Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
at adventu, we believe that colorful story and plots far outweigh the need for a battle system. rp should be about the writing, the fun, and the creativity. you will see that the only system on our site is the encouragement to create amazing adventures with other members. welcome to adventu... how will you arrive?
year 5, quarter 3
Welcome one and all to our beautiful new skin! This marks the visual era of Adventu 4.0, our 4th and by far best design we've had. 3.0 suited our needs for a very long time, but as things are evolving around the site (and all for the better thanks to all of you), it was time for a new, sleek change. The Resource Site celebrity Pharaoh Leep was the amazing mastermind behind this with minor collaborations from your resident moogle. It's one-of-a-kind and suited specifically for Adventu. Click the image for a super easy new skin guide for a visual tour!
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A cold day in Midgar. Cloud Strife had just entered on of the recently reconstructed highways circling the old Shinra Building, heading back towards the 7th Heaven, finishing up a delivery route. It had been several months since Deepground had attacked, and Vincent had taken care of the Omega Weapon, Cloud taking the sidelines to watch as his friend took down the Weapon, saving them all. Despite everything, the constant fighting, the belief that his battles were far from over pulled at the back of his mind. Rufus and Reeve had been, in most ways, working together to rebuild while he, on his off days from his delivery routes, went to assist them. Even Denzel and Marlene would sometimes go with him, pitching in along with the other Midgardians in rebuilding their home. What was once a mere shadow of a glorious and bright city was now becoming more and more like the home that the residents of Midgar deserved. He turned, catching a straight stretch of road, and pushed down on the throttle a bit heavier, Fenrir picking up speed as he felt the wind in his hair.
Despite his paranoia, Cloud would be lying if he had told anyone he wasn't enjoying this peace. Sure, he trained with the Fusion Swords daily. He would go to Aerith's Church about twice a week to maintain the Buster Sword. He had a schedule, a regiment that he held on to, after several years of chaos and disorder. Cloud, for once, could honestly say, with little paranoia, that he was happy.
Though, the Delivery Boy did have a knack for speaking too soon.
Almost as if something had hooked around Fenrir, Cloud felt something pull the motorcycle forward, and down, what seemed like a large hole appearing in the road. Any effort made to escape was found to be futile, as the next thing Cloud would see is a flash, then, nothing.
Cloud would soon awaken, mere seconds after his sudden change in location, and the first thing he would notice is how high in the air he was. Looking down over one side of Fenrir, he then had the immediate realization that he was falling, picking up speed by the second. Large crags and spires of rock were underneath him, and he had no time to regard the fact that he couldn't remember a damn thing. He shifted his weight forward, letting Fenrir's nose dip forward as he then leaned, twisting the bike in parallel with one of the walls of rock that he was approaching.
Two fleeting seconds, no sounds but the whipping of the wind past his ears, then the bike would impact the slightly angled wall of rock and dirt that made the side of one of the mountains. His heart seemed to sink as he heard what he knew was the suspension pop, both of his tires slamming into the bike, rendering it nearly impossible to steer properly. Cursing loudly, Cloud gripped Fenrir tightly as he felt himself turn to the left, knowing that if he didn't correct himself, he would end up rolling the bike, with him still on it.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit..." he would say breathlessly, hopping up onto the bike and jumping off as it would start rolling, soon hitting a large rock spire and disintegrating into hundreds of pieces, fuel and metal scattering everywhere. Cloud would barely miss the spire as he would tumble down the remainder of the hill, coming to a rest near a cliff, lying face down. Battered, bruised, and bleeding in several places, Cloud would push himself up, looking up as he would see the pieces of his motorcycle coming to a stop, a strange wind blowing through his hair.
"... Where...?" he would mutter, trying to remember the moments leading up to this. He stared up the mountain, gritting his teeth, fighting through the headache he now had to try and remember.
Panic rose slightly in his chest for a moment, before he would breathe, taking in deep breaths as he would look around. He was in mountains, that much was obvious. But he didn't recognize them, nor did he know where he was from.
He staggered for a moment while standing, turning and seeing a relatively flat part of the mountain, nodding slightly. "One thing at a time." he would mutter, taking his first step in a new journey.
All I see in my mind is not what I've left behind, But all the things I've been missing in that lost Eon.
Trapped and isolated. Time is dislocated. Eternity is what a moment seems When I am lost inside this dream.
When I can't speak.
and I can't scream.
And I can't feel
anything.
❞
The tip of her blade was pointed to the sky - the muscles of her bicep and forearm relaxed and smoothed after just having flexed from her strike. Always swift, always precise. Lightning had never been one to exert more effort and force than absolutely needed.. so of course her posture read nothing more than 'calmed'. The soul of the fallen woman in front of Lightning on the ground lifted from her body and glew softly with whites and blues before floating with patience through the air towards the Savior. It was almost funny... the sign of death being so beautiful. Lightning's sword-arm dropped back to her side and she extended her free hand to guide the soul closer before it was consumed by the crystal between her collar bones - giving a quick flash until it faded.
Another soul saved. Along with the dozens more that littered the streets behind her from the path she'd taken down the alley..
Lightning was no murderer, but sadly the world would never fully understand. A behemoth had ripped through thanks to a ripple in the Chaos - rampaging and attacking the citizens in the alley per its nature. It had fallen by her blade as fast as any other.. and then the injured people. Some may call it harsh, most would call it merciless, but there was no pain for them. It was quick and their souls were safe in her care to be lead on to the next world where they'd have the chance to live in peace and prosperity.
Feeling the tug of the Ark's portal and hearing Hope buzzing in her ear, she set the sword to her back and shut her eyes to let the gate take her. She was weightless and the roar of the portal zoomed on much longer than it had ever before. "Hope?" her companion had fallen silent. Light opened her eyes and looked around at the walls of the portal. "Hope, can you hear me?" Interference in the Chaos probably.. She lifted her hand to tap the earpiece in attempts to get some kind of a signal, but all there was was blank static. And then, the walls of portal disappeared.
A black sky swallowed her and utter, numbing silence engulfed everything else. "Geh!!" she twisted her body around, the weight of it returning as she attempted to get some sort of hold on the sudden gravity. The faster she fell, the harder it was to move the muscles that were freezing from the ice of the air this high up in the atmosphere. Her capes snapped violently against her skin and leather as really the only sound besides the whipping, stinging air. Her eyes shut and she began to drift into a frozen unconsciousness. "Nn-.." in her last attempt to struggle, her arms curled around her head for only a moment, body falling limp and shooting downwards towards the rocky terrain far below.
Her capes broke free, leaving her shoulders and waist. Faster, faster, every second she picked up speed the slim-lined aura around her lit brighter until it bursted through a lower layer of atmoshpere and caught the flammability in the oxygen. Neon yellow surrounded her and lit the sky for a brief few seconds - a whistling piercing the air - and she eventually crashed into the ground. But it wasn't a crash.. moreso an explosion.
An enormous crater dug into the ground, deep and jagged, and her body lied in the middle with her crimson shield stabbed into the rock beside her head. Thankfully, her blade hadn't landed so dangerously close - flat on its side a few yards away. Her hand twitched only barely, fingers trying to tense into a fist.
Cloud trudged on along the uneven landscape, heading in one general direction. He hoped that somehow he could find some form of civilization, somewhere. Obviously, his much faster form of transportation laid in a scattered mess some couple of miles behind him, so, it was walking. Something Cloud felt familiar with, despite having no memories. What also had come to him was a slew of survival and combat skills, from some years of traveling and fighting against an unknown opponent. This foe of his had no face to him, at the moment, but he could remember the feelings he experienced fighting this being. Taking his sword up, he would cross blades with an enemy that seemed to be comprised completely of malice and insanity. Insanity that Cloud felt uncomfortably familiar with...
He shook the feeling off as he continued down the path, looking ahead at a small clearing, a pass of some sort, and, much to Cloud's relief, there were flags denoting territory just off to the sides of the pass. He smiled a bit, feeling immense relief, knowing that where there were flags, there were people. He quickened his pace, despite being sore, and walked through the narrow pass, the tip of the Fusion Sword occasionally tapping rock on one side. Cool air came at him from the end of the pass, soothing him as he would enjoy the feeling of the wind, strengthened by the narrow pass. Nostalgia flooded him. He loved the feeling of the wind in his hair. Somehow, even in this hopeless situation he had found himself it, it relaxed him.
"Guess that explains the motorcycle..." he would say to no one in particular.
He would emerge out the other side of the pass, looking onward, just in time to feel a heaviness in the air. Something was amiss, and it bothered Cloud almost to the point of paranoia. He would draw his blade, holding it out in front of him, gritting his teeth. What was this feeling? Why did everything seem so... heavy all the sudden? It would be at this time he would hear the whistle. He would slowly look up and see, just barely in time, what seemed like a white hot fireball heading straight towards him. Again, letting out a sharp curse, Cloud turned and dove as the fireball made an impact, throwing him further away from the point of impact, hearing the grinding sound of rocks and earth being forcefully shoved aside as the object had made it's landing.
Cloud would pick himself up, dazed, as he would get to one knee, leaning back slightly. His foot would slip, however, at the edge of the crater, causing him to flail and drop into it, tumbling down, his sword landing point down right next to him.
"... Tch... Need to... stop this falling stuff..." he would mutter, mustering up the will to pick himself up, still slightly dazed from the impact, just in time to see a woman, smoke and dust still rising around her. He would gape at her. She did this? She was that fireball? As she stirred, trying to clench her fist, he would have a new question. How did she survive the impact...?
"Are... you okay...?" he would croak, letting out a cough from the surrounding dust.
All I see in my mind is not what I've left behind But all the things I've been missing in that lost Eon;
Trapped and isolated. Time is dislocated. Eternity is what a moment seems When I am lost inside this dream.
When I can't speak.
and I can't scream.
And I can't feel
anything.
❞
The moments she spent on the ground unconscious were not spent with a silent mind. Images and sounds raced everywhere at the speed of light - fractal maps of things that might have actually happened at one point in time. Sentences cut in and out, splicing midway.
'I'll do whatever it takes!' a man yelled at her with a face in desparation and courage, but then the details of him faded into a gray nothing. 'Old man's still got it,' a yellow bird accompanied this figure - innocent and pure of heart. Then gone the next second. 'Sounds scary!' a girl joked around, then a companion at her side nudged her with a tan elbow, 'I bet she can handle it. Can't ya, Sunshine?' But then.. their faces faded too. 'I want to become stronger..' green eyes looked up to her, white hair framing a youthful expression. Eventually, that too turned to nothing.
'Warrior Goddess, lose yourself in battle.. and rejoice!'
'...I.. can save the future?'
'You can save us...protect us all..'
The last face stuck in her mind the longest. Maybe it wasn't anyone particular.. maybe she was looking in a mirror. Perhaps that's why it kept with her a few moments more than the rest of them. And then.. "Are... you okay...?" it was gone.
"Mnnn..." her face winced against the dirt, her hand finally gripping to a weak fist in instinct to grip the handle of her blade-- which.. wasn't in her hand. Her eyes blinked slowly open and then a few more times to attempt in adjusting in the lack of light here. Well, that and her entire body felt like it'd been hit by a truck. "Where-?" Not where was she. Where was her sword. She needed it, she felt naked without it. Her head lifted a little from the ground, hands flat to try and push herself up. She didn't pay attention to the voice that had spoken behind her.. but only struggled to stand stiffly to her feet with muscles of tense rock before noticing the shield at her feet. Oh.. that was hers too. Right?
Without much thought, she leaned forward and put out her left arm - the shield latching nearly instantly along it with a little flash of red spark and a locking noise. Her eyes scouted around, still unable to see the sword she knew she was supposed to have. So, she turned her head further over her shoulder with a discomforted face only to see the stranger a few yards away. Had he asked her that question? She winced for a second in trying to remember, letting her free hand rise to feel around her head. It ached.. but there was no physical injury she could feel. "Ah... Yeah. Just fine," she huffed through clenched teeth and shook her head abruptly a few times to try and 'get with it'.
She looked up again at him then tilted her head a little to see her sword behind him. Well, at least she thought it was hers. It felt like it should be.. "You?" she asked, wondering if he'd fallen as well. He was in the crater after all.. and looked in just as rough of a shape as she did. What did this?
Cloud saw her react, his hand moving slightly towards his weapon in the fleeting possibility that she'd come out swinging. After she seemed to relax a bit, he would pull his weapon free of the rock and sheathe the swords over his shoulder. "I'll live." he would reply when she inquired him. He turned, seeing what he assumed was her sword on the ground, picking it up and holding it out to her, handle first. "Gonna go out on a limb here... but I'm assuming being a human meteor really isn't your primary method of getting around."
Despite the obvious bruises, cuts and scrapes he had sustained from his fall earlier, and his most recent one, he realized that his stamina was almost unaffected. It stood to reason that this feeling he had went hand in hand with his survival instincts, the combat skills, as well as the curious nagging feeling in the back of his head that this woman, judging purely from her armor, weapon, shield, was a kindred spirit.
"Name's Cloud. Kind of glad I'm not the only one dropping in here, though, mine wasn't near as intense as yours."
Suddenly, almost as if on cue from some prankster, a voice permeated his head, the ache both intensifying and numbing all at once.
"Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away."
"For the both of us... you're gonna... live."
Cloud would raise his hand to his head, squinting his eyes as the pain reached it's peak, then, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. He opened his eyes, slowly, the headache having gone entirely. That first voice was the insane one he barely remembered... The one he remembered fighting. But, that second one... who was it? Cloud had barely gotten these questions into his head before he looked at Lightning, letting out a small sigh and shaking his head. "Sorry. Hit my head on the way down here." he would say, not sure with what he could trust this woman with yet. "Either way, maybe you can help me... do you know where we are? What this place is? I really can't... remember anything." he would mutter the last part, closing his eyes again, trying again to remember something substantial.
All I see in my mind is not what I've left behind But all the things I've been missing in that lost Eon;
Trapped and isolated. Time is dislocated. Eternity is what a moment seems When I am lost inside this dream.
When I can't speak.
and I can't scream.
And I can't feel
anything.
❞
She nodded to his confirmation, a little weight lifting from her shoulders at the knowledge that they were both hardened enough (apparently) to deal with whatever had just happened. There was no panic or dramatics here. That just made everything easier. "What?" she questioned, looking back to him again and then up at the sky. It took a second to put two-and-two together. Then her eyes skimmed around the wide, high edge of the crater that had still obviously been recently created from all the dust lingering in the air.
She hadn't.. exactly remembered creating it. Or why, where from, or how. But he didn't know that and she didn't exactly want to think about her lack of certainty. For sme reason, her pride didn't like admitting uncertainty. "Oh.. right. Sorry about that," she spoke with a face that attempted to switch into less of a dumbfounded expression and more of a stern flatness. She hadn't given a second thought to reaching her hand out and grabbing hold of the blade she subconsciously knew to be hers, giving him a thankful nod and then taking a moment to look down at it - eyes studying its shape and color. It was famliar, but she didn't remember anything about it.
Cloud? "You too?" She took a small breath to speak and offer her own name, but there was a little second of hesitation. Did she have a last name? Was this a title?.. It was the only thing that came to mind. "Lightning," she gave with a weightless tone as if it seemed unimportant and somewhat unattached. Then, when he admitted his confusion from hitting his head, she smirked with an irritated expression and looked back down to the center of the crater where she'd gotten up from. "Yeah, you and me both. Was hoping you could tell me.." She'd been turning her head around at this point, taking a few steps in a direction away from him to try and see if she recognized anything - so his mumbling didn't hit her ears or attention. But a deep, ground-shaking rumble from beneath them did..
Her arms went out to the sides slightly, attempting to balance in case it'd grow worse. But then it stopped. She turned slowly back around to him with wider eyes. "...Please tell me you at least know what that was.."
Cloud, relieved that she seemed to be friendly, relaxed a little, noting her confusion as well, also relieved that he wasn't alone in confusion. She returned his gesture with her own name, Lightning. He nodded, looking around as well. He still didn't recognize the place, and the rumbling didn't strike anything eith-
"... No, I have no idea what that-"
At this point, Cloud looked down, seeing the ground crack beneath them almost soundlessly. Instincts took over as he stepped forward, grabbing Lightning's wrist, turning, and jumping, hoping to pull her along as the ground below them would erupt, two massive, toothed mandibles erupting and clamping down on where they had once stood. Thankfully, despite his disadvantage with not remembering faces, names or places, his skills remained as sharp as ever, his jump turning out exactly as planned. They landed several feet from the edge of the crater-now-deathtrap as Cloud would turn, drawing the Fusion Swords and clenching his hands tightly over the handle.
For the... both of us.
Cloud's eyes widened for a moment.
Both... of us?
That's right... you're gonna...
"Live. We're gonna live."
Cloud said the last statement, no clue as to where it came from as his face hardened in anger, the beast finally making itself known as it cried out, the Antlion's roar echoing through the walls of the mountains. Cloud's Mako Eyes seemed to glow a brighter hue of green as he glared at the beast.
"Alright. Time to see how much I do remember."
He took a breath, taking a wide stance, holding the sword out to one side, letting the weight of the blade have some give to one side, glancing back a Lightning, then back to the beast. "You with me on this?" he would say to her. "I'm pretty sure we can take it!" he would say, letting his body react as he would thrust his palm out, a burst of flames forming into a condensed fireball, soon launching at the beast in the form of the all too familiar Firaga. The fireball hit the Antlion. Writhing in the direction of the attack, the beast let out another roar, the fireball not having done much damage.
All I see in my mind is not what I've left behind But all the things I've been missing in that lost Eon;
Trapped and isolated. Time is dislocated. Eternity is what a moment seems When I am lost inside this dream.
When I can't speak.
and I can't scream.
And I can't feel
anything.
❞
"...What-?" she couldn't finish her sentence out loud, only inside of her own head. The ground cracked between her feet and she took in a sharp breath before holding her breath and trying to lift one of her legs to keep standing on one of the sides of the ever-growing gash beneath her. It was only a second until the ground pulsed heavily up.. and then plummeted down as if taking a deep breath. Lightning's weight began to tip backwards, but a tug on her wrist had pulled her through the air to safety on the rim of the crater. The boy could jump.. she'd give him that.
Now on a knee, she looked up at him, catching her breath for a moment, and nodded. Lightning stood at his side and held tight to the blade in her hand. The shield locked onto her arm made a single clicking noise which drew her attention - sliding and extending both up her shoulder down her forearm. "That's new," she mentioned without much of a point as the black accents came to a metal formation with a small, sparking flash of energy.
'Live. We're gonna live.'
"Well I'm not about to get eaten by some overgrown insect," her voice came out a bit heavier - determined without any sense of fear or uncertainty. For some reason, she knew this enormous thing was beneath her on the food chain. When he asked for her tag-team in the inescapable battle, the antlion climbing through the ground with a hungry, violent gaze in its eyes, Lightning only nodded her chin down. The second her new companion extended his hand forth, she faced her back to his and shot out her own palm - blade at her side - and a flurry of gray, piercing matter shot out towards the body of the beast. The large orb of non-elemental energy splattered and shoved one of the tusks, cracking it and making it give an angry shriek as it tilted towards the ground.
"Now!" she shouted, hopping through the air after Cloud's fireball and curving her shielded arm in front of her face to blast through the flames. The second she felt herself burst ahead of the bright orange heat, the antlion caught a glimpse of her before she thrusted her blade down against the tusk's crack to finish the job. "Hr-ah!" it snapped loudly, falling and stabbing into the ruined ground, and its head reared back. She hadn't accounted for the other tusk after its reaction.. Her eyes flashed to it and she barely had the time to cover herself with her shield - knocking against her and sending her flying through the air to the deep side of the crater and creating a cloud of dust. She pulled herself from it, giving a single cough, and gathered her foot in the newly-made hole. It was a heavy hit.. but she didn't feel nearly as injured as she would've thought. Well.. that was new too.
He watched as she launched forth into the flames to attack the beast, seeing that she had strength beyond what he could imagine. Something piqued within him, a sense of admiration for her valor and strength that he had felt before for someone else. This woman was the warrior of legends at this time, and the strength that Cloud felt welling up inside of him almost screamed to be released. This joy of fighting, this need for battle seemed almost inhuman as his hand gripped his sword.
He would then see Lightning get thrown from the antlion with considerable force, letting out a Tch! as he watched her fly, hitting the site of the rocky crater. When he saw her emerge and get back into her stance, he would let out a short, curt sound of affirmation, and launch towards the beast himself. He let go of his worries, of his pain over not knowing anything about himself, and let his hands to the work as the beast would lash out. Cloud would disconnect his swords, letting one fly up into the air as he would block one of the talons, the blade spiraling upward as he would use his momentum to flip up and over the talon, landing on the beast's head. He would jam his base sword into the creature's head and look down, hunting for a weak spot, it's eyes, anything. Then he saw it. Pulsing just below the surface of it's exoskeleton, almost glowing under the faded sunlight that made it through the clouds. Cloud reached up and caught his other sword, twisting his other blade loose as he would then begin to stab repeatedly with both blades into the beast's head, blood and pieces of it's armory hide flying everywhere.
He wouldn't foresee it (due to his already fatigued state from his landing earlier) as the creature would twist a talon around and strike at Cloud, throwing him into the rocky wall as it had Lightning earlier, only to follow up with dragging itself out of the ground towards him, it's dripping maw open, ready for it's next meal. Cloud instinctively put his sword back together and raised his hand to fire another Firaga, but let out a gasp as it was already mere feet from him.
"... So fast..." he would mutter, charging his attack with little hope, unless his companion could assist.
All I see in my mind is not what I've left behind But all the things I've been missing in that lost Eon;
Trapped and isolated. Time is dislocated. Eternity is what a moment seems When I am lost inside this dream.
When I can't speak.
and I can't scream.
And I can't feel
anything.
❞
Good, he was moving on and ahead without her. She couldn't feel any honest aches or pains from the toss.. just a dull sense of irritation. Nothing bled, nothing was broken. Seemed she was more durable than she thought. That was always good to know.. she held tightly to her sword and lifted it ahead of her to look down at her leather glove gripping underneath the asymetrical hilt. "Wonder just what else this thing can do.." she rose an eyebrow at it before snapping her gaze upwards to the sound of metal flashing and flying - large hits of its surface singing with a piercing tone through the air.
Base of the skull? That had to be the place; a weakspot. It hissed and roared in pain, thrashing about. But this kid was getting reckless.. didn't he see its rearing arm? She clenched her jaw, a few teeth showing in her tensed expression and readying herself to jump. "Look out!" she called out, hopping from the hole in the side of the crater towards the beast that had successfully smashed him into next week. It crawled out from the ground, ripping and cracking what little stabilized earth was left beneath it, and Lightning flew through the air with her sword reared back behind her shoulder. Closer... closer... Cloud wouldn't be able to leave in time if he didn't jump now. But he wasn't. He was trying to buy time that simply wasn't available.
The second her cyan eyes thinned, she let out a loud and deep cry - sword slicing up from high and down straight into the center of the bloodied area her new companion had rended assunder. It smashed its head down far towards the ground - its teeth meeting nothing but rock and dirt rather than the blonde a few yards above the wall it was now burrowed into. It wasn't done though.. not yet.
Hopefully the headbut into the ground had gained him enough time to fully charge whatever he was up to. With her blade embedded into its skull, she gripped both hands onto its handle and yanked herseful backwards with a grimace at the weight of the beast's head. "Nnn-!!" she grunted, tugging the entire thing's upper half towards the sky, bent backwards and screaming in agony with a mouth wide open in the face of the other warrior. "Cloud, finish it! NOW!"
