Night 55: M41-M50 Hallway

[corvus_veritas]

.....Ow. Okay, uh. Was all that static really necessary? If that guy was hoping to give everyone a migraine, he was certainly on the right track. He excelled at being annoying as much as he did delivering creepy, cryptic messages. Alright. Good for you, whoever you were.

But no matter. The strange speech over the intercom was the least of the

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M46

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin didn't have time to fool around after the lights went out. He'd only been half-listening to the intercom, just in case they were in for another punishment, but when it became clear that there wasn't too much in it to be worried about he made for his special issue box (it even had his (fake) name and tag number on it). Fumbling with the latch in the dark, he realised with a sudden jolt of horror that there was a good chance that all of those weapons were gone. It was pretty obvious the soldiers had been through their rooms, right? He hadn't been able to find his flashlight during dinner, but he'd just been assuming it would magically turn up in this box. But that didn't make any sense! Why would they give him back something so dangerous as

M46

[thestormishere]

[ From here. ]

Once she was more than a stride or two away from them, Lightning didn't bother at all with looking back at Snow and Zack. No need. She was busy with an occupied mind, anyway- primarily because, as certain as she'd sounded when talking to the two about securing the weapons, she couldn't actually make the outright promise herself that she'd be able to get it done. There were any number of things that could go wrong- on one end of the spectrum, this Kibitoshin guy could have changed his mind after her speech in the cafeteria; on the other, he could have never intended to give them to her in the first place. If that was the case and he had something spiteful planned in contrast to that sort of... eccentric conduct he'd already shown, he was in for a surprise. She was a cautious woman when she wanted to be, and dangerous always.

Keeping her own demeanor and posture steady and straight, she paused outside room 46. Then, with a deliberate motion, she knocked sharply on the door, ready for anything but not expecting much.

M46

[bitpartgod]

The knock came just as Kibitoshin was tying the sash around his waist- the perfect finishing touch. He wasn't sure that the woman would really appreciate his uniform, particularly not when even Sechs had been so dismissive of it, but still. He was trying very hard not to mind what other people thought of him anymore.

"Ah- just a second!" he called, knotting the sash twice and then darting over to the door, smiling a little. He'd also maybe been just a little bit worried that she wouldn't turn up at all, so that was one problem down. Assuming it was her and not a monster, but how many of those were in the habit of knocking politely?

Thankfully, when he opened the door the figure in the hallway was definitely Lightning- and just beyond her he could see a couple of other people, presumably waiting for her. The friends...? He could ask later. "Glad you could make it!" He stepped aside so that she could enter, heading to the box so that he could get the weapons and lay them out on the desk properly. "Here they are, just like I said."

M46

[thestormishere]

Lightning couldn't help but take pause again once she caught sight of what Kibitoshin was wearing. To think she'd thought she looked a little off in her mosaic of a uniform, especially with the jacket belted around her waist and wearing several layers made of substandard, easily-creased material up top. This guy's night-time outfit was far more... interesting, to say the least.

However, it wasn't all that important, and in the end she didn't really care enough to ask about it. She just stepped through the door, noting that even here the sound of her boots and movement was audible in the semi-darkness. The quiet was slightly unnerving to someone so used to the sort of bustle heard working a popular beach-town like Bodhum; even the half-tamed wilderness between the cities always had some sort of background noise, but here... hardly anything at all

Re: M46

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin had kind of been hoping for a little conversation, but he'd also known better than to expect it from Lightning of all people. She hadn't really been much of a talker even over lunch, when they'd actually had the time for it. Oh, well. It wasn't as though he would have had much to say to her that wouldn't have just ended up wasting her time, anyway. If those people outside really were her friends, it would have been terrible of him to keep them waiting

M46

[thestormishere]

Unconsciously echoing Kibitoshin's thoughts once again, the first thing Lightning noticed was indeed how different the three 'weapons' were from each other. Her brow drawn, there was a moment where she reached out her hand but let it move only slowly, obviously thinking, before running a light touch along the flat blade of one of the swords and then picking it up.

There were several things which caught her notice- namely its weight, heavier than she expected... and its design. There wasn't anything wrong with it, as far as she could tell, but it was strange regardless- she was used to fancy things, to put it simply, since even the most utilitarian of weapons within Cocoon tended to be miniature works of art, particularly with swords and knives. However, only one of these weapons was... anything more than a completely blank slate.

And there was something else, but....

Regardless, her impromptu inspection was quick, choosing not to respond to the question until she was absolutely certain about all of them. Turning them every way she

Re: M46

[bitpartgod]

As he'd suspected, there was definitely an expert edge to the way Lightning handled the swords on display. To Kibitoshin's untrained eye they were just a knife and a couple of short swords, one more elaborate than the other, so he couldn't guess what she saw as she took her time in examining each carefully- holding this one, that one, twisting them both expertly in her hands as though she'd wielded the both of them all her life

M46

[thestormishere]

Lightning's eyes narrowed at that brief explanation- someone here had had the power to make weapons! Not 'ability,' power, as in most likely magic. She'd never heard of anything like that even being possible, and so for a beat or two she was very much taken back in surprise. Her power and the powers of those other l'Cie she knew had nothing to do with manipulating the physical world in such a specific manner at all.

That would explain the odd something she noticed, though- as if the two short swords had been made in an already-sharpened state despite the lack of signs of that she was familiar with from back in her own world. Of course, she wasn't exactly an expert in older-style bladed weapons - truthfully, her forte was firearms - but

Re: M46

[bitpartgod]

There was a tense little pause as Lightning processed what he'd said, and Kibitoshin swallowed hard. He'd changed the subject, but with some people you just didn't know what to expect- she could still have tried to say something, or ask something, or- or anything like that. She didn't seem to sort to try and comfort (for which he was eternally grateful; he'd done well enough keeping stoic and sensible so far, and truthfully he wasn't sure how well he would hold up to a softer approach), but it was worth trying to bolster his confidence just in case. It wouldn't do to get emotional now

M46

[thestormishere]

Ah. It was strange how often Lightning seemed to indulge in pauses here, but again she said nothing for a long moment, just standing thoughtful and serious in the darkness after that admission. It seemed she was learning a lot from this encounter without expecting to, and kept getting surprised because of it. A healer- well, that would explain a lot of things, though it bothered her a little to find that this man too had powers. What had he-- what had any of them done to deserve that burden?

"I understand," she said quietly, and just began collecting her new acquisitions for good at that. The problem was she had no sheathe or cover for any of them, and she already knew from watching Kibitoshin remove them from his box that it was pointless to ask if they had any. With little other choice, she worked the knife into the leather sleeve of the jacket around her waist, pushing it through between the belt and her body with the material acting as insulation against stabbing herself. Of course, it was far, far from optimal, and she'd have

Re: M46

[bitpartgod]

Once Lightning was gone, Kibitoshin found himself at a loss. Part of him wanted to stay in his room for the rest of the night... but really, how could he possibly justify that? Everything that had been going through his head during that meeting, all of it only seemed to bring him just that little bit closer to the fact that he had very little time in which to do- well- anything. Who could say when he was going to vanish like so many other people had