thestormishere | ☈ strike #03 (voice / action)

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☈ strike #03 (voice / action)

[ It may be snowing and looking like a good day to just take it easy, but life for this particular Luceti resident is... by no means very peaceful right now. There's a dull fwump as a journal falls open onto the ground with something heavy on top of it... and a moment later the sound of a horrified shriek and panicked panting pierces the air as someone scrambles to their feet up and off of it.

Unfortunately, the journal's view remains fixed on nothing more than the sky for several minutes, white flakes slowly falling onto the open pages, but then finally, lured in by the sound of voices, a rather alarmed-looking face sporting strikingly blue eyes and severely-mussed black hair appears. ]

Hello? Help! Wh-what's going on?

[ And anyone who's out in the snow right now might notice a particularly distressed and cold young man holding his journal close to his chest as he peers around him. He doesn't look like a New Feather, but he also seems... rather lost.

That would be because not only is Lightning Farron suddenly quite a bit younger, but she also happens to be in

wingenvy's full grown and very male body right now. Oops.

FFXIII spoilers only if you happen not to know Lightning's real name, which... isn't even plot-important anyway. Replies with

notfairron. ]

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[ That silence definitely unsettles her a little; she starts to fidget noticeably as it drags on. ]

Hey! I don't know what happened, but-- I swear I'm telling the truth!

[ She suddenly leans in close, a tiny bit of desperate indignation creeping into her voice. ]

You said you'd help me!

Oh, I'm planning to! I just got caught up trying to figure out what happened--it'd help me help you. [Oh man. This is pretty worrying.]

But you're cold. That doesn't take a lot of thought to fix. There's an apartment where you can stay while we figure things out, okay? Can you tell me the numbers on the buildings around you? Are there any signs?

Hmnn...

[ Okay, this is distinctly out of the realm of things she's been instructed in... it's safe to say her parents never bothered teaching her what to do just in case she ended up in a totally weird place in a body that's definitely not hers. But what other option is there? ]

There's a sign- "Good... Spirits Bar...?" I don't know what that means.

Oh--

[Aaand Zack doesn't remember what bars are. Weirder and weirder, but at least he can read signs. He sounds... child-like?

...Oh, boy. A child's mentality with a SOLDIER's body. What are those stupid Malnosso jerks thinking?]

It's a place with drinks. How about you go in there? They might ask if you're there to work, but just tell them you're not and you'd like some--do you like hot chocolate?--something to warm you up. They'll help you out, and you can warm up while I get there.

[ And as if Aerith needed any more confirmation on the "this is a child" part-- ]

Um... okay. But... I really think someone should call my parents...

[ She really shouldn't be here, probably. :( Who knows how she managed to get here in the first place, or turn into a man, or... OH NO, and she has no idea where Serah is this is terrible noooo. ]

[There's about...a split second's hesitance about whether he should tell Zack the truth: no one to call.

Yeah, that didn't last long.]

Sure thing, Claire. I'll need your help looking them up, can you do that? [And time to buy to figure out what's going on and what he needs to say to keep things relatively calm.

...What is it about Zack asking for his parents to be called that's weird? Besides the obvious. Something's nagging Aerith.]

[ Relieved sigh! No, it's definitely not going to be pretty when the truth comes out. She'll be going to the bar now, though... it's way too cold out here to do otherwise. ]

Yeah, I think so. ... There's not very many people with the last name Farron.

You'd be surprised, it's a big world. Can you tell me where you're from? Is it a town, or city? [Of course, he knows what the answer should be already, but just--scrambling to keep conversation going without becoming too awkward.

[Also totally tromping out into the snow now to find Zack jeeeeeeez this is going to be so awkward. ...Zack probably felt like this at breakfast a few days ago.]

Oh! Bestla. It's a... city?

[ Surely someone from Cocoon will have heard of it? An adult probably would have, at least. ~~Despite the mun having made this part up.~~ ]

[...Oh yeah, that's what's weird about Zack asking for his parents to be called: Gongaga is the furthest thing from a city. So remote it doesn't have phones now, and certainly wouldn't have when Zack left it.

This...can't be Zack. A panicked little girl from a city--which he's never heard of, btw, and there's only so many cities on Gaia--is the furthest thing from a backwaters village boy who'd probably whoop and stomp through the snow a few hours before realizing he should ask where he is.

There's the sound of flipping pages as Aerith replies:] Bestla, got it.

[Pretending he's looking it up. Really, he's looking for Raine's guide, hoping there's something that explains this besides Zack's mind being turned to scrambled eggs.]

You know, I've never been there. Is it nice?

[ Having found what sounds like a competent adult? She's still utterly confused, but that causes a spike in her confidence for sure- especially since he's asking about something she actually knows. ]

Hmm... it's alright. The Guardian Corps does a pretty good job of keeping any monsters a long ways out of the city, I guess. There's a race track...! A lot of people come for that, sometimes. Sometimes they race chocobos, too.

[ ... She gives a nervous laugh. ]

It's a lot warmer there than it is here.

["Claire" knows about chocobos, which fits their world, but...a Guardian Corps? This gets shelved for the moment when Aerith finally, finally finds the explanation he's looking for: "Other changes include...switching a body with another resident".

...So Zack...is in a little girl's body somewhere. --But he should be fine mentally then, right? He can figure something out. Shelve that for later and focus on the actual little girl.]

Ah, it's so cold because it's almost winter. [Yes, Claire. We have season.] I have a friend who's raced chocobos, actually. He's pretty good at it! Don't tell him I said that though, he might get a big head.

Um.

[ Yeah... 'winter' doesn't mean much to her- something to do with weather control she thinks, though that's about it. ]

Heh... okay.

[ She's entered the bar by now, though she keeps to herself out of uncertainty... ]

[Aerith enters shortly after making a post (http://gardenerofgaia.livejournal.com/14902.html) about Claire. Here's hoping someone answers soon; things will be easier if there's someone here Claire trusts.]

Claire, hello! [He waves, approaching the table slowly. No, he does not want to startle a little girl who has a SOLDIER's body, it hurts when they punch.] Are you feeling less cold now?

[ Yeah, she hasn't discovered that extra... oomph to her strength yet- that would be a bad thing to mess around with when she still has the 'hit as hard as possible' mentality of a kid.

And though Claire's not really a shy girl, this is... about as weird and awkward as it can get. She kind of rounds her shoulders and blinks up at Aerith before looking away. ]

... Hi. Yeah.

[...It's so weird seeing Zack like this, even knowing it's not him.] You should have tried the hot chocolate, Buffy makes a good one.

Look, Claire. I'll be honest. We can't fix this right away. But! We will have things back to normal in a few days. [...As normal as it ever gets in Luceti. Hoping you are indeed a de-aged resident and not a new feather.] So if you can be patient, it'll help a lot.

[ "...can't fix this...few days..." ]

What? Why?

It's not so simple. [He really wishes he had a better answer.] But we will get it worked out--and your parents know not to worry. It'll be all right.

Can't a... fal'Cie fix it or something? I don't...

[ Noooo... :( ]

[...Oh, boy. It's hard enough when it's just Zack pouting over some disappointment; knowing this is really a little girl who's got good reason to be upset...ouch.]

A fal'Cie...? It can be fixed, it just takes time. I promise, you're not going to be like this long. And there's a place you can stay in the meantime--it could be like a little vacation! [Maybe a little too chipper for the situation, but he wants to convince her it'll be fine.]

[ A long pause as she takes that in, her head down. After a few moments though, her brows draw together and she glances up, an appraising look in place. ]

Are you a soldier, or...?

[ Hmm... no, they usually have a certain look about them, as far as she knows. ]

A scientist?

[The faintly offended look at that second suggestion will probably tell Claire: no, Aerith's not a scientist. That, and she doesn't like them much.]

Ah...? Well, hmmm... [What should he say here.] I'm not either of those, but there are scientists involved. ...Actually, there's a soldier involved in this, too. You've got his body right now.

[ Wait wait wait WHAT. She didn't even consider something like that...! She looks down at those hands- come to think of it, they're callused, like they'd been using a weapon regularly. She hadn't noticed before now. ]

His body? That's...

[ Weird. Impossible. Crazy. All of the above. ]

So what? They just-- switched my brain with someone else's? A soldier's?

...That's about what they did, yeah. [He toys with the collar of his shirt, since he's thinking "oh, and they also de-aged you over ten years" and that isn't "just" switched, whoops.] And they'll switch you guys back. They know how to do it, so... I know it seems pretty bad right now, but it's not going to stay that way.

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