Disclaimer- I own nuffin.
To Make Ends Meet
"I'll be back in a while, OK Barrett?" Tifa called down the pinball machine located in her bar, 7th Heaven. She was wearing her trademark black suspenders and white T-shirt. She also had a backpack on. "What the hell? Where the %*&)( you goin? You know I got my AVALANCHE meetin' here in a sec, whose gonna watch the Bar?" said a gruff voice, sounding through the floor itself. Tifa shouted back down, "Marlene is going to take over, she can handle it and you're right downstairs anyway Barrett." and turned around, walking out the door. "Yeah...but where ya goin!?" The hole where the pinball machine was supposed to be said, as the front door closed behind Tifa.
It was cold out, the only real sign it was night in the Sector 7 Slums. Sure the sun didn't make the hugest impression on the vast metropolis of junk and mismatched buildings, but its absence after dark was still noticeable. After dark was just an expression here also, it was always light out thanks to the huge fluorescent bulbs that Shinra inc. had been nice enough to provide. It wasn't a healthy light however, more a sickly kind of glow, that made all the shabby surroundings even shabbier looking.
The dirt crunched under Tifa's boots as she quickly walked to the Sector 7 rail station. She didn't want to be seen for two reasons, one was bothersome questions, and the other was simply that a woman walking around alone at night in the Slums was a danger all in itself. Luckily she met no one, and reached the train without any sort of confrontation. The worker wearing his all red uniform didn't even give her a second glance as she boarded onto the passenger car. It was crowded and noisy inside, the essence of Slum living. Choosing a seat in the very back, she set the backpack on her lap and gazed out the window, sighing softly. She loved her Bar, but times were tough. She barely broke even before AVALANCHE started, but now that it had, money was tight. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were all friends of Barretts, but even friends expect to be paid if they risk their lives on a daily basis. Tifa closed her eyes and pressed her face against the cool glass on the train's window, letting her mind wander.
With a sudden lurch, the train started, and shook her out of her stupor. The train was mostly full of Shinra employees, guards, and soldiers. Dotted among the Shinra were a few other people, looking underfed and slightly sickly, most hadn't even bothered to wash themselves for their trip to wherever they were heading. Tifa was one of them, the most recent thing taken from her was hot, clean water. Taking a shower would probably make her dirtier, and a bath was completely out of the question. She opened her backpack, and started feeling around for her compact mirror. Her hand hit something soft, that lead to something big, round and hard that seemed to have a point on the end. She drove this object to the back of her mind for the moment, and reached in deeper to get her compact. Her hand finally closed on the round plastic exterior, and She withdrew her hand. The outside was black, and chipped in places, but upon opening it the mirror was found to be whole. She glanced absently at her face, and noticing a large smudge mark under her left eye, she licked her thumb and started trying to wipe it off. She succeeded, but the spot was slightly red after. Sighing yet again, Tifa put her compact back into her backpack and went back to staring out the window.
A loudspeaker from the back of the train, and over Tifa's head, sparked to life and the passengers fell silent. The words were fuzzy and faded in and out. "Thank You...boarding...Sector 7...15 minutes...Wall Market..." and then it clicked off, and talking resumed. Two Shinra managers were sitting in front of Tifa, and one was talking proudly to the other and Tifa leaned in a little closer to hear, "...This new security is going to change the way we travel, and make this train a hundred times safer!". "Oh yeah? and hows it going to work?" the other one asked. "Well, after months of testing and planning by yours truly, we will have a type of laser controlled checkpoint, that can check the ID of everyone on the train! we can stop criminals, both coming and going!" the first one replied. His friend however, seemed to be on a different wave length, "Think about it...if everyone in Midgar has to buy an ID card, and its 30 Gil apiece..." Tifa leaned back disgustedly. "Is that all the Shinra thought about? Money?" she thought. She sat there in silence, thinking vaguely about her Bar, AVALANCHE, Barrett, Marlene, and Wall Market. The loudspeaker crackled to life again and the conductors voice buzzed through the car. "Thank You...Shinra...Arriving...Wall Market..." The train made an abrupt stop, causing Tifa to hunch over her backpack, and then quickly bounce back, and hit her head on her seat. Steam billowed past the window for a moment, and then the train door slid open roughly.
As a whole, everyone but Tifa stood up and headed for the exit. Tifa, not in any particular hurry, let most of the people filter out before she stood up and walked out. The lights in Wall Market seemed to be somehow harsher then in Sector 7, and the dirt seemed to be deeper, so her feet sunk into it slightly. Tifa squinted out to the dirty streets, looking for a place to stay. Wall Market could be called the city of the Slums, and Don Corneo was their unofficial mayor. Every building was some sort of shop, but Don Corneo's was the biggest, and most successful. Tifa looked down to her right at the crowd of men waiting outside of a building with neon pink flashing lights. She watched them anxiously for a few minutes. They looked nervous, glancing at the building with a look of half-longing, and half- fear. A small knot in her stomach tightened at the look of them, but then she turned to the inn on her left. A man outside was yelling for customers, as though in a shouting contest with the man up the street, trying to get people to enter his Diner. "Hey, stay here lady!" he called, gesturing from Tifa to the inn. With a forced smile, she walked slowly into the inn's door.
---------------That's it for Chapter 1, Please Review! Thank You!----------- ---------
To Make Ends Meet
"I'll be back in a while, OK Barrett?" Tifa called down the pinball machine located in her bar, 7th Heaven. She was wearing her trademark black suspenders and white T-shirt. She also had a backpack on. "What the hell? Where the %*&)( you goin? You know I got my AVALANCHE meetin' here in a sec, whose gonna watch the Bar?" said a gruff voice, sounding through the floor itself. Tifa shouted back down, "Marlene is going to take over, she can handle it and you're right downstairs anyway Barrett." and turned around, walking out the door. "Yeah...but where ya goin!?" The hole where the pinball machine was supposed to be said, as the front door closed behind Tifa.
It was cold out, the only real sign it was night in the Sector 7 Slums. Sure the sun didn't make the hugest impression on the vast metropolis of junk and mismatched buildings, but its absence after dark was still noticeable. After dark was just an expression here also, it was always light out thanks to the huge fluorescent bulbs that Shinra inc. had been nice enough to provide. It wasn't a healthy light however, more a sickly kind of glow, that made all the shabby surroundings even shabbier looking.
The dirt crunched under Tifa's boots as she quickly walked to the Sector 7 rail station. She didn't want to be seen for two reasons, one was bothersome questions, and the other was simply that a woman walking around alone at night in the Slums was a danger all in itself. Luckily she met no one, and reached the train without any sort of confrontation. The worker wearing his all red uniform didn't even give her a second glance as she boarded onto the passenger car. It was crowded and noisy inside, the essence of Slum living. Choosing a seat in the very back, she set the backpack on her lap and gazed out the window, sighing softly. She loved her Bar, but times were tough. She barely broke even before AVALANCHE started, but now that it had, money was tight. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were all friends of Barretts, but even friends expect to be paid if they risk their lives on a daily basis. Tifa closed her eyes and pressed her face against the cool glass on the train's window, letting her mind wander.
With a sudden lurch, the train started, and shook her out of her stupor. The train was mostly full of Shinra employees, guards, and soldiers. Dotted among the Shinra were a few other people, looking underfed and slightly sickly, most hadn't even bothered to wash themselves for their trip to wherever they were heading. Tifa was one of them, the most recent thing taken from her was hot, clean water. Taking a shower would probably make her dirtier, and a bath was completely out of the question. She opened her backpack, and started feeling around for her compact mirror. Her hand hit something soft, that lead to something big, round and hard that seemed to have a point on the end. She drove this object to the back of her mind for the moment, and reached in deeper to get her compact. Her hand finally closed on the round plastic exterior, and She withdrew her hand. The outside was black, and chipped in places, but upon opening it the mirror was found to be whole. She glanced absently at her face, and noticing a large smudge mark under her left eye, she licked her thumb and started trying to wipe it off. She succeeded, but the spot was slightly red after. Sighing yet again, Tifa put her compact back into her backpack and went back to staring out the window.
A loudspeaker from the back of the train, and over Tifa's head, sparked to life and the passengers fell silent. The words were fuzzy and faded in and out. "Thank You...boarding...Sector 7...15 minutes...Wall Market..." and then it clicked off, and talking resumed. Two Shinra managers were sitting in front of Tifa, and one was talking proudly to the other and Tifa leaned in a little closer to hear, "...This new security is going to change the way we travel, and make this train a hundred times safer!". "Oh yeah? and hows it going to work?" the other one asked. "Well, after months of testing and planning by yours truly, we will have a type of laser controlled checkpoint, that can check the ID of everyone on the train! we can stop criminals, both coming and going!" the first one replied. His friend however, seemed to be on a different wave length, "Think about it...if everyone in Midgar has to buy an ID card, and its 30 Gil apiece..." Tifa leaned back disgustedly. "Is that all the Shinra thought about? Money?" she thought. She sat there in silence, thinking vaguely about her Bar, AVALANCHE, Barrett, Marlene, and Wall Market. The loudspeaker crackled to life again and the conductors voice buzzed through the car. "Thank You...Shinra...Arriving...Wall Market..." The train made an abrupt stop, causing Tifa to hunch over her backpack, and then quickly bounce back, and hit her head on her seat. Steam billowed past the window for a moment, and then the train door slid open roughly.
As a whole, everyone but Tifa stood up and headed for the exit. Tifa, not in any particular hurry, let most of the people filter out before she stood up and walked out. The lights in Wall Market seemed to be somehow harsher then in Sector 7, and the dirt seemed to be deeper, so her feet sunk into it slightly. Tifa squinted out to the dirty streets, looking for a place to stay. Wall Market could be called the city of the Slums, and Don Corneo was their unofficial mayor. Every building was some sort of shop, but Don Corneo's was the biggest, and most successful. Tifa looked down to her right at the crowd of men waiting outside of a building with neon pink flashing lights. She watched them anxiously for a few minutes. They looked nervous, glancing at the building with a look of half-longing, and half- fear. A small knot in her stomach tightened at the look of them, but then she turned to the inn on her left. A man outside was yelling for customers, as though in a shouting contest with the man up the street, trying to get people to enter his Diner. "Hey, stay here lady!" he called, gesturing from Tifa to the inn. With a forced smile, she walked slowly into the inn's door.
---------------That's it for Chapter 1, Please Review! Thank You!----------- ---------