- 007 || high above the world.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

One wouldn't think a place like Midgar could be this cold, much less effected by such an intense level of snow and ice coating the once-lively city. The thick, winter sky above graciously littered the land in gentle, white flakes, resting upon layers of already-compacted snow on the ground, the buildings... and something else towering above

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[waterfell]

She's on the roof. Clad in her uniform, sword in her hand, Mercury looks out over the city from a short distance away, beside the dragon.

It isn't the first time, for her. When the Dead Moon had attacked her world, there had been not just the enemy's own attacks, but the people themselves suddenly stirred up to angry tempers, fighting each other and ruining the town without the enemy even doing anything more.

She doesn't recognize who she's standing beside, but something in the dream keeps her from being afraid, either. After several moments, she turns towards the dragon. Covered in snow, he makes an unlikely conversation partner, but she tries.

"Where is this?" Coated in winter, she doesn't recognize the places she's seen before quite yet.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

There's a deep, crunkling shuff as the snow over his giant maw unsettles, smacking into the side of the building, then tumbling out into the ruins far below. There's a small smile - or as much of a smile as a dragon can muster - on the being's face, recognizing the voice and feeling the presence beyond this simple dream.

"The most disgusting place on the Planet," Its voice booms, sounding much like hissing smoke through a volcanic crater. "And it used to be home. It was home for a lot of us." But it's familiar, beyond the distortion.

"Now look at it. This is what's gonna happen."

And even if it wasn't exactly this, Midgar wouldn't thrive for that much longer either way. There were numerous possibilities, numerous outcomes, but the sad, longing Voice of the Planet said it all.

His tail shifts a little behind him, and the dragon continues to wait.

[waterfell]

"If that troubles you, why stay here and watch it? Make the future you want to see instead." She'd say it to anyone, challenging them to do so - if they dare, if they will, if they can. She's done it for herself, using her two hands and her power to shape not just her own world, but the others she's affected through the nexus and these dreams.

"Right now, standing here is the same as permitting it to happen." The senshi who would have allowed the princess to repeat the fate of the past, simply by not standing against her.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

"We can only guide those who can." He responds quietly, with the slightest movement of his wings. "In this world, this place... we're pretty much just watching the world go by. Our time to be alive's over."

Because within these ruins, this pain and suffering... there was a light. It hadn't made itself known yet, but the Planet gave him assurance that it eventually would. The details on that were something not even Gaia could tell them - something that had to happen by fate alone.

"And I'm okay with that, even if it is a little lonely."

[auncyenhalig]

She's up on the plate but not that high up--rather than on the roof, the dragon is likely to see her wandering into and through those crumbled memories. Such a sad sight... she's seen a ruined Midgar before, in someone else's dream. For it to appear again, does it mean something?

It's a plaintive but stubborn face that turns up to the dragon, and though she hesitates, she still clambers up the rubble to meet him. ]

[hisdreamsmyfate]

He can spot her immediately - a bright spot of pink amidst the bleak gray and white, working its way to where he was. And a fond smile spreads over his face once more; she's wearing the dress he'd mocked about so long ago.

And the ribbon.

But he hadn't come back for her. She'd stopped waiting for him and he'd never come home. He wasn't even able to read what she had written him before he'd passed on, and for all of those years to be wasted so easily...

He moves back, allowing her room on his perch.

[auncyenhalig]

When she does get up there, she takes a moment, doubled over--that pink ribbon is in full view and she's never taken it off, not even for sneaking undercover into a pimp's mansion.

Granted, she probably wouldn't boast about that part to Zack.

But after she takes that moment to pant and catch her breath--"Did you have to be--that high up?"--she straightens up, smoothing out her hair.

"...You look different," she says. Mild understatement. "I think it's the wings." There's an unspoken Why? in her curious tone.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

When she's around, some of the snow melts around them, the bleak, gray landscape now blooming with a warm light. Flowers and grass bloom forth, and in that one little area, all seems right within the world. But... he knows it's not. It never is.

Let him have this moment of peace.

The creature smiles a gentle smile, using one of those wings to shield the other from the bitter, pricking cold still blowing past. He couldn't let the flowers get hurt, after all - it'd ruin the happiness.

"Can't blame you if you're jealous," He quips, trying to sound more like his old self. "They are pretty amazing, after all."

[findmyownreason]

He's making his way up that path, one heavy boot in front of the other, snow crunching under each measured footfall. He walks like a teen, loose and slightly hunched forward, head down, hair over his eyes and there's a slight scowl on his lips and between his eyebrows too. But there's no falter in his steps, not break in the slow, steady trudge. He walks as if he's walked for a thousand miles at this pace and has a thousand more to go. And he leaves a dotted trail of spattered black liquid behind him in the pristine snow. It's impossible to ignore a giant dragon but the heavy sword at his back stays in its sheath and he doesn't slow his steady walk or lift his head as he approaches.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

Geostigma.

He remembers the word that was used in a prior dream, and how much he hated hearing it.

The familiar, rancid scent is enough for the creature to lift its massive head in the direction of the newcomer, a soft growl rumbling out of its throat. He can spot the ruffle of blonde hair amongst the snow, the pained demeanor and the clothes that were still so unusual on him and yet looked as if they'd belonged there - and he relaxes. Another effect of greed, like dominoes in a Wutain shop, to lead to something like this.

So he doesn't move from his spot, doesn't leave his best friend out in the cold like this. For you, Cloud, he'll even stretch a feathered wing out to provide better warmth from the icy sting of an oncoming storm, almost wrapping completely around the entire ShinRa Building.

[findmyownreason]

The growl doesn't phase him though there is an inhale at it, deep and slow, and the boot steps continue their endless rhythm toward the dragon without falter or waver. The wing snapping open brings about the first pause though and Cloud lifts his head to watch as that great darkness all but fills the sky.

For just a moment the scowl leaves his features and they're young enough to be sixteen and in unashamed awe of something magnificent and beautiful. The wing curves - and he clutches at his arm again with his good hand, head dropping, steps starting again. They hold more purpose this time, more determination though. The frown groves his face deeper, pulling his eyebrows down with it but it's a determined set. And he doesn't hunch so hard against the cold, sheltered by that giant wing as he moves ever closer up the winding path toward that giant, horned head.

[hisdreamsmyfate]

He'll wait as long as he needs to for Cloud.

He's waited all this time, watching the world shift and change around him, people grow and... alright. Maybe not mature but they were still different from when he'd last stepped a solid foot on the ground. And he isn't tired, either, so Cloud will continue to be protected from the wind, even after he arrives.

For the time being, he decides to watch his friend, keeping an eye out for any assistance that may be needed. Because even in death, he would never leave his friend out in the cold.

[existwithoutme]

A dragon. The sight appealed to him. He was reminded of his own beautiful dragons. He'd had a fleet of them, so loyal to him. Monsters that they were, he'd perhaps felt closer to them than to any other living being. They had heard his words and done his bidding. He had a kind of mastery over beasts. So of course, he didn't hesitate to approach this dragon.

He had no need of any path. He flew up into the air, effortlessly, not stopping until he was hovering before the dragon.

"What a lovely creature you are." He smiled. "Such magnificence shouldn't hide itself beneath the snow. Why not spread your wings and fly forth?"

[hisdreamsmyfate]

He's almost completely concealed by the storm at this point, his body tall yet still. He continues to watch the environment around him with a trained gaze, guarding over a land that's crumbling under his feet. It's pointless to try and even protect this place, but he still wants to try.

Of course, his gaze was obstructed by the sight of a newcomer soon enough. He didn't protest, or move to push the man out of the way - the creature simply smiles gently, allowing a hot puff of breath which sounds more like a repressed chuckle.

"I thought about it," The distorted voice comes, though it's cohesive enough. "...but then the city'd been empty. And that's no good."