{004: Respite
Who: Jill (zerosuitjill) and you~
When: Present
Where: God of War's Lair, Tiffauges Castle (Neutral Territory)
What: Otherwise restless, Jill checks out one of the newer territories.
Type: Starting as a log, but either's fine.
Notes/Warnings: None.
( The time bomb is ticking )
When: Present
Where: God of War's Lair, Tiffauges Castle (Neutral Territory)
What: Otherwise restless, Jill checks out one of the newer territories.
Type: Starting as a log, but either's fine.
Notes/Warnings: None.
( The time bomb is ticking )
That was all the answer she needed.
With two targets moving in separate paths, it was easy for Tifa to slide into position. Easy to stand still and disappear into the background when the mannequin had someone else to focus on, someone who kept moving and drawing its attention as the greater potential of causing damage and the fact that Tifa was wearing rather dark clothing was a big help too. It was all about timing, after all, and the element of surprise. Otherwise the both of them would be in trouble.
Peering out from behind the pillar, she spotted the white gleam the mannequin's crystal form in what seemed like an impossible stance on the side of the column. It was as if gravity had no effect, and for a brief moment, the young barmaid wondered just who held this same sort of power in real life. But all that was quickly and instantly pushed aside when her moment came finally came. Quick as she could, stepped out from behind the obelisk and smashed a lightning-charged fist into the pillar, watching attentively as the stone crumbled and cracked all the way up. Then the mannequin was falling, just as planned. And Tifa was ready for it.
Palm stretched outward, she waited for the very second when it touched down. And it was in that instance that she called on her Time Materia, making an illuminated clock face appear under it's feet. And as the hands of the watch-face turned, the mannequin's movements became slower and slower. Refusing to take her eyes off of the spot, she called out to Jill. "Now!"
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And then the command came and less than a second later she fired once. The bullet struck without a hitch, hitting the doll square between the eyes and knocking its head back on its shoulders in the instant before it suddenly disappeared. Jill was used to the flash and eerily human cry that always followed, the sound fading with an echo that didn't seem to come from the structure of the castle around them, but it still disturbed her every time on some inner level. These weren't zombies, even if they weren't human--not even like Ganados or Majini--but they were still too close to being real. Coming across faces she recognized didn't help.
Letting out a heavy breath, she nodded her gratitude, but her gun remained up and close to her chest; with all that noise, there was no telling who else could be on their way. "Thanks for the assist."
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That part, Tifa decided, would never get easier to bear.
Hands held at her side, fisted and prepared to attack if need be, she let out the breath she had been holding before facing the other with a faint curve of her lips at the irony. They had fought long and hard against each other in their first meeting. And only a few days after speaking with and making a promise to Chris, they were battling alongside each other in their second. Life was certainly full of surprises, Tifa thought with a laugh. "I could say the same to you."
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This was probably one of those odd times, coming out of a neck-risking fight while working alongside someone who'd been her opponent only a brief time before.
"Looks like we make a pretty good team," she commented, finally lowering her weapon some when the silence went undisturbed. "I don't think I ever caught your name, though, partner."
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Well, no time like now to fix that, the younger thought with a small quirk of her lips.
"Tifa. Tifa Lockhart." And after another moment more, she held out her gloved hand to her. She had trusted her life to Jill in helping to destroy the Mannequin. Tifa could trust that a simple handshake would go without trouble. "And it looks like we do. Not bad for our second meeting, huh?"
Where, she couldn't help but wonder for a brief instance, would their third bring them?
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Indeed, the cut across her cheek had mostly faded by that time. But it still didn't take away from the memory of feeling the bullets whizzing around her while she tried to dart around and dodge them. All for the protection of the Crystal. Always in protection of the Crystal.
Smiling a bit wider, she gently pulled her hand away after the handshake. "Chris will be glad to hear that we fought together this time."
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Whether intended or not, Tifa shifted her glance to the other woman, seeming to hold an untold question. Or perhaps even a quiet statement of where the two of them stood in all this. After all, with all the years she had spent living with someone like Cloud, the young barmaid had grown exceedingly good at having wordless conversations.
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Simply put, she was used to unnatural acquaintances, both willing and no. Gaining one from the opposite side of a war no one wanted to be in? Primary circumstances aside, it wasn't the strangest prospect Jill had faced. "I guess there's a pattern to those Cosmos chooses, after all," she half-joked, keeping the warmth in her voice. "Either way... thanks." She didn't specify just what the gratitude was for, but maybe she didn't have to, going by Tifa's look.
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"Yeah, I guess so." - A quick shift to meet the other's gaze. - "And you're welcome."
And at the thought of Chris, there was no helping to think about what the two of them had talked about. That he would confess such a thing to her after only having met minutes before was something Tifa could never have done. Or would've expected of anyone. Still, in applying what she knew of Jill and what she had been able to witness of her now, the barmaid couldn't help but see why he felt that way. "He's a good friend to have. You're lucky."
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"You're equally lucky to have him as a teammate; he's a real fighter. Hardest man to kill that I've ever known." More or less. Wesker was dead, after all. Technically. Her smile softened. "And he'll never leave someone behind. I can promise you that much."
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"Sounds like someone I know," she commented with a glance, "Maybe we're more alike than I thought."
At the light scrabble against her foot, the young woman bent down to pick up one of the gil that had dropped from the Mannequin's demise with a bit of disinterest. (MAKING USE OF LATER GAME INFO FTW!) She had yet to see a place where they would be of use, but there must've been a reason for them. "To the victor go the spoils, right?" And with little more than a flick of her thumb, the coin came flipping towards the other in a graceful arch.
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Normally, she would have rejected that notion and insisted that they'd both taken the Mannequin down, but Jill had seen that disinterest in Tifa's expression, and it seemed a moot point to reject the offer. "Heh. It was an equal effort. But I'm not sure whether to hope or dread that these things have a use in the future." Because in the Arklay Mansion alone... nothing was ever there for the hell of it. Every damn thing had a use and to get through the place, you had to find each and every said use.
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"I know what you mean," Tifa commented, moving to pick up her own gil, "It's almost as if they're trying to build a life for us here. What kind of life, I can't be sure, but... well..."
She had not been born with much, and throughout her early years, she had been nothing more than a guild in a little mountain town. Money was never an issue because it didn't play a prominent part in her life. Even afterwards with her bar and joint business with Cloud, it was only a means to live a comfortable life. But it wasn't everything. And given that there was no direct use for them now, the thought of collecting money seemed rather pointless. But it probably wouldn't stay pointless for long (HEY, THEY SAID THAT THE MANNEQUINS HAD ALWAYS DROPPED GILS AFTER A DEFEAT, I'M JUST TRYING TO KEEP THE GAME LEGIT ♥). So it was with that thought in mind that Tifa dropped the coin into her pocket. "We'll find out soon enough if they'll serve a purpose, right?"
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