OtherWorlds: The Fish Freaks of Crystal Cove (Sam x Sora), backdated

[st_andingtall]

"Did you hear about that sardine boat?"

"Y'mean the one went missing up near the old oil rig?

The conversation floated on the buzz of conversation in The Hangman's Grill where Sam had staked out a booth, a newspaper, and a prime position for hearing the rumors of supernatural stuff happening in the town. A lot of it was turning out to be not-so-supernatural, but that was par for the course.

Dean would love this place. Great cheeseburgers, great pie, and enough hunting to keep them busy for weeks. Sam smiled into his coffee cup. At least thinking about Dean wasn't hurting so much.

"...haunted."

"Load of crap if y'ask me.

"Just saying, it's not the first boat to go missing up there."

That was enough to pique Sam's curiosity. He paid his check with one of the credit cards in his wallet. He didn't feel bad about it being a fake. If they got rid enough of the supernatural activity in Bonesville, The Hangman's Grill would make a lot more money. And if he found any cash, he'd leave it for them.

He saw Sora as he was leaving the grill to do some research and nodded in greeting. "Hey, Sora."

Comments

[st_rongheart]

Sora tilted his head, considering. "I... probably could. But I don't know how, and also it's a bad idea. I'd probably need to start by finding the world's Keyhole, the access to its core. The Keyblade would open it, and then the Heartless would come destroy the world like right away because they wouldn't have to find the Keyhole like usual. So I definitely don't want to do any of that."

[st_andingtall]

"Would we be able to leave if you opened the core?" Sora didn't seem like the mastermind behind all of this. "Because if you can fight a thousand at once there are a lot of people who can fight."

[st_rongheart]

"I dunno." The Heartless came in through walls, kind of, connecting worlds. They were called. Locking the Keyhole closed the connections, but would unlocking it open them?. "I've never tried. But I think it's way more likely everyone would be destroyed when the Heartless eat the world. Except maybe me, I've been thrown clear before."

[st_andingtall]

"Good to know." It was, too. But for now, Sam put a pin in it and went back to the research they had ahead of them.

"Have you heard anything about a boat going missing?"

[st_rongheart]

"Um, maybe a little?" He'd been focused on looking for his friends, but... maybe he'd overheard something? "Is that what you're gonna research? Or what we're gonna, I guess."

[st_andingtall]

"Yeah. There's an old oil rig not too far out that people are saying is haunted. They think it's responsible for the boat's disappearance." Sam kept his voice low, even though it was unlikely anyone could listen in while they moved through the streets. "I want to see if there's anything in the library archives about the rig."

[st_rongheart]

"Sounds like a good idea." Sora nodded. "There's something weird about this place. And I bet your idea'll work better than just hoping whatever it is starts attacking me."

[st_andingtall]

"Yeah, waiting to get attacked isn't the most efficient way to hunt. Unless you're baiting a trap, but I can't do that without knowing what we're trying to catch. So, research."

And Sam's long strides carried them right up to the front steps of the library.

[st_rongheart]

Sora, being much shorter, had to jog to keep up as they went up the stairs and into the building. But that was fine, that was practically his normal speed. His slow speed, even, given how often he defaulted to 'flat-out run'. "What do you want me to look for?"

[st_andingtall]

"Anything about that oil rig, hauntings, sightings of strange creatures," Sam rattled off. "Usually if there's something supernatural going on, there will be some kind of urban legend."