Dwarf Woodlands

[Apollymi]

It seemed what Kairos had to say about Master Luxu and whether or not she considered being his apprentice properly would cause a strange reaction in the lad known as Yuri. He apparently thought it was dumb of her to turn it down, but the gentle nudge against her side and prodding of is words belayed a hint of his pleasure knowing it wasn't her intention to leave him behind. "Hm... probably pretty dumb of me. I haven't gotten a chance to pick his mind about magic... oh and a bunch of other stuff too," she said seemingly distressed if only for a moment before a huge grin passed her face. "Just kidding!~" she said with a chuckle. "Actually I could probably do all of that even if I don't become his apprentice, and I've never been as about the Masters as everyone else..." she said, and this was also true. A lot of the other Keyblade Wielders were very much into the Masters of Master's apprentices, and wanted to know what they knew, but Kairos had different thoughts and didn't like the sorts of short-sighted people she came in contact with who were stuck on the other Masters. Regardless, she was asked about this place and she gave a gentle shrug.

"Dwarf Woodlands. So I expect some little people... apparently there is a mine where gems are found and a Kingdom..." she mused... as they walked further into the darkness, the shadows began to shift in a more obvious way keeping them from approaching the start of a more open area within these woods. But more important than this was the cover that Yuri apparently gave Master Invi about her disappearance yesterday. "YURI!" she exclaimed seemingly distraught, him saying such a thing to Hiro was a bit gross, but a grin spread across her face a few seconds after. "Thanks... I guess. We definitely have to work on your cover stories though..." she said, though she was truly grateful the lad had covered for her. "That Keychain I was using yesterday... I got from Master Luxu. He said I'd enjoy it. He gave it to me before I met up with you guys yesterday morning. He helped me hide my Keyblade from Master Invi," she explained of their previous situation as she summoned her Keyblade to her hand, those ever shifting shadows soon began to grow into little creatures with yellow eyes and small red noses. She'd never seen this form of Heartless before, but she supposed variety was good.

[Bloodedge]

"You mean like the places he tries not to get sand in?" Yuri replied when Kairos joked about prodding the master Luxu's mind about matters not involving magic. If she was going to kid around about the situation, he'd certainly do the same. With that alone though, he was content to continue traveling the world until they reached whatever destination was upon them. It seemed they were en route to the mines mentioned by Kairos in her explanation, but they were fated to be interrupted by the arrival of Darkness beginning to take form. Yuri halted all movement, summoning his Keyblade while addressing the matter of Kairos' new fire-based Keychain and the fact that his cover story hadn't been the best. "You're the one who was talking about the sand before, so I went with what made sense. Besides, you could have made the whole thing easier by admitting that you were cheating on Master Invi with one of his peers!" he said as one final joke before the Heartless appeared properly around them. With his Keyblade raised, Yuri took the initiative in assaulting this group of Heartless. "Zero Gravira!" All around Yuri, excluding Kairos, from the effect, his spell removed the hold gravity held on all things physical. As such, the Heartless beginning to surround them would begin to float and effectively be rendered incapable of approaching them directly by any normal means.

[Apollymi]

"Oh sure, and the best food, and what kind of music he listens to when he falls asleep... totally all things I need to know~" the girl mused. Of course, she couldn't say she had much interest in things like that. She was more interested in why his face looked so familiar to her, how he came to appreciate the darkness and the kinds of things he thought about while he was busy watching the rest of the world. As the darkness took form around them, Yuri summoned his Keyblade, but not without giving one final jab to the girl about her 'cheating' on her Union Leader with the unaffiliated Master Luxu. A melodic giggle escaped the girl as she watched every piece of living darkness float up into the air around them unable to make their proper approach. "Magnera!" this would cause every single piece of darkness to float together above the point of Kairos' Keyblade. "FIRAGA!" this strangely wouldn't create the standard form of this spell but instead the darkness enhanced version, which would burn each and every individual into nothingness, this would allow the darkness to clear their path. "I am not cheating, by the way... I just don't want to play twenty-one questions with Master Invi. He's a bit suspicious of me to start with, well-meaning though, apparently. You should have heard him asking about that Keychain I am passing off as my Keyblade~" she explained, knowing she'd left the lad in an awkward situation.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, all that good stuff!" Yuri agreed, even knowing there was a certain lack of seriousness in everything spoken by Kairos. The Heartless he'd sent into the air were brought toward Kairos by her own magnetic spell's use, and while Yuri was wondering how they were to be dealt with, she exemplified her control over Darkness by infusing an otherwise normal fire spell with it. Yuri looked at the blackened flames and thought this to be an application of Darkness he hadn't even considered until this moment. Other wielders of the Keyblade considered Darkness to be something awful, even if for reasons which differed from person to person. Yuri himself harbored Darkness within him and knew it, but he couldn't have brought himself to even attempt such a thing as what he'd seen here for fear of becoming like the creatures they defeated in their endeavors. He really never understood how one such as Kairos could embrace Darkness and have no obvious negative consequences. In spite of the thoughts he had regarding these developments, Yuri could only bring himself to speak regarding Kairos' relations with Invi. "Well... I guess he would have a lot more to be suspicious of if he saw anything else you did. Why wouldn't Master Luxu be just as bad though? I figured they were all the same; I can't see one of them helping you hide something dark from the others."

[Apollymi]

Kairos' good humor seemed to be working towards bringing Yuri back to himself. Her use of magic though was likely a bit strange, though she'd never properly hidden her use of Darkness from Yuri, she hadn't actually had a real conversation with him about it either. To be fair, he was one of now two people, who appreciated the look of her Keyblade, and as such she'd accepted that he likely had a bit of darkness in him as well. His use of it, showed in his spells too. When he commented though, it wasn't about this use of Darkness, it was simply his understanding of the Masters and his lack of comprehension as to why one of them would help her in such a way. "I'm not entirely sure why he chose to help me in particular. He said, that me falling to my darkness would be a waste..." she said about Master Luxu, which didn't sound that different from what people normally said about darkness. She knew this too, so she went on. "But they definitely aren't all the same. Apparently different things made them all Masters, but beyond all that Master Luxu, is using Darkness... more than I do even," she said a hint of excitement in her eyes. "He doesn't judge it, and it hasn't consumed him or extinguished his light," she said thinking about it more. The words he'd shared with her the previous day still made her heart thump, and at the point in her day, where she'd fully accepted the darkness and called upon it, she had a better understanding of it. "He said... if my heart has darkness, then its supposed to. He said..." she commented as her Keyblade disappeared from her hand again. "May your heart be your guiding key." Even saying that sentence again brought a strange warmth to her heart, made it thump within her chest and fill with that jolly, happiness she'd felt before. Her attitude about her own darkness had changed drastically when she paused to think that the way she was, wasn't necessarily wrong. And seeing a Master with darkness let her know her own abilities didn't need to be shunned, even if she was fine with hiding them from the masses. Walking a different path, didn't make her wrong... and one day, everyone else might see it.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course he said that!" Yuri said without hesitation, not even waiting to hear further explanation about why Luxu had said such a thing to Kairos. "It would be a waste; you're probably one of the strongest people around besides the masters!" he continued. However, it then became apparent that Master Luxu was even more prone to utilizing Darkness than Kairos herself. Suddenly, the entire situation made a lot more sense, and this revelation made Yuri take pause right away. "What..." he said. The statement 'may your heart be your guiding key' was one Yuri himself heard from Invi on the previous day while recovering from what befell him in Agrabah, but it couldn't be taken in the same way as he would have when hearing it from someone who used Darkness freely. What's more, someone strong enough to be a master being willing and able to use Darkness... meant there was more to think about than Yuri could have otherwise imagined. "I... I don't know what to say about that. It just seems so different."

[Apollymi]

Yuri's snap reaction to what Master Luxu had to say previously about saving Kairos from herself was something which gave the raven-haired lass pause. She knew she was stronger than a lot of people, but she didn't think about herself as scaling properly towards the Masters. Yuri wasn't the first person to point this out of course, Master Invi had mentioned this the previous day as well, though for reasons Kairos herself considered a bit illegitimate. "Eh?! I don't know if I'd say all that... I'm pretty strong I think, but I don't know if I'd make that sort of leap. Still though, comments like that do wonders for a girl's self-esteem," she managed a joke, despite being a bit taken aback by the lad's compliment, but more was settling in. Her words about the Master known as Luxu apparently caught Yuri by surprise, his response had been similar to her own. She hadn't the slightest idea of how to feel about it at first, but when giving it consideration, she was quite pleased. "I can't pretend to really understand it myself, but... if we are supposed to follow our hearts. Then I don't think it is meant matter whether there is more light or more darkness... I think... it only matters what you do with it," she said with an affirmative nod. "Or at least, that is the conclusion I came to after thinking about it yesterday when I used the darkness to help get you back. Something I would have struggled with otherwise, and seeing you alright at the end of that... is way better for me, than all of those speeches about the dangers of darkness," she mentioned with her own happiness returning. She'd come to the conclusion that such a statement could only really be felt in one's heart if it came from someone with a shared experience. As such she was more than willing to be this person for Yuri, since someone else had been this for her. With that out of the way she began walking further and further towards a small clearing which led towards marshes with deep waters and large leaves stretched out over them. The leaves didn't look like they should be used, but appeared to be set up in a way which was similar to footfalls.