life in the forgotten city

[auncyenhalig]

[ This is a city, but it might be hard to recognize that at first. The communal housing is set in giant shells; ancient coral lines the paths in between. The entire landscape suggests a sea was once here. It has greenery, but in a sparse sense, thin plants dotting the ground and sometimes reaching up to the coral. Still, there is life here,

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[waterfell]

[It's a dream made for her: the children learning in this makeshift school, the harp that serves as her symbol. It's no real surprise that Mercury finds her way there. Her eyes take in the weapons, the readiness, without becoming angry; they are no threat.

Aerith could be, but she knows Aerith.]

Put away the weapons. I haven't come for that. [She addresses the group as a whole with that remark, and affords her acquaintance a brief nod of greeting. Wordlessly, she holds up what she has come here for: a small stack of relevant books for school use. She holds them out to Aerith.

Even she can still consider school sacred.]

[auncyenhalig]

Wait a moment... [ She starts protesting, looking confused, but then something clicks in her expression. That's right, Ami does make sense in this dream. A friend from her travels, before she arrived here.

The books surprise her too, but the smile comes quickly, lighting up her face. ] You got these for the kids? Look everyone!

[ And while the kids are more distracted with the showing of the books, Aerith leans toward Mercury with a whisper: ]

(Careful, everyone's a little on edge.) [ She knows it's not like Mercury would get hurt in a fight...but she doesn't want there to be one. ] Let's thank Mercury for her gift, alright? Liam, pass them to teacher, please? [ It's a diversion for the boy with the dagger--most teenagers don't take well to orders. ]

[waterfell]

[She hadn't been sure how the gesture would be received. She doesn't really know how to do these things, even when she tries, even when she does them. She answers a bit stiffly, almost as if bringing the books was against her will, rather than her own choice because this school needs them.]

They should have the chance to learn these things. That's all. [And maybe, maybe it's a step towards who she was meant to be.]

[auncyenhalig]

The first thing they need to learn about is the Planet. [ Aerith's tone is firm--there's an undercurrent of worry in it. ] But other subjects..those are nice to explore. And--what's that? That's all? [ Her voice picks up with a slightly teasing tone. "that's all", really. ] You came all this way!

[tasercopter]

[Reno's eyes are as brightly green as any Cetra's, and her hair is a bizarre (inhuman?) shade of red, and then there are those markings on her face, which have to mean something, so why shouldn't she (somehow) be a Cetra? In this dream, it just so happens that she is, coming to visit some of her fellow Cetra, not that Reno even knows much about the Cetra, but her subconscious is winging it.

She's probably not a very good Cetra. She has a fancy staff of her own, and it also shoots lightning bolts, because she is that kind of Cetra. But these are her people, so she's not going to shoot at them, smiling instead.] Hi, guys. You can settle down. I'm not here to hurt anybody.

I'm just from--the south. I'm traveling.

[auncyenhalig]

[ Well, she's probably not going to win for Best Cetra Ever with the informal way she approaches them, but part of Aerith remembers Reno with children before. She wasn't bad with them, and the brunette turns cautiously to the teacher. ]

Hey... if she came from the south, she should be okay. How about she sits with me? [ She turns a smile to Reno. ] I bet your legs are tired. Did the Planet call you here?

[tasercopter]

[Hey, they're all Cetra, all one with the Planet, why be formal with each other? But then, she doesn't exactly fit in with the other Cetra, which is perhaps part of the reason she's no longer in the south. Sometimes it's almost a pain, having to listen to the Planet all the time, and she'd rather do something for herself.

But no, Planet it is.]

Right, the Planet thought I--needed to learn a lesson. About the Planet. So it sent me here. [Stupid Planet. Making her tell the truth.]

So I'll just come sit with you. [She turns toward Aerith with a grin.] I am pretty worn out.

[auncyenhalig]

This is the right place to learn... even if you're a bit older than most students. [ She diverts a sneaky look at two eight-year-olds who are smiling, and that makes their laughter burst out. It helps the rest of the group relax, even if some still seem cautious. ]

I understand. I had a pretty long journey, too.

[findmyownreason]

The clothing he's dressed in is dark, a durable material that even so shows the stains of long, hard travel and battle. His face is bruised and his skin has cuts and scratches on it, sloppy bandages over a wrist and the palm of one bare hand. A sword that's all metal and no elegance, efficient and lacking any art, rests against his back. Shaggy hair hangs over his eyes, dusts the sides of his lean face that's know too little food and he stumbles when he stops, catching himself. The eyes he raises though are too bright a blue and the arm hanging limp and useless at his side, despite the bandages can't hide the taint that all but oozes from it

[auncyenhalig]

It takes her a moment to place him, but already in that moment she's moving forward to help him, even as a clamor goes up from the children.

"Don't!"

"He's got it!"

"It's the Calamity!"

Even the children know of Jenova's ravages. After all... even a young Cetra can sense when a spirit returns to the lifestream. Lately the change of the flux is terrifying; at times, the wind seems to only carry more and more cries of lives cut short, and everyone has to throw themselves into normal routine even more to keep the worry from taking over.

"Cloud." That's right, it is Cloud. He looked so different now from when they'd met at the fair...but she hoped fervently to keep him among the living, at least a little longer. "Stay with me, stay awake. You got this far! I guess maybe you're strong after all." Lighthearted teasing, just as she'd teased him back then, but the worry shows in her pursed lips and fixed eyes as she checks his temperature and pulse.

[findmyownreason]

"Shouldn't - " his shoulders hunch and his voice is dry as breaking twigs. "Shouldn't touch." His skin under her fingertips is dry too and it burns like a desert that's been cooked too long in the sun. His lids hide his unnatural eyes, strength stolen from the very life of the planet, and that darkness burns inside him too but it keeps the world from the jarring focus/diffusing that it's been doing lately. He doesn't try to struggle away from her though. He hadn't meant to put her in danger but she's his last hope. His only hope. He needs her and it makes him selfish but - he needs her. Maybe a single fair isn't enough time but, for Cloud, she's already imprinted for life inside him. Even if that life is a lot shorter than he thought it would be. The Planet's going to get it's life force back earlier than expected.

He's not here for himself though.

At the moment, all that is swimming inside his feverish head though. All he can concentrate on is the sound of her voice.

"Aerith - "

[auncyenhalig]

She knows she probably shouldn't touch--and somehow it still seems a meaningless precaution to her. It's a feeling in her that they are all in this nightmarish time together, and to shun the sick will only make things worse.

He seemed to be a different case from the others though, somehow. There weren't any signs of the kind of change that had happened before... Did that make him safer? She looked back at the children, concerned at how worried they looked still. She might need to move him. "And you shouldn't be exerting yourself, but look where you are. Flat on the ground. Drink some water, then you can talk, okay?" As she reaches to get the flask from her waist, it sets her necklace into motion, light reflecting dully off the small dark sphere.

[plotdeviceturk]

[Tseng isn't wearing his usual clothing either; deep blue robes with an icy blue and silver fabric wrapped around his waist and draped over a shoulder. There's a staff clutched in one hand and his feet are bare.

He smiles though, offering a hand palm up. It was an open gesture, he meant them no harm.]

Well met indeed. I didn't mean to intrude on anything.

[auncyenhalig]

[ It's very, very different from what he usually wears, and for Aerith there's a pause--the sort of dress is unfamiliar, but she knows him, with both a sense of fondness and a sense of caution. Her hold on the staff turns much more casual as she balances it behind her back. ]

It's all right. There's been a lot going on lately, and everyone's trying to be careful.

[plotdeviceturk]

[It's similar to what he would have worn in a different life, if the war in Wutai had never happened, if he'd melted away with Veld and the others, if the deck had been shuffled differently.]

That's always a good plan; it's better to be wary and pleasantly surprised than caught off guard.

[auncyenhalig]

Mm, you're right. So, what brings you here? [ She takes the lead in handling the stranger so that the teacher can calm the students, even if there's now a restless curiosity overtaking the first wave of suspicion as the students watch her step off to the side. ]