Rebirth Keybladers

Wavering crimson light shot over the scorching sand, it seemed ready to set alight, swallow the world in fire and create a second burning Sun. But not quite, there was still the odd calm breeze to lower the temperature, dish out some cold air, save a life. The grand city of Agrabah sat surrounded, beyond it's vast suburbs, by desert. It, too, was affected by the powerful, water draining beams which the massive sphere so eagerly blasted out.

As the shadow began to fall, a poster found its way onto the walls and boarded up bazaars that scattered the forever cluttered city. They were more like little notes than posters. On them they read something very strange.

And the sun continued to set. Time passed by, was anyone going to take any notice?

Falling, falling, falling for an eternity, or so it seemed. Zerix's vest billowed around him as he floated on what seemed to be a pocket of air. He felt has if he had been falling for hours upon hours, there seemed to be no end to it. Everything was so strange, Zerix just wanted it to end. Even so, the inital shock of the fall was over and a strange calm settled over him. He shouldn't be calm, in this situation, no one should be calm. He had every right to be afraid, very afraid, and yet, he wasn't. Why? Maybe it was because he realized that he had brought himself into this mess, so he'd have the responsibility for getting himself out. In any case, he couldn't afford to panic. But, why here, why now? Why him?

All of the sudden, the pocket of air beneath him seemed to give away, and Zerix really, truly fell. As he fell toward what seemed to the ground, he didn't even have time to take in anything around him. Bam! He hit the ground hard and just lay there for a few moments. What he felt beneath him was sand... Why was there sand here? Was he still at the beach? No, the air was different, it wasn't humid or moist at all, but acrid and dry and almost devoid of life. Above all, it was hot, hotter than he'd ever felt before. What was this place? Zerix wondered, still just lying there in the sand, that is, until he realized that the only way he was to find out was if he got up.

He finally took a good look around, it was even stranger than he had thought. He was surrounded by what seemed to be tan, almost clay-like buildings and instead of solid ground beneath him, sand, and above him, a hot, yellow sun beat down on them, not hindered by clouds or shade of any sort. Zerix suddenly felt dizzy, swaying to and fro a bit, he couldn't quite stand up straight. This new environment was too much, he was so thirsty he couldn't bare it. He had no water, or even food, on him, so he could not quench it. Zerix fell over onto his knees into the sand again. What was he doing? He said to himself, trying to clear his mind, He was in a city, probably full of people and he was just sitting there, dying. He could call out, if he had the energy.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem so. At that exact moment, a paper blew by, and Zerix, by some sort of miracle, caught in in one hand. That was only one second before he fainted in the hot, desert sand of the strange city in the world he had never been.

It had bee what? Three, maybe four, weeks? How many worlds had it been as well? He cared not to think about those kind of small details. He was just looking at the big picture. Bringing back their family. As his back was pressed up against the solid, yet forever warm, wall, Vex slowly slid his hand through his spiky blond fair. Sweat trickled down his forehead slowly, seeping out of his expanding pores until it managed to find its way to the bottom of the fifteen year old's chin, where is began to drip off onto the floor below. But it was so hot, so humid, the salt-water solution barely made it close before it fizzled away into the atmosphere.

Due to the he was wearing his usual white clothes and was hidden in the shade made him even more unwilling to receive the full blast of the rays. Taking out an already slightly damp cloth, he plastered his face with it, wiping away whatever he could from his brow and whatever else clung to his face.

Removing the cloth, that's when he saw a person who, like himself, looked out of place. Vex watched him for a moment, his strange, beaming yellow eyes tracked the stranger efficiently. Next all he saw was the boy collapsing. From somewhere he managed to pull some energy to the surface. He rushed over to the boy and using what strength he had in his arms, Vex lifted him from under the arms and dragged him over to the nearest amount of shade, which was minute. Giving one last heave, Vex managed to slump the boy against the wall.

Looking him over, he looked exhausted, colour was drained from his face, vex placed his hand on the stranger's head, his temperature was stupidly high. But something else grabbed his attention, through this, a small piece of paper, part of which hung out of the unconscious boy's hand.

Pulling his small tankard of water off from its strap, he held it in his left hand ready. But first he had to wake the guy up. "Time to see if Suron was a good teacher after all" he smiled slightly devilishly to himself before closing his eyes and calming his face. Rising his right hand a bit away from the stranger's face, Vex concentrated. First of all he sank deep, swam up through it and constructed his magical power into a physical element, one which he had started the imagery with. Sure enough, after the skin on his forehead folded over in concentration, a small blast of water shot onto the unconscious guy's face. It brought him round slowly.

Vex smiled, raised his water container and shook it about a bit, as he spoke, he did so with his prepubescent sounding voice, which held a slight undertone of age, it was easy to see why people thought he was so young. "Hey there friend, you might want to drink some of this," he shook the water slightly more intensely, "you just went and passed out a bit back there. In the middle of the city and everything!" He beamed on, quite pleased at his ability to save someone's life.

After giving him a small amount of time to drink and recover, Vex perked up again, "You alright?" he spoke with his ever enthusiastic voice.

Zerix was jolted awake by a suddenly splatter of ice cold water over hit face. He jumped a little in near-shock from the suddenly change in temperature from hot to cold. Oddly enough, it felt very, very good. Zerix shook his head a little, to air dry his face, before looking up at his 'savior.'

Standing over the young Keyblader, was a fair haired boy in his early teens. His face still held a glow of youth, and his eyes, his eyes were the strangest color of yellow he'd seen in his life. His clothing was almost all white, another symbol of youth and innocence. Zerix could already tell that, while they were of a similar age, his and the boy's maturity would most likely be far apart. Most of Zerix's youth and innocence had been whipped away, drained from him as a result of his training in the Imperial Army.

"Hey there friend, you might want to drink some of this," The boy shoved a canteen filled with water right into his hands, "you just went and passed out a bit back there. In the middle of the city and everything!" Quite a bit forceful, this kid was, and, under the circumstances, very cheerful. In fact, he was beaming down at Zerix intently. Perhap in self-pleasure. Zerix almost smirked a little bit, it was a nice contrast to the usual attitudes he'd seen in a while.

"Thanks, stranger," Zerix said, respectfully, and took a swig of the water, it was a refreshing feeling against his parched and dry throat. He felt much better, and it was cooler somehow, not much, but after that sudden spite of dehydration, anything was better. The kid must've dragged him into the shade. Smart, very smart. Zerix took another gulp of water before handing it back, he didn't want to completely deplete his savior's supply of water, for all he knew, there wasn't anymore water for miles around, and by the look of the place, he didnt' doubt it.

"You alright?" The kid asked intently.

"Now," Zerix answered, matter-of-factly, "I'd probably be dead out there, if it hadn't been for you. What is your name?" That was a start, the kid's name, what could it be? "And, where am I?" That was another important question, where in hell's name was he? Zerix still, yet, held the piece of paper clutched in his left hand, though even he hadn't noticed it yet, in fact, he didn't not even remember picking it up!

This post has been edited by Zerix Orbane on Oct 11 2007, 10:37 AM

OOC: I really am sorry for the delay.

Standing over the recovering victim, Vex couldn't help but look around whilst he took in some well needed water. A juice which he would need to stimulate the body and stop it from overheating. Vex was young and childish, but he wasn't stupid. He knew why things had to be done. Experience had taught him that.

But the boy did need experience to see how out of place this guy was, it was even more apparent than himself, some of the few locals that had passed by had given him what he considered a rude look before, but to this guy they gave a look that suggested he was dancing around naked screaming at everyone to look at him. Smiling at his own thoughts, Vex snapped his head back into place, he always seemed to float away into some strange world where his mind constructed things at random. It was frightening to say the least.

Shadow began to loom down over them and Vex gazed into the huge ball of fire which seemed as though it was going to crash into them in a few minutes. He guessed that there was an hour, maybe two of light left before the place would become a silent sandy hideout of thieves along with other dark and evil scheming people. Darkness always brought the worst of things.

With the stranger answering his question, Vex paid attention to the matter at hand, trying to make sure his mind didn't wander once again. As he reattached what remained of the water and it's container to his belt, he listened to the stranger's questions and smiled again. "I'm Vex," he said beaming whilst he thrust his hand out it what would usually have been a hand shake, but on this occasion it was a helping hand up, "and what would your name be?" he finished with.

With his hand still awaiting the other male's firm grip, the spiky blonde haired boy saw something out of the corner of his eye. The end of a piece of paper laying discretely across his tightly grasped fingers. They still held it firmly now, it didn't even seem like he knew it was there. Frowning slightly, Vex couldn't help but ask with a gesturing nod, "what's that in you hand?"

After rehydrating, the first thing Zerix did was get a true baring of his surroundings, the time of day, geography, citizens. It would give his clues to where he was. His previous survey was most likely incomplete or inaccurate due to his dampened senses and faint mind. He had not been in the right mind then, he couldn't trust his own findings.

Well, at least one aspect of his dehydrated survey had been correct, Zerix was in a desert city, not a deserted city, but a city in a desert. The strangest thing was that, there were people. Zerix would've never suspected that a city in a such a place could sustain an active population, but it seemed that this place did. The people themselves were very strange, most were dark skinned, tanned not black, not surprising since they lived under such intense sunlight, and they were giving him to most interesting looks. It was like he was a clown yelling out and making a fool of himself, attracting all kinds of attention, but that wasn't how Zerix was or meant to be. It must be his strange appearance, strange to them at least.

Vex's question brought him back to it all. His name? Well, Zerix had asked the boy's name, so it seemed only fair that he reveal his. "I am called Zerix Orbane." He said simply and grasped Vex's outstretched hand, thankful for the help up to his feet. His other hand was tight in a fist, holding something that Zerix was still not aware of.

"What's that in you hand?" was Vex's sudden question. Zerix looked at him quizzically and lifted his left hand from his side, moving it into plain sight. Zerix loosened his grip and opened his palm to reveal a piece of paper, a flyer of sorts. He didn't remember ever having it, or even picking it up off of anywhere.

"Apparently, a note," Zerix said, and held it up to the light, reading it. A challenge, it seemed to be. What was this Cave of Wonders it mentioned? He was not familiar with it, not that he should be. Zerix handed it over to Vex, gesturing for him to read it.

(Sorry for the crummy post, English essay hanging over me here )

'Zerix Orbane' he mouthed to himself, as if he was trying to engrave the name into his mind. It was always good to remember names and faces, losing friends, as Vex had recently come to learn. Now more absorbed with the conversation, Vex's mind failed to drift off in the dreamy and imaginative fashion it always seemed to. This fact took the boy slight by surprise.

Slowly taking the note, Vex read it carefully. "Hmmm...." his voice echoed around in his throat as an eyebrow rose to consider the small advertisement of sorts. The first thought that came to his mind was "Cheeeeesssssyyyyy." It seemed to Vex as though the note was one big pun. Whoever wrote it needed lessons on how to write a good advertisement for a quest. He soaked the small number of words in as best he could. It sounded good. It sounded challenging, he smiled at this prospect. How long had it been since he's taken on a mission. More importantly, how long had it been since he'd taken on a mission without the rest of Kokoro?

Maybe he should take a small break from searching, who knew, Ruon might have seen the note and gone there. It was unlikely, but he could claim it was in the name of searching. He held it out to Zerix, a smile slowly spread across his face until he was beaming. "So," he said mischievously, "you wouldn't happen to be interested in this trial of fire would you?"

His smile raged on for a while and his mind started to shift back into its usual drifting routine when he remembered a question he'd not properly heard earlier. It made sense now though, he really needed to pay more attention. "Oh yea," he said partly laughing at his own silly mistake, "this place is Agrabah. It hot, arid and the civilians ain't the kindest of folk," he looked around with a slight look of distaste but quickly carried on smiling again at his own thoughts, "but there are a couple of girls I've seen who've got what me and a friend call the 'wow' factor." His grin was forever brash, he smiled like a toothless child whom had just found the largest sweet shop in the city.

There were some things war could never change. Vex's immaturity was one of them.

(It's not to bad, on my Star Wars RPG site, you'll be hard pressed to see one post like that in which only included the main character in an entire storyline important topic.)

Zerix had always been up for a challenge, but taking up one in a place as strange to him and this could be a mistake. He hadn't just been taught to never back down, but also to calculate the odds and decide whether getting involved would be a good idea. At least if your higher ups didn't order you to go anyway, then you'd have no choice. But this wasn't the case right now. Zerix had all the free will in the worlds here, no one to order him to do anything dangerous if he didn't wish to himself.

The Cave of Wonders, that didn't sound like a dangerous name, but names could be deceiving. Should he go in or not, there were many factors he had to considered, but it all really came down to one thing. His partner.

Vex may look young and naive and radiated a bit of an immature aura, but Zerix could sense in him a strength that not many had, not to mention experience. Zerix had a feeling that Vex had seen his share of battles as well, if they went together, they had a real chance at completing the challenge with little or no injury, if they were lucky. It was a risk, but Zerix liked risks. He'd go.

"I'm interested," Zerix answered, "Most definitely," Nothing much could turn him from his decision now, unless the boy did something incredibely stupid between now and when they entered the Cave. Then there probably wouldn't be any choice in turning back.

"Oh yea, this place is Agrabah. It hot, arid and the civilians ain't the kindest of folk," Finally, an answer to his question. Now he had a baring on where he was, or at least where he wasn't. He had never heard of a place called Agrabah, it definitely wasn't in the Land of Dragons. Maybe he was in another world... "but there are a couple of girls I've seen who've got what me and a friend call the 'wow' factor."

Zerix smirked a little at this. This boy was most definitely as immature as could be, relax, childish, but still focused. It was a very refreshing transition. No one in the Imperial Army, the Emperor especially, would have ever talked about women in that way. In the Army, deep respect was taught for women. Normally, Zerix would've been disgusted by this, or at least pretended to be, but he wasn't in the Land of Dragons, these weren't the women of China. What difference did it make now?

"You are a funny one, Vex," Zerix commented, "But perhaps would should focus more on the task at hand..."

(My post was a bit under par as well, but I'm tired today for some reason. I didn't answer a single question in Spanish class toward, which is at about noon, when I should be awake, but alas, I was like a zombie!)

With Zerix's comment, the boy's smile spread like wildfire across his face. It seemed like the ice had officially been shattered. Their personalities did seem to clash somewhat and yet, Vex sensed a similar sort of understanding with him. Something, he wasn't sure what, but he felt like they would make a good team. Hopefully he'd get to try that theory out.

Gazing over the small shred of paper, the golden globed boy felt his gaze fall upon the location it had mentioned. Cave of Wonders, it seemed quite strange that he'd just found out about this place before. Having asked about the locations in Agrabah, he'd been told in scant detail about the place. It seemed few knew of it and yet, the old beggar had said, that many strangers had been located around that area, or at least asked about it, in the last two years. He'd been luckily it seemed, that he'd stumbled upon Zerix and this location the day he did. A day earlier and they'd be lost as to where it was. A day later and he may not have been here.

Folding the advertisement carefully, he slid it into his pocket before re-affirming his smile. "Yea, I suppose you're right." although he did sound mildly discouraged, he knew Zerix was right to take this seriously. These things never turned out to be as easy as they sounded.

"So," his voice had altered now, it seemed like he was following his partner's fine example, "together then?" It needed to be asked, although the vibes felt good, there was always a chance that Zerix's didn't want to work together. For now, he'd just have to wait for an answer.

(OOC: A reason he might not want to work together is due to the amount of time it takes 'Vex' to post ^^. Again, sorry about that.)