[ ν ] – εуλ 0001: February
Aiko Shirakawa
The treaty had been signed and peace had come to Wutai, but a few days after this event Aiko Shirakawa received a messenger from Shin-ra. A young soldier, who carried a large white envelop in their hand. Seeing this her heart plummeted as both of her Grandson worked for this company. Shan, who had just become a SOLDIER 3rd class and Tseng who become the youngest full-fledged TURK. Both had fled Wutai because of the wrath of their fathers but both had justifiable reasons for working for the company that had spent these last years trying to dominate the tiny nation of Wutai. But now, for one of them, their journey on this planet was over. Aiko could feel the sting of tears as she excepted the letter from this infantryman, who respectively bow to the older women. "My sympathies Mame." He said quietly. and stepped off her porch, turned and left.
Aiko sat on the bench that graced this tiny porch. Hands shaking, her heart pounding, she opens the letter. The words blurred before her as she read them. Shan was M.I.A. and assumed dead. His company had been ambushed and completely wiped out. Sadly they had not recovered his body. She let her head bow as hot tears flowed from her eyes.
After a while, she was able to get up and make her way to the Temple. She passed many people, but none stopped her; not even her two sons but all looked at her and wondered what had devastated this woman. For she was a pillar of strength within this community and a woman of great wisdom. A knowledge keeper and a spiritual beacon to those in times of need. But she held her head high as she walked. Her focus fixed on the temple.
She entered the temple, she began the rites of the offering. Lighting candles and incense. She goes and kneels before the statue of Leviathan. She set the letter to fire in the tiny brazer at the base of the altar. She then begins to pray for the soul of her Grandson. That he can pass on and become, once again, one with the planet.
As she prayed a voice, deep and low, spoke to her softly. "Fear not my child and grieve no more. The child of your child still lives. He is no longer what he once was but will need your strength and wisdom to become more then what he believes he has become." And then all was silent. With those words of hope; Aiko got up and returned to her home. But spoke to no one about the letter she received. Or what it had said.
[ ν ] - εγλ 0008: Early January
Tseng Shirakawa
Tseng stood there in the middle of the chaos looking around. The world had been saved! But the devastation it left behind was mind-boggling. Only the years of training and discipline let Tseng show a calm exterior. The truth was his emotions wherein complete turmoil. From the night he has spent with Rufus. To have come so close to death at the Temple of the Ancients. The suspense of watching the planet-saving itself. To finding Rufus and getting him to safety only to find out he had been kidnapped. Not knowing anything from Cloud and his party. And last but not least; not knowing where the hell his cousin was.
He had sent Shan a coded message, days before he had left for the Temple, but as of yet, he had heard nothing from him. Yes, cell and comm signals were sporadic but they hadn't gone down completely. So he kept checking his cell as the days past hoping beyond hope that this time he wouldn't have to tell their Grandmother that her other Grandson was indeed dead. The first time had been painful enough.
But all he could do was carry on with his mission and tasks as a TURK. The most important being to find the President! He had to find Rufus.
[ ν ] - εγλ 0008: Middle to end of January
Shan Akechi
He opened his eyes but it took more than a moment to focus. His head was pounding and there was a ringing in his ears as nausea rolled through his belly. For the life of him, he couldn't remember why he felt this way. It had been many years since he succumbed to normal human ailments but right now his mind was sluggish. He had feed just the day before and as far as he could tell he hadn't sustained any major injuries. So what the hell had happened.
As the world came into focus Shan realized it was sunrise and what it showed was a bleak light and everything was eerily quiet. Looking around he could see the mass amounts of destruction that lay around him. He tried to stand but was hit by a wave of dizziness that had forced him to lay back down until it subsided.
He finally managed to get himself sitting upright and pulled himself under some fallen debris to give him some cover until he was able to get his wits about him. He started to go over the events of the last few days, in his mind.
He was Shan Akechi! Formally SOLDIER 3rd Class but he was now a TURK. He had been born Shan Shirakawa; a falling out with his father made him choose to take the maiden name of his mother and seek a new life. He is also first cousins with Tseng Shirakawa; Their fathers being brothers.
He had been out on a covert mission. Gathering as much information as he could on Projects Jenova G and Jenova S. Tseng had a growing feeling of dread build with the events involving Vled and his daughter; Avalanche; Sephiroth burning down Niblehiem. SOLDIER 1st Class Zack Fair being reported K.I.A. and then the town was ordered rebuilt and repopulated by Shin-ra employees. And then to be sent on a goose chase for Hojo's missing experiments; who turned out to be Zack and a grunt known as Cloud Strife. So he sent Shan to go and uncover what truths he could find; because Tseng started to doubt the man he worked for. He doubted the truths he had been given. Yes, he would protect the 'Company' at all costs but he wasn't going to allow for his team to be blackmailed and hung out to dry for crimes they did not commit. They had already lost so many.
So Shan had spent the better part of the last year trying to verify the information they already had. Only sending in coded reports through a closed network. Receiving his orders by encrypted message. For you see; he was the unknown! Only his cousin knew he existed. Even though Shan and Tseng had been disowned by their families; A letter was sent to their Grandmother, as she was listed as Shans' 'Next of Kin'; notifying her he was M.I.A. The truth was far deeper and somewhat darker than that, and Tseng had come to his rescue. Making him a TURK and gave him the handle of Ghost. No one knew him, saw him or had any idea what he was other than a false back story for a field operative. And that is how Tseng protected his cousin for the last years of his existence.
But that was, for the most part, in the past. And it was the here and now he was concerned with. It had been only a few weeks since he had received the order to return to H.Q. So he had made his way from Niblehiem to Costa-de-Sul to Junon and then to Midgar. The whole time the large mass in the sky seemed to grow larger as it neared the planet. Everyone was whispering about the end of days. A nervous tension prevailed among the populace and Shan had been cursing whatever God saw fit to make his travel so difficult. There had also been a persistent buzz in his brain and an almost overwhelming urge to go North but he had been able to overcome it for the most part. Trying to get land transport was next to impossible and he had to stow away on the boat to Junon. But he was fortunate to get transport from Junon straight to Midgar. When he arrived in Midgar he has gone straight to the upper plate and the Shin-ra office tower. The scene that met him when he got there had him staring in disbelief; it was utter chaos. There was debris everywhere. People milling around; lost and forlorn expressions on there face. Others who looked to be trying to clear the area. But what stunned him the most was the top of the tower was gone.
He had been unaware of the attack by Weapon as he hadn't yet received anything further from Tseng. But from what Shan could see people where being evacuated as the, what he now knew to be, Meteor loomed massively in the sky right above Midgar. He hadn't seen anyone he recognized so he questioned as many people who would stop and talk to him. After what seemed like hours he had managed to piece together most of what had been happening these last few months, but as of yet, no one could say for sure where or if any of the TURKS where still around or where they might be. Shan was, for the first time in a long time, at a loss as to what to do. Cell signals where unreliable, so even though he had sent a message to his cousin, he hadn't gotten any response. So he decided to stay in the area in hopes of finding his cousin or even another TURK.
Shan had been leaning against a light post watching the flow of people who seemed to be heading to the slums. But as night fell a hush seemed to descend on those who were still milling around watching, in their minds, death fall upon them.
There came a soft wailing; as if a thousand voices cried out the single word, NO! The wind picked up and began to howl eerily into the night as strands of blueish green filaments of the Lifestream welled up out of the ground with such intense ferocity; that when it hit Shan full force in the chest, it sent him flying back into the wall of the building behind him. He managed to roll far enough out of the way as the structure crumbled so that it didn't pile on top of him. But he was hit by some of the debris; a mental beam striking him in the temple, making him see stars. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was The Life Stream shooting up into the sky; colliding with the meteor, shattering it. The subsequent fall out from impact raining down on Midgar and then a deafening silence. His last thought was 'I hope that Tseng is safe'.
A/N: I have started to go over my work with an editing program. For now, it is just basic grammar and spelling but I do hope it helps to make things easier to read. So to those who have started to follow this story, don't worry there are not too many changes. I hope you all, new and old, continue to enjoy Shans' story