The Forgotten City: Strife's Start (Open)

Strife walked slowly through a beautiful scene which consisted of dark brown dirt that was in high contrast to the glowing lights around him, coming from the trees of the forest that looked entirely crystalline in nature, and gave off their own blueish glow. It was truly a sight to behold; Strife was thoroughly impressed at the scenery, wondering how wonderful it must have been to live here. If a person with good taste thought about it, there was no way they could pass up the opportunity to have a glowing tree or two in their front yard. Or so Strife thought.

Ah, but he needed to start focusing before he got sidetracked again, as he had with that merchant a few miles back on the road. Strife thought back to the vendor, remembering how he had been trying to get him buy some supposed “specialty” potions, even though Strife hadn't had a single copper on him at that point and time. Besides, he was saving up for a motorcycle.

And even on that note, those potions looked kind of iffy, anyway. They weren't the right color, and Strife doubted they would have even put the usual warm sensation in his stomach that he usually got when drinking healing potions.

That vendor looked suspicious, anyways. The way he dressed with that poncho and the way that his mustache looked like it was som-

Strife blinked, facepalming himself as he paused in his tracks. Here he had been, walking, and recounting his adventure north to the Forgotten City, while trying not to get too sidetracked, and yet, here he was, being sidetracked by how suspicious and untrustworthy that the vendor had looked. He really needed to learn how to start concentrating.

Getting back into the zone that he was so fond of being in, he walked to the side of the wide path branching through the woods, kneeling down. He had found what he was looking for.

What, might you ask, was this thing he was looking for? It was simple. It was the same thing a hunter looked for when stalking game in the forest; it was the same thing any common man with two brain cells sought for when he wanted to know what had been in the area and which direction it had gone: Tracks.

Specifically tracks of large trucks.

Just what he was looking for.

Now, why, might you ask, was he looking for some stupid tire tracks? Had someone stolen something from him? Maybe a truck? No. You see, Strife had some problems with authority.

To be more specific, he had some problems with the authority of the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company.

If only they were as simple as they made themselves out to be. Calling yourself an Electric Power Company when you really acted as an entire country's military and militia was much more than over exaggerating.

Really, they ought to call themselves something more fitting of their affairs, Strife thought, as he picked up his pace again and started walking to follow the tracks. Like Evil Organization Seeking the Planet's Doom. Or Cupidinous Corporation of Selfishness.

...or just plain Scum of the Earth, he reiterated, happy to see that his language was still extensive and versatile.

Red watched the human walk down the road with keen interest wondering quietly to himself why one would be all alone in the middle of no where. Well... not so much the middle of no where; but it was a place that the humans did not come to often. The glowing of the tree's cast a eery light upon red's face as he continued to follow the silent human; red hadn't claimed this area or anything of the like but he was rather curious why a single human decided to come out here. Maybe if he followed him long enough the hybrid would find out why...

Then again he might not find out anything at all if this human really isn't going anywhere important. The hybrid snorted as he walked along side the human; staying well away from him and making sure to only follow him from behind as well from off the road so even if the human did look around he'd have a hard time spotting the hybrid. Red paused when the human looked down; it appeared now that he was following something... that what might be what red needed to know in order to understand why this human had come here. But the problem was that if he went to the road he'd be exposed; while red wasn't completely unfriendly he wasn't about to open himself up to an attack if this human was unfriendly.

Red continued to maintain his distance; taking great pains to make sure that the human didn't see him. The hybrid would of climbed up a tree but then he would lose track of the human and he couldn't risk it. He carefully paced himself so that his quick moving nature wouldn't over take the human. If the man did look back he would see a small red blur flitting from tree to tree here and there. The only thing that red wished he could make not show itself was his flame on his tail; but red had to live with it since he doubted he could make it go out without some sort of great physical pain to himself.

The hybrid slid across the road for a quick moment, keeping low to the ground as he sniffed the ground for scent and the like. Rubber... human scents; one of them this man's from the spectrum of the ones he could smell. This humans scent was much more fresh than the other so it took priority over the rest. Red sniffed along the tire treads track; the rubber was fierce compared to the entire bunch that he could sense. The hybrid continued to the other side of the road and dashed between the trees keeping his eyes plastered to that human; he could sense him a little more clearly now that he could identify the scent.

The hybrid let out a small chuckle at the human who continued to walk without noticing it seemed. Red couldn't help but sigh and grumble to himself What does this guy want with this place... the hybrid asked quietly to himself. If this human was following the tracks of the tires he would need some help with the final product. Since he was pretty sure this humans final intentions towards whatever was in that vehicle wasn't exactly friendly in the least bit.

As Strife was walking through the glowing woods of the Forgotten City, he felt like he was being watched. He didn't really care who was watching him; if he was going to get attacked, well, he was going to get attacked. Possibly ambushed, but it didn't matter. He wasn't concerned. However, nonchalant as he was, he tossed a look over his shoulder at the woods behind them, scanning them carefully for any motion.

At first, he didn't see much of anything, scanning the underbrush and even the treetops for any signs of life. He only saw a reddish-orange blur, with a glowing yellow light following it. He calmed down; at least they weren't soldiers. If he was correct, he already knew what the creature looked like, if only slightly. He had seen these creatures in the wastes outside of Midgar, but only from thousands of yards off, for none had ever deemed it fit to come close to him.

Though he had a wandering suspicion he could be mauled by a wild animal soon, he was just going to go with the assumption that the animal was benevolent, and wasn't going to bother him too much. It was probably just like a dog or cat, and was being curious.

He then stood, awestruck, in the sight of the beauty before him, stopping in his tracks as he took in a breath. On the other side of a sparkling lake, lit by the ever-twilight of the crystalline forest, was a large, majestic structure of the likes Strife had never seen, though it felt strangely familiar. It looked like a large shell, almost, and had some spires reaching skyward, some as tall as the trees around the clearing, even.

That was everything beautiful, but Strife noticed one more thing that was making this place interesting for him. There were vans parked on the shore he was on, though he couldn't make them out completely. They had some type of devices that were cloaking them from the untrained eye; the vans shimmering in the air like invisible prisms of shapes. And, since Strife couldn't really spend too much time trying to find the device that were cloaking them, he left them alone, wading into the lake and walking across it slowly before going onto the other shore. He cast a look behind him, wanting to make sure the beast wasn't following him so it wouldn't get hurt, before walking down the stairwell in the building, which turned out to be longer than most as it spiraled down into the ground.

Strife felt a bit comfortable in the shade that the staircase offered, since he was a part of darkness itself. He didn't know how long he walked down those stairs; he had lost the track of time. It felt like a few hours before he reached the bottom, but he knew it would be worth the effort. However, as he descended the staircase, it became steps of light. He growled lowly, squinting his eyes as he walked down them, cursing fate for leaving him without an area of darkness for which to hid in. When he reached the landing, he was thoroughly stunned, for even more marvelous than the building above him was an entire underground castle, which had spires of crystal that must have been at least a mile high, lighting up the entire structure. It was marvelous.

Perhaps, after I've done everything I want in life, I will come live here, in isolation, for the rest of my days, and discover this castle's secrets, Strife thought to himself.

Strife could, however, see much of the equipment Shin-Ra had brought with them placed around, and many men scurrying about throughout the territory. He would have to watch his step so he wouldn't slip on the blood...