When a SOLDIER meets a Flower Girl

When a SOLDIER meets a Flower Girl
Date of Scene:	07 November 2012
Location:	Goug - Seventh Heaven
Synopsis:	Just a normal day in the Seventh Heaven, but the newly arrived Aerith meets Cloud for the first time. (Ret-conned for sake of new Cloud apper)
Thanks to:	Tifa Lockhart, Pixi, Cloud Strife, Aerith
Cast of Characters:

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Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Another day at the Seventh, after the previous day's flower-girl-napping (That is, abduction, not sleeping) from the heartless, everyone went back to their usual duties and preoccupations. There is one thing that changed though, and that's the now colorful array of flowers that Aerith left in place in the bar.

This time, Tifa's been awake, its well in the afternoon at least, so no free panties sightings today. Tifa is hmming musically as she tends to her chores. Cleaning up the tables, the dishes, and making sure there's a bit of food ready. If not for the customers, at least for herself later. She's always diligent about her work, her bar. Its her important place.

Aerith has posed:
Part of her mentioned that she'd formed a habit of coming here as of late.

Then again, if one had just been yanked by a physical manifestation of darkness, with the likely possibility of never being seen or heard from again, and then having just realized what exactly it wanted from you, perhaps a drink was in order. Thus, Aerith Gainsborough walked into the Seventh Heaven for the third time that week, aiming to have some more of that tea. Sure she had some at home now and could brew it just fine, but she preferred the company of more than just her aging landlady. And lo and behold, there's Tifa!

The flower seller waved as she entered, hoping to catch the barmaid's eye. "Slow day, huh?"

Pixi has posed:
Pixi was already in Seventh heaven, yet again. It was like she never left in the first place. Once again, the stick is upon her left gauntlet, and her tatto is back to it's normal color as well. She's sipping wine and eating a sandwich as well. She quietly waves to Aerith and Tifa, even as they work. "Hello you two."

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud enters the Seventh Heaven a few moments after Aerith. His boots resound against the wooden floor as he scans the room. He says nothing as he passes the others and sits down. "Give me something hard" Cloud says, turning back to look at Aerith for a moment. She didn't look like the usual clientel of this place. But then again, things got weird since the darkness.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles to Aerith, waving at her "Its still early, there's not much customers at this time." she puts a hand on her hip, watching Cloud enter "Just the random chocobo head that finally shows up after going missing for almost a month." She chides him, fists on her hips, pointedly looking at him... and then sliding a glass to him anyways.

Aerith has posed:
Something in the back of her mind triggered as he walked by, causing her to stop in her tracks for a brief moment. She shook her head, dismissing the notion as soon as it showed up. He had the eyes of a SOLDIER. The problem was, something in the air around him spoke otherwise. Aerith couldn't quite put a finger on what it was, but she figured it would come to her in time. She picked a spot to sit and asked for a cup of tea, just like last time. "Honey and everything, Tifa."

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud nods as he catches the glass, giving Tifa a firm look. "Sorry. I had a job come up. I should've said something." He leaves it at that. For all she knew, Cloud was off dressing up as a lady in the slums or something. He takes a sip from the glass, making a face. He still can't handle strong drinks despite his request for him. He does his best to keep his cool.

Cloud gives Aerith a nod and goes back to his drink. "So Tifa....anything been going on here?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles and sways over to ready the tea for Aerith, adding the drop of honey as usual to the mix. She slides the cup to her "Well, as good as it can be. Been doing the odd mercenary job for munny, and holding the bar in between. Made quite a few friends along the way, and beaten up quite a few heartless too." Sounds like she has many a story to tell about what happened since she got here.

Despite all that, she seems oddly comfortable with Cloud, like this. There might be something odd about him... but Tifa doesn't seem to care about that.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi keeps quiet as she sees the spikey haired guy come into the bar. Tifa might seem comfortable with the man, but the Viera's guard was still up when it came to new people.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith took a sip from her tea cup, glancing over toward Pixi for a moment. She gestured for the statuesque woman to take a seat next to her, intending to ask her a few questions. The other day still had her confused by several things... and perhaps the bunny had some answers.

Cloud Strife has posed:
"It's good to keep busy." Cloud nods to Tifa's summary of what she's been doing. "But be careful. These Heartless are easy for a EX-SOLDIER First Class but they might overwhelm you if you aren't careful." He takes another sip of his drink. He looks to the Viera, scanning her over to make sure she isn't a threat. "However, Heartless extermination jobs are good munny." He finishes the drink, sliding the glass to Tifa. "Just be on your toes. These aren't like the monsters back home."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi got up from her normal seat and strided over to where Aerith was sitting, right by the ex-soldier. However, when she sat down, she slid her wine and sandwich to the corner of the table. "Hey Aerith. "I'm glad you're all right, especially after yesterday."

Aerith has posed:
To be fair, Aerith had situated herself at one of the many tables around the area. But either way, Pixi was now with her, and she gave her a nod and a smile. "About that... I figured you know more about these than I do. Could you help me figure a few things out? Y'know, about the Heartless?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods to Cloud, leaning on the counter on her elbows in front of him "Of course, I know that. I've been around now you know. One of them tried to capture Aerith yesterday too. And I had the displeasure of having to beat up a few here and there for various reasons, like reclaiming a recipe, or just opening the way to get back here. Also an exploding chariot of fire heartless, a giant icy mountain heartless..." she thinks about it a bit.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "I probably know less than you think. I know they go after those with 'pure hearts'" She air quotes. "the problem is, you can't tell who has a pure heart anymore. I know they went after a couple of children under my care once and had to fight them off with Faruja, the mouse you met a while back."""

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud blinks and nods. "Still, use caution. You don't know what these things are about and you haven't had the combat training to be ready for anything." He nods slowly, looking back to Aerith for a moment. "Why would they want that woman?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith placed a hand on her chin for a moment. "In a way, children do have pure hearts. They're blamless, selfless, always curious and never malicious. Free of darkness..." She nodded. "I think that's what it means. It's kinda flattering, if you want me to be honest. But... it's also very, very frightening." She glanced up at Pixi, having lowered her head for the duration of her contemplation. "Are there others that are like this?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart puts her hands on her hips "Well you're wrong about that, I shall let you know. I'm the last disciple of Zangan, the wandering martial art master with over 140 disciples around the world. I can defend myself quite well." Of course, she still wanted to Cloud to come to her rescue, but that doesn't mean she has to make it easy for them either "Well Kaydin, the dark knight, said something about having a pure heart. It doesn't seem very clear what makes a pure heart though."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "While I imagine you're not the first, I also imagine you're not the last either, Aerith." She says this quite quietly. "I imagine they'll come after you again, Aerith." She then perks her ear to Tifa. "I don't trust that Kaydin guy. Coming in with portals and knows a lot more about the heartless than most others? Come on, he MUST has some angle with this."""

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "You shouldn't be so distrustful, you know. Regardless of his motives, he helped us. I think that's enough of a reason to reserve judgment, don't you?" She took another sip of her tea. "So then... let's hear about you, Pixi. That curious tattoo and that stick that can, strangely enough, turn into a spear... I think I'll start with asking what exactly you are, because I've never seen anything like you before."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "I am a Viera. Born in the Golmore Jungle and lived there most of my life. Viera are forbidden to leave the forest under penalty of banishement, I fear." She says with a minor sigh, but then she looks to Aerith again. "As for this." She says as she holds up the stick. "It's a branch from one of the Elder Trees in the forest where the Jungle is.....one of my last friends from that particular forest."""

Aerith has posed:
Right... that didn't explain anything except the name of her species. She'd never heard of the Golmore Jungle before, and as she briefly searched her memories, it probably wasn't anywhere on any map of her world. Still, it did offer room for the next question. "So what happened to it? How did it... vanish?"

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud gives Tifa a look and shakes his head. "Even so, this isn't something that kind of training could handle. You're going to get in over your head if you aren't careful. I'm not telling you you can't fight. I'm telling you this isn't the usual kind of opponent." He looks at Pixi as she begins talking about herself. "Sounds like a hard life."

Cloud finally turns to Aerith. "Whats your story?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmphs, crossing her arms over her chest now, pointedly "I'm aware, you think anything that happened in normal?" Starting with Nibelheim, Shinra, the heartless, the melding of worlds, so many things that are just not 'simple' or 'normal' back in their own world. "I've met lots of new people, like Pixi, but also Gargoyles, two-legged rats...

Pixi has posed:
Pixi chuckles softly at Aerith's question. "It's right here." She says holding up the stick that was on her left gauntlet. She says it so casually, like it wasn't anything of great note to have a collapsing magical spear that could generate vine-like chains from shaft made from a branch of an elder tree.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head. "That's not what I meant... but never mind." She glanced toward Cloud. There was that aura around him again... but she chose not to speak of it. "Well, it's a long story. Suffice it to say that, unless I miss my guess, I'm from the same world as you and Tifa. And on top of that, I'm the last of my kind..."

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud eyes Tifa and sighs in annoyance. "Well, I'm just trying to warn you alright?" He leans against the bar, finding this to be a losing fight. She'd do what she wanted to and he'd just have to run in and protect her at the end of the day.

His eyes go to Aerith, looking her over. "I see....Well if that is the case, you're in the right place. TIfa will take care of you." Cloud says. "As for the last of your kind....last of what?"

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "You may have to explain better then, Aerith." She says before looking to her and tilts her head. "The last of your kind? Strange. Must be lonely at times." She says softly, but continuing to listen.""

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods "I remember seeing her a few times in the slum before the darkness hit, but we hadn't talked before, just barely crossed each other on the streets. But Pixi we had never met, I don't think Vieras existed in our world, at least I never heard of Golmore Jungle either." She looks to Cloud "Did you?"

Aerith has posed:
"I'll explain in a bit, Pixi," Aerith replied without looking in her direction. She didn't answer Cloud directly. Instead, she began to speak, giving him a pointed gaze with her green eyes, which seemed to glow when struck by the right light... or were they doing that on their own? "You're dangerously on the edge of losing yourself. I don't know what happened or why, but it's not good. There's so much of that serum in you, I'm surprised your mind hasn't caved in... and other things besides."

Cloud Strife has posed:
Cloud shakes his head at Tifa's question. "No I haven't been there yet." Cloud thinks about it as he eyes Pixi for a moment. He then turns to Aerith as he says something. For a moment, Cloud's cold expression seems to soften before his eyes widen at her statement.

"Wha?" He says as he tries to process what she said. That was just weird.

-Losing myself?-

-Who am I?-

Cloud winces as a pain surges through his head. He feels the sweat begin to pour from his skin. He leans against the bar, turning pale for a moment.

-Caved In-

-Why Can't....-

Cloud gets up, his legs wobbling for a moment. "I, I need to go lay down in the back." Cloud says, looking at the floor. He doesn't wait for permission, pushing his way to the back where he finds somewhere soft to pass out out of sight.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks as Cloud slumps toward her bed. Well, not that she minds, she's not in it right now, but she's concerned "Cloud? Are you alright?" She moves into the door frame... only to see that he's already passed out. She scratches her head, and looks back at Aerith "... What was that?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and turned to focus her full attention on Tifa. "What just happened... is I saw something very, very bad. I don't like saying this, he seems to be your friend, but I don't think..." She shivered. "I don't think Cloud went through the process of being a SOLDIER. Before you say anything, I know someone who is one... or who was." She tilted her head down for a moment. "His name's Zack Fair, and he told me how the whole process works." Again, she looked at Tifa. "The usual dose? A /tenth/ of what Cloud has. His mind must be in all sorts of pieces from taking that much, and it wasn't an accident either. No idea, who, how or why... but I feel bad for your friend."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi listens quietly to Aerith's explanation. "You can see stuff like that, hmm?" She says softly, before she sniffs softly. "He's definitely out, Tifa. I can even hear his snoring."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart looks worried "... That sounds very bad... I felt something was off, but I couldn't say what exactly either." she looks over to her bedroom. If that's the same Cloud she remembers at least. Its hard to tell. "I'll keep an eye on him..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "Please, do that. I've pulled back the curtain a little, but I'm sure it'll close on its own..." She motioned for Tifa to sit near them. "I'll explain how I could tell what was wrong... and how I could tell something was up with Pixi's branch and her tattoo as well, even before she used them."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, moving closer to sit down. She refreshes Aerith's tea while at it, and makes a cup of her own as well. She doesn't drink on the job.

Pixi has posed:
Pixi raises an eyebrow at Aerith saying something about her tattoo. "Really? What's up with my tattoo?" She says softly as she tries to look at it on her upper arm. Of course, the positions she takes look sorta rediculous.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith smiled. "I'm not sure... but it's something special. Magical of sorts. That strike at the end of the fight, the one that put the Heartless down hard? It's probably not the only thing that tattoo can do. You should really look into it." She took another sip of her tea. "I can tell because... well, like I said, I'm the last of my kind. But in order to explain, I'll have to explain something else." She tilted her chin downward, considering how to begin. "Imagine for a moment that right now, we're sitting in a well of energy. Everything here has it... if it was made by someone, they put a bit of themselves into it. That branch there on your gauntlet? Practically oozes it, because it comes from such a powerful source." She looks up after the brief picture. "Now imagine that this isn't just energy, but this energy is comprised of thoughts, feelings, emotions. And when you think of it that way..." She reaches her right hand for her staff, touches it with just two of her fingers, and the next eye blink later, one of the jewels in the sockets lights up. She turns her left hand palm up... and a sphere of flames, about the size of a baseball, manifests out of thin air. "...The phrase, 'your thoughts become your reality' makes perfect sense."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, watching Aerith "That's the basic of using materia at least, the knowledge of the ancients, right?" She tilts her head, sipping from her cup a bit. She has materia too. Protection and Haste specifically.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head with a smile of genuine mirth. "I heard that term so many times I laugh at it. They don't know what else to call people like me... and I'm not so ancient, I'm twenty-two!" She cleared her throat. "The proper term is Cetra, and that is... well that's what I am. The last of the Cetra. I... we... have the ability to not just use the energy around us, but hear its voice. And it does have one. It's not anything like reading thoughts, but it does involve memories, emotions, someone's physical state, things like that. And because I know what these whispers and sensations mean..." She gestured toward her staff. "You guys saw some of the results yesterday."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "I imagine that, being from an Elder tree in the forest, it would practically blind those that could see magic." She says looking at the stick as well. However, she continues to listen to Aerith, still somewhat confused about the tattoo.""

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles "I didn't mean that you're old, but its the name we heard them go by in our stories." she nods "So you're... one of them? You're a Cetra? An Ancient?" She tilts her head. "And the last one too?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded and sighed. "It's something I don't like talking about... Suffice it to say that I'm unique among everyone else in our world, Tifa. Shinra's tried to copy the abilities of my people, but they've had limited success... because they don't understand what they're toying with, and how dangerous it is."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "Copying the abilities of an entire people is virtually impossible. Trying to copy the viera is impossible as well" She says pointing to her ears. "case in point. They look rediculous to you 'short ears', but I can actually hear a lot more than you might think."""

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart puts a hand on Aerith's shoulder, nodding "I understand. I don't care what you are though, there's plenty of different people here, look at Pixi. You're looking normal to me, and that's all that matters really, doesn't it?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith pointed toward Pixi. "Exactly. It just can't be done. And the results are... well, they're not pretty." She smiled at Tifa. "Never had any doubt. Regardless," she said in an attempt to get back on topic, "I'd like to know more about what makes a heart pure. If it's a heart of light, without greed or envy or hate, then that's easy to understand... but very difficult to obtain, and maintain."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi says, "I suppose it has to be in your very nature from the beginning, Aerith." She then flexes her fingers for a second. "Innocence can be so easily lost with just one unkind act."""

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart hmms "Well, then I think I should be a pure heart too if it was that simple. But I guess there's something else. Maybe its genetic as well, I mean, they just call it pure hearted, but its more or less the same as saying you have blue eyes."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shrugged. "I wouldn't know... I've hated once, when I was younger. I always had people coming after me because of my gifts. I even tried to hide them. Did pretty well at it, too. But then came the day when I just couldn't do that anymore... the day my world fell to a tide of darkness." She chuckled. "Tifa, it's not that complicated, I think. You really have to keep watch over yourself if you want it, and if you already have one... like Pixi said, it's so easily lost, you have to guard it pretty heavily."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shrugged. "For me... I forgave those who went after me for what I could do. There was just something that made the problem so far away..." She shivered. "You remember that part I said about all that energy having a voice? Well that voice, on the day my world died, screamed. All at once. And it was the scream of a thousand deaths... The Heartless ate the hearts and souls that were part of the Lifestream, swiftly and without warning." Aerith's face took on a haunted cast. "Any hatred, any bitterness toward Shinra, was cleaned out on that day."

Pixi has posed:
Pixi stretches her arms over her head for a moment. "There's also another saying my people had. it might be heard among the humes too, though. The saying goes 'A lump of coal become a diamond under pressure'." She then stands up quietly. "I hope you two don't mind, but I do need to head to bed myself...."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods to Pixi, waving "You take care then." she smiles to the tall Viera. She looks back to Aerith, nodding as she leans her head on her hand, elbow on the table as she listens "So you don't like Shinra, even if you don't hate them."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "I don't hate them. What I hate is what they're doing. They don't understand what they're dealing with, and in their haste to find out, I'm afraid they'll destroy everything..." Another shiver. "But not before the Heartless do it first. And when I think about that, again, I can't hate them. I can only pity them, if that's believable."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart sighs "I guess that's why I'm not a pure heart then." she says mostly to herself, looking down at the table, a finger tracing along the rimm of her cup.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith placed a hand on Tifa's right shoulder. "It hurts... doesn't it?" Her face took on an air of compassion, her brows tilted upward and eyes shining with concern. "Tell you what. I'd like you to confide in me from now on, okay? Anything you want to talk about, I'll be here."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods, smiling softly, putting a hand on top of Aerith's "Thanks... That'd be nice." She likes having friends, after losing everything, it fills a void at least.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith squeezed TIfa's shoulder before letting go. "Now then... how about we have s'more tea? I mean, we have all day, right?"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles and nods "Of course, its still early. Still need a few hours before people start rushing in." she stands up, going to refresh the two cups of tea. Like old friends, already.