☈ strike #07 (action)

[thestormishere]

[ So. Even though there seems to be an 'experiment' in full swing this week, several days later Lightning still has yet to be affected for some reason. Not that she's complaining, of course, considering she has several new problems on her hands anyway-- namely, the recent appearance of both Hope and Sazh to Luceti. Talk about complicated. Needless

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[gardenerofgaia]

[Hello, shriek. No knife in the kidney, thankfully. There is one embedded deep into the tree trunk just to Aerith's right, though, so she's rather wide-eyed for the moment, her hand over her mouth.

Not looking herself either, though a lot like herself if she were fifteen years older and leaner.]

Careful!

[strikingusdown]

[ That shriek immediately catches Lightning's attention, so that she barely has time to register exactly what went wrong before she's staring at a woman she's never seen before but who seems-- awfully familiar. Her eyes go from the knife and back, a bit alarmed despite herself. Killing a random passerby? Definitely not in the game plan today. ]

-- Are you alright?

[gardenerofgaia]

[Not someone meaning to attack, then, and Aerith relaxes with a sigh, brushing one bang aside.]

It could have been a nasty scratch, but I'm all right. [...hello, you have pink hair. Aerith's got a rather inquisitive look on her face as she notices similarities. New Feather with a relation, or...?] Light?

[strikingusdown]

[ Hey, the fact that the knife managed to stick in a tree at all is pretty impressive- Serah's no weakling, but she's not her crazy soldier-sister, either. Lightning sighs quietly, relieved, but then intends to just ignore the woman, go get the knives, and then disappear to her apartment or something. However... then the woman says her name - her nickname - and for a moment, she's forced to just freeze standing there and stare. ]

... Aerith.

[gardenerofgaia]

Mm. [She knows what Lightning's going for, of course, and reaches to yank the knife back out. The strain of it makes her frown--she's not a weakling until compared to other fighters, but her mother's arms... then again, it's not like a laboratory provides much opportunity for exercise.

After a few more yanks, she gets the blade out and holds it out carefully to Lightning.] This is my mother, Ifalna.

[strikingusdown]

[ Lightning just watches, her own faint frown slowly appearing on her face at the struggle- it shouldn't have been that hard, she thinks, but chooses not to say anything about it in the end. She just nods as the knife is handed back to her, clearly thoughtful. Given the resemblance, Aerith saying it's her mother makes sense... and fits with what Lightning figures is the pattern behind the transformations this time. ]

This is Serah... my sister. [ For her part, quiet voice ahoy, here. She's not surprised at who she changed into, but it's not like that makes it any less bittersweet. ]

[gardenerofgaia]

I can see the resemblance. [She's not really sure she wants to press with Lightning, considering her own pattern of "loves"--the airship she never got to ride, the mother dead for over fifteen years...]

These experiments sure have the worst timing. Maybe you should wait until it's over.

[strikingusdown]

Hm. [ Lightning just runs fingers through the lengthened hair, wondering if she should even attempt to tie it up like Serah would-- or do anything about her clothing, for that matter, which is a touch too big for her sister's frame. In her opinion she most likely appears odd now- Lightning might like looking nice, but Serah's more... actually stylish. ]

Tch... you don't have to tell me that. [ Lightning doesn't think weapons really belong in Serah's hands anyway. Frowning faintly, she just starts looking for the second knife, if it's at all possible it's not just lost completely until spring time or whatever. ]

[gardenerofgaia]

[Aerith leans over to check out the change of hair, giving a soft hum in consideration. She has ideas about what could be done with it, but--]

What, you don't think so? ...Say, is pink a common hair color in Cocoon? It's just I never saw it back home unless it was dyed. [She looks on at Lightning's search. Not yet catching on there were two knives, she kind of got distracted by the one that nearly hit her.]

[strikingusdown]

[ -- Nooo, not girly things...! ]

Huh? [ Lightning pauses to level an odd look at Aerith-- briefly, since it's kind of strange to be talking to her in what is apparently her mother's body. For a moment she has to think about the question, pursing her lips as she continues glancing around. ]

... Not really. It's much more common in women than in men, but... I think that's mostly because women's hair tends to lighten by the time they're teenagers.

[gardenerofgaia]

[She's already been such weird things and seen others that way that she's trying to just overlook the changes, but the look from Lightning is a good reminder of how different they both are right now. She looks down at her hands--starting to show the signs of age--and curls the fingers before looking back up and tucking them behind her back.]

Really? I always thought I was imagining that. But I guess guys wouldn't like pink, anyway. Oh well! Their loss.

[She shivers, readjusting the shawl around her shoulders. Her clothes are definitely for an older woman and not from her wardrobe--she'd found dressing as herself in Ifalna's body way too weird.] It feels colder today. Are you heading in soon?

[strikingusdown]

Mm... [ Hair color is hair color, and as far as Lightning is concerned if someone doesn't like what they got, then it's easy enough to alter anyway. Not that she ever would, personally... what she doesn't mention is how she and Serah both inherited the color from their mother. Despite a lot of things she has been willing to try changing over the years, that's not one of them. ]

I didn't notice. [ She looks up into the sky, studying the strangely formless stretch of grey over them through the branches of the nearest tree. This place is so weird to her, sometimes. ] I can, though.

[gardenerofgaia]

Hmm, old bones get more aches? Maybe that's it. Anyway, I feel like taking a break from the outdoors. Come on. [She tips her head in the apartment building's direction before walking.]

[strikingusdown]

Alright. [ Lightning doesn't really like to think about aging much, for... various reasons, all of which aren't very pleasant. Therefore, she just quickly picks her things up and follows after the suddenly older-looking woman, though soon she has only one thing on her mind. ]

... Have you met Hope yet?

[gardenerofgaia]

No. Who is that?

[strikingusdown]

He's a friend of mine... from home.

[ Most people wouldn't be able to notice - and being in Serah's body probably complicates it even more - but there's a definite note of something painful in that admission. ]