8. [Video/action]

[brodakota]

[Of all the Freelancers here, North is probably the happiest to see the Mother of Invention. For all intents and purposes, it's home for him, and after a few months of technicolour monsters and other weird goings-on, it's nice to see something familiar, dream world or not. He spends some time on the bridge, before heading out into the ship, seeing all the familiar places. Mess hall's still intact, and it looks like the common room is as well, with it's lousy selection of books. The training floor hasn't changed, and it's nice to see that his name is still where it should be on the Leaderboard. As troublesome as it is, he is number five and takes a decent amount of pride in that. They don't spend a lot of time there, taking out the nightmares quickly before moving on. It still brings back a few unpleasant memories.

Theta's been pretty quiet throughout the whole journey, but he skates alongside North's head, equally glad for the familiarity. The last time either of them saw this place had been in a dream, so the, somewhat real thing is good to have, and North lets his hand trace the wall. He rounds a familiar corner, and heads to a familiar room.

His barrack is pretty much how he left it. Bed, table, locker, all the comforts of home. He sits down on the bed. Home sweet home. After a few moments, he turns on the communicator.]

I was just thinking that anyone exploring this place might want to avoid the barracks, or at least rooms 1115 and 1116. 1115's mine, and 1116 is my sister's. If she shows up here, I don't think she'd approve of anyone going through her stuff, dream world or not.

[Private text to Xion]

I guess I can actually give you a tour of my world now, if you want it? Unfortunately there's not a lot of places for ice cream.

Comments

[Private to North]

[skysmirror]

[It takes a moment for Xion to respond. She'd like to explore, and it would be nice to have North guide her around, but she's seen the effects it's been having on some of the others. In fact, she's a little concerned for North.]

You're okay to do that?

[Private to XIon]

[brodakota]

Yeah, I'm totally fine.

[There's a pause as he figures out why she would ask that.]

I...I don't have the same memories as Wash and York, so this place is still pretty much home. It's safe, aside from some Nightmares.

Permafilter?

[skysmirror]

[There's a little bit of relief when he confirms that.]

I see. The others seemed to be having so much difficulty that I was wondering. Are they feeling better now?

I'd like to look around, and we can bring ice cream with us.

Permafilter

[brodakota]

[North looks a little down at that.]

I'm really not sure. I think it's still bothering them.

But I'll meet you on the bridge then. I'll warn you that it's not as nice as Twilight Town, and there's not a whole lot to see.

[skysmirror]

[Xion offers a sympathetic look. She'd be shaken if they found The World That Never Was.]

I hope they feel better soon.

That's okay--I'd still like to see it. I'll get the ice cream and be there soon.

[And she's off.]

[brodakota]

Yeah, me to.

I'm looking forward to it.

[After she leaves he takes one last look around his room and heads for the bridge. It takes a bit of time, and one of their stops is going to be the weapon's locker for sure.

But he's waiting there when she arrives.]

[skysmirror]

[Xion arrives not long after him, ice cream bars in hand and Manda and Axel at her side.]

Here. Think we can eat while we walk around?

[brodakota]

[North gives a wave and steps up from where he was leaning.]

Probably not. There's not a whole lot of space in the hallways, so if nightmares attacked, I don't know if the ice cream would survive.

[And that would just be a waste in his mind.]

We'll just have to eat fast.

[skysmirror]

[Xion hands him his ice cream, then reaches down to pick up Manda while Axel slithers to his usual spot around her shoulders.]

Yeah, I guess it would be shorter distances between groups of them here.

[It would be a tragic waste.]

But not so fast we get an ice cream headache, right?

[Axel had warned her about those.]

[brodakota]

[North takes off his helmet and accepts the ice cream gratefully. Theta appears in a spray of fireworks as well. He likes being a part of these meetings.]

It is. And the hallways are kind of hard to fight in. I hope you don't mind stopping by the weapons locker because of that. I need a better gun.

[He laughs.]

Right. That's definitely something we want to avoid.

[skysmirror]

[Xion smiles and waves to Theta while Axel and Manda chitter their own greetings. She'd miss him if he didn't join them.]

Hallways usually are. That should be okay; the one you have now isn't working very well?

[If it isn't, then making sure he gets one that's better is definitely a priority.

She laughs, too.]

Yeah. Headaches kind of ruin the fun.

[brodakota]

It's working fine. Sniper rifles are just better for distance, and in an enclosed space, they aren't very helpful. It's why I keep running into trouble.

I need a gun that's a bit better for close range stuff.

[He nods. And vaguely wonders what the Director would think if he saw this happening. He probably wouldn't be very pleased.]

[skysmirror]

[Ah, so that's the problem. Come to think of it, Xigbar had been better at long-range attacks, too...]

I see. Can you use anything besides a gun?

[Because any kind of gun doesn't seem good for close range combat, and has a good chance of accidentally hitting allies.

The Director probably wouldn't be pleased, no. He's a boss, and Xion's experience with bosses is that they disapprove of fun as a general rule.]

[brodakota]

I can also use a knife, and do some hand to hand stuff, but most of the battles we fought involved guns.

[He's aware he's a bit limited in that way.]

Sniper rifle's probably what I'm best at though.

[skysmirror]

[Well, it's not as if Xion's an expert in lots of different weapons herself.]

Ah. There was only one of us that used guns, so I don't know a lot about them. Are there many different kinds?

[brodakota]

There's several, at least that I've been trained in. I'll show you when we get to the weapons locker. It's a bit easier than me explaining.

[skysmirror]

I see. We should probably go there first then, since we need to go anyway.

[Sometimes it's easier to show than tell; Xion knows this.

And she's also just about finished with her ice cream, so anytime he's ready, she is.]

[brodakota]

There aren't a whole lot of sites to see, so I can just point them out on the way.

[North takes a minute to eat the last bite of his, before disposing of the stick and picking up his helmet.]

You ready to go?

[skysmirror]

That sounds good.

[The place looks interesting--like a huge Gummi Ship, only made of metal. She'd carried Sora's memories of his travels in interspace for a while, but getting to see this for herself is even better.

After finishing the last bite of hers, she nods.]

Yeah, I'm ready.

[brodakota]

Alright, let's go.

[North turns to head for the hallway, with spirits in tow.]

[skysmirror]

[Xion nods and follows.]

So you and York and Washington all lived here? Were you the only ones?

[brodakota]

[North laughs.]

No way. Three guys on a ship this big? That'd be crazy.

There were a whole bunch of us Agents, along with other staff and personal, like medics and engineers and people like that.

[skysmirror]

[Hey, for most of Xion's existance it was her and seven others sharing a big castle, okay? She does smile sheepishly at the correction.]

I guess so. How many people were there?

[brodakota]

[North has think on that for a while.]

I'd say well over a hundred, counting all of the staff. There's forty-nine agents though, if you include Wash, York, and I.

[skysmirror]

[So more people than Xion had met in her life had lived on this ship.]

That many? And it was big enough for everyone? How did you get food up here?

[So many questions.]