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Seeing Choma on the ship put Take at a pause for a minute, since he didn't exactly have much time to know Choma's face beforehand. So when properly in a spot to see him, and when he started speaking it clicked that it was Choma. He felt a little bad he didn't recognize the master immediately, but he could have been someone working on the boat they hadn't met yet so he was ready to suspect anything. When Choma revealed the results of his search, there was almost a pit in Take's stomach. It was going to be just them, and while their amounts for people involved seemed to fluctuate enough, most people weren't strictly speaking competent. Including himself. He took a breath before asking, "So what now then? We're getting stronger, but I don't know if that means we're necessarily good enough to deal with this." the boy moved his hand towards his wrist and asked, "...should... we go and hide as well?" Take realized what he asked and he said, "Look, I'm not saying we're giving up, I'm saying we don't risk losing more people when we aren't fully sure what we're up against yet..." Take rubbed his wrist a bit more before calmly asking, "Unless you figured something out on that front at least?"

3 hp boosts, 2 ap boosts, and Reaction Boost

Episode Takehiko Part 1:
Chapter 2: Only What's Needed
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Not long after the Elders had left, a taller girl, roughly about 14-years-old, ran into the room and paused to catch her breath before asking, "Master Atmos, right? I've been told to bring you to Takehiko's home. Would you like to come with me?" the girl's voice was rather monotone, and there wasn't anything particularly special about this girl. She just seemed to be there for the purpose of being a guide.

Atmos had felt unable to interrupt in the Elder's conversation previously but because she hadn't agreed to any of their terms and had not been asked for her consent on them, she did not feel obligated to oblige them. "Yes, I am ready to come along." She spoke to the guide once the Elders were finished talking. They seemed like an unstable bunch but it was Takehiko who concerned her more, not them.

The girl brought Atmos without much said towards Takehiko's home. As they walked, they passed by the homes. All were homes build almost exactly the same, with a couple of different modifications on them. They were all built out of stone, presumably because anything built with wood would be caught on fire. The houses closer to the Elder chambers seemed to take on an almost in-hill form, looking as though they belonged as part of the mountain. The further from the mountain they walked, the less and less earth covered the homes. And once out towards the center of the homes of those who were, for lack of a better word, poorer, the mountain could be seen better jutting above. It seemed to pass through the clouds above, the top not being able to be seen.

They reached the edge of town, and while it was a distance away from the edge of the mountain, the landscape reaching could definitely be seen. They were definitely above clouds as well, presumably clouds that would normally travel lower. Other mountains seemed to be scattered across the landscape, the mountains ice capped, but lush with forests and greenery. On the ground, however, it was a barren landscape with no greenery, certainly not livable conditions.

On top of it, the fall was quite a big one.

The girl reached Takehiko's home, it was the same size as other houses in the area, but on the front there seemed to be a marker indicating four people, there were also visibly marks indicating three other people having lived there in the past, but they were moved. One more recently it seemed. "This is Takehiko's home. You should be all set to enter. I'm going to be not far from here, if you need anything please let me know." and the girl bowed before leaving.

When Atmos entered the home, she would notice it was actually quite... normal. There was a large couch and a couple chairs in a sitting area with a dining area which seemed to be able to seat up to about ten people. There was a bookcase, not too many books within. Though all were bound with a fire-proof leather that must have taken time and care to protect them. The house was sparsely decorated, but on a mantle there were three pictures that sat comfortably.

One was a picture of a young woman with brunette hair and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a light blue dress with a bouquet in her hands. She was pretty short, at least compared to the man, and she had a very small smile and looked almost... uncomfortable being in a frame of focus. The man in the picture with her was almost a foot taller than her, but he looked the same age as her regardless. He had a delicately trimmed beard and his hair was grown out a bit to be jelled back. He wasn't exactly smiling, but he looked happy to be in the picture with her regardless.

The second picture was a group picture of five boys together. The oldest sat in the middle with brunette hair and blue eyes, his hair was the only one that was not as shaven as the rest, he looked roughly 20 years old in the picture. He had a small smile, very similar to that of the woman's in the other photo. The boy on his lap had to have been three years old with his head shaved but must have been a brunette color as well. His eyes were a bright green and he seemed unagreeable in the photo, as though he didn't want to take the picture. Directly to the older boy's right was an 17 year old boy with blackened hair and blue eyes. In fact, he looked nearly identical to another boy in the photograph, but much older and his eye color clearly took after the father. The 17 year old was not smiling, and also looked like he didn't want to be in the photo either. But he leaned in closer to the older boy in the middle.

On the older boy's left, there was a boy who looked completely different than the other four, like he almost wasn't even related. His eyes were brown and his hair was red with a bit of stubble growing in. This boy was taller than the 17 year old, but looked only a year or so younger than him. He had a big smile going on him and was holding the shoulders of a smaller boy right in front of him. And that one was the look a like to the 17 year old. But he was only about 9 years old, and his hair was grown out and black. The boy's eyes shined a bright green and he had a big grin on his face. Like he was the happiest out of the five no questions asked.

The third picture was clearly a more recent picture, the frame seemed to be tossed up a little as though the picture changed a lot, in the picture it was a full family photo. Well, seemingly, the problem was that only three of the boys were present. In the picture the young woman, quite a bit older in this photo, sat on the right side, while the young man, much older looking here with hair growing in silver, sat on the left side.

In the middle was the shortest one, which was the toddler, now aged up to roughly seven years old. He had a big smile similar to that of the smiling boy in the other. But the other two boys, on the left side and right side of the seven year old, sat with their postures proper and with not smiles on their faces. While the older boy seemed comfortable with not smiling, it was clear that the other one wasn't smiling simply because he wasn't allowed to.

The oldest boy and the red haired boy were not around in this picture at all.

As Atmos would have gotten herself comfortable, there was silence before a voice softly chimed in behind her, "Are you the inspector they told us about?" as she turned to look, hiding behind the couch was the seven year old in the photo, not looking at all much older than he did now. But his head was shaved this time. The boy raised an eyebrow and said, "You don't look like an inspector... you don't look at all like... are you an outworlder?" The boy suddenly looked excited but kept his voice down.

Atmos thanked the girl who led her to the house and as she looked around the place it felt fairly cozy if a little...spartan in design. A necessity she assumed. She walked around the room, taking up the family pictures and examining them closely as she pieced together what kind of family this was. At first, she smiled. It appeared to be a happy family, but that smile soon faded when she came across the final picture with two of the boys missing.

The sound of a child's voice interrupted her. Atmos smiled slightly and looked at the seven-year old. "Yes, I am. My name is Atmos. I'm here looking for one of your brothers. Takehiko." She knelt down to get a better look at the small boy. He looked quite different from the picture she had last seen him in with his hair in its current style. They must have taken the military approach at a very young age. Far younger than she anticipated.

The boy looked concerned and said, "Uh, Take hasn't been here for a while now... is he coming home?" the boy looked a bit excited at that news and almost spoke too loud and he covered his mouth and said, "I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to leave, my brother Shoji is probably waiting for me right now... uh..." the boy held his hand out and smiled, "Nice to meet you though Atmos, my name's Akio."

Atmos nodded in response. "Take," she started using the same nickname the boy had given her, "is coming with me on a journey to grow." She took the boy's hand and shook it. "It's a pleasure, Akio. If you wish, you can wait here for your brother a little longer and if anyone asks, you can tell them you were on official keyblader business." She grinned hoping to keep the child around a little longer so at least the two brother could be reunited for some time before Takehiko had to depart with her.

Akio looked confused before his eyes opened up in realization, "What? What does Take have to do with keybla... aaaaah." Akio covered his mouth, "The rumors were true. I thought everyone was just being crazy. I mean, Take getting a keyblade? That seems..." Akio got still and very calm suddenly before saying, "Actually... that's not that weird at all." Akio quickly hopped over the couch and sat on it and slammed the seat next to him welcoming her to join him, "So did you give him a keyblade then? That's so cool... My dad told me that when he was younger there were a lot more keyblade wielders around but they started... well..." Akio scratched his head, "They... abandoned this world and didn't want to come back...."

Atmos plopped over beside the boy and leaned back finding the couch to be almost comfortable. Though even now nothing held a candle to the comforts of her homeworld. It was probably a good thing that she was chosen by the keyblade otherwise she would have been just as soft as everyone else there. "No, I didn't give him one. I actually haven't met the man who did. I've only heard stories of him but...well you could say he's the one who sent me looking for your brother." She scratched under her chin as her mind wandered for a moment before returning to reality.

Akio said something that piqued her curiosity since it wasn't something she had heard before. She knew of certain worlds that naturally were more suited to bringing keyblade wielders into the universe but she had not known this to be one of them. "Do you know what kind of training your brother is being put through right now?"

Akio thought about the question and said, "I heard he was at Jeral's Point. That's usually the place they send higher level officers who've been doing this for years..." Akio shifted awkwardly before twiddling his thumbs and saying, "Someone told me it's like they suck your soul away... but... I don't know. If it helps the dragons not sense us... but..." Akio looked up at the picture on the mantle of him and his brothers and admitted, "I don't remember the last time I've seen Take smile like that.... it used to make me happy... now he's just like Sho-"
"AKIO." A voice suddenly boomed from outside and Akio jumped and stared at the door, "You're late! Get out here this instant!"

Akio looked between the door and Atmos a couple times before getting up, "I have to go, he's gonna get mad...." he stood up but he wasn't leaving quite yet.

Atmos eyes flashed with an intense fire behind them. From what brief description the boy offered her this Jeral's Point was an awful place regardless of the motivations behind it. "Take is the one with that silly grin? Well then-" The boy got up from being called out by an angry voice. Atmos stood up as well, her eyes narrowing towards the source outside. She motioned with her hand for the boy to stay put.

"You may not see Take for some time. I believe it's important you see him off before he goes. Wait here." Atmos made her way towards the door, her mind jumping from tidbit to tidbit of information. What she knew wasn't much but this place was no place for children and it pained her that she couldn't change any of that. But at least she could reunite two brothers.

Akio looked nervous when she told him to stay put but he also wanted to see Take, and nodded at her as he stayed in the spot. Akio played with his hands a bit while she did.

When Atmos had opened the door. The older boy in the most recent picture was standing there. His arms seemed to be crossed relatively impatiently before he saw Atmos and his arms uncrossed as he walked forward, "Excuse me, ma'am, what do you think you are doing inside my house? Where is Akio?" despite being a raised voice, there was no real indicator of any emotion lying underneath it. Like it had been whipped out of him long ago. The boy stopped when he was close enough to her, but not too close for it to be an uncomfortable closeness for a stranger, "And more importantly, who are you?"

Atmos stepped closer towards the boy to the point where it would have been uncomfortable for just about anyone. "Master Atmos, keyblade wielder. Akio is waiting to bid his brother goodbye under my order. Takehiko's departure should be on the best terms if his training is to be productive." Was it a lie? Maybe. Maybe not but it didn't matter to her by this point. She looked at the boy with hard eyes and kept her tone authoritative.
This boy claimed that this was his house. That meant this was another brother. "You must be another of his siblings. Perhaps you would like to wait here as well to see him off."

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When the Demon Tower began to dissolve, there was this sigh of relief as the boy felt safe just being able to fly the boat without worrying about being attacked. Take turned the ship around to follow Jim back and looked over at Chrono and Aria and said, "I think we did pretty well. Maybe we're better fighting on ships?" he paused for a moment before he added, "Actually, no. Can we agree to not do this again if possible?" he looked around and said with a more deadpan voice than usual, "That was terrifying."

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The tunnel lead to a split between two ways. One way seeming far more beaten up than the others, and Mora insisted they head in the direction of the one that wasn't. The black haired girl shifted her hair and explained, "That way is longer, goes the long way around this mountain. We're... under the mountain but not deep enough to avoid it entirely. I'm not sure why there's two paths. Maybe one was older?" she shrugged and continued along the other one anyway. Soon, they entered a room that was clearly designed more for long stay. There were bunk beds, dusted and aging but ready for someone to potentially sleep in. And inside the room were a few more supplies, some swords, staves, and shields. There were potion bottles, but the contents seemed to have dried up and were no longer able to be used. An old helmet of some kind was all rusted and beyond repair but lay on the shelves anyway as if it held the same importance as other items.

An area for eating was also nearby, though no food seemed to be stocked either. A couple cans were on shelves. On the wall next to the table was a very large painting of a man in blackened armor, almost like a keyblade armor, with a golden trimming and a black cape to match. He seemed to be reaching up towards the sky as a great beam of light seemed to strike him in the back and through to the ground. Almost as if he was stabbed with it. Another painting was next to it, much more worn and damaged that showed armored soldiers fighting each other, but both sides being depicted in a very obvious black vs white colored armor type to show both sides. There was only one more painting, a man sat on a throne in full armor with a keyblade set forth in front of him. His helmet was off, but his head was down rested against the keyblade so the face was not seen and was blocked by a whitish-silver hair. A rug lay on the ground made up of some sort of animal's hide, blackened but fading slowly into a white, it looked to be the most recent thing in the room.

Mora ran on over to the sword and grabbed it. She held it in her hands and then turned towards the group and said, "I... just want something to protect myself just in case. So you don't have to baby me... ya know..." she looked at the shields and grabbed one and put it on her arm and pointed the sword at them and said, "Unless I just look like a child playing with toys. Then I might just keep the shield." she poked a few more times in their direction to get the point across before she put down the sword and clung to the shield and said, "I get it." and she shifted on ahead towards the tunnel. But after a few more steps she turned around and her eyes glowed a yellow as she looked at them, "Unless something looked useful we should almost be there."

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After the last round, Take felt a bit more confident that they could manage to finish this up. The boy looked back at Chrono and Aria, and while Aria seemed to be up for whatever method at that point, Take and Chrono locked eyes and he could tell the silver haired boy had a solid game plan in mind. Take nodded at him, not sure if he'd nod back before flying on closer to the demon wave. Keeping some sort of balance and making sure not to ride too close into the demon tower, Take got a good balance before firing blizzard with his keyblade. He ended up knocking some of the swarm onto the boat towards him and the boy held on as tightly as he could trying to maintain the steering. Take activated blitz and he got himself a few good attacks in until he felt sufficiently in control. After a few seconds of breathing, Takehiko moved himself closer to the edge of the boat and got a good large swings in at quite a bit of the swarm before he finally chose to back up and officially keep steering while the others finished the rest.

HP: 31
AP: 0
MP: 5

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Take was annoyed by the lack of actual help he was going with the magic. He didn't think that a spell that did so well earlier would do so little, but then he remembered this was a swarm. Logically it wouldn't get hurt as much by something that hits only one thing. The boy figured maybe it would be best for them to pull in closer to get a good hit at the swarm with keyblades rather than magic, maybe they'd cleave off things faster that way. But as he was about to pull there, he noticed the magic orbs falling and recalled a lesson from Master Atmos. He then looked back towards Aria and Chrono who had seemed to be doing alright with the magic, perhaps it would be safer to keep a distance approach. Take started speeding on up to follow the magic orbs and he yelled back at the other two, "I hope I'm not going too fast for you to get another hit in."

HP: 35
AP: 16
MP: 15

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When learning how to work the boat, it didn't take Takehiko as long as he expected it to. In fact, he thought he gravitated more towards this stuff than he expected. So once the teams were split and they were actually flying with people on the boat, Take wasn't exactly trying anything risky. He tried to keep the boat steady enough for Aria and Chrono to attack while also avoiding getting hit by the swarm. The first attack from the swarm knocked the boat a little bit, but Take felt he got things back into control relatively quickly. Chrono got things started pretty much immediately and Take heard Aria's rant and his eyes kept training back to her, almost wanting to comment on it somehow but he was more focused on driving. When Aria started the rainbow glow, Take took a brief moment to summon out his keyblade and point at the swarm as well yelling, "Blizzard!" and letting out a cold blast towards the swarm.

Then he immediately dropped his keyblade, the weapon disappearing, and he clutched tightly to the wheel like he just did some big crime by having one hand on the wheel for a second.

HP: 45
AP: 16
MP: 10

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Take was surprised that Jim seemed to arrive while they were talking about him. It made things convenient at least. Then Jim mentioned he couldn't drive them all in a boat and that made things complicated. What, these lifeboats couldn't hold more than 3 people? That seemed ineffective. But when Jim mentioned needing another person to steer the other lifeboat, no one seemed to budge. If anything, Illiana looked paler than usual. So after a brief bit of silence, Take let out a sigh and crossed his arms, "I'll drive. Can't... be too hard... can it?" the boy realized he didn't want an answer, he just hoped he was competent enough to do at least this one thing right. And maybe it'd help him out later, it was always good to be prepared.

IT'S NOT OKAY MARUSHI. NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER FOR YOUR SINSsssssssssssssssss

LOL I JUST REALIZED PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW WHY I DID THAT HOL' UP

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Take was about to follow Aria before pausing when he heard Nini meow. He stopped to breathe a minute and knelt down and opened up his bag so Nini could hop on in comfortably. Once she was, he secured the bag slightly and ran on towards Aria. He got up there just in time for her to mention the shadows and he followed her straight away downstairs towards the apparently lifeboats. Takehiko blinked at it and said, "Maybe we should ask for help from someone who knows how to handle these things? That way it's also reassurance we're bringing it back and not just running off?" the boy backed up a bit to look down the opened bottom of the ship to see the heartless swarming around and he was kind of amused, but concerned as to why so many of them were beginning to swarm together. Takehiko thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and asking, "Why don't we ask Jim? I mean, I don't think he'd mind helping us out while we fight the heartless... maybe?"

Spoiler: Episode Takehiko: Part I

Chapter 1: Outsider
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The world was beautiful even despite the air of fear dense in the air. On her hike to the village she had seen at least three dragons, majestic creatures regardless of their temperament, and found that the guards patrolling the area were unfortunately too young to be doing the kind of dangerous work they did. Though she supposed it was not much different to how it was for her training to wield a keyblade to fight Heartless at that age.

There were a few things keeping her from simply portaling into the Elders' chambers and asking to speak with them. One, it would have interrupted the world order(even if they were aware of outside worlds). Two, it would have put them on the defensive. Three, last but not least, she wanted to see the world for herself to get a feeling for the kind of place the boy had come from. She needed to understand him if she was going to be training him. From the tone this world set she knew she would have her work cut out for her.

Several more minutes passed as she walked forth, though her clothing had been magically altered to take on the style commonly found in this world, her clothes were a little less...ash-covered than some of the others around her. Eventually, she arrived before a doorway guarded by soldiers. From her research she knew the Elders, the leaders of this place, were not far now. "You Elders, I must speak with them. I have business regarding a keyblade-wielding boy named Takehiko."

The guard seemed very defensive, and when the name Takehiko was spoken they seemed... more on the defensive but at the same time looked a bit more trusting. Like a strange moment of understanding that this person did not seem to just be randomly looking for trouble, but that particular name set him on the defensive. But before the guard could even speak, one of the commanders was nearby and had heard the scenario and spoke, "Takehiko you say? I hope you are aware that speaking about a situation with this particular person puts people up on alert." The commander raised their hand to still the guard, which they listened to immediately and the commander bowed at her and said, "I can speak to the elders to get you an audience... surprisingly, they were waiting for someone like you to appear." the commander motioned for her to at least follow inside.

Atmos raised her eyebrow at the curious statement. There must have been some stigma on the boy likely due to his status. When the commander motioned for her she walked close behind. "I wasn't aware. Why does Takehiko's situation put someone 'on alert' as you say? Has he done something wrong?" She questioned the commander in hopes of getting someone to talk candidly with her as she did not believe people with the title "Elder" to do so without sounding either like a politician or someone with too many years looking at the world from behind a desk. You could always tell something from a title. Being a master, for instance, highlighted her extreme sense of unbelievable humility.

The commander looked to Atmos and said, "I am not authorized to answer that question." once they were at the commander kept her there and left to speak to the elders. It was not long before a man, dressed in the Elder robes, walked out and bowed to her, "Hello there, outworlder. I have been told you have business with a keyblade wielder on our world. No doubt you are a keyblade wielder yourself?" the Elder extended their hand and said with a smile, "My name is Yori. I am one of the Elders of Incandescent Peaks..." the man slicked back his hair, which was a black color with silver peppering it occasionally to make it appear like a mix, "I know I don't look very old but trust me, I've been around longer than many... you... aren't what I was expecting... admittedly..." they placed a hand on their chin and said, "Not to insult you, I trust your skills are wondrous and your knowledge plentiful, but I was expecting a man."

She kept her disappointment with the answer she received to herself. She had a few moments to herself when the commander left to retrieve one of the Elders. She used that time to straighten out her garb in some attempt to make herself look more presentable. When the Elder arrived he seemed to be friendly enough and when offered a hand she took it and shook his hand. "Yes, that is one of my many talents. My name is Atmos and it is a pleasure to meet you, Yori." He had expected a man? If she hadn't taken the moment to pause she would have believed it to be an insult but this culture, from what little she had seen, did not appear to be a sexist one. No, perhaps he wasn't expecting just any man but a specific one. The one who had granted Takehiko's keyblade was a man but right now that was too general a description to be sure.

"Well now that we are on a first name basis, tell me about the boy. What is your assessment of him? It seems that just speaking about him and the nature of his situation is sensitive to some people."

Yori shifted his stance a bit at the question and replied, "Takehiko is a little bit of a... black sheep. Admittedly, I'm not fully comfortable talking about it myself. But..." Yori looked over towards a guard over by the door and nodded at him and the room was cleared so it was just the two of them and Yori continued, "He's a very kind child who cares quite a bit for his family... but on our world, we try to discourage acting on emotions because of... well, the dragon attacks. It's been the best way to get people to cooperate..." Yori seemed to have something pop into his mind, as if he wanted to speak on something but shook his head to dismiss the worlds, like it wasn't his place to tell, "I must say, he's caused quite a stir. It's not very often our world gets a new keyblade wielder anymore. But now? We have another to talk about, and he's a known troublemaker. Not necessarily over the kindness, but his trouble with rules, his tendencies to cause trouble. I'm not quite sure if he's a kleptomaniac or if other people made it seem that way."

Atmos placed a hand on her cheek as she thought over what Yori told her about the boy. Those kinds of problems reminded her of a certain younger keyblader she once crossed paths with. Before the scars and gruff air about him. This all seemed promising save for the fact that Yori and the others, it seemed, were so concerned about the boy's kindness. Even with dragons and survival on their minds there was always time to just care. "I see. Still, he must be quite the character to have so much attention drawn his way. Good or bad. That kind of attribute is generally a sign of a strong heart." Atmos spoke with confidence.

"Well when do I get to meet this young lad? I'm assuming your colleagues will want to be there to see him off. Will I be meeting the other Elders? Not that you are dull but I do enjoy meeting new people."

Yori folded his hands politely and listened to what she had to say and he stopped keeping eye contact for a moment before looking up and saying, "Well, I was thinking we could manage to settle this without the other Elders getting involved..." just as Yori was finishing that sentence, Hotaka stepped in. Hotaka was a taller gentleman with white hair kept short and a beard that lightly framed his face. He had no mustache, and his eyebrows were very thin and stretched across his face oddly in comparison to most. His brow being wrinkled only seemed to make the eyebrows stretch further as the man stepped and said, "And just what do you mean, making a decision without other Elders involved, Yori?"

Yori's face looked distressed for a moment before he quickly became composed and turned towards Hotaka and smiled, "I just figured with all the stress going on between everything, you wouldn't mind me handling everything with Takehiko."
"Absolutely not." Hotaka spoke firmly walking closer to the two. As he got closer, it became more clear that his height was slightly artificial by way of his shoes, which seemed to be a bit more of a platform type. Probably for Elder decoration more than anything. Hotaka stopped when he was close enough and continued, "You are aware, Yori, that making a decision such as that could be considered an act of treason against the Elders."

Yori's smile faded as they spoke with a very serious tone in comparison to how he usually spoke, "You are aware, Hotaka, that we agreed to let the boy go two weeks ago to search for these masters. And you kept extending the date."
"That does not concern you or the outsider."
"Oh surely it does, especially since she'll be taking the boy temporarily under her care." Yori asserted. Another Elder walked in and spoke, "What is even going on out here. Do we need to gather the council?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we do." Hotaka spoke, turning around and walking back towards the other room, "And our guest is most certainly welcome to deal with this procedure." and he left the room as quickly as he entered.

Yori took a deep breath and said, "I just wanted this to go cleanly. I apologize... High Elder Hotaka has had... previous complications with Takehiko. He more than likely wishes to deal with things smoothly. If you would like to follow me there... this hopefully won't take long." Yori began to walk a few steps before stopping and turning around, "Takehiko is a complicated subject not just because of who he is.... the boy is quite special... When you do train him, well." Yori grinned a bit and said, "Try and get him to smile, and you'll understand." then he turned around and entered the room, trying to motion for Atmos to follow.

And as soon as she did, all of the Elders were ready, some already beginning to speak. One Elder tried to slip out before Atmos got into the room, but failing to do so, "I still think Takehiko should not be subjected to outsider philosophies. Especially now that his training is beginning to show it's work. It took too long, I don't want this to be thrown awa-" they cut themselves off when they realized Atmos was there and they looked for a long time at her before looking away.

"Enough, this is not a discussant on whether or not he goes. It's how he will depart." Another finally spoke. Hotaka looked at Atmos and went to address her by saying, "Master..." they then looked at Yori who sighed and informed him, "Atmos."
"Master Atmos. I am aware that you are a keyblade master and are here to depart with Takehiko. Many of us would like to know how long the training would go for before he would be returned." Hotaka finished.

Atmos caught several pieces of information that were troubling from these people. They seemed...almost xenophobic which was something that would be a dangerous trait for one expected to visit many worlds. She hoped she was wrong to jump to such a conclusion but it was difficult to see otherwise. "Takehiko would be allowed to return when he is ready. I would not be able to allow him to return before then without supervision as he could cause more harm than good. There isn't an exact timetable for when one is ready."

Anticipating another question she continued, "A keyblade wielder isn't a protector of one world, they are protectors of many worlds. If another world were to be in danger of falling to darkness it would take priority." Speaking harsh truths were not likely going to gain her any favors but she preferred to be honest rather than give false hope.

There was a bit of a murmur between some of the Elders at her response before Hotaka spoke up, "We are aware of keyblade wielders' agenda. We have had a proud history of keyblade wielders protecting all the worlds... however..." Yori seemed to look over at Hotaka almost expectantly, but there was a bit of discomfort on his face from the subject before Hotaka continued, "Takehiko is not... an ordinary child. When keyblade wielders from here are made, there are certain... expectations beforehand..."

"Master Hotaka, I think you should just get to the-" Yori began before he was immediately cut off by Hotaka, "Takehiko did not meat any of these prior expectations. As a result we are hesitant to keep him from this world for long, particularly because of possible... detrimental effects it could have."
"On the boy for the most part." One of the Elders chimed in. It was clear from the way Hotaka and Yori were talking that there was something much bigger at play, and that they were hesitant to speak on it further.

Hotaka fixed his hair and said, "It would be preferred if you could bring him back often. Even for just a week every few months or so. This would possibly stop some concerns."
Yori looked at Hotaka and tilted his head, "Would that fix any of the problems? Would balance not be thrown off still? Or perhaps make it worse?"
"Well, a week of training every few months would be good maintenance." One of the other Elders chimed in before Hotaka just stood up and grumbled, "Just leave with the little thief. Maybe it'd be better to just rip it off like a bandaid."

"Uh... am I the only one not following this conversation?" One of the Elders chimed in looking at Yori. Yori turned to him and said, "It's settled then?"
"Yes, it's fine. We'll get the boy ready and send him to his home to pack whatever he needs." Hotaka rubbed his eyes, others didn't seem to disagree. Hotaka began to walk out of there but stopped next to Atmos and said, "Good luck with him. I hope he doesn't steal anything precious to you." then he began walking away, before he left he stopped next to a commander and said, "Make sure his family isn't home while he's there. I don't want that kid influencing his brother to do something crazy." the commander bowed and headed off and Hotaka turned back and said, "And Yori. I need you to come with me."

"Who's going to bring Master Atmos to the house?" Yori asked curiously and Hotaka smirked, "Not you." and Yori looked over to the other Elders and then Hotaka and stood up. He looked at Atmos with a look of apology before he followed Hotaka. The Elders broke off not soon after that.

​

As the eye floated up in the soup, Take blinked at it and found a bit of humor in the "part of the old family" joke. He had gotten his spoon up and ready to basically eat it. He didn't have a problem with eyeballs. If anything, he'd had worse for dinner. But then the little blob came back and Take had to hold back one of his smiles again at seeing the little blob. Still, Take did end up trying to eat more of the soup but the second Aria mentioned the hot chocolate was done, he placed the bowl on the counter to take a long sip of the cocoa and he looked like he was enjoying it very much. Take looked up at Aria and Silver and said, "You both did very good at the food and drink." Take brought the cup up again to his lips and admitted, "I have a little bit of a weak spot for chocolate. Never had this kind of a drink before. It's good. Better than... chocolate milk or whatever it's called that Chrono had me try one time. It tastes like it would be very good with another dessert on the side or something. Like, iunno... a cake or maybe... the little white pillow like things. They're squishy." Take couldn't remember the word and it bothered him, "Marsmellow?"

​

Take wasn't that surprised that the follow up question was about seeing the keyblade so he could have a look at it. The boy tilted his head and managed to lie fairly smoothly, "Unfortunately, like us randomly teleporting, the weapon only appears when the creatures are nearby. or when the user is in immediate danger." Take shrugged and held his hands up, "I wouldn't fret about it though, that's a very good thing. It means we just need to focus on keeping this ship a'sailin." He hoped his bluffing was good enough, he made sure not to lose eye contact with silver, and because he was always taught to control his emotions he didn't feel the least bit intimidated by the guy. Take crossed his arms and said, "But if we end up in a scenario like that again, we can see if you can get a closer look before they vanish."

​

When Take heard the footsteps coming down, he didn't think much of it, but he did turn just to see who mainly because Aria did. When it turned out to be Silver, the person Illiana had previously mentioned was the reason she'd vanished... he almost wanted to give the man a high five for a moment if anything just to be sarcastic about it but he decided he should probably focus on the fact this man was asking a very direct question to figure out how they got there. When he heard Aria's response, Take turned his head towards her, "I think he meant showing up here." Take then turned to Silver and said, "Accidentally. Mostly...." Take paused a minute and thought a bit before crossing his arms and saying, "Our weapons we used to help fight those creatures, they have this particular effect where we kind of hop to the nearest place those creatures would be. And it just happened to be this ship. So... well, here we are. And they haven't made us move yet so, this is probably still the most likely place..." Take tried to keep a straight face as he explained this, and trying to speak with a matter-of-fact tone, but the problem was he was making this up on the spot and didn't know how believable it was.

Kaida had looked at Aislinn and said, "I think so..." but then the events began to unfold. Listening to Hikaru react in shock that the lion was going to go after, well, an animal, was pretty interesting. And she'd be lying if she didn't find slight amusement in Aux's morbid comments about describing the attack. But before she could even think, she'd somehow gotten involved when a meerkat jumped up on her back and proceeded to ride her like a horse. Whatever he did, it managed to make Kaida let out a little, "Kweh!" before she suddenly moved forward, running off of Aislinn's back and after the warthog, "W-what? HEY! EXCUSE ME!?" before she tried to halt herself saying, "Do you just jump on every bird to you run into and try to ride them?" she paused a bit and looked at the meerkat before looking over at Hikaru and letting out a groaned noise before saying, "Mmmm... Nala?! You could go after bigger prey than the pig if we keep looking!" and Kaida reluctantly started making chase after her. "One pig isn't gonna feed the whole family!"​

​

Takehiko listened to her response to his... advice. And was a bit surprised how quickly the conversation turned into something that resulted in him being the "bad guy". Take heard her mention his enthusiasm and he flushed a bit with embarrassment and said, "I-I try to over-motivate myself so I don't give up. Let's me let a little energy out. I mean... I'm more of a shield than anything, I can take a hit... I just... didn't take them right this time... ya know? I just wanted to get the fight over with faster." Take sighed a bit and said, "I'll just... I'll be more conscious about it next time, okay? I just... I can't promise I won't get hit. Or hyped. I'll just be better about it." the boy looked around the kitchen and said, "You don't talk too much. If anything... I talk too little. I mean, I've been working on that but... trust me you don't talk too much. Illillama talks too much. " Take paused and murmured under his breath, "Illiana... not Illillama... you know what, I'm gonna keep using that.... anyway even if you did talk too much, don't worry about it unless you've gotta keep quiet."

​

Take listened intently to what Aria said, and was a little surprised to get told what happened to her in her homeworld. He didn't think the conversation would go nearly that far back, he had suspicions it was more over recent events, like Mika (which it was) or possibly Tinarah. He listened and nodded occasionally to show active listening, since apparently people thought he zoned out, and when she finished he tried to figure out how to reply. He almost felt like it was a lie to tell her it was okay to cry, because he didn't believe in that himself. He wanted to tell her everything out be alright, but with the bracelet situation and Mika being gone, he didn't want to lie to her about that either. The boy rubbed his wrist again without thinking about it, almost an action he reflexively did rather than consciously doing so. When words finally came, he let go of the wrist and went with it, "Well... Mika isn't gone. I mean. No I'm not trying to get your hopes up about something like that I didn't mean to I just... she's she's always here." he pointed towards Aria's chest before realizing she might not be able to figure out where he was pointing so he rolled eyes and placed his hand on his own chest, "Here. I-I know it's corny, but... the people we lose, they don't leave us, they always leave an impact. It hurts, the hurt doesn't go away, but sometimes it's a bit easier to move knowing that they would want you not to dwell for too long. I... know that's not easy either."

Take let his hand fall onto the counter gently and he stood up straighter, stretching slightly as he said, "I've lost a lot of people in my life, and I know they want me to carry forward... Iwa-... my brothers would probably want me to do that with a smi- ...with some dignity. Some people react differently. It's... it's okay to cry. It's better than not crying at all and having it build up into something negative... " Take rubbed the back of his head and said, "And believe me, you're not a bringer of bad luck. It's just.... all the bad things want your good luck... no that one was a bad attempt at making you feel better don't listen to that last one."

​

In the nullness of the moment, Take was pretty sure the only reason he followed Aria was because of the idea of having chocolate. It wasn't he one weakness or anything, he just really liked food and chocolate just happened to be one of his favorite treats he seldom got. He watched Aria dart ahead and he took a bit of time to get down just to breathe. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Aria was already working in the kitchen with... tears in her eyes. Takehiko paused a moment trying to think of something to say, he didn't like the idea of seeing anyone upset, it was the same reason why he'd gone to attempt to make Tinarah feel better... though he wasn't sure it worked. Take leaned against the counter of the kitchen while Aria was starting to get to work and he fiddled with his thumbs a little before he finally said, "If um... if you want to talk about anything I'll listen..." Takehiko blinked and looked away saying, "Or if you would prefer not to, that's quite alright too..."