Axel Awakens: Deal or No Deal?

[Saix]

((THIS ROLE PLAY TAKES PLACE AFTER HARD DRIVE HURRY PART 1, AND JUST PRIOR TO RECON PIMPIN. More will appear as I clean the log))

xaldinstrips: The beach was quiet. Not that this was anything new; few of the other members had taken to watching the beach: and as Xaldin and Luxord had recently been given mission to observe Sora, that meant that Saix took the brunt of the watch. However, with such a lopsided guard, his and Xaldin's lessers were often given the task in his stead: allowing the Diviner time to rest, eat or just relax at home when necessary. Tonight was such a night.. the berserkers trailing back and forth along the beach in the moonlight. They'd grown mostly used to the quiet: waiting for the three remaining to surface.. Xigbar, Demyx, and Axel. They'd grown so used to the quiet in fact, that for the most part they only ocassionally paid such a great amount of attention to the water as they were likely supposed to: taking as much interest in exploring the rock and deadwood scattered beach as they were in patrolling the area. Two of the three currently assigned in fact; had wandered much further to the left of the stone arch under which every Higher Nobody to date had surfaced...

firstsilentGOD1: The light crossing overhead was like a silent screamer passing up into the sky and having your eyes closed. He'd barely stirred, just the beginnings of an odd dream that somehow he knew had been a reality. Roxas.. Marluxia.. Vexen.. Zexion.. Larxene. And then there was this odd void, he remembered a little too well. Things that, seemed to happen in a soulless few months that ended up feeling like an eternity of searching. God damned DiZ. It was like having a nightmare, and knowing it was real.. and you were in fact just viewing it in your sleep. And he could remember the last moments. A little too clearly. Right to the end.. right to the very end: even after he'd fought with himself, chased Kairi across the spanse of worlds, and then done exactly what he'd warned Roxas not to.. right to the end, he hadn't remembered him. Yeah. Wow. That had been worth it. What a mind job. He couldn't help but mentally kick himself in the pants; now that he looked back on it. What the hell had he been on? No answer. Not the kind he was hoping for anyway: his eyes slid open with the frustration. Where was he? Did he die and end up in some bad corner of Ansem's closet or something? Dark, heavy, really really......fuck. He was under water. Fan-freaking-tastic. Apparently he didn't need to breath though: and good thing.. because when he got to the surface.. the waves gave for nothing. He tried a few more times. Nope. God damn it this sucked.. there had to be some way out. Oh look.. a bright shiny light! While he was reluctant to move that way? There didn't seem to be much choice in the matter. He wondered; were the other guys down here? (c)

firstsilentGOD1:Was this real? Was this some kind of sick and twisted play up on drowning in the river styx, 'cause he didn't think the joke was that funny. Less hilarious though.. was the idea that it was real.. and the others were still around.. and not only around: but pissed. Not that he'd blame them. If Sora had succeeded.. he'd probably kept going through the ranks and wiped them all out. Halfway to the source of that ridiculous light; he found out in a not-so nice way that he was right.. or at least in Xigbar's case. The Free Shooter was still hung in the water, completely out of it and looking like even a punch to the Jaw wouldn't wake him. Needless to say? He wasn't going to try. He couldn't help but give Two a wary look though as he moved on, almost afraid he would snap that one eye open at any moment and make a grab for him. Almost. But what about the rest? Oh he knew he was in it deep if any of them were on the same swim ahead of him. He had plenty of time to think about how everything had worked out. And in the same stroke, plenty enough time to collect himself, just in case someone were waiting for him.. (c)

firstsilentGOD1: Passing under the stone arch, he could barely see the difference in the lightened surface: it was like staring up at a pool made of light, waves refracting a bit of the darkness on the other side.. but otherwise nearly opaque.. or rather hard to see past it was so damned bright. A little closer to shore where he could stand: he reached up on instinct; pushing his fingers at the surface and finding a bit of give. He could get out here. Green eyes narrowing.. he decided it might not be best to just pop his head up like a big wet red bulls eye. No.. maybe he was a little paranoid; but that might not be the best of ideas. Instead, he moved in closer to the surface yet, keeping his head down and near squatting at the sandy bottom.. steadying himself and slowly peeking his eyes, and then nose up over the surface. The result.. while catching sight of a berserker; made him choke, and when he dipped back under he found out very quickly that the not breathing thing? Didn't work once he'd stuck his head up. The light was gone too. Desperate not to be found out he leaned back, and poked just his chin, nose and mouth out of the waves: praying Saix's ambling lessers didn't notice him.. (f)

[Saix]

xaldinstrips: A momentary glance was all there was in response. Just a single and lingering look his way. The rise and fall of teh waves hid him well for the meantime however, and so the berserkers didn't notice him. The other two further off in fact hadn't even noted the slightest change, one chasing the other off while the third stayed closer to the edge of the water, though examining some bit of driftwood that had found it's way ashore a good long time ago, facing away from the water once it was done giving it a studious stare for a few minutes.

firstsilentGOD1: Axel didn't dare move otherise, but his eyes turned over towards the shore, catching brief glances of the almost creepy sight of the head-limp berserker staring out over the water. He'd never much liked the almost zombie-like posture and normal walk of the bulkier lessers: and having it's attention like that make his skin perk a bit more with the extra crawl. He was glad and let a soft sigh of relief out as the next few waves revealed it had gone back to whatever it was doing, taking a bit of time to recollect his thoughts and a plan of action that first would involve him getting out of the water without them noticing, since he apparently summon a portal in the water: and he was definitely a bit too tired to try tugging any of his element out at just that moment. Maybe it was the water weighting him down, maybe it was just the exhaustion that hadn't bothered to rear it's head until he had surfaced: but he just wanted to get out of it and get away from them. How to do that though? Higher up on the beach there was plenty of cover, but otherwise; the shoreline itself was a wide open view. After a few more minutes of observation and soaking himself in the cold-as-fuck water, he decided his best bet would be to make his way down shore in the opposite direction of the other two that had run off; slink his way to the surface closer up, wait until none of them were paying attention and make a mad dash for that cover further in. He'd already picked out his ideal spot: some three hundred feet away to his left: a small but tall circle of jutting rocks and driftwood. He could get futher out and collect himself from there, he thought. Making his way through the frigid water for that idea, he ocassionally turned his green eyes back to the berserkers at the shore to be certain they didn't come his way..

xaldinstrips: As the Flurry moved through the waves, what was likely his one and only opportunity came along: the two berserkers' play at the far end turning a bit violent as they scuffled over something or other, which called the third Bereserker's attention down shore in the opposite direction to split them up.

firstsilentGOD1: It took a second or two for his glances through the waves to confirm it, but damn! He was only about half way to the spot he'd deemed safe enough. Just the same, there were enough rocks to cover him to the circle he'd chosen. If he got out now and bolted, he might make it.The trouble would be whether or not the Berserkers would see the likely wet trail of footsteps in the white moonlit sand. Deciding that it was worth the risk between the cold water and the fact that he didn't know when his next opportunity would come, he pulled himself up, eyes only glancing to his destination as he half held his breath and dashed across the short spanse to the first rock that could hide his form. Luckily, he wasn't big like some of the other members: that lean medium frame of his proving to be a blessing as he ducked behind the shadow of the wind-worn stone to eye the scuffle, and dart back behind another, and another as they were distracted; putting even more distance between them. He was tired, dear fucking god was he tired; but: the paranoia and almost fear of being caught in that half wasted state was stronger than his tire. He could already tell there was something wrong the moment he came closer to the stone circle and tried to open a portal.. hiss, hiss, nothing. barely even a wisp. His Assassins for back up? Apparently they weren't listening to him. No.. it was more than that. He couldn't even feel the buzz of having any to call on. Briefly, he wondered if that was Xemnas' doing: but after a few moments thought, watching the Berserkers motion closely like a burglar watched a sleeping guard dog, and he doubted that..

[Saix]

xaldinstrips: What started as a one on one fight between the Berserkers quickly escalated into a three way scuffle as one of the original contanders whacked the third up the side of it's head with it's claymore. Incidentally this started a sort of chain reaction. The first hit the third, who in turn hit the first, who swung for the third again and ended up hitting the second, who whaled away at that one only to get whacked by the third. This was going to go on for a little while at this rate..

firstsilentGOD1: Watching the exchange, the Flurry nearly went cross eyed trying to --for a moment-- figure out what was going on. Finally, after the first nine blows were over; he decided that he was probably going to have a bit of time to rest. There was a bit of extra space between his current rock and the circle now anyway, and the way they were at eachother: who knew when they would happen to swing one of their heads around --even with a hit-- and spot him at the wrong moment. He wasn't about to take his eyes off of them. Instead, he simply slid down his side against the stone he had been peeking from; tilted back flat against it with his eyes turned steady and unmoving otherwise at the trio while he tried to collect his thoughts and the facts. He didn't dare try to summon his element in this moonlit environ, but the longer he sat there; the more worried he became. It had finally occurred to him that he had been, and still was: cold. That was something, he hadn't experienced in a long time. Not since the others had picked him up that first time. Turning his face to better examine the trio, and try to figure out how long they would be at it, he cupped his hands one over the other to contain what light might be produced by the attempt. Just a little flame.. thats all he wanted. What he ended up with as he looked away to peek into the small gap he left in the crook of one thumb was a short and tiny ember at first: before it nearly burst out to lick at his eye in a lack of control that had him biting his own tongue at the desire to curse and immediately looking to the Berserkers for any signs they had noticed the little lick of warm light.

xaldinstrips: The trio were still at it.. and didn't notice the flame, though that wasn't just because they were too busy fighting amongst themselves. A portal was forming, and with it they were starting to slow down. It was, for the moment though just hanging in the air, as though the one on the other end was stalled by something: their heads were immediately turned that way; though they were still whaling on eachother. It was more sporadic however, likely they were realizing they were about to get busted for slacking off. The tall figure that came through was still facing the portal pocketing something and shaking his head a bit, before he turned: and immediately growled to stride over and summon his own, distinct claymore to thump all three Berserkers over the head in turn: one, two, three.

firstsilentGOD1: Shit! That Extra inky black further along was liek a dead signal for him to get up off his arse and bolt for the circle no matter what. And he did, very quickly: managing to get to cover just before he turned. Saix. Even without the claymore he knew that man's form. Like a few of the others, Axel had memorized a few of the more familiar shapes in the Organization: and Saix was especially one he was familiar with. His immediate superior. The one who had given him the order that had ultimately ended the whole Oblivion affair: and the one who had been sent to hunt him down, after he'd failed to both retrieve and then put Roxas down. Half his face behind the stone, he was on his feet still as he watched, and listened as carefull as he could. The waves made it difficult though. He couldn't hear a thing. The Diviner was clearly pissed at his underlings though.

[Axel]

[[Finally found those posts you were missing Bug. *smooches*]]

xaldinstrips: Of course Saix didn't have the luck of the three of them stopping at that. One pointed to the other, who in turn pointed to the both of the other two. The only way to properly explain the react? Facepalm. He was half tempted to grand slam the lot off shore one at a time and make them surf, swim or portal back, but he didn't have time for that. Something else had come up. Instead, Saix gave them all a few words of warning to stop goofing around and portalled off again to parts unknown. The berserkers seemed to flop forward a bit; a motion that looked like long sighs before they went on about their business, one just sitting there while the other two started patrol again together in the opposite direction, no wiser as of yet to the Flurry's presence

firstsilentGOD1: Taking a breath, Axel relaxed a little as Saix diappeared nearly as quickly as he had come. Now, he was left with the berserkers alone -- and for that trio in particular and at the lest he wasn't quite as worried. If it had been Dragoons, that would have been another story. Dragoons as a general rule were more agile, faster as a whole, and much more attentive. The lop-headed berserkers on the other hand weren't quite as quick. They didn't like being reprimanded either from the looks of it. Glancing to the half washed away footprints, he noted the rest were for the most part lost in among others likely formed from members past who had been there. Who else could they be from? He stepped backwards across the circle none the less, more than a little paranoid and only just starting to calm down: the intent to put more space yet between himself and the patrol in mind: entirely focused on them as he stepped past the outer rim of stones.

xaldinstrips: Unfortunately for Axel: he hadn't gone as un-noticed as he had thought. The Diviner's ears may not have picked him up.. but the deep welts in the wet sand left behind from his initial exit had not escaped his eyes. In the bright moonlight, they were like black pits in whiteboard. He could already guess whom the footprints belonged to as he had disciplined his Berserkers. Neither Xigbar or Demyx would have any reason to run from or hide their presence from his lessers. Axel, on the other hand: would have been smart enough to realize that he very likely did if he didn't want to end up in pain. Saix himself though he understood it to some degree considered the hanging threat from the Superior a hypocritical one. With his own views, which he knew at least that Marluxia shared to some extent: it wasn't just that either. Harming the Flurry was extremely counter productive: and liable to cause a great deal many more issues than would be repairable. The fact that Axel --and his physical health-- could be either helpful or hurtful towards easing the Keyblader into helping them, also weighed heavily in that opinion. Axel had been Rioxas' best friend. And he had helped the Keyblade master, literally with his last breath. Both had a previous attachment to him: Axel, was the most likely to be trusted out of their number, and that trust would be far more helpful an approach than setting anyone else to convincing them: in Saix's opinion. Still, there were orders involved. He stood against the far side of the ring guessing that was where he was hiding, arms crossed over his chest as he heard the motion within the circle confirm it. It was the closest cover, and the rest of the group had used the tight formation to in part shield themselves from the wind as well as camp. As the red hair came within sight with his backwards steps, Saix's eyes slipped that way, and waited for the Flurry to notice him. He had every intention of taking this easy.. but knowing Axel, he was prepared for the possibility that the Flurry wouldn't let him.