Re: Kingdom Hearts Eclipse
Choked sobs escaped, coming from the end of a dark alleyway. In between the faraway scuttle of the passing Reavers, and the malignant odor of Death as thick as the ominous haze that licked at the desolated paths and skies of the once radiant garden, the faint cries could be heard nor concerned by no one….
"Stop it. Crying will get you nowhere."
Save for just one.
The lingering spectator approached casually, standing tall over the sobbing heap hiding in the alleyway. A depressing sight, it was. A boy, no older than the age of ten from the looks of it, had ducked his face between his chest and knees, shaking, quivering in obvious fear. So much the opposite of the dark, enigmatic woman before him. Proud and tall she stood, not a trace of emotion on her features. Dead. Seemingly unaffected by the chaos that went on just outside the sanctuary of the condensed alley walls.
And unaffected she was, because Calpurnia had seen it all before. Like an eerie sense of deja vu.
More than once had she seen Reavers of all kinds hunt down the Keybladers one by one - attacking and destroying. More than once had she seen the dark, shadowy spires break from the ground and rupture what little sense of safety that remained within the fated world's citizens. Seen the Haze, the thick, foggy blanket that draped over the sky. She had seen all the tell-tale signs of pending disaster before, and had very much been apart said disaster at one point in time.
No doubt about it – the Eclipse King was here, and this world would soon be his for the ruling. And this child might perhaps fall with it if he didn’t move to safety. And fast.
Calpurnia tried once more to rouse the boy, her tone unsurprisingly even. "Come on, on your feet. You have to keep going." Yet, still, not one move from the boy. Not even a flinch, a jerk to acknowledge her presence. She groaned, crossing her arms as she shifted her weight to her left foot. So it's like that, huh? Ugh. This was going to be a bit harder than she thought. Admittedly, she was hoping for the sobbing child to high-tail it out of the alleyway upon her presence. Or to look up. Or jump to his feet. Or... something. Anything, really! But no, nothing from the kid. Not so much as a smidgen of movement. The older teen angled her head off to the side, blinking. Weird. Usually younger children his age tended to react pretty much the same way (or at least along the same lines) whenever Calpurnia came within distance. Scamper back, frown, boggle their eyes... cry. They did it all.
All except, well, outright ignore her.
Incoherent whimpers - 'Jarod, Jarod, Jarod, where are you? Jarod?' - left the shaky child in irregular intervals, taking absolutely no mind to the older teen hovering feet from him. Under any other circumstances, Calpurnia would have left the child. She never cared before, so why now? Kids were never fond of her, and vice versa. But something kept her planted to her very spot. Rooted, unable to leave the cowering child's side. An eerie feeling tingled in the back of her head, as if pressuring her to do more than see to the child's physical well-being. A bothersome sensation, it was. Very uncomfortable, one she could not simply overlook.
At last she summoned that bit of hardness in her tone - hardness so familiar, so very much her. "Walk, I said. Go on, get up. You're gonna make it." To further motivate the broken boy she added a jabbing kick to the surprised child's rear, pushing him unceremoniously to his side.
That did it. Now rid of his miserable musing, the child peered up. He was filthy and stained with dirt all over, and through bouts of hiccups her stuttered out, "But my brother -"
"Is fine I bet." She looked up for a moment, thinking of a distinct haven, a place for all citizens to go to in a dire time...
Oh, of course!
A sharp glance was thrown back to the boy, followed by another rough nudge from her foot. "Go to the Castle. It's not safe out here, by yourself." As if sensing a presence right then and there, hazel eyes flickered uneasily left and right, searching for,... For what? A Marshal to jump from out of the walls? A sigh emitted from her parted lips, followed by a small rock from her head. Paranoia. A nuisances at times. And other times, a nifty little life-saving prickle. But not now; they were fine, currently. Safe.... For the time being. Hazel irises jerked back to the younger child, peripheral vision catching the shift of a body to a stand. That unease still present in the boy's innocent gaze, he looked to Calpurnia, a child seeking comfort in his newly-discovered "mother".
A notation that Cal might scoff at.
"My brother... Will he be there? Waiting for me?"
A small 'click' reverberated from the walls of the alleyway. Her clenching jaw. About ready to crack under the pressure of her teeth grinding together.
‘Annoying… Bothersome… Kids….’
Calpurnia raised her shoulders, taking on a tight grin in which a blind man could have seen right through. "Sure. Why not." Her obviously tight grin and deadpan tone seemed to fly right over the younger's head, his own toothy smile flashing in return and stretching his face to almost unheard of proportions. So... Mission accomplished? Not so fast. Just as the boy, upbeat now with the surely gratifying news of his brother, began to side-step Cal, he halted, one foot half-way in the air. The next words from his lips came a bit at random... "Will you come with me?"
...But nonetheless caused the older teen to raise her brows. A stir - something, she wasn't sure what - prickled in her gut.
It never crossed her mind. Following him to make sure he made it home never once crossed her mind. Spectators didn't get involved with the battles. They observed. They watched the events unfold. But were never involved. "No. Can't. Sorry."
Defeated, the boy’s blue eyes fell downward, head sinking and submerged in sadness. "Oh, okay then." Like a light bulb flicking back to life, his countenance brightened within seconds. “Maybe next time then?” With a giggle the child skipped out from the alleyway, Cal tailing behind with a grimace, just relieved to be rid of the boy and ready to take off from -
"Oh, hey!"
...There.
Cringe, halt, and glance. Thrown from over her shoulder, the stone-cold hazel gaze said it all: I'm losing patience. Make it quick. Whatever it is.
"The name is Joss, by the way!" A toothy smile full of glee once again stretched his features. "It was to me'cha, Miss!" And quick as a shot the boy scampered off the opposite direction, running home. Into the impalpable, ominous veil he went, alone and oblivious to the eerie silence of Death all around him.
Just that sparkling smile of hope, innocence lighting his path.
Cal didn't understand it. This churning in her gut, the ringing warnings in her head - 'Follow, follow, follow him!' - urged her to tail the boy, see to the boy's safety. Urging. Nagging. Insisting. Too strong to ignore, too strong to debate with and bring up the fact that she was only a spectator to these events – nothing more. Her stomach did flip-flops. Go? Or separate? Go? Or Separate? She thought leaving was her best option, but…
Instinct begged to differ. And funny how instinct never lied, either. A fact in which she herself could not deny, and learned through basic experience. Yes, experience was her greatest teacher, her greatest asset. As was instinct.
It was decided.
Cal turned on her heel. She was going to regret this, she knew. Experience also taught her to heed that achy feeling that bubbled in her stomach whenever trouble suspended in the air. Nine times out of ten, it was right.
Tsh. To hell with that. Instinct, it seemed, had won over her conscious today.
With a click from her tongue the girl took off deeper into the thick haze, her gait quickening to an all out run.