WOAH [open]

[Riku]

Riku appeared in the Sandlot, the Corridor of Darkness closing behind him, in time to see several dark forms dart around him in a fiendish, bloodthirsty frenzy. Heartless. Everywhere.

He immediately summoned his Keyblade, The Way to the Dawn, and began fighting off the three Shadows that appeared to his immediate right. After dispatching them with a simple combo attack, he turned and opened his hand, launching a Dark Firaga at the two Large Bodies that appeared in stead of the Shadows. He narrowed his eyes as one jumped up, bringing itself down on top of him and pushing him back to the nearest wall. Riku lowered his Keyblade, having defended from the attack, and grit his teeth. Two more Large Bodies. Four more Shadows. This was no random encounter... someone wanted him out of the picture, and were willing to focus the Heartless onto the Sandlot. However, Riku smirked. They never seemed to get tired of underestimating him...

He jumped, and kicked off of the wall, using Flowmotion to launch himself up, and over the small army of Heartless that were prepping to crush him in their darkness.

"Not this time, fellas."

He then kicked off the other wall, charging through a Large Body and two Shadows, tumbling to a stop as he turned and used Dark Raid, ricocheting the Keyblade off of a wall on the side and decapitating the other Large Bodies, letting the weapon ricochet off of the opposing wall and back into his hand. One last slash dispatched the last two Shadows as he turned, banishing the Keyblade.

Since becoming a Master, he had found that seemingly in desperation, more and more Heartless seemed to be drawn to him. Was this, in fact, fear? Or could it be something more...?

He shook these thoughts from his head. He was determined that there would be someone here... but he wasn't sure who he was looking for. Something seemed to tug on his heart, pulling him here... But why?

[Leon Durandus]

When first the sounds of battle reached Leon's keen ears, it seemed his blood was replaced in his veins with diluted adrenaline, pumped endlessly by a burning heart. Even in the cozy, suburban lull of Twilight Town, Leon's spirit blazed forth like an envoy of the sun hanging, motionless, overhead. Cast in the heavy, orange light of a midsummer's day, the ex-SOLDIER moved as though his bones were hollow and his tissues lighter than air. The brutish slab of black steel across his back may as well have been a pair of elegantly crafted wings on which he took to the skies. He was sure not to overstay his welcome, for the gift of flight was a skill Leon had not mastered -- merely the art of clearing the rooftops in a single bound. He landed nimbly atop the tower of brick and finely shaped concrete, scarcely disturbing those who dwelt within. From his perch, the town's furthest reaches were at his fingertips, the most remote of them being a few minutes' journey away. For a moment, he stood, perfectly stoic, in surveillance of the town, but he stayed only until he caught sight of the dancing silhouettes crowded around a vastly outnumbered swordsman.

However, to Leon's surprise, the job was nearly done by the time of his arrival. The young man fought with a demon's strength and the grace of a lashing serpent. His agility, especially, was fit for a member of ShinRa's elite corps, while his command of his own spiritual essence suggested that he was not cut from a wholly mundane cloth. Leon was taken aback by his skill, for the denizens of Twilight Town hardly seemed the types to be so proficient in warfare. He wished to lend a hand, but, by the time he had gotten a good look at the young man's assailants, they had been promptly dealt with. Their remains were scattered to the winds, nothing more than wispy tendrils of shadow matter to be dissipated in the atmosphere. From what little he had seen of them, they were unmistakably counted among the forces of the Heartless, and, more importantly, this young man was one of the chosen few dedicated to their extermination -- a Keyblade Wielder.

Better yet, this boy fit the description of the "Riku" figure he had been sent to find on behalf of Tamesis. The odds of finding a single man with such ease, when an infinitely expanding array of Universes served as the hunting grounds, were beyond astronomical. It seemed almost as though he had been guided by the invisible hand of causality, for luck alone was no longer sufficient to explain his good fortune. It seems,[/i] reflected the soldier of fortune, there are forces at work here that I'm not quite aware of.[/i] Leon thoughtfully scratched his chin, keeping a watchful eye on the boy with the key in case he decided to take off during his moment of contemplation. Rather than waste any more time with his metaphysical musings, however, the swordsman took to the streets, landing rather suddenly beside the silver haired warrior, eyes flashing with the barest hint of urgency.

"Sorry I didn't help you out back there. You had those guys pretty much whipped by the time I showed up." He began apologetically, lips briefly curled into a friendly grin. "The name's Leon Durandus, ex-SOLDIER," that still didn't mean anything to people not from Gaia, "and you must be Riku, yeah?" Leon extended his hand as a show of good faith. "If you are, I've got a message I need to pass onto you -- as well as one of my own." Though he had every intention of telling Riku that Tamesis sought him out, he also felt it only proper to let it be known that Leon had his suspicions about the regal sorceress.

[Xion]

The ClockTower Top again..this was becoming more of a habit than anything else..or a remembrance.
Xion sighed, taking a bite of the salty-sweet ice-cream treat that was slowly melting and dripping off the end of the wooden stick in her hand.
We used to do this...all the time. Remember, Roxas? Got it memorized, Axel?
A slightly sad smile formed across the girl's face as she recalled those memories. These days, however, the memories she treasured seemed dimmer, as if something was stealing them away, turning them into the nothing she was sure she had become when she went back to Sora. She remembered that clearly..

It had pained her to fight Axel, to hurt him like that. But she had truly hoped he could end it then and there, in front of the Old Mansion. But he hadn't been able to. Captured once again, Xion dimly remembered returning with Axel to the Castle..and then the rest was nothing. Until she had come up to the Clock Tower again..but it was like everything had been re-written..as if someone had taken everything, but left the memories, with one terrible purpose. To destroy and absorb her best friend..and fufill her role as the Puppet was created to do.

Roxas..the expression on his face..she could still see it. He had lost everything..the place he had found at least some sense of belonging to, his friends.. And even though she had known that any memories of her would probably cease to exist..she had hoped, a small glimmer of light, that someone would remember her. That those she had come to know, to care about, (which was supposed to be impossible for Nobodies, right? Feelings?) wouldn't forget her completely.

And what about Riku? If it hadn't been for him, nothing would have been right. Nothing would have been fixed. Everything would be different now. She almost laughed at herself, a humorless laugh. Weren't things different enough now? Memories of something, of waking up in the Castle..after being erased from existence..were they real? Or just another dream, something born from nonsense?

Xion's thoughts were suddenly brought back to the present as she sensed the presence of Heartless in the World. Lots of them. Where were they? How many? Where were they? And then, almost as quickly as she sensed them, the Darkness was gone. What had happened? Two new presences alerted her..one seemed familiar, almost like a distant memory..and the other..was new. Very new. Were they Organization? She didn't think so. Either these two were allies, or they were here for no good purpose. Either way, she was determined to find out. Twilight Town was a place almost like home..if she could call any place that. She would not allow it or its inhabitants to be disturbed. She opened a Corridor of Darkness, walking through it in search of the presences....

And found them in the Sandlot. Keeping her hood up, she walked out of the Corridor, keeping just out of sight around a corner. She wanted to find out who they were, and what they were doing here. And why the Heartless had shown up in the first place.