Day 01 - Fish Out Of Water
Characters: AU!Roxas, AU!Xion and YOU(Yes, you)!
When: Early to Mid-morning
Where: Starting in what's now an abandoned subway station
Rating: G to PG-ish? No swearing, but mild horror undertones.
Summary: Guess what Nesreca people. You've got some fresh meat.
( And now for a change of scenery )
When: Early to Mid-morning
Where: Starting in what's now an abandoned subway station
Rating: G to PG-ish? No swearing, but mild horror undertones.
Summary: Guess what Nesreca people. You've got some fresh meat.
( And now for a change of scenery )
"Only one way to find out."
There was the sound of a growing sense of self-assuredness as he spoke those words. Biting back the dread and shock that this new situation left in his gut, he picked up the package, turning it over to find a spot in the paper wrapping to open it. At least for some reason, he didn't think he should mangle the paper like Lucen apparently did around that Christmas holiday.
Carefully unwrapping the paper and setting it aside left them with a relatively nondescript brown shoebox... just no label or anything else that would've marked it as such. His curiosity now overriding any sense of concern that this could be some manner of trap, he removes the lid and tilts his head aside, looking curiously at the paid of PDAs contained within.
"Is this... are these PDAs?" He inquired, despite the obvious answer as he carefully picked one up and began examining it.
Reply
And she continued to, even as she gathered herself back to her feet and started taking a few steps back. Slow at first but then faster until she finally broke her gaze away from the PDA and turned, finding herself running at a full swing sprint in a matter of seconds. Back in the direction of the station they had just emerged from only minutes before.
Reply
As he found himself getting the hang of his new 'toy', the sound of footsteps nearby caught his attention just in time for him to see Xion backing away. He was about to ask what was going on when she suddenly broke into a full sprint. A thought managed to register before instinct as he snatched the handle to his instrument case before breaking into a sprint of his own after her, pocketing the device as he gave chase.
"Hold up! Will you tell me what's going on already?!"
Reply
A pause to recover and then she was dashing down through the station itself, making quick footwork back in the direction that they had first come. If Roxas wasn't fast, he would probably lose her. Because she certainly didn't seem like she was going to be slowing down anytime soon.
Reply
Far more reckless than she was, as soon as he saw her heading for the stairs, his path drifted slightly to her right. With a careful leap, he found to his relief that his abilities still seemed to be functioning as the High Jump he invoked gave him just the added height he needed.
His balance immediately went wobbly as he struggled and managed to keep himself upright; feet finding purchase on the handrail descending back into the station. With some deft shifting on his part, he rode the rail clear to the bottom, leaping off and hitting the ground with an echoing thud before continuing full-tilt after her. He was closer in his pursuit now, a few feet shy of arm's reach as he followed after her as quickly as he could.
"Hey! Can you at least tell me where we're going!?"
Reply
Her pace seeming to pick up even further despite the ragged breathing she was beginning to heave. Her body still not accustom to this kind of running around- tiring more easily than it ever had before. But then, it wasn't really surprising considering things. But that still didn't stop her from rushing forth, whipping past pillar after obstructed pillar, occasionally being dappled by the sunlight that had managed to sneak in between cracks. She nearly tripped over one of the vines on the ground beneath her briskly moving feet, but she managed all the same until she finally wove through one set of pillars over towards the train itself that still stood motionless and aged just as it had before.
But just as Xion seemed like she would dart back for the door, she was running along it until she found an opening and was ducking down onto the track itself. And it was then. Only then that she stopped. Breathing hard with her hands resting on her knees as she stood before the rubble that occupied where the tunnel should have been. The only hint of its viable existence hinted by the tracks that fell away in that direction before they were covered.
Reply
So as he stood there wordless for a moment as he eyed the debris blocking their path, a path he honestly was starting to doubt would even lead to their last home. Something about this place just seemed so radically different from what they'd been used to, he just couldn't imagine that going back would've been as easy as the tracks they took in. He suspected that whatever brought them here wanted them for a reason and until they fulfilled that purpose, they'd be stuck. Of course, there were countless variables in that too; whatever brought them here may either be unable or unwilling to return them, they may disagree with that purpose and elect to go against it or this whole thing may have been a fluke.
But the thing that bugged him most was that once more, they had next to no idea what was going on and where they were. Not to mention, just how they were there. At least in Haven, they knew they had bodies with hearts, but it was difficult to tell here. Panic and fear seemed not to care if you had a heart to feel them with or not.
With a crunch of gravel beneath his feet, Roxas helped himself down onto the tracks, taking a few steps toward Xion and putting his hand on her shoulder. Just when he was suspecting that she might be calming and adapting to one set of hurdles, now was something else that he was certain would bother her. And it's not like he wasn't worried or concerned either... just once more, this was one of almost any possible alternative that he found was more welcome to being shoe-horned into Sora.
Reply
Then his hand came upon her shoulder. And at that, her breath hitched- but then she was ducking out of his reach. Because she couldn't just accept this. Couldn't allow something like this. It was their- This wasn't- Her arm outstretched to her side as she reached for her keyblade, her stomach twisting in knots as there seemed to be an alien strain from this motion. Somehow, it was more difficult to focus on it, will it. Her head was pounding, her mind frazzled by this development. She had begun calling it again easily enough back in Haven so-
Her fist clenched tight and she was rushing over then, the development of searing flames holding to the hand she had previously used to try and summon her key. Instead, she was finding herself rashly taking to the pile of rubble. If there wasn't a way, she would make one. Fire spell after fire spell. Of course, she wasn't minding the matter of the bottom of it probably wasn't the best place to start. Nor the fact that it would probably take weeks for someone to do it with their bare hands. But that didn't seem like it was going to stop her anytime son.
Reply
It was a strange sensation that was settling with him as he gave the situation some thought. Usually he'd be the one insisting that there was a way -honestly, he was certain there was. But as he watched her struggle with clearing the debris, it just seemed to set the notion more solidly into his thoughts that wherever the way back to Haven was, it wasn't going to be through the same way they came in.
After the forth or fifth cast on Xion's part, he finally willed himself into action, setting his case down as he walked next to her and reached out to take her wrist in a firm grasp. It wouldn't be hard for her to pull away from him again if she wanted, but right now he figured she needed a reminder that he was at least there with her.
"Easy, easy." His voice was calm as he did his best to put his own worries aside and sound as reassuring as he could. Giving a moment to let her react appropriately, he speaks up again. "I know we need to get back, but I really don't think it'll be the same way we got in. I mean, look around -nothing's been active down here for at least years. We should look elsewhere for a way back home."
Blame some optimism on his part, but at this point he was starting to hope that maybe they were still on the same world, just a different place. While the city outside looked like a wreck, he'd been reading in books that there were plenty of places in underdeveloped parts of Europe that possibly could be wherever they were. And if that was the case, maybe home was just a few miles and a plane ride away.
Reply
And his words didn't seem help despite the calm he tried to bring to the situation. The implication made her tug out the PDA she had stuffed away in her jacket pocket. She wasted no time shoving it practically in his face. Not intending to be so abrupt but her fear wasn't exactly helping. Her hand was shaking as she spoken up finally, her voice cracking slightly.
"Haven doesn't exist here!"
On the screen, a map had been pulled up as had a search menu. Seemed that Xion had gotten clever with the devices back in Haven. At least clever enough to have searched for the city... with not even one hit. Nothing. There was nothing.
"So, how can we find any other way? This has to be it!"
Reply
Maybe the PDA's map software wasn't updated? The whole place did seem old. If sci-fi movies had given him any crazy ideas, it was that they could be in the future somehow. As far as a movie plots went, that was a pretty high possibility. Or there were things like that parallel universe stuff that showed up in some comic books. And if either were accurate, then they'd need to find some kind of weird machine or magic circle of stones somewhere to get back... but what were the odds that movies or comics were right this time?
For now, just following her implication that somehow, they were just some place else entirely where Haven didn't exist, he couldn't help but to let his expression fall a little. It was almost impossible to come up with something reassuring to say and that worried feeling that he was feeling wasn't going away on his end.
"I don't know, I don't know..." Roxas' hand neatly came up and gently settled on Xion's PDA, moving to gently push it down for the moment. "But look for yourself." He gives the rubble a sideways glance, "It's been that way for so long and I don't think we'll find anything but tunnel past it."
He pauses for a moment, doing his best to try and make eye contact with her, "If you really believe that we can get home by getting through that rubble... I'll help you clear it out."
Reply
Because the way he pushed her hand down as he did and how his first share of words... They sent such a cold chill down her spine. So much so that all she could do was stare at him with those terrified eyes and her hand starting to clutch the PDA tighter only to stop because as afraid as she was, if it was a lifeline, no sense breaking it. If it was a way out, then she would have fizzled out that possibility right there. But all the same, she remained as she was, watching him as he finally looked her in the eyes and...
Xion gulped visibly. Her hand finally lowering the rest of the way to her side. A shaky breath and another gulp and she was nodding. At first a weak one. But then with another gulp of air, she gave a second one. Firmer that time around. Her eyes still looking straight into his before she finally coaxed herself to direct her gaze back at the debris. Standing up straight, hand falling away from his, she moved back towards it, examining the pile with a measured gaze this time. The spells had done next to nothing. Weak. Useless. Just as they had been back when she was first using her powers again. But it only took her a second to make up her mind on what to do then. Xion begin climbing it, pocketing her PDA on the way up. Slipping and sliding here and there but otherwise making good progress where soon enough, she found herself at the top. And there? She began the taxing task of removing the rubble. Best to start from there, right?
Reply
This whole situation was just so overwhelming and while he was struggling to keep calm, the effort of doing so was exceptionally difficult. Roxas was easily certain that she'd seen the brave and determined face he tried to wear for her crack over the past few minutes. Though at this rate, he was inclined to suspect that she was too-wrapped up in her own singled-minded rush to find a way back to have noticed it at all.
That gulp was the only audible response he seemed to get from her and as she began scaling the rubble, he realized that her choice was to keep trying.
The once-Nobody found their role reversal almost sickeningly ironic; to see her so entirely determined while he was the skeptic was upsetting. It was especially difficult to deal with when his own intuition, his gut and every feeling that operated in absence of logic or deductive evidence was telling him that this was not going to get them home.
Still, he'd promised her and good to that promise, he set down the guitar case and scaled up after her. Finding some steady footing near the top of the pile with her, he studied the rubble carefully for a moment before starting to dislodge some of the debris from where it was loosest, shoveling down the mound that spilled out of the tunnel and toward the base of the train.
If he was right, the truth was going to jar her worse than anything he could say he consciously remembered. But now, like in those long-forgotten memories, he found that all he could really bring himself to do was to go with the flow.
Reply
She continued quickly in her progress. Starting with the smaller pieces around first. And then doing her best to yank the bigger ones out. Sometimes pieces wouldn't move and she would have to give up on that venue but other times, luck would have it that she would dislodge one and a half dozen would tumble on after it. All the same, she worked quickly. Proficiently. Even settling a bit into the rhythm of things because she was at least doing something and Roxas was there. Had she been alone, who knew how much more brash she would have been?
But still, as time wore on and she felt her hands beginning to ache, her handle on things becoming more delicate. Sometimes dropping pieces by accident. The pieces themselves becoming harder and harder to rid of. More and more condensed. Until finally, she was met with a wall of it. Her weariness returned. A weariness that started to rise as she began to dig a little off to one side of it, finding the debris that way in the same state. Starting for the other side then. Her prior panic beginning to couple the forlorn feelings of dread.
Reply
Considering that he still suspected that they both had loaner bodies, he really didn't want to bang them up any more than he absolutely had to.
It didn't take long before he hit the same wall of immovable, tightly fitted debris. Showing that their thoughts really didn't fall too far from each other, his initial response as well was to try checking to the sides and like her own results, he found himself at a loss as he began to think that now was going to be as good a time as any to try and talk her out of this again. But then a particular stone caught his attention -something large, thinner then the rest. It looked like it might give if he pulled hard enough.
Curious now, he grasped it by the edges and then strained, pulling back with what might his tired frame could muster.
He was then met with several sensations all at once. Roxas blinked as he felt the whole world slip into slow motion for him. The piece of rubble very audibly cracked and broke into a hail of pieces, a painful stinging sensation on his fingers informing him that he'd just stopped himself from playing the guitar for at least a week -maybe longer. Momentum carried him back as he felt his lungs draw in, but not release as he felt his feet lose their purchase on the pile, that sensation of free fall taking him as he flailed while drifting in the air off the pile, his face a mask of shock and terror as he realized he was about to slam rather hard against the remains of the train and his head was slowly guiding the rest of his body back.
Having watched enough movies, he had a horrific notion of where this was going. With how he was able to guess he was falling, he could almost see it as the impact slammed his head into the train car with easily enough force to snap Lucen's neck. It'd be quick, painless and then he'd find out first hand if there was a way out of this new world after all. But it wasn't on any of the terms he would've wanted.
Then it surged within him; that will to survive. It tugged at something in that back of his brain that prompted him to call on his Aerial Recovery ability. In a moment, the world returned to speed. Like a surge of electricity, his nerves and something else within him fired. In a neat flip, he rights himself in mid-air. Though still flying backward, his position changes as he lands in a neat crouch, sliding back until he hits the ruined train with an audible thunk and flops back in a heap.
Reply
And that worry took root when she heard the loud crackle only a few feet off from her, caught a shift of abrupt motion. And she turned her attention to Roxas just as he began to fall away. For a second, she just stared- but then her body was going on auto-pilot, prompting her to scramble to her feet. Then, she was running a few paces, sliding the rest, and launching herself when her feet found the right timing. By then, he at least had seemed to recall old habits, flipping through the air while most would still be stuck in a free fall. But that hadn't stopped the way he landed rather roughly.
The train rang with a hollow wail as Xion planted her own weight on its hood, falling to a knee momentarily. Her body still just not quite used to that kind of movement and abuse that she had always gotten away with before, being what she had been. But Xion soon recovered and took quick steps to break the distance between her and her friend, in the last moment sliding onto her knees the rest of the way. Her hand outstretched but it seemed as if she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Trying to get a good look over him. He seemed alright. Or was he?
"Roxas! Are you okay?"
Reply
Leave a comment