Phantasos

[The general doesn't make a sound as he moves, and he can move very quickly, at times too quickly to be seen. Yet when he's still, or moving slowly, he cuts a figure that's hard to miss: a tall man with bright hair wearing large silver pauldrons and black battle leathers, armed with an unusually long sword (although it isn't drawn).

He has no specific goal in mind. For now, he's exploring and gathering intelligence about his new surroundings. He shouldn't be here; SOLDIER has need of his presence, but while he's here, he'll learn what he can.

One can find him appearing throughout the city, gathering intelligence about this new place, or in the park, testing his Materia to see if it works normally in this strange environment. There are brief bursts of fire, lightning, and ice. There is even a faint tremor that rumbles through the earth.

When he encounters another person, he catches their gaze and nods politely in greeting. He's highly curious, but he speaks in a cool, calm voice.] Good afternoon.

[Summer in Edge could be a miserable experience for someone raised in the Nibel Mountains. Cloud found that, despite the enhancements that made him practically impervious to heat stroke, he didn't care for the sun pounding down on him all day long. Neither did he care for way the exhaust fumes from the growing city's traffic seemed to hang closer to the ground on the hottest days. Being near enough to a SOLDIER as to make no difference meant that Cloud got hit harder with the smell than just about anyone else in town.

Cloud sighed as he swung his leg over Fenrir and pulled out into traffic. He had just one more delivery to make. Then he could go home to Tifa and the kids and a nice, cold shower. He was looking forward to getting the dirt and grime of the road off his skin and out of his hair. It had been a long day, and he wanted a cold beer in a cool room where he could sit down and keep an eye on Denzel and Marlene while Tifa got the bar ready for the evening customers.

He was halfway to his last customer of the day when the world blinked out, to be suddenly replaced by an unfamiliar landscape out in the country somewhere. Cloud hit the brakes and frowned, taking a good look around for Aerith just in case. She'd been there the last time something like this had happened to him, but for once seemed to be absent. Huh.

Ill at ease, Cloud reached over his shoulder and freed the primary blade of his sword from its place against his back. Someone seemed to be messing with him, and he really wasn't in the mood.]

[ooc: First time in a dressing room. How I managed that in over a decade of RPing, I don't know. Cloud is post-DoC. I don't get to play him with canon icons instead of a PB, and I desperately want to!]

[ There's grass. Green grass. And trees. And flowers. Right smack in the middle of one big, unfamiliar city.

The gently sloping landscape of what to anyone else might appear to be a completely average city park lies in front of him, and Cloud is currently staring out at it with the Most Serious Expression, as if it's some kind of optical illusion he hasn't quite yet figured out. He's been doing his best up til this point not to look too much like the totally lost tourist he really is, in this place, but now that too sincere facade might finally be done for.

The eerily clean, bright city itself is one thing -- no destruction, no debris, no slums (no hint of any seedy underbelly at all), and not even one passing whiff of Shinra's propaganda -- but this? Is downright surreal. With the sound of birds singing in the trees and skyscrapers on every horizon, it's almost... ]

(...Peaceful.)

[ Shouldering the massive sword strapped to his back a little higher, he sets out on the path that cuts directly through the park. Though he hasn't lost sight of his priorities (first finding everybody else, and only second figuring out where they've ended up), it can't hurt to search while sightseeing. Somehow, it's hard to imagine that any of them are in a great deal of danger, here. ]

[Like looking through frosted glass, the buildings bent and swayed, contorted into strange shapes that defied the laws of gravity and common architecture. Hei pushed through the thick miasma that surrounded him, his body weighed down and his feet numb, stumbling as he walked. Only sheer force of will kept him on his feet.

Finally, he breaks free, taking in a deep breath and gulping in cold air. It was night in an unfamiliar city although the neon lights fizzing in the damp air was not wholly unusual. His head pounding, Hei steps forward.]

[OOC: Looking for some added practice on Hei/Li since he takes forever to get right usually when I have to add Li. Indulge me? Ambush him, attack him, talk to him, anything.]

Old memories die hard. It might not be the town he remembers or clock tower, but it's a town and a clock tower. The sun is still setting and in his hands is a stick of sea salt ice cream. Occasionally he nibbles on it, watching the sun slowly descend into the horizon, swinging his feet side to side on the edge of the building he's sitting on. The temperature is moderate, the last wave of heat hitting his face as the sun bids the land farewell.

So...

[Just where is he... Zack had been pretty sure he hadn't fallen asleep on the truck. Then again, it wouldn't have surprised him if he had. But the driver should have left them, him and Cloud, just outside of Midgar. Not in a place like this. And by "this," Zack has no idea. He's standing in the middle of the street, scratching the back of his head. Can't wrap his mind around how he had been in one place and then all of the sudden is in a new one. Just... So weird. That person couldn't have just dumped them somewhere, right?

It's definitely not like any actual city or town that he's seen before. It's far too clean looking.

He really had wanted to get back to Midgar. Someone important is waiting. That and he has Cloud to think about too. Speaking of, just where is Cloud? In the condition that he'd been in during the duration of their time together thus far, the guy couldn't have just wandered off on their own. A slight panic and worry over his friend started worming its way into his chest. It's enough to get him moving around, looking in any place he can.]

Cloud! Hey Cloud! Can ya hear me?