Day 28: Bus 3

[gald_digger]

What a waste of a trip.That was Anise's first thought as she was ushered onto one of the buses, taking a window seat along the left side. In the end, she hadn't been able to get any information besides rumors and conjecture. Among them, the only information worth considering was the doctor's suggestion of Doyleton being an extension of Landel's.

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[traitors_smile]

The bus was fairly empty when he entered and Gin was careful this time to avoid the children that had already seated themselves. There was no promise they wouldn't find him later, but he definitely wasn't going to go seeking the little monsters out. He'd had more than his fill of them over the last few days.

He wasn't surprised that at the lack of efficiency among the other shinigami. The lack of good planning or leadership was painfully apparent with how little any of them had accomplished today. Who knew when they'd have another chance like this one? He ought to have seen it coming easily. One captain was a child, no matter what he said, he still lacked experience and control over his emotions. The other was nobility and made his distaste for Gin more than apparent.

Gin took a seat and began eating his last meal of the day and marveling at how little he'd gotten done as well. He knew himself to be efficient and still he'd spent most of the day doing nothing. Maybe it was his mind's way of telling him that he wasn't as eager to leave as the others might be. Here he didn't have much, but he did have Ran. Back in the real world though, all that waited him on either side after all of this was a traitor's death.

The night ought to prove interesting, if nothing else. He would meet up with Jack and possibly explore the basement. And possibly get side-tracked by Ran. It would be simple enough to say he hadn't seen the message in town. Afterall, it was a large enough area that there was a good chance he hadn't. And no one had breathed a word of it to him just yet. Well, he'd probably just have to play it by ear. Their assignments never seemed to be posted, just left to Ran to relay once they met up. Who knew what it would be tonight?

[1mperturbable]

Cloud was thankful that he had lost Sephiroth for the rest of the day in town, and he had spent the rest of it exploring. He was a little relieved that he had not been jumped by any people or chased around town more. He did not mind Doyleton all the much, even if it seemed terribly fake in some aspects.

Climbing aboard the same bus he had ridden on, he thought it would be best to sit with someone else to avoid having a seat filled with someone like Sephiroth. He walked down the aisle before turning to what looked to be a young man with silver hair. This is bound to go well, if all silver-haired people have some aspect of Sephiroth's personality, he thought.

Still, it seemed better to sit with someone quickly. The young man held the air of someone skilled, and he seemed to remember this feeling from somewhere before. "Do you mind if I sit here," he asked softly.

[traitors_smile]

Gin had been bombarded by people he already knew most of the day, so it was good to meet some that didn't know him, or more accurately, had no idea who he was or where he was from. The man was soft-spoken, looked to be in his early twenties if he was going by human years and not the afterlife. Sometimes it was so difficult to tell the difference.

He nodded, offering the man a friendly smile. Though he was thin, he had the build of a fighter, which meant, at the very least, he was useful. "Go 'head," he replied, scooting a little further over on the seat. He was mostly done with his dinner and luckily the milk carton was much easier to figure out than the juice box from earlier. "I think've seen you 'round here once or twice, but I don't think we've met jus' yet," he started, "I'm Gin."

[1mperturbable]

Cloud felt himself being appraised at the same time his own glance of appraisal happened. That was indication of enough, and he suspected that he was seating himself next to another warrior of some kind. The man held himself well, yet with a sense of casualness.

He seated himself and looked at what the nurses had given him to eat. It hardly seemed worth his time, but he knew better than to not eat... not with the night coming. He would need his strength.

He glanced at Gin again, nodding a little. "Cloud," he replied. He was still trying to place that faint feeling of knowing this man from somewhere. "I have seen you too... but I am not sure from where." He glanced at Gin's hands in a subtle gesture to look for sword calluses.

[traitors_smile]

Cloud? People here really did have the strangest names. Not that he ought to talk, his was strange too after all. How many people were named after their hair color? Really.

Though Gin noticed as the man looked him over, as though to gauge his abilities, he wasn't rude enough to mention it. "Nice t'meetcha," he offered, nodding his head in greeting.

He took a drink from the small milk carton, "Familiar, hm? I guess I got that kinda look. Wouldn't be th' first time t'day I got mistaken f'someone else. M'pretty sure I've not seen y'before comin' here though. What kinda world y'from?"

[1mperturbable]

Nodding his head in reply, Cloud fished through the meal he had been handed. He picked at the milk carton, easily pulling it open and taking a sip from it. It was a lot like the stuff he was given in military school. He found it disconcerting how everything here reminded him of that place, at least a little bit.

"You do not have the same look as most I know," he clarifed softly. "I just feel like I have felt your presence before. I just do not remember from where." He shrugged, passing it off completely.

He considered how to answer that question about his world. It seemed like some people came from such different places. "Mine is... a technologically advanced place where there is a lot of competition between nature and... human's selfish needs." THat was such a depressing way to look at it. "Yours?"

[traitors_smile]

Ah, so that was it. He'd thought it odd that no one had said much to him after the incident with special counseling a couple nights back. It was probably that oppressive reiatsu that the boy had felt, if anything else. Though Gin wasn't about to bring that up either. If Cloud was going to forget and brush it off so easily, that was fine with him. "Saa... maybe so," he shrugged as well, though the gesture was slight.

The world Cloud described, however, could be almost anywhere. He wasn't certain how technologically advanced the human world was, but with all the new cell phones and other tiny gadgets they were coming up with, it had to be fairly advanced. "Sounds pretty similar. Can't say I keep up on technology much," it wasn't a lie necessarily, he just happened to follow a different type of technology. "Spend most a' my time cleanin' up other people's messes though, can get a lil' tedious, ne?"

[1mperturbable]

Well, at least their worlds were a little similar, Cloud thought. He was not certain how much detail he should explain, since a considerable amount of the technology that effected him had been because of advances in science and research. That was not normally something he wanted to talk about. Just having to explain why his eyes glowed was enough to set him back some.

"It does," he replied, drinking some more milk. "What kind of messes do you clean up?" He could only imagine what other people did for a living. He thought his own predicament was odd enough... from saving the world to delivering parcels.

[traitors_smile]

"Like t'said, mostly th' stuff from those 'selfish humans,' they c'n make some pretty difficult messes," he explained. Since there was no real need to hide what he was from the boy though, he didn't mind telling a little more than that.

"Specifically, restless spirits n' the like. Don't know how much stock y'put in any kinda afterlife, but in m'world, that's about where my job puts me. Makin' sure those things don't cause too much trouble." He raised an eyebrow at Cloud, "'N what 'bout you?"

[1mperturbable]

Well, that certainly was an interesting job description. Cloud frowned at the corner of his lips as he processed the information. It seemed that he was sitting with someone who was supernatural on a completely different level than he was used to.

"So, your job is to manage the spirits of the afterlife then. That would make you... an angel or something?" He was not about to admit that he did not like where that information sat with him.

He doubted he could top that, so he just shrugged. "I was one of many injected with mako - the life of the planet - and created into a super soldier, of sorts. I spent most of my younger days hunting someone down to stop the from becoming a god... and killed him."

[traitors_smile]

How amusing. Perhaps this was another of life's ironies? Aizen would likely be interested in knowing just how a boy like Cloud had managed to kill a God, but then... that was Aizen's business, not his. It was Aizen's goal to sit in the heavens, his own goals might take him down a similar path, but the end was not the same. It was probably best not to mention it to the boy, however. Also probably not wise to mention that Shinigami were also called Gods (of death), though he doubted they were similar.

"Ara," he commented, "I guess y'could call it that if y'wanted. Though I ain' got any fancy wings or halos. 'Sides that, management is more f'the rookies. I dealt with th' ones that tried t'cause problems. Some jus' don't wanna go quietly I s'pose."

Kisuke or Kurotsuchi would likely be interested in the sort of human experimentation Cloud was talking about. It sounded similar enough to some of their strange creations, like the way Kisuke's pupil, Kurosaki, had become as powerful as a captain in a matter of days. "Sounds like somethin' of a messy business," he replied. "Bet that makes f'quite the long story 'round the campfire, ne?" He paused, "'N now that y'got that done, guess you got plenty a time to do whatever else y'want though, mm?"

[1mperturbable]

Maybe his choice of wording was off, but aside from the Ancients, Cloud knew very little of the flow of the planet and the souls that returned to it. He had never experienced anyone directing him where to go when he had fallen or how to get back. He supposed that the differences in worlds was neverending.

"You make it sound like you are a spirit enforcer," he murmured. A strong force to keep in line those that perhaps crossed from the afterlife to the mortal plane? That was an interesting, if not outrageous concept for him to think about. "You bring in the ones that break the rules?"

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah... long story, but not one that people usually tell over a campfire. I guess we all have long stories though, to be here." That seemed like a common theme. "Sort of... I do what I can to keep myself busy. What weapon do you use, Gin?"

[traitors_smile]

That was an interesting way of putting it. Spirit enforcer? Of course, he'd been one of the ones to break the rules himself recently, though there was no need to involve Cloud in any of that. "That sounds 'bout right. Where I come from, if a spirit stays 'round mortals too long, it starts t'go bad. Not 'cause it wants to or nothin', that's jus' what happens. It ain' supposed t'be there. It's s'posed t'move on. If it sticks 'round too long, it changes into somethin' else. It feeds off other spirits that're lingerin' an' then even goes on t'hurt the livin'. Mostly kept that kinda thing from happenin' too often."

He shrugged as though that were no great feat. Really, most of the time, for him it wasn't. Anything less powerful than a Menos just wasn't worth his time.

"Fair 'nough. Ain' really got th' time for 'em anyway, ne? I'd say this place keeps us plenty busy with other things. Pasts don't really matter long as you c'n take care a yourself n' all that. If y'ask me, ain't too smart a this Landel guy to gather up a buncha strong people n' rattle 'em up n' not expect 'em to retaliate." He chuckled almost soundlessly to himself.

"'Round here, all I got's a couple of knives. Used t'have a sword, called a wakizashi. Lil' shorter n' a katana. You much f'swords Cloud?" The conversation seemed easy enough, despite the material. Cloud was fairly straightforward and he didn't mind making a few new allies.

[1mperturbable]

That seemed logical. He was interested how different other worlds were. There seemed to be more out there than he had first imagined. He frowned as he thought how Sephiroth wanted to find the other planets and lay waste to them. He would not let that happen. Ever.

He considered the Landel's Institute for a little while. "He must feel that gathering them up is for his benefit. He also has to feel some security that he can control the situation no matter how strong and united we are there," he murmured. Tactically, it was sound as long as the Head Doctor had control. "...he is probably doing behavioural experiments on us."

Knives were better than some of what he had seen around this place. "Wakizashi... sounds like something from Wutai." The corner of his lips quirked up a little. "I know some about swords. I know what those kind of swords are, if that is what you mean. A knife pales in comparison to the added length of a katana though. You must be confident in your skill if you can get in that close to an enemy... that or you throw them?"

[traitors_smile]

They must look quite a sight, Gin mused; Cloud with his face set in a dour expression, frowning or keeping his mouth a thin, straight line, and Gin, with the smile that just never seemed to vanish. He kept it friendly though, for now.

"Saa," Gin agreed without saying much in return. He wasn't sure he agreed that it was all as simple as a behavioral study, but then, Gin rarely put all his eggs in one basket, so to speak. "I wonder."

The name of the place was familiar. Hadn't that man with the long silver hair mentioned it when Gin had first arrived? "That's what I hear," Gin shrugged. It was completely possible that wherever Cloud and that other man had been from, it was almost identical to Earth. "If y'fast enough, short swords c'n be better. Don't take quite as much time t'swing 'em. Dunno if I'd say that it's all confidence, it's jus' what works for me." That and his sword wasn't made of something so simple as metal. It was a blade forged by the soul, a part of him. Length wasn't something he was concerned with, since Shinsou could change lengths at his command. The wakizashi length was just what he preferred most of the time.

"What about you? If y'don't like the short swords, I'd guess somethin' with a little more bulk to it?"

[1mperturbable]

Cloud found it sort of strange that he felt like he was doing most of the talking. He normally was not too talkative, but he needed to gather information from other people to better get his bearings. It still did not seem like he had as much from Gin as Gin was getting from him. Perhaps it was just that he was being vaguely social for once in a couple of years.

He had never really like short swords. He could use them and use them accurately, but they felt a little awkward in his hands. "Not as much time, but you hardly get the same strange behind the swing either. It also leaves greater openings for attack. At least with a longer blade, there is still some left over to block with."

He looked at Gin and said simply, "my normal sword weighs about 150 pounds and is as tall as I am."