adamant | 8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

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8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

[ The feed clicks on to nothing but Leon's voice, calm and even. If you know him, however, you might realize that he's a touch worried. ]

I heard Lockon was sent home, but has anyone seen Carly? One of her pokemon was transfer---

[ Another voice breaks in, high-pitched and excited and decidedly belonging to a certain ninja. ]

--Leon! Your egg! Gimme that!

[ There's a scuffling noise as Yuffie swipes the gear straight from Leon's hands; no, he gets no say in the matter. She immediately turns on video, and you get a good shot at the inside of Leon's room at the inn. It looks like what you would expect Leon's room to look like: spartan, meticulously kept, nothing of any personal significance on mantelpieces or the wall. Aerith is sitting in a small chair by the bed, Maria on her lap, watching the proceedings with some trepidation. What should attract attention, however, is the pack of dogs crowding the space: Romeo, the big Arcanine, with Mosey the Houndoom sitting sedately beside him. At their feet are Al the Poochyena and the yet-unnamed Riolu. Even Skarmory is there, with Lucky Duck on her back; all six pokemon have their eyes on Leon as he moves towards his backpack, which is now glowing.

Or not quite.

He pulls out the Growlithe egg; it's flickering, which is not something Yuffie's ever seen an egg do, because her voice is a bit cautious when she speaks. ]

Er, Leon? Is it supposed to be doing that?

[ Leon's expression is grim, but he gently sets the egg on the ground and takes a seat. After a few moments, Romeo and Mosey exchange glances, before they move in on the egg. Leon has a moment of apprehension, but neither canine makes an aggressive move. Together, they blow a gust of hot air at the flickering form; that stabilizes it, and its glow becomes more pronounced.

It seems interminable before the egg finally gives a few, meager shakes. The light recedes, leaving nothing but a very, very small Growlithe behind.

A very, very small Growlithe which is very, very immobile.

Yuffie's hand around the pokegear goes shock-still, even as Aerith brings her hands up to her mouth. Skarmory makes a keening noise; the dogs are silent, but their eyes are on the puppy. Leon seems to make a decision, because he surges forward, his voice low and even. ]

Aerith--give me my scarf. Now.

[ Aerith, snapped out of her shock, reaches around for the requested item, wasting no time in throwing it to Leon. He uses it to pick up the tiny thing on the floor, before sitting back down in a single, heavy motion. He settles the small bundle on his knee, bending over it. Then, with the single-minded concentration Leon has been known to give to things that matter, he starts to rub.

He knows, in a corner of his mind, that he should be rushing this small creature to the pokemon center. Isn't that what he told Kairi to do? But he remembers Ari's face when she looked at him, long and measuring. Kisa's gently worried stare, and the promise he made her. If the heat from Romeo and Mosey caused the egg to hatch, then it stands to reason that if he can warm the little one up enough it should wake, right? But he can't make the puppy cross the divide; all he can do is build a bridge and hope she meets him halfway. He can give her a chance.

Isn't that what he'd told Kisa? That they would work together.

Yuffie's hand is shaking a little; anyone's who's been keeping track might be a bit put off. But the camera never leaves Leon's hands, gently but firmly trying to reinvigorate the baby Growlithe. The dogs and Skarmory are all looking at Leon, now--even the distant, quiet Riolu seems worried.

There's no sound other than the soft patter of wind against the windows and collective, tense breathing. Yuffie can distantly be heard whispering, a slow and steady chant of 'come on, come on, come on...'

And then there's a sneeze. The tiniest, dimmest little sneeze you ever heard. Out of the scarf emerges a nose, which Romeo and the others immediately rush to meet.

Relief floods the room. Leon smiles, shy, warm and tired. Aerith laughs, and Yuffie gives a cheerful whoop. ]

She got lucky.

Way to go, Leon! I'm totally showing this to everyone!

[ And with that, Yuffie turns off the feed. ]

[ ooc. gold is Yuffie, pink is Aerith, both used with permission! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hn.

[ His eyes are on her, his stare hard. It's saying: if you breathe a word of this to anyone, heads--your head--is going to roll. He trusts that Quistis can figure it out. ]

There aren't many of them back home.

[ There aren't even puppies, anymore. And even though Leon can appreciate the fact that they've gone back home, he still...well. Misses them is perhaps strong, but he does occasionally think of them. Radiant Garden barely has birds now, and that's mostly a recent development. ]

[ Quistis is a pretty smart cookie. ]

No... ? [ It's an invitation for him to go on, but judging by his expression, she's not sure he'll take it. ]

Not many, no.

[ Hopefully she wasn't hoping he'd elaborate, because fffff. There's only one person that he's met in Johto that he's talked to fairly extensively about Radiant Garden, and that's Lightning. And even she doesn't know the half of it. He marks a pause. ]

What's your world like, Quistis?

[ Because, by extension, it's Squall's world, and there's a part of him that wants to know, even if there's a large part of him that honestly could care less. ]

[ She recognizes the subject change and accepts it readily. She doesn't mind talking about her world. ]

The monsters far outnumber the animals, for starters. There are animals in and around the towns — mostly pets, dogs and cats, because wild animals don't fare so well out there.

[ After a beat: ] It wasn't always overrun with monsters, but no one remembers a time when it wasn't. That was a long, long time ago, before the planet was civilized. The Lunar Cry began then.

Monsters? What kind of monsters?

[ This is totally relevant to Leon's interests. Also: ]

And what's a 'Lunar Cry'?

[ She'd been anticipating both of those questions. ]

The Lunar Cry is an event that occurs... periodically, rarely, but with no regularity. The Moon's surface becomes oversaturated with monsters, and they fall to the planet. According to studies, past Lunar Cries have not only introduced new species of monsters, but changed some of the native wildlife into monsters.

There are all kinds — various types of dragons, beasts, flying horrors, grotesque and unidentifiable creatures.... [ She shakes her head, but her expression is... fond? She misses it. ]

[ A single, raised brow. That...makes very little sense, but whatever, Squeenix logic. Leon can roll with it. ]

Sounds like you've got your hands full.

To say the least. [ Her smile turns wry. ] Johto is... tranquil, in comparison.

[ She settles in, then, the way you do before you announce 'storytime!' Only she doesn't announce it. ]

There are these atrocious beasts on the Estharian continent called Malboros. Their feet are a giant mass of tentacles, and their head is the same, but split open with a gaping mouth full of teeth. [ She seems pleased to be telling him this. I think she likes Malboros. I guess when she was trekking around the Grandidi Forest, it was either learn to like them, or go insane. ]

They spit acid, and — at a bare minimum — poison, blind and confuse you, put you to sleep, silence your magic and slow your movements, usually all as soon as the battle begins. Not just you, either; your entire party, at once.

... They're easily the most obnoxious monster around, though. They're not all that bad.

[ Leon frowns. Malboro--where has he heard that name before--that's right! That's what Cecil proposed when he was trying to name his tentacool! ]

Malboros, huh? Cecil said there were monsters in his world called that, and they were fairly similar, from what I remember.

Cecil? [ Quistis racks her brain, herself — Cecil was the man who'd said he was Squall's friend, wasn't he? ] If I remember correctly, he told me he was a friend of Squall's. That's... interesting. I'd never met him before coming here, but I suppose that doesn't mean he couldn't be from our world.

Maybe. He's never mentioned anything about the moon, though. [ At least, not to Leon. ]

Hmm. Maybe I'll have to talk to him again. It's not out of the question that we come from similar worlds, either. [ She looks thoughtful. ]

[ Leon nods, thoughtful. ] So, your world has continents too? It must be pretty big. [ He tries to remember Kay's improptu geography lesson: states were in countries, and countries inside continents, which meant that Quistis' world must be rather large. ]

[ Quistis is sort of struck with the idea of a world without continents, and it's an odd one. She shakes her head a little; the wonders of the worlds beyond her own haven't worn off yet. ]

It's... large enough. I think it seems smaller to me, since I've been all over it. [ She looks reflective. ] A year or two ago, I would have agreed that it was huge.

[ He shakes his head, wondering what it must be like. Most worlds are of a decent size, but they contain one, maybe two cities--possibly more, like when Sora had reported of a snowy place where he'd been recruited into a local army: that world had spanned whole regions. But worlds that big were rare--Radiant Garden contained its titular city, as well as the mountainous, once-forested region surrounding it. ]

Well, it's probably bigger than what I'm used to.

[ Now he's opened the possibility of turning the topic back on him, and she wonders if he meant to. After a pause: ]

Does your world not have continents, then?

[ He shakes his head. The size and berth of Radiant Garden in its current incarnation is hardly an uncomfortable topic. ]

No. It's a city, surrounded by mountains. Not much to it.

That's... your entire world? [ She finds this difficult to process. ] I can hardly imagine it.

[ She almost can, though: Balamb, isolated (in space?), is precisely that, a city surrounded by mountains. ]

My hometown was similar, though; a town on a mountainous island. There was a forest, too, near the Garden, which was a short trip from town.

That's it. Go out far enough and you hit the world-barrier, unless you've got special equipment to cross it.

[ He listens to her explanation; again with that word, Garden. ]

Something tells me that this 'Garden' you keep mentioning doesn't involve flowers.

World-barrier... [ She repeats it quietly to herself. ]

The Garden? It's a training academy and base station for the mercenary force known as SeeD. [ Her slightly wry smile acknowledges the joke. ] I enrolled when I was ten years old; lived there longer than I did with my own parents.

[ Startled Leon is startled. Joining a military force at that age? Anyone who wants to help him patrol for Heartless had to be at least thirteen, and accompanied; night patrol was reserved for those fifteen and older. ]

Ten? That's hardly big enough to hold a weapon, nevermind use it.

We weren't battle-trained until we were at least thirteen; anything before that was book knowledge regarding magic, Guardian Forces, monsters, and so on.

[ And this is the part that's hard to explain without sounding like she's preening. She won't try too hard; she's proud of it. ]

I passed my SeeD exam mission at fifteen, the earliest allowed, and was an instructor by seventeen — the youngest on record.

[ He's not exactly impressed--Quistis is basically proudly admitting she was a child soldier--but he figures an institution like this one must have had its purpose. ]

And what did--[ Seeds. Gardens. How terrible. ]--SeeD do, exactly? As a mercenary organization. Take care of monsters?

[ That's a question she only recently learned the answer to. She glances down, thoughtful. ]

As an organization? We were hired by various governments and civilian organizations as soldiers, bodyguards, operatives... assassins. We did what they would pay us to do, whether the targets were monsters or human beings.

That... wasn't the true purpose of SeeD, though. [ And now she hesitates. This is the complex part. ]

... SeeD was created to prepare a specific group of people to face an impending threat that would destroy the planet if left unchecked. Only one woman knew it was coming, and she created the Garden and SeeD to ensure that we'd be ready.

A pretty typical mercenary operation, then.

[ Distasteful? Not quite, but it's something approaching that. Leon has a loftier idea of what soldiers are for. Then again, most worlds don't even have war, where he comes from. Some had never even had conflict before the Heartless showed up. BLAME DISNEY. ]

An impending threat? Sounds pretty serious.

8th roar [ video + action for Goldenrod ]

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