Dream B: Garden! - and timeskip wayyy backward to Princess MercurywaterfellJune 28 2011, 22:34:21 UTC
[It's a beautiful garden. She's drawn to like it immediately. Mercury is easily recognizable as the Ami who's met Abel before, but wearing a regal long gown (mistakable for robes at a distance) and with the sigil of her planet plain on her forehead. She lingers through the pleasant scent of the flowers and smiles softly.
She startles and almost flinches as soon as soon as she hears the shouting, but when she realizes the situation, she can't help a small, pleasant laugh.]
[ He's been busy learning so many new faces, of late, that he can't fault himself for feeling her a little familiar, at that -- but it barely concerns him, with such a friendly greeting on his approach. And an offer of assistance, as well? ]
Ah, really? You will? That's awfully kind of you, Your Eminence! [ The way she looked, it was easy to mistake her for one of the higher ups; anyone else in the courtyard at this time of day should have been dressed far less regally, naturally. ]
I think he might have wandered into the hedge maze, actually, but I'm sure he hasn't gone too far. We were playing fetch by the fountain before he took off, and he still has the ball!
He must be worried, to be separated from his guardian.
[She's still smiling; the friendliness seems to be genuine - and at any rate, she can help him while she decides what to do to find her way back. This is a far cry from the stern girl he knew before.]
We should look for the ball, too. He might still be near it. Shall we go together? We can split up inside the maze to look, if you think it would cover more ground more quickly.
Oh, well, I don't think he likes me very much, really. He's always jumping up on my clothes-- [ As if that wasn't readily obvious. ] --and barking at me, too. And when he isn't doing that, I suppose, he's just running away...
[ His luck with animals has never been that great. His people skills are slowly becoming an asset, but he'll never be very popular with the Cardinal's pets. After an only slightly awkward laugh, Abel turns to let her lead back to the maze's entrance, for politeness' sake. ]
But it isn't him I'm worried about, anyway. Caterina is my real charge, and she'll probably be upset if I can't find him.
Night dream~ and excuse me while I steal her from post-canon /shotdaha_az_tanricaJune 29 2011, 04:58:53 UTC
[She blinks and looks at him in pure confusion. It's strange to see Abel. Stranger still that he was in that old uniform. Of course she'd already seen strange things. This was clearly just another one of them. So after she accepts this fact she smiles and nods.]
[ Whatever impassive face he'd managed to summon up is utterly decimated by this -- and suddenly he doubts everything that's happened, tonight, can't believe that she might be real. He's never left the tomb, that's all.
[She raises her hand, somehow very calm despite the situation. Dreams weren't unfamiliar territory to her and the best thing she could do is calm him.]
I'm just a figment of your imagination. Don't worry about it.
[ Though it disheartens him considerably to admit it aloud. The thought of returning to the outside world has often terrified him, and dreams of this place are not uncommon, for that reason -- but he's never dreamt of finding her here, before.
And some small kernel of doubt remains, despite his reluctant acquiescence. ] I'm losing my mind. [ Finally. ]
dream A - hello - I'm here to make your next meeting with Cloud, either Cloud, entirely confusing :DfindmyownreasonJune 29 2011, 05:21:42 UTC
timeskip Cloud backward to sixteen and the night of Nibelheim's burning
[he was... dying.
Yeah.
He was pretty sure this was dying.
The gaping wound that started in his chest and went all the way through to his back was pumping blood pretty fast and it hurt like - it hurt worse than almost anything.
He'd done it though. He'd beat Sephiroth. Killed him.
Wasn't that supposed to mean something?
Except his chest felt hollow and he thought Sephiroth had stabbed out his heart when he'd run him through. He couldn't seem to feel much of anything. Nothing. And he felt guilty for not being able to hang on to the anger or the tears. Somebody tonight should be angry and cry.
He just... he just wanted...
Tifa
ZackHe needed to find them... be with them... and they could make him feel again one last time before he died. If he could be with them
( ... )
[ The scent of fresh blood all but assails him as he steps further in amidst the ancient trees, and Abel's tiny first brush with optimism is summarily quashed. He doesn't know what he'd expected, that any mere human could have escaped the descendants of Returners he'd... Disposed of, moments before. That his first attempt at redeeming more than a hundred years of hatred and wanton destruction would go so well.
At any rate, he can't simply walk away from this, now, as he would so easily have, before. Something is still moving in the brush, and even if there's nothing he can do (useless), that's compassion, isn't it?
He wants to be compassionate.
Sympathetic.
Human.
Even down in the muck and dirt, that shock of blond hair is hard to miss, and Abel weaves through the trees toward him, confusion unsettling his facade of calm.
You won't accomplish much, like that. --he thinks, but manages not to say, knowing that it sounds too harsh, too much like his old self. He needs to be like her, now, and he's not above blindly copying the
( ... )
[he's only moving forward incrementally but he's moving forward. Everything he is is focused on that. One inch, even a single inch, is getting him closer to where he wants to be. He's got no illusions. He knows he's dying. And he's okay with that
( ... )
[ His lips twist into a frown that is his first attempt at sympathy, to date, and he drops into a crouch by the struggling child. He's young, younger than Abel can ever remember being, and he's almost certainly going to die. ]
There's not much that I can do for your wounds. [ And that's being generous. Abel had always been better at deconstructing than patching up. He'd never listened to the lectures as she tended his injuries. ] But I will try.
[ Are there even any cities around here, anymore? Where can he run to, with a dying Terran? His mind races, but it's brief, all dead ends. The truth is, he already expects it's useless -- but he moves to lift the boy out of the dirt, anyway, because he can think of nothing else to do. He moves him only as gingerly as he can around such a severe injury as he's sustained, but his grip is steely, unyielding. ]
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She startles and almost flinches as soon as soon as she hears the shouting, but when she realizes the situation, she can't help a small, pleasant laugh.]
I'll help you find him, if you want.
[She calls out her offer loud enough to be heard.
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Ah, really? You will? That's awfully kind of you, Your Eminence! [ The way she looked, it was easy to mistake her for one of the higher ups; anyone else in the courtyard at this time of day should have been dressed far less regally, naturally. ]
I think he might have wandered into the hedge maze, actually, but I'm sure he hasn't gone too far. We were playing fetch by the fountain before he took off, and he still has the ball!
Reply
[She's still smiling; the friendliness seems to be genuine - and at any rate, she can help him while she decides what to do to find her way back. This is a far cry from the stern girl he knew before.]
We should look for the ball, too. He might still be near it. Shall we go together? We can split up inside the maze to look, if you think it would cover more ground more quickly.
Reply
[ His luck with animals has never been that great. His people skills are slowly becoming an asset, but he'll never be very popular with the Cardinal's pets. After an only slightly awkward laugh, Abel turns to let her lead back to the maze's entrance, for politeness' sake. ]
But it isn't him I'm worried about, anyway. Caterina is my real charge, and she'll probably be upset if I can't find him.
Reply
I know, Abel.
Reply
This is another dream. ]
Seth--
How are you...?
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I'm just a figment of your imagination. Don't worry about it.
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[ Though it disheartens him considerably to admit it aloud. The thought of returning to the outside world has often terrified him, and dreams of this place are not uncommon, for that reason -- but he's never dreamt of finding her here, before.
And some small kernel of doubt remains, despite his reluctant acquiescence. ] I'm losing my mind. [ Finally. ]
Reply
[he was... dying.
Yeah.
He was pretty sure this was dying.
The gaping wound that started in his chest and went all the way through to his back was pumping blood pretty fast and it hurt like - it hurt worse than almost anything.
He'd done it though. He'd beat Sephiroth. Killed him.
Wasn't that supposed to mean something?
Except his chest felt hollow and he thought Sephiroth had stabbed out his heart when he'd run him through. He couldn't seem to feel much of anything. Nothing. And he felt guilty for not being able to hang on to the anger or the tears. Somebody tonight should be angry and cry.
He just... he just wanted...
Tifa
ZackHe needed to find them... be with them... and they could make him feel again one last time before he died. If he could be with them ( ... )
Reply
At any rate, he can't simply walk away from this, now, as he would so easily have, before. Something is still moving in the brush, and even if there's nothing he can do (useless), that's compassion, isn't it?
He wants to be compassionate.
Sympathetic.
Human.
Even down in the muck and dirt, that shock of blond hair is hard to miss, and Abel weaves through the trees toward him, confusion unsettling his facade of calm.
You won't accomplish much, like that. --he thinks, but manages not to say, knowing that it sounds too harsh, too much like his old self. He needs to be like her, now, and he's not above blindly copying the ( ... )
Reply
Reply
There's not much that I can do for your wounds. [ And that's being generous. Abel had always been better at deconstructing than patching up. He'd never listened to the lectures as she tended his injuries. ] But I will try.
[ Are there even any cities around here, anymore? Where can he run to, with a dying Terran? His mind races, but it's brief, all dead ends. The truth is, he already expects it's useless -- but he moves to lift the boy out of the dirt, anyway, because he can think of nothing else to do. He moves him only as gingerly as he can around such a severe injury as he's sustained, but his grip is steely, unyielding. ]
Reply
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