Not quite the hero I was looking for...

[starlithysteria]

Who: starlithysteria and wtf_keyblade
When: December 7th. Sometime after the Sirens. [Backdated.]
Where: Baseball Diamond / Starting Point.
Summary: A rude awakening awaits Rinoa when she arrives, but Kairi comes to save the day (?).
Warnings: Fighting, monsters and information overload.

Comments

[starlithysteria]

It was a good thing that Kairi showed up first, because the sight of someone that wasn't only a girl, but also looked close to her age... that eased Rinoa enough that she smiled a little. She was still a stranger, but the fact that several tough looking soldiers with weapons didn't come swooping in on her was somewhat of a relief to Rinoa. Although, when the man with the gun came out and started firing... her smile soon disappeared.

Even though Rinoa wasn't so bad off that she couldn't stand on her own two feet, she did not reject Kairi's offer to help and even leaned into her a little as they walked. "Thanks."

Before she could get any of her numerous questions out, Kairi stopped and Rinoa followed her gesture to see the Blaster Edge lying on the ground. She hadn't even noticed it had been on the ground where she had appeared, and her forehead wrinkled as she pouted. Just one more thing that made it so obvious how ill suited she was for the life of a fighter. None of her SeeD friends would have done something so careless as lose track of their weapon...

"Yeah." Rinoa stepped away from the other girl to pick up her weapon, and even though someone was firing at something off in the darkness, she didn't move with as much urgency as she probably should. She assumed that whatever the man was shooting at, he was more than capable to hold it off until she had a chance to arm herself. So, she lowered down to one knee so that she could mount the Blaster Edge onto her left arm. "Just give me a minute..."

[wtf_keyblade]

Despite the dangerous situation, Kairi smiled back to Rinoa, trying to project a confident reassurance that she... didn't quite feel. When Rinoa's smile disappeared, Kairi glanced over her shoulder to the Greeter, then back to the other girl. "It's okay, he's with me." Sort of.

While Rinoa turned to the Blaster Edge Kairi had pointed out, the Princess of Heart scanned her surroundings, shifting her weight in unease. "I guess you have a lot of questions - I'll be more than happy to answer them when we get somewhere safe."

A minute? A minute sounded grand, but Kairi still felt nervous, squinting blue eyes at the darkness, searching for shapes. Abruptly the shots stop, followed by a strangled yell. Kairi felt her blood run cold, silence falling. "Hello? .... Eric?"

No response. Then movement out of the corner of her eye, something lunging out of the darkness at the pair. Kairi couldn't get a good look at it - instinctively she stepped back, raising her hands with an alarmed cry. Then, should Rinoa happen to look up at any point after that, she might notice a flash of bright light and a pained groan from the inhuman creature that had sought to attack what it thought to be easy prey.

[starlithysteria]

Rinoa nodded, because she did have a lot of questions, but she kept her focus on buckling her weapon onto her arm. She paused at the yell that came from the darkness, and swung her head around so she could try to see where the sound came from. Then she turned back to finish mounting her weapon just as Kairi cried out.

She hadn't seen the flash except from the corner of her eye, and Rinoa shifted her weight from one knee to the other so she could turn in Kairi's direction, her arm held up so that her weapon was pointed at whatever had appeared. There was a short moment of hesitation, just long enough for Rinoa to recognize that whatever it was, it wasn't human. After that, she pressed the latch that launched the Pinwheel disc of her weapon toward the creature that was near Kairi.

[wtf_keyblade]

That flash of light did come from Kairi - though it wasn't as much of a surprise to her. What -was- a surprise was the familiar looking keyblade that appeared in front of her. What. What? ... WHAT? Hesitantly she reached out to take the weapon in her hand, feeling the familiar weight - right as Rinoa's disc streaked past her and plowed into the Spitter in front of her.

That snapped Kairi out of her daze, and she reacted on instinct. Swinging the keyblade almost like a bat - or a sword, she knocked the creature aside, then turned to Rinoa, holding out her free hand. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!" What had happened to that other Greeter, Eric? .. hopefully he wasn't...

[starlithysteria]

Once her weapon swung back and she caught it, Rinoa turned her head to look at the hand extended out to her before she took it. She didn't make Kairi bear all her weight as she stood, but it was pretty clear that she struggled to get up now that she was carrying the added weight of the Blaster Edge.

She glanced around to see if she could see the other person that she knew had shown up too, then looked down at Kairi. Her expression and voice both held concern. "What about your friend?" The flight instinct was getting stronger with each passing moment, but even with that, Rinoa hesitated long enough to make sure Kairi didn't want to stay behind and find her companion before they fled.

[wtf_keyblade]

The question had been weighing heavily on Kairi's mind. She glanced from Rinoa to the darkness, then back to Rinoa, then towards the dugout. And suddenly she is on a horse.

"But --" No, Rinoa was right. It was why Kairi hadn't immediately rushed off. She'd been lingering - she didn't want to just take off and leave Eric to whatever fate... but Riku and the others would have kittens if she went out to look for him.

Fortunately she didn't have to. Another gunshot rang out, the sound of creatures drawing nearer. Kairi backed towards Rinoa nervously, her hand tightening on the girly weapon. "Eric?" Squinting, she could just barely make out the image of a man struggling to get a pair of Darkness monsters off of him.

Kairi bolted forward before she could even reconsider- stupid stupid stupid Kairi. "Get off of him!" Her new shiny clashed against the darkness beast, dispersing the weaker creature while Eric dispatched the second with a well placed bullet.

He was injured, badly, but not so much that he would collapse. Kairi glanced at Rinoa, nodding once anxiously. "Can you help me with him? The dugout isn't far from here - once we're there they can't get to us."

[starlithysteria]

Rinoa saw Eric struggling a moment after Kairi, so she had barely registered it before the girl next to her darted off. Without thinking to, she reached out after Kairi, no matter how useless it would have been to stop her. It was just an immediate reaction to protect the other girl by preventing her from running directly into danger.

She didn't run after her, but Rinoa did lift her weapon so she would be ready to fire it if she needed to. The only reason she lowered it was because Kairi asked for help, and as quickly as she could move her feet, Rinoa made her way over to help carry Eric. "What are those things?"

[wtf_keyblade]

She'd be glad to know you had her back, Rinoa. Taking one side of the Greeter while Rinoa took the other, Kairi cast an anxious glance at the other girl. She hated to make her do strenuous work so soon after arriving, when she probably felt horrible.

"Darkness monsters. They come out after the sirens go off every night, and vanish after the morning sirens go off - so no one really knows where they come from or where they go." The weight of the keyblade, albeit light, was a reminder of what just happened. With Eric drifting in and out of consciousness, by the time the two girls drew near the dugout, two other Greeters were rushing out to help them.

No longer in danger, Kairi relaxed, at the same time starting a bit when the keyblade vanished in a nother flash of sparkly light. "We'll be safe in here." Kairi added to Rinoa, her pulse still racing from the adrenaline and fear. She stepped back to let the other girl go in first though.

[starlithysteria]

Rinoa did feel horrible. She didn't understand why her body felt so exhausted, or why a headache was slowly spreading across her entire forehead. She put up with it like a trooper though and moved without complaint, especially when she got a good look at Eric and realized he looked a lot worse off than her.

Her current state did make it difficult to understand what Kairi was talking about, and Rinoa stared at her blankly for several moments before she stepped past her to enter the dugout. "I'm gonna have to ask you to explain that to me again later on, okay?" Because she can't process it right now.

After she found a place to sit, Rinoa looked over to Eric and the other Greeters that had arrived. "Is he going to be alright?" Her head tilted while her fingers fidgeted nervously and soon a conflicted expression appeared on her face. She debated silently over using magic, and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she was hesitating at all... but...

[wtf_keyblade]

Kairi chuckled weakly at Rinoa, because yes - it was a little much to take in, especially at this point in time. "Okay, no problem," once they were back in the dugout the tension bled out of her, relieved as Eric was tugged over to a chair so that his injuries could be tended to.

She couldn't help but feel helpless- sure they got him to safety, but what if his injuries had been worse? She didn't know any magic whatsoever.

The nearest Greeter that was tending to Eric glanced over her shoulder at Rinoa's question, smiling reassuringly. "He'll have a scar or two, but he'll be just fine, not to worry."

This response caused Kairi to sigh in relief, plopping back into a chair with a tired sigh. But her job wasn't officially done yet, as she glanced at Rinoa. "How are you feeling?" They had some bottled water purchased earlier, since the pipes were all gunky at night.

[starlithysteria]

With a nod, Rinoa relaxed after she heard that Eric was going to be alright, her guilt and concern fading. Moments later she had began to look around the room, trying to look for anything familiar that could give her some idea of where she was. When she spotted the bottled water, she reached for one and frowned at the label since the brand name wasn't anything she knew of.

Her attention shifted to Kairi after she had questioned her, but there wasn't an answer right away. First, Rinoa looked back to the bottled water and opened it to to take a drink. The initial sip made her realize how thirsty she was, several large gulps soon followed. When the bottle was nearly empty, she finally looked back to Kairi and shrugged her shoulders. "Honestly... I'm not really sure how I feel right now."

After that unhelpful answer, Rinoa looked back at the bottle and used one of her fingernails to start removing the label from it. Focusing on that made it easier for her to speak with a calmness that she was definitely not feeling at the moment. "Do you know how I can get to the Balamb Garden from here?"

[wtf_keyblade]

Kairi relaxed in turn, alternating her attention between what lay outside the dugout, and to the young girl beside her. She wasn't sure if all that calm was a good thing - she could be just barely holding back a freak out of epic proportions.

"Well,... that is understandable, a lot has happened in just a few minutes, after all." Yanked out of your world, plunked into the middle of Darkness, almost attacked by monsters.. yeah. Seeing the focus Rinoa was putting on just taking the label off that bottle reminded Kairi a bit of a powder keg situation.

Kairi had adjusted well because Riku was here, and Joe, and Roxas - and she adjusted easily to situations. IF she had been in Rinoa's shoes, wouldn't she be just as nervous? "Balamb Garden? Is that near Radiant Garden?" Maybe Rinoa was from a world similar to theirs?

[starlithysteria]

Rinoa made a quiet noise that sounded a lot like a chuckle in response to Kairi excusing her lack of clarity on how she was feeling. It wasn't humorous at all, but laughing was the best defense she had to keep herself from crying. Becoming a Sorceress wasn't bad enough. Apparently she also needed to wake up in a strange place with darkness dwelling monsters. And now it seems that she might even be further away from home than she could have imagined.

Radiant Garden didn't ring any bells, and she shook her head as she peeled the label into shredded strips. "The only other Gardens I heard about were in Trabia and Galbadia." She held a breath for a moment before she spoke again, "What about Timber?"

Something in the way that she sounded gave away that she was losing her false cool. There was a painful knotting in her stomach, and she stopped messing with the bottle because her hands had began to shake. So, she tilted her head back to drink the rest of the water so she could hold the bottle tightly with both her hands.

[wtf_keyblade]

Even though Rinoa was trying to hold back her tears, Kairi was good at reading people. She could tell the other girl was on the verge of breaking down. Regretfully and slowly, she shook her head, "I've never heard of any of those places... I'm sorry."

Shredded strips of paper drifted to the ground, caught by the chill wind. Kairi watched Rinoa carefully, the little tells in her face as she shredded the label. The slight shaking of her hands before she drank the rest of the bottled water, then the tension that followed when the bottle, now emptied, was clutched like a lifeline.

Quietly she reached over to rest her hand against Rinoa's arm. "I know it's confusing and upsetting, not being in your own world anymore. But a lot of people here are in the same situation - they help each other out, and I'm going to do my best to help you too. So, It's going to be all right. Just, take a breath." And if Rinoa didn't break into tears at that point, she asked a few minutes later. "What's your name?"

[starlithysteria]

...not being in your own world anymore.

Rinoa gasped, then went still for a while before she finally took Kairi's advice and took in a large breath. She closed her eyes and tried to will herself to wake up, but once she held the air in her lungs long enough to feel the pain that let her know she needed to exhale... she gave up. With a sigh, she breathed out then lifted a hand to rub her fingers against her forehead.

She felt like crying, and she even thought that crying might have helped, but for some reason... the tears never came. "Rinoa." Her eyes opened and she tilted her head to look at Kairi before she asked what usually came after introducing herself. "What's your name?"

[wtf_keyblade]

As much as Kairi wanted to make the explanation easy, there was really no gentle way to say that she'd been taken out of her world and the people she knew ... probably weren't here. Almost definitely weren't.

"I didn't mean --" Not to breathe at all. Just a quick calming breath - but it seemed Rinoa took it really literally. She was glad that she let that breath out. "That's a nice name," Kairi smiled reassuringly. "I'm Kairi." She was sure Rinoa would be able to cry once the adrenaline and the craziness wore off, when she had some time to herself.

She leaned back in her chair a little, "When it gets light in the morning, and the sirens go off, the monsters will go away. It'll be safe to leave this area then. If you want, you can stay with me at the apartment until you get on your feet - I'll explain everything then."