Rita awakened in a cold sweat that morning. What the hell was that all about!? It had to be a trick, like the moving shadows from the other night... It just couldn't be real
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"Somehow," Lightning repeated, her voice low as she glanced away towards the front of the vehicle instead. Turned out that when the man returned the look, for an outwardly imperceptible moment she'd been caught off guard- she hadn't forgotten the way he'd acted the first time they'd met, nor the vision she'd seen when Zack had touched her the night before last. Not at all. There was no blood and rain and apparent trauma right now, but....
"No, Tifa stayed behind last night," she answered, deliberately steady, then let out a breath as she set the paper bag she'd had practically thrown at her on the seat. "But I found him waiting outside one of the blocks; you should tell him your room number, next time."
Then she just bent slightly, pulling one foot's heel onto the seat, then the other, to brush the quickly-melting iciness off her shoes with brisk efficiency. They obviously weren't actually adapted to this weather at all, even if... they were the one thing about this whole outfit she didn't completely hate right on sight. The action helped her think, though, and to also get her mind off the things trying to clog up her mental processes with stuff that wasn't important.
She told herself that they had no reason to kill them all with a device like this, when everyone was already at their mercy by virtue of just putting them to sleep any time they wanted. Just what in the world was the purpose behind this? Visiting a town seemed hardly conducive to training a l'Cie army... was it just to make a point or...?
"We didn't get far- what else is new?" she said blandly, dragging herself back to the immediate topic... but then narrowed her eyes as she continued looking down. "I've got a weapon now, though. Negotiations."
Part of him was glad to hear that Tifa'd stayed behind the night before, even though he knew full well she could take perfectly good care of herself if push came to shove. Staying in her room meant staying somewhere she was relatively safe (from what he could guess) and if Cloud couldn't be with her to make sure of that, then he'd take the next best thing without complaint. He wondered where she was, which bus-- they'd ushered him onto the bus without giving him a choice in the matter.
... His room number. "Right. I'll give it to him after I find him in Doyleton." When, not if, because now with his doubts having been assuaged, he was determined to do it. Mentally, though, Cloud had to give himself a kick at that, wondering why he hadn't given Zack his room number in the first place. Or gotten Tifa and Lightning's. He supposed that the surreality of that night's situation had apprehended him from doing so and made a memo to fix this as fast as the opportunity presented itself. Which would be soon enough; the driver was approaching the bus, and while Cloud didn't know how far away the town was, it couldn't be too long of a trip.
Unless... this was a trap. Judging from the sound of the morning announcement and from the behavior of some of the 'patients', this wasn't a new thing-- but maybe that was the point, he mused, watching her dust the snow off of her shoes. Maybe they were being lulled into a sense of security. He couldn't shake off the feeling of being herded by them, like some kind of livestock being taken to pasture.
The mention of a weapon sparked new interest in him, however, and the fact that she spoke of it as a weapon and not, say, a two-by-four or a butcher knife. Something proper. "What sort of weapon is it?" he asked, eyes fixed on the driver now clambering into the front of the vehicle and announcing their departure with a clang of the front doors and a bark over the shoulder. Negotiations... did she mean a fellow captive had been able to get their hands on something? Perhaps even more than one?
Lightning wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she thought that Cloud seemed... different, today. Because of the whole imprisonment thing? Because of being forced to meet Zack again...?
She looked over at him again before she answered, wordlessly taking in his body language for what was the first time she'd really done so after getting on the bus. Of course, the cool demeanor and then pushy helpfulness he'd had on during that initial meeting between them was something she'd seen only under the veneer of a heavy cocktail of sedatives and pain killers, so... who knew. She hadn't been paying too much attention to him during that night she'd tagged along with the three friends, either.
"Short sword," came the eventual answer, although again the former soldier was distracted briefly by the shudder of the bus starting to roll forward. For a moment she clenched her teeth together in annoyance, wondering for what seemed like the thousandth time so far why it necessary to use such an inferior form of transportation for this (she could still smell it, so was it on her clothes now too?) before pushing on.
"Two of them, actually... and a knife." She looked away, still keeping her voice low, but choosing to look at the other riders instead as she spoke. "I got the impression from the man I got them from that they'd been made by another prisoner somehow... one that's gone now." Of course. She sighed. "Previous owner? Also gone."
Two short swords and a knife. He would have mulled this over properly, along with Lightning's other words (ominous ones, at that), but the starting of the bus momentarily diverted his attention. Disconcerted might be a better word for it, though; an all too familiar sensation of sickness rose up in him at the vehicle's juddering and he forced it down, gaze moving from the driver to the back of the seat in front of him.
Some moments and a steadying breath or two later, he concentrated on the information he'd just received with a frown that was more for holding in the nausea than anything. "I take it that gone means dead. Or that they took them elsewhere." They, of course, referring to Landel's staff.
He had to wonder, though, how the hell the original maker of the weapons had managed to do it. During the night, probably, when you weren't being watched like a hawk-- not by the nurses, at least. As for being watched by something else, well. He wouldn't put it past the place. The hallways at night gave Cloud the same feeling that the basement of the Shinra mansion did-- or a similar feeling, anyway.
This train of thought was rudely interrupted by an ill-timed jolt of the bus, and Cloud swallowed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. This was worse than transport trucks. They hadn't been as stuffy and their smell wasn't as... permeating. Well, he'd just have to grit his teeth and bear it.
"Dead or Cie'th," Lightning 'confirmed' in a dark murmur, mostly to herself at first as she watched the man's reaction to the bus's movement. Her annoyance at the jostling was just that, though- annoyance. She was roughly the complete opposite of being prone to motion-sickness, even in a situation like this where the smell was driving her mad and she couldn't be sure the whole mess wasn't about to tip over all at once or something. Stuff like that, or heights, or any number of other things that would make most people give second thought to doing whatever... they just never bothered her, even before her training.
So she wasn't sure what to make of Cloud's discomfort, but chose to ignore it for now as long as he didn't turn and try to puke on her. She wasn't even going to try working out what it 'meant' in regards to this strange transport versus the centuries-old airship she and the other l'Cie had found inside the Ark. It wasn't like she cared too much- some people were simply like that, right? No use embarrassing him, either. Pitching her voice just a touch louder, she just went on.
"Someone else told me that when people are 'released,' they go on and start thinking they're actually named the same thing they call us here." She made a brief gesture in the air in front of her, imitating picking up the metal dog tags all the prisoners were now required to wear. "No idea how that's supposed to work, though."
Inhale. Hold it in... and then exhale. Slow and easy. He could do this. But concentrating on the breathing exercise he'd taught himself as a cadet as he was, Cloud couldn't be sure if he heard Lightning properly or not. Her tone had been one of confirmation and she'd definitely said the word dead, but that last word. It sounded like a bit like sea, or something.
Puzzled but figuring that it wasn't really important enough for him to ask for a clarification (especially not with his stomach churning like this), Cloud leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. The position was one that helped for some reason, and he was able to respond easier this way; while he still felt queasy, it was more manageable.
"... Probably through experiments," he said as he tilted his head a bit to the right to glance at Lightnig over his shoulder, unable to keep the bitterness out of his low voice. He wouldn't have even if he could, really. Damn "scientists". He hadn't had much to do with them outside of Shinra, but from his minimal experience he'd found that they were more or less the same: ruthless, indifferent to pain, and obsessed with playing god. Especially if the military was involved. "If it isn't mako injections, it'll be something else."
But at least, if what he remembered Zack saying was true -- that this was another world entirely -- they didn't have access to JENOVA cells.
Lightning looked down in agitation, pale eyes narrowed as she stared at her own hands entwined tightly in her lap. With everything she'd wanted to say to Cloud done, she just went to silently going over her own thoughts instead, ignoring the bump and roll of the bus around her, the sound of other prisoners murmuring to each other over the crunch of treads over snow and ice....
For her, she had no doubt there would eventually be found a way out of this whole mess - she hadn't given up hope for herself by any means - but as for her missing friends... it was hard to say. Were they still alive, or were they already gone forever, bodies unceremoniously left to the mercies of the untamed wilds she'd seen while flying over the Pulsian landscape-- or worse, turned Cie'th, consumed by despair and the desire for the unattainable, wandering aimlessly in eternal pain...?
She swallowed, shook her head slightly to clear it. No use wondering fruitlessly, so she just moved on and, looking for something else to do, shifted to reclaim the paper bag from before. Inside it was what she assumed was supposed to pass as a breakfast, plus the odd card she'd just shoved in there when it had been handed to her. It didn't take her long to recognize it, though: a credit chip! Now that was something she was familiar with, even if... she had absolutely no idea how much five $s was supposed to be. What had they called them on the intercom again...?
Although for another thing--
"... Definitely don't remember this being taken," she commented quietly, frowning at the picture on the front of the thing. A pause, and then she turned slightly, glancing at Cloud- it was an awful picture for sure... and if she didn't know better, she'd almost say it could have passed as him with different hair. Weird.
"No, Tifa stayed behind last night," she answered, deliberately steady, then let out a breath as she set the paper bag she'd had practically thrown at her on the seat. "But I found him waiting outside one of the blocks; you should tell him your room number, next time."
Then she just bent slightly, pulling one foot's heel onto the seat, then the other, to brush the quickly-melting iciness off her shoes with brisk efficiency. They obviously weren't actually adapted to this weather at all, even if... they were the one thing about this whole outfit she didn't completely hate right on sight. The action helped her think, though, and to also get her mind off the things trying to clog up her mental processes with stuff that wasn't important.
She told herself that they had no reason to kill them all with a device like this, when everyone was already at their mercy by virtue of just putting them to sleep any time they wanted. Just what in the world was the purpose behind this? Visiting a town seemed hardly conducive to training a l'Cie army... was it just to make a point or...?
"We didn't get far- what else is new?" she said blandly, dragging herself back to the immediate topic... but then narrowed her eyes as she continued looking down. "I've got a weapon now, though. Negotiations."
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... His room number. "Right. I'll give it to him after I find him in Doyleton." When, not if, because now with his doubts having been assuaged, he was determined to do it. Mentally, though, Cloud had to give himself a kick at that, wondering why he hadn't given Zack his room number in the first place. Or gotten Tifa and Lightning's. He supposed that the surreality of that night's situation had apprehended him from doing so and made a memo to fix this as fast as the opportunity presented itself. Which would be soon enough; the driver was approaching the bus, and while Cloud didn't know how far away the town was, it couldn't be too long of a trip.
Unless... this was a trap. Judging from the sound of the morning announcement and from the behavior of some of the 'patients', this wasn't a new thing-- but maybe that was the point, he mused, watching her dust the snow off of her shoes. Maybe they were being lulled into a sense of security. He couldn't shake off the feeling of being herded by them, like some kind of livestock being taken to pasture.
The mention of a weapon sparked new interest in him, however, and the fact that she spoke of it as a weapon and not, say, a two-by-four or a butcher knife. Something proper. "What sort of weapon is it?" he asked, eyes fixed on the driver now clambering into the front of the vehicle and announcing their departure with a clang of the front doors and a bark over the shoulder. Negotiations... did she mean a fellow captive had been able to get their hands on something? Perhaps even more than one?
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She looked over at him again before she answered, wordlessly taking in his body language for what was the first time she'd really done so after getting on the bus. Of course, the cool demeanor and then pushy helpfulness he'd had on during that initial meeting between them was something she'd seen only under the veneer of a heavy cocktail of sedatives and pain killers, so... who knew. She hadn't been paying too much attention to him during that night she'd tagged along with the three friends, either.
"Short sword," came the eventual answer, although again the former soldier was distracted briefly by the shudder of the bus starting to roll forward. For a moment she clenched her teeth together in annoyance, wondering for what seemed like the thousandth time so far why it necessary to use such an inferior form of transportation for this (she could still smell it, so was it on her clothes now too?) before pushing on.
"Two of them, actually... and a knife." She looked away, still keeping her voice low, but choosing to look at the other riders instead as she spoke. "I got the impression from the man I got them from that they'd been made by another prisoner somehow... one that's gone now." Of course. She sighed. "Previous owner? Also gone."
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Two short swords and a knife. He would have mulled this over properly, along with Lightning's other words (ominous ones, at that), but the starting of the bus momentarily diverted his attention. Disconcerted might be a better word for it, though; an all too familiar sensation of sickness rose up in him at the vehicle's juddering and he forced it down, gaze moving from the driver to the back of the seat in front of him.
Some moments and a steadying breath or two later, he concentrated on the information he'd just received with a frown that was more for holding in the nausea than anything. "I take it that gone means dead. Or that they took them elsewhere." They, of course, referring to Landel's staff.
He had to wonder, though, how the hell the original maker of the weapons had managed to do it. During the night, probably, when you weren't being watched like a hawk-- not by the nurses, at least. As for being watched by something else, well. He wouldn't put it past the place. The hallways at night gave Cloud the same feeling that the basement of the Shinra mansion did-- or a similar feeling, anyway.
This train of thought was rudely interrupted by an ill-timed jolt of the bus, and Cloud swallowed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. This was worse than transport trucks. They hadn't been as stuffy and their smell wasn't as... permeating. Well, he'd just have to grit his teeth and bear it.
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So she wasn't sure what to make of Cloud's discomfort, but chose to ignore it for now as long as he didn't turn and try to puke on her. She wasn't even going to try working out what it 'meant' in regards to this strange transport versus the centuries-old airship she and the other l'Cie had found inside the Ark. It wasn't like she cared too much- some people were simply like that, right? No use embarrassing him, either. Pitching her voice just a touch louder, she just went on.
"Someone else told me that when people are 'released,' they go on and start thinking they're actually named the same thing they call us here." She made a brief gesture in the air in front of her, imitating picking up the metal dog tags all the prisoners were now required to wear. "No idea how that's supposed to work, though."
Reply
Puzzled but figuring that it wasn't really important enough for him to ask for a clarification (especially not with his stomach churning like this), Cloud leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. The position was one that helped for some reason, and he was able to respond easier this way; while he still felt queasy, it was more manageable.
"... Probably through experiments," he said as he tilted his head a bit to the right to glance at Lightnig over his shoulder, unable to keep the bitterness out of his low voice. He wouldn't have even if he could, really. Damn "scientists". He hadn't had much to do with them outside of Shinra, but from his minimal experience he'd found that they were more or less the same: ruthless, indifferent to pain, and obsessed with playing god. Especially if the military was involved. "If it isn't mako injections, it'll be something else."
But at least, if what he remembered Zack saying was true -- that this was another world entirely -- they didn't have access to JENOVA cells.
Reply
Lightning looked down in agitation, pale eyes narrowed as she stared at her own hands entwined tightly in her lap. With everything she'd wanted to say to Cloud done, she just went to silently going over her own thoughts instead, ignoring the bump and roll of the bus around her, the sound of other prisoners murmuring to each other over the crunch of treads over snow and ice....
For her, she had no doubt there would eventually be found a way out of this whole mess - she hadn't given up hope for herself by any means - but as for her missing friends... it was hard to say. Were they still alive, or were they already gone forever, bodies unceremoniously left to the mercies of the untamed wilds she'd seen while flying over the Pulsian landscape-- or worse, turned Cie'th, consumed by despair and the desire for the unattainable, wandering aimlessly in eternal pain...?
She swallowed, shook her head slightly to clear it. No use wondering fruitlessly, so she just moved on and, looking for something else to do, shifted to reclaim the paper bag from before. Inside it was what she assumed was supposed to pass as a breakfast, plus the odd card she'd just shoved in there when it had been handed to her. It didn't take her long to recognize it, though: a credit chip! Now that was something she was familiar with, even if... she had absolutely no idea how much five $s was supposed to be. What had they called them on the intercom again...?
Although for another thing--
"... Definitely don't remember this being taken," she commented quietly, frowning at the picture on the front of the thing. A pause, and then she turned slightly, glancing at Cloud- it was an awful picture for sure... and if she didn't know better, she'd almost say it could have passed as him with different hair. Weird.
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