A flash of steel. A slow sweep of metal passing through the air. Silver hair slowly fluttering in conjunction to the graceful back. Swish. One step forward, halt, slash. Swish. A slight breeze flowed from the air as it was cut through by the heavy blade. Slowly he gained speed. One step forward… the pattern grew more complicated, more focused at each reiteration.

It was so well choreographed it almost seemed as if it had always been this way, with no beginning, no end, just eternal movement. One step forward, Sidestep, pull back, cross slash, reverse pull back, halt, parry, thrust, reverse sidestep, repeat. The movements became faster and where the original pattern was slow and calming the adaptation held a slightly more urgent lilt. One step forward, Sidestep, pull back, cross slash, reverse pull back, halt, thrust, parry, reverse slash, thrust, reverse sidestep, repeat! Faster and faster still 'til only a black and silver blur was to be seen. Only the hiss of steel and muted rustle of leather betrayed the fact that it was not some shadow flitting about the room. Moving at an inhuman speed, he looked almost peaceful. Faster yet still he went in a manner that would almost seem frantic if not for the feeling of absolute control emanating from him. Each cut, had there been a target would have without a doubt hit the mark each and every time. Sidestep, pull back…

'Knock knock knock'

He froze mid step only the slightly heavy breathing betraying his earlier exploits.

"Enter." His deep baritone drawled out. Though there was nothing threatening about his words the way it was said gave it an almost murderous tint. The small, at least to him grunt slipped in quickly with his head bowed.

"Well?" he drawled, already hating this boy who dared to interrupt him "what do you want?".

"u..um… General..Sir…"

Thunk!

The whimpering grunt looked up sharply. He stared eye level at the hilt of the great Masamune Quivering before him. About a foot of it was buried in the floor

"Oh G..Gaea…" the youth visibly shook.

"This shall be the last time I ask boy. What. Do. You. Want." The man known as the General asked his deep baritone almost like the purr of some great jungle beast, though at this moment it was closer to that of a growl.

"L..L-Letter..su..sir" the cringing grunt held out a single envelope. The General took it from him. He looked back the youth's face, he was half tempted to say 'Boo' just to see if the boy would wet himself and chuckled at the thought, his face remainig haughty and cold as he did. The grunt, hearing General Sephiroth laugh decided it was time to go and all but flew from the general's office.

"now then…" General Sephiroth said almost in a sigh, as he looked over the small, clean, white paper, "I suppose this must be Shinra's, it's not bloody or coverd in questionable…substances." His nose wrinkled at the thought of the last note Haishin Hojo sent him. He almost felt like shivering but instead he just stalked over to his desk for a letter opener. This week had been bad from the start and any thing from Aylin Shinra wouldn't make things better. After he had located his opener(not that his desk was anything but immaculate), he opened the letter;

General Sephiroth, it started, as you already know lately there have been some disturbances in the Nibelheim area, there have been rumors….

"Gaia above" he said rolling his eyes "it's busy work" he started skipping down towards the end of the letter, skimming through the important parts

The native monster population is growing…

…due to a fault in the reactor located there…

… this is most likely just mindless gossip but in the off chance that there truly is a problem with the reactor...

…will take three days if you leave tonight…

…see that the problem is fixed posthaste. This letter is of the utmost importance if you choose to go you will be working with lieutenant Zachary Knightblade and two rookie troops please send word if you are willing, the transport leaves at 7:00.

Sincerely

President Aylin Shinra

"tch," clucked Sephiroth distastefully crumpling up the letter and aiming for the trash, he shot the wad of paper "like I would ever…."

Knockknockknock

Sephiroth stopped at the sound of someone rapping at his door. He straightened up and glanced over at the waste bin, he had missed.

"Enter." He scowled slightly. A tall, and rather young dark haired lab assistant with a slight twitch and a noticeable chunk of fabric missing from the bottom of his coat slipped quietly in. "What does Hojo want now?" he asked the young man with distain. "the professor has sent me to tell you that tomorrow you are to report to the labs… he wants to test…" the young man not having been deterred by the tone of the general's voice now looked away "…the professor wants to test a theory about the speed of pure mako through the body when taken orally…"

Sephiroth grimaced inwardly. "What time?"

"Tomorrow, first thing." The youth then turned and exited the way he came.

The general stared after him, the grimace manifesting onto his smooth face. He turned away from the door a headache starting to form, as he did he noticed the crumpled paper next to the waste-bin. 7:00. The clock over the door read 5:48….

Sephiroth smiled, his headache receding almost as quickly as it came. "I think," he said to himself "maybe this week won't be so bad after all."