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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[fullmetal_smile]

Ed gasped, fighting for breath for a moment before the band that seemed to have wrapped around his chest faded a little. He swallowed thickly and then concentrated on forcing his breathing back to normal. There was blood on his lip from where he'd bitten it, and crescent patterns cut into the skin of his palm.

What had happened?! He looked around himself wildly, barely noticing his companions or the tall man nearby for the moment. He just needed to know what had happened. Why did he feel like he'd died?

Finally, Claudia's words filtered through to him and he gave her an odd look, a wild, scared expression in his eyes. "Didn't you feel it?" he asked sharply, wondering how she could be smiling at a time like this. "People... I think I felt them die." That was the only way he could describe it. Suddenly, the entire universe seemed a little darker, hope a little further away

[fullmetal_smile]

Ed could understand Ichigo's anger, the need to do something to help people. It was part of what drove him to become an alchemist. They were supposed to work for the people, to help them. But still...

He shrugged, still regarding the other man flatly. "The people we came with already left, I think. We're just as stuck here as you are." And there had to be better things for him to be doing than skulking around this desert.

He paused, mulling over what else to say before he continued. "Hollow Bastion. If you can get there, they have a military to fight the Heartless."

[shining_gonne]

K began to slowly wander away to look at the structures of this Coliseum. It was not that the conversation was not intersting, to say the list. The man was certainly enthusiastic and obviously wished to do something. It was merely the fact that K did not feel that he could add anything right at the moment

[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

[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

[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.