"Alright. Good. Come on Chrono it's time for us to get out of here." Torrin headed outside to find that, as he figured, Boreas and Take had already settled their disagreement by now. Neither looked too worse for wear and as Torrin approached he could see that there was something off about Take. He wasn't too keen on prying in front of everyone and wondered if it was just due to the skirmish. "Good. You both got that out of your systems. If no one's in need of healing, we can finally leave this place and reunite with the others." Torrin held up the communicator and clicked on it to get back into contact with Aria. "Hey. It's Torrin. We're heading out to meet you guys. Mind giving a general direction on where to find your group?" In response there was static. Torrin blinked and waited a moment. "Aria? You there?" Silence. "Is anyone there?" Yet more silence to come with the static. A look of concern crossed his face. "Dammit. No answer." Torrin called for his keyblade and immediately opened a portal, the same one that Thallasa had opened earlier, and narrowed his sights on the column of light. "Wait!" Edna shouted as she ran over towards the group. The short woman glared at them. "No goodbye? Is this how you treat your host!?" "O-oh. Yeah. Right. Um...sorry. Thank you Miss Mode for your hospitality. We've greatly appreciated all the assistance you've given us." Torrin spoke, scratching the back of his head as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry we won't be able to repay the debt anytime soon." "Oh darlings. Please. I know I'm a miracle worker." "Less chatting more walking!" Doli shouted at the group as he flew ahead. Thallasa motioned for everyone to follow her. "The ill-tempered fairy has a point." She said as she went after Doli. "How quickly the scenery changes..." She commented as the group entered the marshes and the treeline abruptly stopped. Thallasa tried to find her way onto higher ground but the best she could do was trudge through the mud as the thick murky smell permeated the air. The master swatted a fly out of the air and looked around as they passed by several still standing dead trees. Thallasa scrunched her nose but made no complaint. "Are you certain that the Cauldron is in this direction?" She asked curiously. "Of course I am! If you don't believe me you can go off on your own and search yourself! See how far you get without me!" "No need to be so rude." "Then don't pester me with your questions!" The Light Chaser stepped back, barely inching out of the range of Chrysanthemum's first attack. From under the hood the man smiled faintly. "Hmph. That's much better. This is how it should be. When backed into a corner one has little option but to unleash everything they have." He ducked underneath one of her attacks and summoned a blade temporarily to deflect one of the blows now that her speed had increased. "This power...it is but a drop compared to that which is yet to come." "Tell me, what would you do to reunite with your brother? How far would you go?" Once more he summoned that same blade and brought it down towards Chrys with blinding speed and followed up with an upward swing which discharged an arc of light that would have knocked the girl back if she decided to block it head on.
"Alright. Good. Come on Chrono it's time for us to get out of here." Torrin headed outside to find that, as he figured, Boreas and Take had already settled their disagreement by now. Neither looked too worse for wear and as Torrin approached he could see that there was something off about Take. He wasn't too keen on prying in front of everyone and wondered if it was just due to the skirmish. "Good. You both got that out of your systems. If no one's in need of healing, we can finally leave this place and reunite with the others." Torrin held up the communicator and clicked on it to get back into contact with Aria. "Hey. It's Torrin. We're heading out to meet you guys. Mind giving a general direction on where to find your group?" In response there was static. Torrin blinked and waited a moment. "Aria? You there?" Silence. "Is anyone there?" Yet more silence to come with the static. A look of concern crossed his face. "Dammit. No answer." Torrin called for his keyblade and immediately opened a portal, the same one that Thallasa had opened earlier, and narrowed his sights on the column of light. "Wait!" Edna shouted as she ran over towards the group. The short woman glared at them. "No goodbye? Is this how you treat your host!?" "O-oh. Yeah. Right. Um...sorry. Thank you Miss Mode for your hospitality. We've greatly appreciated all the assistance you've given us." Torrin spoke, scratching the back of his head as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry we won't be able to repay the debt anytime soon." "Oh darlings. Please. I know I'm a miracle worker."
"Less chatting more walking!" Doli shouted at the group as he flew ahead. Thallasa motioned for everyone to follow her. "The ill-tempered fairy has a point." She said as she went after Doli. "How quickly the scenery changes..." She commented as the group entered the marshes and the treeline abruptly stopped. Thallasa tried to find her way onto higher ground but the best she could do was trudge through the mud as the thick murky smell permeated the air. The master swatted a fly out of the air and looked around as they passed by several still standing dead trees. Thallasa scrunched her nose but made no complaint. "Are you certain that the Cauldron is in this direction?" She asked curiously. "Of course I am! If you don't believe me you can go off on your own and search yourself! See how far you get without me!" "No need to be so rude." "Then don't pester me with your questions!"
The Light Chaser stepped back, barely inching out of the range of Chrysanthemum's first attack. From under the hood the man smiled faintly. "Hmph. That's much better. This is how it should be. When backed into a corner one has little option but to unleash everything they have." He ducked underneath one of her attacks and summoned a blade temporarily to deflect one of the blows now that her speed had increased. "This power...it is but a drop compared to that which is yet to come." "Tell me, what would you do to reunite with your brother? How far would you go?" Once more he summoned that same blade and brought it down towards Chrys with blinding speed and followed up with an upward swing which discharged an arc of light that would have knocked the girl back if she decided to block it head on.
"Hm. Yeah. Though my people have a different way of going about that sort of thing." Torrin spoke dismissively, not wishing to go into detail about that particular subject. "It's okay if you weren't in the mood to eat. I'm not going to hold that against you. Just try to eat more when you get the chance. Don't force it but just try. Alright?" Torrin rubbed the back of his neck. Speaking to Tinarah had become less awkward "Well if everyone's ready, we can start heading out. I assume Boreas and Take have handled whatever issues they had by now."
"Hm. Yeah. Though my people have a different way of going about that sort of thing." Torrin spoke dismissively, not wishing to go into detail about that particular subject. "It's okay if you weren't in the mood to eat. I'm not going to hold that against you. Just try to eat more when you get the chance. Don't force it but just try. Alright?" Torrin rubbed the back of his neck. Speaking to Tinarah had become less awkward "Well if everyone's ready, we can start heading out. I assume Boreas and Take have handled whatever issues they had by now."
"Your judgment on these guys is probably better than mine. They're of...little interest to me." Arctus answered Karina as he watched the on goings of the others' challenge with some curiosity. It didn't take long for him to realize this had become a life or death situation and when it looked that Shiro was about to bite it Arctus cursed under his breath and moved forward slightly. "Screw this. Sitting around is getting boring." Arctus muttered under his breath. Magic flowed from his arm as he thrust out his hand and extended it in Shiro's direction. The air began to ripple and beside Shiro a rip in space formed and a dark hole, barely larger than the flying void disc, intercepted the projectile's path and closed the instant it was sucked into the dimensional tear. At that moment a new hole tore itself open and launched out that same void disc right back at Alex.
"Your judgment on these guys is probably better than mine. They're of...little interest to me." Arctus answered Karina as he watched the on goings of the others' challenge with some curiosity. It didn't take long for him to realize this had become a life or death situation and when it looked that Shiro was about to bite it Arctus cursed under his breath and moved forward slightly. "Screw this. Sitting around is getting boring." Arctus muttered under his breath. Magic flowed from his arm as he thrust out his hand and extended it in Shiro's direction. The air began to ripple and beside Shiro a rip in space formed and a dark hole, barely larger than the flying void disc, intercepted the projectile's path and closed the instant it was sucked into the dimensional tear. At that moment a new hole tore itself open and launched out that same void disc right back at Alex.
"Are you doing better, Stamatis?" "Yes. I believe I am, Master Skia." "Good. Remember, a banana a day keeps the doctor asleep." "....Do you do this on purpose?" "Do what on purpose?" "Nothing. The reason I summoned you was to gain some insight. You have continued your own studies into the arts of darkness, have you not?" "Not as intensely as Kide when it comes to that pet project of his. But yes. What insight are you looking to get?" "Due to his experiences in this Realm of Reflection, as Master Gero has named it, Gero has expressed his concerns over Torrin. He seems to believe that the prince can only be trusted up to a certain point. Thanks to some of the work Master Kidemonas has put into modifying our castle a few readings were taken from everyone." "What? We can do that now? That's...invasive." "It was merely to gauge one's ability to administer appropriate challenges for them." "And it just so happens that it can be used to conduct involuntary scans on our guests." "Perhaps you should take a look at the scans for yourself before commenting on the morality of the issue. Kidemonas and I have done what we can analyzing the data but I believe you can solve a few unresolved issues regarding our current ally." "Hm...I'll see what I can do, Master Stamatis." "Thank you." "Oh and...Stamatis? Aster and Atmos have been making the castle feel really tense lately. Do you mind sitting down with them and having a chat?" "I was about to suggest something similar to Masters Varos and Thyella. Choma seems to have been rather anxious as of late and I felt that a sparring session with one of us would do him some good." "I can pass the message along." "And I shall do what I can to mend the ties between the sisters." "Great. So....see ya later crocodile." "Alligator." "What?" "...I shall see you at the next meeting."
"Are you doing better, Stamatis?" "Yes. I believe I am, Master Skia." "Good. Remember, a banana a day keeps the doctor asleep." "....Do you do this on purpose?" "Do what on purpose?" "Nothing. The reason I summoned you was to gain some insight. You have continued your own studies into the arts of darkness, have you not?" "Not as intensely as Kide when it comes to that pet project of his. But yes. What insight are you looking to get?" "Due to his experiences in this Realm of Reflection, as Master Gero has named it, Gero has expressed his concerns over Torrin. He seems to believe that the prince can only be trusted up to a certain point. Thanks to some of the work Master Kidemonas has put into modifying our castle a few readings were taken from everyone." "What? We can do that now? That's...invasive." "It was merely to gauge one's ability to administer appropriate challenges for them." "And it just so happens that it can be used to conduct involuntary scans on our guests." "Perhaps you should take a look at the scans for yourself before commenting on the morality of the issue. Kidemonas and I have done what we can analyzing the data but I believe you can solve a few unresolved issues regarding our current ally." "Hm...I'll see what I can do, Master Stamatis." "Thank you." "Oh and...Stamatis? Aster and Atmos have been making the castle feel really tense lately. Do you mind sitting down with them and having a chat?" "I was about to suggest something similar to Masters Varos and Thyella. Choma seems to have been rather anxious as of late and I felt that a sparring session with one of us would do him some good." "I can pass the message along." "And I shall do what I can to mend the ties between the sisters." "Great. So....see ya later crocodile." "Alligator." "What?" "...I shall see you at the next meeting."
Torrin stood up to clean his dishes and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment towards Tinarah. "I see...I think the team would be interested in seeing what you'd have to cook." He commented. "Hm..." He began to dry his dishes and started to place them away in their place. "This isn't related to anything but there was once a story an old blacksmith once told me. Cranky guy. Short. I think he's a dwarf? Eh...either way. Uh. Right. So the story goes..." Torrin dried his hands and looked over to see if either Take or Boreas were returning yet. It was silent outside now and he figured whatever it was, they had likely settled it by now. "Way before the Realms of Light or Darkness were around, there existed something else. Something before them. Vague but that's all the explanation I was ever offered. So way back then in this mythical time, there existed creatures of immense power. I was told they were once called god-beasts. So..." Torrin scratched the back of his head as his brow furrowed. "Hmm...I don't remember the rest of the story. Maybe i should have gone with something else. There was a hero with a sword...something about a flying continent...I think people even traveled by...cannon? I think there was even a jolly fat elf man in a red suit who gave presents to children involved. And a reindeer with a glowing nose. Huh. Thinking back on it now, I think old Watts was drunk when he told me the story. Uh. Never mind. Guess you can ignore all of that." He cleared his throat. Torrin snapped his fingers. "Ah! I guess I do have a story of my own. During my travels over the past year I once found a world that was a set of peaceful islands. There they had a legend that whoever plucked the fruit of one of their indigenous trees would be bonded with whoever they shared its fruit with. I looked at one of them myself I didn't see anything mystical about them but to the people of that world those fruit were special. From what I learned, they would be used during wedding ceremonies there. Looked a little silly sharing some star-shaped fruit but I suppose the thought was...sweet. Er...not that I'm a romantic or anything." Torrin shrugged. Thallasa shook her head slightly at the others. "We do not need to split up. Staying in this place has given me reason to believe that this place too will fall should we fail to help stop the Horned King. Darkness like that only calls upon more darkness. And..." Thallasa eyed Eilonwy and the girl blinked curiously at the woman. "As for our other task...I believe it has been completed already thanks to the assistance of Illiana and Taran here." "So yes, let us head out and stop the Horned King. We have powerful weapons of our own between all of us. If not our own blades then possibly the boy's sword could do the job. It seems to hold a great deal of power on its own. If none of those do the job then we shall have to figure it out from there. Being incapable of improvising as the situation calls for it would make for a serious weakness." "Alright well if you lot are goin' then stop chatting and git!" Doli called out as he flew back to the area where the others had first arrived. Once everyone gathered around the flying fairy as the fairy king started to wave farewell at the group. "Do you expect us to fly out or–Waitwhat'sgoingon?" Blue sparks of light surrounded them and they began to rise off the ground, levitating higher and higher as they were carried upwards. Fflam let out a yelp and Gurgi flung his arms around Eilonwy as the party was carried up out of the cave and through the surface of the pond without even so much as catching a single drop of water upon them. They were back on shore still dry despite having flown through the pond. Doli began to fly ahead of the group leading them past a clearing in the forest to what appeared to be marshes ahead. "Well don't stand there gawking! We don't got all day!" "He's quite angry isn't he?" Taran commented, looking at Illiana. "Gurgi no like mean friend." The furry creature commented after hopping off of Eilonwy.
Torrin stood up to clean his dishes and gave a slight nod of acknowledgment towards Tinarah. "I see...I think the team would be interested in seeing what you'd have to cook." He commented. "Hm..." He began to dry his dishes and started to place them away in their place. "This isn't related to anything but there was once a story an old blacksmith once told me. Cranky guy. Short. I think he's a dwarf? Eh...either way. Uh. Right. So the story goes..." Torrin dried his hands and looked over to see if either Take or Boreas were returning yet. It was silent outside now and he figured whatever it was, they had likely settled it by now. "Way before the Realms of Light or Darkness were around, there existed something else. Something before them. Vague but that's all the explanation I was ever offered. So way back then in this mythical time, there existed creatures of immense power. I was told they were once called god-beasts. So..." Torrin scratched the back of his head as his brow furrowed. "Hmm...I don't remember the rest of the story. Maybe i should have gone with something else. There was a hero with a sword...something about a flying continent...I think people even traveled by...cannon? I think there was even a jolly fat elf man in a red suit who gave presents to children involved. And a reindeer with a glowing nose. Huh. Thinking back on it now, I think old Watts was drunk when he told me the story. Uh. Never mind. Guess you can ignore all of that." He cleared his throat. Torrin snapped his fingers. "Ah! I guess I do have a story of my own. During my travels over the past year I once found a world that was a set of peaceful islands. There they had a legend that whoever plucked the fruit of one of their indigenous trees would be bonded with whoever they shared its fruit with. I looked at one of them myself I didn't see anything mystical about them but to the people of that world those fruit were special. From what I learned, they would be used during wedding ceremonies there. Looked a little silly sharing some star-shaped fruit but I suppose the thought was...sweet. Er...not that I'm a romantic or anything." Torrin shrugged.
Thallasa shook her head slightly at the others. "We do not need to split up. Staying in this place has given me reason to believe that this place too will fall should we fail to help stop the Horned King. Darkness like that only calls upon more darkness. And..." Thallasa eyed Eilonwy and the girl blinked curiously at the woman. "As for our other task...I believe it has been completed already thanks to the assistance of Illiana and Taran here." "So yes, let us head out and stop the Horned King. We have powerful weapons of our own between all of us. If not our own blades then possibly the boy's sword could do the job. It seems to hold a great deal of power on its own. If none of those do the job then we shall have to figure it out from there. Being incapable of improvising as the situation calls for it would make for a serious weakness." "Alright well if you lot are goin' then stop chatting and git!" Doli called out as he flew back to the area where the others had first arrived. Once everyone gathered around the flying fairy as the fairy king started to wave farewell at the group. "Do you expect us to fly out or–Waitwhat'sgoingon?" Blue sparks of light surrounded them and they began to rise off the ground, levitating higher and higher as they were carried upwards. Fflam let out a yelp and Gurgi flung his arms around Eilonwy as the party was carried up out of the cave and through the surface of the pond without even so much as catching a single drop of water upon them. They were back on shore still dry despite having flown through the pond. Doli began to fly ahead of the group leading them past a clearing in the forest to what appeared to be marshes ahead. "Well don't stand there gawking! We don't got all day!" "He's quite angry isn't he?" Taran commented, looking at Illiana. "Gurgi no like mean friend." The furry creature commented after hopping off of Eilonwy.
Torrin raised an eyebrow at how seriously Boreas had taken Take's joke but he simply watched on as the two exited Edna's home. He was certain Boreas would not try killing Take but since he had removed his tunic Torrin just wasn't how sure how far a confrontation would go. Still, he trusted the two enough to not permanently injure each other or a petty squabble. Torrin took another sip of his hot chocolate when Chrono asked if he would do something about the situation and Torrin scratched his chin as he mulled over a proper response. "There were...occasions where my father or my uncle would have men serving under them fight over differences of opinion or clashes in personality." He didn't want to explain to Chrono in particular of his heritage but the background he gave was vague enough for now. "From their experience, I've learned that intervening every time two people have a fight only serves to pacify a conflict, not resolve it. If I find that Boreas and Take are incapable of getting over their differences on their own, then I will step in. Besides, if they want to rough each other up they'll be able to bond over that. They'll both be fine." Torrin took another sip as he began to cut into his eggs. "And I'm glad you think the eggs are good, Tinarah. Uh...I can make more than eggs but I'm not used to cooking with so much...equipment. I'm more of a hunter I suppose. Other than that I've usually traded for food when I really needed to." "Ow! Not so hard..." Taran frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Alright...I'll be more careful..." The boy looked at Illiana. "Just don't hit me again." Gurgi stifled laughter at the sight of Taran being hit causing the boy to glare at the furry creature and make him go silent immediately. "Accident!? Sure. Seems verrrryyyy convenient." Doli grumbled, his eyes narrowing at the group. "Come now Doli, they look harmless enough. You say you were looking for a pig? Why one had fallen into the whirlpool earlier this morning and we weren't quite sure what to do with her." The fairy king spoke. "You have Hen Wen!? Where is she? Is she alright?" The boy stepped forward immediately cheering up. "Why don't you see for yourself?" As soon as King Eidilleg's words were spoken Hen Wen came scurrying forward from behind the flying fairies and ran towards Taran. As Taran embraced the pig Thallasa stepped forward. "As much as a happy reunion this is, I am curious why you and your people have gone into hiding in these dreary caves." "Ain't it obvious!? With the Horned King stirrin' up all sorts'a trouble up there looking for that Black Cauldron there's no way we'd survive out in the open!" "I see..." The woman folded her arms. "What if we were to reach the Black Cauldron first and destroy it? You wouldn't happen to know where such a thing is, would you?" "Really!? You would stand up to the Horned King?" The king hovered closer. "Protecting people is what we do, so yes." The woman calmly replied. "Then Doli can take you to where the cauldron was last seen. Won't you Doli?" "What!? Is that my job now too!? Do I have to do everything around here?" "Doli will be your guide and don't worry about your pig. We can take her safely home for you so you can focus on finding that cauldron." The king assured them. The beams that came from his fingers disappeared a second after they had been reflected by Chrys's spell and an instant later she had already closed the gap between them and readied her counterattack. The man stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding her Blitz and retaliated by kneeing her in the stomach and sending her flying back. "More!" The Light Chaser barked at Chrysanthemum. "Hesitation is weakness. Weakness leads to death. Would you allow your hesitation to be the death of your comrades? Is there no more fight in you that the pitiable display you are putting on? Surely you have more power within you." The man readjusted his hood and pulled on his gloves to keep them tight. "I see the doubt in your eyes. The darkness is not a threat to be taken lightly and you holding back only endangers your friends and our cause. Now show me what you are made of, Chrysanthemum Light! Use every power at your disposal! Prove you are worth of the rank of master!"
Torrin raised an eyebrow at how seriously Boreas had taken Take's joke but he simply watched on as the two exited Edna's home. He was certain Boreas would not try killing Take but since he had removed his tunic Torrin just wasn't how sure how far a confrontation would go. Still, he trusted the two enough to not permanently injure each other or a petty squabble. Torrin took another sip of his hot chocolate when Chrono asked if he would do something about the situation and Torrin scratched his chin as he mulled over a proper response. "There were...occasions where my father or my uncle would have men serving under them fight over differences of opinion or clashes in personality." He didn't want to explain to Chrono in particular of his heritage but the background he gave was vague enough for now. "From their experience, I've learned that intervening every time two people have a fight only serves to pacify a conflict, not resolve it. If I find that Boreas and Take are incapable of getting over their differences on their own, then I will step in. Besides, if they want to rough each other up they'll be able to bond over that. They'll both be fine." Torrin took another sip as he began to cut into his eggs. "And I'm glad you think the eggs are good, Tinarah. Uh...I can make more than eggs but I'm not used to cooking with so much...equipment. I'm more of a hunter I suppose. Other than that I've usually traded for food when I really needed to." "Ow! Not so hard..." Taran frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Alright...I'll be more careful..." The boy looked at Illiana. "Just don't hit me again." Gurgi stifled laughter at the sight of Taran being hit causing the boy to glare at the furry creature and make him go silent immediately. "Accident!? Sure. Seems verrrryyyy convenient." Doli grumbled, his eyes narrowing at the group. "Come now Doli, they look harmless enough. You say you were looking for a pig? Why one had fallen into the whirlpool earlier this morning and we weren't quite sure what to do with her." The fairy king spoke. "You have Hen Wen!? Where is she? Is she alright?" The boy stepped forward immediately cheering up. "Why don't you see for yourself?" As soon as King Eidilleg's words were spoken Hen Wen came scurrying forward from behind the flying fairies and ran towards Taran. As Taran embraced the pig Thallasa stepped forward. "As much as a happy reunion this is, I am curious why you and your people have gone into hiding in these dreary caves." "Ain't it obvious!? With the Horned King stirrin' up all sorts'a trouble up there looking for that Black Cauldron there's no way we'd survive out in the open!" "I see..." The woman folded her arms. "What if we were to reach the Black Cauldron first and destroy it? You wouldn't happen to know where such a thing is, would you?" "Really!? You would stand up to the Horned King?" The king hovered closer. "Protecting people is what we do, so yes." The woman calmly replied. "Then Doli can take you to where the cauldron was last seen. Won't you Doli?" "What!? Is that my job now too!? Do I have to do everything around here?" "Doli will be your guide and don't worry about your pig. We can take her safely home for you so you can focus on finding that cauldron." The king assured them.
The beams that came from his fingers disappeared a second after they had been reflected by Chrys's spell and an instant later she had already closed the gap between them and readied her counterattack. The man stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding her Blitz and retaliated by kneeing her in the stomach and sending her flying back. "More!" The Light Chaser barked at Chrysanthemum. "Hesitation is weakness. Weakness leads to death. Would you allow your hesitation to be the death of your comrades? Is there no more fight in you that the pitiable display you are putting on? Surely you have more power within you." The man readjusted his hood and pulled on his gloves to keep them tight. "I see the doubt in your eyes. The darkness is not a threat to be taken lightly and you holding back only endangers your friends and our cause. Now show me what you are made of, Chrysanthemum Light! Use every power at your disposal! Prove you are worth of the rank of master!"
Torrin blinked at the conversation going on beside him. At Boreas's comment on "royalty not suffering such disrespect" he thought back to his uncle and while it was true that blatant disrespect would often end in swift punishment, the punishment itself was never severe. Perhaps before the war the rules were less strict at one point but Torrin had only known a post-war monarchy. "The king of the Realm of Darkness is possibly one of the most powerful keyblade masters alive." Torrin commented in favor of his uncle's position. He said no more on the subject since he did not want to reveal more about himself than he was comfortable with. "Thank you." Tinarah spoke quietly causing him to turn. "Oh hey. No problem. Help yourself to as much as you want." He scratched the back of his head as he shifted in place awkwardly. As Torrin gathered his food he immediately took a large swig of the cocoa, ignoring the burning in his mouth and throat as it went down, before heading over to sit down at the dining table by Tinarah. Take's words would likely cause Boreas some frustration and he knew better than to simply tell his friend to calm down. They could sort it out themselves and he would only step in if necessary. His eyes darted towards Tinarah then back towards Boreas and Take as he struggled to find the words to say to the girl. He thought that maybe he should have gone to the couch to eat but if he was going to eat in the presence of company he refused to eat like a boor. "So...how's the food?" Thallasa turned to answer Illiana. "Well natural can be many different things to different worlds. I know of a world where waterfalls go up instead of down. And my own world's rain has healing properties. Perhaps here ponds spontaneously create whirlpools? I do not know." "I'm fine. Thank you." Taran tapped his hand against his head as if he felt there was water still in his ears. The boy looked at Illiana and blinked at her. "Are you okay?" Taran slowly pushed himself up to stand and looked up at the ceiling to frown at it. "Ohh...now we're stuck here and no closer to finding Hen Wen..." "Mngrmgr..." Eilonwy opened her eyes and squinted up at Aria as she began to come to. The girl sat up and stared blankly at Aria for a moment before she came to her senses. "I'm quite alright, miss Aria." She spoke softly. "Just a little dizzy that's all. Where are we?" "Nowhere pleasant, that's where." Fflam grumbled and folded his arms. "Doli I thought I told you to fix the whirlpool! It happened again!" "Drat! Does nothing ever stay fixed around here!? I'm the one doin' all the work here and all the little ones do is watch me work and laugh!" Further down the cave were two very small floating winged men. Fairies. When the red one noticed that the group had begun to wake up he flew over towards those who had fallen into their cave and began to introduce himself. "Oh I hope you all are well. You were dragged here by accident. That pond is supposed to keep outsiders out. I am Eidilleg, King of the Fair Folk and this is my right-hand fairy Doli." "And just who are you and why are there so many of you?" Doli glared at the group suspiciously.
Torrin blinked at the conversation going on beside him. At Boreas's comment on "royalty not suffering such disrespect" he thought back to his uncle and while it was true that blatant disrespect would often end in swift punishment, the punishment itself was never severe. Perhaps before the war the rules were less strict at one point but Torrin had only known a post-war monarchy. "The king of the Realm of Darkness is possibly one of the most powerful keyblade masters alive." Torrin commented in favor of his uncle's position. He said no more on the subject since he did not want to reveal more about himself than he was comfortable with. "Thank you." Tinarah spoke quietly causing him to turn. "Oh hey. No problem. Help yourself to as much as you want." He scratched the back of his head as he shifted in place awkwardly. As Torrin gathered his food he immediately took a large swig of the cocoa, ignoring the burning in his mouth and throat as it went down, before heading over to sit down at the dining table by Tinarah. Take's words would likely cause Boreas some frustration and he knew better than to simply tell his friend to calm down. They could sort it out themselves and he would only step in if necessary. His eyes darted towards Tinarah then back towards Boreas and Take as he struggled to find the words to say to the girl. He thought that maybe he should have gone to the couch to eat but if he was going to eat in the presence of company he refused to eat like a boor. "So...how's the food?"
Thallasa turned to answer Illiana. "Well natural can be many different things to different worlds. I know of a world where waterfalls go up instead of down. And my own world's rain has healing properties. Perhaps here ponds spontaneously create whirlpools? I do not know." "I'm fine. Thank you." Taran tapped his hand against his head as if he felt there was water still in his ears. The boy looked at Illiana and blinked at her. "Are you okay?" Taran slowly pushed himself up to stand and looked up at the ceiling to frown at it. "Ohh...now we're stuck here and no closer to finding Hen Wen..." "Mngrmgr..." Eilonwy opened her eyes and squinted up at Aria as she began to come to. The girl sat up and stared blankly at Aria for a moment before she came to her senses. "I'm quite alright, miss Aria." She spoke softly. "Just a little dizzy that's all. Where are we?" "Nowhere pleasant, that's where." Fflam grumbled and folded his arms. "Doli I thought I told you to fix the whirlpool! It happened again!" "Drat! Does nothing ever stay fixed around here!? I'm the one doin' all the work here and all the little ones do is watch me work and laugh!" Further down the cave were two very small floating winged men. Fairies. When the red one noticed that the group had begun to wake up he flew over towards those who had fallen into their cave and began to introduce himself. "Oh I hope you all are well. You were dragged here by accident. That pond is supposed to keep outsiders out. I am Eidilleg, King of the Fair Folk and this is my right-hand fairy Doli." "And just who are you and why are there so many of you?" Doli glared at the group suspiciously.
"Yeah. Munny is...uh...money around these parts. Not a very creative name, huh?" Torrin mused as he set aside some eggs to scramble for Boreas and himself. As Take examined the gil Boreas had allowed him to examine Torrin continued to cook, focusing on the sizzling food before him as he tried his best not to burn anything. Torrin chuckled at Take's mention of royalty and family crests and shook his head. "Yeah. Definitely weird. Don't know anyone who'd want to do that." Torrin lowered the flame when he thought the food was near ready and looked over at the others. "Hey come serve yourselves. We've got egg in a basket, scrambled eggs...I think I made enough for several of us..., got some toast, some butter for toast. There's probably some stuff to drink in the fridge..." He gave the egg-heavy breakfast he had prepared with the help of Take a sniff and as he looked down on it he couldn't help but feel a little proud it had not been ruined. Still, he knew the path of the chef was not for him. "Oh it's cold!" Eilonwy exclaimed as she waded alongside Taran. "As much as I enjoy water...I regret following Taran into this." Thallasa shivered as she spoke. "Aria is right. If we get out and circle the pond perhaps we can find signs of Hen Wen's tracks." "But I know she went through here! I just know it!" Taran looked over at Illiana for help but before he could speak again he noticed that the water around them began to swirl around. "What!? W-what's going on?" The water began to swirl ever faster and in an instant Gurgi disappeared under the water's surface before he could cry out for help. "Not me too!" Were Fflam's last words before he too was swallowed up by the pond. Seconds later and the others were already being sucked up by the spontaneous whirlpool that kept anyone from acting to escape. One by one every person was dragged down deeper and deeper... By the time they came to they would have found themselves in a dimly lit cavern, the pond magically suspended overhead and their clothes already dry. "Ugh...unpleasant." Thallasa mumbled as she pushed herself up off the ground. "Everyone alright? It seems we fell into some kind of trap. Though..." She looked around and found nothing in sight to show that anyone had been waiting to get the jump on them. "It could have been a natural occurrence?" The Light Chaser quickly moved his arms, deflecting each blow dealt towards him from his student until she delivered her sweeping attack which caused him to step back with such a great burst of speed that it appeared like he had teleported backwards just out of her blade's range. The man looked at one of his arms and noticed the cuts on his cloak. "Ah. Much better, Chrysanthemum. Your technique has improved. Of course, I would be disappointed had it not." He tapped a finger against the cloak's fabric and with a slight golden glow the damage done to it began to reverse until it was once more pristine. He straightened out his coat and once he was satisfied that all was better he began to make his move. "Now I believe it's my turn." The Light Chaser jumped in the air and leapt over Chrysanthemum where he landed behind her and held out his hand, his fingers outstretched towards her. There was a brief instant where the tips of his fingers began to glow before five beams of light were blasted off and raced towards the girl, each beam tightly homing in on her until they either struck their target or hit something.
"Yeah. Munny is...uh...money around these parts. Not a very creative name, huh?" Torrin mused as he set aside some eggs to scramble for Boreas and himself. As Take examined the gil Boreas had allowed him to examine Torrin continued to cook, focusing on the sizzling food before him as he tried his best not to burn anything. Torrin chuckled at Take's mention of royalty and family crests and shook his head. "Yeah. Definitely weird. Don't know anyone who'd want to do that." Torrin lowered the flame when he thought the food was near ready and looked over at the others. "Hey come serve yourselves. We've got egg in a basket, scrambled eggs...I think I made enough for several of us..., got some toast, some butter for toast. There's probably some stuff to drink in the fridge..." He gave the egg-heavy breakfast he had prepared with the help of Take a sniff and as he looked down on it he couldn't help but feel a little proud it had not been ruined. Still, he knew the path of the chef was not for him.
"Oh it's cold!" Eilonwy exclaimed as she waded alongside Taran. "As much as I enjoy water...I regret following Taran into this." Thallasa shivered as she spoke. "Aria is right. If we get out and circle the pond perhaps we can find signs of Hen Wen's tracks." "But I know she went through here! I just know it!" Taran looked over at Illiana for help but before he could speak again he noticed that the water around them began to swirl around. "What!? W-what's going on?" The water began to swirl ever faster and in an instant Gurgi disappeared under the water's surface before he could cry out for help. "Not me too!" Were Fflam's last words before he too was swallowed up by the pond. Seconds later and the others were already being sucked up by the spontaneous whirlpool that kept anyone from acting to escape.
The Light Chaser quickly moved his arms, deflecting each blow dealt towards him from his student until she delivered her sweeping attack which caused him to step back with such a great burst of speed that it appeared like he had teleported backwards just out of her blade's range. The man looked at one of his arms and noticed the cuts on his cloak. "Ah. Much better, Chrysanthemum. Your technique has improved. Of course, I would be disappointed had it not." He tapped a finger against the cloak's fabric and with a slight golden glow the damage done to it began to reverse until it was once more pristine. He straightened out his coat and once he was satisfied that all was better he began to make his move. "Now I believe it's my turn." The Light Chaser jumped in the air and leapt over Chrysanthemum where he landed behind her and held out his hand, his fingers outstretched towards her. There was a brief instant where the tips of his fingers began to glow before five beams of light were blasted off and raced towards the girl, each beam tightly homing in on her until they either struck their target or hit something.
Torrin blinked and raised an eyebrow at Take in surprise when the boy quickly offered to help. "Ah. A chef in the making? I usually got by hunting or eating in towns with some munny Heartless dropped. When I first came to this realm you wouldn't believe how much of that stuff I threw away because I thought it was junk." He mused as he began to follow Take's instructions. He remembered Mika throwing a fit when she found out about his misunderstanding and complained about how much food he could have bought with what he had been throwing away. Needless to say, Torrin learned his lesson on that day. "I haven't seen a gil in a long time. No one uses that here." He shrugged. Torrin glanced over at the sounds of a violin being played to see Chrono with his sister. Chrono was playing and he was doing it quite well though the musical nuances of the performance were lost on him as it had been some time since he had engrossed himself in the fine arts. When the song was finished Torrin returned his attention towards Take. He lowered his voice and said with some confusion in his voice, "I thought Tinarah was the musical one. ...Does everyone know how to play an instrument?" "Yes yes! Gurgi take to piggy!" The small creature excitedly said as he ran after the tracks leaving the others to follow him. "Quite excitable isn't he?" The master commented. Eilonwy was the first to chase after Gurgi with Taran not far behind. Fflam grumbled and said something about not wanting to be left behind before reluctantly chasing after them. Once she checked that everyone was out of their tents Thallasa snapped her fingers and returned them to their pocket-sized crystalline form and retrieved them. "You heard him. Let's get moving." She said. After several minutes of walking the tracks became clearer and appeared to be fresh the longer they walked until the tracks disappeared into a pond they came across. Thallasa took a few steps around the pond's edge and squinted to see if she could spot tracks on the other side. "The tracks seem to end here...but we should cross to the other side to be sure–" Desperate to find his pig, Taran had already begun wading through the pond to cross to the other side. "Come on! It's not so deep!"
Torrin blinked and raised an eyebrow at Take in surprise when the boy quickly offered to help. "Ah. A chef in the making? I usually got by hunting or eating in towns with some munny Heartless dropped. When I first came to this realm you wouldn't believe how much of that stuff I threw away because I thought it was junk." He mused as he began to follow Take's instructions. He remembered Mika throwing a fit when she found out about his misunderstanding and complained about how much food he could have bought with what he had been throwing away. Needless to say, Torrin learned his lesson on that day. "I haven't seen a gil in a long time. No one uses that here." He shrugged. Torrin glanced over at the sounds of a violin being played to see Chrono with his sister. Chrono was playing and he was doing it quite well though the musical nuances of the performance were lost on him as it had been some time since he had engrossed himself in the fine arts. When the song was finished Torrin returned his attention towards Take. He lowered his voice and said with some confusion in his voice, "I thought Tinarah was the musical one. ...Does everyone know how to play an instrument?"
"Yes yes! Gurgi take to piggy!" The small creature excitedly said as he ran after the tracks leaving the others to follow him. "Quite excitable isn't he?" The master commented. Eilonwy was the first to chase after Gurgi with Taran not far behind. Fflam grumbled and said something about not wanting to be left behind before reluctantly chasing after them. Once she checked that everyone was out of their tents Thallasa snapped her fingers and returned them to their pocket-sized crystalline form and retrieved them. "You heard him. Let's get moving." She said. After several minutes of walking the tracks became clearer and appeared to be fresh the longer they walked until the tracks disappeared into a pond they came across. Thallasa took a few steps around the pond's edge and squinted to see if she could spot tracks on the other side. "The tracks seem to end here...but we should cross to the other side to be sure–" Desperate to find his pig, Taran had already begun wading through the pond to cross to the other side. "Come on! It's not so deep!"
"Morning everyone." Torrin walked into the living room while running a hand through his hair to keep it out of his eyes. Looking around he could see that everyone else had gotten up before him. He made a mental note to make an attempt to wake up sooner if he decided to sleep again on this mission. "We should all have something to eat before heading out. I'll make...uh...something. Don't expect any world class cooking though." Torrin headed over towards the kitchen and remembered when pancakes had last been made along with Aria's hot chocolate. As Torrin dug through Edna's stash of food and ingredients he began to wonder what he would even prepare. Eggs were an obvious and easy enough choice to prepare but as he pulled out more things onto the counter the task began to look more daunting. In truth, he would rather have been in combat right about now but he knew he had to persevere. "Any requests? Got eggs. And...well I'm just going to start working on these eggs. I'll figure it out from there." "Ah...the small creature from earlier. He caught up with us it seems." Thallasa commented upon walking over towards the others. Gurgi wiggled himself free from Qamar's grasp after she pulled him off of Fflam and looked ready to jump on him once more, only turning slightly to wave at Aria as his attention was focused more on the bard's food, when Taran came in between the two, glaring at Gurgi. "What are you doing here!?" "Gurgi wanted to help friends. Gurgi feel bad for abandoning master..." The small creature backed away and sniffed the air again, this time turning towards Qamar. "You have munchings and crunchings!" He excitedly exclaimed immediately forgetting about Taran. "Munchings and crunchings!" "Go away Gurgi! We don't have time for you! We need to find Hen Wen." Taran shooed Gurgi making him retreat behind Qamar. "Oh don't be so mean. He's cute!" Eilonwy's voice rang out as she came over to kneel next to Gurgi and pet him. "No! I quite agree! He must go!" "Gurgi saw tracks today! Tracks from little piggy!" Taran's eyes widened slightly at those words but then he and Fflam both narrowed their eyes at Gurgi, staring at him with disbelief. "Come! Gurgi show you the way!" The creature hopped, pointing towards a path further into the forest.
"Morning everyone." Torrin walked into the living room while running a hand through his hair to keep it out of his eyes. Looking around he could see that everyone else had gotten up before him. He made a mental note to make an attempt to wake up sooner if he decided to sleep again on this mission. "We should all have something to eat before heading out. I'll make...uh...something. Don't expect any world class cooking though." Torrin headed over towards the kitchen and remembered when pancakes had last been made along with Aria's hot chocolate. As Torrin dug through Edna's stash of food and ingredients he began to wonder what he would even prepare. Eggs were an obvious and easy enough choice to prepare but as he pulled out more things onto the counter the task began to look more daunting. In truth, he would rather have been in combat right about now but he knew he had to persevere. "Any requests? Got eggs. And...well I'm just going to start working on these eggs. I'll figure it out from there."
"Ah...the small creature from earlier. He caught up with us it seems." Thallasa commented upon walking over towards the others. Gurgi wiggled himself free from Qamar's grasp after she pulled him off of Fflam and looked ready to jump on him once more, only turning slightly to wave at Aria as his attention was focused more on the bard's food, when Taran came in between the two, glaring at Gurgi. "What are you doing here!?" "Gurgi wanted to help friends. Gurgi feel bad for abandoning master..." The small creature backed away and sniffed the air again, this time turning towards Qamar. "You have munchings and crunchings!" He excitedly exclaimed immediately forgetting about Taran. "Munchings and crunchings!" "Go away Gurgi! We don't have time for you! We need to find Hen Wen." Taran shooed Gurgi making him retreat behind Qamar. "Oh don't be so mean. He's cute!" Eilonwy's voice rang out as she came over to kneel next to Gurgi and pet him. "No! I quite agree! He must go!" "Gurgi saw tracks today! Tracks from little piggy!" Taran's eyes widened slightly at those words but then he and Fflam both narrowed their eyes at Gurgi, staring at him with disbelief. "Come! Gurgi show you the way!" The creature hopped, pointing towards a path further into the forest.
Spoiler: Late Night Call "Glyde? Gone? Hm...never spoke to him...but he was young. Too young to be killed off in some random world. Damn." He leaned back on his bed and blinked at the ceiling. "Gone but not forgotten..."Just how many more times would he have to say that during this fight? "I think I'll have to step in and assign the groups myself the next time this happens. We're done with this world but everyone's too tired to move on so soon. Um...so both Dentro and Kefka returned as Heartless. Boreas and I took down Dentro and the others fought Kefka. Dentro was different at the end. He called the other Chasers his family." Torrin shrugged but realized Aria wouldn't be able to see him do it. "Um...I shrugged." "So...Qamar and Illiana don't get along...and Thallasa is with you...huh. Your group is pretty female heavy." He mused. "Evil Clown strikes again, huh? Kind of reminds me of that world you ditched me on a while back. This spider-scorpion guy went full heartless on us... Knocked Take out pretty bad." She then wondered about Dentro, not having seen him face to face (or maybe she did and didn't know it). "They did seem... pretty close when I was there. At least from what I could see and how they treated me. But maybe that was cause I was a princess of heart." Aria then heard the last comment and raised an eyebrow, glaring at the communicator when he mentioned the team was female heavy. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Mhm...bad things seem to happen to you regardless of whether I'm there or not." He chuckled. "Sorry. It's just an odd feeling. Used to being the center of everything bad going on." Torrin rested the communicator on his chest and started to relax as he laid there listening to Aria. "Hm...I don't know. To be honest I've treated you different because of who you are. Hell, one of my master's last words were an order for me to protect the light. The light being people like you. But you're not some emotionless snowflake that needs to be kept in a box." "People will treat you different. It's going to feel uncomfortable but it's going to keep happening. I know I'm not used to it. But it's nice to just get some some privacy and...I've been talking for too long. Sorry." Torrin immediately went quiet. After a pause he then asked, "How's that world look? Not including the creepy castle." Aria hummed out after Torrin’s response, and then flopped back on the sleeping bag. He treated her differently...? She didn’t notice it much, but then again she didn’t know him that well. She looked at the ring on her finger and stared at it in the lantern light. At least he believed she didn’t to be protected all the time. She placed the communicator next to her head, just in case someone was easedropping again and she could grab it to muffle it. As much as she liked her friends, she liked her privacy as well. “It kind of reminds me of a simple fantasy world... minus the creepy castle,” Aria said quietly. “We were called Demons after we stumbled on an old man in a cottage, who was apparently the pig keeper... there’s magic, but apparently there’s only a few kind that’re good. There’s dragons, goblins... I think fairies too? I like the forests around here.” "Forests sound nice." Torrin closed his eyes and felt strange being in such a position that would have otherwise caused him to sleep. Listening to her description, brief as it was, relaxed him. She smiled a bit and then her thoughts drifted to the bracelet around her wrist. “Okay, so I have some more... kinda bad news. But try not to freak out. Remember Quietus...? Well, I think that blast broke the protection spell on the bracelet the Light Chaser gave me. I don’t see the protective bubble light like I used to. I’ve been okay,” she quickly added, “but I still can’t take it off. Master Thallasa knows it’s not working either now.” As soon as Aria mentioned that her bracelet's protective spell had disappeared his eyes shot right back open and he sat up catching the communicator before it slipped off to the floor. "What? That's...I mean...I'm glad you're okay. Hm...maybe when we see each other again I might be able to remove it. I guess that's a good thing. I don't even know anymore. I mean it saved our lives." He sighed. Aria turned her head to the communicator when Torrin seemed worried about the bracelet. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself again,” she said quietly, remembering the last time he tried to pry it off of her. "I bounce back. I always do." Torrin responded just as quietly. It's the one thing I'm good at. He turned on the bed now having his back face the door and leaned down so his head could just barely peek over the nearby window to stare at the city lights from his view. Everything was so calm and peaceful now. It was hard to believe that this world had been so close to breaking apart and falling. "Anything else going on in that head of yours?" She turned on her side and sighed out softly, looking over to the tent door. She dropped her voice again so she wouldn’t disturb anyone and be overheard. “I feel like I’m just getting in the way,” she opened up. “I’m causing more trouble than good.” She opened up about what happened on their mission, how they helped the pig keeper’s assistant Taran, how they got in a sticky situation, no one jumped to Master Thallasa’s orders right away, so Aria took it on herself to save Hen Wen and fought off the bad guys on her own just fine. “I got her to safety, but then I got overwhelmed and had to get myself out... so I locked them outside, I was running back, and then I ran into Qamar. Turns out, she was ordered to help Illiana... but she heard my magic and came for me instead...” Aria rolled on her stomach and scooted the communicator to be in front of her. “She keeps telling me she doesn’t think I can’t handle myself, but... I’m just... so overwhelmed and at a loss. Master Choma told me he couldn’t tell me I was a Princess of Heart because I throw myself in danger and I’m reckless, Grandpa Gero didn’t want me to go because I’m a princess of heart, almost half the council didn’t want me to go, I can’t be taken seriously because I’m so happy and go-lucky... But the Light Chaser told me what I was... and he let me go... I know he can probably get back to me any time but...” Aria rubbed at her eyes as the tears stung. “All the people I’ve grown to trust and love, I feel like they don’t believe in me. And the one we’re suppose to hate and fight against? He actually put some faith in me. It could be fake trust, but it feels real to me. Master Thallasa did too, and I don’t even know her that well... I don’t know Torrin... I used to have so much confidence and I was so excited to explore and help the worlds without a second thought. And then this princess of heart popped up... and I don’t feel the same anymore... Was it a bad idea I came along? Should I go back to the castle?” As Aria began to explain everything that had happened in the world she had been sent to Torrin remained silent with only the occasional "mhm" and "hm" to let her know he was still listening. He wasn't sure he had ever not been taken seriously due to his own position but he knew the pains of being constantly reminded about being different. "I see..." He said after a moment of contemplation. "I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with you being on the field. But you have your own will and you've held your own. I've seen what you can do in a pinch and if I had any doubts about that I would have spoken to the Council about it. Being trapped in a glorified prison when all you want to do is help would not be right." "Even though you've had some close calls, I'm glad you came. Seeing you dish out that flying kick to the clown's face is definitely a sight I'll treasure." He teased. Torrin rested his head against the pillow and for the first time in a long time he felt drowsy. He decided to rest his eyes for a moment and yawned as he began to relax. "Mm..." He slowly opened his eyes feeling a little better but also a little sleepier. "I miss you...rrrr hot chocolate." He laughed. "Ah...fine. I guess I was looking for an excuse to say that. I miss you. I know I should try pushing myself to get to know the others more but, and I know some of it is my fault, I know they don't all fully trust me. And to be honest...I don't trust most of them as much as I should. Boreas is an exception but I've known him since we were children. I suppose Take's a good kid but I haven't exactly inspired much confidence in the non-Boreas parts of my team." He took in a deep breath. "I trust you though. Even if you wanted to slap me not long after we first met...or maybe because you nearly did. You've got spunk." The girl giggled as Torrin mentioned the memory of her kicking Kefka in the face and she wiped a stray tear away. “Yeah, that was pretty fun and bold... I did practice a lot of acrobatics with Master Choma.” She could hear Torrin yawn on the other end and couldn’t help but to stifle a yawn herself. She then caught what Torrin said and then looked back at the communicator with wide eyes. He missed her...? Aria’s cheeks suddenly felt warm and she placed her hands on them to try to cool them off. She wondered if the temperature was suddenly hot, but it was nice and cool all around. As her mind raced with thoughts, it was grounded again when Torrin explained his difficulties with the group and getting to know them. He trusted her though, even after she wasn’t sure of him at first. She smiled with embarrassment when he mentioned about her almost slapping him and buried her head in her hands. “Aaaaah, I thought you just killed a world by taking me away!” Her feet popped up and began to wave in the air as she rested her chin on her hands. “But I guess that wasn’t the case... mmm... maybe you can cook them all a simple breakfast tomorrow? Ya know, my aunt told me food brings people together. Or, you know, you can offer training to Take? He might like that. That’s how we connected more that one night I couldn’t sleep.” Torrin scratched his chin and thought over her suggestion for a moment while picturing himself in full chef's garb preparing a breakfast for the group. He shook his head at the thought. "I'm not sure anyone wants to taste my cooking. I'm a keyblade master not a breakfast master. But you've given me something to think about. I'll see what I can do." He held a hand up to the air and summoned his keyblade and turned it over in his hand, examining the blade as his mind wandered. "Maybe I should give you a few cooking lessons sometime. How have you survived all these years? On canned beans?" she teased. "Well...I've had some experience hunting. Er...the less said about what I've had to eat the better. For your sake." Torrin figured Aria would be the type to not appreciate knowing that he had eaten rabbits on more than one occasion. "Would you be interested in a little bedtime story to help you get to sleep? Well...it's not much of a bedtime story. You might find it boring. It's more like a collection of legends I've heard from this old smith from my home when I was a child." Torrin moved the communicator by his head as he turned to get more comfortable. She perked up in interest when he offered to tell her a bedtime story, and then rolled her eyes slightly in amusement. "Sure, why not a bedtime time story," she spoke with sarcasm while smiling. "What's it gonna be about? Scwary heartless and the shadows of the past? Perfect things to lull me to sleep." "The first one that comes to mind is a story of a time long before the keyblade. Now, Heartless in the Realm of Darkness have always been a problem and before the keyblade was created over in the Realm of Light, people had a hard time dealing with them. A long time ago there was a blacksmith who sought to find a way to rid his home of Heartless and went on a perilous journey throughout the lands. Years passed and the blacksmith had even traveled to the Realm of Light and back again in search for anything that would help him. He found himself in the Realm Between, weary and ready to give up when he came across a world home to a giant tree so tall that its trunk pierced the clouds. Immense magical power flowed throughout every inch of the tree. According to legend, the blacksmith found that taking any piece from the tree would cause that piece to disappear the instant it went too far from the tree. Even still he refused to give up for that tree was the most powerful thing he had ever come across. After seeing its massive fruit glowing like stars in the night sky he decided that he would climb the tree as he was certain that those fruits could be taken from the tree as that was the only way for a tree to reproduce. Not thinking of what he would do once he reached them he set out on his journey up the tree. It took him a weeks to reach the lowest branch and another day's worth of travel on that branch before he reached the fruit." Torrin took a deep breath and shifted on his bed. "I imagine that there's some exaggeration going on here." He commented. "Anyway. Once he reached this legendary magic fruit he soon found that his sword could not pierce its skin and nothing he could do would free it from its branch. The blacksmith began to give in to despair and cried out to the stars for astral intervention but nothing came. Too weary to make his trek back home he spent the night on the branch. The next morning he was awakened by violent vibrations along the branch. Above him, its tail extending far beyond up to a branch high above hung a massive black serpent its red eyes glaring at him. The serpent spoke to him and said, "I have heard your pleas and I have answered. Tell me, mortal, why do you seek the fruit of this tree?" The blacksmith replied, "I wish to use its power to create a weapon powerful enough to vanquish the darkness that plagues my home." The serpent lowered its head and with a single push it knocked the fruit from the tree sending it crashing to the earth below and cracking its skin open. The serpent then spoke once more. "Very well, small human. But heed my warning, should a weapon ever be made from the magic of this tree a price most great must be paid by all those who shed blood with it for power this great and this pure must never be tainted." The Blacksmith thanked the serpent for its assistance and acknowledged its warning. A year passed before he was ever able to climb down the tree and find a way to extract enough of the magic within the fruit to create a weapon. When the deed was done he had forged himself a blade filled with power so immense that it is said that even a keyblade could not match it in combat." Once more Torrin took a short breather before continuing on with the story. "When he returned home he used his sword's power to wipe out the Heartless that had caused his people so much strife. He took it upon himself to be his realm's protector and over the years he traveled from world to world vanquishing Heartless with ease. Of course, it didn't take long for some to become jealous of his power. One night a thief seeking to use the blade's power to gain a seat at the throne stole the sword from the blacksmith while he slept. He strode into the castle feeling invincible and called out to every guard that he intended to kill the king and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He struck down one guard. Two. Three. In seconds a dozen guards fell before his blade unable to touch him. The thief reached the throne and standing between him and the king was the blacksmith who had been awoken by the commotion going on outside his home. Not wishing for a blade of his own making to kill his king he allowed himself to be killed by the thief to buy time for the king to make his escape. The blacksmith was said to have died with a smile upon his face. Upon felling his thirteenth victim the thief found that his arms could no longer raise the sword. Try as he might he found himself unable to even move. The blood staining the mystical sword began to cause the blade to disintegrate. The thief screamed and tried to release the blade to no avail. He had spilled blood with the blade and the blade exacted its price on the unsuspecting thief. Both the thief and sword were erased and since then no one has dared to find where such a weapon ever originated from. After all, once the keyblade was created, the need for such a destructive weapon disappeared." "And...uh...there you have it. I don't really buy into the story myself but it was so detailed that it just stayed in my mind for all these years." Aria ended up laying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the tent as Torrin told the story. One arm rested over her forehead while the other one was on her stomach. She could see all the details he was talking about, even though it was a strange story indeed. “... you have interesting stories,” Aria finally said. “I hadn’t heard anything like it before. The poor black smith though... it’s sad it ended like that. The king should have moved out of the room when trouble was first brewing. I’m over-analyzing it too much though.” Aria laughed a bit and then rubbed at her forehead. “Sadly I don’t have very interesting stories like that,” she said with yawn. “Sorry, that one snuck outta no where... but yeah. I liked it.” Torrin yawned after Aria did and glared slightly. "Hey. I already yawned once. I don't need to be doing that again." He folded his arms and let out a quiet sigh. "I suppose it is a sad end for the blacksmith but the story is just a warning of the dangers of using a weapon of immense power. Even if your intentions are noble people will inevitably still get hurt." Torrin turned to lay on his back once more and held the communicator up to his face. "So...you want to sleep now, Princess Dorin?" “Ew.” Aria cringed at the name and shook her head. “I dunno if I can sleep to be honest, but I can try I guess. Maybe it won’t come out again. What about you, Prince Torrin? Oh yeah, you don’t sleep... do you?” She thought it was mentioned before, or maybe she was just hearing things. She wasn’t sure at this point with how much was crammed into the last few days. Torrin smirked as she teased him back. "That's Prince Master Torrin to you." He joked. "I'm sure you'll be okay if you sleep. Just hold onto that family ring keep it close. It'll tether you to the waking world. Anyway...I actually think tonight I'll give sleeping a try. It's been a while and...maybe I don't need to always be on guard every second. But you? You really do need to get some sleep. I know it's hard after what happened, trust me I know, but you're no good to anyone if you're ready to collapse from exhaustion. Sleep." “True,” Aria said sleepily as she held the communicator in her hand. “I do feel tired...” Still, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to fight or wake up screaming; not with how that nightmare had practically tried to kill her in the previous world. But her eyes landed on the family ring that now rested on her finger. Maybe the totem walking that Take talked about would work this time. The last time she was knocked out cold and all energy was drained out of her. She sighed out a little and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, I’ll try to get some sleep too,” she decided out loud. “Good night, Torrin. Stay safe out there. Can’t wait to have everyone back together again,” she said with a loud yawn in there. “S’cuse me. The yawn monster got me apparently.” "Good ni–" He yawned in response to Aria's own yawn and frowned. "Good night Aria. Stay one piece. I'll be seeing you soon hopefully. Sleep well." He set the communicator down by his pillow and clasped his hands together, staring up at the ceiling while his mind began to slow and the thoughts racing in head became a blur. Sleep came easy that night. Torrin yawned and squinted his eyes as light poured into the room and struck his face. He held up his hand to shield his eyes and let out a low growl of annoyance after having been disturbed. Morning had arrived and even though he had a peaceful night's sleep his body was sore all over. He wondered if that was normal or if it was a side effect of having using magic to replace sleep for so long. Either way, knowing the answer would not have helped how he felt. He pushed himself to sit up and stretched his arms out. For a moment Aria's suggestion to make breakfast crossed his mind and as he stood up he wondered if anyone else had woken before him. "Ah!!! HEEEEELLLPP!!! Monster!" Fflewddur Fflam's voice rang out in the forest loud enough to awaken anyone who had not already been up. "M-m-m-monster!!" The bard cried out in terror. Not far from the tents the man was shivering in fear on the ground as a small gray furry creature ruffled through the bard's pockets eagerly speaking of "munchies and crunchies" he could smell in the bard's pockets.
"Glyde? Gone? Hm...never spoke to him...but he was young. Too young to be killed off in some random world. Damn." He leaned back on his bed and blinked at the ceiling. "Gone but not forgotten..."Just how many more times would he have to say that during this fight? "I think I'll have to step in and assign the groups myself the next time this happens. We're done with this world but everyone's too tired to move on so soon. Um...so both Dentro and Kefka returned as Heartless. Boreas and I took down Dentro and the others fought Kefka. Dentro was different at the end. He called the other Chasers his family." Torrin shrugged but realized Aria wouldn't be able to see him do it. "Um...I shrugged." "So...Qamar and Illiana don't get along...and Thallasa is with you...huh. Your group is pretty female heavy." He mused. "Evil Clown strikes again, huh? Kind of reminds me of that world you ditched me on a while back. This spider-scorpion guy went full heartless on us... Knocked Take out pretty bad." She then wondered about Dentro, not having seen him face to face (or maybe she did and didn't know it). "They did seem... pretty close when I was there. At least from what I could see and how they treated me. But maybe that was cause I was a princess of heart." Aria then heard the last comment and raised an eyebrow, glaring at the communicator when he mentioned the team was female heavy. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Mhm...bad things seem to happen to you regardless of whether I'm there or not." He chuckled. "Sorry. It's just an odd feeling. Used to being the center of everything bad going on." Torrin rested the communicator on his chest and started to relax as he laid there listening to Aria. "Hm...I don't know. To be honest I've treated you different because of who you are. Hell, one of my master's last words were an order for me to protect the light. The light being people like you. But you're not some emotionless snowflake that needs to be kept in a box." "People will treat you different. It's going to feel uncomfortable but it's going to keep happening. I know I'm not used to it. But it's nice to just get some some privacy and...I've been talking for too long. Sorry." Torrin immediately went quiet. After a pause he then asked, "How's that world look? Not including the creepy castle." Aria hummed out after Torrin’s response, and then flopped back on the sleeping bag. He treated her differently...? She didn’t notice it much, but then again she didn’t know him that well. She looked at the ring on her finger and stared at it in the lantern light. At least he believed she didn’t to be protected all the time. She placed the communicator next to her head, just in case someone was easedropping again and she could grab it to muffle it. As much as she liked her friends, she liked her privacy as well. “It kind of reminds me of a simple fantasy world... minus the creepy castle,” Aria said quietly. “We were called Demons after we stumbled on an old man in a cottage, who was apparently the pig keeper... there’s magic, but apparently there’s only a few kind that’re good. There’s dragons, goblins... I think fairies too? I like the forests around here.” "Forests sound nice." Torrin closed his eyes and felt strange being in such a position that would have otherwise caused him to sleep. Listening to her description, brief as it was, relaxed him. She smiled a bit and then her thoughts drifted to the bracelet around her wrist. “Okay, so I have some more... kinda bad news. But try not to freak out. Remember Quietus...? Well, I think that blast broke the protection spell on the bracelet the Light Chaser gave me. I don’t see the protective bubble light like I used to. I’ve been okay,” she quickly added, “but I still can’t take it off. Master Thallasa knows it’s not working either now.” As soon as Aria mentioned that her bracelet's protective spell had disappeared his eyes shot right back open and he sat up catching the communicator before it slipped off to the floor. "What? That's...I mean...I'm glad you're okay. Hm...maybe when we see each other again I might be able to remove it. I guess that's a good thing. I don't even know anymore. I mean it saved our lives." He sighed. Aria turned her head to the communicator when Torrin seemed worried about the bracelet. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself again,” she said quietly, remembering the last time he tried to pry it off of her. "I bounce back. I always do." Torrin responded just as quietly. It's the one thing I'm good at. He turned on the bed now having his back face the door and leaned down so his head could just barely peek over the nearby window to stare at the city lights from his view. Everything was so calm and peaceful now. It was hard to believe that this world had been so close to breaking apart and falling. "Anything else going on in that head of yours?" She turned on her side and sighed out softly, looking over to the tent door. She dropped her voice again so she wouldn’t disturb anyone and be overheard. “I feel like I’m just getting in the way,” she opened up. “I’m causing more trouble than good.” She opened up about what happened on their mission, how they helped the pig keeper’s assistant Taran, how they got in a sticky situation, no one jumped to Master Thallasa’s orders right away, so Aria took it on herself to save Hen Wen and fought off the bad guys on her own just fine. “I got her to safety, but then I got overwhelmed and had to get myself out... so I locked them outside, I was running back, and then I ran into Qamar. Turns out, she was ordered to help Illiana... but she heard my magic and came for me instead...” Aria rolled on her stomach and scooted the communicator to be in front of her. “She keeps telling me she doesn’t think I can’t handle myself, but... I’m just... so overwhelmed and at a loss. Master Choma told me he couldn’t tell me I was a Princess of Heart because I throw myself in danger and I’m reckless, Grandpa Gero didn’t want me to go because I’m a princess of heart, almost half the council didn’t want me to go, I can’t be taken seriously because I’m so happy and go-lucky... But the Light Chaser told me what I was... and he let me go... I know he can probably get back to me any time but...” Aria rubbed at her eyes as the tears stung. “All the people I’ve grown to trust and love, I feel like they don’t believe in me. And the one we’re suppose to hate and fight against? He actually put some faith in me. It could be fake trust, but it feels real to me. Master Thallasa did too, and I don’t even know her that well... I don’t know Torrin... I used to have so much confidence and I was so excited to explore and help the worlds without a second thought. And then this princess of heart popped up... and I don’t feel the same anymore... Was it a bad idea I came along? Should I go back to the castle?” As Aria began to explain everything that had happened in the world she had been sent to Torrin remained silent with only the occasional "mhm" and "hm" to let her know he was still listening. He wasn't sure he had ever not been taken seriously due to his own position but he knew the pains of being constantly reminded about being different. "I see..." He said after a moment of contemplation. "I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with you being on the field. But you have your own will and you've held your own. I've seen what you can do in a pinch and if I had any doubts about that I would have spoken to the Council about it. Being trapped in a glorified prison when all you want to do is help would not be right." "Even though you've had some close calls, I'm glad you came. Seeing you dish out that flying kick to the clown's face is definitely a sight I'll treasure." He teased. Torrin rested his head against the pillow and for the first time in a long time he felt drowsy. He decided to rest his eyes for a moment and yawned as he began to relax. "Mm..." He slowly opened his eyes feeling a little better but also a little sleepier. "I miss you...rrrr hot chocolate." He laughed. "Ah...fine. I guess I was looking for an excuse to say that. I miss you. I know I should try pushing myself to get to know the others more but, and I know some of it is my fault, I know they don't all fully trust me. And to be honest...I don't trust most of them as much as I should. Boreas is an exception but I've known him since we were children. I suppose Take's a good kid but I haven't exactly inspired much confidence in the non-Boreas parts of my team." He took in a deep breath. "I trust you though. Even if you wanted to slap me not long after we first met...or maybe because you nearly did. You've got spunk." The girl giggled as Torrin mentioned the memory of her kicking Kefka in the face and she wiped a stray tear away. “Yeah, that was pretty fun and bold... I did practice a lot of acrobatics with Master Choma.” She could hear Torrin yawn on the other end and couldn’t help but to stifle a yawn herself. She then caught what Torrin said and then looked back at the communicator with wide eyes. He missed her...? Aria’s cheeks suddenly felt warm and she placed her hands on them to try to cool them off. She wondered if the temperature was suddenly hot, but it was nice and cool all around. As her mind raced with thoughts, it was grounded again when Torrin explained his difficulties with the group and getting to know them. He trusted her though, even after she wasn’t sure of him at first. She smiled with embarrassment when he mentioned about her almost slapping him and buried her head in her hands. “Aaaaah, I thought you just killed a world by taking me away!” Her feet popped up and began to wave in the air as she rested her chin on her hands. “But I guess that wasn’t the case... mmm... maybe you can cook them all a simple breakfast tomorrow? Ya know, my aunt told me food brings people together. Or, you know, you can offer training to Take? He might like that. That’s how we connected more that one night I couldn’t sleep.” Torrin scratched his chin and thought over her suggestion for a moment while picturing himself in full chef's garb preparing a breakfast for the group. He shook his head at the thought. "I'm not sure anyone wants to taste my cooking. I'm a keyblade master not a breakfast master. But you've given me something to think about. I'll see what I can do." He held a hand up to the air and summoned his keyblade and turned it over in his hand, examining the blade as his mind wandered. "Maybe I should give you a few cooking lessons sometime. How have you survived all these years? On canned beans?" she teased. "Well...I've had some experience hunting. Er...the less said about what I've had to eat the better. For your sake." Torrin figured Aria would be the type to not appreciate knowing that he had eaten rabbits on more than one occasion. "Would you be interested in a little bedtime story to help you get to sleep? Well...it's not much of a bedtime story. You might find it boring. It's more like a collection of legends I've heard from this old smith from my home when I was a child." Torrin moved the communicator by his head as he turned to get more comfortable. She perked up in interest when he offered to tell her a bedtime story, and then rolled her eyes slightly in amusement. "Sure, why not a bedtime time story," she spoke with sarcasm while smiling. "What's it gonna be about? Scwary heartless and the shadows of the past? Perfect things to lull me to sleep." "The first one that comes to mind is a story of a time long before the keyblade. Now, Heartless in the Realm of Darkness have always been a problem and before the keyblade was created over in the Realm of Light, people had a hard time dealing with them. A long time ago there was a blacksmith who sought to find a way to rid his home of Heartless and went on a perilous journey throughout the lands. Years passed and the blacksmith had even traveled to the Realm of Light and back again in search for anything that would help him. He found himself in the Realm Between, weary and ready to give up when he came across a world home to a giant tree so tall that its trunk pierced the clouds. Immense magical power flowed throughout every inch of the tree. According to legend, the blacksmith found that taking any piece from the tree would cause that piece to disappear the instant it went too far from the tree. Even still he refused to give up for that tree was the most powerful thing he had ever come across. After seeing its massive fruit glowing like stars in the night sky he decided that he would climb the tree as he was certain that those fruits could be taken from the tree as that was the only way for a tree to reproduce. Not thinking of what he would do once he reached them he set out on his journey up the tree. It took him a weeks to reach the lowest branch and another day's worth of travel on that branch before he reached the fruit." Torrin took a deep breath and shifted on his bed. "I imagine that there's some exaggeration going on here." He commented. "Anyway. Once he reached this legendary magic fruit he soon found that his sword could not pierce its skin and nothing he could do would free it from its branch. The blacksmith began to give in to despair and cried out to the stars for astral intervention but nothing came. Too weary to make his trek back home he spent the night on the branch. The next morning he was awakened by violent vibrations along the branch. Above him, its tail extending far beyond up to a branch high above hung a massive black serpent its red eyes glaring at him. The serpent spoke to him and said, "I have heard your pleas and I have answered. Tell me, mortal, why do you seek the fruit of this tree?" The blacksmith replied, "I wish to use its power to create a weapon powerful enough to vanquish the darkness that plagues my home." The serpent lowered its head and with a single push it knocked the fruit from the tree sending it crashing to the earth below and cracking its skin open. The serpent then spoke once more. "Very well, small human. But heed my warning, should a weapon ever be made from the magic of this tree a price most great must be paid by all those who shed blood with it for power this great and this pure must never be tainted." The Blacksmith thanked the serpent for its assistance and acknowledged its warning. A year passed before he was ever able to climb down the tree and find a way to extract enough of the magic within the fruit to create a weapon. When the deed was done he had forged himself a blade filled with power so immense that it is said that even a keyblade could not match it in combat." Once more Torrin took a short breather before continuing on with the story. "When he returned home he used his sword's power to wipe out the Heartless that had caused his people so much strife. He took it upon himself to be his realm's protector and over the years he traveled from world to world vanquishing Heartless with ease. Of course, it didn't take long for some to become jealous of his power. One night a thief seeking to use the blade's power to gain a seat at the throne stole the sword from the blacksmith while he slept. He strode into the castle feeling invincible and called out to every guard that he intended to kill the king and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He struck down one guard. Two. Three. In seconds a dozen guards fell before his blade unable to touch him. The thief reached the throne and standing between him and the king was the blacksmith who had been awoken by the commotion going on outside his home. Not wishing for a blade of his own making to kill his king he allowed himself to be killed by the thief to buy time for the king to make his escape. The blacksmith was said to have died with a smile upon his face. Upon felling his thirteenth victim the thief found that his arms could no longer raise the sword. Try as he might he found himself unable to even move. The blood staining the mystical sword began to cause the blade to disintegrate. The thief screamed and tried to release the blade to no avail. He had spilled blood with the blade and the blade exacted its price on the unsuspecting thief. Both the thief and sword were erased and since then no one has dared to find where such a weapon ever originated from. After all, once the keyblade was created, the need for such a destructive weapon disappeared." "And...uh...there you have it. I don't really buy into the story myself but it was so detailed that it just stayed in my mind for all these years." Aria ended up laying on her back, staring at the ceiling of the tent as Torrin told the story. One arm rested over her forehead while the other one was on her stomach. She could see all the details he was talking about, even though it was a strange story indeed. “... you have interesting stories,” Aria finally said. “I hadn’t heard anything like it before. The poor black smith though... it’s sad it ended like that. The king should have moved out of the room when trouble was first brewing. I’m over-analyzing it too much though.” Aria laughed a bit and then rubbed at her forehead. “Sadly I don’t have very interesting stories like that,” she said with yawn. “Sorry, that one snuck outta no where... but yeah. I liked it.” Torrin yawned after Aria did and glared slightly. "Hey. I already yawned once. I don't need to be doing that again." He folded his arms and let out a quiet sigh. "I suppose it is a sad end for the blacksmith but the story is just a warning of the dangers of using a weapon of immense power. Even if your intentions are noble people will inevitably still get hurt." Torrin turned to lay on his back once more and held the communicator up to his face. "So...you want to sleep now, Princess Dorin?" “Ew.” Aria cringed at the name and shook her head. “I dunno if I can sleep to be honest, but I can try I guess. Maybe it won’t come out again. What about you, Prince Torrin? Oh yeah, you don’t sleep... do you?” She thought it was mentioned before, or maybe she was just hearing things. She wasn’t sure at this point with how much was crammed into the last few days. Torrin smirked as she teased him back. "That's Prince Master Torrin to you." He joked. "I'm sure you'll be okay if you sleep. Just hold onto that family ring keep it close. It'll tether you to the waking world. Anyway...I actually think tonight I'll give sleeping a try. It's been a while and...maybe I don't need to always be on guard every second. But you? You really do need to get some sleep. I know it's hard after what happened, trust me I know, but you're no good to anyone if you're ready to collapse from exhaustion. Sleep." “True,” Aria said sleepily as she held the communicator in her hand. “I do feel tired...” Still, she was worried she wouldn’t be able to fight or wake up screaming; not with how that nightmare had practically tried to kill her in the previous world. But her eyes landed on the family ring that now rested on her finger. Maybe the totem walking that Take talked about would work this time. The last time she was knocked out cold and all energy was drained out of her. She sighed out a little and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, I’ll try to get some sleep too,” she decided out loud. “Good night, Torrin. Stay safe out there. Can’t wait to have everyone back together again,” she said with a loud yawn in there. “S’cuse me. The yawn monster got me apparently.” "Good ni–" He yawned in response to Aria's own yawn and frowned. "Good night Aria. Stay one piece. I'll be seeing you soon hopefully. Sleep well." He set the communicator down by his pillow and clasped his hands together, staring up at the ceiling while his mind began to slow and the thoughts racing in head became a blur. Sleep came easy that night.
Torrin yawned and squinted his eyes as light poured into the room and struck his face. He held up his hand to shield his eyes and let out a low growl of annoyance after having been disturbed. Morning had arrived and even though he had a peaceful night's sleep his body was sore all over. He wondered if that was normal or if it was a side effect of having using magic to replace sleep for so long. Either way, knowing the answer would not have helped how he felt. He pushed himself to sit up and stretched his arms out. For a moment Aria's suggestion to make breakfast crossed his mind and as he stood up he wondered if anyone else had woken before him. "Ah!!! HEEEEELLLPP!!! Monster!" Fflewddur Fflam's voice rang out in the forest loud enough to awaken anyone who had not already been up. "M-m-m-monster!!" The bard cried out in terror. Not far from the tents the man was shivering in fear on the ground as a small gray furry creature ruffled through the bard's pockets eagerly speaking of "munchies and crunchies" he could smell in the bard's pockets.
Thallasa shook her head. "As far as I'm aware, those two students left of their own accord. I do not know why but it does appear to be a rather unpleasant memory for those old enough to have been around for it." The master held her hands out to the flames to warm them up as the air began to cool in the night. "Hm...yes I suppose the Light Chaser's students do have more raw power than the majority of those here. Still, everyone here has managed to grow at an impressive rate and I believe that it is only a matter of time before you students will be capable of standing against the Light Chaser's own. Hm..." The woman shrugged. "Curious how Torrin was never overwhelmed during his year alone... From what little we know about the Light Chaser himself, it seems that the man is unnaturally cunning and..." She stopped herself short and shook her head once more. "Ah...but I do not wish to worry you with needless speculation. For now we should just worry about the road ahead and get some rest." She lowered her hands to her lap. "Sleep. There will be more time to continue this in the morning if you wish." Chrysanthemum's keyblade was caught in between her master's index finger and thumb. Still able to speak with a relaxed tone the man pushed her blade away with the flick of his wrist. "Good. A solid choice for your opening move though a little too conservative. Come now, Chrys. After five years I believe we both know what power you can bring out to breathe some fresh air into this test." The man motioned for her to come at him again. "Again! With everything you have! Otherwise there is no point in this exam."
Thallasa shook her head. "As far as I'm aware, those two students left of their own accord. I do not know why but it does appear to be a rather unpleasant memory for those old enough to have been around for it." The master held her hands out to the flames to warm them up as the air began to cool in the night. "Hm...yes I suppose the Light Chaser's students do have more raw power than the majority of those here. Still, everyone here has managed to grow at an impressive rate and I believe that it is only a matter of time before you students will be capable of standing against the Light Chaser's own. Hm..." The woman shrugged. "Curious how Torrin was never overwhelmed during his year alone... From what little we know about the Light Chaser himself, it seems that the man is unnaturally cunning and..." She stopped herself short and shook her head once more. "Ah...but I do not wish to worry you with needless speculation. For now we should just worry about the road ahead and get some rest." She lowered her hands to her lap. "Sleep. There will be more time to continue this in the morning if you wish."
Chrysanthemum's keyblade was caught in between her master's index finger and thumb. Still able to speak with a relaxed tone the man pushed her blade away with the flick of his wrist. "Good. A solid choice for your opening move though a little too conservative. Come now, Chrys. After five years I believe we both know what power you can bring out to breathe some fresh air into this test." The man motioned for her to come at him again. "Again! With everything you have! Otherwise there is no point in this exam."
"My own master was...well...he's gone now. He passed away not long after I completed my exam. He was a kind elder man who I never once saw lose his temper. A fascinating man, really. He was once a member of the Council before retiring to focus solely on teaching, actually. He often spoke of Master Gero with great admiration. I believe several members of the Council retired at around the same time leaving Stamatis as the most senior member other than Gero. I believe the former members have all passed away by now though..." She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "I remember one year during my training that my master and Gero were eagerly discussing two of Gero's apprentices, excitedly comparing notes over one of two's rapid progress and chatting about the other's enjoyable personality. It seemed that Gero had taken the two in as if they were his own children. Given how rigorous I heard their training regimen to be, I cannot say I was jealous of their situation. I do not know what became of the two, however. The others who were students at the time, such as Aster, Varos, and Kaio have refused to answer any questions about the subject. My luck has been even worse when questioning Stamatis and Gero directly. Harsh as some of the Council may be, and despite the secrets they hold close, I do know that they only have the best interests of both realms at heart."
"My own master was...well...he's gone now. He passed away not long after I completed my exam. He was a kind elder man who I never once saw lose his temper. A fascinating man, really. He was once a member of the Council before retiring to focus solely on teaching, actually. He often spoke of Master Gero with great admiration. I believe several members of the Council retired at around the same time leaving Stamatis as the most senior member other than Gero. I believe the former members have all passed away by now though..." She scratched her chin thoughtfully. "I remember one year during my training that my master and Gero were eagerly discussing two of Gero's apprentices, excitedly comparing notes over one of two's rapid progress and chatting about the other's enjoyable personality. It seemed that Gero had taken the two in as if they were his own children. Given how rigorous I heard their training regimen to be, I cannot say I was jealous of their situation. I do not know what became of the two, however. The others who were students at the time, such as Aster, Varos, and Kaio have refused to answer any questions about the subject. My luck has been even worse when questioning Stamatis and Gero directly. Harsh as some of the Council may be, and despite the secrets they hold close, I do know that they only have the best interests of both realms at heart."
Arctus brushed himself off and smiled at Karina. "No hard feelings. You needed to win this anyway. I didn't." He smirked. His keyblade vanished and he stuck his hands in his pockets as they were now being spoken to by the one who led them to the exam. Shiro gave his congratulations to Karina but mentioned her by another name. A name which caused Arctus to flash a bright grin over at her. "Hello there Madam Xeres. Nice to meet you Karina Xeres. I imagine you're not fond of the name so I won't be using it from here on out but...that's not the last name I pictured you having." He mused. Shiro gave Arctus a careful examination and claimed to be suspicious that Arctus was hiding something but he merely shrugged and kept on smiling. "Sure. I'm hiding something. But aren't we all if you think about it? No one knows everything about a person. Not even oneself." Arctus chuckled. "You'll never guess my favorite color. Such a secret." The subject had been dropped and it was now time to turn their attention to head to the Realm of Light. Arctus rubbed his palms together and looked over at Karina. "Ooooh. Neat. So you're not getting rid of me just yet. Congrats on the win though. Your conviction really does stand out as something inspiring. Was that what kept you from passing last time? Either way. You made it this time and that's good. Wooo...I've got a lot of pent up energy after that. Let's go play hero now and save the Realm of Light...or something."
Arctus brushed himself off and smiled at Karina. "No hard feelings. You needed to win this anyway. I didn't." He smirked. His keyblade vanished and he stuck his hands in his pockets as they were now being spoken to by the one who led them to the exam. Shiro gave his congratulations to Karina but mentioned her by another name. A name which caused Arctus to flash a bright grin over at her. "Hello there Madam Xeres. Nice to meet you Karina Xeres. I imagine you're not fond of the name so I won't be using it from here on out but...that's not the last name I pictured you having." He mused. Shiro gave Arctus a careful examination and claimed to be suspicious that Arctus was hiding something but he merely shrugged and kept on smiling. "Sure. I'm hiding something. But aren't we all if you think about it? No one knows everything about a person. Not even oneself." Arctus chuckled. "You'll never guess my favorite color. Such a secret." The subject had been dropped and it was now time to turn their attention to head to the Realm of Light. Arctus rubbed his palms together and looked over at Karina. "Ooooh. Neat. So you're not getting rid of me just yet. Congrats on the win though. Your conviction really does stand out as something inspiring. Was that what kept you from passing last time? Either way. You made it this time and that's good. Wooo...I've got a lot of pent up energy after that. Let's go play hero now and save the Realm of Light...or something."
Thallasa's eyes saddened upon the mention of her students. The woman looked down and tapped her fingers against the log. "They..." She cleared her throat. "They didn't make it. I failed them. I failed them all. The world fell to darkness and I was incapable of saving any of them. I barely survived the ordeal. It had not been the first time a home of mine had fallen to darkness. Before I took on students of my own I..." She shook her head. "No. Perhaps that much is best reserved as a story for another time." Thallasa sniffed and brought a hand to her eye, rubbing it before lowering her now wet hand back to the log. "Is...is there any other questions you have, Illiana?" She spoke softly.
Thallasa's eyes saddened upon the mention of her students. The woman looked down and tapped her fingers against the log. "They..." She cleared her throat. "They didn't make it. I failed them. I failed them all. The world fell to darkness and I was incapable of saving any of them. I barely survived the ordeal. It had not been the first time a home of mine had fallen to darkness. Before I took on students of my own I..." She shook her head. "No. Perhaps that much is best reserved as a story for another time." Thallasa sniffed and brought a hand to her eye, rubbing it before lowering her now wet hand back to the log. "Is...is there any other questions you have, Illiana?" She spoke softly.
Thallasa said nothing more to Qamar. Perhaps her time with the Council had not served her well. The master sat back beside Illiana once more and smiled slightly on hearing her query. "The Council believed that the Light Chaser was responsible for the destruction of my world. They suspected he was systematically taking out masters and their students to weaken his opposition...though if that was true, I'm sure I would have seen him. In any case, the Council wanted me to recover and stay out of the way while they planned how to best put me to use. I did not want to keep my head down but it was what they ordered." "Anything else you wish to have answered? My favorite color is light blue, by the way." She spoke in jest.
Thallasa said nothing more to Qamar. Perhaps her time with the Council had not served her well. The master sat back beside Illiana once more and smiled slightly on hearing her query. "The Council believed that the Light Chaser was responsible for the destruction of my world. They suspected he was systematically taking out masters and their students to weaken his opposition...though if that was true, I'm sure I would have seen him. In any case, the Council wanted me to recover and stay out of the way while they planned how to best put me to use. I did not want to keep my head down but it was what they ordered." "Anything else you wish to have answered? My favorite color is light blue, by the way." She spoke in jest.
Thallasa waited for Illiana to sit down by her but before the girl could get out a word of what was on her mind out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. Her eyes flicked over to watch Qamar leave her tent. That would have been normal enough as tents were cramped and often people would need to stretch before sleeping. What made her suspicious was Qamar vanishing around the back of Aria's tent. The master raised an eyebrow. Did all masters of the Council inspire paranoia within their students? Perhaps paranoia might not have been the right word but every master she had met from the Council seemed to have a habit of keeping secrets...or the need to find them out. "Excuse me for one moment, Illiana. I apologize. I will return and you may speak your mind when I do. Stay by the fire for a while. The warmth is quite nice." She pushed herself up from the log and began to walk forward. "Qamar I think you should give Aria her privacy. Everyone's had a long day. If you want company Illiana and I will be having a chat by the fire. Otherwise you should turn in for the night in your tent." Thallasa pulled gently on Qamar's arm to lead her from Aria's tent. Once the two were far enough she released Qamar. "We don't spy on our own comrades. That only leads to mistrust." Torrin took in a deep breath and his heart rate steadied. Still alive. "So–" "...mar...should give..." The sound of someone else's voice was distant on the other end and too muffled for him to make anything out but it was enough to give him pause. He waited, tilting his head and blinking at the communicator. Was someone listening in? Perhaps but when he heard nothing else being said he gave it another couple of seconds before deciding to speak once more. "That was weird." He muttered lowly, trying to keep his voice down. Thoughts of people listening in came to mind. He doubted they would be sharing anything top secret but after having been on his own for some time he valued his privacy highly. Perhaps too much. Torrin briefly considered making more conversation with the others another day but even though he knew it would be for the best to communicate with his team, he wasn't comfortable doing it. Would it be forced? Would they be able to tell? Torrin shook his head and decided to drop the thought for the moment. "Everything okay? It's...been...not so bad here. Other than the younger members of this group nearly dying. Everyone's still in one piece though. I hope things have gone better for you."
Thallasa waited for Illiana to sit down by her but before the girl could get out a word of what was on her mind out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. Her eyes flicked over to watch Qamar leave her tent. That would have been normal enough as tents were cramped and often people would need to stretch before sleeping. What made her suspicious was Qamar vanishing around the back of Aria's tent. The master raised an eyebrow. Did all masters of the Council inspire paranoia within their students? Perhaps paranoia might not have been the right word but every master she had met from the Council seemed to have a habit of keeping secrets...or the need to find them out. "Excuse me for one moment, Illiana. I apologize. I will return and you may speak your mind when I do. Stay by the fire for a while. The warmth is quite nice." She pushed herself up from the log and began to walk forward. "Qamar I think you should give Aria her privacy. Everyone's had a long day. If you want company Illiana and I will be having a chat by the fire. Otherwise you should turn in for the night in your tent." Thallasa pulled gently on Qamar's arm to lead her from Aria's tent. Once the two were far enough she released Qamar. "We don't spy on our own comrades. That only leads to mistrust."
Torrin took in a deep breath and his heart rate steadied. Still alive. "So–" "...mar...should give..." The sound of someone else's voice was distant on the other end and too muffled for him to make anything out but it was enough to give him pause. He waited, tilting his head and blinking at the communicator. Was someone listening in? Perhaps but when he heard nothing else being said he gave it another couple of seconds before deciding to speak once more. "That was weird." He muttered lowly, trying to keep his voice down. Thoughts of people listening in came to mind. He doubted they would be sharing anything top secret but after having been on his own for some time he valued his privacy highly. Perhaps too much. Torrin briefly considered making more conversation with the others another day but even though he knew it would be for the best to communicate with his team, he wasn't comfortable doing it. Would it be forced? Would they be able to tell? Torrin shook his head and decided to drop the thought for the moment. "Everything okay? It's...been...not so bad here. Other than the younger members of this group nearly dying. Everyone's still in one piece though. I hope things have gone better for you."
oh god
"Hm..." Torrin lowered his voice before answering Boreas. "It's a long story best saved for the morning. But...the abridged version is that I got to know Aria a a little better during our...er...experience." Returning to his usual tone he then addressed the others. "That clown you fought was Kefka. Aria and I were the ones who brought him down the first time. Illiana was there but she was focused on taking out a different target at the time if I recall correctly." Torrin folded his arms and shrugged slightly. "I'm sorry you guys had to face him. But Boreas and I had our own strange encounter. Turns out Dentro had become a Heartless when he fell in battle. At the end of it he seemed to feel regret over how it all turned out. Either way...we should keep in mind that any foes we face in the future, should they be overwhelmed by darkness, might become even stronger in the future and reappear as a Heartless." Or an empty vessel like Kaela. He thought to himself. "Anyway...I'm going to turn in for the night. Get your rest. I'm...I'm actually impressed you've all made it this far in such a short amount of time. We'll be heading out in the morning. Good night everyone." Torrin gave the group a short wave as he left the others to head into his own room. Giving them a rousing speech on their efforts today was not something he felt himself capable of doing at this point. Had he his uncle's or his father's charisma or weight in presence, he might have tried but for now he was just glad they all made it back in one piece. He sat on his bed and pulled out the communicator Boreas had given him to stare at it for a long moment. Time passed differently from one world to the next and it made him wonder if it was even night where the others were. He switched the settings on his communicator but hesitated to activate it. Torrin thought for a moment over his own self-consciousness about the situation. If he was ever going to be king something as simple as talking should never make him hesitate. Still...even though he had been trying, attempts at socializing had continued to left him feeling awkward and like his efforts amounted to little more than tolerating being around others. For now, he shook off those feelings. He refused to start wallowing in doubt. He turned the device over in his hand and after another minute passed he gave the device a short tap to turn it on. "Hey. It's Torrin. You there?" Thallasa had just taken a seat on a log by the fire Fflam had set up and was holding her hands up towards the flames to warm her hands when Illiana approached her. "Oh? Yes, of course." She patted spot beside her on the log for Illiana to have a seat by her. Out of the corner of Thallasa's sight she could spot Fflam stretching his arms out and yawning loudly before crawling into his tent for the night. Soon after both Eilonwy and Taran followed suit by heading to their own tents. "What's on your mind Illiana?"
"Hm..." Torrin lowered his voice before answering Boreas. "It's a long story best saved for the morning. But...the abridged version is that I got to know Aria a a little better during our...er...experience." Returning to his usual tone he then addressed the others. "That clown you fought was Kefka. Aria and I were the ones who brought him down the first time. Illiana was there but she was focused on taking out a different target at the time if I recall correctly." Torrin folded his arms and shrugged slightly. "I'm sorry you guys had to face him. But Boreas and I had our own strange encounter. Turns out Dentro had become a Heartless when he fell in battle. At the end of it he seemed to feel regret over how it all turned out. Either way...we should keep in mind that any foes we face in the future, should they be overwhelmed by darkness, might become even stronger in the future and reappear as a Heartless." Or an empty vessel like Kaela. He thought to himself. "Anyway...I'm going to turn in for the night. Get your rest. I'm...I'm actually impressed you've all made it this far in such a short amount of time. We'll be heading out in the morning. Good night everyone." Torrin gave the group a short wave as he left the others to head into his own room. Giving them a rousing speech on their efforts today was not something he felt himself capable of doing at this point. Had he his uncle's or his father's charisma or weight in presence, he might have tried but for now he was just glad they all made it back in one piece. He sat on his bed and pulled out the communicator Boreas had given him to stare at it for a long moment. Time passed differently from one world to the next and it made him wonder if it was even night where the others were. He switched the settings on his communicator but hesitated to activate it. Torrin thought for a moment over his own self-consciousness about the situation. If he was ever going to be king something as simple as talking should never make him hesitate. Still...even though he had been trying, attempts at socializing had continued to left him feeling awkward and like his efforts amounted to little more than tolerating being around others. For now, he shook off those feelings. He refused to start wallowing in doubt. He turned the device over in his hand and after another minute passed he gave the device a short tap to turn it on. "Hey. It's Torrin. You there?"
Thallasa had just taken a seat on a log by the fire Fflam had set up and was holding her hands up towards the flames to warm her hands when Illiana approached her. "Oh? Yes, of course." She patted spot beside her on the log for Illiana to have a seat by her. Out of the corner of Thallasa's sight she could spot Fflam stretching his arms out and yawning loudly before crawling into his tent for the night. Soon after both Eilonwy and Taran followed suit by heading to their own tents. "What's on your mind Illiana?"
"You're right. It doesn't matter now. What matters most is that we saved this world from its destruction." Torrin ran a hand through his hair and let out a small sigh of relief. "Don't worry about the whole losing your cool thing. In combat you seem to be able to channel it well." Torrin caught sight of the small woman in black coming out of her mansion to head towards the bunch of them. Before Edna greeted them Torrin chewed on the inside of his cheek while trying to piece together way to transition the topic to something he wanted to ask of his friend. A social master he was not. Instead, Torrin chose to simply just ask him directly without wasting time beating around the bush. "You've still got your communicator right? Mind if I hang onto it for a while? I...want to check up on the others. Haven't heard back from them in some time." "Gah! I see you're all still wearing those dreadful outfits! I can't believe I allowed my hands to be a part of making such clothes." Edna shook her head and glared at Torrin as she spoke towards the group. "Still, I suppose that since you are all still in one piece at least something good came out of this fashion disaster. You did save the world, did you not? Yes? Good! Come inside! Now is time to rest after your hard work heroing!"
"You're right. It doesn't matter now. What matters most is that we saved this world from its destruction." Torrin ran a hand through his hair and let out a small sigh of relief. "Don't worry about the whole losing your cool thing. In combat you seem to be able to channel it well." Torrin caught sight of the small woman in black coming out of her mansion to head towards the bunch of them. Before Edna greeted them Torrin chewed on the inside of his cheek while trying to piece together way to transition the topic to something he wanted to ask of his friend. A social master he was not. Instead, Torrin chose to simply just ask him directly without wasting time beating around the bush. "You've still got your communicator right? Mind if I hang onto it for a while? I...want to check up on the others. Haven't heard back from them in some time." "Gah! I see you're all still wearing those dreadful outfits! I can't believe I allowed my hands to be a part of making such clothes." Edna shook her head and glared at Torrin as she spoke towards the group. "Still, I suppose that since you are all still in one piece at least something good came out of this fashion disaster. You did save the world, did you not? Yes? Good! Come inside! Now is time to rest after your hard work heroing!"
