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Mar 29, 2024 1:49:21 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 19:40:51 GMT -5
From all around, the landscape was a singular white backdrop. The sky a dark gray, the chill biting at any exposed flesh. From the snowy expanse rose several sharp peaks as jagged as daggers from the earth. They seemed painfully stilted, and so desolate that no one in their right mind would even think about traversing them by themselves. Even now, a storm was brewing among those peaks, sending fresh snow spiraling around in painful gusts.
Nanaki didn't know how long he had traveled out in the open. He had faced the harshness of the Northern Crater in the fight against Sephiroth with the others, and had fared better than many of them had (especially Tifa, given her choice of dress), but this was something beyond what he had expected. Through that forest with its ghostly apparitions haunting its depths to these frozen mountains, the fire-red beast had been through some rough transitions lately. And no telling where the trail would take him next to get home to Gaia...
Finding home was the least of his problems right now, though. Even with his fur protecting him, the elements were starting to wear the beast down. Snow stuck to his mane like a coating of flour, and all his muscles ached from the constant trudging he made up the mountains so far. Not for the first time, he questioned exactly why he decided to take this little detour in the first place. The other option was the large city at the foot of the mountains, and the main drawback to that was getting the common people, and perhaps the guards, riled up over a talking animal appearing in their midst. Especially one looking as grizzled and dangerous as he did.
But now, perhaps it may have been worth attempting. At least it would have been warmer.
Red XIII looked back to his tail. Its flame was low, so very low. He wouldn't last much longer out in the open without shelter to wait out the storm. He could start a fire in a cave or something...
Just the thought of warmth made his legs weak with longing. With a weary sigh, Red XIII trudged on, until, after a few more steps, he gave a groan and collapsed into the snow. He... he always thought he'd die a warrior's death, not out in the cold. What would Cloud and the others think if they heard? Maybe they would never find out what happened to him. The people in Cosmo Canyon... they'd never...
His eye fluttered, and started to close.
Grandfather...
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Mar 29, 2024 1:49:21 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2014 20:40:24 GMT -5
Zack Fair was cold.
He walked down the trail leading down the mountain and shuddered slightly. He had felt cold like this close to Modeoheim, so it wasn't unfamiliar. But, it still sucked.
He trudged down through the snow, the wind cutting through him like a blade, his shuddering breath visible in the air in front of him. His bare arms were close to numb, but, his SOLDIER training gave him the skills to survive. He stopped for a moment and took a knee, looking around for anything that he could use to build a fire. He would set up camp here, since the sun was clearly setting.
"Phew... let's see..." he scanned the area, and nodded to a nice, thick tree. "That'll do great!" he said, bouncing up and jogging over to the tree. Before he could reach it, he caught his leg on something under the snow, tripping and sprawling to the ground with a loud UMPH!! He pushed himself up, shaking the snow off of his face and pulling himself up and turning to see that the rock he tripped on was furry. Also, red. He leaned over and poked it, squinting at the fur and seeing what looked like a tattoo, the number XIII etched-
"... Red XIII...? Ah! Cloud's friend!!" he dusted the snow off of the fallen warrior, and turned, brandishing the Buster Sword and slicing the tree into several logs. He set up a quick firepit and stacked some of the logs up close to his friend, aiming a Fire spell at the wood, the fireball igniting the logs, and soon, settling into a steady flame. He brushed more snow off of the warrior that helped Cloud so much in his adventure, glad he could see someone that he recognized. Though, he had yet to find Aerith, it was nice to know that Cloud and the others were ok, and at least this way, he can start banding everyone back together. Once he found Cloud, he would be able to establish the team again, join up with them, invite Aerith along, and all become heroes!
It took a moment before he realized he was daydreaming, looking up to the sky and smiling a little. He shook his head and leaned forward, having sat down on the cold ground, and placed his hand on the young beast's side. "Good... you're breathing." he said, letting out a sigh of relief. "Hey. XIII. Wake up, bud. You're not alone." he said calmly, giving the warrior a light push, trying to rouse him from this cold induced sleep. He only hoped that this hero, this warrior of light, would come to, soon. It was lonely up in the mountains. -------------------------- Techniques used Firaga - Used as Fire for exposition purposes, but, in essence is the same thing. Used non-combat. Tags: Red XIII/Nanaki - (Soon) Elsa Thread theme?[[OOC Note: Zack knows Nanaki, but, I wonder what ol' Red'll think waking up to Zack?]]
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2014 5:46:39 GMT -5
It was lonely up in the mountains, but Elsa liked them for that reason.
She wrapped her arms across her chest as she climbed ever higher. Even in her snowflake-motif high heels, Elsa had little issue climbing the steep slopes. Perhaps it had something to do with her connection to the snow, to the fact that the world on the outside (especially in places like these) reflected the storm in her heart, or the fact that, unbeknownst even to her, her every step was leaving behind little plates of ice that kept the bottoms of her shoes frozen to the side of the mountain whenever she stopped moving.
Whatever the reason, she was nearly at the top now. She stopped for a moment to admire the beauty of the majestic peak she'd found for herself. It stood tall and straight, like an arrow, primed against a thick brown string that was the Earth, ready to hurtle into the heavens. The summit itself was a crude spike and nigh uninhabitable, even for the Snow Queen, but Elsa could appreciate it regardless. She liked how it stood, tall, proud and indifferent to the world, as snow billowed around its rocky body and the wind pounded at its foundations, and refused to budge even one inch.
Nothing could move a mountain. Nothing could bother them, upset them, manipulate them. They simply stood there, dark shapes on the horizon.
How she wished she could be a mountain, with a heart of stone and a sturdy base that didn't sink and rise like the wind at every little provocation. How she wished she could be a mountain, and not the snow and ice that flew around it, fell off of it, covered it in frigid beauty. She was like the snow that circled this mountain: a pretty decoration with no integrity, manipulated around its peak by swirling, unforgiving winds and then blown away, to fall back down to Earth to be trodden on.
It didn't surprise her, the fear she brought to every town she visited. Maybe it was because she'd changed in the last month, ever since she'd met Xehanort. The ice seemed to seep out of her at every turn now, as if the loose hold on it she'd once had had been wrenched out of her hands. Every step brought icy destruction with it, it seemed. But it was worth it, right? If she could see Anna again?
Get a hold of yourself, she thought. Thinking like this isn't going to get you anywhere... you have a job to do.
Elsa sighed, bringing her arms up to her chest. She gave herself a little squeeze, a faux-hug, as if it would help the conflicting emotions raging inside that only added to the frosty breeze outside. Indeed, the mountain top had been stormy on its own, but as Elsa's untapped feelings joined the mix, the winds caught on and began to truly bellow. What once had been a brisk breeze quickly escalated into dangerous gusts, brushing huge snowbanks clear off the sides of the mountain and carrying flecks of ice into the air, only to pound them back down into the rocks.
Of course, even in her remote, frozen paradise, she could not stop it.
She placed her hands on her head and screwed up her eyes.
Conceal, don't feel, conceal...
She couldn't. Of course she couldn't. How could she conceal a blizzard like this? Was she supposed to conceal how confused she was, how hopeless, how lost... how desperate she was, too?
Without thinking, she stomped her foot down beneath her. A giant snowflake spread from the sole of her foot, expanding in frozen fractals around her. She threw her arms up and rode the platform as it rose, pillars of ice firing up at its edges. She spun and waved her hands until walls rose up to fill in the gaps between the pillars and, before long, a majestic palace made entirely of ice stood just below the summit of the mountain, its surface gleaming brightly despite the grey sky, the raging winds and the swirling snow.
Its glow, even if somewhat obscured by the storm, even reached down through the haze to where a man and his friend were gathered by a small fire in the snow.
-------------------------------------- Abilities Used:
[Icechitect] (For plot purposes, outside of battle). D: N/A; C: OpT. Large structure: Ice Palace. Condition: Stable.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2014 23:15:19 GMT -5
The darkness swirled in front of his eyes, becoming vague shapes and barely recognizable vectors within the shadows of his mind. Nanaki tried to make sense of them, but it was hard to concentrate on any one thing in particular. Some seemed like shapes of his friends, some from people he knew long before the events of the Jenova Crisis. Other canine forms swam to the forefront, creatures he couldn't place being in his memory before. Were they... ancestors? He couldn't tell...
He thought he could hear something, off in the distance. It sounded like the voice of someone, and one of the shadows grew to a familiar shape. It seemed to be telling him to wake up, but... he felt as though he didn't want to. Here he was safe to drift like a small flotsam in the sea, away from the troubles of everything else.
But the voice wouldn't leave him alone. It seemed to insist on him awakening from wherever he was, even if he would rather stay in this blissful oblivion state. The shape grew in form and detail, finally outlining strong features he thought he knew well. A familiar sword slung behind the back, familiar armor and clothes, the build and even the way it held itself was the same as...
"Cloud..?"
His voice was hoarse-sounding and scratched him terribly, but his eye blurred the scene into focus. He suddenly remembered where he was, what he had been doing prior. Walking up the treacherous mountain pass, attempting to find another portal that may take him back to Gaia. But... because of the cold, he had collapsed and couldn't remember anything afterwards. He managed to find some sparse shelter under... a tree? He didn't remember such a thing, but he must have trekked a little further than he originally thought possible. And his savior...
Here XIII, wake up bud. You're not alone.
It wasn't Cloud. Not really. His hair was spiked differently... and black...
His one good eye squinted through the glow of the snow on the ground and he said groggily, "Wait... Zack? Y-you're alive? How can that be...?" Nanaki had never personally met the human, but he had seen his likeness and told about him on several occasions. The true figure who went to Nibelheim as the 1st Class SOLDIER all those years ago that started their whole adventure. And yet... he was killed by Shinra, the same soulless corporation that had imprisoned Nanaki and threatened the whole Planet, once upon a time.
But, here he was. In the flesh. Right next to a roaring campfire. "This is unreal," Nanaki muttered as he lifted himself up onto his front paws and better looked at him. Yes indeed, this was Zack Fair, though he understood how he could confuse him with Cloud at first glance. Same cocksure swagger to him, but still radiated a kind of inner warmth. It was unsettling, especially given that he was talking to a relative dead person. Not quite so dead, as the case was.
"I...," unsure how to begin, Nanaki supposed he should start politely, "I suppose I should thank you for saving me from the cold. I was overconfident that I could handle the harsh climes on my own. Apparently, the mountain won that argument rather soundly. This Planet does not speak to me as easily as ours did. Er, does." Shaking his head so the beads on his tied headdress jangled together, he continued, "But what about yourself, Zack? How can you be-"
Something conveniently cut Nanaki off of that tangent. A brilliant shine a little ways up the peak from where the two of them were "camped". Indeed, it seemed like a whole man-made structure had taken root. A massive castle, made of some clear material. No warning, it had just appeared. "Did we just witness that," Nanaki stated, "or am I still hallucinating?" Once he tore his gaze away, however, the warrior saw that their current situation was looking dire as it was. The wind had nearly blown out their pitiful excuse for a fire, and it was getting covered with snow so the tree was very little covering as it was.
If they stayed there, they would probably perish from the cold. And it was too long a walk to make it back down the mountain as it was right now. Conveniently, there was only one logical course. Getting shakily to his feet, Nanaki took a look at the massive ice structure and said to his new companion, "Zack, call me crazy... but I think we may need to seek that place out for some small refuge from the storm. The worst whoever made that can do is throw us back out, and then we'd be no worse off..."
Taking a breath, Nanaki started forward. If they hurried, they could make it up before nightfall.
((OOC: Feel free to have us skip in time up to the doorstep of the castle, Zack))
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2014 21:00:10 GMT -5
(OOC: That's ok with me!)) He chuckled and shook his head. "Naw, I'm not Cloud!" he said in reply to Red's confusion.
"Hell if I know. I just... was. I showed up in front of Aerith's church, my sword just... propped up against the wall..." He sat back for a moment, letting his legs cross as his hands rested on his knees. He watched the warrior collect himself, then looked around. The cool air seemed to vanish entirely when it came in proximity of the flame. Zack closed his eyes, letting the fresh, cold air fill his lungs. It still felt... surreal. Being dead was one thing, the life beyond was more of a sleep than anything. His consciousness could reach out and manifest itself to others, which allowed him to give Cloud that boost in confidence he needed, the SOLDIER spirit that he had bolstering him to defeat the Remnants... But, actually being alive...
He had missed this.
Then, a glow came from higher up on the mountain, catching Zack's eye as he looked up. Having seen stranger things (Angeal's head on Lazard's body being high on that list), he stood, nodding slowly as Red asked if they had witnessed what had just happened. He looked down to his friend, and nodded. "Well, if you are crazy, then let's hop in that boat together! Let's go check it out!" he said, giving a big grin. Always the optimist, Zack felt the foreboding sense of dread in the back of his mind. It was indeed cold, and, even though he was more or less a super SOLDIER, he wouldn't last much longer than Red out here. He knelt down, and put a hand on Red's shoulder. "Hey. Chin up, bud." he nodded, stood, and started on his way up the path, keeping a spare eye over his shoulder to make sure Red was ok.
------------------------------
What seemed like hours later, they had arrived at the base of the great fortress, Zack almost falling backwards from looking towards the top, his foot slipping on the ice at the base of the great palace. The sun had almost completely dipped behind the nearest mountain range, which made the already dim atmosphere darken considerably. He looked to Red, and walked up to the front door.
"Be ready... just in case." he said, bringing his fist up and knocking on the great door, three times.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 9, 2014 15:55:48 GMT -5
Much of the day passed Elsa by while she sat, locked away behind walls of ice. The magnificent castle was an exact copy of the one she'd erected on the Northern Mountain. Not entirely by choice, of course. Her magic had a way of playing with her thoughts and raging emotions; it seemed to tap into her feelings of its own accord and manifest whatever it could draw from them. Sometimes she created things beyond her wildest dreams. Sometimes her magic seemed to fail her, producing lacklustre results, even when her blood coursed and heart pounded. Then, sometimes -- in times like these -- it seemed keen only on torturing her.
The palace, of course, reminded her of her self-imposed isolation, the isolation she fought so hard to maintain, even after Anna had scaled the mountain to bring her down of her own free will, even after Hans and an army of men had attempted (and succeeded) to capture her and bring her back themselves. She'd overcome it, briefly, after Anna had scarified herself to save her life from Hans's blade. But even after peace had returned to Arendelle, guilt settled inside Elsa like a bear about to hibernate. Guilt for putting her country, her people, her sister through a frozen hell and back, all at her expense. Guilt at Anna having to die by her own hand in order to save not only herself but Elsa as well.
What kind of sister was she, anyway? Who kills their little sister because of a tantrum?
A monster.
And that's all she was, really. A monster with a storm in her chest.
She pressed her back against the wall, pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms. She didn't cry, but she could feel her eyes gloss with liquid. She blinked it away, allowing her chest to rattle as she drew several long, hitching breaths. She tried to calm herself.
You're overreacting, she tried to tell herself in a voice that wouldn't convince even the most naive child. You're just scared, you're just SCARED! You didn't mean to freeze that camp, you didn't even know there were people in this world... it's not your fault! Come on, Elsa, listen to the wind, you're...
Her hands flew up to the sides of her head again. Her fingers pressed against her skull, pushing harder and harder. The pressure threatened to give her a headache that would only make matters worse. Her breath hitched a few more times. Water returned to her eyes.
Outside, beyond the crystalline walls, beyond the mighty doors of ice that stood shut both above and below, the sun set and cast the world into darkness. Usually, there might have been the howl of a wolf or the distant marching songs of a Chinese army to fill the silence that night brought with it. Tonight, however, only the roar of the wind, the rush of soaring snow and the gentle clicks of tiny ice crystals colliding with the sides of the palace emerged from the white nothingness that had become the world.
... you're losing it.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Elsa's head flew upwards, her eyes wide. Her raging heart stopped dead. Then, quickly, it started again and seemed to race doubly as fast. She nearly forgot to breathe.
No, no, no, no, no... no one should be up here! I just want to be ALONE! Why can't they leave me alone...?!
She debated simply burrowing her face back into her arms and forgetting all about the knocks. Whoever was outside was a fool to think they'd survive her storm -- any storm, at this altitude, though she knew all-too-well the impossibilities her powers brought to the world. Her unnatural reign over the winter.
And then she realized that was probably the reason why they had come to her palace. Perhaps its walls were the only way they might survive the ever-growing blizzard outside.
Her heart sank. Yes, that only made sense. Surely they could be no other reason. There was no Hans here, no Duke of Weaselton to sniff her out and drag her back down to be locked away. No one here knew of her -- she'd made sure of that, which was why it had devastated her to find, after spreading her cruel winter to this world, that people did in fact inhabit it. They would never know that the snow was her doing, of course, but they would suffer under her. And she knew that.
The walls of her palace groaned, responding to her plummeting outlook. Jagged, razor-sharp ice crystals burst from the columns holding up the palace, reaching in towards the centre of the room.
She stood. That knowledge was all the more reason she shouldn't keep her doors closed, and she knew that, too. If there was any spec of goodness she could get out of this, out of her dark, cold handiwork, it would be to spare these unlucky souls from her wickedness.
She moved towards the stairs, reaching out with her bare hand and resting her palm against the railing as she descended the steps. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her other hand as she did and, soon enough, she found herself on the landing overlooking the wide foyer decorated with a frozen fountain at its heart and a fractal chandelier dangling above. She crossed her arms across her chest and massaged her arms with her thumbs uncomfortably.
It took a moment to find her wavering, stumbling words.
"Come- come in."
(LOL crappy post is crap. Sorry, mates. OTL)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2014 16:45:44 GMT -5
The walk up to the castle of ice was long, cold, and filled with the silence of the screeching wind. Nanaki had started to have second thoughts regarding the decision to leave their camping spot for this uneasy prospect of seeking shelter. Perhaps what lived here hated visitors so much that they were attacked? Maybe it was something evil and sinister dwelling in these mountains. So many questions without answers, and Nanaki knew he wasn't just gambling his own life, but Zack's as well.
Zack's... new... life.
So many things that the ex-SOLDIER had told him made little sense. In fact, Zack seemed as clueless as he did about the whole affair. According to him, one minute he was dead, the next he had woken up in the church. Red XIII did recall Cloud had placed his Buster sword there as a final memento to his forgotten friend, a worthy resting place for a warrior gone before his time. And here he was. Could this strange coincidence have been a gift from the Lifestream? And if so, why deposit Zack here and not back on Gaia? Perhaps the SOLDIER had been attacked by those black things as well, and gotten transported here same as him. It was a likely outcome... but what had brought him back?
And imagine what everyone's reaction would be back home. Not that everyone knew him, heck Red only recognized him because of his similarities to Cloud and all the stories he told about his fellow comrade-in-arms, once he had regained his memories in Mideel. Cloud would be overjoyed, certainly... but how would Zack fit into their new world? With Aerith dead, he didn't have anyone to return home to. Perhaps his parents in Gongaga, but Zack didn't strike Red as the type to simply lay still and submit to a simple life.
Before he knew it, however, they were at the front door, and Nanaki merely nodded at his friend's request to be ready for anything. No telling what they could expect in this place...
Surprisingly, the door swung slightly open for them, and Red could distinctly hear a timid, female voice from inside. A trap, maybe? It was certainly possible, any number of monsters could be lurking in these passes ready to lure unsuspecting travelers to their doom. Still, if this was a trap, it could have been slightly more subtle than a whole ice palace. A cave would have done just as well.
Nanaki extended his nose forward and took a few experimental sniffs. The only real scent he could sense from inside was a human-like one... female, it seemed like. So the invitation inside seemed sincere. He hoped it would stay that way. Nodding to Zack that he thought it was safe, Red stepped in first.
The grand hall of the palace was enormous. The entire structure seemed to be carved flawlessly from one large block of ice. pillars held up a ceiling several feet off the ground floor, the floor itself was set in a wondrously beautiful snowflake motif, and stairs curled up around it on either side of the hall to a second floor. Nanaki was impressed, and that was hard to do when it came to human construction. Natural styles were more his cup of tea.
And from those stairs, on the top landing overlooking the whole foyer above them, presumably stood their host. She was quite pretty (again, by human standards, Nanaki didn't have much of a preference), garbed in an elegant dress of blue and white, also with a wintery motif. She seemed to have been crying recently, and Nanaki recalled that the voice had sounded somewhat strained when she had welcomed them in. Still, the best thing to do was keep all pretenses of politeness in his tone to be safe.
"Our many thanks, Miss," he stepped forward and bowed his head to the floor as he said this, "for opening your doors to us away from the storm. I know we probably are intruding on you at an inopportune time, my friend and I were simply desiring some protection from the elements while we try to rest and be ready to travel again once the wind and snow has abated. If you would have us until then, we would both be indebted to you."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2014 16:47:17 GMT -5
Zack, of course, wasn't privy to the proper way of accepting hospitality and greeting from people, and more or less stepped in, looking up. "This... place... is... huge." he said in awe, looking from one end of the room to the other, crossing his arms and admiring the light blue motif the place seemed to have except it wasn't really warm in there. He kept his arms crossed, glad to be out of the blizzard, but was wondering if she was just an ice enthusiast or-
"Whoops...!" he said as he slipped on the ice floor a little, jerking his arms outward to steady himself. Woah. No way. he thought to himself as he realized that the whole place was made out of ice. He looked down to Red XIII and back up to the Lady of the Castle, and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for letting us in. It's pretty bad out there... Where are we, anyways? Is there a village close by?" he said, starting off with a question. As uneasy as the lady looked, he assumed that she was not one for visitors, and, since there didn't appear to be anyone else there, he figured it would do well to keep his guard up until he knew for sure who she was.
He had made the mistake of being too trusting before... and since he actually had someone from his world with him, he knew that his backup was legitimate, and that he wasn't alone.
He felt the familiar weight of the Buster Sword on his back
This sword is a symbol of our family's dreams and honor.
You're a little more important than my sword,... but just a little.
No story is not worth hearing.
Those wings... I want them too.
Zack snapped out of his daydream, and looked back to the host, remembering that same look, that same fear...
The doors had shut behind them, and Zack had a chilled sense of foreboding slide down his spine like ice.
((OOC: No pun intended.))
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2014 10:16:47 GMT -5
Elsa's grip on her arms tightened as the doors swung open. Her muscles tensed, her breathing stopped.
A red nose poked past the crystalline threshold. It hesitated there, sniffing.
Elsa fought against the instinct to draw back, to run back up to her second floor santacuary and lock herself off from the newcomers. Her nails dug into her arms, threatening to pierce the thin, semi-transparent blue of her sleeves. She stood her ground, however, as the nose drew back for a second.
And then they entered.
She swallowed.
The first to come into view was a great, mighty red-orange creature. It walked on all fours, like a lion, its steps calculated and precise, though it seemed to hesitate before each step as its fearsome maw rose into the air of the icy foyer, its single eye scanning the architecture. The other sported a long scar. Elsa forced herself to keep from staring at it as the creature made its way deeper into the ice palace, stopping just before the frozen fountain at its heart.
A man with wild, dark hair followed the beast. Wide green eyes darted from the columns to the floor to the curled staircase. He wore dark clothing, nothing fancy. A monstrous sword hung across his back made Elsa's eyes widen.
No... they can't be after me...how, why...?!
Ice pushed its way to her fingertips. She could feel her own grip grow frigid. The walls around them groaned ominously, and that little to calm Elsa's nerves.
No, don't let them know, don't let them see--
"Our many thanks, Miss," said a voice from below.
Elsa jerked to attention. She looked to the man, but he seemed too preoccupied by the interior of her palace, glancing this way and that way, to have been the speaker. Her eyes darted to the ajar doors. Noone else entered her makeshift home. Confused, with panic rising in her chest, Elsa's eyes darted across the lobby -- perhaps a third member had entered while she'd been inspecting the first two? -- only to stop on the single eye of the red creature.
It was looking directly at her. It even dipped down, arching its maw downward as it bowed to her.
Elsa stood, frozen, as it continued.
"Thank you for opening your doors to us away from the storm. I know we probably are intruding on you at an inopportune time, my friend and I were simply desiring some protection from the elements while we try to rest and be ready to travel again once the wind and snow has abated. If you would have us until then, we would both be indebted to you."
Meanwhile, his companion, the gaping young man, chipped in, "This... place... is... huge."
She chuckled uncomfortably, raising a hand to cover her mouth as she laughed nervously.
"O- of course," she said. Her gaze drifted down to the floor beneath the creature's feat, settling somewhere off-centre of the snowflake etched into the foundation. "And thank you... you're welcome to stay the night. I'm afraid there isn't much in the way of accommodations, but... make yourselves at home."
You should make beds for them, she told herself. She should, she tried to convince herself.
But she won't. Of course she won't. She didn't know what they thought of magic -- and they certainly didn't look like the armymen whose camp she'd frozen only a few hours earlier and, given her experiences during the last month, travelling from world to world on Xehanort's orders, those who looked different, were different. And thus dangerous, especially to... to someone like her.
The young man continued to look around. After a while, he spoke again, his voice full of wonder.
"Yeah. Thanks for letting us in. It's pretty bad out there... Where are we, anyways? Is there a village close by?" he asked.
Elsa shuddered and turned away from them. There had been, of course, but it would be a frozen wasteland by now. But she wasn't about to tell them that. Even with the blizzard, she'd probably find herself in cuffs by morning if she admitted what she'd done. Though how long it would take for them to riddle out that the palace itself and, perhaps even the storm, were her doing, she couldn't be sure.
Either way, she planned to be long gone before either of them put the pieces together.
"No, th- there's nothing like that around here," she said, not bothering to face them again. She gripped her sides even more tightly. "Just the mountains and a few passes between them. Anyway, I'm... going back upstairs. The foyer is yours to use as you please, but..."
She frowned. She sighed. She turned her head back.
"This might sound strange, but try... try to sleep away from the walls."
She shook her head and, before they could ask her what she meant, she retreated past the doors that led up to her second floor abode, a silent and near-invisible flurry closing and locking the main doors behind them.
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Mar 29, 2024 1:49:21 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2014 13:20:31 GMT -5
Well, things seemed rather awkward, as far as the initial exchange went.
Nanaki kept his eye trained on the nervous-looking hostess of the ice palace, polite and yet wary at the same time. She had allowed them in and didn't seem to be desiring a fight, but he remembered plenty of situations in the old days where the group had been suckered by a seemingly innocent facade (Cait Sith was a very pointed reminder, even if Reeve's intentions had been good by the end) and he wasn't willing to take any chances. And even beyond that, humans in general were something of a distrusted species to Red XIII. Again, chalk that up to experience.
The whole greeting seemed a little off, as well. She responded to their questions well enough, if a little nervously, but she turned away at the mention of a village. She seemed to shakily admit that there was nothing but passes filled with snow up in these mountains. And yet... Nanaki knew there was a kind of unspoken guilt in her voice. Or at the very least something seemed strange with her answers. Was she hiding something from them? He couldn't be certain...
And then the walls started creaking all around them, and the beast was again on his guard against attack. His paws spaced outward and he took a crouching position, but there was nothing to spring at. He looked over to Zack with a worried expression. If this palace was going to collapse upon them, they needed to be ready to move as quickly as possible. But as soon as it had started up, it had subsided. So bizarre...
And after bidding them welcome in the foyer for the night and an ambiguous warning to stay away from the walls, the girl seemed to almost run back up the stairs and shut the doors behind her, leaving the two stranded friends by themselves yet again.
"Just what is going on here?" Nanaki wondered aloud quietly.
As it was warm enough not to justify a fire, Nanaki merely elected to take a space near the center, taking the lady's advice, and curling up near one of the stairs. If indeed she tried something, he would hopefully hear her long before she descended. "I can't say I'm too comfortable with this idea now, Zack. She may have invited us in, but... flies don't often see the spider webs before its too late, either. We ought to be wary." He said this in a low voice, hopefully it wouldn't echo up to her chambers and she heard.
"In any case, just remain extra careful tonight. We have shelter, and that's what counts. Now..." he laid his head on top of his paws and asked, "Start at the beginning. You say you have... no recollection of how you managed to reawaken? How could the Lifestream just resurrect you out of the blue?"
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Mar 29, 2024 1:49:21 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2014 16:34:51 GMT -5
The hairs on the back of Zack's neck stood up as the Countess of the Fortress spoke, but, she seemed to him more like a frightened kitten than a crouching tiger. He kept his arms at his sides, and kept a neutral, friendly smile on his face. She had greeted them and welcomed them into the fort, but he still felt as though (which Red would soon confirm) that something just didn't feel right.
After their exchange, Zack watched her depart, and then looked down to Red as he spoke. Nodding his head slowly, he crossed his arms and spoke.
"Well, let's consider two things here. I don't imagine she's going to be able to cook us and eat us without us putting up a pretty hefty fight, and, let's face it, she's like a frightened kid, really. But, then again, I've faced some pretty intimidating things in pretty packages." he looked towards where the Ice Queen had departed to. "Best not push our luck, so we won't get kicked out or end up as lunch."
He listened to Red's question about his reawakening, and smiled. "It was probably the simple fact that the Lifestream can pretty much do whatever the hell it wants, it seems. I've seen Minerva work miracles..." he looked down to Red. "Minerva being the Will of the Lifestream. I met her once... Genesis Rhapsodos, one of the trio of 1st Class SOLDIERs sought her out, since she was the Goddess from LOVELESS... I guess, in a way, LOVELESS got to happen again... Just never thought that I'd die at the end of that particular story..."
He walked to the middle of the main hall, looking up again. "I never got to thank any of you for fighting so hard to protect our home. I only wished back then that I could have stood alongside you all to defeat Sephiroth. But, I guess, in a way, Cloud was fighting for us all." ((OOC: Bleh))
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Mar 29, 2024 1:49:21 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 5:53:38 GMT -5
Elsa stumbled back into her second floor sanctuary, one hand flat against the wall to keep her steady on her heels. She felt as though she'd just run a marathon, even though it had been a short, quick flight up the curved staircase. The tension in her chest made it hard to breathe, and she had to force herself to stand still long enough for her breath to return and the tension to ease slightly before she moved, slowly, carefully, across the circular room, towards the simple four-poster bed made completely out of ice on the other side. Her heels clicked against the ice floors, what would be the ceiling to her guests below, but they were out of her thoughts already. She collapsed onto the bed, wrapping her arms around herself and kicking off her shoes, ignoring the clanging sounds they made as they skipped across the frozen room and collided with the walls.
She curled her legs up underneath her, resting her head on the little block of ice she'd fashioned as a pillow. She screwed her eyes shut, pretending that if she shut out the world, rejected its very existence, then her guests would disappear like the rest of it did, into darkness, held only in the deep recesses of her racing mind. Her heart's frantic beating made the walls groan again, the sound of ice shifting at a glacial pace filling both floors for a second time. She only gripped herself tighter, pulled her legs closer at the sound. The spikes that jutted out from the walls of her second floor abode grew larger, longer... closer to where she lay in her bed, cowering.
She thanked whatever fates kept them from appearing on the floor below.
What would they think of her then? It wasn't as if she'd played hostess very well. Didn't go down to greet them, didn't make beds for them. She hadn't even been able to answer their questions without exposing her fear. She hated the way her voice had wavered, the way her words tumbled out, disoriented and jumbled. They must have seen straight through her. And what of the groaning? What of the spikes that, let alone their slow, stalking threat to her own safety, could burst out of the walls at even the slightest lack of control from here on out? Would they realize it was her doing? Would they think she was trying to attack them? Kill them? Scare them away?
What would they do if they found out?
She gulped. Run away, maybe. That's what she'd do. But there were two of them and only one of her. Would they fight back? Attack her?
... Kill her?
The thought only made things worse. The walls moaned, louder, and the spikes in her room jutted forward. They were still a ways off from her bed, but they were certainly getting closer.
No, please... you have to stop this, Elsa... they're going to find out, they're going to know...
She pressed her head against her iceblock-pillow and pressed her eyes even more tightly closed. She tried to remember to breathe.
That's it... calm. They just want shelter from the storm, it makes perfect sense... they're not after you... just calm yourself...
It took her a few minutes, but after talking herself into it, she managed to slow her heart, if only just a little bit. The storm inside continued to rage, and rage it would, for she had no control over it now. The storm outside followed in suit, the entire summit of the mountain no doubt shrouded in snowy desolation.
It was then that Elsa realized she could hear them through the floor. Her attention caught, finally, on something other than her own inner demons, she lay curled up in bed, listening.
The one-eyed creature was speaking. She recognized his oddly human voice immediately, remembered the way he'd bowed to her and announced their intentions so formally.
"I can't say I'm too comfortable with this idea now, Zack. She may have invited us in, but... flies don't often see the spider webs before its too late, either. We ought to be wary."
His words stung her. She wasn't sure why that surprised her. Perhaps because he had seemed rather gentlemanly when she'd been standing up on her balcony, the formality of his introduction strangely comforting, that she hadn't immediately considered the creature to be as suspicious of her as she originally thought. It seemed she was wrong. And he was right to be suspicious -- she was the spider, and this was her web, and there were dangers in it that they couldn't see, didn't know were even possible. Wouldn't have the chance to defend against until it pierced them through their sides, if they were lucky enough not to be impaled elsewhere.
The man's voice joined his friend's now.
"Well, let's consider two things here. I don't imagine she's going to be able to cook us and eat us without us putting up a pretty hefty fight, and, let's face it, she's like a frightened kid, really. But, then again, I've faced some pretty intimidating things in pretty packages. Best not push our luck, so we won't get kicked out or end up as lunch."
The man's words only confirmed it. She was, indeed, a monster. A spider weaving her web. A witch waiting to boil her prey.
Someone -- something -- that wasn't meant to mingle with other people.
She exhaled sharply, feeling the cool perfection of the ice under her cheek. The rest of his words filtered into her mind. She covered her face with her hands.
A frightened child... yes, I suppose I'm one of those, too.
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