Chapter 1
Aeron's POV
Meeting
November 11, 2012
It was early winter in Midgar, though that didn't stop it from being below zero and snowing like there was no tomorrow. I hurried through the streets, shivering my way home. That's when I saw him. It was an alley way I had passed everyday my whole life. One that I never looked down. I never looked down any alley way actually. Everyone knew what happened to people caught watching some of the awful things taking place in a them. But for the first time, I looked.
There, collapsed on the ground, was a boy. I wavered on the sidewalk for a moment, debating on whether or not to help him. In this weather, he was probably already dead. He wasn't moving at first, but then he did. Just barely, but it was definitely a sign of life. I growled at myself, half for looking and half for caring. Still shivering, I walked toward him slowly. As I got closer, I realized he was older than I had thought. About my age I would guess. And he was bleeding. From everywhere it seemed. I kneeled beside him.
"You poor thing… What happened to you?" I whispered to him. I reached a hand toward him, about to check his pulse, when I heard a quiet whimper. I couldn't help myself. I dusted the snow off of him, soon realizing that he was naked. It was a wonder he was alive.
"Come on kid. You're going to have to get up if I'm going to help you." I muttered, and to my surprise, he tried. He was so thin and pale, he looked like he was on the edge of death. I pulled him into a sitting position, letting him lean slightly against me while I took off my cloak. I regretted it instantly, but he needed it more than I did at the moment. I did despise the cold though. I wrapped the cloak around him and pulled him to his feet. He weighed almost nothing, which worried me even more. I pulled his arm around my shoulders and tried to support almost all of his weigh for him. Luckily for the both of us, my home was very close and it wasn't long before I had him in my front door.
Thanking the gods that I had thought to start a fire in the fireplace before I left, I put him down in the chair closest to the fire and covered him in blankets. He had finally begun to shiver, which was a good sign. If he was shivering, then his body hadn't given up hope of survival.
Reno's POV
I was dyin'. I knew I was. I mean really, who's gonna come lookin' for me, yo? I'm a Turk after all. Rude wouldn't be worried for another week or so and I'd be dead in less than an hour. Damn it, I knew showin' my face 'round Midgar was a bad idea. Even worse, I got trashed and tried to walk home. Hadn't made it far of course. I barely made it out of the bar before they jumped me, yo. I never saw who it was. They beat me pretty bad though, among other things I don't even wanna remember. Then they left me to die here. Beaten, broken and naked, covered in snow in an ally way.
I couldn't move. It hurt too much. Even bein' a Turk didn't help me now. There's only so much torture a guy can take, yo. Tseng would be proud though. I didn't make a single sound durin' that beatin', or anything else they did. I stopped tryin' to get us and just laid there, freezing. I realized I was givin' up but I didn't care. After what they'd done, I wanted to die. I didn't want to live through the humiliation. But just as I thought that, I heard a voice. It came from a girl.
"You poor thing… What happened to you?" was what the girl had said. Someone had found me. I tried to tell her to just let me die, but all I did was whimper. How pitiful is that, yo? I felt the snow bein' brushed off of me by warm hands. Well, in any other circumstance, they would have been warm, but they were scorchin' hot against my frozen skin now. I wanted to wince, but I couldn't bring my body to do so.
"Come on kid. You're going to have to get up if I'm going to help you." she muttered. She was actually tryin' to help me. Me of all people. I tried to get up, but like I said before, it hurt too damn much. So instead, she pulled me up. That really hurt, but nothin' would do what I told it to, so I couldn't make a single noise of protest. She wrapped something around me. A blanket maybe? I couldn't see anything, either from my eyes being swollen shut or the cold. I didn't really care though, yo. It was warm and smelled nice. Kinda like the flowers in that church Cloud used to stay in.
I felt myself bein' pulled to my feet. Everything hurt so damn much. Inside and out seemed to be ripped up and broken. Then there was somethin' warm under my arm. I looked down and saw blonde hair. Well, I think that's what it was anyway. Like I said, I couldn't see very well. She almost lifted me off my feet, easing some of the pain I was in, but not by much.
After what seemed like an hour of silent agony, we came to a door. She pushed it open and dragged me inside, closin' and lockin' the door behind us. I was met by sudden heat as she pulled me into what was probably her livin' room. She put me down in a big, soft chair by the fireplace and pulled blankets around me. I wanted so badly to object to her helpin' me. I just wanted to be left alone. It was too damn painful and humiliatin' to live. But I couldn't talk. I doubt she would have listened anyway. I started shiverin' again, which just added to the pain I was in. I pulled my knees up against my chest and looked at her, still not completely able to focus my vision. Was she smilin', yo?