Night 54: Main Hallway, 1-West
[From here.]
The big connecting corridor. He may be in a rush, but this hallway deserved extra caution. What would he do if he tried to get to Stefan and ended up mauled on the way there? The first night when he'd smelled blood here, it was still a bit... haunting. It meant there was a chance of something lurking, dragon or not ( Read more... )
The big connecting corridor. He may be in a rush, but this hallway deserved extra caution. What would he do if he tried to get to Stefan and ended up mauled on the way there? The first night when he'd smelled blood here, it was still a bit... haunting. It meant there was a chance of something lurking, dragon or not ( Read more... )
Before she could ask, a beam of light fluttered across her vision. Tifa put her hand up to shield her eyes, ready to tell this idiot to be more careful, but the advice was moot once a familiar voice picked out Lightning. "She's my roommate, so I thought we could find her a weapon. Having one more fighter in the group can't hurt." Her pride and her leg had learned that lesson the hard way.
Perhaps she could have asked Zack first if he minded an extra group member, but he didn't seem too put out, only curious. Actually, the former SOLDIER looked rather satisfied with himself, like he just got a new materia and couldn't wait to try it on the closest victim.
She hadn't been far off either. When Zack moved back, the brunette was expecting to see some wayward woman he'd picked up.
Again, not far off either.
"Cloud!" Tifa shouted the obvious. "I thought--" Actually, Tifa wasn't sure what she had thought. There were nurses she could have asked, but the reality had been too scary to face. It didn't matter now that they had found Cloud, or rather he had come back. Her lips pinched shut remembering there was an audience. She could worry over Cloud later, privately, and ask him what he remembered.
"You're not hurt, are you?" She glanced briefly at Zack, but he showed no signs of worry. He looked relieved, like she, that their friend was back in one piece.
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She inclined her head in what passed as a greeting, though at the same time her gaze bore into them- first one, then the other as the three went through the motions of being reunited. It at least also solved the problem of Lightning not knowing the one guy's name (although... was that his birth name? If so, who seriously named their son Cloud?), but she also felt a little out of place. It was strange when they all knew each other somehow and she was left as the outsider.
Stranger still when one of them had been insisting vehemently that another was dead earlier, and yet now seemed perfectly fine in accompanying him. She clenched her jaw as she shifted her weight, crossed her arms, ignored the protests of her lingering injuries and how the way she was forced to move likely made them obvious to anyone paying attention. What she didn't know here bothered her.
"It just happened this way," she added onto Tifa's answer after a pause, cutting in despite the moment probably already passed, "You could say the soldiers thing earlier managed to throw a wrench in any other planning." That and talking to Cloud, after being locked up most of the day....
She looked at the blonde. "I'm Lightning, by the way," she offered- almost a proper introduction. No last name offered, of course, though that wasn't unusual. In a way it almost seemed like she'd left that behind in that train station, at the same time she'd so easily handed over her military rank. It was just 'Lightning,' now.
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Tifa's reaction was pretty much expected, and Zack only grinned as he saw the elation on the girl's face. "He's more or less fine. Just... doesn't remember the last time." He glanced at Cloud, giving him a silent look that made it clear he would explain the meaning of that later. They'd already been held up, so he didn't think now was the time for it. More than that, he didn't know if Cloud would want him getting into all of that when there was a relative stranger here.
Speaking of which, Lightning's explanation to Tifa just ended up confusing him, but Zack didn't know if he should waste time getting clarification. He was more concerned with the fact that it was clear that the girl was injured, even if he couldn't determine exactly how. It was probably good that she was with them, then, but he hoped she wouldn't push herself either.
With introductions more or less taken care of, Zack figured he should focus on getting them on the right track. As nice as it would have been to stand around and chat, they had a few options for what to do with their night. "So we're thinking about hunting for weapons, right? I should also mention that someone I met here is having some sort of training session tonight... to teach patients self-defense. I told her I might or might not come, but I wanted to check and see if you guys were interested." He glanced first to Tifa, then to Cloud, and finally to Lightning, making it clear that he wanted to hear how everyone felt about it. "I thought we might be of some help, but I didn't commit or anything." With Cloud having just arrived, maybe it would be better to focus on getting armed.
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Speaking of whom. That girl, Lightning-- the mess with the soldiers in the Sun Room hadn't left any time for any First Aid to be found or procured. He'd hoped she'd been able to get some later on, but she seemed no better off than earlier, if the way she was carrying herself right now was any hint. "Cloud," he returned, "Though the nurses here seem to like calling me... something else."
The topic change caught his attention, and satisfied something else he'd been wondering about now: clearly his entrance to this place had had the effect of a hold-up for the three of them, but for what hadn't been evident to him until now. Weapons. It was something he could get behind, because while he had a feeling the flashlight's handle could do a fair amount of damage if he used it right, being without a proper sword left him feeling entirely too vulnerable.
"I think getting some kind of weapons first is a good idea." He glanced from Tifa to Lightning and back to Zack. "We could drop by the... self-defense place later?"
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What happened to her priorities?
"I'm fine with either," Tifa added, noncommittal. Since the two men were better with a more ranged weapon than fists, Cloud' suggestion was probably more logical. You couldn't help others if you got taken out in the process. Close combat, while better than nothing, usually got you a few bites and bruises for your efforts. Oh, and wounded pride.
"Do we have a good idea where we can find something sharp and pointy? I know a place--" She played with the ring on her finger self-consciously. "--but it's pretty far, and I don't know if they have anything better than a prybar..."
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After a moment, the l'Cie pushed the observation (and the nagging feeling that it reminded her of something - maybe it was the color?) aside, looking away down the hallway instead. Standing in one place too long was definitely starting to make her feel uneasy, although as much as she was inclined to answer immediately and try taking action right away, she at least had the sense to hold herself back long enough to listen and then think about the options before she spoke up.
And once she finally did, she was sure to keep her body language and tone carefully trained, hoping to insure her chances of being heeded were as high as possible. "Weapons first," she agreed with finality, and held up her lighting device as if it mildly offended her- thumb and two fingers wrapped around it, the rest stretched away. "This got me burned two nights ago." Literally. "I'd prefer not to have it happen again."
A slight pause as she regarded Tifa again, unaware of what the woman was considering; she frowned as she remembered what had happened earlier in the day. "Plus, time tends to be short here anyway. Somehow I doubt that's going to change with this 'head doctor' run out."
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The comment that Cloud made about his name earned a smirk from Zack. "Don't worry, they do that to all of us. According to them, my name is Lance Findlay." It didn't sound nearly as catchy as his own name, but no matter what he told the staff they wouldn't let up. Even the soldiers insisted on it, though it figured that they were good at following orders.
He didn't think it would be likely for them to make it to Taura's meeting with the time that they had, and Lightning agreed. He would just have to respond to her over the bulletin the next day; even though he hadn't said for sure that he'd come, he still felt bad about it. He wasn't going to force his current group of companions to do anything they didn't want to, though.
Which left the question of where to go in order to find these elusive weapons. Zack considered Tifa's suggestion, eyeing the ring on her finger and immediately realizing her meaning. "Yeah, I'm not sure we're going to find what we need there," he said with a shake of his head. He wasn't so eager to return to a town full of zombies and shadows that pointed out all of your inner demons, after all.
Granted, that didn't mean that he had a better idea. "We might just need to search blindly if no one knows where to go." Lightning and Cloud were newer than him and Tifa, which meant that they weren't as prepared for all of this as they should have been. "We could try upstairs, or..."
But then something that Lightning said registered with him, and he turned toward her with a raised eyebrow. "Wait a second... What do you mean 'run out'? I know they took over, but..."
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Cloud was about say that a prybar sounded good to him-- much better than the flashlight, pen, and keyring combo he had at the moment-- when his eyes caught a glint of light reflected off of Tifa's finger. A ring? He blinked, wondering where she might have gotten it, and when; he was sure he hadn't seen a ring like that on her hand back home.
Then again, he recalled with a mental wince, he hadn't exactly been around a lot lately.
"A prybar's better than nothing, but if going there might not help, it's probably a good idea not to use up time like that," he said after a moment. Neither Tifa nor Zack sounded completely sure about that place and Lightning didn't seem to have any input about it, either. And like she'd said, time did tend to be short here. "Searching blindly's not something I'm usually in favour of, but it's probably our best plan at the moment."
He paused, waiting for Lightning to clarify on Zack's question, mulling over the Sun Room's events in his own mind.
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"Not that it did much good, really..." She finally admitted. "But at least they aren't playing like it's a secret anymore." It wasn't much of a consolation prize, but if they were more open about these strange experiments and tests, perhaps the patients had a better chance of preparing.
"Fumbling is better than nothing," She agreed as she looked to Cloud. "At least we can eliminate areas if we have to try again," Her smile and confidence was there behind her words, but Tifa prayed another outing wouldn't be necessary. It got frustrating having to start over time and time again.
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"Are you serious?" He started to move toward Tifa in surprise, as if seeing her face a bit clearer would somehow make what she was telling him more true. He knew they needed to focus on the task at hand, but this was just too important for him to put aside for later. But it seemed that tonight just wasn't his night, since he managed to trip over his shoelaces again, which sent him stumbling forward once more.
Instead of crashing into Tifa, it was Lightning that he ended up having to use to regain his balance. His hand gripped her arm (the one good thing was that it wasn't anywhere more awkward) as he tried not to completely crash into her. "... Sorry," he said as he tried to pull away just as quickly. "I don't know what's with me tonight." He was a First Class SOLDIER, after all; well, he had been. It wasn't like him to be fumbling around like this.
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But then Zack threw everything off-topic again by latching onto her comment regarding the rather unceremonious removal of Dr Landel. She should have known, though- if Zack hadn't been in the Sun Room (something she'd already been sure of, since she'd checked as soon as Cloud had started acting weird), then he likely wouldn't know about what had happened there. There was a jaw-clenched pause, trying to figure out how to even start, but then Tifa jumped in for her anyway. No skin off Lightning's back, fortunately, although as always the other woman's phrasing was notably different than what the ex-soldier probably would have chosen.
Before she could add on any commentary of her own, however, Zack was suddenly moving forward... and stumbling right into her. She stepped back automatically, then heavily cringed against the unintended blow, hissing through her teeth. She was not used to keeping injuries for this long. "Ow, watch it," she snapped - thank goodness he hadn't tried to catch the arm with the injured shoulder, though she still used it to put a hand on his arm, trying to get him away from her--
And then she was suddenly remembering something- barren ground, grey sky and rain - a young man with blond hair and blood on his face, the hilt of a huge weapon in hand - sadness and relief and--
"I'm... your living legacy...?"
-- And although Lightning had suddenly gone stiff, eyes widening, abruptly her fighting instinct kicked in and kicked in hard. The l'Cie shoved her arms out and, twisting away, swiftly brought her leg up between them to kick Zack away. The force transferring into her as well, she half-stumbled backward, smacking into the wall in a way that definitely caused her lingering bruises and twisted arm to protest much more than what the man had caused by tripping into her. She cried out, but braced herself and managed to keep from falling, the need to keep on her feet outweighing everything else. For the moment though, she was a bit too stunned to do much else.
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Zack's surprise at the news made it clear he hadn't known how the military takeover had transpired-- and Cloud realized that meant that Tifa, who did know, had been there in the Sun Room, too, with himself and Lightning. Huh. He barely had a moment to wonder why he hadn't been able to spot her when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and looked back towards Zack in time to see his friend trip yet again... and straight into Lightning, at that. A still-injured Lightning, who made her displeasure evident.
"What the--"
Very evident. Cloud had only taken a couple of steps forward to help steady Zack when Lightning booted him back suddenly, causing the both of them to collide. He grunted at the impact, skidding back somewhat, hearing the thud a few feet across from them as Lightning hit the opposite wall, his arms splayed rather awkwardly on either side of his friend's shoulders.
He couldn't understand what had gotten into her-- she'd been nothing more than annoyed for a moment before behaving as though responding to an attack.
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It hadn't been an attempt to harass the woman, so why the overreaction? Lightning was a bit aloof, to put it gently, and she didn't know Zack like the rest of them did; however, Tifa had a better alternative to a seemingly random bout of hysteria or prudishness. She knew Lightning had been injured the second night she had become Tifa's new roommate. Apparently a healer had come to help her, but the harassment and abuse given at the hands of soldiers only a day after hadn't helped either of them to get over shared wounds.
"Are you okay? Lightning!" Tifa offered, putting a firm hand on her roommate's shoulder to keep her from hitting the back of the wall anymore. Maybe Zack had grabbed a part of her that was still hurting. Even still, her reaction was a bit much, but pain made people unpredictable. It was understandable.
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Zack absorbed the blow and stumbled back -- in fact, he might have even fallen over if it hadn't been for Cloud steadying him. His side was throbbing painfully from the blow, which made it clear that Lightning had a whole lot of bite to back up her bark.
Still, even if he could have been annoyed or upset about the whole thing, he was worried more than anything. He'd noticed earlier that Lightning was injured, so was it possible that he'd aggravated one of her wounds? If that was the case, her reaction may have just been instinctive.
Tifa seemed to be doing a good job of looking after the girl, though, and Zack knew better than to draw close again. He slowly pulled away from Cloud and nodded to him in thanks before directing his attention back at the pair of girls. "I'm sorry," he told Lightning. "I'm not sure what's with me tonight, but I didn't mean for that to happen." One of his hands was cradling his side, though he was doing his best to be subtle about it.
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In fact, taking on a sort of uncertain wariness, her grip on what was having to pass as her weapon tightened as she glanced at and then pulled away from Tifa, then turned her gaze to the man busy apologizing. At least she hadn't tried to hit Zack with the light- she'd just been trying to get him away from her, not smash his face in. But as good as she was at hiding weakness, that was a bit difficult now; hearing her own quiet but pained breaths put her on edge as she finished straightening herself out. However, instinct and training made her careful to conceal exactly what was wrong as much as possible.
Her mind began to work furiously. "What did you--?" she started, but then caught herself, frowning. Her eyes went to Cloud and stayed there - staring - as if trying to read an answer off him, who had definitely played the predominant role in the tiny drama suddenly forced upon her. Given what Zack had told her, what Cloud had told her... it wasn't hard to figure out what it was supposed to be.
Yet there was little in any of the three others' behavior that suggested they knew about what had just happened, aside from her reaction. As far as she could tell, anyway, but while she wasn't an expert by any means in deciphering the actions and motivations of others... well, wouldn't Zack be acting a little different? Trying to explain?
Utterly baffled and filled with conflicting emotion... the young woman scoffed, quietly disdainful. She remembered then not only the weird things that had happened to her before, but the fact that the intercom announcement had specifically implied another might happen in apparent retribution for their rebellion. If that was the worst of it...
Without knowing what else to do, Lightning pushed it down. Dismissed it as she shook her head slowly, then turned and began moving in the direction of the stairs. "Upstairs it is," she muttered darkly, and left no room for argument. Whether or not they went with her didn't seem to be her problem at the moment.
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