Playing For Time
ooo
I can't make a convincing argument. Never been able to. Spent most of my life silent as others engaged in passionate debate, content to take action once they had sorted out their own opinions. Inconsequential and petty opinions, sure, but somehow that never stopped them from pushing their points.
It was one of the reasons I joined the army to begin with. I never needed to convince anyone of anything. The orders came, the orders were executed. Even in the black-ops, you didn't need an explanation why. The soldiers that needed that 'why' never lasted long. Reasons were for the diplomats and officials to decide, to push, to convince. Their arguments were for others like them, not grunts like soldiers. If a grunt soldier disagreed, they had to have a damn good reason to disobey, and one hell of a convincing argument made at the end of a gun. Even with one, it wasn't likely you'd enjoy the situation you found yourself in once you had made your precious point. The Midgar army was ruthless. There was a reason the surface had gained the name Hollow Bastion.
So myself, being incapable to make a convincing argument, and not really caring to either, didn't pay much attention to the discontents of others. That was their problem. Let them discuss and argue and debate amongst themselves. In the end, at least I'd still be employed and in one piece.
No one could run far.
There was tell of a man a few years back – before I'd earned my rank, or even had a reason to associate with the higher ranks – that had escaped their reach. A veritable ghost among the black-ops when he was there. Not many ever saw much of him, if the rumors are to be believed, and those that did said he completed his orders with a cold and brutal efficiency that was terrifying to behold. They said he was young, close to my age now, which was ridiculous. Not many eighteen year-olds made it that far, that fast. And they said he was younger. The rumors claimed he moved with the experience of a man more than twice that, with a shock of dark hair and eyes that glowed. If he had a name, they never knew it.
And then one day, he vanished entirely; became the ghost they whispered he always was.
I'd never thought much of the man. He was nothing more than a rumor – a paragon of the perfect soldier that never truly existed.
That is, until I received a note from my sister telling me she had found him. The sister I hadn't seen in over ten years.
Before that, I had almost forgotten I even had a family beyond the barracks. My mother had died sometime in those hazy years before memory fully registered, and my father…had disappeared even before that. I know his name was Loire. Something Loire. I know my mother had been proud to have that name. I was proud to have hers.
Ellone. Ellone had disappeared on me when I was eight. To where, I still don't know, leaving only the vague impression of a dark-haired, smiling half-sister.
The note she'd sent, through which means, or how it even found me, kept me puzzled for days before I even took the time to read it. It had been addressed to Squall, a name that I had abandoned years ago. That was the only reason I hadn't written off the cryptic message as a laughably weak prank. No one knew that name. Not here.
She had said she'd found him, that they were after her, and that she was going away again. The thought that she had come to see me after ten years of silence was strange. The thought that she would think to send me a message about a phantom she shouldn't even know, even stranger. It had told me to be careful.
I didn't know what she had meant by that. Not initially. I occurred to me later, as I was hastily packing a bag and ducking away from patrols, that the 'they' who were hounding her were the men I was working for. And that they'd eventually make the connection between her and I; it's not like I went to any trouble to hide my relations. Had I known it would turn out like this, I just might have. So she had warned me, because she knew they would come for me, if only to use me against her. Even if I had no idea where she was.
And I had almost ignored it.
She said that she was being taken by one of the rebel factions; that they would hide her and keep her safe. Not to worry about her, because she could take care of herself – had been doing so for a long time now. I had read it with a sort of detached anger. Why was she telling me this? It's not like I would race after a woman I barely remembered and demand to protect her myself. I had had a place in the world, a job to do and people who recognized me. Relied on me.
Because of that vague figment of my past, I found myself with nothing.
She'd also said a lot of rubbish about riding dragons to holy land, and wolves waiting in gardens. About ships that resembled giant swans and something about angel or faerie women. Pixies? It wasn't much, but it was all I had to go on while dodging men that until a few days ago had been my comrades.
I spent three days dodging patrols; dodging civilization in general, which was remarkably difficult in a giant city of steel. I knew I couldn't stay there though. There was only so long I could hide on the Plate before someone turned me in, and so I knew I needed a back door.
Eventually I found myself stowed away in the back of a freighter spiraling down beneath the gargantuan metal disc that made up the Bastion's floor, and the Slum's sky. Crouched between a bundle of rusted pipes and a mountain of refuse they hadn't bothered to package; just shoveled it in and shipped it underground. The Bastion's inhabitants never cared what happened to their waste, so long as it ended up out of sight. But damn, was this going to be a hard smell to wash out. To think I'd gone from a finely laundered uniform, drinking chardonnay with the General, to a battered bomber jacket jumping at the sound of a rat.
The train had barely cleared the plate when the sirens began, and I had thought for sure that they had somehow detected me. Ran an ID checkpoint at a different interval than usual, just because they knew I was on the run. They'd done it before, for others. Hell, I'd done it before. Maybe that's why they didn't. Assumed I'd have tried a different path. A smarter one.
And they hadn't. Run the ID check, that is.
The alarm, I discovered, was because the train was being hijacked. Someone was hijacking a refuse train. It seemed like the most ridiculous thing in the world just then, and because of it, my grand glorious chariot of trash that was whisking me away to some laughable form of safety, would be checked and investigated and torn apart.
The reason I knew it was being hijacked was because they decided to target my car.
I had thought, with the first exploding freight door, that it was the black-ops for certain, come to reclaim one of their own. What I hadn't expected was to be confronted by some child in a white cat-like cape swinging in from the roof. The giant yellow button eyes on her hood glared at me accusingly, as though it was my fault she had decided to take the wrong train, and she pointed some large, four-pointed metal weapon at me as she braced herself for a fight.
"I saw it first!"
What? Well that certainly wouldn't have been my first choice of words. Then again, I wasn't much the type for words of any kind, especially not to strange kids pointing…pointy things at me. "I was in it first."
Oh bravo, Leon. Antagonize your hostile stranger further, why don't you.
"Well get out."
They would be investigating soon, if they weren't already on their way back to this cart. And the train was still moving. Was she insane?
"You want me to jump from a moving train." Time was ticking. What else could I really do? It wasn't like I would last long after they caught me anyway. Didn't have much of an option on the train now anyhow.
"Tuck and roll."
It was at that moment that gunfire erupted in the connecting cart and the cat girl grabbed my arm, poised to jump. Oh God, she was going to throw me off the train. Did she even know how fast trains moved? "Look, you just ruined our maneuver with your stubbornness! You're going to explain to them why I returned empty-handed, jerk."
"I don't even know you." First she was going to throw me from a train, and then she'd hold my remains hostage?
"I'll count to two." The door from the joining car was thrown open then, and the girl had jumped in a swirl of white, pulling me after her. For a brief moment, there was the notion that I could fly. Not a very good notion, that; made you forget the eventual landing.
I was fortunate that she had chosen to jump just as the train had reached an area that broadened beyond the skeletal framework of tracks and girders. Two tracks converged here, the ground covered in a coarse layer of gravel and dirt where the metal crossed, providing some semblance of a barren, oil-slicked runway. Even clearing the train, we had enough room to react and take the impact at a roll. Should have expected it to feel like voluntarily scrubbing oneself with sandpaper. Funny that I could feel it even through the leather. I only stopped my ungainly tumble when I met the wall of the tunnel. I think I swore.
And the damn cat-girl was beside me again, hands on her hips as she waited for something. The spiked thing was stabbed into the ground beside her. When the world stopped spinning, I realized what that was.
Further down the track a trio of girls was racing towards us from where the train disappeared. They had to be her accomplices. I didn't want to explain what I didn't even understand myself. I didn't want to be poked and prodded about what I was doing on a refuse train to begin with, nor where I was headed or why. It wasn't their business anyway. That girl had just thrown me from a train, damn it.
I got to my feet then, trying not to use the wall as a crutch and began my retreat down the opposite track. I knew the layout fairly well; we'd run a few exercises down here before, and while I hadn't been one of the actual retrieval squad of the deserters, I'd seen the schematics on more than one occasion. The central pillar that held the plate was a warren of tunnels and service shafts, but they all led either up…or down. Couldn't go up. That meant only one thing.
"Hey hey!" She was back, jogging to catch up as she waved her arms wildly. "Where do you think you're off to?"
"Away." I had to completely rethink my course of action. They would send sweeps throughout the pillar. They may not have known it was me on that train; no one had seen me except this kid, and I didn't want to kill her but there was no way I could get all of us out of this alive when they found out who I was. That was my greatest problem. I didn't like killing someone without orders, and I certainly wouldn't be finding any here.
"I just saved your ass. Don't you even want to know my name?"
What did her name have to do with anything? And since when was throwing someone off a train considered saving? "Not particularly."
"It's Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi!"
Wonderful. I think I dignified that with a grunt. Stuck in a tunnel with two directions, pursuing assassins and four teenage would-be trainjackers. All because my adventuring half-sister had found herself a phantom.
"Wait!"
I think I sped up.
It was at that point the little cat girl behind bashed me in the head, and the world turned dark. Orders or not, I swore she was going to die when I came to. If I came to.
ooo
Alright, so he wasn't supposed to go down that easily. I mean, he was a big guy, or at least looked like he should've been able to stand up to a little more than a little teensy knock. Okay, okay. So I hit him a little harder than I had meant to, but he wasn't running away anymore, and that was the point, really.
Hm. He looked good in leather.
It had been a little surprising to see him in the cart – after all, no one was supposed to be there. Standard recovery mission. Grab what could be salvaged and get out before the 'authorities' came. Bad luck, them having a faster response time than usual. Yuna was probably sore over having to waste bullets.
I was supposed to return with something useful, but I think a person falls into that category somewhat. I hope. Hey, at least I'd grabbed something. Smelt bad, but at least it was something.
Even if it was a little rude.
The other Gullwings had caught up, Yuna and Rikku bent over for air, Paine trying to look like she didn't need to. I couldn't help but grin.
"What happened? We were supposed to have more time than that."
"They had men posted three cars down." Paine eyed the body behind me skeptically. "Does that make a fourth body to add to the list? We're not supposed to draw attention."
"He's not dead." I hoped he wasn't dead. I mean, yeah, he looked like he'd never jumped from a train before, and he'd hit the wall pretty hard, but he'd been good enough to get up, right? Could have him leaving though; he was a witness after all.
And I'd stolen him, so he was mine. It's not like I let my property just walk away and get lost; that would just be negligent of me.
"If he's not dead, why is he here?" Yuna and Rikku were crouched beside his body then, prodding him. Prodding my property.
"Hey hey! I found it, it's mine!" Yeah, I had no idea how I was going to get him home all unconscious-like, but I was the great ninja Yuffie! It's not like improbability had ever deterred me before.
"You're bringing him back with us?" Paine had her arms crossed now, one foot tapping in a really irritating manner. Come on, did she honestly think I was going to change my mind now? "We've got a long climb ahead of us, Yuffie, and there's no way we can get him down once we get to the top."
"Think of how much fun we could have! Rikku! I know you've been wanting to dress Cloud for ages. This one doesn't even have a bag! A chance like this isn't going to come again for, like, ever!" Not like I'd let her have this one without my supervision, but she didn't need to know that. "Yuna, he has shinies! Look!"
With a push of my foot, he had rolled over, a silver lion pendant sparkling against his black leather. Shiiiiiiny. That one was mine. I'm sure he had others that would satisfy her. If not, we'd sort it out later, but that one was mine damn it!
They considered it. I know they considered it. Paine knew they considered it.
Because they considered it, I knew I had already won.
"Paine, help me carry it."
She rolled her eyes but pulled an arm over her shoulder anyhow. Just like that.
ooo
When I came to, I can't say it was with any grand, dynamic or even vaguely poetic display. One minute I was unconscious, the next I wasn't.
But I was more than a little wet.
Well, it explained why I was awake.
Some blonde girl was a mass of braids and beads for a head was grinning demonically at me, bucket clutched in her hands.
"He's better now, see?" she said proudly, as if she had actually thought it was a good idea to bring me 'round like that. God, these pants were not meant to be worn wet. Wasn't as though I had another pair to change into either.
I was in some sort of room, leaning half against a steel wall. Small – looked like a service room of some kind, one wall slightly curving away. We were still in the Plate's support structure. I'm not sure why that disappointed me as much as it did. Perhaps I had thought that they would be able to get me into the clear and away from my pursuers, if only for a short time. I could have left the city behind; hid myself in the woods.
"Where am I?" I wanted to throttle the grinning blonde girl. I wanted to take out my anger on anything – everything that was building up from running and hiding and leaving everything behind. But I knew that leaving a trail of bodies was never the best move, and there was still the chance that I could use them as decoys. Then again, I wasn't so sure that my pursuers were beyond taking out young girls to get to me.
Whatever the case, I had to get to the ground first.
"Under the plate, in service room fifty-six." The girl with short silver hair said with practiced boredom. She wore more leather than I did, and had her arms folded, scowling to the best of her ability. I had to admit, she was pretty good at it – no where near the standards I was used to, but she had potential.
But she had said fifty-six. What had the system grids said about service rooms? Fifth room, sixth sector. No preceding number…we were inside the Plate. Inside. I needed to be on the ground. If they were searching the passages, there was no way I would be able to make my way down now. It was either go up and attempt to catch another train, or sit and wait out the eventuality of them finding me.
My head had a dull ache from where I let it fall back against the wall. I was going to die. Because some girl decided to hijack garbage. Fate's a bitch.
The wall was cold through my shirt and the capped end of a bolt was digging into my shoulder. I didn't bother to shift though, I already knew it would leave a bruise.
Wait. I had a jacket; thick leather thing with a collar of fur. They had taken my jacket! I did a quick inventory of my person. Necklace was gone, so was ring and gloves.
They must have sensed it, because they all adopted a look of innocence. In unison. Hadn't said a word, and already they were ready to deny it. Whatever, they couldn't have gotten far.
The girl in the white cloak just stood there grinning under her deep cat hood.
"You." I leveled a finger at her accusingly. Surprisingly, she was the only one who didn't move back. "Who are you and what the hell am I doing on the floor."
Her grin seemed to grow wider and she struck a pose. "I am the beautiful White Rose of Wutai!" With a flourish she had thrown away her cape, revealing a gangly girl in mismatched clothes pointing back dramatically. "Yuffie Kisaragi! And you are now mine."
"Funny." I got to my feet at that point, leveling another glare at the blonde bucket girl as a drip trickled down my nose. Bloody water. Bloody girls. "I'm leaving."
They had all tensed with my action, drawing forth weapons from wherever they had hidden them.
"What is this?" I wasn't killing them, which I should have done. I wasn't even demanding they return my possessions yet.
"I said you're mine. I stole you." Said the…Yuffie.
"You can't steal a person. You kidnap them." This girl was out of her mind. "Are you saying you're kidnapping me?"
"I was told that anything on that train that was useful should be stolen. Because of you, I didn't have time to take anything else." She responded in complete seriousness. Gods, she was serious. "Besides, a person is useful, especially pretty ones."
The silver-haired girl hit her upside the head at that, and she clumsily staggered about. The others hadn't lowered their guards though.
"You know, technically Yuffie saved your life." The girl who had been crouched voiced. Dark haired; long braid wrapped in red. Guns. "If we hadn't come along they would have found you. I can only assume you're a runaway from somewhere, probably somewhere important. Otherwise they'd have had no need for guards to be scouring a refuse train."
So they had known it was trash. That was a somewhat comforting fact. But I still didn't know where this was going.
"I could have taken care of myself." There was no way I had needed to rely on these kids. I was a soldier. I could handle myself.
"What were you planning on doing with the three squads waiting in the train yard? Forty-five trained soldiers seems like pushing it, even for one with such astounding confidence." That dry voice was the silver-hair.
"What are you planning on doing on your own anyway?" The blonde interjected.
Three squads, huh? Well…That was a little overdoing it. Avoiding one I could see as possible. Two, virtually impossible. Three? Well that would be the squad that lounged about and threw things at me when I was finally hauled back by the brutes in squads one and two.
"How do you propose to get out of this situation alive?" They could have their high and mighty attitude all they wanted; it didn't alter the fact that we would all be dead if I was found. Well, they would be dead. I'd more likely be strapped to an electroshock device and stripped of information that I didn't even have.
The girl with the guns smirked. "Answer Rikku's question, and I'll answer yours."
I didn't want to tell them anything. Not then. They had stolen from me, thrown me from a train and made my clothes…very uncomfortable. But I didn't see another option. Didn't see much of a point of hiding my intentions anyway. Not if we'd all be dead in a few hours.
"I'm searching for a man." The four of them perked up at that, no doubt filling in their own back stories and reasoning. Wasn't interested; didn't care. "My sister said she'd found him…sent me to find him too."
"What do you know about him?" Yuffie crouched, hugging her knees and she looked up at me. Seems she no longer saw me as a threat. The others seemed to agree. "We could help you find him."
"Soldier. He went AWOL a few years back. Keeps to himself." I think I must have broke. Started spewing information I would have loved to have kept hidden. If trusting these females killed me, so be it; if trusting them killed the man I was sent to find, that was another matter, wasn't it? "Ellone said something about finding holy land, and finding him."
"Well. Then we'd best make our way down then." She sprang to her feet, the silver haired girl rolling her eyes. "Rikku, Paine, Yuna, what do you think? Think he can manage the way?"
The girl with the guns moved closer, prodding me with the barrel of one of her pistols. Yuna. "Don't fall behind."
And apparently to them, the way down was an old rusted vent cover about eighty feet from the room we had been in. It looked like it hadn't been opened in decades. I stood back, arms crossed as the shortest of the girls, the blonde – Rikku? – sauntered casually over, absolutely certain and without a doubt that they had made a mistake. Well, I was pretty much resigned to being caught then anyhow. Might as well sit down and enjoy the rest of my freedom. Could take the girls and see if they could be used as an alibi –
And the girls in question were pushing me towards the vent, the cover swinging silently on its perfectly operable hinges. They must have sensed my confusion at the time to see open air beyond the steel wall rather than the continuous dark of an encased ventilation system, because Yuffie was grinning knowingly.
"Where have you been living for the past year?" The others were watching me too, gauging their own impressions. "They dropped Sector 7; it's not there anymore. Well, it's there, it's just down a couple hundred meters."
"Is this going to result in another train incident?" I could already see it coming. They would push me from the Plate and yell 'tuck and roll!' and we would end up as puddles amidst the wreckage. Girls were bat-shit insane.
"Not if you jump yourself." And Yuna had climbed into the vent, her form quickly disappearing over the edge. Rikku followed.
ooo