action & prose; open; ☀/☾

[keystorm]

Who: Aqua; OPEN.
What: After exploring the city and dealing with some major frustration, Aqua finds herself at the beach at the end of a very, very, very disappointing third day in the City of Dreams. She's been at this constantly. Hasn't even returned to the house yet.
Where: Some quieter section of the beach.
When: Late in the day,

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[endsoftheearth]

He couldn't believe the world around him was one of dreams. It felt so real. The need to breath, the taste of food and drink, the soreness that tugged at his legs as he continued to walk, pushing forward endlessly through the streets. Time had passed, daylight had sunk into night and night had birthed dawn anew several times already

[keystorm]

What struck her first was a little hard to determine: the slow, comforting warmth that faintly illuminated the left fold of her sash or the soft sound of footfalls in the sand. The setting sun on her back had served as the perfect disguise for the sensation of a glowing Wayfinder, causing a moment of pause before the realization of the magical item's shift.

The motion of drawing the trinket from the fabric loop, gasping, and spinning around toward the source of the sound was as singular as it was fluid, not giving her very much time to think of who it might be -- it could have been either lost boy with a piece of the five-pointed charm. Though she certainly didn't consciously mean to, for that split second before she could catch herself, Aqua felt that rising joy at the feeling of familiarity...

"Terra." There it was. The fleeting smile, genuine in its affinity, palpable even from behind a mask. Taking a half-step forward, her rigid stance dissolved; One hand gripped the blue Wayfinder whilst the other twisted its chain in anxious

[endsoftheearth]

"Aqua

[keystorm]

Her joy was deteriorating at an alarming rate as the emotional focus shifted from 'so glad to see you' to 'wait, what about the hell that just broke loose'... and she wasn't going out of her way to hide it, either. Even the uncertain smile was gradually being eaten away at the seams as she, too, instinctively slowed to a stop at the usual distance, taking stock of his gestures.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how one looked at it), the segment of Darkness attached to Terra's doubt was lost on Aqua, who was waging a valiant battle against an internal tempest of her own.

Vanitas... and Xehanort. She turned her face away slightly at the very vivid recollection of the searingly hot blade against her back, followed by... nothing. It was a severely uncomfortable thought... one that Terra could probably do without.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." Here, she paused for a beat, wanting desperately to continue on, assuring him that everything would be fine as well. Probably too soon to make a promise like that

[endsoftheearth]

Terra didn't retreat from her as she advanced forward, but he did shift in place, a subtle motion that left him standing with more weight resting over his heels. He wouldn't back away, but if the conversation strayed in an uncomfortable direction, he was prepared to at least turn, let the armor fitted to his left arm face her and take the brunt of whatever accusations she would bear down on him with. When no mention of his darkness was made, he relaxed slightly, a drop in his shoulders that told more of how tired he was than it did reveal his unease.

Only then, pulling free of the distraction his own fears provided, did he begin to notice how troubled Aqua looked under the mask. Something was seriously wrong. But as he watched her, trying to read her better, he gave into the assumption that it was this world and their combined troubles that were wearing at her reserve. They had all been through so much. They were all still going through so much. That had to be it

[keystorm]

With the bitter light of the departing sun setting the backdrop, the subtle signs of her emotional roller-coaster were...a bit harder to pick out that one would probably anticipate, but they were all there -- most obviously so in her eyes. Not even a week in the City of Dreams and she'd already picked up the habit of hiding behind the visible obstruction of her face... likely taken on while scouring the city for information.

The PORTAL, which had promptly been labeled as erroneous and had was left behind at the apartment, was then observed with a measure of interest... If it was a method of communicating with Ventus, then it was worth carrying around.

"Thank goodness..."

What's more, the news of backhand-wielder's presence had such a profound effect upon her, though, that she sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, which absolutely just... stopped altogether when Terra included the addendum.

That Vanitas was there as well.It was as if all output of visible empathy was... sucked right back to internalization. He

[endsoftheearth]

Aqua's abrupt response to the news of Vanitas' presence was noticed but not remarked on... If only because it was followed by her voice cutting off when the world's magic very suddenly and very forcefully kicked in, locking off all attempts at speaking as effectively as any of the Keybearers might have locked a door. Terra's train of thought followed hers closely. His eyes widened in surprise as she was muted, but realization swept in, exchanging his look of shock for a frown that rapidly turned sour

[keystorm]

Best to keep focused.

... Terra, obviously being that much more cautious than Aqua, may or may not have had a bit more time to prepare himself for the transition, as she literally didn't give a second thought about letting her own mind wander. Keeping oneself quiet and introverted obviously wasn't going to do her any good -- not anymore, anyway. Not until she could get a better grip on the mental communication filter.

Shaking it off with a shrug, she paused to soundlessly clear her throat, move a pile of sand to the side with her foot, and ... do what she could to pick up from where she left off.

...I'm sorry. You're coming in loud and clear. Am I? Following his example, she quickly found that physically going through the motions in speaking along with the TENEKA did feel quite a bit more natural... which would probably help with the --

-- Anyway. I meant to ask if you remember the place where you first woke up. Was it a room with a mirror...?

[endsoftheearth]

He couldn't help but smirk at her reply. If they'd been brought here earlier, at some point during their training under the Master, he might have seen this mind communication ordeal as a game. A challenge to be mastered.

You are.

Instead, it was strictly serious business between them. And rightfully so. Vanitas was at large and for all he knew, Xehanort could have been lurking somewhere in the city, too. Hiding again. The twist of a grin came and went, in the same fashion the others had, taken over by something that was almost but not quite a scowl.

Aqua bringing up the mirror didn't help his mood, either. His eyes darkened and he looked away, but there was another nod for her.

Yeah. A room with a bed and a mirror. That was all he let himself 'say'.

Motioning for her to follow, he started back the way he came across the sand.

Come on. Let's find Ven and get back to one of the houses.