had no idea how they looked like and he lacked any data about their placements to try to form into any kind of a theory. It was possible that they all would appear in very similar positions, and that could aid their search! Alas. If only Maxwell was here with his memories…

[Axel]

Lea scratched the back of his head, jade green eyes focussed on Marmadue's golden helm, then over to the side. "Wish I knew," he commented before retrieving the map and reviewing the marks Marmadue had made to it. His eyes seemed to be some strange mix of focussed and distant. His mind still reflected on what he heard while training: that somehow a Keyblade Wielder was supposed to be able to sense these things. He was trying to rectify that bit in his head with the absence of being able to feel anything that would indicate that they were going in the right direction.

His chin rested on the curled index finger of a loose fist while he connected the dots, placing the red crayon marks with approximate vicinities in his head. He knew Twilight Town well, so it really wasn't too hard to place approximate guesses for these things. Okay, so where would we start looking? Outside of the locations Marmadue had sketched out, there didn't seem to be a better option.

If nobody else expressed obvious interest in the map, Lea would have rolled it up and tucked it back into his pack. "I've got two places that come to mind," he mentioned. "I don't know that much about the placement of world keyholes myself." Man, if Sora were here, maybe the kid could offer some insight on that! Lea was sure he had more experience than the rest of them... "But if Keyholes have anything to do with the crux of its inhabitants activities, there was one activity that was always full of citizen hype and its presence. The Struggle Tournaments were all the rage back when Twilight Town was at its height: they really boosted summertime commerce. So maybe we ought to give the Sandlot a once-over. That's where they held the Tournaments." He would begin to lead in that direction, his gaze shifting between the buildings, a flickering street light, the cracks in the street. It was so strange to see this town as it was now, when the warmth of its better days sat nestled so firmly in his memories.

[Era]

Era had kept to herself while they figured out a map, stepping off to the side, her hands swaying a bit. A cluster of a couple little stars flickered in the sleepy purple sky. She brought up her hand to frame them in the cradle between her thumb and pointer finger and marveled at the concept of the light. It didn't seem so long since the events in Traverse Town. The light had been passed to her: after the light left her, it left a glimmering trail within and that radiance slowly, eventually, grew. It was something she was grateful for.

As Lea began to decisively speak again, she pulled her attention back to the mission, following as they headed into the Sandlot. On the other side of the lot, as they walked in, Era had noticed a dark smudge obscured by long shadows on the roof. "Look there!" she pointed to the subject in question. "I can't really tell because of the shadows, but it kind of looks human!"

She broke formation to get a bit closer. "Hello!" her voice was inviting but inquiring. She wondered if the subject would somehow acknowledge her voice. She knew the team would have her back if things went south, but for now she wanted to believe things wouldn't be so bad.

((  OOC: intro for Asuka! =]  ))