seekthelight | IC Contact

[ It feels like it's been way longer of a day than it really has been. The axe can attest to that. Still, he hasn't heard from that kid since and considering how worried the young man had sounded, well. It wouldn't hurt to check up on him. Especially when he hadn't heard anything from the others who planned to accompany him.

So, despite the headache, he shoots off a message his way. ]

Hey, kid. It's Zack. You find 'em in one piece? [ Don't mind the way his words sometimes sound a bit wandering and far apart. He's totally okay. ]

[Sora had honestly complete forgot about checking in with people. He'd been so caught up in everything that was going on and trying not to slow down his traveling companions that it had slipped his mind.

Because he's Sora.

Hearing the other's voice, especially after his own conversation with Zell, is a relief and a smile is definitely audible in his voice.]

Hi Zack! I did, yeah! It wasn't too hard. The maps I had helped a lot! [He does notice and it makes his smile falter, a tiny bit of concern creeping into his voice.] How're you doing?

[ It's okay, Sora. He can't really fault you. Especially considering his own mail habits prior to waking up there. He's gotten better at least. A lot better. But it takes time. Time and a lot of scares, really.

He's hoping this isn't one of them. It might be just a little relieving to hear back from the kid when he does. He's just to used to hearing... well. But that isn't the case right then.

His response only comes delayed when he hears that question- that tone. ...Oh. Welp. ]

Still in one piece. We all are. [ That should be a good enough answer, right? Never mind the slight spacey touch to those words yet. Maybe he should have just texted him. ] Glad to hear you found them. It's good to stick around groups here. [ Keeps you sane, honestly. ]

[Yeah you're really the master of not replying to things or not getting mail in general aren't you?]

There...that video Zell and Jim put up seemed pretty bad. [There had been a lot of blood, Zack. And you don't sound right.] Are you sure you're okay?

[He's going to worry forever. You're just going to have to accept it.]

That's what everyone's been saying. I'm hoping to find Leon soon, though! [He enjoys Cloud and Tifa's company a lot but, well, it's Leon.]

[ Shh!! He's doing a lot better! You should see all the messages he left Kuns that one night. You know, granted it was because he thought he might have gotten killed, but details.

...But there is that question. Shit- uh.

Let's just casually- ] Fine-

But yeah, I.. definitely get that. I'm sure he's probably looking forward to seeing you. [ There's a pause as he rubs the back of his neck before he admits slowly with a small smile to his voice. ] I know I was when Kain ended up here. You know- ..not that I want him to be stuck here, but..

[He's really not sure if he believes you, Zack. You're starting to pull the same things that Riku use to.]

Fine? You--Hey! Don't change the subject!

[Okay he's not the brightest bulb in the box but he caught that! Rude, sir! Rude!

The bubbling frustration seeps away, though, when Zack continues, his heart strings tugging a bit.]

...It's nice to have familiar people.

[ Rude if only for a good reason. You know. Not letting someone so green to things already get sick with worry. He would rather not utterly wreck that optimism if he can help it.

...But then. Sora catches on anyway. Go figure. He wasn't exactly smart about it, himself. But then it's hard to be with his mind just not focusing like it would. The last comment at least seems to settle him... though that have been more plain honesty than plain distraction there. ]

It is. And there's some.. really good people here, too, if you know where to look.

[ He pauses, sitting between saying anything more or letting things go. Eventually, he picks up again carefully. ] But seriously, it looked a lot worse than it was, Sora. I'll be okay. [ Let's just avoid the mention of prescribed painkillers and the likelihood that he'll be fashioning a new scar. ]

[Hey, he's seen some pretty bad stuff before! Some pretty crazy stuff, too! He's not that green...]

It seems like it. Most of the people I've met have been really nice so far. Really helpful as well.

[And then there was Royce but he's not going to get into that.

He's quiet for a moment even after Zack tries to reassure him that everything was okay, frowning to himself as he mulls that over. He's heard the whole "I'll be okay" thing from enough people to know that it's just an easy cover up for how bad things are. Hell, Sora's been known to use it himself.]

Promise? Because it--....We have to meet in person sometime! So you aren't allowed to get hurt anymore, got it?

[ There's a difference between seeing bad stuff and being able to do something about it and seeing bad stuff and being helpless to use whatever means you would usually use to do something about it. Just sayin', kid.

But truth, Sora. Truth. There are many good people in the world. But then there's people like Royce, too. Or House. Or Clayton. Joker's very high up there in the 'Do not like' category for Zack, too. But that's a topic for another day, especially when Sora's so avid about this. He's used to the people he's closest to getting on his case like this. Not a kid he just met. There's a feeling of bemusement before he's... slowly shaking his head on this end. ]

You're something else, kid. You know that? But I promise you.. I'm fine. I've been hit far worse. [ No promises, of course, that he won't get hurt again. A promise like that in a place like this is impossible. It's a grim thought, really. But it's also one that garners him to try and tease. ] What makes you so sure I'd want to meet you though?

Edited 2016-05-18 23:56 (UTC)

[That's..well that's fair. But he's still not as green as you think he is!]

I am? [He's not entirely sure why though, and the confusion is evident in his voice.] Just because you've been hit worse doesn't make this time any less bad! A wound is a wound. I just want you to be okay. Cold and wounds don't go well together, I know that from experience. [At least Donald wasn't here to yell at him this time.

A surprised sound escapes Sora as Zack makes an attempt at teasing, the young man sputtering for a moment before speaking. And yes, that is a pout you can hear in his tone, Zack.] Hey! That's not very nice!

[ So he says. But fair's fair.

Also, he might be... entirely ignoring that worry for a moment. It helps that Sora kinda derails it anyway with that indignant tone. ]

I'm just messing, Sora.. Honestly, it's pretty nice when you get to run across people you don't normally see around here. [ There's another genuine smile at that thought. Although it disperses just as quickly because belatedly, it almost sounds like... Did he hear him correctly? ]

You know though...? You almost make it sound like you got yourself hurt here. [ Kid, if you're going to hammer on him about taking care of himself, you better be getting with the program, yourself. ..Says the hypocrite. ]

Yeah you guys probably go awhile without running into others sometimes, huh?

[Judging from the map he'd seen, this place was pretty big and traveling around by foot? Without any magic or...anything helpful at all? That definitely took some time.]

What? Oh! No, not here! [No no no, no injuries for this kid yet!] Back home! I kinda got hurt a lot whenever we were traveling around to different worlds because there were always a lot of Heartless to fight. But Donald was always there to heal us so it wasn't that big of a deal!

[ He nods a few times in following as Sora talks before remembering- ..right. No video. Yep, that's a thing.

Doesn't stop him from chuckling a bit when Sora worries as much as he does. ]

So, you have magic where you come from, too, huh. [ Guess it makes sense though considering he had mentioned that weird key blade... He still has to wonder about that sometimes. Odd sounding weapon, that. But that thought's not enough to deter him from poking at something else that's been on his mind since their last conversation. ]

So, when you say Heartless.. I mean what exactly are Heartless? I've never heard of them before.

You have magic too? [Oh god. That was one less thing he was going to have to explain then since so many people seemed to be unfamiliar with magic as a real thing.]

Heartless...they're creatures that manifest when someone loses their heart. Their heart becomes a Heartless--well, the darkness inside it twists the heart to form them. [It's confusing, he knows.] They got their name because they don't feel anything and just attack everything. Try to devour worlds and steal more hearts to create more Heartless. It's..a never ending cycle.

So, there's this darkness... Like all their bad feelings or something? [ That's his... best guess. Sora's talking hearts, after all. Though the idea of things running around specifically to target and rip out your heart and then use it like that certainly sounds... swell.

You know.

About as swell as getting riddling with lead.

Don't ever try that at home, kid. Or anywhere for that matter. There's definitely a frown to his tone now. ]

And they went after all those worlds.. I take it they aren't easy to get rid of once they're there, too. [ He could see them very easily multiplying. The higher the population, the more... hosts basically.

He's going to really hope they aren't a thing here. ]

Yeah--it's..basically the embodiment of evil. The polar opposite to everything that the light stands for. It consumes people if they fall too deep into it.

[Like Riku had fallen.]

No, not really. The keyblade can destroy them and magic works on them to an extent. But I..a lot of my friends lost their worlds for awhile. We managed to get them back, seal away the darkness and then stop the people trying to release it again...

[But the damage was still done. There had been a lot of pain and a lot of suffering that went on and Sora wanted nothing more than to be able to fix it all.

To take it all away.]

Anywhere there's light, there's darkness. So the heartless can be anywhere they want to be.

[ Embodiment of evil, huh... Sounds pretty farfetched, he thinks. But the kid sounds so serious and there's already so much he's heard of before. It might not necessarily be that black and white, but negative emotions do tend to breed negative reactions, intentional or not. That he can grasp very easily. How even the bravest and most honorable of men can fall..

He grips his tablet a bit tightly at the thought. ] But wait, you just said anywhere there's light, there's darkness, so... doesn't that mean there's no way you can actually stop them for good? You said you've been sealing them away, but that doesn't guarantee they'll be stopped for good, does it. No wonder you're having so much trouble with them.

Well, light and dark can't exist without one another, so they'll both always still be there. But we can find a balance--a way that both can exist without one overwhelming the other. At least..at least that's what I think. [So much had happened and they had learned so much during their Mark of Mastery exams, that it was hard to say--for sure--if they were going to make the right call.

But they had to try.]

I have faith in my friends, though. I know we'll stop Xehanort from destroying everything. We'll save Kingdom Hearts and make sure balance is restored.

Balance, huh.. Well, I guess that's true. [ At least in terms of going back to thinking about emotions. ...Man, this is trippy to think about though. To think so abstractly, talking about darkness and light as entities and yet also something more. Honestly, he's grasping at straws here sometimes, but he's trying, Sora. Thinking it over... ]

I mean, going back to talking about emotions, sometimes you have a valid reason to be angry or upset about things. It's just part of human nature, you know? If you took away all of that away, then even when things were wrong, I guess you wouldn't know the difference. Or... something like that. [ He's just going to be scratching his head some more... ] ..What do you mean by saving Kingdom Hearts though? Is that the world you're from?

It's kind of funny you say it like that because there was a whole group that we were fighting against that wanted to use to darkness to destroy everything so they could get their hearts back and feel emotions again.

[Hopefully he's not making your head hurt too much, Zack....

Because it's all about to get even weirder now.]

No--well, sort of? [Sora hums thoughtfully then.] Kingdom Hearts is..it's the heart of all worlds. It's what everything we know and experience comes from. All worlds are connected to it just like all people are. So if we lose Kingdom Hearts, we lose everything.

[ Oh, his head is perfectly fine. His brain is not melting what-so-ever. Not in the least.

..Yeah, that's a flat out lie there. But still, he pushes onward. His voice at least seems to perk up a bit not long after Sora's done telling his tale. ] -Oh! So, it's kinda like the Lifestream. Or at least what I hear about it. [ There's something kinda uncertain that touches his tone there, but.. ]

-But wait a minute, how's a group of people trying to get their hearts back? I mean once your heart's gone, it's gone, right? They become those heartless things.

What's the Lifestream?

[Your turn to a tell a story. Sora's confusing you so return the favor, Zack!]

If you destroy a Heartless, the hear they were made up of is freed and can return to Kingdom Hearts. [A pause. This was the part he didn't like.] If a Nobody is destroyed as well, a Nobody that pairs with one of the hearts, they can return to their true selves.

[ Too bad he doesn't believe in that Lifestream crap too hardcore.

Okay, no- he still does kinda get it or at least why people would want to.

But hold that thought for a second. ]

Okay, so you're saying.. you destroy a heartless, you take the heart back from it. Then, if you destroy these nobodies... they just- ... [ Yeah, okay. This makes a lot of sense. This is Zack over on the other side of things scrubbing his face. Seriously, what the fuck. ]

Anyway, as far as the Lifestream goes, some say it's where everyone goes when they die. Just this big... stream of energy under the surface of the planet. All your memories and emotions and whatever go back and some say that's where our souls even come from in the first place, like a cycle. [ He's... hoping he makes sense. ]

The body, soul and heart are reunited and they're a person again. [His tone is an apologetic one because he knows this is a lot. He's so sorry, Zack.

Sora takes in that explanation of the Lifestream slowly, rolling it around in his head before he makes a thoughtful sound.]

Yeah that does sound really similar to what Kingdom Hearts is. Maybe they're connected some how! I mean, all worlds are connected in some way, even if you don't know the others exist.

Right.. [ Never mind that sounds like all brands of crazy. Never mind you'd usually be dead if your heart got taken out and all that. Well, unless their hearts are completely different from his.

Man, he just doesn't know anymore.

But at least Sora moves on and he can focus more on other things. Doesn't mean he's not still scratching his head, but at least it's no longer talk of souls and hearts and bodies being torn apart and reunited. That really does sound like one of those bad dreams someone would'a had lately... ]

Apparently so. I mean I can't see any other explanation for how we'd all be here otherwise. I certainly wouldn't be talking to you right now. -Not that that's a problem, but you know.

IC Contact

Day 115; @dreamsnhonor; audio

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