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Post by Seltzer Grenadine on Jan 6, 2009 3:11:04 GMT -5
((You guys are doing good. I have to say I'm really sorry to see that Celes has been absent, and that I hope that she hasn't decided to quit. I'll ask around and see if I can get any answers for you guys, but you can keep doing what you're doing. Thank you both for being such good sports about it, too.))
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Post by Tseng on Jan 6, 2009 3:33:05 GMT -5
((Thanks for the support, she was fun for the short time we've interacted with her thus far. Yeah, the same here for the quiting because she had quite a few cool directions to go in. As for the answers, thank you for the help. I just hope nothing troubling has come up.))
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Fujin
Lvl 2
Even though I've lived clumsily until now, I'll still try to do what's right.
Posts: 207
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Post by Fujin on Feb 7, 2009 4:38:02 GMT -5
Getting back to where Fujin had left Tseng seemed to be a great deal easier than her departure had been. People seemed to be giving her a much wider birth than before, some going out of their way not to be in hers. Perhaps it had something to do with the way she casually tossed Bouryoku in the air and the thoughtful but otherwise unreadable expression she wore.
Fujin hadn't intended to look particularly threatening, and in fact was more concerned with familiarizing herself with the weapon she was toying with. The relatively thick blades made Bouryoku heavier than her Pinwheel, but it was evenly balanced and not particularly difficult to use. Its shape, however, prevented it from being used to execute the Sai technique - not quite the loss that some might have thought, as the move was difficult to execute and rarely called for anyway. She tossed the weapon one more time and snatched it as it came back down, her fingers slipping easily into the holes in the large shuriken's center. An amateur would have clumsily batted the weapon away more often than not, but Fujin guessed that she could have caught it perfectly with patches over both eyes.
As she began to feel more comfortable with Bouryoku, Fujin started throwing and catching it in more complex or difficult positions, trying to simulate actual circumstances. The calculated precision of her movements made for a kind of graceful, and somewhat befuddling dance as she progressed through Wall Market. One that caused anyone that didn't already doubt her mental composure to reconsider and give her plenty of room to do whatever it was she was doing.
Finally, when Tseng came into her field of vision an idea sprang into the front of her mind. It was somewhat childish, more than a little foolish, and by no means something she would normally do, but Fujin did it anyway. With a moment's focus and her eye trained on Tseng's neck, she hurled Bouryoku at him. The red-and-black shuriken sliced through the air between them, shot in front of Tseng and then banked around and whizzed behind him, back into Fujin's waiting hand. Twirling the weapon around her finger, she approached him with a predatory smile.
"So, what's the plan?"
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Post by Tseng on Feb 9, 2009 5:51:24 GMT -5
A different man might have flinched or at least shown some sign of surprise as a bladed metal object rushed past his neck not once but twice. In fact, a different man might have drawn a weapon in a futile effort to defend himself from an attack that he had failed to anticipate. However, Tseng was not this man. Instead of fear or relief, he only felt a dull sense of amusement at the display of martial prowess. In the years before he had confronted Sephiroth, he might have lashed out with a momentary though level rebuke for the meaningless display. Now, the anger was replaced with amusement.
Tseng turned to face her a cell phone already in his free hand and a look of amusement hidden in his eyes. The tone of Tseng's voice remained level and calm. "The plan is for us to proceed to the ShinRa Tower and assess the situation. We need information, and ShinRa has plenty."
The sound of Tseng's fingers danced across the keypad. Once they had completed their performance, Tseng heard the immediate pick-up by a secretary on the switchboard. Slowly, Tseng raised the phone to his ear and was surprised by the frantic woman on the other end.
"I understand. Send the helicopter at once along with some extra gil for the local tailor. Yes, immediately. Have two of them waiting on the pad, I expect a full report," Tseng closed the phone and put it away just as the sound of a helicopter began to fade into being in the distance. "It would seem I was mistaken Ms. Yuki. We may need to contact your government after I finish reorganizing my own. The President, the Board of Directors, everyone has gone missing."
The helicopter was almost overhead now and the rope ladder was dropped so that the pair could climb up into the helicopter, which bore a rather large symbol of the ShinRa corporation on the fuselage, as the crowded, haphazard streets of Sector 6 were not exactly suitable for landing on. Quickly, Tseng scrambled up the ladder until he finally stood inside the passenger section of the helicopter. He waited patiently for her to reach the top as well before signaling for the pilot to head back to the Tower. Tseng figured if Yuki had any questions, they would have plenty of time to discuss them before they reached ShinRa HQ.
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Fujin
Lvl 2
Even though I've lived clumsily until now, I'll still try to do what's right.
Posts: 207
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Post by Fujin on Feb 18, 2009 18:06:59 GMT -5
This just keeps getting better Fujin thought to herself as she slid the helicopter door shut. The closest thing she'd found to order in this crazy, messed-up world was without most of its head administrators, which meant that getting information wouldn't be quite so easy as she thought. Fortunately, these Shinra folks seemed to have a talent for bureaucracy, so even in the worst case things would run themselves in Midgar for at least a short time. That thought brought her a little comfort, though why she cared about Midgar escaped her. After getting nowhere pondering the question, she addressed Tseng.
"My government? Can't say I have one..." Fujin's voice trailed off as her mind centered on the ruin Balamb had become. "Garden, that military academy I'm from, doesn't answer to any state. Unfortunately, there's no way to know where it is, or even if it exists right now."
Fujin nodded in the direction of the dimensionally-confused cannon that occasionally protruded from the city to punctuate her point. She conveniently forgot to mention that the last time she saw Balamb Garden, she happened to be on the opposing side of a rather large conflict. Or that she had personally fought against half of the recent graduating class in a later battle. Tseng definitely didn't need to know these things, at least not now.
"Besides, we should probably work on straightening things out here before involving any outside parties. We can probably assume that the situation isn't much better anywhere else in the world, which would mean that everyone is on-edge. Once we're stable here, then we can contact others without having to worry as much about their itchy trigger fingers."
Caution. It, above everything else, will keep you alive when wounded. That was one of the principle lessons that Garden tried to teach its students. Seifer never quite learned that lesson, and more than once it fell to Fujin to save the rebellious student from himself. For all of his composure, Tseng seemed to favor the same kind of bold action that Seifer did. Does that mean I'll end up saving him as well?
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Post by Tseng on Feb 19, 2009 9:48:43 GMT -5
Tseng followed Yuki’s gaze out the window and was startled by the sight of a massive, overly modified cannon. It greatly resembled the one mounted in Junon with minor differences. The cannon was attached directly through rather large cables to the various Mako Reactors. The device looked like some deranged contraption dreamed up by the madness filled minds of Hojo’s Research Teams. It was a weapon which Tseng would have greatly objected to if his opinion on the subject would have been of consequence. The improbable resources the construction of the cannon would have required could have been better spent on stopping more immediate threats such as Sephiroth or Avalanche. Tseng’s feelings on the matter seemed to have an impact as the cannon just faded from existence. A small sensation of pain erupted in his head at this latest development. Apparently, the world wanted him to go mad with the constant inconsistencies that existed between his memories and the present circumstances.
Yuki’s voice continued as he attempted to ignore the slowly building headache. Honestly, the situation wasn’t probably as bad as it seemed. Despite Yuki’s comment, ShinRa would most definitely need only a minor reorganization before being ready to face the challenges ahead. The company had survived attacks by Avalanche, multiple renegade high powered soldiers, and even clashes with foreign nations. Even had Tseng not arrived, he was confident order would have arisen amongst the chaos within the corporation’s remaining hierarchy. The rest of the rest of the world, however, would be in dire straits indeed. The lack of any real military presence in the small towns and villages which dotted the landscape would most undoubtedly be unable to mount an effective defense against any of the horrors Sephiroth’s plan had unleashed.
“It’s unfortunate that at present we don’t know the location of your military academy. Any extra military assistance right now would be appreciated,” Tseng ignored the cannons presence for now. He felt like slouching against the wall next to him, a thought which was quickly excised from his mind. “In any event, the situation with ShinRa will be resolved shortly.”
As he thought over his next words carefully, Tseng paused before continuing. “Our next step once we have resupplied will be to track down those who might have a better understanding of our current situation. Unless you know of someone else to ask, I believe we should begin with former Soldier 1st Class Sephiroth.”
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Fujin
Lvl 2
Even though I've lived clumsily until now, I'll still try to do what's right.
Posts: 207
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Post by Fujin on Mar 8, 2009 11:00:32 GMT -5
"If I'm right, and this has something to do with Time Compression, then there are several people who might be able to shed some light on the situation..." Fujin's voice trailed off as she considered the various possibilities. Squall was an obvious choice, as were the other SeeDs with him. Their goal had laid with Ultimecia, so it wasn't unlikely that they might have found some solution to the time gap that separated them. Then there was that Sorceress that Seifer grew up with - if anyone could know the inner workings of Ultimecia's plot it would be her. The last option was one she didn't really want to consider, but as far as she could see was the nearest at hand.
"Esthar City, to the southeast of here, may have someone who can tell us more. The Estharian president was close to a girl who was instrumental in the execution of Time Compression. It's a long shot, but arguably beats trying to track down one person under these circumstances." A sick, uneasy feeling began building in Fujin's stomach even as the idea formed in her mind. Esthar was the last -or perhaps second-to-last- place that she wanted to go, and she very nearly got herself killed trying to stay away. However, if going to Esthar meant setting things straight, then it might be worth doing, despite the ferocity with which every part of her protested. One way or another, the next few days could prove to be quite painful.
(OOC: Sorry it's short, but I'm actually not at home right now so I don't have as much time to post as I would like. It'll get better, I swear ^_^;; )
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Post by Celes Chere on Mar 10, 2009 13:09:21 GMT -5
Of course, stepping away for so long would almost certainly result in Celes being separated from the only friends she had in the world - whatever the word "friend" meant these days. She'd been distracted, unsurprisingly, by the heartbreaking sight of a child, standing twenty or so feet away, obviously crippled by some debilitating disease or accident, leaning pitifully on a worn crutch, barely swaddled in enough rags to just keep away the cold at night. Celes, who had never in her short childhood gone hungry for a moment, felt an almost shameful compassion sweep over her. The child's face was so dirty and sad, her arm which shakingly held up the begging bowl so thin, and her feet so caked with mud and filth, that Celes could hardly believe that she was looking at a human being at all. What a world this was! Such a sight would never be permitted in Tzen, or in any of the civilized cities in her country. Struggling inwardly with a deep rage that threatened to shoot out of her very skin, she approached the child slowly, thinking, of course, that her absence would be so brief as to be unnoticed by her companions.
A moment later, the strangeness of this new world reached what was possibly its very peak for Celes. She had just reached into her pouch and removed some of the unusual currency, intending genuinely to place it into the young girl's bowl, then swiftly encourage her to run along home with it, wherever home was. She would warn the girl that there were foul players afoot, and that until this money was somewhere safe, she was in danger of being accosted for it. All these thoughts flitted through Celes' mind, distracting her from the other filthy child, who swiftly and deftly reached underneath her tattered cape and snatched her pouch away from her. By the time Celes had turned her head toward the welp, he was already scampering halfway down the street.
As she stood there, head turned and mouth agape, she felt a sudden sharp smack on her hand. Turning back to the recipient of all her pity, Celes watched helplessly as the coins fell into the bowl with a sickening clatter. Within seconds, the girl was gone too, and all that was left was the worn crutch and the echoes of triumphant child-like laughter.
Celes spun around to call to Tseng and Yuki, but wasn't sure what she would tell them. That a child had played a cruel trick on her? That they had to stop them before they got away with Celes' pittance? She stopped herself before she could add to her embarrassment by crying over her own stupidity. A quick glance around gave her further reason to halt. Tseng and Yuki were nowhere to be found. They had completely vanished. Her heart sank into her stomach, and she felt suddenly nauseated.
It was several minutes before Celes could trust herself to move again. Her eyes stared at a spot on the ground as her mind slowly and numbly pieced together her current situation. She was wearing tattered, worn clothing that apparently made her look like a prostitute. She was absolutely penniless. The only people in the whole world that she knew were gone. And she was still, even after Tseng's brief and informative lecture, completely, utterly, and hopelessly lost.
And now, the shopkeeper was growing impatient with her. He waddled over and very politely requested that Celes either return the jumpsuit to the rack or "just buy the damn thing."
Without a word, Celes slipped the hanger back onto the bent metal rack on the sidewalk, and focused all of her remaining attention on the act of putting one foot in front of the other.
What a world this was, indeed.
((OOC: Poor Celes! Oh well, that's what the bitch gets for being quiet for so long. XD))
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