Someone Missing [Hope]

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me
[atrb=width,240] Lightning was disoriented. It felt like she had fallen from quite a distance flat on her back. She was gasping for air, but she didn't remember falling. She didn't remember getting her. Last she remembered she was slowly turning into a crystal. Now she was here. Her whole body hurt, and she was tired, which was comical because she didn't know for how long she had been 'sleeping' for. She groaned, and sat up to attempt to catch her breath. Her vision swam for a moment before she was oriented to the new position. She felt like crap. Lightning looked around, ascertaining that the area was currently safe. She was in no form to fight right now. She waited a few moments to catch her breath before she pulled herself to her feet. She recognized the area vaguely. She was back in her home world. Now that she stood her army felt heavy on her body. She briefly wished she had a change of clothes. She would give just about anything for her Guardian Corps uniform at the very least. It was lighter. She didn't know if she would be able to walk for very long without tiring in the heavy gear in her condition. She examined herself for breaks or strains. Everything seemed in order, just the fatigue then. She looked around and began walking. She hoped she would find some sort of landmark to help her determine so she could determine which way she was going. She didn't know what to do with herself here. She didn't know how long she had been gone for. She would need to make a new life for herself. She hadn't been planning for this. She wondered if anyone here remembered her. She looked warily ahead of her, seeing monsters on the horizon. She sighed and switched her path so as not to run too close to them. She wouldn't get into a fight unless she had to. Her feet hurt and her joints felt stiff. This walk to wherever she was going was not going to be fun. The pressure in her head was becoming more than a minor annoyance. It felt like she was walking underwater. She tripped over a patch of uneven ground, stumbling onto her knees. Dammit, Lightning pull yourself together. She told herself, and pulled herself off the ground. She continued walking. This was going to get very old very fast.	[atrb=width,140] words , 404 words tagged , Hope Estheim notes , None for now.
[cs=2] TEMPLATE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING OF CAUTION 2.0

[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 689

ONE LAST THING: Muahaha, I was happy with this!

”As we arranged, we’ll fan out to collect the samples we need from the indigenous monsters. I have the north, but the rest of you can divide out the rest of the Massif however you’d like.”

As Hope addressed the researchers before him, he fetched his weapon from off of the table beside him and clipped it to the back of his belt. ”Keep radio contact, as well. If anyone has a finding worth reporting, let the rest of us know if you need any help. Is everyone okay with that plan?” The chorus of nods he received cued a ”Good luck.” before Hope himself stepped off towards the edge of camp, signaling for the pair of junior researchers and pair of soldiers assigned to join him to fall in line. Hope didn’t add any comments to them as they headed for the exit of their little field base established in Yaschas Massif, only leading the way out towards the north of the area.

Hope had believed, like so many, that Caius’ death would have changed things. As Hope saw it, things were basically the same, if not worse. Now not only had he still failed to recover the entirety of his family – the other l’Cie who’d joined him during the journey to fight back against Barthandelus – but the issues presented by Caius’ paradoxes had blossomed into the full-fledged stoppage of time with the reported death of the goddess, Etro. It left Hope and the Academy with more problems and solutions, especially with PSICOM reestablishing themselves through the test settlement created on Bhunivelze and the strange occurrences of people from other worlds being, as they described it, pulled into the frozen time of Gran Pulse without any idea as to why. Hope closed his eyes to himself, trying to avoid letting the plethora of problems reach him all the way out here. No, today, his task was simple – take samples of some of the Massif’s monsters to figure out exactly how the presence of the chaos had affected them thus far, if at all. It was a long shot that anything could be found that could stop the chaos from affecting humans, but with the situation as bleak as it seemed to be at the moment, Hope was willing to reach for a few solutions.

”Make sure you’re careful with the monsters. Approaching a smaller one could mean a bigger one may come calling in a few seconds. Don’t worry about a sample you might miss out on; we’ll be able to gather plenty out here today.” Taking to his own advice as they passed into the first area, Hope carefully picked his way over to the nearest of the creatures and bent down to start taking samples, followed in time by the younger researchers as they began to fan out for their own findings. Disappearing into his own little, focused world for a time, Hope essentially lost track of them over the span of fifteen minutes as he paid more mind to his work and to the occasional bit of information that he’d scribble down as notes. Only once one of the soldiers passed by did Hope reel in his attention and stand to brush the knees of his pants off, checking the time on his phone to ensure that the time hadn’t fully gotten away from him.

Hope began to turn to head off towards another area, when a form at a distance drew his attention for a moment. The entity was obscured by the rock-laden results of the Massif’s few fault lines, but Hope could tell that it was not a creature, but instead a human form. He had himself believing that it was only one of the junior researchers before the odd shimmer of the attire of the distant form made him realize that it could not be any of the junior researchers. Glancing over his shoulder to ensure the soldier hadn’t seen the person too, Hope started stepping his way in the direction of the form, hoping he or she wasn’t moving away from him, but instead coming closer. His curiosity was piqued considerably.

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me
[atrb=width,240] Lightning squinted in the distance. Several people seemed to be moving around, but they scattered relatively quickly, before she could get anywhere near them. She moved toward their direction anyways. At the very least they'd be able to tell her where exactly it was that she was. She recognized the terrain vaguely, but there were no markers that told her, her exact location. She sighed, pressing on. It was several minutes until she saw another person, and she made her way towards them. She recognized, vaguely, the yellow, blue and white uniform from the Academy, from when she looked in on Hope from the timeline. She sighed, dragging the metal boots lightly in the ground. The scrape of metal on earth seemed harsh on her ears. She felt heavy, both physically and mentally. She looked down at the ground in front of her. She ached right down to the bone. She paused for a moment as the world span around her. She dropped to one knee to attempt to catch her breath. She didn't remember a time that she felt this weak. Probably before her parents died. She dragged herself back up and moved forward. She was able to make out the figure she was moving towards a little better. He was tall, or at least taller than her. Platinum hair glinted in the sun and it made her stop in her tracks. She squinted, trying to make the man out. Impossible. She muttered to herself. She was not that lucky. Of all the people on this bloody world that he would be the first person that she saw. Or, maybe this wasn't luck. She didn't know what he thought of her anymore. Lightning knew what time could do to people. What loneliness and the sense of duty could do to people. People changed, they grew cold and bitter and she knew there were so many things he could blame her for. For disappearing, for not being there for Serah, for leaving him alone. She stood there for a moment just taking in who it was that she was seeing. Stunned. There was no one on this planet that she wanted to see more, and yet no one more she wanted to run from. She wanted to run away from him, from her past, but fate had it that that was impossible. She knew that if she tried, at this distance he would come after her. Or at least, the tiny part of her in the back of her mind wished he would. Her mind was at war with her emotions and it was ripping her apart. She moved forward, this time a little faster, as fast as she could manage in her physical state and with the metal armor weighing her down. Her stomach was twisting painfully in her stomach and she knew it was not because of her physical ailments. She was nervous, and it had been a long time since she had felt that. Nervousness was almost a foreign emotion to her now, but there it was. "H...Hope?" She called once she thought she was in earshot. She was still moving towards him, but she stumbled again. She looked down, her boot had been caught on a stray rock. She sighed at her lack of observation. She really need to get it together. She looked back at the man, stopping her walking. No matter how hard she tried she just could not keep her body upright. Her knees went out underneath her. Her knees hit the ground painfully, the metal biting into her skin badly. When she looked at him she could not believe how much he had grown. He wasn't the little boy who followed her anymore. She had missed so much. She should have been there for him. That was what she regretted most, leaving him alone to grow older without them. He had to make his own way through the world, and she knew what that would do to a person. She knew what it did to her when her parents died. Sure she had Serah, but she had to protect the girl, she didn't have someone she could look to for support.	[atrb=width,140] words , 702 words tagged , Hope Estheim notes , So very pleased with this. The feelz so many feels *dies*
[cs=2] TEMPLATE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING OF CAUTION 2.0

[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 575

ONE LAST THING: Muahaha, I like this one.

A wish swept over Hope as the distant, faint figure slowly came more and more into view. He carried few doubts that the individual ahead was female, but with the glare from off of the armor she wore continued to cause him fits in his efforts to get the full picture. The approaching woman could be anyone – possibly some sort of PSICOM huntress, a foreigner from another world – but Hope felt a knot building in his stomach that informed him of whom he wished to be approaching. His eyes seemed determined to make the shade of hair out as pink; whether it was his mind manufacturing the color, a trick of the sun, or the actuality, Hope could not be sure. He proceeded to pick his way over an occasional mangled part of the ground, bringing his hand up against the sunlight to continue to find more clues as to who was heading vaguely, he could tell now, in his direction.

He noticed her stopping and did the same, starting to yell but hesitating long enough that he decided that he wouldn’t be heard. He did, though, wave an arm to make sure she hadn’t somehow missed his smallish form concealed partially by rock. It would seem that she hadn’t…in fact, it seemed as if she was now determined to start running in his direction, and as Hope watched for a few seconds, staring intently at the way she ran and able to see her more and more easily as her quick pace brought her closer, Hope realized that his wishes might have just been granted. The former l’Cie didn’t even need to hear her voice – she recognized him – to know that he was looking at a woman he thought lost to them permanently. ”Light!?”, Hope called back, not nearly loudly enough for her to hear, though he’d said her name as much so he could hear it and believe as he had to ensure that the figure truly was Lightning. After a pair of seconds staring in awe, Hope started off in his own run, evading rocks as he tore off into a run to meet her halfway. He noticed, though, her stopping again just before she fell to her knees. Though concerned, he said nothing, only trying to get to her to make sure that whatever injury that she was dealing with wouldn’t threaten to take her again.

Hope reached her, essentially sliding to a stop on his knees beside her and panting as he pulled her into a light embrace that was superseded by his concern for her help for the moment. ”Light…are you alright? Do you need any kind of medical attention?”, he asked of her, pulling back to inspect what little of her he could see through the rare gap in her armor. At the blink of an eye, Hope temporarily shifted his area of expertise to that of a doctor of medicine, pulling the glove free from a hand that moved to Lightning’s forehead to ensure there was no fever. Once he was sure she didn’t feel abnormally hot, he reared back and caught his breath for a few seconds. His concern might have been unfounded, but Hope could not remember any time Lightning had gone to her knees unless she had a good reason. Staring into her face, he waited expectantly for the next move…as he’d once waited as a child l’Cie, trailing along behind Lightning’s red cape.

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me
[atrb=width,240] Lightning was caught slightly off-guard by him skidding to a stop next to her. She was glad that he was happy to see her. She had worried that he would be angry with her for disappearing. She would have been angry. When he pulled her into a hug, she managed to hug him back before he pulled away. She was almost relieved that if was him who found her, and not one of the others. Though she did have this nagging nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach that wouldn't settle. Lightning sat quietly while he inspected her. He should have known she had already been through this, but she didn't have the energy to argue with him. She also didn't want to have him worried over her. She shook her head when he spoke. "I'm fine Hope. No breaks, pulls, or cuts as far as I could tell. Fatigued, headache, dizziness, stiff and hurting a bit, but nothing too worrying." She explained. Lightning was downplaying her problems a bit, but she wasn't outright lying. She didn't want him to worry too much about her. She would be fine after some rest, and probably something to eat. She honestly did not remember the last time she had. Lightning studied Hope more closely now. He had changed so much from the little boy who followed her. His physical changes made her wonder about his personality. Going from fourteen to adulthood changed so much about a person. It had certainly changed a lot about her. She wanted to know on one hand, but on the other she worried that he might have turned out too much like herself. Though judging from what she's seen already she doubted that. "How long has it been for you?" She asked, looking at him seriously. He looked older by quite a bit. She realized it would likely look strange that she hadn't aged at all herself. Valhalla had no time, and that was one of the main reasons they were in this mess right now. She wanted to take time to catch up with Hope, she had been away from them so long and she had many questions. She knew, however, most of them had to wait. This was not the time of the place to be chatting. She was sure he had been out here for a reason and sh did not want to keep him from his work. "If you were busy out here, I could wait until you were done with...whatever it was you were doing?" She offered. She didn't want him to feel obligated to keep an eye on her not that she was back. Though, she knew with her track record of disappearance he would likely to keep her in his sights. She was tired. She thought that with being frozen as a crystal she would never feel sleepy again. This was however, not the case. She had missed him. She had missed all of them, but she hadn't realized how much more she missed him. It was like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders now that she had found him again. She still felt heavy, but not as alone. She smiled at the thought, not smirked, but actually smiled. It was a rare thing but it was known to happen on occasion and she couldn't prevent the small upturn of her lips at the feeling of not being alone anymore. It was short lived, however, when she realized how alone they must have left him feeling. With Fang and Vanille crystallized, Serah off traveling time with Noel, and Snow trying to be the hero once again it left him with everyone gone. None of their little family to make sure he was okay. Sazh was still around, but she figured he was a bit preoccupied raising his own boy to come around much. Not to mention he was getting older too.	[atrb=width,140] words , 656 words tagged , Hope Estheim notes , Sorry this one took so long
[cs=2] TEMPLATE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING OF CAUTION 2.0

[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 669

ONE LAST THING: I almost typed that he was going to get her "out of those clothes." That would have not been awkward for him at all.

Hope listened intently as Light rattled off her list of ailments. ”All of those symptoms are the same as most of the people who’ve been brought here…”, he thought aloud, and that fact convinced him that anything that was ailing her was commonplace. Though…nothing involving Light lately had been commonplace, as far as he knew, and the armor she wore was a testament of that. He made a mental note in his head as he studied said armor for a few seconds – he needed to get her some regular clothing so she wouldn’t have to haul around in the surely-heavy encasement of metal while she was already dealing with the effects of fatigue. Light would need wate- water. Hope immediately shot his hands down to the pouches at his belt and freed a small bottle of water that he hadn’t yet touched, kept cold. After unscrewing the top, he held it out in his hand to the pinkette, regarding her with the obvious hope that she’d take it from him and start getting some liquids back into her system.

Hope noticed her looking back at him even before she asked her question about the length of time for him since…since the fall of Cocoon. Since he’d trailed along behind her as a little boy who would have gotten himself killed or killed a man who would turn out to be one of his best friends without her guidance. Light was exactly the way Hope could remember her, and at least theoretically, Hope understood why she looked the same. Valhalla was a timeless place. Gran Pulse was not. Even on his knees a couple of feet away from her, the change in his perspective – from always looking up at her before to now towering over her at least a few inches – was rather jarring for him. Hope’s aged state to Light’s eyes must have looked almost…ludicrous.

He let his eyes fall to the grass before he responded. ”Thirteen years,” came his quiet reply. It wasn’t that Hope hadn’t learned patience. After all, for several years, before Serah and Noel had shown up and Sazh had returned to work before he had been in contact with any of the other l’Cie. Now that he had a chance to realize just how long it had been, though, he felt his shoulders slump slightly. Thirteen years, and four hundred for Fang and Vanille, before they could all reunite again was almost, if Hope could be a child for a moment, unfair. That they would be plagued by the spreading of this chaos as they tried to catch up made the situation even worse. ”I tried to bring us all back together again sooner,” Hope added, feeling as if he needed to justify the failures of those thirteen years. He still looked up to Lightning, after all, and didn’t want her to think he’d been sitting on his hands that whole time. It frustrated him, too, to know that despite his tangible efforts, it was apparently chance that was bringing people to Gran Pulse now, Light included. It felt like the fal’Cie were still playing with everyone...maybe PSICOM didn’t have it all wrong.

Lightning’s next comment snapped him from his thoughts, bringing his eyes to bear on her again. His eyes widened. ”Oh, no! No, I…the younger researchers I brought with me can finish the job. I’m not going to just leave you sitting here waiting for me after thirteen years…” Nor was he going to have to wait to spend some sort of time with her, though he didn’t add that thought, only looked off to the side for a few seconds to process it. ”I can bring a ship here for us and take you back to Academy headquarters, where I can find you some different clothes and a place to rest and some food.” Remembering that Light didn’t particularly care to be catered to, though, Hope recanted a bit. ”Or we can walk there...though the terrain here can be pretty rough.”

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me
[atrb=width,240] Lightning cocked her head at the mention of other people being brought to pulse. She didn't say anything about it just then, instead taking the offered bottle of water and taking a sip at it. She paused before swallowing the water and taking a larger drink of it. She had been attempting, and failing, to ignore how thirsty she was since she woke up. She could not be more grateful for something as simple as the plain drink. "Others?" She asked curiously. She had assumed she had awakened from her stasis and therefore landed back here. This weighed heavily on her mind. This mess was likely her fault. She failed to protect the goddess. She failed to protect anyone. Lightning cannot protect. It only destroys. She thought to herself, knowing it would only make Hope angry to hear it from her. She figured she was on thin ice and did not want to break the somewhat pleasant mood. She visibly flinched when he told her the length of time. Thirteen? Guilt wracked her system; she couldn't believe she let herself be gone for thirteen years. Then to show up again out of the blue… Now she wished he was yelling at her. At least then she could be angry and not feel so awful. "I.." She paused not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry." Lightning said. She had realized he looked older, that was hard to miss, but thirteen years? She would have gone mad trying to figure out exactly what had made any one of their little “family” disappear for thirteen years. She couldn’t even imagine what it had to have been like for him. Then if they just turned back up out of the blue without any explanations as to how they got there. She would be happy to see them, but also beyond furious. "You couldn't have brought me back sooner." She said. She didn't want him to feel guilty for that. Even if he managed to bring her back physically she would still have been crystallized. She sighed, knowing she would not get around telling him. "I crystallized again." She added, looking nervously at Hope. She didn’t bother to explain the details. She should be in Valhalla right now. She shouldn’t be allowed this, as much as she wanted it. She shouldn’t be allowed back here. Lightning cursed herself for thinking like that. It’s not like she had a choice. There was probably something important happening that triggered her waking. It was the only logical explanation she could come up with. Not to mention she was glad for this chance. Glad to be able to see Hope and the…man he had become. That thought was jarring to her. Technically speaking he was older than her now. The thought brought the guilt down heavily on her shoulders. She had missed so much. Lightning weighed the options momentarily and sighed. As much as she would prefer to not trouble him, she hadn't been walking for very long and she had already fallen twice. "No. I think you'd better call your ship. I don't think I could do the walking in this." She said, motioning to her armor. It had started digging into her skin uncomfortably in places and she was sure she would be blistered from it. It had been sufficient protection when fighting with Caius but now it only seemed troublesome. It had not been made for walking in, especially not for long distances. It impeded her movement somewhat, not so much in battle but more so in every day movement.	[atrb=width,140] words , 602 words tagged , Hope Estheim notes , That would have been amusing.
[cs=2] TEMPLATE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING OF CAUTION 2.0

[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 814

ONE LAST THING: HUZZAH PERSONAL CONFLICTS.

”The others are…different,” Hope began to reply to Lightning’s question, please to see she was partaking in the water. Hope didn’t want to see her weakened like this for any longer than he had to. ”When the goddess died and time ceased, Fang and Vanille were released from their crystalstasis and…whatever has happened to you began to happen. And for reasons I can’t explain, people from other…worlds or other times, I can’t be sure which…have been arriving in droves. They don’t know anything about what happened to them, but they have the same fatigue that you seem to be having.” Though he wasn’t sure that his rather rushed and choppy explanation would exactly give Lightning an understanding of what he was talking about, he figured that he could explain more to her later. She had enough to deal with being back on Gran Pulse herself; concerning herself with foreigners wouldn’t exactly serve to start putting her mind at ease.

Though maybe the conversation on those other people affected by the chaos would have been better than Hope having to tell her how many years had passed since they’d destroyed Orphan. They seemed like more than thirteen years, and in reality they were – this was 400 AF, not 13 AF – but they were longer for Hope because he had been doing everything he could every day to try and make those years of separation stop accumulating. He had told himself when he’d first tasked himself with the work of bringing them all back together that he could make it a couple of years without having them around. Then he’d told himself that five years wasn’t too long to weight. Those five years had turned to eight, and those eight to ten. By then, Hope had stopped counting and started working on his time machine to make time an irrelevant thing…but it was still relevant. Time was far too real of a thing for Hope to comprehend how he and Noel and Serah and Caius could wield it so freely; it was even more unreal to him to think that time had now stopped. They were back together now, but their time together was basically gone because time itself was gone. The thought almost made him sick to his stomach, but he hoped his face didn’t show it as he turned his eyes back up to Lightning’s face. ”It’s not your fault, Light. It’s not really anyone’s fault.” Who did he have to blame besides those who were already dead and gone? No one. It would have been far easier to have someone to blame.

So Hope would have been content to place the blame on his own shoulders if he hadn’t known Lightning’s words were true. The more he had worked to bring her back to them, the more he had realized that there was no force on this planet that he could control or create that could affect the will of the goddess that had called Lightning into her service. He could affect the circumstances perhaps, and bend them and shape them differently, but in the end it was out of Hope’s hands. That knowledge had bothered him more than he thought it would. He had to wonder if that lack of tangible control is what had caused him, in a future that would now never happen, to build the fal’Cie that had nearly killed Serah and Noel. Hope knew he had been the one to build such a creation, yes, because some days he still wondered to himself what he could do with power akin to a god. He didn’t sleep the nights he had those thoughts, because he knew somewhere deep down that he could create that power – maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but if he worked enough he could learn to wield it. At that point, Hope would be no more human than the fal’Cie he could create.

Lightning again managed to break him out of his thoughts by mentioning something he didn’t expect - that she’d been crystallized. He studied her features for a few seconds, gauging whether or not he should ask her how long or about any of the other details. Deciding those questions would be best saved for later, Hope ran a brisk hand through the front of his hair and stood, bringing his arm up beside his head so he could call in the airship he’d offered her and that she’d accepted. The fatigue really was getting to her. After flicking over a few holographic buttons that revealed themselves when he ignited the computerized gauntlet hidden under his sleeve, he brought his arm closer to his mouth. ”I need the airship on my location immediately,” he said, simply, getting an affirmative answer before the holographic sheen again disappeared. Hope offered Lightning a hand to stand up. ”The ship will be here in a few seconds.”

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me

[atrb=width,240] Light listened carefully to what he was explaining to her. Her lips pursed. This world didn't need any more foreigners. The stress between Pulse and Cocoon had been too much for them to handle already. This time it was something that was her fault. She failed to protect the goddess, and her sister. It seems she really couldn't protect anyone. Not him, not the people of Gran Pulse, not the goddess she was tasked to keep safe, and least of all her sister. She looked up to Hope, in a quite literal sense that was jarring to her. For her very little time had passed, he went from a boy to a man very quickly and she was trying to take it in stride, but it was still difficult. "So, these people from other worlds... What's happening to them?" She asked. She felt like she worded that poorly, but it got the idea across, or so she hoped. They couldn't exactly leave them to the Wilds, but she doubted the people of cocoon would take in strangers without a mass amount of paranoia involved. Though, she had been gone. Things may have changed. She felt so out of touch. There were so many things that seemed different about him, even about the world. She knew parts of the reasons but not the whole story and it was frustrating for her. She was tired and in pain and confused and all those things generally led to a grumpy Lightning. However, she forced the negativity to the back of her mind. She didn't want to spoil this meeting with Hope. Didn't need to make the first impression since she's been gone, apparently for thirteen years, a bad one. She didn't make another comment on the subject. She knew most of what happened here was her fault. She should have tried harder, looked for more answers. She should have won. Instead she ended up a rock, leaving behind everyone she cared about to deal with the aftermath of the things she caused. Guilt was not a foreign emotion to her, and it was piling in more and more. There was no way she could make up for all the things she did, or better, failed to do. She merely nodded at Hope's words in hopes that he would take it at face value. Lightning watched him carefully as he called for an airship. When he offered she expected it to be some time. When he explained it would be only a few, did he say seconds? She was stunned. "Airships at your beck and call huh? Aren't your"

[/color]she didn't know what to call the people that seemed to fall in line at his command. Troops, charges, employees? "People going to wonder where you've gone off to?" She asked. A commanding officer disappearing in the middle of a mission, military or not, never boded well. Especially not in the middle of the wilds. She didn't want to be the cause of any more trouble for him.

She looked at the offered hand for a moment before taking it, letting him help her up. The new vertical position caused her head to spin. It only took her a moment to still herself, despite feeling like the ground was shifting from under her. The world went black for a moment before dissolving back to normalcy. Common symptom of dehydration and lack of proper foods. Nothing she's not dealt with before. She shook her head minimally to help clear the fog. Luckily the spinning feeling stopped. What remained was the fatigue, and the annoying aching pain. She shifted slightly, attempting to adjust the armor plates sitting around her neck and shoulders. "You have airships on call?"[/color] She asked, attempting to keep the awe out of her voice. When she disappeared she had no idea that the boy would become so successful. More than anything she was proud of him.
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words ,

653 words


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Hope Estheim


notes ,
None for now.

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[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 565

ONE LAST THING: This is terribad.

”They’re being brought in for medical attention once we find them,” Hope tried to explain, knowing there were so many details to the process he could leave out as they ultimately were of no interest to anyone but those organizing the support system and those participating in it. ”Once we make sure they’re healthy, we try to give them shelter and means of having food readily available. Obviously, some of them don’t take well to having the Academy usher them along, but most are fine with it and appreciate the help.” Hope scratched at the back of his neck, thinking about how difficult things had been to convince people that the Academy had their best interests in mind. Between the intimidating presence of Academia and PSICOM propaganda, many had taken to the belief that the Academy was some sort of totalitarian empire trying to rule with an iron fist. Others believed that the Academy had caused the spread of the chaos.

Lightning probably didn’t need to know all of those little facts. She would probably witness what was going on once she returned to Academia. Wow, Lightning returning to Academia…five minutes ago, that had seemed like an unobtainable goal.

He couldn’t help but provide a slightly sheepish look when Light mentioned the airship. Ah, yeah, she’d missed the entire…director thing, hadn’t she? Hope wasn’t embarrassed to have been placed in such a position, but sometimes he still felt as if he wasn’t qualified and that he was too young. He was willing, though never convinced that he was fully up to task.

Shaking off his thin skin, he motioned towards the grove where he’d been searching for the samples. ”I was…technically accompanying them, but I can send them a quick notice once we’re on the ship to let them know that they shouldn’t wait up for me.” Speaking of the ship, his eyes shifted anxiously towards the cliff-laden horizon to spot if it had emerged just yet. He could see the tip of it ascending over the top. With its approach, Hope worked to help Lightning to her feet, steadying her with the hand he’d used to heave her to her feet before it seemed like she was fine. His eyes shifted over again. The airship started its landing cycle.

Giving Hope a chance, at Lightning’s question, to try to explain why he could suddenly have an airship drop in for him at a moment’s notice. Again looking a bit sheepish and down at his feet, he started a slow reply that led him back to the pinkette’s face. ”I’m…a scientist at the Academy. It doesn’t really need a leader, but…I suppose they consider me to be one.” Even though the military leaders sure weren’t privy to the idea of my leadership, he thought silently to himself. ”I don’t exactly…lead, but I do provide some guidance, since most of the inventions put to use here were made in my time.” He glanced up at the ship settling at their side. ”And having a personal airship service isn’t something I’m going to complain about,” he joked lightly, flashing Light a small smile.

The ramp opened to reveal a couple of soldiers within, and Hope motioned for them to step out to make sure Lightning didn’t have any trouble getting into the ship. ”It’s about time we got you back to the next closest thing to home…”

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me

[atrb=width,240] Light listened carefully as he explained the situation with the new arrivals. She frowned at his solution. It was logically the best course of action, but the people she left from Cocoon would not take kindly to strangers from other worlds. She had been gone for a while though. Maybe their xenophobia had died down some. She wanted to ask more on the subject but now didn't seem like the time. She watched carefully on the horizon for the airship that just barely came into view. Here she thought he'd been exaggerating. "The Guardian Corps couldn't even get these things on site this quickly for rescues."

[/color]She said, impressed at the feat. Leader of the Academy. It was something that she couldn't quite wrap her mind around. "I sort of knew that. I was able to glance into the timelines a bit on Valhalla. I noticed you were important to the timeline, no matter what version of the future I was looking at. I didn't have the opportunity to validate where we were in this mess now." [/color]Lightning explained. She covered her eyes as the airship neared. When it opened she noticed the soldiers instantly. She straightened, pulling into her military training despite the disorientation she was feeling. She scoffed as she walked past.

"Your soldiers are sloppy."[/color] She chided, nudging one of them into the correct stance. She climbed into the airship, pausing carefully as the world began to spin again. She kept her militant stance even so. She didn't want to look weak in front of soldiers, especially not grunts that were still wet behind the ears. She looked over the soldiers again. Whomever their Drill Sergeant had been, they hadn't been hard enough on this group. Though there was always the chance that they just weren't cut for this job. She knew when the military was under pressure they picked up recruits and rushed them through training and were lax about cutting people who just couldn't make the cut. She'd be sure to ask Hope about it when they weren't being babysat.

When Hope mentioned home her heart sank. She'd had a home without Serah. The girl had always been around when she went home. Home wouldn't be the same without her little sister worrying over her, and vice versa. They had grown apart but the Farron sisters always looked after each other. "Home.... I guess I'll have to make myself a new one." [/color]She said looking to Hope. The first step was under way at least. Finding her family, at the very least the parts of it that were still around.

"You mentioned Fang and Vanille were awake.....are Snow and Sazh and his boy back there too?" [/color]She asked, not bothering to mention Serah. She knew the answer to that already. She figured they would be there, but she didn't want to make assumptions, and hurt anyone if she was wrong. [/div][/td]
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words ,

Words I wrote them


tagged ,

Hope Estheim


notes ,
It wasn't bad

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[Hope Estheim]

lights will guide you home

and ignite your bones

TAG: Light! Words: 728

ONE LAST THING: I actually didn't hate this one

Hope couldn’t help but smile slightly at her mentioning of the Guardian Corps. As it was lately, the Academy effectively specialized in rescues from monsters, chaos-born disasters, and the like, so they clearly had themselves prepared for having airships on site at a moment’s notice. Unfortunately, Hope couldn’t credit this speedy arrival to their training in quick response. ”The ship was waiting to take us back to our field base,” Hope told her with a bit of a shrug, ”so it was in the neighborhood already. They all do good work, though.” And better before two thirds of the military left for Bhunivelze, he silently, and somewhat bitterly, added as an aside. In a time when unity was a necessity, the pride of the leaders who had formed PSICOM had convinced them to break any semblance of unity. It still amazed Hope how they could do such a thing despite saying they wanted to help people. But, he could be on his soap box with that subject for hours. Light could hear that rant later.

Studying Lightning as she explained to him what she could see from Valhalla, he was fairly glad to hear that his assumptions as to what she could see and do from that veritable prison in Etro’s service had been mostly correct, not that it did either of them any good now. He’d always hoped that Light had been looking out for them even from a completely different plane of existence, though, and it seemed he’d been right. As the airship dropped, he turned to give her an aside. ”You know what…happened with Noel, don’t you?”, he asked her, deciding to broach the subject. If anyone had a reason to know, aside from Mog, that the goddess had died, Lightning would be among them, surely.

He didn’t add anything before they stepped into the shuttle, though, him cautious to make sure she didn’t fall but letting his face form a grin at her comment about the soldiers. Obviously, there was no real need to defend them, but Hope felt as if he should explain anyway, since it didn’t seem like the soldiers had anything to say for themselves. They were both too intimidated to want to even be in the same cabin as the director of the Academy and a mysterious woman – a mysterious and, at least to Hope, pretty woman – in a suit of armor to begin with. Aligning himself a few feet across from the pinkette, he shrugged a little. ”We’ve had to rely on younger recruits lately and see them through their training more quickly than normal. A...part of the military left when I arrived, apparently because they didn’t like a twenty-seven year old helping lead the Academy when they’d survived so long without him.” Hope dropped his eyes to the floor of the ship, shaking his head. ”It’s too much of a mess to explain right now, but we can talk about it later on.” He couldn’t imagine Light would be thrilled to hear that the group that had hunted them all so passionately had been reformed again.

His eyes shifted back to her face, questions playing at his mind, until Light mentioned she’d need to make a new home. They fell back to the floor with a solemn nod. ”We all had to, but it’s worked out in the end,” he told her quietly, rubbing lightly at the base of his neck. ”NORA and Serah rebuilt Bodhum; Snow may have told you about it.” Maybe having a little slice of home here on Pulse would help ease Light back into society a little bit. Hope could only give it a shot to try and make her comfortable. Not everyone knew how to get over living life with only a goddess’ presence for an extended period of time, after all.

He gave an encouraging nod at her question about Snow and Sazh. ”Snow was freed from the Coliseum not too long ago, actually. And Sazh…he disappeared for a while to raise Dajh, but he came back to help the Academy as a pilot right around the time Cocoon fell. He saved Fang and Vanille from getting caught in the collapse.” Hope wanted to add a bit of brighter news, so his eyes lit up. ”Dajh is old enough to own his own place now...you can probably guess what he’s raising.”

and i will try to fix you

TEMPLATE BY: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE MIKEY ! @ CAUTION.

[Lightning Farron]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] ♦ - - - - - - - - - - PLEASE, PLEASE ` EVEN THOUGH I'M THE SACRIFICE YOU WON'T TRY FOR ME NOT NOW THOUGH I'D DIE TO KNOW YOU LOVE ME I'M ALL ALONEISN'T SOMETHING MISSING ISN'T SOMEONE MISSING ME? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forgive me
[atrb=width,240] Lightning nodded. Still being able to keep a whole airship on standby was impressive. Now if only they could train their military to be able to get anywhere this quickly. He was quick to defend his soldiers. That was good. If he was in a leadership position he would need to be able to deal with a military that respected him. That would only happen if he also respected his military. She knew what it was like when soldiers did not respect their commanding officers. They still got things done, but not nearly at the quality or speed that would be normal. "I know that Etro was killed. Is Noel ok? Did something happen I was unaware of?" She asked worriedly. The death of the goddess was the reason she was crystallized, or that's what she assumed at least. She wouldn't explain to hope that she took the place of the goddess on her throne to atone for the things she had done. She doubted he would take it well. This was easier to deal with. She felt it the moment that the goddess was killed. She managed to check the timelines to see what had happened before taking her place on Etro's throne as a crystal She knew she wasn't supposed to be awake now. She didn't know what would have caused her to wake up but it couldn't be good. "I guessed that." She told him at his explanation. What she didn't know was why they would need to bother with recruiting so quickly anyways. The question was nagging her at the back of her mind. She shifted uncomfortably before looking over to Hope. "What's going on? What do you need an army for?" She asked. Even if they were looking at a slower than normal recruitment rate, in times of peace that wouldn't be much of an issue. They would just need to forces to prevent monsters from attacking the people. There was something going on here and it didn't sit well with her. She tensed at the mention of Bodhum being rebuilt. She would definitely be avoiding there at all costs. There were too many memories of her and Serah. She knew Snow would likely be there, and she didn't know how to face him. She definitely didn't say those things to Hope. She knew he wouldn't take her holding so much guilt over what had happened lightly. She didn't want to give him extra reasons to be angry with her. She smiled at his mention of Dajh. She could only guess what the boy would be handling. "Chocobos? Can't say I'm surprised." And she wasn't. She was glad that Sazh was able to raise his child without too much of this whole mess bothering him. She was equally glad he came back to help. They were a family, and if someone was just gone from here. Well, it would hit all of them pretty hard. That she knew for sure. With Serah already being gone, they didn't need two missing family members. It was good that Snow managed to return as well. Despite how much she worried about seeing him, she also worried that someone who her sister cared for so much would be harmed.	[atrb=width,140] words , 537 words tagged , Hope Estheim notes , Blegh short.....
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