On Dark Shores

On Dark Shores
Date of Scene:	16 January 2013
Location:	Traverse Area - Bodhum - Beach
Synopsis:	SeeD gets a request to investigate disappearances on the beach that may be Heartless related and one of their newest cadets is sent to gain some field experience.
Cast of Characters:	Zeke, Ingrid Third

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Zeke has posed:
How does one captain get around so many places when his ship doesn't fit through the portals that connect worlds? Sea Turtles mate.

This time there is no battle. No heartless to murder. No pirates to fend off just a lone man in a greatcoat walking the beach. Why? Why not?

Ingrid Third has posed:
The sand crunches softly beneath the rigid rubber soles of Ingrid's combat boots as she marches along the quiet beach. Her eyes scan the surroundings with a stern cast about them, a flashlight sweeping left and right in her hand to bring greater illumination to the places that her gaze falls.

Only a few lonely souls are out and about on the shore this afternoon. There had been a great deal of Heartless activity on the water's edge in the last few days. More than one person had gone missing and it was starting to drive the remaining refugees and beach-goers away. Though Traverse Town was home to many fine warriors and mercenaries, they could not be available at all times so the call had gone out to deal with this threat to one of the greatest organizations for hire among all the worlds - SeeD.

The young girl that walked across the darkened beach was hardly what many would imagine when they pictured the illustrious elite of Garden but she was merely a cadet, only recently having finished the basic training necessary to be inducted into the school. Her former role as a member of the Safety Patrol had granted some extra leeway as to her personal responsibilities which was why she was out here now. Mere cadets did not travel alone or away from Garden for that matter.

Ingrid wandered along, ever alert for signs of trouble. Eventually her flashlight came to rest on the great-coated ship captain, traveling up his legs towards his face to provide a better look. So as not to blind him, she pulls the light back to the sands after a moment and produces a small badge from her coat, approaching to speaking range.

"Excuse me, sir. Ingrid Third, Safety Patrol. Have you seen any unusual activity around here?"

Zeke has posed:
Zeke looked over at the girl and for a brief moment there was a ghost of a smile on the man's face. "Define Unusual lass." His tone was friendly enough but his coat's been patched, sewn, patched again, there's obvious weapons under the thing, and he moved like he knew how to handle himself.

"Other day I wake up in a bar with no memory of how i got there on a whole 'nother world 'an ah remembers bein' in. Make it back here in time to help stop a little girl from getting 'er 'ed chomped off by these oddball lookin' 'artless beasties, an' t' top eet all off thre's this woman out there looks human, clearly isn't.... no bloody clue what she is has this weird disk thing and got this.... accent. Most confounded thin' ah've heard. Ain't natural even by standards of this place."

Then a soft chuckle as he swept an arm to indicate not only the beach, but the town it was theoretically attached to. "Ah' Ain' sain she's bad. Just outside of what 've started t'get used to."

Ingrid Third has posed:
The girl's eyes widen slightly for a moment, clearly getting more information than she was expecting, but she nods when he's finished and turns to peer off at Traverse Town when he motions towards it.

"I... see. Well that certainly qualifies as unusual in my book." Ingrid tucks the badge back into her coat pocket and looks back up at the captain. The smell of brine and booze is hard to cover up and she does her best not to make a face at the pungent odor. Sailors. You'd think with all that water around they wouldn't be adverse to bathing and the fruit would keep their breath from being all but biological weapons. The one's that didn't have scurvy that is.

"Actually, sir, I was referring to the beach. We've had reports of larger than normal groups of Heartless being sighted on these shores and several missing persons reports have been filed as well. Have you seen or heard anything that might be a clue as to where these people have gone?"

The obvious answer, ofcourse, was that they were now Heartless themselves but that was a conclusion she wasn't going to jump to just yet. They could have fled and gone into hiding. It was equally likely she would sprout wings in the next few minutes but she couldn't rule it out.

Zeke has posed:
The thought that those taken were now amongst the Enemy had occored to the good Captain, and he bathed.... Three days ago. Given the standards most men from his time kept that was positively hygenic. As for his breath Oh c'mon now love. He made a dismissive gesture. "Ain't seen nothin of curiosity miss." Odd given his home and time when he smiled his teeth looked well mantained, sparkling even. "S'why I'm here actually. Figure a few pair of eyes that actually know what the blazes is s'pos t'be out ther'd do us all good aye?"

He paced then, occasionally looking away from the SeeD officer to the water then back. It's almost like he expected something out there to show up to contradict him saying all was quiet. When immediate contradiction didn't happen he gave a weak laugh. "Never know poppin. Tis like the Universe takes some strings of words as invitation t'prove ye wrong."

Ingrid Third has posed:
The unusually pristine teeth are noted and stored in the biological computer that is Ingrid's mind, adding to the steadily growing 'file' of information on the man before her. Fairly well dressed, armed, sailor, thick accent, clearly superstitious.

She nods back at him, watching as he paces anxiously towards the water as if expecting the fiends in question to pop out right then and there. That, ofcourse, was completely silly. "I'll keep that in mind, sir. I didn't expect much to be honest. Heartless aren't the sort to leave ransom notes."

The flashlight is turned out to the water, casting a shining spear of white light onto the softly lapping waves. There is nothing out there but sea water. And a crab. That's right she sees you, Snappy. "Well if you do see anything suspicious please bring your findings to the local bounty office."

Zeke has posed:
Zeke doffed his cap. "Given most responses are of the ramshackle 'everyone bring a gun' affair it'd be quite refreshing to see something approximating /organization/." He followed the flashlight's well... Light and shrugged. "Handy as those things are I prefer keeping my night vision intact if at all possible." There was soft laughter again. "I know a bit of a holdover but there's only so much modernization a bloke can take in one sitting." From his coat he pulled an earpiece and tucked it in, frowned a bit and shook his head muttering something.

"Gift from my benefactors and m'ship's owners. Let's me keep in touch... Quite useful, and just as aggrivating especially when it's some climber trying to make themselves look good that has me out on contract."

Ingrid Third has posed:
"We're trying to avoid an all out panic of that nature. People will only get hurt if they lash out while frightened. Better to try and deal with the situation before too many people start to worry."

The flashlight is clicked off at his comment. "Sorry about that. I understand, there is still a lot that I am getting used to myself." She taps the tonfa baton hanging from a loop on her belt, causing the trio of colored gems embedded in its surface to glitter in the moonlight. "A few weeks ago magic was just something you found in movies and video games. It is kind of exciting to wield it for real. Though to be honest I preferred when the monsters were digital."

Zeke has posed:
Zeke shook his head sadly at the comment about magic and monsters. "Sadly while not so common that your average bloke or lass on th'street might know how to throw God alone knows what around we've had our share of monsters, witches, zombies.... things you would consider straight out of one of these moving picture things." The captain Shrugged and offered a hand. "Ezekial Fawkes, Captain of the CSAH Reliant." Again with the smile. "Lot of darkness out there in the worlds. Politics, Profiteering, Plunder.... but i've seen just random people come out of the woodwork t'give a hand up to people they don't even know, might never meet again.. That alone is something t'be hopeful 'bout. Makes at least some of this mess worth it." Not all. Nothing would make seeing whole ships swallowed by inky black creatures worth it to him. Still. Focus on the positive.

Ingrid Third has posed:
The hand is met with one of the girl's own and she shakes it a few times, giving him a faint tight-lipped smile in return. "A pleasure to meet you, captain. I can't say that I've seen as much of the world as a sailor such as yourself is like to have but the darkness does seem to have spread rather quickly. That or maybe it's always been like this and it only just now got to our worlds."

Ingrid shrugs and glances around again, keeping surveillance on the perimeter. Constant vigilance was what would keep the worlds safe. Getting paid for doing so never hurt either. "It's always good to see people helping each other. But they should make sure not to overstep their bounds. Qualified individuals are the best choice for dealing with these threats. Please try not to encourage anything rash."

Zeke has posed:
Rash? This guy? Guy that recruited literal monsters and is currently making a hobby of pissing off the inquisition? NAAAAAAAAH.

The request for a level head did make Zeke smile warmly. "Personally I'd like a long and healthy life so I only step in if nobody better shows up. Most people can't even do that and I'd rather not see some foolishness in using huge armies of folk as meat shields. It's bloody minded, immoral, disgusting.... and it didn't work when I saw it sed out at sea, so i doubt it'd do any better on land."

Ingrid Third has posed:
Ingrid nods again at this, her smile more sarcastic now. "It's rather amazing how every time someone brings up the topic of life, everyone seems to want the same thing. Personally, I think it's better to have a meaningful life and make a difference than to merely live longer."

The girl frowns at the thought of using hapless townsfolk or deluded sailors as cannon fodder. It certainly sounded like an unpleasant idea. "War isn't my particular forte, sir, so I can't say one way or the other how good of an idea that would be. My training only encompasses small unit tactics and I'm still a beginner. I have to agree that it sounds rather inefficient, at the very least."

Zeke has posed:
"The idea, bloody as it was, sounded good if you happen to disregard the fact you'd be using people as bait." Zeke's tone was bitter, scornful as he kicked at the sand. "Use people to lure the beasts in then cut the whole area down with indiscriminate fire. It's..... it was described as the same way you'd lure sharks in. Bait the water then make sure that last chunk has a barb in it they can't pull out. Well people ain't no bloody fish guts for these things and I had.... words... with hte bloke that suggested it last in earshot of me." The set of his face suggested these words included broken bones, or at least a bar fight.

Ingrid Third has posed:
"Wow, they really did that?" The surprise shows on her face as she speaks, looking off towards the water. Things like that were the kind of stuff you saw in movies about evil tyrants and bloodthirsty warlords. Maybe crazed pirates as well. Did that really happen in these twisted lands of fantasy?

"That is pretty awful. I hope you put some sense into the person who suggested it." Another glance around. This conversation had gotten grim pretty quickly. "There has to be better ways to fight them."

Zeke has posed:
"There is, an we're doing it now." Zeke's voice was still bitter, but most of it was gone. "All we can do is keep our heads above water and an arm out for the person beside us." Mirthless laughter as he gestured to the sea. "The sea is cold and dank and while not inherently wicked has no love for anyone longer than a momentary fling. I may love the sea and feel it a vital bit of my life, but if that's what we're reduced to in order to survive, cold relentless thoughtless action to save our own necks then we'd be no better 'an things we're fightin.'"

Ingrid Third has posed:
Ingrid frowns and looks at the beach for a moment. It was a dark day indeed when people were willing to throw their friends and allies to the wolves at a fleeting chance for survival. "Yeah... we can't let that happen. That's why I'm out here right now. I'm going to stop the Heartless from taking as many people as I can so no one has to be afraid enough to think of doing things like that."

There is a soft click and the beam of the flashlight winks back to life. The girl nods a final time to the captain. "Well, on that note, I should get back to my patrol. Remember, if you see anything, let us know."

Her free hand went to rest on the hilt of her baton as she wandered off further down the beach, feeling somewhat more apprehensive after the strange encounter. Then again, this was a beach, so finding sailors here shouldn't really come as a shock, even if they did look like something out of an old pirate movie. She just hoped his warnings weren't some sort of ominous foreshadowing.

There, now he's got her being all superstitious. The girl sighs as she trudges off into the distance, "Get a grip, Ingrid."