fourteen | oo29 [ voice // action ]

... oh, that's just n-n-not fair.

[ In the woods bordering the western lake, this one, having just come to only a moment ago. Her tone may be a little irritated, but, well, she sounds okay, not hurt or anything. That's a plus, right?

Well, except for the fact that she's ... not very well dressed for the weather. She's stuck in the same training outfit her older self showed up in, a black ensemble that shows her midriff... only now there is a scar. A long scar, so long it vanishes into her clothing, extending fully from her left breast to her right hip. Of course, only the long slice of it across her belly is visible.

It's a scar, by the way, that her older self did not possess when she turned up in the same clothes. Curious.

Xion's not thinking about that right now, though. What she's thinking about is that it's freezing -- her luck to show up in the middle of a cold snap! And she's a little bothered that the scar is on display, but... well, what can she do about it? With a sigh that comes out on a violent shiver, she climbs to her feet. (At least she's got shoes.)

This has happened to her so many times now she's getting sort of used to it, and it's a nice change to at least not come back feeling sick/hurt/terrified/some combination therein. She'll flip through the journal a bit, fighting off more shivers, before speaking. Her speech is a little garbled, unfortunately, by her chattering teeth. ]

D-D-D-Does anyone know w-w-w-what day it is? I wonder if I m-m-m-m-missed Christmas. [ a beat, then ] D-D-Did they really have t-t-to drop me off so f-f-f-f-far out?

[ Walking all the way back, dressed like this, in this weather? ... send halp. ]

(ooc; OKAY SO. for once I am going to obey the rules of time and space. Luke got there first, so he's gonna pick her up. if you want to poke her at the lake in an action tag, that's totally cool, but just know it's only Luke taking her home. easier on my poor brain for once.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ JUST AS PLANNED!

Xion bites down a laugh at his reaction, but she does beam at him. she holds out her hand, palm up, and after a moment a flame begins to dance above it, suspended in the air. ]

Magic!

Magic ain't real, though... [Of course, he thinks about what Sanji did with his arm, and that statement seems to weigh less than he thought it would. So instead he looks into the treetops for something to add to that.] Not—not in my world, anyway.

[ that gets a smile of more sympathy out of her, and she puts the flame over her hand out. she'll sit down near the fire, and motion for Wolfwood to come over. Regardless of whether he does or not, though, she'll pause, and then speak in a softer tone. ]

All sorts of impossible things are possible in Luceti. It was weird for me too, at first. [ looks away from the fire and back at him. ] But magic is definitely real where I'm from. I had to use it all the time just to get by!

Mm... we don't have anything like that, really. [A pause, as he thinks about that.] Well, we use lots of guns. S'real easy to get one, y'know—n' if something scary happens, then you just use that.

[The holster around his waist, hidden by his droopy shirt, feels a little heavier in his awareness of it.]

... those are dangerous weapons, aren't they? [ she glances over at him. she's not really familiar with guns... Xigbar's guns are the closest she knows, but they're hardly "traditional" guns. ] It's kind of a scary thought, that they're easy to get in your world.

Nah, it's not scary, even if they're dangerous. Guns've helped me, so I like 'em—cause they can help you when you're in trouble n' stuff.

[He leans in on his folded arms, on his knees.]

They're bad, but they're good.

[ ... that sounds really familiar. Xion looks down at her hands, palms up, thinking of the Keyblade... the thing that killed her twice and helped Xemnas, but also the thing that saved all those worlds. ]

Actually... I think I know what you mean. I guess the same thing could be true of any weapon... being bad, but good.

But, you know... if you wanted, you could learn magic here. [ tiny smile. ]

[Despite what he's heard, Nick had never considered that he could also learn something as foreign as magic himself. Perhaps he was still trying to get over the fact that there was magic in the first place.

At any rate, he leans forward, eyes wide in disbelief.]

You... think I could? How'd y'learn how to use that, anyway?

Sure you could! Anyone here can learn from the Filial spirits. [ she lists them off, counting on her fingers. ] There's Nala, Kipinn, Sona, Eferin, Tsinku, and Hyt. Oh, there's a spirit of earth, too... [ snaps her fingers. she hasn't worked with Faeren much. ] I can't remember her name. Anyway, each spirit is associated with an element. You can learn to talk to them, and they'll lend you their power. I lit that fire with Eferin's help -- he's the fire spirit. Though he's really ... um, picky. So I had to use some of my own magic, too. [ stupid Eferin. ]

That sounds like just a story... [Something the little kids at home would've believed. And yet, it was real here. Guess they showed him what for.] Y'learned a lot from them? The spirits?

It's pretty weird, right? But it's all true, I promise. [ nodnod. ] Nala's probably the most useful. She's the spirit of healing! Tsinku is lightning, Sona is water, Hyt is light, and Kipinn is wind. Everyone but Hyt is pretty useful to have in a fight.

Light ain't very useful? I guess that makes sense...

'Cause all you'd really be able to do is blind 'em or something, right?

Well... it's more that it's just not a very offensive kind of magic.

[ wraps her arms around her knees, thoughtful. if she finds it weird to talk shop about magic with a ten year old, she doesn't show it. ]

I've heard you can use Hyt to bend light, and create illusions... you could probably blind people too, I guess. But the other magics can be used to actually attack people, especially Tsinku and Eferin. I think they're the ones you really want if you want to fight.

Oh...

[He looks quietly into the fire, wrapping his arms around his knees. Mulling over her words quietly. It sounds helpful, knowing something like that—it'd be unexpected, mostly unstoppable... and helpful if he needed to protect himself...]

I coulda' use somethin' like that, back home...

[ for a moment, she's quiet too, but she's watching him instead of the flames. Wolfwood told her about Gunsmoke, but not in any great detail... and certainly not about his childhood. But as a kid he talks about guns, and power, and how he could have used magic back home...

it doesn't paint the brightest of pictures, but really, in a way ... it just sounds kind of familiar. ]

Home is a long, long way from here. [ she looks up at the sky. ] ... I don't know about you, but I don't miss it.

I don't wanna go back, neither.

[He squeezes his knees.]

There's nothin' worth going back to. So I'm gonna stay here no matter what. Even if I gotta fight to, I'll stay...

[ she looks at him again. and she knows, better than anyone, from who and what she's lost, that if the Malnosso don't want you, you won't stay.

but it won't help to tell him that. instead, she just smiles. ]

You probably won't have to fight for it. The Malnosso want all of us here for a reason. So if you're here... well, you're probably stuck here.

[He's quiet for a moment. And then, hesitantly:]

Y... Y'feeling warmer, now?

[ ... grins ]

Much warmer. Thank you, Nicholas.

[BLUSH]

I-It wasn't nothin'...

oo29 [ voice // action ]

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