In the woods with no one around...

[waterfell]

[The forest is dense enough to inhibit light, leaving a dappled pattern of shadow on the ground as the thin sun filters through the leaves. There are no obvious landmarks, but Mercury walks purposefully, as if she knows the way

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[findmyownreason]

[the woods are new and Cloud's not exactly sure how he got here? Looking up at the overhead canopy doesn't help him much but... maybe... Gongaga? Either way, he's sitting on a low flat stone, his sword a reassuring weight against his back and a skein of almost transparent thread in the other hand. He's no more sure why he'd got the thread than he is where he is but he accepts it and knows that, somehow, it's important. The same way he knows that he's waiting here for a reason. An important reason.]

[waterfell]

[He should recognize her by now, when Mercury steps back into the same area, from the opposite direction she'd left in perhaps ten minutes earlier.

How is Cloud here without her knowing?]

Cloud. [She stays on-guard, on the chance that it's a trick or illusion.] How did you come here?

[findmyownreason]

[his pale eyebrows go up just a little at her arrival, having heard the quiet approach before he actually saw her. He hasn't seen her like this often but to him, she's easy to recognize. He murmurs her name in answer, somehow not surprised to find her here even though he can't think of why it would seem normal. At her question, his shoulders lift and fall the littlest bit and there's a small shake of his head.]

Don't know. Just found myself here. With this. Is it yours?

[the skein of thin thread gets lifted and it catches light that isn't there to run down it's surface.]

[waterfell]

[It's something that would have been easy for her to miss, in her preoccupation and nervousness at the simple realization of the trap. She narrows her eyes and then, she can see it as the nonexistent light glints off it.]

A thread...? [Her head turns to follow it as far as her eyes can, but that isn't far enough to have a guess as to where it leads.]

Where did you find it? Just here?

[findmyownreason]

I had it when I -

[when he what? He doesn't remember walking in here and as used to having memory lapses as he is, it's been a couple of years since the last one. He's supposed to be over that by now. There's a slight head shake. He's not going to let this freak him out. He'll remember how he got here soon enough.]

I guess I've had it since I got here.

[sudden realization and his eyes lift to hers]

How long have you been here?

[waterfell]

[How long...? Suddenly, now that she's thinking about it, it feels like it could be days - weeks - years. Who knows? Her whole life could so easily come down to just wandering this forest.

Except for this thread. Except for Cloud. In her mind, she clings to them as a chance of a way out.]

I don't know how long.

[findmyownreason]

[he watches the shift in her eyes and it's answer enough. His own determination hardening, he stands up in one fluid, dark move. It's the protector in him, responding to the brief moment of being lost he thought he caught in her eyes, that has him offering his free hand. Against his back his sword is a reassuring weight.]

Come on. Let's get out of here.

[waterfell]

[But in the end, she demurs.]

I can't go. I belong here.

[It was always supposed to end here. She's always been trapped.]

[findmyownreason]

[his eyebrows go up for a second because that's not what he's getting from her at all. But he doesn't argue with her right away either. Instead he lets his hand drop and his eyes, almost having a glow of their own in the dim light, watch her steadily.]

So where's here?

[waterfell]

This is the forest of the Dark Kingdom. That's why you can't just walk out of it like a normal forest. [Her eyes automatically seek out the thread.]

[findmyownreason]

[he follows the glance and thoughtful lifts his hand. Light runs down the thin thread leading away from the spool in his hand to disappear less than a foot from where he is. But there's tension there. Whether they can see it or not, the thread leads beyond that point. He looks back at the woman in front of him.]

So why are you here?

[waterfell]

[Didn't she say she belongs here?]

Who knows? Probably, someone is acting against me.

[Except she can't be sure of that. It makes no sense; and to give credit to the shitennou, if any of them acted against her it would be for a reason.

No, though she either hasn't realized it or doesn't want to, this is all the doing of her own frozen mind that refuses to go forward or backward to somewhere new.]

[findmyownreason]

[she can say she belongs here but that doesn't mean he believes her. Especially if she's going to question why she's here when he asks. Another motion with the thread, another glint of running light. Calmly watching, Cloud will ask:]

Then if you're not here because you want to be but because someone is acting against you - why would you want to stay?

[waterfell]

I've been searching for the exit.

[If that were true, wouldn't a girl who always talks about quick action, like she does, already be following the thread?

She may need to be pushed.]

[findmyownreason]

[more than most, Cloud understands being trapped because of yourself. So he just watches her for a moment more. Ami is a fighter, sometimes more than she needs to be and he's rarely known her to be so still and placid. He wouldn't mind if she found a bit of stillness in her life- but not this way. Again, he'll hold out his hand and it's expectant this time.]

I will too. Come with me.

[waterfell]

[She looks away and while she keeps the gesture from becoming childish, she shakes her head.]

You can go on.

[She knows she can't just walk out of here. She has to find the way on her own, doesn't she?]