Grim Wanderings (open)

[ghost]

Banoora… That name wafted through the mind of the tall, deathly pale, woman as she stood among the few remnants of the destroyed town. Lately she found herself traveling to these less populated areas; most were left in ruin such as this. But the name…how did Ghost know the name of the town that once stood here? She herself didn’t even know. Her only memories were of the last few days, awakening, and traveling with Nakashi before he sent her away. So in that time she began trying to dig up things from her past.

Her search so far had not brought any results. And Ghost had already begun getting a reputation from her travels in search of her lost memories. Mostly from being with Nakashi. On her own she preferred to avoid encounters with people unless she needed to speak with them.

Now, silently picking her way through the ruins Ghost noticed some things. There were signs of fire, but the remains of stone, and the way things were scattered around, broken, was like that of some sort of explosion. “Odd.” The experiment whispered to herself and continued through the ash covered area. There was nothing here for her and yet she came to Banoora. She expected to find something, what she was unsure of, but she knew that there was more than met the eye.

Standing in the middle of the area, the clouds over head moving a little to reveal the moon, and the light illuminated the area. Red eyes glanced downwards and a frown appeared on the normally expressionless face. Footprints other than her own, leading away from the area she was in, and off towards a set of, what appeared to be, canyons.

Ghost did not pursue whatever or whoever made the prints and she turned to go in the opposite direction. There’s nothing here. She tried to convince herself but stopped abruptly. Out of the corner of her eye she caught something, and the frail woman only had seconds to dodge as a monster came at her out of seemingly nowhere. There was only one luckily, though she had grown stronger, and could fight better than before she still wasn’t that strong. The clouds hid the moon again and her vision turned red allowing her to see better; the monster ready to attack.

She took on a defensive stance, claws raised, and ready with poison. “Come…” And with that the creature roared launching itself at her.

(meh trying to get used to my own charrie, help!)

[yasuo]

The sound of large, clawed feet was not an unfamiliar thing to the figure of a man who was traveling at great speed through thick forests that covered most of the Southern Continent. The night was dark thanks to the thick clouds that covered up the moon most of the time, yet the difference was remarkable when the moon was able to peak out and cast some light onto the top of the canopy of the thick forests. It did little though to those who traveled on the ground, underneath the dense ceiling of branches and leaves.

The sound of the claws feet, hitting the ground in what seemed to be a sprinting kind of manner, continued onwards, zooming between trees and jumping over small bushes and fallen logs. The cause of these footsteps was a chocobo. Magnificent, healthy looking yellow feathers and big, bright eyes that scanned the horizon ahead of it. The large bird squeaked every now and then as it ran, with the rider sitting comfortably on its back, holding onto the reigns loosely.

The rider was Arddyn Highwind, younger brother of Sierra pilot, Cid Highwind and the chocobo was his own that he brought from the Chocobo Farm when it was just a chick. Arddyn did a great job raising the chocobo up to an adult and now the large yellow bird has become Arddyn's closest friend and companion.

"Easy now Boko... its getting too dark to be running this fast, slow down and lets find somewhere to sleep for the night..."
And with that, Boko instantly began to slow down to a walk, chirping slightly to Arddyn as if it was talking back to him.

A few moments later, the forest began to spread out and both Arddyn and Boko found themselves staring at a large ruining village of some kind. The rider scratched his head slightly, having never seen anything like this before. It was amazing that Arddyn was all this way from his home town of Rocket Town. He normally usually stayed there and did business with Wutai and Cosmo Canyon. It seemed that Arddyn wanted an adventure of his own for a change and so here he is, adventuring!

Boko squeaked and began walking forwards when it started to feel the presence of another person in the area nearby, somewhere within the ruin. Arddyn just looked at the bird with a raised eyebrow, before lifting his gaze and trying to see what Boko had saw.

[ghost]

A split second before the monster attacked Ghost seemed to dance right out of its way, and left it with a present. Her claws coming into contact with it’s shoulder, the materia instantly casting it’s magic on it, but its’ next move was unexpected. After turning to face the human the monster just stood there and although weakened slightly by the poison it still could have attacked her. It seemed to have other things on its’ mind.

Is it waiting? The willowy woman wondered, not letting her guard down, but it was then that she heard it; the sound of approaching feet. Both beings listened carefully as whatever it was got closer and then suddenly the monster sprinted off in that direction. The failed experiment could only assume that it must’ve thought that what was coming was better prey. Oh well, at least now she saved some energy.

Her sensitive hearing picked up another sound though a very small yet distinct sound…the sound a chocobo made. Turning to look in that direction she saw it and its’ rider, the monster skidding to a stop in front of them, and she knew it was poised to attack the bird.

Growling the monster crouched, wanting to pounce on the chocobo, and much to its dismay metal came into contact with its back. More poison was released and with a howl of pain it stalked off, leaving Ghost standing there peering up at the rider. She didn’t know why she decided to go and help, maybe it was because the monster was an easy target at the time, and its fight had been with her only a moment ago.

It didn’t really matter now; it was done with. “This area seems to have quite a few monsters…you should probably go back. That is if you wish to protect your bird.” She advised the rider, head tilted to the side slightly, her voice hinting at some sort of emotion but it was hard to be sure.

[yasuo]

The chocobo squawked backed off slightly when it saw the monster run towards it, which nearly made the rider fall off. As the creatures paused and crouched, getting ready to pounce, Arddyn, the rider grabbed his home made spear that was tided to the side of the chocobo saddle and held it defensively, pointing the tip of the long spear towards the creature, but all of a sudden, the creature howled and in pain and dashed off into the darkness of the ruin.

Arddyn and Boko both followed the creatures with their eyes, both their heads turning at the same speed and direction to watch it disappear into the night. The large yellow bird then returned his eyes to the young, pale looking woman in front of it, and then chirped happily at her, lowering its head to nuzzle her. The chocobo's feathers are brilliantly soft and well looked after. Also, chocobo feathers usually smelt really bad, but Boko's fine coat of feathers was odorless.

"I think he likes you stranger..."
The young mechanic genius said with a chuckle as he looked back towards the woman and saw Boko nuzzling her.

[ghost]

The birds’ reaction to her made the experiment freeze up for a moment, looking from the rider as he spoke, to the chocobo. In her short travels she had come across a few, and learned what they were, so she didn’t mind it nuzzling her. Hesitantly though she reached up with her unclawed hand to stroke the side of its’ face, “It would seem that way…” She trailed off and once again looked back up at the man.

“I am called Ghost, not ‘stranger’.” It was a habit on correcting people nowadays when they called her something other than her given name. Even as odd of name as it was; but it fit her appearance. After a moment of petting the chocobo she lowered her hand, stepping off to the side, and gazed around the area, “There’s nothing here.” She said to herself, sighing before speaking directly to the man.

“Why are you here? This place has no occupants…or rather anything for that matter.” That was to her knowledge of course. The footprints came to mind from before she was attacked but she tried to dismiss it.

[yasuo]

Arddyn watched his chocobo make friends with Ghost for a moment and listened to what she had to say to him. He looked up from the large bird and the woman and looked around the wrecked village. It looked like a bomb went off or something of equal destructive power. The chocobo yawned slightly when Ghost stopped petting him and lowered itself so it was sitting down. Arddyn jumped off, spear still in hand and turned himself so he were facing the young woman again.

"My apologises Ghost..."
Cid's younger brother said as he dusted off his coat and made sure the white bandanna around his forehead was still securely in place.

"I'm Arddyn Highwind, pleasure to meet you. And in answer to your question, I felt like going on a little adventure. I usually live in Rocket Town which is on the Western Continent from here. I guess you can say i'm a long way from home..."
He said to her with a smile as he stabbed the hand of his spear in the ground so he was holding it upright. The young man took another glance around the ruined village, looking to see if that monster was still lurking around, before returning his eyes to Ghost and looking her up and down a couple times.

[ghost]

Ghost blinked slowly, nodding in response to the apology before taking a step back as the bird lowered itself down to the ground. “That would make two of us. …Though I do not call any place home.” The last part of her comment was more so to herself. She had no idea where she came from, but wherever she went people commented, saying things like she looked wutain. The woman had no idea what place this ‘Wutai’ was since she had yet to travel there.

Bringing herself out of her thoughts she noticed Arddyn take a look around the area; in such a manner it seemed he was looking for something. There was only one thing so it was safe to assume that it was the monster from before, “It won’t live to see morning. There is nothing to worry about with that certain creature.” The failure assured him although other monsters were another story.

“And Arddyn, if you are looking for an adventure the only thing here that would be worth while is monster fighting. Maybe acquire materia and items if there are any…” She said absent-mindedly, a dull expression on her face once again, and she watched with calculating red eyes as he looked her over. That caused them to narrow, hiding the makoish glow they had, had before.

[yasuo]

The young man didn't notice Ghost narrow his eyes when he looked at her, checking to see if she'd perhaps be luring him into a trap of some kind, although he felt confident that this woman could be trusted for now. He listened to what she had to say about there being little opertunities to adventure and that the only good things he could find around here would be monsters. He took his eyes off of Ghost and turned back to his chocobo, petting its neck slightly as the large bird looked like it was starting to fall asleep.

"I already have good enough Materia as it is, plus I cannot equip anymore if I wanted to."
Arddyn said, hinting at the various green, purple and blue pieces of materia that were equipped into his spear and in the armoured wrist guard that he wore around his right wrist. The night air started to get a little more chilly, as the wind blew throughout the ruined village, kicking up a small cloud of dust, that glided across the floor before dispersing and disappearing into nothingness.

"So what brings you all the way out here then? This places seems somewhat dangerous and remote for a single person to be traveling alone..."
The rider and mechanic asked as he turned his head to face Ghost again and he looked her in the eye.

[ghost]

The failed experiment quirked a brow slightly after a moment, watching Arddyn, and glanced at the materia he had when he spoke about it. “Ah I see.” Was her simple reply, of course she only knew a few things about materia, and that was only certain kinds; she didn’t know that there could be a limit to how many a person could equip. Turning away from she gazed out across the ruins, void of life, the wind shifting her long black hair as brought the dust into the air as well.

“I was drawn here…to look for something. But there doesn’t seem to be anything to find.” Ghost’s voice held a softer tone this time when she spoke and she turned away from the man. Kneeling down she reached a pale hand into the soft ash, scooping it up into her hands, and watched as it slipped through her fingers, “Yes. Nothing.” This was directed to herself before she stood once again with a sigh.

She gazed up at the sky and her eyes stopped glowing when the moon revealed itself again, “I can handle it. I’ve been traveling alone for awhile now and have come across more dangerous things than the monsters here.” She stated and turned towards him once again, an eerie smile on her lips. “Why are you alone Arddyn?”

[yasuo]

The young mechanic genius watched Ghost as she turned around and picked up a handful of ash. The sound of the ash gently hitting the ground as it slipped through her fingers, only just reached Arddyn's ears before a gust of wind blew past, nullifying it. Arddyn looked around the ruin once again, getting a strange feeling about something. Looking over his shoulder and at his Chocobo, Boko, who was on the verge of falling asleep, the young man tutted and shook his head with a smile before looking back at the long, straight haired girl.

"I'm not alone..."
The dirty blonde haired man said with a grin as he nodded his head towards the sleeping chocobo. He reached a hand into the right pocket on his coat and pulled out a small white stick. Popping the stick inbetween his lips, he burried his hands into his trouser pockets now and pulled out a small cardboard box that rattled slightly when moved or shook. He paused with his actions now and lifted up his eyes to look back at Ghost again.

"I have Boko here with me. I never travel without him."
He said with a grin as he looked back at his hands and pulled out a small wooden stick from the box. Sticking the red head against the rough, sandpaper like edge of the box, the stick caught flame and burned brightly for a second, lighting up Arddyn's face and hands with a warm, orange glow. Puffing on the cigarette a couple of times, he shook the hand that held the match to extinguish it before tossing it onto the floor. The end of the cigarette glowed a bright orange whenever the young man inhaled.

[ghost]

The man’s answer was…amusing to say the least, actually causing the normally emotionless Ghost to chuckle. “Not exactly what I meant, but I suppose you have a point.” She said while looking at the large yellow bird. It looked rather peaceful sleeping there and then something dawned on her as she watched it. Since she had awakened she had not slept once after leaving her coffin. Of course she got tired like any normal person but never went to sleep at night, during the day, or anything.

It was rather odd, especially since she was just noticing it now, “What is that?” The question left her lips when out of the corner of her eye she saw Arddyn pull out box after the cig. She’d seen people with them before though did not know what they were; except for the fact that they released a foul smoke that made her lungs seem to constrict.

And because of the tall pale woman moved slightly down wind of the blonde man, wanting to avoid that smoke, and watched as he snuffed out the match on the ground. For the time being everything around them was silent, the moon becoming hidden again, and once more her vision turned red; she looked away from the man and his chocobo and off towards the hills. Her gaze dropped to the footprints just a few feet away, wondering again who made them…”Maybe there is something here after all.” She commented.

[yasuo]

Arddyn smiled slightly upon hearing Ghost chuckle from his answer to her question. He smoked on the cigarette and watched as Ghost seemed to move to avoid the smoke that was exhaled by him. Taking care not to irritate her anymore, the dirty blonde haired man took care to blow the smoke up into the air so it would avoid the woman and his loyal chocobo, that was fast asleep now, snoring slightly in quiet chirps.

"What is what? Oh this? Its called a cigarette. They are not very good for you but I started smoking them out of habit thanks to my brother and the fact that they seem to help my concentrate when I work..."[/i]
He said as he removed the cigarette from his mouth and looked at it for a moment, before popping it back between his lips and and leaning back against the sleeping chocobo as he smoked it.

His eyes caught her looking around for a moment, and then noticed she had spotted something on the floor. Pushing himself back up off the chocobo gently, he walked up to her, making sure not to breath any smoke in her direction, and knelt down, examining what she had seen on the floor. Footprints.

[ghost]

A…cigarette? The dark-haired woman repeated in her mind as she nodded in response to Arddyn’s explanation; though it got her mind a wondering. What exactly was a cigarette? Why wasn’t it good for a person? These and other questions danced through her mind briefly. She chose to push the subject aside for now, since it didn’t seem of any importance, and the man was taking care to keep the smoke away from her. And that told her that he had been observant of her actions of moving down wind. He also seemed to notice that she had her attention on the footprints.

Ghost waited until he had walked over to her, her eyes following him as he knelt down, “There were here when I arrived and seem to lead behind the hills. But I have not followed them…” She trailed off for a moment, looking in the direction that they led to. “It’s best not to go looking for trouble when you’re alone.” Was her finishing statement.

Though now that the blonde was here maybe she-no they could go see where the footprints led. Two people with weapons were better than one in her opinion. Besides, her weapon was for close combat, and she wasn’t that strong; if they came across something unsavory he could get rid of it and she would supervise.

[yasuo]

Arddyn examined the footprints for a moment longer, taking out his cigarette from between his lips and rubbing his nose slightly with his free hand. He cocked an eyebrow for a second, trying to figure what kind of creature made them. Unless they were human that is, but thanks to the lack of good light, it was hard to tell the difference. Instead, the young man popped the cigarette back into his mouth and then gently slid a couple of his fingers along and across the footprint.

"These are fresh... Only been made i'd say around 20 minuets ago. Whatever made these tracks, is still close."[/i]
He said as he looked up to see how far the tracks had traveled before the darkness of the night concealed them. He stood back up and turned to face Ghost, moving the cigarette in his mouth to the opposite using his tongue so the smoke continued to avoid her when he exhaled. He smiled brightly when she spoke and grinned upon what he heard from her.

"Well you're not alone anymore, are you?"[/i]
He replied with a wink of his eye and he turned back to face the direction that the footprints traveled in.

[ghost]

Ghost watched the blondes’ actions carefully, eyes calculating, and yet it was hidden so well with her demeanor and expressions. Unlike his human eyes she could see perfectly in the dark due to the mako in her body; although at night it was red unless there was a natural source or regular source of light around. Such as the moon, which was coming and going as it pleased tonight. But all that aside the footprints, to her, appeared human.

She was surprised though at Arddyn’s ability to tell how fresh the footprints were; even she didn’t know. Or at least hadn’t paid attention. “Really? I would have thought they’d be gone by now…” She admitted quietly, looking from him to the direction the prints went again. Whatever was there then must have arrived shortly before Ghost herself did if they were really that recent.

When the blonde spoke again her attention was drawn back to him, another slightly amused chuckle escaping her, “No I don’t believe I am. And since that is the case…shall we?” Inquired the experiment, taking a few steps forward along side the footprints, before stopping to look back at Arddyn.