[Day 2, afternoon] Exploration Thread, part deux

[arcadia_central]

Who: uSUC, all members who volunteered go exploring
Where: City edge
What: And it's goodbyes, and fond farewells.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, maaaaaaaybe. From here.

Comments

[twilit_princess]

((Because I suck so much and catch like every single virus that's going around and missed the last of the previous post, I'll put my replies to that in here as well. Sorry!))

Midna had dipped her head in answer to Kino's question. "Yes, I am Midna." She put her hand on her shoulder, patting it gently and quickly. "You seem to be quite popular as leader. Much experience, huh?" A small smirk curved her lips there, a link back to the times when she would pull on Link's wolf ears to send him darting in other directions, after he had claimed to know where he was going. Half the time she wanted to pull on his big pointy Hylian ears too. Idiot.

She glanced back at the boy Sky. "We've met, haven't we?" She said, fully concious of the charred ends of her hair. Deciding it was best not to draw attention to them, she bowed slightly. "Midna. Back in my home I was..." She trailed off like him, wondering how to finish that sentence. Twilight Princess. Queen. Chosen by the Diety. "... trusted with the power of my ancestors." A pause, and she snapped her fingers. The Fused Shadows rotated above her hands, briefly, before she snapped them again and they vanished. "Those." It was a small show of her own magic - nothing particuarily flashy, like healing, but certainly useful.

"Incidently, if you need to carry things, if you ask nicely I'll put them away." She smirked again, but then bowed her head again, ever so slightly. "I will do my best to help."

It would seem that the best form to adopt for travelling would be her imp one. Midna sighed. She had been glad to be in her developed form once more, but needs must. She transformed, snapped her fingers to let the largest fragment of the Fused Shadows settle on her head, and then floated nearby Kino, roughly at her head-height. "I can scout around, if that helps. I might also be able to help you kids over chasms and the like." She shrugged her now tiny shoulders. "But like the leader says, let's get going first, right?"

[reflected_hero]

'Dark Link' looked blankly at Kino, his eyes seeming a bit lost and confused. Give him a sword (which Central had) and let him swing it around, he would be able to cut through hordes of enemies. Ask him his name, and things like that, and he would stand, looking lost and alone and afraid. "Here's not my name. Here's where I am." He said, almost childlike - certainly not the man who had attacked Youko in his bloodlust. "My name... I don't have one. His name was Link."

Of course, by this time in his floundering, Roxas had already taken his arm and pressed the blue gem to it. The nameless shadow tried to pull his arm away - magic had split him from himself, and magic had trapped him in one small room. Magic had failed to reunite him with himself. Even in the hands of someone as well-meaning as Roxas seemed to be (though what proof had he of that? Sheik had seemed well-meaning), he felt uneasy around magic.

... until his wound healed up, of course. He held his arm up, before his eyes, a small gasp of breath showing his amazement that he was no longer bleeding. There was still blood around his arm, but that would be cleared by a quick swip against his tunic and perhaps licking. He stared at Roxas with new eyes, seeing him now as a benefactor, someone who would help him for no reason. His mind was still too feral to understand that Roxas felt a kinship with him.

He also didn't understand it was a bit invasive and weird to hug someone he barely knew, but he did that anyway - as close to a 'thank you' as Roxas was going to get. He pulled off him quickly enough.

"Let's go." He nodded. "I want to see outside."

[gold_keyblade]

((*FORGES AHEAD*))

The hug startled him for a moment but Roxas' own nature betrayed him, prompting a shy but genuine smile for the other shadowborn. It was a start.

He blinked at Midna. "We...oh! Yeah, yeah we did. I remember." That he hadn't until she'd reminded him was transparently obvious, though.

And to Kino, he merely nodded. She was right, the road wasn't getting any shorter.

He also totally embarassed himself by striding forward as though he were in charge, realized what he was doing and gave Kino a sheepish look, standing aside so she could take the lead. And, oh so very conveniently, dropping back to fall in step with Youko.

(Also forging ahead)

[kinos_journal]

Kino shook her head at Sky, expression kind. "Don't worry about it" she explained, walking Hermes forward and assuming the others would follow.
She didn't seem to notice the weight of the bike she pushed on the cracked road- her pace was easy, and not too fast for the group. "Well see what kind of pace we set today, call an early night while there's still light to set up camp with, and take stock from there." She'd memorized the map given to her, though she knew it would be changed as they traveled. "We're on this road East until something changes our course. Please keep an open eye out and call out if you see anything strange at all. According to Mr. Central, monsters are very common here. I want to make sure we're not dinner for any of them."

Hermes was unusually quiet- mostly, he was sulking. He didn't like the fact he wouldn't be driving Kino everywhere- that she was walking and after Kino had ended their argument he'd settled into a very quiet sulk.

Which was happy enough for Kino, who'd appreciate the silence to concentrate on their surroundings, and her companions, whom she still didn't know.