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insusurro2020-05-19 01:47 pm
- [ event ],
- [ open ],
- [ whispers ],
- aerith [ asha ],
- aerith [ riddle ],
- andrea [ yan ],
- angeal [ ariel ],
- cid [ ariel ],
- cloud [ peach ],
- cor [ asha ],
- elena [ liz ],
- regis [ ariel ],
- reno [ abby ],
- rikku [ iola ],
- rude [ peach ],
- rude [ yan ],
- rufus [ hebe ],
- sephiroth [ bird ],
- sephiroth [ cat ],
- sephiroth [ nyan ],
- sephiroth [ sten ],
- shelke [ dalrint ],
- squall [ peach ],
- tifa [ ash ],
- tifa [ asha ],
- tseng [ mil ],
- veld [ hebe ],
- weiss [ shikki ],
- zack [ asha ]
ARRIVAL.
π ππ πππ π ππππ ππππ ππ ππππ πππ π you moved under your own power. The shadows that dwelt in the corners of your vision vanished, the world is bright and the shackles of destiny fall from your liberated limbs.
You're free.
But before you can take that next step, before you can alter your fate, a terrible howling fills your ears. It's an ill wind full of malice, one that rips you off of your feet and back, back, back from this chance to seize your destiny. The shadows coalesce into a single entity, its hands locking around your throat. It cannot let this stand.
You think that maybe this is the end. The world goes dark as it rushes past you, this is the end.
Except you wake to the feeling of rain on your skin.
The cliffs around you bare the scars of a fierce battle. Before you, a massive city faces the sea. Behind you, greenery sprawls for miles. Midgar has never looked so beautiful, but it has also never looked so unlike itself. The Sister Ray points proudly towards the sea. A bustling city crawls out from its shadow, looking wealthier and more robust than the slums ever did. You don't have long to ponder this.
Because you aren't alone. Others are coming to, looking just as confused and uncertain as you do. Some are battleworn and bloody, as if they were pulled from a fierce battle. Others appear to be in perfect health, as if they were simply pulled from a long slumber, though no less confused and lost. The howling that filled your slowly begins to fade, and as it does, the rain begins to clear.
ππππππ is within a few hours walking distance. ππππ lies not much further in the opposite direction. There is no presence urging you to walk to one or the other, no voice from on high telling you what path your feet should walk. Underneath this infinite blue sky the choice to go - or to stay - is entirely yours.
ππππ ππππ πππ ππ ππππ ππ?
I'm living for this thread omg
Yeah, I've been training a lot the passed five years. It's come in handy.
[She absolutely could carry him. She might even be able to throw him.]
What about you? What have you been up to?
Kdkdkdkd I'm so glad ME TOO
[ Five years? ]
Just... livin' the best of what the ex-SOLDIER life's got to offer. Road-trippin' 'round the world with my best friend, meetin' up with old acquaintances... dodging Turks in the jungle.
[ None of this is a lie, but it feels bad to say it this way. ]
The usual.
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[She's on that rather quickly. Cloud hasn't shared much of anything, about his time in SOLDIER, or after. When was there time, really?
Sorry, Zack. You're checking her out, and she keeps bringing up another guy.]
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Oh yeah. I've been keepin' him safe and outta trouble for you, no worries there. We were just on our way to Midgar when, uh...
[ He waves a hand around. ]
This happened.
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[She stops, and turns towards him. This isn't adding up.]
Cloud was just with me, right before... [Before??] whatever it was that knocked me out. He's been with me for a while. Months.
[Has it been months? Who knows. Time is weird on Gaia.]
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[ Zack has to dig his boots in to keep from bumping her again. You think he'd be more graceful outside of Showoff Mode but... Nah. He's just not. ]
With you? But he's...
[ Zack's shoulders roll. He doesn't want to worry her with Cloud's... Situation, so he's gotta suck it up, try to look thoughtful instead. ]
What do you mean he's been with you?
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I mean, he's been in Midgar, working as a mercenary. We've been working together, against Shinra.
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[ But... Cloud is... Zack is looking over his shoulder, like he'll suddenly spot the guy, even though he's combed the whole area about a thousand times in search of him. ]
Tiβ I'm...
[ Goddamn his head is hurting. ]
I'm tellin' you, he was right here with me not more'n a few hours ago. In Midgar? What...
[ Oof, his heart is skipping a beat. ]
What year is it? That explosion must've...
[ But the bodies. And the blood. And his wounds. None of that adds up. ]
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[Yeah you try typing that out into a word. I'm not. It's fine. They're both confused, and it just fits in to the mix.]
What year did you think it was?
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I dunno. Oh-two's the last Iβ
[ Nope you know what let's not be a Debbie Downer and mention that. ]
I figured it'd been a couple of years, but... Guess I thought it hadn't been that many. Five years.
[ As if repeating it will make it any better. You know what? Okay, five measly little years. Tifa dropped something a little more important than that, something better to focus on. ]
Cloud's okay?
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[Well, that's not completely true is it? And it feels like they're talking around something. Zack is playing keep away with details.]
At least, he was the last time I saw him. We need to find him and the others.
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He's falling back a little again. The multi-tasking is not strong with this one. ]
... "The others?" Who's that?
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Our friends, Barret, Red and Aerith. Yeah, I bet Aerith might understand what's happening.
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[ Now Zack is very far behind. He has to rush to catch up, his eyes wide, one hand extended to clasp Tifa's shoulder so he can hop around her andβ ]
You know Aerith!?
[ If you think you've seen excitement before Tifa, hoo boy, you're sure in for a lesson in things you don't know now. ]
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Yeah. She's been helping us. Maybe guiding us. It's kind of a long story.
How do you know her?
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[ 'My girlfriend?' 'The love of my life?' 'The only home I really know anymore?' Do any of these apply anymore? It's been five years. Maybe she... doesn't even remember him.
Not that that's a sad thing. Imagine, Aerith and Cloud and Tifa raising holy hell together, along with whoever all those other people are. Badass! He always knew she had it in her. ]
An old friend. How's she doin', anyway? Livin' it up in the lap of luxury with all that flower money? She some kinda botanical baron now?
[ Zack's step is a little bouncier beside her now, his grin a sight brighter. ]
C'mon, gimme the deets.
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But in standard Tifa fashion, she doesn't ask.]
Well, we've only known each other for a little while. She and her mother have a beautiful home in Sector 5 slums. But things have happened. It's kind of a long story.
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[ Probably more than he's supposed to, in fact. He has no idea how he's still alive, so what better way to spend it than dishing on all his old friends?
Nevermind that subtle kick of FOMO when he realizes that these are probably adventures they should have been having together. But he wasn't there. So... ]
Don't hold out on me now, Tifa. I gotta know. Pleeeeasepleasepleaseplease.
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[And it's a few years before she figures out where to start.]
I met hey first, when she and Cloud showed up, to help me with some undercover work. I was trying to get information out of Don Corneo, and they... Decided to show up as the other candidates.
[Oh that's... probably not something Cloud would want her to share. She'll just skip the details.]
We ended up finding out that things were bigger than we thought. She helped us evacuate Sector 7, when Shinra dropped the plate. Sacrificed herself to the Turks to protect Barret's daughter, Marlene. So we went and got her out.
It's just... There's so much more to it, I don't know how to describe it all....
[She looks over at him then, feeling the weight of what she about to tell him, like a physical thing.]
Sephiroth is alive. He's trying to destroy everything. Not just the planet, but the future itself. And it's like Aerith knows. Or maybe she always knew. I'm not really sure.
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Yeah. She... always had a way of knowin' things like that.
[ He's still moving with her, he's just...going a little slow. There are lots of pieces to put together. For one, Sephiroth, still alive? He'd always kind of assumed. After everything with Genesis, it just made a whole heap of sense that Sephiroth, the best of them all, could do it too.
Kinda irks him that those copies had to munch on his hair when there were perfectly good S-cells out there somewhere, but hey. Life's never been fair.
The rest is just...
Where the fuck was he? Why did the world become such a crazy place in all those years he lost? Dropping a plate? Sacrificing Aerith? There's just too much to speak on and only one right way to respond to this painfully wild ride his friends have been on.
He steps forward a few quick steps and wraps his arms around Tifa, squeezing her softly. ]
I'm so sorry. I should've been there.
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The hug takes her by surprise, and it's a couple seconds before she returns the embrace. It's...nice, to have a little comfort, after everything.]
You're here now. That's what's important.
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It's what Zack is good at, anyway. Even if he couldn't be there for all that, he can be here for this now, and maybe that makes a little bit of difference in the long run. ]
That's right. And I ain't goin' nowhere.
[ Zack lets himself breathe into the embrace for just a secondβa second that stretches on far longer than he means it to. The comfort goes both ways. ]
Looks like you're stuck with me now, kiddo.
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The hug lingers, and threatens to bring up emotions she's been repressing for days. So much has happened, a lot of it horrible. But she latches into what he says, as an excuse to cut the tension.]
Who are you calling a kid?
[She let's it be a tease, as she pulls back. Gives him a punch in the arm, that only hints at what she can really do with her fists.]
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He's pulling punches too, lifting a loosely-clenched fist to tap her back on the shoulder. No force behind it, just a playful little tick. ]
I'm callin' you a kid, kid. Whatcha gonna do about it?
[ Yeah. He gets it. She needs an excuse to break the tension. Don't they all? ]
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Keep calling me 'kid', and you'll find out.
[An empty, playful threat. Zack's a SOLDIER. He could probably take her. She'd give him a run for it, but she's no fool.]
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