Theme: Romance/Adventure/Angst
Fandom: Final Fantasy
Characters: Verdot (mentioned), Lazard Deusericus, Sephiroth, Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos, Cissnei/Shuriken
Pairing: Angeal Hewley x Cissnei/Shuriken
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1807
Summary: Honor can be quite the burden, a rookie TURK learns this first hand and from the most honorable SOLDIER of them all.
Authors Notes: The first fanfiction that I'm rewriting and moving over here happens to be my favorite pairing of all time. Cissnei and Angeal. It's going to explore many different things, one of which being a different view then Zack's on Crisis Core and pre-Crisis Core. Reviews would be nice but are not needed.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination and copy of Crisis Core. Don't sue me.
Chapter I
The Briefing
Verdot had finally put some trust in his freshly graduated TURK and spoke to the Director of SOLDIER about possibly allowing the barely teen girl to accompany one of his men on a mission. The female had been there to see the concerned look on the young director's face before he broke out into a smile, nodding and telling Verdot that he could arrange it. He told the elder head to leave the young TURK with him and he would handle the situation, the girl had been nervous about being alone with someone she didn't know. Verdot sensed this but still left her standing, dumbfounded, in the middle of the room with the blond stranger.
She observed him for nearly ten minutes; the man using his phone to call in one of his men (at least, that's what she believed) and then start typing away at his computer after hanging up. She felt awkward as she stood in the center of the room, standing straight and at attention like Verdot had caught her when she had first arrived at the company. She could feel his aura, sense how relaxed he appeared and seemed within her presence, which was rare from what she'd witnessed since owning this brand new uniform. However, she suddenly felt his atmosphere darken a bit as he turned his gaze to her. "What do they call you?"
"Shuriken," she answered quietly, "Codename Shuriken."
"That's unfortunate," he replied while typing in her name into the computer. "Why is it that you wanted to be a TURK, Shuriken? You're awfully young in comparison to the others."
The man's words had injured the young girl's pride, she turned her gaze to the side and away from the blond. "I was an orphan and the company took me in, trained me. Do not underestimate me, Director Deusericus. I graduated at the top of my class in both my education and combat."
"Is that so," the man lifted his gaze and stopped typing. She took notice to the curious tone of his voice and look in his bright blue eyes, which oddly looked like the President's. She almost shivered but forced it back, not wanting to seem too childish in front of the elder, and found herself giving a stern nod of her head. He grunted a faint chuckle, before leaning back in his chair, eyeing the poor girl. "Verdot sure knows how to pick them. I want to look over your report before you give it to him, you are quite the peculiar girl."
She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak, only to be caught off guard by the sound of the doors opening to the office. The poor girl spun around to witness three strange men entering the room, then scattering throughout it, eyes drifting from her to the director without much thought. Her own brown eyes studied the three, finding that they seemed to be slight different then the TURKS that she had surrounded herself with. They did not sport the attire of one, but they didn't really look much like SOLDIER members either, well besides the larger man of the three.
She had guessed that he entered first, due to his closeness to the desk. He sported black hair and the trademark blue eyes, he appeared a bit more gruff then the other three with a bit of facial hair. She took notice to the blue SOLDIER uniform he wore, a large sword seemingly attached to his back. He didn't seem to linger on the small girl for very long, his azure orbs focused solely on the director and standing at an attention, which oddly enough matched that of the small teenager that was a few feet away from him. However, when she turned her attention to his companions, she couldn't hold back the shiver.
There was one, she recognized as Genesis Rhapsodos, with auburn—almost red—hair and brilliant blue eyes. His face appeared almost angelic and flawless, his body more relaxed then the blue uniformed man. He didn't wear the issued SOLDIER attire, instead a black turtle neck with matching pants, a long leather trench that was the color of blood hung over his more lean form. Those azure eyes swam with curiosity as he turned his gaze between the TURK and the director, Shuriken noticed, yet there was no warmth in his aura. She should almost sense the things he was probably imagining within his mind, of what was going on in this room before they entered.
Then there was the last man, the one still lingering by the door with little interest in the situation. She knew of him as well because the TURKS often spoke of the SOLDIER with long silver hair, the one that they called Sephiroth. Those feline like green eyes lingered on the girl for only a moment, like he too was studying her, before snapping over to the director. She quickly took notice to his leather attire, which had honestly embarrassed the young girl and almost made her squeal from it. She turned her gaze away from him, just as quickly as it had turned to him, and sent the chuckling Director a heated glare with rosy cheeks. The director noticed the girl's actions and almost burst out laughing, but somehow held it in as he spoke; "It's nice of you three to join us."
"What is it that you need, Director," Genesis questioned in a rather testy tone.
The director simply smiled, "Well, I just need you three to check up on something for me. You are to take this one with you."
"A TURK," Genesis responded with a faint frown. "Can't you have one of the second class handle this?"
"Normally I would," Lazard reminded the red head. "However, this is one was brought here by Verdot himself, and it is her first mission. I would much rather have someone who can handle the situation, if things get out of hand."
The raven haired man, Shuriken was almost certain she had heard his name before, but could not remember it to save her life, arched a brow. "You nearly sound like you are expecting something to happen."
"I am," the blond replied with a frown. This caught the young TURK off caught, but didn't seem to do the same for the three SOLDIER members. Her brown eyes watched as his slender fingers typed something into the computer, a map of the slums appeared on a large screen. "There seems to be an escape from the lab, Hojo's to be exact, and it seems to have gotten into the slums somehow. According to reports from the citizens, the creature is running about in the area," he paused and hit another button, red dots showing in some areas on the map. "Hojo claimed the creature was easy to capture, but when I had sent a few second classes out there, they hadn't returned."
Shurkien shivered at the thought of this creature, it wouldn't like the training sessions she had. This fiend had already claimed lives and now she was risking her own, it frightened the young TURK. She turned her gaze to the others in the room, none of them seeming fazed by the announcement but that hadn't surprised her. She was sure that they went through things like this before so one more today wouldn't mean a thing to any of them. She wished she had their courage right now, but knew to keep that thought to herself; she was a TURK, she was going to do this often, so fear was out of the question.
"It is your job to stop the attacks the only way that Hojo will allow it; damage the creature until it is able to be caught, call the collectors when you are sure that it is down." The man concluded as he hit a few more buttons on the keypad, the map disappearing much to Shuriken's dismay. "You are to take the young TURK with you and give me a full report on both the mission itself and her performance, which will be given to Verdot after wards. Understood?" Two of the three men made some sort of noise of agreement, Shuriken took notice, but the one in the blue seemed to disagree; Lazard noticed this as well. "Is there a problem, First Class SOLDIER Angeal Hewley?"
"Yes," he answered with slight concern in his voice. "Are you sure that this girl will be able to handle a mission of this status right now? She appears young and. . ."
"Excuse me, Sir." Shuriken turned quickly to the man, eyes narrowed and a frown visible on her young face. "I graduated at the top of my unit, SOLDIER. Do not doubt my abilities until you have seen them. Just because I am young and female does not mean that I cannot hold my own, I assure you, Sir, that I will not allow this mission to be marked as a failure on any of our parts."
"Not to mention," the blond added quickly, almost like he was covering up a mistake for the young TURK, "She will be with the three of you. I highly doubt that you would let anything happen to her." There was a silence for a moment, Shuriken began to progress the words spoken and realized why he spoke so quickly. She had just corrected one of the top SOLDIER members and had probably began to sound like a broken record to the blond. She felt foolish and nearly blushed, until she noticed small smiles on the faces of the warriors in the room. She felt confused until Angeal decided to speak words that she had been dying to hear since she was young.
"I like her," he said while turning. "We'll meet back here in less then twenty minutes to pick her up."
She corrected him once more, "No. We'll meet at the helicopter. It would be best that way, faster as well."
"Hm," Genesis spoke this time. "Deal, little TURK."
Shuriken felt her heart swell with pride as Sephiroth and Angeal nodded in agreement, the three heading out of the room. She turned quickly to the director, who wore a smirk of his own, and gave a swift nod. He nodded slowly in return, wishing the young woman good luck, before watching her jog out of his office and beginning down the hall. She only had one thought in mind as she snaked her way throughout the semi crowded hall. She was going to make her teammates and Verdot proud of her, she had no other choice in the matter. Her first mission or not, she was not going to fail; she was Shuriken, the orphan that no one but Shinra wanted, and she was to make all those involved swell with pride.