paixaorpg | [not really sure what to put here...]

Current Mood: confused
Current Location: Vanaheim Gate

Entry tags:

[not really sure what to put here...]

Characters: Cloud Strife, Zack Fair and Squall Leonheart
Content: Cloud arrives in Paixao, only... younger???
Setting: Vanaheim Gate.
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: N/A

Cloud slowly eased himself into a sitting position, rubbing his aching tailbone. That hurt… He wasn’t sure what had set off his sergeant in the first place, but their impromptu patrolling duty had turned into a disastrous event as soon as they were attacked by monsters in the outskirts of Midgar.

He didn’t recall much; just that he was leading the monsters away from his platoon so they could regroup and attack – just because he was small and fast and then there was a… there was another monster that slammed into his back and now he was…

“Where am I?” He wondered, glancing about the strange place he’d suddenly found himself in. This was neither the outskirts nor even Midgar, in the off-chance that he’d fainted and had to be carried back to HQ. It was quite the opposite, really. The floor he stood on was not the gravelly surface he’d expected to land on but rather on beautiful marble tiles. He looked up and stared at the strange domed ceiling he first mistook as the natural sky until he realized it was merely an artful painting.

In fact, a lot of the things here were fake. Cloud frowned, crouching down to touch a potted plant, the petals hard and cold against his fingers. They weren’t even the usual synthetic fake plants. They were made of glass.

Disturbed already, he looked around, spotting a short line of people by a gate of ... fruitful trees made of inorganic material. He stood, dusting off his knees and jogged over, relieved that he wasn’t alone.

“Excuse me,” he said, raising his voice a little to be heard. “I’d like to ask where we…” he trailed off as many sets of blue eyes bore into his own, all in an eerie, similar shade. “…are.” He swallowed, unnerved by how every one of them looked so pale, all with pale blond hair – even paler than his own features. Their clothes were also different, and he didn’t know how any of them could even breathe in them.

Then the whispers started up and he cringed away, hearing their words with uncanny hearing trained by years and years of similar regard. It was the same in Nibelheim, the same in ShinRa and it was the same here.

Wherever ‘here’ was.

The last thing he’d heard from the suddenly hushed group was the word “traveler” and then he was grabbed and pushed to the front of the line, staring up a man so eerily like the others and gave his name upon being questioned. Not too long after, he was inside the gates with an armful of pamphlets and an electric journal he knew he couldn’t buy with his meager salary.

And he was so, so confused.

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While Squall wasn't entirely surprised that he'd been forced to act as a tour guide for Zack yet again - especially since he'd let him spend the night - he couldn't really help but hope that he wouldn't have to keep to doing it for too much longer. Maybe that was the reason he'd been heading towards the general vicinity of the gate ever since they'd got off the train. Or maybe he was hoping someone he knew had finally arrived and could mange to get him out of tour guide duty.

He wasn't even really paying much attention to the assorted sights of the city as they passed them, save for pointing them out as best he could and trying to answer Zack's questions about places he hadn't ever been inside.

Whether or not the fact that he was very much out of his depth at the moment was visible was debatable and largely up to how well Zack could read a guy he'd only met the day before, especially given that he was keeping his expression as neutral as possible.

Even if it was evident that Squall had not been to many of the places he had been asked about, Zack thought the man made a pretty decent guide. And in all actuality, Zack was starting to pick up things about Squall that enabled him to at least know when his question had been answered indirectly. The man was a talker, a very succinct one at that if you knew where to look. Speaking more with his body than with his words, the other man gave very clear signals as to when Zack had partially interested him, or even when Zack had pushed the man nearly too far.

It was like Sephiroth watching all over again.

And because he'd been watching, Zack was able to at least talk the man into giving him a continuance of yesterday's tour. He was interested in knowing about his environment (always know your surroundings, don't be caught off-guard,) but in this case, was more interested in whether he could locate anyone he knew.

After reanalyzing yesterday's words, Zack felt that Squall was pretty much doing the same.

Buster sword harnessed (and Zack had yet to sit down and wonder why he still had his sword when it should have been impaled nice and deep within that cliff on the outskirts of Midgar), hands laced behind his head and a bounce in his steps, Zack let the other man lead them wherever he wanted to go.

His steps faltered, though, when Zack caught a bright yellow glimpse through the space in the constantly moving crowd.

Chocobo tail feathers?

"Hey, Squall," he called out to the other man, "I thought you said they didn't have chocobos here. You lied, man."

What was really starting to unsettle him was that this place had nothing to remind him of Midgar. Or anything from anywhere at all.

Blond, blond, blonde, blond... that was as much as Cloud could see if he tilted his head back to look at the people he passed. It was slightly unnerving to see so many of his coloring in one place. Nibelheim had no other blonds other than himself and his mother and Midgar, while diverse, scarcely had any blonds he'd ever seen other than the Shinras and from what he'd seen of Scarlet through the posters of his peers.

He was really starting to wonder just where he was. Sighing, he spotted an unoccupied bench and made his way over, removing and putting away his helmet, the blond looked at the mini-computer he held in his hand and gently placed it into his helmet, fishing in his pockets for his PHS.

Map Unavailable. Out of Area Range.

Cloud groaned, flopping onto the seat wearily. Useless.

His sergeant was so going to kill him.

"They don't," he answered. "Or at least ... they didn't." After all, there wasn't any particularly good reason a chocobo couldn't come in through the gates. There didn't really seem to be anything in the way of rhyme or reason as far as who came in the gates after all. Or if there was one it wasn't one he had figured out yet.

"Why would a chocobo be all the way out here though?" Whatever Paixao might have been it most certainly wasn't a forest, no matter how you looked at.

Maybe ... it wasn't a chocobo? Looks could be deceiving after all.

"I don't know. Maybe they're thinking of supplementing the public transportation?" Which, in retrospect, sounded quite silly to Zack's ear. The train system they had taken had been more than adequate- swift, spacious, and convenient due to the area it covered and served.

There was something to be said for the freedom and companionship of having a chocobo, however.

"But I'm pretty sure I just saw one, Squall. Over there," Zack reaffirmed, one hand coming down to point at the general area he had seen the bright flash of color and butt. "You don't think it's lost or something, do you? Maybe we could catch it. And ride it!" Zack was starting to get excited with the idea, the thought that they wouldn't have to wait at trains stops or pay for fares. They could worry about just where they could house the creature and find greens later.

"I mean, the poor thing needs a home if it's lost, right? We're practically doing a civil service! Come on!" In his enthusiasm, Zack moved to latch onto Squall's arm, prepared to drag the man after him if his grip landed true. Either way, Zack was pushing through the crowd, making his way towards the 'chocobo'.

Cloud liked chocobos. In fact, he really wanted to have one someday. And while he'd been teased many times about resembling a chocobo, he didn't mind it too much. They were, after all, very intelligent creatures. But had he known that he had been mistaken for a chocobo's butt, Cloud ... had no idea how he would react really. Which was fine, because he didn't know he was mistaken for a chocobo's butt.

Running a hand through his spikes, Cloud stared at his useless PHS, biting his lip at his predicament. He had no means of contacting HQ; his messages couldn't be sent and every time he tried calling, he got disconnected. Where was he exactly?

He picked up the machine he'd been given, lowering his head to examine the black-covered top. It was really as expensive as he thought, feeling a bit awed and just a little bit worried when he'd turned it on and was shown a map.

This was really expensive. The blond feared losing it. Maybe it was rental? The people at the gate were awfully insistent that he take it.

With a sigh, he looked at the map again, picking out the nearest place he could find directions to Midgar and stood.

Maybe he could find something familiar. He bit his lip, unaware of the oncoming factor that will change and had changed his life.

Woe to Cloud.

"Wouldn't they have said something about that?" It was only logical to let the townspeople know about all the options at hand right? Okay, so he could understand the fact that perhaps not everyone was familiar with the concepts of chocobos as things-which-one-can-ride, and wouldn't be horribly surprised if keeping chocobos long-term cost a fair bit, but still. After all, it only made sense to let people know about all the options at hand, right?

Any further speculation on the subject however, was rather abruptly cut off as Zack grabbed his arm in his attempt to pull him towards the 'chocobo' (or whatever it turned out to be) and try as he might, he couldn't manage to wiggle his way free and thereby escape his fate.

Guess he'd just have to deal with whatever came out of this one. Hopefully it wouldn't be too awkward.

_{[[OOC: Do we have a posting order?]]}

Deftly pushing through the crowd, Zack amusedly thought that the way to take Squall off guard was to attack when he least expected it. He had managed to drag the man along, and wasn't sure just how much longer his grip would be allowed. Either way, he figured they'd both benefit from this bout of chocobo wrangling.

Except, when the finally cornered the chocobo Zack had spotted before, he quickly realized that the 'chocobo' was not a chocobo at all. In his surprise, Zack's grip on Squall loosened, the former SOLDIER First reduced to staring with disbelief at the sight before him.

Cloud. Little Cloud. Not that he would ever mention that out loud, a small part of Zack's mind that was still functioning and was very much interested in self-preservation supplied. There was no denying though that the soldier standing in profile approximately twenty feet away was a cadet, complete with gear, rifle, and big, earnest blue eyes that just took in everything.

It was completely unexpected that he would ever see Cloud in this manner, having entertained the thought of seeing the battle-hardened fighter that walked around with an underlying tone of sadness to him. Zack had planned on ruffling that Cloud out of his slump, possibly even sitting on him until he'd agreed to be more open and just smile already, but this. This was a whole new game.

Several thoughts simultaneously fought for the forefront of Zack's mind, several of which included 'Holy Ifrit's balls, he's so little! How cute!' and 'No way, no way, no freaking way' and 'Geez, isn't that an older model low recoil, single barrel rifle? Didn't they, like, melt those down to make hole punchers or something?', and the one that managed to swiftly slay the rest of the thoughts to stand king of the hill, 'Cloud. Oh gods, I missed him so much'.

It was therefore entirely forgivable that the man promptly and enthusiastically launched himself at the other boy.

It was probably the instinct ingrained through training that made Cloud's hair rise up. Or it was probably all his experience from Nibelheim, living in a treacherously dangerous place where the weather was finicky and would easily just change from a good day and into a snow storm capable of raining hail the size of his fist. It could also be partly due to how he grew up as a scapegoat and a victim of the village bullies.

He paused, feeling something not quite as ominious as an ambush, something that was beyond the predictability of people and their reaction to him; something that was just as fast and just as unpredictable as the Nibel storms. He gripped his rifle tight, shifting it into a hold that would make it easier to shoot and turned his head slightly to the side.

Fast. Too fast. Cloud's mountain-honed instincts screamed 'monster' but he thought 'SOLDIER' and he settled into a different stance, hoping that his weapon would actually work this time, Odin damned Shinra manufacturing but this wasn't the time to think about that, Strife!

Something big, strong and heavy crashed into him, sending both of them flying to land on the ground, taking what was left of his breath and there were no claws or talons tearing at him, no teeth ripping his spleen from his body.

Morbid thoughts, Cloud, morbid thoughts.

But he wasn't on his back, which was strange. He cracked an eye open, his fingers twitching against his hold on his weapon - Sarge would be so proud! And then he'd send Cloud to kitchen duty again - and realized why. It wasn't a monster who collided with him. It was a...

He paled in mortification then suddenly he blushed, scrambling to get out of a tight hold. "S-sir!"

Squall blinked in mild confusion as Zack launched himself at the not-actually-a-chocobo (he'd been right in there not being chocobos, at least). Apparently he knew this guy, whoever he was. And had possibly been looking for him. Which ... wasn't too terribly surprising given the nature of this place.

Kid was a jumpy little thing though. Either he wasn't expecting to be tackled by Zack or was naturally jumpier than a cactuar on a sugar high. And honestly? He could see it being either one of those options. Or maybe a combination of the two. He seemed to have a decent enough idea on how to wield that gun at least, which was something anyway.

"I take it you know him then?"

His happy glee glomping, executed perfectly to ensure that he had taken the brunt of their landing and leaving Cloud resting safely on top, was interrupted by Squall's voice, not that the interruption was unwelcome. It allowed Zack to gather whatever passed for his common sense in situations like these and answer in a voice full of content happiness to Squall, "Of course I know him! You don't think I accost innocent bystanders like this everyday, do you Squall?"

Squall himself didn't count.

Zack slightly frowned in disappointment the next moment as Cloud scrambled out of his grasp. Although more than capable of keeping the cadet grounded against him, Zack was sure Cloud would die of embarrassment if he didn't let the other go. He wouldn't have minded hugging the other for a little longer though, just enough to assure himself that Cloud was here, safe, albeit a little younger. And uh, more nervous.

Heh. He'd almost forgotten how skittish the cadet had been at that age.

"Hey, none of that cadet. Unless you're going to be calling me Sir Pranks a Lot. Then, you know, carry on."

Had he the presence of mind to actually listen and discern what the SOLDIER and his companion were saying, Cloud would probably have been flummoxed that a SOLDIER First Class 'knew' him. He would probably even tried and succeeded in convincing himself that it was only because he was a MP that he would be recognized. They had uniforms, after all.

He straightened, fearful that a CO was on the ground because of him, wondering just what kind of punishment detail he would be assigned and if he was going to be kicked out of Shinra just because he couldn't dodge fast enough. He swallowed, trying to fix his face into a mask of professionalism rather than the cactuar-in-the-headlights expression he was sure he was wearing. He saluted sharply.

Dark hair, SOLDIER First uniform... it couldn't be Captain Fair. He'd heard that the newest First Class was only a few years his senior, much younger than this man, so this couldn't be him. Then the only other person he could be was Angeal Hewley.

Cloud looked tried to keep his confusion from showing, but he wasn't sure if he was doing a good job. That couldn't be right. They said Hewley had a stick up his- Cloud ruthlessly killed that thought for the sake of his sanity and longevity. "Sir."

Better just go along with it, then.

_{[[OOC: Erm. This Cloud = just before he gets assigned to Modeoheim, a little after Zack got promoted and he doesn't know that Angeal defected. Yay, Shinra, you fail as a good company.]]}

"Depends. You want the truth or not?" After all given what little he'd seen so far Zack was pretty good at accosting random strangers. It wouldn't have been his choice to act as tour guide to someone he scarcely knew after all. He'd take him at his word about knowing the kid though. Or would for now at least - despite the fact the kid seemed ready to bolt at the wrong word.

To be honest, it almost looked like Zack jumping the kid had made things worse for some reason. But he figured that if Zack knew him there wasn't any real reason for him to get to involved. Besides, no sense in confusing the kid further than he already seemed to be. For now, he'd just let Zack handle things.

"Your truth or mine?" Zack bantered. He could imagine Squall would have had protests to having led an unknown man around this place. But from what he'd seen so far, Squall could more than use the company, at least until he'd found the people he was waiting for.

Deftly righting himself from off the floor, Zack took a few moments to stretch his arms and shoulders. Right. Landing on his back with his sword attached to his holster, Not The Smartest Thing To Do, especially since it had been voluntary. But it was a negligible pain, something Zack dealt with to give him time to study this Cloud. Who was in full salute stance. Looking like he might just die any second.

If he hadn't remembered that this Cloud was not his last remembered Cloud, the reiterated 'sir' more than cinched it.

"At ease, cadet. And I do mean, at ease," Zack added, his mental Cloud squaring his shoulders more at the command to show just how reliable he can be. Zack knew he was reliable. If the last eight years hadn't shown that, nothing would.

Planting his hands on hips, more to forestall his hand from shooting out and ruffling untamed spikes (that could come later, Zack reasoned, once he'd dispensed with the nervous chocobo syndrome), the SOLDIER bounced slightly on his toes, figuring the best way to get answers was to play the officer card.

"Cadet Strife. Why are you here?"

Finding himself in a new place was nothing new to Reno - he'd done it many times before in the course of his work with the Turks. Okay, so the place didn't really look like anywhere on Gaia, and technically he did have somewhere he was supposed to be, but he could deal with that. Not like he hadn't gotten himself into and out of trouble on a variety of occasions already. Once more wasn't likely to hurt, after all. Especially not if he had a decent reason.

Besides it was ... information gathering. After all, if ShinRa hadn't heard about the place he was doing them a favor. Besides, it was about time he had some time where he wasn't running all over the place - he'd done a little too much of that lately for his own liking. Besides this place had ... possibilities, even if they were a little monotonous-looking. Blond, blond, blond, chocobo, blonde - hadn't these people ever heard of originality? Or hair dye?

...Wait a minute. Chocobo? Either his mind was playing trick on him or ... no, on second glance that did indeed appear to be a chocobo. Well now, that could be interesting. Especially if no one had claimed it yet.

Which clearly meant that it was time to stroll rather nonchalantly over. The fact it wasn't a chocobo but a younger version of Cloud? Was mildly confusing as was the fact that Cloud was accompanied by a guy he'd last seen dead and a guy he'd never seen before, but he didn't let that show on his face. He'd get the answers eventually, no need to ask them now. Besides, it would be interesting to see if he could get the kid to flail and more so if he really was a younger version of Cloud.

"And just what do we have here?"

At ease? He wasn't sure if he could manage being at ease. Cloud shifted into a more casual stance, feeling some of the stress alleviate. Better. It made his shoulders hurt less. He tilted his head slightly, keeping his eyes foreward and not on either of the men, though he couldn't help but glance at either of them.

Angeal Hewley was as imposing and impressive as he'd heard, wearing the SOLDIER First uniform unlike that of the others who preferred to change their clothes. What was unexpected was the grin and the way he shifted around like an eager chocobo - no, no, there was no reason for him to be, nor was there reason for him to look so happy.

He glanced at the other man, closer to Cloud's age but with just as much presence as the dark-haired man. His stance was stiff and precise, his gaze disapproving and just a touch unreadable that Cloud knew that this man was a skilled fighter. Even if his eyes didn't glow, he looked very capable of blowing Cloud's head off.

Or chop it. That was... He paled, snapping his eyes back towards his CO. While it wasn't as big as Angeal's sword, he was sure that the monster combination of a gun and a sword was a complex weapon that would be on par with the Buster. And he didn't want to be at the recieving end.

Pity. If he could have a better look, he would have loved it.

"Sir, we were on a monster extermination when..." the blond paused, a little fuzzy on the details there. "When we were attacked. I was" knocked out, he thought with a grimace, "put out of commission. When I woke up, I was here, sir."

He really didn't want to admit that he fainted, especially not to a SOLDIER. He looked down, berating himself for his weakness. "If I may ask, Colonel... where are we?"

_{[[how far is Reno?]]}

'Put out of commision?' Why not just say 'knocked out' and be done with it. There wasn't any problem with admitting something'd taken you down. Not in a serious fight anyway - monsters weren't always easy to take down. Either the kid was afraid of showing weakness in front of someone who outranked him or had some serious problems with self-worth.

"It's called Paixao." Okay, so the kid had asked Zack the question, but that didn't mean he couldn't answer it. Might take some of the sting out of it, even.

The redhead who just showed up... might be more of a concern. Sure, he might seem nonchalant, but that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't a threat. He'd have to make sure to keep an eye on him just in case. Wouldn't do to get careless after all.

"Squall's right, Spike. It looks like we're in the middle of a random tourist trap, where expensive things make good decoration fillers," Zack added to Squall's announcement, smiling kindly at the younger boy. Squall looked like he had restrained himself from bluntly stating that the kid had just fainted, and Zack was grateful for that. The last thing they needed to do was embarrass the kid further.

Speaking of holding back, Zack knew that now was not the time to start doing that, not while the boy in front of him looked so visibly unhappy at his perceived performance. "It sounds like you held your ground with those monsters. Good job, soldier."

SOLDIER senses kicked in a moment later, however, having been more focused on the other two in front of him but still able to keep a perimeter for danger. Spotting the head of red wasn't difficult, and hearing that drawling tone was the last thing that Zack had expected. A TURK? Here? Zack wasn't going to allow them to take Cloud, not if this Reno was still after him. And though they'd had a buddy relationship in the past, all bets were off when it come to the safety of his best friend. "Turk," Zack intoned lowly, stepping deftly in front of Cloud.

Edited 2008-01-26 05:03 (UTC)

Well now, looked like someone was a bit protective of the kid. Not that he needed to worry really - he'd only been after them because it'd been his job to. Besides, it didn't much matter if ShinRa weren't here. Zack'd even given him some information about the place.

Okay, technically he'd given it to Cloud and not him, but he wasn't really picky about the source of information. After all it was the information itself that mattered the most and not where it had come from.

"Oh reaaaaaaally? And here I hadn't noticed, yo."

He wasn't going to bother coming much closer to either of them for they time being though. After all, he wasn't as unobservant has he let himself seem and he didn't really feel like seeing whether or Turk could take a SOLDIER or not (he had a sneaking suspicion the answer turn up 'not').

"But I wonder... what are you doing here SOLDIER-boy? Could've sworn you should've been in the Lifestream, yo." He might have actually been there to see him die, but he'd certainly heard the reports. And none of them could explain this one.

Spike?! He slammed down on the irritation that came alive at the odd nickname, his eyes gazing at the brunet's untamed spiky hair. He doesn't have any right to call me Spike!

He rerouted his indignity into something a bit more appropriate.

A random tourist trap? Decoration fillers? He thought incredelously, looking between the two men in what he hoped was professional curiosity. While it did certainly look that way, with all the sparkling plants, it didn't seem as if either man actually knew where they were. In a technical sense.

That just couldn't be right. Because they were in... wherever this place was, Pai...xao, was it? And it was impossible to not know where you end up.

Just because Cloud didn't know where he was, it didn't mean that a SOLDIER didn't know where he landed in. ... right?

"I've... never heard about it before." He cursed being from a backwater town. He really did.

He startled at the praise, fighting and losing against the blush that crept up his cheeks, snapping into another salute. "Sir, thank you sir."

"Turk?" The blond echoed, turning around sharply when Hewley strode past him, catching sight of the redhead, just a bit more into the 'scruffy' side than he'd expected. He knew there was a great deal of animosity between the divisions of SOLDIER and the Turks, but the way they looked at each other...

Cloud stepped a little closer to Leon, using himself as a buffer between the Turk and the gunblader. While he wasn't sure what his affiliation or his skills were, he didn't want him to be hurt over this.

"Sir Hewley?" He frowned in confusion. "What does he mean that you should be in the Lifestream?"

By this point, things were rapidly moving into the realm of things that Squall just couldn't quite manage to figure out. He'd gotten the 'was dead' speech from Zack already and that explained that bit about him being in the Lifestream at least. The rest... that was a little more confusing. That Zack and this 'Turk' guy (was that his name or not?) had some sort of animosity between them, that much was (relatively) clear. What was interesting was that the kid hadn't considered the guy a threat until Zack had said something. Or maybe he just hadn't heard him?

Best to just let them deal with for now - it wasn't his problem anyway. Not that he wouldn't hold his ground if the guy attacked him, but he didn't really expect him to, given he didn't seem to be paying him much attention.

Zack would have made a snarky, semi-joking remark to Reno's comment about his stint in the Lifestream, he really would, if Cloud hadn't managed to punch an Angeal sized hole in his defenses with those words.

Keeping his back to the other soldier, Zack tried and almost failed to keep the pain of what had happened to his late mentor from his face. Reno would exploit any weakness if it benefited him to do so, Zack knew, and he was not one to give others a freebie shot.

"Shut it, Reno. Cloud. I'm not Angeal." Zack hoped his tone was jovial enough, the tone not tight or drawn, and that Reno, as sharp as Zack knew he was, would take the hint and save his more comments for later. Zack had no problems hashing it out with the other, but would prefer it not be done in front of Cloud.

"And...I was dead, Cloud. For a little while. But I'm not here to hurt you," Zack explained in his most reasonable tone, for his sake if not for Cloud's.

Looking back at the silent gunblade master, Zack tried to figure out the odds of counting on him to watch Cloud's back if this all went to Hel. Knowing Cloud the way he had, the boy would jump in to help his superior, even at the detriment of his own health.

For once Reno actually manages to stay silent when asked to - even though it looks like he might want to say something. But given that this looks like serious discussion time and he'd really rather not have Zack go after his head just now. Or ever, really, but may as well deal with the immediate first.

And well, it looked like it was time for explanation-by-Zack anyway. And hey! Maybe he could pick up some more things about this place in the meantime. Couldn't hurt to know more, after all.

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