Lost Sheep [Luxord, Alanix]

[Nothingness]

A Fine Choice!

Luxord looked at the ship Alanix had chosen, and his trademark grin spread across his face. "A very fine choice, mademoiselle."

Removing his arm from Alanix, he began stroking his chin, wondering how they would take the ship themselves. "Well, let us first see if she is manned or not at the moment. If not, well, then we need only take care of the sails and let the wind carry us! Come, come, come!" He finished quickly, walking over to the docks to inspect the ship.

As luck would have it, there was no one around or currently on the ship. Well, no one was on the deck at least. "Lady luck seems to favor us, today! Quick, let us make sail!" He began setting to work to get all of the sails down as quickly as possible.

[Aerith]

This should be interesting.
--------

Luxord eagerly made his way over to the chosen ship, but Alanix turned to Lethe and Kyza. "If you would rather stay here, you may. But I would like the company, especially since I do not know where we are going."

Leaving them to make their decision, she walked over to where Luxord was doing his best to prepare the ship to sail. He was like a little child, the way his eyes glinted with excitement. She almost found it amusing. Almost.

She had no experience with seafaring vessels, but she tried to imitate what Luxord was doing. As she worked, she cast a glance at him. "Do even know where we will end up?"

Not that she had to worry about getting stuck anywhere. If this situation turned sour, she could always leave via Corridor.

[Nothingness]

To Sea We Go!

Luxord took down the very last of the sails, raised anchor, and let the wind carry them away. The owners of the ship were running down the docks just as the ship had sailed out of reach. "Why, hello, gentleman! Thank you for lending us this lovely ship!" He called out. "Don't worry, it is only for a short while! You need only find it when we're done!" He laughed as the furious sailors became nothing more than specks in the distance.

After having been out on the open ocean for a good ten minutes or so, basking in the warm sunlight and salty sea air, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out the treasure map, inspecting it for a moment before stashing it away. "Our course is set! We should be arriving at our destination soon. Barring any inconveniences..."

Yes, there was no other freedom than freedom at sea. He could stay out here for the rest of eternity and be utterly satisfied. Perhaps, should he not find his heart, he could very well do that. Nothing changed out here, just as he wouldn't change over the years. "Yes, a marvelous idea." He said to himself.

[Aerith]

I remember.
--------

It was nice being out in nature again. Spending too much time in that artificial castle was not good for her well-being. She was almost like a plant in this regard. Without proper exposure to water, sunlight, and oxygen, she would wither completely. Not that there was much left of her to lose.

So pessimistic. Or realistic, rather. I was not always this way. Does losing one's heart also reshape one's mind?

For a long moment, she did nothing except absorb the sound of the waves against the ship's hull, feel the breath of the wind against her face, smell the brine in the air. Some of her old priestess training suddenly came back to her in a rush.

In her mind's eye, she was in a well-preserved clearing back on her homeworld. Muriel was there, but this was well before the Heartless came and destroyed everything. The expression on the high priestess' face was almost kind. Alanix could remember Muriel's exact words that day, and she spoke them softly to herself.

"There is nothing higher than the natural world. For humanity to think itself more privileged than these ancient trees is folly. We are nothing. The highest honor is to be truly accepted by the world around us. Cease clinging to invented notions of ego and pride and lose yourself in the rhythm of water upon the rocks, the wind in the leaves, the call of birds and beasts."

Even now, she knew she needed to return to her roots somehow. Being a Nobody could not change that. If anything, such an empty state should make the ultimate objective of becoming one with nature much easier to reach.

She almost forgot about Luxord, but she remembered him now. She wanted to ask him something. "Luxord." Turning to him, she fixed him with genuinely inquisitive eyes. "Why did you choose to leave the Organization? I do not think I can stay with them much longer."

[Nothingness]

See, I can speak without gaming metaphors

Luxord had barely heard Alanix's question over the sound of the waves and his own thoughts. "Why, indeed." He muttered, thinking about why exactly he left. Looking at Alanix, he saw that she was rather serious about wanting to know, which for him meant that he'd have to drop the word-play and give her a straight answer.

It took him a few minutes before he spoke, and even then he chose his words very carefully. "I didn't believe that what they were doing was going to work. It almost worked the first time, but, as it all turned out, that was just a ploy for our dear, late Superior to gain the powers of a god." He stopped and walked over to the ship's railing and leaned on it before continuing. "It was before your time, but, before we came back, one of the members--Axel--had formed a friendship with Roxas, our original Number Thirteen. However, Roxas rejoined with Sora, his Somebody, if you will, and Axel wanted Roxas back. Various things happened throughout the course of our first downfall, and Axel ended up sacrificing himself to save Sora, and consequently, Roxas."

Luxord walked by Alanix, stopping a few steps away, and looked up at the clouds while he spoke. "Axel lived with nothing, and yet, when he died he found something. That got me thinking: what if we'd been going about finding our hearts the wrong way? Frankly, if Axel could feel like he had a heart simply by being around the Keyblade Master, then perhaps we've been trying to hard. What if that's all it takes to have a heart is to be near those who have them until we forget we lack ours? Maybe it's that simple."

Cracking a smile and a laugh, he realized how silly it all sounded. In his head it sounded feasible, but it words it was just ridiculous. "Perhaps I'm just thinking too hard about it. I guess the short and sweet of it was that I just didn't feel like wasting my time with such duplicitous fools. We all had our own agendas and never told the others about them, so how would we work together to find our hearts?"

He began walking away from Alanix, seeing an island in the distance. Smirking at the sight, he took the wheel and steered them towards it. "That should be it. Let's see if the map holds true."

[Aerith]

I haven't been able to talk like this for a while.
--------

Luxord's reasons were very specific, but some of the details matched her own. "Duplicity. I dealt with that in my other life. I want no part of it. It causes nothing but unnecessary suffering." In her case, of course, it destroyed an entire world.

But enough about that. Luxord had spotted an island of some kind and was setting their course in that direction. She only had a short time to ponder over the other things Luxord had said. Things about Axel and Roxas and getting their hearts back.

"I don't think that's a terrible idea to consider. The heart that we lose is the capacity to feel, right? Perhaps all a Nobody needs to do to get the heart back is learn how to feel again. But not just from anyone, of course."

She fell silent suddenly and watched the island slowly grow larger as they approached.

[Nothingness]

We have company!

Well, that was interesting--looks like Alanix was sharing a bit of her past with him, though not much. Her comment, too, was rather intriguing. Perhaps it wasn't how many people with hearts they spent time around, but more rather whose heart they were near. That was something Luxord knew he'd be pondering for a while after this.

Dropping anchor a short ways offshore, Luxord decided to break the suspension of disbelief and open a Corridor. Since they were already there, why not just take a shortcut? As he stepped out, he turned to Alanix and said, "It should be somewhere near the center of this island. Let's just hope we aren't--speak of the devil." They certainly weren't alone. He could clearly make out about a dozen other pirates running through the trees of a dense forest that began at the back of the beach.

Pulling out his deck of cards, he smiled in his usual way. "Let's just knock them out, yes? After all, it's not that fair of a fight--humans versus Nobodies." He began walking slowly into the underbrush, making sure to not get jumped.

[Slash]

We protect.

[/center]

The Heartless, although silent, had been keeping track of their mistress. They had nothign to add, and the other Nobody seemed competent if not strange. When the possible danger surfaced, though, they were right at her side.

"Shall we help the other Nobody, mistress?"

"What will you have us do?"

[Aerith]

Arrrgh?
--------

Pirates. There had been a variation of these people on her homeworld, but these were dressed rather strangely. They all had the stink of rotting flesh mingling with seawater hovering around them. She summoned Hallowed Ruin and held it loosely at her side.

"Yes, help us both if needed."

She still had little to no combat experience, so she decided to wait and see what these pirate thugs could do, if anything. Looking to Luxord, she gave him a look that said he could go first.

[Nothingness]

The rum is mine!

Luxord was hiding behind a tree while Alanix and her Heartless companions conversed. He was anticipating a pirate in three...two...one. "Now." He whispered, boxing a pirate that ran by over the ears, half a deck in each hand. The pirate, dazed, drew his cutlass and started swinging wildly, cursing with each swipe. "Come, now. No need for that." Luxord reprimanded, slipping some cards beneath the marauder's feet and tripping him.

The pirate hit his head on the back of a tree as he fell, falling unconscious and dropping his sword. "See? Our deck is completely stacked." Walking over to the pirate, he quickly snagged a small bottle of rum and downed it in one gulp, shaking his head vigorously. NOW they could find that treasure!