A Brief Respite [Sonuske]

[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.”

Edge was finally starting to settle down a bit, at least during the holiday season it seemed like that. PSICOM wasn’t as abundant these past few days after practically running them out of town…that was a great day. Repa had finally gotten a full night’s sleep…and slept through most of the day. 2 hours of sleep a night, if even that, just wasn’t cutting it. With a little break right now it seemed the perfect time to catch up on the lack of sleep she had been suffering from. It was late afternoon, around 4 o’clock actually, the sun was starting to lower and the air today was actually…quite warm. A big difference then the freezing cold it had been a few days ago…probably in the 50’s or something, nothing like December weather. Stepping outside and taking a deep breath Repa smiled feeling the warm sun hit her face as she walked outside to a sunny city, it was weird…and so very different.

With a small happy cheer she clasped her hands together. “I no longer feel like an insomniac!” She cheered to herself before letting her eyes glance around at the area she was in. It seemed like a completely different place, it was sunny, warm and almost a sense of happiness in the air. What good sleep can do for you! Repa was in a beaming mood today, absolutely wonderful actually. She hadn’t felt this great in a long time, keeping tabs on PSICOM and Cloud was hard when you needed to worry about yourself as well, sleep, food, and what not was a big key in staying alive…and Repa almost blocked her own problems and well being out just to make sure Cloud was safe. Today, she didn’t have a care in the world…a Brief Respite.

Taking a walk sounded like a good idea, so heading down towards the park was a good idea. Not a lot of people were out enjoying this wonderful day, but Repa was taking advantage of it, even If it was so late in the day. Coming to the park she sat on a swing and let herself sway back and forth for awhile, lightly grazing her feet across the ground to keep herself moving. She sighed and thought about some things she hadn’t gotten to think about in awhile. Perhaps after this focus thing was over, it would be time to go back and visit some people? Like…Noctis and the gang…although Storm was here awhile ago, it just wasn’t the same…then there was…Sonuske and Fate…and the fantastic T-Rexaurs or whatever they were. There was just a lot to do with so little time. But perhaps…there would be time once all this stress was gone and just a memory…for now, Repa just stayed in her little cocoon of happiness and forgot about all of the problems of today…not expecting to see any familiar faces around Edge…at least randomly.


Words: 593
Muse: Great!
Notes: I suck at staring threads v.v

[Sonuske Asama]

While others were lacking sleep, another person was relishing in an abundance of it. That person was none other than the lazy bum, Sonuske Asama. He was napping in the park since the weather was so nice for once. It was actually kind of freaky, warm weather in December? What in the world was up with that? Never one to question good fortune, he decided to make the most of this nice afternoon, by taking a nap in the shade of a tree in the park! Yeah, to most people, he could've just stayed home to sleep, but he loved napping outdoors for a number of reasons.

Reason one; before and after his nap, he could watch the clouds go by, which he absolutely loved doing. Reason two; it's nice and quiet outside, perfect atmosphere for a nap. And reason three! The main and most important reason, Fate was no where in sight! Which meant no one would wake him up prematurely with a stupid idea about hunting T-Rexaurs or Behemoths. Ah yes, napping undisturbed, one of the finer pleasures in life. And he did enjoy his nap, quite thoroughly infact.

He woke up yawning and stretching his arms above his head with a content smile on his face. Yes, he was indeed happy with the world right now. He fully opened his eyes, staring up at the clouds for a few moments, letting out a sigh of joy before sitting up and looking around. He happened upon a familiar face sitting on the swing sets, and his face lit up. He wasn't expecting to see anyone he knew here, unless it was Fate, he had an annoying penchant for finding him no matter where he went. But this however was a pleasant surprise, he enjoyed her company. "Hey! Repa!" He called over to her, now fully standing up and stretching his limbs.

He walked over to her, hands in his pockets in his typical laidback style. "Fancy meeting you here. How've you been?" He said, covering his mouth as he yawned. Honestly, he could go for another nap right about now.

[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.”

You’d think on a day like today, people would be out enjoying the rare sunshine, kids playing at the park and other nice family things like that. But no, it seemed no one was out today, the park was rather quiet…not that Repa minded, being in this town for a couple months you got used to the quiet and the occasional sound of gunfire. She’d grown so used to not seeing people out and about around Edge. Oh well, that was life. It seemed quiet any where you went these days, didn’t matter what world or city you traveled to, these were dark times…

Sitting on the swing still Repa closed her eyes and continued to sway back and forth. This was some good thinking time, not about the negative things she was going through, but the positives….even though there weren’t many. Cloud being a L’Cie and all wasn’t great, but the outcome could be pretty good, if completed he could gain eternal life and possibly come back one day…that was good right? She’d talked to Zack about a plan…a plan to evacuate Gaia somehow, he thought it was a great idea but would it really work? Or were they in way over their heads? Only time would tell, and Repa…was running out of time. So her thoughts had turned a bit dark but they came to a halt as someone called out her name. Opening her eyes and staring up Repa blinked for a moment before seeing a face she didn’t expect to see.

Why exactly was he here? Was…he world traveling now as well? Repa smiled and stood up from her swing before briefly waving her hand some. “Heya Sonuske, I’ve been…well I’m not going to lie…things haven’t exactly been great.” She said with a small shrug before trying to lighten her answer up. “But overall I’m pretty good right now…things are quiet…its nice outside…you know…kinda a perfect day?” She said looking up at the sky, clouds were starting to move in, making the sun a bit patchy, but no sign of any storms or anything like that. So today really was going to be a good day. “What about you? It’s been like what…forever since we went after those T-Rexaurs…” With that, a lightbulb sparked in her mind, she looked around a bit, as if she were looking for someone. “Is Fate with you? Or are you alone?” She asked curiously remembering the crazy boy who was anxious to take down those big Rexaurs and ended up with a dog.


Words: 537
Muse: Great
Notes: Bleh still. Sorry >_>

[Sonuske Asama]

Sonuske had only been to Edge once, and although it wasn't that long of a time agp, it seemed so different. There were alot more people out and about then, now it seemed so.... Empty and barren. He had no idea what had happened, but assumed it was due to the weather. Although on that particular day it was pretty nice out, maybe people just hadn't realized it. Didn't much matter though, he enjoyed the silence it brought.

Sonuske tilted his head at Repa's response. His mind wandered at a mile a minute trying to figure out what could possibly have gone wrong since the last time he saw her. Had something happened to her family? Maybe her homeworld had been destroyed. Maybe a friend of hers had gotten hurt or worse. Or maybe. she broke a nail. He realized that thinking about it wouldn't answer his question, he'd just have to ask for himself. That'd be a much easier route, and he was all for ease.

"Yeah, it is a pretty nice day out. But, tell me, what's wrong?" He asked, always willing to help a friend in need. Even if doing so would require him to put forth an effort, though he would undoubtedly complain about it the whole time. His brain started to process what could be the problem once more, but before it got too out of control he calmed himself down, telling his overactive thoughts to be patient and wait for her answer.

"Me, I've been pretty good. Sleeping through most of the action apparently. Lucky me right?" He said, secretly wishing he had joined in on all the fighting and adventures. But, oh well, can't go back to the past. Unless of course he was Ultimecia, which clearly he was not. "I'm alone. I haven't seen Fate since he left me back on Cocoon." He responded, sighing. "I have no idea where he is, or if he's even still alive right now." He paused for a moment, thinking about the possiblity that his best friend could be dead and he did nothing to prevent it. "But, I'm sure he's fine. Where ever he is." He added, not wanting to let on the fact that he was worried. She had enough of her own problems, she didn't need to be worried about the two of them as well.

[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.”

Well at least today hadn’t made a turn for the worst…yet. Long sleeping hours, seeing friends, it was great. Feeling a little better Repa agreed with a nod about the weather but let her eyes shift off to the side when asked about what was wrong. She bit her lip and rubbed the back of her head, hesitating a bit. “I…don’t think I’m the right person to explain all of it…” She said glancing back at Sonuske, she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about Cloud being a L’Cie, only a handful of people know…so she’d tip toe around that and explain the rest if she could. “But I guess I can try to explain…that is if you REALLY want to listen to a girl like me complain about how hard life is and what not.” She said ending with a smirky smile before sitting back on her swing again.

But she would wait, see what he had to say before babbling. Growing up with a brother she knew that when a guy asked what was wrong…you probably weren’t supposed to start into a novel of problems…see if they REALLY wanted to know before you bored them to tears with your problems. “Missing out on the action? Well yeah I’d consider you lucky.” And that was the truth, if Repa could sleep through the action.,.well her life wouldn’t be as exciting but she wouldn’t be dead tired every day of her life. “But a little action here and there isn’t so bad…so long as you don’t die right?” Repa giggled a bit, trying to lighten herself up a bit, it wasn’t hard on a day like this…so fortunately for Sonuske…she was pretty pleasant.

So Fate wasn’t here. Okay, that’s cool. “Yeah, he’s probably just hanging around Cocoon.” She said on a positive note, thinking back on that one visit she had there…a bright world, very lovely, but too many PSICOM soldiers…which was part of Repa’s problem here. They were everywhere! Trying to find Cloud and herself…a fugitive, that made life a little hard. Trying to help Cloud and maintain your own life…what a job. “Maybe I’ll run into him here sometime…it seems everyone I’ve been dying to go around and see is coming to me…or I’m just lucky.” She shrugged a bit, thinking of what she would tell Sonuske if he actually wanted to know what was wrong…maybe talk about the drama on her own world? That could be stressful, and it was, just not the main reason for Repa’s distress…


Words: 547
Muse: Great
Notes: Notta

[Sonuske Asama]

"If you're not the right person to ask about 'your' problems, then who is?" Sonuske asked kind of confused on that. Who else could answer questions about someone other than the person that had the problem? He was sure there was some reasoning behind that, he'd just have to wait til he heard it. But he was feeling rather impatient today, and wanted an answer now. "Of course I wanna hear! That's why I asked, besides, we're friends and friends listen to other friends problems." He answered chuckling. She should know by now that he wouldn't have bothered asking if he wasn't interested.

"I can't die anyway! I'll throw Fate in the way and leave before that happens. But yeah, action is admittedly fun once in a while." He admitted. He hated the fact that he was left out. He wanted to be there too! He was sure he could've helped them out with whatever was going on, but it was far too late for that. He sighed, which turned into a yawn, which caused him to cover his mouth once more.

He missed Fate. Alot, though he would never openly admit it. But he would admit one thing, he was worried about the guy. He had no idea what had happened to him since he disappeared that day when there were was huge explosions and people screaming everywhere. He shook his head, shaking the thought that Fate could've died that day. "Probably." He said shrugging. He had an image to uphold, and that was one of nonchalant-ness and total disregard for Fate's well-being. And though the first was always true, the latter was a facade. "Maybe it's a combination of the two." He grinned. Then his eyes lit up as he thought about something. "Wait, you've been dying to see me? You missed me huh?" He asked with a playful smirk. He was gonna have fun messing with her for a little while.

Words: 357
Muse: Alright?
Notes: I did this at 5 A.M so sorry if I'm rambling lol

[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.”

Well, it really did seem silly, but Repa’s problems probably weren’t hers to share. Her problems were Cloud’s problems, and Cloud didn’t need everyone knowing about…the l’cie thing. But…Sonuske wouldn’t judge someone he didn’t know right? Or did he know Cloud? Oh the things you gotta tip toe around these days…Repa would explain as best as she could without mentioning any names or anything she thought of as ‘classified’ between her and the small handful of people that knew about Cloud. “I guess I can explain some parts of it…it’s just really complex and a long story.” She said with a shrug, standing up once again and taking a few steps away from Sonuske, facing away and looking towards the sky almost. “So…where do I begin?” She questioned herself aloud with a heavy sigh.

Might as well start briefly from the beginning, that way it wasn’t too confusing. “One of my best friends here…he was made into a L’cie…with a focus to destroy this world.” She started, almost feeling like she was betraying Cloud in a way by telling. “It’s a curse from Cocoon…you get branded and given a focus…that’s why PSICOM is running around here…multiplying their forces every day.” Staring at the sky made it feel like she was just talking to herself, so her nerves eased up a bit, she wasn’t betraying Cloud at all…just spilling her knowledge and thoughts. “They want to kill him…I’ve helped him evade so many attacks from PSICOM…which they’ve now labeled me as a threat to them…can you believe it? Little Princess…Public enemy…number two I should say.” Finally turning around to face Sonuske, Repa had a sad smile on her face. “That’s basically the gist of it…being run down and shot at every day since I got here…so a few months…lack of sleep…and wondering if my best friend…my brother will make it to the next day or not…it may not sound like a lot…but it’s sure putting a lot of stress on my shoulders these days.”

Well that was it…and just like that Repa was up and smiling again. “What if Fate isn’t around to push in the way? What then?” She said folding her arms some and smiling a bit more than before, less sad and more happy. “If you plan on staying around here…action is guaranteed…” Which was true. PSICOM on every corner, and if you were spotted with Cloud or Repa..well you were bound to be shot at, no matter if you were just a bystander or a supporter. “Fate’s okay I’m sure…in fact I’m positive.” She said with a wide grin, lightening the mood some. Fate could handle himself right? She shook any negative thoughts from her mind and just…kept a positive outlook on everything once again.

So, maybe DYING to see people was a poor choice of words. Repa knew she’d get a load of crap for that one. She just rolled her eyes and let out a giant UGH. “I need to think before I speak I guess.” She shrugged a bit a smirky smile on her face before she pushed Sonuske in the arm a bit, a fake punch. “But yeah. I missed ya. Hunting big monsters just isn’t the same anymore…” She said in a very…mock drama way before hearing the sharp familiar sounds of gunfire. Couldn’t PSICOM take one day off?! NO! and on a perfectly good day like this…oh yeah you bet they were really patrolling the area. Repa gritted her teeth and turned around to see advancing soldiers, holding guns up and approaching slowly. “Remember what I said about action…well…I wasn’t kidding.” A gunblade appeared in her right hand just about then, gun form of course. “So…you want to take a nap? Or join in on the…heh, fun?”

Words: 796
Muse: Good
Notes: Notta

[Sonuske Asama]

Sonuske crossed his arms as he listened to Repa's story, well, most of it anyway. He had noticed an increase in soldiers running about lately, though he had no idea they were called PSICOM, atleast now he knew what to call them. From the sounds of it, she was having a pretty hard life about now. He was wondering why he had ended up back here on Gaia, now he knew what his purpose was this time. It was to help her and her friend out. Or atleast that's what he was assuming, whether that be the correct assumption or not, he would do it. He could sympathize with them both, her friend for having such a horrible curse, and Repa for being a fugitive for who knows how long now.

He placed his hand on Repa's shoulder, hoping to reassure her that everything would be alright somehow. "That is alot to go through, but hey, it'll all work out somehow. Besides, I'm here now. You know things are gonna turn up now!" He said in an attempt to cheer her up. He thought about the l'Cie thing for a moment, remembering that it was Cocoon Fate was still on. He hoped Fate didn't screw around and end up becoming one of these l'Cie things, that'd be terrible. "Um, what happens when you don't complete your focus?" He had to know, most likely it would be the whole 'you fail your task you die' thing, but you never know these days. You could end up losing the use of your left arm or something crazy. "And how can you tell if someone is one?"

"Then I'll just dodge whatever's coming my way!" He replied confidently with a smirk. He knew Fate was fine, he didn't know why he was worrying about it so much. Fate was stupid, that's for sure, but he knew how to handle himself, if anything atleast he knew how to fight pretty good. "Thanks, I needed that. Don't even know why I was worried" He said smiling. ""....Not that I was!" He corrected quickly. Damn, he had blown his own cover.

"No no, you meant what you said. It's okay. I'd miss me too." He grinned at the punch in the arm. "Thanks! That means alot strangely enough." There were plenty of huge monsters everywhere, and if the lack of a Sonuske made the situation feel different, then that made him feel special. His smile quickly faded at the sound of gunfire. What was going on? Probably those PSICOM clowns he had heard about. He grimaced, what were they after? Had they found Repa's friend? He turned to face the approaching squad before turning to Repa. "Are you kidding? I'd rather take a nap any day." He said cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck muscles. "But I'd never live it down if I let a girl, let alone a princess do all the fighting.... No offense." He replied with a smirk. Not only was Repa a girl, but she was a good friend of his. There was no way he'd let her fight alone. Honestly, if it were up to him, he'd fight them alone so she'd stay safe, but knowing her, she'd just refuse and help anyway, so he didn't even waste the effort in asking her to stay back.

Words: 612!
Muse: Grand
Notes: I's really put effort into this one! *Points at word count*

[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.”

Once Repa was done explaining her story, she just sighed and looked at the ground. So much for a happy carefree day eh? It seemed like you couldn’t go one day without hearing or talking about PSICOM…L’Cie…or even danger in general. It was becoming a real drag and it was so tempting to just pack up and ditch this place…but once again, Repa wasn’t here for herself, she was here for Cloud…keeping tabs on PSICOM and making sure he stayed safe until this focus thing went into action. Soon as this focus stuff was done and over with…Repa would probably go home for a bit and travel some more. Who knew? It was a nice thought, getting to see more worlds again, it was her initial idea to begin with, travel through the many worlds out there, meet new friends, see new places and travel on again, but now she was stuck in Gaia…a world of problems…literally.

What a weird day today was turning out to be. First happy, then even happier seeing Sonuske, then it just went downhill from there…why oh why did most days have to go like that? From good…to great…to horrible. Repa almost jumped, being so into her thoughts when Sonuske put his hand on her shoulder. She just glanced up dismissing her thoughts and trying to be happier even with what he said. “Yeah…things will get better…maybe not today or tomorrow…but soon…at least I’m hoping so.” She said with a sad smile, but still…a little happier than she was a few moments ago. But…back to the focus, right, she assumed he’d have questions about these L’Cie, most everyone did. “Oh…if you fail your focus…you become a monster…a Cie’th.” She said with a shrug, she didn’t really know what they looked like…only a general idea, but she knew what they were called, she wouldn’t forget it because it was option 2 of Cloud’s fate. “And L’Cie are branded…they receive something like a tattoo…it’s I guess how you can tell.” That she wasn’t so sure on…she had seen Cloud’s brand…that was about it.

Finally off of the topic of her horrible last few months and this l’cie stuff…that made most of the difference. “Dodge everything? You sure that’s possible?” She said raising a brow and folding her arms, a more happy smile appearing on her face as it seemed that the depressing thoughts of the future seemed to disappear. “No problem…I meant what I said. Fate’s fine…I just know it.” But Sonuske had slipped up, he really did worry and miss Fate, Repa just snickered a bit as he tried to hide that fact. “You were so worried about him…you’re friends…I don’t blame you for being worried.” She said with a grin. “But it’s funny to see you try and hide the fact that you do worry and miss him…”

Repa sighed and pressed her palm to her face. “Yeah yeah…just don’t let my words go to your ego…” She said resting her arms now at her sides and nodding a bit when he thanked her about the hunting big game wasn’t the same without him. But then once again…a happy moment ruined and by who? PSICOM of course! Repa had just about enough of them lately and was ready to just go looking for them these days…blowing up their bases and laughing. It sounded like a good idea to her…but probably wouldn’t be fun running from the whole entire army at once, no, not fun at all. Standing in a defensive way facing PSICOM Repa smiled a bit more at Sonuske’s statement about a nap, but narrowed her eyes when he mentioned…the girl thing. What was it with men and not letting girls fight? It was so…degrading. Girls were tough these days, at least Repa was, but it was nice to not fight alone so she just shrugged. “Much appreciated…but I’m pretty sure I would’ve been able to handle myself…it’s not like I cry whenever I break a nail…” She shrugged as it almost seemed PSICOM was waiting for Repa or Sonuske to make the first move…alright…if that’s how they wanted it. And with that, Repa went on the offense, running at a superhuman speed, and going for an attack shooting bullets out of her gunblade before heading into the bulk of the PSICOM force ahead.


Words:888
Muse: Great!
Notes: Im proud of your post...*applauds*

[Sonuske Asama]

Sonuske mulled over her words for a moment. Next time he saw Fate he'd have to check him for any new tattoos or strange markings. He hated feeling this way, he felt worried about that moron, which unnerved him more than he'd admit to anyone. He sighed shaking these thoughts from his head again. "A monster huh... Is that all.... Wonderful." He said sarcastically. He hoped her friend didn't fail their focus, that'd be a tragedy. He'd help out with that as much as he could while he was there, but he had his own things he needed to do so he couldn't stay forever.

"Of course I can dodge everything! I'm extensively trained at that kinda stuff." Which was true. With his abilities, he practiced more in the art of stealth, speed, and agility. In other words, he was a modern day ninja! When he felt like it anyway, that took alot of work, which we all know he just doesn't agree with. Hard work was for the birds, and hard working people, of which he was neither. "Okay okay, I was worried..... If you tell him, I'll end you." He said shooting her a menacing glare, well he considered it menacing anyway, it probably didn't even intimidate her. As long as his message got across though was all that mattered to him.

"My ego is inflated enough, don't worry about that." He responded with a smirk. In all honesty, he was a pretty humble guy, he never overestimated his abilities, in actuality, most times he undersold himself. He couldn't help it, he just didn't think he was all that great, he figured he was about average. He turned to Repa as she subtley told him off. He knew he should've kept his mouth shut about the whole being a girl thing. He sighed and muttered a 'Trouble woman...' before turning his attentions back to PSICOM. "I know you're perfectly capable of handling yourself, don't get me wrong. I'd just rather deal with them myself than see you risk yourself or your nails." He hoped that would fix up what he said before. "Also, I've never seen you break your nails, I wouldn't know." He added quickly, trying to add a bit of humor before battle.

Sonuske ran behind Repa, keeping her flank covered incase there were some behind them somehow. When did she get so fast? Guess she wasn't kidding after all. It was time for him to work his shadowy magic though, he smirked as he condensed his shadow into a thin line and shot it out at one of the PSICOM soldiers, ensnaring him easily in his shadow possession while he was focused on avoiding Repa's counter-shots. He knew it would be easy, but they were practically handing the fight over to them. Not that he was complaining, so far these soldiers didn't seem like much and he was having a hard time figuring out why they were causing people so much grief.

Now in control of the single soldier, he turned his body, mimicing a soldier turning and aiming his rifle, which the unwilling soldier copied. Then he pulled his index finger down on an imaginary trigger and held it there, while the soldier had actually started to unleash a volley of fire upon his own comrades. Sonuske grinned, he liked causing enemy confusion with his techniques. He kept firing until he ran out of bullets, then he tossed the rifle itself at an enemy before Sonuske decided to finish him off too.

A shadow hand snaked it's way up to the man's throat, then squeezed hard, suffocating the man, then breaking his neck. Sonuske released his technique, letting the man he was in control of moments before slump to the ground. He rubbed the back of his neck, he hadn't expected to exert himself like this today, and it wasn't over yet. Guess it was expected on a different world being overrun with soldiers.

Words: 708

[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 smirked a tiny bit as she rubbed the back of her head, her eyes sinking to the ground. “yeah…wonderful.” She mumbled a bit, it started to bring everything back and now a dull headache started for form in the front of her head. As Repa closed her eyes for a minute she sighed heavily before looking back up and folding her arms across her chest, what a lovely day this was turning out to be…not so much. “I believe you.” She said with a small smile, though the pain in her head was starting to sharpen, as if someone stabbed a knife in her forehead, but she wouldn’t let her discomfort show at all…a lot at least for now. When Sonuske gave her that look…and said he would end her, her eyes widened a bit and her expression blank as she held up her hands. “Okay okay I won’t say a word I promise….don’t worry, he doesn’t have to know that you worried…but it’s nice to hear you admit it.” She grinned a bit more as the subjects kept going back and forth between good and bad.

Well at least Sonuske knew his ego was large enough…too bad most other guys of the universe didn’t know that. Take Repa’s brother Josh for example, so cocky and very over confident, one of these days someone is going to lay the smack down on that boy and his ego will shrink along with his confidence…most men had way to big of egos and only cared about making them bigger. Repa just nodded in response with a smirk of her own before once again, things went downhill. Was this a rollercoaster of a day? Good then bad, then good, then bad…it was starting to feel like déjà vu. She was not in the mood for fighting PSICOM…they were a complete waste of time.

Repa listened quietly as Sonuske said his piece on taking them on rather than she risk herself in battle. It was a nice thought, but there was no way she was going to sit on the sidelines and watch like some sort of cheerleader or something, no way. “Well I appreciate the concern.” She said with a side smile before this battle started, as each side waited for a move to be made, Repa took the opportunity to take the first shot, and she did. Running forward and instantly firing off shots from her gunblade at a rapid speed, taking out soldiers in the first line and they dropped like rocks. It wasn’t something she was necessarily proud of, but it needed to be done. Continuing forward while Sonuske was dealing with the battle his own way, Repa launched herself into the middle of the group of soldiers, elbowing some in the face mask, shooting others, even flipping out her blade some to just shank them and get on with it. As the soldiers started to fall quickly, Repa’s guilt started to kick in.

These soldiers weren’t trained for this type of battle, they were supposed to take care of Pulse related events…not fighters like these two, it was unfair, but hey, life was unfair to begin with right? Repa felt her headache sharpen once more but this time it was a huge change, it hurt so bad that after she hit some soldier in the back of the head with the gunblade she sunk to the ground. One knee on the ground and one hand on the ground as well to keep her balanced. Guilt caused her to get sick pretty easily, and this was starting to occur a lot anymore…a girl like her wasn’t used to these type of…killings, especially a princess. Sometimes she wondered how she got sucked into things like this.


Words: 735
Muse: Good
Notes: None

[Sonuske Asama]

His glare had worked? Maybe he was more intimidating than he thought! He'd have to try this more often! "I'm glad we came to an agreement. If he finds out I care, I'll never hear the end of it." He smiled brightly. It was true though, Fate would hold it over his head for as long as they lived! Well, if Fate was even..... No, it wasn't good to think like that. He had to stay optimistic and positive. Fate would be well and tell him all about the adventures he'd been on, then Sonuske would yell at him to shut up, and they'd laugh and order pizzas and all kinds of other stuff. Yeah.... That's what would happen when they met up again.

He wondered how many other worlds PSICOM had invaded. He hoped they didn't invade his home, especially since he wasn't there to protect it. Then again, his world had many strong fighters, the legendary SeeD unit of Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, and Rinoa. Not to mention all the other SeeD's and SeeD hopefuls. Yeah, his world was perfectly capable of handling itself. He should try this optimism thing more often, it made things less of a drag than they usually were.

Sonuske wasn't exactly filled with pride over taking human lives, but he understood that the way life worked was kill or be killed, and he wasn't ready to die just yet. He had dealt with killing all types of life before anyway, not that he wasn't desensitized, he just wasn't that phased by it anymore. He smirked at his handiwork before glancing over to check on how Repa was doing. After all, just because she could handle herself well didn't mean she wouldn't need his help at some point right? From what he could see, she was doing one helluva job, taking out soldiers left and right. This princess was clearly no damsel in distress! He had to admire that, then again, most women he knew were good at fighting, which raised some important questions in his mind, but they'd have to wait till later.

While he was being distracted, a stray bullet whizzed by and gashed his left arm. If he hadn't moved at the last second, that shot probably would have pierced his arm and could've hit a vein. That wouldn't have been pretty at all. He moved his right arm up to cover his wound, feeling the strange sensation of a warm liquid pouring through his fingers. He hated bleeding, but he knew he couldn't stop to administer a first aid kit to himself, not that he had one on hand anyway, besides, it looked like Repa was starting to get into trouble.

No sooner had he thought this, that Repa fell to the ground on a hand and knee. "This is bad!" He thought outloud, trying to quickly come up with a plan to get her out of there and keep himself alive at the same time. He didn't have time to come up with an intricate plan, he'd have to wing it, which was always fun. He took the hand off his wound and brought it together with his left to form the hand formation to perform his shadow sewing technique.

His shadow raced across the ground, splitting into multiple shadow tendrils that pierced through various limbs and torso's of the soldiers immediately surrounding Repa, not having enough energy left after losing some blood to stab through them all. He quickly ran over to Repa to get her, just incase she couldn't move herself. He placed a hand on her shoulder and knelt down beside her. "Hey! You okay? Come on, we gotta move!" He quickly brandished his tanto, stabbing an approaching soldier through gut. Maybe this wasn't as smart a move as he thought before, now they were both in a compromising situation.

What happened to this being a quick and easy fight? He had a feeling he'd be proved wrong, he should just stop thinking like that. And here he thought being optimistic all the time would bring only positive results. Things just loved proving him otherwise! Now he had to come up with another plan. He could just grab Repa and make a run for it, but then again, that could be pretty hard with his left arm damaged. Though he could always fight through the pain. Another option was just try to keep them off of her til she recovered, which sounded like more work than the first, but it probably had a better success rate. Besides, making a run for it, unless they were immobilized, they could just shoot them down quickly. Or option 3, he could combine the two plans! That could work. He loved the fact his mind could move so fast, gave him time to think when there wasn't really time to.

He captured another soldier in his shadow possession, then opened fire with his own gun once more, making the others believe he had betrayed them, released his technique, then grabbed Repa in his arms and made a dash for it, stopping behind what he believed to be safe enough cover for now, a couple of trees.

Words: 904... a new freakin' record for me!
Muse: When it comes to fights, it comes in spades.
Notes: This is monumental, I just posted the longest post in this thread so far! *Happy dances*

[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.”

So Repa would keep her mouth shut about Sonuske actually worrying about Fate…that way she wasn’t ‘ended’. It wasn’t like she’d gain anything…of course seeing Fate keep this over Sonuske’s head for a long time might be quite amusing. Nah, she’d keep quiet, she knew what it was like to have something hang over your head and be made fun of for it. She did grow up with two older brothers so it was practically a lifestyle growing up. “Oh don’t worry…I know the feeling there.” She said with a confirming nod and a smile as she thought back on those days she spent at home, not worrying about anything too much and just hanging out with her brothers…before the oldest one, Drake Raines, had died in combat. It was a warm hearted feeling right about then, even though it ended tragically…those memories would at least stay there forever.

PSICOM was just about everywhere. Not that Repa traveled a lot these days, but they were just swarming around Gaia as far as she knew. If you took down one soldier, like 10 more appeared on the spot. How many lives did they have to risk back on Cocoon? Apparently millions since that’s what it felt like was here. If they would just leave things be, Repa and her other friends would’ve had this all solved out by now, but with PSICOM interfering it just gave them a ton more to worry about…Cloud’s life, and their own. Right now there weren’t that many people protecting Gaia, really if you thought about it, it was down to Repa, Cloud, Tifa, Zack, some of the Turks and that was about it. No one wanted to get involved with this ‘dreaded L’Cie’ business, which hey, Repa didn’t blame them.

As the fight got rolling, it started out fairly easy. Ready with tons of energy, Repa leaped from one soldier to the next in a matter of seconds, it was looking like a pretty easy fight. Shoot, kick, stab, and run, that was all there was to it for her. But as time kept passing by through this so called ‘easy fight’, things started to get more difficult…it seemed like PSICOM sent in their least trained to try and wear Repa and Sonuske out, before sending in the real elites. Tricky tricky PSICOM, though that wasn’t the case. It was a theory Repa had conjured up as it seemed to get even more difficult to hurt one of these soldiers. Soldiers…that struck a nerve. Repa’s brother Drake was a soldier…and he died in combat…that just sent her into a guilty frenzy. Starting to back off any advancing soldier. It made her think, this could be someone’s brother…cousin, their son…a father. Why would anyone want to take something away so precious as family…and that’s when she had enough and fell down to one knee and hand.

Repa had finally had enough, it wasn’t just this battle, it was all of them, and all the pressure and all the things that had been placed on her conscience, finally caused her to break down. The gunfire in the background seemed to fade away, as if she were underwater. Everything was clouded as her eyes locked onto the ground, unblinking and almost starting to water, though if asked she would deny it be her feelings and blame it on the fact that she wasn’t blinking. Why did this have to happen NOW? The worst time for things to happen…as always. She stayed down wondering why this couldn’t have waited until after the battle? She was now either going to end up getting shot or shanked by someones gun or sword…what a lovely way to end the day eh? It was a good thing she was her own medic on hand, but if she died…well, there was no getting out of that one.

As Repa waited for some sort of metal or lead to pierce her skin, she just kept her eyes locked on the ground. That was what she did for the entire time, stare at the ground and try to shut out her thoughts. Like…her whole body had shut down, she couldn’t get these guilty heartbreaking thoughts out of her head to at least be able to defend herself. This was a total breakdown she never had before. Finally, once Sonuske got over there and placed a hand on her shoulder, her eyes flickered a bit before closing tightly, letting a few tears just fall down her cheeks as she cringed a bit at the thought of what she had done both today and many days past. She knew as well as he did that they had to move, to get to safety, all because she couldn’t hold her own and just had to have a meltdown in the middle of a battle. It was life or death now…sit here and wallow or run away. Those were her two options right now.

Not responding, not really moving, what was the big problem? Had Repa gone paralyzed or something? She took in a deep breath and opened her eyes and lifted them upwards and things started to get a bit more chaotic, Sonuske had taken over another soldier to keep the advancing ones busy. Now was the best time to make a run for it, and Repa had the will power to at least try that, but she was just slow at it. Sonuske had already gotten her up and out of there by the time it even crossed her mind. The cloudiness in her mind faded away once again as she shook her head to try and ‘snap out of it’. “I’m…sorry...I don't know what happened back there...” She was wrong, she couldn’t handle herself apparently, and this just proved it. Her eyes sunk to the ground as she sat there and sighed heavily. PSICOM was sure to be busy enough right now to not worry about them escaping…in fact, with such a loss already they were retreating. Sure now they fall back…what a not so lovely day this was turning out to be.


Words: 1150
Muse: GREAT! Especially for about 3 O'Clock in the morning!
Notes: >_> PWNED.

[Sonuske Asama]

Sonuske grinned. "Glad you understand where I'm coming from." Last thing he needed was something else for Fate to bug him about. The guy was pretty annoying as it was, though he didn't feel like his life was complete unless the guy was irritating the crap out of him. A fact he'd never let him know. Because once again, that'd be something else to bug hm about, and Fate would be more than happy to oblige. He chuckled to himself, picturing how that whole scene would play out. Hopefully, he'd have that chance again soon.

He thought the battle would end quickly and easily, which at first, things seemed to be going their way, but then Repa fell to the ground. And in that one moment, things went from easy, to hectic. He had gotten hit by a bullet, and had to run over and save her before she got filled with more holes than nature intended, which wouldn't have been a pretty sight. Luckily though, he was able to save the both of them before either of them sustained too much damage. But what had happened to Repa to make her fall like that? He didn't any signs of injury, nor was there blood seeping through any wounds. So what had happened?

As if she could read his mind, she commented on his thoughts. He gave her a lopsided grin to try and calm her nerves. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're not hurt...." He said inbetween hard labored breaths, giving her a thumbs up. Then he thought about it, she had to be hurt, otherwise what would have caused that to happen? "You're not hurt... Right?" He asked, just to be sure. One thing was for sure though, he was pretty tired. That nice little workout took a nice chunk out of his stamina. Had it been that long since he'd been in a fight? He felt like he was getting out of shape, which without Fate forcing him to constantly stay active, may have been the case.

He peeked his head around the edge of the tree, still huffing slightly, to get a look at their assailants and get a better grasp on the situation they were now in. Luckily, they seemed to be falling back. That was great news! But he was sure they'd be back, probably with more forces in tow. "We should probably get out of here before they come back even stronger." He stood up, extending his hand to help her up. "Can you walk on your own?"

Words: 455
Muse: Alright
Notes: I'm tired.... U.U sorry

[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 nodded once as she thought about what actually would happen had Fate found out about Sonuske’s worries. Probably annoy it all out of him, she knew she wouldn’t like it so keeping her mouth shut was the least she could do. Of course this sort-of-happy moment was cut short due to PSICOM’s advance. It was starting to get really old really quick. If there could be one day where those soldiers weren’t waltzing around shooting everything in sight…this whole focus thing with Cloud would be a lot easier. But Repa just wasn’t lucky enough.

Next time, Repa would have to not underestimate a fight like she did today. Though had her guilty conscience not interfered this fight would have been done and over with a few minutes ago. Now here she was unable to move or comprehend what was going on. It was like her mind and body had shut down, but things were starting to defog in her head, things were starting to become clear as they got away from the bulk of the fighting. Another good thing was that PSICOM was retreating, but they were either going away for good for the day, or going to get more forces, perhaps some of those bioweapons they trained back on Cocoon. Repa hoped not because if she got another spell like she had a few moments ago, they would be doomed…or at least she would be.

Repa sat on the ground and leaned her back against a tree as she pressed one hand to her forehead. The sharp pain in her forehead was still there but it was almost so painful that it started to numb itself. She lowered her hand and tried not to show any discomfort on her face, but it was hard to tell when you felt like there was a knife in her forehead. “I’m fine…” she muttered a bit as she looked around, things seemed cleared out. Soldiers laid on the ‘battle field’ but no sign of the living PSICOM soldiers. With a sigh of relief Repa sunk back against the tree and just tried to deal with what was going on lately. Perhaps it wasn’t just guilt, perhaps it was all the stress, she had been too involved these days. Offering up help to anyone who needed it and sacrificing her time and energy for others…it was hard to cope with all the time.

Sonuske was right though, they had to move get out of the area, PSICOM could be coming back sooner or later. It seemed like they were both wiped out from today’s activity, but that was understandable, so much going on in such a small time. “Yeah…you’re right.” She said taking his hand and getting up to her feet. “I think I’ll be fine…I’m okay now.” She said with a confirming nod looking off towards the edge of the park, nothing there…that was the best escape route.


Words: 596
Muse: Goodish
Notes: >_> im sick so it might not be very great....