What Is Peace?(OPEN TO ALL)

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Aerith tended to the flowers she cared so much about in Sector 5 Church. She watered them. Her mind wondered to her friends. She was curious to know where they were. She was alone and it was peaceful. Peace? Ha! There was no such thing with Sephiroth roaming free. Aerith stroked the tip of her plait nervously. She heard the door open and she grabbed her Princess Gaurd, ready for any attacks thrown her way.

[Leon Walter Deltova]

Leon had been wandering the streets of sector 5 for quite some time, just trying to kill the time. Finding nothing more interesting to do, Leon just continued to wander. He knew that somewhere nearby was a still fairly active market, but not knowing the real layout of the land, he had to continue on.

After several hours of rooting around in the area, Leon finally came upon a fairly large opening in the trash heaps and the junk piles. Nestled into a courner of several piles of junk, was a good conditioned church, its spire still holding the traditional belltower. Intrigued, Leon began to make his way towards the church, wondering what could be inside of it.

It was a fairly large church, but the outside of it made it look much smaller. Its walls were white, the rafters and shingles red, and signs of scuffles and a few fights marred the stone steps before it. To one side, sat a small pond, the water in it sparkling a dazzling blue. A beam of sunlight hit it directly, making it glow, giving off a feeling of peace and of solitude. Mostly, a feeling of holiness. Such a strange thing.

Leon shook his head and continued towards the large doors, their frames looking reciently referbished. Another thing that made Leon's eyebrow arch. He shrugged and reached for the handles. They were firm and solid. With a slight push, Leon opened the doors, a slight whine coming from the hinges.

"Hello? Anyone there?" He asked, looking inside, his eyes having to adjust to the slight dimness.

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Aerith heard a voice. It sounded friendly but it could be a trap. She came out of hiding and held her Princess Gaurd tightly. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked, cautiously. She didn't want to let her gaurd down and Aerith thought she sounded braver than she actually did. Her heart was pounding. After everything that had happened, Aerith didn't want to take any chances.

[Leon Walter Deltova]

"Whoh now, ma'am. I think you've got the wrong idea." Leon said, both of his hands up. "My name's Leon, and I'm not here to cause a commotion. Just looking about is all." Leon said, standing his ground, his hands still up.

It was true enough, Leon was curious about the church and the purpose of it. From the outside, it looked in generally good condition, but the interior spoke volumes more about its age. in a few places, columns had been broken, signs of fighting taking precident in a few of the courners, a couple holes were in the roof, and an indentation in a wall by the door told Leon that this place was more then just a church.

"Now, iffin' you don't mind me askin', who're you, ma'am?" Leon said, beginning to move forward slowly, keeping his hands in up before him.

At the current rate of speed, it would take Leon about a minute and a half to get to the girl that was addressing him, in that time, she could easily engage in a fight, run, or do various other things. She had plenty of room to manuver, but, so did he. Leon was, after all, a veteran in combat, and the more room he had, the better his odds of winning. All he had to do was find out what her intentions were.

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Aerith sighed. "My name is Aerith Gainsborough. Now if you don't mind I'm waiting for a friend." she said and went back to tending to her flowers. She knew Elstan would help her in a time of need. She didn't trust this man, so got out a small vail of blood and whispered to it. Soon enough the sound of the beats of wings could be heard.

[Leon Walter Deltova]

She dismissed him quickly, her thoughts flipping from one subject immediatly to another. Leon rolled his eyes and looked skyward. He sighed and let his hands drop to his sides. Now that the situation had been diffused, Leon walked with little regard to the girl tending to her flowers. Simply walking around the girl in a wide arc, not to cause any kind of real problems, Leon continued to inspect the building. It was old, that much was for sure. Older then probably most of the junk outside, too.

It wasn't long until Leon heard the steady beating of what sounded like wings. It was too loud for a bird, but to shallow for anything gigantic. With a shrug, Leon turned on his heel, disregarding the sound of the beating wings, walked away from the alter, and walked around the ring of flowers, giving the girl a wide berth. Then, quickly making his way to the back of the church, Leon stopped and turned.

"Was a right pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss. Gainsborough. It'd be a pleasure to meet under more friendly terms, I suppose, but I'll be taking my leave. Afternoon." Leon said with a nod of his head.

Then, he turned again and walked out of the building. He pulled the door closed behind him and looked about. The sun was still high in the sky, from what Leon could see of it anyhow. With a shrug, Leon trudged back towards the direction he had come, but first stopped to take a seat. Twit... Leon thought impulsivly. Flitting from one thing to another, disregarding her own personal safty, and dropping her awareness of a stranger. He shook his head and wondered how she had managed to stay alive this long. The times here weren't very friendly, and the local populace was just as callous and cautious as they were back home.

Leon stopped a little ways from the chruch, still in the clearing of the chruch yard. He reached into his coat and pulled out a water-bottle and unscrewed the cap. He lifted the bottle to his lips and drank several mouthfuls. This place keeps getting more and more bizzare every day I'm here... He thought, reflecting on his time here.

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[Elstan Shadow]

Elstan landed at the gateway to the church. Her black wing retreated back into her right shoulder. She saw a man. Her silver hair blew gently in the wind. She wore a black polo neck jumper, tight leather trousers and a long dark purple trench coat. She stared at the man and walked over to him. "Hey you! Are you the reason Aerith called me? Is she OK?" she asked. The coldness and malice of Sephiroth that Elstan had, had gone. Her eyes were soft with concern. The female Remnant had changed. Unlike Sephiroth she now dedicated her life to the people of Midgar and of the Planet. Her weapons glinted in the late morning sun. Her throwing knives, short blade, sword and the breeches of her hidden blades. She smiled. "I'm Elstan Shadow. Ex-SOLDIER First Class." Elstan introduced. Elstan was glad Aerith made her change her ways. Yes, Elstan was still an Assassin but she used her skills to help AVALANCHE now.

[Leon Walter Deltova]

A woman at the door of the church, a wing disappearing from her shoulder. So... that's where the sound was coming from. Leon thought, taking another drink from the water bottle. Apparently, the woman noticed Leon, as she turned and began to walk over to him. She addressed him at first with caution, seeing him as a possible enemy, but then she changed right after addressing him. She smiled and introduced herself as Elstan Shadow.

"It's a pleasure, ma'am." Leon said, standing and bowing slightly. "I'm Leon Deltova, ex-Colonel of the Marines. About Miss. Gainsborough? Rightly? I didn't know she called you actually. I just happened along the church here as I was makin' my way, and went to investigate the building. Found her inside and left her as well. She should be over by her flower bed, tending to them still. An' don't worry. I didn't lay a hand on her."

It was the honest truth. Fortunatly for Leon, however, he didn't feel threatened by the presence of an equiped warrior at all. Though she did carry the weapons of a fighter, Leon knew that he was quite safe if a fight broke out.

"Now, iffin' you don't mind my askin, Ma'am. What're you doin' out here in a place like this? Not much to do out here except salvage for parts and maybe run into the locals if your lucky." Leon said, turning and walking towards a junk pile.

It was a simple fact of reaching up and pulling a piece of quarter inch pipe, in realitivly good condition in fact, from a pile of junk. He tapped the end on the ground and looked down the shaft itself, looking for holes and rust. This was all just to prove his point that scavanging parts and pieces was as easy as reaching up and picking an apple from a tree.

"Mind you, I'm not here to scavange, just on my way to the market I hear is close by." Leon said, clarifying his purpose for being there.

He took the pipe and tossed it like a spear towards a pile of junk the opposite direction of the church. A metal clang came from where it landed, several hundred feet away. Maybe he was over doing it on showing off, but then again, what was life without a little bit of excitment?

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