Night 54: Main Hallway, 1-West

[sanguinario]

[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

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[zack_fair]

It seemed that everyone was in agreement about what their priority should be, which was weapons. It was true that all of them save Tifa were going to need to find something better than what they had, and looking at what Lightning was wielding, Zack realized he could be worse off. He hadn't put the pry bar to use yet, but he imagined it would do a better job than the flashlight, but it still didn't really qualify as adequate in his mind. At least he had a materia to back that up.

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..."

[bigdamnzero]

Lance Findlay. He considered the name, comparing it with his own, and figured he might not have gotten off as badly as he'd initially thought. In more ways than one, if what Lightning was saying was to be taken literally-- it was probably better he didn't have backpockets in these pants, since he would've tucked his flashlight there without much thought. (Lance did have a better ring to it than Lionel, though.)

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.

short post is short sorry the library is closing /)_=

[36_24_35]

"Oh Zack, you missed the show," Tifa's words held so much remorse for him. "It happened in the Sun Room. Landel just barged in and then got kicked to the curb!" It had been a wonderful breath of fresh air to displace the monotonous fog that had consumed their lives. Looking back on it, Landel's suspension marked a new reign that was less tongue and cheek about all of this. At least the nurses acted genuinely sympathetic. The soldiers... Not so much.

"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.

switching post order so Zack can trip onto Lightning.

[zack_fair]

Hearing that news from Tifa and realizing that he'd missed it and had been oblivious this whole time caused Zack to startle. "You mean he's really gone?" It was one thing for the military to be taking over operations, but to toss out the very man who had been tormenting them was another. He had to agree with Tifa that this wasn't necessarily a good thing, and it also meant that they had no chance for revenge. Not that Zack was a vengeful person, but the guy had taken Aerith away and messed with Cloud's memories on top of it all.

"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.

[thestormishere]

... They still weren't really at a decision on what to do. Lightning shifted her weight in irritation. "I'm familiar with the maps," she started slowly, "Or at least what's been posted publicly..." Her voice was low and body language tight- geography and directions? She usually had that relatively covered, but it wasn't like what was available was very detailed at all. Personally, she was in favor of once more attempting to take on the second floor and was about to push them into doing so....

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.

[bigdamnzero]

This Landel must have been a real class act if Tifa sounded so happy have seen him dragged out like that. Mild amusement at her enthusiasm was tinged with chagrin at the fact that Landel seemed to be gone for good. A pity.Cloud had been looking forward to having a talk with the man who'd brought them all here, as well as getting some answers out of him. But at least the soldiers didn't get to him the way the nurses did, with their sugar-coated lies. Between a hidden enemy and an obvious one, he would choose the latter any day of the week.

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.

SORRY FOR THE WAIT

[36_24_35]

"Zack--!" Tifa reached out feebly for her friend despite the obvious distance between them. It was nothing more than a reflexive act, and with Cloud behind him to help steady the man, she instead turned her attention to Lightning.

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.

[zack_fair]

It was one thing for Lightning to be startled and even a little offended by the way he'd collided into her (even if it was a total accident, and she had to know that), but it was another for her to suddenly kick him back like he was some sort of threat.

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.

[thestormishere]

Lightning wasn't one to stay out of commission for long, physically or mentally. After the initial beat or two of shock, it took her only a second more to recover, marginally supported by Tifa but otherwise under her own power. She resisted the urge to put a hand to her injured shoulder, or to switch the heavy lighting device out of her stronger hand to do so.

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.