The area in which the outpost was situated was a rather large clearing, hidden in the midst of jungle, with patches of overgrowth breaking into it here and there. The outpost served as a base of operations for one of the legs of Axeus's Darkwatch; its loss would mean he would have difficulty maintaining watch over that section of the jungle. To Axeus, loss of knowledge is loss of power, and the failure of the Darkwatch in this matter was no trifling thing. In some ways, the Darkwatch, though less qualified, had more responsibilities than Axeus's apprentices. The apprentices were simply groomed for combat, sculpted in his image, in order to become masters and further his goals, whereas the Darkwatch had the ever important- and decidedly deadly- task of keeping Axeus informed of the happenings in the jungle. This reconnaissance wasn't an easy task. The main threats were threefold: one being the ones they spied on, who generally didn't take kindly to it, another being altercations like the lion Heartless currently wreaking havoc, and the last being the price for failing to complete their assignments. Most likely, it was numbers alone that allowed the Darkwatch to be as strong as they were. 

There were three remaining members of the Darkwatch still fighting in the clearing, or rather, attempting to clear a path for their escape. They hacked their way through Shadows, thinning their numbers considerably; even a Darkwatch could dispose of these low-level Heartless with ease. The lion-like beast was what they feared. The dread was painted on their paled faces. Then, Tendra entered the clearing, approaching the beast by leaping, ducking, and flipping over the jungle's obstacles. When he broke through the wall of vines and into the fray, the remaining Darkwatch immediately turned to regard him. With renewed vigor they sliced their way through the Shadows in order to get closer to him. 

"Tendra!" One of the Darkwatch called out. It was a young boy, no older than 16, that had come to Axeus, like Tendra, in order to be trained. However, Axeus rejected the boy and instead sent him to be trained under Captain Greith. The boy, followed by two older members, came to a halt in front of Tendra, panting heavily. The boy spoke again:

"Tendra, I'm so glad to see you! Axeus must have sent you to help, right?" The boy, named Elz, pointed to the lion Heartless. "That [i]thing[/i] wiped out our whole damn squad! We're the only ones left! The ones that were supposed to be on patrol duty are nowhere to be found, and the Captain was with them! The beast must have taken them out and made its way to us," the boy looked at Tendra with hopeful eyes. "So, what should we do?"

Just as the group met up with Tendra, the lion-like beast roared and leapt toward them. It bounded through the clearing quickly and easily, however, it stopped short in front of a large, burning pile of building and vines, likely set ablaze during the battle. The creature snarled at the fire and deliberately avoided it, correcting its course and leaping toward the group of four, claws and fangs bared in attack.

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Axeus watched as his apprentices fought the spawn of darkness in an intense battle of life or death. The elderly master was fully ready to let these two die before him should they not complete his task; for him, this was like watching a play, and he was entertained to the fullest. Like he had said, though, in his eyes it was merely a formality. He could sense their power, their potential, and knew that even these more difficult enemies could be overcome, be it through tactics or brute force, seething anger or calculated actions. As he watched the two young ones fight, he began to see their personalities blossom. The boy seemed to use more planning in his actions, but his execution left something to be desired. Axeus was unsure whether it was because Kotaro was hesitant to carry out his own plans or simply lacked training. Either way, he handled the situation rather adeptly, as expected from one trained by Taimus. However, something confused Axeus. He saw none of Tamius's brutishness in the boy. How could one be trained under such a relentless warrior and end up like this? Axeus rubbed his chin, his curiosity peaking once again as he noticed Kotaro's Keyblade, a blade wrapped in chains, in cloth, its form almost hidden. What lurked underneath that dark cover? This boy had proven to be more than met the eye, and Axeus would have to keep a close watch on him. As scarce as trust was in his faction, there was certainly none for Kotaro. Axeus didn't like the mystery that this boy posed, it was threatening, and he thought for a moment it might be best to nip it in the bud...

But then, he remembered the words of Helena, and his heart softened. Yes, as strange as Kotaro was, he was an important part of Axeus's plan. He knew this intrinsically. That is, unless the boy fell to the Neoshadows.

Axeus then switched his gaze to Isadora. He couldn't help but feel a stark contrast between the two. Where Kotaro offered him worrisome insecurity, Isadora simply radiated darkness, making him feel much more comfortable around her. Yes, Kotaro too had his darkness, but there was something to be said about being so calm, so passive, especially having been trained by one like Tamius. But, perhaps it was partially Axeus's fault; maybe his memory of Tamius was skewed; maybe he wasn't the ruthless killing machine he remembered him to be. That aside, Isadora's connection to Helena also made him feel closer to her. However, despite his preconceived notions, Axeus was fully prepared to let them prove themselves through battle and training. As he watched Isadora's gracefully merciless fighting, however, his favor toward the girl only grew. 

In a flurry of moves that seemed to last only seconds, Isadora charged the Heartless. Axeus could feel the emotion, the rage that built up inside her and spilled forth as she fought. His eyes widened as he watched the dance of death, his heart pumping quickly, excited by the carnage. Like Kotaro, she dealt with the mid-level Heartless rather adeptly, though in a very different way. She charged headlong into battle, fighting with unparalleled ferocity, and not letting up until her enemies were crushed. He loved it. She handily took care of the three that Axeus had sent her way, and, panting from exhaustion, went to pick back up her cape that she had tossed aside in battle... Axeus smiled.

[i]You won't be getting off that easily, child.[/i]

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Kotaro performed a split-second dodge as the three Heartless converged on his position, leaping back and cutting horizontally. His blade connected with the two to either side of him, causing them to be staggered, but not outright destroying them. This gave him enough time to perform a powerful finishing strike on the first Heartless, whom his leap but Kotaro just out of reach of. The strike was strong enough to destroy the Neoshadow in one shot, something that Master Axeus would surely take notice of. However, the two at his sides had recuperated at this point, and sprang toward him from both sides. They whipped themselves into a vortex-like attack, spinning through the air toward Kotaro, becoming veritable whirlwinds of claws and death.

As Isadora whipped her cape up from the ground and threw it back over her shoulders, a pool of black from underneath it took form and in a split second, a Neoshadow leapt out, swiping its claws at her chest and barreling toward her in an attempt to knock her down. It seemed that one of the Heartless she thought she had defeated simply took the form of a pool of darkness, lying in wait under her cape for when the time was right to strike...