Sephiroth Dead? (Open to anyone)

[rikelusdeverell]

“I had no doubt you could drive, it was whether this out-dated machine would hold together with the hell you would knowingly bring to it.” The Commodore replied that with that snide grin sliding across his expressions, feeling the wind in his hair and the sunshine bearing down upon his face was nice. I mean it WAS really nice out even if you were getting shot it, it was hard to stay in a bad mood. The outskirts of the quiet lofty, cottage town of Nibleheim was an incredible place. It had large rolling green plains of grass, and red stone piled chaotically to the sky with an orange hue behind it from the sun radiating off the off colored stone. It would’ve been a lovely day for a walk or a hike, or whatever had it not been for the Soldiers that were hot on their heels.

Of course Maji probably knew it, but anyone ridding with her for the first time who wasn’t battle hardened would’ve had their intestines suffocated within the first few minutes. Rikelus reached down patting a large plume of dust from his pant’s leg. The explosion was huge and left a mushroom cloud that seemingly perforated in every direction, at least four times its normal size.

Life’s about choices…at least that’s what you learn as you age.

Upon looking to our east, we noticed a couple of tents that were set up were pretty sizeable and it struck me as we drove past one with a little girl peeking out from behind the long, khaki skirt of a woman standing at the entrance of one of the tents that these wasn’t just a camp of militant insurgents, terrorists, or even deep ground soldiers.. This was a camp of families? This could quite be the most irresponsible thing I’d ever seen or on the flipside, one of the smartest. It’d be hard to pinpoint the families of those hated by ShinRa if they kept moving around from city to city living on the outskirts. ShinRa wouldn’t even think about attacking a camp that was half-full of innocents. And, I suppose, if I was a terrorist and committing heinous acts I suppose I’d want my family to be safe and out of the city.

I think they made the right choice, because if it’s between losing something important or losing someone I’d much rather lose something important instead.

“Say you want to stop for some fresh air by that tributary of water half a click from here?”

[acidgypsy]

Maji growled assent.

"Fine. As long as we have enough distance between us and them (Whoever the hell they are) I'd like to get patched up too. It's no fun having a hole in your arm. But after, we're heading back. I have a bad feeling about that fight in the town."

After that somewhat out of character statement --Since she usually didn't care about anyone else-- she lapsed into a sullen silence and concentrated on getting to this water in as little time possible. which really didn't take all that long since that bike of hers ate up the road almost as fast as an airship could.

Upon reaching their destination, Maji rolled the bike to a stop, put out the stand, and got off the bike with a groan-- sliding down to a seated position with her back propped up against the bike side. She didn't like having to extract the bullet, but leaving it alone would probably mean infection. She couldn't afford that.

"@#^%$!&. I officially hate guns now."

The knife rasped against the leather sheathe as she drew one of her narrower ones, set it between her teeth, and probed her shoulder wound with pinched facial features. Damn. It was awfully deep...
Maji slid her coat off that shoulder, braced herself, and used the knife's slim blade to look for the telltale resistance of a metal shell.

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[rikelusdeverell]

[Nibleheim Outskirts: Maji, Rikelus]

Rikelus’s facial expressions slid into a smug smirk, apparently she had been shot at more than once. You could tell when you looked in someone’s eyes if it was the first time to taste cold hard steel or not. He removed that black leathery glove and lifted a pale hand to his wound. On the palm side of his hand it seemingly had a couple of weird marks that looked like either birth defects or runes that were inscribed there by someone or something other than Rikelus.

His deep crimson red eyes lapsed shut for a moment, and a light green circle encompassed his being followed by a cool breeze which caused his hair to blow in random directions as he used a gravity spell, to push his wound’s shrapnel and debris from the inside of the puncture hole outwards. The bent bullet and an ominous dark red swirling pile of blood lay suspended in the air for a moment floating around freely supported by a black swirling void beneath it before the void dissipated and the circle faded. His eyes slid open almost as wide as a cheshire cat.

He took a seat near the tributary of water and ran a hand through the cold water and splashed the blood which ebbed out of his wound free from the area. He slid that palm side of his hand across the area murmuring a cure spell softly with the last of his magic points to seal up the wound just enough to where the bleeding would cease. The Commodore’s hand then traced down the side of his coat as he reached for a half full hi potion which had been busted in the battle and leaked out. He furrowed his deep azure colored eyebrows before he offered what was left to Maji. He felt as though she probably needed it more than he did, Soldiers were conditioned to take wounds several times the pain threshold a normal person would ever encounter. This was yet another way that ShinRa stripped their humanity from them, and forever locked the gates to paradise away.

Awkward silence ensued for a moment, until he reached a still gloved hand into another pocket pulling out a piece of tan paper that had a few pictures of mercenaries wanted dead or alive by other mercenaries. Maji’s picture of course made the top five along with a couple of members of AVALANCHE, and a few ShinRa officials, he opened the sheet of paper and laid it down upon a grassy knoll nearby and sat a rock on top of it and that smirk dissipated from his expressions and a quizzical look washed over his lightly cream colored skin, “I don’t suppose you know why someone put up a hit for you, would you?”

[acidgypsy]

Maji left off her knife-probing for a moment, gazing down at the paper with vague surprise.

"Wow. Does my hair really look like that? I need another haircut."

So leaving the knife sticking out of her shoulder without seeming to care, she whipped off her hat and ran her fingers through her dark locks experimentally. Not just a haircut... she needed to re-dye the ends again. It was starting to fade to orange.
As to the 'why' question...
She shrugged (Wincing a moment later when the knife dug deeper into the wound), probing a tooth with her tongue.

"Pffft. Damned if I know. 'Could be the landlord of my office since I don't pay rent on time. Otherwise I'm out of ideas."

With that obviously casual dimissal of the price on her head, she continued to pry the bullet out of her shoulder; giving a long sigh the moment the bloody metal ball hit the grass. No more high-profile lifestyle...not with that bounty tagged to her face.
Bummer.

Maji's back hit the grass with a dull 'thud', crushing an innocent bed of flowers as she stretched out gingerly, lacing her fingers behind her head and closing her bright green eyes. Shaded by the dark fringe of her bangs, the huntress half-opened one eye lazily and studied her companion.
There were certain attachments she was starting to feel for the insufferably arrogant man, and this was making her uncomfortable...

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[rikelusdeverell]

Rikelus reached down picking up an oddly shaped arrowhead from around the river bend and sliced into his leathery sleeve cutting two long strips from it, and offering one of them to the female mercenary nodding reassuringly before wrapping his tightly around his barely sealed wound and tying it off using his teeth. It was kind of funny to see him do patchwork modifications to himself via uniform, it seemed as if he had been in a thicker, dirtier, and bloodier war before. Visible scars and burns were now seen tracing around his arm in a circular fashion down towards his wrist.

He lowered his rune colored hand into the water rinsing it of blood before raising it from the icy abyss and running it through the side of his haphazardly styled hair, “Landlord Eh? I’d hate to see the way the lenders treat you, they probably leave some pretty nasty marks.” He shot back at her with his dry humor before glancing up towards the sun which felt warming on his exposed skin. It’d been a while since he had been in weather as nice, and pleasant as this. Usually it was scorching hot sands, sinking quagmires with rain beating down upon his downtrodden figure, or the wind howling about slicing into his skin weather-beaten features. Hence-forth it was definitely too good of a day to be shot at in his book.

“Ya’know it’s hard to be a Soldier, people don’t understand us, they see a bunch of elite killers strapped from head to toe with weapons to do ShinRa’s dirty work. We’re people too, I guess there must be something different about us compared to normal people. And I know normal people get up every morning, go to work and make little or mediocre decisions about who lives or dies or what happens to someone. I guess what i really mean is i've been trying---to peel back your layers and figure you out for some time now actually.”

He raised a hand up his chin, a whimsical look crossing his face as he turned from side to side with a funny look on his face before he stood up pointing his index finger out towards her shaking his hand back and forth while pacing.

“What would make a girl like you want to be a mercenary and defy death instead of living a life of familiarity, and regularity from nine to five.”

[acidgypsy]

She squinted at him suspiciously from under the dark fringe of hair tickling her eyelids. He was a strange one, this Rikelus.

"Eh. I dunno why I do what I do. Maybe I'm just too crazy to fit in normal society. I mean... let's face it. It's not anywhere close to 'normal' to go around killing people and animals for a living."

Tying off Rikelus' offered binding tightly around her shoulder, she fought down the pinkish tinge starting to appear slowly but surely on her face. It was a bit... embarassing to have someone so openly voice their curiosity/interest in your life. Was it embarassment? Hmph. Well, the fact of the matter was it was extremely uncomfortable.

Frowning sourly, she shut her eyes again perhaps a bit too tightly to be genuinely at ease.

She waggled her wand in his direction and murmured her point of view about 'normalcy'.

"Soldiers technically are normal. Like everyone else, they follow orders to survive and struggle just as much as other people to make a living. Not in the same way, perhaps, but they're...you're... a living human being like the rest of us."

Back went that gloved hand, laced under the back of her head.
Good god was this awkward. He had a knack for getting her into these situations, didn't he?

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[rikelusdeverell]

Two paths meet, and cross, ever intertwined in a web of complexity
Tell me, is this destiny, Or a twist of fate...?

I thought about partaking another career just simply due to the statistics which by the way are funny things. There are people all over the world, putting down odds on all sorts of things. The weather, the stock markets, chocobo races, bandersnatch fights, what color underwear Scarlet’s wearing…well not always that one..BUT obviously, and lots of other things. There’s something like a one in a million chance of being struck by lightning. You’re more likely to get in a car crash are greater than you are to get in a plane crash. The odds of a high ranking Soldier living his life in peace after ShinRa is nil. Knowing the odds of things helps you know what to expect, I guess. When I look at her, I see someone who had the odds tipped in her favor, she’s still got a chance at life even if we do live in a dismal world where we pump the life energy out for our own selfish needs. That made me think about how we deal with things in our everyday lives you know.

“Maybe we both can deal with what we do because it comes in spurts and lulls. If you think about it, were always on call, when asked to jump we ask how high. Work happens based upon whether the public or a private investor is happy with the outcome of anything from a chocobo race to a political being elected into office. It’s all about choices in the end, deep down no matter how transfigured we are, were human I think at least… Because choices are quite possibly the hardest thing to ever deal with, especially when it deals with someone important to you living or dying. Having to make that choice everyday, and pine away from society makes you really want to step back and think about your career.”

Rikelus dropped another mystery into the plethora he left on her plate to think about. I’ve been thinking about it lately, about writing down records since so much we do is done in secret. It helps to have something to look back upon and remember. He knelt down and outstretched picking up a deposit of sand letting it slip through his hands to experience the metaphor he was thinking about. With a smug grin he turned to her and spoke solemnly, “In other words, I don’t see myself in ShinRa forever, I’ve seen my fair share of people I’ve admired or cared about taken away selfishly by tyrants and various companies. I think soon I’m going to make my own path and wash away all my inadequacies like a grain of sand in a roaring tributary.”

For a second he could almost see a smile wink from her dynamic face along with a flush of a different color, was she?---No It couldn’t be..could it?

“Are you afraid Commodore?"

"Scared for your human soul?"

"You lack a soul no matter how many frilled words you may spout or pen, it is blood that suits you…” That voice from the white phantom echoed in his head yet once again.

[acidgypsy]

She could practically feel his gaze on her face, which in turn just made the flush grow. And of course being so obtuse about what that meant, he was probably watching just to annoy her.
She gritted her teeth and flopped on her side, putting her back to Rikelus and thus solving that problem. But unfortunately that also meant she was lying on her injured side, so that didn't help by much.

Somewhere out there, Maji just knew the gods or fates or whatever were just killing themselves laughing.

So lying there stiffly in that uncomfortable position, her coat spread out under her, she silently and viciously insulted every single deity she could think of that might be responsible for this mess.

"Hmph. Enough philosophizing. The fact remains I won't be of much help now that I'm stuck with that dratted paper with my face on it posted up every which way. So you can either call the deal off and I'll take my pay now or we can wait until we're healed up enough to deal wth it."

Of course the logical choice would be to ditch Majidah, as she was a liability as long as she was both wounded and had a bounty, but she was curious to know what Rikelus might say... why did she want to know, anyways? It should be of no consquence to her; either way she'd get a lump sum of gil that would payfor logings and food long enough to ride out her boundy until it expired.

But still, she wondered sometimes...

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[rikelusdeverell]

“I’ll see you through everything, and make sure your name’s taken off the hit list as long as you do one thing for me.” That switchblade grin adorned his amicable face which seemed to be glowing slightly due to the sunlight beating down on him. His crimson red gaze drifted from her towards the horizon, and orange hues loftily reflecting off the snowy capped mountains of Mt. Nibel. He raised that rune covered hand showing it open palmed, as he ran his fingernail along the bridge of his nose scratching for a second before a slight chuckle crept out of that tight devilish grin he was displaying, “Stop undressing me with your eyes.”

He shut his eyes, and they fell as if they were pretty heavy in the chilly breeze that blew through the plains. Rikelus teetered on the edge of dreams and reality as he attempted to focus on the next mission ahead. It wasn’t going to be pretty and he needed to gather some resources, it would be best if they hid out for a day or two.


Letting out a soft sigh he shuffled around before thumbing in his pocket and pulling out a crimson red colored ID card and dangled it in the air before letting it fall back into his pocket. “This card’ll get us into any of the sectors in Midgar or Edge. There’s a safe house on the corner of new wall-Market, that’s our best bet for the time being.” Despite the peaceful aura, there was a nagging sensation at the back of his mind. With that being said the Commodore brushed his knees off before glancing around the flowing tributary idly. The golden light hammering down on him reflected off an exposed metallic bracelet around his wrist. It was odd that he was wearing it, it was inscribed with a couple of ancient ruins and a language not easily read. He leaned down squatting and extending his hand towards her to help her up, his features seemingly soft and delicate opposed to his limestone battle hardened usual expressions.

[acidgypsy]

Maji nearly choked; sitting bolt upright with a face even pinker than usual.
Oh no he didn't just say that!

"WHAT?!"

It was amazing how quickly she crossed the distance between the two even when injured. But move she did, bringing a tightly-clenched fist in sharp contact with his uninjured arm. Simply her expression of a mix of embarassment and indignation was just priceless.
Accusingly, she pointed a finger just inches from his nosetip.

"ARGH! Why do I even put up with you?!"

She nearly brought back her arm for another sound smack, but a short but painful throb from the bulletwound saved Rikelus from her ire for another minute or two. But Majidah's irritation burned just as fiercely as her face did, causing her to go cross-legged with her back once again to the cheeky man with her arms crossed over her chest. Heck, she didn't even hear that last part he was talking out.
Hmph. Undressing with her eyes. Bull.

Insufferable little...

Her former wistful thoughts extinguished, she fumed in silence; very much enjoying the image of planting a boot up the nether regions. Unlike him she wasn't a pervert. This must be some sort of mind game he found amusing in some childish way.

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[rikelusdeverell]

He blinked rapidly at her movements before having to raise a hand up to his mouth to cover an escaping chuckle as he laughed at her movements, “You’re amusing when you frown like that.” Rikelus gave her a slight friendly nudge with his elbow before he cleared his throat and got down to the meat and potatoes of his apology after throwing in a little humor. Rikelus found humor to be a good ally in most situations in Soldier due to the large amount of psychological breakdown. He seemed a bit squeamish at first, and scratched the top of his head standing around waiting until he finally let out a sigh and his expressions softened.

“Sorry, forgive my rudeness.” He backed up a bit from her casually throwing his arms to the wind as if he were innocent in this sick and twisted game. “I was merely jesting.” He shrugged his shoulders his eyes seeming somewhat glassy and his expressions mimicked that of the “o’ll-hurt-puppy-dog-expression.”

Things had been quiet where they were at, they had disappeared from the Soldiers without a trace, and seemingly would keep running halfway around the world. It suited Rikelus just fine that they hadn’t seen or heard from any enemy presence in quite a while, personally he had enough of Deep Ground’s grandiose tactics to tide him over into the new era.

“Ya’know Maji I’ve been thinking…Everyone has the capability of good and evil, of course…but what to do you do when you have darkness surrounding you? In what path will the hero walk? I had never been a Hero or considered myself to be one; but I’m willing to admit I’ve made choices surrounded by darkness my entire life. In soldier it was no different, deciding who lives or who dies, what jacket I wanted to wear in the morning, when I wanted coffee brought to me etc. I mean if you put it all on the table, and everything I’ve always made choices with the best of intentions, and what I thought was the right one. Now I’m left with the hardest choice I think I’ve ever had to make in my life.”

I’ve heard that strength comes from weakness. I’ve always wondered why the right never learn exactly why there is a wrong. For the holy to become right and just they must understand the dark side first. Parallel’s make us who we are essentially. What happens when you’re stuck in between both worlds, how then do you define good and bad? Strength and weakness?

[acidgypsy]

No response.

Still seething, she sat in her own little private bubble of sullen silence; not moving an inch safe for the gentle swell and fall of her sides as she breathed.

"Pfft. That'll learn him. Bratty little..."

Her eyes half-shut under the crimson and black cascade of hair, the hired gun couldn't help but think over his question as she sulked at the same time.

Evil? Good? Personally, she was loathe to align herself to rashly to one side or the other... staying as a largely neutral power was ideal if one was more concerned about their own warefare than money, greed, honor, or any number of foolish notions often found planted in the heads of some of the populace. Staying apart meant more sources of income and a better chance to survive.
Frankly, that's how she managed to live so long.

So what did she do when faced with the polar opposites of light and darkness? She chose to tread the thin, wandering line between the two. A line that often sent her astray to one side or the other only to bring her back to the center again. For her, evil and good were merely words to express where the speaker stood in his or her perspective.

An extra-long exhalation followed this conclusion.
But that answer would wait.

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[admin]

The journey from Edge to Nibelheim seemed to have taken Tifa forever. It was an unending road trip from Edge to Junon; Junon to Costa del Sol by boat; then it was back to driving from Costa del Sol to Cosmo Canyon and then finally, her destination - Nibelheim. She could only hope Barret was still around unharmed by the time she arrived. And Cloud... God, what have I done?

She slowly came to a stop and parked the van just outside the sleepy little town. Tifa hit the horn twice to make her presence known... but Barret said there were some "nasties" around. Was that certainly a good idea? If it wasn't, then it was too late then... The engine was beginning to get low on petrol, so she turned the keys, shut down the ignition, took her equipment (a small backpack containing her fighting gloves, materia and some amunition in case Barret ran out) and got out of the vehicle. She entered Nibelheim for the first time in a long while... the last time she was here she met up with Genesis for the first time. There was no sign that Cloud had gotten here before she did - guess that meant she had some explaining to do once he did get here...

She walked over to the well in the middle of the small town, surveying the area quietly and carefully. [glow=blue,2,300]"Barret?"[/glow] she called out a few times, each time slightly louder than the last. It was awkward having to stand out in the open, without ever knowing where your comrades or foes were...


(ooc - sorry, got lost reading previous posts regarding where the heck everyone was...)

[barret]

Barret was flying through the air crashing through a few buildings before crashing hard into the ground. He thrust his gun-arm up to fire some more shots but was out of ammo.

"Dammit!" he said

He laid there reflecting his life, the last time he helped in the fight against Shinra and then against Sephiroth and that time he helped Vincent out. He realized something that struck him hard, every time there was something going on where the gang was back together he just got weaker and weaker. Sure he was a big player against Shinra but after them he just started becoming less and less usefull.

"Everyones got these fancy powers or natural gifts; and what do I got? A gun-arm, oh yeah Barret that'll do a lot of good."

He laid back against the ground and just accepted what hand fate had given him. His usefulness in the world had ended. There was nothing left for him now.

[OWEED™]

((OOC - I think i need to e-mail Alastar, because OBLIVION MUST POST IN HERE SOON!!!! >.<))