Sketchy Conversation

Sketchy Conversation
Date of Scene:	04 March 2013
Location:	Traverse Area - Bodhum - Beach
Synopsis:	Will hates the ocean, but still finds himself on the beach. Maybe it is trying to eat him. Riku spectates.
Cast of Characters:	Will Sherman, Riku

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Riku has posed:
Riku stretches his arms back and forth as he paces along the silvery beachside. The portal closes behind him and for once it didn't dump him in the ocean or off a cliff (or trees. Always with the trees). He occasionally looks at the water but he has a small black journal in his hands that he is occasionally flipping through the pages of.

He smiles slightly or frowns as he reads the writing or looks at the pages. It's a little bit of a nostalgic smile as he paces back and forth and eventually hikes all the way up the beach to a small outcropping of rock with a smattering of turf creeping out along it so that his hands are in grass when he settles himself down with a faint 'oof' and opens up the journal to a fresh page.

He hadn't done this for awhile. He ruffles through the pages and then starts to sketch out the horizon line and the distant lights of Traverse town.

Will Sherman has posed:
Earlier.

"Why do I keep coming to this be-WOAH!" falling down stairs!

Then he lands near a rock, obfuscated by sand and plants that fall on him. Zzzzzz...

Now! Will snaps awake, pulling the plant off his head and shakes his head, clearing the sand from his body. He looks out at the ocean, frowning, "Why is it always the ocean.." he mutters, disliking it still. Somethings never change...

He stands up, brushing himself off, and starting to try and walk along the beach, trying to look for a place to climb back up...where he instead finds Riku drawling. Will pauses...but then he slowly starts walking towards Riku, step by step, he starts closing in on Riku. The air about him is different...more calm, more focused...more determined somehow. His eyes focused on the young boy for a moment and then...

"Yo." despite everything that's happened...his feelings about the boy haven't changed.

Riku has posed:
Riku looks up from his drawing, giving Will a very small smile. He looks not quite at him but more off to one side for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow.

"Hey." he looks back down at his journal, sketching a few more lines as his smile fades into a thoughtful neutrality. He flips a few more pages to a half finished picture of Archadian architecture.

He examines the lines, darkening a few before flipping towards the front again. "I put this into safe keeping before this all started. I thought I wasn't going to survive it, and I wanted to have at least some explaination." he snorts faintly. Riku glances up from the Journal, closing it and putting his hands on top of it as he watches him approach.

There is a flicker of fear across his eyes for a second but it doesn't reach the rest of his expression. "Find what you were looking for?"

Will Sherman has posed:
Will pauses for a moment...

Then he shrugs, shaking his head for a moment. "Sounds just like you. Going to handle the problem all on your own, not thinking about the connections you have made, or the friends left behind." he comments, it is not malicious or accusing...it just is. Will moves right up to Riku...before sitting down on the sand, and putting his hands above his head, reclining on the rock. "What if I told you Riku, that Loki was just as much of a victim in all of this as any of us?" Will says after a few long moments. "That I was just as much at fault for the situation, as anyone else? That the answers I needed were right there infront of myface...and I couldn't see them."

"But I found some answers...I found what was wrong in everything." he says after a few more moments, "I thought about things recently too. Looking at the situation in a new light...because we recently captured Morrighan. You know, snooty dark elf? Well...I was pretty against her being there, but Mercade said to me...why can't I accept her, when I forgave you so fast. Well, of course, to him it was a few days...but...I can't refute his point. Why? Why did I forgive you, and not her?"

"I was running away from actually dealing with the problem. You WERE a friend...It was easier to forgive, not because I wanted to...but because it was easy, where she was never a friend...and it was easier to condem her." He speaks, "But...now, with some perspective, I've been thinking.."

Riku has posed:
Riku's expression shuts down. The smile leaves his face and he looks at Will with the wariness a wild animal may give something that it does not quite understand. Something that it does not know is a threat or not.

As he listens to Will talk, his eyes slowly lower to the beach to stare at the sand before canting sideways to peer towards the ocean.

He doesn't exactly look away from Will but he seems to have to take a minute to compose himself. The hunted look leaks out of his face as he rakes a hand through his hair but he at least appears to be listening, even if he might not understand the entire context of what Will is talking to him about.

He doesn't believe Loki was just another victim. He can't. He still hears the scream sometimes and the look of faint fear on his face at the name is all the reaction he gives.

"Okay. That's always dangerous." but the humor is flat in his voice as he smiles very slightly without knowing where this was going.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Heh," Will says, mid stride. "It is, isn't it?"

"It is unfair. It is unfair to hold you above other people, because you are my friend." he says, "Just because I know of the darkness there, just because I saw and suffered the same as you...it is unfair."

"Which is why I can't condem her without giving her a chance...because I have given you the chance. Because you both need to heal, because I saw that darkness..." he says after a moment. "I saw that thing in your heart. It's frightening. I am sorry you have to carry such a thing by yourself, and that there is nothing I can do, but to try and be your friend, and to smack you upside the head when it grabs your heart." Will finishes.

"Loki used to be a kind person...someone who cared greatly about his family. He spoke up against Odin on a matter, and was disrespected by the Aesir...his son, who he loved a great deal spoke up against this...and was murdered by Odin. Loki let darkness into his heart...let revenge and hatred seep into it...fought tooth and nail to destroy everything he had worked to keep working."

"He was then defeated, imprisoned by the remains of his son in a magical bindings...and then tortured by a snake that would drip venom into his eyes. Until the fae needed to seal him away for some reason. I was to not only be his prison...but his torturer. My negitive feelings to be passed on to him."

Will breathes in, "I may feel the same as I did before...but I think it is for the right reasons. Not because I am afraid of the harder path, but because...because it is what is right."

Riku has posed:
"And apparantly, you found it in a soapbox supply warehouse." Riku cautiously smiles, and it's a small if genuine expression as his shoulders relax a little. He frowns as Will explains Loki's punishment and tries to take this in.

He looks down, flipping to another page that he ueses to scribble down a few notes. He glances up at Will for a moment and then goes back to writing. "I.. can't say that I'll believe you all at once. You are the one that's seen.. whatever it is that you've seen that makes you believe this. I just know you believe it and.." he pauses, then nods.

"And.. I guess that's good enough for now. I do need people to hit me upside the head occasionally." he smirks. "So does Sora, but I think that will get sorted away soon enough."

Will Sherman has posed:
"No I am only borrowing Merade's!" Will returns Riku's sarcasm with a little of his own! There is a bit of a grin, "And I know...you don't have to believe it. But DO believe that...I'm doing everything I can to make sure it never happens again. I think a agreement was reached...but well..the Fae are real jerks." Will shrugs, "I think I'll just stick with being Will Sherman, I like it."

"Oh yeah, Sora...he seem's active again. You've talked? Well, if he's half the friend you describe him as...I think that won't be too much of a problem. Right?" he says, with a smile. "Anyway, you need someone to smack you, and so do I. Friends do that for each other, right? And.."

Will is serious again, uh oh, "Don't...do that again, alright? You're young, Riku...I've seen so many people throw their lives away...don't be like that."

Riku has posed:
"I can't promise that." Riku says without hesitation. He shakes his head. "I was.." he looks at Will for a long time and sighs. "I was very sure Loki would be the end of everything I knew." he repeats that to himself, shaking his head.

"I was so sure." Riku rubs the bridge of his nose. "So I won't say I won't do that again. How about a counter offer? If I am contemplating something stupid again.." he sighs, smirking wryly at Will. "I don't know. Maybe I'll at least give you a headstart first."

Riku leans back on his hands. "Sora has shown up again. I didn't even have the heart to put his head through a wall. He's so.. oblivious, he didn't even know he was missing. It's too easy. I can't bring myself to kick puppies like that."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will sighs...of course not, Riku. You people never do...Will just hoped that his story would have a happier ending.

"Right, headstart." Will says, managing a weak smile. "Maybe he needs someone to kick him, Riku. It's serious now...we didn't quite understand it before, but now it's made clear. Manhattan is what happens when we fail. Reguardless, I only know of two people with a Keyblade right now. He's too important to be bumbling through the worlds. I mean...I am surprised he's not a target...or that he's been made into one." Will tchs after a few moments, "I wouldn't want a Keyblade. Too much power, too much responsibility. It is...something I am not ready for, nor do I think I ever will. I already got one of those that I never asked for, right?"

Riku has posed:
Riku nods slowly. "Well. I think keyblades only go to those who don't want them." he smiles tightly. "That's how it is with Sora anyways. I don't know about the good king mickey, but Sora just bumbles along in a cloud of semi-incompetance. That he managed to survive all this time is just as surprising as talking ducks and living armor."

The teenager opens up the journal again, staring down at the pages periodically but not writing anything down. "I'm sure someone will come along. We've got so many worlds full of heroes. Who knows. Maybe keyblades will rain from the sky and then all of our problems will be solved."

Without looking up from the book, he asks, trying to keep his voice neutral and disinterested. "..How is the rest of the TDA anyways?"

Will Sherman has posed:
"They're doing well...they're all fighting for Manhattan. We're growing...getting stronger, filling in the gaps of knowledge we don't have. Rebuilding the office in Traverse, helped, I think. Both in reminding us what we're fighting for...and that no matter what, our home is with each other." Will says, with a even nod. He lays back, relaxing as best that he can.

"Tom is tom...Celina is always mom. Mercade is Mercade, always running forward, trying to help people, even at the cost of himself...Percival is a moron, The Dennou's are...growing. I mean, growing as a people...they have hope, something to live for...and it shows now. Isaac is as mysterious as ever, Avira is cured of the thing...but she keeps pushing forward, trying to fight withe verything she has..."

"Max...I won't get into that right now."

Riku has posed:
Riku nods. Some names he knew, and others were unfamiliar but he listened just the same. "I swear, if Tom tries to hug me again I am not responsible for portaling him out into an ocean somewhere. At least that but I am certain of."

Riku flips back to the picture of the Traverse Town lights in the distance that he was working on, sketching in a few more lines and letting silence fall for a few minutes while the wind whistles across the beach.

"What is it with you and this beach? I thought you hated water."

Will Sherman has posed:
"I am sometimes drawn to the whimsy of fate...sometimes for good or ill...sometimes because I need to be somewhere, even if I don't want to. Or maybe this beach secretely wants to eat me." He says, with a shiver. "Yes...I really...really hate the water. I also hate shape shifting witches named Madam Mim." he says, spitting out the name a little. He says, as he finds himself comfortable. "I actually fell down the side of the cliff when I was trying to figure out why I was here...then I was looking for a way up...then I found you. Guess it was fate..?"

Riku has posed:
"I think the beach wants to eat you. I would, but I don't eat junk food anymore." Riku smirks at this and tilts his head a little to one side as he looks up from his book at Will.

"So. What's this story about Madam Mim? Part of the reason why you are not trying to become one with the countertop like the last time I saw you?"

Will Sherman has posed:
Will blinks...

"Oh right. Uh.." Will sighs, "She took the form of Melody when I first arrived, it caught me by surprise..you know, like...maybe just maybe she was still out there, alive...but...it was just a nasty trick. Whatever, I got the last laugh, her book never got returned to her, so HA! I got the last laugh." He says, but he sighs...it's a lonelyness that is hard to relate..

Riku has posed:
Riku sighs, sitting back so that he can stare up at the sky with his hands folded behind his head. "That's pretty low." he stays quiet for a very long time. "And maybe she is out there. I don't know what to tell you because.." he chuckles. "I pretty believe anything right now. Except.." he sits up.

"Look, Will. Why don't we.. give this friend thing a try." The teenager snorts faintly. "I need someone to tell this to, but it can't get back to the rest of the TDA and especially not to Sora. He'll do.. He's not ready and he'll do a stupid thing and get killed."

Will Sherman has posed:
Uh oh..

"Alright, we can do that. I can...listen, and if I think you need to be punched in the head, I am going to." Will says, evenly.

"Try not to be so scornfull of the friend thing, I hear it works wonders for not doing stupid things." he comments. "And it was, but...sometimes with love, Riku, it never goes away. It never did for me, and it never will...or if it does...then I am already dead." he shrugs.

"So lets hear your thing, Riku. Lets here what I can't tell anyone, and what is going to probably get us into so much trouble."

Riku has posed:
"Sometimes Will, I wonder if you get worse with time-- like some sort of ancient block of cheese." Riku shakes his head. "But no. I think you really did steal Mercade's soapbox." The teenager looks over at the ocean. "There was another survivor from my home and I always said. Well, whatever I said, most of it was lying. I know where she is."

Riku chuckles faintly. "And despite the little I've told Mercade, you can't save someone who doesn't wake up. My friend Kairi has been a..guest.. of the Shadow Lords for some months now. They don't seem that interested in her but, even the fact that she's there and not simply.." Riku shakes his head.

"Means they are up to up to something. In particular, the sorceress who rules there is up to something. Or maybe they've just forgotten her. I don't want Kairi involved in any of it, but maybe I shouldn't draw their attention to her." Riku cracks his knuckles slowly, slapping one hand on top of the other.

"I need to get her out of there but if I'm caught, I'll never be able to reach her again. The place is a fortress."

Will Sherman has posed:
"Insurance." Will says, flatly. He's not happy go lucky anymore...a oddness is there, the sound of someone who has experience. "They have you over a barrel now, Riku. If they need you to do something, or think you're slipping through whatever control they think that have on your heart that the darkness isn't imposing.." he says, "Then they use her against you. They're not going to go out of their way to harm her, but at the same time she's there when the time comes...or if it comes. If it's...the home of the Shadow Lords, if such a place could be called that...then not only do you have powerful darkness users but Heartless."

"You'll need someone capable of getting in there...and can get her out quietly before anyone notices...or is too late to notice. Perhaps when the majority of them are away doing something else...but you'll need a master of disguise and stealth."

Riku has posed:
Riku chuckles quietly. "..and he wants something I can't give him, so I suppose he has me over a barrel as well." he shakes his head. "I appear to have made a habit of that." he looks over at Will, slightly unnerved by the flat explaination but unable to deny it.

If anything were to happen to Kairi.. Riku shakes off the thought, closing the journal and putting it away, finally giving into the inevitable, unable to concentrate. "She's always watching. Whatever it is, it'll have to be big."

Will Sherman has posed:
"Something big enough to steal her attention.." he says, "Whatever it is...right now she is safe. This is a one shot thing, Riku...lets not be hasty. Plan...plan plan...and if I might suggest? Max. He's a master of this...he is familar too in darkness, so he might have an edge that I don't in this...BUT....I can perhaps provide the luck you need to turn this into her freedom." Will says.

"Perhaps we just need to find more about her out."

Riku has posed:
@emit Riku shakes his head. "Maybe another day. As you said. She's safe.. for now." he yawns, stretching as he gets himself onto his feet again. "I've got to be in Archades in the morning. Have to find that merchant." he sighs.

"If you need to find me, I'm usually there. I'd explain but.." he shakes his head. "Another night, yes?" he waves at the open air, a pool of darkness opening in the sand just underneath the outcropping. "I'm not scorning the friendship thing. I'm just not used to it."

with that, he pushes himself off the outcropping into the portal that shuts behind him.

Will Sherman has posed:
"...Not used to it huh?" Will shakes his head... "Riku..." he says, looking out over the ocean. The lights of the distant Traverse town, and the light of the moon looking down on the water. "..." Will moves to walk again.