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No title.
(2013-04-27 - 2013-04-27)
No description.
Sydney Losstarot Its an average day/night in the ever-dark traverse town, the town of the lost. The stars in the sky provide what little light there is here on the outskirts of the town, casting a pale light over the small dirt road. There don't appear to be any others out tonight, because why on earth would one be on the outskirts anyways? Except for one figure, that is...

Plink. Plink. Plink.

The heavy sound of metal upon dirt echoes slightly through the otherwise quiet outskirts, shifting quietly with a light scraping sound. The source of the noise is clear. A young man walks alone at the edge of the road, his attention focused as he marches determinedly towards some unknown goal. His arms make a slight clacking noise as he walks, his metal claws rattling against eachother. Perhaps he isn't alone, as he seems to be accompanied by...three Shadows?! They remain hidden in his shadow, buried into the ground. However, their pale yellow eyes stare forth rather obviously, giving away their position quickly.
Leida The outskirts beyond the border of the town are always dangerous now that the Heartless have begun to plague the various worlds. Traverse in particular seems to be a great wellspring of darkness from which these foul creatures flow. Whether that is due to its permanent lack of sunlight or the strange magnetism is seems to have on wayward souls is unclear. The threat of Heartless attacks is everpresent regardless of the cause and it is for that very reason that the yound demon princess finds herself standing among the gently rolling hills.

Unlike Sydney, the small girl is not completely unaware of the presence of the small dark beings that scamper about the landscape - infact, it is for their presence she has come. Her mind drifts listlessly among the memories of the recent past, floating from event to event as if trying to string some manner of sense out of them, to find the pattern that is so obviously underlying everything; and failing.

Seith had told her that she once commanded the darkness on a level as great or even beyond his own mastery of it even so far as to command the Heartless themselves. Something about his manner has always made her wary of trusting his words at face value but there is no deying that the demonic presence she allowed into her soul was at terrible force of ruin. The seal that keeps it at bay allows for her to be the owner of her own mind once more but with each passing day the darkness inside seems to grow a little stronger.

As Sydney crests one of the hills, unknowing of his small group of followers, the small girl comes within sight. Before her stand two Shadows. They are hunched over, their small insectoid heads tilting back and forth at her as if confused or not quite sure what they are dealing with. Leida has a hand held out to them, fingertips splayed apart as if trying to grasp some invisbile object. Black fire flows gently about her digits in softly flickering waves and she concentrates intently on the two creatures, unaware of the approaching figure.
Sydney Losstarot Sydney continues to walk along the road absentmindedly, too internally focused right now to be bothered by such simple things as children playing with those creepy little things that follow Sydney arou-WAIT A MINUTE. Sydney shakes his head quickly, knocking himself out of his little mindscape and back into reality. He doesn't say anything as he walks closer and closer to Leida, a single brow raised curiously at the scene unfolding before him. Is that little girl...oh dear.

"I reccomend you step away from there, child."

He says, taking a moment to extend his claws in a rather ferocious manner towards the beasts. "These.../things/ are many things. But they most certainly are not friendly." He says with a slight tone of irritation. Rather hypocritically, his heartless begin to rise from their shadows, taking a V formation with Sydney at the middle of it.

"Step away, Child. This is not going to be a parley you want to have a memory of." He says, scratching his claws together once more with a sickening noise. He hasn't actually ordered an attack yet, though...still some time to save the poor fiends. If thats truly what Leida was trying to do. Sydney can't tell.
Leida Leida's eyes close as she focuses on the power flowing from her hand. The darkness bends to her whims, flowing and twisting into eldritch flame though in the eternal night that engulfs this land it is difficult to tell that the shadows about the girl are actually bleeding into her body in a profoundly unnatural manner.

She extends her mind towards the creatures at her feet, probing for some way to break the barrier that seems to keep her from understanding the base impluses that drive them. Just like in the Mako Reactor she can feel their presence but her will is unable to penetrate beyond the surface of their twisted existences and they stare at her as a cat might look upon a human attempting to give it verbal commands.

The sound of another voice shatters her concentration. Leida's brow twitches in annoyance at the interruption but she quickly realises that her pursuit of enlightenment on this matter was getting her no where. The Heartless remain beyond her reach still.

The princess lowers her hand and the dark flames snuff out without a trace of smoke. She turns her head and allows her eyelids to slide open, leveling her corrupted serpentine stare upon the man that stands at her side in a menacing pose. She gives Sydney a quick once-over from top to bottom, taking note of his wirey yet muscled body which is exposed for all to see. The wicked metal claws give her a moment's pause, as does the trio of Shadows that seem to be following him.

Suddenly she blinks and the expression of cold focus vaporizes into thin air, replaced by a startled look of worry. "Aah...! W-who are you?" She looks down at the Heartless and literally jumps backwards a few inches in apparent surprise. "What...?! Heartless!"
Sydney Losstarot Sydney recognizes the dark flame that was extending from Leidas hands, and his brow furrows immensely. She's playing with darkness...but she /is/ just a child, after all. Ugh, tough one. Should Sydney attack, or try and play the diplomat? Sydney breathes deeply, calming his urge to simply attack the child.

"These things aren't pups, child. They will flay the flesh from your bones without provocation. I recommend you find..." The three heartless around Sydney leap forward, leaping upon the ones before Leida with speed and coordination not seen in common heartless...thanks to Sydney being in almost complete control of their every movement, evidenced by thin lines of Shadow jutting off his...shadow, like puppet strings controlling the Heartless. "New playmates."

"Darkness is no toy to be played with at ones own behest, child. If you seek to control it, it shall consume you."
Leida Leida watches in mock horror as the three Shadows at Sydney's behest leap upon the two standing before her. The first falls to their small but deadly claws in a puff of black smoke before it can even react beyond turning to peer at its strange cousins. The other, seeing the fate of its ally, leaps to the attack but on it's own it is swiftly overwhelmed by their unnatural coordination.

Both of the small girl's hands go to her face, covering up the look of surprise and shock. She looks away from the trio of Heartless that remain back up to Sydney, obviously intimidated by his appearance and his clear command over the darkness.

After a few moments of silent staring she allows her hands to slide down far enough away from her mouth to speak to him in a soft whispy voice. "You... you did not need to do that..."
Sydney Losstarot Their ordered target finished, the three heartless return to their hiding place in Sydneys shadow, eyes peering about curiously at the girl. Not the normal kind of curious. The kind that says "I'm pondering whether or not I'm allowed to eat you."

Sydney turns his attention to the girl, his eyes narrowed angrily at her. "I cannot claim to be aware of what these things exactly /are/. But I recognize the eldritch fires, child. Abandon whatever foolish pursuit you were making with them." He says in a somewhat commanding tone. Still, he's not being as rough as he could be. Children are his soft spot.

"But you see, I did." He says with a smirk. "Whatever you were doing with those...heartless, you called them?" He says, a hint of curiousity to his tone. "Could not have ended well, whatever your intentions. Those who desire to wield the darkness-" Sydney frowns, narrowing his eyes at the girl once more. "Are those who are unfit to wield its power."
Leida Leida flinches away from the man's harsh gaze, doing her best to play up to his expectations of a young helpless girl. At this point she cannot even manage to muster up the will to be annoyed at being mistaken for a child, it has happened so often. The people of this world all seem to hail from lands very different from her home. Even there she was fairly short compared to other girls her own age but the people here all tower over her, except for the occasional demi-humans who themselves are rather small by their own nature.

The only thing that annoys the princess at the moment is that she got caught and by another who wields the darkness themselves. She had thought this place to be well clear of roaming strangers but it would seem she was mistaken. Her eyes drift down to the beady yellow stares that linger hungrily upon her body and she winces again in discomfort.

"Forgive me... I... I meant no harm by it. But..." She looks away shyly, peering up at him only occasionally as if unsure of his reaction. "Y-you control Heartless yourself... how can you not know of them?"
Sydney Losstarot It is not but for a sense of mercy that Sydney hasn't read Leidas mind yet, picking through memory after memory in an attempt to find out what she is...and a desire to remain anonymous. If he were to do so, his one advantage over the general populace would be gone. So, todays your lucky day, Leida. Sydneys decided to stay out of your head.

"What harm you meant by it means nothing." He says with an almost unsettling amount of monotony. "A child that plays with a crannequin has no one to blame but himself when it does what it was made to do, just as a child who plays with darkness has no one to blame but herself when it consumes her." He says, as riddly as ever. "Control? Hmph." He says, turning his attention to the shadows in his shadow. (Thats gonna get confusing.) They're half-out-of-the-ground forms quickly disappear beneath the surface into a shadowy blot. "I don't control these fiends. They choose to follow me. For what reasons, I cannot claim to be aware. I simply...nudge them in the right direction when things need done. Still, I cannot claim to be aware of what they actually /are/" He says, scratching his claws together, making a light amount of sparks.

"Enlighten me."
Leida "O-oh..." Leida looks down again and purses her lips in thought. Not a Shadow Lord then if he has no knowledge of the Heartless. Perhaps just another poor soul taken in by a different sort of Darkness like herself or Angantyr, though he atleast seems to be well in control of it.

Her head snaps back up at the sparking of claws and she resumes her timid and fearfull facade. The long bangs that drape over her face add to the shy appearance as she looks away though her decidedly inhuman features clash with this. Not many people think shy and demon come in the same package.

"Well... I... I cannot claim to be an expert on their origins but... the Heartless are fiends of darkness. They sweep throughout the worlds, seeking out... um... pure hearts... so that.... that they may devour them."
Sydney Losstarot Sydney doesn't seem all too surprised by the girls demonic appearance. Its not that he doesn't notice it, of course. But in his time here, he's passed by things like talking animals on the street. Sydney doesn't even care about appearances anymore, it'd be silly to at this point.

"Fiends that consume hearts?" PffHAHAHAHA. Sydney laughs loudly, his laugh carrying that same cruel tone that most evil-laughs do. "I hope you are making some attempt at a joke, child. These incompetent fiends couldn't devour anything if I had it on a plate in front of them." He says, smiling amusingly. The smile is somewhat unsettling, though that effect doesn't appear to be intentional. "Still..." He says, looking back into the shadow to glare at the pale yellow eyes once more. "Perhaps there is more to these fiends than meets the eye."
Leida "It-It's true!" Leida says back at him with a small measure of defiance. However, she immediately shrinks back once more upon doing so as if thinking better of showing any backbone to this man.

"The Heartless are a terrible blight... they have consumed entire worlds... my own included." She gestures meekly at the distant rise of buildings and cobbled rooftops amid an odd neon glow on the horizon, all that is visible of Traverse Town from where they stand. "That place... it is a gathering point for lost souls... those who have been cast adrift on the tides of darkness. Many suffer just as I do, lost and alone with naught but their own memories to remind them of their homes."

She looks up as if realizing something. "Um... what... what of you, traveler? Has your world been consumed by the darkness as well?"
Sydney Losstarot Sydneys face returns to its stern, cold, calculating mode once he's finished having a laugh. "Hmph." He says, looking the girl over for a few seconds as if he's trying to decide how much pity she gets. "You have my condolensces, child. But memories are a weak, fragile thing. One that is easy to lose, and easy to replace. Its better you find something new to call home, rather than spend your life holding on to something that isn't likely to ever return. A vagrant soul can never truly find that which it seeks." He says, his voice still lacking much emotion despite the subject matter.

And then she had to ask him what became of his home. "Hmph. Your tale has been enlightening, child. ...I think I finally understand what happened. Yes, my world fell to the darkness. And little of import was lost that day."
Leida "O-oh... I am sorry..." Leida looks down upon hearing what she assumed was already true. A genuine spark of pity touches her face for a moment. Even though her own experiences in her world were terrible and full of evil memories she still misses its familiarity. No one should be forced to abandon their home, especially not by the Heartless.

Sydney's callous contempt for his world is strange to hear but perhaps not unimaginable. Those of the darkness, she is coming to find, are often not very welcome and a feeling of bitterness can fester in ever the most innocent heart after enough suffering is heaped upon it.

"You are probably right," she offers after a few silent moment. "But even so... I cannot help but long for the comfort of the world in was born. Everything is... strange here. I cannot shake the feeling that I... I do not belong in this place."
Sydney Losstarot Sydney smirks. "Perhaps you don't belong here." He says bluntly, without even the slightest since of sympathy. He'd seem like a real jerk, if not for the fact that he quickly continues. "But you do belong /somewhere/. We all have a place which we belong. And if it is not a place, than there are people who sate the sickness one feels for their home. Search, child. And you shall find. But you must search with a goal, or you are naught but a wanderer." He says, a cold bluntness to his words.

"Do not be sorry, child. As I said, nothing of import was lost. Some places are simply sick with an infection. One that cannot be cured." Sydney scrapes his claws against his palm, quickly extending them outwards. "So it must be cut out. A simple removal of the sick elements would suffice...but total destruction bodes well enough."
Leida The girl merely nods at him in acquiescent agreement. Perhaps there was a place where she might find some comfort eventually or a person who would rob her of the need of such things with their presence. Immediately her mind flits to just such an individual - or six of them to be precise, though they are yet one. She's still trying to wrap her head around the whole thing. What's important is that her affection for them might yet be returned.

"Tis still sad that an entire world should suffer such a fate." She clasps her hands together, weaving the fingers amongst each other, and rests them against the front of her legs. "Um... forgive my prying but... have you any place to stay? If you are newly arrived then perhaps... I can guide you to where you may find shelter."
Sydney Losstarot Sydney shakes his head at the girl. "No." He responds bluntly. "I have no need for help in such a trivial matter. Worry about yourself, child. And more importantly, avoid offering help to those of my...demeanor. Did your parents not teach you such a simple lesson?" That was a joke. Seriously, he makes them sometimes, I swear! "Hmph. I have no more reason to waste my time out here." He says, turning on his heel and beginning to walk away. The half-beneath ground form of the heartless rises up to take one last look at Leida, before disappearing beneath the ground once more. "Oh, yes. Child? Do /not/ let me catch you playing with darkness again. Rarely is the punishment for such a crime as light as telling your parents." He says, a deadpan cynicism to his tone as he continues to walk away.
Leida "Of-ofcourse..." She says with a chastised nod of her head. "You shall not catch me dabbling with such things again." It's not a lie, per se. Leida fully intends not to let him catch her in the midst of attempting to harness her own darkness yet again. Or anyone for that matter. Too many people would misconstrue her goals should they learn of her attempts to yoke the Heartless to her own will.

The girl gives him a soft wave as he turns to go and watches until Sydney has passed out sight before she lets out a deep exhale. What a bother. It seems she will have to find some deep dark place to further her skills in the future, some place where no person of the light would dare venture without good cause.

Checking again to make sure that the man is no longer able to see her, Leida holds out hand and twists the darkness with a simple flick of her wrist. A gaping vortex of pure midnight swirls into being before her and she steps through swiftly, vanishing to places unknown.

 
This scene contained 18 poses. The players who were present were: Leida, Sydney Losstarot