WUTAI
1.
The lushly green forests of Wutai were the perfect match for the crystal clear summer sky. The cherry trees next to the roads that sprawled from the main town of the island had already fully blossomed and resembled rows of pink streams making their way through the lands.
Where groves and woods ceded their place to flooded rice fields, the green took a slight turn towards darker shades as it blended with the mud unearthed by the plows. The atmosphere was quiet as it could ever be in any given day on the island, with the notable exception of the New Year's Day and the other festive days that rocked the country.
It would have been the perfect chance for anyone to take a strut in the middle of the gifts of nature Gaia had reserved for the people inhabiting that corner of the world.
Someone in fact had decided to immerse herself in the beauty of the landscape and pay it homage by standing concealed in a secluded spot overlooking a meadow right where the southern route from the town took a turn eastward before continuing to the craggy mountains in the south of the island, a barren place where only the priest cared to tread to pray at the Da Chao mountain shrine, a holy place for the souls of the nation devoted to the Gods protecting it in exchange for Materia, as the sacred textbooks had taught them.
Actually the girl, who had lodged herself in a hole in the ground left when the stub of an oak hade been pried away, was thinking about anything but the idyllic landscape surrounding her. She allowed herself to curse and swear as she slapped an exposed piece of her skin. In order to improve her camouflage, she and the two other members of the party who had ventured with her in that kind of gest, had crafted homemade ghillie-suits. They resorted to weave hemp strings and weeping willows leaves together, dampening everything with mud, as one of the members had voiced the notion it would have kept insects at convenient distance. A notion that had painfully and annoyingly turned out to be without proper scientific fundaments.
The result was that they got neither an effective camouflage device, nor protection against these small and pesky creatures, which were thriving in the tropical summer of Wutai.
The girl first decided to add to her list of things to do to heavily berate whoever came up with the idea of the ghillie-suits. The heat of that day had turned them into a burden she couldn't wait to get rid of. Secondly, she resolved to politely point out that mud in itself was effective against mosquitoes as a bamboo cane was helpful in the duel against a Bahamut beast.
Her focus shifted back on the task at hand. As skilled as she was as a ninja and warrior, she realize that maybe her father was right when he said that she lacked one of the most important virtues of a warrior: patience.
They had waited for more than three hours for their mark to appear. They were eager to get into action but slowly the fear that they had been tipped wrongly started insinuating into their mind.
The sun was high above in the sky and the hottest part of the day had just begun. Sweat and the itch of the mosquito bites were slowly eroding the girl's confidence in the outcome of the mission.
'Let's wait only just half an hour more… then we'll call this stupid put-on off' she thought, sighing at the realization of not having been able again to prevent a crime against her native land and fellow people.
"Are we going to wait for long or what? I'm choking up down here…" a voice erupted from her communication device
"Yuri" the girl silently shouted, startled "Stop shouting in this goddamn thing! You scared me out!"
"Whops sorry!" the boy by the name of Yuri replied "Are we going to wait any longer or what?" he repeated in a muffled voice
"Just one half hour more" she announced
"No way" a different voice came in "We have wasted the whole morning here and nothing came from it. We've been cheated! And for good!"
"Please guys" the girl begged again "Just a tiny, small, insignificant half an hour! I promise we'll be making our way back soon if nothing shows up in a goddamn half and hour. Just a tiny, fucking half-an-hour!" she stressed every word as she marvelled at her own crudeness. 'Must be the heat' she justified herself
"That guy at the market wanted our Gils and he did a very good job at robbing us…" one of the voices complained
The girl grew a grump on his face "Hey, I'm the leader here. If nothing shows up in half an hour we'll go. Period. Full, damn stop! Not a minute earlier, though. Am I clear?" she firmly said at the radio
"Well, if that's how things are… But how about the Gils we have wasted?"
"Don't be so overly attached to money, Aizen" the girl replied "We'll find a way to make up for the loss. I promise!" she assured
"Well in that case I should consider myself safe and sound!" Aizen countered sarcastically
"Moron!" the girl whispered
"What?"
"Nothing. Shut up already!" she moaned
'As if they had better stuff to do in their lives' she thought to herself
The communications fell silent again. The girl looked at the shadows on the ground and resolved to quit it as soon as they would have reached a certain shape. She was beginning to feel the desire of taking shelter back in her cool, shaded place back in town. And maybe take a bath.
She pondered again at the reason she was holed up there. Although a brash, bratty and almost tomboyish lady, the girl had always felt a sincere concern for the fate of her homeland. The island of Wutai had know better and more glorious days but she was determined to bring it back to its lost magnificence. Starting by the little things, such as discovering who was behind the recent disappearance of the valuable and precious Materia at the Da Chao temple. Although not really a feverishly spiritual soul herself, she felt how important was for her folkspeople to find haven and consolation in the spiritual sphere of their lives, especially in times like these.
"Hey hey! Look at that one! Could be it, at last?" one of the voices exclaimed. The sudden call up aroused her attention.
The girl quickly scanned the surroundings. A lonely man was walking down the road from the direction of the Da Chao mountain and slowly approaching to the bend. He was wearing a red hooded cape and was carrying a bulky and cumbersome sack on his back
"Told you so!" the girl could hardly contain his excitement
"Please don't start bragging as you always do! He's more than two hours late than you had guessed!" Aizen pointed out
"At least we've got something! And then, thieves and people like that care less than nothing about any kind of schedule" the girl protested
"Guys" Yuri recalled them "We are still missing the other piece of the jigsaw!"
"It will come out of its own, I'm totally sure!" the girl exclaimed
Just as she said that, the sound of a vehicle gradually filled the air: a black pick-up truck came from the direction opposite where the man had came from earlier. It pulled over right next to him
"So, let's see who we've got there…" Yuri whispered, cracking his knuckles in anticipation
"Pray this is what we came and waited for!" Aizen begged
"Holy shit!" Yuri swore, as he got a visual over the two men who had stepped out of the truck. They were sporting the blue uniform of the Wutai Civic Guard.
"I can't believe it!" Aizen cried in disbelief
"Cranky bastards!" the girl uttered "It's Haong and Pesh of the goddamn Civic Guard!"
"Regent Haong" Yuri corrected her "The head of those corrupted pigs!"
The Civic Guard was a law enforcement agency only recently established in Wutai, but it still had to win the sympathy of the inhabitants yet. The popular belief was that the Civic Guard had provided a workplace to the malingerers and the crooks on the island.
"The cherry atop the rotten cake the Civic Guard is!" the girl fumingly added
"Are we sure we are going to do that? Nobody steps over the feet of the Regent and comes away in one piece…" Yuri asked, worriedly
"We might as well give it up. I've got a bad feeling about this…" Aizen suggested, weighing his concern in
"No, no and again no!" the girl resolutely stated "Let's see who is behind the Materia disappearance at the Da Chao temple first"
As she had asked the man personally, the red-caped guy pulled down the hood
"Oh no!" Yuri sighed "This is bad!"
"If only we could record this!" Aizen said
"High priest Daoyai!" the girl almost shouted, minding at the last minute not to blow her cover. She bit her tongue
"So, let me make a resume" Yuri said "the High Priest of the Da Chao temple whisks Materia away from the temple itself and smuggles it to none the less than the chief of the Civic Guard"
"This country is fucked all over…" Aizen shook his head
"And the Materia goes to the black market where it is sold to who knows…" Yuri continued
"And probably Haong and those blue-clad jerks take their slices of profits" Aizen finished
"But why the priest?" Yuri marvelled
"Probably Haong is threatening him. I doubt he would have given in to such a scummy scheme"
The girl felt an utter sense of sadness. She had just witnessed the extent to which his land had come to. It was the bottom of a spiral of decadence of a land once known for being the cradle of a thousand-year old culture, an heritage which had fostered a population of proud and strong warriors, ready to defend their country from any kind and form of threat.
But the war against the Shinra corporation, back in the days before she became the girl she was now, had taken its toll and the demise of the latter had only made things worst. Now the land of Wutai and its people were adrift in the sea of history, at the mercy of whoever would exploit it for their own convenience.
She felt like she could cry right there on the spot. Instead, her anger grew only more intense
"I'm calling this off…" Aizen announced "We're going to be in deep trouble if we only dare to move a finger"
"I'm with you!" Yuri agreed
Her right arm moved on its own accord
'And I am supposed to reign over this mess…' she thought
Her right hand clenched the blade of her shuriken
'If not me, then who'll do this?' another thought trailed in her mind
"What about you Y…" Yuri was about to ask. He looked upward toward the cliff.
The girl had thrown away the ghillie-suit and, after a brief dash had leapt off the cliff. She somersaulted in the air and landed feet away from the men below, holding her shuriken fast. She revealed her figure as she stood in the sunlight without the impairment of the suit: a short, albeit thin girl, he long and slim limbs were muscular enough to allow herself to face enemies apparently way stronger than her. Her black, short hair gleamed under the midday sun. She was wearing a strapless purple top, held in place by looped orange belts, colour matching her shorts. At her feet she wore combat boots and her legs were wrapped by white bandages up to her knee.
Her brown eyes launched a menacing gaze to the three men in front of her
"Looks like we've got company!" Major Pesh, of the Civic Guard, observed, showing only a tiny hint of surprise
"And not just ordinary company I see…" the man by the name and title of Regent Haong calmly added
The priest said nothing. He immediately recognized her face and he stood there in its place, his face morphed by guilt and remorse.
Yuri and Aizen swiftly came out from their hiding place
"And looks like the party is going to get bigger" Haong noticed "What do you say, priest?"
"I… " the priest stuttered, his bald head dripping sweat. He clutched his sack
"All right then. Looks like our little lady here caught wind of our small business!" Haong said
"Regent Haong!" the girl exclaimed "You are the most despicable man who has ever breathed in the land of Wutai!"
"Some time ago you would have used a more colourful language. Looks like your father straightened you up… at least to some extent!"
"Give up the Materia!" Aizen shouted "It belongs to the temple!"
"It belongs to Wutai!" Yuri added "It's a holy piece. It's not meant for your filthy business!"
Haong quietly laughed "What are you going to, should we decide not to comply?"
The three warriors emphasized their feisty stance
"Well then…" Haong raised an arm.
From the bushes and the rocks around the bend even more Civic Guards came out, everyone holding and aiming their rifle at each of the three of them.
Their rifles clicked at unison as they were loaded
"Crap!" the girl exclaimed, her eyes widening upon beholding the sudden threat
"See? Unlike someone else I came here with my back well covered" he made a few steps towards the girl as his colleague grasped the sack from the motionless priest. Two guards sneaked from behind and apprehended Yuri and Aizen, much to their clangourous protests
"Hey, you bastard! Leave them alone!" the girl challenged
"I don't think you are in the position of giving orders" Haong said "I think you should better find a way to explain to your father why did you plan to ambush two members of the Civic Guard…"
"You are stealing Materia! I don't give a rut about the Civic-fucking-Guard" the girl protested
"Would you like me to go to your father and be like 'Mister Kissaragi, we are sorry to announce you that you daughter went missing near the Da Chao mountain!' and then sending him your corpse to be identified afterwards?" Haong suggested, watching his colleague loading the sack in the back of the pick-up
The girl, the daughter, the only daughter of Godo Kissaragi, stiffened upon hearing these words
"Are you planning to kill me, Haong?" she screamed
"Me? At all" Haong raised his hands "I would never try to put the daughter of Lord Kissaragi off the map. I'd rather leave that dreadful task to nature" he concluded, almost hissing his last words
"Yuffie!" Aizen screamed "Please stop! This is as bad as it can get!"
The guards towering over Aizen and Yuri pointed their rifles at their heads.
Yuffie Kissaragi found herself in a pinch. Further provoking Haong meant that something really bad could have happened. The warrior of Wutai, the fearless ninja heir of the House of Shinobi was without a choice. She had to surrender.
"I'm counting up to three" Haong announced "If you don't let go of your weapons, I'm going to pump some lead into the bodies of your friend!"
The three boys all gulped. Yuffie was struck with horror
"What!?" she shouted "Are you going to murder two innocents cold-blooded?"
"I'm a protector of the peace here!" Haong offered
"Bullshit!" Yuffie continued "Are you really willing to explain to Wutai how two kids had been murdered by a crooked cop?"
Haong laughed "Of course not! I'm not that dumb. But, you know, Wutai is not a safe place nowadays. And everyone could have a reason to kill someone. I'll make up a story. That will do!"
"Anyway, one…!" Haong started counting, making a swift gesture towards the guard holding Aizen and Yuri pinned down. Yuri closed his eyes
Yuffie's heart began to beat faster
"Two…!" Haong continued
Yuffie was about to lower her arm and drop the shuriken
"Three…!" Haong said, a tip of excitement in his voice
"Hold on there, you!" the voice of Major Pesh broke through the air. Everyone stared at him, as he dropped the sack to pull out his handgun and aim it at a figure who had just appeared.
Yuffie turned towards the source of everyone's attention. A person, a young man was standing just outside the circle of guards surrounding her. He was wearing blue trousers, trekking shoes and a white shirt. He carried a belt with a holster dangling on his hip. He could have passed for any of the countless tourist spending a vacation on the island every year.
Yet something tingled Yuffie. The guy was probably more that met the eye. It was just a feeling, but Yuffie could not convince herself otherwise. Her senses had served her well in her endless escapades around the world, pulling her through the tightest of the situations. She trusted them quite with all her heart
"Identify yourself, citizen!" one of the Guards shouted
"Whoa… looks like I'm interfering with the local law enforcement agency here!" the man exclaimed, as he made a step back
Yuffie tried to look through his external appearance. The shirt was not too loose and she could definitely see that he was well-built. He was probably an avid outdoor enthusiast. Or probably something else…
"Freeze right there!" one of the guards ordered "And give me an ID!"
"There's no need to shout" the man calmly explained, as he dip his hand into his pocket. That startled the guards even more
"I SAID DO NOT MOVE!" Pesh cried, as he pointed his pistol in the sky and fired a warning shot. The guard then aimed the gun directly at the intruder again
The man was only startled a bit
"Geeze! That was loud!" he screamed, sounding more surprised than terrorised "Calm down everyone! I'm just a visitor here! I just spent quite a few Gils down in town. Would you deprive your entrepreneurs the chance to milk a tourist again?"
Yuffie's curiosity grew even more. Usually a layperson would have collapsed to the ground hands on his head upon being fired a warning shot. Instead the man had only shivered a bit.
Two guards ran to his side pushing him to the ground and pulling him at the centre of the scene, his hand still stuck in the pocket. Yuffie swore she could see signs of recent closed wounds on his right forearm.
"HOLY SHIT!" he protested "That's the way the local police deals with visitors? I though Wutai was a more tourist-friendly place…"
"Shut up!" Haong told him "Search him!" he ordered one of the guard
"No way!" the man exclaimed, hastily throwing a wallet out of the pocket "If you want to see my credentials there you go. But if you dare to touch me I'm going to…"
"Going to what?" a guard asked, placing the muzzle of the rifle inches away from his nose
The man gulped "I'm going to file a complaint to whomever it may concern… and have your ass fired, mister boss-of-this-bunch-of-jumpy-wannabe-cops"
The Civic Guards laughed
'Well, at least kid there has sense of humour' Yuffie thought, nervously smiling
Haong kicked the man in the belly. He rolled to the ground groining and holding his hands to the stomach
"Not twice in two days…" he complained, panting
Haong did not pay attention to him. He collected the wallet. He grinned upon seeing the man's ID
"Lieutenant Cade Tuesti, WRO!" Haong read out
The guards quietly chucked
"Tuesti?" Yuffie bawled
Cade turned to her. He smiled and timidly waived "That's me! Do we know each other?"
"As it would impress me" Haong scoffed "The WRO doesn't mean a thing here. We stopped meddling with anything and anyone coming from the other side of the ocean!"
"So, what are you going to do? Kill me?" Cade taunted him, slowly standing back on his feet, carefully watched over by two guards "Have I witnessed something inconvenient? Looks like I did…"
"Well" Pesh stepped up towards him "Looks like you don't leave us with much alternatives" the Major said, aiming the handgun at Cade's head. Cade gulped
"Are you serious? And the what are you going to do? Drop me off a cliff to cover the bullet holes and tell my superiors I had taken an uncharted trail against your passionate advise? I heard this story before…"
"Something like that" Haong replied
"I used that excuse before it was cool, trust me" Cade boasted
Haong tilted his head "What do you mean?"
"I mean that we are on the same boat here. The WRO might not even mean a thing to you, but I have friends outside it that could be upset if something would happen to me"
Haong showed signs of nervousness for the first time. He tried to convince himself that the buffoon in front of him was just bluffing. If so, he knew how to sound convincing, though
"Well, mister Tuesti, what do you suggest then?"
"What about a deal?" Cade offered
"What?" Pesh exclaimed
"Come on!" Cade carried on "There's no need to have a bloodshed in this beautiful place. Think about the damage to the tourism industry. I'll give you something and I get something back!"
Haong smiled "Pitch your offer, then…"
"Well" Cade pondered "Let's make it like this: I'll take the girl…" he pointed towards Yuffie
"What?" Yuffie shouted
"… and I think I'll take the boys as well. They deserve to live and make some more mistakes in their lives"
Aizen and Yuri frowned upon Cade's words
"And you let me go… and I think that's it!" Cade concluded
Haong shook his head, cackling "That's not how things work in such circumstances. We should get something in return…"
Yuffie was puzzled by Cade's demeanour. What was the reason for his presence here? And was he really trying to save here? And besides, was he really connected to the only other Tuesti she knew?
'If he's here for me, I hope he's got a plan because this situation is a disaster…' she thought
Cade slapped his forehead "Fuck! That's right!"
Yuffie was swinging between hope and fear that things could only turn out even worse
"Well!" Cade said "Since I've got nothing to offer you, let's say you get nothing!"
The Civic Guard grew a look of disbelief on their face. Haong could not believe a thing he was hearing. He grew even more shocked and nervous
"I thought we were trying to reach a deal" Haong angrily said, clinching his fist around the grip of the pistol
"Not really" Cade replied "I just told you how it is going to end: I take what I came for and you get out of the way"
The guards did not even have time to process what the young man had just told them that Cade reached for his holster and hurled a small, gleaming cylindrical object in the air. Everyone followed it with their eyes.
Yuffie did not make that mistake. She caught whip of the nature of that artefact. She shut her eyes as the flash-bang grenade detonated with a flash and a loud bang, which resonated through the meadow. Her ears were blown apart by the explosion so she could not hear a thing while she felt being pulled away towards the vehicle.
As she realized that Cade Tuesti himself was dragging her away, she tried to be more helpful. She regained balance as she saw Yuri and Aizen being spirited away with her.
She acquired her hearing back and she could gradually hear the cries and the laments of the guards, some of them strewn on the ground, other swinging their arms in an effort not to lose their balance. Haong and Pesh were screaming with their hands over their ears. The Priest had simply collapsed to the ground.
Cade quickly checked his pulse
"Good, he's still alive, the old chap! He'll have plenty of time to atone for his actions!"
"What are you doing?" Yuffie screamed
"Taking you to a safe place, that's it! Get in!" he instructed her as he hopped on the driver's seat of the pick up
"You two" he ordered Yuri and Aizen "On the back. And stay down!"
"All right man!"
"We really owe you one!" Aizen shouted
"It's not over yet" Cade admonished them "Save thanks for later!"
"I think we've just gone from the pan to the oven" Yuffie objected "We're going to get hunted down back in town!"
"Hey, miss!" Cade protested, as he turned the keys "Do you want me to leave you with those guys back there?"
Yuffie hesitated.
The engine roared as it turned on. Cade pushed the gas pedal, revving it up.
"Where did you get the keys?" she asked
"They were still in" Cade told her "Cops!" he sighed
"Hey, here's the Materia!" Yuri triumphantly exclaimed, opening the sack
Rifles popped behind them. Everyone ducked as bullets flew through the windscreens
"Stay down, I said!" Cade shouted, as he accelerated and drove away from the spot. Even more bullets reached for the car as he darted away from the guards.
Suddenly a loud bang came from below them. The vehicle jolted and started wobbling
"What happened?" Yuffie anxiously asked
"I think a tire has just popped" Cade said
"We're doomed!" Yuffie cried
"Hey, try to be optimistic! Besides, we've got three more of them!"
Yuffie dropped her jaw in disbelief "Do you have a plan at least?" she frantically asked
"I do" Cade answered, steering with his hands fastened on the wheel to compensate the swerving of the car on the road "But, just like all other great plans, is top secret!"
Yuffie moaned noisily "You're going to kill us all!" she protested "Besides who are you? And why do you want to take me away?"
"This is not question time!" Cade shut her down
"We've got company!" Aizen warned them
Two more pick-up trucks appeared behind them. They were crammed with Civic Guards. On one of the vehicles, a guard touted a rifle.
"Get down!" Yuri shouted
The rifle sprayed bullets. Most of them went astray.
"Their aim sucks!" Aizen commented
"Don't worry" Cade told him "Just wait for them to get closer!"
"Can't we go any faster?" Yuffie shouted
"Oh, we could" Cade said "But pushing a monster at top speed with a flat tire and who knows what else is broken is a hazard…"
"Because we're safe for now, right?" Yuffie sarcastically remarked
Cade grumped
"Hey kids!" he shouted back at Aizen and Yuri "Do you know how to use a gun?"
"What?" Aizen exclaimed "Shooting back at the Civic Guards?"
"I thought we were just going to get away from them!" Yuri added
"Oh, I see!" Cade sighed "Say no more. Young lady, hold the wheel!"
Yuffie leapt forward to hold the steer while Cade crawled back to the flatbed passing through the shattered windshield. He took off his gun
"Wow! That sure is a gun!" Yuri exclaimed
"You don't want to shoot back at them!" Yuffie cried
"Do you have any other options?"
As he waited for a reply, the Guards left off another salvo of bullets. Sparks flew up in the air as the projectiles ricocheted on the thick chassis of the vehicle. Cade and the others took shelter
"See?" he shouted "They are not going to caress us, so we might as well play their game!"
Cade aimed at the tires of the chasing truck. He fired a volley of bullets. None of them hit their target. He ducked again to reload.
"Damn it!" he shouted
The truck swerved violently
"Hey!" Cade shouted towards the cockpit "Would you mind keeping it straight for me, won't you? I've got targets to hit!"
"I've never driven one of these things before!" Yuffie protested
"What?" Cade cried in disbelief "And you wait until now to tell me that?"
"You didn't asked!" Yuffie replied
'Is this guy even fucking serious?' Yuffie thought as she battled his personal fight against a rebellious truck which seemed to act according to a will of his own. She was now sweating ten times she had sweated under the sun the whole morning.
A sudden jolt made her cry as one of the chasing vehicle sprinted forwards and tailgated the pick-up. Somehow she managed to keep it on its tracks. By chance none of the Civic Guards on the trailing truck were ready to shoot, otherwise sweeping the back of the pick-up in front of them would have been the easy as snapping fingers.
The road took a bend and descended towards a crossroad. Yuffie meant to take the chance to gain as much speed as possible, since the long straight stretch ahead of her made her feel she could now lead the vehicle without having to deal with curvy trajectories.
Then the unexpected. To be more precise, something she hoped did not happen, happened.
A horse-pulled cart slowly made its way through the intersection. Its bulky profile occupied the whole crossroad, offering virtually no escape route. The farmer, noticed an unusual thundering noise to his right. He turned his head and in a matter of second he ran off, leaving the cart to his fate.
Yuffie shouted.
Cade, Yuri and Aizen turned their heads to see what had caused so much commotion. They shouted as well as they tried to hold fast to the pick-up.
Much to her relief, Yuffie avoided hitting and possibly killing the horses. She aimed (or the car aimed) at the cart, shattering it and sending wooden planks in the air along with a storm of white grains which invaded the cockpit. The horses detached from their reins and flew away to safety
"Old MacDonald can say goodbye to his daily harvest…!" Cade sadly remarked.
Behind them, a truck drifted away to avoid the wreckage of the cart. It spun out of control and hit a tree trunk sideways. The vehicle took off and twirled in the air, landing on its side. It performed several more capers, throwing guards off-board before coming to a halt off the road and badly battered. Major Pesh opened the door of the passenger seat and collapsed to the ground after a couple of steps outside.
Would I sound heartless if I'd say 'One less!'?" Yuri shouted
"Too bad it wasn't the one with Haong on board!" Aizen added
"Are you beginning to enjoy this, kids?" Cade asked
"Kind of…" Yuri replied
"Good!" Cade made his way back in the cockpit "Nice manoeuvre out there! If you ever consider getting a driving license, you have my avail!" he joked, poking Yuffie on her arm.
He got no answer though.
Yuffie had somehow lost consciousness. She did not faint or pass away but she was now stuck at the driving seat with a thousand yard gaze. Her clothes and hair were filled with rice grains
"Hey! Are you with us?" Cade tried to get an answer from her
'This businesses are not for the faint-hearted!' he observed, shaking his head
He pulled Yuffie away from the driving seat "Kids, give our lady here a look. I think the chase is too much for her to bear!"
Huts and houses were beginning to appear in crescent number along the road
'I think we are getting closer to the town' Cade observed, as he noticed that more and more people were crowding the sides of the road
"The southern gate is up ahead!" Yuri cried "Let's hope is open!"
"What if it isn't?" Cade asked
"Just smash it, it will give in!" Aizen suggested
"SMASH WHAT?" Yuffie had suddenly regained consciousness
"Oh, there you are" Cade told her "I think we are near the town"
The vehicle behind them was still close enough but Haong had probably ordered his men not to use guns anymore. Stray bullets could have hit some unaware bystander.
"We're in town!" Cade told Yuffie "I thought of this: we're heading towards the Wutai Palace. We get off there, we make a run for it and we explain everything to your father!"
Yuffie felt a shock going through her spine. Her stomach began to churn
"My father?" she asked
"Yep" Chad confirmed "I bet those fuckers won't dare to harm you in front of him"
Yuffie's face was the portrait of despair
"Oh, if you don't like the plan, feel free to change it as you like!"
Yuffie stood silent, powerless against the course of events
"Look!" Yuri shouted "The southern gate is closed"
"And that's not the only bad news!" Aizen pointed his fingers at the barricade the Civic Guard had set up just in front of the door. It was nothing more than barbed wire held up by wooden tripods, but maybe it was enough to slow the vehicle down and make it come to a stop.
The commotion caused by the chase had prompted quite a lot of people to assemble around the gate. The Guards were frantically trying to disperse them.
Cade pushed the pedal to the limit. The engine roared again. It had somehow been spared by the rain of bullets exchanged with the chasers.
None of the guards near the gate dared to open fire towards the oncoming vehicle, which ploughed trough the barbed wire and finally crushing the bamboo-built gate and tearing it up into hundreds of pieces.
The bonnet of the pick-up flew away. A screeching sound informed the occupants that the front bumper had partially detached and was now brushing the asphalt. The cobbles of the streets of Wutai made the car jolt and shook their occupants
"What's the shortest route to the Palace?" Cade asked
"Right at the next and then straight ahead…" Aizen showed him
"BUT THAT'S THE MARKET ROAD!" Yuffie shouted in a burst of consciousness
"So what?" Cade shrugged. As he turned into the road Aizen had told him earlier, he realized.
The road was obscured by market stalls and, of course, the people shuttling from one vendor to the other. Everyone turned their attention to the vehicle which had appeared at the beginning of the road and which was now making its road through the mass of people.
Cade battled with the wheel to keep the pick up in a route that would cause as less damage as possible. He bumped his fist on the horn to fend people away. The roar of the engine was covered by the screams of the people trying to run for their safety, someone even diving in the canal parallel to the road. Cade smashed through a couple of stall sending the merchandise in the air. The chasing vehicle had apparently gave up the endeavour to keep up with him.
As the market road ended, the pick-up drove thorough a square in front of a pagoda
"There we are!" Yuri announced
From every corner of the opening, Civic Guards appeared, waiving their guns at the truck, which was by now falling apart. Cade ignored them and made its way towards a gate surmounted by two soldiers armed with a spear and clad in an old-fashioned green and gray uniform
"Palace guards!" Aizen shouted
"Well, if they are going to try to stop me with those things, they sure are confident in their means!"
True to their honour and duty, the guards went into a defensive stance and pointed their spear towards the incoming danger. They knew there was nothing they could do as the pick-up went past them and tore down the iron gate of the pagoda.
The engine started belching thick, black smoke and even the noises from it were a tell tale sign that the car was about to give up
"Everyone…OUT!" Cade shouted as the party bid farewell to the car, which ended its run against the steep staircase of the pagoda. Everyone made a dash towards the main entrance, including a nearly catatonic Yuffie.
As the Civic Guard were flooding the inner perimeter of the Wutai pagoda, a loud bang rocked the stairs, as the engine of the pick up exploded, catching fire.
2.
Yuffie could think of a plethora of adjectives to describe the situation she found herself in. The first and foremost was 'unfair': she had set out to find out who had done wrong to the people of Wutai, and she discovered just who did it. Unfortunately for her, tables had turned in quite a dramatic fashion and now she was the defendant.
The second was 'disastrous': she, no they had wrecked havoc through the entire nation (virtually) and trashed the entire Saturday morning village market and caused panic among the townsfolk of Wutai, not to mention the theft of a Civil Guard vehicle. It would have taken ages to make amend for these shenanigans. Oh, and there was the issue of a dozen injured guards plus much more collateral damage.
The third was 'ashamed'. She was ashamed for herself. For everything that had happened that day. Ashamed for having dragged her friends into the incident. Ashamed for having once again thrown mud on the name of the House of Shinobi, of which she was the only living descendant. A role that apparently was not too fit for her underdeveloped sense of responsibility.
The fourth, which took quite rapidly the place of the previous one, was 'irate': it wasn't her fault, eventually. If only her father, the powerful Godo Kissaragi had taken the matter into his own hands, the Civic Guard wouldn't have been so free to act scot-free. The nation would still have a leader to look after and who would instil in its citizen a sense of community and decency that would have helped Wutai regain its place in history and on the maps. But this burden now rested on her shoulders, so it was not a surprise if she had to take drastic measures to prevent injustice to ravage on her beloved land.
The fifth was less metaphysical and more head-on. 'Moron-jerk-head-fucker'. Three birds with a stone. They were not even adjectives proper, Yuffie thought. But the guy who had stepped in and made things worse was definitely a moron, saving worst epithets. Yuffie was sure that eventually Regent Haong was simply trying to scare her off, no way he would have plotted to kill her, the daughter, the only daughter of Lord Godo Kissaragi. She would have got a spank or two and let free, and nothing worst would have ever happened. She simply would have retreated to her safe haven and devise another way to heal the darkened spirit of her land.
But, Holy Maker, that despicable son-of-a-God-help-me-I'm-not-myself-anymore, coming out of nowhere, had to show off all his hero-of-the-day skill, injuring several people, destroying property for a yet still to be assessed amount of Gils and forcing her to explain everything to her father. Who, for the sake of justice and fairness, pretended to hear the Haong's account as well. Why? Why goddamn on heart? 'WHY?' she cried in her head. She really just wanted to crack down and cry, but the anger balanced the sadness so she managed to maintain a fierce and decent stance in front of her father, in the hearings hall of the Wutai Pagoda
"So!" Lord Godo Kissaragi exclaimed from his throne "Now it would be the part of the confrontation where I would ask you if things really went according to Regent Haong… but you should consider two things: it would be heavy for the Lord of Wutai to doubt of the word of the Regent of the Civic Guard. And secondly, I really don't think it would favour you to give neither a positive nor a negative answer!"
Yuffie stood silent. She looked to the side of the hall were Cade was standing. He was almost on guard, with the look of someone who was pretending to have been just an innocent bystander. This enraged Yuffie even more
"I really don't know how to deal with you anymore, Yuffie" her father continued "Since when you last came back home from your part-time activity of saving the world from anything, you grew more stubborn and undisciplined. I've always thought that a man at peace with himself should not fear the moment he'll pass away, since it would be an all too natural occurrence. But it is apparent that I will not be able to afford this peace of mind since I don't see a path after myself…"
"Stop it!" Yuffie cried, touched by these last words "You talk a lot of non-sense about discipline, priorities and all the damn else but you can't see the most evident fact of it all!"
"Enlighten me, then!" Godo challenged
"Wutai is crumbling under the hypocrisy and greed of the people who are supposed to protect it!" she pointed at Haong "You lecture everyone on the values of this, on the importance of that and you let these fucking poisonous snakes coil warmly in your bosom!"
Haong protested "Lord Kissaragi, this is unacceptable! Lady Kissaragi fell victim to a misunderstanding, and that is excusable. But she failed once to hear our reasons behind our action and now she is accusing us of being the most evil force in the country. This is simply unacceptable!"
"Regent Haong!" Godo cut him short, just as sternly as he had just addressed to his daughter "The existence of the Civic Guard is put into question nowadays because of the lewd conduct of your men. Yuffie did some despicable action, for sure. But do not consider your position fast!"
Haong stepped back, with a slight scowl on his face
"As of you" he turned back to Yuffie "I think you doubt how the ways of a society work. If you had the interest of your country truly at heart, you wouldn't cause so much disturbance"
"Why, are you doing something on your side?" Yuffie bitterly replied
"You really put a father's love for a daughter at a test, Yuffie" Godo sighed, displeasingly uttering those words "Sometimes I think the only solution would be to take you far away from here and leave you live the life you want. The only other option would be to lock you away in the pagoda without ever letting you go outside anymore…"
Yuffie's heart crumbled upon hearing those words. She fought back the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes
"So that's your one-size-fits-all solution? Sending problems away? Locking yourself up in the cocoon of yours, waiting for them to fade away? This is ridiculous…" she murmured
"And your way is better for sure! Tearing apart everything that stands in the way!" Godo shouted "Look at today! Look at every single frame of today: the shootout, the chase, the tragedy that was avoided who knows how at the market" He inhaled through the nose "And then you bring inside the pagoda this man, who reeks like a wild hoar?"
He had pointed in the direction of Cade, who stood at these words
"Hey, I've actually asked for a bathroom long ago but nobody cared to show me…" he protested
"SHUT UP!" Godo's fierce bawl and Yuffie's begging yet firm chirp came together
Cade backed down "Well, don't take it on me if the hall is going to stink, then"
"Don't think this is over for you as well" Godo admonished him "As much as I have the deepest admiration for Reeve and the WRO, that doesn't mean that you are the one with the white hat. Thank your surname if I haven't reserved you the treatment we used to deal with troublesome stranger…"
Cade puffed "Oh, nepotism!" he continued "So, if someone saves the daughter of the Grand Lord of Whatever from being executed by this parody of a mockery of a cop, is he hanged upside down to something?"
"Lord Godo!" Regent Haong vehemently protested
"Regent Haong, you are dismissed!" Godo sentenced "Get back to help clear the ruckus in town! And shall I hear one more complaint about you or one of your men, I'll take swift moves!"
Haong stomped his foot and saluted. He grudgingly exited the hall.
Godo sighed while shaking his head
"Yuffie, I'm tired of sounding like a broken record. I'll have to wait until that goddamn temperament of yours won't change"
"Why do you have to be so judgemental? Why don't you do the first step once in a while?" Yuffie replied
"Because I sincerely don't know what to do!" Godo calmly explained "And, if you excuse me, I'd like to call this over!"
"This isn't over, and you know it!" Yuffie objected
"Yuffie, I'm offering you an escape. Accept it, please. For the sake of
the both of us!" Godo pleaded
"All right then" Yuffie gave in, throwing her arms "What should I do then?"
"Listen to what the young man here has to say to you, maybe…" he stopped, as to much surprise he found that Cade was nowhere to be seen "Where did he go?" he asked. The answer came by itself.
Cade walked back into the hall form a secondary door. His hair were all damp and unkempt. He was brushing the back of his neck with a towel
"Sorry if I snuck away" he apologized "But on second thoughts my personal hygiene was not that really good, so I hade to make my way to the bathroom by myself" He gazed at the towel "Oh, I'm going to put it back in place, I'll promise!" he swore
Godo covered his face. Yuffie stared at him, feeling the urge to punch him 'Man, that guy is really unbearable. I hope I won't have to do anything with him!' she implored in her head.
"Lieutenant Tuesti" Godo announced "Take my daughter with you. Do what you came to do"
Yuffie's face was warped by the disbelief "WHAT?"
"The WRO needs you!" Cade explained "If you are the notorious Yuffie Kissaragi, the greatest warrior on earth, lady ninja of Wutai and nominee for the 'Best daughter of Gaia' award…"
"Fuck off!" Yuffie blasted him
"Why? Aren't you the greatest warrior on earth?"
Yuffie grunted
"Then we'll have to greet once again" Godo said, standing down from the throne, and slowly walking towards Yuffie "I'll hope being homesick again will clear your mind"
"We'll see…" Yuffie replied
"Just be careful! I would hate to hear that something had happened to you!" Godo said, his voice filled with the sound of genuine concern "You're still my daughter!"
"I see. I'll be fine!" Yuffie assured him, before briefly hugging him
Behind them Cade muttered "Oh, good! I was fearing we would have gotten stuck in this place forever!"
Yuffie thunderstruck him with her gaze as she held to her father. Maybe the quest in front of her would have been the chance to prove to herself and to her very father that she was bold and balanced enough to take care both of the world and Wutai in her own way. And possibly that her way would have been the one effective enough to get the country back again on its feet.
'For every delusion I give you, I'll try to give ten reasons to be proud of me. I'll promise it' she silently declared to her father.
"Did you really had to be like that, back there?" Yuffie asked, breaking the silence, as she and Cade walked through the alleys of Wutai. The townspeople were slowly beginning to recover from the unexpected turn their ordinary daily lives had taken that day. Most of them were trying to patch up the damage the commotion had caused them, collecting their merchandise sprawled all over the roads and trying to put back together their stalls. To others, instead, the chase through the streets had become topic for endless and vivid discussions, in the form of huddles of people at corners lively chatting and tweeting.
As Yuffie walked by them, she lured admired, frightened or sympathetic looks, depending on the attitude of the citizens coming by
"Hey Yuffie" a townsman holled "Good job out there. I don't know what happened but if the Civic Guard is pissed off that can't be anything but good…"
"Your father is too fond of you for your own sake. You trashed the place and kyboshed the Saturday Market. If only you weren't the princess I would make you pay that with interest" another one shouted
She merely didn't pay attention to them
"What?" Cade answered
"All the 'Best daughter in Gaia' and all that kind of no-fucks-given-just-lemme-out behaviour…"
"Ah, that thing" Cade recalled "Well, I save someone from a shootout, I bring that someone safe and I get nearly accused of multiple wilful homicide. Plus, that very someone treats me like I did the worst to her"
"If it wasn't for you…" Yuffie angrily noticed him
"…you and your friend would be under the ground feeding the daises" Cade continued
"Nothing would have ever happened!" Yuffie explained
"Oh, my mistake! I ignored your ascendant over the Civic Guard" Cade joked
"Look, I shouldn't tell you that but you've not made yourself a good publicity of yourself up to now!" Yuffie told him
"Oh me oh my" Cade moaned "What am I going to do now that Yuffie Kissaragi hates me? My life has no meaning nor purposes…"
"Shut up!"
"If you don't like me why did you decide to come with me, then?" Cade enquired
Yuffie paused
"Well" she explained "first of all because every excuse is good if it means I'm away from my father for awhile. Secondly, because if the request came from the WRO, I'm afraid I can't possibly turn it down…"
"Why not?"
"I was in the World Regenesis Organization myself"
"You?" Cade marvelled "No kidding!"
"Head of intelligence and espionage division! Yuffie Kissaragi!" she proudly stated "If it wasn't for me the Deepground conflict would have reduced the world to a graveyard, believe me!"
Cade stared in front of him "That explains why Reeve closed down the intelligence division"
"It's not closed" Yuffie corrected him "It's dormant"
"No way" Cade shook his head "Reeve would have told me about that"
"So, your father kept it away from you?"
"He's not my father" Cade sharply told her
"Then who is he? I doubt he is your son…" Yuffie laughed
"He's my uncle"
"I see" Yuffie concluded
They approached what a sing told them to be the Eastern Gate. A Civic Guard was perched onto an observation tower right next to it. The guard pulled a lever and the gate slowly swung open. Yuffie and Cade crossed the gate as other peasants and a cart made their way into town
As they infiltrated the countryside beyond the town's walls, Yuffie resumed talking
"How long have you been in the WRO?" she asked
"A couple of years" Cade vaguely replied
"That means that you were not there…" Yuffie concluded
"Nope" Cade anticipated her "I was not in the WRO when Deepground came out of the shadows. That is, I joined in the midst of that"
"And yet you are already an officer. Somebody up there loves you…"
"I guess. And so?" Cade replied, seemingly piqued by the observation
Yuffie somehow noticed the small hint irritation in his reply
"Hey, I'm not saying you're his crony. At all…" Yuffie corrected himself "I think you would do well even without being anybody's relative"
"Don't worry, carry on. I had taken much worse…" Cade sighed
"I mean" Yuffie tried not to sound offensive, yet again, much to her despair "You did pretty well back then when we were being chased. You would be a perfect soldier if you had a bit more salt in that head of yours"
Cade puffed
"Thus spoke the great heir of Lord Godo of Wutai" Cade mocked "You know, this place looks like it would run by itself. Why are you so adamant in refusing to take the throne?"
Yuffie steadied her fist to her waist. She stopped
"You know nothing, Cade Tuesti" she cried, irated "Family business are fucking family business. Mind your own issues with your parents but don't meddle with mine…"
Cade gulped "Thankfully I don't have to deal with it…" he thoughtfully claimed. A shadow flew over his face. Yuffie noticed it as well
"Have I said something wrong, now?" she asked, more annoyed than sorry
"Nothing at all… if I had made my calculations right, we should be even in terms of barbs"
"Then we should quit it, don't you think?"
"I suppose so" Cade concurred
They took a side trail which separated from the main road. Cade was on point, Yuffie closely following him. He welcomed the momentary hiatus in the conversation. 'Sure that girl is a motor-mouth' he complained
"Where are we heading at?" Yuffie asked, finally
"There's a heath up ahead" Cade explained "Our passage to our destination is there, waiting for us"
"What is it?"
"Somebody you should know, as far as he told me" Cade vaguely suggested
Yuffie shivered with anticipation. The trail came out of a small grove and lead up to a small bump. The couple reached the top of the hill and as soon as they look down, the familiar profile of the Shera appeared.
A smile grew on Yuffie's face, as she hopped downhill to meet the tall, wide, blonde short-haired man idling under it
"Cid! I can't believe it's you!" she screamed
"Well well, if that isn't little Yuffie!" Cid threw his cigarette on the ground and welcomed the small ninja open arms.
Yuffie jumped onto him, almost making him fell backwards
"Ow, easy there Yuffie! I'm an old man!" he protested
"Cid Highwind! You cranky old man! I'm so happy to see you!"
"You didn't change a bit, Yuffie!" Cid observed "What are you up to?"
"Nothing really interesting" she shrugged "Just trying to keep this place up on its own"
"I see" Cid replied "Ready to go?"
"Sure" she answered "As long as mister Tuesti down there moves on" she looked back at Cade, who was calmly walking towards the airship
"C'mon Cade" Cid beckoned him "time to go. And fast!" he turned his attention back to the ninja "So you met our wonderful Cade! And Cade met our gracious white rose of Wutai. Right Cade?"
"Yep" Cade replied "Though the circumstances were bit odd. I have always preferred cafes to shootouts with the local law enforcement agency when it comes to dating places"
Cid scratched his scalp "Shootouts? Is that the reason it took you so long"
"C'mon, let's go" Cade cut short, taking the stairs to the airship's hull "I'll explain you while en route?"
"En route where?" Yuffie asked
"Edge" Cid answered "Don't ask no more. All I know is that I have to take you there, right at the WRO headquarters"
"Let's not waste more time then" Yuffie spurred them "By the way, I heard you are a married man now, Cid"
"That's right" he answered "And the cool thing is that I haven't regretted it yet"
Yuffie gave him a pat on the shoulder. As the hatch closed behind him, Cade wondered whether anything good would have come out by working alongside Yuffie Kissaragi
"Cade" Cid told him "C'mon! I really wanna heard about the shootout…"
