Session 3; Down the Shaft You Go, A cocktail party gone wrong....

[Katashi Souma]

The taste of victory was beginning to fill his mouth as he said with his charm, "I'm new in town, and I need to get a good start. Meet the right people, the people that matter."

He stood from his chair and slid his slender hand under Esme's, lifting it and pressing his lips against the top with the softest kiss he could manage.

"You, Esme, seem to be the person in this town, am I mistaken in thinking so?"

He kept his eyes on her, the gesture frozen as he let her decide what she would do with her hand and with her trust.

[Esme Squalor]

Esme blushed at the act. "Well, your not the first to have charmed me by kissing my hand. But I have yet to see you in action." she said her expression turning to a smile. "Unless you can prove me your in, I don't want a waste another second with you. I'll givey ou some points but I'm afraid your just a kid.." she said turning her head with hands on her hips.

Esme who was of coruse flattered didn't beleive it until some proof was shown. "You have some class kid, but I have yet to see what skill you possess."

["Leon"]

He smiled at Yuffie, but faltered at her jealous face. He was confused, and looked again to see if he'd seen right, but she'd already turned to knock on the door. Leon managed to sidle in and lean against the wall. It seemed as if someone had already made their way here- a drawling voice inside could be heard, and Leon didn't recognize it. New in town, huh? He stood up slowly as her well-meaning husband opened the door, beckoning them to enter. Leon nodded at him, a sort of thank you, and he puffed out his chest, stretching a bit. That steep flight ahd really taken it out of him- if Esme was planning anything, she'd certainly succeed right now. "Best to get some refreshments," he said to himself. He turned to a door that stood to his left, but as he went for the doorknob, he heard voices from the inside.

"I am most interested in knowing, if you agree, of course, what I may do to help you with the endeavour."

It was that drawling voice again, talking to Esme. Something about how he talked make the hair on Leon's neck stand on end. Of course, nothing he said was particularly incriminating, but since Leon hadn't seen his delicate, innocent features, he simply sounded as if he had no one's best interests in mind. Instantly, Leon had a dislike for this man. Turning away from the door and not wishing to see what the person actually he looked like, he spotted a table covered in olives and virgin martinis. "Where are the refreshments?" he asked, making his way to the table. He popped one of the green olives in his mouth, swishing around the flavor with a virgin martini, which was basically water. "Ugh.. disgusting. You call this food, Jerome? My 'compliments' to the chef." He doubted that Esme had really put much into the party. A screeching Victrola was playing some music that seemed from the turn of the last century. He sat down in a black leather chair and almost slid off it- it had been shined into such a slippery surface. "How do these people live?" he thought to himself. He finally found a comfortable position and looked forward, resting as much as he could before Esme entered the room.

[Katashi Souma]

Katashi's eyes flickered, and he nodded solemnly at the woman. She was being very careful with him.

"Esme, my lady," he continued, "Just give me orders and I assure you I will follow. That does mean that I do need to know what you're up to, however."

[Esme Squalor]

Esme looked at Katashi and then decided to give him a chance. "Fine, I need the whole group to go into the elevator. Well at least stand very near the elevator doors." said Esme.

She smiled at her ingenious plan and then waited for an agreeing answer. "I hope this task isn't too difficult for you. The gorup you'll be dealing with is very stupid and naive. It should be easy, even for a kid." said Esme with another smile.

[Katashi Souma]

Katashi was beaming as he stood straight once more and headed toward the door. He stopped at the entryway and as subtle as possible gave her a wink.

The guests could be heard inside already, and one seemed to be complaining. He left the room Esme and him had the conversation in and returned to see a man in his seat. This was the man who apparently had a lot to complain about.

"Ahem," Katashi began, as he moved in to greet the many people who had arrived, "How are you all doing this fine day?"

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yuffie walked into the room when that nice Mister what’s-his-face opened the door. She didn’t feel much for gorging anymore. And she wasn’t in the mood to hang around Squall. Her eyes scanned the room. She’d expected that lady to flaunt off her wealth by showcasing her prized possessions. But the only valuable things there was either too large for her to carry or would definitely be missed right after she took it. Oh well. She didn’t feel like stealing anymore either.

Shouldn’t the hag be at her own party? She made her way over to the refreshments and just stood there. The stuff on it looked gross. Why didn’t that lady listen to her and get chocolate? The nerve.

She looked around again, hoping that someone else besides Leon and Aerith was there. Is that Lien...? She also noticed an unfamiliar guy enter from another room. And who’s this person?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lien’s in the room now, right?

[Katashi Souma]

OOC: Yeah...

[Cloud Strife]

The large wooden doors leading to the First District of Traverse Town slowly swung open as a man of medium height wearing a blue uniform pushed them open. As soon as he was clear of the doors, the doors closed back to their original position. Cloud Strife's brown leather boots made soft thudding noises as he walked along the cobblestone pathway. He paused near the center of the First District, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells. Though he had previously resided in Traverse Town with some friends, he had moved to the Olympus Coliseum to train as a warrior and battle in the games. A small gust of wind blew Cloud's blonde spiky hair slightly and brought the scents of Traverse Town to his nose. Unlike the musty, ancient smells of the Coliseum, Traverse Town had a warm, homey scent, the air was crisp, but smelled comforting. Even though Traverse Town was a great place with friends, he would miss old Phil, the owner of Olympus Coliseum. Probably as old as the Coliseum itself, Phil had trained many heroes in the past. Although, some heroes had been failures, some heroes were destined for greatness, such as the famous Hercules. As Cloud thought about Phil, he smiled inwardly, his thoughts hidden to the world. For, not only was his face hidden by the crimson cloak drawn about his face, and his face didn't show any emotion whatsoever. Phil could be gruff, but, deep inside, he had a heart of gold, and he was loyal to his friends. Cloud snapped back to reality, coming out of his memories. Another thing about Cloud that was hidden was his wing. He had a leathery, black wing on his left side, but he usually kept it tucked close to his body, underneath his cloak. Cloud's wing could be used for flight, but he only used it if he thought it was necessary. His left hand twitched slightly. He had had an accident during his early days at the Coliseum, and now his hand was constructed of an odd golden metal. He wore brown fingerless gloves on both his hands; they helped him get a better grip on the humongous sword that he wielded. Cloud's thoughts now turned to this sword, which was located in its holder on his back. The sword was quite heavy, but Cloud found its weight comforting. His sword's appearance had changed slightly since he had gotten it, for it was now wrapped in some white cloth. Phil had wanted him to wrap the sword in this cloth, for Phil said that part of being a hero was looking the part, and it looked more dramatic to have the sword wrapped up. Cloud didn't mind, for the cloth didn't hinder the sword in any way, and he didn't plan on killing anyone in the Coliseum battles, except the Heartless, and they were usually easy to defeat. Cloud closed his blue eyes, enjoying the light breeze that passed his way. He wondered if his friends still lived in Traverse Town.

[Cloud Strife]

Cloud sighed to himself. He had been looking around Traverse Town for days without seeing a single person. He wondered if the Heartless had somehow infected this world, but didn't completely destroy it. That didn't make any sense at all, but it was the only thing he could come up with at the moment. Cloud was a bit sad, he had so wanted to see his friends again, especially Aerith. He hoped dearly that they all were ok, and had somehow escaped the Heartless, if they had come. Another though then came to Cloud. If the Heartless had been here, were they still here? He looked around the alley he had wandered down, but there was nothing to be seen except shadows cast by everyday objects. Cloud shrugged, and walked on, not noticing that the shadows wavered and rippled. Once his back was turned, the shadows flowed more, and suddenly, two Soldier Heartless materialized. They looked at Cloud, then each other. Though they did not speak, they knew the other's thoughts through the darkness. This human had a strong heart. Their superiors at the castle would be pleased at this prize. But, the human looked strong, they would have to make a quick surprise attack in order to bring him down. Melting back into the shadows, the Soldiers waited, folllowing Cloud when it was safe to. Cloud didn't notice the Heartless, maybe their hiding skills were superior, or maybe he was tired, or perhaps a combination of the both. The Soldiers flowed along the shadows, part of the shadows themselves, one one each side of the alley. Cloud was walking along, still wondering where his friends were, when suddenly the Heartless made their attack. Leaping out at Cloud from both sides of the alley, they pounced at the unsuspecting human. One Heartless tried to pin him to the wall, while the other one slashed at Cloud's head. The double attack from two different directions was successful. While Cloud was fending off one, the other made a deep gash in Cloud's head. Cloud made a small gasp of pain, then collapsed, felled unconcious by the wound. The two Soldiers jabbered wildly at each other, pleased that their risky attack had succeded. Each of the Soldiers took an arm, and they dragged Cloud over to the shadows. Jumping into the pools of darkness, they teleported to the mysterious castle known as Hollow Bastion.

[Oni]

Oni had been walking and came across an alley way which, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw 2 dark midgets jump into a black pool with a man's body inbetween them. He ran over there with his pole arm on his back and crouched down to inspect a red drop. It was blood alright. Fresh blood. Could it have been heartless attacking a man and succeeding? He should tell Yuffie, Cid and the others. There was a loud grumble. Oni held a hand over his stomach and winced.
"I need some food, fast" Oni said to himself, "Might go for some fast food".

Oni ran over to the door of the 2nd district and opened them up. He entered the first and, in a monkey-ish way, climbed up to the roofs.
"Hey!" He shouted to everyone in the 1st district from the roof, "Does anyone have any food!? Does anyone at least know where Cid, Yuffie, Leon or the guys they hang out with are?" He shouted again.
No reply.
"Typical" He just said softly.
His stomach grumbled again. He needed food and fast.
"FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

[Kira]

A shaky sigh escaped Kira's mouth as she walked quietly down the alleyway, her black boots making a clunking sound on the hard stone. Behind her was her father, a bold and rather obnoxious man, whose footsteps overtook hers in a great thud, clunk, thud, clunk. She couldn't shake the jitters of this town; it all seemed a bit spooky to her.

She had just moved here two days ago, and didn't really know what to expect, being that she hadn't even stepped out of her own house for the duration. Nevertheless go to a party that her father had set her up for(he would have taken her art supplies away if she didn't go).

"Um...Are you sure it's okay for us to come?" she nervously asked her father. "I mean, it kind of seems like a friend-only thing..."

"Of course! We're new neighbors!" He enthusiastically spoke, grinning and ruffling Kira's hair. "It'll be all right."

Kira frowned and sighed, fixing her hair diligantly as her father rang the doorbell. She hid her hands in the sleeves of her black turtleneck, shaking slightly from being nervous.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

One of the stupidest doorbell rings in all of history went off. Yuffie gagged at the musical installment. Just another way for that lady to show off, she thought in disgust.

She waited. And waited. And waited. Yeesh. The hostess wasn’t even coming to answer her own door. Well, it was rude to keep a guest waiting. So, after popping a hershey kiss into her mouth (which she previously kept in her pocket for munchie emergencies), she scurried up to the door and yanked it open, drawling “Helloooooooo?” with her gooey chocolate-filled mouth.

[Kira]

Kira's jaw almost dropped, but she figured it rude to stare, so she clenched it shut. She blushed nervously as her dad opened his mouth to speak.

"Hello! I'm Dan, and this is Kira, my daughter! We heard there was a party, and decided to mosey on down!"

'Gods, Dad, could you get any more gayer...?' She wondered to herself. She looked at the strange girl in front of her. "Sorry about that...We're...new here..."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

“‘Mosey’....?” Was he speaking Barret-nese, the language of that crazy gun-arm man who’d baby-sat some kids in Hollow Bastion? He kind of reminded her of Cid...Yuffie scowled at this thought.

“Hi,” she responded on impulse, gulping down the rest of the chocolate. “If you’re looking for a party, then you’re in the wrong place, ‘cause this one stinks. But you can come in if you want...By the way, everything on display is free for the taking.” She stepped back to let them through, pleased at her attempt to kill two chocobos with one boulder: annoy the hag and make the party more interesting.

[Kira]

"O-oh my...are you sure that's--" Kira began, but her father cut her off.

"Of course, thank you," he grinned, walking inside. Kira had no choice but to follow him.

"I'm so sorry," she faintly whispered to the ninja, reluctantly following her father. He immediately began looking for someone to converse with, and Kira spotted a vacant seat. She hurried over to it and sat down, sighing and awaiting what she thought would be a very long night.

[Oni]

Oni jumped off the building and swang a full 360 around a street lamp pole before launching himself head first at a building. He soft landed on all fours on the wall of it and flipped off it, landing on his feet on the ground and started running. He then quickly reverted to all four's means of tranport and acted like a kind of dog. He stopped here and there, sniffing for food. He didn't smell anything but he scampered into a door and up a building anyway.

Oni launched himself at a random door before he can take in his surroundings. If he had, he would have seen Yuffie, an open door and a room full of people. In short, a party which was probably Yuffie's. Oni tumbled through the open doorway, probably startling some of the people, and got up. He smiled a bit and scratched the back of his head.
"Hi?" He greeted with a bit of questioning.

[Kira]

Kira looked up, startled at the sudden arrival of the strange man. She wasn't sure what to think. This was a strange man, probably some punk, judging by the looks of him. Especially considering his abnormal blue hair. Shaking her head so as to get over her speechlessness, she got up, hoping she could at least find a friend.

"H-Hello," she murmured, looking up at the man. "M-my name's Kira...I'm new here..."

Wow, way to go. Nice way to introduce yourself. Pathetic. Her inner voice chided. She murmured an inaudiable, "Shush, you."

Her arms were behind her back, her hands clutching onto each respective elbow. She noticed this, and realized that it was a sign of vulnerability, so she immediately put them beside her sides.

[Oni]

Oni saw the girl and smiled.
"Hey! Name's Oni and nice to meet ya Kira" Oni said with a warm smile, "Haven't seen you around town lately"
In the back of Oni's mind however, something ticked. The name Kira was so familiar but not just right. A little off if not a lot. Back to the present now.
"You know where i can find food? I'm really dieing. Meditation is hard" Oni said as he looked around.