Ven + Rise; I don't think life is quite that simple

[restardom]

[ Okay.

Okay.

Rise's encountered a lot in this past year. Kidnapping, yes. Being thrown into a TV, yes. Being forced to face herself as a... well, a stripper and then having to immediately throw herself into a fight against a black hole of a bear, to say nothing of trying to hunt down a killer and--

It's. Been. A lot. And she'd like to think that she's grown stronger for it, that very few things will surprise her anymore. But right now, as she peers out a window of a stupidly tall tower, Rise can honestly admit she's (unhappily) surprised by how she'd gone from home to-- this. There's also an oddly massive amount of brown hair at her feet and shards of what look like a mirror, but nothing else that looks remotely helpful when it comes to dealing with one heck of a drop.

When she focuses, she can feel her Persona, just underneath her skin, comforting. Right. If there's no one else around, maybe she can use Kanzeon to find a viable exit, but for now, Rise braces her hands on the ledge of the window and leans out. ]

Hello?!

Anybody?????

Comments

[salvagedlight]

[At some point, Ven will explain at least most of the stuff he's breezing through as if it doesn't really matter. It all does, of course, but he's rather too used to world-jumpers knowing what's going on and everyone being more or less up to date, which Rise obviously isn't, through no fault of her own. She has a lot of questions, but also right at the moment they need to work primarily on getting her settled, comfortable, and taken care of for however long she's with them.]

[He nods at her request - honestly, he'd half thought she'd want to come with him. She knew him at least a little, though he knew she'd like the others once she met them, and at the moment it might be better for her to be in a quiet place like the Land of Departure.] If you want - we'll need to go to Twilight Town first, Xion said she'd get some clothes together for you, since Aqua's too tall for you to borrow a lot of stuff from her. And you'd just swim in anything of Terra's. [He gives a quick smile to show it's a joke, but he's also completely serious about that. Rise's not the shortest girl he's ever met, but Terra is just big.] And Aqua asked me to run a couple errands if we had to go through there. It shouldn't take long; I know today's been... weird for you. You probably just want to go to sleep and hope you wake up and this'll have never happened.

[If she pays really close attention, Rise might be able to tell that that statement feels all too sincere for someone as seemingly happy and open as Ven. Like he's had that happen to him, too, probably more than once. It's part of what's making him want to help her - he's remembering what it was like when it was him having these problems. The other part being, of course, that that's just the kind of person he is.]

[restardom]

[ Rise's specialty is support-- and it shows during times like this, where her perception kicks in. As warm and encouraging as Ven is, and how positive he is, he's not speaking empty platitudes.

For some reason, he knows exactly what it feels like to have gone through something so overwhelming that the desire for it to be nothing but a dream is the most prevalent feeling. Which could be surprising, but Rise knows that the happiest people sometimes have the most tragic experiences behind those smiles.

It's why she's quiet for a moment... before she shakes her head. ]

No... that's not it.

[ Not entirely. ]

It's... scary, for sure. I don't know exactly what happened, and none of my friends are here with me, and I'm not as strong as they are. But...

... I don't want to close my eyes to the truth, either. Maybe I'm here for a reason... or maybe not, but I got to meet you and I think that alone is worth a lot.

[ A pause; Rise smiles ruefully. ]

Honestly, running errands sounds amazingly normal right now; I'll take it.

[salvagedlight]

[He'd been pretty sure he'd had her feelings nailed down, so when she refutes his statement, he tilts his head at her quizzically. If she wasn't exhausted, then what was it?]

[But her explanation makes sense, and actually also improves her standing in his mind, and he nods a little in understanding as she explains. Rise seemed nice, and she had more than earned uncertainty and freak-out-time as she'd been unexpectedly dropped in a world she knew nothing about, so of course he wanted to help her and thought well of her, was sympathetic to her. He completely understood why she was so distraught after hearing from Master Yen Sid that she couldn't return home, and wanted to at least try and make it better for her. But something this hard and this ... outré had hit her, and instead of wanting to hide away, Rise's decided to face it head on and deal with it instead of letting the Keybearers do most of it, which would still make a lot of sense since they're the ones with experience with this sort of thing. That kind of strength is something he's run across before, and it always shows up in special people. Maybe there is a reason Rise is here, after all.]

[His smile widens as she finishes and he stands up, stuffing his Gummiphone back into his pocket before offering her a hand to get to her feet.] I wouldn't say meeting me is worth going through this, but thank you for thinking it's a good thing. Hopefully you won't change your mind about that.

Ready to go?

[restardom]

Yeah.

[ It's a lot more unfaltering than last time, and Rise rests one palm on the step behind her to push herself up, grasping Ven's hand with the other for assistance. Given the last time she'd wound up in a foreign world by herself, that had been days and days of purple-tinted fog and the mocking, wailing laughter of her Shadow waiting for an audience to show everything to. Monsters, that had avoided her, knowing she was prey of a different sort.

And the exhaustion and sickness that had swirled within her-- compared to that, at least here she wasn't alone for too long. There are no clear answers yet, but there are methods to try and find them, and that's the important part. ]

... Um, are we... doing that whole portal thingy again? [ Because that? That was still weird. ]

[salvagedlight]

[His Keyblade had flashed into his hand as she straightened herself out, off to the side and ready to summon- when she asked that question. Turning to look back at her, Wayward Wind disappears in another flash (that's definitely a standard thing, as she's probably already figured out) Ven raises a hand to the back of his head, rubbing a little there as he puzzles it over.]

Yeah - it's the quickest way. I could call Donald or Ienzo and ask them to send a Gummiship to get us, but then we'd be waiting for a few hours for them to get here, then another few hours to get home after Twilight Town. I could use my glider, but that only carries one - you wouldn't be protected in space without your own armor, even if I carried you or something.

[He, Terra, and Aqua rarely used the Gummiships now that their armor was repaired, since they all had gliders that doubled as personal ships. Truthfully having three wielders that had their own modes of transport was a blessing for the group, since it meant they were available to go to new worlds any time a sudden problem occurred, without any prep work involved in maintaining a ship since magic was involved. Terra had already made it clear he wanted to try and figure out how Master Eraqus had made their armor so everyone could have a set; it was one of the many goals the group had for the long term. But at the moment, the glider just isn't going to be a help.]

Is it... that weird?

[restardom]

[ No, in the realm of things truly weird, Rise could honestly say that being kidnapped at the front door and flung into a television to plummet into a world filled with fog and other nasties was much worse. But she'd grown used to being able to enter a television now, the screen parting beneath her hand as though it was made of water and not glass.

... There's a thought to file away for later, in case televisions also exist here. Maybe that's something she can try. For now, she shifts in place a little sheepishly. ]

Not... that weird, just a little weird. It's fine, I'll get used to it.

[ And she's not sure what to think about the glider yet, and has no idea what on earth a Gummiship is, so. Magical swirling portal of light it is. ]

[salvagedlight]

[Ven's going to give her another encouraging smile (he seems to be partially made of those) as he summons his Keyblade again, but does not immediately summon the portal.]

Don't worry - it's pure light, which means it can't hurt you. You've got too much light in your heart for most things to hurt you, except physically, and that can happen to anyone. If you relax, it'll probably feel warm and comfortable.

[At least, it felt that way to him. He had to have been somewhere before he could place a portal, which was why he'd flown to Corona, but truthfully he does favor them for reasons beyond saving time. Maybe it's just because of his nature, but Light Portals really are something that feels good to him, and he's pretty sure Rise is close enough to pure that she should feel something of that. But he's not exactly a scientist. For the moment, though, he summons a portal exactly like the first, which will lead them to the Usual Spot in Twilight Town, a good place to put one since he has to try and not break the world order. From there, it won't be hard to find Xion, especially with the Gummiphone (and he can punch Lea in the shoulder for deliberately misinterpreting what Ven meant when he'd texted "Guys I found a girl" earlier). He also offers a hand again, since maybe it'll be more comforting for her to go through actually touching someone and being reassured of the rest of the world still existing.]

Ready?

[restardom]

H-huh? How did you-- [ It's a little too on-the-nose, a little too matter-of-fact, for Rise to simply overlook the fact that Ven seemingly knows about the state of her heart. Had he somehow picked up on that while he was doing that hunting for monsters thing? More and more, it reminds her of her own support abilities, and she can't help but wonder what he'd appear like to her if she summoned her Persona.

That's a thought for later, though, and she gives her head a quick shake to dismiss her own curiosity. Ven's got her pegged for what she finds comforting, at least, though he's no leader to latch onto. Instead, Rise reaches out to grasp his hand, looking ahead at the portal-- and then, almost stubbornly, to maybe prove that yes, she's a big girl, she can handle it, she's the one to take the first few steps forward and into the light, not pausing until they've emerged into a town bathed in sunset. ]