risingwinds | Twenty-Eighth Shooting Star

[Late at night, those who dare venture the woods may hear a sharp snap. The rustling of leaves, and... a cough? Seems someone's in the neighborhood, though from a distance, it looks like nothing more than a disembodied flame.

Should one venture closer, they'll find Ven with his clothes smudged with dirt, twigs poking outta his hair, and big, baggy circles under his eyes. Quite a departure from his normal, tidier appearance.

He continues on his way towards the village, eventually stopping at the plaza and plopping down at the edge of the fountain. Briefly, he catches glimpses of familiar faces walking by. Fuuko. Terra. Aqua. Vanitas.

Minako...

And each time, he shouts out their names. Tries to get up, but his legs are about as sturdy as rubber, and he finds himself back where he started.

After a while, he finally opens his journal and speaks.]

So, uh... I guess I've been missing a lot, huh? [Cue some sheepish laughter.]

Guess that's what happens when you go to the beach before a big Shift! I couldn't even use the teleporters to get back, so I kinda had to... walk. A lot, and then I got kidnapped.

[Tsk. What a pain.]

I'd ask what was up with that Shift, but I'm honestly just glad it's over. Couldn't even summon my Keyblade while that was going on.

[After a long pause, he heaves a soft sigh.]

Anyway, all these weird ghosts showing up got me thinking... A lot of my friends are gone now. Some have been gone for years. So I guess what I'm trying to say is... well, does anyone wanna be friends? My name's Ventus, and I've been here for a really long time. So if any of you guys are still new, I'm more than happy to give pointers. Or talk about some of my adventures in other worlds, maybe. Just uh... I think I could use some company right now.

[Anything to keep his mind off of those images.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Eheh... Yup. Almost four now.

[And at that, he pauses, placing a hand over the top of his head because, geez, he keeps forgetting that he's not a scrawny fifteen year old anymore.]

Doesn't really feel like it, though. I mean, I guess it does feel like a long time, but it's just weird to think that I've been living here for about as long as I'd been training as an apprentice.

Four years?! [ Leaping lizardlions that was a long time. The surprise on her face says it all, but she feels the need to comment anyway. ]

Wow. That must be extra rough, seeing your friends from home then.

[ Man, that would TOTALLY make him feel better, right? To her credit she seems to realize what she's said a second later. ] I mean- sorry- it'd be rough anyway. But at least I've seen some of these "visions" a few months ago.

[ Okay, maybe people feel better still wasn't her strong suit. Training though, that was something she knew alllll about. ]

What were you training for?

Well, the good thing about being here for so long as that you get used to stuff like that. My friends haven't been here in years now, so I shoulda guessed it was some kinda trick.

[There's a lopsided smile as he says this, and he shrugs. The subject of training is a welcome segue, so he'll gladly shift gears.]

And I was training to become a Keyblade Master... which probably sounds like a buncha gibberish. So, uh... basically, people like me are supposed to go out and protect the worlds. And Masters... well, they get to train apprentices to continue their legacy.

[ It might have started out sounding like gibberish, but she grabs onto the common ground of protecting the world(s, in his case.) ]

Yeah, I have no idea what "keyblade" means, but that still sounds amazing. Did you get a chance to go out and protect the world? Uh, worlds? [ She looks a little unsure about the last part, though. ] Are you saying you knew about all these worlds before you got here?

Yup! Sure did.

[He pauses.]

Well, maybe not these worlds, but I'd gotten to see a couple of other worlds before I got here. It's a big part of being a Keyblade wielder.

[As for what Keyblade means... here, he'll give a little demonstration by waving his arm and, whoosh. That sure is a giant key flashing into his grip.]

Woah! [ Okay, so the giant key appearing in a flash of light was really cool. Could you blame her? ]

You can just make it appear whenever you want? [ She asks, giving it a closer look. ] That's amazing. [ And then she shakes her head. ] And here I thought protecting one world was hard enough.

And I can make it disappear, too!

[Here, watch this. He'll wave his hand again and, poof! It's gone. Just like that.]

And it is pretty tough, but I never minded too much. It was great getting out there and meeting new people, and I got to learn a lot of things I never could've picked up back home.

[ She's pretty impressed with it disappearing, too. Korra sort of waves her hand through where the key would have reached had ti still been there before nodding as if satisfied that it's REALLY disappeared. ]

That sounds so exciting. [ For her part she sounds only a little wistful. ] I always wanted to travel more back home, too. I was finally starting to get a chance to. [ And then she snorts. ] But I guess this sort of counts as traveling, huh?

It's a start, anyway! I just wish we had more opportunities to travel.

[And for a very, very brief moment he slumps.]

Half the time we do get out there, we're stuck fighting the Malnosso's wars. It'd be great to just go out and explore without having to worry about creepy cultists.

You think there's a lot out there other than this place and those other villages people talked about? [ She's only heard a little bit about them so far. Really, she's only heard a little bit about all of this stuff so far. At the mention of wars her face falls, too. ]

That would make it easier. Have you... been out fighting in the war? [ He's been here long enough that it sounds likely. ]

There's gotta be! This world's huge. A lot bigger than most of the worlds I've seen, anyway, and I bet there's all kinds of secrets we haven't even uncovered yet.

[It's said with a light, bouncy tone and a huge grin. The idea of adventure's more than enough to lighten his spirits...

And then the war comes up, and his smile wavers a little.]

And yeah. I've been out on almost every draft since I came here. Kinda takes a lot outta ya.

You make it sound so exciting. [ She says, laughing at his enthusiasm. ] I think I'd like to uncover some secrets here, too. [ What can she say? It was contagious. Similarly she looks a little more somber at his admission about the drafts, too. ]

Yeah, I... can't imagine. They don't sound like any kind of war I've ever seen. I'm sorry you've had to go through that.

Aw, it's okay.

[There's a shrug and a wave of the hand.]

I think if I didn't go, I'd just end up worrying about everybody. Plus, I'd rather be out on the front lines instead of somebody who can't fight. And sometimes they end up sending people who're just little kids or don't have any fighting experience.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it.

[ With an answer like that, she can't help but feel like she likes this guy already. ]

If I ever get sent out there I'll probably feel the same. I don't know why they'd send people like that if there are enough people with the experience, though. It just doesn't make sense. [ And then she laughs. ] But I guess not much here does make sense, huh?

I think it's got something to do with Shift compatibilities, but I dunno. They're already pretty shady as it is.

[He folds his arms, tipping his chin up in thought.]

But that's not important right now! Unless something really crazy happens, I think it's good to focus on what's happening in the present... even if that means weird visions and shrinking buildings.

[...]

...so maybe that is something we oughta worry about at least a little bit. Luceti's always got something crazy going on, but I don't think I've ever seen stuff like this...

Twenty-Eighth Shooting Star - voice/action;

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