A Rose and its Clippers

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix sat cross-legged in her chair, and glared down the Heartless on the other end of her device.

"I know you were just playing the part, Black Waltz, but if you damage my ship this badly again you will be paying for the repairs yourself. And no, I am only contacting you to let you know I'll be setting off on my own for a while, and will contact you when the time is right to come. I am heading for the Castle of Adam, Prince, and his fiance, Belle, a Princess of Heart. I have things to do, and wish not to be disturbed."

She continued discussing basically what she had in mind for there, and then a knock was heard.

"I will contact you again," she said, and turned off the machine. She stood up, scowling, and turned to the door.

"Come in."[/glow]

[Agrias Oaks]

Agrias turned the knob until she heard a click, she then proceeded into the room after opening the door, balancing a tray with tea, and a warm meal of mashed potatoes drizzled with gravy and behemoth steak. She placed the tray down upon the black iron table, cleaning the surface up for the General, "You must be hungry... so I brought you a favorite." she whispered when she was done, before facing the woman.

The knight would give her a light bow, before watching her once again, her amber eyes soft, happy to have Beatrix back.

"What dreadful things you must of witnessed, but no need to talk of it now..." The polite woman held out the chair for Beatrix, giving her a soft smile, " Regain your strength, and relax, General. We start a new day today... we are just... happy to have you safe and sound. Would you-- Is there anything I could do for you?"

[Lilith]

Lilith strode into the ship and back to the hold, she pushed open the door and made her way to the back where she could lay down and relax, she hadn't had a place to stay for a while and it was nice to finally have a rest so she could rejuvenate... that was until her stomach rumbled.
"not now, please..."
she forced herself to stay laying down and eventually the hunger was suppressed... but it wouldn't stay like that for long.

[Agrias Oaks]

Boco stayed with Lilith, the happy chocobo getting along with her new friend. He would sit next to her, his feathers soft against anyone's skin. He would hear the Vampire's tummy make sounds, and this caused the feathered creature to lean down to listen to it once more. Being kind, he stretched his neck and reached into a food supply bag for him containing Greens- a chocobo's feed, and placed a large looking Berry in front of her.

He would fidget a little, looking down at the green and then up at her, his eyes glittering in the little light there was in the room.

"Kwhee.." he would push the berry closer, if she didn't think it was now hers. He would watch, her intently, wanting her to try or... accept it as a gift.

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix stood up from her chair and walked over to the black iron table Agrias had prepared and looked everything over. It was all the same. She nodded to Agrias and advanced on her, standing less than two feet now from the woman.

"Lady Agrias," she began, her voice sounding very cold, her hands shaking. "You rescued me from that dreadful place." And then, even quieter, she mumbled "a little too late for me, but..." She smiled, and rested a hand on the knight's shoulder.

And then, for no other reason other than she knew she had to, she leaned in, and kissed her friend right on the lips, pulling apart after a long ten seconds. When she did she stared her companion in the eyes, and wondered why she had just done that.

"Yes, well...thank you, Lady Agrias...ahem..." She sat down, and looked at her food. "Would you care to stay?"[/glow]

There was soon a sound on the intercom; two voices, attempting to speak over the the other, until finally the two women heard a struggle on the other end. One voice prevailed. It was Ellis'.

"General Beatrix, ma'am, there is a wizard off the starboard side of this ship, just floating out into space...I think he was the man who assisted us back at the Castle of Naught...should we reel him in, or..."

And then Vivi's voice was heard. "General Beatrix! Hey, hey! This is Vivi, Beatrix! We need to talk soon and catch up! And can we pick him up? He's a straggler, and doesn't look too good. What do you say?"
[glow=red,2,300]
And now she was annoyed. "Eh, if the man's floating in space, he's either in a ship, or he's dead, or he's not human. I don't really care what you do, but again, he is another member of this happy little flock that gathered during my absence, so reel him in. Once I am finished in here I will be out to meet these people...and hello Vivi..."

Beatrix pinched the bridge of her nose and began eating. "Sit," she told Agrias, pointing at the seat across from her.[/glow]

[Agrias Oaks]

At this closeness… such closeness between the two warriors. She would gulp a little, keeping a smile, though frightened by that cold voice of the woman. She looked down to see her hands shivering, and grew worried—Was the General…suffering?

"You rescued me from that dreadful place." She heard her say, the Knight’s heart seeming to jump a bit in place. She was rather nervous, hearing such a tone of ‘supposed’ gratitude, “No need to thank me, Beatrix…” she smiled softly, “ ‘Twas a promise, remember? We fight together, how could I naught come back for mine dear Ally, I-- Beatrix?”

Badum….badum….badum badum badumbadumbadumbadum!

Agrias blinked a little, feeling now the General’s hand upon her shoulder, her Amber eyes rolled to meet the touch, before looking to Beatrix’s amber hue, starring back at her, a blush creeping upon her face, “What are…?” and then it happened, the closeness got closer still, and soon, she felt soft lips against her own. Her heart was going rampant with emotion and confusion.

… On the first three seconds, the knight’s eyes had widened, in shock.

… on the next three seconds, the knight’s eyes softened.

…on the next three seconds, the knight’s eyes closed.

…and on the last second… the knight kissed back, only for Beatrix to pull away.

She shook out of that strange and unfamiliar trance, to stare again at that mysterious eye. Her face acquiring a pinkish-red color.

“Yes, well...thank you, Lady Agrias...ahem... Would you care to stay?" The general spoke, and Agrias couldn’t help but clear up her throat as well, shaking out of it, and resting her hands behind her back, “A-Ah, Y-you are. That is-… N-no need for--” she stuttered, only to be interrupted by the intercom. Thank god, she thought.

She heard Ellis’ voice, followed by Vivi. She breathed, trying to calm her fast-beating heart.

"Sit," she heard next, looking to Beatrix with a blink- a blush still upon her cheeks. She slowly walked around her, and sat on her usual spot, feeling a little awkward. The knight rested her hands on her knees and squeezed them a little, trying to snap out of her situation.

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix sat before Agrias, and returned to her meal, staring intently at the other woman. She grinned, knowing that Agrias was probably suffering confusion, as well as guilt. The Blackheart in her attempted to play on this, and toy with the knight. However, there was that creeping second thought, but the darkness liked to ignore it.

"So I was captured by that dreadful cabbage woman, beaten and tortured in my cell for however long I was there. I managed to escape at one point and hacked my way through the halls for what seemed like years. Finally, you all showed up. I was somewhat confused as to why it took so long? Care to elaborate on that?"[/glow]

[Agrias Oaks]

Agrias.. froze, her eyes starring now at the black metal in front of her. The light feeling she had causing her heart to flutter in her chest was replaced by lead pulling it down at the General's words. She squeezed tiger at her knees, the leather of her gloves stretching from the pressure.

"I ... apologize that it took me so long to find you..." She whispered, her eyes being covered by her golden bangs, "I will make naught one excuse, for I have none to give... I place it solely on my ignorance of today's world, again I am sorry."

She looked up to the woman, her eyes giving off a slight hurt look, though she managed a smile, " I have been reading of this world, and others... I've been catching up through the many changes since mine times, so I have better haste on decisions, pray to God."

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]"Fret not, Lady Agrias. It is not your fault that you're blissfully ignorant of my time, or the state in which the worlds diversely find themselves. Though I had hoped the psychological trauma there wouldn't have been as bad as it was."

Inside she was cackling, but outside she frowned as she ate her food. When that was finished she stood up, wiping her lips with a napkin and folding it over her plate.

"Well, Agrias, that was delicious. I appreciate the effort. You are too kind. Now I must go see how long it is to the prince's castle." She stood up and walked over to her door, opened it and waited for Agrias to step through before exiting herself.[/glow]

[Agrias Oaks]

Ouch... the knight spoke inwardly, gulping so not to make it audible. She closed her eyes a moment at the harsh words before opening them once more, soothing the small invisible cut with logic: 'She has been through a terrible ordeal.' she silenced herself a moment, ' This is expected.'

She stood the moment Beatrix began to stand, as of respect and...well custom. She bowed, before stepping away from the table, and went through those double doors, and awaited outside for Beatrix to join her, " Whilst you do that, I can gather the new crew mates... I also need to speak with Abigail."

The knight bowed her head, "If you'll excuse me, Lady Beatrix." she turned with the ball of her heel, and walked a certain direction to disappear behind a corner....

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]"Very well, you do that." She saluted, and walked off herself, thinking back to what she'd done. Manipulation? Hah...

When she arrived on the bridge Ellis and the other soldiers were busy working. Beatrix stepped up to Maria and Linda, the two navigators. She discussed with them the matter of utmost importance: getting to the prince's castle and not storming in. They had to be invited to stay.

The soldiers all saluted, giving a sign that it was understood, and Beatrix, satisfied, went to sit on the throne-like seat to watch their progression. She folded her leg over the other and put her hands together, formulating a plan.[/glow]

[Sai]

The Nobody looked to his side a moment. And, while shock was nothing he could express, he was nethertheless suprised to see the Red Rose coming up on his left hand side. He watched with mild interest as it came up next to him and several Alexandrian soldiers reached out for him. It took him a moment to decide if he would accept or not...

His hand reached out and grabbed the hand of one of the women and pulled himself onboard. He rolled onto the deck, laying there a while as he was reminded of exactly how many injuries he had. He groaned softly, his eyes tight shut. "Ow..." he muttered.

"We need a medic here!" one of the soldiers called, but she seemed... so distant.

[Lilith]

Lilith picked up the odd food.
"sorry boy, it was a nice gesture but I don't really eat what most would call food."
she stroked the chocobo's neck and put a hand under its beak.
"don't worry about me... only I need to be caring about myself"

[Agrias Oaks]

Boco would churr softly, bending his neck and resting it's head on the girl's legs. He would relax there, even wrap a wing around the Vampire, her feeling cold to him, he wanted to warm her up.

A while ago, a soldier had come in with the gunner's clothes. They were fully clean and she had placed them near the chocobo's armor for her.

Agrias made it to the stables, where she was certain to find Lilith, and she waved to the woman a moment, "Lady Lilith," she woman spoke in a soft British accent, " When thoust be ready, would you mind having your group meet with the General at the main deck? I need to go and find Lady Abigail. It would be a great deal if everyone was up there..." - the knight seemed to be acting rather strange, as if certain events happened. She didn't even wait for a reply, when she went to meet up with the White Mage...

Boco rested there, tilting his head to the side in question, also noticing the strangeness in the Holy Knight's act.[/i]

[Abigail Crescentlight]

"We need a medic here!" Abigail heard as she finished up with a large group of injured soldiers. She sighed a little, grabbing an ether and drinking it down quickly. She had been using healra so much she was getting dizzy. She even had to use cure so much due to poison status inflicted from infected wounds. Some injuries, mercifully, were light enough that she could simply field dress them and preserve her magic, but so many had very bad injuries...

She went outside where Sai had been collected and knealt down to him. "Wow... what happened to you?" she asked, beginning the process of healing him. One of the soldiers informed her that he'd been found drifting in hyperspace, which she gasped at. "Without air? However did you get out there??"