Adventure Time! [OPEN]

[itshowiroll]

Characters: Sonic and anyone who wants to join in!
Content: It's about time someone went to explore just what was beyond that door in the church.
Setting: St. Destino and beyond
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: None so far - depends on who shows up and what they do.
Note: This one will be party style - make your own subthreads and go exploring. There's

Comments

[freedominthesky]

The woman he'd talked to the journals had one thing right: information was one of the greatest commodities one could find, and, having grown up in a city where information determined your status in society, it was something Balthier himself could appreciate. Information was why he had wanted to come, really, the gil on the side was just a perk. A building outside the walls with a strange door in it... Normally, he wouldn't think twice, but in an already strange place, who knew where strange doors could lead?

The "structure" she had mentioned wasn't too difficult to spot, considering it was the only thing out there. Nothing had seemed too out of place when they had first walked in, and he was beginning to debate leaving the place when he finally caught sight of the door. "What have we here?"

It didn't look a thing like the rest of the surroundings; it was completely out of place. He took a few steps closer to it, examining it curiously. His hand hovered over the handle, but he turned to Fran instead. "Well... Shall we see where this oddity decides to lead us?"

[venit_ex_silva]

Although Fran couldn't claim to have come from the same background as Balthier, she too knew the value of good information. After all, any number of the things she'd done over her years of wandering had relied on precisely that. She just hadn't seen a reason to bother herself with that aspect of the discussion.

A strange door in a stranger place. There was little doubt that it offered something. But of what that something might be, she couldn't say. All the same, it didn't seem that there was anything immediately threatening behind the door, from what she could hear.

"It seems safe enough," she answered with a nod.

[freedominthesky]

Balthier looked back to the door, giving it a last once-over before he turned the handle. "Onto a new stage we go, then."

The moment the doors opened, the sky pirate's eyebrows shot up. Whatever he had been expecting to be behind the door, it was nothing like what lay before them now. "Isn't that interesting?" he half-whispered. Balthier turned toward Fran. Did she see the same thing he did or was this some sort of illusion?

Slowly, cautiously, he faced forward and took a few steps out into the strange, other world before them. It certainly didn't feel like an illusion. That was definitely sand beneath his feet, and he could feel the sun beating down on him. He looked up at the sky--there was one. There had been one while they were in the fields leading up to the church, but when one stood in a field of false grass, it was difficult to forget where they were.

Balthier frowned suddenly. "What do you make of this?"

[venit_ex_silva]

Unless her eyes were playing tricks - which she rather doubted - she was, indeed, seeing exactly the same thing as he was. A door to another world. Who could have imagined such a thing would be here.

"There are stranger forces at work here then we first thought," she answered slowly. Whatever Paixao was, this was a normal island. It had proper grass, proper sand... everything one would have expected.

And yet, there was a strange sort of oddness to it. Why separate the two places? Why lock one away? They were questions she couldn't answer.

"I would wonder why this was locked away."

[freedominthesky]

Balthier put a hand to his chin, his frown deepening. That was an excellent question. A tropical island such as this hardly seemed the thing one would want to lock away. What sort of secrets lay within this piece of paradise? It seemed as though this expedition would yield more than its share of intrigue. More than he had expected, at least.

Although... he couldn't help but wonder if there might be a similar door in this place. Not one that lead back to Paixao, as that one was right behind them now, but one that lead to yet another place. It seemed unlikely, but, then again, if there was one...

He nodded his head in the direction of a nearby building. "Let's see if this place has any natives of its own," he suggested.

[venit_ex_silva]

What secrets indeed? They'd only just barely stepped out into this strange new world (if new it was, and not a continuation of the old). Who knew what they might find out here?

"Or if there are any," she answered, by way of agreement. She couldn't hear anything, but that didn't mean there were no inhabitants. Merely that they weren't precisely nearby.

[freedominthesky]

Another good point, really. It was a little odd to see a wide expanse of beach and no one out enjoying it. It made the place seem... empty, somehow, and that realization made him feel that something about all this (something beyond reaching this place via door) was wrong. Perhaps they'd figure out just what that was.

Balthier began to walk toward the shed, opening the door and looking inside. Didn't seem like anyone was in there. In fact, it seemed more for storage than anything else, and there didn't seem to be very much of value in it.

"See anything of note anywhere?" He meant on the way up as well, of course. He trusted Fran's senses better than his.

[venit_ex_silva]

It wasn't the emptiness that was bothering Fran. It was the quietness. If anyone was here they were as still as statues - and not breathing either. It gave the place a surrealness that not even Paixao managed. At least it had people.

Strange people and sometimes inconvenient people (she hadn't seen Cid lately though, which was likely a good thing) but it was still more than she could say of this place.

"I have not," she answered. Nothing on the way up, nothing here... something here, her ears pricking up and locating the sound almost on reflex; her head following in short order.

"Heartless."

[freedominthesky]

Balthier stopped the second the word was spoken and turned around, reaching for his gun. Well then, the place wasn't quite as abandoned as he had thought, although he didn't exactly consider the company the ideal sort.

If these Heartless were here, he had to wonder what sort of fate met the original people of this island. On second thought, he had a feeling he didn't want to know.

He followed Fran's gaze, eyes eventually locking on a lone shadow gliding across the sand toward them, two points of yellow visible in inky black. The Shadow Heartless eventually arose from the shadow, leaping at them only to dissipate into the darkness that had created it once a bullet was lodged in its skull. "How many more?"

The question was answered for him as more Shadows arose from the ground around them. The corners of Balthier's mouth turned downward in a tight frown. Maybe he should have been a bit more demanding when it came to pay.

[venit_ex_silva]

"An answer to where the people went, perhaps?" Fran asked. It made a certain amount of sense. The Heartless were not kind, and if the people had not fled then there was little they could do for them. It also offered a decent reason for why it had been locked away in the first place, although she couldn't really say it had helped. There were still Heartless in the city, although there hadn't always been.

Still, she wasn't about to let the Heartless get the better of her; one of her arrows neatly skewering one of the Shadows to the ground before it went the way of the one that Balthier had shot.

"Our course?" She knew what the answer would likely be, but that had rarely stopped her before.

[freedominthesky]

Balthier nodded grimly. As much as he'd rather not know, that was beginning to look like the case. He shot two more from a distance before slamming the butt of his gun into the torso of another shadow that had managed to get a little too close to him for his liking. He was beginning to think leaving the door be was the better course of action.

He pushed himself through the attacking Heartless and out the door of the shed, quickly deciding that it was better to stay out of cramped quarters, especially when the door probably would probably not even be an obstacle to the strange creatures.

Balthier scanned the island once he had the opportunity. They could either take their chances and explore the island better, or they could leave with their lives. The choice wasn't a difficult one. They were being paid to look, weren't they? They had looked and found a place beyond what they had expected; as far as the sky pirate was concerned they had more than earned their gil. If there was something of greater value hidden somewhere on the island, they could always come back better prepared. Perhaps with more than two people.

The decision was helped along as the next wave came in--more Shadows, with strange, large, spherical creatures amongst them. "I think I'd rather live to fight another day. Let's be off."

[venit_ex_silva]

A proper adventuring party would no doubt be of good use, should they wish to see what else could be found on the island. It was all well and good to risk life to acquire a treasure, but there was little to suggest there was any here and so there was little need to stay. They'd done as they'd been asked. A higher price would be needed to keep them longer.

Nor was there shame in leaving something of little value behind. Or great value, should it not be worth the trouble and she had to admit the Heartless seemed to be more than willing to offer a great deal of trouble.

There was a brief pause as she cast Immobilize on those that were in range, and then she turned to Balthier with a nod - the spell would give them at least a bit of a head start. "We go."

[freedominthesky]

Well, that'd certainly make their getaway a lot easier. He nodded to Fran in kind and turned back in the direction they came from, putting his gun away in favor of speed. A gun was all well and good when attacking, but it was no more than a hindrance when one wanted to make a retreat.

And yet, as they ran, he couldn't help but wonder whether or not they should make their return. He couldn't deny that he was curious as to the other locations on the island, but, on the other hand, he still wasn't sure whether the risk was worth the reward or even if there was a reward at all.

Well, they could always see what others could make of it. For all he knew, someone in the city might be able to give them the information they need to find a spot of treasure.

[venit_ex_silva]

Without a longer stay on the island, not even Fran could say for sure what there was. Well, apart from the Heartless, but they were not an uncommon sight. Just another of the inconveniences of the city.

But for now, she'd leave the Heartless to the other explorers headed this way. They had hardly been the only ones to be interested in the place. Perhaps someone else had a better idea of how to fend of the Heartless long enough to find something of value.

Should there be something of value. But none of that was anything she wished to mention just now, as she loped easily alongside Balthier.

[freedominthesky]

Balthier shut the door behind them once they made it through, leaning on it a moment afterward to catch his breath and go over things once more in his mind. "So," he began, taking a few more breaths before standing up, "how do you suggest we contact our curious hirer?"

He did hope they'd be paid well. He was going to make sure to bargain for a greater sum of gil to say the least.

[venit_ex_silva]

"There is always the journals," she answered with a shrug. There were other options, but that would likely be the fastest. The city was, after all, a very large place, even if the train system helped a bit and it wasn't like Fran knew where their employer could be most easily found.

Besides, negotiations over pay hardly had to be in person, although it helped.