Another Tour
No sign of Kelly. No sign of a way back to the ship. The only way to move on, the teleport network.
John span the cards left behind through his fingers. Which way, now? Which to choose? He'd always had good luck with them in the past. Always made the best draw, rolled the best dice. But right at that moment, he wasn't so sure it was holding up.
That one'd do, then. The mountains. He looked at it for a moment, looked at the others - "Ready to go?" he asked.
They nodded, and as a group, leapt through the teleport.
Immediately, John recognised where he was. A valley below them, cliffs around, a tree trunk serving as a bridge across the river in the gully.
Avery's world. The first he'd come to in his role as keybearer.
Something was missing, though. No sign of where the Autumn had crashed. Maybe it'd just been too long, but... it seemed strange. Like the place had never been touched at all.
"You'd think there'd be some sign..." he said, looking around. Cortana could only agree. Spark remained silent.
The logical conclusion was to head for his friend's location. Though why were the Heartless still here, then? They dogged their path, Shadows swarming out of nowhere, the more specialised forms backing them up as ever. Hadn't they taken care of the local problem? The thought chilled John to the core. Could he ever really stop them, save even one world? If they could come back this way - what had he even accomplished?
Still, he knew the way, now. It almost seemed quicker to retrace his steps - or was he just more used to the distances, now? So many worlds since he'd first been here. So much to learn. And there, eventually, lay the refuge his ally and his fellows had created; that little base. The same style of ruins again as the ones he'd seen on the ring... what was the connection? he wondered. Why?
At last, too, a familiar face. "Avery!" he yelled, seeing the figure. "How're you doing?"
The man stopped. Turned. Looked at John.
"...How did you get here, kid? And how do you know my name?"
John span the cards left behind through his fingers. Which way, now? Which to choose? He'd always had good luck with them in the past. Always made the best draw, rolled the best dice. But right at that moment, he wasn't so sure it was holding up.
That one'd do, then. The mountains. He looked at it for a moment, looked at the others - "Ready to go?" he asked.
They nodded, and as a group, leapt through the teleport.
Immediately, John recognised where he was. A valley below them, cliffs around, a tree trunk serving as a bridge across the river in the gully.
Avery's world. The first he'd come to in his role as keybearer.
Something was missing, though. No sign of where the Autumn had crashed. Maybe it'd just been too long, but... it seemed strange. Like the place had never been touched at all.
"You'd think there'd be some sign..." he said, looking around. Cortana could only agree. Spark remained silent.
The logical conclusion was to head for his friend's location. Though why were the Heartless still here, then? They dogged their path, Shadows swarming out of nowhere, the more specialised forms backing them up as ever. Hadn't they taken care of the local problem? The thought chilled John to the core. Could he ever really stop them, save even one world? If they could come back this way - what had he even accomplished?
Still, he knew the way, now. It almost seemed quicker to retrace his steps - or was he just more used to the distances, now? So many worlds since he'd first been here. So much to learn. And there, eventually, lay the refuge his ally and his fellows had created; that little base. The same style of ruins again as the ones he'd seen on the ring... what was the connection? he wondered. Why?
At last, too, a familiar face. "Avery!" he yelled, seeing the figure. "How're you doing?"
The man stopped. Turned. Looked at John.
"...How did you get here, kid? And how do you know my name?"