And The Night? [complete]

[andredemption]

Character(s): Cloud Strife, Naminé Aune
Content: Cloud broods over ghosts and monsters, and meets someone new.
Setting: The Hajimaru (deck)
Time: Early Monday morning; about 7am.
Warnings: None in particular.

Comments

[artistemuette]

Naminé blinked at the expression on Cloud's face, swinging her legs a little before she easily lifted them up onto the railing, despite the risk of falling. She'd sat on a lot of ledges before, she was pretty good at it now. Pulling an eraser out, she started lightening things up around the moon and sails, thinking on the expression that he gave her that asked her a question. She wasn't quite sure how to answer it, and had to consider it.

Should she tell him right away why? He wasn't going to talk about her gender, obviously, so perhaps she could. She peeked up pale blue eyes towards him, not seeming disturbed by the green flash.

"This group of people, called the Organization XIII..." she started out, looking down at her drawing and doing more blending. "They took me in, but not with the greatest of intents. They used me a lot, and only took care of me when they saw fit. I ran away, and I don't ever want to go back." She smiled a little sadly while looking down, setting her pencil into her lap and examining the moon in the sails she'd done. "So I want to learn how to protect myself, instead of being so weak and depending on other people all the time."

[andredemption]

There was dirt underneath one of the layers of metal; Cloud used his sword cloth to get rid of it as he contemplated this. Alright, so he wasn't very good with people; young people, still less. He pulled one of his own legs up on the cannon as he placed the claw aside, looking at Naminé now with a degree more interest than he had moments before. He didn't completely comprehend what she was discussing, and yet...

Organisation XIII. Well, that didn't sound particularly pleasant, at all; if Cloud could understand anything, he could understand running away. He had been doing it for a rather long time, now; but she was not much more than a child.

Yet, he personally certainly couldn't burden himself with looking after her, not with his current lifestyle and priorities. But. Would it be so difficult to give her a few pointers? It wasn't as if he didn't know more than enough about killing people. He gave her a critical look, head to toe. What kind of weapon would she be able to wield? Dagger, probably. She was a little too light for most other blades, and guns were downright dangerous to learn with on a pirate ship. He didn't respond vocally yet, but he did remove the dagger from the holster in his boot, assessing it. It was light enough, sharp, and clean. He turned it over in his hands, flickering a look at the girl again before back to the weapon.

It wasn't like his sword. It had no real value to him. He tossed it down near to her feet, before sliding down off the cannon.

"When you've proved you've got something to keep that in, that you look after it and carry it with you, that you're serious about this, I'll teach you how to use it." He told her, voice fairly toneless, before turning to head for the gangplank down to the dock. He was going to have to go, now; he needed to buy a new dagger.

Small acts of kindness, one at a time; a winding path to redemption, he hoped.