never look back, you're much stronger than that.

[wieldertobe]

Date & Time: forward-dated; 1/20, during the afternoon.
Location: In miscellaneous places both inside and outside of the Hold, in the rain/snow.
Characters: aged-down!Riku (limitstorm » wieldertobe) and open!
Summary: Ever seen a remote-controlled car go and go and go? Because this kid is doing a very good impression, going everywhere and stopping to rest only every now and then.
Warnings: Get your dentist 'cause there's gonna be cavities up in here.

( A ) [ what a cool world.

Riku couldn't be more ecstatic to be somewhere completely different from the Islands; he imagined Sora must be around somewhere, so he'd have to find his best friend, so he wouldn't start crying for being separated from Kairi and the others. he jogged from place to place, stopping every now and then to watch adults with wide eyes.

people with big swords milled about and others that didn't even look like people--and Riku watched them with an unabashed stare, a big smile clear on his face. ]

This is so cool...

( B ) [ his only stopping point was when his stomach gave an unholy growl, and he clasped both arms against his stomach, frowning. ]

How'm I supposed to eat when I don't have any money?

[ stealing? he peers over at a cart with fresh bread and cheeses, very tempted, but knowing that stealing was very bad.

disappointed and hungry, he went on to walk still, his smile a little weaker. ]

( C ) [ and the more he walked, the more tired he was.

he was drooping by the time he got to a bench shielded from the rain, soaking wet and freezing cold. silent as he was, he curled up, knees to his chest, hiding his face.

he wasn't upset. he'd find Sora; he had to, that was his job as the leader of the group, and as Sora's best friend. but his feet hurt, and he was so sleepy...

maybe he could take a little nap here. ]

Comments

a)

[ex_symbioses706]

( there's something about being stared at; even if she's not that sensitive to things like that, she does get a strange feeling, a prickling down her spine. she shrugs it off as the rain at first - no matter how much you wear in preparation, it still is so easy to get wet! - but after a little while pauses to look around, glancing at the crowd around before noticing a flash of (familiar?) silver out of the corner of her eye )

Huh?

[wieldertobe]

[ Riku is tiny, just a little over three feet. his little footsteps splash rain puddles, and adults and teenagers alike make sharp noises of surprise or irritation as he pushes past them. he's completely and totally underdressed for weather like this, but he doesn't seem to care as he darts past Ranka, coming to a stop before her for a little moment as he notices her looking around.

obviously that couldn't be a reaction to his staring! ]

What's the matter?

[ex_symbioses706]

( THAT MAKES HER START, but then she looks down and sees him properly. that would probably explain the silver she saw, anyway... )

I thought I saw something, but... ( she leans down a little ) ...wait, aren't you cold?

C

[salvagedsoul]

[At some point, a white hand touches Riku's shoulder and shakes him gently. There's a small white-haired boy there next to the bench, wearing something like a hospital gown, staring at him blankly.]

Hey. Hey, wake up.

[wieldertobe]

[ weak with hunger and exhaustion, he looks up blearily at the boy who's shaking his shoulder. ]

Huh?

[salvagedsoul]

What are you doing? You're going to get sick sleeping out here.

[The blank stare continues.]

c)

[boughtabookstore]

[ All these children turning up, and Roslyn's not good with the young ones but she can't just leave them out in the cold and the wet. And this one looks so very - familiar. She touches his shoulder lightly, kneels down. ]

You should sleep inside.

[wieldertobe]

[ he slowly looks up, rubbing his eyes. he's bleary and his stomach grumbles and when it does, he winces, curling in on himself further. ]

I don't have a room.

[boughtabookstore]

[ he really does look familiar, and she frowns a little. ]

You can come to mine. What's your name?

placeholder UvU and ( b )

[gnostically]

[ off to the side, hidden, is a soft quiet..]

pssssst!

uwu

[wieldertobe]

[ he looks around quickly, eyebrows arching.

after a moment, he tries to walk toward where he heard the sound. ]

:*

[gardenings]

[and that's when a young girl around his age peeks her head out from an alley in between two stands, long black wild hair curling around her face as she glances around then to him. followed by a quick easy gesture of her hand for him to come closer.

and when he's close enough... she holds out a big fresh healthy looking apple.] Hungry?

b

[rota]

[There are a lot of children around now and Naoto's worried. Pretty much why she's out here instead of holing up in her room after that gods-awful mission.

When an oh-so young voice asks himself how he should eat without any money, she knows she can do something here. So she went to approach the boy.]

Excuse me. You say you're hungry?

[wieldertobe]

[ at seeing a teenager approach, he quickly steps back. ]

Yeah... but I didn't take anything, I promise.

[ even if he had, his clothes are so thin and meant for hot weather that he'd have nowhere to stash it, anyway. ]

[rota]

If you had, I would be disappointed in you.

[She crouches down. She may be short for her age but she's still taller than a pre-pubescent kid.]

What do you say if I get you something so you wont have to?

a)

[fruition]

( at first she does not notice anything out of the ordinary, though that wasn't completely true. Madoka notice something, like how despite the rain falling around her- she has managed to stay completely dry. she turns her hands over, staring with a thoughtful look. figuring it just another side effect of her magic, like so many other things today.

so, in the end, she decides it would probably just be best not to think so hard on it.

she turns then, perhaps a bit to quickly because she finds herself almost turning into the path of a child (a child with a familiar head of silver hair, she noted) but manages to step back in time to prevent in collisions from happening. )

Oh! That was a close one, I'm really sorry about that.

[wieldertobe]

[ he's a little startled to see her suddenly, backing up quite a few steps. ]

That's okay. I wasn't watching where I was going.

... [ ... she really does look prettier closer up. ] You're from a different world, right? 'cause you don't look like you live here.

b

[phantasmata]

[Kyouko's mission today was to find all the kids wandering around, and after dropping off a group at the makeshift daycare with Sayaka, she decides to hit the pavement in search for more. It's raining, which is unpleasant, but she's detransformed for now and has her hood over her head to keep from getting too wet.

Finding a child is not as easy as finding a Witch or Familiar, but she's determined, and eventually catches sight of a silver-haired boy lingering near a food cart. Kyouko's familiar with that longing sort of look, the expression of someone who is hungry and cannot afford to eat, so she heads in his direction, giving him a friendly smile when she approaches.]

Hey. Are you lost?

[wieldertobe]

[ Riku wishes he had his toy sword or something--maybe he could find something to eat in that deep, dark forest.

gulp.

well, adventurers take risks, right? he tries to steel himself, though he briefly relaxes upon seeing a girl approach, however weak he feels. ]

Yeah. I don't know where I am.

c.)

[chargethesebatteries]

[Ugh, the weather is just nasty today. Tamora doesn't really mind rain or cold, but patrolling in this sort of weather is just a pain. Thankfully she's got her cruiser, at least, so she doesn't have to walk, but it's still unpleasant. She doesn't even care that she probably looks kind of ridiculous carrying an umbrella on a flying surfboard, at least she's not getting drenched.

[As she cruises past a store front, she spots a figure curled up on the bench out front. It's actually unusual to see any homeless folks around here, despite the general broken-down setting; the housing the Initiative provided for the people they brought here is probably the reason. So who is this person and why are they sleeping on a bench? Swinging the cruiser around and pulling up closer, she hops down and sets her umbrella on the ground to approach. As she draws nearer, she sees that it looks like a kid and frowns. What the heck is a little kid doing out in this weather? And in shorts, at that? Darn irresponsible parents these days, really.

[Tamora isn't particularly motherly, but she doesn't dislike kids, really. One of her closest comrades is eternally nine years old, after all, so it's not like she doesn't know how kids work. If this one's lost, it's her duty to figure out where he belongs, that's for sure. She drops to a crouch beside the bench and puts a hand on the boy's shoulder.]

Hey, kid, wake up. You can't sleep here.

[wieldertobe]

Where'm I supposed to sleep?

[ he slowly picks up his head, a hand mushing his hair against the side of his head.

fixing her with an exhausted seagreen stare, he droops a little more, pushing his bangs away from obscuring his vision with a slight cough. ]

a)

[sleepingvalkyrie]

[ Someone drops, quite literally, out of the sky and into Riku's path.

Gliding over lower roofs and some of the cloth hangings across the walkways of the market, her shadow likely passes over a certain bitty's head as the displaced Valkyrie angles in for a landing. She banks sharply, bringing her back in his direction as she opts to take advantage of the space below: bright wings cup the cold air before depositing the Valkyrie on the ground, packed earth crunching beneath steel boots.

The blue gem of her spear flashes a moment, before the glow settles back to shimmering faintly as the young woman straightens up, smiling faintly as she nods to herself. She's getting better at judging the air currents around here.

Dark eyes do not immediately notice the little boy (in spite of that brilliant yellow splash of clothing) as she takes a moment to fuss over her wings: a little damp does no harm, but Gwendolyn runs cold fingers across her wings before furling them against her sides, dusting away at any flecks of ice and any snow dusting. There's no one else here to keep them in working condition, so she has to be careful.. ]

[wieldertobe]

[ the yelp he's supposed to give out is promptly swallowed in his throat, falling and losing his balance, ending up on the ground staring up at the woman with wide eyes.

she's even sparkling--and those... wings? ]

Whoa...

b)

[slantinglight]

[Roxas is at also standing a cart, one that's not very far away, that is selling sandwiches. He decided to take a lunch break from his training here, and the kid's brightly colored clothes is what catches his attention at first. He sees the colors out of the corner of his eye and finds himself turning reflexively, finds himself looking for something familiar, and finds himself not finding it. Whatever "it" is. But "it" feels wrong to use, though Roxas doesn't know what would be more suitable.

He watches the kid hold his stomach, stare at the cart, frown, and turn away. Roxas watches him go, blinking, and then his feet are moving. By the time he realizes he's approaching the boy, it's too late to really make himself stop.

What in the world is wrong with him today?]

Hey, wait up.

[wieldertobe]

[ he immediately tenses upon seeing a big kid approach, stopping in his tracks, pigeon-toed, hands still against his stomach. ]

What?

[ instead of defensive, it comes out as quietly tired and wary. this kid looks a little weird. he's never seen hair like that. and his eyes look kind of like Sora's... except a little different, but how, Riku can't put his finger on. ]