Skeren Dreamera

A Voyage of Night 2/?

2009-11-15T22:25:24Z

Title: A Voyage of Night
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Sephiroth, Angeal
Rating: G
Warnings: AU!
Word count: 632
Summary: Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
Note: I decided to continue it!

It had been one of the restless times. He didn’t fear them so much as they wore on his nerves, sending his attention away from his collection of lovers and into eternal stone, where none could reach him so long as he was within his mastery.

He’d been told he looked like silver and marble had imprinted themselves on his skin and hair, but nothing said that the reverse wasn’t true, did it? The only real hint of his mixed heritage was the eyes, so much less obvious than Genesis’ wolfish fangs and Zack’s giving manners. Even Angeal had his way, slipping from shadow to liquid shadow like smoke without so much as a look or thought.

Only he managed to startle his lovers half so badly as Angeal could when he got into a mood. And he didn’t require a play of light to do it either, thus, his was clearly superior.

Not all would agree, of course, but the mother loved him, thus, his gift. If the Planet didn’t love him, why would he be allowed to come and go from stone as though air and water, breathing in the power of it and walking away ever stronger?

It terrified some of the fae, made them wary. Others held him in awe. Few saw him as the kind person he could be when he felt like it, or the relatively nice one he was to his lovers. At times at least. No, the consensus seemed to be that he was as cold as the stone he was so intimate with.

They didn’t know and never could, thus, his retreat. He knew Angeal didn’t care for it, but he understood better than the other lovers, and was relieved that the other two had gone off to play with the thinning. They kept wanting to when it neared, but were frustratingly less than persistent about actually doing it.

How could they bring back something he wanted to hear if they never bothered to go?

But, that was moot now, and he would see what they brought back with them, be it trinkets or stories, and would be satisfied that he knew more than he had before. As it should be.

He didn’t like leaving the hill. No matter what sweet temptations there were on the surface, nor his age, he simply... Well, he was not afraid, but he knew in his bones and heart that the above was no place for one of his way. It would consume him.

Realizing that his thoughts were spiralling ever tighter, he cast out his attention, tracing lines of stone carved by water as he tried to determine if his lover had moved.

He had not.

Soothed by the stability of that lack of motion, he slipped back that direction, following walls, then the floor, until he was near him. Only then did he reach for his fragile magic bound form of flesh, slipping from the stone as easily as he’d crawled into it as he studied the other man. “Have they returned?”

“Not quite yet, but they’re coming. I hear whispers.”

“Not the kind I’d notice mm?”

That got a soft laugh from the other man. They both knew nothing short of the earth herself moving would draw the mother to speak to him as the shadows ever gossiped to Angeal. “I doubt they ever will be Sephiroth.”

He nodded, humming low in his throat as he settled at the other man’s side. There was nothing more that needed to be said, and for now, there was naught to do but wait.

Patience had its rewards, and he was one of earth. If he hadn’t known patience as a child, he’d definitely learned it since.

Thus, he could wait.

Even if he truly was curious.

Good Gods

2009-10-26T20:47:32Z

Everyone forgive me! I had... gods I never knew writers block was like that! You just can't type when it happens can you? No matter the ideas flying around like crazy.

But, I got the first chunk of my areyougame prompts done today.

Boot Polishing. Final Fantasy VII (Zack/Sephiroth)

Shades of Black, Final Fantasy Seven (Vincent/Yazoo)

Lost to a Hero, Final Fantasy VII (Sephiroth/Rufus)

A Voyage of Night, Final Fantasy VII (Genesis/Zack/Cloud+Seph/Angeal hints)

Fractured Soul, Final Fantasy VII (Aeris/Cloud)

Fetching, Final Fantasy VII (Seph/Zack/Cloud)

Guardian Spirit, Crossover: FFVII:AC/FFIX (Yazoo/Kuja)

Nations - Expectations

2009-09-15T02:52:29Z

Title: Expectations
Arc: Nations
Fandom: FF7
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud
Words: 604
Rating: G
Warning: The AUness!
Arc summary: It's an alternate universe where Sephiroth is a king, while Zack, Cloud, Vincent, and Rufus are his harem slaves, who he has renamed as gems.
Note: smokyglass (of LJ)'s long involved comment made me pause and think, then reread all my old chapters of this. At which point you finally get a new chapter. Thank you for your enduring patience with me.

“My King... I...” The blond looked away from him, and he felt an odd sense of vindication. Why had his Gem kept such a thing secret from him? Why did he think that he ought not be aware?

“Sapphire. I will take no excuses about this.” His tone was mild, and he knew that even then the warning in it was clear.

“There are always those that might hear my King.”

“I will have my answer.”

There was silence, the blond staring at the ground as the king stared at him. When he finally spoke, his voice was very quiet, and it was clear he’d lost his resolve to silence. “What did she tell you?”

“She told me that I had my answer, and that I no longer had to fear so keenly for the safety of my Gems because they were mine in a far deeper way than before.”

”Because of the ceremony.”

”Yes, because of the ceremony. What happened that day Cloud? What did the Gods do?” The blond twitched when he spoke his given name. Good.

“They... invoked Binding. It wasn’t meant, nor the symbols used... Please forgive me this, it was not what was intended in any way.”

”Was it everyone in the ceremony Cloud?”

The young man’s voice got softer still. “Yes.”

”Reno of two lands, my gems, my Queen, the Priestess, you? All of you?”

”Yes my King.” His voice, at this point, was barely audible.

“You were not going to ever tell me.”

“No my King.”

”Why?”

The silence that followed that was stifling, but he would wait. He would have this clear, and then the blond would be punished for keeping it from him. Binding or no, he would ever be his Gem, and his other Gems would remain with him ever after as well.

However, he wasn’t without awareness that the blond was afraid, and he moved to him, resting his hand on his hair to stroke it. He wouldn’t strike him. No, there were more effective ways to make him see his errors. “Tell me Sapphire.”

”I was afraid.” He held his silence, waiting. Sapphire seemed to realize why and his tone was forced as he continued. Was he afraid now? “I was afraid that something would change, with you. Not... Not that you would turn me away, or hurt the others, but... do you still trust me my King?”

Unfortunately, he could not immediately reassure. He had to think about it. Clearly, his Priest hadn’t intended this. Clearly, he hadn’t had these designs for several years. No, he would have determined something, found something. The blond wouldn’t have defended the castle so well with his magic. The blond wouldn’t be terrified if it were anything but an accident. But he’d been tied with two who had nothing to do with him. Tied to people he didn’t particularly care to be, no matter how advantageous this might yet become.

Did he trust?

He wasn’t entirely sure, but the blue eyes that looked up at him were filled with a spirit that he didn’t wish to shatter, and he knew that he could do that. He could break him irreparably. “I do Sapphire, but never again will you do this to me. Never again.”

When the blond folded to his knees to show how thankful he was, he decided that being soft wasn’t always the worst way. He would see, however, if this softness and the man’s value were worth trust he wasn’t certain he’d wished to continue giving.

Either way, they were his forever now, so the point was, of course, moot.

What I picked for areyougame

2009-09-13T22:18:52Z

Wish me luck eh?

October 1st - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Zack/Sephiroth: boot fetish – The way Zack was eyeing his boots made him a little nervous

October 3rd - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Vincent/Yazoo: bodypainting or inkbrushing - This gunman was a marked man now.

October 5th - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Sephiroth/Rufus: power games – “No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.”

October 5th - Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Some combo of Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth/Zack and Cloud: fae AU - Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild With a faery, hand in hand, For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

October 7th - Final Fantasy VII, Cloud/Aeris: healing – She knew that behind those glowing eyes and that familiar uniform, there was a broken mind, a fractured soul, and a shattered heart.

October 9th - Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth/Zack/Cloud: voyeurism - He just wanted to know what all the fuss was about

October 15th - Crossover, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children/Final Fantasy IX, Yazoo/Kuja: narcissism – It wasn't often he saw someone prettier than himself

-------

October 16th - Kingdom Hearts, Sora/Riku - body paint - "What did you just write on me?"

October 21st - Final Fantasy IX, Kuja: psychological - Dying was a thought that had never occurred to him before

October 26th - Kingdom Hearts, Sephiroth/Cloud: xeno - Sometimes they reminded everyone of their inhumanity.

October 29th - Final Fantasy VII, Hojo/Lucrecia: science!kink - Talk nerdy to me.

October 31st - Kingdom Hearts , Cloud: Cloud as Cinderella – Damn glass slippers pinched his feet.

RP's finally updated!

2009-09-07T23:14:45Z

Title: Human Moment
Authors: me and icedark_elf
Characters: Sephiroth and Zack Fair (matched as above)
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Theme Set: HW1
Theme(s): 4. Children’s games
Warnings and Notes: There's naked things! Warned!

Trying this again

And as I wanna actually do this right for once....

2009-09-04T16:20:33Z

Who wants a Christmas/Yule/holiday for no good reason card?

Yes I'm asking er, three months ahead of time.

I have a reason.

I want you guys to give me a) addresses that you think will be the same come December

b) your favorite characters/animal/objects (if it's a character for the love of god, fandom too. Same applies to fandom specific critters if it's not like, say, a chocobo)

c) You can pick more than one of the above

d) I want your favorite colors and if you have one favorite pattern (I will give such a whine at anyone who loves plaid)

e) Favorite season/type of place. You know, winter, forests, livingrooms, mountains, deserts, coliseums...

f) Your type of holiday'd be good

g) Any other random things you wanna tell me

h) I just wanted this letter so I could give you all hugs. Oh! Anything colorwise you loathe would likely be a good idea too.

err, all done, comments are screened for the concerned.

Prompts

2009-08-22T20:10:29Z

All these prompts are using a first line out of a book. Books listed with the titles.

Title: The Warning
Characters: Sephiroth
Author's Notes: The book is Phantoms, by Dean Koontz

Title: Abducted
Characters: Tifa, Vincent
Author's Notes: The Snow Queen, by Mercedes Lackey for this one. I changed the name and the gender of the speaker on my line.

Title: Catfight
Characters: Scarlet
Author's Notes: The House On Olive Street, by Robyn Carr. Only the name was changed.

Title: Not a Princess
Characters: Hojo
Author's Notes: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A.N. Roquelaure. Changed the word Prince to Scientist.

Title: Magick
Characters: Aeris
Author's Notes: The first line of the series introduction in Practical Candleburning Rituals by Raymond Buckland. (the series intro is by Carl Weschcke)

Title: Overload
Characters: Reeve
Author's Notes: The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Changed the name.

To the prompts!!! Yes, they are all under this one link.

look, one of them meme things

2009-07-29T03:48:22Z

• Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.

• NO CAPTIONS!!! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.

• They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.

• You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

The Line 1/?

2009-07-25T09:03:28Z

Title: The Line
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Tseng, Reno
Words: 632
Notes: Worksafe, very possibly the first part of a series as I've had this floating around a while.
Summary: Soldiers aren't the only ones that fell prey to mutations when Hojo was around.

If anything had ever tempted him to kill Hojo, it was this. It had been bad enough when the two Generals had gone haring off because the man had been fixated on keeping his Sephiroth project separate from them. It had been worse when he’d had to step aside and pretend not to see Zack and the cadet he’d been fond of taken into project terms.

But this? How many lines did he expect them to be willing to cross? They were not numerous in the way they once were. Not as shaded in their skills. No, now every one of them was treasured by the others, so why did the man press them like this?

What did he think they would do? Turn a blind eye?

This time he had to at least assure that his subordinate was whole.

Reno may be an annoyance, but he was his annoyance to handle, and he didn’t appreciate the scientist taking liberties with him.

He had to pause as he passed into a room with the dim, eerie light of mako. What reason did he have to need mako near his subordinate?

Locking his jaw for a moment to refrain from giving the cameras any indication of his displeasure, he smoothed down his dark suit and then moved deeper into the lab. This would not be happening if the man hadn’t waited until he’d been on a long term mission to put forth any kind of report, or, as the situation was here, a request to borrow someone from his ranks. As least the bastard had given him a location in the papers he’d left for him.

It was only when he tried to pass into the room where he was expecting Reno to be that he finally met resistance. It wasn’t a guard, just a lock that didn’t accept his codes. Nor Rufus’. Nor, even, the others that he’d lifted from Hojo’s files for this sort of event. It was only when he started going through older codes, ones used on cryptic project notes from years before, that he finally had any kind of success.

That alone made him quite uneasy. Hojo was a man of habit, so using such old codes surely had a meaning.

And the feeling was rewarded. Amply. And in painfully vivid illustration.

Slipping quickly across the room, his fingers hovered over the pad so he could release the liquid in the tank where Reno was drifting, but a glance over the changed body had him turning in place to go through the files laid out instead, checking for indications that air was still safe for the man, assurance that taking him out of the chemicals wouldn’t kill him. Thankfully, the notes indicated he was exposed to straight air at least one time per day.

Only then did he empty the tank, stepping into it and unmindful of the slimy liquid clinging to his shoes as he leaned to pick up the slumped redhead. He ignored the tacky fluid sinking into his suit, and just narrowed his eyes as he noted the far too numerous limbs that laid limp over his arm. They, apparently aware of the look directed at him, moved in a sluggish way to coil around him, then man in his arms stirring a little in a muddled way.

It was time to go then. He slipped out of the tank and went to collect Reno’s things so they could leave.

He took back what he’d been thinking before. There was no tempted any longer. He’d twisted the physical form of one of his people. He would allow Rufus to understand his reason, then Hojo would die.

All other matters would be dealt with after that was satisfied.

What the heck??

2009-07-24T21:04:52Z

I've been seeing a rash of green eyed Renos lately.

I didn't think this required saying but he has -blue- eyes. So.... what the heck people? Are you confusing him with Axel or something?

A Tilt in the World

2009-07-21T20:24:19Z

title: A Tilt in the World
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Sephiroth, Rude, Genesis
Words: 704
Notes: This is a completely and totally AU er, thing. I woke up with this literally in my head because I dreamed up this scene, and connected the dots with several other scenes that I was struggling to put into something coherent so that I can share it with all of you. Basically, it's a world where, instead of going to Hojo like an idiot, Vincent went to his Turk leader and talked him around to helping him deal with the issue to get his son back just after the Jenova project began to be done on Lucretia. Lots of other stuff happened too, but lets just say that Shinra pissed off his Turks, then a smaller unit, and they uh, took charge of the whole thing. Thus, this fic. Enjoy.

He knew it wasn’t exactly the most boyish hairstyle he could have chosen, but it was a matter of pride. Rude had more than insinuated that he would look like a girl if he did it, thus, it must be done to prove him wrong. Genesis, of course, found the entire thing hilarious, and Angeal was off with Veld doing something or other.

He was pretty sure that Angeal’s mother was dating the man now but he really wasn’t all that sure. He’d have to check with Ifalna later on if they never confirmed it.

Or his dad. Not that his dad was ever more forthcoming with information. No, when he really wanted information it was always best to harass Rude’s father, because that man was more than willing to tell him all kinds of things, but only so long as he made really really sure to keep them a secret. The more secrets he kept, the more things he was willing to tell him.

Rude’s father said that he would have been a good Turk if they hadn’t decided to stay on Vincent’s side of the conflict and take Shinra down, so that was a really big compliment.

Shaking off the thoughts, he leaned over the counter of the bathroom to eye his hair, making completely sure that the part in his long dark hair was perfectly even. Even if the hairstyle was... feminine, he was not going to make it lopsided. Satisfied, he started braiding one side, then the other, before leaning back and eyeing himself with critical green eyes.

Damn.

He really did look like a girl.

Well, too late now. Lifting his chin and straightening his back with pride, he finally left the bathroom at a march. If the other boys laughed at him, fine. He was the oddball anyway. Stronger than the normal kids, but not as strong as Genesis and Angeal. His father said it was because he interrupted the process of whatever it was early. He personally thought it just made him rather... well, in the middle.

At least Aeris seemed to be really fond of him, and Gast had been looking after all three of them, the boys who weren’t normal. He’d had to do a lot with all of them, careful things. He said that none of them were quite stable, but Ifalna was helping him with whatever it was he was doing, so he didn’t wonder too much.

Ifalna seemed to know everything after all.

Aeris pretended she did too, but she was just four. Four year olds really couldn’t know everything.

Finally reaching where he’d left the other boys, he just crossed his arms and scowled.

Not even five seconds later, Genesis was rolling on the floor in laughter and Rude was pinching the tip of his own nose with a strangled noise and a smile of his own.

“Just laugh.” He uncrossed one arm to wave at Genesis. “Get it all out of your system. I mean, it’s not like I ever saw you put on makeup or anything before Genesis. And Rude, well, you don’t have any hair.”

Genesis stopped laughing long enough to stick out his tongue, then just smirked, though Rude looked a bit more sheepish. “He only doesn’t have hair because Aeris kept playing with it.”

”I wasn’t overly fond of having my hair pulled.” The dark skinned child just sniffed, though his smiled never faded, even when he dropped his hand. “But you do look like a girl.”

“Fine, you were right. It took me an hour to get this right though so I’m not taking it down today.”

”You’re kidding.”

Rolling his eyes at Genesis, he just pointed at a hip length brown haired braid. “I have hair that actually goes past my ears Genesis. No, I’m not.”

At this, the other two boys just shared a look, and Sephiroth decided it was time he took his leave of everyone before the rugrat found out he had his hair in braids and thus absolutely must play with them.

It was futile, of course, but he was going to try anyway.

Out of curiosity here...

2009-07-14T08:16:32Z

Is -anyone- who reads this thing going to Gencon? I am! I got my badge today...

But...

Am I going to get there and not know anyone but my roomies?

That would be sad.

Very, very sad.

::coughs:: On a lighter note, Read This. This fic is a first person from an OC 500 years in the future of an AU ending of FFVII, written well before AC or CC or any of those were even in consideration. Pay close attention to the colors ::nodnod:: They're important.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2060947/1/Mirage_of_the_Past

Begun Broken 3/?

2009-07-10T06:13:07Z

Title: Begun Broken
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth
Word Count: 739
Rating: Work Safe
Summary: Zack met Cloud in the worst of circumstances, and sometimes, there's just nothing you can do.

He’d been keeping an eye on the situation. He knew, without a doubt, that Zack was getting frayed, but the man could not remain in the city to watch over a broken cadet. It wasn’t done.

It would also ruin the boy for any efforts that Zack would try.

Set, he moved to collect his phone, only to blink when the man he’d been about to call threw open his door, looking a bit wild eyed. “Seph! Seph, have you seen Cloud? You know, my blond fluff ball? I can’t find him. I’ve been looking for over an hour, but nothing. What if he’s hurt?”

The way Zack’s voice sped as he spoke made him sigh, and he pushed to his feet to slip around his desk. “Fair. You’re making yourself more upset.”

”But he’s missing!”

”I’m sure he’s fine.” He made a dismissive gesture and made for the door where the other man still was.

”I’m not! He... He can’t feel pain Seph! What if he’s bleeding out somewhere or someone grabbed him or- or-”

”And you hyperventilating will help him in that situation... how exactly?” He briefly touched the man’s shoulder, then slid past him out the door. “Have you checked the roofs?”

“I... no? Why would I?” He heard the man fall into step behind him and decided to be satisfied with that.

“Where is he from?”

”Nibelheim is what I’ve heard, why?” The confusion in Zack’s voice was almost tangible.

“It’s a mountain village.”

”Yeah and?”

”Mountain village.”

When emphasis only got him a confused look back, he sighed, wondering why it was that he kept the man so deep in his personal sphere.

“That means that he might like high places Zack.”

”Oh. OH! Oh. I didn’t even think about that. But... why would he go up, I mean, if his head’s all messed up wouldn’t he stay on the same floor? He was with me up here...”

“He’s injured Zack, not an underdeveloped chick. He still knows how to think.” Shaking his head, he felt a grim smile cross his lips. “You’ll get used to it soon enough, I’m sure. It’s only been a week.”

”But what if he’s not up there?!”

”Then I’ll help you find him.” He looked over as the other man fell into stunned silence. “You needn’t ask, and I do have my own interest in him.”

”Really?” The home in that tone almost made him grimace, and he took one of the flights of stairs that led up to roof access almost exclusively.

”Yes. I’m not heartless you know.”

”I know.”

Shaking his head, he pushed open the hatch and slipped out, pointedly gesturing tot he figure staring out at the sky near the ledge. “And there we are. Next time, try up hmm?”

”But I looked everywhere, even on the street.” It was a murmur, and the dark haired man made for the blond, obviously checking him over for injuries, much to the lost man’s apparently bafflement.

He followed more slowly, looking the blond over with just a sweep of his eyes. “You worried him Strife.” He waited patiently as wide, surprised blue eyes focused on him, reading the confusion there. “Sephiroth.”

”I... I knew that.” It was a slow murmur, and the injured man patted Zack’s arm lightly as he was hugged. “I don’t think I remembering you caring before.”

”Because I didn’t, before.” He understood the significance of the word and nodded slightly, though the blond was distracted when Zack started talking again.

“I was so worried! Don’t wander off like that okay? Why’d you anyway?”

”I saw something neat... then the sky was so blue and the sun is getting low.” Blinking at the man holding onto him, the small man patted him. “I’m okay.”

”Well... don’t do that again. Next time, tell me okay?”

”I’ll try.”

”Good.”

Waiting patiently for Zack to finish, he only then turned to head back inside. “Zack.”

”Yeah Seph?”

”Come to my office with me, you’re being sent on a mission in two hours.”

”What?! I can’t do that!”

Looking over his shoulder, he could see the mix of panic and relief in his eyes. “You can and you will. Bring Strife with you, I’ll keep him from wandering loose while you’re gone.”

With that, he slipped off the roof, confident that at least this once, disaster was not imminent.

In Retrospect

2009-07-10T01:30:30Z

Title: In Retrospect
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Zack, musings on others
Words: 643
Notes: I had a random observational thought and Zack decided to run with it.

There were a lot of things they never told you about SOLDIER before you got in.

Some things were top secret, like the process, the shots, the physical therapy.

Some things just didn’t come to mind once you got used to them, the eyesight, the sensory overload. Being even stronger than they think you are.

And some things... are just embarrassing. Worrying. And harder to realize than all the rest of the overlooked and unsaid details that nobody even remembered anymore.

He’d had a lot of time to look at everything since he’d died. He’d looked in on Genesis, his first real hint about this whole thing. Angeal was gone, but he had it too, and Sephiroth. Well, his consumed him.

It was obsession. Cloud was eaten by it, and even Vincent, who seemed so determined to see himself as a Turk in spite of everything that had happened to him, wasn’t immune.

He was pretty sure they’d known, the Generals.

Angeal had focused so hard on his honor, unwavering. In a way, he was pretty sure that Angeal had considered it a safe focus. It wasn’t anything that could have been ripped away from him, it wasn’t something that annoyed others... but it still ended up killing him.

Genesis did no better. The play that had been his inspiration had started events that had destroyed everything he’d loved. That, in turn, had destroyed things that others had loved in a ripple of violence that he’d thought he’d been safe from.

Sephiroth had turned his obsession on his friends, it being the most nebulous, most tenuous, but he’d tried, trusted... and was ripe for Jenova when she settled into the untaken niche in the man’s psyche where his loose ends and lack of direction lay exposed. In a way, Sephiroth was a victim. In others, he was a fool for not realizing that there were other ways he could have turned.

He was still conflicted about that, though he’d noticed that obsession had resettled in the man again, on Cloud this time, and it looked to be for keeps, good or ill.

Cloud didn’t help. His obsession was so much like Sephiroth’s that it sometimes hurt to watch over him. He focused on Sephiroth when the man was alive, then when he was gone he was adrift. He’d tried to help, hell, Aeris had tried, but he focused so hard... If he’d just let go and find something new, he would be alright, but he didn’t. He was like Vincent like that, he didn’t want to let go of the dead. And much like Vincent’s situation, Cloud’s dead kept cropping back up.

So he wasn’t helping either, but he could blame that on his own obsession. He didn’t want to let go of his last friend, the last person he really had to protect. He’d needed someone to protect since he stopped needing someone to follow. He’d still yearned after Angeal, right up to the end, but he’d stopped focusing on him, started focusing on other things. Then he’d died, and it had all... made sense.

It was a stupid, stupid SOLDIER trait.

It didn’t matter that he knew it now. It didn’t help Cloud or make him realize that it wasn’t just him. It didn’t make anything better for the ones left that had no contact with each other who were slowly going crazy, or were so focused in on their obsessions that they were dropping off over them. The ones that had family were okay, mostly, the book lovers and the collectors, but not everyone.

And there was really nothing he could do. He left hints... but he was dead.

The dead had their own rules, and even obsessions made them stay within them.

Even Sephiroth had learned that.

He would eventually too.

I is SMRT

2009-06-26T02:25:39Z

I just realized a couple things. Firstly, to those of you still paying attention, I moved! ... Again!

New address:
Sarai Elvira
2036 Silver Street
New Albany, IN 47150

I got a phone a while back, (for those out of country use the Louisville, Floyd County, or er, or bug croixsouillees as she worked out all those details already, i forgot since then)

The Number, and yes I take calls:
1-502-593-0387

Laptop! She's one of those not as tiny minis.
Color!: http://www.gizmag.com/pictures/dell-inspiron-mini-10_8.jpg
She's an inspiron mini 12 that I gigged out, if you wanna look at the specs on the dell website ::coughs:: she also has windows XP ::smirk::

And finally! I have a car.

A Dark Blue Ford Focus SES 2009 model. With 2397592645686 buttons.

It looks like this:
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2009/02/22/443122.1-lg.jpg
http://photos.ebizautos.com/new-2009-ford-focus-ses-6035-3665028-6-640.jpg

Remember! It's the color of that first picture!

::coughs:: So... that's what's up with me these last few weeks/months (though the phone is older, I just forgot to tell anyone about it and the laptop I squeed about in IM's and was drr about sharing otherwise)

How bout you guys?

Herald Chronicles 3/?

2009-06-22T09:01:34Z

Herald Chronicles
Coauthor: aikonamika
Words: 4942

She smiled ruefully. "The last time I left the Palace was when all of the Heralds went to the Border for the last battle with Hardorn." Then she paused. "Well, no. I had that afternoon out with Jemmie and the twins a few weeks ago," she said absently. Rolan blinked at Zack, and then nodded wisely.

"Zack, allow me to intrroduce the Queen'ss Own Herrald Talia," Treyvan added, amused.

:As I said,: she said, voice highly satisfied. :I'm far better than one of your chocobos. And I can keep up my top speed for a day and a half straight if I have to.:

"For some reason Jemmie and twins doesn't sound like a trio of really hot guys or gals. Babysitting?" Then he paused and shook his head "We didn't wake you with our spar did we? We tried to keep it down." He glanced over to Seph and rolled his eyes, then looked back. "He on the whirlwind over there is Sephiroth by the way, you likely heard that by now, and he doesn't seem to be," he raised his voice and looked over that way, "getting over here to say hi for himself!" He flashed her a grin. "And, um, that's a title innit? Never been good with those."

:I'm not finding it in me to protest. Though, it appears Zack is being demanding.:

She laughed. "Jemmie's my son, and the twins - Kris and Lyra - are Selenay's. And Selenay's the Queen. I'm...hm. The position of Monarch's Own is something like a Second in Command, and something like best friend. The Herald who holds the position is Chosen by the Queen's Own Companion - recently, Rolan." She rested a hand on his shoulder.

:I imagine he does that a lot. He's right though, that's Rolan and Herald Talia. You should meet her.: With that, Vianna began an easy lope back toward the little group.

"Yeah, you have a hot guy or chick stashed somewhere though right? Which is something." He gave her an impish grin. "Ahhh, titular highness... not that I pay attention, what with me playing pretend with Wutai's Empress to be on half my actual missions." He hooked a thumb at Seph. "Don't tell him that though, he'd likely do that forehead smack think he does sometimes and I'm worried he'll hurt himself onna these days with it." He closed an eye. "I used to be a few rungs down, but I'm pretty much second in command to his General over SOLDIER."

He shook his head as he listened to Zack chatter, and yes, he hadn't realized the girl he played with was -that- girl. "You never told me you were playing clues with Nioan's daughter Zack."

"Dirk is...well. Unfortunately, he's not what most people would think of as physically attractive," she said, though it was amused. "He makes up for it in personality, though. You'll likely meet him at some point." She laughed at the comment, though. "Playing with young nobles can be the best thing for them, though. It reminds them that they're still people, and not just their titles."

"Well, when I met her I was still under -Angeal- so that makes sense." He stuck his tongue out at Seph, then looked back to the woman. "But yeah, I met her when she was, gah. six, seven? She was in a place we were bringing down and tried to sneak up on me, badly, which is good otherwise she might have been hurt, and pretended to beat me up. It was cute, so when she got my text I decided to go along with it. disconcerting as hell when I'd get to rigged treasures before her though, she'd start screaming and crying, then flee. I think she did it on purpose to see if she could make me feel bad..." He rubbed the back of his head. "Cute kid though."

"Wait. -That- child? She looks like a common ninja brat!"

She raised an eyebrow and watched the two banter back and forth, amused.

He just grinned. "Professes herself to be the greatest." He reached over and tugged on Seph. "Meet the nice high ranking lady here Seph." He prodded until the man turned to look at the woman, a wry smile on his face. "Her name is Talia. Now say hello."

Lips twitching as he refrained from something further, he inclined his head. "Hello."

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, smiling warmly and returning the nod. "I'm here entirely unofficially, by the way. This is one of the few times I actually have a chance to relax, so Rolan and I tend to get out while we can." Her eyes darted between the two of them, amused.

Vianna inclined her head in respect to Rolan absently.

He snorted softly. "I understand entirely, in the last two years my time has been hedged around rather vigorously."

Zack grimaced. "Which still wasn't your fault. And we'll pretend we don't know you then?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! I mostly meant that I'm not here to be formal or anything. I get enough of it the rest of the day."

"I'll believe that when time flows backwards and things unhappen Zack." His voice was a bit crisp and he waved away the topic, much to Zack's displeasure.

"Right." He looked back to her quickly, grin flashing back quickly. "Well, in that case, we're cool. I'm not very good with that whole formal thing anyway.'

Her eyes were assessing as they rested on Sephiroth for a long moment, and then she smiled again. "How have you and Vianna been getting along?"

He relaxed slightly at that, letting himself be distracted. "She's convinced me of her superiority to my war hen."

:Of course I am.: There was distinct smug confidence in her attitude.

"I'm glad of that," Talia said warmly. "And, of course, Companions are more than just mounts." She placed one hand gently on Rolan's neck. "They're friends as well, and the sort that can be trusted with anything."

"I'll see about that in time." He glanced down to Vianna, rather certain she wouldn't be offended by his reticence. He had extremely good reasons for it.

Zack just shook his head. "I almost feel left out."

: Don't worry,: she said calmly, sending him a gentle surge of affection. :We have time.:

"Of course!" Talia's attitude was perfectly calm. Vianna's shields were fairly good, but she could certainly sense around them and get a feel of how desperately the Companion-bond was needed. Turning to Zack, her expression turned rueful. "You really shouldn't, you know." Then her eyes sparkled. "After all, Empaths like us make friends rather easily."

He snorted and waved a hand. "Don't empaths get all that emotional gunk off everyone? I don't really do that. I just pay attention." He flashed her a wide smile. "Can say it's easier when everyone talks though."

:I'm glad you agree to that.:

She kept her expression and body language exactly the same, polite cheerfulness, and then projected a wordless pulse of welcome, mischief, and reassurance.

He blinked, then -laughed-. "Ohhh, okay maybe not. My girlfriend can do that. She inspired my best Limit." He gave her an impish smile. "You're makin me wonder if any of the local'sll get under my skin that well."

She chuckled. "I can teach you shielding. You've got the rudiments, but it's a lot easier once you've got conscious control over it. And the sooner the better, really."

:Talia knows more than anyone about using Empathy purely as Empathy,: Vianna explained.

He reached over and scritched behind one of Vianna's ears with a grin before looking back to Talia. "Likely yeah. I have a lot I'm gonna end up learning round here to go with my own brand of use aren't I?"

"It's likely," she agreed. "Then again, I imagine we're going to be learning just as much from you two," she added, inclining her head to the both of them.

He grinned and laughed. "I bet. I'm curious about what kind of Limits you guys got here to be honest, or if you have em. It'll be weird if people don't have em."

"I do not believe that we have anything closse to what you have descrribed," Treyvan put in then. "The clossesst would be a mage'ss Final Sstrrike, and that iss...well, final."

"Oh no." He waved his hands. "Sure, we have -that-." He pulled a blue materia to wiggle it. "But if I ever equipped this thing it'd be slapped on my phoenix cause at least she'd make sure I didn't -die-."

:You might want to be careful, Zack,: Vianna said, amusement in her mind-voice. :The Healer representative was giving you covetous looks. I think she took off to recruit backup.: She hadn't gone with them into the

Council room, but she'd watched through Sephiroth's eyes.

He blinked and leaned into Seph, cautiously responding in kind to the Companion since he didn't see her yet. He wasn't very good at this part. :I got Seph for backup:

:Not against a cadre of determined Healers. Who are not like doctors or scientists,: she added quickly, just to have that out of the way. :They're just...well. Focused in an entirely different way than Heralds.:

:I know healers, was dating one... and crap I think I know what you mean.: He patted Seph, then gave him a sheepish grin. "You go find your gal... I think I'm gonna run now.

Unfortunately for Zack, it was a bit too late. A group of people in Greens - headed up by the Healer representative and an old man who regularly ran the Guard recruits around the practice arena - were approaching in a bee-line for Zack.

:Hopefully they'll let you go for dinner,: Vianna said cheerfully as they swept him up and carted him toward the House of Healing.

He yelped, seeing the arched eyebrow Seph was casting after him, and gave the group a sheepish smile. "Um, hi! What can I do for you guys?"

"We've heard some interesting things about how you use your Gift of Healing in conjunction with your other Gifts," the older man said calmly. "If you don't mind, we'd like to see if we can learn the how of some of it...and possibly help you develop it further."

He blinked a few times, then laughed a little. "Um, I just kinda do it. Don't really know how to set it off without someone at least pretending to throw a punch at me either. Well, outside the materia spells anyway..."

"That's one of the things that we may be able to help you with," he said cheerfully. "Many Healers start off on a purely instinctive level."

"Well, Limits tend to be a battle thing anyway so I can't say I'm shocked about it..." He looked around. "I have no idea who any of ya are by the way.'

The old man waved his hand genially. "Ah, my fault. I'm Devan, the Dean of the Healer's Collegium. With me are several of the teachers, including Breda, our representative on the Council." The woman smiled warmly.

"Hiya, Zack Fair, kidnapee."

"Well, if we'd left you there, then the mages would have gotten the both of you, and then where would we be?" Breda asked cheerfully.

"I don't think Seph has any healing limits guys." He shook his head. "They're pretty rare."

"We'll keep that in mind," Devan said as they reached the path to Healer's. "You're the one that's interesting, though."

"I gathered that from the whole abduction thing." He gave them all an amused look.

"Well, there's no time like the present to get started, hm?" Blue eyes sparkled back as Devan opened the door for him. "Unless you have somewhere else to be."

"Not that I can get to no. Still. Abducted."

She rounded the corner in time to watch Zack get carries off by the flood of Healers from the Palace to the House of Healing, then stuck her head in the doorway before it closed. Hopefully they really would let him go free before he starved to death.

Sephiroth moved over to her and pushed the door a bit more open. "Do you suppose he'll be fine?"

:Oh, probably. They are Healers, after all - they won't hurt him.: She didn't come inside just yet, glancing at him then out toward the garden. :Care to come for a walk with me? The servants tend to throw fits over hoofprints on the floors.:

He inclined his head and slipped out. "I suppose, though most stories with healers tell how vicious with weapons they could be."

:They are that, when the need arises,: she conceded, moving aside to give him room. :On a day-to-day basis, however, they usually don't go to such measures.:

He rolled a shoulder. "I've never personally dealt with any."

:I imagine you'll meet several if you spend time here, even if you do heal quickly,: she said absently. :They tend to worry.:

"Like Zack."

:Very much like, but they tend to get a little less personally acquainted except in some cases. I imagine he'll actually get along rather well with them. It's the Empathy thing.: She guided their steps toward the edge of the field.

"Being able to tell how people fare is pesky at best."

:I don't know. It could be very useful as well ,: she said airily.

"I suppose, but no less annoying."

:Would you rather know that one of your men was feeling ill despite outward appearances and send someone else in his place, or send him without knowing that and risk his abilities not being up to the required task?: She turned blue eyes on him as they walked.

He leaned in and took a deep breath. "If I was the one sending him out, I would know."

She paused, then nodded and kept walking. :I'm sorry. I forgot.:

"You'll learn to remember."

:I should certainly hope so!: she replied, but it was cheerful as they reached the gate into the Field (as opposed to just jumping the fence).

He reached to undo the gate and stepped through. "As would I."

:Well, since Zack is, ah, occupied right now, I figure that this is as good a time as any to make some introductions,: she said after a pause, stopping and turning so that he could swing himself on.

He got the hint and climbed up on her back, stroking her neck. "Fair enough,.

She cantered across the Field toward Firesong's ekele in his miniature Vale, eeling among the various groves of trees until she arrived at the appropriate one. Pausing by the entrance, she whinnied, just loud enough for the occupants to hear.

:I don't think An'desha will arrive immediately, but you'll want to meet him as well.: Faint grumbling from inside and overhead indicated where Firesong was making his way down, and Aya arrived in a flashy show, dripping false sparks from his feathers as he settled on a nearby tree branch.

He blinked slightly, then quirked an eyebrow. "Well, that bird looks a bit like a phoenix. Who am I here to meet exactly?"

:He's a firebird, Aya. Firesong's bondbird. And we're here to introduce you to Firesong,: she said serenely.

"Hm? Oh-" Silver eyes blinked a few times, and Firesong - dressed in a comparatively simple outfit, paused at the top of the stairs leading into the tree-build ekele. "...oh! Please, come in. You are one of the travelers that I have heard of? I am Firesong k'Treva, it is a distinct pleasure."

He quirked an eyebrow up at the man, then slid down off Vianna's back, gauging how high up it is.

Firesong descended the stairs with the grace that marked him, every bit the showman, with his long silver hair trailing gracefully behind him. He hadn't gotten the chance to do much with it just yet, so it flowed free for the time being. "Might I ask your names in return?" He offered both Sephiroth and Vianna a charming smile.

He inclined his head. "Sephiroth, and she is Vianna."

"Please, be welcome to my little Vale here in Valdemar," he said, sweeping his arms out and bowing gracefully.

He inclined his head slightly. "Graciously." He wasn't one for bowing himself, but was watching him.

He smiled and beckoned them further in. "Refreshments should be no great difficulty right now, and I believe that you have been meeting with the Valdamaran Council - and that could cause any man to need refreshment!" He gestured absently and with a spark of magic, and after a few seconds, a tray floated from the living rooms at the top, burdened by a pair of glasses and some light snacks, ones enjoyed by humans and Companions alike.

He moved forward at the inclination, a look of interest in how the magic was being used apparent. "I haven't seen levitation used that way."

"Hm?" He glanced up at the tray. "Ah, it's a simple enough spell. Normally I wouldn't waste magic this way, but- well. Sadly, Valdemar is severely lacking in proper amenities, and that includes the hertasi."

"Hertasi?" He quirked an eyebrow, but was still regarding the tray with speculation. "Though I have to correct myself, I have seen it used that way, just not so obviously."

"Wonderful little creatures," he sighed airily. "So helpful and useful. I really wish they were here." The tray set itself on a table, and he retrieved the two glasses, offering one to Sephiroth. "And, of course, if you get thirsty, the cold spring is perfectly clean to drink from," he added for Vianna.

He took the glass, considering the man, eyes lingering on his hair in plain curiosity. "I've never heard of them, then again, unhuman servants just don't really exist where I'm from."

"You poor thing," he sighed dramatically. "No hertasi, no Vales, no Heartstone, not even the amenities of proper hot springs. I should have stayed with k'Leysha, but then where would the world be?"

He slowly arched an eyebrow. "If I wanted a bath, it wasn't exactly difficult to get one. Hot tubs outmeasure hot springs so far as I've seen."

"You would never say that after being to a proper Tayledras Vale," he dismissed absently.

"You're overly certain of that. I've been to springs in Wutai, I prefer the hot tubs where I can manipulate the temperature and scents to my liking."

"Easy enough," he said. "But enough of this," he finally added, waving a hand. "I don't imagine that that's why your dear Companion brought you to me."

He hummed lowly. "Yes, I imagine it was for something more along the lines of introduction than argument."

:Just possibly,: she said dryly, taking the opportunity to investigate the bowl of carrot sticks. :Firesong might be able to help you figure out what brought you here. And he'll likely end up one of your magic teachers.:

"Ah, indeed," he said, satisfied. "The other mages here are quite good, I'll admit, but I outclass them by far."

"Considering how much closer I am to magic compared to most people from home." He pointedly raised an eyebrow at her so she could note the two exceptions. "And I don't care what brought me here so long as I'm not returning."

She nodded as if she'd expected that.

"Ah? Well, that will make things easier then, I suppose," he said absently. "But yes, I'm a Healing Adept as opposed to a regular mage. I deal with slightly different energies, or at least in different ways, and we tend to be more powerful than normal mages. Which, as your Companion said, will likely make me more suited to be your teacher."

He arched an eyebrow. "I suppose you would know better than I in this instance. I've always been more.... directed towards battle arts, so magic explorations have fallen well behind in importance."

"You'll get along well with the Herald-Mages, then," he said absently. "That's much of what they're training for - the battle-magics, that is."

"No, battle -arts- not magics. Materia magic is a given, of course, but anything beyond that wasn't truly considered effective or useful, and thus, discouraged." He shook his head slightly. "Of the two of us here, Zack is the one who had the time to explore that area."

He rolled his eyes. "Thus why you'll want to study battle magic." An impatient sigh.

He couldn't help the twitch of his lips. "I gathered that. I can imagine there are gains, but to what end?"

"A single mage can hold off an army on his own," he said absently. "Or destroy a country by himself." As Ancar had. "And if you're staying here, you'll need to learn it, as I doubt any enemies will be magnimonious and refrain from using it."

"Considering I already know how to do -those- things..."

He smirked then. "I doubt you know the extent of it."

"I was the main force behind destroying the last free thinking country. I had a bit of help, but I was the one put in charge of dealing with the majority of it, and Ninja are highly creative in their retaliations."

"Ninja-" and he didn't know the word, but he didn't let that show- "are not Blood Path Adepts."

"No, I don't imagine they'd like the connotations of those words to me, but they never severely wounded me either." He waved a hand. "I'm not adverse to learning, but I was made a General ten years ago for a reason. Be I agreeable to those reasons or not, they weren't without support."

"And my hair was white from magic when I was ten years old," he returned absently. "You are in a land where many people are given great responsibility and power from a young age. It is not an uncommon thing."

"I never claimed otherwise. Merely that I know my way around at least the topics you're presenting." He paused briefly. "Your hair was once another color?"

"Wonderful to know then!" He gave him a bright, pleased smile. "And yes, it was black, as all Tayledras. Those without much magic usually aren't completely white-haired until their late twenties, but those of us who work with the Heartstone bleach out much faster."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Hm. I have always been the coloring you see." He absently indicated himself. "It didn't occur to me there was a possibility of... bleaching by way of magic, as I've certainly never seen it."

"Have you ever tried to dye your hair?" He asked absently as he sipped at his drink.

"Dye doesn't take. Blood does, but I'm rather adverse to leaving bloodstains on myself."

"Magic bleaching. And bloodstains would get bleached out shortly after." He waved toward Vianna. "Thus why Companions are white."

:Much to the annoyance of Heralds in the past. We can't exactly be disguised.:

He blinked, looking to her. "No, blood stays as long as it takes for me to get somewhere and take a few hours to scrub it. I didn't have a chance for an entire week once and the color didn't fade even slightly."

Firesong paused, raising an eyebrow. "Now that's interesting..."

"No dyes ever take however, and I could never wear contacts." He grimaced. "I've seen the unfortunate repercussions of -that-." He touched beside his eyes. "We had to have one of the men with the medical team for a near week because he decided to try to hide the glow of his eyes by that method. They fused to his eyes."

"Contacts?" he asked curiously. "And magic - powerful magic, enough to cause ones eyes to glow like that - often doesn't take well to mundane objects."

"Contacts are like glasses that, to most, can be harmlessly place directly against the eyes. I could never wear them nor could any other SOLDIER." He grimaced. "They melt. It would be like trying to put active materia in a plastic container, it simply would not work." He ran a finger over one of the blue orbs on his wrist.

That word caused him to perk up. "Materia?" He'd heard something interesting about that...

He nodded slightly, then smirked slightly. With a name like that... He picked one of his fires and flicked the green orb to him. "Materia."

He caught it, and then his eyes went wide with pure fascination. Without saying another word, he sank himself into the spell, studying it closely and how it worked and the connection that ran from it to Sephiroth. How fascinating!

He moved over, lightly touching his shoulder in a tap. No, the man didn't get to keep it. However... Smirking slightly, he fished out Phoenix, seeing if the man would show he noticed him before he switched the materia on him.

Sephiroth's presence close by was enough to make him look up, blinking in surprise.

He quirked an eyebrow, then calmly switched the green orb with the blood red one in his other hand.

That one he didn't need to go deeply into, and he raised it thoughtfully to eye it. "A phoenix, but bound in a rather interesting way. Fascinating."

"That one was a gift of Zack's to me. He has the parent materia of this child." He ran his fingers over it. "I expect eventually he'll give me others of his summons as well." He tapped it lightly. "But phoenix I keep in junction to this." He took and put her back on his bracer, pulling the blue final attack she'd been joined with and handing it to him. "The colors have meanings. Red are summons, blue are... helpers you could say, to whatever they join. That one is effective if a person falls. I've never personally been in that situation, and with phoenix I would be fine if I was. My other blues are mostly Alls which are basically an intent that focuses the spell on all your enemies or all your allies in your reach if you chose to trigger them as well. Fire, obviously, which so fascinated you, is one of the greens. Lighter Greens are protective or healing, darker are offensive. Purples... well, they're special and take none of your power to do as they do. They just enhance you or as one Zack has, boost luck. There's also Enemy Lure and Enemy Away of course. And others. I'm fond of the one that lets a person breathe under water. And the yellows... well, those range from manipulate, to steal, to... well, mimic. I have a mimic and an enemy Skill myself." He gave him a grim smile. "Mimic lets you do something one of your allies has done without the cost. If perchance I was on the field with Zack and he cast a firaga, and I mimicked, I would be able to do the same. Enemy Skill." He hummed. "That just collects spells used against you so you may use them when you feel like it."

"And yet they all require you to have them on your person," he said, though his eyes were alight with pure fascination. "I've cast magic with nothing on me but my hair. Though that wasn't exactly something I'd want to repeat, as it was rather cold out," he mused absently, then dismissed it with a wave. "Still! It is still very interesting."

"I can cast all spells I've been in contact with without the materia, save summons. Though only greens. Yellow based events still give me fits, and working with blues, well." He fished out the Enemy Skill materia and collected his final attack to put her back in his bracer as he dropped the yellow in the man's hand.

: Before Firesong could look intently into that one, a sound came from the upper floors of the ekele. An'desha stepped out, looking down at the trio below, and then shrank back into the doorway. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to inter-"

"Not a problem at all!" Firesong positively lit up. "Please, An'desha, come down and meet Sephiroth and Vianna."

An'desha glanced at Sephiroth, then shyly headed down the steps toward them. Firesong handed his drink over to him as soon as he got close, fussing over him.

He blinked, then tilted his head to peer at this new person. "You have eyes like mine." He couldn't help the tinge of surprise.

He flinched back, one hand going to touch his temples lightly even as he looked to meet Sephiroth's eyes. There was confusion in his eyes, and a touch of wonder as well. "How...did your eyes get like that?"

Firesong was very quiet as they spoke.

"So far as I'm aware, I was born this way." He quirked his lips very slightly. "I've never seen eyes like mine before. Not even in the other two."

"I..." He paused, and then continued. "My body was stolen by a monster. He warped me...completely. The only way I look at all like this-" He stopped, holding his hands out and studying them, still expecting to find golden fur and wicked claws. "The only reason is because the Star-Eyed saw fit to bless me. And Nyara."

He considered that. "I can't say I'd like to experience something like that." He sharply repressed the whisper that indicated something he was ignoring from childhood. "But I've seen something like that happen. More through... unwillingness to be helped and trust that I would help than by an outside failing however." He shook his head. Perhaps Minerva looked on Genesis as your Star Eyed looked on you. It would explain where he got to."

No Trains Here 2/?

2009-06-19T18:57:36Z

Title: No Trains Here
Fandom: Original
Coauthor: aikonamika
Words: 2306
Characters: Jacob Tesing and Gabriel Balora
Note: It looks like we located a plot somewhere.

</span>He finished off his food and got to his feet, flashing Belora a smirk. "I'll go and get the horses ready to go." He patted his shoulder as he went by. "Thanks for dinner."

Gabriel reached up and snagged the back of his shirt. "Hold up. You thought I was going to pay for you as well?"

He flashed him a smirk. "You never said you weren't." He plucked off his fingers and ruffled up his curls.

"I'm only planning on paying my half of the bill. If you're gonna just walk out, I'd be perfectly happy to tell the manager where you went so you can wash dishes for him," he said, smirking back.

"For some reason I just don't think he'll accept that as an answer." He smirked after a moment and leaned down, almost brushing their cheeks together and letting out a soft breath across his ear. "Do you?"

"Not particularly. But I stalled you long enough for our waitress to show up," he murmured back. Sitting back, he smiled up at him brightly, accepting the receipt from the waitress, who was watching them both with an arched eyebrow. "So! Your half is $10.99."

"Only because you groped me." He let out a put upon sigh. "Here." he tossed down a ten. "You can handle it." Then he disentangled himself and headed off for the door.

Since it was more than he'd expected to get from him, he accepted the ten with good grace and made up the rest of the difference, calculating the tip absently and adding it in too. Handing it over with a bright smile to the waitress, he rose and grabbed his take-out box, heading out the door as well.

He was pretty quick about getting the horses ready, more than eager to finally go home.

He stowed his leftovers in his saddlebags when he got to his horse, making sure that the scent didn't drift. No need to unnerve her, after all. Swinging up, he nodded thanks to his partner. "Ready to go, Tesing?"

"Jacob." He rolled his eyes, getting onto his horse. "And yes."

"Tesing," he said, smirking.

"Timmy."

"At least I'm grounded in some form of respect," he grumbled, then raised an eyebrow. "Gods know why."

"It's respectful. Everyone wants a Tim."

"What the hell is a Tim?"

He smirked at him. "You don't know?"

"I've said as much the last three or four times I asked you."

"Then I guess you need to look up a little Magic."

"...what the hell?" He stared at him flatly. "Why can't you just tell me?"

"Are you really sure you wanna know?"

He sighed. "Yes." He was going to regret it, but at least he'd know.

"It's a pinker."

"...a what?"

"Pinker. Pinks at the lifepoints. Usually a sort of wizard, not always though."

He stared some more. "...'pinks'?"

He made a flicking motion. "Pinks."

"I'm going to hurt you."

"I'm being serious!"

"Really badly."

"Still serious. I mean, there are Goblin Tims, red Tims, the ever famous Blue Tim..."

"With a stick."

"It's usually a pretty gradual thing unless you have an army."

"Why the hell do you call me that?!"

"Because you are so a Tim."

He snarled and spurred his horse into a run, taking the lead and proceeding to ignore his partner entirely.

He sighed, then shook his head, getting his horse to go after him.

He stared straight ahead on the ride back to the hotel they were staying at, refusing to look at Jacob again. When they got there he simply slid off his horse, leading her into the stable to get her taken care of for the last time.

He growled to himself and stalked after the other man.

He focused entirely on grooming her, then getting her tack cleaned and set away.

"Damn it Gabriel, what got your panties in a twist now?"

Spinning on his heel, he glared, practically hissing his words. "Respectful? That sort of name is supposed to be respectful?"

"Actually -yes-. It's a damn compliment you high strung pansy."

"Oh, something that just chips away uselessly at lifepoints in tiny little pinks is supposed to be a compliment?"

"Considering only one thing can block them, -yeah-."

He turned on his heel again and stalked off, growling.

He took off after him in a heartbeat. "Damn it! Stop running away!"

"No."

He picked up his speed, then tried to tackle him. "Yes!"

He grunted at the impact and staggered forward, dropping to hands and knees before he managed to catch himself.

He shifted to straddle his back and leaned down to talk in his ear. "For once I'm not trying to piss you off so what the hell! You said you wanted to know."

"I wanted to know. I found out. Get off." His voice was flat.

"No." He planted his hands on either side of his head. "You get into these damn pissy moods too often."

"You piss me off too often." He shoved against the ground, trying to push him off his back.

He shifted one hand to between his shoulder blades. "No shit, but this is a bit much, even for you."

"Just get off of me!"

"No!"

He growled. "Look, I already know that I'm god damned useless, there's no need to fucking rub it in!"

"Tims are popular cards for a reason you idiot! It's -not an insult- already!"

"Well you sure contradict yourself then, since other than that all you've ever done is insult me." He twisted enough to glare over his shoulder.

He glared right back. "Don't be a stupid ass."

"What, you bitching about me always getting in trouble, or getting in the way, or not being able to do things right is a compliment too?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of crack are you on?"

"I'm not." He pushed up off him then, scowling. "Fuck it. I'll be in the hotel room when you cool off."

He glared after him, pushing himself to his feet and stalking off in the other direction. He just needed to get away. Just to walk this off, and get away for a while.

He headed up to the room and tossed himself on the bed. God the man could be so stupid sometimes. He took compliments worse than insults!

He paced until he hit the limit of distance he could go, feeling the slight tug at his mind, then turned and kept up his quick, restless steps along the perimeter. Rubbing his chest, he winced at the still-present feel of electricity rumbling through him, looking down at his other hand to see that the tremble was still there. That...wasn't supposed to happen. Still, he didn't exactly want to head back to the hotel room just yet, not when he still wanted to throttle his partner.

He felt the bit of pressure that said that a certain someone was hitting his limits, but he just yanked off his boots before rolling over and sticking his head under a pillow. He wasn't going to go chasing after the idiot a second time today.

He made a half-circuit as far out as he could go before he'd gotten rid of enough of his anger that he felt he could go back and stay calm. Well, mostly calm. As usual, he managed to trace his way back to the hotel, despite finding a few walls in the way where he hadn't expected any. Stepping inside he eyed his partner for a second before huffing and heading into the bathroom.

Hearing the other man moving around, he pressed the pillow tighter over his head.

He was perfectly willing to continue ignoring him, and stripped down as he started the shower, waiting until it was warm enough before stepping in. No need to freeze himself or anything.

He heard the shower start and sighed, tossing the pillow to the head of the bed and getting up to strip. He'd just turn in then.

He hadn't even gotten his hair completely wet before he felt the return of that electricity, making his muscles twitch without his consent. Shaking, he slowly lowered himself to his knees in the tub, flailing at the knob to turn the water off. Water conducted electricity, right? So it was bad. Or something.

He paused in the middle of taking his hair down and eyed the shower. "If you changed your mind I'm so gonna use up the hot water!"

He couldn't exactly answer, but the crackle of energy as it slid out of his skin again might have given away a hint about something.

Cursing as he heard the distinctive snap, he shoved into the room and moved over to the shower. "The Hell?"

"Dun...no." He winced, hunching over further as it redoubled.

He cursed, then moved over and crouched, reaching out to put his hand on his back, jaw locked.

He jerked and went sightless, and the energy twisted to curl around Jacob as well.

He hissed, tightening his fingers, but all he could do was wait it out.

It twisted around the both of them a few more times, before grounding back into Gabriel again. He dropped the rest of the way to the bottom of the tub, panting and twitching slightly.

He grumbled and leaned into the tub to haul him up to a sitting position. "So not the place for that buddy."

"...what the hell was that?"

He couldn't help it. "A Pink."

He glared as best he could. "No, really. What the hell was that? I thought that...energy or whatever was supposed to be taken care of."

"It's a magic thing. Like those ever do what they're supposed to." Knowing he'd regret it, he worked on hauling him out of the tub.

"No, really? I thought it was just when it grabbed my soul that it was going to be weird." And fuck, that had been worse than the first time. He tried to help but found that he apparently didn't have much strength. Yet.

It was really hard for him to do it, but he got the man hauled up out of the tub and started over so he could dump him on one of the beds, working on -not- dropping him.

About halfway there he managed to get his legs underneath him and help, pretty much rolling himself onto the bed. "...I'm sorry."

He rolled his eyes, ducking into the bathroom to fetch a towel and starting to dry him off. "Shut up."

"No, really. I was a bitch. Sorry." He did, however, grab for the towel himself.

He paused his drying to let him have it. "Whatever, it's not important."

He picked up where Jacob had left off, getting rid of the water. Fortunately, he hadn't exactly been in the shower for long. "But really, do you have any clue about why it did that?"

"Magic just might not have settled out. Reaction to other things you have going on with you? You did hit the edges today."

"I just...needed to get away." He shook his head a bit.

"Figured." He sighed and moved back to his bed to flop over on it. "Scream if you go haywire again."

"I'll try, oh Lord and Master." He couldn't wait to get back home.

He scowled and wiggled under his covers. "I'm never sure if you mean that."

"Why don't you just ask?" It was quiet.

"I'm not sure I want to know."

"Then you'll just never be sure, will you?" He rolled onto his side, and shoved his own covers down far enough that he could get under them. "Hit the lights, would you? You're closer."

He scowled, crawling out of bed. "I'll have you know I didn't intend to run all over this room like this." He got the lights and wiggled back under his covers anyway.

"Thanks, then."

"Whatever, just go to sleep you trouble magnet."

"I hear and obey, oh Lord and Master," he said, smirking. Despite that, he dropped off quickly.

He sighed, aggravated, then just shook his head and rolled over to go to sleep, damn man. He best be okay.

There weren't any repetitions of the energy storm through the night, at least. He didn't really move at all, actually.

Rolling out of bed an ungodly five hours after rolling into it, he grumbled to himself. But he wasn't shocked, just moving over to check on Gabriel.

He opened one eye, green rather than gold, and looked blearily up at him. "Issit time to go?"

"It's three thirty."

"Duzzn answer the question. I can't remember when our train leaves."

"Six.'

He blinked a few times, then frowned. "So why are you up now?"

"No idea." He scowled a little, then eyed him closely.

"...what?" He didn't think he was about to go off like he had before. It wasn't quite that sort of jittery feeling.

He turned on his heel at that point. It was cold in here and he so wasn't dressed for it. "Just go back to sleep.

He sat up then, sheets poolingaround his waist. "No really, what?"

He was headed back to his bed and flapped his hand. "It's nothing, lay back down."

"You confuse me sometimes." He dropped back down, though. "I never know what you actually mean."

"Being sarcastic doesn't suit you." He crawled back under the covers.

"I mean it."

"Then what the hell are you talking about now?"

"You run hot and cold, and you just- eh, what the hell. Nevermind. Sleeping now." He turned onto his other side, pulling the blanket up higher so only the top of his head was visible.

He pressed his lips together and rolled over so his back was facign the other man. Damn him anyway for being a light sleeper.

The Right Thing 1/?

2009-06-14T22:10:47Z

Title: The Right Thing
Fandom: FFVII
Characters: Cloud
Words: 559
Warnings: Time Travel
Notes: Cloud isn't given a choice, he's just carried off to when he needs to be. Problem is... What does he do now?

I know you’ll do the right thing.

They weren’t exactly words in the way he was used to hearing words, not even from that voice. Since Aeris had died, he was sure he’d almost gone mad. Then again, later on he’d discovered he was already his own kind of crazy, so in a way, it was to say that he was going sane since then.

But this?

Do the right thing?

There were so many ways that this could be the right thing that his mind hurt to just think of it.

And he was expected to know, all on his own, how to do this.

History had, for instance, never been his strong point. What he knew of it was patchy, old studies eaten by Mako, or learned from people like Cid and Vincent, people whose lives had gone flying off the track just as badly, or worse, than his own. In no way did that truly help him.

Not when he had to make choices that could ruin or glorify those very same people.

Was it worth the risks?

He pushed up from his sitting position, staring down towards the town that was even tinier than he remembered. The town where he’d grown up and lost himself. The town he’d never wanted to see again. And his eyes were following a little girl. A blond little girl with hair just like his who couldn’t be more than twelve, thirteen, and definitely not an early bloomer.

She wasn’t treated the nicest, he could see it from his vantage point, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep watching. It was too similar, and explained too many things, when he really didn’t want that kind of reminder.

But he had to do something.

If he just stood here and waited, watching... then he’d be just as bad... no. He’d be worse than Sephiroth.

He’d be causing all of it when at any time he could have done something. When he could have stopped the bike from being turned on, so to speak. Nobody could stop him. He’d defeated a weapon, and here, now, there was no one to match him in physical power.

But how would it all affect her? Nidara. His mother. What would he do to her life if he stepped in now? He knew what would happen if he didn’t, and he felt terribly unprepared.

He knew he couldn’t be blamed for that. Aeris hadn’t had any warning to give him, just apologies and assurances as the Lifestream dragged him roughly away to here. Near the stream of it just up inside the cave that he used to like to visit as a child.

But he wasn’t any child anymore, and too many things had stolen the simple wonder he’d felt then, in the future of this offset point in time.

If it even was a different time and not something else stranger than that. Which was also fully possible.

But he knew, with certainty, that he would learn nothing if he stayed in this spot, watching a blond girl be bothered by people who apparently never learned.

Finally making a choice, he turned and started further up the mountain. First, seeing if the reactor existed. If it didn’t, then he had preventative measures to take.

And for those not into Valdemar

2009-06-09T05:33:56Z

The RP Series of Doom, you know the one with icedark_elf? It'sbeen updated!

Definitively Mine
And if you haven't read any before that one the whole set is in order Here

These things are ongoing

2009-06-09T04:31:01Z

Herald Chronicle Part 2
By me and aikonamika

Sephiroth rolled over, then cracked his eyes open with a disgruntled growl and rudely shoved the man that had, at some point, invaded his bed and personal bubble out onto the floor. "You were -not- here when I went to sleep."

Looking around in bewilderment after hitting the floor, the man finally gave him wounded eyes. "I didn't do anything!"

Muttering darkly, the pale haired man crawled out of bed to find some clothes. Just because Zack had at least boxers on didn't mean -he- did.

Zack stuck his tongue out at him finally and scrambled to get dressed himself, poking around a bit. "I can't sleep anymore Seph, just so you know."

"I imagine not, however, I think they would protest if we woke anyone." He nodded to his Companion. "Even she sleeps."

"Then we have got to be sneaky. Think we could find the yard they mentioned?"

"Without too much trouble." He got his boots tugged on. "Obviously, we start outside."

:South,: Vianna said, projecting sleepy affability as she raised her head to look at them. It had been a bit odd, sleeping inside the suite instead of out in the Field or in the Companion's stable. :Head south, along the edge of the Palace. You'll cross a small field, and the outdoor arena should be there. Kero won't really mind you being there.:

He paused, then reached to run his palm over the top of his Companion's head with bare fingers before gesturing Zack out. Nodding, the man slipped out, waiting for Seph to direct him once they were out there, which didn't take long at all.

The yard in question made them exchange a glance over the smaller size, but after a moment, Zack just shrugged. "Well, I guess we just get to practice up instead of out. Pulled hits?"

He nodded back to the smaller man, then settled into a few light stretches. "Enough to make us alert for whatever is going to happen later."

"They aren't very hostile." It was an almost considering phrase, and the man straightened, calling Masamune to him. "The air is cleaner."

"Anything is cleaner than Midgar." He laughed, and then shook his head, circling the taller man once, then setting into the attack. He was deflected, of course, but neither was really trying yet.

Golden eyes watched the pair consideringly from the other side of the compound. Treyvan stayed quiet for now, though.

Smirking slightly at Zack's approach, he deflected the slow, for them, blows, then started to return them, picking up their pace without really moving from his spot at all. Zack circled enough for them both. Once he moved, there would be air in this fight.

Zack laughed, then braced and moved into a harder lunge. His opponent finally moved, liquid as he leaped, twisting to land off to his side as the fight finally started something of a chase, one almost solid ringing of blade on blade starting through the still morning air. "Magic?"

"Not yet."

Zack found himself flipping through the air and wasn't shocked when Seph came to meet him instead of waiting, causing a more wicked set of attacks. "Now?"

"No."

"Pleeeaase?"

He waved a hand as they came back towards earth, bringing up a shimmering barricade. "Fine. Do your worst."

Treyvan shifted as the magic shimmered into life, Mage-Sight layered over his eyesight with the relaxation of a thought.

Zack grinned, and as soon as they landed there was a quake, small as to keep it in the yard, to get Seph back up in the air, before he started into bolts, bouncing around him to see if he couldn't break the barrier. "Don't make me use the limit on you!"

"I said do your worst Fair."

With that, he laughed, taking two steps back before closing his eyes as he started to float. "Hold onto your shield then. Apocolypse."

He blinked, then cursed, throwing out his hands to gather energy in a black ball swiftly as he reinforced his shield.

He sat up, feathers ruffling upward, eyes narrowing as he reinforced his own shields, careful not to "blind" himself as he studied the spell.

As the last bolts of the Limit fell back, Zack's eyes widened and he yelped, diving for the ground as black energy moved over his head, dispersing. "Zack, you realize you just flicked Genesis based attack at me."

"Hellmonkeys." Snatching his blade off his back, he darted for Seph, moving to reinitiate swordplay before Seph decided to take his damn head off.

"Mmhmm. Be glad the shield held." Smirking, he waved a wash of fire towards the man, then dodged aside, the action being followed from Zack in a determined rain of ice.

When the backwash of fire passed the darker of the two combatants and caught the grass at the edge of the arena, Treyvan finally stood up, reaching out with a thought to press a smothering shield down upon the flames before they spread.

That got Seph twisting slightly in place as he blocked a sword attack, then turning his attention back to the other man. "I do believe we have an audience."

"Thought I felt eyes."

He knew he'd gotten their attention, and walked slowly toward them, staying on the ground for now. Who knew if they'd ever seen gryphons before, after all?

They finally drew to a close, Zack falling back a step to check over the buster before putting her on his back. "Guess we're done."

"For now."

"My apologiesss," he said slowly. "I did not mean to botherrr you."

Zack looked the birdlike critter over for a moment, then grinned. "Everything here talks! That is so freaking cool!!" Then he moved forward, clasping his hands. "We didn't wake you did we?"

Sephiroth just shook hsi head. "Humans aren't the only things that talk back home Zack."

"Huh? Since when?"

"No, I am often awake well beforrre dawn. It isss the price I pay forr being allowed to go to sssleep early," he said, amused. "Do not worrry, though. We are often ssstrange to the people of Valdemarr and herrr alliess asss well."

"Just something I learned a year ago Zack." He waved a hand. "I'm not sure strange is the word, just most creatures who look like you do not speak."

"Uh huh." He looked to.... the bird thingy. "I'm Zack Fair, silver head is Sephiroth, and it's good we didn't wake ya. We were trying to be quiet about it."

"Ah, then you do not know many grryphonss. Mossst who know usss would claim that we do not sshut up," he chucked. Nodding, he sat, golden eyes bright. "I am Treyvan. Sshould you ssse another who lookss like me, but larrrgerrr, ssshe isss my mate, Hydona."

"Sounds like how it goes." Zack gave him a sheepish grin. "Chocobo hens are always bigger than the boys." He hooked his thumb at Seph. "Why he had a girl, the guys just weren't right for him."

He sighed. "Something exactly like you I don't believe I've seen, but close on occasion. Are you even aware of what a Chocobo is, since Zack's spanned the topic?"

:And now that you have me you'll never want one under you again,: Vianna commented from where she'd moved out into the garden.

"I have not hearrrd of them, no. I assume they're aviansss of sssome sssort, then?"

"Uh huh! They were birds with a body to here." He held a hand at his shoulder. "Or bigger, long legs, long necks, runners since they couldn't fly, crests on their heads, super fluffy, wicked sharp beaks when they were mad and massive talons. Love them some greens though. Oh! And really smart too. Legend says the gold ones can run on the ocean. I dunno about that, but my white could run over rivers and heal."

Sephiroth just shook his head and reached back to his Companion. :I've never ridden you.:

"Urrr." Treyvan's head tilted. "Grryphonsss are ass any other perssson in what we do. Sssome are artissansss, though it isss difficult for most worrrk to be done by ourr handss," he added, splaying one long-taloned hand for inspection. "Othersss work, and ssstill morre arre magess. Beyond that, we tend to join the Silver Gryphons. Hydona and I are ssscouts and ambassadorrrs, and both of usss arre Master-class mages."

:We should take care of that, then!: Vianna turned and cantered toward where the three of them stood at what was, for a Companion, an easy pace.

"Mages? Like how? I mean, I know I know a -lot- of on demand Limits compared to most folks, but I still need materia like anyone else, Seph excluded." Zack tilted his head, plainly curious.

He turned towards the Companion as she came out and tilted his head. :How shall we go about this then?:

He spread the hand he'd lifted and conjured a ball of mage-light. "Sssuch thingsss are sssimple. Otherrrss rrrange from sspellsss of communication and rrrepairr, to healing and cleansssing, to combat."

He blinked at the light a couple times. "I have no -idea- how to do that."

"Your magic iss very differrrent frrrom ourrsss, which will make the learrrning and teaching interressting, I think," he said calmly. "You arrre both powerrful, if ssstill not rrefined." He paused, and then looked to Vianna and Sephiroth. "A moment of yourrr time, if I may?"

Vianna, who had been about to tell Sephiroth to mount, looked over and gave a mental shrug.

He arched an eyebrow, then nodded slightly. "Yes?" He waved Zack down. which wasn't hard as the man looked contemplative anyway.

"Ssstrike at me with the sspell you usssed earrlierr."

He blinked. "That could be rather painful."

"It iss to prove a point. Do not worrry." His beak gaped open in a grin.

He eyed him, then rolled a shoulder and cast out with his modified version of demi.

His shields caught the brunt of the attack, and he reared up onto his hind legs as he reached down and pulled magic from the earth, twisting it around the attack and bending it away from him, warping the direction of the spell and then dissipating it into the ground beneath.

He quirked an eyebrow. "How interesting." He tilted his head. "That's almost like what you'd get out of an Escort Guard to certain spells."

He seated himself again, flipping his wings to his back. "I am not sssurre what that isss, but that wass a fairly ssimple method to shield attackss. Otherrrss arre, of course, thingsss such as stopping, deflecting, orrr rreflecting them, ass well asss otherss."

Zack grinned. "Sound like modified shielding spells. Here, lookit this one." He fished out the green materia that did that and offered it to him as Seph turned back to his Companion.

He accepted it carefully, looking it over thoughtfully.

:Now that they're done with that,: she said, :you mount up like this, and then it'll feel something like this when you're settled right.: She showed him the "proper" sensations when she said it, allowing him a second to get the sense of it before dropping it.

He hummed, noting the different balance, then got up as advised.

Zack grinned. "Some people have to touch it with magic. My babies are used to me so I can tell them all with touch though."

She wasn't wearing a saddle or hackamore, so it wasn't as solid as it otherwise might have been, but she moved out gracefully once he was settled. A walk, then a trot, and finally she began an easy lope out toward the Companion's Field. Each pace was deceptively smooth and easy to sit - and far faster than a horse could ever go as that pace.

"It ssseemss almosst like a ssspell that isss shape only, with no powerrr behind it," he said, studying it closely. "I am no rrreasserrrcher, though."

"That's pretty much it. They grow and change as they get more power." He reached out, three held in his hand. "These three are a mastered, it's baby, and one between. You can likely tell the differences.... but don't cast, I'm not resistant to electricity."

He had to remind himself not to move like he would on a bird, but he'd always had deceptively good balance, and this was no hindrance to learning.

He accepted them as well, simply looking instead of investigating. He knew better than that as it was.

Once she was sure he had his balance steady, she threw him the image of a smirk, and said, :Hang on.: Then she switched into a gallop, speeding up as her body lowered a ways, until the wind was lashing through their hair as she hit the fastest pace that Companions could achieve, faster than almost anything else.

That... was an easier pace for him than the slower ones, and he shifted slightly to lean down into it, holding on with his knees some to make sure he didn't tip himself off balance.

Zack gave him a wry smile. "I'm best with electricity. Though I'm decent with healing spells and the like too."

:Feel free to hold tighter,: she said wryly, and didn't slow as they approached the fence surrounding the Field. She gathered her muscles under her, letting him know with a delicate touch, and then leaped, the fence flashing by under them in a thought.

He leaned down lower on her back, bracing his hands as well as he settled into the run fully, relaxed.

She kept up the pace, and then warned him with another touch before she came to an abrupt halt, spinning sideways on her forelegs and giving a tiny kick backward. She wasn't entirely sure how comfortable he would be staying on, so she avoided the more dramatic combat moves.

"Healing, hurr? It iss likely that you have a touch of that gift, ass well ass empathy."

He shifted his position with the move, but didn't feel unstable and let her know it. She didn't have anything actively batting at him after all, that helped.

He gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, I've had people under my charge reaaaal happy when I've limited before when Healing Wave swept my party. Never touches my enemies, of course, but it revitalizes, heals, and boosts magic... then there's that whole 'haha you hit me and it didn't hurt me at all' factor that lingers for a couple minutes too."

Vianna threw him a touch of challenge, then reared up to her full height, lashing the air in front of her with her forelegs as she crow-hopped forward, before coming down with a thud that would crush enemies beneath her. She spent barely half a second flat on the ground before spinning again, kicking out high and snapping at the air in front of her. Then she leaped up, all four hooves off the ground as she kicked in a capriole, landing and spinning and launching herself into a run again.

He gave Zack a surprised look. "That isss...verrry usseful, I imagine." Then he looked up toward the Palace, zeroing in on a Whites-clad figure on another Companion that was approaching. The Companion was a bit odd though. He looked...more than all of the others.

He reflexively lightened himself as he tightened his hold fractionally, finding this easier to do -without- anything like a saddle than he likely would have with one. He did have to lean into compensation some though. It took a little attentiveness, as he wasn't used to the balance but... not so hard. It would be harder without practice on a battle bird.

"Oh yeah." He flashed him a smile. "Especially since I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaay stronger than most people I ever end up in charge of. Only Seph is stronger than me these days so... I teach half the time."

She made sure to balance him in return, feeling the two of them working together more and more as they moved. The Companion-bond made things easier, and she knew that it was already stronger than most bonds. It was necessary, if nothing else.

"And yet I imagine that you become stronger in other ways for teaching," Talia said cheerfully as Rolan approached. Swinging down from his back, she gave the both of them a sunny smile. "Good morning Treyvan." Turning to Zack, she gave him a nod of her head. "I'm Talia."

He took her little compensations and added his, relaxing more s he found balance amid thhe seeming chaos of motion.

Zack immediately offered his hand. "Hiya! Zack Fair, and yeah. Still prefer to be out in the field, but it's not like there were many Firsts to go around and Seph." he tilted his head off towards the pair taking rounds. "Well, he's never been patient enough to teach anyone anything, trust me, I was on the dealing end of his teaching method a couple times, wanted to strange him. Sides." He flashed a little grin. "My limits are way too awesome to never get to use."

Talia took his hand firmly, ignoring the height discrepancy with ease. "It's a pleasure to meet you, truly." Turning, she gestured to the stallion beside her. "And this is Rolan." He nodded welcomingly. "As for getting out in the field...I know what you mean." She sighed sympathetically. "It seems like I almost never leave the Palace any longer unless I'm accompanying Selenay."

Finally Vianna slowed, barely breathing hard. :Well? What do you think?:

He gave her a wry smile. "Exactly! I mean, hell, I haven't gotten out on a mission more than a day long in like, four months. This'll be nice. Gonna miss Spike... but a guy can't have everything." He shook his head and then waved at the Companion. "Hi Rolan! Are you one of the antisocial ones?"

He leaned over her back, draping himself, and stroked her neck, a small, pleased smile on his face. :I think we have a lovely accord.:

So, what do you get when you stick a Sephiroth in Valdemar?

2009-06-08T08:28:34Z

Herald Chronical Part 1
(the Valdemarians you can thank aikonamika for contributing here)

He wasn't sure what that magic he'd just had pelted at him -was- exactly, but he could honestly say he didn't like it, and had to move the hand not on his sword to shield his eyes from the heat of the magic whirlwind what whipped around him. It stopped after a hard gust from behind that made him stumble.

She was flinging herself from her bed before Sayvil's cry had faded, ignoring Eldan's sleepy start. Trews were pulled on as she stumbled for the door, and only after she had the tunic on did she realize that it was Eldan's, because it was far too large (and actually white). Barefoot, she pounded down the short hallway and leapfrogged onto Sayvil's back before the Companion took off for the Grove, a few other marks of white indicating where other Heralds had been dragged out of their beds.

:There's magic. A Gate, but not a signature any of us recognize.: Kero held on tighter, the sword she'd absently retrieved held in one hand.

He lowered his hand slightly with a vague look around, and that movement brought a sharp sense of dizziness that sent him to his knees, Masamune biting into the ground as he tried and failed to catch himself. He hadn't ever felt so disoriented in his life. It was kind of painful.

The blade - the armor, as odd as it was, became far too obvious as one of the Herald-Mages who'd come threw up a mage light so they could see the intruder. Sayvil slewed to a halt in front of him, Kero bringing her sword around to a guard position as she eyed the stranger closely. "Who are you?!" Despite the urgency, she did her best to keep her words clear - he looked more Tayledras than anything with that hair, but the clothing and blade didn't look like anything they'd produced.

He lifted his head and gave her a somewhat disoriented look as his first thought was 'what the hell is she saying?'. Blinking, he moved the hand he'd had over his eyes to shove his hair back, focusing to get an idea of her intention. Oh. That was a sensation he recognized. "Sephiroth."

When Kero saw those eyes, her own gaze hardened. Changechild. And something like feline eyes wasn't something easy to produce - as seen by Nyara and An'desha. "Why are you here?" Her sword didn't move.

He gave something like a shrug and looked around then blinked, before outright staring at the horses. He thought those things were limited to Odin summons! He blinked a few more times, trying to reconcile the idea of those beasts outside of summons with what he knew. Time to get off the ground then.

"Hold." He wasn't going to be going anywhere just yet, and she'd much prefer him on the ground where he wasn't quite as much of a threat. Because he was a threat. Which was why she was rather glad that there were a few Herald-Mages here, and she heard someone back toward the Palace keeping to Guard from getting closer.

His gaze whipped back to her, but he didn't pause in pushing back to his feet, though he wasn't exactly steady. He kept a lean on Masamune to stop his wavering. What exactly was making him feel this wretched? He didn't even realize he was pressing a bit around in his subconscious search for the connection he'd had since he was a child.

Her eyes narrowed and she was about to order one of the mages to bind him when one of the unpartnered Companions shoved past the inner ring, then literally leaped over Kero and Sayvil to land neatly next to Sephiroth.

The mare tucked herself neatly between the Herald-Captain and the SOLDIER, eyeing Kero for a moment before turning her head to meet Sephiroth's eyes, reaching back for him to help ground him. :I Choose you.:

He blinked at her a few times before prodding back at that voice, figuring out how to push back along it in reply. :What does that mean?: He tilted his head a little though, the sickly pain sensation easing away in a sense of warmth that was highly unfamiliar. Considering that with a high amount of curiosity, he raised a hand to cautiously rest on the other's face, surprised the fur was so soft, yet not. :And what are you?:

She sighed with relief as the bond closed around them, setting up basic shields around him to help steady him. She wasn't as good at this as others, but she could help. :It means I'm your Companion. And that is what I am as well. A Companion.: The love that marked the Herald's bond swept around the both of them, and she nuzzled him gently.

Kero - and the other Heralds, for that matter - continued to stare in shock. An older fellow finally cursed in irritation and turned his Companion to head back to the Palace.

He petted. What else was one supposed to do? He'd had birds so it was reflexive to try to figure out how to scritch. Now he felt just as disoriented by the new -good- sensation as he had by the older pain. :This isn't where I was on mission, where is here?: He shifted slightly to start the process of freeing Masamune from where he'd entombed the weapon. She never liked when he did that and he could feel the faint hum of almost displeasure from her.

The words gave her a sense of things, and she nodded absently. :The Kingdom of Valdemar, in the Capital City of Haven, in the Companion's Field. You are...You're a very long way from home, Sephiroth.:

"Look, hold up. You. Companion. Just what do you think you're doing?" She didn't recognize the mare off the bat, but that wasn't too much of a surprise just now.

The mare turned her head again, interposing herself between them again as Sayvil stepped forward.

He leaned against the warm side to look at the newcomer, arching an eyebrow as he finally fully freed Masamune. Once she was clear of the ground, he vanished her to where she preferred to rest. He'd found that keeping her out and about after he learned that trick led to a blade that didn't want to cooperate with any spellcasting. :I do not know the words they use.:

The sword got incredulous looks as he pulled it from the ground, and...kept pulling it. It looked utterly impractical for the most part. When it vanished, however, that drew shocked whispers.

:I know. I told you, you're from far away. I don't know if they'll be able to understand you either,: she said, turning to nose him again. :I can translate, and teach you Valdamaran, though. Mindspeech is not in any one language.:

:Boy.: Kero rolled her eyes as Sayvil decided to take the direct route. At least it was more expedient than asking Sayvil to ask the Companion to ask the stranger to answer a question and then passing it back down the chain.

He rankled at the new voice in his little conversation. It shouldn't be there. :Sephiroth, as I mentioned aloud, unless you happen to have a tendency towards being hard of hearing.: He glanced around the people again. "This is the language I know, if any of you know anything even remotely like it, speak up." He switched to Wutain. "thus back again with this language, I've never been fond of strangers in my head."

Sayvil snorted. :I have more than a right to call you "boy" if I feel like it,: she said calmly.

Kero narrowed her eyes at the two languages. One sounded...almost like Karsite, though he looked nothing like the harsh people of that land. "A small of this, know I," she said in that language. Really, she knew enough to generally curse at Karsites before she stabbed them, though the stabbing part had gone away with that new treaty. They generally relied on Alberich for translations, and he was away at the moment. Then she added in Shin'a'in, "And while I doubt you understand this, it's the closest I know."

:That was Karsite,: the Companion informed him. :And the second was Shin'a'in. She's cousin to the Clans.:

He ignored the older voice of the two and looked at the woman critically, replying to the first. "The second makes no sense at all in your reply."

And where was someone who knew Kaled'a'in well? She shook her head in frustration, eyeing the mare who was still standing determinedly at his side. "You white targets," she told her, "are a pain." It was absent and frustrated. Then she looked back at him. Her Kaled'a'in was worse than her Karsite. "I am Herald-Captain Kerowyn."

A sense of curiosity came from the Companion, as she wondered just what he'd heard.

He passed along the rather... lewd meaning he'd gathered off her comments earlier, getting used to that contact quickly. He nodded slightly and went for his full name and title. "General Sephiroth, highest First of the SOLDIER." He pondered, then looked to his Companion. :You have given me no name.:

So. High-ranking someone. Kerowyn rubbed at the bridge of her nose to try and take care of the headache she could feel building. She really wanted someone with a better grasp of the language. "You are here why?"

She couldn't help the whickering laugh. Kero would be annoyed if she knew now, but it would probably amuse her later. After a thoughtful pause, she said, :Vianna.:

He snorted softly. "Because a mutated creature I was fighting caught me off guard. It was painful arriving." Considering something, he started to tap at his various abilities to make sure they were all working. Then noticed that the grief of his two friends abandoning him years prior was finally.... less all consuming.

Right, she hadn't understood more than half of that. Her frustration was probably rather obvious in her expression, and she shook her head before turning to the assembled Heralds. One was already moving though, speeding off to (presumably) retrieve a better translator.

:They wounded you badly,: it was a whisper. :I wish I could have been there to help you. But you were too far away, and even then, I was too young.: As he tapped each one, she followed his mind delicately to trace them, making sure to back off at the sign of being at all unwelcome.

He noticed, but felt an odd lack of urge to brush off the touch. His magic was fine, though he'd have to thoroughly run through that later. His levitation, fine. Flickering, fine. Masamune obviously fine. Obviously his reading skills were undamaged.... Good. those were the most important of them, and his healing would show itself on injury. :I am used to things not going as I wish them to, there's no cause to be upset by that matter. I'm simply pleased you rid me of that horrible sensation I acquired on arrival.:

:Mage Gift, Fetching, Firestarting, I'm not sure about your Masamune, and...that feels very much like Empathy, but I don't think that it is. Interesting, you've got quite a mix!:

He blinked slowly and got a slightly puzzled look as he eyed her. :What -are- you on about?:

She looked back at him with an amused blue eye. :Those are the names we use for your various Gifts.: She touched them in the order he had. :Mage Gift, Fetching, Firestarting. As I said, I'm not sure about your sword, though I think that's more like what Need was supposed to be. Then there's something like Empathy, that isn't Empathy. And, rather obviously, Mindspeech, considering you can hear me.:

He scowled a little at that. :Of course I can hear you. I've had -that- issue off and on since I was a small child. It was a pain.: He shook his head and looked around at those people still here. "I require such a crowd?"

"You appear in the heart of our city? Yes." Kero's attitude was rather frank.

:The other Heralds are keeping the Guard away even now. Even with my presence, they will doubt you.: Vianna shook her head a bit. :But you should no longer have difficulties with your Mindspeech. I've shielded you, and we'll be able to teach you how to ground, center, and shield yourself as well.:

"I shouldn't be shocked. At least you aren't attempting to do me bodilly harm, that gets old quickly." He shook his head once, sharply. :I know how to ground,m though you're suddenly the considerable focus of a sensation I hadn't been aware of previous today.:

:They may have tried eventually if I didn't show up,: she admitted. :But it would be more likely that one of the mages would have bound you instead.: As to the subject of grounding... :Not consciously. And not here. You're likely going to have to re-learn a bit of it. You were tied to where you were before in a way much like our bond. But I can consciously direct this, so it helps.:

He hummed and ran a hand over her neck almost absently. He never did have much contact with anything outside his bird. He looked around the many people in white. "Uniforms?"

Kero snorted at the word, her voice derisive. "Targets."

:She says Heraldic Whites make people targets. They do, but it's also a function of our station. She and Alberich have made it almost a tradition for the Weaponsmasters to wear dark grey instead, though. And if you see anyone in pale grey, they're Heraldic Trainees.: She passed him the rest of the basic information on what colors meant what - Bardic Scarlets and the rust-red of their trainees, Healer Greens and the pale greens, and then the Unaffiliated students who wore pale blues.

He made an amused noise and showed her the uniforms for his ranks quickly, touching on Genesis' preferences as well. "Ah." He flicked his hand to indicate himself. "Preference."

"Good luck."

:I think we'll be able to make an exception for you,: Vianna said wryly.

He made an amused noise and shook his head, though twisted around when he caught a spike of the recent energy behind him.

Zack flailed a bit as the creature hit him with a final attack like the one he'd seen Seph get hit with earlier, and put up his buster to catch himself, yelping. Blinking, he realized he'd caught himself -on- Seph, and that said Seph was okay! "SEPH! I thought that thing managed to kill you!" Balance grab went to hug fairly quickly, and he ignored Seph's look of 'I will kill you if you don't let go'.

Kerowyn twitched. Another newcomer. And a quick mindtouch told her that someone had finally found a translator and was on their way back at all speed.
Zack's appearance had the Companion leaning to rest her chin on Sephiroth's shoulder, eyeing him curiously. :So, this is Zack.:

Sephiroth grimaced and pried the man off him with deft skill. "Tell me you at least managed to kill that thing before it used that attack on you." He put him at arms length away, keeping a grip on him to keep him there. :Indeed. and here I'd believed I'd escaped him. He's too -hyper-:

Zack gave him a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, yeah. It just final attacked me, and er. Wait." He looked around, then pointed. "Odin Steeds! How the hell'd you manage that Seph? Are they cool? What do they do? Why are all these people staring at me?" He looked around and waved with the hand he'd pointed with. "Hiya, Zack Fair, First Class."

"Great Agnira, what have I gotten myself into?" Kero muttered, lifting one hand to rub at the bridge of her temple. Finally she swung off of Sayvil, turning to look at the rest of the assembled Heralds. "You all. Go away and assure everyone else that we're not going to die. Someone make Eldan get here faster. And you," she added, looking at the Companions. "You can leave too. You'll get your gossip eventually anyway."

She whickered laughter at both of them. :It seems like an attitude you could benefit from a touch of every once in a great while.: A thoughtful pause. :In small doses.:

He turned his scowl onto his Companion at that. :I don't care to hear that.: Then he looked back to Zack "They're staring at you because you're you Zack, obviously." He released him with a backward nudge once he was sure he'd calmed down some. "And apparently they're called 'Companions' and they're highly sentient. Unlike you, I had a small issue on arrival. Also, this isn't Gaia, I've established we're in a place called Valdemar." He paused, then gestured slightly in a stay motion. "And no, most people have no idea what is said in either standard of Wutian."

Zack stuck out his tongue at him, then looked around with bright violet eyes. "Well, I actually understood her a little I think." He turned a brilliant smile on the woman who seemed to be in charge and fell back to his Gongaga dialect. Just cause Shinra swept in didn't mean it killed the local tongues. "It's not the same, but I kinda get you. Thanks for taking care of grumpy."

Well, at least that was more understandable. A little off, but close. "I'm assuming he's 'grumpy?'" she asked wryly. "Herald-Captain Kerowyn. This is my Companion, Sayvil." Said Companion nodded in greeting.

:We're not Odin's Steeds, Zack,: Vianna said, ignoring the usual rules on bespeaking. There wasn't a point to them in this situation. :We were first brought about by a very different deity. But hello, I'm Vianna.:

Seph sighed as Zack fell into the nonsense that only a handful of people ever seemed to understand. He was in a land of Zack? Gods save him now.

"Hell yeah he is." He looked at the Companion. "Ohhhh? Which one? I might've heard of it? Doubtful but maybe?" He bounced on his heels slightly, then waved a little at the other one. "Hello miss Sayvil, do you talk too? Oh! And Seph's one, you didn't tell me your name with that and Seph is fail at introductions."

:No, I simply stare wisely until people figure out mystical instructions on their own.:

He noticed, but decided not to press, though he found it funny Seph was thumping his forehead against Vianna. "Ohhh, so you're like Seph then. He does that a hell of a lot these days, then again..." He looked sideways at Seph and grinned as the man just eyed him suspiciously. "He was clearer before, but at that point I just wanted to beat him up for saying the things he did, so it's likely better that way."

"Actually, it's a perogative of Companions everywhere. Stupid mystical horses."

:Not horses.:

"Stupid mystical not-horses then!" The argument wasn't really an argument, but she was tense and it helped calm her down.

Vianna eyed her Chosen with amusement as he continued thumping against her shoulder.

Zack snickered and reached over to put his hand on Seph's shoulder, going back to a language he knew. "Ah c'mon, I was just letting them know you've gotten a stick up your butt in the last couple years." He grinned wider as the man gave him a dark glower of a look, but he stopped the thumping. Win. He dropped back to his dialect and grinned. "Horses? What're horses?"

Vianna met his eyes. :Horses.: The word flashed up associated images and information.

He paused, turning that over. "So they're like really dense and not as smart types of you guys then. Physically anyway."

She nodded. :Something like that, yes.:

Kero was content to lean back against Sayvil as Zack chatted with the others. Which was, of course, the perfect timing for Eldan to show up, there to play diplomat and translator. He'd taken the time to change into a fresh set of Whites and pull his hair back neatly, the gray streaks on either side barely wide than they had been when the two of them had met.

He turned to see the new guy and waved a hand. "Yo, Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class, pleased to meetcha. You just showered to come meet us didncha?"

Eldan smiled back and slid down. "It didn't seem as if you were going to be aggressive, and so taking the time to at least clean up seemed prudent." He spoke in clear Kaled'a'in, despite the oddly-accented Valdamaran the darker-haired man used. Bowing slightly from the waist, he added, "I'm Herald Eldan. The pleasure is mine."

Sephiroth couldn't help some relief as they finally switched to something he understood without too much difficulty. It was an added bonus that Zack had to pause and focus harder since he obviously didn't know the tongue as well as the other two. "Is that what he asked then. I know Zack can at times be... forthwrit in ways that aren't terribly prudent." He shook his head slightly. "General Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class."

Zack looked from one to the other and huffed. "You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here Seph, that's just mean, and no matter how mean you pretend to be, I know better."

Eldan chuckled. "After dealing with many of the others here at the Court, not to mention in the Circle, I'm well used to those who see no need to censor their words." Like gryphons, for example. "Welcome to Valdemar, General. I'm sorry that your entrance couldn't have been easier."

:He means it,: Vianna added for Sephiroth.

Sephiroth looked a bit dubious, but inclined his head fractionally just the same. "It wasn't so difficult, just unexpected.It's not as though anyone was attacking."

Zack snorted and looked over at Seph, then flashed Eldan a wry grin. "Yeah, trust him on that, in Wutai back when I first met him standard greeting was fireball or bolt to the face."

"I should hope not. Considering the location, as well as the fact that you've been Chosen by one of the Companions, a proper Herald would never offer violence." Of course, there were some Heralds who weren't "proper," but Heralds were as human as anyone else. That was why they'd initially been sent to keep the Guard from rushing in and attacking, and then dismissed with the others.

Kero added in her stilted Kaled'a'in, "If you speak of a combat situation, I see not why that would be a bad thing."

Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at that. "I have no particular desire to injure those weaker than myself, though the time Zack speaks of was the very end of a nearly nine year war of which the Wutai people were on the receiving end of." He gave Zack a look. "This is actually the language of said people. I had quite a few names from them, many using the word Demon in some form or another."

"You and Angeal both." He wrinkled up his nose and shook his head, then grinned a little. "I like spars though,that won't get him in trouble will it? Me and him sparring? Not right here obviously but he'd get all rusty and I'm the only one that's been able to give him a run for his money since I met him since asshat went rogue on everyone."

Eldan laughed. "There are rumors among the students here that Kerowyn eats babies on toast for breakfast."

"I don't," she added. "Not until lunch, at least."

"As for sparring, we have both an indoor and outdoor salle. You'll need to talk to our Weaponsmasters, Kerowyn and Herald Alberich, before you use them, but I imagine neither of them will have a problem."

The two men exchanged a glance, and Sephiroth inclined his head. Zack looked back to the other guy with a sheepish smile. "It would have to be the outside one. With how much air Seph can get, and how much I can sometimes... Better not to risk damaging the building if you don't have anything like a holo training room."

The word 'holo' was one that neither of them knew, but Eldan simply nodded. "Of course."

:You're going to surprise them quite a lot when you actually spar,: Vianna commented.

Sephiroth tilted his head and looked sideways at her. "Hmm." Then he looked back to the man. "At the moment, I suppose we should determine what else must be done at the present time because of us?"

"Considering the hour, I would like to suggest that we find quarters for you to stay in for the time being, and then we can continue this in the light of day when we've all had more time to rest and prepare ourselves," he offered.

Zack and Seph exchanged another look, then Zack grinned, falling back to his dialect. "Okay! But me and him were in the middle of the afternoon not half hour ago."

"It's three in the morning here," Kerowyn said wryly. "You two might be ready to go, but even Heralds need some time to prepare."

Zack made an amused noise, then stepped back to bump shoulders with Seph, who glared at him for it, as he defaulted back to the Common tongue. Which these two knew as Karsite. "Okay Seph darlin, bedtime. And stop giving me that look, it's your own fault you finally got me to stop being mad at you, suck up being my focus."

Kero twitched slightly, then sighed. "At least you'll be able to understand Alberich."

"So," Eldan added. "Would you care to accompany me? I'm sure that we can get you acomodated shortly."

:Ask for the ground-level suite in the ambassador's wing,: Vianna said.

There was a blink, then Sephiroth tilted his head slightly. "Of course, I understand there's a ground level suite in the ambassador's wing?" He none too gently pushed Zack out a couple steps, causing the man to grin.

:It has a door into the gardens, so I'll be able to come and go when I want,: she added.

"Hm?" Eldan raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Yes, I think that should do nicely. It has recently come open." He turned and led the way, his Companion at his side.

Zack started after him, looking at the new Companion. "So, what's your name? I have everyone else's."

Sephiroth just shook his head and started that way, surprised that he was still having a tiny bit of unsteadiness.

"Ah! My apologies. This is my Companion, Ratha." Eldan's expression was chagrined, and Ratha nodded in greeting.

:Most Companions hold to what is called the Silence. Generally we don't speak to anyone except our Heralds, and each other. Companions whose Chosen are twins are a bit of an exception, though.:

Zack blinked slowly. "So most of you guys act like priests under a vow? Oh man that -sucks-. That'll cut out a chunk of interesting convos I bet." He shook his head. "Ah well, doesn't mean I can't tryyyy." He smiled and looked back to Eldan. "Thanks!"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Various people have been trying for several hundred years. Perhaps you'll be the first to break their Silence when they don't wish it!"

"Personally, I could do with a slightly less chatty not-horse," Kero grumbled, ignoring Sayvil's smug attitude.

"I like talking, and hey, I've gotten something out of a few things people ain't supposed to be able. Like... Moogles. Everyone knows they're special, but nobody can get them to say anything but Kupo. Buuuut, I've managed to get essence summons off them like several others sooo... I'm sure making goo goo eyes at people would do something.

"Pardon me, but...what are moogles?" There wasn't any incredulidity in his voice, at least.

He considered, then held his hand out to Seph. "Materia, I know you got an unlevelled one in there somewhere, and my moogle likes to make them stronger for me."

Sephiroth made an annoyed face, but twisted his bracer to get one of the green orbs and handed it over. "It better not be one of the offensive summons."

The both of them watched closely, for differing reasons.

Zack just grinned and wiggled his fingers, which got a few more, and then he winked. "You'll get them back. Ohh, and this one is almost mastered, so you'll have babies too." Then, he clasped his hands in front of himself, turned to open air and drew up magic as the little white red and black moogle appeared. Going through his normal motion, he smiled. Which got all the materia taken, as per expectation. After it was tossed back, he turned to the others with a grin, passing Seph's back as the little figure vanished. "Moogle."

"Hm. Interesting. Not any sort of creature I've ever heard of, but I tended to focus on magic applicable for specific combat situations, either from Grandmother or Quenten." Though some of those uses hadn't exactly been common. And having Need around had helped a lot after she'd made Captain.

"If any of us had been hurt, he would have cast cure over us." He gave an impish little smile. "He's one of my healing ones."

She raised an eyebrow. "Odd sort of Healer."

"My healing ones are Moogle, Phoenix, and what I learned from Aeris." He looked sideways at Seph. "Don't you say anything, the one I have off you is -damn- violent."

"Huh. The mages are going to want to pick you over something fierce, I imagine." They'd passed through the gate into the Field just after his little show, and were almost at the Palace now, the huge stone building looming over them. "I'll leave you guys here for now, and run off to talk to Talia and the others. I'm sure they're dying for information."

"I'll see you there," Eldan agreed, nodding to her as she headded off. "I'll take you straight through the Palace, though it's possible to walk to your suite. It's just quite a bit longer route."

There were two nods before Zack grinned. "I'm the only SOLDIER with my talent. I essentially, once I have really strong feelings about someone or a -lot- of exposure to it, like the summons and creature shades, I can just... put together a limit that's part of them, just, y'know, me. It baffled, and worried, eh heh, Angeal no end."

"Hm. I imagine Kerowyn's right. You'll likely have the various mages here frantically trying to figure out how you do what you do." Eldan said as he held the door open for them. Vianna followed them inside, but Ratha gave them all a nod before cantering back toward Companion's Field.

Sephiroth looked around the room as they slipped into it, interest obvious, and he rested a hand on Vianna.

Zack just laughed. "They won't get anywhere, gods knew the doctors were baffled enough by it, and they're pretty damn aggressive when they go looking for answers."

Vianna whickered laughter. :Those are doctors. These are mages - both Valdemar's mindmages and practitioners of schools of wildly different disciplines, including the Tayledras.:

Eldan's expression was more restrained, but still amused. "I imagine that the Tayledras, at least, will come as a bit of a surprise."

:They're very different from what you know.: A pause. :I rather think Zack will like Firesong. You'll like Darkwind, though. The gryphons, too.:

Zack made an amused noise. "We don't really have anything you could call a mage back home." He shook his head, shrugging.

:Firesong and Darkwind? Interesting names.: He looked to the man with his eyebrows quirked though. "Not much surprises me."

She showed the both of them a mental image of Firesong in one of his more flamboyant outfits (not that they weren't all flamboyant).

Zack blinked, then grinned. "Ohhhh, cute. Look Seph, people with your hair color."

Seph just scowled at Zack, and sighed. "Does his attitude match?"

Eldan's sigh had an edge of tiredness. "Firesong? Yes. He's...young, dramatic, extremely intelligent, and the most magically powerful person to come along in the past several hundred years."

:He would add that he's modest, too.:

Seph looked the tiniest bit alarmed,. "And you want me to introduce him to Zack?!"

Zack looked offended at that. "I'm not that bad."

Eldan chuckled then. "He has discipline, at least when it comes to magic. And he's rather devoted to young An'desha right now, so though he's shaych, he'll keep his flirting to a minimum. Plus, Darkwind and Lady Elspeth can keep a handle on him when they need to."

Vianna showed them images of the people mentioned - Darkwind, silver-white hair dyed forest patterns, in more sober gear (though it was still exotic by Valdamaran standards), and Elspeth, her brown hair slowly silvering, in the Tayledras-styled Whites.

"You are so that bad, Zack Fair. You made first within months of making grade in the program You only stopped advancing because of what Angeal did." He shook his head and turned slightly, ignoring the swiftly buried hurt look that caused. "Besides, putting what sounds like two of you in the same place is just a recipe for disaster."

"If I didn't know it was just your disorientation I would accuse you of disliking me."

He remained quiet and allowed them their banter, though he was amused by the rather quick back-and-forth between the two of them.

He finally turned back to the man. "We'll try to rest until morning."

"My thanks. I'll send- a Herald Trainee, likely, to wake you." Eldan bid them both a good night, and took himself out.

Trust in Thee

2009-06-02T18:23:20Z

Title: Trust in Thee
Fandom: FFVII
Pairing: Tseng/Zack
Words: 720
Rating: PG
Warning: Gunkink
Note: It was one kind of greeting

He went still as he felt the cool metal run up the side of his neck, breath catching slightly at the feel. “I didn’t hear you.”

The reply murmur was a hot brush of air just above the gun, and he shivered. “You weren’t supposed to.”

He turned his head enough to look over his shoulder, leaning back into the other man. “I guess not. Doesn’t mean you should be sneakin up on me though, does it?”

“Of course it does.” The gun moved as the man slid that hand around his shoulder, trailing it to his collarbone. “If you can’t hear me, then you have no business calling yourself elite.”

He swallowed thickly, bright eyes staying over his shoulder, intent on the dark haired figure standing so casually behind him. “Me catching you being sneaky means a lot more than elite Tseng.”

“But I wasn’t trying to be sneaky Zack.” The words were accompanied by a hot kiss against his neck, causing another shiver.

“It’s seven in the mornin on my day off Tseng, yeah, you were.” He didn’t even try to put heat into his argument, too busy tracking the gun as it wandered down his chest. “...That’s a live weapon right now isn’t it?”

“Of course.” There was a tiny shuffle, the sound of fabric over fabric as the man pressed up tighter against his back, resting his chin on his shoulder to watch what he was doing.

There was a long beat of silence then, both of them following the progression of the cool metal as it traced his muscles, then the edge of his sleep pants, never pressed hard enough to catch on his skin, but dangerous just the same. He knew better than to even consider doing anything to the Turk when he got to doing something like this. He didn’t want to think about the man accidentally pulling that trigger if he made him twitch.

So he held still, and it was the only time he ever really held still this way, careful of the consequences of moving too fast.

That was why Tseng had done it the first time, to make him hold still... and now he just did it to do it. Maybe for the same reasons, but he’d never asked. If he did, the man might not ever do it again, and he just liked it too much. It was a thrill that being a SOLDIER just would never give him.

Swords were just plain too pointy for something like this.

“You’re thinking too hard Zack.” The words were amused, and the gun drifted down, running along something else. It made him shiver all over again. “What about?”

“You.” It was a lowly spoken word, and he turned his head slightly to meet the other man’s dark eyes. “What else?”

When the gun lifted away, he couldn’t help the groan of disappointment that seemed to inspire a smile out of Tseng. “There could have been plenty of things.”

And then Tseng moved away, giving him leave to move from where he’d frozen no less than ten minutes before. He would have preferred the man had just stayed where he’d been, doing what he was doing, all told. “Tseng?”

“I’m not leaving yet.” Dark eyes looked sideways at him in amusement as he set the safety on his gun. “I won’t leave you riled up like that to try and jump me later when I get home tonight.”

Huffing, Zack crossed his arms over his bare chest, shifting in place uncomfortably. “Not that I’m not happy to hear that... but you’re leaving?”

”In an hour, yes.” The man hadn’t even so much as loosened his tie, but he was definitely more relaxed looking than he’d be if he considered himself on duty already.

That was promising. “So you’re all mine for an hour?”

It was obvious the man caught his hopeful tone, as he just smiled, a small, sly look before he slipped forward, hands empty, to kiss him. “Yes Zack, but if you wrinkle my uniform I will be unhappy with you.”

Still shivering from the earlier experience of being petted with the man’s gun, he just leaned down and caught his lips. He’d just have to get the suit out of the way first then, wouldn’t he?

Sibilance of Nature

2009-05-26T22:59:31Z

Title: Sibilance of Nature
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Pairing/characters: Jenova/Hojo
Rating: G
Word Count: 567
Warnings: Jenova being Jenova?
Prompt/challenge you're answering: 3 and 7: leaving visible marks of ownership/dominance

Giving all

He closed his eyes, leaning his back up against the thick glass that held Jenova, listening to the croon of her voice at the back of his mind. There were times, since he’d started his experiments on himself, where he wondered if her voice would be anywhere nearly so appealing out loud.

Likely not, it would have taken her from goddess to something dross had she ever spoken that way.

Instead, her pervasive voice was honey on his mind, sweet and dark. Beautiful in a manner he’d only ever found science beautiful.

You’ve grown distracted. She didn’t sound angry as she pointed that out, and he felt her untouch curl around him. You’ve not understood me for minutes now.

“I know. I’d apologize, but that would insult us both.”

She laughed, a sensation that made pleasure ripple up his spine. It would. My scientist, there’s something I want.

He cracked open his eyes as he took off his glasses, looking over his shoulder through the glass around her physical form. “It’s not time for the child yet.”

She laughed again, but was clearly not upset by his presumption. No, I don’t ask for him today. I ask for something else. Something from you.

He was quiet for a beat, taking in the almost seductive hum in her voice. “What do you need then?”

Want.

He corrected himself. “What do you want then?”

I want more of you.

That gave him pause. “I don’t understand.”

I want you to give me the rest of you.

“But you have all of me now.” He shifted up onto his knees and turned to rest his hands on the glass.

I do not. I want it to be seen by all that you are marked by me should they know how to look.

He paused, running his hands over the glass as he pushed up to his feet. “And how would I go about doing that? I already have some of you in me and it hasn’t done anything of the kind.”

It was not enough. Being able to reach you is not the same as climbing inside you. Let me be inside you my scientist.

He shivered, staring into the glass. “You want me to get a bigger sampling from your body to do this?”

Yes.

“But you already see though my eyes.”

I want to feel by your hands. Come.

He hesitated, staring into the unearthly beauty of her sleeping face, then moved to collect syringes and the keylatch so he could get into her tank. “Very well, and how will I know when I’ve succeeded?”

He wasn’t worried she would be unable to hear as he moved away from her, as her voice did not fade. You will bear the marks of my gifts upon your skin.

“Will it hurt?”

Yes.

“It will benefit me?”

Of course.

He gathered the things he needed, in silence, then started back towards her where her body slept. “Then I suppose I’ll give you my hands, as well as whatever else you want. So long as it benefits me.”

She laughed, and the sound was almost sultry. And all will know and see.

“Yes... in time they will.”

Away From Calamity

2009-05-19T18:45:44Z

Title: Away From Calamity
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Pairing/characters: Sepiroth/Vincent
Rating: G
Word Count: 1906
Warnings: Slash?
Note: To all those daddy Vin fans, he's not in this one.
Prompt/challenge you're answering: 2 and 6 are in a marriage of convenience

First he found a contract

The details in the papers weren’t clear, but the gist of the matter was. Before he was born, a woman named Lucretia Crescent had drawn up this marriage contract. It didn’t say anything along the lines of ‘if the child is a woman’ and it didn’t say anything about how old he was to be when it was set into effect.

He’d found it when hunting for papers on something else entirely, in a man named Vincent Valentine’s file.

He’d never heard from, nor seen the man in his life.

But according to this certificate, he could be married to him.

He hadn’t really cared about the man before he saw that, but it put an entirely new light on a few things. After all, that made the man his, didn’t it? Satisfied by that logic, he flipped back through the other papers for one that was relevant to this one. There it was.

Tranquilized stasis.

Studying it for a moment, he debated if this was going to be worth it. He already had a headache, after all, and he’d only been here a day. He was also certain that Zack would just have to have an opinion, regardless.

What if the man was ugly? What if he wasn’t? Would he even be willing to sleep with someone who had been promised to a child? One not even born? After all, that was his signature.

He studied the certificate again, looking over the fine details. Yes, it was an out. And his name was on it. He just had to put his signature on it to fully finalize everything.

Then Shinra couldn’t claim him as dependent status and deny him the independent rights that many others had.

Decided on his course of action, he turned and left the underground library, looking for where the man might be kept in stasis. If he wasn’t here it would put a severe damper on the entire matter, but if he was, he could decide then and there if he wanted to sign this paper. There were doors down here he’d ignored as unimportant, assuming them to be storage, but he hadn’t once warranted the idea that those things stored inside might be people.

He should have after what was above.

Pushing into the one room that hadn’t been connected to the lab itself, instead it connected at the dank hallway from the stairs, he decided to start there. He went through most of the closets in the lab portion before starting in on his papers and he certainly hadn’t found any bodies while he’d been doing it.

There were boxes in the room, of course. He could call them coffins, but coffins only housed the dead, and that would put a severe damper on his plan, not to mention his mood, so he would rather not call them that. Satisfied with his logic, he moved to one of those lining the wall, and was displeased to find it locked.

Apparently this was going to make his headache worse after all. Apparently even an abomination like him couldn’t get anything in simple manner, even if it was to find another one. Glowering darkly at the locked box, he called up Masamune and cut into that section before just levering it out. There, no more lock.

On opening it, however, he found that there was nothing within.

Of course.

Considering this, he turned and looked at the other four in the room with a considering air.

The person in question was someone who had had the power to take him from Hojo.

What did Hojo do with people who did things he didn’t like?

He made an example of them.

He should have thought it through before starting to frustrate himself.

Moving to the box in the center of the room, he set about destroying the lock, then lifted the lid.

And paused.

Whoever Lucretia was, she certainly had good taste if this was the man she picked out for her offspring.

Running considering eyes over the man’s figure as his even breathing held, he considered the hair and skin tone, then his attire. The golden gauntlet caught his attention, but he would deal with that later if he had to. It could be either prosthetic or decoration, and there was really no way to tell.

Decided, he reached out, fully intending to confirm his rather risen hopes. Giving the man a firm shake after making sure the papers were down out of sight and his now free hand was on his blade... he waited.

And waited as only even breathing met his attempt at waking the man.

This was getting annoying.

Sighing, he tried the gentle approach again.

Still, nothing.

Obviously, something as gentle as that wasn’t going to counter whatever had him asleep.

Turning over all his options, and looking over his items, left him with the obvious solution. He doubted the man would be at all happy with him when he woke, but he had a headache, he wanted to confirm this, and overall, he sincerely doubted the man would mind a bit of pain if he got to leave this place after that.

He certainly was always eager to leave the labs every time he had to go to them for any reason.

Decided, he glanced to Masamune. No, definitely not. He eyed the man, then climbed up into the box so he was in a better position to pin his hands quickly, then slapped him.

It would have been horribly embarrassing if he’d had to resort to hair pulling like a little girl. Thankfully, the little flash of pain jolted the man awake.

Finally.

Flicking the blade around so it was between them as the man jerked upright, he shifted his weight on his knees to keep him from getting any further.

He definitely had the man’s full attention from the looks of things... good. And the man had a fascinating color of eyes at that. Very good taste. “Vincent Valentine?”

The man, still obviously torn between confusion and caution of the blade close to his neck, eyed him. “...Yes. Why?”

He shifted back slightly, taking in the deeper than expected voice. Hmm. That was fine. When his movement didn’t jolt the other man into action, he carefully climbed out of the box, noting that the man wisely stayed still. Very good.

As he didn’t answer, more focused on collecting his paperwork to dash a quick signature on it, the dark haired man twisted to eye what he was doing. “Who are you?”

”Your husband.” He put Masamune away then, unable to hold in his amusement at the confused, not to mention shocked, look that that answer garnered. Had the man forgotten?

“I’m sorry, but, what?”

“Your husband.” He lifted the papers in his hands so that the man could finally see them. “As of this moment, as your signature appears to have already been on these for quite some time.”

“But I only... You’re Sephiroth.”

“Yes, I am.”

The man moved to turn, got caught because of the cloak he was wearing, which he had to pause to fight off, then looked at him more fully in confusion, now crouched so he could get out of the box. “But you’re a man.”

”I’d noticed that yes.” Maybe Lucretia had focused more on strength than intelligence in her choice? Or perhaps just prettiness?

“A contract like that isn’t binding if the parties are both the same gender.”

“Yes it is. There’s no ban on it, and these contracts stipulate nothing to do with gender. Lucretia apparently was quite thorough. Did you not read her work?”

“You call her Lucretia?” Again the man seemed at a loss, and he took a slight amount of pity on him. After all, he had just woken, and later he would have to countenance Zack. Also, he had too much of a headache to linger here any longer. He wanted food and sleep.

“Of course I do, that’s the woman’s name isn’t it? Out of that, this is hardly the place to get to know each other.”

“You don’t call her mother?”

That paused him mid-reach, between the sharp spike in his headache and confusion he had to still. “Why would I?”

“If you’re Sephiroth, then Lucretia is your mother.”

”No, my mother’s name is Jenova.”

The man scowled, getting out of the box with a hand on the side and a careful hop so he didn’t land on him once he was out. “No, it isn’t. I expect Hojo told you that, didn’t he?”

“Yes?”

Confused as to when he’d lost control of the situation, he blinked at the pale fingers curled around his wrist to tug him towards the entrance of the room, noting that the man was even paler than he was. “Of course he would. The man is obsessed. Jenova isn’t your mother. I knew your mother and she was a lovely woman. Though I’ll admit you look like Jenova, genetic tampering can do that to a boy.”

He didn’t know whether to agree or not, and as the man turned to head for the stairs as soon as they were out of the room, he had to at least concede that the man knew where he was going. “And how are you so sure about that? Do you have proof?”

“Jenova is a corpse that is likely still encased in crystal. Lucretia had second thoughts and had those papers done up for her unborn child so at least the child, who at the time we were hoping would be a girl, could grow up in a decent home. As Hojo is your father, there was little else she could do without outright alerting him. One person can’t sign away anyone but their own children in marriage you know, unless that’s changed as well in the last... how old are you?”

“Twenty five.”

“Last twenty five years. I’m going to look those back over once we’re upstairs. I assume you’re staying in the mansion?”

“No, the inn in town.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s where we have board?”

“I meant, why don’t you live here?” Red eyes looked to him critically, and he finally tugged his hand free of the light insistent grip. He could walk on his own.

“I’m a SOLDIER, why would I?”

“A soldier.”

He caught the lack of inflection. “SOLDIER. It’s a division of specially enhanced troops.”

There was a grimace in answer to that, but he felt more steady about all this as he mounted the stairs. “So you’re often away. Where do you live then?”

“Midgar.” He looked to the man and shook his head. “But we’re going to the hotel. You need to meet my second in command in any case.”

“Why?” He could tell the older man was getting frustrated with his lack of knowledge.

“Because we’ve been lovers for well over a year now and as such he deserves to meet my husband.”

He didn’t know why the man’s flummoxed expression pleased him as much as it did... but it helped improve his mood.

He was sure his mood would be even better once he presented the man to Zack. After all, Zack was the master of confusion, and positive confusion in someone else was infinitely better than betrayed confusion as he’d been feeling from the moment he’d set foot in the reactor that morning.

No True Pair: Thought of Invitation

2009-05-18T07:33:43Z

Title: Thought of Invitation
Fandom: Final Fantasy Seven
Pairing/characters: Yuffie/Reeve
Rating: R
Wordcount: 713
Warnings: None (no actual sex)
Prompt/challenge you're answering: 8 and 1: double penetration

First Prompt!

Also, I realized when posting this that I have no Reeve or Yuffie icons on this account o.O

”Hey Reeve?” Yuffie’s voice was contemplative, and even if they hadn’t been in bed together, that was enough to more than get his attention. Her ideas were either very good or... worrying.

“Yes?”

“You like Vincent don’t you?” And apparently, this conversation wasn’t sure which it wished to be. He knew not to be offended that she was bringing their friend into the conversation just after sex. That’s just how she was.

Besides, it’s not like he’d never done something like it. “Yes. Of course I do, he’s a good man.”

“No, I mean, do you like him? Don’t get all philosophical on me. S’rude.”

Lips twitching at her irked tone, he slid his arm across her waist. “Fine, fine, yes, I like Vincent. Why?”

“Well... I kinda wanted to try something new...”

“And that involves Vincent how?” He ran his fingers up her ribs, amused as she squirmed, obviously not wanting to be sidetracked, but she didn’t seen inclined to move away.

“Well, I kinda wanna try something that involves two guys, and c’mon, you know he’s hot, in that ‘I need to get laid’ kinda way.”

“Yes, of course, because that’s just what attracts you to a man.” He leaned his head slightly and nipped over her collarbone.

“No! I didn’t mean it like that!” She swatted him on the back of the head, laughing a little even as she arched slightly into his mouth. “Even if it might be true, since I know how much time you spent with those toys of- ack!”

He had rolled them over so she was fully under him and sprawled on her back. “I do not have an ‘I need to get laid’ air.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Well, not anymore! You’re distracting me! I was sayin though! I mean, Vinny seriously needs someone, well, Cloud does too, but if we went after Cloud I think Tifa would come after us with one of her kitchen knives you know? And she hits hard.”

Laughing, he kissed her lightly. “Tifa wouldn’t hurt you if we wanted to go after Cloud.”

“Yes huh!” She gave a sheepish little grin. “Honest.”

”I don’t think I’m going to ask.”

“Eh heh. But Vinny, yeah, what do you think?”

“I thought he was with Cid...?”

She shook her head immediately. “Nah, I asked Cid about that a while back. He says they’re close and all, but not like that. I was surprised actually.” Then she grinned and poked him in the nose. “So are you! Ha, I think everyone thinks they’re together.”

”But they’re not. Hm. And what is it you want to do? You know he wouldn’t take well to being toyed with, the man can be twitchy sometimes.”

“Oh! No, I swear we’d keep him. Well, if that’s fine with you anyway...?”

He just shook his head and kissed her neck. “I’m pretty sure the conversation would have stopped around ‘do you like Vincent’ if it wasn’t fine with me.” He lingered over her neck as she made a noise of agreement, hand wandering her side. When there was nothing but her squirming for a moment, he nudged her with his nose. “Yuffie, what you wanted?”

“Hmm? Oh! Right, that. Well, I wanted to see how that whole, y’know, two guys one me thing would work.”

“You do know there’s several ways to interpret that.” He lifted his head and raised his eyebrows at her.

“Well... yeah. I mean. Okay, that double penetration thing? Obviously not the first thing we’d pelt at him, but from what I’ve heard that can be really really nice... for you and me, see?”

He blinked, not really having expected that for some reason. “So you want us to both...?” When she nodded quickly, he blinked again, turning the idea over in his head. He couldn’t say he really minded that idea at all either. “I suppose we should work on approaching Vincent then.”

“Thank you! Just for that I can think of something really nice for right now.”

Without further warning, she reversed their positions and set about showing him exactly what she meant by that.

He honestly couldn’t say he minded.