Obligatory Disclaimer: Nunka mine. I just lahk to manipulate already owned/created characters to my every whim *evil laugh*
Lesson.1.0:
Learning How to Lose
Autonomous.
In one word Lightning could be described. She was as exciting as a blank wall, as straight as a pin. More than a father, more than a mother; she was strict, sovereign and cold. The only true feelings she harbored were the ones directed toward her baby sister and even those were still far from reaching an open shore.
Her sister, Serah, probably hadn't so much as seen Lightning smile since she was thirteen. May hap as tragic as that may be, Lightning felt the need for emotions was an empty one; one that only caused problems and got in the way of better judgment. To be a soldier, she had to act like one. And acting like one required a 'no capacity' law for things like mercy, understanding. She had ditched those ideals long ago; her soul hollowed out much like the shell of Cocoon; her emotions as frozen as the water beating down on her naked flesh.
Icy blue eyes fixed their gaze upward, staring aimlessly at the shower head of which the cold droplets produced from. Her arms were forced to her sides, having abandoned the very human need to keep warmth in her system. She shivered gently as the icy waters cascaded down her body, pooling at her feet before draining down the pipes. No steam ever came from the showers when Lightning entered. No men ever came from the showers when Lightning entered. Not a soul dare venture in to the locker room while she resided there. A particular occurrence she took full advantage of.
Lightning hadn't needed the social contact. She cared not for the small-talk or the banter one would associate with peers or co-workers. It was tedious and took away from the efforts of work. They were here for a job, not to play around and hike up their skirts. Besides, all they ever did was moan and groan about the budget cuts to the Guardian Corps division. Yes, the budget was inflexible when it came to Guardian Corps, so what? There was nothing anyone could or actually would do about it, so why complain?
The HES was a bust as they knew it, having as many glitches as it did, yet having none of the resources to fix them. There were outdated classroom tools as well as outdated weapons for use. And as if having to use cave-men technology wasn't bad enough, half of the equipment only worked on good days, if they were lucky; unlike the water-heater which had broken months ago and had yet to be fixed. Not that she minded. Having an ice-cold shower was better than having caffeine fixes to wake up. After a night of no sleep, that was fairly important to her.
With the delicate snap of her hand, the water immediately shut off, the last of the remaining flow sounding off its descent in to the pipes below.
She stepped away from the marble stall. Anything for looks seemed to be justified within the budget though, she thought as she gazed at the glossy appliances, so long as no one knew the internal problems, external appearances could be kept up with. Lightning swiftly grabbed the towel she had placed near her, wasting no time in wrapping it tightly around her frame. With more balance and purpose in her step after the revitalizing shower, she moved to the sinks where she left her clothes in a neatly folded pile on top of the black marble counter-tops; perhaps the only decoration that wasn't white in the entire training school.
Swiping at the pile of clothing, Lightning clamped her fist around the fabric, her gaze torn from the offending mirrors to the belt sitting idly atop her pile. Mirrors never did a person any good. It only made them vain and worry about looks rather than priority. Her top priority was killing and surviving. Looks never fit in the equation. She vaguely noted the sound of her wet feet slapping against tile flooring when her brain decided to catch up with her eyes.
Her belt was on top of her clothes. But under her weapon holster even the belt-buckle would have been practically invisible; seeing as the being of her holster was not small enough to allow a glimpse of the object. She ran a hand softly over the edges of her buckle and grimaced. No doubt one of those men, ahem, boys took pride in playing a practical joke on the ever-cold, ever-silent Lightning Farron. No doubt she would end up re-arranging their face for them once she found out who the offender was.
Her ears twitched as she heard a familiar click followed by a very familiar swipe. Apparently the offender was still in the locker room. And by the sounds of it, he was handling her weapon improperly. In all technicalities, she would admit, it wasn't truly her weapon. Weapons were provided for handling practice to all training officers; there was only so much the HES could replicate. And weapon wielding, while a big part of it, wasn't 100% accurate while in the HES, thus giving students a need for real weapons. Still, despite the objects obvious signs of overuse, she treated the weapon as though it were, indeed, her own. Ice eyes formed in to their own sort of lethal weapon as she marched out of the showers and in to the locker area. Whoever it was, he was going to seriously regret ever messing with her or her weapon.
Rounding the corner, Lighting was ready to drop her clothes and manage a choke-hold until she recognized the person before her. She stopped short, the smacking of her feet silencing at the sudden suspension of her movements. Her breath hitched, her chest rising with the heave.
Out of all the men she had come in to contact with, out of all the men she had thought would even challenge to play a filthy trick on her; she would have never guessed him.
Her mouth proceeded before her brain decided to join. Seems her functions were still moving particularly slow today.
"Sir." She addressed the General, still wondering if she should have phrased the custom in the form of a question, but her brain didn't seem to be in the mood to ponder that; nor did it care enough to.
"That was an impressive fight you put on display there, Farron." The Brigadier General turned her gun-blade over in his hand again and again almost as if questioning how she was able to wield the weapon so delicately.
"Thank you, Sir." She nodded, forsaking the thought of bowing in the event a few of her goodies were feeling 'good' enough to peak out. Lightning didn't need the Brigadier General of the largest Guardian Corps unit: The Wide-Area Response Brigade, more widely known as the 'cavalry', getting a bad first impression of her because of an inability to keep her towel on; even if it wasn't her fault that he walked in at such a moment.
His eyebrow arched, one bronze eye taking in the full view of Lightning clad in only a towel. The sight made him want to chuckle, but with a girl as brisk as she, he knew there was no room for such formalities. It surprised him that she was, at the very least, entertaining even some semblance of conversation with him after he had stolen her most prized possession and caught her in a most private manner. And yet she still had the mind to thank him while she stood half-naked only a few feet away.
Cid closed the weapon and replaced it in her holster, extending his arm for her accessibility. Seemingly unfazed, Lightning approached the General and graciously accepted the weapon, placing it rightfully atop her clothing where it belonged.
"Two days." He mused, letting his hand fall to his side "I think I'd like to test the waters myself, before long."
Her blue eyes respectfully roamed from his toes to the top of his head where the tresses of his oil-black hair flowed. She gave him a once over, seeing as this was her first time meeting the man in person. He was talked of greatly with much esteem and she had yet to understand why. Her skepticism coursed from every pore on her body as she narrowed her eyes to meet his. To say he was impressive, would be no lie, but to say he was beyond and above all others, to worship the ground he walked on as most soldiers did, Lightning could not attest to. As her superior, she would respect him in the ways that were proper. As her mentor, she would listen to him. But as a man, her only opinion rested on border-line hatred. After all, one does not make good first impressions by stealing another's weapon.
She turned away to set her clothes on top of a nearby bench so that she could fix her towel which she felt was slowly, but surely slipping.
"What do you have to say for yourself, soldier?"
Lightning froze. Her body paused in the movement of placing her items on the bench. Quickly setting out to straighten her posture, she secured her towel with the latch of her thumb and finger and walked back toward him.
"I'm ready when you are."
Softly he chuckled. The blatant cold seeping through her eyes was more damaging than what any fire could manage. "I'm ready now." He said, knowing full well that she would have to back away from the fight if she wanted even a slim chance at winning. Right now, she was far too spent with the two-day fight before. Even her eyes told him that she knew this.
Cid knew she was smart enough to know when to back away from a fight. He had already heard many rumors about the quickly rising soldier; especially the surprise on her being a young woman. Perhaps that was the main reason as to why the news traveled so fast.
"If you'll allow me to dress, Sir, I will be as well."
His brows furrowed together, confusion knitting itself in every corner of his face. That was certainly an unexpected answer. He thought her limitations were obvious even to her, herself. And while he still had no doubt that she knew she was nearing her limit, he would be one to guess that she intended to stretch herself as far as she could go. But he wasn't going to be the one to stop her. A soldier needed to learn when to heed the warnings their bodies were signaling. He was just going to have to help her learn that lesson the hard way.
"In that case: I'll be waiting in the training hall."
She nodded and watched his form disappear around the corner of the locker room, the heavy door sounding with a distant boom. It wouldn't take her long to dress. General or no General, he was going to regret messing with her.
Cid stood apart from the myriad of onlookers that had gathered at his entrance. If his looks weren't enough to set him apart from the rest, then his demeanor sealed the deal. While perceived as cold and distant from afar, up close and personal it wasn't hard to tell that he was kind, caring and informative.
He was not only admired by both men and women alike for his looks, but for his personality.
Waving his hand at the technicians, his robe falling back in the crook of his elbow, Cid approached the machine responsible for the HES. "Another training battle will commence soon. I ask that all technicians and medics remain on standby."
A round of confusion crossed the faces in the room; the technicians most perplexed by this and perhaps most aggravated as well. They looked none-too-pleased as they rebooted the machine and set up the simulation. The onlookers however seemed to fare much better under the light of this news. A few soldiers threw an excited fist in the air to see a battle involving Cid Raines.
It was rare Cid ever visited the trainees, even less so that he battled one. His busy schedule as a Guardian Corps General didn't allow much flexibility in his time. He had witnessed quite a few simulation battles take place beforehand; the variation between each was slim, as if seeing one was enough to constitute seeing them all.
Cid glanced back toward the locker room (/showers) as he heard the heavy door leading to it boom close.
One simple battle and she had changed his mind. Lightning Farron. The way she moved, acted and spoke led to an entertaining battle under any pretense. Her will was strong, her movements powerful. Cid smirked slightly at the grimace of detest on her face. But she was still young. She had yet to learn when to quit. Limitations were basic. Defeat was basic. Lightning had tasted neither.
"Lightning's taking on the General?" a soldier yelled in disbelief from another corner of the room, sending a wave of commotion over the onlookers.
"If you don't mind…" She spoke softly, but lethally enough to kill "…I'd like to get a move on with this battle before you attract more attention."
Cid chuckled. "Certainly, Cadet."
With those words he had no doubt ruffled the last of her fur, infuriating her to no end. This time he hadn't referred to her as a soldier and he was positive she took it as an insult.
"HES initiation in 5…4...3…2…1!"
White training hall, filled with an anxious crowd, disappeared from sight replacing white with the dusty brown abandoned terrain of an imaginary field surrounded by ominous, far-away mountains.
Lightning scoffed. "Brigadier General or not…I won't take it easy on you."
"Nor shall I, trainee."
A gun-blade materialized in each of the opponents' hands, digitizing from the realm and taking form in their grip.
Crystal eyes narrowed.
Static sounded as a voice seemingly entered the territory, reaching from the height of the skies to the depths of the earth under their feet.
"HES stable. Commencing combat simulation: Now."
A/N: Okay, so that was a pretty fast update! ;D I had this chapter in tow though, so please don't be disappointed if the updates aren't as quick anymore. Work is picking up in pace again and I doubt I'll be able to update as often as some might want. I apologize in advance for this inconvenience.
8D As always: I ask that you review! I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you. Any thoughts are welcomed! Flames will be used to keep my toes nice and warm.