Reason to Run[Miko/Open to 1]

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

Something was about to happen...

Kanako's Theme - Suwa Foughten Field [/center]

The Gummi ship, The Graceful Light traveled through the vast blackness that was the space between words. What the reasons behind the current state of the worlds was was question that could not be answered lightly, he was told not to exit the ship in between worlds due to the strong darkness that would tear him apart but he still didn't understand it nor would he try for now. It was after thought but he wondered if it would ever be safe to travel to worlds without a gummi ship, it was foolish to think however in time maybe it will be so. With 2 days in passing Ain had stayed mostly still, except for meals that Nyx had proved for him.

It was pretty quiet, and maybe even a bit gloomy if it wasn't for Nyx's company. Still he wished that she wouldn't call him mister anymore, but that was probably asking too much. The ship arrived landing perfectly between some tombstones, among the dark world that was twisted on so many levels. This was Halloween Town, a world that seemed to co-exist with the darkness nearly perfectly due to something strange in the minds of the people that lived here.

Ain stepped from the ship and looked back at it. His ship had again changed form and now looked like a ghost ship at least from the outside. His clothing had changed slightly as well, as he wore black instead of white but that was all as nothing else had changed. It was quiet, much too quiet to move without care. He waited for his new ships cook to exit before moving on for he did not know what awaited him beyond the black gates in front of him.

[Slash]

Was Soren still on the ship? YOU BET HE WAS, BRO. HE NEVER LEFT. He was just sleeping the entire time. THE ENTIRE TIME. Totally. Yep. His ship was probably collecting dust, but, you know, whatever. He was an awful pilot, anyway.

He shot up from a strange dream and looked around, confused. He felt nasty. Had he...had he been sleeping so long that he gathered dust? Woah. Weird.

He popped out of the ship. His feathered wings had become black and scaly, the tattoo of a phoenix turned blood-red. Similar tattoos extended across his whole body. He was dressed in dark greys and blacks, and looked a lot like some sort of gargoyle. He went across his new fangs with his tongue. Weird.

"I think I slept for a day or two. Sorry. I do that sometimes. Where are we?" Ain had probably forgotten that Soren existed. Not cool, bro. Not cool.

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

Where was he sleeping?

Ain had thought that Soren was left behind for he had not seen him for a whole week, he might have been surprised to see him again if he wasn't the way he was. Turning to Soren he gave him a dull stare and half nodded to him, if he was there why did he do anything for that long. Looking at his appearance he wondered if this was a normal thing, to change appearances on strange worlds but a gargoyle?

"Your still around, Soren?" he stated without a hint of surprise and total unwavering seriousness. "It's been a week, I half expected you died."

[Slash]

"A WEEK?" He was so alarmed that he rose a little above the ground, flapping his wings in confusion and alarm. That wasn't healthy. Was it a coma? Oh geez. Maybe he had some sort of concussion or something. Oh boy. He landed in consternation.

"A week...wait, why didn't you try to wake me up? I could have been dead! Didn't it freak you out a little? Or did you...just forget..." He sighed. "You forgot that I was there. I must have missed something exciting. Figures." He flew up to get a better look of the place. Hm. He saw a bunch of twisted buildings, a fountain, spitting out some strange green ooze, and various other creepy things. He went back down and asked Ain, "This place is weird. You have to deliver something here?"

[Miko]

By the time they had arrived at Halloween Town, Nyx, Ain's new sort-of-companion of who he had offered to take her with him, had had time to get cleaned up and rest. As well as get accustomed to living on the ship. She had never lived on a ship before (it was a wonder she hadn't gotten sick from being on it). She had also enjoyed cooking meals for her and Ain (though it mostly consisted of fish for almost each meal), she was like his new chief or something.

At first when they arrived in this new world, Nyx hadn't noticed her outward appearance had changed (mostly her clothes). Her clothes were a dark purple/blue color now and she wore a witch hat on her head (she would fit in even more into this world if she had a broom to go with her outfit). She stepped out of Ain's ship, following him. She then looked at the stowaway, unknowing of that he had been on this ship and it seemed that Ain had forgotten about him. She looked at him oddly then looked at Ain. They were dressed strange..almost as if they were dressed up for Halloween. She then looked at her own clothes and found the witch hat upon her head. Odd.

"Uhh...so this is Halloween Town?" she asked, looking around and then at the metal gate that was in front of them of which would lead into the town itself. It was so dark here, the only light she could see was the moonlight that lit their way. She watched as the newcomer flew into the air. Huh..he flew.

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

A trap?

The darkness or some other power was at work here, or maybe it just the way light kept a balance in the worlds they go to in order to not change too much. When he was young he was scared of the dark, while he never got over such a fear he no longer had that feeling one day just out of the blue. Well, it wasn't like he didn't feel it anymore but it was like he thought about it before he felt anything as feelings were no longer the most logical thing for him. Deep within him his heart was broken perhaps, working backwards it never allowed him to express himself entirely- that soon becoming his entire reality. As time passed, he knew that his feelings still were there and he knew that if he tried hard he could probably express himself but his body could never keep up.

Ain looked head-on as Nyx finally made a appearance, his figure not all that different from before except his clothes were slightly darker. Did that mean he already pretty much fit in Halloween Town, he might have laughed if he could. He stepped next to Nyx, and stared blankly at her. "This is Soren, he is traveling with us." he said, expressing no emotion at all which probably was close to being entirely serious without showing anger or frustration. "Shall we get going?"

Taking a few steps away from Nyx he moved towards the gate, he made a quick glance up at Soren. He didn't really seem to care but that was just how he was. "I'm investigating the darkness in this world, be on your guard." he stated bluntly and did not wait for a reply before continuing on, he walked with excellent posture towards the gate and opened it up.

Silence. Nothing stirred and not a single sound could be heard. It turned out that he had landed far away from the actual town, where they now stood was a rather large graveyard. Despite how the world was, he expected some signs of life but instead it was too quiet for words- not even wind. Within moments he walked into the center of the vast fenced in graveyard, far in the distance he noticed a spiral hill of some kind but it would take a while to get there. As he stopped he listened carefully and as he did he heard something move behind one of the tombstones.

"Be careful, something isn't right." he stated, expecting Nyx and maybe Soren to be behind him.

[Slash]

Soren looked around. "Don't have to tell me twice..." he mumbled. It was so dark here, as if the world was already twisted.

Screams in the air. The metallic smell of blood as torn wings hit the floor.

His normally laid-back demeanor had been entirely replaced with a serious, on-edge one. There were Heartless somewhere. He was sure of it. A small part of him knew that it wasn't their fault, that hating Heartless for seeking the hearts of others was like hating a snake for biting or a bee for stinging, but any pity or sympathy he could ever have for the mindless creatures had been burned out of him when his world fell.

He hated them. His hatred surprised and frightened him, but he could not stop it from blazing in his heart like a towering inferno. He had to keep it in check. If he didn't watch it, the hatred that he felt would spread out, and he would hate everything- and then he would be lost.

It would be best if no Heartless showed up. If there were too many, he might lose control. He'd have to fly away before that happened. He wouldn't let himself hurt Ain or his other friend.

In an attempt to keep himself occupied, he said to the girl, "Nice to meet you." His voice was level and quiet, and he kept his eyes fixed on his surroundings.

[Miko]

Nyx looked at Soren and smiled, "Hi, I'm Nyx," she said to him introducing herself momentarily and then moved quickly to follow behind Ain. She looked around, it was pretty dark here. She stood silently as Ain opened the gate, the only noise being that of the gate opening. It's hinges moaning momentarily as it opened. Nyx had her hands clasped together in front of her; waiting for something to happen. Someone or something to pop up from behind one of the tombstones or something. "It sure is dark here..." she whispered to herself, though it could be heard by Ain and perhaps by the other guy, Soren.

She looked past the gate, looking around. It sure was eerie here. Like, the darkness had overtaken this place. No wonder why Mister Ain wanted to check this place out. Investigating the darkness in this world. "Uuh, so, Mister Ain...what did you want to check out in this world?" she asked him. Sure, he meant the darkness, but what specifically about it, etc. She was right behind Ain, a little scared but not too scared. She was a young adult after all.

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

Twisted reception...

The darkness shrouded them and surrounded them. As they moved through the graveyard it grew much quieter then one would expect, it was certain that movement was heard but now it was like nothing was ever there. Within moments of their little trek, a cold mist sweeped through obstructing the vision of the trio and if it was not for the light of he moon- they would not see a thing in the already dark land. He had thought before what he might be looking for, in truth he wasn't really sure if he could even find the source of darkness and the heartless. Perhaps it was all in vain.

"I'm not sure anymore." he replied flatly, almost dejectedly to Nyx.

Ain stood seemingly fearless and tall in the center of the tombstones, each tombstone looked as if no writing existed on them as if to be only decorations. His eyes shifted from one side to the other in his search for what had made that sound, in the process he remembered that he might still be afraid of the dark if he could feel it. He never really got a chance to get over his fears on his own, the thought made him want to be sad but his expression and body did not change. he might have been angry but that too was beyond him. As he thought a childish laugh broke the silence of the night and echoed sharply from a unknown location nearby.

A child then appeared behind Nyx and Soren, his height only about half of Nyx's. His clothing was black and white with frills, and he wore a jesters cap and dark clown makeup. "Excuse me.." he said quietly, giving a cute smile. "Will it be a trick or... Perhaps a juicy treat?", he then stood there with his arms behind his little back.

Ain simply turned to see the child...

[Slash]

Soren looked down at the kid. Well, this wasn't weird at all. A creepy kid sneaking up behind them in a graveyard. No, perfectly normal.

This place was weirdness incarnate.

So, apparently this kid was a trick-or-treater? Wasn't it July? Maybe time was different here. He searched his pockets for any sort of food and came up short.

"I've got nothin'. How about you, Nyx?"

[Miko]

Nyx followed closely behind Ain as he led the way through the graveyard and she looked at each tombstone briefly, almost scared. She had never really been scared of the darkness before but since her encounter with it and it destroying her world she feared it, because then she would loose something else; her new found friends/companions. But, this wasn't the type of darkness that her world had been shrouded in. It was like this place was born in darkness and that it was essentially part of it. It didn't scare her so much because perhaps this darkness was part of Halloween town. It wouldn't be Halloween without it right?

That was when she heard a childish laugh echo through the graveyard, she jumped in place but tried to remain her cool. She looked around and found a child about half her height standing behind her and Soren. He was cute, but also demeaning. Everyone else seemed cool, Soren just stated that he didn't have anything. No candy. Nyx found it a bit weird for the child to be asking such a question...but, perhaps it wasn't exactly evil. It was just a kid after all. She might just be over reacting because of all the scary movies her friends forced her to watch. And of course the only thing that could pop into her head was, "Are you lost?..." she asked the young child wearing the jester cap. She knelt down some so that she could get a better look at him. "I am sorry...I don't have any candy or treats.." she added to him, giving a small weak smile for this child seemed a bit creepy...

[Ain_Soph_Aur]

Little fish shouldn't dive too deep.

Magus Night from Touhou 12.8 Fairy Wars

The child simply stood there and slightly tapped his foot on the dark dirt. Something was off, it was a weird world and all but there was something that he felt deep down. A cloud momentarily passed over the moon darkening the field further, when the light of the moon came back the child was now right next behind Nyx. "Sorry but you misunderstand the situation you are in. How very foolish of you." the child said as he placed his hands on his side and shakes his little head. "Now, you won't be given me anything but your hearts. A trick and treat. Kay?"

In a flash of light, the child disappeared and in it's place was a doll being dangled from a long monstrous line. The line lead up and over to a giant heartless with sharp spikes all over it's body that wasn't there, but actually it was if they only noticed sooner.

BOSS: Grand Fisher and Lure Doll

Notes: The Grand Fisher is a giant heartless, it has stolen many hearts up to this point and gain power greater then the average heartless. While it isn't in itself intelligent, it can use the thoughts and personalities of stolen hearts to change the shape of his Lure Doll. Be careful as his body is covered in large spikes, going in for physical attacks may not be a good idea, also to be noted is his high mobility and ability to turn invisible. Don't take this heartless lightly or you will die(lose your heart) or be eaten by his massive bite attacks.

Ain drew his perhaps a bit too late, as many shadow heartless and about 4 Search Ghosts, rather then focusing on the heartless around them he jumped in and slashed at the Lure Doll that once took the form of a creepy child. The Doll disappeared and so did the Grand Fisher as he made contact, in a rush the Giant Heartless was behind him and tried to tackle him with his spikes. Ready to dodge he realized fast that if he moved Nyx would be hit, instead he attempted to block it- the spikes cutting him across the arms and a single cut across the face.

"D-Damn, It's a trap. We need to leave." he stated calmly even with the blood-lose. He knew that Soren could just fly away so he would be fine but himself getting out was the real problem.

---

Ain takes moderate damage from spike tackle from The Grand Fisher.

[Slash]

Soren immediately switched into full-on attack mode when the Heartless appeared. He might not be able to take on the big one- that was suicide if he tried to do it alone- but he could certainly rip apart the lesser ones.

No, wait. Focus on helping Ain and Nyx. If they get badly hurt, you'll never forgive yourself.[/color]

He saw Ain get struck by the Heartless, losing quite a bit of blood in the process. That would certainly slow him down. Soren took to the skies. He wasn't the best fighter while flying- pureblooded Aysurians were able to move much quicker than he could in the air- but it would serve as a good distraction. Striking at the Search Ghosts that followed him, he dove to the ground and attacked, destroying a Shadow.

"Nyx, get Ain out of here! I'll distract them!" Soren yelled.