Cold Forgotten Night

[Aerith]

Aerith woke up in the middle of the woods on the ground. She looked around in confusion. This place didn't seem familiar at all. How did she get here? She put a hand to her head witch felt like it was being hit with a twenty pound brick. She'd never felt anything like it. For some reason, her memories seemed to be a bit shaken up too. She couldn't remember where she was or what she was doing before she got to this place covered in trees.

"Cloud???!!! ZACK?!!!" Aerith called out for her friends, her voice a little shaky as she got up to sit on her knees.

Why was it that she could remember her friends and certain things, but all the backgrounds of every place she'd ever been were hazy to her? She couldn't even remember where she came from. It was as if half of her entire life had just vanished.

"CLOUD!!! ZACK!!! TIFA!!!" Aerith tried calling again.

No luck. It was like no one could hear her. She was lost and alone. Today was not her day. Worst off, she was afraid. What if there were fiends in this place? Those little black things with the big yellow eyes....What were they called again? The name of the creatures was completely gone from her mind. Even the image was just like she'd only viewed them in her dreams.

This was not good. She rubbed her shoulders for friction to keep warm. It was getting dark out, and she had no idea witch way was out. If only she could remember how she got here in the first place then that might help to figure the rest out. If she started walking, it left a bigger possibility for getting even more lost. That would not be a good idea.

She thought it over and realized she couldn't just wait here. What if no one found her? What if she wasted away and died here? Aerith realized her thoughts were getting a little over dramatic, but she couldn't help it. She was lost and wasn't sure what to do. Aerith stood up, still shaking from the cold and began to walk, stopping every now and then to yell out more of her friends names.

[Malik]

Malik smirked as he saw the newest addition of the bunch appear in the forest, calling for her friends. He must be getting rusty because she could still remember things about them. Sure some of his new toys had begun to remember but he knew that was only a matter of time. He sat in a tree well above the panicked woman, chuckling quietly to himself. This was a rather pretty one, he could only wonder who he'd pull into this world next.

He silently dropped from his perch in the tree, walking quietly toward the girl. "Is something the matter?" Malik asked, in the most innocent tone he could muster up. It made him sick to have to be so nice but he didn't want the girl running off to tell her friends how evil he really was. He needed to keep his cover for just a little while. He ran a hand through his messy blond hair, messing it up even more, if that was possible. The look he forced on his face was concern, he was only hoping it looked genuine.

"I don't know the people you are looking for but I could easily help you find somewhere to stay." he told her, which meant he could bespell the landlord at the apartment buildings into letting her stay there for a while, that is if she didn't agree to do it anyways. The woman who ran the place was way to kind for her own good, it always made him sick just looking at her. She was a motherly type who took in all the kids he pulled into this realm. It was strange really, he couldn't help but wonder why she would go out of her way to house the little rats.

A light breeze went by, causing gooseflesh to appear of his bare chest, the girl must be cold. He bespelled a black, cotton, long sleeved shirt under his jacket. He easily slipped the jacket off to offer to her. The nicer he was to the girl the more she would trust him, he needed her to trust him not matter how sick it made him to offer. "You must be freezing, here take my jacket." He offered the girl, leveling his voice to match the concern that was showing on his face. He never knew how he became such a good actor, or liar, but he knew it was helpful so he didn't care much.

"What brings you out here so late at night?" He asked, thinking up an answer to his own question, he knew it was probably going to get shot back at him, it always was. 'maybe I could be looking for my friends? No, too unrealistic and I wouldn't be able to lead her out of here without looking around some more. Taking a short cut seemed short sweet and to the point.' He nodded to himself.

[Aerith]

It took Aerith a moment to realize that the man that approached her was actually real and not just a figment of her imagination that was created to ease the lonely feeling she felt from being lost. She looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes. She looked almost like a lost puppy dog. She was just so happy to see someone that she couldn't speak at first to answer the first question.

When he was trying to hand her the jacket, Aerith pushed it back towards him. There was no way she was going to take something from anyone with weather like this. This kind man must've been just as freezing as she was, and it wouldn't be fair of her to take it away. It just wasn't in her personality to do so. She sucked it up and pretended that she was warmer. You could tell it was an act, because her back stiffened and she still shook a little. Plus, her lips were beginning to take on a shade of purple from the cool air.

"Thank you, sir," Aerith began to speak in her gentle voice. "But I can't do that. You must be freezing too."

She scanned his wardrobe. Aerith's words still seemed scared as she spoke, but they eased up a little bit. This man was hope that civilization wasn't too far away. Where there was one person, there was usually more. He was like her light at the end of a tunnel. She wondered if her friends were near by. She couldn't even remember if she was with them before she ended up here.

"A-actually," Aerith stuttered, scaring herself with her thoughts again. "I don't really no why I'm here...I just sort of woke up on the ground and it was like half of me was gone. I don't know how I got here, where I came from... I'm not even entirely sure of my own identity..."

Aerith slowed her words down, because they seemed to be all flushing out at once. She wasn't even sure if she was speaking clearly of if her words were all jumbled up. She was so confused. She was so freaked out. Oh, she just wanted to go home. She wanted to be with Tifa, and Cloud, and Yuffie, and...Zack. Where was Zack? She wondered if she was with him or not. Her heart sank in a little with even more fear. She hoped he was okay. If something happened to him, she wasn't sure what she'd do.

[Malik]

"I'm fine, really. The cold doesn't really bother me." He lied, doing a quick spell to heat himself. "I insist you take it." He told her, giving a quick charming smile. It left his face quickly though, there was only so much he could take of that. True he could make it so the cold didn't bother him, but it wasn't exactly the truth. He was trying to be nice but this girl was not making it easy for him. Malik does not grovel. That is the final word he will have on that subject. He will not ask her to take it once more.

"That's fine, but you can't very well stay in the forest all night. The wolves and coyotes in the area would eat you alive if you were to fall asleep." He told her, knowing they probably would. The animals in the forest had started to become extremely hostile around nightfall, not that he didn't have something to do with it, they even killed two people. He spooked them quite a bit, and gave their food choices a little bit of a push to vacate the area, starving the beasts so they would become rabid. It was a simple spell and it cost him nothing to keep up but it sure as hell stirred up the locals.

"The Landlord of the apartment building I'm living in wouldn't mind putting you up for a while, until you can sort things through. She did it for me last year until I got a job and began to pay her. She does it for a few other kids in the building as well. She's a nice woman, she tries to be everyone's mother. Wants to keep them safe." He explained smoothly, trying to get her to trust him a little. "Who knows there may be someone you know there." He offered, hoping she would just listen to him.

He really could not stand being this nice, it made him want to puke. He never had to do any pf this but he needed her alive for his plan to work and the animals here really would kill her. He looked around carefully, making sure there wasn't any wildlife running around. They tended to avoid him but he couldn't count on the fact that he was the spell caster to keep him safe. He also didn't want to have to divulge his secrets to her either. This was turning out to be much more of a mess than it was worth.

[Aerith]

Aerith thought about his offer once more. She really was cold, and he was insisting on it. How much harm could it do to simply borrow a jacket? She'd borrowed things plenty of times. Still, something in her heart made her feel a little bad about it. She felt bad about almost everything. That was her life's story. She was ridiculously nice. She was so nice that some people even talked about how much they hated her personality. That's what she was hurt by the most. People were so different, but she wished she could please them all. That would make everything so much better and easier.

"Alright," she sighed and nervously held out a hand so he could hand her the jacket even though she felt a little rude.

Being even a little rude to someone killed her. It especially didn't help with how nice this man was. He was giving her all this help when he truly didn't have to. He could have just done what most would've done and walked right past her. He could have ignored her existence. It would've been what anyone else would have done. She felt as if she was deep in his debt.

She felt even more like getting down on her knees and praising the man when he brought up finding her the place to stay. That was going above and beyond any type of kindness she'd ever received before. She wished she'd had money with her or some of her flowers so she could give him something in return. To her dismay, she had nothing. She'd landed where ever she was with nothing. That surely wouldn't help her later on either.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Aerith spoke. "That would be wonderful. You don't have to do this all though. You're so kind, and I have no way to repay you."

[Malik]

He chuckled quietly, he had never been accused of being anything akin to kind. He'd been called many of choice words but never kind. It made him sick but he held that part of him together, he could not loose his control he's made it this far.

Malik slipped his jacket over her shoulders, relying on his heating spell to keep himself warm, although he felt naked without the jacket he never left the house without. He dipped his head to avoid the low branch of the tree in front of him as he walked toward the apartment buildings.

"It's not a big deal, it's not as if I'm carrying you there and allowing you in my apartment." He joked, wanting to gag. What had gotten into him? He would have to bathe in a bathtub of saltwater when he got home just to dispel the damned warming spell he placed on himself just so he could offer her his jacket. Saltwater dried out his skin horribly, it would be like a temporary hell.

He should have took her original answer as no, he didn't need to press on to get her to wear the jacket with his water-steel cross, meaning if he had any malevolent intent toward her it would repel him. That meant he couldn't renig on his plan and just kill her outright.

"Because you won't be." He said referring to her staying in his apartment. he wouldn't be able to stand that much pink in his dismal flat. "If anything the land-lady might place you with one of the other girls she's letting stay there, either that or you'll get your own place.

Not many of the flats are taken up yet considering it's a relatively new building." He explained. He wasn't sure which option the woman would decide. There were two young girls already staying in the building. She knew one of them had a job and the other did not, it all depended on how much space was really left in the building. he knew there were at least five flats available, probably more.

[Aerith]

Aeirth smiled as he placed the jacket onto her shoulders. She was feeling ten times warmer already. That made her happy, but not as happy as she'd usually be. She could only truly be content if she knew her friends were okay. That was the one thing that she was caring about the most. If only she'd had her phone with her. She'd be able to call Zack and ask him whats going on. He'd know for sure. Or, at least she hoped he would know. She shook her head. If only she was smart enough to remember to bring her phone with her everywhere she went. That would make things so much easier. That way, she wouldn't be in this mess. She'd be safe and warm in the church with all of her flowers.

Who was going to take care of her flowers until she got back to her home, where ever that was? She would feel horrible if they were to die. She didn't know what she would do. She'd have to start from scratch and grow them all all over again. Plus, her poor flowers that would become dead would all have to be torn out of the ground. That would be some what of a sad chore for her. It'd be all her fault for getting herself lost where ever she was now. How the heck did she even get here and why was she in the woods of all places?

"Having a temporary roommate would be lovely," Aerith spoke, thinking about it.

She wondered what other sorts of girls there were around here and how nice they would be. This man seemed to have class, so other people around here probably would too. She wondered if any of them would know Cloud and the others. If they did, they'd surely be able to help her get home. That way, he flowers could be tended too, and she'd know for sure her friends were okay. That would fix everything.