Nightmares and Closer Fears

Nightmares and Closer Fears
Date of Scene:	30 September 2012
Location:	Junon
Synopsis:	Shiki awakens from a nightmare, and her and Reize enter Junon.
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Shiki Misaki

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Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki Misaki: not having a great time of it.

Like we said, three weeks ago the worst thing she had to worry about was stabbing herself with a sewing needle, which happened sometimes. Then you cram half a dozen near-deaths and calamities into three weeks, and well, you do the math.

Currently, she's awake and crying, roughly about morning time (helpfully enough), with Junon visible less than a mile away.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The trip to the mines was extraordinary. It was Shiki's introduction of what being an adventurer is partially about. Shiki got her first treasure, they picked up a piece of Mythril, and had danger of monsters along the way.
Reize, unfortunately, had been in a deep sleep during the time of Shiki's nightmares. Unattuned to her anguish, his form continued to sleep on an let the day go by.
However, as the morning occured, there was a change noticed.
What makes a good leader? What makes a good friend? Compassion. As the Big Brother of his 'clan', he could tell when something was not right. He can tell when their demeanor has changed and when they entered a stage of anguish.
This is the case with Shiki.
As he woke up a little far off from his partner, he can hear her cries. Slowly pulling him up, the boy starts trudging to his feet and he walks over to her.
A hand rests on her shoulder. "....Oi, Shiki." He's not in the upbeat cheerfulness, but an empathetic smile, "...What's wrong?"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Extraordinary is one way of putting it. Even now, that snake is sitting on the other side of the mines. It's going to come back as a Heartless one day.

She was so wrapped up in herself that she fails to notice Reize has woken up, and now she's very much caught out of her comfort zone as her new friend sees her vulnerable.

Lamely, she wipes her face and sniffs.

"Sorry, Reize. I just... had a nightmare about a few things. Not just about the snake."

She tries to suck it down quickly enough, picking herself up quickly and walking a few paces away to look in the direction of Junon. Very quickly, she's breezy again, fast enough for it to be fake. "We should get to Junon today, right? We can leave our cares behind us!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
This is not someing that Reize wants to dismiss. His eyes drift towards the town, considering how far do they have until they reach Junon. However, the boy finally turns towards Shiki.
"Not until we talk about what happened." He folds his arms towards Shiki. The look on the young adventurer's face is a bit serious when his eyes are kept on the girl.
He does manage a smile her way. "Let's talk about it. There's no need to hide it. We're friends, right?"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Oh, he saw right through her.

Shiki sighs and turns around, having picked up Mr. Mew from out of nowhere to give herself something to hug, then walks back over and sits down on something.

"It's just a little difficult," she says, once she's gotten comfortable.

"Especially considering I was was having brushes with death and people I thought were going to /eat/ me before today. SO creepy..."

She scratches her cheek a little bit. "I think I pretty much ended up dreaming about everything that almost erased me in the last few weeks all at once. I could /feel/ myself stewing in that giant snake's stomach, not to mention everything else. You want me to make a list?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Something feels like that there is more to the story than just the snake, especially after all that has been happening the past couple of days. Neverteless, the boy brightens his smile.
"Shiki," He considers, his hand rubbing to the back of his head, "...Regarding that snake. Just remember, I won't let that happen on my watch!" He grins, "Not only that, but you've shown that you had the strength to be able to face something like that. Through your quick thinking, we managed to disorient that thing and get to safety."
"You're a quick learner when adapting to danger."
He grins, "Knight's Vow #15: Courage is not living without fear, but it's facing that fear. I think that those nightmares that you have will easily be overcome. Just remember you're a strong person as well!"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki Misaki sniffs. "I wouldn't have been able to do it without you around though, Reize."

It's even technically true, since the fusion pin doesn't work without a partner, but although it may not be obvious on the surface, Shiki's inferiority complex is starting to bite at her; the problem where she devalues her own existence compared to other people.

This may well be Reize's first, but probably not the last, exposure to it, but right now it could just be a glib comment.

"I just hope it's not gonna become a thing, you know?" she says, cringing a little. "I don't want to start making a list of the things (or people) that have wanted to eat me. Three is enough."

"...that's a good thing to remember, though."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Taking the moment to think, Reize taps along his chin. He recalls a vow his father gave, "Knight's Vow #04: Don't depend on others. Walk on your own two legs. Eventually, you'll be put to the test on how you handle yourself. It's.. how I learned to adapt. There are some things that you were definitely able to do without me!" He notes.
"That jelly slime monster would had killed me if it wasn't for your help! I couldn't even dent that creature, my foot got stuck on it!" He tilts his head over to her, "...But just remember, I believe you're strong on your own. Just remember to consider yourself that often!"
"...Well..." Regarding the eating.
"Creatures are carnivore and well... most of them that we face are likely to eat us if we're not careful." He folds his arms with a cheerful look, "But many of them make good meals as well if you cook them enough!"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki gives a passport smile.

"It's going to be tough. I've never been on my own before, not even once. I've always had a friend, or a Partner..."

"Or you..."

"I guess even if there's going to be a time when I've got to stand on my own, I hope it's a long way away and I've got a lot of time to get ready, because I'm going to end up being a slow learner."

"At least I've always got this guy!" she says lamely, holding up Mr. Mew, then feeling intensely stupid and putting him back down. For his part, when Shiki can't see him, Mr. Mew crosses his arms and looks away, offended.

"Eat or be eaten, huh..." she says, thinking not only of the Heartless, but of something else. "I guess I'm familiar with that. You want me to tell you about the Reapers?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"That's why traveling is good for you!" Reize notes. As she admits that she will have to face things herself eventually, Reize nods. "Hee!" He looks over towards Mr. Mew, then he grins down at Mr. Mew.
"Mr. Mew. Just remember, you're her knight in shining armor." He looks back towards Shiki as she asks about talking about the Reapers.
A nod is given, "Yeah! While we're traveling to Junon, I'd like to hear about the Reapers!" The boy slowly turns to the path of the town, now ready to move on.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki looks /so embarrassed oh my god/.

Mr. Mew salutes, further muddying the waters as to what kind of sapience is animating him, a question for the ages.

Once we've packed up, we're going to be heading off to Junon. Boy, it sure looks pretty awesome from where we're standing, doesn't it? Well, so did Midgar...

Don't ask where we keep the tents, either.

So, off we go. "Huh, where do I start," Shiki says, trying to remember what she already said. "I told you the Reapers are the ones who are in charge of the Games, and they issued us challenges through the week..."

"But they're not benevolent guys. Every challenge they gave us was one we had to complete it or die. A countdown burned into the back of our hands... if it ever ran out without at least one player completing the mission we were given, we'd be erased just as sure as if a Noise got us."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Grinning towards Mr. Mew's salute, Reize brightens and he turns towards the path of Junon.
Their travel offers a nice travel through the plains. It does look like a nice path up ahead. Perhaps the town will be much better than it did at Goug/Midgar.
"..Yeah, I recall you mentioned that," Reize replies while facing Shiki. However, as more details are revealed, Reize gives a thoughtful look. It is a frown, first and foremost.
"...Nnggh.." He narrows his eyes, "...Treated like some sort of game."

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Pretty much," Shiki says, hands in her pockets. "Brings new meaning to the phrase Reaper's Game, alright."

She screws her face up for a minute, then blinks, and continues to talk. "I don't remember who the Reapers used to be or where they came from, but they seemed inhuman. One of them was this real piece of work called Yashiro. She tried to trick Neku into erasing /me/. Not even as a mission, just because he didn't know that she couldn't technically do it. Someone else had to save me then."

"And the worst one of all..."

"Was their leader- the Game Master. His name was Yodai Higashizawa. He looked like a regular person, but he could turn into a humungous Noise just like the ones we fought all week long. And he /legitimately wanted to eat me/, Reize."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Blink.
Wait, so one of the Reapers almost got someone to erase her? "...Neku is your partner, right? That is the one that you're looking for?" He frowns, finding that rather deplorable. He grunts.
"The Game Master?" He tilts is head over, "...Yodai..." He blinks, "Wait, so he is a guy that wanted to eat you?!" He winces, "A cannibal..." He shudders, then he mutters, "Never ran into those..."
He shakes his head, "Well, we will deal with the Reapers and the Gamemasters as they come." He grins, "Don't forget, Shiki. You have me and the other Shard Seekers."
As they are nearing Junon, the boy turns to face her, "...Who you'll meet once we get to Fluorgis!" He turns to face the path, "Great! We can likely see how nice it is soon!"

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Neku had... problems with his memory," Shiki admits. "It was his entry fee. The thing the Reapers took away from him for the week as the 'price' for competing." It's probably becoming very obvious very fast how much of a bunch of jerks the Reapers are.

"It's why I felt like I had to stick with him. But he didn't remember that there are things the Reapers /can't do/, even if they were out to get us... which is why one of them was able to control his mind."

"And that's why I want to find him again, because I'm worried he's just out there alone right now."

"Higashizawa just wouldn't stop talking about everyone in terms of food. He said that the whole world was just a food chain, too... He called /us/ his main dish, and my soul was a tomato." Shiki's voice becomes uncharacteristically dark and nasty. "I hope he fell into the darkness and he /never/ comes out."

"And that's what I was having nightmares about!" she concludes with fake cheer, skipping down the path to Junon. "If he's still around, you'll stop him from turning me into a Shish-ki-kebab. I know you will. Everyone's just a boat ride away now."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"...Entry fee?" He looks over at Shiki, "...Does everyone who play this Reaper's Game have an entry fee that they pay?" If so, it leaves him to wonder what was Shiki's. However, he isn't going to press that far. No.
Instead, Reize grins at Shiki, "Well, don't worry. I won't let this Higashizawa guy eat you!" He looks determined, "And I'll stop him from hurting other people as well!"
He turns towards the town, "Oh hey! We're almost the--..."
They are pretty much approaching closer to the town. The problem is, while Goug seemed to be more like the slums, Junon is similar if not worse. Everything about the area is polluted. The grass nearby has lost its greenery, having some shade of purple to it. The people, downcast, are trying to live as is.
"...Uhh..." He visible winces when he sees the surrounding place.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Yes."
"But..."
"Yeah, don't ask me what mine was."

Shiki is realising, as she combs her memories, something is wrong. She thinks there are things she should remember but can't right now, and she doesn't know why. She doesn't disclose this to Reize, who hardly needs more things to worry abwhat the heck is this.

Shiki claps eyes on Junon 'town', and is shocked by what she sees. It didn't look /anything/ like this from a distance! This is like, worse than that playground in Midgar! And... most of Midgar!

"...maybe we visited on an off day?" she says to Reize, weakly. "Did the Heartless do this?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
So it looks like all players have an entry fee. It seems that Shiki may not remember. Or may not be willing to tell. Nevertheless, Reize felt that it would be a good idea to stop the conversation there.
"Right."
The important part is now. Reize is approaching one of the men stepping out of the house. He coughs briefly, hacking.
"Oi, wh--what happened here?"
The man stares down towards the traveler, "...Nggh, some kid here." He rubs his forehead, "ShinRa came in and built a military city here. SInce then, nothings good come of this town!" He grumbles, looking not too pleased. "Now go on, I have--" He coughs and he walks past the boy, "--things to do."
Reize looks towards Shiki, frowning her way, "...It feels odd here. I've never seen a town like this. Perhaps we should look around more."

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"...I guess this is why they call it the World of Ruin, huh?" Shiki says to Reize.

She takes a good, long look out at the town, and takes a few steps forward. "...we need to move through here to get to the port, but... wow, as if we didn't have enough things to think about as it is. What's the deal with this ShinRa, anyway?"

She thinks of Goug and frowns. "I guess the Heartless aren't responsible for every world's problems right now..."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"I suppose so..." Reize adds to Shiki's comment regarding the World of Ruin. ShinRa is a mystery. His time in Goug and now here are leaving him with questions. He scratches his head, then he looks at Shiki, "....Let's check the port."
Along the way, they will see more of the effects of ShinRa's presence. The dock where they normally have the biggest catch displayed is still there. However, it is a skeleton that looks rather decayed. Its presence is even a sombering feeling.
The boy continues along the path until they get to the beach. The beach itself looks like it has seen better days. They can, however see the structure that the 'military city' is built out of.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Man, this bites!" Shiki snaps at some point during their exploration. "And that fish is just gross."
As the two of them trudge town towards the beach, she almost doesn't want to go, because she expects that there's going to be some sort of barrel of toxic waste there. Or an oil slick. Or a zombie fish monster.

"I can't even think of anywhere I can possibly compare this to," she says, more quietly, to Reize. "This place is awful. Doesn't this ShinRa have any respect for people?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Sigh...
The boy looks towards Shiki, shaking his head, "...I don't know." He frowns, looking up towards the structure of the military city, "...I just don't know." He exhales a sigh, then he rubs his forehead.
"...This can't get any worse..."

Watch what you say, Reize.
Something starts bubbling from the waters.
From the depths of the water, several Heartless are now emergin from the depths of the shadows. Where there are hearts to be seized, there are the Heartless.
Angler fish emerge, their horn lit and their jaws open. The are not alone. Mermen-like Heartless, Screwdivers, are now arriving from the depths of the water.
The people are unaware of this potential mess.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Where you find an Aquatank, you find Screwdrivers!

"Well, at least it's not what I was thinking'd show up!" Shiki says, surprised. She takes a look behind them- and a hexagonal beehive barrier appears in front of the staircase, blocking their exit- but hopefully blocking the Heartless as well. At least until one side defeats the other, anyway!

"Never say never!" Shiki replies, and Mr. Mew leaps in front of her to shake a claw at the Heartless. "Why don't you back off?"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"...I was hoping those things would not show up!" He looks behind him, only to see hexagonal behave barriers appearing He looks over towards Shiki, then he lowers his head.
Both hands draw to his boomerangs, withdrawing them while stepping into his fighting stance. This time, he is taking the more aggressive stance, inverting the grip of the boomerangs to hang off of the back of his hands while he leans forward.
"Let's keep them from getting to the town. The people don't have to know about this!"

Overall, there are about 7 of the Heartless, three of the Screwdivers and four of the Aquatanks. While the Aquatanks hover over the Screwdivers, the latter move forward into battle The Screwdivers are hopping along the water, then they leap towards both Reize and Shiki while driving the barbed trident out with intentions of piercing the two.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"You're not gonna get me!" Shiki replies with conviction, and gets ready to mix it up! One of the screwdrivers scratches her leg with its trident, which could have been much worse. She looks at the big floating Heartless, and thinks for a moment.

"Reize, you try and fight these green ones! I've got an idea that'll take the wind out of these big fish!"

She drags her finger across a trio of pins on her bag, which have 'D+B' on the first, second and third pins respectively.

A ball of blue energy surrounded by smaller ones fills up Shiki's hand, and she begins to levitate various rocks and junk using psychokinesis! These objects fill the air, bouncing off of the Aquatanks and the girders above!

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Buh?
Reize winces when one of the tridents pierce along the side. It grazes him as the barbed weapon opens a small scratch wound with a bit of blood. Reize repays that particular one kindly with a nice foot towards its gut, then he spins around to send the back heel at its head.
After knocking that particular one flat on its face, Reize looks up towards Shiki as she gives the gameplan, "Gotcha!" The boy turns to look over towards the two Screwdivers moving towards Shiki. Reize winds his hand back and flings a boomerang to each of their heads,

"Ooi! Over here!" He narrows his eyes, then he runs back to provoke the two to come his way.
A bit of the heat is taken off of Shiki thanks to Reize provoking the two to come his way. That will leave Shiki with the Aquatanks. One of them starts crackling its antenna. The other three are circling around Shiki. Many of them meet face first with the rocks and junk from the beach. Bottles, old trash and debris. The aquatanks are struck.
However, two of them break away and start rushing towards Shiki from both sides, aiming to smash against her.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Got it!"

As soon as both Aquatanks dive down towards Shiki, a sneaky look flashes in her eyes and she slashes two rhinestone-covered blue pins. Piercing Pillar can't deal with enemies that float, but if they swoop down to ground level then she can 'ice' them with her frozen stalagmites.

Electricity, however, is another issues, especially with so many metal pylons around here. Sparks and arcs of electricty shower down around Shiki, who holds her arms up to protect her face. Mr. Mew, on the other hand, is scrambling- climbing the pylons with incredible speed and trying to slash at the little electricity-spewing antenna!

Shiki doesn't have time to pay attention to the Screwdrivers, trying to coordinate her own attacks with Mr. Mew's. Fortunately she's small and the Aquatanks are not, so she can slip between them...

Reize Seatlan has posed:
That is where Reize comes in. With the Screwdivers now focusing on Reize, the boy is now shifting to his fighting stance. With one of then driving the trident towards him, Reize springs from the ground to run along the trident, giving the creatur a knee before swinging his leg for another kick.
When one of the Heartless dive towards Reize, the boy catches the previously thrown boomerang and smacks him across the face.
However, the earlier Screwdiver he dealt with got back up and taked him across his back, "GAH!" Reize winces, the he turns back to deliver a backheel kick.

Meanwhile, Mr. Mew's claw does the trick and cops off the antenna. This elicts a scream from one of the Aquatanks. In its rage, it seeks to bounce forward and ram into Mr. Mew and then towards Shiki.
The other two Aquatanks fall prey to the Stalagmites as the pillars pierce against them. They give out a screech before shuddering back. One of the last ones that had remained hidden manages to crackle its antenna and release yet another sort of voltage towards the three, offering them regeneration.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki suddenly realises she's got the much tougher end of the deal- if she can't deal with these things regenerating the Screwdrivers, then Reize is going to be in a whole lot of trouble.

A chill strikes her. Is this what it means to stand on your own?

Mr. Mew can't be hurt, but Shiki certainly can, especially by an assortment of bouncing fish. It's all she can do to use more piercing pillars against the ones bouncing towards her, but she gets eventually smothered against the sheer mass of the assorted Aquatanks.

It's up to Mr. Mew to try and extract Shiki from this precarious position, although how striking the Aquatanks' lures isn't obvious. Perhaps he's making himself a target- he can always be stitched back up a lot more easily than Shiki.

Who is currently trying not to get any of this gross sand in her mouth.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Turning towards Shiki, Reize's eyes widen while he sees the Aquatanks regenerating the others. "..No!" It distracts him, as the other Screwdiver tackles Reize, but Reize clutches onto it to roll it along his back and flings it across.
Reize grunts, muttering to himself before he looks over to see that the other two come his way. With his boomerangs out to guard, then he pushes himself back.
"Gahhh!"

The Aquatanks slowly turn towards Mr. Mew. Now, hey are crackling their antennas once more to fire.

Reize looks up to see that the Aquatanks are a threat to Mr. Mew and Shiki. The other monsters are a threat to him. However, Shiki's are bigger threats.
/NO!/
Reize actually takes the moment to distance himself enough. "That's it!" He holds onto his pendant. Manifesting his pendant's power, the flow of magic comes over him.
"...Nggghhh!" As a tarot manifests before him, he holds it across his form. "Flicking flame, burn." He holds the tarot to the sky. As it levitates off of his hand, it crackles.
There are flames ignited and are flung towards the group of Aquatanks. The flames detonate and explode, taking out three out of the four of them.

...But this presents a threat to the exposed Reize as two of the Screwdivers spring and claw Reize against his back, "GAAHHHH!" Reize falls on his knees, wincing, finding himself barely able to move. "Guh..." The last one gets up, now positioning the trident while closing in on the boy.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki's kind of dazed on the floor... but as soon as she sees Reize pushed down on his back, she's up like a shot out of a gun. And though she was worried about kebabs earlier, now she's the one grabbing another pin which transforms into a powerful needle-shaped lance for her.

"Get away from him!" she shouts, trying to either stab or sideswipe both of the Screwdrivers at once. She realises she can fight them much more easily with this weapon and vice versa, so she tries to pull Reize up.

"Reize, let's switch! It's better to fight the other way around!" she says, squaring off against the Screwdrivers.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Ughh..
Reize isn't sure if he is going to survive this fight. He is almost down. He has to get up.
The Screwdiver closes in on Reize, lifting its trident up. At least, that is when the needle shaped lance homes in at the center of it. The offending Screwdiver seeking to finish off Reize meets its end as the lance impales it.
It explodes into munny.

His eyes widen, looking amazed that he isn't dead. When he looks over towards Shiki, he smiles. She is still alive. The other Heartless did not get her.
As she extends her hand his way, Reize takes her hand to help him get up to his feet.
"Got it!" The boy looks over towards the last large creature.
He spints towards the large Aquatank, sliding underneath it while swinging his boomerang at the underside of its belly. This only serves to annoy it.

The other the Screwdivers arm themselves once more, seeing Shiki as a viable threat. One of them charge at Shiki. However, the other is cowardly running away back towards the shore.

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Nobody messed with my Partner," Shiki says, voice low.

Ice Blow pin in her free hand, she's got Mr. Mew to pick up on the cowardly codfish. It will quickly find its path blocked by a rather nasty clawed cat toy, who's looking rather unpleasant, with all of his fur on end because of the electricity.

And you know what they say about cats and fish.

Shiki swings her lance to try and knock the Screwdriver's trident and thrusts, sending each fighter's weapon swinging away widely. However, whereas the Heartless doesn't have a followup, Shiki does- and when the Heartless is on the back hoof she can drop the rock she's been positioning right on top of it.

Crunch!

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The large creature is hovering above Reize... When the boy start climbing on its back, it tries to knock the boy off. In fact, it bobs and weaves round, "GAH!" He yelps, then he finally takes the boomerang and starts slamming against its head like drums.
After enough beatings, the Heartless explodes into munny.

The cowardly Screwdiver attempting to escape. Its eyes widen as it is caught by the electrocuted furball. It's eyes widen.
....Suddenly, it explodes into munny.
When Shiki disarms it and she drops a rock from the top.
The rock crushes it, and munny explodes out of it.
It is then that the barrier starts disappearing, allowing the victors to be free to travel.

Reize brightens to a smile, "We did it! We kept them from escaping to harm the people." He look at Shiki, running a hand to the back of his head. "You did great... you saved me again from being a goner."

Shiki Misaki has posed:
Shiki stops, and pants- the lance disappearing out of her hands. She looks at Reize...

And lets out a light, genuinely relieved giggle, running across the sand, with Mr. Mew bringing up the rear carrying a bunch of munny. Or is it gil? Blink and you'll miss it change!

"That was a close one," she says, trying to rub more sand off of herself. "I got really scared when I saw they were just about to get you."

A couple of citizens are watching them from the top of the staircase. Some of them look quite happy.

Shiki looks. "...Reize, can we see if there's an inn up there? I really wanna take a shower before we go, now."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
While Mr. Mew begins raking in the dough, Reize is talking to Shiki. "...Guh..." He winces, then he offers a faint smile, "Yeah, it was the same when I saw that those other Heartless were giving you a hard time." He looks over towards his pendant.
It reacted to his will once more.
Nevertheless, Reize looks at Shiki, "Thankfully, the folks won't know abo--" His eyes lift to see some of the citizens at the top of the staircase, many relieved.
It feels good doing something kind. However, a part of him wishes that they didn't see it. They have so much that they have to endure as is. Reize looks over towards Shiki, "...Yeah. We'll rest at the inn and we will leave for Flourgis in the morning."

Shiki Misaki has posed:
"Well, we managed to give them a little bit of hope, right?" Shiki says, looking a little indecisive. "Let's remember this, Reize. Someone will be able to find a way to help these people out even if it's not us. Surely other people are joining up to make a difference in these worlds, right?"

"Anyhow."

Shiki grabs Reize's hand, and swings them towards the staircase. "Let's go, partner."