The Thirteenth Quandary (Lightning, invite)

[Lightning]

Lightning knew that she couldn't afford to get hit that many more times. She felt the pain from his two other attacks. But for now, the pain would have to be ignored. The desire for a victory was outweighing it by a longshot. Even though her body was aching, and begging for her to stop. But her mind totally discarded all of these thought. She was using her method. Blocking everything else out, and focusing on her goal. And something like pain needed to be ignored more than anything. She wasn't going to lose thig fight because of a few cheapshot attacks. No. No way would she admit defeat just yet. She still had a lot of fight left in her. A lot of fight that was practically begging to be unleashed. Which is why Lightning really chose to step it up quite a bit, when it was her turn to fight.

As Lightning prepared her first attack, after activating Grav-con Unit, she was pleased to see that it had been a success. Both of them had done pretty much the same attack to the other. Though Lightning's stubborn personality was the main cause of her doing it in the first place. She more or less wanted to even things out a bit, and wanted to taste a bit of revenge for him doing that attack to her. She usually was not this spiteful at all. Maybe some of her distaste for this man was coming in. When she didn't like you, she showed it. Lightning was a sort of person that didn't lie or sugarcoat anythng. Before Lightning had done her next attack, she watched as he fell to the ground and glared at her. Just like the last time there eyes met, Lightning's mirrored his glare with one of her own. She reached the same intensity of his own, but did hers in a different fashion. Ironically, thunder cracked as the two met. Almost describing how intense this scene really was.

As Lightning prepared her next move, the midair kick, she was frustrated when he summoned another weapon to block it. The power of her kick had pushed him back a bit, but she didn't get the same reaction she had been hoping for. After this failed, she resorted to her bullet. She was hoping that at least one of them was going to get through to him. Maybe the firing of bullets wasn't the best chose at this moment. Anyone could fire a gun, she supposed. And since her kick had failed, the strategy behind it seemed to be gone. Though Lightning did go through with it, and even though they all failed, she had managed to slash him with Blazefire. It seemed like this was just going back and forth. They were both able to defend, and then fight back. Plus neither seemed to show any signs of backing down. She wondered if this battle would ever come to an end. She wasn't going to back down any time soon though. She didn't want to back down at all, for the matter.

But something interesting than happened. Did he almost fall off the bridge due to her attack? He did manage to get back up. Even though Lightning didn't like him, she wasn't sure if she wanted him dead. She just wanted to beat him. Besides, maybe in some weird and twisted way, he could actually become her ally. Though that seemed a bit far-fetched at the moment. Though stranger things have happened. Lightning watched as he threw that weapon of his again, and she was expecting just to block it like last time. She was getting tired of him doing this same move. But she was surprised. He wasn't doing the same move. It actually was different this time. He caught it but attacked her from the air. Lightning let out a yell of pain, and she fell to one of her knees. She lowered her head to the ground, her long pink hair hanging in her face. She shut her eyes for a moment. It wasn't over yet. It was still just the beginning.

"Focus on your ultimate goal, and shut everything else out." Lightning thought to herself. The words that she lived by. And the words she gave to Hope, in hopes that he would follow them also. She had to keep on going. Rising to her feet, she ignored the pain, and turned her attention back to her opponent, ready for more. Lightning listened to him as he spoke yet again. She got angry and these words, he short fuse blowing yet again."I know what I'm doing! I don't need someone like you telling me what to do. So either fight me and shut up, or just walk away!" Lightning yelled out as she raised Blazefire eager for more now.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

His words fell on deaf ears.

Rolling lightning crackled across the stormy grey sky above them, roaring thunder booming directly over their heads, and from the distance in the castle what sounded like a different bellowing roar echoing on it's own. The winds wipped the rain through with driven intensity, a passing squall of icy water drenching them both, the young prince's wavy black hair waving back and forth across his head like tree branches threatening to snap in a hurricane. His eyes were just as fierce and dark, piercing through the rain through dripping eyebrows and eyelashes, but the intensity between them and that of the storm remained in equal force. He remained silent, and still, as if he had never been in motion since before the battle had begun. The only thing moving was the large inhale of air he breathed in through icy lips into a rising chest, and falling back out as Noctis exhaled, his heart still frantically beating a mile a minute the adrenaline in his veins.

Then the silence fell between them, for however short a time, the only sound being the howling wind from the chasm below and the pouring torrential rains from above.

There was another break in the silence, but it wasn't from the thunder, not as deafening and frightful. It came from the woman herself, who shouted a string of angry curses back at his words in defiant retaliation. In that moment, Noctis saw himself in her as he had been just before the battle, yelling angrily in defiance against a viewpoint he felt she threw upon him. She seemed confident in the knowledge she knew what she was doing, and seemed pretty stubborn that he opinion was the only one that mattered, the latter in which Noctis had also been riled up about. In that way, they were very much independent individuals, but the underlying difference lay that she was more dominating in the resolve she had of Noctis to fight him for answer to the questions she gave. But what surprised him the most was that she didn't give another demand... rather she gave him a choice... a choice he thought she had never given him in the first place.

He had been angry she had made it imply if he tried to leave or to stay, it would not matter, for she would attack and interrogate answers out of him anyway. And Noctis had stayed, not only to keep his pride, but to prevent a powerful stab in the back his weapons could not hold back. Leaving in his gummi ship would be dangerous, too, if the woman remained hostile and followed him. He was even a walking contradiction himself... secretly he wanted to fight the woman as well if backed down into a challenge... because he wanted information from her in the way she fought and what powers lay underneath those steely eyes of hers.

But she had given him a choice?

As threatening and in embracing cowardice as she made it sound, Noctis finally saw truth in her, truth not just in battle style but in conviction and more importantly, a hint of moral fibre. If she were the enemy, she would have given him absolutes, like she did at the beginning of the conflict. Even he had given her a absolution of his own, saying that she would not leave him alone until she got a fight out of him, as much as he ended it with the question if she wanted to or not it was inevitable the two would draw swords with the building tension and the subtle tone between them. But just now, she had surprised him again not only in battle, but in the kindness of sorts giving him the choice of free will. Unless she was so angry that she was going to take the coward's way out and attack him when he tried to leave, it wouldn't be a choice given to him of good will if she had not commanded a inevitable order or action, and if she wanted to continue the battle rather than lower her sword in a farce for a sneak attack.

Her character in sharing with him the option to turn around and walk away... showed him a true strength laying underneath he had underestimated of her before.

In seeing this, he relaxed his battle position, and lowered his weapon as it was placed back upon that invisible rack that surrounded him and vanished. The rain and the wind carrying it across the bridge seemed to die down a little now, but not completely, and Noctis took the chance to sigh as he closed his eyes and brushed some stray strands of matter wet hair away from his navy orbs as he opened them to stare back at the enigmatic solider. His eyes were still staring at her slender shape, but there was not as much fire in the intensity they had before, and the frown he had was lessened. There was still the weight of uncertainty what she might do, but as she had surprised him time and time again, so had he and in what he was implying to do now.

She had strength, she had steely determination and a indomitable spirit... but he could see it in her eyes, and the way she carried herself she was tired... and fighting for the wrong reasons as he was.

And someone might not come back from that... and as he looked at her, he did not want her weapon to become his newest addition to his arsenal.

He hung his hands by his side, slowly this time so as not to aggravate her into attacking, biding his time. She may have been wanting to fight him to best him for her own selfish reasons, but he had been keeping them from her in how he saw himself through her in that moment of clarity, and clearly domination and violence were no longer a question or the answer. Instead, he gave her his own. "... You'd let me leave? You may not listen to what I have to say, but if you listen to your own words, you'd find you just agreed with me... by giving me the freedom of choice. Listening to no-one but your own opinion is only going to get you into trouble, if you can't hear your own stubbornness to listen through another... don't you think?" he simply said in a quiet, yet clear voice through the rain, voicing his new-found wisdom. Perhaps in his own way, by not being the aggressor but the one to make peace from his blind rage dwindling, he could make an ally out of her yet.

And a strong one, at that.

"You're exhausted... you can't go on. That's enough, but I can see your resolve now. And it's powerful."

Then he turned around, and started walking away, confident if she attacked him when he had not attacked her pause in battle he could quickly counter it now.

But not before he turned his head back to look over his shoulder, at the lone female still bristling to take down his passive form, and uttered an answer she had desperately been longing for.

"By the way... call me Noct. Now, I have to go... until next we meet. Stay strong."

He turned back, for whatever she would do now, would be up to her now before he left this world completely.

[Lightning]

She was tired, indeed. But at the same time, she wanted something more. She didn't want it to end. She just felt like she had so much fight left in her. Fighting. Yes, that was what she was indeed doing. She was fighting for a victory, naturally. But then another thought came into her mind. Why...was she fighting him exactly? All because she wanted to know who he was? She wondered if she had taken things too far. Maybe she let her anger get the best of her. This whole fight could have been easily avoided in many circumstances. Perhaps if she hadn't made her question seem like a demand. She could have simply found out if he was going to pose as a threat to her from conversation. But instead, she had chosen the route of fighting. Did everything have to be a fight with her? At this rate, it seemed like that was the case. She was a better fighter than a social person, that she knew. She almost always fought for a cause. And right now she was fighting for...almost nothing.

But yet, she continued to snap at him. When he seemed to just be trying to help her, with some advice. But Lightning was too proud to take it. So she made the decision to just push it away. That was one of her major flaws. She wasn't a good listener at all. If someone said something that she didn't like, she would just tune them out. She wouldn't even acknowledge the words. She always seemed to think that she was always right, no matter what the situation was. It was just her attitude, and she learned to accept it. She changed her name, controlled her feelings, but her attitude didn't change. She could pretty much change or alter anything, but she couldn't do anything about that attitude of hers. And it could prove to be a weakening force for her in the future. The drenched warrior looked to the man in front of her, as he spoke yet again. Lightning felt her anger rise as he spoke. And just as she was about to open her mouth, and spat something back at him, she stopped. Her facial expression actually softened a bit and she looked down, still feeling the cool rain coming down on her. He...he was right.

She hated to admit it, but he was right. She really did only listen to herself because of that stubborn streak of hers. She thought back to after her parents died. She thought she needed to be stronger for her little sister. Claire Farron was gone, and Lightning replaced her. Serah had tried to tell her that she didn't have to do this, and what did Lightning do, she shoved Serah away. She ignored the words from her sister, believing that she was right. And after becoming Lightning, it felt like more problems arose between the sister. This situation matched the words of Noctis completely. She...she didn't listen to anyone. And all it seemed to do was cause trouble. Lightning never really gave it much thought. Maybe because she was too afraid to think of it. But now that it was in her mind, it felt like she was seeing things through a whole new light. She looked to the ground, still thinking.

However at his next words, all of this progress almost washed away. She looked up, her facial expression angry. "I can go on! I'm not tired at-" She began but stopped herself. What was she doing? Why was she still trying to pick a fight with him? He had actually helped her realize a lot about herself, and yet she still was looking for a fight. She had to stop. It was over now. She looked up and watched as he started to walk away. He seemed to be leaving the chance for her to attack open. The sound of Blazefire changing into its gun form could be heard. But she didn't have it in her hand. She placed it right back in its case carefully, looking to him as he turned his head back and he spoke to her. So his name was Noct. Or night. She could see this. After a pause and as he started to continue to walk, she broke the silence.

"Lightning." She said looking up to him. "Call me Light. And...I apologize for being the cause of all of this. I was being quite foolish. But...thank you." She added, looking to him. What she was thanking him for was to be completely interpretted by him. The battle between Light and Noct. Or Light and Night. Complete opposites. But...they still shared similarities.

[Noctis Lucis Caelum]

It seemed fate favored him... for now.

The rains had also eased up for the moment, but it would continue to rain long into the stormy night, and perhaps well on into the twilight. The chasm still echoed beneath the bridge of the howling winds, still showing him signs of empty promise and bitter loneliness... but the feeling wasn't as intense now. A calm settled over the prince as he departed the bridge, and as sopping wet as he was, the life that poured down on him accompanied with the soft caress of the wind's touch brought a calm to him. There was still that lingering uncertainty, accompanied with a sense of longing that he could not reach, much less fathom anymore... but he was strong. He had to endure it, being a man, and of his stature and status.

It had to be enough.

The clarity he had obtained had come too late as an opportune moment, and let he was glad he had even obtained it at all, for he could have used up more energy than he needed and the fight could have taken a turn for the worse. He could have underestimated an ability the woman could have used at the wrong time, or twisted his body in such a way a blow could have become fatal. The bullet wound in his shoulder was proof of this, as it still stung like heck, along with the other cut and gashes he had received from the woman's blade. Or he could have fallen off the bridge while unconscious... he had survived a fall like that before, but he shuddered a little at the thought. He was lucky he had not outright killed the woman, and had taken a good read of her fighting abilities, when he had opened fire on her in retaliation.

She had a surprising amount of strength that matched even his... where had it come from?

She hadn't summoned a crest behind her as he did when he started the battle, but she still was about to match him from toe-to-toe, and even had energy to spare to continue the fight. If she didn't have the same kind of powers he did... and she was spying on him to gather information... who was she? He didn't feel she was the enemy, from the choice she had given him, which contradicted what she had said at the beginning of the fight. The young prince felt perplexed, and hoped that she was only a mixed bag, like Stella had been when she came to fight him. Only time would tell, and judging by how she wanted to fight him and how close together the worlds were, he had a feeling that despite their differences she would see him again.

Women were such complex creatures.

Had this meant he had gained another adversary, a rival, a competitor for what was to come? Or was this all some misunderstanding, and they were friends now, to help each other out when they saw each other in the worlds again? Noctis considered it for a moment... while he had been fighting her, it was hard to say from her fighting technique, but throughout the fight she did get harder and harder despite the facts she was randomizing her attack pattern of shooting and slashing. At least he tried to keep it original... and then the thought struck him that he could be the sharpening stone to her blade, the one that kept her sharp. They didn't exactly see eye-to-eye as she had said, and their personalities rubbed each other the wrong way, but with enough testing her like he had done tonight... perhaps he could shape her to become a powerful ally in what was to come.

Suddenly he stopped when he heard her speaking, and as soon as she finished, turned his head to the side over his shoulder to look at her.

From his side pocket he produced a Hi-Potion, and pivoting his body to stand side-on to face her, he lowered his arm sightly. "Catch." he simply said in a curt manner, and gently tossed the bottle to her, but it didn't really matter to him if she still had sharp reflexes enough to catch it or she was a total klutz and dropped it. Now, she had something she could thank him for, if Noctis hadn't given a valid reason before now with his difficult nature. "You're welcome. You could use it to replenish your exhaustion... which I'm sure you have as much as I do" he invited, and nodded at her once. "Light. Well, perhaps, but no problem. Just keep an open mind... and keep that light. See you around." he finally greeted her, and with that matter settled in his mind, he turned around and walked the rest of the way back to his Gummi ship in the haunted woods surrounding the castle.

He may have not been able to escape his tragic fate... but ironic as her nickname was he would not have to see the streaking light of her soul in this fight, and perhaps he could thank her in turn for keeping his edge as sharp as a piercing cry in the night.

Noctis has left the thread.

(OOC: Thank you for the awesome roleplay as always, Tif! *huggles* See you in our Twilight Town thread, and let me know when you want to battle again. =D)

[Lightning]

Listening to others.

Could she really do something like that? Lightning knew that she wasn't very good when it came to listening. She was stubborn, yes. And she tended to isolate a lot of things. Feelings, trivial matters and others. Sometimes, ignoring others wasn't the best thing. She had been doing this for so long though. Focusing on her ultimate goal, and just shutting everything else out. She did it in hopes of becoming stronger. But was her inability to listen, actually proving to be aweakness? She shaped her whole life around this one idea. And now that she thought about it...she wondered if she was just being foolish with this. Lightning had made such drastic changes in her life. Changed her name, changed her personality and so much more. She knew that she couldn't go back. Lightning was here and always would be here. Lightning was stronger than Claire would ever be.

Claire Farron. Her past self. Claire Farron was a sister. Claire Farron had a family. Claire Farron was left behind. She wasn't going to come back. Much like her parents. Claire Farron was weaker than Lightning. And Lightning didn't want to know her anymore. She wouldn't lie about the fact that, she did miss Claire from time to time. But she couldn't be Claire anymore. Claire just couldn't survive in this world. She wouldn't be strong enough to fight. And thats what she had to do right now. However, she didn't want to fight something like this. She was angry at herself for even starting this fight. Lightning had a new goal in mind now. She wanted to help the worlds out with all of the invsions from the darkness. She wanted to fight for a right cause. Not something that was just worthless. This fight didn't prove or solve anything.

However, she wondered if this had even caused a conflict. If anything, she felt like she could quite possibly find an ally in him someday. Mainly because he gave her advice. Advice that she actually did want to try and work at. Lightning actually did learn a lot about herself when she was hear tonight. And ironically, it took a confrontation with someone else to help her realize this. One of the few times that she actually had this come out. Only other time she remembered recently was with Snow, someone she never even liked that much. Snow's constant belief in Serah being alright actually inspired Lightning. She had her doubts about Serah and if she was going to be alright. And if she would see her again. But through the course of things, Lightning actually felt inspired by Snow's attitude. And in the end, he had been right. Could this man also be right? Maybe she should try and follow his words.

Lightning watched as he took the Hi-Potion out. She assumed that he was going to use this for himself. But much to her surprise, he told her to catch. And threw it her way. Lightning caught it and she stared at it for a moment, before looking back to him. She was confused for a moment, but then she realized it in the end. He wasn't her enemy at all. Lightning nodded her head when he said that she could use it to recover."I will." She said simply, unsure why she didn't thank him. Maybe because she had just thanked him before. Lightning listened as he spoke again. He told her to keep the light with her. Something she tended to struggle with. But she felt inspired now. Like she had to hold onto her light even more. All of this from one brief encounter. Lightning stayed where she was standing for the moment, just thinking some things over. She stared at him, watching as he walked away to his gummi ship. Where he was heading now, was far beyond her. Perhaps down the lines, they would meet again. After a moment, she turned her back, and started heading in the opposite way.

"Yeah...see you around."

Lightning has left the thread.

{No problem Vin! -huggles- I've wanted this thread for awhile, so thanks for posting with me. I'd love to have a continuation thread soon. But until then, I'll see you in Twilight Town!}