Blizzard Blitz

[Claire "Lightning" Farron]

[style=font-family: open sans condensed; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: -25px; color: #000000]I’LL NEVER FORGET[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,475,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][style=width:175px; border: 3px solid #000000; height: 450px; float: left][/style] [style=float: right; width: 293px; color: #efefef; background-color: #000000; height: 30px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; margin-left: -2px; text-align: center; padding-top: 10px]i promised you that…[/style][style=float: right; width: 272px; color: #000000; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; font-family: helvetica; padding: 10px; margin-top: 1px; text-align: justify; border-left: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: -5px; height: 391px; overflow: auto; background-color: #efefef] Wherever she was, it sure had some interesting weather changes. The warrior of Valhalla had been used to traveling around in her past life as a soldier and a I'Cie, but never had she seen such extreme weather changes in locations so close to each other. A few minutes ago she had been wandering in the desert in search for answers or at least clues as to what her situation had been. Now she had been in a whirl winding snow storm while climbing up a mountain. Not that it bothered her much. Whether it be in the harshest weather or temperature conditions, Lightning was not at all bothered by it due to her blessed armor of Etro. Even without it, Lightning had a duty to fufill to protect Valhalla and right now she was not there and that was absolutely not okay. Lightning's expression held no emotion as she stoically traveled through the icy storm, her armor clattering slightly with each step through the snow. Her only thoughts right now were simply questions of what is going on around her and what would become of what she was duty bound to protect. Then another thought crossed her mind. What had happened to Serah? If these areas had no time gates whatsoever, did that mean Serah is lost in the timeline? That she didn't exist maybe? But Fang was alive... so maybe Serah was lost too. With a sigh, Lightning pushed back these thoughts in her mind and continued to trek up the mountain. Maybe, just maybe, she could find more answers. [/style]

[style=width: 453px; background-color: #000000; height: 35px; margin-top: -4px; font-family: oswald; padding: 10px; color: #efefef; font-size: 13px]TAGS:Cloud Strife ▪WORDS:250ish
NOTES: This post is literally bad... sorry I promise I’ll be better next post <3[/style]
[style=margin-top: -15px; opacity: 0.6; font-size: 10px]made by FLOU of OTE.[/style]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

The snow shifted around the soldier's feet as he trudged through the frosty slush. He held one hand up above the visor of his helmet, as if he were keeping sun of his eyes- not because he was trying to keep from being blinded, the helmet was designed to continue standard operation in extreme weather, but because it was simply a habit that he'd picked up from living in Nibelheim. More specifically, traveling through the icy Mount Nibel. Of course, it had been a long time since he'd been through Mt. Nibel...but he still remembered the area well. After Tifa had gotten injured while under his care, he was forbidden from speaking with her again. He'd often climb the mountain in the hopes that he'd be able to see Tifa alone, but she never returned...

Cloud's thoughts dissipated once he heard the shuffling. At first he thought it was just his imagination, until he stopped walking for a moment to listen to the howl of the wind. There. It was definitely the sound of someone else traveling through this winter wasteland. But who...? He took a moment to assess the direction of the wind before heading into the gale, towards where the sound had carried from. He'd only been walking for a few minutes before a humanoid figure came into view, facing away from him. It was hard to make out through the blizzard, but...it couldn't be...Elfe?! Cloud didn't want to believe it...if it really was Elfe...if she really was here...

There was a quiet cracking sound as Cloud roughly gritted his teeth as he kicked through the snow as hard as he could, letting him pursue the woman at a joggy-run. His last encounter with Elfe hadn't gone...well, to say the least, and so his memory was a bit fuzzy...but he was sure that this was her. This time would be different...hopefully. When the MP thought he was within range, he stopped running and slipped into a battle stance, pressing the butt of the rifle to his shoulder while aiming it towards the back of the woman, barking out, "Freeze!" He thought about what he said for a moment and tried to awkwardly reword the command, "...I-I mean...don't move a muscle!"

[Claire "Lightning" Farron]

[style=font-family: open sans condensed; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: -25px; color: #000000]I’LL NEVER FORGET[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,475,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][style=width:175px; border: 3px solid #000000; height: 450px; float: left][/style] [style=float: right; width: 293px; color: #efefef; background-color: #000000; height: 30px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; margin-left: -2px; text-align: center; padding-top: 10px]i promised you that…[/style][style=float: right; width: 272px; color: #000000; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; font-family: helvetica; padding: 10px; margin-top: 1px; text-align: justify; border-left: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: -5px; height: 391px; overflow: auto; background-color: #efefef] As Lightning continued to walk through the storm, it didn't take a general to figure out someone had been following her. For Etro's sake the man was running after her pretty fast in the snow, the approaching crunching sound of boots pressing into the blankets of snow creating lots of attention to be directed behind her. Though she noticed this, she continued walking, content with simply traveling and not getting in anyone's way for the sake of distorting the timeline further. But whoever it was behind her did not seem to have the same sentiment. In fact, he seemed interested in just the opposite. The loud shout over the winds told her to freeze, or at least at first before correcting themselves. It caused Lightning to smirk a bit as she remembered her training as a Soldier herself for the Guardian Corp but brought her lips back down into a hard line. Now was not the time. She needed to be serious. For now, it probably was not wise to go against any local military forces and bring attention to herself. At the very least she figured it was best to see who or what she was dealing with. Slowly but surely the armored warrior turned around to face the helmed man with a gun. What she saw was less than what she expected. Being a Sergeant in the Bodhum Security Regiment, there were several times where she used to train new soldiers. This man did not seem to have the confidence it would take to shoot his gun properly. But now that she was in this situation she figured that there was no reason to simply just stand there instead of taking action. She gave a light sigh before sweeping her left arm to the side which caused her gunblade to materialize in a flurry of white feathers before gripping its hilt and swinging it behind her to get into a battle stance. At the very least she expected this to be a nice exercise, after all she was used to bullets being fired at her from back when she was a I'Cie. "Who are you. And what do you want from me?" she questioned loudly and boldly, her expression holding one of complete confidence as she stared down the man behind the helmet. Holding her right shield arm up in the case of any misfired bullets, she continued to watch the mystery person through the snow storm, Whoever this had been, they better have had a good explanation for her. After all, it wasn't as if she was going to be spouting out her life story anytime soon so they might as well do it. [/style]

[style=width: 453px; background-color: #000000; height: 35px; margin-top: -4px; font-family: oswald; padding: 10px; color: #efefef; font-size: 13px]TAGS: Cloud Strife ▪WORDS:440
NOTES: That freeze pun~[/style]
[style=margin-top: -15px; opacity: 0.6; font-size: 10px]made by FLOU of OTE.[/style]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

Although it wasn't visible underneath the helmet and scarf, Cloud's eyes widened and jaw dropped when the woman spawned a weapon from the ether in a cloud of white feathers. He'd...seen that before... the woman standing before him faded away as his latent memory came bubbling up to the surface and swallowed his consciousness. He was running down a long, defunct corridor alongside someone with a suit...Tseng. His partner's name was Tseng.

After some time, they finally found themselves in a large warehouse with their target, Doctor Hollander, a Shinra scientist that had gone rogue, standing about fifty feet ahead of them with his back to Cloud and Tseng. Tseng shouted "HOLLANDER!" while Cloud raised his rifle towards the bearded scientist...when a large mass suddenly dropped from the ceiling, knocking both Cloud and Tseng off their feet. Cloud whipped his rifle in the direction of the mass and fired, but the mass had already moved to his side and easily kicked the MP's rifle away. He tried to catch a glimpse of his attacker, but it proved unnecessary as they grabbed Cloud by the throat and lifted him into the air. The soldier let out a pained gurgle as the life was choked from him, but he finally saw the face of his attacker...first-class SOLDIER, Angeal Hewley. Cloud didn't have time to consider what this meant when Tseng sprung out of nowhere and tackled Angeal to the ground, causing Cloud to hit the ground hard. When he regained enough sense to find where Tseng and Angeal had gone to, he only found himself alone, with a number of pure white feathers lining the ground...

The memory melted back into the present just as the woman spoke for the first time. Now that Cloud had heard her voice and gotten a good look at her face, he realized that she wasn't Elfe after all...but the feathers...the MP ignored her questions and took a small step back, the rifle shaking slightly- and it wasn't a shiver from the chill of the air. "W...What are you? SOLDIER? Or..." Cloud caught ahold of himself and tightened his grip on the rifle again, "Is Genesis behind all of this? Are you...a copy?"

[Claire "Lightning" Farron]

[style=font-family: open sans condensed; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: -25px; color: #000000]I’LL NEVER FORGET[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,475,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][style=width:175px; border: 3px solid #000000; height: 450px; float: left][/style] [style=float: right; width: 293px; color: #efefef; background-color: #000000; height: 30px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; margin-left: -2px; text-align: center; padding-top: 10px]i promised you that…[/style][style=float: right; width: 272px; color: #000000; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; font-family: helvetica; padding: 10px; margin-top: 1px; text-align: justify; border-left: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: -5px; height: 391px; overflow: auto; background-color: #efefef] While the woman could not see the man's expression, she could tell that they seemed quite terrified of her by now. His rifle steadiness left him as his hands began to tremble. He began to back away from her as well to which confused the woman slightly. Of course she figured that it was just the way she summoned her gunblade but she simple brushed it off nonetheless and didn't think much of it. Whoever this person had been, he was definitely not an experienced soldier... far from it. "You didn't answer my questions," she stated as she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to the left. It was as if she was examining the man, looking him over to try to find out what was wrong. He spoke of some strange things, words that perhaps meant something to him. Though they mostly meant nothing to her, perhaps it would help serve to explain what was going on around her. What did this man know that she did not? For now she would be patient with him. There was no reason to threaten him if it was not necessary, but at the same time that didn't mean she was going to be nice about it. She still had the blood of a warrior in her after all. "You should give your own name before you ask for mine," she said boldly as she lowered her right shielded arm slightly. She thought it over, giving the man her name. For now there was no reason not to. Seeing how quick the boy was to tremble, she doubted that it would matter. Though the thing about her being a Soldier was definitely not necessary. How he got that from what she was wearing was beyond her. Then again, what he had been wearing was far from what she was used to seeing on either PSICOM or Guardian Corp. "My name is Lightning. Now tell me, who are you? And what do you mean by copy?" she questioned again, much more loudly this time. Her sword remained at her side as she spoke but she was on her guard. At any second this man could attempt to shoot her, not that it meant much. All she wanted were some answers and it seems to her that she would be getting them now. Whoever this Genesis was, he seemed to be behind why she was here or at least this man was hinting it. "and who is this Genesis. Tell me what is going on." [/style]

[style=width: 453px; background-color: #000000; height: 35px; margin-top: -4px; font-family: oswald; padding: 10px; color: #efefef; font-size: 13px]TAGS: Cloud Strife ▪WORDS:400ish
NOTES: This happened[/style]
[style=margin-top: -15px; opacity: 0.6; font-size: 10px]made by FLOU of OTE.[/style]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

...Lightning? Her name was Lightning. That was strange. One of the people he'd met in this new world prior to this encounter had been named Squall. Squall, Cloud, and now Lightning...he wondered if there were some connection between Squall and Lightning at least, because they certainly didn't relate to him in any meaningful way. But Cloud pushed that line of thought out of his head; there wasn't time to worry about it at the moment. The MP actually considered just telling her everything that he knew...but he'd tried to do the same with Squall as well, and Sephiroth had become upset over that fiasco, so he decided against that course of action.

Judging by her comments, she wasn't any more aware of the situation than anyone else that he'd met...but she still might know something valuable. The only way to get that information without giving anything up, that he could see, would be to defeat her...but was he strong enough? She'd already demonstrated an ability that he'd thought unique to the SOLDIERs that Hollander had created, and there was no way that he could beat a first-class SOLDIER...if that indeed was what she was. Thankfully, he remembered that the magic he could cast was no longer restricted by the Materia issued to him by Shinra. The MP pulled his left hand off of the rifle and brought it near his face, watching it intently as two bands of light formed around his hand, signalling that a spell had been cast. Specifically, it had been the Time Magic: Undo. Now he could determine the woman's capabilities without fear of reprisal.

Cloud stood silently for a moment before suddenly slapping his hand against the rifle, gripping it tightly as he brought it up to bare and squeezed the trigger, emptying the entire magazine towards the woman. Whether she was hit or not didn't matter- she could even close the distance between them and slice Cloud in half. Either way, time would reverse back to when he first cast the spell, negating any actions that had occurred in the interim. He said nothing throughout the attack- there was no reason to. All that mattered was what he observed before the spell was set off...

[Claire "Lightning" Farron]

[style=font-family: open sans condensed; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: -25px; color: #000000]I’LL NEVER FORGET[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,475,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][style=width:175px; border: 3px solid #000000; height: 450px; float: left][/style] [style=float: right; width: 293px; color: #efefef; background-color: #000000; height: 30px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; margin-left: -2px; text-align: center; padding-top: 10px]i promised you that…[/style][style=float: right; width: 272px; color: #000000; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; font-family: helvetica; padding: 10px; margin-top: 1px; text-align: justify; border-left: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: -5px; height: 391px; overflow: auto; background-color: #efefef] Lightning stood there staring down the man and still he had yet to back down. Whoever this was, they sure were keeping a tight lip about the situation. That or they also had no idea what was going on and just talking out of their ass. She was familiar with both scenarios, but she figured that the later was probably true with this one considering how he was trembling holding his gun earlier. Then she saw a small glow of light near where the man was to which caused her to get suspicious. All of a sudden there was the sound of a loaded gun being prepared to fire to which Lightning brought up her shield again. The memories of when she had been an I'Cie rushed back to her as the bullets were sent firing towards her. Instead of panicking like a normal person, she blocked a few shots with her shield and ran forward. If that is how the man wanted to play it so be it. Knowing she couldn't simply block them all, Lightning jumped forward, letting several bullets fly past below her as she flipped and twirled in midair. This had effectively closed the distance between the two and when she landed after all the magazine was empty she was just a few feet away from the man. Her gunblade had been pointed directly at the man's face as she personally glared down at him. "Start talking," she stated confidently, almost border lining threatening. To be honest, if this had been her back when she had first become an I'Cie, she probably would have killed this man. She would have killed him with no hesitation. But right now, all she wanted were some answers and she had no intention of killing anyone. The more lives she could save while not damaging the timeline, the better. Little did she know this was useless. [/style]

[style=width: 453px; background-color: #000000; height: 35px; margin-top: -4px; font-family: oswald; padding: 10px; color: #efefef; font-size: 13px]TAGS:Cloud Strife ▪WORDS:
NOTES: [/style]
[style=margin-top: -15px; opacity: 0.6; font-size: 10px]made by FLOU of OTE.[/style]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

The MP futilely tried to keep a bead on the woman as she jumped and flipped around, but what bullets weren't dodged deftly had been blocked by the woman's shield. He kept firing despite this until a quiet click emanated from the gun...but it wasn't the sound of trying to fire an empty clip that he heard. The gun was jammed...by frost, most likely. Some ice had probably formed inside of the chamber, and the vibration that came from firing the gun might have knocked it loose, causing it to jam. As the barrel was still smoking, whatever ice had jammed up the gun would quickly melt away- he just had to stall for a little bit longer...

"Start talking,"

Out of time. He hesitated for only a moment before responding to her forceful command, "Let's...make a deal." Cloud knew that she'd refuse this and demand that he answer her questions again...and it was already clear that if it actually came to a fight, he'd lose. So he had to avoid that outcome at all costs. But first...he had to activate the Undo spell. The MP swallowed nervously before tilting his head back and jamming the barrel of the gun underneath his chin. Cloud muttered a small prayer before pulling the trigger. The frost had since melted away, unjamming the gun...which let the last bullet in the magazine become chambered. The force of the shot snapped the MP's head back. Cloud became still for a just a moment before his body fell backwards towards the snow...

As soon as his corpse hit the ground, a small crack appeared in the air between Cloud and Lightning for a split second before the world shattered around them in a burst of static. Once the effect had cleared, they'd find themselves in the same position they'd been in only moments before- with Cloud standing upright, aiming at Lightning at a distance. Cloud shuddered slightly, shaking off the lingering sensation of death, before slinging the rifle back over his shoulder, making it clear that he had no intention of fighting. With that out of the way, he pointed over towards the left, in the direction that he'd previously been heading before coming across Lightning.

"There's a city that way...I think. Got a little turned around in the blizzard..." He started walking towards her with the intention of standing by her side, holding up his three middle fingers with the thumb and pinky held down, "I'll answer three of your questions if you answer three of mine in return. If there is still something that needs clarification, we can work something out?" Really, Cloud just hoped that she agreed to the exchange of information. Sephiroth would probably be very upset if he saw Cloud now, but there was no choice. He either answered the woman's questions, died, or get left for dead. Sephiroth probably would have been happy if he went with the last two choices though...at least then a potential enemy wouldn't learn anything they could use against them.

[Claire "Lightning" Farron]

[style=font-family: open sans condensed; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: 2px; margin-bottom: -25px; color: #000000]I’LL NEVER FORGET[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,475,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][style=width:175px; border: 3px solid #000000; height: 450px; float: left][/style] [style=float: right; width: 293px; color: #efefef; background-color: #000000; height: 30px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 24px; margin-left: -2px; text-align: center; padding-top: 10px]i promised you that…[/style][style=float: right; width: 272px; color: #000000; font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: -0.5px; font-family: helvetica; padding: 10px; margin-top: 1px; text-align: justify; border-left: 3px solid #000000; margin-left: -5px; height: 391px; overflow: auto; background-color: #efefef] Lightning watched as the shy young soldier hesitated at her demand. It was interesting to her considering what position she had put him in. He had a gunblade to his face and he was attempting to make a deal with her rather than spilling what he knew? Normally she's flat out refuse, but for now she might as well play along. She was not trying to make a ripple in the timeline after all. Before she could say anything though the man had put the gun towards himself and before she knew it, a gunshot fired causing the man to fall backwards into the snow. This irked the woman as she swung her blade back behind her with a tightened grip on the hilt. Whatever lead she had on figuring out exactly what was going on had killed himself. Suppressing an aggravated sigh, the warrior turned to move on when she sensed something wrong. Suddenly a crack in the air and a few bursts of static later the pink haired woman found herself back at where she had stood only a few minutes prior. And in front of her? The careless soldier with the exact same gun in the exact same position aiming at her. Whatever that had been had not fazed Lightning externally. However mentally, the woman was questioning what had just happened. Was that just a paradox? She knew she had just seen the man before her fall over to his death. Now she had been back to where she started when they first encountered? A paradox effect was probably the most likely explanation to the warrior despite the lack of Time Gates in her travels so far. Her eyes narrowed to a glare as the man who now returned his gun to a neutral position on his back. No part of her questioned this as she just assumed that this was another possibility in the timeline that she was encountering due to the paradox. She wasn't going to question it right now when there were more important matters. After putting away the rifle the man motioned over to his left which had been her own right. She glanced over to examine what he was motioning to only to see nothing but a fog of snow in her way. As she turned her whole attention back to the man, he began walking towards her with his hand up, holding up three fingers as if attempting to signal something. After hearing his terms she thought it over and couldn't help but exhale heavily, letting her frosted breath fill a small space in front of her. "Fine once you tell me your name. I said mine and it’s only fair you tell me yours," she answered as she adjusted her gunblade into its neutral mode with a casual swing behind her. The instant that it was shifted into the neutral mode however the weapon disappeared from her hand in a small flash of light. It was to show that she was not going to attack without the provocation. This arrangement would work out fine for now as long as he did not try anything suspicious. Above all, all she needed to do was find her way back to Valhalla so she could find her way to Serah and protect those that were still alive. [/style]

[style=width: 453px; background-color: #000000; height: 35px; margin-top: -4px; font-family: oswald; padding: 10px; color: #efefef; font-size: 13px]TAGS: Cloud Strife ▪WORDS: 550ish
NOTES: I dunno[/style]
[style=margin-top: -15px; opacity: 0.6; font-size: 10px]made by FLOU of OTE.[/style]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

The MP let out a relieved sigh as the woman accepted his terms. But she asked for his name... He couldn't really give that information out, since it would have invalidated the entire purpose of his using this disguise. Well, it was a sort of a disguise, anyway...even though he was actually a Shinra MP, as the uniform implied. But he figured out another way to fish for information- He said that he would answer three of her questions if she answered three of hers, but she offered her name freely and hadn't posed this question as one of the three he'd granted her. "Johnny...my name, that is. It's Johnny." He smiled slightly, glad that he remembered the name of the other Nibelheim youth that had joined the Shinra Peacekeeping Corps alongside him. There was practically no chance that this woman could call him on his lie, as, for all intents and purposes, he may as well have been Johnny. Cloud was suddenly thankful for the wide scarf and face concealing helmet- it meant that he could lie with impunity, as no facial features were showing to give him away. Not that he planned to lie again, of course. He'd already planned on answering every question that didn't concern his identity honestly.

With that out of the way, Cloud let his hand drop back to the sling of his rifle, adjusting it's position on his shoulder slightly, "Anyway, since you offered your name first, I imagine it's only fair that I answer your questions first- as long as you still plan to answer mine." The offer was an obvious concession, as he was still acutely aware of the fact that he had no leg to stand on- so to speak. The MP gestured to the left with his free hand before slowly starting to walk in that direction, although if Lightning tried to take a different path he'd follow her instead. Despite doing his best not to show any sign of weakness, he was busy trying to fight off his anxiousness. It wasn't the most comforting situation; to travel alongside someone who could be a potential enemy, that could, in all likelihood, defeat you without breaking a sweat despite your best efforts to fend them off.