Finally making some headway? [Complete]

[cold-destroyer.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Kanda Yuu & Raven
Content: During their exploration of the area outside the dome, the two of them come across the Elysian Fields. Kanda sees something familiar in this place, a church, and proceeds to investigate.
Setting: The Elysian Fields
Time: Mid to Late Afternoon
Warnings: Possible lumen abuse. ):

Their walk was, for the most part, uneventful. Kanda wasn't a particularly skilled conversationalist, and Raven didn't seem to be yearning for conversation anyways. In that way, Kanda supposed she was better than anybody else who could've brought him out here. At least she didn't expect anything from him, which suited him just fine.

They'd found a river, farther along their walk, and Kanda assumed that it flowed into the one he'd seen earlier. Or vice versa, considering he didn't yet know the shape of the landmass. In one of the few times he'd spoken to Raven during their trip, he made vocal note of this. Perhaps she could garner something from the information that he couldn't, and Kanda wasn't too proud that he wouldn't admit that. If it could help him, that is.

Beyond the river was another gate, with ever more people passing through. As opposed to the enormous giants of Joutenheim, this one was made up of silver ice. Once he got back to the hotel, he'd check his journal and see what that one was named. There had to be a reason for those gates, or some sort of pattern.

Walking further yet brought them to the strangest sight yet. It started when a snow-like substance started to fall from the sky. But no wind seemed to disturb it, and Kanda couldn't feel them when they fell upon his skin. After making sure that they weren't harmful, or anything like that, he held out his palm and attempted to catch one. His hand seemed to glow for a moment, before it faded.

Frowning, he pushed farther through the trees to where the falling orbs of light seemed to be more dense. There had to be an explanation for this.

Comments

[keep-to-myself.livejournal.com]

Anybody perceptive and observant enough could figure out that Kanda didn't really care for what others said unless it was related to something important and relevant to his situation in Paixao. Whereas Raven, just liked the tranquilty that came with silence. At least in that respect, the two would be able to get along, even if it didn't really look like it at first glance.

Following Kanda wherever he went, Raven was confused about what was falling from the sky when first noticing it. The wind failed to influence it's decent in any way, and when trying to catch one, it only made her hand glow momentarilly. Just what exactly was it?

The two continued to walk through the trees, with the orbs becoming brighter and falling more frequently as they headed further in. The amount of trees they saw passed became less and less, until eventually, Raven and Kanda were no longer in the forest, but on the outskirts of a large, expansive field.

She scanned the area and saw that the grass had somehow become white, and the orbs were still falling. But other than that, it was... quiet and peaceful.

[cold-destroyer.livejournal.com]

Even the faint sound of his own breathing felt louder than the atmosphere around them. Everything was quiet and still, like this field was somehow detatched from the rest of reality.. or whatever could pass for reality in Paixao. The orbs fell in a steady stream, and seemed to melt away after hitting the ground, as there was no residue among the grass.

Kanda hadn't seen a place so tranquil in a long time, what with the state of his own world. Even the most remote corners of the Headquarters of the Exorcists didn't quite top this.

But the fact that it was so unnatural made it hard for him to be at peace.

"Do you have your map?" he asked, not speaking particularly loud. Not that he liked to shout on a regular basis, but his voice was noticeably subdued compared to its usual volume. It was likely just an unconscious reaction to the air of the place, but he deliberately pushed through the tall grass with no effort to be quiet. An abnormal place like this wasn't going to affect him one bit.

"If you do, check if this place is on there."

[keep-to-myself.livejournal.com]

"Let's see."

She actually did have her journal with her. As the first object that was given to her when arriving here, Raven believed that it had to have some kind of significance to what was going on. Unfortunately, she wasn't as smart as Cyborg when it came to machines, and had no real way of analyzing its insides.

Raven took it out and turned it on. But something was wrong... The usual screen wasn't showing up, instead, just lots of distortion and static. The keys weren't responding at all, and none of its other features seemed to be working either. What could be wrong with it?

"That's weird, my journal's not working." She said, turning it off and looking at it. Raven wondered what could've been wrong for it to suddenly break down like that. It was working just fine earlier today, and she hadn't particularly done anything that would've caused damage to it. "This is the first time it's ever happened."

[cold-destroyer.livejournal.com]

Kanda frowned. Either the journals just didn't function outside of the city, or something about this place was disrupting it. He wasn't sure whether the former or the latter would be better, all things considered. There were pros and cons to both options.

"Do you have any.. other way of communicating with somebody in the city?" he asked, sounding slightly frustrated as he realized that there wasn't any equivalent of golems that he could use. Golems had been so convenient, and though Kanda could've sworn that he'd had his golem with him before coming here, it was nowhere to be found.

If he had his golem, he could've just sent a message to Rabi or Linali. The golems were so much more portable, too.

He glanced back from whence they came, then over across the fields. There didn't seem to be a treeline on the other end.. but he could see something much farther ahead. Just barely.

Motioning for Raven to follow, Kanda started off through the tall grass again. Maybe it was his eyes playing tricks on him, but he could've sworn that he'd been able to make out a steepled building with a cross.

A church. Something familiar.

[keep-to-myself.livejournal.com]

Another way of communicating with someone..? Well there was her communicator, now that she thought about it. "All I have is this." She took it out and held it towards Kanda. "It's a communicator me and my friends have, but I haven't been able to reach any of them either." Raven wondered if it had gotten broken or short circuited somehow. If it could reach the other Titans on a worldwide and inter-dimensional level, then why wasn't it working here?

Well, whatever the reason, it would have to wait. Kanda had discovered something and she wanted to see what it was. However, as she walked, Raven heard rather familiar voice coming from the very communicator thought must've been broken.

"Hello? Anybody there?"

Stopping in her tracks, Raven took the device and activated the small monitor on it.

"Beast Boy...?"

Finally, someone she knew.

[cold-destroyer.livejournal.com]

Kanda glanced back over his shoulder as he heard Raven talking into that "communicator" she'd explained. Well, it looked like she'd finally been able to reach one of her friends. He didn't see any reason to stand around and listen to her conversation with him, and he supposed that she'd ask him if this field showed up on the maps. So, he pressed farther ahead towards the church.

It was strange, to see something like a church out in the middle of nowhere. Generally, churches were built in areas where people could easily attend services. That was the point, as far as Kanda could tell. That wasn't to say that churches weren't erected in more remote areas, but there would have to be some people nearby, at least.

He turned this thought over in his mind, looking across the field to the tip of the steeple. As far as he could tell, there weren't any smaller buildings around the church, but he still wanted to have a look around. There was also a possibility that people had lived there at some point, but had since left.

If he was lucky, maybe there'd even be records of actual history. An astounding concept, in this backwards world.

[keep-to-myself.livejournal.com]

Raven noticed Kanda continuing towards the building, but she was too focused on her conversation with Beast Boy to follow him. She figured that he wouldn't head too far and that she'd be able to catch up afterwards.

As she continued talking to her annoying green friend, Raven remained unaware that being seperated from Kanda meant that she was left to fend for herself. The problem wasn't that she was alone, it was that the "local wildlife" had taken notice of the opportunity and were starting to close in on her.

Lumens, many of them, of different sizes and statures. All of which seemed greatly angered and disturbed by Raven's presence. Though used to getting rid of darkness, the amount of it that was coming from her was something that made the lumens even more upset. How could this one girl radiate so much darkness?

They had one goal in mind: To eliminate all of the darkness in the girl, or kill her.

With their mind set on the task, the lumens readied themselves and...

Attacked.

[cold-destroyer.livejournal.com]

Intuition had saved his life plenty of times in the past, and Kanda had learned that trusting it wasn't a bad idea. So when he looked back towards Raven, just "because," he didn't regret it.

When he said that he moved fast, it wasn't an exaggeration. Speed was everything, when dealing with Akuma, and Kanda had plenty of it. But those.. things, whatever they were, had practically buried Raven by the time he'd turned around. He could barely see the cloaked girl, with that multitude of glowing creatures snapping at her and lunging towards her.

In truth, this was anything but a selfless act. Kanda was used to weighing his options and making decisions very quickly, and he decided that Raven was more beneficial to him than anybody else he'd met in Paixao. (With the exclusion of his fellow exorcists.) By helping her, he was helping himself.

But for better or for worse, his sword was drawn by the time he reached Raven. He didn't activate it with his innocence, because the glowing "animals" weren't Akuma and it wouldn't make a difference.

The lumens shied away a bit, once Kanda arrived on the scene. It wasn't his blade, so much as his presence that had them perturbed. For whatever reason, continuing their assault on Raven wasn't worth enduring being near him.

Well, all the better. He'd move faster without pursuit if he was going to get her back to the city.