Cornered (Closed/Completed)

[kaleb04]

SCHWING!

A group of shadows exploded into nothingness as the glowing red blade sliced through them in a fluid motion. "I guess I bit off more than I could chew." Nokosu thought, in the middle of combat. After arriving on Traverse Town from the hostile Port Royal, he thought it was high time to hone his swordsmanship. The best way to do this was to head directly to the third district, he had thought. A soldier leaped at him from his flank, only to meet its end by the tip of the Krezzican's sword ramming through its torso.

The small, but dangerous third district was now devoid of any heartless, but not for long. Nokosu used this time to take a breather, and assess himself. His blade was now a brilliant red that glowed under the nighttime sky, a sign that he had been fighting nonstop for a lengthy time. He could feel the sweat at his brow, and throughout the rest of his body. It was an uncomfortable, sticky feeling that Nokosu didn't care for, but tolerated. He had a few minor scratches, and some blood trailing down the corner of his mouth. He was thankful to be a krezzican; his strong exterior reduced the injury from his encounters greatly.

The break was now over. Puddles of darkness circled Nokosu on the checkered concrete. He was surrounded by multiple shadows, soldiers, and several large bodies made their entrance immediately after. Things weren't getting any easier for Nokosu, but he didn't mind. In fact, he welcomed the challenge. It is situations like these that push his body to its limits, and allow him to increase his boundaries. Nokosu was beginning to feel weary, but an effective use of his Re-Energize ability solved this problem. This brought a new problem to Nokosu’s eyes.

"That's right, I am going to run out of mana eventually." Nokosu conserved his mana throughout the waves of enemies, but after about an hour of combat, his mana reserves dwindled to around fifty percent (and that was with rationing).

The three large bodies that had taken the stage all jumped onto their massive bellies and charged the lone swordsman. With a small boost of mana to his legs, Nokosu leaped over the heartless and turned toward them in mid-air.

"Shotgun Flare!"

Shouting out the name of his attack wasn't necessary, but Nokosu did it anyway. Yelling was a good way for him to let out steam in a fight against those who ruined his home, and he believed it gave his attacks an extra kick. The Krezzican swung his blade in a wide, horizontal ark. A large flame gushed out of the blade, consuming at least half of the group of heartless, along with the large bodies, almost instantaneously. However, the force of the attack propelled Nokosu into the side of a building. He let out a loud grunt, and fell down to the ground on one knee. It was painful, but left nothing more than a scratch or tear in his clothing.

Rising back to his feet, he readied his sword as the rest of the heartless made their approach.

[sumdood]

As the boy sank to his feet, preparing for the wave of heartless coming after him, Ciraph swooped down from the sky, the talons on his one remaining arm sweeping one of the large bodies aside, destroying it in a single swipe. The white dragon's flame breath engulfed the other as he landed beside the boy. He had been watching him from the rooftops for a short while, and had seen him backed into a corner and decided to step in and aid him. He would hate to see one with determination such as his taken by the heartless.
As Ciraph landed on the.ground next to the boy, he looked over at him, towering over the young one at his full height of over 10' on his hind legs.

"You seemed like you could use some help, young one," Ciraph said to the boy, flaring his wings out at the heartless. They were many, but Ciraph could easily wipe them out himself, being a large dragon gave one those kinds of benefits.

However, he would hold back somewhat for the boy's sake, because it seemed liked he was here to train, hone his battle skills, and that was something Ciraph respected, being from a war torn world.

[kaleb04]

"I could try to use the Shotgun Flare again, but I doubt it would work. I might damage the blade if I tried it right now." Nokosu's mind was quickly calculating a fast way to eliminate the heartless. He wasn't going to get out of this unscathed. There were at least thirty shadows, fifteen soldiers, seven large bodies, and a few other types that were still quite a distance away. He really needed to learn some more offensive techniques.

As soon as Nokosu was going to rush the heartless, a white streak appeared in his peripheral. It quickly descended and took out a large body with one mighty swipe. Was it a heartless? No, heartless are usually much darker in color. Could it be a nobody? That wouldn't make sense either, why would a nobody be destroying heartless in a place like this? The large creature took roost right beside him. "What the hell? Is that a..."

"You seemed like you could use some help, young one."

The creature stood at least four feet taller than Nokosu himself, and was covered in beautiful white scales. It had three legs, each one flashing its razor-sharp talons. On its back were large wings, each over seven feet long. His eyes met with the creature's, and his jaw dropped in awe. "You're a dragon!" Nokosu shouted out what was painfully obvious, and pointed the tip of his red-hot blade at the dragon's maw.

Oh right, the heartless. He regained his composure and turned to face the current dilemma. A wide grin spread across his face; he was fighting heartless alongside a dragon. Over the past five years, he had heard legends about them, but doubted their existence. Now standing only several feet away, was a living, breathing dragon. Nokosu couldn't believe it, and was still in awe. However, staring at the creature slack-jawed was only going to get him killed at a time like this.

"Hello Mr. Dragon, my name's Nokosu." With that quick introduction he threw his blade into the crowd of heartless. It let out a loud hiss as it cut through the crowd. Boosting his leg strength with more mana, he launched himself after the blade he had just thrown. At a hard sprint, he caught the sword’s hard, cold grip mid-flight, and stopped running. The momentum he had picked up continued to propel him further, and the soles of his feet began to warm up from the friction. Using this momentum to his advantage, he kicked against the concrete with his right foot, giving him a counter-clockwise spin. During this spin, Nokosu raised his blade and pointed its edge in the direction of the spin; and cut through the heartless as if he were a farmer in a field of wheat. The Krezzican completed a single rotation before coming to a complete halt.

Quickly regaining his balance, Nokosu remained in his location, cutting down any heartless that approached him one after one in fluid motions while more heartless continued to fill their place. This may have not been the smartest idea, but Nokosu had a dragon to back him up. Realizing he had little choice at the time, he had decided to trust the dragon to fight alongside it. Also, charging into the fray diverted a majority of their opposition's attention toward him, allowing the dragon to pick off the ones at the perimeter with greater ease.

It isn't like the beast needed any extra help though. It's a friggin' dragon.

[sumdood]

Ciraph grinned as the young one gawked at him.

"You're a dragon!" The boy said, his sword pointed at the white dragon, who just smiled.

"Yes, I am," Ciraph said, "And you can use some help, as i've said. Keep your focus!"

Ciraph turned his attention back to the heartless, taking in his be opponents. Large bodies, shadows, soldiers, various others. This small one had really attracted their attention.
Ciraph was preparing to send a thundara spell into the black creatures before him when the little one beside him suddenly tossed his sword into the middle of the heartless, a set-up for a very unconventional attack. It left the small one open and Ciraph figured he should help cover the young one, so he sent his thundara spell into a small group of heartless that started creeping up on him from behind as he was regaining his balance, turning them to black mist.

[kaleb04]

"Damn, I was open from behind." Nokosu quickly glanced behind him, to look at the empty space where a brigade of heartless was moments ago. Not only was this beast a dragon, but a magical dragon, if that is the term for what the creature was. "Remember your training from wartime, Nokosu! Never leave any openings!" A large body ran, jumped onto its belly, and began to slide at Nokosu at frightening speeds. Timing his jump, the krezzican swordsman leaped over the monstrosity and thrusted the tip of his sword downward, into the creature's hide. The beast's body burst into a black cloud as its captive heart ascended into the starry heavens.

To his left, four soldiers bounded toward him, legs outstretched for a devastating blow to the torso. Nokosu ducked low to the ground, and cleaved three of them in two as they flew over his head. Seeing as he missed the fourth, he quickly turned around and bounded toward the small creature. He jabbed the sword through the heartless, then brought the red blade around and smacked the flat of it into the face of a nearby sniperwild. It sizzled loudly as the hot metal came into contact with the creature's cheek; only to be followed by the sound of its body gushing utter darkness.

The crowd's numbers seemed to continue replenishing; turning this training session into a full-scale battle. When the heartless or "heart-eaters" (as the other krezzicans called them) came to his world, his race was of no match. The krezzicans fell to the heartless, and the monsters continued to march further toward the tribes. They swore no allegiance to any of the krezzicans; only interested in their hearts. But the heartless didn't stop there, no. The heartless stole the heart of Krezzica! The heart of Nokosu's world! That would of never had happened if Nokosu didn't kill the key bearer who came only to help. In the heat of battle, there Nokosu was, with a face of remorse. "There’s time to blame myself for everything later. Right now, I fight!" His anguished expression became one of confidence. Nokosu jumped up and slashed an air soldier as it flew overhead, then reverted back to basic slashing and kicking of any nearby heartless.

[sumdood]

Ciraph looked around at the large mass of heartless before him, surrounding the boy. ThiS was a bad situation. They needed to get out of there.
So, Ciraph leapt forward with a loud roar, scattering the heartless between him and the boy.

"Get on! There is no sense in risking our hearts further. We must leave," The white dragon said, looking over at Nokosu, opening his maw and spewing flames from his mouth over the heartless before him.

[kaleb04]

"Get on! There is no sense in risking our hearts further. We must leave!"

The dragon had a point; since he showed up the number of heartless had increased dramatically. Could this dragon be attracting the heartless? Nokosu learned over his travels that the heartless sought out key bearers, as their weapons were the only things that could supposedly kill a heartless once and for all, but could heartless also be attracted to mystic creatures or those with strong hearts? It was a possibility Nokosu would keep in mind, but there was no use worrying about it at the time.

He punted a nearby shadow into the crowd. "I can go on all night!" Nokosu flashed a smug grin. "Though I'd most likely end up like one of these little demons." Sure, it's cool to try and come off as a total badass, but it is also a good way for you to get yourself killed, or worse.

"But I can't just leave without my case." Nokosu quickly scanned the area, and saw his metallic weapon case lying within a group of shadows and soldiers. Focusing a large amount of mana into his left arm and sword, he plowed through the crowd of heartless like a charging bull. Each heartless that was caught in his path was launched a good twenty feet into the air before releasing the captive hearts and rejoining their brethren within the darkness. This was a wasteful use of his mana, but it was also the easiest way to get to his case, right?

Still running, he scooped up the metal case with his right hand, and bee-lined straight toward the dragon. Tearing through the crowd of heartless like tissue-paper, he finally reached the white beast. Using what little mana he had left, Nokosu leaped up and onto the back of the dragon. Nokosu placed the glowing weapon into the case, locked it, and slipped it under his arm. After proper re-adjustments, Nokosu was ready for takeoff. He had never ridden a dragon before, so the krezzican treated it much like riding a horse. He sat on the dragon's back, his hands gripping the beast's hide firmly. The krezzican had positioned his self right behind the base of the wings.

"I’m ready to head out.”

Nokosu didn't like retreating, but it was the best plan of action to take. A place like the third district had a virtually infinite supply of heartless, and dawdling too long may provoke an even stronger heartless to show itself.

[sumdood]

Ciraph watched, dumbstruck as the boy leapt back amongst the heartless. What was he doing? This little one would get himself killed!

He watched, incredulous as the young one grabbed a mere black case, a case that Ciraph assumed was for his weapon. Foolish young one! He could have just come back for it later, when the heartless had dispersed after they left.

But, it was too late to gripe now, as the small one was on his back, ready to fly.

"Hold on," Ciraph said, heaving his mighty bulk into the air, the flap of his large wings beating back the heartless. Aa they lifted into the air, a pair of wyvern heartless attempted to give chase, only to be battered out of the air by Ciraph's tail.

"Are you okay, small one?" Ciraph asked as they flew over the rooftops of Traverse Town.

[lexaeus]

Kuja had been watching this little bout go on from the start. He watched his fellow Heartless fend off a foolish mortal. Not only that, but the dragon Ciraph as well. It was high time that Kuja find himself another winged beast to aid him in his and Elaeus' quest.

"Ahh, the mighty Ciraph, such an elegant dragon. Soon you shall be mine and we shall decimate all those who impead the march of the Heartless. So as Act III, Rekindling old allies, begins, new foes shall fall in my ambition" Kuja announced to the Heartless that still riddled the area. With each word he said, he also rose into the air. With a evil glance in his eyes and a smirk on his face, he flew off to capture Ciraph and punish the other.

It didn't take the Genome long to be at the side of the white dragon.

"Ah, old friend, we meet again. Are you ready to finally join me and cause chaos? Or are you still foolishly trying to do good in the world? Like that mypoic mortal you are carrying. Speaking of which, he needs to pay dearly for killing my brothers!!" Kuja declared as he formed several arrows of Blizzaga and surrounded the person on Ciraph in orbs on Firaga. A blood debt was in need of collection.

[kaleb04]

((OOC: I am not sure whether or not the orbs are supposed to explode, or if the arrows were already launched. If you don't mind, I will just RP it out as if Kuja hadn't attacked with the orbs or arrows yet. If you did intend for it to be an attack on that turn, then I can alter this post accordingly))

"I'm perfectly fine. A little tired, but that is just from heavy use of mana. You'd be surprised how many hits a krezzican such as I could take before showing a bruise." This whole night felt like it came right out of a dream. A young hero fighting off hordes of monsters, and then joined by a dragon; they are victorious, and fly off. More of a toddler's dream than anything else, nevertheless Nokosu enjoyed it.

Besides being a bit low on mana, Nokosu had minimal injuries. For this he was thankful; he was the last krezzican, and as such he had to carry on the legacy. If something were to happen to him, the entire krezzican bloodline would be wiped out from existence! Unless there were other krezzicans that had left Krezzica before the war; but the chances of that were slim to none.

Going back to positive thinking, Nokosu examined the dragon in closer detail. Its hide was almost shining, and completely free of dirt or grime. The wings were just as fascinating. The thought of being able to fly with such... "What is that?"

Nokosu's eyes squinted at the figure that was flying beside them. Was it an air soldier or wyvern? No, it looked more like a person. A flying person? As his details became clearer, Nokosu felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. This man’s hair was long and blue, while his clothes were... kind of odd-looking, to be honest. Nokosu calmed his nerves, and soon became his usual, level-headed self.

"Ah, old friend, we meet again. Are you ready to finally join me and cause chaos? Or are you still foolishly trying to do good in the world? Like that myopic mortal you are carrying. Speaking of which, he needs to pay dearly for killing my brothers!!"[/i]

Could Nokosu win in a head-on fight with this man? Probably not. Nevertheless, he prepared himself for a fight. He unlocked the black case as fast as he could, and drew his weapon which was still a radiant red. Now, this magician has surrounded him with bright, glowing orbs. He even created a few arrows from ice. "Alright, these orbs and those arrows look like they could hurt." Should he jump off the dragon and try to avoid the oncoming attacks? No, that would make him a much slower and easier target for this new enemy. The only other option Nokosu could see would be to take this man's attack head on unless the dragon had an ace up its sleeve.

Since the man hadn't attacked yet, perhaps Nokosu could buy himself some time? Asking a question or playing dumb may do the trick. ”I hope this guy is one of those know-it-all types.”

"You want to kill me for killing your brothers? Do you mean those heartless back there? I thought only a keyblade could truly kill a heartless; and that any other way just sent them back into the darkness for a lengthy period of time. Also, if they are your brothers, then why don't you look like them? Wouldn’t that make you a heartless as well? Or are you more like the adopted brother?" Nokosu didn't like sounding like an idiot, but he put on his best clueless expression and waited for an answer: Whether it be words or an arrow to the face. During this period of time, Nokosu decided to activate his ”Mana Draw” ability; in attempts to regain some mana.

[sumdood]

Ciraph looked over, his eyes narrowing at the man flying beside him. He'd faced him before, at Olympus, in the coliseum. Ciraph had been there merely to spar and keep from losing his edge. This man, though, had been there to fight for blood.

Now, it seemed he wanted Ciraph, and the large white dragon could sense something very different about this man: he couldn't sense his heart.

There was only one explanation he could think of for that, and that was that the man was a heartless now.

"Be careful," Ciraph said to the small on on his back,"This man is extremely dangerous."

The dragon looked back to the man now, forming ice arrows and fire orbs around the small one on his back.

"What is your business with me, Blackheart? " Ciraph questioned the man, his voice a low growl,"If cooperation is what you want, you are less likely to get it by attacking me."

[lexaeus]

"You want to kill me for killing your brothers? Do you mean those heartless back there? I thought only a keyblade could truly kill a heartless; and that any other way just sent them back into the darkness for a lengthy period of time. Also, if they are your brothers, then why don't you look like them? Wouldn’t that make you a heartless as well? Or are you more like the adopted brother?"[/i]

Oh great. Ignorance. Kuja let out a sigh as the fire orbs orbited around Nokosu.

"Such low knowledge you show of the Heartless. If we are to be destroyed by means other then this Keyblade. We simply go back into the dark like you say. But I will not take the decimation of them no matter how trife it may be."

Kuja flew to below Ciraph and placed some Holy magic orbs that will follow where ever the dragon may go until Kuja sees it needed to attack Ciraph. Flying back to the other side of Ciraph, Kuja let out a laugh. It seems the little winged beast wants to play.

"My bussines with you might dragon is simple. I wish to use you to help me and my leaders in the destruction of the Nobodies and Humans. For you see, becoming a Heartless has showed me exactly why and how everything else must....BURN!!" At the word BURN, the Fire orbs flew inwards toward Nokosu. The Ice arrows positioned themselved in fron of Ciraphs face incase he tried anything.

[kaleb04]

"…BURN!"[/i]

Kuja suddenly raised his voice, and the flaming orbs flew inwards on Nokosu. He quickly halted the Mana-Draw. The krezzican's reflexes honed from years of battle kicked in. He immediately tucked his head under his arms, and raised his metal case like a shield. To keep himself mounted on the dragon, he dug in his heels into Ciraph's sides.

BOOM!!!

"Aaaagh!" Nokosu let out a pained cry as the circling orbs collided with his body and burst in unison. "Dear God, this hurts like hell!" Thankfully, Nokosu's resilient skin and make-shift shield absorbed the brunt of the attack. His clothes were now tattered, and the burned flesh underneath was visible. Well, the burns weren't significant. In fact; most of them were very minor; with a few second degree burns on the legs and back. The young man would hate to think what the damage would of been if he had been a mere human.

His mind raced as he tried to think of a winning tactic, but each scenario he played in his head ended in failure. Nokosu was forced to stay on Ciraph while Kuja could move wherever he liked. Kuja attacked from afar with magic, and Nokosu attacked in close-quarters with a sword. To make matters worse, the krezzican was low on mana! The feeling of helplessness was beginning to sink in... Nokosu despised this feeling. He hated it more than cats, more than the scientists who harvested the people he cared for, and even more than the heartless.

"Get a hold of you, Nokosu! Don't break down yet! Got to stay focused, and stay positive!" While Nokosu couldn't exactly attack from this distance, he could try stalling some more; this time from a different angle. "You sure are powerful. That barrage of flaming orbs hurt like hell. How did you get so strong? Was it giving into the darkness? You have really gotten me curious." The young man raised his brow, eyes brimming with false curiosity. The way Nokosu talked disgusted himself as much as it probably did Kuja.

It seemed like Nokosu had already forgotten about his dragon ally. If the krezzican couldn't exactly fight on even grounds with the daunting heartless, could the dragon?

[sumdood]

As Kuja yelled out the word "BURN!!!", Ciraph let out a roar, rolling to the side, right into the newly formed heartless, intending to disrupt his flight.

Then, he went into a steep dive, telling back at his passenger to hold on. The large white dragon rocketed toward the ground, and pulled up at the last moment, just feet from the ground, and shot back into the air, the momentum he gained from the dive giving him tremendous speed, the wind rushing around him.

Ciraph continued rocketing up, straight towards Kuja from underneath, his mouth gaping open to clamp Down on him, smoking trailing from his nostrils.

[lexaeus]

Kuja laughed silently as he weaved his way out of Ciraphs attack. Twirling his body in a 360 degree turn, the Ice arrows and Holy magic orbs that Kuja had made earlier darted towards Nokosu. No need to damage the prize when all you need is to take out the barrier preventing you from getting it.

"You sure are powerful. That barrage of flaming orbs hurt like hell. How did you get so strong? Was it giving into the darkness? You have really gotten me curious."[/i]

Kuja scowled at the way these questions were being said. It almost seemed like this person had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. Idiocy and ignorance annoyed Kuja to an extreme.

"Why yes little one. Giving into the darkness, this beautiful and graceful darkness, has indeed given me more power and abilities. Allow me to play a piece of it for you. Consider it your requiem!"

An aura surrounded Kuja, the pure thrill and sense of ecstasy of the fight had finally gotten to Kuja. The aura glowed red and Kuja raced towards Ciraph. As he neared the aura faded and revealed Kuja covered in an assortment of red "feathers". Trance.

"Fear not mighty Ciraph, you shall not be harmed a great deal as I exterminate this pest of the light. Only if you stay out of the way" Kuja warned as he gather power in his hands to use his Flare Star ability.