Strength Of The World [Snow]

[Lightning Farron]

Traveling through the historia crux was a risky move, especially for the Guardian of Etro herself. Lightning was aiming to find Serah and Noel, having watched them from since they began their journey from her seat in Valhalla, she’d watched the battle progress onwards. The complications with Caius, the progression of chaos leaking from Valhalla to the world of Gran Pulse throughout the different time periods…it was becoming a problem. Lightning could feel that the final battle for all of this was coming soon. The twisting feeling was in her stomach, she didn’t like it, and she knew she didn’t have much time to spend away from Valhalla, but she needed to see Serah before it came to be…before they went to face Caius on one front, and Lightning would face him on another. Her movements through the historia crux though…they would not lead her to Serah and Noel at first, she could tell just by the way things had been going, after the few moments she’d been floating through the timeline. Where was it taking her?

As the time gate opened for her, a darker place was revealed, it was full of dark shades of grey, black and blue, and it looked somewhat like a stadium. A coliseum of sorts actually. Frowning slightly, the pinkette took a few steps down a couple of stairs towards the center of the arena, armor being the only thing she could hear as metal rubbed against metal, the creaks from said metal was heard, until a booming echo of a voice spoke, it rang through the entire arena, causing Lightning to start looking around, trying to find where this voice was coming from, but nothing came to her sights. The voice did, and she had to register the words once more to understand that this place really was a coliseum, a place for battle and nothing more than that. “From the farthest reaches of time they come, guided by paradox. Souls, burning for battle, drawn to this arena of blood. Unleash every weapon at your command, and seize victory! Wandering hero of the Void, speak your name!” Stopping in her steps, Lightning stood up straight and held a cold, yet somewhat determined look on her face.

“Tch, you’re kidding me.” She spoke quietly to herself as she took one last glance around her as she was trying to find something, anything. “Lightning Farron.” She spoke even louder, to humor the voice so to speak. It was then the figure of the Arbiter of Time appeared in front of her, causing the pinkette to shift herself around, arms at her sides and ready to summon her gunblade should she need it, of course she figured with this place she’d need it, just maybe not at the moment. “Claire Farron, the Knight of the Goddess, Etro. Now is the time we test your skills, are you truly the chosen one for a goddess such as Etro?” Lightning scowled, hearing her real name made her flinch, as if she’d been stung or burnt. With that scowl still on her face, she took an aimless step backwards and so the side, keeping her eyes on the Arbiter of Time, wondering what it was he was getting at. She was being put to a test? Against who? Or rather…against what?

Watching as the Arbiter of Time shifted around, transforming into a new figure. A four legged being with a giant war axe of sorts, Lightning took another step back, feeling her gunblade materialize in her hand, she stood in her defensive battle stance, her shielded wrist up a little higher than normal as she wanted to protect her face from any sudden attacks that would come her way. As the new form – called Valfodr – started charging at her with his axe raised, Lightning dodged and rolled to the side, getting back on her feet just as fast as it had taken her to drop low to the ground. Running in a half circle around the creature, she aimed her gunblade and let a few bullets fly, hearing them hit the target, but not doing much aside from cause him a slight pause, this was going to be a bit harder than just shooting him down with a few bullets. Skidding to a stop, Light quickly turned back around and started in a new direction, only to be met with the blunt side of the axe to her shield, throwing her back and against the ground pretty hard. With a grunt as she sat up slightly, she scowled more and started mumbling low to herself. “I don’t have time for this.” But the sooner she dealt with this thing…the sooner she could get to Serah and Noel and see them off to their final battle before going to deal with her own against one Caius Ballad.

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

Words:[/color] 914
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Snow!
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] Strength of the world: Avenged Sevenfold
Notes:[/color] I just put this in Valhalla because...I said so.

[Snow Villiers]

Was Snow really in a heated debate with a fish?

"You humans are clearly inferior! You don't have enough arms! How can you grab at all the pretties you want if you have only two arms!?"

....Apparently so. It was better than arguing with Gilgamesh.

From his perch on the "bleachers" of the Coliseum, where his tall form was taking up no less than three rows with him sprawled out as he was, Snow brought a palm up to his face. "That's not even the point!", he spoke enthusiastically, raising a palm at the stupid fish he was having to talk to. What else was he going to do while he was here aside from sit around and talk or fight when there was a chance to fight? And how many people could he really sit around and talk with? The PuPu...squeaked a lot, and Snow didn't talk squeak. Gilgamesh already had a bone to pick with Snow for his interruption while he was making a way-too-long introduction. Typhon....you didn't talk to Typhon and keep your sanity. That left...Ultros. It was a case of picking your poison, but aside from all his talk of "pretties" and general slimy weirdness, he was...well, there wasn't much to him aside from those things. "Humans don't go around grabbing at 'pretties', anyway! I dunno what you fish-people do-"

Ultros slapped one of his tentacles down like a judge with his tiny mallet to object. "I am not fish-people! That is a derogatory term and I will not have it!" Snow shook his head, knowing this was too ridiculous for him to actually get upset with the fish. "Then what even are you?" He thought he could see the fish straightening himself proudly. This was worse than dealing with Barthandelus had ever been... "The correct term is octopi. And we octopi pride ourselves on having more than one pretty! Especially me!" In spite of his wanting to just get up and pretending like this had never happened...Snow had to consider, he could only take a lap around the Coliseum and come back and then he'd have to talk more anyway. So he just shook his head. "Well human women are never gonna want to hang out with a f-"

It wasn't remembering the "proper term" that cause Snow to pause. It was the Arbiter of Time speaking up again to announce that someone new had shown up. Snow turned to see who had been unlucky enough to get stuck out here again, hoping but not counting on it being Serah who'd come back yet again-

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief. No, not Serah...but unless Snow was really going crazy...it was the closest thing.

He stood from his place, looking down towards the center of the area where the new challenger was standing and being introduced. "Lightning?", he said aloud. There was almost no doubt in his mind that it really was her. He could only see her from the back from where he was standing, concealed by the arena's pillars, but...that was Lightning. Her hair, her stance, her stature, everything. "Sis..." he mumbled, under his breath, before it finally dawned on him that the fish was talking again. "Now there is the kind of pretty not seen here before!" Snow turned on the fish with a clear scoff before his attention immediately returned to the pinkette below him whom he'd been searching for all this time - a task which had led him here. "Lightning!", he called loudly, but about the time he did, the Arbiter called for the start of Lightning's fight. Wait...no...he was calling on Valfodr for her? Snow grit his teeth as he saw the large centaur-like combatant step into the arena. He never doubted Lightning with anything...but Valfdor was in a whole different league from most of the fighters here. And heck if Snow was about to let Light get taken down here, of all places, just when Serah was getting close to saving her.

He tried to stay put, knowing he wasn't technically supposed to get involved in someone else's fight, but seeing Lightning hit the ground moved him immediately to act. He let out a light growl, starting to move his way down the bleachers. "Where do you think you're going!? You're not supposed to fight someone else's battle!" Snow didn't even regard the fish as he recklessly jumped his way down, only catching the last few words from Ultros as he landed in the actual battlefield itself. "Bring her to me when you're finished with her!"

...Like that was going to happen.

Snow broke off in a dead run, rushing to where Lightning was still seated on the ground, recovering from the impact of the first shot Valfdor got in. Valfdor was already getting prepared to attack again, and Snow, digging deep for a little extra speed, arrived just about the time Valfdor was going to reach Lightning. With a loud battle cry and a lunge so he didn't crash into Lightning, Snow landed on his feet and set his jaw. There was only one solution this situation called for.

"Steelguard!", he screamed, just before the axe of Lightning's opponent crashed down on them both.

Words - 976
Muse - Excellent!
Outfit - XIII-2
Notes - First official Steelguard of the Kent era.[/size]

[Lightning Farron]

This was a big waste of time. The Histora Crux was just messing with Lightning now. With a grit of her teeth as she watched her opponent change form, the knight simply stood her ground, back straight, gunblade in her hand. To get to Serah, to battle Caius…she needed to get through this battle first. With a deep breath, she let her aqua eyes settle on the tough looking enemy. Sure she was a powerful being, the knight of the goddess bestowed with many blessings from Etro in order to guard her throne…but she wasn’t invincible. Hearing something behind her, a voice or two from the pretty vacant stands, Lightning briefly looked over her shoulder…spotting some odd octopus creature and one Snow Villiers. The hero was here in this fighting arena…of course he was, what better challenger than that self proclaimed hero? There was no time to chit chat though, Lightning needed to move, and having had turned her head, it was giving her a slower time to react, getting hit back and onto the ground, it was a careless mistake, but it wouldn’t be made again.

Watching the oncoming attack, Lightning rolled backwards onto her feet, holding her shield up to block her face, but that infamous battle cry and seeing a lunge from Snow, she rose up a bit from her crouched stance near the ground. Steelguard, of course steelguard, and it was times like this that Lightning actually appreciated Snow and his ability to be a fantastic sentinel. He was the best stealguarder around…as much as she’d hate to admit anything optimistic about that move, but whatever, she wasn’t crushed to death and Snow…well…he was being a hero? That was what he always wanted wasn’t it? With the attack being repelled and sending Valfdor back a few steps, Lightning stood to her full height, jerking her gunblade back as the tip was pointed at the ground, taking a few cautious steps to be on the same plane as Snow, a slight amused smirk on her face as she shot him a small glance, a tilt of her head as well. “Can’t stand to see someone in danger, can you, hero?”

So he’d interfered with her battle, but that didn’t matter. Two fists and a gunblade was better than nothing, was it not? The sooner she got through this the better, that was basically the goal of this, finishing this battle – and anything else that had to go on here – before anything else occurred. As the opponent stood still, Lightning was ready to leap forward for an attack, but the battle had been stopped abruptly. The Arbiter of Time appeared on the coliseum floor once more, a displeased tone to his already…stark tone. “Looks like we’re going to have to rearrange the battle rosters.” He spoke before the Valfdor was dismissed, leaving Lightning one hundred and ten percent confused. “Never ending battles…now have a chance to come to an end, defeat each enemy and they will be set free.” Lightning rose an eyebrow at this, her eyes then looking upon the sight of a cluster of enemies to battle as they formed together. There was…that damn octopus and some odd blue creatures that made chirping sounds, Typhon, Gilgamesh…really if someone wanted it to…the list could continue onwards.

“Saving people left and right. Alright Snow…if you’re up for the fight, it looks like we’re a team now.” She said readying herself again, eyeing each opponent carefully as she stood with a defensive stance, battling through these to save the future and to save the creatures that were trapped here…a two birds with one stone deal? That was good, and Light knew of all things she’d have Snow’s cooperation for…saving people…or…creatures, whatever these things were. No one said it was going to be easy, or…not scarring, at least with Ultros around.

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

Words:[/color] 772
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Snow
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] >>I watched this for muse<<
Notes:[/color] We are reaching the 2 a.m. mark. I AM TIRED.

[Snow Villiers]

There weren't many feelings better than the one Snow got from seeing Valfdor's axe stop against the perimeter of his defensive shell and the huge centaur-thing step back, having to rethink its attack. Yep, nothing could quite match a plain old steelguard in the middle of the fight, especially when the other guy probably thought he had every advantage in his corner. A wide, cocky grin crossing his face as he retracted the spell and rolled his shoulders into a fighting pose, staring down the big bully of a creature before him. The clank of Lightning's boots at his side told him she was fine. He inclined his head towards her slightly at her comment, the grin still there. "Never!", he chimed in, enthusiastically. "Least of all the sister-in-law I've been looking for all this time! Should have guessed you'd be right where the danger is, Light. And you say we're nothing alike..." He gave a slight wink in the eye closest to her.

And it was high-time to start dealing with that danger, which was starting to look sheepish, holding back from a follow-up attack. And, of course, Snow had to take that as an excuse to get a few lines in. "What, you lose your nerve!?" He set his arms in a wide shrug. "Why don't you come over here and try that aga-" Oh. Now Snow could see why Valfdor had stopped. He let his arms drop to his sides slowly as the Arbiter reappeared, looking at Snow like a child who'd been rolling in the mud against his parent's wishes. Okay then...that...probably didn't mean anything good. Snow gave Lightning a partially nervous glance before the Arbiter spoke up.

Oh, so that's how they were going to do this, then. They could end this thing once and for all! Looking across the grounds towards the other warriors gathering, Snow started pumping his fists together. This was more like it! Finally fighting for a purpose. Setting his jaw in anticipation as Lightning spoke up, Snow brought up a flexed fist to confirm he was all-in with this. "You know I'm ready for this. Every minute, every day," he told her, confidently. No, this wasn't going to be easy, but Snow never came close to thinking a fight couldn't be won. After all, he had Lightning with that awesome armor of hers on. What could possibly go wrong here, with the two of them working together? They were stronger than they'd been before, that much they unfortunately knew as the brand on Snow's arm sent a quiet pulse of heat up his arm. L'Cie powers were good for something, after all. "Just like old times, huh sis?", he asked her, hoping this turned out as well as that had in the end.

He stared across at the other fighters, glancing them all in the face aside from Ultros, who was already yelling something about "dibs on the pretty one, and I mean the girl!" That fish was a real charmer. Snow was very much still a proponent of heroes not needing plans, but he'd been here doing nothing but watching these guys fight for weeks now. A little strategy from a guy who knew things could never hurt, could it? "Gilgamesh is gonna be the big problem," he said quietly to Lightning, having stepped a little closer to her. "He can hit us from halfway across the place if we don't keep a check on him. If you can work on chipping down on the other ones, I can keep the big guy busy tryin' to take me down. Just...don't get too close to Ultros, alright?" Not taking the time to see if Lightning actually thought it was a good idea, Snow started taking a few paced steps out from her, looking right at Gilgamesh. "Hey, big guy! Never got a good shot at me after I got in your way, did ya? Looks like now's your chance!"

As the hulk of a fighter started charging towards him, Snow show a glance and a nod over at Lightning before falling into a fighting stance yet again. Oh yeah, they were gonna have this one won!

Words - 775
Muse - Excellente!
Notes - This thread is gonna be amazing. XD [/size]

[Lightning Farron]

Well…if all else fails, just steelguard, right? That seemed to be Snow’s solution to a lot of things, and for once, Lightning was happy to see and hear that familiar attack. She gave a slight roll of her eyes towards the tall blonde as she got in an aggressive stance, looking towards the opponent who had been confused, confused by Snow of all people. How Lightning had resisted to say ‘I’m not your sister’, it was simply amazing, she simply shook her head and watched everything relax for a moment. The arbiter of Time finding himself quite confused and in a bind. Now that Snow had interfered, the rosters needed to be changed up didn’t they? Lightning stood up straight and kept her eyes open, watching the so called leader of this arena, there was definitely something stirring, a big change that was coming to both Snow and Lightning.

Of course Snow had been egging the creature on, but everything was switching up. Their opponent was going to intensify in terms of numbers and Lightning simply felt herself get ready, feeling her muscles tense up as he grip on her gunblade increased. She had definitely battled worse, and solo, but with Snow…she knew that there could be less effort thrown into all of this. It would be just like old times, wouldn’t it? Shooting a glance towards Snow as everything was being explained, Lightning gave him a subtle nod, she was ready for the battle and even though she knew Snow was a total hero, always going out of his way to save someone else…she had to agree, she would enjoy helping out a bit here. Who would want to be trapped here forever? Never to see the light of day again…there was a battle down the road waiting for her, but she was going to settle things here with Snow first, then she could focus on saving the world for and with Serah.

“Hmph, eager as ever.” She commented with a small shift of her stance, taking a short step towards Snow as the gap was somewhat closed so they could converse quietly, a short brief plan…which was almost shocking coming from the hero himself. Especially after he’d exclaimed that heroes never needed plans. Whatever got the job done though. “Alright. I’ll do what I can, just remember…steelguard.” She said with a short brief raise of her fist like Snow used to do during or before battle, something iconic actually, but after that she lowered her hand and took a step away, watching Snow get Gilgamesh’s attention, the big fighter had started barreling towards Snow and that’s when Lightning charged forward to the rest of the ground. Her eyes looking at each of them, sizing them up. Her eyes first went to the fish, Ultros, who seemed to have the scariest of all grins on his face as Lightning was moving towards him. Snow had said to not get too close, that’s when she changed her course, moving towards the blue little creatures that made beeping sounds. Those could be taken care of first…then maybe…Ultros and his pal, and soon she could help Snow with Gilgamesh…so long as he didn’t get himself killed first.

Once close enough towards the little guys, Lightning leaped into the air and twisted herself around, coming down onto the group of blue guys with a blitz and a spin of her gunblade, hearing them beep and squeak as they tried to run at her, to bump into her. What did these creatures remind her of? Oh…that’s right, those damn Ochu seedlings. Good thing there wasn’t an Ochu among all of these fighters, that would be a battle of its own. Flipping backwards, she flicked her wrist and summoned a blast of thundara towards the small cluster, hearing them squeak and watching them move around in circles as if they had no idea what to do. This would be easy…or at least that’s what it was looking like so far. Shooting a glance over her shoulder towards Snow, Lightning was just checking to make sure he could hold his own…she never doubted his skills, especially against someone as silly as Gilgamesh.

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

Words:[/color] 797
Muse:[/color] Great!
Tagged:[/color] Snow
Wearing:[/color] XIII-2 Armor
Listening To:[/color] A movie!
Notes:[/color] Nada!