[Cal] Just another soldier

Cal encounters a singular individual in Traverse Town.
(Despite a thunderstorm I managed to get a few poses in, but the many disconnects were proving really, really difficult to keep the poses of any length - in fact, they're uber-short -- Thankfully Zack was considerate.)

Characters: Zack, Caliah


Traverse Town - Central Square

There is a large fountain in the very centre of the square, which seems to trickle softly and peacefully into the night. In the darkness, the water appears nearly black, its soft smooth ripples interrupted by a gentle wind, or by the points of fluorescent light that shine from the numerous lamps above the city. There are stone benches around the perimeter of the fountain which are almost always occupied by people during the day. Surrounding the central square are a set of stairs on either side leading towards the residential district, and to the north is a large bronze tower bearing a clock face on one side. It rings out at every hour, as time continues to march relentlessly onward..

Contents:
Zack
Obvious exits:
[leads to 'Traverse Town - Residential District']

Little breaks the still monotony of the town at this hour but small, barely muffled night-noises, the furtive scurrying of small creatures in the dank alleyways, the drip of broken drainpipes, the quick, hurried footsteps of people not wishing to be caught by the occasional Heartless skulking around a dark corner. Perpetual as the night is, there are times that activity converges on the town centre, and this seems one of them - nothing of note, maybe, but two figures engaged in whispered conversation, one of them tossing something that vaguely resembles a gasoline cap up and down in one hand.

"Managed to get only half of what you wanted," grunts a short, sallow-faced man, handing a bundle of rags to a taller figure clad in a long coat. "Took me hours of scrounging and they near got my hide eh, countless times...I'm tellin' ye, it's futile to keep one of them bikes in running condition, not near enough fuel to go 'round, ceptin' if you be one of them Imperial types..."

"Your advice is appreciated," answers the other, somewhat amused. "And it's not one of those engines that run on -other- fuel types, you know. Perfectly common and harmless."


As for him (what /was/ he doing out so late?), Zack was toting his axe, a bag filled with groceries and a medical kit, and he seemed well aware of the two figures in the street. In fact, he altered his path so he'd be going around them. He was on his way to the inn, it wouldn't take him too long to arrive at his destination. And besides. He was kind of curious about the conversation going on between the shadowy figures.

Still, one had to keep one's attention ready for heartless, and Zack was, just on the off-chance there might be trouble.


"How much do I --"

Trailing off as Zack enters her line of vision, eyes narrowing briefly as she appraises the newcomer, the coat-clad stranger might be seen to quirk her mouth in a bemused fashion. Not quite a smile, but her gaze is bland rather than cold, a marked show of indifference. Perhaps. "I didn't think anyone would be shopping quite so late," that she comments with a flick of a sharp eye at the bags the other's carrying. She shifts her weight slightly, leaning back on her heels; the package that the short man had given her seems to have vanished...somewhere beneath that coat, maybe.

As for her rather greasy-looking companion himself, he's stepped back a pace, eyeing Zack warily.


Hesitating, Zack sighed inwardly-- no help for it, he'd have to actually talk to them now-- and shrugged, grinning. "Late? Whaddaya mean, lady, it's night time twenty-four seven here. Late's kinda relative, doncha think?" He came to a stop a few feet away, noting her eyes. Hmm. A fellow SOLDIER, eh? Hopefully not one of those who were beginning to show interest in trying to make him /return/ to SOLDIER. Getting killed once by the company you used to work for is more than enough reason to avoid going back to work.


There's a snort of mingled wryness and dry humour, and the stranger's soft-voiced reply, "I suppose that's true, unless you keep time by different means. Makes even living here difficult. In fact, I wonder why this town's inhabitants don't relocate elsewhere, considering how many...annoyances they have to contend with just to stay here."

Even as she speaks, she's meeting Zack's regard with her own, evincing no surprise at his curiosity, or the fact that the glow in his eyes mirrors her own. One slim eyebrow lifts slightly, however, and it appears she isn't wont to keep silent on the matter. "One of Shinra's favoured, once, were we?"


"Where else would they go?" He asked with a sad little smile. But...oh. She's lookin' him in the eyes and he hesitated, looking back unblinking until she spoke on it. Favored, eh? A little laugh rose in Zack's throat. "Favored is hardly the word I'd choose. But...yes. Once upon a time."

Then he tried to escape a lifetime of hellish torture. They gave him a one way ticket to hell. ...it kind of sucked.


The pale-haired young woman lifts one shoulder, not so much a shrug as a gesture of helplessness. What she might have uttered is momentarily stilled as the scrap-dealer interrupts, tugging urgently on her sleeve; no doubt he wished to be away. A quick, hurried exchange, cash changing hands, and he hurries away, leaving the other two to their own devices.

"We all have our stories to tell," is all she sees fit to say at that point, clearing her throat mutedly. "By 'once upon a time'...I take it to mean you've left their ranks?"


"In a very permanent sense, yes." He cocked his head to the side. "...you're not gonna have a problem with that, I hope?" Because frankly, Zack didn't want to have to get into a fight at this hour of the whatever-morning, night, pick one. Plus, he doubted Val would be happy about his groceries bein' all messed up. He watches the other guy depart out of the corner of his eye, glad the man was gone. At least they could talk freely.


"Not unless I was under direct orders to 'have a problem with that', no." Even delivered in a perfectly sang-froid manner, the fleeting glint in the stranger's eyes gives her away. "Though, truth be told, I haven't seen many of your like. Or heard of them. There's some truth to what they say - that service to Shinra has some finality to it."

The barest pause, and she inquires offhandedly, as if she'd just remembered to: "What is it you go by?"


Admittedly, he'd not expected her to peg him quite so much-- peg and miss, rather-- but the comedy, sick as it was, of her assuming that his service to ShinRa /hadn't/ been rather final, made him laugh softly, bitter memory flickering in his eyes.

Mm, another question. He tipped his head to the side, eyeing her curiously. "...don't go telling too many of your superiors, now. Zack. And you?"


Lips moving slightly as if she were repeating the name silently to herself, the tall woman merely gives a single, dismissive shake of her head at those last words; her features remain in their strangely detached cast as she turns a quiet, inscrutable eye to him again. "You're rather trusting with someone you've only just met." Whether that was meant as a barb or in dry jest can't be told. "And as for my name...I'm Caliah."


"There's not much you can tell about a guy from his name, Caliah. Besides. You haven't made any attempts to attack or rehire me yet. So far, you're doing a lot better than other people still working for ShinRa that I've met." In short, you're giving a good impression. Zack is duly impressed, pleased...whatever you'd like to call it.


The less I know of the details, the less likely it'll end up that way." A flicker of surprise, all-too-quickly masked, crosses Caliah's ice-pale countenance at her own words, even said lightly. "What happened to our world's given many folk a chance at another life, away from the meddling hand of politics, if not war. I wouldn't be surprised if any in SOLDIER were tempted to take it."

Or succumbed to the temptation, she seems to implying, leaving at least that unsaid.


"....you could say that, yeah." Zack won't be telling his own dirty secrets to some random stranger in the street, but he smiles at her subtle hinting. "What're you doin' out in this neck of the woods, anyway? Traverse isn't particularly ShinRa friendly. Not a /bad/ place, but it's not like Tzen." So yes, he has been there and knows of the people who are congregated there.


The lean SOLDIER holds up the gasoline cap that the scrap-dealer had earlier left in her care. "So long as I represent my own interests rather than the Empire's, I seem to get along with the townspeople, especially if I can interest them in trade of any sort. Although this particular time I was hunting replacement parts for my motorcycle. It's amazing she still runs; I hadn't thought a gas-powered relic could function quite so well."

Palming the cap and pocketing it, she adds, at the last, "You can usually learn more in trade ports and hubs than out-of-the-way towns. Especially if the news you're seeking concerns the other worlds."


Ahh, so it's about transportation, then. And information gathering, not a bad idea. But he also takes that as subtle warning to watch what he says around her. "Gas powered, huh? That's good, though. Means you don't have to worry about the mako radiation, ne?" Not that people often did, but it wasn't exactly /good/ for them, now, was it? Regardless, he shrugged at her explanation. "You've got a point, there. Good town to be in if you want to learn about what's goin' on everywhere else. I hear there's some kind of tournament dealie goin' on at a Colisseum near here. That's about all I guarantee is actually going on in Traverse Town." It's a busy place only because of the number of travelers roaming through it, really. Nothing much seems to happen, on a grander scale.

<OOC> Caliah says, "We should change that :X"
<OOC> Zack says, "Ah?"
<OOC> Caliah wonders if Traverse Town is like Mos Eisley XDD


Laughter faintly touches Caliah's voice. "I wonder why no-one's made the attempt to control it and the surrounding territory. There's the question of security, with the heartless being too much of a random factor, but there's some advantages to holding important points of travel..." She waves a hand vaguely as if to keep the discussion from lapsing into something far too academic, and slants a shrewd, catlike gaze at Zack. "You didn't try the tournament yourself, did you?"


"I've thought about it. Trying to keep a low profile at the moment, though." He frowned at the suggestion of taking Traverse Town over, but them smiled slyly, shifting his bag of groceries. "I don't know, seems to me that with a town filled up with so many people...it might be rather /difficult/ to subdue them all. New people arriving all the time, too. And the mayor here has some friends in powerful places."

He glances about, sighing softly. "Hmm. I should really get back."


Clasping her elbows, Caliah muses, "That might be the case. But the fact that it hasn't been tried is what's more surprising, really." There's a tangible shift in her tone, as if the run of her thoughts had changed to something far less casual. "One has to wonder if there's an underlying purpose to bringing these worlds...these people, together. I've never been one to believe in coincidences."

That said, she reaches up to run a gloved hand over the back of her neck, flexing her fingers. "It's likely our paths will cross again," she remarks cryptically, one corner of her mouth curving upward. "Especially if you're as inclined to visit this town as I am."


"...then if we meet again, Cali, maybe I can take you to a bar and we can get some drinks or somethin', ne?" Because being a SOLDIER is all about booze, man. OH YEAH. Still, he just shrugged at her theory about the world's existence being what it is for some greater purpose. He didn't care to think about it much. That, and well. The more he talked about it, the more likely he'd stay standing out here and not returning to the inn with his groceries. "We'll make a night out of it." He smiled.


"If they have one with better than they serve in Tzen," answers Caliah succintly, her half-smile wry. It's difficult to ascertain whether she's amused or none-too-eager at the prospect of drinking, but her acquiescing seemed to indicate, at least, that was she was being a good sport about it. "I'll be seeing you then. Zack."

-----

<OOC> Zack says, "I am totally collecting on this."
<OOC> Zack says, "Later, I shall goad Aialsted (A Shadow Lord(!) )into taking us out for drinks."
<OOC> Caliah eeps. XD


I have a horrible thought of Cal getting drunk in front of Aial. x_X who's known to delve into his victims' minds.