"I suppose you're right. But as it is, we haven't really seen much in way of danger...I mean, compared to everyone else, those two...Jumba and Pleakly? They looked the most foreign." she pointed out, spooning more ice cream in her mouth. She steered the small group away from the ice cream stand at least so they could talk a little. "And uh...." she thought for a second. "This must be your first time eating ice cream, huh Stratos?" she asked, commenting on him trying to straight up bite the thing. "Makes me wonder what your world was like to not have ice cream...or tourist traps, for that matter." she commented. "Though I suppose it's all about what your world did in comparison to others, I guess. My world didn't really have tourists, but we still had our own traps of expensively cheap products." She wiped some chocolate off her chin and licked her finger. "And by that, I mean things that were made really cheap and being sold for like, ten times it's value." she pointed at her bracelet. "For instance, this thing. It was like, 40 munny and looks like it was made with 2 munny. But hey, it looks cute far away. Just don't look too close....." she said. "But you're right, these won't work too well on other worlds. Just give me a bit, maybe I can think of something? I'll look at a magazine and see what this world considers fashionable...maybe it'd be nice to look different than what I'm used to for a change." she said, returning to her slightly melted ice cream. Aux 2 Ananta 5 Steel 4 Stratos 6 Kaida 7
For the most part, everyone had changed by now. Except Steel who, no matter how hardhe tried, would always stick out like a sore thumb. Kaida had placed a flower necklace around Ananta and that caused the woman to look down at it, holding it carefully and curiously. It seemed that a lot of people around here were wearing them and enjoying themselves, so she had no idea if it was for tourists or a normal thing on this world. One way or another, they all got one put on them except Aux who had his basically thrown at him. Ananta tapped her chin and looked about, finding a nearby stall with an arrangement of flowers on it. "Excuse me, what flowers are these?" she asked, pointing at an array of hibiscus flowers. "Ah, those are hibiscus. Perfect for this beautiful island, yes? Go on, take a few, they are beautiful, so I will let you have them. I grow so many, I tend to give them away, ahaha." the woman at the stand spoke, waving for Ananta to take her pick. "I'll need five, is that still okay?" she made sure, glancing at the woman. "Go on, dear, I don't mind." the woman insisted, fanning herself. "Believe me, I have so many I could make them trail from her to the mountains about a thousand times." Ananta looked at the woman and then looked ever the hibiscus. She saw ones that looked pretty good, so she picked out pink, green, yellow, blue, and red. For herself, she put a pink one in her hair. She walked to Steel and placed a sky blue one on his head. She found Aux before he wandered off and gave him the red one. She helped to stick it in his hair. Ananta stopped and stared at the green and yellow one before she mulled over the way Kaida acted after Ananta grabbed her to pull her along. A wave of anxiety came over her and she thought about how she was doing the same thing she did to Karina again to Kaida. "Why am I like this...?" she thought to herself, holding back tears as she breathed to calm herself down. "It's okay, it's okay. She isn't mad at you." she tried to reassure herself. Whether or not Kaida was angry, Ananta knew that she had to take her time and maybe try to work on her social cues a little better. Looking around, she saw the stall Kaida and Stratos were at looked it over before she shrugged. She came in at the end of their conversation about her, but she didn't hear any of it, so she was ever the oblivious one. She waited until they started to talk about ice cream and that caused her to perk up. Kaida dragged Stratos along, to which Ananta lagged behind and got a banana from the fruit stall before joining them at the ice cream stand. Kaida mentioned Stratos being a vanilla guy and that got a reaction out of Ananta before she quickly cleared her throat. "I'll take a coconut flavored ice cream in a waffle cone bowl with a drizzle of chocolate on top." she said, watching the man make their order. In the meantime, Ananta put the green flower in Stratos' hair and then she placed the yellow flower in Kaida's hair. "Since you gave me a flower necklace, I'll give you a big flower." she said, smiling. "They're called hibiscus, according to the lady at the flower stall. She gave them to me for free since she has so many...supposedly." Ananta glanced at Kaida's dress and then at Stratos' trunks. "Well I see we're all dressed for the part, huh? Your dress is really cute, Kaida. I kinda wish I went with a dress now." she chuckled. "But then I wouldn't be able to show off my body like Stratos and Aux, so eh...." she shrugged "I needed a change from that other outfit. It was dirty and singed and other things were wrong with it. I probably won't even change back into that outfit..." She said this as she got her ice cream from the man at the stall. She didn't want to openly discuss the fact she bled on her clothes in front of the stall. She learned that was at least something you don't do with people. "We need this break. We need it more than anything else, I think, right now." she spoke somberly, spooning ice cream into her mouth. "Wanna go sit under those trees?" she asked the two, pointing at a shadey spot that, surprisingly, had not a soul near it. "Maybe we can talk about that thing you had out earlier." Aux 2 Ananta 4 Steel 4 Stratos 5 Kaida 7
"Our keyblades draw the heartless..." Daeni simply stated to Cerdic. She stood up and grabbed Cerdic's arm. "Don't leave me....please..." she asked him. "After all, we are..well....kinda best friends, right?" she chuckled. "I mean, maybe, my head's still fuzzy on that one. Kinda torn between Marly and you, after all. Marly is gone, though, so I've really just got you to be close friends with. You, Alder, and Chrono are the only people who know the pain and suffering. I don't want to separate any time soon. So let's go back to Mora's town." She kept a hold of Cerdic's arm as she walked out with Mora and him, just in time to see Alder drop the core off the cliff. Daeni sighed in relief. "Good riddance." she spoke curtly, her eyes glancing over to Chrono. "How do you feel, Aevum?"
Ananta listened to Steel talk and she spoke up. "Oh,you mentioned this before. I think that'd be the perfect world to just sleep all day and read a good book." she said, thinking about rain and how she actually missed it right now. She never cared how wet she got from rain, she enjoyed the feeling on her skin whenever it rained. She would much rather walk without an umbrella and just enjoy the way it washed away her worries. Her eyes closed a second and she could remember her first time at the Mother Crystal. It was raining and she ended up getting into the pools of water, becoming absolutely drenched in the Crystal's water. She never quite dried off until a few days later and ever since, she craved water. She came back to reality when she noticed Kaida talked about Density Isles or whatever. "Wherever that is, sounds pretty similar to here." she said, watching Kaida start to shrink away from the group. Ananta moved over and put an arm over Kaida's shoulder, pulling her into a half hug. "As much as I love water, we can't really go back to it anyway. After we get everything situated, we gotta find that dog thing anyway." she said, walking with Kaida still wrapped in her arm. They finally found themselves on the opposite end of a boardwalk. There were people walking and talking all over, wearing all sorts of clothing. Many wore bathing suits, of course, but there were some who wore regular old clothes. Dotted along the boardwalk were shops of various types with the closest one just so happening to be a clothing store that had swimsuits in the shop windows. "You guys honestly match." Ananta said, looking at Kaida and Stratos. Steel was the exception, but there was nothing they could do there. "I mean, you guys match the world's clothing, so no need to change if you don't want to. Aux, you kinda don't match, so sorry to say, but you gotta at least get a tanktop...unless that's what you've got?" she didn't really pry much more. She shrugged and looked at everyone. "I'm going in." she said, letting go of Kaida and slipping away, heading into the shop. Once inside, Ananta was greeted with odd looks from patrons and staff alike. Though she kept to herself, she still wanted to find something quickly and get back outside. First she found a small vest like thing to put on. It was cute, but she needed something to cover her chest under. So she found an orang bikini set and some short jeans. She also found bracelets that were cute and sandals to wear. Ananta hurried over to the changing rooms and magicked the clothing onto her body. She then used a small spell to make her look like she was still in the clothes she walked in. Those were tucked away into her bag she kept on her back. Back outside, she was still appearing in her normal clothes before the magick wore off and revealed her new outfit. She adjusted her hair and put it into a ponytail to keep it off of her. She simply did that for style, of course. As usual, her crystal was around her neck, regardless of what was shown in her banner. "There, I feel like I match this place a lot better now." she said, crossing her arms. She looked down and saw the sandals didn't exactly get put on right, so she knelt down and tied up the strings to just below her knee and made a cute bow out of the excess. Now she was complete.
"I...I'm sorry." Qamar sputtered out, not even sure what she said wrong this time. She slinked back and hung her head low, knowing she once again messed up. Not sure what to do this time, she looked onward at the castle, hoping things would go better from here. She certainly wasn't happy with herself as it was. Qamar turned to look at Illiana, hearing her explain Glyde's fighting style. Qamar got even more upset at herself because now, she almost gave the impression that Glyde was the least important. They were all important, so why wouldn't Illiana understand that? Qamar wasn't trying to say Illiana wasn't a good fighter, she was trying to say she was the best of all of them. So why couldn't Illiana just see that Qamar was trying to make amends?
Ananta put a hand up to Kaida. "I don't need it." she said, pointing at her crystal. She looked to Stratos. "Yeah you're right, finding locals first is a better idea. Let's go." she said, starting to walk in the direction of some mountains where she could make out some roofs to houses. Though it was just barely... She remembred the comment about Aux's hair and Ananta chuckled to herself. "In regards to burning, Kaida, I'm more blessed to tan smoothly. My world didn't have a natural sun, either, but our Mother Crystal acted as the sun. Though it was far closer to us than a sun ought to be..." she stopped at tapped her foot. "Does this mean I can't see well in dark..?" she thought to herself before shaking her head. "Anyway..." "I can imagine the people here wear barely anything and still manage to not sun burn." she joked. "I'm talking swimwear, here. I'm a little excited to wear a swimsuit." Not to mention the fact she'd get to see the boys in their own swimwear.
Ananta sighed as the two creatures walked off. Aux went ahead and agreed to something they would do for a vessel. She was all for this, seeing as she was still unable to summon her glider again. Though it was an odd request. After all, they wanted them to find some 'dog' that looked like...Steel? Ananta couldn't even imagine how there'd be more than one of him considering Steel was....pretty unique after all. She turned to see Kaida had backed off a bit during that interaction and that made Ananta sigh to herself. She wanted Kaida to understand that Ananta wasn't trying to be super protective. Though walking up to and waving at a strange creature was odd, Ananta figured the girl had seen her fair share of oddities. Sure Kaida was capable of defending herself, but Ananta wanted to show Kaida that she was all up for being there in her time of need. At the same time, Ananta understood that not everyone needed somebody to hover over them or be nearby at all times. Especially after recent events, Ananta was the last one who should be even trying to do such things. Perhaps this was just her way of trying to make amends for her mess ups. Ananta looked to Kaida and mulled over what she could do to help. She knew that Kaida was most likely not going to want to talk about things. The girl probably just needed to be left alone and to her own devices on most things. Interaction right now was crucial and Ananta honestly was trying to figure out a way to show Kaida she was there. Kaida had walked over to Steel and mussed his fur up, trying to make him look for humanoid. She ended up giving him sunglasses and raising his hood. Ananta laughed at the sight, calming a bit before speaking. "Okay, that makes him look way better." she spoke, looking at Kaida. "Good job." She gave a thumbs up before she tapped her chin and started to think. "Kaida's on the right track, we probably need to try and blend in here. Perhaps find a shop to wear things that more closely resemble what the inhabitants wear? Or maybe I can use magic to make that happen...? It'd take a bit, though...." she spoke, touching her stone. "Honestly, my clothes are the most outlandish here next to Steel. Luckily, on my world, we didn't really need to bother with appropriate clothing. Our crystals kept us at a normal temperature. Weather changes were drastic and sudden on my world. Blazing hot one day and freezing cold the next. Heck, it could pour down rain in the morning and still be very hot and humid...like here." she looked around. Then she started to feel anxious. "S...Sorry I...I went on a tangent, I'll be quiet." she spoke, her voice lowering little by little until she was staring down at the sand. Her hands clasped together and fidgeted as she stood there, lost in her thoughts. Going on about her world was pointless, nobody probably cared anyway. Maybe Steel would be curious, but he was her only friend right now. Well, the only good friend anyway. Kaida was on the cusp of friend while Aux was inching ever closer. Stratos was still an acquaintance or stranger to her. They'd probably been to a world, but they didn't really talk much. She couldn't remember if they'd talked before this, anyway, so Ananta figured they weren't even close to being friends. Her fingers eventually managed to remove her gloves and she moved her eyes to glance at the ring on her left hand and finger. Yet another reminder of the one man she was promised to. He gave it to her shortly before she went home the day the world had ended. It was his final gift before they were to finally be wed. It brought a smile to Ananta's face, but only for a brief moment. The smile soon faded and she put her gloves back on. "Do we go to find clothes or not?" she asked, looking to everyone. While she had her fears, Ananta knew that she could not let them take over her. She knew she had to stand strong and look forward, try to bear the worse of it, and eventually talk to the ones she had wronged. There was really only one person she wanted to talk to the most, but she was off once again, hurt by Ananta's words. In that moment, Ananta vowed to try and show Karina she was deeply sorry for saying such things. She was way out of line and had no right to judge the girl. She just wanted a chance to listen to Karina. She wanted to ask Karina why she felt the way she did. Even if she could never truly understand the girl, Ananta wanted to show she was at least willing to try. And perhaps with that, prove to the others that Ananta was somebody that they could all count on. Someone they could all be friends with. Maybe even figure out how to feel comfortable around them. Truly, Ananta wanted to be their friends, even if she was at odds and ends with all of them. This journey was starting to change her for the better and Ananta could feel it. She just had to fix and change what she had done wrong first. Then she could truly be a better person. But first, they had to figure out where this dog was that Jumba and Pleakly were talking about. If it looked like Steel, it'd be very easy to find. Though maybe it was smaller? Like actually dog sized? It had a girl captive, supposedly, so they could possibly just start with watching out for any girls with dogs that looked killer. That would be an odd start, of course, but in all honesty, when were they not odd? Blending in was going to be easy. Finding their target? Not so much.
"If she....didn't want....to talk to people.....she should have....stayed away from.....the gathering of....people!" he said this sentence with each stab of his halberd. The stabs were now causing damage tot he statue and chipping away at it, little by little. The last one caused a giant crack to form down the side of the statue, pieces crumbling down and laying at his feet. He let his weapon go and stood back, watching it disappear into sparkles while he tried to catch his breath. Dastgir ran his fingers through his hair and scratched his head while he thought about things going on. He pressed his free hand to his chest and rubbed the design on his chestplate. "I can understand not wanting to care for other people, but as it is, I'm her partner for this mission. We were merely talking of our worlds and she suddenly shut me out, even after talking to me of her own. That is just disrespectful to speak of yourself but care not for others." he spoke, looking to Seiryu. "I at least appreciate that you are speaking to me. At least you have some degree of respect for others." Dastgir pulled his hood back up as his eyes let off a slight glow. He held his hands out and did a small movement with them before he placed them back onto the broken statue. He focused his ice into the crack, hoping the water had done it's magic and was making the stone part brittle. The metal that was coming forward as a means to give support was looking bent and warped from things. However, it was still holding strong. "Get her to focus her bullets onto the metal and see if she can shoot straight through. I'm sure with some focus she can do this."
"But that begs the question..." Qamar said, holding onto the rocks. "Who will stay behind and keep watch? I can't imagine I would...I'd get antsy and honestly, I'm more fit for my brute strength." She pointed this out and looked at the rest of her group. "Illiana is a hybrid, Aria is good at healing. So that leaves...." she turned her gaze towards Glyde. "You." Her hand pointed at Glyde. "But, I suppose it's really up to Master Thallasa after all. I do want to hurry up before they do anything to Hen Wen."
The entire boat ride was pretty silent for Ananta. She had a lot to process and a lot to think about. On one hand, she wanted to help Kaida out. She wanted to let her know that Ananta was there for her if she needed anyone to speak to. Ananta knew the pain that Kaida felt, somewhat, but she also knew she would never quite understand it. Ananta was fine with that, she just wanted Kaida to know she was there for her. But how was she going to do that? In the past, Ananta was not the best person to talk to as she just outright did mean things or said mean things. In the end, Ananta ended up feeling lonely after everything. She was definitely not on the friendliest of terms with half of her allies. This made her start to wonder how she would gain their favor once more. Shaking her head, Ananta took a deep breath and looked towards Kaida once more. She saw the girl whittling away animals of various shapes and sizes, always tucking them away once they were as done as Kaida liked them. Ananta thought they were beautiful. A wonderful way to use your hands instead of just magicking them into existence like the way things were done on her own homeworld. Thinking of this reminded her of her home and it made her homesick. She placed her hand on her crystal and rubbed the now smooth surface. Before, her crystal was hard and jagged, a diamond in the rough so to speak. Now, she had managed to smooth it out after she figured out herself a little bit. She closed her eyes and started to think of how things were back on Crystallis. Every day she was training to be a Master of her keyblade as well as a Sage to replace her grandmother. By her late 70's, or rather early 20's by most peoples' standards, she was betrothed to a distant cousin whom she had not met before. At least, she hadn't met him before she was told of her betrothal. It was only 2 years before the end of her world had she started to talk to him. His name was Dastgir and, curiously, Ananta was unsure if she came to love him out of true love or out of her duty. On one hand, she would make many happy on her homeworld after she married him, but on the other hand, she didn't want to marry someone she was not happy with. In the end, Ananta truly cared for him, even if he was cold at times. If only he hadn't perished once her world had ended, she'd have something to look forward to. Ananta felt a bump as the boat reached the shore. The scent of warm,tropical air came to her nose and made her relax a bit. Standing up, Ananta realized just how inappropriately she was dressed for this type of place. Luckily, it didn't bother her too much, as she was neither warm or cold due to the sudden temperature change. Looking towards the beach, she noticed two odd figures standing next to each other, their backs to the group. Ananta turned back towards Kaida and saw the girl put her last woodwork in her bag. Eventually, the girl was on the beach and looked to be happy with being back on land. Ananta knelt down and removed her glove, running her fingers through the sand. She placed the glove and watched Kaida approach the large alien. "Kaida..." Ananta spoke, wondering if approaching them was a good idea since they were on a secluded beach. Before the others could react, Ananta made her way to Kaida and stood slightly in front of her as if to protect the girl. "So what are a pair of strange creatures like you doing on a secluded piece of beach? Pretty odd, if you ask me." she spoke, looking up and down at the two.
Dastgir eventually stopped and stood his halberd up on it's rounded end, pointing the blade skywards. He let go of the shaft and turned to Rydia, the halberd unmoving. "I don't appreciate being let off to a third party. If she wants to be an adult, she can face her problems and not treat me like an inconvience." he spoke bluntly. "So force her to take back over and let me speak to her directly." He waited and ended up not caring if they switched or not. "I understand not caring is a good defense, but try and at least listen to somebody. I listened to your dragon and I could just zone her out." he turned back to the statue and gave it one good, hard stab. A large crack came from the point of impact, showing their plan was working. He walked towards it again and pressed his hands back, starting to freeze the water that was soaked in. If his plan were to work, this statue would break very soon. "It should break soon so long as you work with me." he said, staring at the dog statue. "Oh sorry,you zoned me out again, didn't you?" he scoffed.
Dastgir thought about what Rydia said and started to really think. On his world, myths and legends were not common at all. The only legend they had was one that explained how their world came to be. That was truly the only one that he knew of. "On my world...from what I can remember...we have but one legend." he started. "Bear with me, it's a little lengthy, but I'll try to condense it." Dastgir let go of the statue and touched the crystal around his neck. It glowed brightly as his halberd's shaft extended outwards. Dastgir eventually gripped the shaft and yanked it out the rest of the way, revealing the long blade. All in all, the halberd was even taller than he was and he was quite tall. Though it was just a little taller, not 7 feet that's for sure. He spun the weapon and held it in both of his hands, smirking at Rydia. "My world came into being from one crystal. For hundreds of years, it was left to grow by itself before it eventually got so big, it could not be worn any longer by the owner. She lived to be around 1000 years old before she eventually died in the waters that fall off the crystal. By that time, the crystal was dubbed the "Mother Crystal" and was the source of our magic and life. From her, small shards would fall off and be turned into the stones that would be given to newborns. Other stuff happens from there, but basically, the Mother Crystal is the source of my life and I am sworn to protect her and her countless souls house within her." Dastgir finished and began to stab at the statue, chipping away at the ice and water clumps. "We die in her waters and are then absorbed back into her to be reborn. A circle of life that has gone on for thousands of years. I've seen many grow and die. One day, I will die for my betrothed as she protects the Mother Crystal and will be reborn to be with her once again." he said this and stepped back to take a breath. "I love her very much..." he muttered sadly. Dastgir blinked and turned to Rydia. "Apologies, I rambled...."
What's your world like?
What are your hobbies? Do you have a big family or is it kinda small?
But who is answering these questions?
"One upping me will get you nowhere, dragon." Dastgir noted, jotting in his journal. "Myths and legends only exist as long as there are people who believe in them. And so, you are only as old as the one who first thought of your myth." Dastgir, looked at Rydia. "Can I have my partner back? We have more important matters to deal with right now and you're clearly not helping." They finally made their way to the statue and were standing face to face with....a....dog? Dastgir tilted his head. "Why a dog?" he wondered, putting a hand on the statue and watching the stone get an icy sheet. The ice only went as far as the immediate area around his hand before Dastgir pulled back. He looked to Rydia and wondered. He was pretty rude back there, after all, he just didn't like the feeling he got while he thought of how he spoke to Seiryu. "I probably made Seiryu mad, huh?" he asked. "But, this mission is very important. So I'm sorry for being rude. Please forgive me, dragon." Dastgir turned back around and placed both his hands on the statue, trying to freeze the entire statue.
Daeni moved to try and help balance Mora, but Cerdic had already achieved that. He then suggested taking her home, but Daeni shook her head. "I don't think that'd be a good idea. She has a keyblade now...they attract heartless..." she spoke, extending her hand to summon her keyblade. "It's a weapon that chooses it's wielder. Now, she has one and must choose." Daeni cleared her throat. "We're by no means masters...at least I don't remember being one." Daeni laughed. "But, Mora, if you want, you can come with us and adventure. See other worlds and stop this kind of stuff from happening anymore...you don't have to, though. It's entirely up to you." she finished and put her hands behind her back. "Cerdic...thank you." she said, looking at him. "You too, Alder and Chrono. Thank you all for helping figure this whole thing out."
I stopped using fans now. I just have things play on my laptop or just the rining of my ears. I'm pretty boring, haha.
Dastgir listened to Rydia and smiled at Seiryu's response. "I would love to see your awesome and true self. Ah, but I'm not as young as you'd think I am, I will say that. I've been around a couple of centuries now at least." he chuckled. Rydia soon regained control after her body was walked away and she turned back to look at Dastgir. She went on to explain her element and showed off a little bit. "That would probably work. The water can seep into the stone and metal and then crack and shatter from the sudden cooling." he commented, tapping his chin. "In all honesty, does Seiryu get angry easily? Is...is Seiryu feminine or masculine anyway? I..I'd assume the latter, but...you...well..." he got confused and pulled out his journal, wondering what his notes said about that. "Masculine, I guess..." he muttered, not sure what to make of it. He closed the journal an glanced around. He spotted a sign that had an arrow and words that mentioned Hachiko this way. "Come on, the statue is this way. We better get this over with." he said, walking towards the sign.
Qamar listened to Taran and felt sad. She knew too well what it was like to lose your parents at a young age. "It must be hard...losing both your parents... "she said. "I know that all too well. My deepest sympathy." Qamar nodded to the boy as they walked. She turned to look towards Aria to make sure she was okay, but it seemed like she was talking to Master Thallasa. Qamar shrugged and looked forward once more, listening to Taran some more. He asked how they defeated those creatures and she scratched her head. "Eh, it's a super long story...just know that we're here to save you and your piggy." she said, kicking another rock down the crevice below. Illiana explained everything a lot better anyway. Soon enough they were told who the Horned King was and Qamar chuckled. "Reminds me of some stuff from home." she muttered, hearing Taran ask where they're from. Suddenly, Illiana was super enthusiastic and Qamar tilted her head. "That's some sudden enthusiasm." she said, starting to laugh. "Ah, but I must ask, what'll we do once we get inside this castle anyway? I don't think they'd just let us waltz in, grab the pig, and walk out." she asked.
