No Survivors(?) [Open]

[CLOUD STRIFE]

Cloud had absolutely no idea what was going on. His mind was still fuzzy from the blow he'd taken to the head not a minute earlier. A pained groan escaped his lips as he rubbed his temple, soothing the dull burn there as the memories came flowing back. He'd been on a mission for Shinra to investigate the damaged Mako reactor in his hometown, Nibelheim alongside the two first-class SOLDIERs Zack Fair and Sephiroth with a few other Shinra MPs when...when? He couldn't remember. There was a flash of light and then Cloud suddenly found himself falling through air. It seemed like he'd fallen for hours, but that obviously hadn't been the case since he was still alive. All he was sure of was that he'd fallen into a tree and the branches slowed his fall just enough to keep from killing him, although a particularly thick one had knocked his helmet off, leaving his unprotected noggin to get smashed against the base of the tree once he'd reached the bottom.

The blonde soldier pulled himself up once the pain had faded to a manageable level and started to walk around the tree to find his helmet while moving his head back to run through his hair. He felt a hard bump on the back of his skull- a concussion. But since he'd fallen unconscious from the impact and still managed to not fall into a coma, he figured that it was just a minor one. It didn't take long for him to recover his helmet as he found it only a few feet away from where he'd woken up. It wasn't until he'd fastened the helmet securely into position on his fat head that he finally took a good look around. This place...wasn't anything like Cloud had ever seen before.

The surrounding area wasn't quite a forest, but the flora was a lush green that he'd never seen anywhere in Midgar, Nibelheim, or...well...anywhere else. Even in the most rural areas that he'd been to, the plantlife had been paler...sicker. He got down on one knee to take a closer look at the grass when the transmitter embedded in his helmet sprung to life, "Need...forcements...peat...under...tack!" Cloud winced from the volume of the static and dialed the volume down. He wondered in the back of his mind if the transmitter had been damaged in the fall, but didn't have time to consider the matter further. He was about to try and respond when he heard the gunshots. They came from deeper into the forest, so that was where he went.

It only took a few minutes for him to reach the location of the battle- he stood on the edge of the clearing, watching the two Shinra MP's that had were accompanying him on the mission to Nibelheim desperately trying to fight off a gigantic monster. He looked it over for a bit longer, wanting to know what he was getting into before jumping into battle...and realized that he'd seen this monster before! A writhing mass of tentacles, a maw filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth, a plethora of eyes...there was no mistaking it. The monster attacking his allies was a Malboro. One of the MP's noticed Cloud while reloading and waved in his direction. The MP was yelling something, but Cloud couldn't make it out at that distance...although the MP was suddenly cut off as the Malboro spewed a cloud of putrid gas at the MP's. They both clutched their throats and started coughing as Cloud rushed forward, quickly leveling his rifle to unload on the Malboro.

If the monster noticed the attack, it didn't show it. It raised one tentacle into the air before slamming it down, crushing one of the MPs while wrapping another around the waist of the MP that had waved at Cloud before, lifting him up towards it's mouth. Cloud shouted "NO, GET AWAY FROM HIM!" while ejecting the spent magazine from his rifle, quickly replacing it with a fresh clip before opening fire again, this time aiming for the tentacle that was holding up his comrade. This time, his attack had some effect- the Malboro dropped the MP and turned it's attention on Cloud himself. He started to reload again, thinking that he had plenty of time when the Malboro suddenly rocketed towards him with surprising speed for such a large creature. It reached Cloud before he had a chance to finish reloading and whipped a tentacle out, slamming it into the side of his head and sending him sprawling towards the ground with a hard thunk. Cloud shoot his head to clear the cobwebs and tried to rise to his feet when the Malboro sweeped another tentacle in his direction, this time hitting him in the stomach from below and sending him flying into a nearby tree. His back slammed into it with an audible crack and Cloud fell to the ground, dropping his rifle at his side.

Cloud tried to reach for the gun to defend himself, but his body wouldn't move despite his best efforts. The Malboro slowly slid towards him, drool spilling from it's vast maw...when it suddenly flung it's head back and howled in rage. Cloud raised his head just enough to see what had happened and realized that the MP he'd saved just moments before had recovered enough to get back onto his feet and shoot at the Malboro. The MP yelled unintelligibly while firing on the Malboro again. With Cloud quickly forgotten, the monster zoomed towards the doomed MP just as Cloud's head fell back to the ground and his world went dark...

After the Malboro had dealt with the last Shinra MP, it would have slithered back into the woods, having forgotten about Cloud completely, although Cloud would not regain consciousness until much later.

[hestia]

[-Mockingbird-]
Kiss the Rain



"Na~ na~ na~ nana~"

The forest of the Moonflow was quiet yet again today, everything so seemingly peaceful that it was hard to believe dangerous fiends dwelled in its wood. Indeed, ever since the fox had gotten here, she had run into various fiends, some as friendly as they come, and others... not so friendly. She hadn't had many issues with them though; generally as long as she showed them the respect they wanted they wouldn't attack her. Most actually proved to be curious about her, and so she had slowly gathered a small following of them. A few flans and dingos constantly streamed in and out where ever she went, being her main companions as she searched the wood.

What was she looking for? Why, people of course. She had left Besaid half a year earlier, intent on trying out the famous "summoner's" pilgrimage adventure; it sounded like a fun way to see the sites this world had to offer, after all. She had first stopped a Kilika temple, arousing panic when she climbed the steps with a small gathering of fiends with her. The panic had subsided quickly though, as their fear turned into interest. It was a talent she seemed to have; arousing the curiosity of anyone, hume or fiend she came across. It had helped her so much so that she had been welcomed almost warmly; receiving supplies from the villagers there for her continued journey. From there, she had simply wandered completely unsure of where to go… and in a nutshell, that’s how she’d ended up here. She had ran into a traveling merchant a day ago, finally learning where she was relative to everything else… hopefully. She was terrible with directions.

Now she was simply moving through the forest, not exactly walking, yet not exactly running. “Bouncing” would be a way to describe her movement as she moved, jumping from the side of a tree to the forest floor and back up again, moving through the wood like that. It was something she’d learned as a child that let her move faster through the trees. Well… that was a lie. She ran faster than she did performing this action, but this action was more… entertaining. She used to play with a group of fiends who made it a sort of sport, racing each other like that from one place to another. In truth, the goal was not to even touch the ground, but she wasn’t doing it competitively, so she took it easy. She’d had a good rhythm going for an hour, virtually perfect; much longer than anyone she had raced against had been able to keep the activity up.

Then she caught wind of loud pops.

The surprise of the sound caused her to lose her footing and tumble to the ground with an “oomph”, completely forgetting about everything except those sounds. Her ears twitched from the vibrations. Along with the sounds, she heard a yell, likely a battle cry. She quickly scurried to her feet and took off sprinting in the direction of the sounds, curious as to what was going on…

---

… When she arrived at the scene it was immediately apparent what had happened. A group of three humans; looking to be soldiers, had been attacked by a fiend… and lost terribly. The scent of blood was stark over the small clearing as she entered it, inspecting two of the soldiers. Both had been killed by the fiend; by the lingering scent… it had been a Malboro. Even she didn’t like encountering those as they were extremely territorial… and very hard to please. Even so, it looked like it hadn’t been too focused on slaughtering them. She approached the third one, kneeling down beside him and poking him lightly, studying his wounds. The helmet he was wearing was dented slightly in the head; or at least had taken damage; she really couldn’t tell if it was supposed to look that way or not. The main thing was that he was still breathing, which was a good thing. She had been getting antsy that she might not encounter a village anytime soon. His presence meant there had to be one nearby, right?

“Ok, let’s go clean you up~.”

She slid an arm under his side gently, hoisting him up and slinging him over her shoulder, picking up the strange object that had been laying near him as a precaution. It had to be there for a reason, right? With both items secure she took to the woods again jogging softly. “I know there’s a river around here somewhere…” She remarked as she began her search…

---

It took her a half hour to find the river again, smiling at the scent of flowers, water and fish, studying the river bank for a good place to rest. She found a spot beside a fallen tree, the moss having gathered on one side in a thick mat, where she laid the soldier down, setting the object against the tree trunk. (Barrel in the dirt. X3) She then studied the helmet for a few moments before sliding it off his head, setting it aside, revealing spiky blonde hair that made her almost jump. "How does he...?" She shook the thought from her head and stood up, pumping an arm up in the air. “Oooooook… I suppose I should get him something to eat… food is the best cure for weakness after all!~” She stripped down to her underwear, -which consisted of bandages wrapped around her chest and a pair of pink, lowcut panties (She'd snatched from a girl in Kilika)- shaking her tail out gently before tossing the clothing onto the mat and making a running dive into the river, searching for the day’s meal.

(( Gotta love her silly logic~~ ))

[CLOUD STRIFE]

Cloud...hurt. He hurt rather badly. It was the pain that eventually roused him into consciousness, although it took a while for his vision to clear enough for him to make sense of his surroundings. It was obvious that he'd been moved while he was out, since the clearing was nowhere to be seen- and neither were the two MP's that had fought alongside him. The soldier tried to sit upright, but a sharp pain in his side caused him to fall back against the tree trunk with one hand over the injury. He pressed on it a few times with gradually increasing force before noting that it didn't seem to be broken.

Since the injury wasn't severe, he took a few deep breaths to prepare himself before pulling himself off the tree, grunting from the pain. Once he had gotten to his feet, he grabbed his rifle and held it against the ground to use it like a crutch, although it was much too short to be very effective...at least it was something. Without the ability to really go anywhere, the MP decided to investigate his surroundings while recuperating. It didn't take him long to find his lost helmet- which he quickly put back onto his head, but he also found discarded women's clothing...that was definitely curious, as there didn't seem to be another soul nearby. He prodded the clothes with the barrel of the rifle for a bit before mentally shrugging and started to limp off. While he was grateful to whomever had saved him...he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to be around to meet them. Not to mention, he had to find out what had become of other two MP's...he thought they were killed, but then, he thought he'd been dead as well...

[hestia]

"Phuaaaaaaaah!!!!"

THe fox emerged from the water, a large fish in her teeth, as well as another in one of her hands. The other she used to hoist herself back onto the bank, tossing both fish down on the ground a good ways away from the waterline, to make sure they wouldn't escape. As she did she stretched and ruffled her tail, trying to dry it off a little bit. After all she people didn't like smelling "wet-dog". It was then that she noticed it finally; the man she had brought there was awake. In fact, he was on his feet, helmet back on, using the weird object as a support.

Her ears twitched as her curiosity started to rise.

"Spiky is awake, ne? You looked like you took a beating... rest, rest!" She motioned to the moss mat where he'd previously been laying, her tail swishing back and forth slightly as she placed a hand on her hip. "It'll do you no good to get curious about things now, it seemed like the Malboro you ran into killed your companions; when I showed up, there was nothing to be done for them at least." She shrugged at the last part, sighing sadly before turning back to the river, peeking into the water in search of more fish.

"We can go give them proper burial's later; for now, just recover, ne." With that, she dived into the water again, hardly paying attention to whether or not he decided to do as she had told him to.

[CLOUD STRIFE]

The soldier turned his head when he heard a woman's voice address him. He almost responded to her...but then he saw what she was wearing. Rather, he saw what she wasn't wearing...and that was enough to silence him. His mouth gaped slightly as his blushed brightly from the sight. He tried to look at something else- anything else, but it didn't help make the color go down any faster. When she finally returned to the water, he took a single step back before turning around to run away. A humanoid animal...that could speak? It was too much for him to take in all at once. The only explanation that he could think of was that this was all part of a really bad dream. Or you're dead... whispered a small voice in the back of his mind, but he quickly squashed it. If he could just get away, he- Cloud fell onto one knee before completing his thought, the pain in his side had grown too sharp for him to continue any further. He gasped for air a couple of times before rolling onto his back, wondering just what exactly he should do...

[hestia]

She reemerged from the water moments after she had jumped in tossing out two more fish onto the pile and hoisting herself up onto the bank.

"There's plenty of fish! We'll eat well toni-" She stopped mid sentence after finally taking note of her surroundings. The man was gone. Immediately all her senses turned on, and she caught his scent from the moss where he was laying, then followed the trail steadily until she found it led back into the forest.

"Silly hume, trying to sneak away from a half-fiend.~" She immediately took off after him at a slight jogging, humming the whole way. He had been wounded, so he couldn't have gotten far.

Her assumption was proven correct when she found him laying on his back in the forest. She giggled and knelt down beside him, wagging her tail. "Silly silly~"

[CLOUD STRIFE]

A long growl escaped the man's lips as the woman accosted him. He had no choice but to address her now, even though she was wearing...that. "Am...I dead?" It wasn't really a question that he wanted answered, but it would have to be done eventually. The pain told him that he was still alive, since the dead returned to the lifestream...but what exactly did that mean? Nobody had ever described the process in detail, so for all he knew, this strange new place was the lifestream.

But with that out of the way, he looked back towards her...only to find her sitting beside him and wagging her tail. He flushed red again, although it was a lighter color than last time. Instead of getting excited, he merely thought this was...cute. Cloud grunted again as he pulled himself into a sitting position before reaching out and petting the fox girl, occasionally brushing his hand over her ears. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, but he just felt like he had to touch them. The petting was practically involuntary on his part, although he wasn't exactly complaining either.

[hestia]

She hummed and pushed he hear up against his hand gently, closing her eyes, smiling contentedly. It had been so long since someone had actually pet her... which was a few weeks back. His hand was big, and every time it happened to touch her ear, it flattened over her head until his hand was clear over it. She sat that way, basking in her contentedness a moment before answering his question. "No, you're alive. You just got beat is all-mya." Her tail wagged back and forth, expressing her mood.

"If we don't go back soon, the fiends will find the fish I caught, ya'know?"

[CLOUD STRIFE]

Well, his new companion confirmed it. At least he wasn't dead...but then, where did that leave him? "If I'm not dead, then...where am I?" He tried to stand again, but just ended up falling back onto his rear. The soldier struggled for a bit before sighing, "I...could use some help." He hated having to ask for assistance, but Cloud simply couldn't walk on his own at the moment.

Of course, it was then that Cloud realized an issue with what the woman had said, "Do you know how to cook?" Cloud had no idea how to cook a fish himself, and while the animal-woman might be fine with it, the soldier didn't think that eating anything raw would turn out good for him in the end. He had many questions, but with the most important two out of the way, the others would simply have to wait. But even as he spoke to the woman, he found his hand- completely without his consent, mind you- having slipped off the woman's head to stroke her bushy, wagging tail.

[hestia]

"We're in a place called the "Moonflow". It's a pretty peaceful place, but you need to be careful of fiends." She held out a hand to him, offering to help him up with a toothy grin.

Well, that was until she felt his hand on her tail. She stiffened up slightly and stood up, a mischevious grin on her face as she grabbed his hand and hoisted him upwards. "You don't even know my name and you're already trying to grope me?" She let out a small chuckle, sliding his arm over her shoulder, moving in close to help him walk back to the river bank.

"Try to keep your hands behaving now, mya?"

[CLOUD STRIFE]

The soldier's blush intensified dramatically when she accused him of groping her, "N-No! I wasn't...that's not...!!" When she lifted him, he leaned his head back and groaned helplessly. There was no possible way for this situation to end well. But she implied that she had a name, so he may as well start with that..."Well...what is your name?" Cloud tried his best to carry his own weight as it were, but he was finding the effort to be very draining. To distract himself, he considered that the girl would probably ask him his own name in return...but he couldn't give it to her. It wasn't that he'd forgotten, but he remembered that he was trying to keep his identity hidden before being sent to this place, although when he tried to remember the reason for that, all he got was a dull headache for his troubles. So until he could recall the reason he was trying to keep his name and face hidden, the MP had no choice but to lie...

[hestia]

"You can call me Hestia.~" She remarked cheerfully as she began walking him back to the shore. "And yours?" She was actually quite interested in how he would reply; people tended to have massively diverse names in different regions of places. She felt her hip brush his and smirked mischievously, rubbing it against him again teasingly. "And i'm sure you didn't mean it, right.~"

[CLOUD STRIFE]

Hestia? That was an odd name. But there it was...she asked for his name. 'Cloud Strife' was out of the question, but what could he say? The first name that came to mind was Zack Fair, but Zack was rather famous (or infamous, depending on your nationality) so that was no good. But what else...? Of course! The other boy who had left Nibelheim to join Shinra, Johnny! The chances that anyone would know the other member of the Shinra Peacekeeping Corps from Nibelheim were slim to nil. That was the perfect name to use! "It's Johnny."

When he felt the girl rub up beside him, he had to look away from her to hide his expression, despite the fact that most of his features were already covered between the helmet and the scarf, "I...n-no, of course not." A vague warning cropped up in the back of his head, telling him that this girl might actually be planning on eating him...but he pushed that thought down as well, wondering why he would think such a thing.

[hestia]

She almost giggled at how uncomfortable that last action of hers must have made him. In the few silent moments following after he gave his name, she'd thought up a few other ways to torture him later on. She couldn't help but tease him, and she rightly didn't know why. It was obvious he was fairly inexperienced with the opposite gender, but more than that, he seemed apprehensive. Guarded.

It made her want to make him tell her all his dirty little secrets about himself.

"Johnny, ne?" What kind of boring name was that?! It wasn't interesting to her at all; in fact, she was now determined to make him a nickname. "Ne, too plain. You're now 'Spikey'" She liked that much better; and it even suited him! What with his hair and all.

On that note she turned and gave him a curious frown, studying the helmet again. "How do you get your hair in that thing anyways... isn't it a tight fit...?"

[CLOUD STRIFE]

He immediately looked back her with, although she couldn't see it, a shock expression. Spikey? Why would she....he mentally slapped a hand against his forehead. She'd taken his helmet off and had seen his face. Cloud cursed mentally- so much for keeping his identity secret. There was a zero percent chance of this girl recognizing him, but that didn't stop him from being upset about it. It also meant that he couldn't really deflect her question about his hair. "It's just...pressed down against the top of the helmet. The front just blooms out naturally..." He tried to change the subject, not really wanting to talk about his identity or appearance any further, "Are all people from Moonflow like...you?"