Caught inside this tidal wave [Repa]

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa was keeping herself from spilling the fact that she was indeed royalty as well. He’d figure it out soon enough right? “You do that…it’s pretty cool to see how at least this family runs things…they’re very down to earth…at least that’s my opinion…” She said with a shrug and a small smile before laughing at what Zack said about ending up in prison. “I don’t think you’ll be thrown in prison for treating someone normally….but if push comes to shove and you do end up in prison…I’ll be sure to bail you out.” She said with a small laugh, almost thinking it was probably a good time to go now, she didn’t want to be away from Gaia that long, she was keeping tabs on PSICOM figuring out what they were doing and making sure they didn’t have anything on Cloud’s whereabouts for the time being.

Not many people really gave Repa the respect that they gave say…the king or Josh, her brother. They didn’t like her all that much due to the fact that she had ‘weird’ powers and was able to do things that they as normal people couldn’t. It was either jealousy or fear that they had of her, one thing Repa hated about being royalty, it was like being a celebrity, everybody knew everything about you, nothing was a secret anymore…unless you weren’t there, and that is one of the reasons why she ran off from home in the first place, with very few visits back home she was no longer a topic of conversation or even mentioned at all…almost as if she never existed…that’s how she wanted it.

Getting past destroying Gaia…yep, that was stage 1 of proceeding to the future. “Yeah, exactly…but we’re running out of time to get any sort of plan in order...” Repa said looking off to the side…even if they were running out of time…they’d still be able to get a large chunk of Gaia evacuated right? That’d be better than nothing…that is if they had permission from her own world for all this. Repa just smiled wide when Zack said she’d given him hope…she knew the feeling of losing hope, she was doing that as well until today. Actually talking to someone about it, revealing her idea and getting a good response from it…made her think this could actually be pulled off and Cloud would gain that Eternal Life he deserved. “Hope is what we need right now…if we are to proceed forward with this…we need a positive outlook no matter how grim and dark the current times may seem.” She said with a confirming nod before drawing back to these…Cie’th monster things that had attacked Reno and Zack.

Enhanced eh? Was that ALL SOLDIER’s? They seemed to be able to handle practically everything, but that was probably best if they were fighting against the unthinkable. “Hmm…we’ll at least nothing was severely broken as far as you have stated…I’ve never seen one of those creatures before but from what I’ve read and heard…they’re vicious…and they get HUGE.” She said almost imagining it in her mind. Just standing there staring up at a giant Cie’th that was probably 10 times the size of her…okay maybe not that big but still big enough to crush her in one punch. “Have you seen any lately?” She asked raising an eyebrow, wondering why she hadn’t seen any wandering around Gaia while she was here…maybe it was a brief thing that happened when PSICOM started flooding into Edge. “Alright…if anything pops up that might effect this Cloud situation…let me know…I’m here to help.” She said with a small salute and a smile before finally heading to Delatorr…home.

The snow was pretty and wonderful! Repa was enjoying herself as she ran through it. The snow being probably knee deep on her made her have to almost jump each step she took through the snow, and the best part was…it wasn’t really all that cold, but the snow stayed, it’d take awhile to melt if it was going to. Heading towards the castle Repa felt something cold and wet hit her smack dab in the back. She stopped in her steps and turned around slowly to see Zack just laughing and claiming a point for himself…so he couldn’t resist the all time childish thing…snowball. Repas eyes narrowed as mischievous smile crossed her face. She pointed at Zack. “Cheap shot!” She said before clawing her own lump of snow and forming it into a ball before closing one eye for aim and throwing it as if she were a baseball pitcher. Aiming for his chest Repa then instantly pulled snow together again for another snowball. “This means war!”

Words: 946
Muse: Great
Notes: lol cheap shot....WAR!!

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

Your gonna be my…Living Legacy.

At least she would bail him out, “Thanks Repa, you can be my backup plan!” But that entire subject was dropped then, end of story, he did want to meet them though. He just nodded to most of what she said, it all made sense, but not really much was left in the conversation at that point. He did answer back about the cie'th monsters. “Yeah, they were pretty huge, but no, I haven't seen any since that day. It was the same time we found a portal, could they have come out of that?” He shrugged, “Will do.”

Then they were on her home world. The snow made him so childish, and he was still laughing like an idiot when snowballs seemed to come out of every angle and creamed him in the face and chest. “HEY!” He shouted out in response to her cheap shot yell. Leaning down, he scooped snow up and pressing it in his chest, made a huge snowball. Cocking his arm back, he threw it at her, laughing as he did so. This was the life! No matter that he was now wet on his chest and face from the snowballs that had splattered him. War?! He laughed at that, the look on his face was pure evil.

“War?! You're SOO Going down!” He shouted out before instantly reaching for another snowball. This made him happy, he hadn't laughed this much since he was brought back out of the lifestream. It had all been heavy stuff, everyone was worried about Cloud and the l'cie. It was nice...getting to relax and laugh, throw a few snowballs and not freak out about everything. Yeah...it felt good. He liked Repa, she was fun, and happy, he would consider her a friend and he hadn't known her for longer then a half an hour. Yet she felt like the sister he had never had. Like he had told her, he had wanted to be part of a big family, or have a big family.

Kneeling down, he scooped up snow and made himself a row of snowballs. Finally, lifting them up, he had about 6 snowballs in his arms. Smirking, he was about to throw them at her when suddenly another snowball hit him directly in the face. Sputtering, he wiped the snow out of his eyes and blinked a few times. He then threw the snowballs at her one right after another. This was exactly what he visioned having a family to be like. In the background the white castle. He hadn't had a time like this, to be a 'kid' again forever, since before he had left to join SOLDIER.

Words: 556
Muse: meh
Notes: none

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa giggled a bit, at least Zack wasn’t the type to hover over all the doom and gloom, she had to admit Cloud had the moments where he just sat there and emoed for awhile. Zack seemed very cheery and liked to look on the brighter side of things…that was fantastic…finally switching it up a little bit. Switching from one subject to the next, Repa listened about the Cie’th At least they weren’t around now, perhaps those portals…of they even came from those, perhaps they closed up? Repa shifted her eyes downwards as she looked deep in thought. It was a logical explanation, she’d heard people mumbling about these ‘swirling masses’ around the area awhile back. That was the best answer she could give. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that’s how those monsters got here…it seems to be the only answer I can come up with…that doesn’t sound stupid at least.” She said with a small shrug before the moment of pure immaturity hit.

As she had thrown her first two snowballs they made direct hits. Success! Repa smiled wide as she started forming another snowball in her hands, trying to form it into the most perfect sphere as she waited for her own hit. She grinned as she watched the snowball get closer, she ducked down and watched it fly over her head and she pointed at Zack. “Ha! You missed!” She gloated before throwing another snowball at him. “Just because you’re a SOLDIER doesn’t mean I can’t win the battle!” She called before keeping her knees bent, able to avoid the snowballs when least expected, this was fun, unexpected but really fun. She mentally thanked him for that cheap shot which initiated this snowball fight.

Zack was probably doing the smart thing…making the ammunition and saving it before firing it off. Repa noticed that and started to worry a bit…she’d have to take some serious cover here in a second or two. She started think quick and realized…well she probably lost. Quickly she started packing snow together into a tiny fort in front of her before crouching down behind it with her knees almost sitting in the snow. Her eyes peeked over the fort as she got ready. But another one of her snowballs had hit him in the face and she made the mistake of shooting up and laughing a bit. A smile stretched across her face as she continued to laugh, even if she got hit with cold wet snow, she hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time. Speaking of getting hit with snowballs…as she shot up she then was ambushed by snowballs. One hit her in the side of the head as she cringed away, still laughing, another the stomach, the legs, arms, everywhere. All six of them hit her and after they stopped hitting her she smiled and started taking a few steps back towards the castle. “Retreat! Retreat!” She called to her little ‘snowball army’ as the snow got less deep being replaced by a marble-like stone under her feet…a bridge leading over a river that cut in front of the castle.

Repa stopped and placed both hands on her hips as she stared across the bridge and at the doors. A smile still on her face as she was getting over her few moments of pure joy and the feeling of being free of stress. It all started to come back as she sighed a bit, feeling the water soak into her clothes made her shiver a bit for a brief second before she turned back to face Zack. “Next time…I promise you, I will totally win. I’ll have a fort and get you when you least expect it.” She said with a mischievous smile on her face before waving him forward. “Ready to go inside? I’m sure it’s A LOT warmer in there…” she said putting her gloved hands in her jacket pockets…which were wet but it was much better than exposing them to the cold wind. “Of course next time…I think a few more layers is needed…or I just might freeze to death.”

Words: 820
Muse: Good
Notes: Who doesn't love a good snowball fight?

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

"Boy oh Boy, the price for freedom is steep."

The funny thing was, Zack and Cloud were nothing alike. It seemed that most best friends were like that. The complete opposites of each other. Zack was fun, upbeat and hyper while Cloud was quiet, depressed and didn't show what he was really feeling ninety nine percent of the time. Still, they were best friends, as odd as it seemed. Cloud meant more to him then almost anyone on Gaia, except for Aerith of course. He was soaking wet and shook his fist at her when she ducked his giant snowball. She thought she was going to win?! Over his dead body! This was the first snowball fight he had been in for years, he wasn't going to let a woman beat him. No way! But the snow on his face and chest were a tribute to just how good her aim was. Where had she learned to throw like that anyway? She did have a brother, was that it? But at any rate, she had gained his respect for her snowball tossing abilities. “In your dreams Repa!” He shouted back to her telling him that she was gonna win.

He watched her make a hurriedly build fort and felt another wave of respect for her tactics. That was a good idea, and when she ducked down she presented almost no target. But she made one mistake. That was enough, he sent all six of his snowballs headed right for her as she sat there laughing at him. Score! Every one of his snowballs hit and it was his turn to laugh at her now. He snickered and joined in to full out laughter as she yelled retreat. He ran after her as they stopped at bridge that seemed to lead to the castle. He stopped for a second, wrapping his hands around the railing of the bridge and looking down, it was so beautiful here. He smiled down at the river, not quite frozen and wished he had a camera to take pictures.

He shook his head, “No way girly, your so goin down at our rematch!” He said with a mischievous grin and a wink in her direction. He noticed the cold then just a bit when she mentioned that they should go inside. “Nah, my idea of a fun time is staying outside in cold weather with wet clothes and freezing to death.” He answered jokingly, trying to keep the spirit alive. He didn't want to have to face reality again. Just a few seconds of being happy had made him never want to go back to the depressing thought of facing reality. Why couldn't everything ever actually work out for them anyway? He glanced up and down at her clothes and felt a bit bad that he had splattered her with snow. Looking down at himself though, he wasn't any warmer dressed. He still had his typical SOLDIER 1st class uniform on. No long sleeves that was for sure. Although it was probably warmer then what Repa had on, just thin jeans and a shirt. “Yeah, we should go inside and you should definitely change!”

He shrugged and walked across the bridge then, toward the white castle in the background. “I guess I'm not exactly presentable looking to see this King of yours, think he'll notice that I'm soaked to the skin? He wouldn't by chance be like...blind or anything right? Because I've gotta admit, that would be great.” Of course he didn't know that it was Repa's dad either...probably shouldn't be cracking lame jokes about the dad and king of the land, but he in his oblivious way didn't even think about that. He couldn't take his eyes off the castle, it was just like he had learned about in school only so much more...white? No, that wasn't the right word...but he couldn't come up with a better one so he just stuck with that.

Words: 775
Muse: good
Notes: NOBODY CAN!!!

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa was starting to build up a good tactic here. Duck, aim, fire, duck again. It was starting to work really. Especially once she built that mini fort to shield herself. In fact, right about then she felt like a genius, and that she was going to win this snowball fight, but alas, that feeling did not last for long when she felt the need to jump up and gloat some more. She was then attacked by the snowballs and left with nothing to celebrate about, except for the fun that was just had, even if it was for only a few minutes, it was still enjoyable and she was sure to remember it…especially when it came time for that rematch. “Oh no, you win this time…I’ll be sure to sneak attack you next time. It should boost my chances of winning.” She said proudly as she cold hair picked up a bit to a light breeze, which made everything more…COLD. She shivered a bit, but only briefly every few seconds, it wasn’t constant, trying to survive the elements…well it wasn’t easy.

“That’s your idea of fun?” Repa paused for a moment as she looked around and down the bridge. Oh how the warmth of the indoors was so close. “Well…you have fun out here I’m gonna go inside and see if I can’t find a fire to sit on.” She said with a large grin starting off across the bridge and towards the castle doors. Zack probably had a good idea right there, get inside and change. Which she could, her personal room wasn’t too far off once you entered the Castle, but he still didn’t know she was a princess, so for now a blanket would do perhaps? “That’s a good idea.” She commented before placing one hand on one of the double doors and waiting as Zack said he didn’t look…presentable. She then looked down at her own attire and back at Zack. “Well….he’d not blind but I don’t think he’ll mind.” Of course Repa knew better, but despite their attire, the cold was just about to get even worse, and with that she opened the door and walked in, instantly feeling the satisfaction of heat.

Walking inside she looked around in awe as the Christmas decorations were still up. The entrance had a set of stairs going in two directions and in the middle was a hall that led to a series of doors. A red-carpet let you either up/down the stairs or to each of the doors. “Wow…this place really knows how to decorate.” She said looking at all the lights that were up and everything. After taking a brief moment to look at all the pretty decorations, Repa then closed the front door after Zack made it in. “Presentable or not….you ready?” She said looking straight forward at one door and letting her eyes shift to the next. This would be the most difficult part for her, not trying to convince her father of letting a ton of people stay here…but explaining to Zack her title…why she hadn’t said anything and just played along as ‘non-royalty’…she wasn’t looking forward to it. But on the plus side…Josh should be around here somewhere…oh he better be ready for the smack down that awaited him!

With a deep heavy sigh, Repa then started walking forward, taking the lead since she knew where she was going. She walked across this huge entrance and towards a door that was off to the left, it wasn’t as large as the one if you kept going straight, it lead to the ballroom. This one led to the chambers of the King, where he would reside during the day unless he had some public thingy to do. Stopping at the dark oak door Repa looked back at Zack and smiled a bit before opening the door and peeking her head in, she said a few words and then was allowed full access, she opened the door wide and walked in. “Zack…I want you to meet Richard Raines…King of Delatorr.” Perhaps Zack would piece the puzzle together then…she had after all mentioned her last name when she introduced herself. Or did he overlook that?


Words: 833
Muse: Good
Notes: None

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

Your gonna be my…Living Legacy.

Zack shook his head and nodded when Repa asked if that was his idea of fun. “Heck yeah, who wouldn't want to freeze to death?!” He stuck tongue out and winked at her, before nudging her on the arm. “And I'm dead serious about that, don't think I'm joking!” He gave her a kind of wide eyed look when she said she needed to go find a fire to sit on. “Hey that might not be such a good idea...I mean...think of the smoke smell.” Speaking sarcastically, he completely 'forgot' to mention the fact that she would be cooking herself alive. He knew that there probably wasn't a way to change clothes. Although she did mention her brother Josh, maybe there was a chance that he was here and was miraculously the same size as Zack was. Probably not, Zack was taller then most people, even men at his 6.2 height. Knowing his luck the guy would be 5 feet, no way to fit into dry clothes then. He just shrugged then, his clothes were fine, besides, he would feel out of place if he didn't have on his SOLDIER uniform. He had after all, been wearing uniforms like this one since he was 13 years old. Besides, it gave him a great range of motion while he was fighting.

When they walked in the doors Zack felt the heat and rubbed his hands together in appreciation for it. Then his eyes caught the inside. He nodded his head, “Haven't seen decoration like this in a lifetime.” He said, agreeing with what she had said. When they got to the door Zack just shrugged, “Ready as I'll ever be, that is...if I don't leave a puddle on the floor.” Now that was an exaggeration, he wasn't THAT wet. Nodding, he followed her inside and stood as they neared a man that Repa introduced as Richard Raines...wait a minute! Hadn't she said her own name was Raines?! One thing Zack was good at, remembering names. In the business he had been in, he had to remember everyone and everything. Some thought him oblivious, and granted, he could be, but he was actually quite observant. Eyes widened a bit, he wasn't that good at remembering to keep his emotions masked, and he suddenly went almost cross eyed as he remembered the crack about the king being blind. That had been her dad he was talking about.

He stood there for a second, not even thinking about the fact that Repa hadn't told him she was royalty. “Oh my god, I completely cracked a joke about your da-” A bright red flush worked its way up his neck as he backtracked and remembered that they were standing by the KING of an entire world. Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, he glanced from Repa to the king and then back again before finally settling on the King. “I mean...uh...heya you're majesty.” Yup, that right there was completely Zack, saying 'Heya' to a King. Was he supposed to solute him or something? Kneel down? He had no idea, so he just stood there, completely conscious of the wet clothes that were on him. He shot a look at Repa pleading for help to smooth over his blabbering and to tell him what to do. True to his word, Zack had treated the King like a normal person alright, now he was acutely aware of he fact that the guy could throw him in the stockades and torture him, maybe shave him bald. Now THAT would be really bad!

Scrounging around in his head for something right to say to the King, he ended up saying the first thing that came to mind. “Man I gotta tell ya, your castle is great!” He resisted the urge to smack himself in the forehead, that was definitely not the right thing to say. Now that he had affectively made himself out to be dumb, Zack ran a hand through his hair and made a mental note not to be quite so open and honest in front of the King. Probably not a good idea. He also realized his sword was hanging from his back, would the guy be mad about the whole weapon thing? He shifted his eyes to the door, calculating just how fast he could get outta the place if he needed to. 2.4 seconds would about do it. Ok, not so bad, he could do that.

Words: 880
Muse: good
Notes: haha he made such a fool out of himself ^_^

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Who wouldn’t want to freeze to death? Repa blinked for a second before raising her hand a little with a smirky smile before he nudged her. “Oh don’t you worry, I totally believe you…freezing to death, it sounds like SO much fun.” She said with shifty eyes a bit. “Okay so maybe not sit ON a fire…that might hurt, but then again…if I’m this cold I don’t think I would mind.” She said keeping her hands in her wet pockets trying to keep warm before heading inside to the nice warm heat, though the wet clothes didn’t exactly help much…she’d change soon after some introductions were in order.

On the inside it was so warm. “They usually do something nice for the holidays…it’s really scary around Halloween time.” She said with a smile and hid a giggle, it was just hard to keep this little secret hidden. With a deep breath at the door Repa had slunk her way inside before opening the door all the way to let Zack in. “Here you go.” She whispered before introducing her father…the king. The look on Zack’s face said it all, he had put the pieces together and realized what Repa didn’t mention. The expression on his face made Repa want to giggle but felt it wouldn’t be nice to laugh right about now. She simply placed a hand towards her mouth and held that laugh on the inside as she cut her eyes over to her father, sitting behind a large dark desk and smiling as he had his hands folded across the desk.

Oh how this was so entertaining. When Zack started talking about the joke he made but cut himself off and said ‘heya’. Richard Raines nodded a bit at Zack and continued to sit in his chair. When Repa got that pleading look from Zack and she did decide to step in. “Dad, this is my friend Zack Fair…he’s from Gaia, the place I’ve been staying lately.” She said as she stood off to the side. The king nodded a bit at Zack and chuckled at his way of saying ‘hey’. He was rather laid back and thought this amusing, in fact, he didn’t mind any of this. He stood up from his chair and walked around the desk extending a hand in Zack’s direction to shake hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fair, any friend of Repa’s is welcome in our home.” Repa then smiled from where she was standing and took a step forward. “Now that introductions are done…perhaps…uh its best that we change…” She said still feeling cold from the wet clothes, though the snowball fight was worth it. “Is Josh here?” Repa said turning towards her father. “Might check his room…if not then he’s out at the academy working with some of the younger troops, now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few things to attend to.” He said before exiting the room.

Repa stood there for a second letting her eyes shift around the room before settling on Zack. “Well there’s always later to talk about moving all the Gaia people here…” She said hoping nothing would be said about her title and not saying anything. So with a wide grin she rubbed the back of her head. Might as well say something now. “Perhaps…I uh…forgot to mention that I was a princess?” She said sheepishly with a nervous laugh. On that lovely note, perhaps it would be a good idea to change instead of sitting here and getting sicker by the second. “See that wasn’t so bad? He’s a really nice guy actually…just…busy.” She said with a shrug heading towards the door.


Words: 761
Muse: Meh, for being sick it was okay
Notes: None

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

Your gonna be my…Living Legacy.

Zack continued to stand and managed to clean up his act when the King stood and walked toward him. Zack stopped rubbing the back of his neck and extended his hand to shake with the King. His hand clasped with Richards and he met his eye with his own clear blue ones. Giving a little nod, he calmed down and tried to focus on the thing at hand. He was now in front of the King of an entire world. Ok, he got that down, Zack had never been in front of royalty before, but he had been in front of the president many times, so he just straitened up to his full height and shook hands. “Yes Sir, thank you Mr...uh King sir.” He gave him another sheepish smile and shrugged, “I'll enjoy myself here for sure.”

Zack put his hands behind his head and walked over toward where a big window stood looking proudly over the land. He was more relaxed now, not so hyperventilating. He smiled out the window, the land was beautiful, the snow with the land stretching out behind it. Repa had said that there was a civil war going on, he could imagine why everyone wanted to own the land. But he turned back around, his hands still behind his head and watched the father and daughter converse. He felt a tug at his heart when he did so. He hadn't seen his family since he was 13, and now they were gone. He wished then that he had gone to visit them...even just once in the years that had passed. He had tried to that one time...but Cissnei had warned him about the army. He would have been taken in then, but maybe that would have been better. He had sent them some a few letters, but he wished he could take it all back and go to visit them. Now that it was to late he realized his mistake. Maybe that was the reason he wanted just a big family, because he hated being alone now. He felt his arms leave the back of his head and fall to his sides. Eyes went down as he swallowed hard and tried to forget about his neglect to his parents. Cloud and his party had gone to see them once on their journey to stop Sephiroth...he wished he could have been with them...

He came back to reality when the King took his leave and left. Zack nodded to him, trying to brighten up and forget about the past. Repa thankfully brought some distraction when she admitted to being the princess. He immediately thought about her dad and smacked a hand against his forehead. “Hell yeah you forgot! Here I was making cracks about the king and...” He trailed off. Shrugging his shoulders, he looked at her, “Hey I forgive you for making me look like an idiot just now.” with a wink he crossed his arms, “But I think whupping your butt at another snowball fight would make it up to me.”

He followed her to the door, “Well is there anything else you'd like to mention? Like maybe...uh...your brother is actually an alien that fell to the planet? No? Alright then.” He said with a laugh as he walked after her out the door. “And yeah, he's a nice guy, didn't even take me to prison and shave me bald for not showing the proper respect.” He realized what he said and his eyes crossed again, he could just imagine the look Repa was going to give him. “Er...scratch that, forget I said the last line.” He said with another sheepish smile. “Ok so where to now?”

Words: 743
Muse: good
Notes: None

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa let her eyes stay on Zack then her father and back and forth, just seeing what was going on. It seemed that Zack was starting to not act all weird anymore, which was a good thing, but by the look on Richard Raines’ face he didn’t seem to mind. So with that thought in mind, Repa smiled from where she stood and held back a laugh as Zack went all ‘mr…uh King sir.’ It was almost too hilarious, and she held it in knowing that later she might explode from wanting to laugh so hard. “You can call my Mr. Raines…or Richard, whichever you prefer.” Repa’s father said to Zack with a grin before taking his leave for some other business to attend to. After they were alone Repa just couldn’t hold it in anymore and she burst out laughing. As she continued to laugh she sat on a couch that was in the room so she didn’t fall over or try to walk and trip or something stupid like that.

Waiting for Zack to say something, Repa toned down her laugh to a few giggles at a time before she got up from the couch and folded her hands behind her back, a smile twitching on the corners of her mouth to keep her from laughing again. She couldn’t help but snicker silently when Zack finally said something, sure she should’ve mentioned something before, but where was the fun in that? She had to admit this was an entertaining day for her. She smiled sheepishly and shrugged a bit. “Oops…I’m very forgetful I guess.” She said with a smile as her giggly self came to a complete stop finally and her expression changed from happy to smug and almost mischievous. “It was really entertaining…I couldn’t resist just sitting back and enjoying the show.” She said with another shrug before rolling her eyes about the snowball fight. “Oh please! I totally let you win out there a few moments ago…I would totally PWN you…but I guess I could let you win again if it’ll make it up to you…” She said happily before walking over to the door and stepping out of the office and back into the entryway.

“No, Josh is relatively normal…I think.” Repa said shaking her head some looking up and down the hall wondering which way she wanted to go. Did she want to look around first? Change? Get some food? Or find Josh and have Zack lay the smack down. Now THAT would be entertaining, perhaps a bowl of popcorn and a soda were required before that battle was initiated. Repa’s expression changed to complete confusion at what Zack said next. Take him to prison and…shave him bald? What sort of imagination did he have? A weird one that was for sure, besides if you were sent to prison here, you wouldn’t get shaved bald, just left alone. Unless it was a rebel from the civil war, then maybe some…other means of treatment were required. “Uh…don’t worry Zack, I am quite positive no matter what you do…light the castle on fire or something, and no one will shave your hair.” She said letting her eyes drift to another hallway. “Well it doesn’t matter to me, you’re the guest, I suppose you should decide what now…”

With that thought Repa slowly wandered down the hall and arrived at another set of double doors. “We could go find Josh and see if he has anything you can change into…get your clothes dry instead of you getting sick or something…” She said with a brief shiver before turning back to Zack. “Or we could raid the kitchen and get tons of food…or…I could show you the giant cake pool we have in the back…” another smile twitched on her lips as she waited to see if Zack would believe her about that one. But whether or not he said anything Repa had to blurt out that she was kidding before she laughed and gave it away that way. “Nah…we don’t have a cake pool…but that would be fun.” She said with almost a dreamy look in her eyes. “There’s also the stables…? So there’s some ideas for you. Clothes, Food, Smack down, stables…not much more than that…”

Words: 851
Muse: Good
Notes: CAKE POOL!!! <-- couldnt resist

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

”Boy oh Boy, the price for freedom is steep.”

He could just call the King by his first name? He raised his eyebrow, this world must be really thankful to have a king that was so generous. He just smiled and nodded, “Will do Si...Mr Raines.” He put his hands on his hips and watched him leave before a laughing caught his attention. Turning his head, intense blue eyes found Repa on the couch laughing like a fool about him? He opened his mouth to tell her to bugger off and go laugh at someone else, when he replayed the scene in his mind. He could only imagine what he had looked like. He tried to pretend like he was mad, but honestly if someone was laughing and actually happy he could never be grumpy. He ended up laughing along with her, shaking his head then, blue eyes twinkling. She finally managed to tone it down and he sent her another mock glare. “Alright Missy!”

Then his jaw dropped, “Let ME win?? ex-SOLDIER 1st class Zack Fair?! I don't think so, I won that match fair and square!” He burst out, but then he remembered the wet clothing and glanced down at his body, “Oh alright, you got in a few good hits...but don't let that get to your head.” He gave her a tiny push on her shoulder blades as she walked out in front of him and he followed her. Not enough to actually push her off balance, it was barely a touch, just enough to let her know he was still going to win that blasted snowball fight.

He nodded, “And Josh is the one I'm supposed to lay the smackdown on right? Whats his weaknesses? Maybe I can use them to my advantage. He have a hair sprouting mole? Broken nose? Unibrow? A messed up face?” He then started laughing. He was a male, and though he thought of Repa only as a friend, it was noticeable that she was really good looking. That probably meant that her brother was good looking as well. He shrugged, he could hold his own in the looks department, not that he went around and just stared at himself in a mirror. The look on Repa's face when he mentioned the bald thing was priceless, actually just the expression he thought she would have. If only he had a camera. That would be great! Still, no camera, so scratch that idea. “No body had better shave my hair, ya know it just ads to my charming good looks.” He winked at her and followed her gaze down the hallway.

Oh the choices. The food sounded good, but so did finding new clothes. And the Cake po-wait a minute! “A FREAKING CAKE PO...Dang it Repa.” He finished up and started laughing. He had almost fallen for that one. “Nice try miss smarty pants.” Stables? Chocobo or horses? He hadn't ridden a horse before, so that might be out of the question. But his curiosity got the better of him. “Lets go meet this famous brother of yours, gotta see exactly what I'm dealing with when it comes to that smackdown right? If he's actually 7 fee tall and 250 pounds I'm not gonna be happy.”

He then struck a pose, the same one he had taught Cloud and that other infantryman. He then yawned and got back to regular Zack pose. “So we goin or do I have to find him myself?” rubbing his forehead, he decided he liked it here. Of course, it wasn't home, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be like home. He thought about this Josh. Was he supposed to sword fight him? Beat him at squats? Use martial arts on the guy? Battle of wits? Battle strategy? He wasn't sure, but he hoped it was sword fighting, squats or martial arts. Because those things he was good at. Though he was a goofball in day to day life, when it came to fighting, Zack was more then adept and could hold his own against the mighty Sephiroth for awhile. That was a feat, besides, he was SOLDIER 1st class, infused with mako, thus he was enhanced.

Words: 830
Muse: good
Notes: I'ma change to small text cuz I think it looks cleaner :3

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa was still enjoying the entertainment of watching Zack in front of her father. It was really amusing. She just stood by and kept a wide smile on her face as she held back her giggles before her father left, and then she exploded with laughter…almost literally. And right about when he said missy, she started laughing again rather than calming down…but she managed to after a few minutes it was just too funny…you couldn’t resist that much funniness in that short of a period of time! “Missy?! Oh my god, you sound like…my father!” she giggled, all this time they had been in Delatorr, which wasn’t that long, maybe 15 minutes? 20 minutes? She had felt great! Fantastic! And certainly care free…boy it was good to be home…for the short visit.

With a smug mischevious smile on her face, Repa was standing up straight with her hands on her hips, though they were balled into fists. She tried standing up as straight as possible to try and look taller, but no matter what she did…heals, flat shoes, no matter what…Zack would always be taller than her. Her eyebrows furrowed down as her smile got a bit evil. “Oh yes, I LET you win…Tiny Princess Repa let SOLDIER boy win.” She said confidently…knowing she really lost, but it was all in good fun. Though it was true, she got in some excellent shots…looks like those old days of playing baseball with the boys finally paid off. She smirked a bit. “A few good shots? They were excellent! I used to be the best kid pitcher around town! I made all the boys cry.” She said with a giggle as Zack pushed her in the shoulder, she felt pretty cool right about now. Carefree.

Oh this smackdown was going to be good. A bucket of popcorn, a soda, and perhaps a video camera and Repa would be set for eternity. Now that she had to think about it, Repa really didn’t know what Josh’s weakness was. She had to really think about it…and she did. “Hmm…a weakness…” she said rubbing the back of her neck and actually looking like she was thinking about it, because she was…it was hard to pinpoint these things, but she had known him all her life…21 years so she had to know something right? “Honestly…I think you’re on your own for that one…I can’t think of any…” she said with shifty eyes before laughing a little, this would be entertaining! She couldn’t wait to see the look on Josh’s face! Probably as hysterical as the one Repa just made when she heard about Zack getting his head shaved. She just…blinked for a second trying to picture this in her head. “Charming good looks?” She said in repeat as she giggled a bit. “there will be no hair shaving a promise…at least coming from me…I can’t promise anything for Josh after you lay the smack down.”

Was Zack really that gullible? Repa felt her smile widen by the second as she help back a laugh, he started to fall for the whole CAKE POOL thing, but stopped. Repa’s smile and holding back giggles probably gave it away so she just laughed again. She probably laughed ten times more today than she had in the past month or so. It was really sad, but then again, at least she was having fun now…better late than never. “I can’t believe you almost fell for that!” She said, this was unbelievable! Oh well, this was just exciting…Repa nodded a bit when he said they should go find Josh. “Oh don’t worry…he’s not 7 feet tall or 250 lbs….at least last time I checked.” She said wandering down the hall a bit more before rolling her eyes some. “If you want to find him on your own, go for it. I hope you don’t get lost!” She said stopping in her tracks and stepping aside to let Zack take the lead with a grin.


Words: 808
Muse: Good
Notes: Ebony can pop in anytime now.

[Ebony Blackwell]

Black Researcher

Those orphans gave me the name Ebony. The citizens of Cocoon gave me the name Blackwell. Now you'll see why.

Walking down the hallways of the Raines palace, Ebony was preoccupied with a book that was currently open and in front of her face. She had gotten tired from sitting in the library, so she decided to get up and move her legs, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to stop reading. And if she got lost then she could just portal herself back to the library. Easy peasy. She was just mostly worried about running into any inanimate objects that could be in her way. So, every few seconds she looked up, and checked her surroundings for any tables, chairs, people, etc. So far, she hadn't bumped into anyone...yet.

She hadn't been at the palace for very long. She wasn't even keeping count of the days, seeing as how she really didn't care. She was sure no else cared for how long she stayed. The place was so big, no one would probably even notice she was gone...except maybe the librarian that stayed there...He would notice for sure.

She turned a corner, but didn't hear the voices coming from the other hallway...and immediately bumped into a solid mass of flesh. She fell back, and landed on her backside, with the book flying out of her hand, and thus losing her spot.

"Hey! What's the big-!"

She opened her eyes to see a man standing there, before seeing Repa right behind him.

"Repa!" Ebony said, standing up. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Gaia. And who's your friend?"

She walked over, and picked up her book which was lying open, pages down to floor, and closed it. She could find her place later. Turning back around, she stared back at the man that she had just bumped into, before laying her eyes back on to Repa, confusion evident in her eyes.

Words: 412
Muse: Eh...it was alright. >.>
Notes: Not my best work, but it will suffice.

[Zack Fair]

::...The Puppy...::

[/color][/u]

”Boy oh Boy, the price for freedom is steep.”

Like Repa's father?! That made his eyes widen and then kinda twitch a little bit. “Hey now, I can't be like a father! I'm only 23!” But he laughed and shook his head, it seemed to be her lot in life to want to pick on him for the expression on his face. He was greatly tempted to tackle her and tickle her, and the plotting expression showed through on his face. He was so close to just grabbing her and doing that when she sat down and tried to stop her laughing. He couldn't help but laugh along with her. When was the last time he had felt so happy and carefree? When he was with his parents before SOLDIER? When he was a SOLDIER 2nd class? That had been back before everything had gotten complicated. He wished he was back in that time...but wait! No, then he would have to go through everything. He sobered for a moment before shoving that part of his life right out of his brain. He didn't want to think about that anymore.

Then they were out in the hallway and she was standing as tall as she could. Zack straitened his own spine and smirked down at her. Standing at 6'2 he towered over most people, especially Repa. His smug expression deflated a bit when she mentioned that it was a tiny princess against a tall SOLDIER guy. She did have a point there. “Oh way to go taking all my victory feat away from me!” He burst out before giving her a pretend sad look. Oh yes, he could do puppy eyes very well. Made all the boys cry? He took a double take at Repa and sized her up again, somehow he couldn't imagine a small girl beating up the boys. At the same moment a vision of Cissnei floated through his head...yeah ok maybe he could see that. “Ok ok! Tiny but mighty! I get it, but your never gonna make this boy cry!” He said with a triumphant fistpump into the air.

Then back onto the smackdown. He could almost see her face change from carefree to completely mischievously plotting. Oh boy...what had he gotten himself into? He had always missed out on having brothers or sisters, so he thought Repa was lucky to have a brother. Of course if he would have had a brother they would have probably beat each others butts often. If he had had a sister? Zack probably would have been the most protective brother there ever was, never letting anything bad happen to her. That was just the way he was. Thinking of that made him wish he would have had siblings even more. He gave her an odd look when she said no weaknesses, “For serious?! She then warned that Josh might shave him bald for the smackdown? Hell no! “If he shaves my head I'm not gonna be friendly no more! I would bring out my angry face!” NO ONE shaved him bald and got away with it!

He sighed, “Ok girly! This place is way different, whats to say there ISN'T a cake pool floating around here?” Yeah, Zack was good at digging himself deeper and deeper into holes, so he laughed, “Ok you almost got me, but I managed to not believe you after a few seconds.” Well it was a relief that this guy wasn't 7 feet tall and 250 pounds, because that wouldn't have made his day. “Great! I'm gonna PWN him then!” Oh yes, that was Zack, as overconfident as always. He ended up standing still when Repa mentioned that he should find his own way. “Uh...erm...yeah...how about you take us because I'm severely lost in this place!” He gave her a sheepish smile when suddenly he felt something collide into him.

Zack didn't move when it happened, just twirled around in time to see a young woman about the same age as Repa skid to her butt. “Hey! You ok?” He asked, his face concerned as she grabbed her book. He offered a hand to assist her, intense blue eyes giving her a worried look. Zack was the kind of guy who didn't take well to women being hurt, and would always stick up for a girl. He decided he'd answer his own name for her, “The name is Zack, Zack Fair, and I'm sorry 'bout that.” He said giving her an apologetic look.

Words: 891
Muse: good
Notes: None

[Repa Raines]

Princess at Heart
”Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Repa laughed even more. Zack was probably the funniest person she had met so far! It was a good thing though, she needed to be able to smile and laugh a lot more than she had been. In fact, it was rare to see a truly happy smile on her face these past few weeks. Getting targeted and shot at doesn’t bring a smile to ones face…unless they like getting shot? “Hahaha, you do realize there are parents YOUNGER than you?” She said with a smile almost trying to shake the thought of kids out of her head, now she was definitely not in a position to have kids! She could barely keep herself alive right now, let alone children! How scary was that? After laughing so much, Repa’s stomach and ribs started to hurt, now that was really different, she hadn’t laughed that hard since she was probably a kid! Things had always been too depressing or had to be taken seriously that there just wasn’t time for fun anymore…and now she felt like a kid again, laughing and what not.

In the hall Repa kept a smile across her face as she knew she totally lost that snowball fight, getting ambushed with snow was never a way to win. “Sorry, what can I say? Better luck next time?” she said laughing a little more before nudging him with her elbow. “We don’t have to tell anyone I let you win…keep your glory story.” She said before taking a few steps away and looking around the place. She sighed heavily, she had been away from home for a long time, probably a few months now, things were almost the same…perhaps this war was quieting down as well? She hadn’t gotten any updates lately so how would she know? “Ha, im the Tiny dangerous one.” She said with a mischievous smile on her face before raising an eyebrow at Zack. “Won’t make you cry? Oh…that has yet to be tested…” she said keeping her smile on her face as she loved teasing the crap out of Zack, it was like the older brother who never tried to beat down on her!

This would be really fun, Repa couldn’t wait to see the look on Josh’s face when he saw Zack or that giant sword on his back. Maybe Josh would turn a bit pale and not accept a challenge…either way Repa was going to have something to make fun of Josh for! It was a definite win for her. Repa just shrugged a bit at the whole no weaknesses thing. “Not that I really know about…not that I’ve ever thought to look or ask about one before.” She said sheepishly before laughing again, she didn’t think Josh would have the will power to shave anyone’s head…unless he really got beat. “Don’t worry! If he tries to shave your head bald, I’ll attack him with sharpies. I got your back!” She said with a wide grin and a wink before folding her arms across her chest and giving off a slight nod to confirm her previous statement.

“I thought that was pretty funny though…” Repa said with a shrug and a smile, it almost seemed like she was smiling a lot today, which was a good thing, she was just glad to be happy and away from Gaia for awhile. It was nice not t be shot at today…besides, being home after a few months…it felt pretty good, it made her feel as if she hadn’t completely abandoned this place, besides, one day it would be either Josh’s or her own world to rule…most likely Josh since he was the oldest sibling, but he could always pass it on to her…though she wasn’t sure she wanted that type of responsibility. “You better pwn him…I got money on this fight! I can’t afford to lose!” she said in the most dramatic way she could possibly pull off before looking down the hall and nodding to agree to take the lead once more before hearing footsteps and watching Ebony fall back to the floor.

Repa blinked for a second. Oh, that was right…Josh had asked Ebony to stay here for awhile if she wanted to, guess she took him up on that offer. She flickered her eyes to Zack as he introduced himself and a smile stretched across her face as she looked back at Ebony. “Oh just wanted to talk some business with my dad, nothing much.” She said with a small shrug before a question came to mind. “Say…have you seen Josh around here? Or is he gone for the day?” She didn’t know what had happened in recent events here on Delatorr, but of all people, Ebony had to know where Josh was right?


Words: 947
Muse: Good!
Notes: I'll bring Josh in here in the next few posts :3

[Ebony Blackwell]

Black Researcher

Those orphans gave me the name Ebony. The citizens of Cocoon gave me the name Blackwell. Now you'll see why.

“Hey! You ok?”

Ebony looked back at the man, and got a really good look at him. He was wearing what looked like some sort of uniform, and a scar was on his cheek. But what mostly caught her attention was the big, humongous sword strapped to his sword. That was one hell of a sword. She would like to see him take on PSICOM with that thing, and see their reactions. If they run and scream when they see her in action, then she really wanted to see their faces with that sword on the other team.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just simply fell. It's not like I have a serious injury or whatever."

“The name is Zack, Zack Fair, and I'm sorry 'bout that.”

Zack Fair, huh? Interesting...though the name didn't really bring anything to mind, it just sparked some interest, that she didn't know the origin of. Of course, he was giving her an apologetic look, and she didn't know. She was the one who bumped into him, she should be the one that was sorry.

"Ebony Blackwell. Nice to meet you. And don't be sorry about it. I was the one that bumped into you. No need to be sorry about it. Everyone's alive."

She put her book that was in her hands, underneath her arm and leaned sideways against the wall next to her. Crossing her arms against her chest, she let out a sigh before putting her focus back on Repa.

“Oh just wanted to talk some business with my dad, nothing much. Say…have you seen Josh around here? Or is he gone for the day?”

Had she seen Josh? Nope, he was down at the battlefield once again, putting his life on the line, and driving her crazy worried, to the point where she wanted to jsut go down there and watch him herself. But, that would be weird. Really weird.

"No, Josh isn't here. Lately, they have been swamping him with army work, so most of the hours of the day he was down on the battlefield doing who knows what. Most of the time he has just enough time to eat something before going to bed. Though, it usually depends on when they allow him to get off duty."

She just closed her eyes, and shook her head. The poor guy was about ready to collapse at any moment when he came back to the palace, and all she did was read books. And she could definitely take on most of that army with the magic she knew. Maybe.

Words: 547
Muse: Alright
Notes: My post pales in comparison to both of yours!