@doublekeybladesandawink || Roxas
The sun never seemed to cease its blistering assault upon this world— a thousand golden needles fell from the open sky almost perpetually, raining down on anyone foolish enough to venture out in the rippling air without protection. The images of buildings contorted in Xion’s line of vision, dancing as if trying to avoid to sun’s brutal rays themselves. Even the dirty streets here glittered with the intensity of golden mountains, piles of gilded dust covering every horizontal surface possible. Every time the broiling wind picked up, a flurry of stinging sand was carried with it, like powdered, hot coals being blown into her face and eyes. Coughing delicately and tugging her cloak over her face as much as possible without being unable to see, the small-framed nobody pressed on.
She had been directed to enter this particular world a good distance from the actual city, in fear that she would be too-easily noticed if she had stepped forth from the void within the bustling streets. Unfortunately, this meant getting as close to the city as she could without being spotted, and there were still stragglers pretty far out into the desert, as far as she could tell. She had been edging closer to the outer wall for what seemed like forever, looking for an opportune moment to slip in quietly. According to Saïx, Roxas would be joining her shortly, but only after she’d had enough time to successfully worm her way inside to wait. She imagined it truthfully had nothing to do with her being seen— more like the heartless, since she seemed to attract them wherever she slunk off to. It was doubtful that any of the citizens would cast a second glance at a small child lurking in the shadows, so long as she did not look like a thief. However, if monsters started to crowd around her… she didn’t particularly want to imagine a scene like that.
Sweating bullets underneath her heavy cloak, she was overjoyed when she was finally able to get close enough to the vast wall to seek shelter for a moment. As the area had cleared out, she managed to clamber over the crumbling stone and situate herself under the awning of an abandoned merchant’s booth. No one was occupying that space at the moment, and it seemed like an ideal space for her to keep watch from. It was somewhat secluded from the rest of the busy stalls, so naturally, one would think that keeping still and quiet would not attract unwanted attention. Notwithstanding, that was not the case. As soon as she’d let herself become stationary, a great, black ripple tore open the dirt next to her, a familiarly buggy head bobbing up from the frothing darkness. This particular one wore a tattered turban and carried a sword, yet still retained the beady, yellow eyes that made Xion exceedingly uncomfortable. With a muffled yelp, she dived away from it, crashing into the rotten-away frame of the vendor’s booth. Several patrons of the city turned their heads towards the sudden commotion with vacant stares, only mildly surprised when a black-clad female had stumbled out of the shadows, narrowly avoiding close-contact with a curved sword.
They don’t seem too concerned, but… better take this somewhere else.
She had been within the city only once before, but knew that the further she went within the labyrinth of gold-smeared streets and back-alleys, the less likely it was to be under the reproachful gaze of civilian eyes. Briskly elbowing her way through the main street and skidding around a corner that would lead her away from them, she turned back to make sure it was falling for the ruse. Though often powerful and highly destructive, heartless weren’t the brightest creatures— it had darted off after her, head canted as if it were enjoying a good game rather than trying to maim someone. In the center of the market compound, there was an eerie sort of silence— no one had com creeping this close to the palace gates this evening, and would not likely come prying into her business for a good while, leaving her an open window to take care of business. Though this minor-league creature wasn’t what she’d come for, he needed to be eliminated early from the game. Coming to a halt, out of the pressure of curious gazes, Xion turned on the creature, suddenly rocketing forward, a black bullet bursting forth with a summoned keyblade in an about-face as suddenly as she’d frozen in place. Dumbstruck, the bandit fumbled for its sword for half a second before being smashed into the dirt, exploding into a mass of dark ooze before evaporating completely. There were few instances in which Xion had the chance to look cool and heroic like her friends, but she would always savor the chances she was allowed.
The sweat that had beaded on her forehead had begun to snake down into her eyes, sticking her raven locks to her skin as it soaked her. Squinting, the small female drew a sleeve across her face to draw the moisture from her flushed skin. Sighing audibly, she skittered back against the nearest building, obscuring herself behind several large barrels to await further assistance before targeting the heartless she was dispatched to take out. It wasn’t much of a problem if more creatures began to swarm here, considering it was out of sight from most people. Sagging against the dirty ground, Xion pulled the hood of her cloak down, letting the arid breeze cool her as much as it could as she anticipated another dark-clad figure.
