queenofheartsrp | iv ⊰video-action⊱

iv ⊰video-action⊱

[Anyone who knows Fela knows very well how much she likes to sunbathe. Considering how little she sleeps at night, with her mind busy roaming the dreaming, her frequent habit of daytime naps is not so very strange. She can often be found near her house, laid out on the warm clay with the sun spilling over her face.

Today, however, there is ocean. She does not remember the last time she saw the ocean in the waking world, but she knows that its beauty is featured often in the sleeping fantasies of those she cares for. And it is beautiful. The water glitters beneath the full sun and the sand is silky beneath bare feet. She shields her eyes for a moment as she comes upon the dunes, looking out over the scene with eagerness, feeling the breeze kicked up by the tide as it sends her hair and her skirts fluttering.

She unties the long skirt from around her waist as she heads out across the sand in her top and simple colaless. The top, however, will not be lasting long. It is already quite revealing, covering only the barest essentials for polite company, and in its bright print had probably already been mistaken for a cloth bathing top already. She unties it without much care, making a pile of clothes that she weights down against the wind with the many colorful bracelets and necklaces she wears, as well as the beaded purse she keeps across her body.

She heads down to the water then, laying out in the wet sand where the tide can keep her cool and wet under the sun. She doesn't intend to go anywhere else today. Although there is one thing missing, which she calls to the vine to attend to:]

Mahalia? [She's rolled onto her stomach, wet hair spilling across her face. She pushes it off with a laugh. As she moves, the sun catches her skin and the water and she really is absolutely glowing.] Are you coming to join me?

[As the tide rolls back, it becomes a bit more obvious that it was not just the water glittering so brilliantly. The wild effects of the water have deemed that their visitor be gifted with scintillating scales, nearly translucent except for the sheen of colors that flash every time they catch the light. A rainbow of color overlaying already golden skin. But perhaps you will have to get a bit closer to see them in detail.]

It is lovely either way, but you know I would enjoy your company. Well, really, anyone is invited.

[She laughs again, wiggling her fingers in greeting at the mirror.]

[[ooc; is Vee blatantly abusing the fact that her PB is a sexy sexy swimsuit model? Yeah. Yeah she is.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, all days are the same to me here. They are days I am away from my comrades. The weather means very little in a manufactured paradise.

[Even back home, Sephiroth prefers duty to leave, and it takes a good deal of coaxing to get her to relax. Others may enjoy themselves here if they wish, but she will resist.]

They are only the same if you view them as such.

[The water rolls in over her, cool and elegant.]

Or each can be its own unique dream.

[She chooses the word dream rather specifically, perhaps as a little signal that she knows exactly why her opinion and Sephiroth's do not overlap.]

I recognize their individual differences, but that does not change the fact that I am a captive, and that remains a constant.

I don't wish to live in a dream. [She says it as a statement, not an argument, but it reminds her of something.] In fact, I meant to ask you--one of the women here proposed the idea that this environment might be a shared dream. Do you think that is a likely possibility?

[And they are only captive if they see the garden as a cage, but Fela does not belabor the point.]

It does not seem like a dream to me.

[Sephiroth will not accept that it is other than a cage, as she has been brought here against her will.]

[She nods.] I did not think it could be either, but as you are an expert of a sort on dreams, I wanted your opinion. Thank you.

[She glances out to sea again.] I plan to see if the ocean can be crossed. [Perhaps she is enjoying herself in a sense, as investigation keeps her stimulated.] I was not aware that we could create things of this scope.

[She sits up then, to look out over the water. She supposes it makes sense that ocean could be crossed and yet... Looking out over it, endless up to and far beyond the horizon... She finds it rather strange, but perhaps that is just her sense of poetics getting the better of her.

She runs her fingers idly over the scales that have found their way to her legs.]

I think... their longing for their loved ones is very great. A vast as the ocean, maybe.

[She shades her eyes again, scanning the water, looking for a dark blot in the water, which she points to.]

I believe that is meant to be our sister's village.

[She considers Fela's words and the idea of longing. Her own longing did not create anything like the ocean.] So you believe that great emotion can create greater things here? [It is an interesting theory.]

[Sephiroth easily picks out the point Fela indicates and nods.] I can see it. I can go there as well, once I've made a craft. Do you wish to accompany me?

I think... when it comes to creating, a strong desire can be almost as vivid as a clear vision.

[Some created through a perfect memory of their object, but Fela... had so few memories that the home that had come to her had most certainly been built out of desire.

She turns her attention up to Sephiroth curiously when she offers to take her along.]

I would like to see the village, yes, if you will have me.

That is in line with what I have learned of this place. [She stores the thought away, in case it becomes useful in the future.]

Sailing to the village strikes me as an excellent exploratory foray. I wish to test the stability of this ocean before venturing out too far. [Bringing someone else has its advantages. What concerns Sephiroth most is her own state of mind, and she has found that companionship is useful for maintaining balance. In addition, a SOLDIER is helpful and honorable. If it is a place from Fela's world, it is not surprising that she would wish to see it, so Sephiroth will escort her.]

If you would like to depart now, we will. Otherwise, I can return for you later.

[She smiles. It really does bemuse her how Sephiroth can make kind acts seem so clinical. Fela chooses not to treat them as such, maybe hoping one day the other woman will follow her example. That is, perhaps, incredibly unlikely, but Fela does so like to dream. Either way, so pushes herself up onto her feet, glittering quite brilliantly as she moves to gather up her clothes.]

It sounds lovely. [She observes, tying up her skirt and her top, slipping strings of beads back over her head.] Any time out in the sun with company is time well spent.

[She translates 'exploratory foray' into her own way of thinking easily.]

Very well. It will not take us long. [This ocean is still the Wild Places, so she imagines it is still possible to make things.

Though she would prefer a Shinra craft, made of metal, with a motor, she knows what problems might arise from such a venture, and she doesn't wish to risk it. She knows what the Gardens prefer. With the sand, in the shallow water, she creates a lighter, Wutaiese craft, with a sail and a wooden hull. She is quite familiar with them from her time in the field. They are fast and maneuverable.]

That should suffice. If you are prepared. [She holds out her hand and nods for Fela to step inside.]

[Fela does find it incredibly exciting to watch others work with the wild magics. From her time in the dreaming, she is used to such things, but to have that magic in the real world, for any and all to make use of, is a wonder. She loves to see and imagination given real form.

She comes forward to take Sephiroth's hand, stepping up lightly into the ship. She turns when she has her footing, offering her hand in return. She's sure her soldier friend can manage just fine, but that's really not the point of the gesture.]

Are you very familiar with watercrafts?

[Sephiroth's own magic power is something she seldom uses here. She views the Gardens' magic as something of a mere trick, if this is all artifice. Shaping falseness into falseness of a different kind seems meaningless.

She does not take Fela's hand at once, instead pushing the craft deeper into the water and out of the shallows before she accepts the gesture and jumps aboard.]

I'm familiar with all modes of conveyance on my world. [She doesn't usually sail small craft like this, but it's simple enough, especially as the magic makes it easier.] It's useful for a military leader to have experience with such things.

Hm.

[She hums softly, moving to watch the way the ship's bow parts the waters in frothing white ripples. She has not put much thought into what it might be useful for a military leader to know, would not come up with much from her limited memories, but... she does not mean to denigrate Sephiroth's position with a dismissal. It is of importance to her, and so Fela considers it. A leader who needed to move her men, quickly and efficiently. Always efficiently...

She brushes a long lock of hair out of her face, watching the water sparkle, and knowing that the light is being thrown up onto her strange scales as well. She wonders if the general would find it a vision or an inconvenience.]

Walking seems so much more familiar. [She has never been in a boat before, nor a car nor an airplane and perhaps her body knows it.] You must see so many wonderful places...

[As she suspected, the winds are favorable. Of course the Gardens would encourage a pleasant sailing trip. She steers the craft toward the village. She enjoys the sailing more than she has enjoyed any aspect of the beach previously, as it requires some focus and skill.

She listens to Fela, yet is silent for a few moments before responding. The sea air feels good on her face, the wind and a light spray of water.]

There was once a young woman here who I spoke to briefly before she disappeared. She said that my world must be beautiful, and I suppose that it is. I do travel a great deal, and I have seen much, from the southern jungles to the northern ice. I take in all I see, and it is of great interest to me. I wish to know and see everything.

Yet wherever I go, I find nothing more admirable than my men and my comrades.

[She turns to look at Sephiroth with a really very bright smile. So she does have her own sense of romanticism after all. Fela is happy to have seen it.]

I am sure they value your respect in kind.

[Perhaps she is not sure, but the woman does cut quite a figure, looks to her tasks and her values unwaveringly. Perhaps care and admiration made for a good leader. She would like to think so.]

[Perhaps her friends gave her a sense of honor and a sense of poetics, but her boundless curiosity is her own, as is her belief in her duty and her men. She fights for them, and that is why they follow her unwaveringly.]

They do. A leader and her men must trust and respect each other. No battle is fought alone.

[They draw ever closer to their destination, and she studies it curiously.] I suppose the village is unfamiliar to you. Or have you obtained memories of the place from your sister?

[She continues to smile, even if she looks down quietly. It's such a lovely sentiment to place upon such an ugly thing.]

She stayed there, with another of our sisters.

[It was a pleasant summer memory, something that would stay with a girl all through her life as a reminder of younger days. Fela was not precisely envious of it, but she recognized the poetry there.]

[To Sephiroth, war is natural, a fact of human life, and as she excels in it, she takes pleasure in the challenge--though a good leader fights in such a way that the loss of life is less, and not greater.]

Now you can see it for yourself.

Do you have many sisters? [There is a note of interest in her voice. Others' families make her curious, as she does not have one of her own.]

[She is happy to see, to feel the walkways under her own feet and in her own hands.]

I am told there are twelve of us siblings, who still live.

[There others are dead and she has to think then, to try to remember all the names.]

Six boys and six girls. I am the eldest.

[The ocean does seem to be stable, even this far out. She will have to go farther, alone, later.]

A large family, then. I have none. [Though there is something she knows that she is not meant to know, but she would not speak of that. It is not a family.]

[She took note of the fact that Fela said that she was told about her siblings.] Do you forget even your siblings? Or is it simply that you have been separated?

I do forget, but I also do not believe I have met many of them.

[She watches Sephiroth's face, wondering if she would like the large family. Or perhaps her soldiers do well enough, Fela does not know if such things can be compared, she has never been a soldier.

She smiles faintly.]

Our father is also a dreamchaser, he traveled much. We each have different mothers.

[Though she enjoys the company of her fellow SOLDIERs and finds them generally easier to relate to than ordinary citizens, Sephiroth has only felt a truly close connection to Angeal and Genesis. They feel related to her somehow, like brothers, although of course they are not.] That explains the large number of siblings. [Not that it would have been impossible otherwise, but that is a more likely explanation.]

And what is your mother like? Do you remember her? [The subject of fathers does not interest her as much.]

I do not remember her, I have been told she is dead.

[Despite the lack, she still shows a certain amount of sadness. Family was of great importance to her and a piece of it had been lost, just as her other siblings had been. It was a cruel world she lived in, everything she or her father touched would be hated by association, tainted by glitter and worthy of extermination. There was only one thing worse than to be a witch yourself, and that was to sympathize with them.

Her mother had died horribly and it is a blessing that she does not know the details of it.]

But there is a picture of her. The paintings are my father's, but Mahalia created them here. She has blonde hair, and a bright smile, bright blue eyes.

[She cannot, however, remember her name at the moment. She looks off over the water with a frown.]

[Sephiroth nods. She has no condolences to offer, because to her such words seem meaningless.] My mother is dead as well. She died when I was born. [She says this without any discernible emotion. It was made abundantly clear to her that her birth was the cause of her mother's death, but if she was supposed to feel responsible, she does not. Complications during childbirth are not uncommon.]

You are fortunate. I have never seen my mother's face. I know only that her name was Jenova. [And of what importance are names?]

iv ⊰video-action⊱

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