thestormishere | ☈ strike #07 (action)

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☈ strike #07 (action)

[ So. Even though there seems to be an 'experiment' in full swing this week, several days later Lightning still has yet to be affected for some reason. Not that she's complaining, of course, considering she has several new problems on her hands anyway-- namely, the recent appearance of both Hope and Sazh to Luceti. Talk about complicated. Needless to say, Soldier Girl here needs another outlet; therefore, she has decided to develop a new skill:

Knife-throwing.

Because clearly, being a superpowered, magic-slinging former-sergeant trained in the use of a gunblades and bazookas and airships and who knows what else doesn't make her quite dangerous enough. Yeah, she knows the basics of using a knife in hand, and she can throw one fairly decently already, but that... is not enough.

And so she's practicing, outside near the forest and in a particularly snowy patch of ground- this is because not only is she working on her ability to toss sharp objects, but is trying to improve her maneuverability in the snow at the same time as well. After all, you never know when something like that might become important.

She probably makes an interesting sight too, holding a knife out in front of her like she's taking aim, but then turning around completely and launching herself backwards into not just one flip, but two - briefly touching down between them, off-hand braced in the snow - before flinging the knife mid-flight. However, although the weapon hits her target, once Lightning has bounced to a stop and surveyed the throw, she still seems unsatisfied (you know, despite pulling that off at all in the first place).

So she does it again, and again, and again, until finally, she feels like she's gotten a little better and gets ambitious enough to try something a little different. Setting her feet, she picks up a knife in both hands, jumps back again and-- abruptly loses her equilibrium in the air, so that the knives go flying off-course entirely, and she goes crashing down unceremoniously with a bark of surprise. A moment later, she's rolled to her feet, looking bewildered and displeased, and a moment after that, she looks down and notices that she's no longer herself. Again. ]

... Oh.

[ Yeah. "Oh" is right, considering she's suddenly several years younger, with longer hair and a face that's far more used to smiling than frowning-- her little sister, Serah's, actually. Furthermore, despite so many others getting to keep them, for the time being she's been stripped of her powers completely. If you... just got a knife to the kidney, then sorry, blame the Malnosso, and hopefully it didn't go too deep?

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[ -- Nooo, not girly things...! ]

Huh? [ Lightning pauses to level an odd look at Aerith-- briefly, since it's kind of strange to be talking to her in what is apparently her mother's body. For a moment she has to think about the question, pursing her lips as she continues glancing around. ]

... Not really. It's much more common in women than in men, but... I think that's mostly because women's hair tends to lighten by the time they're teenagers.

[She's already been such weird things and seen others that way that she's trying to just overlook the changes, but the look from Lightning is a good reminder of how different they both are right now. She looks down at her hands--starting to show the signs of age--and curls the fingers before looking back up and tucking them behind her back.]

Really? I always thought I was imagining that. But I guess guys wouldn't like pink, anyway. Oh well! Their loss.

[She shivers, readjusting the shawl around her shoulders. Her clothes are definitely for an older woman and not from her wardrobe--she'd found dressing as herself in Ifalna's body way too weird.] It feels colder today. Are you heading in soon?

Mm... [ Hair color is hair color, and as far as Lightning is concerned if someone doesn't like what they got, then it's easy enough to alter anyway. Not that she ever would, personally... what she doesn't mention is how she and Serah both inherited the color from their mother. Despite a lot of things she has been willing to try changing over the years, that's not one of them. ]

I didn't notice. [ She looks up into the sky, studying the strangely formless stretch of grey over them through the branches of the nearest tree. This place is so weird to her, sometimes. ] I can, though.

Hmm, old bones get more aches? Maybe that's it. Anyway, I feel like taking a break from the outdoors. Come on. [She tips her head in the apartment building's direction before walking.]

Alright. [ Lightning doesn't really like to think about aging much, for... various reasons, all of which aren't very pleasant. Therefore, she just quickly picks her things up and follows after the suddenly older-looking woman, though soon she has only one thing on her mind. ]

... Have you met Hope yet?

No. Who is that?

He's a friend of mine... from home.

[ Most people wouldn't be able to notice - and being in Serah's body probably complicates it even more - but there's a definite note of something painful in that admission. ]

[She remembers Lightning not wanting her friends to be here--well, no one should really be here. Even if, for people like her and Zack, it's a moment of borrowed time. Still, Lightning's friends might be in a more complicated spot than most--she also remembers Lightning mentioning there were others Branded like her.]

Is he doing all right? [She looks at Lightning from the side, watching her face (in Serah's, which does not particularly help, no).]

[ A heavy silence can often speak volumes. One of those goes here. ]

About as 'alright' as you'd expect, I guess. He's a tough kid.

[Aerith frowns as she catches the implications of that, her forehead creasing with worry, but she tries not to let that linger.] If you say so, I'm sure he's extra-tough. How old is he?

Fourteen. [ She frowns as they make their way inside, thoughts tangled and keeping a careful eye out for the boy in question. ] ... Is Zack still in right now?

With what's going on? He's too curious to stay inside. [There's a smile at that, both amused and fond, as they head inside.]

I figured. [ She'd make another comment stemming from her little encounter with the man and his experiment-given wings, but opts for silence instead. What's really on her mind anyway requires being behind a locked door. Again.

Why does everything have to be so complicated? ]

[Silence feels a little too gloomy. Let's mention something interesting!] I was an airship earlier. Do you have those in your world?

-- An airship? How did I miss that? [ Oh yes, she's quite aware of what one of those is. :B Belatedly: ] We do.

[She laughs--different, coming from Ifalna, but it's not too far off from the kind of laugh Aerith would make.] I took off sometimes.

[ Lightning definitely catches the difference, and then herself sort of... bows her head, lacing her hands together. It's a very Serah-like gesture... and doing it doesn't really help the young woman's continued somber thought processes. ]

You must really like airships, then. [ Just like Zack apparently likes flying, which brings up some... interesting questions about their world and/or lives- coincidence, or something else? She wonders idly what the others from the same place might have turned into too. ]

I saw one while we were traveling, and I always thought it'd be so much fun to ride. [She looks up to the sky, her voice picking up in its cheer--she really wants to lighten the mood somehow.] I'm pretty sure it's not the same to fly as one, but at least I got in the air, right?

[ Talking to someone who spent time being an airship like it's normal... just what has Lightning's life become, anyway? In any case, it's doubtful anything Aerith says is really going to ease Lightning's dark mood by much, but... airships are an simple enough topic to have a neutral-sounding conversation about. Plus, she is curious about this, given she actually knows very little about the other woman's home. ]

So... hm. You'd never ridden in one at all before?

No. They're probably more common in Cocoon--there's only a few in Gaia. [She knows Cocoon's more futuristic compared to Gaia, at least by her understanding.] Most people haven't ridden one. You get around by boat or car or chocobo instead.

... Yeah. Hard to imagine going even a day without seeing any. [ They approach the front door, but Lightning starts doing something odd even as she keeps talking, concentrating as she stretches arms out, turns over hands, flexes fingers... ] If you're lucky, you can get a license for learning to fly starting at fifteen.

That young? [She laughs.] Cid would have a fit... Did you learn? [Looking at those gestures there, yes.]

[ She's trying to figure out if she can cast magic in Serah's body without actually doing it, Aerith. It doesn't feel like it though, which is... well, it's certainly interesting.

And for an instant she freezes at mention of that name, but then just makes a soft hmph and quickly moves on. It's too bad that question is kind of rough on her too, though- guess what happened about that time in her life? ] I... yeah. Not at fifteen, but the Guardian Corps trained me a few years ago anyway. Pretty standard.

[The pause at the name has her explaining--]

Cid's another friend we picked up while traveling. He's only 32, but the way he talks about us "kids", you might think he's older! He's one of the best captains there is. I bet he'd love to hear about the technology in your world. He always dreamed of being the first man in space in ours. [...Wait. She puts a finger on her chin, pondering.] Has Cocoon ever done any space exploration?

[ Lightning waffles over explaining how she knows someone by that name too but--

-- That description sounds kind of familiar for another reason, actually, although-- ]

"Space?"

[ She looks strangely baffled at the question for once, pausing with her hand on the door to the inside of the apartment building. The only thing that would save her here from being completely clueless is the fact that she has done some research over how the sun and moon and stars work (in addition to that seasons thing), but... she doesn't remember that term at the moment, and only has a vague guess at what Aerith might be talking about from context.... ]

You mean...? [ Okay, no, her brows draw together, unable to think of how to phrase her question properly. These concepts are absolutely foreign to her. ]

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SMALL TAAAAAGS. >_<9

OUR BAAAAANE

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