soul_logs | [Closed] Backdated

Characters: Amemiya Taiyou + Sephiroth
Location: Football field
Rating: G
Time: 29th of March, evening.
Description: Sephiroth's out on the field to get in a little exercise. He wasn't expecting anyone to stumble on him.

There was a soft glow in the darkness from Sephiroth's eyes as he moved smoothly on the field. Each swipe showed the years of experience he had in battle and with the blade. Moving fluidly, Sephiroth stepped forward to bring the long katana forward in a sweeping motion. It had always been so easy to him. He didn't even have to think of each step. His body remembered each and every process that was taught to him, and he allowed his mind to fall into the each strike.

Memories of battles long ago filled his body as Sephiroth fought against the invisible enemies from his mind. Swiping out to take down one creature from memory, he paused when his mind began filling with the events transpiring soon afterwards. It was only then that his eyes closed, and the ex-General lowered the katana as he attempted to push away such thoughts. They were of days that should have meant nothing to him, and yet as he stood out there by himself, he knew well that it simply was not the case.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The child appeared to be far too carefree around him, something that the ex-General hadn't experienced throughout his entire life. He supposed that was what happened when he had no reputation here, and with the child knowing nothing of his past, Sephiroth couldn't help but regard the boy with curiosity.

"Your praises are misplaced," Sephiroth muttered while slipping the sword back within its sheath strapped across his back. This was something that he should have just walked away from, but the ex-General found himself turning to fully face the child instead. "Do you fight?"

Part of it could also be accredited to the boy's own social inexperience. Having been kept indoors most of the time, and being generally naive... Well, it's not a very safe combination. But it does bring out the best in people, provided they're in an agreeable mood.

The idea that the man wasn't proud of his abilities puzzles Taiyou greatly. That skill he displayed wasn't the kind you would attain without hard work, perhaps combined with natural talent. When the man looks at him, he is briefly stunned.

"Oh, no, I don't." He looks down, a bit ashamed of the fact, especially next to someone like the one in front of him. It would've been fine if he were content with a non-combat position, but he wanted to be able to protect people on the frontline as well. "It would probably take me forever to reach your level." No need to sugarcoat it, he's expecting a fully blunt answer.

His cat-like eyes remained fixated on the young child as he seemed to be surprised by his question. It was a valid one within his mind, but Sephiroth hadn't even factored this war into mind. No, he knew well that not everyone drawn here would place themselves out on the battlefield, and much preferred it to be that way. Placing inexperienced fools out there would only place those with experience at further danger, after all.

The child was honest, however, and he felt a slender brow rise up at the unexpected praise thrown in his direction. "My level is not one others should reach for." Turning his attention away, Sephiroth found himself glancing up to the night sky as he murmured, "I have seen the results of what happens to those who have tried."

The boy followed the gaze of the man, wondering what it was he saw that couldn't tell. A mysterious individual to and through. Truth be told, he isn't expecting to get much, but to have this conversation with him was satisfactory enough.

"Were you in some sort of military?" It seemed a logical conclusion to draw, given the last statement. And while not as serious in extent, Taiyou's heard of an organization back in his world with intense training for super athletes. Perhaps the concepts were similar.

His memories seemed to be irritatingly strong as his mind shifted back to the days before Nibelheim. Sephiroth had known that he had been different ever since he'd been a child, but he had been so oblivious back in those days. The child's question dropped his attention down from the night sky. Glowing softly, he peered back over towards the curious boy.

"I was once the General of the largest military organisation on my planet," Sephiroth found himself admitting. Why, he didn't quite know, but he shifted to regard the child. "But those days have long gone."

"I see..." Taiyou looked down, noting the past tense in his phrasing. He speaks again, but not without a little hesitation. "Did you get tired of fighting?" Because mid-conversation, he realized, battle was not necessarily a thing to be glorified. In idealistic tales, it should only be used to keep the peace.

If that was really the case, he's sorry he had to be brought into this kind of situation again.

"The fighting never stops for someone like myself. There's always another battle, another enemy to face, in a war that never stops," Sephiroth said in response to the fighting. Did he grow tired of it? The question had him glancing away as he considered his answer. It was one that didn't even need much consideration, he found. "I've never known anything beyond fighting. It has been all that I've done."

So piecing two and two together, he left, but didn't stop fighting. His steely responses struck a cord in Taiyou's thoughts. His mental image from before was all wrong. He wasn't some majestic hero who lived the glory days, and was now a humble retired veteran only taking up his sword again in a new time of need.

He was a literal weapon. Born and raised...?

What could he say to him? He didn't understand. But he wanted to say something.

Anything.

"That's..." He started. He paused for a second, bit his lip, and continued on. "That's terrible."

Sephiroth couldn't help but chuckle at the response given. It hadn't been expected, but then again, he supposed that he could understand how one could view things in such a way. He had never once wondered why he had been the one to endure such a fate, or wished it on another, as he'd just wondered why he had been so different from everyone else. That answer had eventually been given to him though, and it had changed his life in every single way.

"It is the only life that I am aware of," he honestly answered, as if it didn't bother him in the slightest. While he didn't say it, it was obvious that he simply didn't know how to live a different life. "Does that bother you?"

"It does!" Taiyou responds, with surprising volume that he would have stunned even himself if he wasn't already running his mouth. "That's... not the way to live..." His pupils dilate as his ideals flow one after the other. "What about having friends, to fulfill your dreams, to celebrate your victories, to share your worries! A time of rest, and just casually talking...!"

It wasn't something Taiyou himself had much experience of, given his medical confinement. But this was what he dreamed of and strove for. As far as he could tell, the other has had his entire life spelled out for him. Was it there since birth? Did someone dictate his every action? His expression then softens, slightly, into one of exasperation.

"Are you... are you really okay with this?"

The intensity was surprising, and for the briefest of moments, his eyes widened to show that surprise. Nobody in his world had cared for such things, as he doubted this child would if he had been born there, and he found his lips pulling up into the beginnings of a smirk as he huffed in light amusement.

"When I was younger, I had two who I had once thought of as friends... companions, but I have since come to learn that what I had was merely an illusion. One had become jealous of what I was, which caused bitternes within towards the bond we once shared. While the other's offer was focused on the one filled with jealousy," Sephiroth said in return. He couldn't blame either of them, and while he found it difficult to accept any form of friendship, the ex-General still couldn't hold any resentment towards either Angeal or Genesis.

While he was not one to sacrifice himself, if he hadn't been chosen for the experimentation, then another would have taken his place. Not that he had a choice in the matter considering that the experimentation had begun while he'd still been within the womb. "If it wasn't done with me, there would have been another."

[Closed] Backdated

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject