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A gruff voice penetrated her delicate hearing. When there was nothing but the sound of your own breath to proved a distraction from the sharp ringing of the ears, one's hearing tended to grow more acute with time. They were the words many prisoners wanted to hear, as it meant they would once again be able to tread the outside world. For some, these words brought happiness, others an opportunity to create havoc again. Some didn't care...but for that rare few, it brought sadness.
She fell into the category that didn't care. Nearly a year in a tiny jail cell didn't matter when your companion was dead. Shot down like a beast by the very people that captured her. She distinctly remembered the shock, but also the pleasure on the soldier's face, his gun still raised...the smoke billowing from the muzzle of the rifle. The discharged shot meant for her. She had gotten her revenge rather quickly, but it was in that moment of tearing her claws into the bastard's face, expelling his innards with each dug and swipe of her mettalic claws, that she was captured. They caged her like a wild animal. None seemed to notice this beast was crying, but it didn't matter. The fugitive was caught.
And now was being freed.
Obsidian shrouded dome craddled within folded arms lifted up as the door to her cage was slid open. Her eyes listless and dull. No savagery, no happiness. Nothing. "Here." Her jailer tossed something. The sharp, heavy clang of metal and the soft clap of plastic on the stone floor indicated her effects. Sluggishly she reached for them, only to have her flattened palm stomped down by a thick, mud-clad boot. She didn't flinch.
"Now you listen here," the fat excuse of a solider spouted off. "If you go causin' trouble again, we wont just give ya a year? Understand?" He relinquished his weight off the pale limb then marched out of the room. The door to her cage still opened. Sharp shoulders rounded as the fragile body of the woman rose to her feet, snatching the guantlets of the floor and hurriedly fastened them to her arms. The glasses lay forgotten. Her attire had become ragged at best, no longer form fitting but baggy and sloppy from the alarming amount of weight she had lost in her depression. Hair hung in sheets atop her head, bangs overgrown. The tips grazing under her chin with every lethatgic sway of movement. She looked a mess.
She walked forward on calloused feet to the door, grasping the metal bars for support as she shuffled her way down the aisle. The scoffs and jests of the guards as she passed fell on deaf ears. The iron doors at the end of the aisle slowly opened, pouring in sharp light, poorly filtered by her sensitive optics. A path of rejuvenating light lead to the outside, but there was no vigor in her steps. Just the same shuffle that continued on down the cobblestone streets.
Things had been lousy for you, depressing. And although your life was terrible, things wern't going to well for the rest of midgar. Rain was pouring down, left and right, people were either leaving, or preparing their houses for invasion. Galbadia were on Midgars doorstep. This was of course, partially due to the actions of your own people. Probably one of the reasons that you were imprisoned in the first place. One of the reasons why your pet was now dead. After awhile of walking, it seemed that everyone had gone back into their homes, it would probably be an idea for you to be looking for a place to sleep anyways. It was getting dark.
" Kid..."
A whistle rang out through the streets. Piercing the silence like an arrow of light punching into the armour of the nights darkness. The sound's location, there was a figure overlaced in the dark. Lit only by the orange ember at the end of a cigarette. Tendrils of smoke blowing upwards into the street. Another drag and the light flared and then died down again, an outblow of smoke. A flick of a cigarette to the ground. And a stomp of an expensive looking shoe. The man walked out. Pale skin, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and black tie. However it was all rather rough, reflecting his skin and hair. He looked rather ill. The man was in his thirties, already thumbing out another cigarette and placing it in his mouth. He drew a lighter and lit it up.
" Kahri right?.......what do you say we go have a drink...".
It was starting to rain, she could feel it. The tiny droplets stung the exposed pale flesh rather than soothe with its cooling touch. Each drop carried away a bit of dirt and grime but there was no acknowledgement to this. No care for it at all. The lack-luster steel grey surveyed the once flourishing city square through partially closed sights. There were few people on the streets, but litter was everywhere. As darkness began to cascade on the city she could see the empty house around her. Many abandoned their homes, others were hastily boarded. She didn't know why there was a need for this or why it had happened.
Nor did she care to find out.
It wasn't her concern.
A shrill ringing sliced through the air and like a fool, she jumped, the entirty of her body jerking in place. Head wung with apperant lethargy around to the source, her sense still sharp even after a year of confinement. She cast her eyes to an approaching figure. The faint light of its cigarette her only means of seeing his shrouded face. But still there was not ample light in the growing darkness around them.
"Kahri right...?"
All the female heard was her name and instantly she took a step back, pale eyes hardening to stones.
"What do you say we go have a drink?"
Her understanding of the Terran language had somewhat expanded since her time in the cage, yet the meanings of words still evaded her. Her only defense was to parrot unless there was understanding. This time was no exception. "..have a drink?" The female's frown hardened still. The tips of her claws clanked together in anticipation of response.
The mans eyes hardened, moving down and settling on your claws for a moment, and then he took another draw from his cigarette. " A drink". He seemed to say in a way that agreed with your own repeat of his suggestion. He grunted and then blew out some smoke, a series of dry coughs following that he then looked up at you again. Slowly his fingers tightened around his lighter, slowly flicking it open and shut, the flame dancing upwards each time the wick was hit by the flint.
"Syopa drec femm syga oui vaam cmekrdmo paddan.....E zicd fyhd du teclicc cusa....picehacc...."( Maybe this will make you feel better.....I just want to discuss....business....)
He shurgged, Seemed whoever this man was he spoke Al Bhed, however you couldn't help but be suspisious if you were. However by the looks of the man, and his facial expression it seemed that he didn't care either way. But of course....some people were harder to read than others. And there was something strange about this man. An air of enigma. " E't ytjela oui dyga dra uvvan druikr.." ( I'd advice you take the offer though..).
" Dranac saspanc uv dra dingc fydlrehk ouin sujasahdc huf...hu tuipd drao'mm pa muugehk vun yho nasyehehk Ym Prat...edc bnupypmo fro drao vnaat oui eh dra vencd bmyla...uha suica maytc dra lyd pylg du dra hacd..."(Theres members of the turks watching your movements now...no doubt they'll be looking for any remaining Al Bhed...its probably why they freed you in the first place...one mouse leads the cat back to the nest...)
A light of recognition came to her eyes as the man before her began speaking in her native tongue. But rather than reply right away, she surveyed him fully from top to bottom, concentrating more so on what little she could see of his face and his hand clasped around the cigarette. Like her, his skin was too pale for a native Al Bhed, but he spoke the language without pause or break, fluidly as if it were apart of him his whole life.
Either he was really good and pronounciation in other languages or he was of the Al Bhed, perhaps a child of another camp. Regardless of what affiliation he had with her kind, her response to him was sharp, "E ryja hu picehacc fedr oui."(I have no business with you.) Yet as she turned to leave, he continued to speak just as careless as he had began. Kahri was forced to hear him out, not out of curiosity, but by the fact that apparently she was some target of a group she hadn't heard of.
She was not impressed, or as a sane person should have been, she was not worried. "Drec knuib ryt belgat dra fnuhk suica, (This group has picked the wrong mouse)", she explained. "Drana ec hud hacd vun ed du nadinh du. (There is no nest for it to return to)" And though this statement was true, there was no sadness in her eyes, no regret for the fate that was bestowed upon her. If anything she was grateful in this moment. Her lack of affiliation would surly keep her out of trouble. She raised a gauntlet claw while turning her back to the smoking man. "Cu drana ec hu picehacc du teclicc....ku yfyo." (So there is no business to discuss...go away) She shifted her feet around and began to walk.
He shrugged, the creases in his suit slightly more apparant for that moment. " Frydajan get, ouin lruela yd dra aht uv dra tyo. E's hud kuhhy vunla oui du tu hudrehk" (Whatever kid, your choice at the end of the day. I'm not gonna force you to do nothing). The man turned his back on you as you turned your back on him. He slowly walked towards a bar, it seemed like he planned to go and have a drink without you regardless....
[ On the roof tops]
" Got her in sight boss". A grunt scoffed to his senior officer. " Good, make sure you don't lose her..". The grunt looked through the scope again. " Sir it appears shes talking to...herself.....think shes got some kind of communication device or something?". The officer shrugged. " Don't know....can't think of where she would have hidden it...we did a full cavity check". This was followed by a secons silence. Then an arrogant outbreak of quiet laughter.
Smack, something knocked one of the grunts right out, then a follow up kick to the nose sent the officer flying backwards. " What in the he-". Standing in front of the man was a skantly dressed woman, her features prononounced, she looked like she was dragged straight out of a 16 year old boys fantasy. " Who-who are you?". She smiled and bit her thumb. " Call me Roxy....". Another figure in black emerged from behind the soldier, grabbing his neck and snapping it like a twig in his hands. " Stop messing about.....you know the mission...".
The girl retook the soldiers place with the scope watching Kahri down below. " Think she'll go back?". She said in a girlish tone. The other replied coldy. " Her choice....its always been our own choice....he never forces anyone to do anything...".
Her back was turned from the man, her steps stopped as he spoke again. The indifference in his voice was nothing short of disturbing, if not annoying to the female. She glanced in his direction over her shoulder. An apparent frown over her face. He couldn't have been serious. He bothered to whistle her out like some dog and when she decided not to follow him he just ignored her? Just like that? What was this fool playing at?
She pivoted on her heels to look to him fully, watching with the same expression of disdain as he walked on down the street to a bar. Obviously he was going to have one with or without her. If that was the case, then she could at least make him pay for her drink.
No amusement evident she scoffed, adjusting her slipping pants to uncover her feet then trudge after him to the bar. A roll of thunder shook the city just as she entered the poorly constructed establishment.
The bar was by the most empty, the sounds of an old juke box playing in the background, the smell of stale beer and a cocktail of other alcohols and fumes. There was a mild haze, like a fog created by those who had choosen to give the bar its patronage. It seemed to be a place of smokers. Suited the mysterious stranger perfectly it seemed. Through the haze you saw his figure at a bar, sitting down on a stool. Even as you entered you felt as if you were being watched. Not that anyone was actually directly looking at you. That in itself was strange. Usually when someone new came into a pub or a bar all eyes were on them.
But no one had lifted their eyes. Rather they had done something else. Each person that was in view ( although there was a small number) had moved their hands under the tables. No doubt taking hold of a weapon. This gave the idea that this was a dangerous establishment, used to seeing violence. The mystery man was sitting down at the bar nursing his own drink. A shot of whisky in a small tumbler.
His eyes moved up to you, not quite turning himself around though. The juke box fell silent and then started playing a tune you didn't quite recognise. But it seemed the barman did as he cleane glasses and hummed the tune to himself. " Sit down". The man said, not asking, not even ordering. Just stating. " By now my own...assossiates...will have taken care of your shinra escort....and trust me when I say...no one that comes in here is a friend of Shinra....".
He removed a brown folder from below his jacket. He slid it across to you. Inside, your name, details, your birth date, your place of birth...the thing seemed like your entire biography. " Since I already know who you are....I suppose your wondering who I am....well too bad...". He drew back and downed he shot. After finishing that he lit up another one of his cigarettes and then finally turned to look at you.
" So tell me just what you know about the Galbadians....".
The instinct of a killer never faded even with time devoted to no threat. Entering the bar she could literally smell the dis-ease in the air. The less than subtle shift of the patrons' hands to below their tables only warranted a groan of annoyance and a swift roll of her eyes. Really...where they going to try and take her down? Fat chance. Even with time in incarseration her abilities were nothing to be taken lightly. Eying each man with a stone optics she shuffled deeper into the dank establishment, sighting almost immediately this mysterious man at the bar. Her steps were soundless on approach yet still his eyes fell on her and she felt herself go rigid. None the less, she seated herself.
She eyed the folder pushed infront of her, not yet looking at it as her attention was still drawn to the man, her mind slowly absorbing this unsettling information. She couldn't hide the shot from her eyes, not the bewilderment when she finally gave attention to the file and was forced to read out its contents. It was all about her. Everything. What he said was true. Everything in the file consisted of her origin, her race, even the abilities she currently possessed. In an act of rage to this violation she shoved the file away, hearing the contents scatter as the innocent folder slid off the bar and slapped to the floor.
" So tell me just what you know about the Galbadians...."
Kahri whipped her head around to the man, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You expect me to tell you what I know after showing me this? I don't know who the hell you are and you're carrying around my information like its a damn wallet? What fool do you take me for? You answer my questions before I tell you anything else..."
"Don't get your panties in a twist...". He stated just after your mild outburst in Al Bhed. He gestured to the stool next to him and ordered another drink. He quickly downed the one he had, taking a puff of smoke afterwards. This guy seemed to be all about lifes little vices. "Druca yna dra lusbmeat vemac dryd Crehny ryja linnahdmo dinhat ib ypuid oui....madc zicd cyo E fyc eh dra crehny raytxiyndanc aynmean yht syhykat du....punnuf....druca vemac...." (Those are the complied files that Shinra have currently turned up about you....lets just say I was in the shinra headquarters earlier and managed to....borrow....those files....). He looked over and gave you an exsasperated look.
" Oui teth'd ycg sa yho xiacdeuhc du yhcfan....yht E't nydran gaab ed dryd fyo....oui lyh zicd lymm sa y vneaht dryd oui'ja hud oad sad....y cdnyhkan...bnupypmo pa pacd vun oui ev ed nasyehat dryd fyo....E'ja ymnayto dumt oui ruf E kud dra vemac....huf ihmacc oui fyhd cusauha kuehk drnuikr druca beldinac dryd yna eh dra vema...."(You didn't ask me any questions to answer....and I'd rather keep it that way....you can just call me a friend that you've not yet met....a stranger...probably be best for you if it remained that way....I've already told you how I got the files....now unless you want someone going through those pictures that are in the file....)
He got off the stool bent one down and picked one up, and showed it to you, a picture of you in your undergarments sleeping ( probably something that would enrage you even more). This time he broke Al Bhed and spoke english. " Then I advice you pick them up and put them away...or burn them...whatever suits you and your chocobo undies". He said this with a rather blank expression, obviously meaning to mock your previous outburst. He sat down again as the bar man brought him his next drink.
" So, on to my question....what do you know about Galbadia...".
She wasn't liking this encounter in the slightest. To know information about a person was one thing, but to flaunt it around without a care, then have the audacity to demand something from her was not something she was planning to take lightly to. He hadn't even given her so much as a name but continuously went on about him being a 'friend'. What the hell kind of friend was he supposed to be? A damn stalker?
And how livid was she in seeing the image of herself sleeping in nothing but her underwear. Her face was burning, not from embarassment, but in anger from this violation of her privacy. Someone was going to hurt when she found the source of all this...
Again he asked what she knew after advising she collect her information. She remained planted to the barstool, instead taking to the act of grating the tips of her claws against the laquered wood of the bartop. Each cut to the wood was painfully slowly, contemplative. Her eyes burned into the wood as if hoping it would spontaneously catch fire. But her stubborn silence was not to last. As enraged as she was, the sooner she gave him what he needed, the sooner she could get out of this place and be one her way, hopefully with this irritation behind her. "I just know they were forced to retreat by the Al-Bhed from Midgar." And that was her truth. What more could she have possibly learned while locked in jail?
He smirked, almost laughing however it came out as more of a garbled grunt than anything else. He took another drink and then let his eyes settle back on you. He seemed to be scanning you with his eyes, almost as if he was wondering if that was truely all you did know. He then shrugged and pulled out a cigarette, he rolled it across the table. An obvious invite to take it without the words actually being said, in the end it was up to you whether or not you took the smoke.
" E pameaja oui, pid E ys lineuic yc du zicd fro Setkyn yna cu ehdanacdat eh zicd uha Ym Prat....syopa drao'na y ped bynyhuet yvdan mucehk dra pyddma...fru ghufc...." (I believe you, but I am curious as to just why Midgar are so interested in just one Al Bhed....maybe they're a bit paranoid after losing the battle...who knows....)
He took another cigarette of his own and lit the thing up. This was now maybe the fifth or sixth he'd smoked in your presense. If this was normal for him you had to imagine just how many he went through in a day. That said you had to wonder just how he afforded such a vice....he was too suspisious for comfort. " Hmmph...does it interest you that Galbadia retaliated for the Al Bhed appearance on the battlefield?....true the added chaos gave them the edge over shinra....but the Al Bhed damaged their numbers significantly....I'd say if it wasn't for the Al Bhed....there would be fighting going on already...". He shrugged again, coughing into a clenched fist.
" Doesn't matter...Al Bhed repelled most of the attack to their home if it makes any difference to you....only a couple of missles hit....and it was just somewhere in the desert...not as if there was much out there to be alive in the first place....".
Just then, there was a knocking sound on the door, the stranger didn't move. But there was a change in the air. The clattering sound against a wooden floor. Then...a flashing explosion. A flash bang grenade. Despite the now ringing in your ears, you saw the strange reach into his tuxedo and remove an elabouratly designed silver shotgun. He turned, Shinra soldiers rushed into the bar. He pulled the trigger taking the head off one soldier and knocking another to the ground. He pumped, and an empty shell clattered to the floor. At this point your hearing would be recovering. It was a complete melee.
[ Fight your way out of the bar rewards will be given for good rping]
This day had began so simply, none would have, or could have anticipated for it to take such a startling turn for the worse. From the moment of her release, there should have been a boring venture afterward. She should have just wandered the streets for a little while, perhaps gain her barings in one form of another, leave the town and start a life anew.
But no, some higher power thought to fuck with this plan. It saw fit to lead her down a blind alley and into a heated midst she wanted nothing to do with. And how mcuh worse it became as the doors of the bar were kicked open and hell broke loose with the fire of the hounds of hell. There was an audible 'bang' and everything went silent. Kahri looked to her side and say the nameless man withdrew an odd rifle from his person. She took this as a sign and swiftly hoisted herself over the bar and hid behind it just as the first shot of gun fire rang out.
And then the rush happened. Dozens of soldiers came filtering into the bar with the authority of Shinra officiers, and with each one, the female's disdain for the organization steadily grew. Her hands became consumed by an eerie glow, the bartender yelled something next to her, protesting her proceeding use of magic or whatever, but she wasn't listening. She slammed her metallic fists onto the ground and the entire establishment shook. The ground quaked between their feets, the vibration sent a ripple through the floor, racing up the shelves of booze and shattering the bottles in its wake. The Al-Bhed lept over the bar through the rain of glass and flew into the thick of the collapsed soldiers.
Talons of blackened steel cut through the face of the nearest solider like butter, the flames around her claws cauterized the cuts, but the bastard was already dead on the ground. Furious shouts rang in her ears along with gunfire and insults, but she was deaf to it all. Her sights on the exit of the bar, everything else was a blur. The thick of soldiers began returning to their feet, aiming their guns at the fleeting image of pale skin. She lunged down for a discarded rifle, cocked it and fired blindly as she rolled back to her bare feet and pulled the trigger at random. Bullets whizzed past her ears, a sudden sting grazed her cheek. She swung the rifle behind her at the soldiers at her heels, a monsterous energy once again collecting to her hands and she struck the wooden ground, inciting another tremor to cripple the forces.
She darted through the doors of the bar and ran like hell to the outside.
The difference between the streets and the bar was immediate when you walked through the door, much more quiet dispite the noice of gunshots coming from the bar. The smell of gunsmoke still bristled in the air like sparks of magic. However the quiet in the streets turned quickly from semi relaxing into suspisious, this was Midgar, why the hell were the streets this quiet?
There was a click, the sound of the safety of a gun being turned off, followed by " freeze!". Several grunts hidden behind a truck., now revealing themselves. They slowly walked out, keeping their sights on you, no doubt this was merely a front group, there would be more snipers and such. Ready to take into custody anyone who made it out of the bar.
However that wasn't the only sight you saw, on top of the roof just above the van, a figure draped in black. Something, a strange looking sword in his hand. A hood covering his head , flickering backwards as he took a run off the roof and rolled onto the top of the van. Landing on the ground on his feet after sliding off the metal roof of the van. The soldiers reacted in time to this mans presense, turning and setting off a burst of automatic fire, however a shield of some kind seemed to appear as each bullet struck. Slowly the blade struck out, like the grim reaper he carved through these soldiers like a butcher through a slaughter house.
As each soldier fell, he slowly turned to face you, but then seemed to snort running off into the shadows.
Freedom from the bar was not long to be felt, for as her bared feet touched the ground, a foreboding sensation crept through her soles, scaled up her legs and to her spine, sending uncomfortably chills along the way. The air was to still for the commotion in the bar. One would have thought there would be running and panic in the streets. But alas, her eyes beheld not the chaos of screaming fools, but the faces of many soldiers, muzzles pointed in her direction all locked and ready to fire. Her translucent orbs were hard as stones, shifting to each soldier as if her gaze would drop them dead in an instant. They were a persistent bunch, these soldiers of Shinra, but she was not in admiration of their diligence.
She was pissed off.
An order sounded in the common, but she was past listening. Her hands glowed with an eerie crimson hue and her keen ears heard the cock of a rifle near her proximity. Her stance was loose though her body was tensed, coiled and prepared to strike and flee this damned situation. And then there was black. And all hell broke loose.
A shadowy figure danced among the horde of soldiers, swinging a blade to silence the scrambling fools, off kilter from the ambush. Kahri too was surprised by this sudden appearance to her aid, but within her subconscious, she had come to expect that someone would come to her assistance. But this...was not what she had in mind. The guards were wasted and a snort cut through the renewed silence. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled with disgust, but not for the carnage, but for the behavior of this nameless...foe? Savior? She couldn't classify, nor did she care to. She turned on the balls of her feet to the bar, not moving toward it, but perhaps waiting for the mystic man to reappear. There were questions she wanted answer, but none were more imperative than her want to know exactly just what the fuck was going on.
Another explosion, this one rocketed throughout Midgar, the bar itself errupted in flames, the explosion knocking you off your feet. Fuzzy vision, pain lancing through you body, flesh screaming in pain, you were pretty sure a couple of bones were broken. From the flames seemed to emerge a dark figure. The man in the suit. Ill looking, his suit torn in the collar, but other than that...unscathed. A cigarette flicking out of his hand, and lighting it one of flaming ruins.
He stood above you looking down. "Its already begun....". He blew out the smoke. " Chaos and disorder....world to world....like a disease....theres more of us....than we think.....". He smirked and shook his head. A burst of static seemed to come from his pocket, he removed a small black box. " What is it?". Another burst of static and the vague voice. " Its begun...Shinra labs....Jenova....". He nodded slowly to himself before bending down and putting you into a sitting position near a car.
" You'll be fine...."
He then stood up. " From here its your own choice what you do.....But its the destiny of those with power to shape the fate of the world....". He slowly began to walk away. " Run from fate...and invite him as a companion on the road....". The blackness of unconciousness finally rushed in on you....and by the time you came to. He was gone. You were faced with choices....
1,) Investigate the words on the radio " Jenova, shinra labs" 2,) Attempt to contact Al Bhed factions within Midgar 3,) Drag your ass to a doctor and do whatever the hell you please.
