The Other Ancient
Chapter 3-Wutai
Disclaimer: I do not own thy FFVII CC.
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." -G.K. Chesterton
Mount Tamblin
Autumn
The chopper she, Angeal and Zack departed in arrived in Wutai hours later, when the sun started its long descent from the heavens and alit with a fiery reddish-orange that spread like calm flames beneath, sending up tones of light pink and lavender in its wake..
The trio ran across a dirt path surrounded by lush nature, dense forests and bushes and long, bright green grass. The soil crunched quietly underneath their feet. Unlike in Midgar, Wutai had fresh, crisp air, sun breaks and actual life sustaining in the thickened forests besides humans.
Autumn smiled slightly. If it hadn't been for the fact that they were currently on assignment, she would've enjoyed the change in scenery. It was so much fresher here, and everything was so full of life. She could almost feel it - the energy in everything around her.
"Fort Tamblin is straight ahead," Angeal told his two pupils in a hushed voice as they came to a halt in front of a wider and larger path. "Let's hurry, B Unit is standing by."
A Wutai Private ran up, stopping when he spotted the trio.
"You three! Identify yourselves!" He demanded as he held a spear in his right hand, and two more soldiers ran out to "greet" them.
Angeal stood in a battle stance as Autumn and Zack walked in front of him.
"Just leave this to me!" Zack grinned, drawing his sword.
"I'm up for a fight." The brunette smirked underneath her mask.
She could never resist a fight, despite her cynical view towards killing. Call it a contradiction, but it was what she lived and breathed.
The three Wutaian soldiers pitifully tried to surround the two 2nd Classes, pointing their guns in their direction. Zack was already up in their faces, cutting two down in a mere few seconds. Autumn impaled the third after a swift upwards block, bright crimson blood spattering onto the rich soil.
The brunette glanced around wearily, using her Sense materia that she'd been honing ever since she was in the infantry to ensure they wouldn't get ambushed. When she sensed nothing, she lowered her sword a little.
"All right, next!" Zack loudly challenged, eagerness and excitement rushing through his veins.
Autumn merely sighed, a bit agitated and annoyed by her partner, but she held onto her patience. Blowing up at the ravenette would do nothing, nor would it change his attitude.
"Well, things could be worse." she thought.
"Calm down, Zack." Angeal told him as he brushed past the overly hyper puppy.
"No can do. The director is watching from somewhere, right? I have to make a good impression." Zack grinned.
"That also means I can't spare anyone." The 2nd thought sadly.
She didn't want to kill any Wutaians. They were simply protecting their home from Shinra's greedy fingers. But with the Director watching, he would probably become suspicious of her if she tried. If he discovered her loathing of Shinra, she'd be brought in for questioning. And that was something she could not afford.
"Zack, Sakura... Do you know about dumbapples?" Angeal questioned out of the blue.
"Yes." The brunette 2nd instantly answered.
Zack, however, was rather ignorant.
"No, what is that?" he inquired, curiosity sparking in his lively sky blue eyes.
Angeal held his chin in his hand as he kept his back turned to his students.
"Unbelievable. How can you not know about dumbapples? You'll never make 1st at that rate." His words seemed disheartening, yet held a hidden encouragement that made his statement almost non insulting.
Almost.
"Oh, I guess that means I'm a step closer, right?" The sole female in the group smirked, taking the lead down the path.
As the 1st continued down the path with a chuckle behind his female pupil, Zack then realized he was about to be left behind.
"Whoa, wait!" He called out as he jogged to a stop near his mentor and partner, who both kept walking. "What are dumbapples!?"
Having wasted valuable time to keep pace with his two companions, who were now far out of sight, Zack groaned, starting up a light jog down the forest path.
Zack's POV
I kept running down the winding path in front of me so I could catch up with Angeal and Autumn, but man they didn't even give me a second to join them! I stopped when some monsters got in my way. Drawing my sword, I grinned.
"You want a piece of me?"
The monsters growled in response.
"Come and get it!" I swung my sword, slicing an Edgehead's head off while avoiding its giant pincers. I turned and cut a Tail Vault in half, then burnt another one to a crisp with Fire. I sheathed my sword, sprinting down the path. I was so far behind! I needed to catch up, I didn't need Autumn mad at me.
A smile grew on my face when I remembered the last time I angered her. I thought it was pretty funny, but she, for some reason, thought otherwise.
Flashback~
Boom!
What sounded like an explosion rang out from an enclosed room.
"Aaaagh! ZACK!" A female voice screeched inside the HQ building of Shinra.
SOLDIER members turned, trying to sight the source of the angry yelling. Zack dashed past them, trying to escape from the young woman so badly he looked like he was being chased by a horde of Hojo's monsters.
Autumn came storming into the room, her hair frizzy and what appeared to be soot coating her skin. She walked up to a SOLDIER member, grabbing him by his shirt.
"Where is he?"
The SOLDIER, eyes wide, pointed down the hall where Zack had run off to. The steaming young woman released the SOLDIER from her grasp, continuing to pursue her trouble-making partner.
The SOLDIERS let out a sigh of relief.
"They're at it again, huh?" one SOLDIER chuckled.
"Seems that way. Sheesh, what did Zack do this time?" Another groaned.
"Who knows? I'm just glad she didn't take it out on us."
"Yeah. The Ice Queen is resurfacing. Zack's totally screwed."
When Autumn had finally caught Zack, he was currently trying to find somewhere else to run to, but she had backed him into a corner with a piercing glare coming from her glowing sapphire eyes.
"It was a joke!"
"Oh, planting a stink/smoke bomb in the training room I was in was a joke?!"
"I was...well, I..." Zack tried grabbing for words.
The young woman glared at him in scrutiny, a sort of strange slime trickling down her arms and legs.
"It's going to take me days to get this all out! Your definition of a joke is anything but funny!"
"Come on, it was a joke! No harm involved..."
Autumn glowered at him, steaming so much Zack could've sworn there was smoke pouring out from her ears.
"It's a joke when both people find it mutually hilarious and they're both laughing. Do I look like I'm laughing, Zachary Goode Fair?" She growled, bristling and advancing on him. Her fists emanated the cool steam of her Blizzaga.
"Ah, well, er..." He stuttered, averting her piercing gaze.
Kunsel started strolling by when Zack noticed and desperately called out to him.
"Kunsel!"
The said SOLDIER stopped and turned. "Oh, hey Zack." it was obvious he was trying to hold back laughs.
"Help me out, man! Please?" Zack pleaded, putting on a pitiful puppy face.
"I-" Kunsel cut himself off when Autumn sent him a death glare. If looks could kill...
"Uh, sorry man, you're on your own." Kunsel gulped nervously before quickly heading down the hall.
Autumn turned back to Zack, an evil smile creeping onto her face. "Now, for your punishment..."
End of Flashback
Normal POV
Zack shivered.
She had made him her personal servant for a week, having him fetch things for her, deal with sleazeballs that kept hitting on her, chores around her apartment, and even more torment.
After Kunsel had left them at the time, she'd left him battered and bruised, struggling to hobble out of HQ without facing too much mortification. He'd even nearly gotten frostbite!
It only took a few minutes for him to reunite with Angeal and Autumn, the sun setting deeper into the horizon as night began to creep its way into Wutai, ever so silent and without a moment's notice.
Their only light source were the many fireflies lazily drifting in small groups, then parting and joining up with others. Autumn smiled, silently making a wish. She had heard stories from her mother about a small myth of how fireflies brought forth good luck.
"So Angeal, what's the deal with "dumbapples"?" Zack asked as he skidded to a stop. His companions finally stopped as well, turning to face him.
"The official name is Banora White. The trees bear fruit at random times during the year. Because of that, the townspeople affectionately call them dumbapples. The local farms had plenty to spare." Angeal explained.
"Oh, really? So you stole them." The ravenette pointed out accusingly.
"We were poor, Zack." His mentor replied in a dead-panned voice.
"Nice excuse!"
Autumn frowned. "Some circumstances you just can't help, Zack. What would you do if you were in that position?"
The Puppy pondered for a moment, realizing she had a point.
"But even then, I had my honor. The largest Banora White tree grew on a wealthy man's estate. It was rumored that those apples tasted the best. But I never stole from that tree, because the wealthy man's son was my friend." Angeal explained.
Zack now had his hands laced together on the back of his head, sauntering in front of the 1st. Autumn followed, her body tense despite not sensing any enemies nearby.
"If he was a friend, you should have just asked for some!" The Puppy reasoned, only seeing the common sense in the story of Angeal and the wealthy man's son.
Autumn had never understood this part of Angeal's story; Genesis would have helped him in an instant, and even though he was overdramatic and ill-tempered, she'd seen on several occasions that he truly cared for his best friend.
"Honor can be quite a burden at times." Angeal answered.
Zack put his hands on his hips, frowning in confusion. "...And what does this have to do with us?"
Autumn walked over to stand next to him, interested in what he would have to say.
Their mentor folded his arms.
"No story is not worth hearing." He turned, starting to walk away laughing.
The two 2nd Classes stood rigid in place. Zack extended a hand, wanting to stop Angeal but he was already far ahead. Autumn seemed very confused.
"What? That's it?"
"Well, that was a time-waster." Autumn thought dryly.
They could've been miles ahead by now if they hadn't bothered listening to his stupid backstory! Why, oh why, couldn't she have been with B unit? At least Sephiroth wouldn't waste time with trivial tales.
They started running to try and catch up with their mentor, who was out of their sight by now.
"Yeah, well, thanks a lot!" Zack shouted as he and Autumn continued down the winding tile path after Angeal.
Autumn's POV
When we finally caught up with Angeal it was already night time. Darkened hues of blue were beginning to peak from over the horizon as the sky became peppered with stars. Our only source of light now were the moon's gentle beams.
Zack and I spotted Angeal crouched down, keeping hidden from view with a pagoda in sight behind the low bushes he used as cover. We came and crouched down as well, setting our eyes onto the pagoda.
"B Unit will set off an explosion. That's our cue." Our mentor told us.
"The diversion will allow us to infiltrate." I caught on. Angeal confirmed my prediction with a nod.
"Right. I'll set the bomb inside the fortress. You two'll charge the front gate, and…"
Zack, once again, became too impatient and overly excited. "Uh-huh, and? And? And? And?"
Despite it being annoying at times, Zack's over-enthusiasm was amusing.
"Indulge yourselves." The 1st concluded his sentence.
"You got it! That's what I do best!" My partner nearly cheered. He would have said it much louder if it didn't mean blowing our cover. I sighed, evidently not as enthusiastic.
The three of us turned our attention back to the pagoda, patiently waiting for the signal from B Unit. Just after a few minutes Zack stood up, growing restless already. I stood up, too. To be honest my legs were starting to lose feeling from being crouched down for so long.
"Come on, B Unit..."
Angeal drew the Buster Sword - the one he'd told me meant a great deal in his family so long ago. He brought the flat side of the blade against his forehead in quick prayer before placing it on his back again.
"You know, I've never actually seen you use that." Zack pointed out, referring to the Buster Sword.
"Neither have I." I agreed.
Now that I thought about it, never in all my time knowing Angeal he hadn't once drawn that sword besides for prayer. I suspected it was because of the deeper meaning behind the blade, but apparently Zack hadn't been clued in.
"Don't you think it's sort of a waste?" Zack inquired, wondering how Angeal could possibly refrain from using such a spectacular sword.
"Use brings about wear...tear...and rust. And that's a real waste." Angeal replied simply.
Zack had an astonished look on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I can be pretty cheap." Our mentor admitted.
I held back a laugh that was rising in my throat.
"Yeah, no kidding..." The ravenette beside me trailed off with a grin.
I couldn't help but smile too, not that either of my companions noticed due to my mask. All of a sudden, the ground trembled as a bright red light appeared. We all stood up and turned around.
"Begin mission." Angeal ordered, and those words were like music to my ears.
Zack gave a thumbs up as I just nodded, jumping into the air to do a backflip, then a front flip, briefly spotting my partner do the opposite.
I dashed and came to an abrupt halt with my partner at the front of the pagoda, making sure to keep a few feet away, since there were about ten Wutai soldiers and one Wutai Sergeant standing in our path.
"No one passes beyond this point! The enemy is but one man! Obliterate him!" The Wutai Sergeant commanded. Zack and I charged towards the soldiers.
"Oh, well then, I guess that means I'll be let in with a warm welcome, right?" I called out with a smirk, seeing the sergeant scowl at me.
"Wait a minute...oh great Leviathan, it's her! It's the Ice SOLDIER!" I heard a private yell.
The very same private hastily retreated much to the anger of his comrades, though most were now quaking a bit in place. I had made a reputation for myself in the war, and I usually used my Blizzaga materia in various ways - I even had a limit break called Ice Force with levels that went up to 7, though Ice Force 7 could freeze over and decimate areas up to several kilometers, so I tended not to use that one unless I was completely surrounded by enemies. Plus, they'd gotten word of my status as the Ice Queen.
They also sometimes called me Devil Shiva or something.
I noticed archers posted on the roof just behind the other soldiers. As they started to fire at us, Zack started casting Fire many times over, lighting soldiers aflame.
I heard them screech out in bloodcurdling screams, trying to extinguish the fires that were consuming their bodies, but they just fell to the ground, dead.
The wretched scent of burning flesh reached my nose, which I crinkled in disgust.
Zack didn't seem to care, keeping the soldiers at a distance with Fire as I silently ran towards my enemies at an inhuman speed, wanting to close my eyes when they let out a short yelp or scream as my blade sliced through their skin, jerking them into odd positions before collapsing to the ground, their blood staining the dirt with bright red.
The Director watched my every move from someplace I could not see. I couldn't spare anyone here. I even had to behead one of them, seeing the blood that followed dribbling rapidly. If it was three years ago, I'm sure I would have hurled. The detached body fell to its knees then collapsed into the mud. I turned away, unwilling to see another pool of blood caused by my soiled hands.
Avoiding more arrows directed at me and Zack, I twirled and caught one in my hand, spinning and throwing it back at the archer, seeing it embed itself in his neck with immense precision. He fell backwards and his fellow companions fired more fiercely.
I cast Blizzaga, fragmenting the massive block of ice and shooting out the shards to pierce through their heads, necks, and hearts. I left no survivors.
Seeing as how no other soldiers came, I twirled my sword a few times before placing it on my back.
"All right! Piece of cake!" Zack cheered.
"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" I replied as we continued to the doors.
I was suspicious. If they knew we were SOLDIER, why didn't they alert the others inside?
"Probably because they were so obnoxious they didn't think they needed backup." I thought.
In all of the times I'd spent fighting battles and making advances in Wutai, none were this stupid or lacking strategies. Didn't they know what a 1st Class looked like by now? They should've called backup the moment that private screamed my name - er, title.
Zack and I advanced into the pagoda. I turned off my emotions and morals, which would only make me hesitate. I was the Ice Queen of SOLDIER, the Devil Shiva in Wutai.
I could show no mercy.
Oh my gosh I am so sorry it took me so long to update! But at least there's some action in this one and they are storming Wutai! School has been very demanding and I'm sort of freaking out since the semester is closing. I apologize for the very long, overdue update, I will do my best to try and work on this fanfic more often. Thank you to my faithful followers! You all keep me writing :D And please review! :)
