Starting to look up ( Hope <3 )

This place...it was so new to him. Hope stood, his eyes aligned with a bright, neon sign. What was it called? Traverse Town? He shrugged it off, walking toward the sign that marked the entrance to a shop. A crowd of people were walking around, and the place seemed to be busy enough. Yet, at the same time, Traverse Town lacked something--what was it? In Wonderland, there was at least some sort of uniformity amongst the species there, all so strange and bizarre. Yet, here, a bunch of loners were wandering like he was. Maybe this was some sort of immigrant world? A sting of hopefulness shocked his chest as he made a realization: the chances of him finally coming across a friend were high. Very high.

It seemed like with every step he took, Hope felt more confused about his situation -- he could see this comparing to Bodhum City back on Cocoon, but after Wonderland Hope couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of universe he'd entered. It didn't feel like he'd even been flying for that long, flying on his way here. Yet it felt like worlds away...pun intended. He ran a hand through his silvery mess of hair, stopping in his tracks, now only a few steps in front of the shop. Hope was lost in thought, trying to decipher all of this.

He heard a squeal. It was familiar -- quite familiar. Hope could feel hope welling up inside of him as he recognized a voice. Whipping around, he spotted a head of coral-pink hair dashing off after that cute little moogle who was always with her. A grin so wide that he could hardly hold it spread across his face as he sprinted off after her. She was dead! Serah was dead, yet here she was.

"Serah! Serah!" he called, cupping his hand around his lips as he pursed them, quietly grunting as he continued to run -- Hope was still a little sore from the crash landing a week ago, or, what felt like a week ago. For the time he was here, it had been dark the entire time. But it didn't matter, because there was a plethora of people running around, enjoying there time.

"Serah!"

OOC: Sorry about the quality, kinda just woke up <3 finally, a reunion! :D

"Serah!" he could hardly control himself as he ran after her, her expression both confused and happy, reflecting his. Arms flailing, Hope stretched his arms wide, preparing for a hug. There came Mog, her trusted moogle that not only protected her from death but from loneliness. Sometimes Hope wished he had a companion like that, someone to always remain at his side...I digress. Grinning at Mog, he pulled the little guy in and gave him a nice bear hug, his chin rested on the moogle's head as the diamond antenna bumped into Hope's forehead. He could feel the rays of the shining crystal in his peripheral vision, and he squinted.

Only a moment passed before he let the moogle go to keep him from suffocating. He moved on to Serah, smiling.

She looked so much like her sister. As he scanned her, Hope felt a lump forming in his throat, and he swallowed hard.

"I missed you! I-I thought you were--" his sentence came to a halt as he choked up, a lone tear rolling down his cheek ever so quickly. A moment of silence passed, and he pulled her into a hug, tighter than Mog's. Mind racing, Hope ducked his head back and looked at her, grinning madly now. The lump remained, and as his stomach started doing flips, he rested his cheek on her head, embracing the moment of reunion.

Finally, a friend! Sure, he'd made friends back on Wonderland, but a familiar face...oh, it was priceless. Another ice cold droplet of water streamed down his face, dripping all the way down to the cement. The world seemed to stop, and he really breathed in the happiness one last time before pulling away from the embrace.

"I can't believe you're here!" The lump's effects had subsided. Glancing at Mog again, Hope's eyes realigned with Serah's blue orbs, and that silly grin reappeared.

Maybe she knew of some others!

"You haven't seen anyone else, have you? Alyssa, Noel, Snow, Lightning?" he paused before the last two names, knowing they'd be a touchy subject. Oh, if Snow were dead...poor Serah. He sighed, itching the back of his head mindlessly.

OOC: Thank you, I love that image xD And oh my gosh, finally the reunion~ Loving this thread already, Kuri.

Hope's grin slowly dissipated as Serah wiped his cheek. Her touch, even with the glove on, was so soft, so gentle. Chills ran down his spine, and a small laugh escaped his lips. It was as if he were paralyzed, completely impaired of movement as she stood in front of him, doing her best to comfort the man. "I-I-I miss everyone, too." don't worry, he's still pretty awkward. Struggling to push out the words, he stopped for another moment, pulling Serah in to another hug.

He had reasons to be happy, euphoric, really. Finally, he'd found a friend! Sure, it wasn't Lightning or Vanille, but he and Serah had their history, too. Oh, and she looked so much like her sister...all the more reason to look even harder. And together, oh, there was no need to worry. Surely if Serah had escaped death's grips, than Lightning would have been warped somewhere as well. It might not have been this world, or a nearby one, but they'd find her. And after finding Lightning, the rest would fall into place. Hope just knew it.

He smiled again, his teeth barely visible.

Time to explain what he knew, Hope supposed. "This is the second world I've been to." he explained, keeping his words casual as to imply that more than Pulse, Traverse Town, and Wonderland existed. "But the last place I went to, I didn't find anyone either. Except, I flew there. I-I managed to escape..." his voice trailed, now thinking of Noel.

And just as his own thoughts shifted onto the Kreiss, so did Serah's. He sighed, his eyes flashing back to the moment he'd left.

Hope was running with Noel only a few feet behind him. Things were collapsing, the world was ending, just as Etro died. They were escaping, getting away, just as Hope had prepared. As he glanced back, something came down. Whether it was a pillar, and ship, and bloody giant pillow -- he couldn't remember. A scream rang out, but it was his own. Noel's voice followed, and it told him to go on. The panicky Hope Estheim nodded and ran, pushing the thoughts of Noel out of his cluttered brain.

He should have saved him. He could have, Hope knew it. All he needed was to life the thing up, or help him climb, or something. He shook his head softly, beginning to feel unsure. Were those even the turn of events? His mind was still clouded of the details.

"I'm sorry, Serah." he breathed, green eyes beginning to tear once again with all of the emotions that had been bottled up until now. Hope was never good with crises. "I can't remember what happened to Noel, all I have is some blur of a dream." he whispered. "I should have saved him."

Hope didn't even bother to acknowledge her comment about her sister. Any hope he had for seeing her, finally seeing her. Well, he didn't want it to be crushed. Not yet.

OOC: Long posts are long. Hope's an emotional wreck.

His eyes aligned with Serah, even as she turned away. Deep down, he felt her emotions, too, but maybe it was time to get passed that. Maybe, just maybe, instead of complaining, they should do something. Go somewhere. Find someone. Anyone. He tried smiling, but to no avail. It was easier to think optimistically than to act it, Hope knew it damn well, too. As a few more moments drifted by and the reality of their situation truly sank in, the researcher began to fall into his usual disposition -- a bit distant, strange, socially...lacking. Out of obligation rather than desire, he touched her again, resting his hand on her shoulder as she looked off, angered. Hope understood her pain and wanter her to know that.

"I am sorry." he muttered, trying to smile again. This time he succeeded, though it looked forced and odd. Soon, it faltered back to a detached frown. Noel and Serah had such a bond, something so fierce, so emotional, even Hope couldn't understand it. Was it romantic? No, it couldn't be, she loved Snow. Yeah, he was her fiance.

But there was something there, he was sure of it.

Mog chimed out again, this time trying to ease the tension that had built up in Serah's shoulders. Hope couldn't help but grin -- the little guy was so adorable. He shook his head at her apology.

"I would have acted the same." he quipped, looking around. The bright lights were so attractive, as if he was a moth and they were his obsession. He took a few steps, noting the lack of wandering civilians now. Just moments ago, the street was bustling. He didn't have to wonder why as he wiped away the remainder of his reminiscent tears. Beginning to walk, he waved Serah after him, turning and repeating, beckoning her.

"We should look around." he suggested, trying to be productive. Standing around and crying about their problems surely wouldn't solve them, now would they?

As he dragged her along behind him, or so he hoped she had the sense to follow him, Hope's thoughts kept drifting back to Noel. What had happened on that day? His thoughts, memories, they were all so foggy, shrouded to the point where Hope was confusing himself. He pressed his finger to his temple, moving into a deep thought. Noel's face...he could picture it, yes, he could. Alarm had disarmed him, caught him off guard. It was a look of shock, yes. Noel looked shocked the last time he and Hope had seen each other.

But why?

OOC: so I tried writing more awkward Hope than before, hopefully (lawlz pun) it was a bit more characteristic of him. sorry about the shortness. qq

As they walked, Hope continued to ponder his escape. His mind was a labyrinth. It was, really. With every correct turn he made, things seemed to clear up, ends met and the confusion subsided a bit. Of course, in a labyrinth, it is possible to go the wrong way, to trick yourself into mindlessly wandering in the opposite direction. Funny thing being, you never know which way is right, quite exactly, until the very end. Hope understood that that could just be the case, where he would be wrong until he was right. Then again, he was just praying that he wasn't going in the wrong direction. Had even seen Noel? It proved to be a legitimate question -- with all that was jumbled up in his brain, he could be imagining, hallucinating. Hell, he could be dead right now and not know it. Either way, it didn't matter. Step by step he tried retracing, plugging in different variables to the scenario, attempting to unravel it. A buzzing rang in his ears, and reality resurfaced. Serah was talking. Asking him what was on his mind.

"Nothing." he lied, not bothering to even look over at her as to disguise his fib. Never was he a good liar, never ever. The eyes gave it away, bouncing around and avoiding focus, like shimmering emeralds. This way she couldn't see his eyes. In fact, he looked away, again lost in the lights around him. Hope began losing his concentration again, going back to the week before becoming a l'Cie, before his mother died, before he met Lightning, Vanille, and Serah. The neon lights reminded him of the beautiful fireworks that had graced the night sky just before the start of the Purge. Hope's head shook, swivelling slowly and smoothly.

"There is no need to be sorry. I did what was needed to get here." Of course, that entailed being taken prisoner and fighting my way out of Wonderland. Serah didn't need to know that little tidbit, so Hope kept things vague. He tried to stay focused on her words moreso than his inner workings. No change in expression moved his face as her little hope pun surfaced. With the life he'd been living, "hope puns" had been far too popular in conversation to even make him laugh anymore. All they did was disappoint him, upset him, even. Poor Serah, still an optimist, didn't she know that nature wasn't this great thing that helps us out? He scoffed.

"We need to find them. I need to find them so I can wake up in the morning and not care that I have no idea where the hell I am, or that I'm 27 and alone and the rest of my friends have either died or ceased to exist." he snapped. The pressure in his fingers built up as two angry balled-up fists rested by his side. A sigh worked his way out of his system, relieving the pain, the frustration that had built up over ten years for just a moment.

"I apologize." he muttered, quieting down for a minute or so to blow off the steam. Serah did nothing wrong. Quickly he caught his breath and restarted the conversation, which had completely died until that point.

"What little black creatures?" They were probably similar to that giant thing he saw in Wonderland, the Large Body or whatever it was. Heartless, yeah. So many things and facts remained uncertain, but that term stuck out to him. Maybe the Heartless were behind the fall of Pulse? Maybe it wasn't due to Etro at all? He nodded. "I will protect you. Both of you."

OOC: Please, don't ever apologize for post length unless its like a paragraph xD Anyways, you wanted to see angry Hope, here's a wee little glimpse xD I tied playing him off as having some emotions underneath that awkwardness.

Mentally, Hope scoffed. Serah, oh Serah, why must you guilt me so? And using Lightning as a mode of motivation? Well, that was lame. The strategy to give Hope a pick-me-up was so stupid and vain that the director nearly scoffed aloud. The lamer thing? It was working. A pinching arose in the palms of his hands as short fingernails dug into the silky white gloves, leaving little indents as history. His emerald eyes aligned with Serah's again, and sincerely, he nodded. He needed to be strong for Lightning. With that, he even grinned a little.

"Thank you, Serah. You always know what to say." he muttered, line of sight darting to the floor. Serah was right. If there was even the slightest chance of their survival, well, Hope was damn well gonna take it. Suddenly, her hands latched onto his, though he held on, this time because he wanted to. As he listened, he perked up with each word, glad to be in the familiar world of analysis. It was always a question he wanted to answer: why was Serah able to see that history? Of course, he knew that now, but her destiny as a Seeress only gave way to another question.

Had her ability been taken away after being "resurrected?"

What if she was the new Yeul? Though without the full story Hope was left hanging, and thus decided to drop the question before even asking it. As his concentration realigned with Serah's words, he nodded. "Between you and I, I'm sure you're a much better fighter than me." he cooed, smirking softly. It was true, Serah had fought the toughest combatants of all time...Hope hadn't fought much of anything for what felt like 10 years.

"Have they been showing up around these areas?" he wondered aloud, directing the question to Serah. And irony couldn't have been any more ironic. With the completion of his sentence, a handful of "little black creatures" rose from puddles of darkness. Quickly Hope scanned over them -- the shared a semblance with the large body he encountered in Wonderland, yes, though they seemed much more harmless. About five or six stood before him, simply shimmying around, convulsing erratically. Large, warming yellow eyes dotted their otherwise bare faces, and other than the claws on their hands, these little black creatures appeared to be unarmed.

Hope took a step backward -- no, not to expose Serah, but to simply cover her. He knew that she was also a long range fighter, but she had a sword in Mog, as well. Without grabbing the Airwing, Hope launched a fira spell in the direction of one of the enemies, causing it to dissipate on contact, leaving three to attack.

OOC: ew that was seriously awful x.x i needed to get that done though. feel free to kill the rest. hell, kill Hope if you want xD ilykuri<3

The man observed as his acquaintance moved. Her motions were so fluent, so graceful, he could almost smile. Even with her sword, Serah was talented with the blade as she swept through a few creatures, destroying them in the process. In fact, the mesmerization from her moves completely zoned him out, at least that's what he expected it to be. These moments, these little specks of weakness that popped up on his radar every once in a while -- he could never explain them, all they did was distract him.

And then it hit him. Literally. A seering pain erupted in his leg, causing the Director to jump back into reality and slide his hand down his side. It was the worse of the two legs -- it always seemed to be, that left calf fell victim to so many injuries. Another moment of weakness, another passing of time nearly led him to being berated with sharpened, dark claws. He leapt backward instead, avoiding another staggering strike from a black-thing. Returning his hands to a defensive position, a bit of blood stained his left glove. Hope ignored it, launching a spit of Thunder. As the webbing strokes of electricity sprung from the heavens, all striped yellow and white, it only took a second for all of the remaining enemies to disappear. Hope sighed.

"I told you that you were the better fighter." Hope chuckled, brushing his hands together. It was a light cut, only a few scratches. Those things, those Shadows, they were just as weak as they appeared. He leaned over, stretching his arm out over the abrasion. Green light shimmered in his palm as he cast cure over his leg; immediately the bleeding relented, though leaving a cut. Shrugging, Hope glanced back at Serah.

"Shall we move on?" With that he began to walk along once more, leaving the cobblestone battlefield in his tracks. His mind began to wander again. Pfft, such a scatterbrain. You know those smart types, so disorganized sometimes, yet so, so smart. Hope surely didn't fit the stereotype, not in the past. He was always on the ball, so they say, it was his character. But nowadays, well...

Looking over at Serah, Hope tilted his head, ready to move on already. This place, it didn't have anything he wanted. It was time to find the rest of them.

"So how do you propose we start tracking them? There is no use simply talking about it, wandering these streets." he stammered, running the cleaner of the two silky glvoes through a few silvery strands of hair.

OOC: I've been sooo short on muse its ridiculous.