Stratos didn't realize the severity of what he had said until Kaida began to bore it into him just how dangerous what they had been doing was. He had never really felt some kind of dark pressure trying to over take him or anything nor did he ever feel the lanes were exceptionally dangerous. All the same, it had appeared that traveling wtihout armor, or any form of protection for that matter, had been a very foolhardy thing to do and it was likely due to Yen Sid that he at least was still fine. He looked to Ananta as she made her comment, and shrugged saying, "well, mine hasn't so I'm not sure if that's like, a difference in keyblade or what. But, I guess I should be glad that we can't travel with our gliders right now." The boy then realized something saying, "so, are the world's natural barriers down now, because even if we get a ship from Jumba, won't we just be...you know, if they're still up?" 24/31
Stratos thought about what Kaida was saying as she spoke, trying to process what it was he was being told. "Alright so worlds have hearts and traveling via a ship is normally a bad idea. Got it. And I guess we've just been really lucky with how we've been getting from world to world so far. I don't really get most of what we've been doing, on a technical level at least, either." The boy then scratched his chin, looking at each and every one of the people that were here. Looking back to Kaida, confused he said, "wait, armor? I don't think any of us have ever worn armor before, let alone when going from world to world....is that a bad thing?" 23/31
Stratos didn't know who Vanitas was, but they must've been some kind of powerful or threatening giving how Ananta was laughing about the situation. He couldn't help but chuckle himself, but then let the girl speak to Steel unimpeded, as Kaida spoke up in response to being requested to give history trivia. Of course, he had no idea what it was that she was talking about - both in regards to what a Gummi ship was and what a world's natural barrier was. All the same, he seemed interested and rather than stating his confusion merely asked, "so, what's the difference between using the lanes between and a worlds...natural barrier? Like, there are other ways to get to worlds besides keygliders and boats?" 22/31
Stratos looked curiously at his keyblade, not really having thought about all the history in all the worlds the strange weapons probably had. "Well, at the end I guess the field is the best teacher after all." Looking back to Kaida he continued. "But, I'd be curious to hear about any history trivia you got." Pausing slightly before saying, "probably, less confusing ones than that, but I don't think I've ever really known much about the past of my own world, let alone other ones. So it'd be cool to hear about it." 21/31
Stratos thought about it for a moment. "Where do I start? I feel like I've been in some pretty weird fights. The Mizrabel one was definitely bizarre, my first ever time I got to stay in a chest. But even my first fight, it was against a witch named Mim. First, we couldn't really use our keyblades and she just kind of turned into a rhino and then a dragon. But even then, right after that was the thing at Central Haven. There was like a thousand heartless, there were some really weird heartless. Heck, there was even this one that ate other heartless." The young boy shook his head as he reminisced about how bizarre some of his earlier fights had been, before saying, "I don't take it the order preps you for this kind of stuff, does it?" 20/31
"Well, if you're looking to take hits," the boy made a small guarding motion as he called out his keyblade to show it. "Then you gotta just work on blocking better. You know those weird sets of powers we can use from time to time, like when you suddenly just start wielding two keyblades or start firing energy bolts out of your keyblade? Well, with the power I'm currently using, I feel way more sturdy then I ever have. Heck, it's close to feeling pretty invincible. But well, blitzing something down is always fun too." He pointed towards the ship wreckage. "Reminds me of the first fight I was ever in. Just kind of kept tossing suns at a witch until she went down. And now this time - well, maybe we are reaching that point." 19/31
Stratos joined in on Kaida's chuckling at how poorly they were named, before saying, "Servants of Sanctuary...I think. Pretty sure it was Dreamer, that dude in the white cloak that told us what it was. But," the boy continued to chuckle at the memories of the world they reached via ink blot. "Yeah, that place was pretty rough...for all of us. But, I'm sure he'd have gone and aced it, or at least did way better than us. We weren't exactly the most magically inclined party." With an amused smile on his face he asked, "think we'd pass with flying colors now?" 18/31
While Kaida had seemed confused by the place he was referring to, he too was confused by the term she used to refer to it. All the same, he continued, "well, I've only been there once myself, but it seemed fine when I was there. After that, I went to Central Haven and well, you know the rest from there." The boy followed her eyes onto Aux as she made her comment about a concussion, looking back to her saying, "yeah, the last split was...far from pleasant for me too. But, even without a beacon to guide us, wandering aimlessly until something happens is just what our group excels at right?" 17/31
"I'll be honest, I'm not really sure how the whole boat thing works myself. I just figured it was worth a shot. But yeah, I'm worried about the others too," the boy admitted to Kaida. "I'm sure they're fine but well, I have no idea where they are and no idea how to search for them." Looking a bit thoughtful for a moment the boy then said, "I guess we could go to the land of departure. I don't think anything happened there, yet at least. And everyone was there when I first joined the SOS, so it might be good to check out." 16/31
The boy scratched his chin at Kaida's comment, thinking back to when they first landed on the shore. "Oh yeah, I suppose I haven't actually seen it since. That's..." the boy thought about it for a bit longer before saying, "man what kind of magic boats were those anyway? Well, that doesn't really matter anyway. I guess we could look for some other kind of boat on the island, since I can't imagine a place right on the water doesn't have boats. Now, we can't really just take what we find but well, I guess it's more productive then," the boy looked to the smoking remnants of the ship in the water. "That." 15/31
Stratos scratched his chin at the response, saying, "that is...certainly something." The idea of being able to turn his eye light "off" was certainly something else. He wasn't quite sure that he quite understood what it was Steel was saying, yet all the same he returned the finger guns saying, "but hey, I guess that means your soul is just positively glowing right now. But yeah, as long as you say you're alright." With that, the boy looked out to the sea, scratching his chin saying, "so you think we can take the same boat we took in?" 14/31
Stratos looked over to Steel as he spoke up, and as both he and Kaida talked about promises the boy only watched. While Kaida seemed to reaffirm what it was she was talking about Steel seemed to be lost in his thoughts - or rather, lost in his past. The boy didn't feel comfortable prying into what it was Steel had promised and he wasn't even sure if he would entirely understand. All the same, as Kaida reassured the wolf man, causing the boy to crack a small smile at the unfortunate wording she nearly completed, he said, "she's right Steel. If nothing else, you're consistent and reliable. Whether it comes to combat or helping deal with some of the more emotional people of the group, or hell even just being around in general. I'm positive if you keep working at what you need to do, it'll get done. But uh, yeah, that eye thing is a bit...different." 13/31
As Kaida had gone and made her proclamation about what they would do, Stratos simply stood there, with his expression still a bit defeated. However, after a moment, he shook it off. He knew she was right. That there wasn't much sense in trying to fight something like this, and even more so that the better respect was fighting for Hikaru. He didn't like it, and it was still difficult to accept, but this was their reality and he had to live with that. He had to focus on the thigns he could do. And so, with his expression changing to a smile, he said, "You're right, I promise too. To keep up the fight and help protect us. All of us." It was at this moment that Stratos looked to the others, who had been talking about their way out of here which was then interrupted by an explosion happening in the water. "Well, that was something..." It looked like their plan to find a ride out of here was going to be a tad difficult. 12/31
Stratos stood there silent, as unsure as ever as Kaida went through her bout of both fury and sorrow at the situation provided. He hadn't the faintest idea of what to do to help her, nor did he really know if he was in any position himself to anyone. However, as he stood there silently, he eventually heard Aux speak up about the situation. The boy simply nodded, looking back to the ring on his finger and began to take a deep sigh. Closing hiss eyes and trying to focus on his own thoughts, the boy try to come to terms himself with this overall impossible situation. 11/31
Stratos seemed to still be in deep thought as Aux began to speak up about what was truly going on with their sudden memory loss. His friend was going to be slowly forgotten. They wouldn't remember his name. His face. They probably wouldn't even remember his sacrifice. Stratos thought about what to do about this. About what to do against a fundamental fact of the universe trying to overwrite their memory. He couldn't help but agree with Aux. This was too cruel. He couldn't help but agree with Ananta. This wasn't something he could accept. Yet, as he thought more about it he came to one profound realization about this. There was nothing he could do. He barely understood the reasoning behind this from happening, let alone how it worked and how he was going to stop it. Worse still, there was a chance he was going to forget this was even a problem to begin with. A look of pained frustration crossed Stratos's face, before he finally muttered, "there's gotta be something. There's always something. There's always..." He trailed off before shaking his head. "Kaida's right, for now, there's only one thing we can do and that's give ourselves physical reminders of him. Things not in our head. Maybe then we'll be able to keep him in there for longer- long enough to find out a way to combat...whatever this is." Stratos looked at the ring adorned on his finger. He would not forget the man who gave him - who gave everyone these rings. And so long as he wore it still, he was certain he wouldn't forget. 10/31
While everything had seemed to work out, both with Stich and his family and the group's mission, all that remained was finding a way off the island and to other worlds. However, as Stratos tried to think of this, he heard Kaida speak up, panicked about something. Stratos had a look of concern cross his face as she seemed to not be able to remember the man who sacrificed himself for them, more specifically his name, even after Steel had clarified what it was. Worst over, it seemed that Ananta had started to follow this as well. "Come on guys, his name is..." Stratos paused for a moment. There was a clear look of thought on his face during this pause before saying, "Hikaru." He nodded to himself, as if affirming to himself that this was right. Looking at the group he said, "but, this is worrying. Why we would all suddenly be forgetting Hi- him?" 9/31
As the trio let loose their strike at the ship, it had appeared that Stich had managed to go onboard and rescue Lilo in time. With all that done, the attack struck the ship and Gantu and ship was sent into the sea below them. With that done, the group made their way back to the shore. Once there, Stratos jumped off his glider, dismissing it and landing feet first on the sand. Keeping himself balanced he looked over to Kaida as she congratulated everyone saying, "yeah. You all did great. Ananta, Aux, thanks for the saves. And Steel, Kaida. Well, I've thrown suns before but never something like that." With that, the boy held up his hand, ready for a fist bump from the other two hunters. 8/31
With the barrage of attacks, Gantu seemed to bring out the big guns, firing one massive laser at them. While Stratos knew that the attack would deal quite the hefty amount of damage, neither him nor anyone else in the party would feel the pain as a large wall appeared in front of all them to take the brunt of the attack. Feeling a bit of relief come across, Stratos looked to see Kaida motion towards Steel. As he heard the two call out to each other, he had an understanding himself of what to do. Flying over to it, the boy jumped off his keyglider and down into the air next to the others. Though he was free falling, this was stopped as third rune appeared underneath Stratos, which the boy landed on. As he landed on the rune, it seemed to connect with the two others, forming a triangle between the three of them. Summoning his keyblade to his hand, the boy's eyes began to glow as well as he stuck his keyblade to meet the other two hunters, the tip of it glowing in the process. As the three blades joined, Stratos merely said, "everybody ready?" As he did, the light between the three blades began to grow brighter and brighter as a large orb was formed. As the orb reached its critical mass, the light eventually exploded outward, enveloping all enemies in the area. Stratos used Trinity Limit 7/31
With the group being able to put some more pressure down onto the ship of their foe, Stratos broke off from Steel. As the man went to do his own flurry of watery combos, Stratos hopped back onto his keyglider and kept up pursuit. As the healing wave washed over him, the boy gave a thumbs up towards Kaida, before beginning to dart forward. Jumping off the glider, the boy summoned his keyblade back to his hand and begin unleashing his own flurry of blows against it, letting loose yet another pulse of sound into the ship, before hopping back onto his glider. Stratos used Aerial Combo 6/31
Stratos was able to take the brunt of the attack fairly well, though he still felt the pain start to course through him. While Aux and Kaida seemed to be fine due to their own defenses, it seemed that both Ananta and Steel were not doing so hot as a result. While Stratos was still ready to fly forward and let loose a flurry of attacks at the alien's ship, with the current power he had and the current rhythm of the battle, he was able to hold himself back. Flying towards Steel, Stratos landed on the ship, summoning the keyblade to his hand, saying, "I got your back." With that, he got ready to intercept any damage that came their way. Stratos uses Cover on Steel. 5/31
