A Shadow In The Storm (Open)

[Gideon Uriela]

Kat caught up into him just in time for the show, surely after that little display she’d understand he wasn’t one to be trifled with himself. Casually he ambled up to the toasted cactuar and nudged it with his boot to make absolute sure that it was dead. The green little devil smelled something like a burnt bell pepper. Leaning over he plucked the three thorns from its head because they are rather valuable and catch a decent price in the right market. He began to wish that he had a morph materia, he could of got a tetra band out of the ordeal instead of three measly thorns. Turning around he slung his weapon back of his shoulder eyeing the oncoming monsters as Kat called out to him.

”Lead the way..”

[/b] Gideon murmured spotting the gun, so she had a backup weapon that she hid from him originally. By the way Kat handled the piece it appeared that she knew how to use it well enough. A winged creature with a great bulbous eye was getting a little close for comfort, Gideon alerted Kat of it with eye contact motioning towards it so that she wouldn’t be surprised by it, The big eyed creature was out of physical striking range so Kat would have to deal with it if she wanted to. However if she fired her weapon it could draw more attention than was already on them.[/justify]

[Kat]

Kat looked at the approaching monster and checked the bullet in the chamber. The bullet looked like an average bullet to those who didn't know what to look for. This one had a symbol engraved into it. She grinned and closed the chamber, knowing full well what was going to happen to the monster. Aiming her gun straight at the eye of the beast, she fired the gun. The creature screamed as the bullet bore its way into the eye and ignited the thing on fire. She fired off one more round into the monster and watched as it fell out of the sky and twitched on the ground. Kat walked up to it and glanced at Gideon, "If we leave it here half dead it will distract whatever decides to follow us long enough" she said informatively. It had been awhile since she had fired the gun and was a little surprised she could still shoot so accurately. Next time they stopped she would have to do some work on it.

"Sorry I didn't tell you about the gun. I forgot about it for awhile" she said calmly. She motioned for him to follow her and began to walk in the direction that was supposed to lead out of this place. After about an hour's time walking they saw a travel agency in the distance. The travel agencies always had a place for people to stay and rest. It was a magnificent sight after traveling for some time. "If you changed your mind about traveling with me, now would be the chance to tell me."

[Gideon Uriela]

Kat discharged her weapon sending a round nearly right down the middle of the monsters pupil. Chunks of eye jelly spluttered from the impact area In a gory display as the creature shrieked in utter agony. Gideon didn’t get the chance to look at the bullets and thus was surprised by the fiery explosion that followed that added insult to injury. She fired upon the winged creature once more sending it to the ground writhing in absolute torment. Unlike Gideon she purposely left her prey alive, it was a bit sadistic to be honest. It’s wailing drew a lot of attention from the surrounding monsters and in that moment Gideon felt he knew her line of thought. He was impressed by her craftiness and her bullets; they appeared to be from what he surmised rounds infused with magic giving them the effect of incendiary rounds.

Kat spoke to him what he had suspected confirming his theory. He nodded thoughtfully and spoke her praises.”Nice...”

[/b] The EX-SOLDIER then began to wonder about what kind of person Kat really was, in the beginning she could have just been trying to draw his attention away from realizing that she had a side arm all along by placing the focus upon her weapon. Also she appeared to be capable marksmen, from their original position he doubt that he would have been able to dodge a shot completely but if he managed to block it the fire spell would have been a nasty surprise. ”Don’t worry about it.”[/b] Gideon replied seemingly a bit preoccupied, Kat is dangerous and that could either work for or against Gideon.

At the moment he didn’t know if he could trust her for real. They traveled the rest of the way in silence; Gideon purposely lingered behind her for more than one reason. As he looked her over he pondered her story. If she was from Spira undoubtedly she was a follower of Yevon after all most people in their civilization were and if they weren’t they kept it to themselves for obvious reasons. In addition why did she have a gun, more than likely it was extremely hard for to come about possessing it from conventional means. She interested Gideon and he wanted to find out more about her even if it was a risky undertaking. In the distance appeared a travel agency, Gideon became acquainted with one previously and it seemed that this one was under the same management as the other judging by its appearance. The tall man had completely zoned out as they were walking it didn’t seem too long since they left that monster in the middle of the thunder planes to die.”Tryin’ to get rid of me already, I thought we were just getting’ to know each other.”[/b] He said a bit sarcastically stepping in front of Kat opening the door for her.[/justify]

[Kat]

”Tryin’ to get rid of me already, I thought we were just getting’ to know each other.” he had said quite sarcastically as he opened the door for her. She looked at him briefly and gave him a slight nod of thanks. Yes, it was true she was trying to get rid of him but for more reasons than one. She walked over to the map that was hanging on the wall and examined it closely. There was nothing even remotely different on the map but yet the thing unnerved her a little. She sighed and looked back at Gideon, who had walked into the travel agency behind her. He seemed to be familiar with the way things were here and it made her wonder if he really had come from another world. She knew he didn't trust her, but that didn't bother her in the least. She wasn't here to earn the trust of some barbaric traveler. She was here to make the soon-to-be former praetor suffer for his crimes.

She turned back to the map and made a mental note to keep track of how many places on this map still existed. It was a sufficient distraction to keep her from telling him that chivalry was dead. He was oddly polite and it was frightening. The last person who had been that polite was dead. The identity of that person still remained a mystery to her but it was a mystery that she had to solve. All of these memories just disappearing from her mind and the worlds merging had to be connected somehow. These things didn't just happen by themselves.

[Gideon Uriela]

Kat paused to look at him, it was a little odd as if she wasn’t use to men opening doors for her. Gideon was just doing what any man ought to it wasn’t anything special. She gave a nod of thanks and he returned it in kind. Following her in he went to the desk only to find out the attendant was Rin. ”He’s fuckin’ everywhere how does he do it?”[/b] Gideon wondered as he greeted Rin as if they were old friends. In truth they had became acquainted before Gideon set sail across the ocean for Luca. In that short time Gideon and Rin learned a lot from each other, it was because of Rin that Gideon even went to Luca in the first place.

Rin with the astute eye could tell that Gideon and Kat were together and insinuated more in so many words, from their previous talks Rin found out that Gideon was an exceedingly mischievous man when it came to women. Gideon was quick to tell Rin that it wasn’t like that and peeked back at Kat to see if she had overheard them talking, from the looks of it she was merely looking at a map, a map that was severely outdated by today’s standards, everything was switched around and smashed together like a jigsaw puzzle since the worlds merged. Everything seemed to complement each other too well as if this was how it was supposed to be all along. Gideon explained their situation to Rin who as always took things with a grain of salt. Al Bhed were an interesting lot, they were of course from the Spira realm but lived as the technological savvy outsiders that didn’t follow in the belief of Yevon.

Gideon kept hearing about this Yevon he wasn’t a very religious person in his own right but it sparked his curiosity. Leaning on to the counter Gideon looked back at Kat trying to figure out her angle, why was she traveling and where was she going? Rin interjected again stirring Gideon’s unclean mind once again by saying ”So a single bed right?” Gideon chuckled and suggested to beds in the same room so that he could at least keep an eye on her so she doesn’t wander off.

[Kat]

Kat walked over to the counter where Gideon was talking to Rin and smiled politely at the al bhed. "If it isn't much trouble, Rin, can you make sure the rooms are seperate?" she asked him kindly. She remembered Rin and how much he had helped her on some of her travels. He was always visiting his travel agencies and he was a very kind hearted person who was a bit eccentric. Without even looking at Gideon she said, "And just so you know, sound travels well in places like this"

She had in fact heard them talking and had ignored it at the time. If anything further was brought up about the subject, it would most definately need to be addressed. Gideon may be a good person in a fight but that's all he was to her and that's all he will be. She handed Rin some Gil to ensure that the rooms were seperate.

[Gideon Uriela]

Kat finally made an appearance at the counter and smiled at Rin, Gideon’s expression showed a mild confusion as if he didn’t know she was actually capable of such an act. Right off the bat she threw a wrench in his plan by insisting that they sleep in separate rooms entirely. It seemed that she was familiar with Rin as well; he sure was a popular guy for an Al Bhed. Now that the world has changed one could assume that his renown and business would only grow and become more lucrative, lucky two faced weasel oh well. Kat spoke to Gideon directly without averting her gaze to him. Gideon didn’t say anything instead he scratched his head and looked upward left as if not hearing one weird she said. Kat gave Rin money in hand which magically sealed the deal with a penny pinching machine like Rin.

He smiled at her blissfully will giving a slight bow and spoke his patented phrase.”Thank you for your patronage!”

[/i] Gideon looked at Rin with a surly expression and mouthed ”Two faced weasel!” The Ex-SOLDIER realized his mistake was not paying Rin off before she did now he lost the opportunity. Rin caught what Gideon was saying to him and stifled a laugh it was an insult that he had heard more times than he could count since meeting Gideon. Leaning against counter heavily beaten but not defeated he gave Kat a toothy grin that had something almost sinister behind it before he spoke in that smooth velvety tenor.”I suppose you’ll be turnin’ in for the night?”[/b] He nodded towards Rin as he went on.”Me and Rin here have some catchin’ up to do. Surely you don’t want hang around and listen to man talk ?”[/b][/justify]

[Kat]

"Listening to you two talk would put me to sleep and I have more important things to do than listen to you two talk" she replied before disappearing down the hall. She had wanted a little alone time to herself since meeting Gideon and now she had it. The quiet seemed so forbidding as she made her way to her room. Once she made it to her room, she took out the gun Gideon had seen her use earlier and completely took it apart as if she was going to rebuild it. A loud burst of laughter broke her concentration and she looked up. No one was there but she was sure it was Gideon's laugh. She sighed and remembered that sound traveled best when you didn't want it to. She casually walked over to the door and closed it, hoping that would drown out the noise. She had a pounding headache that made her feel like her head was about to explode. She prayed silently that it would go away. Knowing Rin, the dirty little weasel, he would put Mr. Barbarian in the room next to her and it would ruin everything. She had planned to ditch Gideon the second she heard him fall asleep no matter how obvious it was that she despised his 'big brother' act.

She walked back to the disassembled firearm and began to repair it. It was something she had always done to distract her from the world around her. She wanted to go home but from the looks of things that wasn't going to happen any day soon. Things weren't the same as they always were and it didn't look as if they were going to go back to normal either. Kat kept working on the gun, it was the only thing keeping her from breaking because of all of this. I have to stay strong. I just have to...but for what reason? she thought. The doubts that began to invade her mind had also began to invade her heart.

What if...I fail? she wondered as a single tear ran down her cheek and fell on the pieces of the gun. What would happen then? A single thought that had come with a single silent, heart shattering tear. This person wasn't who she was. It was the person she had to be. Was it for her own sake or just a mask she hid behind?

[Gideon Uriela]

Gideon's lips twisted wrly as he nodded his head as if in complete agreement with her statement."Good night..."

[/b] He spoke over his shoulder as she walked away watching the sway of her little cute derriere. Rin laughed and retorically stated he thought it wasn't like that. "It ain't I mean, shut up before she gets mad."[/color] Gideon chuckled. The large man began to tell his tale to the Al Bhed about the adversity he faced in Guadosalam that prompted a short stay.

Afterwards the incident with the horde of monsters chacing him for some odd reason, he joked that the Guado must of sent them after him. Finally he told Rin about the Thunder Plains and how he met Kat. Rin offered Gideon a drink of dark liquor that he particularly favored."How do you remember this stuff?"[/b] He laughed softly as he posed the question, it was the same they drunk together the last time they met on the northern continent. Rin laughed and stated his sharp memory was a gift. After another drink Gideon slid Rin a couple of Gil, wordlessly Rin accepted it and began to tell him what little he knew about Kat.

He didn't say anything bad but to just keep an eye on her, she was in need of a friend even if she didn't want to admit it. Moreover Rin slid, Gideon the key to the next room over from her and told him to mind his manners."C'mon that was just the one time, you told me the wrong room number matter of fact!"[/b] They both laughed and Gideon had another drink before turning in for the night."See you in the mornin' Rin."[/b] Gideon spoke cheerfully as he patted the counter then started down the hall.

Rin nodded and told him to sleep well. Nearing Kat's door he felt inclined to knock, he just wanted to see how she was holding up. Although his good intentions would more likely than be mimisconstrued as prying and annoy her as well.[/justify]

[Kat]

Kat wiped away the tear and focused on the gun that was in pieces. She didn't hear the floorboard creak outside her door and occasionally she would look at the window. The lightning here was different than the lightning on Spira. Her mind wandered aimlessly as she worked on the gun that was in desperate need of repair. She wondered how much Gideon knew about this strange world and whether or not she'd make it to the other side of the Thunder Plains with him hanging around. Normally, she would have just carried on and stopped after crossing the lightning struck expanse but having him tag along with her was another matter.

She didn't mind having him around much but he acted much too brotherly and protective. Even though she barely knew him, she wasn't going to let him get hurt while they were traveling. She didn't want history to repeat itself with everyone she met and it always seemed to be her fault. This time will be different, she vowed silently. She had to trust him, whether she wanted to or not.

[Gideon Uriela]

The curiosity of the sly man began to get the better of him, so he pressed his ear to the door listening closely. The sounds of metallic clinking could be heard, it was a sound the Gideon was very familiar with, Kat was in the middle of maintenancing her weapon. Gideon thought back to the brief instance that he saw it. The sidearm in itself wasn't that remarkable in appearance to Gideon but he found it interesting that it was capable of firing an incendiary like round.

The bullet anointed with fire magic. Gideon didn't use fire arms personally because of his physical gifts after all a sword doesn't need bullets. Nevertheless he wanted on but couldn't find anything that really suited him, perhaps in the future he could get someone to craft a weapon tailor made to his style. Figuring that she wasn't doing anything that important, Gideon knocked lightly on her door and announced himself respectfully."Hey it's Gideon mind if I come in?"

[/b] He leaned against the door frame rubbing a knuckle against his brow.[/justify]

[Kat]

The light knock on the door drew her attention from the gun she had almost finished fixing. She looked at the door as he had asked to come in and silently thought about it. She rose to her feet slowly and left the few remaining pieces of the gun on the desk she had been working at. Opening the door, she looked Gideon in the eyes and asked, "What do you want?"

She didn't say it rudely and she hadn't meant for it to sound rude but it was obvious that was how he would take it. Her eyes were flat and emotionless as she patiently awaited his response. A mask to hide behind, indeed.

[Gideon Uriela]

From the other side of the door Gideon could hear her footsteps against the wooden floor their din growing louder as she approached. Upon seeing Kat in the doorway, Gideon offered her a boyish grin, the smell of alcohol drifting from his person. Although he had a few drinks he wasn’t drunk by any means. After all it’s hard to get drunk after a while when all you do is go to work then drink the night away, good times. Her choice of words seemed harsh but they didn’t carry with them that stinging edge.

At first Gideon wanted to interpret it as hostility, but he knew that her tone of voice must be taken into account as well due to the fact of her seemingly bad people skills. Gideon didn’t answer her right away, he took a moment to look at her, really look at her as a person, a young woman. The mystique of Gideon’s jade green eyes repulsed the dim light of the sun fading into dusk. Those mysterious optics peered into Kat’s as she did the same.

They had nothing behind them, no emotion or feeling, to Gideon it seemed that she was extremely bereaved by something, if he even bothered to ask what was troubling her would he even get a clear answer. Shifting slightly the large man placed the bulk of his weight against the door leaning a little closer to her making the conversation a little more intimate in nature.”Are you alright, are you hungry?”

[/b]

For a quick second Gideon looked past her and into her room taken note of the gun on the table, it had obvious signs of disassembly as it was currently in large pieces that just needed to be reassembled.”I was wonderin’ where were you gonna go after this? That is if you don’t mind me taggin’ along.”[/b] Gideon had no true direction, he was merely traveling this brave new world to see what the eye could see.[/justify]