AN: Skipped a day so I could take a little weekend Sunday break lol. xD I do have some new games to play, too! :D But in general lol I do not guarantee daily uploads will continue to be a thing. xD Might still get down to every other day, or two or three days. That's more normal of a pace right?!
End of AN!
Vanitas materialized out of shadows in the dim, abandoned lower levels of the massive, sprawling building.
Monsters Inc.
He strode down the hallway, punching open an old, metal door into a large, dusty storage room.
The room was filled, floor to ceiling, with metal racks. And overflowing on all those metal racks were long, yellow canisters.
His Unversed had scoped it out for him first - and when they'd given him just a taste of what this place had to offer...
It was like this whole world was made just for him! It was exactly what he needed, ready and waiting. And, better: it was discrete. He could stay under the radar, while still taking everything he needed.
He strode over to a shelf and pulled one of the canisters down, holding it up before him. He grinned behind his mask.
All this abundant, potent, powerful negative emotion...harvested from those who had the most powerful emotions: children.
Human children.
Terror, panic, screams and sadness...
However the people of this world were able to actually take and store emotions...he could admit it was a bit of a marvel. He was impressed with it.
And pleased.
Because it was all his now.
He used tendrils of darkness to pierce and rip off the end of the canister, and the screams and feelings flowed into his weakened form in a rush of energy and power.
He was going to be back - and better than before! He was going to take more, and more, and more, and then he was going to- to-
Well...he'd figure that out when he came to it.
For now, he was going to gorge himself.
As Natsumi, in her natural canine form, leapt and raced across the desert landscape, Aqua let her cloak's hood fall back, allowing the air to whip at her hair and face. The better to cool herself down.
Aqua had used Water magic a few times over the last two days in this new region - liberally, in fact - but she was wary of overdoing it and being caught with less than optimal levels of magical reserves by any unknown enemies or creatures here.
Without her Keyblade, magic was all she had to defend herself with. It had to be used much more carefully and sparingly now, more than ever before.
Natsumi soon began to slow, from great leaps and gallops, to a lighter run, to a simple walk.
Then, she stopped entirely, in a tall, narrow crevice in front of a large mountain, the side of which was littered with large boulders.
Natsumi could run at top speed for several hours - but even magically powerful beings like those of her kind got tired eventually, and needed rest.
Aqua leapt off onto solid ground again, brushing at herself. At least this area was shady, she thought.
In a burst of flames, Natsumi assumed her human form. She sighed, running her hands through her already perfect, shining black hair. She looked to Aqua with a smile. "Could I trouble you for some water on this burning day?"
Aqua nodded, smiling back. "Of course." She raised a hand, turning, and used a small exertion of earth magic to carve out a rough bowl in the dusty ground. It wasn't her best or favored element - that was always Terra's - but she wasn't hopeless at it. What she was best at was water magic. Which she used next, creating a large, swirling sphere, that she directed over to fill in the bowl with sparkling, cold water.
Most magicks could be invaluable in survival situations - primarily fire and water. Fire, for warmth and safety, and water, for being, well, the essential drink of most life in all the worlds. Obviously.
Though, Aqua had never had to use them this way before. For real, practical, simple survival...
After all, as long as a Keyblade wielder had their Keyblade, they were never truly stranded anywhere.
Unless they found themselves in the Realm of Darkness, of course...
Aqua shook her head, clearing it of the sudden surge of dark memories, and the rise of emotions in her Heart that came with them. Fear, loneliness, desperation, all over again, like she was back there and-
No! Stop it! You're free, you're safe, you're in the Realm of Light again. And you're never going to end up back in that place again!
But, then, that was also what she'd told herself after leaving her homeworld behind...and look at her now.
She'd come back to it willingly.
And now she was stuck here. Trapped. Again...
And if anyone ever saw her face, and recognized her...she'd never get a moment of peace here, for the rest of her life.
A woosh of flames snapped Aqua out of her thoughts. Natsumi was in her true form again - drinking at the water like an ordinary dog.
Aqua almost laughed at the sight. She turned away quickly, holding her fingers to her lips.
After a minute or two, Natsumi changed again - to human form. She wiped at her lips, turning to Aqua with a smile. "I'm glad I can bring some amusement to your life."
"Sorry..." Aqua uttered, blushing.
Natsumi strode away, heading further into the crevice. She looked up through the narrow gap above, where dust and dirt fell down upon them from over the cliff ledges. Her red eyes swept up the face of the mountain ahead. "I would hope you don't think I can scale this mountain," she spoke. "Even without you sitting on my back, it would be far too dangerous for me to attempt."
"That's fine," Aqua said. "We'll just have to go around it."
Natsumi glanced at her, tilting her head to the side and flashing another smile. "That would make our journey longer than it already is."
Aqua gave a small shrug, and a smile of her own. "It's already going to be such a long one that I don't think a few more hours - or even days, if we have to - is going to make much of a difference."
"What a nice outlook." Natsumi came striding back to her, standing before her with hand on hip. "One we share, thankfully."
Aqua nodded. She hesitated, eyeing the other woman. "Would you like to take a break here - for a little while? You've been doing all the work, this past week, and I feel more than a little terrible about it," she spoke - confessed.
Natsumi gave Aqua an incredibly soft look. Her red eyes glistened. "That's so sweet of you, Miss Aqua! You know, I think I will, thank you." She paused, then went on with, "We might be able to rest and get a fire going out here, but I think food is going to be more of an issue in the coming days."
"There's probably something around," Aqua said.
Natsumi gave a soft laugh. "I haven't seen too many somethings the last few days - have you?"
"We've passed plenty of- trees- and- plants," Aqua argued still. "Some of them have to be...safe enough to eat."
"Or they could be so coated in poison that the second they meet our fingers, we'll already be dead," Natsumi said, in a humorous tone. "But if you're willing to take the risk..."
"Do we have any other choice?" Aqua said, frowning now.
Natsumi sighed, nodding. "True. I suppose we don't, do we? This is turning out to be more fun than I'd thought."
"Fun?"
"It really is an adventure," Natsumi stated lightly.
"It's not-" Aqua started, annoyed now. But she stopped herself. She sighed. "Getting to where I want to go...this is important to me."
Natsumi's amusement faded. She adopted a serious look. "I understand that, of course - but why can't we have a little fun along the way? If you're so focused on the destination, you miss out on the journey, yes?"
"Yes, but..." Aqua sighed again. She turned away, going to lean against the cool, smooth rock wall. She set her arm against it, resting her forehead to her sleeve. She breathed in - breathed out. At least mindfulness training and breathing exercises could still be good for something, even if she wasn't a Keyblade wielder anymore. She pushed off from the wall and turned back to Natsumi. She gazed at the woman...
Natsumi raised her eyebrow at her silently.
Aqua slowly moved her hand at her side, swirling with water magic...and then she sent a small stream of it at Natsumi.
Natsumi blinked at her, genuinely surprised, as her hand rose to her face with a sputter. She stared at Aqua, her mouth open. Then, a wide grin came to her face, as laughter echoed in the crevice. "Well done; I wasn't sure you had it in you!"
Aqua laughed too, smiling at the woman. Relieved that such a bone-headed move had actually gone over well.
"Of course, now it's my turn," Natsumi went on.
Aqua tensed, eyeing the woman closely.
"Oh, you can relax," Natsumi said, waving a hand. "We kitsune don't take our revenge immediately - that will come later."
"Somehow that's not reassuring," Aqua murmured.
Natsumi swept over to Aqua, gazing into her face. She raised her dripping wet hand - and flicked her fingers, sending water droplets into Aqua's face. "There. How about that? You can relax now, honestly..." she cooed, spinning away and touching her fingers to her own cheek.
Aqua wiped at her face, rubbed at her eyes. "I'm going to trust you on that," she said, staring at the woman's back.
Natsumi looked at her over a shoulder, a soft smile stealing over her lips. "So you trust me now?"
Aqua gazed into those red eyes. She nodded. "Yes."
"Well then, trust me when I say I might know of a faster way of getting past this mountain than just going around it," Natsumi stated.
"What way? I thought you hadn't been to this region before?" Aqua said.
Natsumi giggled. She shook her head furiously, turning and throwing out an arm toward the mountain's face. "Simple observation, Miss Aqua. Look there, near the base, a little to the right: there's a tunnel that looks man-made. And man-made tunnels usually go all the way through."
Aqua looked, peering closely at the mountain, roaming the side of it. She took a few moments...and then she saw it. She glanced at Natsumi, blushing very hard now. "Oh...I- I didn't see it. I'm sorry!"
"It's alright; I know your eyes aren't as keen as mine," Natsumi said easily. "Few being's are, when they're up against kitsune."
"If you think that could be a faster route for us, then we'll take it," Aqua said. "It would keep us out of the sun," she added thoughtfully.
"Then it's decided. After we've taken our little break, we'll head up there and take a look inside."
Aqua smiled. Then, she found an inexplicable laugh escaping her.
Natsumi cocked her head. "Is something funny?"
"Oh, no! It's just-" Aqua stopped. Her mind flashed through the endless wanderings, in endless darkness. "I guess going somewhere...is better than going nowhere. So let's just...see where it goes."
Did it matter, if it ended in failure or not? If it brought her closer to Scarlet or not?
Here, in the Realm of Light, where time and space mattered again, she could be sure that every step would at least bring her somewhere.
And that everywhere she went would be infinitely more interesting than anything she'd ever seen in the Realm of Darkness.
