Your H E A R T belongs to a stray

[picturethat]

S T R A Y Taking in strays is, all in all, an understandable vice. The dips in between their ribs, those large and forlorn eyes, they can help you forget the claws and the teeth and the danger lurking beneath fur. But the habit's a knife edge; your efforts may not be rewarded with kindness (animal instincts aren't discretionary) and you may get bit despite what you've overlooked. A stray doesn't care about pity. All it can know is survival. These warnings apply to strays of the more human(oid) sort, too. But what may even more perilous with this type than any drawn blood is what you can get when they grow to trust you. You can earn their undying loyalty...or their love. Either from such a wild thing is a precarious path to go down, if you allow yourself to do it. Comment with your character, preferences, desired roles, etc. Reply to others. Thread!

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[drizzle]

[It was difficult to believe the amount of time she has been under the care of the 7th Heaven and family. Nike was still have trouble wrapping her head around it. The idea of being able to stay in one place for as long as she have, with strangers who have never met her and yet have accepted her as one of their own, and in a world that was seen and felt differently compare to those surrounding her. The children for the most part understood about Nike's situation in being able to hear the world's voices, as she refers to them as. It was voices in forms of waves, pulls, and a connection so deep that there are moments she felt she can hear a mass amount of human voices speaking to her all at once. She had to cover her ears and scream to keep it from overwhelming her. It was done mostly whenever she was alone especially after Marlene and Tifa have caught her the first time. There was only one place she can go to for some silence: whenever Cloud took his delivery trips out of the city or to the church where he had found her.

The body aches were the first to heal over time. Her head injury was almost gone albeit for the light scar left behind. Tifa and Marlene had taught her a few methods in keeping it covered whenever she felt self-conscious about it. One of the first hair styles they taught her was braiding it or tying it in different forms of ponytails. Nike felt most comfortable in the ponytails after catching the sad gazes of those surrounding her whenever she adorn a braid on her hair. Cloud's reaction was the most interesting. His was the one that made her heart squeeze in a way that made her want to know the reason behind it most of all, but didn't have it in her to ask. Whenever she spoke to him, she always felt the most at peace, not feeling the slightest bit self-conscious. He understood. He knew the process in finding oneself again. Just knowing he didn't flinch whenever she felt her body felt overwhelm by her situation was more than enough, no matter if she hasn't told him her situation yet. All he needed to know was: her name was Nike, she came from somewhere very far away, her last memory had to do more with hearing a powerful sound and pull of a force she couldn't remember the source other than it being similar to a powerful wind.

Right now, they were in the side of a grassy field, enjoying lunch together as they were taking a break from their return to Edge from another successful delivery route. Nike was done enjoying her modest meal that Tifa had packed for them. Well, modest was an understatement whenever it came to Nike's immense appetite: she could eat for a family of four. An issue she was trying to fix as she understood the food bill rose a little due to her. All she could to fix it was by making up in chores and singing in the bar whenever there was a large enough crowd that needed morale support. Her voice was more than enough to bring a full house and even more. It wasn't unusual to find her humming every so often. After a bit, Nike will finally point out.]

The weather feels very nice today! It isn't too hot because of the breeze we've been feeling every so often. [A breeze with a nice voice to it, will be left unsaid. She couldn't help notice that detail. There was something about it, almost as though they were close to something. Nike did notice all of the grass filling the area, a rarity to find in the desert that surrounds the city they were heading to. With a though, she'll look at Cloud.] Do you think that maybe...we can explore this place for a bit? I mean, that is....if there's more to do, because then we can do that another time.... [She didn't want to be a bother. Not to him.]

[notachocobo]

[Cloud had always had a soft spot for orphans. For lost souls. He had been one himself, once upon a time, and he knew how hard it could be to try and go it alone. To try and piece together something from nothing. Denzel had been one of the first then slowly but surely he'd started to bring others back to the bar. Tifa had taken it all in stride, more than happy to help him clean the kids he brought back up and get them fed. They offered them a safe place to stay in exchange for their help with Cloud's delivery service and even around the bar itself.

There had been several that Cloud had taken a distinct interest in; Denzel was one and Nike was the other. Both had a special place in his heart and he made sure to keep a close eye on both of them. Nike especially was usually under the blonde's watchful eye because of her memory loss, doing what he could to help her through it. More often than not he ended up taking her out of the city to help her just get away from it all for awhile, not minding the company or the help. There was something about her that reminded him of someone he'd lost; a gentleness about her that was so much like Aerith. That was, perhaps, another reason he'd been so drawn to her. Maybe that was what made him want to help her as much as he could. To repay a debt that had been left unsettled.

This particular trip had been a longer one than normal, taking them several hours out of the city before they made their way back.

Thus, the lunch stop.

Back propped up against his bike, a knee drawn up so he could rest an arm over it, Cloud glanced over at his companion as she spoke.]

It's starting to cool down finally. [He glanced up at the sky, a thoughtful look on his face.] ..I don't see why we couldn't. We're not in any hurry to get back.

[drizzle]

[Her expression will turn more energetic at just the opportunity and acceptance of spending more time together. She couldn't help smile a little too brightly at the thought.]

Thank you, Cloud! I promise we'll find something really cool! You won't regret it.

[Now she just needed to search for that "something cool" to prove it. Which begs the next question, where should she go? What direction should they take? That's when the wind gave her the answer: run ahead as fast as she can to not disturb the wildlife of the area.]

Follow me! I know where we need to go......maybe.

[There was no way she was going to give Cloud any time to question the slight doubt in her voice as she begins to run ahead further into the grass field as quickly as her feet could muster. Something about running down a grass field felt very familiar to her, natural even. It felt very good to do it. So much that she'll begin to run in interesting zig-zags, curve, and wavy formations, losing her sense of direction which was her first mistake. The next was made after not noticing she was too close to the edge of a hill. She had less than a split second to make her decision to jump over to the bushes below or...]

There's a stream here!

[Not that it'll help them much when she didn't have enough momentum to jump towards it, even if she tried to concentrate all of her kinetic energy onto her legs. All she could at this very moment was embrace for impact.]

[notachocobo]

[Lips quirking into a smile, Cloud starts to climb to his feet. If he catches the doubt lingering in her voice he doesn't say anything about it, trialing after her as she takes off in her zig-zagging pattern.]

Don't get too far ahead.

[Ever the protective guardian.

Which comes a moment too late as he realizes where her path is taking her, hears her call out, and then she's going--

The blonde picks his pace up, practically darting over to the hill.]

Nike!

[drizzle]

[It'll take only a moment for Cloud to receive any sort of response in return. She was still recovering from her slip off the hill, rolling down the grassy slope, landing on the bushes, sinking to the bottom, and noticing something odd. A startle sound heard at the other end of the bush she landed on. It was a mystery she wanted to search for, but Cloud's voice caught her attention]

Oh!? Um, I'm okay!

[With a line forming, she'll begin to notice the rush from the after effect of the quick chain of events, leaving her slightly shaken up.]

I should've listen to you! That was...a little heart racing. [A sheepish smile was given as she can't help feel a little uncool right now.] But rolling down the hill was fun! Try it! It'll return a few years back to your step...

[All said as she begins to remove the tiny twigs or leaves on her hair, not realizing she had some dirt on her cheeks and chin. She looked exactly like someone who rolled down a hill and landed on a bush.]