Only Thing Left [Incomplete]

[pearl-antiquity.livejournal.com]

Who: Tifa, Kadaj, and Cloud. Anyone else who might be able to find a way in, too?
What: Tifa had gone out searching for her family, and finds familiar faces.
When: After her arrival, about dusk.
Where: Around the borders of forest and huts.
Summary: After waking up and learning how to use her journal, Tifa can't stay put any longer and goes out to try to find Cloud, and Denzel and Marlene. Cloud finds her, along with Kadaj.
Rating: Panic alert.


The flowers were the only things keeping her relatively calm. Flowers never grew like this. As strange, even somewhat unsettling as it was, for now, they could dim the sense of realism in the place she had found herself in. At the back of her mind, they reminded her of the church. A sanctuary that she could clearly recall with an associated peace that she found herself grasping for. Perhaps in that same image, there was also a sense of hope she needed. No one would have ever believed that flowers could grow in the slums back then.

"Denzel!" She was calling out loud, her dark garnet eyes scanning the fringe of the darkening forest. It was familiar and not the first time. This searching, this heightened sense of worry and an pang of fear which she had to suppress and control for the sake of those she was seeking. If they weren't here, there was nothing she could do, maybe. But if they were...

"Marlene!" Before dark. She had to find them before the sun had set completely. They were intelligent and capable children, but they were still children. What if they were playing in the forest, picking flowers and making the wreathes Marlene so loved to take home and place upon everyone's head? They could have gotten lost. And who knew what sorts of creatures, or even monsters, lurked in that grove?

She called their names, one after the other, pausing between each note as it faded to wait and listen before trying again. If he was here, he might have even found them already. But for now no answers, little girls with pink ribbons, little boys or big ones, came. She was just far enough into the forest to see more of it but not enough to lose sight of the huts behind her. She could feel the wings aching, along with the rest of her body and whatever had been done to it. She braced herself against a tree to stay up, its trunk covered with yellow zinnias, and tried once last time.

"Cloud!"

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[merepuppet.livejournal.com]

Kadaj leaned his bare back against the thick trunk of the tree as he sat on one of the upper branches. One of his leather clad legs dangled down as if to lure in his prey. The dark blue flowers that seemed to crawl on the tree brushed against him, dusting him with iridescent blue pollen that seemed to cast him in an ethereal glow. He grinned viciously, like the Cheshire Cat ready to pounce.

Keeping his body still he watched the panicked woman with a strange glee. Another one of Brother's friends? How lucky. She screamed for Brother in distress and he smirked in anticipation. He was absolutely giddy with excitement. Slowly, and ever so quietly he slipped down from the branch, crushing the dandelions beneath him. He made his way towards her, trying to keep his breathing steady. Something, however, felt off and he couldn't place what it was.

[winland.livejournal.com]

Something wasn't right.

He knew it from the moment he had descended out, further from where he was staying -- out into a thicket of darkness that held him fast, and he paused. Hesitated, and mako blue searched his surroundings. Too many trees, and there was some sort of presence. Something there that shouldn't have been that had gloved fingers curling in against his palm as his teeth came together hard, releasing only when his jaw began to ache.

And then her voice. Calling out, somewhere close, and his breath hitched a bit as every muscle in his body, every single nerve and cell, stood on edge.

Tifa.

He was running, then, pushing forward as he pushed into the hard and steady depth of the forest before him. Running not only because he wanted to see Tifa, see that she was all right, that she was fine, but because he knew that something else was lurking out and about, too. Something else was close to her, close to speaking with her, touching her, and it wasn't something he'd like. Could feel it, way down in his gut, and he wasn't stopping until he saw a flash of brown, a flash of red ribbon, through the darkness, past the branches and the leaves.

"Tifa!"

Stumbling to a stop mere feet from where she stood, his eyes were already moving from her form, looking past her, beyond her, into a heavy blackness that was difficult to pierce through. Warm fingers wrapped gently about her wrist, tugged her close to him, and then -- yes, there he was. Kadaj.

Those same eyes narrowed, and one hand moved up to press gently against Tifa's back, pushing her carefully aside, away from the silver-haired man.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kadaj?" he asked, voice low and quiet. Dangerous, even, and it held a hint of warning to it.

[pearl-antiquity.livejournal.com]

There was something wrong with these woods. One of those factors she could pick out right away when she stiled herself to do nothing else but listen. There was no sound. The grown woman could remember the cicadas, day or night, when they traveled through Gaia all those years ago. In the wild, there were always sounds. Whether it was made by insects, wind, or animals and voices. Just something to serve as a reminder of mere existence. Here there was nothing. And yet, there was the unnerving tension that there was something. She might have known what it was; if she could only capture the fragments of her mind that seemed to fall away from her, into the shadows of the wood. It still felt as if she were trying to wake up.

She pushed off of the tree to recompose herself, stand upright, and clear her head. Slowly, so that the movement could hardly be noted. Like the hands of a clock from one minute to the next. The first thing she would have done was to turn around and see him there had he not appeared before her first. His voice focused her attention.

Was it relief? Or just happiness? A light lit Tifa's pale and strained features, softening to a the beginnings of a smile. But something was still wrong.

She moved, from one point to the next and turned around, muffled steps guided by his hand. She was close enough to know his familiarity, Cloud's. And close enough to be reminded of Kadaj's animosity.

"Kadaj." Placing her feet firmly at shoulders width against the ground beside Cloud, Tifa closed her eyes momentarily and balled her fists. The wings, whatever they were, were a distraction, but she would find her balance. She had to. In case something, anything, happened.

[merepuppet.livejournal.com]

Narrowing his eyes Kadaj chuckled, keeping his eyes on his beloved brother. It was then he saw it, a memory not truly his, a younger version of Cloud hanging limply on the Masamune.

Raising a thin white eyebrow, the memory suddenly cut off and was replaced with cold white rage. His body shook and he glared at the two before him. He took a step backward and his wings tensed. If he attacked now, he'd probably lose. He didn't like it when the odds were stacked against him.

Raising his fists, Kadaj readied himself. Hand to hand combat wasn't his forte, he was sad to say. He wasn't bad at it, not even close, but it dwindled when compared to his experience with a sword. He desperately wished he had Souba with him.

"I'm here the same reason you are, brother." He whispered finally, breaking the silence of the forest. He glanced up at the sky, the pollen that clung to him reflecting the sunlight, and smirked grimly," I suppose it was luck that you were brought here, too."