revenance_rpg | ❆ One ❆ To the Lands of Sunset

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❆ One ❆ To the Lands of Sunset

Characters: Jack Frost & Very Open
Content: Trek to Twilight Town. Jack decides that an open door is there for a reason and flies straight through without bothering to ask if it's safe or not. Feel free to chase after him. Oh and possible Nightmare fights.
Location: Starting at the Train Station, but exploring so who knows where we end up.
Time: Twilight ~~lol~~
Warnings: None.

Jack had watched the others mess with the keyhole with mild curiosity. Okay, it was a little more than mild because, well, he'd never seen magic keyholes or keyblades before. But it wasn't like he could do much to help, not unless they needed someone cold. The light show had been especially interesting when the keyhole had disappeared and turned into a doorway instead. And while it might have been made of light and magic, Jack knew a door when he saw one. He didn't sit and study it for long though. Instead he got this look on his face, a mischievous look that just spelled trouble. Despite the time they'd spent together, Snowball hadn't quite learned when to anticipate Jack's bouts of trouble-making. Instead she just fluttered by his head and kept her focus on the doorway.

His focus was on it as well. Jack had always been naturally curious and there was just something about the doorway that called to him. Adventure and who knew what else were waiting on the other side. He looked over his shoulder to Snowball, "Race ya!" Snowball squeaked in bafflement as if to ask 'Wait...what Jack what are you doing?' Jack didn't answer though, he just flew towards the door with a trail of frost and snow behind him. Letting out a sharp laugh as he realized he'd completely left everyone in his snowy dust.

Should he have thought this out and possibly waited for someone to explain WHAT the door led to? Probably. But what would have been the fun in that? He was 300 years old and hadn't listened to anyone give him orders in centuries. Why should he start now? Jack was through the doorway before you could say Winter Wonderland and he burst out through the other side...and was promptly nearly blinded by the sudden light of day.

Jack stumbled back in the air, hand going to his eyes to block out the sun for a moment. "Okay, okay, probably should have expected a sun...ow," he muttered, blinking out spots and dropping from his hovering in the air to the cobblestone. Once his eyes adjusted he blinked and looked around, "Woah...where are we?" Snowball tumbled out of the doorway behind him and crashed into his shoulder with an infuriated squeak. Jack chuckled and turned to scoop her up, "You really gotta learn how to keep up, Snowball."

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For all that she'd been around more than long enough to begin to get as used to the place as she was ever likely to be, Granny was still not at all pleased by many of the things that had come up over the course of her stay. Dreams or no, it wasn't right to keep a body hostage without their permission and she'd had about enough of trying to deal with things that didn't make any sort of sense*.

Honestly, the only reason she'd even known to come out to the right district to step from one world into another was because it was the sort of thing that witches were instinctively drawn. She would, of course, insist that she hadn't had any inclination to step through to another world, but she was there all the same. She refused to blink in the sunlight. The sun wouldn't get the better of her here.

*Most of which would have, if she'd found it in her to only ask, but her pride would never have allowed it.

Jack was leaning over the small wall of the balcony outside the train station. His eyes were wide and he was already clearly excited about not only a new world but a huge city to explore. It still wasn't home, but it would at least hold his attention for awhile.

Snowball squeaked at him and headbutted at his neck trying to get his attention. "Woah! easy Snowball," he muttered and turned to see an older woman stepping through the portal behind him. She didn't seem as put off by the transition to sunlight as he had been.

It was then that Jack had a brief moment of worry. What if, by coming to this new world, people could no longer see him? Was this also a sleeping world or had they ended up in a new world that was also awake. No better time than the present to test this theory, "Hey, can you see me?" If a woman as old as this could see him he wouldn't have any problems.

Granny, for her part, was entirely uninterested about the prospect of a new world*. It was bad enough the the place wasn't Lancre, but to go and add a new set of places when she'd barely even gotten used to the one? That was all but intolerable, and had there been anyone worth the time of day, she might have bothered to admit as much to them. Since there very clearly wasn't, she instead turned to focus her attention on the young man standing in front of her**.

"Of course I sees you," she answered, in a tone that implied things would have been Very Wrong if things had been otherwise. She might have been fond of ignoring people when the mood suited her, but that didn't mean should couldn't still see them.

*Not that she considered it to be such, but the feeling was the same regardless. More places to go meant more people, and she'd never been one to take kindly to people.
**And ignoring the frankly ridiculous color of his hair. Honestly, what were some people even thinking?

Jack let out a breath of relief. Good, then he hadn't lost his ability to communicate. Jack relaxes, not at all aware of the old woman's thoughts about him. "Good to know."

He pauses and then turns back to admire the view, "This place sure is beautiful. I've seen a lot of sunsets before, but there's something...different about this one." It didn't seem to change. It was as though the sun was frozen in its position in the sky and usually sunsets didn't last quite so long. Definitely strange but at the same time breathtaking.

It's probably for the best that Jack wasn't aware of Granny's thoughts. She tended to be hard enough to get along with when people had only her words to go on, and there was hardly any reason to only make matters worse besides. Regrettably, she couldn't really be said to share Jack's thoughts on the sunset either. She'd seen far to many sunsets in her life, and for all that this one might not have been inclined to change it was still a sunset.

"It ain't that special," she answered after a moment of consideration.

"You don't think so?" Jack sounded a bit surprised. He wasn't sure if it was this world or the fact the sunset was frozen but the setting sun seemed...bigger somehow too.

It was starting to sound like this old lady had no imagination or maybe she just wasn't easy to please.

It wasn't that Granny didn't have imagination. She had plenty of imagination. She just didn't see any good reason to not call it anything out the ordinary. If the sun didn't set then it was damned certainly not a sun. Just like the moon that wasn't a moon in the other part of the world.

"Ain't much interesting in a sun."

Jack gave the woman a look then just sighed. Some people just didn't appreciate things. He shrugged it off. It's not like he was going to debate the sun with her. "Whatever you say."

"Course it is," Granny answered, without so much as a flicker of concern over the fact of how the comment was meant. She hadn't gotten where she was by caring much about what people thought of her, and she certainly didn't own it to be to be nice. She had Nanny for that*. It wasn't her place to correct people's assumptions either, and so there wasn't any good reason to even so much as consider changing things.

*Except for when she didn't, but that wasn't going to bother her.

Luna had no particular reason to fear entering the door; there were few environments that could seriously harm her, and she could hold her own against most beasts. She wasn't certain how far the same could be said for Jack, however, so she jumped after him, wings flapping to gain a little speed.

Once through, she skidded to a halt, raising one wing to shield her eyes. "Ah, sunlight!" It was just about twilight here, from the angle of the light. This was the kind of sun the night princess was most accustomed to seeing, but right now she rather felt she would have welcomed high noon just as readily. She spread both wings out to catch the fading rays and smiled up at the sky. "We never thought we should be so pleased to see it!" she commented to Jack. "This new world doth not seem so fearful."

Still blinking out spots from his eyes he turned to Luna. Apparently she had decided to follow him which was fine with him since exploring this place would be more fun with company. He was also not the only one taken off guard by the sunlight.

He smiled at her, "It is a nice change of pace. I love nighttime as much as the next person, but a little sun is always a welcome change." Granted, when he was around usually there were also clouds...but even he liked basking in the sun as much as the next guy. Even if you wouldn't think a Winter Spirit would like warm sunshine.

Jack glanced around, "Do you mean because it's not dark or because there haven't been any Nightmares yet?"

Luna shrugged. "We fear neither of those. We simply did not trust the Keyhole. But this seems no worse than Traverse Town, even if it is not home."

She moved forward, glancing about at the building they found themselves in. "Perhaps this might be home to one of the others. There are train stations like this in Equestria as well." Strange, modern things - Celestia had taken her to see them, but she had never actually ridden in one herself. She much preferred her chariot.

And why would she fear the dark? Stupid question he supposed. What was to fear from an open door though? Jack didn't get why she wouldn't trust the Keyhole. Everyone had been dreaming about it, right?

He walked alongside her, eyes darting from place to place and trying to take it all in. He noticed she was studying the trains and smiled. "We have them too. These look a little older than some of the ones I've seen back home. I guess maybe this place is bigger than Traverse Town if they need a train to get from place to place."

"We have only seen them once or twice; we use them not, and the train station is far from the castle." She moved a little closer to the tracks, leaning out to peer down their length. "Celestia tells me they are quite clever."

She contemplated that for a few seconds, before giving her wings a little flick and trotting away. "Come, there must be ponies - or people, we suppose - if there are trains. Perhaps more than in Traverse Town!" With her luck, it would probably only be more humans, but even that could prove interesting.

"They are! I mean they're a lot faster than carriages or walking." He smirked and looked back to Luna, nodding to her wings, "Although since we can fly that's not really a problem for us either, huh?" He didn't take trains often, but it was fun to ride them from time to time.

Jack turned on his heel and followed her. He was curious to see what this world had to offer as well, "We can hope. Hopefully it's not populated entirely by moogles though."

They stepped out of the station and started heading down the cobbled streets. Of course, they might not have noticed the glowing eyes of a few Nightmares starting to encroach on their path.

"Whoever they are, they ought to get about setting that sun," she mumbled, eying the celestial body uneasily. "Or raise it, if they like, but I do not like to see it sit there." Perhaps she could try it herself, sometime, but Luna preferred to do so without witnesses. After all, it was the sun, and not even her sister's sun. Failure was more than likely.

But then, as she looked to the sky, her face brightened. "Oh! Clouds!" Without another word, she spread her wings and jumped into the sky, quickly grabbing a small cloud and pulling it back down to where Jack was. "We have missed them terribly!" she exclaimed, beating it into some semblance of order with her wings before lying down on it like a couch.

Jack studied the sun. It didn't bother him as much. He just chalked it up to the whole "other world" thing. Then again, his responsibility in life didn't revolve around raising and lowering celestial bodies. He shrugged, "It's not that bad is it? Kinda...strange, I guess. But they DO call it Twilight Town. Or maybe it's the whole sleeping worlds thing. If they're asleep maybe they're just...stopped?"

He trailed off there toward the end because Luna had flown up to a cloud of all things. He quirked an eyebrow as she grabbed it (he didn't know you could grab a cloud like that actually) and started fluffing it up. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes with amusement.

"Comfy?"

"They do make the best beds!" She gave her wings a little flick, scooting the cloud along. "'Tis a Pegasus custom."

But they had been having an actual conversation, so she turned to look at the sun again. Right at it; things like that didn't bother her or Celestia any. "We...suppose not. In Equestria, it would be a disastrous perversion of the natural order, not to mention a sign that something had befallen Celestia or I. But these worlds seem to manage well enough."

That was new information. Interesting and certainly raised a few questions about pegasuses....pegasi?

He thought about that, "Guess it's no wonder it makes you uneasy then. But things work differently here so it probably doesn't have the same meaning." He could only image what Luna was thinking if she thought about her sister being in danger every time she saw the sun like that.

Luna sighed. "We suppose. Eternal night serves Traverse Town well enough, after all, moon or no." That didn't make it any more uncomfortable...though, in truth, she'd become more accustomed to constant starlight than she liked to admit.

"'Tis no matter, we shall manage." The alicorn was silent for a few moments, her ears flicking idly. Was it her imagination, or did it sound like there was something about here beside them? "I wonder...dost thou suppose this place contains spirits and nightmares, as well?"

Jack gestured to Snowball who was flying around above them, "Well, she's here, I kind of assumed so...yeah." If Spirits and Nightmares weren't here then what was Snowball still doing here?

He paused glancing back up at Snowball, "Come to think of it...she's being awfully antsy."

Luna shifted to a sitting position, ears flicking and eyes narrowed. "Perhaps 'twould befit us to show some more caution."

Jack considered it and then nodded. He brought his staff forward into a more battle ready stance. Snowball circles overhead and Jack's eyes fall on some shadows in an alley ahead. He takes a cautious step forward and peers into the shadows. "I don't see anything..."

And of course that's when a hoard of dark-furred bunnies come streaming out of the alley.

"Woah! What!"

"Rabbits!" Luna answered loudly, her magic swinging one up by the ears to look at it before she tossed it hard back down the alley. "Nightmare Rabbits!"

Spreading her wings, she jumped down from her cloud, a quick clip with her hind hooves dissolving her perch behind her. Ever since the Monkey Incident, she was a little disinclined to use her weather magic so heedlessly. Instead, she reared up and lashed out with her hooves and waves of magical force as the rabbits swarmed. They hardly looked as though they would be dangerous on their own, but they traveled in such numbers!

This had to be some sort of karmic retribution for Bunny. It just HAD to be. Jack tried not to dwell on it though and instead focused on the battle. The tip of his staff glowed with a bluish-white light and sparked with icy magic. He shot it forward and caught one of the nightmare rabbits unprepared. It flew backwards and was encased like an ice cube.

Of course, five more rose in its place and Jack twirled his staff, sweeping them aside. He jumped into the air and with the help of the wind did a flip and landed behind the small army of rabbits before quickly blasting them with icy winter air as well. More of them froze but still some of them shook the ice from their ears and lunged at Jack with what could only be described as "bunny fu"

The cold backdraft of Jack's attacks didn't phase Luna at all; pegasi were adapted to flying in colder environments. She was, however, a much larger target than he was, and as a result was being mobbed by quite a few more rabbits. The alicorn beat her wings and reared to dislodge a few that were jumping up and down on her back. It wasn't a matter of alarm, but it was certainly irritating.

Spinning, she let loose with a few bolts of blue light, sniping the Nightmares away before they could get too close. They'd have to remember to map this place out for the others.

Jack grunted as they kicked and smacked him with their ears. They stung but they really weren't THAT heavy of hitters. Certainly nothing compared to the Kooma Panda's ability to inflict damage. He managed to freeze a few more that were close at hand and smacked a few more with his staff. He stayed out of the way of Luna's blasts, not wanting to get hit by anything from friendly fire.

"We must admit - " Luna lashed out, kicking a rabbit away with one hind hoof. " - it did not occur to us that different worlds would contain different species of Nightmare. Perhaps we shall find some Moogles to tell us how to make Spirit rabbits!"

"Think I'll pass on the rabbits," Jack snidely remarked, cracking a rabbit on the head with his staff and dream pieces scattered everywhere mixed in with ice shards. The bunny spirits finally seemed to be thinning out and Jack started to relax.

"Guess it makes sense...new world, new creatures." He's not sure really, but it sounds right.

Luna shrugged idly, beginning to levitate a few dream pieces up and teleport them away to her home. She wasn't considering making another Spirit of any kind at the moment, but it always did well to have the materials on hand if she needed them. They were good for trade, anyway.

"We suppose 'tis reasonable. At least they are not terribly dangerous."

The possibilities a new doorway provided were exciting to Xion as, well, but nearly a year of training meant she was naturally a little more cautious than Jack. They didn't know anything about what was on the other side after all, and a new world meant recon first, further exploration later.

That said, she was naturally curious, and had all of Sora's inclination to not let someone go running into the unknown without help. So when Jack raced through the door, she followed, Axel and Barkley close behind. Recon had to start somewhere, after all.

The moment she stepped through the door, she was glad of her hood. It kept the light from getting her eyes as badly, though she still had to blink a few moments to adjust. When she did, she gasped.

This was Twilight Town, but...that couldn't be. It had never fallen to Darkness. Though it was one of those in-between worlds--maybe that was why it was here in the Realm of Sleep.

Even with that thought, it took her a moment to get over her shock and smile. She'd have to go back and tell the others as soon as she could, but there was some time to explore.

Jack's eyes finally managed to adjust completely. He was turning around slowly, inspecting his immediate surrounding, that half grin plastered to his face. It didn't take long to notice the hooded figure that was Xion standing a few feet behind him.

"Never thought I'd want to see the sun again so much," he remarked with a laugh. He rested his staff against his shoulder and Snowball took up her usual spot, hanging down from it. "I wonder what this place is called...I don't see a welcome fuzzball anywhere," he looked around for a moogle but there wasn't one nearby. Surprisingly he'd gotten used to seeing them around.

Jack's words helped bring Xion back to herself. It was nice to see sunlight again, even if it was the softer light of sunset. Better, considering that they'd just left full night. Taking the brunt of full noon light would have been even more of an adjustment.

"Maybe they couldn't get here until the path was unlocked, too." Though considering how they got around, that was kind of stretching things for an explanation. "It's called Twilight Town."

Edited 2013-01-10 05:24 (UTC)

"Twilight Town," Jack muttered. He could see why. If this place was like Traverse Town and he was in perpetual sunset here...well, there you go.

"Sounds like fun then. Where do you think we should start?" Jack whirled around and saw that the train station had a road leading away from it. Of course, he looked over his shoulder, he supposed he could always use the train to explore other parts of the Town as well. Riding on trains was always fun and something he had done a number of times.

The name was a definite giveaway. It worked, though, a place where it was always sunset being called Twilight Town.

"Well...If we go down the hill we could get to Tram Commons, where all the shops are. From there we can get to the Sandlot or the woods. The train goes to Sunset Hills, I think--I didn't get to go there much. The tunnels lead to most places, too."

They had a few options, and either of them sounded good. Xion was just happy to see a familiar place.

Jack mulled over the options. He eventually shook his head, "Tunnels are more Bunny's thing. Maybe we should just wander around and see where that takes us. And, since it sounds like this is your hometown maybe you can lead the way." He grinned and while he had suggested that he was the one leading the way down the hill.

Unfortunately that's when the welcome committee decided to show up and by welcome committee I mean Nightmares. They appeared out of nowhere and quickly had Jack surrounded. It was a ragtag bunch of bunnies and sheep which normally don't look very threatening but...well they WERE Nightmares.

Jack flipped his staff and held it out while Snowball came alive, ready to help. "Guess it was starting to look a little TOO perfect. And I thought the rolly polly ones were ridiculous looking." And then they attacked as if to show Jack just how serious this was.

Well, if he'd let Xion lead the way, she would have been happy to do so. Simply looking around sounded like a good idea. She hurried to catch up. "Who's Bunny?" It was an interesting name. Weren't those supposed to be some kind of animal?

Not that wondering about that meant she wanted to see bunnies. Especially not the Nightmare kind. They might not have looked threatening, but appearances could be deceiving.

She summoned her Keyblade and Axel went on the offensive, aiming fireballs at whatever Nightmare he could target. Barkley stayed close beside her, ready to Meow Wounce any Nightmares that came to close, or heal any allies that needed it. "We probably should have expected Nightmares here, too."

"You know. The Easter Bunny. His full name is Bunnymund but if you've heard of him you probably know him by that first one." He supposed he shouldn't assume that everyone had heard of the Easter Bunny but he was still getting used to all this "other world" business.

Jack shrugged. Maybe, but he hadn't. Jack swept forward and the air grew at least 20 degrees colder as he started freezing a pair of sheep in a quick breeze of ice.

"Actually, I haven't." Thanks to Sora's memories Xion knew about Halloween and Halloweentown, and a little about Christmas. Easter she knew the name of, but that was about it. She'd have to ask Jack more about such things once they'd taken care of the Nightmares.

Said Nightmares, and taking care of them, being the more urgent issue at the moment. She nodded her thanks to Jack for freezing some the sheep, and began focusing on the rabbits. The ears were proving to be an issue, though, considering they'd knocked her back the first time. A few well-aimed Firas, along with some help from Axel's fireballs, proved more effective for taking out about half of them.

He'd explain later. Maybe. If he remembered.

Jack was as nimble as another of his name and swept up several of the Nightmares in icy breezes of wind. Those he didn't freeze were dispatched by Snowball who flew down and helped him by confusing the sheep. One of the Meme Bunnies bodyslammed Jack and he stumbled back, getting pummeled by more Bun-Fu kicks before he managed to knock them back with his staff.

Xion would make sure he remembered. Now that he'd mentioned it, she was curious.

As the number of Nightmares dwindled, things started going more easily. Even if Axel's fireballs didn't cause a finishing blow, they were usually distracting and damaging enough for her to step in and take care of things with her keyblade. She was just finishing off a couple of sheep when she looked up to see how Jack was doing.

Jack's staff was glowing a bright blue by this point and the air around him was freezing but he didn't seem to notice at all. Jack slammed the staff against the final bunny on his side and dream pieces and munny went everywhere. Jack was breathing heavy but not really from the physical exerution, just the use of his magic could be a little taxing.

He flipped his staff back to an upright position and scanned the area, "Are we clear?"

Jack might not have noticed the change in the air temperature, but Xion did and was suddenly glad of her coat. Not that it surprised her; she'd seen Even use his magic, and ice meant cold. His apparent exhaustion from the fight was a little concerning. Maybe he wasn't used to this sort of thing?

"I think so. You okay?" They could rest if he needed it.

"Yeah," he was quick to shake it off. He scooped up a few pieces of munny and the dream fragments. You never knew when that stuff would come in handy. He held a hand out to Xion. "Here. You took out some of these guys too." That and he didn't need it as much. It wasn't like he was staying in the hotel or anything.

He glanced over his shoulder, "Haven't seen those kind of Nightmares before."

Well, at least he was quick to recover. Xion accepted the munny and dream fragments with a smile. Always nice when your partner for the mission was willing to share. Maybe she could start saving up to make another Spirit. "Thank you."

"I haven't seen these kind before, either, but sometimes different worlds have different enemies." It had been that way with the Heartless; it made sense that the same would be true, here.

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❆ One ❆ To the Lands of Sunset

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...I am so sorry. I thought I had tagged back here. X_X

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