Kindred Soul

Matt piloted his Gummi ship, getting close to the world itself. "I thought I'd have to learn how to pilot this ship, but it isn't difficult at all." It helped that it also had an autopilot function, mostly for travel. He got up from the pilot seat and went to the back to see that everything was in order. It was also a good excuse to explore the ship at his own leisure, while it reached the Enchanted Dominion and landed on the world.

As he went to check where the food was kept, he started hearing a shuffling sound. "What was that?" He mumbled to himself and walked slower and more quietly. As he got closer, he heard snorting mixed in with the shuffling and a small squeal. "...is that a... a p-"

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On the outskirts of the kingdom, on the path between Sleeping Beauty's castle and Maleficent, someone was running out. It was Matt, who had to stop after a while and looked around, standing on the Waterside. "Where did it go?" He looked around, searching for his quarry. "Tch. I lost sight of it...." Matt said after looking at his surroundings and finding nothing, but the trees themselves. His worries left as he looked at the sights and closed his eyes.

"I'm... really here.. Even now, it still feels like a dream." He took a deep breath then let it out. Stretching his arms a bit then his back, he exhaled loudly. "I should look around anyway. That piglet couldn't have gotten far." Matt resumed moving, this time walking while keeping his eyes open.

By sheer chance Matt was not alone in the forest that day. Not far from where he landed, Jasmine Mizuki had made camp. It has been several days since the Ultra Wormhole had dropped her into this world and she had been living in the forest. It wasn't hard for her, after all survival training had been one thing that had been drilled into her during the time she spent as a part of the Order of the Moonlight Horse. With how healthy the forest was she could survive for a long time. However while she could survive Jasmine had no idea what she was going to do beyond that.

She spent so long following the orders of her superiors that now that she has to make real decisions for herself she wasn't sure what to do. Though it wasn't like she would be able to find a town to settle down in due to her being a Burst Warrior. Even if her changes weren't as overt as some others were, she still stood out amongst the humans of this world that she managed to see from the shadows. Unfortunately it wasn't like there would be another Ultra Wormhole.

However all her musings were interrupted by a piglet running right through her camp. Jasmine easily the animal and inspected it. She had never encountered a pig in the forest yet so the appearance of the piglet confused her, unaware of how it got there. Still it was getting close to lunch so it would do for a meal. With the tiniest of movements one of Jasmine's blades extended and she prepared to quickly end the poor piglet's life.

The piglet looked up at Jasmine, making it immediately clear it was no ordinary piglet. His appearance was unlike anything she'd have ever seen. And this piglet was smart, quickly reacting by running away from the girl. Running back the way he came, going under the legs of his other pursuer and leaving them in the dust.

Matt stumbled into the scene, having followed the piglet's prints, but once again, just missed the creature. He hadn't seen it perfectly, only parts of it, because it moved fast and went under his legs. Looking up, he saw a girl with an extended blade and quickly switched his current stance into a guarded one, in case she suddenly attacked him. He could easily guess what happened, but didn't want to assume. "Sorry. Didn't mean to just appear like that. I was looking for a... piglet. Have you seen one?"

While the piglet's appearance was strange, considering where she had been before strange creatures were nothing new to Jasmine. However she had not expected it to be smart enough to try to escape, but it was just a pig and she was a trained assassin. No matter how fast it was, it was not about to get away from her.

Which is what Jasmine thought initially but when a man stumbled into her clearing, Jasmine jumped back. It was a good thing that she had made it a habit a long time ago to always wear her cloak when she was outside which helped keep her identity and more importantly her appearance hidden. The Burst Warrior kept her blade steady as she looked over the man. He seemed unremarkable but that was only by a quick examination. Normally Jasmine would have hidden herself but she got sloppy since leaving the Order that she allowed him to see her. She was unsure what to do about him as it had never been part of her training.

"It left the way you came. It's likely too far gone by now." Jasmine answered. If she hadn't been so distracted by this man she could have caught it by now but Jasmine was a tracker of people not of animals.

Matt kept his guarded stance up. Yet the girl in front of him, for the voice was female, kept her blade steady but made no move, not even to remove her hood. The fact that she wasn't even reacting told him she was probably the calm type. However, he kept looking her over, trying to see what he could notice of the girl with the blade. He couldn't see her face clearly, nor her body. Her hands were in full view, especially the one holding the blade.

Matt also looked around the camp site, and from his untrained eyes, it seemed well made. It meant the girl had been living here on her own, but for how long, he couldn't tell. He saw nothing else that could tell him about the girl and looked back on her, her clam stance still there. Finally he spoke. "Damn, looks like I'll have to keep searching for the piglet. Sorry for the scare."

He finally dropped his guarded stance, shifting to a more neutral one. Matt was still aware of his openings though, in case the girl tried to attack him. "My name is Matt. I didn't mean to scare the piglet away. Although if you were going to eat him, I wouldn't recommend that. I don't know how it'd taste, cooked or otherwise."

This man, Matt, was strange to Jasmine. Socializing was something she had never really done before. Before she talked to the scientists part of Team Galactic and the Order of the Moonlight Horse. With Galactic it was answering questions for the scientists and for the Order it was learning and then being an assassin. The most Jasmine knew about speaking with someone casually is just what she saw with regular people when out on a mission.

"Jasmine...Mizuki." She finally answered, giving her name. It was unlikely that anyone would know her designation when she was part of the Order in this world so she felt safe giving it out.

"I've eaten strange things before." Jasmine added regarding the piglet. Considering she's eaten the flesh of monsters in Zemuria when she was out on missions, the strange piglet really wasn't much different.

"Did some of them taste like chicken?" Matt blurted out the first thought that came to mind. He had been surprised that the girl had eaten stranger things before. He wondered if she was some kind of survivalist. Matt searched his pockets and pulled out a bag filled with jerky, offering some to Jasmine." Have some jerky. Consider it an apology for missing a meal because of me."

As he kept the bag held out in offering, he continued speaking. "I do have a question. It may sound strange but please listen. Are you a Converger?" Matt asked. He didn't know what made someone a Converger nor any way to identify them. He was simply going with a feeling that this girl could be from off world like he himself is.

Jasmine tilted her head at the question about what she had eaten. "Not that I had ever noticed" She answered confused to as why he was asking about that. Still she took the jerky from him but did not eat it. After all they had just met and considering all the training Jasmine had, trusting a stranger with food was something she was absolutely not going to do.

"Con...ver...ger?" Jasmine asked slowly speaking out the word. She could tell there was some significance to it yet what it meant eluded her. "I don't understand what you mean?" Did he manage to figure something out about her? While still appearing relaxed, Jasmine prepared herself to end the young man's life depending on the answer. She finally was away from both the lab and the Order so if there was any threat to her newfound freedom, she would deal with it as ruthlessly and quickly as she was trained to do.

"What do I mean? Well... How do I explain it?" Matthew thought for a moment. "I'll start at the beginning. Maybe that way, the explanation will make more sense." He then gave Jasmine the explanation about the Convergence, what Convergers are, were some come from and so on, doing his best to remember what Merlin told him.

"And that's it. You don't look like a native of this world." Matthew finished explaining. "That's everything I learned. If you didn't know about that, then that means you're stranded in this world." He looked at the girl, who was still holding the bag of jerky. "It's not poisoned if that's what you're worried about."

Jasmine frowned as she listened to Matt explain the Convergence. From what he said that event was likely not only what sent her to Zemuria but also to this world as well. Yet it had been years in between the time she first landed in Zemuria and when she left. Then again something like the Convergence would leave effects across time and space. After all Time and Space were two of the Higher Elements in Zemuria anyway.

"I see. I actually have had experience in another world before I landed here." Jasmine said as she took a small bite of the jerky. It was nice to have something different to eat after all this time. "However it is unlikely to happen again. But you have a way to travel between worlds don't you."

"You did?" Matt asked, curious. To hear that Jasmine had already been sent to a world before was not something he expected. He wondered if there were other Convergers that got stranded in a world like the cloaked girl in front of him was. His thoughts switched to then wondering what the world that Jasmine had lived in and the world she had been sent to before this one were like.

Matt was shaken out of his thoughts by Jasmine's question. "You mean my Gummi ship? Yeah, I do have a method of traveling between worlds. It's a vehicle and you heard me say the name earlier. I don't mind giving you a ride but..." He looked away for a moment. "You say the pig I was chasing right? I want to catch it. I know it could be already miles away from here while we were talking. But I don't think he left the area. I can sense that pig nearby."

A Gummi Ship sounded like it was something similar to an air ship. They had been becoming more and more common in Zemuria and would become even more so after Liberl proved their militarily use in the Hundred Days War. Jasmine had stowed away on a few ships but had never flown one herself. It might be something she would have to learn in the future. At least for the time being she could leave this world and get more time to figure out what she was going to do with her life.

"What is so important about this pig?" Jasmine asked. The idea that Matt could sense it was something that really didn't matter to her as there were individuals in the Order that could do the same. Jasmine herself hadn't learned to do so yet so she could not sense the pig herself.

"Well, it's important in the it may have a connection to my powers kind of manner. I didn't get a clear look but I think I know what that piglet is." Matthew explained. "I mean a pig just doesn't appear in a person's ship while traveling through worlds one day like that. Still, we just catch it then I can give you a ride to another world. And also get you a ship of your own and some supplies for you. No more camping out in the wild." He added, walking away from the campfire. "So then, shall we ge-"

Matthew was interrupted as he heard a whistling and quickly raised an arm, only to get an arrow right through it. Looking up, he saw two black creatures holding a bow, arrows already nocked and aimed at him. "Let's deal with them. We've been ambushed." He simply said as more Heartless appeared surrounding them. There were about sixteen humanoid, muscular Heartless with grey skin, yellow eyes, and a lightning-shaped beard, wearing black armor with blue highlights and the Heartless insignia on the chest at one side. On the other side were four tall, skinny, humanoid Heartless with a spherical, black head with glowing yellow eyes, wearing an hour glass-shaped helmet, armored boots, breastplate, and gauntlets that are all orange and wielding black lances with a silver, riveted base, all of them surrounding the camp.

Matthew broke off the head of his arrow stuck in his left arm then pulled it out. He ducked under the first shot from a Bizarre Archer then dodged another, going after the Satyrs. He threw a right jab at one of them, his fist surrounded by a field of energy that let him hurt the armored goat legged Heartless, some of the darkness flowing into the field itself. Matthew then extended his left arm forward, hand open, using that same energy to enter the Heartless' mind and doing damage to with with a concussive blast. Which was then released behind it into a cone, knocking most of the other Satyr prone from the force, only leaving two unaffected by it.

"Can you deal with the archers? I can keep the other Heartless at bay." Matthew called out to Jasmine as he got hit on the side by a swipe from one of the Lance Soldier's weapon. Grunting, he quickly lifted up his left leg to block a pummeling arm from the Satyr he had hurt.

Jasmine's eyes snapped to the sudden enemies that appeared. They were nothing like the monsters in Zemuria nor like any Pokemon she had seen back in her original world. A completely new kind of enemy that were far too human like for her understanding. Still they were targeting her and Matt so Jasmine would get rid of them like any other enemy she has faced.

With a nod acknowledging Matt she charged right after the archers. They tried to fire their arrows at her but Jazz relaxed her body and her speed drastically increased. With the boost from Agility, Jazz easily closed the distance between her and the creatures. The blades on her arms snapped out as she leaped over the first archer. With a perfectly practiced strike, she swung her arms out, the blades cutting through the neck of the first archer.

The second one however didn't seem to care for its comrade falling and fired another arrow at Jasmine. It missed but still caught her hood, pulling it down to expose her face. The Shadowburst had no reaction as she created a black cloud between them. The archer blindly fired into the fog only to be met by shards of ice, knocking it off balance. Through the cloud Jasmine leaped at it and pounced on top of it, her blades stabbing it in the chest.

With the Bizarre Archers dealt with thanks to Jasmine, Matthew focused on the Satyrs that were getting up and the two Lance Soldiers. Dodging the attacks, he launched a side kick to one of the lance wielding Heartless. He frowned, not having absorbed enough focus for him to use his own Cipher powers then rolled to the side, avoiding a charge from a Satyr. As he got up, he saw that two of the Lance Soldiers and eight Satyrs were surrounding him, the others going after Jasmine.

"Of course they caught on..." Matthew complained, realizing the purpose was to avoid his Mind Wave. But he still had his other power as he dodged a thrust from one of the lances and grabbed it. He pulled it suddenly towards him then clotheslined the Heartless, leaving it dazed then grabbed the face of one of the Satyrs. Before the goat legged, armored Heartless attacked, he mentally assailed it. Normally, it would be affecting the target's grasp on reality, but Heartless are feral creatures born of the darkness from people's hearts.

So instead, he targeted it's views on light and darkness, causing a contradiction that brought it into a frightened state of confusion. The sight of a Satyr, looking scared then vanishing into darkness, retreating was enough to confuse the other Heartless surrounding him. This gave Matthew an opening to slip out from the circle then attack the back of one of the Satyrs. By the time the Heartless reacted, he hurt one enough to use his Mind Wave, killing the injured armored Heartless and knocking some of them to the ground. The only ones standing facing him where the two Lance Soldiers and two other Satyrs.

(Matt: six Satyrs and two Lance Soldiers. Jazz: eight Satyrs and two Lance Soldiers. Zero Bizarre Archers.)

With the Archers eliminated, Jasmine looked over the foes that were focusing her. Both are armored though the larger one seems to fight unarmed and the other uses a strange looking lance. The numbers were definitely against her and Jasmine was never the best fighter amongst the Order. That did not mean she was defenseless though. Training day after day with the likes of the Golden Butterfly, the Thousand Oathbreaker and the Severing Chains gave her skills. And whatever these creatures are, they were nothing like those monsters from Ouroboros.

Jazz charged one of the larger creatures and ducked under its wide hook and stabbed one of her blades right into its torso. Jasmine quickly tore the blade out and didn't pause to watch it fade away before she was moving to the next. One of the lancers charged at her, intending to impale her but the Shadow Burst easily vaulted over it and made her way to the second one. Side stepping a thrust and a blade across the throat caused it to fall to the ground and fade away.

However this allowed the rest of the creatures to surround Jasmine. As they made their way closer to her the assassin seemed to fade away from sight. The creatures paused, not understanding what just happened. Only for the second lancer to collapse from Jasmine stabbing it from behind only for her to disappear again.

(Jazz: 7 Satyrs left)

Matthew charged at one of the Lance Soldiers, stopping as it was about to thrust the weapon at him. He then jumped, landing on the Heartless' lance then charged forward, one knee bent ahead and hitting it on the face. The cipher landed in a crouched position on all fours, the Lance Soldier he kneed falling on its back. He turned around with a rising roundhouse kick, hitting the other lance wielding Heartless before jumping back from a pounce from one of the Satyrs.

Matthew watched as the other five Satyrs surrounded him again and charged at the one in front. But one of the Lance Soldiers lost control of their weapon and it hit him on the side, giving the Satyr in front time to pounce him, followed by the others. He grunted as the Heartless were trying to crush him alive, the pain making it hard for him to focus. The cipher managed to wiggle a hand loose enough to touch the Satyr on top of him and finish it off, the mind wave also blowing the rest of the Heartless off of him.

Getting up, he saw that there was only one Lance Soldier left, meaning he had eliminated it as well and saw the remaining one on the floor. Matthew lifted up a foot and stomped on its head, hard, also defeating it. He turned to face the remaining five Heartless facing him as they began to stand.

(Matt: Five Satyrs left.)

With all the remaining foes being the large ones, Jasmine narrowed her eyes. Without a word she vanished from sight and a second later she appeared again, her blade piercing the throat of one of the creatures. Jumping off its back, shards of ice formed in her hands and she threw them with remarkable speed and accuracy, preventing a second of the creatures from being able to charge her. As soon as she landed she made her way to another, easily ducking under its wild punch so she can put her blade in between its armor.

With two of them defeated, the remaining group all charged Jasmine at once only to be blinded by the dark fog Jasmine created. From inside the fog where only Jasmine could see, her blades found their marks. It was quick, quiet and efficient, just as Jasmine was always trained to do. When the fog vanished Jasmine was the only one left standing, her blades already retracted back into their holsters.

Matthew watched as the five Satyrs kept him surrounded in a circle, eyeing him to make sure he didn't take advantage of any openings to escape. All he could do right now was keep his guard up until the Heartless made their moves to pounce on him. The attack came soon enough as the Satyrs charged at him at the same time. Reacting, Matthew kicked a pebble that hit one of the Heartless, not doing any damage but making a short enough distraction to get it out of sync of the others.

He then ran towards the lagging Satyr and did a low kick to one of its legs, causing it to stumble. Getting behind the Satyr as the others caught up, Matthew released another Mind Wave, killing the Heartless he kicked and knocking the four left down. Running towards the closest one, he brought a foot down hard on the head of a Satyr, the number now being three left. As the remaining Heartless got up, Matthew attacked the closest with with a couple of jabs and a hard punch to the gut, taking out another one.

The two remaining Heartless tackled him to the ground and started assaulting him. Not being able to defend himself in the position he was in, Matthew tried placing a hand on one of the Satyrs, managing to touch the lower one long enough to use his Tenuous Grasp power on it. The Heartless suddenly looked confused and frightened, pushing off the other one and itself. Taking advantage of the opening, he punched the other Satyr in the face, finishing it off.

Getting up, he watched the remaining Satyr vanish into dark smoke, escaping from him. Looking around, Matthew saw that the coast was now clear. "That was interesting. You fought well." He said, looking at Jasmine.

Jasmine glanced back as she watched Matt fight off the remaining monsters. She was prepared to jump in, if he needed the help but just going in would likely cause problems for him. That is why she kept herself somewhat separated from him earlier as they didn't know how the other fought and could easily get in the way. Still he managed it on his own and Jasmine nodded. He was skilled and he had some kind of abilities that she did not understand that weren't Orbal Arts. They seemed closer to her own Darkness based abilities rather than anything she saw in Zemuria or in her original world.

"Thank you. You are skilled as well." Jasmine replied to Matt. He was good but compared to monsters like the Steel Maiden, the Bladelord or the Almighty Conflagration it wasn't even close. Though Jasmine quickly had to admit that those three were on a level far beyond anything Jasmine had ever seen before or expected to see again. Matt would be able to make a good name for himself on Zemuria if he ever went there.

Matthew simply nodded at Jasmine. Looking around, the coast seemed clear after the battle. "I still wasn't expecting an ambush from the Heartless. Anyway, I can give you a ride to Radiant Garden. That's the world that I arrived in. I got my Gummi ship there as well, so you should be able to get your own." He explained as he took out a Potion and drank it, his wounds healing themselves in the process.

"I'm guessing you're wondering about the Heartless as well. Well, I'll explain it on my ship while on the way to the world I mentioned." Matthew added, looking around the girl's makeshift campsite. "Is there anything here you need help carrying, first of all? That battle made me feel like I've been here for months."

So these creatures were called Heartless? It was an odd name but there was something about them that felt...familiar to Jasmine. But in the end there were just a new kind of monster that she would have to kill if she traveled. She would have to study them when she got the chance, after she got that explanation from Matthew, when they traveled to this Radiant Garden.

"No there is nothing important here." Jasmine said as she looked at her campsite. It was all made of things she had picked up and crafted as she lived on this world. No she had nothing that she could call personal that didn't keep on her person. Not that she had many such things in the first place. The only thing she missed from Zemuria was her combat Orbment but that had been damaged by the Blade Lord when she made the mistake of trying to kill him.

"Do you still intend to chase after that piglet? It likely got too far away after the battle." Jasmine asked as she walked closer to Matthew. It didn't matter too much for her, as she was getting a ride either way. A ride that would take her further away from her past, where she could maybe figure out what she was supposed to do with herself now that she was finally, truly free.

"....no. I don't think I need to worry about the piglet." Matthew replied, nodding in response to Jasmine's answer. Turning around, he led the girl back the way he came, right towards the closest Save Point. "Just stand here and it'll do the rest." He added, standing in the spot and warping up to his Gummi Ship.

It was when Matt appeared in his ship that he saw the space piglet, just sitting there and staring at him. "Why did I know you were just fooling around?" He asked, expecting no answer from the piglet as the latter walked away. Turning around, Matt looked at the recently warped Jazz appeared. "Found the piglet." He walked towards the cockpit and set the coordinates to Radiant Garden.

The strange teleportation up to Matthew's Gummi Ship, made Jasmine tense once she arrived but she quickly calmed down. The ship was unlike the airships of Zemuria, at least from what she saw of them when she would stow away in the holds during her missions. Still this ship was apparently much more advanced than any airship as it could travel between worlds. Jasmine didn't understand how nor would she likely understand any explanation given to her.

"Then it appears there really is no reason for us to remain here." Jasmine said as she eyed the piglet. Such an odd creature, running away and yet coming back to the person who had been chasing it. Maybe it was some kind of Pokemon that never got discovered before that got off world much in the same manner that Jasmine did.