An Overdue Crossing [Private]

Glyde followed in Malisa's path shadowing her steps with precision; he held in mind he state of things on her world and kept to a cautious step as he moved. He lagged behind a few feet at a more leisurely pace. Where he had been too clouded earlier to make detailed observations, he was now taking in his surroundings with keener eyes. Beyond the luminous crystals that begged attention, he marked the paths of the tunnel, committing the way to and from the workshop to memory while mentally noting certain branching points along the way.

Out on the streets he widened his stride to walk at Malisa's side. The town itself was a depressing sigh: dozens shops and other institutions were border up with signs reading "closed for quarantine" hung hastily upon the doors. The few businesses that remained open were scantly populated, and their patrons as depressed as their home. The streets were nearly empty; the few stray souls that stalked them made obvious efforts to avoid the gaze of each other's eyes, some going as far as to veer off to a safer distance for fear of being contaminated by the infection. Had the town not been so dead and dying, Glyde imagined, it would have been a place worth staying for a while... maybe even forever.

The cross-town trek continued with similar scenes until Glyde at last saw something that didn't look as downtrodden and worn as he was. The open front of the restaurant stood as the only sign of life along the cavernous streets. Of course, that meant little when Glyde saw that it's customers were mainly congregated around a high-counter with their eyes drowning in half-empty pools of regret. He steered his gaze away from these patrons, too reminded of another life to join in. Averting his gaze from the sulking, hunched forms, he took cue from Malisa and seated himself at their table for two. Letting her do the talking, he leaned back in his seat and eyed the proceedings;'more information etched itself into his mental notepad as he witnessed a new ability on his companion's part.

"This is a lot like last time," he said after the waiter departed. He skimmed his head around the restaurant indicating the scene. "Except this time I'm not picking a fight with anyone... and you helped me out of a mess up."

 

"Pfff." A scoff came from Glyde's mouth before he could stop it. The thought of a war erupting in his home was laughable; it would have been to anyone that knew the efficiency that the High Masters had set up through the Academy. He was quick to vocalize that point. "Anything resembling a war in my reality," he said in a low, hushed tone, "would become a massacre by the hand of the Academy." He picked into the platter fried foods, immediately snatching a piece of meat, scarfing it down with two bites while he picked up a second, which he nibbled at more slowly. "Good stuff," he said on an aside. "What you need to understand is that the Academy is this well oiled machine... one that has thousands of back-up parts, and a way to pretty much account for and repair every lick of damage it could take. They've got contingencies for their plans, and even their contingencies have contingencies. They've been through turmoil in the past; generations of trial and error. It would take something... unimaginable for their rule to come down into a war."

He fell silent; there was nothing more he had to say, beyond that he had never heard of 'Drive Forms' in his life, that he had personally been experimenting with Spell Circles on his own as well, and that he wasn't totally convinced of his own confidence in the Academy's stability. "... Who's this legendary hero Sora,?" he blurted out, apparently out of the blue.

 

"Yeah.... neat stuff." Glyde too reached for his glass, downing half of the water in a single, refreshing gulp. He picked out another cut of food from the sample platter, nearly swallowing the morsel whole, choking on it before washing it down with another swig from his glass. He drew in a breath, gasping for the air in the wake of the near-obstruction of his windpipe. "That Sora sounds like something, he said weakly. "To do all of that with so little help; sounds... powerful."

He took hold of a handful of delicacies from the platter, throwing it with a Neanderthal recklessness upon his personal dish. Chunks of tenders and chips slid onto the table, some onto the floor; he ignored the mess, picking out another morsel. More quietly and with great tension, he bit into he cut of meat. Turning his chair, he oriented himself to look over the empty dining room towards the bar and rest his elbow down upon the table as he continued nibbling on his food. At the Academy they always explained Kingdom Hearts as... a sort of nexus; not unlike that Dominion, though evidently less powerful. They said it was the Heart of the worlds, well, our worlds that is. A place that provides balance between Light and Darkness. Of course, the only people to have seen it exist in legends and myths from the "History" books." He killed off the last bite of his tender, stared wishfully to the ceiling and spoke towards it. "I wouldn't mind being one of them myself; I could use it right about now."

 

"It's still impressive." Glyde twisted and churned his face as though repulsed by the thought of Sora's success. A gut wrenching feeling flipped in his stomach when he related it to his own situation. Great. Some kid goes around saving the world like it's no big deal and I can't even get home.

He continued sitting in silence, until, without a word or indication, he stood. He pushed back his chair, which scraped loudly as it slid across the floor as he came to his feet. "Sorry, sorry," he said, unsympathetically addressing the few people seated nearest him who were startled by this abrupt. He darted his eyes across every inch of the tavern, pointing his nose out as if he were a hound sniffing out prey. When he stopped, it was only for a short few seconds before he bellowed.

"Look out! Glyde, Malisa and the people seated nearest them were then surrounded with whirling cyclones, Aeroga defenses, cast by Glyde himself, sprung up around the room. Several people dove from their seats to the floor in shock as a feline something bound across the room with Glyde as its target. The Keybearer, in typical form, threw his dominant hand forward manifesting his gun-like Keyblade. A single flash of pale orange light heralded the bullet of pure magic energy set on its collision course with the feral creature.

 

Seeing as his shot did little to nothing to impede upon the feral's charge, Glyde abandoned any further offensive effort; a volley of magic fire would do more damage than good, and he knew he'd never get enough rounds off before the Kurao's claws sunk in. The Keybearer withdrew to the defensive. The Reflega he cast next could easily accomplish what a single magic bullet could not. The protective bubble manifested within the partial second in which Kurao leaped in. Not an instant later, the lion would collide with...

Not the shield, but a last second blast of wind from the side, sweeping him off balance in midair and knocking him clear out of the pub and into the near-empty street. "Friend? Yeah. Sure. Let's go with that," he retorted, sarcastically adding, "I think there's been plenty of damage done already.". He let the Reflega fall, and allowed himself to fall back in line behind Malisa after tugging himself out of her dragging grip.

Out on the street, he found that Kurao had already gotten over the whirlwind blast. Yet the once proud Captain was nonetheless worse for wear, even without being knocked out of the restaurant. "Somehow, I don't think you're in much shape to be killing anyone right now, Cap."

 

With Malisa’s barrier in place around them, Glyde assumed their safety was assured. “He’s tougher than I thought he’d be,” he remarked. “I didn’t know was so resilient. But he shouldn’t be able to break through the shield. I remember your barriers always were-- Wait, what?”

Transfixed on the disheveled, piratan feline, Glyde pondered what he might have been looking to achieve through holding his breath. “Sorry. I’m not too familiar with all of this one’s tricks. I mean, I only worked with the guy for a few weeks; spent most of it in captivity… If I had to take a stab, I’d guess that he was either looking to suffocate himself or…”

Glyde never got the rest of his sentence out. The barrier shattered in a spray not unlike the breaking of glass; against this, Glyde’s best defense was to shield his face with his arm. The shards of the barrier cut through his clothes before dissipating. Shaking himself off, he resumed the standoff against Kurao, who had the most triumphant of smirks painted across his face, and the faintest inflection of a purr in his voice as he spoke.

“Thought yeh were safe, didn’t yeh Glyde!? But yer not! Not from me! Now, yeh both are gonna die!” Kurao bounded forward and leapt into the air aiming a predatory pounce upon the duo.

The attack was nearly successful.

As the wildcat shadow fell over Glyde and Malisa, the former noticed, for piece of a second, a blurred form pass by them. Not a second after, a piercing, painful moan erupted from the pirate’s mouth.

The cause of this pain: a hard elbow, driven perfectly into his stomach.

The perpetrator of this action: a young man, roughly Glyde and Malisa’s age, with short, spiked blond hair, adorned by the traditional armor of a Keyblade Knight.

Glyde recognized the young man without fail. “So, you managed to follow me here too, Vance? I shouldn’t be so surprised.” Glyde practically laughed as spoke.

Kurao being temporarily at bay, Vance cocked his head ninety degrees, catching the pair in his periphery. He spat at the ground. “Don’t be too happy about it. You two just get out of here. I want to deal with you while you’re still fresh.” He looked back at Kurao, who, by then, had recovered from the blow, more deranged from the experience of being blindsided.

“You sure about that?” Glyde asked, stepping forward. “He’s not exactly a pushover. You’d know better than I do. You’ve actually had to fight him.”

“No!” Vance yelled, though he didn’t turn his gaze from Kurao. “I can handle it; I’m more cut out for his sort. Get lost. I’ll catch up. We still have a score to settle.”

“Alright then. Suit yourself... (jerk)“ Glyde turned to Malisa. “Live to fight another day,” he called, running back to her. “Back to your place. I doubt Kurao knows where it is. Unless he followed us there in the first place; in which case, feel free to give us a different plan." Despite only half remembering the way back, Glyde, this time, grabbed for Malisa's arm as he hurried away down the street.

 

"Yeah. Good thing the cat got to us before Vance did." Glyde mimicked Malisa's grin. "Usually Vance comes after me before anyone else; that's how he did it the last three or four times. He must really be pissed at me if he's willing to fight someone else just to get me well-rested a d unspoiled." The imitated smile melted away in seconds, courtesy of a deep, prolonged mixture of a sigh and a yawn. He lumbered lazily to the unmade bed' mumbling something to the effect of "typical Vance," and shaking and lowering his head as he stared at the mattress.

The longer he stared, the more the soft bed called out to him. As much as the Elixer had worked, it hadn't undone the weeks of sleep deprivation it had taken for him to get to the bed. Like the hunger had not hours earlier, tiredness caught up to the wanderer. It mounted within and swelled until he finally broke. He shook his head, grumbling in self-scolding while he pulled off his overcoat and long shirt revealing the tank-top beneath.

With the shirt he rolled a crude, yet effective pillow, setting it down at the head of the mattress. He flopped down onto his back, and cast his overcoat upon himself like a blanket. He stretched his bare, weathered arms into the air, at the same time pulling his boots off with just his feet. For the warmth and comfort he retreated his arms under his coat, and lowered his head to his pillow.

"Man, I do feel beat; bit too much excitement for one day I suppose. He spoke through yawn, closed his eyes, and fell deeper into a relaxing sleep. Barely half awake, he dreamily capped off his lines. "Even with getting jumped by Kurao, your home world was is the best I've visited, Malisa.... maybe, someday... you'll see mine."

For a second, an honest smile found its way to Glyde's face, before his voice fell silent, and was replaced with a low snore.

 

The night had past by without disturbance when Glyde, assuming on the merit of his own waking that morning had come, found himself staring to the ceiling. The dazed, drowsy disorientation that accompanied the first moments of the morning came as they often did. Through an adjusting vision, the dark orbs of his eyes surveyed the cave-like room from the warmth and comfort of the bed. Everything had been left mostly as it had been the day before, save for an open book upon the table where Malisa had last seated herself; the chair was now left without an occupant. Oddly, the other cot in the room was also without an occupant, and in fact, seemed as though it hadn't been disturbed all night. She must've gotten up before me; maybe she's grabbing some breakfast, or just stepping out for some air, or something. It was an easy enough thought to clear through his head, and the perfect explanation for his companions absence.

The conclusion accepted itself immediately, breaking the feeling of early morning delusion. Glyde, though caught by the oddest sense of a decent sleep, remained beneath his the cover of his blanket. Huh? It hadn't occurred to him until that instant that he was no longer under his coat alone; Malisa had seen fit to throw a blanket in as well. This blanket is surprisingly warm. Even for a blanket, his covers were exceptionally cozy; he had never felt so warm in a bed before. Smiling like a child, he rustled beneath the cover, feeling around for the usual 'sweet spot.' He struck this warmer spot on his left side, the smoothing feeling caressing his left arm, sending a tingle up through his neck and chest and down to his fingertips.

He reveled in this... until he understood that the sweet spot he had found wasn't from the blanket covering. The childishness swept from him, his widened eyes followed with the shifting of his head, looking over his left shoulder. There, sprawling out from under the blanket, was one among the last things he had though (and hoped) to see: the long strands of slivery hair that could only belong to one person.

The disorientation struck back with a vengeance. For all of his effort Glyde couldn't recall when Malisa had even gone to sleep, much less when either of them, whichever it had been, had decided to share the one bed. She must have just been exhausted. Wasn't thinking straight. That's all. His dizzy mind whipped around through hundreds of ideas only to resolve its dilemma with the one evasive strand of reason it could manifest; it all had to be a mistake. Again, the reasoning found immediate acceptance. Wishing no chance for further confusion on Malisa's part, Glyde clipped the problem at once. Holding his breath in, he gently slipped himself out from the covers. He snatched up his rolled shirt, throwing it back on; he retrieved his coat, nearly as stealthily, but left it draped over the section of blanket covering Malisa.

Attempting to keep quiet, he tip-toed towards the entrance, scooping his boots up as he passed by.

 

A count of mere feet separated Glyde from his coveted escape. The intensity of each step's careful placement swelled into rushes of trialed heartbeats. The door to his ease of mind tantalized his mind, driving him to his resolution: who am I to stay here? It was no question unanswered; in a more ceremonious procession, placed his stride ahead with a more labored step. The thumping of his heart drummed in cadence to his march ensuring the intention of all motions. His steps sent his nerves resonating into the ground they beat, until the last heavy foot fell before the hidden stone door. Now... how did she open it again? The cadence of the chest's drum accelerated.

THUD

The cadence broke into frenzy, the drum bursting under the pressure of successive strikes. On still weighted legs Glyde spun. He froze on that spot, staring, fixated upon Malisa as she pushed herself off the rock hard floor. As she fumbled and grumbled about the ground uncertainly, Glyde, yet unseen, made no gesture nor sound. The certainty that she was in fact still asleep struggled to conclude itself in his mind. Biting his lip, he set once more into stride in equally labored steps back towards his compatriot.

Next to the clumped form snuggled under the blanket, he knelt down. "Jeez. And I thought I was a mess in the morning," he quipped softly. Patting his hand to her shoulder he lightly shook her. "If you're gonna go back to sleep, you'd be wiser to get back into the bed; rocks are very poor pillows. Of that much I can say for sure."

 

"Ah. Well that's good to know," Glyde chuckled as he withdrew to a chair by the table. A little more assuredly, he placed himself in the seat. "I was beginning to worry that I might have to go out on my own again." Another chuckle escaped him on the site of his companion in her waking state, a quicker one, subsiding as she tied her hair back. "Yeah." he continued, diverting his eyes towards the ceiling. "I would hardly think of noon as early. Of course, I'm usually an in-bed by midnight and awake by five sort of guy; it was good to sleep in though... thanks for the bed... and the blanket... and whatnot..." His eyes meandered back to their level gaze, falling back onto Malisa and her smile. "Best night of sleep I've gotten in a while."

Pushing up he removed himself from the chair and gravitated back towards the chamber's exit, pacing about half way. "Well..." A low rumble vibrated longingly about his stomach. "I must admit I am a bit hungry. Last night ended up more taxing than I had intended." He cocked his head slightly, revealing the profile of a slight smile through his own mess of hair. "Probably the same for you; I daresay, it seems like you barely kept yourself awake with your reading... Anyways, I vote for a dine then dash. Although I'm not sure where I'm going to next... at least, I don't really know how to get anywhere I'm going next."