| melting already [ {full}

[learneditall]

Who: River Tam & Darc/Tifa/Terra
When: After Izaya's arrival post.
Where: Planet's Core.
What: Fighting, being rescued, spouting bits of ridiculous crypticness at people's faces in person... whatever's good.
Type: Log
Notes/Warnings: This will end in tears or violence. But no real warnings for now.

Comments

*had to pop into her life sometime~*

[lightning_fists]

After what seemed like hours -- days -- of pressing random spaces on the surface of the crystal, Tifa was starting to believe she was getting the hang it. At least where travel was concerned. It was all a matter of remembering the sequences and which one belonged to which world. And which gateways were available. There was no telling how many there were, but thus far, there had been no serious problems to be concerned about.

That is, until she arrived here.

For the briefest of moments, it was like she was back home. Back where she belonged, so to speak. Because the Northern Crater was certainly further than she intended to end up and it would be a long walk back to Edge. But then realization and revelation settled in. It was the same but different; familiar yet completely new, which all culminated into one massive indication that this was not the world that she knew. Far from it. "Nope, not here either..."

*m-makes grabby hands*

[learneditall]

Thunk thunk thunk--

The world (or at least, this portion of it, at any rate) was feeling significantly less big and terrifying now. There was sneaking to be done around the monotone creatures (the idea had planted itself in her head long before now and refused to let go stubbornly), but she'd seen little evidence of them in this sector. And really, River mused, if things that looked like fairy tale monsters were going to keep proving themselves to be nothing more than mild opposition to her free movement, what was the point of keeping herself hidden until things became not safe again?

Th-thunk thunk--The tip of the axe-sword dragged on the ground behind her, a dull metal noise as she slid along in her line again. Her actual footsteps were silent even in their carelessness, weight resting on the balls of her feet rather than her heels as she wandered forward. The sliver of a girl was gliding, and the khopesh was clanking along behind her like a deadly version of a child's toy. Her attention was skyward, a co-captain stranded on the

*gr-grabby hands back... a little*

[lightning_fists]

Had it not been for the metal scraping along the ground, Tifa was almost certain that she would not have been able to hear the girl's approach. The Plant's Core, at least the one she was fairly familiar with, had been a step short of being a complete void. No sound, extremely little light save for one massive source, as well a singular and limited area to stand on. And the rest was open space filled with nothingness. Anyone would have been able to get the better of her, the young woman suspected. Which only caused her to be more alert of what was going on around them

*promises to be gentle* 8D ♥

[learneditall]

For a moment, the girl simply stared. At any rate, she seemed to be simply staring. Her eyes might not have been wholly in focus, but her energy and attention were clearly zeroed in on the stranger before her. River was still, completely inside of herself, listening to echoes and skimming through the bright flashes of information which illuminated her mind the way whatever it was kept illuminating the sky.

The words that bubbled in her throat were not happy words. Sickness, loneliness, fear, strife, angels, sin, longing, fractures--

It's like a flash and suddenly River knows that there is something to this woman, that she will understand. It isn't the tremor that runs through her when They (and even just the momentary flicker of the thought spirals part of her mind into darkness and pairs and hands and blue hands and never look at the sun and two and two--) get too close; the knowledge that the stranger has isn't threatening. It simply exists

*will hold you to that* ♥

[lightning_fists]

She was heading into this as she would most any other fight, with a leveled head and a clear understanding that not everything was what it appeared. Vincent had been an appropriate example of that, as was Nanaki. Though the girl seemed harmless, Tifa had faced against enough opponents to know that appearances never told the whole story. And she had too much to live for to throw it all way over a stupid mistake like that, such were the thoughts and images flipping through the barmaid's mind

♥~

[learneditall]

No. No, no, no, no, no.

River unconsciously bit down on the upper edge of her lower lip. She didn't know how to say it. She never knew how to say the things that her mind murmured to her quietly, the things she picked up without details, the things she learned from the slight tear in the seam at the bottom of a person's pantleg that told her the entire story of their last few years. The sigh that escaped her was unintentionally childish, a slight look of frenzy glimmering in her wide tired eyes as she took a slight swaying step forward.

"He isn't mine," she almost begged, willing herself to be understood but feeling the hot wave of emotions she couldn't stop crashing through her system, short-circuiting the part of her brain that still spoke like a girl rather than a riddle. "He's just like me. His eyes are in the sky and he... he can't go with just one wing. There's too many pieces left, not enough feathers, not whole, not anymore

*kissyfaces* ♥~

[lightning_fists]

They were incoherent at first, nothing more than a string of nonsensical phrases. Separate, they were pointless and held no meaning. Together, though, they were as familiar as her own reflection in the mirror. Together, the barmaid realized, they described Cloud down to the last corner of his personality. And that was unnerving enough. But was the girl talking of him, or someone that she knew? No names were ever mentioned, only the mysterious 'he' that seemed to be broken and lost.

And when she took that step forward, Tifa could only instinctively take a wary step back in reaction.

Who was this girl?

But though every inch of the fighter in her was telling Tifa to be careful and cautious, the maternal half of the young woman's mind could not help but be concerned about the way the other's hand shook with unease. With how helpless she seemed in her own skin. "Are... are you ok? Who're you talking about?"

/faaaails way back into the log D: ♥

[learneditall]

The flicker was brief, but River caught at what seemed to be recognition on the other woman's face as she glanced back over. It steadied the shakiness of her breath, brought her pulse down a hair, stopped the overwhelming swell of information in her own mind so that she could think a thought that belonged to herself rather than the void

*pets and reminds herself that RM logs need tending to >>;*

[lightning_fists]

Everything about this situation was foreign to Tifa. Granted there were times in the past where members of AVALANCHE struggled with their own psyche - and again, a brief thought went to Cloud and the times when Sephiroth held control over her childhood friend's mind before drifting over to a moment where Vincent was having problems with the demons underneath his skin - but neither men had ever gave voice to the images that they saw. Her thoughts seemed so disjointed and incomplete, and there was no telling just what they referred to, whether the thoughts were from her own experiences, or straight from Tifa's memory

*bemoans the multigame... only not at all, really*

[learneditall]

River couldn't remember the last time someone had asked her that sort of question. Well, no, she could distinctly remember the last time her brother had asked her about it, had unleashed wave after wave of pain in her mind and wrenched her out of reality completely until the drugs had dulled her senses into a stupor again and his arms had held her pieces together long enough to become a girl again. Since being here, however, there were only questions. Why did she talk like that, couldn't she speak clearly, why did she insist on behaving like such a silly child? This woman's question was serious. Thoughtful.

She wanted to answer it badly.

Her body continued to waver slightly, caught off-guard by an imaginary wind rippling through the air around them. Everything felt tight--her chest, her eyes, her limbs, her mind--contracting in on itself as herself that was still herself struggled for control of her stupid lips. Lost, trapped, inhaling like it was something of a chore, the girl set her less-than-perfectly-focused eyes on the young

*shuffles in all embarrassed like; wanted to wait til the battle was done before continuing this*

[lightning_fists]

It was clear that there was some sort of struggling going on within the girl. Years of watching the emotions and confusion flit across Cloud's face had given Tifa the tools to see it within others, or so she liked to believe. But then again, there were so many people in her small circle of a family -- because indeed, family was what they were -- who were less than vocal, so the knowledge came in handy on many occasions. She didn't want to intrude, though. Because it was one thing to mentally analyze on a friend in their hidden thoughts. But it was another to read the intimate thoughts of a stranger.

Despite that, the young woman could not help but take another step closer towards the girl, thinking that she would and could collapse at any moment given the physical cues of her condition. Or hold out a hand to her through pure instinct alone, letting it hover over the other's shoulder just in case. She was more than welcome to accept or decline the offer if she wished. Tifa only wanted her to know that it was an option. "Where does it

fair call, m'love!

[learneditall]

Hesitation flickered openly over the girl's face. Most often, when people asked that, it was because they intended to do something about it. Stick her with needles, force pills down her throat, strap her down into a useless pile of limbs until she stopped screaming. So it was now River's turn to take a wary half-step back, eyes slightly wide and briefly concerned.

She didn't make it far, of course, because the estimation was correct--too much movement led to falling over. Admittedly, River fell with grace. It was more of a folding when her knees decided for themselves that they were simply done supporting her weight for the moment, and her torso was inclined to move accordingly to the ground.

The getting there looked like slightly boneless sitting down. The sitting itself looked like an exhausted flop.

"Inside."

now if I can only manage to make more than one in a week, that'd be awesome

[lightning_fists]

That had been enough of a signal for Tifa as she quickly backed off enough so as not to startle the young girl into a state of panic. And made a mental note not to attempt touching her again until she was more calm. Until then, the barmaid would just have to settle for being within arm's length as she knelt down beside the other, too slow to catch her when she had started falling and too quick to truly know whether it had been on purpose or accident. Given the way she had fallen, it was hard to tell. And Tifa had been concentrating more on giving the younger girl her space than anything else.

Her brows furrowed slightly at the single word that passed from the other's lips though, knowing what it meant, but not really understanding where the problem was. "Inside, where?"