Behind the Sun [Coliseum/Open]

[fullmetal_smile]

The Coliseum seemed like the exact opposite of Traverse Town, bright hot sun instead of cool twilight. That warmth was good to feel, especially after so long in Traverse. He'd begun to think that the sun only existed in his imagination. It was good to feel it on his skin, warming the automail which leached so much heat from his body

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[fifteen_lost]

"Well, that's no help, dammit."

Mentally, Ichigo couldn't help but slouch down, his spirits suddenly dampened by the raincloud of reality. Yet his intensity remained, and his frustration was returning; if these people didn't have a ship handy after all, he remained in a helpless position. He'd stay stuck here, where he couldn't make a single bit of difference!

All he wanted to do, right then and there, was to throw his arms up in frustration, and walk away from the traveling group without sparing a single word more. Naturally, Ichigo had a very sharp temper, and required only a tiny spark of irritation to set him off like a cannon. Some of that was visibly seeping through his features, in his grit teeth and deeply furrowed brow, but for a man who had just been robbed of everything, his family, friends, life, and happiness, he was handling himself very well.

Finally, Ichigo let out a sigh, giving the deep well of spiritual pressure pouring out of him a chance to receed for the moment. He didn't look happy, clearly, but he was calm enough to keep from exploding.

He blinked for a moment, his eyes lighting up with a flickering realization. Reaching into the folds of his robes, Ichigo dug around for a moment near his chest, then pulled out a rather hefty pouch. The weight of it was clear, as was the sound, of munny clattering together inside. "Will this do anything?" he asked curiously. "I've been stuck here for a few days now. When I started to get hungry, I looked around for a way to buy a meal or two, and somebody told me I should try fighting my way through a few matches."

Obviously, he had been rather successful to this point. The young man's strength was deceptive, but clearly demonstrated by the size of the weapon he hefted around effortlessly on his back, as well as the display of power he had unconsciously emitted.

"Can't I hire a taxi or something? Is there some kind of way I can get a ride out of this place?"

[cafe_paradise]

Claudia rose a brow. Another companion? At this point, she knew it was not beneficial to turn down more help. Resources for their group were always thin, and this man seemed to have much munny in his possession.

But at the same time, she wanted to leave this place. A barbaric institution, this was. Worlds were being reborn, remade, and these people still strayed from the path of peace by killing each other. Or whatever was thrown into the Coliseum. Either way, she wanted nothing to do with it.

"With that much munny, you could probably hire someone to escort you elsewhere," She observed. "I do not want to stay in this place either, but we have no choice."

There it was again; that burst of power. She had the feeling he was no ordinary human. Nor was Ed, but Claudia felt nothing from him when he used his alchemy. This man was different. Now, it was starting to unnerve her.

"Ichigo. What sort of being are you? You're not human, are you?"

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed glanced over at K in concern, worry obvious on his face. He was still acting weird and Ed hated to see him like that. He was surprised to hear K offer to let this guy join them too, considering his anger of a few moments ago.

"Hollow Bastion," he said to Ichigo. "Apparently there's a military there and that's where the main war against the Heartless is being run from." Hopefully they'd get enough munny soon so that they could go too. He hoped that Al would find his way there if he were still alive, and even if not, that library might have something useful in it.

He gave Claudia an incredulous look at her question. "What else would he be?" he asked.

[shining_gonne]

K snorted at Claudia's question. It wasn't like it was the first time that they had witnessed her rather unique take on religion. If the man revealed that he was some sort of other being, he was afraid that Claudia might just beat him to death.

He turned to the others. "A taxi? That won't get you anywhere. Hollow Bastion is a completely different world, and to get their, we'll either need a ship, or munny to get a ride from someone else. That's part of the reason we're here. We need to get some more munny. If we were to pool our resources, then maybe we could figure something out. On the other hand, if you want to wander off, then that's your... choice." K had stopped himself from saying 'that's your problem,' but that had been a near thing. He was starting to get agitated with all of this inactivity. Hadn't they come here for a reason?

[fifteen_lost]

K was starting to walk a very fine line between being unfamiliar, and being just plain rude. Watching him for a moment, Ichigo showed his distate for such behavior all over his face, his features tightened with tart annoyance.

Maybe this was his first time stepping so far beyond his usual stomping grounds, but Ichigo truly began to wonder if everyone from different worlds were quite so strange. Visibly perturbed, Ichigo glared and let his lips lower into a simmering scowl. She was asking him if he was human? What kind of question was that? "Of course I'm a human, idiot. I know my hair's a little weird, but what do I look like? Some kind of animal?"

It was then that Ichigo paused in silence, his eyes widening strangely, as if he had just realized something. Something very important. He turned his head away for a moment, staring up at the sky with a pensive look locked in his eyes.

Where was his living body!?

In all the confusion, being thrown across time and space and waking up surrounded by so much sand and stone, he hadn't even thought about it. Technically, no, he wasn't human, being in his Shinigami state; the human part of him had been left in the safety of his home, before he left to fight the Heartless. In fact, if his world and everything in it had been destroyed, that means...his body was...

Silently, Ichigo swallowed hard, his expressions slipping into some sort of strange, almost comically pale and panicked shade once the true weight of the matter fell upon him. If his body was gone, he was dead! Stuck in his spiritual body now, there was nothing anchoring him to the mortal world anymore! Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, suddenly realizing that he had died, and hadn't even noticed, was another blow below the belt.

"I'm...I'm..." he began, not really knowing how to answer anymore. What kind of reaction would being a 'shinigami' get him here? Looking a little brighter again, he scratched thoughtfully at the tip of his chin. "Huh. Well...I guess you could just say I'm a spirit."

[cafe_paradise]

Well, that would explain quite a bit. She nodded, knowing there was just something peculiar about the man. A spirit? Claudia had been studying all about spirits, gods, demons, and angels. She found none of this odd. On the contrary, she was quite fascinated.

Of course, that depended on what kind of spirit Ichigo was. Claudia wanted no dealings with a dark being, even though this man seemed hardly that sort. On the contrary, it looked oddly like he had just worked out exactly what he was in the last minute or so. Why else would he have to change his answer?

"A spirit. That is very interesting. What kind of spirit, exactly? An angel? A demon? Or someone in-between?" She asked again, wondering if Ichigo would be of any use to her.

This could be a positive turn of events indeed, depending on the answer she recieved.

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed shot a brief glare at K, realising what he'd probably been about to say. They weren't supposed to be alienating people. Although he had to admit, pooling resources wasn't such a bad idea.

He turned back to Claudia and narrowed his eyes sceptically at the sound of what they were talking about. He snorted in disbelief. "Spirits? Angels?" He rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. They don't exist." Yeah, he was probably treading on thin ice here, but really... they were all adults here.