Fatal Convulsions

[nethi_cite]

Characters: Dr. Cidolfus Demen Bunansa & OPEN (To the Seven Battlers)
Progress: Ongoing
Summary: A clash between Science & Might unlike the world has ever seen, will this be the end of the road of the ingenious Dr. Cid?
Location: The Governor's Estate(Courtyard), Wutai
Date: January, 1804
Warnings: Fantasy violence, PG-13

Comments

Meanwhile...

[tinymakoaddict]

After her absolutely useless attack on one of the rooks, it had become apparent to Shelke that she was not going to be of much use during this battle. This was actually a bit strange, because back home she'd had little issue with magical defenses, and yet here they appeared to be quite powerful.

Still, the tiny girl did have things going for her...that was, she was still invisible, and the dear doctor was distracted fighting Cloud and the others. So Shelke did what she was trained to do.

She snuck off to infiltrate the building itself.

The it was surprisingly quite, all things considered, as she made her way through the hallways, searching for Nanaki. In fact, she didn't encounter anyone at all for several minutes, until she found two guards making their way through the mansion as though nothing at all were happening. So...she eavesdropped.

"-really get why he wanted us to dump the cat out in the woods," the first man said as they turned a corner. "And why's he out fighting now that he doesn't actually need to?"

Shelke didn't bother to wait for the other to respond, she simply hurled herself at the men, landing feet-first into the chest of the first man and driving him to the floor, not even blinking as his head smacked into the ground with a sickening thud. She slashed out with her sword before the other man could react, stabbing him through the knee and pressing her other blade up against his throat as he hit the ground, surprisingly careful not to cut him.

"Where is Nanaki?"

She hissed out the words, and the poor man looked a lot more terrified than he probably ever expected to look when a ten year old girl was threatening him.

"W-who?"

"Nanaki! Red thirteen! Where did you put him?"

"O-out that way..." The man pointed back towards the rear of the building. "About ten minutes walk."

She narrowed her eyes, but it was fairly obvious he wasn't lying, and so she smacked him hard across the temple with the but of her sword and then took off the way he had pointed, disappearing as she went.

[flameguardian]

Out in the woods, Nanaki was confused. Cid had let him go? And wanted him to give his regards to Tifa? And then had given him two Potions?

With an irritated growl, Nanaki decided that nothing humans did made sense.

Drinking the two Potions after the guards dumped him in the forest, the red creature was faced with a decision. Following them back would lead him to Wutai, certainly, but it could also mean being captured again. However, Wutai was where he would be looked for, and Wutai was the closest location, as far as he could tell. He didn't particularly want to return to human civilization after all that had happened, but he owed it to his friends to at least let them know he was okay -- and besides, he still had to return the Water Mirror.

Stepping out of the cage, shaking himself, Nanaki lifted his head to smell the air. Cid had mentioned something about guests, and while he didn't know of the rescue, something didn't feel right both within himself and in the air. There was an undercurrent of magic, but that could have just been leftover from Kefka, and then...

"Kupo!"

Oh. A moogle. Well, he'd get a new phone, at least.

[tinymakoaddict]

As Shelke moved through the woods, she was suddenly keenly aware of how much she missed her Deepground uniform. The clothing she was wearing was not restrictive, but it didn't exactly protect her from anything either, and she was rapidly developing a wide array of little scratches on her shins from the plants she was pushing her way through.

This was seeming less and less like a good idea, since she knew nothing about this forest...and she probably would have turned back if she hadn't heard that Kupo from nearby. A moogle?

She turned and made her way towards the noise, eventually stepping out into the clearing where Red was, her arrival marked by disturbances in the foliage..but not actually anything visible until she let herself fade slowly into view.

"Nanaki?"

[flameguardian]

Now in possession of a new phone, the moogle quickly moving on through the forest as Shelke appeared, Nanaki smiled. He hadn't been able to see her, of course, but he'd been able to hear her -- and to smell her. So that was what the smell had been.

"Shelke! I'm glad to see you... You look much better."

He hadn't been able to be there when she had been healed, and that hurt slightly. But at the same time... she was better, and she was here. But... had she come here alone?

Frowning, Nanaki took a step forward only to stop and shake his head. He felt strange, though the Potions had certainly helped, but he ignored it, thinking it was just because he had spent so long stuck in a cage and being subjected to tests.

"...How did you get here?"

[tinymakoaddict]

Shelke just nodded at his comment, her eyes studying him, looking for any obvious signs of injury.

"I'm fine now, except I cannot wear my suit," she explained in that cold, matter-of-fact way she had when she was channeling probably a bit too much of all those years in Deepground. "I arrived with Cloud and several SeeD members, they are fighting back at the mansion."

She finally sheathed her swords, moving over to stand next to him, and one small hand reached out to run through the fur on his back. "Are you okay?" This was asked with just a bit of more of the 'current' Shelke in her voice, really. Hey, she was worried!

[flameguardian]

"Fighting? Against the Rooks?" Tail twitching at the memory of his ambush, Nanaki looked back in the direction of the mansion. "We should get back to them, then, and see if we can help. Or if they left any for me. Scientists..."

Forcing himself to relax as Shelke ran a hand through his fur, far too used to needles and electric shocks when being touched thanks to his recent stretch in captivity, it took him a moment to answer.

"I will be, I think. He gave me two Potions before ordering my release. He... also told me to give his regards to Tifa." Growling slightly to himself, he shook his head. "I think I'll pass on that."

He didn't particularly want to talk about what had happened to him unless it became an issue later.

[tinymakoaddict]

Nanaki was probably lucky Shelke was the one who found him, as she was the least likely of their odd little group to actually ask about what had been done. She knew first hand how awful unwanted experimentation could be, so she didn't press the point. Although her hand did trace over a few of the marks obviously left over form what the creature had gone through.

"The rooks are protected by magic, I wasn't much help," Shelke admitted by way of changing the subject, pointing back the way she had come with the hand not touching her friend. "The building is only a short distance that way, a few minutes at most, but with Cloud and the others there I doubt we will return before they have won."

[flameguardian]

"Then we should go. Cloud will worry."

Lightly bumping his nose against Shelke's leg, Nanaki started walking again, going at a much slower pace than the situation really called for. It was as though he was taking a leisurely stroll through the woods, but he didn't want to move too quickly. He'd been locked in that cage for a while, and while the Potions had helped, he was still much weaker than he had been.

He wanted to see Cloud and the others, but the thought of seeing Dr. Cid again made him twitch slightly. Part of him wanted to forget this had ever happened, but the part of him that stalked through the forests for food and howled at the moon in grief wanted nothing more than to rip the man's throat out with his teeth.

He never had liked two-legged things very much.

[tinymakoaddict]

Shelke probably would've taken off at a run if Nanaki had not startled strolling back the way she had come. She easily fell into step next to him, letting one hand settle against his back, her tiny fingers still brushing through his fur.

"I believe I have a potion on me, would you want it?" She offered after a moment or two, blue eyes studying him carefully. Shelke did not have many people she considered her 'friends', but Nanaki was on that short list. So...she was concerned.

[flameguardian]

While usually only putting up with everyone's insistence when it came to petting him, Nanaki was more lenient when it came to matters of comfort (that of another or of himself). Shelke's fingers were the first touch he had had in days that was personal, not coldly scientific or bringing pain, and he let himself relax slightly with every stroke.

The offer of another potion was tempting, but Nanaki shook his head. "You should save it; we don't know if anyone was injured during the fight." There was always the chance that his rescuers had fallen, but he was fairly certain Shelke wouldn't be so relaxed if she thought there was a chance, and he trusted her judgment when it came to thinks like this. After all, she had spent ten years in Deepground.