shiva_dancing_backup | (no subject)

Current Mood: thoughtful

(no subject)

Who: Namine
What: Napping
When: Afternoon
Where: Outside Balamb
Interactions: Open
Warnings: None

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

With a start, Namine's eyes blinked open as a stray beam of light struck her face. She wasn't sure when exactly she'd fallen asleep. But it had been a nice little nap. She was nestled inbetween the roots of a tree in a tiny little copse outside of Balamb. Originally having set out to practice with the brushes and paints she'd gotten in town, the warm splotchy light from between the tree canopy and the sounds of little creatures and birds had lulled her off into a daydream which had turned into a full-on nap. Now though the sun had risen high in the sky and it's seeming pinpoint accuracy had caused her to way up with a beam of light in her eyes.

Scooting into a better position, Namine pushed some blonde hair out of her eyes and turned her attention down to her little sketchbook. What had she been doing before she fell asleep? The image was a little smudge, but there was definitely something there. Something...green? With a red splotch on it's forhead. She furrowed her brow looking at it and sighed. The brushes were much more difficult than her oil pastels had been. The young lady was looking at the set, wondering which brush she should use to try and improve this...whatever it was, when she noticed one that seemed not to belong to the set. It was a beautiful brush, with fine bristles. The handle seemed to be carved from a solid piece of bone or ivory and was ingraved. The engravings had been inlayed with silver and it all looked very expensive. Truly a curiosity for her.

Interested, she picked it up and began trying to improve upon what had already been laid out. The level of control and ease with which the brush moved was truly startling, but not as much as the speed. It was almost like the brush was moving her hand for her and before she knew it, Namine had on the paper an image of what looked like a green rabbit with some kind of red growth on it's head. She shook her head. What was all this about? The girl furrowed her brow but couldn't make any sense of it, so she shrugged it off and put her things away in a little shoulder bad, getting to her feet.

It was a short treck back to the town, but rather than head straight there, Namine detoured. She walked down to the beach and watched the little crabs skitter away from her. She kicked her shoes off and felt the sand between her toes as she clutched her back and sketchbook and stared out at the place where the sky met the sea and they seemed to become one thing. Is that what would happen if she met Kairi again? Would she become one and lose herself forever? The thought made her shudder inside and she shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the horizon and looked down at the sand.

"What...what am I doing here anyway?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Putting a few continents between himself and Alexandria for a while turned out to be a good idea for the assassin who had murdered Queen Brahne. Awaiting contact from his mysterious employer was becoming a test of patience, especially for the incredibly hefty sum of gil he was promised. Looking for clues to who this contract was with was Shadow's new goal. Waiting games weren't his forte. Thus he found himself headed in the direction of Balamb which had one of the Gardens he had heard of that sent their SeeDs on various missions. Why travel the world looking for clues when you can ask others who might already know who the Queen's enemies could be?

While he was thinking of these things Shadow's dog Interceptor stopped it's trot and gave a half bark in the direction of the ocean. Looking from the doberman to the beach Shadow spotted a figure standing in the small beach nearby. Quietly walking to the young, blond girl the ninja gave Interceptor a silent command with his hand and the dog walked behind him keeping silent. Being close to ten feet away from her Shadow looked down at her as she faced the sea. His ice blue eyes darted from the sketchbook in her one hand and paintbrush in the other. Everything about her so far reminded him strongly of Relm.

"........"

Namine sighed. She was no closer to an answer now than she'd been when she'd first come down to the beach, to stare at the sea as if it had all the answers. How very Kairi of her she thought that was. Giving up she turned away from the horizon so that she could finally go back to town and see if she had enough change for another night at the Hotel. It was then that she barely prevented herself from walking into a person standing not far behind her. How had he gotten there? When had he gotten there? She hadn't heard a thing and his black clad vissage and piercing blue eyes made the stranger all the more imposing a figure. He was a human right? Not another Nobody or some new kind of Heartless...?

He seemed real enough, and there was a...dog, at his side? This person just kept getting more and more strange. With a shake of her head though Namine realized she was being extremely rude just then.

"I'm...sorry I almost ran into you." The words came out much more meekly than she'd intended them to. "That's a nice dog....It's...he's? He's pretty." No, no this was not going well at all.

Tentatively, Interceptor crept up sniffing at the bag on Namine's hip that contained her art supplies. After a few waves of the ocean had crashed into the sand the dog sat down on the sand and looked up Shadow before scratching it's neck with a rear paw. Giving the animal the briefest of glances, Shadow said "He usually bites." His dog seemed to have a soft spot for young female artists with blond hair.

"I didn't mean to scare you, I thought you were someone else." Looking back at the town of Balamb off in the distance he asked "Do you live in Balamb or go to the Garden?"

Watching the dogs behavior, he didn't seem like the vicious animal that the man seemed to be describing. Still, she wasn't brave enough to attempt petting him just on her own possibly skewed judgement. His voice was strange. Despite his appearance it wasn't harsh sounding. Much like the dog there, it didn't match up to her expectation either. When he told her she looked like someone though she was kind of startled. Had he met Kairi somewhere and now saw the resemblance between them? And how was she supposed to take it. Was it a compliment, or was she perturbed that her own individuality could so easily be overshadowed by the girl she'd once been part of.

"O...Oh. That's okay" She told him. "No I don't go to the Garden. I uhm...I haven't been here very long. I don't even know if I have enough for the Hotel right now actually" She spoke with a tone of embarrassment, putting a free hand up to scratch the back of her head nervously. "I...well...that person, was it a girl with red hair and a pink dress?" She asked, though still fearing the answer.

"....No." said Shadow after having picturing Relm with red hair and a pink dress. "She's an artist, like you."

After considering her words Shadow decided.

"I'll go with you to Balamb. My dog needs to eat." How was it he always came across those who needed help. Help he usually charged quite a bit of gil for. "I am Shadow. What's your name?"

"Oh...I haven't met many artists." Namine spoke with some interest, despite the fact that there wasn't much of anyone she'd met outside of keyblade wielders. The next words to come from the man were a bit more startling though. And she had a brief and terrifying mental image of the dog rampaging through the town, devouring it's citizens.

Shaking it off though she chided herself for being ridiculous. Even if did bite, the dog wouldn't go that far...right?

"I'm Namine" She told him, a small smile forming as she slipped her shoes back on and left the sandy beach for the grass again.

"I haven't met that many artists either." said Shadow as he walked alongside the young girl holding her large sketchbook. As soon as he had taken his first step Interceptor was back on all fours and trotting along next to them. "But I have seen a few of their works sell for a nice chunk of gil."

Balamb was in plain view, especially given such a clear day. A light breeze picked up which flitted both ends of his bandanna as well as his sash. "By chance, do you know how much the Inn would charge?" Shadow was sure he had more than enough finances to handle his trip for information, but it was better safe than sorry.

She pause, trying to remember the exact amount. "I think it's...20gil." She said at last. Not much at all really, but so much when you didn't have it. And it wasn't as though she could go about beating up monsters for change the way other people seemed to be able to do. Her brow furrowed in thought, Namine stared at the ground as she walked, considering what Shadow had told her about selling art. Another thing she'd never attempted.

"I've never tried to sell my art. But...now that I think about it, I've never really had the opportunity either." There were certain things it turned out that weren't afforded to a person when they spent most of their life either as part of someone else or locked in a room somewhere waiting for one group or another to come and use them for their powers. Learning how to make a living was apparently one of them. This was the most prevalent thought that came to her mind as she watched the dog trotting alongside his master contentedly.

Balamb's Hotel was definitely going to be the place to stay while Shadow hunted for information. Now all the only monetary concerns he had would be funds to feed himself and his dog, after that any extra gil could be used for any greedy possible informants. Shadow's gaze trailed Namine's to Interceptor. That was when the dog's ears perked up and he stopped his trot quickly looking from left to right, sniffing the air and letting out a half bark while he growled.

Coming to a stop Shadow looked to the corner of his eye. "We're not alone..." he said in a firm, low voice to Namine. In one fluid motion, Shadow's hand unsheathed the ninja-to that was on his waist and turned in a 180 degree turn slashing at something very dark with yellow eyes. At least that's what he glimpsed right before his attack caused it to puff into a black cloud of smoke. More were rising out of the ground from dark portals.

"Interceptor! Guard!" snapped Shadow at the barking dog who was warding heartless off from it's master. The instant Shadow finished the last word the dog quickly ran to Namine's side and clamped down on one heartless' leg, thrashing his body about violently.

She was shaking. The feeling causing her even more anxiety as she was once again confronted with her own helplessness. Why did things always turn out this way? The young blonde woman felt like a parasite, always depending on other people to fight for her. And especially now seeing the darkness gathering around them. Was this because she'd thought about them when seeing Shadow for the first time? Namine tried to convince herself that this was just and unfortunate coincidence as she held her sketchbook up as if it could shield her from the heartless that the dog was fearlessly keeping at bay.

As she brought her other hand up to get a firmer grip on the book, She glanced over at Shadow, who seemed to be as fearless as his valiant pet. And yet here she was, without even so much as a stick to hit them with...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only