It&#39;s the same damn things you&#39;re so quick to believe

[There's the soft scrape of shoes on the tile near the pool, and the water ripples from the edge.]

Yes, the Red Church. Perhaps you'll find what you've been looking for, within these walls.

[The voice is detached, very serene but not quite together.]

Though I'd advise you to be careful. There are things behind these doors you wouldn't want running loose.

From:

[A church and a temple are dissimilar -enough-, though.

Riku notes the ripples in the pool, watching them to see if the voice's source is actually stepping into the water or merely touching it.]

Like what? We haven't seen anything so far.

[He raises both eyebrows meaningfully towards the ripples in the pool; yeah, you might be here, mysterious voice, but he can't -see- you.]

From:

Wh-why-- wh-- why c-can't we s--see you?

From:

Because you aren't using your eyes.

[Whether or not he intended to, the voice ignores Riku's question. The shuffling sounds move over toward the door.]

If you have any sins to which you would like to admit, please visit me in the confessional. I can heal wounds of the heart, but that pool can heal wounds of the body.

I hope you boys make it safely back to your rooms.

From:

[-Really?- Riku can't help but glance at the pool as the voice describes its properties; it can heal wounds? -Awesome-. That's a great find.

See, Xanth, this was -totally- worth it! That smirk has been restored full-force.]

We'll be fine.

[He pauses. And then...]

Thanks. For the advice.

From:

...y-yeah. Th--thanks.

From:

You are quite welcome.

[The door creaks slightly, as if pushed by a breeze, and for all intents and purposes the priest appears to have left.]

From:

[Riku's grinning as the priest leaves. He looks to Xanth once it's clear that he's left, giving a half-shrug.]

What do you think? We've about looked at everything in here, by this point. Wanna move on? Or...

[Riku trails off, giving the pool a glance. By this point he's mostly all healed up from his run-in with the tiger, but he can't help but wonder if it would have helped. Or to what extent it -would- help.

Something to come back here and check out, if he had anything to say about it.]

From:

From:

[Any aches or pains Xanth may have will immediately vanish with a cool soothing wave of feeling, like a breeze inside of his body. If he's perfectly healthy and in tip-top shape, he'll just feel somewhat energized.

The scars, however, remain.]

From:

[Well, way to take the initiative, Xanth! Riku's actually a tiny bit surprised when he goes straight for it, but after a moment passes and nothing bad seems to be happening, Riku steps to the edge of the pool as well. He tugs up his sleeve (he'd taken to wearing long-sleeved shirts while his wounds healed; the last thing he wanted to do was let Kairi see them), then kneels to dip his forearm into the pool, where the scabbed-over gashes are almost healed.

It's all about trusting, right?]

From:

...th-that...

...w-what happened t--to you?

From:

[For a moment, Riku almost doesn't even hear Xanth's question. Instead, he's checking over his arm in faint surprise--not only is his arm healed now, but the faint stiffness and dull ache in his torso is gone too. The only sign of something that might have been is the faint scarring that remains. He feels--whoa. He feels -fantastic-! Riku's used potions before this, sure, accepted the favor of a healing spell once or twice, but this is entirely different.

Riku glances up just in time to hear Xanth's question. He smiles slightly, shrugging as he stands back up.]

It's like you said before. There are some dangerous things on this ship.

From:

...r-ready to go, th--then?

From:

[So close! But it's okay, he'll get you to speak up eventually, Xanth.]

Sure, let's move on.

[As they make their way over to the door, Riku is silent. But as they step out into the hallway, he'll volunteer some more information.]

A couple weeks ago there was a tiger up on deck six. From what I understand, I wasn't the only one to run into it.

From:

O--ouch.

A... a-a while ago, a-a couple months, m-maybe... a-a wolf got me u-up on deck f--five. S--Seems like there's a-always something running-- running around, e-even if it's... j-just another passenger...

From:

[Hey, now -this- is what he's talking about! Riku shoots Xanth a wry smirk.]

Sounds about right. So you think the tiger was a passenger?

From:

Um... M-Maybe. The wolf w-was actually a--a man too, s-so, the tiger m-might've been.

From:

Huh. So did you talk to the guy?

[As he's speaking, Riku's moving to the next door down, having taken careful note of which door the healing pool laid behind.]

This one next?

From:

Y-Yeah. He was... uh.

Y--Yeah. Th-that one.

From:

I see.

[Heh, Riku recognizes that sort of tone, Xanth. He gives a small, knowing smirk, but doesn't say anything more--instead, he pushes the door open.]

From:

[Immediately something glinting in the faint hallway light lashes out; there's a sound of both rushing water and the clicks, clanks, and hisses of knives being sharpened. A mass of daggers, swords, machetes writhes behind the door, and as metal appendages like the sawed legs of a spider lash out in an effort to strike Riku and Xanth several of them shatter light fixtures and throw a section of the hallway into darkness.

The blades flash in what little light reaches from down the hall and the wall of slicing, scoring blades begins to advance toward the duo.

Something inside is screaming. SCREAMING, and the smell of blood is heavy in the air.]

From:

From:

[Impossibly--maybe foolishly--Riku's first thought is to grab for the door again, blocking with his wooden sword as he does so, yanking it closed again and maybe, just maybe stopping whatever it is that's on the other side. But he doesn't see whether the door actually shuts or not, because Xanth's pulling on his shirt, trying to drag him away from the door and he's off his balance so the other boy can pull him back a few steps easy.

But then Riku pulls back out of his grasp, jerking his thumb back towards the stairs they'd come from.]

Time to go!

[If he'd been on his own, maybe he would have stayed. If he'd had Soul Eater with him, if he'd been able to summon the Heartless, if he'd been able to use the corridors of darkness, he -definitely- would have stayed. But he's got nothing but his wooden sword, a chunk already taken out of it by the blades that had been going after them, and he's got Xanth to keep in mind, as well.

So Riku's not gonna risk it. Not today. He whips around reaches out to try and push Xanth in the correct direction--he'll -drag- the other boy if he has to, but he's not planning on letting them get chewed up by the rolling mass of weaponry today!]

From: