Close Call.
In another part of the world, there was a place that was not a wasteland. This place has some green vegetation and trees growing and while no animals or any other sort of wild life could be seen, it was still a far more pleasant place than most parts of the normally bleak world. Near a river, a young woman was walking along it. She had been walking for a while and was showing signs of being tired.
This girl was wearing an ensemble similar to, but widely varied from, those worn by Yevonites: a purple pleated, flower-patterned skirt; black boots; a black spaghetti-string camisole under a white sash that wraps around her neck and over her chest; and a yellow patterned obi with a chōchō musubi knot and a decorative obidome to clinch the cords. Two separate, kimono-like pink and white sleeves secured by purple cords complete the outfit. The design of her staff is based on the Khakkhara, a staff used by practitioners of Buddhism.
She has shoulder-length brunette hair. She wears a blue-beaded earring on her right ear, hidden by a lock of her hair, woven into blue beads with gold rings around the larger, middle bead. She wears a silver necklace of a hibiscus flower along with a matching ring on the pinky of her right hand. She also wears a silver ring on the middle finger of her left hand and two bracelets, one beaded and one silver, on her right wrist. She has heterochromia: her left eye is blue, while the right is green to represent her half-Al Bhed heritage, though without the characteristic spiral.
Her clothing was hiding it, but she also had symbol on her chest.
This girl was Yuna, an summoner and she is very close to Tidus. She had been hoping to find him, but so far she was having no luck. Hours of walking had taken it's effect on her so she finally stopped to catch her breath. She looked at the water and decided she cool of her feet and rest up before she continued on.
She took of her boots and lifted her skirt just enough so she could step in to the water and sit down without risking her skirt getting wet. The moment she sat down she let out a relived sigh, feeling her body enjoying the much needed break. She hummed to herself as she casually lifted her feet out of the water before putting them back, being careful not to splash herself. It was rare moments where she could rest for a while.
However her rest did not last long as she sensed something behind her. She looked behind her and gasped in surprise, almost falling in to the water "My sincerest apologies, young lady. Did not mean to scare you like that".
"Who are you?" Yuna asked as she looked at the two people that had just startled her.
"Sorry, how rude of me. I am Ardyn Izunia. And this woman next to me is Cinder Fall" Ardyn introduced himself and Cinder.
Yuna eyed them carefully "Did you need something?".
"We are new comers in this world. We were hoping you could give us some directions" Cinder answered calmly.
"Directions, where?" Yuna asked.
"Anywhere is fine. But if we want to get specific, we would like a place with strong magic" Ardyn answered.
Yuna was not stupid, she knew right away there was something off about these two, they were acting nice, but it was very clear they wanted something. She did her best to keep calm and not risk angering them "Sorry, but I am just as lost as you are".
"You sure about that?" Cinder asked as she walked up to Yuna, getting way to close for comfort "You seem like a girl who knows her stuff. And that staff of you make it clear that you know magic yourself. Can't you just use you power to track it?".
Yuna took a step back, desperate for some distance "Sorry, I can not help you. Now I would be grateful if you leaved".
"Why are you so nervous, young one? We have no intention of harming you" Ardyn said in a calm but unnerving tone.
"Not unless you give us the answers we want, that is" Cinder added, slowly dropping her false nice act.
Yuna could sense the danger growing and was about to use her magic. Only Cinder knew this was coming and quickly jammed a knife in to Yuna's side. Yuna gasped in pain before holding her now bleeding side. Cinder kicked her down to the ground before stepping on her chest.
"We tried to be nice, but you had to get all denial on us. Tell us where we can get the power of this world, and I will let you live long enough to see us claim what is ours" Cinder said in a menacing tone, before Ardyn put a hand on her shoulder and made her step of Yuna.
"Now now, Cinder, she is no good to us dead" Ardyn said before looking a Yuna "My apologies. Cinder here don't share my finesse" He made a sword appear out of nowhere and put it on Yuna's throat "Now please. Tell us what we want to know and all ends well".
"I already told you, I don't know anything. And even if I did, I would never tell monsters like you" Yuna said with a glare.
Ardyn sighs "Such a pitiful waste".
"But I guess it was unavoidable" Cinder said as she materialized a bow and arrow before aiming it at Yuna's chest "To bad you didn't want to be more useful to us".
Yuna closed her eyes, ready for the arrow to her heart. But then something began to float around Cinder and Ardyn. Both looked confused at what it was. It was... cards? Before they could fully react, the cards exploded. Yuna was confused by what just happened before someone picked her up and ran of with her.
Yuna saw a portal and the person who was carrying her ran through it without a second to waste.
Cinder watched the portal vanish and growled "Damn it... Emerald was supposed to keep anyone from interfering".
Ardyn patted Cinder's shoulder "No need for your anger, Cinder. This was hardly a loss. We didn't get anything useful out of her anyway. Now, shall we continue?".
"Fine" Cinder said with a sigh as they headed back to Emerald, who had already been ambushed by whoever saved Yuna and that was why she could not warn them in time.
Back with Cloud at Weiss, they were still searching for Ruby until they noticed a portal open, before two people emerged from it. A young woman and a teenage boy. The boy had short blond hair and light blue eyes. He wears a uniform that consists of a black jacket, white pants, a medium-sized red cape, a brown pack and white gloves.
The boy looked fine, but the girl, not so much. Weiss rushed over quickly "What happened?".
"Some jerks attacked her, trying to force her to reveal where they could find some magic. She is bleeding and needs medical attention" The boy answered.
Yuna winched in pain before looking and saw someone she could vaguely remember "Cloud?".
"Yuna" Cloud answered, remembering having met her once before. He walked up to her and took out some green materia "Hold on".
He put the materia on the wound, allowing it to heal faster. Weiss was surprised by what she saw "What was that?".
"Healing Materia. Always keep some with me just in case I need it" Cloud answered.
Weiss would ask what Materia was, but there was no time for that right now "Are you OK?".
"Better..." Yuna answered as she was still in some pain.
Weiss looked at the boy "Who are you?"
"Call me Ace" The boy now Ace answered.
"Alright, Ace. Do you know who did this to her?" Weiss asked.
Ace thinks about it "I have never seen them before. But one was some old guy dressed like a homeless man who has stolen clothes from a noble. The other one was a woman wearing red and seemed to like fire".
Weiss got wide eyes, a woman wearing red... using fire "Cinder".
"Cinder? You know her?" Cloud asked.
Weiss looked angry "Not really. But all I need to know it that she is the one responsible for why the life I worked so hard to build came crashing down. She destroyed everything!".
"Now I regret not hitting her with stronger cards" Ace mused to himself.
"Never mind that now. Are you alright enough to walk, Yuna?" Weiss asked.
Yuna sat up "I can try".
But then Weiss noticed something "Wait, you walk around bare foot?".
Yuna looked down on her feet "Oh, my boots must have been left behind".
"Sorry, was no time to grab them" Ace said.
"It's ok, it was just boots. I can get new ones" Yina assured.
"Still you can't just walk around without something to wear on your feet. That will sting a lot" Weiss said before looking at the boys "Any of you got any spare shoes or something?".
"Sorry, got nothing" Cloud said with a shrug.
"Had I known I was gonna be brought here, I would have brought some spare boots for sure" Ace said.
"Alright you can take mine" Weiss said as she removed her heels.
"There is no need, I can manage" Yuna tried to refuse.
"Nonsense, can't risk you stepping on anything sharp, that could mess up your foot" Weiss said.
"Then what about you?" Yuna asked.
"My aura will protect my feet, so there is no toruble for me. Now put them on" Weiss all but ordered as she handed over her heels.
Yuna sighed, it was clear she was not allowed to refuse, so she had no other choice but to accept Weiss offer and put her heels on "Thank you...".
Weiss smiled "The name is Weiss".
Yuna smiled back "Yuna".
Weiss helped Yuna up, and it looked like her wound was not bothering her to much "Well if you're all up for it, we still need to find Ruby".
"Who?" Ace asked.
"She is Weiss' partner. She went missing after falling through a portal" Cloud explained "We've been trying to find her ever since".
"I am searching for my friend too. But I would like to help you find your friend if I can. As a thank you for your help" Yuna said.
"Well I'm not going to say no to a pair of extra eyes. What about you Ace?" Weiss asked while looking at said boy.
"Sure, I'm tired of walking around alone and lost in this place anyway" Ace said.
Weiss nod in approval "Alright then let us move on... to where ever we are heading since everything look the same around here".
Cloud sighed "We are not going to find anyone by walking around aimlessly like this".
Yuna thinks for a bit "Instead of only searching for the others. Maybe we should try to find more of those portals. They might help us get around faster".
"That does sound more reliable than just wandering around without getting anywhere. Alright, let's find us a portal" Weiss declared.
"You sure are bossy" Ace commented.
Weiss glared at him before she huffed and walked of. Yuna smiled at the small exchange before following Weiss along with Cloud and Ace. With any luck, one of the portals could lead them straight to Ruby.
Weiss just hoped nothing bad had happened to her partner. While Weiss did not show it as much as she should, she did care about Ruby more than most other people she knows. Ruby put up with her snarky and high standing attitude and despite how Weiss treated Ruby back when they joined Beacon, and despite how different they are, they still became good friends. A friendship Weiss highly valued and would fight to keep.
'Hang on Ruby, I am coming for you. And I hope you are safe and not in any trouble' Weiss thought in her head... little did she know.
"YAHOOOO!" Ruby cheered.
"Ruby! Get of me now!" Lightning growls out in anger while trying to get Ruby of her back.
Ruby only laughed as she held on "Come Light! Yang used to run around like this with me!".
"I am not Yang and this is not a playground! Now get of or I swear will Gragh-!" Lightning could not finish as Ruby put her fingers in her mouth and pulled her cheeks to make her smile.
"Come on Light, just smile and enjoy the fun. No need to be a grumpy pants" Ruby giggled.
Lightning finally got her of and glared daggers at her "Do that again, and I will show you what happens when I step on a rose!".
"You step on roses? Now that is just cruel, Light. Or are you finally admitting your hair is not rose collared and you are a Pink-Head!" Ruby said before running away.
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!" Lightning screamed as she ran after the laughing girl.
Safe to say Ruby was having a lot of fun today. And someday she would make Lightning think it's funny too.
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Tell me what you think.
