Cloud Strife (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anonfantry) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
onepassingnight2012-04-24 02:01 am
anonfantry) wrote in onepassingnight2012-04-24 02:01 am
Entry tags:
oo2 ❄ I've got friends locked in boxes, that's no way to live
[ They were five-and-twenty artificial soldiers. One through twenty-four a perfect set, prized by their creator and the ruler they served, and he the last, the one built of spare and scrap left over from the rest.
Many a time, he had considered this an utterly unconscionable cruelty - that he should have been made, at all, of inferior metal and unfinished, as he was. With one whole leg missing, he would never be able to match his brethren in prowess or efficiency as a weapon, but somehow not even such a glaring deficiency had spared him this fate of inadequacy. So much as his inferiority had isolated and internally embittered him, though, over the years, it had also made him determined.
As all living things, even machines, were given to the will to survive, he had developed a fearsome dedication to proving himself useful to spite his innate failings. While the other soldiers marched off to fight, to pursue the grandest quests at the behest of their leader, he would stay behind - standing guard vigilantly at the gate of the great tower wherein their ruler resided, until the inevitable return of those (fewer and fewer than) twenty-four. It was from here that he would watch over what that he could, ever diligent, still close enough that should he be needed for any menial task, it would be no trouble at all to call on him, but neatly tucked out of the way, in the meantime, leaning on the long rifle at his side as a crutch only in the instances when his precarious balance failed him.
Ordinarily, that was. He would stand still and stalwart as a statue through rain and wind and drifting snow, unflinching (lest one look closely enough to discern the slightest shift), but on this perfectly pleasant Spring day, his post stood curiously vacant.
They wouldn't miss him, he'd thought, for one evening of absence. He would hurry back just as quick as he could, once he'd had done with his business in the city. (And on this point, he was very gravely serious with himself, for he'd heard the infrequent gossip among the passersby who oft visited his grand benefactor, always talk of putting him to better use by melting him down for spare parts. A fate anyone should wish to avoid.) But the draw of this particular sight had been impossible to resist.
Not three days had passed since the parade procession had marched past his well-worn divot in the stone of the tower courtyard, the traveling band of circus performers still every bit as bright and vividly colorful in his memory, now. On the whole, such a distraction would not usually have been enough drawn him away from his sworn duty - but among the rabble he had glimpsed one most elegant performer. A dancer, of some sort, he'd imagined, not so worldly as to know the proper term. A dancer who swept and spun so gracefully on tiptoe, one foot on the ground, it was almost like floating.
Since then, he'd become fixated on the brief memory, certain that if only he could learn to be so capable, as he was, then surely he'd be allowed to prove himself on the battlefield just like the others. And it was with this in mind that he set out on the city streets, moving as inconspicuously as a one-legged, mechanical soldier could. ]
[ ooc: All aboard the tl;dr express for a very special rendition of The Steadfast Tin Soldier (summary in case you're already tired of those deer), starring Mini Cloud as the eponymous soldier and... everybody else, as either the ballerina or the goblin or one of the other soldiers or literally anything else you can possibly imagine.
Of course, it's up to individual discretion whether or not this version ends up as horribly as the original. :3c ]
Many a time, he had considered this an utterly unconscionable cruelty - that he should have been made, at all, of inferior metal and unfinished, as he was. With one whole leg missing, he would never be able to match his brethren in prowess or efficiency as a weapon, but somehow not even such a glaring deficiency had spared him this fate of inadequacy. So much as his inferiority had isolated and internally embittered him, though, over the years, it had also made him determined.
As all living things, even machines, were given to the will to survive, he had developed a fearsome dedication to proving himself useful to spite his innate failings. While the other soldiers marched off to fight, to pursue the grandest quests at the behest of their leader, he would stay behind - standing guard vigilantly at the gate of the great tower wherein their ruler resided, until the inevitable return of those (fewer and fewer than) twenty-four. It was from here that he would watch over what that he could, ever diligent, still close enough that should he be needed for any menial task, it would be no trouble at all to call on him, but neatly tucked out of the way, in the meantime, leaning on the long rifle at his side as a crutch only in the instances when his precarious balance failed him.
Ordinarily, that was. He would stand still and stalwart as a statue through rain and wind and drifting snow, unflinching (lest one look closely enough to discern the slightest shift), but on this perfectly pleasant Spring day, his post stood curiously vacant.
They wouldn't miss him, he'd thought, for one evening of absence. He would hurry back just as quick as he could, once he'd had done with his business in the city. (And on this point, he was very gravely serious with himself, for he'd heard the infrequent gossip among the passersby who oft visited his grand benefactor, always talk of putting him to better use by melting him down for spare parts. A fate anyone should wish to avoid.) But the draw of this particular sight had been impossible to resist.
Not three days had passed since the parade procession had marched past his well-worn divot in the stone of the tower courtyard, the traveling band of circus performers still every bit as bright and vividly colorful in his memory, now. On the whole, such a distraction would not usually have been enough drawn him away from his sworn duty - but among the rabble he had glimpsed one most elegant performer. A dancer, of some sort, he'd imagined, not so worldly as to know the proper term. A dancer who swept and spun so gracefully on tiptoe, one foot on the ground, it was almost like floating.
Since then, he'd become fixated on the brief memory, certain that if only he could learn to be so capable, as he was, then surely he'd be allowed to prove himself on the battlefield just like the others. And it was with this in mind that he set out on the city streets, moving as inconspicuously as a one-legged, mechanical soldier could. ]
[ ooc: All aboard the tl;dr express for a very special rendition of The Steadfast Tin Soldier (summary in case you're already tired of those deer), starring Mini Cloud as the eponymous soldier and... everybody else, as either the ballerina or the goblin or one of the other soldiers or literally anything else you can possibly imagine.
Of course, it's up to individual discretion whether or not this version ends up as horribly as the original. :3c ]
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[ Again, he thinks, he's missed something - but it mustn't be too important, after all, if she's still happy to go along with him. With half a shrug, he picks up his gun and starts another long forward stride, at her insistence.
No time to waste; no time at all. ...Though her enthusiasm does give him pause, again, at that. Amending his gait with only a minor hitch, he shakes his head vehemently. ]
H-Hey, you can't tell everybody I was with you! I'm not really- Supposed to be out here.
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I won't tell! Because, I'll still know we did it all together.
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[ A little heartened by this accord, he nods in turn and hurries onward. With the destination in sight, the distance goes quickly, and the soldier hangs back a bit at the crowded and cluttered fairgrounds' entrance - the same way he hesitated before the market, uncertain trying for impassive.
He doesn't know where to start or if he'll even be able to go through with his potentially embarrassing request, let alone in front of his new acquaintance. But he still isn't the type to shy away from that potential, one way or another. ]
Uh... Where do you want to go first?
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Are there games and rides? What about riding the animals?
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[ Games and rides seem plausible - there are even a few stands in sight (through the thick of the crowds) that appear to host the former. About the rest, though, he hasn't the slightest clue. ]
We'll just have to look around. [ There! That's a pretty smooth segue into very casually getting a chance to do his own thing, too. He's almost a little proud of himself. ]
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He wouldn't leave the cute kid behind, would he?]
Let's go find out. And, thank you; for bringing me here, thank you.
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She's definitely safe.
Unless something goes horribly wrong.
But that almost probably might not happen. ]
It's not a big deal. I was going this direction, anyway.
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Don't you have to pay to go in?
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[ At least not to his cursory (rather hasty) glance around. The multitude of carnival-goers seem to be passing through the gates of the fairground undeterred in both directions. He takes a few lumbering steps forward - then pauses to shrug (and shift his gun-shaped crutch into a more comfortable position). ]
Come on.
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I went to the amusement park before, you know.
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[ He doesn't know much about the logical procession of this, having never been to such an exciting place as either circus or park, in his (even) more sheltered existence. Perhaps he'll have to defer to her judgement a little more than expected. ]
Um. What's that like? You have to pay just to go there?
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[It's a happy memory to relive, those times when they'd been able not only to do that, but to do it as a family.]
Wait. Could it be you really never went to either before? [This is better and better, because it means she'll actually have a purpose for being here: telling Cloud all about it.]
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...No. Soldiers don't do things like that.
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Then, is it really alright for you to come? [She doesn't want to get into trouble. Or lead Cloud into trouble.
Or get someone angry at them.]
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[ Or how he meant what he said, rather. Shaking his head rapidly (enough to rattle his helmet around a little, even), Cloud corrects himself: ] It just isn't... Something that we normally do.
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Then let's hurry! I think you should try the strength games. I want to see if there are goldfish!
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[ Oh, boy. This whole mission is running off the rails pretty fast-
...But he doesn't have the heart to say No, outright. He is the one who said she could come along, after all, and that makes her his responsibility. And though he may not know much, he does know what that look means.
He'll just have to put finding his dancer on hold a little while longer. Who knows? Maybe blending in will help his chances.
Not that he has much time for that, as busy as he is keeping up. ]
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Mm. They might have a goldfish scooping booth. I don't know yet though.