Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 3, 2012 10:55:10 GMT -5
"Director Estheim, fantastic to see you again."
Hope shook the hand extended out to him merrily before taking his seat on the Academy shuttle, across from the woman to whom the hand belonged to. She was another researcher - in fact, one of the more veteran ones. Judging by the almost smug look that crossed her face as the shuttle started to lift off, her department, which primarily handled the study of portals, had finally come across something worthwhile. "Nice to work with you again, ma'am. We're certain the portal is stable?", Hope asked her, being ever the cautious ones about these things. A few too many reports of people traveling through closing portals and disappearing permanently existed for Hope not to ask. The last thing he wanted was to have the Academy lose people because of a portal snapping shut either on top of them or once they'd disappeared to the other side. "My subordinate has assured me that our device works, at least in theory. We can never be sure if the other side of the portal is still open, but if his measurements are correct, we should have no trouble." He nodded at her. That was all the information they could ever really hope to have on one of these portals.
Only a few minutes before, this woman had contacted Hope about the portal. Over the past several months, Hope had helped her department construct a device that could essentially hold the portals open...at least, that was what it was meant to do. The problem came in actually testing the device, because one could not simply channel fal'Cie magic out of the blue and create one of these portals that had been springing up ever since Cocoon's fall and carrying everything from humans to insects back and forth between worlds. The portals had been such a concern to the wing of the Academy dedicated to research that an entire department had been created to study and handle any issues they presented - damage to the ecosystem, public dangers, and the like. They had actually learned quite a bit about the portals over the last few years, but finding one to study up-close was...well, nearly impossible, really. Either they closed before the device could be used to hold them open or people were sucked through them sporadically. For that very reason, the prospect of having a portal basically within the Academy's grasp was why Hope had been called, and why he'd instantly agreed to head out to see it for himself. Truth be told, he had plans to head through the portal and actually had a military squad headed to the portal, as well...but this woman didn't need to know that. Yet.
"We were surprised it was actually your friend who discovered the portal in the first place. I must say, Director Estheim, that I was wrong about all of the l'Cie before the fall of Cocoon." Hope turned back to her and quirked an eyebrow. "My friend?", he repeated. The woman seemed a little surprised. "Yes. You are close with Oerba Dia Vanille, are y-" "Vanille found it?", Hope blurted out, which the woman clearly was not used to from him. Normally, he would have heard the good news from Vanille herself, but...he'd been in a conference meeting most of the morning and had his cell phone off. Therein lied his surprise at hearing her name. The researcher looked almost concerned for a moment before speaking. "I thought you were aware. Is there any issue?" Hope waved her off. "Ah, no, nothing at all. I was in a meeting when your department first heard the report about it, so I know very little about the circumstances of the find."
Hope looked down at the floor of the shuttle, clearly pondering something. Perhaps Vanille was still at the portal. "Do you know if she's still at the site?", he asked, causing the woman to adjust her glasses to look at the datapad in her hand. "The find occurred rather early, but I would imagine she's either still there or has returned sometime since my subordinates were made aware of your coming. Though...I can't guarantee they did not ask her to leave the premises." Hope had to smirk a little at that. If Vanille wanted to do something, she'd do it, no matter how many times the researchers tried to drag her away from it. He didn't answer, only looked out the window of the shuttle and set into waiting for their arrival with his hand propped on his chin. Good work, Vanille.
The rest of the trip only took a handful more minutes, since the portal was located only a short ways outside Academia. Hope peered down towards the ground, able to see the portal but not much else around it. Too much glare. As the pilot rested the shuttle a short distance away, Hope stood and moved towards the exit, with the woman chattering pridefully about the situation. He didn't hear much of what she said, though - he was merely interested in finding Vanille and tossing as much praise on her for the find as he could come up with. The woman exited first, stumbling as she hit the dirt (being extremely overdressed), and Hope stepped down after her, his eyes scanning the area for his friend. He could see about three researchers hovering around the portal, plus about four soldiers - probably the ones Hope had asked for. Both very good sights to see...
But where was Vanille?
Words - 991 Tagged - Vanille! Muse - Excellent Place - For now, outside of Academia Outfit - Uniform Notes - I don't know what this is. [/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on May 3, 2012 22:44:35 GMT -5
Vanille hadn’t changed much in the past few years to be quite honest. She had matured some, yes, but still she had that bubbly and very optimistic attitude no matter what. She was happy as could be, even if she was surrounded by a much different Gran Pulse than the one she had grown up on. It was nice to not have any sort of focus looming over your shoulders, to not have to lie about anything and everything to save yourself and simply draw people into deeper waters when an issue was rising. These days Vanille just did what she could around Academia and took the occasional trip across Pulse to see what others were up to. She enjoyed visiting New Bodhum, it was pretty there, and of course she would make constant trips to Oerba, and of course she decided it was probably best to let her pet sheep enjoy life at the Archylte steppe, so she visited the Font of Namvra from time to time to check on her giant fluffy sheep friend, Bobbito. There just wasn’t enough time to do everything!
Now was the time to make a trip back to Academia, to see Hope of course. She wasn’t about to tackle him into the middle of the street this time though, a shame really, since she probably would’ve if she didn’t restrain herself very well. Oh well, she’d be happy and excited to see Hope again, want to hear everything he’d been up to and blah blah blah. She’d be sure to fill him in on everything she had seen so far. How big Bobbito had gotten and how he was unable to follow her on her trips because he waddled too slow. Anyways, there’d be a lot to talk about, except…that would probably have to wait. On her way back, just on the outskirts of the city, Vanille had spotted something she’d recognized, she knew people were curious about the portals and what not, so when she spotted one, who came to mind? Well, Hope of course! He was very scientific and stuff, good with research and pretty much taking good care of the Academy, he should be the first one to know about this random lingering portal.
The bubbly red head did her best to try and contact Hope, but when she called, nothing had happened. He didn’t answer, and when she had called someone within the Academy walls, they stated he was in some sort of meeting and that some researchers would be sent out. She wanted Hope informed immediately though, so of course, stubborn and cute as they come, Vanille stayed around the site for a little bit. She’d paced around a few times, wandered here and there, looking at the portals from all angles and even tried to speak with one of the researchers, asking his opinion about it. They seemed far too occupied with their gawking to pay her any attention. How boring. She would be able to tell when Hope would arrive…if he came down here, if someone told him like she had requested, but whatever, she could trot off a little ways away for a wee little bit, not like anything interesting was going to happen until Hope got here anyways.
After a little bit of time wandering, Vanille had gotten distracted by a pretty looking group of butterflies flying around some nearby flowers. The same ones that had surrounded Oerba those many years ago, they of course drew her attention and she sat on a nearby stone to gaze at them. With her hands in her lap she smiled, enjoying nature like she always did before reaching out and picking one of the small flowers from its stem and looking at it close up. It really was the same as Oerba, and it brought back many great memories. How her village used to be swarmed with these things, green grass and chocobos surrounding the town…it truly was beautiful, but now…all that laid there was the aftermath of Cocoon resting above it, all that crystal sand hadn’t gone away, it was still there, and nothing had changed.
Hearing a sound from a distance, Vanille perked up a bit, looking across back towards the portal she had come across, back towards those boring researchers. There was some sort of hustle and bustle, was this the arrival of Hope? Most likely. Gently tossing the flower to the ground, Vanille rose to her feet and flung her curly locks back behind her shoulders, not having them in pigtails…it was more mature wasn’t it? Brushing off her shirt and trotting back towards the portal site, she spotted the silver haired man right away and carefully toned down her skipping trots to simple steps. Not wanting to make herself look like a fool in front of his…colleagues? With a smile on her face as she approached him from the side, her hands clasped together, she finally spoke up, her accented voice still causing heads to turn in her direction, she really was an outsider, even now. Oh well! “Glad you could make it! I figured you’d want to know about this portal I spotted right away.” She chimed in that happy tone of hers as her eyes were fixed on the swirling mass rather than the man beside her. Turning her gaze to him though, she smiled and folded her arms. “What’s next for the portal, Director?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 1019 Muse:[/color] Great! Tagged:[/color] Hope <3 Wearing:[/color] >> Click here cuz I changed her outfit!<< Listening To:[/color] Stuff! Notes:[/color] Hope this was okay :3
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 5, 2012 10:44:34 GMT -5
Hope took the moment that Vanille evaded his gaze to check his cell phone for any messages or missed calls from her, but his concern that she had left the premises was quickly cast aside when he raised his head and saw her approaching him. Though he'd seen her only a day or two before, he always felt filled with a little boyish excitement every time he got to see her. A wide grin crossed his face as she started speaking, and while Hope well knew that Academy members such as the female researcher were probably looking for all manner of excuses to discredit their director as a mere boy, he could not help but break down the professional facade and pull Vanille into a tight hug, almost lifting her off the ground. "No need to be so official about it. If they had told be earlier that you were the one that made the find, I would have fled from my meeting to come out here. No doubt that would have gone over really well with the Academy board," he told her, happily, before he let her go. He added a laugh. "I should have hired you as a field researcher ages ago." Hope didn't add because you've done more than the entire portal research team has done, since he could still sense the woman standing within earshot, but he could express all that to Vanille later. He was pretty sure she got the point that he was really happy about the situation.
Well, now that everyone was staring at the two of them, Hope could move on. Hope turned from Vanille to the portal, motioning for her to come along as he inspected it further. The head of portal research fell in beside Hope again. "Director, are these soldiers here on your orders? We hadn't requested any ourselves." Hope nodded to her, but kept his gaze on the portal. "Yes I did. Best to be safe for the time being, even if we believe we have full control over the portal." He could already feel the vacuum from the portal pulling at him lightly, even though they were still several yards away from it. The researchers standing closer to it were experiencing even more excitement, with their ties attempting to break loose from their collars and the lone woman having to hold down her skirt. Hope moved up to stand beside them, his own tie attempting an escape once he was close enough. "Have you found out anything more about the portal?"
One of the three researchers, a relatively tall man, shook his head, but didn't turn. "Not a thing, Director. Some sort of interference on the other side is keeping us from making any sort of decent readings. We're essentially blind right now," the man informed him, in a disappointed tone. "What kind of interference?", Hope asked. The man finally looked at him, then at Vanille. "Magical. It's not fal'Cie magic, either. All of our measurements have been completely off the radar or completely fucked up, if you'll excuse such a technical term." Hope thought he may have rolled his eyes a little as he cut his gaze to Vanille, but once he took in her face, he realized something he needed to do. He cast a knowing look upon her before taking another couple of steps closer to the portal, weighing the dangers against the opportunities. The opportunities were far greater.
He turned to the researchers. "Then I'm going through the portal myself," Hope announced to them, matter-of-factly. "And if she'd like, Vanille is coming with me." It had been far too long since the two of them had really experienced an...adventure together. Hope had probably been a little too dedicated to his job lately...and he kind of needed to break loose for a bit. Plus, he'd been wanting to spend more time with his friends lately, now that he only had a few of them left with even Serah having disappeared, and Vanille had been the person at the very top of his list of friends - for obvious reasons. Hope gazed at her a moment before brushing off his colleagues' concerns. "The soldiers will be coming along, as well, and we'll be taking every precaution. You forget, Vanille and I once fought fal'Cie and won," he told them, in good humor.
As the soldiers overheard the situation, they came over to stand a little closer and prepare for orders. Hope held up his hand to them before extending it to Vanille, if she so chose to take it, and shrugged a little. "I decided we were a little starved for some excitement."
Words - 855 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Kind of wonky, but should suffice. [/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on May 7, 2012 0:00:07 GMT -5
Being a bit tamed wasn’t too hard. Vanille could easily keep herself from running and tackling Hope to the ground like she had during her first trip through Academia, besides, he was around colleagues, so this was obviously not the time or place to let her spirited attitude let loose and show the entire world. With a very chipper smile as she had wandered her way over towards Hope, she had started speaking, that bright tone in her voice that really did separate her from just about everyone else – except maybe Fang – and of course she was happy for the tight-almost-lifted-off-the-ground-hug. She couldn’t help but smile wider and have a few light sounding laughs escape her lips, instead of the all mighty squeaks that usually were heard. “Wouldn’t want to interrupt your important work, Hope, things like this can wait.” She added optimistically with a small shrug after having been let go. She knew things with Academia were important, as were the portals, but she was in no position to bug him whatsoever when he was busy. “Ha, I don’t think I would make a good researcher…the…little things tend to be a bit distracting.”
Trailing behind Hope as he went to go talk to think person and that, Vanille kept her bright emerald eyes on the portal. It’s amazing features, everything about it was quite alluring to someone so curious and so child-like, but she knew well to stay away from them if they appeared. She’d been through one before, it was an okay trip, but not knowing if you’d ever come back was the part that scared her the most. Tilting her head to the side and folding her arms as she half listened to everything that was being said, Vanille tried to look as if she were paying attention, but like she had said to Hope, it was the little things that tended to be a bit distracting. When the words of interference came to her ears, Vanille drew her attention to the researcher, listening even more than she had been before, her own mind working trying to think of something that could provide any bit of information, but aside from the Fal’Cie, no sort of magical beings or sources came to mind. Hmm, a lost cause to her, but it was certainly interesting, she turned her gaze to Hope, remaining silent to see what it was he would say.
With the idea of Hope going through the portal, Vanille – along with what seemed like everyone around her – had a somewhat surprised look on her face, of course when she was mentioned, Vanille brightened up and stepped forward, almost feeling important on the matter, but really, she’d just be tagging along, maybe giving her two cents every now and then and being more of an observer than a researcher. If something on the other side was causing problems, what better two people to take care of it then two who had successfully taken out a fal’cie, actually, multiple fal’cie. “Sounds like…fun!” She chimed in her small comment between whispered worries and concerned looking researchers and soldiers to match. At least the soldiers were coming with, for the sake of saving some other people from having a heart attack, but Hope had brought up the fal’cie thing, hopefully that would ease some nerves, knowing Hope was far from a helpless little boy anymore.
With everyone silencing themselves, seeing that Hope was absolutely serious about all of this, there were no objections to be made. Vanille, well, of course she stepped forward, orange curls bounding against her shoulders as she did so, taking Hope’s hand, she wanted to leap forward into another adventure, she loved the excitement it all brought, this was just a golden opportunity for both of them to take. Not only would it give Hope some time away from Academia, it would well…it would feel sort of like the good old days, but having soldiers help you, rather than try to shoot you in the back. “You have no idea. Let’s get going! The excitement awaits, and I am due for a bit of excitement. As amazing as Gran Pulse is, things were getting pretty dull.” Vanille whispered that last part, as if she were going to offend someone around her, or the planet itself, but the smile on her face assured just about anyone that she was thrilled to be tagging along for whatever purpose this would bring. Luckily she was a fantastic mage, and just as she used to wear it, there was her binding rod clipped to the back of her shorts, should something go wrong of course. They would be just fine, no one would have to worry. “Do you have any ideas or expectations of what to see on the other side?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 916 Muse:[/color] Great! Tagged:[/color] Hope! Wearing:[/color] >> Click<< Listening To:[/color] Nothing Notes:[/color] Yay!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 10, 2012 18:05:54 GMT -5
"That's exactly why you'd be a good researcher," Hope responded warmly, at Vanille's comment about "the little things." Vanille had always been a curious person, this Hope knew, and as long as she kept her focus Hope didn't doubt that she could generally do anything. But...he's always believed that, it wasn't a revelation he'd only had after her discovery of this portal. He was pretty sure she didn't want anything to do with staying cooped up at the Academy, though, so he'd never actually mentioned to her that she could have a job there, only let her know he could find her a place if she ever needed it. It wasn't favoritism or anything of the like...he thought she'd do just fine with whatever she set out to do. But...he probably had a biased opinion of that...and regardless, none of that mattered now anyway. They had a portal to explore, didn't they? And if nothing else, Hope would make sure no one threw a fit about he nor Vanille stepping through to see what the other side of this portal offered.
He could still hear a few mumbled complaints from the researchers about the dangers, but ultimately Hope didn't pursue them nor did they voice them loud enough to have him know what they were saying anyway. Okay, so that was settled relatively easily. Hope knew the dangers and the risk of wandering into another world, but Vanille herself had been through a portal before and hadn't had any trouble. In fact, those who returned to tell their tales of what lied beyond the portals typically found the other worlds to be pleasant, and in many cases, not at all unlike Gran Pulse. The two of them were both more than prepared for any unsuspected trouble they'd find anyway. Smart, tough...what more could he ask for in a traveling partner? Hope may have been on a high for the day, but rationality still prevailed. They were going to head through the portal, and if the researchers lacked the motivation to follow along behind them, then they would have to sit by jealously as Hope detailed his report. He didn't mean it to be boastful, but it would actually be nice for people not to worry so much about Bartholomew Estheim's son for a change. Did that mean Hope wasn't using the best judgment? Well...he didn't think so. And if Vanille had ever taught him anything back when they were both l'Cie, it was that he needed to reach out and grab things more often. Diving through a portal to who-knows-where? Yes, that was reaching out and grabbing things.
Speaking of, Hope clasped Vanille's hand and trotted off a little closer to the portal, squinting into its light. "Right," Hope said to her, before turning his gaze slightly in her direction with a hopeful look. "And wouldn't it be nice to have the names 'Hope Estheim' and 'Oerba Dia Vanille' beside a new discovery?" His eyes returned to the ominous portal. With a rotating motion of his hand, Hope directed for the troops to stack up a little closer to them, which they moved to do eagerly. He could hear them whispering amongst each other. They were equal parts excited and wary as well.
Expectations...Hope wished he had some of those, but like the researcher had said...they were flying into this one completely blind. Which was why Hope and the discoverer of this portal needed to see it for themselves. Who else had experience like they did with the dangers of the world? Aside from Fang, of course. Boy...she was going to kill Hope if he let anything happen to Vanille. Of course...there was more chance of something happening to him than to Vanille anyway. The thought made him smile a little before he answered. "Not in the slightest," came his oh-so-scientific, and extremely honest, answer to her question.
"We'll go in first," Hope announced to the soldiers, before turning and taking in Vanille's face. "Ready?" With a few slow steps, he led the way towards the portal, feeling it pulling more...and more...and more, until he didn't think he could hold his ground anymore...and then, he let it pull him in, still holding to Vanille's hand as best he could.
Words - 795 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Not the greatest post ever, but it should be okay. :3[/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on May 11, 2012 16:17:40 GMT -5
Now that she thought about it, Vanille wouldn’t mind exploring, but would that be the same thing as researching? Well, keeping her attention on one thing for far too long would simply bore her, it was her natural curiosity that had really brought her to this portal right outside Academia, talk about a good find on her part. Still, she could never be a researcher, given orders and have to fulfill them on someone else’s schedule, though she was sure within the Academy and with Hope being the head hancho of everything around here, well it wouldn’t be much of an issue. She wasn’t going to take advantage of that though, besides, she enjoyed being able to run around wherever she pleased and explore whatever she wanted to on her own time, that was the beauty of Gran Pulse, even if it was slowly starting to fade away, it was still home, still far better than Cocoon in her eyes, and so far, things were definitely going in the right track, no fal’cie rules, no worries.
Staring at the portal and feeling more excited than she had a few moments ago upon arriving here after Hope arrived. She was ready to get going, to explore, it was something she thoroughly enjoyed as it was, so seeing a new place would be all the more exciting than silly Gran Pulse, a place she knew like the back of her hand. Discoveries, that’s what she wanted, something new and of course a name to a discovery would be nice, but the fame in that didn’t mean much to someone like Vanille. “It’d be nice, hopefully we find something worthwhile, something that’ll make for great stories!” She encouraged before everyone seemed to be on edge about going. People would be nervous, even Vanille got butterflies in her stomach at the thought of falling and twisting through one of these portals again, she remembered how heights didn’t go well with her, like in Eden when the entire gang jumped off a ledge with some device that Lightning had given them…Vanille was the least graceful of them all when it came to something like that, hopefully this went better than that had, otherwise Hope had better start laughing at her now.
With a small laugh through her lips, Vanille nodded once, no expectations for the other side, that was perfectly fine, at least no one would get their hopes up. “Same here, we’ll find something though. I’m ready to go, no sense in waiting around.” She shrugged a bit before having moved towards the portal with Hope, feeling the portal and its usual breezy wind that would pull them in closer. Once close enough, Vanille was swept off her feet and into the portal, and that feeling of freefalling fell into the pit of her stomach, giving her a rush of dizziness for her head but all and all, it wasn’t that bad, she knew what to expect so she could brace herself for that, the impact on the other side though, no one could get used to that.
On the other side of the portal, Vanille hit the ground with a small thud as she landed on her bum, her hand had slipped from Hope’s through the portal during the moment of wind that had sort of pushed people around from time to time, but the other side didn’t have any bloodthirsty monsters waiting for them, so that was a good sign. Rubbing her eyes for a moment, Vanille spotted grass, some small cliff-looking structures, some sand and dirt, and water. It looked similar to pulse, but less wild. Getting up to her feet and brushing off her clothes, Vanille placed her hands on her hips and turned in a complete circle, eyeing the entire area and not seeing much of anything interesting, aside from some gate looking thing, it was pink or red in color, like some sort of glyph was on it, that would be something interesting to check out, right? Pointing towards it, Vanille spoke clearly. “See that, Hope?! I think that’s something worth checking out, don’t you? Might be…neat, sure looks like it!” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 794 Muse:[/color] Great! Tagged:[/color] Hope Wearing:[/color] Already linked. Listening To:[/color] Legends of the Frost Notes:[/color] This works, right?
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 16, 2012 13:17:24 GMT -5
The feelings Hope experienced inside the portal were...indescribable. He couldn't see anything around him nor could he feel anything once he lost his grip on Vanille's hand, but he also couldn't register the fact that he was in motion, somehow. He...didn't want to try to explain this scientifically. These portals could simply have 'fal'Cie magic' assigned as the excuse for them, at least for this research mission. Judging the current circumstances would be...impossible. Hope stopped wondering about the inside of the portal and continued along for the ride until he felt normal gravity take hold of him yet again, and he moved his arms to catch himself once the ground came into view. He emerged from the portal, hit the ground and rolled over himself before stopping and sitting up. Vanille sat nearby, perfectly intact. So far, so good.
Hope pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself off, but the bit of dirt on his uniform was the least of his interests. What Hope found around him was a world not at all unlike Gran Pulse, complete with open, grassy spaces, watering holes, and a handful of rock formations jutting across the landscape. His initial reaction had been to believe that they were indeed on Pulse, but he could tell by the feel of the climate that this place shared little in common with Pulse's usual heat and humidity. In fact, it felt pretty pleasant. The other hint that they were no longer on Gran Pulse? The object Vanille spotted not too far away from them. Hope turned to step up to Vanille and gaze at it, only pausing long enough to watch the soldiers fall through the portal after them. He stopped beside his smaller companion, raising a thoughtful hand to his chin as he inspected the odd...entity. It appeared to be some sort of glowing glyph set inside what reminded Hope of a gate. Not a time gate - no, far from it - but instead...a passageway to somewhere. Perhaps only on to the next part of land that waited beyond the rocks? Hope couldn't be sure about that just yet, but he knew that, by the look of things, that was their only way to continue their exploration - the area they currently stood in only stretched on for a few thousand yards before rocks and wide-open water barred the rest of the way. He turned his gaze down to Vanille. "I'm with you. I've never come across anything quite like this," he told her, with a slight shake of his head, before turning to the soldiers who were as curious about the landscape as Hope and Vanille were.
"Vanille and I are going to continue on with the exploring, but we probably need to leave two guards for the portal and to mark our entrance point." Two of the soldiers instantly volunteered themselves with a salute. Hope nodded to them. "I have my doubts that our radios will work here, but everyone keep your trackers and heartbeat monitors on. They seem to still be reliable," Hope said to a chorus of yes sirs, remembering Vanille and taking one of the small devices out of one of his pouches. "You'll be needing one of these too...though let's try to avoid being separated." He moved to help strap it around her arm so she wouldn't have to fight it with one hand. Once he'd finished that, he peered at the soldiers again. "Everyone keep a watch on heartbeats. They may be our only warning to danger or attacks." He didn't bother to mention that a heartbeat that ceased would be a genuine reason to try and regroup. Everyone in the party knew that would be the case.
Turning back to look between Vanille and the gate, Hope took in another breath. "Jumping into an unknown yet again," Hope said, with a slight scratch at his head. "Let's hope this goes as well as the first time." Leading the way towards the strange gate, Hope eased his way up to it and exchanged one glance with Vanille before he reached a hand out towards it. A bright flash of light brought an arm up to shield his face, but there was no real sensation of any kind. Well...aside from the dull reddish or pinkish light that filled Hope's eyes. He brought the arm down to peer at the source of the light...and his jaw would have dropped if he hadn't held it in place. "Vanille, this...this is..." He turned to make sure she was still beside him before he continued, eyes as wide as saucers. "This is Orphan's Cradle."
Words - 853 Muse - Excellent! Location - Orphan's Cradle (Dissidia) Notes - Bam? [/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on May 23, 2012 8:19:31 GMT -5
Perhaps being a researcher wouldn’t be a bad idea for Vanille. She was quite curious as it was, and loved exploring, but having restrictions and what not wasn’t something she was keen about, call her a temporary researcher on this little journey through the portal. With a curious look on her face, she gazed at the gate with the glowing glyph on it, she had seen many things in her time, but nothing like this before. Tapping a finger against her chin, she tilted her head a bit, looking at the glyph some more, noticing a bit of a pattern on it, but nothing recognizable, this really was a different place, and she wondered if these gates would be like portals. Or maybe just lead them to another gate on this world since there were great rocky features that seemed to block out some areas. “Hm, looks interesting enough though.” She commented briefly figuring that they’d be taking an even closer look, after all, that’s what they came for, to explore and investigate the other side of the portal.
Just as Vanille had suspected, they were going to continue exploring which she had no problem with. With a smile on her face, she stayed quiet as Hope addressed the soldiers that had tagged along with them, having two stay behind was probably wise, just so they didn’t lose the location of where their portal had let them out. When Hope had turned to her and started getting a device around her arm, she looked at it for a moment. She didn’t ask about it, feeling it was a fairly simple device to monitor heartbeats, pretty nifty in her eyes, but she doubted they’d get separated. “Alright, I think we’re all ready to go!” She smiled happily as she took a step towards the gate, her curiosity drawing her in, she wanted to know what was on the other side, just as she wanted to know what was on the other side of the portal, this was going to be fun, this exploring thing. She liked it, and was glad she got to hang around Hope even more these days, she enjoyed spending time with him no matter what the situation was, it’d been that way from the get-go.
“Oh I’m sure it will! As Fang would say, we have lady luck on our side! …except with more accent than mine.” Vanille shrugged as she gazed up at Hope encouragingly, wanting to get going and see what this gate did, where it led, and what new things they’d find on the other side of this new portal-like object. As Hope had taken the liberty to reach forward, Vanille shielded her eyes from the bright light, it changed the scenery and left a pink hue to just about everything, causing Vanille to become even more curious as to where they were. When the brightness was gone, she opened her eyes and lowered her arm only to blink and be hit with an extreme amount of déjà vu. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, but she knew this place just as Hope did. Orphan’s Cradle. It looked unscathed, just the same as she remembered it. Pink and white, floating things all around them, she almost expected Eden to come out and start leading them through teleportation devices to take on various cieth and other battles to go face Dysley one last time, followed by Orphan. All the memories flooded back to her mind, remembering everything and feeling as if this was a big repeat of the end.
Looking around for a moment, her silence had started to even scare herself. Taking a hand, Vanille rubbed her eyes before blinking, trying to see if this was real, but Hope had spoken, assuring her that this was indeed Orphan’s Cradle. “How can we…how is this possible? Did something happen? What did that gate do…?” she spoke the last bit a little quieter and more to herself as she pressed a hand to her chin, taking a few steps and looking around, not seeing any cie’th, so that was good, not everything about this place was the same, there were no monsters lurking about, no fal’cie to guide them…but this was still so very odd. Hearing a familiar sound though, Vanille turned around to see a figure she recognized, a pink looking figure with completely white eyes. The only word the redhead could muster as she looked at a odd form of her former friend, was “Lightning?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 857 Muse:[/color] Great! Tagged:[/color] Hope! Wearing:[/color]Already linked. Listening To:[/color] Nothing Notes:[/color] Bring on the manikins!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 24, 2012 11:38:29 GMT -5
Hope had been taught and trained to prepare himself for the unexpected as a researcher in a world that was already dominated by such oddities as portals, time gates, and paradoxes. But seeing the familiar, shifting pathways of Orphan's Cradle around him caused Hope to just stop and stare at it in awe. This...shouldn't have been possible. Nothing at all could have made this possible, unless Hope and Vanille had somehow been transported...through time? Unlikely...but Hope didn't actually know. Guesses were as easy to come by right now as breaths. Hope normally would have been immensely concerned being in a place that had proven itself to be so dangerous the last time they were here, but he saw nothing - no Cie'th, no creatures, not even any godly guides to show them away. It was just Hope and Vanille, alone, in Eden's ever-shifting belly. Hope glanced over at his smaller friend at her words, only able to shake his head at her. He had none of the answers this time. "It seems so...serene," Hope chose to comment quietly, turning his eyes up to the "roof" above them. "As if it's...empty." Hope...didn't know quite how to say it. It didn't feel...as alive as before. Everything seemed more systematic and mechanical. He could have merely been imagining things...but there was no doubt in his mind, Orphan's Cradle was...different from last time.
Nothing assured Hope of that more than to hear Vanille speaking behind him, saying the name of a person Hope had believed to be...so far away from them, even now. Hope turned to see Vanille's back to him, and another form on beyond her. Pink hair. "Wh-" Hope couldn't even form a word, as he wandered his way towards Vanille, entranced. He stopped behind the Pulsian, his mouth partially agape as he studied the form of the woman who stood before them now. The uniform...the hair...the posture. All Lightning. But the eyes? And the way she wouldn't quite come into focus? That...wasn't the Lightning Hope knew. "Lightning, is that..." Hope started, taking an uneasy step closer to her. What had happened to her? Was it something about this strange...form of Orphan's Cradle? Was she caught in time somehow? "Are you...alright? We've been searching-" Hope found himself cut off with the familiar sound of Lightning unsheathing her gunblade, holding it diagonally to her body like she always had. He stopped his advance towards her, instead holding an arm up in front of Vanille with some sense of confused protectiveness. Still he kept his gaze on Lightning, complete confusion evident on every feature.
And then, the voice.
"Anyone who gets in my way's a target."
He heard Lightning in there...somewhere. Somewhere underneath the...grating sound of her voice. The words...Hope had heard his pink-haired friend say them before. But not with...that much malice or such a monstrous sound. Hope backed his way up to Vanille, knitting his eyebrows as he stared at this...he didn't know what. It wasn't Lightning...he knew that much. What else gave him that clue?
Another Lightning, as dead-eyed and distorted as the first, emerged from a distant platform. Hope shared a glance with Vanille as it stepped into place, matching the stance - and the quote - of the first "Lightning." They were about to have a fight on their hands with an enemy they didn't understand that could play with their minds. "Vanille...stay close," Hope said for the sake of having something to say, just before the two "Lightnings" started to rush them, gunblades poised to strike. Hope raised his boomerang up defensively to his chest, praying that all those times he'd studied Lightning's fighting styles while they'd been traveling together would pay off.
Putting his back against Vanille's, Hope covered her back and unleashed a Fira spell in the direction of the approaching Lightning, unsurprised to see her merely leap over it with grace only the former Guardian Corpswoman could manage. Hope was ready for the move, though, and his boomerang was already up in the air to cut the "Lightning" down before she could land. The maneuver worked, catching the "Lightning" in mid-air at the knee and knocking her off balance. Hope would have made sure to follow up with a quick Aero spell to further disorient her, but had to immediately go into a defensive stance, casting Protect and Aero over himself and Vanille, to defend against a Ruin spell that was sent their way. The magical barrier withstood the attack...but such a quick recovery from his first attack? Whatever this thing was...it would have made the real Lightning proud. Hope took in a breath, and prepared for another rush. "Vanille? Are you still with me?"
Words - 874 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Thought one more might do our hearts good. [/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on May 29, 2012 0:55:35 GMT -5
This was all too weird to believe. Vanille was sure that Orphan’s Cradle shouldn’t exist anymore…there was no Orphan, she almost expected things to turn downhill from here, but Hope was right, it seemed…empty, which was strange. Last time Vanille had seen this place, it was crawling with cie’th and other creatures that proved to be a challenge along the way to face Barthandules one last time, still…it was far too quiet to expect a huge battle. “It looks like Orphan’s Cradle…but…it sure doesn’t seem the real deal-“ her thoughts were cut off at the sight of a figure that looked so close to Lightning, it caused Vanille to lose words, but simply say the woman’s name, her eyes just as confused as her expression was. She wasn’t sure to trust this thing, whatever it was. It looked too much like Lightning, but the eyes was what drew away Vanille’s trust, it didn’t speak, and instantly she wanted to reach back for her binding rod.
When Hope stepped up behind her, Vanille still remained just as silent as she had been for the past few moments, her eyes never leaving the Lightning form as she watched it, standing in that stance that Light always stood in while battling the various creatures that both Pulse and Cocoon had to offer. She wished the pinkette would truly show herself, but this was nothing than a replica, Vanille knew that, and she glanced over her shoulder slightly, hoping that Hope would realize the same thing she had, this was not the Lightning they knew and trusted, this was a copy, and not a friendly one by the looks of it. With Hope talking towards the copy, Vanille watched him hesitantly pass her. Hearing the gunblade be unsheathed and watching as he put a protective arm in front of her, Vanille shook her head, a sorrowful look on her face as she quietly spoke up. “I…don’t think that’s Lightning.”
The voice confirmed that. This was not Lightning, this was a dangerous form of her, nothing like Vanille had ever seen, or even imagined in her lifetime. She couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the real Lightning. Was this a cause for her disappearance? Vanille prayed not, she wanted her friend to be safe, they all did, the entire gang wanted her to be alive and well and wanted to bring her home…this was not the one they wanted to take home to Serah. Shaking her head slightly at the Lightning, it was then the sight of another one came into view. Orphan’s Cradle had changed dramatically, she never recalled any copies showing themselves here before, this wasn’t the place they had been some time ago, this was a different realm, it had to be, there was no other explanation, but Vanille had the weird feeling that things were going to get ugly really fast. Sharing a glance with Hope, she plucked her binding rod from its resting place on her lower back, watching it fold out as she gripped it with two hands. Just like old times, hm? Of course…she didn’t like these memories, the fighting, especially against a form that you knew as one of your allies.
Back to back with Hope, Vanille kept her eyes on the closest Lightning form to her, watching it as she leaped from platform to platform, making her way towards Vanille. Now, the red headed Pulsian was more for using magic, but there wasn’t anything in the rule book that she just had to carry around this binding rod for show. A determined look crossed her face as she took a small step away from Hope, moving her binding rod up, almost hearing Fang’s voice in her head ‘Vanille, go fish!’ and that brought a more determined look to her face, yet a smile lingered there as well as she whipped her binding rod around, the strings flying from it towards the Lightning form, wrapping around the manikin’s limbs and waist, “Yep! Still here!” She chimed happily before flinging her binding rod to a quick right, sending the second manikin into the first, knocking them down as one was coming for a rush. “Feels like old times, doesn’t it?” With that, Vanille focused on the two imposters, casting poison on them and deshell, that would help for magical attacks, now was the time to bombard them with everything they had. Though this may have been a copy of Lightning, not even the former soldier was invincible, everyone had to fall at some point or another. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 868 Muse:[/color] Great~! Tagged:[/color] Hope! Wearing:[/color] Already linked. Listening To:[/color] Avengers Score >> Notes:[/color] None!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on May 31, 2012 6:47:55 GMT -5
For all the amazing, inexplicable things Hope had seen and witnessed today, the existence of these...these "Lightning copies" was the one he most wanted to explain. Why and how did they exist? Why were they in this...near-replica of Orphan's Cradle? Were the fal'Cie responsible for them, and for the odd gate that had seemingly teleported him and Vanille here, just as the fal'Cie were responsible for the portal phenomena? Hope didn't have the answers to those questions and doubted he'd be able to get them, since these two imposters were clearly going to attack him and Vanille. But Hope's mind raced nonetheless with theories and possible explanations. None of them made any remote sense whatsoever, and that fact bothered him greatly. So Hope simply cleared his mind, knowing he'd be too distracted to be any worth to Vanille if he was devoting half of his energy to thinking during the fight, and prepared to fight these "Lightnings" to the best of his ability.
As expected, they were nothing if not good matches for the real Lightning in battle, even if they lacked all the other facets that made her who she was. Fighting didn't compose the measure of a person, and whatever had created these copies clearly didn't understand that. Nodding with a affirmative "Okay." when he heard Vanille chime in, clearly no worse for wear, Hope prepared to unleash another onslaught of magic at the charging, false form before the other one, entangled in the strands of Vanille's binding rod, crashed into the first. He chanced a glance at Vanille while the pair of imposters untangled themselves, acknowledging her success with a small smile. "Yeah," Hope commented, with a touch of regret in his voice, to Vanille's comment that this was just like old times. "Though last time our enemies didn't look like us." It was certainly like their time as a l'Cie. Hope couldn't even count the number of times Hope and Vanille had fought side-by-side and back-to-back like this, both when they were alone and when they were the only fighters among the l'Cie who didn't delve into physical fighting. He'd always felt secure with the Pulsian beside him back then and he still did now, even if he felt like the protective one these days. It was nice to know he didn't really need to worry about Vanille didn't need his protection, even if he wanted to provide it.
But his attention quickly turned back to the "Lightnings," who had recovered only to have Vanille cast some of her debilitating magic on the both of them. To keep them at bay for another few seconds, Hope flung his boomerang around in front of them, forcing them to stay back if they didn't want it to hit them. "Keep them in front of us," Hope recommended, starting to think tactically. The faster they won this fight, the better, because he didn't know if these strange copies could get tired or confused or anything at all. When one only partially knew the enemy, it was best to get them out of the way as quickly as possible. Light had taught him that, too. "Keep your magic opposite mine, Vanille." With that said, Hope raised his hand and launched a whirlwind of an Aeroga spell to the right side of the copies, preventing them from moving right at all. Assumedly whatever Vanille had chosen to cast would prevent them from going left. So pressed against each other in the middle, the two "Lightnings" would choose to charge directly up the middle, bunched up together, just as Hope had assumed they would. His boomerang returned to his hand. Pointing an upraised palm at the imposters, Hope only asked Vanille one thing, loudly over the roar of the active spells. "Ready!?"
Words - 700 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Hope this is okay. XD Small godmod. I may have a small idea for how they can finish the manikins, too, though nothing major.[/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on Jun 5, 2012 2:05:20 GMT -5
Though this wasn’t an idea battle in Vanille’s mind – facing off two Lightning copies only made her feel worse about her friend’s situation of being ‘lost’ in time – she still did her best to fend them off, starting with the one that had been coming towards her. Now, whoever said you weren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover was completely correct. Who would assume that cute little Nille would be able to fend off Lightning? Or…at least a copy? It made the redhead proud as she watched one pink tinted manikin crash into the other and just become even more tangled within the strands of her weapon. As they moved around trying to unravel themselves, Vanille occasionally tugged on her weapon to tighten the strings, the strong strings, to only make things worse for the imposters, and it bought herself and Hope some more time. Taking a glance at Hope and frowning slightly, she nodded once. “Right, I’m still trying to figure that one out. I’ve never seen...monsters like this before.” She commented quickly before turning her attention back to the imposters who were making their way out of the tangled up knots of her binding rod.
Moving her hand swiftly to cast a few debuffs on the manikins, not only to slow them down but to weaken them as well, Vanille then glanced at Hope, as if for another idea as to what to attack them with next. Magic of course, but knowing him, he’d have some sort of idea. As the strings to her binding rod retracted back, she gripped the weapon with two hands, shifting her weight from side to side as she always did. That was Vanille for you! Hips swaying from side to side, whether she was walking, running, or in battle…she just…yeah, anyways! Back to the task at hand. Keeping them back shouldn’t be too hard, magic always did wonders, especially when wanting to push someone back, Aero magic was best for that, and to stun, Thunder magic, there were endless opportunities for the two prominently magical fighters, and just as she had assumed, Hope had a plan, keep them away and keeping her magic opposite his, it was an easy thing to do, and hopefully in the end these manikins or whatever they were would give up.
If they were anything like the real Lightning, they’d fight until the death.
“Okay!” She agreed with a nod before waving her hand just as she had before with the debuffs, but this time an electrical roar of Thundaga struck the two manikins at their left sides, being pushed around by both mages was kind of amusing, and it did keep them back. It bought them more time, which was something Vanille and Hope needed if they were going to end this here and now. Shifting her binding rod around to one hand, she placed her palm upright and facing the manikins as they charged directly towards the two, and as chipper as one could be during battle, Vanille gave a squeaky sounding “ready!” in response. Feeling the magic within flow to her fingertips, Vanille narrowed her eyes on the two Lightning look-a-likes, a smirk replacing her usual chipper grin, she was confident, and with the right amount of force behind the final attack, well then things would certainly go their way. Although magic was something that tended to wipe people out of energy, Vanille was willing to risk everything she had to take care of these whatever they weres. It seemed like Hope was willing the do the same, and from the damage they’d already caused, the debuffs and all, this magical attack would work…it had to, otherwise…well then they’d be in big trouble if this all went down the drain from here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 739 Muse:[/color] Good! Tagged:[/color] Hope! Wearing:[/color] Already linked Listening To:[/color] Stuffs Notes:[/color] Didn't wanna take whatever idea you had away from you, feel free to godmod
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Jun 18, 2012 6:24:48 GMT -5
"I don't know if they're monsters," Hope explained in response to Vanille's comment while they had a lull in the action - no one, not even Lightning, was able to get out of the strands of Vanille's binding rod instantaneously. "They act and seem more like clones. Imperfect ones....Light's fighting sense and style, but a distorted or incomplete personality, voice and appearance. Someone or something made them to fight and not much else." But how and why someone or something had made them for that purpose were bigger questions. Had they been created only once Hope and Vanille arrived, by some force that knew they had a close relationship with Lightning? Or did the clones simply belong here because this was some strange representation of Orphan's Cradle? And furthermore...what in the world could make a clone? A fal'Cie, obviously, but then again, why would one want to? It was all just a mind-blowing series of questions that Hope still could not begin to answer...especially with two versions of probably the most skilled fighter he'd ever seen still attempting to kill him and Vanille. They were out of the binding rod. Time to stop theorizing and to start figuring out how to win this fight before the Lightnings wore them both out.
His idea to keep them bunched in the middle seemed to work rather well, and as expected (or well...as he'd guessed, really), the manikins seemed to have very little awareness of one another. They fought individually without any semblance of teamwork or spacing...and that was why Hope and Vanille, working in harmony, had a chance to win the fight with them rather quickly. Hearing Vanille chirp in response when the assumed clones started rushing, Hope glanced at her quickly out of the corner of his eye, long enough to see that her hand was poised to cast as well. "Go with fire!", Hope called to her, and the very moment after he said it casting an Aeroga spell towards the pair of enemies. What better way to fight a pair of enemies on narrow platforms than hitting them with a flaming tornado? Unless these clones were essentially stronger than Lightning without her powers (which he doubted), the attack would wipe them out...or so he hoped. If it didn't, he and Vanille were going to have a rough fight...he was already fatigued from the burst of casting, having been out of practice for a time.
But it seemed to work. Hope watched expectantly as the fire and swirling winds engulfed the pair of clones and they disappeared into it as the magic ran its course. He glanced Vanille with a slight smile. The less these two things seemed like Lightning, the better, and Lightning wouldn't have fallen into this "trap." The magic ran on for a handful of seconds, leaving Hope watching with hair whipping from the effects of his own spell, but eventually it died down...and it had done the trick. Hope pulled Vanille to the side slightly to move her out of the way of a flaming clone propelled from out of the tornado that landed nearby. The other had flown....elsewhere. Down, possibly, somewhere below them. Hope eyed the one nearby suspiciously, but it had stopped moving altogether, a few flames still licking up from its body. It would have been a gruesome sight to see if the body had taken any apparent damage, but it seemed to mostly be intact. Still...as distorted as it was, it still looked so much like Lightning.
After squeezing Vanille lightly in a hug around the shoulders at the thought, Hope eased his way over to the clone and crouched down beside it, looking it over. He glanced at his hand, debating whether or not to touch it. Hmm...well, he'd come here to study this place, and these things were a part of it, so... "I hope I don't regret this," Hope said quietly to his longtime friend (or whatever label the tabloids wanted to assign to them), before reaching down to put his hand against the shoulder of the clone, rubbing his hand there to feel the texture. Felt...rigid. Paper-like, really, though obviously not as thin or hollow as paper. He rapped his knuckles against it. Some give, but not as much as human skin. There also appeared to be no bone structure, or if there was one, it was buried underneath the composition of the exterior. The clothes had a more cloth-like composition, he noticed, as he ran a hand along the collar of the jacket. Sighing and shaking his head, Hope turned to Vanille. "What do you think we should do?"
Words - 827 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Hope it works![/size]
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Oerba Dia Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII
Hopeful Dreamer
"Seems we're going to say goodbye, better do it with a smile."
Posts: 255
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Post by Oerba Dia Vanille on Jun 30, 2012 22:54:42 GMT -5
This was strange, never before had Vanille ever seen anything like this before! It was scary, and she had to wonder how many more of these clones were out there in the world. It was a frightening thought that was for sure. She looked at Hope as the manikins were untangling themselves from the strands of her binding rod. To buy them some more time, she tugged on her weapon and retracted some of the string, making the knots they were in tighter and only angering them more in the process as well. “My question is…who would make copies of Lightning? It’s rather strange if you ask me.” She said with a small shrug, her emerald eyes turning back to their enemies, she watched them get ready to attack, and her stance straightened up, and her hand was now extended, her binding rod hanging loosely in her other hand as she was ready to conjure up the best magic she could. The highest attack she could provide was an instant death attack…but that wasn’t usually favorable, it was one of those once in a blue moon type of deals, nothing for the lack of time they had now.
A fire spell huh? Vanille nodded sharply before flicking her wrist gracefully and out from there came a large firaga spell to mix with the aeroga spell that Hope had casted. Creating a fiery whirl wind around the manikins, Vanille herself could feel the heat off of that one, wiping her hand on her shirt as if she’d been burned she took a few steps back, watching and trying to see the outcome of their attack. With a hopeful look on her face, she noticed that once the magical attack had faded away from sight, the manikins weren’t charging for them. Her feet were still bouncing her weight around, both hands gripping her weapon as she then clearly spotted the two Lightning forms on the ground and not moving. They had succeeded, and that’s when the red headed youth flipped her binding rod around and placed it back on the holster on her lower back, ready to start exploring again, but yet…curiosity was getting to her, she wanted to see these Lightning copies up close, get a good look, and then hopefully figure out what the heck they were and why they were here attacking them in Orphan’s Cradle.
After a brief loose hug, Vanille shadowed Hope’s footsteps, kneeling behind him and pressing her hands against her knees as she gazed over his shoulder at the manikin he was inspecting. It seemed even less life like up close. The hair was pink, as was the entire hue of the creature, whatever it was, and it just gave off the impression that it was a poorly made clone. Someone had gotten sloppy. Shaking her head as she moved a bit to the side and sat on her knees, she took a hand and gently touched the hair of the manikin. It was more stringy than anything, definitely not real or even human. Shaking her head slightly, she turned as Hope had turned to face her, tapping a hand on her chin, she looked around, seeing nothing of importance now, except the image of Orphan’s Cradle still all around them. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know if this place should exist…but maybe we should continue onwards and look around?” she said before rising to her feet and stretching as tall as she could to loosen her muscles.
“Okay! Back to exploring.” She said with a quick turn, spotting something else that had randomly appeared on one of the platforms, just down the stairs of Orphan’s Cradle…it looked like it was wrapped in some sort of glowing lights, similar to a portal, but not exactly. It wasn’t one of those glyph gates…but it certainly was mesmerizing. “That.” She said lifting her hand to point at the object, taking quick steps towards it, yet keeping her distance when she got close enough. If this was the way out of here…then that was awesome, still, it was wise to be cautious, after all, anything and everything could be lurking around these parts. “What do you think about this? Another leap of faith? Or…do you want to explore this place some more, Hope?” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words:[/color] 818 Muse:[/color] Good! Tagged:[/color] Hope! Wearing:[/color] Already linked. Listening To:[/color] XIII Stuffs! Notes:[/color] None!
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Hope Estheim
Final Fantasy XIII
Academy Director[/font][/size]
"The lie isn't what matters. It's what you do after you tell it to make it true."
Posts: 122
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Post by Hope Estheim on Jul 11, 2012 11:45:29 GMT -5
"Right. That's exactly the question we need to answer while we're here." If an actual human being was making clones of individuals, then the Academy needed to know about it. If this was a phenomenon occurring from some the existence of some form of magic, they needed to find out what it was and put an end to it. What was to stop one of these aggressive clones from moving through portals, tricking an innocent and harming them in some way? What's worse, innocent people could be blamed for a crime they didn't commit. Hope sure was glad he'd insisted he come through the portal now, and especially that he'd brought Vanille along. Having to face these things alone would have been...tough. Plus, Hope's chances of being able to take down a pair of entities that fought like Lightning all by himself? Pretty slim. The whirlwind without the fire wouldn't have done much damage. But his and Vanille's timing with their spells had proven to create a devastating effect, and they had both of the clones down once the spells died off. Like old times.
He wished he had the means to take the clone back with him and study it. Though he would have never considered studying a real human like a guinea, this thing obviously wasn't much more intelligent than your average, simply-built robot. In fact, he considered it might be some kind of robot anyway, albiet created with some organic materials. But that was impossible...they were separated from the soldiers now, and having to haul something as heavy as a human around, even a lighter human like Lightning, would be nothing but a burden. He'd have to leave it here and find his answers as to what exactly it was elsewhere in this...place. He was going to get what other information he could about the manikin while he was here though, even as he and Vanille planned their next step. He felt of the facial features - eyes and lips, especially - before shifting himself lightly to grasp the gunblade the clone carried. This, he could take with him. Eying it to try and figure out how one was meant to fold it up as Vanille spoke, he figured it out as he responded. "Well, we have no way out quite yet that I see, so we may as well continue further. I'm interested to see if...Orphan is here, or any representation of its home." Holding the gunblade away as it folded up, Hope took it and clipped it in the place his boomerang would typically go, opting to hold his preferred weapon as opposed to leaving the gunblade behind. Every bit of information would help, and maybe this gunblade would hold some sort of material, DNA or magical aura that would help him figure out the mystery of these clones.
Following behind Vanille as she led them away from the fallen clone, Hope took and took a long glance behind him and a long glance before them. The structure of the Cradle wasn't exactly as he remembered it. He doubted, partially, that there was much more to this representation of the place than what could be seen with the naked eye. So why would someone take a tiny portion of Orphan's Cradle and put it on the other side of a mysterious gate, filling it with clones of Lightning? Hope was just...confused, and there were far more questions than answers. He figured it wouldn't get any better even as they continued their exploring.
What Vanille spotted, though, was of interest. Following her down the few stairs that lay before them, he eyed the strange set of lights. Another transportation device? And why a different one from the gate they'd passed through before? More questions. No answers. Only the chance to delve further into danger. "We're at a loss here. Without the guidance we had in the Cradle before, we're basically stuck running in circles," Hope said, somewhat disappointed-sounding, to his friend. "I say we go for it." Why not? This could be how they found out about who or what had made this place. Or it could provide another set of questions. The thought of it almost made Hope groan out loud. Life itself was a set of questions lately...
Words - 772 Muse - Excellent! Notes - Yep, just have her drag him to it or follow or whatever. [/size]
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