-1Trio
Rude never did speak much, but you could bet the last of your Gil that if he did, it was something serious. Elena and Rude sat in one of there favourite bars in Wutai. The place had half cleared out when Rude and Elena entered. The rest left upon the arrival of the third in the trio. Reno.
"You did what!?" Rude intoned more barked.
He tossed his stool violently back and rose to his feet. The drink of the past few days was fuelling his anger, and his mouth it seemed. Reno stepped back from his friend shaking his hands at him.
"Whoa there, calm down, let me talk, yo?" Reno replied laughing.
"Calm down?" Rude continued, "You just let Cloud Strife walk away and your asking me to calm down?"
Rude picked up his half empty glass and drained it quickly. He slammed it back on the counter almost breaking it. Reno shook his head and smiled. He sat on the stool next to Elena and Rude stood on the other side of her grunting about drinks.
"Keep em' commin!" He called to the barman.
"Uh-um...sir I think you have had enough for tonight." The stuttered reply came.
Rude picked Elena's gun from the counter and pointed it at the bartenders black haired head.
"I said...keep em' commin" Rude muttered.
The bartender was shaking heavily; he muttered something about a pay rise and turned to the bottles behind him. Rude placed the gun back down on the counter and turned to face Reno once more.
Reno popped his head to the side slightly so he could see the face of Rude. He brushed down the sleeve of his jacket with the back of his right hand and began to speak.
"I found him in one of the forests our men are searching. I was on my way here when I met a team of 2nd class Soldier entering the woods; naturally I offered my services and help them look for a while."
Reno looked at the floor and kicked a small pebble that he must have dragged in with him to the bar. He could see the light mud foot prints he had left all the way to the door.
"He caught me by surprise." Reno muttered, a few seconds later he laughed it off and continued. "Wouldn't be the first time either, but any way I found him in the forest, him and all his party had abandoned ship after the meteor was destroyed. I think they tried to fool us into thinking they had died."
"He stopped me in the forest with that irritatingly long sword of his. I warned him that one call of my voice and he would be dead, even if he killed me. So he lowered his sword."
Reno spun on the stool to face the bar, he looked into the mirrored drink self on the other side and just gazed. Rude was getting agitated, he downed another glass of alcohol and slammed it on the counter again. This time the glass smashed, a fact Rude seemed to ignore.
"So what? You just let him walk off, just like that?" Rude boomed and paced back and forth. He squint his eyes as the drink made his head swim.
"Rude, sit down, you've had too much to drink." Elena reach out and touched Rudes arm, the bald Turk tugged his arm back and glared at Reno.
"Well? Answer." He barked.
Reno looked over at Rude, both men wearing the dark blue suits of the Turks, both men friends.
"He saved our life, on more the one occasion" Reno could see the look off anger in Rude's eyes, even through his sunglasses, "I returned the favour. But made sure he knew it was once." He finished and leaned on the bar.
"You're a Shin-Ra employee Reno! He tried to kill Rufus! You failed to do your job!" Rude burst storming towards Reno then stopping. He stepped back trying to control his temper, "You're a Turk above all else, how could you let him go!"
Reno was by now sick of Rudes criticism. He jumped to his feet and pointed at Rude,
"We owe him our lives!"
Reno lowered his hand, he knew what his job entailed he knew who the enemy was. Reno was a man of honour and glory, but even he had to give credit where credit was due.
"He stopped Sephiroth, Rude. No one here would even be alive if he hadn't, even if his pesky little friends hadn't! We owe them all our lives. Or we did. Thanks to me we are even. I let him go so we had no debt to him anymore!" Reno turned his back on Rude. "Shin-Ra failed to stop Sephiroth, Rude, we failed. But they did it, they took him out. I couldn't have done my job if I knew I owed them anything. How can you fight someone you owe your life?"
"We owe them nothing!" Rude barked and swung his arm across the bar, glasses fell to the floor and smashed and alcohol poured onto the floor. "...we owe them nothing" he muttered.
"You think I like admitting this Rude? You think I liked having to let him go? After everything he has done? He put me in hospital, he put me out of action. But he did save our lives." Reno said lowering his head to the ground; he wanted to leave for a while.
He wanted to feel more like the Reno he used to be, the hard ass Turk, but after the events of Meteor, how could anyone be unaffected.
"You're a coward" Rude muttered standing straight from the bar and facing Reno from behind. "That's it. You cracked, face to face with him on your own you cracked, you sold us out let him go for your own life" Rude continued.
A sick sort of laughter laced his voice. The alcohol mixed with the stress of the past few days was having an incredible effect on him. Reno spun quickly to face his friend, Elena stepping up from the stool to get between the two me.
"What did you say?" Reno growled.
"I said...you're a coward, you cracked and you sold us out." Rude smiled cruelly and reached over to the bar, he lifted Elena's gun before she could stop him and pointed it at Reno.
The Turk ran his hand through his fiery red hair and shook his head, he felt totally betrayed. Rude was letting the alcohol speak; he was ruining a friendship that had been there for years.
"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice was full of pain the words where only half spoken, almost as if to himself.
"What does it look like Reno? Turk policy, take out the traitor." He said pulled back the hammer.
Reno flew forward, Elena barred his way. He collided with her and she wrapped her arms around him stopping him from moving. Rude laughed and waved the gun about. His eyes where glazed he didn't seem to care that Reno had been his friend for years.
"Traitor!?" Reno screamed, "Traitor!? I fought with you, damn it! I was there, side by side when we fought them; I took the brunt it of it remember! You're calling me traitor. I gave the Turks back their respect!"
Reno stepped back and broke free from Elena's grasp. He placed his hand behind his back, and stood fingering at his belt.
"You gave us back our respect? Did you? Then you can die for it too." Rude growled, anger seemed to flood through him, "Friend!" He spat.
Reno rushed forward as Rude brought the gun to face him, he spun reaching at his belt and flicking out his electroprod as Rude fired a shot that missed and smashed the glass around the bar door.
Reno followed through with his attack jarring the prod into the neck of his long time friend. He stopped, pushed Rude all the way to the ground with the prod at his neck. His heart almost failed as he watched him fall unconscious.
"I'm going to pay for this when he's sober," Reno whispered.