Taking the First Step

About fifteen feet below the ledge outside the stagnant Mako cave, the path split into one staying at the level they were on which bypassed the cave and another which climbed fairly steeply up to the cave ledge. For someone who didn't know there were two paths, they would easily take the lower one and miss the mark completely, so No One getting back to his position as a guide was a good thing. Especially when they were only about a dozen feet from the split by the time he caught up to Verde. Both Turks had to stop and stare at him in amazement for a moment as he turned off onto the path leading up, but quickly followed him up the steep incline to the ledge outside the cave, where the waterfall fell just to the side.

The Lifestream was nervous about him being there. Or about the Turks being there. He ignored it in favor of hopefully getting them to leave quicker.

Leading the way into the cave, No One stopped at the edge of the pool, which was a couple yards from the entrance to the cavern. It was a single, large chamber with rough walls, many pillars past the pool which were in an inaccessible area, and a stone, dish-like device in the middle of the pool. The liquid in the pool did indeed resemble stagnant water which seemed to create a dark light along its surface, and the Mako crystals in the cavern created a brighter, blue-white counter-light. Those very large, mainly shades of green and blue, crystals surrounded the pool and grew from the pillars around the cavern.

The Turks first stopped at the entrance to the cavern, but after a minute, they moved forward and began examining the room in detail. Verde crouched at the edge of the pool with a thoughtful expression on his face. As he reached out a hand to the stagnant Mako, however, No One jumped forward and seized his wrist, making the older blond stare up at him in shock.

"Why did you stop me?" Verde asked with a sudden frown.

"Are you stupid? Can you touch raw manufactured Mako, let alone the natural stuff, without getting a case of Mako poisoning?" No One retorted with a glare, still gripping his wrist. "I'm pretty sure by your motion just now that you intended to plunge your hand right into the stuff, which is a no-go if you value your life—or at least your hand." He let the older's wrist go as the man stared at him with wide eyes and pale skin, then Verde slowly relaxed his hand back to his side.

Tseng, at a particularly large Mako crystal off to the side of the room, had turned to face them with a startled expression, then asked, "Is that to say stagnant Mako creates Makonoids with ease unprecedented by either other form of Mako?"

Knowing that 'Makonoid' was the name given to people and monsters mutated by exposure to Mako, No One shrugged and said, "Stagnant Mako is the opposite of normal Mako—it creates mutations before it gives you Mako poisoning, and only someone who no longer has blood for it to affect can touch it—somewhat—safely."

"...Who no longer has blood without being dead?" Verde asked, rising suddenly as his sharp gaze traveled over No One's body—and focused on his left, scarred hand.

"There are ways," No One answered evenly.

"Cite one," the older blond said in a soft tone, a tone which was oddly cold and warm at the same time.

"Why don't you ask some of your own scientists. I'm sure they'd have a few—!" No One began, then cut himself off with a sharp indrawn breath at the pain in his arm just above the wrist. A look down showed that Tseng had somehow crossed the room without him noticing and had dragged a dagger blade across the inside of his arm.

All three of them watched in stunned surprise as a single drop of a clear liquid dripped from the cut before it sealed to a point of scabbing, then kept watching it as it closed over and became a scar, then finally vanished altogether. In less than a minute.

Slowly, No One lifted his arm and covered the spot where the cut had been with his other hand for a moment, his expression dazed—but then his eyes widened and he went into full panic mode. The Turks saw the raw fear in his eyes as he bolted from the cave with the intent to find a place to hide—without showing the full extent of his abilities.

He knew—he knew—they would torture him if they caught him!

And he knew it would be worse if they knew what kind of power he really had.

Just like every time before.

But panic meant running blindly, and on rugged mountain paths, that made a misstep all too easy, and the smallest stumble on a loose stone was his undoing as he felt a weight collide with his back, shoving him to the ground on his belly and pinning him down.

He was reminded of a tiger going for the kill, and passed out from the burst of extreme panic which came with the sensation of 'tiger-in-kill-mode' so close to his vital organs.

FoWD

Gradually, he returned to consciousness, feeling a warm body holding him half-way upright against it while something which was salty and very strong in a bad way was being held close to his nose. The hold on him was gentle, his position as comfortable as it could be on hard, rocky ground, and hands seemed to be...checking him for injuries? The smell of the salty-like stuff (smelling salts, he was vaguely aware) was really getting to him, though, so he struggled to lift a hand and shove the source of the smell away from him before drawing in a few deep breaths of fresh air.

Hadn't he been caught by the Turks after they had figured out too much about him?

Or had it been someone else?

Which was actually the better option?

Opening his eyes fearfully, he saw Tseng holding him and Verde leaning over him on the other side, both looking worried.

So it was the Turks. That meant their brand of torture. His eyes filled momentarily with tears and resignation before he shut them—and let his body completely relax, head sagging back loosely, waiting for the first blow.

"Well, at least we don't have to guess about most of your life's experiences anymore," Verde said quietly with a small sigh. "Experimentation, torture—you're showing all the signs we know of people who suffered through extensive forms of both. It would also explain why there's no record of you anywhere, and why you wanted to become so isolated in the first place. I never realized natural Mako infusions don't make a person's eyes glow or bulk up their bodies with muscle, but I'm also pretty sure you're the only one of your kind, too—no one has ever done such a thing before. Where did you get the scars on your left hand, right shoulder, and left leg from? (1)"

The younger blond flinched violently and murmured, "The hand was—from being exposed to stagnant Mako before I was—modified. The other two...At one point, I had cybernetic limbs. I don't remember how they returned to normal outside the scaring from the fixtures, there were so many experiments." Well, he knew damned well how he'd gotten his flesh arm back, but he wasn't about to tell them that. And he legitimately had no idea how he'd gotten his leg back, though he thought that had to do with Fuhito.

"Is that an effect of natural Mako in the quantity you have it?"

"No."

"...Why do you think we're going to hurt you?"

"Because everyone always does as soon as they find out—about this, or anything else about me."

A hand touched his cheek gently and a soft, somehow compelling voice ordered, "Look at me," as the hand tipped his head in the desired direction gently. Slowly, No One's eyes opened and gold met warm, medium brown as Verde peered at him without malice. "You haven't done or said anything to make us think you need to be hurt. In fact, it's the exact opposite, and I'm seeing a wounded child crying out desperately for help. I know it will be hard, but please let us help you, protect you."

Tears filled his eyes again, but like the time before, they didn't fall. "No one has ever made good on that oath to help me, to protect me. They swore they were my friends, they'd never hurt me—and they became my torturers."

Why was it so easy to talk with Verde? Because he had never been present to have tortured him before? If it had been Tseng his attention was focused on, he was pretty sure he'd have been close to catatonic, but as things stood, his position didn't allow him to see Tseng's face while Verde was his focus.

Verde lifted his PHS to his ear and asked, "Did you hear that, Lady Shinra?" The younger blond's eyes widened in the onset of another panic attack, but a soft murmur and fingers rubbing gentle circles on his forehead calmed him soon after (had he known Tseng could do that?)—in time to hear Verde say to the person on the other end of his call, "I'll let you speak with him, then."

The PHS was offered to No One, who tentatively, shakily, took the oh-so-familiar device and carefully raised it to his ear. "Hello?" he almost whispered into it.

"Hello, young man," a woman's voice returned to him, the tone firm and strong, but somehow gentle at the same time. "Verde tells me you've refused to give a name, otherwise I would call you by it. I heard your discussion with him, as I'm sure you know. Now, listen to me very carefully, young man. I won't ask you to trust me, and I won't tell you something as foolish as that you'll be completely safe in my care. The first is something only time can prove to you, and as for the second—as long as we're caught in this power struggle, there's always the chance of anyone under my care being threatened or harmed by my husband's supporters. That's the reality of our situation."

She paused for a moment, then went on, "What I will do is offer you a home, food, clothing, even education and entertainment, while you get to know us and are able to decide for yourself if we're worthy of your trust. We're going to keep you as safe as we can while you work that out. None of mine will hurt you because most of them know from experience what you've been through, including Tseng and Verde. Well, maybe not to the same extreme, but they definitely have personal experience in the matter. As such, I've instructed my two boys out there to escort you safely back here with any personal possessions you may have. I'll be seeing you when you arrive."

No One had squeezed his eyes shut as she'd spoken, but somehow, her direct honesty touched his heart and made him think of something long-forgotten—a woman with black hair who had called herself a housewife. Really? It had been so long since he'd thought of Amestris, of his brother, of Teacher...And now, this woman was reminding him of Teacher, of Izumi Curtis. Could he risk this? Could he actually come to trust them...and would they earn it in return? It sounded like, for some reason, there were a lot of new people in the picture influencing things this time...Was it enough?

He was silent for a minute after she had finished speaking before finally deciding it was something he'd have to do either way—Verde especially didn't seem inclined to let him just stay by himself. "All right," he finally said softly with a small sigh, not even realizing he was trembling slightly.

"Good," the woman answered, a warm smile in her voice. "Hand the phone back to Verde, then, and you take care of yourself on the way home."

At the last few words, No One's eyes widened and he slowly moved to hand the PHS back to Verde, his mind almost shut down with what she had said. 'Lady Shinra' had just effectively told him that his place was there, and she was absolutely certain he would realize it, too. In her mind...he was already part of her family? Who was she, really? Was she really the same woman who had died long before his time in the previous dimensions? If she was—how had she died in the first place? Or did that have something to do with Vincent being alive, not—one and the same as Chaos? Wait, did a person even have to be dead to host Chaos?

Verde took the PHS from his almost limp hand and returned it to his ear to ask, "So, I take it that went well?" After a pause, he gave a small smile and answered, "That's fine. It'll still probably take the rest of the day for us to get back, though, so would you like another update in the meantime?" There was another pause before he said, "I'll do that, then." He hung up after a pause and put the device away, looking back at No One to ask, "Think you can get up?"

No One's eyes met the older blond's again for a minute before he slowly nodded and started to push himself up, only to find both Verde and Tseng helping him to stand. "She said to take care of myself on the way 'home'..." he muttered, still dazed by the words she had spoken to him.

"Isn't it?" Verde asked, making the younger blond look at him in confusion.

"You're going to be staying with us, making it your home," Tseng said, and No One's eyes went to him instead, still equally perplexed.

"But a place to stay isn't the same thing as a 'home'," the younger man said softly. "A house, an apartment, a trailer, a mansion, a shanty shack—those are all 'places to stay'. A home is—a place you belong, where you're comfortable and welcome and safe and—I haven't had one in—"

Both Turks looked amused as Verde said, "But we are welcoming you into our home—your mind and emotions just need to catch up with that fact."

"Do you have any possessions here you want to collect before we leave?" Tseng asked while No One was still trying to wrap his mind around the older blond's words.

Pausing to think about what he had in his cave-residence, the younger blond debated just leaving his collection there—until a helicopter passed by overhead, very low and with the Shinra logo on the side. He felt the Lifestream become worried, and it transmitted to him the need to hide, to not let the people in the chopper see him. The side door opened as it was passing to show—Alvis? Yes, the Turk standing at the door was Alvis, and he was gazing intently down at them and their surroundings. Finally, a few moments later, it flew away, circling in an attempt to find somewhere to set down.

"I'm suddenly glad we destroyed the cave at Doctor Crescent's request..." Tseng said quietly in the silence left behind as the chopper disappeared out of range.

"I'm more glad they won't find anyplace to land closer than four hours of walking over nearly impassable land to get to this area," Verde answered tensely. "I didn't think they were tracking us so closely to be right on our heels like this."

"What do you mean?" No One asked in surprise.

"That was one of the Hounds," Verde answered.

At the words, No One tensed and said, "In that case, there's something I have to take with me, because I really wouldn't want it fall into a tyrant's hands."

He pushed away from the two of them and began jogging back towards his cave-residence, near where the pair had first found him. They followed him closely, stopping just inside the entrance to his cave to stare around in surprise, even as the younger blond gathered a few leather items—and a fairly large basket which was made of branches, bark, leather, and stiffened hide. The leather items were fur-lined and in the form of a pair of black and white boots and a black, white, and brown, long winter coat. The pockets of the coat bulged, probably with fur gloves. They had no idea what was in the basket, but somehow, they felt the younger blond knew enough about his own possessions to know when something was dangerous.

What really caught their interest, however, was the fact that the cave-residence wasn't just a fire pit and some sort of bundle of furs for sleeping. The floor had been smoothed and the walls rounded in dome-like shapes which created a unique pattern while smoothing them, as well. In the back of the cave was a stone bed frame piled high with fur and leather—though it looked like it still had too much substance for that to be everything there. To the left of the entrance was what looked like a counter with a pair of deep, stone basins, and there were even stone plates and bowls on a stone shelf above the counter. To the right of the entrance, where most of the light shone in, there was a small, wooden table and a matching chair with a somehow thickened leather—pad? Cushion?—as its seat. Of course, there was also a fire pit closer to the counter-and-basin side of the room, and it had a stone casing around it including a stone pipe leading to the ceiling to vent the smoke—like a wood stove.

Verde moved over to rest a hand on the seat of the chair, then stared in surprise for a moment before going to the bed to do the same. Turning, he asked No One as the younger blond made the leather items into a bundle, "What's in your—chair cushion and bed mattress?"

"Feathers. Griffin feathers, mostly," No One replied. "Leather bags work as well as cloth ones, but they exchange softness for durability. That is, they last longer, but to fill them properly, you have to stuff them full, so they end up being stiffer."

"Well, no one can say you aren't industrious," Tseng commented dryly. "Did you really only do all of this in a few weeks, or did you find it like this?"

"I did it. One of the side effects of being pumped so full of natural Mako is the ability to manipulate one's environment. It has costs in materials—I patterned the wall and smoothed the floor by using what I took out of those spaces to make the stone items I wanted," No One answered as he hefted the basket onto his back, the other leather items bundled onto the lid of the basket.

"So what's in the basket that's so dangerous?" the Wutain asked.

No One paused beside the stove uncertainly, then answered, "Let's just say it's a powerful arsenal and get out of here."

Both Turks eyed him, then Verde nodded and said, "Yes, it's probably for the best if we have as much of a head start as possible. Let's head for our helicopter, then."

"Where did you leave it?" No One asked as the three stepped outside.

"Almost straight south, on the other side of the rapids," Tseng told him, leading the way towards the natural bridge over the river rapids.

"East of Cosmo Canyon?" the younger blond asked, following Tseng.

"That's more-or-less right," Verde agreed, falling in just behind him.

No One was quiet for a few minutes while they walked, thinking hard about what he remembered of the area. Finally, he said, "Once we cross the river, I can cut down the time it'll take to get to the place I'm pretty sure you'd have left it."

"How do you cut down a three-hour-ish mess of jungle travel?" the Wutain asked irritably.

The tone made No One flinch, a motion Verde saw and said in amusement, "Tseng hates the moist heat of jungles, and the walk is pretty much murder for him. Thinking about it is enough to—irritate him."

Had any of the previous Tsengs he'd known ever had issues with jungle climates? He couldn't remember, but he didn't think any had. Or they'd hid it very well.

"That's true," the Wutain admitted from ahead of them, still sounding irritated.

"...Then shouldn't you be quite eager to cut your time in the jungle down to a little over an hour?" No One asked tentatively.

Tseng froze, then spun to face him, asking urgently and hopefully, "You can do that, without over-straining me to the point of exhaustion?"

"...Remember how well-hidden the path to the stagnant Mako cave was?" he asked the nineteen-year-old as both blonds also stopped. Tseng gave a nod and a puzzled frown. "There are really only two paths up from the nearest jungle clearing where you could have landed, but one of them looks like it disappears part-way up from that side and is nearly invisible from the start from this side. If you know where to find it, that path is actually both shorter and less strenuous to travel, covering about the same distance as the three-hour one in about an hour and fifteen minutes, give or take a bit. A large section of the path even runs beside a clean, freshwater creek to cool the area and provide water."

"Oh, that sounds very nice—a break from the heat," Verde smiled. "Lead the way, then."

"Yes, please do!" Tseng agreed. "If you're as good as your word, that will help a great deal, and may even be enjoyable."

With both of their agreement, No One took the lead again and led them across the narrow, stone bridge across the rapids, noting how it was likely going to give out soon. On the other side, he turned away from the more obvious path to follow what looked like nothing at first, until it became essentially a narrow game trail. Within fifteen minutes of walking down an incline with hand and footholds in easy reach the whole way, they descended into the jungle heat, and about five minutes later, near the edge of the tree line, they found the promised creek. It flowed fairly quickly alongside them, and there was a definite cool zone around it, which included the trail they were following.

For another forty-five minutes or so, they followed the creek, and stopped for a drink when the trail and creek began to diverge. A few minutes later, they could see the clearing where they had left the chopper, and another fifteen minutes had taken them right to the path they had figured disappeared not far from the meadow. Rather than starting to the southwest of the meadow and meandering north, the path No One had led them on came almost directly from the north on a varied slope which always had available footing. Of course, along the way, the afternoon clouds came in, helping to cool the last of the walk, too.

It didn't take long for them to reach the helicopter and open it up, but they had to wait a little to air it out—black metal sitting in the sun all day was a heat trap, and all three were very thankful for the quick route out of the mountain. The two hours they'd cut off the trek could now be used to air the hold and cockpit, and they were glad it had gotten cloudy and begun to rain. No One again showed his knowledge when he told them to wet pale colored blankets and hang them in the doorways, then use a couple fans, even just small ones, to create a breeze.

Within half an hour, between the cooler temperatures with the rain and No One's trick to cool the space, they were able to leave, Tseng flying the helicopter and Verde and No One sitting in the back.

Notes:

(1) No, they didn't take off his clothes. Scars like that (think of how massive the one from Ed's shoulder port was at the end of FMA:B) would have been felt through his clothing by someone looking for injuries.