Rebirth Keybladers

[Jenno]

(So, I'm fed up at the low activity as we wait for people to make certain posts, true I haven't done any duels due to my inability to focus for them, but like I said, I can still rp, a little. So I'm going to try and spice things up a little, this'll be a little trial for any future tournament things. Anyway, please only join if you ARE GOING TO BE ACTIVE.

It seems that in it's Lord's absence, the Underworld has become quite dead...

However, the masses of bones and ghostly phantoms have gathered together in order to test the strength of the three might factions in a completely death free competition!

For a number of days, sign ups will be open to anyone who owns a keyblade they will, of course, have to briefly call their weapon as proof. Along with this they must leave their name and faction.

There will also, be a few unexpected twists with the tournament that will not be mentioned until that time. So sign up at your own peril!

In the entrance to the ever-grand Underworld was a fragile wooden board with a meager piece off paper where the information was to be filled out on. At the side sat a large plump creature who was ready to tick off each name after seeing their weapon.

(Basically, post a brief intro, and also information in this format:

Name - Faction - Rank

Sign-ups will be open for a number of days, most likely a fortnight since by then I wont have my mock exams )

[Drake_90]

Orion had burst through the doors of the coliseum. He rushed out for no particular reason to anyone who wasn't in the stadium. He quickly ran out to the entrance, he wasn't intending to interupt the fight but that's where he was dropped off. He ran to the out-skirts of the city and saw a large portal... It was to the underworld,"I've never been there before..." He said quietly to himself as he ran in. The surroundings turned darker and bleak. A long set of stairs followed this dark view. These steps were crooked and really un-welcoming but he started down them.

He had arrived to the bottom of these steps and saw a rather grotesque creature sitting there along with a piece of paper pinned up near him. He quickly looked up to it and read the requirements for a... Tournament. Orion summoned his keyblade and quickly wrote his information on the piece of paper,'Orion-Childern of destiny- Saviour of worlds' The creature mearly waved his arm, instructing Orion to move foward. He walked to the entrance and saw an eerie river that glowed a green color and had this dense look that you couldn't see more then a few inches into it.

This post has been edited by Drake_90 on Dec 5 2007, 07:48 PM

[Firewolf]

Fang had returned back home from one of his assignments. He had always loathed the world but not what laid underneath it. As he entered the underworld again Fang thought about what to do. There was always a bounty of heartless lying around for him to fight against and increase his strength but they provided little challenge to best. As he thought about what to do he almost hit the board head on. He stopped a good two inches from it and stared at this new sight. A creature sat next to the board but it didn't seem it could speak.

Wondering what the board was here for Fang looked at the piece of paper that hung on the board. Reading it Fang smiled, "Finally something other than recon missions. Hmm lets see, Orion, keyblader, bah nothing impressive." Grabbing the pencil Fang writes- Fang Kross - Heartless - Shade. Putting the pencil back Fang went to continue past the creature.

The creature taking note of what Fang was doing extended one of its limbs out to stop Fang from getting past. Fang called forth his keyblade as he swung to slice the monster in half for stopping him. The blade stopped only an inch away from the creature. Seeing the keyblade stop before hitting him the beast quickly withdrew its arm and let him pass.

"I am glad that has been cleared up for you. I presume I will be notified when this tournament starts." Moving past the creature Fang enters the depths of the underworld. He now had more of a reason to train and become stronger.

[Eternal Skies]

The blade danced through the billowing cloak of darkness as dust arose from the floor below. The beady yellow orbs vanished in a split second only to be replacing by another pair lunging forwards out of the darkness at the darkly clothed figure. Before the creature could connect its strike the silver gleam of the keyblade had struck it down without any effort. The figure smirked but knew her escape wasn’t going to be easy.

Glancing around her location she found herself surrounded by a mix of darkness and light. The only source of light, however, was the eyes of the oncoming swarms of heartless. They appeared in their hundreds all around her blocking her exit from the alley. Here she was on an unknown planet unable to escape. All she knew was that to escape she would need to fight. And fight is what she planned to do.

Slicing her keyblade in a side arc, slashing through the horded heartless beside her, and spun the blade in her hand so it faced towards where she had come from. Replacing the doomed heartless came a flash of black and silver causing a shock to come through the girl. Nobodies had joined the brawl now and this had just become more interesting for the girl.

Stepping forwards she crouched and then sprung up. As her feet left the ground she spun and outstretched her arm. The cold edge of the keyblade sliced through the mixture of darkness and as he feet touched the ground once more she crouched low and began a hurried run towards the exit slicing at anything in her way. As she approached the exit a cloaked figure stood in her way wielding two keyblade identical to the Kingdom Key she owned herself.

“Come. Test your strength at the Depth Coliseum.” The female figure said as she stepped back. She began to fade just like a normal Nobody would but instead of being silver particles they were black. Almost like a cross between the heartless and the nobodies. Soon she had gone and in her place was a swirling black and silver portal.

Without a moment of thought Hyumi had stepped through the portal. In her time of training she had become unafraid of these portals of darkness. But even this different portal hadn’t shocked her and unlike the usual cold passages the normal portals created this silver one was full of life and actually brought a proper smile to Hyumi’s face.

As she stepped through the passage’s exit the smile faded as memories of ‘him’ flashed through her mind. “I’ll find you.” Hyumi said to herself. In the dim green light of the underworld’s central chamber you could now see what the young warrior wore. Her feet were covered in flat-based black shoes with long black socks reaching up to the rim of her skirt which reached down to her knees. The skirt was multilayered and covered her upper legs adjoining with a black short sleeve shirt. Atop this shirt was a white leather jacket with sleeves that ran all the way down her arms and covered her hands. A white scarf was wrapped twice around her neck and under this was a necklace with a gold chain and a small shining silver gem embedded in the chain. Her hair was let down and flowed down to the centre of her back.

Taking careful, slow steps towards the sign up board Hyumi looked down the list of competitors. ”Orion. Fang. Hopefully a challenge” Taking her keyblade in her hand she slashed a ‘IV’ under the previous entrees ranks and then wrote the rest. ‘Hyumi. Keyblader’ Stepping back she looked at her added name and walked towards the centre. Without giving the creature time to react she already was in front of him and with her keyblade resting lightly on its neck. “Enough” She whispered and then made her keyblade vanished as she stood in the exact centre of the lobby waiting. Waiting for anyone or anything.

[Eternal Skies]

Emptiness filled the spires of the abandoned castle. Since the days of Organization XIII, The World That Never Was had become a breeding place for Nobodies and they spread out across the town below in seconds. The castle contrast the darkened sky of eternal night behind them and the light it emitted glistened on the damp paths below. Silence filled the castle halls apart from in the Corridor of Tranquil where footsteps echoed on the otherwise peaceful walls.

Black boot covered feet paced along the corridor impatiently as a keyblade lay at his feet. His black robe flicked in the non existent wind and he glanced along the corridor and towards the broken Kingdom Hearts through the window. His black hair avoided his eyes by remaining spiked upwards. His red eyes seemed to glimmer with a trapped anger or pain.

A flash of white light and the keyblade had vanished like it had never existed. Another flash and it emerged in his right hand, tightly grasped as if battle was approaching. His head flicked to glance at the whitewashed wall and he nodded to no one. A swirl of twilight appeared on the wall and slowly took form into the size of a human. It was a corridor of darkness and slowly the male stepped into it and as he vanished from the corridor the portal slowly disappeared leaving the corridor and the castle in pure silence.

As his steps echoed through the symphonic, peaceful, gentle corridor he began to think. Why was he trying to bring back the return of the nobody forces? Was it for his own pride and honour? Or did he just feel guilty about having deserted the Nobodies during their battles against the keybladers? The truth was it was neither of them. He had no emotion and knew only that he was the one who could bring back the true power of the Nobodies.

His stride was valiant as he crossed the mix of black, white and grey heading towards the end portal. The twilit warrior glanced upwards towards a non existent blanket of blue whilst his hand tightly grasped around the keyblade hand turned in an anti-clockwise motion as if agitated and annoyed. A fake smirk rose to his face and his closed his eyes as he halted his progression through the corridor of darkness. The silence enveloped his still body and his muscles relaxed and he felt much more agile and lighter.

Returning to his majestic stride he looked over his shoulder as if he felt a presence forming behind him. Upon reaching the conclusion it was only a figment of his imagination, the male flicked his head back to glance at the approaching exit. He knew his destination was the other side of the swirling portal and his first step to Nobody domination.

Stepping out through the portal he felt the bitter slap of the sunshine’s bright rays upon his skin. The burning sun was a vast contrast to the shattered silver moon back at The World That Never Was. Bringing his black cloak covered arm before his face as a sun shield he looked around. He’d seemingly come out in the correct place. Olympus Coliseum. Destroyed as the rumours had told him. He spun around with his back to the sun and looked at where a wooden twin door would be. In its place was a similar portal to the one he’d just climbed out of.

Stepping lightly across the dancing sand floor he made his way to this portal. As he approached he could sense a small gathering down below. His keyblade rested softly in his fingers and he flipped it up so it now rested with the blade on his shoulder. With this pose perfected he stepped through the portal knowing what lay on the other side.

His feet collided with the hollow stone ground and he looked around. The aromas of the dead and dying wafted into his nostrils and clung to the insides of his nose. No care was seen in his face though as he stepped over to the sign up board. Without a motion to show he had recognised there being names other than his on the board he used graceful penmanship to scribe his name into the board. ‘Rin Sayuri’

Rin glanced across at the creature guarding the main lobby of the underground and he brought upon a fake frown. He stepped to the side and then with a scurry of feet his keyblade had been pressed just above the little creature’s head. With a quick backwards slice he stepped past the creature and walked to the exact centre of the lobby and with a glimmer of silver his keyblade vanished as he stood there not speaking a word.

[Firewolf]

Fang had worked up a nice sweat. He had decided that a little warm-up was the way to go, no point in tiring himself out before a fight. His hand hurt a little from the movements he was making however. So Fang decided that it would be good to head back into the lobby, rest a little, and see just who else was going to join this fight. Carrying his keyblade Fang entered corridor to the lobby. His footsteps echoed in the silent, eerie halls of the Underworld. It didn't take him that long however before he could see the lobby again. In the lobby stood a figure wearing a black coat. I've heard of these people before. An Organization XIII member, or at least a nobody who is of pretty good stature. I wonder what he tries to pretend he feels.

As Fang passed the creature that had dared to block his way before he gave a sharp glance at it, daring it to do it again. However, that glance was only held for a second before it swept over to the hooded figure. Fang was walking straight toward the figure as if to challenge it, to see exactly what was underneath that hood. But Fang wasn't interested in the man enough, not yet at least, to speak to it. Instead he made a 90 degree turn a few steps infront of the man and walked toward the board. He saw two new names, Another keyblader, Hyumi, sounds like a girl. And then this must be the guy there... Rin. Well Rin, lets see what a nobody actually does.

"So Rin, how's the Organization doing now a days? Must be boring, losing all the time, guess you think that maybe you can actually win here." Fang's voice was a mocking tone. He turned around after he finished with a smile on his face. Wondering, what the man's response would be.

OOC: Sorry it took so long to get this up. I didn't know you posted something till drake pointed it out.

This post has been edited by Firewolf on Feb 8 2008, 06:16 AM

[Eternal Skies]

The slow creaking of the underworld’s deepening exits echoed around the main lobby as the male stepped back into the lobby. The aroma of death clung to his body and it filled the already overwhelming stench of dead and decay which floated in the murky air. Rin turned his head towards the figure and then looked away and glanced down into the swirling green mists in which souls of the killed and slaughtered roamed for eternity. He stared at the mass of ghosts and ghouls blankly and then lifted his head up.

” So Rin, how's the Organization doing now a days? Must be boring, losing all the time, guess you think that maybe you can actually win here.” buzzed into the spaceless void of Rin’s mind as he turned to face this man. He had glanced down the list of names very briefly and realised this was most likely Fang. He stared at him blankly before speaking,

“Fang. The Organization is doing great. Glad to see that other lesser factions are taking an interest in what we Nobodies are doing. And a loss only builds stronger minds and stronger warriors. Victory means nothing if nothing is improved between fights. Losses only make the Nobodies stronger. Maybe our record is dreadful but we are stronger now because of this record.” He said and smirked in recognition of his cheeky answer.

“Oh. And I do plan to win. I know I can.” He said calmly without a hestitation.

[Firewolf]

Fang smiled as Rin talked about loses, and how they made the Nobodies stronger. "Really now? Why would you want to win then, if its like you said then wouldn't you want to lose to improve yourself? I mean I agree with what you said loses get rid of the weak and useless. It makes the strong survive and push on to become even stronger. But the weak often times drag down the strong making both perish. Though I guess you nobodies wouldn't know that would you?" Fang's voice echoed off of the cavern. The cave was as quiet as the dead, the light mist that hung in the air was permanent and would never burn away for the sun could never touch it. But Rin was right there, and Fang planned that he would touch him, that he would burn Rin away. For Fang thought himself stronger and the nobody, the organization member to be nothing but a petty weakling.

[Eternal Skies]

Rin had begun to ignore that the heartless had spoken until Fang spoke again. He listened to every word which slid out of Fang’s mouth and he glanced up at the spire covered ceiling of darkness. It seemed to be coated in a thick mist of which light would enter and be swallowed alive. As Fang finished speaking, Rin turned to face him once again.

“Just because I said losing is beneficial does not mean I follow that in every fight. Every fighter must train to become strong-using losses to increase their strength until they are able to challenge and defeat the opponent to which they lost. I came here to test my trained strength. I came here to see if I was ready.” He said and spun on his heels and looked back over his shoulder at Fang.

“So..any more inquisitive questions?” He asked in a sarcastic mocking tone.

[Firewolf]

Fang wanted to laugh. Was this nobody actually getting mad? This should be fun, I wonder what kind of "strength" he has. Fang made his smile grew broader. It formed an evil grin, the voice that came off those lips before were meant to prod and find out just how far Fang could push before the nobody would become insulted. Now his voice took on a different tone, a more 'You are probably to stupid but I'll ask anyways' kind of tone.

"Actually I do, I was wondering do you remember what it was like to lose your heart. What did it feel like? It's something I am very curious about. But then again you Nobodies probably have a hard time remembering your own names let alone a memory like that." As he finished he let his keyblade fall off his shoulder and let his arm hang loosely to his side. Well if this turns out to be a fight then this should be fun. A prelude to what would happen in the tournament.

[Eternal Skies]

Time travelled slowly in the dark depths of the underworld. The slow, antagonising wait before the battles was enough to drive even the most stable guy insane. Despite this, however, Rin was as calm as a gentle sea as he stood there. The questions were not bringing out any emotion with him-as he had none. Nor was he pretending to care. He felt a tingle of impatience at the having to wait to fight but apart from that he felt as if he was in his own little world with an irritatingly pestering voice questioning his every action and word.

“To lose my heart? No. I do not remember that process. Although I have the memories of the body I belonged to I do not have the memory of having my heart removed by the heartless. Not that I care. Losing my heart only made me stronger and much more focused towards my goal. A goal which one day the entire universe will understand and know. And this is just the starting place for this plan to be put into action.” He said. No care was shown in his voice and it sounded almost mechanical-monotone even. It was as if it was a speech he had prepared and spoke many times.

[Jenno]

Dripping water slowly echoed around the large entrance area of the Underworld. The dark haired Hyumi stood within the center of luminous green pool, the liquid barely licking at her boots. Closer towards the steps sat Orion, who looked around at their bleak environment. The sign-up board blocked the view of the distant arena, although the lights still shone over the rapidly crafter wooden object.

As the sound trickled down the smooth hourglass, foods steps steadily grew louder as a the robed figure of Vain approached the board, filled out his details and moved off to Hyumi’s left, where he sat down, looked away and closed his eyes.

However special this event was, it didn’t seem to bring about any need for the Underworld to undergo any special changes, it was still dark and wet. And the lingering sense of death in the air never once seemed to dissipate. Off to the sides of the entrance area, the usual blue and green covered doors stood open. However it was impossible to see past the darkness which enthralled those chambers. And none wanted to gaze into the darkness for too long, for fear that it may consume them.

The talk from the only two talking figures in the chamber went unnoticed by all of those present, as the words of the two began to clash, a group of people appeared from the right path, where the blue door usually stood. Each was robed like Rin and Vain; the long black slender robes came to a swaying halt as the four figures gazed with some perplexity at the bickering pair. The apparent leader of the group, a middle-aged man with sleek silver hair, spoke the standard emotionless tone of voice most Nobodies graced people with, “You pair sound like a married couple.”

“Oh,” the sound came from a soft feminine voice, “how can a Nobody get married when it has no heart?” The tall figure of Atalia was pale and looked smoothed to the touch; her black leather outfit covered very small amounts of her sumptuous body. She was accompanied by four others. On each of their outfits rested the red outline of an oddly formed heart split into four, and inside these lines there was nothing but darkness.

It was after this that yet more footsteps were heard, this time they noise descended rapidly. From the gate of light marched four more. At the front stood a mammoth man, towering over his companions, his harsh hazel eyes cutting through his surroundings like a knife through butter. Managing to catch the comments of the others, as Kel and his group stopped, he merely chuckled at commented with his usual gruff voice, “That’s rich coming from someone in your position.”

As silence settled in, the three groups looked between one another and the tension slowly began to mount. “Three more minutes until tournament closure!” The announcement shook through the air, yet the source of its location was unknown. With an uneasy peace, the gather entourage of men and women each filled out their information upon the old wooden board. After a large fog-horn sounded the small red and blue figures of Pain and Panic wobbled out in front of the board, turning to face the group Pain spoke quietly, intimidated by the raw power amassed before him. “Please, your attention this way. The tournament sheet has been drawn up; you will all have a few minutes to group together before the tournament starts.” With a clap of the blue imp’s hands, a sheet a paper rolled over the sign-up board, with a progress table scribbled on it.

Progress table:



Groups:

CoD 1:
Kel
Hyumi
Orion

CoD 2:
Suron
Dray
Yue

Heartless 1:
Atalia
Fang
Lynn

Heartless 2:
Saream
Kahn
Mariani

Nobodies 1:
Gaeric
Rin
Vain

Nobodies 2:
Zen
Crey
Serene

With that the pair quickly scampered away into their hiding places. For a few moments the assembled participants would be able to locate their team mates for this treacherous tournament.

[Firewolf]

Despite the fact that he himself was getting a little agitated by the nobody standing in front of him Fang had to think of another way to insult the being. Unfortunately another robbed figure appeared, causing Fang to lose interest in the nobody and wonder who the new person was. But before even a step could be made the echo of other feet could be heard against the cobblestones. Fang looked to the right path making out four new robbed figures. What's with everyone and these damned black robes. He was about to voice out his question when the head man from the group spoke. His voice was as dull and cold as the nobody's was. Great just what I need more of these boring creatures. Well hopefully they fight just like they talk, get a little experience. But unlike the nobody's words the words the man used actually stung. It was odd but then again Fang hadn't met many nobodies before.

Following the man's voice came a girls from another direction. Her footsteps along with the others had been masked by the man's voice as well as Fang's own thoughts. The girl's voice however had emotion in it. Finally hoping to have someone to play mind games with Fang turned to look at the girl. What he found surprised him, for he expected some child, or at least a Child of Destiny but what he saw was a group of heartless. Fang himself had been to quite a bit of worlds but he had never seen other human heartless, only shadows and soldiers. Well at least I am not the only person who wishes to try to win this thing. I should probably find out what rank they are and where they come from. Maybe even their weapon or combat style. This tournament could just be a 1 on 1 and any little thing could give me the edge. With that he lets go of his keyblade's grip causing it to disappear right before it hits the ground, with his mouth open he started to speak, "So who ar..."

But like the man before as Fang was about to talk he was interrupted again by the sound of running feet. Four more people stood at one of the entrances. The most prominent one was a giant of a man. His words however were not picked up by Fang, for he was to interested in judging the man. Big, strong, and a long reach. If I have to fight him it would need to be up close and with speed. Well I have been training in speed for a bit. Hopefully they will show themselves if I face him. When he snapped back to reality he noticed that everyone was signing the sign-up sheet. Just before Fang had a chance to look at it the two minions of Hades entered, took up the sign up sheet and replaced it with the tournament style. Fang hurried to look at this, wanting to know the tournaments style of battle. As he glanced on the paper he noticed that there were teams posted, and they were grouped based on faction. Looking down farther he saw the team pairings. He was with Atalia and Lynn. Hmm both sound like girls names. Great. Just great. Out of all the people I get paired up with its going to be with two girls.

Fang dropped back a little from the now crowded board and put his hands on his head. What will I do now? Guess I can figure out just who these two are. Maybe I will get lucky and both were just given girl names at birth even though they are guys. If only a miracle could happen huh.

With that Fang sat down on the cobble stones, legs crossed and looking at the group of people gathered at the board trying to judge people's strengths by sight alone.

[Eternal Skies]

The gloomy atmosphere of the Underworld sunk into Hyumi. Had it been a few months before she would have felt the depression of their location and would have shrunk into a quiet embodiment of fear. But in her time alone travelling the various worlds she’d faced situations much worse than this. The bleak darkness wasn’t pure as the bright illumination of the outside world glowed around the entrance to the Underworld. The green fog filled pools also gave off small amounts of light which made the Underworld much less scary as it would have been without these things. It seemed to be on the brink of becoming cheerful compared to certain islands Hyumi had encountered.

The irritation that buzzed inside her heads was driving her mental. “Will you just…” She had begun to speak just as an emotionless voice filled the surrounding air. Hyumi turned to see an elegant man standing surrounded by three others. His silver hair stuck out like a sore thumb and she looked at him more than his companions. She hadn’t noticed the silent Vain enter and was now fixing her eyes on the new arrivals. Their appearance made her know instantly they were Nobodies. She couldn’t help a small smirk appear on her face hearing what they said to the bickering Rin and Fang.

Turning around to look at the source of the voice Rin gave a slight growl. He saw the other Nobodies and closed his eyes briefly. More of me. Emotionless heartless beings. Fun tournament He thought and looked away. He was no longer interested in any of the newcomers despite the echoed female voice.

As the female and her small group of five entered the lobby Hyumi examined the female leader. She was of good figure and would be difficult to fight. Most likely agile but powerful. A lethal combination which Hyumi didn’t want to face too early into the competition. She looked at her companions and shrugged them off. Only their leader seemed to be built for true battle. Hyumi nodded to herself and looked to her right as the next group arrived. The large man leading overshadowed each of his smaller companions and Hyumi felt a small shudder run down her spine just looking at his size. He looked as if speed would be his downfall. Should she be pit in battle against him she’d have to use that to her advantage. The fact of his power made her decide that because of her fragile figure one blow from him would land her out of the competition.

After this brief run down in her mind she heard the mysterious voice announce such little time was left. Rin and Hyumi both looked at the board as the large mass of people signed and suddenly the parchment vanished. Replacing it was another sheet and both competitors walked towards the board.

Hyumi reached it first and read where she was. To her surprise they were in groups of threes meaning that it had to be a test of teamwork as well as skill. She looked down at the names of the people she was with. “Orion. Kel.” She repeated and looked at their opponents as well. The name ‘Swashbucklers’ made her imagine pirates and she smirked. “They don’t sound touch. Us Children of Destiny 1 will pound them” She said confident in her own skills. She needed to see her partners in action to trust them.

Rin looked at the board. He had hoped to be alone in this battle but found himself paired up with two other Nobodies named Vain and Gaeric. He sighed wondering who they’d be and what they’d be like in battle. Sighing he stepped away to wait for his group to form.

[Drake_90]

He had been the first to enter the tournament and he was alone for a long while now, he felt as it were ages before he realized a young man appearing from no-where and he didn't really bother to look up at him but decided it be best and saw a smug look on the man's face and suddenly lost interest. The dark place had fallen back to silence and it wasn't a moment before another character appeared but this time he didn't even bother to look up this time. He had to concentrate in the task to come.

Orion looked-over the place he had entered a couple hours earlier and saw the green pools of gas? Or was it liquid? It was hard to differentiate but it was rather depressing to look at it, the atmosphere was dark and cold. He could hardly believe this place, how was it that anyone would linger here by choice. It was Hades' kingdom but it wasn't much of a kingdom.

There had been other occupants since he had arrived and two of them seemed to be bickering and it was getting quite irritating but he wasn't going to bother with that it felt like ages and his excitement was diminishing. Those two wouldn't stop bickering his lip began to quiver slightly if those two continued he'd go over there and cut down 2 contestants, he paused for a moment. That wasn't him at all he wasn't easily irritable or very violent. It must've been this place. It was gloomy and kind of made him angry he couldn't describe what it was but he snapped back to his self.

A cold breeze went up his spine and Orion felt the hairs on the back of neck raise. The bickering had ended since more contestants had arrived and interrupted the nobody and the... Orion wasn't actually sure what the other man was but he couldn't have been a nobody and didn't seem in-human. He could just be an arogant keyblader or... A heartless but he couldn't say. He had looked up finally and seemed to recogonize the girl but he didn't pay her any mind, just a glimpse was all it was really.

He lifted up from the steps he sat on and began to pace and for the first time since he arrived made himself noticed a few heads turned but just as quickly went back to their business. He saw two small creatures appear from.. from... Well he wasn't sure from where but he decided to ignore it but then he noticed a piece of paper they carried. It caught his attention.

The piece of paper was pinned up and the other contesants seemed to crowd around it like a watering hole during summer. He thought it'd be best to wait until there wasn't so many people crowded around it, after a moment he walked to up to it, it seemed they were going to be paired in teams of 3. He looked it over and saw where he stood, "Hyumi and... Kel." He whispered to himself. His teammates. He looked up the parchment and saw his opponents, 'The Swachbucklers' The name was a kind of funny but he decided it's best not to under-estimate... He needed to find his partners in crowd and decided for the quick route, "CoD 1! Who's from CoD 1?! I'm Orion!" He shouted out to his teammates.

[Jenno]

(OOC: Haven't written this much in a while, enjoy, because i put my blood sweat and e-tears into this )

IC:
As the board was pasted up, the participants gathered before it, gaining what information they could before quickly scattering into their groups.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It was not hard for Atalia to find Lynn, having already been with her for their journey here, the young, blonde haired, blue eyed, heartless stood out in her dark attire. This 'Fang' however, was a mystery to the leader of the expedition. She had information on all of her subordinates and knew many of the opponents from old war stories, yet this man, she knew nothing of him. Well, at least they should get acquainted first.

With a small movement of her head, Atialia motioned for Lynn to follow her. Scouring the room with her cold dark eyes, they came to rest upon a man who seemed out of place. He didn't seem surrounded by the energy of life or, for that matter, the general air of superiority which clung around the Nobodies. Together, they approached him as he sat upon the cold cobbled steps, Atalia taking the lead.

They stopped before him and Atalia looked down upon him with no emotion. "I take it you're Fang?" she said coldly. As Atalia spoke, the much more inquisitive figure of Lynn was leaning down before Fang to get a better look. After a few moments she stood up tall and looked to Atalia. "Hey, he's kinda cute, can we keep him?" Atalia merely sighed and lowered her head after rolling her eyes. For a heartless, Lynn was quite unique not many acted the way she did, as if she was still human. Some found it amusing, others found it disgusting. Atalia, however, just found her mostly annoying.

Before Atalia could start berating Lynn, the strange heartless was talking once again, this time with a serious attitude. "So, there any people we should watch out for?" Looking around briefly, Atalia's dark eyes came to rest upon the silver haired Nobody who had spoken earlier. "You see the Nobody with the silver hair?" She said calmly and quietly, "He's Gaeric, he fought in the war, and he’s probably going to be the toughest Nobody we have to fight. But more importantly," she turned to look at the tall human keyblader and the ginger haired man who stood next to him, they were deep in conversation. "Those two," Atalia signaled over to the pair with her head, "They are not to be underestimated for a moment."

"But they don't look like much." Lynn said half heartedly, thinking the pair unworthy of Atalia's attention. "And making that assumption, Lynn, could very well be the end of you. The tall one, Kel, he's one of the greatest fighters around, the number of people that can stand up against him can be counted on one hand. And the smaller man next to him, Suron," as she spoke the pair looked over at her and after holding the gaze briefly, they broke off, "he possesses some of the strongest magic you'll ever see." She turned now to face both Lynn and Fang. "They were part of a deadly group during the war; I don't see the other three members though. But still, I wonder what two members of Kokoro are doing here..." Her voice trailed off with her thoughts as she stood there thinking.

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With his shimmering silver hair, Gaeric seemingly glided over to the two robed figures that had not been in his original party. He hoped that these two possessed more strength than those who now formed the second group. Although he sensed those three were capable, this mission would require a great deal of skill, especially against the gathered opponents.

Reaching up at around 5’11, Gaeric was impressed with the height of the dark haired man. He looked a couple of inches taller than himself, such a height left the silver haired veteran with high hopes. Then his gaze fell upon the blue haired Nobody. This shell seemed rather young compared to both Gaeric and Rin, yet the keenly sensed warrior caught a sense of determination brewing within this young potential, there was an air about him that didn’t linger around the other Nobodies assembled. He seemed weak, and came up short compared to Gaeric. But still that sense loomed over him. Perhaps this would be more interested than previously deemed.

“I’m Gaeric,” he said coolly, “I take it you two must be Rin and Vain. I look forward to working with the both of you.” He looked around at the gazing eyes of the numerous factions before returning his attention towards his team mates. “I’ll take this opportunity to warn you about our opponents. Although there are some I do not know, there are a few which will most likely be too strong for you and even a challenge for me. Atalia of Heartless group s one of them, I don’t know anything about her team mates so I presume they are not the well versed in the arts of battle. As for those Wielder’s over there, the two I know of have to be approached with the utmost caution. Kel and Suron, both deadly adversaries, but fortunately for us, they’re not on the same team.” He looked at his comrades with folded arms and the usual blank expression pulled across his face. “I’m not much for touching introductions, so I’ll wait for the battles to break out before I judge your character.” And after a momentary pause he spoke again, “and I hope you’ll do the same.”

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With the momentary buzz now over and the numerous contestants rushing about the open chamber into their predetermined groups, two men stood in front of the tower white scoreboard talking inconspicuously to one another.

“So,” Suron said in a hushed tone, “looks like we won’t be fighting together this time.” He looked slowly into Kel’s eyes, wondering what thoughts were running through that man’s head. “Don’t be silly Suron,” Kel whispered back, a slight smile on his face, “that would be too easy. It would make this mission pretty pointless. How can we scout out strength if we just wipe everything out?”

With a sigh, Suron replied, “true, I suppose. But still, I wish the other three could be here. It’s been so long since we’ve all been together, I want to see the family reunited, and to see how much they’ve changed.” His right hand came up to stroke the small goatee which sat ruffled and unkempt upon his chin.

Looking around with sharp eyes, Kel made sure no one was listening in on their conversation; to do so with the current yapping from the people around them would require someone to be close and therefore easily spotted. Not seeing anyone after his hunt, Kel returned to their conversation. “Yea,” he said idly, “but things are much different now, now that we know the truth. I doubt things could ever be the same as they were. But who would have thought that brat would have been so strong.” He paused for a moment, loosing himself in deep thought before drawing himself back to reality again. “Still, I do feel somewhat relieved now that he’s taken the lead. I don’t know why, but I just get a good feeling about what we might achieve in the coming events.”

Now with an alert and concerned expression on his face, Suron shuffled a few inches closer. “Hey! Shush up will ya, not only are you talking about him but you’re talking about something that hasn’t even happened yet, that may not ever happen.” Kel simply responded with a look of knowing. “Suron, look around you, do you really think these are mighty contestants come to test their might. Don’t fool yourself, they’re soldiers, and this is training for the coming war.”

How could Suron respond to such words? Truth was he couldn’t. He simply lowered his head, no matter how much he wanted to prove Kel wrong instantly on the spot, no questions asked, he couldn’t. Every word that his comrade said, he knew each word to be true. And it saddened him.

The silence seemed to drag on for a painfully long time, as if the restraints of time were pulling at their skin. “Anyway,” the hoarse voice of Kel said, slowly rising in volume, “You see the two we have to worry about right?” Suron nodded solemnly, looking over at both Atalia and Gaeric, catching the Heartless’ eye before letting his gaze fall. “You should get to your team mates, best not to keep them waiting.” Suron simply took another glimpse at the board and the two names under Kel’. “That’s quite fortunate,” he said smiling faintly, “after telling us about both of them, they end up in the same group as you, Kel. I don’t think Kura would like it here thought.”

Gazing at the board as if it were some far off distant land, the expression on Kel’s face revealed that he hadn’t found Suron’s last comment all that amusing. “Yea well,” he said between a sigh, “we’ll deal with that obstacle when we come to it.” Turning slowly, Kel headed off away from Suron, but called to him as he did. “I expect to see you in the finals, Suron.”

Marching his massive body up to the two Keyblade Wielders he didn’t know, Kel stood before them and could feel what could only be described as a pit of gloom. He really didn’t like the dark, unwelcoming presence that was swallowing him whole. He looked between Hyumi and Orion and staged a brave smile, raising his hand in a single salute-like wave. “Hey, I’m guessing you two are my team mates.” He smiled warmly towards them. “The name’s Kel, pleased to meet you.” He finished with that heart warming smile.

[Eternal Skies]

The buzz of chattering people echoed monotonously around the cavern’s walls and into the young child of destiny female standing away from the large group of people still near the wooden board. She had the names of the people in her group and looked around trying to put names to figures. Failing she sighed and stepped back again as people began to move into their assigned groups. She had never seen so many people walking around from different factions. Not since the small war she had participated in. She sighed in remembrance and a small smile emerged on her lips.

Seconds later a male voice boomed over the crowd and Hyumi swung her head to focus her eyes on the figure. ”COD? Does he not know it means Children of Destiny?” Hyumi thought is slight disbelief and she sighed. “Orion. It stands for Children of Destiny.” She snapped at him as she stepped towards him. “It seems like I’m partnered with you and this….” She begun when suddenly the larger guy overshadowed them and she turned her head to look up at him. She listened to the guy introduce himself and smirked. “The team is together it seems. Well let’s let the battle decide what I think of both of you. I don’t trust on looks. Not anymore anyway” Hyumi said. She sounded much more like a heartless than a human but the way in which she spoke was soft and almost dreamlike.

“Oh I do trust both of you. You’re my partners in this tournament and if I didn’t trust you then we’d have already lost. You have my word that I’ll have your back in the upcoming fights.” With that she smiled and made her Kingdom Key emerge in a flash of light. “I’m ready” She said and raised her keyblade.

Over the other side of the lobby Rin stood there. ”That guy….is such a pathetic human. Emotions he may have but sense he lacks” Rin thought referring to Orion and his outward way of gathering his team mates. Rin felt eyes rest on him and looked around to notice two new figures near him. Standing above the two of them he felt tall although this was unimportant to him and anyone else. “Rin. Rin Sayuri” He said with the blank monotone voice he had and looked at the youngest of their trio and realised that he must be Vain. “Vain. You have an aroma of power around you for such a young boy. I hope you’re ready as this won’t be easy.” Rin said to the smallest of the trio and looked at Gaeric. “The battle will be where I truly judge you. But we need to remain a team otherwise we lose. Fight as one not as three” Rin said and faked a smile. Why he did this he didn’t know.

[Drake_90]

His steps echoed in the crowded room as he stepped forward waiting for his teammates to join him. It seemed his method of finding his own teammates was irritating to some, dirty looks were thrown in his direction. He shrugged it off, he saw his first teammates, Hyumi. She also gave him a dark look then commented on his actions, "I know perfectly well what CoD means." He snapped back.
The other groups began to meet as he waited for their 3rd. The place still carried it's dead atmosphere even now, when the area seemed so lively. It sent shivers down his spine.

After a moment of akward silence between the two, a man introduced himself. His name was Kel, his presence was intimidating even with that warm smile and his stance un-faltering. This man seemed like a soldier more then a simple Keyblade wielder, "Hey I'm Orion, it's a pleasure to meet you." He returned the warm smile.
Hyumi began to speak and here words were hard but understood. Orion but his arm around Hyumi, "Relax a little will ya?" He replied quickly.

Eyes seemed to pierce Orion's side as he turned to see one of the nobodies glancing over at him with an empty, cold look. His calm exterior was slightly shattered by a quiver of his lip. He realized how nervous he'd become. This was the first tournament he'd ever participated in. Knots began to tie in his stomach, a few beads of sweat dropped from his brow but he managed to keep his tranquil look. He looked over to the two, "What is our battle strategy?" He asked, knowing this to probably be the most important thing to figure out.

[Firewolf]

As Fang sat and stared at the people around the board he heard someone yell for his group. Idiot, drawing attention to himself already. Well there is one person I won't have to deal with if he fights just as rash. His eyes returned to the big group where he noticed two of figures moving away. One was the girl that spoke out earlier, the other was also a women, bigger than the first seemed maybe even bigger than himself. The first girl must have been the leader as she was the one who spoke to him first asking if he was Fang. He just nodded without looking at either of them. The second girl however, leaned down right next to Fang. Her smell was weird, a strong pungent aroma. It sent shivers down his spine, he was about to break away from his observations to make her move when she stood back up.

Her comment however was awkward to say the least. Fang had never heard himself be called "cute" before and he didn't much like it either. Who the hell calls me cute? She can't be serious right? Right before Fang was about to say something in reply to the second girl spoke again in a very differently tone this time. She had asked something that Fang was trying to figure out right then, who they should watch out for. He had no idea however, no one seemed to be giving off any aura or at least nothing that Fang could detect from how far he was from everyone else.

The first girl replied this time, not so much on fighting styles which Fang valued highly, but on exactly who was the strongest out of Nobodies and the CoD teams. When she started talking Fang finally started decided to give up on finding out anything from the people right now and focused on the first girl's explanations. It wasn't very good information but it did give him information about who to watch out for. As the girl started on about the CoD the second girl made probably the stupidest comment yet. Fang couldn't help but shake his head at her.

Finally when the first girl stopped talking Fang had a couple questions. As he stood his voice filled the silence that the first girl left behind. His voice was cold, he always tried to act like there was no emotion in him in front of other heartless. "First off I would like to know what are both of your names, as you clearly know mine already. Second I would like to know who would be the strongest heartless. I don't know about you two but I think the first couple battles will be easy as long as we can find the weakest person and go after them. The strong always try and protect the weak, especially those Children of Destiny. And you *points to Atalia* do you know how that Gaeric or Kel fight. Do either of them try and fight using tactics or do they rush in. Anything could help in coming up with a plan to defeat those two. The magic user, Suron should be easy enough as long as we can distract him long enough for someone to get behind him." When he finished he looked from one girl to the other wondering how much energy he would have to waste to cover for the two girls.

[Eternal Skies]

As the trio began to move away from the rest of the competitors Hyumi was becoming irritated. “Then don’t be so goddamn lazy” She bit back in return from his first smart-a** remark. She didn’t want to put up with any junk from him. To her he’d already come across as dimwitted and rash. This was surely going to get him killed... ”massacred” she thought and her eyes would nearly singe into his skin. He was off to a bad start with her. Despite this she relaxed as she realised they were a team for this and would have to work together.

Shortly after her relaxation she felt her anger fly. “Get your hands off me you grimy b*****d!” She spat at him through clenched teeth. She spun away from him and pushed him forcefully away with a quick palm thrust to the chest. “Don’t touch me” She spoke bitterly without a care that he was her teammate and she looked at Kel. She had nothing to say and stayed quiet. She began inwardly calming herself down. She only allowed one person to touch her as warmly as he had just tried. His name still eluded her but she could always remember his face. She sighed and closed her eyes briefly picturing her guy before her. She then opened them and let out a second sigh.