Searching for Bridesmaids [Neku]

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

'Creepy place.' was the first thing that Snow thought of, upon entering this strange continent in order to find the two he needed to thank. Fang and Vanille, for saving Cocoon. Though he was still ignorant that because of Vanille, Serah was turned l'Cie but, even if he knew, he would've brushed it off. After all, Serah was back, safe, and in his arms once more.

'If Fang and Vanille fell in a place like this...where the hell would they be? I promised Serah I would bring them back and help out with the wedding. Even if I have to rip this place apart, I'll find them.' They weren't on Cocoon, Snow would know for he tore that place apart, or anything on the continent where Cocoon lied. Snow pumped himself up, yelling something out, for what reason no one will ever know, and he bolted, ready to start his search.

Snow was there for possibly hours, lifting things up with a mighty heave, and anyone inhabiting the area would have looked at him strangely, asking people around, the very few that were but he wasn't one to notice the small amounts of people, and finally had to conclude Fang nor Vanille wasn't there. Then it hit him - Vanille and Fang were probably on Gran Pulse.

Snow stood there, looking angrily out into space as he realized this, after he spent possibly days with Serah alone, looking in the most unobvious places, when it was most likely that they were in Gran Pulse. Serah, especially Lightning, would be cross with him for such a stupid mistake. "Dammit!" He suddenly shouted, punching the wall next to him with the side of his fists, unaware he probably spooked the locals that were nearby.

Heroes have to make a grand entrance.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

~Three Minutes Clapping

Not here, either. He had to give it to them; when they wanted to disappear, they could disappear. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme... it was like some sort of demented game of hide and seek. Except he'd been attacked multiple times by Noise, and monsters he'd never seen before. The sort of stuff he'd seen in commercials at the Scramble Crossing. Just where the hell was he? Neku's music was playing at usual volume, blocking out the buzz of the everyday crowd. They were scared just like the people in the last place he'd been. What was going on? Was he just having some kind of nightmare?

"DAMMIT!" A voice said next to him, and Neku found himself getting smacked against a wall by some guy in a white jacket. He coughed and gasped; being thrown against the wall (even though it looked like it'd been an accident) knocked the breath out of him.

"Argh... what's your problem? I step on your shoe or something?" Neku asked, shooting the man a glare and twisting the volume knob down to hear this guy's explanation. What kind of jerk smacked people against walls?

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

That probably hurt. That also explained why the wall wasn't as hard. Snow instantly dropped his hand and straightened up, becoming his full height. He rubbed the back of his head. "Haa...sorry there little man. You okay?" After all, he did mean to hit that wall a bit hard to take out his frustration. Hope would probably have hid himself somewhere if he knew Snow just hit a boy around his age.

"Bet all this searching for people just made me tired. Want me to make it up to you? I bet that'll leave a bruise or somethin'." Snow gave him his signature smile, and without his signature smirk and wink. After all, the last thing the man needed was to weird Neku out that some adult just winked at him. "So uh, you local or somethin'?" Snow just wanted to knwo since Neku didn't look like he was part of the local population.

He was too...brightly lit. No, that wasn't the word. The man had somehow snuck around Snow and ended up between him and the wall. Neku was like a ghost, sneaking up like that. No, Neku just didn't belong. "Some Hero I am, hitting on a kid like that. Serah would be mad at me if she were to find out." He obviously was talking to himself, not to Neku, for he wouldn't even know who Serah was.

Heroes charge and never stop.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

"I'm wearing headphones and clothes way ahead of these people; are you seriously asking me if I live here?" Neku asked, not looking too impressed. Another one with the brains of a rock? He looked and reminded him of Beat, but at least he knew how to talk right. He'd taken harder hits from the Grim Heaper in Shibuya; some tired old dude wasn't going to do him in. But, maybe he'd seen Beat, Rhyme or Shiki around somewhere. Better ask to make sure.

"I'm looking for a kid that looks sort of like you, and about as stupid, a girl with blond hair and a pink sweater, and a girl with a moving stuffed pig; you seen them around anywhere?" Neku asked, almost expecting a 'no'. He could almost hear Shiki's voice yelling 'HE'S A CAT' in the back of his head.

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Basically a punk kid. Snow could handle a kid like that - afterall when you have Lightning as a sister-in-law, he could not be any more emotionally hurt. Lightning was a constant pessimist, eating at him, or in attempt, both physically and mentally. Snow ignored the boy's punk attitude, and even let the insult slide. "Whoa there, you're calling me stupid now?" However, Snow chuckled at this, letting Neku know he was in no trouble.

However the descriptions he was giving made Snow bat an eyebrow, losing his signature grin for a mere moment. "Well sorry to say I can't help you there. But did I, uh, punch you a bit too hard? I wouldn't be asking if the pig weren't stuffed. Then again, with the stuff I've seen, I'm sure there has to be a flying pig out somewhere." This time, he laughed.

"But I can't leave a kid to search alone. Why don't you let me handle finding your friends, alright? That's a Hero's job." Serah wouldn't mind if Snow helped a kid out. Actually, if she were there, he could just see her, scolding him on NOT helping him and Fang and Vanille wouldn't run away. "Consider it as being even for hitting you."

Heroes help no matter what the deed.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

What is he, a Beat clone or something? Ugh... He doesn't seem like the type to take no for an answer either. Great, Neku thought, having seen that type plenty of times in Shibuya. Future Beat? Maybe. IF Beat learned how to speak proper English and dressed like that. He sighed and shrugged, shaking his head. "I'm not a people person. I've been hit by harder stuff than that; don't worry about it. You're not from around here, either; your outfit's too different. Let me guess, you're looking for someone you were separated from, too."

He'd actually run into quite a few people who were looking for lost relatives out here. He was starting to think it'd happened a lot more than he'd thought. The world was big normally, but this... this was just unreal. "... Neku Sakuraba, from Shibuya." He said, deciding an introduction was the first step to being a bit more open. He still needed to work on that.

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Hey, the kid seemed more and more like Lightning, in man form, with orange hair with music, not as violent--Snow stopped his train of thought right there for it was heading into dangerous territory. However, that didn't stop him from chuckling. "I can name a person who's not a people person as well. Doubt I'll ever find someone as anti-social."

He almost mentally felt Lightning punch him for him talking about her in such a way. "I guess kids these are are observant. Yeah, I'm looking for a couple of my friends who have been separated back on Cocoon." Hey, the kid even went so far as to introduce himself. He sure was more talkative and more interested in being social rather than his sister-in-law.

However, the place wasn't familiar to him. Snow shrugged it off - he probably hadn't traveled to wherever his town was or just forgot the name. "The name's Snow. Snow Villiers. So where you off to since it doesn't seem like your friends aren't here. I would know - I turned this place apart." Of course, Snow didn't mean literally. He only picked up things like giant rocks that could hide possible secret tunnels or whatnot. Anything was possible.

Heroes are always one step ahead.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

"Try talking to me last year," Neku replied, adjusting the volume just a bit so he could hear the much taller man better. In terms of height, he reminded Neku or week one's GM, though he didn't seem anywhere near as malicious... or food obsessed. "Don't really know. I'm not even sure where I'm at now; all I know is that I need to make sure they're all right. They can take care of themselves, but I want to be sure."

That was it. Honest answer. It'd been easier to say than he'd thought it would be. Maybe the whole being social thing wasn't quite as hard as he'd made it out to be last year... but he'd still only come a small ways from the way he was before. He had a long way to go before he'd be considered a 'normal' level of social. But he was getting there, bit by bit. Neku flipped the black Player's Pin like a coin, catching it again as it came back down; mostly boredom, but also thinking on where to look next. "I was going to head towards some of the bigger cities and look. I haven't had much luck yet."

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Yeah, he should've seen Lightning a year ago. Actually no, that was a good thing. But moving the thought out of his mind, it was...strange that Neku one: Didn't know where he was and two: knew where he was going. Ahh well, as long as he remembers where he's from than everything was a-okay. "What's in the past is past."

It was nice that even a non-sociable guy cared about his friends so much. The skinny guys, tough guys, and the in between guys all care about something at least once in his life. "A kid who doens't know where they going or even know where he's at could get lost in a big city. Lost kids an easy target for monsters."

Yeah Snow was concerned about that - cities actually held monsters in it sometimes, like when the monsters invaded from Pulse into Eden. But mostly concerned that a boy, like Hope, with no visible weapons, was going to wander in. It seemed like Neku might have a Snow tagalong, for in Snow's eyes, it looked like a Hero was needed.

Heroes runs into the fray of battle without a thought.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

"I'm tougher than I look. I can take care of myself," Neku assured him, flipping the pin up and catching it again. You didn't have to be buff to use psychs; in fact, it was probably better he wasn't buff. Who knew what got them to react to the wearer? Still, Snow probably wouldn't believe him if Neku told him about his experience in the Reaper's Game. It sounded like a glorified lie, really. He flipped open his phone and indicated to the satellite map of the town he was in on the top screen.

"I'm nowhere near being lost. The only problem I have is I've got the wrong type of money; looks like no one here takes Yen." He explained, flipping the pin one more time before sticking it and his hands into his pockets, closing his eyes for a second and tapping his foot in rhythm with the beat of his music, wondering if the weather condition was going to say anything else.

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Huh, so the kid was probably like Hope. Hope proved himself a valuable ally, once he got over the whole momma's boy phase, with a weird weapon like a boomerang. Yes, Snow is not very smart but he's been through so much, literally anything could be a possibility. Like maybe that kid's pin did some sort of weird magic. Snow stopped himself there, because that crossed the line of strangeness.

Still. Snow blinked. Yen? He never heard of such a currency. snow knew he couldn't help the boy with his money problems for he had a wedding to run. After all, weddings weren't free nor cheap. "Sorry that I can't help there man. I've got a wedding to pay for." That's one thing Beat and Snow probably didn't have in common - Beat didn't have a woman that captured his heart.

"I'm pretty sure someone will trade your currency for gil." Neku was from around someplace in this world, so Yen must exist somewhere. It wasn't like Neku had some currency from outer space or anything. Then again, with how more and more strange the man got, anything seemed even more possible. Then, Snow suddenly had an idea.

"Hey I'm pretty sure I can find someone who'd take your yen for gil! Piece of cake! No one could resist a half-starved kid some equivalent exchange! You can count on me!" He punched his fist into his hand, a gesture he often did when pumped up, slightly revealing the burned l'Cie mark on his arm/wrist/hand, whatever makes you feel happy.

Heroes gotta prove himself.[/size]

[Neku Sakuraba]

"I guess..." Neku replied, twisting one of the spikes of his orange hair between his thumb and index finger. He was being just a bit too straightforward; since when did you tell someone at the random that you were having a wedding? Especially someone you'd only just met. It must've taken either a lot of trust, or a very small percentage of brain power. Yep. Future Beat. Future Beat with better speech. He couldn't help but notice the man had what looked like either a poorly done tattoo or a very well-done burn on his arm/wrist/hand, around that area. It wasn't really that weird, though; Reapers had wings that looked like they were made of iron with no skin over them, and he'd seen plenty of other weird stuff since he'd woken up... wherever the hell he was. It definitely wasn't Shibuya. "So, who're you looking for?"

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Snow really didn't have much brain power; he mostly had the hots for Serah and that was basically it. Oh, and Lightning hits hard, but that was a different thing entirely. Snow took a bit to what seemed like he was processing the question, but rather, finding the right words to it. "Two of my old buddies. Haven't seen'em in a while so I'm being messenger boy to tell them about the wedding."

Yeah, that was the truth basically. Of course, he left out the whole Ragnarok, Fang saving the world, or something to that extent but Neku would think he was crazy, either that, or wouldn't get it. Besides, it was none of the orange-haired boys business so Snow decided not to get him involved. "Alright then! Let's go find you someone to trade currencies with!"

Another common trait shared by both Snow and Beat, they just seemed to run off in their own direction, making sure not to slow down to let the others catch up. But Snow's upper body made him pretty slow, but still surprisingly fast considering his size, but it would be no problem for Neku to catch up, if he chose to.

Heroes run headstrong, never looking back.[/i]

[Neku Sakuraba]

"Hey, wait up!" Neku exclaimed. Yep, he definitely acted a lot like Beat. Too bad he hadn't come across Beat himself. Chances were Beat would have found Rhyme and Shiki in a fifth of the time it took him to get... wherever he was. Or maybe not; who knew? But, that would have to wait for now; he couldn't exactly search on an empty stomach, and seeing as no one here was accepting Yen, that was going to put him at a disadvantage. Especially if he couldn't buy food. He might as well follow Snow for now; it couldn't turn out THAT bad. Neku shrugged to himself and set a pace where he wouldn't overtake the much taller man, as if such were possible.

[Snow Villiers]

Heroes never die.

Of course Snow knew Neku was going to follow him. Well, not really, but the boy at least did and it was obvious that he wasn't breaking much of a sweat following him. That, at least, proved that Neku wasn't weak, or out of shape, or just skinny because he lacked food. Though, it didn't strike at him that possibly Neku was hungry, which made Snow want to complete his quest harder.

Snow asked around but people either completely ignored him, or didn't know what yen was and didn't want to trade for it. But Snow wasn't the type to give up, after all, when the going gets tough the tough keeps going and snow was the very definition of tough. He had Lightning to deal with for the punches, after all, and Snow's natural tough exterior.

But Snow wasn't the type to digress. Finally, Snow found a canidate, an item collector. All the information the guy gave, about the difference between gil now and gil 200 years ago, flew over his head, and when Snow told him about yen, he was interested intensely, as he had not heard that kind of currency. He asked Neku if he could see this yen so he may examine it.

A Heroes work is never done.