Time to Rise Again

Crimson began to remeber his childhood, al those days that they wasted on the islands. At least, that's what he use to think; ever since Cat had left, he wanted to go explore different worlds, ones that could solve his problems. When he beleived that she died, he thought that maybe her heart would be in another world. If he could reclaim it, his life wouldn't been so dark. When he felt her arms ebrace him, his heart began to feel warm again. He wished that this entire feeling wasn't a lie, that this wasn't just his imagination messing with him again. Her warm tears was solid evidence that this was reality, and that everything had to be set right.

"Don't follow your great grandfather's footsteps," Crimson began in a hushed voice. "This is your own life, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. This is your story, not his."

He lost control of his body. It felt like he had no memory of what happened next. Only a second passed, possibly two. He realized that he did something so responsive, so impulsive...so forbidden. He was holding Cat his his arms, but this time his lips were placed upon hers. He feared what her reaction was going to be.

 

Cat was so lost in all of her memories that she didn't even notice Crimson's lips touch hers. Seconds passed by and when she came back to the present she was a bit surprised but after hearing his words she felt much better. Their kiss was only further proof that his wasn't all another nightmare that would end with his death.

This is real... I have to admit. It feels so... nice. If this wasn't such an emotional moment I miht just slap him for doing this... heh heh heh.

She knew that this dream had to come to an end so she separated their lips and looked him in the eyes. She knew that this would only be worse for them should anything happen.

"Sky... let's go. We've gotta find Asuka."

She was surprised at how quickly she had recovered but then she let go and started to walk out of the church. Crimson seemed to be lost in confusion so she yelled out to him.

"Hey lover boy... what're you waiting for, an invitation? Let's get moving!"

She felt as though sh were making fun of herself and it was so ironic...

 

"Yeah, I"m on my way," He stuttered.

What the hell did I just do, Crimosn asked himself. He never really thought of Cat in that kind of way, but it all seemed right to him. It wasn't something that he always wanted to do, but he didn't regret doing it. In fact, he was a little proud of himself, this was his first kiss after all. He caught up to Cat, but he didn't walk far. Only a short distance a way he was able to see Luna approaching them.
Luna saw Crimson and Cat walking closer to her. She had know knowledge of what just happen, but she could sense that their souls were more connected than before.

 

"You came...", she said, and tried standing once more. Her movements were shaky, but she managed to stand still. "I have two blades, but not in the normal sense," Asuka said. "...If you could help me up to my room, I'll explain everything."

 

OOC: First two words, lol.

BIC: Leon stood up properly from his leant position and helped Asuka to her room by slinging one of her arms over his back to aid her walking. After a few minutes they reached her room and Leon sat Asuka down on her bed and stood nearby. "Alright, explain to me", he said as he folded his arms and wore a look of interest and understanding.

 

OOC: **** you. :c

IC:
Asuka was surprised that Leon actually helped her. "Perhaps Cloud was right..."
Once she was sitting on her bed, she decided to lay down, as she still had a bad headache. Sighing, she began her story. "I assume you know the stories of my great-grandfather, Cloud, and his struggles against darkness. And if not...just know that he did, and it took him many, many years to finally overcome it. He didn't do it alone, but even then it was a hard and hellish journey. Since then, each generation of my family has had one child that struggles with darkness - my grandfather, then my father, and now me. When they were young and this land was still run down, it was a source of power for defeating the evil that plagued the city. Eventually my grandfather defeated his inner darkness, but...my father never did. He wasn't evil, nor a bad person, but the darkness in his heart overtook him while he was defending the city outskirts and he used that dark power to destroy the attackers," she said. She stopped for a few moments, then continued.
"The darkness overwhelmed him. He sacrificed himself to the darkness in him to save Midgar." Asuka was fighting back tears once more. "My...my grandparents always used to tell me how strong of a person he was, despite the darkness. And that I should follow a similar path, not the same, but if I did use the darkness to use it for good. My grandfather taught me how to use darkness to help, not harm."

She put her hand straight up and called forth Fenrir. "This is Fenrir...the Keyblade that I usually use. When my emotions reach a breaking point however...the Keyblade you saw earlier appears in place of Fenrir. It's known as One-Winged Angel, a memento from Cloud's fight with darkness. As long as One-Winged Angel keeps appearing, the darkness still has a strong hold on me."

 

Leon swapped the leg he was leaning on for a moment then swapped them back. It was a strange swaying motion, but it was a simple sign of thought. "I get the gist of it", he said. "At least your family wants you to have your own path, my old man wants me to be exactly like my granddad, since we are apparently identical", he went on to state. His hair was shorter than Leon's and his clothes where different but had the same style. He was essentially Leon from before he changed his name. "My old man wanted to be him, he even ignores his Keyblade to use a Gunblade", Leon continued as his attitude started to show, "He'd of probably whacked me if I didn't help you out".

 

"I never knew either of my parents, so I can't say if they wanted me to be like Cloud or Tifa. Though my grandparents taught me to fight like both," Asuka said. "...They all told me that I can't fight this battle against the darkness alone, but I'm not sure if what they said is true or not. And...I don't know how to ask them again."
She closed her eyes, and the scene in the Lifestream was replayed in her mind again. Her hands balled into fists and several more streaks of tears made their way down her face. "They told me not to be sorry...but I still failed them. That ******* beat me here and took their lives."

 

"Who?", Leon asked in a surprised tone to her response. This must be the thing that the black fur belongs to, he continued in his head. The creature that murdered them wasn't a Heartless as far as he knew. They don't tend to leave fur behind.

 

Asuka turned her head to look at him, despite looking like hell. "Kuragari. He's from a feline-like race native to this planet. His species is incredibly intelligent, even able to speak with humans. Kuragari fell completely to darkness, he murdered his brother and abandoned his clan. He's also the reason I have these," she said, gesturing to the claw marks still on her shoulders. "He is very strong, no doubt because of the dark powers he uses. But if I am to defeat him, I will have to use my own darkness, and well...you see how that ended. Unless I can find a light to follow, it will take me years to try and conquer my inner demons by myself, and by then he'll have become even stronger."

 

Having heard all he needed to hear Leon began to think things over. He wasn't sure whether it was his place to interrupt the battle between Asuka and her feline enemy but it was against his upbringing to turn down something like this. "I'll give you a freebie", he stated with slight flickers of attitude, "I'll help you beat this Kuragari guy if you want". Leon didn't know of his light or darkness and how they balanced each other but he knew his fighting abilities well enough and he hadn't fought properly in a long time.

 

"What?" Asuka said, sitting up suddenly. "You will?"
Without thinking, she moved off the bed quickly, crossing the short space between Leon and herself. She hadn't considered her strength wasn't back yet, and she felt her knees give out.

 

Leon caught her by her shoulders and sat Asuka back on the bed, "Yeah, but for now you have to rest", he said, "You won't do any good if you can't stand up right". This could go sour if she tries to do anything before she's ready. I'll have to hang with her until she's capable again, Leon plotted in his head once more. If the enemy was as strong as he imagined then things could get nasty if they weren't at their best.

 

"But the longer we wait the farther away Kuragari will get, he's not one to stay in the same place for long," she said, attempting to get up again. After Leon kept her down once more, she decided to listen to him and laid back down. "If it's not too much to ask...can you go downstairs and lock the front door? And help yourself to any drinks behind the bar."

 

SHinji found himself alone, it was a scary thought, being on your own within a completely different world but he handled it pretty well. "Well, I have no family and lived on my own mostly, so why should this be any different?" he thought to himself, Midgar was a city in it's own right as he looked up at the abandoned ShinRa Headquarters, rusted away after not being repaired for years at best

"What's this place?" He asked himself, paticularly to no-one as he was the only person around. "It almost seems as if this was somewhere really important but neglected to be rebuilt." He concluded as he walked towards the building, he doubted anything would be working in there but he could find some clues about this world and go on from there.

He went inside into what seemed to be the main hall but it had seen it share of use as well as destruction as he summoned Way to the Dawn to prepare for anyting, he couldn't be too careful.

 

Leon headed downstairs after she asked, he closed all the doors that where open and locked them. He also closed any open windows, the Heartless came through any gaps they could find after all. Having finished locking up, he noticed the bar she told him about. Leon looked at it and didn't bother with getting any drinks for himself, he was on the job after all.

 

After Leon left the room, Asuka tried to rest. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, but her dreams were filled with memories of the past. All the battles she had fought in, all the people she knew that died, they were all being replayed in her dreams. And then Kuragari appeared, her mind making up the scenario in which her grandparents had died. As each scenario progressed, her heart grew darker, until she saw herself fighting Kuragari and sacrificing herself as her father had.
Asuka's dreams continued, each ending in her death. Finally waking up, she thought, "...I suppose that is the way it will end. My final attonement for all the sins."

 

Cat saw Luna and stopped walking. She tried to play it cool after everything that had just happened. She looked at her and sighed.
"Why am I not surprised? You know that you can't fully control your Oathkeeper yet you come anyway like you're a full-fledged master... you act just like I used to."
She chuckled to herself and kept walking until she was right in front of her.
"You're gonna go far. I know it. It takes courage to become a Keyblade master, and trust me you're not lacking in it. You've just gotta learn to tell the difference between bravery and recklessness."
Cat put her hand on Luna's shoulder and smiled. She truly was the spitting image of Sora.
I know i'm not one to talk about this but i'm just trying to protect you... I hope you'll understand.

 

"Then how about you train her," Crimson told Cat. "If you two really are as alike as you think, then it'll be better for her in the long run."

 

Cat didn't jump at the idea or yell at Crimson to tell him that it was stupid... she wanted to, but she didn't. She turned around and looked at him. She just nodded and then she began to walk away.
"Okay, Luna! Here's your first test. Try and catch me! Do that and you'll prove that at the very least you've got enough stamina to fight heartless."
She bolted out and ran through the streets of Midgar. She wanted Luna to try and feel the connection between each Keyblade. If she could do that then they would never have to worry about her getting lost. She passed by a strange building and felt that there were two people inside. One with a strong light and one with a potent darkness that was slowly receeding. She knew whose it was right away.
Asuka...
She walked inside and she could see them from a distance. She could also see a trail of blood leading up the stairs. She decided to go up quietly and not to bring any attention to herself. She could see the black fur and instantly she thought of the creature they had met in Traverse Town. She saw that the door was locked and used her keyblade to open it. She went inside and saw two bodies. She just stood there speechless. She could barely even move at this point.
W... what the...? Who are they... and why did he kill them...?