Baby Steps To Save The World [Cid/Light]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Was this plan going to work?

Fang settled into a seat that was there for the taking, propped her elbow up on the arm rest and stared down at the ground. She was aware of Cid Raines being there, but she was lost in thought at the moment, intense green eyes not bothering to look at him or speak to him at the moment. There would be plenty of time for that, although she had plenty of questions for him. Right now she needed a minute to digest what was happening and what they were going to do. Fang was going to see the future. Hell of a future. Having gone to save Serah from her dream state, she had taken in the sand and ruins that had once been her beautiful, lush Gran Pulse. She’d always known that the Cocoon citizens landing on this place would suck it dry. But they were going to change all of that. Saving Lightning…they would change the destiny, toss chaos back where it was supposed to be, drive all the bad guys back, and reclaim what was theirs. One step at a time, but damn it all, she wasn’t going to let anyone ruin her home. Just as she wouldn’t let Vanille become a cie’th, she wouldn’t let this happen.

Adjusting her position in the seat, Fang’s eyes rose to glance over at the tall, dark figure that was across from her. He had volunteered to go with her to save Lightning when she had thought she would be going alone. Well, hell, she couldn’t say that she minded. From their time on the Lindblum, Fang had gotten a deep respect for him. A rare feat for him. “Ya ready fer this Army boy?” Not much of a boy, but the general idea was there. Drumming her fingers on arm rest, Fang paused and wondered about what was going to happen when they went to the future. Hell, she hoped that Lightning was still there. If Light was trapped there…if they could find her, they would. Light was too stubborn to die, granted, but Fang would be glad when the pinkie was standing next to her asking why it had taken so long.

Running a hand through her hair in frustration at not getting there sooner, she once again glanced up at Cid. “Ya' think she’s still there?” Fang didn’t want to think that she might not be. If they had seen her there just a short while ago, they could get there, couldn’t they? If this contraption moved any faster. Groaning under her breath, Fang popped up to her feet and paced around the room for a few moments. It was then that over the loudspeaker came a professional voice. “Commander Raines, Miss Fang, the ship is approaching time gate to 700 AF. We will be going through the gate in approximately two minutes. Please settle yourself down and brace yourself for such to avoid injury.” Fang tapped her foot, glancing out the window without making her way back to the seat she had been sitting in. She didn’t give a damn about avoiding injury. She wanted to be by the windows as soon as they crossed the gate to see if they could find Lightning.

“Approximately one minute to gate.”

Here they went! Bracing her feet a bit wider then normal, Fang leaned against the side and glanced out the window, waiting to see what would show up. The countdown came then, starting at ten. Here they went.

Fang felt the jerk of the ship as it was taken through the time gate. Bracing herself up against the wall, the Pulsian kept her eyes peeled on the outside. They had to pass through the time Crux. Glancing at it, Fang was surprised with what it looked like, pressing her nose practically up to the glass to see it, but then the next moment they were shot back out and she had to shield her eyes from the bright light that flashed. When it subsided she lowered her hand and pressed close again, seeing the sand that she remembered while they had rescued Serah from the dream world. The land was stark, nothing like Gran Pulse was now. Void of life. It brought a crushing weight on her heart, seeing her home like this. The trees that showed themselves were all dead, their limbs reaching out for the water that wasn’t coming to revive them. Pushing back, she stared at it all and had to turn aside, a bit overcome. “We’re here,” she announced needlessly, gritting her teeth. They had to fix this…

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Words:; 948
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Cid/Light
Location:; 700 AF
Outfit:; That one I linked in the other thread!
Notes:; The epic
Listening to:;[/b] I'll Make A Man Out Of You - Mulan OST

[Cid Raines]

Another opportunity to right the wrongs of the past, and Cid Raines had no fal'Cie to pull his strings and ultimately cause his failure.

He stood across from Fang, ignoring the opportunity to take a seat facing her and instead drawing his entire, towering form nearly to the top of the ship, where a hand held to the safety railing. Cid, though calm in all aspects, felt too anxious to take a seat for this trip - a trip to a time gate that would take both him and Fang to the time known as the "Dying World" - seven hundred years after the fall of Cocoon. The time was that of Noel Kreiss, the last human being to live on the planet according to the timeline as it stood now. It was for this very reason that Cid believed Hope had initially nominated Noel to travel here with Fang, but it was the person they were traveling here to save that had caused Cid to gladly step forward to assist Fang in Noel's stead. Lightning Farron.

Noel was in a poor state of mind from all that had happened, blaming himself for nearly every problem that now sat on their doorstep - the spread of the Chaos, Serah Farron's death and Etro's disappearance. Cid knew the feeling all too well, and also knew that Noel would not want to face Lightning just yet. Cid knew that the boy had made his promises to protect Serah and the timeline to Lightning, and if he was blaming himself for being unable to keep those promises, Noel would not want to face Lightning.

But this volunteered rescue was as much for Cid as it was for Noel, though the greater purpose still took precedent.

Cid's last interaction with Lightning had been at the end of a blade. He had been attempting to kill her in the Fifth Ark. She would remember him as a liar. A villain. A pawn. Or so Cid would have to believe, and greatly regret. He was not sure if his crimes against her would be a wrong that he could rectify. Lightning was a stubborn one - that he had known from the beginning. She was not quick to forgive her enemies. Though the other l'Cie did not appear to hold onto any grievances they had held against him after he'd revealed the truth, Cid held no guarantees for himself that Lightning would be pleased to see him, even as her rescuer. Yet, here he stood, in company with Fang, having decided he needed to know even if he did not find the reaction he hoped for.

Fang finally spoke, and Cid's thoughtful gaze turned up from his staring off into space to meet with hers. Few people would think to call Cid "army boy", but he supposed Fang had a reason to, being nearly five hundred years his elder. He had grown accustomed to Fang, even fond of her, during her time as a "prisoner" of the Cavalry all those years ago. Though her manner may have intimidated many, Cid felt completely comfortable around her. Perhaps more comfortable than he would have been otherwise. He didn't respond verbally, only giving her a curt nod to the affirmative. Ready for his task? Undoubtedly. The fact of who they would be saving, though, was another story entirely.

He could also tell that the same anxiousness that was quietly bothering him was getting to Fang, as well. "Difficult to say. If the Chaos' hold on time has been corrected by the Goddess of Harmony, I have reason to believe Lightning's appearance in the Oracle Drive coincides with time's renewal. If that's true, the Dying World and our time should now be running parallel," Cid poorly explained to the huntress, uncertain as to whether his assumptions had any real truth to them. He was no expert on time-traveling by any means - in fact, aside from the trip that had brought them all to this time for the ascendance of Bhunivelze, Cid had never touched time travel - but he had heard Hope's rambles on the subject long enough to at least have a small understanding of how the Oracle Drive worked. If Hope's researchers had located Lightning in 700 AF, that meant both times were at least running smoothly at this point, which gave Cid reason to optimistically believe that Lightning would still be present once they arrived. If she left and the Academy knew, they were to be contacted. Circumstances allowed him to believe she would still be present, as well as his own strong desire for her to be. "And to actually answer your question, yes, something tells me she's still there," he told her, eyes set in determination as they studied the darkened surface of Gran Pulse outside of the nearest window, not letting Fang's pacing disrupt his gaze.

The comm system activated, with the pilot's voice billowing throughout the personnel area. Finally, they were arriving at the time gate. Cid had never been through a time gate - Hope's method of bringing them here to prepare for the raising of Bhunivelze had been via his own time machine - and didn't exactly know what to expect. Turbulence first came to mind. He didn't take a seat, instead gripping the railing above him with both hands and preparing to hold himself tightly in place in case his assumptions were right.

There was a strong jerk on entry, but Cid kept himself rooted smoothly in place. The ride became more comfortable almost instantly, allowing Cid the means to turn and peer outside of the window at the interior of what Cid knew to be the "Historia Crux." They would not spend long in the strange labyrinth of metal and magic essence, though, as the bright lights of the sun, which had not been seen since the Chaos had begun to spread, caused him to squint and retreat temporarily until his eyes adjusted. The sun was the only thing healthy during this aptly named time period. Sand and dead flora were the only things that met Cid's eyes. So this was what would become of their new world if they failed in their tasks. Cid could again feel the metal of Rygdea's gun against his head. He'd experienced this same feeling of terror at what was to become of his planet before he'd asked his friend to end his life. This time...he did have the power to fix what lied before him.

Glancing to Fang at her words, Cid took in a light breath and made a quick comment to the two troops that had come with them, informing them to protect the ship. With that done, he stepped to the latch and pushed a button to open it, stepping aside to let Fang step through and onto the sands first before stepping down himself, letting himself take in more of the bleak landscape if only for the purpose of spotting any young woman within range of their sight. No, it would not be that easy. They would have to search this desolate place to find Lightning. "I doubt the direction will matter," he commented, seeing no landmarks to head towards nor any way of judging exactly where they were. All signs that a civilization had ever been present here were gone in totality. Merely going with gut feeling, Cid began slowly moving off in a direction that would take them between two jagged rock formations to whatever lied beyond it.

And he knew they could not walk in silence. Not with the breakthrough they were finally on the brink of making. "Lightning must not have changed since we last met", Cid commented to hide a question, knowing Fang had seen her at least once before Cid had been discovered living in Oerba by Hope.

Words - 1348
Muse - Excellent!
Outfit - Academy uniform
Notes - Nada. This is gonna be great.[/size]

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Blowing out a breath, Fang’s eyes flickered over to where the tall man stood. Having asked the question, she waited to see if he would answer it or think that it was a rhetorical question. She wanted his opinion. Why, she didn’t really know. Maybe it was because he always had a fancy way of saying things. A bit confusing maybe, but his word choice had always amazed her slightly. And she respected him and his opinion. And for that reason, she was glad that he actually decided to reply to her question instead of shrugging it off and not making any comment. Nodding slowly when he mentioned them running parallel, Fang once more glanced out the window she was standing by. Only time could tell really. If once they got to the Dying World and there was no Lightning, then they would have to move to plan B. What plan B was, she had no idea. There probably wasn’t even a plan B, but Lady Luck was on their side. She was sure of it. You didn’t need anything more then Lady Luck and a little bit of determination.

All that and then a ‘yup’ made her lips twitch, almost pulling them into a smile. “Well hell, I sure hope so, ya’ know? Better damn be there so I can kick ‘er ass fer gettin’ herself dragged into this mess.”, she mentioned while glancing out the window and trying to see the place. It’d be great if they could land and have her just standing there waiting for them and asking what took them so long. Yup, that would be great, and of course, much too convenient. She was probably on the other side of the world, knee deep in sand. That image was enough to give her a real smile. Hell, this was actually real. They were going to rescue Lightning and save the whole world. One step at a time, she reminded herself, rubbing her face with her hands and listening as the man came over the loudspeaker to inform them that they would be going through the time gate.

The jerk caused her to shift her weight slightly to keep herself centered, but in an instant they were into the crux, only to be dragged out once more. Leaning forward, it took only a moment for Fang to draw back, not wanting to look at it. Her beautiful world, turned into a desert of sand and dead vegetation. The trees, the water, the life. Yet when the ship landed she quickly exited. Jumping, she landed and absorbed it by bending her knees and then straightening back up. The next instant Cid was out of the ship as well. The bleak vision of what lay before them once again weighed heavily on her shoulders. It was easy to just live life and throw care to the wind for your actions, but reality had a way of slamming you right in the face at times. This was one of those times. They couldn’t let this be the future of Gran Pulse.

Direction? “Nah, shouldn’t matter much. There don’ look loike there’ll be much a’ anythin’ ta’ go on fer landmarks. Just up ta’ Lady Luck ta’ get ‘er.” Glancing behind her, Fang placed hands on her hips, scanning the distance, eyes narrowed to avoid the sand kicking up around them. Damn, but this was a terrible place to live in. How had they turned such a beautiful world into such a wasteland? Turning back to talk to Cid, she grunted in response to him having already started to walk away. Well wasn’t someone zealous.

Jogging through the sand to catch up, she matched his stride and continued to be on the lookout around her. Just because it didn’t look like there was any life here, didn’t mean there wasn’t any. After all, there had to have been some life here for Noel, Caius and Yeul to live here. Best to keep a lookout so they didn’t come all this way only to fail when they got eaten by a behemoth.

The attempt at conversation was somewhat surprising, but she shrugged and went along with it. Shrewd eyes glanced over at him. “Sure as hell hasn’t. Always was a crochety ol’ thing, least when it came to people whose names start with S and end with a W, but damn if I don’t loike her an awful lot. She’s a damn good friend, and a damn good fightin’ partner.” Glancing away and moving with the ease of the huntress she was, she finally spoke again. “Ya haven’t seen ‘er since ya troied ta’ kill us, have ya,” she commented dryly. “Don’ be shocked if she don’ trust ya.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:; 967
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Cid/Light
Location:; The Dying World
Outfit:; That one I linked?
Notes:; \o/
Listening to:;[/b] Dear Lucid, Our Time Is Right Now - Evans Blue

[Cid Raines]

Cid provided a nod in agreement with Fang's observation that they would have no landmarks with which they could govern their search. They had both seen the footage of Lightning in the Dying World once they'd arrived on the ship, but it was grainy as always and showed nothing more than a blinding sun and the faint outline of sand. The pink hair and indications that the individual was wearing armor was all that indicated it was Lightning that had been spotted here, not to mention the Academy had ways of deciphering one individual's DNA signature from another. Yes, Lightning would certainly be here, as Cid had reassured Fang, but where here was an entirely different concern. As he and Fang trudged off into the sands, Cid kept his gaze reaching for the horizon constantly, hoping to spot the striking pink head of hair standing out against the bland world, all tans and browns.

Despite his searching, he did provide Fang his full attention once she responded to his question. Crotchety...the word may not have been Cid's first choice, but from what he had known of Lightning while she was aboard his ship and from what he'd heard from Snow, it seemed to hold some accuracy. He'd known there was more to the woman than the rather rigid exterior she seemed to stand within whenever she needed it, but unfortunately, her time on the Lindblum equated to hours whereas Snow and Fang had been there for days at a time. If she chose not to attack Cid at first sight, he would have to remedy the issue of unfamiliarity with her. It would seem that Fang, though, felt trust would at least be difficult to come by. Cid could not say he disagreed in any way.

"I would be surprised if she were willing to trust me at all," Cid admitted, regret quietly evident in his voice. His eyes trailed down to the crystal sands below him. Yes, Cid had come quite a long way from his service to the whims of the fal'Cie and from the death on Eden that had consumed him, hopefully serving to partially mend relationships for those he'd betrayed, such as Rygdea and Fang herself. Lightning, however, would be different. She'd not had any sort of experience with him since he fought her in his near-Cie'th form in the Fifth Ark. Though the rest were likely used to his presence around the Academy and with the military, Lightning had been securely confined to Valhalla, save for the paradoxes that had allowed her momentary leave. Was she even aware that Cid was alive again? She could be. Hope had spoken, occasionally, on Lightning's possessing of a form of farsight from within Valhalla. Though Cid had never had her speak to him directly, he knew it was a definite possibility that his appearance to her here in the Dying World would come as no great shock, aside from the simple fact she may not have expected anyone to arrive here and help her. But help her they would, Cid determined, even if they had to scour this entire planet to find her.

After they'd passed through the rock formation that limited their vision and emerged on a high hill that sat outside of it, Cid slowed his gait to take in the immediate area. A small mountain sat opposite of Fang in relation to him, and Cid noticed a pair of odd flan with a stoney appearance at the base of it. So this place did have its life forms....even if they were only paradoxical. Hopefully none of them would be too much of a match for the young woman they aimed to save - though Cid sincerely doubted a group of flan would prove much of a match for Lightning Farron, even on her worst days. Cid continued on without comment, constantly in anticipation of the moment they finally spotted her...and rather anxious as to Lightning's reaction to them.

Words - 701
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Should we have a Light post next to show what she's doing, then a mini-timejump? (Or no timejump, they could just keep walking and find her.)[/size]

[Lightning Farron]

The dying world…

It was a vast plain of practically nothing. Sand – which resembled the crystal sand found in Oerba – covered a lot of ground, making the world seem so blank and colorless. Aside from her hair, Lightning practically blended into her surroundings. With aqua eyes searching the area, she felt alive…having been crystallized for so long on Etro’s throne, preserving Serah’s memory…it wasn’t an easy thing having to watch the pain that people had to endure after all of the chaos had fled from Valhalla to the other worlds and through Gran Pulse. This really was a future she couldn’t save. It brought a frown to the knight’s face, her fists clenched as she took slow, yet cautious, steps across the ground towards what looked to be an old city. She remembered hearing and seeing this in her time in Valhalla. This was where Noel was from, this was where he lived right before he was taken to Valhalla by a miracle. There was no other human life for all Lightning knew, she was not in Valhalla anymore…therefore she couldn’t see everything, but something in her gut did tell her that she wasn’t alone.

Many things came to mind, why had she woken from crystal stasis after all of these years? This was the end of time…wasn’t it? Whatever it was, she wasn’t sure she liked it. Being a cold stone was easier than knowing that she failed the future, failed her sister and anyone else she knew. Another frown came to her face as she stopped in her tracks, head and eyes going downcast, feeling the need to assure herself that this wasn’t the end…this couldn’t be the end. Humans had so much more to live for than to die out like this? Damn Caius and his schemes to wage war against Etro…though she didn’t blame people individually, she put most of the blame on her own shoulders. She was supposed to be the guardian of Etro, look how well that turned out? Obviously she hadn’t tried hard enough…that was the main thing that really stung. She’d always fought to save her sister and those she cared for…but something must’ve been lacking…something was there that she had obviously missed.

With deep thoughts, Lightning then heard the sound of a growl. Turning slightly and glancing over her shoulder, she sighed heavily in frustration. She wasn’t the only life, that was for damn sure, but the company that was here in the dying world was not exactly the kind of company anyone wanted to keep. Turning swiftly to face a behemoth, Lightning let her traditional gunblade materialize in her hand, wrapping her fingers around the hilt as she gripped it tightly, pulling it up and over her head, pointing at the creature like she did on so many occasions. She continued to frown, almost scowl before she mumbled to the beast. “Is this all? Is this what the world has come to?” she spoke almost in a sorrowful tone before charging forward to take on the behemoth that was so desperate to find something to eat…but Lightning wasn’t going to allow herself to become a ‘last meal’.

Leaping into the air and coming down quick, Lightning spun, creating a blitz against the behemoth before she was on her feet again, moving fast and striking her blade against the hide of the beast, causing it to howl and growl in protest and anger. It swiped at her, but lifting her shield, she caught most of the attack right there, though claw marks where scraped across her shield and arm, not enough to cause for concern though. If she could take on a fal’cie, take on Barthandules and anything else Pulse had to throw at her….if she was able to take on Caius Ballad, then one behemoth wouldn’t be too difficult, of that she was sure.

“Tch…Right.”

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Words:[/color] 750
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Cid, Fang
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] Something!
Notes:[/color] Nada!

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Keeping up with the long, purposeful strides of the taller man, the huntress kept a sharp lookout for the woman they were out here in this god forsaken world for. She’d better appreciate the effort they were extending for her, the old bitty. Getting herself lost in some wasteland instead of a nice time for Gran Pulse. Or just getting herself dragged into this mess period. Honestly, couldn’t she be crystallized for more then a minute without something tragic happening? Pretty soon she was going to think her and Vanille were the guardians of Gran Pulse. The world definitely went to hell when they were gone, that was for sure. Just looking at this place made that statement true. Kicking at the sand beneath her feet in a frustrated way, Fang glared toward the horizon, wishing that Lightning would just appear instead of making them traipse all over this wasteland. She had a time period she belonged in waiting for her. Well…maybe not that she belonged in, but something of the sort anyway. The sooner they got Light back, the sooner they could fix this mess up, patch it, and then defeat the forces that were trying to take it away from them.

Damn them anyway.

Glancing over at Raines, Fang crossed arms over her chest and didn’t comment on what he said. For a minute or so she walked next to him, looking away, before she finally answered. “Hell, glad yer prepared. She’s got a wicked roight hook, jus’ ask Snow ‘bout tha’.” Talking about the ‘good times’ was definitely helping keep her spirits up. How long could this sand last? And how damn long were they gonna be out here anyway? The shorter time the better. “Jus’ compliment tha’ sister a’ hers, or tell 'er tha' Serah's gettin' aloive as we speak an' she moight let ya live.”, she spoke cheerfully. Too cheerfully. What about, she couldn’t quite place a finger on. But she was damn cheerful about something. Hell, when did this happen? Had Raines slipped something into her drink? Or Hope? Or Vanille? Cutting her green eyes over toward the tall man, she decided against it being Cid. He didn’t seem like the put drugs into a drink type of guy.

Cresting the hilltop, Fang slowed to match his gait, hands propped onto her hips as she finally slowed to a complete stop. “Damn,” she muttered out, annoyance written on her features. She’d known Cocoon citizens invading her home would do no good. As of right now, she blamed them. Blamed Etro. Blamed everyone. Hell, blaming people was easy. Not that it would help. They still had to clean up the mess that had been created. “What’d the world do without us, eh Raines?” Continuing on, she felt the urge to get down faster. Lengthening her stride out, Fang was running down the sandy slope before she realized she was going so fast, a hearty “Yeee – haw” following her retreating figure.

At the bottom she skidded to a stop, sand flying up from her sandaled feet. With a big grin, she turned to see if Raines was coming. “Raines! What’s takin’ ya’ so lon-“ Fang’s voice cut out then, as she was alerted to the presence of something at the last second. A faint scratch against the sand was all it took for her to roll out of the way as a pantopoda landed where she had been. Not a dangerous creature by any means, but she’d rather not have it chewing on her neck. There was a small group of them swarming around the Pulsian, but she didn’t look the least bit concerned. When you’d lived through what she had, a few measly little creatures didn’t scare you. “Come an’ get it,” she taunted before leaping into the fray to attack them. Slashing at one, Fang reversed her body and flipped another into the air. Leaping after it, Fang sent it spiraling toward the ground, landing with a heavy ‘thud’. Nothing like a nice easy battle to get you feeling alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Words:; 864
Muse:; Alright!
Tagged:; Cid/Light (awkward third wheel ftw?)
Location:; The Dying World
Outfit:; That one I linkified
Notes:; Don't ask me what this was. I had no creativity xD
Listening to:;[/b] Yellow - Coldplay

[Cid Raines]

Fang had a way of simplifying worries and problems, didn't she? She was right, though...Cid was fairly sure Lightning could knock around even someone his or Snow Villiers' size if she was angry enough and neither of them were prepared for it. Cid recalled the Fifth Ark, when she'd wasted no time in launching her one-woman assault once she'd deciphered his motivations. He imagined she'd had the same reaction to Snow many times, purely for the blond man's tendency towards recklessness and hot air. Cid's crimes against her had been far worse than annoyance, hence why she'd taken her blade up against him as opposed to a fist. He'd be equally expecting of each when they found her here in this desolate place, if time - the key to all of this - truly did not mend old wounds. No amount of good news either Fang or Cid could bring Lightning regarding her sister could mend that, despite what Fang was saying. But...there was still a chance she wouldn't entirely hold it against them, now that they all had their own proverbial leaves to turn. That was why Cid had volunteered to accompany Fang. He knew where he stood with the other l'Cie. He wanted to know as soon as possible where he stood with the woman who could have easily been called their leader.

Fang's damn was the right word in this situation, Cid had to agree, as he scoped out the surroundings. "It's disturbing to think one man could sweep an entire planet free of its life," Cid commented. If Caius Ballad could willingly turn the world into nothingness for the sake of a single young woman, Cid felt almost justified in calling him a more horrible foe than Barthandelus. Barthandelus was not a human. He was not expected to have a human conscience. Caius Ballad was, while ageless, a human. This was what a human could do to fellow humans for selfish greed. "If what we see here is what Noel Kreiss has had to face, he continued to impress me with his fortitude." Cid had nearly experienced the extermination of his people. Noel had lived through it. To only be eighteen years old and to have seen so much already was almost impossible to fathom. His eyes turned to Fang as she spoke again. "If a falling planet can be stopped by six l'Cie, a dying planet can be stopped by a people. The six of you won't be alone this time...that I can assure you."

Watching impassively as Fang barreled her way down the sand hill, Cid only picked up his gait slightly and turned his steps sideways so he could slide down the steeper parts. Cid was simply not the running type, lest it was completely a necessity. It was once Fang turned to look at him and speak that he spotted the creature - creatures, he realized, eyes shifting to the left and right - and called her name loudly to warn her. She had already noticed, however, as Cid would have expected. Picking up his pace again, he slid to a stop much more calmly than Fang, arm raised in preparation to immediately cast a spell. Seeing Fang was handling the central group of them, Cid sent a series of ruin spells towards a group of two, gathering their attention enough that one took a few gathering steps and lunged at him. Planting a foot to prepare himself to retaliate, Cid used a motion to flip on his AMP device and activate a Fire spell, which he brought downwards onto the head of the beast as it neared him. It crumpled to the ground, defeated, in time for the other to land just before Cid's feet. Reversing the motion with his arm, Cid brought his hand upwards and with it, a Thunder spell swept out in front of him, giving the creature cause to retreat. It was quickly finished off with an additional pair of ruin spells.

Words - 699
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Kind of bad. XD But I guess once Fang rolls back around, they can all encounter?[/size]

[Lightning Farron]

Having been frozen in time for many years, Lightning still wasn’t unfamiliar with fighting. The time she had been crystallized seemed about as quick as the blink of an eye for her, as if sleeping, out one minute and awake the next, still, it wasn’t simply that. She’d been gone from existence for a long time now, everyone she knew would be dead by now…this was after all, the dying world, the home of Noel Kreiss, she knew that much at least, and that the world was lacking so much life, she could gather that information just by the looks of things, she didn’t need facts to tell her that. The single beast that dared attack her came fast, but good thing about Lightning, she lived up to her name, being as fast and deadly as a lightning bolt itself. Avoiding an attack by using her shield and starting to move herself out of the way, it was her armor that caught the blunt of the blow, lucky the claws hadn’t dug through the armor. I guess armor given to you by Etro had to be strong and durable…maybe not.

Gritting her teeth, the pinkette started for the behemoth again, watching as it turned to face her again, a mighty roar escaping from its muzzle as she then leaped slightly, pressing her foot down on the head of the behemoth causing its vision to go to the ground, and pushing herself off, flipping herself towards the back of the creature and firing off bullets from her gunblade as she did so, landing on the ground with her knees bent and taking steps around the creature once more to keep the attacks flowing. Striking her metal blade against the hide of the skin, she’d gotten the attention of the now very angry creature once more, but her slices and dices were cutting at the skin, with each new cut she tried to make, a new mark was left on the behemoth. This wasn’t so hard, it would’ve been easier with other people though, like the good old days. Not that these creatures were necessarily difficult, they were just moving quite a bit, making it difficult to try and get a strike in at the right pressure points, not impossible though.

“Stay down!” Lightning had called as she rose her gunblade in sword form up high over her head before bringing it down and smashing the side of the behemoth down onto the ground with great force before she flipped backwards, getting her defensive stance but still keeping herself moving so she wasn’t a stationary target. Watching the behemoth though, she watched it roar again, get to two legs and pull a blade with a saw on the end from its back. She hated when these things did this, especially when they tried to sunder you into the ground. “Damn it.” She muttered to herself before moving quickly, avoiding a strike with the saw-weapon from the creature, and another bad things about these things was that they could perform magical attacks. Lightning was quicker though, throwing her hand out towards the monster as she kept circling it quickly with long quick strides, she casted a thundaga spell at the behemoth, enough to keep it occupied for a few seconds, stunning it almost, and letting Lightning calculate her next few moves against this one lonely opponent.

Moving forward to try and get to the back of the behemoth, she was aiming to strike her blade into the back of the neck of the creature and end this thing right now so she could wander around this wasteland for what would seem like an eternity. As she was about to leap though, to jump on its back and go for the kill, it turned and while it turned, slashed its blade at her. With a grunt and the sound of metal against metal, Lightning went flying back as her shield had blocked most of the attack, leaving more marks on her armor as she fell back, gunblade flying out of her hand and sticking itself in the ground as she hit the sandy ground and skidded across it. With one palm flat on the ground and lifting herself up, her elbow in the sand propping herself up as well, she shook her head slightly, huffed a breath and scowled. “Not as easy as you look, are you?”

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Words:[/color] 833
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Raines & Fang
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] Wide awake: Katy Perry
Notes:[/color] Come save her, or let her get sundered!

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Fang’s lips twisted into a scowl at the mention of the one man that could sweep the planet of life. She had to agree. “I’d wring his neck if I could fer doin’ this ta’ Gran Pulse.” Fang had never met this Caius fellow, for which she couldn’t decide if she was grateful or not. And damn, apparently he’d even been alive in her day, which was a weird thought. Then again, she’d been alive five hundred years ago, and here she was, one thousand, two hundred years in the future of the world that she had lived in. It was hard to imagine the beautiful world she had lived on, (and now lived on again seven hundred years in the past) could be reduced to this state of wasteland by one man. One man… She wished she could get her hands on this one man. She’d give him what for, for being so damned stupid in regards to her world. And it was her world in this situation, damn it! No one that would do this to their home deserved to call it that. She yes…she would wring his skinny neck if she got a hold of it. Or whatever kind of neck he had.

And Noel, of course. She’d known while in crystal status in Noel’s dream world the kind of guy he was, but of course, it continued to impress her. “Ol’ parachute pants can hold his own if he grew up here.”, she stated. Getting Fang’s respect was only something that few obtained. For her to say that, then someone had to be stronger than…say, your average Cocoon citizen. Excluding a few of course, like Raines, Rygdea, Light, Snow…and the rest of course. In thinking of that, what he said about the six of them made her smile. It felt damn good to have Raines as a comrade again. ’Damn good,’ she thought to herself, giving him a glance out of the corner of her eyes.

But of course, she was distracted from telling him that by feeling the childish urge to run down the sandy hill overcome her. And of course, she just had to give in to that, lengthening out her stride until she was flat out running down the hill, her shout floating back toward her companion. Unfortunately, or fortunately, no sooner had she hit the bottom that she was swarmed by some different monsters that just wanted to chew her face off. Grinning, Fang charged into the little skirmish lance swinging. No sooner had she charged in that Cid came to back her up, showering the remaining monsters with fire. Bouncing back to avoid getting singed by the fire, Fang stood with a hand on her hip for a moment, before snapping her lance blades closed and shifting her bladed weapon behind her back. Calmly walking toward her companion, who was positioned in the direction they had been going before, Fang slapped him on the shoulder on her way by, voicing what she had thought before. “Damned glad ta’ have ya back an’ on our soide again Raines.”

But they would press on! There didn’t seem to be much life on this land they called Gran Pulse. Other than those monsters, she wasn’t seeing much of anything else. Just sand, sand, and oh yeah, had she mentioned all the damn sand covering the ground? Because there was a whole heck of a lot! Shaking her head, Fang had ceased paying close attention, what with the glare of sand stretching for miles, but the roar of the behemoth had her instantly paying attention. Grinning over at her companion, she winked, “Ready fer more action?” Cresting yet another small hill of sand at a half run, what she next saw had her attention and caused her to skid to a stop. “Loight!?”, she managed to burst out, taking stock of the situation. Behemoth, Lightning picking herself up from the ground. “HEY!”, she burst out, once again taking off at a run down the sandy slope. Only she could beat on her friends. While she was running Fang watched as it advanced toward Lightning, going in a half circle before it would attack. And then she was within range. Fang launched herself in the air, her lance in her hand. Whirling slightly, she touched down on its back as it focused on Lightning, her lance embedded into its thick skin, piercing it slightly. The roar was followed by violent motion as it tried its hardest to destroy whatever was now causing it pain. Grunting to remove her lance, Fang landed lightly on the balls of her feet, rolling out of the way as it tried to crush her with a swipe down with its paw. Very narrowly avoiding that, Fang found herself directly under the beast. With a grunt, she scraped her lance on the underbelly, causing it to rear on its hind legs and thrash again, allowing her to get out from underneath it. “Always savin’ yer ass Loight!”, she called out cheerfully, mock saluting the pink haired woman. There’d be plenty of time to chat once this was all taken care of.

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Words:; 1041
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Cid, Light
Location:; Dying World
Outfit:; That one!
Notes:; I always hate my choppy Fang posts...
Listening To:;[/b] For You - Staind

[Cid Raines]

Almost as quickly as they'd been thrust into the fight, so did the fight end, Fang looming over the last of the monsters. Cid dropped into his usual, stately stance as she approached, simply cutting his eyes at her as she gave him a slap on the shoulder and trotted past to resume their search. Her words drew him into thought again as he turned to follow. Cid had always considered himself on their side, in a way, though sides during the l'Cie crisis were hard to delineate. His efforts to attack and free them from their focus had their interests in mind, in a way, though Cid couldn't say he'd attempted to do it for them specifically. Nonetheless, it had never been from ill will towards them. He despised fal'Cie rule as much as any of them and believed in their cause, but not at the expense of the people. Perhaps putting himself forward to stop the l'Cie had been self-righteous, but at the time, it had seemed like the only choice. Looking back now, Cid recognized it as little more than a foolish action - something to be ashamed of. It was strange that this scenario could bring up thoughts of the past so easily, when what they were looking forward to correcting was this future they now stood within.

His thoughts carried him over the top of the dune after Fang. He caught the sound of a behemoth just as she did and provided a stark nod in response to her question. These monsters were distractions they didn't need, but neither of them could expect to continue on with their searching without fighting at least a few of them along the way. Lightning would also be fighting them somewhere on this planet, would she not? Hopefully, having as much success as they had been having thus far.

Judging by Fang's explanation, Cid would find out very soon.

He picked up his pace in spite of himself and arriving behind Fang just in time for her to take off in the direction of the behemoth...and of a rose among the waves of bleak sand, though for the moment, crumpled. The behemoth looked ready to strike. Fang was already on a beeline towards it, and Cid, quickly over his shock at the sight of Lightning after what seemed like an eternity, began his march down to join the rescue effort. The huntress had the beast distracted, leaving Cid to restore Lightning's ability to fight, if she had it anymore. He slowed by her gunblade, thrown from her hands and wedged in the sand, and plucked it out with a single heave. With it in hand, he approached the young woman bringing herself up from out of the sand, and extended a hand to her quietly, his composed exterior not betraying how anxious he felt inside at Lightning's reaction to his appearance. How would she react to any of them? Think them apparitions? A few more seconds would tell the story.

Words - 536
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Sorry for shortness. Didn't want to go beyond this point. XD[/size]

[Lightning Farron]

This shouldn’t have been that damn difficult. But Lightning was having a hell of a time with this towering behemoth ready to sunder her into the dust that lay beneath her feet. With somewhat of a scowl, she’d charged and gone for many attacks, but they didn’t prove enough to bring down the behemoth. Perhaps a more magical tactic would be more worth the effort. As she got ready to move forward and send a thundaga cast towards the beast, she’d been thrown back by an early counter attack, hitting the sand, gunblade flying out of her hand as she skidded across the sand. This was a persistent behemoth wasn’t it? Scowling again, she took in a deep breath as the monster roared, almost a taunt, and Light pushed herself up slightly, looking a bit weary and worn out – after all the fighting she’d done even in Valhalla, who could blame her? She’d take Caius over this right now, because at least he was her size for the most part…instead of huge with a saw like weapon ready to chop her into bits.

Hearing a familiar voice though, Light’s eyes moved a bit to her side, as did her head in general. There came Fang. How…the…? Lightning wasn’t sure what to think as she was surprised by the sudden appearance of her wild friend from back in the day. Watching her go after the behemoth, Lightning looked around for her gunblade that had been thrown from her hands, but instead she saw another figure, but this one shocked her even more. She wasn’t sure whether this was believable or not, but hey, there was Cid Raines, plucking her gunblade from the ground and going over towards her. Lightning slowly pushed herself to her feet, standing there at arm’s length from a man she once declared a traitor. She wasn’t sure what to think about this right now, if she could, she’d scowl, but instead, an accented voice pulled her from her distasteful memories of ‘back in the day’ and her gaze flickered to Fang and the behemoth. Saving her ass eh? “I suppose.” She mumbled low before reaching out and retrieving her gunblade, not harshly, but with no thanks attached to it.

“Watch out for the blade.” She advised in a cautious tone as she charged back to the battle, gunblade ready, even though she was worn out, she’d have to fight, she knew that as well as anyone would. Charging, she shot a few fires from her gunblade upon reaching near the creature before flinging her wrist out and watching – as well as feeling the ground shake – as a tremendous thunderous attack was cast over the behemoth, shocking it into an almost staggered stage, unable to really comprehend what to do, how to move. With Fang having been beating on it, and Lightning’s magical attack, they could probably beat this thing down now with little trouble, all it took was a little bit of staggering.

Lightning was going to give it her all here. Not by summoning Odin or anything, but by giving this behemoth no room to breathe. She charged forward and sunk close to the ground with a twist, bringing her blade with her as she sliced at the behemoth before sending a flurry of kicks and slashes towards it, a back flip with a bullet shot before jumping up into the air and lifting her gunblade above her head, slamming down on the beast and causing it to roar in protest and in anger. That had dealt damage, but she wasn’t the only one here fighting, even still…this would take no time at all now that ‘the cavalry’ had arrived. No pun intended.

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Words:[/color] 716
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Fang, Raines
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] E for Extinction: Thousand Foot Krutch
Notes:[/color] none!

[Oerba Yun Fang]

Damn, it felt good to have some action again! Though she Shouted out that she was always saving Lightning’s ass, Fang didn’t spare the time to look over at the pink haired soldier to see if she was okay. She had a battle to deal with, and besides that, Lightning could take care of herself. And if not, then she’d have to wait until this behemoth was six feet under to get any assistance. Or Cid could help her, either way. That seemed to be what he was doing. Scraping its underbelly, Fang watched it stand up and thrash around, before she jumped back and set herself, eyes searching for a good place for her blade to pierce. Taking a steady breath, Fang dodged the arm that came down to crush her by rolling away and gained her feet quickly, leaping up to once again to keep the beast on its toes. The rush of adrenaline she felt was enough to get her to enjoy the thick of the battle, knowing that your own prowess was the only reason you would survive the attacks.

Her life growing up had been one in which only the strong survived. Was it really any different in this Dying World? No. The only one that had survived was Noel. That had to say something for the young man. Their worlds weren’t all that different, even though over a thousand years had passed from her time growing up and this world. She’d have to go talk to parachute pants someday to ask about how things had gotten to be like this. She could still blame the Cocoon citizens. They had been the ones, after all, to run this place into the ground. Although after seven hundred years it wasn’t as if they could really be called citizens of Cocoon any longer, and it had been more Caius’ doing then anything, but hell, she could blame them if she damn well wanted to!

Batting away a limb with her lance, Fang flipped away to set herself as shots rang out. The behemoth roared in fury, before it rose to its hind legs. Fang propped her hand on her hip and watched the all too familiar action, as well as the familiar attack Lightning was preforming right at the moment. Light should be stepping back and letting her and Raines handle it, and yet, here she was, stubbornly trying to get herself killed again. But if Lightning wanted to kill herself, then Fang wasn’t going to stop her. The behemoth set himself, roaring and then the blade came down to sunder them. With a grunt, Fang leapt to the side to avoid being sliced apart, instantly retaliating. Grasping the blunt end of the behemoths weapon, Fang vaulted over and launched herself into the air, twisting in mid-air for a moment, and then she came down hard, lance slamming down to pierce the hide of the beast. An excited shout split the air as it lunged to the side, trying to unsettle the woman causing so much pain. “Yeee-haw!”, she yelped, clinging to her lance where it was embedded into the skin, ducking her head slightly to avoid the paw that tried to swipe her off.

There had to be an easier way to deal with this.

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Words:; 709
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Cid/Light
Location:; Dying World
Outfit:; That one?!
Notes:; Finally got this up for you guys mwuaha
Listening To:;[/b] I need a Hero - Bonnie Tyler <-- I blame Kent

[Cid Raines]

Cid would have been fooling himself if he'd expected much more than the short comment that came from Lightning's lips and her retreival of her blade from his hands. His expression remained neutral as he dropped his arm back to his side, studying her. She looked incredibly stressed, though Cid was among the few to be able to notice it, having been around fighting men and women most of his adult life. Nonetheless, though, after she'd taken her weapon back and said nothing else, aside from a comment of warning that seemed to be directed more towards Fang than he himself, she rushed back towards the fight with the behemoth. Cid remained as he stood, facing away from the fight, long enough to release a breath that no one would have mistaken for anything but disappointment.

But a battle was still to be finished this day.

Turning in place and casting his cape off of his arm, Cid faced the beast and its two assailants, mind already calculating the most efficient means of supporting their up-front assault. He started simply, directing a simple raised hand towards the two women and providing them both with a Protect spell to ensure no incidents happened with them so close to the towering dog. His motions became more menacing as he proceeded to tear said dog down with debilitating magic, softening it up for the two aggressive attackers with spells he knew he'd used against them once, as well, to tear them down. The beast's becoming disoriented, however, was a much more satisfying result. Cid held back a moment to readjust to how Fang and Lightning were choosing to attack it, before casting a short stream of Ruin spells that connected with the behemoth's face, effectively blinding it. The fight would not last for long, so long as the beast proved so incapable of handling three foes at once.

Cid shifted himself to the left, finding that his eyes stayed on Lightning's progress for the time his attention was away from actively attacking, despite the fact that Fang was seemingly the one in the most danger. Tempering his attack, he waited patiently until both were out of danger of being hit before he, taking advantage, drilled a Ruin spell towards the creature's legs, putting greater effort into it. The spell detonated at the behemoth's legs, sending it down onto those knees and priming it for either of the two females to finish it. "The killing stroke is yours!", he called to the pair, preparing to step back out of range of the behemoth should it collapse. Knowing the two women that fought before him, the behemoth would indeed be collapsing...and soon. Then Cid would have quite a different battle on his mind...involving the prospect of accompanying a certain pinkette back to the time in which she rightfully belonged.

Words - 511
Muse - Excellent!
Notes - Short for fightyness. [/size]

[Lightning Farron]

Though coldness was a trait Lightning had, and many knew that, the icy stare she’d given off upon seeing the crew sent to save her…it was just uncalled for. At a moment like this though, she didn’t think much of it. There was a behemoth that needed to be put to sleep before it sundered them into the sand they stood above. With her gunblade back in her hand, her will to fight having restored from the small bit of aid she was gaining, Lightning had trudged back into battle of course, there was no way she was going to sit on the sidelines and do nothing. Watching as everything seemed to unfold, laying waste to the behemoth, Lightning couldn’t help but feel the smallest of smirks twitch onto her lips. Fang was just as reckless and wild as ever, launching herself onto the behemoth without a care in the world, I guess that’s why they called her a huntress, she sure as hell couldn’t imagine anyone else doing something so bold, even another Pulsian such as Noel or Vanille.

Back to the battle at hand.

Light could visibly see the creature weakening, whether it was by Fang’s attacks or magic that was wearing it down, making it easier to attack, each attack dealing more damage than the last…it wasn’t going to last much longer. With ruin spells flying past her towards the behemoth, she could at least say that Cid helped aside from plucking her weapon from the ground, how nice. Any help was good help these days as it was, so she wasn’t about to say anything just yet, there was no need to. Instead, watching the monster fall back down from its climax in the fight, Lightning then charged forward. Raines didn’t have to tell her or Fang twice that the killing blow was theirs. The pinkette’s momentum picked up as she closed the gap between herself and the behemoth, gripping her gunblade tightly as she could hear the wails and whines of the monster having been injured by Fang and weakened by Cid. They really were a team. Had Lightning been left to her own devices, it probably would’ve taken her quite a bit longer to wear out this creature without the use of magic…kudos to those who knew how to use it.

Carefully aiming her gunblade at the behemoth and barely closing one eye for better aim, Lightning clicked at the trigger of her weapon, a few shots firing from her more traditional looking gunblade. Bullets hit the behemoth, one square in the face, between the eyes, others in surrounding locations, that seemed to do enough to cause it to weaken even more. It was just about time for this bad boy to be down and out of the game, after all…Lightning had some business to take care of, Cid and Fang weren’t here for nothing, they hadn’t been turned to crystals and woken up here too…it simply wasn’t possible…was it? Oh well, theories later, fight now. Leaping up and into the air, her gunblade raised above her head, Lightning brought all of her weight down on the behemoth’s head, smashing her blade into its skull and gracefully pushing herself up and over from her attack to the land on the ground at the side of the creature. She was balanced pretty perfectly, a bit of a slip due to the sand beneath her feet…but hey, at this rate, one hit from Fang and they’d be done. Turning swiftly to look at her Pulsian friend, all she had to do was say her name. “Fang!”

Cue Fang.

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Words:[/color] 700
Muse:[/color] Good!
Tagged:[/color] Fang, Cid
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] Stuff
Notes:[/color] Trying to stay awake...failing...

[Oerba Yun Fang]

It only took a few seconds of being tossed around like a rag doll for Fang to get sick of that mess. Steadying herself by tucking her legs around the beast and tightening her muscles, she set herself to avoid getting thrown around. Cid’s magic seemed to be doing the trick to getting it not quite so sharp in its actions. Pain filled and injury riddled, the behemoth slowed more and more, becoming more and more sluggish as time went on, and then Fang found her timing. Pushing her feet underneath her, Fang jerked her lance up and jumped off the behemoth, flipping over backwards and landing on her feet, knees bent and one hand steadying herself on the ground. With a quick glance up, she noticed that it did seem to be getting weaker. Soon, as to her experience with hunting these large beasts, they could go in for the kill.

Which Light seemed to be doing right after Cid told them that the kill was theirs. Fang snorted lightly at that but didn’t spare him a glance. The kill was always theirs, they could always finish what they started. Straightening up, Fang twisted her lance in her hand and settled herself down to wait until Lightning had attacked. If she wanted the kill, than she could take it, otherwise Fang would step in. It seemed like a good idea anyway. And Light seemed as able to handle herself as she ever had been, making Fang straighten up a bit more, intense green eyes still watching as Lightning attacked the beast, slamming her gunblade in and piercing the tough outer hide. Well damn, this thing just didn’t want to die, did it. Tough luck, everyone had their time, and this one wasn’t going to last long.

Her name spurred her into action. “Back under yer rock!”, she shouted while she avoided the paws that swept at her. Ducking to the left, Fang sprung herself high into the air. For a few moments time seemed to slow as she whirled in mid-air, her eyes having painted an imaginary target where Light’s blade had pierced moments before. There the hide had already been weakened and she could finish with a killing blow. With a grunt that turned into a near shout, Fang slammed down with her lance embedded into the skull so far it pierced the brain. Jerking her weapon out, she jumped off and tucked in her shoulder, rolling once before she was back on her feet, watching the behemoth slowly crash to the ground, shuddering once and then laying still while sand puffed up and around them a moment, before settling back on the ground.

“Yer sure a hell of a lot a’ trouble Loight. The hell’d ya think ya were doin’, getting’ yerself into this mess?”, she burst out when she turned back to her companion, a grin contradicting her words.

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Words:; 626
Muse:; Great!
Tagged:; Cid, Light
Location:; Dying World
Outfit:; Linked
Notes:; --
Listening To:;[/b] I stand Alone - Godsmack