Disclaimer: I in no way own FinalFantasyVII-CrisisCore. All rights belong to SquareEnix. I suppose I should also mention that this is a re-upload of this story. This used to be on my old account under the username Tawariel Elendil. I didn't steal it, I promise! I just moved to this account and moved my stories over here with me for simplicity's sake :)
Rating: T for mild cussing, some possible bloody battle sections, and because I am too much of a scaredy cat to rate it K+
Summary: When I signed up to join SOLDIER, I didn't realize what all I had invited into my life - I didn't realize just how heavy the weight of such a large commitment could be. With a poetry freak as my Commander, a squad who can't keep their mouths shut, and a thin thread of patience, it's a wonder that I'm still sane. Or, am I? Male OC is main character/set four years before Crisis Core
A/N: Greetings, reader. I welcome you to the beginnings of my story. As always, all favorites, follows, and reviews are and will be greatly appreciated. Even if it's criticism, I still like getting your feedback because critique is what helps me to grow as an author. And isn't that what FanFiction is all about - growing as an author and having fun writing about your favorite fandoms.
Thank you for taking the time to read!
(^_^)
That Third Class SOLDIER
Chapter One: We're all SOLDIER Wanna Be's
Written by: Okami of Shinobi Saru Corp
Jump, squat, jump, squat, jump, squat – sprint forwards, run backwards – repeat process.
My face dripped with sweat, my body pulsated with pain, and my lungs screamed in agony. I was exhausted, flopping across the field like a dying fish while calculating my approaching fate. What if I don't make it? What if I collapse right here and now?
What if I die?
At any moment my heart could stop beating and, with the way my chest was hurting, that moment felt like it was fast approaching. Lifting my head for a sign of hope, I glanced up at my Commander.
Nothing.
Commander Mike made no sign of calling off the exercise, further sealing my demise and plunging me into a deeper level of misery. This torture - this unceasing trauma - just never seemed to end.
Abruptly shattering my mental drama, my Commander barked out the orders for the next drill. Almost instantly, my squad and I stopped to catch our breath before collectively moaning in despair. Our first drill was over and it was now on to what we lovingly called 'The Sprints of Suicide'.
The drill itself was simple – you sprint to the end of the fifty yard field, you sprint back – but it was the never-ending repetition of it that quickly became difficult. Without stopping, we got to repeat this simple yet excruciating process of running turning, and more wondrous running. Needless to say, it wasn't long before I felt the urge to keel over and beg for mercy.
Trying to ignore the overwhelming sense of nausea that had settled in my stomach, I focused my mind on the basics of survival: breathing. Mentally I repeated the monotone motions (breathe in - step – breathe out – step – breath in – step – breath out) before my line of thought unexpectedly stopped as my head plunged towards the ground. And collided with it.
I groaned, slowly lifting my head and spitting out the chunks of mud that had gotten into my mouth. As to be expected, my legs had given out on me. I didn't dare move, partially out of exhaustion and partially out of a bizarre hope that I would somehow merge with the earth and disappear from the minds of those around me. A highly unlikely scenario, though not entirely impossible...
Taking advantage of the much-needed break, I proceeded to gulp down as much precious air as I could while relaxing in the coolness of the mud. I could feel my body temperature lowering as a soothing sensation calmed my upset stomach and eased my pounding headache. Inwardly I hoped – no – prayed that I could just lie there forever, but as I should have expected, my tyrannical Commander soon screamed my name. My ears nearly exploded at the sound.
"GAVIN!"
I closed my eyes, wishing that my mind would just shut down and take me out of this dreadful drill. Why did I ever throw away my ability to sleep in for something as insane as this? Was I crazy? Stupid? Out of my mind?
"Get up!"
A strong hand grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me up to my feet. Blood rushed up to my head, making me feel light-headed and causing that horrid, nauseating feeling in my stomach to return. Yeah, I was definitely out of my mind.
"Now, if you wouldn't mind..." Commander Mike nonchalantly motioned for me to continue running.
In a strained obedience, I resumed the drill, my legs threatening to buckle at every step. Sadly, it wasn't until another long, dreadful, fifteen minutes had gone by before my Commander finally called the afternoon training session to a close and sent everyone off to the showers. After pushing my way through hundreds of other sweaty trainees down the all too narrow hallways, I walked into the shower hall. Immediately upon my entrance I was greeted by a rush of hot steam, body odor, and Yu, a member of my training squad.
"Hey Gavin," the boy began, "Are you okay? You took a pretty nasty fall out there. You didn't break anything, did you?"
I smiled slightly. During my first week of training, Yu had quickly become my favorite out of all my fellow squad members. Despite the circumstances, he always seemed to be grinning, and he never failed to express his for concern for others. A stark contrast to the dreary, bland SOLDIERs that would occasionally walk by.
"I'm fine," I simply replied. "Thanks, Yu."
"Gavin!" A hand suddenly grasped my right shoulder and whipped me around. On recognizing the face before me, I grimaced. It was Daiki – my squad's main source of complaints – and one glance at his muddied white hair told me the reason for the angry expression on the teen's face.
"What is wrong with you?" the prima donna spat. "You almost made me restart all the drills from the beginning with that falling stunt of yours! Don't you have any concern for me and my cleanliness? It rained yesterday making it freakin' dirty outside, and yet here you are, trying to create more work for me!"
I sighed as I rubbed the teen's spit off of my face. For all his talk of cleanliness, Daiki had a knack for slinging his saliva all over the place when he talked. It's a nasty habit if you ask me, but expecting proper manners from my squad is like expecting your younger sibling to save some dessert for you. It just doesn't happen.
Though, the brat was right in thinking that we might have had to restart the drill. It wasn't, after all, uncommon for our Commander to make everyone pay the price for one's mistake. He had said that was the logic of the battlefield – when one person slipped up, the whole army would experience the after effects of his mistake. We were very lucky that our Commander had been in a gracious mood this afternoon or else we'd still be outside, running our exhausted tails off.
"Hey Daiki, calm down okay? Everyone is tired and needs some peace for a change."
I glanced over my shoulder to find Lance, the one who had spoken, brushing his dark red hair in front of a long mirror. He was one of the more agreeable members of my squad, though since everyone else consisted of complainers, slackers, and quite a few arrogant jerks, that wasn't really saying much.
"Just shut the hell up!" Daiki spat (again) before stomping off towards the back of the shower room. He was probably going to search for his hair brush or thousand dollar bottle of shampoo. Speaking of, I was half tempted to take some of his stuff and sell it for a nice profit. I mean, if he was going to be joining SOLDIER one day he wouldn't need such nice stuff and accidentally losing some of his possessions might wipe that snub expression off his face. Something which I would be highly grateful for.
I smirked, and in the mirror's reflection I caught Lance rolling his eyes at the brat's antics before averting his gaze towards me. "Hey, aren't you gonna take a shower Gavin?"
I shook my head, partially as a response and partially because I was taken aback by his question. Before signing up for military training I had never walked into a public shower hall before, much less used one. I usually just took a peaceful shower by myself, in a room by myself. It just seemed awkward, taking a shower where any and everyone could just poke their head in and freak the living crap out of you. I figured that I could last at least one more day without washing myself. Though, I'd have to take one soon or else I'd begin to stink like a sick rat.
"You sure?" Lance asked while applying some gel to his hair. "I don't think I've seen you take a shower yet since we all got here."
"Yeah, well…"
"Well what?"
I shifted my eyes to one side of the room, desperately searching my mind for a reasonable excuse. I wasn't too keen on telling everyone that I thought taking showers in a room full of people was awkward. My squad already had this horrible habit of making fun of me at every available opportunity, and I for one wished to refrain from giving them any incentive to continue; however, coming up with a 'tease free' excuse seemed close to impossible.
"Umm Gavin, did you hear what I said?"
My body jolted at Lance's voice. "I heard you. I just, um... like being dirty."
I could have slapped myself. Was that really what I had just said?
Everyone promptly turned around and stared at me.
Apparently so.
"Oh ho ho! So you are that kinda guy eh?" Sai, who obviously hadn't heard the full conversation, exclaimed. My obnoxious squad mate sat down next to me, his smile lengthening like the stretching of a piece of string. He was obviously thrilled that he had yet another thing to hold over my head. The insufferable cur.
"Don't be shy about it kiddo! It's not like being a bit dirty at times isn't normal or anything!"
Disgusted, I pulled away from Sai's grasp and headed for the door. I wasn't one to waste my time with such petty bantering. And anyways, the stench of sweat and body odor had begun to suffocate me, giving me even more motivation to leave the dreadful place.
"Yo, where ya goin'?" Sai taunted the moment he saw me head towards the door. "You're not embarrassed, are ya?"
I rolled my eyes. "Quite the contrary, I assure you."
Ignoring whatever comments Sai had decided to spit back at me, I took a step towards the door when my head bumped into something. A bit stunned, I stupidly blinked a few times before I came to the horrid realization that the something I had run into was actually a someone.
Nervously I gulped. I didn't even have to look up to know whose personal space I had just trespassed on. He just had that aura about him – an atmosphere that screamed 'watch out or you will die you filthy commoner!'. Deep down in my soul I could feel his black, empty orbs glaring at me, attempting to tear apart my very mind with their gaze. Inwardly I began to beg to the Goddess for forgiveness, pleading that my pitiful little life might be spared from this fearsome monstrosity known as Quincy Davison.
Breaking the short-lived tension, Quincy placidly stated, "Watch where you are going, please," before opening the door and allowing me to leave the shower hall.
Without a moment's hesitation I shuffled out of the room, rejoicing the instant the door shut behind me. Even though I knew Quincy wouldn't hear me, I squeaked out a weak 'Thanks!', my hands fidgeting in front of me as if I were some mewling quim.
His pleasantries didn't fool me. Despite his polite behavior, I knew that deep down Quincy was a sadistic freak who delighted in nothing expect the mental torture of his fellow squad members. It was even a well-known fact amongst the other trainees that talking to the bizarre teen would result in your immediate death; or at the very least, the permanent loss of your sanity.
Shaking off the icy chill that had settled on my skin, I sluggishly walked over to a bench and sat down. I smiled once I realized that I was alone, and even more importantly, that it was quiet. A very rare phenomenon here at ShinRa's Headquarters.
For reasons that I now question, I - three months prior to the current date - blindly signed myself up for one of ShinRa's training programs after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper for ShinRa's new, elite military group. Hence where I am now; at said military organization and about to complete my first week of misery as a member of one of SOLDIER's newest training squads.
Initially, I thought that the training would be relatively easy. Of course, that was before my enrollment when all I had noticed in the advertisements were the nice pay check and the comfort level of the lower level SOLDIERs. Hard work and dedication hadn't even entered my mind and, after the first training session, my fantasy of quickly entering SOLDIER had been brutally proven wrong. In fact, the idea of just quitting was sounding more and more enticing...
My attention abruptly snapped out of my thoughts and refocused on a nearby clock. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes in order to read the time: 4:20 PM.
I cocked an eyebrow. When did it get to be so late? Had I really spent that much time in the showers?
Quickly I got up and began to make my way down the hall. In an attempt to shake off some of my tiredness, I lazily stretched out my arms out and exhaled deeply, when suddenly, I stopped. Thinking that I heard someone say my name, I stood still, focusing my attention on the faint noises coming from behind me.
"Gavin...hey, Gavin, wait up..."
My mind clicked into action: Voice - puberty stricken and rather high-pitched. Footsteps - light, though obviously dragging. Sound - behind me, someone from the shower room perhaps?
I took a moment to ponder the information before coming to a conclusion.
Yu.
He was, after all, one of the younger members of my squad and was thus still going through the trauma that those young, teen years so often bring. He also had a small stature, which would explain the lightness of the footsteps.
Noticing that the steps were much closer than before, I spun around to find that my assumptions had indeed been correct. Perhaps I wasn't good at running sprints or going through agility drills, but I was good at – or, at the very least, I enjoyed – tying together details and coming to an accurate conclusion. Call it a hobby of mine; a nice, harmless way of passing the time when nothing else proved interesting.
Groggily I raised my hand to greet the boy and Yu grinned widely in reply.
"Hey!" The small boy panted a few times before continuing, "I was sent to tell you that Commander Mike wants us in the meeting room on the forty-ninth floor. I've already told the other guys back in the shower room, so we better get going."
I nodded. Then the realization suddenly slapped me across the face. "Wait, the forty-ninth floor? Why are we going up there?"
"I don't know," Yu replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I wasn't told that information."
Nothing more was said between the two of us as we made our way to the meeting room. While we walked my mind raced from reason to reason, pondering over why we had been summoned to that floor. The forty-ninth floor was for SOLDIER use only and trainees like myself were usually not allowed. From what I remembered from my first day at ShinRa, that floor had a certain prestige to it – a thick atmosphere that made SOLDIER seem like an untouchable entity. Needless to say, it wasn't a very welcoming place, and the strange looks we received upon entering only increased the feeling that we didn't belong there.
After shuffling our way past the various, looming officers and other SOLIDER members that dotted the lobby, Yu and I reached the meeting room. Without wasting a moment we slipped into the back of the room behind the other members of our squad and sat down.
Once he was sure everyone had arrived, Commander Mike began, "First off, all training sessions within the simulation rooms have been cancelled due to some calamity involving mishandled Materia. No one was hurt but some of the training rooms have been slightly damaged due to the mishap. Now, I also want to inform you about who will be leading your training sessions for the next week. I am taking some time off and therefore someone else will be filling in for me."
Our Commander took a deep breath before continuing in a slightly annoyed tone, "Usually, I'd get one of the other Firsts to fill in for me, but seeing as they are all busy, my replacement will be a Second."
As if that was his cue, a young man sauntered into the room, looking down at us with a pair of abnormally bright, blue eyes. With a sweep of his crimson clad arm the man - no, teen - smoothly announced, "Greetings, I am Second Class SOLDIER Genesis Rhapsodos, but you can call me Commander Rhapsodos."
Amused at the teen's flamboyant show of arrogance, I lifted an eyebrow, suddenly realizing the reason for Commander Mike's irritation. This Commander Rhapsodos seemed to possess an ego the size of half the universe. Even the glint in his eyes seemed to enforce the fact the he, the Great Genesis Rhapsodos, was in SOLDIER while we, the inferior wimpy ones, were just the SOLDIER wanna be's.
Scoffing, I happened to catch a glimpse of Yu out of the corner of my eye. The small boy's gaze was fixed on Genesis; he looked like he was gazing into the eyes of some mythical angel sent by the Goddess herself and not some egotistical prick.
Seeing the looks of admiration painted on my squad's faces, the red-head smirked. "Since your commander will be out for the next week I will be filling in for him until he returns." Genesis's voice then took on a terrifying level of severity as he continued, "If you thought your current drills were harsh then I suggest that you start packing because what you are about to experience this week will be a whole new level of hell. Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, pride is lost, wings stripped away, the end is nigh..."
For the first time that week my entire squad fell deathly silent. Not one of them uttered a word. No one even dared to twitch. Commander Mike even looked a little disheveled as he slipped out of the meeting room.
"I'll see you all tomorrow," Rhapsodos announced. "Sleep well."
I bit my lip – which, to my surprise, was trembling a bit – as Mr. Crimson grinned like an insane madman. On our way out of the meeting room, my squad and I glanced around at each other, each of us having only one thought that plagued our minds.
We were doomed – utterly and completely doomed.
Edited 03-09-14: Because writing is like sweeping. You think you got it all until you look back, realizing you missed a lot more than you first thought!
