How's my Zack? Anything I should change/fix? Lemme know~ I don't bite, but I've enable anon comments and IP log is off. No mercy for this mun!

[Despite Zack's best efforts, the constant snowfall has been keeping patrols shortlived and before sundown due to the cold and lack of warm clothing. This leaves him incredibly stir crazy and what does Zack do when he's stircrazy?

Get his butt into trouble and record it the entire time.

It drove Sephiroth up the wall enough times they lost count, but the General is no longer here to worry about him. This has made Zack a little reckless, and this is shown by how he's left the house and is now picking his way through the rubble of what appears to be an abandoned building with his dreamberry in hand. Certain people may recognize it as what's left of the upper level of the Arena, long since having been left behind for the house across the street. So what's Zack doing up here to begin with? Hard to say. What he's not doing is minding where his shoulders go as he turns, looking up through the holes in the roof and walls of what used to be the sitting room, and he crashes right into a support beam that's barely standing. This knocks it down and sends snow down from the roof, but also starts an eerie creaking noise that echoes down to the street below.

As it turns out, with that support gone, the snow-soaked and half rotted boards of what's left from that part of the roof start to collapse around Zack's head. What's odd is, despite knowing what'll happen if they fall on him, the flashes anyone watching can see of his face don't show concern. Zack actually looks...happy as he dances around the the falling wood and ends up coated in snow when he finally stops. He laughs a little as he dusts the powder from his hair and shoulders, just as a final board begins to fall.

But before the board can fall on his head, Zack's dropped the berry, drawn his sword and reached up, slicing it in two without a second look. The pieces clatter off his shoulder pauldrons, but Zack's just grinning.]

Hah. Still got it.

[Aaaand big sneeze. He's also got a cold, but does he care? Nope. Same as he doesn't care about those shivers that he's got. Not much phases him these days, and a cold isn't even on the list. Neither is the fact that he just escaped a portion of the roof caving in on him.

Anyone passing by? You'll either find him darting between the upper and lower levels as he carts busted stuff around to replace it with new stuff, or practicing his sword swings on the ground level. All the while, the doors and windows on the lower level are all wide open to bring the wind in. Place hasn't been used in a while, and something's gotta get that stale scent out. And yes, he's ignoring the sneezing and coughing fits he's having, along with the shivers running through him. He really just...doesn't care. At all.]

Seph! Come on, man, this isn't funny anymore!

[House Epic, Zack's going to be waking anybody still asleep up at about 10 in the morning, calling for a certain General as he wanders around. It's odd for there to be no sign of Sephiroth by this hour, and Zack's worried. Hence him stopping and knocking on the door to Sephiroth's bedroom. When there's no reply, he puffs out his cheeks and tries the handle; it's unlocked, surprisingly.]

Seph, I swear if you fell asleep again I'm shaving you bald--

[He swings open the door to the General's room, but...there's no one there and Zack's frown deepens. He pulls out his dreamberry to make the call to his best friend, to find out where he is, but then he stops short. Something is seriously wrong here.]

No...no, this isn't...you can't be serious. You can't be....

[Housemates, enjoy the shout that's just ringing through the house as Zack throws his berry at the wall, turning it on in time for the entire network to hear Zack's voice catch in his throat as he drops to his knees.]

Dammit, Seph...dammit!

[He stays like that for long enough that the Dreamberry shuts itself off to the sound of Zack's shaky breathing, but a little while later, the feed turns back on for a small text that's probably not even needed.]


General Sephiroth's gone home.

Effects:A lighthearted amusement and fondness
Warnings: None

( pups will be pupsCollapse )

[It's still pretty dark as the feed ends, but it's obvious from the snickering that Zack is awake. A hand appears in the dim lighting to shut off the Dreamberry, but then it stops, going still as if something just caught Zack's attention. A second later the bedside light comes on, and it's possible to see Zack sitting up in bed, looking around his room. But there's nothing there, and he narrows his eyes, what little mako he has left making them glow in the shadows the lamp can't banish.]</small>

What the hell was that?

[He glances down at the 'berry, then back around his room. Something's...definitely not right here.]

( Private to: Cloud StrifeCollapse )

( Action for House EpicCollapse )

[The berry comes on in time to show Zack sitting on the couch, a tiny piece of paper in his hand. Anyone in the room can read the flowerly, obviously written by a female hand script over his shoulder, but they won't have to since Zack reads it aloud a moment later.]

"I've got twenty-three tiny wishes, but I've put them all into one. I'd like to spend more time with you."

[He blinks, then sighs and folds up the note. He returns it to his shirt pocket, then puts his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, leaning forward as if to curl in on himself.]

...Shiva, I really messed that up, huh? What a mess.

[Now he stands, grabbing his Berry and shutting it off as he heads out the back door. He'll just be wandering in circles in the backyard if he's needed. Don't mind the stircrazy pup, guys. He just needs to hit something..]

[Housemates, you might just notice that Zack has seemingly disappeared from the house at sometime close to sundown. Don't bother going to look; he's left a note on the fridge for you all.

Of course, that note didn't count on Zack's Dreamberry coming on when he sticks his hands into his pockets, so anyone who happens to listen in can hear his bootsteps as he walks through what sounds like rubble. In the middle of the night. When it's snowing.]

Hells....it's cold out here.

[No one said Zack wasn't a master of stating the obvious. What's he doing out there at this late hour? Letting his curiousity get the better of him, sadly. And also walking right into a monster ambush, causing anyone listening to hear the sound of a sword being drawn as there's the skittering of claws and the growls of...some kind of monsters just in the distance before there's the sound of definitely inhuman footsteps getting closer and closer to the berry.

Zack says nothing for a few minutes, too busy with keeping himself alive, and this continues for a good long while before the SOLDIER grunts in pain suddenly and with no warning. Something's obviously gone wrong, but it wouldn't be the first time he's gotten into trouble while alone, and it wouldn't be the first time he's gotten himself out of it, either.]

Let go, dammit!

[The sound of something glasslike breaking, the shriek of what can only be something not human, and nothing. For a few long moments after the creature shrieks, there is nothing, not even Zack's breathing, to fill the silence. But then there's the distinctive crash of a human onto solid ground, and Zack's harsh breathing breaks the silence that truly lasted only five seconds.]

Shiva's freaking....that was....[He sounds almost like he's about to break down, but there's the sound of more of those creatures, and Zack doesn't even bite down on a harsh curse as the audio picks up the sound of human footsteps before going silent.]

[Hello, Somni. Have a grinning Zack Fair staring down at you from what looks to be a high tree limb. What's he doing up there? Goddess only knows. He does, however, have a point to having turned the feed on.]

You know, all this rain gave me an idea. This kind of thing happened every year back where I'm from, and after it stopped, we'd have this big bonfire in the middle of town to cheer everybody up. Burn all the fallen trees, have some warm food, dry off stuff that was still soaking wet...that kinda thing.

[He chuckles, getting a wistful look in his eyes before he shakes his head, going back to grinning like the dork he is.]

So I was thinking we could have one of those bonfires here. Just take a break from rebuilding and catch our breath or something. Have some good food, dry out some of the useable stuff, tell a few jokes or stories...you know, have some fun. Shiva knows we need it. [He huffs, almost pouting as if that will undo everything that's happened, but it doesn't do anything and he moves to get off the tree.

But this is Zack Fair, and he's not known for being graceful. So don't mind him yelping as he nearly slips off the tree, and the Dreamberry tumbles from his grip in time to catch him hanging off the branch he'd been perched on before it hits the ground and shuts off.]

Dream Effects: Frustration that fades into amusement.
Warnings: N/A

( Zack had never stood for injustice, even back then.Collapse )

[With the sun behind him, Zack is blinking awake as the Dreamberry continues to record, and after a minute he snorts in amusement and shakes his head against the pillow. That had been a long time ago, but even now, it's a fond memory. Without noticing the device recording, Zack rolls over onto his other side and...

Falls off the couch with a yelp. It takes a moment, but he finally comes back into the camera view and sighs, rubbing the back of his head. That had been quite the wake up call. But before Zack can stand up or even get back on the couch, there's a small whine from just off screen. Zack's face falls, and he reaches over to what has to be the chair Sephiroth normally sits in.]

I know, boy. I miss him too.

[After a moment, Zack stands and takes the Dreamberry from where it was, unknowingly ending the feed.]

[The feed comes on with a slight clatter, the owner of this Dreamberry having set it on a counter or table somewhere. It's at a very odd angle, recording a piece of paper and the man who set that down coming back with a pen. It's Zack, but something seems...off. He's almost distracted, the cover of a pen held between his teeth as he stares at the piece of paper. He's never been good at making reports or setting what's in his head to paper, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

And he does certainly try this time, scribbling down what has to be a lot of information from how much he's writing. Due to the angle of the feed, some of Zack's chocobo-scratch can be made out if anyone watching squints hard enough, but it's only a few words like "army" and "why?". This continues for a while as he continues to add more ideas to the sheet of paper, before the oven timer dings and he sets his pen down. The oven is off camera, but it's hard to mistake the sound of an oven door opening for anything else. Zack returns to view a moment later, a pan in his hands. He moves to set it on the counter, but then just...stops.

He stares at the paper for a moment, eyes going distant, before he shakes his head and moves the paper with his elbow. No time for that now, and he turns his head to call over his shoulder.]

Seph, dinner's ready! I don't think this'll taste good cold!

[He sets the pan down, then blinks in surprise as he sees the recording light on the Dreamberry blinking. He makes an amused sound, but then just reaches and turns it off without a word.]

[Good day, people of Somni and Espoir. Have a view of the evening sky and the sound of running water. Not much to look at, really, if you don't care for trees, but it's all there is for a couple minutes before there's footsteps.]

Shiva....must have hit my head on that pipe harder than I thought...this can't be Nibelheim.

[To some, that's probably a familiar voice. Add that to the familiar face that's peering down at the Dreamberry all of a sudden, and you've got one Zack Fair lost somewhere in the forests of Espoir.

And no. He doesn't really care that he's bleeding from a cut on his head as he taps the phone a bit. Thing is working, right?]

Hey, can anybody hear me? I could use a little help figuring out where I am, cause I'm not supposed to be here right now. [With that, he picks up the phone and looks around, then sighs.]

Though I've got no idea where here is...