Tales of Symphonia: Aftershock (Part 1- Darkness Returns)

[Lil' Schu]

Sayuri was the next person to make it to Triet. She tripped her way over to the rest of the group. "Why is David sleeping?" she asked inquisitively. Lauren turned to the small girl.

"Heat got to him, I guess. I'm gonna go see if I can find some water to splash on him, or something cold...be right back." Lauren stood up, having regained the majority of her energy, and walked to the oasis. There was a small boy standing guard. Just like in the game...

She turned to the boy. "Excuse me, sir, could I have a small bit of water to fill my canteen? I'm going to use it to revive my friend --" She halted for a second. Was David her friend? She'd just called him that, after all. Shaking it off, she continued. "-- He had heat stroke, and he's been out for a while."

The small boy looked up at her, a hard feat, considering he was about 4 feet tall and she was about 6 foot. "Sure! Just gimme your container!" he said in a squeaky voice. Lauren did as he asked; he leaned down and fillled it plum full with clean, sparkling water. "Here you go, miss!"

"Thanks!" Lauren ran over to the others. "Here -- I got some water to pour on him." She took the lid off the canteen and splashed David with some of it.

She positioned herself near Sayuri. "Hey...Sayuri, is it? I never thanked you for saving me back in the fight. You're really good with those chakrams!" Lauren also noticed that she small girl appeared a little flushed. "Here...you want a drink of water?"

 

[Kurosaki]

The refreshingly cool water on my face finally woke me up, my eyes shooting open "Huh? What happened?" I asked as I sat up and looked around at everyone. "Heh... did something happen?" Of course, I hadn't passed out because of heat stroke or anything, despite what I thought prior. It had been something much greater. As long as nobody got a look at my back, what happened would remain a secret.

 

[Mari]

Sayuri smiled widely at Lauren, a childlike enthusiasm twinkling in her eyes. "Thank you~! But I'm pretty sure I'm horrible." She exclaimed with the utmost bliss, giggling softly. "I' am really sorry to have caused you to fall a while back, though." She continued, now barely audible.

"Here...you want a drink of water?" Lauren said as she had offered her some water.

Sayuri blinked, a tad lightheaded from the heat, then nodded meekly. "Oh, thank you." She took a little sip on the canteen, worried that other might be more parched than her, and handed the canteen back to her. She then shifted her attention onto David, upon hearing him awake, and greeted him childishly.

"G'morning~" She giggled, concealing the anxiety she felt. There was something a bit...bizarre about David. He didn't appear to be suffering from the heat, which would make one wonder what had caused him to faint.

Sayu, you're thinking too much! She mentally scolded herself, disregarding her previous thoughts

 

[Shadowfaith]

Rei titled her head as the boy her and Jeremy had brought to Triet woke up?she had forgotten completely of what she was about to say to Jeremy upon the arrival of the others, all thanks to her short attention span. She grimaced as the cold water ran down the sweat covered face of the younger and onto her arm; she quickly whipped it aside and turned her attention back to the boy.

?Dude you ok?? She asked ?What happened out there? You just sorta keeled over?but you didn?t look as if you were struggling with heat at first? There was more to this story than they boy had made out and she was eager to find out what exactly had happened to him?but she was not about to rush the story after the boy had only just woken up.

She looked up at Jeremy and nudged David ?You should be thanking him?he?s the one that caught you and everything, helped me bring you here?but anyways?we should rest at the inn or something? She gave a tired yawn and got to her feet to stretch ?I?m beet?

As always, she went along as if nothing had ever happened?well?what was in the past was in the past?David hadn?t died and that was all that mattered?he seemed to be fine to her. ?Now?anyone remember where the Inn was in the game?because I can?t really re-call anything at the moment?

 

[Lil' Schu]

After Sayuri had taken a sip of the refreshing water, she handed the canteen back to Lauren. The older of the two thought she still looked thirsty, but shook the idea off. If Sayuri wanted more, she would have taken more. Don't worry about it!

Lauren shifted her attention to David. He wasn't red, he wasn't woozy as far as she could tell, had no signs of heat stroke at all -- unless you include being sunburnt. If it wasn't heatstroke, and David wasn't going to tell us, Lauren wasn't going to bother asking him. Although, it was hard for her not to.

?Now?anyone remember where the Inn was in the game?because I can?t really re-call anything at the moment,? Rei said. Lauren looked up at the girl from her sitting position. "I think it's near the entrance to town...we should get there as soon as we can. We all probably need some rest."

 

[Raichu Master]

Jeremy watched quietly as the others started filing over to where they were. He noticed that Rei was telling David that he should be thanking him, and the others asking David if he was ok. Jeremy just turned on his heels and started walking off, he was soaked from head to toe now, completely drenched in sweat that he desparately needed to replenish. He didn't like attention being drawn to him, and he has his own theories about what happened to David that he wasn't going to express; although he did believe the main cause to be heat stroke, since he, himself, was about to pass out.

"I'll be fine," he muttered at Rei's comment about the inn. He then preceeded to walk off in the opposite direction of the inn, and out of Triet. Despite the want for water, and to sleep, he pressed on, until he was a few yards away from the town and unsheathed his scimitar.

He wiped the swear from his brow before it had a chance to sting his eyes and proceeded to practice, swinging his sword low, as if to trip an imaginary opponent, and then went for a cross slash with the flick of his wrist. He side-stepped and then jabbed his sword right before thrusting into a horizontal slash. Next he snapped into a roll, and came up hard and fast with a vertical strike; leading into several blocking moves.

He was determined to be ready for the next fight.

 

[Kurosaki]

"I must've just blacked out, thats all there is to it..." I replied. I had the feeling some were growing suspicious of me, so I needed to be cautious about what I said. Noticing Jeremy had disappeared, I got up and began walking in the direction that I thought the inn was in. "I'll go get us a room, how about you guys go explore the town?"

 

[Miyu-chan]

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Yoshiko asked David worringly. "Do you need any help or something?" she offered, glancing at him hopefully.

She knew that if she were in his place, she wouldn't want to be left alone...

((OOC: Uberly short post. ;-; ))

 

[Kurosaki]

OOC: it's okay, I know you just got back and you're trying to fit yourself in, XD

IC: "Sure, why not!" I exclaimed in reply to her concern. I could possibly make friends with this girl, but how would that effect the decision I needed to make later on. I had a lot on my mind, and it was obvious from the look on my face.

OOC: Now I have a short post too >>

 

[Raichu Master]

Jeremy fell to his knees after taking a misstep. Grunting, Jeremy got to his feet and pushed on with his practicing, half blinded by the sweat that was stinging his eyes continuously. Then his vision started to blur, and he desided to call it quits there.

"Time to get some water," Jeremy muttered, it sounded loud enough to him, but it was hardly autible if anybody was looking on, in fact it seemed more like he was flapping his lips but nothing was coming out.

Jeremy was way too weak to even sheath his sword, so he drug himself back into Triet to find some sort of shade to try and cool off before continuing, although he was completely dehydrated.

Settling on a spot that was farther away from the others so that they couldn't see him, but he could see them, he sat down with his back against the building trying to catch his breath and his senses.

 

[Lil' Schu]

Everybody was starting to disperse now that David was okay: some people finding water, some booking rooms at the inn, others just relaxing.

Lauren decided to take a head count to make sure they were all there. Yes, to her satisfaction, all of them were there...except for Jeremy. She thought that he seemed to be a loner, not willing to talk to anyone else. In fact, the only person that he really seemed to warm up to was Yoshiko. If he doesn't want to talk, I won't make him. He'll warm up to me sometime.

The blonde decided to examine Triet to see if they could purchase some food and whatnot. There were a few vendors here and there, but none with food. Lauren went over to the nearest tree and leaned against it.

 

[Shadowfaith]

Rei frowned ?I would much rather just get to the Inn and fall asleep, but?? She shrugged ?If you insist?

With that, she took off into the small town of Triet to see if she could find anything useful for the journey ahead. She vaguely remembered Triet, but it was enough to go on. She knew the location of the Oasis and the entrance, s she could easily find her way to the Inn when it got dark.

The only problem was that she had no money to buy anything if she would come across anything?exploring would have to do at the moment in till she got some money in her pocket?which would take a while if all they were going to do was travel?which raised another interesting question?how were they going to pay for the stay at the Inn?

She grinned?well, it wasn?t her problem?it was David?s seeing as he had offered to go and check them into the Inn at the entrance to the city. Food was another problem, they had no money for that either?the way things were going, she may as well steel for a living.

She picked up an interesting symbol off of one of the stalls and examined it carefully before placing it back in its original place. It was weird to see all these weapons and charms available for the taking, back at home it would have been considered illegal?but granted?they needed to protect themselves in such an environment, back at home, they had Police to take care of everything?but at this precise moment?they were sort of acting like the Police?sorting out the problems.

She sighed and looked towards the backing sun, it was beginning to fall?and in Rei?s opinion, it was the sooner the better?she was seriously beginning to roast with this unusually hot weather?how could anyone stand to live in such a place was beyond her knowledge.

 

[Miyu-chan]

"Sure, why not!" David replied.

Yoshiko let out a sigh of relief, brushing away her bangs. "Great!" she said happily. "Let's go to the Inn!" she exclamed, grabbing David's arm. Though after a moment of after thought, she paused, turning back to look at him apologeticly.

"I'm sorry, are you still okay?" she asked worridgly.

 

[Raichu Master]

Jeremy opened the lid to the cantine, that Rei had provided for him to help David. Drinking what was left, Jeremy wiped his mouth and got to his feet. "Best to leave them alone," Jeremy muttered to himself as he walked away from the group, yet again. He found a nice quiet alleyway, shady and cool, and he would be well hidden from anybody searching for him.

Jeremy sat down on a box that was at the back corner of the deep corridor. With a deep sigh of regret, Jeremy threw his thoughts inward, trying to figure out who he wanted to be, what he had become, and how he was going to change.

 

[Kurosaki]

My face turned red as she grabbed my arm, and I hoped she didn't notice that. "I'm fine, lets go!" I couldn't help but show some concern for her as well, as she, along with the others had also been in this heat all day. "Don't worry about me, but how are you feeling? We've been out in this sun all day, and we would have made it here sooner had I not collapsed."

 

[Miyu-chan]

"Oh!" Yoshiko exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad that you're okay." she replied, smiling at him.

"As for me..." she paused, putting her finger on her chin, thinking. "I guess that the heat is pretty soothing... it's so pretty when the surroundings waver around the heat, though it is a bit hot, hehe." she chuckled sheepishly. "and it's cooler here, so it's all good." she added, trying to assure David.

"Oh! We're almost at the inn!" she exclamed as the inn came into sight. Yoshiko grabbed David's hand again and rushed to the entrance.

 

[Raichu Master]

Jeremy sidestepped Yoshiko and David, and walked swiftly into the Inn. After a heart to heart conversation with...well...himself, Jeremy finally found the answers he had been searching for, but it was not quite time to put them in play yet.

"I need a room for the night," Jeremy grumbled as he flipped a few coins that he pick pocketed onto the counter. With a nod the clerk took the coins and wrote down the number of his room. "Thanks..." Jeremy grumbled as he snatched the paper, and sat down on a nearby stole, thanking whatever god was listening that it was nice and cool in here.

 

[Kurosaki]

Yoshiko was very... energetic. That much I knew for sure. "Okay, okay I'm coming!" The inn looked MUCH bigger in real life then it did in the game. Then again, everything in the game was chibified. "So how are we going to do this? Two to a room? And I suppose one room between two people of the opposite genders wouldn't be a good idea." Who was I kidding? I wouldn't find a roomy anyways!

 

[Raichu Master]

"I already paid for a room," Jeremy said darkly, from a concealed corner of the lobby as he listened to David blab.

"I agree with you. Opposite genders is a bad idea," Jeremy added, his dull eyes widened for only a moment, surprised that he was actually agreeing with David, then they went back to their narrowed, dull gaze. "I still don't have a roomie...and I doubt I'll get one. You're welcome to buddy up with me for the night," Jeremy said nonchalantly, seemingly looking at something of interest at the ceiling. "Your call. I'd prefer to sleep alone, but if you're that desparate," Jeremy said, not thinking it was time to open up to anybody...quite yet...

 

[Miyu-chan]

"Errr..." Yoshiko glanced nervously between the two.

Actually, she thought that they could be pretty good allies - or maybe ever friends in the future. But for now...

"Anyways, that'll be perfect!" she exclamed, clapping her hands together in delight. "Yup, since you two are pretty much the only guys in our group. That's just great!"

OOC: Yeah... I think there's only 2 guys... or am I wrong? o.O;