Familiar Face, Unfamiliar Town [Alwyn | Invite]

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Vani was so happy to have found the boy. He was the youngest of their group, but he was far from immature. He was a smart man and was able to handle himself quite well as she had experienced first hand. She hadn't been worried about him being unable to defend himself. She had been worried that she wouldn't be able to find him. Fin was one of the only three people in the universe that she called a friend. They had barely seen each other when the world was saved and she'd been taking odd jobs just to keep herself busy. That, or she'd usually be having a few drinks with Rojo at whatever bar they decided to meet up with. Zest and Fin usually had their own things to be doing, so she hadn't seen them recently.

"I'm so happy I found you safe and in good health." She expressed as Alwyn, lovingly called Fin, babbled off his questions. She found it cute how flustered he could get at time. But, it never bothered her. Fin spoke up after returning her hug and backing up to give them a safe distance. It made her smile softly as she shifted to fix his hair a bit that she'd displaced from her sudden hug. She had found two of her allies at least, even if Zest had been dragged off by the dying heartless back in the Enchanted Dominion.

"I had been ambushed on Cornelia by these black shadows with yellow eyes. Next thing I knew, I wasn't home anymore. Oswald had brought me here from a place called the Keyblade Graveyard. I've been staying with him and his family. He told me I should go for a walk and I am very glad he did. How are you? How did you manage to leave Cornelia?" She explained before asking as she watched him. She felt a lot better knowing that he was safe and well.

When he asked about their other friends, her smile faltered a bit. "I have not seen Rojo yet. I met with Zest in the Enchanted Dominion, but we were separated when he went through a portal with a being that we had defeated. I couldn't grab him in time. But, I am sure he is fine. He's stronger than us. We'll find him again soon. We always find each other." Vani assured the Black Mage. He had grown a bit since she had last seen him.

"Onto lighter topics, what had you been up to back on Cornelia? It has been a while since I have seen you." Vani just presumed he wanted to continue his studies. She knew he was not the most social of the group, but it was still upsetting with how distant he had become within the group.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Vani truly couldn't believe she'd found the black mage in such a cheerful and colorful town. Though, from the sound of it, he was travelling in a very similar fashion to herself. There was not much choice in their next destination or else they would be able to get back to home and regroup to return and face the evil together. That would be the best case scenario. However, every time she found someone she ended up losing them along the way. It was quite frustrating to say the least. The woman did best when she was with her closest allies and friends. Unlike the others, she did not handle being isolated all that well. She made plans with Rojo to meet up for drinks as he was the most social one of their group. Zest and Alwyn were off on their own expanding on their own adventures and sometimes she was jealous of that sheer willpower. They had such strong ideals that motivations that the moment their current quest was completed, they had already decided on their next one. Vani chuckled a bit at his reaction to fixing his hair.

Alwyn was always the smartest one of the group. His thoughts and ideas had assisted their travels in the beginning. Though, sometimes it was hard to get through to him. He was always very quiet and tended to keep to himself. But, he humored her sometimes and would hold a conversation. Their mutual understanding of black magic was probably the only topic that Alwyn enjoyed to discuss. So, she made sure that she allowed him to teach her new techniques when it came to the dark arts. Rojo usually having his own flair, she did prefer the way that Alwyn explained things. She just didn't like to bother him over silly things if she could help it. She never wanted to seem like a burden.

Yet, seeing him like this was a welcomed surprise. He already seemed to have done his research on these worlds. "Heart-less. I suppose it is rather fitting if they target the very heart of a being." Vani contemplated as she watched him begin to explain what he had learned. He always was the academic. It made Vani smile. "Rabanastre. I cannot say that I have heard of that world yet. But, I am glad you are safe too. I was hoping I'd find you somehow." He had started to explain he'd been doing his research, as she suspected. Though, he ended it rather quickly as he'd begun. Yet, Vani didn't push it. It was probably above her head and he didn't feel like dragging on to explain it to her. It didn't offend her. He had more important things to be handling than wasting time on her. They had a new objective that was going to take all their focus and energy.

The topic took a turn to their fourth, and certainly not least, ally. He always was over the top. Vani let out a defeated sigh as she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head a bit. "Always drawing attention to himself. He certainly can handle himself. But, if he ends up with the wrong woman, he could be in for a world of trouble." She half told herself before opening her eyes and taking her hands off her hips. This truly was her biggest concern for the man. He could easily end up with a knife in his back if he wasn't careful. The wrong slighted woman or vengeful husband would be his undoing. "If that is the case, we should be able to find him rather easily before his ego inflates too large for us to handle." Someone needed to let the air out of it on occasion to keep his feet on the ground and his head out of the clouds.

Alwyn then answered her question about what he had been up to. She was proud of him for continuing his studies. Though, he was too smart for them. She was sure that it was more his own research and him teaching than the reverse. The thief smiled at him and nodded a bit in understanding. "I'm glad. I haven't been doing anything half as interesting. Odd jobs for hired hands just to keep my skills sharp and drifting from place to place. So, I understand your feelings. My skills have felt unnecessary as well... I've seen Rojo a few times and we've gotten drinks. We figured you and Zest were just as busy as you seem to have been." Vani explained with a very soft smile, a small bit of sadness in her expression. She had really missed her friends. "It's a relief to finally feel needed again. Yet, not so happy that the worlds had to be in danger again to feel of use. I just wish you didn't have to do what you don't enjoy. The adventuring... You should be able to follow your passion and focus on what you love. I've always been jealous of that." She nodded a bit. "...I've missed you too, Fin." The sadness being replaced with joy again as he smile brightened a bit.

"We'll get this threat dealt with as quickly as possible for you. So, did you want to discuss strategy? Or were you taking some time off from your studies and research." She half asked as she watched the boy. She didn't want to interrupt his personal time. She didn't want to interrupt anything.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

The black magic had gotten her out of quite a few jams. More than she could count if she was being honest. The way that she fought now rotated directly around her magical powers. It was all thanks to Alwyn's support that she had learned what she had. The woman hadn't learned much recently since they'd defeated Garland. There wasn't a need with the world at peace. Unlike Alwyn, she had become quite complacent in her life. Unwillingly, but she had. Now she was trying to catch back up to the strength that her comrades still seemed to have without any effort.

The conversation pulled her back as he explained the Heartless a bit in more detail. So there was more than one type of heartless. Heartless was more like a race than a single creature. That made a bit of sense. Like there were different type of fiends, but they were all fiends. The thief smiled and shook her head a bit at how he jumped topics so flawlessly. "Fin, slow down. You're jumping around a bit." Vani giggled a bit at his actions, covering her mouth a bit as she did. He was a trip sometimes. "But the size thing makes sense. Zest and I had defeated a large one until it had pulled him through the portal as it died. So you're saying this Sora would know more about the heartless and how the worlds are being affected? I suppose we can seek him out."

Alwyn added on by essentially agreeing that travelling with his old friends wouldn't be so bad. Vani smiled at this and nodded in agreement. It would be great to travel with her friends once more and not be completely alone. She had missed them all greatly. "I'm sure you're right. Zest would be pushing us to stopping the heartless and saving all the worlds. Rojo right along with him agreeing to everything he said, adding in that we couldn't do it without him." Vani added with a chuckle.

Fin blushing as bright as he did made Vani pause for a moment. Why was he blushing like that? Her eyes moved to look behind her to make sure there wasn't something she was missing. It certainly could not have been anything that she said, right? Though, as she opened her mouth to ask if he was alright, he managed to sputter out that he had missed her too. Was that what that was all about? Had he thought she hadn't missed him? She had missed them all so much, he couldn't understand. It was nice to not be alone again.

But the boy's sputtering continued as he practically tripped over his words again and again. "Fin, relax." She smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder as he finished what he wanted to say. All the woman could do was shake her head. "But we can certainly do that. We can find this Sora after we find out what he looked like. We also need to find a way to gather all four of us together again so we're all on the same page. I don't know how much Rojo knows." She admitted to the boy. "I also have no way of getting back here if I lose you again...I didn't continue to expand my magic like you did."

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Vani understood his excitement. It was such a relief to have found him, one of her cloSest friends. She wasn't alone in the world anymore. Well, worlds. It was comforting to say the least. They only needed to find Rojo now. Though, by the sound of things, it would be quite simple to locate him. The thief watched Alwyn closely as he spoke. He had calmed down a bit after some time past and it was much easier to talk with him when he wasn't frantic. Fin spoke allowed his thoughts and Vani smiled softly at his statement. She certainly hadn't smiled as much in the last few years as she had in the last few days of finding her friends. It was a nice change to have a smile on her face than as emotionless as she normally seemed. It's what kept people at their distance when they saw her. She was quite intimidating and frightening to most. But, she was the most honest and trusting person once you got past her thick shell.

"Ha. Quite true, Fin." She giggled a bit in response to his enthusiasm about defeating all the heartless since they had defeated Garland. Even with all the time travelling non-sense. They had been through so much while they were doing all their missions. Yet they had still been victorious. Alwyn suddenly showed a lot of excitement after her statement about not being able to backtrack to this world. It seemed that he was more than prepared to teach her how to Warp back here with some black magic. It made her smile before she nodded a bit in agreement. "If you wouldn't mind and it didn't take much time out of your schedule, then I'd love that." She agreed. It would certainly help her out a lot. "It would come in handy.. and I would be sure not to use it for places I have not been.

The insult to Oswald made her giggle more. "Yes, it was much worse than the bumpy travel on our world. I do not plan to do that again. So, learning that would be beneficial. Do you have a place in town yet? If not, I am sure that Oswald would be more than fine with us staying with his family." She offered. The woman planned to stay here and rest. It would give her time to gain her bearings and hopefully learn the spell. She was sure he didn't have time right now to do it. She didn't want to waste his time.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Vani was rather pleased knowing that he was going to teach her a new power. It had been a while since she'd learned anything new. Though, she wasn't aware of how high a spell tier it was. This was going to be harder than initially believed. But, with his teaching and her perseverance, they would manage it. The thief smiled softly in response. "Thank you, Fin. I owe you one." She didn't want to start him now about it. She was sure he was as tired and worn out as she was. It had been rather long few days. All of a sudden her world had grown immensely. It was hard to believe that other worlds like their own existed among the stars. It was interesting to her, but it was best not to get too involved in things such as this. Though, she knew that Zest would be determined to assist as much as possible. So, with that she would comply.

With the mention of Oswald, Vani giggled a bit. The man wasn't wrong. The house was a bit crowded for her liking. But, it was a place to rest her head. She was not aware of any other places in the town that she could stay, so Oswald just seemed to be the best option. She was sure that they'd have to share a room, but it wasn't something their group hadn't done before. It wasn't uncomfortable for her and it didn't cross her mind that it might be awkward for the mage.

Vani had been a thief for as long as she could remember. It was simply the skills that she was likely born with. Or, that was her thought on the matter. It was just that way for as long as she could remember and no one had told her differently. It was just how things were and she never had an interest in changing it. The most change that she had been involved with was learning basic magic from Alwyn. He had always been so helpful in that aspect and those spells ended up getting her from some tight spots in the past.

Vani giggled a bit at his panic regarding staying with Oswald. "I'm sure it wouldn't be a bother. We can share the space without issue. But no, we do not have to go right now." She agreed with a nod. That's when he offered going to get something sweet to eat. It made her smile again as she shook her head a bit and moved to follow him off. "Sure, I wouldn't mind trying it." At least she had had a meal already. A bit of icecream wouldn't have been enough to hold her over. She moved after him, letting him lead.