Wandering Dragonman [With Emi, from FM]

[Administrator]

Arc, as per his usual status, was walking along a road. But not just any road this time. No, this road was special. This road had Heartless popping up so often Arc could hardly say two words before another fight with the damned things! But, he would bear with it, as he always did. If only someone would come and help him fight the things...

And there it went again. Five Shadows and two Soldiers interrupted his thoughts with their arrival through their dark portals. Arc brandished his katanas, readying himself for a fight. He did not wish to summon his Nobody allies, as that would only invite a greater assault by the Heartless.

So, he pretty much entered a staring competition with the Soldier that appeared to be the leader of the bunch. Or, at least, he tried to, but those damn Soldiers were all wobbly and couldn't stand straight. Growling, Arc did his best to keep his eyes on the Heartless'.

And so, it appeared to be like an old Western showdown. Suddenly, the Heartless jerked forward, signaling the rest to attack. Arc slashed the first Shadow that reached him into the air, bashing the second with his off-hand hilt. This was going to be a long day...

[Oathkeeper Emi]

{Blah, bad writing. |:}

It had been a very, very long time since Emi had encountered Heartless. She didn't even know what they were called, only that they were evil little demons that she felt the need to squash underfoot.

But on this particular stretch of road, they seemed to be popping up everywhere for some reason. It was a like a frickin' Whack-a-Mole. She would whip out her kali sticks, slam a couple of them, and then start walking thinking that it was over and BAM! another.

Now she just kept the sticks out at all times. It was starting to get kind of hot, too, so she slipped her coat off and tied it around her waist.

Further up the road, she saw someone (or something? She couldn't see well from this range) fighting off more of the little monsters. Thankfully, these were just the little ones. Emi had heard rumors of huge ones and she hoped to never ever encounter one. Ever.

She sprinted up to the...thing... She wasn't sure what it was. She was really out of it when it came to cultures and non-human things. So far on her adventures, she had encountered moogles, anthropomorphic dogs, some kind of weird dinosaur thing, a flying fish and a flower that spit pollen on her. But never...whatever this thing was. She wasn't even sure what gender it was, but there was time for intros later. Right now, it was butt kickin' time and whoever it was obviously was in need of some help.

She came to a skidding stop next to Arc, and proceeded to fight off the Heartless, sending them flying and exploding into puffs of smoke and little pink hearts. An upward slash on one of the Shadows, and the down swing came down on another. She snapped around, the edge of her stick catching the third Shadow and sending it flying off the road.

She waved at Arc, breathing heavily, dashed off to chase down one of the Soldiers...

[Administrator]

Arc turned his head to watch the newcomer. She was quite good with her weapons, which appeared to be...rods... Odd, but useful, he assumed. Arc again waited for a Heartless charge. One of the Soldiers snuck up behind him, preparing to execute its signature move, the Cyclone Kick. It hobbled back and thrust forward, but Arc leapt into the air above it, slashing it twice across the chest and sending flying into dark dust, a pink heart flying from its chest.

"I'm Arc," he said as he landed spryly on his feet. "What is your's?" His gruff voice made it apparent what his sex was. He watched all around him for more Heartless, but they appeared to be swarming the greater that at that point. They all charged at her, and Arc charged at them. She would just have to fight them off until he got there, even though it would take all of a few seconds.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

No time to reply. That would come later, 'cause right now, there were unholy demons swarming her. She kicked one, slammed one into the ground with both her kali sticks and side-swept another into his little friend and they both exploded. They kept coming, but here was the calvary, swooping in with swords.

Part of her was lightly offended at this. She took out her frustration on the Heartless, instead of doing what she would've usually and beat the crap out of the offending party. She caught another Soldier that had appeared under her foot, pinned her there and bashed it with her kali stick until it exploded.

A second to breathe and reply "Emi" and hope that got the point across. Then it was Whack-A-Mole time yet again, and she brought her right-hand stick directly down onto the heads of two Heartless in rapid succession, beating them into submission with a growl. Emi could be very... brutal.

[Administrator]

Arc used his flurry of swords, slicing around Emi in a semicircle. Luckily, the two of them managed to bat off the Heartless.The two were given an intermission, it appeared, to speak. This, Arc was glad for.

"You fight well, Emi." Testing the name, Arc found it wasn't too burdensome on the tongue. He was about to continue, but he noticed that she was being very...primal. So, he left it at that, a single sentence of compliment, making it her move.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Breathing heavily, Emi doubled over, putting her hands on her knees. Okay, anger issue resolved for the moment being. Just what she needed, a little playtime.

She straightened and observed her partner. Frick. More anthropomorphic animals.
"Uh, thanks, I guess," she answered to his compliment. She stumbled with the words."You...too. I guess."

There was an awkward silence, and Emi was suddenly very self-conscious. She quickly crossed her arms, and then decided to put her jacket on. No need to travel down that road and no doubt Arc would ask about her scarred arms due to the lack of other conversation material. At least, this is what Emi's socially awkward brain told her.

"So, uh....come here often?"

[Administrator]

"Not really," Arc answered her immediately. He scanned the area around them quickly. Nope, the Heartless were gone. He turned back to face her. "I wander most of the time, from world to world." He noticed motion out of the corner of his eye and sighed. There they were, right on time. Except...

It wasn't just a few Shadows this time. This time a Large Body, two Soldiers, and four Shadows appeared from the darkness. He brandished his katanas and waited for them to charge first.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Emi backpedaled. Oh shoot. Shoot. SHOOT.

And then she composed herself, assumed a battle stance and leapt into battle. Being unaccustomed to Heartless, she thought to herself Let's go for the big one first and rushed head long into the Large Body. Bad idea. She bounced off the big heartless and flew head over heels several feet backwards, landing square on her butt.

Now she had a headache and was really mad. She scrambled up, spitting hair out of her mouth and gripping her sticks, ready to freakin' MURDER something. Here came a Soldier, probably thinking in its primal little mind that it would try to steal Emi's heart, but Emi would have none of it. She shrieked and started swinging....

[Administrator]

Arc, using agility that was odd given his large form, leapt across the heads of the little Heartless. He made it to the Large Body and challenged it to a staring contest. It caught his glance and glared, holding his glance for a time. Eventually, the creature got a bit bored and smacked its chest, charging forward with its stubby arms flailing backward. Arc dodged to the side, raking it twice across the chest.

The creature stopped, a blue light washing from it. It was PO'd. And so, the Large Body rammed him, launching Arc into the air. The only thought going through his head was Ohhhhh...

Crap.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Arc made a funny noise as he flew past her. He had suffered a similar fate as she.

Okay, new plan. Get rid of the smaller ones. Avoid the big one. Then... let Arc take care of it.

Emi barely made it past the angry Large Body, kind of half-jogging half-skipping backwards with a half-turn. It stormed past her, oblivious.

Maybe I ought to take up tap dancing...

The little ones weren't much of a fuss to take out, considering there were only a few left. She wasn't sure if Arc was up or down at the moment, so she didn't wait for his help, only skirted around the Large Body taking out Heartless as she went. It really was like dancing, how she would spin and stumble out of the way, dodging the Large Body's charges. Now all that was left was the big angry meanie...

[Administrator]

Arc landed on his feet-No, that was a lie. He landed flat on his back and groaned deeply. That Large Body was a pain! He got up and brandished his swords again. He knew what he was going to have to do, and he didn't like wasting his energy on it. He breathed in deeply, drawing in as much air as he could, puffing out his chest.

The Large Body slammed its chest. Arc repeated the gesture. It began its second charge, arms flailing behind. As it got within ten feet of him, Arc opened his mouth. Once it reached five, he breathed out heavily, sending a ray of flames into the Heartless. It was destroyed in the gout. Coincidentally, the ray sent him backward, landing on his...yeah. "There we go."

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Emi wilted. Darn, Arc beat her to it.

"So that's it then? Is that all of the little.... things? What are they anyway?"

She instantly felt foolish. Like she should know what they are. Duh.
Emi plopped onto the ground for a rest, falling on to her back with her arms out.

[Administrator]

Seeing the reddening of her cheeks, albeit slight, Arc replied, "They are Heartless. They try to steal hearts from people." He walked over to her and sat down. This appeared to be the last of them for a while. He looked at her and smiled, an odd addition to the dragon-man's countenance.

"I am not surprised you have not run into them before. They tend to only swarm certain worlds, and certain people. I, unfortunately, am one of those people." He prepared to call upon his Dragoons in case of yet another wave of the monsters.

"What about you? Have you been this way before?"

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Steal...hearts?

"They're not getting mine," Emi muttered, putting a hand over the left side of her chest. He said they swarmed him, and she looked at him sideways. It was a look of distrust.

"I guess I haven't run into them before now. I kind of remember something about then back on my home world, but it's been ten years since then, so..." she said, hesitantly.

[Administrator]

Arc saw her look of distrust and frowned. "They don't swarm those with evil in their hearts and attack them often, only those of the greatest good." In most cases... He assumed that was why they followed him, but there was always a chance there was another reason.

As Emi spoke of her homeworld, Arc felt a pang of sorrow in his chest. He had lost his long ago, lost to the Heartless, albeit indirectly. Rather than lose their world to the Shadow, the people of Draconum decided to leave their world, destroying it in their wake. It was a hard thing to do, but they felt it must be done. And, after the fact, Arc had not seen another drake. Not once after more than twenty years!

"I hope you don't think I'm a freak, with these dark things chasing me..." Arc shook his head vehemently. "But pity me not! I cannot stand those who mope about, taking other's pity. Bah! They collect pity like a man collects munny." He snorted. "But enough of that, where is your homeworld? I may have been there before in my travels."