A/N: 'Tis the second chapter! I got this out quicker than I thought I would, and it's also pretty long! I did the whole thing in one day, because there's been too much snow for me to go to school. There's not a lot of stuff happening in this chapter, just a lot of information.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2
Strange dreams about dark alleyways and people chasing him weren't very conductive of a good night's sleep, Rude decided as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Despite his blurry eyes, he looked at his watch, and could just make out that the time was just past 6:30 am. He didn't have any form of clock in the room, so it took the bald Turk a few moments to work out what had woke him up. His question was answered however when he heard a loud ringing noise coming from the next room.
Sighing slightly, Rude slipped out from under his covers and made his way to his partner's room. He pushed open the door and stepped over to the bed, on which his partners PHS lay, ringing obnoxiously. Rude ran a hand over his head and stepped over to look briefly at the screen. He didn't want to pry in his partner's business, so he just pressed the cancel button and left it at that. Without the loud ringing, the house was strangely quiet, but Rude ignored it as he went back into his room to get dressed.
By the time he was washed and dressed, Rude made the time at 6:45. He made his way into the kitchen to see what food was already in, and opened a cupboard grudgingly. Upon searching the kitchen, there didn't seem to be much there. He wondered vaguely whether his partner just didn't eat much, or if he just lived on take-outs or something. Not that there was much to chose from, the bald Turk settled on toast, just to be safe.
By the time Rude left his apartment is was exactly 7 minutes to 7. He would've preferred to be early to meet Commander Veld, but he guessed at least he would be there on time, which is better than being late. He left his apartment, locking the door behind him, and began to make his way back towards the Shin-Ra building.
Upon entering headquarters, the building seemed strangely empty. He wasn't sure what time any other regular employees of Shin-Ra started work, but he cast his thoughts aside as he made his way to Tseng's office. Breathing deeply, he knocked on his superior's door.
"Enter." came a curt reply.
Rude did as he was instructed and opened the office door before stepping inside.
"Ah, Rude. Just on time." Tseng smiled and stood up. "Sleep okay?"
"Yes, thank you, sir." Rude nodded his head and looked the raven-haired man who was making his way around his desk.
"We will be meeting Commander Veld in the training room, as well as the new recruits; Sharon and Benjamin." Tseng explained, stepping past Rude to hold his office door open. "They will probably already be over there. Let's go."
Rude nodded and he and his superior left the office and made their way over to the elevator. Tseng pushed the 'up' button and put his hand on his chin thoughtfully while he waited. Rude was slightly curious as to what was on the other man's mind, but he wasn't really the type to ask. There was a sharp ringing noise and the elevator door opened, allowing the two Turks to step inside. Tseng hit a button with some force, and the door closed.
"Rude… just a warning." Tseng said suddenly. "These two other recruits; they've been through the academy… they may have been below you, but they are older. Both of them can be very… proud of the fact that they excelled the academy."
Rude nodded as he felt the familiar pulling sensation in his stomach as the elevator began to ascend. "Yes, sir." He said quietly.
"...and another warning. If only for a while, things with the new recruits will get sticky when your partner eventually returns."
"Hm?" Rude looked at his superior with a raised eyebrow.
"You'll see when you meet him." Tseng smiled grimly as there was another ringing noise and the elevator door opened again. The black-haired man led the way out, and Rude followed him down several corridors until they got to a large, brightly lit room. The place was lined with various exercising equipment, and in the centre, there was a large empty area, lined with mats. Rude assumed this was for sparring.
"Commander Veld, sir." Tseng saluted before Rude even had the chance to register the people in front of him. Rude followed suit and raised his hand in a polite salute, then glanced at the others present in the room.
The first person that caught Rude's attention was the tallest of the three present. The bald Turk assumed this was Commander Veld from his proper stature and mature appearance. The man had medium length brown hair, and dark understanding eyes. Rude found himself instantly respecting the man, possibly because of his kind composure. The other two people in the room Rude took to be the other two recruits. The female one, Sharon, had chin-length blonde hair, which was poker-straight; and icy blue eyes. Her figure was slightly intimidating; she was fairly short, but she had a stocky built and was seemed to be a natural aggressive expression. The male Turk, Benjamin, had a much more friendly face, with dark green eyes, framed by jet-black hair. He was taller than Sharon, but not as tall as Rude, and he was of average build. He smiled at Rude, who nodded his head in return.
"Good morning, Tseng." Commander Veld said politely. "And good morning… you are Rude, I assume?"
"Yes, sir." Rude nodded.
"Very good." Veld looked at Rude and motioned to the other two. Rude took the hint, and went and stood next to the other recruits. "You three are lucky. We usually have a lot more recruits at one time than this, so you'll get more attention than usual."
Rude smiled slightly, and stood tall with Sharon and Benjamin. Veld paced up and down the line several times, while Tseng stood in silence behind him. The Commander stopped walking abruptly and took a deep breath, before beginning to talk.
"I brought all three of you here today to personally welcome you into the Shin-Ra company, and more specifically, the Turks." Veld said calmly. "But as you all know, this job is never considered a nice one. I would like to think that you chose to join because you wanted to though…" He paused and looked across the three of them before continuing. "You have all done well to pass through the academy, but I shall warn you know; being a Turk is nothing like you can imagine. The only way to become a good Turk is through experience. But of course, there are special requirements that nobody necessarily has when they first join. This is why so many people end up killed." Veld stopped talking again, as his dark eyes scanned the room. He looked much more serious than he had done previously, and the atmosphere was extremely tense. "Talking of murder… it's easy enough. But when you're actually there, holding the gun, it's a different story."
Veld appeared like he was finished the serious talk, as he loosened his stature and smiled. "But… I guess you'll all find this out for yourselves soon enough."
"Would you like me to sort out their information, sir?" Tseng asked, stepping forward.
"Please." Veld nodded and handed a clipboard to Tseng.
"Right…" Tseng looked across the information on the clipboard. "First… Sharon. It says here you use a gun, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir." Sharon spoke for the first time in a piercing voice that made Rude cringe slightly. "I can also use restorative materia."
"Ahh… okay…" Tseng jotted something down on his clipboard, and then turned to Benjamin. The black-haired rookie stood to attention immediately. "Benjamin… you only use materia?"
"Yes, sir." Benjamin confirmed. Just like Rude had thought, his voice was soft and friendly. "Bolt, Fire, and Ice. I haven't mastered any of them… but I'm not too bad."
"Okay…" Tseng checked on his clipboard once again. "Any other specialities?"
"Well…" Benjamin looked slightly sheepish. "I'm not too bad as a fist-fighter."
"Ahh." Tseng looked surprised and smiled. "Good... now last but not least, Rude. You are a fist-figher as well, correct? But specifically it says here…"
"Yes, sir." Rude nodded.
"And also fire materia?"
"Yes, sir." The bald Turk repeated.
"Very good… well that was quick." Tseng handed the clipboard back to Veld who took it gratefully. The raven-haired man in front of Rude looked thoughtful for a moment, and then began talking again. "Now about partners. As you all know from academy, all Turks are assigned partners. Rude has already been assigned his partner, and so Sharon and Benjamin will work together, is that okay?"
"Yes, sir." Sharon and Benjamin said simultaneously, the latter slightly less enthusiastic.
"Good. It will remain that way then… unless a problem occurs on Rude's part." Tseng nodded at Rude, who remained motionless. "All three of you are dismissed for the day to do whatever you want. I know you might want to move your belongings into your new apartments."
"Yes, sir." Three voices echoes through the room.
"All three of you will meet Tseng in here at 0800 hours tomorrow morning." Commander Veld added. The two most superior Turks nodded, and then left the training room, leaving the three rookies alone.
"Exciting, isn't it?" Sharon said shrilly as soon as the other two had left. Benjamin nodded and Rude merely shrugged his shoulders. "You're not very talkative, are you?" She said, slightly more put-out.
"Well, I really don't find it exciting that I'm automatically paired with you…" Benjamin glared at the icy-haired woman. "But it looks like the big guy here has other things on his mind."
Rude was slightly shocked at the direct reference to himself, and stared at the other two. Sharon looked at him concernedly.
"Are you okay, Rude?" She asked.
"I'm fine." Rude replied distantly.
The bald Turk vaguely heard the other two Turks begin to argue, but he wasn't really listening. He figured that the two of them knew each other from academy, so matter how much they moaned, they were happy about their partnership. Benjamin was right though; Rude did have other things on his mind. He was growing increasingly concerned about the way Tseng was speaking about his partner. He didn't even know his name yet, and he was already quite terrified about meeting him. He felt a little confused though, as to why, out of the three of them, he had automatically chosen Rude to become his partner. He had a feeling that Tseng was up to something, and he probably wasn't about to shed a light on the situation.
"-and then she fell in!" Rude heard the two other rookies laughing hysterically about some inside joke, but he didn't really know or care what they were talking about. He didn't dislike his knew colleagues, he was just struggling to think amongst all the chatter and noise.
"You sure you okay, big guy?" Benjamin asked genuinely.
"Leave the guy alone Benji, I'm sure he's fine." Sharon said, still laughing at their previous conversation."
"Yeah… I'm okay." Rude said confidently. "I'm gonna go move my stuff into my apartment."
"Oh, okay…" Sharon said. "See ya tomorrow!"
"Bye, Rude." Ben said, smiling.
Rude smiled dimly and walked away from the two rookies, not really caring if they were slightly offended by his abrupt leaving. He had to think, and he had plenty to be doing… socializing was definitely not the most important thing on his list at that time.
A/N: That's it for that chapter! Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you thought! Also, I know I keep making Tseng say 'your partner' to Rude, but there is a reason for him not using his name. All will be revealed!!
