Strange town pt. 1

Risette listened in horror. That last thing she wanted to happen had unfolded. she turned to see what was going on, and was met with and image of Maxx's sword drawn and ready for battle. "Oh, no..." she thought. "They are going to fight...." She decided then what she was going to do. she snuck around the scene to another angle, and came up behind Elita, tapping her shoulder gently. "Elita, we've got to stop this!" she whispered to her friend.

"Well, I will let you know that I usually do not attack blindly, only if I am given no other choice, as it appears here. Better to fight than to run." With that, he summoned his Keyblade and struck Maxx on his sword hand. Meanwhile, Trabon struck Lini, not doing much, but still doing something.

There was power flowing from Maxx, and the lights from the Gummi ship started to flicker. "You know, I have the power to control machines. And make a human, like you start to act like one sometimes, in such a way, that they will start to feel slow.." Maxx said, staring almost like he was dead, with tears in his eyes, towards Valgius. A cold, black shadow started towards Valgius, and no matter how Valgius could dodge, it just keeps coming closer.

Lini raised his sword, then brought it down with it covering half of his face. He was focusing. The power swelled within him, and he let it out. "Ahh, the power of Lini's Luna defense, heh, now try and hit us, you can't with out being a little cold yourself!" Maxx explained.

The shadow was catching up with Valgius. It grasped him, squeezing him in its icy embrace, and he could not move very well, sometimes he could move slowly, then sometimes not at all.

"NO!" Risette wasn't going to stand it any longer. She wasn't going to wait and watch any longer. Risette dashed into the battle and, with hot tears flowing from her eyes, slashed at Maxx's back with her own petaled blade. Afterwards, she backed away, holding her head with her free hand. "Curse the blade! Curse all the keyblades!" she managed to scream inside her twisted mind. her thoughts were spinning, and she no longer could think straight. She wanted it to be over.....for it to be all over...

Maxx fell to his knees, still having his grasp on Valgius. "Who, what, why would someone attack me? I am doing what needs to be done! He needs to learn!" Maxx got up, and turned around to see her. "Why?" He said, as he stepped to the side, to avoid any blow by Valgius.

Risette's body trembled. she instantly regret the strike, but it had to be done. Or, at least, she thought it had to be done. "If he needs to learn, you need to find another way of teaching, Maxx. This fighting is senseless, don't you see?" Her hand moved from her face, and her tears continued to flow. "No more, please; or I'll have to stop you by force...please don't make it come to that, Maxx..."

"Why are you protecting scum like him? He does not deserve it!" He yelled, as his tears started to come down faster.

"Don't you think you're being too hard on him?!" She wanted to stop. To stop talking; to stop yelling at him; but she culdn't. Not until it was over. "I know, he hurt you; I know he doesn't understand, but you've got to give him a chance! Not everyone will understand right from the start!" Risette's head fell, and she stared at the ground, completely defenseless. "He's lost something, too....just like you've lost something, Maxx." Her arms fell to her sides, limp. "Can't you try to understand each other?"

Maxx looked at him, then back at her. "He does not care, he can not care about that really, it was suppose to happen, and they are not even dead, the ones that died. I presume that they was taken by the heartless? You do know what happens to them if that happens do you not?" Maxx said, trying to stay calm.

Risette nodded. "I know all too well. Xandrick had shown me when we all met in Beast's Castle....and it tore my heart in two." She culdn't bring herself to move. "But, do you really think that this is the right way to show him he's wrong? From his standpoint, I'm presuming you're only adding feul to the fire; that's not what you want, is it? do you really want him to hate you more, Maxx?"

"I care not how he feels toward me. And Xandrick only gave you half of the story. Personal vendetta is what fueling this fire, not what I do here, because anything that happens will happen, but it will not make the fire grow more, nor will it settle it. It is microscopic compared to what is happening. Now, if you will, will you all just leave." He said, with tears in his eyes, and releasing Valgius from his grasp. He walked away, still crying the tears that he sheds for others.

When he was released, Valgius dropped, but was soon on his feet in his battle stance, pure hatred and anger radiating out of his body. Soon, he realized the fight was over. It was then that he noticed Risette. "Hey, Risette! What're you doing here?" Valgius was still ready to fight. His still-new chain on his Keyblade gleamed. After looking at it with an almost lost look, he put his Keyblade away.

Maxx was ripping from himself. He can not handle this all, it hurt him. It was hurting him so bad. His life was no more, and he had been like this way for a long time, lost and confused. One of the reasons he was a sky pirate was to escape, but it seemed that it did not help much anymore.

MarzipanHen sensed strong hearts. She did not know why she was where she was, but that was no surprise. She slowly drew her foil and approached the hearts. She also noticed a vague, empty presence, but, as it did not have a heart, she dismissed it from her mind. As she neared the hearts, she crouched low to the ground, hiding behind things. She saw the three, two girls and a boy, the boy looking somewhat weak. She salivated as she looked at the boy. Easy prey. she thought. She began to stand, then noticed something. "Keybladers!" she hissed. Ducking back down, she tried to think of a way to defeat them. She couldn't leave now, it would go against her nature. She hungered.

Risette watched Maxx go, unable to do anything to try and stop him. Her own eyes welled up in tears; tears she couldn't stop, even when Valgius called her name. She looked to him, and, seeing that he looked all right, she smiled weakly. "I was exploring.....but then I ran into you guys...." She wanted to run after Maxx; to apologize, to tell him she didn't understand....but couldn't find the strength nor the courage to move herself forward. Nor did she have enough clarity to realize there was another presence nearby; one that meant nothing but harm. The only clear thought she had, she muttered over and over as her head lowered again, and she stared at the ground once more.

"I'm so sorry.....Maxx, I'm so sorry....."

Valgius, being his trainded-hunter-ish self, noticed the dark being. It was hiding in the bushes behind them. With that, he jumped at the bushes, and before the creature knew what happened, Valgius had it pinned down so it couldn't escape. "Well, well, Heartless," Valgius said, emphasizing "heartless" with anger and hatred. "Trying to spy on us, or maybe steal our hearts? I don't know who you are, but I may kill you right now." he continued, hatred seething from him as he spoke. He knew it was a Heartless, even though it was a Natural one. He absolutely hated Heartless, especially after what one had done to Lani back in Angara.

MarzipanHen growled back, struggling to escape the pin the keyblader had her in. She whacked the light one with her foil, attempting to distract him enough for her to slip out of the stranglehold she seemed to be in. "Hearts?" she hissed. "You have hearts, I need hearts, so your hearts I must take." She struggled some more. "Why do you try to resist?"

After hearing the Heartless speak to him, Valgius's anger exploded, and the hit did nothing to improve it. In fact, it made him angrier, if that were possible. He yanked the Heartless up, summoned his Keyblade, and struck it hard on its head. The Heartless went flying. After the first hit, Trabon struck it with the flat of his blade, knocking it out. "Tie it up, Trabon." Valgius said. "I think it's questioning time..." Soon, Trabon and Valgius had the Heartless tied up, in a similiar knot that Maxx had tied him up in. "I'd like it to try and do something when it can't even move." Valgius said, smiling to himself. "Trabon, we will wait here for the Heartless to wake up. Then, we question it." With that, he took some cold meat from his pocket and they sat down to eat.

Maxx still trying to get himself together, looked back, and noticed that everyone was still around. He sighed, and turned back around, walked over to Valgius' trapped heartless, and cut them go, which afterwards, he woke them up. "Go, and find some other hearts to steal, do it fast and quick, this fight would be useless for you to fight, 3 keybladers? Go and have some fun, ok?" Lini walked over to the heartless and moved it, and guided it away from the group of people.

Maxx turned around. "Why would you do that Valgius? They are weak."

MarzipanHen looked dejected as the moogle led her away, but shortly after being let go she brightened. She could come back later, perhaps enlisting aid, and take the shiny-shiny hearts. She was so empty, she needed those hearts, needed to take them. For now, though, she would leave, hopefully regaining some of her strength and maybe learning to use her weapon. She vanished into the dark, going to a, hopefully, safe place.

Risette watched the scene unfold through silent, yet shocked eyes. How could she not even notice a heartless standing so close to her? "I've lost it.....I've really lost it...." She thought. Not knowing what else to do, she turned away from the group, off to explore the new world she was in, and hopefully, to clear her mind a bit.

As soon as he heard Maxx approaching, Valgius lept into a tree. He deliberately ignored Maxx's question. "Well, Risette, I will see you later!" Valgius said. He then lept from tree to tree. Soon, he dropped into his Gummi Ship and took off.

Risette didn't waver. She kept moving away from where the others were, focusing on nothing but the path ahead of her. "Goodbye..." she mumbled after hearing Valgius bid farewell. It didn't matter to her now; she just wanted to forget it all.

Maxx was feeling somewhat sorry for being a little rude. "Would you like something to eat Risette?"

Risette spun around to face Maxx. she smiled; a weak one, but a smile nonetheless. "s-sure.....thanks, Maxx." she said, walking over to him. "Listen.....um....I want to apoloogize for what I did.....what I said....I never meant to hurt you, Maxx....and, it's okay if you don't wanna forgive me, or something like that. I understand....but, I still want to let you know that I'm sorry...okay?" Risette felt a bit better, now that she had apologized. The tear in her wasn't filled just yet, but she was getting somewhere.