If only I was a Llama...(Rocket)

[Rocket!]

...mmm.

Cue the awkward silence...

Looking up, down, and all around, Mora suddenly grabbed her hat and shook it fervently. One fervent shake later, the large baseball cap was a French beret. Slapping it on her head, and stuffing what she could of her hair into it, Mora started walking towards the right.

The exit she hadn't come in through, basically.

She'd decided waiting for something to happen wasn't working. And, not one for awkward silences, Mora decided to head down to where one of her, erm, past associate had said had been a haunting ground for him.

She hoped the beret would be enough to fool the guy, assuming she did run into him. I mean, it had been... five years now?

Either way, it was better than forced small talk.

[Dante]

"Hey, where you going? Hope it's not somewhere too dangerous." Dante looked Mora's way, the rest of his body still facing towards the open space. To be truthful, Dante really wanted to talk to somebody for once. He was lonely. No one came over to say hello while he was living here, or anything. He was surprised that Mora even talked to him at all. If she was going somewhere, he would like to follow.

[Rocket!]

"If you're coming, get a move on!" Mora shouted back behind her as she kept moving forward. No way was she gonna wait. Pulling the beret down a bit, Mora kept moving forward.

She'd decided to check out where a huge bunch of Heartless once lived. Certainly interesting, right?

Running across the steps, and in some cases skipping, Mora padded determinedly along the path.

[Dante]

Taking up on Mora's offer, Dante started for her path, soon catching up to her. Hopefully she didn't think he was a stalker, or something of the same matter. If she asked, he would have to come clean with her and tell her what he really didn't want to share. His cleaver jangled a little as he walked down the steps, his feet making no audible sound at all.

Wait! Wasn't Mora wearing a cap? Was she wearing a freaking beret? Either this girl was crazy, or she was really big on hats.

[Rocket!]

"Hup!" Throwing her body over the railing, Mora landed on the ground floor with a slight "Umpf."

Resolute, Mora lept to her feet and began to jog down towards the Vale of Villains.

Hopefully, she thought as she bit her lip, Mr. Tall Guy won't shy away from visiting the big mansion place. I'm kinda curious to see his thoughts on it...

[Dante]

Dante folloed Mora over a rail and landed with a loud thud. He didn't land on his rump or anything, he was just a pretty good size. Mora was walking towards... Vale of Villains! Why was she heading there, of all places? Couldn't she have, you know, traveled somewhere like a cliff or something and just look at it from there? This was where Madam's power would most likely be strongest and he didn't like the thought of that, but he went with Mora anyways. Something could happen and if it did, Dante wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing that he could've prevented it.

Dante was really wanting to ask a question, but he couldn't. It would invade her privacy... but... sigh. "Hey, Mora. Why are we heading towards the Vale? Is there something valuable in there?"

[Rocket!]

Mora turned her head back to face Dante while continued her forceful walk towards the Vale. "More like what's past it, actually. The big castle thing...." Looking around and up at the far off yellowed structure that commanded the attention of the entire Vale with it's presence, Mora's eyes grew larger for a second.

...Todd.

BAH! Buh-wah! Mora suddenly shook her head out of that mental rut. No need to go about beating dead horses.

"The big castle thing," she repeated, "a-- well, someone I knew said he used to hang out there. I thought I'd just, you know, check it out."

Of course, then she remembered her manners. "Oh, but-- uh, you don't have to come. If you want." Mora offered, throwing her head back over her shoulder.

[Dante]

This was interesting. Someone was past the Vale of Villains? No, wait, he used to be past the Vale... Where was he now, then? Dante listened to Mora's offer and began to speak, "If this is something personal that's between you and that guy, I'll go. It's your call. I only came to make sure you weren't going to be in any danger." Ouch! Madam again.

A surge of pain ripped through Dante's head, Dante giving off a slight 'grr' like sound. Why do you constantly do this? Haven't I taught you better, the voice said in Dante's mind. He took a deep breath and began to converse with Madam. Get over it. I'm not your damn apprentice anymore. You need to understand that. Besides, you already have another one, don't you? You listen to me, youn... No! I don't want to talk to you right now, okay?

The talking stopped and Dante released held breath.

[Rocket!]

Mora jumped. "P-personal? No, I just wanted to check the place-- Hey..."

Did Dante just growl at her? "Something up?" she asked as she turned around to face Dante.

[Dante]

"Um, no. I just get... uh, headaches at random times. It's nothing serious." Dante began to walk again, rubbing his right temple to calm his nerves. He had to make up an excuse because he really didn't want to explain Madam to Mora. "Coming or what?"

[Rocket!]

Random headaches, my boot. thought Mora.

...buuuut, if he wants to go about hiding whatever, let 'im. She certainly wouldn't want Dante poking and prodding in her buisiness.

Shrugging, Mora started walking again, following behind Dante.

Hmm... coming up on the Vale now.

[Dante]

"You know, this place reminds me of a place in my past... it's so... erriely similar that... I..." Dante couldn't believe this! He had always seen the huge castle, but never in his life has he seen it up this close and now, it looked as if it were Madam's Manor! Would... What? Dante stopped and stared in awe at this castle. Was he in Hollow Bastion the entire time he was with Madam? When that final opponent teleported Dante somewhere, did he just transport him to another secret place in the town?

Dante grabbed his head. His mind was racking! Who was Madam, really, and what was she hiding? He called upon her, ready to get some answers. Oh, Dante. Long time no see. What is it you want? You witch! I want some answers! The Vale of Villains! Do you or do you not reside here?! No answer came from the other side, not even a single peep.

This enraged Dante so much that he wanted to scream! His calm, though... he didn't want to go balistic in front of Mora. That would be a one way ticket to a long story!

[Rocket!]

"H-hey! HEY!" Dante was leaning over, grasping his head in (duh) pain!

"Dante, what the heck is--" Running over to his side, Mora grabbed his shoulder and forced him around where she could see his face. And promptly shoved her thumb onto his temple.

...and removed it while jumping back a good foot or two.

Thumb whapping was a bit unheard of around here, she'd bet. They probably didn't use it to relieve pain.

"You, uh... you okay?" she asked.

[Dante]

Dante took a few deep breaths and brushed a strand of black hair aside. He regained his calm and cracked his neck before answering. "Yeah. It just got a little worse. I didn't have my coffee today, so..." Dante began a slow walk towards the Vale and clenched his hands, moving his right fingers, stretching them out to use his cleaver at any second if there was any sign of Madam. He couldn't wait for Mora, he had to go, now. Either that or be haunted by this evil sorceress for the remainder of his life.

[Rocket!]

Mora balled her hat up and threw it at his head.

She also shoved the mass of hair down the back of her shirt as she stomped over to Dante, so as to keep it out of the way.

"Coffee," she told Dante grimly, "gives[.i] you headaches. Or at least, where I come from they do."

Mora snatched her hat from the ground where her hat had landed and slapped it on top of her head. Chin up, she stamped her way in front of Dante.

"What," Mora asked, "is worth the trouble of hiding at this point?!" There was no way he'd shrug this one off.

And if he did, he deserved more credit than she thought.