The empathetic words and melancholy frown of Lin spoke leagues of her character. Ace was worried about her of course, yet here she was telling him to worry about other people before her. If seeing someone with a broken arm was uncomfortable for her, then he knew he had just cause to be wary. He didn't want to see what the death of a comrade could do to her. A wry smile spread across his face, Lin's innocence was one of things he admired in her, but he just knew it would cause her harm some day. 

"You're right, I did forget about Gavin's broken arm..." He said, his eyes averting hers. "Compared to the worst I've seen it's nothing, I suppose I stopped worrying about the little things after..." Ace let out a low grunt as he felt a pain in his chest, his face tightened for a moment, but he refrained from grasping his chest and worrying Lin. "Anyway, I'll keep that in mind, so don't worry about it. After all, I don't want to become as heartless as the people we're fighting, right?" Ace patted Lin on her shoulder, and walked back to bed, on his way, he passed Shizuka, who was holding two cups of water. She took one look at him, and could see that he was bothered by something, yet she didn't say anything, for as long as she'd known him she knew when he wanted to be left alone.

"Lin?" Shizuka held out a cup of water to her friend. The water wasn't ice cold, but it would be more than refreshing on this hot world. "I've been wondering, how are things back on your world again? Everyone is alright, aren't they?"

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Ryoko let out an exasperated sigh, and titled her head as if her neck had gotten tired of holding it up. "Fine, Sal..." She muttered, wondering how common it was for mercenaries to show such initiative for no extra pay. She crossed her arms in a lackadaisical fashion, and watched as Salforge walked towards the heartless abomination. She heard him utter something, and his blocks began to move in a way she had never seen before. Flat mirrors and piercing lights, he created what amounted to a lethal lightshow. One of the monster's limbs was perforated, and feel to the ground. This didn't seem to bother the creature much, as it continued on it's path, ignoring them. Curious.

Salforge inquired as to the culprit behind this, she had an educated guess. She unfolded her arms, and began to walk after the heartless. "This has Nomis's rusty stench all over it, he's always tinkering with things that man..." She looked back to Salforge with a sinister gleam in her eyes. "That thing is searching for something, how about we find out what that something is?"

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"Eh?... Okay." Asahina took the cloak back, and tried to put it back on as quickly as she could. She hadn't thought of hiding her tendril like hair. She looked like a monster now, but she still wasn't fully conscious of it. She flipped the hood over her head, and followed the man as he led her outside. She tried to keep her eyes down, but couldn't help but look up when she noticed the horse in front of her. Large animals tended to make her nervous, but considering her current condition she felt she was in no position to act timid.

The horse clearly wasn't of the same mind, it was disturbed by her presence, and had to be calmed by it's owner. She didn't blame it, she must have reeked of darkness, and animals tended to know when to stay away from danger. She was helped onto the horse, an awkward affair considering she had to be careful where she placed her claws, though not quite as awkward as her realizing that she'd need to hold onto this man to keep her balance. The ride was silent, which left her to her thoughts. After telling him what had what had become of her, and asking his name, he hadn't said much back to her. She wasn't sure if he simply wasn't interested, or felt it would be a bother to respond. 

After a few minutes he spoke, almost surprising her. "Alem?" She repeated what she heard, only realizing afterwards that he was telling her his name. "I-I see." She responded, lowering her head. It didn't sound like he had wanted to tell her his name, he likely wanted to keep this all impersonal. She didn't know why he was helping her, but as far as she knew she was a burden on him, and needed to get out of his hands as soon as possible.

She then heard something in the distance, it was faint but identifiable. A moment later Alem stopped the horse as he noticed the noise as well. He asked her if she could fight. She honestly wasn't sure. Her body was capable of causing damage, that much she knew to be true, controlling herself was the issue. If she wasn't careful, she feared she could kill someone. "I... Yes." She muttered.

There was a loud crash as a gate fell, and the perpetrator made it's presence known. Asahina felt it before she saw it. The creature was made of darkness, darkness that smelled like holy ambrosia to her. Her teeth grinded together, and she let out a subtle growl. She jumped from the horse, and snapped her head in the direction of the grotesque creature. It felt as if primal instincts had taken over her body, it felt dangerous, but she did not have the will to stop it. "It's. Coming. Should I reveal... or will you kill it?" She spoke to Alem in broken grammar.