[Action]

[nicekittyxiii]

[There is a fairly large, red, wolf-lion creature walking cautiously through the village, drinking in the sights and looking surprisingly expressive for an animal; said expression can be summed up in the word CONFUSED. He's carrying a journal labeled "Nanaki" in his mouth, and his tail appears to be on fire.

WHAT WILL YOU DO.]

Comments

[gardenerofgaia]

[...SHE KNOWS THAT WOLF-LION. |D]

Red! [Have Aerith half-walking, half-jogging over while waving. She looks perfectly healthy, and noticeably not-dead.]

[nicekittyxiii]

[...ffffff.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

SWEET HOLY IFRIT IS THAT AERITH, WHAT EVEN.]

[gardenerofgaia]

[She doesn't register Red's astonishment until she gets closer, but eventually she does realize, kneeling down near him to look at him more on face-level.] Don't worry, it's really me. [...She's probably just been in her garden and smells of fresh dirt and flowers.]

[nicekittyxiii]

[...Yeah, definitely smells like normal Aerith, not, you know, the dead, bloody scent she'd had at their last meeting. It was painfully nostalgic, but... wonderful, in a way. Because it was really her, wasn't it?]

It... it is you... how...?

[He'd seen it in the guide, sure, but reading it and seeing it were two very different things.]

[gardenerofgaia]

[Yeeeeah Aerith doesn't like "dead, bloody" scent. Not that she's smelled it yet (or, er, ever will, because lol DEAD), but just the description alone. Yech.]

People here come from different times...I haven't died yet.

[She softly pats him on the nose, both to reassure him and also because it's been MONTHS since she's seen him.]

[nicekittyxiii]

[f-fffff nose patting. It's so nice to actually feel her and talk to her, rather than just remember her, that he can't even find it in his heart to be disgruntled about it. He's tired of missing people who've died.]

...Yet? I don't understand... you know what happens?

[gardenerofgaia]

Cloud told me since I kept asking.

You just got here, right? [...she's relieved that it doesn't look like they tried to put him in the pants. Or, uh, sundress. Even though Red's disguised himself (er, as much as he can, anyway) to pass for human, she can't imagine he'd like being shoved into it.] Did anyone tell you about this place?

[nicekittyxiii]

A few people have explained it to me. Luceti, right? [Peering over your shoulder now. Hello, you have wings like everyone else. He'll never get used to this.] It's a very strange place.

[gardenerofgaia]

[Get used to it Red, you've got them too.]

Yes, Luceti. It's a little dangerous too, sometimes, but there's a lot of good people here.

[nicekittyxiii]

[He's pretending they don't exist okay. :|]

Everyone does seem very friendly here. [That doesn't mean he's entirely trusting, but that's Red for you. Surrounded by lots of two-legs and being stuck as a test subject again is grating on him.]

[gardenerofgaia]

Most people live cooperatively--there's enough things to worry about without us causing problems for each other. But there are a few people to be wary of. [She brushes her hair lightly with her hand, thinking of Jenova and Sephiroth and Kadaj and...vampires. Real vampires, not Vincent's "I am going to sleep in a coffin for three decades for I have SINNED".]

[nicekittyxiii]

[Ah, yes, the dangerous ones.]

...Yuffie told me that Sephiroth and Jenova are here, as well as two others. His clones, she said. Do you know of them?

[gardenerofgaia]

Kadaj and...I've never met the other one, actually. I think I'd be able to recognize him if I saw him--they all have features from Sephiroth--but I haven't met him yet. And there's a third one, but he isn't here.

[One hand rises to her chin, fingers touching it in slight worry.]

Kadaj has tried spreading Geostigma before. Have you heard of it?

[nicekittyxiii]

Geostigma... no, I haven't. What is it?

[gardenerofgaia]

It's a disease. Cloud explained it to me--it's caused by the body's defenses overreacting to Jenova cells.

It's not a serious threat anymore [she hastens to add, because ehehe just about anything with Jenova sounds pretty bad]; there's a woman here who knows how to treat it.

[nicekittyxiii]

A disease from Jenova? [CUE WORRY/FRET/CONCERN/ETC.] Does that mean I could get it as well...?