A plume of dust danced up as Cloud's heavy boots disrupted the dirt path as he walked past the twisting heaps of metallic and concrete debris strew all around this part of the Sector 8 slums. He was suppose to meet someone—someone from Avalanche—someone who knew how to find Tifa. He continued to walk, at the end of the path there was suppose to be a clearing, something secluded. Ahead the dirt road seemed to widen, there was as open area here, surrounded on all sides by walls of rubble and steel. ” Looks like I'm the first one here. Figures. ” Cloud said as he entered the clearing, taking a moment to look up at the plate above before turning his gaze back to the path he had just walked, looking for signs of the others. He wondered what the job would be, he wondered about the others, but most of all he wondered about Tifa and if she really was in Midgar somewhere.
— OOC Talk: Here we go, keep track of your words as they will be used for XP. Words: 167 ~ Total Words: 167
A light patter of footsteps could faintly be heard from one of the walls near the entrance of the secluded clearing as Void sprinted across the top of it with impeccable balance. Just as the wall came to turn and border the clearing he launched himself high into the air and glanced down at the blonde figure below. His large collar flapped about the sides of his face as he twisted his body into a spin at the peak of his jump, and he extended his feet toward the ground as he began to fall.
With a sudden landing and a small cloud of dust around him he had arrived at the center of the clearing. “Void.” He said from behind his collar as he rose and turned his head to the side. A single dark blue eye could be seen between his jet-black bangs as it shifted around to scan the nearby area from over his shoulder. “Which one are you?”
Nika continued to walk along the makeshift dirt road in silence, as she had done for the past while, the only distraction from her total boredom the jagged heaps of scrap metal, and broken rubble that littered the area. It was dark, cold, and truthfully she didn't understand the why of the task at all–couldn't her contact have just told her what they intended? With V's help (of course) she could have easily completed whatever they might have wanted her to do by now. With a sigh she came to a sudden stop, and for a brief moment she considered simply going back the way she came. “Okay, whatever.” Nika suddenly declared in a mutter, seemingly to herself, before she began to move forward once more. Before too long she began to near her destination, and caught the faint whisper of distant voices upon the wind. While the voices were too far away to understand it was a clear sign that at least some of the others had already arrived. It wasn't until she turned the next corner that Nika caught sight of the pair; one of them had dark black hair, and wore an outfit similarly shaded with a high collar that obscured his face from view. The other one was a blonde with hair that must have cost a fortune to keep styled so, and a massive sword on his back nearly the size of him. On the guess that they were among those she was sent to meet with Nika casually strode toward the pair, continuing forward until she came within speaking distance. With a casual wave by way of greeting she started to speak. “I'm Nika,” she paused for a moment to brush a stray lock of silver hair from her faintly luminous blue-green eyes. With a shy half-smile she stood there for the briefest of moments, but her childish insecurity won out almost immediately, and Nika chose to rely upon what she always did in these situations. Nika took a few steps back and crouched down, and held her right hand to her face and began to hold a one-sided conversation with the materia fused with the back of her hand. “V, they're really scary, I want to go back to the–what? No, you can't eat him! Have you seen his sword?! It's bigger than me…!” It was then that she paused her (apparent) conversation with the materia and looked back to the others. “Do you mind? We're trying to have a private conversation here.”
Karth staked out the clearing where the meeting was scheduled to take place. This was a common practice for Karth since he began his distribution businesses and there were many a meeting that he would not show up though this is part of the reason Karth had yet to be caught for his actions. Karth watched from among discarded mechanical debris as three people he had not met walked into the clearing, each acting like they had arrived where they were suppose to, despite that the meeting location shouldn't hold any significance for anyone outside of the meeting. There was one that appeared to be from his contacts at Wutai and two others he didn't recognize. If this was one of his own meeting, Karth would have bailed, but he had been told before hand that Avalanche had made contact with two others for this meeting. Karth's heart began to pound as he folded up his binoculars and began to head down for the clearing.
With what felt like every few steps, Karth had to calm his survival instincts to run. You didn't make it long trading in Midgar taking unnecessary risks, or showing any worry about doing so. As Karth made his way into his clearing, his demeanor was confident. “Hey, everyone. Name's Karth thanks for joining us here.” Karth greeted with a wave and a smile.
Cloud watched quietly as they entered the clearing one by one, each announcing themselves and their names as they did so. He remained silent, waiting for the last of the group to arrive, wondering what their task would be. After Karth had arrived he heard the faint steps of another coming down the twisting path. Following not far behind. The woman moved into the clearing and waited for them all to focus their attention on her, standing near the entrance in a stoic manner. ” Now that we're all here, I can point you towards your task. ” The woman began calmly. ” We have come to know there is ShinRa laboratory under this sector—most likely under each sector. ” She continued, now motioning with her hands to the ground. ” My superiors, well they want to do something about this—to send a message. That's where you all come in. Nika, you know the location of this lab and can likely gain entry with your knowledge, for the price agreed I'd like you to take these fine mercenaries there and make a statement for Avalanche. ” She spoke with confidence now, sensing that for the most part everyone in the clearing wouldn't mind doing a little damage to ShinRa. ” Karth here will be our representative on the ground, but it seems that none of you will be bothered by doing some damage to the ShinRa name, so please do you worst, it'll be worth it for each of you. ” She finally finished speaking, and after waiting a moment backed into the darkness that wall the dust covered path, leaving them much in the way she had arrived. Cloud's eyes scanned the others, trying to gain some sense from each of them. He had agreed to this job beforehand and intended to see it through regardless of the people they had sent along with him, but he wondered about each of them, were they ready to take the fight to ShinRa? Time it seemed would tell as he looked to Nika to lead the way towards the entrance to the laboratory.
— OOC Talk: Here we go, keep track of your words as they will be used for XP. Words: 354 ~ Total Words: 521
Those eyes. Void's azure iris began to tremble with a rapid intensity as he finally caught a glimpse of the swordsman's and Nika's eyes. 'They're just like that monster's.' He thought to himself as he recalled reports of the SOLDIER that single-handedly conquered a Wutai stronghold during the war. A finger on his sword hand twitched, and then another. The pristinely sharpened four-point shuriken on his back shifted ever so slightly as he fought against the overwhelming instinct to draw his weapon. Everyone's voices faded away as though they'd all suddenly become submerged in a tidal wave of chaos, and then all he could hear was the resounding beating of his abyssal heart. He felt like he was drowning in an ancient conflict that needed to be laid to rest, but there could never be peace so long as the ghosts of his past gnawed at his conscious.
Void closed his eyes and tried to calm his fiery nerves as vivid memories of the war raced through his mind. Phantom explosions bombarded his senses while the images of dying comrades flashed before him. It was a moment that lingered longer than he'd like, a lifetime in his own perception, but that lasted for but only a twinkling of an instance in reality. He understood that now was not the time to dwell upon historic villains and ancient rivalries. Nonetheless he considered the two individuals a threat. If he wanted to achieve his true goals then he'd have to maintain a positive allegiance with the test tube abominations for now, even if he did consider them to be less than human. Being little more than traitorous dogs to the hand that fed them, Void then deduced that the logical identity of the third individual who appeared was the contact from Avalanche that he was here to connect with. This was his true mission, to unite the ambitions of Wutai and those who had been oppressed by ShinRa. Everything else — was just a job.
The memories settled, and the real world became discernable once more. An icy cold demeanor washed over the black clad ninja as he regained control over his hate for SOLDIERs and the discreet motions he hadn't meant to make. 'I can take my vengeance on them some other time. For now, the mission is my priority.' With a frigid seriousness to his ominous glare, Void halfway reopened his eyes and caught the end of the women's briefing. He wasn't sure what else she had mentioned before Karth's name, but he chose to feign understanding instead of revealing that he'd allowed himself to be distracted in a void of his own grudges. Without saying a word he simply nodded, and began to walk towards the clearing's entrance. As he passed the individuals that triggered his traumatic past he kept his eyes fixed to the path, and completely avoided looking at the others.
As the woman approached Nika remained crouched over, her conversation with the materia forgotten. Nika listened to their handler with purpose, until she appeared to vanish–a feat that left Nika slack-jawed in amazement. Nika could only stare at where the woman had been for a time, but then the blue gem fused onto her hand caught her attention once more. For a brief moment her attention was focused upon it, until she turned her head just enough to spare Void a sidelong glance. “Hm… I'm not sure I know what you mean, but I'll be careful, V.” Nika declared warily, still watching Void from the corner of her eye, seemingly unconcerned with being heard. It was then that Nika rose to her feet and casually slipped both hands into her coat pockets. With nothing further to say she started back the way they had all arrived, nor did she check to see if any of them would follow. These were concerns far beyond what her concern, instead she was content to half-skip, half-walk to their destination. Whenever they came to a crossroad in the rubble all about them she would pause for a moment, almost as if she were waiting for directions, before moments later she would abruptly continue onwards. They continued down this route until it soon opened to a clearing, completely concealed from the outside by the debris field, with a set of steel double-doors on the wall opposite the group. Nika confidently strode across the clearing, making her way over toward what appeared to be a keypad on the left side of the door. When she reached her destination Nika briefly hesitated before she began to punch in a code. Upon entry there was an unplesant beep, and the doors refused to open. Once more she Once more she input the code only to meet with the same result, but before she could try a third time she took a step back and stared at the gem upon the back of her hand once again. “I guess that would have been bad,” Nika nervously declared, pausing to turn and address the group. “V says that we'll need a minute to force the door, 'kay?” A devilish grin came to Nika's face as began to brace her feet, then swung her right arm overhead toward the door. It was common sense that, even with her abilities, Nika wouldn't be able to force the door. In the first place she was too far away to hit the door from where she stood, but common sense would fail anyone at the sight of what followed. From the palm of her right hand erupted a twisted black mass, marked with haphazard red stripes that ran length-wise, with a glossy sheen to the jagged surface of the thing. When this strange mass met with the double doors they buckled under the force of the impact. Nika maintained the assault for several more blows, until at last the doors had buckled inward enough to provide a small gap between them. Nika began to pull back her hand in preparation for one final strike. As she did the thing split open at the far end to reveal jagged black fangs that blended perfectly with the rest of its surface, and an abyssal maw that lacked any form of detail. It was then that it surged forward and bit into one of the doors, repeatedly gnawing upon the metal until at last it retreated into Nika's palm once more, and the party had access through what could only be described as half-eaten doorway.
Karth listened intently to the exact details of their mission. He had only been given a few details before hand and as he watched the woman walk away without giving anyone her name, he simply shock his head, “Wow, could have given us at least a fake name before vanishing.” Karth understood the reasonings behind some of the odd behaviors of Avalanche to keep themselves secrets, but his job was to keep connections. Something their aloofness doesn't foster too well.
Karth looked around the group trying to find anything he could about the people as it seem they weren't very outgoing. The mako-infused eyes of the one with the giant sword on his back gave away that he was most likely a SOLDIER at some point. Ex-SOLDIER perhaps considering his current objection. The one who seemed to be talking to what seemed to be a materia embedded in her hand always at the mako-infused eyes, though he had no heard of any SOLDIERs having materia fused with their body. Was her connection to the mako the reason why she knew about this secret lab? Karth dropped that line of thinking as he realized talking to her seemed to not get him any usable knowledge. The last of the group had normal eyes like himself and a shuriken on his back, a prevalent weapon in Wutai. Karth made his way towards the ninja and extended his hand out, “You from Wutai?” Karth motioned with his head towards the shuriken, “I've been their contact with Avalanche and asked for them to send someone. Shit-”
Karth stopped himself short as he noticed the woman began to head off without saying much to anyone. Karth raced to catch up then watch as she tried to unlock the door. He began to doubt her ability to get us in as she tried multiple times to no avail. “Would you like some hel-” Karth's jaw dropped as he offered to help get in when he watched something he could not explain any better than her hand eating the door, “The fuck was that?!” Karth put his hands, palms up, about shoulder height completely blown away.
Cloud watched as Nika and the others began back down the debris strewn path that had led them to the meeting place, feeling some sense of relief that they would finally be getting to the task at hand. He recalled it's twists and turns as they backtracked and once they were on a new path he made mental notes of the way back, he had learned from his time in Midgar that it was easy to get lost in the slums. When they came to the pair of large metallic doors he settled in the back of the group, allowing the woman whose eyes also showed the telltale signs of mako infusion to take care of gaining them entry into the facility. His eyes gleamed in the artificial light as he shifted to get a better view after her attempt at the passcode seemed to fail, for a brief moment he wondered if she would even be able to get them inside—that's when it happened. ” That explains the eyes, to some degree. ” Cloud spoke to himself after witnessing Nika's ability, attempting to remained poised and show little sign of the tinge of uncertainty that had rushed oevr him when the focused biological mass, or whatever it was, had ripped the doors apart. ” Guess we better head inside then. ” Cloud spoke louder this time, turning his shoulders to move between Void and Karth so he could approach the door. The way the steel had been ripped and twisted was surprising and Cloud could not help but let his eyes drift to Nika's own, trying to figure out exactly what the person was. He kneeled slightly and turned his body sideways once more to move into the hole created between the two doors, getting as low as he could so the hilt of his blade would clear as he entered. He found himself in a dimly lit corridor that expanded ahead roughly ten meters before opening into a bigger room which housed a large freight elevator in the center and otherwise was filled with lockers and benches along the walls. Everything seemed worn and heavily used.
— OOC Talk: Here we go, keep track of your words as they will be used for XP. Words: 360 ~ Total Words: 881
“I'm not sure if that was her, or-” Void paused mid-response to Karth as his wary glare caught the blue object in the back of Nika's hand that looked similar to embedded materia. What was that monstrous power? This wasn't the kind of ability he'd heard of SOLDIERs having, and it was unlike anything he'd ever seen, even having travelled around most of the known land. Is this how ShinRa managed to conquer his homeland so easily, or was it something else entirely? He eased his tensed stance as he watched the nameless blade wielder casually take point, and noticed that his own sword hand had instinctively planted itself on his weapon. With an uneasy sigh of relief he released his boomerang and calmly crossed his arms as though he tried to play it off and not draw attention to just how on edge he was at the moment.
Countless possibilities of every kind raced through his brain as he tried to find a reasonable explanation for what he'd just seen. From what he knew of materia, blue represented a specific type that was meant to augment most other paired materia, but if anything – this was paired to her. Or was it possible that a new type or materia had been found or created through some experiment? His gaze shot upward, as though it pierced the upper plate of Midgar and ascended to the furthest pitch-black depths of the cosmos. If their world could produce materia, then certainly others would be able to as well. And if the legends of that ancient alien were true, then perhaps it was something otherworldly altogether.
His right arm tucked under his left elbow as he reached up to grasp the base of his chin through the fabric of his towering collar. 'What could it be?!' He began to fade away into a nearly meditative state, with every scenario circling around him, until he realized that he'd left Karth mid-conversation. With a shift of the eye down and to the left he glanced at the younger individual and continued where he'd left off, “or if it's something else entirely.” He paused once more to make it seem as if he was done speaking, then as quietly as he could while still being audible enough for Karth to hear him he added, “whatever it is, I'd watch your back in there.”
He thought better not to bother the young man with the many theories that he'd come up with in the last few seconds that might shed some light on the girl's mysterious powers, and instead dropped the train of thought completely while he cautiously approached the half-eaten doorway with Nika still outside it. A nervous chill ran up his spine as he neared her, an uneasy intensity showed in his expression the way he eyed her curiously, and then he gazed down at her and tried to do something he found to be very difficult — he tried to break the ice with small talk. Using a slightly more friendly change of expression he nodded to the blue orb embedded in her hand and finally spoke to her, “seems handy.” He put a little emphasis on the end of it, unaware that he had unintentionally made a small joke instead. In the instant that followed he was gone, having disappeared through the hole as swiftly as he could to preemptively evade her response.
Once inside, Void rolled out of his elegant dive through the door hole and landed into a low battle-ready stance with his four-point shuriken held out behind him in his right hand. He quickly made a check with his perception around the area, and then dashed forward into the room with the large freight elevator. As he entered the room he almost immediately identified the darkest corner behind the greatest cover, and in the blink of an eye he darted towards the lockers, and took cover at the end of one of them in an attempt to remain hidden from any enemies that might try to investigate their forced entrance. With as little of himself exposed as possible, Void peeked out from behind his stealthy cover and readied himself for any resistance that presented itself.
When the last member of their party cried out, Nika turned to stare at him quizzically for a brief moment. She quirked an eyebrow at Karth, as if he had asked the strangest of questions, before she offered an answer. “That was V, duh.” She declared as she rolled her eyes while she waited for the man with the fancy hair, and then the one with the high collar, to make their way through the doorway. When the latter went by his accidental pun made Nika giggle before she too made her way through the doorway. “What, V? It was funny.” Once she had made her way through the remains of the doorway Nika moved the bottom-right of her jacket aside to reveal a sheathed broadsword half-hidden beneath it. She tore the weapon free from its resting place upon the back of her waist with a flourish, or what should have been a flourish. Instead her loose grip upon the blade sent it spinning dangerously into the air as she began to tumble after it. By sheer luck she managed to catch the the airborne weapon and steady herself. “Shut up, V. I did it when I was practicing…!”
Karth watched completely flabbergasted how the rest of the group seemed to just accepted that this person just had a mass appear from her hands and eat a metal door, “Yea, that explains the eyes?! Then what's your special power?” Karth looked at Cloud, “Your hair gonna start growing the slapping people around?” Karth through his hands up then paused and muttered, “Please let the size of that sword be the weirdest thing about you.”
Karth's arms hang by his side as his hand slumped towards his chest in defeat. Avalanche was all he had left to go back to and he knew that if he left, after seeing that, he would never feel safe again. He wished for the days where he just had to worry about a buyer bringing their own guns to the buy or some psychopath felt he had power and other's believed him. That he understood, what could he do against something who could great a mass and eat him. “Can we at least pretend like that was weirdest shit we've seen in our life?” Karth exclaimed as he following behind the group.
The overhead fluorescent lighting flickered briefly as Cloud entered the larger room which was centered around the industrial elevator. It was clear that all of the others were still feeling each other out, and while he was just as curious about the strange act that the woman had just preformed, Cloud knew that now was not the time to look deeper into the causes behind it. Standing firmly inside of the entrance to the room he let his eyes wander around, moving from locker to locker briefly wondering if it would be worth taking the time to look through them before deciding otherwise and moving towards the elevator. Walking through the gate Cloud's boots clanged against the steel floor as he neared the control panel. ” What are you all waiting for? ” Cloud spoke in an impatient tone, his desire to get this job over with, collect some pay, and be on his way clear in the tone. Sensing that the others might not be as motivated to move as quickly as he wanted, Cloud simply waited, doing his best to keep his mind focused on their task.
— OOC Talk: Here we go, keep track of your words as they will be used for XP. Words: 191 ~ Total Words: 1072
'What is this place, anyway?' Void thought to himself as he failed to recall the first half of the mission briefing. He'd assumed they were just going to cause some damage to a generic ShinRa facility, but things weren't exactly unfolding as though that were the case. He'd expected to be engaged by security right at the moment of entry, even possibly before that, but it was almost as though ShinRa never expected to be discovered here. There didn't seem to be any guard posts or surveillance, which were usually associated with most critical areas. Perhaps this wasn't such a secure and important asset as he originally thought it'd be, or perhaps this was something else entirely. His gaze darted around the room as he searched for any signs that would identify where they were, but there didn't seem to be any obvious logos or propaganda like the other ShinRa buildings he'd infiltrated in the past.
'And where is the girl with the imaginary friend?' He glanced back toward the room's entrance to catch a glimpse of Karth as the young man entered. 'Must be bringing up the rear. Good tactic if she plans to ambush us with the other SOLDIER, but…' He shifted his gaze to the blonde whose identity still remained withheld. 'It doesn't seem like those two are out to get us at all. They really must be invested in whatever the goal is here. Hell, at this point I doubt they're even SOLDIERs anymore.' A touch of remorse kicked in as he finally realized he should've come to the conclusion sooner. He'd have to make up for it later, but for now – he had a mission to complete, and a handful of ever-growing mysteries to contemplate. Perhaps a look inside one of the lockers would shed some light on the function of the facility, but he didn't intend to hold the party up so he could investigate.
Void narrowed his focus and dashed toward the closest bench, kicked off of it, bounced to the next, and vaulted off the last one with a high jump toward the elevator. He made an elegant flip at the peak of his leap, and a catlike landing as he dropped down next to his unnamed companion. After a momentary pause he spoke just loud enough for the rest of the party to hear him while he checked for any more signs of surveillance that he might've missed. “Do they even know we're here?” He remained alert, and anxiously spun his four-point shuriken back and forth between his hands as he continued to anticipate an engagement with ShinRa security.
“What about what eyes?” Nika questioned innocently, tilting her head to the side at Karth's declaration. She seemed to have completely forgotten the failed attempt to flourish her weapon, or at least meant to pretend as if it had never happened in the first place. When he continued to rant and freak out over the little things Nika could only cover her mouth with her free hand, desperately trying not to burst out laughing at the idea of someone's hair growing in length and attacking people. Then she nervously glanced at fancy hair out of the corner of her faintly glowing eyes; if anyone's hair could attack people it would probably be him. When at last the man had finished his monologue of silly accusations Nika casually began to move toward the opening, passing through just after him, and reached out to pat him on the right shoulder as she passed him by. “V wants me to tell you: 'If you insist upon insulting me by implying that I am weird shit we're going to have a problem'.” Nika kept pace with Karth for a few more moments to offer him a word of advice. “Sorry, V said it, not me. But really, V's all fluffy on the inside like a kitten once you get to know him!” Once she had said her piece Nika quickened her own pace and began to speak to the materia in her sword hand once more. “Shut up, you're the one who said the naughty word. I was just–” Nika declared stubbornly, but was interrupted as fancy hair called out for the party to hurry up. Without another word the argument was finished before it had begun, Nika hurrying forward to regroup with the others. When the man with high collar dashed forward and kicked off of a nearby bench, bounced off of another, and then vaulted into the air Nika came to a dead stop as she watched the acrobatic feat with rapt attention. As the ninja completed his display with an aerial flip and a graceful landing she could only stare with her jaw hanging open at the remarkable display of physical prowess. Not only was the man with the high collar absolutely hilarious, but he was clearly some kind of super ninja. Nika was still completely flabbergasted as she stepped onto the elevator with the others. This continued for a moment longer, but then she seemed to come to some kind of conclusion as a look of determination set upon her brow. Moving over to a corner of the narrow compartment she turned away from the group and nervously fumbled with the zipper of her hoodie. With some effort she managed to zip it up, and pulled the collar of her coat over her lower face with her free hand. With her guise complete she turned back to the party and moved to stand next to Void, making no small effort to imitate both his manner and posture to the best of her ability. When he spoke Nika reached up to hold her jacket up to prevent it from falling loose. “I hope so, they're no match for us.” Nika replied in a deep tone in an ill-conceived attempt to mimic Void's own voice.
Chills ran down Karth's spine as he felt a hand touch his shoulder from behind. A sensation to flee crept over his entire body, a feeling Karth had spent years being aware of and not acting on. Though this time it didn't compare to a thug's eye darting around during a deal. Instead he felt like he may be about to die in the worse way he could imagine. Karth waited a moment for this feeling to pass and worked to respond in a way that may help him in the moment. Karth smiled and nodded while looking at Nika, “Of course. How could I have misunderstood? I hope to get to know him as well as you do.” Karth smiled genuinely as he said that, but in his mind imagined rolling his eyes. Survival was paramount to all. If he had to play along with her narrative, Karth had no worries. Though he'd certainly have a word with Avalanche after this.
Karth broke eye contact and looked back towards where he was heading to watch the ninja from Wutai doing some superfluous movements to get to the elevator, “Well, that's one way to move forward with no obstacles.” Karth felt broken with disbelief. How did he end up with this odd grouping of people? First there was the person with a kitten arm that can eat a metal arm that no one seemed to give two thoughts to. Next a guy a who carries a sword the size of his body and acted as if nothing odd was happening. His only hope of someone else being normal deciding to do some flips avoiding some obstacles that he didn't see. Karth's skepticism has kept his alive for a long time and now he questioned if what he thought reality were even true. Karth shock his head and sighed as he walked into the elevator, “Glad to know you're really from Wutai. Was worried you may be an imposter there for a sec.”
Cloud stood firm and stoically on the elevator platform, remaining as compossed as possible even though his mind was like a wirlwind of thoughts. He allowed himself to glance as the acrobatic one vaulted from one of the benches, somersaulting over the guard rail with a twist before landing with grace next to him. ” Unnecessary ” Cloud said as his eyes looked over Void for a brief moment before darting away towards the others as they stepped onto the platform one after the other. Cloud let his mind wander for a brief moment as they all settled onto the platform, trying to figure out if this group could actually work together or if he would have to do what he always did and simply go off on his own and finish the task at hand. It was yet to be seen. Shaking away his thoughts Cloud nodded to the others and reached for the control panel where there was a cluster of different color buttons and one lever that he knew ultimately would start their journey downward. Gripping the handle he pulled the lever towards himself and the platform gave out a quick jerk that startled him. Four yellow lights located at each corner of the platform began to pulse and the platform rocked once more before it started downward. Cloud looked up and watched the light and ceiling move away as they plunged into the darkness, the concrete and metallic patchwork walls of the elevator shaft surrounding them on all sides as the platform dropped rapidly. ” Everyone should be ready to meet resistance. ” Cloud broke the momentary silence as he instinctively reached for the hilt of his blade, holding it as the elevator slowed to a stop revealing a long concrete corridor with metallic doors spaced fifteen to twenty feet one after another on either side. It was quiet and the lighting was dim as Cloud stepped off the platform, taking a few steps forward before stopping and looking back for the others. He felt his heart racing, there was a sense of danger here, he missed this. ” Listen. ” Cloud said as the lights overhead flickered, hearing a low gnawing sound coming from somewhere in the distance. ” We're definitely not alone down here. ” He finished speaking, still holding the hilt of the buster sword.
— OOC Talk: Here we go, keep track of your words as they will be used for XP. Words: 396 ~ Total Words: 1468
“Of course I'm from Wu-” Void unintentionally cutoff his response to Karth once again, clearly caught off guard by another one of Nika's unexpected transformations. His left brow arched up as his eyes shot down to her. A wild amalgamation of thoughts raced through his mind as he considered the possibility that this girl hadn't just been trying to imitate him. Was it possible that she had training in the ways of the ninja? Had she ever been to Wutai, or perhaps been trained by another ninja in some other part of the world? The theories continued to emerge and became overly distracting as he barely managed to stay focused while the elevator made its descent.
“I'm always ready for resistance.” He responded to Mr. Fancy Hair while he curiously glanced Nika up and down. Not the most accurate remark, he realized, as his ever-growing pattern of thoughts had become wildly convoluted and overwhelming since he'd arrived in Midgar earlier in the year. It didn't help that she suddenly reminded him of his young Wutai companion, who had him questioning everything he'd ever learned about forbidding any form of relationship, and now his opinions of the team were split even further as he began to settle with the idea that these SOLDIERs were actual people, and not just some viscous monsters as he'd been raised to believe. Split… was it possible, that Nika had some similar issue? Some sort of multiple personality disorder, or something else that was going on with her that the group was unaware of? Could her new form be this, “V”, an alternate identity?
He had to know. “So…” He began to say to the silver haired girl, trying to keep his cool and not let on about how confused he was. But the words escaped him, they barely knew each other, and he didn't want to alienate her with his potentially inaccurate theories. Instead, he turned towards the corridor and flourished his large four-point shuriken with a flashy spin to his right side. What would've been a private conversation clearly shifted tone as Void adjusted his volume to speak just loud enough to the party instead.
“Do we want to check these rooms?” He leapt to one side of the elevator's forward railing, and perched upon it with catlike balance. His knees were nearly at his shoulders, his left hand grasped the bar, and his right arm held his boomerang out to the side and slightly behind him. Having accomplished his athletic feat in the blink of an eye he then turned a single azure eye back to the party over his shoulder and quietly picked up where he left off, “I'll cover your backs. Maybe we'll find out whatever's making that noise in one of them.” He then turned his eye directly to Nika, curious to see if she would perform any action that might help him figure out whether she had any ninja training or not.
Nika maintainted a firm grasp upon the neck of her coat with her free arm, careful to avoid letting it fall. Every so often she would glance over toward the Ninja out of the corner of her eyes, searching for some sign of approval for her (in her own opinion) perfect imitation of him. All the while she resisted the urge to complain about the floating feeling in her stomach that left her queasy; it wouldn't be very Ninja-like to whine about her mislike of elevators. When they finally reached their destination she was the first to escape the compartment, desperate to flee for fear that it might begin moving if she waited. If that were to happen she was sure that she would throw up V's dinner. She willfully tuned out Mr. Fancy Hair's words, instead listening to the sounds in the distance for some kind of clue. It was almost a kind of gnawing noise, and while she had heard far worse when V would choose to thoroughly chew a meal before he devoured it, the sound seemed to set the others on edge. Nika couldn't really sympathize with their concerns, but she knew that if she were to say anything negative she would only be inviting V to chastise her about how unique her own situation truly was. Again. “I'll do it!” Nika eagerly cried out, lifting her left arm into the air and waving it giddily as her coat fell from her face and back into place. Quickly she made her way over to the door nearest the elevator. When she reached the door she didn't even bother to attempt to use the door's handle, and instead brought her left leg up and slammed the flat of her foot into it with all the strength that she could muster.
Karth looked back at the past few hours and thought how normal this day had begun and how he had found himself in an elevator with three of the most eccentric people he had ever met in his life. Well, two out of the three. The blonde hair guy was a pretty generic weirdo. Dark, brooding, object showing signs of overcompensating. Karth had met plenty of guys like that through his time on Wall Market, but never had me met a guy who seemed to want everyone to know he was a ninja. Something he felt would be opposite of what a ninja would want. The other well…Karth shook his head wanting to forget as to not bring the wrath of V onto himself.
Karth walked slowly and cautiously out of the elevator. From all things he could see, this place seemed abandoned, so that left the question: what was making that noise? “Well tha-…alright” Karth began to speak for caution as Nika attempted to slam the door open with her foot. His head hung low as his hands went into his pockets, taking out his brass knuckles and putting both onto his hands not knowing what to expect next while he's with this group.
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