Showdown at Hollow Bastion [Castle]

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Long way down...
--

Unfortunately, it couldn't last forever. The snake Heartless got up after a few minutes and retaliated. It hissed at them and snapped. Emi barely had enough time to recover and while she wasn't too seriously injured, the Heartless's counterattack managed to make her stumble.

She stopped just short of the ledge, catching herself just in time. Her eyes went wide. That was a long way down, and not a very soft landing at the end. She would have to be more careful. She turned just in time to see the snake flying into the air again. Was it going to use that cloud of darkness again? And again, like a cobra it spread its hood and hissed at them before attacking.

Emi raised her weapon slowly, trying to figure out what the thing was doing. She narrowed her eyes at it. Something seemed different... this wasn't the same attack as before. No, there was something off about it, something...

She yelped when something slammed into her keyblade as it was cross in front of her chest. The Heartless had spit something at them, and it had been so quick Emi hadn't even noticed until it hit her blade.

[Castle]

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the Heartless to get up and shake them off. Castle stumbled back and barely managed to avoid its retaliation, though he earned a small nick on his glove from one of its claws. He had been so focused on inflicting damage that he let his guard down. That was a mistake he probably shouldn't make twice.

The monster took to the air again. Castle jogged backwards away from it. There was no way he was going to get blinded again. However, no dark cloud appeared. Instead, almost too fast for him to see, a big gob of something flew straight at Emi. He was a few yards away from her, at a more safe distance from the cliff, and he saw the green stuff make contact with her blade and promptly ricochet off.

Distracted by that, he almost missed the Heartless shooting a similar glob at him. He yelped and jumped away as it struck the ground at his feet. It had a sharp odor, and it wasn't hard to figure out that the stuff was some kind of poison.

"Crap!" he exclaimed, jogging backwards again.

Before he could get very far, the Heartless spat more poison at them. On reflex, he threw an arm up to block one before it could hit him in the face. It bounced off of his glove and flew back at the Heartless.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Gettin' too cocky...?
--

The snake launched another poison orb at her. The first one she deflected off her keyblade back at the Heartless, and it screamed in pain when it splattered across its face and got in his eyes. Naturally, Emi got a little bit cocky and instead of defending herself against a counterattack, she threw her fist into the air. "Woo! Yes! Take that, you stupid--URRRGHK.[/color]"

In her celebration, she had completely failed to notice another poison orb coming right at her. it hit her in the chest and sent her stumbling a few steps backwards. The breath had been knocked right out of her, and her chest burned where the poison came in contact with any bare skin.

She put a hand to her chest, and it came back dripping with some kind of sticky, green goo. She almost said something, called out to Castle to watch his back but she was nearly knocked off her feet by a fresh wave of pain. When it subsided, she tried to brush the poison off her shirt but it just smeared and she was brought down to one knee by yet another wave of pain.

"What...[/color]" she gasped. "...the...hell...[/color]"

Her hand clenched around her keyblade and she struggled to her feet, and struggled to stay on her feet as the poison drained a little more from her. Thus far, the monster had been distracted by Castle but now that it saw Emi was still alive and back on her feet, it turned on her. It struck at her like any snake would, but she brought her keyblade down to her side and put up her shield.

The snake's fangs hit the shield and bounced off without harming Emi. The fangs didn't hurt her, but she gritted her teeth as the poison made her flinch one last time.

--
Battle Report
Emi used [Broken Silverdrop]!
No uses left.
[Demi]
1 post until next use.

[Castle]

"Emi!" Castle shouted when he realized she'd been hit. Unfortunately, no matter how much he wanted to help her, his immediate problem was that the Heartless was still attacking him. He could only hope that stuff wasn't deadly as he lost sight of Emi to focus solely on dodging the globs.

It didn't take long to figure out that he could send the projectiles right back at the monster. However, it was a bit difficult to aim. The first one he sent back missed completely, and the second only hit it in the tail, but at least that was something. The way the monster twitched when it was hit showed that some damage had been done.

Then, the Heartless turned on Emi once more. It snapped at her, but she managed to block it with her shield. In spite of that, Castle was getting frustrated again. This fight had gone on long enough. What happened to that ferocity he had before?

He ran at the Heartless and jumped, reaching the full ten feet before he forced a faster descent and plowed an axe kick into the top of the creature's head. From there, he landed securely on the ground just in time to dodge a claw, and that put him a few feet away from Emi.

"You okay?" he asked her without taking his eyes off of their enemy.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

You aren't getting away with that!
--

"Yeah,[/color]" she said. The poison had evaporated by that point, but her whole body still ached from the effects of the battle so far. She knew she was in bad shape. She couldn't use her shield anymore so she was largely defenseless, and when she tried to use that gravity spell again, nothing happened. She dropped her blade to her side and ran out of the way of a tail sweep.

While she was running and dodging out of the way of attacks, she was trying to get her keyblade to do something. One of those tail sweeps knocked her feet out from under her and she landed face first on the ground. Normally, it would have been comical but this time it wasn't. It hurt and when she sat up she realized her nose was pouring blood.

Perfect, she thought and rolled over on to her back. She was in the process of getting up when the Heartless struck at her with its mouth. She yelped and tried to roll out of the way, but its fangs caught her jacket and pinned her to the ground, grazing her waist in the process. She choked. She could feel and taste blood running down the back of her throat.

She hated to do it, but she grabbed her coat with both hands and ripped it away. It was either that or choke to death on her own blood, and at least the jacket could be repaired. She scrambled onto her knees, and then her feet while the snake struggled to pull its teeth from the hard-packed earth.

Emi wasted no time. She knew Castle wasn't wasting the opportunity either; she could see him near by, still fighting. Good. He was still alive at least, and still going. While it was still pinned, she lifted Lacewing high into the air and slammed it down hard on the snake's head. That was all she had time for. While she had been running and trying to make something happen with Lacewing, she had come up with a plan.

"Castle! Don't die or anything, I'll be right back![/color]" she screamed to him. No time for a cloak, she would just have to risk it. It wasn't a hard decision. Maybe get hurt by a little darkness, or lose her heart for sure because of this snake? Yeah, as if.

She backed away and flicked her hand behind her. A corridor sprang up behind her and she ran into it. Safe for the moment being but she couldn't stay in here for long. After wiping a sleeve across her blood covered face (had the bleeding actually stopped?) she put her keyblade away and ran back out into the battlefield on the other side, grabbing up her kali sticks as she ran. As she neared the Heartless, she sent a fire spell through the sticks.

Duskywing came down hard on the snake's tail, causing it to writhe and hiss in pain. Likewise for Daggerwing before Emi was knocked out of the way by the snakes flailing. It wasn't far though, and she was back on her feet in an instant.

For safe keeping, Emi latched her kali sticks back on to her belt. She summoned Lacewing back into her hands.

--
Battle Report
Emi used [Corridors of Darkness]!
1 post until next use
Emi used [Metalmark]!
No uses left.
[Demi] is available for use!

[Castle]

Though Emi was able to dodge the sweep, Castle reacted too slowly and was caught in the ribs by the tip of the tail. He was thrown sideways, the air stolen from his lungs for the second time during that battle, and landed on his back on the ground. The most he could do was lay there and wheeze while the stars in his vision glimmered out. His ribs ached harshly, but they didn't feel broken.

As soon as he could see clearly again, he scrambled to his feet and saw Emi being attacked. Abruptly, the Heartless pinned her to the ground with its fangs.

"No!" he yelled.

He ran toward it, dodging its tail more successfully this time, and tried to kick one of its claws out from under it. It didn't work. Meanwhile, Emi was on her feet again. She screamed that she would be right back, and then vanished into a Corridor.

He hoped she had a good plan. However, above that, he was getting angry again. She had a plan, but what was he doing? Staying alive?

That wasn't good enough.

He jumped up and kicked at the emblem on the Heartless's chest. He managed to get a few more hits in before it finally realized what was going on and moved out of range. It swiped at him. He tried to block, but the claws raked his arm and put a cut in his torso, and the tip of one even nicked his face. The Heartless tried to bite him then, but he jumped out of the way and kicked it in the head.

Finally, Emi reappeared. She got a few good hits on its tail before it forced her away. Then, she brought the keyblade out again.

"Was that your entire plan?!" Castle shouted at her.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Let's finish this!
--

"Well, yeah![/color]" Emi screamed back. What did he expect her to do exactly? Kill the stupid thing in one hit? She ground her teeth and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She took that irritation and tried her best to channel it through her keyblade.

She lifted Lacewing into the air and concentrated. A split second later, the purple-black orb appeared one last time over the cobra's head and forced it to the ground. Emi had backpedaled a few feet and now she bounded forward, Lacewing swung over one shoulder like she was a baseball player about to hit a home run. Home run, indeed. Unconsciously, she cried out. It was a battle cry and she struck while the creature was pinned to the ground by her gravity spell.

She took peace in knowing Castle was fighting alongside her. She knew- at least, she hoped- this battle was almost over. The cobra wouldn't get the best of them as long as they were working together. She was hurting, she was covered in blood but she refused to be defeated by a Heartless after everything she'd been through. She'd lived up until this point, lived through things she probably shouldn't have. This was nothing in comparison to that.

She turned Lacewing around in her hands, and tore into the Heartless's glossy black flesh with the teeth on the end of the blade. The cobra shrieked in pain, but Emi had already used the blade as leverage to fling herself onto its back and tear into its flesh savagely once more.

--
Battle Report
Emi used [Demi]!
No uses left.
Emi used [Wall Run]!
3 posts until next use.

[Castle]

That purple and black orb was probably one of the most beautiful things he'd seen all day.

"That's more like it!" he said, grinning savagely.

While Emi went for its back, Castle went for the head. He punched and kicked it mercilessly, snickering at the fact that the monster couldn't even bare its fangs anymore, its mouth only open enough to let out those noisy shrieks. However, that shrieking did get annoying pretty fast.

"Would you shut up?" he shouted at it, jumping up and swinging another axe kick- probably his new favorite move- at the top of its head.

This time, he was surprised to feel the dark flesh give way under his heel. The shrieking stopped abruptly, as did any other movement on the Heartless's part. Clouds of darkness burst from its body as it began to dissolve. Castle found himself staring right into its yellow eyes as they quickly faded away. The last of the dark fumes brushed lightly against his skin as they dissipated into nothing.

For a second, it felt like his legs were going to give out, but he kept himself upright.

"Yeah!" he cheered breathlessly, punching the air, "We're freaking awesome!"

He could feel the blood drying on his arms, midriff and face. Some of the cuts were still bleeding a little, and all of them stung. His ribcage ached, his heart was beating madly, and his lungs were on fire.

Damn, he felt good.

Castle turned his gaze to Emi and smiled broadly in triumph. The whole place seemed too quiet now that the Heartless was gone, but it was a good quiet. A good, victorious quiet.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Who We Are- Red
--

Emi shrieked when the Heartless faded beneath her shoes, and she fell to the ground. There was a clanging sound as her sticks knocked together. She groaned when she hit the dirt and let her legs crumple beneath her so that she was splayed out on her back and looking up at the sky. She closed her eyes. Lacewing flashed out of existence.

Finally over.

She groaned again, louder this time. "Ugggggh. Can we please go to the gummi ship and get back to town now?[/color]"

She sat up, and chuckled. "Lookin' rough, man,[/color]" she told him, knowing that the same must be true for her as well. It was to be expected though. Damn, that had been hard but now that it was over, she was almost glad it had happened. After all that soul searching, almost suicide and forgiving the man who had made her life hell for two years... she needed a good old fashioned brawl and she had gotten one.

She finally got up and dragged herself over to the gummi ship, expecting Castle to follow her. Once inside, she gave herself a quick examination. Cuts and bruises everywhere but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a good hi-potion. Her jacket was in shreds, but she would just go back to the same seamstress that had repaired it after Sephiroth ran her through.

All in all, not too bad. Not as bad as it could have been, at least, and not as bad as she had been. She collapsed into the pilot's chair and lazily pushed a few buttons.

[Castle]

"Ha. Well, I think you look just great," he teased, smirking as he pointed to her bloodied face.

He followed her back to the gummi ship. Exhaustion was finally catching up to him, and by the time they got inside, his limbs felt like lead. He'd never fought that hard, or for that long, in his entire life. While Emi went to the pilot's seat, he sat down by a wall and leaned back against it. He took a few seconds to close his eyes and catch his breath.

"That was nuts," he said finally. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "I was starting to wonder if that thing would ever die."

He could still see those yellow eyes staring at him. However, even though he was able to send that creature to the netherworld, something still didn't feel right. His satisfied grin faded a bit. He'd beaten it, but before then... he hadn't felt fierce enough, not like how he'd felt with those other Heartless. Facing the big one took something away from him. He'd tried to get it back, but it just didn't work the same way.

If only I could hold on to that. That... power, he thought. I'll figure it out next time. Next time, I'll make it so that I'm unstoppable.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry...
--

Emi thought about saying something in reply, but in all honesty she was just too tired. She couldn't do much besides sit there and try not to pass out. Before, adrenaline and pure bullheadedness had blocked out a good bit of the pain but now it was really catching up to her.

She hated to see what it was going to be like when she woke up in the morning.

She didn't move and didn't say anything until they were finally back in town. It was still still afternoon, though getting late. People were still out and about in when they walked into the marketplace. "I am so glad to be off that god damned gummi ship,[/color]" Emi muttered. She was aware that there were quite a few people staring at them. She glared right back. "Yeah, keep starin'. Next time, I'll just let the giant snake Heartless come in here and fuck you people up![/color]"

She looked at Castle. "Maybe we should part ways here before I lose my temper,[/color]" she told him. "I'll be at the inn here in town for a while probably until I can find somewhere else to go, if you need me for anything.[/color]"

A month of travelling together and that was all she could find to say? Her cheeks reddened and she shoved a hand into her hair. "Thanks. For coming with me.[/color]"

She laughed a little. "I guess it was a good thing I caved and let you tag along, huh?[/color]" She put her hands by her side. "Really though, I couldn't have done it without you. So, if you need anything, come get me. I'll pay you back.[/color]"

And with that, she put her hands on her hips. Good job, Emiline, you are getting better at this 'normal, healthy emotion' thing, she thought.

[Castle]

It took Castle a few seconds to realize that Emi was saying goodbye to him. After almost a full month of traveling together, their little journey was pretty much over. The realization was kind of... weird.

"Uh, sure," he said, putting one hand on his hip and glancing at the ground. He returned a smile to his face before he looked at her again. "But, you don't really have to pay me back. I mean, I'm the one who asked to go along with you. You were doing me a favor," he chuckled.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

"You know, I'll probably end up staying in the inn, too. I mean, it's not like I have anywhere else to go here. I don't think that grumpy old moogle would be willing to hire me back, and it looks like the construction is pretty much done," he noted, looking around at the lively Marketplace.

"Man, it's really been almost a month, hasn't it?" he mused.

[Oathkeeper Emi]

Sleepy time.
--

Emi couldn't say she was disappointed. The squirt would be sticking around a little while longer, it seemed. For once, it didn't bother her to have someone else around. She nodded. "Yep. Things are looking a little better around here too,[/color]" she said, turning to walk to the inn. "First, I am going to wash off all this blood. Then, I am going to sleep forever,[/color]" she told Castle. "Then after that I'm going to go get some food if you want to come with me. I need to go get this coat fixed, too,[/color]" she added, looking down at it. Poor, sad little leather jacket.

She stopped talking. There wasn't anything else to say. She didn't know what she was going to do after this...where she ought to go, or what she ought to do to support herself... where she would live, any of that stuff. She just didn't know but she figured there would be something to come along... something always did and trouble was never very far away.

After paying for her room, she waved good-bye to Castle and walked inside. She didn't even bother doing anything else, she just fell face first onto the bed (not without wincing) and fell asleep.

[Castle]

Castle smiled at the offer to stay with her for a little longer. He was sort of glad that they weren't going to just part ways then and there. She stopped talking after that, and the walk to the inn was made in silence. It felt like there were a lot of things he wanted to say, but nothing made it to vocalization. Besides, it wasn't like this was his last chance to say anything to her. They would be in the same area for at least a while longer.

What was Emi planning to do after that? Heck, what was he planning to do after that?

Finally, they made it to the inn, and once Emi paid for a room, they parted ways. Castle watched her go, and then looked down at himself. He was covered in dried blood, and there were a few tears in his gloves. The guy behind the desk was watching him expectantly, and he dug out some of the munny he'd gotten from killing Heartless (what was with Heartless and munny, anyway?) and paid for a room.

Once he was inside, he pulled off his gloves, tossed them on the bed, and went to the window. He contemplated the glass for a little while, and then his thoughts strayed back to Emi. He smirked.

"Guess I've gotten used to you after all this time," he murmured.

He left the window and went to wash the blood off.