Dark Suits.
ii. the fool shouts loudly, thinking to impress the world.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Elena focused again. She reloaded, and slowly turned.
The training room was dark, a simulator made to look like an alley in the slums of Midgar. Elena backed against the wall of the alley, and drew a sharp and silent breath.
A shuffle in the corner and she froze, becoming hyper aware of her surroundings and slowly turned, aiming her gun in the direction of the noise. She took a breath and after seeing a glimmer of the simulated armour on the simulated thug, she shot.
The bullet hit its target with a definite clang, and the room was immediately flooded with lights. Elena blinked sharply, her eyes immediately adjusting to the stark contrast, and holstered her gun, as the wild monster launched itself on her. She elbowed it from her in a swift move, before running towards the next that was coming face on.
Swiping her grenades up in the palms of her hands, she threw them towards the monster, blinding it with a flash bomb. It screeched and swiped blindly at her with razor sharp talons. Elena danced from their reach, and turned to the other monster, which was bounding its way back towards her. She grabbed her hand guns and shot deftly at it, putting holes in its face and upper body. The other blindly leapt at her, and she kicked it hard in the chin, sending it flying backwards.
Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she took a breath, before the first monster made another attempt at her, racing forth and trying to snatch her wrist. Elena dodged elegantly, before jumping behind it and throwing three grenades, destroying the monster. The creature she had blinded stumbled close once more, and as she froze, it sniffing to try and pick up her scent, she thought.
The type of creature it was made its sense of smell pitiful. Tiptoeing up behind the beast, she pulled her dagger from her stomach, unsheathed it, and leaning down, slit the monster's throat quickly and cleanly. It writhed in her grip, and the blood spattered her pants, before it fell limp. Elena stepped back, triumphant.
Glancing up at the clock on the wall, she determined it had taken her 3 minutes 12 seconds to complete the course. She grinned, proud with the timing. The lights dimmed, and the window to the outer ground became visible. She paled as she saw Tseng observing her closely, chin slightly tilted and she wondered what he thought. She nodded, slowly, and gave a funny little wobbly smile. He didn't return it, but the glitter in his eye told Elena he didn't mind. At that moment, Reno came from nowhere and prodded him, drawing Tseng away from her.
Elena's face fell, and she raced out the door of the training ground to see the Turks looking through the window of Sara's simulator, speaking in hushed tones. Elena clenched her fist, and gritted her teeth. Dammit! Sara didn't deserve to be a Turk! She didn't have a reason! Tseng said everyone had a reason, and she was just a rich kid placed here because her father was a Shinra CEO.
Elena took a long pull of water, splashing some on her face and frowning.
If she didn't impress them now, she was going to blow them away on the combat course.
"Dammit, Elena, you didn't have to hit me so hard!"
Elena grinned apologetically at Roxy, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sorry, Rox! I just went a little crazy I guess!" she laughed, glowing from her clear victory over the girl. The Turks were sitting in a shaded area of the huge combat grounds, whilst the blistering heat of Midgar beat down on the unlucky seniors who were fighting each other. It was Elena's fifth win.
As she was gulping down water, a soft, yet strong voice came from behind her.
"4427."
She jumped and saluted immediately at the use of her registration number. She turned sharply to be met with the towering figure of Rude of the Turks. She gulped at his impressive height, her eye line only meeting his middle.
"Sir, yes, sir?" she barked, and Rude's glasses stared at her.
"Tseng would like to see how you fare against fighting males," he said shortly. Elena nodded, dropping her salute and watching in awe of his presence. Rude nodded and turned on his heel, going back to his seat with the Turks. Elena looked around at the other pairs sparring, as a young man she knew by 3254 came towards her. She smiled brightly at him.
"Hi! I'm Elena," she said heartily, throwing her hand out to shake. He regarded her with distaste, before he said,
"Hi. I'm a guy who's been reduced to sparring with a girl. A tiny girl at that." Elena dropped her hand and quirked a brow.
Stepping back, she pulled her leather fighting gloves back on and poised herself, ready to fight, digging her boots into the sandy ground and breathing deeply. She felt her hands shake a little as the Turks' gazes strayed from other sparring matches to her and 3254 every so often.
And then she was fighting. She landed a punch on his nose, dodged, leapt and slid around the course, attacking and defending as she went. The guy was strong – stronger than the people she had ever fought. He was quick too – matching her punches and kicks, allowing her to land only a few hits. She was tiring quickly too, as he was keeping her moving constantly to avoid his strong punches.
Without warning, he lashed out and grabbed her ankle, swinging her round, and slamming her onto the ground. She swore as pain ricocheted through her side, and pushed herself back up swiftly. The guy smirked. Rubbing her face, Elena leapt at him, and feigned a kick, before jabbing his neck with the side of her hand, cutting off his air. Using this to her advantage, she landed a kick in his stomach, completely winding him as he buckled over.
Leaping out of the way, she slid back, not noticing as he lashed out and grabbed her ankle again, making her lose her balance. As she stumbled, he regained his breath and ran forth, trying to land a punch. Elena managed to block, but she was slowing down and the fight needed to end. She glanced at the Turks, to see Reno on his feet, hands cupped around his mouth yelling.
"4427! He's a guy!" he screeched. Elena frowned, before she realised what Reno was implying. She feigned a punch to his face, before steadying herself and landing a harsh kick between his legs. He buckled over, and Elena punched him hard on the jaw, before pressing her finger to his neck and knocking him out completely.
She stood back, beaming, hands on hips and shaking her hair from her eyes. It had fallen out of her hair tie during the fight and was sticking to her sweaty shoulders. She breathed deeply, and drank down more water. She glanced over at the Turks to see them leaving. She frowned. She'd hoped for at least an acknowledgement of what she'd done.
In the locker room, she put her shampoo in her locker, nothing but her towel tied round in a makeshift dress. She sighed and leant against her locker, fingering her dog tag softly. She shut her eyes, and prayed that the Turks thought she was impressive, a potential candidate.
"Y'know, Turks keep their guard up, even when they have their eyes closed."
"Shit!" Elena screeched, clasping her towel closer to her body and looking up to see the smirking face of Reno of the Turks. His eyes glittered with an unmistakable sense of menace amongst those green hues. Elena's eyes widened. "Uh... you're in the girl's locker room."
"I'm a Turk. I can go anywhere I want... except for Hojo's lab... he banned me from it on account of I let his last experiment loose when I tried to walk him. In my defence, it looked a helluva lot like a dog," Reno said, eyes shining with mirth. Elena smiled softly at his disjointed speech and nodded.
"So... you did a pretty good job today, rookie," he said, his voice cocky as always. Elena raised a brow.
"Did Tseng think so?" she asked eagerly, while still clutching her towel tighter. Reno shrugged, still leaning against the locker.
"Don't think I'm liable to tell you that. Top secret Turk opinions and whatever," he said, winking. Elena scowled.
"Then why are you here?" she questioned, hoisting her towel up. Reno smirked and leant closer, so his nose was almost brushing her own. Elena's cheeks tinted cherry blossom pink and she gulped.
"Relax... I came to give you a little... friendly advice," he murmured, his eyes hypnotising. Elena nodded slightly, her grip on her towel so tight, her knuckles were white. She watched, as though time had slowed down, as he raised his hand slowly and grasped a long length of her dripping white blonde hair between two fingers. He twirled it a moment, his eyes glancing over before he smirked.
"If you wanna be a Turk, you're gonna have to go under the knife," he muttered sadistically, mimicking scissor movements with his two fingers. He grinned brightly, before pulling away from the towelled young girl and blowing her a hasty kiss.
"See ya later, rookie. Oh!" he stopped as he began to turn past the locker, and turned to her. "A name?"
Elena blinked and nodded, her throat dry as a desert, and shook her hair from her eyes.
"E-.. Elena," she croaked, overwhelmed by Reno's mere presence. His eyes tightened and his Cheshire cat grin slid across his face.
"Laney, huh? See ya around, Laney," he winked again, and digging his hands into his pockets, sauntered away, whistling a menacing tune as he went. When she heard the door of the locker room shut, Elena let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding the whole time.
She sank to the floor, sliding down the locker until her grip on the towel loosened and she shook off her light-headedness. Her eyes hardened as she reached up and curled a lock of her long hair around her finger. She gulped.
She knew what came next. If she wanted to be a Turk.
And she would do anything to be a Turk.
When friends are futile, enemies are the only things you have.
Thank you for reading (: A big thank you to RenoLuvver, who basically beta'd this for me (: She's a lord. Serious. Reviews are love (: