onepassingnight | 001 || dream a dream of me.

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001 || dream a dream of me.

[Some dreams have some fluidity. They remain constant, with an overlaying theme - much like a storybook of the consciousness. Others can be sporadic, having no meaning, and easily shifting from one thing to the next. They can be serious, or strange. They can be hopeful, or heartbreaking.

Or... they could be Zack's dreams.

As it is, a deep, dark violet night sky floods the area. You might see quite a bit of snow, as if walking up a steep mountain, with the ice wind blowing through your hair. And right at the cliff's edge stands a man wielding a long, sturdy sword, resting safely upon his back. The weight doesn't seem to bother him in the least - if anything, he's accustomed to it by now, both hands on his hips as glowing, bright blue eyes stare off to the distance.

What could be he thinking about?]

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[Though her weapon holds up far better than ice should, Ami loses ground quickly under the onslaught of a larger, built opponent. She has to think of something quickly to regain her footing.

Or his. Ice starts to form around Zack's feet. She expects him to be able to break it; but she hopes to still gain a few seconds to put herself in a better position before then.]

[He was starting to slip a Thundaga materia into his holster when the ice began forming around his feet - or, one foot since the other is instinctively yanked away. Even so, it holds strong, and the SOLDIER finds himself momentarily trapped.

That's when he activates the materia, a hail of lightning bolts appearing seemingly out of nowhere above Ami - *towards* her.]

[It hadn't given her the space she'd hoped.

She releases her own energy again, against the thunder; it helps to drive off the brunt of the attack, but her uniform starts to show signs of wear, and she feels the unsettling electricity through her body. She coughs for breath, but keeps her feet.]

[She's even stronger than he thought, which was a very good thing. He loves a challenge, and if she can provide that? Then they were off to a good start.

While she's distracted, the SOLDIER gets to work trying to free his foot from the ice. Even that's holding up better than he anticipated, however, and it's going to take some time before he properly gets loose. Until then, he can ward off her attacks in place, still clinging to that Thundaga materia.]

[She realizes it suddenly: What is he clinging to? He'd taken it out just before that attack, hadn't he? Could it be the source of the thunder?

A quick slash of her sword, and this time her own attack was aimed towards Zack's hand, to make him drop it.]

[Little does she know is that he's actually carrying two seperate materia - so when one is thrown from his grasp, the Firaga materia, that was already activated, is redirected towards her in a counter-attack.]

[As soon as the fire springs up, she has no time to take the thundaga as she'd planned; instead, she crosses her hands in front of herself immediately, and water comes forth to battle the flames. She turns her face away from the heat, but not enough to take her eyes away from her opponent. She squints her eyes against the fire's brightness.]

[The Firaga wasn't meant to do much more than push her back - with as much success as he'd hoped.

As soon as she's distracted, he finally breaks his leg free of the ice, giving one last push of magic, then dismissing the materia to rush forward with the Buster Sword.]

[She's left without a chance to catch her breath; but it's fine. She takes advantage of the few seconds she has to ready herself for his attack. She holds her ground until the last possible second, then spins sharply away to the side, letting his momentum hopefully bring him off-balance.]

[Thankfully, even in his short years as a SOLDIER, Zack was *far* from clumsy.

So when she darts out of his path, he's already front-flipping back to his feet, activating another blast of Thundaga her way as he reorients himself. All of this happens in a matter of seconds, and one has to wonder how the hell he could multitask like that.]

[He's quicker than she expected, and this time, the brunt of the attack hits her. She gives an impatient noising of pain, and her eyes cast about for a way to shield herself better from the next time.]

[Zack is holding back just a little bit, especially when he sees that falter. He's not fighting to kill this time, and thus watering down his pace when it comes to the ferocity of strikes.

But he still is coming on pretty damn strong, moving with the speed that would have even a Second envious.]

[That? Is enough to anger her. She meets his weapon with hers, clenching her teeth, and all but spits her words into his face.]

What are you letting your guard down for?!

[Zack doesn't... really answer that particular question - more for the fact that she wouldn't be satisfied with anything he had to say. So he shoves her back, standing in place to point the Buster Sword at her.]

[It's so simple: Pay attention.

And he's not. And she won't say it again. Instead, she'll let him be hurt by his own folly as failing to take her seriously leaves him open. She gives the sword only a contemptuous look while she decides her next move.

The air swirls with a blizzard from nowhere as the temperature drops sharply. It obscures vision as she moves to a new vantage point, and even the force of the ice and hail itself is enough to not only sting, but cut.]

[He's off with a burst of speed as soon as she disappears - only reeling back once when the hail comes down to stab at his arm. The rest, he's able to pop up a Barrier materia, though it'll only hold for so long. He needed to take her down before the materia gave in, and that involved using every little bit of his enhanced senses to find her.

So he starts moving, following the scarce sound of snow crunching, moving, *breathing*.]

[She can feel her heartbeat come faster as she tries to avoid him. It can't go on this way forever, and once she's ready, she breaks her cover with a sharp blow of her sword that releases her energy.]

[Zack jumps, just in the nick of time to avoid the full brunt of the blow, though he earns a pretty good gash to his other leg in the process. The SOLDIER hissed in pain - strange. shouldn't it hurt more than that? - dodge-rolling back to his feet, and retaliating in a swift series of slashes in her direction.

At least he knows where she is now!]

[She had to reveal her position eventually; there was no helping that. Now that it's done, she keeps up with Zack's sword work but the larger, heavier weapon taxes even her ice. At this rate, she needs to turn the tables.

Now, how?

After just a split second to think, she runs back into the area coated by the fog. Come on, Zack. Chase her.]

W--HEY! [Wasn't she just going off about him holding back? Now she was running away!

Damn, then. He's just going to keep following after you.]

Get back here!

[Perfect.

Her next attack comes without any warning at all, jets of water streaming towards Zack; if they touch, they'll freeze.]

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001 || dream a dream of me.

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