That isn't Snow

That isn't Snow
Date of Scene:	26 March 2013
Location:	Eden
Synopsis:	Serah wakes up from crystal slumber, completly disoriented, stumbling upon Niklas, who's never been oriented.
Cast of Characters:	Niklas Dragonius, Serah Farron

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Serah Farron has posed:
This has been one weird day.

First, the confusion. She was staring at Snow and Lightning's faces last she remembers. Apparently, when the crystalization process starts, your memory stops with it too. So when she wakes up again, the place is completly different, and her sister and boyfriend are entirely missing.

And where is she anyway? This huge, modern-looking city, with glass floors for street and sliding doors.

Wandering out, she figured she was in Eden.. and unguarded. That's another part of the confusion. Normally Eden would have done something about a Pulse l'Cie, in crystal or not. But there was, awake, and without anyone really watching her either, as if there was no chance that someone would just walk out of that room.

Well she doesn't look too out of place either, among Eden citizens, with her casual white dress. The only thing that she was worried about was her l'Cie mark on her left arm, that is still there for some reason. Does that mean she still has a focus? So many questions right now.

She covers her mark with a bandage, like she did before, and steps out on the streets, trying to look as 'normal' as she can not to draw attention.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Niklas Dragonius has no idea where he is.

That's normal, though. Niklas Dragonius rarely knows where he is. That's one of the most awesome parts of being lost among the world, for Nik; he has no idea where he is ninety-nine percent of the time, and that means he gets to wander, see weird things, and generally enjoy himself doing all kinds of stuff he'd never normally do. He's been living off the land, killing and eating things he would never normally eat, cooking with real campfires...practical things. Things they didn't (usually) teach at Alexander Academy, things he hadn't gotten to practice since he was a little kid. It's a skillset he enjoys, too, and one he's always wanted to go use more extensively...but there aren't a lot of wildlands in Galianda anymore.

But now? His normally-loose school uniform is covered in furs of varying types, he's been shaving with rocks, and he generally feels absolutely awesome. He feels like a *survivalist*. A lost art, to be sure.

Nik came into Eden just earlier today. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, he wasn't doing anything in particular - he just was, like a zen wind blowing through. How he'd longed to do this on Galianda - just walk from city to city across the Great Span, a smile on his face!

Being rich sucked.

People gave Nick a wide berth, for the most part - an oulander in Eden, who looked so strange, so wild? No one wanted to be near him. So as he wanders, admiring the sights, he's not really paying attention to the road.

Serah Farron has posed:
If there wasn't a huge world merge going on right now, people would probably have branded Niklas as a Pulsian or something. That he's left alone shows just how much things have changed. So he becomes just another weirdo in the crowd, instead of one to kick out or purge for the simple reason that he exists.

But for Serah, that becomes quite the curiosity since she doesn't KNOW what's going on outside right now. For her, its all the same. There's a sky, and there's clouds, and there's a moon...

Wait, a moon? That's not right, there was no moons on Cocoon, day and night were controlled by fal'Cies after all.

But nevermind that for now. She peers over the crowd of people at what they are looking at, which is Niklas, who's been getting the reaction of having lots of people taking pictures of the man that seems to be right out of a prehistoric era for them right now.

As she tries to look through, someone bumps into her from behind, with an apologetic "Oops, sorry!", sending the poor girl tumbling forward, and almost crashing into Niklas as she tries to get her footing back. She might need some training. Instead she has that kind of sloooooow turn on herself, and ends up falling on her rear instead "H-heyyy!" She complains despite the apology.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Ahhh, sorry!" Nik scratches the back of his head as the girl falls. He sticks out his hand to the girl, a sheepish grin on his face. "Sorry about that. My fault, I wasn't watchin' where I was goin'."

Nik looks over the girl briefly (he'd gotten really good at looking over girls rapidly back at Alexander Academy). She's cute; maybe a little older than he was, but not significantly so. He crouches down a little, because Nik is quite tall and even sticking his hand out may not be enough to help her up, and his grin widens a bit. "I'm Nik, and I have absolutely no idea where I am. Care to be a tour guide for a little bit?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron sighs as she looks around her, but then takes the offered hand up "No no, not your fault, that guy over there bumped into me..." She shakes her head, sweeping her back a bit from sitting on the ground, "Uh, I'm afraid I'd be a very poor guide since I never been here either." How can she explain that she doesn't even know know what year it is right now? For all she knows she should be hundreds of years in the future or something. well, her future anyway.

"I'm just about as lost as you are, in fact..." She says a bit sheepishly.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Well, better to be lost together than lost alone." Nik's irrepressible grin never changes as he helps her up, straightening as he does so. He dusts himself off a bit, then looks around at the people staring at them. "Jeez. Well, wherever we are, it's not exactly a really welcoming place, huh? You'd think they'd never seen a student before or something."

Nik slides one hand into his pocket. "At least you look more the part than I do. I bet they've never seen a guy wearing furs before. Heck, I bet they've never been outside the city before! Although, to be fair, sorta my first time outside cities, too...oh well."

"Hey, so, what's your name, anyway?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron scratches her head at that "You're a student? I'd think you were more from some nomadic tribe or something while wearing that. Are you from Pulse?" Not like she knows what's going on outside. She looks around "... I'm not sure where we are actually. I... uhm... just woke up here. I can't exactly explain it, but it feels like I was made to sleep for a very very long time.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"What, the furs? Oh, yeah, well, I'm kind of a long way from home, and the furs kinda help when you're walking around the worlds. Heat and stuff change pretty drastically between worlds, you know? So I just started wearing some monster furs for heat. It's actually pretty nice."

Nik pushes up one of the furs to show the Alexander Academy logo on his shirt. "But yeah, I'm a student."

"A real sleeping beauty, huh? You're not a Princess or anything, right?" He'd already met one princess, he didn't want to be awkward around another one! Nik takes a step back, appraising her for a moment, then he grins. "Well, you're cute enough, but you don't seem like royalty to me. What do you say we stop standing here with all these guys gawking at us and go find out just where we've wound up?"

Nik offers her his arm.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron scratches the top of her head a bit, considering "Ah, no, I'm not a princess, I was just a student at the Bodhum college myself, when... uhm... things happened I guess. I'm not sure about the rest right now, I just know that I woke up and I'm not home, and I have no idea where I am or even how much time passed." Judging by the fact she doesn't even have a weapon, you can conclude that she didn't even get out of town yet either.

She doesn't take the arm though, just... keeping some distance for now, without looking like she's scared, more like cautious. "My name is Serah, Serah Farron."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Serah Farron. Serah Farron. Ser-ah, Far-ron." Nik rolls the name around on his tongue for a moment, considering. His grin spreads a little wider, and he retracts the offered arm, figuring that she's probably a little skittish right now. Hell, who wouldn't be? He just walked out of the wilderness wearing a bunch of dead monsters, for God's sakes! And he wasn't carrying any kind of weapon or anything, either.

"Yeah, that suits you! It's cute, it's short, it's to the point; it's a pretty name. I like it! Like I said, I'm Nik - Niklas Dragonius, but seriously, just Nik, it's fine. Niklas always sounds clumsy, people always pronounce it as Nich-o-las and it's like, c'mon, there's no o in there." He laughs and scratches the back of his neck.

"Well, I dunno where Bodhum is, but then I bet you don't know where Alexander Academy is, either...the last couple weeks have been pretty crazy!"

"I don't actually know much, but what I do know is, the worlds are all coming together like some kinda...world casserole." Nik frowns. "Or world lasagna. Anyway, the point is, uhhh...you're not on your world anymore! Probably."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods, considering about that "... Well, it kinda looks like my world, but its not. I was loving on Cocoon." She walks beside you nonetheless, as she talks "... Its hard to explain, but it was like a big round piece of rock in the sky, like a planet but in the air of another planet. And we were living in it, so there was a sky but it was artificial, same as the sun. There was no moon." She points at the sky "But now there's one. So this is a bit confusing..."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Actually that kind of sounds like home," Nik replies cheerfully.

"Well, the moon probably came with one of the other worlds. I don't really know how it works, but I've noticed the world is kind of patchwork-y? Like it's like a big quilt made up of pieces of other worlds. Cities, and deserts, and mountains, and stuff like that." He hadn't seen anything from his own world, but he didn't want to discourage Serah; she'd probably find out for herself, eventually.

"Sooo...."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods, looking down a bit, hands in her back as she considers things "So maybe Bodhum is there somewhere, I guess?" She wonders about that, keeping some hope. Although she still doesn't know how long has passed. If at least there was something familiar, it might help.

She looks around "... Maybe we could ask what's the name of this place too, I guess?" Its one idea. She looks over to you "So you've been travelling alot without asking where you are?"

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik shrugs. "Maybe your home's out there somewhere?"

"Uh, well. Back home, I didn't get to travel much, you know? So I haven't really...been asking people where I am, most of the time. I've just been...seeing the sights, and if I find out the name of the place, I do, and if I don't, I don't! It's never been that important to me. I just wander, seeing the sights, fighting monsters, meeting cute girls...y'know, the usual!"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron is starting to feel that its a constant with you, about girls that is. But she doesn't really have her mind on flirting, and she does have a boyfriend, fiance even at this point. She shakes her head a bit though "I suppose that's one way to live... I'll need to figure it out before I can start to move on." At least she doesn't seem to be attracting attention for now, as a l'Cie that is, so she's safe. If she can just figure out what happened exactly, why she's not in crystal anymore. Did she get a new Focus? She'll have to figure that one out too. So many things going on at once... "So you're from a school then. I should try to find if I can complete my studies. I was in the archeology field."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
It is totally a constant. Nik doesn't know about her fiance, after al; she barely looks old enough to be in college! It's not his fault.

"Yeah, but it's kinda vanished. The Heartless showed up, and..." Nik frowns. He doesn't really want to think about that, and that's written plain on his face. "Uh, sorry. So you're an archaeologist, huh? That's pretty cool. What kinds of archaeology did you study?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron considers that "Well, stuff about ruins. There was alot of them on Cocoon. They build cocoon by pulling a bunch of rocks and mountains and land pieces from Pulse, so there's alot of ruins and other things that got pulled in that noone knows about. But I wanted to become a teacher later, maybe. I have lots of options, I'm still a bit on the fence on where to go from here."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Oh!" They didn't have a lot of ruins on Galianda. People just kept building up, after all, and most of the things that would've been ruins had been renovated and overhauled a thousand, thousand times. "Oh, that's pretty cool. So you study...the junk from this Pulse place?" Nik rubs his chin thoughtfully.

He always liked people who knew where they were going in their lives. It made him feel like he could just follow along for a little bit, learn in their wake, drawn along. He enjoyed that, really. It was a good feeling; after all, Nik was right where he wanted to be in his life, so meeting other people who were the same was a lot like a kindred spirit thing, even if they didn't know it!

"You'd make a pretty hot teacher," Nik agrees thoughtfully, then looks off at the gleaming city around them. "So! Where should we go to start figuring out where we are? Normally there's, like, a guidepost or something. Maybe a kiosk?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron shakes her head a bit, but looks around "... I suppose we can ask just about anyone at least for the name of the city, right?" She moves along to the side... She figures she has better chances than you do about getting answers, with how you look at least.

She gets the attention of a middle aged man, which you can see her talking with for a few moments. When she hops back toward you, her face has changed.

"... This... apparently is Eden... It was the largest city on Cocoon. Not that I didn't believe you... but I guess what you said about being a patchwork is true..."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"It's okay. I wouldn't believe me, either. I don't exactly look like a trustworthy guy, right? I look like some kinda barbarian or something." Nik rubs his nose and grins. "Like some kinda wild man. It's cool, don't worry about it."

"So this is your home, or at least somewhere you know of as home?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron shakes her head "I didn't say I didn't beleive you, more like... its hard to believe." She sighs a bit, but shakes her head again "Well I didn't try to give out my name either, I don't know any of those people here. I've never even been in this city before actually." She thinks about it, looking around "... I wonder ho wmany more cities from Cocoon are here... do you know if there are any maps about this new world?" She look sup to you from her small height.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"It is pretty unbelievable," Nik agrees cheerfully. "I've seen things you wouldn't believe, it's incredible. It's nothing like home; this is as close as I've been to a place that felt like my world. Cities everywhere, I mean. Real cities, not like, stone blocks and stuff. There's tons of villages and castles and stuff but not proper *cities*."

"I haven't seen any maps, though." Nik looks down at her. Gosh, she's cute. "I've been making one of where I've been travelling, but it's not exactly perfect."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods at that, pensively "I might have to ask around then... But you said you don't know any Bodhum, so it might not be around. That's where I went to school, and lived near of with my sister. I don't think you heard about someone called Lightning? or Snow?"

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"No, sorry. I don't know anybody named Lightning or Snow, but if I see 'em, I promise I'll let you know, if I can?" Nik shrugs. "My school wasn't anywhere near any place called Bodhum, and I'm betting you've never heard of Ramuha or Chocobo or Alexander Academy, either."

"Does your sister look like you? I'll keep an eye out. And Snow, if you can describe 'em?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods, smiling "Well, we are similar, but she's a bit taller, she's also a soldier, so she's much more serious and, hm, uptight I suppose? She's very no-nonsense, it would do her good to have fun once in a while, but she doesn't really listen to me on that side." She waves a hand at that. "Snow is very tall, it feels like he's twice my height sometimes. He has white-blonde hair, but its usually hiding under a beanie hat. He likes wearing a tall light green coat too, it has a sort of stylish tiger head logo on the back. He fights with his fists too, if you ever see him, he broke the nose of someone at my school with a single punch, when he was getting rowdy with me."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik rubs his chin thoughtfully. "She sounds pretty cute, too. Serious girls are great. And this Snow guy sounds like a pretty cool guy, too." Admittedly, Nik's definition of 'fighting with your fists' was so wildly different from most people's it was almost another world entirely. It's not that he expected people to be able to do what he was capable of, but still, it was just a whole different level of martial skill.

"I'll keep any eye out for them, okay?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron smiles at that, nodding "I appreciate that." She bounecs on her heels just a bit, cutely. She is rather cute and cheerful of a girl it seems. And you probably tower her a bit too, considering.

"So where were you heading after this? I guess you don't know because you just follow the wind though?

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik isn't THAT tall. He doesn't tower over many people; he's on the taller side of average, but he's not even six feet, so if she's that short...

"Uhhhh, well, I was figuring I'd go...." Nik licks his thumb thoughtfully and holds up in the air, grinning. Then he tilts it slightly. "Thataway.

"Why, you wanna come with?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron lifts her shoulders at the question "I... I dunno where I should be going actually, but I'm not sure I want to stay here either." She's not quite comfortable with the town that harbored the people that were trying to elmiated l'Cies after all, which she is one of right now. She unconciously movse a hand to that bandage, not looking quite at ease with the subject either overall ".. Maybe I can follow you for a bit, maybe to the next city or something..."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik had *no idea* that Serah wasn't considered human by these people. He had no idea that they would kill her if they got wind of this, and he had no idea that she was magically-powered. If he knew any of this, he might be a little more protective; Nik hated bullies more than anything.

"You're welcome to follow me, if you wanna? I'm always happy to have people to travel with, it makes it way more fun. Plus, you don't need to worry about monsters or whatever, I'm pretty tough. Just relax, you're in good hands with me! I'll protect you if you need it. And if you don't, well, hey, two are stronger than one anyway."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron thinks about that "... I never fought actually." She's not sure of what kind of powers she has as a l'Cie right now. But she clearly doesn't have a weapon and she doesn't seem to be using martial arts either, so she might need one of those soon. "So it would be safer not travelling alone at least. I guess I'll follow you, and we'll see what happens after that." Who knows, maybe she'll find someone she knows too.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik grins and jerks his thumb at himself. "Well, I promise you'll be in the best of care. So, c'mon! We'll find your sister and that guy eventually, I'm sure. The world's only so big, right?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods "... well yeah, but I don't even know how big this world is to start with." And she doesn't even know about the various portals either yet. So this is going to be a long trip, more than likely. She walks along your side still.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"It *is* pretty big," Nik admits, his smile swapping upside-down for a brief moment. "Like, really big. Huge, in fact. I've travelled across the sea a bunch of times now, and I'm still not sure how many continents there even are. It's really, really big."

"And then there are portals to other worlds...so yeah, I guess your sister and friend could be anywhere."

As if realizing how depressing what he just said was, Nik turns around, waving his hands in front of his face. "Uhhh, I mean, they could be, but I'm sure we'll find them if we keep looking, you know? They're bound to be here somewhere. It's not like the world is *infinite*, just *big*! And big isn't endless, so they've gotta be *somewhere*."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron appreciates that you try at least. She offers a little smile at that, nodding "Oh I know... she might not even be around anymore. I don't even know how long I was asleep in fact. Maybe there's noone left either. I... just know I'm here for a reason but I don't know what reason yet..."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Well, if they *are* around, we'll find 'em. And if they're not, well..." Nik falters for a moment, then shrugs. He's still walking backwards. When he's actually paying attention to his surroundings (which is usually, unless he's sightseeing), he's actually really good at spatial awareness, and there are a couple close dodges he makes as he walks backwards that are probably pretty surprising.

"Then...I guess you're welcome to hang out with me for as long as you like? I don't exactly turn away pretty girls. It's not in my nature."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron hmms "I'm sure you don't, you seem to be pretty fixated by them in fact." Not that its a terrible thing, she's just focused on other things, and she has her own doofus to think about as well. She steps lightly alongside you, hands in her back. She looks like the kind of upbeat girl at least, not letting herself get depressed easily.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
Nik shrugs good-naturedly. "Life's too short to worry about things, and I don't really believe in love, not like that. So yeah, I am! I like girls."

He turns back around as smoothly as he walked backwards, hands sliding into his pockets. "So is Snow your boyfriend?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods, looking at you "Yeah, he's silly, but he's honest, and that's what I like about him. He's simple sometimes, you could say, but that's also part of his charm. He's genuine, he doesn't try to be something he's not. Maybe he thinks of himself too big, but he does it with convinction.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Sounds like you have pretty good taste in guys," Nik replies, "He's a lucky guy. I'm sure you'll find him, so don't worry about it too much, huh? If he's out there, you'll see him again. Just got a feeling."

Nik slides his hands up behind his head. "And don't worry, I'm not gonna hit on you if you've got a boyfriend. I'm not that kinda guy. Just because I don't believe in love doesn't mean I'm gonna try and take it away from somebody who's got it."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods "Yeah, I understand." She smiles "Just can't help compliment a girl can you?" She smiles at that. In a way, Nik is like Snow, she guesses. Although Snow doesn't go around flirting with other girls, Nik seems to be pretty honest as well, straight to the point.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"I totally can, but she has to not be worth complimenting, and I don't find a lot of girls like that. Or, well, I haven't met a lot of girls like that. Most of the girls at school were rich girls, really pretty and upper-class, or they were really bright and got in on scholarships. It's hard to find people who are just not worth complimenting at all."

Nik shrugs. "Besides, I'd rather make friends than enemies. Enemies happen whether you want 'em to or not, so it's better to focus on being cool to people."

"And it's a lot easier to play the guitar when you don't have a bunch of guys trying to mess you up for sleeping with their girlfriends."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods "Yeah, I can see how that would go. Some guys are simply not bothered by that though, they want the kicks, the trophies I guess." She's been in college, she knows how those go. "That's what I liked about Snow though, he was presistent, but never pushy."

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"He seems like the kinda guy it's easy to get along with," Nik agrees. The fact that Snow sounds a great deal like him has very little to do with that, of course.

"So how did you meet him, anyway?"

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron giggles "Well, he was going to school with me, but he's never ben very serious about studies... he just fell for me I guess, he said something about the look in my eyes, the way my tail bounces when I move." She points to the side-tail of her hair, which is rather fluffy and bouncy.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"It is pretty cute. You've got this kinda spunky energetic thing to you, it's nice. Like I said, I dealt with a lot of rich girls, they tend to be pretty bored more often than not. You're definitely the kind of upbeat girl we didn't see a whole lot of at Alexander Academy. It's nice."

Nik can't help but look around at the buildings. Then again, unlike most of the places he'd gone to, he was USED to this; this was skyscrapers and towers of glass, this was stuff he'd seen before. It was a little different than he'd seen before, but...

Well.

"So how about your sister? What's she like? And does she have a boyfriend?" He grins.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron shakes her head "Ha, Light would never get a boyfriend I think, she's too upright and serious, not very feminine. I mean, she's pretty, but she doesn't really make any effort, she's content with just 'being', if you know what I mean.

Niklas Dragonius has posed:
"Oh yeah, I know those girls." So she was single. Interesting.

"The kinda girls who don't need to make an effort but don't really care about being good-looking, 'cause they've got something way more important to do and no time to waste." Nik crosses his arms and nods. "That kinda girl is super hot, too. Something about the look in a serious girl's eyes."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron nods, smiling "I think so too, but she really doesn't want to, as you said its more like a waste of time for her. She's been supporting us since we were young, when we lost our parents, so she's as much as sister as mother for me."