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Post by Shira on Nov 1, 2011 4:16:18 GMT -5
Shira had been on her way to the shops back home in Jeuno, when it suddenly seemed like the entire world suddenly stretched and pulsated wherever she looked at it, buildings at the same time morphing into other, perfectly normal buildings, only different. She gaped as she blinked her eyes a few times as people just kept on going about their buisness like they didn't even notice it. Their clothing seen from one angle was perfectly regular Jeunoan fashion, but as they moved, it seemed like there suddenly was different textures till the Jeunoan clothing was all gone, replaced by new clothes and different styles.
" what the h*ll... " wondering what was going on, or if she was going mad or hallucinating badly, she sat down on a bench now in a completely different city then Jeuno. Looking around she saw that the grey and heavy stone walls and buildings that made up Lower Jeuno were nowhere to be seen, instead she was now in some city with white brickworks, a ticket stall in the centre and a castle situated a bit further behind the stall.
Grabbing the arm on a ... man that was walking by, she said "Excuse me Sir, can you tell me the name of this town please?" Giving her a very odd look, he replied in a thick accent she'd never heard before "Is this a joke? how can you not know you are in Alexandria, Home of the Princess Garnet"
Huffing the man gave her another odd look, then walked off again, leaving Shira to her own thoughts wich went "Alexandria?? never even heard of it... whats going on here? I need to find out where this is, and how to get home, wherever that is. " Looking around she spotted an Inn, and decided to go there and have a drink, thinking things over, then she needed to find someone who could help her.
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Post by Arleen Reinhart on Nov 1, 2011 12:30:46 GMT -5
"Hey there, pretty lady." A hand landed on my shoulder as quick as the words pierced my ear. I reached up and brushed the hand off my shoulder, not even taking a glimpse at the man. For the past few hours I'd been in this place, this had been going on rampantly. Drunkards, in their idiotic fervor, had been hitting on me. It was most likely due to the uniform I had on, because no matter how you looked at it, it was slightly erotic. Short skirt, completely uncovered back, thigh-highs and detached sleeves; not really the standard for a military uniform, right?
Maybe I should've been a little more conservative in how I requested it. Or maybe I shouldn't have requested it custom made from a tailor through my mother. Yea, I definitely shouldn't have.
"I'm not interested in anything you're going to offer." I struck out. I just had to strike him down quickly so he would go away, I really wasn't amused by this kind of behavior anymore. It had made me almost laugh at first, but after a few hundred such attempts, it was just really damn annoying. Well, I'm exaggerating on the "hundred", part, but it was a lot of them.
I'd ended up in this situation after being dropped off here by Auric. I'd told him I had things to do, and I'd seek him out after they were finished. He took the words to heart too, and left me here, off on another of his odd hobbies, I suppose. Really though, I had to figure out why I woke up in Gran Pulse. Returning to Cocoon immediately seemed like a bad idea, as I had no idea how long I'd been asleep, or unconscious, or MIA, or whatever you want to call it. So I would gather information this way. I mean, after studying and memorizing a map I'd found on board the Airship, I could find my way around.
"Aw, c'mon miss, all I want is a good night alo-" As soon as I realized where he was going, I immediately drew Yakusai and jammed the barrel up into the bottom of his jaw. Drunkard or not, he got the picture.
"Shut up and go away. I already told you I'm not interested." I quickly returned the weapon to its holster so as not to distress anyone watching. It was a firm warning, and that was all. I wouldn't actually kill him if he continued, but I would most definitely make him regret it. Needless to say, he sauntered off.
One of the waitresses wandered over to my table, and by her worried expression, I knew what the concern was over. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have actually killed him. Maybe beaten or maimed, but not killed." I was a soldier, after all...
I protected the innocent, if idiotic, bystanders.
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Post by Zack Fair on Nov 1, 2011 14:10:01 GMT -5
Another mission done. Zack had been sent out on the front lines once again and he loved it. It beat whenever they stuck him behind the desk in the lobby back at the Shinra building. No this time Zack had been given the task of escorting a group of merchants and their shipment. It had turned out to be a boring mission that resulted in only a couple of minor fights with wild creatures.
Zack had stopped in a place called "Alexandria" on his way home, sitting in one of the local bars. He was already on his third beer but was far from even slightly buzzed. Looking around he noticed how many of the patrons were actually smashed, one of them hitting on what seemed to be a younger girl who kept rejecting him. Yet he didn't seem to take the hit. He began to push his drink off to the side of his table and rise from his seat.
But by then the woman had pushed the hilt of her sword into the man's lower jaw and forced him to shut up. Zack's attempt at being a hero in this kingdom was also shut down by her actions. With a sigh Zack finished his beer and payed his tab, leaving the bar with his buster sword strapped to his back.
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Post by Shira on Nov 1, 2011 15:48:13 GMT -5
Walking through the doors of the Inn, Shira walked straight into Zach who was heading out and fell over, landing on her butt and swearing a little.
As she lokked up and then further up, she held back the rude comment she was about to let slip as she saw that the other person was a very tall black-haired guy who frankly was quite handsome.
Getting too her feet she brushed herself off instead and gave him a friendly smile as she said "Sorry about that, I didn't see where I was going" her brown eyes twinkling playfully she said "can I buy you a drink as a way of apologizing please?" and before he had time to say much of anything she had slipped her arm into his and headed over to the bar with him in tow. After getting the attention of the barmaid she said "one beer for me, and something for my friend here as well".
She then looked around the room and spotted a very good-looking girl, who seemed a bit grumpy, despite beeing hit on by almost everybody in the place, and as Shira caught her eye, smiled at the girl then said to the Barmaid who was just returning with their own drinks "Can you please also get that girl over there another drink of whatever she's having, then put it on me?" she then grabbed her beer and raised her glass in toast to the guy she'd bumped into and smiled "here's to making new friends. The name is Shira, and who might you be?"
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Post by Arleen Reinhart on Nov 1, 2011 18:50:25 GMT -5
I frowned at the drink that came to me. Apparently, it had been offered to me, because a woman decided to buy me one. If that wasn't random, I didn't know what was. "No thanks, I don't drink." I told the waitress calmly. I had originally come here to think out a plan, but with all the idiocy, I had barely been able to think of buying something to drink. I didn't drink alcohol though, I found the leisure distasteful, and I never got a taste for it. To each their own, right?
"Hey again, pretty miss." That voice immediately pissed me off, and I crossed my arms, gritting my teeth is disgust. I had warned the man. "Didn't I tell you to go away?" I turned to actually look at the man. He wasn't alone. This time, there were three other men, all of his size and stature, and all obviously drunk off their arses. I narrowed my eyes, at the man dangerously. Each of them had taken an attempt at flirting with me.
"C'mon, little miss, we just wanna have fun." I honestly couldn't believe I was actually encountering this situation. Normally, I would've been surprised, and tried to calm them down. Now however, I was pissed off, and the fact he brought some people with him meant they meant business. I wasn't so pissed off as to put the nails in his coffin, but I was pissed off enough to know that if they so much as try to surround me, they'd all not be walking away unharmed.
"Take your friends and go, or you'll regret it." There was no restraint in my voice, and the anger was obvious. Shit was about to get real.
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Post by Zack Fair on Nov 1, 2011 22:36:50 GMT -5
As he was exiting the inn's bar Zack was knocked on his ass when something ran into him. "Owowowow." He stuttered as he got up, rubbing his rear a little bit before noticing the woman who went down with him. Before he could offer his hand to help her up she was already on her feet and apologizing to him for running into him. Then, before he could even open his mouth, her arm was through his and bringing him back into the bar. She kept on about buying him a drink to make up for walking into him.
Back in the bar he was sitting at the counter this time, the woman ordering for both of them and, surprisingly enough, the woman he had watched get hit on the entire time both of them had been there. When both of their beers came she toasted with her own, a motion Zack shyly mimicked out of kindness. "My name's Zack, Zack Fair. It's nice to meet you Shira." He said before taking a sip of his beer. His eyes wandered to the woman from earlier once more, just in time at that.
The woman was being hit on yet again by the same man from before. The very man she had pulled a gun on out of annoyance. He wasn't alone this time though, it seemed he had come back with friends and none of them seemed to know what the word "No" meant. "Excuse me for a moment Shira." Zack told his new friend as he got up and made his way over to the girl and her drunken admirers. "What's the problem over here?" He asked, hoping the men weren't too drunk to remember what a 1st class member of SOLDIER looked like. "Do you boys really need to keep hitting on this girl even after she pulled a gun on you?" He asked, finishing by pointing at the one in the middle that she threatened.
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Post by Shira on Nov 2, 2011 3:04:33 GMT -5
Nodding to Zach, Shira knew better then to get involved in someone else's trouble, especially when it seemed like the lady in question appeared more hen capable of taking care of herself so Shira just took another sip of her Beer as she watched him go over to intervene with the drunken guys still hitting on the girl she had tried to buy a drink for.
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Post by Arleen Reinhart on Nov 2, 2011 6:51:01 GMT -5
I frowned at the new man in disdain when he spoke. He didn't seem like the type to be trifled with, giant sword on his back and all. Maybe the sight of that would knock some sense into the idiots, and give me a little time to actually think. For the most part, it did.
They all looked like they were going to reply snidely to the man right before they saw the giant blade on his back. That shut them up good, for the most part. The ringleader, however, decided that it wasn't so much a threat, and replied. "Wes and the little lass here ar jus havin a bit o-" His words were cut off by a slam and the sounds of choking.
He'd slapped my shoulder while talking, and in my already angered state, it was all the incentive I needed. My self-control snapped open a split second as I slid out of the seat while twisting my body around and bringing up my leg. I used the momentum and aimed the kick at his neck, hitting it squarely; which raised him off the ground. I'd placed the wall behind him though, so instead of the kick just being a swift motion, it was like an impalement of sorts. My boots made the task of holding the man up off his feet against the wall all the easier, as I glared at him with contempt.
"I warned you."
With another swift twist of my hips and a good pivoting motion, I slid the man along the wall before sending him to the ground to writhe in pain for a bit. I glared down at him a bit to make sure I hadn't drawn blood, then I turned my attention to the other drunkards. "Anyone else?" I asked them, ready to deal out more pain. Experience was always the best teacher, and these boys were about to get some.
However, to my no small relief, they just gathered the one who had been punished and retreated to another part of the tavern. I stood there, watching them move away, before regarding the man who had attempted to intervene. "Sorry it probably didn't turn out the way you might have imagined it would. After taking that much crap for so long, I lost my temper." I returned to my seat with a disdainful sigh. If things got any more out of hand, I'd just have to leave the town to actually be able to think.
"I thank you for the sentiment, though." I smiled playfully, the first time all day. "Hero."
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Post by Zack Fair on Nov 2, 2011 7:11:36 GMT -5
Zack had managed to shut up two of the three idiots but their wasted leader refused to take the hint despite the fact that they could all see the Buster Sword strapped to the SOLDIER's back. Though Zack wasn't the one who ended up dealing with him as the woman herself planted him against the wall with her foot at his neck. He watched as she released him, sliding him along the wall. His friends quietly scooped him up and disappeared into another section of the bar. He was actually quite stunned at how such a small girl managed to do all that.
"Sorry it probably didn't turn out the way you might have imagined it would. After taking that much crap for so long, I lost my temper." She told him as she took her seat again, still agitated from the experience. "I thank you for the sentiment, though." She smiled before finishing her sentence. "Hero
"It wasn't anything too difficult, just what we members of SOLDIER do I guess." He said a bit bashfully, scratching at the scar on his cheek with his finger a little. He looked back over at Shira, making sure the drunken idiots weren't trying to hit on her now. "Um, I guess I should leave you alone now. Don't want to be a pest like those others." He told her as he turned around and began to head back over to Shira.
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Post by Shira on Nov 2, 2011 7:20:23 GMT -5
Watching the girl slam one of her 'suitors' into the wall with her foot, Shira giggled quietly as she watched the guys scoop up their leader and totter off as they tried to dissuade him from trying anything else with the girl. Listening to Zach and the girls conversation she smiled quietly into the beer as she heard the girl call him her hero, in a teasing tone.
"well, at least she has a sense of humor."
Looking over at the girl Shira said to her "Nice moves, if you want you can come join us. I promise I wont try anything with you."
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Post by Arleen Reinhart on Nov 2, 2011 7:30:09 GMT -5
I turned my attention to the girl, stills smiling amusedly. "Thanks, I might as well, considering if I sit here by myself any longer it'll probably draw more." I moved over to the counter and addressed the two in a friendly manner. "My name's Arleen Reinhart, but you can just call me Arleen." I decided to leave out mention of my being a soldier in Cocoon's Guardian Corps. I doubted these people would know of them anyways.
However, the man had piqued my interest to a level. "You're a... 'SOLDIER', you say?" I asked noting the sword on his back and the uncanny attitude he had. If he was also military, I might ask him later if he knew of mine, but it also could be a bad idea, considering from what I'd heard from Auric, Cocoon had been at war recently. Regardless, I'd decide whether to ask him or not off his answer to my question.
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Post by Zack Fair on Nov 2, 2011 7:51:51 GMT -5
Zack wasn't surprised when Shira asked the girl to join them, despite just meeting he could tell that was the kind of thing she would do. No, what surprised him was the fact that the girl took up Shira's offer and joined them both at the counter before introducing herself.
"My name's Arleen Reinhart, but you can just call me Arleen." Zack thought it was a rather nice name, it surely wasn't one he heard back in Midgar all that often. That was when Arleen turned to him and asked "You're a... 'SOLDIER', you say?"
A smile spread across his lips when she asked. This was one of the few times he got to brag. "SOLDIER 1st class operative Zack Fair." He said, swelling out his chest a bit as he said it.
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Post by Shira on Nov 2, 2011 8:03:39 GMT -5
Smiling at the girl Shira said "Nice to meet you Arleen, I'm Shira"
She then waited as Arleen and Zach talked a bit, then asked Zach "I'm sorry, but Im not... from around here, I think. What is SOLDIER?"
Taking another sip of her Beer she still kept an eye on the three men from before but despite their glares and mumblings it seemed like they had learned their lesson and wouldn't bother them anymore
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Post by Arleen Reinhart on Nov 2, 2011 8:10:58 GMT -5
It almost seemed like the SOLDIER himself was bursting with pride, and that being "1st class" seemed prestigious at that. However, the declaration held no meaning to me, and only piqued my interest as to how the ranking structure in his style of military worked. However, I didn't need to ask the question; the girl did it for me.
"Please do tell us, SOLDIER 1st class, Zack Fair." I stated, relaxed now. "Being '1st class' doesn't really mean anything if we don't know what kind of merit that's worth, no?" For some reason, he seemed like the kind who was charismatic. I think I would learn for certain the truth by the end of this little charade.
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Post by Zack Fair on Nov 2, 2011 8:24:46 GMT -5
"Well in that case I guess I can explain it to you two." He said as he took another drink. "SOLDIER is a private military force that works for the Shinra corp. out of Midgar. Only the best can become members and everyone starts out at 3rd class. The best from 3rd class are picked and made into 2nd class and only the best from 2nd class get to become 1st class." He paused for another drink.
"Only the best members of SOLDIER are able to become 1st class and even then not everyone makes the cut." He finished explaining how SOLDIER works, along with his beer as he ordered another one. They'd kill him if he got back drunk again.
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