Journey of Memory: Part 1 (Open)

[Yukimura Kenosha]

The desolate lands of Midgar held so little life. The sounds of those that past on and the sounds rusted chains rattling in a dead breeze could be heard near by. Foot steps could be heard in a part of the massive desolate city of Midgar, but only within a earshot. These footsteps came from a man dressed in white. He also wore a red bandanna over his forehead. Behind it, a 4 inch long scar rested. He had no memory of who he once was in the past. All he remembered was his name and he had this crescent shaped sword for a long time. His name was Yukimura Kenosha... A drifter of worlds and a warrior of peace. He sought, not only peace, but his lost memory.

How he ended up on this world was something that he didn't understand. Things don't end up at other places without having been moved by something or someone, for that matter. Yukimura sighed in a depressing manner and stopped walking. He was walking for quite a bit in the city. However, nothing had came to, but not yet at any rate. He decided it was time to rest his feet before he'd continue on.

"Now... Where should I rest up," he asked himself, while looking around himself. There was a building that looked like it was still intact, but he didn't know if there was someone in there already. There were large chunks of concrete to his left that seemed to have some how made a kind of cover for rain, but there was no rain today, assuming this world did have rain. He didn't trust its structure, so he decided to go with the house, though it was small.

Yukimura walked over to the house quietly and went up its wooden porch to the door. The door was closed. He decided to knock first, to make sure if there was someone in the house or not. Yukimura's hand didn't move the door open... must be inhabited by someone, right? He tapped the door with the knuckles on his hand. No answer... He decided to call out, to see if someone would respond.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?"

[Penelo]

She was dreaming. She had spent a lot of time sleeping lately. She just didn't really have the strength. Something weird was going on with her body and how it reacted to the atmosphere of this world. Or maybe it was the transition from one world to the other. She knew how she got here, well only by what happened but she wasn't really sure what to call it. She was snooping around the Coast, picking up shells with the plan to sell them when she came across this strange cloaked figure walking like they had a purpose. She was curious so the blond dropped the shells she had collected in her arms and took after the figure. Out of nowhere a dome of night appeared before them and they walked in. She was so surprised she tripped just short of this strange dome and fell into it.

She was surrounded by the...strangest material she had ever come across. It was so dark and dreary she felt quite sad at just looking at it, but right in front of her there was a large beam of light, so she ran to it, wanting to get out of this pit. She emerged in a field of trees, the likes of which she had never seen. She ambled through the trees and then was smack at the edge of a wasteland, on the horizon she could see a city, so she headed for it immediately even though it took her two days because of her oddly weakened condition.

She found this abandoned house in the slums of the city, and it allowed her a quite place to rest and gather her thoughts. One, who had she followed and what did she fall through, and two, how was she going to get back home.

Her dream today centered around her and Vaan traveling the world and then coming across a dark dome and going through it. Only when she emerged on the other side, Vaan was gone. Much like now. She opened her eyes and jerked into a sitting position with a pant. She hated that dream. She had it a lot. Hello? Is anyone there? She had never heard the voice before and just hearing it shocked her blood to run slightly cold. She pulled herself to her feet and made her way to the door. Her hair needed to be brushed and her pig tail braids need to be redone, her hazel eyes were slightly cloudy and her face was drained of the usual color it hosted. She opened the door and peeked her head out, taking in the appearance of the strange man.

"Yes?" She asked, her voice cracked from misuse and it caused her to flinch. "How can I help you?"[/b][/size]

[Yukimura Kenosha]

The door creaked open, and from a small opening, a girl poked her head out. Her voice had cracked, making her flinch. Yukimura scratched his head, while staring down at the girl, with eyes wide open in surprise and one eye brow raised. He thought to himself, asking, "What the hell? Why's a girl out here in a wrecked city? Is she travelling? She doesn't seem to be from around here... Like I am... I think."

Yukimura moved his open hand to his head and scratched the back of it. He wasn't really sure how to answer the question. He decided to keep straight to the point while asking her the question.

"I've been travelling around and it looks like it's about to rain. Can I come in and rest up here for the rest of the night," He asked, putting a sincere tone in his voice. He didn't want to startle the girl, despite wielding a sword in his right hand.

A light and tiny droplet landed on Yukimura's nose. He looked up and noticed that there wasn't a roof over the porch. It probably was torn apart by something, due to there being parts of broken wood still attached above the outside wall. Yukimura guessed right. Hopefully, this girl wouldn't mind him coming in the house for a bit.

[Penelo]

Penelo looked over the boy at the door. From what she had observed from the people in the city, she could immediately tell this boy wasn't from Midgar, she wasn't sure about the rest of this place because she had too weak to travel really. She looked him over with a seemingly innocent expression but in her mind she was calculating the risks. She was, in fact, by herself, she was too weak to fight off a serious attack and she knew that if she casts any powerful magic she might just die. She didn't like the predicament she was in any more than the house she was squatting in.

She focused back on the man, looking into his eyes because that was what she was used to, she listened to what he had to say. She looked up at the sky, which was visible because they were under the part where the Plate had fallen or something. Penelo had never really gotten a good story of what really happened to this strange and advanced place. She then looked back at him as she saw the rain drop hit his nose. She had no heart to turn the stranger away. Especially if it was going to rain.

"Ok, come on in." She said moving out of the way of the scratched door, she immediately moved away from the doorway and leaned against her mattress on the floor. There was a slight flush in her cheeks and her stomach had started to turn from her movements. She rubbed a hand over her stomach to calm it down and let out a few deep breaths. "I can't offer you anything other than this mattress to sleep on. It's all I have." She said honestly. The house only had to rooms, this one and then the bathroom. She had found the other parts of the house but they had been destroyed long before she had arrived. She pulled out her hairbows and ran her fingers through her hair and tugged through the tangles.

"I don't have any food here either."

[Yukimura Kenosha]

Yukimura smiled in relief. She allowed him. She must've noticed the rain as well. Yukimura responded to the issue with the mattress, saying, "Nah, it's fine. Just having cover from the rain is good enough for me. Even if I sleep on the floor."

Then the issue with food was brought up. This alerted Yukimura, but not because that he was hungry. Rather, it was because this girl looked as though she would collapse any minute. She held her stomach, as if she hadn't had anything to eat for days. Yukimura walked into the room with the mattress and sat next to it, with his sword leaning against the wall. He looked at the girl again. She looked flushed and very weak. That wasn't good, in Yukimura's eyes. He responded about 10 seconds after the girl, first introducing himself.

"May as well first get introductions out of the way... My name's Yukimura Kenosha. What's your name and is there anyone else living here, too or are you alone?"

The girl seemed to look lonesome, which was why Yukimura asked the other question. Yukimura thought he may actually go out later to get some food, if there was any, even if was raining. First, he'd rest up here and chat with this girl and find out why she was here.

[Penelo]

She had make plans to go out and get more food, she had made friends with a shop owner who had helped her out since she got here. Her weakness was known to the owner and he helped her with what he could by making sure she got at least one meal a day. Some days she hadn't felt good enough to go to the store so the man had come to her. She hadn't gone to his store today and she figured he would either come later, but if the rain kept on he might not bother. She bit her lip when she realized she would have to run out and get some for her and her guest. She didn't want him to go hungry and if the shop owner didn't give her enough, she would just give him all of the food.

"Nice to meet you, Yukimura Kenosha. I'm Penelo." She said with a strained smile. She drew in a deep breath, to calm her churning empty stomach again. "I don't have a last name..." She then looked around the room and then sighed, she missed Vaan all the more now. "No...it's just me. I came here alone." Some part of her instincts had been trying to urge her to lie, but she had no real reason to not trust Yukimura with the truth that she was alone. She knew there was a small percentage that he could be out to hurt her, but she had nothing worth taking. No money, no valuables, no weapons (in the room anyway, her stuff was hidden outside amongst the rubble.)

"If... you're hungry or thirsty or anything I can run and go get something. I uh... it doesn't look like you are from around here, and I don't think you know your way around. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but you don't look native to Midgar." She said honestly, turning slightly to get a better look at him, and since he was looking at her, she didn't want to be rude. He did have a sword with him after all.

[Yukimura Kenosha]

Penelo's responses were quick a little quick, in Yukimura's opinion, but it didn't matter. He didn't necessarily need long introductions. She turned slightly to get a better look at him. Penelo spoke about food and water again, talking in a manner as if she knew a place to get fresh food and water, or at least someone that had it... Along with the fact that Yukimura wasn't native around here like she was. He responded to the comment with an agreeing statement.

"Yeah, you've got a point. I'm not from around here, but you're not in good condition to be up and about too much. So..." Yukimura paused as he stood up and cracked his neck a little bit, while holding it with his left hand. He walked to the exit of the room with the mattress and went to the front door, leaving his sword to lean against the oak wall. He opened it softly and looked outside, to see how the rain was. It was drizzling a little bit, but it was enough to make some tiny puddles on the broken concrete.

"We should travel together to wherever you get your food and water. You don't seem to have any weapons around to defend yourself, let alone the fact that you look very sick, so I'm not sure how well you can defend yourself in that condition."

He turned back around and looked at Penelo. She looked worried about something or someone. Was it the food she was worried about or was it about something else? It was her business, so he wouldn't ask. Yukimura walked back into the room and grabbed his sword with his right hand. He placed the blunt side of the weapon on his shoulder and walked back towards the front door. He felt like he'd need it for something soon. What it was, he didn't know. The dead look everything had outside, even the rain itself, gave him a cold and ere shiver. He stopped at the front door and turned a bit to Penelo again. He spoke again, his tone sounding alerting.

"If we go get the food, I think we should go get it quick and probably stay over there... Something around this place is bugging me quite a bit."

[Penelo]

Penelo watched quietly as he moved almost mechanically around the tiny room. It was very plain to her that he was not comfortable, something about how his eyes looked around that she felt he was tense and felt...threatened even. Her suspicion was confirmed when he picked up his sword. They wouldn't really need a sword on their way to town, but if it made him feel better about his situation, it wasn't her place to stop him.

She pushed herself up to her feet and swayed faintly, she prayed he didn't see it because she didn't want him taking advantage of her. It had only just occurred to her that he could take something from her, and she prayed he wasn't like that. She stood behind him in the doorway, steeling herself for the trek through the cold rain to the shop. She wrapped her hands around her bare forearms and sighed. "I don't really know what's wrong with me...[/b]" She confessed as they walked outside. She pulled the meager door shut behind her and then jumped down from the tiny porch, falling to her knees she reached around behind a boulder and pulled out her satchel of possessions. Along with her few weapons--just in case.

"It was a few weeks ago, that I came here. I'd tell you the manner which I did come, but honestly I have no idea. I walked through this arch in the sand and I was just...here. Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because I want you to trust me. I need a friend, and I think so do you."[/b] She spoke to him as she stood from the rock and walked around the tiny porch to the walkway and towards the road, the rain ran through her freed hair and touched her scalp, making her skin crawl. The hairs on her arms climbed to straight up and she tried hard to ignore it. It was only after she had done speaking that she looked back at Yukimura.

"Now, let's go get something to eat."[/b] She tried to smile, her face lit up but only marginally. She was being honest with him, and she really did want to be his friend. He looked like he would be very frightful as an enemy.[/size]

[Yukimura Kenosha]

Penelo went out of the house after Yukimura steppeed into the cold rain. Yukimura sighed and thought, "We'll need to get warmed back up as soon as we get to wherever she gets her food."

He watched her pull some items out from behind a boulder, taking note of the bow and dagger she had. Yukimura's spiky hair began to lose its spiky composure due to the rain. The rain drops felt nice on his head, despite it being cold. Yukimura put his left hand in his shirt's pocket and looked down the way he came and the way he didn't go, to make sure nothing was waiting for them. There was nothing, but made him all the more suspicious. He spoke out loud, slightly speaking to Penelo.

"You'd think there'd be something around here, waiting for us, but there's nothing... We'd better get moving quickly. Don't need to have something jump out at us."

Penelo began to describe, sort of, how she got to this fallen city, along with why she was telling him this. She walked out on the road ahead of him. Yukimura smiled a little bit. He was glad she was feeling good enough to be able to walk around, but was she feeling good enough to be able to defend herself. He walked over and patted her shoulder. He asked her, "Alright, then where shall we start?"

[Penelo]

Penelo smiled at him as he spoke, he seemed to always have his guard up. She didn't blame him because this part of the slums was the worst, where the most destruction was raught, but it honestly wasn't that bad--at least Penelo had never had any problems with things. She ran one of her hands through her hair, pulling through the tangles again, the water in her hair helped comb through the mess and she looked back at Yukimura. "If you think we should be ready for something, then alright, we will. But I am telling you, I am very sure there isn't anything out there we need to worry about--I've never actually ran into any problems." She told him.

She paused in her walk because she felt dizzy again and forced herself to take deeper breaths, to calm down and feel better. When Yukimura dropped a hand on her shoulder, she was surprised but she held still. She turned her head to the side and smiled at him, she shivered as a drop of rain water ran down the part in her hair and down the center of her forehead. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and then sighed. " Well to start off with, I thought we could stop by the Shop. It has a different name but I can't read the language here, but luckily everyone seems to speak this language, so uh at this shop I have made a friend and he has been helping me with surviving. I have some things to give him, so you don't have to worry about that."

She nodded her head towards the road in front of them, in the distance there were a few lights that signaled other population. "That's the way, a pretty much straight walk." She told him with another small smile before she walked off again. She hoped he was looking straight ahead at where she pointed with she swayed again. You can make it, Penelo! She mentally cheered herself on.

[Yukimura Kenosha]

(Sorry about making you wait. I had a few things to get out of the way in real life.)

Penelo had replied with what seemed to be a forced smile, saying that they had to go down the street. Yukimura nodded and began to walk ahead, removing his hand from Penelo's shoulder. He stepped in a puddle and shivered a little bit. His shoes had been very thin, so the water easily went through them and tickled Yukimura's feet. Yukimura looked in the puddle and cursed a bit at how cold the rain was. It was at that time he noticed it.

Looming over his head, a phantom-like figure had been looming, watching him in a mist-like form. It stared down at him with a bright red eye through its misty veil. Yukimura looked up quickly, only to see nothing at all, not even the solid bright red color of the eye. Yukimura remained staring up, blinking repeatedly with each drop the fell on his face.

"What the hell was that," Yukimura thought in his mind. He had this strange feeling ever since he had gone near that house Penelo was living in. Yukimura turned to her, his smile gone already from stepping in the puddle and shivering.

Yukimura spoke quickly, his tone sounding just as alerting as it was before, "I don't think we're alone, Penelo... Let's get moving quickly."

His face had been white from seeing that figure in the puddle. He didn't know what it was, but it had been one of those things that you didn't want to know about. He began walking again, his pace being much more than it was before. He lowered his sword into a position allowed him to be ready for anything. The ghostly figure floating above him with the red eye had been burned into his mind, along with the need to be ready for anything.

[Penelo]

Penelo glanced up at him, to see if he saw her sway and she was glad to see he hadn't. He may have insisted she go back to the house to stay there but she would have refused. He was her guest so she would provide for him. She saw him step into a puddle, which made her look at the ground in front of her carefully as she walked. She didn't want to step in one and fall, her body in it's state probably couldn't handle any infections from any possible cuts or lacerations. And she knew she would get some sort of cut if she fell on this type of hard metal ground.

She looked around, suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stood on end, she felt a cold breeze on her back, almost like a breath, but she knew nothing was behind her. She would have heard it. She glanced over her shoulder anyway, just to be sure, and saw nothing. She passed it off to the rain and then looked back at Yukimura, He was looking around too, so did that mean he felt it?

He turned to her and expressed that they should hurry up, that they weren't alone. So he did feel it..? He seemed shaken up, his face was stark white. She nodded her head and started walking again, determined to get there quickly even though her legs felt like jello. She kept stumbling, her hands flew out to her sides for balance. She blinked her eyes several times to make sure her vision stayed clear. Penelo slowed as they became bathed in the light from the shops and she walked to the door, her heart pounding in her chest from her jog. She didn't think it would have taken that much out of her but it did, and she felt very sluggish. She pushed open the door and glanced over her shoulder. "Sit down, and I'll go get us some food." She told him quietly, because they were not alone in the store/restaurant.

She pointed with a lazy hand to an empty table, that was off to one side of the place while she walked over to the counter, her friend was behind it, currently washing a few glasses with a rag. He smiled at her, but as he took in the damp hair and her expression he frowned. "Penelo, I told you not to leave that poor house until you felt better, and it's raining!" He complained to her. Penelo set her hands on the counter and nodded.

"I know I shouldn't, but I just need some food. I have something I can give you to pay for it all, because I need food for two, and I know you can't just keep giving it to me." She breathed, feeling bile in the back of her throat as she spoke. She drew in a deep breath, a breath so deep it expanded her torso as far as it could go and she could feel how truly empty her stomach was. She reached a hand over her shoulder and slid it into the bag on her back and drew out a few glowing stones. He looked at them with wide eyes and took them.

"Penelo, these materia will pay for more than just two meals.." He said as he pocketed them.

"Good, keep in mind how much I have bought, and please bring some food over to my table."[/color] She smiled slightly at him and when he nodded she turned and walked to the table she had pointed out and slumped into the seat, her hands immediately reached up to her face where she held her head while her elbows rested on the tabletop. [/size]

[Yukimura Kenosha]

OOC: Just to let you know, though you probably know this, here's how Yukimura's dialog goes.

In mental thought.

Normal

Angry

IC:

Yukimura's walking pace was quick. Penelo had gone into the pace as well, though sick. He was worried about her in this state, but was more worried about what had that thing been before. He didn't know if he imagined it or not. He decided to ask when they got to wherever it was. The drifter didn't even realize that they arrived at the place, despite light bathing him and the girl. When Penelo spoke, that was when Yukimura realized it.

"Huh? Oh. I'll go sit down then..." Yukimura walked over to the table the girl specified and sat in a wooden chair. He put his sword down and set it up to lean against the table. The table was kind of small, but it was better than nothing at all. He looked at Penelo and saw strange glowing orbs no bigger than a baseball in the hands of Penelo's friend. He partially heard what the man saying, but not all of it. One particular word caught Yukimura's attention the most.

"Materia..."

He began to ponder about the word. Why did it sound familiar to him? The more he began to think about it, the more his head began to hurt, as if there was some invisible wall preventing him from getting at what was behind it. He hadn't realized Penelo had came over to the table. He was caught up in his thoughts.

"What is materia?"

"Why does it sound familiar?"

"Where is the connection between me and materia?"

"I must know!"

It took him about 10 minutes to snap out of it. He looked up at Penelo and remembered his question that he was going to ask her.

[Penelo]

Penelo kept her head in her hands for a long time, several minutes at least, drawing in deep breaths. Her stomach was horribly upset and her body felt shaken and as if it was about to fall apart. She lifted her head out of her hands for a moment to see that her hands and fingers were shaking uncontrollably, and not just from the cold the rain brought on. There really was something wrong with her and she had no idea what. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She wanted it over with, whatever was wrong with her, she wanted it gone.

She looked up, to see if Yukimura was even still there, he hadn't said anything in a long time anyway. She met eye contact with him but he might as well have been in a room on his own, his eyes were distant, looking straight through her head, and he was deep in thought about something. She folded her arms across her stomach, her hands chafed against her upper arms in hope to chase away the cold and spread some warmth in her bones. She noticed that after a few more moments he snapped out of it, and finally did look at her.

She smiled a little, "Welcome back." She ran her fingers through her damp hair and let out a quiet breath. "Our food should be here shortly." She then sat back into the seat, with her back against the seat she let her head fall back so she was looking up at the ceiling. She let out another breath, exasperated. She absolutely hated being this weak and sickly.

[Yukimura Kenosha]

Penelo stated that the food should at the table in a bit. Yukimura's stomach growled loudly, making him rub his head and laugh a little. He looked at Penelo and spoke. He didn't have anything else to talk about, so he asked his question.

"Penelo, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but let me just get this out of the way... Back at the house, you looked like you were worried about something or someone. We may end up travelling together for a little bit or a long while, so I think it'd be good to know if I knew this... Were you worried about someone you know?"

He almost went off track there. However, he didn't know why he thought that there may be a chance of them travelling together. It was a strange thought for him... Perhaps he really was feeling lonely in some part of his mind. He didn't bother trying to find out what it was like that. What was said had been said. Who knew what would happen, right?