Unwanted Shower - [Hollow Bastion; Open]

[streamofstars]

( from hereA huge palace-like structure stretched up to the sky with smaller towers and other little buildings radiated out from the base. From the descriptions, this was Hollow Bastion

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[ex_abrokenco715]

Once they finally hit ground, the pirate felt such a grand relief that it almost drove him to race out and get reacquainted with the dirt--Face first if need be! (It wasn't too far of a stretch to speculate that Norrington had a similar occurence.) However, such meetings would have to wait. The pirate trailed those who were more eager than he to get out into the fresh air to see the ongoing events. Jack's walk was a little unsteady and zig-zaggy while he worked his way to said door.

"Would you look at that." He observed the sky along with the new scenery all while a palm sat on his chin. It wasn't every day that the sky fell down right before their very eyes. Alas, it wasn't every day they came upon a new city in a flying ship either, This just seemed one of those usually unusual days. "A bad omen if I've ever seen it." Jack took a step away from the crowd of three. One step, then two steps, then another and another.

The sky was such a convenient distraction, and he did hope not to drag down their little vacation by evoking memories of overcharging or have them worry about that silly key he happened to have mentioned. Best he get a move on and find this key by his onesy to keep the others out of trouble.

Ah--was that a second good deed in a single day? He would soon tarnish the reputation of being a pirate with that kind of good will.

[findredemption]

This was Hollow Bastion, then? Logic insisted that it was impossible to travel to other worlds - if other worlds really existed, surely someone would have discovered them sooner - but it was hard to ignore what could be seen with one's own eyes. The strange, unfamiliar scenery was drawing closer. Norrington took his gaze away from the buildings the ship was nearing when Touma spoke up again.

This was a real location, at least. That meant there could be something to find here after all.

But, even as they were preparing to land at last, something seemed to have gone wrong - judging by Touma's reaction, particularly once the ship touched solid ground.

Rather than bolting outside as well just yet, Norrington threw a glance back out the window himself, narrowing his eyes as he realized what had drawn out such an odd reaction from the man. The sky was quickly filling with streaks of light that shot across it at brief intervals.

Bad omen? Norrington had turned away from the window again and decided to make his way out of the ship, noticing Jack's seeming attempt to escape, and he caught the pirate's remark. Shooting stars usually didn't receive that sort of response. Either way, they could do without superstitious talk.

"We didn't come here to watch the sky, did we?" Norrington remarked.

[streamofstars]

'A bad omen' was an understatement, in Touma's mind. The stars - worlds - were no longer falling like before, but everything just seemed darker somehow. The darkness between each world was greater, and the archer immediately started searching for his home...and freezes.

"No," he whispers, praying that he was just making a mistake. The trip to Hollow Bastion had to have made him disoriented. But as much as he would have liked to lie to himself like that, Touma knew that wasn't the case - he had studied and remembered too much to make an amateur mistake like that. Which meant his worst fears had just been realized. His world, friends, everything that he had known was gone. He had failed miserably.

A single tear slid down Touma's cheek, unnoticed.

[seaswann]

Elizabeth had climbed outside and had joined the others in looking up at the sky. It was oddly beautiful, watching the stars in the sky, but at the same time Elizabeth was getting a growing feeling of dread. All this talk of bad omens made her shudder. Not that she actually believed them, or any nonsense like that. It was bad talk for a journey like this.

She slowly approached Touma, hoping he might be able to tell them what was going on. "What does this mean?" She asked softly. "Has this happened before?"

It was becoming obvious that this was something bad, but Elizabeth didn't want to jump to conclusions before their guide told them so. She didn't want to believe that something might hinder them in their effort to save Port Royal.

[with_a_will]

Will happened to be the last one out, and by that point it seemed that the sky was as clear as it had been before. Though he did notice that it wasn't as full. Those had definitely been falling stars, and yet he really didn't know why it bothered him so much.

The queasiness was wearing off, however, and while what Norrington said was true, he still wanted an explanation. Elizabeth beat him to it, and he felt like she was becoming more independent than ever. Not that he had a problem with it.

Besides, he still wasn't quite sure what he was going to do now that he was somewhere completely new. At least the Heartless weren't here, but he was by no means prepared to abandon his home. Hopefully they could find someone who could tell them how to get rid of the things... How to find that Keyblade.

[streamofstars]

Touma finally tore his eyes away from the sky and looked at Elizabeth and Will, not wanting to see the holes between the stars. "It means that hundreds of worlds have died. Countless people...."

Looking back up at the sky, he searched out where his home was. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't put it off any longer. What kind of friend would he be if he didn't have the courage to find out whether the others had made through this catastrophe safely or if...if they were one of the many casualties.

The archer followed the stars he had landmarked, but he found himself looking at darkness. Gone, everything he had known was gone, and he was once again alone. Only this time, being alone was a hell of a lot different than it was when he was younger.

[seaswann]

So things were worse than any one of them could have imagined. Elizabeth couldn't even comprehend the situation in full--hundreds of worlds? So many places like Port Royal lost, so many more people never to be seen again. Her hands rose to her mouth to stop something from bubbling out, be it a cry or vomit.

It was too much.

Several moments of silent struggle later, Elizabeth looked back at Will. Though she didn't say anything, her expression did: What do we do now?

Port Royal was on top of Elizabeth's list, but she didn't know what they should do about the now. Touma looked devastated, and Elizabeth was at a loss. None of them had expected this, but did that really change anything?

[with_a_will]

"What?" Will couldn't stop himself from blurting that out. He had gotten a bad feeling, but he had hardly expected it to be something of that magnitude. He was barely used to the idea that other worlds even existed, and now he had to deal with the fact that he'd just witnessed hundreds of them dying?

What did that even mean? How did a world die?

"How did... What caused this?" His voice was low now, filled with contempt for whatever was behind it. He wanted to find it, he wanted to stop it...

And what if his home had been among those that had just taken the plunge?

His eyes found Elizabeth, then, and she looked sicker than he felt. He headed over to her, trying to smooth out his expression as he took her hands.

He didn't know what to say.

[streamofstars]

"The Heartless. It always seems to come down to them." They were getting nowhere with this. As it was, they were losing precious time if Will and Elizabeth's world - and yes, it was still shining - had any hope of being saved.

Sighing, he turned to Tenku. "We need fly to an official port. I don't trust just leaving my ship here unattended." Not that the last time Tenku was tended turned out well, but it was the principle of the thing. And one would think that Hollow Bastion would be different than the deserted port. He walked back to the ship, giving his companions the choice of staying here or going with him.

[seaswann]

Will's hands around hers were of a greater comfort than Elizabeth would ever admit. She didn't want to be one of those women that needed their hands held or a shoulder to lean on, but deep down there was no escaping it. She gave Will a quick, grateful smile. At least some things were constant.

"Heartless..." Elizabeth repeated, gaping up at the sky. No pirate or murderer could wipe out entire worlds. As Touma walked back to his ship, Elizabeth looked up at Will. "Should we follow him?"

[with_a_will]

There was still so little he understood about this situation. Though Will supposed that was why he was here. They would find out more in this place, right? And then they could save their home... And maybe do their best to help with the others, as well.

Maybe he was thinking too much like a hero, aiming too high, but he felt that it was the right thing to do. There was so much more going on than he'd ever imagined, and he wanted to make up for that ignorance if possible.

Though Port Royal still came first.

When Touma started back for his ship, he glanced first to Elizabeth, and then in the direction that Norrington and Jack had went. When it came down to it, Touma probably had a better idea of where to go than the other two, so perhaps it would be better to stick with him.

"Yes," he said decidedly, letting go of Elizabeth as he trailed the other man.

[streamofstars]

Focused solely on his task, Touma went through the motions of getting Tenku ready to fly once again, only this time it felt different somehow. It took him a while to figure out why, but it hit him hard.

He could never go home.

Touma didn't turn back when he heard Elizabeth and Will walk into the cabin, but he figured he should probably speak to them. "Go ahead and strap in," he said. "Do you expect the other two to join us, or do we leave without them?" Not that it mattered either way to Touma.

[seaswann]

Elizabeth followed Will into the ship. It was a lot more comfortable without Jack and Norrington, but was it right to leave them in this place? Especially those two?

She reasoned that if they really cared, they would have stayed. Jack running off wasn't surprising, but she had expected something more from Norrington. Elizabeth began the task of strapping herself into a seat (how so many belts were supposed to be for safety she didn't know), her actions sharp and stiff.

"Leave them. If they'd rather play Commodore and Pirate instead of trying to save our home, then let them." Though she hoped that wouldn't be the last time she saw either of them.

[with_a_will]

It was difficult to be so stern about it, but when Elizabeth voiced her opinion that made Will more confident about the decision they had made. He felt that they built off of each other's strengths very nicely, actually. Maybe that was why they had stayed friends for so long, and why that friendship had been leaning toward something more lately.

While he had no idea Elizabeth felt the same, he also hoped he would run into the others again. Well... Jack, at least. He and Norrington had never known each other particularly well, and the basis of their relationship had more or less been fighting over Elizabeth. While Jack was no moral compass, Will found certain things about him admirable.

Maybe he was just being idealistic.

"Where are you headed?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound rude. He'd rather know where they were going, though. He assumed it was someplace helpful, but it was best to be sure.

[streamofstars]

"To an official port on this world. There we'll be able to get directions on where to go next," Touma answered Will's question, simultaneously punching the codes to close and lock all the doors. A few button punches later, Tenku was airborne once again, headed towards the port Touma had caught sight of on the radar.

[seaswann]

Her stomach lurched with the rise of the ship, and Elizabeth took a moment to make sure everything in it was going to stay where it was. Would she have to get used to that? Was this going to become the norm until they saved Port Royal--if they could?

Ir probably wasn't the best thing to think about, especially when...

"Are you okay?" Elizabeth asked softly, the question directed at Touma. He had just lost his home, and here he was carting them around. Even she felt a pang of guilt.