An Indelicate Evening (Open)

The strap of Gwaed’s mask dug into the base of his neck, just enough to hurt, but not obstruct his breathing. The face of the mask faced behind him, hanging behind him and nestled in his red hood. Gwaed very quickly figured out that if he kept his mask up, the people of San Fransokyo quickly assumed he was trying to mug them. Those sorts of misunderstandings were not conductive to his goal to simply lurk about and enjoy the amenities of a well-developed world.

The mask wasn’t one bit magic or even protective—it was a thin meld of steel, good for nothing but hiding his face from the sun if he were honest. He preferred to have it on, but as his whole point for arriving in San Fransokyo was for the food, he reasoned that he would have removed it to eat anyway.

With all the callous finality of a fishmonger bringing down his knife on a trout’s neck, Gwaed slammed the plastic number placard onto one of the few outside tables. He rather wished he had killed something, but he couldn’t find greasy gyro sandwiches on any other world that he was willing to go.

How they even managed to get grease into the things was a mystery, but one he appreciated. Their food was “uniquely flavored” and their health rating was a shy C, half hidden by a filthy arcade machine that had seen better decades. Sloppy paintings of island landscapes covered he walls inside. The monotony of it was only broken by crooked photos of the owner’s relatives. It was the fact that, when Gwaed had asked on his first visit, the owner had been shamelessly candid about his estrangement from the people in the photographs. Gwaed hadn’t asked why he still had the photographs hung if that were the case. He didn’t want to ruin the already flimsy illusion of kinsmanship for the hardhearted owner.

So Gwaed made it a point to return to this world often and visit the alley where the Greek restaurant was. Unlike other alleys with hidden food stops and knock-off boutiques in the city, this one had both paper lanterns and Christmas lights strung up in a chaotic canopy covering the good half mile that the alley took up. The sun had only just started to set, but the lights had been on for a good while. He couldn’t judge if the alley was pretty, but Gwaed liked the unique feel of the area. It was discordant enough that the place seemed unreal. Unreal, Gwaed decided, was a good thing. Or, at the very least, it was fitting.

Gwaed eyed what smelled to him like a day old coffee stain on the table he had chosen. Impulsively, and definitely unwisely, he carefully used his fingernails to etch out the outline for the symbol of the Nobodies in the dried coffee. He tapped harshly against his table as he stared down at the symbol. Solemnly, he wondered if he started slapping graffiti of the symbol everywhere else he found fitting if something would catch on, if the spaces would become his territory. Their territory, he corrected himself. He’d heard about some castle that was “theirs”, but then he’d also heard about how they once had a whole world before one of them ruined it. Now it belonged to some grand family. Gwaed wasn’t sure on the specifics. He was barely sure of anything concerning inter-world politics. He might have, just maybe, been too good so far at laying low.

Again, he drummed his fingers on the table, his nails making tinging noises on the metal while he stared down at the Nobody symbol he’d made. His graffiti idea had merits as a hobby, Gwaed thought.

Continued from "Drifting Alone"...
She really was alone, Annabeth confirmed, left with all the product of... she didn't recall just how many years she and Ima had spent gathering miscellaneous tools and non-perishable foods for their half-planned journey from Oasis Station. She felt distinct regret for having left him behind, but even then she knew that, being alone in space, there was no choice other than going through with what they'd originally planned, even if she didn't have him there to carry it out with her.

Annabeth eyed the planets that had appeared in the cabin's forward window. One of the nearest seemed to have a massive degree of urban sprawl present, and she found herself weighing the possibilities. It seemed like the best option already. After all, the dense cities of Oasis were her own turf. It'd be best to start with something she'd be at least somewhat familiar with, she decided, and set the ship into motion with shaky hands.

---

Once she broke atmosphere and got a good look at the surface of the planet, a number of differences were immediately made clear. First of all, things were infinitely brighter in this place. Rather than gray skyscrapers and dense smog, low-set buildings were complimented by towering structures of red and other colors. Almost none of the architecture was familiar. Far above, massive blimps swarmed the airspace in pockets, depicting what she assumed were characters from either media or mythology. Just about everything seemed to be decorated in some manner. Had she stumbled in during some sort of celebration?

Thankfully, there was still ample space for flight, and much of the ground was either roads or lots for parking ground vehicles. One such lot had plenty of empty space left in one corner, and she slowly eased the Venture II into a position above it. From there, slowly settling the ship into a park was little trouble even for her troubled self, and she was soon able to stop the engines and stand from her seat again, albeit with shaking legs.

Gathering her most basic equipment was easily. She was already clothed, and getting her jacket took little effort. With that fastened properly, she took her knife... glaive... thing from where it had fallen onto the floor at some point and approached the air lock doors. Inside, she hesitated. He should be here too, she reminded herself. Still, she knew that if there were a way to return to him, she didn't possess it, and steeled herself for whatever this new place may throw at her.

The airlock doors came open with a powerful hiss, and a stairway dropped for her to reach the ground. She stepped out from the door for the first time since her departure, properly taking in the scene around her...

Gwaed had his amber gaze on the canopy of lights when a waiter set down a basket with his gyro right on top of the Nobody symbol he had etched. He only looked at the boy when both of them heard a mechanical hissing noise further down at the alley’s closest entrance.

“Oh man,” the waiter groused as his expression turned dramatically miserable. “I bet somebody is showing off their bot or something. Must be something like, really cool.” Gwaed had no idea if that was a bad thing and his confusion must have shown on his face since the waiter continued: “I’m on shift for another three hours.”

Gwaed simply stared at the young man until he left. He had a gyro—however mysteriously greasy it was—to eat.

The Nobody dragged the basket closer to himself, unveiling the symbol in the process and ensuring that if anything fell out of the thick pita it would land back in the basket. The sandwich even smelled like grease. Well, grease and cucumbers a la the tzatziki sauce. It amused Gwaed rather than disturbed him that the smell of the meat wasn’t as powerful as the rest of it.

He winced three bites in as the strap for his mask continued to fight his throat every time he swallowed. Reluctantly, Gwaed slipped his mask over his head and gently set it down atop his table. For some reason that he couldn’t explain, he continued to leave the Nobody symbol uncovered.

It was... rather tame, actually.

The lot was far from packed, but it wasn't quite empty. Plenty of locals were moving about here and there, whether in or outside of their respective vehicle. Beyond passing glances, however, there was much commotion over her landing. True, there were a few who stopped to gaze at the Venture II, but no one went out of their way to approach or otherwise engage the event. What few onlookers there were soon moved on, going about their daily business. The only ones who looked particularly interested were a small group of teenagers who had huddled around a pair of action figures in one secluded corner, near the entrance to one of the many alleyways that led between the surrounding buildings. Even they didn't seem quite as shocked or distressed as analytical. One was even taking notes.

It didn't take much thought for Annabeth to realize why her landing wasn't a spectacle. The people in this city could afford to set up airships as decoration. Clearly, air-based travel must be an established concept here! It didn't seem to be common, but any of the people who lived there were probably used to seeing ships like hers now and then.

"Hmm..." She scanned the lot, looking for a good way to make first contact. Even after some looking, the group in the corner still seemed like the only ones who weren't busy with anything at the time. Admitably, their interest in her ship was the cause, but the semantics could be ignored. For now, she had to figure out where she was, exactly, and saw no better option. She set off at a brisk pace toward them, casually resting the weight of her not-glaive on one shoulder.

She offered a wave during her approach to gather their attention, and saw the eyes turn to her. Good start. "Hello!" she greeted them, and was given various hand gestures in response, all of which seemed to be either a modified wave or poor salute. None of them spoken just yet. "I was wondering if I could ask you all just where this is..?" It took a bit of thought to figure out what to say. She hadn't the privilege of foreign policy training or anything similar, and technically she could be filling any role from immigrant to ambassador, given her situation. It wasn't something she could see herself being comfortable with.

Gwaed shoved the last bite of his gyro into his mouth as he stood up. He left the basket on the table but strapped his mask over his face and pulled his hood up. It was a warm evening, but he still preferred to have layers on. The less human he looked, the less chance for misunderstandings to come about he figured.

He rolled his neck from side to side as he quickly made his way to the alley entrance. Gwaed figured he could spend the rest of the evening walking around and watching any bot fights he happened to come across. The area was lousy with them once the sun set, after all.

The first fight he came across wasn’t odd in terms of who was there or what sorts of little robots were in the ring, but what was odd was the young woman talking to them. Her garb and weapon both screamed tourist of the sort that he was—worlds-traveler.

Carefully quieting his steps, he moved closer to the group. A few of the young people there for the fight turned wary, or more often incredulous, glances to him but none of them called out to him. Clearly in a dog mask he wasn’t a cop there to bust any of them. From what he could see they wasn’t even a worrisome sum of money being exchanged. He could even spot a few bus tickets in the hat that one of the teenagers was holding.

Curious, Gwaed took a moment to take in the traveler’s appearance. A lot of what he saw he deemed impractical right off the bat, but then he did have some understanding of cultural attributes that people liked to hold onto. He thought that may be something like his own attachment to his mask. That need to link themselves to something familiar was instinctual, Gwaed knew. Humans, and human-shaped beings (primates even) are social creatures. That being said, he couldn’t muster the same forgiveness for her choices when it came to her weapon. He figured that Occam’s Razor might not quite have been her thinking with it as it had been for him and his bat.

Gwaed shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pockets and let out a throat-clearing growl. He didn’t bother with saying anything specific just yet. But he did want to see where his evening would take him. He’d laid low enough so far. After seeing what was going on with such an obvious traveler to a world still oblivious to other worlds was bound to evolve into something of interest.

Besides, he could always start up his graffiti plot later on.

The group seemed to avoid eye contact with her after she asked the question. Perhaps asking for directions or locations was seen as disrespectful here? Maybe they actually were busy after all? Before Annabeth could come to any conclusion, there was a sound similar to some sort of growl nearby. She turned her own eyes to its origin, only to find a man standing near the entrance to the nearest alleyway. He was dressed in a rather simple, normal outfit for the most part. Gray trousers and an unmarked red hoodie, some fingerless gloves.

What put her off was the mask. Under that hood, he had what seemed to be some sort of metal facemask strapped to him, which was shaped in a manner unmistakably similar to that of a dog's head. His attention seemed to be focused on her and, more specifically, the sorta-halberd she was carrying. Judging from that, together with his ominous attire and choice of greeting, there was little chance this person was here to offer friendly advice.a

Still, a slight chance was still a chance, and she tried to prevent her newfound nervousness from showing. After all, this man looked like one of those street crime bosses from urban-themed comic books. "You, uh... You seem friendly!" she observed aloud, thinking perhaps her unmatched humor might be a good way to diffuse the added tension. "Is there something you need, or..?"

Meanwhile, the teenagers had started packing up their operation. It was clear they wanted nothing to do with any of what was going on. In fact, a short look around revealed that quite a few people had left the lot since she first arrived. Was it just bad timing, or were they deliberately making way for this other newcomer? Or was she perhaps overthinking it and seeing intention in what was entirely circumstance? Most likely. Still, she found no comfort in this development.

“Friendly,” Gwaed repeated the word under his breath, as if he needed to physically taste it to understand. However, his next question was at a normal tone, and sincere. “Do I really?” He wasn’t sure if there was a mistake occurring or if… well, he just plain didn’t know. He growled, not at the woman before him, but at himself.

The Nobody narrowed his eyes on the teenagers as they packed up, but inclined his head in what he meant as a polite gesture when the boy who seemed to be the ringleader of the group made the same move to him. He might not visit San Fransokyo too often, but likely he’d been spotted in the area once or twice before. A metal dog mask was memorable after all.

Once the teenagers had left, Gwaed refocused back on the traveler. Just to show he hadn't approached to fight, he kept his hands in his pockets and made sure his posture relaxed into his customary hunch. “You know, I don’t believe the peoples of this world are... knowledgeable about other worlds yet,” he trailed off when he realized that he wasn’t one-hundred percent sure about that, but it was true that he hadn’t heard any instances of Heartless attacking the world. (Yet.)

Eventually, Gwaed figured the world would be swept into some alliance or placed under new ruling, under someone who was knowledgeable. So far it seemed to be inevitable with all worlds.

Gwaed slowly nodded to the woman's weapon. What was it friendly people were supposed to do? Advise, Gwaed thought with more hope than triumph. His luck with socializing remained pretty terrible still and so he was tentative when he spoke up again. “You may want to replace that before hitting a less,” Gwaed struggled momentarily for the right word. “Peaceful? A less peaceful world… I think. Not only Heartless about. In most places.” If he included Nobodies in that vague statement, he wasn't ever going to openly admit that.

He pondered the question aloud before letting out another growl. A sensitive subject, maybe? He didn't seem particularly angry about it, but he didn't sound pleased either. It had evoked some sort of thought, at the very least. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.

The group was dismissed with a twitch of his head, and he spoke again, warning Annabeth that the locals weren't aware of 'other worlds. The idea confused her for a moment, but it was easy to understand. There were other, similar planets nearby that looked far from barren, but there was still the possibility that the people here hadn't really touched on space travel just yet. After all, airships were one thing, but space shuttles were an entirely different beast. Until they could leave atmosphere, this place may as well have been Oasis Station, with nothing nearby to begin with.

Then came the next suggestion, that she should get a different weapon. She looked down at her self-defensive masterpiece, and couldn't help but agree with the statement. Perhaps if she were some magical god warrior who could fight with any weapon and make it work, it'd be fine, but the only magic she knew existed for sure was whatever had created that portal before. Even then, it could have been a tunneling device of some sort, like in all those science fiction movies. Maybe magic really didn't exist. She made a mental note to seek out a collector's shop, or maybe a hobbyist blacksmith, and get a real weapon.

He pointed out that some other worlds weren't 'peaceful', and that there was something called 'Heartless', among other threats. "And just what is that? Some kinda zombie?" Annabeth asked. Though it was the first time she'd heard the term used as such, it carried with it a certain familiarity, as if she'd heard it before. Odd.

Gwaed stared at the woman for a full minute, not moving or making a single sound. How exactly was he supposed to respond to that? He knew what a zombie was, but he’d never once not known what a Heartless was. The idea that someone who can, and apparently did travel between worlds, wouldn’t know what a Heartless wasn’t quite computing with him.

Rather stupidly, he reiterated “Heartless,” as if the word’s meaning could be conveyed just from hearing it. A beat later he did realize how foolish that repetition had been and he let out a loud, rumbling snarl. “Heartless are... the shadows—they live off of hearts,” he pulled his hands out of his pockets and started to try to make shapes with them. “Different forms, always… Darkness. Embodied.” He only gave up making the awkward shapes to point at the girl’s chest. “They’ll rip your heart out.” Then, because he figured he should keep up the trend of providing advice, he added: “They like to swarm.”

Gwaed dropped his hands and looked away from the women, only then noticing her spacecraft. He hadn’t seen the design anywhere before, and he wasn’t the most traveled in comparison to many others, but he could guess without looking like an ass that before she left, her world hadn’t known much more than the people of San Fransokyo did.

When he faced her again, he callously decided to not bother explaining anything besides the Heartless. He wasn’t going to tell her about the Nobodies, about what he was, for obvious reasons, but other things like the Darksons he wasn’t going to mention solely because he wasn’t completely sure what he knew about them wasn’t bullshit.

A lot of his knowledge about inter-world politics and affairs was in the middle of a convoluted game of telephone. Also, he had so far made it a point to avoid the sorts of places where he could learn about what was really happening. He didn’t want to stop his… not-existence. Whatever he was, or was being, he still had a bodily drive to survive and he was going to keep listening to it. Up to a certain point, Gwaed thought.

He really needed to pick up a couple of hobbies. Or stop hiding.

The Nobody sighed as he ended turned his attention to the traveler again. “I’m… bad at explaining,” (As if he needed to say it out loud.) “But… many worlds know, or suffer, from Heartless, and other things.” He almost suggested she go to one of those worlds to ask about for pamphlets. Pamphlets were supposed to be helpful things—they were for other people. They never helped him any, but maybe for a Somebody, a real person they would. “With that stick, you should just… run. You see any shadows with yellow eyes, it’d be better if you run.”

Annabeth listened intently to his explanation of the Heartless. From what she could gather, they were a widespread threat that affected many other worlds. They were embodiments of something simply called 'darkness', and gathered in swarms. Apparently, they had a habit of 'ripping out hearts' as well, and that they lived off them as well. His eyes drifted away from hers, and he inspected the Venture II from a distance. When they returned, her face was not only beaming, but was also significantly closer.

"So you're telling me there are magical monsters that run around randomly attacking people? And that they're common?" Her eyes shone with enthusiasm, and she gripped the almost-maybe-sorta-spear tightly, looking ready to run someone through with it. Then came the reminder that her weapon was kind of terrible, and she remembered, once again, that the statement was beyond true.

After considering that fact a few moments, she asked him, "Since that's such an issue, do you know where I might be able to upgrade? I mean, if you know what they are, there must be some form of self defense available, right? Right?" As much as Annabeth wanted to launch herself directly into the danger he advised her to avoid, even she knew that she was poorly equipped for the job.

She thought of something else, then. This was a widespread problem, that affected a number of other places, according to his words. Was her help even needed? If it was such a major issue, then there was no way the governments of these planets hadn't made any attempt at a solution. Militaries existed, didn't they? At the very least, there was likely some vigilante coalition or something similar frolicking about, fighting these 'Heartless' that were plaguing the place. The thought sparked a new hope in her. She could join up as a sort of underdog, or an apprentice, and learn the ways of the worlds from the masters, and ultimately surpass them, becoming the one true guardian of humanity, ending world(s) hunger, staving off the zombie apocalypse and-

Annabeth's mind drifted off as she stared into space with lidded eyes, fantasizing about what was surely her destiny.

Gwaed had narrowed his eyes at the closeness of the woman, but otherwise didn’t react.

“Very common. Growing in numbers,” And strength, he didn’t say aloud. That wasn’t the main focus. It wasn’t what he was trying to get across to her.

Behind his mask he scowled. He hadn’t realized he’d be so terrible at explaining until this point. Gwaed knew that if he really wanted to be “friendly” he’d have to do more than just babble at the woman. At least, not when the information was clearly something that she needed.

He was somewhat surprised to find that he was hesitant to tell her where she could get a proper explanation, though. If she went, Gwaed would… likely go back to lurking around alleyways. Unless he could convince her to let him tag along. That would be… something to do.

“But. Ah… maybe… that one world with the fighting stadium should have… weapons for you. For, er, proper introductions maybe Twilight or Traverse? Just. Not the… kingdoms, I think. But,” Gwaed paused to loosely fold his arms over his chest. He wasn't sure he'd ever talked quite as much in his not-life as he had so far, but he kept going. “Even with a better weapon, they’ll just pop back up somewhere. Only a keyblade can permanently kill them—and people still turn into Heartless. Always will,” And the byproducts like him would inevitably keep popping up. “The Heartless won’t ever stop forming. And few can put them down properly.” Impulsively, Gwaed offered his next words: “If you... want to, I can... try to help. I'm not weak."

He suggested a few different 'worlds' to look for, the first of which supposedly having a fighting stadium as its focal point. It sounded just her style, and so Annabeth swore to keep an eye out for it later. Twilight and Traverse were apparently good places for information, so they would probably be among her next stops as well. All in all, she knew plenty more than she had hoped to learn from that other group who'd left, even though she technically hadn't been able to figure out the answer to original question. That was okay, though. Chances were that she wouldn't come back here very much anyway. From how he spoke of it, it was one of few places that didn't have the fun stuff going on.

Then came a bombardment of new information. First was that these 'Heartless' things would just be resurrected if not slain properly, and second was that doing so wasn't possible to begin with, unless someone had their hands on something called a 'Keyblade'. A part of her regretted not bringing any sort of paper. This new place was complicated, and she really should have been taking notes...

The third was an offer. He said to her that he could try to help her, and that he wasn't weak. There was no hesitation at all to his first words, as if it were by impulse that he spoke up at all, but there was plenty in between. Maybe he was just shy. It'd explain the mask.

Annabeth thought on the offer a bit. He was obviously far more aware of how these worlds functioned than she ever would be, and she was without a proper teammate since Ima was left behind. Would it be disrespectful to replace him with this... whoever he was? Who was he, anyway? That question had yet to be answered, and she gave him another lookover. Besides the mask, he did not look like much. Maybe he really was just shy.

Still, having an ally would be a step in the right direction, albeit an introvert. She wouldn't be an idiot by passing up the chance at a sidekick. "Well, why not?" she answered him finally. "No sense going alone if I have a choice otherwise, is there? Can't say I'm much of a leader type, though. I'm more the run-in-whack-stuff kind of person than the delegate-tasks-manage-staff kind. Hope you don't mind."

Even as she spoke of her flaws, a smile never left her face. She'd found a group of close planets, got advice from an expert on where to go first, learned about the forboding evil that she'd probably face off against at some point as the story's heroine, and even made a friend! A job well done, if someone were to ask her.

While the traveler deliberated, Gwaed looked back to her ship and the surrounding area. Though the errant young adult or teenager wandered through, they hadn’t gained an audience the entire time they had been talking. Rather, the entire time Gwaed had been babbling. Reconnaissance was clearly not his forte. Quietly, Gwaed even admitted “Run-in-and-whack-at-shit has been my own strategy. Often.”

The rest of her words, he chose to ignore. He wasn’t sure if the woman was going to be what helped him or not, but voicing any doubt seemed unproductive.

The hole he’d felt since manifesting, the sensation that he was supposed to be a part of something always remained with him. That’s not to say he regretted having laid low and playing things safe. He still had a survival instinct thriving in him and he didn’t need a heart or a sould to pay attention to his baser urges. His problem these days was that those same urges were often conflicting. He wanted to keep breathing, to play things safe, but he also wanted to fill that hole. He wanted something, at least similar to, a pack. He couldn’t get that if he kept playing lone wolf. Gwaed could recognize that and was therefore willing to give helping the woman a try.

Hell knows he’d spent enough time lurking in the shadows of various worlds alone.

As a bonus, tagging along with this particular traveler meant that he wouldn’t have to unveil what he was. At least, he wouldn’t have to do so right off the bat. She had her own means of travel and he wouldn’t have to offer up the Corridors of Nothingness to get where they would need to go for her to get the full spiel on what’s what among the various worlds. Really, the Nobody had been very lucky to run into the woman.

His hand twitched, causing him to hesitate when he pushed his hood back off his head. His movements were more fluid when he loosened his mask’s straps. He let his mask hang off his neck and then spun it to face behind him so his stoic face was bared for the woman. “I’m Gwaed.”

He seemed to understand what Annabeth had said, much to her relief. He even admitted that he chose similar methods regularly. Conveniently for her, whoever this person was didn't have very high standards as to who he partnered with. If she were to be thank, that was most of what she asked of an ally, beyond being a crutch of sorts. Alone, she had no one to lean on if something went wrong. Even if he were a stranger, he was far better than nobody.

With far more pause than anything else he'd done thus far, he brought down the hood that had been shrouding most of his head during their conversation. His fingers then came to the straps that held his mask in place, which came off with ease even though they looked a bit complex at a glance. The mask came down, becoming more of a necklace, and was spun about his neck to rest behind him. The face it had covered didn't bear any of the piercings or tattoos Annabeth had anticipated, and was notably pale. From it stared out surprisingly vivid yellow eyes that, even though his complexion would suggest otherwise, carried no fatigue in them at all. It was debateable whether they carried anything other than his perception.

Altogether, it was an odd combination of unhealth and pure life in his face, almost as if he were only half-there. Part of her wondered if her comments about zombies might have been offensive. Another part told it to stop thinking about zombies. Obviously, this was a tale of magic... shadow... cannibals. Admittably, it all sounded more clever to her than it would have to anyone else.

And finally, he gave his name to her. "Guwai... G-Gwee... Gwed..." Annabeth gave a few attempts at pronouncing it, but eventually gave up. "I'll figure it out eventually. Will 'Greg' work for now?" Hoping she hadn't offended him again, she offered a hand to shake. "Name's 'Annabeth' here. Welcome aboard the Venture!" she finished, reveling in the chance to formally recruit another adventurer. She realized an error, however, and corrected herself: "...Er, II."

With that out of the way, she put a fist to her hip, her opposite hand holding the totally-sort-of-not-a-maybe-almost-~50%-a-weapon down at her side. A moment of nothing passed, and she spoke up, "So, um... I guess our first order of business would be that upgrade, then?"

Gwaed was somewhat fascinated to hear her butchered attempts at his name and took a moment to seriously consider if he could put up with being called Greg. On principle he didn’t care what he was called—he’d come up with Gwaed on a whim instead of any second hand sentimentality attached to the word. But Greg, that sounded oddly familiar. He tried to think of one of the faces he could remember had been a Greg. It seemed likely enough that he instead decided to help out the traveler. “Mh. Like… go-wide. Then, fast. Gwaed.” He gave a short nod after that. “Annabeth I can pronounce.”

His gaze darted to the Venture II. He was almost tempted to ask why it was named the second instead of simply having a new name, but those sorts of queries often turned into long stories. He never cared enough for the actual answer, not unless it was short as he preferred to be with his own words.

“Yes. A weapon first. There’s… Olympus Coliseum maybe. But. That’s very… modern, now. Maybe… the smithies in Port Royal. If you don't mind pirates.” He considered Annabeth’s… stick for another few beats. “Land of Dragons has pole weapons. In abundance.” He settled on saying “You’ve many options,” when he met her gaze again. “I can guide you… us, anywhere.”

Of course, there were still many worlds he wasn’t about to lead Annabeth to. He knew, intellectually, that he had nothing to fear from worlds like those run by the Darksons or that the rumors of Agrabah working with the Heartless were likely baseless, but… caution had kept Gwaed running about so far. He was trying to be more impulsive and open, but he wasn’t going to be able to pull a 180 from his previous modus operandi, not in one go.

Greg advised her on how to properly pronounce his name, and she gave it a few silent attempts until she was more comfortable with it. "Gwaed it is," she got out finally. Even then, the name didn't sit very well. It sounded... harsh, almost. Like the name of a beast of legend from some fantasy game. It was hardly a name for a nice guy on the street! Still, if that was his preference, it wasn't her place to suggest otherwise.

Gwaed agreed on the topic of going for a weapon upgrade, and began listing their options anew. Olympus Coliseum and Port Royal were his first choices, and she contemplated them quietly. A Coliseum would be convenient as both a shopping target and a good place to find other fighters, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that there would be a few too many swords there for her liking. Port Royal had pirates, apparently, and those were... okay... Still, more swords and perhaps a bit of gunpowder in the mix just wouldn't be her style.

Then came the mention of some place called 'Land of Dragons'. This piqued her interest. Unhealthily so, perhaps, as her eyes shone again and she drew just as close as she had before, asking, "Are you telling me there's a world here with dragons in it!?" Even without confirmation, she found her imagination wandering and a grin broke out on her face. She already regretted not having packed a certain horned helmet...

Annabeth didn't bother waiting very long for an answer. "If there is, then what are we doing here, anyway?" she asked loudly, grabbing a handful of his shirt, turning around and attempting to drag him to the Venture II. Things were just getting better and better, weren't they? First there were Heartles galore to hunt, and now there were dragons too! Why, she'd be a hero yet.

Gwaed watched Annabeth try his name again and nodded when she got it right. He hadn’t heard too many people actually say his name, not since he used to use it at coffee shops on the odd world. Mostly, baristas ended up just calling for a Wade and Gwaed hadn’t cared much then. Hearing someone say the word he’d picked for himself was… interesting.

At Annabeth’s almost hungry tone on the word dragons, Gwaed let out a low, thoughtful growl. He brought his hands out, his palms barely a foot apart. “Small. Not like… Heartless Wyvern. And not so common.” In retrospect, it really wasn’t the most accurate name for a world. In fact, he was fairly certain some of the more magic-centric worlds had larger dragons than what few he’d seen in the Land of Dragons. What the Land of Dragons did have was an excellent mastery over bronze weapons and a wide variety of pole weapons. He knew for certain that the main army of China there had mandatory training with them, even.


When Annabeth grabbed on to his hoodie and pulled, Gwaed went along with her mostly out of surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that sort of contact, that sort of closeness. He had assumed that things like touching were something that people worked up to.

At some point he needed to pick up a book on socialization—one with good reviews so he’d know he could trust it.

Gwaed hoped that the Venture II wouldn’t crash or explode while he was on it. He was quick enough to open up the Corridors of Nothingness, but he was starting to get curious about how his new… ally would react to the rest of the worlds. He wasn’t entirely sure that even with a new weapon she’d be able to handle herself against the Heartless. If things got too dicey and he couldn’t just protect her himself with Grendel’s Arm—Gwaed paused in his thoughts to look down at Annabeth’s hand on him. If things get that bad, I’ll drag her through a Corridor with me.

"...Small or large, no villain shall be left to stand once I'm through with them!" Annabeth declared in response to his attempts to correct her image of a dragon, raising her... whatever it was supposed to be called at this point into the air as if she'd already won.

She soon had Gwaed aboard the ship, the both of them standing in the central hallway. She strolled along in a newly satisfied manner, helplessly relieved to be on familiar ground, though it was technically anything but the ground. She pointed out the different sections as she went. "Storage bay's the one near the back, Medical's to the left, and over here is the barrack, where the crew stays." Annabeth paused a moment to savor the taste of such a word. There was some satisfaction in creating something like this, even if it wasn't her initiative that had brought Gwaed along.

"There are two bunks at the moment, so you can take..." She stopped herself from saying "Ima's", instead suggesting, "Take mine. It's on the bottom, so getting to it's no challenge." There was no way to say she'd never find her way back and meet up with Ima Fulmen again. Until that day came, it'd be rude to give away his bed, wouldn't it? Besides, the Venture II's chairs were far too comfortable not to sleep in at some point, and she'd proven that many times before her departure.

In the meantime, she settled herself in one of those very seats, turning on the console and checking the data that had stored so far. Thankfully, the chairs weren't the only blessing of modern technology the ship had been equipped with. Its in-built intelligence made identifying entities a snap, and so she was able to map out anything the ship had noticed on her descent with ease, including other nearby planets.

"Yo, Gwaed!" she called him over, pointing to the console's screen. "I went ahead and plotted out the general, so-so location of things I saw in nearby space. Are any of these the planet we're looking for? The one with dragons, I mean."

...After quite some time waiting for a response, Annebeth turned, looking down the ship's main corridor. Nothing. She rose from her seat and took the time to search the rest of the rooms, and found nobody there. She poked her head out of the side, and still found nothing. Had he left when she turned her back? Annabeth felt a bit saddened, but quickly came to terms with the fact that he likely had something else to tend to. After all, everyone had their own lives, and such. Who was she to assume he'd go world hopping with her on a moment's notice?

She was soon back in the cockpit of the Venture II, and was firing up the engines once again. Once he'd concluded whatever business had pulled him away, they might meet again. For now, she had errands to run elsewhere. Under her command, the ship rose from the pavement, and was soon soaring upwards, away from the lot and the city.


Annabeth has left the party.