realmofstories | I've played by all the rules, but I've very rarely won

[A few fish swam by, small ones circling around his hooves, and 76 remained still, even if he was watching them from behind his 'visor'. Waiting for something bigger.]

Yes. One fight or another.

[Roxas hums in acknowledgement, nodding once. That makes sense; a lot of the missions he had been on for the Organization had been fights, after all.]

[He watches 76 observing the pool, noticing him avoiding the small fish. He must be waiting for a big one.]

That sounds like the missions I had to go on before. Sometimes it was recon and observing a new world, but it was mostly taking down Heartless.

Recon rarely remains recon.

[Still, he didn't miss the fact that meant this kid also had gone on missions that resulted in some sort of fight. Also proved that some of the kids around here weren't new to fighting; didn't make him like it any more than he already did.

His head tipped just enough that he could keep Roxas in the corner of i vision.] What's a Heartless, other than what the name implies.

[Roxas makes a grunt of acknowledgement, nodding. Oh, that was true. Even if all he was doing was observing a new world, there was always Heartless to fight.]

Heartless are creatures of darkness that prey on the light in people's hearts. They're kind of like the Erasers here, in a way, only instead of attacking stories, they target the hearts of people. Of worlds. I'm kind of surprised they haven't made it to this world, honestly; they're pretty persistent.

[Clear enough he was listening, even if by how one of his ears kept turned in Roxas's direction, even while the other pinned back or twitched. Gaze focused to the water. Hidden gaze following movements and sizes-]

Might not be able to exist here.

[Hands were quick as they moved in to the water, hauling up a large fish that still wiggled and tried to get out of his clawed grip. This time he was walking out of the river rather than tossing it, and dropped it in to the bowl, twisting the net so it couldn't get out or knock any of the other fish out.

Had caught a good haul given the sizes.]

Maybe.

[Roxas honestly didn't know the specifics of what worlds Heartless could attack and couldn't. He assumed a world with a lot of light meant Heartless couldn't stand being there long, but that didn't explain why there were none in this world.]

I'm glad, though. Erasers are hard enough to handle. And I don't know if I'd be able to fight Heartless without my Keyblades.

[For the moment, the bowl and net were hauled up and rested against one of his shoulders. He was really about to carry it all off like that without having any sort of issues.]

Person makes the weapon, not the other way around- even if having the more familiar can make shit feel easier.

[The old man advise.]

[Roxas blinks, surprised at that bit of wisdom. But he does chuckle and nod.]

I guess you have a point. [He pauses as he watches 76 haul that fish.]

Do you need a hand carrying that?

Grab the other end of the net, keep it from dragging.

[Last thing he needed was to lose any of that work put through with patience because the net got snagged and he lost hold of it all.

If this kid wanted to help? Fine, easy way to help given.]

Sure. Just give me a sec...

[He has to pull himself up and out of the water and quickly dry off his tail. But once he's dry enough that his legs flash into existence, he stands up and helps gather the other end of the net.]

Where to?

Got a spot a walk from here. Camping.

[... When wasn't he 'camping' could be the real question here, honestly. Still, he did wait and once the ends up the net were up he was walking at a pace easy to be kept up with. Not his usual stride which had honestly gotten longer due to the hoofs and all.

There was a little clearing, and a campfire well surrounded by stone and burning low enough to go mostly undetected. A bag and a makeshift sleeping bag on top of a long that had been cleared off. Really, easy to see he'd at least spent the night there.

Be moving soon enough.]

Camping?

[Roxas blinks in curiosity, but he follows after 76 as best as he can, even with the pace set. As they near the campsite, he looks around the clearing, taking in the sight of the sleeping bag and campfire and other items around.]

Are you... sleeping out here? Don't you have a house?

[Camping. If the kid didn't know, figured he'd get his answer by seeing just what little set-up there was to his little 'camping' area.

Which was a hell of a lot less that what normal people had when they went camping. There wasn't even any visible shelter, just the items that 76 had felt he could leave sitting out in the 'open' and, well. The little blue dragon sleeping on top of the sleeping bag would have made a racket he'd have heard otherwise.]

That's what camping is.

[Not even answering the house question as he set the bowl of water and netted fish down, gesturing that Roxas could let go, pulling over a cleaned off flat stone he'd picked up and pulling the knife from the holder on the back of his belt.

He was going to gut and de-bone those fish after putting them out of their mister, but first he had to stoke up that fire a bit to get it hot.]

Huh.

[Roxas looks around the sparse "campground", and lets go of the net of fish when he's motioned to. He steps away and looks around.]

I've never been camping. I've always just slept in the room I was given. [Whether that be with the Organization, in the virtual Twilight Town, and even here in the Index. But while 76 gets the fish ready and the fire stoked, Roxas kneels down to watch him.]

Is your house nearby? Do you camp often?

[Once the fire was up high enough? Well, those fish were now being cut in to for cleaning, the blue dragon hatchling making her way over as he tossed the guts for her to eat. Which she did happily. Kept her from getting too close as he worked, too.

Definitely something he did with practiced ease, even if the tossing bit of organ meats he knew a baby dragon would eat without issue was new.]

It's around, and I've been camping since I got here. Move around.

[Roxas watches with rapt curiosity as 76 prepares to gut the fish and toss the guts to the dragon. He's not refined the same way Sora or Kotori were, but he was still pretty effective...]

[He looks up sharply at 76's answer, though.]

Since you got here? You mean, you haven't been in your home since you arrived?

But, why??

[Left the meat intact, and for the fact he was doing this with just an army knife on a rock outdoors there was some skill to it. More so when he sliced it in to fillets once bones were done away with and tossed in to the fire.

Wasn't letting the dragon get to those.]

I use it to store some things. Rather keep moving.

But your house here is supposed to be just for you, isn't it?

[Roxas can't help but frown.]

Don't you want someplace to go back to so you can sleep without being in danger? [Though he now knew of the real mission of the Organization, he felt secure knowing he had a room in the Castle to touch base at.]

Edited 2020-08-31 20:29 (UTC)

Do you blindly trust everything you're told is meant for you?

[Maybe once he would have taken it up, with caution still, but at the time he didn't want something so... solid. This was a passing stop to derail some disaster so he could get back to his mission. Neccesary.

He was already tossing a bit of butter and a few herbs in to a cast iron he put on to a set up over the fire, and then placed the fish fillets he'd cut in it, skin side down.]

More danger in having one place known you can be found, especially asleep.

[That actually makes Roxas frown at 76.]

No, I don't. But I'm also not so stubborn that I ignore help. The ones who help me are the ones I trust.

[He'd said that once before, what feels like a lifetime ago. But it was still true, and he didn't like the insinuation that Roxas was too naive.]

But... the Index is safe. There's no Erasers or other dangers here. So you shouldn't have to be worried about being found by anyone. And your house should be able to keep people locked out, can't it?

[Magic and all.]

[Let the kid assume what he wanted. Couldn't care less if he felt 76 was insinuating anything asking a blunt question.]

I haven't seen reason to trust it yet, been used by those offering help because of what they wanted. Took advantage of the trust given.

[Used, abused, and practically killed by those he was meant to trust. Had trusted with his life. Even those he fought for. He may have been here to help out, but he'd fully admit it was to help himself.

His attention was on the cooking fish still, pulling a pack off his belt, sprinkling something that released an appetizing smell the moment it hit the heated pan.]

There is someone here I don't want to be found by, let alone know where that house is.

[That little tidbit of information has Roxas's frown loosening to a surprised look, then to a sheepish one as he scratches at the back of his head.]

...Sorry. I didn't know. That sounds really rough.

[Definitely rough. Didn't Xemnas do the same thing to him, when he was in the Organization? He feels a bit bad judging 76, especially when he can relate.]

[That appetizing smell has Roxas looking up, eagerly looking over the fish. But he looks up sharply.]

Really? Are they dangerous?

That's life for you, kid.

[With a grunt, but at least it p r o b a b l y meant that the sorry wasn't just waved off? Just a fact of life, one learned a hard way and kept close after giving his life over to something only to end up betrayed in the end.

Once one of the fillets were done? He had caught the kid looking and so one was put up on one of the metal plates he had with him, and it was offered out with a fork as well. Clear enough sign that it was for Roxas to take as he tended to the other fillets.

Nice crisp skin that the flakey meat could easily be scraped off of.]

Dangers as I am, keeping an eye on them.

[Never knew when Reaper wouldn't play nice with the rest of the people here.]

[That sounded like a really rough life... But he doesn't say that out loud. Instead he blinks as the metal plate is offered to him, before slowly taking it.]

Thanks.

[He pauses before eating it, though, looking at the fish before speaking.]

You know... if you ever need a place to sleep. Like, somewhere that's safe? You could sleep at my house. It's pretty out of the way, and if something were to happen, I have another entrance in the basement that leads out to the river. I use it to swim into my house sometimes.

[The other small fillet was set on a different plate, still tending to the larger ones. Better to keep and eye on them and just let the blue dragon eat the other one. It was fine, he'd gotten used to feeding her.

Cooked or raw, didn't seem to care.

Was quiet for a moment, could even seem like there'd be no answer coming—]

Where is it.

I've played by all the rules, but I've very rarely won

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