RP #2 ~ FFVII: Shadows of the War

[Gwyn Masamune]

ooc: I should have someone to take over Barret soon... oh, and Cid and Shera's relationship is still in the early stages. You can make it go as fast or as slow as you want, just try to think of how Cid would do it. Remember, it took him years just to warm up to Shera. He'd probably be apprehensive about diving right into a fullblown relationship.

*Looking at Barret's gruff grin and Cid's relaxed air, Reeve broke into a grin that was really uncharacteristic for him. Usually he was in meetings all day and had to keep up a strict business air, but when he was around his Avalanche friends he felt more at ease.*

"Well, I just arrived from Junon. I had a meeting with Mayor Black. That man... I'll be glad when he's out of office. Anyway, I just arrived for my meeting with Mayor Shelton when I saw you two here. Funny how these things happen, isn't it? Are you here to drop off those new supplies for the hospital Cid?"

*Just then the reason that he had arrived in Corel popped into his head.*

"Oh, Barret, Mayor Black finally agreed to the trade agreement with Corel. He doesn't seem to think to highly of Corel, but the greedy b*****d's always willing to look for new ways to get cash. He really is the biggest obstacle in keeping peace. Lord Godo is a bit stern, but he doesn't seem to have any problems."

*Reeve let out an exasperated sigh. What was he thinking? As much as he enjoyed spending time with Cid and Barret, the simple matter was that he didn't really have alot in common with them other than wanting the well being of Corel. He had gotten used to these things, however.*  

[Ayame]

OOC: Sorry for delay...was really busy at work yesterday sweatdrop And I also apologize for short post...have to dash off to work stare

IC:

Three hundred thousand gil? The large amount of gil kept on circling around in Rude's head. When was the last time did he ever see that much gil in front of him? Probably never, since being a Turk meant that you had to travel around a lot, but still...

Rude glanced at his best friend curiously, arching an eyebrow. "You remember how she kicked our asses the last time, don't you?"  

[SLJ]

OOC: Wow... Didn't think that the RP would be taking off so soon. You guys RP really well. biggrin

Vincent disregarded the comment on being called a 'boy'. Cid seemed more livelier than usual... Actually, Vincent guessed that Cid would be extra content anytime that he could fly. He shook his head in amusement and borded the airship.

Vincent headed to the Operations Room to gear up before they reached Corel... He thought of checking out the old reactor and getting some decent training done there and in the mountains. He couldn't help but feel like he hadn't become as strong as he could have during the past 2 years. Ever since the Avalanche members went their seperate ways, not much excitement had been comming his way. And when there isn't excitement, not much training gets done.

-A while later-

The airship had landed in Corel and Vincent could hear the engines slowly comming to a stop. He walked to the exit of the ship, fully equiped and ready. However... Before he headed for training, he decided to meet an old friend of his... Barret.

He hid in the shadows of the airship and watched as Cid encountered Barret and Reeves...  

[Kaede]

"You remeber how she kicked our asses last time, don't you?"

Catching a comprehensible phrase of her two cohorts' conversation, Elena blinked. They're excited and ecstatic about some girl who kicked their asses? What the heck are they talking about? Had it been Reno who had spoken of the a**-kicking, she would have just assumed it was Reno who was drunk off his a**, but as it was Rude, who rarely got that inebriated, the words sparked a definite curiousity in Elena. Leaning a little closer to hear better, she stopped, wondering if she really wanted to deal with these two at the moment. Well, the idea of finding out what they're talking about is rather appealing. Besides, it's not like they're insufferable buffoons like that damned Scarlet. Recalling all the times that irritating b***h had ordered them around like slaves and trash, Elena smiled a little sadistically, taking some perverse pleasure in the fact Scarlet was dead. Well, I doubt it could hurt too much to try and actually understand what's going on within this team of ours. Decisively stepping forward, the crunch of discarded peanut shells and sunflower seeds emphasized the finality of her decision. Wow, I'm voulentarily approaching my comrades for once, amazing. And it was. The last time she had done such a thing was back when she had first been assigned to work with Reno and Rude. Coming to a stop behind the two, she opened her mouth to speak, as they still appeared to be oblivious of her pressence.

"H-" she began when a staggering drunk collided with her, sending the rather irrate Turk sprawling face up across Reno and Rude's table, much to her embarrassment. Face flushed, her anger shone plainly on her face as her lips twisted to yell something back, just about ready to start a fight.

OOC: I guess if Gwyn or Ayame want to post a reaction from Reno or Rude at this point I'll leave it open for such, otherwise Elena will probably start a tiny brawlish thing at this point... things that might stop her would be and embarrassing comment from Reno/Rude, or holding her to the table, etc..  

[Zejx Frostrider]

*Cloud lays in bed for awhile, thinking about the dream he just had. He has been having alot of them lately about Aerith. He has no idea why though.*

Cloud: What do they mean? Is something going to happen?

*Cloud continues to lay there until finally sitting up. He stretches and looks out the window, squinting <spelling?> as the sunlight hits his face. He could tell it was early, earlier then he was used to getting up at. After a few moments, Cloud stands up. He puts boots on, since that is all he took off before he crashed, and took ahold of this sword. The blade instantly light up, filling with his lifeforce. <I believe Gwyn, you did say that he has the Ultima Weapon. Tell me if I am wrong and I will change it.> After a few moments of staring at it, he spins it around and sticks it on his back.*

Cloud: Since I am up so early, I might as well go outside and do some training.

*Cloud stretches once more and heads out of his room. He stops as he hears a faint sound coming from downstairs.*

Cloud: Oh, the radio. I guess Tifa is up already. Guess there goes sneaking out to train.

*Cloud then heads down the stairs, ready to start another day.*  

[Gwyn Masamune]

ooc: Yes, EVERYONE has their ultimate weapons. Also, you can have a limited amount of materia (you don't think they'd give Yuffie everything, do you?). Also to the Turks, you can make up weapons for yourself if you so choose. I'll post a bit later.

bic:

*Reno almost fell out of his chair as Elena came crashing towards them. He looked over at where his whiskey had spilled and then looked irritatedly over at Elena*

"Hey, watch it! s**t, I swear you're one of the clumsiest people I've met. Eh.... well as long as you're here we might as well include you on our little conversation..."

*Reno still looked a little pissed, but the prospect of all that gil was still hot on his mind. Reno's love of gil was more than enough to overlook one of Elena's clumsy mistakes. Reno looked around a little bit then lowered his voice to a whisper.*

"Did you see that bald black man sitting a few tables over from us no don't look at him!" Reno said exasperated(sp?) "Well, he offered us 300,000 gil to kidnap Yuffie Kisaragi. I couldn't be happier... just think of it Elena! We get all that gil and we get some revenge on those damn Avalanche bastards for beating us in Midgar...and Yuffies cute to boot" Reno added in his mind.

*Reno shook his head. He didn't need to think of s**t like that. He had to persuade(sp?) the two of them to take this job. To tell the truth, jobs had been getting kind of scarce lately, and 300,000 gil would be enough to last them a year.*

"Yeah Rude, I know they kicked our asses last time, but this time'll be different. If we do kidnap her, I'm sure Lord Godo will call Yuffie's old pals to find her... he'll want to keep her dissapearance quiet. Hell, think of it! He might even contact us! We're in the position to make some very serious gil. Whaddya think?"  

[Ayame]

She had dazed off into her own thoughts, only to drag herself out of them when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. To her surprise, Cloud was awake, though his blonde mop of hair looked like it wasn't.

"You're up early," Tifa said to him in astonishment.

"Mmm....couldn't sleep," he mumbled back.

She noticed the distant look in his eyes. Something was bothering him; it didn't take much of observation to notice the rings under his eyes. He had been like this for the past few days, she noticed, but always pretended that she didn't see it. Even if her concern for him hurt her too much.

After a few moments of silence between them, Tifa checked her watch.

"...We have a few hours before we open," she told him. "Breakfast is ready, if you're hungry." Another pause before she gave him a smile. "I'm going to head out back to the ring and practice a little, okay?"

~~~~

Rude had stood up in his usual manner, brushing off whatever liquid had gotten onto his clothes. Elena's presence unconsciously let him meld back to his typical stoic self, even if he did drink a little more than his partner did, but he had a higher tolerance to alcohol. Also, her arrival prevented a fight from sprawling out like the last time.

Three hundred thousand gil just for the daughter of Lord Godo. It still seemed a bit suspicious to him.

"...I still don't think it's a good idea," he said to Reno.  

[Gwyn Masamune]

*Reno looked suspiciously at Rude.*

"Rude, you know as well as I do that things haven't been going too well for us. Hell, if the next few months keep up like this we might not be in business. I know its a bit suspicious, but come on! This one job would keep us set for at least a year! This could easily put us over the top... I know you're just being cautious, but frankly we don't really have a choice in the matter. Elena, you agree with me right? I mean hell, a girl that ditzy is gonna be easy to get. She'd probably come with us if I asked her."

*Reno looked at his comrades with a bit of a pleading look in his eyes. Why couldn't they understand that this was the chance of a lifetime?*  

[Kaede]

Initially too shocked to move, Elena flinched and bolted up off the table when a drop of whiskey, flung from Reno's fingertips to wake her, burned her eye upon contact. Straightening as she stood, back to her comrades, she straightened her jacket, hiding the tears that threatened to spill. Having regained her composure, she spun on her heel, half-glaring at her remiss superior. Returning to listening Reno finish his mini-monologue, she turned the idea over in her head.

"I understand where you're coming from, and frankly I haven't been fond of the part-time jobs we've had to individually take to keep our little group running." She mentally recalled the time she was forced to baby-sit two little twits in Nibbleheim, shuddering at the thought and deciding to keep the experience to herself. "However, I have to agree with Rude. It does seem suspicious, and you forget that the "ditzy girl" you're talking about is one of the heroes that helped save this planet - we wouldn't be here without them. While I'm not saying we owe them anything, but I am saying that we need to remember who we're up against. Who knows if she's still training? I know some of the former fighters of this world sure aren't. Some of them have spent their days wasting away in bars, letting all their 'talents' dull and rust away." She pointedly glared at Rude and Reno. "However, we are strapped for cash, and unless you want to start pulling weeds for the old lady down the street, I suggest we find some sort of job to keep us running," she said forcefully. "If we do accept this job, I suggest both of you get your butts back in gear for the kind of work we were meant to do, rather than wasting away in here listening to this crappy music." Her eyes slitted, expression unusually controlled for the normally hot-headed young Turk.  

[Ayame]

Rude preferred to his usual response in situations like this:

"......"

And he scratched the back of his head. If Elena wasn't around, he would have given a little bit more explanation to Reno, but old habits were hard to die off as he began to revert back to the typical silent Turk that everyone knew him as. Under normal circumstances when it was just him and Reno, Rude would have just punched the back of the redhead's head hard and try to be the voice of reason. Usually, that tended to work, as Reno was pretty easy to sway when he was drunk, but since Elena was here he couldn't do as such.

Another thing Reno said was true: the Turks as a group wasn't getting any of the high-paid jobs that they used to have. Most of the time they were trivial and alright-annoying duties from the typical grocery shopping for the old woman who owned the pet shop in Junon to catching fish with some dude over in Gongaga....if there were any fish to catch with in the first place in that dump. Once in a while, there would be the old assasination routine but that was rare nowadays since Meteor had created a rather large scar in Midgar.

Rude just continued to stand there, watching Elena and Reno argue it out as always.  

[Kaede]

Nosing through an ancient volume, the gargantuan stacks of books around the guardian of Cosmo Canyon had begun to form a scene rather reminiscent of the library in the Shinra Mansion at Nibbleheim. And had any witness of the death of Sephiroth's sanity been present to seen Nanaki's current state, they might be frightened by its likeness that that room which held so many dark memories, the room that had seen so much betrayal and demise. Nose pressed close to another old tome, Red XIII's eye widened, shocked.

How can this be? A star reading which only those it touches can see? The planet calling to its saviors? Why did Bugenhagen never speak to me of this? Thoughtfully closing his eye, he settled on the floor to think. Who would such a prophecy most probably concern.Rifling through mental profiles on those he had traveled with to save the planet, Red wondered who the stars spoke of. Who of us does not feel pain? Cloud felt responsible for the death of Aeris, and Tifa for Cloud's depression. Vincent was enternally pained by the events involving himself, Hojo, and Lucrecia. Barret, maybe Barret has gotten over the death of Dyne at his own hands, and Reeve may be torn by his involvement in reconstruction. This is getting nowhere. A frustrated sigh escaped in the form of a snarl. Well at least I managed to eliminate Yuffie. What could that partying teen have any anxiety over? Catching a glimpse of himself in his reflection, he realized what the long hours spent in the study had done to him. What am I thinking... I'm tired, and this can't be right. Setting the two useful books aside, the son of Seto ambled off to his chamber to rest, recalling that a sleep-deprived guardian was not a good one.

Waking the next morning, Red prepared to leave, resolute on checking up on his companions. I'll start in Costa Del Sol, then work my way down to everyone else from there. Besides, if anyone knows where Cloud is, it would be Tifa, and those two seem the least tied down of everyone, save for maybe Yufie and Vincent.
Once he had finished packing, Nanaki bid his hometown farewell, venturing off to Costa Del Sol, through the sands near the Gold Saucer.  

[Chibicid]

OOC: That's what I figured. I wasn't planning on anything soon...just needed the info for the thoughts going through his head. 3nodding

BIC:

*Cid looked at the abnormally happy Reeve with a sideways sort of glance, then shook his head and chuckled*

What else do ya think I'd be here for? Of course I'm delivering supplies. Barrett's not worth the flight for me to just come to see him. Hehe.

*He slaps Barrett on the back, smiling all the while.*

-------------------------

*Barrett forced a grin as Cid made a joke, and then listened to Reeve talk about Mayor Black.*

Hmm. I agree with you. We need to keep a watch on Juneau. I never did trust 'em...'specially when we had to hightail it outta there to get away from Shinra. Looks like nothing's really changed.

*As he looked around the airport, he caught a glimpse of crimson out of the corner of his eye.

What the...?  

[Zejx Frostrider]

Cloud: Alright, be careful and don't over do it. I'd join you, but I think I'll get some breakfast instead.

*Usually Cloud would have went to train with her but this morning was different. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get his mind off his dreams. Plus Cloud did most of his training at night after Tifa goes to bed, and thanks to his recent dreams, and not being able to sleep due to them, he has had plenty of training time.*

 

[SLJ]

Vincent saw that Barret had spotted him. He decided to step out of the shadows, wave, and approach them.

"Long time no see Barret. You too Reeves. I'm guessing that things are going smoothly and well here with the re-construction?" Vincent asked, but didn't leave time for reply as he always liked getting straight to the point. "Tell me... What's happened with the reactor? Did you take it apart, renovate it into something more useful or is it still in the same condition as 2 years ago?"  

[Gwyn Masamune]

*Reeve looked at Vincent with interest. Why was Vincent so interested in the reactor?*

"Well, I can answer that. The Corel reactor has been fully dismantled, as has the Gongaga reactor. The people of Fort Condor are still researching the reactor in hopes of finding an alternate power source. Nibelheim's reactor has been overrun with monsters, so its too dangerous to approach. The people of Nibelheim have decided to just forget about it and let is sit there. Junon's Underwater reactor hasn't been dismantled, but they aren't using it. They're still using the underwater base for military purposes. And of course the Midgar reactors were all totally destroyed along with Midgar when Meteor and Holy clashed. So all the reactors in the world are either shutdown or destroyed. I'm still pressuring the mayor of Junon and the elder of Fort Condor to destroy their reactors, but I'm not making a whole lot of headway.... Nibelheim I'm pretty much writing off as a loss. No ones going to bother that reactor."

*Reeve smiled, obviously pleased with his extensive knowledge of the world. It had been very hard work over the last two years, but Reeve was certain that he had been doing the right thing. He was felt he had almost totally repaired all of Shinra's damage, but of course there was still loads of work to do.*

"Oh, heres something that might interest you... Last time I was in Wutai meeting with Lord Godo, I saw a certain red-headed Turk unloading crates at the docks. Just thinking of Reno doing manual labor brings a smile to my face... he was never very civilized when I talked to him. I guess after Shinra fell the Turks have been having trouble finding work."