It May Be Radiant, But It Ain't Peaceful (open)

[Bob aLanstin]

John got up wondering what he was going to do today. As he sat up from his bed and stretched, he considered the possibility of more training. He decided against it, for he wanted to take a break. He sat up and proceeded to dress himself. He grabbed his sword and sheath even though he figured he wouldn't need them. He headed for the marketplace for lack of anything better to do.

He reached the marketplace with hardly a notice and immediately began to converse with the merchants. He noticed a renovation but didn't think much of it. He talked to the merchants, asking prices but not really caring, seeing as he wasn't going to buy anything.

"So, the shovel is 20 munny, the necklace is 30 munny, and the worthless pile of junk is free?" John asked the merchant.

"Yes," the merchant replied.

"Well then, I don't think I'll buy anything," He announced as he walked away.

He walked around but seeing nothing of interest, found a place to sit down. He was asking himself why do i stay here? He found himself replying because you made a decision and you never change your decisions. He found himself agreeing to that and calmed himself down. He just decided to sit there and think...

[Slash]

Training

"Again," she said to herself. She climbed the steep rock surface as fast as she could, then rocketed back down it, all while holding her scythe as if she was about to attack. She had been doing this for a good deal of the day.

Not fast enough. Not good enough. She would never kill him at this rate.

She was exhausted, but she was driven to keep going. "Again," she said.

Still not fast enough! Her arms wanted to give out on the way up, and she just barely landed on her feet on the way down.

She exhaled sharply. She would be spending more than one day here, in the labrynthine rock formations outside the city. Maybe a whole week. She would have to get adequate supplies.

To do so, she disguised herself. It was not advisable to stroll through the marketplace looking as she did. She put on a hat to cover her hair, tucking it into the hat, and took off her long-sleeved black shirt to reveal the short-sleeved white one underneath it. She took off her necklace, and wrapped both the necklace and shirt around the scythe. The scythe was easier to disguise than it should have been- there were a lot of people in Radiant Garden with strange, very large weapons. She just covered the blade and handle in a sort of cover made of cloth. While it would be a better idea to just leave it behind, she hated having it away from her for long periods of time.

Well, the disguise was decent. Just enough to hide her identity. She walked through the city carefully. It had been a while since she had been here. She stopped and looked around, trying to gain her bearings. She paid no attention to the man sitting on the bench close by.

[Fate]

Investigating
Hollow Bastion

It was back to Radiant Garden for Zexion on yet another mission. He had seen far too much of this world as of late and it seemed that every time he visited, something new arose. Demyx mentioned the three men of darkness that were lurking here as well and the Schemer was here to find out if he could find them. He was also here to see if he could pick up on the lingering scent of the man who attacked here, though he doubted that last one being possible. If he somehow managed to find the owner of that scent, he would recognize the overpowering scent immediately without even having to bother to look.

The town seemed to be in just as much disrepair as it was when he visited it about four days ago, not surprising to Zexion. He kept his hood drawn as he kept to the alleys, his eyes scanning the Marketplace. There was nothing unusual that he could detect, though one scent did stand out from the others. It was not like the darkness that Demyx had described for them at the meeting but instead something else. It would have been foreboding had he the heart to feel fear, but it was not. He located the scent's owner, a girl standing in the marketplace. He paid it no heed, instead deciding that it would be best if he headed toward the castle.

This was where things got a bit tricky. Ever since the attack on the marketplace, the people of Radiant Garden were steadily growing more observant, perhaps paranoid of their surroundings. It was just as before when they were afraid of what lurked in the shadows, now expecting that dark force to come back and strike again, destroying Radiant Garden. Zexion doubted it would happen, but nonetheless he had to be careful so he would not be found; he nearly was before and he was not about to risk that again. He stayed in this alley for a moment, waiting for the right moment to take the shortest path to the castle through the marketplace without being seen.

[/size]

[Bob aLanstin]

John got up, seeing what seemed to be many strangers. He would have gone to see what they were doing, but was distracted by a loud noise coming from behind him. He turned around and say nothing. He was confused by it, and continued to think to himself.

What was that? he asked himself. It was probably some heartless. was the reply, you should check it out. He disagreed, I should stay here in case the heartless show up. He reached his conclusion and sat back down.

He was thinking about everything that had happened in his life. From when he moved here to when he returned to the Garden. He thought about what could have happened, like him dying on several occasions. But it hadn't, he'd lived, and now he was here. He must've been lucky

[Administrator]

Estuans interis, ira vehementis...

A single black feather floated from the sky, slowly lowering itself closer and closer to the ground. The feather blew past Zexion's face, and floated towards the bench, and the man seated upon it. It brushed past him, and then blew past the woman's face, blowing towards a single being, one who the others would have noticed at that point. One who Zexion would be able to feel the darkness emanating from.

Sephiroth. The One Winged Angel stood there , his seven foot long katana in hand. With his right hand, he snapped his finger, and a small group of Heartless appeared, assorted varieties. It consisted of a single Large Body, three Soldiers, and seven Shadows. He pointed a single finger at the three, apart though they may have been, and the Heartless moved in for the kill. They were particularly interested in the two by the bench, because the other did not have a heart.

Sephiroth smirked as he watched the creatures do his bidding.Mindless, soulless creatures, bound to do the bidding of any mortal with darkness strong enough to control them. The One Winged Angel just so happened to be one of those with enough dark power to order the mindless subservient beasts around. "It appears you have visitors. I wouldn't ignore them; they might get hungry."

[Bob aLanstin]

John noticed the heartless running towards him and he immediately jumped into the air and drew his sword out of his sheath. As soon as he hit the ground, he ran towards the large body, thinking, might as well get the big one first.

When he got to the heartless, he jumped over it and sliced its back. He knew that you have to hit it in its back to destroy it. He landed and prepared another strike.

As he was about to attack, the large body turned around and hit him. The result was that he was sent flying. He hit a wall and attempted getting up. He had to use his sword to lift himself up.

[Slash]

A Familiar Face

Furiae reacted immediately, pulling her scythe out of its covering. The hat was obstructed her vision partially, so she took it off, her white hair tumbling down.

She saw a man knocked back by one of the Heartless. Pathetic. Silently, she ran towards the Heartless, scythe held back to strike. The Shadows were always the easiest, and the best to get out of the way first- when in large groups, they became annoying distractions. She tore through one with her scythe, cutting it clean in half. Three others surrounded her- she tore them apart, one by one.

Focusing on the Large Body, she went around it and hit it in the back, jumping back when it started stomping its feet on the ground. A couple more attacks like that, and it was severely weakened, soon to fall.

She looked at the man who had sent the Heartless at them. He looked familiar...but how? Then she noticed that he bore a striking resemblance to the silver-haired swordsman she had fought in the castle. Strange. Perhaps they were related.

"How kind of you, to allow me to train in such a way. Perhaps you are in possession of ones a little more substantial?"

[Fate]

A Little Game

The air instantly changed in Radiant Garden, a single black feather blowing past Zexion's hood. He watched it as it lingered around the marketplace, a man appearing from it. Zexion instinctively took a step back, survival instincts kicking in. The darkness coming from this man was strong, incredibly so. His sword was longer than the Nobody was tall, reaching an incredible length alone. Was he... no, the darkness was different than what he sensed earlier. This was not the same darkness that had decimated part of Radiant Garden. Though, this darkness could prove to be intriguing.

This scent was one that he had sensed before as well; it had been in Radiant Garden before, at least from what Zexion remembered. The name escaped him at the present moment, but he figured he would learn it soon enough. The man summoned Heartless for the two to fight, though the Schemer had a feeling that the foreboding man knew he was there. The Heartless would never bother with him of course, but the man was a different story. He was not about to start a fight with a man that had darkness emanating from him like this; that would be a foolish move.

A fight soon unfolded, the citizens of the world rushing away to escape the wrath of the Heartless. The girl seemed to be a proficient fighter, a skilled one. The other one, a young man, attempted to take on the Large Body, but was quickly sent flying into a wall. Zexion looked on with indifference, not very interested in the fight but more so in the person that summoned the creatures themselves. He was not the same force that attacked this place, but he certainly proved himself to be powerful.

A thought flickered in his mind for a moment. There were still the Soldier Heartless left standing and the girl seemed to want something more substantial. She could fight the Heartless all she wanted and it would not get her anywhere; at least, it would not help Zexion or the Organization's goal one bit. He could give her something a little more substantial than a Heartless, though that would mean dabbling into the game and possibly getting noticed. Would the silver-haired man try to fight him? It was certainly a possibility as well that the Schemer had to consider. He was not completely sure, though he figured he might as well see what happens; he could leave at any time.

Without wasting another moment, he waved his hand and gestured toward the Soldier Heartless. Three Dusks appeared behind them. Zexion did not have to do anything else as the Dusks destroyed the Heartless in front of them, the creatures obviously much stronger. The Dusks then turned toward the two fighters, wondering what they would do. The Schemer wondered how the silver-haired man would respond to this; if a fight started, he would leave and that would be that.

[/size]

[Administrator]

Substantial? I believe I can do substantial.

Sephiroth met eyes with the Nobody who had summoned more of his kind to kill of his Heartless. A smirk grew across his face. There was one who feared him, or, at the very least, respected his power. Summoning a group of Armored Knight Heartless, the man promptly ignored them as they destroyed the Dusks and proceeded to occupy the two fighters.

The One Winged Angel took flight, using his single wing to guide him to stand facing the Nobody, sword returned to sheath. "It would appear you are a bystander to this battle. What are you, a member of Organization XIII, doing in this area?" The silver haired villain spoke easily, as if they were having a cup of tea and chatting rather than standing directly next to where Heartless under his control were trying to kill two warriors. And one of them wasn't nearly as good as the other.

Looking over at her with a slight smile, he said, "I am glad to provide the challenge for you. Now, if you would kindly keep yourself occupied for longer than a short moment, I have a conversation to continue here." Turning back to Zexion, the smirk returned in full force to Sephiroth's face. "My apologies. You know how it is, I'm sure."

[Bob aLanstin]

John stood up and spoke, first normally, and then yelling, "I underestimated you. It won't happen again!"

He ran towards the knight heartless and stabbed one through the heart symbol. He dodged an attack by another and kicked it backward. As he hit another with the pommel of his blade. He quickly deflected an attack from one and sliced it in half. He noticed the other one that was fighting the heartless and asked her, "Are you seriously enjoying this?"

[Slash]

What a nice day.

"Of course. Feel free to take all the time you wish." Well, there was one big difference between him and the swordsman from the castle- he was much more polite.

She didn't really mind that he was summoning Heartless, or that the one in the black cloak was summoning Nobodies. To Furiae, who only lived for battle, doing such things was an act of kindness. No sort of training could compare to an actual battle, and this was much more preferable than running up sheer cliff faces. Her opinion of the two was...well, she didn't like them, simply because she didn't understand the concept of liking someone. Her opinion of them was rather favorable, though.

She focused on the Armored Knights. If the other fighter couldn't handle a couple of Soldiers, then he deserved to die anyway. There was no room in the world for the weak.

Ah, they're quite fast.[/color] The Armored Knights, being thin, fast, and constantly moving targets, were much more interesting to fight. She focused on one, moving quickly around it to confuse it. As it tried to gain its bearings, she almost struck, but stopped for a second to move out of the way of another Knight's attack. It would be quite embarassing to bleed at the hands of weaker enemies. After avoiding, she turned her attention back to the Heartless, who had focused in on her again. She struck it with her scythe and moved quickly out of the way when it tried to retaliate.

Such a good day this was turning out to be.

She noticed the other fighter talking to her. He was fighting the Soldiers, and doing a somewhat...passable job at best.

"Of course I am. You are not?" She was genuinely inquisitive. How strange. He should be grateful that he had a chance to improve.[/size]

[Fate]

Conversing Amidst Chaos

The Dusks were quickly destroyed by a stronger Heartless, earning only a blink or two from Zexion. That was the sort of game that this man was going to play, one that he could respond to if he so chose to. That was not the way Zexion chose to do things though. He left the two to fight off the Heartless, not particularly interested in watching them fight. One of them far outmatched the other in skill, though they were still fighting off the Heartless fine; that was all that the Schemer needed to know.

With his presence obvious now, he stepped forward so he was closer to the man with the large sword, but a decent enough distance away so he could escape if he so chose. The darkness coming from him was deep, pungent in scent. A name flickered in Zexion's mind as it started to recall the scent clearly now, one that had what he called copies of itself hidden in Radiant Garden as they stood. This was Sephiroth, the man said to come from a certain hero's darkness. Zexion had never met him in person, obviously, but he knew of his existence.

"I am merely gathering information," Zexion answered, "One could ask the same question of you." He chose to keep his hood on at this point, not revealing his face; he used to when he went on missions for the Organization before, but that was a different time completely. With a face came knowledge; it was the one thing in a human that could reveal just about everything, a fact that Zexion knew well by now. He was not about to let Sephiroth, a powerful man already, have even more power.

[/size]

[Administrator]

More like Chaos amidst Conversation.

"Me?" Sephiroth said with a confused note in his voice. "I live in the area, and was merely out for a stroll. I'm sure you know how it is." Sephiroth was fairly certain he did, because he had heard stories of what had happened in a certain castle, and, while they may not be true, the One Winged Angel knew there was always a little fact in rumor. He had seen it himself only too often.

The warriors were making short work of the Heartless he had summoned. "Looks like those aren't enough for you...let me try a bit bigger of one." The remaining Knights disappeared, and a new Heartless appeared in their place. It looked similar to them, except with black armor and two red blades. As well as the fact that it was much larger than they were. It flourished its blades before stabbing directly at the woman, attempting to crush and/or mutilate her with its arm blades.

"Like this one, Nobody? I made it myself." The self-assured smirk was back. "I call it the Black Knight." This one was going down a bit slower than the other ones were going to. "Oh, what a fool I am. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Sephiroth. And you are?" He held a hand out to the Nobody, not quite in friendship so much as in good humor. He might not be willing to quite befriend the Nobody, but he would rather not get on the Organization's bad side. They were quite powerful, after all.

[Bob aLanstin]

"Ooh, now it will be fun!"

John swung his sword at the heartless. He dodged a blow and used his hopeful slashes attack. (cooldown: 5 posts) He slashed 3 times with his glowing blade and sent it backwards. He started breathing heavily, and then caught his breath.

"Haven't done that in a while!" he shouted.

He began to charge toward the opponent and slashed at the heartless. He was knocked backward by it but stood his ground, so that he didn't get sent flying.

"Of course I'm enjoying it now," he shouted to the person he had talked to before, "It was too easy before!"

[Slash]

Tougher Prey

She didn't answer. He had answered satisfactorily and she had no interest in speaking to him further. There was absolutely nothing to be gained from knowing who he was or anything about him. He was merely another fighter, and in fact this would most likely be better if he wasn't here and she had to fight off the Heartless on her own.

This Heartless was strong, but she was stronger. Jumping back and concentrating, she made 10 large ice shards form around her in a sort of circle. They held themselves in the air for a second, then flew at the Heartless at amazing speeds. It blocked 2 and avoided a couple more, but the others hit their marks and buried themselves deep inside the creature, where they then exploded, causing massive internal damage.

It wasn't dead yet, but her attack had hurt it quite a good deal. She made a mental note that her spell was best used on large enemies that had a harder time avoiding it. Another shot like that would take it down- however, it took too long to recharge.

While she didn't like the presence of the other fighter, she might as well put him to good use.

"It is weak. Attack it with all you have."

She charged it as well, dodging its now weaker attacks. She could take it down herself, but if the other fighter joined it would be a little quicker.