Prologue
A young woman, just barely eighteen, stood in the middle of her bedroom. It was scarred with the blackness of a past fire. Everything had been pretty much damaged to the point of no return. A long, exhausted sigh escaped from the girl's mouth. She reached into the pack on her back and pulled out a pair of scissors. She cut her long hair to a short 'mullet' style. She had already dyed it, a rusty, red-orange, so that wouldn't be an issue. It was short in the front, the bangs just above her eyebrows, and lengthened to several inches below the nape of her neck. She took the hair and threw the strands onto the ground.
"I guess this is all I'll give in return for your generosity, guys."
Her Mom and Dad had died in the fire a few days ago. She was on her way home from school when she saw the plumes of smoke. They were the last of her relatives, her entire family was no longer in existence. Her family...gone. Her only friend...missing from the town. The only person she still has alive, was herself.
Just who is this person in question. This is Britannie Ryuujin. A soon-to-be eighteen-year-old with a troubled past. What will she do know with her life? Will she stay or will she leave?
Britannie repositioned her pack of newly-bought clothes and left. She had heard rumors of SOLDIER gathering recruits in the town twenty miles to the South. Nibleheim. The only problem: SOLDIER did not agree with woman being allowed to join. But was that going to stop Britannie. Hell, no! What...did she throw away her hair for no apparent reason? Besides, it's not like she even had a chest. Anyone could take her for a guy for having such a small chest. All she really needed were some bandages in case of emergency. This way, there'll be no signs, unless someone lifted her shirt all-the-way. She walked up to the bus stop in front of the marketplace.
An old-time bus stopped by several hours later. The doors opened to a young boy with a strange hair style. He wore a loose, white shirt and faded-green jeans that hung loosely on his hips. A medium-sized pack slung over his left shoulder. The bus driver motioned for the boy to come on-board.
"Where to, kid?"
The boy refrained from jumping on the man for insulting him. COME ON! FIVE-FOOT? Seriously? The 'boy' shook his head and said, "Nibleheim." With that, he walked to the back of the bus and sat down next to the window. To his right, sat a tall brunette.
"I take it you're going to join SOLDIER?"
He looked at the brunette and nodded. The guy grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck. Heard that SOLDIER is getting a bit harsh these days."
"Hmph," the 'boy' finally made a sound. "It's not like it'll stop me from joining."
"Ha, what a punk," the brunette shook his head. "So what's yer name, Shorty?"
'Shorty' turned and gave the brunette a full-on glare that showed intended murder. The taller boy instantly brought up his hands in self-defense that moment her heard the warning growl.
"Whoa. Easy there. No need to hiss at me," he chuckled.
"My name's not 'Shorty'. Alright," he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "It's Brett. Brett 'neil Ryuujin."
"Cool it, dude," the brunette brought out his hand for a shake. "I'm Tidal Nelson."
Brett shrugged and shook hands. He let off a faint smirk and gazed out the window. They were just now leaving town. I wonder how things will be now, Brett thought to himself. I just hope this plan'll work.
"So, are you joining SOLDIER," Brett asked in a somewhat manly voice.
"Na, I already jumped at the chance to be a motor mechanic," Tidal shook his messy-brown hair. "Besides, SOLDIER's not quite my sort of interest."
Brett glanced at Tidal and nodded his head. He closed his eyes and awaited the bus ride to Nibleheim.
~Somewhere at Nibleheim~
"I'll see ya around some time, Brett," Tidal yelled from the opened window.
Brett waved back as the bus started off towards the Southwest. He turned and headed in the direction of the Recruitment Stands. It wasn't that hard to find. Just follow the crazed guys filing up in front of the huge "SOLDIER RECRUITMENT" sign. Brett shook her head, sending red and black hair flying all-over her face. She grimaced as she got closer to the lines. All of the men here were definitely taller than her. The shortest one was even a whole-head above her one. Her body jolted to the side as three guys pushed passed him.
"Watch it, kid? Or you'll get in the way."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING KID, YOU POMPOUS JACKASS?"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, SHRIMP?"
"I said jackass."
"Pipsqueak."
Brett had had enough of being harassed. He kicked one in the gut and grabbed the other two by their shirt collars.
"SHRIMP, SHRIMP? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE," Brett spun the boys in circles. "TELL ME. CAN A SHRIMP DO THIS, HUH? BET YOU CAN'T SAY MUCH WHEN YOU'RE GETTING YOUR ASSES KICKED BY SOMEONE HALF YOUR SIZE!"
Brett was too into the fight that he failed to notice the pair of brown, cowboy boots walking up to him. Only when the person coughed did Brett turned his attention to the said person. Before him stood a six-foot-five-tall SOLDIER with a red trench coat and messy, silver hair. Silver whiskers formed on his chin. Sienna-red eyes met the glowing ice-blue eyes of a First-Class SOLDIER.
"Bit of a strange time to be picking a fight," he gave the five boys a cocky grin.
Brett growled and let go of the present strangling he was performing on one unlucky culprit. The SOLDIER laughed and put a hand on Brett's shoulder.
"For one of your size, you sure can put up one hell of a fight," he chuckled, despite the glare he was receiving. "Alright, you boys, if you want in on SOLDIER then get a move on."
Brett walked over to his bag and walked to one of the less-occupied booths. As soon as he got to the table, he signed in and waited by the benches.
Dante watched the kid walk over to the booths. He crossed his arms, chuckling at the previous scene. Three giants being taken on by a midget. A MIDGET! It was rather entertaining.
"Quite the one, isn't he, babe?"
Dante turned to his partner, only to be greeted by a pair of boots. He was flung several yards into a box of crates. A pair of boot-prints shown nicely on his pale skin. One over each blue eye. Dante only grinned at the arrival of his friend/partner-in-crime. A young SOLDIER, no older than twenty, sat down on one of the crates. A long, black jacket flowed over the side of the crate. Twin rapiers were strapped to the back. Their white-and-gold blades glistening in the sun. The woman gazed out of the cadets.
"Must you be a stubborn ass," she glared down at Dante from under her auburn hair. "And what did I say about calling me 'babe'?"
"Oh, come now," Dante now brushing off the invisible dirt off his trench coat. "You know you love being called that."
He was, yet again, greeted by a forceful kick. This time to the side of his torso, giving him a snapped rib. Ouch, that will bruise in the morning.
"Shut up, or you'll get my foot up your ass next time."
"I think I'd like that, Amalia," Dante gave her a cocky, 'sexy' grin.
Amalia slowly turned her head at the silver-haired pervert. Murder flashed in her jade-colored eyes. Dante gulped and turned around, stretching his arms. Amalia turned her attention back to the future SOLDIERs, Of all the possible partners, it had to be HIM that I'm stuck with.
"However, I would have to agree on what you said before," Amalia gazed out at the cadets, who were now lining to board the train. "That kid is rather interesting. What's his name?"
"Dunno," Dante yawned. "Never asked him. Why? You gotta a crush on him?"
"In your dreams," Amalia jumped down from the crate. "I'll just check the list when we get back from our mission."
Amalia glared at Dante. She grimaced when she caught him staring at some store lady's ass. She smacked him up-side the head, earning a groan.
"Get your ass up," Amalia growled. "We still have to finish the mission that Director Lazard gave us."
"Do we have to?"
"...Yes. Now, MOVE IT BEFORE I WET TSUKI NO OOKAMI ON YOU!"
"Agh. Okay, okay," Dante ran away from the flaming demon that was called his partner. "Just don't kill me."
Brett, being the anti-social kid she was, took the far back row of seats. Away from the other cadets, most of which obviously wanted to kill him. She sighed and threw her bag onto the overhang above her seat. She plopped down and twisted his body around to stretch his legs across the seat. He put on his sunglasses and leaned his head back, against the window. There was a knock not even a minute later. Looking up, Brett saw a head full of hair. Blonde hair that resembled the tail feathers of a Chocobo.
"Um," the blonde mumbled nervously. "Mind if I join you? All the other seats are taken."
"Sure," Brett was unsure of herself. "Go right on ahead, um..."
The Chocobo-head put his bag on the overhang above the other seat. He sat down and lifted his hand for a shake.
"Cloud Strife."
"Brett Ryuujin," Brett returned the gesture.
"So, um. You joining SOLDIER?"
"Yep," she crossed her arms behind his head. "You?"
Cloud nodded his head. His hair bobbing up and down. Brett had to cough to cover the snicker coming up. She could feel Cloud gazing at her, well, 'him'. It was rather nerve-racking.
"Yes?" Brett raised an eyebrow.
"S-Sorry," Cloud turned to the window. "Say, weren't you the one who started that fight earlier?"
"Correction, it was those stubborn dumb asses who started. I was only protecting my pride."
"It's cool how you took all of them on. I mean,you're not exactly the tallest out the recruits here," Cloud saw the 'softened' glare. "I'm not saying it as an insult or anything."
"Hmph," Brett quickly hid the small smirk that twitched at her lips. "None taken. At least, you don't seem to be willing to piss me off."
"Y-Yeah. I saw what you did to those guys. Wow."
Brett chuckled. Both she and Cloud spoke every so often on the train ride. It wasn't going to be for a good several days, five in the least, before they reach the outskirts of Midgar. There was where the SOLDIER Headquarters was. It was there that 'Brett' was going to give her all and become a SOLDIER. She leaned back on the bench and fell asleep for the night.