Wutai Once More (Elena)

[Red XIII]

Wutai, it had been a long time since Nanaki had last visited this place. Seeing as it was on another continent, that could explain why he didn't go there often. Still, having a pal like Cid helped a lot. It was thanks to the airship captain that Red XIII had found transportation here. Looking at it, he was happy to see that it hadn't changed any. That was what Yuffie had been hoping for and it looked like she got what she wished for.

It was a better attraction these days. The materia she borrowed from Cloud clearly brought many people over to see it. How did he know this? There were more people walking about than usual. All of them not in kimonos like he had seen the locals wear here.

Being what he was, Nanaki was obviously not hard to spot. Who wouldn't notice a four legged animal with a fiery tail in their midst? Out of uncertainty, people gave him a wide berth. It made him feel self conscious feeling all pairs of eyes on him. However, he eventually got used to it. There were things he had intended to observe. It was all because of the promise he had made to Bugenhagen on his final hour. It was the statue here that held a mystery to it. There were fires you could not get through unless one held a certain item to protect them from the flames. Leviathan was held in high regards here in that aspect.

Memories came to him as he walked past the 'Turtle Paradise'. That was where Cloud and the gang ran into the Turks: Reno, Rude and Elena. Yuffie getting kidnapped along with Elena had forced the two opposing groups to cooperate together. Don Corneo had also made his final evil deed here.

Having been looking at his paws and the ground as he walked, Nanaki unintentionally bumped into someone. "My apologies, I did not see you."

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena rubbed her hands together absently as she walked. She’d just finished off a solo mission she’d been sent on a little quicker than she had been counting on, so she wasn’t expected back at ShinRa HQ for a while yet. She’d never had much of an opportunity to explore Wutai before, so she figured she might as well take a look around while she had a little bit of time. The only times she had ever been here was for missions, never leisure or anything of the sort. She knew of Wutai’s history and what had happened to it, of course, but other than that she knew very little about the land itself except for the places she had been sent to.

However, this was Tseng’s home country, and that was enough to make Elena interested in it. Thankfully, or perhaps not so much, she was in a place that she remembered. It brought back memories from the time when herself and Yuffie had been kidnapped by the Don. She shuddered slightly. Why did she always seem to end up in serious trouble all the time? If she wasn’t being clumsy, then she was in serious trouble with something or someone. She had bad luck, she supposed, and she couldn’t help but wonder exactly why that was.

“My apologies, I did not see you.”

Sorry or not, Elena was about to turn around and give whoever it was that had bumped into her a piece of her mind. “Hey, why don’t you –” she started in an annoyed tone, but when she turned around, she came face to face with nothing. Blinking, she looked down and almost jumped backwards when she spotted it was Red XIII that had bumped into her. “Oh,” was the only thing that left her mouth as she just stood and blinked for a moment. She hadn’t expected to bump into someone that she recognised, let alone be it Red XII – or “Nanaki” was his actual name, wasn’t it?

She paused, opening her mouth before closing it and pursing her lips. She wasn’t sure what to say to the animal before her, especially since he had been held captive in ShinRa’s labs. She glanced to the side, the fingers of her left hand coming up and tucking her hair behind her ear like it normally sat. “It’s, um… it’s fine,” she said, lowering her hand back down. “I wasn’t exactly watching my surroundings either…” She trailed off a little at the end. How the hell were you supposed to address someone that was once held captive by the company that you work for?

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NOTES !? crap post is crap D: i'm sorry. !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 435 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

(OOC: It was very good. ^_^)

Nanaki was just as surprised as Elena was. It was obvious that Elena hadn't appreciated being bumped into. Although, seeing know one her eye level, she soon became confused. It took her a short moment to realize that Red XIII had been the one who accidentally bumped into her. It was an awkward moment of silence between them. Nanaki had been an escaped experiment from ShinRa Headquarters. Elena had been a Turk that had bumped heads with Cloud and the gang many times. So, of course that was why they'd be feeling awkward speaking to one another.

Elena seemed to simmer down as she finally spoke. He could tell by her reaction that she was unsure how else to speak to him. Well, at least she was being respectful. Nanaki wasn't sure how to react to her either. He hadn't noticed it was Elena until he had looked up at her when she turned around in annoyance. It was relieving to know she hadn't exploded but he wouldn't blame her if she did.

He tried to think of what to say to her. Well, he did apologize. Was there anything else to say? He didn't really know. "Um...d-didn't expect to run into you here." The attempt at talk was rather awkward. Nanaki was probably seen as a non-intelligent thing to her and to be spoken to, it probably creeped her out a bit. "W-Well, I should be going...I hope your mission and day goes well." He inclined his head respectfully despite their past differences.

Red XIII no sooner started to tentatively walk around Elena when a loud roar was heard further down the path. Ears perked forward in alarm, Nanaki stood on his hind legs as he looked around for the source. Up ahead, he heard trees thrashing and spotted something scaly and blue. It reminded Red XIII of the summon, Leviathan. What was confusing though was why in the world would Leviathan be upset here? Wutai worshiped Leviathan! Did something go wrong?

Wanting to get to the bottom of this, Nanaki gave one last glance at Elena before taking off towards the tall tower in the distance. That was where the scaly creature was. If it was Leviathan, Nanaki wanted to know why he or she would want to attack the place. As he ran, more trees were getting knocked about as the creature continued to bellow up ahead in what sounded very much like anger. It was alarming to hear it screech like it was. Did someone try to do it harm maybe? Whatever the case, Nanaki ran toward where he heard it. The thrashing trees slowly getting closer with each passing moment as Nanaki ran toward it.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena kept her gaze slightly off to the side. It was clear that Red XIII was as awkward in this situation as she was, if not more so. It would have been awkward enough as it was, but the fact that he was also friends with Cloud and AVALANCHE made things a little worse too. A frown tugged at her lips as her dark brown eyes went to the ground instead. A few people were looking at them, some of them perhaps wondering what she was doing talking to an animal, and some perhaps that had heard Red XIII speak back. People seemed to forget that there were all sorts of creatures here on Gaia, some a lot more ancient than others, and that not everything was as it appeared to be.

“Um...d-didn’t expect to run into you here... W-Well, I should be going...I hope your mission and day goes well.”

She nodded shortly, her gaze flicking to him briefly. “Likewise...” Her voice trailed off into nothing as Red XIII spoke again and she nodded once again. “Same to you,” she said in return as he inclined his head. Polite was probably the best way to go here. Frankly, she didn’t want to be enemies with anyone from AVALANCHE, not anymore. It seemed only right, to her at least, that ShinRa and AVALANCHE should perhaps try and make a fresh start with each other, what with all that had happened, but she couldn’t see that happening at all.

Red XIII had only just started walking away when an almighty roar sounded from further down the path. Elena whipped around, startled, her right hand instinctively reaching inside her suit jacket and taking hold of the handgun she had holstered there, although she didn’t pull it out. In the distance she could see trees being shaken and possibly knocked over. She also caught a glimpse of something blue, although she couldn’t make out exactly what it could be. But whatever it was, it wasn’t good, that much was for sure.

Elena was about to open her mouth and speak but Red XIII took off towards the tower. She stood still for a moment, wondering exactly what she should do. No, she couldn’t let whatever this thing was harm the people here. The area she and Red XIII had been standing in was practically deserted now as people ran in the opposite direction, further away from the tower. But...hadn’t she just been thinking about how she wanted to perhaps maybe try and make at least a little amends between herself and AVALANCHE? This was as good an opportunity as any, she supposed.

Taking one last deep breath, Elena took off running after Red XIII, although the animal was now quite a bit ahead of her. She was light on her feet, however, and while she wasn’t fast enough to completely catch up with him, she did manage to catch up quite a lot. As they got closer, the swaying and thrashing trees became more apparent and the noise became louder. This thing was probably going to cause quite a bit of destruction before it was done, and they couldn’t let it get back to the other attractions. Innocent people would be at risk then. The creature seemed very angry now, and the thrashing of the trees worsened and its roar got louder.

A loud cracking noise sounded from somewhere behind Elena, and she managed to react in time to avoid a tree crashing down on top of her. By this point, she had her gun pulled out, and her heart was beating fast from both the running and the fright she had just gotten. Another similar noise sounded, and she looked up again to see another tree falling this time closer to Red XIII. Unsure if it was going to hit him or not, she called out. “Watch out!” Her materia-equipped gun was pointed at the tree trunk without a second thought, and she fired with excellent precision. The materia-powered bullet hit the centre of the trunk, splitting it and the two pieces fell clear of Red XIII. Breathing a sigh of relief, Elena lowered her hands, both of them gripping her gun tightly.

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NOTES !? lol, I’m glad, my muse was like “bleh”. This one is pretty...bleh too, but that’s because I’m rushing it during my lunch break at college XD 19 POSTS LEFT NOW. !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 695 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

(OOC: Ugh, I had to retype my post cuz of stupid IE. 19 posts left?! Awesome! Who are you getting first? I chose 2 Guns first and now working my way up to get MAFem. Just 47 posts left for me now.)

Nanaki had been relieved to rid himself of that awkward situation. Things with the Turks had gotten a little better since Advent Children though. Still, it was awkward between them. It wasn't easy to remember that they no longer were on opposing sides like they had been in the past. Red XIII especially had difficulty with them. He didn't forget how they took him away from his home so that Hojo could experiment on him. Sure, they had been kind enough to allow him and Deneh to complete the ritual to appease the planet but took him to ShinRa HQ soon after.

The warrior in Red XIII had woken up the moment he had heard the roaring up ahead. He wouldn't let the creature mess the place up. He wouldn't allow it to kill anyone either. Why, if it were Leviathan, it was going berserk he wouldn't understand. Nanaki was a guardian of Cosmo Canyon and even he couldn't see anything that would justify attacking it out of rage alone.

Why the water god was acting up, Nanaki didn't know as he sped along the path. He was unaware that Elena had taken off after him. The first tree crack didn't even bother him as he scurried onwards. He didn't know someone was running along behind him. Not until the second tree crack sounded. Hearing a familiar voice call out to him, Nanaki looked up just in time. A tree was coming down at him! Leaping back a couple of feet, Red XIII saw it get blown in half by what sounded like a bullet infused with materia.

Looking over his shoulder with his good eye, he found the person who had helped him was Elena. "Thank you!" he called out to her, giving a nod of gratitude before turning toward the source of the roars. The movement of the trees got more intense. At least one more tree fell onto the path further ahead before the thing knocking them down finally slithered into view. Like Leviathan, it had a serpentine body and was blue in color. It bore fangs much like Leviathan did as well and appeared to move awkwardly on land. Was it Leviathan? It certainly looked a lot like it.

Seeing it snapping at a person before it viciously, Nanaki sprung into action.Without a second thought about his own safety, he dashed forward. Leaping high into the air, he extended his claws and latched onto the side of Leviathan's neck. That's when he started noticing something was very wrong here. The eyes of the beast were dull and distant, as if the creature's mind wasn't even here in Wutai and off somewhere else. However, it did react in pain to the claws Nanaki sunk into it as it thrashed its massive head about, screeching.

The force of Leviathan swinging its head caused Nanaki to go flying high into the air. Much like a cat though, he managed to twist around in the air and control where he was falling. On all fours, he landed on Leviathan's head. Snarling, he clawed down at the thing's head, still confused about the dulled expression on the animal's face. What was wrong with Leviathan? At the angle he was in, Nanaki couldn't see the metal, electronic device sticking out of Leviathan's upper back where one's shoulders generally would be. A red light blinked on and off, was that device causing Leviathan's madness?

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena nodded to Red XIII as he called out his thanks to her, not bothering to say anything else out loud, mostly because she wasn’t sure if she would be heard over the roars of the monster that were now getting louder and louder as it seemed to get angrier. Another tree fell onto the path further along, before the creature that was causing all this mayhem came into view. Elena’s eyes widened slightly. Leviathan...? Why...? This didn’t make sense, at all. Something wasn’t adding up right here, at all. Of course something like this had to happen when she had been having a relatively nice day so far. Go figure. It was her bad luck kicking in again.

Leviathan, if that was even what it was, was snapping dangerously at a person that hadn’t managed to run away in time. Red XIII took off down the rest of the path, leaping up and onto the creature. Elena was lost for what to do for a moment, before the person that Leviathan had been about to attack stumbled up the path a little. Her more compassionate side took action, and she rushed over to help the woman up the path a little further, at the very least far enough that they could get away safely even if Red XIII couldn’t stop Leviathan.

The woman looked confused at Elena’s actions and she didn’t blame them either. It was clear by her uniform that she was a Turk, and Turks weren’t exactly famous for helping people – in fact, it was quite the opposite. Turks were seen as ShinRa lapdogs; they caused trouble, and weren’t any good to anyone except ShinRa. Elena had to roll her eyes when she heard things like this. Fair enough if it had been said back before Meteor, but now... Now was a completely different story. They were trying to be better, but some people just couldn’t see that yet. Nonetheless, despite all of this, the woman seemed entirely grateful for the help. She wasn’t all that badly injured, just a long cut along her leg was all, but it was enough to make her limp a little so that she was slower than she normally would have been.

Most of the way back up the path now that the woman could move at a faster pace using Elena for support, the woman thanked Elena and the female Turk dashed back down the path, confident that the woman would make it somewhere safe in time. Normally she wouldn’t have left Red XIII on his own, but from what she knew, he could definitely take care of himself. She arrived back at the scene in time to see Red XIII was now on Leviathan’s head, digging his claws in. The roars of the creature were louder, deeper, now and Elena was beginning to feel scared not for herself, but for Red XIII and all the innocent people not far from here that could end up in danger because of this.

Looking up at the beast, something struck Elena as odd, even from this distance. His expression... What was wrong here? She still had her gun in her hand as she stopped where she was, a fair distance from the creature. Aiming at Leviathan’s body, she fired. However, even though the bullet collided with its target, something was very wrong. Leviathan reacted and roared at the pain, but still the expression on the creatures face didn’t change much. What’s going on...?

Now injured and bleeding thanks to the materia-infused bullet she had fired, Leviathan got even more defensive. Shaking it’s head ferociously, it tried to dislodge Red XIII from its head as well as thrashing its body. Elena aimed another shot at the creatures body, but she didn’t get to see if it met with its target or not as Leviathan’s tail seemed to come from practically nowhere, knocking her backwards into a tree, hard. The breath was knocked out of her, and her gun went flying from her hand, landing quite a distance away.

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NOTES !? lol, the Boss Battle Theme from the original FFVII game came on my ipod as I was writing this XD and I’m getting Rod first, posted his app as WIP earlier. He’ll be fun =) We’ll need to help each other get our other charries too! I’ll help you get MAFem if you help me get Legend! XD Also...17 POSTS LEFT !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 670 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

(OOC: Hey, I'm all for it here XD I'll help you any time.)

Nanaki hoped Elena knew what to do with the person Leviathan had tried attacking. Right now, he was doing his best to keep Leviathan from rushing Elena and the previous victim. He would not allow it to harm anyone and would fight until he could no more. He knew that fighting Leviathan wasn't a good idea but he had to. Where he wouldn't be much of a match, he couldn't just allow the creature to do Wutai harm. Why the water god was acting up, Red XIII didn't know.

By the time Elena returned on the scene, Nanaki was relieved of the help. Her gunshots were enough to distract Leviathan from completely focusing on just him. What was really eerie here though was the way Leviathan's eyes looked glazed over. Yes, there definitely was something very fishy going on here and it wasn't the fact Leviathan dwelt in water normally. Something must have happened to him or her. Whatever it was, hopefully they would find out soon enough and end this fight. It was a fight they wouldn't be able to win considering how powerful Leviathan was.

It was depressing to be fighting the water god. Nanaki remembered when he aided them in the past during the Meteor incident. Back then, Nanaki had viewed Leviathan as a good natured spirit. Yet, here he had become something very violent. What could have done this to him or her? He didn't have time to think as Leviathan tried a new tactic of removing Nanaki from its head. Flailing its head around ferociously and thrashing its body about, Nanaki clung on for dear life. It was brain rattling, being swung about like crazy.

Getting a bit dizzy, Nanaki shut his eye to keep himself from looking at the whirling world about him as he hung on as best he could. He knew he wouldn't be able to for much longer. Sure enough, his claws slide free of Leviathan and Red XIII was sent tumbling into the hard ground. Letting out a painful yelp, Nanaki met the ground roughly. Shaking himself from the pain, Nanaki pushed himself back up. Turning around, he saw Elena get hit by Leviathan's tail into a tree. Her gun was sent flying a distance away from her. Seeing the big creature turn its sights on Elena, Nanaki reacted as best he could.

Grabbing onto the tail of Leviathan with his teeth, chomping down hard, he felt himself get whipped into the air abruptly. Leviathan didn't at all like his or her tail being bitten as it wailed in pain. Turning its head to look at Nanaki, it thrashed its tail, hissing at him. Once again, Nanaki found his head getting rattled as the tail swung this way and that. Oddly, he managed to keep his teeth effectively locked onto the tail.

Seeing that he wasn't letting go, Leviathan tried a new tactic as its back was turned to Elena. Lifting its tail high into the air, it brought it down onto the hard ground in attempts to hammer Nanaki to let go. With its back turned, Elena might notice the device sticking out of Leviathan's back. Against the blue scales, the red light attached to a metal-like rod sticking out of it wasn't too hard to notice at this angle. It even blinked a bit which also helped bring attention to it if not noticed at first.

In pain, Nanaki had to let go of the tail at the seventh slam into the hard ground. Leviathan sure could be nasty when it wanted to be. It had poor Red XIII seeing stars as he lay on the ground, dazed.

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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This isn’t right.... Something isn’t right here....

The thoughts kept echoing themselves through Elena’s mind, even before she was knocked into the tree. Something wasn’t adding up here at all, and she was determined to find out what it was. But...could they even do this? It only herself and Red XIII against this thing, and Red XIII probably had more effect on Leviathan than she did. All she really had was her gun, and Red XIII’s attacks were most likely more powerful than that, materia-charged bullets or not. She shook her head at herself. Turks never back down! She wasn’t going to give up. She was a Turk, after all, and Turks never went down without a fight. She was get hurt, or most likely die, defending all those innocent people, but she didn’t care. If she was going to go out, she’d go out fighting.

After being flung into the tree, Elena gasped in both pain and in an effort to breathe. Her ribs hurt like hell now, as did her back. The force with which she had been slammed into the tree had knocked all the breath she had out of her, and she was struggling to regain her breath because of the ache in her lungs and chest. Sure, she had been hurt in her line of work before, and as such she had a relatively high pain threshold, but this... This really hurt. She couldn’t tell right now if that was just due to the strength of Leviathan and how hard he had slammed her into the tree, or if she had broken a rib or worse.

It was difficult to breathe, never mind to move, but Elena done it anyway. She tried to get up, only to gasp and let out a small whimper of pain, which she quickly bit back. No, she wasn’t going to whimper. I’m stronger than that... Gritting her teeth, Elena placed a hand on her stomach and looked up at what was happening. While she had been struggling to move, Red XIII had been knocked to the ground from where he had been perched on Leviathan’s head, before attacking the creature’s tail to stop Leviathan from attacking Elena again. She was really grateful, because she wouldn’t be all that good at defending herself right now.

Elena felt useless, however, as the creature started slamming Red XIII into the ground with its tail, and she couldn’t do anything to help. Gritting her teeth again and bracing herself, Elena used the tree for support and tried to stand up. It took her minute, but she managed to. She was breathing harshly through her nose, before she changed her breathing to taking slow, deep breaths to try and steady herself and to try and help ease the pain. Glancing around frantically, she tried to locate where her gun had fallen. Spotting it quite a few feet away, she braced herself again and started making her way over to where the gun lay.

She grew more frantic to reach the gun as each second passed. Now that Leviathan had turned its back to her, she had a perfect shot at – wait, what was that? There was something on Leviathan’s back. Narrowing her eyes, Elena noticed that it was a device of some sort, and it had a red blinking light and an antenna, which could only mean it was either transmitting something or something was being transmitted to it. Elena’s eyes widened slightly as realization dawned on her. She would have to shoot it and break it, because more than likely, that was the cause for Leviathan acting up like this. A moment later, and she had reached her gun, snatching it up in her right hand from where it lay.

Turning her gaze back to Leviathan just as Red XIII finally let go of the creature’s tail, Elena raised her arm that was holding the gun, placing her left hand on it also to try and help steady her. A few deep breaths was enough for her to stop shaking. She aimed carefully, not wanting to miss, before firing just a second later. After firing the bullet, the pain in her side made her knees feel weak, so she sat down hard on the ground. The bullet hit the device on Leviathan’s back, breaking it, and a fairly loud frazzling sound was heard as well as some visible little bolts of electricity as the device broke.

But while all this was happening, Elena was sitting where she had collapsed on the ground, her hands over the left side of her ribs. She would be feeling relieved about now if it wasn’t for the excruciating pain she felt. It was then that she realised by the feeling on her fingers that her suit jacket was wet where she had her hands. Lifting her hands away, she noticed that they had a little red on them. “O-oh...” She leant back against the tree again with her shoulder for support as another pain shot up her ribs. She was beginning to feel a little light-headed as the adrenalin she had in her system began to start wearing off. She tried to move and stand up properly again, but ended up back on the ground as her legs buckled under the pain and she bit back a yell.

Slowly, she took off her suit jacket to inspect exactly what damage was done to her ribs. Her white shirt was stained with quite a lot of red on the left side. She wasn’t about to take her shirt off, so instead, she ripped it a little up the side, just high enough to see the bottom of her ribs. Elena bit her lip, and paled a little as she looked at her ribcage. It was clear that she had broken at least two or three ribs, but the main problem was that the bone from one of them had pierced through her skin and was sticking out a little. “D-Damn it...” She ripped part of the torn bottom of her shirt off and used it to try and stem the blood flow, wincing at the pain that shot up her side as she did so.

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NOTES !? bleh, sorry this took me a while. And I hope it’s alright ><;; btw, if Elena can get a hold of that device, she can examine it – or, rather, what’s left of it XD !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 1030 (woah, what is going on? lmao, this is my 2nd post over 1000 words today!) !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

(OOC: It's fine and lol sure. She can examine it.)

Nanaki wasn't sure if he was going to make it at this rate. The moment Leviathan hammered him into the ground, Red XIII was seeing stars. He wouldn't be able to get back up in time with the world spinning around him now. Seeing that its prey was now almost disabled, Leviathan slithered toward Nanaki threateningly, fangs bared. It leered down at him, lifting its body up to prepare for one final strike. A strike it intended to snuff out the life of this red and orange creature who dared challenge it.

By the time Nanaki started coming too, he shook his head and looked up. Leviathan was above him, about to strike down at him. All Red XIII could do was look up in surprise. What else could he do? He knew he wouldn't be able to move in time. It was to Nanaki's relief that something else distracted Leviathan. It came in the form of a shot to its turned back. Letting out a painful wail, Leviathan's body became submerged in electricity. What was going on? Carefully, Nanaki lifted his head to look over at Elena.

She had gotten back to her feet and had been the one to shoot the water god. If it hadn't been for her, Nanaki would've been killed. As Leviathan thrashed around, Nanaki watched as some sort of particles flew this way and that from the serpentine creature. What was that? Pushing himself up, unsteadily, Nanaki backed away as Leviathan flailed around. When the electricity had ceased, the creature slumped to the ground, eyes closed as its breaths came in shallow gasps. The water god was unconscious and didn't look like it would be much of a threat to them now.

Keeping his guard up, Nanaki sniffed the air. Leviathan was certainly out cold. Relieved, Nanaki let out a sigh before wincing. He was banged up pretty good but nothing like Elena. He could smell her blood in the air as he turned to look at her. Seeing her examine her injury, he winced. She had a bone sticking out judging by what he saw sticking out. Wandering over, Red XIII stopped short when his paw touched what looked to be the remains of what was once a transmitter. Picking it up in his mouth, he brought it over to Elena and set it before her.

"Thank you for your help. I found that on the ground that came from Leviathan...do you need help getting back for those wounds?" he asked her politely.

(OOC: Sorry this is small. Gotta zip off to college now. See ya later today, Elena. ^_^)[/size][/blockquote]

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena tried to keep her breathing as slow and steady as possible, but those attempts always ended up pierced with hitched breaths and whispered curses. She glanced up at Red XIII as he made his way over. He looked pretty battered and bruised, but he wasn’t badly injured, which just proved her earlier thoughts about how much stronger Red XIII was compared to her. If it hadn’t been for her gun, and her excellent marksmanship, Leviathan would still have been rampaging, and they would have both have been goners, as well as the people nearby. Even still, she kept a wary eye on Leviathan as she pressed the ripped part of her shirt to her ribs.

“Thank you for your help.”

Elena nodded at Red XIII as best she could and said, “Don’t mention it.” A low hiss escaped her lips as she shifted where she sat so that her leg wasn’t trapped under herself anymore. The piece of torn shirt that she was holding over the wound wouldn’t be much use for very much longer, considering it was now getting soaked in blood. She wasn’t bleeding heavily, but she was bleeding enough that she was a little concerned. She would probably have to either get back to town and see if there was anywhere there that could help her, or call Tseng, and get him to send a chopper out to Wutai for her.

The original plan for the mission had been that she might stay overnight at an Inn and then a chopper would come and get her tomorrow, because with it being winter, it was getting dark earlier in the day now. If she could, she wanted to stay here until tomorrow like arranged, because she didn’t want to be a pain to Tseng or any of the others, considering it would probably be Reno that was piloting whatever chopper came to get her. If there was a doctor somewhere near, then she would just see them instead, and with some materia and some potions she would be right as rain, she was sure.

“I found that on the ground that came from Leviathan...”

”I could t-take a look at it and s-see if I can find out exactly what i-it is,” she said, her breath hitching quite a bit as she left one hand holding the torn piece of her shirt to her ribs and the other reached out for the device that Red XIII had dropped onto the ground. There wasn’t much left to it thanks to the bullet hitting it in the middle, but there could be something that would give them a clue as to what this thing had been doing, how it had been doing it, or who had made it. Elena was definitely curious to know. She would have to ask Rude or Rod to take a look at it when she got back to HQ, because as much as she was quite good with some stuff like this, they were better, if not the best that the Turks had in that area of expertise.

“Do you need help getting back for those wounds?”

Elena shook her head. She may have been injured, but she didn’t want to have to rely on Red XIII for help. He probably just wanted to leave, and she wasn’t about to stop him from doing it if he really wanted to. After all, the fight was over now. He was AVALANCHE, she was a Turk, and it had been clear by their interaction before all of this happened that Red XIII found it awkward to be around her because she was a Turk. Sure, she had been awkward around him too, but that was because she felt bad for what the company she worked for had done to him. No, the company she used to work for. ShinRa was different now, and Rufus was trying to atone for all the bad things ShinRa had done before.

Trembling slightly, she tried to get back onto her feet. “No, I’ll be fi – aah!” She bit her lip too late to keep the noise of pain escaping. Leaning heavily against the tree, she couldn’t stand up straight. She was hunched slightly over, both because of the pain and because if she straightened up, the rib that had pierced her skin would just pull and it would be agony. Sighing, her shoulders sagged slightly as she admitted defeat. “Yeah, I guess I could use the help getting back.” The pain was making her head spin now and her legs feel weak. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to stay upright much longer.

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NOTES !? the reason I wanted Elena to get it, would be because I wanna use it for something and Rude and Rod are looking at it in their posts in the Reno plot thread lol !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 769 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

(OOC: Lol. Okies.)

Nanaki could sense the pain Elena must've been going through. He wasn't as bad a shape as she was but he could sympathize. That and he was attempting to be friendly. The Turks were no longer his enemy. Sure, it felt awkward speaking to them or running into them but things were different now. He didn't have to be afraid of her trying to take him in or fighting him. She wasn't even in the condition to do so. Her wounds were quite obvious now that he smelled the scent of the blood.

Leviathan really hurt her, it seemed. Possibly, she had gotten a few broken ribs. The red lion-wolf could've easily tried to kill her right then and there but he didn't. Red XIII knew the Turks were trying to atone for their past actions. In the long run, it had only been their job to go after him and his friends in the past because of their orders. Knowing that, he didn't hold much of a grudge against them. If anything, he knew enough to give respect to one that showed him respect. Elena was an honorable person.

He tilted his head to the side a bit when she took the device. Listening to what she was saying, Nanaki nodded. "Would you, please? I do not like the looks of this machine. It makes me wonder if there might be more to this than expected." Despite how awkward Nanaki had felt earlier, that fight made it go away for the most part. He was able to interact with Elena on a more normal level. Able to think beyond the past. That and after what she had done, Nanaki could see that she was a Turk to respect.

Elena was a warrior too, in his eyes. Anyone that showed such bravery despite the odds deserved to be called one. Hearing the stutter of pain in Elena's voice and seeing the way she had nodded, Nanaki could tell that she really needed help. Out of the members of AVALANCHE, Nanaki was probably one of the more honorable ones and one of the ones more likely to aid a person in need regardless of who they were. Seeing her suffer the way she did reminded him of the animals he had to put out of their misery.

Of course, he would never do that to any living being if he could help it. However, despite that he had to put a few out of their misery in his time. Taking his mind off of that thought, he watched as Elena attempted to get up and leave. Saying that she would be fine only to cry out in pain. Nanaki stood up fully again. Where he was banged up, he wasn't unable to do anything to help her. Seeing the tell tale signs of defeat, he walked over to her as she spoke.

Standing nearby her, he looked ahead at their destination. One part of Wutai was just down the path they had come. "If you wish, you can either lean on me or ride my back. I might be hurt but I think I can still lift you." He wasn't trying to be boastful or prideful here, he was just stating a fact. For her aid, he would return the favor. He was a great warrior, just like his father before him and a good person...er beast...er, something!

[Elena]

the - DEDICATED - turk
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Elena’s attempts to even out her breathing were failing quite miserably now, as with each passing second, the pain was growing more and more. It was just typical that things like this always happened to her. She was a ‘walking disaster’, as her father had once said, because she was so clumsy, and she also seemed to just have general bad luck with these kinds of things. Eight or nine times out of ten, if one of the Turks was injured on a mission or got into serious trouble, it was her. It always had been. Frankly, she was growing tired of it, but having bad luck was hardly something she could help, because she didn’t know what was going to happen next or what position she was going to be in.

“Would you, please? I do not like the looks of this machine. It makes me wonder if there might be more to this than expected.”

Nodding her head slightly, Elena agreed with what Red XIII was saying. There was definitely something very off about this, and most likely there was more to it than met the eye. There had to be, because if this device had really been controlling Leviathan, then someone had obviously had to place it on the creatures back to begin with. What motive could someone have possibly had for this….? A heavy frown twisted her pretty features as she looked down at the device she now held in her hand. “I’m w-wondering the same thing,” she answered slowly, shifting slightly where she sat as another pain shot up her side.

Keeping one hand on her ribs and still holding the torn piece of shirt there, she turned the device over and looked over it with her eyes for the moment. She knew a fair amount about mechanics and electronics, of course, as it had been part of her training at the Military Academy, but it really would be best if Rod or Rude took a look at it. They knew a lot more than she did, plus they had more experience, especially Rod from what she knew. He’d had the reputation of being somewhat of a mechanical whiz around ShinRa, after all. Plus, with the amount of damage that had been done to it by the bullet, the whole middle of the device being practically destroyed, it would be better if someone who really knew what they were doing took a look at it, because they would be more likely to figure it out.

“If you wish, you can either lean on me or ride on my back. I might be hurt but I think I can still lift you.”

Elena blinked and looked at Red XIII from her slightly hunched over position against the tree. She was grateful for the offer, but she almost felt like she should change her mind and decline again. But that was most likely just her pride as a Turk speaking. She shook her head slightly before speaking. “I-I’ll just lean on you,” she stuttered out between pained breaths. She felt like riding on his back would be like an insult to him, or be degrading, so she wasn’t about to say yes to that, even if he had been the one to offer that in the first place. She didn’t want to be too much of a burden, but there was no practically no way to avoid this now. She needed to get back into the town and get her injuries treated.

Part of her couldn’t believe she was doing this. Elena’s pride as a Turk was hard to overcome, but when it came down to it, she couldn’t get back on her own without help, unless she just wanted to stay where she was, but that way her injuries would get even worse, and she could end up losing too much blood, if she wasn’t careful. The torn piece of her shirt was only doing so much to steam the blood flow, and the material in her hand was now completely red and soaked with her blood. Her head was beginning to spin a little and she felt slightly dizzy. This isn’t good….

It took her a moment, but she managed to get enough of a bearing on herself and her surroundings long enough to let go of the tree. Elena winced as more pain shot up her side, and her head began to throb. Gritting her teeth, she took a step forward and placed a hand on Red XIII’s back to steady herself again before her knees decided to just give out from under her. She tried taking steady, even breaths again to help, but it wasn’t working very well.

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NOTES !? sorry this took me a while, and I hope it’s alright. Let me know if you want me to add something more, but I thought you could get us back into the town? ^^; !?
STATUS !? finished !?
TAGGED !? nanaki !?
WORDS !? 799 !?
OUTFIT !? turk uniform !?

[Red XIII]

The Great Warrior
"It's the way of the warrior."

Nanaki felt it would be wise to investigate the device. Where he couldn't on his own, despite his huge intelligence, Nanaki had faith the humans would be able to figure it out. The Turks, he figured would be able to tell what it was for. They were around gadgets a lot and had access to all sorts of things within Shinra...or what had been left of Shinra. Nanaki wasn't sure if the electric power company had risen back to its former glory or not. He had been far too busy traveling the world to pay things like that any mind. That and Shinra no longer bothered him. He no longer had qualms with them for now.

"I unfortunately cannot inspect these human devices myself anyway. I figured I'd leave it to you and your fellow humans. It could be a ploy of some kind." Yes, it could be a scheme for something. What it was, he didn't have a clue. All he knew was, it was the right thing to start having it checked out when he could. Considering the rumors of portals, Nanaki didn't like the idea of another planet's beings meddling in their's. Gaia didn't need other beings messing with it.

If it came down to it, Red XIII would fight to defend his home and his friends. He would not allow off worlders to cause trouble here. If they were nice, then that was a different story. It was just the bad beings Nanaki would rather do without. He had enough issues with Sephiroth in the past, he didn't need another one or a much worse one than that. Hopefully, there couldn't be anyone as bad as Sephiroth out there. Still, it was a faint hope. He just hoped the portal rumors weren't true. He doubted that though.

Now, it was time to move on. Looking at Elena, he could smell the blood. It was a very pungent and strong scent. Luckily for her, he wasn't the type to prey on humans and had intelligence enough to know that it wasn't nice to eat one. Not that he'd ever want to eat one anyways...well, except maybe Hojo. Red XIII attacked him in the past but somehow the old geezer survived. Then, they had eliminated him for good during the Meteor incident. Nanaki had no clue that the scientist who experimented on him was actually alive once more.

Once he offered to help Elena, he could see the mental struggle she was having. Hearing her words, he guessed it had to be the Turk pride. Well, if she wanted to be that way, then it was fine. He wouldn't force her into something she didn't want to do. However, if it soon meant her life then he would do it regardless. Right now, he could sense enough life in her to survive right now but it was ebbing away very slowly. Her blood was causing that problem for her. He could smell it.

"Alright but do not feel hesitant to do so if you need to. I've four legs, I can move much faster in times of emergency and wouldn't mind helping you." He meant it too. After she had helped him, he no longer felt awkward around her. Elena was a good person. True, she was dedicated to the Turks but it was clear she was turning over a new leaf. Nanaki would accept that fact and was civil enough to treat her with respect in turn. Elena was an honorable warrior and one he could see doing good.

"One step at a time!" he told her gently, letting her lean on him as he supported her weight. He could hear the labored breathing and wonder if she really wanted to go through this. Unfortunately, she dropped to her knees, breathing as steady as she could. "Please, if you feel you cannot go through with this, don't feel ashamed to ride my back. I do not mind it." Of course he didn't. Yuffie, Cait Sith and even Shelke rode his back a few times. Even Denzel and Marlene. The younglings always loved it when he gave them rides.