Darkness In The Woods

Darkness In The Woods
Date of Scene:	16 April 2013
Location:	Targ Woods
Synopsis:	Riku and The Dark Knight have a run in within the forest of Targ Woods...
Cast of Characters:	Leon, Riku
Tinyplot:	Heart Of Power

---

Leon has posed:
The Airship docked off in a city not too far from the area of Targ Woods. The Dark Knight himself left his troops behind to allow them to take care of the airships needs while he went off to the forest.

Alone he walked into the dark woods. Though the darkness still drifted off his armor, it wasn’t as thick. Only with each step he took did a pool of the dark mist form. His steps quiet against the brush. Time to time dead leaves with crinkle under his steps and a branch may snap. Though for the most part, he moved in silence. Observing the area. Searching for the oddity that could be here; Anywhere; Yet perhaps not even here.

Riku has posed:
He didn't know why he came back to this place. He didn't exactly have a good relationship with forests as his bruised body and scraped feet will attest but he was slowly getting better. He had just.. walked through Upper Archades for hours and hours. He remembers that. Just walking for hours and then.. at one point, being so sick of it. So angry and sick of it all that he had to go somewhere quiet to gather his thoughts and his self-control again.

Control.

Always control.

Always waiting for the next shoe to drop. Riku let out a bit of a tired sigh and let go of the bitterness for a few moments. It was awkward and unwieldy enough in his head which was pretty much just as full of bruises that he had never let heal. He felt like his head was a dark room cluttered with things he kept banging against while too stubborn to go looking for the lightswitch.

Riku patted the wood, actually smiling a little as he looks over his handiwork. It had taken some gil (a considerable amount of his allowance, in fact) and some patience, a.. LOT.. of patience, but he was slowly restoring the ancient cabin. It had.. Riku snorts in bemusement. It had reminded him of the old, worn shack that connected a wooden bridge and a smaller island of a world lost and very far away now.

It was good he had a lot of patience. Otherwise he would have torn apart the Draklor Laboratory and shook Doctor Bunansa until something relevant fell out. This.. would have been a short and ignoble end to his aspiration to be a judge.

Did he still want that anymore?

Uphold an ideal in a world that regularly punished people for having them?

Riku smiles again softly. Putting this old jigsaw together again was actually sort of.. fun. He should lug Sora over here at some point and get him to help. It would.. and he stops himself there. No. Not until they could do this together. He had been planning... but whatever it was, it was impossible.

No.

Not impossible.

He just needed time.

He'd eventually think of something. She wasn't exactly safe.. but not really in danger.. at least for now.

He had other friends in need now.

Riku snorted quietly at the thought, getting up from the reading he had been ignoring while sunk so deep into his thoughts. He cracked his knuckles, wandering out of the cabin into the woods. He lets his eyes drift over the familiar scenery as he takes a walk to clear his head. A few minutes later he feels the very edge of that darkness and is brought up short by it, surprised as if he'd been hit in the solar plexus. Riku remained stunned for a few moments caught between fury and confusion. He checked where Gabranth was.. but he was nowhere near by.. Riku rubbed the side of his head, glowering as the immediate thought comes to mind and passes.

What are they doing here?

And.. more to the point.. if they were behind this. If this was their plan.. why hadn't they moved before now?

Leon has posed:
The Dark Knight continued to walk in a direction before he at last sense it first, before his red eyes search for it next. That familiar presence. How could he forget it? Yet now he knew /his/ name. Those armored boots start to walk in the direction of where he could sense Riku and perhaps just to test the waters, he decides to test a theory.

"Riku." His voice was calm and his words precise. "Why not come out and let us talk. I give you my word that no harm will be brought before you.” his red eyes scan around. "Though I am curious about the beast. The farmers said you went after it into here."

He then cants his head. "So.. did you leave it alive or did you kill it?"

Perhaps a dangerous game of playing off such little knowledge and perhaps many assumptions. Yet there was a task that needed to be performed. Any data gathered right now was crucial to complete this task. After all, a man was very dangerous, even a young boy, if they were out to defend something; even when it is a cause.

So just what did this boy believe in? What was he really after to gain?

Riku has posed:
Riku does not approach or retreat. He slowly closes his fists and stands straight, keeping his hands from shaking or the appearance thereof by just jamming them into the pockets of his mottled green duster. His own voice was screaming in his head for him to run. It knew his name. It couldn't be one of the dark faery's minions. He would have seen them before and they were never.. never like this. Like staring into a hole. Like staring into deep, silent water that never so much as rippled.

It wasn't him.

Since it wasn't him.. he should just treat them like any other Shadow Lord.

Don't show fear. Riku let a little of the hopeless, frustrated anger boil up into his voice and the anger had a paradoxically stabilizing effect on him. He let the accusation on his lips die in his throat. Why would they ask? What game were they playing?

Time to find out.

Riku shrugs, his voice biting with vague irritation. "I guess we'll see what your word is worth." he snorts, glowering. "If you talked to the farmers, then you know what that monster did. It couldn't just be allowed to roam free." he makes a waving gesture as if speaking of the thing in the decidedly past tense. "..what do you want, anyways. Not that monster, I don't think. Unless you were behind it, in which case I think we really should have a few, very pointed words for messing up my work here."

Leon has posed:
"Your work?" The Dark Knight slowly walks around not spotting Riku at last. Those red eyes locking onto him. "Would capturing the creature interfere with this?" He asks having no hint of anger, sarcasm, but just a quiet curiosity hinted in his voice.

"Does your work have to do with locating more of your Archades friends?" He tosses the question out there. His steps continuing to circle around, though his hands were easily by his side. His steps slowly come to a halt. His foot gently, perhaps attentionally, snapping a twig under it with a slow, gentle crush.

"As for what I want. That is yet to be seen." The Dark Knight responds with his red eyes piercing right into Riku’s own.

Riku has posed:
"Well. That's more than a few assumptions." Riku snorts faintly and turns slowly, walking a few steps away and circling in the opposite direction of scary armor the sequel.

" And I feel no compulsion to give you or whoever pulls your threads any satisfaction." he grits his teeth as a spike of pain flares from temple to temple.

He clamps down harder on his control, his temper flaring at the 'snap' of the twig. "Believe what you wish. Just stay out of my way."

Leon has posed:
The Dark Knight starts to circle once more, matching pace with Riku. Each step a flare of dark mist rises and those red eyes continue to stare at the youth. Every step Riku takes, the Dark Knight matches. Pace for pace. Step for Step. Never looking away. Challenging in the look. Daring the other dark user. His demeanor however was very calm. Very meticulous on how he moved.

There was a long silence. A long process of perhaps thinking of a response. The youth would never give him anything to work with. It was making it hard to gain any ground in such a manner. He did not know how to judge his enemy and he was unsure how to cause him to react in the manner he would need him to act to be successful in his requested mission.

"Perhaps if you are not willing to cooperate, I can go seek answers from that Judge Magister Zargabaath." The Dark Knights says softly. "I am sure with the right influence he will be far more giving."

Riku has posed:
Riku smirks wryly, his voice crackling with frustration. "Can't cooperate if you won't tell me what you want." he snorts, taking a clawed hand out of his pocket and inspecting the sharpened nails.

"Besides, I went looking for answers and nearly tore his heart out. I think you'll have to push a little harder than that to get him to give you your nebulous answers." he looks contemptuous, then rolls his eyes.

"You are trying my patience." he swallows and rakes a hand through his hair. "Do you even HAVE a heart in that shell?" he shrugs one shoulder as if completely unconcerned by the knight. "We can always find out."

Leon has posed:
"I am sure you would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?" The Dark Knight says eerily in a very calm fashion. "I am sure you have not eaten in some time. Unless they feed you something else?" The armored figure cants his head. "..or are you like that other Dark Knight I met.. Mm. No. You are like me. That I am sure of."

The Dark Knight then cants his head the other. "I did ask you questions. You avoided those questions. Shall I ask them again?" His hand flexing a bit as dark mist surrounds each of his finger tips. "I will be honored to do so. Even slower if that helps you, Riku."

Riku has posed:
Riku shakes his head, his ire cooling. "No. I would not enjoy it, at least not the part of me doing the talking right now." he frowns. "..and if you are really like me.. then I pity you." he takes in a steadying breath and lets it out slowly. "Nobody should have to be like this. What are you really after? If you wanted to kill me, you would have already started."

Leon has posed:
The Dark Knight slowly starts to realize that this endeavor is not becoming fruitful on any direction. He is no closer to understanding this boy then he was the first day he met him. Though the Robed figure did give him a few knowledge facts, they were not something he could obtain by his own merits.

"Why are you interested in the beast?" The Dark Knight asks. Trying this over again. "What use would you gain from it?"

Riku has posed:
Riku raises an eyebrow, putting his hand back in his pocket as he leans up against a nearby tree. "It's very unusual to see something like that out here." he tightly folds his arms across his chest, fingers tapping across the leather sleeve of the duster. He blinks hard several times in pain and then continues. "I think it breaks clocks or something, which makes it something else that wastes my time."

Leon has posed:
The Dark Knight stares a bit at Riku, where he at last comes to a stop once Riku leans up against a tree. This conversation was indeed a waste of time. No progress will be made here. No knowledge of coming any closer to a true value on this other dark user.

Dead information.

"Very well." The Dark Knight then takes a step back. "Perhaps next time then." His red eyes continue to stare at Riku as he takes another step back, before he turns fully around with a flick of his cape that moves with the rotation.

As soon as he turns around the mist around him engulfs him and he then vanishes from sight.

Riku has posed:
Riku stays there for awhile to make sure the dark knight had gone. He moves quietly through the forest, picking his way back to the cabin.

He looked back and forth, checking for sign of an ambush but doing so in a rather perfunctory fashion. He sits down up against the wall and closes his eyes tightly, letting himself shake with fear and anger until the shakes subsided.

They did not do so for a long, long time.