route_1065 | A Reunion of sorts

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A Reunion of sorts

Who: Yuffie Kisaragi and Cloud Strife
Where: Cherrygroove near the Pokémon Center.
When: Monday some time.
Summary: After speaking to Cloud when he first arrived, Yuffie pushed her team to make it to him.
Rating: PG rating mostly for Yuffie's mouth. C:
Log:

She hadn't wasted any time on back tracking, this was probably the hardest she had pushed her team since she had gotten to Johto. It had been a while since she had seen Cloud and had been feeling more than a little unsettled by his reactions to both Aerith and Zack. Yuffie knew exactly why seeing two Aeriths would be a bit much for Cloud, but she didn't have a clue what seeing Zack might do. Then there was the case of Tifa being younger. Yuffie still hadn't managed to get in touch with her yet. There was much for her and Cloud to discuss at this point, especially in regards to what to tell the others and what not to tell them.

The grueling pace at which she had used to travel was definitely showing by the time she made it into Cherrygroove. Her onix, Ishi had been a such trooper about the whole thing though and Yuffie appreciated it as she dismounted the giant rock snake. Her baby pokémon still sitting atop the head of the Onix. "Alright, Akako, it's time for you to go back into your ball," she said as the baby pokémon loudly protested with a small wail escaping her tiny lips.

Wary from the journey, Yuffie pulled the pokéball from her belt and called the crying pokémon back into it's ball. Onix thought to protest, but soon Yuffie had pulled her ball out too. "You too, Ishi. It's time for you to visit Nurse Joy at the center," she said, holding the ball up to call, Ishi back in.

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Cloud had seen plenty of strange creatures on his three day or so trip to the next city. Mosey wasn't overly strange, appearance-wise at least. The balloon on his head (dubbed "Thing" because there really was no other word for it,) was about the most odd of monsters that he'd come across. But in his journey, albeit rather brief, he had yet to discover one of those ...giant ...rock ...snake ...things, one of which was barely a block away from him once he turned the corner.

The phrase, curiosity killed the cat suddenly came to mind.

Or, perhaps, the chocobo. Either way, Cloud was picking up the pace a bit until he was able to get a better look. Sure, there were still other concerning things on his mind, about Aerith and another Aerith, about Zack, about why he was here instead of trying to help out back home, but ...well, back home didn't have giant rock snakes with an awesome level of that magnitude.

Cloud was essentially transfixed at his spot just beside the building, watching the amazingly large creature before realizing a particularly familiar person just off to one side.

"...that's yours?"

Yuffie was pretty much exhausted from the journey to get to Cherrygroove. That her usual senses weren't as keen as usual, before she could fully call Ishi back into her pokéball, a voice from a little off behind her, started her. Quickly Yuffie spun around, a frazzled look on her face. "Cloud! Oh thank Gaia. I was hoping you'd get to Cherrygroove." She replied, turning back to Ishi and calling her into her ball finally.

"Yep, she's mine. I need to take her to the Center for healing though. The trip here was pretty long," She added, waving for him to follow her.

Yuffie figured she could drop, the one onix off for healing. While pulling the other out from storage. At least that way, they could use the other to get to Violet faster. Yuffie figured she could ask Nurse Joy to send Ishi into the storage system after her treatment was done. Once that was done than she could ask him about the drifloon attached to his head.

Cloud wasn't about to admit to it out loud, not wanting to offend anyone of course, but that was definitely the manliest giant rock snake he'd ever laid eyes on and was quite surprised to hear it was, in fact, not manly.

Impressive, however. The blond imagined it would take little to no effort to bore through the broad side of a mountain with such a creature.

But anyway.

With a shrug to hide that forever-surprised blink (how does something so large fit in a ball so tiny), Cloud started to follow Yuffie towards the Center. However, he only managed about two steps before there was suddenly a quick pattering of heavy foot- er, pawsteps very hurriedly running towards them. Cloud could only brace for impact as he was very suddenly tackled straight to the ground, Mosey sitting proudly on his back with his tail wagging. And the balloon creature thing still hadn't let go of his head.

"...Mosey, this is Yuffie. Yuffie, Mosey."

When Yuffie spun around to see what had happened, she instantly began laughing at the sight. Cloud lying on the ground with a pokémon sitting on his back was too much of a hilarious sight not to laugh. It was good to know she wasn't the only one who had trouble keeping her teammates in check.

After a moment, Yuffie walked back toward Cloud and squatted down in front of him and his partner with an amused smile across her face. "Hey there, Mosey." She said, slowly stretching out a hand to pat the dog like pokémon on the head.

"What's this one called?" Yuffie asked, using her other hand to lightly poke at the drifloon.

He figured he'd wait until Yuffie had gotten all her giggles out. This wasn't the first time Mosey had decided to introduce himself to someone by sneaking up from behind and tackling his trainer to the ground; Cloud was sure that one of these days he was going to end up with a broken nose and Mosey was going to get the biggest lecture he'd ever had in his life.

Mosey, however, was enjoying the attention. He smiled proudly, leaning into Yuffie's hand as she pat him. But he was only allowed a moment before Cloud pushed up, shoving the mongrel off his back as he sat up. Both of them exchanged very displeased glares with each other before Mosey smirked, moving over to nuzzle against Cloud's shoulder. The blond sighed. Damn the puppy looks and his inability to stay mad at them for long.

And then there was the balloon.

"Annoying," Cloud answered, giving a shake of his head. The drifloon still clutched tight to his hair, refusing to let go. "I'm not sure if this counts as actually catching it or not."

Yuffie could already tell the small pokémon had Cloud wrapped around his paw and the notion only made her giggle more. It was a cute sight, she had to admit. At least Cloud seemed to be in higher spirits then when they first spoke on the pokeégear. It almost made her not want to drift into any other topics with him, thus she opted to keep the conversation to what was going on right now.

Slowly Yuffie stood up right, looking the drifloon over. It was obviously persistent, even if Cloud was too big to spirit away. She had to give the little guy credit for his perseverance.

"Have you tried using a pokéball on it?" Yuffie asked, resting a hand on her hip. "That kind of persistence, could come in handy later if you manage to train him."

"Several times," was Cloud's only response. He'd "officially" caught the blasted thing days ago when it first showed up, believing that if he kept the creature in the darned ball then it would finally be quiet and leave him alone. His plan was foiled when barely an hour later the balloon had popped out to cling to his hair once more, and after six more tries, Cloud had just decided to give up. It wasn't worth the effort anymore.

"What's this thing even good for, anyway?" he questioned as he stood up, brushing dirt from the streets off his sleeves, the Drifloon still happily clutching blond spikes. "I mean, what's it going to do in a battle? Sneak up behind someone and pop to scare them for two seconds?"

Again Yuffie lightly snickered. Poor Cloud would get the Drifloon that loved clinging to his head. And here she thought that Gus was bad with the nuzzling against her chest. Thinking of Gus, Yuffie actually pulled out his pokéball and released the Haunter. Who appeared in a flash and instantly went to nuzzle against her chest as predicted. Yuffie only rolled her eyes as she pushed him off.

"This is Gus, he's a ghost type like that Drifloon on your head. These guys are annoying but they are strong against psychic type pokémon." Yuffie explained as she called Gus back into his pokéball. "We should probably get to the Center. I got some exhausted pokémon that need treatment and I need to pull Yukio out of storage."

Ghost-type. Psychic-type. Some types were good against others, some obvious while others very obscure. Water versus fire, no problem. Water versus rock ...Cloud didn't quite understand how that one worked. It was going to take him a while to figure it all out.

Cloud blinked a bit in surprise seeing the new creature appear and promptly cuddle up to the ninja's ...er, ahem. So these creatures can be little perverts, too.

"Guess I'll have to keep him around, then," the blond admitted, following Yuffie along to the Center. Mosey was pretty tired, too. He rubbed his arm, sore from the stigma still, the Drifloon pleasantly humming a tune as it drifted back and forth in the breeze with his tight grip on Cloud's hair. Perhaps they all needed a rest of their own, too. "You've caught a lot of these, huh?"

"Well not a lot, but I got a full team now and two in storage. So I've had a decent haul." Yuffie replied, glancing over to Cloud. "So how are you doing?" She asked, finally ready to go near that territory that she had been avoiding. Sooner or later, they were going to have to talk and well this seemed like just as good a time as any.

Johto was a lot to take in, but even Yuffie had to admit that it was a lot more relaxing than being at home. Granted, she was probably going to be seeing some trouble, once Team Rocket realized she had skipped their last mission. But she couldn't really bring herself to care, it wasn't like she was helpless. She may not have had her weapons, but she still knew how to fight and her team of pokémon weren't pushovers.

Cloud was very certain that every trainer here caught their own companions and other such creatures the only way possible, but when considering his previous experiences and what he knew personally of the ninja girl, there was a brief nagging in his head that nearly prompted him to scold Yuffie on why she shouldn't be stealing Pokémon like materia back home.

The rest of Cloud was far too tired for lecturing.

His answer was a shrug, the Drifloon swinging back and forth, Mosey having a yawn at Cloud's feet. Cloud plucked a stray twig from his hair, no longer attempting to bat the balloon thing away anymore since every time was a feeble effort, and after folding his arms he continued, "I've honestly been better."

He'd probably would have been surprised to learn that she hadn't stolen any pokémon, if had tried to lecture her. Now her pokémon not stealing things was a whole separate subject. One that she wasn't even going to bring up. Definitely no need to bring that up.

She looked over to Cloud unsure if she should bring things up or not, but she had to know. "Cloud...what is the last thing you remember from back home?" She just had to know how far apart on the timeline they were, considering they had friends from way in the past present.

Well, Cloud supposed the saying he was hearing around here more often would be true, then. Pokémon would eventually catch on to some of their trainer's habits. Drifloon had begun imitating some of Cloud's expressions and grumbling noises, Mosey had a tendency to find a shady corner to sulk in sometimes. He really wouldn't be surprised if that Gus had a hoard of shinies hidden away somewhere.

"Back home ..." Cloud thought for a moment, absently lifting a hand to rub his still infected arm. It hadn't bothered him that much lately, but Cloud figured that meant it was only a matter of time. "The Remnants took the kids. I think I blacked out after that."

Yuffie could be pretty oblivious at times, but when she was paying attention, not much got passed her. Her eyes fall to his covered arm, a sort of curiosity building. Had she been imagining things or was he favoring that arm. A slight frown crossed her face but was instantly replaced at the mention of kids.

"Kids? I was trying to get a hold of you because a group of kids had gone missing. Nanaki and I were meeting up with Cid to check things out," She replied, biting her bottom lip. "...Cloud did you injury your arm or something?" She added, her eyes falling to his covered arm again.

That sounded about right. It was still strange, both Tifa and Aerith (he couldn't say his Aerith, but the one that he knew, from their Gaia) were so young and they didn't remember the worst of it. Yuffie knew. It sounded like she knew everything Cloud did, at that point. The same time the Remnants showed up and the children were kidnapped.

"Yeah. It's nothing, don't worry about it," he responded, his usual response when that arm was mentioned. Casting it off as a battle injury was easier than saying his flesh was rotting and one day it'll be the death of him. Right now, no one else knew about it. Cloud had another chance to keep it a secret.

"Just make sure you get it checked at the center alright?" Yuffie replied, not really believing it was nothing, but she could certainly buy an injury from home. Especially considering he said he had blacked out, maybe one of those Remnants he mentioned had hurt him. "Your SOLDIER healing may not work as well here." She added with a weak smile, hoping he wouldn't protest having the nurse check it out and make sure it was healing okay.

Yuffie wasn't the type to be a mother hen, she usually left that to Tifa, but in some cases, she wasn't beneath a little needling. She knew Cloud well enough to know he would fight through the most terrible injuries, but it was different here. He didn't have to fight so hard in Johto. None of them did.

Edited 2010-09-01 07:04 (UTC)

"...yeah, sure." Cloud answered with a nod, glancing away.

Nothing would fix it. Nothing here would fix a disease. The battle injury he claimed to have, sure, but Cloud didn't exactly want to show off his disfigured arm to a perfectly pleasant nurse. And then Yuffie would know, and then everyone would eventually know, and they would all worry and pity and- no. He'll just have to tell Yuffie he had it checked after they parted ways for the night or something, and then do his best to not draw attention to it later.

Unless Mosey decided to spill the beans.

"...I'm taking you at your word, Cloud. So make sure you take care of yourself." She said, not liking the fact that he had looked away.

It may have been a while since she and Cloud had really hang out around each other, but she was getting a vibe that he was holding back. Inwardly it made her worry, but there was so many revelations going on in Johto that she didn't want to press the matter. Two Aeriths, Tifa being younger than she was now and even Zack.

Any of those things could have been weighing on Cloud, they weren't that far off in her own mind. Several times she thought she might lose her composure around Aerith. It was far too surreal to see her long gone friend, alive and well...and younger before her.

"Cloud what happens if some unwelcomed ghosts from the past show up in this place?" Yuffie asked, finally bringing herself to approach the topic she had done her best not to consider.

Taking care of himself was one of those things that Cloud had spectacular failures with. But this was a different world, the rules were different here. And he had more than just other people depending on him now; Mosey he knew could take care of himself, but-

No, he was not worried about the balloon. Never ever.

Cloud stopped in his tracks when Yuffie continued. Sure, some ghosts were welcomed. Aerith, Zack. But unwelcomed could only mean so many people, and none of which Cloud was ready to face here. He couldn't do much without Tsurugi, and well, Mosey was a tough little mongrel but even he couldn't stand up against Masamune. And Cloud hadn't exactly proven himself to be capable of anything even with his weapons. He was useless.

"We have to do what we can when the time comes," he answered. It was all he could think of.

Yuffie sighed as she honestly didn't want to bring the mood down, but it was definitely something that they needed to discuss for the sake of the others. After all it seemed she and Cloud were the only ones from the same time period.

"There's a real chance he could be brought here from before we fought him...even with the fact that he'd be weaponless like us. I still wouldn't trust him." Yuffie replied, biting her bottom lip worriedly.

"And we can't really tell them too much of the future without upsetting them." She added, a definite tone of frustration in her voice. She wanted the others to stay happy, but she didn't want to turn a blind eye to the danger they could be in if someone like Sephiroth or even Hojo showed up. Even without weapons and materia, those men still posed real threats.

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A Reunion of sorts

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