(no subject)
Shuyin had decided to go to the inn by himself. His blue eyes stared up at the sign, reading it a few times. Same name, same inn, and he'd almost be inclined to say, same sign, but he knew better. From his observations, not much had changed in a thousand years. And, while he wasn't sure what that said about the world, itself, but he had to admit, that he was greatful for the familiarity.
And, again, he found himself drawn into the inn. Listening to the Fayth was still new for him, and it was an instinct that Shuyin didn't exactly want to trust just yet. Through his mind, he replayed a series of things that he could possibly say to his Aeon. None of them were exactly what he wanted to say.
To be perfectly honest, the notion of having an Aeon, made Shuyin a bit uneasy. A 'connection' to anything, or anyone, bothered him, and he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the fact that this Aeon of his, somehow came from him. That was the real reason why he still couldn't bring himself to use Tidus' name. It wasn't that Shuyin necessarily wanted to control his Aeon, not anymore. In fact, now that they were severed, he'd almost prefer it to stay that way.
It was more the thought that this supposed summon was now living freely because of it. Shuyin had to admit, even through his arrogance, that was a feat. The sheer will that must have took was...impressive.
Similar to the will that it took to break out from the depths of the Farplane. Perhaps Shuyin could begin to see common threads now. Nevertheless, 'his Aeon' made Shuyin want to keep his distance, but he knew, all the same, that the Fayth were counting on him to do something.
Whatever that was.
Shuyin had lost himself in thought, and didn't notice the other man in the darkened hallway, until he ran into him. And, then, the first thing he noticed were glowing blue eyes. He didn't have much of a chance to take in other details in the moonlight before the man grabbed him around the neck. Mako vision had it's advantages, but they really weren't worth it. Cloud snarled as he tightened his hold on the scruff of Shuyin's neck and began to haul him towards the door once again.
The Fayth had bad timing, as this must have been his worst case scenario. He dug his heels into the floor and let out a gurgling noise in protest before finally asking a harried question. The sound of fear in his voice made him want to cringe.
"What are you doing with me?"
They stopped in front of a convenient window, and Cloud pulled Shuyin into a moonlit path before he responded. "Ever hear the expression: 'take you out back, and beat you with a shovel'?"
Shuyin, undoubtedly, hadn't, and if it wasn't for the man's hold on him, he would have scoffed at the backwoods sound of the phrase, or at least the man's accent. Instead, he nodded, surprisingly politely. A death grip would do that to a person. Whatever the case, the phrase was self explanatory, and Shuyin soon felt himself dragged down the hall, and out the door once more. There was just no escaping this man's grasp. It felt as if moving the wrong way would snap some important vertebrae, or a nerve at the very least, and Shuyin wasn't in the mood to spend his second life as a quadrapeligic.
It wasn't until they had walked halfway up the Mi'hen road that Cloud loosened his grip on Shuyin. And, even then, it was with a warning that he best not run away. Cloud would be able to catch up with Shuyin rather quickly.
He wasn't especially worried, either, until he saw the spikey haired blond pull a sword from his back that had to be wider than the wielder, himself. It was also nearly as tall. This guy had to be some kind of freak of nature, in order to be able to wield that thing with the speed he was doing. Shuyin's eyes widened as the arching sword swung closer and closer to him, each time, the blade swung more quickly. Eventually, he fell on the ground, inching backwards on his hands, until he couldn't help but scream out something in his own defense.
"Just don't kill me, god damn it!"
Holy shit, he was a bitch. But, Shuyin was even more surprised when the sword stopped swinging abruptly, and Cloud was looking at him, with no readable expression on his face. What was with this guy? The Fayth had only assumed to look up and see Psycho In Full Swing, whatever that looked like. He could only guess that it would probably only enhance the glowing eyes, pale skin and hair that looked like it was styled by some kind of pyrefly-magnetic charge.
And, his Aeon was in love with this nutjob? Shuyin's blank gaze turned into a stare as he registered that this guy was laughing...chuckling...if it could even be called that. It was the most unenthusiastic laugh he had ever heard.
"I wasn't planning on killing you." For all of his pomp, this guy sure had a quiet voice. Even in the silence of the darkened Mi'hen road, Shuyin could barely make it out. He was glad that he had caught it, because, there was no way in hell he'd ask for a repeat.
Further surprised was he, when the glowing eyed freak pitched his sword, point first into the ground. It wobbled slightly as it came to its rest, and the man rested his hands on the hilt of the weapon, eyes still boaring into Shuyin, as if in contemplation. Or, maybe he just wanted Shuyin to speak, say something, anything. If that was the case, then, he picked the wrong person.
The staring contest continued until Shuyin saw it fit to stand up, slowly. Moving too quickly might frighten this one, and there was no way that Shuyin was going to end up at the wrong end of this rage...ever again. He brushed the errant blades of grass off of his brightly colored shorts before he managed a look in the other man's eye. That also seemed to be a...mistake, and he was relieved when Cloud didn't seem to lash out at the simple eye contact.
You never did know, nowadays. Or, ever.
Slowly, the man stepped from around the buried sword, and without any prior warning, Shuyin had a fist in his face. A good, strong right hook that sent him flying back down onto the ground. No, Cloud had no intention of killing Shuyin, but he was going to give him a slight ass whoopin'. It really only was fair, considering what he had done to a number of people. Though, this was more for what he had done to Tidus, than anything else.
Cloud was overprotective like that from time to time, and he had let the guy off easy. Only a few swift punches, and it was over, as Cloud was really never one to play bully. This was different, it was revenge, and he could only assume that by the way the guy shrank back and refused to throw punches in response, that he understood how he deserved this. He finally shoved the guy back onto the ground where he rolled over, sat up, and spit out a healthy mouthful of blood before looking up at Cloud, his expression bitter.
That was the look of a bruised ego, and Cloud knew it well. He knelt beside Shuyin, taking a moment to study the other blond's face before speaking. "Were you coming to see him?"
With a quick shudder, Shuyin nodded, not even waiting for the next question, which would have been 'why'. The man's voice had a calm, cool tone to it, it was apparent that he, like Shuyin, only spoke when it was a necessity to do so. "The Fayth want me to fix things."
"I see."
"And, I just want to get it done." Shuyin stood, once more, biting back a sneer at the man. "You don't have to trust me. But, I have to do it."
This didn't compute. "What's the point, then?" Cloud regarded the other blond, confused. Shuyin wasn't doing anything to win over points. Either he trusted this guy, or not. Cloud ignored Shuyin's obviously rising temper, as, according to Cloud, he had more of a right to give a damn than Shuyin did. Connection to Tidus, or not.
While, he knew somewhere that this was pretty damned selfish, he was also damned irritated at the fact that he had no idea what was going on. Unanswered questions usually left him pissier than usual, and that, in itself, was saying a lot.
Of course, he wasn't surprised at Shuyin's snarl, the tip of his head to the side in anger, or the fact that the man stood up, and brushed past Cloud. He had gotten his beating, everything was even. Shuyin would have even gone so far as to tell Cloud that it was none of his business, but he didn't want to see the piss fit that would surely ensue from such an accusation.
Turning to face the spikey haired blond once more, Shuyin shook his head and sneered. "Ask him." He said in a tone that, clearly, said that he'd rather not approach his Aeon for anything.
And, before Cloud could respond, the Fayth had seemingly disappeared into the darkness.