Ghost Town [major event]

[interstellar]

Who: Everyone.
Where: City streets.
When: Monday, 15th January, 10am.
Notes: The kick-starting of the new plot for the new year, since everyone wanted plot-heavy. To clarify the event; everyone in the city has disappeared; that is, everyone except for the taken characters. So everyone wakes up in the morning (regardless of when they went to sleep

Comments

[strifeholic]

"What the hell...?"

It wasn't a public holiday, if that was the case, then people would still be out of their homing mucking about. And some of the shops along the strip of stores looks like they'd opened quite happily that morning, only to be abandoned. Cloud stepped cautiously along the street, slowly, his breath caught in his throat as though he expected something to jump out at him from the solitude of the almost always busy New Sanctum streets.

What is this...?

[upbeatprincess]

Rikku had, for the past fifteen minutes, felt a mixture of emotions. She'd vaguely noticed that her house had been empty - and was rather overjoyed at the fact the school was shut - but now she felt like something was wrong. It just wasn't normal, and all morning, she had seen no-one at all. Admist worry, she had backtracked to near where she had started, and eventually had spotted someone walking along the street.

"HEEEEY!" she called, making her prescence known to the moving figure. "WAITTTT!"

[strifeholic]

Cloud's hand immediately flew back to his sword, ready to pull it from its holster a this back, but paused when he saw the distressed girl calling to her. She was the first person he'd seen today.... He hadn't even seen Zax that morning, which was a constant ache and fear in his chest.

He shifted his step and hurried back towards her. In emergancies, it was a SOLDIERs job to help out anyone who needed it if they had no prior orders, and he doubted there was anyone at Shin-Ra right now to even give orders. Aside from that, he wasn't about to ignore someone that obviously needed asisstance.

"I see you!" he called, "are you alright?"

[upbeatprincess]

Relieved she had finally found someone and that he had stopped, Rikku waved back to him, running forward. "I'm okay now! Thank goodness you stopped.." she said shortly. "I haven't seen anyone all day. Do you know what's happening?" she started, her comments readying themselves to ramble on about nothing. After a few seconds however, she blinked up at him, trying to put two and two together. "Hey, haven't I spoken to you before?"

[strifeholic]

He blinked a little at her quickly fired questions, quite unused to being talked at so fast. At her first, he merely shook his head, gazing along her briefly to check if she was hurt, then raised his eyes again when she mentioned them knowing each other.

"....you're Rikku," he acknowledged after a few moments, hesitantly. "I'm... Cloud. We met briefly on your journal." He paused then, and suddenly fierce with worry, asked "Have you seen Yuna at all?!"

[upbeatprincess]

"Ah yes!" she said, beaming happily that her guess was correct - as if she had, again, forgotten she'd asked a question about what was going on. "Cloud-chu!" she held out her hand for him to shake, but was soon distracted at his next question. "....no..." she said slowly. Not that she really saw Yuna anyway. "... but there's a complete lack of people here anyway."

(ooc: ignore the lame nickname. XD; I'll come up with something better XD)

[strifeholic]

Cloud... chu...? Cloud frowned slightly in dislike or simple 'what the' at the nickname she'd christened him with, slowly taking her hand as the frown deepened with worry. If Yuna had disappeared too.... and he couldn't find Zax either... Dante and Vergil were probably fine, they always were...

"... should try looking for anyone left," he murmured, more to himself than to Rikku. He slowly turned away from her, taking a few steps onto the road and absently gazing around, calculating where would be best to go next... he didn't really mean to abruptly be ignoring the poor girl with him, but discussion with strangers wasn't something he was used to or good at, any kind of discussion actually.

(ooc: I won't worry about it, but I think he will *giggles*)

[upbeatprincess]

Still smiling, Rikku was oblivious to Cloud's reaction to his given nickname. Still, when he turned away from her, her face began to slightly crease into slight worry. "... that might be a good idea," she said back to him, scampering forward in front of him, looking, up, then down, then up again, then shaking her head. "I don't think anyone's around here, though.. we'd have to look someplace else."

[strifeholic]

Cloud blinked, as the strangest sensation of a larg crab scuttling around him dragged him out of his temporary daze, and he realised that the crab in fact was Rikku. What a strange girl...

"... Yes," he acknowledged what she'd said, distant still, "We should. Have... you tried the school yet?"

[upbeatprincess]

"I was at home, then I went to school. It was locked up," she said, nodding and folding her arms, looking slightly pleased about the fact there was no school. "...but nobody was there," her face fell. It was remarkable how fast her moods changed. "Maybe we should check places where lots of people gather..?" she suggested.

[strifeholic]

Unfortunately for Rikku, as soon as Cloud heard the words 'locked up', he dazed off into his own thoughts again, his eyes slowly lowering to the tarmac road as he ran over possibilities in his head, occasionally mumbling some under his breath incase they made more or less sense said aloud. It really wasn't the girl's fault his attention kept falling away from her. It was just how Cloud was. Too wound up in his own head.

"Evacuation, maybe...?" he murmured to himself, barely audible. "But where would they go.. and why did some of us miss it...? Aliens...? No... ridiculous... couldn't get through the dome..."

[upbeatprincess]

Rikku was unphased as Cloud 'ignored' her. On the contrary, she barely noticed. She watched him silnetly as he mumbled to himself, coming to the conclusion he was consulting his theories to himself. Well, personally, she couldn't come to any theories what-so-ever - there was none to be made. The place was just empty. And that was that.

"Do you think it's a joke?" she said suddenly, catching any listener off guard.

[strifeholic]

"No," Cloud's common sense replied for him, just as abrupt. It was enough for him to look to her again at least, mulling over this himself a moment or two. "... a joke of this magnitude would be very expensive. And I don't know anyone who would want to pull something like this on you and me."

He almost wished it was a joke. Because if it wasn't, that meant that thousands of people had up and disappeared, possibly to a very hostile place, possibly to death, and if Zax and Yuna were among them...

"...Zax..." he whispered, fear rising in his chest. He quickly turned his face away.

[upbeatprincess]

In her head, she agreed to his response. Nobody would agree to something like this - and their friends and families certainly wouldn't. But if it wasn't.. where were they? What had happened while she and Cloud had been asleep the night before? Why did her Pop and Brother just up and leave without a note?

Lost for once in her thoughts, she vaguely noticed Cloud turned away. She blinked, placing one finger on her chin. "Cloud?" she asked, walking towards him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

[strifeholic]

Not expecting the touch, Cloud shrank away from it uncomfortably and turned back to the girl. "I'm fine," he excused hesitantly, though no question had actually been posed as to whether he was or not. "I just don't know what to do..."

He wanted to go look for Zax and Yuna. Make sure they were okay, and, here in the first place. But not only washe know obligated to help Rikku, he didn't really want to leave her alone either.

[upbeatprincess]

Taking her hand away, Rikku looked up at him with worry in her eyes. Quickly deciding the best course of action, she rubbed her hands together, pointing down the street.

"Well, we won't get anything done by just sitting her all day! Lets go and look around!" she said, trying her best to encourage him. For her, it looked like he was a lot more concerned and worried than she was.