Third Fragment | Open to All

[earthshards]

Characters: AU Terra and whoever crosses his path
Setting: Multiple! [Floor 1] the Kitchen, [Floor 3] the Library, [Floor 14] the Media Room, [Floor 6] - Night time, the Forest
Summary: [1] Just preparing lunch, now that there's actually food to do it with. And much to the surprise of, strangely enough, himself, he actually knows what he's doing. It's like riding a bike; you never really forget.
[2] Terra's looking for something interesting to read, and actually finds more than he bargained for.
[3] No chance getting bored in here, that's for sure! Might as well see what's available.
[4] Rusty. He's too rusty, even after a year or more in the Realm of Darkness. Time to get some practice in.
Format: I'll start in [Action], but I'm willing to follow your lead.
Warnings: Um... Not sure. Keyderp stuff, likely. If Xehanort or Xigbar show up, they're their own warnings.

[1]

[Anyone stopping by the cafeteria will be quick to note the sounds and smells of someone at work in the kitchen. Anyone curious enough to take a peak will find a tall, dark-haired man wearing a black hooded coat at work, a knife in hand as he continues to prepare ingredients and an oddly relaxed look on his face.

It actually looks like he knows what he's doing, and he seems to be 'in the zone', as it were, though it won't take much to draw him out of it if you want to know what he's making.]

[2]

[Terra has stopped by this library before a few times since his re-arrival, and today was no different. As strange as it might be to those who knew him, he was finding himself enjoying the quiet of the place. With his lack of knowledge about a vast number of the topics that are written about, he's happy to spend a few hours reading one of the many volumes.

It's a carry-over from his 'Apprentice' days, but not a terrible one. He vaguely remembers someone always telling him he should crack open a book more.

As he's searching the shelves, he comes across something... odd. A set of bound papers without a proper cover. Curiosity getting the better of him, he pulls the set of what appear to be research notes off the shelf, settles in at one of the many tables, and begins to read...]

[3]

[It was good to know that if he ever became bored with the library, this floor offered a good alternative. It still isn't quite what Terra has been searching for these past few days, but maybe watching one of those movies or listening to music would be a good way to unwind after training.

Once he finds a good place to do that. For now, he'll be looking at each of the game consoles, seeing what's available for them.]

[4]

[Night is falling, and the more dangerous forms of wildlife on the forest floor are starting to become more active. If anyone should enter the forest, they can follow the sounds of crackling and an odd whirring to a tall man in a black coat in the midst of fighting. In one hand is a very peculiar-looking sword, and in the other? A beam of solid red light that looks like the blade of a light-saber, but lacking in any sort of visible hilt.

He's surprisingly fast, all things considered, and looks like he's handling himself well enough. But the night is just starting, and things will only get worse from here. Does he really want to be out in the tower this late?]

Comments

[1] Kitchen

[forceless]

[Oh man, even though it had been a good week of relatively normal food (at least for the tower), the thought of some actual food was still pretty enticing after the month of having to fend for himself.

Ven was a naturally nosy kid, so even if he wasn't gonna get any of that food on his own, he's standing in the kitchen door grinning at this stranger (?) from behind.]

Hey-- what's cooking?

[earthshards]

[The stranger(?) briefly freezes in place and stops his work. It takes a few seconds before he replies, but when he does?

Ven, you should recognize this voice. It's carefully controlled, like he's trying to maintain his composure, and it's a little rough, like it hasn't been used in some time, but it's still very recognizably Terra's.] Some sort of stuffed flat bread. The recipe looked easy enough.

[The knife gets put back to work, cutting a couple of peeled potatoes into large chunks. There's a hint of a waver in his voice this time, but it's so brief that it could be waved off as just hearing things.] I could make you one, too, if you'd like.

[Note, he hasn't turned around. He doesn't trust himself to not crack if he does. Hearing Ven's voice over the network was one thing; seeing Ven? He won't be able to keep the emotions at bay.]

[forceless]

[The voice hits him almost instantly-- he narrowed his eyes in both suspicion, scrutiny, and interests.] Terra...?

[It hadn't really been that long since he'd seen him, when he thoughts about it. But it still felt like forever. He stepped closer into the kitchen, nonchalantly walking up to stand next to him.] I... didn't know you could cook.

[That was kind of the least weird thing about this situation, but he had to start somewhere.]

[earthshards]

[A quiet laugh escapes him before he can even attempt to hold it back.] It caught me off guard at first, too. But it's familiar enough that I can almost remember it clearly; I think Aqua and I used to take turns.

[But he never made dessert. That sticks out, for some reason. Maybe the memory will come back.

Up close, it's easier to tell that he's trying to keep his composure.]

4 and up for sparing if it heads that way.

[drknss_bnd_lght]

[This Ventus didn't know that it was night. He only knew that the animals of the forest had gotten a little more dangerous. Nothing that he can't handle, yet, anyway.

He'd just started to fight the animals when he picks up on the sounds that the other is making. Curiosity gets the better of him -and importantly, Ventus allows it too as he follows the sounds. He tries to not get too close, but close enough to pick out sounds and hopefully identify who this is.

It's easier said that done when one wears a blindfold. But he manages it, somehow.] I didn't know anyone else was here.

sparring is fine with me o7

[earthshards]

[The second Terra hears that voice, the lone Ethereal Blade he's called is dismissed with a barely audible, almost indistinguishable sound.

There's a small break in the creatures, so he feels he can actually afford to talk.] It's getting dark out; I figured I would take advantage of it.

[A pause.] What are you doing out here, Ven?

[And what's with the blindfold?]

<3

[drknss_bnd_lght]

It's Ventus. [There is bitterness in his voice, but it's gone soon enough. HE's gotten used to people calling him Ven.] Training.

[He holds up Wayward wind - it's a bit battered, much like his heart is. It could be linked to the state his heart is in or the fact that the keychain attached to the blade is also battered and scratched. One of the two anyway.] I can't afford to slack off.

[2] Library

[beknightedheroine]

<sub>[So okay, Sayaka has actually gotten more attached to hanging out in the library than she would like to admit. It'd sure ruin her ~carefully cultivated reputation~ of being a non-academic, but, well...

She's a creature of habit, and Sayaka was mostly biding her time until she saw someone she knew. Yes, that's the perfect excuse. ...well, that didn't happen, but she did see a fellow leafing through a set of papers. He looked a little familiar, like she'd seen him once, a long while ago...? Ah, probably not.

Bothering people that are trying to read is another one of her long standing hobbies. Sayaka slips into the open chair opposite of Terra, and leans forward over the table a bit -]</sub>

Reading anything interesting?

[earthshards]

[He's on the third page when he hears the voice across from him. Looking up, and--

... did Aqua have a younger sister that he didn't remember? Or possibly never knew about? He blinks, before mentally brushing off the shock and visibly forming a half-smile.] Sort of. It's... more 'enlightening' than interesting, though.

[And a little bit horrifying, consider he knows who the author is.]

[beknightedheroine]

_{[A sister-from-another-dimension, as it were.]}

What, is it like, someone's philosophy manifesto? Some of the people you meet around here, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd left it laying around.

_{[Mark her genuinely curious. She's never seen anything looking like those papers around before, but then again... ..Sayaka isn't the most observant person]}

2

[warriorscribe]

*There are miniature piles of books the next table over, along with a cafeteria plate and the lingering ammonia smell of century egg, thankfully somewhat mitigated by the multiple cups of green tea in front of the blond reader. Enoch pauses from reading to roll his neck and rest his eyes a moment, opening them again when he hears movement. He watches Terra sit down with his own book and rubs the back of his neck before starting to sort the book piles to his right by subject. He doesn't think to address the other reader; after all, he's reading.*

[earthshards]

[Terra's already sick of reading the documents he's discovered-- or rather, is feeling ill. The smell of the green tea is enticing, and he's curious about that stack of books that his fellow reader has gathered around him.

Well. Talking to someone beat reading over some bizzaro version of reports that 'he' had written a decade ago.] Find anything interesting?

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch looks up from his book-sorting.* Many things. I didn't realize how much there was to learn about the world.

*A bit of sheepishness in that expression. It's probably not as new to others as it is to him.*

[4] Floor 6

[madannoshashu]

[ The answer to that question should honestly be no. It's not wise to be out so late, especially amidst all the monsters who roam the area at night.

To him, though, it's familiar ground. He's hunted in the forest many times before, and there's nothing here that intimidates him.

Every now and then, of course, he spots an oddity. This evening is no different as he scopes out the newcomer. It gives him pause, those mismatched blades...

For now, he'll opt to watch from above. ]

[earthshards]

[The fighter in question keeps up the pace, the difference in weight between the two very different weapons only a minor hindrance. It's simple enough to tell that he's used to fighting with two extremely light weapons, as he tries to compensate for the weight of the blue blade by reducing the speed of his attacks. The rhythm of what should be a never-ending storm of slashes is thrown off, and the fighter--

Well. He's good at dodging. And teleporting as well, though only a few feet away at a time. With each teleport, that Keyblade is getting held up and a spell of some kind is getting cast through it-- usually a Firaga, but occasionally, the flames act... different. Sometimes the fireball moves at a slow pace through the air, sometimes the fire splits into three and spins around, covering a larger area and hitting multiple enemies at once.

There's too many spell variations for this person to be using Vexen's clever little 'panels'. And then there's the occasional Strike Raid, or Sonic Blade, or variations thereof. There's even a slash attack that takes out a few of them in one quick strike.

It's interesting to watch, at the very least, because of the sheer variety of attacks he's using. But the fight is winding down, and to the observant, it's clear that the fighter, however skilled he might be, is still trying to piece together a cohesive fighting form. His steps sometimes stumble, he hesitates a second or two too long between spells or attacks, the barrier that he throws up occasionally flickers as if unstable.]

oof, sorry for the delay x_x

[madannoshashu]

[ Curious, indeed.

It's hard to tell from this vantage point exactly who (perhaps what) he's looking at, but the variation in style, technique, and weaponry certainly lends itself to more questions than actual conclusions.

The Keyblade, it seems, is a dime a dozen these days so he doesn't particularly give that much thought -- it's more than it's in conjunction with the use of a Black Coat and that oddly familiar barrier...

Still watching from afar, he'll give it another few minutes to see what else he can determine. ]

3

[keybearer]

[Well, while Terra looks around the media floor, he's sure to find this Riku wandering around and doing... pretty much the same thing! However, when Riku spots Terra, he stops for a moment. Black coat usually means Organization, but he just can't be too sure.]

See anything interesting?

[earthshards]

[An unfamiliar voice, and Terra looks up towards it--

Woah. Woah. Surprised, for a few seconds, before cracking a grin and laughing a little at the irony. He shouldn't be surprised to encounter any form of Riku here. This one's younger than the one that wore the coat and blindfold he had encountered previously, and younger than the one he vaguely recalled from the Castle that Never Was.

He could roll with this.] Just about all of this is new to me, so 'everything' is interesting.

[keybearer]

Huh. Not used to technology?

[Then again, Destiny Islands isn't really a technology super center either. And worlds do vary from place to place.

He shrugs.]

[1] Kitchen buddies? c:

[pitiedthefool]

[After the first week back, he really should have expected there to be another person possibly making something as well. So when he finally arrived in the cafeteria to hear and smell something going on in the kitchen, he gives a brief pause before continuing on. After all, it would be rude not to at least say hello since he was... going to at least try and work in the same place, yet give the other space.]

...Hello. [a pause] What are you making?

kitchen buddies! :D

[earthshards]

Hm? [He stops prepping and puts the knife down before looking over his shoulder at the source of the somewhat familiar voice.] Hey there. It's a stuffed flatbread.

[There is a recipe card just visible on the counter...] Turns out there were enough ingredients for it.

\o/

[pitiedthefool]

Ah. [Yu nods faintly, gathering ingredients for what he planned to make. There was no recipe card; it was all by memory.]

It's rare for that to happen, but that just makes it all the better.

4 - Wow so late, clearly I'm early already. orz

[justabignobody]

[It's not unusual for Riku to go out fighting at night and to stay out all night, far from really, but after all the months he's spent here, he knows the floors that are suited for fighting and the ones that just put him on major disadvantage, which is why he usually avoids this floor if possible.

Except... he can't quite help but stop, when he senses someone... familiar on that floor. A strange mix of scents he knows, but he can't quite pinpoint.

He hesitates a moment, before his curiosity gets the better of him and he enters the floor, grip tight around Soul Eater, he can't effort to be careless around here.]

[earthshards]

[It should be more than easy enough to follow the sounds of combat. And the unmistakable sounds of Heartless being destroyed.

The smell of ozone gets stronger as the sounds grow louder, the crack of Thunder-based spells providing an answer as to what was destroying the mutated Heartless of the tower.

It very much sounds like the fight is picking up, the crackling sounds becoming more frequent, the occasional shout of whoever it is that is actually doing the fighting.

They... might need help, if this keeps up. The mutations don't seem to be relenting, if the sounds are anything to go by.]

[justabignobody]

[It's indeed not all too hard to follow the noise - they are far to familiar, and if Riku didn't know better, he would think himself in the woods that separate their hideout from the Tram Common in Twilight Town.

He sticks to the shadows of the trees though; after his encounter with Xigbar he'd rather prefer to know who is fighting before he jumps in blindly. Or well... 'blindly'.]