First Things First[Castle, Jericho]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I hope they didn't tow it.
--

The castle didn't look quite as gloomy during the day- but it still looked pretty gloomy. It was sundown, maybe that was in. Emi stepped out of the corridor and looked around. Crazy stuff had gone down in that castle. While she waited for Castle (the person, not the looming structure in front of her), she started looking around.

"Where did I leave that stupid gummi ship? God, I hope some superstitious townspeople didn't scrap it or something, I'll have to bust some heads,[/color]" she muttered. And then she groaned. "Why didn't I get a backpack, this stuff is freaking heavy![/color]"

It was just a box of crackers, a hi-potion and the piece of paper that had her 'plan' written on it. Not exactly heavy, but awkward to carry. Just as Castle was stepping out of the corridor, she was stripping off the cloak.

"First things first, find the gummi ship. It should be pretty easy to find. Better not split up, though,[/color]" she said as she slipped the hi potion into her coat pocket. She folded the piece of paper and put it in the same pocket, slung the cloak over her shoulder and stowed the crackers under her arm.

There. Much better.

"After we find the ship, we'll see if we can't find any clues that will lead us to the next place. If we can't, we'll just carry on with the route I have written down. Sound good?[/color]"

[Castle]

Castle stepped, or rather stumbled, out of the Corridor and caught himself before he could run into anything. However, there wasn't much to run into, save for Emi. They were on a long stone bridge that led up to a big, gloomy looking castle, made even gloomier by the sunset light. On the opposite side of the bridge was a dark forest.

He glanced around, as if to take everything in at once, and caught a glimpse of the dark portal disappearing. He paced around within the basic radius of their location and laughed a little in disbelief.

"This is fantastic!" he said, completely ignoring what she had just said to him, not that he heard much of it anyway. "Way better than Radiant Garden! Hey," he spun around to face her and pointed, "how'd you do that, anyway? You aren't a witch, are you? Not that I'd care, by the way," he laughed. He glanced at the cloak. "And isn't that the same kind of coat that guy, what's-his-name, wore? You know, the guy you beaned with a hammer?"

And that, unfortunately for Emi, was only the tip of the iceberg of his questions, but he did have to pause to catch a breath after that last one.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Funny you should ask...
--

Emi simply glowered, rubbing the bridge of her noise.
"Castle, we talked about this. You are forgetting the condition of not irritating me,[/color]" she said to him. There was restraint in her voice and you could tell she was trying to hold back from screaming and punching him. She kept herself in check and dropped her hand.

"No. I am not a witch. And yes, this is the same kind of coat because it is his cloak. Any more questions, shorty, or can we get on with finding the stupid gummi ship? I think its out in the woods somewhere, so you know... it might take a while.[/color]"

She was very careful to only answer his questions, not provide any more explanation. She only gave him the bare minimum of information. And she skirted around the question of how she'd opened the portal... she wasn't really sure herself and she definitely wasn't about to admit to dabbling around in darkness. Not after that last attack on Radiant Garden that had everyone so spooked and paranoid.

Emi probably should have wondered why she was justifying her use of darkness, but she didn't. She just started walking away in search of the ship.

[Castle]

"Ha, sorry," Castle chuckled when she reminded him of their agreement, putting a hand on his hip in a more-apt-to-stay-still position. She went on to answer his questions, albeit vaguely, and then began to walk away toward the end of the bridge that touched the forest. He went after her, putting a little jog in his first few steps so he could catch up.

"So wait, he gave you his cloak? Is he your boyfriend or something?" he pried.

He had to smirk at the idea. Emi, the tallest chick he'd ever met, paired up with that little bookish guy? How would his clothes even fit her? Apparently it did, since he'd just seen her wearing it, but that just made it more of a mystery.

He glanced back at the castle behind them. It looked really cool, but sadly, it didn't seem like Emi was inclined to take a peek. Weirdly, it didn't look like there were any guards or anything. Was it abandoned or what? Well, whatever. The woods was cool, too. He'd never been in an actual forest before.

[Slash]

Jericho looked at the castle. It was vast ,and it was the reason he came down to this world- the thing was visible from space, surely there was some good money hidden away in there. He'd heard some rumor of a horrible beast inside the thing, though, and he was debating whether or not to go in. What he needed was a thug or two. That would solve his problems. Some stupid muscle to throw under the bus if the going got too tough.

Suddenly, a portal appeared in the middle of the bridge. Shit. He quickly used his fading ability, backing away into some shade. As long as he did not interact with the emerging people or do something stupid like stand 2 feet in front of their face, he would go unnoticed.

He smiled when they walked out. He really had to learn how to do that- it'd save him so much time. Maybe he could get the girl in the black cloak to teach him.

Listening to their conversation, he found out that they were going into the woods. Well, that was interesting. He had an idea. If he played this right, he'd get some dead meat to follow him into the castle- even if he couldn't get them in, he'd have a couple of allies should the need ever arise later.

He moved silently and quickly into the woods, giving the two a wide berth. Once far enough, he took a deep breath and began yelling (thus breaking the Fade).

"Hey! Can anyone hear me? Someone? Anyone! Hey!"

He already had a story all laid out.



(Jericho used Obscuration)

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Oh, come on. I'm not Mother Theresa.
--

Emi knew better than to over-react at his question.
"No. He is not my boyfriend,[/color]" she said evenly. It was a very abrupt change from her previous restrained rage, and hopefully that wouldn't throw Castle off. What she was saying was true and she didn't want him thinking other wise. A nice calm answer was better than the alternative, which was to haul off and punch him in the stomach. No more explanation needed.

They went off into the woods. Emi walked slowly, scanning their surroundings carefully. You would think the gummi ship wouldn't be too hard to find. They had to look carefully though, just to be sure it hadn't been carried off.

But then, she heard yelling. She immediately went rigid, listening. She growled.
"Oh no, not today. I used up all my charity already today,[/color]" she groaned. She was praying whoever it was screaming wasn't looking for help. She didn't have the time or the patience to help anyone right now. It was almost dark and if they didn't find the ship soon, they would have to hold off until the morning.

Despite that, Emi found herself going for her kali sticks. Just in case.

[Castle]

Normally, girls freaked out when they were prompted with that question. Emi's calm, assured response was both unexpected and somewhat disappointing. No fun. It didn't even leave an opening for him to pry further or tease. Once this became apparent, Castle quickly lost interest in the matter and turned his gaze toward the forest again.

"Whatever," he shrugged, letting the topic go for now. Maybe it'd be better not to make her mad this early on, anyway.

With that out of the way, his attention was brought back to the current situation. They were entering the forest now, and it was darker among the trees than it was on the bridge. A few beams of sunset light came through the branches, but that was it. The creepy darkness of it was actually pretty exciting.

"So, why are we even looking for this thing, anyway?" he asked suddenly as he thought of it, "Can't you just use those portal things to..."

At that moment, shouted words became audible, coming from somewhere nearby. Castle stopped abruptly and looked around, and Emi went rigid. It seemed they weren't the only people in the woods this evening, and the currently unseen other person sounded pretty urgent.

Ignoring what Emi had just said, Castle turned in the general direction that the voice was coming from and shouted back,

"Yeah! Over here!"

[Slash]

Ah, there it was. The inevitable answer. He walked hurriedly towards the voice, making a note to look confused and even more disheveled than usual. Upon discovering them (he had gone pretty far into the forest), he took a relieved breath and slumped against a tree.

"Thank God, I thought I'd be looking around forever. I imagine you know what world this is. I'd be happy if you could tell me, I've no idea where we are myself."

He took a better look at the others. The girl was sullen and annoyed, with a big chunk of her black hair in her face. Oh, great. He was going to be dealing with a pissy little emo girl. Awesome. He made a note to use his amplification abilities when she inevitably went to cut herself and whine on the off chance that she would kill herself. That would be cool. He bet she was a really good fighter, too. That would just be his luck, that everyone he hated could actually fight back.

There wasn't anything wrong with the guy that seemed to be tagging along with her, but Jericho decided to hate him on principle.

Of course, he wasn't going to give away his real opinions, oh no. He needed to use them both, so for the moment at least he kept his feelings to himself. He leaned all his weight against the tree and smiled apologetically, the searing hatred in his brain hidden by the confused kindness in his eyes.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

On the Precipice of Defeat
--

Emi opened her mouth, about to reply but stopped.
"Ah--[/color]" was the sound that came out, but she cocked and eyebrow and let out a pent up breath. Come to think of it, she wasn't exactly sure what the name of this entire world was. All she knew was that the castle belonged to the Beast. But was that really the whole extent of this world, that and the forest? She doubted it somehow, but anyways, she didn't know how to answer him.

The girl was getting weird vibes from him, and took a wary step back. Her hands had been hovering close to her weapons, but now she balled her fists and crossed her arms over her chest- causing a dull pain to shoot through her still injured shoulder, but it wasn't anything that made her cry out in pain. A barely perceptible wince was the only indication she was in pain. She wasn't about to let it hold her back.

Back to this man. He kind of freaked Emi out a little bit, but she thought it was just her own wary nature. Trust no one. She tried to tell herself she was just being stupid, but that little voice inside her head telling her who to watch out for had saved her skinny butt on more than one occasion. Don't run unless you want to be chased, she told herself. Answer his question and then talk your way out of this.

"Not quite sure what the name of this world is, dude,[/color]" she said calmly, giving him a once-over. Tch, I could totally take this guy. Sure, he's a few inches taller than me but I mean look at him! "Just got here ourselves[/color]"

Give no more information that is needed. Trust no one. Don't run unless you want to be chased.

[Castle]

Castle raised an eyebrow. Honestly, he'd been expecting something more urgent than a guy who needed directions. Not that being lost wasn't a problem, but still. Although, it did make him wonder how long this guy had been wandering around the woods shouting like that. He did look a bit... ruffled? It was hard to describe. Like, a cross between a school teacher and a homeless person, or maybe just a teacher who didn't iron his shirts. More like that. He looked clean, anyway.

"Yeah, what she said," Castle told him with a brief gesture at Emi, who had her arms crossed and seemed kind of uncomfortable. Then again, when did Emi ever look comfortable with anything?

He planted a hand on his hip. "So, what, you land here by accident or something?" he asked, mostly out of curiosity, but also out of that common courtesy that came from working in a store for most of his life.

It was pretty much a reflex by now, even though he wasn't entirely interested in what this guy was doing. If anything, he looked like a skinny weirdo who didn't know what was going on half the time. But, whatever. It wasn't like he was going to leave someone to die if they were totally lost.

[Slash]

The girl was susipcious and the guy was a little irritated. It was time to step things up a notch. He went into a sort of overdrive with his facade, pushing back his true feelings completely and effectively, if temporarily, becoming the mask that he fooled people with. Just one of the many skills he had built to hide his psychosis from the world.

"Hold on. My head's a little messed up. I just woke up a minute or two ago. Give me a bit..." He took a breath and closed his eyes, and when he opened them again his confusion had been replaced by a wry, but not malignant, intelligence.

"Okay. I remember everything now. No, I didn't land here by accident. I was dumped here. They took all my things, and then dumped me here. I don't know how long I've been out." Actually, that was all a lie. He just hadn't brought his sword or anything important. He'd taken a ride here on someone else's ship, and they had certainly left by now. He had a way to contact them...but it was better that they didn't know that. Hell, in the state he was in right now, he had most likely forgotten, believing his story almost completely.

"I was trying to hitch a ride to Twilight Town. I don't do it much, but my salary is next to nothing and I try to save money where I can. That's the last time I do that. They took what little money I had..." He laughed. "Guess I'll go another night without food. So, they knock me out, take my things, and dump me at God-knows-where. I don't know if this place is an unaware world, I don't know if it's near Twilight Town or on the other side of the universe...it's embarassing."

Sighing, he straightened up, revealing that he was somehow a few inches taller than his already considerable height leaning against the tree. He appeared- well, right now, he was- even more uncomfortable than Emi, as if he was really ashamed of having been put into this situation. "If I could just find a city or whatever passes for one in this world, I'll just stick there until another ship passes by. God knows I couldn't really do worse than I already have been. So I'm asking, and I can not stress enough how this is completely optional and how I can probably find something on my own, if I could possibly have some help? Or some sort of rudimentary directions, on the off-chance that you came here from an occupied area?"

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Well, maybe he's not so bad...
--

Emi rolled her eyes. Oh great, he was damaged.

She decided she was just being paranoid. The girl had to remind herself that not all people in the universe were bad or to be hated. This was just a guy asking for directions, right? Harmless. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to tell him. Having to repeat herself irritated her. She clenched her jaw and composed herself before answering.

"I told you once before. We just got here ourselves. I don't know what to tell you, I don't know how to give you directions,[/color]" she said, and then took a deep breath. Go ahead and invite him along, a little voice in her head said. She stomped on it. She was trying not to be paranoid, yes, but that doesn't mean she was going to become charitable anytime soon. We're on a mission. We have plans and having to cart this loser around is going to slow us down. He probably has a set destination out of our way and we just don't have the time.

That was probably a good decision. She felt bad though, so with a sigh, she pulled the box of crackers out from under her arm and tossed them to Jericho. "Here. Don't go hungry tonight, okay?[/color]" she said, crossing her arms.

[Castle]

Wow, what a sob story. Castle wouldn't deny that there was something wrong with the guy's head, but as for the other stuff... he was either making it up, or his life totally sucked right now. Well, he looked the part, that was for sure, and given how weird he was, it was entirely possible that some jerks would take advantage of him. Heck, if the guy were, like, thirty years younger of something, Castle could take his lunch money.

The guy got up from the tree, and he had to repress the urge to scowl. Freaking tall people. Freaking tall grown men. He probably thought Castle was a little kid or something. He crossed his arms, but kept his expression composed.

Still... he was pretty pathetic. Would he even survive out here? The thought made him uncomfortable, deep down in his conscience. Emi tossed him a box of crackers, sort of dismissively, and then Castle got an idea,

"And, uh, there's a castle thing back that way," he said, jerking a thumb in the direction he and Emi had come from, "I don't know if anyone lives there, but if someone does, they can probably help you."

Unless they were rich snobs who didn't care. Castle glanced at Emi, hoping he hadn't just given the guy bad information.

[Slash]

The real him, temporarily pushed down and replaced by the mask he had constructed, seethed angrily at the mix of pity and scorn he was recieving. Hell, he was practically choking on his own hatred. He was perceived as weak by everyone because of his appearance. Weak, pathetic, useless...but they were always proven wrong, oh yes. Their contempt turned to surprise right before he tore them apart. Oh, how he'd love to place his hands on the girl's head and twist to the left...Her stupidity was astounding, as was her arrogance. Maybe he'd kill her first. Or he'd kill the boy in front of her. Or he'd anger them, Amplify their emotions, and have them tear apart each other.

The mask was aware of none of this, only noticing a curiously bitter taste in its mouth. Like bile, almost. That was strange. Well, hopefully it would go away before he started to eat. He pocketed the crackers, saving them for later. After hearing Castle's statement, though, he looked at Emi questioningly. He didn't say anything, but the look sent a very clear message: If you had come from a castle, why did you lie to me? Surely it wouldn't have done any harm to tell me about it.[/color] He looked down at Castle. Man, this guy was tiny. Never mind that, though- he was grateful for the help.

"That way, you say?" The mask looked down the way he mentioned. "All right. I'll see if they know anything." He stopped. "Of course, it might be abandoned, or the people there are hostile, or it might be infested with Heartless. Can you comment on the state of the place, since you've been there? Or do you not know anything about that, either? I suppose I'll find out myself, either way, but some advance information of the place would be desirable." The mask had no way of knowing that the new suspicion was a faint echo of the furious maelstrom of emotions held by the real Jericho, and assumed that he was just being cautious.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I've had enough.
--

Emi was quickly growing frustrated. The girl had next to no patience and this man and his seemingly never ending stream of questions had quickly worn that down. Plus, she didn't like his tone. He was being extremely ungrateful.

It had been a while since she'd even been in the castle and from what she could remember, the inhabitants were less than inviting and the castle itself was dark and musty. And honestly, she had had other things on her mind, between avoiding being caught breaking and entering and chasing down a very elusive nobody and demanding answers. But she did remember the Beast, if for no other reason than it was the cause of her and Zexion's rather abrupt exit.

She wished Castle had just kept his stupid mouth shut. They had been so close to getting away, but no, he had to mention the stupid castle. He was going to get it for that later. Before she answered, she shot the young man standing next to her a dangerous glare that said If you know what's good for you, shut your mouth.

When she spoke again, it was through gritted teeth and there was obvious evidence that she was trying very hard to contain herself. She couldn't help that she was so easily provoked.

"Oh, it's just dandy,[/color]" she said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's dark and old and creepy and the master of the castle isn't very friendly. So I bet it's just your kind of place, huh? I bet you'd feel right at home.[/color]"

The words tumbled out of her mouth, unchecked, and brought relief. She wasn't even positive she was on track with her words and she didn't really care to defend herself in the event she was wrong. She would just start swinging.

"It's just perfect for creepy guys like you. What, do you think it's fun to hang out in forests and stop people and tell them your made up sob stories, trying to earn their sympathy?[/color]" she said, her voice rising into a shout. If something didn't stop her, she was going to lose control. "I'm not stupid, you know. I can tell you're lying through your teeth![/color]"

She wasn't even sure if that was true. This guy, despite his irritating tendency to ask way too many questions, was probably just as he said: lost and without any resources. Emi didn't care and she didn't discriminate. With a single stride, she closed the gap between the two of them, leaving Castle standing a few feet back. The voice of reason in the back of her mind was quickly being drowned out and she could barely hear it saying Calm down, this is a gross overreaction.

For once, instead of having to bend to put herself on her target's level, she actually had to look up a little. It was too late for her to control herself. Her heart was pounding, her chest felt tight and her fingers were twitching. She clenched her fists to stop it. She could feel sweat on her back.

"Why don't you just leave now?[/color]"