Facing the Dragoon. [Closed]

[Wave ~]

[ Open to Dei. ]

Irina waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Despite the fact that her helm was suppoosed to be blocking any sort of wind -- especially the ridiculously powerful gusts that were blowing her around up here -- her hair was still being thrown every which way. In her eyes, in her mouth, fanning outwards as though she was possessed... it was everywhere.

Sighing, she hugged her knees closer to her, the irritation she felt getting worse with each passing moment. She wasn't even sure why she had bothered to come, now that she reflected on things. All she remembered was a whisper on the wind, requesting her presence here in this unfamiliar land.

And she had obeyed, feeling as though it was the right thing to do.

But, now that she had spent over four hours on the summit of this mountain, she was seriously realizing how much of a mistake she made.

And honestly, unless something showed up to prevent her from doing so, she was leaving. It just wasn't worth it. Getting slowly to her feet, she walked over to where her Gummi Ship waited, only to hear footsteps behind her.

"Finally."

[III]

He'd only caught a flash of the dragon before it'd disappeared into the clouds.

But that one moment of naked power and veiled majesty had captivated the dragoon and had reminded him of the worth of this land: its potential, its age, its power. He was thus unsurprised when on a later visit, the wind whispered of a stranger that smelled like him.

Like Power and Nothing.

v.v.v.v.v.v.v

The hike up the mountain was laborious. It would have been more efficient to simply take a corridor through the Darkness and vanish from point A to point B; from the most inferior to the most superior. Life wasn't made with the shortcuts in mind though, and Xaldin relished the biting winds, the ache in his muscles and the progressive chill as his magic depleted itself to ward off the more friendly mountain winds.

By the end, he very nearly gave into the sure and easy way but impulsively decided against it. His muscles strained and nearly tore as he jumped one final time. Booted feet hit the snow, crunched through and - losing his balance, the dragoon fell to one knee and jolted the stone beneath. For a moment, the mountain held its breath - until now, the dragoon had been relatively careful, maintaining steady, near silent hops from the base of the mountain to the top. Xaldin held his breath too.

The mountain quivered.

And then the moment was gone, blasted away by another howling, welcoming breath of air. Xaldin slowly rose to his feet. It'd been nearly a kilometer straight up in less than an hour. Possibly less than half - he'd lost track of the time half-way up. Still, it was hardly a poor showing. He'd have to do this more often. Possibly without magic.

He turned. Was presented with the image of someone's back. She'd come, as requested. And gotten here before him. Impressive. Even with the Gummi ship. He had half expected the invitation to go unanswered.

"Finally." The wind whispered, sounding every bit the exasperation it couldn't possibly feel.

"Well met, wind walker."

He walked slowly, savoring the crispness of the air and the crunch of snow beneath his boots as he made his way towards the Gummi ship. "You can travel between worlds without machines now, you realize."

[Wave ~]

"Well met, wind walker." Came the reply, in a surprisingly rough voice, considering the rather graceful way the man had seemed to get to the top of the mountain. Walking over to meet the man halfway, she cracked her knuckles, waiting for him to say... something. After all, what was she supposed to say? He'd called her here out of the blue. He'd asked her to come up this godforsaken mountain, without giving her any real reason why she should agree. Of course, she had, but that's not the point. She was not about to speak up when this total stranger had inconvenienced her so.

"You can travel between worlds without machines now, you realize." Her lips turning up into a hint of a smile, despite the fact that she was unable to actually find the humor in the statement, she surveyed the man without really looking at him. He certainly was not what she would expect a Nobody -- which she could only assume he was, given the fact that he had no heart that she could sense. Of course, she really didn't look like those annoying little Dusks that were always sliding about like some cruel mockery of a bumper car. But she'd assumed that the older Nobodies, the more powerful ones, would at least wish to look something like those that they commanded.

But apparently, this was not the case. In fact, this man could not possibly have looked any different than the Dusks. He was rather tall, with hair almost as outrageous as hers. In style, not color, of course. "Yes, I know. I just have not yet mastered this 'corridors of darkness' business." And this couldn't be any more true. The first time she had tried, shortly after her re-birth, she had emerged in the middle of nowhere, and had spent several hours wandering around aimlessly before she found any signs of civilization again.

She'd promptly decided to steal a Gummi Ship and use that to traverse the worlds, until she could control these powers of hers. Walking away from the man slowly, she made her way to the edge of the mountain, the tips of her boots hanging precariously over the edge as she watched the snow billow about in the harsh winds. "Can you hear that? The wind weeps. It seems our presence is not wanted in this sacred place." Shaking her head slowly, as though the cries of the wind were asking questions she did not know the answer to, she turned back to the man, her expression tense.

"So, I suppose we should get this over with. Why is it you have called me here?"

[/blockquote]

[III]

Xaldin considered the Nobody. Though her hair appeared to be of an ostentatious color, there was little in her comportment that could easily be described as abnormal. He read annoyance in every gesture, irritation in the cant and timbre of her voice, a slight tremor in her frame that might have been caused by exposure to the cold, to fear, or may have been nothing more than his imagination. Only her eyes remained locked to easy reading - or any reading at all, really - an almost sure sign that she was possibly a Nobody. Not a guarantee, of course, many Somebodies had dead eyes and near-dead Hearts. But they were rarely animated by such a vivacity.

He listened to her speak. Rant. Complain. The neon green hair blew wildly in the wind. The lancer idly wondered if that coloration was possible, and if it was, how it'd be achieved. An ability to use and/or synthesize some dietary form copper, perhaps.

...have not mastered this 'corridors of darkness' business.

How curious.

Xaldin pursed his lips, as he considered this new unlikely fact. Even dusks understood, apparently instinctively, how to operate between the boundaries of the light and dark, riding the dirty underbelly that connected the hearts of all worlds together. The lancer switched his mode of thought and considered the green-haired Nobody critically - had the wind been wrong? Was she merely an anomalous Dusk, little better than a servant and an expendable resource? Or was there something that had not yet met the eye...

Probably.

Hmm. Whimsical as the wind was wont to be it rarely lied outright to one who was a practitioner of wind magicks. And in that, they were kindred souls, he could tell. Whatever her power, great or small, she could commune with the wind to a high enough degree to have the local spirits excited. Some remnants of a Nobody wind was abuzz with the remembered rituals that accompanied most such meetings. Mostly, though, they were happily curious.

He ignored the comment on weeping. She'd get used to existence as a Nobody, soon enough. There were few winds that cared about the nature of the mage, but those that did inevitably wept when presented with a Nobody. Had he a Heart, it might have been infuriating. No other tool pitied its master like the wind could and did.

"A proposition of sorts." The dragoon announced. His voice echoed and he modulated it downwards.

"Your heart," the dragoon continued quietly, almost quietly enough so that the perpetual howl of the mountainside drowned it out, "do you want it back?"

[/blockquote]