Walking the roofs (xairdo)

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

(thread takes place before "Encircle me")

Rune supposed he came here solely because this reminded him of home, well, at least in that the sky was always dark. Though, that wasn't actually true of his home. The area he was born in had tall wide trees that had leaves year round, and blocked out almost all the sunlight. He could see much better in the dark like most from where he lived, genetics aside. Though, the artificial lights of this town were still too bright. These...light bulbs, wherever he went they were bright like some spells meant to blind, at least to him. They were meant to be the equivalent of several candles and he doubted that, candles were not usually so bright. It was funny really, when he thought of it, that a world of eternal night was still too bright for him.

So he stood and looked from the roof tops of the town, the hood of his black cloak up to help shield his eyes somewhat from the light. Despite his travelling even when young, his eyes just never seemed able to adjust to light. Well, not bright ones, he was fine in candle light and torch light. That was the other reason he could never beat his grandmother in a fight with magic, she used lightning magic the most and even if it didn't hit him, which was rare with how much she could summon, it still blinded him. How his grandfather beat her that many times in battle was beyond him. It made him wonder if there was a reason his grandfather wasn't blinded that way or if perhaps she used less lightning magic back then or something. He could see beating her once but dozen's of times?

He thought of going back to Radiant Garden again, but knew for the time being it was pointless, he was still unable to reform a portal, for what reason he was unsure. It was quite frustrating really. He wandered a ways across the roof tops and stopped on the rooftop across from his grandmothers shop on this world. He was thankful Cysero wasn't here, it meant the worst he had to deal with was heartless, not some bizarre creation. However, he ended up lost in thoughts of the past as he just stared at the shop, the cloak hood keeping his face relatively concealed and covering his clothes down to his ankles.

[Xarido]

Xarido huffed as he came onto the planets surface. It was his day off, well, sort of. Hild let him off work for the day, but he used that time to get more money at his side job. Having recently acquired a gummi ship meant he could travel for Jobs on other worlds. It also meant he could finally see worlds outside of the Hollow Bastion. "Sh*t, I thought this place would be a little more interesting." Xarido said to himself as he walked along the street. "I mean, come on, it's supposed to be a place where a lot of worlds mingle right?"

Xarido looked around, making sure no one was watching to be freaked out. Xarido then proceeded to take a dash up a wall and onto a roof. "Let's see, I'm looking for a group of Blue Rhapsody's that have been causing trouble right?" Xarido asked. He checked the request again to make sure, then grumbled a little. Blue Nocturn's meant he couldn't sue his magic. Not using his magic meant he had to use knives. Having to use knives meant he had to try to hit small moving targets with knives. Not fun. Oh Well, it was a living.

Xarido started looking around from his position around the roof. Nothing at first glance. Xarido realized he had a long job ahead of him when he remembered there were three districts. "Oh f*ck all kinds of duck." Xarido said to himself, before noticing someone on the neighboring roof. "Yo! You on the roof there!" Xarido said calling to him. "'Sup! I'm looking for some Blue Rhapsody's around here, about yay big, blue, metal hat . . . annoying as f*ck!"

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Rune was dragged out of his thoughts, some what thankfully, by someone shouting. He turned his head slightly, but not enough to reveal his face to the other person who sounded familiar. He couldn't place the voice though, so many worlds, so many people. After a while things did seem to blur. However why the guy was asking about blue rhapsodies was beyond him. Though, as the other asked, Rune got a feeling and spotted one of said annoying heartless zipping around behind the other person. In a quick move without turning to look his hand went down and came up throwing a small knife that went just past the others head, maybe striking a hair or two and hitting the heartless right below the metal hat causing it to vanish.

"You mean like that one?" Rune said in a plain and uninterested voice. The things were somewhat annoying at times, but not that bad. Then again, Rune used weapons or none ice based magic on them. Rune was good with fire magic, made them easy as cake. "This district sports few in the way of heartless, second and third have most of them, though you'll run into far more then just those. I pretty much cleared out this district earlier." he added in the same tone as before.

[Xarido]

Xarido turned to see the destroyed heartless. "Yes, like that." Xarido listened to waht Rune had to say and cracked his neck a little. "Great, I've got two goddamn more districts to deal with." Xarido kicked a rock off his roof. "Wait a minute . . ." Xarido checked his request again.It specified the first district. "Sonuva-" Xarido huffed and froze the piece of paper, then smashed it on the ground. "Great, that a handful of munny I didn't make." Xarido couldn't exactly blame the guy for taking out heartless, yet still it bugged him that someone had beaten him to the kill.

Xarido's voice started taking a slightly more hostile tone. Not really anything that telegraphed an attack, but there was obvious agitation. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have been in the Hollow Bastion within the last three years would you?" Xarido asked, a little suspiciously. Voices sounding familiar weren't a good thing for Xarido in general. It usually meant that he was about to run into someone he didn't particularly want to see. Nonetheless, the man didn't sound like any of Darkwing's commanders, or Darkwing. Besides, if it was one of them, Xarido would probably be in a bloody pulp by that time.

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Rune heard him say about searching two districts before smashing something and saying he'd not made a handful of money. "Tell whoever hired you that you took care of them, doubt they'll know" Rune replied, "However if you were trying to recruit them, go tell your master they were destroyed." Wouldn't be the first time he encountered something of the like, though he had a feeling this may have been more the case of destroyed. Then he heard the tone of agitation... and suspicion. Rune was not usually the most trusting of people for a good many reasons... like people coming after him.

He kept facing the direction he was, his shoulder to Xairdo still as he replied, "It was known as that name but is now radiant garden, I have been there in the last couple years a few times." His feet moved slightly as he took a more prepared stance. Rune was very used to fighting from no stance but if he had time to prepare he would. Soldiers loyal to his uncle, mercenaries, there were many reasons why such an inquiry could be made that way ad he recognize the voice. Plus he had made enemies on some worlds, namely rich or greedy thugs or others that abused power. He wouldn't put it past them to higher someone to try and go after him. This guy seemed to be a fighter for hire of sorts, so it was possible.

[Xarido]

"Yeah, I could." Xarido said. "Or I could make a buck off of my own damn work. I've only taken a freebie once, and that was a special situation." Xarido cracked his neck. Overall, he was taking Rune's stance as telegraphing an incoming attack. On the other hand, Rune's response didn't exactly confirm any of Xarido's suspicions. If anything, they were that much closer to alleviating them."You know, taking a combative stance isn't really a good idea." Xarido said. "Great for action movies, when it's just you and a guy on a roof across from you, all it tells the other guy is that you're at least 75% sure you're going to attack."

Xarido himself wasn't taking any stance, though he was still ready to attack. In fact, Xarido's hands were shoved into the pockets of his hoodie."So, why were you there then? You certainly seem to know a good bit about it." Xarido asked, obviously a might bit suspicious of Rune. Xarido himself had an ongoing paranoia of Darkwing finding him. He w asn't sure why, but the vampire always seemed as though he needed to keep Xarido around for something. Most of the time he was treated like crap when he was under Darkwing's orders, but he remembered the rage on the psychotic vampire's face when Xarido was nearly killed by one of Darkwing's commanders.

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Rune listened as he heard him say something about the stance being great for... action... movies? He hated when people referenced things he knew nothing about. However he was then asked before replying why he was there. Rune was not one to like interorgations, especially not from strangers, even less from strangers who appeared to be fighters for hire or some other type of mercenary. "I have no idea what this "Action movie" you speak of is, but you clearly know very little or nothing about fighting." Rune replied first, "For if you knew anything about it truly you'd realize this isn't an attack stance."

He gave Xairdo a moment to digest that comment before going to his questions answer. "As to your question, I'm one who stays to the shadows and goes between the worlds. A wanderer amongst the many stars. And being as such I've made plenty of enemies, hence my stance." he replied, glancing over but his face staying hidden as he looked from the side of the hood. The other's hands were concealed in pockets. "One could say the same of your posture though, that it says your ready for a fight." Rune's arms were concealed and the only sign he moved them at all was a slight movement of the cloak easily mistaken for the breeze that blew by, his hand on the hilt of the sword behind his back at the waist, the blade shrinking slightly more so he could draw it faster. "More importantly, why does a mercenary wish to know these things?"

[Xarido]

"Might not be an attack stance." Xarido said. "But like I said, means you're expecting the fight." Xarido scowled at Rune's response. "Cut the cryptic bullsh*t asshole!" Xarido shouted. "That doesn't even answer the f*cking question! Why the hell were you there?! Dumbass, I don't give a sh*t about you do for sh*ts and giggles!" Xarido was getting quite agitated with this stranger. He wasn't to fond of people speaking in riddles, that tended not to mean good things for him either. "I'm gonna ask one more damn time before I beat it of you?! Why were in Hollow Bastion?!" Xarido shouted. There was a slight hint of fear in his eyes behind the anger.

"Hey! I'm just sayin', regardless of what my stance says to you, for someone who apparently likes to hide so freaking much, you're certainly doing a great damn job at what you're doing." Xarido said, his fingers wrapping around a throwing knife while his hands were in his pockets. "And I'm not some mercenary." Xarido rolled his eyes. People always thought he was some sort of soldier for hire. He killed heartless, that was all. He didn't get involved in conflicts anymore than that if he was getting payed. "I'm a professional heartless exterminator, f*ckhole." Xarido said. "And maybe if you would open your damn mouth for something other than riddles or lectures, I wouldn't be so interested. It's suspicious as f*ck, and I'm not putting up with suspicious."

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Now Xairdo was just plain getting on his nerves. There was no need for his rude tone, and it's not like he was any less cryptic. He figured he had meant here, and not Radiant Garden. "I'm not speaking in riddles you fool." He replied, clearly agitated, "I am as I say I am, a wanderer." Rune tried to keep his temper, and heard Toa's voice in his head trying to get him to keep from flying off the handle. He knew why, he was trying to hold back himself because forgetting dangerous to himself his power out of control like that was dangerous to everyone else.

But as it just kept going, his patience waned. "My business there is my own and that is all I will say." Rune said, the air around him starting to move in a circle as he turned his whole body to face Xairdo, the moving air blowing the hood enough that his mouth and chin were visible in the light but his eyes still hidden. "Have your suspicions, I care not if you want to put up with them or not." Rune added, drawing his sword that at first was a plain short sword but morphed into a shorter form of Katana, that he held back handed. "But if for that your going to attack then by all means, I've had enough of your attitude and you better know how to use what ever is in your pocket heartless slayer", Rune saw no point in using his keyblade, not even morphing his sword to that form.

[Xarido]

"Okay, f*ck face, you're really starting to piss me off!" Xarido shouted. He didn't take kindly to being called a fool. "Fine, stop trying to be poetic and sh*t then, you goddamn moron." Xarido said. "And for the record, yeah, wanderer, like that doesn't cover a million and half things dumbass!You could be a thief, an assassin, you could be someone that's looking for me, so shut the hell up!" Xarido, unfortunately didn't have someone to try and hold him back. It also didn't help that the power of his criokinesis was only boosted by his anger.

"Okay, you wanna go?" Xarido asked. "I don't care if your queen of sheba, or my bosses grandson, I'm beating the sh*t outta you, prick!" No sooner had Xarido spoken, then he produced a knife between the fingers of each hand and lugged them at Rune. They were actually most a distraction, if they hit Rune, great, but that wasn't his main attack. Xarido then proceeded to launch a large chunk of ice at Rune. Xarido took a dash across the roof and leaped across to the roof Rune was on.

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Rune didn't bother with a response as his eyes further narrowed as he grew more frustrated. He watched and tuned out the words, watching every move his opponent now was making. He watched the knives come out and waited the split second to swing, knocking the first blade down and dodging the second as he continued the spin. Though he caught a glimpse as he was following through of the ice shard and as he came back around hurled a fireball at it that vaporized it into a cloud of steam.

He took the moment of cover and jumped two roofs back and onto the top of the wall that separated the first and second districts. If this fight was going to involve magic he was taking it elsewhere. There was too great a risk of others getting hurt by stray spells. He made sure his opponent had enough time to see him before doing a back flip into the second district, landing silently on the ground. Sure this meant giving his opponent the high ground, but even that could be used to an advantage. He'd have to avoid ice based techniques and some water based ones, but then again he preferred wind and fire magic... and of course his grandmothers favorite lightning.

[Xarido]

Xarido watched Rune and chased after him through the steam. When he landed in the second district, Xarido saw what Rune was doing. Awfully considerate of him to keep other people out of their fight. "Well, obviously you're not a complete asshole!" Xarido shouted down at room, spraying him with another rain of knives. He walked off the roof, then onto the wall and down onto Rune's level, completely as if he wasn't in the middle of a fight. Xarido made a somewhat crude sword of ice and took a swing with it at Rune, meanwhile creating a patch of ice just behind Rune's feet.

"Let's see what's under that hood!" Xarido said, taking a swing with at Rune's head with his foot. Xarido actually hoped Rune would catch the kick. There was a lot he could do from the position that would get him in. "Come on asshole!" Xarido said. Xarido kept trying to place the voice he had heard from Rune. He didn't think it sounded like any of Darkwing's forces. "I know your stupid voice sounds familiar, lets see a face!" Xarido shouted. It was really starting to bug him who this guy was.

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Rune was quickly becoming more and more glad he had decided to move the fight, because this person was pushing all the wrong buttons. The term "Asshole" may not have been native to his home world but he'd been taught what it was similar to, and it was really starting to piss him off. He could here Toa shouting now for him to keep things in check, but he could hear in her voice she was starting to be get annoyed at him too which was saying something.

As he rained down another volley of knives Rune did a back flip away from them, but his hands caught the ice and he started to slip, managing to use a blast of wind to try and correct himself, though he misjudged the power and height, so he ended up having to completely flip again, though the jarring from the first landing made his knees sting a bit. As rune recovered he saw the kick, and knew better to catch it, but wasn't ready to take the clear nut shot he had, not yet. He bent backwards so it went over before spining away and jumping back for distance again. He no longer cared why this boy seemed familiar, he was just plain ticked off and Toa was being quiet now. This boy wanted to see his face, chances were he would.

The wind started to pick up again, before a few momentarily white streaks formed but quickly went to gray and one of the lighter shades of black as they crossed over his front, and as they came around the back the cloak blew off as the black energy formed what looked like angel wings, that even as a lighter shade of black contrasted his white hair considerably. An aura of gray continued to surround him on top of that of magical energy. Maybe it was his grandmothers blood, but even among his family, even compared to his father, he and his sister had the most power in generations. Despite the the fact the wings were larger than his body, and also made of pure mana, that wasn't even enough to cope with the excess he was burning off, never had been. His blade in hand shifted to the form of his keyblade as the real one appeared in his right hand. He was ambidextrous, but almost always used the sword left handed. "Satisfied?" Rune said, his eyes more narrowed and the faded green of his eyes seeming to glow, taking a moment to set a foot back as if taking a stance, and adding "because I've had enough". In just a little longer than it took to blink Rune covered the distance between them and was now behind him, before spinning and attacking, aiming to strike with the left weapon first and than the right. There was a chance the boy could keep up well enough to see him and try and dodge, but there weren't many with a quick enough eye to keep up.

[Xarido]

Xarido's face simply got an expression that shouted, "Oh sh*t," when he saw Rune's face. Hild's grandson. He had been fighting Hild's grandson this whole damn time. Xarido ducked under the swiped of the keyblade, by the skin of his teeth, but he did doge, then jammed his elbow into Rune's gut at the close proximity before jumping backwards. "Okay, calm the f*ck down, Jackass!" Xarido said, obviously back to mildly annoyed now, rather than trying to beat Rune into a pulp. Xarido let out an exasperated sigh. "Come the f*ck on, dumbass, do you really not remember me at all?" Xarido asked. "Come one, how many people do you know that look this much like you? COME ON! I'VE BEEN LIVING IN YOUR GRANDMA'S SHOP FOR THREE GODDAMN YEARS NOW!"

Xarido huffed out an exasperated breath. "You know, Xarido? Jerkass Xarido? Eats nothing but sweets Xarido? Lives in your Grandma's attic Xarido?" Xarido asked. "And don't even give me sh*t about me not recognizing you, Rune! That's the way you want it, isn't it dumbass?" Xarido's voice took on an incredibly sarcastic tone. "Oh, the mysterious wanderer who comes into, kicks butt, gets the girl, then leaves without a word!" Xarido the pretended to gag. "How f*ckin' romantic!" Xarido knew Rune had far better reasons to hide his identity, but still he was a bit agitated about Rune not remembering him. "Oh, and only going off your voice? Come the hell on!" Xarido sighed, then slid down the wall. "All of me being an asshole aside, got some spare cash for ice cream? I kinda spent my savings on a gummi ship."

[Rune Veliospirus Ravencroft]

Because Rune's attack had him spinning, he managed to back step as he spun to miss the elbow, completing the spin as he landed a foot or so away, not quite as gracefully as he had been off balance when jumping. He listened to the tirade Xairdo went on about him living with Hild. "Firstly, there are plenty of people from my homeworld with white hair, not counting shape shifters, secondly, how often and for how long do i stop there?" Rune replied as the keyblade vanished and the sword took it's original form as he sheathed it. "I've been to the shop she spends most of her time at maybe 6 times in 10 years, for brief visit's."

Rune tried to ignore the continued rant as the black wings dispersed, but his continued insult's actually drove Toa over the edge. She suddenly appeared next to Rune and hurled several fireball's at him. Rune let her go for a bit before saying "I think that's enough", Toa looking at him with a glare before crossing her arms over her chest, her normally white wings still black. She was obviously still not happy... and waiting on another excuse as she stood there. "It's not that I don't want to be recognized, I ware this mainly because my eyes are that sensitive to light." Rune replied, trying to even his temper out, "Ad believe me, that's NOT how it works, where you get the idea that I'm treated like some hero with girl's wanting to be near me is beyond me." Though, Rune was quiet as he asked about ice cream money...Toa wasn't. "You insult him, attack him, then insult him some more, and want him to give you money for ice cream?" she said, "Why the hell Misao asked you to sleep with her and..." but she cut herself off as she realized she said more then she wanted. She looked at Rune who was visibly trying to play cool but already knew what Toa meant. There was a slight twitch in his right eye as he tried to keep things in check. Misao and her daughter spent more time then he did there, not always the keenest on traveling with him almost endlessly but hearing what Toa said, understanding how Misao was and how she felt about things with them, well he couldn't help being a bit annoyed at the idea she was sleeping with this cretin.