001; Wutai

[yuffiekisaragi]

On the mountain of Da Chao sits a lone girl, her legs swinging off the ledge as she contemplates the town below.

It's her home - Wutai, a once proud nation that has been reduced to nothing more than a cheesy tourist attraction. By none other than her father, a man she doesn't exactly get along with in the best of times.

Something's off though.

Yuffie squints as she studies the town, telling herself her eyes must be deceiving her.

Usually there are people strolling through the town, children playing tag in the streets. The ones who had recently been infected with Geostigma are recovering, and there is a jovial air about the town. Now, though, there is no sign of life. Not even a stray dog roaming through, begging for scraps.

This just isn't right, and Yuffie has to investigate.

Standing up, she brushes the dirt off her legs, then plants her fists at her hips.

"Only one person can get to this bottom of this mess!"

She pauses without looking back, shifting her weight as if she wants to fidget.

"You can come too. Having an extra pair of eyes wouldn't hurt," she says this with a little hesitation. The truth is, she's a little bit worried at the absence of people, and could use a little support as she tries to find them.

Comments

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[First of all, if they were searching for this person, it wasn't impossible to think that whoever it was knew they were here, too. They might not really have the element of surprise.

Well. Whoever could be there, she'd take them on.]

We go in. They're nothing next to us.

[yuffiekisaragi]

[This sounds like a plan to Yuffie and she bursts through the door. At first her eyes have to adjust - after crawling through dark rooms the lights that were on hurt her eyes.

When she is able to focus, she sees...a tonberry. She gives it an absolutely stunned look, and it chattered at her, starting a slow trek in her direction.]

Oh. What the hell? [She skims by the creature. If they got a hold of someone, their attack was devastating. But the things moved like they were trudging through mud sometimes.]

Okay, tonberries definitely don't hang out around these parts.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Tonberries? The creature that just passed, she assumes. It's sort of creepy, stalking them so slowly, with that lantern and that knife. She takes care to avoid them; Yuffie seems to have an aversion to engaging them.]

It resembles a youma. [Certain types of youma, at least.]

Let's go on. We'll find the source instead of wasting our time with these.

[yuffiekisaragi]

A what?

[Unfamiliar term is unfamiliar to Yuffie, but she agrees with the Getting-Away-From-The-Tonberry thing. As they leave the room, she shuts the door behind them.]

I don't think those guys can open doors, but who knows. Cats can open doors for crying out loud.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[A secondary sound can be heard as Mercury stretches a hand towards the door.]

That should seal it from any creatures like those. [It's not the strongest of seals; but it's enough for the theoretical cat. Or tonberry.]

Youma are creatures that served us in the Dark Kingdom in my world. [She makes no apology for that, as the softer-hearted Jadeite might.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Yuffie looks at the seal, fascinated. She can't say she's anything like that before.]

Huh. That's pretty cool. Wait the Dark Kingdom? Where the heck are you from?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[From the Dark Kingdom, the soldier of Water and Knowledge, Mercury.

It's been a few years since the Dark Kingdom existed that way. She doesn't introduce herself that way now; and the question is harder than it seems it should be.]

From Earth.

[She finally decides that this, true, is a good enough answer.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Yuffie has never heard of Earth and now she starts to wonder where this girl actually came from.

It's all too much and she rubs her temples, trying to concentrate.]

No idea where that is. No idea where my people are. What the hell is going on?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

You're pretty slow to notice it, but that's alright.

[And then she says it, as if it's entirely natural and simple:]

This is a dream.

[yuffiekisaragi]

Yeah well other things on my mind, ya know?

[Yuffie nods at the revelation, not really taking it in when Mercury says it. Then does a double take.]

Wait. A dream? So, my town isn't really a ghost town?

[It would explain all the weirdness to Yuffie. Also it would explain random chocobo, tonberry, and Mercury. She rubs her eyes roughly. Yuffie never remembered her dreams, and now she was aware of her dream while still dreaming?]

Go figure. I guess that's a good thing, then. If its a dream of mine, then I bet you a Restore All that tonberry ate everyone.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

It'd be better to take care of that, dream or no dream.

[She doesn't like to leave unfinished business in her dreams. She knows how thin the line between dreams and waking is.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Yuffie has to admit this is a good point. They make their way back through the building, and even if she's aware that its a dream at this point, she still does feel some anxiety about what it means. She'll just try to decipher that later.

As they leave, a loud roar alerts her to something outside. In front of the pagoda, an Ifirit summons waits for them. As if expecting their arrival. Yuffie reaches back to grad her shruiken, narrowing her eyes at the beast.]

I guess we gotta fight this ugly jerk.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Doesn't he know Fire's weak to Water?

[She grins, arrogant in her skill and power as always, hand on her hip in a cocky pose. She readies her sword.

Then Mercury makes an impossible aerial somersault. She lands confidently, in position to force the creature to split its attention between herself and Yuffie. They'll take it down in no time.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Her grip on her weapon tight, she swings her arm forward, throwing the shuriken as hard as she can toward the creature's head. She ducked and rolled out of the line of fire, the heat of the passing flame making her arms burn.

Pushing herself off the ground, she runs forward a couple of steps, grabbing her weapon out of the air as it returned to her. The grin spread wide on her face - a fight was always exhilarting, and it was a good way for her to release some of this tension that had been building up.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She makes a sharp strike with her sword against the air, and it releases a blue energy that heads straight for her foe. It's sure to draw the creature's attention, and Mercury slips away quickly to avoid taking the heat of that anger.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Once Ifrit is distracted, Yuffie takes this opportunity to throw her shuriken again, the blades slicing across the creature's neck. It roars in anger, and she rushes forward , going into a slide right into its leg. She knocks it off balance, and it goes slamming to the ground.

She pops up, jumping in the air to catch her shuriken again. The creature reaches out one large hand to grab her, but she dances out of reach. It barely manages to swipe her arm, leaving a pretty nasty scratch ]

Aw, hell!

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Her head turns sharply, but as soon as she judges the wound can wait until they finished the battle, she focuses on her own new attack.]

Dark Rhapsody (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeU6r4DWwJw)!

[Her harp materializes in her hand. She plays a sharp glissando, and the force of her attack washes over the creature.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Yuffie is slightly distracted by the attack, since it's not one she's seen before. But she focuses back on the enemy, running forward and leaping into the air. With a sharp cry, she swings down one of the points of her weapon and slices through Ifrit's neck.

It howls in anger, and writhes on the ground for a moment before it starts to fade away. Yuffie takes a closer look at the wound on her arm, scowling at it.]

Dammit. [She starts to poke at it as the enemy continues to fade, looking pretty grumpy about the whole thing.] That hurt like hell, I thought this was a dream.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She's not that good at what comes next. Mercury steps closer to Yuffie, and wordlessly gestures towards the injured arm to indicate she wants to see it closer-up.] She doesn't seem to spare a thought for the vanquished ifrit.

[yuffiekisaragi]

[Yuffie has no problem with offering up the arm for viewing. The gash isn't too bad - it could heal on its own, with time, but it looks pretty ugly. Sorta smells burnt, too.

Ifrit finally fades away, and Yuffie huffs out a breath.]

You know, I can't believe I dreamed up such a crappy summon. I figured something awesome, like Kings of the Round.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

That the creature was weak next to us is its own fault. [There's a smirk; oh so arrogant, this one.]

I'll bandage the arm.

[This is not exactly an offer so much as a statement of what will come next, giving Yuffie less chance to refuse.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

Damn right! [Yuffie has no problem with the whole bandaging bit - she was never a healer herself and had gone to Aerith plenty to times asking her to heal the wounds she'd gotten in battle.

She studies Mercury for a moment before she remembers the kind of attack she saw the girl us.]

Say, I haven't seen anyone use attacks like that before. I guess you have magic without the materia huh? Not a lot of people get that where I come from.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

I was born with these powers.

[This is the only explanation Yuffie receives as Mercury eyes the wounds, judging their severity before beginning her work.]

[yuffiekisaragi]

Huh. Pretty useful powers.

[Yuffie gazes around as Mercury works, looking out for any sign of life or movement. She does spy a random chocobo feather on the ground, but it was probably from that idiotic bird from before. ]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[For all her forcefulness and that emphasis on power, her touch is surprisingly considerate as she avoids provoking the injury while she works on it. She cleans it with water she has on her first, water empowered to keep it pure and avoid infection. She pours a little out of a small phial, and lightly rubs it into the skin.

Next she'll bandage it.]