Among the Living [Naoise]

[Oerba Sol Linette]

Coming back had been a harrowing experience. The journey had been long and fraught with danger -- she'd crossed continents before, but never entirely on foot. From a car, train, an airship ride... down to mounting a chocobo or your choice of flying beasts that roamed Gran Pulse, alternative forms of transportation were numerous. There were many changes, too... the fal'Cie were long gone, no trace of them or even a Cie'th stone which only the l'Cie could communicate with. The world was not something she could explain... even the ability to use magic had shocked her at first but with no brand anywhere on her body, she found little to truly fuss over. So she hoofed it... searching for home, seeking out Gran Pulse among the vast expanses of the new world.

She wasn't alone. Having come all the way from Zanarkand she'd had the occasion to learn the odd thing or two from other travelers... was even fortunate enough to have gone the right way and be pointed in the right direction. Orienteering was a basic skill of survival... and despite having heard that it had already been 500 years since she last walked the world. The "War of Transgression", they'd called it... the one thing that could have solely defined her was little more than a piece of history. And that conversation had been with a denizen of Cocoon, no less... who, upon having informed her of the state of the world promptly donated all his belongings to Linette. And she was grateful -- having repaid the favor by sending him on an express trip to Zanarkand. That was a day ago -- she'd thought little of it beyond the overriding need to go home.

And now? Here she was. It was worse now than when she last left it -- the buildings were still fully in tact but the place was a mess. A few familiar faces populated the many residences... numerous, so many were still vacant. Those thought dead now walked among the living -- and she suspected that she could claim to be one of them. Not that she really thought about it. Life was difficult to live when you were so numb... that sensation of being tired was as constant as her hate of Cocoon. Linette was cleaning up the house... it had been rebuilt from when those barbarous vipers had decided to raid half of Gran Pulse, but even now as the anger seethed it was a quiet hum beneath the veneer of calm that many would have often observed. She kept busy... the dust was gone and her home was dirt free.... but other than herself it was empty. Which pretty much summed up her life... it hadn't hit her that she was alone. Standing up she went outside and stopped by the bridge, leaning over... trying to find her reflection in the waters below...

Wordless.

[naoise]

She hadn’t completed her business within Cocoon and, eh, other worlds that weren’t Gran Pulse, so many might question just what on earth she thought she was doing dallying back to the warmth of her homeland. Many might choose to question her, but Naoise was one of those infuriating sorts to dance around your important queries, all the while confusing the issue more with running circles around you. Yes. She was the kind of person only a mother could love, and she had felt that Gran Pulse was something of a mother to her or rather, Aurelis was her true mother. Pulse was just some kind of sadistic father type that liked throwing all kinds of dangers straight into her face, Behemoths, Flans, temperamental bird type creatures she’d decided to ride upon, all kinds of nasty things to test her mettle.

Like the unaspiring child that always left a lot to be desired, Naoise didn’t rise to it. Unlike any number of her Aurelian peers, she decided it best to avoid such unnecessary exhaustion by hopping from one hiding place to the next, walking in the shadow of the many foul beasts, rather than daring to step ahead of them. It was refreshing to be back in Pulse, the air here was far less constricting than elsewhere. Less people, less buildings, less damned civilisation. It just made it easier to move freely, she didn’t have to constantly watch herself in case she offended someone, or said something completely alien in front of those who would happily play at being her judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one. Of course, her experience with the other worlds was rather lacking. So far she had only penetrated Cocoon and it had done nothing to elevate her opinion on it above ‘it’s a place.’ Disinterest was all she could really muster up, a complete lack of giving a damn about the place. It neither angered her nor pacified her, it was just there whether she liked it or not.

Naturally she would be seeing more of elsewhere now that she was working alongside Faye, and probably tagging along with Auric (like the annoying tag along she really was), but she was in no real hurry to step so far out of her comfort zone. Routine returns to Pulse were definitely a must, otherwise she might become just as pompous and full of shit as everyone else lacking the same grounded persona afforded to many Pulsians. Think about it, Auric was cool, Faye was cool, Fang (probably) was cool, Vanille was…something and Naoise was exceptionally cool! Excluding her Aurelian kin back in Aurelis, they were the only Pulsian’s she could rightly think of at the moment and they all luxuriated in an aura of cool.

Having felt somewhat suffocated by Cocoon, Naoise had returned valiantly, fully prepared to bullshit up credible reasons for why. In case anyone asked, she was plain ole’ homesick. Truth be told, she was doing a little fishing. Ha. Haha. Fishing.

Being the sexual predator she was (in the none creepy way), she had exhausted all viable options of playtime in Aurelis, and hadn’t quite adjusted to the way other people did things. In Cocoon, she was pretty sure everyone wanted her. Men, woman, children, cats and dogs, but it was near impossible to tell without just straight out jumping on them to receive either a kiss with a fist, or a kiss with a kisser. Either way, it wasn’t a good system and Naoise wasn’t really into crossing her wires, so…here she was. Here being Oerba, which was apparently the place to pick up chicks.

Sure they were a bit older (by a lot ) but that just meant they knew the score, and they were all probably really sad and down on their luck and just waiting for someone like Naoise to take advantage comfort them. It was a difficult task, but something Naoise was prepared to do. For her fellow Pulsians, and it was while skipping through the village (not literally), she spotted her lucky contestant number one. A sad old bird sulking by the bridge, probably thinking of jumping to end it all (even though Naoise wasn’t sure how high it was), without hesitation, Naoise came to her rescue with a;

”STOP!” Generic means of stopping something bad happen. ”Can’t be all that bad now, can it?” In a mere matter of seconds she’d crossed the earth hurriedly to stand by the woman side, peering first at her (had to inspect the goods on offer, y’know) and then into the waters below to check her own appearance (tasty, as ever), ”I’m Naoise.”

And that, is how it’s done.

[Oerba Sol Linette]

The water was still clean and clear -- pristine by the standards of many. But her reflection looked back at her and all she could see was a mess... her features were as they always were but most notably there was no subtle indication of a smile on her lips.... which she expected, given how there was little in the world to be happy of. All in all she just felt.... numb. Like an explosion had gone off right next to you and your ears were still ringing... and even when she got her bearings all that could occupy her thoughts was that distant planet teeming with life -- almost untouched by the fires of war which, had it been up to her, would have razed it to the ground. Bitter memories. The reflection in the water blurred... perhaps her eyes were watery again? She didn't care to tell the difference right now.

She wasn't a soft touch -- that was the past and many had moved on. She hadn't. Couldn't. How could she? She'd lost everything in that war... Cocoon... the nest of vipers that could go purge themselves. And that was the fourth time today. Pangs of anger washed over her rather frequently... the veneer of calm she maintained was purely out of discipline, a trait that kept her from flying into a murderous rage. Naoise's call had gotten her off guard... she froze -- stiffly at the command before looking in her direction, leaning against the bridge's railing as she turned to face the woman who approached her. She was unfamiliar... even in Oerba she knew everyone by at least the face they wore and this person wasn't in her memory... an outsider. Perhaps from another town or... a wayfarer from one of the other alleged realms. She certainly didn't look like a viper, but the natures of the beast were treacherous to begin with so the poisonous sting always came from the place you least expect. But she wasn't so far gone that she'd assume as such of the woman in front of her...

"Nao...ise?" she repeated carefully, turning her head to look to the water briefly while unknowingly being checked out. Her lips pursed as a part of her knew she was forgetting herself. The spiral of thought she'd tumbled into had made her forget the common etiquette... deep hatred so ingrained was unbecoming but even worse when she herself refused to give it up. Or worse -- when that hatred was actually justified. She gave a short pause, coughing to excuse herself before remembering the kind of person she really was -- a passionate woman who was usually more level-headed than this. "It's nice to meet you Naoise. I'm Linette... I take it you're not from here?"