[center][h3]Frozen Highlands - Young and Old[/h3]
Level 5 Heismay (19/50) & Level 10 Roxas (46/100)
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3,480 (+4 EXP and Rapport)[/center]

Unsurprisingly, few of the Seekers had the patience to sit around the excruciatingly slow stagecoach as Edward’s golems tugged it along the Midnight Walk, so a number went on ahead to survey the path that lay before them. Night in the Highlands might look peaceful, with its gentle blankets of snow and darkness shrouding both wood and moor, but almost nowhere in the World of Light could truly be considered safe. For a time, Heismay contented himself with standing watch from his lonesome perch atop the stagecoach, a short and silent sentinel against any dangers that might spring from the shadows.

His keen eyes could glimpse what the others were up to, though. Edward did well to attend to the Ty-foo that stood to obstruct the wagon’s path; their ride might be sturdy, but there was no need to test its fortitude against the vaporous monster’s blustery breath. It wasn’t long after that that the long-eared hermit began to grow restless. And no matter how warm his new parka might be, prolonged inactivity while exposed to the elements out here would allow the cold to seep in. After a particularly strong jolt from the stagecoach as a wheel rolled over a stone buried beneath the snow, which nearly threw the eugief off his feet, Heismay made the executive decision to set off on a brief excursion of his own.

Just now, the wagon happened to be rolling past a frozen lake. On the near shore huddled the cat-eared huts of a cute little fishing village, their red walls warmly illuminated by blazing campfires, so close that any Seeker so inclined could visit it with ease. On the far shore, however, he could see the dilapidated but distinctive mast of a shipwreck, a desolate vessel lined with long oars and locked in the ice for who knew how long. Going there struck Heismay as a much better way to stretch his legs, and perhaps warm up his sword-arm too, if that warship wasn’t as abandoned as it looked.

Approaching the edge of the wagon’s roof, Heismay glanced down at a young man still walking alongside the vehicle. The boy couldn’t have been much older than his son would have been, which brought a melancholy smile to the old bat’s face. Against his better judgement, he cleared his throat. “Ho there, young lad. You look like a sprightly fellow. I plan to pay that shipwreck over yonder a visit. There, cross the ice. Care to join me? Should we find any buried treasure, I’ll gladly consent to a fifty-fifty split.” His joke might paint him as a more lighthearted man than he really was, but oh well.

Roxas, at least first, looked like he was somewhere else. He was just thinking back to the last conversation he had with Pit before they were all deployed.

[hider=Flashback]
[center][sub][h3][b]The Night Before Deployment[/b][/h3][/sub]
Word Count: 3033 (+4 exp/rexp)[/center]

By the time Roxas made it back to his bunk, his roommate was already there. He could tell by the slightly muffled voice that could be heard through the door. It was not uncommon; sometimes Pit preferred to commune with Palutena aloud. When the door opened the angel paused, sitting up from where he'd been lying in bed. He grinned at Roxas, folding his legs underneath him.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Roxas! Did you know we have a giant robot on board now?"[/color]

[color=gold]”Huh?”[/color] Roxas asked, tilting his head. [color=gold]”Giant robot? For real?”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Yeah! Me and Blazermate went to check it out in the hangar. It's huge! Blazermate said they picked up a new person earlier and she brought along her mech."[/color] Pit didn't mention that it was pretty beat up looking, as that would dampen the excitement of having one on their side in the first place. Plus he preferred to think it would be up and running sooner rather than later.

Pit thought his afternoon of avoiding a huge circus train and catching some entertainment at the rocket league arena with Nero and Nico had been exciting, but apparently once everyone had split up they'd gotten into a lot more action than he did. Speaking of, Pit tipped his head slightly as he regarded Roxas with a curious look. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"What've you been up to today? Feels like I haven't seen you around at all since lunchtime."[/color]

[color=gold]”I went with Jr and Rika to look for materials we could use to make more Poke Balls, and Geralt ended up coming with us.”[/color] Roxas explained. [color=gold]”Got into one fight when a couple bigger monsters were chasing around some wild Pokemon.”[/color]

[color=gold]”Oh, check it out!”[/color] Roxas suddenly said excitedly as he released Scamp from his Poke Ball. [color=gold]”Scamp evolved while we were doing all of that! We were battling a tough Pokemon I was trying to catch and all of a sudden Scamp started glowing and growing bigger until he looked like this.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Whoa!"[/color] The Pokémon looked a lot different now, from a fluffy little puppy to a tall, sleek hound. If Pit hadn't been familiar with the general concept of how Pokémon worked, he might have had a hard time believing they were the same animal. He clapped his hands together then held them out to beckon Scamp over for some petting. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I've never seen one evolve before - sounds cool though."[/color]

Was he supposed to say congratulations? And if so, to Scamp or his trainer??

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Did you end up getting the other one you wanted?"[/color]

[color=gold]”Yup.”[/color] Roxas confirmed, [color=gold]”I’d let her out so you can see her, but she’d be a little cramped in here. She’s a Revavroom that I named Turbo.”[/color] The Nobody fished his Rotom Phone out of his pocket and brought up Revaroom’s Pokedex entry and passed the phone to Pit so he could see a picture of what the Pokemon looked like. [color=gold]”Her engine and wheels make her faster than she looks. And she’s a Steel type which makes her really tough against physical attacks. Geralt caught a Pokemon of his own, too. A Shieldon, and he named it Tirn.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Even Geralt's becoming a trainer?"[/color] the angel asked in surprise. He hadn't expected that of the man. Though to be fair, he hadn't gone out of his way to really get to know him ever since the awkward spar. 

[i]I guess the Poké-mania continues,[/i] Pit thought as he looked down at the 'Revaroom' photo. Were those really supposed to be wheels? Pit turned the phone and his head, trying to get a better sense of what kind of creature Turbo was. He hadn't seen very many Pokémon in the grand scheme of things, but weren't they usually like amped up plants and animals and things like that? Finally Pit spotted the singular eye in the picture displayed in the Pokédex app, and it mostly came together from there. 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"She's like a living car? That's awesome - you can ride her around in the Highlands!"[/color]

[color=gold]”Yeah, more or less.”[/color] Roxas said. By this point he was reclined back on his bunk with Scamp curled up on the floor right next to it. [color=gold]”So what did YOU get up down in the Paved Wilderness?”[/color] Roxas asked his angelic roommate. [color=gold]”Anything fun?”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Well everyone that went to Hammerhead ended up going a bunch of separate ways. I wanted to go to this arena I've been to before, it's like a giant cage and has all these cars driving around inside of it playing soccer... somehow. I dunno how it works but it's really cool! Anyway, Nero and Nico -have you met Nico?- gave me a ride, so the three of us went over that way. On the way we saw this gigantic truck that was like a circus tent with a big ugly clown face and metal arm attached to it which had some kind of busted up airplane or something, and they -the big truck had a bunch of normal sized ones driving around with it- were attacking anything that got close. I think they must have had a ton of the treasure crates everyone else was looking for. I wanted to go check it out, buuut we ended up sneaking around it instead. Well Nico was driving so she did it, me and Nero were just along for the ride."[/color]

Pit flopped back over, laying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"So anyway, once we got to the arena I was gonna look for some of those cases, but I wanted to see if I could find some of the people we met there last time. There was one of Captain Falcon's friends, and Ken, like [i]the[/i] Ken. Didn't see them, so then we went to catch a match..."[/color]

He continued to give Roxas a play by play, up until the return to Hammerhead and the message that Nero was going to head to the Theater of War. The rest of the night had been covered by the meeting, dinner, the service, and the discovery of Celica's skell in the hangar. 

Unfortunately, Roxas had no idea who “the” Ken was. But he took Pit’s word for it that the guy was probably famous or something. [color=gold]”Soccer with… cars?”[/color] Was his first reaction. The Rocket League sounded kind of bizarre, but he figured the sport must have had an audience for there to be a whole arena dedicated to it. [color=gold]”Sounds wild. After we saved the Pokemon being attacked by monsters on our end, Geralt and I captured them. After that we did a little spelunking around to find the ores and stones we were looking for. Oh, and we needed to find a grove of apricorn trees since that was another ingredient we needed.”[/color] Roxas said, beginning to offer a play by play of his own.

[color=gold]”On our way we came across an abandoned gas station that was occupied by some armed guys who told us they’d open fire if we got too close. Jr was all ready to pick a fight, but thankfully Geralt was able to talk him out of it. All we really needed was a solid wall for him to paint one of his portals on for us. So I just used my virtual cubes to make him one. We went into the diner at Hammerhead for snacks and drinks before we came back up to the Avenger.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Huh, wonder if they were scavenger hunters too,"[/color] Pit mused of the armed men. It had seemed like a lot of people had been taking that really seriously. It sounded like they'd only run into trouble with some monsters though, pocket or otherwise, and the rest of the time they'd just gathered rocks. Not terribly exciting, especially not enough to keep up an energetic conversation when the hour was getting late. Pit was curious about why they were even getting that stuff in the first place though, so he asked, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"What'd you need the ore and corn for?"[/color]

[color=gold]”So we can make more Poke Balls.”[/color] Roxas answered, [color=gold]”Or so Dr. Yu can, I guess. We let her reverse-engineer one of our spare Poke Balls so she could learn the recipe for how to make more of them for us. After that all we needed to do was gather the ingredients.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Oooh."[/color] Did all Pokémon trainers have to make their own Pokéballs? Pit was pretty sure there were marts and shopping centers that sold that kind of thing, but then again he hadn't checked himself. Plus, maybe they weren't very common in this world. 

Pit turned over to lay on his back, his wings splayed out on either side of him and his hands folded on his midsection. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I never really got the Pokémon collection thing. I mean yeah they're cute, and some of them are strong, but, I dunno. I used to have one a long time ago -PikaPit- but now he lives on a farm."[/color]

The angel then turned his head to glance at Roxas across the room. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Seems like you're getting really good at training them though. Isn't it kind of weird how some stuff from other worlds feels more... natural, I guess, than others? Like maybe your world and wherever Pokémon come from are actually pretty close!"[/color]

[color=gold]”I guess?”[/color] Roxas said with a shrug. [color=gold]”I never really thought about that before. I know there were creatures in my world that could be raised kinda like Pokemon. But they only existed in Dream Worlds, so you’d never see them without going into deep sleep to enter those worlds yourself. They had a name, too… Dream Eaters? Or something like that?”[/color]

After a moment he admitted, [color=gold]”Sora knows more about that than I do. He and his friend Riku were the ones who traveled through Dream Worlds. I was… well… not really ‘around’ for that part.”[/color]

Sora... the name was sort of familiar, but no face immediately came to Pit's mind to fit with it. 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Aw, that sounds pretty fun... did they go on adventures without you or something?"[/color] As much as he genuinely considered Roxas a friend, he didn't know a lot about the boy's past besides what he'd managed to pick up. Things in Twilight Town, the association with Organization XIII. If he'd missed out on something cool like going into people's dreams, then... [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Maybe... we could go see some Dream Eaters here? If they live inside people's dreams then if we can figure out a way to jump into people's heads while they're asleep, it'll probably lead to a Dream World."[/color]

[color=gold]”That’s… not quite how it works.”[/color] Roxas said with a soft laugh, [color=gold]”It’s probably more accurate to call them Sleeping Worlds. It’s not people’s dreams, but a whole world’s. It’s a dream version of a sleeping world that fell to Darkness and never properly reawakened from it.”[/color] He explained, or at least tried to anyway. It was always confusing trying to explain the things he wasn’t there to witness in his world.

It was a little hard to picture too, though not entirely impossible. Pit likened it to a world in stasis, waiting, and some kind of collective dream formed from its people.

[color=gold]”And the reason I wasn’t… around… isn’t because they left me behind.”[/color] Roxas said, [color=gold]”I’m what my world calls a Nobody. In my world, Hearts that get consumed by Darkness become transformed into creatures called Heartless. And sometimes, if a person with a strong enough Heart becomes one of those Heartless, the empty shell left behind continues to live and exist on its own. Those are called Nobodies. I was, um, am… Sora’s Nobody. I existed for about a year before I had to return to Sora’s Heart. But he found a way to bring me out again later so that we could exist side by side. So the things about his adventures in Sleeping Worlds? That all happened before he brought me back. I guess you could say I was kinda there, in spirit, but still not in a way that let me see any of it for myself.”[/color]

Pit's eyebrows rose up in surprise, though truthfully the thought of someone existing as part of another person outside of them was not at all foreign to him. He just hadn't known that was the case for Roxas.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Huh."[/color] It was a contemplative noise more than anything as the angel thought it over. Like, why were they called 'Nobodies' when it sounded like a body was all they were? And how did Roxas and Sora exist at the same time now, assuming the latter had gotten his body back?

He didn't ask though, because after all...

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"That's sort of like me and Pittoo."[/color] Though in his case, he would be more like the Sora to his own counterpart's Roxas. Either way, everything could easily be chalked up to some sort of supernatural happenstance.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"You don't seem like an 'empty shell' at all though,"[/color] Pit pointed out. Then he turned a wide smile Roxas' way. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I guess a lot of stuff must have happened to fill you in? Anyway, I'm glad you guys figured out how you could both exist at the same time!"[/color]

[color=gold]”Us being ‘empty shells’ is what Organization XIII told us to keep us in line.”[/color] Roxas said, [color=gold]”The actual truth is a bit more complicated than that. Nobodies start out having no Hearts, but over time can… grow one as they forge bonds and experience things.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Makes sense to me,"[/color] Pit replied easily. Sort of like a newborn or a fresh soul. He wiggled his feet at the end of the bunk in a way that would have been absentmindedly if he wasn't thinking on everything Roxas had told him. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"...all this isn't weird for you to talk about, right?"[/color]

Roxas shrugged, [color=gold]”Nah. You’re not the first person who was curious about aspects of my world.”[/color] He said, [color=gold]”You wouldn’t believe how many questions Sandalphon had for me, especially about the Organization.”[/color] The archangel in question had indeed inquired much about those topics from Roxas already.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Alright,"[/color] Pit nodded. He'd asked just to be sure, but yeah, it figured that with Roxas' prior connection to a group they were... working with? That he'd get a lot of questions about it. Pit yawned slightly then. It had been a long day, but only now was it all catching up to him. He still wanted to talk a little more though, since the two of them would be splitting up tomorrow. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Here's one more question for you then. You don't have to answer it if you don't want to though."[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"You, and I guess the other Nobodies too... did you always feel like yourselves? Or like you were the person you were born from?"[/color] he asked, turning over onto his side again to give Roxas his proper attention. He was curious about it on Roxas' behalf, but there was an ulterior reason for the question too.

[color=gold]”Hmm, well…”[/color] This one was genuinely strange to explain, [color=gold]”For most Nobodies, they feel like their old selves, even retaining their memories.”[/color] Roxas paused, and Pit could feel the ‘but’ coming. [color=gold]”But I wasn’t like most Nobodies. I looked different from Sora, and didn’t have a single one of his memories. Even our voices were different sounding. Because of that, well, my life as a Nobody was pretty unique. And I guess my looking different from Sora is the reason we’re able to co-exist. Because we’re not just the same person lacking a Heart like is the case for most Nobodies. We’re separate people altogether.”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"A lucky fluke I guess?"[/color] Pit said. Even if he was a lot more familiar with the process of a Nobody's creation, he probably wouldn't have a better explanation for something like what had gone on with Roxas happening. A fluke was what had resulted in Pittoo's creation as well, but based on what Roxas had just said his dark clone was probably more similar to a regular Nobody than to Roxas. He had always been curious about a lot of things regarding Pittoo, but there was no way he'd ask the black winged angel himself even if he got the chance to. Learning about something close enough from another world was the next best thing.

[color=gold]”Maybe it was…”[/color] Roxas mused, rolling onto his back on his designated bunk. Scamp hopped on and curled up at his feet. [color=gold]”Guess we’d better…”[/color] he yawned, [color=gold]”...get some kind of sleep, huh?”[/color] He asked, [color=gold]”Just one more thing. You mentioned a Pittoo… is he like… your Nobody?”[/color]

Pit nodded before actually answering. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Yup. Or pretty close to it. I mean, I'm pretty sure he still had a heart when he was made. He came out of a mirror, so he's me, but not me? He's Pit, too."[/color]

A brief grin crossed the angel's face. He remembered that Lady Palutena had needed to explain that nickname she'd come up with to him, but once she had he'd found it pretty funny. Pittoo not so much. 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"He's also kind of a jerk, always claiming he's the original Pit and that he's better than me. Which he totally isn't!"[/color] Pit huffed, then shut his eyes and nuzzled into his pillow. Sleep did sound pretty good right about now. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"...but I still wanna find him, wherever he is in this world, you know?"[/color]

[color=gold]”I know what you mean…”[/color] Roxas said softly, nestling sleepily against his own pillow. [color=gold]”I’ve got a few missing friends of my own I wanna find.”[/color] His thoughts drifted to those friends as he slowly started falling asleep. Axel, and his constant grin and bravado. Isa, and his stern look that he always wore when he was annoyed by everyone else’s (mostly Axel’s) antics. And Xion, her kind eyes and bright smile. Roxas missed all of them.

Pit nodded again. They'd have to keep an eye out for anyone and everyone that was still missing, get them on board or at least confirm they were safe and let them know what was going on. With tomorrow, and heading into two new regions, maybe they'd manage to find them sooner than later. For tonight though, rest was a more pressing matter.
[/hider]

Hesimay’s geeting had snapped Roxas out of his thoughts. For his part, Roxas had been walking alongside Scamp, his Boltund. Truth be told he had a means to zoom ahead with one of his other Pokemon (Turbo, his Revavroom), but he had decided to stick around closer to the group as a whole. And that seemed to be paying off now. [color=gold]”A little exploration?”[/color] The Nobody said and then grinned, [color=gold]”Sure, why not?”[/color] It also occurred to Roxas that this was one of the new Seekers and he had yet to introduce himself.

[color=gold]”I’m Roxas, by the way.”[/color] He said, eliciting an impatient bark from Scamp, [color=gold]”And that’s my Boltund. His name’s Scamp.”[/color] Roxas rubbed his chin thoughtfully, [color=gold]”You’re… Heismay, right?”[/color] Roxas recalled when the newest members were introduced back on the Avenger, and he was hoping he’d pegged the right name to the right face.

“Indeed.” Heismay leaped down from the stagecoach. When he landed next to Roxas he only came up to the Nobody’s waist, which put him much closer to the profile of some of his new acquaintance’s Pokemon. “You command quite the following,” he remarked, reaching out a three-fingered hand for Scamp to sniff, which the Boltund did before giving a quick lick. “It seems that you really are the person to ask when it comes to beast-taming. We will have need of your talents to capture Reindrix for the stagecoach, when we find some. For now, though, let us be off.” The eugief cracked a sly smile. “Being a youngster, you should have no trouble keeping up with these old bones, hm?”

[color=gold]”Not a problem.”[/color] Roxas promised.

Almost imperceptibly, Heismay tensed his legs. Then he sprang into action with the speed and agility of a ninja. Running like the wind, he sped away from the Midnight Walk and toward the frozen lake, leaving flurries and tiny footfalls behind him. [i]Patatatatatatatatatatata![/i]

Roxas also broke into a sprint. With flow motion he could keep up with most people. With Scamp following that was lessened somewhat, but the Boltund had strong legs for sprinting, so the only area Scamp would struggle in was climbing or platforming. Both the Keyblade Wielder and his Pokemon followed after Heismay toward the lake. Both would skid to a sliding halt on the snowy ground once they got close enough.

After a quick glance back over his shoulder to gauge his followers’ speed, and an almost disappointed look once they stopped, Heismay shot out onto the frozen lake. Traction wasn’t great even with the inch or two of snow atop the ice, but such was his poise that he managed to stay upright with only a moderate hit to his velocity. Of course, if Roxas wasn’t up for a friendly competition, there was no point in wasting his stamina. Heismay slowed to a jog as he made progress toward the shipwreck, his light weight nowhere near enough to crack the ice beneath him.

Roxas stopping was more for Scamp’s sake than his own. He could just easily create a trail of virtual cubes to platform along to avoid the ice altogether. But he also knew Scamp wouldn’t be able to benefit from that. And while he could recall the Boltund to his Poke Ball, Roxas was kind of enjoying letting him run around with him for now. So he and Scamp did make their way across ice after a brief pause at the edge, but the lack of traction slowed them down - Scamp especially. Either way, they’d reach the shipwreck just fine.

As the two approached the wreck, they both grew more cautious, more out of instinct than any overt signs of danger. A far cry from a pirate vessel, the viking warship just wasn’t big enough to hold that many surprises. Still, big things could come in small packages, as Heismay himself could attest. At a couple hundred feet away, the eugief could discern that a few of the odd shapes laying around or against the ship were carcasses, withered and frozen to the bone. The scraps of worn leather and dented plate suggested they were the husks of warriors. Had the ashes of dead bodies frozen in place, preserving their original shapes, or had these poor souls perished in their home world and been brought alongside the wreck into the World of Light as corpses? Neither possibility painted a pretty picture. “I like not the look of this,” he remarked, his quiet mutter nearly lost in the biting wind.

The ship sported a gaping wound on one side that formed an obvious entryway, but Heismay elected to leap up and grab onto the the mast like a tree branch to scout the ship’s insides from a safe vantage point. Aside from a couple more bodies, though, he saw no signs of danger. Instead he spotted a [url=https://i.imgur.com/CtQhQFA.png]wooden chest[/url], adorned by painted antlers and the scalp of a four-eyed beast. “Here, lad,” he called. “Tis safe. For the moment, at least.”

Roxas strained his eyes and managed to glimpse the wooden chest that Heismay had spotted, [color=gold]”Treasure ahoy, then!”[/color] He said playfully, [color=gold]”What do you think we’ll find in it?”[/color] He asked as they continued toward the viking shipwreck, [color=gold]”Gold? Jewels? Maybe something cooler?”[/color] There was something about the simple act of a treasure hunt that brought out the Nobody’s more playful side rather than his usual serious and introspective side.

His earnestness prompted a smile from Heismay. “I haven’t opened it yet. Will you do the honors, or shall I? Provided that it isn’t locked, of course.” Being a thief only in name, the eugief carried no lockpicks, so if it came down to that the two might need to carefully apply force.

[color=gold]”No problem.”[/color] Roxas said. If it was locked, all Roxas had to do was use his Keyblade to open it, easy as that. When they did eventually make it to where the chest was waiting, Roxas gave the latch a tug. It was indeed locked. No problem for him, though. Roxas summoned Oblivion, the black Keyblade materializing in his hand with its usual flash of purple-ish light. Then he merely reached with the weapon and gently tapped its tip on the chest. Almost immediately, they heard the clocks of the locking mechanism being undone, and the chest even opened itself up for them, no doubt a product of the Keyblade’s magic.

Heismay’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “That’s handy,” he commented, impressed, as his eyes wandered from the boy’s miraculous keyblade to the gleaming contents of the treasure trove. Inside the box lay a variety of different coins, worth at least a couple thousand dennies all told. The distinctive triangular shape of some of the silver coins caught his eye. “Is that…churchsilver?” If this was really reeve from the nation of Euchronia in his homeworld, it would be quite the coincidence. All things considered, though, the coins were small change compared to the other items contained within the chest. Within rested a pillaged [url=https://i.imgur.com/Kf1qOFv.png]butterfly lamp[/url] with inlaid gems, a frozen microwaveable burrito in specially sealed packaging, and a bottle of whiskey called [url=https://i.imgur.com/4Q3mHCh.png]Broadbay 30 Year[/url], aged for three whole decades for peerless depth and richness of flavor.

In an instant, Heismay dropped down beside Roxas and leaned into the chest to retrieve the bottle. “Careful, lad! I’ve seen the likes of this before. It’s a dangerous and highly addictive substance that meddles with the mind, driving many to ruin and early death. As the adult here, I’ll confiscate it and see that it’s properly disposed of.” He carefully tucked the bottle away, nodding gravely.

At that moment, Scamp barked, the sound sharp and loud. All around the two Seekers, the frost on the withered corpses had begun to crack and shatter as the bodies moved, their leathery skin stretched hideously across ghastly bones. They were [url=https://i.imgur.com/4gOnQiP.png]draugr[/url], not quite dead but definitely not alive, dormant and laying in wait for fools such as these to stumble along.

Heismay drew his saber in a flash, its blade gleaming in the alpine twilight. “Hmph. Why am I not surprised?”

With one Keyblade already in hand, Roxas summoned the other one. Oathkeeper appeared in his off hand in its usual white light. [color=gold]”I have a feeling they were waiting for someone to come along and open that chest.”[/color] He said, then charged in to engage a pair of draugr. Their attacks weren’t exactly refined, and instead were sluggish as one might expect from their vaguely zombie-esque appearance. Roxas kept his opponents at bay and then pointed to a third draugr that was approaching Scamp, [color=gold]”Use Fire Fang!”[/color] Roxas called, eliciting a bark from Scamp before the Boltund lunged for the draugr and attacked with flame-wreathed fangs.

As for Roxas, he struck at his two draugr opponents and noticed they were trying to flank him. As a result of this, Roxas changed tactics, dismissing Oathkeeper so he could teleport behind one of the two draugr he was engaged with and strike with the ignited energy blade of his StepSword.

By the time the draugr closest to Heismay rose to its feet, the eugief had disappeared. His would be-assailant looked around for something to kill, its attention turning to Roxas, only for Heismay to glide down from above. “Hmph!” He went for a one-hit kill, his katana aimed for the draugr’s neck to decapitate it, but the blade didn’t quite bite deep enough. He landed behind the undead warrior and followed through with a spinning slash to the back of its knee. At that point the draugr whirled on him for a shield bash, but Heismay was ready and hopped back out of range. Leveraging its greater reach, his foe went for a lunging thrust, but Heismay was fast enough to leap above it, spread his wings to stall his momentum, then ram his foe’s helmet with the hilt of his blade. He landed with muscles tense, then sprang. The draugr raised its shield, but rather than at him Heismay darted past him, sprang off the wooden hull behind him, then brought his blade around for a cleave to part the draugr’s head from its shoulders from behind.

On Roxas’ end, he managed to finish off one draugr with a quick few strokes of his Keyblades. But he still had the other two to contend with, plus another that was now approaching from the flank. [color=gold]”Thunder!”[/color] The Nobody chanted, calling down a Thundaga spell to pepper the surrounding Draugr with lightning bolts that managed to finish off the one that was already damaged and soften up the other two. Meanwhile he spotted Scamp still engaged with his one draugr, baring his fangs as the undead warrior recovered from the Fire Fang hit and was swinging his heavy-looking battleaxe.

[color=gold]”Wind!”[/color] Roxas chanted, casting an Aeroga spell on Scamp that summoned a shield of whirling wind around the Boltund that blunted a good chunk of the damage that axe would have dealt, [color=gold]”Use Spark!”[/color] Roxas commanded. With a bark, Scamp lunged forward and slammed into the draugr with an electrified body, dealing the normal electric type damage in addition to some additional touch damage from the Aeroga cloaked around him.

Back in his own fight, Roxas used his StepSword again to get out of being flanked. The ignited energy sword seemed to be enough to finish off the draugr, leaving just one that was coming in through the main entrance. But there was another one a little further back, and this one was aiming a bow and loosed an arrow that sang through the air toward the Keybearer as he was distracted by striking down the other remaining draugr he’d been engaged with. [color=gold]”Reflect!”[/color] Roxas chanted, hoping he was quick enough on the draw.

On the other side of the ship, Heismay narrowly avoided the heavy axe of a bearded, armored cadaver as it hacked into the floor. The draugr then swung its axe like a club, sending a handful of debris flying. With a grunt, Heismay guarded his face as best he could. The draugr charged, but Heismay went low, slipping beneath the swing as his enemy chopped a deep furrow into the ship’s hull. Thinking quickly, Heismay transformed before the draugr could turn around. “O, power of kings!” Now in his Thief form, he kicked his foe into the wood, further weakening it, then stepped forward with a stronger kick that smashed the draugr through the withered wood and onto the ice. As it sprawled, dark magic ignited in his palm. “Shadows, rage!” He cast Mudo, and the spell flew out to detonate atop the draugr in a nebulous blast. Afterward Heismay shrank down to his normal self, only to see that the heavy draugr wasn’t quite done for. He jumped out of the ship to finish the fight.

Back inside the ship, Roxas’ Reflect spell just barely managed to shimmer in time to catch the incoming arrow and shield the Keyblade Wielder from it. As a bonus, the draugr archer ended up being the one to take the damage instead due to the spell’s effect. [color=gold]”Too close.”[/color] Roxas muttered, [color=gold]”Scamp - after him! Use Spark!”[/color]

With a bark, Scamp darted past Roxas and the greatsword-wielding Draugr he was engaged with and slammed into the Draugr archer. Both the Spark and the touch damage from the Aeroga spell did their thing and the Draugr staggered back, its aim now off balance as it was forced to abandon archery to deal with its canine opponent. [color=gold]”Go for a Fire Fang!”[/color] Came Roxas’ voice, eliciting a growl and bark from the Boltund as he lunged for the draugr and attacked with flame-wreathed jaws.

At the same time, Roxas had managed to roll out of the way of a heavy greatsword swing before pushing himself off of a nearby wall to build up a small amount of flow motion momentum that he then channeled into a stronger Keyblade strike against the draugr. Both it and the one Scamp had bitten appeared to be down for the count. [color=gold]”Is that all of them?”[/color] He asked aloud, hoping Heismay was still faring okay.

Outside, Heismay had already found the answer. The moment he jumped out to finish the heavy draugr, another that had previously been slumped outside slashed him with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/XYTh28s.png]reinforced longsaber[/url]. “Agh!” he hissed through gritted teeth as he fell, his white fur stained with blood. As his attacker advanced, he was forced to cede space and allow the axe-wielder to retrieve his weapon unchallenged. “I yet stand!” In a straight fight this two-on-one against much larger opponents would be difficult, especially with the evident quality of that swordsman’s weapon. If Heismay had seen [i]that[/i] on the way in, that draugr would’ve awakened with an empty grip. At least he had plenty of room to work with.

“You think yourself equal to a eugief’s agility?” Heismay took off running over the ice. The swordsman gave chase in a frenetic, ungainly gallop, while the more damaged warrior lagged behind. “Thief!” Once far enough away, the eugief transformed and expended a bit more mana to knock the swordsman down with Mudo. “Expect no quarter!” Then, while the fallen draugr recovered and the other closed in, Heismay raised his blade in his Archetype form. He unleashed Dark Sword, targeting not the undead but the ice between them. The shadowy cleave sent snow flying as it carved into the ice, spreading cracks. When the draugr attacked, Heismay leaped into the air, then came down atop the heavy. “Your fate is sealed!” The impact broke the ice, and the draugr could only flail feebly as he sank between the shards into the frigid water.

That left the swordsman, which lunged toward Heismay for a shining slice, just as he expected. After reverting to normal to not sink alongside the warrior into a watery grave, Heismay dashed beneath the swing, his vertical slash a touch quicker on the draw. The draugr’s arm flew off, severed at the elbow, and Heismay slumped down on the ice as his foe stumbled into the water. The longsaber stuck, blade-first, into the ice beside him.

By this point, Roxas and Scamp had made their out of the viking ship and back outside. And while there didn’t appear to be any battle happening still, it didn’t take the Keyblade Wielder long to notice his injured compatriot. He approached Heismay and held his Keyblade up aloft. [color=gold]”Heal!”[/color] Roxas chanted, expending his remaining MP on Curaga that washed over himself, Heismay, and even Scamp too. [color=gold]”Looks like we got ‘em all.”[/color] The Nobody said as Scamp barked triumphantly.

Heismay nodded as his wounds disappeared. “Tis so. My thanks lad, that’s a big help.” Standing, he pried the reinforced longsaber from the ice to compare it to his own sandglass katana. It was sturdier, longer, heavier, and able to hold a sharper edge. “A fine reward,” he remarked, exchanging the blades. He looked between Roxas and his hound. “Have you collected everything else?”

[color=gold]”Oh! Uh…”[/color] Roxas said sheepishly, [color=gold]”Guess I got caught up in fighting and forgot to. Easy fix though.”[/color] He beckoned for Scamp to follow him back to the chest so he could grab the remaining stuff. And he also went ahead and made sure to collect the draugr’s spirits and check for anything else they left behind. That mostly amounted to their weapons and none of them looked nearly as good as the one Heismay had scored, so Roxas didn’t feel bad about leaving those behind.

Once he was pretty sure he had everything, Roxas and Scamp linked back up with Heismay so the two of them could catch back up to the other Seekers. [color=gold]”Nice haul.”[/color] Roxas said with a smile, although the longsaber was clearly the main prize. Unless the butterfly lamp had some kind of magic to it that they couldn’t see. Roxas was no expert there, so if it did have an enchantment on it he had no way of recognizing it. Regardless, that was still some pretty interesting adventuring on the side. The Seekers’ wagon was just up ahead, still moving relatively slowly because of Edward’s golems. But that was fine, it meant Roxas and Heismay had an easy time linking back up with the others.